Meta Check – PAX South

Meta Check – PAX South

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This weekend PAX South is running the first Kotei in the full Imperial cycle. Attendance is a disappointing 61 player. Some have alternatively suggested this was due to the location, college starting up again, and the cost. 

Clan attendance was unsurprising, Unicorn have a low representation at 4 with Scorpion having top representation at 12.

At the end of the Saturday after 7 rounds only 5 players made the cut of 53 points. That is 10 points for a win, 5 for a win that goes past time, 1 for a loss, 0 for a loss that goes past time. There were 2 Dragon and 2 Scorpion.

The top players in order were

  1. Aneil Seetharam on 70 points Dragon also known as MindsDesire online, check out his YouTube.
  2. Johnny Shen on 61 points Scorpion also known as Shenful online who appears in some of MindsDesire’s games and on some episodes the Jade Throne podcast
  3. Grant Huddleston on 61 points Dragon
  4. Christopher Pottorf on 61 points Scorpion from the Jade Throne podcast and his own YouTube 

Reports are that all the Dragon are running Crab splash. Many are expecting Crab to be the splash of choice for Scorpion also but reports have indicated Dragon splash is out there.

That is pretty grim for all other clans but they will get a +1 challenger so in total there will be 3 Dragon and Scorpion and 1 of every other clan for a total of 11 players for the cut tomorrow. To make it to a top 8 we need to eliminate 3 players so the bottom 6 challengers will play off to see who gets to make it to the top 8.

  1. Karim Beydoun Dragon Challenger
  2. Carl Meisner Phoenix Challenger
  3. James Balthis Crane Challenger – also from the Jade Throne podcast. James was a Dragon, then Scorpion Hatamoto and now a Crane Hatamoto.
  4. Stephen Palumbo Scorpion Challenger
  5. Shey Ramsey Lion Challenger also from the Jade Throne podcast
  6. Nathan Garcia Crab Challenger
  7. Gene Saunders Unicorn Challenger

This looks like a victory for the Jade Throne podcast more than anyone! I know I’m not alone in being surprised Crab did poorly this time out.

So the top 8 should have 3 Dragon and 2 Scorpion. Then I think Carl Phoenix plays Gene Unicorn, James Crane plays Nathan Crab, and Stephen Scorpion players Shey Lion.

This is my best guess at single elim pairings. I’m no expert at this so don’t be surprised when it the actual pairings turn out differently. Update: Pairings confirmed! 😀

Updated with current results. In top 8 Aneil dropped to catch a flight. Winner is Fro Ttop!

 

Congrats to Fro Ttop!

Christopher Pottorf (right). Image by James Balthis on the Facebook group

I suggest people check out his Scorpion splash Dragon video here and the recent Jade throne episode talking about the build-up to the event.

Reports are that the winning Scorpion deck was a control deck based around Mono no Aware. The top Crane was a Scorpion splash.

Decklists have been posted by the tournament organizer on the Facebook group.

Winner: Christopher Pottorf

He even has a video about it here https://youtu.be/JvhNExLYxTI

Second place: Carl Meisner

Top 4: James Balthis

He has a video about it here https://youtu.be/cQQFONgZZGo

Top 4: Stephen Palumbo 

Top 8: Karim Beydoun

 

Top 8: Johnny Shen

Top 8: Aneil Seetharam

Top 8: Grant Huddleston

Top Lion: Shey Ramsey

Top Unicorn: Gene Saunders 

Top Crab: Nathan Garcia

Despite the relatively small pool of players, the top decks make for some really interesting reading and show how the metagame might be shaping up. The top 8 decks either were Dragon (3) or played A Fate A Fate Worse Than Death and Calling in Favors (5). Only 1 of the top 8 was playing Keeper. For most Keeper clans, if you’re playing the Talisman splash you’ve given up on the main attachment control, making you very vulnerable to Calling in Favors. Crab at least have Karada District, but they have to hope it shows up in the top 12 or so cards.
All the Dragon decks splashed Crab with a minor variations, Aneil’s top of the swiss Dragon deck is essentially the default for Dragon players at the moment. All of the Scorpion decks are splashing Dragon giving them access to Mirumoto’s Fury with most adding Let Go while some opted for Tattooed Wanderer. It is notable that there were two games of Dragon versus Scorpion in the single elims, of those Scorpion advanced but Aniel actually won his game, but had to leave for a flight so the maybe the matchup isn’t as settled as the results might appear.
From the buzz online, many people seem to be focusing on the inclusion of Mono no Aware in the winning deck. This certainly seems like a strong addition, but comparing three Scorpion decks did well in this tournament and all show a solid core even without the Mono no Aware addition. Tournaments like this tend to set the trend, so we can expect Scorpion decks of this style to make more of a presence. Fun times ahead, at least for the Scorpion.

If you have any comments or feedback please post them in the comments section below. Join us on our Twitch stream every second Monday at 8pm BST, 9pm CEST, 1pm PST.

Check us out on the Imperial Advisor website, podcast, and YouTube channel for more discussion about the L5R LCG.

Bazleebub

8 Replies to “Meta Check – PAX South”

  1. While it was a smallish tournament, it’s interesting to see more deck diversity – both finalists built against the norm.

    Thanks for providing a summary here. Please do keep it up.

    Reply
  8. Pingback: The Meiji technique. How can I play against control. – The Inn of the Brooding Tempest

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