1-29-00-cedar-grove-nj
Title: 1-29-00-cedar-grove-nj
Author: Michael "faramir" Dalton
Date: Jan 30, 2000
Well, I head out to Cedar Grove to play some games, there's supposed to be a YJ tournament at 1:30 and SW at 4, so I get there a little early. Unfortunately only 4 people show up to play YJ, so we don't bother. Get in some YJ games against Jason Lembo and get lucky as all hell and win both cause my YJ decks pretty much stink. We've still got plenty of time, so I play a SW game against Chris Gogolen, my Tatooine Mains deck that I'm gonna play that day and his ISB/Scum deck. Well, he's got no answer for Ben Kenobi going around killing everything end reviving people so I win pretty easily (and gain some confidence in my LS deck). Then I play Rich Haman (the TD for the SW tournament), his Throne Room + way too many characters and ships vs. my Tatooine Occupation/Scum deck. Rich kicks the crap out of me, converts my Tat:JP pretty early, I'm not getting enough force, Zuckuss in Mist Hunter can't take out Gold Leader in Gold 1 and it gets worse from there. Ben Kenobi w/ Obi's Saber, Master Luke w/ Anakin's and EPP Leia in your Audience Chamber is never a good thing. I start thinking this DS deck might need some work cause I really doubt I'd win that game if we played it again. Anyway, the time finally passes and I fail to get anything to eat (cause I'm dumb) even though Jason offered to pick me up some food. I think 13 people turned out to play in all, kind of disappointing, but there were a number of new faces which was cool. Onto decks:
LS deck (no objective here)
Starships (3)
Lando In Millennium Falcon
Spiral
Tantive IV
Characters (18)
Artoo
Ben Kenobi x2
Boushh
Chewbacca
Han With Heavy Blaster Pistol x2
Harc Seff
Jeroen Webb
Leia With Blaster Rifle
Luke With Lightsaber x2
Obi-Wan Kenobi
Oola
Orrimaarko
R3PO (Ar-Threepio)
Tawss Khaa
Wedge Antilles
Weapons (2)
Obi-Wan's Lightsaber x2
Effects (8)
A Gift
Bacta Tank
Goo Nee Tay
Order To Engage
Traffic Control
Undercover
What're You Tryin' To Push On Us?
Wise Advice
Interrupts (19)
Alter x2
Careful Planning
Don't Forget The Droids x3
Glancing Blow
Grimtaash x2
Nabrun Leids x2
Sense x3
Shocking Information x2
Sorry About The Mess
The Signal x2
Locations (10)
Dagobah: Yoda's Hut
Hoth: Echo Command Center (War Room)
Jabba's Palace: Audience Chamber
Rendezvous Point
Tatooine: Cantina
Tatooine: Jabba's Palace
Tatooine: Mos Eisley
Tatooine: Obi-Wan's Hut
Yavin 4: Massassi Headquarters
Yavin 4: Massassi War Room
Basic idea was to start Obi's Hut and Careful Planning to convert any Tatooine site your opponent was playing (likely Tat:JP or JP:AC), if they aren't playing Tatooine you can either get a site (prolly JP:AC or Mos Eisley) or Signal for Goo Nee Tay (good against Hunt Down).
DS deck (no objective here either)
Creatures (1)
Bubo
Starships (4)
Boba Fett in Slave I
Bossk In Hounds Tooth
Jabba's Space Cruiser
Zuckuss in Mist Hunter
Characters (20)
4-LOM With Concussion Rifle x2
Bane Malar
Boelo
Brangus Glee
Chall Bekan
Danz Borin
Dengar with Blaster Carbine
Djas Puhr
Dr. Evazan
Ephant Mon
Gailid
IG-88 With Riot Gun x2
Jabba the Hutt x2
Jodo Kast
Mara Jade, The Emperor's Hand
Outer Rim Scout
WED15-l7 'Septoid' Droid
Weapons (1)
Mara Jade's Lightsaber
Effects (14)
Bad Feeling Have I
Battle Order
Imperial Arrest Order
No Bargain
Oppressive Enforcement
Presence Of The Force
Reactor Terminal
Resistance
Scum And Villainy x2
Security Precautions
Tatooine Occupation
There'll Be Hell To Pay x2
Interrupts (14)
Alter
Combat Readiness
Control
Hutt Smooch
Masterful Move
Monnok
None Shall Pass x3
Sense
Shocking Revelation
Twi'lek Advisor x3
Locations (6)
Jabba's Palace: Audience Chamber
Jabba's Palace: Droid Workshop
Jabba's Palace: Dungeon
Jabba's Palace: Rancor Pit
Tatooine
Tatooine: Jabba's Palace
Start was Tatooine and Tat:JP, unless they look like they are gonna get Tat:JP w/ Careful Planning, in which case I'd prolly get JP:AC.
