austin-tx-3-25-000-test-of-the-revo

Title: austin-tx-3-25-000-test-of-the-revo
Author: Matt "Old Skooler" Lush
Date: Mar 26, 2000

Well, it was time to see whether my 'You Ain't Activating Jack' deck could hold water. I was running that for light, with a few modifications: I added the 2nd WYTTPOU, and Civil Disorder. Believe it or not, I also took out the ships, I know you're thinking: what is he crazy?, but I figured they would have enough to worry about on the ground, and DS Space's popularity is down. I also added a Reflection for the 2 Daughters, as I would have plenty of force to spend. For my Dark, my standard Hunt Down w/ S/A. Here we go....

Game 1- My LS against Daniel Marshall's ISB

Daniel's a nice guy, and kinda new to the game. He rolled up with the San Antonio crew, so he's definitely got some good mentors. I start the Jump, he starts Coruscant planet and Twi'lek for IAO. Going first, I get a Nudj, but don't have one of my seven Revo's. I do have two Signals. Use one to get a Revo, and save the last force. He activates, draws all but one. My turn, Revo. Draw. He activates his one, and plays Unexpected Interruption for Evader and plays it. My turn, Revo it again with one I drew. With him effectively choked, it's slow going for him. I get down Master Luke with EPP Han at the Farm so I can Sense stuff. He eventually drops the Cantina, and I promptly put down Obi and Stick w/ Daughter and Anakin's to drain for 4. I also put out the Jundland Wastes and Nabrun Luke/Han over there. With the drain of 6 against him, he puts down an agent at my Hoth War Room I put out for a drain of 1, and Officer Evax to the Yavin Throne Room. I activate, put out Order To Engage, Reflection on Leia, and move phase Nabrun Master Luke by himself to the Farm, and move in to the Throne Room. He has saved a bit, and on his turn puts out DLOTS Vader with Evax and initiates. I decide to Clash Evax instead of Vader, and kill Vader with a Smokescreen. Unfortunately, he drew high enough to kill Luke, so OTE wouldn't hurt him like I planned it to with the Clashed Evax. My turn, deploy my 2nd Master Luke to the Echo War Room to stop the drain of 1, battle, knock out the lone agent, and Nabrun Han from the Wastes to the Farm, and move him into the Throne Room with Evax. Savrip is out at this point, and I have plenty of bait. Daughter moves over to the Jundland Wastes to make the drain 6 again, and there is nothing Daniel can really do. I don't prolong the game just to get my lost pile back with Reflection, and just drain him out. Win by 34. 2(+34)

High points-Having to play Daniel, who's pretty new to the game and a really nice guy.
Low points- Not having a Revo. in my starting hand.

Game 2- My DS against Sam Pavlak's version of my Tatooine Mains deck

Sam starts Obi's Hut and the Audience Chamber. Unfortunately for him I've got Tat:JP in my starting hand. First turn, kick it out, get my AC, and put Mara there. I started Bad Feeling against him, 'cause it was gonna be Mains all game long. (Sam is one of my apprentices, and plays very similar to my style. The majority of the time we playtest, whoever's playing Dark wins) He has to draw for characters. My turn, Vader and Saber to JP, and move over to Obi's Hut. Sam gets down Ben with Tawss, and I play runaway for a bit, moving in between the JP and the Hut, drawing for back up. Mara is still steadily draining for two. Jabba hits the AC, and Mara moves outside. I play Unexpected Interruption for Oota Goota, Solo?, as I know he's fixing to Nabrun on Vader and hammer me with his own back up. Getting Oota forced him to give up that idea. This game really didn't have anything spectacular, as I didn't put out any other sites, limiting Sam's activation. He did get the Rendevous Point out, but with BFHI out, he was pretty much force choked. I did finally battle against Tawss and Ben by dropping Zuckuss, 4-LOM, and Tarkin with Vader. With the text cancelled, and my drawing a 4, Ben had to go. Another one came down, but it was pretty much game by that point anyway. Win by 24. 4(+58)

High points-Having JP in my starting hand
Low points-Having to play a fellow member of Team Killeen

