nyc-mega-tournament-13-feb-00
Title: nyc-mega-tournament-13-feb-00
Author: Doug "Phrim" Faust
Date: Feb 14, 2000
13 Feb 00, New York City, NY
This tournament wasn't a Grand Slam, but it was being supported by Decipher as if it were one and then some--Decipher was providing *foil* uncut sheets to the winners of both Young Jedi and Star Wars! Strangely, though, it didn't have a 'name' per se, so I made one up. :-) This tournament ends up being on the day of my 21st birthday, what better to do on one's birthday than play Star Wars! :-) Anyway, I stay up all night to catch the 4:25am bus to NYC, and end up only getting about an hour of sleep on the bus, so I'm not working off much sleep. But that's okay, I can deal with going without sleep for a night. I arrive in New York only to find a large mass of people gathering on the street that could only be the feared Team Albany. Everyone goes up to the shop (after squeezing waaay too many people on the elevator), and there's some other people there, but no one I recognize. Soon Mike Dalton and Brian Kim show up, so I talk to them for a while, do some heavy-duty trading with Brian (I think I traded him 6 Sebulbas for his Sebulba deck). People start streaming in, including Ray and company from Philly, Pat Sullivan and Jon Dunn from Virginia, Jim Van Fleet and some people from Williamsport and Scranton, and plenty others (I really can't list everyone, that'd take forever). :-) My friend Adam Kronfeld shows up, and has nothing to do, so I lend him some YJ decks to play in the YJ tournament. Anyway, I'm waiting for George Gundry to show up, cause he said he would trade me cards I desperately needed for my Light YJ deck. It's 11:00, the YJ is supposed to start real soon, so I end up borrowing cards from Mike Dalton instead (and he borrowed a ton of cards from me too. Eventually, at 12:15, the tournament hasn't started yet, and George finally shows up with those cards, so I give Mike all but 2 of the cards I borrowed from him back.
Soon after, the Young Jedi tournament finally starts, with 41 players, the largest YJ tournament that I've ever heard of. I won't go into too many details, because well, it's YJ, and it doesn't really have that many details. :-) I'm playing a Padme/Queen deck on Light, and a Senator deck at Worlds, basically the decks I got beat by at the DecipherCon qualifier. I won my first game, fairly amazingly, as I drew no Transports all game, and it's hard to win when you have 30 stackable cards in your deck and no Transport. Fortunately, he had bad luck as well, and I squeaked a win out of it. The second and third games were fairly uneventful, if I remember correctly, and I won both of them easily. The fourth game was somewhat scary, he had a deck full of 1-deploy critters and did like 5 breakthrough damage every turn. The 2 damage on his Neimoidians was hurting him though, and I won by 7. At this point, there were 3 undefeateds: myself, Jason Lembo, and Dennis Shea. Jason and Dennis had higher differential, so they squared off against each other, and I got to play against the 3-1 Brian Kim. This turns out to be a real close game, and I ended up winning by something like 4. Anyway, Jason beat Dennis, but since both myself and Jason were Dark, we couldn't play each other. :-( Through some quirk of the pairings, Jason ends up playing Dennis again, and I end up playing Brian again. Brian is using his 'Sebulba deck', my Padmes make short work of him on the first planet, he looks pretty scary on the second planet so I surrender right away (stranding his Sebulbas), and then I make short work of him on the last planet. So that ends the tournament. Dennis ended up beating Jason, so I'm the only undefeated, and Jon Dunn sneaks in from behind to claim second. We both get uncut foil sheets of MoDM, a nice birthday present for me if I do say so. :-)
Anyway, lots of people have showed up for the Star Wars tournament, including more people from Philly, Steve Brentson, and other NYC players, for a total of 73 players. We end up starting a couple hours late because the YJ tournament ran late, and because of some people forgetting to sign up or something. Meanwhile, I'm quickly trying to get the YJ mentality out of my head so I can remember how to play my SW decks. :-) I'm using basically the same decks I've had since the summer, a dueling Hunt Down and a MWYHL Mains. We end up pairing twice, the first time I was paired against Steven Gillespie's Endor Ops deck (which wasn't what my Light deck wanted to see), but we get repaired and I end up faced off with someone I've never heard of.
