florida-grand-slam-04-march-2000
Title: florida-grand-slam-04-march-2000
Author: Charlie "Bad Player" Herren
Date: Mar 7, 2000
Note: if you want to skip the pre-tourney stuff, scroll down a good bit...
Two weeks before the Grand Slam, I'm in a total state of confusion. I have no secure ride, and I'm not even sure of exactly which decks I'm going to play if I do go. At the time, I had 3 decks built: a super-falcon deck for light, and an Akesson-style ROps deck and a HuntDown with SAC. I was really pumped on the falcon deck, since it had fit me so well, but I wasn't too impressed with how it worked against ROps. The HuntDown w/SAC needed tweaking, but I felt more confident in using my ROps deck, so I decided to work on it instead. Playing the Falcon/ROps matchup over and over helped to cement in my mind that the Falcon deck would have severe problems against a ROps deck if the ROps player knew how to handle the situation (which I was sure the top players could do). I decide that I'll play something different, and I go on a quest to figure out what I should play. At this point, I'm messing with my cards for 3+ hours per day (determination, dedication, lack of a social life, call it what you wish).
One week before the Grand Slam, I come up with a decent LS deck: ThroneRoom mains. I build it, and I test it against my ROps deck over and over, and it would win consistently. I talked the deck over with Jonathan Chu and Chris Bentley, and they helped me decide on how to make the deck better. I make those adjustments, and it's only a matter of transportation. All possibilities of me riding in a car fall through, so I'll have to take a bus if I go. I talk to Neal Razi on the Monday before the GS, and an idea comes up: taking a bus to Tampa, staying with David Akers, and riding to the GS from there. Well, I continue to work on my decks, and my confidence builds a little bit. Once Thursday rolls around, the decision is made that I'm going. I buy my tickets at the bus station for a roundtrip transport to Tampa (costing me like $103), I get on the bus at 04:00 GMT (23:00 EST), and I'm off to Tampa.
I'll spare you the 'en route' details, mainly because they're boring, but I do have this one thing to say: buses suck. If you have any possible mode of transportation other than a bus, abuse it. From my experiences, it seems that Greyhound isn't caring about the passengers (severe lack of customer service), and they are charging too much money for a poor form of transportation. Also, buses take WAY too long to get from point A to point B. End rant.
I get to Tampa on Friday at 15:30 GMT (10:30 EST), and I meet up with David Akers at the bus station. We walk through downtown to the office building where he works, and we talk about things ranging from SW:CCG to foosball to life in general. After getting lunch at a nifty little restaurant (he even picked up the tab, which was one of the many displays of kindness shown over the course of the weekend), we're off to meet Neal Razi. David and I pile into 'the Falcon' (Neal's old hatchback...'she may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts'). We head to Neal's place, and when we get there, John Arendt and Matt Lush are playing a game. Mad playtesting commences. Leonard Mitchell comes by shortly thereafter. I get in at least one game with everyone but Matt Lush (he was always playing someone whenever I finished a game).
A funny side note: I was playing a game against Leonard Mitchell's Tatooine Occupation deck with my Throneroom mains deck. He drops Vader and saber to Jabba's Palace. I drop EPP Luke and han there, battle and play Don't Get Cocky. He senses, I alter, he senses, I sense. After a complete crashing of destiny draws, only Vader is lost. One OOC takes out Vader. Well, a few minutes later, we swap decks, and we're duking it out. At one point, I win a SAC war (and my LS deck isn't packing 4/4/0, like his DS is). At another point, there are 20 cards in my lost pile, including 2 Vaders. One OOC nails Vader... slight irony... :-P
After a few hours of playtesting, we are all to go play in The Ultimate Sealed Deck in Brandon, FL. The original plans for transportation were for Ryan Christian to transport part of the group, and the rest were to ride in 'the Falcon', with John Arendt to be meeting us there (he had left early). Well, as it turned out, John Arendt showed back up at Neal's, and Ryan Christian had called to say that he'd meet us at the card shop. Well, that makes 6 people (myself, Neal, David Akers, Leonard, John, and Matt) and one car (the Falcon). Somehow, we managed to have all six of us in the car (circus clowns, anyone?). We make it to the shop a little late for the tourney, but the tourney was held up for us. I end up playing DS in the tourney. I get a Tyrant, Death Squadron SD foil, WB Death Star, Dagobah Cave, and a decent amount of characters (2 commander brandei, 3 WB advosze, and more). I ended up going 2-2, losing two close games to David Akers and John Arendt. I started with the Dagobah Cave, and I did shuffle well between games, yet in all 4 games, I managed to ahve the Death Star in my opening hand, and in 3 of the 4 games, I also had Yavin 4 and a Star Destroyer. Very, very odd.
