i-hate-taxes-in-ca-4-41-01
Title: i-hate-taxes-in-ca-4-41-01
Author: Michael "Longshot" Mendoza
Date: Apr 15, 2001
like so many other Americans, Friday rolled around and I still
hadn’t finished them. So I’m thinking I can’t go to the tourney
on Saturday, but I really want to. So I decide to stay up all night
Friday and finished the dang taxes. Well, I get pissed off after
doing my federal taxes cuz it turns out I OWE money rather than get
a refund! So I’m mad. *Really* mad. But I finish my state taxes
and its all good there. Anyways, that’s probably just boring most
of you, but that explains why I will be so freakin’ tired for the
tourney.
So in staying up all night I clean up my little apartment and look
over my decks. The Hunt Down deck looks good, waaay better than my
Scum deck so I’ll use that one. It uses unique Saber and Onix TIEs
starting IAO, Mob Pts, and Combat Response. Mara, Emp, and, of
course, Vader are the main ground weapons. SFS is the only
retrieval. And yes, it duels.
For Light I made a new HB mains but I liked my EBO deck (already on
Decktech with a few changes), so I decide to stick with EBO. When
a deck is on a streak, you just don’t switch decks. Its just Rogue
speeders and xwings. It does either ANSB start, or 3 effect start.
So I head out to the train station and sleep like a log on the way
to Pleasanton (I live in San Francisco), and just for kicks I bring
my YJ sample deck (where all the cards have 0 or 1 damage, heheh).
I get there 45 minutes before the tourney starts, do some trades &
play like 20 games of YJ with the sample deck against various
people (the games are *that* fast with the sample deck). I don’t
play YJ normally, but sometimes the sample deck can be fun.
Nick Stefanko is the TD, & 17 people showed to play. On to the
games. This will be 6 games.
Game 1: DS v Steven Howard’s Profit (only starts Squassin)
I start Mara in the Chamber, back her up with Vader 1st turn. He
draws. I drop Emp to the Chamber, move Mara w/saber to JP for the
drain of 3. He would lose to Visage all game, so it made this
game quick. I got Kashyyk out, put the Exec there with the Emp’s
Sword. Now he’s eating some big drains, so he drops Protector
Chewie and Capt. Yutani to JP, then draws. Mara battles, but
misses Chewie (I forgot he has armor, otherwise I would’ve swung
at Yutani), and I draw a 1, so I lose 2 force, he loses Yutani.
Then he deploys a Medium Repeating Cannon, and draws. I inform
him he needs a power source to shoot that, something he didn’t
know. So Mara battles, and I draw high killing Chewie plus a few
force and the Cannon (forfeits for 1).
He came at my Exec when he dropped a YT freighter w/Kin Kian
aboard. Then he put Quad Laser Cannons aboard. He looked for
Red 3 w/Squassin, but it wasn’t there. He had lost several pilots
and ships to drains and Visage. So he battles w/the lone ship,
Power Pivots Exec, and shoots the Emp’s Sword. He says he misses,
but I inform him Kian adds 2 to desiny, so he hits the Emp’s Sword.
But he doesn’t get destiny, so I’m power 8 to his 3, so he loses
both Kian and the ship, I lose the Sword. I drop Endor and Saber 2
w/pilot to retrive my lost force, and a few drains later end the
game uneventfully. Win by 38. 2 (+38).
Best: Not letting him flip and me staying flipped all game.
Worst: Mara missing the swing on Chewie and drawing a 1.
After that game I realize I’m not tired at all. Good, cuz being
tired is something I don’t need. I just play some YJ sample deck
games in between all my games (most of them finish quickly).
Game 2: LS v Kyle Ishimaru’s BHBM (IAO, Mob Pts, Opp Enforcement)
Kyle and I have a friendly little rivalry going. Apparantly he
really wants a Masterful Move foil. And last tourney he lost to
me and it cost him the 1st place, he wound up in 2nd place.
I do the ANSB start. He gets Janus and Emp at Endor DB 1st turn,
but I get Battle Plan out 1st turn to slow him down. Lord Vader
goes to Endor DB, Emp and Janus move to his other DB (Tat DB I
think). He also Twi’leked for Search & Destroy. I get EBO going
on my 2nd turn using BHBM to deploy Hoth Luke for 2 force, but he
barriered him so he was stuck under the Hoth Shield. I drop Rebel
Fleet, drop 2 xwings to Rendili, then lose 3 to Your Destiny. He
deploys Zuckuss to Rendili, I barrier, so he deploys Bossk and
battles. I have Incom on table, & I play Org Attack. Bossk dies,
and Zuckuss is alone. I play Org Attack to get 3 xwings, then beat
on Zuckuss for him plus 6 more. Oh yeah, i deployed Honor as well.
