Subterranean Homesick Alien

Title: Subterranean Homesick Alien
Author: Michael "admiralpiett" Sneed
Date: Aug 2, 2002 Rating: 4.5


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Cards:

‘START (8)

Fear Is My Ally

My Lord, Is That Legal?/I Will Make It Legal

Coruscant Galactic Senate

Tatooine Desert Landing Site

Prepared Defenses

The Phantom Menace

Begin Landing Your Troops

Crush The Rebellion

LOCATIONS (3)

Coruscant (SE)

Coruscant Imperial Square

Dagobah Cave

CHARACTERS (24)

Darth Maul x2

Darth Maul, Young Apprentice

Boba Fett, Bounty Hunter

Darth Vader With Lightsaber x2

Prince Xizor

Dr. Evazan & Ponda Boba

P-59

Grand Admiral Thrawn

Admiral Ozzel

Rune Haako

Lott Dod x2

Toonbuck Toora

Edcel Bar Gane x2

Orn Free Ta x2

Yeb Yeb Adem&þ x2

Tikkes

Passel Argente

Aks Moe

STARSHIPS (3)

Chimaera

Executor

Zuckuss In Mist Hunter

INTERRUPTS (12)

Squabbling Delegates x2

Elis Helrot

Evader & Monnok

Maul Strikes

Imperial Command x2

I Have You Now

Sense & Uncertain Is The Future x2

Alter (Coruscant)

Alter (Premiere)

EFFECTS (9)

Presence Of The Force x2

Ability, Ability, Ability

Senate Hovercam x2

Accepting Trade Federation Control

Our Blockade Is Perfectly Legal

This Is Outrageous

Motion Supported

WEAPONS (1)

Maul’s Double-Bladed Lightsaber ‘

Strategy: ‘

   This is the deck that my brother and I have used off and on for the past two months or so; it is, by far, the most consistent deck I’ve ever played.  My brother went 3-0 with it at the Dantooine regionals, won a local tourney with it, and I won the Tulsa mini-open with it, with two wins over Chris Fanchi’s LS Senate.  It has everything I look for in a Dark deck; huge beatdowns, decent drains, manipulation, very few LS icons, direct damage, drain cancellation, SAC, high destinies and even a little retrieval thrown in.  I’ve only lost once with it, with a timed loss to Michael Richards that really was unsure as to what the outcome would have been (he had 31 cards left in Life force, I had 26).  As far as I can remember, my brother has never lost with it.

   The point of the deck is to set up in the senate with Lott Dodd and whoever else needs to be there, pull your political effects, plink drain for 1 at the senate - and, if playing against a very slow deck or a space deck, for 3 to 5 at the Landing Site with a POTF, Maul’s Lightsaber and Motion Supported - and wait for my opponent to come to me.  AAA helps in this area as well.  In a way, the deck functions much like Hunt Down decks have for years; establish early with minimal force given to the opponent, cause enough damage to force him to deploy and beatdown with combos courtesy of “DOD VISION” (props to Fanchi for that term).  Repeat process until opponent is decimated.

   Always start with the Landing Site, Crush, The Phantom Menace, and BLYTroops.  Although there are only 2 lott dods, you also have 2 Squabblers, and 3 Mauls, so it’s more like 7, meaning that if you don’t have any of those in your hand by the 2nd turn, the deck is mad at you and you need to apologize for whatever you did to piss it off.  Sense combo is huge in this area; out of the few games I’ve played with it, I’ve used Uncertain Is The Future TWICE to turn a really crappy hand into a useful one; UITF also helps with getting my chokes out early.  After you flip with Dod and another senator, start setting up your combos with Dod and, if you flipped with him, Tikkes.  Remember, there are 12 senators in the deck, so cancelling drains should be no problem (except against Combat, of course).  Against an opponent who knows better than to leave any chance for beatdowns, simply through Presence on the Landing Site and/or Galactic Senate, through AAA out, and make him do something to try out-damage you.  If need be, you can also throw Presence on Coruscant with Chimaera and an admiral, Aks Moe at the Senate, and drain for 3 at the system.  In other words, POTF is golden; it’s the perfect battleground with a destiny of 2, and if you really, really have to (but I never have), you can always alter them and throw CHYBCoward down.  Of course, late game varies from deck-to-deck (because it this deck is so reactive), but Squabbling always helps up the differential.  All right, on to the weird and wonderful card choices