After the sealed deck, David Akers' wife picks David and me up, and we meet the rest of the group for dinner, and then off to bed we went. The morning came, and I got a game or two in with my LS deck against David's Dr.Evazan deck (Court start, 3 DrEs, plenty of permanent weapons and high destinies). We (David, his wife, and me) hop in the car and head off to Merritt Island (which is about 2 hours out from the Tampa area). We're sitting in a Pizza Hut in Merritt Island, and I make a gut call: I pull Crush the Rebellion for a third There'll Be Hell to Pay. I figured that Rebel Barrier and Hyper Escape would be more prevalent than Revolution. I also knew that those two interrupts would do a lot against my DS deck.
We arrive to the tourney at a good time, and I roam around and scout (people, not decks) the competition. The level of competition is pretty strong. In addition to John, David, Matt Lush, John Arendt, and Neal, there were Clint Hays, Gabe Alonso, Bill Gordon, Scott Anderson, the Miami crew, Mike Fitzgerald, Ozymandius, and others in attendance. I knew this would be a slugfest of sorts. There were a total of 42 people in attendance.
If you skipped the readings above, here's what I'm playing:
LS: '... beating of a lifetime'. This came from a quote from John Arendt concerning the deck. A throne room start mains deck, with nudjs and no revos, with SAC and some floating 5s.
DS: 'Look at me! I'm a net-deck!'. Akesson-style ROps deck. 3 grabbers, a Search and Destroy, and some other minor differences from Akesson's deck
On to the games...
Game 1: DS v. Hugh Shelton (Profit Celebration)
I'm feeling pumped for my first game, and I've heard of this guy (from Neal), so I know I can't make a mistake. He starts Profit stuff, with Han Solo and Battle Plan. I decline to drop aliens and start Bad Feeling Have I. I get the Death Star and Med Chamber in the opening hand. I drop both, as well as a <> jungle from reserve and draw. He activates and draws some. I activate, drop a ATST pilot from reserve and ATST from hand (no <> locations in reserve), and draw into some locations (desert, Ice Plains). He activate/draws again. I drop my sites and draw up to 15. He Grimtaashes me used. I lose the Vader and Mara in my hand, but I still have Vader's Saber, Tarkin, Oppressive, a catch card, a ATST, and a pilot. We activate/draw again, and I flip turn 5. He drops Massa Luke and Anakin's stick, and frees Han to start the damage. He also drops Bacta Tank and Traffic Control. I drain him for one, get Coruscant from reserve, and ready myself for the beatdown on Han. He gets BoShek to the Entrance Cavern, and moves Han with BoShek. I drop Vader and stick, Temp Scout 1 with Tarkin inside, and Trample Han (he goes to the Tank). I battle BoShek. He lost the battle by a good bit, and he was to lose BoShek and some force, but a Houjix says 'no' to that. He picks up Han, and drops him with Massa Luke at the AC for the flip back. I drop a pilot onto TS1, and move Vader into the AC. He gets a Tantive with pilot to Tatooine, and he battles Vader. He swings and hits Vader, I swing and miss Massa Luke, but I draw a 7(thanks to ROps objective). He loses Luke, I lose Vader. I pull up Bossk in Bus from reserve, and deploy him with Zuckuss in ship to Tatooine. I beat him off of the system in two turns. He drops Ben, KFC, and Han all to Mos Eisley. I drop DLOTS, an ATST, and a pilot. I Trample Han again, Alter Bacta Tank, choke KFC, and hit Ben up for a few cards. I lose the ATST and pilot (no IAO out, and a 5 draw by Ben). He drops Gold Leader in Gold 1 and moves it to Ralltir. I drop a Dreadnaught and Fett in Slave 1 and battle, and he loses the ship and 10. Drains end it from there.
