Topic: [TCG] Part 5 - Mixed Martial Arts (Read 1341 times)

Nina Illingworth · « **on:** July 30, 2009, 04:00:36 AM »

Hey guys sorry this took so long but here’s the 5th article. Unfortunately real life, work, running an online shop and my health have conspired to make this a couple of days later than I wanted it to. As always it’s way too long because I have no editors! Enjoy:

The Cardboard Geisha CE Article 5:
All Decked Out Part 3 – CE Dragon Hybrid/Weapon Military

“It is said that his enemies would go blind from over-exposure to sheer awesomeness!” – Po the Panda, Kung-Fu Panda

When it comes to the art of L5R deck design, one of the few constants I have observed over the years is the idea that you can’t fight the cards. Every clan or deck-type has its own strengths/weaknesses and a good deck builder will quickly learn to accentuate/mask these traits as necessary. This is particularly important at the start of an arc, when a smaller card base may very well present problems that a given clan/deck-type may be unable to solve. In other words a builder must “make due with what’s been given” and “meta the crap out of anything you can’t beat otherwise!”

Hello ladies and gentlemen, my name is Nina Illingworth and welcome to another installment of The Cardboard Geisha. For those of you just joining us; this is part 3 of an ongoing series of articles about the decks that may help define the early Celestial Edition environment Entitled “All Decked Out”, this series is designed to act as a starting point for players both new and old to jump right into Celestial Edition. I mention the above point at the outset because I think it’s important in any discussion about a Dragon deck in early Celestial to accept that there are a number of things the Dragon simply aren’t very good at. For starters they are not particularly fast; a problem exacerbated by the clan’s teeming legion of near worthless boxable personalities. The simple truth is that blank cards don’t help you win games, no matter how appealing their traits/stat lines are. This forces the Dragon builder to focus entirely on personalities that cost 2 and 3 holdings; losing both the speed and dynasty smoothing effect boxables provide. Additionally Dragon’s traditional lack of focus has most definitely carried over into Celestial Edition. I count 3 completely separate, partially supported deck-types in the base set alone; Weapon (Kensai) Military, Monk Military and Magistrate Dueling Honor. When you factor in an Enlightenment sub-theme you’re left with a series of half finished deck ideas that must be mashed together until such a time as the cards necessary to complete them are printed. While it’s true this type of combining gives a deck access to a whole range of new options; it also reduces consistency and once again speed.

In light of these problems it would be tempting to assume that Dragon simply does not have what it takes to build competitive CE decks. This assumption however would ignore both the clan’s superior mid game personality base and its utter dominance in the Battle phase. A comfortable blend of big force and battle removal; Dragon military plays like a Crab/Lion hybrid (albeit slower than Lion and less resilient than Crab). Yes, these decks take longer to set up than most but heaven help the opponent standing in the way once they do. With access to both battle Kihos and weapon based removal actions there’s quite literally no personality a Dragon army can’t kill or contain. When chained to superior card cycle and a stronghold that allows you to take consecutive battle actions these attributes make for a very formidable opponent in battle. This ability to take multiple actions while mixing and matching styles to brutalize enemy units feels sort of like a Kung-Fu brawl and it’s why I call the deck “Mixed Martial Arts”

As always please keep in mind that I’m not suggesting that this is the only or even most competitive Dragon deck in Celestial Edition. It is however a studied attempt to maximize Dragon’s strengths while simultaneously masking it’s built-in weaknesses against faster decks. Ultimately even if you disagree with my card choices any Dragon deck that hopes to be successful in CE will have to answer these same questions. Let’s start with a deck-list and brief explanations of why each card was chosen before we move on to a short play-guide packed with tips to help you start playing immediately.

Mixed Martial Arts: CE Dragon Hybrid Military

1x Pillars of Virtue – In a deck designed to dominate the battle phase the ability to take consecutive battle actions borders on ridiculous. While it’s true that all good military decks should have some way of stealing/controlling tempo; Pillars of Virtue allows you to do so without spending additional fate cards! If you intend to enter battle phases with a Dragon deck there’s little reason to choose any other stronghold.
1x Border Keep – Unlike most decks in Celestial Edition; “MMA” uses Border Keep primarily to set up its gold scheme during the first two turns. The high overall gold cost of both the Fate and Dynasty decks often forces the use of both mulligan actions by your 2nd turn; just to find enough gold. If you do manage to save the 2nd mulligan action you’ll likely spend it on turn 2 anyways to find either a Monk or a high Chi personality who can duel.

