milford-mass-grand-slam-4-8-00
Title: milford-mass-grand-slam-4-8-00
Author: Paul "Paul" Maholick
Date: Apr 10, 2000
I had never had the opportunity to play two former worlds players before, and I found myself on the receiving end of some beatings. But it was not just Hayes Hunter and Steve Brentson that were taking it to met. The week before I went 1-4, losing to darn near everyone at the tournament. It was the first time I had even been the than .500 at a tourney. My rating plummeted to 1701. So as the slam approached I experienced great trepidation.
My decks previous to this had been a non-dueling Hunt Down and a fake HB start/OMDH. But these were not getting the job done. I had built a Ralltiir Ops deck previously but did not play it when I brought it to a tournament. I drove to one particular tournament with Steve Brentson, who also wanted to play Ralltiir Ops that day but did not have the necessary cards with him. So I pulled the cards out of my deck and played the old Hunt Down deck instead. My LS was getting shellaced by almost everything, you I knew I needed a new deck. As a result I built one of those deck of the month Throne Room deals. I would post the decks, but believe me, you have most likely seen better versions on DeckTech already. Thus equipped I headed out to Mass. to play the game.
My goal was respectability. Steve Brentson had been telling people of my eminent arrival for some time. As a fellow transplanted Correlian, he had expounded on the force with which I was going to blow into town and take my position among the elite in Kashyyyk. My failure to deliver on his promises hurt his credibility as well as my own. Furthermore, my mentor back in Cleveland and had placed 10th at the Detroit Grand Slam, taking a win against Clint Hayes (no, my mentor is not that little kid). So the pressure to perform was there. I thought that 4-2 would be a good goal, a solid day, almost respectable.
Once I arrived I met up with Brad Kipple, another recently transplanted Correlian. However, he had it far worse than I. He had moved to Albany, home of Team Albany, and home of several of the best players of this game. Brad’s rating had dropped around 200 points as well, due to the move. He pointed out which people comprised team Albany, as several of them did not wear their characteristic T-shirts, emblazoned with Team Albany on the front. But before I could absorb too much they called the pairings. I was in the second pairing, playing Dark against Albany’s own Chris Terwilliger.
DS vs Chris Terwilliger’s (2100) LS Throne Room Mains
For those at home who don’t know, Chris is currently the number 5-ranked player in the world. Playing him was perhaps not the optimal way to begin a quest for respectability. But if there was one match I had playtested my Ralltiir Ops deck against the most (given that I was playing Throne Room on the LS as well) it was Throne Room. So be began. Oh, let me make a point here that Chris was a good guy. He shook my hand and said, “No matter who wins, let’s have a good game.” I liked that, it put me at ease a bit.
I started IAO. In retrospect BFHI would have been a wiser choice. Opening hand was decent but not great, no 2/0 sites, lots of red, an AT-ST, Vader with Stick, and an Evader. First turn he drops Massassi HQ, revolves Ralltiir, and draws. Before his turn ends, seeing neither 3 force or Wise Advice for a free grappler I played Evader. He lost one and I was beginning to believe I had a shot that this one. Of course I still had the problem of being out activated 2 to 7. So I pull my Docking Bay and Desert and draw. Not bad, I draw an Hoth 2/0 site and Tarkin. He activates his pile o’ force and draws, pausing only to put my Twi’lek Out Of Commission. I activate, fetch a Jungle, put down the Ice Plains and draw, only notable cards are an alter, my grappler, and an AT-ST pilot, but at least I am closing the activation gap a bit. He activates again, sending down Obi-Wan and his stick to my Jungle. I kind of wondered why the jungle, as it is a drain –1 site, maybe he had plans to revolve it later, I am not sure. Well, I have the troops to attack but not the activation, so I draw two cards and wait. I draw Blizzard 2 and DS-61-2. He drains for one and pays 8 for EPP Luke at the Docking Bay. He also throws down another 2/0 and recycles Shocking Info. He asks me how much force I have saved. I tell him 7, and added that I would have 15 force with which to work. I activate and I find I have 16 force. Not sure how this happened. Maybe I miscounted the 7 I though I had, or screwed up figuring out my activation. This was not an attempt to mislead however (sorry, Chris). Anyway, I drop Vader, Tarkin, AT-ST, and an AT-ST Pilot. He questions me, informing me that that deploy cost 15 force, and therefore I should not have a force to battle. I indicate that I am sorry and that I did not intend to mislead him. I play one and Obi draws a 1 and a 4 when targeting Tarkin. I let the four go through thinking it wiser to keep his power total lower, so Tarkin dies. He draws a one in attrition, which I cancel. He picks up Obi and gives me a few cards. I pick up Tarkin.
