t-shirt-player-at-tn-states-5-12-01
Title: t-shirt-player-at-tn-states-5-12-01
Author: Michael "Cantonavader" crosby
Date: May 13, 2001
I asked my future wife to watch my 4th block class at East High so I could take off early and make it to Cookeville in time to play at the local gaming store. Playing there is like playing at home since I lived there for nine years. Its hard to find good competition here in Morristown especially since our only gaming store owner died recently. Man I sure do miss him. He was one of the two people who ever beat me here in Morristown. Anyway, the trip to Cookeville is 150 miles from Morristown then tack on another 120 to Franklin for the TN State championships. I was sick of all the driving. But if you want to play the high level players then you have to make sacrifices.
Once I got to Cookeville I hooked up with my friends Andrew Welch, Brandon Young, and Mike Wudhapitak to play a few friendly games and test our deck one last time the night before the big day.
My decks seemed to work well but I was afrid on the one turn beats by FAlke and Wilkelhaus’ WYS deck which I had been playtesting.
I thought that would be the only LS deck that could give me a problem. So I decided to shelve the 40 - 1 ISB deck that got me where I am today and instead go with a dark deal deck that could Tallon Roll almost any rebel starfighter with a weapon. Making that Meta choice would be my undoing.
At this time I want to say thanks to Andy and his wife for letting me stay with them the night before. It helps when you can divide up the travel time.
Saturday Morning:
We all left Cookeville at 8:30 A.M. hoping to make it there by 11:00. Man was I wrong. As a former Geography teacher all I want to say is from now on let me drive.
Clan Cookeville consisted of myself Michael "Cantonaver" Crosby, Billy Pemerton, Andrew Welch, Brandon Young, Eddie Walker, and a new guy, Ive never met or played before but seemed really cool, Dustin Craven’s.
The trip consisted of deep philosphical conversations about the Simpsons, rap music, and why and the hell we where lost. I use to think only Andy could get us lost but Billy proved me wrong.
The Tournament:
Decks
Light OMDH Hidden Mains Crosbian Smack Avoid and Drain
Dark (mistake of mistakes) TDIGWATT/PIDAIF
Ladies and Gentlemen .. Children of all ages .... Game One
My Dark vs Billy Pemerton’s (1818) MWYHL Old SKool Asteroids
I just drove 270 miles to play someone I rode down with? You bet! It took Billy awhile to get set up. It took me awhile to get set up. Billy passes test 1 and goes no further. I get the Chimaera set up with Thrawn and Pellaeonfor an uncontested darin of one for th est of the game. Billy slowly get his asteroid deployed but only after I Monnoked him for two sectors which probably enabled me to eak out a win. The crucial moment came when Billy sent down abeatdown squad on one of my walker luckily I had a GHHHK or that would have been game as well. My Occupation kicked in and after having rolled the LAT Damaged Falcon with one of my Obsidian Ties OS-72-2 In Obsidian 2 all of his damage was gone.
FW 2(+12)
Highs: Beating a former Mentor of mine all the while knowing that game could have easily went the other way.
Lows: Having to play someone I rode down with. (You knew that was coming)Not getting out all of my sites. I cant wait for that new Tatooine card that pulls thoae freakin sites
Game TWO:
My light vs. Eddie Walker (1494) MKOS Myo-Abyssin-Galid
All I have to say about this game is Eddie is a new player and from Cookeville!!!!! Once again I play someone I rode down with. This game didnt take too long becuase of Menace Fades, which I stared intsead of Squadron A$$ignments. MF owns MKS. Wings and LAsers own BH ships along with ITTL Adm. Order. I spent the entire game draining him for 4 at Tatooine DB with LSJK and Ben K. while Wedge and Superfalcon owned the Tatooine System. I had no lost pile when the game was over. I made all three OMDH runs.
31 diff.
FW 4(+43?)
Highs: No lost pile. Playing a cool guy with high potential for the game. This kid will be a force in the future.
Lows: Playing someone I rode down with and playing someone I play against in Cookeville.
GAme Three:
My Light vs. dude who bought the Spidey T-Shirt (Knoxville)playing AOTBS - the Beast (ROC and Much Anger)
I apologize for not knowing his name. He’s a really nice guy from Knoxville (also a town I play in on a regular basis) but I cant recall his name only that we bought the same shirt.
I thought auto-win. This is the same deck he played against me two weeks earlier. Its a basic Black Sun deck built for capturing Luke only with Respon. of Command and Much Anger in him. I always run the Hoth DB in all my LS decks because the Beast is a game breaker period.
I set up at the Tatooine DB with LSJK and Ben Kenobi each with Saber. I use Tunnels and Weapon Lev to get the sabers and the journal. (Why the Journal? because having Obi killed sucks) As usual I get set up in space Luke is safe with all his hommies. Really no battles just a drain race which my saber insure I win. I retrieve my useless cards at the end.
FW diff +20
6 (+63)?
Highs: another win. Getting LSJK out early with Ben. Fallen portal in hand and weapon lev waiting for the beats to come. Glad they didnt. That BS deck is a beast!
Lows: Playing someone I play on regular basis in Knoxville and forgetting his name. He is also a really good player and a force to be reckoned with in the future.
Break time. Lunch Clan Cookeville went to Micky D’s. All I had was fries and a coke. I was too nervous to eat. I had made it 1/2 way undefeated.
