drake-wins-gq-buford-tourney-4-14-01
Title: drake-wins-gq-buford-tourney-4-14-01
Author: Adam "ADrake" Drake
Date: Apr 16, 2001
For weeks now, Local Sm Kevin Goddard has been hyping this "money tournament" at the Atlanta ComicCon. Since I need cash for my "Ramapo Fund" I was looking forward to playing for some money. For some reason the tourney got moved out to Smyrna, at Champions C&C (something about prize support issues with the con directors). Anyhow, Team Atlanta (myself, Charlie Herren, Clay Ramey, Mike Kessling, and Stephen Micheal) troop out to Smyrna, which is about 45 minutes from our homebase in Gwinnett County. Upon arriving, we see only about 10 people have shwon up, half of them being us. Not wanting to have to play the same people all day, I quickly suggest that Mike and I can go out to Galactic Quest in Buford (all the way back in Gwinnett) and win there. Everyone agrees, so Mike and I hop back in the car for another 45 minute drive. We call the last member of TA, Tim Jones, and tell him to join us out in Buford. Reaching the store right on time, I see a lot of familiar faces. In fact, an old school player (J. Freeman) came out of retirement to play in this tourney (using old school cheese decks on both sides). We start about 12 noon with 15 people.
My Decks:
LS: TIGIH Scouts (I just posted this deck, called "Chock full of goodness." Check it out.
DS: BHBM Lewis Style (Steven Lewis builds the best decks, and they fit well with my playing style. I have no shame in giving props to a great deck and a great player!)
Game One: My DS vs. Luke Heerman’s AITC Chadra-Fans
Luke is one of my favorite young players in the area. Him and his brother are going to be great players someday. This is actually the first time I played this deck EVER! I threw it together the night before, but did not play it any (too tired.) I do know that I don’t want to drop anyone on Tatooine, since my character base is so small. First turn, get Wakeelmui, DsII DB, andI drop the Emperor there. His turn, drop Bo Shuda, draw. My turn, drop SFS to Wakeelmui, deploys some TIES to Sullust, draw. He drops some guys to the Audience chamber, I drop more TIES. He tries to throw down a spy to the DsII DB, who gets quickly fried with Force Lightning. I eventually get Lord Vader w/ his stick to the DB, throw down a POTF, and remind him that Your Destiny is in effect. He gives me a Luke, then throws down a horde of guys, and battles at the DB. He wins after cancelling my destiny with a Kabe to his objective (which is flipped) I deploy another Emp. from hand to the Throne Room, move Vader over and continue deploying TIES and retrieving. I eventually drain him out at Endor, Sullust (W/POTF) and Kashyyyk.
FW 2(+22)
Highs: Deck works well against a deck I did not anticipate.
Lows: Having to beat a kid I am friends with.
Game Two: My LS vs. Alex Bursi’s BHBM
Hmmm... BHBM vs. TIGIH. This should be fun. I do normal start, getting generals on his turn. My turn deploy Home One DB from Reserve, putting Crix there. Throw down Kensaric to Endor Db with some other random scout, move Luke over. We go back and forth, him deploying TIES w/matching pilots to some system (Kiffex, Sullust?) and I build up my forces on Endor. He puts a POTF on my Home One DB, deploys Snoova and Dengar w/gun, and gets a Vibro Axe.
I have Madine and Beezer there. He battles, I play Fallen Portal, kill Dengar. He captures Madine with Snoove, so neither of us gets a destiny, so he wine by 4. I forfiet Beezer and give him a card. Next turn, I deploy Gen. Solo, Leia w/gun, and some other beef to the DB. Draw destinies, kill Snoova, I get a card for I Feel The Conflict. He threw Vader down to capture Luke, and Vader gets killed in a battle I win. Gimme another card. Anyway, after throwing down Vader to capture Luke and having him lost, He never really threatens me again on Endor. I win after retrieving with On The Edge.
FW 2(+23)
Overall: 4(+45)
Highs: Deck works just like it should. Him forgetting to use Emperor’s Power to add a battle destiny.
Lows: I am gonna have to play Mike in the next game.