But I don’t have enough to move Luke to Endor DB, so I lose 1 to
Your Destiny. He draws some.
I just spread my xwings out at various systems to maximize drains.
Since I draw up Rogue 1, I decide to move Wedge and Luke over to
the North Ridge rather than pay 10 to transit to Endor DB. But
Luke has to outside the speeder or I still lose to Your Destiny,
and he has No Escape out now. So I move them, and he brings it
with IG88 against Luke and Wedge, and deploys Dengar in ship and a
Dreadnaught against 2 of my xwings (one of which is Lat Damaged).
So I stack a card from each battle and he captures Luke with IG, I
lose Wedge, and I lose both xwings. He loses the Dreadnaught &
lands Dengar w/IG88 at the North Ridge. So he has no one at
systems, I have no one at sites. So we both must pay for drains.
Although i drain for more than he does, I don’t have the force to
pay for them all and I lose to Search and Destroy more than any
other card. Lose by 8. 2 (+30).
Best: Beatdown on Zuckuss.
Worst: Beatdown on Wedge, not being able to have Luke pilot Rogue 1.
And Search and Destroy was a real pain. Normally that card doesn’t
hurt me.
So Kyle got his wish, and I realize I need to get high differential
wins and make sure no one goes undefeated.
Game 3: LS v Tim Green’s ROps (IAO, Mob Pts, Decree)
I do the ANSB start. He deploys Arnet to DSII DB, I Signal for my
Rebel Fleet & deploy Sullust. He deploys Vader to his Forest, I
deploy an xwing to Sullust and move it to Ralltiir, saving a force.
He drops Fett in Slave 1, I barrier, but he also deploys an ATST
pilot to his Swamp and moves Arnet to his generic DB to flip. I
get EBO out on my next turn, and proceed to beatdown Fett with 3
xwings and an Org Attack. He draws high (his objective helps too)
but he still loses Fett and 2-3 more force. I also deployed Battle
Plan. So he pays 3 to drain, I cancel w/Rebel Fleet, so he pays 3
to drain me for 1. I like that, paying 6 for a 1 drain. He
deploys Ice Plains w/a Tempest Scout and Chirneau there. I have yet
to draw a Rogue speeder, so I’m afraid of him getting Decree going.
But he just draws.
So I deploy Boushh to the swamp, break cover and kill the lone ATST
pilot plus 2-3 more force (I battle for free, something he forgot).
And he flips back. Now I spread my xwings to his Wakeelmui, and my
Hoth, Sullust, and Kiffex. He doesn’t pay to drain and kills an
xwing w/IG in ship at Kiffex. I drain for 13, he draws. I move
Hobbie and Luke to his generic DB, and move Wedge to my North Ridge
to drain for 1 (I *still* have no speeders!). He drops Igar in
Tempest 1 to Boushh, I lose her and she barely covers the damage.
He also deployed Zuckuss to Ralltiir (which I barriered), so he was
about to flip when I informed him that Luke and Hobbie were at his DB
so he only controlled 2 sites. He moves the Tempest Scout to my
Hoth DB and Chirneau to my MPG to satisfy Decree. I drain him for
all but 1 force, then he draws his last force up. Win by 29.
4 (+59).
Best: Keeping him on the zero side for most of the game.
Worst: IG in ship for killing my xwing, but at least it didn’t
satisfy Battle Plan.
Game 4: DS v Chris Green’s HB mains (Insurr, Squassin, Strike Plan)
Chris and Kyle are both from Lodi, and Chris wants to beat me too.
So the ’whole Lodi crew’ is after me. Oh well, who cares anyway. :)
I have Endor DB in my hand, but I know he plays it as well and I
want to convert his DB. But he doesn’t deploy it, so that’s fine
with me cuz I only play it as a BG site for Vader. He deploys
Endor (which is in my hand, but I don’t convert it just yet). I
end up losing Endor to Visage. I don’t get my Vader out until
my 3rd turn, and he’s just been drawing. So I’ve got Piett and
Merrejk at my Exec DB and Lord Vader at his CC DB. Its the only
BG site on table.
He drops Lando w/Ax to Merrejk and Piett, and I smell a beatdown.
