mr-scrub-goes-to-virginia-day-1
Title: mr-scrub-goes-to-virginia-day-1
Author: Greg "TychoCelchu" Shaw
Date: Dec 9, 2001
There are a few main parts to this report, so I’ll point them out now:
1. The Claw Fish
2. Goodnight Moon
3. VA Beach-Day One
4. Day Two
5. Team Tourney
6. Wrap up/Props + Slops
So here goes...
The Claw Fish
It was a week or two before FCon, and Scott Lingrell was holding a local tourney. I was packing my brand spanking new DS deck, which up to date is 14-2 (I’ll get around to posting it soon enough). At the time, it only had a few playtest games and no tourney experience. The gist of it is SYCFA for activation, start The Phantom Menace, Colo Claw Fish, and Crush The Rebellion. Maul stays alive while you abuse Claw Fish for huge beats. If you haven’t already, go read Claw Fish for yourself. It’s the only really useful fish card. So first game I get to play Scott and he looks at my starting stuff, glances at Claw Fish, and I swear I saw him smirk. Twenty minutes later Scott had read Claw Fish for a second and third time, I had control of the board against his BoomRace/Cheese deck, and the game was mine. I remember when Scott was going over to do his command card thing, he told Kim that he lost and the Claw Fish was broken. Suffice to say I was pleased. Long story short, the DS deck went 3-0 that day.
So over the next week or so, I played around with Claw Fish a lot, and me and Bill Kafer, whom you will hear much about in this report, playtested a bagillion times. To the point where we were making useless tech changes just to win against each other. Finally we realized what we were doing, and things changed a little.
Goodnight Moon
Here’s the story of the weekend. Me and Bill playtested a lot. So one time I was over his house and we started watching the Simpsons. It happened to be the episode where Christopher Walkens is reading "Goodnight Moon" (the ten page children’s bedtime story) to a bunch of little kids. Its funny stuff, so at random times over the FCon weekend, we would just quote Walkens (or make fun of Jon, you Coruscanters know exactly what I’m talking about) and it was insanely funny because we were sleep deprived. Well, I’m sure none of you cared about that, but it turned out to be a pivotal moment. I was bored (I mean REALLY bored) one night and I started searching all over my house for the Goodnight Moon book. I finally found it and I decided to bring it with me to VA beach.
The Drive
The drive consisted of 6.5 hours of me and Bill being jackasses and Jon being, well, Jon. We didn’t leave Jersey until 5 or something so we didnt get to our hotel until like 12:00 Thursday night. And we were on something like 5th street, so we weren’t gonna make it to the Con that night. Instead me and Bill playtested some more, and I sealed my fate for tomorrow...
VA Beach-Day 1
Around 2 in the morning while we were playtesting, I decided that I was in some serious need of luck. So I grabbed 2 Cosmic Brownies (those things are mackin) and the Goodnight Moon book. And I read the quote from the Simpsons. Then we crash at like 3 after filling out decklists. I also realized that I lost all of my playtest games that night, so I’m really worried. Especially since I had just lost to Bill a number of times.
We wake up, do the normal wake-up stuff, and head to the Sheraton. We drop off our decks + decklists (boo!) and wait....and wait....and wait some more. Then we head into my first Worlds event (sorry, that would be World Championship Level Event for all of you dikcheads who say it wasn’t Worlds).
My rating: 1796 out of 100 games
Decks: DS-Pile of Fish
LS-WYS Solid (which has been crapping on me lately)
BTW, I typed these games a few weeks ago, so they should be fairly detailed.
Game 1
My DS vs. Shannon Caine (1364) HB Mains
When I see her objective, I almost piss myself because I haven’t tested against HB Flip at all, but then I see her starting stuff (Mains stuff) and I feel better. Maul with his double-the-pleasure vibrator goes to my Cantina early for some quick force loss. She drops some mains to her Tat DB, I drop Dr. E (old skool) and move Maul over. Operate on an EPP or two, she battles and everybody on her side (I dont remember who it was) dies except for Angry Chewie, whom she pays the maintanence for, while the majority of my people live. Maul and maybe Vader or Mara or somebody jizz all over Chewie and its obvious that I’ll win in a turn or two, so I set up Janus and use Imp Command and Omni Box Combo put a card back every turn for like 10 more dif (I had a big hand).
