The Only Tournament that Matters

by Tzumainn Chen

The worst moment during the dual tourneys came when someone figured out my grand strategy. "I got it!" Jeff Peterson shouted. "You're cheating! You're hiding cards up your sleeve, and you're wearing a short-sleeved shirt to throw us all off the track!"

Aw man, I thought as I grabbed my power counters, prepared to fling them in my accuser's face as I ran a mad dash out of the tourney hall. Then he laughed to show that he was kidding. I unclenched my counters and grinned nervously in reply. Phew. My secret was safe, and the ironic thing? I had forgotten to account for my sweaty armpits. The hidden cards were all drenched, smelly, and useless!

Since my primary strategy had failed, I turned to my secondary plan — the cards in my decks.

The Melee

My melee deck features The Eyrie and the multiplayer agenda (The Only Game that Matters). It was originally 66 cards… but then I spent the night before the melee updating my website with Core Set and A Song of Summer spoilers. I only slept for four hours, and woke in an incoherent haze, determined to perfect my deck. Thirty minutes before the melee started, I decided that I couldn't live without Paper Shields and Put to the Questions. And Ser Davos Seaworth (Five Kings). And, since you have to balance your cost reducers, one more Narrow Sea.

That brought my deck size up to 72 cards. Many people would consider this to be anathema, but I'm a firm believer that it's better to be lucky than to be good. And if you believe that, what do extra cards represent? Necessary offerings to the fickle deities of Fortune.

Here's the heart of my deck; other than The Eyrie and the agenda, these are the only cards that consistently mattered:

The Red Queen's Host x3
I Swore it Thrice x2
Shadow Play x2
Chamber of the Painted Table x2

Yep, it's a power manipulation deck. Why this strategy? Because I believe that the most important goal in a melee (besides claiming 15 power) is to avoid the appearance of being the primary threat. As long as power stays on your opponent's characters, they will be a bigger danger than you; and as long as you can take that power at any time, you can assure yourself a pretty good finish.

Was this a winning strategy? I wasn't sure, but I thought that I could consistently steal a 2nd place finish at a table, and maybe luck into a 1st place finish in order to make it into the final table.

There were also a few general melee strategies that I tried to keep in mind:

Don't be afraid to talk — If you want something, don't be afraid to ask someone for it; as I learned in high school, the worst thing that can happen is that they'll say no.
Don't be afraid to negotiate — The world turns on quid pro quo. Although I think game-long alliances are bad form, minor deals are necessary to shore up your position.
Keep your word — If you make a deal, keep to it. Breaking your word means people will no longer trust you. Worse, it causes bad feelings.
Actions speak louder than words — If you think player X is a threat, but don't do anything about it, why should other people believe you? Sometimes it's worth exposing your own position just to show people that you're serious about what you say.

Round 1

John Bruno — Stark/The Only Game that Matters
Wade Freeman — Baratheon/Brothers at War
Mike P — Targaryen/True Queen
Me — Baratheon/The Only Game that Matters

People at this table sat down terrified of the person on my left — John Bruno, 2005 World Champion. But the tides shift fast in a melee, and after the first marshalling phase, we shifted our attentions to Wade Freeman. Wade deployed a ton of locations, a bunch of characters, and worst of all — Ser Davos Seaworth (Five Kings). John and I worked to reduce this threat: I used Shadow Play on Davos and sent a military challenge Wade's way, and then John initiated a military challenge against me so I could kill Davos. Everyone (except for Wade) breathed a sigh of relief.

After this inital fright, the game settled down. I was secretly delighted that Wade was playing a renown heavy deck, since that meant that there would be lots of power for me to pilfer. As it turns out, that's exactly what happened, and I stole the victory before John could reset the board with Winter Has Come.

Point total: 10

Round 2

John Peterson — Martell/The Only Game that Matters
Jeff Benton — Targaryen
?? — Targaryen (Classic)
Me — Baratheon/The Only Game that Matters

This table featured an oddity — a player with a classic Targaryen deck that contained nothing more recent than A Crown of Suns. Apparently, some returning players signed up for the event without knowing about the Standard rotation. Ktom ruled that he could play, but would automatically claim 4th place at the table.

