Jace Discovers... Great Nature! (Jace and Tamotsu)

Jace spent the night after his meeting with Hikari streaming, as he played Sorcery online, and did well in some leagues, he idly mentioned Vanguard. Asking for suggestions from the viewers. The online culture, memeing about his dispositions, mention Great Nature largely in chat. He lived in the Zoo District, and after looking up Great Nature cards... he admittedly loved the ascetic. Teaching, knowledge, and well... cute animals was certainly up his ballpark. It is a new day, and after managing some things at his shop, he journeys to the pleasantly green paradise that was the Zoo District building. He hikes his carry case of cards and supplies behind his back and enters the front entrance, looking around for reception or someone for information. Admittedly he looked lost despite his best efforts to look seamless. Online research was one thing, going out and meeting with the people and talking was another. This is how he made winning teams in america, perhaps the same theory would apply here, even if he isn't looking to become a pro player.

"Zoo... it is a small clan, but it is certainly brimming with potential..." He mutters under his breath, as he took in the grandness of the building... so big for something that is just meant to organize card gamers of a specific clan. No infrastructure existed like this for Sorcery in america.

With the day of the Zoo event behind him, Tamotsu had energy again and no longer resembled a tiger. His blue fur had been scrubbed clean of the oranges, blacks and whites that had colored it, and his tail was unrestricted to be as poofy as it wanted to be again. So with a new day now ahead of him that meant getting back to work at Zoo. But for the Great Nature clan leader it was hard to consider work to be well... work. The branch had settled back into its usual attendance and that meant excited kids wanting to see two things: the petting zoo and the talking dog their friends had told them about.

It happened to be in between waves of excited children that the dog found himself in the lobby, just exploring and looking for anyone who looked like they wanted or needed help. A familiar sight is what first met him. Rikuto, the Branch Director was walking through the lobby in a hurry.

"Good luck Rikuto!" the dog called out to his boss.

"Thank you. Report to Varess if you need anything while I'm away." the busy doctor said with a smile as he walked past Jace and out the door. Off on his way to save another life. Another day Zoo goes without its Branch Director there. Nothing particularly new. But following the director on the way out landed the pup's eyes on the newcomer. He hadn't seen this one before but that was fairly common for a busy public place. This one in particular seemed a bit lost. Perhaps he hadn't been here before. That seemed hard to believe given the sheer number of people who had been at the event but then of course not everyone could have attended.

"Hello, welcome to the Zoo Branch!" he said cheerfully as he trotted up to Jace. "First time here?" he said as his tail stood still for a bit. How excited it would get would depend on how this introduction went.

Jace moved his shoulder back, to ensure the kind doctor had enough clearance. His was a face he recognized from the television. He turned to see if he could get his attention, but noticing he is in a rush, chooses not to. Then he hears the kind voice, and he turns tail to greet the person... only to discover it wasn't a person bringing him kind regards... but a dog. "E-ehh?!?" D-did that dog just talk to him? Shock turned to fear, and then to... relaxed? The dog didn't look all that threatening. While he clearly looked surprised, the instinctual fear of the strange didn't seem to last all that long. He nods to the dog and does his best to answer the question. Relaxing and collecting his cool as best he could. "Er, yes. My name is Jace Antonis, I moved here recently, and was introduced to Vanguard by Hikari, if you know her. I was really interested in Great Nature and wanted to find out more here. Maybe pick up or piece together a deck for the next event and represent my new home district." Talking so formerly to a dog... he would never of imagined such a thing. This is certainly now on the top of his list of strangest things he has seen.

Jace, as he introduced himself, seemed confused or nervous about something. It took Tamotsu a moment to realize it was probably himself causing that. He was too used to hanging out with people who were so regularly in contact with the strange and bizarre. His friends had long since gotten over the initial shock factor of him talking but this was a total stranger. Whatever it was, the pup's tail got wagging fast as he listened to Jace talk. An aspiring Great Nature player, one of his favorite things to hear. Not quite up there with 'I'm home' from Jessie or Bashiro but still in the very exciting tier of things to hear.