Game Four: I’m first on my side vs. first on the other side.
My Dark vs. Steven Lewis’(2109) Hidden Mains w/heavy Sense/Alter (Bad Kharma) game
I expected WYS from the best players so I didnt pack S/A protection. That made all the difference. The game breaking battle took place early when Steven drew a mysterious 6 destiny aginst my walker. His Ben Kenobi had the same power as my walker but the 6 attrition busted it. What was mysterious? I asked him to count his hand and watched as he counted it because I had a monnok ready. When we battled he had 10 cards after the battle, and his 6 JKLS destiny, he only had nine. HE played 0 interrupts. I asked what happened to that other card he responded "he didnt know". You be the judge. I know from now on I’m not taking my eyes off these kinds of players. If I see it happen I’m going to catch them after the tournament and beat the living hell out of them. Word to the wise..... Dont do it again! I’m bigger than you and not afraid to use it.
The rest of the game consisted of me owning the Bespin system with Thrawn and Pellaeon and draining for one while he controlled Bespin cloud city with Leia Mirax Falcon draining me for two. I had lost all of my Ties and had all of my Tallon Rolls sensed. My walkers ran him all over the CC sites blocking his drains and overpowering him but all he had to do was move. His retrieval kicked in about 20+ force using on/off edge. But I took the game intentionally to a Modified Loss while trying to get his diff down as much as possible. I wasnt going to be an easy win. In hindsight my only regret was not playing my ISB with SSPFT.
ML Lewis 23 Me 12
6(+50)?
Highs: Controlling parts of this game. Getting to play someone Ive never played before.
Lows: the mysterious 6 and card counting. Enuff said.
Game Four:
My Light vs. Brandon Rucks MKOS droid workshop drain
This by far was the funniest game I have ever played. I started Menace Fades much to Rucks disappointment. He thought he could drain through menace fades because of Hutt Influence. He pretty much conceded the game from the get go. For those of you who dont know the power of the droid drain ask your friends who do. Once again MF owns MKOS. Brandon didnt deploy any ships so I had space uncontested. I drained at the Tat DB using Ben and Luke and the Admirals Order that adds one. All the while keeping MF in effect. The only action consisted of me having to break Mara, U-3po and Capt Sarkli’s cover. I broke all of them using Corran Horn. He is the shiznit agianst spies.
FW by 25 diff 8(+75)
Highs: It was a fun game. Thats what SW is all about. Ruck is a good, honest player.
Lows: Playing someone I play all the time in Knoxville. His deck not working because of Menace Fades. It was an auto-win and we both knew it.
Game Six:
I’m in first again on my side of the force set to play Lewis. Jim Colson (super guy- super TD) bumps me down instead to play Johnny Chu because Ive already played Lewis using my dark deck. I would have rather played either of these guys with my light deck because it is undefeated whereas my dark deck has already taken a loss. Decision by TD? you will play Chu. I wanted a second chance at Lewis but it wasnt meant to be.
My Dark vs. Chu’s TRM no objective all choke sites
This game was over on turn 2 after I watched chu deploy all of his choke sites. I couldnt pull a site to save my life. All of the stuff I could pull like DBs gave him force. Once your opponent overwhelms you with force gen. its all over. I did my best with the walkers ii could deploy, but I could not afford to drop the Executor. Too expensive with the choke. I battled as long as I could. During two particular battles I remember much anal rapage from Orrimarko. Mara had to be a little @#$% and miss him once and Wedge once before finally being taken out by a Sorry about the mess. My walkers with immunity held up for awhile but he was able to drop Home One on the bespin system and drain for two the entire game. The EPP squads kept a coming.
FL -25
Highs: This kid is good. I have so much respect for him. He totally deserves his ranking. Polite, honest, and a good sport. I will take alot from this game. For one never rely on your opponent to supply you with force.
Lows: Getting force choked sux. I couldnt get my sites out again. Now I know why they’re making that card in the Tatooine set.
Final Confrontation:
Chu vs. Lewis
No details because I still had to drive to Cookeville then drive home to East TN. I did call on my cell phone and find out that Chu (a New Yorker) won the TN state championship by one card. Chu to borrow a phrase from a top ranked player there "You played like a Champ". You deserve it and good luck at day two at continentals.
Props:
- Billy and his wife for getting the van we drove to Franklin. Man was it sweeeeeeet and cheap. Lets take one of those to DragonCon.
- Andy and his wife for giving me a place to stay the night before.
- The rest of Clan Cookeville for keeping the game alive in Cookeville even after I moved away.
- All of the t-shirt players who had the testicular fortitude to say and play all six rounds regardless of their standing. Lets hear a big shout out for maturity.
- Jim Colson for running the thing. This guy is all I’ve heard about him and more. I hope he can trade me some SW T-shirts. He says he has a bunch.
- All of the K-town boys like Ruck, Mathison, Work, Hartlege, and the dude who bought the spidey shirt for making the trip.
Slops:
- Long F u c k i n g D r i v e s.
- People who cant count cards or lie to you about how many they do have.
- Having to play people you drive down with.
That’s it. I hope I didnt leave too much out. This is my first report so I hope you all enjoyed it.
So long,
Michael "Cantonavader" Crosby
Long Live Eric "The King" Cantona