california-state-championships
Title: california-state-championships
Author: Alfred "ThaBraHmaBuL" Dong
Date: Apr 16, 2000
Kevin Shannon, Chris Leung, and Ohmy Fasudhani. TReports here, so read on......
Tried to find some decks to play weeks before the event came, and couldnt find one I felt more comfortable with than my Speed Profit deck and my Hunt Down Choke Out deck. I tried out Raltiir Ops, and I still cant figure out how anyone wins with this deck. Throne Room Mains was an option, but Profit was so much more fun, and the destinies were so much higher(I think its a curse for me to play high destiny decks).
I figure my DS deck needed some spice, and an upcoming combo bwtn. Responsibility of Command/Much Anger in Him combined with Hunt Down (which I called 'The Shaft') really put some hurt on people, so I included some of those in my deck. My Profit would die against that, so I included a counter that has some side use to it.....On the Edge. After having a friend come over and playtest and helping him with Hunt Down and Profit decks of his own, I decided to stick with my decks and not change them last minute at 4 in the morning and get screwed at the tourney.
We arrived at the tourney a bit late(trying to fit 6 people into a Honda Accord isnt something I recommend), but thankfully it hadnt started yet, so I signed in, gave my pre-written deck lists to the TD, Carl Hardy, and was on my way. Pairings were announced, and props to Carl for adding 'It Doesnt Matter What Your Name Is' into my name. On to parings.....
Game 1: DS Hunt Down Choke Out vs. Josh Certo's LS Y4 TR Mains Variation
Once again I start the tourney with Josh(as in Grand Slam). He starts the normal TRoom start with a Jungle instead of the Swamp. Im wondering if he forgot, but it turns out he doesnt use Nudjs. We lose to Visage and I eventually drop EPP Vader w/ Tarkin to the Farm, flip, and move them to the Throne Room. He drops EPP Luke, Orrimaarko, Tawss Khaa, and Boshek to try and beat on Vader, but my Objective wont let him. Luke gets 'shafted' and he'll lose 4 to Much Anger for the rest of the game. He drops the Y4 War Room and the Headquarters and runs Luke around and tries to avoid my guys to keep from losing to Much Anger, and I have EPP Fett and Evax follow his Luke alone for awhile. Meanwhile, ECC Chewie shows up where Orrimaarko's group is and Vader gets Disarmed. I lose a few battles and lose them all, plus a few from Orrimaarko. He moves his group to where Fett is, and adds KalFal to the gang. I drop Vader and Igar to Fett and pretty much clean house. Luke's still running from Evax, and my Objectives flipped, but Visage gets canceled. He drops EPP Obi to the Swamp so Boushh can battle, and she takes out EPP Fett(who I moved to get Much Anger to work on Luke). IG-88 comes down and captures Obi. I flip my Objective and now Leia is shafted by my Objective as well. Evax gets Sorried, so I drop Mara to keep the combo working on Luke. He eventually dies out to Much Anger, since he's so far into the Yavin non-battlegrounds and he cant get Obi-Wan out again. Win by 29.
Cumalative Score: 2(+29)
Highs: Luke getting shafted, starting the tourney with a good player
Lows: Nothing Much
Game 2: LS Speed Profit vs. Hak Soo Kim's DS Anti-Profit
I get up pretty high, so I get to play Hak again. Hak's deck has given my deck the most problems in my Profit deck's career, so I came it a little worried, though I didnt show it. He starts Tatooine system, Combat Readiness for Jabba's Palace to convert mine. He starts Mara and Fett to my Objective, and I start normal Profit goods with General Solo and Do or Do Not. He converts the AC first turn, and uses the AC game text to grab Jabba. I drop Cantina for activation, and Boussh w/ Ani's saber to the AC but leave her Undercover. He gets suspicious as he checks his hand for Senses and draws up. My turn, Boussh Sorries Mara and breaks cover to take on Jabba and Fett alone. I try and chop at Jabba, but he Force Fields. He tries to shot Boushh, but I Put That Down. I draw a 4, he draws double destinies to kill off Boussh and he loses Jabba rather than Fett. I draw for more characters(cant find Luke for the life of me), and he reinforces the AC with Vader, Tarkin, 4-LOM, IG-88, and Dr. E. At this point theres no way Im getting Han through battle, so I decide to just give him Tatooine as I draw for my Cloud City site. I eventually find it after drawing over half my deck up, and he sets up Tatooine Occupation with Zuckuss. I cancel with Endor Celebration, drop Insurrection(no Elising) and the Carbonite Chamber with ECC Lando and Tawss for double destinies. He decides to spread at this point, but Luke and Ben are at JP and Boussh is at the Cantina. Now its my drains of 2 at Cloud City to his drain of 1 at the Tatooine system. He gets annoyed at Lando, and drops Mara and saber to CC and fights Lando. I Weapon Lev her saber, but he Senses and loses 2. He targets with her saber, but I tell her to Put That Down. Lando fires at Mara and hits, I draw a 6 and a 4, he draws a 4, so he's losing 11 more. Lando bites it but I reinforce CC with Chewie. He eventually dies out as Boushh makes her way over to the AC and tries to free Han, but he Senses and loses his last 2 for the game. Win by 14.