WARNING! BIG SCRUB MISTAKE #1 HERE as I give him the AT-ST pilot to satisfy attrition. Ok, what is wrong this picture boys and girls? Tarkin gave his life to cancel that 1, and you just gave him that attrition anyway. Genius, sheer genius. Well, I guess we all know why I lost 150 rating points since moving.
Anyway, he activates, drains for one and deploys Boussh in front of Vader. I activate my 8, and finding not enough force to drop Blizzard 2 with my DS boy and still attack, I pull my Forest for activation and move Vader and AT-ST to the Desert. He drew all his force, so Boussh stays put, although in retrospect, Chris probably did not want to move her to the Desert for fear of a Sandwhirl, which would have prevented her from using her GT to kill my minus one to force drains if I ever flipped. So I drew a few and got a 2/0 site. He drains for one and drops Tantive 4, BoShek and another pilot at Ralltiir. Ok, this could be a problem I think. I activate and attack Luke, Luke takes out the DS pilot with a 5 in attrition, but at least I have him off the planet. Only problem is that I only have one Imperial on Ralltiir, Vader at the Desert. I draw again and get Kashyyyk. He drains for one and puts down another Obi and stick at the Forest and EPP Han with Twass in front of my walker. Next comes Draw Their Fire. He attacks, predicts a win, draws a 5 and Blizzard 2 goes to the scrap heap. Nuts. I drain and put out Boba Fett in Slave 1 at Kashyyyk. I figure maybe I can lure him away from Ralltiir to block my drain long enough to get a flip. He drains and Deploys Harc Seff in the Falcon, Shuttle EPP Han to the Tantive, transfers to the Falcon, Falcon to Kashyyk for the block. Things are looking bad, but I figure I can at least do some damage with Draw Their Fire before I die. I drop a AT-ST with pilot and attack Twass. He draws a five, I draw a 1. Twass stays, I die. I attack the Falcon and die. I move Vader in front of Obi for the block. He drains, attacks with Obi, swings 1,5. Destiny 5. I draw a 1. I Evader to keep Vader out of the lost pile, but he senses. I Alter and win a small victory. His drains take their toll and I manage to get Vader out one more time, only to go down to another five destiny draw. Full Loss by 17.
0 (-19)
Highs: Chris is good guy, Evadering that 1st turn Revo. Seeing someone draw fives for destiny every time.
Lows: Sure, 1 for attrition, no problem, didn’t need that Imperial anyway.
I figure at least that the worst is over, I can go down and play someone who is, at least, not in the top 100 or so players in the world. However, LS dominates the first round, and a DS loss by only 17 is a pretty good showing. Therefore my opponent for the next round is Matt Sokol.
