a-new-viper-phoenix-az-1-6-02
Title: a-new-viper-phoenix-az-1-6-02
Author: Steve "BlackViper" Marshall
Date: Jan 8, 2002
--- PRE-TOURNAMENT CRAP THAT NO ONE CARES ABOUT ---
The day before was quite an adventure. As many of you know, I fly model airplanes. Once a month, all the pilots get together and throw our planes in the air with streamers behind them and have combat matches. Well, this was the day. I didn’t manage to get any kills, but I didn’t get tagged myself, so I guess I can’t complain. It was a really fun day despite the lack of points. There were only 2 kills all day anyway. My wheels decided they didn’t want to stay on my airplane, so I had to glue them between rounds, but they actually held the rest of the day. Yippee! I got my streamer to wrap around 3 other streamers in different matches, but nothing would cut. That was as close as I could get. And my best friend wasn’t out there - that would have made the day better. But you don’t care about that.
From the airfield (North of Sun City for those of you who know the AZ layout), I drive to Casa Grande to playtest with Scot. It’s a good 2.5 hour drive, and I have no radio. That sucks! I arrive late, but we get some games in. I test out my cool DS that I want to use. I’m missing around 10 cards from the cardlist because I stopped paying Decipher after 2 boxes of Coruscant sucked. That’s when I knew it was over and this was turning into a pure not-for-fun-anymore money game. I’d buy a pack of Ref3 and Theed to support my local store, but that was it. And I never called it a pack of Reflections 3 - it was always "a pack of gay" because that’s what the set should have been called. And I don’t want to be offensive to the heterosexually-challenged readers out there, but none of you were at the store at the time, so it didn’t seem too offensive at the time. I threw some cards in the deck to satisfy the 60 limit and brought it. I destroyed Chris Shaner with it the first time he saw it, and even with the proxies I was 6 cards short at the time. It beat up Scot real good, too. I had 10 cards to change from my Hidden Base because it sucked, so I decided to bring Profit instead. It uses Narrow Escape, Order To Engage, and Out Of Commission, 3 easily cancelled cards. But it’s still fun, so I used it anyway. We test decks and rip apart his Walker deck to get it in working order for tomorrow - I think we changed out 10 or 15 cards. It was heavy. Too many walkers, garrisons, and not enough tech. Although he did play the epic event to blow the generators, which was funny because it would turn out Shaner was playing EBO. It’s a shame the two never played. I get home around 11:30 and realize I haven’t had anything to eat since lunch. I had 1/2 a bag of Doritos on the way to Scot’s house for dinner. Maybe it was because I had no money at all. Yeah, that was it.
So I get to the tournament late because I’m lazy and it’s a 30 minute drive anyway. I get to catch up with the Tempe / Mesa crowd that I never get to see anymore. They’re fun, so I’m glad we finally got together again for a few games. Appearing today are Chris Shaner (Vegas DPC runner-up. Also decided to run through the streets of Vegas - that was the funniest thing I’ve ever seen. Ask him about the mammal song), DJ Andrews (2 time state champ), Jared (the muppet and TD), Scot Vales (infamous for bringing new players to the game - and building them insert or hologram decks), Stephen Stevens (I think that’s his last name - I forgot because I’m a dumbass. He’s quiet but cool), Aaron McCormack (VERY fun guy who’s a good player, too. He thinks he’s good at Laser Quest), Andrew McCormack (Aaron’s little bro who is one of the rare younger kid who’s actually cool to hang around. Likes troopers), Brian Choongphol (strange and unusual deck ideas come from this strange and unusual mind), and Wyatt Everett (he tries ;-). I think there were 2 more, but I can’t remember. Sorry, guys! My decks are Old-Skool Speed Profit for LS and a new twix mains SYCFA for DS. It’s got MAD Force generation (I had to take out 3 twix because it was generating too much) and just about EVERY mains variant all in one, utilizing drop down EPP Vader and Maul to destroy Saber Combat decks. I’ve also got a nice SAC package to take care of that annoying barrier & Set For Stun nonsense. It’s cool, but I don’t have the Theed or Ref3 cards to finish it. I have no idea what my rating is going into this unsanctioned tournament because it just doesn’t matter anymore. On to the games!
