games-and-goodbyes-austin-tx
Title: games-and-goodbyes-austin-tx
Author: Justin "hoostino" Warren
Date: Nov 6, 2001
Caution: This TR will be rather long. So get comfortable. :)
In SW:CCG, the most daunting challenge to a player’s success can be the release of new sets. But Reflections III is not an average ’new set’ by many standards. From early estimations, it has arguably changed the game more any other set, forcing players to adapt to the virtual death of non-interactive strategies, and the advent of a more focused playing environment.
DecipherCon was canceled. FreedomCon emerged, and DeckTech announced that the new cards would be legal for the World Championships. So, I ordered boxes and prepared for one of the most important tournaments of my SW:CCG career -- the retirement event for one of the best tournament directors in the country and a great friend, Mr. Brian Guthrie. Brian was responsible for maintaining the life of SW:CCG in Texas following the surprising retirement of one of the most dedicated directors in Dantooine history -- Tim Courtney. Brian created the tournament scene in Austin, centralizing Texas tournaments to the heart of the state. And the game thrived here as a result of his dedication. But Brian has more important matters ahead of him. His wife is now pregnant, and Brian is preparing for fatherhood. Congratulations and best of luck, man, and thank you for the countless memories. Your work as a Squadron Member will be cherished by Texas players for many years to come.
For weeks after getting my hands on the R3 spoilers, I struggled to find what I considered solid decks. Initially, I feared that the power of one of my all-time favorite LS decks, WYS, would diminish with the release of the Defensive Shields. But my fears were exaggerated, and I eventually realized, like many others, that the greatest strengths of the WYS Objective remained untouched by the new cards and the deck was still the most solid LS available. So, my WYS was updated with the new cards, and I didn’t find anything that could compete with it for my LS deck of choice (The Pile decktype still blows), and decided to use it at the tourney.
DS was a bit of a different tune. Instead of being cautiously pessimistic as I was about WYS, I was enthusiastic about post-R3 Hunt Down. With the addition of cards like Boba Fett, Bounty Hunter, Hunt Down seemed to get only stronger, as the Shields eradicated any fear of cheese. But my hopes were dashed following a single game of playtesting against my WYS. The DDTA Shield combined with the WYS flip and Goo Nee Tay seemed to choke the deck tremendously, and the Hunt Down barely won a matchup it once dominated. I flirted with the R3 Objective, but I wasn’t sure how it would hold up in actual play. I contemplated a Watto Scum deck, but quickly realized that it’s just too hard to hold three sites consistently, even with a large, effective character base and plenty of anti-battle cards. After a bit of tension surrounding the arrival of our cards, they arrived Friday, and Jeremy, Matt, and I had only a couple hours to decide what we were going to play the following day. All three of us were content with WYS, but DS remained very much a question. Jeremy had previously expressed interest in playing the new Objective, and we built the version that I had designed earlier. I in no way anticipated what happened in the games of testing we did with it, as it breezed past both Matt’s and my WYS with little difficulty. But we only had enough cards for one of us to play it, and Jeremy was that one. So, Matt and I were stuck using Hunt Down. I gave him some basic guidelines to build it, and he created his own version. Mine was basically an updated and refined version of the deck I used a few weeks ago in Fort Worth. Much like the original Chain Of Command.
We finally get our decks done at about 3 AM, and head home to catch some sleep. We meet at Jeremy’s the following morning, and the three of us hit the road at about 9:30. Nothing terribly exciting happens on the drive down, and we arrive about 10 minutes prior to the slated start time. We see an abundance of players, some familiar, others not. I see Eric Berger for the first time a good while, and he plans to play despite being absent from the game for months. Very cool. A handful of players were in costume, as this was also Brian’s annual Halloween tournament, an event in which players are encouraged to dress up as Star Wars characters. For the last few years, Squadron Member Chris Gregg has come to the Halloween tourneys dressed as various female characters from the movies. I recall Slave Leia and Amidala from previous years, and I think he’d also done Aurra Sing at an event I missed, so I was curious as to what he’d come up with this year. About five minutes after we arrive, Chris walks in the door wearing green latex all over his body, homemade tendrils hanging from his head, fishnet coverings to hide his nipples, a codpiece, sandals, and a chain around his neck! Oola! Whoa. He said it took him three hours to shave his body in order to apply the latex (I suppose it was a liquid that dries). But I guess it was worth it as he caught everyone’s attention (mostly Matt’s...heh) and destroyed the competition for best costume yet again.