Full win by 25
2(+25)
Highlights: Good differential on my first game.
Lowlights: This was his first tourney in a year....
Well, Game 1 consisted of 17 DS wins and 4 LS wins, so that's bound to mess up the next round's pairings quite a bit....
Neal Razi plays Ozymandius and wins.
Leonard Mitchell wanted me to insert this quote: 'Hey everybody, I suck.'
Game 2: LS v Guy Schiavone (Scum and Villainy)
I win my first game by 25, to come and play a kid who lost his first game by 30. Very odd indeed. He's a newer player, as the GS was his first tourney ever. He starts Lars Moisture Farm and the AC. I start the usual. I go first, drop a 2/0 from hand, nudj from reserve, and draw. He activates, drops Mara Jade from reserve and draws. I drop nudj from reserve, Battle Plan from hand, and draw. He get's Mara's saber from reserve and draws. I drop another 2/0, Order to Engage, and Tank, and draw again. He drains and saves force. I drop Master Luke, EPP Han, and EPP Leia against Mara. I battle, swing and hit Mara. He hits EPP Han. I draw high for destiny, so he loses Mara and like 10, I lose Han(to Tank) and Leia. He draws (still no locations dropped by him). I draw into my Nabrun. He drops DrE by himself. I nabrun over to him, convert to Master Luke, bounce Han from Tank, and hit DrE up for fourteen cards (low destiny draws). The rest of the game is pretty boring. I end up moving EPP Han and Luke to the AC, and Han bounces back and forth, and he loses all kinds of characters. I end up draining him out
Full win by 39
4(+64)
Highlights: the differential boost
Lowlights: beating a newer player, having to play a newer player in the first place
Clint loses his game against John Arendt. Neal plays David Akers (after playing Ozymandius first round) and wins. Matt Lush wins again, and has a differential of around 85 after 2 games.....
Game 3: DS v Matt Lush (Old Skool Tatooine mains w/ SAC)
I was happy to be playing against one of the best in the world.
I knew this would be a good matchup for my deck. I start Oppressive Enforcement, and he starts Obi's Hut/Audience Chamber. I drop the <> jungle from reserve, and the swamp from hand and draw. He drops Ben and Luke to the Hut on turn 1. I drop a 2/0 and draw some more. He Nabruns Luke/Ben to the Swamp. I drop the forest and draw. He drains, and draws. I drop the <> desert. Here's the setup: forest, swamp (ben/luke), jungle, desert. I drop DS-61-2 at the Forest, Tempest Scout 5 to the swamp, ATST pilot from reserve to the jungle, and ATST pilot from hand to the desert and flip. I move the ATST to the jungle, and the pilot hops in. He drops Artoo to Obi's Hut. He Nabruns Ben/Luke to the Forest (I snag it with Hell to Pay). He battles. I react with Tempest Scout 5, he senses. I react with Tempest Scout 3 from hand, he senses. He hits DS wiht the saber, and draws a 0, so I lose him and 8. He moves Ben to the swamp to flip the objective back, and then moves Luke to the Swamp. He also moves Artoo in and Gifts. I drain, drop Coruscant from hand, and flip my objective back by deploying a scrub to the forest, TS3 to the swamp, and move TS3 to the forest. He Nabruns Luke/Ben to the desert. He battles. I react with TS5, he senses, I catch and alter. He senses my Alter. I react with Tempest Scout 6, and he's out of force, so he can't sense it. I end up losing the ATST pilot and 2 force. I drain him on Ralltir, and deploy Mara Jade to Mos Eisley (dropped on the previous turn).He moves Artoo to Obi's Hut. He drops Tatooine and MegaFalcon (falcon/cap han/ EPP Leia) to tatooine, and moves to Ralltir. I'm not as worried about flipping back, since I have a lot of what I need in my hand. I drop Vader and saber to the AC. He drains me for 2, and chases my guys around with Ben/Luke(the chasing would continue for the rest of the game. Tawss came along, and Ben/Luke and Tawss would swap sites every turn. I drain him, and draw a couple. He drains me, drops a B'omarr Monk at