uk-grand-slam-13-2-00
Title: uk-grand-slam-13-2-00
Author: Alex "Greedo" Tennet
Date: Feb 15, 2000
This was part of a weekend-long round of tournaments, the previous day containing both sealed deck and No Such Thing As Luck events. To be brief, my performance wasn’t the best in either of those - I pulled nothing but red cards for my rares in sealed and only went 2-2 in the NSTAL. Plenty more people had showed up Sunday for the Grand Slam though, including three top German players - Bastian Winkelhaus, Martin Schumacher and Markus Wuest. Someone said to me before we began 'We might’ve had a chance at winning this thing, but with the Germans here…it’s not going to happen.' The words were strong, and doubly effective on myself, as my first ever tournament was in fact while I was visiting Germany...I was beaten every game and vowed never to underestimate any opponent again. Anyway, we kicked off. I was using a Yavin 4 occupation deck for DS with IAO, 2/2 pilots, walkers and reacting AT-STs, christened 'Gesundheit' (I checked the spelling with Mr. Wuest first of course). My LS was something special I’d cooked up. I’m going to keep the exact decklist to myself for now, but you’ll see basically how it works as the games progress. It’s called 'The Spin Dokta.' Both decks were my own devising.
Game 1 - My LS Vs. (Really sorry, this guy was very friendly and I’ve gone and forgotten his name)
Seemed like a very nice chap - talkative and approachable. He started with TDIGWATT, the Downtown Plaza and Imperial Arrest Order. I started Hidden Base and plumped for Wise Advice. First turn he grabs Bespin: Cloud City, CC Docking bay and put them down, then draws. I activated, fetched Alderaan and revo’ed B:CC. He gets Bespin next turn and plays it - I revo that too, then play the Massassi Ruins. We played a waiting game at this point, but he broke first and deployed a bunch of good characters to his DtP. I pounced with Obi, Luke, Orrimaarko, Han, Biggs and Hobbie, then deployed Draw Their Fire. Played Don’t get Cocky and cleared the site.
Spread out to the Docking Bay a little, as he wasn’t generating much and I figured I was safe (I had a barrier in my hand anyway). He deploys a few of the cool Obsidian squadron guys to B:CC where he can drain for 2. My turn, I drop the Tatooine that’s in my hand and play Wedge in the Falcon to Bespin. He nods, and I put down the Tantive IV with Jeroen Webb onboard, then shuttle Han onto the Tantive, then into the Falcon. He saves force in his turn, so I drop EPP Leia into the Tantive and recycle a few cards with Traffic Control. He plays Zuckuss In Mist Hunter, then IG-88 in IG-2000 - which I barrier. He drops BIHT and ends his turn.
I play Chewie into the Tantive IV, glad to now have three destinies, and battle. He loses all except BIHT, and I lose Webb. In his turn, Bossk moves to Cloud City - ahh, come ‘ere you big coward! It’s looking bleak for my opponent at this point, so I decide to finish it quickly in case it goes to time. I drop Tawss to the Massassi Ruins and revolve them, guessing that if he had an evader to play, he would have done so by now. He tries to get some last-minute damage in by putting Boba in Slave I to Tatooine. I move over the Falcon and he wisely draws up in his turn before I can put back the rest of my hand with Traffic Control.
Score: 2 (+23)
Some surprises had taken place in other games while I had been playing. Gary Carmen had lost and John Shields had timed out to a true tie, while all three Germans had made their mark by winning. I was only on table 4 next game however.
Game 2 - DS Vs. Stefan (last name slips my mind)
Yes, I am indeed awful with names. He gets the Hoth: War Room as his Starting location, and no starting effect. Fair enough. I take Yavin 4 and the Swamp with Occupation, and IAO as starting effect. He asks me where I’m from, as he’s just moved here from the USA, and we chat a bit. Anyway, I fetch a site and the docking bay first turn first turn and save force. He plays 8D8 to the War Room and inserts AFA, then plays the Holoboard. Undaunted, I play a Twi’lek and grab Rebel Base Occupation. On my turn, I play a Dreadnaught to Yavin and another site. Over the next few turns: I get RBO set up with Blizzard 2 and Tempest 1, he gets a Grimtaash to the Hologame Board and POAS out to enhance the drain, AFA pops and I get DS-61-2 aboard my Dreadnaught.
