states-return-co-state-championship
Title: states-return-co-state-championship
Author: Chris "Artwo" Fanchi
Date: Apr 2, 2001
The story begins Friday night. I head over to Brian Hunters place for a little pre-tourney playtesting. Oddly enough, the decks I take are not the ones that I use the next day. For Dark I decided on Abyssin Swarm MKOS because I had seen it defeat Brian at the last tournament and I know that no one in this area really builds their deck to courter it. Friday night I talked with Brian over AIM and he convinced me to play somewhat heavy space, something I didn’t think swarm decks needed. I would find out that space was very useful indeed. For Light I was a little less confident. I had a fairly strong WYS deck, but with only 4 Palace Raiders (2 of which I borrowed), I did not know if the deck would be able to stand up to a Dark power character deck. So on to the tournament.
Saturday morning my brother and I head off bright and early for the 10 A.M. start (only to find out upon arrival that it was actually 11) and we pick up Brian on the way.
I’m playing MKOS Abyssin Swarm and WYS with moderate space and ground. Rating = 1781
My brother is playing ROps with Bikers and EBOX. Rating = 1611
Sorry about some of the grammar: I am not using apostrophes so as to avoid the html tags.
On to the games:
Game 1: WYS vs. Ryan Horwath (1558) SYCFA TIEs.
Crap. Worst possible matchup for WYS. I had moderate space, as I said, but I had no way of countering undercover spies so I knew I had to spread and drain quickly before he could get up and going. I started the normal WYS stuff with HFTMF for Menace Fades, Squadron Assignments and Insurrection (I would start this every game and I would get Staging Areas into hand early in every game). He starts SYCFA with Prepared Defenses for Inconsequential Losses, Oppressive Enforcement, and some other effect. The whole game went rather poorly with Arica showing up only a few turns in and SFS coming out right away as well. He was playing heavy SFS Cannons (the ones that make ships automatically lost) so I knew I was in trouble because I don’t have very much maneuver and I have no way of stopping him from firing. I picked and chose my battles, trying to only come to space when he didn’t have enough to pay 3 to fire, but a number of timely Imperial Barriers and an elusive Bith Shuffle/Desperate Reach and he avoided my beatdown attempts. Fortunately, I too had so timely Barriers and Hyper Escapes so he didn’t hit me for much either. After at least a half an hour, neither of us were doing much damage (I had Menace Fades flickering on and off while he had Arica covering the Cantina). I finally decide to move into the DS for the drain of 2 at the War Room, and I get that one going with Talon and Chewbacca, Protector, while a Palace Raider on Craft drains for one at one of the Docking Bays on Tatooine and Eventually Mirax and a friend (I think a Palace Raider) land at the DS docking bay after incurring some Lateral Damage. I On the Edge 4 times (2 from hand, 2 from Lost Pile) for 19 Force back, but his TIEs are retrieving a large amount of his lost Force too. Time is running out and he is slowly taking the lead. He then comes down on Chewie and Talon in the War Room with Xizor, and I only have 5 ability so Xizor kills off Karrde. I can’t win unless I get that drain back. So I divert Mirax and her Palace Raider friend to the war room to eliminate Xizor and I get OTE going. He battles and Xizor dies to my 2 destinies but he takes no battle damage while I chuck the Raider for 5. I then see a possible chance to pull this off despite my clear disadvantage, and even if I don’t win I can still do some damage. So I play Luke’s Lightsber on LSJK who had been sitting on Tatooine twidling his thumbs for the past 45 minutes and I clash Arica from Lost Pile. I then move Luke to the Cantina for a final drain of 3 and spread Mirax and Chewie on the D*. I manage to hit him one more time, but he plays the Sword and Shield for big retrieval and drains me out. FL -6
0 (-6)
Highs: Getting him down to 6. Clashing Arica.
Lows: Not a good start for the State Championship.
My brother plays his EBOX against a Hunt Down deck and manages the win by 11 after successfully defeating Mara Jade with Lightsaber with Commander Luke in a duel. He is at 2 (+11).