"Well you're in luck." he said while standing up straight as he could and attempting some sort of dramatic pose. Kinda hard on all fours where you just sort of stand there and hope your head's angle brings it together. "You just so happen to be talking to the Great Nature Clan Leader! I'm Tamotsu Hakaisha and I can help you out with all things related to the University of Great Nature. Come on in, we got fight tables and a couple of spare decks lying around you can use to try out things." he said, doing a few circles in place and facing off towards one of the large open rooms fighters could challenge each other in.

A dog... clan leader? Well, suppose it comes to reason that if a dog can talk, it can reason and play card games. But, why has he not heard about this on the news or something? Is he so normal now that, this is just expected? Disregarding the oddness, it was good fortune and fate that brought him to the clan leader he was looking for. He looks at the gesture, and nods in understanding. "That is good to hear. Sounds like I am in good hands... paws... er... in good company." He follows the dog around moving his eyes from the canine to his front to watch where he is going. "I had a few fan- people recommend Great Nature to me, saying I would like the characters- characteristics and playstyle. I have only really played one game of Vanguard so far, so I am not very experienced. I looked up a few of the cards, and like some of them, but I am not so certain on good deck building. If I need to start somewhere, this seems like a good as place as any. In america you always root for the home team, so I figure I would support Zoo." He almost outed himself multiple times, he could see the emotes in his mind if he was streaming himself now. It has been so long since he has been the noob, he isn't sure why he is so nervous. He has become again the awkward kids that would come up to him and ask him for advice and answer their questions. Internally he psychs himself up, to keep his head together, and not be thrown by the odd sights.

Tamotsu trotted along happily, the metal id tag on his collar jangling about as he did so. He was trying to stay focused on the task at hand rather than get distracted by a million things. In a calm setting like things were for now that was pretty easy for him. The room the two had entered was large and had a sprinkling of fighters challenging each other. Many of them perked up as the dog and Jace entered, acknowledging the Great Nature Clan Leader. They must have been regulars to be so comfortable with it. He barked back energetically since waving was a touch complicated for him. Along the wall was an arrangement of shelves fighters could place place bags or things they didn't want to hold on while enjoying their time at the branch. But next to it all was a series of locked file cabinets.

"Juuuust a moment." the pup said as the ends of his sash that usually was tucked away under his collar popped out and began moving around. They were searching for something. Out of what seemed thing air came Tamotsu's set of keys to the branch building. One end of the accessory held onto the ring while another sorted through them, just like any human would do with their hands. The right key found, he unlocked and opened one of the drawers before turning back to Jace. Inside were rows of deck cases containing beginner decks the branch could loan out to fighters. Each had one of the three clan symbols, indicating if the deck inside belonged to Great Nature, Megacolony or Neo Nectar.

"So what did you have in mind? There's a couple ways to go about Great Nature, just like any other clan."

Jace respectfully waved to the people greeting them as he followed Tamotsu. When they arrive at the locker, the magic movements of Tamotsu's accessory surprised Jace. But then he reasons, if this intelligent dog played Vanguard, he would need a way to manipulate the cards. He was picturing how him holding a hand and playing cards would work without it... Likely it would involve a lot of slobber and overall not be a good time. Jace hangs his bag on a hook and looks over the deck boxes in the locker. He looks over the identical boxes and then thinks for a moment, to his research. He wasn't going into this conversation TOTALLY blind. From what his fans had linked him and what he looked up himself, Great Nature was a rather aggressive burst deck, somewhat similar to the Nova Grapplers he played. However their approach was more balanced, instead of one rear guard attacking over and over again. The Honorary professors seemed rather good, boosting your team and fueling your hand with cards to be able to defend the following turn. But he was also rather allured to the Legion mechanic. Something about the teamwork and binding of the two cards appealed to him in a flavour sense. He had already decided to not take this too seriously for now.

