Unicorn Tool-box

Mophat · Unicorn Tool-box

So here is my Unicorn deck for all to see. Basically the deck wants Tacticians out asap and then if it can Courtiers. If you have any questions let me know.

SH: ToD

Dynasty: 40

Personalities: 21
Ide Towako x3
Utaku Keiko x3
Akasha exp 2
Bayushi Tsimaru Exp
Doji Jun'ai
Horiuchi Rikako
Ikoma Yasuko Exp
Moto Chagatai Exp 4
Moto Chagatai Exp 5
Moto Chen Exp 2
Moto Choon-Yei
Moto Jin-sahn
Shinjo Turong Exp
Tsuruchi Etsui Exp
Utagawa Exp
Utaku Yu-Pan Exp
Yoritomo Utemaro Exp

Holdings: 16
Clan Estate x3
Secluded Waystation x3
Stables x3
Rich Coffers x2
Private Trader
Seat of Power
Shrine to Fukurukojin
Temples Of Gisei Toshi
The Khan

Events/Regions: 3
A New Wall
Three Man Alliance Plain
Utaku Meadows

Fate: 40

Actions: 30
Cross Wind Cut x3
Misdirection x3
Superior Strategist x3
Doomed intentions x2
Sneak Attack x2
Unshakable x2
Brute Force
Desperate Wager
Flanking Action
Justly Earned Victory
Knowledge
Rout
Ruthless Advance
Skilled Quartermaster
Standing Fast
Stay Your Blade
Versatile Army
Will
Yarijutsu

Items: 7
Blade of Hubris x3
Ancestral Sword of the Ki-Rin
Daimyo Blade
Koetetsu Chikara
Heavenly Kobune of Suitengu

Followers: 3
Snow Riders x3

Rings: 2
Ring of Air
Ring of Void

Hida Karasu

How consistent is your fate side with 42 cards? Are you worried about Reinforce the Gates at all against those sneaks?

Yarijutsu rocks my socks Cool

Mophat

Well between the search and the draw in the deck I don't have a problem seeing what I need. As for Reinforce the Gates 90% of the time since I am Cavalry my opponent will use them to draw me into their battle from another province. So when I Sneak/Naval they don't have it. Or if they decide to save it till I have to oppose them I try to use an ability on a personality or my stronghold so I am not wasting cards from my hand.

And yes Yarijutsu is awesome.

Hida Karasu

Do most of your non-Uni peeps stay home, such that Dissent wouldn't really be a concern? From what I've seen on the boards, that's a card you should expect to see at the Koteis.

Mophat

I don't think Dissent will really see all that much play. Most decks will only run a few out of clan peeps, so probably 70% of the time the card will be able to bow one person. And it has to be someone with no followers. Only Utagawa and Doji Jun'ai will really see battle and Utagawa doesn't have a clan alignment so the card doesn't really effect her.

JackTheRipper

Bowing any card in the army sans followers a is very solid action all by itself. I wouldn't discount seeing Dissent in decks.

Anyways, you didn't even need any of the tactician tricks (or Chags) to beat my face in. Cav and attachments were all it took.

I understand why you're running 1x of a lot of actions...but I don't think it's really the best option. Rout is ok, but I would much rather have another Yarijutsu, Brute Force, Ruthless Advance, Stay Your Blade...etc. You can only reuse three actions from the discard pile, and that's if you see all three Unshakables during the game.

I would pick actions that you can play consistently. Then, you have the option of Yarijutsu-ing your opponent up to six times a game (or whatever action), as opposed to only twice. Additionally, Yarijutsu could be the best action you can take in a battle, but you may not have any Superior Strategists in your hand or tacticians on the board, or you used your one copy all ready or have no Unshakables in hand...etc.

How many Courtiers do you have? 5? 6? 3x Misdirection seems risky with that few. Taking that out could make room for some more consistency fate side. I'm not a fan of Sneak Attack, but it can win battles for you. I would rather have 3x of a pro-active action though, especially running Cav. You're hopefully only going to be opposed in the final battle(s), where multiple sneak attacks are a waste.

All that said, I think you can get away with this kind of tool boxing because you have so much cavalry (and Chags), that not everything has to come together and you can still pull off a win. I just have the feeling that games are going to come up where cav doesn't cut it, you don't see the Unshakable/Sup Strat/Tacticians/Chags/etc, and you lose because of inconsistency where you could have pulled out a win instead.

Mophat

I'm not saying that dissent is a bad card, but I think there are more powerful cards that do the same thing or better. Draw Your Blade for instance, because it can bow any card even one with followers. Also Shuten Doji's Fury. Both of those will get used in a deck before Dissent.

The main idea behind the Fate deck and the reason its constructed the way it is, is to give me options. Most cards in Samurai work on a conditional basis. Yarijutsu requires the personality have no weapons or armor for instance. So its good when I play follower based or non-item decks. Skilled Quartermaster on the other hand only has a gold cost restriction so I only want to see it when I Snow Riders in play and my opponents has a 7 coster or less. Basically the deck allows me to match my tactics to the situation.

As for the Courtier situation I haven't had a problem seeing one so far. I have 5 in the deck so that means approximately 1 out of 8 cards I see will be one. Which means by turn 4 I should hopefully see at least 1. And since I try not to risk them in battle unless I have more than one out they wont go away easily.

Anyway the deck seems to run fine as is, so I think I will run it like this for the Green Bay Kotei. If it doesn't work out I will change things up then before Nebraska. At least this year we are hitting three Koteis. Last year at the 2 we hit neither of my decks worked out. It wasn't till Gencon when I played my Hybrid deck in the Mad Dragon Tournament that I did very well. So maybe the same thing will happen this year. Two bad decks combine to form a good one lol.

Mophat

Just made a slight change to the deck. Cut 1x Sneak Attack and Unshakable to bring the Fate down to 40 even and because they were really unnecessary at 3x.