san-jose-ca-5-6-00
Title: san-jose-ca-5-6-00
Author: Alfred "ThaBraHmaBuL" Dong
Date: May 7, 2000
So its Saturday, another boring and tedious week at school just passed, and I was looking for something to do to relax. After asking a bunch of friends and getting absolutely nowhere, I talked to local player Ohmy Fasudhani online, and discussed about the tourney held at San Jose later that day. Ohmy rounded up another local player, Chris Leung, and I rounded up Gibson Yim in the same prospect and off we went.
I decided to have some fun with this tourney so I made a version of Kevin Shannon's TIE deck, effeciently named 'TIEBo' for its hardcore speed. I made the deck in about 5 minutes(TIE decks really arent too hard to figure out), and decided to keep the LS the way it was(Cycling Profit). I had no desire to mess around with Throne Room(Personally I think it sucks), those are my decks for today. We get there early and we start at 6:30 instead of the scheduled 5:30 start since the players decided to arrive extremely slow. Oh well.....on the the games.....as what was said at the tourney.
Game 1: DS TIEBo variant vs. Thaddeus Aid's LS Profit Tessek Ewok Hell
Im the first to get called and I get to try my DS out first. I start Kashyyyk and Surface Defense for all 3 effects. He starts Alien Han and Profit standards with no starting effect. First turn, I drop a Dread and 2 TIEs to Kashyyyk, his turn he drops 2 Endor sites and Bargaining Table. This doesnt look good already....I dont know what to expect so I just try and play it out. I get my drain canceled next turn by an Ewok(!), draw, and find Kiffex. He drops an Ithorian and 2 Ewoks and draws.....my turn, Vader cleans them out, and I set up at Kiffex, draw, and find Endor and Wakeelmui. He sets up Lando with Threepio and some Ewoks, and DOS and a few more Ewoks with an Ithorian and that unique Ewok that works like Mosep. I Twilek and grab the Dreaded Starfleet and drop U-3PO to an Endor site, at the same time setting up my TIEs at Endor. His turn, he drops Tessek, frees Han, retrieves, and drops another Endor site, Chewie and a few more Ewoks with Kazak(add to drains). Crap.....now for the rest of the game we get our drains canceled by the Table and the Fleet, and drain for as much as we can. I edge him out at the end because of my severe retrieval.....and win by 7.
Cumalative Score: 2(+7)
Highs: Winning I guess, and at least now I know the TIE deck can win.
Lows: The TD kept getting in the way and watching the game and I could TELL he wanted to say something but didnt because I stopped him once.
Game 2: LS Cycling Profit vs. Alex Stefanko's DS Imperial Hunt Down
I start normal Profit goods with Insurrection, he starts Dengar w/ bazooka and Dr. E at the AC, and normal Hunt Down with Bad Feelings as a start. First turn, he drops Mara to the AC and grabs her stick. My turn, I drop R-3PO to the AC(breach of protocol, he's supposed to go the the docking bay, but this is too sweet) and grab Docking Bay 94 with Insurrection. Were both losing to Visage, he cant drain, but I edge him out with 3PO cause Mara's there. He moves Mara out of there in a few turns, and drops Ephant Mon the the AC. I drop Ben and Luke with thier sabers and battle Dengar. I miss the pop on Dengar but hit him and Dr. E with the sabers. He operates on R-3PO but misses Luke with Dengar. I draw a 0, he draws a 1.....Were both immune, but he has to lose 4 more...so he loses Ephant Mon anyways. He drops Vader to the Docking Bay next turn and sets up where Mara is. I free Han, and screw the retrieval cause I dont want to pay for Secret Plans....drain 3, lose 1. I spend the rest of the game running from his hit squads. minus a few battles here and there with Luke. Eventually, Profit damage and the drains got to him as he tried to catch me in the Mos Eisley/Cantina shuffle. Win by 12.
Cumalative Score: 4(+19)
Highs: Winning, I guess.....Now I know this deck can win as well.
Lows: Nothing much.
We take a dinner break, so I head down to Taco Bell with the 'Champions of Hardcore', Ohmy, Chris, and Gibson. We share a Grande Meal and talk about our games a little. Ohmy and I are undefeated, Chris and Gibson are both 1-1 with losses to thier LS.
Game 3: LS Cycling Profit vs. Chris Leung's DS Raltiir Ops
This deck is beginning to be a SERIOUS pain in the ass. This is about the ONE deck my Profit cant normally handle as much as I'd like it to....and with my luck, I play a person in my car to boot. He starts off Raltiir goods, and takes awhile to flip. I drop Luke first turn and free him on the second. He flips around 4th turn, and drops no walkers to back his guys up. I have EPP Leia to smash one of his guys, but he has a force saved and that means he's got Imperial Barrier as well. So I drop it and just decide to commit to Tatooine. He eventually comes to Tatooine and makes me react to him. He hangs at JP and drains for 2, but I dont want to move Han out there because he's going to get stepped on. He drains all over Raltiir and eventually find Kashyyyk to add insult to injury. I cant do a damn thing, so I set up the Mos Eisley/Cantina shuffle and try to get in as much damage as I can. Last turn, I get Han captured by IG-88 and thats game. Loss by 9.
Cumalative Score: 4(+10)
Highs: I never lose to RalOps by more than 15.
Lows: Playing someone in my car, and RalOps(does this thing HAVE a weakness at all?!)
Game 4: DS TIEBo variant vs. Alex Stefanko's LS Profit standard
So I end with my DS and play Alex again. He starts General Solo(ah...now everyone sees the power of the General) and Insurrection. I start Kashyyyk once again with all 3 effects provided by Surface Defense. First turn, I get a GOD start. I drop a Dread, 2 TIEs, Presence to Kashyyyk, Coruscant, and Wakeelmui....draw, and find All Powers and Short Range Fighters.....sweet. He drops Ben down around 3rd turn and frees Han. I Twilek and grab Well Guarded and limit my hand size to 12 for the remainder of game.....draw, find Endor and Kiffex, he drains, thats fine. I drop SFS, and retrieve everything he dishes out at me. I set up Kiffex and Endor and all the while Im retrieving my entire Lost Pile. He eventually spreads pretty thin as he tries to max out Profit's damage. I cant find U-3PO or Vader, so I just dominate space. I Twilek and grab Dreaded Starfleet and Battle Order, which proved to be a game winner for me. One Short Range Fighters and two TIE Assualt Squadrons later, Im up on him by around 30, and he cant keep up with me thanks to Battle Order. I eventually get him in the space department and a final battle with Gold Leader clinches it for me. Win by 26.
Final Score: 6(+36)
Highs: Finishing strong
Lows: Beating Alex twice
I end early and watch Ohmy's game with local player Shawn Ely, which I'd like to call 'The Battle of Raltiir'...Raltiir Ops vs. Ops on Raltiir. The game was close and was coming to an end when the TD called time to end a great game....Ohmy edged it out by a few for the timed victory.
I got in high enough to hit 2nd place. We get the new Cloud City prize support and I pull Boba Fett and Focused Attack. Not bad to end the day.....I buy a OTSD and get another Luke box(Cant get Vader for the life of me), but I pull a much needed Dr. E and a cool Brainiac, so it's all good. The ride home was fast and funny as we discussed the 'unordinary' methods of local player Nghia Nyugen. Get some new sleeves, dude....theyre only 50 cents.
Any questions, comments, or requests email me at IfYaSmLLL@aol.com, or visit my page at Decktech.net under 'ThaBrahMaBuL' and drop me a line.
Qui-Gon Jinn, The Brahma Bull
'Always Remember, Your Focus Deteremines Your Reality'