viper-pops-in-phoenix-az-1-13-01
Title: viper-pops-in-phoenix-az-1-13-01
Author: Steve "BlackViper" Marshall
Date: Jan 14, 2001
I grab 3 packs of R2 just to see if anything might fit in a deck and satisfy my impatience with the set. First pack, I get Kanos, Control & Set For Stun, and NO FOIL! This sucks! 2nd pack - um, Kir Kanos (again!) and Sniper & Dark Strike. But this time I get a foil Trample. 3rd pack is Owen & Beru, Chewbacca, and shiny Savrip. That’s cool. I pull Sniper for the combo, and we start the games.
LS - X-Wing swarm EBO (I’m posting this deck today)
DS - BHBM with ViperTech (I’ll post this one today, too)
GAME 1: DS vs. Dan McGrath’s Agents/Mains
I start with Darth Vader, Mara Jade, 4LOM w/, Vader’s stick, and Fett In Slave 1 in my starting hand. I win. :-) I get Palpy and drop him at the DS2 DB and search for Carida, since I believe he has absolutely no space in the deck. I draw the remaining Force: Sim and Janus. SWEET! I activate obscene amouts of Force on turn 2 (I generate 9 on my own, plus the sites he gave me) and drop the cronies down with Palpy. I use Janus to drop a Force Lightning and get Grand Moff Tarkin. Now I’ve got a decision to make. I decide to drop Vader and his stick at the freshly deployed CC DB and hold Tarkin and Mara in my hand. After he deploys Jedi Luke, he will only have 4 remaining Force, so I wasn’t too worried about Vader getting hurt too badly. 4 isn’t enough to deploy a saber. He didn’t deploy Luke (he was in the Force Pile!) and lost 3 on my turn. Drain for 2, then GMT and Mara joined him, and Mara gets her stick from the deck. Um, he’s not doing a whole lot. He drops Ben and Lando w/ dildo, and Jedi Luke is sitting on Tatooine. I dropped 4LOM, Jabba, and Dengar w/ at Jabba’s Palace in front of Ben and Lando. Battle, cancel Lando’s text, fire at Lando (miss - DOH!), fire at Lando again, finally hit him, lose a 1 off the top to draw 3 battle destinies. We tie in power, so I don’t get a card. Drat. But I lose Dengar to his attrition, he loses everyone. Boushh kills the drain of 3 at the CC: DB (1 icon, vader stick, mara stick). DOH! He drops some more scrubs and gets rid of Jabba, but we tie in power again. My turn, I drop No Escape to get Mighty Jabba back as 4LOM starts the march into the Chamber where Jabba is immune to attrition. He hasn’t drained me very much because Battle Order hit the table early on. Fett took his spot at Carida to satisfy it, but now near the end of the game he is challenged by the Home 1. We battle, Home 1 draws a 4 and I draw a 1. I lose cards. I finally make it inside the Chamber, drop Jabba, and battle another Ben and someone else. Cancel Ben’s text, draw 2 destinies. He draws a 3, and I lose 4LOM. He loses both. Battle in space, Sim takes the 5 off the top of his deck, he draws a 1 to my 5. I win this time. Stack a card, make him lose a couple. I draw up and finally find my sniper. He drops EPP Han down with Jedi Luke on the opposite side of Tatooine and kept an uncontested drain of 1 for the rest of the game. I kept that 5 on the top of my deck for destiny against the home one so I could win next turn. He flipped his objective, but I snipered Boushh and drained enough to get him.
FW by 10
2 (+10)
The Good: This was a fun, interactive game. I want this opening hand more often!
The Bad: I didn’t want to back up Might Jabba with Davod Jon in the chamber, but I didn’t have much of a choice.
The Ugly: There was nothing ugly about this game for either of us. This was a fun game.
DJ comes over to our side of the room and starts talking with someone about how EBO is gone now. It doesn’t work anymore. I’m playing EBO of course. I’ve played it in only 1 other tournament before, but it won both games. Now I get to try and continue the streak.
