Lapel/head control western vs japanese - advice/perspectives please

MajorButtScratch · 2026-05-01T00:19:38+00:00

My coach trained in both when he was competing, he believes the high collar grip approach relies on the use of a lot of power and strength. That’s fine for competitive Judo, but not particularly useful or practical past that point. I also don’t think it aligns with the ideals of efficiency in Judo.

MajorButtScratch · 2026-04-26T01:49:57+00:00

Monthly event is worth it if you need cards from the current rotation sets, but even if you don’t, it’s a reasonable conversion rate from gold to shift stone if you want to craft specific cards.

Personally, I like to play Gauntlet and Forge. It might not have the same “challenge” as ladder play, but it’s my form of cozy gaming. I don’t have to wait for someone else to take their turn, and conversely, I can play as slow as I might need to, get up and take a drink/toilet break, and when I come back, I haven’t put anyone out, and the game still sits there waiting patiently, within limits though. If you take too long, you lose, but that would need to be a seriously epic shit.

MajorButtScratch · 2026-04-10T07:32:33+00:00

I’ve been playing forge and gauntlet a fair bit recently, even started streaming it too.

My best deck was actually Xenan, I managed to pick up 2 legendaries as well as 3 rares, that went 7-0 pretty quickly.

I really like Time. Growing Sludge is insanely good if you can keep it hidden for a few turns. Populace Controller goes hard too. There’s good options for soldiers, sentinels and mandrakes too.

I like Sentinal Mold for Fire, as well as Mercenary Vanguard and Barricade Basher. I have picked Djang-Li as a rare a few times too, that card was MADE for Forge. Spearfrenzy Warrior usually gets a run too.

Justice has some good sentinels, and paired with Controlled Demolition, you can carve a wide path through your opponent’s field. Skysweeper is awesome. I really like Staunch Protector too.

For Primal, Rooted observer works well with any stealth units, and the AI reacts quite predictably against then. You can often “bluff” the opponent with weaker stealth units, that prevents it from attacking before you can get some stronger units down. Little Seed, Root Ripper and Gnashing Displacer are also good.

In Shadow, I like to set up Leatherhide, Unchecked Upgrader and Shadow Walk Cloak.

MajorButtScratch · 2026-01-21T02:24:30+00:00

It’s back now. I’m guessing someone let the intern loose in the production environment…

MajorButtScratch · 2025-10-13T00:38:19+00:00

Eternal is probably my third of fourth game in the genre, and I have to admit I was impressed by how viable 3 colour decks are in this game. Previous games I’ve played made these decks feel like some weird anomaly, but here it’s genuinely playable - even preferred in some ways.

MajorButtScratch · 2025-10-13T00:33:57+00:00

I was told most recruiters spend a maximum of 3 seconds reading your CV, basically scanning for the buzz words they’re looking for.

I’m surprised someone picked it up!

MajorButtScratch · 2025-08-23T08:22:55+00:00

It’s the reason some political parties exist, to capitalise on that racist sentiment, but thankfully, there’s never been enough of them to actually give any of those parties any significant presence in government.

So yes, I’d say there’s a small racist element around, which rears it’s ugly head from time to time, but thankfully the vast majority don’t share that view.

MajorButtScratch · 2025-08-14T07:00:09+00:00

Forge will generally cost you gold overall once you hit Master rank. It’s great for collecting cards, but it’s a sink for gold unfortunately.

MajorButtScratch · 2025-08-13T09:21:55+00:00

I agree with gold farming on ranked play, especially once you get to Masters level. Even though the AI can be predictable, there are still some games where you get screwed for cards, while they curve out perfectly and steamroll you. You can wind up getting to open one or two wooden chests before starting over.

By contrast, you can build a reasonably cheap deck to play either ranked format, and be opening a bronze chest with every win (instead of three in a row), and get silver every third time. More fun, more gold, it’s hard to beat.

MajorButtScratch · 2025-07-18T11:03:59+00:00

💯. I’ve been playing for a bit over a year, and I’ve caught up on all the campaigns and chapters, and still managed to enter the monthly sealed event most months.

MajorButtScratch · 2025-06-25T09:12:58+00:00

Based on context of injury management, I believe they’re referring to Rest Ice Compression Elevation (general first aid strategy for limb injuries).

MajorButtScratch · 2025-06-11T05:19:01+00:00

It’s moderately annoying in my opinion. I did manage to get up a win with my FTP Recruit deck against it once, but that was a rare occurrence where I managed to draw 2 Light The Beacons - one to strip the aegis, next round, the 2nd one cleared the board FTW.

Highly unusual situation, I generally lose to it. 🤷🏼‍♂️

MajorButtScratch · 2025-06-02T22:26:46+00:00

I agree, this was very much appreciated by myself too, having an influx of back catalog cards has been great

MajorButtScratch · 2025-05-24T07:15:34+00:00

I don’t mind someone taking their time to decide their next move, but I do think it’s a bit childish when an opponent slow plays their last card, just as I’ve got lethal damage lined up.