Game 1: My Dark vs. Derrick Pendarris's [1506] Hidden Base
I don't know Derrick, but he looked to be around my age, so I don't figure on getting an easy win. He starts with Rebel Fleet, so I'm thinking HBX right away. It could give me problems, but I've beat that type of deck before. However, my own deck is giving me problems, as Vader is deftly dodging my hand, which typically isn't good for Hunt Down. :-) I end up going through a third of my deck before I can draw one of my 5 Vaders. In the meantime, he isn't doing much, just deploying some ships. At one point, he used Organized Attack during his draw phase to get X-wings, so I happily Monnoked him next turn, and got 4 of them. I also note that he has Captain Han (who I'm not overly concerned about) and Daughter Of Skywalker (who could land on the ground and mess me up) in his hand. I'm looking to set up Search And Destroy, but any one card I put down for my second battleground site is likely to get smacked by Daughter. So I end up saving for a couple turns and putting down Mara and Tarkin down. In space, he's spread out to two systems, one with a bunch of Y-wings, and the other with Captain Han on the Falcon and some other ship. I'd love to track some destiny and Counter Assault those Y-wings, but he replaces them with a Y-wing Squad, which pretty much foils that plan. So instead, I put down ZiMH and Devastator to fight Captain Han, he loses only the other ship and a bunch of Force. Next turn, he puts Wedge on the Falcon, and puts a lone Gold Squad Y-wing at another system, strangely. So I put BFiS1 and take out the Gold Squad, and battle the Falcon again, killing Wedge. At this point, losing 2 Force every turn from Visage and Search And Destroy is really hurting him, and I win by 21. FW 2(+21)
Highlights: I won this game without Force draining a single time. :-)
Lowlights: I figure I'm now doing way too well, and next game I'll get crushed by someone way better than me. :-)
Game 2: My Light vs. Jonathan Dunn's [1785] Hunt Down/Mains And Toys
As it turns out, there were lots and lots of Dark wins first game, so I end up at the 12th table or something. Anyway, Jon is one of the guys from Virginia that came up, he's a really nice guy. This game, however, took an early turn for the worse for me. He started Bad Feeling Have I, which is incredibly effective against my deck. I take my first turn getting out Yoda, and he drops Bragnus on Blizzard 2 at the Hoth Defensive Perimeter. I start training Tawss Khaa, and he gets ZiMH at Endor. I deploy Chewie and EPP Han at the Defensive Perimeter, and take out everything, but lose Chewie in the process. He responds by deploying ECC Iggy there, and fortunately missing Han (and Han misses Iggy), so I just lose him to attrition. I deploy Ben to the Cantina, and he deploys Vader and Tarkin there, and beats him up. I deploy Ben and Harc Seff at Mos Eisley, and he Elises Vader and Tarkin to a drain-for-2 Endor site. I finish testing Tawss Khaa to Test 2, and he deploys Tempest 1 at the Endor sites and shuttles everything up to a newly deploy BiHT, which then moves over to Dagobah. It looked like he wanted to invade Dagobah, I don't know why, every time I've had someone try to invade Dagobah it hasn't helped them at all (esp. after the tests are done). So I deploy EPP Luke to his Endor site. I also have Tantive, Spiral, and Lando in Falcon in my hand, and I'd just love to beat down on Zuckuss, but at Endor with Bad Feeling in play, deploying all that would've cost 20 Force! Anyway, he lands on Dagobah, and Yoda and the apprentice, of course, run away. He tries to trap them by moving Tarkin and Tempest 1 to the end site where Yoda and Tawss are, and leaving Vader at the next site over. However, I remind him that he can't battle there because he doesn't have a character with ability 4 (Yoda's text). I back up Luke with Orrimaarko, and get out Obi's Saber, so I'm draining for 6 per turn, but at a cost of 9 from Battle Plan. He moves Vader over to where Yoda is. Tawss runs away, and then he attempts to trap Yoda by playing You Are Beaten on him. He unfortunately forgot that a YAB'ed character can't be battled, however. After that exercise in futility, everyone hopped aboard BiHT and left Dagobah. :-) Meanwhile, I've been playing kind of sloppily, and forgetting to shuffle Ben to where Harc is so Harc isn't alone, but fortunately for me, he never notices. Vader and company land on Endor, and kick Luke and Orrimaarko out. I'm still draining for 4, but so is he, and mine cost 6, so he eventually drains me out and wins by 4. FL 2(+17)
Highlights: I'm completely happy with this game, had he been playing better he would have beat me by a lot more.
