Fire and Shadow pre-release at Utrecht

Ok, this was one of those times that most of the L5R tournament players(appr. 16) in Holland would come together and defend their clan with deeds, instead of the usual insults exchanged on the L5R Holland mailinglist.
This being my first tournament, I was rather excited and I was looking forward to trade within Holland!
I choose to play the Dragon clan, to honor our eternal allience:

Round 1: Dragon 0-0
- I was matched against.....Dragon! Because it was a sealed deck, we didn't bother and played on. After building up forces and honor, it was a stalemate, both sides having three Hitomi Nakusos and not daring to attack. But after a couple of successful Duels and having Jade Bows, I got the upperhand and attacked. Unfortunalty, he also got Duels and killed many of my characters, ending the battle in a draw. Luckily for me I got two Togashi Mitsus behind and finished him off. The first victory was a fact!

Round 2: Dragon  3-0
- I was again matched to Dragon, but he was also a Scorpion player! After some talking, we decided to play. Nothing really happend here, we only were proving which one was the better Duelist. With him having two Mitsus he finished of my Mirumoto Sukune and Taki, but didn't dare to attack me.
He won with an honor victory..............YUK!

Round 3: Fox 3-3
- Ah....finally not a Dragon, but a Fox Clan player. This was THE most boring game of the tournament, because I got only one sanctified temple as gold-producing holding.  My Mitsu for was send away from battle with a Block Supply lines and was bowed for 5 turns. Meeting no resistance, he quickly finished me off.

Round 4: 3-6
- I got a Bye, so no playing here, but wacked some of the PokeKids,
who were driving up my Irritation Factor .

Round 5: 6-6
- This was the final swiss round and I had to win to have a chance of playing in the finals.
My opponent was a Monk player. I had a lightinh start with a Mitsu and a Taki.  I challenged his Hsi Tsu and killed him, unfortunately Block Supply Line hit my Mitsu again and he was done for 5 turns.
This were getting even now, he got three Hizukas and a Suana. After my second Mitsu hit the table, I challenged his Suana, but he was prepared now, with a Shosuro Technique(I love it) and a void strike he defeated my Mitsu. But then I got the armory out and packed with three Jade Bows and a Katana, I finished him off!!!.

But that wouldn't matter, because of my bye I met lesser resistance than another player, who also had 9 points. That player was a Scorpion, so I wasn't that upset. He took second place after losing to the overpowerd Fox Clan. But hey, it was my first tourney, so I wasn't disappointed and I experienced F&S as a cool set (Bayushi Aramoro exp2. is way cool!) Looking forward to the Dutch Nationals!

Final Score: 9-6

Standings:
1 Fox, Hans de Moel(YA)
2 Dragon, Ronald Roos(Scorpion!)
3 Fox, Peter(Unicorn/Kolat)
4 Dragon, Amarnath Dahnpat(Dragon)

Some facts:
- Card of the tournament: Togashi Mitsu
being 7-7 with fire tokens this guy rocks in sealed!

- The new Monk Stronghold sucked! Monk players were found at the lower regions of the ranking list.
Takao is a cool card though.