melbourne-oz-16-12-01-to-the-izzo

Title: melbourne-oz-16-12-01-to-the-izzo
Author: Luca "Luca/Tzizvvt" Costanzo
Date: Dec 19, 2001

I got an e-mail from Terry saying that he was running a tournament and that the prizes were Qui-Gon and Maul with sticks. Game on! I’m a povvo student, so it’s not likely that I’ll be able to afford box upon box of Theed Palace, so I figured that winning a Maul with Stick would be a good start.

I decided to stick with the QMC trippler deck that had gone undefeated in last week’s tournament, but decided to ditch Ozzel Superstar for MKOS beats. There seem to be 5 times more Goo Nee Tays in Melbourne tournaments at the moment than players, so I tried to keep the ability down to a minimum. P-59, IG-88, 4-LOM, Myo, Dr Evazan/Ponda Baba, Dengar with Gun … all unaffected by Goo Nee Tay. Sure, the new Bob costs 6 instead of 4, but power 7+ 2 extra destiny draws, each +2 is probably worth
it.

Adam gave me a buzz towards the end of the week and we decided to do some playtesting the night before the tournament. Well, we stayed up until about 4am, as one does, but I think I got all of one game in against Giles. Adam and I did work on a light deck for him. We came up with a really tight lightsaber combat deck using 9 ships (Artoo in Red 5 is a ship). It seemed solid enough, and went on to go 3-0.

Giles was still with Pile and Walker Garrison; two decks which he has played for quite a while. He showed me a Senate deck that he had built and was thinking of using. It looked solid. It would beat WYS, but lose to lightsaber combat. Giles wasn’t sure about QMC, so I pulled mine out and proceeded to apply the beats. Giles made the right choice in not taking a deck that would lose to two of the three most popular, but it was a pity to see him playing the same things.

Illiyana was with senate pile and ISB. Adam decided to pull out a surprise dark deck- speed deal with racing. We figured it looked pretty vicious and solid. Well, losing two out of three a solid deck does not make. It was morning by now, so we were watching Rage and they cut out the videoclip for What Would You Do, and this pissed off Adam and I, so I decided that I’d try to trash talk like I’m black for the rest of the day.

Adam was moving house, so we picked up the last of his stuff and took it over to his mum’s place then trammed into the city. Lee had us in stitches with various good calls about the blockade @#$%ship, lubricant and everything inbetween. On with the tournament!

Decks:

Light: QMC (trippler, no real surprises otherwise)
Dark: MKOS (Myo, new Bob, guys that get around Goo Nee Tay and a whole heap of tech, I’ll probably post it soon)

Game ONE Light v Adam (Speed Deal/Racing)

This game was tight. We figured that I would be advantaged in this matchup due to Squadron Assignments and decent ships, compared to Adam’s speed ships, ZiMH etc. Adam pulled his jank, started the podrace etc. We were a bit too annoyed at the fact that we were playing each other first game to trash talk, so I just showed the Pulsar Skate to pull Wedge, RSL and deployed R2/3P0 to it. My Bespin! Adam played Tactical Support. Something told me that Adam wanted Dark Deal, so I decided to pull MY Cloud City and move Wedge down. Adam had Zuckuss in hand, not a crappy tie, so he dropped 3 troopers and Occupation. Win some, lose some.

I pulled Red 7/pilot and dropped Leia to beat on #insert name of some crappy random trooper#. Leia received a Stunning Leader (huge) and Wedge moved up to Bespin. Adam cleared off Leia with some troopers and ran ZiMH away. I played Battle Plan, which was HUGE. Corran went to the North Corridor to kill a trooper. Adam dropped Barich, random biker scout trooper and another trooper to beat on Corran for 10 force, although I did grab Trooper Assault. Adam also won the podrace. I dropped Luke to take care of these troopers, with Blaster Proficiency taking out Barich. Adam decided to have a go at Luke with some troopers and a second Barich (?!), who ran into a second Blaster Proficiency. Somewhere along the line I beat on Ozzel and killed a Vader. Adam set up Dark Deal in a last-ditch effort and I cancelled it by moving a ship around.

