A double dose of guest writers for the One Big Weekend Online. This time, Kim (from Dice Masters in the Great White North) shares her report from the online Dice Masters event. Put your hands together for Kim!
– jourdo
First off, I would like to introduce myself. My name is Kim (aka Super K). I play locally in ON, Canada with three/four awesome people on a weekly basics. About a year ago, Reg (also a local player and well known in the DM community) and I started our own YouTube Channel, Dice Masters in the Great North. Check it out for gameplay videos. It’s only recently I started playing online. I was so shy to play online as I didn’t want lose in 3-4 turns and I get discouraged but I can tell you, it hasn’t been like that at all! I over came this and started playing in the Two Team Takedown Tournaments, Weekly WDA, DM-North TOTM and recently in the One Big Weekend Online.
Let’s talk One Big Weekend Online:
In March 2019, our local group held a One Big Weekend event that was hosted by Rollin’ Thunder. This event was also held worldwide at other local locations in March.
It was a cold and snowy day in the North. Our turnout was low with only five people, our solid local four and honourary Canuck, Ben but we had a fun day rolling dice!
The top 2 winners in each event would qualify for the One Big Weekend Online tournament in April. Long story, short, I ended up in third place. But I wouldn’t be writing this article if it wasn’t destined for me to play in the online tournament. Luck was on my side!
A few days before the OBW:O Tourney, the organizers announced they had an odd number of players and to avoid byes, a wildcard draw would be held for the 3rd and 4th place players for the spot. I got pretty excited and threw my name in the ring … wheel. It was a wheel off between myself and Jo (aka Tabasco Rogue) and as you probably guessed it, I won!
The format was Modern LCG, blind products were not allowed. Only having two days to put a team together, I decided to make the main attraction on my team, Grodd with a sprinkle of Shazam.
What Did You Play?
The Team: The Monster, The Man… GroddZAM!
Grodd was my main win condition and I was the only one with him on my team. Shazam was there for the fun. I had put a lot of control pieces to help. Wonder Women to protect Grodd from being removed from combat, Black Widow to reduce one damage (attune, range, spin ups) and Zatanna to deal damage back to opponents if I was up against a spin up team.
I was one of the few that didn’t put Shriek on the team. I really debated this towards the end of the deadline to submit teams but went with my gut. If my Grodd got shrieked, I needed a second win condition and I knew Shazam with One Against Many wouldn’t shine with a 50/50 chance of rolling action dice on their action face (but still fun anyways). I put Team up basic action as I realized I had a lot of affiliations on the team.
How did I do in my six games? Here is a brief overview of each game.
Game 1:
Ray had a Poison Ivy (Red)/Doom Lance Team. I was able to purchase Grodd turn 2 using Poxwalker with Clayface global. Grodd didn’t want to roll when he first came out and had to go another route of buying Team Up as Ray bought Shriek and I knew what was coming. A dilemma I faced with Grodd (which you will see in my other games) is Grodd getting pulled with other characters and rolling their character face. Grodd can only use Strike (buff +2A/+2D and overcrush) if he is the only one fielded. Decisions decisions. Grodd did come out and did big damage but got stuck in the field which I kept pushing with him. I got some help with Thor global to lower cost of action dice and Instant War to field sidekicks for Team Up from Ray’s team. Ray wasn’t having great rolls, didn’t roll Shriek or his Doom Lance. In the end, Team Up won it.
1-0
Game 2:
Jonathan had an infiltrate team with also Dreadnaught. Was able to buy Grodd turn 2 and he did come out and did 9 damage as Jonathan let him through. One major error I made was not paying attention to The Outsider basic action global. When I attacked with Grodd, I could have pumped him twice with +2A as I had 2 fists in reserve, giving Grodd 13A/9D with overcrush and call out. That probably could have changed the game as Jonathan may have not let it through. Lesson learned, should have rolled for characters and not worry about ‘Strike’ to at least have a board. That was my down fall, death by an open field.
1-1
Game 3:
Ben had an unblockable Poxwalker, Dreadnaught and Batman team with my most disliked BAC, Splinter’s Teachings. That card just confuses me! Shriek was bought and again was faced with going with Team Up and Grodd was purchased early. Biggest mistake I did was I bought Shazam and should have bought Wonder Women to stop Splinter’s Teachings global on my characters but instead I was distracted by the bright shiny thunderbolt. Couldn’t really get damage through because of Splinter’s Teachings global. We did go to time and turns but in the end, I got beat with my own Team Up and Splinter’s Teachings.
1-2
Game 4:
Patrick had a Team Up team with awaken Ant-Man. I still laugh when I review the video since I kept calling out Atlas when it was Atlantis! Sorry about that Patrick. Energy rolling has been good as I always was able to buy Grodd turn 2. I attacked with Grodd with his ‘Strike’ and Patrick had taken the 9 damage but I did it again and kept my field open. In the end, Patrick had a big board and came in for the win with Team Up.
