Invitational Preview - Bayushi Nomen Scorpion Ninja



Nomen (or Byron Krane) is a very high quality Scorpion player from Canada who has (so far) managed the difficult feat of continually holding on to Candidate Master status. He also managed top 4 at PAX Unplugged Grand Kotei.
Pre-Season

In the relatively meaningless pre-season a 4-0 record showed immediate strength.

wins vs Scorpion Krioni [1500], Dragon Togashi Komhl [1500], Crab s7lence [1500], Scorpion Bayushi Yamaneko [1500]

Season 2 - Rating 1805

The pre-season record was proved to be not a fluke with a 3-0 actual (7-0 with drops) taking 1st place in the pod.

Wins vs Crane Kakita Marble Toad [1500], Phoenix Shiba Takeo [1353], Crab Hiruma Damabiya [1469]

Season 2 Cup

For a first cup attempt last 16 was very reasonable.

T64 beat Phoenix Shiba Takeo [1433]
T32 beat Scorpion Shenful [1874]
T16 lost to Lion Tsuke [1681]


Season 3 - Start Rating 1881

Nomen's rating had continued to climb and  his 5-1 (6-1 with drops) and another 1st place in a pod with 4 +1700 players was a powerful indicator.

Wins vs Scorpion humblestmonk [1715], Crane K3NSHIN7 [1500], Dragon Mirumoto Kai [1876], Crane Fyeya [1712], Crab so_crates [1500]
Losses vs Scorpion simcof [1500]

Season 3 Cup

In the cup Nomen moved up to the top 8 before losing to one of the other dominant Scorpions SirLargeness.

T64 beat Crane Kakita Lenial [1328]
T32 beat Phoenix Demagogue [1726]
T16 beat Scorpion Wosho [1852]
T8 lost to Scorpion SirLargeness [1911]


Season 4 - Start Rating 1920

In a pod plagued with drops Nomen's 3-1 (6-1 with drops) was fine to move on in 2nd place.

Wins vs Dragon Tubazilla [1477], Phoenix Thephilosifizer [1500], Crane D4rkWolf10 [1154]
Losses vs Crane Daidoji Micah [1926]

Season 4 Cup

This time though a loss to perennial Crane contender Chutereve (where Chut used a 'wide' attack to circumvent the Scorpion strength cards) kept Nomen from the top.

T64 beat Lion kostakias
T32 beat Crab Enegon [1932]
T16 lost to Crane Chuterevee [ 1682]

Season 5 - Start Rating 2006

Now one of only four Candidate Masters Nomen kicked things up a gear and smashed his pod into little pieces with a 7-0 taking 1st place. No majorly strong contenders (mainly new players or sub 1500s)

7-0 1st place
Wins vs Crab Vari [1492], Crane cobaltblue [1500], Dragon leventei [1175], Lion Grath Wyvrin [1500], Phoenix Dahrasz [1569], Phoenix vanity [1500], Crane Slynight [1500]

Season 5 Cup

In his second T8 appearance so far Nomen took a loss to the Phoenix Demagogue afer a good result against Heinzel.

T64 beat Phoenix Awaken [1519]
T32 beat Scorpion Heinzel [1812]
T8 lost to Phoenix Demagogue [1723]


LCQ

Another T8 but will the wins be enough to circumvent the loss to Demagogue and drop Nomen out of Candidate Master status?

T64 beat Crane Cobaltblue
T32 beat Dragon Chaley [1714]
T16 beat Crane Szuturon
T8 lost to Scorpion fordream [1595] (concede prior to game as already through)

Nomen gets to the Invitational on his consistently strong cup runs. Always around T16 or T8 this is a strong record.

Here is the questionnaire..

Did you play a lot of Original L5R? and if so how long/when

I played from the start of Emperor Edition to the end of the game;
just casually, but still quite liked the game.
New L5R is just straight-up better, though.


Do/have you played other competitive card games at a high level?


Not particularly; I've played just about everything a few times, but
I've always been more of a dabbler until now.


What were your experiences of the Discord League – any highlights ?

I'm not sure there's much *specific* to note - it's just been overall
a great experience. Probably one of the best parts is having games
casted that I can go back and look over to learn from, though.


Do you have any advice for the other lower ranked players?

"Pass" is a good word, and I don't just mean in the Dynasty phase.
Also, know your opponent's likely province row (or their actual
province row, in elims), and play around it.  Don't attack blindly if
you can't afford to hit whatever they might have (Shameful, RoB, F&F,
etc).


What is there that you like/dislike about new L5R and what would
you like (or not like) to see moving forward.


I think the core game system is very good, and love how much
interaction there is just based on the rings/game rules.  I don't want
to see hasty changes like a restricted list; I think the meta is very
good right now (with the obvious exceptions) and a restricted list
isn't the right solution to "the majority of factions are at a good
power level and a few are too weak".  I want to see a few more choices
in the dynasty deck; conflict deckbuilding is tight and interesting,
dynasty deckbuilding (at least for Scorpion) feels like "ugh, okay,
which bad cards do I want this time".


What are your favourite/least favourite matchups?


I tended never really to enjoy playing against Lion much, though it's
now a pretty good matchup for us with AFWTD.  I like pretty much every
other matchup, though everything has its own reason it can be
frustrating sometimes.





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