geneva-illinois-4-15-2000
Title: geneva-illinois-4-15-2000
Author: Steve "Crazy Hermit" Kuperman
Date: Apr 18, 2000
The Time: 12:00 PM
The weekend was not looking like a great one for tournaments. For some reason, Sealed Deck events
were abounding. Since Sealed isn't too much fun without a lot of people (in my opinion), I was down
to a couple of choices. The two tournaments, one in Lindenhurst, and one in Geneva, were total unknowns
to me. For no apparent reason, I decided to head out to Geneva. I'm heading into completely unknown
territory, so I figure that making sure to meta a little would be a good idea. Here are my decks:
Light Side: Faulke-style Hidden Base
Dark Side: Hunt Down, no dueling or IAO, but plenty of drain potential on Tatooine
I made the assumption that whoever these unknowns were, they weren't going to play DS Numbers.
So, I swapped Don't Forget The Droids for Quite A Mercenary (a really, really good idea in here).
My Dark deck had 2 Tortures in it, which is pretty strong, and despite having Crush in my deck
as a start against Profit, I went with no Evaders. I took a chance that these folks wouldn't have
had enough Revos to think about building a choke deck, let alone actually having one.
I get down to Geneva in about an hour, and realize that I have only a general idea of exactly
where this tournament is taking place. Considering that I haven't bothered to set my car clock yet,
and that I don't wear a watch, I have no idea how much time I have. Luckily, after a well-placed phone
call and blind luck, I find the store. I immediately proceed upstairs to where the tournament is
being held, only to find people already playing. Not good, so I walk over to the touranment director,
Mike Malake. He'll let me in, but I have to sit out the first game with a bye as I become participant
number 23. I'm kind of annoyed, seeing as I drove a goodly distance to show up, but it makes sense and
I'm not upset. I wait it out, and go over my decks one last time. Finally, the round ends, and this is
where it begins.
Game 1: I had a bye. Of course, I'm absolutely certain you read everything above, so you already
know this.
Result: Bye Total: 2(+0) or 2(-0) for the pessimists.
Game 2: Dark Side against Doug Anderson's Light Side Mains
I don't know who this guy is, but he looks like the oldest player there. My initial train of thought
is that he's the regular who beats up on all of the little kids swarming at this tournament.
Then, he notices my start, and asks to take a look at Visage, as he's never played against a
Hunt Down before. This almost certainly means that there's no Tranmission Terminated with him,
so I'm pretty certain that if I hold the flip, there's no way he can win.
He starts Obi's Hut, and no starting effect. I start BFHI, since Presence would let him start up a
fast drain with a lucky draw and it wouldn't let me flip first turn, anyway.
I look at my opening draw, I've got Jade. Power, but I don't want to lose her right away to a lucky Ben
Kenobi. Instead, I drop Coruscant and draw a few. Nothing worthwhile, and it goes on for a few turns like this
with us losing to Visage until he drops Ben w/o saber at the Hut. I figure I might as well go for something, so
I deploy Jade to the Hut, deploy Secret Plans and look for the Shocker that isn't there, so I don't waste Jade's
text on the saber that also is not there. I initiate, and we both draw bum destinies. His turn, he doesn't deploy
anything more, initiates and we still don't lose anything. We're at a standoff, or at least until my next turn.
I drop DLOTS w/stick, Jade gets her stick, and Tark joins in along with a cleverly placed Presence on the Hut.
I battle, swing and miss twice (ouch x2), but draw decent destiny and he loses Ben and a couple. Hunt Down flips finally,
yay. His next turn, he draws and leaves a few, I drain for six at the Hut and he tries to Surprise Assault it and
it gets Sensed. His next turn, he still doesn't make a move, but gets a Surprise Assault through and ends up
only losing three plus Surprise Assault instead of six. His next turn, he deploys EPP Luke, EPP Han, and battles me.
I choke Han and chop up Luke, he loses a lot but I lose Jade. I drain him for a couple more turns until he
decides to drop Lieutenant Greeve and Biggs as sacrificial lambs and I complied by choking Greeve and smacking
Biggs upside the head to end it.
