austin-tx-8-19-sm-report-dsii-discussion
Title: austin-tx-8-19-sm-report-dsii-discussion
Author: Brian "Red 81" Guthrie
Date: Aug 23, 2000
21 players from all over Texas converged on Juniors Cards and Comics last Saturday to break out their Death Star II cards and test new deck ideas. Props especially to Mike Patterson and Eric Berger who made the long drive to Houston to participate (Eric didn't play, but helped me out tremendously. Thanks Man!) The impact of the new expansion was evident from the beginning, with virtually everyone using Prepared Defenses and Heading for the Medical Frigate to get 3 effects on the table to start. When the dust cleared at the end of the day, Jacob Mayer won the tournament as the only undefeated player. Jacob was playing LS Mains and Toys with destiny adders (no objective), and DS Hunt Down and Destroy the Jedi. Jacob's Hunt Down deck was an absolute machine, winning all 3 games by 20+ force. Honor of the Jedi did nothing to slow the deck down, suggesting that Hunt Down may not be as dead as everyone thinks it is.
As for other decks in play on Saturday, I was very pleased by the diversity of themes on both sides of the force. Here is a breakdown:
LS Decks:
There is Good in Him (x4) - 2 with Eloms, 2 with heavy space
EBO/New Secret Base (x3)
Jedi Test to 6 (x3) - 2 used DOS to train, 1 used SOS
Classic Mains and Toys (x3) - 2 on Tatooine and 1 on Cloud City
Heavy Space Swarm, No Objective (x3) - 1 used Asteroids and Cloud Sectors
Hidden Base (x3) - 1 with A Wings and 1 with B Wings
Massassi Base Operations
Endor Scout Swarm (No Objective)
DS Decks:
Raltiir Ops (x4) - All but 1 used Mobilization Points
Bring Him Before Me (x2) - Both used Mob Points
Hunt Down and Destroy (x2) - 1 dueled with Lord Vader, the other was straight power
This Deal is Getting Worse (x2) - 1 played Sabaac very effectively
Seinar Fleet Systems (x2) - Neither started with SYC
Straight Space Power (x2) - No objectives
Endor Ground Pounder (x2)
Ominous Rumors Space Power (x2)
Set Your Course Manipulator - Surprisingly the only one
ISB - People have been scared away by the magic bullets in DS II
Jabba's Palace Alien Swarm - Could have benefitted from Court of the Vile Gangster
With the exception of RalOps (which virtually all LS decks were prepared to face), I believe it is safe to say that no one deck theme is dominating the Central Texas Star Wars meta at the moment. The diversity of the game right now is really quite refreshing. Based on what I saw and heard on Saturday, here are some other random observations about the current play environment:
1. SAC is still powerful, but not many players are taking advantage of it. This statement is especially true for the LS, which can play SAC without concern for There is No Try thanks to Honor of the Jedi. Only 2-3 of the LS decks on Saturday were playing SAC, but those that did were quite successful. I think players will eventually catch on to this and start packing more SAC and SAC defense in their decks.
2. Hunt Down and Destroy the Jedi is NOT dead. With the release of DS II, it appears that most LS decks have taken out their Visage defense and used the new deck space for other things (namely Honor of the Jedi). As a result, I don't think either HDADTJ deck in play on Saturday saw a single Transmission Terminated. Both decks were packing plenty of battlegrounds though, so Honor of the Jedi didn't help the LS at all. I wouldn't be surprised if Hunt Down starts to make a comeback in the next several months - particularly at Worlds!
3. LS doesn't need an objective to win, but the DS does. I found it interesting that 2 non-objective, old school LS decks went undefeated on the day, while the only DS decks with any hope of winning needed Hunt Down, or RalOps, or some other objective to give them a jump start. I'm sure its possible to make a tournament-worthy non-objective DS deck, but I certainly haven't seen one recently. If anyone can think of something, I would encourage you to post it!
4. The new starting interrupts and objectives are great, but starting with 10 cards on the table REALLY changes the way you play the game. You may not think it makes much difference, but starting with only 50 cards in reserve instead of 55+ (before starting hands are drawn) really makes a difference. The impact is subtle, but you can no longer afford to draw up cards willy nilly fishing for the cards you need. If you do, you may suddenly find yourself without enough force to deploy anything. The only deck that isn't affected by the smaller draw decks is RalOps - which is why this objective is so powerful at the moment. Why draw for something when you can use 2 force to pull it from reserve?
5. Of the 2 new objectives, There is Good in Him is more powerful. This may be obvious to some, but several players were surprised that Bring Him Before Me wasn't more successful on Saturday. I'm sure part of the problem is that players are still trying to learn how to use the objective properly, but at the moment, BHBM has definite weaknesses. I think the biggest problem is the constant force loss you face when the objective is flipped. Also, the DS has to carefully decide **when** to capture Luke. This timing is crucial, and many players are still trying to figure it out.
6. Overall, the game seems very balanced right now. After 60 games on Saturday, the LS had won 31 and DS has won 29.
7. Everyone thinks Eloms are the way to go right now against RalOps and other Imperial-heavy decks. I've got news for you: Chadra Fans might be making a comeback. I can't reveal the details, but deck-building wizard Eric Berger is developing a Chadra Fan prototype in his lab right now. I've seen this deck in action, and its close to being a monster! Trust me. ;-)
Before I conclude with statistics and final standings, here some other interesting game events worth noting:
- While Luke and Yoda were training on Dagobah, the DS hired Bossk in Hounds Tooth to discretely transport Lord Vader, the Emperor, and Mara Jade to the swampy planet. The Emperor and his minions finally tracked Luke down just as he completed Jedi Test 5. Undaunted by Luke's high destinies, Vader whipped out his lightsaber and killed his only son. Meanwhile, the Emperor and his Hand took care of Yoda. Needless to say, it was a dark day for the rebellion.
- In another game, Jedi Knight Luke fought bravely against the Imperial hoardes, but was powerless to stop Dannick Jerrico from "eating his soup". So much for all that training!
- Finally, in one of the most exciting games of the day, a Bring Him Before Me deck managed to win a hard fought game at the buzzer by turning Luke to the DS with no time left on the clock. If not for the duel, the LS would have drained the DS out the very next turn.
Here are the final statistics from the tournament:
Games Played: 60
LS Wins: 31
DS Wins: 29
Games Called on Time: 3
Final Standings:
Jacob Mayer 12 (+129)
Mike Patterson 10 (+86)
Joseph Amaya 8 (+102)
Wade Kothmann 8 (+69)
Reid Delfeld 8 (+50)
Eric Clegg 8 (+32)
Kenneth Chang 8 (+10)
Chris Gregg 8 (-6)
Justin Warren 7 (+29)
Ira Babb 6 (+47)
Ted Woodward 6 (+33)
Josh Hutchison 6 (-29)
Philip Olson 6 (-63)
Philip Crawford 4 (-27)
Andres Ortiz 4 (-32)
Lance Rayborn 4 (-41)
Andrew Espinola 4 (-46)
Jim Delfeld 4 (-50)
Michael Payne 4 (-56)
Derick Workman 4 (-100)
Daniel Ortosky 0 (-137)
If you made it this far, thanks for reading! Until next time ..
Regards,
Brian, Red 81
Dantooine (Central Texas)
Brimel@aol.com