Earth Rumble VII Skud Pai Sho Tournament

[Cannoli]

This tournament is burning up fast and if you blink you will miss the action! There may be fewer players playing fewer games now but I can tell the anticipation is growing by a non-linear factor! So for anyone who tuned out to practice sand bending, here is what went down yesterday.

Cannoli vs Samurai_Appa… yeah that happened! Cannoli and Samurai_Appa popped off with a 5-3 planting, then Cannoli planted behind Samurai_Appa when he moved out to begin work on a horizontal ring while guarding 3 gates. Samurai_Appa wisely delayed making harmonies, but when it was most crucial Cannoli used a boat to force all of Appa’s tiles into harmony, leaving him unable to block with accent tiles. Then on the 8th turn with only a rhododendron in the way Cannoli made his ring clearing the path with his wheel on turn 8. You could never plan for something like that!

Minkey and Demilocke shared quite the game, and though it was short, it proved to be interesting nonetheless! Demilocke began with a variant of the classic 3-5, moving his Southern rose directly out and his Eastern jade down out of the gate as well before forming his first harmony. Minkey responded with another tried and true opener, moving his jade out first across the board and harmonizing with his rose to begin constructing a ring. Rather than planting in the East on his first harmony, Demilocke worked from the Southern gate, taking an extra turn to get a chrysanthemum on the board before further advancing on his ring. Minkey, on the other hand, played his strategy in a more traditional manner, keeping control of the Northern gate and moving out a rose that he planted in the West. Demilocke reached his ring threat first, though Minkey promptly blocked it with a well placed rock, threatening a ring of his own. Demi moved to block Minkey’s threat, yet his block proved insufficient, and Minkey wheeled him away on harmony bonus, winning the game!

- Written by BaronAlbatross and Cannoli