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Arrrrg, Matey!
By Nick Zube
Stronghold: Kyuden Yoritomo
Personalities
Daikua x3
Hyobe x2
Seppun Kossori x2
Togashi Hoshi (Exp.)
Yasuki Kojiro x2
Yoritomo Nodoteki x3
Yoritomo Takuni x3
Holdings
Island Wharf x3
Master Smith
Pearl Divers x3
Port x3
Small Farm x3
Trading Port x3
Regions
Swamplands x3
Events
Doom of the Brotherhood
Doom of the Dragon
Doom of the Unicorn
In Time of War
Kisada's Funeral
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Dynasty Total: 40
Followers
Heavy Infantry x3
Kobune Crew x3
Medium Infantry x3
Sailors x3
Shiryo no Osano-Wo
Shiryo no Yoritomo
Items
Battle Standard of the Mantis
Drum of Water x3
Gunsen of Water
Kihos
Master of the Rolling River x3
Actions
Along the Coast at Midnight x3
Block Supply Lines x3
Forced March x3
One Koku x3
Refugees x3
Superior Tactics x3
Traversable Terrain x2
Way of Deception x2
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Fate Total: 43
Sometimes, a deck which is just meant for fun can have some nasty surprises in it. This is one such deck, taking advantage of the incredible mobility of sailors and sailor-related cards to fly all across the battlefield, striking where your opponent is not. Not even the Unicorn can really keep up with this deck's sheer fluidity when it's really working well.
Of course, that relies on a couple of factors, the most important of which is surviving long enough to get to full attack speed. Seppun Kossori, who costs a convenient 5 gold, can help you in the early-game reace by giving you what is, in essence, an instantly-bowable holdihg, allowing you to buy one of the many 1-cost holdings in this deck or even Nodoteki. As the game goes by, you'll find yourself facing the question of whether or not you want to get out Hoshi. By all means, try, since he, along with the Master Smith, can beef up your ordinarily weak Personalities, who may then spread out and take the battlefield using all those great actions.
And what actions! Kobune Crews send your units sailing, sailing, sailing over to pop Provinces. Superior Tactics and Master of the Rolling River can easily put your guys where you want them. Often overlooked are the Elemental Items, the Gunsen and Drum of Water, both of which can serve as ever-present means of relocation. Traversable Terrain works great on defense, and Forced March just works. Way of Deception may be taken out, if you wish, but it's always great fun to have Daikua replace Takuni in a tight battle. Speaking of which, Daikua can be used either as movement fodder, insurance against dishonor decks, or as a means of making your Personalities move that much faster (after all, we can't give the opponent a chance to act, can we?). Yasuki Kojiro will spend much of the game bowed, serving as a mini-Along the Coast at Midnight for many of your smaller units. Hyobe is really fun, here, allowing you to attack all-out and still retain a sizable defensive force. The substantial amount of powerful Followers, mixed in with cheapies like the Sailors, provides you a good deal of punch. And Nodoteki's special ability should not be ignored. Relocating him and then blowing up Ports to pump him up can easily take an unprepared Otaku Province. Speaking of which, great deal of this deck is built to slow down cavalry decks, which are extremely fast, anyway. Of course, Block Supply Lines and Refugees are naturals. Doom of the Unicorn, and Swamplands, in particular, serve as more permanent deterrants, and put you and your opponent on more even footing.
And a final note: you've probably noticed the presence of Shiryo no Yoritomo in this deck, a Follower which I usually despise. Yet, here, he works somewhat well. Since this deck relies on striking where your opponent is not, placing a unit with Shiryo no Yoritomo at an undefended Province, then slowly and deliberately pumping him up, can provide enough Force to take the Province. Shiryo no Osano-Wo, of course, kicks ass, especially with the Master Smith and Gunsen of Water.