Atlanta Kotei: A Look at the Four T16 Lion Decks

Along with Scorpion and Crane, Lion was one of three Clans at the Atlanta Kotei that featured double-digit participation. Unlike Crane and Scorpion, that participation translated into a high level of success, with 2 Lion decks finishing in the Top 8 (piloted by Trevor Valentine and Evan Paul), and another two finishing in 9th and 10th place (piloted by Steve Bewley and James Spencer). All four of those decks were of the popular Naked Lion archetype, featuring no attachments beyond De Bellis Yoditorum and Hiroshi’s Legion. Trevor’s was the most distinct, featuring Great Hall of Records (and almost no Heroes), and it went undefeated during swiss and won in the T8 before falling to Robyn Pavlakovich’s Crab in the T4. Unfortunately, despite being a contributor to this page, Trevor declined to make his decklist publicly available (feel free to mock him mercilessly for selling out and playing with Lion). However, the other three – which ran out of the more traditional Central Castle – are available for our analysis.

Evan Paul’s Naked Lion (Winner; 6-1 and 3rd after Swisss) (see and discuss it here or here):

Central Castle
Dynasty (40)
Events/Regions/Celestials (3)
1 Alter History
1 Akodo’s Guidance
1 Mountain Storehouse
Holdings (15)
2 Barley Farm
1 Belly of Fudo
1 Chugo Seido
3 Copper Mine
3 Famous Bazaar
1 Head of Fudo
1 Limbs of Fudo
1 Traveling Peddler
2 Revered Sensei
Personalities (22)
1 Ikoma Igawa
1 Akodo Shunori – exp
3 Ikoma Satoru
3 Matsu Kasei
1 Akodo Ryozo
2 Akodo Senzo
2 Akodo Kusamoto
1 Akodo Tsudoken
1 Ikoma Hagio – exp
3 Matsu Youko
3 Akodo Raemon
1 Akodo Shigetoshi – exp2
Fate (40)
Strategies (37)
3 Shameful and Cowardly
3 Final Duty
3 Scouting Far Afield
3 Thorough Preparations
3 The Cost of Pride
1 Preparedness
3 Outer Walls
3 Will
2 Unfamiliar Ground
3 Rout
2 Perfect Aim
2 Shatter the Line
2 Inexorable Defeat
1 Relentless Conviction
2 Countermove
1 Ultimate Sacrifice
Followers (1)
1 Hiroshi’s Legion
Items (1)
1 De Bellis Yoditorum
Rings (1)
1 Ring of Water

Steve Bewley’s Naked Lion (9th overall, 5-2 in swiss) (discuss here):
Central Castle
Dynasty (40)
Events/Regions/Celestials (2)
1 Akodo’s Guidance
1 The New Order
Holdings (14)
3 Copper Mine
3 Barley Farm
3 Rich Coffers
1 Chugo Seido
1 Travelling Peddler
1 Expendable Resources
1 Belly of Fudo
1 Kitsune Den
Personalities (24)
1 Akodo Shigetoshi – exp2
1 Akodo Seiichi – exp
1 Akodo Ryozo
1 Akodo Tsudoken
1 Akodo Kurogane
1 Akodo Shunori – exp
3 Matsu Kasei
3 Matsu Kinihara
3 Ikoma Satoru
3 Matsu Youko
2 Akodo Raemon
2 Matsu Nishijo
2 Akodo Senzo
Fate (40)
Strategies (37)
2 Guided by Honor
3 Duty
3 Final Duty
3 Thorough Preparations
2 Rout
3 Shatter the Line
2 Perfect Aim
1 Ultimate Sacrifice
3 The Cost of Pride
2 Inexorable Defeat
3 Scouting Far Afield
2 Unfamiliar Ground
1 Fall Back
2 Overwhelming Pressure
3 Will
2 Claw and Shell
Followers
1 Hiroshi’s Legion
Items (1)
1 De Bellis Yoditorum
Rings (1)
1 Ring of Water