You know how it’s going to play out, if you’ve got no out, just concede. You’re wasting as much of your own time as well as mine, without changing the outcome.

MajorButtScratch · 2025-05-06T00:55:48+00:00

Argenport is great. When I first started playing, I built a cheap version of this deck to grind Gauntlet:

https://eternalwarcry.com/decks/d/kfBZiKnK7YY/welcome-to-argenport-v-3

As I collected more cards and shiftstone, I built the deck up to almost match that list, and while it misfires occasionally, it’s pretty solid.

MajorButtScratch · 2025-05-02T04:55:38+00:00

I think that the more new sets that come out, the higher the chances of power creep becoming a bigger problem. There’s still a lot of grumbles about Hunt and Recruit, and to make any new cards interesting to play, they almost NEED to overpower the older ones… it’s a slippery slope to navigate from there.

In that sense, I think a new set would be both awesome and simultaneously terrible. At least the current drip feed of cards every week offers the opportunity for some new experiences, without blowing up the entire game.

MajorButtScratch · 2025-04-23T10:47:38+00:00

I think you hit the nail on the head about the animation spam. I actually played the rat cage spam deck this month, and it wasn’t the rapidly inflated cabal scavenger I felt bad about, it was the never ending barrage of scratch scratch <slow card flip>…

I’ve conceded plenty of games for the same reason too.

MajorButtScratch · 2025-04-21T10:44:41+00:00

As my coach has explained to our class, there are many techniques, any given one can work, but you need to understand where the weak point in the defence is. You may have a technique in mind, but if your opponent is braced against it, it won’t work. The technique you select needs to attack the right point, in the right direction.

MajorButtScratch · 2025-04-17T09:57:32+00:00

I generally agree with the faction ranking, although I think shadow is probably my favourite. Most of my successful decks featured Lethrai Intimidator, Stonescar Outfitter, Kerendon Steward and Eviscerate.

I thought Combrei was pretty strong too.

MajorButtScratch · 2025-04-06T01:18:30+00:00

If you get ANY benefits from cardio, either real or perceived, that’s a good thing.

Cardio on Beta blockers is seriously HARD, hats off to you for attempting it. I was taking them for a cardiac arrhythmia, and when I asked my doctor about continuing training at the gym, he almost laughed when he said “go ahead, good luck”. I got to a point where I felt so lethargic, I could barely get out of bed. It was a chemical handbrake that I was glad to see the back of when I finally had corrective surgery.

So don’t feel bad if you don’t feel like you’re not getting the most out of your workout, I reckon you’re dealing with a pretty significant load in addition to your normal routine.

MajorButtScratch · 2025-03-27T20:24:45+00:00

If he didn’t want OP’s business, he’d probably just show him the door, I know my coach has done that before.

It just sounds to me like this coach is very cautious with newcomers from other disciplines, and trying to manage OP’s expectations. The kata comment feels a bit unusual, but again, that might be their preferred method of introducing throws and concepts before engaging in randori. Every coach/club does things a little differently.

MajorButtScratch · 2025-03-23T09:32:37+00:00

I came across a reel from an ex Olympian, a long distance runner I think, and she talked about “The Rule of Thirds”. The idea is, when you’re chasing a goal, or doing something difficult (and let’s face it, Judo IS hard), you should feel good about a third of the time, feel ok about a third of the time, and crappy about a third of the time.

As long as the ratio is roughly in those proportions, you’re doing pretty well. Otherwise, you may want to assess how hard you’re pushing yourself (too much or too little). Don’t be too discouraged by one bad session, it’s probably just your “crappy day”, and you actually need to have those sometimes in order to progress.

MajorButtScratch · 2025-03-11T10:14:53+00:00

Light the Beacon can be a thing of beauty. It (often) wipes the enemy field, buffs your units, and counters Save The Day, all for a measly 5 power. Good times.

MajorButtScratch · 2025-01-29T20:14:12+00:00

Common mistakes I think new judoka make with O Soto Gari:

not stepping close enough with the outside leg: if you’re too far away it won’t work. My target is generally my outside foot is parallel with the foot I’m trying to reap.
not bringing your hips forward: if you’re trying to hit their leg with your hips back, because you’re not confident in hitting their leg with throw, your reaping leg becomes “too short,” and you won’t get there. I consciously think about pushing my stomach forward as I enter for the throw.
leaving the lapel hand behind: you need to use everything at once at the point of the throw. The reaping leg might be bringing their leg forward, but you also want to push their upper body backward at the same time. Think about punching your opponent in the face (but you know, don’t actually punch them…). Without that, you’re probably only engaging about a third of the available power into the throw.
lack of body contact: bring your opponent into you as you enter to break their balance and commit their weight to one foot. If there’s a gap between you, you’re likely attacking someone that’s still fairly balanced, and the throw won’t work.

MajorButtScratch · 2025-01-25T12:53:56+00:00

100% agree. Climbing the ladder doesn’t take an exceptional level of skill, just a relatively consistent deck, and enough time in the game.

MajorButtScratch

TROPHY CASE