mt-prospect-illinois-5-20-2000
Title: mt-prospect-illinois-5-20-2000
Author: Steve "Crazy Hermit" Kuperman
Date: May 21, 2000
The Time: 12:00 P.M.
The Last Time I Ate Before The Tournament: Probably 11:30ish.
I had been thinking about this tournament for days. Well, not the tournament specifically, but rather about what I was going to play. I wasn't sure if I wanted to go Profit, or Throne Room Mains. Dark Side, I was either going to run my RallOps or build one of those Hunt Down high destiny space decks. I didn't feel especially inspired to play RallOps, so I was leaning towards the Hunt Down. Then, after going on Decktech, I decided to take a stop over at the Decipher BBS. I happened to see that Hayes Hunter had posted something about the power of Ominious Rumors decks. I had playtested one, but hadn't liked it, so I asked him for some help on it. He gave me a few tips, and so I figured, what the hell, I'll build it. Light Side, I wanted to be able to dish out some major damage on my own turf, as opposed to taking over whatever my opponent deployed. So, the decks are as follows:
Light Side: Profit, with 5 Senses and an Alter, big mains, 3 Hans, couple of B'omarr Monks and sabers to enhance drains. I teched out against Ralltiir, playing 2 Projection Of A Skywalker as well. No way I was going to lose to another of those.
Dark Side: Omnious Rumors, with a lot of systems and ships. It also had a multilated bastard-child of a Bunker in it.
It looked solid, but wasn't certain if it would hold up. We would see.
I show up at Games Plus about 10-15 minutes before 12. I chat for a couple with the TD, Brian Monday (Gold 42 himself!), who's subbing for Al Schaefer, out of town on an emergency trip. We draw 11 players, none of whom are anywhere near the top 100 in our region, except for me. I figure it's all right, good time to see if my stuff works.
Game 1: Bye.
I was annoyed, because I accidently forgot to add my command card into the pile for game 1 pairings, and as a result I ended up being the odd player out. Not a huge deal, since I just used the time to go over my decks and relax a little. I hadn't had any downtime, as I had been working on decks for the 2-3 hours prior to the tournament working on decks.
Result: Bye. Total: 2(+0)
Game 2: Dark Side vs. Ben Collins' Tessek/Wookiees
Ben's an all right player, considering he's something like 11 years old. He starts Audience Chamber and Uh Oh!, I start
Endor Ops stuff and IAO (Nabrun = the devil). I draw, find Kessel and a couple of starships. I go search for Rumors, deploy it, deploy Kessel, pick up a couple, let Ben go. Ben deploys Bo Shuda to the chamber, then You Will Take Me To Jabba Now for Tessek. He then draws a bunch. I drop Zuckuss to Endor, draw a couple looking for one of my Elephant Mans or something to hold the bunker. Good deal, I find Ephant Mon, along with a bunch of systems to go with the bunch of ships I've already got in hand. Ben's still drawing, he's obviously gotten nothing in locations. I drain for two, drop Ephant Mon, solidfy Endor with Fett (wasn't sure if he was looking for ships for a fight), then deploy a ship and a pilot each to Kiffex and Fondor. By this point, I'm now getting him for 8 a turn. Horrendous. Couple of turns later, he deploys some stuff to the Landing Platform, and attempts to move into the bunker, only to find that he can't. I let him take back one of his deploys (my point was, You got control of the site, didn't you?). He's hitting me for a couple, but then he deploys a site, a Monk, and a couple of Wookiees to back it up. I've only got Jade to fight with in hand, so I draw a couple and find Vader and Tarkin. Sweet. He hits me for 5, then deploys another site, but doesn't reinforce. I deploy Jade (no saber), Premiere Darth, and Tarkin all down. I fight him a little bit, a Wookiee misses a Wookiee Strangle on Jade, but I'm draining him silly in space and it isn't even close.