GAME 2: LS vs. DJ’s This Deal
Okay, take everything I just said about continuing the streak, print it out, throw it away, burn the trashcan, and dump the ashes across the Pacific Ocean. DJ is the State Champion (I think - either he is or he was last year, I don’t remember exactly when), and I have never beat him before. I took several turns to set up EBO, and he patiently waited for me and began preparations for his gameplan. He dropped Vader and his stick, but I dropped TK-422 to block the drain. I dropped an xwing at the DB first turn to avoid a Monnok and draw up for characters. After a couple turns of drawing, I finally get Crackhead, Blunt, and EPP Obi in my hand. Houjix was in my starting hand, so I know I can play around a little bit. I signal for Incom; Incom isn’t there. I get Rebel Fleet instead. All Wings to get an xwing, he catches it. There goes my retrieval (I only play 1 copy). I set up EBO about the same time he sets up Dark Deal, and we exchange heavy drains a couple turns. Xizor and Bossk make the trip from Bespin to Kiffex. I have a lone xwing there. I told you I could afford to play around a little! I’ve got 4 xwings at Kashyyyk, and he didn’t want any of that. I drop Incom and a pair of xwings to Kiffex and sit. He drops the Chimaera and battles. I play Organized Attack and draw a 5, he draws a 1. I am power 23, and just barely edge him out on power. He loses the Chimaera, mine are immune. We exchange another set of drains, and I manage to draw Menace Fades and Jedi Luke. I drop Luke to my 4th Marker and kill his Dark Deal bonus with Fades. By this time, he’s got Xizor sitting with 2 xwings at Kiffex, and Fett dropped to Yavin against an xwing and the Tantive. I deploy an xwing from Rebel Fleet in front of Xizor and battle without an Org Attack. I draw high, he draws a 3. I lose an xwing. I don’t have another card in the deck, but I battle Fett anyway. I draw just enough to kill him and lose an xwing. I spread thin enough to drain at all my systems, as we’re both low in Force. I’ve still got that Houjix in hand, so I’m not worried about a last minute beatdown. His turn, he drains me for 2. I drain his last 8.
FW by 9
4 (+19)
The Good: I actually beat DJ. This would be his only loss of the day. I don’t think I could have played this game better than I did. I just tried to keep my head at all times, and it worked out.
The Bad: I couldn’t find the characters to set up EBO for a couple turns. DOH!
The Ugly: If he had any characters left to kill Jedi Luke, he would have won the game.
So I try to find a way to be a good sport, but I can’t think of anything I can do that won’t also rub the victory in his face. I just walk away and try really hard to hide the huge grin on my face. Come on, I just beat a very good player, and it probably won’t happen again. At least not for awhile, anyway. I’m confident now as next games are announced. Matt Rader, YOU’RE NEXT! ;-)
GAME 3: DS vs. Matt Rader’s Scout Profit
I drop Mara and Jabba to start. He starts Insurrection and Strike Planning, so as dumb as it sounds, I’m thinking "ewoks" in the back of my head. He pulls Gen Crix Madine on my turn. The voices in my head are getting louder. Palpy and mara’s stick go to the chamber and fetch Carida. I’ve got Executor and Fett in my hand, and both go to the system as I deploy Battle Order. I don’t think he’s got any ships, but I like to make sure. Tat DB and Home 1: DB hit the table, and Crix goes to Home1. I’m assuming he doesn’t play the H1 in the deck now. I move my guys over to where they can drain. I started Secret Plans, so if he wants to save General Han and waste a turn to retrieve, that’s fine by me. Crix pulls Chewbacca Of Kashyyyk. The voices are screaming now! The next 2 turns, he doesn’t look for a docking bay, so the voices finally shut up. Chewie and scouts drop to rescue Han and move over. I try to Force Lightning Chewie Lost but miss. DOH! Vader and Sim go to the Audience Chamber, and Jedi Luke shows up to have a chat with daddy. He drops Daughter with Ani’s saber, Lando w/ dildo, Ben and some scouts down in the chamber and battles. Lando tries to exclude Sim, but fails to do so. I Force Lightning Chewbacca Of Kashyyyk again, but fail. DOH! Daughter takes a swing at dear old daddy but accidentally hits her brother instead. I love ViperTech! I choke Lando and swing at Ben but miss. He was drawing high destinies in all the battles, and I was drawing low. I was losing characters like mad. He keeps giving me Luke and eventually stops swinging at Vader. I can still Human Shield to forfeit Luke for 9. Cool! I moved Palpy and other outside to get some air, and he followed. We moved back inside (fearing Fallen Portal at the docking bay the other direction), and he moves a couple. Great, now Palpy’s trapped. We battled a couple times, but he eventually beat me off his planet. Jedi Luke dropped in front of Tarkin and Davod Jon at the CC: DB (drain of 2), but he’s not captured. I play Masterful Move after his battle phase is over. By the next turn, Vader is the last Imperial standing on Tatooine at Jabba’s Palace. I activate up to my 6 and battle Luke. I lose Jon to his attrition, and he loses Luke. Vader moves to the Tat: DB, and Tarkin transits to join him. I couldn’t leave Tarkin alone at the CC:DB because Luke can deploy from his lost pile. His drains and Direct Damage kills me next turn.