LS vs Matt Sokol’s (2092) Non-Dueling Hunt Down
For those not in the know, Matt is the number 6-ranked player in the world. Again, this was not the easiest path to respectability. I start my usual stuff, he debates for a bit and starts Crush. I draw one of my draining sites with EPP Luke, Wedge, and Lando along with some red stuff. I pull a Nudj and see that there is nothing too useful in my active force, no Transmission Terminated or 2/0 site, but I draw anyway, picking up the Falcon. I toss a sense to Visage. He drops the Death Star and Coruscant. Nuts! And draws. I toss Alter to Visage. I activate, pull a Nudj, notice there is a TT in the active force and draw it, killing Visage. He activates and draws a bit. I am getting out activiated by quite a bit now,
WARNING! BIG SCRUB MISTAKE #2 HERE, so I drop the Entrance Cavern to help with activation. That of course gives Vader a battle ground and next turn Vader and his stick along with Tempest 1 park themselves there. Visage goes back into effect. I activate and decide to drop Luke, knowing I have Clash of Sabers in hand.
WARNING! BIG SCRUB MISTAKE #3 HERE, I Clash Vader and attempt to beatdown the Walker. Of course he started Crush, so he loses a card to cancel Clash. I battle anyway, fearing a bigger beatdown next turn if I do not attack. Both so us miss but Luke dies. Visage kicks in this point along with his drains. I draw for a turn and find no characters but do pick up the Tantive. More Visage and drains. I drop Wedge and Tantive to the Death Star. More Visage and drains. Visage and drains. He drops a Dreadnaught with 2 pilots and battles. Wedge covers the damage. I drop Lando in the Falcon and battle and draw well. Dreadnaught go away, Tantive dies and I draw EPP Han.. More Visage and drains. Boba Fett joins the space battle and I lose cards to battle damage. Han joins the Falcon and battles, Fett survives but loses to battle damage. Fett Moves away. Visage and drains. Mara goes to the Throne Room. I forget to drain at the Death Star, but Matt lets me drain after I realize I missed it anyway (thanks, Matt). I drop Obi to the Farm, kill the Nudj to flip the objective and move to block the Mara drain. Visage and drains. Mara attacks and hits Obi, but no battle damage, Mara survives my destiny. I drain at the Death Star once more, but it is far too little too late.
Full Loss by 25.
0 (-44)
Highs: Matt lets me drain when I forgot
Lows: Scrub mistakes 2 and 3. Visage and Drains.
So anyway, now I know my brushes with greatness will end. We break for lunch, and when I return I find I am paired up with Chris Beaulieu.
DS vs Chris Beaulieu’s (1624, note there are two entries for his guy, so I reported the higher rating) Hidden Base with Asteroids
I started IAO again to help boost up my weenie imperials for the impending space battles. Opening hand is interesting with Boba Fett in Slave 1, Tarkin and an alter, along with an AT-ST and assorted other stuff. I get out my Docking Bay and Desert and draw. He pulls Corulag out of this deck and drops two asteroid sectors. Well, at least I knew what he was going for at this point, but I was a bit worried. I was used to playing Hunt Down when CHYBC always made it into the deck to protect the Executor drains, so asteroids did not concern me. But that card had not made the cut in my Ralltiir deck, so I was a bit apprehensive. I got out my Jungle and drew, finding my Kashyyk and a 2/0 site. He lays out a big one, an X-Wing and a Asteroid Sanctuary. My turn I lay down Tarkin and with an AT-ST and pilot. I try to Alter the AS. He has no response and I draw a location for destiny. I dodged that bullet. He drains for one, pulls another system from his deck and draws a bit. I drain for one and deploy and move to flip my objective. At least that will help with his drains. He drains for one again pulls out Kessel. Not bad I think, I can use the force. He draws, and he draws a bunch. He must have 20 cards in his hand. I activate and use two force to look for a Monnok. I play it lost and I see his hand. He loses about 3 AS, 2 Falcons, a couple of X-Wings, and 3 Closers. I also see that he has few ships left in hand and Captain Han is probably not going anywhere with both Falcons in the lost pile. So I drain for three and stick Boba Fett in Slave 1 up at my Kashyyyk. He drains and deploys Roche, then flips his objective.