On to the games:
1st game - DS vs. Chris Krzmenski's deck
Not really much to report here, he's a pretty young kid, and not really that good of a player but he seems to enjoy himself, which is cool. I had to remind him to drain or he'd forget, he played Trooper Sabbac, but I had to explain the rules to him (he won too! :). I setup some aliens in the AC and drained there, spread to Tat:JP and we battled a little bit. He drained at the Tatooine system until Fett in Slave 1 came to take it over and set up Occupation. Win by 33.
2nd game - LS vs. John Lolli's Hunt Down deck
John starts Crush the Rebellion and I go for Goo Nee Tay. He drops Kashyyyk and Def. Perimeter 1st turn and draws. I get some sites out and draw. We each draw for another turn and then he drops Vader on a Blizzard Walker at the Def. Perimeter. I don't wanna be the only one losing to Visage, so I drop Tawss Khaa in JP:AC, and Ben Kenobi at Obi's Hut and move over. So we're both losing to Visage now. I draw a bunch and save some force hoping to do something w/ the mass of mains I have in my hand. He fortifies his Def. Perimeter w/ Evax on the Walker and Vader outside and later drops Cabbel on the Devastator at Kashyyyk and Battle Order. I don't drain, and have just enough force to drop Lando in Falcon, Wedge piloting, Chewbacca and EPP Han as passengers and battle. I really need to draw more than 6 to take out his ship cause control of Kashyyyk is clearly going to be huge in the game, I choke and pull 2 0s :(. He draws like a 1 and I lose a force w/ him power 12 and me 11. His turn he reinforces Kashyyyk w/ another pilot and Bossk in Hound's Tooth. My turn I drop Savrip and battle, he tries to alter my Savrip, but I sense it. My destinies aren't too good, and all I take out is a pilot and lose something to Savrip. He reinforces Kashyyyk some more but doesn't battle for fear of Punch It and 4 destinies. He's not getting that much force and so he's pretty low on cards in hand, so I try to press things, I drop Jeroen Webb at the Holotheater to get rid of Visage and Orrimaarco to his CC:PTD. I also get Boussh to block his Def. Perimeter drain but she gets Trampled as he tracks a Visage. I get in some drains and send Harc Seff to the Med Chamber. He picks up Vader and comes down to kill Jeorn but doesn't have the force to move to block Harc. I lose Jeroen and something to Savrip. So he's got 10 force left, and I drain for 6, and for some unknown reason decide to abandon my game winning drain of 2 at his PTD and Nabrun Orri to block his drain for 2 at Def. Perimeter w/ Evax on a Blizzard Walker. He battles in space, I lose Spiral to Savrip and 2 of the pilots off the Falcon. Next turn I drain for 2 leaving him w/ 2 force, drop EPP Luke at Def. Perimeter and battle, I win the battle and he loses his last 2 force thanks to Orrimaarco, which saves the Falcon from a big time beatdown next turn. Win by 8.