FW 2(+19)
2(+19)

The Good: Yeah, whatever. I won. ’sall good.
The Bad: Apparently Corran Horn having his face bashed in for 10 qualifies.
The Ugly: If you think that playing the guy that you built decks with is ugly, get a load of this …


Game TWO Dark v Adam (Lightsaber Combat)

Ok, so if I win, I’m off to a decent start, but have eliminated Adam from the running. If I lose, I’m off to quite a bad start, but I haven’t eliminated Adam. Win-win. Or lose-lose. No, win-win and lose-lose.

Onto the actual game. Having helped Adam build his deck, I knew that it was the best LSC deck that anyone has played in our region. I set up fairly quickly, but had to pull Chall Bekan instead of Gaillid to grab an Abyssin to flip with. Bugger. Probably a mistake, seeing as I went on to lose. Adam set up with Qui-Gon and destiny 5 stick to the Generator first turn. Battle Order hit the table to slow down the drains and I started digging for stuff to stop the barrage of Barriers, Dodges, Narrow Escapes, It’s A Traps etc. that LSC seems to need. Adam set up the Generator Core with Obi-Wan, Jedi Knight and stick there.

I threw a Myo at him and remembered that I should really be trash talking as much as possible. “Yo, yo mof, Myo in da house, make some NOIZE” I was unable to find Blast Door Controls, so I had to play around those particular evasive cards. IG-88 with Gun to the generator core. Adam Barriered. Aurra Sing. No barrier. Fight. No dodge. Adam cut, and … missed. This was not what I had expected. I drew a 7, Adam drew a 7. I cancelled Adam’s with Myo so Aurra was left with Obi-Wan’s stick.

Adam deployed Luke with stick and Lando to beat on my crew. “Yo bro, I be smitin the joe who cut up my hoe.” Adam cut IG to used. I cut Lando to used. We both drew sevens, but I didn’t have another Myo (Adam: told you the extra card should’ve been another Myo!). After this, I think I made another run to kill another Luke or something, then Adam got another Obi-Wan out. I made another run with 2 mofs, one got barriered, then my crew got beat on and I got out-drained.

FL 2(-18)
2(+1)

The Good: Not taking Adam out of the running for the Maul. No shame in losing to a deck that I helped to build and know is huge.
The Bad: Not finding BDC.
The Ugly: Apparently the Generator Core has really gay gametext. You can seriously abuse it with scum :P

OK, so Adam and I figure that for either of us to be in the running we would have to win the next four. Robbo (state champion) and Rod (strong player, wins his share of locals) had gone 2-0, so they were our main competition. Presumably we would play mid level players and then play Robbo and Rod after game 4. Word up!

Game THREE v Michael (Lightsaber Combat)

In order to give you some idea about Michael, I won without a lost pile. He didn’t play that badly, I guess, but he didn’t have escape cards and I had scum. Michael deployed Qui-Gon and his destiny five combat stick first turn. Of course, with 4 force icons off the bat, I managed to flip and set up both Lower Passages and the Audience Chamber with Gaillid to drain on my second turn. Seeing as I was generating near 20 a turn and had deployed old-skool Jabba, I had no problems playing Battle Order.

Michael came down on Bib at the passenger deck with Corran Horn and EPP Obi. Good thing that I had a Stunning Leader. Michael’s next turn was pretty much pay to drain and then pay 8 to move Obi and Corran off the Barge. Passenger deck is the shiznat! That was pretty much a no-brainer to expect, after all, they were only chasing a lonely Bib. Unfortunately, Michael didn’t leave any force active. Okie-dokie. First Strike, Chall, Myo, Bob, Abyssin, 4-LOM, IG-88, each destiny +2 … Michael lost 20 odd force and I suffered the agony that one feels when they have to recycle Myo and lose an Abyssin (to be retrieved later with the objective).