--- LET THE GAMES BEGIN ---
GAME 1: LS vs. Scot Vales BHBM
My opening hand was simply unbelievable! Master Luke, Ben, Obi’s Stick, Gift Of The Mentor, both sites (Cantina & Mos Eisley), Chewbacca Protector, and Qui-Gon. Simply amazing. I actually wrote down my hand because I didn’t want to forget it, then I had to keep the paper in my lap so he wouldn’t know what’s coming to kill him. ;-) He drops Mara and Dr. E obviously, so I can handle that. Drop Luke and an armed Kenobi, bounce Dr. E with a 3 *sigh*, Gift, but the old man was too slow to hack up Luke’s assassin. I draw 3, 4, 5, and he draws a 5. He loses Mara and several clearing the site away, and I lose Luke who is brought back to life by Ben. My site. Tee hee. He doesn’t do anything on his turn except draw - his only character on the table is Palpatine at the DS2 Throne Room, and he doesn’t have any Force saved. Adding that Goo Nee Tay and Restricted Deployment are on the table, I’m not worried about any beatdown crew on the way. Since Gift and The Signal were my only Lost Pile and I wasn’t going to be taking damage any time soon, I decided to free Han without paying to retrieve, damage 1, drain 2. Chewie soon added to the mix as Ben and Luke were dancing to the beat of the Cantina Shuffle.
Vader DLOTS soon took over as Luke’s dancing partner, but Ben, Han, and Chewie narrowly escape the battle at Mos Eisley because Solo likes his lungs intact. I decide it’s time to drop Order To Engage. Ref3 Lando and Qui-Gon drop in front of IG88 With Riot Gun and Dr. E at Jabba’s Palace, but they don’t want to fight just yet. He decides to tango, but I’ve got a Fallen Portal with IG’s name on it (because it works at Jabba’s Palace!). The ability-0 droid had somehow forseen the danger and avoided the door, but I can still Narrow Escape in front of the Dark Lord at his Mos Espa Docking Bay (where Fallen Portal also works - tee hee). I hid behind him so he couldn’t see me, and Order To Lose Force started to hit him. I shuffle and make him lose more cards, and his pile is really getting low. I move Qui-Gon and Chewie in front of Vader to avoid the drain of 2 after he moves to Mos Eisley in late game. He initiates, Vader chokes his wookiee, and I draw a 1. I lose Qui-Gon to cover my damage and give him a card from hand to stack. I would rather lose 1 card and 2 from the table instead of taking 2 from the drain, so I’m not worried. That’s the first card he’s stacked all game. I damage drain him out next turn.
FW by 36
2 (+36)
The Good: Did I just say 36? With PROFIT of all things? And OTE, Narrow Escape, Out Of Commission, and all those other easily cancelled cards? These strategies aren’t dead unless your opponent plays the counters, people. Make no mistake.
The Bad: Scot’s a good friend and fun to play, so beating him by 36 was just kinda harsh.
The Ugly: That starting hand was a beast. I couldn’t have asked for better cards. I should have deployed Luke from the reserve deck turn 1, though. One mistake. Whatever.
Props To Opponent: I playtested this deck with Scot over many months, and I know it inside out. That made my choices a little easier. He chose BHBM instead of the Walkers that we had just worked on last night because I knew it card for card. Scot’s fun, but he just didn’t have anything resembling a chance this game.
So that was quite a way to begin my first tournament in months. (Having 5 people doesn’t count as a tourney, guys.) This is supposed to be a fun tournament, so I decide I’m going to make a few game errors in favor of fun. The day isn’t sanctioned anyway, so who cares? My diff should keep me alive for a little while as it is. If it starts to hurt, I’ll buckle down again.
