serpent-eats-a-bc-provincial-04-07-01
Title: serpent-eats-a-bc-provincial-04-07-01
Author: Alan "Serpent" Sagan
Date: Apr 21, 2001
I’d been talking so much smack coming up to this tournament, I felt I’d better win :) I won last year, so why not this year? Also, my record for 2001 before this tournament was 42-3... I’ve won something like 7 out of the last 9 tournaments or so. And I had to talk smack, since everyone was talking smack about whoopin’ my @#$% :P
I tested a smeg load of decks coming up to the tournament... For light, I tested various decks, WYS on my page, WYS Raiders (with some mods for meta) and hidden mains. Since I hadn’t played mains since last november, and the general meta had become very anti my personal watch your step, I took raiders.. The only thing I figured it would have a problem with would be Nick’s ISB Scum, so I’d just rely on pairings not to play him :)
Darkside, well.. I had an undefeated Scum deck (four tournaments) an older Huntdown, a newer huntdown, and ISB space (undefeated in two tourneys). I tested out Huntdown abit two days before the tourney.. it totally WRECKED my playtesting partner. i told him "Man watch out for this deck, you know people will play it".. his reply : "Yeah maybe, but no one plays huntdown like you do". That should’ve been a sign to PLAY HUNTDOWN.
But like a dumbass, I took ISB space, since it wrecks most WYS decks, and all of the top players (but maybe two ) would be playing WYS ..
Course my friend Justin from Kamloops busses in to Vancouver that night. The two of us head out to initiate Andrew into the browney... man why do I even bother with that thing. Any time I eat it before a tourney that counts (gencon for example) I scrub out. But whatever...
When I get home, I start helping Justin with his decks. We make his Lightside REALLY mean.. but he doesn’t like it. oh well. He’s up till 4:30 am teching out his deck, while I TRY to sleep, but end up staying awake cause he’s asking me what i think about this card. So I constantly reply "that’s ass" "that’s money" "that’s mega @#$% you dumb sh!t" :P
So we wake up at about 8:30 am... and justin suddenly decides to put toghether this other @#$% wacked out deck of his, some dumb Freighter captain crap with an insert or two. Well like a schmuck, he forget to put in insurrection, staging areas, and some docking bays... on the drive to the tournament i mention "make sure you got insurrection and the docking bay jank" he’s like "Oh yeah! thanks man!"
He still forgot. What a dumba$$.
So pairings come up... it’s a SMALL tournament, only 23 people.. I mean WTF. I blame it on the damn transit strike.
Game 1: ISB Space vs Guy from Abbotsford
Man I didn’t write down names cause I expected to have the stats.. but oh well.
I think he started Agents in the court, with audience chamber. I set up in space REAL quick: piett and merrejk first turn, pull kashyyyk, 2nd turn pull fondor and another docking, 3rd turn load up executor with Chiraneu to Kashyyyk, and 4th another SD somehwere... just evil.
he drops.. figrin dan and some other scrub to his audience chamber. Vader comes down and wreck some @#$%, figy lives and runs. Not wanting to wreck him too bad, I don’t stop on figgy next turn, but I flip my objective and plop 5d6 on his planet, and chase after him with vader. AFter that, I just drained him for 8 in space, 4 on the ground, and retrieved occasionally off his own figgy (track a 5 and 6).
FW + 30
After this game, I start comparing with other ’top’ echelon players... if no one beats my score, i’m going to be playing Nick Burke. damn. There’s only one person in the North Ridge who beats me in tourney play more than I beat him... Nick.
Well we get paired.
Game 2: WYS Raiders vs Nicholas Burke ISB Scum.
*sigh* I forgot to add in two certain cards to help me against this deck... Kessel and Shocking Grimtassh. Ah well. I get a great start, he didn’t get a very good one at all. I got battle plan, menace fades, and I’ll take the leader working real early, so I could still drain for 1 at the docking bays and cantina. We had some skirmishes at jabba’s palace, cause i wanted the drain site :P He seemed to be getting the better of me for awhile, till Owen & Beru came out. I went from having like 30 cards in my lost, to two turns later, having like 4. Tat celeb for 4 a turn, harvest once on mine and his,... and mine. and repeat. And this was about 45 minutes into the game. He ended up trying to come to space... deployed like dengar, guri+boat, and something else, and tried to load up ORS as passengers. Well, none of his ships had passenger capacity.. so that wasn’t allowed. He landed his ships for a turn instead of eating the big one. Next turn, bossk came out with some ORS forfiet aboard. Space battles went like this: he fights, retrieves two. I artoo, i have a bad feeling, so he draws 0 destiny instead of like 5 (guri+boat, bossk, zuckuss+4-lom, boba with han). I out power him a bit, he loses a ORS or two, which he retrieves in his draw phase.
at about 55 minutes, we sped WAY up, which wasn’t in my favour, cause tat occ had just hit the table, and he was outbattling me (he’d cancel two reacts with ghhhk+those rebels, then fight elsewhere to get them back). if we had played about one turn less, I would’ve probably won for timed game... cause tat occ was getting me for about 4-5, and he was draining for like 6.