To my surprise, he deploys EPP Obi! HD is flipped of course, so
Obi can’t battle, so I wait until he initiates battle and then
inform him he can’t battle me. *whew*, I was saved. I drop Emp
and Mara to CC DB and move Merrejk and Piett there (Obi can’t
drain). He now searches for a DB (Home One & Endor DB are still
in there) but he activated both! So he deploys Jedi Luke to CC DB
and moves Obi and Lando to the Med Chamber. Well, I battle of
course & miss both swings on Luke, then draw low destiny. I lose
Merrejk and he loses 13 force rather than lose Luke. Wtf? I
guess he just wanted to give up, whatever. He activates all but
one force and before he gets to his control phase to drain me I
duel Luke w/Vader. I know I’ve got 2 3’s on top, so if he draws
a 5, we tie. A 6 wins the duel for him. He draws a 4 and rather
than cross Luke he loses 18 force and that’s game. Win by 22.
6 (+81).
Best: Everything, just a good game for me.
Worst: Seemed like he gave up after he made the mistake of
deploying Obi to battle Piett.
Well, I’m ahead in differential, but I need more victory points.
There is only 1 undefeated player now, John Monroe. So, like
last tourney, I play John in Game 5. I only pray I’m dark side.
Game 5: DS v John Monroe’s WYS (Insurr, Staging, Squassin)
We always pair up towards the end of tourneys. I get DLOTS to
Tat DB 1st turn, he plays TT cancelling Visage. He puts Tallon
Karrade to Home One DB, saves 1. I drop Mara w/saber to Tallon,
he barriers. I deploy Emp to Cantina. Looks good for me so far.
He pulls Falcon using Capt Solo, deploys them to Tat DB, moves
Tallon aboard and takes off to the system. I drain for 5, play
Piett and Dominator to Kashyyk. He drains me for 1, moves
Falcon to Dominator, draws. I drop Saber 4 w/pilot and a SFS
cannon, but I didn’t feel confident I could hit a maneuver 6 ship,
so I saved 3 and let him go. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention I
deployed Secret Plans and SSPFT 1st turn. Yup, it was a good
starting hand. SFS and Wakeelmui were also on table, along with
the Endor DB. So I was activating 18, he was activating 9.
He dropped Jedi Luke w/saber to DLOTS (he doesn’t get to flip
though), battles, I Weapon Lev the saber, miss the choke on Luke,
and draw low. Luke Smoke Screens for a 6. Vader dies, and he
moves the Falcon to Tatooine, with me forgetting to make him pay
+2 force to do so. Had I remembered that, I could’ve beat the
Falcon down next turn. So I deploy Lord Vader w/Saber to Luke,
hit him and draw low battle destiny again so I lose 2 force.
WYS is *still* on the zero side and like 20 cards are already
in his lost pile. Dominator follows the Falcon to Tatooine.
He runs away, and after draining for 8, I drop the Executor, Emp’s
Sword, Emp’s Shield (retrieving 6), and move the Dominator over to
back them up (I’ll Take The Leader was on table so I didn’t battle).
He thinks for a loooong time (as only John can, j/k John *lol*),
and deploys Chewie w/gun and Theron Nett to Lord Vader to finally
flip WYS. He battles, Vader hits Chewie, Chewie misses, and we
are both cleared, so WYS flips back to zero side. He also had
deployed Wedge in Red Squadron 1 to back up the Falcon. On my
turn, I deploy DLOTS to Tat DB, then battle at Kashyyk, missing the
shot on the Falcon but clearing all but Capt Han and the Falcon.
I had deployed Onix 1 w/ Jendon aboard, so I lost Jendon & sent
Onix 1 to used pile. He backs up the Falcon by deploying Melas
aboard the Skate (Mirax wasn’t in his reserve). I drain (those
drains at the Cantina and Home One DB have been hurtin’ him),
then clear him in space by shooting down the Skate. I lose Saber 4
and the pilot, then move the Executor and Emp’s Sword to Tatooine.
He draws and my drains end the game. Win by 30. 8 (+111).
Best: Only letting WYS flip for a single phase of a turn.
Worst: Drawing low in my battles vs. Jedi Luke. Visage getting
cancelled sucked too. I didn’t draw much, so i never got another
one.
Now no one is undefeated and I am waaaay ahead in differential.
Kyle is around 8 (+60) and he’s in 2nd, so if I win the next game,
no matter the differential, I win. Kyle should be my next opponent,
but we already did my LS v his DS. So I play John again. John is at
8 (+29).
