melbourne-11-20-2000
Title: melbourne-11-20-2000
Author: Luca "Luca/Tzizvvt" Costanzo
Date: Nov 24, 2000
Hello all. Originally, I wasn’t going to write a TR, but I am currently in a Visual Basic class with nothing much better to do. Giles Emery posted a report of this tournament earlier, so I have been inspired :)
My story starts about two weeks ago at the JP OTSD pre-release. I get this strange idea into my head that ops are completely unexpected, so no-one will play the op killers. This idea proved to be right on the money. I turn up with some random Light ops deck and play it against Stuart Jones, Michael Josem and Kevin Ch’ng. Needless to say, I lose every game (BHBM and Hunt Down are both really fast, and extremely flexible), however the margins are really close. I decide to try to tweak the deck and give it a serious shot. Unfortunately, though, I haven’t received my DII yet (peoples, Addictive Behaviours is a @#$%house store), so I talk to Joz and he’s able to lend me a bunch of stuff. For dark I opt for Brangus, seeing as it is a fun deck to play, has almost no bad matchups and rewards skill:) By the way, this tournament was run by Michael Josem and held at Australia on Collins.
Decks:
Light: Ops with major tech.
Dark: Bastian Winkelhaus’ Brangus deck (with a few changes).
GAME ONE LS vs. Rodney Lee’s BHBM
Rodney is one of the better players in the area, so I’m not exactly ecstatic to be playing him first round with a deck that I made pretty much as a joke. He gets Palpy to the farm, then plonks GOD with him. Recurring Luke kills a few of them. Meanwhile, I set up some ISHI-TIBS (minor deities) at the docking bays. I deploy desert next to the farm, and Rod’s dudes are stuck. Rod deploys first strike, and this forces him to have to deploy Darth to the farm, or stick Luke will just keep coming back to ream Palpy and co. I opt to go and kill Mara, who has invaded my docking bay, but Luke gets YABbed. This is where I made my first error. I should’ve edged Luke to kill him and re-deployed him next turn, then shackled him to Vader. For some reason, though, I just chase around Mara. This was no real biggie, though. I’m looking sweet ’cause I’ve flipped and I’m catching up by saying ’drain 6 to his ’drain 3. Super-Falcon goes to Tibrin (told you I had tech :). I make mistake number two: Dread, Dominator, Lateral Damage and Dengar come to kill it. I force him to forfeit all but one ship, but I mistakenly forfeit everything instead of Leia and losing two force, to beat down on his ship next turn. This really sucks. Basically, I eventually get Luke shackled to Vader. Rodney tries to brainstorm how he can win. Beeing a good sport, I point out that he could march Vader into the Sandwhirl. Full loss by 1
Highs: Rogue deck that actually turned out to be really good. Got sand into Vader’s pants.
Lows: Made two mistakes, which ended up costing me the game. Problem was that Rodney made more, but he ended up winning. Such is life :)
GAME TWO DS vs. Some Guy’s Massassi Base Ops
Sorry, I didn’t take names down because I wasn’t really planning on writing a TR, but here we are. Basically, I set up really quickly and do all of the funky @#$% (Monnok you lost. No doubles, huh? Ok, exchange a docking bay. Monnok you used.) Mara has the unique ability to deploy wherever she damn well wants, which she does to beat up a bunch of rebels (Oh no- you killed Mara. I’ve got this docking bay card and this Brangus Glee card…). I haven’t ever played against MBO before, so I figure that the best way to go about it is to just set up drains and kill him before he can do anything bad to me. I set up drains, but he flips. John Lampe walks by and sort of casually points out that it would be funny to see my Death Star blown away.
He tries to use Squadron Assignments, but doesn’t find anything. I see that there’s some 3s there and a 5. I mentally add up the attack run. Even if he does draw the 3 and the 5, he’ll have a total of 14. I look at the Unexpected Interruption in my hand and decide not to fetch a barrier. I do, however, use Sim to look at the top card. It’s the 5, so bye it goes. The guy deploys some death star sites (WTF?!). He plays Life Debt, or something random to reshuffle. Deploys Tantive IV to Death Star. Deploys Tiree and ship to Death Star. I’m under the mistaken impression that they won’t be able to give it a shot until next turn. I read Tiree. Adds one. Best the guy can get is 15. Still can’t pass. I look at the Death Star Assault Squad in hand. Next turn, it will be mathematically impossible for him to pass. He gives it a shot. I’m like WTF? Don’t you have to wait ’till next turn? He’s like nope. He goes for it. Draws the ONE 5 and a 3, but it’s ok, because his total is only 15. He moves his guy that’s covering the game text of the Massassi Headquarters. Adds two. F@#k! So I lose my Death Star and about 28 force (about 35 or so cards in total). I’m down to two force. He moves his ships to Wakeelmui. I drain. He drains. I rap Come Here You Big Coward. Next turn, I drain him out. Full win by 2.