GAME 2: DS vs. Jared Arthur’s Hidden Base
Jared usually takes me, but I’ve got 5 heavy-duty ships in this game. In fact, despite my opening hand of all red cards (and no Lateral Damage), I manage to draw 4 of the 5 ships in the next 2 turns. We set up our game slowly, as I can’t get the cards I need and he’s getting his systems to the table. Bravo 1 and another Bravo meet up with the Super Falcon at Kessel, but he’s not flipped so I’m only taking 1. My hand is too much fun and I activate an insane amount of Force, so I make one of those fabled game errors in favor of having some fun. In a single turn, mind you, I activate enough to drop down the Executor, Thrawn, Zuckuss, and Dengar to Kessel for a rumble. I was 1 Force short of dropping the Dominator as well, but whatever. If I was playing seriously, I would have waited until I had found an Imperial Command, and maybe even a Set For Stun. But I should have waited for the Command. I didn’t know just how much I would need it until this battle was over. He draws 5 battle destinies!!!!! FIVE IS A LOT OF BATTLE DESTINIES!!!!! I can either kill off the Executor (with Thrawn aboard), or lose everything except the Mother Ship. He tries to explain that he’s immune to my low draws (one of which was ironically the Lat Dam), but I mention that I’ve got Dengar in the battle and he can logically only lose EPP Leia. I drop the Executor in favor of keeping my destiny draw, although I wonder what would have happened if I had kept the 12 power and 15 forfeit instead. That’s something for next time, I guess.
The severe beating next turn ended the game for me. He adds Jek and Wedge and takes me for all I’ve got plus 21 cards. He drops Corran Horn against Janus to end my tracking for now (I play 2 Janus cause he’s cool), but Xizor retaliated. I drew a 1, so he lost 4 cards instead of his character. He adds another character next turn to beat up on Xizor, and Corran Horn is the only survivor of the battle.
At this point, I’ve got 4 cards in my hand. Vader, I Have You Now, Dominator, and Lateral Damage. I’ve only got enough Force to put out one beat-down before I die, so I’ve got to decide if it’s going to be in space or on the ground. I need vengeance upstairs, so I go for it. I Damage the lone Falcon with only Captain Han piloting and drop the Dominator in front. He loses the Captain and a few cards, but I get low in Force after the next drain and he pulls out Our Most Desperate Hour. DOH!!! I’m down to 2 Force left in the deck and nothing to do with it. I Broken Con him a few times, but he gets tired of that and drains one away. He’s used OMDH to get Force back twice now (using Tibrin to get OMDH back again), and I don’t want him to have the last 5 cards! I search for an Evader / I Have You Now (there are 5 IHYN in the deck, maybe I’ll get lucky and lose), but it turns out to be Palpatine. I don’t have any way to pull a Dark Jedi out of my deck! I search every card on the table for game text that will allow me to lose a Force to perform an action or search for Imperials or anything, but nothing works. He retrieves his entire lost pile and drains me out.
FL by 35
2 (+1)
The Good: Generating enough Force in a single turn to drop the army in front of his army. When this deck is finished, it may very-well be unstoppable. Did I mention that I took a beating by 35 in game 2 and I’ve still got a positive diff?
The Bad: Zuckuss and Dengar taking the beating that would cost me the game. I should have waited for the Command, but I wanted to have some fun!
The Ugly: Retrieving that much Force made the game seem much more one-sided than it actually was. He actually beat me by about 10-15 cards.
Props To Opponent: It was a fun game, so I can’t complain. Jared always provides some kind of entertainment when we play, and this was his only game all day that didn’t take 2 hours to finish. ;-)
So I remember thinking that if my diff got in trouble, I’d have to buckle down and play right. Well, I think it’s about that time. I’m going to play the DS right, and it’s not going to lose again today. That’s just that. As for Profit, well I think it can handle what everyone else is playing. Aaron is playing Lightsaber Combat so that could be hard to win, but that’s the only dark deck I fear right now. In all reality, I wanted to play Andrew. Not because it’s an easy win - because in all truth, against Profit or a DS without any direct damage, troopers are NOT an easy win. But I think it would be the most fun game I could have on the day. But this day would have much different ideas for me.
GAME 3: DS vs. Stephen’s TIGIH
I didn’t know it at the time, but he was actually using Patrick Hug’s deck. I was expecting troopers, then speeders, then Y-Wings, and I finally ran out of ideas when he kept dropping regular characters to his regular sites. He starts Goo Nee Tay, which should prevent my ability to deploy Vader. But I play Imperial Supply, and I always get it in my starting hand when I play against Goo Nee Tay for some reason. I don’t know how it happens - my opponents always shuffle and cut my decks for me, so it’s not like I can stack it on the top. And since my last name isn’t Kitani, I have no explanation as to how it happens. It just does. So I drop EPP Vader to the Endor DB to let him generate only 3 Force. I finally show intelligence and ask him if he has any action, and he says no. I Alter his Goo Nee Tay! He says wait wait he wants to deploy a shield, but I point out that it’s not a just action to my Alter, and he passed his action, so it goes through unhampered. He drops the There Is No Try anyway after my Alter goes through, but the damage is done.