Mos Eisley, and Melas against Vader. He drops celebration at Tatooine, and moves the Falcon over. I activate, check my destiny with ROps objective, battle the monk with Mara, and draw a 3 (5, but a gift subtracts 2). He Smoke Screens, and the site is cleared. I battle with Vader. He draws low after a Solo Han, and I miss the swing, so he loses Melas and like 3. He then drops BoShek in front of Vader. I drop TempScout 1, Arnet, and ATST pilot to Mos Eisley. I battle with Vader, hit Boshek, he Solo Hans. He draws a total of 8, so I lose Vader, and he loses Boshek. He drops the Cantina, and lands the Falcon at Mos Eisley. I've been losing ships to drains all game, but I'm down to two cards in hand: DLOTS, and Fett in Slave 1. I cancel celebration with the ship. I drop DLOTS in front of Tawss and battle. He loses Tawss and some cards. He drains, and initiates battle against TS1. I draw a 4 (attrition 6). He draws 9, so I lose the ATST and pilots. He loses the Falcon. He is drained out a turn later.
Full win by 10
6(+74)
Highlights: DAMN good game against an excellent player. Getting the good matchup and coming through in the clutch against a seemingly unbeatable LS deck.
Lowlights: The quick beatdown. The 55 minute game...
I leave the gaming area and breathe a sigh of relief. I'm asked about the game by Leonard Mitchell, and I told him I won, and that I was dark, and he freaked out that I actually beat Matt Lush's LS deck (which won by tons each game at Neal's place on Friday). I shrug and move on.. pairings are called shortly after.
Game 4: Andres Szmulewicz (Endor Ops with tractor beams)
He is a decent player from the Miami area...
He starts Any Methods Necessary for Dengar with Gun, Punishing One, and the DS prison. I start the usual.
I get 2 ships and 2 2/0s in my opening hand, as well as a nudj. I activate 8, drop my sites, look through the reserve, but see no Nudj. He sees no ships (the 3rd ship was in the force pile). I drop my nudj from hand and draw. He drops Reactor Terminal, the prison, and draws. I activate, drop Bacta Tank and Order to Engage, and draw. He activates, drops Ominous Rumors from reserve, drops it on Endor, plays Kashyyyk with a TIE there, as well as a Kiffex and a TIE there and a Dengar and Punishing one to Endor. I drop Tantive and EPP Luke to Dengar and ship, and battle. He loses both and 2: an In Range and a Our First Catch of the Day. I'm cautious from here out, since I know that Tractor Beams can be vicious. I move to Kashyyyk. He drains me for a couple, drops a Tyrant and Tractor Beam to Kashyyyk, as well as a pilot. He battles. I forfeit Luke to the Tank. He loses pilot, and misses the suck-in. He runs to Endor. I have a good bit of force saved, so I bounce EPP Luke back to the Tantive, drop Boussh to the Bunker, break cover, Obi and stick to the DB, Chief Chirpa's Hut and Wedge there, and Ominous Rumors is cancelled. I battle, he loses the TIE. I move Boussh and Wedge to the DB. I also move the Tantive to Endor. He drops a star destroyer and pilot to Endor and battles. I react with Spiral, he plays They've Shut Down the Main Reactor on the Tantive, and Luke goes to teh Tank again. I drain, bounce Luke back to the Tantive, convert Boussh to EPP Leia, drop Savrip, and shuttle Wedge and her to the Spiral. He drops another pilot and SD, and battles. He plays In Range targetting the Spiral, as well as Our First Catch of the day. He draws a 2, but he adds 5 to it, so out goes the Spiral. Luke makes a 3rd visit to the Tank, and I drop a Obi, Lando, and Momaw from hand to Savrip. he loses a pilot. I activate, put luke back in the tantive, run to Endor, and draw. He drains, moves the SDs to Endor and draws. I drop the Falcon, EPP Han, and Jeroen Webb against a TIE at Kiffex. I draw a 5, so he loses the TIE and a couple of cards. I move the Falcon to Endor. I run him around, making him lose to Order to Engage. That and the 2-drain on the ground won me the game.