2(+1)
Highs: Winning, after losing so much force in one turn.
Lows: Not going for the Barrier.
GAME 3 DS vs. Tim’s Profit/Speeders
Tim’s a new player, but he always has a lot of fun playing. He’s come and borrowed a Strike Planning and Madine off me for this game, so I’ve got no real idea what to expect. I’m feeling pretty stupid because of my differential, but I decide to give it a shot. Profit has traditionally been the easiest matchup for Brangus. Seeing as I love the Set For Stun/Mii’yoom Onith trick, I set myself the goal of keeping Tim on the 0 side for good. Tim starts with Insurrection, Strike Planning and Battle Plan. I thought the Battle Plan was kind of weird, but each to his own … I started with the usual, as well as Mara and Dengar (against my better judgement, I might add). Anyhow, I get a dream draw and deploy Cave, Brangus, Wakeelmui, D* War Room and Mii’yoom Onith on my first turn. Herein lay the cool part: Tim had searched out Madine and General Han during my control phase. Tim decided to deploy some docking bays, but strangely elected to deploy Ben first turn to avoid them being munched. Naturally, this pretty much forced me to use Mii’yoom to eat up both the generals and Lando w/Knife. From then on, Mii’yoom Onith and some barriers kept me in control of the game, after Vader made a quick appearance to kill Ben. Tim eventually decides to try and set up speeders at the Death Star: Docking Bay to get in a drain. Meanwhile, though, Tim set up Tatooine Celebration with Liberty and Independence, but also deployed Home One to Kessel. I looked at the Zuck and Bus in my hand and decided to go and stop the drain, so I draw my 5 and 6 (like I said previously, Janus is a GOD), then move to Tatooine. Tim is forced to throw some random pilot (honestly can’t remember who) on to the cruisers to get enough ability. Naturally, I Set For Stun him and beat up the ships, cancelling celebration. That was game, but John Lampe walks by as I have Tim locked down and am retrieving with Barquin D’an and makes some bet that I won’t be able to win that impressively. With Tim’s consent, I keep him locked down, throw all of my guys in front of his speeders and get them killed, retrieve them, then alter my own effects with Barquin D’an and retrieve them too. Full win by 44.
4(+45)
Highs: Everything went my way, seeing Barquin D’an Altering. Both Tim and I had fun.
Lows: Well, I did forget to move the Death Star up to about parsec 3 so that I could land my ships at the DB, kill them and retrieve them too …
I feel pretty disgusted with that win, so Tim and I agree that I should buy him a muffin :)
GAME 4 LS vs. John Lampe’s Endor Ops w/ DSII
Although this was the first time that John and I had played each other, we hit it off pretty well and had a really fun game. To cut a long story short, once again, I made two errors that cost me the game. The first was exchanging three cards for an Obi-Wan instead of a Houjix, the second was forgetting that old-school Falcon is actually hyperspeed 6 (I’ve been a big advocate of Lando In MF). These two mistakes meant that I didn’t move my lateral damaged Super-Falcon away from two SDs and Ozzel, which I would’ve, had I realised that I could. I thought that Super-Falcon with Obi as fodder would be enough, given that I had Punch It and I knew that of my 5 cards that I had in reserve, three of them were 5s. Presuming that John drew three destinies (That Thing’s Operational and Imperial Command), I was looking to be able to get away with it. What was the flaw in that plan? Yes, I admit it. Like a scrub, I forgot that IC can actually cancel destinies … I was still looking OK, but I no longer had Menace Fades working (more tech- won drain races all the time) and I now had to pay to drain. Full loss by 9.
4(+36)
Highs: Fun game, got Ishi-Tibs set up.
Lows: I know that my deck was actually very good, but losing because of silly little mistakes again … ugh. Ironically, had I stuck with the old-school Lando/Claw thing, I might’ve done better. (NOTE: I specifically avoided this because it’s just crap against the rest of the Melbourne meta).
