normal-2001

Title: normal-2001
Author: Michael "Gilliatt" Raveling
Date: Feb 27, 2001

Pre-Tourney Set-Up:

Almost from the day the DPC was announced on Decktech, Graham Neal said he wanted to go. As the event came closer I decided to go because John Swenson and Zach Stenerson would go as well. Josh Kohman attached himself to Swenson and Stenerson and then we had all of the big guns in Minnesota. Four of us had been to DecipherCon and all of us where at Gen Con. Then I was surprised when Chad Steger asked if he could come. I think that took some courage to ask to go because it had been the trip centered around the most dedicated SWCCG players in Minnesota. Chad is a local player who plays almost every Tuesday at Mirkwood. This would be his first big event. I think Chad was surprised when I said yes that we could find room for him. After that his friend Jerry Flynn decided to go as well. That makes seven people from Minnesota.

When Thursday rolled around I decided to call everyone and make sure they were on board still. Calls to Swenson and Stenerson relieved me that they still wanted to go. But when Friday morning came Stenerson called me to say he couldn’t find Swenson. That was trouble. I didn’t think Stenerson would come by himself and then that left Kohman stranded two hours from me. That left only four of us if we even wanted to go. I had doubts about going myself at this point. However, Stenerson took charge and left from North Dakota by himself and drove the four hours to my house. Finally we could leave.
We left three hours later than we wanted and found ourselves directly in the path of a raging blizzard. It was night and snow was blowing so that I couldn’t even see the road in my rented monster SUV. I had never driven such a monstrous car and I felt like I was about twenty feet off the ground. It sure was different driving a Ford Expedition to my BMW.
We finally arrived at four in the morning. Zach still had to make his light side and Graham and Kohman slapped some stuff together. Josh and Jerry asked Kohman for his advice and they took it. Zach asked for my advice and he took it. Kohman put together his own WYS deck that was like mine but I thought he made it slower and less powerful. I spent my time filling out my command card. No repeat DecipherCon performance for me thank you very much.

I had raised the issue of the atmosphere of the DPC on the decipher list-serve way before I came to this tournament. I was very worried that my games would all be no fun because of a Magic like attitude. I was afraid that a cash prize would encourage the worst among players so I was wary before I even arrived at this tournament.

Pre-Tourney Deck Set-Up:
I had been playing the same light-side deck ever since Reflections 2 came out and I liked that deck. For dark I put together a Seth Van Winkle Tie Interceptor deck and I liked that deck too. I swapped out all my black border premiere for white border cards so that I could look through my deck when I searched and easily see what premiere cards where still in there. I swapped out all Japanese cards so I wouldn’t have to hassle over them with anyone. I bought new cases for both of my decks so that no one could track my cards because of wrinkled sleeves or blotches on them. I put both decks into my standard Pokemon boxes. I have posted both of my decks on Decktech already and I invite you to look at them.

Game On:
Game One: My WYS versus Steve Brentson’s BHBM
Steve Brentson (2052)
I recognize Steve but I couldn’t place him. Finally I remember that we played in the first Young Jedi tournament at Gen Con. I played him for the final game and he was my stiffest competition. I beat him to go undefeated and win that tournament.
He starts BHBM with Secret Plans, Mob Points, and IAO. I start YISYW, Insurrection, and Staging Areas.
On his first turn he deploys the Emperor to the DS2 Docking Bay to get force activation and deploys the Endor Docking Bay. So on my first turn I deploy a Ralltiir Freighter Captain to his docking bay and Mirax to the Tatooine DB and flip my objective. Now the Emperor is doing nothing. I have him locked down to eight force each turn so I feel good but Steve is straitfaced and hardly says a word to me. He saves force and deploys IG-88, Zixor, and Dr.E to the Cantina. Now I am holding Tallon Karde, Luke with Saber, and Han with gun in my hand and I have lost Don’t Get Coc.ky to the lost pile a turn before. I feel like it is game over. I look at his large reserve and see that he could not possibly be tracking when he is only getting eight a turn. He also has not saved a force for any Imperial Barrier. So I deploy Luke, Han, and Tallon to the Cantina. I initiate and Chop Zixor. He then shoots IG-88 at Han and draws a 5 to capture him. Arrggg. Before the tournament I promised myself I would never make this mistake again. I promised myself I would play Don’t Get Coc.ky as my first action and in the very first game I forget to do it. Jesus H. Steve makes Han go to my Used pile so that I can’t just get him back. Now I only get one destiny instead of the five I had intended to draw. Damn. Everyone dies in the Cantina except for Tallon. I move a Freighter Captain in there to join Tallon.
Somehow Steve has activated more than 13 force on his next turn. I don’t remember him saving and I wasn’t paying enough attention to actually know if he had. So down comes Lord Vader and then Mara. She gets her saber from the reserve and I lose about a million force in this battle. I curse myself for not looking at how much he had activated or saved. Usually I am good at that. I have already made two major mistakes in this game and versus a good player that is enough to kill you. He then puts Presence of the Force on Tattoine with Zuckuss. He sits on his drains of 3 and 3 and kills me.
Full Loss by 18. I am at -18.