3rd game - LS vs. Rob Middleton's Hunt Down
Great, more Hunt Down. Well I know Rob never changes his decks, so I start Yoda's Hut and Goo Nee Tay instead of the usual Obi's Hut (although it really doesn't matter). He's playing Docking Bay Hunt Down (a deck I know all too well, he got the idea from me, and I played against his deck just last week beating it w/ this same deck). I slowly but surely get out sites, as he drops Vader at some Docking Bay and flips. I drop Boussh to block his drain, and he drops Mara at the other DB to drain for 2. I get Jeroen and Orrimaarco to the Holotheater to cancel Visage but he has CHYBC out. I drop Obi w/ Obi's Saber and Savrip and battle Mara, Obi hits Mara, Mara hits Obi, I draw a better destiny and he takes some damage and both die. So Vader transits away to the other DB and I Nabrun Leia to the Executor:DB so I can drain w/ Jeroen and Orri. He drops Evax, Cabbel and Evazan and battles me, I lose Jeroen and he loses 2 force and Dr. E. I drop Tawss Khaa w/ Orri and battle, he loses another 2 force and a guy and I'm immune to his attrition. He tracks a nice 6 destiny and comes and battles me, unfortunately I pull a 6 as well so I can't use Savrip so I lose both guys and he's left w/ a 2/2 pilot at the Holotheater. Boussh slowly but surely makes her way over to the Holotheater to cancel the Visage he drops there. I drop the Cantina w/ Ben, EPP Luke and Oola. He comes down w/ IG-88 and battles, captures Luke, and draws a 6 attrition so I forfeit Ben and IG-88 dies to attrition leaving me w/ Luke and Oola at the Cantina. Boussh finally makes it to the Holotheater, I Oola away his guys leaving him w/ nothing to deploy, drop JP:AC, Wedge w/ Boussh and battle his 2/2 imperial canceling Visage. Oola moves to JP:AC giving me a 2nd battleground occupied and Wedge goes to the Med Chamber to drain for 2. He drops Blizzard 2 at Endor:DB, CC:Downtown Plaza, Tempest 1 moves over there and he's draining for 5 total. I got a drain for 7 going and I'm ahead in the drain race. I drop Harc Seff to face off w/ Tempest 1 and cancel Vader's drain, losing something to Savrip to cancel the battle damage and drain him out. Win by 7.
4th game - DS vs. Rob Middleton's Bothan Spy deck
I played against this deck last weekend too, losing to it w/ my Hunt Down deck, but I'm much better prepared this time around. He starts Holotable w/ no effect. I draw for the 1st few turns, getting out needed effects like BFHI and drop Scum and Villany w/ some aliens at JP:AC and he's got Artoo Undercover there already. I also drop Dr. E and Danz Borin at Tat:JP to drain for 2 thanks to Gallid. He's got a K'lor Slug at the Holotable draining for 1, but he's only activating like 6 force per turn, barely enough to drop an EPP. He spends 7 force to put EPP Obi down but he gets None Shall Passed. Next turn I get out No Bargain so his mains are even more expensive. He hits me w/ an Anger Fear Aggression before I can get Resistance in effect. Soon I get Bossk In Bus w/ forfeit fodder at Tatooine w/ Occupation and get Battle Order going which means he's paying half his force each turn to drain (if he so chooses). He's struggling to get things going, can't find any sites, nor his Endor Celebration to cancel Occupation. I'm draining for 4 total and he's losing 2 to Occupation. I get out a PotF on a site and increase the damage. He gets out the Bargaining Table to cancel some drains, but I alter it and he puts the 2 spies at Tat:JP. I drop Bubo, who eats 1 spy, and then beat up the other spy to retrieve. He later gets out 2 Bothan Spies undercover, I Hutt Smooch Artoo, and Bubo eats a spy. There's not much he can do as he can't get an EPP down to kill Bubo. Win by 21 or so.
