san-diego-comic-con-2000
Title: san-diego-comic-con-2000
Author: Alfred "ThaBraHmaBuL" Dong
Date: Jul 25, 2000
Prelude
Ive been trying to prepare for this tourney weeks in advanced, but with the new cards coming out every word of advice I recieved was lost. Wednesday morning I head to the local store to meet a friend and pick up the DSII goods.
2 boxes, 2 Lukes, Emporer, 2 Vaders and 3 Landos.......everything I couldve asked for plus alot more.
Went home and packed my bags, and woke up at 5 in the morn to catch the 7:30 flight out. I get on the SMALL pile of junk they call an airplane and talk strat with my friend Steven Lee. We arrive at the con and pile on this huge line for hours waiting to get our membership. We head back to the ghetto ass of a hotel and call it a night.
I wake up the next morn, and jump down to the con. Headed to the Decipher booth for a short convo with Cat Ceder, and looked around the booth......the Decipher staff here in full force.....Justin Pakes, Evan Lorentz, Kevin Rietzel, Kendrick Summers, Bruce Umene, the works. I head upstairs to check the competition. Usual people there......James Lafferty, Joseph Floyd, Clayton Atkin, Kevin Shannon, Jeff Field, Paul Feldman, and more......this wasnt one for scrubs. Gary Carmen and Micheal Riboulet showed up and told stories from Worlds and back in UK, and played the local players and checked out some Alderaan tech.
Pairings announced, decklists turned in, and ready to rock......here are the decks.....
LS: DSII Throne Room: Classic Y4 Mains with all that new DSII tech
DS: DSII Enhanced Ral Ops: The same Ral Ops with some Imperials and ships swapped for thier better DSII versions.
The Games
Game 1: LS vs. Alan's DS TIEBO Interceptor variant
I start off with 2 twix sites in opening hand, and Im out-activating him for tons. I drop Tantive to Wakeelmui, Alter SFS, and back it up with Home One. I set up Jedi Luke at the Lower Corridor and he follows up with Lord Vader. He misses the hack on Luke, I hit Vader and pull Luke for destiny so he's hurting. He drops Kashyyk and drops Interceptors there for 4 force each. Wedge and his ship comes down, Lando in Gold Squad One, Home One moves over......he cant move so he battles, I slaughter him for 23 force and thats game. Win by 18.
Cumalative Score: 2(+18)
Highs: LS winning and starting off with a win
Lows: Nothing much
Game 2: DS vs. Tom Mascari's LS Obi's Hut Smackdown Hotel
He starts Obi's Hut so Im thinking hes doing something weird. He comes down with alot of 2-0 sites and now I know its beatdown time. I flip second or third turn, he saves up half his deck. Walkers at all 3 Raltiir sites, he hits the one at the Docking Bay. He Beggars my last force away, and now its time for pain.......every main minus Luke hits table, I get smacked for nearly 30. I aint giving up though, and I drop Chimaera with Admiral Chiraneau to Kashyyk and Im draining for 5 a turn. He comes and battle my guy at the Jungle but ends up killing 5 of his mains due to low destiny and no attrition in the Jungle. My drains are starting to add up and he finally takes out my walkers and stuff on Raltiir, and flies up on Tantive to take out the Chimaera for the game. Loss by 7.
Cumalative Score: 2(+11)
Highs: Playing Tom Mascari
Lows: Losing to him
Game 3: DS vs. Peter Nordstrom's LS Y4 Throne Room Overkill
I'd like to thank Peter for waking me up on Thursday so I could change my LS that night at the hotel....I wouldve done alot worse with Profit. I flip about 4th turn due to a junky hand. I dropped Death Star for activation and he capitolized there with Squadron Assignments for Falcon, Han, Lando, Wedge on his ship, and Home One, nailing me for 2 a turn. Im not gonna mess with that, so I sit and try to build up a fleet. Battle Plan is killing my drains, and I finally decide to attack with Zuckuss, he barriers, Fett, he barriers, thats game. Loss by 17.
Cumalative Score: 2(-6)
Highs: Playing Peter
Lows: Alot of things at this point.....
I take a look at my rating and its pretty bad. Im far down in the hole and its only the third game. DS is 0-2 now, not what I expected. I really liked the way my LS was working, and I wanted to get in at least another game with it before I dropped if I wanted to. Clayton pulls me aside and shows me some of his DSII tech, and convinces me not to quit, as do a few other players, so Im in this till the end.
