pleasanton-ca-1-20-01
Title: pleasanton-ca-1-20-01
Author: Nick "JediBrain" Stefanko
Date: Jan 21, 2001
After the string of poor performances I’ve been having lately, I looked forward to the event in Pleasanton. I anticipated a large crowd including some big CA players (and wasn’t dissapointed). My boxes of Reflections II had STILL not arrived (which has both irritated me and pushed me to daily contact w/ the company I ordered them from). Having had stayed up working on a term paper for my Politics class, I was a tad burned out the evening before I came home. Thinking that the tournament was to begin at 11am, my brother and I began the drive up to Pleasanton at 10am (it’s a 40-45 minute drive). I felt uneasy when no one was there around 11:15, then once people started showing, learned that the start time was 12pm. That was mistake #1 of many on the day.
The Tournament:
My decks:
LS - Why Ewoks Care About Hansicles v3.1 - Profit Ewoks, with monster drains and semi-heavy mains
DS - Cloud City In The Hands Of The Empire - TDIGWATT running AT-STs and Imperial Commands
Game 1: DS v. Andrew Meewis’ HB mains
In waiting for the arrival of the TD, Andrew and I had played a fun game with these exact decks, and we had both gotten to look through each other’s decks prior. In my opening hand, I got 3 of my 4 CC sites and Cloud City; Force was not a problem all game for me. As I made my move to set up CC Occupation and ready for Dark Deal, he began dropping mains to both CC docking bays. Fearing Fallen Portal, I let him be. I was able to get Dark Deal going, but it was cancelled the following turn; oh well. In independent main-killing operations, Igar in Tempest 1, Xizor, and some Tramples accompanied with tracked high destiny made his mains fall off Cloud City one by one. As occupation and battle damage mounted, he was left with nothing to do but run Ben Kenobi scared through the CC DBs. Mara, Iggy, and Admiral Ozzel swooped in for the final blow, taking Ben and 2 more. Occupation brought the game to a close.
Result: FW +23
Standing: 2(+23)
Good Things: I was able to beat his mains off CC.
Bad Things: None.
Compliment of opponent: Andrew is a good player, but doesn’t get out to tourneys much. With more experience, and more knowledge of what deck he’s running (that day was his 1st using HB mains), he will improve to sweep more of the field.
Game 2: LS v. Alex Stefanko’s BHBM TIE Bombers
Cruel, cruel irony. With the 19 players we had, I had hoped it to be unlikely that we would play. I had helped him with this deck the night before, so I knew it well. I’ve been playing Profit Ewoks since EJP, so everyone pretty much knew my LS deck, except for 1 person that I played later on that hadn’t been to a local tourney before (but that will come later). Anyways, I had no hand 2nd turn, having deploying a site, Ithorian, Kazak, and Spearman, playing Out Of Commission, then on my bro’s turn, losing Artoo & Threepio and A Gift (real useful v. TIEs) to a drain, then playing Sound The Attack when DVDLOTS came after my Ewoks. EPP Obi came down a turn later, sliced Vader and Smoke Screened for battle destiny. Master Luke went to free Han, then became a Jedi. Having forgotten earlier to deploy Bo Shuda, EPP Vader came down, capped Luke, and took out Han for a ride for 13 battle damage. I tried to set up on Endor to do some damage, and missed the Nar Shaddaa retrieval off the Spearmen. With the late setup and taking too much drain damage from his Bombers, I couldn’t stand for long.
Result: FL -20
Standing: 2(+3)
Good Things: I’m glad I added Master Luke to the deck; free deployment is nice; don’t know why I didn’t have him in before.
Bad Things: Being dumb.
Compliment of opponent: I like the deck design, but he overdeployed.
Game 3: DS v. Aaron Hardin’s HB X-wings
Expecting HB mains and neglecting to see him Signal for Rebel Fleet, I began cautiously fearing a spy beatdown to hit me at the Executor DB. Despite this, I was able to set up fast. Grand Admiral Thrawn and Admiral Chiraneau held Bespin on Executor, and protected by CC Occupation and We’re In Attack Position Now damage all game. We didn’t really battle all that much; he’d drain for some, then I’d drain and do direct damage for a small ton. Upon flipping, my starships went everywhere. Executor, Bossk In BUS, DS-61-3 on Palpy’s Shuttle, and Admiral Piett on Vader’s Shuttle probed out his base and blocked his drains. After he shuffled his X-wings around to both maximize battle protection and to save enough Force to pay for an All Wings Report In retrieval for 13, I pulled my tracked 4s and 6s for destiny, slowly but surely making X-wings go away.
Result: FW +22
Standing: 4(+25)
Good Things: The deck performed right as it should.
Bad Things: None.
Compliment of opponent: He played it out very well, but his inability to cause me greater damage earlier and cope with my Dark Deal-enhanced drains on CC did him in.
