when-scrubs-attack-fort-worth-tx
Title: when-scrubs-attack-fort-worth-tx
Author: Justin "hoostino" Warren
Date: Oct 8, 2001
The afternoon of October 3rd was rather shocking, and made me realize that I probably won’t play in many tournaments of a game that has meant a good deal to me for a good while. I had been planning to attend an upcoming Sunday constructed event in Fort Worth for a few weeks prior to the announcement about DCon, and opted to still make the trip after I made the decision that my gaming days will come to an end after this year. There were some attractive incentives to go anyway, as the top two finishers in the tournament would receive a half-set of Coruscant (either LS or DS). And, I also was anxious to play this Pete Srodoski guy from New York that had just moved to Texas and was cleaning house with many of the local players. So, I began my normal deck brainstorming, and eventually constructed a WYS deck that had trouble losing in the few games of playtesting I managed to find time for (even community college professors can go apes.hit with tests and assignments at times).
Matt had come back from Korea a few days earlier, and was eager to playtest. I found some time, and was able to discover that WYS and DS Senate both seemed like solid choices. I flirted with Dagocheese, but it just wasn’t very impressive in the games Matt, Jeremy and I tested with it. Over time, my Senate deck increasingly seemed like it wasn’t quite as good as I originally thought. Thus, I began to look back into Hunt Down. I designed a few space-based variants, but none really stood out. I also rebuilt a distant remnant of Chain Of Command, and made sure the deck could dominate Dagocheese and WYS. It did in two games of testing. So, I revamped and worked on it a bit more until I was content with it. My LS remained WYS (with a Raider package instead of battle avoidance interrupts and what not, although Dodge was pretty huge in testing).
Matt had already made plans to fly to Vancouver to visit someone he met online (he has a thing for older men), so he wasn’t able to attend. But Jeremy was ready to play, so the trip became the usual Justin-Jeremy tandem. We leave early because we always do, and arrive in Fort Worth after a drive of about two hours. I look over my decks again, and the tourney gets underway. There is no Pete Srodoski or Jacob Mayer in sight, only John Sneed, the guy that has beaten me twice this year. His brother Michael is apparently attending college in Houston now, so he wasn’t there, either. There were 17 total participants, I believe.
[Game 1]
LS vs. Cody Greaves (1507) TIE Bombers
I have difficulty finding enough of my Raider package to attempt an early flip, but I’m also hurrying to assemble my fleet in space. I get Dash and Han to his Sullust within the first three turns, while he begins to swarm the Tatooine system and prepare to collapse some sites. I can’t really avoid it completely, only try to thin his forces at Tatooine. After he quickly collapses the Cantina, I move three ships to meet his squadron of piloted TIEs and Bombers, and battles ensue for the next four turns. Each of us have our moments, but I made the tragic mistake of failing to remember that he cannot draw multiple destinies unless he has an Independent ship present (which he didn’t). Thus, his consistently high attrition rates clear three of my ships, leaving only the Falcon and the Outrider remaining. I inevitably concede him the Tatooine system, as I opt to spread out and drain and Sullust and Kessel, while he collapses Docking Bay 94. I still have a drain at the Mos Espa DB, but Arica takes care of that. However, the space drains and recurring copies of It Could Be Worse begin to shift the momentum into my favor, and eventually he is forced to break away from Tatooine and engage my ships. After playing cat and mouse for a few turns, we settle on Tatooine and the decisive battle ensues. I can’t recall the exact specifics, but basically, I took out a majority of his forces. After a couple more turns, my drains are enough to take out his remaining cards and give me a win by 13 with about 10 cards in hand.
Full Win by 13
2 (+13)
[Game 2]
DS vs. Cody Greaves (1507) HB Flip
We get paired again because the DS apparently didn’t fare too well in the opening game for the majority of the players. Anyway, I get a fast start with a second-turn Vader and Stick to one of my DBs, while he deploys his systems and loses to Visage. He commits to his Coruscant (SE) with Gold Squadron 1, EPP Han, and General Lando after a third-turn flip. At this point, I am activating around 20 cards per turn (old-school Mob Points, Bridge, etc.) and have already assembled a sizeable hand that contains the major ingredients of my space package. So, I deploy the Chimaera, Thrawn, Chiraneau, and Dengar in Ship at a reduced cost, and proceed to annihilate his ship and a good chunk of his Life Force thanks to Lateral Damage. I start moving around and probing while enforcing Visage. He tries to recover in space by deploying Dash and a few others, but I still am able to drain for two in space to accommodate the stream of damage I am causing at the DBs following a successful probe of his base. I avoid any major battles in space, and allow my drains and direct damage to bleed him out.
