huntsville-al-12-23-00
Title: huntsville-al-12-23-00
Author: Andy "Solo337" McClure
Date: Dec 24, 2000
Well, another weekend, another tournament (I LOVE having weekly tournaments.) As some of you may know, my current SW goal (while there are no big tournaments going on) is to win 10 SW tournaments in a row. I was up to 5, when Steven Lewis came down from Nashville and broke my streak a few weeks ago, but I had won the previous tournament, so before today I am at 1 tournament Victory. I show up with my brother Chris and my friend Ben about an hour and a half before the tournament to meet some friends and do a little last minute playtesting. When we get there, we find out that a few of our friends that we normally play with are there, but Carl Etheredge and Matt Duncan also showed up, and both of them are pretty good players. I had met Carl at the Alabama states this year, as well as DecipherCon, where he shared his big bag of Runts with me and my bro (thanks again for the Runts, man), and I don’t remember when I first met Duncan, but they are both alright players. I didn’t expect many people to show up the day before Christmas Eve, so their presence was a little worrisome to me. Not that I don’t like competition, because I love playing better players, but I didn’t have a lot of confidence in my dark deck. It was a Hunt Down with Elis’ (posted on my page), but it was sort of hit or miss, and I didn’t really like it. I start messing around and playing the Tribbles card game (which totally rocks for killing the time at a SW tournament) with Ben, Chris and my other friend Brian. We also were playing a game which we have grown to love called the pants game. The rules are simple: Take either a SW card title, or a line from a SW movie and replace 1 word with the word "pants" to make the line way funnier. A few of our favorites are "Lando with Vibro Pants," "I Find Your Lack Of Pants Disturbing," and (from Episode 1) "We will be watching your pants with great interest."
Anyway, I am still a little worried about my Hunt Down deck. I have my Abyssins deck with me, but I would have to change it, and I don’t really want to play Abyssins, because they are so broken. So as I am pondering whether to go with my Hunt Down, which I have no confidence in, or switch it to Abyssins, which I know will win every game by at least 20. I don’t remember how it happened, but someone told me that Clint Hays was coming to the tournament. That, along with the pressure to go with the one-eyed monsters from my friend Brian, was the final straw. Forget Vader, the monsters were my deck for the day. The only problem was that I had a 3rd Anthology box full of cards, and while my Abyssins deck was in there, it wasn’t all in one piece, and the tournament started in about 5 minutes. Well, Clint showed up, and the pairings were made, and I was still in the middle of switching decks. Luckily, I was paired with a guy named Robert, who I know personally from previous tournaments, so he let me finish my deck, and I really appreciated it. So I went with my Abyssins.....
For LS I have nothing save my Chadra Fan deck, which I love, so I went with it. I have been experimenting with several Hidden Base fake decks (a couple of which are posted), but none of them are as fun to play, and none are as strong as my Rats, so I am going with them for the day. DISCLAIMER: As in my last TR, throughout this Tournament Report, Chadra Fans will be referred to as any of the following:
Monkeys
Chadra Fans
Chadras
Fans
Rats
Mice
Kabelings
One last thing before I end the pre-tourny stuff.... I have never gotten to play Clint Hays in my life. I have always wanted to play him. I have played a lot of good players, but never Clint, and we have been at the tops of several tournaments together, but I have never gotten paired against him. At the DragonCon in the Open I got 3rd and he got 1st, and in the Team Event I got 1st and he got 2nd (but his team got first overall.) At the Nashville Grand Slam, I scrubbed, so I didn’t get to play him, but at the Birmingham Grand Slam I got 1st and he got second, once again never getting paired. So I really was looking forward to my first chance to tackle the mighty Clint Hays.
End pre-tourny junk--
1st game: My just finished Abyssins vs. Robert (forgot last name) weird Rebel Guards deck.
As I was finishing my Abyssins deck right in front of him, Robert says, "Well, since I’ve seen you build your deck, and know every card in there at least I won’t lose this game by more than 30 cards." I laughed a little and we started the game.
