co-invitational-a-swccg-nerd-ii-9-2-01

Title: co-invitational-a-swccg-nerd-ii-9-2-01
Author: Patrick "Pappy" Napier
Date: Sep 17, 2001

Alright, it is a little late, but better late then never. In my last report on the Denver DPC, I had made a few mistakes on cards played and the number of players present due to lack of sleep and poor notes from the event. In that report I said Jeremy Lamere played Maul in his Infiltrator, but that was incorrect. This report will be much more concise and correct in the details.
Anyway, after the DPC on Saturday, my girlfriend Jackie and I wanted to do something halfway cool in Denver while we were up there. Jackie suggests we go to Dave And Busters, a restaurant, bar and arcade. What a great girlfriend, huh ? By the time we get to Dave And Busters, it is 12:30 pm, and we a starving. We order some food and some drinks. By the time we are done eating it is last call and the whole place is closing at 1:00 am. I was seriously disappointed because I was wanting to play some Virtual Reality Mechwarrior. Then, when I got my bill, my pint of Guinness was the same price as Jackies Long Island Ice Tea. Suffice to say I wont be going back to Dave And Busters any time soon.
We got back to the hotel to get some sleep and get ready for the Colorado Invitational next afternoon. I planned on using the same decks I played in the DPC with a few modifications to defend against most of the strategies I ran into the previous day. I tuned up my Flipping HB Brian Hunter Rip Off, and put the finishing touches on Marilyn Maul v.3.0 – Cruci-Fiction In Space. I fell asleep watching Godzilla vs. The Smog Monster or something stupid like that.
Sunday afternoon I was in a serious rush because the night before Tom Kathman said he needed decklists from everyone playing in the 1799 and below event, also known as the Scrub Invite. When I get in, Tom chuckles and said he was only kidding. Great joke Tom. But at least now I have enough time to grab some breakfast with Jackie. Tom lets me know that he will probably have to play in the 1800 and up Invitational, because as of that time they only had six registered players, and he would make the seventh. Hopefully, Brian Hunter and Chris Fanchi would show to at least make it sanctioned. I offer any assistance in running the events in case he does have to jump into the fray. After a quick breakfast at Perkins, I get back to the Doubletree, only to find out that Brian Hunter and Chris Fanchi in fact did not show up, so Scott Gaeta decided to combine the two events. He explained that the top 1799 and below player would still get the normal prize support as is he had won the Scrub Invite, and that if one of us happened to sneak into the top three, we would also steal glass from the 1800 Invitational players. With the stakes set a little higher, we were ready to play some Star Wars.

GAME ONE

Flipping HB vs. Roger Gardner ( 1578 ) HDADTJ Classic

I had never met Roger before, and apparently he was at Tacticon running the Star Trek CCG events that day, and decided to jump in and play some Star Wars. Roger starts the usual HDADTJ stuff, but without any podracing junk. I cancel Visage with a OOC/TT combo before Roger finishes activating on his first turn. He draws up some cards and says go. My ships are coming out for next to nothing and my systems are setting up quickly for the flip. Roger puts the Endor Landing Platform on my Endor, but still no Vader. By the time Roger gets Vader out, I have flipped, and I am cancelling all of his Force drains. Roger has managed to set up another Visage, and I dig for my second OOC/TT. I stop digging after awhile because I realize that Roger is playing with absolutely zero space protection in his deck. With a free pass to spread across the galaxy and drain, I do so, and retrieve a few with an On The Edge. I have no way to get the ten or so cards back into my Life Force, so I drain Roger away in a few turns. Full in by 17

So I start off the day with a victory, and I decide at that point my goal is to win the Scrub Invite for the box of Coruscant, and to sneak in the top three for some glass. After the first game I hear that Hayes Hunter has dropped. I asked him why he would drop so quick, especially since he squeaked out a win in his first game. He says he feels really sick, and his performance would only get worse as the day wore on. With Hayes out, stealing glass looked like it might be a little easier.




GAME TWO

Marilyn Maul v.3.0 vs. Josh Rangel ( 1702 ) Hyperspace

This game should have been an easy win for a Dark Side Mains and Toys deck. On my turn I set up the AC, but I wait to deploy any aliens there from reserve deck, and Maul comes out for free at his Hut, and I Twilek for The Phantom Menace. On his first turn, Josh deploys Qui-Gon with his saber. He tries to play an OOC/TT on The Phantom Menace, which I promptly Sense. I keep Maul at his Hut until I could find a saber for him, and Mara shows up at the AC with hers. Josh starts draining for two, and making me stack one on Credits. I cant take a drain of three like that for long. By the time Im ready to send in the troops, Josh has beefed up his defenses with Qui-Gon, making it a dangerous place to move through. Josh keeps building up his locations, and his drains are getting out of hand. After he flips, Ric Olie flies the Queens 1976 Dodge Dart to Tatooine, making his drains even harder to handle. His drains far exceeed mine, and Josh drains me out. Full loss by 17.

Great, I lost what should have been an easy game, making my total 2 ( 0 ) after the first round. If I want glass I am definitely going to have to win the rest of the games. The other players in the Scrub Invite have other plans, however . . .