Cumulative: 2 (+5)
Game 2: Abyssin Swarm vs. Jordan Duffy (1700) HB Mains
In talking to Brian the night before, and after playtesting against his HB mains, I had a feeling this game was not going to go too well for me. I was wrong. I got the normal start with Tat.: JP and Desert Heart and Well Gaurded from objective and Prepared Defenses for Secret Plans, No Bargain and Power of the Hutt. He starts the norm with HFTMF for Insurrection, Staging Areas and Do Or Do Not/Wise Advice. I get a decent start and get Scum set up around turn 2 or 3 with a few Abyssins and the Sail Barge, Bib, Ephant, Jabba, Galid, etc. and I flip. He starts slow trying to wait for me to leave a weak spot for him to pounce on, but No Bargain protects me from a major beatdown. He finally sets up at Tat: JP with Mirax, Tawss, and Lando with Vibro-Ax. I figure I have the game in the bag now as I stare at the army in my hand and my Stunning Leader, but it only works at an interior site, so I battle with 3 Abyssins, EJP Dengar and a Merc Pilot on the Barge. I battle, and a portal falls on 2 Abyssins. It is now that I realize that my Stunning Leader is useless, so the battle continues, I hit Mirax and Lando, draw decent while he draws low and I clear the site with an Abyssin that got excluded, Dengar, the Merc Pilot and the Barge still remaining. He loses everything. I then head off to the Desert Heart so I as to keep him from trying to atttack me without stranding his guys. He then decides to come inside with EPP Obi and EPP Leia and LSJK, but does not battle because he does not have enough. I throw down a couple Abyssins and Xizor to go with Jabba and Beolo. I battle and kill off Leia to the tank. We do a few more skirmishes on and off in the palace, him taking most of the damage and losing his forces while I only lose a few guys and retrieve them all back. His General Solo gets bounced back with None Shall Pass a couple of times before he finally gets him down. At this point I am, in complete control and finish off his suicide mains. He never plays a retrieval cards and draws consistently low destinies, so I win big. FW +27
2 (+21)
Highs: Everything. Do well despite only getting a mediocre draw to begin.
Lows: None. Having to play Jordan (I play him every week in Parker without fail).
My brother pulls off another win, this time his RalOps beating a weak EBO deck. His total is 4 (+39)
Cumulative total: 6 (+60)
Game 3: WYS vs. Thomas Harris (1444) BHBM Royal Guards
We talk a bit before the game and I found out that his deck just won its last game by 30, so I know I’ve got a tough one coming up. Then I realize that he’s playing BHBM, so I know I will win. I get a somewhat poor opening draw, and I draw up the first 2-3 turns while he sets up the Emperor at the Throne Room and a few Guards. I finally get some stuff I like, I get going. I put Captain Han in the Falcon at Kessel for the big drain, Mirax in Skate at Tatooine and Dash in Outrider to Fondor (which he deployed). I put Melas and a Raider in Craft at the Tatooine DB and (Since Vader and crew are at the D*II DB with Presence) I put LSJK with lightsaber in the Cantina. Then down comes Tatooine Celebration, and it is all over. My drains build quickly and he knows that he is going to have to come to space to stand a chance. So Boba Fett in Slave I comes down to Fondor followed by the Executor. Dash practically @#$%s his pants. Thomas then battles and draws a 5. I subtract the Outriders 6 from the Executor and draw a 5. As I prepare to lose Dash, I see My AO, I’ll Take The Leader, and Tell him that I’m immune <6 and that his power is only 14 to my 11. So I just lose 3 and he loses Fett. Now it’s on. He had no Force left after all that so he had no means of moving Vader to pick up Luke. So I drain for 7 and retrieve 2, then I retrieve 5 more with an On the Edge. Its all good. I then add Wedge to the co-pilot seat of the Outrider, battle, draw 2 destinies, subtract 9 from his power, and its bye-bye Executor. That would be the last time he would contest me in space. He then decides to come after my ground forces. He captures Luke and moves the rest of his forces (Mara/Saber, Tarkin, Kanos/Pike, and Stormtrooper Cadet) and waits. I play OTE, another Raider and Craft and say go. He drains at the Cantina but I It’s A Hit it. He battles and the fun starts. I Weapon Levitate his Maras Saber, Fallen Portal Kir and the cadet, and he’s left with just Tarkin and an unarmed Mara. I draw 3 destiny and its enough to clear his side while I just lose Melas and Maras Stick. The next turn, I drain him down to about 2, On The Edge for a few thanks to Mirax leaving the On The Edge as the only card im my lost pile. I celebrate that back and drain him out. FW +34
4 (+55)
Highs: Massive victory. Makes up for my first LS loss.