He started an Endor site and no starting effects. I start my usual (No Bargain, Oppressive Enforcement and Power Of The Hutt), and get a pretty good opening hand with a Scum in it. I set up the drains at Jabba’s Palace sites and flip my objective with Jabba, Bib, Boelo and Ephant Mon all from reserve (Power Of The Hutt and the DS text on the AC is just wrong) while he put 2 Rebel Guards (???) with an Ithorian on Endor. He backed them up with Leia and Lando before I could put the real beats on him, but after a drain or 2 I sent 4 Abyssins along with Iggy to beat on some Guards (capturing Leia, of course), and he loses everything from the site, but draws a good destiny so I lose 2 Abyssins (which will of course be retrieved over the next couple turns via MKOS). Next turn I back Iggy with 4-LOM and he deploys 2 Dresslian Commandos along with some more Guards and doesn’t battle (of course) because all his guards would be power 0. Next turn I have no back up, but Iggy, 4-LOM and 2 Abyssins are at the site, and I figure I might as well rumble and retrieve a couple cards. I capture one of the Dreslians or something, and we get destinies. He draws 2, clarifying that the first one is for power only. I have no idea why he gets 2, so he points out the text on the Commando. LOL, it is some dumb wannabe Operative counter, but he adds a destiny to power only against a non-unique alien, and I laugh as a Dresslian actually does something. Anyway, my battle destiny is +2 (I think it ended up being a 7) for the objective and I out power him, and he loses everyone from the site. I continue to drain at Jabba’s Palace sites, now with Gailid, and I get some drains at his Endor site, and he can’t do much for the rest of the game. I win by 29.
FW 2(+29)
Game Highs: Scum first hand is always cool. Abyssins are wrong and they did their job.
Game Lows: Kicking the crap out of a guy I like. Robert is not the mega scrub he might appear in this game, he was just trying an off the wall deck that didn’t work. But hey, who isn’t having problems building a good LS deck?
Robert and I laughed as I counted my cards, and realize that, just as he had predicted, he didn’t lose by more than 30 cards :-)
This round Clint was playing some young guy I had never met before, and after everyone else’s game was done, Clint’s was still going on. One of my friends told me Clint was about to lose, and sure enough, it was a VERY close game. I don’t like to hover over tournament games, so I don’t know what happened, but Clint pulled it off in the end, barely.
There were almost total DS wins across the board. I think the only LS win was my friend Ben (1504) beating my bro Chris (like 1700). This is extremely funny to me, and I will take a minute to explain why. Ben is not such a scrub as his rating may indicate. However, today Ben’s LS deck was TOTAL CRAP. It started Quiet Mining Colony, but didn’t even play Cloud City (so he could never flip), and he played Docking Bays and Ben Kenobi and space and Kessel. It was SO GAY! In fact, out Motto for that deck was a great line from King Of Queens (one of my favorite shows) that goes like this. "I want to take a SLEDGEHAMMER to that PIECE of CRAP!" Anyway, it is very very funny that he beat my bro with it.
Because of the majority of DS victories, I was playing the kid who gave Clint such a close game.
2nd game: My Chadra Fans vs. Nick Alexanders (1590) Endor Operations Ominous Rumors with TIEs deck.
As I sat down, the kid and I started to talk. He said he was 14 and visiting family, so that is why he game. He seemed a little bummed about his loss to Clint (by like 5 cards), but I kept telling him he did very well. He didn’t know who Clint was, but I explained that Clint is in the top 10 highest rated players in the world, and he was impressed, and seemed to be a little happier about his loss.