Game 3-My DS against Patrick Butler's Profit

Patrick had driven down from Oklahoma with a buddy, why, I don't know, as we only had about 16-18 people at the tourney. Anyways, I get lucky and once again have JP in my starting hand, which I was hoping for, but certainly didn't expect. I started Mara/Jabba at the AC, and my turn put out JP and get my AC. This is probably the main cause for my win. I move Mara outside to drain, as I'm not worried about Han, as far as I'm concerned, he can have him. I can't find Vader for a while though, and Patrick puts out the Guest Quarters with SOS and Anakin's there. I've got a Moment of Triumph for either Mara or Jabba, whoever needed it. I finally get a Vader, and put him down with Tarkin to the GQ. Initiate, and swing at SOS. Miss. He swings at Tarkin. First destiny 4. Something tells me don't bother cancelling, and I don't. 2nd destiny=4. Good call. He Smokescreens, however, and I miss with 2 Senses. Do or Do Not is out, as he started Don't Tread On Me, so they're lost. I draw low, and SOS stays, and Tarkin goes. He doesn't battle his turn, just puts out Chewie, and my next turn I Elis Mara over to help out Vader. Initiate, swing at Son, miss with Vader's but hit with Mara's. Both are gone, and my Objective finally flips. With BFHI out, and him not activating much, his force is getting low. I realize that I can probably keep him from getting Han back, and need to, as I lost Secret Plans to Visage. 4-LOM goes down to back up Jabba. He deploys Master Luke for free and initiates the battle. 4-LOM fires, 2 destiny-4 and a 3. He draws a 4, so 4-LOM won't cover it. Since he initiated though, he forfeits first. Luke goes, then Jabba goes, and Han stays frozen. I drain for 3 my next turn at the GQ with Mara/Vader, and for 1 at Coruscant with the Executor parked there. He has 3 force left active, and cannot afford to put anyone down to free Han, and just draws the three. Win by 22. 6(+80)

High points-Having JP in my starting hand again.
Lowpoints-Missing the 1 needed to Sense Smokescreen.

Game 4-My LS against John Farmer's ISB

I figure if I'm going down, it's here. John's a former #1 World Rankings waaay back in 96-97, somewhere around there. He also lives about 10 minutes from me, and I had playtested different versions of this deck against him during the week. Naturally, he starts Crush, which he normally doesn't have in his deck. Time to see if the Grabbers work...It takes me about three turns to get a Signal to get a Grabber, and by that time he has both Coruscant planet and 2/0 site out, along with the docking bay, and another 1/1 docking bay. As soon as I get the Grabber, Revo. both 2/0 locations. He uses his Crush, gets Evader. I grab, and my next turn promptly Revo. them both again. John only played one Evader, and that ended up being a mistake. He normally starts IAO, and since he didn't, I was taking advantage of that for the whole game with ambushes here and there, really jumping all over the place. As soon as his Cantina was out, Daughter and Han set up camp there with Anakin's. Obi ends up on Endor with his Saber for a drain of 3 there. Order to Engage hits the table, but is not really necessary. John drops Mara and 4-LOM to take Obi, and having a Master Luke in hand and wanting the combo going, I Nabrun Obi outta Dodge before the battle to the adjacent Endor site with Renz hanging out there. He moves Renz over with Mara/4-LOM. My turn, Master Luke down against them, and move Obi over. His turn, initiates battle. I Clash Mara, and John forgets the other benefit of Crush, ('cause he doesn't normally play it...), and Renz and 4-LOM get hammered. He loses both of them and 4-5 force. I lose Obi as 4-LOM targeted him, and I had a back-up with his Saber handy anyway. His next turn, he drops an ability-2 and abilty-1 agent to my Farm. By this point, IAO is out, but it's too late. I drop my 2nd Obi and Saber, move the ability 1 guy, and beat up on the loner. This seals it. Win by 27. 8(+107)

High points-Having my deck pound him, as his ISB had beat my old Light about 2 months ago. Having the Grabbers be so effective against Crush. (Allthough he did only play with one Evader...)
Lowpoints-Playing another member of Team Killeen.