Result: Full Win By 33 Total: 4(+33)
Game 3: Dark Side against some kid's No main Hidden Base
I start off Round 2 by playing my Dark deck again. I start Security Precautions and I'm
thinking he either started with nothing or Haven. I just drew for a few turns, noticing the presence
of several starships accumulating in my hand, trying to get Vader and a site into hand. He's
deploying Coruscant, Kessel, big drain systems, while giving me lots of force. Reactor Terminal comes
on down, and finally EPP Vader drops to the Jundland Wastes and flips. I notice he's got several
B-Wings on the table, and I decide to Alter S-Foils, which I do. A couple of turns later,
Jade comes down as support for Vader in case he's actually waiting to commence beatdown. I draw the last
couple of Force in my pile, with the only notable thing being the Cantina. He decides to flip, but he's
not at Kessel yet, so I get drained for 4-5 Force. My turn, I'm thinking about whether I want to invade
space through Coruscant or just trying to spread and find the base fast, by taking him out of the game
from Precautions damage. First, I deploy the Cantina, and then I figure that I'll be nice, since this game
is majorly in my favor from Visage damage and spread on out. I probe at a couple of systems, but I don't find it.
I have to move my ships together to avoid a beatdown since Zuckuss is at a system where a couple of B-Wings and
a Corvette are. If he happens to have another couple of ships and/or pilots, it could cost me the ship, and I wanted
maximum options while tracking his base down. Besides, I was holding another ship. He doesn't do anything except
deploy into Kessel, so I need to find his Hidden Base fast so I can prevent a major drainage situation for occuring.
My turn, I drain at Cantina and the Wastes, which are canceled (it's worth a shot) and then hit him for two at the
Hoth system. I deploy a DSSD for 11 to Kessel. He might've barrier'd it, but if he did it was Sensed. It still wasn't
his Hidden Base, leaving exactly one system remaining to be probed. I move over to the remaining system with Zuckuss,
and Bossk comes to the Destroyer's aid., I probe during his deploy phase, knocking 8 cards out of his deck. He's seriously
low now, and battles at Kessel. I lose the DSSD, he drops a ship. It doesn't really matter, because my drains are hammering him
with the Visage damage, and he's dead on my next turn.
Result: Full Win By 32 Total: 6(+65)
Game 4: Light Side against Ed Hughes(spelling?)' Court/Retreival deck
This looks interesting, and I consider what to start with. I'm thinking that in order for him to
have a chance, he's going to stay firmly footed in the Chamber to keep S&V around. So, I decide to take
a small chance and start Projection on the Chamber. He starts Surface Defense with the three effects. Small
chance is instantly reduced to completely safe. He starts by deploying Jabba from hand and Boelo from deck.
I take my time over the next several turns, losing some Force to his objective but getting my systems out and
drawing cards. I'm looking to get Super Falcon into play, which it does soon enough to the Tatooine system.
He then deploys 3-4 guys to the Jundland Wastes, Twi'leks for Scum, and I decide it's time to shift into gear.
I deploy EPP Obi with Yoda's Gimer Stick to the site, drop Order To Engage on him, and save some force. He can't
find ability 4 characters, so for several turns he runs to the Pit and back, losing to OTE. I deploy Tawss as a
little insurance policy, and let him go. This time, he comes with Brangus, and initiates. I scan his characters quickly
and realize that he's got some reasonable power, and that it's still too early to risk losing Obi in a horrendous accident.
I play It's A Trap! and cancel the battle, and this time he runs. Probably not a bad idea, as I've got Luke and GiTM sitting
in my hand. The next notable thing is that on his next turn he deploys Zuckuss In Mist Hunter from Reserve using his objective
to Tibrin, reinforces with Ree-Yees. Apparently he's looking to grab some differential. Mind you, I don't think he was staring too hard at my Bacta Tank
as he did this. My turn, I drop Redemption with Luke and Wedge aboard and battle. I draw a 5 and he draws a 1. He's got to lose 9,
and loses Ree-Yees at first, then thinks and loses the ship too. Wedge goes off to do some laps in the Bacta pool. On his next turn,
he's getting desperate to do something, so he tries to Elis his crew at the Pit facing my guys to the Wastes to drain. His forces
are instantly destroyed by Quite A Mercernary. By this point, I'm pretty certain I've won, and he moves his guys from the Chamber to
the Pit. Next turn, OMDH for 9, which is easy enough even with Secret Plans. I let him draw up, preferring not to be greedy as
I know we don't have much time left in the game and would hate to lose a full win just because I wanted more cards in deck.