After this game I walk outside and vow to not scrub out. I need to concentrate on playing the game right so I focus on not making mistakes and playing the game fluidly. I just take a deep breath.

Game 2: My SYCFA versus Carson "Nate" Coppess’s Deadbolt
Carson Coppess (?)
Carson is a local Illinois player who just kinda started the game. I give him credit for going to the DPC where competition was sure to be stiff.
He flipped over EBO with Strike Planning, Battle Order, and Squadron Assignments.
He pulled Crix with Strike Planning and set up Ketwol at the Docking Bay. It took him a while to set up EBO because he would signal for A New Secret Base and it wouldn’t be in his reserve. I set up at Kashyyk with a Tie Interceptor and a laser cannon. He tries to deploy Frozen Assets on my stack of six force but I Main Course it and then shuffle his lost pile to see Prepared Defenses come to the top. No Ketwol and Frozen Assets combo thank you. He deployed Gold Squadron One to Hoth with General Calrissian and Orrimarko to the North Ridge. I had to draw up on my turn to find the necessary cards to kill the Falcon. On his turn he gets his first drain on me but he makes a mistake by draining at the ground site. I play Always Thinking With Your Stomach and Orrimarko goes missing. He then tries to drain me for 3 at Hoth but I point out that Battle Plan is in effect now. He frowns and pays the force. On my turn I put down a Tie Interceptor with a laser cannon and battle. I play Flawless Marksmanship lost and easily shoot the Falcon from the sky. Now I am draining and he is doing nothing. I always pay the three force to drain. He continually tries to Squassin but never finds a matching pilot. I mention that he can only do it once a turn. He is doing me no damage and I am draining for four a turn. He tries to deploy another Frozen Assets on my force pile but I Main Course it again. He gives up on that. Tala 2 comes down with Blount at Kasshyyk to battle me but I just shoot him out of the sky. Carson is done. I drain him out. At the end of the game I had no lost pile and only one card had been placed out-of-play.
No Aim High in his deck meant free retrieval all game.
Full Win by 25. I am now at +7.

Game 3: My WYS versus Paul Motz’s Prodigy Scum deck.
Paul Motz(1860)
I start with Aim High, Insurrection, Staging Areas. He starts with Power of the Hutt, There Is No Try/Oppressive Enforcement, and No Bargain.
On his first turn he gets out Jabba’s Palace and then the Audience Chamber. He gets out Scum and Villainy, Mighty Jabba, Boelo, and then Brangus Glee. I am in trouble because I don’t have enough forces to attack in the palace. I get the first turn flip with a Ralltiir Freighter Captain at Jabba’s Palace and Mirax at the Tattoine DB. I draw some but leave a force. On his turn he Twileks for a Grabber. He comes down with Mara and her light saber versus my Captain. He battles and tries to retrieve but I point to Aim High and he decides not to. I Fallen Portal Mara away. I wait a second then ask "Done?" He says yeah and puts her into the lost pile. I then play Bith Shuffle to shuffle his reserve deck. Then he remembers to grab Fallen Portal but I say it is too late. I was waiting for him to grab it so I played the Bith Shuffle so that he wouldn’t be able to. I am mean sometimes. I don’t let him grab it.
I get a drain in and deploy a Patrol Craft with Palace Raider to Jabba’s Palace. I put a Freighter Captain to the Cloud City docking bay. I also get out Goo Nee Tay which really hurts. He moves Boelo and Mighty Jabba to Jabba’s Palace. I battle him there and use Old Ben to save Wedge back to the site but he loses everyone there even after canceling a destiny. He gets out Ephant Mon to the Audience Chamber to protect his drain of one. He has to draw and save some force. So on my turn I come down with Chewie, protector to the Audience Chamber. No None Shall Pass. I cancel Ephant Mon’s game text. Down comes Han With Blaster. I battle and shoot Ephant Mon. Three battle destinies clears the Audience Chamber. I pay four on my next turn to cancel Scum and Villainy. Game over.
Full Win by 23. I am now at +30.

