seattle-grand-slam-1-22-00
Title: seattle-grand-slam-1-22-00
Author: Douglas "Douglas" Harvilla
Date: Jan 23, 2000
Even as we were sitting around waiting for the kickoff, I was agonizing over my Light Side deck. Wondering if I made the right decision. A week earlier, Kyle Heuer went on Radio Free Decipher and picked me as his favorite to win the Grand Slam, so the pressure was on to perform, if not to take the whole tourney.
In the end, I took my own advice. Refinement over innovation. The locals could probably read off the card list to my Light deck in their sleep, however, so I shook it up a bit and added surprises.
My decks:
Light - 'The Third Apparition.' Mind What You Have Learned mains and toys. Dagobah sites for generation and some obscure but effective tech against Hunt Down. And an insane number of high-destiny cards.
Dark - 'The Last Command.' Hunt Down And Destroy The Jedi. Loaded with ECC and EJP bounty hunters and, of course, the Emperor's Hand. A good collection of red cards to back them all up, and Tatooine sites for the drains.
Game One - Dark versus Nick Jones' Hidden Base
Nick is a good player with a solid deck, and this game could've gone either way. But my hand was incredible. I activate and draw a couple cards. He deploys Kessel. I get Lars' Moisture Farm and the Darth Vader, Dark Lord Of The Sith and saber from my opening draw. Flip.
As he gets out a couple more systems and moves some X-Wings for early drains, I get Mara Jade and her lightsaber to the Jundland Wastes. Nick gets out the last system and flips, canceling my drains for a turn. He has a 4-parsec gap between the two systems I think are likely to be his hidden base. Too much for my Dreadnaught, so there's a possibility of getting trapped if I miss the probe.
Last time we played a week ago I probed successfully, and I try the same system this time. If it has been changed, then Nick will get in another round or two of drains and keep canceling mine. Deploy Dreadnaught and EJP Bossk...probe. That's it. Whew! I then battle the Spiral and X-Wing he has at the system, taking out the Spiral. The X-Wing moves away on Nick's turn and I have another big drain going.
Obi-Wan Wih Lightsaber and Kal Fal show up at the Jundland Wastes to smack Mara around. He tries to swing, I play Force Field. Swing at KFC, hit him, we each draw a 1. Takes out the Light characters, and Mara has the 'wastes all to herself again.
Luke With Lightsaber shows up a bit later and swings, hitting Mara. I hit Luke back, but only draw a 1 while he cannot draw battle destiny.
Anticlimactic end to the Emperor's Hand, but she took Luke with her, fulfilling The Last Command.
EJP Dengar in a Dreadnaught shows up at Tatooine to beat up an X-Wing. Rebel Barrier is canceled by Sense, and I battle. Draw a 6 and the battle damage takes him down to three cards. He loses one to Visage, draws up the other two.
Win by 16
Highs: The early probe.
Lows: That was kind of munchkin. I knew what his hidden base was from playing in the last tournament. Apparently there are two possible indicators in the deck and he can choose either one in case someone scouts or is familiar with the deck. But he couldn't remember which one I probed last week.
Game Two - Light versus Sean Meek's Hunt Down
He starts with Imperial Arrest Order and deploys the Endor docking bay. I get out my Dagobah sites and Yoda for force generation and wait for him to make a move. Walkers show up good and early, backed up by some very good pilots. Meanwhile, we both lose to Visage because he hasn't drawn Vader yet. What cards does he lose to Visage? Vaders.
Without destiny adders in my hand, I draw up past twelve cards to get some hitting power. And get Monnoked down to eight cards. But among those eight are Draw Their Fire, Frozen Assets, EPP Obi, and EPP Luke. Not particularly devastating. After we recirculate, I ditch Yoda's Hope to search the Reserve Deck and shuffle it up a bit so there is a chance of drawing some of those cards back.
