melbourne-australia-16-oct-99
Title: melbourne-australia-16-oct-99
Author: Michael "Joz" Josem
Date: Oct 26, 1999
I played in regional yesterday, here in Melbourne. Let's start from the
beginning:
7:45am alarm goes off. I wake up
7:46am, step-mum comes into the room, and complains that someone rang at
7:30. She said that they said 'he'll be up soon anyway.'
7:47am. I wonder. Who on earth could that be? I've got nothing on today.
The regional is tomorrow.
7:48am. Or is it? Where's that letter with the details.
7:49am. @#%$#%%^(A()#@%#@$(@*^%. It's today.
7:50am. Beng calls. He offers to give me a lift. I say I'll get in ring
in 5 minutes.
7:51am. 'Hey dad, Could I please go out today?' 'The tourney's today, not
tomorrow.'
7:52am. Dad says, 'OK, but I think you're mad. You've got exams in 2 weeks
time.'
7:53am. Ring Beng. 'Hey Beng, thankyou very much for calling - I'd be
delighted to get a lift with you.'
7:54am. How many cards can I fit in these boxes? I still haven't built a
dark side deck. I think I've got a decklist on the lapop.
7:55am. Get dressed
7:56am. Get 3 boxes (a shoe box, my anthology deck box, my 'rare' box.)
Fill them with cards.
7:57am. Carry everything outside.
7:58am. Wait for Beng
8:15am. Beng arrives
8:16am. I get in car.
8:17am. I rustle through the 2,000 cards I have with me, and try and build
a DS deck.
8:18am. Laptop does not have decklist. This will make it interesting.
8:19am. Start looking through cards, and pulling them out.
8:56am. We pull up outside the joint. I have gone through all the cards,
and have the basics of a deck.
8:57am. Second pass over cards begins.
9:00am. Deck almost complete.
9:05am. Deck finished. Kev pulls up around this time too (the TD).
9:06am. Start filling in command card.
9:07am. Start filling in deck list.
10:00am. Games begin.
If anyone's interested in a copy of my DS deck, you can find it at
http://swccg.ript.net or at decktech.net
Game 1, my DS, vs someone from Brisbane or Sydney (sorry, forgot his name).
He started Hidden Base, looked through his deck for the HB marker, and went
off to fix his deck :)
Meanwhile, in the game next to us, Derek has a 65 card deck. Hmmmm. He
fixes it.
Well, anyway, he gets started, and is really, really flustered by it all.
Opening hand, he has Artoo + A Gift. Also, some systems, and JP:AC and
Obi's Hut.
So, he plonks it all down, including Artoo to the AC. Next, comes A Gift.
I say 'uh uh. Artoo needs to have just moved for A Gift.' He reads the
card and says 'oh.' So, he redeploys Artoo the Hut, and then moves him in.
He doesn't play 'A Gift.' I think 'hmmmm.'
On my next turn, Motti + Boba w/ Gun deploy to the AC, and then move over to
the hut to get a quick drain in.
His turn, during his deploy phase he tries to play A Gift. This time I put
greater emphasis on the 'just' bit. He reads the card and says 'How do I
deploy it then?' He then reads it further, and 'oh, I see. It's an
Immediate Effect.' Anyway, a couple of other 2/2 guys (possibly including
Kal Falnl) come to the Hut, battles, I shoot one, draw a high destiny, and
he draws a 0.
Few turns later, Artoo goes back to the Hut, after Motti died, Choke Vader
comes, gets a glowstick, and slices and dices. Boba might have died too,
actually, thanks to EPP Obi. But EPP Obi is no match for Choke Vader +
Glowstick + Tarkin + Destiny rig. So I take control, drain for 4 a few
times at the Hut, before Artoo finally gets back inside to the AC to become
a Gift. On my turn immediately after that I ask him if he wants to move
Artoo, he does, and I move Vader + Tarkin to the AC (a drain of 3 instead).
On his next move phase, he goes to move Artoo, I say 'no, undercover spies
move during the opponent's turn.' He asks why, I say 'cause it says so in
the rules, and proceeds to read Artoo + A Gift for a few minutes. That
puzzled me, but I was draining for enough at the AC.
Some time during all this the Tantive 4 deployed to the Death Star, but I
deployed CHYBC and that stopped him from draining there. 'Da Bus' (as I
entered it on my decklist) and Blizzard 1 were in orbit of Tatooine, and
apart from a little resistance here or there, it was a comfortable win to me
by 25 or so force, with an additional 12 cards in hand. I drew far too much
in this game, because he never drained me, and I had no way of getting rid
of the cards in my hand.