Once I saw his objective, I was a little worried. I have no starships (duh), and I have had absolutely no playtesting against a Endor Ops deck. He started Imperial Decree, Opressive Enforcement and You Cannot Hide Forever and I start Uh-Oh, Do Or Do Not and Draw Their Fire. Before he activates, he gets Wakeelmui and ditches YCHF to get Perimeter Patrol. I get a good opening hand, with Bargaining Table, Kabe and a YWTMTJN (You Will Take Me To Jabba Now), but unfortunately I got no spy or Nar Shadda (to get a Bothan) to help me infiltrate the bunker. I search for Bo Shuda, but it isn’t there, so first turn he gets to see I have no ships. Great.... Anyway, I draw for Bo Shuda and he sets up Perimeter Patrol with Merrejk and puts a scrub at the Endor Docking Bay and throws a couple Interceptors to Kessel (pulled with Merrejk), and deploys Endor Operations. I am guessing he has little gound pound so I get the Antechamber and put a mouse at there and another at the Hutt Trade Route, but save 4 force for the It’s A Trap in my hand just in case. I draw a few and get a JPSD Lando (spy). The Table blocks his big drain, and I lose a card to the Docking Bay drain. He gets Sullust (I think) and puts a couple more Interceptors there (thank goodness he doesn’t have Sienar yet). I drain, but Imperial Decree knocks out the Tessek +1. Hm... I am going to have to get rid of that or this is going to be a rough game. I deploy Lando to the Bunker, but I am not sure if Perimeter Patrol works on him or not. I was about to ask the TD, but Nick plays Imperial Barrier, so I assume that it doesn’t (or he would have saved the barrier). I then deploy 3 Rats to beat on lone Merrejk. Right before I battle, he tells me that Lando wasn’t supposed to be able to move or battle for the rest of the turn, and I had to lose one, and asked if he could take back his barrier. Being the incredibly nice guy that I am, :-) I let him, lost 1 force, and even let him barrier one of my Rodents. I still battle, draw a 5 and he loses 5 cards battle damage. I don’t have the force to move to the Docking Bay (to block Imp. Decree) and save enough to play It’s A Trap, so I stay at the Bunker. The Table blocks his big drain, and I lose 3 cards (2 at Sullust and 1 at the Docking Bay) and he backs his Docking Bay Scrub up with Janus. My turn, I drain, deploy Mos Eisley with another Kabeling there, FINALLY flip my objective (like 5th turn or something), and put a Rat at the Docking Bay. I move Lando and a rat to the Docking Bay, so I have 2 Rodents at the Bunker, 2 Rats and Lando at the Docking Bay, and 1 Fan at Mos Eisley, 1 at the Antechamber and 1 at the Hutt Trade Route (holding the It’s A Trap and a Japanese Barrier to protect them.) From that point on, I pretty much dominated Endor, and could block a lot of his space drains with Bargaining Table. He got SFS and retrieved like 10 on Interceptors, but now that Imperial Decree was no longer in effect, I was draining for about 9+ per turn, and as you know, people can’t hand with loss like that for very long. I ended up winning by 24.
FW 2(+24)
Total: 4(+53)
Game Highs: BARGAINING TABLE! Hm.... I think that card saved me right around 20 cards. I love this deck so much, and it did a pretty good job. I also guessed dead on about him having little or no ground power.
Lows: Not much...
At this point there were 5 (I think) undefeated players: me, Carl, my friend Clay, Matt Duncan, and Clint. I had the most differential, and I was SURE Clint and I would get the same side so I wouldn’t get to play him (such is my luck). But to my surprise, I was DS and Clint was LS. My Abyssins would win for sure, and Clint would probably win, so it would be me and him 4th game for the tournament!
Game 3: My broken Abyssins vs. Carl Etheredge’s (1716) MWYHL train to 6.
