Ok, I'm going to stick the deck-list up. After reading how much thought Mulletcheese put into his deck compared to mine it only seems fair that I point out that I won through luck more than skill.
As a little background, I only started playing CoC two weeks before the event after seeing people in GTG talking about the game and telling me that it was a great game in spite of the small playerbase it has compared to the other LCG I play, aGoT. So... hearing that a couple of other guys were going to start playing, my piss-poor impulse control kicked in and I bought myself some cards. Looking through them with no real idea what any of the numbers and text meant, I picked the gangsters (because gangsters are cool) and the purple dudes (because I like the colour purple *shrug*). It turns out that both of those factions had a great number of what I like to call '****-move' cards, which suits my playstyle perfectly.
Thankfully Ed and Steve are patient enough to teach me the basics of the game over the next ten days, which means that with a few additional purchases I can really flesh the deck out a bit more... and realise that Nathanial Peaslee might be the single greatest card for annoying an opponent. More on him later... or a few posts before this one.
The final decklist was basically 51 cards that either annoy my opponent, or gives me cards that do.
So, the morning of the Regional arrives and I head to GTG a little early and have a couple of pick-up games with Mulletcheese. He smashes me hard. Twice. And without mercy. But hey, it's my first CoC event, I'll be happy if I can scrape together a couple of wins and have a good time flopping cards.
Round 1: Steve, Cthulu Serpents
There is a card called Temple of R'lyeh. It wrecks my face. I'd say more about the game, but that really is the gist of it. I make a decent fight of it for the first handful of turns, but once the 2 Uroborus starts sacrificing themselves, I'm screwed. The Regional starts off how I expect, but at least I'll be able to play against the other new players from then on, I think to myself. 0 - 1
Round 2: Tracey, MU Explorers
Ah... so I'm going to have to lose another game before I play someone as new as me (or so I thought). To highlight how lucky I got on my road to the top, Tracey is struggling to concentrate the whole game with a cold, so between that and tricks like On the Lam and Mentor to Vaughn, I'm able to sneak my way towards victory. I still think that I would have lost if Tracey had been clear headed... as it was I had to use Lost Oracle more than once to buy myself a little time on key stories. 1 - 1
Round 3: 'The Noo', MU/Agency
At last I'm playing someone with as much experience as myself. What's more, we've both managed to find a win, which is basically all either of us wanted coming in. Prior to the event, I lend him a 'Torch the Joint' on the proviso he wont blow up my resources if we play each other (like he had in a game earlier in the week that nearly gave me a heart attack.). It turns out you can't trust the Scottish (I kid of course). I don't remember much about the game after that point, but I think it was a pretty one sided affair, mostly because The Noo had even less card access than I did, so was basically playing with 2 core sets. 2 - 1
Round 4: Gaz. ST/Yog
I believe that Gaz doesn't really play the game much and was running a deck built by NuFenix. True to my bizarre lucky streak, Gaz has a terrible draw that see's him able to only play 1 card a turn until the the game was basically over. I have no idea how this game would have gone if his deck hadn't crapped out on him. 3 - 1
Ooh! 3 - 1! I should manage to get a playmat out of that. I am delighted at this point and prepare myself to lose the last round of swiss and start thinking about visiting the kebab shop next door. I warn Mulletcheese that the swiss curse is a real thing and if he doesn't lose the last round it will get him. He laughs at me.
Round 5: Dennis, MU (i forget if it was explorers or rush as we've played a few times)
Another one of the new local players... who'd been paired up to play me. The lucky streak is still holding strong for me. He has answers for my Peaslee! Prepared Alienists ahoy! Thankfully I'm able to chase them off with Single Glimpses and Forced Compliance. He doesn't really see anything to stop my terror and combat icons, so I'm able to muscle my way into 3 stories. 4-1
And with that... I've somehow managed to get wins over 2 other new players, 1 guy with a crap draw and someone so full of cold they couldn't concentrate. Truly the stuff of legends. We cut to top 4. Mulletcheese on 5 - 0. Myself, Steve and Rob on 4 - 1. I pretend that there hasn't been some horrible mistake while photos are taken..
The draw is announced...oh great, I have to play Steve again.You remember him, the Temple guy.
Top 4: Steve again.
Peaslee! Peaslee! Chant it with me. Peaslee! If you listen to Steve, my stealing 2 of his characters (including an Uroborus) won me the game. I'm not going to argue. Fishers from Outside are a lot of fun when you use them to get Peaslee back from your opponent. If you've met Steve you'll understand the satisfaction of beating him to death with his own characters. I'm able to clog his draw with the Tenebrous Nightgaunts to make certain he never sees that bloody temple.
Final: Mulletcheese.
He's already talked through the match further up. The Fishers do me proud again. Peaslee! On the Lam and his own Trial Judge get me the game... but if he'd had any way of stopping that desperate lunge for 2 stories, then he'd be Regional Champ, all credit to him, I won through luck. I told him the swiss curse was real.
Character: (31)
1x Lena Di Boerio (Denizens of the Underworld)
2x Professor Nathaniel Peaslee (The Key and the Gate)
2x Fishers from Outside (Core Set)
1x Nikola Tesla (The Key and the Gate)
3x Lookout (Lost Rites)
1x Melisande LeBeau (Denizens of the Underworld)
3x Lost Oracle (The Key and the Gate)
3x Tenebrous Nightgaunt (Terror in Venice)
2x Extortionist (Core Set)
1x Sebastion Blake (Denizens of the Underworld)
2x Diseased Sewer Rats (Secrets of Arkham)
1x William Bain (Kingsport Dreams)
1x Clover Club Pit Boss (Denizens of the Underworld)
1x Fthaggua (The Key and the Gate)
1x Claude Owen (The Key and the Gate)
1x Arsene Renard (The Key and the Gate)
2x Scholar from Yith (The Key and the Gate)
1x Tommy Malloy (Denizens of the Underworld)
1x Thomas Fleming (Ebla Restored)
1x Mentor to Vaughn (Kingsport Dreams)
Support: (2)
1x The Seventh House on the Left (Kingsport Dreams)
1x Danny O'Bannion's Office (Denizens of the Underworld)
Event: (18)
2x A Gate Opens (Perilous Trials)
2x Forced Compliance (Denizens of the Underworld)
3x On the Lam (Denizens of the Underworld)
3x Temporal Slip (The Key and the Gate)
2x A Single Glimpse (Core Set)
2x Low Blow (Core Set)
2x Chant of Thoth (Secrets of Arkham)
2x Journey to the Other Side (Core Set)
As you can see from the list, there is nothing really special about the deck itself. No clever scheme or diabolical plan, just 51 shenanigans.