So, a nice start for me leaves me at 2(+25 or so)
Highlights: NO ONE beats Choke Vader, Tarkin Glowstick and stacked
destinies...
Lowlights: He was kinda disappointed to see all his Harvests go off the
reserve deck to the drains, and Beru/Owen to the Choker
Game 2, LS vs Beng
Beng was playing an ISB Ops sort of deck. He started Coruscant, I got all
my sites out w/ MWYHL, and deploy T:JP. Around this time I was beginning to
get a little worried 'cause he was draining for 1 at Coruscant and not
looking like he was giong to come to ground, even though he deployed the
Hoth, Y4 and Endor Docking Bays with IAO. He also deployed the CC:PTD, so I
threw Obi there for a drain of 2, only to be followed by 5d6-ra-7. I also
chucked down Wedge + EPP Han to entice someone to the Hoth:DB (Don't Get
Cocky, Skywalkers etc. in hand). No luck, but some guy (Vesden?) came to
the T:JP, so Luke, Leia and Skywalkers made a mess over there, resulting in
Beng losing 15 or so force. Obi Nabruned to another docking bay, while it
was just a mopping up process. Perhaps there was another big battle in
there somewhere, but I ended up winning by 25 or so.
4+49
Game 3, DS vs Stuart Lauder
Stu was playing Ops. I was playing beatdown. Early on I had total control
of his planet (a couple of walkers) and not even Choking Darth could do
much. I was in full control early on, but I think the turning point was
when he got a couple of spies to a couple of my 2/0 locations and was
draining there, and just running away on Bothawui. I was _almost_ able to
flip the objective back, knocking him down to 2 locations on Bothawui for
one moment, but it wasn't enough. I lost by 7 force.
4+42
Game 4, LS vs Anthony Gabel
Anthony is currently #4 in the region, and from what I hear, a pretty decent
player. He's playing Raltiir Ops, I'm playing 'bash the snot out of the
opponent.' He started w/ BFHI, and at one stage I got to have a flick
through his reserve deck, and saw there weren't any Ghhks in there, which
was nice. Anyway, he had it all set up as follows:
Jungle: Lennox + Lobel
City (?): Tempest Scout 1, Vader, Tarkin, another Lobel
Prefect's Office: DS-61-2, Lt Renz
I played Surprise Assault at the Jungle to make him lose 3 or 4 force, but
next turn, the beatdown came:
Tat:JP had already been down, so Beggar came out, as did DTF (played Tunnel
Vision for it)
Then, Obi-Wan (for 9 force) came to the Prefect's Office, using up the final
3 of his active force.
I miscalculated here, and I should have deployed Leia instead (I had
Skywalkers in hand)
Then, EPP Luke and EPP Han. Rigged battle destiny (6, 5,5,5) and Don't Get
Cocky made my total power 35, and I excluded the DS61 guy with Clash, and
made Renz forfeit 0, meaning a 33 force loss.
The more observant of you would wonder - Why didn't TS1 (with Vader +
Tarkin) react across?
Well, basically, I asked 3 or 4 times whether Vader + Tarkin were in or out.
Each time Anthony said 'out.' I figured that as #4 in the region and given
that there was a pre-regional rules briefing the night before, Anthony had
an obligation to know the rules about reacting, and this was a regional, and
so I didn't allow Vader + Tarkin to embark on the Scout for the react.
He still had 4 or so force left, so when he drained on his next turn I just
played Surprise Assault (rigged 5s) and he lost the remainder. I felt
rather awkward at the end, but there wasn't much I could do.
If the worse came to the worst, I could've always simply beaten up
Vader/Tarkin/Little guy, using Clash on Tarkin,
Since we were the first game to finish, we both got our decks checked, but
there weren't any problems.
Game 5, LS vs Jay Scott Elliot
Jay...let me remember...14/15 years old, from W.A. Apparently at this stage
the highest placed player from 'over there.'
He started ISB Ops, and I thought, 'here we go...'
On his first or second or turn out comes T:JP, and in following turns out
came the JP sites. So did Mosep, Gailid and SE Jabba. Those 3 were just
asking for a Surprise Assault, so they got it, making Jay lose 8 or 9 force,
which was nice. Soon, an Outer Rim Scout came outside to the LMF (his
version), so the beatdown came, saw DTF, and conquered. Game over.
20-something win.