Stefan takes advantage of my weakness before I can get pilots to my walkers (I’d not had enough force to move them together). He drops EPP Han and Leia to the jungle and battles Tempest 1. I play Trample and target Han. He nods, and I draw a 5 - Han is lost, and he draws a 3 for battle destiny. My walker is immune < 6 thanks to the jungle text, and I’m power 7 due to controlling Yavin 4. So he loses a force, remarks that 'That went well' and next turn I drop a pilot to the walker and finish off Leia.
Stefan deploys R2 undercover at one of my sites, and I decide that I’m safe without a walker and put Marquand and Cabbel together at the swamp. He’s losing force from drains and occupation, though he nulls one with It Could Be Worse - which I grab with Hell2Pay. When he tries to Surprise Assault my drain with the two pilots, he draws a 1 and 3 (Luke EPP and NTMTO) - losing one force and the interrupt. Stefan finally gets in a Never Tell Me The Odds, and Surprise Assaults another of my drains with Marquand and Cabbel - drawing the same two cards as last time! I felt a little sorry for him. I’m not activating any by this point of course, and losing the two for his Holoboard drain from my hand and force pile. Eventually occupation takes him out. NTMTO doesn’t pop. I win by 27.
Score: 4 (+50)
Wuest and Winkelhaus had clashed in the previous game, and Bastian had been victorious, so he was on top table now. And against who?
Game 3 - LS Vs. Bastian Winkelhaus
Received a lot of 'Good Luck' well-wishes before this game, but to be honest I wasn’t too confident. Did my best to appear professional though. He started with ISB Ops and the Imperial Square. His starting effect was Security Precautions. He took his turn and drew two of his four. I revolved his Square and fetched Alderaan. He activated his two, deployed Crush (lucky start) and fetched an Evader...or at least tried to. Turns out it was in his force pile. He drew to get it, and played it. I caught the card with What're You Trying To Push On Us and lost the requisite one force. My turn, I activated four, deployed Tatooine from Reserve Deck and revolved his Imperial Square back to my side again. From then on he was careful to keep his hand size at 12 cards, as if I were to Grimtaash him the game would be over fast. He saves the three force he gets every turn, while I deploy the Massassi War Room to make my generation 10. He plays the Come Here You Big Coward that I had been expecting, mainly to allow him to safely draw extra cards, and I build up a large space force at Tatooine (the only battleground on the table).
Once I’m ready, I revolve Tatooine to get in a drain of two. He still doesn’t have anywhere near enough force to deploy the cards he has in hand, so I'm getting in a two point drain for several turns. At some point he deploys Blast Door Controls, so I put my Rebel Barriers back into my deck with Traffic Control; they’re not going to help me now. The Death Star also comes into play.
Once he counts his force to see what he has, I decide that I’d better hold him off as long as possible, so I deploy Frozen Assets and draw a few. He nods and I get in another drain before he drops the Executor with Ozzel, Needa, Chall Bekan and an ORS to Tatooine. He battles, but I have enough to absorb the damage. In my turn, I activate all but seven and look through my reserve with Hidden Base. I add the destinies in my head and examine his forfeit total at the location. When I have my answer, I battle and play Don't Get Cocky and Skywalkers. My attrition is more than his characters’ forfeit, and the Executor goes down. He nods, and tells me 'That’s Game.' I’m not quite sure I believe it, but I’m pleased all the same (I rhyme).
With my drain of two slowly taking him out, he deploys 5D6 to the Imperial Square after checking with Geert that Revolution’s effects won’t be cumulative if I decide to revolve it back. It’s a start, but he’s a long way from flipping ISB Ops yet. On his next turn he drops EJP Dengar there and Officer Evax. I activate, and deploy EPP Obi, Orrimaarko, Tawss Khaa and Wyron Serper to remove the characters. Bastian does carry on to the bitter end, deploying ZIMH to Tatooine and moving him to Alderaan, but I simply Revo the planet. He begins to move the Death Star and puts Boba In Slave 1 and BIHT there. Once he’s in range, they all move to Tatooine. With a few high destinies I’m able to remove Bossk and Zuckuss, and Boba goes down the following turn; the battle damage taking him out. Bastian was fine about it, but did grin and say 'Weird, weird game' a few times. Win by 29!