After the beatdown, Michael came down to the Lower Passages with Lando (of the gun wielding variety) and PO’d Chewie … against Aurra sing and an Abyssin. Michael shot the Abyssin. I cancelled his draw with a Myo, he lost Chewie and I got away with losing Aurra. I allowed Michael a turn with Lando to drain so that I could play After Her. Lando got backed up, I beat on him with Dre/Ponda Baba, pee fiddy (nine) and Myo. I suicided another Fett against Qui-Gon to retrieve. He survived, so I upkept him. Michael killed him with his objective and drained. I drained Michael down to 2 and sent Myo on a run to retrieve Fett and the 2 from the drain (and win off First Strike).

FW 2(+37)
4(+38)

The Good: Obi and Corran moved off Jabba’s car for heaps only to get their arse smote. You either ride with us or collide with us.
The Bad: Nothing. I won, didn’t I?
The Ugly: Michael didn’t have escape cards for some reason!

Robbo, Ellie, Adam and I went to McD for lunch. Apparently now they have a Robo-Chi happy meal. We don’t know what a Robo-Chi is, but it really freaked out Robbo.

Game FOUR Light v Giles (Mr Garrison- Haakon’s Revenge)

Giles has already written up this in his report, go check it out. This game had more trash-talking than most of my other games. Word up, y’all.

Space is key. I started off with Wedge to his ship first turn. “Y’all, this be my hood.” Last time I played against Giles in a tournament, we played the exact same matchup. Second turn, he came down with Zuckuss, Lateral Damage, some Star Destroyer and beat on Wedge for 10. Needless to say, I was not amused. At least this time ’round I got to my second turn …

Wedge got backup of Elyhek Rue and his ship. “Wedge’s biatch in the house. We iz ready to bring the PAIN. Word up!” Well, X-wings are all well and good, but so are star destroyers and Lateral Damage. Giles lateraled Wedge and beat on his skinny white arse. The red squad scrub’s destiny to power bailed me out, and I looked at the All Wings combo itching to grab Outrider. For some reason, I hadn’t already grabbed the Outrider (Lateral already out? Word!) What’s that, Giles? Two battle damage? Ok … one from hand … umm … one off the top … Outrider. Giles, you are one lucky mof. So I grabbed the Pulsar Skate, but it’s not quite the same …

Next turn, R2 and 3P0 to the Pulsar Skate. Booya. “Shizzle my nizzle, biatch!” I’ve got to learn to stop taunting Giles. Giles brought the noise with Chimaera/Chiraneau/Thrawn. “Yo, I be shizzlin yo nizzle” I grabbed Giles’ Command and played Artoo, I Have A Bad Feeling About This to stop any battle destiny shiznat. I’m not going to bore you with repeated accounts of the space battle that continued all game … basically, my total power of 5 Red Squadron posse eventually kicked about 8 different star destroyers/admirals/bounty hunter ships/fodder at-ats etc. off Bespin. Let me tell you, it would’ve been a lot easier with the Outrider as well!

I had the advantage in one sense, as Red Squadron was cheap, compared to Giles shelling out 8 or so for a star destroyer each turn. This meant that I was able to drain at all my sites, while it took him a while to set up his sites. I also had celebration running. Giles was in the losing position, but he wanted me to lose my hand (4 cards) and retrieve it with Celebration to keep me in the running. Giles, you are one dude. The Dominator went to Hoth to fulfil Battle Plan. I finished it off with Han/Chewie/Falcon.

FW 2(+28)
6(+66)

Scary, huh?!

The Good: Red Squad be bustin a cap in yo ass.
The Bad: Thrawn shizzlin my nizzle.
The Ugly: Dominator = Falcon Fodder.