Result: Full Win by 27. Total: 4(+27)
Game 3: Light Side vs. Steve Miles' Dark Side Choke
I start Profit, Premiere Han, and Goo Nee Tay. He starts Dagobah: Cave and Twi'leks for Come Here You Big Coward. Okay, so retreival might be a bit annoying, but his deployment ability is going to be extremely slow. Opening hand, I get Ben, Ani's Stick, nothing else really worthwhile. I decide to draw, pick up Master Luke. He too apparently is regretting his start, as he's drawing. That, or he's waiting for me to make a first move, although I believe he did deploy Secret Plans. I end up throwing down Luke w/Saber, Ben, flipping, ignoring the Force retreival. I pick up a couple, and find Obi's stick and one of my Monks is now in my hand. Uh oh for him. Next turn, make him lose 3 to drains and Profit, then deploy the stick and the Monk. I'm now draining for 4 a turn at one site and making him lose one to Profit. His turn, deploys Premiere Vader w/saber and Tarkin to Jabba's Palace, holds there. I hit him for 5 more and let him go. He deploys a scout walker w/AT-ST Pilot aboard to Jabba's Palace after draining, and walks Vader/Tarkin into the Chamber. I now decide that I'd like to win the game this turn. So, after making him lose
1 to Profit, I deploy the Entrance Cavern and Mechanical Failure on the walker. Persona replace Han, Nabrun my whole merry gang over to Jabba's Palace, and beat the holy hell out of the walker. He lost it, the pilot and something like 23 Force. Left him with one card in his reserve, he force drains me for cards out of my hand, then draws up.
Result: Full Win By 30. Total: 6(+57)
Game 4: Dark Side vs. Randy Collins' RFC/Speeder Bike/Tessek/Tatooine/NO MORE SLASHES!
Randy's not really that good a player, and I know if he makes it close on me I'll be hearing about it for months to come. He starts the same Chamber and Uh Oh! that his
son did. I draw for my first turn, after deploying a system. Not getting great activation, not finding a whole lot right away. Which is why it's bad when on his first turn he deploys Tessek using You Will Take Me To Jabba Now, Bo Shuda, a RFC piloting Speeder Bike to his Jundland Wastes. I know he's got the card that'll let it draw destiny in his hand, and a Force drain for 3 on second turn means he got a beautiful draw against me. I drop something above Endor, deploy another system , and pick up some more, hoping to find Ephant Mon soon. He drains for 3, which I Control, not expecting any SAC. He then deploys another site out, another RFC and Speeder Bike to there. Ouch, that's 5 on the 3rd-4th turn of the game, and I'm not really equipped to fight on ground. I pray that he doesn't have a spy, drop Tarkin into the Bunker, deploy Cabbel aboard a Dreadnaught to Kessel, U-3PO to the Wastes, and hold onto my Imperial Barrier very tightly. He first deploys Bargaining Table (Need Alter . . . ) deploys a Bothan Spy into the Bunker, bad. He then deploys EPP Leia into the Bunker, while still having about 5-6 Force left in his Force pile. I figure it'd look real stupid if I Barrier Leia and then get hit by EPP Han/Luke/Obi, so I hold off. He then initiates, dammit. He hits Tarkin, draws a 4 for battle destiny, I lose Tarkin and 4. He then proceeds to move out of the Bunker! He saves me yet again . . .My turn, drain him in space, and he's pissed because he's losing all of these starships from his deck. As if he didn't have everything to counter me to begin with. I activated everything but one to check what the last destiny in my deck was, as I was holding DLOTS to take out the intruders on Endor, but the destiny was a location, so no go for the offensive. I draw some, acquiring Lateral Damage and Executor, but no pilots in hand. His turn, deploy EPP Obi to Jabba's Palace along with another non-unique after draining, Alters my POTF on Endor, deploys Tantive and a RFC to Death Star. I see lights out in an upset coming for me real soon if I can't stop that drain at the Death Star, so I deploy Lateral Damage on the Tantive, drop Executor w/o Pilot, and battle. He draws a 4 for destiny, so he loses the pilot, ship, and about 5 more. I then drew and got Kiffex, and moved the Executor over there next turn. From here on out, it was a very messy drain race, with DLOTS blocking an RFC on Speeder Bike from a drain at a site. Crazy, and it should have never been this close, but I pull out a squeaker. But now, I'm gaining more confidence in my ability with this deck.