While we were playing the last few rounds, Paul was looking over at Yannick’s game because he thought Yannicks was more interesting than his own. Yannick had apparently just battled with his LS for 72 battle damage. I didn’t look over at Yannicks game because I didn’t want to scout his deck in case I had to play him in the future.

Game 4: My SYCFA versus Casey Galvan’s Hidden Mains
Casey Galvan (2064)
As I look at Casey’s command card I notice he has lost to Zach Stenerson in the first game.
Casey starts with Strike Planning, YISYW, and Insurrection. I start You Cannot Hide Forever instead of Secret Plans in case he is playing inserts.
I pull Weekulmui before I activate. I look for the DS Warroom and it is in my force pile. Ick he gets a first turn verification. He looks through and stops a few times to look at certain cards. I deploy Weekulmui and draw. He goes in for Battle Plan with YISYW before he activates and gets Crix too. He deploys light side Alderaan which has me baffled for a bit. Then I realize he is going to do Alderaan runs. He saves force. I have hardly any activation on my turn so I twilek for Sienar and deploy it and deploy the DS Warroom too. Now I can do stuff. On his turn he deploys Home 1 and moves it to Weekulmui. I feel relieved. His Home 1 is going to do nothing now. He deploys Crix and Cracken to my Docking Bay. I spread out with a Tie Interceptor with Cannon at Endor and Sullust. He sets up Obi and Blount at the DS Warroom. He pulls off an Alderaan run with Hasshn in Red 5 to retrieve seven force. Expensive with Secret Plans out. I don’t think he will be doing any more of those as I am draining him to death now. He has so little force that he deploys the Independence with Dash Rendar at the Rendezvous Point and moves to Endor. On my turn I deploy The Emperor’s Shield for 11 force and battle. I play Relentless Pursuit to make his ship power zero and he draws a measly one in destiny. I have eleven power with my 5 battle destiny. He loses Dash and several more but I just lose the Tie Interceptor to the used pile and keep the Emperor’s Shield. He battles me and I just lose the Emperor’s Shield. I drain him out at Kashyyk and Sullust. No Aim High meant I was retrieving for free the whole game.
Full Win by 23. I am at +53 now.

Game 5: My SYCFA versus Matt Berta’s Throne Room Mains
Matt Berta (1791)
I recognize Matt from DecipherCon. Actually I recognize his shirt that says Evil Inside from DecipherCon. Then I start to wonder if he only has one shirt. Oh well. Matt was friendly and he pulled out a mat for us to play on. He even made a joke about Matt’s mat and I stared at him blankly because it was so funny that it destroyed all my brain cells.
Matt starts the Massassi: Throne Room but does not take out his starting effects. I ask him if he has to reveal is starting at the same time I do but he says no. I call over the tourney director and he says that the light side gets to see all of my starting effects before he has to pull out his own. So I show mine and he swaps one of his for Battle Plan. He starts Insurrection, Staging Areas, and Battle Plan. I start Secret Plans, Mob Points, and There Is No Try/Oppressive Enforcement.
Matt groans as he sees the Tie stuff come out. He says his deck is slow against Tie decks.
My deck even works slow. For about ten turns I am doing nothing because I cannot find a system to save my life. He deploys Aim High which really hurts me to see. He then gets out the Home 1 to Alderaan and moves it to Weekulmui. Jeese I now have deploy four tie interceptors that I have to pay for to retrieve? God. He gets Jedi Luke to the Death Star Docking Bay and I put down U-3Po to block him. Next turn he deploys Corran Horn to Break U-3Po’s cover and I get Dreaded Imperial Starfleet to block that drain. Then he deploys Lando with Vibro to the Death Star Docking Bay and moves Luke to the Warroom. I deploy Arica to the DS Warroom. On his turn he moves Luke back to the DS Docking Bay to see if I would follow with Arica but I don’t. He leaves Corran Horn at the Docking Bay. On my turn I finally deploy Kashyyk and put down a single tie with a cannon to drain. On his turn he puts down the Outrider with Dash at Weekulmui and moves Corran Horn to the Death Star Warroom. I move Arica to the Docking Bay before he can break her cover. Now him and I are dancing with Arica and Corran Horn. On my turn I draw and get Merrjk to look for one of my other systems. On his turn we dance with Arica going to the Warroom and Corran Horn going to the Docking Bay. I finally deploy Merrjek to the DS Warroom and find no systems in my reserve. Dang. So I sit for another turn. He moves Corran Horn to the DS Warroom and I move Arica to the Docking Bay. Finally I get Endor and I deploy it. Sullust is in my reserve as well. However, I have no Tie Cannons so I put a lone Tie Interceptor to that system. What a gamble but I know that Endor is at parsec 8 which makes it impossible for the Outrider to get there and the deploy is +1 to that system. On his turn he clashes Arica so that she can’t move and battles my Merrjeck into the lost pile. I guess Sullust is never coming out. He moves Corran Horn over and breaks Arica’s cover. I get some free drains in and I am hurrying on my turns because time is starting to run out on us. He battles my Arica and I draw a 5 in battle destiny. He loses Corran Horn and I lose Arica to a chop from Luke. However he has no ships to come battle me and I drain him out in a very long game.
Full Win 25. I am now at +78.
Now I appear on the leader board. Here where the standings:
1st - Jon Chu 10(+102)
1st - Clint Hays 10(+102)
3rd - David Irvine 8(+97)
4th - TJ Holman 8(+89)
5th - Dominic Gaudreault 8(+85)
6th - Michael Raveling 8(+78)

