Written by Liam Bosecke
Introduction
Flesh and Blood TCG's Skirmish Season 4 kicks off South Australia's second event with a bang, right in the heart of the city at Good Games Adelaide. Twenty two players made the trip to test their might and battle for glory.
I will give you a brief rundown of my performance using OTK Benji for the main event and the progression of how each round went for the top seeded players of the event.
Skirmish Season 4
The Main Event
Round 1
I lost to Christian Lippis' Dorinthea Axes deck which you can read about here. The dominate turns overwhelmed me and I believe it would have been better for me to use Mask of Momentum instead of Mask of the Pouncing Lynx. If I had another chance, I would save my defense reactions for when I see Spill Blood as I feel there would have been a much better chance at victory if I had done so.
Round 2
I was unlucky enough to go up against last week's skirmish winner Ryan Taylor and his Oldhim deck which crushed Benji this time around. The Remembrance which I added in made no difference unfortunately, because I drew into the Spring Tidings way too early. So I had both Spring Tiding's stuck in my hand and was trying to save them, but in hindsight, I would try to go for the OTK (one turn kill) a lot earlier than I did.
Round 3
I lost to Philip Nagle's Control Dash, who was ready for my OTK turn and built up his board of items very quickly. Constantly being dealt four damage by the pistol isn't something that anyone can sustainably block out indefinitely.
Round 4
I versed Jason Ly's Oldhim next and came out victorious with one card left in my deck. He blocked early with his equipment, something which left him open in the late game. My Spring Tiding's turn didn't connect, but I was still able to chip damage through and get great value out of Mask of Momentum. The mask won me that game and was a great substitution.
Round 5
Evan Becker came swinging in big with Kayo, but unfortunately Kayo was a victim to its own randomness and I was able to chip away and overwhelm eventually with Spring Tidings. Not being able to have consistency with dice rolls is always going to lead to bad results eventually one way or another.
Top 8
| Alex Mcdonald | Viserai |
| Mason Dutcher | Dorinthea |
| Zac Gable | Lexi |
| Connor Archer | Prism |
| Ren Sprinlea | Briar |
| Lachlan Maddaford | Boltyn |
| Alex Forndran | Bravo |
| Ryan Hearing | Kassai |
Top 8 Round 1
Connor Archer played very accurately against Ren Springlea who piloted a Red Line Briar. Connor snuck in a Wartune Herald at the end of the game, when Briar had run out of cards for the win. Ranger specialist Zac gable playing as Lexi went up against Lachlan Maddaford, piloting Boltyn. Lexi proved to have an overwhelming board presence and got over Boltyn's defenses. Alex Mcdonald's experience allowed him to adapt his play style to secure a victory here in his game against Ryan Hearing's Kassai.
Skirmish Top 8
Top 8 Round 2
Connor Archer (Prism) vs Alex McDonald (Viserai)
This was a very slow back and forth game where ever turn was meticulously dwelled over. Connor managed to lock Alex out of attacking by threatening the arcane damage from his spectral shields being popped, because he had both Merciful Retribution and Ode to Wrath out. If Alex attacks at this point, his rune chants will pop, and in turn, Connors Spectral Shields will pop and deal damage on-top of the stack. It was a complicated board state but it resulted in Connor being able to win the game.
Alex Forndran (Bravo) vs Zac gable (Lexi)
Alex took the win against Lexi in a very close game with a dominated Crippling Crush and good consistent gameplay. Zac whiffed with his Three of a Kind turn unfortunately, which didn't help with his tempo for the rest of the game and left him unable to gain momentum back.
The finals: Connor Archer vs Alex Fordran
Finals
Alex Forndran (Bravo) vs Connor Archer (Prism)
Prism built up a number of Shimmer of Silver auras on the board, which put some pressure on Bravo early. Connor went into this skirmish wanting to "punish guardian", as he stated for the reason behind his choice of hero today. The auras certainly were punishing for Bravo and Alex graciously decided to concede the game when he saw no victory in sight.
Skirmish Winner Connor Archer (Prism)