WARNING! BIG SCRUB MISTAKE #4 HERE as he tells me he has five battlegrounds deployed, and I believe him. There are indeed five battleground systems deployed, but one is my Kashyyyk, and I miss it. Anyway we play on, and he deploys the Tantive and a Red Squard X-wing to the Rendezvous Point. On my turn I drain and he cancels one of them, god am I stupid. I use two force to find Security Precautions and begin the probing. I considered probing Kashyyyk and just staying to drain, but I go to Kessel to block that drain of three that he will try to establish and draw Bossk in the Bus, Zuckuss in Mist Hunter and Battle Order. He drains for 2 now and plays Life Debt to find a Falcon, but no dice. He deploys another AS and moves his ships at the Rendezvous Point to his Endor. I probe Kessel but that was not it. I drain and again attempt to Alter his AS with Tarkin on the board. I draw another location. Jedi Master Tarkin is doing his thing. I deploy my Bossk and Zuckuss to Endor along with Battle Order for some free battling. In retrospect this was probably not the correct move, as with my objective flipped he drains for 0 there, but after seeing two AS’s I wanted to pound him a bit. I probe Endor too but no dice, so I move Boba to Courlag and the two other ships to Roche. He drains and I finally draw high enough against his X-Wing to off it. He also deploys another Falcon with Captain Han and Rycar’s Run. I probe his two systems and neither one is it. Now it hits me, he flipped with only four of his systems on the table, indeed his Hidden Base is Kashyyyk, which I deployed. Crap! I call over for a ruling and the TD says it is too late to do anything about it now. He only has three cards left so next turn I will win, but I have four probe cards out there. But since I missed it I played on and just drained him out. Full win by 18.
2 (-28)
Highs: Well, it was a win
Lows: Falling asleep at the wheel, leaving four cards on the table
Ok, it was good to get a win, even if I blew it as far as the rules things went. Next up is Dan Mailoux.
LS vs Dan Mailoux’s (1559) Ralltiir Ops
Dan had experienced bad luck equal to my own in the pairings department. He had seen a Terwilliger and a Sokol in his first two games as well. He starts IAO. My hand is ok, I have EPP Luke and some SAC, with Wedge for fun. I activated and pulled a Nudj and draw, seeing Bacta Tank. He gets out the Spaceport Street, Docking Bay and draws. I activate and pull a second Nudj, a draw a few more, more red stuff along with Obi’s stick and a 2/0. He gets out the Prefect’s Office and draws. Again I activate and draw, hoping to find some beef, but find nothing but the Falcon. He activates, drops another 1/1 to Ralltiir and stays. I activate and feel I can not draw anymore so I plan to put down Luke and Wedge along with the Bacta Tank.
WARNING! BIG SCRUB MISTAKE #5 HERE as I deploy the Bacta Tank first. He plays Shut Him Up or Shut Him Down. Now I have Luke and 2 senses in hand, and I play the Tank first. Another brilliant tactical move. So anyway I proceed to drop Luke and Wedge. I draw a few looking for Savrip but more red. I recycle Out of Commission and Shocking. He activates and passes saying he needs one more turn to come down. Oh, Boy I think. I drain for one and draw looking for characters again. This time I get a main, another EPP Luke. He puts out Kashyyyk and PoTF on his Perfect’s Office. He drops Vader and Tarkin to battle. Now of all the red in my hand, Clash is not one of them. I swing and hit Tarkin, but he cancels the desiny. He draws a three so Wedge dies and I draw a non-zero to eliminate Tarkin. On my turn I figure I have seen enough of my low destinies and try to Sorry About the Mess Vader. I draw a four and a five. I drain for one and move Luke over to the PoTF site. I draw finding Obi-Wan, EPP Han and EPP Leia, plus my Savrip. Where were these guys for the last three turns. Anyway, he activates and draws. I drain for two and put the EPP’s up in the Falcon at Kashyyyk. Again he activates and draws. I drain for four, but hold Obi for back-up. Again I activate he drains. He drops Mara Jade to my farm with her stick and a walker. I drain and drop Obi with his stick in front of Mara plus Savrip for back-up. I battle and miss, she misses too. I Smoke Screen for 6 eliminate Mara. I give a few cards and the Walker stays. I draw another Obi. His turn he drops Igar and battles. He draws well and I draw poorly. I give up Obi from my hand to feed the Savrip. My turn I drain and move Obi indoors and I draw Battle Plan. He drains and back up Igar with Tagge and Motti. That is how the game ends, I deploy Battle Plan and drain for free for five a turn and he pays to drain for two. Full Win by 28.
