jacksonville-florida-7-29-00
Title: jacksonville-florida-7-29-00
Author: Joshua "cyclops" Hoade
Date: Aug 3, 2000
Went to work, came home, Chuck Lund (Gold 43) picked me and Andres Szmuliewizc,(hoped I spelled it right)up, and we drove to Boca Raton. There we met up with Bravo 5, Jeff Alexander, and he was good enough to let us tag along with him. 5 hours later, we were in Jax. Went and hung out with Greg Keefer, who graciously showed us his awesome house. We left and got some food, then checked into the hotel. It's at this moment that I have to stress to everyone that I didn't have a deck to my name for the regional the next day. To make things worse, Chuck Lund left his decks back in Miami, so we're rebuilding his decks, while building mine. When 4 a.m. rolls around I finally have two decks that are basically the same thing.
Light Side is straight Hidden Base, using I'll Take the Leader, along with Yoda, to make my ships immune to huge amounts of attrition. Using the Squadron Assignments to pull out pilots and ships, along with Jedi Luke, EPP Han, Leia, Orrimarko, Tawss, and Obi for a little bit of beatdown, and some extra DB drain. Destiny is a little slack, which comes into play later, but it's still pretty solid.
Dark Side is TIE's without SFS, or the other starship effects. No non-unique starships, except for a Vic. Combat Response lets me pull out pilots or ships, and I make heavy use of the Saber and Scythe ships. Fighter's Coming In keeps them on table, and allows me to get a litle extra drain at DB's, and Lord Vader is there to beat ass for me.
Disclaimer:I tried to remember most events as they were happening. If they read as a jumble, well that's because that's how they happened. The day went rather quickly, and I didn't even notice the cold I now have even though it was apparent all day. If any of my opponents see that I have hacked our game apart, sorry.
Game 1: DS vs. Michael Regina (Training & Manip.)
He uses MWYHL to pull Dagobah and HFTMF to pull Battle Plan, The Way Of Things, and one other effect I can't remember. I start Tatooine, and use Prepared Defense to pull out IAO, CHYBC, and Combat Response. Opening hand has Kashyyyk, Baron Fel, a couple of ships, and my Admiral's Order. First turn sees Kashyyk come out with Fel in Saber 1 there. I drew a few and got Saber 4. He deploys Yoda then draws some. I pay to drain, deploy another starship to Kashyyk, then draw. I get my Broken Concentration, and the Tat DB, along with some more ships and pilots. He deploys Oola and JT 1, and draws again. I deploy a <> DB to Kashyyk, Broken Concentration, and Saber 2 to Tat. Next turn he tries to test and fails. He deploys some characters to the DB, and ends his turn. I stockpile Force, and drain him for three. He doesn't pay to drain, and fails his test again. Next turn, the AO comes down, Mara w/stick, Tempset 1 with DS-61-2 piloting go to the DB and bust up on the chars there. He passes the JT on his next turn and deploys home one and pilots against the lone Saber 2 at Tat. I react with saber 4 and Misc pilot. He loses force to satisfy battle damage, next turn I deploy a buttload of ships and battle. He loses home 1 and force. From then one, I drain him and he draws up. I win by 21.
FW 2(+21)
Highlight:Winning with a deck I hadn't playtested yet.
Lowlight: Not being sure how to play the deck
Game 2 LS vs Ryan Christian(TIE's)
He starts the Death Star Obj., and I've got my RP w/Hidden Base. I pull out Strike Planning, Squad Assign, and Insurrection. He uses Prepared Defense to get Battle Order, Mobilization Points, and another effect I can't remember (It was a long day).
