raleigh-nc-3-3-01
Title: raleigh-nc-3-3-01
Author: Mike "OQrygg" Merletto
Date: Mar 4, 2001
Now it*s Friday night, and I look in the folder with all my decks typed up. I see that junk deck I made the previous night and I*m like, “What the hell!” So I open it up and start talking tech with fellow local scrub, Rob Werbicki. So we get it better, so I*m thinking, “Even though this deck looks like ass, it will still do good because it’s an Obi*s Hut deck!” So to help out the ass-y look, I start coloring some WB Premiere commons orange. I bettcha you*ve never seen an orange @#$% before, so it won*t look so ass-y! Understand my logic? I use 5 spies, since I am such a scrub that I have 0, yes 0, Transmission Terminateds and hardly any Reflections 2. I use Monks + Bothans and some Wind Chimes, along with mains to put a beating into Scum decks. Well guess what I forgot... no one plays Scum around here (well... not enough to meta against it)! Then I get this idea for a Dark Side that causes hella damage when set up, which doesn*t take too long. Too bad I need like 6 cards for it. =( It causes around 15 damage a turn, and sets up around 5th turn, but can probably go faster than that.
Decks:
LS - Obi*s Hut start with Careful Planning to convert opponent*s starting site. Tatooine locations, mains, Monks, for big drains (in theory, at least...)
DS - Endor Ops designed to shut down retrieval and play the game fairly: Each deck uses only 60 cards. Big Blue + Big Drains = Big Hurt
So I walk into the back room of Games Galore and I am the eighth player there, but everyone else it a good player, so I think I*m screwed, but then a bunch more people walk in. Pairings for the first game are called and....
Game One: LS vs. Jason... (sub-1500)
He starts Tatooine: Jabba*s Palace, Imperial Arrest Order and Superficial Damage. I just convert his Palace. It turns out he is playing Royal Guards and Force Pikes, so when he gets his gang + Emperor over to the Tatooine: Docking Bay, I put Lando with Ax to Obi*s Hut, so he cannot move the Emperor any further. He comes down with Mara to beat on Lando, but I exclude her from battle, so Lando is safe. I eat away at his Royal Guards, Emperor, and Blizzard 2 little by little with my Ben + Saber and reviving EPPs. I put some guys at the Jundland Wastes, and get to drain there the rest of the game.
There was one big throwdown though. He had like 5 Royal Guards, 2 with Pikes, against my Ben, Luke, Leia, Han, and Lando. I play Gift Of The Mentor and I Know to get 8 destinies, but I can only draw 6 after my weapons (only 6 left in Reserve), and he hits Lando and Han, so I clear his side of the site but leave mine pretty much unscathed (losing only Lando). I just drain him out from there. FW by 36
Total: 2(+36)
Highs: That throwdown with all the mains
Lows: Now that I think about it, he forgot to add +2 to Mara*s power for the Emperor being on table, so Lando probably would’ve been killed.
Game Two: DS vs. James... (sub-1500)
So this is my first opponent*s friend who had the bye last game. He starts Chandrila, with Aim High and Superficial Damage. I see some X-wings while he is shuffling, so I am wary of beatdown. For some reason I think X-wings deploy for 3 instead of 2, so I put Boba Fett in Slave 1 out to Carida second turn, after setting up Rumors and Ephant in the Bunker. He comes down with 3 X-wings (one with a Cannon) and a Neubulon-B Frigate. He plays Organized Attack, so I grab a Ghhhk with the Masterful Move in my hand. He misses the shot and I just Ghhhk all the damage.
Then I look at my hand and it is the shiyat against a LS space deck: Lateral Damage, Flagship Executor, Thunderflare, and 2 pilot scrubs. He deploys the Independence to Mon Calamari to drain, I guess, but he saves 1 Force. I deploy all my stuff, even though I assume he has a Hyper Escape in his hand, and he just gets this gut-wrenching look on his face when I initiate. It turns out he doesn*t, so I get him for 30 (THIRTY!) overflow damage, and then move of to Chandrila with my 2 Star Destroyers to drain for 5 (FIVE!; 2 normally, +2 from Rumors, +1 from my Chandrila text). He is gone in a few turns after that. FW by 30
Total: 4(+66)
Highs: I*ve never had a Lateral Damage beatdown so strong before; such a high differential after only 2 games
Lows: Getting beatdown by X-wings second turn
Game Three: LS vs. Ivan Kanner - ZippyDaJedi (1626)
He starts My Kind Of Scum along with Imperial Arrest Order, No Bargain, and Power Of The Hutt. I just convert his Audience Chamber. We start off by just saving up Force the first 4 or 5 turns of the game, so I think that this game will rule because it will just be one huge throwdown that decides the game. I decide to act first and deploy Ben + Saber and EPP Han to the AC. He drops Mara + Saber to Obi*s Hut, which is on the other side of the Desert Heart. I have a Nabrun in my hand, but I look and see IAO out, so I ditch the Nabrun to a drain. “Why?”, you might ask... because I*m a dumbass. I attack Mara with EPP Luke, who misses the swing AND misses the attrition draw, so I move Han and Ben in to the Desert Heart and Ivan starts laughing and then I realize why. I can*t find my other Nabrun to get out, and he is setting up in the AC while we fight over Obi*s Hut a bunch. Then he drops a Racing Skiff and like 6 Abyssins from his Den Of Thieves to the Desert Heart. Until then, he had left all his Abyssins on the Den until the right moment. I tear them apart with my weapons, but he has the mobility. I get Harc Seff late game, and I think he will make the game real close, but Ivan deploys the Lars Farm in between the AC and Desert Heart (only place I could put Harc without being beaten on). He puts Gailid down to the AC and it*s just smooth sailing for him after that. FL by 18
Total: 4(+48)
Highs: I learned how ass-y this deck is, even with the orange cards!