5th game - DS vs. Mike Smith's HB/OMDH deck
I'm 4-0 after my 1st 4 games but I trail Mike Smith by a ton of differential (he's at like +120-something) so I need to win both my final games to win the tournament. I get out my JP sites, while he pulls Dagobah and Yoda's Hut, followed by Tatooine and Alderaan. He tries to invade JP but Ben gets None Shall Passed and I get out BFHI and No Bargain. I set up a drain for 2 w/ PotF on JP:AC and a bunch of aliens there. He deploys Ben w/ Obi's Saber and EPP Luke to the Cantina. I drop Zuckuss in MH and a Septoid Droid at Tatooine. I drop more aliens in JP:AC (Boelo and Ephant Mon to go w/ Jabba) and move Danz, IG-88 and an ORS outside hoping to find a shuttle up to Tatoooine to help out there if needed. He drops Orrimaarco in the Cantina as well, ECC Chewie goes on the Falcon at Tatooine targetted by OMDH and he retrieves 8 for that (Yoda found his way to his Hut). My turn I draw up a bunch of force looking for Occupation and a pilot for my Jabba's Cruiser and get a Twi'lek. His turn he moves Ben, Luke and Orri over to Tat:JP. I Twi'lek at the end of his turn for Occupation and drop a Shocking Revelation. Activate up to my 2 5s, deploy Occupation, drop Mara w/ her Saber, Dr. E and battle. IG-88 captures Luke. Ben misses IG-88. Mara pulls a 5 and a 0 (guess there was another site left), so she misses Ben :(. My 2 destinies beat Orris forfeit though so he has to lose Ben. He Smoke Screens a 6 to take out an ORS and Danz Borin. Ben Kenobi comes down to the Cantina and Orri goes back inside. So I'm draining for 6 and hitting him for 2 w/ Occupation. He eventually moves the Falcon back to Tatooine to battle, but 4-LoM goes on the Mist Hunter and Fett in Slave 1 shows up and I'm doing lots of damage while retrieving force. Win by 21.
6th game - LS vs. Mike Smith's Hunt Down deck
Yes, that's right, 3 LS games vs. 3 Hunt Down decks. I start Obi's Hut and Goo Nee Tay, he goes for BFHI. 1st turn he drops Def. Perimeter and a 2/1 Endor drain 2 site. I drop a 2/0 site and Mos Eisley and draw. More sites come out, he gets Endor:Back Door, Dagobah:Cave, I get out more 2/0 sites, we're both getting plenty of force (but paying +2 to deploy most characters). He deploys 1st w/ Mara w/ Saber and Brangus on a Walker at the Back Door. I drop Obi at his Hut and fail twice to Alter BFHI, and give him his Saber, Luke to Mos Eisley and Obi moves over. He sends Jabba on a suicide mission to take out Luke and Ghhhks the damage. I get out Cantina and EPP leia do some shuffle while Artoo goes Undercover at the Back Door. He moves Mara to the +1 drain site and Artoo follows. I shuffle and drain and draw. We both haven't lost a single card to Visage yet, as he doesn't seem to want to, and I don't either :). He finally deploys Vader, EPP Vader to face off w/ Obi and Leia. He contemplates dueling, and whether or not to Epic Duel. He decides non-epic duel is a bad idea as I'll just sense it, so he goes for an Epic Duel. I play Glancing Blow, he plays Focused Attack, and I stare at my 3 Sense cards hoping 1 of them is lucky. 1st Sense I pull Massassi HQers and virtually ensure my victory in the duel. I pull a 1, he pulls a 3, I cancel his next draw, get a 4 on mine and win the duel easily. So Vader is OOP. He puts U-3P0 down and Septoid Droid on his Walker. My turn I SatM U-3P0, drop Oola, and draw, saving some force. He drains some and draws. I Grimtaash used, drain, then use Oola. Drop Orrimaarco, Tawss Khaa, Wedge and Harc Seff to beat up Mara, pull a 6 and cause a decent amount of overflow damage. Harc Seff cancels his drain and that's pretty much game. He decides Visage might lessen the damage so we actually lose to it like once. He draws up, I win by 21 or so.
So I end up undefeated, which was pretty cool seeing as I really didn't expect to win. My decks were pretty much untested, and I played mostly good players. John Lolli was the next closest player w/ 9 victory points thanks to a true tie (I managed to avoid playing the dreaded Batman deck). A full set of ECC was given out in prize support (along w/ the usual WB Premeir), I got a choice of any ECC pack for winning and took IG-88. It was a pretty cool tournament overall, lots of cards were given away to the new players including a couple of mains (and some foils). Got some new ideas for decks, gotta get ready for the big tournament in NYC on Feb. 13th, 1st prize is an uncut sheet of Reflections (gotta have shinies!). - Mike.