Lows: Absolutely none.
My brother loses with his EBO against Matt Riecks (one of the four 2000+ rated players there) by 29. He is at 4 (+10).
Cumulative total: 8 (+65)
Game 4: Abyssins vs. Mark Ponting (1773) MWYHL Mains.
Mark seems a little upset as he played the same side in the last game because a misunderstanding. I had played at the table next to him, so despite my best efforts at not scouting, I knew what he was playing. We both start normally. He starts Wise Advice, Insight, and Insurrection. The game goes pretty slow at first, I got Gailid as quickly as possible to milk the drain until he completes Test 1 (which he does about 5th turn with Corran Horn (??)). He plays the Cantina and starts setting up his guys there. A Grimtaash hits when I have about 16 cards in hand, but all I lose are 2 None Shall Passes and 2 Projective Telepathies. He has EPP Han, EPP Leia, Orrimaarko, and Figrin Dan at the Cantina and Ben and LSJK at the Tatooine: DB. I look in my hand and see: Game Over. I deploy EJP Dengar, Guri, and 2 Abyssins to the Cantina, battle, and play Stunning Leader. My four guys vs. Figrin Dan = Dead. I fire and hit Figrin, play Jabbas Through With You to add a destiny, draw a 3 (5 from objective) and a 5 (7) and win the battle by 29. He doesn’t have enough to satisfy the battle damage, and I win. FW +26.
6 (+81)
Highs: Score number two for the Abyssins.
Lows: Are you kidding me?
My brother takes another hard hit and loses by 37 to Kyle Craft (another of the 2000+ rated players present), so his total drops to 4 (-27).
Cumulative total = 10 (+54)
Game 3: WYS vs. Hunt Down (sorry, I forgot the guys name, but he’s the one that my brother played in the first game).
This is yet another matchup that I was unprepared for. Although I know HD is popular in this area, I just did not take the time to build a deck to playtest against this. So the game starts as normal. He starts Crush along with Mobilization Points and IAO, pretty common HD start. I get Captain Han on one of my Falcons to Kessel quickly to start draining and get my AO set up with Tatooine and the DBs for extra drain power while he plops EPP Vader and Tarkin at the D*DB to flip. At this point, I figure it isafe to put down Luke at the Cantina for some cheap drains and I feel safe with Run Luke Run safely nestled in my Lost Pile, just waiting to be played and put out of play. He decides that he has got to take care of Luke if he wants any chance at winning because my Kessel drain is killing him. He tries to take on my light forces at Tatooine, but I hyper escape away. He finally initiates a duel, blindly, but we both know (thanks to numerous verifications) that his deck is running like 15 sevens (We are the Bait, Visage, Intruder Missiles, etc.). So I decide that this isn’t in my best interests, so I Run Luke Run and he has no further Obsession. Later we would find that, when he battles, he draws a 1 and a 2 while I draw a 4 and 5, so I would have won had the duel been played out. Oh well, better safe than sorry. So we battle and I take care of both his guys while taking minimal damage. My turn, I slap down OTE and move my forces to Tatooine. He battles after putting Mara and friend at the Cantina, I clear the system and spread back out on my next turn. I end up winning the drain race and, even without retrieval, I win by 17.
8 (+98)
Highs: A win. Duh.
Lows: Cancelling a duel I would have won.
My brother picks up his 3rd win, this time by 27, so we head into the sixth game at a combined 7-3, not bad for a pair of scrubs. He’s at 6 (0).
Cumulative total = 14 (+98)
At this point, the upper ranks of the tournament realize that we all played LS in our last game, so we begin dipping down and some of the 4-1s play 3-2s, and everything is screwy. Talk continues about who is gonna make the final, and since I’m clearly the highest differential 4-1 player, if either John Arent of Brian Hunter (the 2 undefeated players) were to lose, and I were to win again by decent amount, I would be in the final confrontation.