Anyways, at end of my last turn, i had like 12 cards or so, he had 21.
TL - 21
2 + 9
In hindsight, i should’ve drawn up. but oh well. At 2 + 9, I figured I wouldn’t be the top of the 1-1’s, so i wouldn’t have to play nick.. alas, twas not to be.
game 3: ISB space vs Nick’s dumb Profit
I helped Nick playtest this deck, so I had an idea of what to expect. I should win 9 times out of 10 with this match up. Well we both got our REAL quick starts, and started losing cards... Like a dumbass, I decide I want to nullify ALL his drains, so I break Arica’s cover to get imp decree in effect (i’ll back her up next turn). I figured she’d be safe, every main was already out, and so was some support characters.
Well he dropped Tawws and Beru+Owen (weren’t they out?? nope damn), battles, and run luke runed the proficient luke (now 13 power). he misses the slash, but i still lose like 20.
Now I just drain him for a smeg load, and end up lose by 9 when i should won by 10 - 20.
FL - 9
2 + 0
Man I always have good differential... At both Gencon and Dcon, i scrubbed big time, but all my losses were small as hell, and my wins would be big.
So now everyone’s laughing at me cause they think i have no chance :P Well I start talking smack about winning all 3 next games by 30, and everyone but one person losing twice, so i’ll get into the finals :)
Game 4: WYS Raiders vs Mark U’s TDISGWATT
Man Mark is a kinda new player... he’s a nice guy, but he always seems to get paired against me when I need a big win, and I HATE not winning by as much as I can.. so it’s really hard for me to easy on a guy :P
He deployed bespin right away, so Dash took that over. Then he deployed Cloud City, so Han took that over, and dash joined him. Luke + a raider/craft took over porttown district. there were a few battles where i just wrecked him.... at one point he left boba in front of luke+stick and a raider. So another smuggler joined luke, and I wrecked him for like 20 cards.
FW + 41
4+ 41
See what i mean about big Differential? So now I’m talking more smack about hitting the finals, and people are still like "no chance man your hosed" which is probably true :)
Game 5: WYS Raiders vs Dave
Man he started ISB... sh!te. I know he has the cards for ISB scum... but then, he also saw me play that ISB space a coupla weeks ago... hmmm.
So he starts out by gettting rendili with mob points, my first turn i flip with two palace raiders two crafts. he drops like kashyyk from hand, and some ships there. Dash makes an appearance and wreck them... he drops some more ships somewhere else. Han makes an appearance and wrecks them... and Dash goes to protect my celebration. So he drops a few more ships, and Mirax+wedge in the skate wreck them! Holy crap! I can’t believe how this game is going.. Looking over the baord, I had control of 3 systems, the cantina, 2 docking bays, and lars farm...
I get up and do a little dance, and go "yeah baby! Board Domination!"
A good laugh goes through the room at that :P
FW + 30
6 + 71
So i’m still on track... After all the top players are done there games, we look at who should be playing who, and because of nicks timed win it looks like this.
If nick wins and I win, we go to final.
If nick loses, I win, he goes to final, I don’t.
If we both lose, neither hit final.
If he wins, he’s guaranteed final.
Course when pairings come up... We forgot about Joe, a decent player who’s happened to hit the top. sigh. So i’m now I have to rely on another top player losing to someone else :( No chance.
Game 6: DS ISB Space vs Ryan’s EBOX
Well I should wreck Ebox, but I didn’t. I had imp decree going all game, SSPFT screwing with his Xwings, and den of theives going, and I was getting some drains in, but I just couldn’t pull it through. Nothing to tell.
FL - 9
6 + 62
I go 3-3 with giant differential... sigh. I predicted i’d either go 5-1 and hit the finals or go 3-3. Damnit.
So Kevin Staley and Nick Burke hit the finals.. Kevin is like the total underdog, he’s not even who we usually talk about as the ’top’ players..
Kevin was playing WYS raiders for the first game. I didn’t bother watching much since I knew how it would go, expecting it to go even WORSE for kevin then for me. It did. It was over in like 20 minutes. Nick won by 27
Game 2, Kevin had MKOS post ref2... Nick was dumb and just kept trying to fight him in jabba’s palace instead of draining him.... even after he rescued han. After awhile, like when Nick was down to say 15 cards, he kinda looked at Kevin’s deck... and his lost pile, and saw 0 cards in lost, and like 35 in deck. So nick started to drain, and got him down to like 20 before he bit the big one.
Now... props and slops.
Props:
Ryan for getting 3rd
Kevin for coming out of nowhere
Abbotsford people for coming out
Slops:
Kevin Staley, for not forfietting Myo to Used.
Kevin Staley, for paying 2 to put abyssins in Used instead of retrieving with objective next turn
Myself, for being a giant scrub
Justin Cachelin, for forgetting Staging Areas and Insurrection
Justin Cachelin, for hitting someone for an insert for like 11
Bah. I’m signing out now. Cya in Vegas.