pleasanton-4-17-aka-shannons-back

Title: pleasanton-4-17-aka-shannons-back
Author: Alfred "ThaBraHmaBuL" Dong
Date: Jul 17, 2001

It all starts on about Wednesday, when I see Kyle Ishimaru online. He tells me he sucked(which I already knew ;)) at Modesto and that Kevin Shannon was back from Marines training for a week. After getting his number I give Kev a call and we shoot the breeze over the phone, trying to help Kev through the Tatooine transition and talking about popular decks.

If yall dont know, Kevin dropped a bombshell on us a few months back, when he came up to us all and told us he was leaving for the Marines. Kevin was at home alot doing alot of playing but nothing else, so I was glad he went and did something with his life, but I certainly didnt think Marines.

Anyways, during the convo he asked me if I could make it to the Pleasonton toruney Nick Stefanko was holding this week. I was kind of in a bind, having paid for a church dinner on the same day, but I wouldnt see Kevin for awhile, so I opted to go to Pleasonton over a dinner, even if it was(ack) Prime Rib........anyways, so Im at Gibson Yims house on Friday trying to figure out Sonic Adventures with him and Nghia Nguyen, but we give up after a few hours and went home, hoping it would work out somehow for Pleasonton the next day.

I get home at 2. I eat some dinner and now, its 3. The dinner woke me up so I play Legend of Dragoon until 4. I set the alarm clock at 8:45. I wake up at NINE fourty-five. So anyways I give Eric Brummel a call and were on our way out.....at 11:45 from my place. By the way, its a hour drive and it starts at 12. We people in SF that play SW have a notority for being late to just about EVERY tournament we go to....even the ones in SF. Anyways I call the store and I ask for Nick, but he ducked out. So I ask for Steve Daniel and some idiot picks up the phone posing as Steve. Im sitting there trying to unmask his voice and 5 minutes later I realize that idiot is Kevin. I ask him to tell Nick that well be there at 1, and wed all take a first game auto-loss for being that late.

We get there at one on the spot, and were messing around trying to sign up and Dan Mochizuki(aka The Champ) shows up wanting in as well. After its all said and done, were in with an 0-1 record to start it as a penalty.


The Decks

LS: Mess Mains and More - Just a crack shoot mains deck that I threw together, using Mess as an engine

DS: Maul Maul and More Maul: Its a Maul deck.



The Game


Game 2(following the auto): LS vs. Kyle Ishimaru’s "Hunt Down sucks"

Kyles wearing a Lodi Crew shirt which will polute the scene at San Diego in a few days. Kyles playing Hunt Down which he keeps telling me, sucks. I start Lars and Slave, get set up and get Yodas Hut and Rend Pt. out and he gets Carida and a Dbay. He sends Vader to the Dbay 3rd turn and EPP Obi knocks him off. He does it again and Luke knocks him off. I play Out of Commission and hit Vaders stick, which kills his EPP Vader. He comes down with Maul and runs away from Luke. I drop Qui-Gon to Mos Eisley and hes not flipping back anymore. I hit Harvest a few times before he gets Secret Plans out, and hes running around on Tatooine with Emporer and Maul, and I cant Nabrun correctly thanks to Arrest Order so its cat and mouse plus Visage for most of the game. I Transmission combo Visage but he keeps canceling it with that New Hope card, so I drop Corran to end the pain. He smacks him down for 3 with Mara, and beats on Owen Beru for 5, but in the end I have too much board control, and with Harvest I drain him out after a close, nail-biting game. Win by 4.

Cumalative Score: 2(+4)
Highs: I guess beating his candyass, whos had my number lately
Lows: Only by 4 after taking that damn auto-loss



Game 3: LS vs. Alex Stefankos DS SYCFA Flip

Alex is next on my hit list and its a doozy. He gets set up on the Death Star rather quickly, and I get the Cantina/Mos Eisley shuffle going on. I set up Qui-Gon and some EPPs on the Death Star, having misread CPI into thinking you subtract off CPI when LS occupies a few DStar locations. So after the EPPs die off I leave Qui-Gon w/ stick alone at the DS Dbay with Palpy and he opts to run. Smart lad. But it gives me a drain of 2 for a good part of the game. He eventually takes out Alderaan and drops Executor to Fondor. I drop EPP Luke and Obi to Mos Eisley and shuffle Shmi over. Hes draining for 3 there and he drops Chiraneau and Sullust, then moves over to make it worse. I drain with the shuffle then draw a few and find my Control/Tunnel Vision. His turn he drains for 5 but I Control it. I Harvest it back on my turn and Threepio it back on his. This happens for 4-5 turns, giving me a 20-0 swing on him as far as drains.  He eventually kills Qui-Gon with power and but he reappears on my turn at the Farm. Hes having some trouble finding some Star Destroyers to retrieve, but eventually he find Avenger and Devastator, but its not enough. I keep getting control back, and with nothing to halt my ground drains, its over soon enough. Win by 19.