Lows: Ivan told me after the game that I am the reason he starts Imperial Arrest Order. Last time I ripped apart his AC with a Nabrun of a bunch of mains like third turn from Tosche. Bah, the good ole days =)
Game Four: DS vs. Bo Marr (1480)
I just have to say, Bo Marr is the kind of name you would use if you only had 7 players but needed another to sanction a tournament. I*m not saying anything bad about the guy, just that he has a crazy @#$% name. Well, Bo starts Mind What You Have Learned with Wise Advice, The Way Of Things, and Your Insight Serves You Well. I start the same normal stuff. I set up quick and get off one drain of four before Jedi Test 1 kicks in with Daughter Of Skywalker. I don*t have Tarkin in my hand, so I send Lord Vader + Saber and Ozzel down to Dagobah on Zuckuss In Mist Hunter. Vader and Ozzel move over, leaving Zuckuss all alone.
Then, Bo deploys Son Of Skywalker and Luke*s Saber to beat on Zuckuss, then move over with Vader and Ozzel. I send Bubo down to Yoda*s site, move Vader and Ozzel over with Yoda and Daughter. On his turn, Bubo eats (EATS!) Yoda because Bo draws a 1, which is some crazy shiyat. But Bo thinks quick and sends Yoda to the Bacta Tank. Daughter moves away, but then Son moves to Vader. Vader then gets Disarmed (WTF?!?) by Son Of Skywalker, and Vader goes back to Daughter*s site where she attacks. He misses the swing on Vader, but draws high. I draw a 4 to send Daughter to the Tank, while Vader dies to attrition. So now I have free modifiers until he can get Daughter back on table (which his amount of Life Force limits him from picking up and deploying in the same turn), and I*m hitting him with a drain of 7 each turn until then. If he had been one turn quicker with testing, this game would have timed out after Bo retrieved 10 Force for flipping (I couldn*t find my Secret Plans). He gets off an Off The Edge for 6 on EPP Obi-Wan, who quickly gets taken out by Darth Vader + Saber. But in the end, my drains did him in. FW by 24
Total: 6(+73)
Highs: Bubo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Remembering which sites Jedi Test 3 deploys on (so I could move Test 2 accordingly)
Lows: Almost timing out; who uses Disarmed in a training deck???
Game Five: LS vs. Andrew... (1700s+)
I remember Andrew from an Endor/DS2 Sealed Deck way back when. He was sitting next to me in the final game acting like his tracked A Few Maneuvers were a surprise to him while playing against a little kid. He says he has heard my name before, which is weird because he*s not from around here, and I*m just a scrub who writes tournament reports sometimes. He starts Hunt Down with Epic Duel, along with IAO, Mobilization Points, and No Escape. I start Obi*s Shack and Tosche Station
First turn, I play Gift Of The Mentor after I activate 1 to grab Obi*s Saber, then put Ben + Saber to the Hut, then move them to Tosche. Next turn I get out Mantellian Savrip, but he follows soon after with Lord Vader + Saber. We both miss our swings and I lose someone for Savrip because he drew a five destiny. So I deploy EPP Han, because I was holding I Know in my hand. He then deploys Tempest 1 and Igar, battles, and I react with the EPP Leia I just drew. We continue fighting over Tosche with me often scrapping mains away for Savrip, but not getting through his immunity. I have Glancing Blow in my hand for a while, trying to decide if he duels or not, but I finally use it to cause him 9 overflow, which turns the tide in my favor. I get out Order To Engage and follow his Igar In Tempest 1 with Lando With Vibro-Ax because Lando doesn*t specify present. I exclude Igar, and it gets ruled he that he doesn*t add power, ability, or anything, although I think he adds power and ability because he is a constant pilot. I set up Ben + Saber, and EPP Leia at Tosche draining for two, while he had Darth Vader, Tarkin, and a scrub at the Endor Docking Bay, draining for 1 until he finally got out Vader*s Saber. We fight over Obi*s Hut with my Bothan, Luke, and EJP Lando against his Tempest 1 with Thrawn, Guri, and some other people. Drawing locations haunted me throughout this game, where I would draw a 5 for my first lightsaber draw, then a 0, so it would suck. That happened two consecutive turns at Obi*s Hut with Luke swinging at Guri. I eventually kill off everything but the Tempest 1, while he kills off all my things except EJP Lando in the Bacta Tank. Then I draw up Clash Of Sabers, and use it*s tech to grab Uncontrollable Fury. Since Vader can*t go anywhere to battle, Andrew loses around 8 Force to it, which is what ends the game. FW by 15
Total: 8(+88)
Highs: Playing a cool guy, he talked and joked a bunch; the game was just a slugfest with throwing out mains and hoping for good draws, those games are the best
Lows: Not much
Everyone, by now, has at least one loss, so I*m in first place by differential. I*m feeling pretty confident about winning the last game since I*ll be using my DS which has been a beast for me.