Begin Landing Your Troops I know, I know, why not IAO/Plans? Well, there’s lots of reasons. 1st, I have 1 character that gets a forfeit bonus from IAO; I have 13 that get a better bonus from Troops. 2nd, I like Elis; it’s a great combination when those senators are only destiny +2 or +3 for weapon and battle. 3rd, I have yet to have my shields overloaded; I have only deployed the Battle Order shield once, and I don’t believe I’ve ever needed anti-SAC shields, cuz I’ve yet to see a deck run more than what I run (2/2). Which brings us to…

Sense & Alter Well, this is probably a meta-choice, because I just don’t see any SAC defense more than the Oppressive Enforcement shield played against me; with as many interrupts as I use, I’ve never even had it grabbed (Squabbling and Command do). What this means is, except against WYS, Bacta Tank, Demotion and most importantly Goo Nee Tay are gone. Sense is also much better than any barrier canceller. It also means LS Senate has a real problem; I really believe they just can’t handle their political effects being cancelled. Even if they play Wise Advice and continually pull them, I can cancel them with Palpy or Horax on them, meaning the fight for the senate will end soon as they run out of characters to battle with. Of course, their Bacta Tank getting Altered is no fun either. As I mentioned before, Uncertain Is The Future is also extremely helpful in many situations; for instance, if I get a bad opening hand, or simply have nothing better than a couple of twixes, I can throw them down, recycle my hand, and start anew. Early in the final confrontation at Tulsa against Fanchi’s LS Senate, all I had in my hand was an Evader/Monnok, I Have You Now, Motion Supported, Maul’s Double-Bladed, and an Uncertain Is The Future. I played UITF, and my new hand was a vast improvement, including Tikkes and a Squabbling, which helped me immensely against his impending assault. By contrast, I found out after the game from a spectator that I took a couple of his characters (I believe Horax and Palpy, but I’m not sure), and his new hand contained two political effects and both docking bays.

Twix locations Why the twixes? Simply because they are the most effeciant form of activation, and they’re easily pull early with Lott Dod. This way, if I wanted to cause significant damage against my opponent, I would only need to give away 2 icons (senate, POTF at Landing Site). Also great in combo with the Hovercam against WYS, as only the Landing Site and the Dark Cave are effected. Besides, if I included docking bays, I would have to pull them, or leave a few zeros floating around in my deck. Sometimes, I simply don’t need to provide a battleground of my own because my opponent does. With POTF, battlegrounds are completely optional, and I can’t think of many games that I wouldn’t want those twixes on table.

12 senators Yes, it does seem like a lot, but it ensures a victory over LS senate, and consider this; they’re destiny of 5 or 6 for battle or weapon, but destiny 2 or 3 with Elis and Sense/Alter. It also ensures that I’ll be adding to or subtracting from battle destinies almost every battle, if not both.

Rune Haako + Yeb Yeb x2 I just don’t understand why more Senate decks do not make use of this little combo. With The Phantom Menace, Haako comes from Reserve Deck; with Edcel on table, opponent can’t draw more than 1 destiny; with Yeb Yeb, I can easily guess with Haako to reduce their only battle destiny to zero. Now, this is not unstoppable; against LS Senate, for instance, they can always search for a political effect during the battle to shuffle their deck (as long as they’re flipped). However, he works more often than not, is a mini-First Strike, and with Lott Dod and BLYT on table is a forfeit of 10. Also, his text isn’t cancelled in the Senate. Besides that, Yeb Yeb is very useful against slower decks; for example, against WYS, I killed Celebration with him.

Elis Helrot Again, this is more of a meta-choice than most decks, but since I don’t start IAO, I thought, why not? Very helpful in getting Maul into battles; has provided me with many early beatdowns. Very helpful against Combat; along with Sense, you never really have to worry about being combatted to death, you just knock them off of their own sites.

Okay, time for the matchups

LS Senate - I’ve always considered Dark better in the senate, but many are convinced otherwise, and this opinion is mainly due (I believe) to the unceasing Palpy and Horax (courtesy of Draw Their Fire and especially Bacta Tank), the use of Sense, and their political effects in combo with Claw Fish and high destinies. Well, I play my own Sense/Alter, and Lott Dod helps me get it so I should win that war. Bacta Tank is usually cancelled with someone on it, and well as a political effect (usually The Gravest Of Circumstances with Horox on it), so their attempts at taking the senate become, for the most part, neutered. This is due to the fact that you simply have more senators than they do, so you should never lose a battle there. An early Imperial Command can help as well, as Ozzel becomes a nice addition to the senate with 0 deploy, 4 forfeit and 2 politics. It goes downhill from there; without the senate and with an unflipped objective, a senate is pretty lame. AAA helps force them out, to which you can respond with massive beatdowns. Or, if they throw out RIII Yoda, just put down the Cave and cause a little direct damage there. Or just take control of their Council Chamber and drain for 3 (4 with POTF, 6 with POTF and Motion Supported). Or all of the above. Really, this shouldn’t be too difficult of a game.