1x Bamboo Harvesters – For a card you’ll put into play in less than half your matches at a large tournament, Bamboo Harvesters is oddly important. While going second hardly makes a deck “faster”, it does make establishing a strong gold base much easier when you play Harvesters. “MMA” benefits greatly from being able to buy an extra dragging holding on turn 2; allowing it to flood the board on later turns against honor decks and increasing the number of available early defenders against military decks.

1x Inheriting an Heirloom – This card is better in Dragon Military than most decks because it synergizes well with cards you were already going to play (weapons). In a deck running Ishino, Satobe, Ishikura, Yarijutsu and 9 weapons (+1 Armor) to trigger them; there’s no logical reason to leave this event out of the design.

1x Imperial Census – One of 3 key meta events designed to bog down decks “MMA” would otherwise be too slow to deal with; in this case Blitz/Swarm Boxable Military and classic Rocket Honor. Remember because Census resolves immediately and prevents boxables from straightening on their controller’s next Straighten phase, it usually nets you a massive 2 turn advantage against these deck-types. There aren’t many cards I consider “environment defining” in early Celestial Edition but Imperial Census is definitely one of them.

1x The New Order – In an environment where Honor decks can hit 30+ honor before you’re allowed to generate a real attack phase, some sort of stall effect is highly beneficial. For a deck as slow as “MMA” it’s really not optional. While the cost of destroying a province is significant, when weighed against the extra 1.5 or so turns it gives you in an otherwise un-winnable match it instantly becomes easier to swallow.

1x The War of Dark Fire – Did I mention that this deck has a hard time beating honor? Arguably better than The New Order; The War of Dark Fire can severely disrupt any type of Honor deck if it resolves at the right time (after turn 2 and before he’s crossed 40). Like Census, the fact that this card stops most honor gains for an entire cycle (your turn AND his, outside of battles) often makes it game wrecking.

3x Diamond Mine – Possibly the most important holding in the deck, an early Diamond Mine goes a long way towards making the Dynasty side of MMA work. With 9 personalities who effectively cost 5G, 5 personalities who cost 7G, a 9G unique and 2 Barley Farms to help make even numbers for the rest of the deck; it’s a rare game where you won’t find a use for a purchased Diamond Mine.

3x Secluded Outpost – While it’s tempting to play Border Village in the slot (because it’s cheaper/less clunky), sheer math makes Outpost the obvious choice. In a deck with this much card cycle and 9 attachments that cost 4G it’s fairly common for a single Outpost to buy 4-5 attachments over the course of a game. This in turn adds up to a staggering 16-20 extra gold overall; the kind of numbers that make deck-building choices *for* you!

3x Gold Mine – While many decks in Celestial Edition live or die based on their ability to find a clan holding; Dragon’s synergy with Diamond Mine and a shortage of 3GC effects make it less important in Mixed Martial Arts. That’s not to say the holding isn’t useful; ultimately buying Gold Mine and a meta holding that makes 2 on turn 1 is actually better than buying a Diamond Mine. It’s also harder to find 2 holdings than it is to find 1 and generally the deck functions fine on either option.

2x Barley Farm – A valuable card in a deck that runs Rout; Barley Farm is also too useful for paying gold costs in “MMA” to live without. This smoothing effect is so important that I often find myself hoping to turn over a Barley Farm well into the mid-game. In a world without Unfamiliar Ground, this deck runs 3 copies of this card and a Counting House instead of the 2x Akodo’s Grave.

2x Akodo’s Grave – As mentioned above, Unfamiliar Ground presents a huge obstacle for a big unit weapon deck like Mixed Martial Arts. While in most cases making your personalities 5F+ with weapons helps to protect them, it can single-handedly cost you armies/battles/games against Unfamiliar Ground. While the cost of having to sacrifice it is a downside, losing the entire game to a cheesy terrain is simply not an option. As an added bonus Akodo’s Grave also destroys Mountains of the Phoenix; another terrain that can frustrate this deck.