Result: Full Win By 6. Total: 8(+63)
Game 5: Dark Side vs. Matt Lewis' Falke Hidden Base
Matt's developing into a pretty good player, and Falke Hidden Base was something I was worried about. I know that he's not playing Nabruns, so I start Precautions to increase my generation and give him something to think about before flipping. I drew IAO in my opening hand, and Ephant too. Getting off to a good start, I search for and deploy Rumors, then Ephant to the Bunker. He starts deploying systems over the next couple of turns, Tatooine then Alderaan. I know he's drawing for the Super Falcon, a smart move. I set up at my Kessel with Fett and Zuckuss in ships, draining for 3 a turn with Rumors. This should attract some attention, just fine, as I'm saving a load of Force. He then deploys the Falcon w/Captain Han, I don't Barrier. Leia is deployed, she gets Barriered. He then deploys Wedge aboard as a Pilot, and he's out of Force. He started Battle Plan, so he could initiate, but I point out that he sadly doesn't have the 6 ability needed to draw destiny as pilots. Too bad, he even had I Know from what I understand. My turn, drop Admiral Ozzel aboard a Star Destroyer, Lt. Cabbel aboard a Dreadnaught, and maybe even another ship, and battled. He ended up losing Han, Leia, Wedge, the Falcon, and about 4 more Force. I can tell he's not too happy with his mistakes, but he starts drawing. I'm not certain if he's surrendering or if he's going to try to keep fighting. I drain, then spread a little and draw, getting Evax and the Executor. I know he's headed for Tibrin as soon as he gets something, so I deploy the Executor and Evax to Alderaan w/POTF, and move the entire fleet at Kessel to Tatooine. No way that OMDH is going to save him. He actually re-deploys the Super Falcon, which gets Barriered again, but then OTE is deployed. He holds at Alderaan staring down the Executor. I decide to go techy and play my Overwhelmed after draining to throw the Falcon back into his deck. However, I attempt this after spending gobs of force to deploy Jade w/saber and DLOTS to the Landing Platform, and realized that I had exactly double his power to play Overwhelmed. I reluctantly run away to Tibrin(Desperately need Alter), losing 3, and draw a few, looking for a specific card. He then deploys Luke w/saber, Tawss, and Melas to the Landing Platform and fights me. He swings at and misses whomever he swung at, I miss a choke and a swing at Tawss Khaa, I draw a 1 for destiny while he draws a 6. I end up losing the battle 19-11, so I just forfeit Vader. He follows the Executor. My turn, drain for +2 at two locations in space (I had spread following the re-deployment of the Falcon, and Jade was still at the Platform), and play I've Lost Artoo! and blow up the Falcon's hyperdrive. I lose 3 more to Order To Engage by running to Alderaan and moving Jade into the Bunker. He hits me for 1 a turn, but I'm draining for 7 and it's over.