After this, Adam and I were both 3-1, I think, so we were in with a bit of a chance if someone took down Robbo or Rod.

Game FIVE Dark v ROBBO (Get this … Lightsaber Combat)

Ok, you’ll like this. Robbo started off with (wait for it) Qui-Gon and destiny 5 stick first turn. That makes THREE consecutive dark games against LSC with first turn Qui-Gon. Okay … this is getting boring.

I started off quickly, as usual. Flip with Gaillid and some schmoes, including Mighty Jabba. “Fat bastard in da hood” I grabbed the Flagship Bridge and the Sail Barge with its twix. Generation was not a problem. Somewhere along the line, Robbo went for a docking bay and I got to verify. Alters! Good thing that I controlled 3 JP sites to make Scum immune! Robbo and I are old-skoolers, so we tend to draw up to 12, even though decks without Crush The Rebellion tend not to have Monnok/Grimtaash. Robbo got @#$%y one turn and drew up to 15. Like an idiot, I drained for two, which Robbo lost from hand. I accelerated for Drop. Robbo played OOC, which I grabbed with Allegations Of Corruption.

Apparently Gaillid = the shiz, ’coz Robbo tried to bring the pain to the AC with Jedi Luke for 10. “Shall he pass?” “Yeah, he’s on the guest list.” Robbo dropped Caldera Righim … I had Mighty J, Pimp Xizor and Gaillid. Ability 8 ’cause of Gaillid? Ok … I deployed 4-LOM and moved Gaillid away. Robbo gave Luke a stick, added Lando into the mix and picked a fight. I played Stunning Leader. I added in pee fiddy, deployed First Strike and picked a fight (apparently you should do this if you play Scum). There was a 6 on top of Robbo’s lost pile, so I said lose to First Strike. Robbo lost a 7 from hand and Lando became very big. Smartass. Ok, so I cancelled Lando’s text with 4-LOM. Robbo cut up pee fiddy, I drew three destinies and cancelled Robbo’s with Myo.

Robbo did his thing and drew a few. Surprisingly, he went over 12 with Drop on the table. I guess he must’ve had some recyclables or else just had a plain bad hand. Anyhow, it didn’t really matter when I played old-skool (japanese) Monnok. Robbo showed some respect for the japnok, so it was all good. The game degenerated into a few turns of drainage, with me retrieving an abyssin each turn ’cause you gotta look after yo gees. I also sent Myo to the Generator Core and fought the Obi that made its way there somewhere along the line to retrieve. No point in chopping, Robbo drew destiny. I cancelled with another Myo. Apparently Myo = the shiznat.

Robbo got plucky and deployed another scoundrel Lando to JP. I deployed IG-88, Bob and Myo to bust a cap in his ass. Rodney “I just played dark, so I can’t play you now” Lee came by and commented that Bob would be some good in a MKOS deck. Sure, why not? Anyhow, I picked a fight … and for some reason we had a few spectators … some of whom were standing behind Robbo and looking at his hand. Robbo played Dodge. There were some smug chuckles. I cancelled it with Ghhhk combo. There were a few louder “ooohs”. And then there were battle destiny draws …

FW 2(+20? … not exactly sure … could’ve been anything from 15 to 25!)
8 (+around 85)

The Good: Myo loop.
The Bad: Smiting Lando. He doesn’t have a skinny white ass.
The Ugly: 3 light lightsaber combat decks in a row!

Rod won his last game and we were apparently the top two. As fate would have it, we had both just played dark, so we couldn’t play each other. The pairings were announced. Rod v Robbo. Robbo assured me that he would beat Rod, so no probs there, I just had to win with as high differential as possible.

