sea-girt-nj-6-10-00-by-mike-dalton
Title: sea-girt-nj-6-10-00-by-mike-dalton
Author: Michael "faramir" Dalton
Date: Jun 11, 2000
It was a hot sunny day in NJ, and 10 players made their way down to the Jersey shore to play SW:CCG (hmm....). Anyway, it's a week before Coruscant regionals and it's best to keep ready. There was an interesting mix of experienced (3 2000+ rated players) and inexperienced (3-4 players playing in their 1st tournament ever) players. It was the 1st SW:CCG tournament in this store and it shows a lot of promise. Jason Lembo would be running this tournament and future tournaments at the store, hopefully w/ consistent SW tournaments we can convert some players and build a bigger SW:CCG scene. It's a really great place to play, a big open basement area away from the retail part of the store, 2 separate rooms to play in, the room we were playing in could've easily accomodated 20 people and there was a whole 'nother room. Anyway.... for decks I kept my same LS deck I had played at Nathan Brown's Memorial Day BBQ tournament, it was HB/Revo/OMDH (can you say dead in 3 days?). For dark I'd been talking about how my new Tie deck was "the machine", so I had to play it. In playtesting it had won all it's games except against operatives, cause I really didn't prepare it to beat operatives, no one plays operatives anymore. The deck is really funny, in this age of heavy rare, enhanced card decks there's like 10 rares in the deck and 4 fixed cards, prolly a $20 deck, but it's pretty solid. Here's a decklist:
Starships (19)
Death Star Assault Squadron
Dreadnaught-Class Heavy Cruiser x4
TIE Assault Squadron
TIE Fighter x12
Vengeance
Characters (1)
U-3PO (Yoo-Threepio)
Effects (9)
Dreaded Imperial Starfleet
Lateral Damage
Presence Of The Force x2
Resistance (se)
Return To Base
Secret Plans (se)
Sienar Fleet Systems
There Is No Try (se)
Interrupts (20)
All Power To Weapons x4
Control x2
Ghhhk x2
Gravity Shadow
Masterful Move x2
Monnok
Short Range Fighters
Surface Defense
Tallon Roll x2
Twi'lek Advisor x2
Uncertain Is The Future x2
Locations (11)
Asteroid Field x2
Corulag
Death Star
Endor
Fondor
Kashyyyk (sl)
Kessel
Kiffex
Wakeelmui x2
There's some things I wanted to play but couldn't cause I just couldn't find them/didn't have them (a 5th APTW and a 2nd SRF). I'd prolly take out the Uncertain Is the Future, cause I rarely used them, although they are cool cards, just not useful enough for this deck. Prolly take out the DSAS too, too expensive, prolly play a Vader instead. Anyway, on to the games...
1st game LS vs. Rich Haman's (1794) version of my ROps deck
Rich ran NJ states and made us give him decklists so he could copy our decks, which is cool by me. So he had a good ROps deck, modified to his liking, but my deck was pretty well prepared to beat ROps. He gets only a generic 1st turn, I Revo Ralltiir and draw another Revo. I Signal for Civil Disorder and drop down BoShek to his Forest. He comes down w/ an At-St pilot in an empty At-St, misses a trample and battles, he pulls a 0 though so BoShek lives. I drop like Red Leader in Red 1 or something. He gets out Ice Plains and more generics, I Revo the Ice Plains. Commander Ardan comes down to battle, but he can't beat BoShek's immunity and the empty At-St goes bye-bye. I come down w/ EPP Leia and Han soon after and beat him up for some cards. He Evaders but I sense. I get out some more ships and move to Tatooine. Zuckuss comes to fight there but I'm outpowering him. Soon enough it's too much and he has to lose the ship. Not really much he can do from here, he Evaders my Revos late game but it's way too late to be useful. Game ends before I can get any retrieval going. Win by 25 or so.