Cumalative Score: 4(+43)
Highs: Great game. Finally beating the deck thats been giving me alot of problems. Props to Hak for getting me to continue to improve my Profit deck.
Lows: Nothing Much
Game 3: DS Hunt Down Choke Out vs. Chris Leungs LS Y4 TR Mains
Challenging player after challenging player,this would be one tourney I'd have to earn. He starts Throne Room usuals, and I start Hunt Down goods with Crush. He drops his Nudjs and I draw for Vader as we both lose to Visage. I lose Vader off the top, and he Out of Commisions but misses Vader. I finally draw Vader, and he plays Out of Commission again and he hits him this time. Damn. So for me its just damage control, but I still can shaft his mains and get in 4 a turn. I set the combo on Luke, but I dont get IAO, so he Tunnel Visions for Nabrun and goes to the War Room to cancel Responsibility. I draw for Jabba as I have 4-LOM and IG-88 in my hand, but Im not finding him for the life of me. I drop Tarkin for drains at Y4 but he gets beat. I cant do much at this point as Visage damages us both and he Nabruns to the Executor to finish me off. Lose by 13.
Cumalative Score: 4(+30)
Highs: Playing a good player
Lows: Getting Vader Out of Commisioned
Game 4: LS Speed Profit vs. Clayton Atkin's DS CCT Skrilling Numbers
And the winner of the cheesiest deck of the day is.............thats right, it DOES NOT MATTER what his name is. He starts CCT and I give him Orrimaarko as the captive. I start Profit goods w/ General Solo and Insurrection. He converts AC first turn and but thats okay as I still activate enough and I drain him for more there now. He draws for a few turns and drops Battle Order. I drop Ben Kenobi w/ stick and Yoda's Pimp Stick and free the General. I figure unless he has Vader this early(cant be playing more than 2 for Skrillings), he wont attack me since Ben has the stick. Turns out he does.....his turn he inserts numbers and drops Pote, Scum, 5 Skrillings, and, of course, Vader to battle me. The smoke clears and I lose everything, inluding Han and 9 more(of that 9 was ANOTHER Han). I come back with Master and Ben and battle, but numbers hits, but Im prepped for that with DFTD, and he grabs it. I hack Vader, Vader gets Put That Down for his saber. I play Gift of the Mentor, The Force is Strong, and he loses everything and I lose nothing. Ben and Luke control the AC, but he drops 3 Skrillings to the Cantina(converted 3 times) and inserts numbers on me. I have EPP Han and EPP Leia, plus enough to deploy them and clear the Skrills in addition to having enough to play It's A Trap! to protect Han. I battle and clear the Skrills but during the battle numbers comes up(of all the luck) and I must pay 2 to stop the numbers with DFTD, leaving me with less than needed for It's A Trap!. He cleans Han and Leia with Vader but I manage to save Han with Someone Who Loves You but I wont draw him for the rest of the game. He drops Skills, drains, and inserts numbers to finish me off. Loss by 18.
Cumalative Score: 4(+12)
Highs: Playing someone good, even if it is this jabroni who doesnt have enough ahem, how do we say.......SKILL to bring something either than numbers. :) I got to give him credit though........I shouldve taken my Speeder Bike/Numbers deck a little more seriously.
Lows: Losing 2, even if it is to good players.
I go out and grab some grub with Clayton and some other guys, and I get back in time but I cant finish my fries. I know I cant win it, but I can hope to place up there if I win my last 2.