Game 4: LS vs. Randy's DS RalOps
I control the whole game......opening hand gave me 2 twix sites, Jedi Luke, his saber, and Home One. He drops Kashyyyk early second turn, and I drop Luke to the Home One: War Room(one of the twix, deploy -3 there) and Home One to Kashyyyk(deploy -5 now), move over to Raltiir and shuttle Luke down. He managaes to flip anyways, but sticks a walker in front of Luke. I drop EPP Han, Orrimaarko, and commence the beatdown. He tries and reacts, I Sense. I draw 6 and 4 for destiny, he draws a 1. Its my 26 to his 8, so thats the walker and 12 more. From there, just wants to battle for the fun of it, and send everyone in Lukes direction. Battle Damage plus Wedge draining on Kashyyyk gets me the game. Win by 34.
Cumalative Score: 4(+28)
Highs: Helping him realize the potential of his deck afterwards, and winning more than one game
Lows: Nothing much.....
Game 5: LS vs. DJ Pieraziaks DS Hoth Walker Beatdown
I get to play DJ this game and I know if I win by alot, Im gonna set myself up for one tough game with my DS, which isnt doing so hot. He starts off on the Ice Plains, and drops the 3rd marker eventually. We sit and drop twix sites and activate for awhile, until I finally get sick of it and drop Squadron Assignments for Wedge and Red Squad 1, and Lando with Gold Squad 1 to a DS Kashyyyk. He tries going at me with 2 Dreadnaughts, one gets Barrierred. I drop Home One, Nien Numb, and Tantive and initiate to cause him lots of damage. I drop Jedi Luke with saber alone to 3rd Marker to drain and he tries but fails alot when trying to take him out. Eventually the drains at Kashyyyk are too much and DJ has nothing left. Win by 14.
Cumalative Score: 6(+42)
Highs: Nothing much.....
Lows: Those of you who have something against "Nothing much", then come and watch my game and tell me what the low point is......
Game 6: DS vs. Chris Kroutil's LS MWYHL Training Beatdown
I flip 2nd turn and drain him slowly to death. I loses about 2 Jedi Lukes from his hand and he keeps drawing up. Down comes Jedi Luke with his saber to Raltiir, battles, kills off an AT-ST Pilot. I drop EPP Vader, 3 walkers and pilots, and battle. I chop Luke, he misses Vader, and I pull a 5 for destiny, he pulls a 1, and hes losing Luke and 20 more. Next turn, he draws up and thats game.......and yes, it really was that simple. Win by 40.
Final Score: 8(+82)
Highs: Finishing 4-2
Lows: Having him give up real fast after the huge battle
So I made it through with a comeback from hell......I finished the day 4-2 and earned my right to the 9th place spot. Kevin Shannon had just beaten Clayton Atkin to clinch top seat, and James Lafferty with the close second to Clayton and they play in the final confrontation, which Kevin beats out James both times, by 28 and 17 to my recollection, and Kevin Shannon takes the Open and is going to Worlds. Congratulations Kev, youve definitely earned it.......now for a few props and slops....
Props
Steven Lee: For letting me come down with you to SD, and making this entire thing enjoyable and possible. Thanks alot dude....
Ronald Berg: For driving us around anywhere we needed to go, and for being such a help when needed
Kevin Shannon: For winning the con and proving that you are that damn good
Clayton Atkin: For showing me some Atkin tech and telling me to stick through the tourney
Justin Pakes: For keeping the tournament well runned and organized, as well as everything else youve done
Cat Ceder: For teaching me how to play Austin Powers and making this weekend bearable
Jeremy Commanduer: For showing us where to go for stuff we needed at SD and being the organizer of alot of this trip
The box of Death Star II at Decipher's booth: 6 packs, Emporer and Luke.......can that BE any sweeter?
Dan Mochizuki, Jeff Field, I-Ming Chen, Carl Hardy, Kendrick Summers, Peter Nordstrom, James Bottomley: Just for making the weekend alot more bearable than it was.
Slops
Decipher: I know something just went down at the offices, but prize support has got to change back. Only the top 2-3 finishers recieving prizes just isnt fair and gives us a message of "Hey, you win it all or lose it all"......bring back the glass and the shirts, and well keep playing.
The Pickwick Hotel: For being the @#$%tiest hotel this part of San Diego....roach infested, looks like something out of the Sixth Sense, and in the middle of a ghetto....I shouldve asked for a refund.....
The Con officials: For holding everyone in line until the tournament started, and locking every entrance and exit when the con closed.
I apologize if some of the stuff seems a bit off, I wasnt taking notes this time.....this is entirely off memory.
Any questions, comments, or feedback, please 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 Determines Your Reality"