"I really like how Tester Fox looked, and I think the legion mechanic is rather interesting. However I couldn't really find much support for it. I also like the way the Honorary professors seem to work. A balance between power and drawing a good amount of cards seems to provide a lot of options for guarding. You are the leader of the Clan, what is your thoughts on the superior deck?"

A smile snuck across Tamotsu's face as Jace spoke. He couldn't help it when someone brought up the Foxes. They were good friends and though he'd actively avoided piecing his memories together that much stuck through it all. It was curious though to find someone new the game interested in legion. It had become less popular as Strides came around. Regardless, there were decks to accommodate all the paths.

"Well let's see. We tend to recommend Famous Professor Bigbelly to new players. He's the most well-rounded of the decks and has a Stride Skill which is super popular these days." he said as the sash wrapped around one box and lifted it out and onto a nearby shelf. "Honorary Professor Chatnoir has a really powerful stride that only works with it and makes for a crazy turn. But it tends to eat up your counterblast. As for Legion... well both the Fox and Guru Legions have really good skills but you have to spend a turn to not stride first to set that up. That can kinda hurt if your opponent is gonna go straight to striding since they'll triple drive where you only twin but it can still work. If you're interested in it I encourage you to try your hand at it. Some of the newer cards weren't particularly designed for Legion but they work wonders with it." he said as he withdrew a second box from the the drawer before closing it, grabbing the first off the shelf and placing both down at the nearest fight table.

"Go ahead and take a look through both, see what you like the look of better." he said, turning things over to Jace. One deck contained Bigbelly and other cards with the Generation Break ability. The other contained both the Fox and Guru legions seeing as that seemed to be the boy's primary interest from how he spoke.

Jace considered back to his time playing competitive Sorcery. Typically things that 'become debunked because of newer strategies' are pretty bad. Maybe he was just putting this nicely as to not discourage Antonis's inner optimist. Chatnoir sounded like what he assumed from the sage dog's words. Bursty, powerful turn, but you only really get one shot for a big swing due to the resources required. One seemed like the clear choice if this was a competition for something serious, however, this is a practice game. Something casual to help him learn and get a good introduction to the game. Something about the foxes just 'spoke' to him, called to him in a unique way. Hell, if he was able to somehow worm out a win against the Clan leader of Great Nature with a deck he considers to be older, that might impress him even more. He took the oldness of Legion as a challenge. Hell, some of the best cards in Sorcery: The Congregating was the first ones to ever be made.

"I would love to eventually try both, but I will give legioning a shot first, if you do not mind. I would really like to play with Tester Fox." Jace picks up the coordinating box of which he assumed contained the Legion deck, and looks through it. He pulls out the two foxes and fans them out in his hand, and smiles. It was a little touch, but it was something that in his mind was just really cool. He took a peek at how Guru Tiger and Wolf lined up in his other hand, and enjoyed the look as well. "I assume you would play with the other? Or do you have your own deck you would like to surprise me with? Or am I being too ambitious?"

The dog clan leader watched as the new player sifted through the cards before him. He was set on playing the legions which made Tamotsu happy to hear. His fox friends didn't see enough play if you asked him. No one asked him about that of course but if anyone ever did that would be his response. Jace was curious as to what he would be playing however. It seemed a fair assumption the canine would take whatever deck he hadn't but the pup had other ideas. His sash seemed to dig around for another thing before producing a deck of Vanguard cards. This was his personal deck and that was what he intended to fight with.

"I'll give you a look into what I play myself." he said with a sly look across his face. This was to be a fox-filled-first-fight between clan leader and an excited pupil. This was a rare opportunity for Tamotsu and he intended to make the best of it. He moved the Bigbelly deck case out of the way and placed his own down on the table before him, his head just high enough to see when he sat down. Thankfully the floor on either side of the tables was a built-in stool of sorts to accommodate shorter fighters and this raised the sitting pup up to see the table much better. He pulled a card from the deck out and placed it face down on the vanguard circle with the sash which then proceeded to shuffle the deck rather skillfully.