Cumalative Score: 4(+23)
Highs: Eh....good game
Lows: Nothing much....he was cool to play against


A lunch break is started halfway into our game, so I go with Nghia and the rest to Taco Bell for some takeout. Im about to jump in Nghias car but he cant unlock the auto-lock. He does it manually and as I open the door the seatbelt takes a while to move. Turns out his light was on and his battery was dead. So after a quick jump off Eric’s car, we go there and see the Lodi crew and Kevin. We shoot the breeze a bit and head back in time for the 4th game.



Game 4: DS vs Chris Greens LS Draw Thier Fire is my God HB Mains

Im trying to eat my Chalupa and hes getting ready to start. So Im just not in the mood for SW anymore but we play it out anyways. My deck does a total screwjob on me this game. Its sad to recall but I actually lose to this scrubtastic walking stick. All I will say is that when you miss Luke 8 times with a lightsaber and your average destiny is a 4, and you have YCHForever out, you cant win. Lose by 21.

Cumalative Score: 4(+2)
Highs: I get to eat my damn Chalupa
Lows: I get to lose to a jackass of a player who will talk trash and rub it in for a good year. Understand this......I lost. Great. It wont happen vs you again. The next time youre sitting across me at a table, you had better have said your prayers, because you will NOT feel good afterwards.


So Im 2-2 now. Great. Anyways Im sitting here and Eric comes over and tells me he traded away his Mexican Pizza for Lord Vader. Kyle is such an idiot. So I haggle him a bit for fun and its on to my next game.


Game 5: LS vs. Stephanie’s DS MKOS Skrilling Hell

Too easy. I get Qui-Gon to open and I drop him to the AC with EPP Luke. She comes back with Mighty Jabba, Bib, Pote, and 3 Skrills and battles. I play A Jedi’s Focus. They are now nothing. I take out Pote with Luke and draw a 5 to off 2 more Skrills. I play OOC and nail Pote. She trys a few skirmishes with Qui-Gon, but hes not dying any time soon. I drop The Camp and its all over now. She couldnt believe I used the card.....does it suck or something? Anyways, Qui-Gon runs them out of the AC eventually, and Harvest retrieves my losses. I nail her remaining people and sit at JP and drain. She eventually does a few desperado attacks with Skrills that cost 6 and ends it after a bit. Win by 29.

Cumalative Score: 6(+31)
Highs: Qui-Gon owns
Lows: The Camp destroys




Game 6: DS vs Alexander Sheynis’ LS Mains on Tat

Alex starts with Outskirts and Slave Quarters. I have a great start with Palpy to the Outskirts and Maul and stick for free to the DLS to join him. He uses the Outskirts for Ben and stick and moves over to the DLS. I drain and drop EPP Vader to meet him. I battle and Weapon Lev his stick, but he Senses. I miss the hack, but he hits Vader. I play I Have You Now and draw enough to kill him. I drain for a few turns at the Outskirts and he comes down with Boussh to halt me, along with the Cantina and Mos Eisley. I hit Monnok Lost and see that he has Quite A Merc. So I purposely Elis to get him to kill off Palpy so I dont have to drag him around and protect him. He tries a beatdown on Maul with Luke, Qui-Gon, Boussh, Shmi and Threepio, but he misses the hack and I Have You Now nets me a 5, a 6, and a 4 to turn that around. I come down with Mara and stick, Mighty Jabba and Xizor to the Cantina. He comes down with Padme, Orri, and Tawss to Mos Eisley.  Were both draining and eventually I decide to move out. He drains and draws up his Force Pile. I Elis the 3 over, and You Are Beaten Orrimaarko. I drop DRE and gimp and hack down Tawss with the operation on her. The group proceeds to draw a 4 and 5 to rape Padme and end the game. Win by 19.

Final Score: 8(+50)
Highs: The finish, and DS working normally
Lows: Nothing much


I give Alex a rematch and crush him again. So I finish with 4-2 and were waiting for a game to finish between Eric and Gibson to hand out prizes. Gibson ends it with a blind Obession and Eric has double 5s on top and the saber, so Eric wins it. The final standings:

Winner: Kevin Shannon
2nd: Nghia Nguyen
3rd: Kyle Ishimaru
4th: Paul McKelvey
5th: Alfred Dong

Kevin takes this back to the Marines with him. I end up 5th, which isnt bad considering. That auto-loss took more out of it than I imagined it would. Team Lodi and Team SF rank up the top 5 so its not too bad. I am SO sick of getting 5th. I pull a Threepio which I ended up trading to Eric for his Shield Is Down, since he gave me an EJP Threepio and he actually needed it.

I play a pick-up game with Kevin vs his Dark Deal before I take off, figuring I owed him that much after barely chillin with him the whole day. I crush his Dark Deal mains in a very dominating game, but Kevin blames it on a bad start. Eh. I must give props to Kevin for proving the man still has it even through the Marines. Anyways we head down to Carls Jr for a bit then I get home where I pass out immediately.


Comic Con in just 2 days. Bring it all or go home. Look for a fool with a bad haircut.....that will be me. Until then....


Alfred Dong
The Brahma Bull
CA State-Runner Up