He started MWYHL, so I opted to switch Oppressive Enforcement for Resistance (in case of Anger Fear) because I didn’t really expect SAC. He started Battle Plan, which I hate because, as the deck title so proudly states, I don’t need no stinkin’ starships, so it looked like I would be paying for my drains. Luckily, I got Gailid in my opening hand, along with Bad Feeling Have I, so I could get in a few drains before I had to start paying 3 to drain 1. The game starts off very slow. I get my usual set up, and he sets up normal for training, and every time I search my deck I check to see if Search and Destory or my Twi-lek is in my force pile. Well, he gets to test 3 before I finally get S&D, but my drains have put a dent in his life force (he lost maybe 8-12 cards). I get S&D running, and apparently Carl didn’t know what it did. After reading it, he mumbled something about it being a piece of crap and lost his force for it. To block S&D and my AC drain, he deployed Melas, New Hope Wedge and Harc Seff to the unoccupied Jabba’s Palace (heh heh). When it gets to my deploy phase, before I deploy the beats, I ask him "You’ve never played against Abyssins before, have you? " Of course he hadn’t or else he wouldn’t have done that. Needless to say, it was 15 cards battle damage. I dropped 5 Abyssins for 1 force each and Mara with saber, battled (retrieved my entire lost pile) and hacked Wedge, drew like a 4 destiny and cancelled his battle destiny with a spare Myo (who says I don’t need 4 Myos?). His power: 6. My power: 28. He lost all the characters and 15 cards. While he finished he tests, he ate drains and S&D, but he did end up flipping MWYHL after he was down to about 3 cards left, retrieved his 10, then lost all his cards to S&D and drains. I won by 26, I think.
FW 2(+26)
Total: 6(+79)
Game Highs: Abyssin Beating! I love those!
Game Lows: Poor guy never played against Abyssins before, so he didn’t have a lot of chance from the beginning. I took FOREVER to get out Search and Destroy, which really sucks vs. Mind. Also, he kept playing Fall Of The Legend and Throw Me Another Charge to look for Weather Vane and an Automated Weapon respectively, but nether was ever in his deck! They must have been in his force pile EVERY SINGLE time he played the interrupt. That is some horrible luck, and I hate it when I win games by luck ;-)
Ah, sweet. I would play Clint for sure now. I was thinking to myself what I knew about Clint or how he plays or what deck he was playing DS (which is next to nothing on all 3 accounts), and it occurred to me that Clint might know how to beat my Chadra Fans a lot better than most people because the person who gave me the idea for Chadras in the first place was his playtesting buddy Steven Lewis. As I was thinking how I would beat Clint, my friend Clay (who has a rating of like 1750) walked up and told me he just finished his game with Clint, and he (Clay) had won. My jaw dropped. "How???!!!" I demanded. The reply, of course, was "Abyssins." You see, Clay won’t admit it, but after I won the Grand Slam, Clay copied my Abyssins deck and has been beating everyone he played with it because Abyssins are just wrong. He says he built the deck all by himself, but it is literally 3 cards off from mine, and those 3 are VERY minute differences (like I play 2 Scums and 1 Twi-lek and he plays 1 Scum and 2 Twi-leks). The running joke is that Clay built the deck all on his own.... with nothing but the internet :-)
So once again I get gypped out of playing Clint! Arrrggghhh!!!!
4th round: My Chadras vs. Carl’s Monkey TIEs:
Alright, I will just start off by saying that this was the MOST BORING game of SWCCG I have ever played in my entire life, so I will not say a whole lot about it. If SW was like this game, I would quit in a heartbeat.
