melbourne-australia-sunday-25-03-01
Title: melbourne-australia-sunday-25-03-01
Author: Luca "Luca/Tzizvvt" Costanzo
Date: Mar 27, 2001
This tournament was run at Australia on Collins (the usual Melbourne tournament venue) by Terry Lyons. Following the success of Terry’s last BB premiere sealed, today was ’Battle Of Hoth’ sealed. 50 Hoth and ANH commons, 40 Uncommons and 5 Rares. It would then be followed by a constructed tournament. It was great to see that, seeing as Terry was only charging $5 more (and with the Australian dollar so low at the moment, that’s about $2 American) for this, a lot of younger players had turned up.
LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION (Hoth and ANH Sealed)
A quick look at the cards that I had been given revealed that two very alarming things straight away. First was that about 35 of the cards that I had received said something like ’your AT-AT,’ ’your probe droid,’ ’your star destroyer,’ ’nighttime conditions,’ and ’your undercover spy.’ The second problem was the locations. True, I had the 5th Marker as a Twix, but I only had Kiffex, Kashyyyk, Hoth: Echo Corridor and Hoth: Docking Bay as sites. Terry had also thrown in 3 random SE sealed cards, so I had a <> Forest. Obviously, I would be starting the 5th marker, seeing as I only had a Tie Vanguard and a Victory Class Star Destroyer. Kiffex was out of the question and the Forest was too. That left me with Kashyyyk and 2 ships to hold it and 2 1/1 icon sites which could easily be covered by the shield. Not good. I threw in every single character I got except for the Probe Droid, which I would likely not be able to deploy. About 15. Relevant cards were: Imperial Supply, Cold Feet (like the only trackable 5 for dark), Reegeesk, R2-Q2 (peek at top 3 cards), Blizzard Walker (only saw it once) and Mobqnet A1 Deluxe Floater (some random vehicle which can move as a react, carry three passengers and is landspeed 3). With such a limited card pool it was set to be a strange tournament.
GAME 1 vs Shannon (Hope I got that right, didn’t take notes)
Shannon started with MPG and was unable to deploy North Ridge, owing to my 5th marker, so I got a mini-choke on him. After a few turns, I deployed a doom squad of Evax, ’Septoid’ Droid and some A1 scrubs and mobed them to the MPG to drain with my broken car. Shannon eventually deployed Ralltiir. I had my VCSD in hand and lotsa active force, so I deployed a Tie Vanguard there. Shannon deployed the 4th Marker. I put some scrubs there and we had a minor fight or two, before I gained control of it. Some scrubs showed up the the 5th Marker to drain, and managing them kept me on my toes. Unfortunately, due to the choked aspect of the whole game and the strict 1/2 hour time limit, time was called.
1(+14)
1(+14)
The Good: It’s a Hoth/ANH sealed!
The Bad: It’s a Hoth/ANH sealed.
The Ugly: Like I said ...
GAME 2 vs Peter
Peter started with Ord Mantell (wtf?!). Imperial Supply reared its ugly head first turn (giving me a use for that atrocity that is Imperial Gunner). Peter deployed the Hoth: Docking Bay first turn. Basically, Peter took Ord Mantell with Tantive IV and some other ship, while I took the Docking Bay with Mosep and guys. Peter deployed the 4th Marker and I took that too. Peter deployed the <> Spaceport City to Ord Mantell. I sent Reegeesk and Dannik Jerriko to try and take it, but no cigar. I used R2-Q2 and played trooper sabbacc a few times, then won from reserve deck drains.
2(+6)
3(+20)
The Good: Sabbacc all the way.
The Bad: Tantive IV.
The Ugly: I killed Peter with a sabbacc.
GAME 3 vs Stephen
Stephen started with Kashyyyk. On his second turn, he played 2 A2 scrubs to the North Ridge. My jaw drops at his awesomely powerful guys. Stephen then dropped some more guys next turn, so he had about 5 guys there, but no active force or cards in hand. I decided to be cheeky, so I deploy my Vanguard to Kashyyyk and converted it, for the choke. I drained for 2 there all game and never had to use the Ghhhk in hand. Stephen drew up and found some locations for us to fight over, thankfully he didn’t have a MPG. I deployed a doom squad to my Hoth: Docking Bay. Stephen deployed a DISRUPTOR PISTOL. Wow. We had one fight and then I had to do something about the broken disruptor pistol, so I killed the guy with my LEIA SEEKER. Stephen deployed a friggin’ snowspeeder and guys! I Cold Feeted some guy in his turn, drained a speeder off the top then deployed REEGEESK and killed his other speeder. For those of you who don’t know, Reegeesk is some common ANH guy that lets you lose a force in your control phase to search your opponent’s lost pile for a vehicle and take it into hand. At the end of the game, I had 2 Snowspeeders, my Blizzard Walker and Rogue 1, with a Sandspeeder and a Tauntaun just waiting to be nicked.