Game Three: My LS vs. Mike "Latino Heat" Kessling’s BHBM
Wow. I saw his deck beat a TIGIH deck like a redheaded stepchild just the night before, so I knew this was gonna be hard. He was playing straight beats, without Emperor’s Pwer, so I know to start with Luke JK. First turn, he deploys Emperor and Janus to the Endor DB. I grab generals, activate very little, and move Luke over to the DB, where he is captured by the Emperor. We both flip, and Mike has to lose force for the rest of the game. I forgot about my own objectie the first time, but I never forgot again for the rest of the game. Mike could not find a Vader for about 6 turns, so he was losing three force a turn, matching his own drain against me at the Endor DB. I eventually decided to make him bring the fight to me, so I deployed en masse to the Back Door. Obi, Gen. Solo, Leia, Lanod w/Axe, and some scouts. I also backed up Madine at the Home One DB with Cracken and someone else. When he deployed Mara there, BAM! DOUBLE AGENT! That card is so tech in this deck! He eventually gets tired of draining back and forth, so he brings the Emperor, Vader, Janus, Sim, and some other guys to the Back Door. I do not want to battle, so I draw and say "go." I clash Vader at the beginning of his turn, and he starts out his turn by Snipering Obi. We battle, he ’You are Beatens’ Lando w/ Axe, I play Rebel Leadership to add a destiny, and I cancel one of his four with Gen’l Solo. I end up winning the battle (he drew really low destiny) and he gave me a card. He has a constant drain for one at Rendili w/ Bossk in Bus, so I move Crix, Cracken and Blount over to his CC DB to counter his drain. He throws down Xizor and IGGY w/gun, but does not battle (fear the portal!) I activate down to two cards, throw out some other scouts to the DB, see I have a five and a six for destiny, and initiate battle. I play Rebel Leadership to add a destiny before he capturs Madine with IGGY. He draws a 5, which I reduce to two with Insertion Planning, so his is power 13 to my power 19. He loses everybody and I get a card. We continue to battle on Endor, and I win two more battles. It is really late in the game, and I can see the only way to win was to turn Vader. I have eight force laeft with four card stacked on I Fell The Conflict. I cativate down to three cards, shuffle and draw a 6 for I Can Save Him and the game is OVER! Vader is a ggod dad after all!
FW 2(+8)
Overall 6(+53)
Highs: Beating a deck that had beaten every TIGIH deck it had played, playing an almost flawless game.
Lows: Beating Mike, I hate playing teammates!
Game Four: My DS vs. Tommy Bursi’s LS AITC Chadra Fans
Twice in one day?? I cannot believe how many people at this tournament are playing this deck! He brags at the beginning of the game he had already beaten a BHBM deck earlier in the day. I told him he had never seen a BHBM deck like this one. I knew how to beat this from earlier in the day, but Tommy is a really good player and I know I would have to play well to win this tournament. I do normal start, Emperor to DsII DB first turn. He deploys sites to Tatooine, draws. I deploy SFS to Wakeelmui, throw down Sullust, put down some TIEs and retirve my lost pile. He gets a small drain at two or three Tat sites, which I am retrieving every turn with SFS. I finally get Vader down to the DsII DB throw out a POTF there, and remind him about Your Destiny. He throws Luke out to a Tat site, which pretty much guarantees I will never get him to the DsII. No worries. I throw down Tech M’or to the DsII DB, and give him 3720 to 1. The look on Tommy’s face was classic "You cannot be serious!" he says. Oh but I am serious! He activates next turn, and numbers pops. He has to lose Nine, but only loses four and plays It Could Be Worse. I hate that card! I continue to drain and retrieve, but I am running out of TIEs. He puts lost copies of Vader and the Emp. OOP, but cannot get them off the table. I finally retrieve with Short Range Fighters and drain him out.
FW 2(+15)
Overall 8(+68)
So I got first and Tim slipped in at second place. I got two packs of RII and a foil Boba w.gun. STILL NO TOURNEY FOILS KYLE! Maybe in two weeks...
At the other location (Smyrna) Clint Hays and Johnny Chu showed up to get into the tournament a little late, but they were able to play. Charlie had to face Johnny in the final and Chu beat Charlie for the money. Interesting note though... In the last game, Clay and Stephen had to play each other. If Clay had won, he would have faced Cahrlie in the finals, but Stephen beat him. Such is life.
PROPS AND SLOPS:
Props:
To myself: For winning a tournament for the first time in a year!
To Mike: for getting up so early only to end up 2-2 and not being upset.
To Tim: for getting second with decks only he could play.
To Clint and Johnny: for driving all the way down here to almost not get to play
To Champions: For getting a super nice store. I cannot wait to come play out there! The place looks great!
Slops:
To Smyrna area players: for not comin out to the money event. Are y’all scared or something? I cannot believe a little local tournament got more than a money event.
Hope you enjoyed it. GS states is on May 5th, maybe I’ll be writing a winners report for that tournament too! Peace! I am gone!