viper-drops-hexacon-phoenix-7-27-01
Title: viper-drops-hexacon-phoenix-7-27-01
Author: Steve "BlackViper" Marshall
Date: Jul 29, 2001
So it’s a typical Friday. There isn’t a tourney at the Outer Rim because AZ’s largest gaming convention is being held this weekend, and we decided to hold events there instead of our random stores. Friday is a 4 game tourney, Sunday is a 6 game tourney with glass prizes, and Sunday is Muppet’s 4 game tourney. I can only go to Friday and Saturday because of previous plans, but I want to make the best of it. I take a friend to work and get his little brother (my padawan) out to Scottsdale to the con, which would prove to be an hour away. DOH!
We arrive late and have to play each other. Okay, I can handle that. Grayson isn’t too pleased about it, but it’s all good. I never track against him - it just wouldn’t be that fair at all. He’s learning how to do it, and I want him to have the ability to beat me in a battle or two. My decks are as follows:
LS - Bunker Go Boom Racing
DS - Cruel And Unusual Punishment
My rating is 1710 as of 6/28/01, but if my math is correct, it is supposed to be updated to read 1746. Or whatever.
GAME 1: LS vs. Grayson’s Hunt Down w/ duelling (1433)
He drops Lord Vader, Tarkin, and Palpy in the Bunker - he doesn’t flip, but I don’t flip or cause my 16 card Force swing. I would win the podrace without too much effort, but the turn before I dropped EPP Obi and EPP Leia at my Endor sites cause he’s got CHYBC out. DRAT! So they’re subject to a heavy beatdown for a turn, but I’m hoping he won’t be able to jump all over it. He’s got Mara, Xizor, Dr. E &, Thrawn, and Janus still not on the table, but Dr. E and Janus are race destinies, so I don’t fear the others too badly. Whatever I lose in battle damage I’ll retrieve from the race. I don’t bother to save 6 because Secret Plans is also a race destiny. ;-) I win, retrieve, he loses. I don’t get beat up! SWEET!
I drain at my other pair of Endor sites, hoping to draw him out of the Bunker. (I’ve got spies & 2 charges in hand). Cracken & Crix go cancel Visage, and I pull Blount into hand. He puts Xizor in front of them and battles. I’ve got 2 cards in my Lost pile, so I lose the both of them, leaving Xizor stranded on the Executor. I Did It retrieves all 4 cards next turn. ;-) We exchange drains, but I’m winning that battle - I’ve got 1 @ Back Door, 1 @ Rebel Landing Site, and 1 @ the race track. He’s draining for 0 @ the Med Chamber, 0 @ the Bunker, and 2 @ Endor. He battles me a few times to try and even it out, but he loses because he won’t pull his characters out of the Bunker. A wise choice - I would have blown it if he did. Because of our tardiness, we timed out. I hate timing out!
MW by 18
1 (+18)
THE GOOD: Winning the race is a plus, and having no Lost pile twice in the game was cool.
THE BAD: I don’t like playing Grayson because he just doesn’t believe he has a chance. He’s got powerful decks, but he doesn’t realize that despite rating, when the game starts, all bets are off.
THE UGLY: If I had blown the Bunker it would have won me the game. I retrieve, you lose, nothing in your hand, I get to drain w/ Midge, and I would have had my Home One back to battle Bossk.
PROPS TO OPPONENT: Grayson was wise enough not to leave the Bunker no matter what - he’s playtested me too much to do otherwise. He’s learning, although he should have flipped first.
So that’s not too bad, I guess. This is just a warm-up for tomorrow anyway, so I don’t really care about the outcome. Game 2 rolls around quickly.
GAME 2: DS vs. Jon Dunn’s Profit (1825)
This deck is the reason I haven’t posted TRs for awhile - it relies on speed and surprise to win. Sorry, but I’m not posting the report for Dark Side while I’m playing this deck.
FW by 22
3 (+50)
PROPS TO OPPONENT: Jon kept telling me that *this* will beat my deck, and *that* will beat my deck, and it’s weak to *this* card, or it will crumble if someone plays *that* on me, or space will wreck me, or my strategy gets dumped if he’s playing *this* or *that*. Hey Jon, if it’s weak to all that, why did I beat you by 22? ;-) Jon is cool.