2(+11)
5(+31)
The Good: Umm ... Reegeesk!
The Bad: I played Cold Feet earlier in the game and missed. That sucked.
The Ugly: I dread the day when a Leia Seeker saves my but again.
GAME 4 vs Cody
Cody was undefeated, but had two timed wins. We decided that we were going to play FAST so that we wouldn’t time out. Cody started MPG, but quickly got out Bothawui. In the spirit of things, I had a think and the only ships that I could think of in this format were Medium Transports, a few ships without pilots and Tantive IV, so I deployed my Kashyyyk (Stupid, stupid move. Should’ve gone to Bothawui, but I though it was drain -1) and put my daring little Vanguard there. Of course, along with the Bothawui, Cody had gotten a B-Wing, which came out straight away to kill my Vanguard. The shield was a real pain later in the game, but I got a few drains set up. Later in the game, though, Cody deployed some guys and THREE MUSICIANS together. This meant that I had to play +2 force to drain at the MPG and needed +2 ability to draw battle destiny. Damn.
0(-6)
5(+25)
The Good: Cody got the band back together.
The Bad: Cody got a B-Wing. I got a Sandtrooper. (If anyone asks, though, I lost to the musicians. It makes for a much better story.)
The Ugly: Did I mention the musicians or the B-Wing?
Well, Cody was highest light side and I was highest dark side player, so I got a foil Bus, an IG with gun and 5 minutes to try and buy lunch for my troubles. I went into game 1 of the next tournament with a very empty stomach.
WHERE’S ROD? (The Constructed Tournament)
Today, I was trying the much talked about MKOS, which I hadn’t previously played in a tournament and ... QUIET MINING COLONY. Why? I was sick of Hidden Mains, RST, EBO, Ketwol, TIGIH and the decks that are, well, good. I wanted to try something new.
GAME 1 vs Shannon (Profit, same guy from game 1 in the sealed)
Shannon tried to start with Jabba’s Prize, so I explained to him that he couldn’t and let him proxy it as General Solo. He then tried to HFTMF for Honor, Bargaining Table and Seeking an Audience. I explained that he couldn’t, but suggested that he proxy it as a Signal. He started with Honor. Needless to say, I won.
Much to my surprise, though, he put up a good fight. One particularly nasty battle featured Chewie Protector, Ben, Luke, Leia, Skywalkers and Jedi Presence. Unfortunately, IG bagged power 12 Chewie, Jodo Cast and MKOS cancelled a destiny each and I was able to soak up the rest with forfeit. That battle had taken some time to set up, so Shannon deployed Tatooine with Ackbar there to be doing something and drew some cards. I had also been drawing, so Zuckuss in Ship and Bossk In Buss wrecked him at Tatooine. I was able to then get in a few drains before the next big hit squad came down, so it was only Ben/Luke, who got killed. I then sat back and won off some drains and AAA.
2(+30)
2(+30)
Highs: Went and got lunch. Mmm.
Lows: The whole game. I wanted to test out a deck against well, not a beginner.
GAME 2 LS vs Donald (Endor Ops)
I thought that I would be playing Rod, who was probably the highest ranked player there, but apparently Donald had absolutely slaughtered someone, seeing as he helped to build the other guy’s deck. After my first game, I could understand that he wanted some competition and I was going to do my best to provide it. With QUIET MINING COLONY. Yes. QMC. In a tournament. Without the Tatooine effect that will boost it.
Don’t laugh.
Well, I was a bit miffed not to be playing Rod, but we nonetheless started our game. I want to say right now that, although neither of us were particularly pleased about our first game, this was a very relaxed and fun game. Donald tends to play a bit slowly when it gets down to the wire, but he’s a hell of a nice guy. Anyhow, Donald started with Combat Response (dark side Squadron Assignments?), Decree and Superficial Damage (or whatever that effect that allows you to forfeit weapons is called). Straight away, alarm bells went off in my head. Interceptor Cannons. 5 Ships in my deck. All fighters. Damn. Anyhow, I started off with Squadron Assignments, Battle Plan and Menace Fades. On his first turn, Donald got Ephant Mon from hand to the Bunker. Grr. I drew a card or two, then said go.