Oh yeah, there was a six-game tourney, too. My rating was 2006 going in. Jeremy was at 1827 after a lackluster finish in Fort Worth a few weeks back, and Matt went in still over 2100, the best rating in the region. Onto the games.
[Game 1]
WYS vs. Eric Clegg (1544) Senate
Eric starts the Senate Objective and one of his three starting effects is one of the Aqua Monster effects or whatever, a card that didn’t really have any impact on the game for him. Anyway, I get off to a decent start, deploying Dash/Outrider to Kessel early and controlling a docking bay or two with Raiders/Crafts. The Battle Plan shield stifles him tremendously, as he couldn’t activate much more than 10 per turn after I flipped. Only once did he attempt to come to space, and I immediately cleared his ship. He gets Edcel down to limit my destinies, but he forgets that Edcel’s text works only at battlegrounds. He battles a Raider/Craft at the Desert Landing Site with Blizzard 4 and something else, I react with another Raider, and my three destinies clear his side of the site. Celebration hits a turn or two later, and he is locked down and unable to compete with my ground forces due to his lack of activation. So, I win fairly easily.
Full Win by 23
2 (+23)
Jeremy defeats Matt’s Hunt Down in Game 1, but by a small margin, so none of us face each other in the second game.
[Game 2]
Hunt Down vs. Michael Richards (1714) HB Flip
HB Flip has been popular in Austin ever since the Objective was released, and I expected this tournament to be no exception. Richards’ deck looked much like Brian Hunter’s version on DeckTech, which is supposed to be the death of Hunt Down or something or other. But I’ve always beaten HB, with Hunt Down and non-Hunt Down decks. However, Richards is quite a solid player, so I was on my toes for much of this game. He starts with old-school DDTA because he doesn’t have any Shields (the Shield is easier to circumvent), so my activation is pretty slim in the early game. My opening hand is pretty nice, containing Zuckuss In Mist Hunter, Chimaera, Thrawn, Imperial Command, and Lord Vader. I save up, and drop Vader second turn and flip. Visage hits him for only a turn though, as he quickly plays We Wish To Board At Once to pull Honor, while I don’t have No Escape or a We Must Accelerate Our Plans in hand. Honor would save him from about five turns of Visage damage before I finally used Janus to find my No Escape. I have a decent space presence from about turn four and on, and beat down his General Lando in GS1. He deploys more ships, including the Outrider, but runs away for the most part while we exchange small drains. I topdeck a Vader to his first drain like an idiot, and sure enough, an Out Of Commission nails him the following turn. So, keeping that Lord Vader alive becomes my highest priority this game. Richards quickly makes an attempt to kill him, deploying EPP Luke, but I Barrier him. I can’t battle him though, as I had previously verified Richards’ small reserve deck that contained far too many high destinies. With no Force Field, I was forced to run Vader away, even though I had Maul there as well, and I Have You Now. The huge battle probably would have been more than a fair trade to losing Vader permanently, but I didn’t have any tracked destinies, and didn’t trust the battle would be damaging enough. Plus, Visage is a key asset against HB. So, I moved Vader into the Executor: DB where Richards couldn’t follow due to the high transit cost. Next turn, I kill Luke with the Emperor and a few other guys and move Vader back out to flip my Objective. I have difficulty finding his Base, probing four systems before finally nailing it. But at this point, I have an upper hand in drains/damage, and his deck starts to finally thin mostly thanks to Maul’s Double-Bladed Stick giving me a drain of three at one of the DBs each turn. He doesn’t have much left to stop my damage, and I pull out a somewhat narrow win.
Full Win by 8
4 (+31)
Jeremy wins again, and Matt wins. Jeremy and I have fairly close diffs (although he won game 2 by 36 or some crap), and are paired for the next game.