Full Win by 22
4 (+35)
[Game 3]
LS vs. David Nibbelin (1500) SYC Flip
I think this was this kid’s first tourney, because I couldn’t find his name in the rankings database. Nevertheless, I believe he had won his first two games. He starts with Battle Order, A Million Voices, and Oppressive Enforcement. He spends his first couple of turns doing his thing and trying to flip his objective, while I set up Raiders at separate DBs and take quick control of the Tatooine system. He is content with draining at the Death Star with a POTF following his flip, but Menace Fades shuts the drains down. He deploys Bright Center Of The Universe and targets Tatooine, effectively negating my drain bonus from I’ll Take The Leader. He tries to battle one of my Raiders with Vader and someone else, thinking he’ll be able to Sense the react. I let him read my Objective, and he kicks himself after my Raiders pull off about 15 in total attrition, clearing his characters. I amass a larger drain after I deploy Kessel and spread my ships out. Tatooine Celebration is retrieving what little damage his drains are causing, and he realizes that he must engage my ships or lose the game. So, he begins to move the Death Star until he is able to move some of his Destroyers over to block my drains. However, I have had my destinies tracked for a good while, and his ships are pilotless, giving me no fear of Imperial Command. So, I battle a few times and his fleet rapidly deteriorates to my huge destinies. He is out of options, and I take an easy victory.
Full Win by 26
6 (+61)
[Game 4]
DS vs. Jacob Bedford (1541) RST Mains
Jacob is another unfamiliar face that has yet to lose a game. I later was told that he was from Washington state and this was his first tourney since early this year. Anyway, I get a pretty decent opening hand, and deploy Empy first turn to his Rebel Landing Site. I verify his deck next turn after the Back Door eludes him, and notice a Lost In The Wilderness. I think about it for a minute, and can’t really decide if he’s using multiples of it. I doubt he’s using more than two, and eventually decide to drain anyway, and I get burned as he indeed plays a LITW and is successful. He sacks Insight for Honor (which lasted for about 3 turns before I drew No Escape), and sets up the scout machine with Crix, Chewie, and Wuta. I respond with Maul and Stick, and am holding a Barrier. Sure enough, he drops EPP Obi, who of course gets the Barrier. He battles anyway since he now circumvents Maul’s text, and causes me to lose a few cards in battle damage, while a Too Close For Comfort prevents me from hacking anyone. On my turn, I play Sniper & Dark Strike on somebody and barely hit the bastard. I next attempt to find the Emperor with Maul, and draw a five to pull him out of the wilderness. I deploy a Stick-less Lord Vader and Janus, and initiate battle. Force Lightning removes Chewie, while Maul hits Crix. Obi can’t hit Maul, and he draws a low destiny and must lose about 8 cards in battle damage after forfeiting Obi. I keep my characters centered at the Landing Site in fear of his second LITW, while he deploys Cracken to the Holotheater and cancels Visage. He then commits to the Endor system with a lone Home One, and mistakenly deploys Obi to back up Cracken, forgetting that he can’t drain with Jedi unless my Objective is on the 0-side. I respond to his Home One with Zuckuss In Hunter and Bossk In Tooth, but was unable to track any destinies, and my draws are unsatisfactory. Bossk dies to attrition, but I manage to back Zuckuss up with the Chimaera and Thrawn before he can circumvent Zuckuss’ text with General Lando. I still can’t crack his immunity, but I do cause small points of damge in each battle. He next deploys Ackbar and Luke after Lando is finally forfeited, again thinking that would be enough to flip my Objective back. Of course it wasn’t, and eventually, my huge drain at the Landing Site begins to wear him down. I move some characters to the Back Door after the threat of LITW goes away, and he can’t handle the drains, giving me a comfortable win.
