raptors-return-va-states-26-may-01
Title: raptors-return-va-states-26-may-01
Author: Wes "SeaRaptor" Brown
Date: May 30, 2001
PRE-TOURNAMENT PRATTLE
Well, after 4 years on the tourney scene in Texas, I graduated from Texas A&M and took a job in northern Virginia. I’ve been here since the end of January, and one of the promises I made myself was that after I got out of school, I’d get back into Wars.
I’ve been mostly out of sanctioned circulation since the release of Dagobah, though I have continued to play the game and keep up with strategy, decks, and cards. Endor and Death Star II got me back in, but the tournament scene in Houston had faltered in the past year or so, and I hadn’t made a tremendous effort to play games due to the miniscule fact that I was trying to get the hell out of college. Now that I was out (and married, but that’s another story) I held myself to the promise that I would play competitively again. And so it began.
I had been tooling up my decks for several months in preparation. All throughout that time, I have stuck to my trusty Endor Ops/Big Blue for Dark. Big Blue is something I’ve never stopped playing since Hoth was released. Back then it was Victory-Class SDs and Probe Droids. Now it’s Chimaera, BH ships, and chicken walkers, but the concept is the same. Having seen Hunter’s ISB, I took a few tips from it, but my interrupt choices and character choices are vastly different from his.
Back in early March, I put together a hybrid of Hunter’s RST done RIGHT and the Toola Regional Variant and had planned on running RST for States. I figured with 3 months to get games under my belt with the deck, I could fine tune it. In mid-April, it began to have problems, and by the end of the month, I was so disgusted with it, it was all I could do not to rip up the cards. Now only a month from States, I was without a clue for LS.
So I fell back to something very near and dear to my heart, something I know very, VERY well. Echo Base Operations. I first started playing EBO down in Texas in late January 1997, and the deck had quite a run during that time (I think it was mid-April before it lost a sanctioned game). I knew that many a good card had come out since that time to make EBO truly a powerhouse, so I began to peruse DeckTech for some ideas of what to include. I ended up building Hunter’s EBO done RIGHT almost card for card. A few changes ended up being made, simply because he didn’t have access to Reflections 2 (and thus, combo cards) when he posted the deck, but for the most part, it’s the same deck. I ran it at a local tournament a couple of weeks prior and was very happy with it. I had almost forgotten how much I enjoy playing EBO.
Which brings us to States. My rating coming in is 1826. I gave up caring about my rating a long time ago, because it is, ultimately, a poor way to judge a player’s skill level. Still, most TR’s I see posted include this information, and I like seeing the stats, so I will endeavor to as well.
TOURNEY DAY
Rise and shine bright and early. Well early at least... the pouring rain outside kind of keeps it from being bright. Heh. My wife, Heather, and I packed up and head out, hitting a Dunkin Donuts on the way. Scott Valentine, the TD, has become a good friend of mine in the few months I’ve lived here, and I promised him donuts this morning. =)
In any case, we get to the shop about 9:40 in plenty of time to help set things up for the scheduled 10:30 start. Heather’s super-fast typing skills are put to work entering data into the laptop that’s going to be co-running the tournament today (as well as doing things by hard copy) and I just kind of putz around chatting with people. By tournament time, we have around 50 people, with every corner of the state represented and just about every highly-ranked player present. Present are Dan Bojanowski (reigning state champ), Steven Turner, Curtis Brown, Todd Rowe, Mike Sorrell, Erik Petersen, Mike Ganley, Gary Mohnsen, Corey Gorgon, and a score of other people whose names I recognize as a who’s who in Virginia SWCCG.
Pairings are called, and off we go...
GAME 1: My DS Endor Ops Big Blue vs. James Self’s QMC
I start Prepared Defenses with IAO, Mob. Points, and because I’m not sure what he’s up to, YCHF. He grabs the 3 effects you can get with Don’t Tread On Me. I’m a bit worried because my deck has very little indoors capability, and if he gets a fast start, it could really hurt.
Things start off pretty slow for both of us. I don’t come up with an Imp Command, Piett, or Merrejk in my opening hand, and he just spends the first few turns drawing. After a few turns, I have a walker plus pilot at the Endor DB, so I put down Fondor, deploy the Exec and Ominous Rumors, move Piett up from the docking bay, and move the Exec to Bespin. Next turn drain for 4. He plays sabacc a couple of times in here. I hate sabacc. I get Chiraneau and Chimaera out and my drains multiply. He makes one attempt to wrest the Bespin system from me, but Lateral Damage and Bossk convince him that it’s not the best of ideas and he runs to Cloud City. Battle Order is making him pay to drain, and Decree is killing his bonuses. He tries to spread thin to maximize his drain, but U-3PO and Arica come down to block the bulk of it. He wins Denegar in Punishing One in a sabacc hand 2 turns before my drain of 10 per turn at Fondor, Endor and Bespin does him in.
FW by 22
2(+22)
Highs: Beating an objective I’m somewhat weak against.
Lows: Sabacc! Argh. I hate the Casino. Who’s idiot idea was that card anyway?