Second turn, Vader with Lightsaber and two unique biker scouts (Irol and Oberk, I think) hit an Endor drain +1 site. I decided that I didn’t like that, so I deployed LSJK with stick to take the lot of them on. One of the scouts got a scout blaster as a react. I decided to cut him and Blaster Proficiency him to get rid of the extra forfeit from the weapon and give me a shot at killing Darth, seeing as my average destiny was fairly high. Vader missed the slice and I drew a 7 to his 5. Not happy, Jan. I lost some cards and next turn Vader ran away with his tail between his legs. Donald didn’t have too many cards in hand, so I took a risk and put some ship to Bespin.
Donald deployed some star destroyer and Motti in front of LSJK, obviously to be able to set up Ominous Rumors. I looked at the Barrier in my hand and decided not to Barrier Motti for the ass-whooping of the century, preferring to be able to survive the inevitable big space fight. Sure as eggs are eggs, Motti got the hell away from LSJK. I drained and deployed Skate with Mirax and Outrider with Dash to reinforce Bespin, holding back the Falcon. Donald set up a star destroyer at Sullust with Admiral Piett on board. I deployed a bunch of guys to three CC sites, flipped and deployed CC Celebration. Donald drained, and Menace Fades straight away paid for it’s deck space. Nothing much else on Donald’s part, so I put back a random 6 with Mirax. Next turn I activated, Edged for 5, Celebrated for 3 and Tunneled for Pucumir Thryss to drain for more.
Donald drained and deployed some more ships to Endor and Sullust. I tracked my Edge, Miraxed it back, Edged for 5, Celebrated for 3 and deployed Hiding In The Garbage (the bomb). Donald deployed some more stuff and drained. Next turn, I did the same thing, only using HITG instead of Mirax and holding back the Falcon and a Barrier all the while. Towards the end, Super Falcon went and beat up on everything at Sullust. Order To Engage Made Donald decide to fight me again at Sullust so that I could Out Of Nowhere for an extra destiny and kill everything else. One or two more turns of draining, and that was game. Apparently draining for 8-10 a turn is good, or something.
Highs: Set up everything that I needed to.
Lows: Not a terribly exciting game, didn’t get to play Rod.
The Ugly: Jedi Luke with stick. Machine.
GAME 3 LS vs John (Ralltiir Ops)
Apparently John had had two easy first games as well, and so was edging out Rod on differential. Of course, Ralltiir was always going to be a tricky matchup. I would have to go off planet, because if John flipped, I would lose. Fortunately, I thought of this when making the QUIET MINING COLONY deck, and started with Insight, Squadron Assignments and Ounee Ta. John deployed a <> icon site first turn, Carida and the Death Star II: Docking Bay. I activated 8 or some other insanely high first turn amount, deployed Grand Moff Wedge in Ship and moved him to Ralltiir, grabbed a site and drew some. John deployed the <> Docking Bay with some scrub (not a biker scout) on a bike there and Aratech Corporation on Carida. I shrugged my shoulders, figuring that he would have a Barrier, activated another unreasonably high amount, fished out my site, put Red 10 with pilot (Yes, yes, I know, WTF?! Right? Yeah, I’m not a complete scrub, but it cancels a destiny with Wedge, it’s got some immunity, it adds a destiny to power which Imperial Command won’t stop and it can fire X-Wing Cannons. OK? You’re still laughing at me, aren’t you? Fine then. Be that way.) to Ralltiir and deployed Tawss Khaa for ... 0 force to the <> Docking Bay.
John didn’t Barrier him, so I went ahead and deployed Luke Skywalker, Rebel Scrub err ... Scout. Apparently John didn’t have a Barrier. Picture Mr. Burns. ’Eeex-cellent.’ Beatdown time. Oh yeah, I predicted that I’d win with Tawss Khaa :) John had to draw for a bit, meanwhile I set up Mirax In Ship to Bespin (it was safe because I knew John would need to beat me off Ralltiir first and I had both Barrier and Houjix/Out Of Nowhere in hand) and Luke found some shiny looking green thingy in his pants. John then came out with three Bikes, each with Biker Scouts piloting and Janus and fought. Luke had just been watching the commercial for the Gin-Zu knife, so he decided to go sick by eviscerating Janus, then cancelling the immunity to attrition of each bike there. John lost a bike with a scout. Luke sat there, picking his teeth with his lightsaber and grinning.
John retalliated with IG-88, 4-LOM and Guri. Whoa! Droids ahoy! John picked a fight and took Tawss Khaa with IG-88. Luke cut up IG-88, then Blaster Proficiencied him away to get Tawss Khaa back and stop the added battle destiny. John played High Speed Tactics and when the smoke cleared, it was Tawss Khaa facing three or so bikes with Guri hanging around and Luke in the Tank. I picked up Luke in my turn, but didn’t have too much force, so I put Orimaarko with Tawss, landed Wedge and the other Red Squadron scrub and moved the Falcon and Outrider to Ralltiir. That’s when John decided to be a smartass and deploy Thrawn, Chimaera and Zuckuss to Ralltiir.