Game 6: My WYS versus Erick Butzlaff’s MKOS.
Erick Butzlaff (1945)
He flashes me Myo and tells me how he had to place his objective out of play with all his sites because he forgot to do that in his first game. He did well for having such a poor start to the tournament.
He starts Secret Plans, Power of the Hutt, and No Bargain. I start Aim High, Insurrection, Staging Areas. He tells me that he has played all WYS decks today and I smile.
He starts by getting Hutt Influence and then the Audience Chamber and then draws some. On my first turn I deploy Wedge to Jabba’s Palace and Mirax to the Tattoine DB. I save one force. Then I realize I deployed only two for Wedge when he should have been 4 at that site. I apologize to Erick. On his turn he deploys Dengar with Gun against Wedge and I think about barriering him but I don’t. He then deploys an Abyssian and I think about barriering him but I don’t. He then deploys another Abyssian and I think about barriering him but I don’t. Then he deploys First Strike and battles. I use that one force to fallen portal Dengar into the lost pile. That leaves the two Abyssians against Wedge and I lose 2 force. Then I come down with Tallon Karde and battle with my two destinies to make him lose both Abyssians and some more force. On his turn he draws up some and on my turn I get a free drain in while I draw up some force too. He then deploys Chall Baken and Boba Fett with Gun to the Cantina. I now have too many options and I go for the beat down of all beat downs by Tunnel Visioning for and then deploying Chewie Protector, Han With Gun, and Lando With Gun to the Cantina. I battle. He shoots at Lando and hits. I say I will shoot Lando with Boba Fett. Hmm then I realize I am shooting Boba Fett with Lando. I shoot both guys. I use Aim High’s game text to get +5 power. Yep I am definitely wide awake. I then draw my three destiny. Erick gets two fives for battle destiny and clears the site. Old Ben saves Chewie and Han but I forgot that Chewie is forfeit 10 and not forfeit 8. So I could have saved Lando too. Oh well He lost a lot of force from this battle. He couldn’t recover as he deploys Bossk in Hounds Tooth to the Tattoine System. I deploy a Palace Raider to the Desert Heart and on his turn he draws up everything.
I get a Full Win by 25. I am at +103 now with a nice 5 and one record. Time to play someone big.
Standings after game 6:
1st - Clint Hays 12(+113)
2nd - TJ Holman 10(+106)
3rd - Michael Raveling 10(+103)

