deciphercon-beedos-report-day-1-2
Title: deciphercon-beedos-report-day-1-2
Author: John "Crash Beedo" Arendt
Date: Oct 9, 2000
Hunt Down Docking Bays, massive high destiny, dueling, and a decent number of support characters, bounty Hunter ships.
Hidden Base full flip, squadron assignments and strike planning. My rogue tech was Kirdo 3, the desert, and a sandwhirl (and Wedges speeder). Dont laugh, it rocked!
Day 1. After hanging around for 3 hours past the published start time, game 1 got underway.
Game 1 Light vs RallOps (Kenny from Alberta, forget his last name)
Kenny gets Miyoom and some characters to Ralltir quickly, and is generating enough force to scan me each turn, and I watch as mains start flying into the lost pile. I was displeased. Meanwhile, he couldnt flip because I had Red 7 with Elyek Rhue and the Falcon hanging out and draining for two at Ralltir. Finally, Scrambled Trans comes down and my Shocks are on-line so Miyoom desists and my deck asserts itself. Yeah, Scrambled Trans is a crazy card for squassin-hidden base but I hate manipulation with a passion. The Executor comes out to flip but gets bashed down by Power Pivot, and sandwhirl gets rid of Mara Jade and saber in the desert. I land a starfighter to flip him back and the drains at Kessel end the game. (He came down on the landed fighter with a walker, but I barriered the pilot so it didnt hurt too bad). WIN
Game 2 Dark vs Evan Fitzgerald B-Wing Hidden Base
I flipped Hunt Down on the second turn with EPP Vader at the DS DB, followed up by the Emperor and Jabba at the spaceport DB and Search and Destroy. Zuckuss went to space to satisfy the 3rd BG and this forced him to do something deploy EPP Obi to Vaders site. Barrier. My turn, I Monnoked, verified that he had no houjix, and applied the beats with IG 88, EPP Fett, I Have You Now, slashed Obi, that was pretty much game he lost like 20 cards or so. WIN
Game 3 Light vs Matt Allen UK BHBM
Bring Him was very popular set up fat drains with Sabers and Janus at a DB or two and play defensively. Matt did just that, and the game proceeded along with us plinking each other for drains. He had good drains going at Endor and Yavin DBs, and the desert / sandwhirl came down to Yavin with Boshek, Harc Seff and Rogue 3 in the desert to stop the drains on Yavin. (Of course, I game him a Luke immediately too). It came down to him finding my Hidden Base immediately upon flipping, and he had Security Precautions out, so I lost like 8 or so. LOSS
Game 4 Dark vs Johnny Chus X Wing Swarm
X Wings! What the hell!? It was a brilliant deck by Johnny, it matched up really well against the crap people were playing, and his deck cleaned up on day one. No one expected it he started Wise Advice/DoDN for SAC protection, had all sorts of drain canceling going on. He pretty much just took Hunt Down into the back alley and worked it over with a lead pipe. Battered and bruised, I wished Johnny good luck, it was really unfortunate he got DQd a few games later, he was playing very well. LOSS
Game 5 Light vs Hunt Down Eric Olson
I dont remember a whole lot about this game other than he got set up at the DS DB with the stack (Vader, Tarkin, Emperor, Mara, etc) and I got the fleet going to Endor for cheap, and then I popped the Kirdo 3 trick to get Jedi Luke at the desert to flip Hunt Down and make him lose to Visage. Out came the Executor to Kirdo 3 to face some ships (barrier) and next turn it got the treatment the power pivot. What was really funny was that Vader / Tarkin had headed for the Exec DB to get to the bridge of the Executor, so when the Exec went down to the power pivot treatment, so did all the Hunt Down sites and Vader Tarkin. Rough. WIN
Game 6 Dark vs Ian Powell Canada (MWYHL Testing)
This game had some comedy. I got the fast flip, while he had honor. Mid game he came down with Luke and Han on the Falcon to Kessel, but he couldnt drain (flipped Hunt Down). So he dropped EPP Obi, Leia and Cracken to the CC Lower Corridor to flip me back and start me losing to Visage. I picked up Vader. He drained for 5. Next turn, deploy Vader, and since I knew Circle was deeper in my force pile than the six I used to deploy, I drew slowly. Sim verified he had a crappy destiny, my destinies were stacked (Janus and Operational as Planned the god stacker card) and so Obi went goodbye. During his turn, he used Sorry About the Mess on Vader, tracking a 7, and drained for 5. Youch. Choke Vader came down on my turn, choked Leia, and beat down on Crack-head. So that was it. But we had a fun game, and got in some hockey talk. Go Avalanche. WIN
Game 7 Light vs Alex Tennet Hunt Down
I believe this game was similar to the previous one against Hunt Down Kirdo 3 popped the desert, where I put down Luke and Obi and made him lose to Visage (Boushh hung out at the DS DB risky with Force Lightning, but she stuck around a while) and that was pretty much it. Whats funny is that if they pick Vader up, the Jedi shuttle to Kirdo 3, and dark side risks having Vader sandwhirled so they dont know if he should come down or not. It messes with your head. Anyway, it was nice meeting Alex, and I thought his BHBM Manipulator from the EC championship was a freaky deck. WIN
Game 8 Dark vs Raphael Asselin MWYHL Direct Damage
Raphaels deck was pretty frightening like 6 or so Out of Commission, lots of Anger Fear, Uncontrollable Fury, Order to Engage, Mega Falcon scary stuff. He made a big mistake early, dropping EPP Leia to battle EPP Vader (thinking he could play Out of Commission early) but Leia couldnt battle, so she got beat down by the bounty hunters and I Have You Now on my turn. That was pretty much it; Anger Fear did its thing, and Uncontrollable Fury came out, forcing me to draw for YABs. The superfalcon was in space, but it didnt stand up to Zuckuss, 4-Lom, Bossk and Main Course. Main Course is very good in Hunt Down because they always play Han and an alien pilot on the Falcon I think I even flipped two 6s to reduce his power/attrition. Just watch out for Punch It. WIN We played a pick-up game right afterward, to see if he could have done things much differently, and it turned out pretty similarly. I have to say, I like the Quebec playing style, they build solid decks with some fun tricks looking forward to seeing some of their Worlds decks posted.
