glenside-pa-27-aug-00
Title: glenside-pa-27-aug-00
Author: Doug "Phrim" Faust
Date: Aug 29, 2000
Well, it was my friend Mike Vitarelli's last weekend before going back to school, so we decided to take a trip across the river to Ted's monthly party. Mike seems to be in a non-interactive mood, and ends up taking a MWYHL/AFA/Off The Edge with droids for Light (with systems for battlegrounds), and a SYCFA/M'iiyoom Deck for Dark. Myself, I decide to keep my HB/Strike Planning deck, as it did go 3-0 last tournament. My BHBM deck, on the other hand, went 0-3 last tournament, so I threw that one out. :-) I think something that can drain fast an furious would work well in the environment, so I throw together a Dark Deal deck. I don't use CC Troopers (easily shot) or Walkers (everyone plays anti-Walkers and anti-Reacts to beat ROps), but instead use Big Ugly Imperials (tm). 3 Vader, 2 Emperor, 2 Mara, Janus, Sim, etc., and Sense/Alter. And of course lots of stuff to battle, like You Are Beaten and I Have You Know. And I start Crush, as every Cloud City deck should do. :-)
So we get there without a problem, and there's a *lot* more players than I expected. We ended up getting a total of 25 for the day, and I didn't recognize like half of them! Sure is nice to see a lot of new faces in the game; and it seems like most of the tournaments I've been in since Death Star have had over 20 people. There were some good people there too, big names included Chris Praskac, John Lolli, Joe Young, and Livio D'alessio. We get started pretty close to the start time, here it goes...
Game 1: My Light vs. Dan Bordier's (1772) TDIGWATT/CC Troopers
I feel this is a pretty good matchup for me, as I've got Hidden Base to cancel his big drains, and 3x EPP Obi and 3x EPP Luke to go smack around his Troopers. First or second turn, though, he gets down some CC Troopers (destiny 3) and plays Odds, and it pops right away. So I'm down 9 Force right in the beginning. We both get our stuff set up, and I deploy Boushh to block a drain. I draw TK-422 as well, but Dan has no Imperials so it does me no good. I come down and kill a Trooper with EPP Obi, but he comes back with SE Fett and some more Troopers and tries to kill Obi, but I Clash Fett and kill more Troopers. He gets rid of Obi next turn, and I get my HB flipped about the same time he gets his Dark Deal out. I have General Lando in the Falcon at Kessel (with a Punch It! in hand), and Wedge and some SE pilot at Roche; but I never did get Kiffex out, so Wedge can't get over to Kirdo and Coruscant. I deploy another Obi and try to battle some Troopers, but he gets Stunning Leader'ed and then gets killed next turn (taking some Troopers with him, of course). Dan deploys the Executor at Coruscant, and starts draining there. But right now, with HB and Boushh, I'm canceling all his big drains. He moves the Executor over to Kirdo, where he can't drain, but I'm worried because that's my Hidden Base. However, he keeps forgetting to probe, so I'm safe for a few turns at least. I deploy a third Obi and wipe out some more Troopers, and manage to keep the site without Obi dying. He finally does Probe, though, so Dark Deal is going to start to hurt. He throws another Odds at me, so I'll lose 6 when it pops. I try to position Obi to block his drains, but they're cutting me down, so I need to do something. He's incredibly spread out, and I've got enough characters to go cancel Dark Deal, so I activate, and then Odds pops. So I lose 6 Force, leaving me with only 5. So I deploy Lt. Blount and Ryle Torsyn in front of some lone Troopers he has, break Boushh's cover, and along with Obi, cancel Dark Deal. However, I don't have the Force to get Ryle or Blount out of the way. He drains for a few, and kills my guys, but doing no battle damage. Next turn, I drain him out. FW+3, 2(+3)
Highlights: Playing a close game and coming out on top.
Lowlights: If he probed even one turn earlier, as he should have, I would've lost...
