January Winner - Brian "Aesir" Bodimer, New Brighton, PA
How long have you been playing Strategy/Trading Cards Games?
Oh forever now, I must have been about 12 when my brother and I first started playing Trading Card Games.
What are your favorite aspects of playing these types of games online?
You don't have to manage the physical cards, building new decks and sorting your collection is infinitely easier online than sifting through boxes upon boxes of cards looking for what you need. The other great thing about playing online is that there are always people around playing, I'm not bound by when my local card shop is open or when my friends and I can get together to play.
What peaked your interest into playing Legends of Norrath/How long have you been playing Legends of Norrath?
One of the guys on my TCG team, Team MVP, also plays EverQuest. So when Legends of Norrath was coming out he told the rest of us about it, I personally started playing near the end of October. One of the mechanics that interested me about Legends of Norrath was the separation of attack value and damage bonus.
What was your strategy going into this Championship Qualifier? Tell us a little about your deck(s), what makes it work, and why you chose that deck for the tournament.
My strategy was just to play my deck as well as I could. My team and I had managed to tweak my deck to the point where it worked well against all the major deck archetypes at the time. The keys to the deck were the Fanatic Inquisitors and Mayong Mistmoore, Evasive Foe. The Fanatic Inquisitors are so versatile, they're accelerants, disrupt opposing questers, and provide damage bonus when needed. Mayong Mistomore provides good damage, and his 'drawback' of returning to your hand often ends up being an asset, because you can re-play him to an open quest - oh, and he's a protector to top it off.
Can you go into detail of how the two days of competition went? Any memorable match-ups? Interesting decks that you saw others play?
On Day 1 there were a few Scout Avatar vs. Avatar, one Shadow Priest, one Fighter Fiery Avenger, and some "White Wall/Barbarian Hunter" decks I faced. On Day 2, I played two Fighter Barbarian Hunter decks with an Avatar vs. Avatar top end, a Fighter mixed faction aggro deck that also ran Fanatic Inquisitors like mine did, and in the last round I played a Shadow aggro Mage.
Can you give us some details on the final match with Fatchoy?
In the finals Fatchoy came at me with a light side Scout anti-aggro questing deck packing Deftdance and Entrap. It was a very hard match, but some fancy frenzy management to ensure that I tied combat when attacking from slaying the moon beasts, some luckily timed Disable draws, and the seven protectors in my deck let me win the match.
How did it feel to win?
Amazing!
What will you do with the Championship Qualifier prize money?
Set aside enough to buy a box of boosters for the next set when it's released, the rest will probably just go to paying for school.
;)
Have you ever been to Gen Con Indy before?
Yes, I played in several major TCG events held there last year.
What do you expect to see at Gen Con Indy from the field of players?
Not really sure, I would expect to see some of the strong contenders in the current metagame, big Priest quest, Scout and Fighter Avatar vs. Avatar decks, maybe some Priest suicide Avatar vs. Avatar, a bit of Mage control, and a smattering of aggro decks, both mixed and shadow faction.
Anyone you would like to thank in helping you achieve this win?
My brother, for hours of play testing, and helping me tune my deck.
Aesir’s Deck List Avatar: Archetype: Priest Name: SirPriestikins Attack: 1 Defense: 3 Health: 11 Game Text: [MAIN] Exert this avatar and pay 3 power >> Your units may raid from a quest an additional time this turn. Quests: 1x Foarging Stormhealer Armor 1x Tenacity of the Dark Reign 1x Vengeful Musicians 1x Beware of Ogres Draw deck: 50 Abilities: 17 (34%) 4x Cannibalize 4x Enduring Breath 4x Assualt 3x Disable 2x Courage Tactics: 6 (12%) 4x Hammer of Wrath 2x Cascade of Hail Items: 3 (6%) 3x Steel Dagger Units: 24 (48%) 4x Dwarven Soldier 4x Furious Beserker 4x Galebreaker Maiden 4x Fanatic Inquisitor 3x Mayong Mistmoore, Evasive Foe 3x Orc Fanatic 2x Froglok Outlander KEY CARDS: - Mayong Mistmore, Evasive Foe - Cannibalize - Tenacity of the Dark Reign
