2 Wins, 1 Loss - (6 pts) | GL: 3; Life: +11
2 Wins, 1 Loss - (6 pts) | GL: 3; Life: +5
2 Wins, 1 Loss - (6 pts) | GL: 4; Life: -7
0 Wins, 3 Losses - (0 pts) | GL: 6; Life: -9

Notes: 3 pts for a Win, 1 for a Tie. GL = Games Lost; Life = Difference in Life at the end of each game. GL and Life are used as tiebreakers.
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Maori (MAUI, ARIKI TE WHEROWHERO) def. Irish (Cú Chulainn, Benríg Medb)
Persian (SHAPUR, Cyrus, MITHRADATES) def. Russian (Prinz Mikhail, IVAN, Catherine)
---
Irish (Dónal McCarthaigh, FINN MacCUMHAILL, BRIAN BORÚ) def. Persian (DARIUS, Cyrus, Mithradates)
Maori (Te Raupraha, KUPE, ARIKI TE WHEROWHERO) def. Russian (ST. NEVSKY, Peter, Catherine)
---
Irish (DÓNAL McCARTHAIGH, CÚ CHULAINN) def. Russian (St. Nevsky, Ivan)
Persian (APRANIK, Xerxes, MITHRADATES) def. Maori (Hatupatu, MAUI, Ariki)
-------------------------------

While I'm updating everything, I'll set up a teaser here:

Lurch and I finished 5 of the 6 matches.
There's a shocker that makes the Mongols going 0-3 look normal.
The match left is Persian v. Maori; the outcome will directly affect who ends up in first.
I found a dead pigeon walking back from the game store. All that was left were the perfect wings, connected by a sliver of frozen bone. The rest had been cleaned off by hungry animals.

That last one has nothing to do with the Cup qualifiers, but it does give you a sense of how messed up today's matches were.

-J.

Individual Stats
MAORI | (W-L, Life)
Ariki Te Wherowhero | 2-1, +10
Hatupatu | 0-1, -3
Kupe | 1-0, +3
Maui-Tikitiki | 2-0, +7
Te Raupraha | 0-1, -6

IRISH | (W-L, Life)
Benríg Medb | 0-1, -4
Brian Ború | 1-0, +5
Cú Chulainn | 1-1, -1
Dónal McCarthaigh Mór | 1-1, +1
Finn MacCumhaill | 1-0, +4

PERSIAN | (W-L, Life)
Aparanik | 1-0, +3
Cyrus the Great | 0-2, -10
Darius the Great | 1-0, +3
Mithradates VI the Great | 2-1, -2
Shapur I | 1-0, +3
Xerxes I | 0-1, -4

RUSSIAN | (W-L, Life)
Catherine the Great | 0-2, -9
Ivan the Terrible | 1-1, +4
Peter I the Great | 0-1, -3
Prinz Mikhail Skopin-Shuisky | 0-1, -3
Saint Alexander Nevsky | 1-1, +2

Could it be, the Persians finish first?

If either the Irish or Russians finish last I would really be shocked. That would throw one hell of a monkey wrench in your master plan wouldnt it.

My master plan? Personally, after the Mongols went 0-3, my plan was to go through each set. I was afraid personal biases might blind me to some of the cultural interactions; it would also be good to get a feel for each culture in this format.

If anything, this has taught me that the Maori only need a few crits w/ Hauhau and/or Pou to turn a match around. -3 to an attack roll doesn't seem to stop box cars... :blink:

-J.

So you are another box car willy or was it the original box car willy?

If the Russian or Irish finsih last then whatever pool they are put in will be labeled the Pool of death, I actually think if that the pool the other is in will also be a pool of death as well.

Mainly lurch. The Russians had the Maori on the ropes, and then Kupe busted out a crit on Peter with Hauhau. And, despite having Catherine's grid, and a -3 from the armor, Ariki still crit with the Pou.

The other two matches, lurch played the Russians. They got no dice love. They almost beat the Persians, but Mithradates w/ Mardukh just woudn't go down. (The same combo versus the Irish barely triggered.)

