ga-state-championsip-25-march-2000
Title: ga-state-championsip-25-march-2000
Author: Charlie "Bad Player" Herren
Date: Apr 12, 2000
When I last left off, the Florida Grand Slam had just ended, and I was feeling really good about my abilities (however little I actually have… after all, I am the one and only “Bad Player”). I feel pretty good about things, so I take a well-deserved mini-vacation from SW:CCG (it was spring break, anyway). I do a whole lot of nothing for a few days, and then Saturday morning rolls around. I’m bored, so I go to a local tourney. I had originally planned on abstaining from local events until states, but that plan goes out the window. I take my two decks from the Grand Slam, with a grand total of one card changed. I go 6-0 and win, playing the other two good people there (Clay Ramey and Andrew Morris) twice each.
Two full weeks left before states. I made a couple of tweaks to the light deck, and I’m considering not even playing the dark deck at states. I start looking at a Dalton-style HuntDown deck (high destinies, light dueling, 5 Vaders, 3 Maras, 2 IG with gun, and other goodies), and I test with it. It fares pretty well against ThroneRoom mains, so I end up taking it to the weekly local tourney. I lose two games with the HuntDown deck, mainly because I didn’t test with it enough, and I was playing like a complete moron (as only a “Bad Player” could do). I lost TWO duels in the SAME game (both non-epic).
Oh well.. one week left before states, and I’m sure that I’m taking the same ol’ @#$% for my light deck. As for dark, I’m having a big dilemma. My Ralltir ops deck was pretty strong, but it would lose to ThroneRoom mains on a consistent basis. The HuntDown deck handled ThroneRoom mains well, but would lose to any good spread-and-drain ops deck. I end up sliding a Sandwhirl into my Ralltir deck, and I decide to go with it.
The morning of the tourney, I ride with Clay Ramey (playtesting friend and a good player) to The War Room in Norcross, GA, which is like 15 miles down the road from us. Once we get there, we fill out decklists. A note: if you’re playing ThroneRoom mains and/or Ralltir Ops at a tourney where decklists are required, prepare your decklists ahead of time. There are so few duplicates in each deck. I finish after developing a case of carpal tunnel syndrome, and I make my rounds to see all the other competitors, as well as the TDs (Al Scott, Gold 90something, and Stephen Michael, Gold 115). The tourney starts at around 11:30AM (scheduled start time was 11AM). 27 people in attendance.
My decks:
LS: “… beating of a lifetime” v1.3. A lot like my other ThroneRoom mains decks, but with a couple of minor revisions.
DS: L.A.M.I.A.N.D. v1.2 (“Look At Me! I’m A Net Deck!”). Ralltir Ops deck. 3 grabbers and assorted garbage.
On to the games.
Game 1: LS v Tyler Pate (ISB/IAO)
Tyler is a younger player from my area.
He starts Imperial Justice on Coruscant. I start the usual stuff. I drop nudjs from reserve on turns 1 and 2. He drops a couple of DBs and the Death Star from hand on turn 2. I drop 2 twix sites on turn 3, and draw. He activates, drops IAO, and saves force. I drop Obi, saber to the Hoth DB, and then Savrip. He drops Choke Vader, a Probe Droid, and a random 2/2 ISB agent, and battles. He draws a 5, I draw a 2. I pitch the Spiral to Savrip. He loses the probot. I drop Master Luke, battle, play Gift of the Mentor, hit Vader, and hit him for around 12 cards. He drops 2 ISB agents in a Blizzard walker to Chirpa’s Hut. I respond with Boussh. He drops a walker and 2 ISB agents to the Y4 DB, and flips. I drop Order to Engage, then Lando with gun and the Spiral to the Death Star. I transit to Yavin 4. I start draining him, and I fight him off of DBs with Luke/Obi. The game ends shortly.
Full win by 25
2(+25)
Highlights: Winning my first game, winning by the same amount as I did in the Grand Slam’s first game.
Lowlights: Having to play a younger player.