[Game 3]
WYS vs. Jeremy Losee (1827) Make The First Move Racing
I was simply dreading this game. This deck tore through my WYS last night, despite Battle Plan (Shield)/Menace Fades, the Racing Shield, and all of my deck’s battling capabilities. And it wasn’t really close, either. This time, I decided to take another approach. I realized that I must simply spread as much as I can and outdrain him. It also was imperative to stop the Podrace damage with ICBW, as even six cards is rough on most decks. I start quickly with a ship to Kessel, and start draining for as fast and frequently as I can. He quickly deploys the Emperor to a Naboo site to drain for two, while Maul hits the Cantina first turn. The pressure is instantly on me. I eventually get EPP Luke, EPP Han, and someone else into the Cantina to challenge Maul, but Jeremy responds with Choke Vader with Stick, and Boba Fett, Bounty Hunter. I was really expecting the worse, as Jeremy’s deck is loaded with high destinies, and I fear the choke on Han will end my game. But he misses, and I not only avoid disaster, but my three destinies and lightsaber swing are enough to clear out his characters as well. This was absolutely the key moment of the game, because if Vader had successfully choked Han, I would have taken a lot of battle damage while at least one of his characters would remain to drain me. I ICBW the Podrace when it finishes, and start to spread out among the docking bays with I’ll Take The Leader in effect. Combined with the Kessel drain, I establish a drain of around 8 per turn. But Jeremy brings more characters. I struggle to keep my drains going, while he still has decent drains and the advantage of a larger deck (Podrace retrieval). He drops Lord Vader into the Cantina, knowing that just a few more turns of draining will be enough to win the game. But, I have my second EPP Han in hand, along with Chewie, Enraged. I know my destinies are high, and Jeremy doesn’t have a Barrier, so I deploy both and battle. Three destinies each at +2 isn’t good for Jeremy, and he loses Vader and more than ten cards in overflow battle damage. This took his deck down to an even level with mine, and I regained the drain advantage. After a couple turns, Jeremy is out of options, and his deck cannot withstand my massive drains, giving me win that surprised both of us.
Full Win by 11
6 (+42)
[Game 4]
Hunt Down vs. Jeremy Losee (1827) WYS
I was pretty confident that I could win this game, despite Jeremy’s win over Matt’s similar Hunt Down in game 1. This game starts off slowly, because both of us fear a beatdown from the other, so we are each reluctant to deploy characters early. I don’t even want to deploy Vader because Jeremy is activating plenty, has a large hand, and I don’t have a Barrier. Chewie, Enraged + EPP Han is just huge in WYS. But I take over the Tatooine system quickly with Chimaera, Thrawn, and Zuck In Hunter, while he drains at Kessel. I hesitate to move over and stop the drains, because Jeremy has an X-Wing Cannon sitting there, and if I lose Zuckuss to his Cannon, Jeremy can move back over Tatooine and establish I’ll Take The Leader and I won’t be able to take Tatooine back because of the text that limits destiny without an Indy ship (in my opinion, that’s much better than the extra point of power or two you get with the Premiere version). Anyway, he’s draining for more, and eventually I am forced to move to Kessel. No battle ensues, but he does move his ships over to Tatooine and I’ll Take The Leader puts more pain on me. I never can do anything with my beats package, as Luke avoids Vader for most of the game thanks to the Patrol Crafts. I suddenly find myself low on cards, and facing defeat within just a couple turns. I have a Tatooine Maul in hand, and contemplate what to do with him. I realize that there’s no Battle Plan on the table, and all of Jeremy’s fleet is at Tatooine, with no ability-4 character there. So, I deploy Maul to the Chimaera and my Battle Order shield. He now doesn’t occupy a battleground system and the drain bonus from I’ll Take The Leader isn’t in effect. My drains catch up quickly, while he is having difficulty paying for his. I have control of the Cantina, and the combined drains take him down. No question that I pulled this game out of my yang, Jeremy had me right until the last few turns.