GAME 5 DS vs. Lee Pullen’s Techy Deck
Lee’s been playing for a while, and he always tries to play things that are powerful and interesting. Unfortunately, like me, he seems to just lose to good players (see game one:). I haven’t given this deck a title, as it’s Lee’s idea and I don’t know if he wants to reveal it. Basically, it was Hidden Base mains and toys with docking bays and some TECH. Anyhow, I get an ok draw, and am able to Masterful Move for the Holotable for some early generation. A first-turn Frustration forces Lee to deploy Ben (just to keep you salivating and wondering what Lee’s tech was, I didn’t target Ben, nor his stick). I get out Cave and Coruscant in short order. Mii’yoom sets up, and then we get ready to rumble. Lee put some guys with Ben and stick at the Tatooine: Docking Bay. I Set For Stun Ben, then Mii’yoom Onith him and a bunch of other guys. Mii’yoom was particularly golden today- murderised about 8-12 guys this game. Anyhow, Lee still sets up Luke and Leia with sticks draining. I wait until he tosses out Sorry About The Mess, then U-3P0 them. Ben makes another appearance, and Lee decides that he should really kill Mii’yoom, so he deploys Order To Engage and moves his crew in front of Brangus at the docking bay. I deploy some ties, retrieve some force, then throw stick Darth and 4-LOM into the fray and kill a few guys. Lee eventually makes it to the War Room and I decide to fight and let him kill Mii’yoom. Meanwhile, Melas and scrub have been parading around Tatooine like they own the place. I deploy Zuckuss, Brangus piloting, exchange a docking bay for Mii’yoom, Mii’yoom and beat him up, only forcing him to forfeit the scrub. Lee deploys BoShek in Luke’s Ship, only to have him barriered. Set For Stun/Mii’yoom later and Zuck fights Melas to kill him. Ben made his way to a docking bay, so IG captured him. Between Mii’yoom and capturing Ben, Lee isn’t left with too much to fight with. Time runs out, but Lee graciously draws up. Full win by 28.
6(+36)
Highs: Deck worked perfectly.
Lows: I’m sure this game was very frustrating for Lee, particularly seeing as it was the fifth and he seemed to be having a bad tournament.
GAME 6 LS vs. Stuart Jones’ Hunt Down w/ boring cooked Chevin Tech
I’m not really expecting to be able to win this easily, so Stuart and I just have a laid back game. What was particularly frustrating was that I had taken out TTs this morning:( Oh well. Wouldn’t have done much, seeing as he Masterful Moved for a Holonet Transmission:) Basically, Vader came down to my Farm. Like a good little prick, I deploy the desert and pin him. Stuart drains me with Vader. I look him in the face and raise an eyebrow. Stuart says “I think you’ve only got one in the deck”. I lose the force. My deck decides to stop working, and not give me Operatives, Chimes or even Ishi-Tibs (could’ve been something to do with that ’Visage of the Emperor’ card). Obi and Luke make an appearance to fight the Emperor. Stu plays I have you now, drawing a 5,6 and 7. So much for that idea. Basically, I end up looking for the LITW and, even though I only have about 15 cards to cycle through, I am unable to find it for another 4 or so turns, before it is far too late. Stu gets me down to 4 or so cards, then inserts and fights the Falcon with Bus. “Do you want to draw two destiny?” We both laughed. Full loss by something.
6(+36 – something)
Highs: Fun, laid-back game. This deck looks like it could actually be really good, with some work …
Lows: I should’ve drawn the damned LITW earlier.
So I end up coming in some disgraceful position. Jones takes first, followed by Rodney Lee and, I think, Terry Lyons. Giles Emery, Ronnie Wilcox, Beng Ti and I head off to HJs to play some games. I pound Giles’ Good In Him deck into the ground with the all-mighty Brangus deck (still good), then I borrow Ronnie’s RANDOM docking bay deck, Beng borrows Giles’ BHBM and we have a game. Beng: I’m starting with BHBM, Insignificant Rebellion, Throne Room and Your Destiny. Me: Death Star Level 6 Core Shaft Corridor:) Fun game. Vader got LiTW (’bout bloody time:), then Jedi Luke sat on top of him. Add in Proficiency and Stick, and he’s looking ok. Emperor, Janus and Sim (I think) came to fight him to get Vader back. Fallen portal, swing and destiny draw later, and Luke wins. Advantage. Power 13 Jedi Luke! Meanwhile, Mara visits Lando w/ Axe. Double Agent. Advantage? Core Shaft Corridor? Double Agent? Ronnie, your deck’s just too cool:) Refreshing Hungry Jack’s Snack, then it was off home.
Some things that became obvious today:
95% of people were playing docking bays. Play spies and Fallen Portal.
Shackling Luke to Vader early against BHBM is a really good play, if you can set up damage elsewhere and deal with the duelling you will win. This effectively makes it fair because even if your opponent does duel you, you have denied them the ability to fight with Vader and Emperor.
Bacta Tank is severely underplayed, so much so that the silver bullets for it are disappearing.
Hunt Down and BHBM are probably the two most aggro dark decks. Between these two and Court, light is usually put on the defensive within the first turn. That’s bad!
Ops are not dead, they’re just sleeping.
Ounee Ta is crap, but No Escape rocks.
Janus is truly a god.
Props:
Joz, for running the tournament and lending me cards.
Ronnie, for having such zany ideas.
Beng, for coming here on your holiday.
Stuart Jones, just for playing cool cards.
John Lampe, for being a dude.
Tim, for being a really good sport.
Giles, for actually bothering to write a report.
Lee, for having awesome ideas and also being a good sport.
CHYBC, Mii’yoom Onith and Set For Stun, for being awesome and random.
Slops:
Me, for erring.
Probability, for screwing me over.
Massassi Headquarters, for screwing me over.
3-3, for being laughable.