viper-gets-detoured-tucson-az-2-17-01
Title: viper-gets-detoured-tucson-az-2-17-01
Author: Steve "BlackViper" Marshall
Date: Feb 19, 2001
We eventually get to Things For Thinkers in Tucson, but they’re repaving the parking lot, so we can’t even park in front of the store. So now I’ve driven 10 miles the wrong direction to get Kevin, I almost get lost (and pulled over) finding Scot’s house, we are forced off the freeway, and now I need a detour to even park. Nice touch. I trade Enrique an EPP Han for an EPP Leia, a trade that will haunt me at the end of this tournament. We begin 1st round pairings.
MY DECKS:
LS - Obi’s Hut M&T
DS - CCT flip / S & V
GAME 1: LS vs. ???? ISB troopers / biker scouts / stuff
Orrimaarko is the only character in my starting hand - that sucks for a mains deck. He drops the Yavin 4 Docking Bay from his hand and searches through his deck for another one. Just his luck, it’s not in there. I get to look through his deck on turn 1. Sweet! He drops a couple Snowtrooper Officers to his docking bays turn 2 for the quick flip (he found and deployed it next turn) and transited one over to the other. I drop Obi and Oreo at them, he trooper assaults (I should have seen that one coming - DOH!) and loses the battle by a couple. I lose Oreo. My draws suck, so he takes ground from me early on. I did manage to kill EPP Vader and place him out of play with Out Of Commission (picked him out of the 20 cards in his lost pile - and called it) That’s not good for a ground mains deck. My recurring mains eventually chase him away with big sticks and take over ground completely. I’m making sure to drop my guys in front of his to make sure his drains are taken care of, he runs, I drain and move over to him again. One time I think he forgot to move, or just assumed his forfeit would cover the damage. But Ben, Luke, and Tawss Khaa slaughtered the mess of 4 random characters (those snowtrooper officers, a unique biker scout that wasn’t an ISB, and some other non-isb scrub). I hit him for some nice damage in the battle, and it tips the game my way for the duration of the time. My lightsaber force drain bonuses won the game for me while he couldn’t complete imperial decree (his docking bays were Yavin4 and Hoth). Unfortunately, time runs out. I manage to drop everything to Traffic Control for a little extra differential on my turn, drain him from his hand cards (it doesn’t matter), and move in front of every character he has on the board just because I can.
TW by 28
1 (+28)
The Good - Being able to come from behind to take control of ground. Not making mistakes.
The Bad - Looking through the deck turn 1 wasn’t very good to him - I would have anticipated space if I hadn’t done that.
The Ugly - Timing out always sucks.
Props To Opponent - I think he was new, and he played his cards well.
So I don’t like this already. I don’t want a single victory point - I want 2 of ’em! Whatever. I’m starting to get hungry, but I obviously don’t have time to go grab something. *sigh* Next round.
GAME 2: DS vs. Enrique Huerta’s Oversized MWYHL Mains - Test to 2
My starting hand consists of 8 red cards. Not good. I drew IG88 on the first turn, so things were going to pick up. I throw the docking bays and Audience Chamber in front of my droid escort, but Obi and Lando take over my Chamber. Jabba, 4LOM, Mara with her stick, and Djas Purr beat ’em up pretty good and took it back. Ben dies and Lando went to the tank after I cancelled Game’s Ben Text (yeah, I felt stupid when I actually said that). IG88 moved over to flip, making sure to step over Djas and Mara’s corpses. He completes Jedi Test 1 with Corran Horn, so Gailid sits in the corner because he’s not helping anymore. A few turns of me retrieving 1 from my objective, 2 from Scum, 1 from First Strike, and 1 from Draw Their Fire (he started it - sweet), he decides it’s time to put a stop to the madness. I have in my Audience Chamber right now - Mighty Jabba, 4LOM w/ canceller, and IG88 w/ capturing device. As I want to keep my favorite decoration safe, Han is unattended at the back of the Audience Chamber. Read your CRD - you’ll find out why no one escorts him now. He plays "Choke" on Mighty Jabba, cancelling his game text. Frozen Assets hits my 2 Force in my Force Pile, and I know things are going to get real ugly real quick. He drops Chewie Protector and cancels 4LOM’s text, EPP Luke, and EPP Leia. I’m looking at the useless Barrier in my hand and really hating Frozen Assets right now. (If you know no one else had the brownie, but your opponent is using the brownie god’s tech, who wins?) 4LOM and IG88 get hit in the battle and draws a 5 for destiny. Unfortunately for him, Mighty Jabba lives up to his name. Check it out - without the aid of his own game text (cancelled by Choke), he is power 6, not gonna get hit because he’s defense value 7, and he’s immune to attrition < 7 (objective flipped gives all aliens immunity, Jabba’s Prize raises that immunity by 3). SWEET!!!!! I love this deck. I lose 4 Force to keep Jabba alive and Han captured. My destiny 6 helps me get rid of a few of his guys, and characters from my hand, my once per game alien, and power of the hutt alien stomp him out of my Audience Chamber next turn. Once Jabba’s Palace was mine again, I could afford to spread and drain a little. Suicide battles here and there to retrieve 4 and Ghhhk out, although my immunity and forfeit held out nicely instead. I never had to use the Ghhhks in my hand. Corran Horn finally completed Jedi Test 2 after failing several times, but it is WAY too late in the game to make any difference anymore. Snoova with her vibro-ax captured Jedi Luke at the Carbon Chamber to tip the scales in my favor as he now drains for 1 at his Mos Eisley, and I retrieve 1 with my objective. He doesn’t want me to retrieve 4 to a battle, so he draws up.