Against the Irish... I think Donal critted with the Claymore, and Cu used the Torc to make sure that his speed and Gae Bolg attacks couldn't be reduced.

If the Persians win, it's a three-way tie that goes to tie-breakers. If the Maori win... Ariki/Pou is monstrous. Same with Hauhau/mystic. I will say this, though. While Ariki/Pou is deadly, the Maori better hope they don't line up against the Spanish. Mystics, deities, and weapon abilities are what wins for them.

-J.

Ok, I just picked up my jaw. The Russians are 0-3. OMFG!!! That is huge and makes the Mongols going 0-3 look insignificant in comparison.

I really thought the russians had the weapons and armors to get them through. I thought they had a lot of stuff going for them. Shows what I know.


It looks like the Maori have it wrapped up. If they lose all they need to do is make sure they dont have a lopsided victory and keep the loses close. If I understand your life thing it would seem that they need to avoid being swept and losing big. If they win a game then that should help them win tie breakers.

Yup. And it's going to be really hard to sweep the Maori when Ariki/Pou is so dominant. About all the Persians can do is hope to line up Xerxes against the Pou; a difficult proposition. Even if there's an Ariki/Xerxes matchup, Mere/Jawbone should still be able to keep it close, and save Pou for another warrior.

The interesting twist is that Apranik and Hatupatu still have to be used. I think the Persians would need some serious dice chi to be able to beat the Maori by 7 life. Especially since, even in the match they won, the Persians were still at -1 life overall.

-J.

this is a huge surprise to me. it's interesting how i took the raw power of the natives as the winners of set 3 and won, while i was willing to bet that this same raw power of the cards was on the russian side...

good thing i didn't logged in for a few days, then, or i would be very ashamed... :D


but honestly, how could the maori achieve it? for what i understand, ariki the whero-whero is playing piuw whenua, is that so? it could certainly help me understand these numbers...



as for the persian and the irish, great individual packs, but i don't really see them solid as a culture, at least not more solid than i thought the russian were. oh well, time for a big concepts review then <_<

Well, I was the one who played the Maori both times, and I'm starting to think they're one of the most underrated cultures around.

Ariki/Pou is the crux of the Maori's power, I've played it both matches and it dished out a beating, even taking down a Catherine/Rasputin deck. The other big time weapon for these guys has been the Mystic-loving axe. Aside from Ariki/Pou, the winning decks were Maui/Tu Matenuga/Axe/Mana and Kupe/Axe/Hei-Tiki. Getting so many +2 grids and a free die reroll makes for a really tough weapon. The only problem is what to run in the third match, as the power level in their weapons falls drastically.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to the final match of this set. I'm hoping I get the chance to play the Maori again. If I can sweep the Persians with a life difference of 9 or higher, they'll take over the title for most lopsided victory in the prelims, in what I think many would consider one of the toughest fields.

Exactly. As I mentioned earlier, Pou Whenua and Hauhau-te-Rangi (the axe) are sheer power. Throw in Ariki and Papa-nui, and the Pou is sick. Like lurch said, Catherine couldn't even slow the thing down. Granted, lurch got a couple crits to help the process out. But Catherine had Tyegilyai and Rasputin.

Even though she (1) switched grids, (2) gave the Pou action -3 to hit, and (3) had Rasputin... I mean, she lasted until the fourth round, but only because she discarded all her cards.

The only answer to Pou was Baba Yaga, which I dropped in the second game. I was under the impression that, down 0-1, the Maori would use the Pou. Instead, Hauhau crit at just the right moment to foil Peter.

Anyway, I agree that the Maori are underrated. I completely underestimated them when I played the Irish against them. Unless they get matched up against the Spanish or either of the Americans, they're going to wreak some havoc in the Cup.

-J.

ANd it looks like the best defense against it is a little luck. Mithradates had his jumping mechanism trigger a couple times, which frustrated Ariki's mulitple Pou attacks. He had the reach with Kontos, and in the end, it came down to (1)) an early crit, and (2) getting lucky with a bit o' jank.

Mithradates got (1), and then, when he jumped and activated Arabe Haye Darrande, he hit with the basic for a win. He was at 1 life.

-J.