Game 6: LS v John Monroe’s ISB Big Blue (IAO, Mob Pts, Decree)
We played this matchup last weekend with me getting a timed win by 17
only because of 2 less cards than John in my lost pile. So I was
worried, to say the least. I ask him why he doesn’t start SSPFT
(since it was a huge card for him last weekend), but he just says
he needs those other 3 effects out for sure. Personally, I’d start
SSPFT over Decree if I knew I would be playing against an xwing
swarm deck. Especially since he didn’t even use Decree last weekend
(against me anyways).
So I start ANSB, he gets Piett w/imp Command to the Exec DB, gets
Executor w/Mob Pts (the REAL Executor he calls it, not the ’one that
got blown up in the movie’ as he calls it). I Signal for Yarna, he
pulls Merrejk, drops him with Piett and pulls Fondor. I deploy EBO
my 2nd turn, deploy Rogue 2, move Zev in, and move Luke to War Room.
He drops Executor w/Chirneau to Fondor, deploys Yavin IV. I drop an
xwing to Executor. I deploy Sullust and Kiffex. I move my xwing from
Hoth DB to Hoth, move Luke into Rogue 2 and move Rogue 2 to North
Ridge. He drops Thrawn & Chimaera to Hoth, battles, and I Hyper
Escape to Coruscant. Executor battles my lone xwing, I play Houjix.
I drain for 4, deploy a bunch of xwings at all systems except Hoth &
Fondor, deploy Menace Fades, and draw into Rogue 1 & 3. He deploys
Devastator & 2 ORS, I Hyper Escape away. This game made me realize
I need to play Order To Engage in this deck.
Now I deploy Rebel Fleet, and he’s eating some big drains. So he
drops a Blizzard Walker to North Ridge w/Ozzel aboard. Then he moves
Devastator to Hoth and shuttles both ORS into the ATAT. The ATAT
moves to the MPG to satisfy Decree. I drain, drop Rogue 3 w/Wedge
against the ATAT, drop Rogue 1 w/Hobbie to the Ridge. He’s lost SSPFT
off the top to drains, so I’m *very* happy about that. I check my
reserve and see 2 5’s in there, so I drop 2 xwings vs. the Avenger &
Chirneau and play Org Attack (Incom Corp on table). Chirneau dies.
Then Wedge battles, he draws a 3, I draw 5, but I add 1 to it w/
Heading for Medical Frigate and we tie on power. He loses Ozzel.
Luke gets in Rogue 1 and I move it to Echo DB to prevent Decree next
turn. He has We’re in Attack Position Now on table as well.
He deploys Blizzard 2 to the Ridge w/Motti and ORS aboard. Then he
moves the non-unique ATAT to Echo DB, & the 2 ORS walk into the War
Room, so Decree is satisfied again (he controlled Hoth system w/
Thrawn in Chimaera & Devastator). I drain (he is getting rather low)
and deploy Boushh to kill an ORS at the War Room. I also battle
the lone Avenger, and smash it for 17 damage. He loses Avenger plus
8 more. Now he’s down to 8-9 life force. He moves the ORS over to
the Echo Corridor, cancelling Incom Corp but doesn’t satisfy
Decree cuz I moved several xwings to Hoth. So he battles, but its moot
cuz my drains next turn finish him. This game almost times out.
Win by 15. 10 (+126).
Best: Not having to deal w/SSPFT, that card is what made it sooo close
last weekend.
Worst: None really, I always drew good destiny and didn’t make any
mistakes.
Why is it my last game always goes to time or is about to go to time?
Kyle wins his game by 30, so he’s around 80 or 90 differential, &
once again he gets 2nd place, despite beating me. Nick’s got some
real good prize support (lots of R2 packs plus a few ECC packs he got
and opened up to distribute the CC packs and fixed cards). I get a
Masterful Move foil, no packs. Thanks for reading and Happy
Easter everyone.
Props to:
Nick Stefanko for lots of good prizes and no ruling screw-ups.
Andrew Meewis for the ride back to the train station.
Kyle for beating me in a good game.
John for always giving me some good games.
John for being the only one to beat Kyle. :)
Everyone who read this, and enjoyed it.
Barry Bonds for his 497 home runs, almost at 500!
Slops to:
Chris Green for giving up against me, just play it out man!
Steve Daniel for losing by 30 to Kyle! What’s up w/that?
Alex Stefanko for scrubbing out.
The U.S. Government for not giving me a tax refund this year.
The Oakland A’s, they should have a better record than what they
have now. They better get their act together.