mirkwood-minnesota-2000
Title: mirkwood-minnesota-2000
Author: Michael "Gilliatt" Raveling
Date: Nov 28, 2000
Game 1.
My dark side Tie deck versus Josh Grace.
I started with Kuat, Prepared Defences, Mob Points,Oppressive Enforcement and Secret Plans. Josh started TIGIH with Insurrection, Staging Areas, and Aim High. Before I draw my hand Josh looks down at the game area and realizes that he didn’t start with Luke, his saber, Chirpa’s Hut or the docking bay. This was going to be an easy game for me. He pulls all those cards and sets up. We both smile about that. I re-read the part of TIGIH that says NO ALTER as I activate. I deploy Weelulmui. I can safely deploy my Sieneer Fleet Systems and Dreaded Imperial Starfleet. His turn he drains and I cancel with a Tie Scout. He moves over to Endor Docking Bay and sets up for some huge activation. After he finishes he says "shoot I forgot to get a docking bay with Insurrection." Oh well, Josh isn’t playing his best game tonight. I get out Endor system and put a Tie Scout there. I have to pay the extra to retrieve. So I only get two Ties there to defend Endor. On his next turn he deploys Han with Blaster to the Spaceport Docking Bay. I am happy because that means that Captain Han won’t be coming to visit me. He also plays that interrupt that lets you go get the Falcon out of the reserve and he gets Gold Squadron 1. On my turn I deploy Kashyyk and set another two tie Scouts there. Now I save 3 force. I have an Imperial Barrier in my hand and a Set For Stun. So I am confident I can take the Falcon. On his next turn he activates and drains me. I cancel the Endor drain with a Tie Scout and have to lose one. He doesn’t deploy the Falcon though and instead sets up his Ewok Catapult with an ASP droid. He also sets out Battle Order. On my turn I drain him for 4 and he loses a Frozen Assets from hand. Now I am scared. That must mean he has another in his hand. I just used 6 force too. I On Joshes turn he deploys the Falcon with Nien Numb and then Lando but does not deploy the Frozen Assets. I play Set For Stun but miss Lando. He curses and then deploys the Frozen Assets. He battles though and I lose 2 ties. He saves 2 force. On my turn I don’t pay the 3 to drain at Endor but instead use all my force to deploy Bossk in Hounds Tooth to Kashyyk. I also play my second Set For Stun and get Lando back into Josh’s hand. Now its just Nien Numb. I deploy another Tie Scout so I can draw two destiny and then I look at his two saved force. WHat the heck could he do with that? Hyper Escape? Out of Nowhere? Dang I only have 2 force left and one is for battling. I decide to try to play I’ve Lost Artoo in case he is playing Hyper Escape. I miss drawing a lousy zero. Then I have to battle. He uses his saved force to deploy the Spiral and then I feel stupid. I had an Imperial Barrier in hand that I coulda used on the Spiral. Josh draws a 5 in battle destiny and I only draw enough to get the Spiral. I lose everything at the system so that I don’t have to get killed by Lando next turn. On his turn he drains me for four and deploys Lando. don’t know what to do so I deploy two spare ties to Kashhyyk. He plays On The Edge which I grapple with Hell To Pay and retrives almost his entire lost pile. On my turn I drain him for two at Kashyyk and deploy Zuckuss in Mist Hunter and battle the Falcon. He loses a couple of force. I also play a Scanning Crew on him and get rid of Leia with Blaster. On his turn he drains me for two which I cancel and then I THinking With Your Stomach his Han at the Spaceport Docking Bay. He has to move the Falcon away and it goes to Endor. On my turn I play another I’ve Lost Artoo and get the Falcon. Now I deploy Kiffex and have 2 drains for two with plenty of retrieval. Josh plays Off the Edge and I grapple that with Hell To Pay. On his turn he puts Obi down at the Spaceport Docking Bay. On my turn I drain for 4 and play Short Range Fighters to retrieve 6. He finds Han on his turn and drains me 4. On my turn I drain him out and I win.
Win by 23
After the game Josh tells me I should be worried about Revolution. He always wonders why I play such cheezy decks and when I will ever learn.
