marlton-nj-6-aug-00
Title: marlton-nj-6-aug-00
Author: Doug "Phrim" Faust
Date: Aug 6, 2000
Well, this was the first tournament in Southern NJ for about a year, which is good, because the tournament was about 10 minutes from my house. Being that Death Star came out, I was frantically trying to come up with decks to play that would work in the new environment. For Dark, I had been playing my Hunt Down forever before Death Star came out, but Honor slaps that in the face pretty darned hard, especially the way I was playing it. I want to try something fairly similar to it, so I give Bring Him Before Me a twirl. The destiny's not quite what it was at in the Hunt Down, but there's more characters and stuff to satisfy Honor. I playtest it, but it turns out that just sitting there with Luke captured is not gonna work, as my objective makes me lose Force for that. So I revamp my deck to go spank Luke around, but that makes it much more difficult to play. Occupying 3 battlegrounds with Vader is one thing, occupying 3 battlegrounds when Vader is busy in the Throne Room is quite something else. So I give my deck a few tweaks, I throw in a Spaceport Docking Bay so I can pretty much get to any planet to grab Luke, and the such. What Light deck to use was a much harder question. I was going to use a deck that used Strike Planning to get Madine and deny the opponent's activation at Endor, but I realized I had no Madine, so that's not good. A couple days later Charlie Herren mentions that we won the Dagobah Regional with a There Is Good In Him/Superfalcon Deck. So I figure out how that works, and decide to give it a try. Basically, it's the same kind of stuff as the old MWYHL Superfalcon deck, but it starts TIGIH. So what you do is go get Luke captured by some random Imperial, making them lose Force until they can get Vader out. When they do, you drop Uncontrollable Fury. Of course, that part doesn't work too well with the new Lord Vader, but most people aren't playing all Lord Vader, they still have plenty of the old ones. Along with this, there's the Falcon with Captain Han and EPP Leia draining at Kessel along with a few other ships (starting with Squadron Assignments, of course), with EPP Leia being much less of a liability now that Hunt Down got smacked. And then there's your Order To Engage, Anger Fear Agression, Legendary Starfighter, etc., for the extra damage. There are a few disadvantages over the old MWYHL version, being that Coward kills retrieval dead, there's no drain control, and without Dagobah there's a lot less activation going on. But it's still viable, especially with additions like Squadron Assignments, Honor, etc.
Anyway, I get to the place about 5 minutes before the scheduled start, and there's plenty of people there. Everyone pretty much showed up by 12:30, and we had a grand total of 28 people! Not bad for the first tournament in the area for about a year. There were plenty of big names there, including TJ Holman, Ray Bordier, Chris Gogolen, John Lolli, Chris Praskac, Joe Young, and Scott Lingrell. So I do some trading before the tourney (finally getting the Lt. Blount I was missing), chat a bit with George Gundry and Tom H-K, and we start.
Game 1: My Dark vs. Scott Lingrell's (1906) TIGIH Endor Stuff
Well, space was certainly in short supply at the store, so we ended up playing at one of the counters. In as many tournaments as we've played in together, I've never actually played against Scott, so that was good. Of course, he's been known to play nasty things like Odds, and I had absolutely zero Odds protection in my deck, so that wasn't so good. Fortunately, we was playing Mains and Scouts on Endor. So I get my Emperor out and stuff, and he gets Madine with Strike Planning and starts pulling Scouts. He has a bunch of Scouts at the Docking Bay, and Jedi Luke and his Saber at some other Endor site, so I use Always Thinking With His Stomach on his drain. He Senses, I Alter, he Senses, I Alter, he Senses, I Sense his Sense and draw a 6 (gotta love that Emperor). So that pretty much established my Sense/Alter control of the table, which is always a good thing. Luke gets lost, so the horde of Scouts sitting at the Docking Bay goes over to find him. They find him pretty easily, as scouts are good at such things, and Luke wanders over to the Docking Bay while the horde of Scouts stays put. So I deploy DLOTS and his Saber to the Docking Bay and grab Luke, then transit over to the Death Star. Meanwhile, I've fetched Rendili from my Reserve Deck with Mobilization Points, and put Flagship Executor and Bossk In Hound's Tooth there; he didn't have much space in his deck, so I pretty much had that uncontended for the whole game. I also got Janus Greejatus at the Cloud City docking bay, I left him alone because most all the mains were on the table, and IAO was out, so I didn't fear beatdown. I spank Luke once for 3 Force, but then he gets out Honor. So I have 2 battlegrounds already, but the third might be a problem. I have my Spaceport Docking Bay in my hand, so I deploy that to Rendili and put Blizzard 2 there. So I duel Luke again, and he loses another 3 Force. On his turn, he drains for quite a bit (he's got some scout that boosts drains, Midge or something), and then kills Blizzard 2 with Melas I think, I used my Emperor's Power to kill Melas too. So on my turn I put down Sim Aloo back at the Docking Bay to get my third battleground for Honor, and spank Luke around some more. He drains some more, and he almost goes and kills Janus with Obi, but decides to just drop him at an Endor site instead. So I go and spank Luke some more, and put ECC Iggy out at Obi's site, knowing that I have a 6 tracked for Weapon Destiny thanks to Janus. So I battle and shoot, but he plays Blaster Deflection, so I draw my 6 for destiny instead. Whatever, I still got rid of Obi. Anyway, he's still draining pretty strong, but I'm draining for 1 at my Docking Bays and Rendili, plus doing lots of damage by spanking Luke, so he runs out of Force. FW+6, 2(+6)
Highlights: Managing to satisfy Honor for so long. If Scott went after me, I'd have a lot more trouble...