Result: Full Win By 28 Total: 8(+93)
Game 5: Dark Side against Scott Wyngarden's Tatooine Sandspeeder Freaky Deck
I've played this deck previously, so I know what he's going to do. He starts Obi's Hut and
Careful Planning for Farm and Desert. As soon as my forces hit the ground, he plays Sandwhirl and
makes my stuff disappear while his Speeders do Battle Formations to speed drain you before you've
got a chance to recover. He also does a little retreiving with Electrobinocs and On The Edge.
I think long and hard before my start, and deploy Presence on the Holotheatre (I know what you're thinking but 'Hey Ma, no
Barriers!'), hoping I've to draw Vader in my opening hand and flip. I draw Iggy, Tatooine: Jabba's Palace and red. Crap.
I deploy the Palace, use it to get the chamber, which is then used to fetch Jade and Saber. Not an immediate solution to all
my worries, but it'll at least give me something to work with. His turn, he deploys Luke to the Theatre and cancels Visage.
Oops. I'm feeling like a total genius at this point, as I have only Iggy in hand. I drain for two, then draw to find something
worthwhile. No Vaders, but Dr. E, Tark and Dengar arrive. I think I've got a plan. Luke drains for three, and then is reinforced by
Han. A couple of speeders drop to a freshly deployed Tatooine: Desert. My turn, drain 2, and then
Iggy, Dengar and Dr. E walk into the Theatre and initiate battle. I proceed to miss Luke with Iggy, and miss Han with Dengar twice. I'm thinking I need to add some beter destiny
in, and then I draw a 2 and a 5 for battle destiny. He draws a 1, after slicing up Iggy. I have to lose Dr. E along with Iggy, leaving
Dengar and Han alone in the theatre. I draw, looking for help, finding Vader. After the impending mass beatdown, I should be just
fine. His turn, he deploys speeders to two other sites, and initiates against Dengar. I breathe a huge sigh of relief internally, and
once again miss Han twice. However, Han hits just fine, I lose 1 and Dengar. My next turn, Vader and Tark come down, I draw a 2 against Han,
he loses Han and two, Hunt Down flips for what it's worth. His turn, he plays a Battle Formation, and I attempt to Sense. I draw a 5, canceling.
He instead drains for three, and draws. My turn, drain for two, re-deploy Visage and watch it get immediately canceled by TT. Vader's saber joins
up with it's owner, and I let him go after drawing. He deploys force drains, deploys Leia to one of his sites to reinforce, and leaves plenty of force.
He's thinking Elis beatdown, but I'm thinking Quite A Mercenary would screw me so badly right now, so I stay in the theatre. Tempest 1, Jabba, and 4-LOM
drop to a desert and battle, he reacts with a speeder, he loses something and I lose nothing since he can't draw destiny. I move away from the site, fearing
a Sandwhirl. He force drains, and for a couple of turns, we go back and forth, me losing 3, him losing 3 from Ms. Jade still
safely in the chamber and a constant drain of 1 wherever Tempest 1 is. I reinforce the AT-AT with Fett, and draw, finding Igar.
He drops Luke and Han, re-flipping Hunt Down, inside speeders to oppose me at that site, and he deploys Insurrection. At this point,
I realize what I have to do. If I find my Sense, I'll probably miss a Battle Formation if it's played(Leia went to Hut in a speeder turns ago, BTW),
and I can't pick up Vader, since that'd leave Tark alone to a beatdown. I know he's got a 7 tracked, so a game-ending beatdown might be in order.
I force drain for two at the Chamber, and beginning draining for 2 at the Holotheatere, placing Hunt Down out of play. I then deploy Igar on the ground
where Tempest 1 is, since all of his guys are inside speeders and Fett's already piloting for now. I battle his stuff at Jabba's Palace, he attempts to
react with Leia on speeder, I cancel the react with TRWEU. He draws a 7 and another small destiny, I draw enough to make him lose something like 1 speeder.
That worked real nice. From then on, I played cat and mouse with his stuff. OTE would have done wonders for him. I Sensed Battle Formation when he attempted
it later, and as a last-ditch move, he moves Luke and Han into the chamber to block Jade's drain. My only move is to move Fett in to reinforce. His turn, he
drains, and initiates battle. I You Are Beaten Luke, hit Han, and draw a 3 and 4 for destiny. He loses the game in the battle damage.
