milford-ma-5-5-01-aka-milford-not-ayer
Title: milford-ma-5-5-01-aka-milford-not-ayer
Author: Stephen "The Gov'na" Cellucci
Date: May 12, 2001
Now that the Video Connection is closed for good (check out my Framingham TR for its last tourney ever), TJ Collectibles in Milford seems to be picking up the slack. I had been talking about this Milford tourney weeks in advance with Steebo Baroni and my playtest buddy Ross, trying to decide if I could go. It being the month of May and the end of the school year, I had buttloads of school work coming up i.e. papers, tests, etc. Not to mention a lot of other crap like rehearsals for a play and other stuff. I had told Baroni that I couldn’t go but he kept saying I should, and at the last minute I moved my schedule around a little and decided to go. Turns out I was able to get all my stuff done, barely. I figured if I was gonna make time to go it better be worth it.
Well, now we find out why the title of the TR is aka Ayer is not Milford. Ross had found directions to the store from his house on MapQuest.com WHICH YOU SHOULD NEVER USE. I decided at the last minute to go, so he picked me up from my house and we followed the directions from there. Turns out they took us to Main St. not in Milford, but in Ayer, MA, aka the middle of nowhere. That place has no intelligent life (Ross you know what I’m talking about). They didn’t even know that Milford existed. After tons of looking around and being pissed off, we realized that we weren’t even close and we drove halfway across the state to get to Milford at a little after 1 PM (the tourney was scheduled to start at 12 and we had left around 11). I found out when I got there that my buddy Steebo held them up for half an hour, knowing that we would come, but we still only made it in time to watch the first round games ending. So far, using up my Saturday for this has not been "worth it" and I am pretty ticked.
Decks
The decks I played today would be the same ones I went 5-1 with at states and 4-2 at Framingham for the past two tournies. Dark was Hunt Down mega-dueler and Light was Hidden Base x-wing swarm. Check them out on my page, they’re really tweaked after lots of games. I was very proud of my Hunt Down which was 8-1 in tourney play going into today. It ran 3 vader’s obssession and 1 circle for anti-WYS, 2 focused attack, all the dueling stuff. Also used Something Special Planned For Them instead of the grabber because Edge cards are big around here. Hidden base x-wings ran 4 organized attacks because the card is sick and 7 systems. It had consistently done well in tournaments, getting the job done usually going 2-1.
The turnout for the day was fairly good, in the high teens. Steve Baroni, Mike Schiemer, and Hayes Hunter (deciding to play at the last second) were all there, as well as some newer players and a handful of veterans/others like Brian Ciezinsky (sp?), James Valeri, Michael Hawley, Mike Pistone, Paul Maholick, and Johnny "Vegas" Rivera. Jared Greenwald was running the tournament as well as playing. My rating going into the day was 1685 (all ratings I post will be those before the tourney, not after). I’m gonna start on game 2 because, frankly, I didn’t play a game 1. So I start off at 0(0) in game 2.
The Games
Game 2: Hunt Down dueler vs. Ross Littauer’s (1456) TIGIH Mains/sevens
Because of MapQuest making us both late, we had predicted this matchup and knew it would be pretty close. Ross is much better of a player than his rating shows; after this tourney it went up like 30 points. He should easily be in the 1600 range. Anyway, we both knew each other’s decks so it would be an interesting game. I started MobPoints, IAO, and Battle Order to stop the early annoying drains at Chief Chirpa’s Hut. He started the docking bay stuff and I think Insight as his third effect. I got out exec DB and Carida and drew up for Vader. He neglected to drain and moved Luke over to the Endor DB. Next turn I brought out Lord Vader, his saber, and Tarkin to Endor DB for the capture and flip. He put a guy or two to a non-battleground DB and drew up for some mains, taking Visage damage and drains for a turn. I didn’t get out any other DB’s, forcing him to come to Endor. Next turn he brought down EPP Han and Chewie Protector to Endor DB but did not battle. Instead he said "Tell me when it’s your control phase." I remembered that I had traded him a Disarmed earlier that day and I saw it coming. Luckily, I had one of my own in my hand. Next turn, I Disarmed Han as my first control phase action. He could not disarm Vader. Then I played You Are Beaten on Chewie and battled a lone Disarmed Han. I hit with the saber swing and he lost 10 or so in overflow damage. That seemed to be pretty much game. From there I fortified Carida with BH ships to satisfy Battle Order and was unchallenged in space. Eventually Obi came down to flip me back. I didn’t have any destinies tracked, but during his turn I checked the top with Sim and it was a 2. I said to leave it and I think that kept him from battling me with Obi and I think Leia and some jabronis. Next turn I blind dueled Obi, but I added with Focused Attack and canceled one of his destinies so I was fairly certain I would win the duel. I did, and the loss of 9 put him far down enough that I won the battle and drained him out. FW +17
Highs: Successfully dueling Obi. Hunt Down is 9-1. Winning my first game.
Lows: Having to play and beat a friend, whose decks I knew, in our first round.