Lowlights: Forgetting to shuffle Ben and leaving Harc alone. Geez, that was stupid.
Game 3: My Dark vs. Livio D'alessio's [1735] MWYHL Cloud City Mains
I've played Livio twice before, and he's a good player, so I don't know how this is going to turn out. I start out on the right foot, getting DLOTS and Saber as well as Mara and Saber at the Cloud City East Platform right away. He deployed Kiffex, and I jumped all over that, deploying ZiMH, BiHT, and BFiS1 there right away. So I'm draining for 5 before he's draining at all. He seems to be doing something with Weather Vanes, he plays a lot of Fall Of A Legends and actually found a Weather Vane the first time, I believe. In any event, I grab the second FOTL he plays, can't have lots of recycling 6's. He deploys the Chasm Walkway and puts EPP Han and some 2/2 Rebel there (he started with Insurrection). I just ignore him, I'm perfectly fine with his drain of 1, compared to my drain of 5 plus Visage damage. In addition, I don't know what kind of wacky things he'll do with Weather Vane there, so I don't get involved. Everything's looking good so far, but this is where things start to go downhill. He deploys Lando in Falcon, some 2-ability ship (Spiral?), and Chewie aboard at Kiffex. I'm afraid of a Punch It!, so I Monnok him, and don't see any. The only challenge is getting past the 8-forfeit Chewbacca (thanks to Insurrection), but with the destiny in my deck I stand a fair chance of getting 9 or more in 2 draws. I battle but don't draw enough, so only Chewie dies, and I lose Fett. Meanwhile, he deploys Cloud City: North Corridor, puts EPP Obi at the Chasm Walkway, and Han and the other guy go to NC. So now I'm draining for 0, as he can cancel my Cloud City drains with the North Corridor text. To add insult to injury, he deploys EPP Leia and Jeroen Webb to the Holotheatre and cancels my Visage, and he has enough battlegrounds to get around my CHYBC. I try again to battle him at Kiffex, but this time I lose everything. So, now he's draining for 6 a turn, and I'm doing no damage, how the tables have turned. Vader and Mara go chasing EPP Obi into the Chasm Walkway, but Obi just leaves. They then go over to the North Corridor, forcing Han and that other guy out, so now I have a drain of 4. I realize though that compared to his drain of 6, this won't win me the game. I finally get my Reactor Terminal, and set up some destinies to go duel Obi, so back to the Chasm Walkway I go. However, I'm hurting too much, so I decide to Counter Assault Jeroen and Leia instead. I draw a 6,6 (the first one was random, the second was tracked), and he loses 8 Force, leaving him with only 3. He moves Obi over to the Chasm Walkway, so I Epic Duel him, he has no Force in his Reserve Deck, and I win the game by 8. FW 4(+25)
Highlights: Gaining complete control of the table so early.
Lowlights: Losing it so easily.