Then I make the minor mistake of deploying Rendili. I shouldn’t have dropped it until I had a ship, because I was pretty sure he didn’t have space in his deck. I didn’t want to give him any extra activation until I could drain in space. Oops. Whatever. A few turns later I’ve got Thrawn aboard the Dominator with Presence Of The Force anyway, so I can live with it. I couldn’t find Admiral Cheerios to add to the drain, but it would hardly matter.
He deploys a rather random Naboo site, waits a turn, and throws Ref3 Obi, Ref3 Qui-Gon, Ref3 Lando, and the Queen there next turn. I deploy P-59, Mighty Jabba, 4LOM w/ gun, Ozzel, and EPP Maul. I don’t battle. He tries to Sorry About The Mess Maul away, but I sense it. It’s worth the 2 card loss plus the Sense. That wasn’t very nice of him to try, so I punish Qui-Gon by taking his little glow-stick away with a Disarmed, the reason I didn’t battle. He is enraged by this action, so he deploys his enraged wookiee right there on the table. He pays 8 for it because of Bad Feeling and battles. I cancel Lando’s destiny-adding game text, kill a lot of stuff, and lose only Ozzel. That’s what he’s there for, after all. He loses the Queen and Chewie because Maul’s first saber slice is cancelled. I know I’ve got a 6 on top of my deck, so I draw for him again, but right under the 6 is a 1!!! Drat. And since I cancelled Lando’s game text, he doesn’t have to pay for his upkeep. Double drat!
I drop Xizor alongside Vader, Palpy, and IG-88 to face off against an armed Panaka and Corran Horn with a tracked deck. I initiate against Obi, Qui-Gon, and Lando with a plan. I would forget this plan halfway into the battle because I’m a bad player (a tracked deck doesn’t do much if you forget which order you were planning on doing your actions!). I was planning on slicing Lando with the 2 & 3 because he was the only one I could hit, shooting Obi-Wan with the tracked 6 +1, missing Qui-Gon to burn the 1 and 2, and drawing a 5 for destiny. Instead, I slice Lando, realize that I’ve got a 6 tracked and go for Qui-Gon instead (forgetting why I missed him last time), miss again, and miss Obi with P-59’s weapon destiny of 2. I still kill everyone except Kenobi and lose only P-59 to keep my multiple destinies, so the mistakes didn’t cost me too much. I initiate at the other site with only a 3 in my deck. I capture Panaka as my first action. I don’t have a destiny draw, but Xizor makes sure Corran Horn doesn’t, either. Vader turns Corran Horn into sliced ham, and I outpower him by a ton. Game.
FW by 20
4 (+21)
The Good: At least it was a fun, interactive game. That’s what my decks are designed to provide from now on - interaction. It’s the only way to keep this dead game fun. I told you my DS wouldn’t lose again.
The Bad: He wasn’t used to this kind of deck - it’s not his style. That hurt his entire day.
The Ugly: The absolute destruction of Corran Horn. Everyone took a beating stick to the guy!
Props To Opponent: Stephen is a good sport, and he’s fun to play against. Remember, it’s not that he lost - the deck just didn’t hold up! ;-)
So I’m going home with at least a 50-50 day, that’s always good. But I want to win again! I’ve been stuck in the middle the last few tournies I’ve actually gone to, and I want to break out of the rut.
As the last round is called out, my name comes out at the last pairing! Stephen had to leave for a family thing, so we’re stuck with a bye last round. It’s going to either Andrew or Wyatt, and both of them actually want it so they can go play video games instead. tee hee. Andrew suggests that it should go to Scot "because he actually wants to win" and it’s the funniest thing said all day long. Lil McCormack is talking smack to Scot! That’s awesome! Turns out Andrew would get the bye, so I play Wyatt.