Game SIX Light v Michael (different Michael from game three) (Senate)

So I look at my opening hand. A few EPPs, some late game red cards, two sites and no ships/pilots/all wings report in. This trend continued for a few turns. Meanwhile, Michael dropped a twix or two and set up the senate with L-O double T to the D-O-D. By the third or fourth turn I finally flipped with Red 7 and moved it to the CC sector to try and avoid a beatdown. Michael came down with tat Maul to Leia and Jar Jar, Zuckuss in Mist Hunter and Dengar in Punishing One to Red 7. Leia hit the bucket and Red 7 went down, taking some force with it. Not a good start.

The major part of this game was, once again, a battle over Bespin. Even with Tunnel Vision every turn, the best that I managed to send up to Bespin was the Outrider with Dash, Corran Horn and R2/3P0 aboard. Michael was cluey enough to grab Artoo, I Have A Bad Feeling About This. Unfortunately, this game was a complete reverse of game 4 and the Outrider was my only ship at Bespin for most of the game. Michael ended up throwing Zuckuss, Dengar, Chimaera, Executor, Guri and Thrawn at me … pretty much all at once! Not a pretty sight! Still, the Outrider managed to hold its own and stayed at Bespin all game.

Meanwhile, on the ground, I had spread out on CC and Michael had Maul sitting at the North Corridor. I used They Win This Round, fought him with Obi and the trippler and played Run Luke, Run. There was no way that the trippler was going to do much with Crush the Rebellion on the table, but at least I would get rid of Maul and an I Have You Now. Instead of playing it correctly, however, and passing on my first action I just cut Maul and played Mess/Proficiency. Why the hell would I screw up like that? Bane Malar also came down by himself. I let him sit around for a turn or two until Michael only had two or so cards in hand and I had a rig. Path Obi over. Cut, draw a 6 … Michael had a Ghhhk. Them’s the breaks.

It came down to Terry calling time and I had Trippler, Han/Chewie/Falcon combo, Lando, Wedge, Wedge’s Ship and the Pulsar Skate in hand. It was looking possible to clear the system, even if I didn’t cause any battle damage. I checked my reserve deck with Independent Operation. 4, 2, 1. That was not going to do it. One more chance. I looked through my force pile for Darklighter Spin. Not there, I must’ve lost it earlier. I looked at Adam, who was watching the game, and said “when in doubt …,” as I took A Stu Manoeuvres. Terry called time again, finish the turn. I played A Stu Manoeuvres. Michael played Masterful Move and put back two senators. We counted up. 15 a piece.

Timed Draw?! Uhh … 1(+0) ????
So I finished on something like 9(+95)

The Good: Michael has improved beyond belief. It was good to see him playing a solid deck and not making mistakes. The tournament scene next year will be more competitive with him and Giles around.
The Bad: Re-read the game.
The Ugly: Michael forgot Secret Plans for his sideboard … it didn’t make much difference, but it must’ve been annoying.

Daniel “There is no way that senate can lose to Watch Your Step” Robertson lost to Rod’s WYS, so I was out of the running anyway. Rod took the tournament undefeated and chose the Qui-Gon. The Maul got raffled off to Frank, the guy who just played in his first tournament, so that was a fair result. Terry gave out 3 junky black border premiere rares to everyone as prizes … I had a Myo in mine! Yay!

Props:

Rod for winning. Do you have enough enhanced Maul and Qui-Gons to finish that toilet paper roll yet, or do you need another box of Theed Palace?
Lee Pullen for being one funny guy.
Giles for the playtest games and for both playing and fighting with an exorbitant amount of Star Destroyers.
Jay-Z for the phrase “shizzle my nizzle.”
Adam for helping me with the ghetto-speak. Word up.
Michael for playing more than one grabber. Apparently that’s some good!
Robbo for being so tech that McDonalds has a happy meal devoted to him.

Slops:

Robbo for having a senate deck that “can’t lose to WYS” … and losing to WYS :P
Me, for not winning my last game, playing Adam twice and not winning the Maul.
Terry for crappy prize support, pairing me against Adam twice and not giving me a shot against Rod.
Big D. They can suck my big D.

Word up,
Luca