John quickly took the lead with The Red Viper (Winter) and a renown-enhanced Arianne Martell (Iron Throne). When it became clear that he would win, I shifted my attention towards second place. Jeff Benton almost won this secondary battle with a last-minute Robert Baratheon (Winter) and a self-inflicted Blood Magic. Fortunately, a Put to the Question took care of that, and I took second with I Swore it Thrice.

Point total: 16

Round 3

Katie — Stark
Sam Tham — Greyjoy/Kings of Salt and Rock
Mike P — Targaryen/True Queen
Me — Baratheon/The Only Game That Matters

There were two immediate problems at this table: I had played Mike in round 1, so he knew exactly what my deck did. Worse I knew exactly what Sam's deck did, since I had loaned him one My Life For Conquest before the melee had started. And as the 2007 World Champion, I had no doubt that Sam could pull off the Greyjoy rush. I had no choice but to rely on my most reliable weapon… my big mouth.

"You know," I said, "it's the quiet Asians you have to look out for. They're sneaky. I'm waaay too loud to be a real threat!" Sam looked up, all wounded innocence. "What is the noisy Asian talking about?"

Well, I'll have to show them what I'm talking about. On the first turn, I left myself open in order to intrigue him — and pulled a My Life For Conquest. Still, Julie and Mike were not convinced that Sam was a danger until the end of the second round. At that point, Sam was sitting on 8 power or so.

From then on, Sam's experience could best be described as "An Insult of Intrigue" as we quickly emptied his hand and watched cards such as Bragging Rights and Lion in a Cage fall out. Still, as we began the final round of our game, Sam had 13 power, and Katie was not far behind. Sam played a Bounty of the Realm to replenish his hand.

I played Benjen's Cache. "Can you find something to stop Sam?" Mike. I looked at Sam's position and noted that most of his power resided on Fishwhiskers and Asha Greyjoy. "Sure can," I said as I pulled out a second Shadow Play to join the one already in my hand. The game ended in my favor pretty quickly after that.

With two 1st place showings and one 2nd, I had top seed — but that meant nothing. Final placing would depend solely on the results of the final table.

Point total: 26

Final Table

Jeff Peterson — Martell/The Only Game that Matters
Johnathan Benton — Targaryen
Chris Brazfield — Lannister/The Only Game that Matters
Me — Baratheon/The Only Game that Matters

As it turns out, my second round must have been extremely competitive, since three of the four players from that table made it to the finals. The exception was the classic player, who was replaced by a very dangerous Chris Brazfield. Chris made it to the finals with a House that no one thought would do well, and that spoke to the strength and cunning of his deck.

One saving grace was that John had won the second round table, a fact that I was happy to point out to Chris. We focused our attentions on him, a fact that enabled me to survive despite having only being able to play a total of three characters through the first three rounds. Better still, John kept creeping upwards in power, which allowed me to creep right up there behind him. And best of all, one of my three characters was The Red Queen's Host. The Asshai army allowed me to move power from both John and Chris onto their “cannot be killed” characters. That mean that I was practically guaranteed targets for my power stealing effects.

At the beginning of the fifth round, John was at 12 or 13 power, while I had 11. Sadly, Chris had attached a Mad With Power to my King Stannis Baratheon, so instead of needing 4 power, I actually needed 6. Worse, both Jeff and Chris recognized me as an immediate threat, and while John could weather multiple challenges, I could not. And with Jeff going first with a Knights of the Value on his side, I knew that in all likelihood, I needed to win before a single challenge went off.

This is what I did: during my marshalling, I played Littlefinger from A House of Talons, revealing Jeff's hand and using up his Blood Magic that he had earlier revealed with Massing at Twilight. Then, praying that no one had a Paper Shield, I played two I Swore it Thrice to take a total of four power from Jeff's Small Paul and Chris's Band of Free Folk.