Game 5-My LS against Ted Woodward's Hunt Down w/ Epic Duel

THIS was the best game of the day. I love games like this, where it comes down to the wire. My beatdown 2nd-turn duel by Gabe at the Florida GS still fresh in my mind, I was determined not to screw this up. I was going to wait for Glancing and Courage before throwing down Ben or Luke. (I wasn't even gonna put down Obi...) I activate, get a Nudj, both Signals and Grabbers are in my Reserve. 2nd Nudj, same thing. I draw a few, getting a Daughter and Anakin's as I noticed 1 of each wasn't in the reserve. I need to get a Grabber QUICK, but my hand is getting big. Activate six and with 3 left over, decide whether to draw the 6 cards or throw down Daughter at the Throne Room to be able to at least use all the Senses I had in hand in case of a Monnok. I decide to play it safe and put her down. It takes me a while to get a Grabber, and by this point he has Kashyyk and Fondor out, with a Dreadnought and Dengar in P1 there. As soon as I get my Grabber, I Revo. his Meditation Chamber. He plays his Evader, I grab it. His turn, he puts down Vader at the Meditation Chamber. Not thinking, I only Revo. the Holotheatre, forgetting that if he drains there, Revo.'ed or otherwise, his Objective is out of play and I could easily Sense his Circles and Obsessions. Next turn, I Revo. the Med. Chamber as well. He gets and plays his 2nd and last Evader. I Nabrun Daughter over to the Holotheatre, and draw for a Smokescreen. Even though it's EPP Vader, I wanted him gone for sure. Turns out to be a good move, as when he initiates against Daughter and swings, he draws a 6 and 7. Absolutely slaughters Daughter. I mean, translated to a movie, she would have been split right down the middle. Either one of those destinies by itself would have hit her! He follows it up with a 6 for destiny, and I Smoke, losing Daughter and 3 cards. I've lost Glancing Blow to a Kashyyk drain, as I needed every card in my hand. My turn again, Revo. both Executor sites again. I get Courage, and figure it's now or never. I drop the Jundland Wastes, and Ben and Saber there, since another EPP Vader is harassing another Daughter on Yavin. He promptly drops a foil U-3P0 to block Ben. EPP Vader and Daughter duke it out again, but this time Daughter hangs. I Nabrun Ben over to the Farm, as the 2nd Vader sliced up one of my Nudjs. Daughter is in the Throne Room. He drops another EPP Vader and Tarkin which kills the Civil Disorder I had put out. (That card is history. It's good in theory, but with a limited number of characters, it doesn't take much to cancel it.) He initiates. This is it. He plays Circle. I have 4 Senses. I play one. Draw a 3. Play another. Draw a 3. Play a 3rd. Draw my 2nd Anakin's Saber. He decides to cancel that destiny with Tarkin's text. I could have played my fourth Sense, but something told me not to. I tell him it flies. He plays Focused, I play Courage. Whoever wins this, wins the game. (Points like this in games like this is what will keep me playing this game forever...) We both draw one at a time together. His first: a site. My first: a 3. His 2nd: a 1. My 2nd: a 4. His 3rd: a 4. My 3rd: a 5! Vader goes down, baby, yeah! Vader and 6 cards, and since he had initiated a battle, Tarkin's left there to finish, knees quivering, going, 'Oh damn....'. I swing, hit him, but only draw a 1 for destiny. Tarkin and two cards, I woulda killed for a Smokescreen. Would have been 5 more. From there, I move Daughter out to the Farm, put down EPP Han and kill my 2nd Nudj, and Revo. the Throne Room for a total drain of 5. Ted puts out Presence on Kasshyyk, and I play a Clash to cancel it. Ted however, remembers Crush and loses one to cancel Clash. The Anakin's I drew for destiny was my last card in the Reserve, so after recycling, ends up on top. First action my turn, I Alter the Presence. Fondor is also Revo'd, and with me pretty low on force he finally realizes I'm not messing with space, and moves Dengar over to Fondor. I track the Saber around again, and Alter that Revo before he can drain for 4. I get the Saber on top of my Reserve, as I know I won't be battling anymore. It's a good move, as he drains for two, I lose two of my 3 Nabruns I have in my hand. He figures thats the time to Elis U-3P0 to the Throne Room. I've got two Senses left, but only need one. It actually wouldn't have mattered, as I still had my 3rd Nabruns he didn't have a clue about, and Ben could have gone back to the Wastes for the same drain of 3, but every card counted and I'd rather see that Elis in his lost pile than back in his reserve. With a drain of 5 to 3, I win the drain race. Win by 7. 10(+114)

High points-Winning the duel, of course. Tracking the hell out of that Saber to Alter and Sense stuff even against his Objective. Having the game come down to the wire in a knock-down drag-out Duel of the Jedi. It's games like this that you remember for a long time. Having my LS go undefeated for the day, proving itself.
Low points-Not Revo'ing the Meditation Chamber along with the Holotheatre to choke him more, not remembering until my following turn that if he drained there, his Objective was gone. Losing Glancing Blow to a drain. That made me seriously sweat. I had seen that 6,7,6 in the battle against Daughter and wanted that Glancing to kill one of those if he had drawn one in the duel.