"Ready whenever you are!"

Jace sat down and positioned himself with the grace and charge. He removed what he assumed to be his starting card and laid it out in front of him face down. He shuffled his deck and looked away from his opponent with positioning of an experienced card gamer. Jace closed his eyes and considered. He was a noobie player playing against the head clan leaders personal deck. While this move wasn't completely unexpected, it surprised him that the dog would take such a direct approach to an assumed new player. The odds were fairly stacked against him now, but even more of a chance to prove himself was the opportunity here. His heart raced and forced his signature grin that he was famous for on the pro tours. This is what he lived for, playing against high tier opponents. Memories flooded his mind, one of classic matchups against old mentors and rivals, with all the drama expected of a TV show. All of this only to be washed away by an exhale. He was retired now, he couldn't get ahead of himself, and he had to focus if he wanted to win. He would need to push the power of Legion to its maximum if he wanted a chance to win this game and show off. He eventually places his deck down, and begins forming a hand. "I am honored Clan Leader Tamotsu, and I am ready."

Tamotsu was happy to see early on that Jace seemed to know how to play the game at least if not the specific clan and deck he was using. The pup was always happy to teach new players but it was easier to work with some base knowledge. Jace was given the first turn. Both players rode duckbill over telescope rabbit, the only difference in their first turns being that Tamotsu got to attack. It was always strange to fight similar decks because of the mirrored turns that could result like this. Jace then rode to Guru Wolf and attacked but triggers so far were fairly calm. The clan leader rode Researcher Fox, giving away that he ran the Fox Legion himself.

But then the two encountered an awkward situation. Tamotsu's opponent found himself with no grade three on hand and he seemed ready to accept his fate for the turn. It seemed Jace didn't know about G Assist so Tamotsu explained that option to him. As it happened, doing it didn't provide the boy with a grade three as it was so that was a touch awkward. But perhaps to repay the maneuver, Guru wolf hit a critical trigger in its drive checks that turn putting Tamotsu to three damage to Jace's two. The Clan Leader did have a grade three and so Honorary Professor Chatnoir took to the vanguard circle and put the two back on level ground with three damage a piece. The next turn came with the fear of having to try G assisting again but Tester Fox came to Jace.

"Better late than never. Bet you were running some crazy explosive experiment and forgot the time you old man." Tamotsu thought to himself with a smile as the familiar unit stood on the vanguard circle opposite him. It was an odd feeling for him to fight against an old friend. But it wasn't long before Wisdom Teller Dragon strode over the fox for the turn. With it came two crayon tigers and together it made for an impressive turn that put Tamotsu on five damage. The dog retaliated with Cath Palug and pushed Jace back as hard as he could.

Then the newcomer to Great Nature decided that instead of striding he wanted to try legion though he feared it would cost him the game. Researcher soon came to Tester's side and the sight of the two together on the vanguard circle carried a lot of memories. Bits and fragments that the dog had largely left alone for the several years since regaining them. There were many sweet things he could remember about the legion pair but the war in general was a dark and scary time and he wanted to keep certain things far away. The feeling was left without the specifics but he appreciated it regardless.

The foxes stood with Crayon Tiger and Guru wolf. And with a critical trigger they decided the outcome of the match. Tamotsu had been able to guard the legion attack, the first wolf attack and tiger's attack but when Guru Wolf restood he found himself a card short on guard. With nothing left to do he didn't guard. A critical trigger came instead of the two heals he would have needed to carry on with the fight. He hadn't particularly been counting on it to happen as it was. The sash began gathering up the dog's cards and placing back into a single neat pile again.