Result: Full Win By 9 Total: 10(+102)
Game 6 LS against Scott Wyngarden's RallOps
Since our last game was close, and Scott's only got one lost, we play again. I start Wise Advice, figuring I'll need to grab Alter as soon as it's played. He
mentions something about not wanting any suicide EPPs and starts BFHI. Ironically, I had every initention of staying on Ralltiir once I got there. I start out
real slowly, deploying systems, he begins to deploy a couple of twix sites and gets some stuff onto Ralltiir. I'm keeping my hand size down by selectively drawing cards, so
my force pile is pretty big. I figure he'll attempt to flip very shortly, so I Signal and find what I was looking for: The Gimer Stick. I pay 11 to drop EPP Obi to the
same site as a AT-ST, and deploy the Gimer Stick and Order To Engage. I'm holding It's A Trap!, so I'm hoping that Vader or Jade isn't in his hand this turn and I'll
be safe. he moves the scout away, losing 3 to OTE, and drawing. Yep, definitely looking for Vader. While he's occupied, with that, I decide to make a move to completely
disrupt his game, so I deploy that nasty ol' Redemption, Luke, and Wedge to Chandrila and move it into Tibrin, along with the Tank hitting the table. He's less than
thrilled, and so Bubble Boy and a star destroyer pay a visit, along with a couple of pilots and IAO is played. This may take a while. He initiates, and I draw a 5. He
draws something worthwhile too, but I just lose Wedge to the tank. My next turn, that crazy Obi's pestering those troops, and Orrimaarko is deployed to the Redemption
along with Wedge once more. I initiate, draw a 4 or 5, and clear his other pilot, along with a 2 force loss to Orrimaarko, who's sent to the Tank. He realizes that it's going
to take a lot more than what he's willing to give to retake control of the system, and so he moves his ships to Chandrila, where he can drain for 2. He also attempts to Alter
OTE, but misses it with a 3 as he Tark is the highest ability character, and Alter is grabbed. I don't want to move away from the system, lest he has something nasty in his hand
(i.e. Vader and an Alter, more ships) that will allow him to flip. I don't want my work ruined, so I stay and figure that I can hold pretty strong. I finally decide to deploy Kessel
out (I'd been holding it back to restrict his generation, but there's not much he's doing with the gen he already has), and deploy Captain Han in Falcon to Kashyyyk, where it's barrier'd.
I was planning on sending him to Kessel, flipping, and hitting him quickly with drains to weaken him, but that wasn't going to be the case. So, Han's a sitting duck for a turn. I'm cool
with it, I've got the Tank still if anything goes wrong, such as ZiMH. So, I draw, finding Leia and a YT-1300, remembering to save a few for It's A Trap!. Sure enough, Vader comes down to
where Scott's been herding his scout walkers in order to keep Obi away every couple of turns, and I cancel the battle that ensuses. My turn, I deploy Tawss as back up for Obi, Orrimaarko
is deployed out of the Tank (okay, so maybe Han wouldn't have gone to the tank . . .), and Leia is deployed to Tatooine in the '1300, OMDH then targets her. She completes that turn, letting
me retreiving something like 9-12, while Han moves over to Tibrin with the Redemption crew in order to lock in the every other turn retreival. Zuckuss is deployed, and moves to Alderaan.
By this point, I flip, and retreive OMDH and get set for another run. Unfortunately, I forget about him having to use 1 to draw 1 (I forget that a LOT), and he draws. I didn't care that
much though, since at this point, all I wanted was the win and was willing to take it by 1 or by 50.
Result: Full Win By 26 Total: 12(+128)
In conclusion, I won. The competiton level wasn't too high, but I have to say that for the number of young players I met, the majority were nice kids. Considering some of the Pokemon
tournaments I've witnessed (at their conclusion, mind you), I was impressed. I had a good time, and that's really the only thing I can ask for out of a tournament.
Thanks go to:
Mike Malake, for running the tournament and letting me join in late.
The other people in the tournament, particularly those I played, for not being Poke-Asses.
People Who Write Really Good Driving Instructions
The number 12, since it's beautiful to see that by your name at the end of the tournament.
Martin Falke, for obvious reasons.
Myself, for building the other deck.
The guy at Decipher who came up with the idea for the Hidden Base objective.
In addition, the guy who came up with the idea for Hunt Down. I appreciate that one, too.
Cards in my Light Side deck with a destiny of 5, for always being there when I needed them.
The Dark Side version of Sense, for knocking out those T-47 Battle Formations.
And finally, people who read tournament reports.