GAME THREE

Flipping HB vs. Ian Monteith ( 1623 ) Senate Podracing

I have played against Ian several times in the Springs, and the last time we had this matchup, we were practically playing the same decks. I ended up winning that particular game, but this time Ian was a little better prepared against Hidden Base decks. Ian set up in the senate rather quickly, and definitely had the podrace in the bag, drawing insanely high destinies in the first couple of turns. I set up my system for a quick flip and deployed Boussh to the senate to block any Force drains there. By the fifth turn, Ian was set to win the race, but I had 11 Force saved and It Could Be Worse in hand. Before finishing out the race, Ian used the Objective gametext to drop two cards out of my sizeable hand, and one of them was It Could Be Worse. There went any shot I had at holding onto the game after losing the race. A few turns later, Maul flies his Infiltrator up to Endor to start probing with impunity, and Security Precautions has been deployed on the Galactic Senate. After a few turns, Ian finds my Hidden Base, I lose 9 Force, and his drains on Naboo start getting through. The Force drains, along with the direct damage caused by Baksol in the Senate are too much to handle. Full loss by 4.

So after three games I am standing at 2 ( -4 ), and that glass is getting further out of my reach.
Van Melancon also takes a heavy loss to one of the 1799 and below players, William The Dianoga Diniega, and drops out. Tom Kathman and Josh Bader are the two real heavy hitters left.

GAME FOUR

Marilyn Maul v.3.0 vs. Ian Montieth ( 1623 ) Senate Pile

Ian and I had discussed this platform Saturday night during the Episode I Booster Draft. We figured a LS Senate platform with the Jedi Council would make a decent platform for a space deck that would drain and retrieve, using TWHPS in the Council Chamber to play How Did We Get Into This Mess to set up really quick. After a few turns I had some serious drains set up at Jabbas Palace. Ian would send Qui-Gon and Luke to try to kill off some of the Spooky Kids, but the battle heavy interrupts put that plan to rest. Eventually, Vader and Tarkin hire Elis to fly them into the Council Chamber, where after a few turns they managed to get rid of all of the pesky Jedi camped out there. The drains were too much for Ian to recover from, especially the drain of four in the Council. Full win by 12.

So now I am at 4 ( + 8 ) , with two games left to try to redeem myself. Right now the other contenders in the Scrub Invite are William Diniega and Robert Schiermeyer, a Colorado Springs regular.

GAME FIVE

Marilyn Maul v.3.0 vs. David Jones ( 1564 ) WYS Podracing

David has made a serious improvement in his game since I first heard about him up in Parker, Colorado. He calls himself a scrub, but he has a lot of potential. This game is the first time I have ever had to play against him, but I did not take the game lightly, knowing that he has pulled out some upset victories. We start the race just like always, with Sebulba flashing and drawing a low destiny despite the fact the deck has an average destiny of 3.5. I set up my locations one the first turn, having drawn the lower passages in my opening hand. Maul comes out for free, and The Phantom Menace gets deployed from my opening hand. Mara is also in my opening hand, so she goes to the AC with her lightsaber drawn and ready for the smuggler attack. David puts a couple guys in the Cantina, but Vader makes quick work of them on the next turn. The game goes back and forth on Tatooine, with most of the battles ending in my favor. I end up losing the race, but its too little, too late for David. Full win by 11.

David made that game a little closer than I would have liked, and now I am at 6 ( + 17 ), with only one game left to make a push for being King of the Scrubs.

GAME SIX

Flipping HB vs. David Jones ( 1564 ) HDADTJ Podracing

Well, this is the game this Light Side deck was designed to win, so here we go. After the first couple turns its clear that David is going to win the race, so I do not even stack my destinies. Instead I set up for the flip as fast as I can, so I can kill his drains. I play OOC/TT to kill Visage, and after about four or five turns I flip. With his drains cancelled, David cannot draw up to end the game. I cant seem to get my retrieval cards in hand, so I stop drawing so I can pull out a big differential. The race ends, and I lose 11 Force. Without drawing another card, I drain away at David until its over. Full win by 10.

So I end the day at 8 ( + 27 ). One of the final games was about to go to time, but William Diniega pulled it out on his last turn to take a full win. That dropped me down in the Scrub Invite to second, with a placing of sixth overall. A pox on you William The Dianoga Diniega ! Josh Bader ended up winning the Invitational overall, with Tom Kathman in second and William Diniega sneaking into third and stealing glass.

PROPS

To William Diniega, for stealing glass from the 1800 and up players.

To Scott Gaeta, for turning a possible disaster into a decent event for all, and providing massive amounts of prize support.

To Jackie, for going to Dave And Busters, even though she had to put up with Star Wars nerds all weekend. I love you lots.

To Josh Bader, for taking it all in the Invitational. See you in the Springs.



SLOPS

To Dave And Busters, for selling pints of Guinness at 5.75. You suck.

To all of the 1800 and up players who never bothered to show up for the Invitational.

To Sebulba, for still not being able to race.

To Robert Schiermeyer, for losing an almost timed game on the last turn. You cost me glass! JK.