Game 2.
My Light side swarm deck versus Chad Steger’s SYCFA big Blue.
I start with Hidden Base, Heading to the Medical Frigate, Strike Planning, Do or Do Not, and Aim High. Chad starts SYCFA with Mob Points, IAO, and Impressive Enforcement.
On Chad’s turn he grabs the Executor so I know I am in for some space battles. He deploys the Executer Docking Bay and plays Imperial Command to put down Piett there. He pays 4 force for the Admiral and I ask him how much? He says 4 and then remembers that Piett deploys -2 to the Executer. I feel like I am Chad’s hero for pointing out something like that. He also gets down Merrjick at the DS docking bay. Using Merrjick he gets Fondor. A pretty good first turn. So on my turn I grab Tattoine system from my reserve (Dang Endor is hiding) and deploy an X-wing to Fondor, Death Star, and Tattoine. I have no Houjix and no protection. I just hope Chad is scared enough of me to wait to battle. On his turn he gets a Death Squadron Star Destroyer using SYCFA’s game text and deploys that with Motti to Fondor. He battles and draws a 3. I lose the x-wing and 5 more force. On my turn I drain for 2 and deploy Endor system with 2 x-wings. I still have no backup. On Chad’s turn he deploys the Executer to the Death Star and puts the friendly Admiral Ozzel down there as well. He battles my lone x-wing. I lose 8 force. Running through my head are thoughts that I am dying. I have just been killed in two battles for a combined 13 force. I must not lose. I must pull it out. I cannot lose to Chad. So on my next turn I deploy Kessel, Bespin, and Corulag. I move an x-wing to each and I finally draw a Hyper Escape. On his turn Chad gets another Death Squadron Star Destroyer and deploys it to Corulag with Baron Soontir Fell. He thinks he can get another beat down. He battles but I Hyper Escape to Fondor. He moves his one star destroyer to Kessel and moves the Executer to Alderaan. On my next turn I deploy Coruscant and flip my objective. I get another x-wing at Coruscant and one at Death Star. I move my troops around and draw for some more run away cards. On his turn Chad deploys the Thunderflare alone to Corulag and I barrier it. He gets the Chimerra with Ds-61-2 at Coruscant. He is probing me but because I have so many systems he isn’t finding it. His hand size is also going down. He battles me at Kessel but I have a Hit and Run and I go to his Kashyyk. He battles me at Coruscant and I play Hyper Escape and go to the Death Star. I remember to make him pay to draw and he pays a lot. Now the board looks like Chad is going to crush me. He has 4 huge Star Destroyers deployed one at each system and I have only punny x-wings on the table. He does have a lone Thunderflare which he did not back up. So on my turn I deploy a Blue Squadron B-wing and another x-wing and battle his lone Thunderflare. He dies but he doesn’t lose any force but now I am starting to attack. I play my All Wings Report In and retrieve about 8 force. I deploy a Landing Claw on my Green-Squadron A-Wing and attach it to the Executer. Now my drains are getting huge and Chad forgets to move over to the Death Star one turn and I get a massive drain in. On Chad’s turn he probes by Hidden Base at Corulag and I lose my drain protection. Now Chad starts to drain with Admiral Chiraneau but my Landing Claw keeps it to only a single drain at one system. I am also tracking my Hyper Escape so I block his force drains. The game turns into a drain race as he has no more ships and I am draining at around 4 or 5 systems. I pull out the win by 11.
Game 3.
My Dark Side versus Herb Macy’s MWYHL.
