Invitational Player Preview - Wydwen Scorpion Master

Scorpion loyalist Wydwen is a German player based around Munich who joined the discord league in the pre-season winning all his (only) two games (vs Dragon  Khrytos [1500] and Unicorn Levirexjones [1500]). Which was enough to push his rating to 1724 (lack of games played increasing end result volatility).

In Season Two he came 2nd in his pod with a 3-2 actual result (5-2 with drops)

{ wins vs Scorpion Heinzel [1653], Phoenix Arbuzio [1500] and Dragon Wizard Lizard [1500] }

{ losses vs Phoenix Btrain [1275] and Phoenix Demagogue [1500] }

The loss versus Btrain really hurt the rating which was dragged back to 1541 though rather perversely this has assisted Wydwens rapid climb past this point.

Season Two Cup was an utter success. With the meta from the Imperial Cycle hardly settled Wydwen took the cup in a stylish fashion stomping over all opposition.

T64 beating Phoenix Shiba Inu [1777]

T32 beating Crane Jeremy [1700]

T16 beating Phoenix Sotomatic [1704]

T8 beating Lion Tsuke [1681]

T4 beating Crab Vince Velorn [1608]

T2 beating Scorpion SirLargeness [1740]

Season two was basically a love note to Scorpion players and coupled with wins for Scorpion at two major Koteis alongside the arrival of the infamous AFWTD deck type Scorpion dominance as the top tier clan looked assured.

In Season three Wydwen consolidated his dominance going 5-0 actual in his pod (7-0 with drops) taking 1st place and top seed in the cup.

{ wins vs Phoenix Fuzzylog1cza [1133], Lion Seba_stian [1482], Phoenix Steelfur [1340], Phoenix Tsuke [1681] and Scorpion Madavaster [1500] }

Season Three Cup

Here he managed the double and became repeat Champion.

T64 beating Crab So_crates [1560]

T32 beating Scorpion Madavaster [ 1676]

T16 beating Lion bill.jr [1794]

T8 beating Phoenix Shiba Inu [1729]

T4 beating Scorpion Sir Largeness [1911]

T2 beating Lion Grrraaaahhh [1478]

His rating at the end of this impressive run was an impressive 2046 pulling him into Candidate Master Status. Wydwen did not play in Season 4 or Season 5 (resting on his laurels or perhaps in training for the Paris Kotei?) and enters the invitational on the strength of his double Cup Win. In terms of ELO he is currently the 2nd seeded player and one of the three only Candidate Masters.

Along with Bayushi Nomen he is currently one of the two most dangerous Scorpion players (though there are plenty of challengers coming from the ranks).

Anyway Wydwen kindly also filled in the player questionnaire and his responses are below

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

This one is a little hard to answer with 100% certainty. I've played the game for a long time. I started playing more serious during Gold, however my first interaction with the game was before that. I 100% own cards from Jade but am not sure about Clan Wars. I was very young and barely remember it. I was the most active and competitive during Samurai and Celestial where i won a Kotei and made the top 8 of several others. I stopped playing during the second half of 2010.

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

Over the past ~25 years I have played way too many other ccg/tcg-esque card games (at least 50). Some only for a few games to learn the rules and some competitive over extended periods of time. Most notably i guess, would be MtG which i am also active in currently and if you count non trading/living card games, texas holdem poker which i made some money with during my early 20s.

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

As far as highlights are concerned, both my games vs SirLargeness aka FroTtop come to mind. Hard fought, close and fun games of which I probably should have lost one.

Have you had success in paper tournaments and if so how well have you done? 

I have only played in some small (~16 player) local tournaments so far and had enough success to get my playsets of available promos ;)


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

I am very happy with the game in general. I hope it gets a little better balance wise in the future and by that i don't mean the situation of eg one clan like scorp atm having favourable matchups across the board but getting rid of 80/20 matchups, like eg crab vs unicorn seems to be, should be a priority.


What are your favourite/least favourite matchups?

I really enjoy playing the mirror and currently dont have a least favourite matchup. Perhaps i should say dragon because for me they are the hardest to play against atm but hardest to play against does not really translate to least favourite.