4 (0)
Highs: Another win, Messing Vader
Lows: Having Bacta Tank Canceled
So after four games I am dead even. Maybe climbing back into some form of contention. Respectability may be attainable after all. Next I am paired with Jason Jordan.
LS vs Jason Jordan’s (1391) ECC Objective
Jason starts Carbonite Chamber and Any Means Necessary to pull the Prison and CC Boba Fett. He starts Secret Plans and All Wrapped Up. My hand is strong the EPP Luke, Obi-Wan and Chirpa’s Hut. I pull and Nudj and draw Obi’s stick. He activates, drops the prison and pulls the cloud sector. I drop my 2/0 activate, pull a Nudj, but I activated him. So he verifies and I draw a bit more. He pulls Bespin and drops the two OS ties to the sector. I activate and drop Luke and Obi to the Carbonite Chamber to counter his drain of one. He activates, drains for one and picks up a few. I drain for three and draw another EPP Luke and Chewie. This turn he drains and drops Mara Jade with stick, Boba Fett and some Imerial 2/2 weenie. He swings at Obi and hits. He plays All Too Easy. I did not see that coming and Obi is an icy-pop. At least the objective was not flipped. I smack the weenie with the stick and draw well, leaving Mara with a frozen Obi. My turn I deploy Luke again and Chewie. We battle and both Luke and Mara miss. I lose Chewie, he loses Mara and Obi is free again. He activates, drains and draws. I drain for three and draw Twass and EPP Leia. He activates, drops another 2/1 location to CC and draws a bit. Again I drain and pick up one or two, including the Bacta Bank and Draw Their Fire. I wait for him to make a move. He drops Ozzel and another 2/2 weenie. I drain for three and drop Leia and Twass to battle with Tank for back-up. But I take a chance, even with All Wrapped Up making Oota-Goota free, I consider Nabruning Luke and Obi. I figure if he captures them, Leia’s rifle and attrition will free them. So I do it. No response and the beatdown occurs. All weapons hit and I win 18 to 6, and he drops 12 cards. Twass goes to the tank. He activates drains and draws. I drain and move Luke and Obi back towards the Carbonite Chamber via the Prison after I drop Twass back with Leia. He drains and draws. I drain and wait. He drops Vader and a DS pilot. We battle, he misses the choke and draws zero for battle destiny. Next turn I drain and attack Vader. Again he draws 0 for destiny and losses cards. He drops Zuckuss at Bespin and battles again. Twass eats the attrition and he has to lose a few cards. This turn I put Twass back I decide to drop EPP Han in the falcon with the Tantive. No desinty draw for me but he loses Zuckuss for battle damage, Tantive goes down as well. I battle Vader and cause more cards to be lost, he draws zero again. That is pretty much game as my drains do him in on the next turn. Full win by 26.
6 (+26)
Highs: Nabrun Beatdown, seeing All Too Easy get played
Lows: Winning because he drew three 0 destinies
So last game is coming up. 4-2 is what I was looking for, just one more person to go through. And that person was Kris Earle.