Game Six: DS vs. Ray Franks (1802)
Ray starts Dantooine Base, and Heading For The Medical Frigate for JUST Insurrection. This gets me all confused, but he says he doesn*t expect me to retrieve, so he didn*t start Aim High. Ray gets out the Farm, Forest, and Swamp with Nudjs at the Farm and Swamp, then deploys Incom Engineers and Snowspeeders, along with an Ithorian and Harc Seff to flip (the Ithorian and Harc didn*t contribute to flipping, he just deployed them).
I am winning in the drain race (3 to 2) but then he deploys to the Swamp and kills off the Nudj. I attack the guys at the Swamp with Igar in Tempest 1, after deploying Battle Order, but only kill off a few. Next Vader + Saber comes down but I wind up losing Vader to attrition. Tempest 1 soon gets battled off of Dantooine. I have spread out to Sullust, so I am draining for 6 (for free) to Ray*s 3 (for 6 Force). The key moment comes when Ray deploys a Snowspeeder to the Farm and attacks the Nudj. He draws a 6 for the Nudj*s ferocity, which means they are tied, so Ray can*t drain at the Farm for another turn. Later, when both our Life is getting low, Ray deploys Lando in Falcon with Colonel Cracken to my Carida, so he can satisfy Battle Order. I was about to give up since my hand was extremely poor, but I drew up, and got Lateral Damage, Devastator, and Lieutenant Cabbel. I count my life left and it is 11! Enough to deploy the two, battle for free (Battle Order), and then draw my destiny! So I have to lose the other 4 cards from my hand, even though they are good and worth keeping, because I know this will be the deciding factor in the game. I deploy the Devastator, Lateral Damage, and Cabbel piloting. Ray plays Noble Sacrifice for 6 cards, which he pays for. In the battle, he draws a 3 and loses Cracken for 6, and 3 more overflow. I think he could have left the Falcon still flying, but he chose to lose it, for some reason. We were then near even with life, but his drains of 3 for 6 couldn’t keep up with my drain of 6 for free. FW by 8
Total: 10(+96)
Highs: Winning an extremely close game; having just the right number of cards for the Devastator action
Lows: I way over deployed
So I wind up being the only 5-1 player, which is pretty cool. I finally win my first constructed tournament, after winning a sealed deck and juniors. Next is a closed environment! I get to choose between an Imperial Decree foil or a Signal foil. Ivan tells me to get Decree, which I was going to pick anyways. I get 3 packs of Reflections 2, 4 packs of Death Star 2, and 1 pack of Cloud City. Pretty nice, seeing as I had only bought 2 packs of Reflections 2 so far... I pulled some things to help out my decks, or build me a better LS one...
All in all, my LS did well, but it wasn*t as good as I thought it would be. My DS is a beast and keeps getting better with each week. I just need a Chimerea and Thrawn and some Imperial Commands and it’ll be the shiznit.
Well, uh... I never used to do Props and Slops, but I*ve gotten used to reading them at the end of TRs, so I*ll do one:
Props:
Languages - For making it easy to communicate
Lateral Damage - But only if you are the one using it
Multiple destinies - But only if you are the one drawing them
My Endor Ops deck - But only if you are the one using it
My Light Side deck - But only if it*s not totally ass
Opponents who forget about Visage - But only if they are Dark Side
Prize Support - For giving me more cards than I buy
Tech - What would you do without it???
Test To 6 Decks - For being auto-wins
Slops:
Decipher - For not coming out with orange-bordered cards instead of white bordered
Everyone who is looking for Palace Raiders - For copying decks
Imperial Arrest Order - Or rather, Ivan*s Imperial Arrest Order
Me - For meta-ing against something not even in our meta
Me - For not having my driving permit yet, which would let me get my license sooner, which would let me not have to rely on my mom for tournaments sooner
My Light Side deck - For being somewhat ass
Rob Werbicki - For changing decks with no reason to =P
And my MVP Card Of The Day is........................
Mantellian Savrip! - This card saved me in Game Five and bunches of differential in the other games!
If any of you want to see a copy of my deck lists for ideas or whatever (but not to copy!), drop me a line and I*ll hook you up!