Herb starts with Aim High, Battle Order, and Way of Things. So he has the two effects that hurt my deck. I start the same. I draw Yavin 4 early and I deploy a Tie Scout there. I figure I am safe till he gets to around test 2 or so. I draw hoping for better systems. I get an Its An Older Code. On my second turn I play it and see he has no ships in hand. I retrieve that card with a Tie Scout but I don’t see it the rest of the game. I deploy Kashyyk and put that Tie Scout there. I draw hoping for some better drain systems. However, Herb passes test one on the turn I get out Kashyyk so now I am spending 6 force to drain for 2. I do it. Every turn I spend the force and Herb continues to train without doing a thing to stop my ships. I finally draw Sullust and deploy it but I don’t want to put any Tie Scouts there and lose out on the retrieval I would get with them. I deploy Dengar in Punishing One and am set up. When Herb gets to test 4, I see he has drawn a lot of cards and hardly has enough to retrieve the 10 force that his objective gives him. That means I can take it easy and wait. Herb puts down Reflection on Leia and has to pay 4 to retrive with her. He also gets down Wars Not Make One Great and I have to pay 4 for every drain. I wait till he has actually done his 10 force retrival before I back up the ships that are draining all alone at 3 different systems with no backup. Finally Herb passes test 5 and retrieves his force. I then put down the Emperor’s Shuttle at Kashyyk with 2 Tie Scouts, and move the other Tie Scouts over to Sullust with Dengar. On Herb’s turn he deploys Home 1 to Kashyyk. I Imperial Barrier it and he continues to deploy Kal Fal and Admiral Ackbar. He gets out test 6 and that card is what hurts me. On my turn I play I’ve Lost Artoo and knock out the Home 1 Navigation Computer. I move my ships to Yavin 4 and drain the rest of the game. I cancel Herb’s drain with Dreaded Imperial Starfleet and drain my 3. I retrieve with Short Range Fighters and I just go for a huge differential. I win by 28
Game 4.
My Light Side versus Garret Larson’s BHBM.
Garrett starts with Mob Points, Insurrection, and Secret Plans.
Garret does the usual BHBM start with the Emperor at the DS2 Docking Bay and an Emperor’s Power down at the throne room. Carida gets deployed from his hand. I think I have learned from my first game so I deploy all my x-wings to Rendezvous Point and move them to Endor. Garrett gets the Executer with Mob Points so I feel another beating is going to take place. I deploy Bespin System, Roche, and Bothwai. On Garretts turn he draws up. I deploy even more x-wings and spread them thin at every system I have out including Kessel. I save 4 force because I have a Rebel Barrier, a Hit and Run and a Hyper Escape in my hand. On Garretts turn he deploys First Strike. He puts down the Executer at Kessel and Bossk in Hound’s Tooth at Endor. I barrier the Executer which he Senses. He puts Ozzel in Bossk and battles me at Kessel. I try to play Hyper Escape using two force but Garret Senses that too. Garret has just lost 6 force from my Do or Do Not. I have power 3 to his 12 and I have to lose 7. I lose the x-wing and 3 more and I see my All Wings Report In all go to the lost pile. He has no reserve deck left to draw battle destiny. So Garret also battles me with Bossk and I play Organized Attack just so that I don’t have to lose any cards other than the x-wing. After the turn I tell Garrett he shouldn’t play so fast because should have made me lose 2 more cards to Insignificant Rebellion. On my turn I spread out my X-wings and put the Landing Claw on an x-wing to be friends with the Executer. I deploy Jedi Luke to his Yavin-4 Docking Bay. On Garrett’s turn he moves the Executer to block my drain and I detach so I can drain at 3 at Kessel. I flip my objective and remember to make Garrett pay to draw cards. On my turn I get a huge drain on Garrett at Kessel and Kiffex and I am blocking his drain with Landing Claw. On my next turn I see Garrett only has 3 cards left so I deploy x-wings and battle at each of his sites to retrieve with First Strike and make him lose the rest of his force. So I win by 13.
I end up in first place and am the only undefeated. Garrett gets second with Jerry Flynn getting third. I played all the locals except for Jerry so I feel pretty good. Graham Neal was on a date or something so he didn’t make it to this tourney. The Jeffries boys must have been lost?
Props:
Jerry Flynn for giving me the inspiration to go with Hidden Base x-wing swarm after beating Graham with it last week.
Chad Steger for being cool.
Kevin Sorbo for being the manliest man there is.
Sue for being a cool girl.
Zach Stenerson...oh wait he wasn’t at this tourney.
Graham Neal for being a wuss.
John Swenson for reminding me why this world is a glorious place to live.
Josh Grace for becoming one of the best players in Minnesota.
Slops:
Jerry Flynn for avoiding playing me.