Full win by 15
8(+89)
Highlights: Cancelling Ominous Rumors. Activating heaps of force.
Lowlights: The Spiral got sucked up!
After this game, John Arendt, Neal Razi, and I are all undefeated. John has a higher differential than I do, but Neal's diff isn't as high.
Game 5: DS v John Arendt (MWYHL/Super-falcon)
I'm feeling confident about this matchup, since I know what to do to win. He starts Battle Plan, I start Bad Feeling Have I. We both get slow starts, activating and drawing for the first couple of turns. He gets a turn 2 Luke Skywalker, turn 3 Yoda and test 1. I can't seem to find ATSTs, so I flip turn 4 with 2 ATST pilots and Arnet(I move them all to the center site). On my next turn, I get Temp Scout 1 from reserve, drop it to the middle site, and spread. He draws to set his combos up. He's abusing Electrobinoculars like a small child. I drop Search and Destroy, but he alters it on his turn (after losing one to it on my turn). I spread my drains to a 4th site. He drops POAS to a site. I catch his first ICBW. I drop Mara to a site and Alter his POAS to his used pile (he has Wise Advice on teh table). He drops another. I'm draining for 2-3 each turn, and he's draining for 2. I ditch all of my ships to drains. I don't see any On the Edges when he shows me his deck for verification, so I catch his Yoda's Stew like on then 10th time he uses it. Next turn, he drops R2D2 and Hopping Mad on the Falcon. He grabs We're Doomed and plays it on my turn. I use my 3rd grabber for it. That basically ends the game, as he has nothing to help him win the drain race. He drops EPP Obi to block a drain, but Vader and a loaded ATST come down to kick him for his forfeit +8. I ditch Vader to attrition so he can't play Fury on me...
Full Win by 18
10(+107)
Highlights: Playing John. Playing against a deck where I knew the weaknesses and how to exploit them.
Lowlights: Search and Destroy being altered by a deck starting MWYHL. :-P
I'm the only undefeated as of this point, and I know that if I win this next game, I win the Slam. Neal had lost his game.
