pleasonton-ca-two-in-one-12-16
Title: pleasonton-ca-two-in-one-12-16
Author: Alfred "ThaBraHmaBuL" Dong
Date: Dec 19, 2000
Prelude
Prior to this weekend I havent touched my Star Wars decks for about 3 months. Being out the tourney scene, I didnt really mind the extra time for sleep and work, but I still wanted to play one or another sometime. My chance came through this week when school finally released us for the holidays.....to my luck, there was a tournament in Pleasonton and on to follow in San Jose.
Pleasonton was a problem because I had no ride, but after talking to Kevin Shannon, he allowed me to spend the night at his place afterwards, and we figured out Pleasonton was only a short train ride away on BART. Kevin has been trying to set up the Pleasonton tourney the past week, and managed to get it done Thursday over the Alderaan listserv. Getting everything set up, I woke up at 9ish on Saturday and headed out to the BART station and took off.
I get there in exactly one hour, and Kevin is there to pick me up....we head straight to KK’s(now called Warmasters) and everyones already there and ready to go. We wait around a bit and start a little late, but the TD for the San Jose tournament, Nick Stefanko, was with us, so that didnt matter.Mike Guertin(worst TD EVER) sets everything up and gets us going.
The Decks
DS: Classic BHBM.......Emporer, Vader, Janus, and and everything in between with a heavy dose of SAC for control.
LS: The Brahma Bulls New Age LS.......HB fakeout that works and is reliable...that, and I didnt want to think up a new light deck.
The Game
Game 1: DS vs. Josh Certos LS EBO
Starting off with Josh isnt exactly what I had in mind....but looking around, there werent many scrubs so I didnt have much of a choice. Emporer first turn to Endor Dbay for a quick drain and SAC control. He starts setting up EBO, and gets all 3 sites out first turn, but has no characters for awhile. Lord Vader w/ stick out to Rendili Dbay and Janus to Emporer, followed by Search and Destroy to add to the pain. Josh sets up EBO after losing half his deck to drains and S & D, and sets up lightly in space with Gold Leader to Hoth. Down comes Zuckuss, a Dread, and EPP Fett, Lateral, and smackdown for alot of pain on his part. He came down with some backup and tried to win some space battles, but nothing enough to cause me any damage, aloses out to Search and Destroy with my drains. Win by 21.
Cumalative Score: 2(+21)
Highs: Winning my first game since coming back to the game.
Lows: Nothing much....screwed up a few times, but its all just shaking off the dust.
Game 2: LS vs. Paul Feldmans DS Brangus Glee Pornstar
Ive never fully understood how Brangus decks worked until this game here. I havent played Feldman in a little while, and I figure I minus well get it over with. He starts off drawing half his deck for Brangus and ground/air support. He grabs my Sense early to stop my SAC control, and I set up drains at the Death Star Dbay. He Twileks and waits a few turns trying to track it and eventually drops EPP Vader and slashes Jedi Luke and does a 2 for 1 deal with no battle damage at Death Star locations. I drop more guys there and after losing about 8 guys to the same EPP Vader, it hits me and I start to realize the deck. I draw a few and wait for him to make a move. A few turns ensue where we try to wait out each other and he finally makes a move in space with Fett in Slave 1 to the LS Endor. I decide to take him on and drop the Lower Corridor with EPP Han, Leia, and Chewie of Kash there. Drawing up over half his deck and not being able to keep Reactor on table with my constant Alters, he finds himself in a bad position to take me on since he will take dumploads of battle damage if he goes there. He decides to leave me alone and spread out, leaving Brangus and Dr. E alone at sites......figuring my 3 card hand didnt have much, Melas and Jedi Luke came down for cheaper to the H1 Dbay, where he left his lone Dr. E and I beat him down to 2 cards. He cant come back from it, and I win it by 11.
Cumalative Score: 4(+32)
Highs: Finally getting another shot at Feldman and beating him
Lows: Nothing much
Game 3: LS vs. Mike Mendozams DS Court Junk a chunka of aliens beatdown
Mike recently moved here from Los Angeles, and is down here for college. This game was short and swift.....Mike gets a great start with SE Jabba, Scum and Bad Feelings in his opening hand, and drops them all plus Ephant Mon from Power of the Hutt as well. I set up activation and start to get things rolling as I take some minor drains and Court damage. He backs up Jabba with Boelo and draws a few. Down comes Jedi Luke, Blount and EPP Obi to battle them. I play Gift of the Mentor only to have my destiny crap out on me and losing Blount too easily. Down comes way too many aliens to count, and Obi and Luke take a beating they wont forget and I lose Obi and 8 more. Figuring it wont matter if I move Luke or anything, I drop Leia to Luke and forget to play Skywalkers to add destiny before Leia gets operated on. a few more painful battles, I scrub out and lose by 31.