2nd game DS vs. new guy's Speeder Ops
Well, 2 guys showed up to play and they had 2 decks total between them so we lent them some decks. 1 of them got my Hunt Down deck, the other got Chris Gogolen's Speeder Ops deck, I commented when Chris gave it to him that I really couldn't beat Ops (Jason Lembo who saw my deck just laughed). So of course I get paired w/ the guy. I'm not too concerned as he's fairly inexperienced and I figure that will be enough of an advantage. 1st turn I drop 2 Ties, 1 at Endor, 1 at Kashyyyk and a PotF at Endor (great start). He comes down w/ Lando in Falcon and battles me at Kashyyyk and I lose my Tie (doh). I drop and battle w/ a Dreadnaught and a Tie, but he just loses a card and runs. I figure a big beatdown on the Falcon is a good way to go, so I setup a Lateral Damage and drop like 20 power on it a turn or 2 later which brings a Houjix (doh again). Well, he drops a Speeder and an Op, but doesn't get out any sites, so I suggest to him he should bring some out. I don't know if he ever searched for a site, but he did get them out. Soon enough he had 3 Ops and 3 Speeders at 3 sites and he's draining for 6 on the ground to my 3 in space thanks to -1 from the objective. So I go drawing like a madman and pray that Chris didn't decide to throw a Grimtaash into his deck. Well I get out SFS, Dreaded Fleet, Return to Base, a PotF on Fondor, and Kiffex as well as some asteroids to recycle ties. So he's draining for 4 and a tie, and I'm getting in a drain for 5 so things are going okay. He spreads out a little more and I drop U-3P0. It's a slow and boring game, but eventually my drains add up and I win after taking some I Hope She's Alright damage and doing my once per game retrieval. Win by like 20.
3rd game LS vs. Chris Gogolen's (1926) Hunt Down/IAO start
I start Goo Nee Tay to his IAO, and he pulls the Endor:DB 1st turn. Chris assumes I'm playing the HB/OMDH/tatooine drain deck I'd played the last 2 times we played (we split games), but he knows different when I drop a Revo on his Med Chamber 1st turn. 2nd turn Revo on Holotheater and Melas to cancel Visage cause it's annoying me. Vader comes down to the DB and he drops Endor. I get out my systems (Tatooine and Alderaan). I setup for a beatdown on Vader. Unfortunately I'm 1 force short, so instead of all 4 EPPs it's just Han, Luke and Obi. He's saving force so I'm expecting a YAB, but I drop all 3 and he doesn't take any action so I battle. 1st action I play Gift of the Mentor. He YABs Luke, I miss my Sense. Obi misses Vader w/ 2 3s, Vader hits Obi, I lose both guys, he loses Vader and a few cards. Next turn Luke tries to drain but he's thinking too much w/ his stomach and goes missing for the rest of the game. I drop down EPP Obi at Chirpa's Hut (fearing a Vader beatdown) and EPP Leia on a ship at Tatooine to get some back w/ an OMDH for 6. Vader comes down to the Endor:DB, Obi gets some company w/ Tawss Khaa and Orri and they go out to the Back Door while Leia runs back to Tatooine. U-3P0 blocks the ground drain, Mara comes down to the Med Chamber and beats on Melas a little. So I have to OMDH again. He comes to space w/ a Dreadnaught, Evax and Lt. Pol, I battle in space w/ some guys but we don't get very far. I move my 3 guys over to Vader to hopefully find Luke. IG-88 joins Vader, he misses Obi w/ the capture, chokes Orri, hits Obi, I miss my swing, I pull a 5 though, so Vader dies while I lose all (Tawss to the Tank). So Tawss goes to kill Mara w/ a tracked 5. We're quickly running out of time, and as time runs out I end my last turn. So Chris gets 1 last turn and then I get another. By now he's got Djas draining at the Back Door w/ IG-88 moved over to the Endor:DB w/ a newly deployed EPP Obi and U-3P0. We're battling over Endor while I've got control of Tatooine. He drops Tarkin w/ IG-88 to satisfy Civil Disorder and battles, but he gets no destiny cause IG-88 isn't alone and he's got only ability 3, so I take out both, he retrieves and I lose w/ First Strike. Chris doesn't battle at Endor, and doesn't move his guys away and this costs him the game. My turn we count our life force, I've got 11, he has 13, no cards in hand for him. I can battle at Endor to get a true tie, but then I notice Wedge in the Tank, and he goes to battle Djas and forfeits to satisfy the damage so I win 13-11. Timed win by 13.