Lightsaber Combat - I don’t have too much experience against this deck, but I’ve also never had a problem with it. This is because the deck, though helped by Maul early, does not rely on the Dark Jedi to do it’s damage. Set up quickly with Lott Dod and anyone else (usually Orn), search for Elis and provide beatdown with Maul + I Have You Now and/or Maul Strikes. Or just go at him with combos from Dod (Boba + Vader w/stick) and beat him down that way. Either way, you will want to hold on to at least 1 Sense, and probably 1 Alter, because inevitably he will play Dodge/Barrier/Narrow Escape/Blast The Door Kid to escape. What is especially mean, though, is setting up at the adjacent site (b/c usually combat goes with Quiggy alone on Naboo), Motion Supported, POTF in the Senate and AAA and they will not be able to keep up with the damage. Against a racing varient, CHYBCoward will work more often than not; just make sure before you throw it out, because you will be strapped for shields. All in all, though, not too difficult.

Quiet Mining Colony - As many Senate players will tell you, QMC is the matchup you pray for. For some reason, this seems to be the easiest and biggest win for the deck; I believe the speed of the senate has the most to do with it. Flip early with Dod and preferably Tikkes, but Orn or Yeb Yeb are excellent as well; start searching for your space package. Commands and Mist Hunter can make life very difficult, and if you still have Maul undeployed, you can bet on maintaining an iron grip on the system for the rest of the game. Sense Power Pivot and/or Wings/Spin, and with the massive immunity of your ships, you won’t be going anywhere anytime soon. This is only encouraged with Our Blockade Is Perfectly Legal and Accepting Trade Federation Control. QMC is severly crippled without the system; already choked for force, and taking 2 cards out a turn, your deck will run all over them. On ground, search for Elis if you want to; otherwise, Xizor, Haako, Vader + Boba are all great battling tools (just remember to grab Path). Use Tikkes to make activation completely one-sided. Path gets Sensed, and the opponent will almost always take overflow. From their, just throw down AAA, Battle Order, and finish the game.

Watch Your Step - This is going to be the deck’s toughest matchup, because you will not be able to cancel Demotion, Goo, or Bacta. Edcel is, of course, key here, but Passel helps with the Patrol Crafts and with a little luck, Yeb Yeb can win you the game. At the least, he will force your opponent to demote Edcel, because with Edcel, Yeb Yeb and Haako, your opponent will get a 0 for battle destiny on ground (which is ridiculous, figuring it’s WYS). Again, your space package is key; take control of the system, and with a little time, you can control the Cantina as well. POTF goes on the Senate. DO NOT FORGET you need ZinMH at Tatooine; otherwise, Thrawn won’t help you much. Tatooine Maul is the bane of WYS, so make sure it’s that version that hits table. Very useful in space against (V) Luke with I Have You Now. Use Commands and Accepting Trade Federation Control to maintain immunity in space. Hovercam must be pulled early, of course. Don’t forget to pull the Secret Plans shield. Most senate decks don’t have too much of a problem with WYS, but then again, most senate decks run SHUOSHD, Point Man/Boring Conversation, and Guri, so it’s a bit tougher in this matchup. However, with your massive activation and Lott Dod, I’d still say the matchup is about even. I’ve never suffered a full loss to WYS, and like I said, the only loss was a timed loss to WYS where the game was, IMHO, still unclear as to who would win.

Hidden Base or EBO - Again, I haven’t seen this deck too often, probably because it will lose to way too many popular dark decks right now, including this one. Flip with Aks Moe in the senate; if, for some reason, you suspect swarm, simply deploy Passel - game over. POTF the landing site to fulfill Battle Order (unless you can use one of their sites safely), other Presence on the Senate; pull your space with Commands and “DOD VISION”. Your immunity, as well as your multiple high destinies, means you stay and they won’t. Alter Bacta Tank to drive the point home. Pretty soon, they will start running out of stuff to put down, and just run from you; when that happens, throw out AAA. The game will end soon after.

Well, that’s pretty much it, if you have any questions about the deck, just d-mail or put it in your review, but remember, I’ve worked a long time on this deck; it’s doubtful that your question has not already been considered.

Thanks for your time,

Michael “admiralpiett” Sneed