1x Traveling Peddler – While this deck contains a number of ways to “cycle” cards it actually has very few methods of simply drawing a card. While cycle is wonderful for creating the perfect hand; it’s not very helpful when you desperately need to draw more cards without spending any. Worth cycling/pitching like mad for; Traveling Peddler can win you entire games all by itself by generating huge card advantage.

3x Mirumoto Ishino – Probably the best personality in the Samurai half of the build; Ishino synergizes perfectly with a deck like Mixed Martial Arts. For starters as a 7G Samurai he triggers Low Stance and agrees with Imperial Census. At 4/3 for a real cost of 5G (this is not an honor deck) with a rock solid battle action he fits perfectly into a mid game military deck. The fact that he allows you to cycle away useless cards in battle while giving out force penalties and potentially bowing personalities regardless of size or attachments makes Ishino a game breaker. Unfortunately his Kensai trait is useless in this build (and Celestial in general) because early CE strongly discourages putting multiple attachments on a single personality. It also doesn’t help that there are about 10 good weapons for a deck like this and that’s counting Fubatsu Blade as “good”, a questionable stance at best.

3x Mirumoto Satobe – Another 4/3 Samurai with a battle action for 5G; Satobe is an exceptional card but only when he as a weapon attached. The ability to destroy any attachment in an enemy army is surprisingly awesome in early Celestial. Even the +1F bonus can be useful, allowing Satobe to menace some provinces by himself. On the downside in a deck with only 9 Weapons (10 if you count Kei’s ability to give him a weapon as she comes into play) it’s hard to guarantee Satobe will have a weapon. Even more difficult is keeping weapons on him once you do attach them, since he makes a great target for Rout.

2x Togashi Osawa – With 12 Kiho and 3 Tattoos in the fate deck, the simple truth is; this deck needs Tattooed Monks. Probably a minimum of 9 and frankly if the deck had room, I’d rather be at 10 or 11 of the little bald monsters. The problem of course is that most of the Monk personalities in the Dragon Clan are utterly terrible, Osawa being no exception. Ultimately this last slot was a dead heat between Osawa, Togashi Gato and Togashi Chunoken; which is sort of like watching 3 one legged men try to win a foot race. Eventually I decided Osawa’s ability to lobby for the favor and still attack, combined with a bad Spearhead effect was the “better” option.

1x Kitsuki Hanbei – Despite his “honor deck” stat line and the Magistrate trait; Hanabei combines perfectly with the Monk half of MMA. His ability to dish out -3F as an Open action helps increase the range and power of cards like Hand of Osano-Wo, Falling Leaf Strike, Kami Unleashed, Viper Tattoo, The Hundred-Hand Strike and even Yarijutsu. While hardly a front line military personality, Hanabei’s 4C and Samurai trait can be useful in a pinch for playing Steel on Steel or Low Stance respectively.

3x Kuronada – At this point Kuronada has been featured in so many Dragon decks that you can almost visualize him with a gold border. While it’s true the overall decline of the Kensai trait and his lack of a battle action reduce his value in Celestial; it’s also true that his ability to execute 5Chi Clan Champions in duels is more important than ever now. Additionally, it’s difficult to ignore the value of a 4F Tactician in a deck with 18 Focus 4’s and 9 attachments that can directly contribute to his force.

1x Bayushi Ishikura – Another personality who makes frequent guest appearances in Dragon Military Decks; Ishikura makes the cut because reusable kill actions are worth paying 7G for. With a built in “Yarijutsu” type effect and the ability to mimic Satobe when facing a Follower deck, you’d be hard pressed to find a better personality in-clan. Remember that even without a weapon, Ishikura can always bow to destroy a Taoist Archer. While this maneuver won’t net you much force; it can help restrict the enemy’s options in battle.

