This is the Hoshiko list I brought to 9th at US Nationals in sunny Philadelphia. Since I decided to not start preparing until the week of the event, I needed a good list that was well crafted and I needed it to be bigger than the minimum deck size but still divisible by nine. I found jan tuno's Techshiko, which fit the bill perfectly.
Until I saw that it only had two Hippo. You don't want to ask after the tournament starts whether you can get another Hippo in your deck, just like you don't want to ask for a side after you order your chicken at the Quality Taste Jamaican Restaurant & Jerk Hut in Phiadelphia's Belmont neighborhood. So I cut a Maw and put in the third Hippo.
I only played four practice games via Jnet and, as it happens, two of those games included eventual grand finals participants DeeR and Wikignometry. This is clear evidence of fantastic clairvoyant powers on my part rather than a reflection of the high placing players practicing a lot.
I didn’t miss the extra Maw and ended up triggering both Maws and Hippos comfortably on the day, including having the great pleasure of getting to say “No, I’m going to leave that Snare! there”.
Many thanks to DanB and all the judges and volunteers who helped make US Nationals an incredible event. See you next year!
thanks for giving the list a good spin :3