Since my game was the first to finish again, I got my other side check,
which kinda irritated me. Sure, it has to be done, and I'm probably just
being paranoid, but it felt like Kev was trying to get me disqualified. Not
to worry, everything was in order again.
At the end of this game a few of us went to kick a footy around outside, but
while we were out, the big 'debate' started up, and I was only able to catch
the end of it. Pity...besides which, you've heard/read most of the
discussion about it on the listserv anyway.
Game 6, DS vs Tyng
So, lucky me, get to get revenge for him beating Stuart :)
Tyng seemed rather put off by the last game and the 'discussion' at the end,
but we have to move on.
He starts MWYHL, I start Death Star.
I get a couple of 2/0 sites out + Endor, he gets Yoda's Hut + Yoda (only the
1 dag site)
He deploys Momaw Nadon + EPP Luke to Coruscant Imperial Squar.
He deploys Goo Nee Tay (oh well...im activating 20 force a turn) and
Insurrection (yes! Luke's not moving!)
I deploy CHYBC. Poor Luke... :)
I also deploy a Death Squad Star Destroyer to Endor w/ Snuggle Bear in the
driver's seat, and set up a nice drain of 2.
Soon after, Tyng throws down the CC:CC with Chewie, KFC, Wedge and perhaps
Obi.
So, I deploy EPP Boba, Choking Darth and Glowstick and battle...Blast The
Door, Kid!
Return battle, and a couple of his guys die, and we fighting it out a little
over there for the next couple of turns, before the real turning point of
the game.
He deploys B-Wing and Landing Claw.
On my turn, I activate, don't drain (because I can't), and deploy J'Quille
over to the CC:CC. I ask Tyng if that is OK. He says 'yep.'
I then proceed to bash the snot out of the B-Wing (Lateral Damaged), but
Tyng is fortunate to throw down the Spiral as a react. Still 8 force is
lost, and the games pretty much decided, since Tyng had deployed Battle Plan
a few turns earlier, and J'Quile/Darth were killing his ability 2 guys like
caustic soda (long story, but basically it was the final day for year 12
students of school (mine included) yesterday, and some kids at a high school
threw Caustic Soda on each other, and the ambulance and everything went, and
it was all quite drastic). Eventually, since he couldn't drain and I was
draining for a fair bit, I won by 20 force.
So, at the end of this game, the results were:
1) Me, 10+124
2) Stuart Jones, 10+100 or so
3) Tyng, 10+35
4) Rodney Lee, 9 + 80 or so.
So, after deck checks, it was to be Stuart and I in the final.
Game 1, my LS.
I play poorly. He plays OK.
I'm doing Brenton's Beats, he's doing Ops w/ a few walkers and stuff.
He throws out an op and some scrub AT-ST to the forest, and I've got Obi,
Luke, Leia + some destiny adders in my hand, plus DTF.
I don't want to cop the drain, so I throw Obi at 'em.
His guys die, mine lives. I draw one or two, and still don't have my
Beggar. He deploys an Op and a big and chunky walker, I deploy Luke, move
Obi to join him (having GOTM in hand) - Big Mistake. He runs away all game,
and the next card I draw is my Beggar and my Han. If only I'd just drawn, i
could very well have won. But hey, I didn't.
Anyway, that's basically it for the rest of the game - He's running away
most of it, I'm chasing, he deploys lots of stuff, I occassionally kill a
little (He has Vader + Op + couple of Walkers, I have Luke + Han. He rigs
two fives, he battles, chokes Han, I hit Vader, I Force Is Strong, I draw
like 3 5s for destiny etc.)
In the end, after an hour, Stu and I both have 7 life force 'cause I can't
chase him anymore, and he is draining for heaps.
He would've won the turn after the next, but it wasn't going to matter.
1+0
Game 2, my DS.
I play average. He makes a few mistakes, but his deck is good enough for it
not to matter. He's probably looking at playing his LS deck at the Worlds,
so I won't spoil it, but I just wasn't able to deploy enough stuff to stop
him, even though I had lots of stuff to deploy. I probably could have
extended the game by a turn or two and reduced his differential by 2 or 3,
but since it was obvious he was going to win (next turn he drains for 6 or
something, with me having 10 or so force left to lose), I figured it'd be
best to not make it slow and torturous. So he ends up with 18 force left, a
chunky trophy and a trip to the US, and he should do well.
My prediction for world championship winner: Stuart Jones ('cause then I
could say that I even though missed out on the worlds again, it took the
world champion to beat me :)