Game 6: LS v John Arendt (COTVG Scum and Villainy beatdown)
I don't know what to expect when this game starts. I'm still feeling confident since my LS deck was performing for me all day. He stars Surface defense for Secret Plans and There is No Try. I go for the usual. I drop a nudj from reserve, and 2 twix sites from hand. and draw. We both lose to the objective for a couple of turns. I drop a EPP Luke at the AC, and then Savrip. He Masterful Moves, I sense and lose 2. He deploys SE Jabba, 4LOM, Mara, and Dengar with gun, and battles. He misses the swing with Mara, as well as the shots from Dengar. he draws a total destiny of 6, and I draw a 1. I lose an Obi and Jeroen to savrip. Next turn, I drop Tank, but he Shuts it Down, and I don't have a sense. I drop Obi, he plays None Shall Pass. I drop ECC Lando, he Barriers. I battle, swing and hit SE Jabba. I draw a 5, he draws a 5. I pitch a Luke to savrip. He loses everything. He loses to court and my drain for a turn. He drops DrE, Boelo, Dengar with gun, and SE Jabba (not in that order... :) ). He shoots twice at Lando and misses. I shoot at Dr. E and miss. I swing for Dengar and hit. I Smokescreen for a 5. He loses Jabba and Dengar, I lose Lando (he drew a 5, making our total powers equal). He moves Boelo and DrE to the Droid workshop. I drain, Nabrun EPP Luke there, convert to Master Luke, drop my other EPP Han, and battle. I bounce DrE, and he loses Boelo and 10 (a Don't Get Cocky and 4 destinies produce a 3,0,1, and 2.). Well, I move Master Luke and Han to the AC a turn later. He drops EPP Fett and Dr E to the AC. He misses another shot on Han, and we draw destinies. I draw a 5, he draws a total of 6.He loses DrE and 2. I lose Han. He moves Fett away to the workshop. I drain, and I drop Momaw nadon and EPP Leia to the workshop. He loses Fett. I lose Momaw (shot and hit). He drops IG with gun to the AC, and captures Luke with a tracked 5. I drop Obi and his Saber to the Pit, and move him to Jabba's Palace. He dumps Luke in the prison. I start the drain of 3 on him each turn, and he draws up, as he has no real characters left.
Full win by 19
12(+126)
Highlights: Winning the Grand Slam. Playing against John again. Going back and forth for battling.
Lowlights: His low destiny draws on weapon firings. My destiny crashing on me when it would mean heaps of battle damage. Having to bump a friend down in the standings....
I end up taking the LS Rare sheet of BB premiere. Here's a list of the top 8:
1. Charlie Herren 12(+126)
2. David Irvine 10(+124)
3. Gabriel Alonso 10(+91)
4. Mike Fitzgerald 10(+70)
5. Matthew Clark 10(+50)
6. Michael Faughn 8(+93)
7. Walter Cowart 8(+82)
8. John Arendt 8(+80)
Other notables: Matt Lush 9th, Leonard Mitchell 11th, Clint Hays 12th, Neal Razi 13th, David Akers 14th, Andrew Marchand 15th.
Props and Slops:
(warning: this will probably end up being quite long)
PROPS:
-MAD, MAD, MAD props to Mr. and Mrs. David Akers for being so kind and generous as to house a complete stranger, cart him around for a couple of days, and even pick up the tab on lunch not once, but TWICE. I appreciate that more than you folks would know...
-Props to Neal Razi for talking my mom into not being so overly-paranoid.. (even though I'm 19 and in college, my mom still tries to protect me like I'm 2... :-P) as well as the help in deciding that the falcon deck isn't all that great.
-Props to both Neal and David for Decktech, by far the best SW:CCG site in the world.. (nothing to do with the tourney, but a very valid point)
-Props to 'the Falcon,' since it actually transported so many people at once without breaking down.
-Mad props to Jonathan Chu for his help with my LS deck....
-Props to everyone I played against, for good sportsmanship and a good time.
-Props to Chuck Lund and Mitch Velasco for running the tourney very smoothly.
-Props to the folks I talked to between games.. SW discussion is such a cool thing.
-Props to the owner of Kinder-Islander Comics for a neat playing venue, giving discounts on SW and YJ cards, and for being a nice guy...
-Props to Lee Edwards, Matt Lush, Gabe Alonso, and Clint Hays for being quite entertaining between games and after the tourney.
-Props to Lee Edwards, Dan Blackford, and Mike Fitzgerald for tolerating me for a night so I'd have a place to stay..
SLOPS:
- Slops to the whole idea of travelling somewhere on a bus line. Greyhound has a monopoly on this thing, and the only option is a really crappy one when it comes to buses.
Anyway, if you've made it this far, thank you for reading... Next stop: GA state championships.
P.S. I've been told by Gabe Alonso and Matt Lush to drop the whole 'Bad Player' thing, so I guess I will... at least for now :-P
Charlie Herren
Winner of the 2000 Florida Grand Slam
Current Rating: 2018