This is the deck I used to win the Puerto Rico Kotei. It's an elemental masters deck. It's actually been on the forums for a while.
1 City of Tears
# Fate
1 Desperate Wager
3 Determination
3 Doomed Intentions
3 Final Sacrifice
3 Refugees
2 Hired Killer
1 Never Stand Alone
1 Incredible Resilience
1 Contemplation of Destiny
2 Wandering Budoka
1 Cartographers
1 Armor of the Ryu
1 Koutetsu Kyuui
1 Ring of Air
3 Consumed by Five Fires
3 Earth Becomes Sky
2 Paper to Steel
3 Scouring Flood
3 The Kami's Blessing
1 Touch of the Infinite
1 Walking the Way
# Dynasty
1 A New Wall
1 In Time of War
1 High Temple of Toshi Ranbo
1 Private Trader
3 Secluded Waystation
3 Seiden Sanzo
1 Shrine to Fukurokujin
1 Temples of Gisei Toshi
1 The Khan
1 Traveling Peddler
3 Silver Mine
1 Asako Bairei - exp3
1 Isawa Emori - exp
1 Isawa Ochiai - exp
1 Isawa Ochiai - exp 2
3 Isawa Tokiko
1 Shiba Aikune - exp 3
3 Shiba Daizan
1 Shiba Ikokawa
3 Shiba Maroyo
1 Shiba Ningen - exp 2
3 Shiba Ritsuo
1 Shiba Tsukimi - exp 2
1 Shiba Yoma - exp 3
1 Tamori Nakamuro - exp 2
1 Bayushi Tsimaru - exp
The main idea:
This deck mainly relies on the High Temple of Toshi Ranbo and our 6 elemental master cards (including Ochiai exp 2). It follows up with Final Sacrifice to protect the other power uniques and Determination to counter your opponents Determination. Determination is a crucial part of the deck. This deck will not work if your opponent can Determination kill one of your uber units.
The main combo of this deck is Ritsuo and a Master. You create an uber shugenja, who usually has even force to take a province by themself from the Kami's Blessing. On your next turn you use Ritsuo to unbow them for defense.
Everything else in here is a modification on that basic theme. Unbow with Yoma, unbow with Ring of Air, unbow and move in with Doomed Intentions.
Then you use really powerful battle actions and spells to destroy your opponent's army. One of my opponents described it as "I kill this guy with a Hired Killer, then I destroy this guy's unit, then I hit this guy with a rock and kill him too". Almost every action you have effectively removes a personality from the battlefield.
Play Scheme:
T1: High Temples (get that freaking high temples!)
T2: Gold
T3: Depends. Usually buy two people. Ocassionally, I'll buy more gold if available. In order to do so I have to be going first, relatively certain I can withstand an attack on my first turn and willing to sacrifice a fate card because I'm over drawn. This can work simply because the deck runs so many attachments and the opportunity to buy more gold is usually not an advantage for my opponent.
T4: Usually attack. Turn 4 always ends up being a heavy attaching round and I usually buy gold at the end of it. On my opponent's turn I usually have the means to straighten my shugenja and present a defense.
You're on your own from there.
The one card I NEVER discard early game is Ningen. Even if I don't get my two holdings round 2, I can buy Ningen and attempt to blitz round 3. Since most of the deck is attachments or 3 of cards you can get consistent use out of Ningen's ability. Ningen wins me games.
There's a single Never Stand Alone in the deck that I've almost always found useful.
Tsimaru is only really for honor match ups.
There's no Surprising Resistance. I almost never attack unless I'm fairly certain I'm going to win the battle. Worst comes to worst Refugees becomes a get out of Dodge option that I have used before. My canon fodder also has a bad habit of sacrificing themselves to save my uber shugenjas.
Ritsuo and Yoma can lead to some pretty nice tricks like using Paper to Steel to bow a defender and then being able to attack with that shugenja. I sometimes even find myself lobbying for the favor just to cycle it and then unbowing my shugenja.
Maroyo and Tokiko add extra shugenja's and yojimbo. Always make Maroyo a shugenja when you buy her. In a pinch they can be used in attack or defense. (Tokiko with Touch of the Infinite hurts).
There are only two Wandering Budokas. In playtesting I always found I had a Budoka in hand before I'd been able to either take or lose a province. They would sit in my hand and frustrate me. I switched one out for Walking the Way, which in addition to giving me an "extra" Desperate Wager added a lot of versatility to the deck.
_________________
Kevin
Winner Puerto Rico Kotei 2009
Top Phoenix: Columbia Kotei 2010, Cincinatti Kotei 2009
Any chance on a report?