Game 2: DS v Clay Ramey (ThroneRoom mains)
Well, I figured this was going to happen. I’m on the wrong end of the ‘impossible matchup.’ I do have the Sandwhirl up my sleeve. He has no idea that I’m using it. :P
I start Oppressive, he starts standard ThroneRoom garbage. Well, he gets a couple of twix sites and Battle Plan in his opening, so things aren’t looking so good off the start. I get a twix location, too (whew). I drop it, drop the jungle from reserve, and draw into a twix site and the Death Star. He drops Bacta Tank and draws. I drop the desert from reserve, and draw into my other two <> locations. He drops Obi (no saber) to the Swamp. I activate, drop my other two locations (order is prefect’s office/jungle/desert/swamp), drop Bliz Scout 1 in front of Obi, an ATST pilot to the jungle, Ozzel to the prefects office, and DS612 to the desert, flip my objective, and move the ATST to the desert. He drops Massa Luke and Anakin’s stick to the prefect’s office, nabruns Obi to the desert. He battles with Obi. I react with TS6. He draws a 4 (thank you, desert text =P), and I draw a 4 (Vader). He loses nothing, I lose the pilot. He battles with Luke. I react with BS1. He senses, I catch and Alter, he catches my alter and Senses. I alter his Sense. He’s out of force, so the react goes off. I draw low again, so he loses nothing, while I lose the pilot and Ozzel (who was hit). I use two force to get the Sandwhirl, drop it at the Desert, and Obi is missing. I drop an ATST pilot from hand to the swamp, and I move Blizzard Scout 1 there. He drains me for 1, then drops Tantive, Lando in Falcon, and Jeroen Webb to Ralltir, and my objective flips. Next turn, I drop Tempest 1 and Igar in front of Luke and battle. He draws a 3, I draw a total of 6, so Luke is gone. He gets a drain in and draws. I drop Zuckuss in Mist Hunter to the system, Evax to the Jungle, flip, land Zuckuss in the sandwhirl, and move TS6 with Evax. He drops Bacta Tank. I drop Fett in Slave 1 at Kashyyyk. He moves all of his ships over, so I drop Bossk in bus and a couple of random imperials as fodder. I battle, he loses the falcon, I lose a scrub. He drops Luke/Han to the Jungle and battles. I react with Blizzard Scout 1, and let Evax jump in. He shoots the ATST pilot, and draws a battle destiny total of 6 (4 in attrition). I draw a 6, so he loses Han, and I lose Temp Scout 6 and the ATST pilot. Next turn, I drop EPP Vader and Temp Scout 1 with Tarkin inside. I battle, he misses the swing on Vader, I miss the swing on Luke. I draw a 3, his draw is cancelled. He loses Luke (to Bacta Tank) and 6. He draws his remaining force, so I pay 3 and Alter his Bacta Tank (he can’t Sense it). I drain him on the ground for 4, and then I drop Search and Destroy. I basically drain him out from there. We fight in space, but Search and Destroy and the drain of 4 ends it.
Full win by 12
4(+37)
Highlights: Sandwhirl, BABY! A reactable Vader/Tarkin on Ralltir, which scared him from battling me…. Winning when on the wrong end of the “impossible matchup.”
Lowlights: Having to beat a good friend. Playing a long-ass game (53-54 minutes…)
Game 3:LS v Jody Rodd (ThroneRoom Mains)
Yay! I just played this matchup a few minutes ago… So far, 3 games, 3 people from the local scene. I popped two ibuprofen before the game started, knowing that I’ll need it for this game and every game after it.
