The Kotei is over, and the Scorpion claimed all the glory—and thus decided about the Fate of the Mantis. We’ve got new and returning Hatamotos, exciting matches, and more in today’s wrap-up of the event.
What a great weekend! Players from all over Europe—and even the US!—came to Nuremberg to finally meet again on an in-person battlefield. And it was truly a sight for the Kami! Beautiful playmats, all kinds of shiny tokens, and the concentrated looks in the players’ faces; I—and I think everyone—really enjoyed the event. Even though some quickly realised that jigoku helps in so many ways, and that five matches (and nearly every one of them going to extra time) on one day can indeed be very exhausting. We were quite a few of the Emerald Legacy core team (Kaori, Siri, Rob, and I), as well as Workerbee (EmeraldDB) and two of our artists, Thulsa Doom and Naurel Wood, who had to sign several of their artworks on cards. However, each and every one of you who came made the event special, so our thanks go out to all of you. Thank you so much for coming, be it from France, Italy, Greece, Sweden, UK, the Czech Republic, the United States, Germany, Belgium, or Iceland. I was truly honoured and blown away by your dedication.
A Clan in Desperate Need
But, the event was all about the Mantis (and I do not mean the Mantis deck, that Rob play tested as an alpha version live at the Kotei against other players. He conceded each game, of course, as his deck was illegal). The winner of the tournament, Scorpion, was allowed to decide if they were going to help the Mantis or reject them. No matter the choice, the Mantis are not going to be removed. Watch this space for the story that will incorporate the decision and show first implications of this decision!
The best of each other clan was asked for their advice to the Empress, regarding the situation with the Mantis. Their decisions will also show up in future stories. Apologies for being so secretive, but I just don’t want to spoil the fun—not for you, the readers, and also not for our story team.
Honour to Whom Honour is Due
Nobody left the Kotei without loot, but some received more than others (see here for our amazing prize support). Here are the standings of Day 1 on Lotus Pavilion as well as the result of the Top Cut on Day 2. We also had the Tournament of the Second Chance on the second day, which was won by Scorpion, too (Lotus Pavilion link)!
The Hatamotos of Nuremberg are:
| Crab | Hida Amoro (Benjamin Wolf) |
| Crane | jsjyme |
| Dragon | Togashi Komhl (Gunnar Traustason) |
| Lion | Ryanbantwins (Brian Wynants) |
| Phoenix | ininalia |
| Scorpion | nakezuma (Dimitris Melissinos) |
| Unicorn | Oskar Bladh |
You might also want to check out the deck lists that were used in the top cut!
| Dimitris Melissinos | Kyūden Bayushi (Scorpion / Crab) |
| ininalia | Twin Soul Temple (Phoenix / Scorpion) |
| Oskar Bladh | The East Wind (Unicorn / Phoenix) |
| Gunnar Traustason | High House of Light (Dragon / Crab) |
| Brian Wynants | Hayaken no Shiro (Lion / Scorpion) |
| Benjamin Wolf | Castle of the Forgotten (Crab / Unicorn) |
| Comebackman95 | Pride (Lion / Unicorn) |
| jsjyme | Kyūden Kakita (Crane / Unicorn) |
Relive the Past
As requested by some of you, we managed to both stream and afterwards upload the matches of one table on Day 1 (look out for War Cry!), which you can watch on Youtube here (part 1) and here (part 2) as well as three matches (quarter finals, semi finals and of course the final match) of the top cut including commentary!
In addition, we recorded the closing comments, prize-giving, and the Hatamoto ceremony. If you watch carefully, you will even hear Kaori talk about the story decision of the scorpion!
What next?
There will be another in-person Kotei in Poitiers (France) this year, most probably in November. We currently have a survey open to check for interest and the best possible date. Please not that the survey is in French, as it was originally created to check for interest of the French community, but I decided to use it to check for general interest! 🙂
We also aim to finish our core set by the end of this year and release it to the public. That’s super ambitious and might not work out, but we at least aim for it. And, who knows, maybe it will be legal at the Kotei in Poitiers.
二班木子
thanks very much