Game 6-My DS against John Farmer's Bothuwai Ops.

This always happens. John and I play, I beat him. We switch sides, he beats me. I had playtested against this, and had taken it down, if only barely. I knew I could do it again, I just needed Vader in my starting. John starts Sunsdown, with spies going down for free and Operatives for 1, he can flip this Op. deck ridiculously quick. I knew if I got one of my 5 Vaders, and one of my 4 Alters, it would be game right there. Quick damage with Visage and a drain of 2 at the Farm would have taken him, but it was not to be. I got an Alter, but no Vader. A Bothan spy took care of Visage as soon as I finally did get Vader down, and Insurrection hit the table pretty early. Jabba beat down the non-undercovered Bothan spy, drawing a 4, John loses the spy and 3. I chase around his Ops and spies with Old Vader by himself, hoping he'll take Vader out, as I had Tarkin, a Choke Vader, Saber, and You Are Beaten in my hand. Instead I follow his 3 characters to the desert. His turn, instead of battling, drops a...you guessed it....Sandwhirl. With no Controls, Vader was missing. John had sacrificed 3 characters, but it was certainly worth it. Zuckuss and 4-LOM were holding off some spies/ops. at the Farm, and U-3P0 was blocking a Forest drain. I had Mara at JP, but he throws down an Undercover Bothan spy. I decide to put Bubo his planet, and move phase Elis Mara to the 3rd Marker for a drain of two. Bubo had attacked and munched the operative, but I had made a major mistake: I didn't move Bubo away, and one of the two spies there was Momaw. Momaw snares Bubo, making him useless for me. I get Coruscant and Bright Center, and park BFiS1 there. Two turns later, John activates, and spends 11. I think, <i>he's not putting down what I think he's putting down...</i>, but it was...the Super Falcon combo at Bothuwai, to head straight for Coruscant. Looks like I shouldn't have playtested with him so much, as he's covered his weaknesses. Boba of course can't hang, and I Ghhk him, and Bright Center dies. EPP Obi pays Mara a visit, and missing the swing, draws a 5 for destiny. Mission accomplished, as that was my last drain. I put down another Mara, and tracking a 5, battle Jereon Webb who's by himself at one of the Bothuwai sites, but Insurrection helps with damage control for him. With his drain of 5 against my nothing, he drains me out. Loss by 3. 10(+111)

High points-Ummm.....I'm thinking......I'll get back to you on this one.......
Low points-Taking forever to get Vader. Promptly losing him 3 turns later to a Sandwhirl. Super-falcon killing Bright Center. Not noticing Momaw. Playing John AGAIN.


Well, I wasn't undefeated, but the differential was enough to win me the tournament. Prize support isn't what it used to be, no shirt, just some Unlimited Premiere. All crap rares. It was a fun tourney though, and doing the Team thing we came in 1st, 2nd, and 4th, despite the fact the four of us played each other all day. The one loss we all had was to each other. It'd be nice if you didn't have to play your teammates, but teams is a secondary thing anyway. Well, I hope you enjoyed the report, and hopefully it's shown that the 'You Ain't Activating Jack' deck can work, even against Crush. I get the feeling that it's a 'one-hit wonder', and perhaps shouldn't be played consistently. I'll keep the 2 Bens/2 Obi's thing, as I like having Ben in a duel rather that Obi. All 3 Nabruns were absolutely necessary, and I will not take out the third. As for Grabbers, I'm adding a third Signal, as I can't Revo. nothing until I get one, and therefore need it quick. People will eventually put in more than 2 Evaders with it, and enough Crush Evaders would kill it. But if Revo's dead in your area, you might want to try this one just once.....