FW by 27
3 (+55)
The Good - Beating Enrique. I hadn’t ever played him before, but he’s one of the best Tucson players as far as I know. I watched him beat Girard once, so I know he’s got the skills.
The Bad - Trying really hard to find a balace between unattended Han and escorted Han to make sure he stayed my wall decoration Han as I nearly lost the Audience Chamber.
The Ugly - He couldn’t complete his pair of Jedi Tests, and it hurt a lot. He would have been much better off if he completed test 2 when he wanted to.
Props To Opponent - Enrique is fun. I’ve always held a lot of respect for him, and it was fun to finally play across the table from him.
We’ve got 10 minutes left in the round - STILL not enough time to get something to eat! I want game 3 to end quick, win or lose, so I can get me some food! Let’s go!
GAME 3: LS vs. ????’s Space / Admiral Cheerios
He starts Fondor, and I have no idea what to expect besides the Executor. I’m not playing space, so I don’t care. My first Signal grabs I Hope She’s Alright, and the card wins the game for me easily. It’s Search & Destroy for the Light Side, and he must have lost 15-20 cards to it during the course of the game. I drop EPP Han at the Tatooine docking bay and Tawss at the Home 1 DB. Tawss moves over to the Spaceport DB at Tatooine (on the other side of Obi’s Hut), and Obi and Oreo are chillin at his Endor site. Soon enough, a random AT-AT with pilots come down against Han, who was recently joined by Corran Horn. I play I Know (in my starting hand - I REALLY wanted him to come get some) to add EPP Leia, 3 power, and an extra destiny. Han takes a bacta bath, and he has to lose everything to my 8 attrition because his pilots are 7 and they can’t "jump out" of the Walker. =) I Hope She’s Alright does its magic again. Lord Vader and Guri attempt to step in Obi and Orrimaarko’s way, but he draws 1 for destiny, I’m immune. I, on the other hand, draw a 5. Guri dies, but the battle is tied at 16 so he doesn’t lose 2 Force. Next turn, Vader goes down. You better KNOW he’s losing 2 force for the battle this time! The "conflict" sucks 8 Life Force away from him and I Hope She’s Alright again works wonders for the soul. He finally gets the good Admiral in space and drains me for 11 in a single turn, but I drain him out on the next turn. That drain really hurt the dif, though!
FW by 12
5 (+67)
The Good - I Hope She’s Alright is TECH! Killing off the walker no sweat was nice.
The Bad - His ground just didn’t stand a chance, and there was nothing he could do to stop me.
The Ugly - That last drain of 11 might be the difference between 1st and 2nd place.
Props To Opponent - Very fun player who knows the game is just that - a game. He had the cards to get what he wanted - he just didn’t get ANY of them this game.
30 minutes! That’s enough for a Jack In The Box lunch. Finally. I get my Chicken Sandwich plain and Oreo Cookie Shake - that’s the meal of champions, my friends! I am so addicted to them. The sandwich is $1.19 - wtf? What happened to Jack’s 99 cent value menu? Whatever. I pay and eat. I get back in time to scarf the chicken, down the ice cream, and get set for the final game. Mine is for sole possession of 1st place.
GAME 4: DS vs. Santosh V’s Watch Your Step
I’ve lost to this guy several times before, and I’ve never beat him. On the bright side, my deck is designed to destroy Watch Your Step from the inside out, so I’m fairly confident. He drops Premiere Luke Skywalker to the Cantina 1st turn. DOH! I drop the CC: DB from my hand and get the Tat: DB from the deck. Audience Chamber is in my hand, but I can’t give it to him too early. Mara comes down to the Cantina, pause as I think, and battles. He says "wait, I want to nabrun away." I tell him that when he didn’t take an action, I didn’t take an action, it’s my battle phase and I get the first action. We call a judge over, and he rules that it is allowed because he could have been waiting for me to deploy Mara’s stick or something. I complain that if that was the case, he passed his action, I passed mine, and it’s battle time. I’m overruled, and I shut up. I may be right, but I will never contest a judge’s ruling once it is made. I should have asked him specifically if he had an action. So Luke heads to the Cloud City Jail to break out Han. Since it’s still my deploy phase technically, I drop the darn Chamber and draw my last Force.