I start Oppressive Enforcement again. He gets both nudjs on turn 1, and draws a couple. I drop 2 twix sites, pull up the <> jungle, and draw. He drops Bacta Tank and draws. I drop another 2/0, desert from reserve, and draw. He activates, plays OOC, and draws a couple. I drop the Death Star, and the swamp from reserve, and draw. He drops two 2/0s from hand, and draws a couple (he has 10 force saved at this point). I drop Bad Feeling Have I, ATST pilot from reserve to the swamp, DS612 to the Jungle, and Blizzard Scout 1 and an ATST pilot to the Desert, and flip. He drops Battle Plan, Orrimarko to the desert and battles. He draws a 4, I draw a 3 (damn locations :-P ). I lose the ATST pilot, he loses Orrimaarko to the tank, he plays OOC again (I didn’t draw my catch cards until later). I drain him for one, pull Kashyyyk from reserve, and drop Fett in Slave 1 there. I drop another ATST pilot into the ATST at the desert. He drops a couple of 2/0s, pulls Orri back to hand, and saves a heap of force. I drain him for a total of 5, pull Tempest scout 1 from reserve, and drop it to the swamp. I draw a couple(first catch card out of 3 shows). He drops Orrimaarko to the desert, alters Bad Feeling, drops EPP Luke there, and drops Obi and Tawss to the swamp. He battles at the swamp, I attempt to react with Tempest scout 1. He senses, I catch and alter. He senses again. I have no Alter to cancel it, so I can’t react. He draws a 5, I draw a total of 7. He loses Obi, I lose the ATST and pilot. He battles at the desert. I react with Tempest scout 6. He draws a 4, I draw a total of 3. I lose TS6. He loses Orimaarko to the tank, and moves Luke to the Jungle. I drain for 3, pull Tempest 1 from reserve, and drop it with Igar to the Jungle. I battle, he hits the pilot, I draw a total of 11, he draws a 5 (3 attrition). He loses Luke and 10 or so, I lose the pilot. He drops Lando in Falcon, Gold Leader in Gold 1, and the Redemption to Kashyyyk and battles. I end up losing Fett in slave 1 and about 6 after battle destiny draws. He forfeits the Redemption. I pull up Zuckuss in Mist Hunter from reserve, and drop him with a scrub pilot and Bossk in bus to Kashyyyk and battle. He reacts with the Spiral. He satisfies his 7 ability, and draws a battle destiny of 5. I draw a total of 10, so he loses Gold Leader and the Spiral. I lose the scrub pilot. He ends up running, and I drain him out from there. Search and Destroy helps me speed along the win.
Full win by 17
6(+53)
Highlights: Search and Destroy. Outgenerating a Throneroom mains deck. Winning a lot of the battles. Abusing the desert’s text.
Lowlights: Having Fett in Slave 1 beaten up.
Arthur Rhodes loses to Andrew Morris by 9, and it looks like it’s going to be up to me or Andrew Morris to win this tourney.
Game 4: LS v James Barrett (biker scout Ralltir Ops)
I finally get to play someone who isn’t from the local area. This person is one of the many who made the venture from Augusta, GA (about 2.5 hours east of Atlanta). This game ends up being pretty uneventful.
He starts Ralltir objective and Bad Feeling Have I. I start the standard stuff. I get a couple of 2/0s and a nudj in hand. I drop those, as well as the nudj from reserve and draw. His turn, he drops the swamp from reserve, a non-unique biker scout from hand, and a speeder bike from reserve. I drop Battle Plan and draw a couple. He drops the forest and another bike from reserve, Elsek on the bike, and draws. I drop Order to Engage and draw a couple. He drops another Ralltir site and bike from reserve and Drelosyn on that bike. I drop Obi and Tawss to the swamp and battle, move the non-unique biker away, and draw a 0. He loses 3 cards, and I retrieve 1 from Tawss. I draw one (obi’s saber), and leave 1 force (tech). He loses to Order to Engage and runs away. I activate, drain for 1, drop Obi’s saber on him, move him and Tawss to the forest and draw. He drops another <> site and another bike from reserve, Irol from hand on a bike, and battles. I move a unique biker away. I swing at Irol and hit him. I draw a 5, he draws a 3. I lose Tawss, he loses Irol and Elsek. He runs to the swamp. I Nabrun to the swamp, drop EPP Luke, battle, play Gift of the Mentor, and draw a total of 8 for destiny. He draws a 1 for destiny, so I lose Tawss after retrieving 1. He ends up losing both non-unique bikers and a bike. He continues to run from me, and Order to Engage and a steady drain of 1 or 2 ends it.
Full win by 33
8(+86)
Highlights: Not losing a battle. Out-generating my opponent by over double.
Lowlights: low destiny draws.
Andrew Morris (3rd place finisher at 1999 Dagobah Regional) and I are the only two left undefeated at this point. He has 6 more differential points than I.
