ma-states-5th-place
Title: ma-states-5th-place
Author: Michael "The Rattler" Schiemer
Date: Apr 16, 2001
It was crazy the two weeks before the tourney. I was overloaded with homework every day of the week and track practices prevented me from making the last video connection tournament which I needed for practice. The weirdest thing though was that my three friends who hadn’t played SWCCG for 2 years, wanted me to help them get back into the game. This was a very hard and humorous task because the last cards they bought were sped and they weren’t very great players to begin with. Peter Harrington, Ryan Driscoll, and Jon Amadei all had ratings of 1410 or 1430 so it took me like two hours to explain why their dagobah cloud decks and jabbas palace chevin decks wouldn’t work. I helped them out and gave them a hell of a lot of EU cards and dsII cards. I didn’t really need to work on my decks because I had made them 3 weeks ago. I was playing my undefeated HD admirals and my good HB mains with matching ships and pilots.
Jon Amadei couldn’t make it to states so I was going to sleep over at Peter Harringtons house with Ryan Driscoll. I fixed up their decks as best I could while we watched Return of a Jedi. We all laughed our asses off when Moff Jerrojod says the best line in Star Wars, " Its impossible my lord, I need more men!" I always knew Jerrjorod was a queer but this was perfect. Anyways, we wake up at 6:30 to get ready for the hour long ride to the 8:00 tourney. My mom arrives to drive us and tells us that my brother Jimmy is unfortunately too sick to go. This is an important factor to the tourney because he was good enough to have and effect of the outcome .
We get there a few minutes early but the TD gets there about 30 minutes later. I talk to Mike Pistone about Raw Deal while I wait for it to get started. The Coffee Coolata I got earlier at Dunkin Donuts is starting to give me some energy after getting 5 hours of sleep the night before. I see a lot of people I do not know and a lot I do so I assume most of the people I don’t know are for the Rhode Island and New Hampshire states happening at the same time. When it starts there are about 40 or 50 people for the Massachusetts states. All the notables form the state are there (besides my brother) including Hayes and Eric Hunter( last years first and second place), Carl Sundberg, Justin Desai, Michael Hawley, Rick Gaudioso, Steve Baroni and Eric Markarian. I joke with Pistone about ditching our game in the first round if it happened for some Raw Deal games and are very surprised to find out that we were actually playing each other in the first game. I hear that Ryan Driscoll has the impossible task of playing Justin Desai. My rating going in is 2015 w/o a 4-0 performance averaged in.
Games( sorry if some of the games are in the wrong order)
Game 1, My light vs Mike Pistones( 1555 w/o a 3-1 performance averaged in) Hunt Down battler.
Last Boxborough tournament when I first met Mike, he had a 1400 something rating and he beat me in the first game by about 18. He is one of the most underrated people in out region and deserves a 1700 rating more than a 1500 or 1600 one. Anyways, he starts no epic duel and no escape is his 3rd effect. We both start out slow getting out our locations and he gets out choke vader and saber at the ds db. I have to lose to visage so I decide to draw until I got my OOC/TT that I saw was in their after looking for a db. I know I am taking a risk when It is the 14th card I have in my hand. Visage is dead but as soon as he activates 4, a lost monnok comes down. I am @#$%ed because I have to lose 7 cards, 3 on the edges(All my retrieval) , 2 obi w/sabers, and 2 signal. I am pretty sure the game is blown and with it my chance of winning states. I remind myself that light side is famous for making comebacks but that doesn’t mean @#$% because I lost my retrieval. Anyways, I take some drains of two and he takes some drains of one at my endor system. I then deploy almost all the cards in my hand in desperation for some control of the game. Ill take the leader, menace fades, battle plan, order to engage, tawss khaa, corran, and chewie come down and destroy his draining capabilities and gives me some offense going. I move my guys to the ds db with a fallen portal, weapon lev, and clash of sabers in hand. Extra force is saved in case forst strike is played. During his turn he plays an imp scrub to vaders site. He battles and I weapon lev vaders saber to corran. Vader chokes chewie but my weapons action clashes vader. I draw a 4 and he loses the scrub and 3 or 4 more. I then move to the endor db where he has a lone mighty jabaa. He plays a scrub and battles he loses both guys thanks to a portal on the scrub and I lose one guy to attrition. LSJK and saber comes down as well as obi w/saber and leai w/blaster. This is bad news for him because he has no way to stop order to engage. Another well timed clash or portal kills off the rest of his ground forces. His Guri in stinger also had no chance against my fleet and he lost about 10 force form battling and from order to engage. For the rest of the game I just drained by 5 or 6 with lightsabers and ill take the leader. Sqeak by with a few in hand and 7 in deck.