GAME 2: My EBOX vs. Matt Seiber’s flipping SYCFA
Oh boy. This should be fun. I have actually won games with EBO despite having Hoth blown out from underneath me, but they are near things. I Signal for ANSB and hope for the best. He grabs Battle Order, Mob. Points, and Combat Response. I fear TIEs, but we’ll have to see.
When he grabs a Death Star Gunner first turn, I realize my worst fear has come true. He’s playing to flip. Frowning, I do my best to get EBO running, and on turn 2, I’m set. He’s now got 2-3 gunners hanging out at the DS:DB, Superlaser out, and is at parsec 2. I put out Order to Engage, lay 2 X-Wings at Hoth, and 1 at Alderaan. He tries to deploy the Executor to Alderaan, and I have to remind him he has no icons. He settles for putting the Death Star Assault Squadron at the Death Star and moving over to Alderaan. I back up my X-Wing with 2 more, transit Cmdr. Luke, Zev and Hobbie to the DS:DB, and run the X-Wings to the Death Star. OTE makes him suicide his gunners against the Rogue boys, and he doesn’t even have a draw. My 5 attrition clears his gunners out. Whew. Meanwhile I’m running in space and steadily setting up drains. He leaves a Victory SD alone at Corulag and when I battle it he tries to react away (??). I point out he can’t, and beat down the poor Vic for about 14 cards. My drains at the DS: War Room, DS:DB, and space finish him off.
FW by 35
4(+57)
Highs: Again beating an objective that is the bane of what I’m playing.
Lows: Beating a good guy who is apparently new to the game and still learning some of the rules.
At this point, I’m in second place, one differential point behind Dan Bojanowski. So, with a new round upon us, the next match up is no surprise...
GAME 3: My Endor Ops vs. Dan Bojanowski’s (1947) WYS Palace Raiders
Dan comments he’s a bit thrown by the Endor Ops start. This is, in point of fact, one reason I use this objective... most people don’t have a clue what I’m up to. Keeps ‘em guessing. ;) Anyways, I start IAO, Mob. Points, and SSPFT. He grabs Insurrection, Squadron Assignments, and after thinking it over for a minute, Menace Fades. Realizing that I’m playing the reigning state champ and one of the best players in Virginia, I know I’m going to have to play the game of my life to pull out the win.
My opening hand is about everything I could have asked for against WYS. Battle Deployment, Veers, Tempest 1, an Imp Command, the Executor... some solid stuff. I decide to play cagey, not knowing if he’s playing the beatdown version or not and put Tempest 1 at the Exec:DB for activation. He waits several turns to come to space, content to flip with some raiders/crafts at his Tatooine DB’s and a landed Captain Han on the Falcon. He grabs my Command early. Suck. I drew Secret Plans early so I have all my anti-retrieval hate going quick. I won’t start a treatise on why I hate retrieval here. That’s a topic for another time. =)
Anyways, Tat Celeb comes out early and he starts retrieving. I don’t think he had but 5 cards in his lost pile most of the game. I’m draining where I can, but it’s not amounting to much with his retrieval. The only positive thing is that he’s had to deploy a bunch to keep up with me in space. I finally begin to transit my walkers over to Tatooine to chase around Owen & Beru and those damn raiders. In the end though, it doesn’t matter. With time running out he clearly has the advantage, and unwilling to be a jackass and take him to time, I suicide my last 2 AT-STs against Luke and 2 reacting crafts for about 20+ battle damage.
FL by 11
4(+46)
Highs: I burned Tat Celebration TWICE with Endor Occupation. Go me! If only I had drawn it ten turns sooner. ::sigh::
Lows: None, really. Dan is a great guy, and a great player. All of the good things I had heard about him are true.
Well it couldn’t last forever. I figure now that I’m in the 2-1 bracket, I’ll draw someone a little more on my skill level. I couldn’t have been more wrong...
GAME 4: My EBOX vs. Steven Turner’s (2049) AotBS Manipulator
...as I sit down to play the highest rated guy in the room. ::sigh:: Oh well, here goes. He starts Crush, IAO, and Mob Points. I figure he’ll be light on space, so I just need to cover myself and outdrain him. It might have happened too, if I hadn’t played like an idiot. I only have one thing written in my tournament notes about this game: “This game was @#$%.” And it was, by no fault of my opponent. Steven played a good deck, and he played it well. I just shot myself in the foot when I lost from Reserve on turn 3 and oops... there goes my EBO. I know better than to lose from Reserve before EBO is running, but I did it anyway. Stupid. My attempt to retrieve it failed, and I had next to no way of doing damage to him. Game.
FL by 28
4(+18)
Highs: Seeing how a good manipulator deck runs, even though I hate the things.
Lows: Sitting down to the table with my head up my ass.
I’m pretty frustrated with myself, because I feel like that match up would have been in my favor if I had played it right. I’m looking forward to the next game and a chance to redeem myself.
