12-9-00-mara-jade-tourney-oxford-nc
Title: 12-9-00-mara-jade-tourney-oxford-nc
Author: Ivan "ZippyDaJedi" Kanner
Date: Dec 20, 2000
So I get up Saturday morning and think about how long it will take me to get to the Tourney. Yeah, it will take about 1 1/2 hours or so, but it will be worth it. Mara Jade (Shannon Baska) would be there to sign cards, photos, etc. I leave home at about 10am. On the way there, I pass through a small town called Hester. I almost blinked and missed it. It contained an abandoned gas station and a barn. That was it! A whole town for 2 freakin’ buildings! Anyways, I fumble around downtown Oxford until I find the shop. Reminded me Mayberry from The Andy Griffith Show. I think I even saw Aunt Bee walking down the street.
I go into the shop and the owner and TD (Charles) greets me. Introductions are made to some of the other players there. One of them (Aaron) says to me in a snotty sneer, "Ivan? Is that like Ivan The Terrible? Like Ivan The Terrible Player?" I tell him that he shouldn’t shoot his mouth off to somebody he doesn’t know yet; especially about playing cards. They might get their arese (I used the real word...) handed to them on a platter by the person he just insulted. He choffs at that remark and walks away. Charles tells me that Mara Jade will be there around 12:30ish or so. I register for the tourney and proceed to trade with some other people there. Aaron approaches me and tells me that he wants the Flagship Executor I have available. I reluctantly go through his stuff and mockingly say that I want the Foil Ben that he has. He says, "deal" and that trade was made. Yeah, I ripped him good, but he deserved it.
More people show and 12:30 comes and goes and still no Mara Jade. We start the tourney with 24+ people and the pairings are called. I get called first to play Light against some kid/teenager that looked like he had a nervous twitch.
GAME 1: LS Profit vs Endor something-er-other (Don’t remember the name.)
Right after the pairing was called, Charles (TD & shop owner) tells me that this is this kid’s first SW:CCG tourney. I could tell by how nervous he was. He had no chance right from the start. He has no aliens in his deck for the AC. He deploys an Elite Stormie to an Endor site and ends his turn. I have a handful of beatdown, but I don’t play it yet. I have to remind him to drain every turn. I finally have 10 Force in the Lost Pile and bring on the Beats. I free Han with FOIL Ben (from the previous trade) and get my 10 back and initiate Master Luke with Saber, Tawas Khaa, and EPP Leia against the lone Elite Stormie. Whup him good and end game.
FW by a bunch
HIGHLIGHTS - flipping my Objective
LOWLIGHTS - whuppin a new kid
Shannon Baska finally arrives and everybody gets in line to get stuff signed. I get Mara, Saber and Vader’s Obsession signed. She was very nice and apologetic for being late. They got lost on the way down. She took pictures with everybody who wanted pics and talked with everybody. After the initial surge of autographs died down, the next pairings get called.
GAME 2: DS Abyssian Scum vs Aaron-the-jerk-who-ticked-me-off-earlier
HECK YEAH! I was hoping this was gonna happen. He just got done beating up on some other newbie and was feeling all proud of himself. He hears who he is playing and all the color just drains from his face. I start with MKOS and Tat:JP as my JP site. He starts with Obi’s Hut and Careful Plans for Mos Eisley. I get a nice fast start with the AC, Mighty Jabba, 4LOM with gun, Boleo, Myo, 2 Abyssians and Wounded Wookiee in hand. I deploy the AC, use the Tat:JP game text for the Entrance Cavern, search for Ephant Mon, draw about 3 and end my turn. I draw S&V, Mara, and another Abyssian. He deploys some chumps to Mos Eisley and ends his turn. I wait by activating and drawing only about 2 or 3 per turn for the next 2 turns. Chall, more Abyssians, yada yada. He just continues to drain me for 1 each time and doesn’t deploy anything. After listening to him brag that he’s gonna win just by draining and me too scared to deploy, I decide that this is the time to bring the Abyssians to play. Myo to the Chamber, S&V, Boleo to the Chamber, Chall to Mos Eisley, look for another Abyssian, bunch of FREE Abyssians, Mara, search for and deploy Saber (both just recently signed!), and proceed to kick is arese royally. I spread out and flip. He knows that it’s over, but he isn’t activating enough yet to draw all and condede. I toy with him by leaving one Abyssian at sites with Skiff available to react if necessary. I don’t even drain for all I can; just enough to get him angry and embarassed. I finally drain him out and make his failure complete by reminding him about our little exchange earlier in the day. He gathers his cards and scampers off to sulk about it. Serves him right.
FW by a bunch again
HIGHLIGHTS - whippin’ this kid and teaching him a lesson
LOWLIGHTS - not beating him by more!
My game is one of the first to end and I’ve got time on my hands. I go over to Shannon Baska and her boyfriend and start talking. Nice people to have a conversation with. Talked about Star Wars, work, travel, books, and a variety of other subjects. Not everything has to focus on Star Wars.
