Cactus Game Design Message Boards

Haven't seen anyone put one of these up yet, so I figure I'll be the first.

Was happy to once again have Regionals be on my home turf (good old North Heights Lutheran Church, site of Nats 2011). Wild Bill has still got it as a tournament host, and it was a very fun tournament. I was also happy to reintroduce my coworker for this summer (JohnChristensen) to the tournament scene; he hadn't played in a tournament since 2003.

Friday Night: T2-MP

It was a small event as some of the T2 players couldn't make it Friday night, so there were just four of us. We played two rounds. I was using a Luke/John offense with a Greek defense. The theory was that if I could get an Abom in each opponent's territories, I could get them to A) slow down, and B) territory destruction through forced draws.

Round 1: Opponents--Jayden Alstad, Matt Brinkmann, Caleb Aardahl

Round 1 was interesting because I wasn't drawing EC's or LS's for quite awhile. I had a hand full of Aboms and Wrath of Satans, but was never attacked, and I had High Places but no Greeks. Eventually I was able to get Aboms in Matt and Jayden's territories, and was able to do some damage, but it wasn't as effective as I'd hoped. My offense was working pretty well with my R&Rs and MtMs getting rid of blockers fairly well. But Jayden's offense was also quite potent with FBTNB, so he and I were pretty close the whole game. Eventually we timed out with Jayden and I tied at 6, Caleb with 5, and Matt with 4.

Round 2: Opponents--Same as before.

This game was also interesting. Jayden's offense was shut down for quite awhile due to Matt's HHI that he got early (and was even able to draw pretty early off of it being shuffled a couple of times). My offense was also a bit slower, but I was able to get Aboms off earlier in the game. Eventually it was a race to SoG/NJ, with Jayden at 6, Matt at 5, and Caleb and me at 4 (Caleb had used SoG). I had NJ, but needed SoG and a successful RA on my final turn. Turned out I never got there, as Matt made a successful RA and had SoG in hand for the win. I looked at my top 3, and there was SoG; with plenty of CBN battle winners and plenty of souls available, I likely would have been able to make it, but it didn't work out. Thus it was Matt 7-6-4-4, and I ended up in 3rd.

Saturday Morning: Type 2 2-Player

Another small event, but plenty of tough competition, as we added Pat Wester, Nathan Voigt and Mitch Stewart (and Caleb played T1) for a total of 6 people. We decided to play 4 rounds (because the MTTPA is hard core like that). I played two different decks, 2 games each, though I won't give them away, as there is still a chance I could make it to Nationals.

Round 1: Opponent--Pat Wester

It was a tough game for Pat as his offense really had nothing available to get through my defense, so once I was set up, all I had to do was get through his defense (which was tricky, but ran out eventually). I ended up winning 7-2.

Round 2: Opponent--Mitch Stewart

Mitch had just come off a 7-0 drubbing of Jayden, so I was equally nervous about how our game would go as I was determined to defend my family's honor. I decided to switch my deck at this point, not for any other reason than both of my decks have done well, and I want to see how both of them work. My defense this game was equally stifling, and despite Mitch's best efforts, he was unable to get through my defense. My offense was a bit slow, and Mitch was able to get a lot of blocks, but once again the only souls rescued against me were courtesy of SoG/NJ.

Saturday Morning--Booster Draft

I certainly didn't get the best draft of my life, but it wasn't awful either. I was able to pick up a Haman's plot, a few Ultrarares (from the boosters, no less, as opposed to the Disciples pack), and some nice battle winners on offense and defense. Also helpful was that I drafted both Promised Land and New Jerusalem, so I had plenty of site access, which I knew is always important, especially when Women packs are in the draft.

Round 1: Opponents--John Christensen, Jeremiah Thiessen, Nathanael Love

This game was somewhat crazy, but not quite at the level of the other two. Essentially, in standard Booster draft fashion, things quickly got going. A few freebies were handed out, and nothing much of significance happened until later on. Jeremiah took an early lead with some big characters he drafted from Priests, and after several rounds, he was in the lead with four,  I had 3, John had 2, and Nathanael was plagued by a lack of Heroes so he only had one. I attacked Nathanael, and he was able to get a string of 3 Panic Demons vs. my Zephaniah. This forced me to use two of my battle winners (Trapped in Cleverness and Benefiting from Troubles) and fortunately he didn't have support for the last demon. I was worried about now having an additional LS for Jeremiah to rescue, but then realized that Panic Demon could not be redeemed. John then went and rescued my only available LS (and the only available LS on the table). Jeremiah's turn, and he attacks me, not realizing he can't rescue Panic Demon. I block him with Potiphar's Wife, and play Take as a Slave to capture his Hero to his LoB giving me an LS to go for on my turn. I was fortunate to draw Eve (Wo) as I had plenty of support for her. I attack, and he blocks with Belshazzar. I play Fishers of Men, and he interrupts with Dream, and plays Partners with Demons to band in Evil Spirit. I then play I am Redemption for numbers, and he has no support. I also had a Covenant with Moses if needed, but I was able to come away with the win 5-4-3-1.

Round 2: Opponents--Josh Brinkmann, Pat Wester, Jared Gulseth

This round is when things started getting crazy. The game starts with Josh, who activates a Writ. He then proceeds to attack with Swift, and gets a free LS from Jared. Pat then attacks with Eli (AW) and gets a free LS from Josh. Jared attacks with Bartholomew (Di) and also gets a free LS from Josh. And on my turn, I attack Josh with Paladin, the Fighter, to nab a free LS. So three angels and one protected from capture human helped everyone get a first round LS. Next turn, Josh pulls out his Philip, to complete one of the most initimidating bands in the game with Jared's Bartholomew. He gets a soul from Pat. Pat then pulls out a Claudia, who bands to Philip, who bands to Bartholomew. At this point, Josh has had enough, and uses Writ on Claudia just to stop the madness. Pat still wins the RA, and there has yet to be a block, let alone a successful one, and six souls have been rescued. Eventually things settle down, and nothing else interesting happens until a few turns later. Pat attacks Josh with Joseph (Pats) and Josh blocks with High Priests Caiaphas. Pat plays Coat of Many Colors, in order to get one of the most dangerous heroes in BD: a Joseph with his coat. Josh is unable to compete with the slew of enhancements Pat has available, and cedes the LS. it comes around to Josh's turn, and while I don't have a good block, I decided to try Angry Mob anyway. I spin it, and it points to Pat. He flips and shuffles his 5 Heroes, and sure enough, I peg Joseph. Josh wins the soul and the score is now 4-4-4-3 with Jared behind. Pat is flustered beyond belief, but makes an attempt with his big angel anyway. Fortunately for him, he attacked Jared instead of me, as I had the only other LS and I had a good block. thus pat came away with the win after losing his best Hero. 5-4-4-3

Does Achan's Sin interrupt Gideon's Call and therefore the ongoing ability to play enhancements of other colors?  Just curious.