
Dragon Clan
Tournament Deck
Greetings. This is a slight variation
of the deck I used in the San Diego ComicCon International '96 L5R Tournament.
In one of the greatest games of L5R I have ever played, I upset the tournament
favorite Ben Peck (yes the same one that does the art for L5R cards) and
his 'Crab deck from Hell' to win my first sword.
The reason it is not posted in it's original form is that
I have forgotten it's exact contents. Over time, different expansions were
released and I wanted to add new cards and so forth. However, I found that
the deck really didn't need any help with new sets. At most, I only ever
added 3-4 new cards from exansion sets following Shadowlands. These were
mostly to satisfy my urge to play with cool new Dragon Clan toys such as
Shiryo no Togashi.
I am now retiring this deck and trying to come up with
a new stategy to play Dragon under (it's been almost 2 years now). This
deck is a good deck, but it does require some skill to play. I find that
it's toughest opponent is a Lion Speed Deck because of its high honor personalities.
This deck is meant to be played as a reactionary deck. This means that
you do your thing and gain honor as fast as you can while observing your
opponent and preparing to deal with the specific threat that he/she is
presenting. Wait to interfere with your opponent until after he/she has
done something, and only Walk the Way after you see what you opponent is
doing and need to have the proper tools in hand.
Dynasty Deck- 44 cards
- 3 x Mirumoto Daini
- 3 x Togashi Yoshi
- 3 x Mirumoto Sukune
- 1 x Mirumoto Hitomi
- 1 x Toku
- 1 x Togashi Yokuni exp. (originally the non-exp
version but since been replaced)
- 1 x Togashi Hoshi (the most badass personality
in the game)
- 1 x Kitsuki Yasu (yes, only one, don't get overzealous
with this one)
- 1 x Hooded Ronin
- 1 x The Nameless One
- 1 x Isawa Tsuke
- 1 x Mamoru (this guy is a good defence dueler
and I can't tell you how valuable he has been to me)
- 1 x Togashi Gaijutsu (Ben autographed this an
Mamoru for me after the game)
1 x Imperial Gift
- 1 x Chrysanthemum Festival
- 1 x Inheritance
1 x Oracle of Fire (emerald edition- the one for dueling,
duh)
- 3 x Small Farm
- 3 x Gold Mine
- 3 x Iron Mine
- 3 x Blacksmiths
- 3 x Jade Works
- 3 x Sanctified Temple
- 2 x Diamond Mine
- 1 x Master Smith
Fate Deck- 39 cards
- 1 x Ancestral Sword of the Dragon Clan
- 1 x Tetsubo
- 1 x The Armor of the Golden Samurai (no one plays
Karmic Strike or Another Time on me)
- 1 x The Obsidian Hand
- 1 x The Jade Hand
- 2 x Star of Laramun (duh, hello?)
1 x Touch of Despair
- 1 x Stale Wind
- 1 x Secrets on the Wind
- 1 x Immortal Steel
- 3 x Walking the Way
- 3 x Force of Will
1 x Mirumoto House Gaurd
3 x Test of Honor
- 3 x Feign Death (new wording makes this card less
valuable for the deck strategy)
- 3 x Superior Tactics (this card is valuable in
so many ways)
- 3 x Test of Might
- 3 x Iaijutsu Duel
- 3 x Iaijutsu Challenge
- 3 x Shame (new wording makes this card less valuable
for the deck strategy)
Alternate Cards
- 1 x Plains of Otosan Uchi (I play with this card
now. Just add it straight in the deck)
- 1 x Test of the Emerald Champion (as above, add
it straight in or replace Chrysanthemum Festival)
- 1 x Togashi Mikoto (He was in just recently until
replaced by Hitomi. In the tournament, I used the experienced Hitomi. Mikoto
can be good with the Test of the Emerald Champion)
1 x His Most Favored (I used to use this one for a
short while. It has a high focus and can be good late in the game to get
fast honor)
- 1 x Shiryo no Togashi (I just added him straight
in)
- 1 x Golden Obi of the Sun Goddess (with the rewording
of Feign Death, I found this card very useful)
- 1 x Change of Loyalty (I used this card once because
of the dependency on unique personalities)
- 3 x Block Supply Lines (I took these out to make
room for other niftyness)
- 3 x Breach of Etiquette (These would be in for
sure if my fate deck were only 30 cards. But now that Shame is reworded,
maybe they can replace that card)
I recently pulled out the 3 Feign Deaths because of their
inability to save items. They can still be useful and I might throw one
back in, but since this deck is supposed to be retiring anyway...
To many players, this deck may look weak. In some instances
this is correct. Two of my most valuable cards for the deck design have
been reworded so as to make them not function as I originally planned.
Also, this deck incorporates only cards from Shadowlands and before (exception-
Togashi Yokuni). New cards present new strategies that this deck was never
designed for. You will notice a big lack of followers as well as the tendency
to have big personalities. This opens the deck up to cards like Stand Against
the Waves and Narrow Ground. One year ago, this deck was a powerhouse that
I rarely lost with. Now, it is time for it to be retired (for me at least)
in order that I might persue new strategies with my clan.