FW +27
2(+27)
Highs: Winning, I guess
Lows: Now I have to play my progressively less solid WYS against someone else who won by a decent amount...yay.
Game 2
My LS vs. Steve Thompson (1537) Build The Floating Nut (DS2)
I found like 2 ships the whole game, which uber-sucked. I guess that’s what cost me the game. He gets Tat locked down, so no Celebrating, and I can’t get my ICBW/We’re Doomed Cycle going until I’m almost dead. I guess I kept it close, but I’m still pissed about this game, WYS isn’t supposed to suck this much. I’m sure I would win if we played this matchup again.
FL -5
2(+22)
Highs: Still in the positives
Lows: One friggin ship!
Game 3
DS vs. John Veasey (1598) WYS
John was a kicka$$ guy. The entire time we just joked about random crap and I was a little more relaxed the for the rest of the day. You can read John’s version of this game, but here’s my story.
For the first few turns we draw insane hands, and Monnok used like 3 times in a row helps me win the race to see who could get a bigger hand first. I don’t really remember much. I beat down on everything he dropped on the ground, and After Her retrieved a bundle for me. His drain at Kessel lasted a long time, so that hurt a lot. I remember one battle where he tried to fallen portal to kill Vader and end the battle but Vader was Still Cumming (he’s a porn star, ya know) and Melas got squashed by his own door, thus ending my beatdown potential. Time was called eventually, and I had about twice the number of cards as John did, so he was nice enough to draw up for me.
FW +20
4(+42)
Highs: Winning against WYS, I didn’t know how tough it would be. and getting the FW
Lows: Melas dying to Portal, I would’ve beaten him down for quite a few. Again, I win with DS so now my WYS has to play someone good
Game 4
LS vs. Tim Guzman (1958) Senate Manip
Go read Tim’s report. His hand was godly, mine was total a$$. I was stupid and grabbed Squabbling before I knew he was playing all out manip. I even thought to myself "Should I grab it? No, I shou-ahh, helI with it, he’s not gonna play any manipulation crap" Then next turn it was like Defensive Fire, 2 cards back, Limited Resources, and I was like aww phuck. On a slightly happier note, I cancelled Resources once with Effective Repairs, and Strikeforce let my Kessel drain go through for a number of turns. Whatever, I couldn’t do much with Bad Feeling and His Name out, so I assumed my position.
FL -23
4(+19)
Highs: None
Lows: Everything
I go talk to Scott L and Pete Flamini in between games and they keep telling me I can make it with 5-3, but I don’t believe them. Stupid me.
Game 5
LS vs. Maxim Brian (1605) Senate Manip
Dammit, another one. He tries to start AAA, and I tell him he can’t, so he just gets some other random.effect. Sucks to be Maxim, this time I’m ready for Defensive Fire and I grab it. He tried to Resource me once, but Han’s good with his hands and I cancel it with Repairs. HotJedi and BP+DTF stopped his ping-drains for a while. Maul or Vader, I forget which, went missing really early and that contributed to the lack of battles. Late game Celebrating was good, because I was retrieving more than his miniscule drains.
FW +18
6(+37)
Game 6
DS vs. Kim Caton (1878) Dagoboring
Before this game me and Kim compared difs and we got worried that we might have to play each other. See, we play each other twice at every single tournament. It’s not cool. It was bad enough that at one point I had both of my decks chock-full of anti-Kim tech. So pairings are called, and I end up sitting next to Kim, playing some random.shmoes WYS. And I get a god-draw. Then the TDs are like "Wait, nobody start, we made a mistake in the pairings. So everybody from here to here, move over one seat" And next thing I know, I’m playing Kim. d@mn. I wrote this game a while ago, because it was so sweet. I owe Kim quite a few wins, I think i’m like 3-7 against her. Anyway, be prepared, this is full of detail.
