mt-view-california-2-19

Title: mt-view-california-2-19
Author: Alfred "ThaBraHmaBuL" Dong
Date: Feb 26, 2000

LS was yet again another issue this tournament, and yet I didnt figure out what I was playing until about 3 days before the tournament. I was having a hard time choosing between Harvest and Profit, since I hate HB and Ops, I decided to stick with my old Harvest deck. DS was set weeks in advance, the same Choke Out Hunt Down I had before. Saturday morning I wake up in a hurry to contact my ride, Eric Brummel. I met up with him at 2:00 at a friends house and we got there just in time for the 3:00 start. The people there was amazing and reminded me of the SD Comicon and the Regionals. Thank God there was not any deck lists for us, so we started around 3:30 and the competition began.

Game 1: DS Choke Out vs. Josh Certo's MWYHL Beatdown

Josh was a player from Feldman's group up in Turlock, and theyre always fun to play. He starts MWYHL and Im clueless as how to approach it. Im thinking quick drains and draw a GOD hand. DLOTS, Tarkin, Back Door, and Cantina were all in there, so I flipped first turn and he cancels Visage. He starts dropping Projection of a Skywalkers and dropping Yoda to his Hut. I sit at the Back Door draining for 2 a turn after Altering the Projections and I drop Tarkin to protect Vader and drop another Visage. He cancels Visage yet again, and finally drops Obi-Wan w/ Stick(EPP) to the Back Door w/ Wedge and KalFal but doesnt battle. I drop Igar and Tempest 1 there and try to battle but he cancels with Its a Trap!, so I just Trample Obi to flip again. He drops Leia, Tawss Khaa, and Lando for back up but then realizes he cant battle me(thanks to Hunt), and sees his impending doom. I drop IG-88 and Zuckuss for another destiny and bring Visage back again. I battle, he cant cancel, and I clean the site and all I lose is IG-88 and Zuckuss. He tries to draw for something but doesnt find it, so he draws out. Win by 37.

Cumalative Score: 2(+37)
Highs: Playing Josh Certo
Lows: None really

Game 2: LS Harvest vs. Mike Mooneys DS Undercover ISB Space

I play the winner of the Sealed Deck event earlier, and it looks like hes doing pretty well here too. I get another GOD hand, getting Owen, Beru, Ben and his saber in there. I drop all on the first turn, and he counters with Undercover Spies. Great...theres only one card in my entire deck that can handle them, and thats none less than Sorry About the Mess. So I activate and draw.....first card, there it is, so I stop drawing. He drops Kashyyyk and Endor, and I need a way to stop his drains in space. I kill off the spy, drain, and drop the Cantina with Luke and Chewie there. He drops Mara Undercover, and I Harvest my Sorry About the Mess back. I activate all but 5 force, draw 1 card, and I get the Sorry. Next turn I use it on Mara, hit her, and lose Sorry again. His turn, he drains, I retrieve Sorry yet again. I eventually drop Lando in Falcon w/ a Landing Claw to Kashyyyk, maxing his drains out at 5 per turn. Battle Plan comes out, and he has to pay to drain, I dont.......He drains for 5 a turn, I retrieve 4......I drain for 7 a turn, he cant retrieve......what else do you need? Win by 31.

Cumalative Score: 4(+68)
Highs: Beating this otherwise tough deck
Lows: Nothing Much

So me and Ohmy Fasudhani are both up there at the top table, and we both expect to play each other, yet we dont. Jeff Field and Brian Gin end up with higher diffrentials than Ohmy, so were set to play them instead.

Game 2: DS Choke Out vs. Jeff Fields LS Or Be Destroyed

He starts Profit and I give him Jabba and EPP Fett as aliens. I dont get Vader in my hand so I drop Ozzel and Evax to Fett and Jabba for backup. I get Vader 3rd turn to Jabbas Palace w/ Tarkin. He drops Jereon Webb there so I Elis Vader to Mos Eisley, where he stays all game long. He tries to beat on my AC crew with Master Luke, Ani's and EPP Obi, and he manages to kill off Fett, Jabba, and Ozzel, and I kill EPP Obi. My turn, I counter with IG-88 and Zuckuss, and end up capturing Luke. For the next 6-7 turns, he does nothing but lose to my drains and Visage. He evntually drops EPP Leia and Melas to free Han and run away from IG-88 and Zuckuss. By now though, Im draining for 6 at Tatooine locations to his 1 plus objective damage. It comes down to a decision.....battle w/ IG and free Luke, or lose to drains and Objective damage for the rest of the game.....I choose to just free Luke, I kill off Han and Melas, he kills off Evax, Zuckuss and IG. We both suffer from Visage now, but im draining and hes not, so its all good. Win by 18.