DS vs Kris Earle’s (1713) Profit Deck
Kris has said that he had also played Ralltiir that day, so he certainly knew how my deck would operate. He starts with Han Solo and the Bargaining Table. I was suddenly glad I had kept Empire’s New Order in my deck. It was basically for anti-operative duty as I was expecting to see some speeder Ops, perhaps on Ralltiir itself, but it might turn out nicely here as well. I started Bad Feeling. My opening hand was strong, including Mara Jade (who would of course screw up Empire’s New Order) but also 3 2/0 sites and a 1/1. I activated 4 and dropped my locations. I pulled the Desert to go with my Jungle and drew. He activated and drew. I activated 12, and drew a bit more after getting my Forest. My Docking Bay was not coming out, given the popularity of the Fallen Portal aspect of Profit, and giving them a back door onto my planet was not happening. He deployed Master Luke and EJP 3PO to the JP:AC, but did not free Han. I activate and drain, he cancels it with a monk. I have enough Imperials to flips so I do with an AT-ST and driver, another driver, and Navy Trooper Vesden. Then I consolidated forces in the Desert and draw. He activates and deploys Artoo to T:JP and an Elom with Luke and draws. I drain for one again and see it blocked by another Monk. I pull Kashyyk using my objective and I drop an AT-ST for the other driver and spread out. I play Zuckuss and Bossk to Kashyyk. He activates gives Luke a stick and a Revolutionary to the AC. I drain for four, but an Elom blocks the drain for two. I use the objective to pull Vader. At this point I really have too many cards in hand. I do not really fear Monnok, because I have few copies in my deck beyond the AT-ST drivers. But activation could be an issue. In hand I have Tempest 1, Blizzard 2, Vader, Tarkin, Mara Jade with Stick and Sandwhirl. I save force and wait for my chance. On his turn he flips his objective, draining for one and one from objective objective damage. He retrieves only a couple because of his Bargaining Table blocks. He drops Obi’s Hut, Mos Eisley and Tosche Station and draws a few. I drain but again the Kashyyyk drain is blocked. Again I save force and wait. Obi is not on the table yet. His turn he activates all but one and he drains and objective damages me. Now he decides to make his move. He drops Obi in the Desert for 7 across from my AT-ST and pilot. I play Imperial Barrier but he Senses. I Alter and he Controls. He draws and cancels the Barrier, but now he has no destiny draw because he used it playing the sense. He figures to out power me so he drops Lando with Gun, a Revolutionary, and an Elom. Then the asks, “Can those guys react?, looking at my other AT-ST’s next door. “They sure can.”, I tell him. He decides not to attack. My turn I drain then play Sandwhirl on the Desert. Good thing he already used that control. Then I drop Mara, her stick and the two walkers at Obi’s Hut. He activates and drains, deploys a monk to the AC and splits up his forces, sending Luke and two Eloms from the Bargaining Table toward Mara. The Monk, Han, a Revolutionary, and an Elom remain. I activate and use the objective to find Bubo. I drain and drop Vader, Tarkin and Bubo to the AC. Bubo attacks but gets the Monk. Monk draws an Elom to survive. I attack and try to choke Han. I draw a zero. I cancel his battle destiny, but only the Monk dies. His turn he drains a bit and drops more Eloms to battle in the AC plus Uncontrollable Fury on Vader. He battles Bubo first and offs him. He battles and I try to choke Han again. I draw Imperial Decree and the objective flips back. I get pounded a bit but Vader and Tarkin cover. Vader goes to the used pile with Evader. That was pretty much game, I thought. But next turn he drops EPP Han to my Forest in front of another AT-ST and pilot. I trample and draw Security Precautions. That was all she wrote. Full win by 18.
8 (+44)
Highs: Sandwhirl earns its card slot
Lows: Bargaining Table all game long
So it ends here. I end up 11th out of a field of 40. Tenth place was 8 (+45) so if I had my four probe cards I would have finished top ten. Oh well, it was kind of fitting given that stupid mistakes cost me all game. Looking back I guess I can say I was pleased. After going 0-2 in the first two games, winning the others is all you can do. However, I wish I would have stayed closer to the middle of the pack. But all in all, not a bad day. I know what I have to work on in my game and learned quite a bit from talking to the higher ranked players in attendance. So there you have it. The Slam was a real victory for Team Albany, counting among their numbers 3 of the top 4 in the final standings. I did not stick around for the final confrontation. Thanks for making it to the end.