FW by 7
2(+7)
After the game I am told that Mike Pistone said that I cheated in our game.He said I took a clash of sabers out of lost pile after I played it on vader. I did not cheat, I actually took that clash out of my lsot pile to read how long vader couldn’t battle for and was putting it right back after I read it. I had it separate form my hand and was reading it so I don’t know how it looked like I was cheating. Don’t jump to conclusions Mike and tell me the problem face to face. I did not even know I was being accused of cheating until Peter Harrington told me you were mad at me after the third game for this reason. I know that you told a lot of people that I cheated and now I look really bad because of something I did not do. Anyways, I just wanted to set the record straight even though some of you still wont believe me ,Eric Hunter and Mike Gemme I am predicting.
Game 2, my dark vs Carl Sundberg ( 1971) OMDH HB with star cruisers.
Carl is very highly rated but he seemed to be unaware that many dark side decks like mine had increased their space capabilities to combat WYS and menace fades. I started off fast with a second turn lord and saber to the ds db. He took some visage damage and lost 2 OMDH off the top. I then played chimera and stinger with guri to his deployed tatoine system. He deploys next turn the liberty with hashn and thaneespi and I have to lose guri because he pulls a 4. I am very pissed but next turn I deploy thrawn and zuckus in ship. I battle and draw enough to kill both mon calamari but he just loses the loberty to used pile, I lose stinger. I then drain him for 2 at the system the whole game and 3 at the ds db (vader saber and emperor with janus) He tries to pull of menace fades with mirax in red 5 and for some reason thinks that I have no space left. He is mistaken when I deploy avenger and chiraneau and battle with imperial command. I draw well and he loses the ship, pilot, and a few more. He is lucky I did not lat damage his ship. Zuckus moves to alderaan systme and I finish him off, the only real damage taken from his drains of 1 or 2 at the tat. db.
FW by 23
4(+30)
I am very happy after this gmae because I am actually going to get some real ratings points for beating Carl. A win over a high rated player is a good confidence booster.
Game 3 My Dark vs Michael Hawley ( 1740) Profit mains
I am shocked when I see a profit start and I start mara and Xizor. He starts effects that do not hurt me much so I am prepared for a pretty easy game. Profit though is a weird deck to play against though. I get out vasder to the ds db first turn and take my chances leaving mara and Xizor alone at the chamber. He loses to visage and just draws up during his turn. I then have enough force to deploy maras saber and guri to jabbas palace. Mara and Xizor follow and I am prepared for and attack with weapon lev and PASOA. He flips, we battle on tatooine, I fortify the ds db with janus and emperor and carida with chiraneau and chimera. I am draining for a lot and he can’t find his haarc seff or on the edges so I lose 3 a turn and he loses5-7 a turn. The game is over soon enough but my diff is not very high becase I did take heavy losses to his objective.
FW by 17 I think
6(+47)
Game 4 vs Erik Markarian(1830) Ground based BHBM w/ heavy sac
I feel nervous when he starts the regular oppressive enforcement because I play no saac protection and my interupts are very important. There really is not much to this game because my misstake costs me any chance of winning. I get out endor db early which is my mistake because he takes over that location and does not deploy any of his other battlegrounds . This is the only battleground besides my endor system so I cannot pull off menace fades or put my guys anywhere. My endor db is the only battleground site so I must take it or lose the game. I know I lost when my obi w/saber gets circled and my leia with blaster gets choked. He gets out every good ds character to the endor db and drains for 4 eith janus and sabers. I can only drain for 1 at enfor and force him to lose one to his objective. I land my ships at the db many times for exta power at the db but I have no multiple destinies or weapon draws without my obi, luke, and leia. He has 3 weapons, tarkin, and tracked destinies so my battles are for nothing. I can’t play any interrupts because he never loses any of his senses from hand. The one thing I can do to win the game is prevented because CHYBC will not let me drain at the dsII throne room. I lose the game and my chance at states by 12 by drawing up.