Full Win by 8
8 (+50)
[Game 5]
Hunt Down vs. Ted Woodward (1779) We’ll Handle This
Ted is a local that can give the better players a run for their money, although Jeremy owns him (and a penis pump...heh). I’ve lost to Ted plenty of times in the past when I shouldn’t have, and he’s playing a deck I’ve never seen in action. First turn, Choke Vader and Stick hit the site with three LS icons, and Visage is going from turn 1. Ted doesn’t have anything on his turn, so he draws and loses to Visage. I drain for 4 and enforce Visage again. Ted responds with a deploy-9 Mace on top of Vader, stacks a combat destiny, and initiates combat. I am forced to draw blindly, and pop off two ones, while his stacked destiny is a seven. So, I lose Vader and two from my reserve deck. No biggie. I kill Mace next turn with Maul and P-59. But Ted responds with an array of scrubs, and wipes out my guys. He combated Maul to the lost pile at one point, but I was able to continually take out most of his Jedi and cause the occasional Visage damage. He gets in several more combats, but I close the gap to less than five in the rest of them thanks to some half-assed tracking, and I even tie him once. Eventually, the game comes down to who has more characters, as we’ve destroyed most of the other’s character base. In the end, I would maintain a stronger presence on Naboo, and my drains and Visage dwindle his Life Force until he runs out of cards.
Full Win by 11
10 (+61)
Matt was at a disappointing 2-3 at this point, losing twice to Jeremy. He would end the day at 3-3. I hope his finish doesn’t dash his confidence. He’s still the great player that brought me into competitive play and won two Regionals.
[Game 6]
WYS vs. Jacob Mayer (1875) Maul Mains
In my opinion, Jake, formerly rated 2000+, is Austin’s best player, and it seems he really doesn’t even invest much of his time to the game. He’d won 4 of the first 5 games using R3-less decks, including a LS he built right before the event began. Nevertheless, I expect another tight match, as he slaughtered a solid WYS by 34 or something earlier. I maintain good concentration for most of the game, but have several lapses in thought that almost cost me the game (that’s what an almost complete lack of playtesting can do). His AC eludes him first turn, thus his start isn’t as quick as he’d like it to be. No quick free Maul, either. Cool. My Raiders get out and I take control of space, while Jake gets Mara into the Cantina along with P-59. He tries to stop my Kessel drain with Enter The Bureaucrat, but I play a Control & TV from the Lost Pile to cancel it. My drains are pressuring him, and he comes down on top of a Raider/Craft with Vader/Tarkin/Guri. He battles, and I react with another Raider/Craft, but I idiotically forget that Guri doesn’t limit squat with Vader present. I feel like a total dumbass, but the game is still within my control. I deploy Luke far away from Vader in fear of I Have You Now, but he Elises his crew over to him during his move phase. I do some stuff during my turn, and have a force left over and I can’t remember why I made sure to save it. I almost draw it up like a happy fool, completely forgetting that Luke is staring at Vader, Tarkin, and Guri. But Jake is totally cool, and he lets me move Luke away. What a guy. I play run around, retrieve a few cards with Celebration, and outdrain him. Jake tries to stop the lockdown by dropping Maul’s Ship and moving it up with Maul aboard. He now fulfills Battle Plan, and takes the upper hand in the game. But, I draw Melas shortly after, and the proceeding battle takes out Maul and couple cards. Afterwards, the lockdown continues and Jake runs out of options.
Full Win by 10
12 (+71)
I’m the only undefeated player after the smoke clears, and get an IAO foil for my efforts. Afterwards, Jeremy, Matt, and I head to Brian’s house for some pizza and games. Matt and Brian toy around with Brian’s new LS deck, and we all enjoy seeing the Diamondbacks kicking the s.hit out of the Yankees in Game 6. What a World Series. The most dramatic Series since I’ve been alive. Anyway, we leave after two games and some thanks and farewells to Brian. You were a vital part of this game for so many people. Thanks for the years, man. You’ll be missed.
Props:
Brian, for carrying the life of Texas SW:CCG for such a long time.
Jeremy, for allowing me to pull game 4 out of my arse.
Matt, because he’s still a great player despite this tournament. At the very least, you still have a DeckTech editorial! Heh.
Chris, for having way too much free time. :)
Eric, for coming down and playing even though he was months behind everyone else. I hate it that we both appear to be leaving the game soon. You’re part of the reason it’s been such a great thing to me.
Jake, for being cool during our game and showing some sportsmanship. Spiffy. :)
The vast majority of my opponents, for making this one hell of a challenging day (+71?).
Austin players, for being numerous for this important event.
Slops:
I can’t think of a damn one anymore. No wait, slops to Jeremy for making me think he was trying to wipe nut sweat on me from the back seat on the way home. You bastard. You need to stop watching French TV.
See everyone at FreedomCon.
Darwin bless. Hoostino out.