He activates a Force, and goes into his deck to find Wakeelmui. He deploys it and puts SFS on it and deploys another system. He then looks at his one card Force Pile, and he asks me if he can keep activating. I said yes and he continued. He deploys Fel/Saber 1 to Kiffex with a POTF first turn along Dreaded Imp SF. I play Dagobah, grab the hut from my deck, and deply Wedge on RS1 and battle. Ryan draws a 5, I draw a 0. I lose Wedge, he enjoys his ship a little longer. I eat a drain of three for a turn or two, while I deploy my systems. He deploys a couple of interceptors and a Dreadnaught to Kiffex. I get some ships down and flip my obj. He sees this and drains, which I cancel. He forgot to activate before doing so, which I call him on. He let's me go and I deploy Home One, Blue Sqaud 5 w/Torps and Ten Numb, put Blount on RS1 w/cannons, put Hasssn on Home One, and battle. I shoot down Saber 1 w/the cannons, blow the Dread out of the sky with the torps, and draw a good destiny. I lose a pilot, he loses the dread to Return To Base. Next turn he deploys more TIEs, and tries to play Lateral Damage on Home One. I tell him Hassn will cancel it and he takes it back. He can't run, so next turn I pile some pilots one Home One and battle. The difference is like, 12-15, and I start to spread. We battle each other, losing ships like mad. I get Luke and Obi at a Bespin DB and put out my AO. I drain for two and three for awhile, with one getting cancelled by the effect. He's got huge retrieval going, and I don't except for Draw their fire. We have about 5 minutes left, his drains are starting to hurt, but so are mine. With a minute left, I battle and retrieve a force from DTF. I lose pilots, but still have enough ships to cover his drain. With 30 seconds left, he deploys U-3PO to the Bespin DB, and Greg calls it. When the cards are counted DTF made the difference I had 12 cards and he had 10. I take it by 12
3(+33)
Highlight:Playing a really good game against an excellent player. Blowing a Dreadnaught away even though I drew a 1 destiny. Seeing the wonder that is Hassh'n
Lowlight: Timed desicion. I hate them. And what's worse is that I can't seem play in a regional without racking up at least 1. At least we weren't stalled out. It was a good back and forth game.
Lunch break. I'm waiting for the Regional curse to kick in. The curse mandates that I do really well the first two or three games only to ass out on the last couple. Or if it looks like I'm going to do well in my games, someone will unknowingly make a bad ruling against me and ruin a game for me.
Game 3 DS vs Lee Edwards(QMC)
This game was fairly quick. He pulls out his obj, and some effects I can't remember, I change my start to Kashyyyk, but use the same three effects. First turn I put out Endor and Tatooine, and Fel/Saber 1/Tie chain cannons to Kashyyyk. He deploys Battle Plan and draws. I deploy Lord Vader with old school saber to his west corridor. My mistake. Vader gets 1 turn to drain then is unceremoniously whupped by a bunch of eloms, EPP Luke, EPP Han, and Yoxit. I lose Vader and 10. next turn I deploy my AO and Sullust and put Sabers at both with matching pilots. I also, stupidly, deploy a Vic to back up Saber 1. He deploys a LC to a y-wing and spreads on CC. He's draining for 3. Fortunately, I've got a drain of 4, and I deply a <>DB to Kash, with Tarkin and a schlub Imp. He drops Lando and an elom and battles. He misses with Lando, and I clear the site with a destiny 5. I lose sclub imp, and next turn I drain for six and deploy another scrub imp. He takes Lando from the Tank, and deploys him with a y-wing for destiny. I draw another good destiny and he loses both again. Next turn, I drain with my Imp, deploy a ship to Bespin, and Mara to battle Ori at a CC site. He goes, Mara stays, Lee drains and moves, I drain him out. Win by 5
5(+38)
Highlight:Pulling out a close one, not getting discouraged by an early force loss.
Lowlight:Vader getting his ass beat the first time I deploy him. Ouch!
Game 4 LS vs Joseph Matthews(ISB)
He starts the Imp Square, Mobilization points, IAO, and Battle Order. I start the RP and the three effects. He starts the game by deploying a DB from the deck and the Coruscant DB from hand. My starting hand contains no pilots, but does have Tala 2. I get out Dagobah and the Hut. I deploy Yoda, he deploys the Emporer. I'm activating ok force, but he deploys 3 DBs with POTF on two of them, so he's activating his entire reserve a turn b/c of Mobilization Points. He deploys two scrub imps to Yavin 4 DB. I eat a drain of 1 for a few turns, and put out my AO along with GS1 and Gen Calrissian to Kessel. In one turn he deploys Lord Vader with stick to one DB and Fozec in Blizz 2 to Hoth DB and flips his objective. Next turn I get Coruscant from my deck, and see that Lt. Blount is in there as well. Using Squad Assingnments to deploy him, I flip his Obj and it never sees the light of day again. He had one chance, but the Executor was in his force pile. From there on out it was him trying to take Blount off the table, while I continue to beef up Coruscant while draining at Kiffex and Kessel. Jedi Luke and EPP Han battle at the Hoth Docking Bay against a destiny-less Fozec and Blizz 2. 2 destiny draws of 5 clear the site, and from then on, he was locked down. I drain him out and win by 29.