He starts SYCFA (duh)and starts Battle Order (suck!) and pulls Wakeelmui and he gets a great opening hand, with Dreaded Imperial Starfleet AND SFS. First turn I search for Bo Shuda and AGAIN it isn’t in my deck and my opponent gets to see FIRST TURN OF THE GAME that I don’t have any ships! I set up Tessek and Kabe (second turn) at the AC, and total spread drain at every site I can manage (with an It’s A Trap just in case), and pay for all my drains. He does the same in space. He puts Merrejk at the DS:Docking Bay. I know I have to eliminate Merrejk to slow him down, so I drop EPP Obi to kill him. Every single turn for the entire rest of the entire game, he dropped a TIE to the Docking Bay (retrieved 1 with SFS) and battled Obi with his GAY TIE so he would retrieve 1 and I would lose 1 (to Draw Their Fire), then lose his TIE to reserve deck. That is why I absolutely HATE SYCFA. He can actually BENEFIT from sending a TIE to battle Obi. I mean, it is not like Decipher was actually thinking anyone would use that piece of crap to blow up planets! Okay, back to the game now that my rant is over. So we were both paying for our drains, but he could cancel 1 per turn and take advantage of DTF, and I couldn’t get my Bargaining Table or either of my Signals, so he has the advantage. FINALLY I get one of my Signals, and use 3 force to play it and OF COURSE, my Bargaining Table is in the 3 force I used to pay for the signal. It doesn’t get much worse than that! The whole game was like that for me, and it was still close, but he beat me by about 3 cards. I H-A-T-E TIEs!
FL 0(-3)
So I finished at 6(+76)
After the game, I thought about that game, and nearly beat my head into the wall! I was SO stupid. Every freaking turn he deployed a TIE, battled Obi (he retrieved 1, I lost 1) then lost the TIE to used pile. It SUCKED because I could have just declined to draw Battle Destiny, and he couldn’t have lost the TIE so I could have battled it on my turn. That would have won me the game easily, turn after turn after turn, and I only lost by 3. The worst part of it all, though, is that in the middle of the game I thought about declining to draw destiny in an attempt to make him leave his TIE, but didn’t do it because I had more power than him so I thought he could lose the TIE anyway. However, all his battle damage is canceled, so he would have had to leave the TIE for me to battle. DANG IT! That is the kinda thing great players do, and I forgot. That’s what I get for playing on 4 hours sleep....
So I ended up winning the tournament because no one was undefeated and I had a very high differential. Matt Duncan got 2nd , Carl got 3rd, and Clint took 4th. Once again, for the 4th time, Clint and I have both placed in the top 4 of a tournament and yet we have never gotten to play each other.
I asked Clint to play afterwards, but he had a long drive and had to get home, so he declined.
Well, I was happy with winning the tournament, even if it was a little bittersweet because I didn’t get to play the Gamemaster once again. My 2nd tournament victory in a row. 8 more to go....
And now for the infamous props and slops section:
Props:
To Ben Atkins- for winning with a QMC (Queer Man Crap) deck that played Ben Kenobi
To Ben Atkins- for being the best 1504 player on the planet.
To Clint Hays- for coming and playing in Huntsville. I love competition.
To Clint Hays- for knowing my Abyssins deck better than I do (long story...)
To the Dresslian Commando- for actually doing something.
To Carl Etheredge- for being a really cool guy and giving us Runts at DecipherCon (I love you man)
To me- for actually having a Well Guarded in my deck (Inside joke: read my other TR for more details)
To me- for doing so well on very little sleep (for the past week).
To the pants game- for being HILARIOUS!
To my Chadra Fan deck- I LOVE THAT DECK!
To Steven Lewis- for giving me the basis of my Chadra Fans deck which I love so very very much.
To Clay Wilburn- for beating Clint Hays with a deck he copied off of me.
To Clay Wilburn- for actually playing Agents In The Court with Ardon Crell as his rep, and Moisture Farmers as his species (the TD said it worked.....).
And finally to Sarah Michelle Gellar, for being insanely hot.
Slops:
To the 4th game I played today- for being the first game of SWCCG I have played in months that I didn’t enjoy one bit (not just because I lost, if that is what you are thinking).
To me- for not declining to draw battle destiny, and losing the game because of it.
To me- for getting way too little sleep.
To Clay Wilburn- for beating Clint Hays with a deck he copied off of me.
To Clay Wilburn- for beaing Clint Hays so I didn’t get to play him.
To Abyssins: for being so good it’s stupid.
To all the tournaments, including this once, where Clint and I both finished in the top 4- for never pairing me with Clint.
Hope you all enjoyed, and....
Merry Christmas!
Andy McClure