Deploy Obi, Luke, and a H'nemthe, Draw Their Fire and battle. Sean gets a double flip with Igar in Tempest 1 and some backup, but I take the edge off the attrition and just lose Obi. He moves Igar in Tempest 1 away after the battle to what looks like a safer site.
Han, Leia, and Tawss Khaa battle Igar and his ride, and I regret losing Run Luke, Run! to Visage earlier in the game. He flips a 1, forgetting to draw an extra battle destiny. I reduce the attrition to zero with Yoda at the Hut and hit back with a 5 and a 6.
After this, the Dark Side pretty much folded. Sean got horrible draws, and the only time we saw Vaders was when they were en route to the Lost Pile. The only Counter Assault he played lost him three cards, including two Vaders. Still, he put up an epic fight even without the Dark Lord, and I salute him.
Win by 14
Highs: Lots of battling on Endor.
Lows: A bit anticlimactic since Vader never showed up.
With all the concern over game balance lately, Doug Taylor was paying close attention to the Light/Dark win ratio. He pointed out after the first round that the ratio was 16-14 in favor of the Dark Side. Pretty even so far.
Game Three - Dark versus Erik Reiersen's Tatooine mains.
He starts with Obi-Wan's Hut and Careful Planning for Jabba's Palace.
I start with Bad Feeling Have I. On the second turn, I get Darth Vader, Dark Lord Of The Sith deployed to the Palace and move him to the Hut. Erik deploys Luke With Lightsaber to the Hut and tries to battle, then takes back the deployment when he realizes the Hut isn't a battleground.
Instead, he drops Luke off at the Palace to flip my objective back over. I get in a turn of draining at the Hut and then back up Vader with Grand Moff Tarkin. Give Vader his lightsaber, and deploy Lt. Commander Ardan to take care of Luke. Hoping for some battle damage, he swings and hits, then plays Smoke Screen. I flip a 4, we clear the site and I play Ghhhk. Their fire goes back out of the universe.
Erik deploys Tatooine and puts Red Leader In Red 1 there to drain. I never challenge it for control of the system. Instead, I get Mara Jade to the Hut and deploy her saber from the Reserve Deck, then move Vader and Tarkin. Now I have two huge drains every turn.
At Jabba's Palace, he deploys a B'omarr Monk to return the favor with a drain of 2 (the icon adding thing). Djas Puhr and Boba Fett With Blaster Rifle battle the Monk. Miss, we each draw 1. He loses it and 2 cards, not bad considering how much force he could have lost.
He deploys Draw Their Fire and Sergeant Doallyn and a Gran battle Djas. This seemed like a strange move to me. I got a destiny, he didn't. The Gran lives. Elis Helrot to move Vader and Tarkin over, battle. He plays Houjix, avoiding a whole mess of battle damage. The Gran was kind of nifty to see, a good card for staying on the good side of Draw Their Fire.
Han With Heavy Blaster Pistol and Ardon 'Vapor' Crell deploy to Obi-Wan's Hut and battle Mara. Hit Crell, draw a 6, he gets a 4. The site is cleared. But Visage and the drain from Vader and Tarkin bring the game to a close very soon.
Win by 33
Highs: Seeing Vader and Mara in action yet again.
Lows: No real Jedi versus Jedi stuff here. A scrub took out Luke when he showed up.
Game Four - Light versus Joe Olson's Hunt Down
Oh, man, I wasn't looking forward to this game. Joe is a very good player with solid, practical decks, and he is rocking in local tournaments lately. He is 0-2 against my Dark Side deck in recent tourneys, but is 2-0 against my Light.
I start with Goo Nee Tay, he gets Bad Feeling Have I. The usual. Obi-Wan's Apparition is in my opening hand, but I make a dumb move, deploying a Dagobah site assuming he will get more generation out allowing me to play Apparition next turn. So I slow down my force denial theme until it is too late.