3x Togashi Shiori – The key non-unique personality on the Monk side of MMA; Shiori is the glue that holds the deck together. Not only does she have a solid on-board battle action but she’s also 4F and triggers all the right actions on your fate-side. Shiori is particularly effective in Pillars of Virtue builds because she can cast a Kiho and then react to take a second relevant battle action without spending a fate card, creating tempo and pseudo card advantage out of thin air. With 15 cards that require the Monk and/or Tattooed traits; she’s pretty much an auto-include in this deck.

3x Togashi Sho – One of the stranger personalities in the deck, I find that the key to making Sho a relevant personality is playing one of your 3 copies of Kami Unleashed as soon as possible. This will send any copies of Sho in play to 7+F immediately and make any additional copies you purchase 7F as well. Typically this maneuver will require a Monk with an attachment to make the Kami Unleashed relevant, but not always. For example; you would still play Kami Unleashed if it said “Make a ranged 4 attack and give your target Monk +3F.” As a 7F Tattooed Monk for 6G Sho is incredible; providing both cheap force and drawing your opponent’s actions away from personalities with printed Battle Actions. As a blank 4/3 however he compares poorly to Togashi Osawa; a difficult “accomplishment” in it’s own right.

1x Togashi Nakahara – The absolute best card on either side of the deck, Nakahara can break games wide open if your opponent doesn’t find a way to kill him. Not only does he generate real card advantage in battle but he doesn’t cost you any tempo to do so and he stacks your fate deck for future draw/cycle effects. In fact, during a recent test game I found myself in awe at Nakahara’s ability to actually *generate* tempo through his battle action:

Turn 4 my opponent attacks with Hiruma Aiko, Hiruma Seiko, Hiruma Gohachiro and a Hida Hikita with a farmlands token. He’s targeted the province with a Recon action, so both of the boxables are “live”. Both sides have already taken a province; forcing me to defend with Nakahara and a Kuronada with a Fubatsu Blade. My stronghold is unbowed but with no Kiho in my hand I’m forced to shoot blind into my fate deck with Nakahara’s ability as my first action. I fish out The Hundred-Hand Strike from the top 5 cards of my fate deck and give Nakahara -1F to bow Hiruma Seiko (and reduce her force to 0). I then react with Pillars of Virtue to take another action; bowing the Fubatsu Blade to destroy Gohachiro with a Yarijutsu. Finally I use the additional action granted by The Hundred-Hand Strike to launch a Steel on Steel between Kuronada and Hikita; winning easily because I stacked my focus pool with The Hundred-Handed Strike. Needless to say, I won this battle.

Don’t forget that Nakahara’s battle action doesn’t require an opposing army to perform, allowing you to draw Kiho/Tattoo cards while stacking your fate deck even against an opponent who won’t engage you. At 5/3 for a real cost of 7G, there’s really not a lot to complain about here; except maybe that Dragon doesn’t have more Monks like Nakahara.

1x Oishi – Yet another out of clan personality who fits perfectly into Mixed Martial Arts, Oishi is a natural inclusion in a deck with 18 focus 4 cards and 3 Steel on Steels. Whether he’s destroying naked personalities, blowing up huge attachments or dueling key units to death; Oishi is an absolute threshing machine in battle. Unfortunately the 2/2 Samurai he creates has a gold cost of 0, making it almost worthless in a deck with both Census and Fury.

1x Mirumoto Kei Exp 2 – While others may choose to focus on Kei’s lack of exciting abilities compared to other Clan Champions, I prefer to focus on the considerable power she brings to the table. There’s absolutely nothing “boring” about a 7F Cavalry Tactician who also has 6C (thanks to a free Weapon), the Duelist trait and an onboard fatal duel. On the downside; MMA’s gold scheme and Kei’s 10HR mean it’s very difficult to buy her on turn 2 like other militant Clan Champions. Additionally, Dragon’s overall lack of “death meta” means your opponent WILL kill her once he can engage her in an army.

3x Yarijutsu – One of 3 key fate-side “Kill” actions, Yarijutsu blends perfectly into the “Weapons” half of Mixed Martial Arts. Extremely versatile, this card cuts right through Followers and can be triggered by a bowed personality (so long as he has an unbowed weapon). Additionally, a bowed Weapon still contributes force to its personality; significantly reducing your chances of losing the game to a well timed Strength of the Bamboo. Finally; because Yarijutsu’s targeting mechanic is the force of the opposing personality it combines remarkably well with force reduction cards like Kitsuki Hanbei, Falling Leaf Strike and The Hundred-Hand Strike.