This is getting long. Too long. Basically, we had a few more fights, including one where John lost everything at Ralltiir and I played Legendary Starfighter on the Falcon. I was then able to win, although not by as much, seeing as I hadn’t been able to do any retrieving.
Highs: Phew! That could’ve gotten a lot tougher.
Lows: Aratech Corp chasing my guys around.
The Ugly: John and I have long had a debate about whether or not it is worth playing Xizor in Ralltiir Ops. John drew him for destiny at least three times, but never deployed him.
It turned out that Rod had also just played dark and Adam had lost a game or something, so my final game was ...
GAME 4 DS vs John (WYS)
John has been playing WYS for a while so, I figured that this would be the most serious game of the tournament. I was pleased to be able to test out my deck against a tier one deck. John started with Battle Plan, Squadron Assignments and Menace Fades. No good news for me there. I got a fairly quick start with the usual stuff ie. Sail Barge, Bib, Ephant Mon, Gailid and Jabba, but couldn’t find an Abyssin to flip. An interesting side note was that it was old-school Jabba, so he was taking a bit of the sting out of Battle Plan (precisely why I played him). John set up Lando and some other smugglers at the pub. Before he had a chance to flip, I gave him a free cantina from my trade folder to confuse the living bejesus out of him (actually, I said it was so he could have a spare one to black out the DS icons for WYS :P). This tactic worked, because he didn’t have a large hand and was forced to wait another turn to flip. Next turn, Xizor, Boelo and IG with Gun went to the pub. Lando frantically looked around for a phone and saw one behind the bar. Problem was that it was for paying customers only, so IG threw him out into the used pile before he could call Boelo’s momma. Needless to say, everyone else got beaten down.
John decided that he didn’t like me beating people down, so he deployed Luke Skywalker, smiled at me and asked if I wanted to do anything. I barriered him. John, of course, converted him into Big, Big Luke. He was then joined by Chewbacca, Protector and Dash, but didn’t start a fight. IG got on the comlink and called up 4-LOM, Dengar, Dr E and Ponda Baba. When they walked in the door, past a still unconscious Lando, perhaps, they picked up a non unique Abyssin, so I finally flipped. This time, there would be no time to call anyone’s momma. Chewbacca went to the used pile, John lost Luke and Dash and then some more (ten or something). Cool.
I know that it all sounded good, but the problem was that the Falcon had shown up at Kessel. I found the Bus early on, but couldn’t find another ship (3 more in there ...). Outrider with Tallon Karrde piloting went to Tatooine to flip. I deployed Search and Destroy, then put Bus with Jodo Cast as a passenger to Tatooine. I fought and John Hyper Escaped. Whatever. Next turn, both of the ships chased Bus away to Kessel. John was forced to land Outrider to stop Search and Destroy, but moved Falcon to Kessel. I beat down on the Falcon, then beat down on Tallon Karrde. Nothing too much to say.
The Good: Won. Booyeah!
The Bad: Taking so long to flip and being unable to draw ships.
The Ugly: Tallon Karrde vs IG-88 w/gun.
Rod had also won all 4 games, but my differential was higher, so I took the tournament. Rod wanted the foil Masterful Move, so I picked it up and traded it to him. Ronnie won the Hoth 2 Player set when it was raffled away.
Props:
Ronnie and Lee: I rang up Ronnie this morning, short of two Abyssins and a None Shall Pass, which Lee was generous enough to give me.
Terry for running the tournament and getting me another Jedi Luke. Like I said, if you want auto-props, just get me a Jedi Luke.
Rod for trading the Masterful Move off me. It went something like this:
Me: Yeah, Rod, you don’t really have all that much that I want, but if you really want the MM, how about this and this.
Rod: Yep, Ok. *We trade, a few seconds pass* Actually, what combo cards do you need?
Me: None really, but I wouldn’t mind these few.
Rod: Have them. *Hands me about 5 combo cards*
Adam for turning up.
Lee- Happy Birthday.
Shannon for having the guts to play profit in the first place.
Brian Hunter- he lost one game. Get over it.
Slops:
Pairings for being screwed.
Is that it? It can’t be. Better tack on another one.
Christina for distracting me in my Italian exam last week. Sure, you were just ’stretching’.
Hmm, that didn’t work too well. How about ...
Microsoft?
Anyone wanna help me out here? Can I really not think of any big slops?
Until next time,
Luca/Tzivvt