I was at 15 power, but needed two more, thanks to Mad With Power. Thankfully, I had one last trick, one which I had drawn that very turn: I knelt 1 influence and played Stripped of Honors, discarding Mad With Power. Stannis regained his senses and finally claimed the throne that was his by rights.

I sat there in a daze as people shook my hand and congratulated me on my victory. The chances of me drawing the one card I needed to deal with Mad With Power were not great, and yet it had happened. Better lucky than good…

The Joust

During last year's joust, Will Lentz destroyed me with a Lannister deck featuring Tywin Lannister from A House of Talons. During that game, I stared at my knelt characters and locations in complete and utter humiliation, knowing that there was nothing I could do. The feeling of helplessness gnawed at me throughout the year, and my fifth psychiatrist told me that the only possible cure was to inflict Tywin on others. That felt right, so I built my own Tywin deck.

Like my melee deck, my joust deck was originally 66 cards. But I spent the night before the joust updating my site with spoilers for The Winds of Winter, and only slept for three hours. When I woke up, I knew I had to add one Azor Ahai Born Again. And two Paper Shields. And a Rich Lands and a Keep. However, I did manage to take out a few cards as well, and so my deck ended up a svelte 68 cards.

Round 1: Chris Brazfield — Martell

Having built a Martell deck to test against, I knew that the House of the Sun and Spear was still an opponent to be greatly feared, even with the premature rotation of The Prince's Loyalist. The Red Viper, Arianne Martell, Locked in the Tower, Injurious Poison, The Scorpion's Sting — none of these cards make for a relaxing playing experience.

Fortunately for me, my deck executed perfectly. In round 2 I marshalled Tywin with a duplicate, and I continually drew the needed kneel effects to keep Chris's board locked down. I crawled to the victory in round 5 or 6.

Record: 1 - 0

Round 2: Lucas Reed — Targaryen/Defenders of the North

I saw Luke's deck in action again and again during the top 8, and all I can say is that I'm fortunate that his deck misfired during our match. Luck trumped skill, as Luke did not get a single doomed card into his dead pile until it was far too late for him. As for me, I drew exactly what I needed when I needed it — The Iron Throne after he played The Riverlands, a kneel effect after he plopped down a dragon.

Record: 2 - 0

Round 3: Will Lentz — Lannister

Oh, the cruel ironies of life! The man who scarred me last year returned to inflict his stinging insanities upon me once again. But this time, I had some hope that I could return the favor.

My Tywin Lannister came out first, and I started off with an early power lead. But since Will was also playing a Tywin deck, my Tywin helped him almost as much as he helped me. In the late rounds, our boards were a mass of permanently knelt people, and the difference? He had two Pyromancer's Cache that he could use each and every turn. Slowly but surely, Will played more and more characters while denying me the use of my own, and in the end, his deck proved superior.

Record: 2 – 1

Round 4: Mike P. — Greyjoy/Kings of Salt and Rock

I knew I was in for a tough fight when Mike flopped a Saltspear, which was soon joined by another. Worse yet was Balon Greyjoy (Iron Throne) armed with a Hooked Trident.

All I could do was try and use up his protective effects before his squids rushed for the victory. I ended up with one more kneel card than he had cancel, and Balon sat for the rest of the game. Having successfully blunted the rush, I carefully played out the rest of the game for the win.

Record: 3 – 1

Round 5: Matt Ley — Martell

At the time, Matt and I both thought that this was a bubble match: the victor goes on to the top 8, while the loser sits. Our games have always been close, and we both felt a little extra pressure.

I rocketed out of the gate, with Tywin, Cersei, and Joffrey all determined to do some damage. An Azor Ahai Born Again on Tywin got me to 12 power, and with his board almost completely knelt and locked down, I figured that the victory was mine.

Sadly for me, Matt's decks are so tightly constructed that he has an answer for almost everything. And in this case, his answers were Jaqen H'ghar and The Red Viper (Five Kings). The Vengeful keyword is a good solution for Tywin, and Matt started gaining power while I stalled. But he had two Others plots in his used pile, and if I could survive long enough for him to play Winter Has Come, I knew I would be in good shape…

To my delight, the game lasted to the seventh round. I looked at his plot expectantly — and saw First Snow of Winter. His plot deck was one giant bluff, one that I had fallen for, and there was nothing I could do to stop him from winning.