Game 5: LS v Andrew Morris (Dark Deal beatdown)
He starts Upper Walkway, Crush, and Secret Plans (objective), and I start the usual. I get 2 2/0s in my opening hand. I drop them, drop a nudj from reserve, and draw. He activates, pulls Bespin: Cloud City from reserve and deploys it. He also drops the Downtown Plaza, and draws. I activate, and drop Obi and his saber to the downtown plaza, drop my other nudj, and draw. He activates, drops Bespin from reserve, and puts OS-72-blah in Obsidian blah at Bespin: CC. I drain for 3, drop Bacta Tank and Savrip, and Tawss to the Downtown Plaza. He drops EPP Vader and Tarkin to the Upper Walkway. He battles, misses the swing, and draws a 4 for destiny. I smokescreen to kill Tarkin. I drain him for another 3, nabrun Obi to Vader, drop EPP Luke, battle. Vader gets hit on the 2nd swing, and he hits Luke. He draws a 4 for destiny, I draw a 5. He loses Vader and 5, I lose Luke to the Tank. He drops Oppressive Enforcement, Port Town District, West Gallery, DLOTS, saber, Tarkin, and Dr. E to the Upper Walkway. He battles, I swing at Tarkin: 2, 0. He swings at Obi and misses. My destiny draw is cancelled, and he draws a 1. I forfeit Boussh to Savrip to cover. I pick up EPP Luke, drop him to the same site as Obi, battle, play Gift of the Mentor, hit Tarkin and Dr E. He barely misses Luke. I get 2 draws, and 1 is cancelled. I draw a 4 and a 5 (which is cancelled). He loses Tarkin and Dr E, I lose Luke to Tank. He plays Shut Him Up/Down, I sense, he catches, and Shut Him Up/Down goes to used pile. He drops IG with gun and 4-LOM with gun with Vader and battles. He cancels Obi’s immunity. I hit 4-LOM with the saber. He draws a 5, I draw a 4. He loses IG and 4-LOM, I lose Lando with Gun and Momaw Nadon to Savrip. He loses 4-LOM and IG. I pick up Luke, put him back down with Obi, battle, and hit Vader. He chokes Luke (with that damn Shut Him Up/down :-P ), and barely misses Obi on the swing. He draws a 5, I draw a 4. All this time, I’m drawing for ships and Hans, but I can’t find any of either of them, and I’m losing 1 a turn to this drain in space. I can’t find Battle Plan or one of 2 Signals either…. He ends up getting out the CC incinerator, as well as a 3rd Tarkin and 2nd Dr E, and he parks them there with Vader and another saber. He uses the Incinerator to recur his 2 4-LOMs and IGs. He also gets Tempest 1 and Igar to the Downtown Plaza, and starts recurring his locations. I’m draining for 3 at his Port Town District, he’s draining me for 5. He uses Shut Him Up again on my tank two more times, and I sense both times. I end up losing my last sense off the top to a drain. I drop Falcon and EPP Han to the sector, but he Barriers. I drop a Jeroen Webb. His turn, he drops Zuckuss in Mist Hunter and battles. I lose the battle by 4, so I forfeit Jeroen to the tank. My turn, I drop Jeroen to my generic swamp, EPP Luke to the falcon, battle, and play Don’t Get Cocky. I battle him and draw 3 5s (the Battle Plan, a signal, and a shock that I had tracked). He draws a 0, so he loses both ships and 4. I move a nudj from the swamp to the farm. I’m draining for 6 to his 5, but the damage had already been done. I had lost too much stuff to Savrip and the drains.
Full Loss by 7
8(+79)
Highlights: Intense game. Battling back and forth.
Lowlights: Not drawing ships. Losing the drain race. Crush the Rebellion. His lucky-ass draws. :P
Well, I’m in 3rd at this point. Arthur Rhodes had just played a relative newbie from my area, and won, so he’s in 2nd, and Andrew is in 1st. Arthur played Dark, but Andrew is ahead of Arthur, so I can’t play him.