FL by 7
4 (+12)
The Good: ViperTech works. Had he given me Luke, I would have battled Vader alone vs. his scout army without fear.
The Bad: I learned to drop Palpy on the ground vs. Profit. Unfortunately, Rise My Friend doesn’t work anymore.
The Ugly: Trapping Palpatine. I finally managed to lose him, but I couldn’t do it earlier (and not leave myself open to an insane beatdown).
No one is undefeated, so I still have a chance. I walk over to where DJ and Brian are playing. I’m playing LS next game, so if DJ is playing light now, I can avoid playing both of them. Unfortunately, the fates are not with me today. DJ wins a close game and I get paired with Brian. He’s a fun player, so even though I’m gonna get beat, it will be a good game.
GAME 4: LS vs. Brian Choongphol’s Court.
I am wary of space, since he can deploy every space powerhouse at will from his deck. He set up Search and Destroy on turn 1, CRAP! I can’t find a character. I sit an xwing at the Hoth DB and draw. Still no characters. Damage from Court and S+D. I finally set up EBO with Figrin and Blunt and EPP Obi hits the Tat: DB. Mara and Djas come down to kill him. I realize a couple turns later that I should have dropped Obi in front of Dr. E and Ponda Baba in Jabba’s Sail Barge, killed the combo, and cancelled S+D. Instead, not only do Mara and Djas kill Obi, but they also put resistance in effect. DOH! My drains are capped! I sit Boushh in front of Mighty Jabba to block his drain and satisfy Court (they only have to be at a Tat site, not occupy it) and lose to S+D. Mighty Jabba uses a Hutt Smooch to capture her and flips him. I drop Projection Of A Skywalker at his Audience Chamber where he has a Presence Of The Force and continue draining for 8 a turn. He doesn’t have ships in his deck, so I easily lose Incom to a drain. At the end of the game, I transit Cracken from the Tantive down to the 4th marker to say hello to Zuckuss and 4LOM. Just because I can. He drains me out.
FL by 10
4 (+2)
That’s not too bad. I came in 6th (nearly everyone else also went 2-2!) and get a pack of CC and R2 in prize support (as does everyone else there) and pull yet ANOTHER KANOS! Keep count, guys - that’s 3 Kanos in 4 packs. This is going to be worse than That Thing’s Operational (I’ve pulled 19 to date and refuse to open DS2 simply because I don’t want another one)! My Cloud City pack has a Boba Fett in it. Oh, yippee. Don’t get me wrong, that’s a great pull. But in my last 11 tournaments with CC support, I’ve pulled 9 Fetts. I trade it easily to Brian for a Jabba’s Prize because I don’t know. I have no idea why I traded it, but it’s not exactly going to hurt my Fett collection. We play a couple fun games, and I actually beat Patrick Hug’s Profit. That’s the first time I’ve ever beat him, and I’m happy about it. It’s only by 3. Several people beat the deck that night for some reason. We all poke fun at Shaner for opening R2 packs and then not having our product. Tee hee. It’s all in good spirits. "Shaner is the Energizer Pack Opener!" Here’s the top 5:
1st: DJ Andrews @ 6(+48)
2nd: Kevin Ray @ 6(+28)
3rd: Robert Seymour @ 4(+11)
4th: Brian Choongphol
5th: Matt Rader
PROPS:
* The Outer Rim for hosting us
* Whoever our TD was for doing so (Pat, Shaner, I don’t know)
* Everyone who came for making it sanctioned
* ViperTech for winning against Pat and making game 3 close
* DJ for winning a tournament at his own store
SLOPS:
* Me for not knowing how to be a good sport in the game 2 situation (but not that I didn’t try)
* Mike Elm for not coming in last place ;-)
* My first pack of R2 for the lack of a foil (4th pack that day in 9 boxes)
* Me for pulling 3 Kir Kanos
* Me for not playing Michael Elm (probably the most fun player I’ve ever played against)
Thanks for reading! These results have already been sent to Decipher, so your rating will reflect your performance soon. Next week is the I-10 cup weekend. I’m gonna win, ya know! ;-)
-Steve
A PBS mind in an MTV world