Here's the play-by-play analysis for the Nationals last round, Bill Chien (Xavier) versus Bruce Leobich (Richie with Nakano Quickening): GAME ONE Bruce: Forethought Bill : Stalk, Police Bruce: Holy Ground Bill: Bruce: Wargames West (TCG'ed) Bill: Forethought Bruce: Divine Intervention on Bill's PG Darius Bill: Forethought Bruce: Collect Bill: Master/Stalk Bruce: Holy Ground (FT'ed) --> 13 Bill: Forethought Bruce: Master Bill: Ancestral Blade Bruce: Bill: Holy Ground Bruce: Right Guard; Collect Bill: Holy Ground Bruce: Reporter (FT'ed) Bill: Stalk; Extra Weapon Bruce: Watcher: Tretament (FT'ed) --> 11 Bill: ULA; Alliance Bruce: Disappear Bill: Forethought; URA Bruce: Conjure for a Quality Blade --> 12 Bill: Alliance Bruce: Amanda Master's Advice --> 12 Bill: Police on Bruce's Master's Advice Bruce: Misfortune on Ancestral Blade --> 10 Bill: Holy Ground Bruce: Luck Bill: LLA Bruce: Bill: Sedarius; Thrust Bruce: Holy Ground (FT'ed) --> 5 Bill: FT; Thrust Bruce: Dodge; Luck Bill: Plan Ahead Bruce: Darius'ed Forethought (immediately Plan Ahead'ed) Bill: Sedarius; Thrust Bruce: Reporter (FT'ed); LCA --> 0 IMPRESSIONS: I remember wondering how Bruce got this far, given that his deck goes against every known principle I ever believed I've known for building a Richie deck. I think he depended on his Quickening a little too much, so when it was Divine'd, he had little strategy or offense of his own. No Stalk, no Sedarius, no direct damage I saw. For those of you who saw him play or played him, how did he do his damage? I assume the Reporters were there for stopping the opponent's early advantage as well as for using as the Nakano Q's requisite crap (good idea). Had the WGW gone down, it might have been another story. Bill, on the other hand, struck me as having a well thought out deck. He also struck me as an excellent player (of course, it's easy to give that impression when winning =), being patient and always in control. GAME TWO Bill: Divine Intervention on Bruce's Quickening Bruce: Ped-5 Bill: Forethought; MRA Bruce: Dodge; Quality Blade Bill: Plan Ahead Bruce: Luck Bill: Police on Ped-5; LCA Bruce: Left Guard; Forethought (immediately Plan Ahead'ed) Bill: Forethought Bruce: Divine Intervention on Bill's remaining TCG Bill: Plan Ahead Bruce: Nexus Bill: Forethought Bruce: Conjure for Quality Blade --> 16 Bill: Forethought Bruce: Greenfield Hobby Bill: Holy Ground Bruce: Duncan's Master's Advice --> 18 Bill: Stalk; Police Master's Advice Bruce: Reporter (FT'ed) --> 14 Bill: Holy Ground Bruce: Reporter (FT'ed) Bill: Forethought Bruce: Forethought (immediately Plan Ahead'ed) Bill: Sedarius; Thrust (Power Blow) Bruce: --> 9 Bill: Plan Ahead Bruce: Seduce; Shooting Blade Bill: Holy Ground Bruce: Divine Intervention on PG Darius Bill: Sedarius; Thrust (Power Blow) Bruce: Holy Ground (FT'ed) --> 4 Bill: Stalk; Poison Gas --> 13 Bruce: HG (FT'ed) --> 0 IMPRESSIONS: This must've been horribly frustrating for Bruce; whatever he tried, Bill had the perfect counter. His one bright moment (the Seduce/Shooting Blade), Bill had two HGs in hand. I also don't think he was playing with Police, which shoul've murdered him (then again, I played with six and drew one in two matches) against Xavier. One definite thing I kind of knew before but only really realized during this game is HG's power as a card cycler. Bill used it almost exclusively in that way in this and the other game. Of course, he was helped somewhat by the fact that Bruce didn't seem to get anything useful from the HGs while he (Bill) did. I was going to get the deck recipes and post an analysis to the list, but Bill balked at letting anyone see his deck. Bruce was willing, but I figured it wouldn't be worth the trouble if I didn't have the top deck. Dunno why, given that his deck will be obsolete in its present form in a few weeks; must be a principle thing (like me banning The Eyes Have It in every tourney I run). Oh, well. Since I forgot it in the main report, I'll say it here. It was great to meet a lot of you and get to play (and get beat by) you. By and large, I'd have to agree with someone's (Bill's?) remarks that HL players tend to be more agreeable than M:tG players. Of course, we were 20-30, whereas they were 1000 or so, but, hey... =) Hope to see a lot of you at GenCon (and hope I make it there). -Jeff