Game 7: My SYCFA versus Jonathan Chu’s WYS.
Jonathan Chu (2142)
Disclaimer: This was the most strategic game I have ever played and both of us did almost everything we could do to win. We did so many little moves and little strategies that I could write a five page analysis of this single game. Both of us wanted to win this game badly.
He started WYS with Squadron Assignments, Staging Areas, and Insurrection. I start Secret Plans, Mob Points, and There Is Not Try/ Oppressive Enforcement.
I start of by getting Weekulmui and activating. I deploy the DS Warroom which now that I think of it was probably a mistake. A good WYS deck will flip first turn and kill your activation. Then they will go to the Warroom and drain. I should have counted on Chu to be such a player but I did not.
I deploy Weekulmui and draw. He gets the first turn flip with a Palace Raider in Patrol Craft at the Tatooine Docking Bay and one at the DS Docking Bay. I also get to look at his entire deck because he looked for a docking bay and found none. I notice only two ships, the Outrider and the Falcon. I need to draw to set up. So he gets a drain of two on me and is activating a ton on his second turn. I put down Dark Waters on the Tattoine Docking Bay and get Sienar Fleet Systems out. I deploy a Tie to the DS docking bay and retrieve a force. He battles it and the Tie cycle begins. He gets out the Lars Farm and the Spaceport Docking Bay and puts a Palace Raider in Patrol Craft at each. On my turn I put down a Dark Waters on the Lars Farm so that if he wants to do Harvest he has to hold a site that gives him a drain of zero. I get out Dreaded Imperial Starfleet and I deploy a Tie with Cannon to his Tattoine. I forget to retrieve a force. Damn. Chu looks confused for a bit and I wonder what he is thinking and then I notice that I forgot that. I ask him if that is what he is wondering about and he says yes. I feel bad about it but at least I noticed my mistake and can correct it. I save enough force to shoot once. On his turn he Signals and gets I Hope She’s All right. He has a drain for two at the DS and at the Spaceport. I cancel one with a Tie Interceptor. He deploys IHSA and I start to lose 1 for that effect. I get the drain for two and set up Kashyyk with a Tie Interceptor with a cannon and deploy another to the DS docking Bay to block his drain. I lose one to IHSA. His turn he drains for one which I cancel with Dreaded Imperial Starfleet. He deploys Melas to the DS Docking Bay and Tallon Karde and Mirax to the Cantina. He battles my Tie to the used pile. He knows I can out drain him now and is spreading out. Melas goes to the DS Warroom On my turn I deploy U-3Po to the Cantina and deploy the Tie from the Dreaded imperial Starfleet to the Docking Bay. I deploy Endor and get a Tie there without a Tie Cannon. I deploy Merrjeck to the Docking Bay to counter IHSA for a turn. On his turn he drains for two at the DS Warroom and I cancel it with Dreaded Imperial Starfleet. He gets a drain of one at the Spaceport Docking Bay. He battles Merrjeck dead and draws. He forgets IHSA here because Merrjeck had canceled it for a turn. I then deploy Sullust and put another Tie Interceptor there. Chu puts down The Lars family and plays a Harvest which I grab. He sorts his cards so that he can Mirax what he needs. I see the Outrider and Dash was among his choices. After he recycles I play Omni Box to shuffle his reserve. I don’t know what this did to him and I am probably better off not knowing. He deploys Battle Plan. He uses his force to deploy the Falcon with Captain Han to Sullust and battles. I play All Power To Weapons and react with the Emperor’s Shield. I calculated the power as if All Power To Weapons counted for the Emperor’s Shield. Chu loses some force because he wants to keep the Falcon. Then he notices that the EShield reacted after the All Power To Weapons. I let him take back the force he lost. I lose the Emperor’s Shield to attrition but I try to put it into the used pile. Chu calls me on it and I have to ask the Tourney Director. He says I can’t do it and the Emperor’s Shield goes to the lost pile. I ask him why he didn’t barrier that squadron and he says he didn’t think of it. Oh well now I just reminded him he has a barrier in there. On my turn I deploy my Dreadnought to Kashyyk to pick up the Tie with cannon and he barriers that. Dang. Now I have a tie sitting by itself. I draw looking for an All Power To Weapons but don’t find one. He battles it and I have to lose some force but his destiny was only a two which saved me. Things are getting tight for both of us now. I think I have some hope if I can draw my Short-Range Fighters and retrieve with my Tie Interceptors but I can’t draw it. He remembers IHSA now and I start to lose for that card again. He battles my tie and I lose a few force. He deploys Order To Engage and moves to Endor. I don’t battle him and lose three force. I was afraid of Punch It. I move the Dreadnought there. I draw a Tie Cannon and think I can win with if I can shoot the Falcon down and make his own Battle Plan do him in. On his turn he takes his time and thinks it through. He apologizes for stalling but I say that it is no problem. We are both really low on force and this is an important turn. I have no problem with someone thinking through their turn. He moves his ship to Sullust and forgets on this turn to battle the Tie Interceptor at the DS docking Bay. I get a set of free drains in space and I deploy the Tie Interceptor with gun to battle but he plays Hyper Escape to go to Kashyyk and I lose 3 force for Order To Engage. I am left with 2 force after IHSA on Chu’s turn. I can’t force drain him and he has two in his reserve. Now I totally regret forgetting to retrieve that one force for the Tie I deployed. Chu is also saved because he knew the rule about putting the Tie squadrons into the lost pile. Dang.
I lose by 2. Now I am at 2 losses but I have a differential of +101

The heat in Cyberia was getting out of control. I could barely breathe in that store. I decided to take a walk outside and go get a short sleeve shirt. To prove I meant business I put on my new Pokemon Gym Leader shirt that was kindly donated to me by Zach Stenerson. My game 8 opponent would have to face me with a bright yellow Pokemon shirt.