7(+67)
Highlight:Shutting down his objective completely.
Lowlights:None really.
Game 5 DS vs Tony Zamberlay(MWYHL)
He starts Dagobah and gets The Way of Things, Battle Plan, and Wise Advice. I start the same combo from game 3. I have 2 Twileks in my hand to start and one pilot. He has a slow start too, and we both draw a bit. I eventually get Fel/Saber1/cannons at Kashyyyk, along with Kessel. I use my Twilek to get Broken Concentration. I fortify Kashyyyk with a lot of TIEs w/Pilots. He's got three Dag sites and is training DoS. He fails for a few turns, and can't find his other Dag sites. I'm draining him in space, and at a DB with Lord Vader and stick using the AO. He finds his fourth Dag site, and deploys Cap Han/Falcon/Wedge to converted Kessel. He battles I deploy Saber 4 with pilot as react, he loses Wedge to Tank, I lose pilots and ship. Next turn, I Twilek and find Lat Damage, but don't have enough force to deploy ZiMH on same turn. I let him go, and he deploys Wedge from Tank. He completes his 1st Jedi test, draws and saves two. I damn well know he's got the Spial in his hand. I can bloody read his mind it's so clear. Broken Concentration saves my butt again, as I make him put a force back on top of his deck. I deploy ZiMH and Ozzel,deploy Lat Damage at Kashyyyk, and battle. Total power 8 to zero. He loses Wedge and cards. Next turn he completes JT2 and 3, deploys test 4, puts Melas to the Falcon and moves over to Kashyyyk. Lat damage is cancelled. I battle and hit the Falcon with the cannons, immediately lost. He puts Wedge at the DB against Vader and battles, I hack and draw a 5 for destiny. He loses from battle damage. Win by 24.
9(+91)
Highlight:Getting what I needed when I needed it. Broken Concentration. Beating another good player. Winning my first game 5 in a regional.
Lowlight:Mental errors. Not having enough force to do what I want to do.
At this point I'm one of two undefeateds. I find out I'm playing Ben Matthews, who I played last year and earned a timed win against. It was also pointed out that if I won this game, I would be in the final confrontation. Talk about a shcok! I hadn't even thought I was gonna go 3-3, much less this. Nerves galor!
Game 6 LS vs Ben Matthews(Endor Operations, DS2 Drain Thingee)
He plays the Obj and uses Operational As Planned to take Jerjerod, DS2, and Perimeter Patrol. I take out my usual start. I get a bad draw, and he gets a god draw. I have Dagobah and Yoda, along with some other ships and Luke's saber. I get some systems, and try to get something going. He gets Palpy with Overseeing It Personally at the Dark Forest along with an Expand The Empire. The Bunker is full of imp scrubs that add to my deploy. It's either find a way to the planet, or eat a drain of 5 for the game. What's worse I lose my hidden base in a drain, B/C I forgot to pull it out one turn. I finally get my bearings and deploy R2inR1 w/Luke to Endor, and land him. He deploys a beatdwon force, but can't get rid of Luke. I try to hit Tarkin but whiff with a 0 and a 1. I draw a 1 for destiny, and lose force. We go back and forth, but eventually the drains and forceloss are too great. I lose by 22.
9(+69)
Highlights:None to speak of.
Lowlights:Too many to cover.
I end the day 5-1, 9(+69) which is good enough for 6th overall. I can't say I'm displeased, especailly considering my decks were 5 hours old. I didn't even care about winning until I realized there was a chance I could. It was a really great trip and revitalized me as far as the game is concerned. I love the new set! Way to go D!
Now comes the mushy part:
Thanks to Jeff, Chuck, and Andres for being the coolest traveling buddies a guy can ask for. Thanks also to Greg and Kristel(sp?) Keefer for their hospitality and for running a great tourney along with Jeff Alexander and Mitch Velasco. This was by and far the best regional Dagobah has seen so far, with none of the trouble that seems to plague bigger tourneys. A big thanks also goes to my opponents for some great, fun games.
And for now I must digress. It's late, I don't feel so hot, and I don't think this thing could be any longer. If you've gotten this far, thanks for the patience. Hope it was a good read. Sorry I took up so much space. ;-) Cya all at DCon!!!
Joshua Hoade