GAME 5: My EBOX vs. Tim Davis’ (1628) TDIGWATT/Imperial Command
All right, down to business. He starts Battle Order, IAO, and Mob Points. EBO is running on Turn 3, and about all he’s done is draw cards. I move 2 X-Wings up to the Hoth system, but don’t have Incom out yet. He comes down with Thrawn and Chimaera. I react with Spiral and add a destiny with Out of Nowhere. I win the battle, and he eats them both to avoid the beatdown next turn. That was pretty much his only venture into space. He got Deal up and running. I drained him at Bespin, Hoth, and Kashyyyk, while moving Commander Luke with Daddy’s Stick, Zev, and Hobbie to the CC:DB. My Arcona + OTE was causing him losses inside Cloud City, and Boushh was blocking one of his drains. Bane Malar ran from Rogue Squadron, and Boushh, now joined by Obi with Stick, breaks her cover and beats on Xizor. I drain him out for the win.
FW by 27
6(+45)
Highs: Playing EBO the way it’s supposed to be played. Hmph.
Lows: None. I’m glad OTE will have a bullet soon... that card has been abused for far too long.
Now I feel a little better, though I’m still pretty low in the rankings going into the last game. I obviously have no shot at the title, but my goal is to place in the top 8 somewhere, and I think I still have a shot at it. Here goes.
GAME 6: My Endor Ops vs. Curtis Brown’s (1834) Spaceport Speeders “I activate my whole deck before breakfast”
Curtis is well known throughout Virginia for his innovative and sometimes devastating combos and ways of using cards. I mean, this is a guy who plays with Jawa Ion Gun because he enjoys stealing Guri or 4-LOM or Iggy w/ Gun. He can also track like a madman. Should be interesting. =)
He starts Mos Eisley with Careful Planning for Tosche Station. Hmm. Odd. I do the normal start, but get Merrejk in my opening hand. Yay! He goes on a chicken walker to the Exec:DB while I try to figure out what Curtis is up to. He puts out Artoo at Mos Eisley, sells him and activates a buttload. Deploys another, rinse and repeat. He now has like 25 Force active on Turn 1. Luckily, he doesn’t have much of a hand apparently, and ends up drawing the bulk of it. I move slowly, knowing a beatdown can come whenever he feels like it. Chimaera goes to Endor with Cabbel and Evax (aka Officer Forfeit). We’re in Attack Position Now comes out. Next turn, TK-422 and LSJK beat up on poor Merrejk at the Exec:DB. Curtis has deployed I Feel The Conflict, so I stack a card. I put out Kessel and the Dominator. He grabs my Imperial Command and I fish out Chiraneau. A clawed Lando in Falcon shows up at Endor as I search for Captain Godherdt. I’m doing damage with my drains now. Ominous Rumors is out, and 2 chicken walkers plus Tempest 1 with Veers aboard hold the Endor:DB (Veers is also making him lose Force to my AO). He retrieves with On The Edge (told you he was a master tracker!) and I look for SSPFT to no avail. It’s the one card I have stacked on I Feel! ARGH. Sullust comes out with Zuckuss, Executor and Piett. My drains are now 9 a turn in space, since I’m not getting anything at Endor. Finally, he detaches, deploys Corran Horn on the Falcon, and battles me at Endor. He draws his tracked 7, I come up with a blind 6. Cabbel (with Evax) makes his draw a 6, which is not enough to crack the Chimaera’s enhanced immunity due to my AO. My 6 cleans the Falcon away, and now I’m hitting him for 12 a turn in space. TK-422 sabotages Tempest 1 (Grrrr! I hate that card!) and he makes a last run to clean off my chicken walkers at the DB with Orrimaarko, but to no avail, as my drains finish him off.
FW by 13
8(+58)
Highs: Playing a fun game against a fun guy. Curtis is fun as hell to enjoy a game with. =)
Lows: Landing Claw. I hate that POS. And retrieval again. Just don’t get me started.
My 4-2 with decent differential finish is good enough for 6th place on the day. I don’t feel too terrible about my performance (save game 4) having dropped my 2 games to the 2 highest rated players present, one of which went on to win the whole shebang. I also take some small measure of pride in having given Dan his smallest differential of the day, for all the good it did me. =) Dan takes it over local Corey Gorgon in the final, while I play Corey’s YJ decks at the VA YJ states, going 2-4 and proving forever that YJ is more random than a blonde smoking crack.
Props:
--Dan Bojanowski, for repeating at VA State Champ and being an all around good guy.
--Scott Valentine, for an incredibly well run tourney.
--Greg Anderson, Abner, and my wife Heather, for doing all the admin junk and doing it well.
--EBO and Endor Ops, for making my opponents do double takes.
--Corey Gorgon, for proving to us that he’s just as good as we all know he is.
--Mike Ganley and the purple patriotic pimp hat.
--Brian Hunter and all the inspiration his decks gave me.
--My wife for all of her patience and help in prepping for States.
Slops:
--Manipulators, sabacc, Landing Claw, and retrieval in general.
--Young Jedi, for being so damn random it’s laughable to conceive that there is actually strategy involved.
--My Houston Astros, who are on an 8 game losing streak. Pull it together guys!
Until next time...
Wes “SeaRaptor” Brown
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From the Yavin IV rankings list:
453 Harry Buttflaps 1589 6 7/21/98 Murfreesboro, Tennessee
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