3x Hand of Osano-Wo – A highly misunderstood/under-appreciated card, Hand of Osano-Wo finds a home in MMA because of its versatility. How else would you describe an action capable of destroying an opposing attachment, killing an enemy personality AND triggering your stronghold reaction; all at the same time and for free?! Remember that much like Yarijutsu, Hand of Osano-Wo can and probably should be combined with cards like Kitsuki Hanbei, Falling Leaf Strike and The Hundred-Hand Strike.

3x Palm Strike – In a perfect world this card is probably Viper Tattoo instead, but Pillars of Virtue demands at least 12 Kiho to consistently trigger the reaction. While it’s ultimately true that bowing just the unit’s Personality is no longer as effective as it used to be, you can still find plenty of uses for Palm Strike during a given battle. A good example would be bowing a naked Hiruma Gohachiro; before he can negate the death of the personality you’re about to kill with the action Pillars grants.

3x Falling Leaf Strike – With the demise of Doomed Intentions Falling Leaf Strike gains incredible value in the early Celestial environment. The ability to move into a battle and then react with Pillars of Virtue to generate an additional action creates problems for your opponent; forcing her to plan around units who aren’t even at the battle yet. Obviously valuable as “send home” meta it’s also important to note that moving the Monk into battle is an effect, not a cost. This means you can give a card -3F (and potentially bow it) even if all your Monks are at the battle. While not an optimal play, the option is always nice to have in a tight spot.

3x Steel on Steel – While Mixed Martial Arts is not strictly a “dueling” deck, it has no real problem incorporating a fatal battle duel into the design. With 18 Focus 4 cards, 10 attachments that give a Chi bonus and 5 Duelist personalities with 4+Chi; duels launched against Military opponents should be a forgone conclusion. The very existence of Hamstrung probably means you won’t play this card against dueling honor decks if it can be avoided. Thankfully this won’t be a problem in a deck with Ishino, Kuronada, Oishi and Kei; all of who can discard a “dead” Steel on Steel for positive effect.

3x Kami Unleashed – This card is rapidly becoming one of the most powerful/popular cards in all of Celestial Edition. Monster ranged attacks are back in a big way because many people are playing big unit/item builds and Kami Unleashed works well both for and against these types of decks. Obviously this card is even stronger in a deck with 9 Tattooed Monks, multiple “Force Reduction” effects and 11 attachments that increase force. Once I even managed to play a “free” Kami Unleashed for an RA: 8 by bowing a Satobe and using the reaction on his Heavenly Daisho of the Dragon to straighten him.

3x Rout – Ultimately, access to an absolute ton of attachment destruction cards is part of what makes Dragon Military a viable deck-type. Along with cards like Satobe, Ishikura, Oishi, Hand of Osano-Wo, Kami Unleashed, Infamous Blade and Fubatsu No-Dachi; Rout helps make it virtually impossible for your opponent to keep attachments in play during a battle. In early Celestial this can be devastating, shutting off numerous key personalities and actions dependant on having an attachment (Yarijutsu, Peasant Vengeance, etc). Rout also works well thematically with the rest of the design; providing two effects (send home/attachment destruction) with the use of one action and thus generating even greater tempo in battle.

3x The Hundred-Hand Strike – The best tempo generating card in Mixed Martial Arts; pretty much all my best war stories rocking this deck start with “so I played The Hundred-Hand Strike and then…”. Simply put; The Hundred-Hand Strike allows a Pillars of Virtue player to potentially take 3 consecutive actions in battle, only one of which (THHS itself) has to be a Kiho. With the -3F and potentially bowing an opposing card are nice; they’re usually just a set-up move for the next two (usually fatal) actions you’ll take immediately afterwards. As an added bonus it’s a Focus 4 card; a valuable trait in a deck so dependant on having high-focus cards.

