greenville-sc-5-12-01
Title: greenville-sc-5-12-01
Author: Brad "Admiral Twk" Reinhold
Date: May 25, 2001
Sorry this is long, but bear with me ;)
The day before the tournament, I had driven up to Greenville from Clemson, SC, to playtest some with a few buds playing the next day. Few people showed up to play, but I still had fun. I was planning on running a wierd version of Mains and Toys I’d been playing with, which utilized docking bays and Toshe Station. You can check it out under light decks. I wasn’t sure what I would be doing for the darkside at that point. Jonathan, a friend of mine, showed up around 11:00 and we traded and got some testing done, mostly of the lightside. I had built a Dark Deal deck (currently 23-1) but was having second thoughts about it as it would be expected. Almost as a joke, I had brought a SYCFA deck that flipped, but had never tested it, though I thought it would probably work ok if the opponent was a dislexic tauntaun.
Later, at the appartment where I crashed, another friend, Brad Cembor, was querying me about the decks I was going to play. He’s a TD for Babylon 5, by Precedence, which some are calling the better great grand-daddy of Jedi Knights. I told him about my misgivings for the darkside dark Deal deck, and he asked if I had anything else. I said yes, and he asked what. When I told him, he said why not do that instead? I explained, slowly, so that he would understand, that NO I knew of had ever won a tournament using it, unless they were doing something funky, like Sienar Fleet Systems or Scanning Crew, and I hadn’t brought those cards with me. So he asked why not just use big characters and big ships and blow things up. You must understand that I was a bit inebriated at this point, so I said, Hell, why not! I started to tear apart both decks into constituent parts and proceeded to try to make one, solid M&T/BigBlue deck. The more I looked at it, the more I began to see that it was indeed a very good platform....there was only one small problem: I only owned one CPI at that point. Nothing major, just the crucial, all encompasing focus of the deck....nothing I couldn’t overcome....
Dawn came the next day, and I drove over to Haven Games, where the tourny was being held I had filled out the deck list earlier the previous night, after having sobered up enough to notice the emperor I had put in the deck was infact Tech Mo’or. Not having the 2 other cpi’s I needed to make the deck viable, I had subbed in Target The Main Generator, hoping noone would notice, and that someone would arrive with whom I could trade my car to to get 2 CPI’s. I notice Caleb Foth and Mark Fessler, two very good friends and two very good players, sitting over at a table. I wander over to them, chatting amiably. We get on the subject of decks, and I ask, though I know neither has any, for CPI’s. I offer my sister into slavery, and my car into bondage. Mark just laughs. Caleb though, is rifling through his cards and pulls out 2 CPI’s! I have to give him a picture of my sister to appease him, but we laugh, and proceede to look for the one other card I need: Move Along. For those of you who don’t know, this is one of the chief defenses against Abyssin Swarm and Trooper BeatDown. I finally found one I had in my spares box, and plopped it into the deck in the slot I had left for it. Mark and I then playtested my darkside deck. I don’t remember what deck he played, but I rememberhe dropped down Corran Horn and somebody on top of my 2 DS gunners at the war room, and though I canceled Corran with PASOA, he still added a destiny, and killed both gunners. I want to thank Mark for reminding me of what the war room can do to you. We ran out of time to play, as the tournament was getting under way, so we sat around making stupid jokes about the cyclops cards they handed out from the store free. Mark ripped it in half...And then the Parings were anounced:
Game #1: Things That Go BOOM vs. Danny?
I realize I should give the guy more credit, and wish I knew his name better than what I think was Danny or Jonny. A good player, he’s come to a few of the tournaments I’ve run over the past few months. Anyway, he was playing WYS Beatdown, with RFC but no Palace Raiders. Fairly standard. I made the supreme mistake of sending my first vader to the ground against Luke and Han, though I wiped him out, he assassinated Vader.It was a stupid mistake, and if I had’t choked Han, I would have lost more than just Vader. After that, I was a bit more cautious. He left Obi at the Tat:DB for a while and let me do my thing. I blew up alderaan around turn 4 and moved on to Yavin, having A Day Long To Be Remembered in my hand. He moved up Ben Kenobi to the DS:DB with Vader, since now I could lose force to battle damage. I think He also had Chewbacca there, but I’m not sure. I played The Circle is now complete blindly, knowing that the game rested on this, but still, at this point, just playing for fun. I drew a 4, added 2 to it for the lightsaber on vader. He drew a 1, and though Ben is the man for duels, Ben got gatted. I then battled his remaining people, and cleared them off the DS. After that I concentrated on draining in space, reducing his destiny draws with Imperial Command and beat him down with consistent drains of 10+, to win by what I think was 5.
2(+5)
Having now witnessed that dispite its fun edge, the darkside could win, I was getting out of my "well, I just want to have fun" mode and into "I want your blood on my superlaser" mode. Having won by a low differential, and hearing that only 2 lightside decks had won at all the first round, I was hoping the next round was going to be easier.
