Random Tuesday Update

AGOT Sunday

The tournament this week was Standard. I thought we had seven players, then Jon and Kari left, apparently they needed the tournament to start early, and didn't tell me... I don't think they even said goodbye. I wonder if I did something wrong...

Well, we ended up with seven anyway, as Andy showed up with Don. It looked like a pretty interesting field. For some reason, the pairing deities conspire to pit me against Sarah in these things, and yet again we sat down for first round wolves vs. dragons. You'd think the big lizard would win... I got a good start, she never really recovered. Second round Jerod settled in accross from me. His Greyjoy stall deck is an entirely different proposition than Sarahs Targ. I managed to discard his sneaking cutthroat through intrigue early, and that slowed down his claim. I froze solid his Harrenhall, and then the Red Keep, to slow down his heavy influence requirements. Unfortunately, the next turn he his fallow fields and blackwater rush, and then it was Northern Pass time. I ramped up to 14, but Wot5K kept me from winning. Without the agenda, I would have finished it off, on dominance alone. Oh well. As it was, I kept playing cards, and he kept killing them, and we drew it out on time. Third round saw Jerod vs. Andy, who was 2-0, and I got shifted down to play the Donminator. He was none too happy to see me, as, in the battle of the collections, I come out sadly far ahead. I had a huge setup on him, and commenced to empty his board and hand with three turns of double claim. He couldn't really get back into it, and I finished him off with Blackfish beatings. Andy and Jerod tied, and my tiebreakers were terrible, so I ended up in third. No biggie, as I can't claim prizes as the Night's Watch anyway. Andy was stoked to get first, which was cool. Luke ended up in third, at 2-1, which I hope he was all right with. Overall, it was a pretty smooth, fun tournament, although I wonder where all the players have gone?

Yesterday was a gaming day off!

Tonight was online boardgame night. The turnout was much better than last week. Sean, Dave, Jef, and myself sat down for Ticket to Ride. The game started off OK, but computer problems forced me to quit. Everybody abandoned the game, and I ended up starting a new one. This one went much better, for a while. I couldn't really get into it, so I was just laying track. Sean got booted, and didn't find his way back on. This totally sucked, as Sean is the one from farthest away... and was doing well. Also, a midgame bot ads soooo much chaos. This game was extra interesting as, even with all the extra tickets, everyone seemed concentrated in the East. It made for some good tension and plan adjustment as people got close together. Jef and Dave had big piles of tickets, so I randomly decided to get some, too, and drew two that wouldn't be too hard to complete. Then, of course, the next turn, Dave takes a route I really need... I had to adjust my plan, but it all worked out fine. I was a little all over the place, but so was everyone else. I ended up completing all 4 tickets for 45 points (I think it was New Orleans/Montreal, Dallas/New York, Winnipeg/Little Rock, and Duluth/El Paso), plus longest route, plus using all my cars and being first out. I won by, I think, 19 over Jef. It was really fun to play with evreyone, but I think we'll have to go back to BSW next week, as I hate the technical difficulties we're having.

GG, GL