1-3
Game 5:
Dan had a Doom Lance deadly team with Poison Ivy (Red) and Grey Hunter. And finally, a team with Res. As always, turn 2, I was able to get the right energy to buy Grodd. This game, I did field characters with Grodd which doesn’t trigger his ‘Strike’ but learning from my previous mistakes, I shouldn’t leave an open field. Shriek did come out to play but surprisingly, Grodd was not Shrieked. I bought Team Up early and was able to use it to make a push and of course making a minor mistake of not calling out Poison Ivy to block Grodd instead of a sidekick. Poison Ivy gains deadly and doesn’t take damage from non-villain characters, Grodd is a villain and would have not been affected. That left his Ivy and Shriek in the field. It was awesome that Dan was able to buy his 8 cost Thanos as he rolled a whole bunch of energy. I did buy Shazam in this game and rolled both One Against Many on the actions faces 1 out of 4 tries. It was fun but I didn’t end up using the two actions that were prepped as I won with Team Up the turn before.
2-3
Game 6:
Ross had an awaken team with Dreadnaught. I haven’t played a spin up team in this tourney and I knew going into it I would be in trouble with unblockable Ant-Man. Shriek was bought and Ross went the Ant-Man purchases with Parasite to gain the pumps. This was the first game I never was able to buy Grodd turn 2. I was able to buy him much later. I got hit with unblockable Ant-man for 5 damage but Ross got hit back 1 damage for spinning up due to Zatanna’s ability. I went in for big damage that Ross let through leaving an open field. He had an Ant-Man and Team Up coming with a big board and he didn’t roll either. #badrolls, I was lucky. Grodd came out 9A/9D and overcrush, calling out a sidekick for 8 damage which was enough for the win!
3-3
Post-Mortem:
Overall, I was 3-3 in the end. Grodd did scare some players when they learned his ability. He is probably not a meta card but I really enjoyed playing it. I did better then I thought but was proud of myself on how I played though I made a few mistakes/errors, it was a learning experience. I should have not been so considered with using ‘Strike’ and fielded characters when I had the chance. Leaving my field open did hurt. I believe (correct me if I am wrong), I was the only girl in this tournament and all I have to say is … Girl Power lol
I really liked the LCG format for the OBWO Tourney as it was an even playing field for everyone. People had the same cards to choose from. Games may be a little longer but I do enjoy that and when it comes down to turns, its very exciting and fun. If you know me, I dislike being up against turn 3 kill teams.
A BIG THANK YOU to the Rollin’ Thunder crew and everyone else who were involved in organizing and helping the day of the tournament. Congrats to all the players! It was super fun and it was a pleasure to meet and chat with new people.
I have grown so much in the Dice Masters world and I thank the great DM community for that. Also, having these types of tournaments online is great way to meet new players from all over the world. Can’t wait for the next.
Keep the dice rollin’!
Super K
A fun read and watch, Kim.
A few points of clarification, for things you (and in most cases your opponents) didn’t get quite right. I mention them not to embarrass anyone but so readers/viewers know what they are so they can avoid repeating them.
You only discussed it in the comments, it didn’t actually come up in the game, but The Outsider global can only be used on a given target die once per turn, so you couldn’t have gotten Grodd to better than 11A/9D in Game 2.
Game 4 – Sorry, Patrick G, you cannot use the Atlantis global (or any global) to move the die that you used to pay for the global ability back out of the Used Pile. The WizKids Rules Forum posted a similar ruling for the similar S.T.A.R. Labs global here: https://win.wizkids.com/bb/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=11737&hilit=s.t.a.r.+labs&sid=38e4c423540ec6cd2a3c262035700afa .
Granted, the ruling in question doesn’t explicitly state that you can’t do it, but it does provide a detailed example of how things work in that situation . . . and it does NOT mention it as a possibility, where the situation pretty much demanded they do so if it had been a legal possibility.
Finally, in Game 3, I don’t thing you got things quite right on the turn where you fielded Grodd. Ben blocked him with a Sidekick, and then used the Splinter’s Teachings global to swap the A of Grodd and the Sidekick blocking him. The two of you concluded Grodd did no Overcrush damage, but wasn’t KOed. Actually, in those circumstances, Grodd should have either done two points of Overcrush damage, or been KOed.
I’m not 100% sure about which because I’m not sure whether the +2A/+2D Grodd received from his Strike ability is transferable. I don’t believe it is (After Ben uses Splinter’s Teachings global on it, it is still the only character die you’ve fielded on the turn, and is therefore still entitled to the buff; ergo, it could not have been transferred) but I won’t be terribly surprised if others feel otherwise.
Your Grodd was 14A/14D at the time its attack was swapped with Ben’s Sidekick’s, after having used Team Up. Of that 14A it was either 12 transferable and 2 locked, or all 14 transferable.
In the first case, Grodd ends up 3A, 14D, while Ben’s Sidekick ends up 12A, 1D. With Grodd’s Overcrush, the Sidekick is KOed and Ben takes 2 damage.
In the second case, Grodd ends up 1A, 14D and Ben’s Sidekick ends up 14A, 1D. With the attacker’s A equal to the blocker’s D and vice versa that’s a mutual KO with no extra damage, so Grodd’s Overcrush becomes irrelevant.
I think it’s the former, but it has to be one of those two cases.
Thanks for bringing that up about the Outsider global (missed the once per turn) and the Atlantis global.
Now you know why, I dislike splinter’s teachings bac lol
But, you bring up a very good point about the buff. We need a ruling on which case it would actually be. My thinking is it’s the 2nd case where the sidekick gets all the A (with the buff) as the global reads “Swap the A of target character die you control and target opposing character die.”, doesn’t say printed A. Hmmm …