Cumalative Score: 4(+1)
Highs: I still have never won games and had a negative differential...though this was a bit close for comfort.
Lows: Scrubbing out like a loser on New Years Eve......
Dan Mochizuki, Kevin and I take Dans car down to McDonalds for some much needed food. To this point, Ive had nothing to eat but a piece of gum and a banana Kevin gave me in his car......we sit down and do that 10000000080 Dalmations game and I win the 10$ on the spot prize, which pays for the meal and the tourney, which is looking good. We talk about the dope rulings Mike has made so far, including telling Paul Feldman and Kevin during thier game that you can INFINITELY search through your deck with Strike Planning and Mobilization Points(what part of once/twice per GAME dont you understand?). I reveal to Kev and Dan what Ive learn about Brangus Glee’s pornstar deck and we head back in time for the 4th game.
Game 4: DS vs. Dan Mochizukis LS MWYHL Whoops! Screwed up again....
After getting pounded by Mike, I needed some kind of strong comeback, and I probably wasnt going to get it from Dan. He starts MWYHL and Im thinking itll be a slow game. I get Emporer down early and Vader out next turn with stick to Rendili and Endor. He gets Yoda to his Hut and trains Crix Madine......whats he thinking? I get in a few turns of full drains and he forgets Luke a few turns and loses about 9 to Your Destiny before it hits him. He tries testing, but figures out he needs a 6, of which there are none in the deck, so Crix is pretty much just sitting there. Luke comes down to Emporer, Sim and Janus but gets Barriered, Vader slides over and captures him.......Dan cant get anything to work for him, and he draws up and I get the win by 31.
Cumalative Score: 6(+32)
Highs: Well, I redeemed myself by exactly 31 points....
Lows: What were you thinking, Dan?
We all gather around and watch Shawn Elys game with Mike Medozam. Mikes using his MWYHL Test to 6 vs. Shawns Hunt Down Sabacc. Were watching as Shawns beating Mike in Sabacc every round, but Mikes not losing cards to it......then I hear what has got to be the WORST ruling ever. Appearantly, Mike Guertin ruled that because Mike Mendozam had Honor of the Jedi out, cards lost through Sabacc are PREVENTED......but despite arguing with one of the most stubborn TDs ever, we all let it go.......Im telling you, worst TD EVER.....Somewhere in the chaos, we decide to move the tournament scheduled for San Jose to Pleasonton instead. I was against it, because of the people going to San Jose, just to find out last minute that its move an hour away, but no one here wanted to drive down, and majority of them got the vote, and we would stay here for another 4 games afterwards.
Game 5: LS vs. Nick Stefankos DS BHBM TIE Interceptors
Ive lost horribly to this deck before, but I figure I can just as easily beat it. I give him my special cut and he ends up with the Emporer in his opening. He tries to set up but is slow in doing it, so I have a chance to draw for stuff I need, set up at the Lower Corridor, and wait. He drops Wakeelmui, then Sienar, I Alter, he’s like "whoops". He draws for more TIEs. I come down with Super Falcon to Endor and move to Wakeelmui for some expensive TIEs. He cleans me off after a few turns with All Powers and the Emporers Power. I set up Home One at Kashyyyk to block his drain there, and hes in a bad situation because half his fleet is at Wakeelmui. He beats me in a few battles and I need to stack too many cards to Insignificant Rebellion, but luckily Vaders died twice already to Obi. I move Home One to Kiffex, and he comes down with 2 TIEs, Laterals, does Emporers Power, and I lose another to Insignificant and Luke from Home One. My drains at the Lower Corridor are finally working, and I activated all but 2, searched my deck to find a 6 and a 4. I take a risk, attempt to Alter the Lateral, and drew the 4, meaning Ive got high destiny. I battle the lone TIE, he adds a destiny again, but I still manage to get 12 battle damage in to end the game. Win by 14.
Cumalative Score: 8(+46)
Highs: Playing Nick another close game with that deck
Lows: Luck was with me this game, thats not a low, but, eh.....
Game 6: DS vs. Mike Medozams LS MWYHL Test to 5
I get some revenge on Mike but it wont be much.......I get things started early with Emporer, Janus and Vader to Rendili and Endor docking bays, and get Search and Destroy set up early. He gives me Luke afterwards and gets Yoda out to his Hut. He starts training about 3rd turn, and starts to cycle his destinies with Traffic Control. I set up at Rendili with Bossk to satisfy Honor and to give me a solid drain of 3. He tries Landing Claw, but I land Bossk and he detaches, only to get killed by Dengar and a Dreadnaught. He going through his tests, and starts to Surprise assualt me, and gets me twice for some respectable damage. Im running low on resources between his Surprise Assualts and my Objective, and he ends up flipping and getting 10 back, but retrieved no characters but Han from it. He drops Test 6 and picks up Leia and goes for Vader at Endor, and completes Test 6 but he cant move away afterwards. Vader Snipers Leia and his Tests are now all suspended.....with no way to retrieve, I get my full drains and edge it out by 14.