2(+17)
Game 3: Hidden Base X-wings vs. Aaron Ross’ (1462) Balanced MKOS
Great. Any deck that pulls Hutt Influence is an auto-lose for mine. All I have to combat ground drains at Jabba’s Palace is Boushh (TK only works with Imperials) and some EPPs to fight with. Well, let’s see what happens. I start only two effects: Do or Do Not/Wise Advice and Insight (he didn’t start TINT/Opressive) but I considered signaling for Rebel Fleet to cancel for a couple turns before Influence started working-turns out that would have been a better choice. He started No Bargain, Power of the Hutt, and a third effect that I can’t remember but I don’t think did much throughout the game. I got a good opening hand, with two systems and Boushh, so I thought I might be able to pull it off. I started deploying my systems, putting x-wings to Rendezvous Point, and moving out to Endor. He got Jabba and I think Boelo to AC. I put Boushh there early so she wouldn’t get stopped by Ephant Mon. Later out came Lower Passages, Bib and Fett w/ gun there, and Gailid and Ephant to AC. During his move phase he moved Boelo over to the Lower Passages and I moved Boushh using the force I had saved for a barrier in space, leaving only Jabba, Gailid, and Ephant to threaten mains, but he didn’t buy it. I set up at Coruscant with Red Leader and several x-wings and something like 7 x-wings at Kessel, 3 of which I had gotten out with Organized Attack lost (great card). I had a drain of 6 going and he had 4 when he got Mara to JP, plus Search and Destroy, so we were pretty even. At that point I had lost TK so I couldn’t put him there. He came to space with Bossk and Dengar but I barriered, next turn activated s-foils, played a cannon, battled, org attack for immunity, shot down Dengar with 3 force (immediately lost), and I won the battle losing nothing with some overflow damage. I was low because of his early drains so I played All Wings Report In for 10 or so retrieval. I realized I needed to up my drains to win so I fortified Kiffex with Home One and an x-wing and moved a couple x-wings from kessel each to a couple drain-1 systems. I had out of nowhere and barrier in hand and saved extra for first strike. He came to Kiffex with Zuckuss, thinking Home One was an x-wing, and I barriered. Next turn I drained for 7 and only had 5 force to work with so I activated s-foils for +2 power, had +2 power at kiffex b/c of 2 ships, and battle with org attack for +1. My power was 15 to his 4 but my destiny didn’t matter. He lost Zuckuss and a few more, bringing him down to ONE force. I had 7 total life force/hand left but s+d hit me during my turn, he drained for 5 because of a recently-added mara’s stick, and s+d finished me off! FL -1
Highs: Winning space battles big and only losing to scum by 1.
Lows: Losing by 1! Mara’s saber won the game in the end.
2(+16)
Game 4: Hunt Down dueler vs. Aaron Ross’ (1462) TIGIH Scouts
Time for revenge. When I saw the TIGIH Scouts I was pretty confident about this game. However, Aaron would prove himself to be better than a 1462 player. This game is kind of a blur because we were both joking around the whole game. I started DB effects and Battle Order to stop the early drain. He did DB stuff and Insight (I think). I got DLOTS to the Endor DB second turn for the flip and he moved Rebel Scout Luke over. I fortified with Tarkin and a saber. He got out some Endor sites along with General Solo and some scouts, including Midge who adds to drains. He was paying 3 for drains while I fortified Carida with Zuckuss and Bossk, who were untouched the rest of the game. I was outdraining him with Visage and he didn’t want to battle me when I followed him to his Endor sites at first. I got Palpy and Janus or Sim to the CC DB and was draining there. He thought about battling me but he said something to the effect of me having a force lightning. I didn’t say anything but I made him think I did (I didn’t). That prevented any encounter there. Finally, he threw down some more scouts and battled me where I had followed him and he had Corporal Midge, who I would find did NOT want to die. I swung at Solo and hit, then operated with Dr. E., and tried to choke Midge (ability 2) but failed. I won the battle so I didn’t stack a card. Next turn I would bring down Mara + saber to the site, where he had all his guys, and swing at Midge but miss again! Operating really did the trick and caused some battle damage but his scouts were high forfeit b/c of Insurrection. Meanwhile, Cracken had canceled Visage in the holotheatre and, backed up with another guy, was draining for 2 a turn, keeping it close. He also started another drain on Endor with the still alive Midge. I had a choice: either to go to stop his Endor drain or to send Vader, Tarkin, Mara, and Dr. E to the Executor. I went with the second option, getting Vader and Tarkin to the Exec DB and Mara and Dr. E to the theatre. He didn’t like that so he moved over to the meditation chamber. I was content to control the holotheatre, redeploy visage, and send vader/tarkin back out to drain. I drained him out, with the help of battle order. FW + 7
Highs: Getting revenge (not that Aaron isn’t a cool guy).
Lows: Low diff. Midge surviving all the crap I threw at him.