And away we go into the final game...
Game 6: Abyssins vs. Chris Compton (1607) EBO random fighters.
Mmkay. At the last tournament I witnessed Matt Miller defeat Brian Hunter in this matchup (Matt with the Abyssins), and that game is what inspired me to build my deck. This should be an easy win. Chris has the usual EBO stuff, but he has a very difficult time getting his characters so EBO is not in play until about the 5th or 6th turn. Bad news for him. I set up incredibly fast controlling all 4 Jabbas Palace sites by turn 3. He is getting smacked for 7 force per turn and I haven’t lost one force yet. He finally gets set up and puts an A-wing at Yavin, Mon Calamari, and Endor. I am confused, but I play on. This is where the discussions with Hunter the night before come in. I have 5 ships in my deck. Sweet. I come down with Bossk and Boba to Yavin, battle, he Spirals and Out of Nowheres me, but it is no match. My 2 destinies are massive because of Jabba and Bib, so I clear him away while he takes down Boba. Oh well. I already have Den of Thieves going so I simply move Bossk to Endor to block 1 drain and DoT the other. He simply runs on his next turn, and from there it is game over. I have him on lockdown. I am losing nothing while he loses 8 per turn in drains. He finally tries to enter the palace when he is down to his last few force. He comes with Obi-Wan Kenobi, I None Shall Pass, he tries again the next turn, but does not have enough to battle and draw destiny, so he says go. I drain him down to 1, battle, retrieve my 2 lost cards, draw high, and he is done. FW by 25.
10 (+123)
Highs: Beating up on a space deck. Taking complete control.
Lows: None. Great game for me.
My brother wins his last game by 29 as his EBO takes down an ISB deck that apparently was struggling with getting ships. My bro tells me about a battle in which 2 of his X-wings (1 with cannon) take on the Executor and defeat it 31-0 thanks to multiple destiny and power bonuses and a well-timed Power Pivot. He finishes at 8 (+29).
Cumulative total = 18 (+152)
So the final scores roll in. Just as I finish I hear that John Arent has successfully won his final game and I look to the table next to me and see Brian Hunter beating up on his opponent too. Crap. No final for me. Brian and John end up playing in a very hard-fought final confrontation that went down to the wire.
John, having the higher tournament score because of a timed win for Brian, decides to play LS first so he can know how much his DS has to win by. The game is close with Lt. Blount and EPP Obi paying Thrawn a visit in the Executor docking bay and causing Brian 10 overflow. Other than that, the game is relatively uneventful and Brian wins the stalemate by 8.
Next game is just as close as Brian manages to kill of Xizor and Out of Commission him greatly hindering Johns Agents of Black Sun deck. This one also come down to the wire, and thanks to John getting his 2 Projective Telepathies about 9 times, he pulls off the victory by 9 and is the State Champion by 1 differential.
So the prize support is lousy and I take 3rd out of 51 while my brother takes 11th. I get a special film cell of the Emperor because my DS deck had the highest differential there (beating John by 1). Not too shabby having my first ever 5-1 performance come at the state championship.
Now for the ever popular.....
Props:
John for winning (you are the MAN... although you know my Abyssins would have destroyed you! Jk)
Brian for kicking @#$% once again
Seth Van Winkle for giving me slops in his last report. No hard feelings, man.
My bro for busting out the 4-2 performance.
Kyle Craft for winning a game by more than 40. Whats up wit dat?
All the guys who ran the thing so smoothly.
Joe Helfrich for the film cell. Best... prize... ever....
All Your Base Are Belong To Us for making all my friends think I am insane.
The One-Eyed Monsters for being ripped and broken as hell.
Me for placing 3rd.
Slops:
John for playing with 5 Emperor Palpatines. Holy Crap! Its CRAZINESS.
TIEs for being SO GAY!
Decipher for the @#$%ty prizes.
Deciphers tournament software for having all of the top players play the same side in the final round.
That is All.
Chris Artwo Fanchi