He doesn’t take space at all. In fact, he didn’t have any starting effects. He’s playing with an untested deck, and since Squadron Assignments isn’t on the table, I’ll take advantage. The way to beat WYS in space is simple. Step 1: Take away the Super Falcon by stealing Han before the game begins. Step 2: Pack Lateral Damage aka Outrider Damage to keep your ships intact. Step 3: I Had No Choice does wonders for Dash AND Han anyway. So suddenly my army against your army turns into my army against your Raltiir Freighter Captain in the power 0 Outrider. I can handle that. I throw Xizor in the Mist Hunter with Zuckuss at the wheel. I didn’t want to worry about needing ability 6 myself, you see. We battle. He’s flipped, but he’s got 2 pilots on the Falcon (Lando and Talon Carrde), so Punch It from his Lost Pile won’t give him a destiny draw. I outpower him, and he loses a couple Force. Bossk In The Bus soon comes to join the Z-Train with 4LOM on board. Now it’s 3 destinies, they’re gonna be 5, 5, and 6 because I study those cool tracking articles, and his are still reduced to 0 because he doesn’t have enough ability. I beat him out of space like my deck is designed to do.
On the ground there’s a lot of interaction, too. Jabba, Ephant Mon, and Fett (I think) held the Chamber for awhile, but they were beat away with Nabrun beatdowns. I caught that first annoying Nabrun, but the 2nd one wasn’t much better. He beat me out of the chamber, and Ephant Mon went running into the Docking Bay where he met up with Mara who had run out of the Cantina to rendevouz. Scum goes away. I decide to use a little tech, so I drop a foreign Expand at the Audience Chamber to let me get another once per game alien, this time to the Docking Bay, which I plan to hold for the rest of the game. I set up a drain of 2 at the Docking Bay (mara’s stick) and 2 in the cantina along with space, and he has to do something. I dropped Scum to his Audience Chamber again to deploy my little Bossk / 4LOM trick above because I was 1 Force short otherwise. He didn’t have Force saved, so it worked. He didn’t cancel it for some reason, allowing me to retrieve 6 more before the game ended. Guri had the choice of battling Luke (smoked out of the Audience Chamber by the horrid drains) or going into space where he now had ability 7. I chose ground. That was nice because he played The Force Is Strong With This One from his lost pile, not being incredibly familiar with R2 yet. Guri stops them all except the 2, to which everyone is immune. But Luke gets hacked, and the scrub next to him dies of my attrition. Ground is mine for the rest of the game. Space leaves few problems. He got Xizor with Punch It (from his Lost pile again - he plays 2), but I took out his Medium Bulk Freighter, keeping his ability at 6 for the rest of the game. Han is in his Falcon, but he’s all alone. Kessel Run hits the table, but he doesn’t have the resources to pull it off. I drain him out.
FW by 17
7 (+87)
The Good - Um, I won?
The Bad - Not realizing the ability 7 in space really hurt him a LOT.
The Ugly - Where to begin? There were lots of mistakes made by both sides, but it would take days to go over them all. Trust me - it was bad!
Props To Opponent - Very cool player. Good attitude and again, he realizes this is just a game. I hope he goes to Phoenix for a more competitive atmosphere, as opposed to Tucson’s "play for fun" atmosphere. Phoenix can be a "win or die" type of place from time to time, but I think Santosh would have fun and do well.
So I pull another Tucson win out of my hat. CCT did what it was designed to do - beat the hell out of WYS. (It doesn’t need to be a BIG space fleet - just a GOOD one.) My prizes included a foil EPP Leia (I got 2 out of this trip - I should have kept the Han instead of giving it to Enrique! DOH! I told you it would haunt me), 3 Premiere packs, Jabba’s Palace pack, Cloud City, Reflections 2, and EJP Bossk. Not bad for $5! Here’s the top roundup:
1: Steve Marshall @ 7 (+87)
2: Patrick Gimber @ 6 (+57)
3: Santosh V. @ 6 (+48)
4: Justin Beal
5: Andrew Emmitt
Props:
* Things For Thinkers for hosting such a great event
* Andres for doing his job as a TD and sticking up for his rulings
* The damn Brownie gods for lending a helping hand
* Tucson people for being fun to play
* Eva’s for having such good food
* To *Wicket With Lightsaber for inspiration.
Slops:
* I-10 for sucking so badly
* Jack In The Box for raising prices from the norm
* Me for sucking so badly in my last game
* Santosh for sucking so badly in the last game (not as bad as me, but we looked like rookies)
* Girard for causing confusion with Justin’s 1st round pairings - we didn’t know who to put him against since he ALWAYS faces you! We almost had to give him the bye to make up for it ;-)
Thanks for reading! Until next time.
-Steve
A PBS mind in an MTV world