James Spencer’s Naked Lion (10th place; 5-2 after Swiss)
Central Castle
Dynasty (40)
Events/Regions/Celestials (3)
1 Akodo’s Guidance
1 The War of Dark Fire
1 Mountain Storehouse
Holdings (14)
3 Copper Mine
3 Barley Farm
2 Chugo Seido
2 Famous Bazaar
1 Travelling Peddler
1 Expendable Resources
1 Akodo’s Grave
1 Fortified Docks
Personalities (23)
1 Akodo Ryozo
1 Akodo Kurogane
1 Akodo Tsudoken
1 Akodo Shunori
1 Ikoma Hagio
3 Ikoma Satoru
2 Matsu Youko
2 Akodo Senzo
3 Akodo Shunori
2 Akodo Kusamoto
3 Akodo Raemon
3 Matsu Kasei
Fate (40):
Strategies (37):
2 Fall Back
3 Scouting Far Afield
3 Shatter the Line
3 Low Stance
2 Outer Walls
3 Rout
2 Justly Earned Victory
3 Final Duty
2 A Legion of One
3 The Cost of Pride
3 Will
2 Inexorable Defeat
3 Thorough Preparations
Followers
1 Hiroshi’s Legion
Items (1)
1 De Bellis Yoditorum
Rings (1)
1 Ring of Water

These decks are quite similar, and would seem to form a good starting point for someone who wanted to test and tune a Naked Lion deck this Kotei season. Even if “netdecking” isn’t your thing, this is the sort of thing you’ll want to include in your playtesting gauntlet – if you can’t beat the most common version of a popular and strong deck, that’s a bad sign. Evan, Steve, and James’s decks had 48 (of 80) cards in common between all three of them:

Strict Combined Deck
Central Castle
Dynasty (24):
Events/Regions/Celestials (2):
1x Akodo’s Guidance
1x Honor Meta Event
Holdings (7):
3x Copper Mine
2x Barley Farm
1x Chugo Seido
1x Travelling Peddler
Personalities (15):
3x Matsu Kasei
3x Ikoma Satoru
2x Matsu Youko
2x Akodo Raemon
2x Akodo Senzo
1x Akodo Tsudoken
1x Akodo Ryozo
1x Akodo Shunori XP
Fate (24):
Strategies (21):
3x Final Duty
3x Scouting Far Afield
3x Thorough Preparations
3x The Cost of Pride
3x Will
2x Rout
2x Shatter the Line
2x Inexorable Defeat
Followers (1):
1 Hiroshi’s Legion
Items (1):
1 De Bellis Yoditorum
Rings (1):
1 Ring of Water

Throw in all the cards that were featured in at least two of those three decks, and you’ve got almost a full deck on each side (36 Dynasty, needing 4 Holdings; 34 Fate, needing 6 Strategies):

Loose Combined DeckCentral Castle
Dynasty (36):
Events/Regions/Celestials (3):
1x Akodo’s Guidance
1x Honor Meta Event
1x Mountain Storehouse
Holdings (12):
3x Copper Mine
3x Barley Farm
2x Famous Bazaar
1x Chugo Seido
1x Travelling Peddler
1x Belly of Fudo
1x Expendable Resources
Personalities (21):
3x Matsu Kasei
3x Ikoma Satoru
3x Matsu Youko
3x Akodo Raemon
2x Akodo Senzo
2x Akodo Kusamoto
1x Akodo Tsudoken
1x Akodo Ryozo
1x Akodo Shunori XP
1x Akodo Shigetoshi XP2
1x Ikoma Hagio XP

Fate (34):
Strategies (31):
3x Final Duty
3x Scouting Far Afield
3x Thorough Preparations
3x The Cost of Pride
3x Will
3x Rout
3x Shatter the Line
2x Outer Walls
2x Unfamiliar Ground
2x Inexorable Defeat
2x Perfect Aim
1x Ultimate Sacrifice
1x Fall Back
Followers (1):
1 Hiroshi’s Legion
Items (1):
1 De Bellis Yoditorum
Rings (1):
1 Ring of Water

Naked Lion should remain a common deck throughout Kotei season. Make sure to check out the players’ tourney reports for tips on how to play (and beat) the deck, and to see their follow-up comments on what worked and what didn’t.

One thought on “Atlanta Kotei: A Look at the Four T16 Lion Decks

  1. Aww, that’s too bad about Trevor not posting his list. My friend is trying to build a lion deck so he wants to check out some. I know that it contains Benika that furry follower generating machine, though. 😛

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