austin-texas-11-june-01

Title: austin-texas-11-june-01
Author: Jeremy "Degenx" Losee
Date: Jun 10, 2001

Once again time for another local here in Texas. Tournaments have been scarce
for a long time, now it seems there is one every week. Not that I’m complaining. This
report is probably going to be on the long side, so feel free to skip to the games below.
And no one take offense. This was written with a grain of salt, so don’t take everything
seriously. With a new set playtesting is important. Tatooine didn’t really provide new
deck types but seemed to help quite a few. Podracing for the lightside blows worse than
Nicole Kidman in Moulin Rouge. Must be because Sebulba swallow. After playtesting
with /Begin gratutuious @#$% kissing/ Texas State Champ and Hunt Down Master
“Hoostino” Warren/ End @#$% kissing/ , he introduced me to a HDADTJ with racing that
was brutal and a QMC full of paths and tons of other interrupts that was just too good not
to play. After finishing second to Hoostino at a tourney last week doing my best Van
impersonation by losing to Justin twice even though I knew what he was playing, I was
ready to try again without him there. Hoostino tried to help me out even though he wasn’t
going to be there by dragging me to Denny’s the night before. Remembering the labor pains I
suffered last time and the black bile that oozed out of my pores last time I refuse and
settle for Reeses PB pie. Much more gooder. Other than the standard horrible service and
drunken rednecks that inhabit Denny’s at night, nothing too exciting happened. I
followed my standard tipping rule of leaving 50 cents per tooth, so the waitress actually
owed us money at the end of the night. Off I went to Austin to find an amazing turn-out
of 30 people. That is huge for a local here. States only drew 40+. I saw lots of old faces
and a few new. Always a good sign. My decks were QMC with Tatooine and HDADTJ/Podracing by Hootino. Anyway on to the games:

Game 1
DS Huntdown/Pod Race vs. Reid Delfeld (1594) EBO (Strike planning, Insurrection, ?)

Great , just what I wanted to see. A heavy Space deck when I am light on space.
Oh well, Huntdown is still a machine. Visage eats away at him as I podrace uncontested
to his low destinies. Tech Mor and Empy come down and sit in the Holotheatre watching
VOTE on the big screen. Gotta be better than the XFL. He flips with Beezer, Madine and
Figgy. I wait till I have 11 cards lost to win the podrace. He deploys Gen Lando in Gold
Squadron 1 to Kiffex. I can’t have that , so using a tracked 7 with BIHT, I make Lando
bend over for one of what would be many times for me today. I lose Bossk, who I retrieve
with my 11, numbers hits for 6 during the podrace damage, Vader and stick sit at the
podrace arena and the smell of victory is in the air. Or maybe it’s just the Colt 45 that
Lando spilled on his way out. After losing 18 cards in one turn combine with another 8 or
so to Visage, Reid had little resources left to challenge me with. From There it was just a
matter of mop-up work.
FW 2 +32

Highs: This Huntdown is a beast. Few decks play themselves, but even Pauly Shore could
win with this HDADTJ. Isn’t he dead anyway?

Lows: With racial tension running high, I hated to beat down Uncle Tom, errr Lando but
it had to happen. The Watts riots were really about the power shortages in LA anyway.
Sucks to live in So. Cal.

Reid is a good player for the limited cards base he has and always makes a game tough,
especially with his ties. It was good to see him again.

Game 2 LS QMC vs. Jacob “Oscar” Mayer “Weiner” (1950) Old School Skrillings ETE
start

WTF? Who plays this jizz any more. But this is from the guy who created Bantha for
Bubo. I have a bad feeling about skrillings, so Insight never leaves. First turn he deploys
all his sites and draws a few. I throw Epp Obi down, Battle Plan and deploy a site. His
turn , Baby Jabba, Pote Gailid , Scum hit the table along with Den Of Thieves. Hmm this
doesn’t look good. I really wish I had a Grimtaash about now. I get Capt Up at the system
with Dash after I flipped and Tunnel for Menace. He drain for about 6 before I get
Menace fades down and deploys 6 skrillings against Obi who pathed far away. He drops a
few lone skrillings to various Jabba’s sites over the next few turns. Feeling brave, I send
Melas, and Epp Luke down to rape one. Uhh barrier Melas, NSP Luke and I can feel my
daily dose of prison lovin coming as he Abyssians for another skrilling , uses one off the
den and drops 2 more. Melas and 10 is never good. Of that 10 , I lost 2 edges and CC
celebration all in a row from my reserve. Thing went down hill as we pinged each other
for one or 2 and eventually he used the Ornament for 12 or so and won by 18.
FL (-18) 2 +14
Highs: I flipped QMC again. Melas was immune to attrition of 5?’