Game #2: BIWTGTTS(But I WANT to go to Tosche Station!) vs. Joe Random
Sadly, I don’t recall this felow’s name either. You have to remember, this happened almost 2 weeks ago. Sorry. Anyway. He plops down Bespin:Cloud City to start. Thats it. This guy had just started playing and wanted to go and see what states was really like, try his luck. I dropped down Tosche Station, HFTMF, Insurrection, Squadron Assignments, and YISYW. You never know. This guy could be running 50 scanning crews for all I know, and his dimeanor could be a ruse. He activates 4, lays down CC:Lower Passages, and then spends 3 to play a stormtrooper and Lando. I make some remark about wishing I had kept a Lando in my deck, and he just looks at me uncomprehendingly. I decide its time to look at my hand. I see Leia w/gun, Chewbacca, Protector, and life debt, among the other goodies. I activate 4, play the Endor:DB from my hand, and then the Tat:DB from my reserve. I draw up, getting EPP Han, I Know, and Smoke Screen. He activates 7, drains for one, and deploys an imperial blaster on lando and Dengar in boat at Cloud City.
I shake my head. On my turn I activate, drop Orrimaarko to the Station, and keep my other force there, for the barrier I’m bluffing. He drains, drops Zuckuss in boat and Obsidian 8 to the CC, thereby taking my eyes off it as my beat down spot. I activate 10, on my next turn, thanks to Toshe Station, and play EPP Leia, EPP Han, and RII Chewie to same site as Lando, using my free force to initiate. I start by shooting Lando, it hits, and I play SATM&BP to make him go by-by. I then hit the trooper, play my adders to draw 7 detiny (1 Base, 1 for Leia, 1 for Han, 4 for interrupts). I get a 6, two 4’s, two 1’s, and two 3’s, making it 35 to 1. He loses 34 cards and I drain him out in two turns to win by 29.
4(+32)
Game 3: Things that go Boom vs. TJ Crolley’s WYS
This was a very long, rather uneventful game. He was using a classic WYS Tat Celebration deck. I flipped turn 4, having drawn the Superlaser in my opening hand. Used GA Thrawn to know out his space, while he drained on tatooine, then moved to the Death Star to to fight. The game yas pretty evenly matcheduntil he searched his lost pile for a card to play (control/Tunnel Vision) only to find he didn’t have one. The TD said he had to play a card from his discard pile anyway, and so, without deploying anything, he had to use I’ve Got A Bad Feeling About This with Superfalcon, added a bunch of destiny, then got it all cancelled by Imperial Command. According to the TD, he didn’t have to lose anything to to attrition, either, as if he lost, no result. But this effectively cost him a turn, and all he could do was run, cancelling Tat Celebration. I won with 2 minutes left by 5.
6(+37)
After that, We went to lunch. TJ and I went to Taco Bell, to reminisce over the good old days and talk about the mistakes we had made in the game. When we got back from lunch, they were just starting to announce the 4th round pairings. I knew it would be an uproad battle, and only hoped that my next opponent wasn’t too good. While I realize there is a vast difference between us, at the high 1700’s, and most of you in the 2000’s brackett, let me say that we still have stiff competition, and most of us simply haven’t played in many tournaments, or really very well, for that matter, for long. But we do have some skills:)
Game 4: BIWTGTTS! vs. Jeff Templton’s Black Sun
Jeff is a superb player by all accounts, and I enjoy his humor. We had actually tested these two decks before, in various formats, and I had beaten Jeff consistently. As long as I had any character in my opening hand, I would usually regulate the game, and with 16 characters, I either had 1 or more by the end of the first turn. Jeff said he simply hadn’t had time to really look into a new dark deck, and had figured the odds that we would play...well, ’nough said.
This game was the worst tournament game I have ever played, witnessed, or dished out. My opening hand included all red and one lightsaber. In retrospect, I got so frustrated that I never notied the secondary ability of Clash, which is to cancel Presence. Jeff was playing a FlipBS deck, starting with the Presence, but thats what you get for getting frustrated. I drew up every turn, somehow not getting a single character. Jeff, a friend of some time, had a look that said "I’m sorry, man, but not THAT sorry." I didn’t get a character til the 4th turn, by which time Jeff was completely set up. I battled back, assassinating two sites worth of characters, taking out a chunk, but it wasn’t enough. I lost by 26.
6(+11)
My differential was so low by this point, I knew that there was no way I could win. This was good and bad. I am a concert Cellist, and had a surprise gig that evening later, and had been wondering how I was going to get out of it. Seemingly, I had been handed a solution. I stopped worrying. I settled down to have fun and blow up planets, to enjoy the last few games.