Result: Full Win By 21. Total: 10(+84)
Game 6: Light Side vs. Jason Beyer's TDIGWATT
Last game, and no one is even close to me. I would need a big loss (not gonna happen) combined with Matt or other Steve winning big for me to lose this one. He starts the Dark Deal objective with Secret Plans and Carbonite Chamber,
no starting interrupt. Hmm . . .I start the usual with Goo Nee Tay, since he was going to flip his objective if he wanted to. I've got no space, but I kick major ass on the ground, he drops Big Jabba and Fett w/Rifle to Chamber w/Profit. He deploys some sites, starts moving around various things. He gets out the Downtown Plaza, Port Town District, Bespin: Cloud City, and the system, deploys Dark Deal and Occupation, flips objective. I'm drawing to find something to knock him out of the chamber, and I go with EPP Luke w/Ben Kenobi down into the chamber. Could have been bad, but he misses the shot, I hit Jabba, he draws something like 3 for total destiny and I've retaken the chamber. n his turn, hits me for about 9 total in damage, as he has an annoying gas miner being guarded by Calrissian and Lobot in the Carbonite Chamber adding to his drain at the sector. My turn, break Han, pay 10 to retreive 10, make him lose a few to drains and Profit, and I draw the rest of my force. He drains me, this is getting painful. My turn, I know I can't hold on Tatooine, because he will drain me silly. I deploy Boussh into the Carbonite Chamber to block that drain, Nabrun my troops over to the Downtown Plaza where 4-LOM, Tarkin, and Cabbel(moved over from Port Town District after DD was established) await. I arrive, Clash 4-LOM (I did have a good reason for this at the time . . .but now I don't really remember), and wail on his stuff. Then, he Ghhhks. Good thing I had Clashed the droid, it allowed me to retake some more territory, and he would have knocked out the damage anyway. I move Luke over to the Port Town District, as I'm holding Narrow Escape. His turn, he attempts to Sniper Boushh using IG-88 With Riot Gun(previously deployed to keep the miner safe, I'm supposing), I Sensed. He deploys a Cloud sector and some ship there, now I'm getting hit hard again after reducing his damage to me every turn from 9 to 4. I force drain him for 2 and 3 at his sites, make him lose 2 to Profit, now he's starting to run low since he's deployed a lot. He deploys Vader w/saber into the Carbonite Chamber alongside his other stuff, and I decide it's not worth it to try to retake the Carbonite Chamber (holding Ani's stick and everything). I drain him some more on my turn, wishing he would move Vader over (Glancing Blow is in my hand, hint, hint).
On his turn, he attempts to Sniper Boussh with Vader, I Sense once again. I found out after the game that he was planning on hitting Boushh, then playing All Too Easy on Boushh to make me lose 8 from his objective. That would have hurt. Anyway, he decides to block my drain this time at the Plaza with Vader, the gas miner (YES!!!), and somebody else I think. I deployed somebody cool, probably Chewie, and battled him. He misses a swing at Ben, I hit the Gas Miner, think I hit Vader too, Glancing Blow, I majorly overpower him. He's got something like 1 card left, and he draws up.
Result: Full Win By 13 Total: 12(+97)
So, I win the tournament. After finishing up, I go watch Ben Collins and another dude fight it out. This guy was playing a hilarious RallOps deck w/Biker Scout Troopers, no bikes. Ben kept Wookiee Strangling guys, but this dude would do
crazy stuff like deploy a trooper at the Audience Chamber, then move him over to Obi's Hut. Ben responds with Luke w/saber, Chewie w/rifle, and 2 Wookiees. Ben battles, the guy reacts w/Scout Blaster. Shoots Chewie (Precision Targeting is out
so Ben can't use him for attrition), plays Compact Firepower on Chewie and reduces him to power 0, plays Blast Points and Lone Warrior to draw two battle destiny). End result, the suicide trooper takes out 2 Wookiess, Luke, and Chewie all
in battle. This was the greatest deck I have ever seen.
Oh, did I mention I've got complete results? Here you go, the whole list:
1. Steve Kuperman 12(+97)
2. Matt Lewis 8(+45)
3. Steve Miles 8(+29)
4. Randy Collins 8(+25)
5. Ben Collins 8(+14)
6. Jason Beyer 6(+25)
7. Mike Zuba 6(-3)
8. Nick Inns 6(-18)
9. Jeff Bailey 6(-46)
10. Ryan Ritter 4(-26)
11. Gus Ioakimidis 2(-100)
Thanks go to:
Everybody I played, primarily cause you're all nice, secondly cause you all lost to me.
Brian Monday, for coming in on short notice to run the tournament and let have fun.
Repressed natures, and hidden hatred. (Nick Inns knows what I'm talking about)
Everybody in the world who hates Ralltiir Freighter Captains, I'm now in your foul brood.
I've Lost Artoo!, for blowing up hyperdrives everywhere. This card is hilarious to play.
Han Solo, for knowing just the right time to hop out of his carbonite prison.
Ominious Rumors . . .this card and Endor Operations is just incredible. And related to this, Hayes Hunter, without whom I would not have actually built the deck.
Finally, of course, people who read tournament reports.