Lows: Where was Qui-Gon? I just made one mistake and Jake capitalized on it.

Game 3
HDADTJ vs. Nick Fehring 1486 Slave quarters, podracing start.

This was going to get nasty real fast. Sebulba owns Anakin and gets off to a good start
with a 5 (8). The holotable with a Monnok also makes an appearance as we both lose to
Visage. This goes on back and forth till turn 4 when my race destiny sits at 30 to his 24. I
deploy DVDLOTS against Jedi Luke and EJP Lando at the Outskirts. Duel Luke with
focused attack. 6,5,7 and it didn’t matter what he drew. He chooses to turn Luke and lose
6. Lando the pisses himself as he realizes he never should have quit his job at the psychic
friends network. He takes a shot of colt 45 and tries to call his mom, but being the crack
ho she is, the phone sex line is busy. Father and Son show Lando what a good time really
is. Saber swing. Hack. Destiny 6 to his 3 for total of 18 to 6. Lando and 12. Oh and don’t
forget to lose to Watto’s Box and Visage for a grand total of 30 cards lost in one turn. Not
pretty at all. Being a glutton for punishment, he put Epp Han and Chewie , protector out
to oppose the Dark Jedi. Choke Chewie, Hack Han and handshake.
FW 2 (+45) 4(+59)

High: I have never won by so much with the dark. Everything went perfect.

Lows: It took a whole 10 minutes to play this game and I never like beating somebody by
so much.

Game 4 LS QMC vs. Conner Bragge ROPS (Mob Points, IAO, First Strike)

Instead of my usual start of Insight, I started Don’t do that again to put the crunch on him
early. I started to set up on CC with EPP Obi, Dash/outrider at the DB and Captain at the
system. He set up and flipped with AT-ST and generic pilots. After a few small drains
here and there, he put Vader and Tarkin at a CC site against Ben who Pathed away. This
was going to get ugly. I had Clash, Melas, Gift Of The Mentor, RLR, Path and the
Doubler/Tripler card. I tunneled for Luke and deployed Melas.
Tripler, RLR, Clash Vader, Pathed Obi over as Tarkin soiled his depends. It ended up
being 20 to 4, double that and it’s Tarkin and 32 cards. Game and Handshake. FW 2(+28)
6 (+86)

Highs: Being able to Tunnel for what I needed to send Tarkin back to the Blue Oyster for
Tango night.

Lows: Beating a young player by so much.

Game 5 LS vs. Ted Woodward 1765 Hunter ISB (Mob Point, IAO, SSPFT)

Ted is a local who I always have had luck against. He either gets all his ships or no
planets against me and I win. I was counting on my immunity to Ted to pull through
again. I started the Mob Points killer, which was worthless. When Hunter said that it
doesn’t hurt ISB, he was right. You don’t argue with the word of the Lord when he has
spoken. Ted dropped Piett, Mejerrik and 2 or 3 systems first turn. Yep, I was glad I
started the Mob Killer. That two force I deprived him was crucial. Whatever. I drop Obi
and give it Ted. I’m holding Dash and Outrider, Path and ECC Lando, So I’ll flip next
turn, but I don’t want to leave Dash in space. He drops Fondor and the Big E, I drop
Dash, the DB, Lando, flip, tunnel for Battle Plan and land Dash. The DB was a last
minute addition for just this reason. He drops a walker and ORS against Dash who paths
away. He also deployed the Devestator with and shuttled Mejerrik and moved them to
Endor. My turn I have a power pivot, Intruder missile, tunnel for Leia, Squassion for the
Falcon and drop on the Devestator. I play the tripler, reduce his power to 0 and win by 10.
It is ruled that in space Han only doubles because the cards requires him to be present.
Fair enough. The bad part was after forfeit he lost 5 card. Not as impressive as I would
have liked. During this time, Ted asks Brian if I can Path from a Docking bay. He says
yes, but then Ted points out that CC is only exterior. Path targets interior. What docking
bay isn’t both. Sorry Ted. I thought it was legal at the time or I would have walked Dash
inside with Luke after I landed the Outrider anyway. We ping each other, he damages the
Falcon and I send Dash back to space to join him with a little back up. He had shuttled
the walker up to the Executor in case I had a few more tricks. He still hadn’t flipped, so
he shuttled the Walker back the DB. I deployed Ben and Melas, tripler, RLR and this
seems to be very familiar today as this battle hit him for enough cards that he drew his
last 8 or before I could retrieve. FW 2(+25) 8(+111)