Score: 6 (+79)
Well that one created a few ripples. My next opponent could be worked out straightaway though - Martin Schumacher.
Game 4 - DS Vs. Martin Schumacher
He used Hidden Base and played (I believe) Battle Plan as his starting effect. I went for Yavin 4 and the swamp/IAO as usual. I rolled out the sites and he plays EPP Luke to the docking bay, then deploys Yoda’s Gimer Stick on him. Yup, I know the tech. I eat the drain for a few turns until I find Vader. I drop Tempest 1 first in an attempt to draw his barrier, but to no avail. I stick EPP Vader down and he’s barrier’d. Into the walker with you! (It was ruled that I could do this earlier that day). Because Yoda’s Stick says 'present' I was safe from battle.
He’s rolling out the systems, but I have RBO on Yavin 4 by now, with my Dread and pilots guarding it. Martin plays a corvette and other assorted ships/pilots there, then tries to play Captain Han - but I remind him about the deploy restriction and he goes back to hand. Draw Their Fire is deployed and there is a small battle (he even tracks the A few maneuvers he played previously to get a 6 for destiny), but next turn I play two Dreadnaughts there and add 3 pilots. I clean up during battle, shuttle Vader up to join Tarkin in the Dread, and he moves the remainder of his ships away. I start dropping AT-STs to my sites with pilots to increase drain and RBO damage. He deploys Leia and another small character against my Tempest Scout 1. I react into the battle with Tempest Scout 6 and manage to win as he draws a 0 for battle destiny. He moves EPP Luke to a different site, and also drops Order To Engage. That’s bad...
There’s a lot of damage going his way with drains and especially RBO, so he flips Hidden Base with quite a few systems on the table. I move one Dreadnaught to Alderaan and another to Tatooine. I probe both in his turn - no result. One Dreadnaught takes a beating. He deploys Our Most Desperate Hour and targets one of his rebels at Tatooine. Orrimaarko is played and battles Tempest 1, he retrieves and I lose one. It’s moot however, as I react over with Tempest Scouts 1, 2 and 6 - the first two having two pilots each - draw a 4 for battle destiny and hit Orrimaarko for around 18 damage once he’s forfeited. Martin...wasn’t too happy. Understandably. His frustration was vented on a couple of unlucky chairs. Win by 19.
Score: 8 (+98)
I’m told that if I get a full win the next game, I’m in the final. Not going to let it affect me though. I’m up against Dave Crane, the only other unbeaten player at this point. Seeing as I’ve never actually beaten Dave, and I’ve tried a few times, this won’t be an easy matchup.
Game 5 - LS Vs. Dave Crane
He’s playing ISB Ops, and uses Coruscant as his start. His effect is Come Here You Big Coward.. Apparently someone had been spreading the word that The Spin Dokta was killed by CHYBC. I’d already proved that to be false against one of the best players in the world - all it does is make things a little more difficult for me. Anyway, I revolved Coruscant first turn, deployed Alderaan and fetched Tatooine. Dave deployed the Death Star: War Room, played Evader and I grabbed it with WYTTPOU. Next turn I got down the Massassi War Room and Obi’s Hut, then revolved Coruscant again. Dave drew a bit and I revolved his War Room.
Now, I wasn’t sure whether he had another Evader in there, and in all honesty I expected that he did. But I had to go and get greedy with revolving the Dagobah Cave that he deployed, and sure enough another Evader was played. It was caught at least, but I had to use my remaining revos wisely. With getting good activation anyway, I deployed ships and pilots (Falcon and EPP Han among them) to Tatooine. Built up a force there, and then revo’ed it for a drain. Dave saved more force and I deployed Goo Nee Tay and Frozen Assets to allow me to fortify my position before an attack. But then he puts down Kashyyyk. I deploy another Frozen Assets to let me drain at there for a turn too. After that one’s gone, I shift all my forces to Tatooine again. Down comes the Executor with BIHT and plenty of pilots (inc. Vader) to Kashyyyk.
Now we play a game of cat-and-mouse, battling when we can and running if it’s required. I get off an Our Most Desperate Hour and retrieve something like 15 force - thanks to Kashyyyk I could occupy 2 battlegrounds. That worries him. I go to battle and play Skywalkers and Don’t Get Cocky. It’s a large amount of attrition, but he cancels my 5 with Tarkin (I’d checked the destinies beforehand with Hidden Base, so he’d seen what they were and knew what to cancel). We’re both losing characters, and he even Lateral Damages the Tantive IV, but seeing as its only function right now is as a place for Leia to pilot for extra destinies, it’s not a problem. I play Effective Repairs to get my OMDH back, and complete another run for another 15 force or so. He shakes his head and tells me I’ve won, it’s only a matter of time.