He deploys Downtown Plaza and the Audience Chamber. I invade the Executor: Holotheatre with Commander Vanden Willard and Tawss Khaa. This cancels Visage and sets up a nasty drain. Deploy the muppet to Yoda's Hut.
Zuckuss In Mist Hunter takes over Endor and drains for 3 with Presence Of The Force through much of the game. It is later backed up by Boba Fett In Slave 1. Joe gets Darth Vader, Dark Lord Of The Sith with Vader's Lightsaber to the Downtown Plaza, and deploys EJP Dengar and Boelo to the Audience Chamber.
Time to fight my way out of the trap. Deploy Obi-Wan With Lightsaber and Orrimaarko to Downtown Plaza. I'm not anxious to lose both my characters to Vader, so I play Clash of Sabers to keep him from battling. A walker with 2 pilots shows up, and he deploys First Strike. Battles me, draws a 2. Yoda takes the attrition down to zero, and I hit back with a 5. Win the battle, so Joe loses a pilot and 2 force to Orrimaarko, including a Vader from his hand.
During my control phase, I play Sorry About The Mess to get rid of Vader. Swing. 5, 2. Took a little longer than battling him, but was less messy. And since Joe lost the 'spare' Vader from his hand, he is unable to get another copy out quick. Battle the walker left behind and the site is cleared.
Battle Order keeps me from draining like a madman, and I concentrate on fighting Joe off his sites to make him pay for the drain at Endor and cause some battle damage. Deploy EPP Han and Leia to the Audience Chamber. Battle, shoot Dengar. Flip a 4 and a 4, Boelo cancels one of the draws, but it is still enough to take out both aliens and cause a bit of battle damage. Joe draws a zero. Ouch!
When Mara Jade deploys to the Holotheatre with her lightsaber and battles Willard and Tawss, I play Weapon Levitation and steal her weapon. Then flip a 5. With the power bonus from Tawss Khaa, I have 13 power. Joe flips the zero again. Double ouch! He loses Mara and some more cards.
I spread out on the Executor when Joe loses the last of his cards in hand, and pay to drain everywhere because of Battle Order. When the dust settles, I have 12 cards left.
Win by 12
Highs: Disposing of Vader in a tidy manner. Holding the Holotheatre through almost the entire game.
Lows: Losing force to the bounty hunter ships throughout the entire game. Having to pay to everything, with Secret Plans and Battle Order out. Decisions between battling and draining.
Game Five - LS versus Charles Hickey's Hunt Down
Charles is another excellent local player, who has started on a rampage in tournaments after making up his mind to shoot for a rating of 2000. Cool guy and a sportsman.
I get out Goo Nee Tay, he gets Imperial Arrest Order. On turn 1, he plays Twi'lek Advisor to get Come Here You Big Coward. On my turn, I play The Signal to go get Obi-Wan's Apparition. Deploy it before Vader hits the table.
He deploys Dagobah:Cave, giving me a choice between putting Yoda here to cancel his icons and putting him at the Hut to cut down attrition. I make what I feel is the best choice in the short term, and shut down the Cave. Charles gets Vader on the table, and I make a desperate move by putting Luke With Lightsaber up against him. Hey, it works most of the time when I've deployed all my sites from the deck.
Swing. 1, 4. Vader swings back, hits Luke. I draw one of the many 5 destiny cards in the deck, and buy some time. But not much. The Endor: Forest Clearing is soon overrun with walkers and pilots. Hoping to clear the site and wipe out Charles' generation there with Obi-Wan, I deploy EPP Obi, Luke, and Leia. Battle. Skywalker, Gift of the Mentor.
Draw just short of enough attrition to clear the site. Blizzard 2 survives. I forfeit Leia. Charles deploys another walker and we keep fighting over the site for a couple turns. When the site is finally cleared of walkers and pilots, I have Luke left there.
