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Temysry
Sergeant
463 Posts
    
 | | 06/28/2007 8:02 PM |
| We had an excellent showing of 9 players tonight including two relatively new players to DDM and the Gelatinous Dudes in particular. I'm always excited about seeing new players learn the game and I'm optimistic that we'll see even more new faces after the pre-release this weekend. For our last Epic tournament before the new set, I decided to try my hand at something a little different than what I'd normally play. Here's what happened:
The bands:
Temysry (3-0)
Count Strahd von Zarovich (epic)
Beholder
Beholder Lich
Devourer
Dark Moon Monk
Cursed Spirit
Greenspawn Sneak
Bat Familiar
Map: Dragondown Grotto
Goff (2-1)
Aspect of Bahamut
Couatl
Shield Guardian x2
Dragonmark Heir of Deneith
Eberk, Adventurer
Timber Wolf
Man-at-arms
Map: Kings Road
ZakX (2-1)
Elminster of Shadowdale (Epic)
Cleric of Garl Glittergold
Cleric of Order
Vadania, Half-elf Druid
Archmage
Gnome Trickster
Aramil, Adventurer
Eberk, Adventurer
Map: King's Road
Grubbis (2-1)
Dark Naga
Beholder x2
Beholder Lich x3
Mezzoloth x2
Bat Familiar x2
Map: Dragondown Grotto
Heironeous (2-1 with a bye)
Ultroloth
Pit Fiend
Aspect of Hextor (epic)
Large Green Dragon
Dragonmark Heir of Deneith
Greenspawn Sneak
Bat Familiar
Map: Fields of Ruin
Tomcat (2-1 with a bye)
Vlaakith the Lich Queen (epic)
Chasme x3
Caller in Darkness
Orc Wizard
Map: King's Road
Jordan (1-2 with a bye)
Werewolf Lord (Epic)
Marilith (Epic)
Thrall of Blackrazor
Orc Wizard
Bat Familiar
Hunting Hyena
Twig Blight x3
Map: King's Road
Pumpkin King (1-2)
Count Strahd von Zarovich
Nightwalker
Warrior Skeleton x4
Map: Hellspike Prison
Orcdoubleax (1-2 with a bye)
Lyrandar Skyfire Captain x2
Purple Worm x2
Xeph Warrior x4
Map: Teleport Temple
Round 1:
Tem defeats ZakX
Goff defeats Tomkat
Grubbis defeats Jordan
Pumpkin King defeats Orcdoubleax
Heironeous defeats Bye
Round 2:
Tem defeats Goff
ZakX defeats Jordan
Grubbis defeats Pumpkin King
Heironeous defeats Orcdoubleax
Tomkat defeats Bye
Round 3:
Tem defeats Grubbis
Goff defeats Heironeous
ZakX defeats Pumpkin King
Tomkat defeats Orcdoubleax
Jordan defeats Bye
After having toyed with the idea of playing Strahd in constructed, I finally decided to pull him out for epic night. I wasn't too confident that his 150 hp would get him too far against some of the bands I had expected to face so the Beholder and Beholder Lich were almost auto-includes. The devourer was there more as a distraction than anything else and I knew I would have to rely on Dominate to win matches.
My first matchup of the night was against Zak X playing a variation of one of his old favourites. His super buffed Elminster would have AC 39 in the woods (he won his map) saving at +21 (+27 for morale). Couple that with a total of 3 mordy's swords and ring of blades, I new there was almost no chance I'd ever be able to drop him. As it turns out - I didn't need to. In the first round, he cast all his buff spells and turned everyone invisible while I also buffed the Devourer and advanced. Not much happed until about the third round when he managed to get off all three swords - two on Strahd and one on the Beholder. Now I was on the clock. I made short work of the Archmage (healing Strahd at the same time) and began killing off all his support pieces with the devourer and night's caress from the bat. I opted to only activate the beholder once a round after that and most often used his eye-ray to heal Strahd. While I was mopping up, I managed to get tile points every round while he did not. IIRC, the Beholder dropped in round 9. The Beholder Lich continued to heal Strahd as best he could but due to an oversight of my own, Strahd died in the 10th round (too far from a victory area to use gaseous form). I miraculously won initiative in the 11th round without a commander and moved my remaining pieces to safety while still occupying a victory area (I had the cursed spirit, beholder lich and Devourer still alive). Since Elminster couldn't finish any of them off, I won at the end of the round after collecting 275 points from victory areas making the final score 506-490.
My second round was against Goff's Bahamut warband which I thought would spell certain doom for me. I won map so we played on Dragondown Grotto. I played from the dead side and he started with a very aggressive move against my beholder with Bahamut. In the second round, he managed a crit with Bahamut on the beholder which sent him running. Thankfully, Strahd was more than 6 away so he stayed on the board. Later in the round, I rallied him and retailated with an eye ray, but to little effect. After his line breath weapon, the Beholder was dead and my Devourer was crippled. I moved Strahd up close enough use his revive undead to heal him 50 points when he was later attacked by Bahamut. Now comes the TSN turning point - my Beholder lich uses a curse eye ray on Bahamut and he rolls a 1! Now he is rightly fearful of the beholder lich who could very well finger of death his titan. In the next round, he moved up and used his other cone, catching the beholder lich (who isn't immune to cold?!?) and the cursed spirit. Thankfully, he fails the incorporeal roll and the b-lich makes the save. The coup-de-gras was when the cursed spirit moved up to Bahamut (making his save now +10) followed by Strahd using Dominate (DC20). He rolled a 5 and gracefully conceded the game. I think we were only in the 4th round but it was a terribly close match and I knew Dominate was going to be my only chance.
My last match of the night was against the other band with Beholders - Grubbis with 5 in total. We both had dragondown grotto and I won side - opting to start from the dead side again. In the first round, we started firing eye-rays back and forth but I hid my guys well enough that the best he could do was pick off my sneak and cause a couple morale saves which I made easily (at +18 or better). I returned the favour by morale checking one of his beholder liches with my own. He was only saving at +14 and failed - running off the board. In the next round, I managed to turn a mezzoloth to stone and forced another beholder lich to run off the board. Now I have a fairly significant point lead and I can reasonably prevent him from gaining tile points. Rather than play it out, he concedes the game.
It's a fun band to play, but I had a lot of things go my way today. I felt like I was always playing from behind in both of my first two matches. I'm glad to see Dominate do what it's supposed to. Even in Epic, having to make two DC20 saves or lose your titan can be rough. With all the ways he can heal, it's suprising just how resiliant Strahd can be. Next week we're back to 200 points but it'll be the day before the Night Below release so we'll have one last chance before we're flooded with all the new pieces and possibilities it'll bring. I can't wait...
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A Proud Gelatinous Dude
www.gelatinousdudes.com
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