We go on like this for a while, but he deploys ISB agents to my War Room and Hut (ISB Ops has already flipped). I’ve dropped Luke EPP in battles by now, but I decide to lose Han as well in the next one, then deploy them again to beat up the agent at the Hut. Get in more damage. I realise it’s probably going to time out unless we hurry, so I spread out to try and get the drains in - getting ready to revo the hut. I leave the Tantive at Kashyyyk so I occupy 2 battlegrounds - and it is battled, but I lose the pilots and battle damage to keep the Tantive’s presence there. However, time is called. I’ve easily got more differential, but sadly it’s only 1 point for a timed win. A few more turns...
Timed Win by 16.
Score: 9 (+114)
So I’m the last unbeaten player. Again, I now have to win this next game to qualify. A timed win will do, even a timed loss, but I don’t want that. It’s against Nick Rice, who very kindly provided a place for me to sleep the previous night (many thanks also to Chris, who’s room we actually slept in).
Game 6 - DS Vs. Nick Rice
He started with Chief Chirpa’s Hut...ewoks! Likely the same deck that beat me the previous night, when I was using an anti-profit deck. I figured I was ok though - my deck had 3 Twi’leks, 2 copies of Decree and a lot more space than his, so my occupation was safe. He plays Careful Planning for the Rebel Landing Site...yup, the same so far. First turn he gets Daughter Of Skywalker to the Landing site with Anakin’s saber. Not a good start, and my Battle Order is nowhere to be seen. I’m going normally, but I need to move fast to beat this deck. I throw down Evax and Barich to get RBO set up with ZIMH already in orbit, and move them together. It’s not good enough though, as he drops EPP Luke, clashes Evax and beats down on Barich. It’s only a force loss of 8, but he has a foothold on my planet. I drop Tempest Scout 1 against Luke to try and lure his barrier, it fails to work. I drop a pilot onboard, that fails too. So I play Vader and he’s barrier’d for the second time today.
Nick gets the Madine/Ewok/Kazak engine up and running, and I do have control of a couple of locations now, so I activate 3, play the Twi’lek that I’d been searching for for a while now, and look for one of my decrees. No...no, it’s not there. I stare incredulously at the three force I’d just used, realising that both of them must be in there! I take something else, but it’s no consolation. He drops RLIR1 and GLIG1 with Momaw aboard against my ZIMH and ends his turn. I deploy BIHT and battle them in my turn, reduce his destiny to zero and kill RLIR1. He deploys Landing Claw on Gold Leader and attaches to Bossk in my control phase (all good fun and everything).
I land Bossk (he detaches his ship) and then my Dune Walker is hit by General Solo and a Bothan. I try to Trample the Bothan in what was probably one of the game’s turning points, but I draw a 2 and it fails, I lose the battle. He lands GLIG1. However, I draw a Twi’lek in my turn, giving me one last chance to turn this around. In his turn, I eat an 8 point drain, mostly off my reserve thanks to my meagre hand. One decree hits the lost pile in that. I know that they’re not still clumped together though, as I’ve searched for sites since then. I activate 3, play my interrupt and...no, this really isn’t funny. Someone higher up in the grand scheme of things was obviously taking the piss. Decree is yet again in that 3 force. I take my second copy of RBO with a sigh instead. ECC Chewie and Threepio alongside General Solo are the final nail in the coffin, and Nick drains me out heavily.
Final Score: 9 (+100ish)
I might have led the pack all day, but in the end I just missed out on the final (yup, it’s the regional all over again). No matter - who needs uncut foil sheets anyway? I have my pride in beating so many goo...(yeah, I want the foils :-)
Seriously though, I was very pleased with my 5-1 finish. I played some of the best SWCCG that I have in a long time, and enjoyed myself immensely, which is exactly what this is all about. Cheers guys, you’re some of the friendliest people I know (yeah, yeah, I know I sound like one of the Care Bears. I’d better go shred some Bothans before my twee side takes over...).
ALEX TENNET