Game 5: BIWTGTTS! vs. Anonymous Court
I’ll be honest here. I don’t remember very much about this game, or whom I played. I remember dropping down han and chewie to fight somebounty hunters along with Corran Horn, Losing, having him capture Han and let the rest die. He was getting ready to feed him to the sarlacc monster, but on my turn I dropped down Luke and Ben, got attacked, survived, and proceeded to clobber his guys. I hit Dengar with Blaster, making him lost and getting back Han so I could cancel destiny. I had already grabbed snoova’s toy, so he couldn’t Exclude/capture anybody. I then smoke screened, causing him to lose a bunch. After that, the game was pretty much mine. He fought once more against Luke, Chewie, Ben, and Orrimaarko, but I played Courage of a skywalker, then Jedi Presence. After that the game was pretty much over. Full win, 19.
8(+30)
When the pairings for the final round were announced, I was elated. I would get even for my earlier failure (well, the deck’s, anyways)...
Game 6: Things That Go BOOM vs. Jeff Templeton’s Endor Mains
Jeff belongs to a sect of humanity that doesn’t like light side objectives. I do, but felt it unneccesary for my deck. He just doesn’t like them at all. So Jeff starts off with endor, Strike Planning, Squadron Assignments, and Wise Advice combo card. Jeff never seemed to pull much in the way of locations. They did, however, make cameos as destiny draws whenever he would try to cut someone or draw a destiny, not that that happened much. Jeff complained alot that why couldn’t I play this or that, the things he KNEW I was doing playing this objective. When I finally blew up Alderaan, and he could no longer deny the truth, he got this funny look on his face...Anyway, I dropped down Avenger and Devestator at Endor and Sullust with an admiral at each. I noticed he was smiling, and, looking at his hand size, told him to hang on just a second...
Monok really hurt him. He told me later that I got rid of allmost all his ships and crews. He did plop down the falcon with Gen Calrissian and Nien Numb to layeth the smack-down upon Chiraneau. Now, knowing he was gone either way, I used my Imperial command to add a destiny, hoping to clear him off, too. He drew a 5 and a 1. I drew a 4 and a 5. I eventually drained him out, after haing to use Thrawn with Pellaon to kick him off the back doo, which he only had 2 characters at lategame. Full win by 5
10(+35)
This being the lowest differential I’ve ever had in a tournament where I won more than 50% of the games, and knowing Jeff had won the rest of his, I congratulated him on the tournament. He didn’t look happy though. It turned out that he had won one of the others, against TJ, I beleive, as a time victory. Though his differential was double mine, he only had 9 points. I felt kinda bad for him, but not too bad...until I remeberedthe gig....
well, 25 minutes and a cancelled gig later, I was in the Finals with Ben Shanks. Ben was 10(+100s), and so he won the reguler tourny. If he won either of the games hewon the state title.
Bonus Game 1: Boom vs. Hidden Mains
ben is very good. Unfortunately he is prone to bad luck. Upon leaving the last of his games, his opponent had accidentally picked up his tatooine docking bay. We didn’t realize this until Ben looked for it 4 times and couldn’t find it. therefor, he could not play Ben Kenobi, beggar, or any number of other things. I wanted to beat ben, but not that way. So we fought, and drained, and the +2 in space won the game, but barely.
FW, +1 differential.
I offereed ben the win by 1 if he wanted it, because I felt really bad, but he was confident that his dark side would whoop up on me.
bonus game 2: Tosche vs. Court.
Ben deployed a few location, Jabba and Ephant Mon on the first turn. I looked at my hand...Jedi Luke....Anakin’s stick....Leia...Mercenary Armor...Clash...SATM/BP...Ben Kenobi...Endor Docking Bay. I activate, deploy Spaceport Docking Bay, Endor DB, Leia with gun and Mercenary Armor to Tosche, draw up leaving one force. On his turn he drains, deploys a few characters to the audience chamber and draws. Basically the game goes back and forth for a while, then I pup in a hit team to snarf Jabba, exclude ephant and kick him in the face. He retreats accross the sarlacc, losing two characters to his own sarlacc before moving on. captures another cople guys with Iggy and 4lom, then is preparing to move back to the jail with them, since usually they can’t be battled. I decide to try to make up for last game, and remind him about R2&3PO making them battleable. He said Ooops. So I held onto the Audience chamber, while not even trying to move my characters out(he set enough example about sarlaccs being hungry with out me adding to it. He fed SR <some rube> (via 4-Lom) to the sarlacc, told me to draw destiny. It was a 6 I had been tracking. The TD then (I don’t know why he waited)said that I wan’t supposed to draw destiny against it. When we asked what to do with the 6, he said to put it back on top. The same turn, when Ben initiated battle with Snoova(already had his blade levitated), Boba-Fett w/Gun, Dengar w/Gun, and Mosep, versus Luke with stick at the docking bay, I played fallen portal against Boba and Dengar, drew the 6, and made them lost. Again, I don’t know why he did that, but, oh, well. After that happened, Ben, with only about 5 cards left, conceeded. Kinda a lame way to win a tournament. The differential was 27.
We both got the CD’s, which we had both wanted, and Ben got the thing I had wanted, which was the premier Box Set :) We talked stuff for a while afterwards, and both plan to head up to worlds in the fall, hopefully taking a contingent of SC players with us, to try our might against the world’s best.