Game 4: My Light vs. Matthew Kucklinca's [1602] Lone Warrior Deck
He started with Ralltiir Ops, which pleased me, since my Light deck has never lost against a Ralltiir Ops deck (although it could be that I just has never been up against a good one). He also started Bad Feeling, which is typical for ROps, and annoying as anything for me. However, he then proceeded to drop lone Biker Scout Troopers at his Ralltiir sites. No Bikes. No other characters. Just lone Biker Scout Troopers. Now, I seem to remember there being some sort of destiny adder for Biker Scouts, and I also know that once I get Test 2 completed, any Trooper deck is finished (especially ones that rely on destiny adders). However, I deployed Luke and Harc Seff to a site and battled anyway, thinking I could just lose Harc to attrition. He played Lone Warrior, and I forgot about his ROps bonus, so I ended up losing both, while he Ghhhks the damage. He gets out more sites and more lone Biker Scout Troopers. I proceed with my Jedi Testing, and get Bacta Tank out. I finally get Test 2 complete, and start dropping Mains at sites to pounce his Biker Scout Troopers. However, he starts playing Imperial Barrier left and right to stop me. I get out Order To Engage, and that changes everything, as I make sure he loses 3 Force every turn. Ralltiir Ops flips back and forth some, but I don't care too much, as he apparently has nothing in his deck that can bother mine, and he never draws any destiny to add to. He deploys Vader, but I really don't see the need to battle Vader, standing in front of lone Biker Scout Troopers is more productive. At one point, he drops Mara Jade where EPP Leia and Chewie are standing in front of a Biker Scout Trooper, and kills Leia (I shoot the Trooper and draw 0 for destiny), so next turn I just get Leia out of the Bacta Tank and deploy her (all for 14 Force, mind you), and kill Mara, who now can't draw destiny. Anyway, I'm killing the occasional Biker Scout Trooper, and the few times my Mains do die, they come back, so I'm slowly clearing out Ralltiir (yet leaving Vader alone). His only angle is to drain me for one at sites, which is expensive because of Battle Plan. Anyway, he really can't do anything to hurt me, we all know where this is headed, and I win by 20. FW 6(+45)
Highlights: I'm still undefeated against Ralltiir Ops.
Lowlight: He really had no chance at winning that game, Test 2 vs. a Lone Warrior deck is no contest.
At this point, I'm 3-1 with a great differential, so now I knew I would start playing the big names, and getting crushed. And boy, was I right...
Game 5: My Dark vs. Dan Sokol's [1992] Force Choke
He has a strong start, starting with the Massassi Throne Room, Swamp, and Farm. His first turn, he gets out 2 Nudjes, plays Revolution on the Meditation Chamber, and deploys something like 3 2/0 sites. I deploy the Cloud City: East Platform and use IAO to get the Executor: Docking Bay, and then drew my 2 Force. He deploys Obi with Saber at Cloud City, and Oola at the Massassi Throne Room. I'm not too concerned about Oola, as after losing to Jon Chu at the Philly Grand Slam because of her, I put in 2 Shocking Revelations. He then deployed Tawss or someone at the Med Chamber, moved over to the Holotheatre, and canceled Visage. Next turn, I draw a Twi'lek, and search for Crush The Rebellion, and then cancel the Revolution with an Evader. In the meantime, he's got an Oola lock on me, and I'm drawing what I can to look for the Shock. He moves Oola to the Swamp, and the Nudj there to the Throne Room, so he has enough battlegrounds to get around CHYBC. I'm still drawing, looking for a Shock (I saw one go off the top to a drain, still one left), and draw ECC Iggy, something he can't Oola. When he Oolas me, he sees it, but doesn't bother moving Oola away. So I deploy Iggy and attempt to battle Oola, only to be reminded that it costs me +3 to battle at the Swamp, quite more than I had. Anyway, Oola moves away, Iggy chased her, so Oola moved back to the battleground site (doh). Iggy chased her again, and she moved the the Farm, moving that Nudj to the Massassi Headquarters on the end. I realize now that even if I keep chasing Oola, she can always be at a battleground site, so I stop. I'm still trying to draw my other Shock, and I draw Tempest 1 and Blizzard 2, something else he can't Oola. However, I don't have enough Force left at this point to deploy a Walker and battle in the same turn, but he fortifies all his sites anyway. I barely have any Force left, but I'm determined to draw that Shock. I activate everything, and draw all but one card. The last card I draw is the Shock. His drains cut my hand down to that one last card. So now, I have a Shock in my hand, and 1 Force in my Force Pile, and that's it. Much to my dismay, he decides not to Oola me this turn, as there's not a heck of a lot I can deploy with my one Force. So, I draw up and lose by 28. FL 6(+17)
Highlights: What highlights?