Game 4: DS Hunt Down Choke Out vs. IDKYName's LS MWYHL Training
Still with the MWYHL decks......I cant stand these decks, and I cant understand how they win out of using Kessel and Kiffex. I get all my battlegrounds in my opening hand, a GOD start. We lose to Visage a few turns....I drop the Back Door and Igar and Tempest there, and I drop the Downtown Plaza w/ Choke Vader there. He kills off Vader w/ EPP Luke then he continues to drop Premiere Obi, General Solo, and Cmdr. Wedge to the Lower Corridor. I shaft Obi and I drop Fett to make him lose to Much Anger. He separates Obi from the rest of the group, opening up the options of Dueling and beatdown. I choose neither as I set Evax there alone to nick him for 4 apiece as Vader, Tarkin, and EPP Fett clear out the Plaza.......I drain him for 4 a turn in addition to Much Anger.....even testing doesnt help there.
Win by 22.
Cumalative Score: 6(+35)
Highs: Getting back up there
Lows: Nothing Much....the dude was pretty dull and he just wanted to get the game overwith.
Game 6: LS Speed Profit vs. IDMWYNIs's DS Hunt Down TIE Bombers
This has got to be the strangest Hunt Down Ive seen yet. He start Planetary Subjugation and Im thinking Bombing Run my mains. He starts Mara and Jabba to the AC and drops 4-LOM first turn with a Disruptor Pistol for Mara out of the Reserve as I cancel Visage. I dont get Luke again in my hand, but I get EPP Leia, Someone Who Loves You, Ben and his stick in there, so Im okay. He drops the CC docking bay, and I save force. He doesnt back up Jabba and Co., so I drop EPP Leia and Ben there and battle. I steal Maras gun and chop up Mara. 4-LOM targets Ben. I miss Jabba with Leia but I play Someone Who Loves you to free Han and I play I Know for 2 more destinies on top of that. He draws 2 destinies to 4-LOM.....0,0. I draw 4 destinies.....7,6,5,4.......ouch. He loses everything and around 13 more. For the rest of the game, Profit bites at him, and I drain for 2 at the AC. He cant find any characters for the life of him.......A final battle with Vader kills Han, but I redeploy him and thats game. Win by 41.
Final Score: 8(+75)
Highs: Finishing strong, going 4-2
Lows: Nothing Much
The smoke of the battlefields clear, the lightsabers deactivate, and there is evidence of the clear champ. Clayton Atkin, in addition to winning the Poontang Pie award, has come out the Champ. Congratulations to him for winning, as well as Kenneth Silva for placing 2nd, Ohmy for coming in 3rd, and Eric for finishing 4th. I finish strong, coming in 8th.......here are the standings.....
Winner: Clayton Atkin
2nd: Kenneth Silva
3rd: Ohmy Fasudhani
4th: Eric Brummel
5th: Sean Ely
6th: Dan Mochizuki
7th: Sean Pon
8th: Alfred Dong
All in all the tournament was MAJOR fun and I wish more people couldve been there. Young Jedi tournament was following the Wars one, and a joke was made of the whole thing. The quote of the day used by everyone(but mostly me) was 'THIS GAME SUCKS' and it was more of a normal tourney(9 people) than a state championship. I come in last, but proud(I hope I didnt offend anyone), as I got the Sebulba foil for losing.....:) A crowning achievement to a good day of fun.....Thanks to the champ(which coincedentally I cant remeber the name of), for the giving me the most fun of all the games I played that day.
Props:
Clayton Atkin: Because you ABSOLUTELY SUCK and you and I talk about decks all the time....plus you convinced me to stick with Profit.
Hak Soo Kim: For keeping me determined in making a better Profit deck.
Carl Hardy: For once again, holding a well runned, great turnout, fun, uh, um, what was it,........IT DOESNT MATTER WHAT YOU HELD!!!!!!!!
Eric Brummel: For once again providing transportation there.
Ohmy Fasudhani: For once again send me home.
For all Cali players: For showing the rest of the world that WE ARE THAT DAMN GOOD w/ our 54 people.
Thanks for reading if you made it this far......any questions, comments, or requests, email me at IfUcanSmLL@aol.com, or visit my page at Decktech.net under 'ThaBrahMaBul' and drop me a line.
The Brahma Bull