what-do-you-mean-its-not-constructed
Title: what-do-you-mean-its-not-constructed
Author: Brian "Armus" Sykes
Date: Mar 20, 2001
[Pre-Tourney Stuff]
Ok, so get this: Roger McEldowney, the Columbus Director made a tourney schedule back in January that had a tourney every week until june. Saturdays schedule said "Standard Constructed" Well I am home on Spring Break and I left my Computer on Campus (My parents have a decent enough system for me to get by-- I built it) so I think "Hey I need to build me some decks." So I stay up until 5:30AM building a TDIGWATT/Biker scout deck and modifying my WYS. So I sleep for 4 hours and wake up about 10:00, shower, get dressed and head over to Silverking Comics, our local venue. I walk in to see 7 other people, but no Roger. Hmm... Blair Franklin tells me that ROger is taking the day off to do something with his wife or some thing like that and that he was running the tourney for him. That is cool, until people start talking about decks like "EOps Bikers and BHBM, RST...blah blah blah...." and I’m like uhh... this isnt standard is it? Well it turns out that Blair sent out an email 2 days before the tourney and since I dont have email for a week I didnt get it. Well $hit. Blair decides to be a hero and offers me his Closed Environment decks but then Josh is like "Um, I brought Standard decks too" DOH! so I take Blairs Dark deck and josh takes Blairs Light deck. Blair hands me his binder and is like "Here are my rares, grab the commons box and build a light deck" So at this point I’m thinking that I am royally screwed. Ever built a deck in 10 minuites? It’s not pretty, especially if youre a scrub like me. I ended up scraping together a pitifully lame-ass version of my Launching my @#$% deck (see it its posted here) and left out some key cards. In Addition, I couldnt find a H1DB! How ballz is that?! Well I get my pile built and hope that Blairs DS deck would work.
[End Pre-Tourney Stuff]
LS: Launching my Pile of @#$% (Start Mon Calamari and Ins/SA/YISYW)
DS: Blair’s BHBM Royal Guards
Game 1. DS vs. Ken Cross’ H1 War Room/Mains
I’ve seen this deck before. He starts Ins/SA/YISYW and the War room. 1st turn he ditches Insight for I wonder who they found. well I get some early drains in at the E:DB with the Emperor and Janus. meanwhile he is building his hand and getting those cool mains effects. He finally comes down and beats on my royal guards at the Dense Forest but I dont have battle damage thanks to Inconsequential losses. (That card rules in closed!) I decide to let the mains have their little drain of 2. So now we are both draining for 2 and I have an advantage on force. It’s still a little blurry as to what happened, but all of the sudden he has the Independence at LS Sullust and Battle Plan down and now he is draining for 3 for free and I have to pay to drain for 2. Well the tide turns more as Vader picks up luke and my own objective starts to ping me. I retrieve once for Empire’s New order and it is really tight. Time gets called and because of the new rule he drains me one more time and after the count I have 5 and he has 9 so I lose. Good game. TL -9
Highs: my DS NOT getting the hell knowcked out of it like DS tends to do in closed.
Lows: Losing, blah.
Turns out this guy made the trip from CLEVELAND to play in our little local. Props to him.
Game 2: My LS pile of fresh jizz vs. Don’s DS
Moment of the Day: we BOUNCED our starting locations!!! Who starts Mon Calamari for DS?! so I ponder for a moment and get endor and pray he didnt. It turns out he grabs sulliust and this is where I realize a key card I forgot: STrike Planning!!! I"M A SCRUB!!! so we’re each activating 5 on the 1st turn. He gets Vader + Palpy + Tempest 1 to the Forest clearing so I decide to get drained for 2 for a bit. Meanwhile I get Home 1 with LtA and drop it with a Squid at Sullust for a nice drain if 3. For some odd reason he drops scimitar 2 with Pilot to endor to set up a drain. I look at the mighty bomber, then drop Independence + Pilot + Hobbie in Red 4 and Light him up for 15 cards. Then he drops an elite squad stormtrooper at the E:DB and I wonder who the bigger scrub is. Luke +CRix come down with a little Rebel Leadership for extra destiny and a 10-card beatdown, but it gets ghhked and now the Menace Fades I deployed earlier is in effect. My drains for 7 vs. his DRain of 1 = me winning by a bunch. FW +28
Total: 2(+19)
Game 3: My LS vs. David Montiero’s EOps/Bikers
Well There was a reason I chganged my SL from Endor to Mon Calamari since the last tourney: EOPS. I hear having a SL is a good thing. so 1st turn he drops Forest Clearing AND Dark forest and a Biker scout at each. YIKES! So yeah I am getting drained early. I get Aquaris out 1st turn and Hobbie in Red 4 there for activation, while praying he didnt have a SD to light me up with. I also make a Key Move: I play free Ride Used and I snag a BIke!!! This is Key as now I have mobility on the ground. I get drained for a turn while I set up a cruiser at MonCalamari with a pilot. Then I bring down the Bike, Crix, and Scout Luke to block his drain at the Forest clearing and CoK at the Dark forest, so now his only drain is at the E:DB. Battle plan comes down so now he is paying to drain as well and I am draining for free and NOT battling him on the ground. I keep crix and Luke alive by moving around on the Bike to his weakest points blocking drains while my LtA-enhanced drains in space are starting to eat away at his deck. This is where the card intensiveness comes out in EOPS. David had to have ~half of his deck on the table with all of those bikes and bikers so my drain of 7 a turn finished him off pretty fast. FW +21
Total: 4(+40)
Highs: My Pile kicking ass, beating a good player, Using a stolen bike to my advantage
Lows: none, my pile kicked ass, and David is no scrub
At this point I’m in 2nd and Kyle fisher is ahead of me by virtue of being undefeated. Unfortunately we were both LS last game, so my destiny is not in my hands. All I can do is win and hope Kyle loses.
Game 4: My DS vs. Blake Mandalis’ Endor start with ewoks.
He started Battle plan and I said GRRR! but With no ships there isnt much I could do. He sets up at endor and the rebel landing site and the first few turns consist of me scrubbishly throwing Royal guards at his pile O’ Mains. At one point I dead ewok 2 ewoks. How cool is that?! Then Wicket comes down and he keeps excluding my guard with a FOrce Pike! Stupid FurbalL! I finally get Myn with a pike there and crush wicket like the scrub he is and on the counter attack by blake he forgets the fact that I get 3 destinies and my attrition knocks his forces down to where I can mop it up on my next turn. OIP comes out and I’m merrily draining for 3 at the rebel landing site and he cannot find his systems so I win. FW +15
Total: 6(+55)
Highs: Winning, Pulling off a dead Ewok
Lows: Playing like a scrub
So Kyle wins and I get stuck in 2nd which is HUGE for the decks I have. After the tourney I play a couple standard games and take off.
Well, thats it.
-Brian