Here is where the pairings get screwy. I think I should get paired against Chu again to try to avenge myself but instead Zach Stenerson gets paired against him. My name gets called against Yannick Lapointe and I ask the Tourney Director what the heck is going on. I had more differential than Zach and I was playing the same side. I should have been matched up against Chu who was above me. I didn’t mean to give Yannick the impression that I didn’t want to play him but I wanted to play Chu again and I thought I should have had that match up.
Here were the standings:
1st - TJ Holman 12(+115)
2nd - Clint Hays 12(+104)
3rd - Jonny Chu 12(+85)
4th - Steve Brentson 12(+73)
5th - David Irvine 11(+130)
6th - Michael Raveling 10(+101)
7th - Yannick Lapointe 10(+90)
8th - David Lankton 10(+70)
9th - Steven Lewis 10(+69)
10th - Zach Stenerson 10(+49)
Notice that Chu is above me while Stenerson is way below me. If they were looking to pair two players why wasn’t it Chu versus me? I was the opposite allegiance and we had not played yet? Here is where my conspiracy theory comes into play. That the DPC guys just chose interesting match ups for the end game to try to get certain people into the final. Some match ups were to eliminate lesser known names and insure that big names made the finals. I don’t know how the pairings where made but they were screwy.

I sit down across from Yannick for what was to be the final game for one of us. The winner would go on.

Game 8: My WYS versus Yannick Lapointe’s MKOS
Yannick Lapointe (2165)
He starts Power of the Hutt, There Is No Try/ Oppressive Enforcement, and No Bargain. I start Insurrection, Aim High, and Staging Areas.
Yannick comments on my Pokemon shirt by saying he has the exact same one. For an instant I think he has lost all his marbles but then I realize he is serious. When I flip all my white border cards he says that he hates the white border and that I have cursed him because of it.
I get the god draw. I have 7 characters and one Fallen Portal. That insures the first turn flip and the second turn beat if I need to do that. Yannick deploys Gailid from the Reserve using the Audience Chamber game text and deploys the JPOTSD site from hand. He then deploys Boelo to the Audience Chamber and draws everything up. Wow. No Imperial Barrier. I look at my hand and decide that I would never play tentatively. I deploy Wedge to the Tattoine Docking Bay and then put Lando with Gun and a Ralltiir Freighter Captain to the Audience Chamber. First turn flip and first turn beats. I battle. I shoot Gailid with Lando and then draw a two and a four which is canceled. He loses everyone and I lose the Freighter Captain. I then move Lando to Jabba’s Palace and save a force. He deploys to the Tattoine Docking Bay with some wimpy guys like Myo and battles me. I Fallen Portal most of them away and lose some force to the damage but he didn’t get destiny. Goo Nee Tay goes to the lost pile and I Ounee Ta to get it into hand. I get out Goo Nee Tay which really hurts him because now he can’t beat up on me with multiple mains. I deploy Han With Gun and two other smugglers to beat up on his leftover guys. I fortify Jabba’s Palace with a palace Raider in Patrol Craft. He deploys Blast Door Controls so now my Rebel Barriers suck. I play Out Of Commision and get Ig-88. I move Han and a Freighter Captain to the Desert Heart and leave a force of three smugglers at the Tattoine Docking Bay. Yannick sees his chance to come back. He deploys Myo to Jabba’s Palace and puts Dengar with two Abyssians to the Desert Heart. He then battles at Jabba’s Palace with Myo and cancels it with Projective Telepathy. That killed the Palace Raider react. Then he tries to play the Set For Stun combo card for two force but I point out that it costs three force to use. He says that he never even looked at its cost before and that he had been playing it for two force the whole day. I am awake. He only has three force left and can’t play it. He moves Myo to the Audience Chamber. When I drain him he loses an IG-88 from hand. Nice. I battle and kill off Dengar and the Abyssians while he shoots all those guys. I just restock the Desert Heart with guys. I drain him out.
Win by 20. Now I am at +121.
I just want to say that Yannick is a good guy. He is not a jerk and is pretty cool. He is friendly to everyone which is very cool. He didn’t like my white border premiere though.

Zach Stenerson beats Johnny Chu by two which no one expected. That knocks Chu out of the running and sets me up in third place. I feel like the pairings in game 8 were really strange and were more tossed together than actually determined by differential.