GAME 3: LS vs. Justin Beal’s Xizor Agents (1733)
I hate playing this guy - he is really under-rated. Well, maybe not so much anymore, after placing 2nd in Denver for a World’s spot (okay, he still loses to Hunter) and doing REALLY well locally as well, also went 1st in JK in San Diego. He can take me, and he has done exactly that in the past. We’re about even on game wins, I think, but the last time he played his Agents deck against me, he took me about as far as I could go as a strategic player. Now his deck is better. Here we go.
He doesn’t go for the first turn flip, which is too bad because I activate 6 and EPP Obi is set to go! (I’ve seen that somewhere - Vegas, perhaps?) He drops a Vigo to the Coruscant DB and moves Xizor over, then next turn Palpy and another Vigo get to the Death Star DB, Xizor and his Vigo transit over for the flip. Obi goes down anyway, because I want Xizor dead. I hit him and draw low. He loses Xizor and a Vigo - Out Of Commission. I get Prepared Defenses. DOH! Okay, Out Of Commission #2. GOT HIM!!! SWEET! Obi died and took 10 cards with him, but it was worth it to get Xizor out of play. It would actually play a vital role in the outcome of the game. I wouldn’t challenge his drain at the DS: DB for the rest of the game. I feared Put All Sections On Alert with Obi, and I’m not going to press my luck again. He would put Presence Of The Force down to make the drain 2, but he can have it. My work there is done.
I win the podrace and retrieve my stuff. I want to blow up the Bunker, but he keeps stopping me! How dare he! ;-) He’s got Guri, Jodo, Dengar w/, and Fett w/ in the Bunker with my guys. I’ve got explosive charges in there, so I can’t lose his battles. I’ve got Gen Solo, EPP Leia, and some other scrubs in there, and I have no choice but to initiate. My high destinies will clear out his low forfeit characters eventually, and OOC should keep them from coming back. Well, that was the plan, anyway. I draw 3 destinies, and after the battle, he tells me to smack him. I do so. He forgot to cancel one of my destinies with Jodo Kast. I tell him that it shouldn’t have mattered, and he gives me a strange look. I neglect to mention Guri’s game text, rendering Jodo’s useless. After a couple 3 destiny battles, the Bunker is clear save 4-LOM. He drops Jodo at the Back Door (2 sites away - he assumes it’s safe) and moves 4-LOM there (cause he controls it - he can). I FINALLY blow the Bunker and swing the Force back to my side, then my guys relocate to the awaiting bounty hunters. I’m not sure what he’s got planned, a Hidden Weapons, perhaps? Not against so many characters, but whatever. Turns out he just made a mistake, and I took advantage of it, killing his Bounty Hunters and 3 more.
I’ve got my drains at the Back Door and Rebel Landing Platform going when he has no hand, because that’s just cool. He drains with Palpy still, whatever. He draws a pair of cards and laughs, and that’s not ever good for me. I move Leia back to Gen Solo for backup. He drops EPP Fett, initiates, fires at Han, and hits him. Jabba’s Through With You adds a destiny. We all die, and now he’s winning the drain race (2 to my 0). That’s not good at all. I’ve got R2 in Red5 in hand, so I draw a few. Smile. Next turn, I’ve got EXACTLY enough left to deploy Owen & Beru to the Back Door and deploy Luke in space while still tracking a pair of 6’s to the top of my deck. Now he’s draining 2, and I’m retrieving 2. He notices the trend and draws up.
FW by 18
5 (+68)
THE GOOD: He had several key moments in the game and his destinies just fell through. A destiny 1 for Hidden Weapons, not having Put All Sections, and other random luck saved the game for me.
THE BAD: Killing both Leia and Solo really put a strain on my late game.
THE UGLY: Forgetting Guri’s game text won me the game. I may not have blown the Bunker if I was limited to a single destiny, and he would have crushed me.
PROPS TO OPPONENT: Justin is one of the coolest players in our area. He’s always a blast to play against and realizes that this is just a game - you’ve gotta have fun, win or lose. I upped him this time, which means with the I-10 cup coming up, he owes me one...
Justin is good, and I’m glad I managed to sqeak by him. It was a good game, but it took a long time. I still don’t get a food break! DOH!
So I’m technically undefeated so far. Garrison (the TD) goes around and asks if people are willing to go 6 games. I’ve got to get Grayson home by midnight, meaning that I’ll miss the last game. I let him know, but it doesn’t really bother me that much. Tomorrow is what I care about anyway.