Game 6: DS v Andrew Morris (old-school Bothawui ops)
I’m feeling very good about this matchup. I start Battle Order, and he starts Bothawui, Farm, and Yarna. I drop Coruscant and another 2/0 from hand, and drop the jungle from reserve, and draw. He drops his Jungle and spaceport DB, and draws. I drop the generic desert from reserve, Oppressive Enforcement from hand, and draw. He plays Nar Shaddaa for an ithorian, and I catch. He drops the forest from hand, and puts an Ithorian and op at the jungle (site setup is DB/farm/jungle/forest). He then puts EPP Obi, a T16 skyhopper (enclosed, and can react), and op at the docking bay. I grab the prefects office from reserve, drop the Death Star, and flip with 2 ATST pilots, Blizzard scout 1, and Vesden. He pays to drain me for 2, then drops the swamp (next to the forest), with another ithorian and op. I grab Decree from reserve, deploy it, and deploy Bossk in bus to Ralltir. I draw a couple of cards (IG, Arnet, Temp scouts 1, 2, and 6, EPP Vader, Tarkin, Zuckuss in ship, and a couple of pilots in hand at this point). He pays for drains of 2 and 2, and then drops the desert next to the forest. He drops a sicsix and op at the forest and flips. I pull up Fett in Slave 1 from reserve, and deploy it to Coruscant to put Decree into effect. I drop Vader, Tempest scout 1, and Tarkin (inside) to the swamp, Trample the ithorian and succeed, and battle. He houjixes, and I catch it with Hell to Pay. He drains me for 1 with an ithorian, and drops a T-16 with ithorian inside (text still works) at the forest. He drops Wise Advice, then Bacta Tank, which meets an Alter, and Tank goes to used pile. I pull Kashyyyk from reserve, drop Devastator and a pilot there, put a pilot on Bossk in bus, and move it to Bothawui. I move Tempest scout 1/Vader/Tarkin to the jungle, attempt a Trample on an ithorian and miss. He drains me for 1 and 1, and runs away. I drain for 1 and 1, drop Tempest scout 6, IG with gun, and Arnet to the forest, and Tempest scout 2 with Evax and Cabbel to the farm (with the ithorian/op that ran away). I battle at the farm, and draw a total battle destiny of 8. He draws a 1, but Cabbel’s text reduces it to 0. He loses both the op and ithorian. I Trample the op at the forest and succeed. I battle at the forest, capture the sic-six, and draw a 6 for destiny. He loses both, and then pays 2 to houjix. His turn, he drops a bothan spy to the docking bay, drops an ithorian and op to the swamp (he was probably packing 5-6 ithorians), and moves Obi and the T16 there. I move the 3 ATSTs, IG, and arnet to the swamp and park there. I’m draining him for 1 a turn, he’s draining me for 0-1 a turn. He gets out another ithorian/op combo, but I end up dropping tempest scout 5 and trampling the ithorian, then moving TS5 back to the stack of beats. I end up draining him out.
Full win by 12
10(+91)
Highlights: Tracking my tramples and drawing them a lot. Trampling all of his ithorians. Dominating with ATSTs on his planet.
Lowlights: Deploying A LOT of cards.
My game was the last to end, so everyone was watching. Arthur Rhodes had just played against a Dark Deal/seeker deck that game, so it was all up to differential. Turns out that Arthur has a differential around 105. Andrew Morris ended with 92, and I had with 91. I felt I got @#$%ed here, and Andrew agreed with my opinion. Regardless, it can happen to anyone… state championships don’t mean much anyway.
Final standings:
1st : Arthur Rhodes 10(+105ish)
2nd : Andrew Morris 10(+92)
3rd : Charlie Herren 10(+91)
4th : Clay Ramey 8(+80something)
After the tourney, I ended up playing in the YJ state championships. Jeff Holmes let me borrow a couple of decks. I ended up going 3-3, and placed 6th out of 12, but I had a blast playing.
Props and slops:
PROPS:
- The TDs. Al Scott and Stephen Michael ran the event quite smoothly. No complaints.
- Andrew Morris, for making top 2 and qualifying for the bye of day 1 at GenCon.
- Arthur Rhodes, for winning.
- Clay Ramey, for the good showing and driving me to the place.
- my decks, because they're so good to me :)
- Jeff Holmes, for running the YJ tournament smoothly, and letting me borrow decks.
SLOPS:
- me, for drawing too many cards in two of my games with my light deck.
- having no final confrontation.
- the fact that differential plays a big role in tourneys.
Thank you all for reading, and good night.
Charlie 'Bad Player' Herren