3x Low Stance – At this point in Celestial Low Stance is pretty much an auto-include in decks with enough Samurai to trigger it; especially if they duel. While it’s true that Shameful Injury has become a popular meta option this is entirely because Low Stance can win battles all by itself. Forcing him to spend a card and pass priority or lose the battle isn’t exactly a *bad* thing. With the number of other force-reduction effects in MMA, you’re likely to overload an opponent’s meta over a longer game anyways. At 4 Focus and with Weigh the Cost meta built-in you’d be hard pressed to find a better option in this slot.

2x Fury of the Dark Lord – No matter how you slice it the truth is that Mixed Martial Arts is a slow deck. While in many match-ups this doesn’t matter very much it’s something of a fatal flaw when facing a “Blitz” military or “Rocket” honor deck. While it would be nice to assume that a single copy of Imperial Census is enough meta against these decks, it simply isn’t true. What if your event resolves on turns 1-2 for example (a common occurrence in the age of Border Keep), or never resolves at all? At 15GC, ineffective against Shadowlands personalities and vulnerable to Duty; Fury of the Dark Lord won’t win you any prizes for efficiency but it’s certainly better than losing the game before you can even get started.

1x Ring of Water – In a deck shy on “send home” meta and with 48 (51 if you count Kuronada’s Tactician trait) cards that say “Battle:”, Ring of Water is an obvious inclusion. It certainly doesn’t hurt that it’s another random focus 4 to add to the mix either.

3x Seppun Blade – A real “glue” card; Seppun Blade finds a home in MMA because of its sheer versatility. Providing the Weapon trait, a 4 focus discard, card draw/cycle and a force/chi bonus all in the same card; Seppun Blade is almost never a dead card in this deck. Remember to attach it to a personality without a Battle Action if possible. If your opponent can “2 for 1” you by eliminating a unit with both a battle action and a card draw effect, he most certainly will.

3x Fubatsu Blade – With all apologies to Jon Palmer for stealing his turn of phrase; I play Fubatsu Blade because “there’s no such thing as an Armorjutsu”. While it’s true that Fubatsu Blade is more of a “necessary evil” for Weapon decks in early Celestial, it’s actually a very important card in Mixed Martial Arts. With multiple actions that say “Bow a Weapon” (Satobe, Ishikura and Yarijutsu) and even cards like Mirumoto Ishino, it can be quite useful to have a high force/focus but otherwise blank Weapon lying around.

1x Infamous Blade – Another card that wreaks havoc on attachment decks (in this case Followers), Infamous Blade is probably the best Weapon in MMA. +3F and +1C for 4GC is the top-end for stat-lines on Weapons in Celestial, making its only real drawback a Focus Value of 3. I guarantee that the first time you destroy an Imperial Elite Guard with it; you’ll forget all about that measly 1 Focus Value.

1x Armor of the Ryu – After a hundred or so test games in early Celestial I started to think Armor of the Ryu might be too powerful for the format. After a couple hundred more games I’m now sure the card is 97 kinds of broken. Game-warping in the extreme, Armor of the Ryu is particularly effective in big unit military. Played early in a military match-up, AotR often equates to two free provinces and a nigh-unstoppable super unit to deal with once you finally do catch up to it. I’m pretty sure even my pet cat could win a game with that kind of momentum on her side. As an added (and completely unnecessary) bonus, AotR also acts as “send home” meta and can be used to save big units from a losing battle.

1x Heavenly Daisho of the Dragon – For the most part this card acts as a very pretty Fubatsu Blade in this build; primarily giving you +3F, +1C and 4FV at the low cost of 4G. It can however combine with Kami Unleashed to allow a Dragon Samurai to make a big ranged attack for “free” in the right situation. Additionally you can use it to Lobby for the Imperial Favor for free against low honor clans since the lobbying personality will straighten immediately if he has the Heavenly Daisho attached.

1x Fubatsu No-Dachi – While not my favorite card in the deck, Fubatsu No-Dachi makes the cut because it’s a 4 focus Weapon with a “kill” action and even at 6GC those attributes aren’t easy to come by. Remember even if you can’t find a personality or follower to destroy; Fubatsu No-Dachi will destroy most weapons/armors/spell/items in the game. In a deck less dependant on the Weapon trait this is probably Ring of Fire or Ring of the Void instead.