So, that was it for Day 1 I made it to Worlds again, I was pretty happy, 6-2, decent differential. The competition at Day 1 was fierce, because a lot of competitive players made the trip since so many seats were available. The pockets of tough competition seemed to be the German crew, the Quebecers, and the Albany crew. Last year, after Day 1, I stressed out about deck design and changing things up, and didnt get much sleep for Day 2. This year, I decided to sleep in, and go with the same decks definitely a mistake, I could have made some changes and done better.
Day 2
Game 1 Dark vs Tim Guzman Profit
I started Jabba and Boba Fett as aliens, flipped early, and got the Emperor and Janus going. Altered Honor. We had some skirmishes outside Jabbas Palace, nothing too big, dark was firmly in control, but IG 88 did get squashed under a door. I think I did a Monnok for two Bens, that was rough (I think it was this game it happened). Some spies came down to the Holotheater to cancel Visage, where they were counter assaulted for about 6-7 cards before I played Come Here Big Coward. Jedi Luke came out to play, and got turned to the dark side. Profit was remarkably effective at running away and causing damage even with all the bad things that were happening to the light side, so it became a closer game. It was over when Dark Jedi Luke played I Have You Now on his sister vert cool. WIN
Game 2 Light vs David Destefanis (Italy) Hunt Down
HB Strike Planning satisfies Honor first turn at Endor, so it puts pressure on Hunt Down to get Vader early. David had to play Presence on the Med Chamber to stop the Visage damage before getting his Tatooine drain sites going. By this time, HB was flipped, I was firmly entrenched at Kessel, and I had drawn the Sandwhirl. The Emperor came down to the Jundland Wastes, and I dropped the Desert and the sandwhirl next door. Unfortunately, he deployed a walker the Emperor could scurry too, and for a while, the sandwhirl kept sliding back and forth on Tatooine (it would have been funny to sandwhirl the Emperor). Eventually, he put down the Cantina for some characters to go to, the Sandwhirl went away when it reached the Cantina, and Jedi Luke went down to the desert and battled Igar there using the Force is Strong and cleared the site. WIN
Game 3 Light vs Alex (?) Montreal Regional Winner Big Blue
I got to verify his deck on the first turn when he had no Docking Bay and saw that it was all about force generation sites, lateral damage, tallon roll with some Scythes. Whew. Was I glad that I played Gold Squadron 1. Yeah, people pan the immunity, but its got better maneuver, and the regular Falcon wouldve went down hard to this deck. Instead, we both got set up, with me flipping hidden base when I had a big crew at Kessel and some guys at the Kirdo 3 desert. U 3PO came to the desert, I put my guys on the speeder, and next turn put out the sandwhirl (this was all to get around battle order). Meanwhile, he had Chim-chim-chiraneu and Ozzel on some star destroyers draining but being cancelled at the early parsecs. The game came down to this: Aquaris to Kessel is 4, and none of the star destroyers could make the jump. He put down some ships at Kessel, but they got beat down (Zuckuss got lasered) letting me play Legendary. WIN
Game 4 Dark vs Martin Akesson Sweden throne room staging areas
Martin had a whacky deck, starting Throne Room with staging areas / insurrection for force generation and playing some cheap characters and using lots of twix sites. It looked very rough against Ralltir. However, against Hunt Down where there is only one or two battlegrounds it seemed risky. I altered Honor and got set up at the two DBs one with Vader, the other with Emperor, Sim, Janus. He cancelled Visage almost immediately with 2 spies, who got counter assaulted, and then I put out Big Coward. He owned space with Home One, Thaneespie, Jeroen Webb. Jedi Luke and Leia knocked Vader off the table with Skywalkers, and I dropped a Choke Vader back to the Rendilli DB. Jeroen and Thaneespie shuttled and Melas transited to the same site. Key play his only card in reserve deck was a 5, so Sim Aloo couldnt help save Vader from the attrition when he battled next turn, but Main Course did reducing the attrition enough to keep Vader out. Meanwhile, Vader got to play I Have You Now and choke someone, clearing the site. WIN
Yep, its true I was like 4-0 at this point, looking good for Day 3 but then the beatings started.