Record: 3 - 2

I had just missed the top 8 cut, which was actually a bit of a relief. Lack of sleep was starting to render me incoherent, and the thought of grabbing some food was quite attractive. Except…

…Except there was no top 8 cut; there was a top 9. John Kraus and I had the exact same record and the exact same strength of schedule. With no way to determine who should be allowed to take the eigth seed, Ktom ruled that we would play a one-game playoff.

Playoff: John Kraus — Martell

This match felt a lot like my first joust game against Chris Brazfield. Again, my deck executed perfectly, and I suspect that John had some unlucky draws. The Red Viper (Winter) made an unexpected appearance — on my side! — and quickly closed the game out for me. I had made it into the top 8.

Quarterfinals: Jon Chabot — Martell

Jon was the first seed overall, and the only player with a perfect record of five victories. We both knew each other's deck intimately, but I thought that in this instance, that was a bigger advantage for me than for him.

I was lucky enough to flop several locations to foil a potential first-turn Whose Name May Not Be Spoken. Tywin Lannister stormed out, protected by Paper Shields and Put to the Questions. At the same time, Queen Cersei claimed power with a lustful glee, empowered by the Seal of the Hand.

I was in a commanding position, but knew that I would have to win the game before Jon played Winter Has Come and locked down the board with Broken Arms. I used Benjen's Cache to unearth Azor Ahai Born Again, and prayed that Jon would not draw a cancel.

He didn't, and Tywin Lannister rode away with the victory.

Semifinals: Matt Ley — Martell

All of my games against Matt are close; all of them, that is, except for this one. I remember nothing about this match except being completely and utterly outclassed. Luck will only carry you so far, and I was fortunate that it carried me as far as it did.

Matt waited nearly four hours before playing in the finals against Luke Reed, who was the ultimate joust champion. The other semifinalist was Jeff Benton. We both decided not to play for third place, which Jeff took based on his seeding. His deck would almost definitely have beaten mine, and I was very happy to claim fourth overall in the joust.

To Wear a Crown

Word first reached me during the break before the top 8 joust playoffs. Players who had peeked at the overall points standings said that I was the next World Champion, and that there was no possibility of anyone else catching up to me. I smiled nervously in reply, refusing to hear a word of it until the standings became official. Then the joust finished, and Morgan announced the standings for the overall World Champion. In fourth was Josh Staton… in third was Chris Brazfield… John Benton…

And then it was my name being called out.

It would be a lie to say that I didn't want the World Championship. I have played against each and every World Champion — Casey Galvan, Greg Atkinson, Matt Ley, John Bruno, Sam Tham, and Lucas Reed — and always been impressed by their quality of play and quality of sportsmanship. And having met and played with many other people in this community, I think I can confidently predict that next year's champion will be of similar character. Joining the ranks of these champions, future and past, is a special honor.

It would also be a lie to say that I could have won this on my own. I am fortunate enough to play with two different local metas, one in Boston and in New York. Without players such as Ethan Eisdorfer, Chris Macias, and Jay Kenney, my decks would be a confused pile of junk. I'm especially thankful to Jon Chabot; we played for hours and hours over AIM while I traveled from Boston to New York to Chicago. I must also thank Andy Wong, whose strict deck discipline taught me to run as small a deck as I could possibly manage.

Finally, it would be a complete, utter, and devastating lie to say that any of this would be possible without the support of my wife, who not only allows me to play, but encourages it; who, despite her dislike of the game (“it's too mean”), will sit down and pick up a deck if she sees me playing by myself.

Hopefully, I'll be back next year to defend my crown. Can I do it? Precedent says no, and I agree. Still, the trip is always worth it just to meet and play with the community, and…

Nothing beats it. Nothing beats the thrill of entering the competitive lists, of watching the Great Houses wage bloody war and betrayal, of reversing your fate with a single flip of a plot, of feeling the rush as you play to win or to die.