Play guide

Now that we’ve examined the deck in more detail let’s talk about a few guidelines you can follow to help make your first couple of games with it run smoother. Obviously no play guide can teach you how to play L5R in general or any deck in specific and there’s absolutely no substitute for practicing with a deck in actual game situations. With that having been said; we can however take a look at some basic strategy to keep you from stumbling while you’re learning the ropes.

In terms of deck classification I’d describe Mixed Martial Arts as a Mid Game Military Attrition deck. Like most decks of this type its overall goal is to generate and win a number of opposed battles through battle attrition actions printed on both personalities and fate cards. Unlike most of these decks however MMA uses the Pillars of Virtue reaction to generate extra tempo while doing so; thus giving it a huge advantage over other decks of the same type. Though somewhat slow and even ponderous when compared to “Blitz” or “Rocket” deck-types; MMA addresses this concern through Fury of the Dark Lord and event based meta against faster decks.

Even moreso than most so called “Census/Attachment” decks, MMA devotes the early stages of the game to establishing a superior gold base, even potentially at the cost of provinces. No deck with 22 personalities at 7GC+ and 15 fate cards that also cost gold can survive without a significant number of holdings in play. This generally means buying some combination of 3-5 holdings that add up to a total gold production of 15 or more on the 1st and 2nd turns; regardless of who went first in the match-up. With only room for only 14 holdings in the entire deck, this will usually require aggressive use of Border Keep and your end of turn 1 discard phase to accomplish. While the need to develop your gold scheme remains constant; optimal play does vary slightly depending on who went first in the match-up and the type of deck you’re facing.

When going first against another military deck you’ll ideally want to buy a 6GC holding on turn 1 and then another 6GC holding and a Gold Mine turn 2. Of course, not all starts are ideal but even a “bad” gold draw in MMA means 15+ gold spread over 5 holdings (including the Stronghold). This type of set up allows you to buy 3 monster defenders or 2 defenders and 1-2 holdings on turn 3; in anticipation of your opponent’s first attack. In many cases the sheer size/quality of this potential defending army will scare your opponent off; sending him directly to Dynasty. There are few things more frightening to another military deck than a Dragon army with a hand full of battle actions and a weapon in play in the early game; even with your box likely bowed. If he does attack you should consider the decision to defend or not very carefully. On one hand MMA’s goal is to create and win opposed battles against an enemy army; if you can win this first battle with the cards you have in play/hand, you should definitely defend. On the other hand there’s little to be gained by throwing expensive units into a battle they can’t win. This deck functions well on 3 provinces because it has numerous powerful but expensive personalities and fate cards that cost gold. In many cases this allows you to buy the same amount of force and number of battle actions out of 3 provinces as most decks can out of 4. Additionally, while even a small Dragon army can be formidable; Mixed Martial Arts is almost never loses a battle in which it has 5 units, a full hand and Pillars of Virtue is unbowed. If you can’t win the battle this turn, letting the province fall and setting up a stronger position for your opponent’s next attack phase is an acceptable option.

Things get a little trickier when facing another military deck that went before you (Phoenix, Lion, etc). In this situation you need to buy either a Diamond Mine or a Gold Mine and another 2GC holding on your first turn. Ideally this allows you to buy 2 Personalities and another 2GC holding on turn 2; creating a potential defensive army while still developing your gold-scheme. As when going first, this may discourage an enemy attack; although this is much less likely with only 2 defenders and your Stronghold bowed. If your opponent does attack, you should again only defend if you’re reasonably certain you can win the battle outright. High honor military decks are notoriously aggressive and it can be a lot easier to face one down with 4 units, a weapon or two and an unbowed Stronghold whenever the inevitable second attack comes.

When playing against an honor deck; developing your early gold-scheme becomes even more important than normal regardless of who went first (probably your 6FH opponent). You can’t flood the board with superhero units if you can’t afford them and 15GC Fury of the Dark Lords don’t pay for themselves. It also makes resolving your honor meta events on the right turns (3-6) much easier if your keeping face up holdings early and clearing your provinces later. This makes it important to buy at least some holdings on your first 3 turns in this match-up. For example a good opening against honor would look like this: T1 Secluded Outpost, T2 Diamond Mine + 5-6GC Personality and Weapon, T3 7-9GC Personality and Weapon + 6GC Holding + 2GC Holding. This type of early investment should put you in a strong position to take maximum advantage of the extra time your honor meta will buy you later in the game.