Game 5 Dark vs Bastian Winkelhaus flip Hidden Base with OMDH
I played this game horribly, especially not leaving enough force at one point to play battle interrupts vs Draw their Fire (very costly) he had Luke, Han, and Leia vs Vader, and I had lots of battle interrupts (I Have You Now, Scruffy Nerf Herder, You are Beaten) that would have made it costly for the light side. Of course, if I leave force, maybe then he doesnt deploy and battle, right? Anyway, he cancelled Search and Destroy there, and a used Grimtaash had knocked all of my ships out. Easy game for him, I played like a scrub. LOSS Cool tech use Alderaan as the hidden base so if Honor is out and they dont have 3 BGs, knock the damage down by 2.
Game 6 Light vs Clint Hays Ralltir Bikers
I do not know from which dark corner of their minds Clint and Steven dug up this heinous deck, but I had very little chance once it got going. Basically, it was cheap Mob Points Ralltir, only using like 8 Ralltir sites with Bikers and bikes to cover all that turf and add like +8 to destinies (+9 with the system). Overseeing it Personally gives them all +1 drains, and he had inserts, too. I hung out at the system making it hard to flip until the Executor came out, but I didnt draw my power pivot and he was adding like +8 to destiny draws or so (so each battle would cost me like 13 attrition). Light space is good, but not that good. Meanwhile, the Emperor was on his shuttle at Carrida having a party and satisfying Battle Plan. I could not draw a laser cannon for the life of me to go shoot it down, and two turns of drains along with Search and Destroy was too much. A Surprise Assault on some troopers knocked some cards away and made the score closer than it was. Not surprisingly, Clint went on to finish 7-1. LOSS
There was a bit of a controversy about Clints deck, like 90% of the cards were completely blacked out except for the titles and game text. It was extremely annoying, because were all so used to glancing at a card and recognizing it from the color and picture and making a mental note of what it does. Of course, the fact that it was so annoying made it twice as funny. I thought it was hilarious, especially since blacking out cards is currently legal, but it tweaked a lot of players. What would Worlds be without some antics? You watch, therell be a Clint Hays-no-coloring rule made in no time.
Game 7 Dark vs Matt Sokol Chus X Wings
Had I made some changes to my deck based on how well Johnny did the day before, I might have taken this game. (But I didnt scrub!). The game went pretty fast, with Matt getting a big crew at Kessel and flipping early, and deploying some drain cancelers (Projection on Rendilli DB, Rebel Fleet). I counter assaulted for some cards, but really could have used a second one. I probed his Hidden Base at Kessel, making him lose to Security Precautions, and ran away, losing to Order. Obi went down to the Yavin Forest to flip Hunt Down, and I picked Vader up and dueled Obi next turn. So, even with hitting a counter assault, security precautions, and duel, the fat retrieval kept him going, and Civil Disorder killed me. Civil Disorder was so money in that deck. It was pretty close, I think he won by one card. LOSS
At this point, I was pretty much done. I went from 4-0 to 4-3 with bad differential. I joined the ranks of other quality choke-artists from Colorado (like, uhmm 1986-87 Broncos, 1989 Broncos, 2000 Avalanche).
Game 8 Light vs Tim Guzman BHBM
Ahh, Tims revenge. Tim played like a champ, and smacked me with twelve battle damage at one point against Obi and Orimaarko. My head wasnt really in the game anymore after losing 3 in a row, so this was just another kick down the ladder. Not trying to take away from Tims victory, but it was kind of over before it began. LOSS
So thats it. I had a great time, I spent most of it hanging out with Neal and David, saying hello to people I met at Worlds last year like Paul Feldman, Maarten Logghe, and putting names to faces meeting the Albany crew, Jim Li,, TJ and Chris Praskac, Hayes Hunter. Finally got to play Tim Guzman, weve been in a bunch of regionals together but never sat down for one. Tatooine sent a bunch of people to day 2, me, Tim, Kyle Craft, Josh Martin, Matt Berta, Chris Shaner, and Jeremy Lamere (honorary Tatooine member since he lived here so long).
The funniest thing I heard all weekend was this: someone was asking TJ how his light deck matched up against Ralltir, and I hear him saying, Its like a giant TJ walks up to the planet, and all the people are looking up as I open my zipper and my giant @#$% comes out and blocks out the sun, and all they see is this giant @#$% pissing all over their world. Thats what my deck does to Ralltir.
Congrats to Matt Sokol for winning it all, bringing the title back to America. Good job. Also congrats to Yannick, second place was pretty awesome, and Kyle, for making it to Day 3 and doing pretty well when the rest of the region scrubbed out a bit. See everyone at Worlds next year. john