GAME 4: DS vs. Patrick Hug’s QMC (1874)
Okay, this was just bad. Pat playtested my deck, I just can’t beat him. He’s probably got the only deck and playstyle in this room that can take me easily. The surprise element clearly has no effect, obviously. It’s almost like his deck was designed to beat me, except his was built first. Whatever. Before the game starts, he offers me a full loss by 10, and I take it. We play it out for the fun of it before getting something to eat, and he actually beats me by 19.
FL by 10
5 (+58)
PROPS TO OPPONENT: Pat didn’t care about final standings tonight either, so the win by 10 was cool. My mentor is good to me. Should I have done that for Grayson?
Nah. ;-)
If we finished now, I’d be in top 5, I think. I don’t think anyone was undefeated, maybe Girard. Depending on how many people went 3-1 (with my 5 points in mind instead of 6), it would have been alright. It’s not like I’m losing ratings points to Pat, anyway. Turns out this tournament is going to 6 games.
GAME 5: LS vs. Ben Wehunt’s Maul Mains (1726)
Great - Ben. Just who I wanted to see. Ben is a GREAT player, and I’m surprised he’s not rated higher than he is. I have never beat him (or even come close). My starting hand has 7 characters and Double Agent... um, is this good or not? I’m not sure yet. Turns out it wouldn’t be, because my deck runs out of characters quickly. We race, then I draw for The Shield Is Down on my turn. Cracken and the Lars family quickly head inside the Bunker, and Corran Horn goes to the Audience Chamber to say hello to Mara and Palpy. I double Agent Mara and lose to Palpy’s attrition, because I don’t want to get beat up real bad next turn. I draw an Out Of Commission and get Mara. SWEET! He activates a bajillion Force now, so I Did It prolly won’t have much effect when I win. I drop Oreo (Orrimaarko) to the non-battleground track, and he decides not to Elis Maul there because he can’t battle. Cool. I win the race, retrieve, he loses. Drain at the track on my turn. I LOVE doing that!
Cracken, Solo, and the Lars family want to blow up the Bunker, but the turn I’m actually set up to do it, Vader DLOTS and Dr. E hit the table. He initiates, chokes Solo, hits the Lars and places them lost, and suddenly Cracken is face to face with the Dark Lord Of The Sith. He runs away scared and knocks several cards off my Reserve Deck to my Lost Pile in the process. I’ve got Jedi Luke in hand, so I battle Palpy with a tracked 6, making my total 18 (cause his family just died). Maul decides to Elis over before I initiate, but I do it anyway. Maul dies. I Have You Now kills Luke, but it was worth it. I don’t take damage for that one. I just run out of characters due to them all being in my starting hand. Whatever. This was a fun game, even though I was clearly dominated across the board.
FL by 27
5 (+31)
THE GOOD: I’ve never actually played against this decktype before, and I was glad to see it. I wanted to built it myself, and now that I’ve experienced it, I’m excited about it.
THE BAD: If the only good in the game was me talking about how good his deck was, how good could the game have gone?
THE UGLY: Cracken vs. DVDLOTS and Dr. E. Yeah, that sucked.
PROPS TO OPPONENT: Dude knows what his cards do. Ben is a good player that is also fun to play.
I have to drop because of time, but it was fun anyway. We get our prize support from Garrison - 3 WB Premiere (Secret Squirrel fodder), and 2 Reflections 2. That’s sweet. I get total crap out of mine except a ninja Hoth General. I can’t remember his name now, and it’s really pissing me off. Grayson gets a Falcon and other nice rares in his R2 packs (his Premiere pulls were better in R2 than in Premiere packs - go figure that one out). It was a good day overall.
PROPS:
* Garrison for hosting the tournament
* Hexacon 11 for letting us set up shop
* Prize support for being plentiful
* Cruel And Unusual Punishment for being cool
* Pat for giving me the loss by 10
* Out Of Commission for taking every character I wanted, when I wanted
SLOPS:
* Pat for not letting me win
* Me for not being able to remember the General’s name. That bugs me!
* CARLIST RIEKEN! Right? I think? Cool. I feel better now. Wait, that’s not a slop...
* Me for not knowing the difference between a slop and a random thought
* City of Phoenix for making Grayson’s curfew midnight
Thanks to all who came! My Saturday TR will also be up soon, but again DS will NOT be posted. Sorry! Eventually, I’m gonna have to come clean with that thing...
-Steve