4th game DS vs. John Lolli's (2021) Throne Room Mains
John laughs at my start of Kashyyyk w/ Surface Defense. He gets a good start w/ 2 2/0s and draws. I've got a Ghhhk so I figure I'll see if he drew any ships yet, drop a Tie/LN and PotF at Kashyyyk (no systems in my opening hand). He drops Spiral w/ Leia and battles, oh well, guess he did. He contemplates Altering the PotF cause I'm getting force choked, I would've loved him to, but he decides better of it. This is a bad start, so I begin searching my deck w/ Secret Plans cause there's really no big surprises from here on, and I'm getting 4 force per turn. So I draw up that turn to get my asteroid sector as canceling that drain for 3 at Kashyyyk sounds like a good thing. I get a Twi'lek as well. I eat the drain (holding my Controls). Next turn I search again, contemplating the Twi'lek for Dreaded Fleet, but it turns out I activated it as well as the Death Star, so I draw up for that stuff. Another drain for 3, but next turn I drop my stuff. Before I draw he plays Alter, I Control, another Alter, another Control. So I'm cancelling his drain for 3 each turn w/ an abundant supply of Ties. I get out some more planets, including Kessel, and Return to Base. He fortifies Kashyyyk heavily, Lando in Falcon, every main, ability 4 guys, there's plenty there. I drop 2 Ties at my asteroid at Kashyyyk, a Dread and a Tie at Kessel. He moves to block the Kessel drain w/ Lando in Falcon w/ EPP Luke, Obi and BoShek. I drop some ties, Lateral Damage it, battle play APTW, he senses the 1st but the 2nd goes through. He does play Punch It, so it's my 30 power to his 6 in destinies, he loses all the guys and some cards. Next turn the Falcon tries to run but it gets Gravity Shadowed, no big deal though cause the Spiral just moved over w/ Han, Leia + forfeit fodder and I just ran as I can cancel that drain anyway. I go back to Kashyyyk, draw some. I get out Wakeelmui and SFS, and later Endor or Kiffex. So I've got my Ties recycling in the Asteroids, and he runs Lando in Falcon over to Wakeelmui on it's way to the Death Star to cancel Lateral Damage and it gets backup in the form of Tantive 4. He chases me in space, but he's rarely getting in much drain, as he can't drain at Kashyyyk and I cancel 1 per turn w/ Dreaded Fleet. My Ties are retrieving much of my lost pile, he draws up cause he's getting nowhere but not before I Short Range Fighters once per game. Win by 26.
5th game DS vs. Chris Gogolen's (1926) HB/OMDH/Tatooine drain
Well, by now Chris knows what I'm playing :P. 1st turn I drop a Tie at Kashyyk and Wakeelmui and Kessel. 2nd turn I have no Ghhhk and no Masterful Move so I search my deck w/ Secret Plans and sure enough they are all in there, so I decide to drop a Dreadnaught w/ my Tie, and I drop Fondor. Good thing too, cause down comes BoShek in Red 6 and battles, I lose both I think (could've lost just the Dread, but then I'd need to deploy another to move the Tie away). So I'm now preparing to smackdown BoShek. He's not draining too much cause he's playing HB so his drains are max of 1. He runs to Wakeelmui, I draw and save, he gets afraid and runs BoShek to Alderaan. No beatdown for me, but I do have a Ghhhk now, so it's Tie to Kiffex, Kashyyyk, Tatooine and a Dreadnaught to Kessel preparing to drain 7 next turn. Ben Kenobi comes out to Tat:JP and BoShek ventures out into the open at like Fondor while Battle Plan gets played. So no big drain for me, but I do get to beatdown BoShek. I drop a Dreadnaught, play SFS, he Alters, I control, I drop 2 free Ties, Vengeance (which gets Barriered) and battle, he loses all and a bunch as I pull a good destiny. I get Return to Base out as well, and PotF on Kashyyyk. So I'm paying 3 to drain 3 at Kashyyyk, and 3 to drain for 2 at Tatooine as well. He comes and takes me out at Tatooine w/ Lando in Falcon w/ Wedge and fodder, but I just Ghhhk. So I consolidate now that I have no Ghhhk, Tie and Dread at Kashyyyk, Tie and Dread at Kiffex, Vengeance and some Ties at Tatooine. We battle some, my losing ties to Return to Base and him eventually just running away cause I've got much more space power. I get my late game SRF to retrieve, replace some ties w/ a Squad. I've got U-3P0 blocking his drain w/ Ben who got his Saber, while Orrimaarco is hitting me for 1. He's got 3 force left, I battle him, he loses 1 to DTF and before I can battle again he Alters my PotF and loses his last 2 cards in life force to it. What a way to go. Win by 33.
