Imperial Herald: Vol. 2 No. 2: Walking the Way: Decks Designed

Walking the Way

Decks Designed

Decks Designed by D.J.Trindle, Colin Edwards,
Allan Seyberth, Peale Chuang, and Justin Berman

Je ne Seikua

A Monk deck by D.J. Trindle (and Dave Williams, even though he'd rather not admit to being a party to it).

Deck thesis: Who says you need a 30-card Fate deck? Dump your Fate hand by turn 2 or 3, use the Stronghold ability to put the Ring of the Void into play and play five Fate cards every turn for the rest of the game!

A variant of this deck, discussion of which has popped up on the net recently, has a Fate deck made up of the Ring of Void and every Lesser Oni you can get your hands on.

D.J. Trindle's Je Ne Seikua" Deck

Dynasty Deck (55 Cards)

Regions

Holdings

Personalities

Fate Deck (65 Cards)

Items

Followers

Actions

Exploding Crane Deck

A Crane deck by Allan Seyberth

The infamous "Exploding Crane Deck" was Allan Seyberth's tiicket to winning the LSR tournament at Ghengis Con. Congratulations to Allan, the self-proclaimed Lion Clan Corrupted Prophet on his victory.

Allan Seyberth's "Exploding Crane" Deck

Dynasty Deck

Fate Deck

Lion Speed Deck with a Twist

A Lion deck by Justin Berman

This LSD with a Twist designed by Justin has gone 7-3 so far. Recently it took 1st place in the lower bracket of a sword tournament in Pontoon Beach, FL. In Justin's own words now... "The deck is your basic LSD, but with a twist. The standard Charges and Strength of Purities are in the fate deck. These allow the versatile Matsu Gohei and Matsu Agetoki to perform quickly. Matsu Chokoku is there in the event of a first round Breach of Etiquette. Toku helps get the Favor, and Morito Tokei is there to cast the Black Scroll. Kitsu is especially powerful with the Focus cards as Tactician bait, and is relatively immune from ranged attacks with the addition of Spearmen. The Forced Marches assist in the taking of multiple Provinces. If all goes as planned, your opponent will be down on provinces quickly. If the game goes longer, A Terrible Oath can be placed on Morito Tokei resulting in his and Toku's destruction. This will give a permanent 2F/-1C to all your personalities in play.

Inheritance, of course, gets you money. Imperial Gift gives you honor and a weapon, or alternatively a Focus or Merchant Caravan. There Is No Hope eliminates the Iris Festival - a must when A Terrible Oath is cast - and Chrysanthemum Festivals. Doom of the Phoenix destroys troublesome spells.

The deck is somewhat vulnerable to honor loss as-is, but Justin suggests swapping one Superior Tactics and one Refugees for Lies, Lies, Lies, or Defend Your Honor if it proves to be a problem.

Justin Bennan's "Lion Speed Deck with a Twist"

Dynasty Deck

Fate Deck

There Is No Hope

A Junzo deck by Peale Chuang

Another tournament winner, Peale's There Is No Hope deck won the L5R tournament held at CyberCon.

Peale Chuang's There Is No Hope

Dynasty Deck

Events

Holdings

Personalities

Fate Deck

Rings

Actions

Followers

Spells

The Doom of the Crane

A Crab deck by Colin Edwards

This deck is 15-1 in tournament play. It won two tournaments, and placed second in the third.

"This deck was designed in response to the observation that the tournament scene was being dominated by highly defensive run-for-honor decks. This is a deck designed to beat those decks.

The strength of this deck is in the events; they will do the bulk of the work for you. Try never to engage your opponent directly in a battle; pick off the undefended Provinces first with Traversable Terrain. When you do have to fight, use Sneak Attack Deadly Ground, and Crushing Attack to seal a victory.

This deck is quite vulnerable to dedicated dishonor decks, and that is its greatest weakness. It can pretty much roll over anything else."

Colin Edwards' The Doom of the Crane Deck

Dynasty Deck

Fate Deck

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