FL by 12
6(+35)
I am pissed for putting down that endor db because I shouold have just drained him a the endor system until he got out his own battleground. Then I could have run away from him and put out menace fades and drained at his throne room with my spies. Its not as bad as I though now that I see that his rating is in the 1800s. I still think I will keep this light side deck until tatooine comes out.
Game 5 My light vs James Valeri( 1671) classic Rops
I am ready for this because I have ounee tah but I do not start it. I have 3 signals in the deck so I know I will get it soon . I am correct and signal for ounee tah first turn. This game had little to it . I just dominated space with my ships and matching pilots and my clashes, order to engage, and fallen portals kept his objective on the 0 side. His bikers and ATSTs got killed by weapons and big draws. I had very little on the table at the end of the game because I underdeployed thinking I had the game won earlier than I did. He did make a comeback at the end and killed some of my characters on Raltir but the drains at endor system and raltir system as well as the unchallenged drain of 2 with jedi luke and saber.
FW by 22
8(+57)
Game 6 my dark vs Erik Markarians (1830) weird old school tatoine mains deck with sac
He starts tatoine hut and signals for YISYW for some reason. I start crush even though he starts this (he revealed first for some reason) because I am confident I will get no escape eventually. I get out vader early to the ds db and chimera and bosk to carida. No escape comes down after a few turns of honor preventing the loss. He has obi at hi hut so he isnt doing anything so I just add to my drains with mara and saber , janus, and vaders saber. I keep draining for 4 but he plays about 4 controls. He finally gets out cantina and moves ben and saber over alone. I kill him with fett, jabbaa, and thrawn. I tried to weapon lev him but he successfully senses!!!. I get kicked off tatoine soon but not before I block some drains and kill some of his characters. I get out battle plan and am draining for 5 so I win the game after he drains me for 3 at cantina a few times. He just lost all of his tatoine sites early in the game so he could not spread out.
FW by 23
10(+80)
Well Hayes and Eric Hunter are both undefeated because they did not play each other in the sixth game even though they were the only undefeated people then. They played the same sides in game 5 so that is why. They are in the final confrontation just like last year and Hayes slaughters Eric by 20 or something in both games. Hayes is this years Massachusetts state champion. He is by far the highest rated player in MA but I am #2 and I really wanted to see how I would do if I played him. That will be a match for another time. Here are some of the standings I remember:
1.Hayes Hunter 12(+120 something)
2.Eric Hunter 12(+80 something)
3.Justin Desai 10 (+ 90 something)
4./5.Me/ Stephen Celluci ( I think we tied for 4th or 5th) 10(+80)
I should have checked the others but I did not. Now on to props and slops:
PROPS:
-The 40 or 50 who showed
-Hayes for winning
-Eric for getting 2nd
-Justin Desai for getting 3rd
-Me for doing ok
-Stephen Celluci for getting the same overall stats as me. You are definitely one of the up and comers of our region. That 1500 something rating does not represent your skill. It will skyrocket if they update the vc tourney and then they update this tourney. I look forward to playing you because I have never seen you play before.
-Kris Earle for running a smooth tournament
-Erik Markarian for beating me
-My dark deck for staying undefeated
-My light for doing good.
-Peter Harrington and Ryan Driscoll for each winning 2 games in their first torunament in almost 2 years.
-The vendor for selling Raw Deal for $2 a pack.
-Kid who traded me good foils
-People who bought my cards
-Mike Pistone for being the man and selling me a jericho starter for $5……..
Slops:
-……but slops for saying I cheated when I did not. It does not matter though because you are still the man and a WWF fan at heart. We need to have a Benoit/Mankind rematch.
-$12 fee
- Kris Earle for being late
- Me for losing to Erik Markarian
- The crap I got in my raw deal packs
- The pairings so that Hayes and Eric never played in the six games and I never played either of them
- Jimmy for getting sick
That is it for this report. Check out some of my decks I am posting later this week. I might post my Hidden mains deck I used if people want me to. Thanks for reading.
-Mike Schiemer