I sat down in the far corner of Cyberia to play in the playoff game.
Game 9: My WYS versus David Irvine’s MKOS
David Irvine(2117)
The DPC had some rule on taking an opening hand mulligan for the playoff which was really dumb. You could do it but only draw 6 cards instead of 8. So I did not do it and don’t know why anyone would.
He starts with No Bargain, There is Not Try/Oppressive Enforcement, and Power of the Hutt.
In my opening hand is no Fallen Portal but its ok. He gets out the Audience Chamber and Hutt Influence and draws. When he gets to twelve I ask him how many cards are in his hand. I try my mind trick on him to make him stop drawing. It doesn’t work. He draws all his force. On my turn I go for the first turn flip with Mirax at Jabba’s Palace and a Palace Raider in Patrol Craft at the Tattoine Docking Bay. Then I draw but find no Fallen Portal and no Rebel Barrier. Ick. I save a force to bluff with. It doesn’t work. He comes down with Mighty Jabba and Prince Zixor. He battles and I react with the Patrol Craft. He draws enough to kill both guys at the Palace. On my second turn I flip again with Lando with Gun at the Cloud City Docking Bay and Mirax at the Tatooine Docking Bay. I draw and get a Rebel Barrier. He comes down with Scum at the Audience Chamber. Then Ephant Mon and Boelo who I barrier. Then he puts down the Sail Barge and puts a Mercenary Pilot on it with an Abyssian. Ouch. He battles and I lose 9 force. Here I could have given up but I decide I can still win. I won’t give up after two bad battles. I spread out with Han with Blaster in the Cantina and Melas and Chewie at Jabba’s Palace. I saw several Fallen Portals go the lost pile when I lost 9 so I know I can get someone at the Palace if he battles. He does battle and retrieves three. I Fallen Portal and he grabs it. However I draw a zero for Fallen Portal. The stupid Back Door. Zixor lives. I draw enough to kill Zixor with attrition and use Old Ben to save Chewie. He deploys Bib to flip his objective. He moves Jabba to the Audience Chamber and moves the Sail Barge to Jabba’s Palace to protect that drain of two. I don’t battle him but draw up and save six. He deploys First Strike. He battles me with Myo on Jabba’s Sail Barge but I target him and Mercenary Pilot with Fallen Portal and get them. The judges were supposed to notify us of missed automatic actions but I didn’t lose the one I was supposed to from First Strike. I didn’t volunteer it either. I draw enough destiny to kill everyone on the Sail Barge except for Ephant Mon. On my turn I battle and he cancels one of my destinies with Myo. I only draw a two but he mistakenly forfeits the Sail Barge. I don’t tell him that everything was immune to that draw. I deploy Luke with Saber to the Desert Heart to drain where I should have probably put him to Jabba’s Palace to see if he had a None Shall Pass in hand. He beats me off of Jabba’s Palace with renewed Boelo and Myo by canceling my destiny with Boelo and then canceling another with Myo to his objective however I play Old Ben twice to save both of my guys. I then battle him on my turn but he has a third Myo to play and I lose all my guys. I have been draining him and his resources are getting thin but then plays Jabba’s Twerps to retrieve around 6. I congratulate him on that card. It is neat. He gets Gailid out and drains me for four a turn and I can’t keep up. I try to play Omni Box from my lost pile but then when I look through it there is none. The judge rules I have to play an interrupt so I have to put down a Nar Shadda Wind Chimes which was already grabbed. I apologize to David because this move really sucked. He shuffled his reserve too. I am still sorry about it. I save a Rebel Barrier the whole game and play it when he deploys Djas Puhr to try to retrieve three. On my turn I drain him for 3 and battle at the desert heart to make him lose one. I die though.
Full loss by 11.

At the end of the tourney I get the third/fourth prize of $150 dollars.
NOTE:
My fears of unsportsmanlike play were not realized in this tournament. I think there was only one player of note that would have acted childishly but I didn’t play him. Everyone was very friendly and the SWCCG atmosphere was maintained. The only thing that was different was that sloppy play was not accepted. You had to do what the cards told to you to do and the rules required. If you started without the cards for your objective then you lost your objective. The opponent did not let you take back your start and deploy what was missing. The rule of taking back one action was the standard. It may be a fine line but I think it was walked very well. It was a friendly tournament with some high caliber players.

Props:
Sue for wishing me luck.
Graham for making me go.
Stenerson for listening to my deck advice.
Kohman for coming.
Jerry and Chad for surprising everyone and doing better than Kohman or Graham.
Girard for being friendly and a very big guy who wears big shorts.
Voice of Law. Just because I have made peace with him.
Mirkwood. For Tuesday night tourneys which let me try out decks.
Everyone who gives me a five star rating.