Lowlights: I don't remember the last time I was beaten that badly...
Game 6: My Light vs. Dennis Shea's [1668] Space deck
I wasn't quite sure what his deck was trying to do, he started Imperial Occupation on Yavin and Surface Defense, as if he were going to do a Rebel Base Occupation deck, but then played nothing but space. Anyway, his first turn, he deployed a whole bunch of systems. I get Yoda out at his Hut, and start drawing to look for a suitable apprentice (preferably Tawss Khaa or Melas). I deploy EPP Han and EPP Leia to his Forest on Yavin, for lack of anything better to do, then deploy Lando in Falcon at Yavin. He deploys the Avenger at Yavin, deploys Admiral Motti at the Forest on Yavin, and shuttles him up and plays Alert My Star Destroyer. I put Melas on the Falcon, and then run away to Kessel. Meanwhile, he's playing a bunch of effects, most of which don't hurt my deck. He deploys Bossk In Hound's Tooth and some stuff, and takes out the Falcon. Then he loads up BiHT and moves to Dagobah. I get out the Cantina and put Obi-Wan and his Lightsaber there. He lands on Dagobah, and Yoda runs away. BiHT takes off from Dagobah again, taking Vader, but leaving Evax at the Bog Clearing and Ozzel at Yoda's Hut. So I just use my objective to get EPP Luke from my reserve deck and deploy him at the Bog Clearing, and smack Evax around. He deploys Blizzard 2 with a couple pilots on board, and battles my EPP Han and Leia. Leia bites the dust, as do all his pilots. He then moves the Avenger to Kiffex (why he didn't shuttle up the empty Blizzard 2 is quite beyond me). So, I deploy EPP Leia, Chewbacca, and Tawss Khaa at the Forest on Yavin, and battle Blizzard 2, making him lose it plus 14 Force. He doesn't have that much Force left, and draws up, and I win by 28. FW 8(+45)
Highlights: I love it when I use my Objective to have Luke smack someone on Dagobah, that's so fun. :-)
Lowlights: Dennis seemed somewhat irritable throughout the game, looked like he was having a bad day...
Anyway, I ended up finishing in 12th out of 73, not too shabby. I pick up a Reflections pack along with some sort of collector's tin full of movie cards for prize support, and I pull a foil Tarkin out of the Reflections pack, which is nice. Overall, it's been a great day for me, with my winning the Young Jedi tournament and having a strong showing in the Wars tournament. Can't think of a better way to spend my birthday! :-)
Also, huge thanks to Brian and Marty Terwilliger, for not only giving me a ride back home, but also letting me stay at their place when the roads were too bad to drive on. And thanks to Mike Dalton for lending me cards (although you borrowed like 5 times that amount of cards from me :-) ), and to Adam Kronfeld for doing well with the YJ decks he borrowed from me. And to 'Robot-man'--I hope you enjoy those droids!
Here's some pictures I took from the event:
http://www.people.cornell.edu/pages/dlf14/swpics.html
--
Doug Faust
dlf14@cornell.edu
SM Rogue 40, based in Ithaca, NY