Game 2: My Dark vs. John Feather's (1482) Space Deck
John was a fairly new player; I had to remind him to drain and the such. Not really sure what he was playing, either, seemed to be just random stuff. Anyway, before I put anything down, he put a lone Kabe at my Carbonite Chamber. This confused me. He did manage to get a drain in there though, as the only character I had in my hand was 4-LOM. I did draw up a Lord Vader though, and deployed him with his Saber and smooshed Kabe. I moved Vader over to the CC Docking Bay for extra generation from Mob Points, and he deployed Premiere Obi and EPP Luke and battled Vader. He missed Vader with Luke, I hit Obi with Vader, and I played I Have You Now, so he lost everything and I lost nothing. He deployed Yoda at the Dagobah Swamp (*shrug*), and then deployed some random pilot on Red 2 at Tatooine, with Proton Torpedoes. I deployed Fett In Slave 1 and killed his ship, he couldn't hit me with 7 maneuver and didn't get past my immunity. Meanwhile, I get Mara with her Saber set up draining, and put some ships at Bespin: CC to drain there too. He deploys Tantive and a Corvette at Tatooine and wants to battle, but I tell him it's probably a bad idea, with my 7+destiny to his 10 and no destiny. He takes my advice, but doesn't move, so I battle and take out a Vette. He deploys 3 more Vettes on his turn though, and squishes Fett, and I have to lose Fett plus four more. So he manages to secure Tatooine, but I'm draining with lots of Sabers on Cloud City, and has already taken some big battle damage, so I shortly drain him out. FW+33, 4(+36)
Highlights: Well, I won...
Lowlights: Wish I could've played someone more on my level.
Game 3: My Dark vs. Greg Hodur's (1852) Jedi Testing
Well, Jedi Testing is certainly not what my Dark deck likes to see. He gets trained with Melas pretty quickly, and I get some sites out and put Mara with her Saber at my Docking Bay. He deploys Jedi Luke with his Lightsaber and battles Mara, he hits Mara and I don't hit Luke, so I lose Mara plus a few more. I get Lord Vader in my hand, but he's got Order To Engage out, and I don't want to challenge Luke without a Lightsaber, so I put him at the DS2 Docking Bay. I get the Emperor and my other Mara with her Saber out at another CC site, and he reinforces Luke with EPP Obi. I've got a YAB, Circle, and a IHYN in my hand, so I decide to make a stand, and move Mara and Vader over to the CC Docking Bay, where Luke and Obi are waiting. He deploys EPP Leia, Capn Han, Orrimaarko, Tawss Khaa, and battles, predicting he'll win. He hits Mara with Luke, I Circle Obi, I miss choking Orrimaarko, he plays I Know, I play I Have You Now, I YAB Luke, and I hit EPP Leia, but he draws his 4 destinies (being the complete idiot that I am, I completely forget about Crush) and I draw 3, and I lose everything and a few more; he loses everything but Tawss and the YAB'ed Jedi Luke. Having lost most of my characters, the game goes downhill from there. I deploy DVDLOTS with his Saber, but Luke and Tawss make short work of him. The Emperor manages to stay alive somehow, but in the end, there's nothing I can do. FL-27, 4(+6)
Highlights: Testing didn't affect me much... cause I never deployed Dark Deal.
Lowlights: Forgetting about Crush...