Highs: Winning against a bad matchup for me.

Lows: I felt bad about the misplay, but we all make mistakes. It’s okay, I’m not bitter
about you forgetting about Battle Plan or becoming super anal for the rest of the game.
Losing sucks. It’ll give you something to talk about with Chris on Monday. At least I
learned that if you don’t declare Dash during the weapon phase, your opponent doesn’t
have to let you subtract power.

Jacob was still undefeated at this point, but we played the same side, so I had to rely on
someone else to try to beat him, while I drew a TD from the Waco area.

Game 6
Michael Richards 1523
DS HDADTJ vs. Dagobah Mains (Insight, Insurrection and ?)

I was disappointed in Richards. Usually he has some crazy teched out tech that rocks.
Boring Dagobah mains this time. He did have Anakins Podracer to challenge me with. I
set up with monnok at the Holotable and did some Visage damage. Sebulba got off to his
usual head start and never looked back. He did cancel visage once, but I redeployed in
instantly. He played Throw me another charge. No Charge, imagine that. Podracer
collision let me put OOC/TT #2 out of play. Visage would stay through out the remainder
of the game. I had Empy, a number and Tech, but he never ditched insight. I did win the
podrace, used Podracer collision to place an Off the Edge out of play and bury his other
retrieval means. He placed Qui-Gon at the Cantina who I let drain, while he deployed EJP
Lando and Ben Kenobi/Stick against my Emp and Vader/Stick. He just didn’t know that
Lando was my @#$% all day long. The focused attack and Circle in my hand were more
excited than the Bush Twins at an open bar. Circle Ben, Rape Lando for another 10 or so
cards and that was game after a minor skirmish with a lone Corran that let me put my Leis
in hand back in my used pile. FW 2(+25) 10(+136)

Well Jake held on to win going undefeated with a difference of 156 or some crap like
that. I picked up a nice Sense foil for my effort all the same. With the new set, I noticed
that podracing can really disrupt any body’s strategy, but is more powerful for the dark.
Also, the Mob point killers didn’t frighten anybody as I saw 6 ISB decks(A few Space
Cowboys from Hell among others) and even a Hidden Mains or 2. Darth Maul made an
appearance in every person’s deck that owned him, but he wasn’t always successful in
dueling. You need to track people. Or load your deck with destinies. Destiny will always
win you games. Or if your name is Matt Lush and you use Marquand you will auto win as
well, but I haven’t seen that lately. Can’t have a report from Killeen without a little name
dropping.

Props:

Jacob “Oscar” Mayer ”Weiner” for Damn good hot-dogs. Oh yeah and winning too.
Justin “Hoostino” Warren who without his lack of a life these awesome decks never
would have evolved to be today.
Brain Guthrie for running another great tourney. Hate to see you go.
My wife for granting parole for a day.
Your Mom. She knows why.
Brian Hunter for being right about the Mob points killer and letting Van lose to him all
the time.
All 30 people who came out. Hopefully we have more turnouts like this
Halle Berry for earning an extra 500,000 for going topless in Swordfish.

Slops:

Ted for being Ted
Me for making 2 mistakes by deploying Melas (your welcome, Jake) and pathing from
the DB
The Reeses pie for only being good enough for second. But at least I can still eat solid
food. After the brownie that can be a struggle.
Our Denny’s server for being abducted by a UFO or what ever happens to trailer trash in
the middle of our meal when she disappeared and never came back.
Justin’s Ego which continues to swell.
The Army for inventing places like Korea, NTC and Hell.
Van for not being able to beat Hunter after playtesting all week and teching with Mech
failure. Your still my hero.
Swordfish for being another crappy Travolta movie. Hack**Battlefield
Earth**ughmmpfh.