"That was a great fight Jace! I'm glad the Foxes pulled through for you. They have a bit of habit of that." he started. He'd quickly learned as a clan leader that losing to the younger fighters was never a bad thing. It was always an opportunity to encourage them and help them feel a real sense of growth. One they could never accomplish without the older stronger fighters to clash with. "It's always weird to fight the same clan. I'm so used to del- uh I mean I spent a lot of time fighting against decks that try to hold you down and restrict what you can do when I was really getting into the game myself. It's great to see both sides do their thing and the other do their best to hold it off!"

Jace shuffled and neatly stacked his deck in turn as well. The fight was close, if not heavily stacked against him. He was facing a clan leader, he was using a learning deck he never played before in a clan he never played before in his second game of vanguard. The deck spited him and he missed a ride and even then... he won. Slightly in part to his attention, he paid close attention to what Tamotsu's drive checks were, but mostly in the end he felt, it was luck. Jace opted for the inferior play of legioning and even then was convinced he would need at least one trigger on Guru Wolf to get through, knowing very well Crayon Tiger's restanding ability would be the key to his victory. Jace knew that he must of been very close, as Tamotsu did the math and declared no guard on his final Wolf attack. The win didn't feel convincing, but was a win nonetheless. When he entered this game he considered Tester Fox avatar worthy, but after how that game turned out, it ended up being that Crayon Tiger was the true all star.

Jace listens to Tamotsu speak and seems curious at his pause, but doesn't push it. "Having games where both decks go all out are fun and exciting. I must confess that before Vanguard I got quite the many victories constraining people to assure victory. However this change of pace is more fun and exciting for me." With that, he carefully places the deck back in the box, and places it in front of Tamotsu. "I must admit, the mechanic of Legion has a lot of potential, and I think Great Nature has the most to gain from it. It is just such a shame that it sets you up for inadequate turns." Jace then recollects the composition of both of their decks. Tamotsu's personal deck ran a standard grade 3 in Chatnoir while Jace's ran Guru Tiger, another Legion pair with Guru Wolf. "I noticed that Chatnoir was your other Grade 3 of choice instead of Guru Tiger. When Researcher Fox brings you such value in getting Legion pieces, especially with Guru Tigers ability, why do you run the Honorary Professor instead? Or, the fox pair at all?"

Jace sounded like a Link Joker player the way he described his experience in other card games. Tamotsu was glad to see he'd not decided to go that path, largely due to the struggles the Link Joker players currently faced to find acceptance in the association. But then questions about his deck started coming in. It wasn't like he hadn't thought about why he ran what he did but it wasn't much in his mind set to consider optimizing everything. A lot of these units had emotional attachments but perhaps that wasn't enough to keep pushing into the coming days.

"Uhh..." he started while trying to think a bit. "Well, Chatnoir gives me access to Cath Palug which is a really strong turn despite the counter blast it uses. If you stride it over anything but an Honorary Professor you can't use its skill. Usually after that, I'm ready to stride into the other Omniscience Dragons or if the set up isn't good enough I have a fall back. Chatnoir has a breakride skill meaning it activates when something rides over it when I'm at four or more damage. So if I breakride Tester and then legion, the foxes swing for thirty thousand power by themselves. Add to that Chatnoir's breakride skill is Cath Palug's skill but without the counter blast cost and despite not striding it feels like an equivalently powerful turn that you can do with a bit less perfect set up." he said trying his best to sound official and wise about this sort of thing. He had all these ideas floating around it was just trying to get them out was a new experience for him.

"Tester can then start making up for the counterblast Cath Palug used. So uh, other than that... Well I... I find it hard to give up on friends. I've been using the Foxes and Chatnoir and lot of the other cards you saw for so long that it just feels right." he said while looking down at his deck. He focused back up on Jace hoping the comment hadn't been taken as silly or unhelpful. "N-not that that's probably the answer you're looking for. But I think your bond with your units is an important factor to everything too. Maybe you felt something in that fight yourself. A connection of some kind."