Full Win by 20
8 (+81)
[Game 5]
DS vs. Blake Huffman (1596) QMC
Earlier, Blake took a surprising win over Jeremy’s Hunt Down Racing with this deck, and was off to a 4-0 start in only his third tournament. The game began rather slow, as I was forced to draw for a few turns before I found a Vader. He deploys Qui-Gon and begins to make obnoxious comments in an admitted attempt to distract and annoy me. I brush it off, and continue my gameplan. I deploy Maul to Cloud City, and we exchange drains while Visage eats away at both players. He deploys Han in the Falcon and leaves them alone with no Force saved. I call his gamble with the Chimaera, Thrawn, and Dengar In Ship, I think. Oh yeah, and Lateral Damage, too. I draw somewhat solid destinies, and he is forced to lose nearly 15 cards from his deck and hand. That pretty much capped the game, as I established greater drains while he runs his mains away from mine. Luke is finally cornered against Maul, and I Have You Now and tracked destiny end his game and winning streak.
Full Win by 19
10 (+100)
At this point, only John Sneed and I are undefeated, but we both played DS, and unfortunately are unable to compete in a decisive match for the set. So, our bouts with the scrubs (well, John defeated Jeremy, who’s no scrub with a rating around 1900) continue.
[Game 6]
LS vs. Blake Huffman (1596) TTO
Heh. I get play this guy again. He starts Endor and OAP, while I start my usual Insurrection & Aim High, SquadAss, and Insight & Staging Areas. I pull off a somewhat quick flip, while he builds the Death Star II. He deploys Maul and Jodo on top of one my Raiders in an apparent attempt to simply drain over me. I have EPP Luke and SATM & Blaster Proficiency in hand, and am confident in my destinies. Luke comes down along with Mirax, and I initiate battle. I hit Maul, and use BP to make him immediately lost, and the lone Jodo soils his armor as he realizes he’s all by his lonesome to face my destines, which are both high (Jodo capped me to only two). He winds up losing Jodo and about 15 cards. Next, he attacks Kessel with Bossk In Tooth and a Lateral Damage on my Falcon, thinking that my destinies do not add to my total power because of Lateral Damage. I explain that LD only reduces the ship’s power to zero, and not my total power. He gets upset because he claims that I explained it differently during our last game when I used LD against him. However, he had asked me if his attrition counted during that battle, and I told him ’yes.’ I even lost my Dengar In Punishing One to his attrition, but when he totaled his power, he didn’t count his destiny draw. I didn’t really notice and he lost a few more cards than he should have. I apologized and told him that I didn’t realize he did that, and explained that I still lost a ship to attrition, and the extra cards he lost wouldn’t have made much of a difference in the outcome. He agrees, and we continue our game. I drain, while he fails to occupy the Tatooine system and cause TTO damage. After a few turns of taking more drains, he draws up what few cards remain in his Life Force.
Full Win by 19
12 (+119)
Hoo-hah! I went undefeated against opponents all rated 400-500 points below me! Heh. I finish with a substantially higher differential than John (who also won his last game to finish at 6-0), and am given the option to choose which half of the set to take, and pick the LS after John tells me he really needs the DS. He throws in the only card from the DS that I am interested in, IAO & Secret Plans, and I agree to take the LS.
Jeremy somehow finishes at 3-3 using a potent Hunt Down Racing and a WYS almost exactly like mine. We are both quite amazed at his poor finish, but that sometimes what happens when scrubs attack. Heh.
I’m now down to two more tournaments before I leave the game. My good friend Brian Guthrie, who’s one of the best TDs in the country, is holding a retirement tourney in early November, and then I’m hopefully off to a DeckTech replacement for the canceled World Championships.
Eh, I guess I’ll whip up some Props/Slops.
Props:
Jeremy, for going with me.
John Sneed, for finishing at 6-0.
Jim Sharp, for running a smooth event.
Fort Worth scrubs, for attacking.
Slops:
Jeremy, for losing with decks I built. I find that quite intolerable. Heh.
My rating, which will gain a total of roughly 14 points for this event. I should break 2000, though. Yay.
Uh, Decipher for not having a good excuse to cancel DCon.
Jerry Jones, for thinking Quincy Carter has talent. Heh.
Enough for now.
Darwin bless. Hoostino out.