Game 4: My Light vs. Joe Young's (1945) Royal Guards on Coruscant
Well, I've heard a lot about Joe's crazy Royal Guard deck, but I didn't really know how it worked. I convert his Coruscant pretty fast, so he can't keep my off his planet by occupying the system. He starts loading up Royal Guards at the Coruscant Docking Bay. I try attacking him with Col. Cracken and EPP Obi, but he pokes Cracken with a stick, draws 2 destinies, and manages to take out both, I miss the Royal Guard with Obi's Saber, and only manage to put his stick in the used pile with my attrition. He keeps stacking his guys at the Coruscant Docking Bay, and he's complaining that he can't draw his Force Pikes. He deploys Ability, Ability, Ability, though, which bothers me quite a bit. I get my Hidden Base flipped, and he comes around and starts to probe my systems. I get out TK-422 and Boushh to block his small drains on Coruscant. Then I have to start deploying worthless guys in the back of the Falcon to satisfy AAA. He puts down Fett in Slave 1 and a TIE Interceptor with a TIE Cannon at Kessel and battles my Falcon. He misses with the TIE Cannon, so I play Punch It!. I knew I shoulda read the TIE Interceptor text, though, as he shot the Falcon again and destroyed it instantly. Wonderful. I deploy Home One and take out the Interceptor, and Fett runs away. I've got Wedge in his ship with some SE pilot in his ship at Kiffex, but he deploys a lone TIE Interceptor there with a TIE Cannon, and destroys both instantly. He shortly finds my Hidden Base. I try doing some more damage on the ground, but I'm no match for his guys with sticks. And with Home One being my only ship remaining, he takes over my systems and drains me for a lot there, and I lose. FL-15, 4(-9)
Highlights: Well, at least I lost against one of the best in the region. :-)
Lowlights: TIE Cannons ripping apart my entire fleet
Game 5: My Light vs. Jack McGuigan's (unrated) Space Deck
This was Jack's first tournament, and he seemed like a pretty cool guy. I felt kind of sorry for him though, as his starting location was Endor, and I started Strike Planning, which canceled his activation there. Anyway, I got General Lando in the Falcon out at Endor first turn, and threw Madine in the back seat. He deployed the DS2 Throne Room for more Force, and I deployed Roche from my Reserve. He didn't want to get in front of my Falcon, so he deployed DS-181-3 on Saber 3 to Roche, not knowing that he couldn't drain there. I deploy Lt. Blount and EPP Obi to his Throne Room to get some extra draining. He battles me with Moff Jerjerrod and Admiral Motti there, but I Clash Motti and beat up Jerjerrod. I get out Kiffex and deploy Wedge in his ship with a X-wing Laser Cannon there. He tries attacking it with an Imperial-Class Destroyer and a TIE Interceptor, but I shoot the TIE Interceptor and make him lose everything. I finally get the rest of my systems out, and move the Falcon to Kessel. Motti can battle now, but he doesn't have anyone to back him up, so I deploy EPP Luke and beat the snot out of him. So I'm Force draining at Kiffex, Kessel, and his Throne Room, and he's not draining at all, so I win. FW+22, 6(+13)
Highlights: I won.
Lowlights: Beating up on a newbie. Really unfortunate about starting Endor too, his Force activation was like nothing in the beginning.
Game 6: My Dark vs. Dan Bordier's (1772) Random Pile of Cards
Well, I start off paired against some little kid, but there's a pairing problem and I get re-paired against Dan Bordier. But there's another problem and I get paired again against some different little kid, and then get paired once more against Dan Bordier. *shrug* So Dan's got a chance to get revenge on me for my win against him earlier today, and he's wielding this pile of 60 commons bound in a rubber band. Dan's goal today was to win once with that deck, and he did earlier by 41. So I wasn't quite sure what to expect, so I just got my stuff set up. He started with the Endor Rebel Landing Site, and just piled all sorts of guys there: Baragwins, Ishi Tibs, Endor Scout Troopers, etc. I put Vader with his Saber at the CC Docking Bay, and the Emperor and Janus at the Carbonite Chamber, to drain for 2 at each site. And I got some ships at Cloud City, too. But he's losing weapons and retrieving them with Baragwins, and he keeps Surprise Assaulting my Emperor and Janus (with varied results). I'm just eating his drain of one no problem. Eventually I get Mara with her Saber out at the Lower Corridor, and deploy Dark Deal. He doesn't have much to do about it, and starts just taking my large drains. He gets out the Back Door and moves some guys over, but he can't do anything about my drains. So eventually he just gives up hope and battles my Emperor and Janus with his lone Figrin D'an, and loses the game. FW+20, 8(+33)
Highlights: Dan's funny. (Good highlights, eh?)
Lowlights: Umm, I dunno.
Anyway, I finished in like 8th with a 4-2 record, and I'm happy since it's the first time I've gone 4-2 in a tournament the entire summer. About time I get out of this slump of mine. Anyway, mad props to Ted for actually getting the tournament done on time, despite the 25 people and pairing weirdness during the last game. Chris Praskac ended up winning the whole thing, going undefeated against some of the best players out there. It was really exciting seeing all the new faces, too, maybe a few of them will develop into the next generation of Philly's finest...
Until next time...