Cumalative Score: 6(+86)
Highs: I FINALLY BEAT Jeff Field!
Lows: Nothing Much


Game 4: LS Harvest vs. Kevin Shannons DS Abyssin Scum and Villiany

My Harvest lost to him last time, so I thought I was in for another. I get the worse starting hand ever, but I do get Luke. I drop the Master and Owen to the Farm first turn. His JP/Cantina start gives us both enough force for the game, and he starts to set up Scum and Villiany. I drop Ben to Luke and Owen and move them over to JP. Bubo eats Owen and runs away before Ben and Luke can retaliate. He drops DS Tatooine for Occupation, but ends up losing half his ships to my drains. Obi gets his sword, and he drops Dengar to the system and drops Battle Order. I drop Gold Leader to clean the mess and retain the system for the game. He eventually gets some people over to the Cantina, and I Nabrun over and battle. A few turns later he loses everything and I dont lose anything. After that its my free drain of 5 to his drain of 1 that costs 3......Win by 23.

Cumalative Score: 8(+109)
Highs: Beating the deck that beat me out last time
Lows: I dont know, something seemed wrong with Kevin

So I go into the last round and only myself and Ohmy are undefeated. Sure enough, we face off in the final round, and only one of us would come out......The Rock vs. OH MY! for your enjoyment.

Game 5: DS Choke Out vs. Ohmy Fasudhani's LS Profit

So I play Ohmy again but this time Im a little more confident in my decks. I drop Jabba and Fett again to the AC, and this time I drop Vader to the Cantina straight from my opening hand. He gets Artoo set up with A Gift, and Master Luke and Ben pay Fett and Jabba a visit, and I lose both of them with no significant battle damage. He frees Han and sets up the Mos Eisley/ Cantina shuffle. I make several key mistakes here......first is I get greedy and draw up more then I should have to find my Reactor Terminal. This causes him to Grimtaash me LOST, and I lose 2 Alters, which wouldve saved me from Order to Engage and Yoda's Gimer Stick, a devastating combo used against Igar and Tempest at Jabbas Palace. Second is I lose Trample intentionally to a drain, which couldve saved me against Leia w/ the Gimer Stick. Third is I lose the Back Door, which is where I shouldve stuck Igar in the first place. He basically turns Visage on me, and I never get to battle him thanks to Its a Trap!, while he blocks my drains with Undercover and I lose to his. Its pretty much over after a final battle vs. Vader, and I lose it by 10.

Cumalative Score: 8(+99)
Highs: Playing a good player and keeping my loses low
Lows: Making those key mistakes I shouldnt have


Game 6: LS Harvest vs. Ohmy Fasudhani's DS Junk Down

So I lose to Ohmy but obviously not by much. So I have the task of playing against him again, sides switched. This games all cat and mouse, my start of Obi's Hut/ Lars Farm didnt do much to help that. Every time he runs into Obi's Hut, I have to follow, which makes him flip or I have to lose to his drains(making me wish I HADNT TAKEN OUT my Lost in the Wilderness earlier). This goes on for awhile, and were pretty much even, I cant Rev the Hut thanks to his start of Crush, until I decide to split my forces, EPP Luke by himself vs. Vader and Obi guarding his Hut. He crushes Luke by 10 force, and moves into the Hut where I cant battle him. There, I get smashed by the power of his walkers and Imperials, and with nothing more than Melas to help out, it was pretty much game. Lose by 14.

Cumalative Score: 8(+85)
Highs: Playing him again and having another close game
Lows: Twice in the same tourney? Oh well its cool.....my diffrentials up there.


The smoke clears, and Ohmy (OH MY!) is the only undefeated player, and takes with him the first Grand Slam this year. Runners up include Nhat Lai, who placed 2nd, Dean Gutknecht, Nghia Nguyen, and myself. I come in 6th, going 4-2, but my differential comes in to give me the final uncut sheet(YAY! More X-wings! :)). All in all a great time was had by all, one of the best tournaments in California history. A notable mention include this kid from San Jose who went 0-6 in the whole tournament, after all his friends dropped from it after losing 5. My shots go to him for his love of the game and sticking there with it. My thanks goes out to Mike Hardy for running the tournament(even though Thaddeus gets most of the credit), to Eric Brummel for the rides, and to Ohmy Fasudhani for the games and memories.

I also pull in some huge trades for Reflections, and in the end, the sweetest was still to come, right before we left, I pull a pack of Reflections before the shop closes for the night. I open the pack, flashes a Rebel.....no less, it was of course, Luke Skywalker, the Ultra-Rare foil. With a smile on my face, I leave the scene, only to come back tomorrow for the Star Trek Grand Slam(more of that next newsletter!). I hope you enjoyed, thanks for reading.

Any questions, comments, feedback, or requests either then asking me for my Luke and Vader foils, email me at IfUcanSmLL@aol.com

Qui-Gon Jinn, The Peoples Champion
Do You FEEL it? Do You TASTE it? Do You SMELL it?