Next round is called and I’m the top player. Coin is flipped and I’m playing Light.
GAME 3: Light Profit vs Matt Guinn’s BHBM
I’ve played Matt before and I usually lose. Matt is the top rated player in NC and the current State’s champion. We go through the motions of playing the game like we should. I proceed to get beat at every turn. But I did manage to make Palpy go missing with Lost In The Wilderness. It got close (sort of) near the end when he only had one character left and I had a crew of folks. But, he kept running and I couldn’t catch him. Still, it was pretty good to play Matt. We had a few laughs while playing.
FL by 18ish
HIGHLIGHTS - Palpy going missing; ONLY losing by 18 or so
LOWLIGHTS - losing to Matt.... again. :)
Even though I lost I was still the top player going into the Dark side for game 4. Weird.....
GAME 4: Abyssian Scum vs Eddie Brown’s Hidden Base
Eddie was one of my JR players when I was still running JR tourneys. When he first started, he wasn’t very good. I took him under my wing as my "padawan learner" and taught him the ways of card efficiency. Since then, he’s one a few tourneys and finishes in the top 5 in others. I’m very proud of him. He’s done well.
He starts with standard HB and I with my usual. I get a quick jump and get Abyssians and Skiffs out to start draining right away. He deploys CC:DB and characters there. I wait until I have more beats in my hand and then proceed to take over the DB and flip my Objective. He never got any other systems out or locations. Nor did any other characters of his have an impact on me. I didn’t toy with him like I did with Aaron-the-jerk-who-ticked-me-off-earlier. Eddie looked kinda dejected and disappointed that he got beat that fast and that soundly.
FW by 25ish
HIGHLIGHTS - Getting to play Eddie
LOWLIGHTS - Beating Eddie so bad
After 4 games, I’m in 3rd, but only by differential. That means I won’t have to play Matt again.... thankfully. I do get to play Dark though. Pretty happy about that; means that I would have a strong finish going into the last game.... or so I thought.
GAME 5: Abyssian Scum vs Mike Merletto’s M ’n’ T Tatooine stuff
Mike is another one of my former JR players that I trained on the side. He’s got good cards and good game sense. And, he was on a roll. I get a slow start and he shoots right out the gate with Tosche Station and more activation next turn. I finally get some dudes to the AC; Jabba, Myo, Boleo, some Abyssians. He Nabruns in next turn, SATM Jabba, Clashes Boleo, and initiates battle. Then he uses Obi’s game text to move Myo away and all my Abyssians go back to normal. Ugh. I knew it was over from there. I can never retake the Chamber nor stop him from canceling my ’reacts’ with Skiffs.
FL by 21ish
HIGHLIGHTS - Well, none really. I got beat systematically.
LOWLIGHTS - Knowing that I prolly won’t finish in top 3.
So the last pairings get called. It’s like 6:30pm by now and I still have to drive 1 1/2 hours home. Ugh. But, with a big win, I might be able to get top 10. There are lots of others there with 3 wins, but not the same differential.
GAME 6: Profit vs Mike Merletto’s HDADT Docking Bays
Egads! I have to play him again. He pulls Docking Bays every turn and Vader to the Endor:DB. I get out Honor on turn 1 and deploy it. Mastah Luke to Tat:JP and flip HD back. He continues to lose to Visage the remainder of the game while I do not. After a few turns, I try my luck at the AC to free Han. He brings some more Imps and aliens to battle me. I survive by Weapon Levitating Mara’s Saber, sending an alien back with Mastah’s game text slashing another character and drawing a 5 for destiny. Finally free Han and then pile on the power with Ben, Monks, Lando with Vibro Stick, etc all at the 2 original Tatooine locations. I never deployed the Tat: DB nor did he. Ended up draining and Objective him out.
FW by 25ish
HIGHLIGHTS - getting the big win I wanted
LOWLIGHTS - doing it at Mike’s expense
I look at the final differentials after that game and Mike still had me by one differential! Oh well. I’m in 4th at the moment, but things look grim for a top 5 finish with 2 other good players in solid control of their games and poised to bump me down another notch in the final standings. After it’s all done, I end up 6th out of 24 people or so; and I can live with that. I get a DSII Starter as my prize. (as if I didn’t have enough DSII already; thanks to all who sent me cards!!) I take out the Admiral Piett and give the rest (rares and all) to the only girl who was playing. She was maybe 11 or 12 and finished pretty close to the bottom. She was very appreciative and told me that she was gonna go home and practice so she would be ready for the next tourney. I wished her luck and decided that it was time to make the long drive back home.
All-in-all, a good day of card playing, meeting people, getting cards signed, and humiliating Aaron-the-jerk-who-ticked-me-off-earlier.
Thanks for reading!
ZippyDaJedi