Slops:
Swenson for bailing.
Swenson for making us drive through a snowstorm.
The DPC crew for those bad game 8 pairings.
Graham for acting like a jerk all weekend and bad mouthing my WYS.
Kohman for acting like a stupe all weekend and never saying anything intelligent.
Kohman for not saying "Thank You" to the waitress at any of 9 opportunities.
Kohman for being rude.
Kohman for being afraid of my poochie and not shaking his hand.
My WYS deck for not giving me a Fallen Portal in my opening hand in game 9. Dumb thing.

Bonus Materials:
1st TJ Holman
2nd David Irvine
3rd/4th Michael Raveling/Steven Lewis
5th Clint Hays 12 (+95)
6th Johnny Chu 12 (+83)
7th Jerome Flynn 12 (+75)
8th Zach Stenerson 12 (+51)
9th Scott Anderson 12 (+51)
10th Steve Brentson 12 (+44)
11th Geoff Snider 11 (+73)
12th Alex Klammrodt 11 (+68)
13th Dominic Gaudreault 10 (+80)
14th Yannick Lapointe 10 (+70)
15th Matt Scott 10 (+60)
16th David Lankton 10 (+58)
17th Matt Berta 10 (+48)
18th Chris Praskac 10 (+34)
19th Kevin Shannon 10 (+25)
20th Taylor Atkinson 10 (+22)
21st Greg Hodur 10 (+14)
22nd Timothy Peterson 10 (+2)
23rd Steve Kuperman 10 (-5)
24th Brad Gregg 9 (+102)
25th Tim Guzman 9 (+75)
26th Scott Diehl 9 (+16)
27th Brandon Schele 8 (+38)
28th Josh Kohman 8 (+34)
29th Cade Cummins 8 (+27)
30th Christian Kriesel 8 (+14)
31th Philippe Parise 8 (+8)
32nd Joseph Giannetti 8 (+2)
33rd Chad Steger 8 (+0)
34th Greg Greensides 8 (-2)
35th Corey Faherty 8 (-3)
36th Erik Butzlaff 8 (-6)
37th Paul Motz 8 (-11)
38th Norman Horn 8 (-13)
39th Graham Neal 8 (-16)
40th Ian Merrimar 8 (-28)
41st Erik Petersen 7 (+39)
42nd Martin Paquette 7 (+9)
43rd Derek Ho 7 (+0)

44th Frank Amador 7 (-21)
45th Jamie Abel 7 (-38)
46th Eric Olson 6 (+44)
47th Matt Schmaltz 6 (-28)
48th Jim Sells 6 (+35)
49th Casey Galvan 6 (+21)
50th Jeremiah Himmelbrand 6 (+17)
51st Josh Nutt 6 (-8)
52nd Steve Horton 6 (-20)
53rd Justin McBride 6 (-21)
54th Al Schaefer 6 (-27)
55th Mark Couture 6 (-28)
56th Brad Stebbins 6 (-30)
57th Dan Waier 6 (-34)
58th Aaron Komar 6 (-41)
59th Matthew Hammes 6 (-55)
60th Eric Palomar 6 (-58)
61st Brian Lagae 6 (-65)
62nd Ronald Maier 6 (-69)
63rd Carson Coppess 6 (-86)
64th Jarrett McBride 6 (-93)
65th Ryan Fojtik 5 (-27)
66th Dan Bordier 5 (-37)
67th Chris Hunter 4 (+24)
68th Jason Aubry 4 (-2)
69th Chris Ohara 4 (-8)
70th Duncan Hwang 4 (-14)
71st Evan Fitzgerald 4 (-16)
72nd Jason Ogden 4 (-25)
73rd Stephen Hennel 4 (-50)
74th Tyler Martin 4 (-69)
75th Scott Sichta 4 (-71)
76th Chris Caras 4 (-74)
77th Wes Hendrickson 4 (-100)
78th Andrew Wagner 4 (-122)
79th Scott Komar 4 (-122)
80th Joel Kuszak 3 (-48)
81st Karl Buck III 2 (-46)
82nd Paul Dziuba 2 (-49)
83rd Greg Heisler 0 (-55)
84th Russell Kranz 0 (-56)
85th David Henderson 0 (-59)
86th Mark McCollum 0 (-66)


THE END. Anyone who gives this a one star rating does not know what the heck a tourney report should entail.