My previous DS deck was teched out aainst her Dagoboring, but my new deck was made to go to my opponent’s sites. Against Kim, I figured it would roll over and die. And to make matters worse, Kim had her "Diversionary Tactics" which made things even more difficult. My first turn alone took like 5 minutes ;-)
Luckily, I had an awesome starting hand. I dropped the Cantina with Maul there and after checking my reserve with Crush, I Weapon Lev’d for Maul’s double stick. Meanwhile Kim started The Signal for AFA and it popped, so I had 5 cards in my lost pile at the end of my first turn. And for some reason I didn’t pull my Shield against inserts. I just didn’t. It turned out to be helpful, because I would need the free spot, and Kim had no other inserts in the deck. Kim started her training crap and I had a turn or two of saber-enhanced drains. Then she passed Test 1, so I knew I would have to get some battle damage in to get the win. Instead of pulling my Coward shield when Kim was about to retrieve, I pulled it early hoping she would go to a battle ground where I could beat her down. But to no avail, and I was stuck with an enourmous hand and nothing to do with it all. So I dropped Janus to the Death Star db to start recirculating some stuff, Zuckuss to the D* system, and I started moving it to Dagobah. Unfortunately, Visored Visions were painful and I had to watch what I was recirculating. Kim got to test 6, so I dropped Vader to the DB and waited for Uncontrollable Fury. It came down next turn, and I cancelled with YAB. Then I waited for Luke to appear so he could duel Vader. She dropped Luke, and I Elis’d away. Next turn I Janus for my Elis and send Maul over. Slice, IHYN, and quite a bit of overflow swung the game into my favor. With nothing left to do, we started playing the most interesting Dagoboring game I have ever played. Leia went aboard Artoo in Red 5 and went to fight Zuckuss loaded with fodder. Niether of us got battle destiny, and she lost a card for battle damage. First Strike was her only incentive to battle. Then I Janus and get the Chimaera, giving me the 6 ability required. An outpowered Leia and Red 5 hit the lost pile, along with a few overflow. With her tests suspended, the We’re Doomed cycle was broken and my drain bonuses were back. Time was called, but Kim drew up giving me the FW and the chance to qualify. That makes two people that I have to please.
FW +25
8(+62)
Highs: Beating Kim, knowing my deck can handle non-interactive cheese
Lows: Playing Kim, that wasn’t cool at all
Game 7
DS vs. Steven Harpster (1733) WYS
I drew for a turn or two while he did the usual WYS thing. I dropped Maul and his saber to the Cantina, with a Ghhhk in hand. He dropped some beats (Han, Luke, random.smuggler, Artoo&Threepio), and I Force Field to keep my damage to 5, which I Ghhhk anyway. So next turn I drop another Maul, this time with his double stick, and Dr E. Battle, abuse Colo, which he reads for the second time this game, Luke and Artoo+Threepio are both hit + operated. IHYN gets me another destiny, and his side is cleared while I lose Dr E. Maul stays to drain for the rest of the game. He just draws looking for stuff. I drop Zuckuss + Thrawn to Tatooine to battle Wedge, clear him and that seals it. I no longer have to pay to drain, and I’m draining for quite a few. I put back some cards with Drop, and he draws up.
FW +25
10(+87)
Highs: Another easy win against WYS
Lows: Bah, next is my WYS again
So now me and Gogolen are talking, and we aren’t very close dif-wise, so we aren’t too worried. This case is almost the same as me and Kim, except me and Gogolen don’t show up at the same tourneys as much. But even if we do end up playing each other, we always play this matchup and I always win.
Game 8
Yeah, you all guessed it. LS vs. Gogolen (1905) Brangus Racing
He has a first turn Palpy to the Cantina, and Janus next turn. I had a total crap hand. That’s about all I can remember from this game. He killed me in space, and he killed me on the ground. I won his race, which is nothing new because my LS has lost like 2 races in its career. I don’t even flip for most of the game, and I roll over and die easily.
FL -18
10(+69)
Highs: 69 dif, doesnt get much better
Lows: I’m on the edge of qualifying/not qualifying
Short story even shorter: I end up in 13th and qualify. Uber-mega-deluxe-maddest props go to Cosmic Brownies and Goodnight Moon. Similar props go to Bill for letting me borrow stuff (he dropped after losing a lot) and testing so dam much.
Day Two
I’m too tired/lazy to change my decks, so I take some cards from Bill since he went 2-5 and dropped. Logically, my DS went 4-0 so it’s definately a keeper, but WYS went 1-3, amazingly, and I probably should’ve made a new deck, but I didn’t.
And now since I don’t want to torture you with anymore reading, I’ll stop. Day 2 will be up tomorrow, or something.
Hope it was as good for you as it was for me ;-P
Greg