Darth Vader, Dark Lord Of the Sith has taken over the Tatooine: Cantina. Deploy Obi-Wan With Lightsaber and Tawss Khaa. Battle, predict I'll win, but I can't retrieve the force because of Secret Plans. Swing. 6, 2. Draw a tracked 5 destiny. Charles loses Vader, six cards, and the game.
Win by 11
Highs: Getting Apparition working before Vader even hit the table. Luke's sacrifice paid off.
Lows: Dealing with all those walkers. Oh, man. And getting pretty weak attrition off of five battle destiny draws.
Game Six - Dark versus Daniel Tibbles' Tosche Station deck
Daniel hasn't played tournaments in a long while, and he is undefeated in the 'slam so far. Triumphant return. He gets out the Obi-Wan's Hut/Careful Planning/Tosche Station setup. I get out Bad Feeling Have I. After I activate, he plays Transmission Terminated and gets rid of Visage.
Save some force. He plays The Signal for Goo Nee Tay and deploys it, which would keep Vader off the table for another turn. But then he deploys the Cantina, which puts me right back on schedule. On my turn, Darth Vader, Dark Lord Of the Sith deploys to Tosche Station with his lightsaber and moves to the Hut.
I get a drain of 4 in before Ben deploys to the Hut with Orrimaarko to block the drain. On my turn, I deploy IG-88 With Riot Gun and battle. Try to capture Orrimaarko, miss. Try to choke him. Miss. Swing at him. Miss. Draw a 6, get rid of Ben. Lose Iggy.
Dan deploys Melas to back up Orrimaarko. Battles. Hit Orrimaarko, draw a battle destiny of 3. Take out both aliens, Vader stays. Drain for 4 again, put Boba Fett With Blaster Rifle and Tarkin at the Hut and move Vader to Tosche Station.
Luke and Han battle against Vader. Swing at Han, hit. Draw destiny, get rid of Luke as well. Tibbles plays Glancing Blow to make Vader power=0. Then tries to swing, but is stopped by Force Field. He draws a battle destiny of 5. Nothing is left standing when the battle is over.
Lt. Commander Ardan to the Hut, Vader to Tosche Station, move Tarkin to meet him and put the team back together. Tibbles deploys Lando against Vader and Tarkin in an attempt to end the game before I can put my hand back with Reactor Terminal. I skip the swing and just draw battle destiny. Put my hand back and drain.
Win by 37
Highs: I'm undefeated and going on to the final playoff round now.
Lows: Not having played a dueling interrupt in the entire tournament. That's not unusual, though. I don't like the risk if my back isn't against the wall.
10 (+123)
Final Playoff Round
Game One - Dark versus Charles Hickey's Profit deck
He gets Goo Nee Tay and I choose Mara Jade and EPP Boba as my two aliens for the Audience Chamber. Bad Feeling Have I as my starting effect, once again.
Activate, go for Mara's saber, it isn't there. Charles gets a good long look at 90% of my deck. Oh, well. Move Mara and Boba, draw cards, including Mara's saber. Forget to leave 2 so I can get Vader out next turn.
I get some free draining and Visage damage in before he frees Han and retrieves nine cards (all he has in the Lost Pile). Vader comes out. Now we see some wierd stuff. Boushh blocks Mara's drain, and in the control phase Charles jumps the gun and announces he is playing Disarmed. Pointing out I take the first action in this phase, I play Sniper and Boushh is gone. Keep up the drains for a bit.
Eventually, Charles uses cards like Fallen Portal to turn the game around in key battles, and another Boushh runs around with Leia's Blaster Rifle shooting everything in sight with Sorry About The Mess. Ben Kenobi steals Mara's saber and Boushh disarms Boba. I end up moving my cards like chess pieces to block drains, but the text on Or Be Destroyed says I'll be losing force anyway until I get rid of Han.