Jace sat back and crossed his arms, there they go again. A 'connection' with your units. Hikari said something of a similar effect at his shop. This concept was completely foreign to Jace. On his tours through competition, he would play decks that thousands of other players could be playing. It wasn't uncommon to see the top eights of tournaments to be filled with one or two of the same deck. He was never able to create bonds with his creatures, or get overly attached to a card. If it wasn't the best, it wouldn't guarantee him a win. If it wouldn't guarantee him a win, what was the point of playing it at all? Sure, during some meta's or in some formats the field would be diverse enough that he could play a deck he found more fun than another... but it was rare that he got to play things he liked in competitive leagues. He couldn't help but fall back on this competitive mindset when looking into the conceptual Great Nature deck he had in his head. However, despite the sentimentalities of this personal deck, the Clan Leader had a good point. He never considered riding a Grade 3 over another. The power swing on that turn with a legion is rather big. Especially if you have a crayon tiger... the power bonus if you get a turn with that limit break could be overwhelming.

"I didn't mean to put you on the spot. I am used to being very competitive, so I never really considered sentimentality or running cards that I like. Although, when it just so happened the decks I ran had sentimental value to me, I performed the best. That, and although your deck is personal in nature, the strategy seems very efficient. I like the idea of your build better than running two legions. Legioning seems to be much better in a late game sense... and Guru Tiger's ability seems weaker than the line you suggest. Would you care if I took inspiration from your deck and tweaked it a bit? Having a chance to put my own spin on Tester Fox seems to be where I want to go for my first deck."

It was a relief to Tamotsu to hear Jace had appreciated his answer and even complimented his ideas with the deck, personal attachment aside. It started making more sense why he grasped game mechanics and optimization so well the more he spoke. He must have been very proficient in another game. It was almost embarrassing to the pup that he wanted to emulate his deck. It was a compliment he was rarely paid. Most would comment on the surprising strength of Great Nature but seldom did they wish to play like him.

"I'd be honored if what I do inspires you! Now that you know what you're looking for it should be pretty easy to hit up the different card shops to put the deck together. Most of 'em aren't super rare or anything so it shouldn't cost too much either." he said as he tried to remember buying the cards himself. It had been so long ago. At least to him. Another him that was. An older version a lifetime or two gone. It'd be more memories to have to put together and the pups shied away from it again.

"Oh right! If you're really wanting a good taste of what Vanguard is and has to offer you should enter the Branch Events. You'll get to see fighters with a whole bunch of decks and styles. The one at the Magallanica Branch is in a few days. Plenty of time to get the deck together and get in there. We need to get you set up in the FICA system too. Oh there's so much to do!" Tamotsu said, getting himself more excited the more he spoke. He barely had time to put his deck away though before a wave of distractions approached. That of another group of little kids looking for the big talking dog to play with.

"Oh no, gotta run! It was great playing with you Jace, hope to see you around more!" he said as he began taking off to get ahead of the pack of children. "You'll never catch me!" he called back behind him with a howl that only riled them up more.

An average day at Zoo really.

Jace was about to ask Tamotsu what a 'FICA' was before a surprising wave came... children wanting to play with the dog. Jace shouldn't of been too surprised, Tamotsu is a dog after all. Of course he would be energetic, excitable, and easily distracted. Jace sighed and picked up the deck box left behind and set it in the locker. Closing the locker, he discovers the lock clicking in place, securing the boxes in place. Jace collects his bag and walks up to the front counter, leaving Tamotsu to play with the children. He signs up for the FICA system, officially solidifying him as a Vanguard player. He also leaves both his Sorcery the Congregating Pro Tour players card, (written in complete english and likely useless to Tamotsu) with a personal number scribbled on the back as well as his small restaurants business card to be given later to Tamotsu or the branch director if he needed to get in touch. Offering to sponsor future events or volunteer if the branch needed anything. It was the least he could do to repay the free lesson and the time of the clan leader spent. With everything finished, Jace headed out to do some errands... he had cards he needed to buy.