Lowlights: Playing standing up
Game 2: My Light vs. Rich Haman's (1776) Ominous Rumors
Well, not the best matchup for my Light deck for two reasons, first he could overwhelm me in space, and second I didn't have any way to keep control of his drains. Despite this, the game started out very well for me. I got out Captain Han in the Falcon and Wedge in RS1 pretty quickly, and moved Luke over to the Docking Bay. He responded by dropping DLOTS and capturing Luke, then moving into the Bunker. So I activated, used Tunnel Vision to get a Signal, then Signaled for my Uncontrollable Fury and deployed it on Vader. I also inserted AFA in his reserve. The AFA pops real quick, and he's losing Force like nothing else because of that and UF. He can't find his Lord Vader, and he's losing all of his systems off the top, so he's short on Force to activate. Of course, I'm not activating all that much either, but his deck needs to activate much more than mine. Anyway, I draw Kessel, but he deploys it first, so I convert it and move my ships over. He deploys some unique Star Destroyer and shuttles Vader up and moves to Kessel. Well, the Fury was probably doing me a lot more good than a drain of one on his part would be, so I just move away. Well, that was a mistake, he's playing Rumors so he drained for 3. In the meantime, he's got the Emperor out on Endor, and has taken over my sites. I play POAS on the Docking Bay, but Janus keeps him draining there, and Mara is hanging out at Chief Chirpa's Hut. So the drains are really hurting. Plus, he finally finds his Lord Vader and replaces him, so he no longer needs to take Fury damage. At this point, there wasn't much left to do but battle. Perimeter Patrol was out, so battling on the ground wasn't really an option. So I put EPP Obi on the Falcon for fodder, battle, and kill some stuff, and Obi bites the dust. We battle a bunch more in space, with me trying to Barrier most of the stuff he puts down, but it's a losing battle because he's got tons of power with the destroyers, and tons of forfeit fodder too. And he played Tarkin too. And I wasn't having much luck at all drawing destiny adders or EPP Leia. So eventually all of my stuff just died. As a last ditch effort, I used Effective Repairs to get back an AFA, but he just drained without activating. Suffice to say, I lost. FL-10, 2(-4)
Highlights: 2nd-turn Uncontrollable Fury. Most of the damage I caused during the game was that card.
Lowlights: My Superfalcon got beat up :-(
Game 3: My Dark vs. Nathan Brown's (1607) Hidden Base/Unique X-Wings
Nathan's a pretty good player, but I'm 3-0 against him lifetime, so I give myself a good shot at winning. I end up drawing the Emperor in my hand, which is bad, because I can't get him out right away. So I can't put him at a Docking Bay right away for lots of activation, as Nathan didn't give me any Force. Well, that changes with the second turn, as Nathan goes and deploys 3 1/1 systems. Well, I happened to draw Vader in my hand, so I choose to deploy him to the Endor Docking Bay instead of going for the Emperor first, as now he either has to give me Luke or lose force. He deploys Farmboy Luke from his Reserve Deck to Vader's site, so I deploy the Emperor and start marching Vader in. He gets out some ships with Squadron Assignments, including ANH Wedge in RS1. I get Mara and her Saber out at Cloud City Docking Bay, along with Sim Aloo. He deploys more and more systems, he gets about 8 out before he decides to flip. Meanwhile, I seem to be having some small troubles with Luke. Even though I have Sim Aloo on the table, I can't seem to be winning duels against him! My destiny's pretty darned good, but I keep drawing my characters for destiny, which is no good. And even though I might leave a 2 on top with Sim, it's always followed by a 5. Anyway, throughout the game, I think the magnificent Lord Vader won duels twice, while the scruffy-looking Farmboy won 3 times. Go figure. So I set up Janus, Blizzard 2, and Iggy at the Endor Docking Bay, and deploy Search And Destroy. He's not playing with Honor, so I'm doing some damage here. But he's flipped and is canceling all my drains, so I draw up some ships to go Probe. He's got Jek in Red 6 at Aquaris, and I have a 6 on the bottom of my Reserve Deck a la Janus, so I activate all but three, and duel Farmboy. Of course, I end up losing, so I have to draw the 6 to see if I win the game, which I of course don't. So instead of having a 6 all lined up to battle Jek with Zuckuss, I have no reserve. So I just deploy Zuckuss to Kessel, probe, then move to Hoth. He moves Jek over to Coruscant, and drains me for a whole bunch. I probe Hoth too, but he comes and kills Zuckuss. So I deploy Boba Fett in Slave 1 to Ralltiir, probe there, but that's not it either, so I move it to Yavin. Meanwhile, I'm running short on Force because he's draining me, and I'm losing Force to my objective while getting little in return. I probe Yavin, and finally find the Hidden Base. It doesn't stop his drains though, as he's draining at Coruscant, Kessel, and for 2 at Yavin because of some SE guy that adds there. So I deploy a Victory to block his drain at Coruscant and move Fett over to block his drain at Kessel. He kills the Victory and shoots Fett with an X-wing Laser Cannon, but he's kind of short on Force as well. Unfortunately, I'm shorter, and he drains me out next turn. FL-3, 2(-7)
Highlights: Well, he wasn't playing with Honor, and that's always a good thing.