6th game LS vs. Chris Praskac's (2032) Ghetto Scum
Chris has 4 wins, 1 on time, and I've got 5, 1 on time, so this game will decide the tournament. There were big pairing problems, something about playing a 6 game tournament w/ only 10 players and having 3 of those players drop. Oh well, accomodations are made and Chris and I get to play to see who wins which is cool. He starts JP and No Bargain (hmm, maybe he knew my deck...). I know he's playing None Shall Pass and all that, so it's not gonna be easy to get to JP, and I don't even know if it's worth going there. I get Goo Nee Tay as I'm sure he's playing some high ability guys. So 1st turn he drops the AC from reserve and like 2 1/0 JP sites which is disappointing as I was hoping for some force choke w/ Tawss Khaa at JP, but I drop her there anyway. He drops Jabba at the AC which is far away from Tat:JP. I go to space w/ EPP Han on a YT-1300. Wedge gets added for forfeit fodder. Scum comes out, he drops Fett in Slave 1 at Tatooine, Battle Order, and battles to retrieve, I drop Spiral as a react. He loses a few cards, I lose Wedge. Next turn I drop Leia on the YT-1300, beatdown on Fett, he Ghhhks, I lose the Spiral. He drops Dengar to battle Tawss, she gets hit, he loses Dengar to cover, I lose Tawss. Later 4-LoM in Zuckuss in MH comes down, he battles plays Main Course, I sense but I draw a 5 so it goes through. He pulls 10 for Main Course, so I've got no attrition, and I lose something. I come back next turn to take out Zuckuss in MH though. He has fortified the AC by now w/ Boelo and Ephant Mon and has BFHI out. I prepare for an OMDH run. I've got Lando in Falcon out at Tatooine w/ a YT-1300, EPP Leia, BoShek, EPP Obi, and Orrimaarco. So I drop OMDH, land the YT-1300 w/ BoShek, Orri and Obi while Leia runs to Alderaan. I pay for some drains at JP, while he's paying to drain and activating because of it. Leia runs back to Tatooine and gets backed up by RL in R1. I Effective Repairs for my OMDH and he grabs it knowing otherwise it just cycles infinitely. So I get another run in. IG-88 comes down twice and battles my guys at JP, Chris passes the destiny tracking test and soon enough Obi is back in my reserve deck and Orri and BoShek are both dead for the cost of 2 IG-88s. I quickly abandon deploying to the ground, as it's resource consuming (I'm needing to land ships) and he's just retrieving because of it. So I setup in space, fetch Tibrin, and eventually get my YT-1300 back. I get out Civil Disorder so he's gotta keep deploying stuff as I poor on guys in space. I get Obi and Luke w/ 2 ships at Tibrin so I can get my OMDH back. Leia and Han make runs to Alderaan trading off Lando in Falcon for a YT-1300, while BoShek helps hold Tatooine. So I'm losing 3 force to get my OMDH back, and retrieving 9, which becomes 11 when Melas appears, and 13 when Orrimarco shows up. He's got some drains on Tatooine, and Search and Destroy, and he gets Gallid out so his drains are bigger, but he still can't match my net retrieval of 10 per turn cause he's gotta pay to drain and deploy stuff or lose to Civil Disorder. He comes to battle at Tibrin w/ Fett in Slave 1 but I play Gift of the Mentor so he loses some force and I just replace the Luke I lost. Time is running out and he draws up to give me the full win and end the misery that is infinite retrieval. Win by 26.
There was a box of WB Premeir which was given almost entirely to the store owner's little kid who spent the day following Jason Lembo around asking him questions about SW:CCG cards and trying to learn the game. It was a good tournament overall, more people would've been better, but I'm sure things will pickup in future events at the store. Next week is regionals, should be interesting, gonna have to make new decks as 3rd Anthology will certainly change things, although Ties are still an option, they're fearsome :) - Mike Dalton