Cumalative Score: 10(+60)
Highs: Proving I dont suck......but I still do
Lows: Nothing much
Turns out Im the only 5-1 finisher(that or the one with the best dif), and I take this tournament home with me. Felt pretty good seeing as how I can take months off, come back, and still win a 6 gamer where I had to play Paul Feldman and Josh Certo. I get some crappy DS2 packs, gave the wrappers away to a rabid Feldman, and gave the rares away as well. Here are the standings to my memory.....
Winner: Alfred "ThaBrahmaBuL" Dong
2nd: Shawn Ely
3rd: Mike Mendozam
4th: Nick "JediBrain" Stefanko
Im pretty exhausted from the 6 gamers, and turns out a bunch of people cant stay for the one after. Dan gets a tally from people, and gets exactly 9, so I guess I have to play. Nick makes this tournament for free, so no prize support for us(which was all CC anyways), so we just do 4 games sanctioned play.
Game 1: DS vs. Paul Greens LS TIGIH Scouts, Ewoks, and junk
I wasnt sure what his deck was supposed to do.....but it sucked. I get Emporer to the Endor Docking Bay 1st turn with Rendili on table as well. His turn, he drops the Back Door btwn the Hut and the Dbay(???) and moves Luke there instead. I get in drains with Emppy, drop Sim and Janus, and let him go. He drops Crix to the Back Door, and moves Luke to Emporer, who captures him. Lord Vader comes down with stick to Crix, he Barriers, I Sense, hes screwed. Crix takes a leap to hell and 5 more too. Move Vader to Emporer, take Luke, and move Emporer and his buddies to the Back Door. He doesnt do anything but eat my drains of 5 per turn.....at least nothign that did anything. Win by 24.
Cumalative Score: 2(+24)
Highs: Eh.....
Lows: Eh.....
Game 2 LS vs. Dan Mochizukis DS ISB "Dans the Man"
Dans had this deck for as long as I first seen him play Star Wars. The game was total spread.....between Hoth, Yavin, Cloud City, and Endor, in addition to space, he pretty much out-manuvered me the whole game. I commited to Obi and Luke to Hoth, Han and Lando to space, and never drew Leia, so he had drains going on at Cloud City and Endor all game. I did win a few battles and stuff to make him lose a few and draw alot, and cut my losses to about 20.
Cumalative Score: 2(+4)
Highs: Nothing much
Lows: Eh....
Game 3: LS vs. Paul Greens DS Raltiir Ops power
Hahahahaha......well I play Paul again and its pretty much the same story. He gets activation choked early and I drop guys to Raltiir so he has to fight me off. He misses a search for a docking bay so I check his deck and its full of lightsabers and destiny 1’s.....GREAT combo. I run Raltiir all game and he cant do anything about it, being force screwed and running 3 Vaders in Raltiir isnt a good idea. He eventually comes down and tries to battle me off with Vader but misses the Hacks and Chokes andVader dies plus a few more every time. The end wasnt even funny. Win by 32.
Cumalative Score: 4(+36)
Highs: Nothing much
Lows: Dude, if you want to make a decent deck, ask someone, go to Decktech, do something, because that was sad.
Game 4: DS vs. Paul Feldmans HB Ive had this deck too long
So I play Feldmans HB deck now, the one hes been modding and messing with since Regionals. He sets up his systems way too quickly and gets the flip on me 3rd turn. I have Emporer and Vader set up, but now I have to go to space and probe. He has some fleet at Kessel so I hit there, and miss the prove with a Dread, Fett and Jabba. I move over to Kashyyyk, and he tries to convince me to go elsewhere because I get no destiny, and like a doof I listen to him. I head over to Hoth instead, and thats a miss too. He gets in some drains and starts spreading a little. I draw for some ships and move over to Kashyyyk despite his warnings. He drops 2 ships, one gets barriered, so he battles with the other and kills Jabba. I probed, and hit the HB, so I get my drains now. I drain and double up in space to satisfy Battle Plan, but he has the ups because my Objective is killing me, but I still manage to slim it down, and it comes down to one turn, where I knock off all but one of his cards, and he drains me out. Loss by 1.
Cumalative Score: 4(+35)
Highs: Playing Feldman again and fighting him to the nose
Lows: Nothing much....tired.....
I come in somewhere in the middle and stuff, no one gets prizes and stuff because it was free....and Nick decides to hold on to the Veers shirt until he gets a bigger turnout. I head over to Kevins place for the night, talk alot about the tourney, our games, and watch how people stupidly waste $1500.00 on a "Gem mint 10" Ken Griffey Jr. card on the Home Shopping Network......well, thats about it....hope you had fun.
Alfred Dong
The Brahma Bull
I AM THE GAME