Fear the Wildfire - Top 8 Canadian Nationals (5-1 Swiss) 2.0

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• 2.0

Round 1: Loss against Sean (Lanni Dragon).

A good setup of a duped Melisandre and Maester Cressen and a The Roseroad by me was soon ruined by Sean going first, marshaling Ser Ilyn Payne, killing my Cressen and blanking my Mel with Milk of the Poppy. I managed to marshal and dup Ser Barristan Selmy (TS), but Mirri Maz Duur easily killed him off in one turn with help from Magister Illyrio. The rest of the match was just a bloodbath. 0-1.

MVP: Ser Ilyn Payne

Round 2: Win against Brian (Greyjoy Crossing).

This was a weird game that saw me and Brian drawing only income/event/attachment with no big characters. Brian managed to Heads on Spikes Mel early in the first turn, but he did not draw into any characters with INT icon. His military was heavy, but the two Wildfire Assault kept the board state even. I did not even bother do my MIL challenges. Eventually I got The Red Keep out; and the card advantage finally got me over while Brian was still busy top-decking. 1-1.

MVP: The Red Keep

Round 3: Win against Alexandre (Greyjoy Fealty).

Alex's was a typical Greyjoy's unopposed mechanism with target kill from The Seastone Chair. Luckily, a well-timed Milk of the Poppy from me shut down Balon Greyjoy (Core), while Mel with her kneel tech kept Euron Crow's Eye at bay. I managed to put Lightbringer on Ser Barristan Selmy (TS), with Selyse Baratheon constantly feeding him INT icon for defense. A stupid mistake from me saw Mel got killed by the Chair (Alex could have killed Ser Barristan - which would be devastating for me, but he chose Mel and I was actually relieved). After that, my two Wildfire Assault and kneeling events made sure I always had the board advantage. I stayed in defense mode until Alex gave up, with 5-6 power on Ser Barristan. 2-1.

MVP: Ser Barristan Selmy (TS)

Round 4: Win against Daniel (Lanni Kraken)

I had a good first turn with Mel and a naked Ser Barristan Selmy (TS) and luckily survived Tears of Lys with a well-timed Seen In Flames. I did not draw into Selyse Baratheon for the rest of the game, so I was very worried. A INT claim from me luckily pulled out another Tear, as I gave out a sigh of relief. Daniel had Ser Gregor Clegane out since turn one but could not use him at all thanks to Mel. Like the previous match, I accumulated power with the renown on Ser Barristan. My second wildfire did surprise Daniel, as he had played almost all of his characters on hand. A Marched to the Wall flipped against Reinforcements saw my Mel discarded and brought back to the game. Now, I made a mistake here because Reinforcements of Mel should not trigger her ability to kneel. However, I did have enough kneel tech on hand to activate Mel later in the round, anyways, so that was not really a big deal. City Watch also made an ambush that turn, shutting down Daniel's power challenge that ended his hope of a comeback. 3-1.

MVP: Melisandre

Round 5: Win against Pat (Martell Summer)

This was probably my most intense match for the whole tournament. Pat had Nymeria Sand and the icon-removal attachments with support from Ghaston Grey going on so early in the game, shutting down my trio Mel-Bob-Barristan. I had Lightbringer and Seal of the Hand on Bob, but he was just there for dominance. Luckily, Pat kept coming at me with MIL challenge, trying to thin down my board but I did not care at all. I kept gaining power from my POW challenges, taking away any power bonus Pat gained from his unopposed MIL challenge toward me. I stalled the game turn after turn, drawing 2 cards every turn from The Red Keep. One lucky challenge saw me Nightmares his The Red Viper on a 20+ unopposed MIL challenge. I Nightmares-ed his Ghaston Grey one turn, gaining around 6-7 powers on challenges playing second. On the last turn, I sacrificed Ser Barristan, forcing Pat to use his Ghaston Grey. With Bob and 2 re-standing attachments on him, Pat conceded. 4-1.

MVP: Nightmares

Round 6: Win against Brad (Stark Fealty)

Brad did not have a very good setup, with Fast Eddie and WoTN Sansa. I set up a Cressen, King's Hunting Party, and The Kingsroad. A double flip of Summer Harvest saw Brad me getting only 2 gold each for the first turn. I managed to play a duped Robert Baratheon, while Brad had only Catelyn Stark (Core) out. Cressen managed to discard all of the Bodyguard and Milk of the Poppy played by Brad, while Seal of the Hand on Bob allowed me to accumulate power. My first wildfire saw Brad killing a duped Bran Stark. He quickly recovered with A Time For Wolves, with Summer and Bran and a couple more guys coming in play. Then I flipped my second Wildfire Assault. Top-decking with only three characters on board, Brad had to concede. 5-1.

MVP: Maester Cressen

Top 16: Win against Nicolas (Greyjoy Dragon)

Nicholas set up a Mirri Maz Duur, chud and Roseroad. But I also set up a duped Mel and marshaled a duped Bob. I had The Red Keep out early, managed to draw and put Lightbringer and Seal of the Hand on Bob. He played Milk of the Poppy on both Mel and Cressen on the same turn, managed to attack through with Mirri yet having to kill Cressen. I confiscated the Milk of the Poppy on Mel the next turn, keeping the kneeling train going on again. He got Asha Greyjoy and Pyke out, giving Balon Greyjoy (Core) stealth. He aimed for an unopposed MIL with Asha and Balon, probably to activate that Put to the Sword, but City Watch ambush-ed out, disrupting any possible plan Nicholas might have. With all his board knelt, Bob with his attachments was free to do whatever necessary for me to get the win.

MVP: Melisandre

Top 8: Loss against Chris (Lanni Dragon)

Chris set up with Ser Jaime Lannister (Core) and Crone of Vaes Dothrak while I had Bob and a chud. No income for both. Another double flip of Summer Harvest saw me play another chud and Lightbringer on Bob while Chris marshaled Grand Maester Pycelle. No Tears of Lys from Chris that turn; I was relieved. We both played our high income plot next turn, with me having Mel, Moon Boy, Seal on Bob and The Red Keep while Chris marshaled both Mirri Maz Duur and Tywin Lannister (Core). I knelt Jaime and Mirri with Mel and Even-Handed Justice. Tywin was no match for Bob since Chris had no gold left as I gained 5 power that turn. I flipped my first Wildfire next, reducing Chris's army from 5 to 3, while my board remained intact. As I was the 1st player with Bob and his two re-standing attachments along with Mel and Moon Boy, Chris stared down at me with Jaime, Tywin, Mirri and Magister Illyrio. With just one gold on his board. And no card. And for some stupid reason, I could NOT intimidate Mirri. I messed up my math. And I passed on my challenges to Chris with all of my guys kneeling, 6 powers on my house card and 4 on Bob. And Chris had Mirri standing. Bob was quickly killed and game was Chris's after the next 2-3 turns. I cursed myself for being stupid. With a planned second wildfire, I could have killed one of his 4 big characters, gone first and won the game.

MVP: My stupidity.

Tournament MVP: Wildfire Assault

Reaction to the tournament: This was a very well-run event. I got a lot of prizes from it. Of course, the Iron Throne playmat is the best possible prize that one can get. And I got one. I also met and made friends with lots of people. Congrats to Chris for winning the Nationals and Sean for making it to the final. I had a very good time there for the 2-day event. Well done, FFG!