By this time in the day, having skipped breakfast was starting to make my eyes and head hurt. Note that I’m not citing this as the cause of my poor playing abilities, but they didn’t help matters.
Game 4: LS. v. Andrew Andorf’s MKOS Abyssins
Great, another cheese Abyssins deck. Why do I call it cheese? Because all of the Abyssin decks I’ve seen are virtually the same damn thing. 1st turn Artoo & Threepio were A Gift-ed. This was the only high point of the game. I setup DOS, an Ithorian, and 2 Spearman at the Endor DB, preparing to start working the drain. On his turn, he pretty much ended the game. Snoova armed with a Vibro-Ax, EPP Fett, Dr. Evazan, and 6 Abyssins came down. I missed the Fallen Portal thanks to pithy destiny, DOS got captured by Snoova and a Spearman was shot and operated on. After forfeiting the remaining Ithorian, Spearman, and 30 leftover battle damage (where’s my Houjix????), I knew I was dead. I had lost all my mains off the top to battle damage, and curled to his Gailid-enhanced JP drains and drains on Endor.
Result: FL -25
Standing: 4(0)
Good Things: None.
Bad Things: Another game decided by one battle; very irritating...
Compliment of opponent: He played very well; I’d like to see him come to more tournaments so I can have some revenge.
My headache got worse, so I scrounged some change for a Twix bar. I felt a little better after that, so I walked around doing nothing while everyone else finished their games.
Game 5: LS v. Alfred Dong’s MKOS 1-3 Abyssins
We had played almost this same game last week at my tournament, except now I had all the Reflections II cards I needed for the deck. This was the best game I had ever played in recent history. We both started in a loose, fun way. Joking throughout the first few turns, I made the first move. Master Luke came down to JP, followed by Owen & Beru and Artoo & Threepio. After my combo characters died in battle, Luke found Anakin’s Lightsaber and became a Jedi. I went for my drain setup once, but Dengar With Carbine and Dr. Evazan & Ponda Baba scratched those plans for me. EPP Obi came down to greet them with a vengeance, and no one touched Endor ground for most of the rest of the game. With First Strike working for both of us, control of the game tettered back and forth. My mains took over Jabba’s Palace, killing off his characters and doing marginal damage per turn. The final turn of the game was mine; on it, Wicket went up against Mara at the Rebel Landing Site and Jedi Luke took on a packed Audience Chamber. Wicket initiated against Mara, dropped Alfred down to 1 card in his Life Force (he had no hand). Wicket covered my battle damage, so to end it, Jedi Luke initiated at the Audience Chamber, and I squeak by with a heart-pounding victory.
Result: FW +8
Standing: 6(+8)
Good Things: Giving my LS deck a win for the day.
Bad Things: None, really.
Compliment of opponent: It was a fantastic game. Alfred is a phenomenal player; I was shocked to have been able to survive for as long as I did.
Game 6: DS v. Jeff Field’s Agents In The Court Speeders
Having my confidence boosted from the last game and getting some of Dan Mochizuki’s McDonald’s fries to fill my stomach, I felt decent going into this game. He got Incom out and a Beggar, so I played warily when it came to saving Force. I set up my Occupation with Igar in Tempest 1 at one site and Blizzard Scout 1, Veers, and Ozzel at another. Then in happened: one battle decided the game. He dropped an ASP, which was immediately Trampled. This he did not like, but he continued anyways: 7 speeders of various types came down (Maneuvering Flaps had been activated), Tempest 1 got Mechanical Failured, and after forfeiting Igar, 30 more battle damage knocked me down to a very small number of cards. To mention it, to add insult to injury, the first card I lost off the top of my Reserve Deck was a Ghhhk :( After that, I could do nothing while he drained me out.
Result: FL -21
Standing: 6(-13)
Good Things: None.
Bad Things: Another game decided by one battle.
Compliment of opponent: He played very well, and that Beggar killed me. It was a very nice deck (I had watched him play it earlier).
So, I went 3-3. Decent, but I would have liked to have done much better. Out of the 19 players there, Kevin Shannon went undefeated and claimed the Lord Vader DecipherCon T-shirt. Shawn Ely following a close 2nd, and Jeff Field got 3rd. I got somewhere low; didn’t hear what exact place. The prizes sucked @#$% for everyone but 1st; most people got only 2 packs of CC, which is ridiculous considering that everyone paid a $5 entry fee and the store had a few boxes of Reflections II. Oh well. Mike had brought his Swagg deck with him (a stack of random rares, w/ mains, an Emperor Palpatine, and some SRFs in it), so everyone pitched him a CC pack for a pull. I pulled a DS Death Star FOIL, which made me feel a little better. The high point of my day was trading my extra Jedi Luke and Executor for a Darth Vader FOIL. I donated my other CC pack to a newbie, then after my brother finished trading, off we went.
Thanks for reading.