fitchburg-ma-1-20-01
Title: fitchburg-ma-1-20-01
Author: Hayes "Hayes" Hunter
Date: Jan 21, 2001
Another week, another tournament. While it is true that SW is a dying game, you wouldn’t know it by coming to the Kashyyyk region. Our scene has picked up dramatically. There is a surplus of TDs, and at least one tournament per weekend. Anyways, this week it’s Fitchburg, and I’m totally psyched. You see, on the 19th I got my drivers lisence, so this will be the very first tournament I’ve ever driven myself to! Yeah. So this week I didn’t play too much, but I made a new HDADTJ that absolutely rapes. All my games with my dark deck (including the fun one vs. Brentson’s assy light deck at the end) finished in less than 25 minutes, and it didn’t win by less than 20. For light I had built a @#$%ty Hidden Mains deck, similar to Brian Hunter’s, but it kept losing to my bro’s BHBM-convert-luke-every-time deck (similar to the deck Brentson was playing today). Fortunatly (for me), my bother, err, brother ;) was being very, shall we say, "juvinelle" so my folks didn’t let him go to the tourney. One less competetor in my way for that box of RII.
Well, I make some finishing touches Friday night (oh, what a life I live) and throw all the crap rares I pulled outta my 2 RII boxes into the ol’ binder o’ crap, and hit the sack. Saturday, I eat, throw my junk in the car, turn up the Metallica (Master Of Puppets), and head out of my driveway at about 60 mph. The drive is uneventful except for my peridocial screams of joy brought upon me by my new found freedom (think Lando coming out of the second Death Star). I arrive at about 9:45 to find the store is not yet open, and I shoot the breeze with some ppl. Sooner than later Steve Brenton shows up from Connecticut (a good 2.5 hour drive) and I know today’s competition will be good. Eventually the store owner arrives and opens up the shop, and we move our frozen bodies inside. The TD is late, but we don’t mind cause it give us time to trade, pay entry fee ($10) and fill out command cards (one of the 4 other TDs in attendance brought them). Joe Sottile shows up and announces the prizes: because we have 14 people, he says, first place gets the box of RII, second the wb set of ANH and a RII pack, then third through last get both several CC packs, and at least one pack of RII each. Very cool. And so the pairings begin.
Rating before the tourney 2141. (waiting for the worlds, and my 6-0 preformance you read about last time, not in yet)
Game One
Hidden Mains Vs Stephen Gulick’s (1640) TIE Scout EOPS
Stephen hasn’t played in a tournament since JP, so most of this game consisted of me explaining what the cards in my deck did. There really isn’t much to say. I used a spy to get into the bunker to suspend Perimeter Patrol, and I beat him down. We had a couple of space battles too, but tracked destiny 6s made short work of his fleet. Vader came down late game and he was able to Sense 2 of my Off the Edges.
FW +28
2 (+28)
Highs: My light deck only has 2 more games to go!
Lows: Such an easy game.
Game Two
HDADTJ Vs Rick Gaudioso’s (1863) New Age Throne Room
Rick’s deck looks alot like my New Age TRM I posted, the only difference is he didn’t get any twixs in his opening hand ;) He drops Kal and picks up. I just get Carida and the Ex: DB, discovering exactly what is in my force pile. I draw till I get the card I need: First Strike. His turn he deploys Obi w/ Saber to the H1: DB w/ Kal, and again picks up. I activate my force, get a DB, then drop Mara and fetch her saber, Dr.E, who I was fortunate enough to have jsut drawn, and Ozzel (free baby!), plop down First Strike and initiate. He loses Weapon Levitation ;) I play Sniper & Dark Strike to make sure I hit Obi, and I operate. Kal dies and he loses 5 or so. From there I jsut get Vader out and then he’s the only one eating visage for a long while. Scout Luke Joins the party, but I’m content draining for 3 at the downtown plaza, and the game ends quickly.
FW +20
4 (+48)
Highs: Umm, that opening draw?
Lows: Letting Visage eat me as much as it did.
Game Three
Hidden Mains Vs Steve Brentson’s (1926) BHBM
Yay, I get to play Steve with my light deck. This should be reeeal fun. Since he finished relatively quickly the first game he already got a nice long look at alot of the cards in my deck, so he starts secret plans. He gets Emperor Palp to the D*II: DB and gets out Carida. I put luke at the H1:DB and deploy some Dagobah and the Hut (I think). I attempt to deploy Lando w/ axe to the D*II:DB with the hopes of killing the emperor w/ Obi w/ saber, but he successfully force lightnings. He deploys vader and some walkers to the Endor:DB so I move luke over and attack with Obi w/ saber and some red sqaudron pilots (tycho and kier). He misses a trample or force lightning on tycho, so I battle and clash vader. I end up losing Tycho, and stacking a card, and even though I missed the emperor, he decided to lose him for attrition!! We battle some more, with him winning most of them, but then he deploys to space w/ the new executor. He moves Thrawn and Xizor who were sitting generating force at the Ex: DB to the bridge, so he doesn’t battle my lone dash in ship. I deploy wedge in ship, kier (who i retrieved) to the outrider, the full fledged superfalcon, and DTF and battle. I flip 2 tracked 6s and a 5, and I cancel one of his destinies, so he’s 12 to my 38. I get to drain for 2 in space at Corulag and Carida for the rest of the game, but he uses that DTF to cause about 6 or 7 damage to me, while retrieving 6 or 7. Fortunatly he only plays on grabber, so my on and off the edges did their thing for a long while keeping me in that game. Time is called and Finish my round of drains. he has 11 i have 18. Game over.