4(+23)
Game 5: Hunt Down Dueler vs. Mike Schiemer’s (2024) Hidden Mains
I had been hoping to play Mike and now was my chance. This was the deck I wanted to use, because I knew about his insane undefeated 24-0 Hunt Down imp command deck and I knew it would beat HBX. I also knew he was playing Edge cards, so my third effect was Something Special Planned For Them. Apparently he didn’t get so good an opening hand. First turn I put Janus to exec db for generation, along with Carida, holding a premiere Darth in hand. He drew up first turn. Next I got Vader to the Death Star DB and moved Janus over. He got Obi w/ saber to the CC DB and flipped me back, with some support from Tawss Khaa and Wedge. We both drew up for a turn and I got out reactor terminal (don’t diss this card just yet). Next turn I started tracking a visage and doubles of dueling cards. I replaced Prem Vader with a Lord and put a saber on him. Then I assaulted Obi and crew with Xizor, Guri, and Mara + stick. I hit Wedge with the saber and he lost Tawss to attrition. I lost Xizor. I then moved Vader and Tarkin over to the CC DB up against his lone Obi. On his turn he fortified with Chewie Protector and someone else (possibly Leia). Apparently his Lukes were evading him. He said "This is the action that will make or break the game." He Clashed Vader and battled Guri, Tarkin, and Mara. At the end of the battle Mara and Tarkin were left on my side, along with clashed Vader, and Obi and Chewie or someone on his side. I lost some visage cards from the top to speed up tracking, and sure enough, I was able to activate just enough to get down to my 6, 6, and 7. I dueled Obi during control phase and he lost 9, drawing a 4 and a 2. I then battled his lone character forcing another loss of 9 from overflow damage. That 18 in one turn seemed to be it. From there he played an Edge card, which was placed out of play, but I drained him out. FW +20
Highs: Getting to play Mike and beating a highly rated player. Dueling successfully once again. Hunt Down finishes at 11-1 before Tatooine.
Lows: Mike’s bad draws. Things didn’t go right for him and he never got a Luke.
6(+43)
Game 6: HBX vs. Mike Schiemer’s Hunt Down Imperial Command
Arg. I was hoping to play someone else (no offense Mike) because I knew I couldn’t beat him again. I started Insight and Do/Wise again while he started DB stuff and SSPFT. I got my systems set up with x-wings to rendezvous while he had a little trouble getting out Lord Vader (he couldn’t find a DB one turn so Vader was stuck at the Executor). I ditched Insight for Honor but he Twileked for No Escape, putting a quick end to that. He got a drain set up at one DB with Vader, who I thought about attacking but never did after he got backed up by Palpy. Early on I lost Kessel, my hidden base(!) to Visage off the top, so I dug for and All Wings. Very bad. Luckily I had a bunch of x-wings out so I eventually retrieved it but it made for a later flip than I had hoped for. Right after the flip, when I had a drain of 3 going at Kessel, he got Thrawn in a destroyer to space along with some BH ships and Guri in ship, using Coruscant’s deploy -2 game text to his advantage. He started probing and draining in space while I canceled some but not all of his drains. I battled him once, taking out someone with a cannon, but he came back down with a ton of ships for something crazy like 40 battle damage but I houjixed. He then spread to Kessel and others, probing successfully, and stopping me from having any chance to cancel his drains. My last-ditch efforts included a late drain at Coruscant or Kiffex, when he had moved his fleet into the upper parsecs, and maybe a small battle or two. But I saw where it was going and drew up. FL -24
Highs: Seeing his great Imp Command Hunt Down still go undefeated. Really cool deck.
Lows: Losing my last game. Losing Kessel off top early when I had a really good hand! That was really bad.
6(+19)
So, I finished 6th and got a couple DSII packs and a RII pack. Good prize support all around. Hayes finished first and Baroni (with his crazy x-wings and biker Rops decks) got second. Technically I got 3-3 counting the first game default loss. Here were the top 6 (a few guys dropped in the middle of the tourney):
1. Hayes Hunter 6-0
2. Steve aka Stephen Baroni 4-2 (you know what I’m talking about)
3. Mike Schiemer 4-2
4. Johnny "Vegas" Rivera 4-2
5. Brian Ciezinsky 3-3
6. Stephen Cellucci (me) 3-3
Props:
Jared for running the tourney. Great job and good prize support
TJ Collectibles for being a good store with some ventilation, which Video Conn. Lacked
Hayes for winning and more importantly for getting me a LS Endor system for my deck
Johnny Vegas for doing well and beating Schiemer
Ross for being better than his rating
Baroni for playing x-wings (you know they’re good) and getting one of the cool foils
Luck and God for helping me beat Schiemer
Schiemer for giving me some good games and beating me
Aaron Ross for being cool and much better than his rating shows and beating me
Hunt Down for retiring (for now) at 11-1 and being a great deck
Everyone who showed.
Anyone who I forgot and who deserves props I’m sure there’s someone
Slops:
MapQuest.com. Nuff said.
Ayer for being a dumb town.
HBX for losing both games.
I can’t think of any more, it was a good tourney.
Thanks for reading!