Regardless of your opponent and who went first, you should begin attacking as soon as you feel you can win battles and no longer fear reprisal from enemy armies. This varies wildly from match-up to match-up but it usually occurs immediately after destroying an enemy army on the defensive or once you’ve amassed 5 or so units and can comfortably win battles and still defend against Retribution. More often than not this will be turn 5 in games you went first and turn 4 in games you didn’t. Remember one of the keys to winning with Mixed Martial Arts is to understand that it’s a slow but powerful deck. Patience is key when playing this type of deck, as it rewards long term planning while alternately discouraging early gambles.

Finally, one of the keys to playing a Pillars of Virtue deck properly is learning to properly chain battle actions together for maximum effect. Taking extra actions means extra planning to make sure you get it right the first time; whether it’s from the Stronghold Reaction, The Hundred-Hand Strike or both. One of the key disadvantages to dropping your whole hand at once is that you don’t have many cards to play if that doesn’t win you the battle and a wasteful player will find Pillars of Virtue intolerable. In a deck with so much cycling it’s extremely easy to create the perfect action chain for a given match-up and then unleash it with clinical precision on opposing armies; but only if you correctly identify the right combination of Kiho/Actions.

While not an extremely difficult deck to play well; Mixed Martial Arts will ultimately find a better match with a more patient or “tactical” player. Because MMA is all about dragging your opponent into a carefully plotted battle he has almost no chance of winning; a good player will often spend far longer plotting out his turns/battles/actions than actually taking them. This is not to say MMA is a “thinking man’s deck” or somehow requires more intelligence to play than other decks. It does however perform much better in the hands of a meticulous, even-keeled pilot who can keep his eyes on the long term goal in the face of early aggression. This is not a good deck for an aggressive gambler who likes to fly by the seat of his pants; winning battles by outplaying his opponent and applying constant pressure.

Well, it’s almost 6AM ladies and gentleman and I’m pretty sure that means I need to finally crash. Thanks as always for reading and my apologies for running a little late this week. While the mind/heart are willing, my body hasn’t been co-operating and it’s actually way harder to write articles when your in bed sick than you’d imagine. On the plus side; I finally have enough mail to do a short Question and Answer column some time this week, without interrupting the next segment of All-Decked Out (Lion). Until then folks remember that bald tattooed Kung-Fu Masters have more fun and you’ve always gotta keep it weird.

- nina

Kakita Matt · « **Reply #1 on:** July 30, 2009, 08:13:26 AM »

Thanks so much for the article, Nina. Always an enjoyable read.

Sahano · « **Reply #2 on:** July 30, 2009, 09:18:11 AM »

Arigato Gozaimasu, Nina-sensei...

Nina Illingworth · « **Reply #3 on:** July 30, 2009, 11:46:37 PM »

Thanks guys, it's always nice to know people are reading your articles even if they're too long to bear

-nina

Yajinden Buffararo · « **Reply #4 on:** August 20, 2009, 09:33:13 PM »

Despite the fact that I am mostly playing Spider, and Crane at this juncture (Spider Honor, while my least competitive deck, is ridiculously amusing. Nothing like sacrificing Houhou to create an Oni, and then bringing houhou back to gain 3 honor.), I am forced to say this is the most useful of your articles thus far, to me. I did not understand how to properly play against/as dragon until this. Thanks.

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Author Topic: [TCG] Part 5 - Mixed Martial Arts (Read 1341 times)

Nina Illingworth

[TCG] Part 5 - Mixed Martial Arts

Kakita Matt

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Sahano

Re: The Cardboard Geisha Part 5 - Mixed Martial Arts

Nina Illingworth

Re: The Cardboard Geisha Part 5 - Mixed Martial Arts

Yajinden Buffararo

Re: [TCG] Part 5 - Mixed Martial Arts