Lowlights: Farmboy proving more adept at duels than the mighty Lord Vader...
Well, at this point Pete, who was running the whole thing, said they were gonna have to cut the tournament off after 4 games because we were running late and the store needed to close or something. Oh, well. So I needed to win my last game to break even. I was thinking I might play George because we're both 1-2 with similar differential, but I end up playing John Lolli, the regional champion. Hrm, I dunno about going 2-2 now...
Game 4: My Light vs. John Lolli's TDIGWATT Occupation/Dark Deal
Well, he starts out with the Casino, but puts down Death Star 2: Docking Bay, the Downtown Plaza, and the Cloud City Docking Bay, along with Bespin: Cloud City. Suffice to say, I have plenty of Force to work with. I deploy the Falcon with Captain Han at Cloud City, and move Luke over to the Docking Bay. He deploys DLOTS to capture Luke, and transits over to Cloud City, where he's joined by EPP Fett. I drain at Cloud City, and deploy R2-D2 there. Anger Fear pops, but he deploys Zuckuss in Mist Hunter to Cloud City, and I Barrier it, and he loses 4. I deploy EPP Leia on the Falcon, and try to deploy Wedge and his Ship with Squad Assignments, but Wedge is in my Force Pile. So I battle, and he draws the Emperor for battle destiny, so I have to lose Leia, and my destiny isn't that good so he only loses Zuckuss plus one. I draw another Leia, so I'm hoping he waits another turn before trying to take on the Falcon, but he doesn't. Down comes his other Mist Hunter, this time with Iggy and 4-LOM to give him 3 destiny. He battles, and ends up killing Han and R2-D2, so I'm left with an empty Falcon, and he moves over to Bespin so he can satisfy battle plan. Next turn, I deploy Wedge on his Ship at Bespin Cloud City with Squad Assignments, and put Leia on the Falcon, and deploy Order To Engage, and draw my other Captain Han. He deploys Bossk In Hounds Tooth, and moves that and Zuckuss with Friends over to to Cloud City. I deploy Captain Han, but I'm staring down 4 battle destiny draws, so I move over to Bespin and sit in front of the Executor. He gets out Occupation, and moves his guys back to Bespin. I move back to Cloud City, with my ships, as he's even bigger now. But then I finally draw the card that will end the standoff, X-wing Laser Cannon. He moves Zuckuss and Bossk over to Cloud City, I deploy X-wing Laser Cannons and battle. He Overloads my X-wing Cannons. Doh! But his destiny is... 5! So I easily shoot Zuckuss in Mist Hunter out of the sky, and am now battling his lone Bossk In Hound's Tooth with my Falcon with Capn Han and EPP Leia along with Wedge in RS1. My battle destinies are fairly decent, and he draws Ozzel for destiny. So I end up winning by 20 Force, so he had to lose Zuckuss and 15, more than he had to lose. So I end up winning by 14. FW+14, 4(+7)
Highlights: Reducing his 4 battle destinies to 1 with a single shot of the X-wing Laser Cannon.
Lowlights: If those two destinies would have been reversed, I'd be in deep doo-doo. The 0 on an Overload would have killed Wedge instantly, and 4 destiny would have easily dealt with the rest.
Anyway, it was kind of a mixed up tournament for me, I end up beating two 1900's players, one being the Regional Champion and the other being the State Champion, while my two losses were against people under 1800. Well, that works out for me I guess, as I'm gaining about 16 points on the tourney. As for general comments, the space was pretty cramped, but the store owner seemed really into having tourneys, which is good since they've never had Star Wars tourneys there before. With 28 people showing up, there's sure to be more tourneys there in the future.
Until next time...
--
Doug Faust
Rogue 40, Coruscant