I give it a try with Bubo. He goes for Ben instead, and I move him to the next site over, trapping Ben and Han. When Bubo finally gets a shot at eating Boushh, Fallen Portal takes him out. Things just spiral out of control here as Charles' red cards tear up my characters in battle. What could've been a good fight was spoiled when I drew a 6 and a 1 in the wrong order with EJP Bossk and Zuckuss.
Before long, I am no longer able to cause damage. I attempt an Elis for a last-minute destiny-tracked epic duel when Charles loses his Glancing Blow to a drain, but I draw a 4 when I need a 3 or less.
Lose by 13
Highs: Seeing good underrated cards like Boushh and Profit stomp a refined tournament Hunt Down deck. Charles is the man.
Lows: Seeing those good underrated cards stomp MY refined tournament Hunt Down deck.
Now I've got to win by 14 or more to win the tournament. Last time I played him with my Light deck, I only won by 11.
Game Two - Light versus Charles Hickey's Hunt Down
Charles gives me plenty of time to set up, getting my Dagobah sites, Yoda, and so on. He doesn't want to give me the opportunity to play Obi-Wan's Apparition, but he overreacts, and gives me breathing room.
He deploys bounty hunter ships and Dreadnaughts in a massive armada at Endor, and deploys the Back Door. I deploy Obi-Wan With Lightsaber, Han With Heavy Blaster Pistol, and Leia With Blaster Rifle to the Back Door. It soon becomes clear, however, that I cannot afford an even drain race and Visage since I need to win by 14 cards or more.
So I deploy the Tantive IV, Chewbacca, and Luke With Lightsaber to Endor, then shuttle Han and Leia up. Obi-Wan Kenobi and a H'nemthe are left at the Back Door to keep the place under control. Charles deploys more ships, including Bossk In Hound's Tooth and Dengar In Punishing One, to Endor. Ouch. He battles me. I play Don't Get Cocky and draw five battle destinies.
Charles loses a heap of stuff to cover 18 attrition and I lose Chewbacca to cover the attrition and battle damage. Thank God, Charles didn't draw Lateral Damage, and the Tantive remained a fortress. I deployed Jeroen Webb and battled, drawing three battle destiny and clearing up the system a bit more. The pile of starships and pilots at Endor is thinning out now. Luke covers the attrition and battle damage.
Around this time, my life force dips to 14 cards with about another half dozen in hand. This is it. Time to issue the 'not a step back' order and dig in. Cling to every piece of dirt by my fingernails. 4-LOM and Darth Vader, Dark Lord Of the Sith show up to battle me at the Back Door (Vader cost him 10!), but I Clash 4-LOM to preserve Obi's game text and Charles decides not to battle.
Deploy Wedge and Tawss Khaa to back up Obi-Wan and the H'nemthe, battle. Predict I'll win the battle. Swing. Hit Vader, flip a 5. Charles loses Vader and ten other cards. OUCH! He is very low on cards at this point and we're both still losing to Visage.
Charles deploys Blizzard 2 to the Back Door. He doesn't want his sole remaining ship, Bossk In Hound's Tooth, to get beaten down horribly, so he lands it. I battle a couple times here, which lets me get a couple more cards back with Tawss Khaa, just in case.
Then he draws up his last couple of cards, and the game is over.
Win by 17
Highs: Turning around a game when it looked like a lost cause. Winning the tournament.
Lows: Games like this wear you out. It is getting late by this time, and we all are rather anxious to be home.
So there you have it. First prize was a set of uncut black-border Premiere card sheets. Way cool. Charles got a foil Anakin's Lightsaber and a Master Luke. They should have glass at these Grand Slams, but the foils are good prize support and the ECC/EJP packages made a lot of players very happy.
Many thanks to Doug Taylor (Red 4) for running the tournament, Kyle Heuer for the vote of confidence, and all the players for showing up and keeping things friendly yet competitive. It was a blast.
Enjoy the Grand Slam tournament nearest your area. And remember not to take those Profit decks lightly. They can tear your head off.
Douglas Harvilla