boca-raton-florida-10-31-99

Title: boca-raton-florida-10-31-99
Author: Andrew "Gadget" Ledwith
Date: Nov 5, 1999

I came to this tournament thinking that I was going to do well but knowing that I wasn't. What?! Well, most of the harder competition wasn't going to be there, but I didn't have a DS deck worth half a s---. So I was hoping for the best. Here's the way my decks looked:

LS - MWYHL Test 2 Deck
DS - Half-@$$ Ralltiir Ops Big Blue 2-2 Imp Deck.

Game 1 - My DS vs. Tommy Minton's Hidden Base w/o #s

I make it a point to say without numbers because I played a version with numbers at the last tournament I was at. Anyways the game starts off and I'm very worried that I won't be able to flip. Why? All he has to do is go to Ralltiir with a bunch of X-wings and I can't flip til I put something up in space. But he never came there. I flipped on turn 3. Once I flipped he realized his error. I save up some force for a while and then deploy the Executer and the Bus to Yavin 4 w/ Haven. I probe there... and I'm right. I didn't have Security Precautions down but I didn't really care. I alter his S-foils. I battle. He plays Organized Attack. I grapple it and sense it. I take out the whole X-wing fleet with a 15 in total destiny (two sixes and +3 from Ralltiir). That cancels Haven. Someone next to me says, 'Whoa, you went to Yavin? You got balls man!' I took that as a complement. He sets up new fleets at Kessel and Coruscant to drain for 2. He also drops some stuff at Yavin and battles. I decide to lose the Executer rather than lose the Bus (and the extra destiny). I deploy a Dreadnaught and a couple of 2-2 dinks. I battle and end up having to lose the 2-2s and he has to lose a couple of X-wings. I move to Coruscant to block a drain. He deploys some X-wings but doesn't battle. On my next turn I deploy a Dread to Ralltiir to pick up a couple of dudes from the planet below who aren't doing much. I then move to Coruscant. I think he then deploys some stuff to Coruscant again, but I'm not sure. I then battle and lose one of my 2-2 guys. He has to lose a couple X-wings again. He starts to build up at Coruscant so I decide to try my luck at Yavin. DUMB! That opens up his drain, and I get screwed at Yavin. I end up losing by 15.

Record: 0 (-15)
Highlights: Doing pretty good vs. a hidden base deck.
Lowlights: Not using the 'use 2 force' text on ROps once the whole @%^# game!!

Game 2 - My LS vs. Ira Mayers's DS Tatooine/CC Mains & Toys deck

Yeah, a mains and toys DS deck. I start with DOS in my opening hand, so I have to put down Traffic (also in opening hand) before I can deploy her with the objective. I also get 2 Shocking Infos, which is great as you will soon see. His first turn he throws down I think 2-3 sites and Miyoon Onith. Heh. My first turn I throw down Traffic. His second turn he uses Miyoon's text. Shocking Info. Ouch! Well, he loses Miyoon and I have to lose Melas. Oh well. My next turn I throw Leia to the used pile and say I'm searching for a site. Training Area. I then say I'm searching for a Jedi Test. But there isn't one in there. I could have sworn there was, but there wasn't. He opts not to look through my deck, and I thank him for it. My next turn I say I'm going to search for a Dagobah site, but there's no site! No kidding. There's still 3 in my life force, but none in my reserve! Once again he says he doesn't need to check, though he gives me this weird look. So I decide to draw everything up. Mojo! Everything I needed to get going. My next turn I threw out My sites and Test 1, so he then knew I wasn't lying. I completed Test 1 and Test 2 in the next 2 turns and I'm on my way. I throw down Farm Boy and 2 Eloms to CC and Battle I think Zuckuss or some other ability 4 alien and an ability 1 Imperial (I think it was Pol). I
win big since he doesn't get a destiny. All throughout this time he has been throwing out tons of sites (I'm only giving him 3 force). I can activate up to 21 force (18 from sites and 3 from characters: Luke, Leia, and Yoda). I'm ballin'. He can't seem to get anything started. He pulls off a nasty Monnok that gets my other 2 Farm Boys. He throws down EPP Vader, but his stick was on the blink. He kept drawing 1s and 2s for destiny. I win in battles big time. I win the game vs. someone I thought was impossible for me to beat. Win by 11.

Record: 2(-4)
Highlights: Winning with a Light Deck for the first time in 3 LS tourney games.
Lowlights: Using a lot of resources to do it.

Game 3: My DS vs. Some dude's Strangely familiar LS

I use to know this guy's name, but I can't remember it now (doh!). Oh well. The reason I say this deck is so familiar is that I used a very similar one to beat him about a month ago. So at the very start I knew I was doomed. It was a Tosche Station deck, the one deck type I was afraid to play. Basically the same problems that affected me in Game 1 affected me in Game 3, only this time it hurt more since his deck was a ground deck. If I deployed anything to Ralltiir he beat it down next turn. The extra force wasn't a problem with the Tosche Station in full swing with Obi. I never did flip, which pissed me off. He got a little greedy and deployed Tantive IV and Wedge to Ralltiir system. I smack him up turn after turn with starships: Bus, Executer, Devestator, Vengance, Vader's Personal Shuttle with Vader as pilot. All kinds of stuff. And he wouldn't retreat, even though he had Kiffex to run away to. Basically it could have been a lot worse than it was for me. I lose by 19.

Record: 2(-23)
Highlights: Beating the s--- out of his space 'fleet' (ha).
Lowlights: Not flipping ROps and losing to a deck that I know inside and out.

Game 4: My LS vs. some dude's (not to be confused with Game 3's some dude) ROps deck

Now this is a cruel twist of fate. I have to play the deck I just lost with twice. I'm thinking, 'If I lose to a better made ROps deck with my LS, I'm gonna be so pissed.' So I came into this game as if it were a must-win game. And for the second straight game I get Leia in my opening draw. Damn it! No Traffic this time. At least in my first draw-up I get a Signal, and continue on to put Leia in my reserve by turn 3 and pull her out on turn 4. He gets out Broken Concentration, so it takes me a good 6 turns to train Leia (my destiny tracking skills aren't that good yet). So when I finnally track my Shocking Info to complete Test 1 and 2 I deploy Farm Boy and a couple Eloms (sounds familiar) to a site with only a 4 in ability. I smack up his poor Imperial for I think 15. That sets the tone for the rest of the game. He is constantly in a catch-up mode, never really winning a battle by much, if at all. He puts out some space stuff and begins to drain. Now I'm in a little trouble since I have to draw to find my space stuff. I find Tantive and Red Leader/Red 1 and battle the poop out of the Devestator. We begin a drain race which I eventually win by 3.

Record: 4(-20)
Highlights: Beating a ROps deck, proving that it wasn't just my bad design.
Lowlights: Using a lot of my resources again, and finishing a tourney with a non-positive differential for the 5th straight tournament!!

Oh well. David Irvine won the tournament (big surprise, he's only the #1 player in the Dagobah region). I played Mike Fitzgerald (who did not play in the tourney) afterward: my LS vs. my DS. Er, I used my LS. This time in my opening draw I get both DOS and Yoda!! ARGH!!! In a fit of rage I just decide to play them both on Dagobah and forget the objective, which doesn't work. I lose by a bunch, but I really didn't care. I was tired, and I wanted to go home and eat some candy and watch the end of the Dolphins/Raiders game. My prizes were nothing special. I got my 6th DS Cantina ($%&@#). I don't know when the next tourney is, but I can tell you this: I won't be using a ROps deck for a very, VERY long time. Until then...