TW +18
5 (+66)
Highs: Winning?
Lows: Timing out.
Game Four
HDADTJ Vs Steve Baroni’s (1816) Deadbolt
I get out Vader, Visage stays on the table the whole game, and S+D kicks in as usual. I couldn’t draw much space until late in the game, but I was able to load up Zuckass with Chinruea, 4-LOM, Guri, and Boba Fett early on. He never drained me once. The deciding battle came when he deployed Luke with saber to the 4th marker to put me on the 0 side and to satisfy S+D. Down came Igar in Blizzard 2, along with Evax and Mara and stick. Lose 13 force please.
FW +26
7 (+92)
Highs: Total domination.
Lows: Total domination.
Game Five
Hidden Mains Vs Steve Baroni’s (1816) HDADTJ 7s
Steve’s dark deck is insane. Absolutely insane. He runs like 9 visages in addition to the starting one, then some more 7s. Choke vader is the man. Anyways, we start just losing to visage (I make sure of that) that stays on the table the entire game and some key stuff goes off the top of his deck. Soon he puts vader at the D*:DB to flip, but decides that the 14 force I’m going to activate won’t be good for his health so he moves him to the Ex:DB. I get Obi w/ Saber and Leia to the CC: DB. He plays Janus, Emperor Palp, and Mara with her stick to the D* DB and Vader joins them. I grimtaash to see no dueling cards, and I net 2 visages, so JK luke deploys to the H1:DB and I add Anakins saber. All 3 of my mains go to the D*:DB. He deploys Tarkin and Boba w/ gun and battles. I fallen portal tarkin and draw a 6, so he cancels. I then weapon lev Vader’s Stick to luke. He chokes JK luke w/ a 7. I clash Mara. He misses his shot at Obi. I hit vader but miss boba. I flip some destiny and he flips a 7. He moves palp and janus to the CC:DB, so I’m left w/ obi w/ saber and he a clashed mara. My turn I attempt a sorry about the mess, but miss. I go to CC w/ Obi and retrieve some with on and off the edge. He deploys Vader (with out a stick) and duels, knowing that he has 2 7s tracked thanks to janus. He focused attacks. I courage. He flips a 7. I glance it. He flips another 7. Uh-oh. And he flips ANOTHER 7- all visages. I flip a tracked 6, a 3, and another 6. I win the duel, and the game. From there I merely use On and off the edge to retrieve oodles of force.
FW +35
9 (+127)
Highs: Winning a game I seriously could have lost (and did lose last weekend while playtesting).
Lows: Beating Steve again (especially by that much).
Game Six
HDADTJ Vs Paul Laudenbach’s (1560) HB flip
I suspect Paul is playing a flipping version (’cause I know Paul) so I start YCHF so I can get S+D or Battle Plan. Of course I get S+D in my opening hand, along with Mara, Lord, and his Saber, but that’s aside the point ;) He cancels visage early on with the combo card, but I deploy Lord and re-deploy it. Then Boussh comes down to cancel it, so Guri and Mara and her stick pay her a visit (cat fight!). He loses 8 or something. Visage comes back, and I kill Chewbacca and Cap’n Han on the Falcon with Thrawn on the Avenger and Zuckass (no Imp command!). He flips, and I probe eventually, but by then Visage and S+D have done their damage.
FW +28
11 (+155)
Highs: Total domination.
Lows: Total domination.
Final Standings:
1st Hayes Hunter 11 +155
2nd Steve Brentson 10 +60ish?
3rd Paul Laudenbach 8 +?
(I’m sorry I didn’t catch the rest, I was to busy beating Brentson ;)
Props to:
-Joseph Sottile for the mad prizes and the smoothly run tourney
-Kashyyyk for having so many tournaments
-All who attended
-Steve Baroni for being damned cool
-Jeremy and his girlfriend Kysa, the former for teaching her to play, and the latter for doing well
Slops to:
-All you ppl who said you’d come but didn’t :(
-The line at Wendy’s
Thanks for reading.
-Hayes "Hayes" Hunter