GAME 4: LS vs. Wyatt Everett’s Endor Bikes
Well, this should be rather one sided. No offense to Wyatt of course, but if I keep Han indoors and Escape the bikes to keep the OTE damage flowing, there just shouldn’t be any problems all game long. I free Han after he does 4 points of damage and Signal for OTE. I’ve got a pair of Narrow Escapes in my hand, and I track them through my deck all game long. I would never come across the other 2, but it just doesn’t matter. His bikers duck under my Goo Nee Tay, but I drop Restricted Deployment and he gets all upset. It’s a good card, and it eats into him all game. ;-) I let him initiate against Ben and Han at Jabba’s Palace with his 4 bikes. He drops his effect that gives his guys armor of 3, so I can’t easily Portal Avarik and the attrition-sucking guy. I go for the attrition biker that I can’t think of his name and it’s bugging me but it starts with an I but isn’t Irol!!!
Wow, that was quite a sentence.
I Portal the guy and kill him off, and he gets upset. Then I weapon lev one of his guns away. He gets more upset. Then I narrow Escape so he can’t shoot Han and Ben, and he doesn’t know what to do. He doesn’t get a single shot in because everything I did was a ’just’ action, and the battle ended before his weapons phase! I’ve never gotten 3 just actions in a single battle before, so that was all cool. This is the first game he’s ever seen the Narrow Escape / OTE combo, so that bugs him a bit, too. I keep Han inside with Master Luke and shuffle the Skywalker inside and outside to keep the direct damage going and also keeping Han indoors. With my Narrow Escapes tracked, he doesn’t get a single battle to the weapons phase, and I can sit in front of him to block his drains. He just can’t do any damage, and I do a LOT.
FW by 31
6 (+52)
The Good: After he uses his single quarter, Andrew is sitting beside Wyatt bashing tracking. It won me the game without any trouble. Learn, boy! Learn!
The Bad: This was just a bad matchup for Wyatt, and there really wasn’t anything he could have done better than what he did. It happens.
The Ugly: I had him under my thumb, and it was dirty. He could keep his bikes at JP and Mos Eisley to drain for 2 somewhere then lose 3 to OTE, or he could stack his bikes at a single site, no drain, but no loss of 3. What do you do?
Props To Opponent: Wyatt is just a fun player. He knows it’s a game, and he plays to have fun. This is the type of person that can continue to enjoy the game when Big D stops making money from it.
So I finish well. Profit (of all things) won both games by over 30! Simply amazing. Chris Shaner takes first place and DJ finishes second, but we were kicked out of the Memorial Union before Jared could figure out other scores. I’m not sure how Jared, Choongie, or Aaron did. I’m guessing with the 52 dif and 3 wins I probably came third, but I’m not entirely sure.
--- POST-TOURNAMENT STUFF YOU REALLY DON’T CARE ABOUT ---
So after the tourney, we decide to go bowling because it’s just fun. Our group includes myself, Jared, Aaron, Andrew, Wyatt, Choongie, and Shaner. I meet up with a buddy on the way so I’m late, but they’ve got their 6 players anyway so I just watch. No one wants to see me bowl anyway - I’ve got no money (I played without prize support), and my bowling skills are right up there with my ability to beat Brian Hunter consistantly.
Now there are a few things you should know about our bowlers. It provided quite the entertainment!
Chris Shaner: Easily the best bowler in the bunch, so he decides to take a handicap and bowls left handed. He won anyway, although in the first game he had to take a couple frames right handed so he wouldn’t get beat by the 12-year-old! Twice he left only he 7 pin standing and had to pick up the spare left-handed. No matter how bad or off the ball looked, it would spin and find the pin anyway. I immediately accused him of tracking 7s.
Aaron McCormack: Lines up left, takes 5 steps, then throws the thing. It’s halfway down the alley before it hits the ground! But he’s good. He’s got a nice pre-emptive victory dance, and every time he does it, a single pin will always remain standing just to spite him.
Andrew McCormack: The kid has the straightest bowl you’ve ever seen. The ball doesn’t even roll - it just glides without turning. I think he secretly sets the ball on the ground and uses a Force Push to get it down the lane. Gave Shaner a run for his money (literally) - twice.
Wyatt Everett: The guy must be on the track team. I say this because he doesn’t step or glide before he bowls - he runs. And when he stops to keep away from the fowl line, he almost falls. The closer to falling he gets, the better the frame will be.
Jared Arthur: He hops. He’s a hopping Muppet. And the ball hops, too. He will really take two steps and jump into the air, land on one foot, and chuck the ball at the pins. The combined *thud* from the ball and his body landing at the same time is quite the frightening sight. Always leaves the 10 pin standing - ALWAYS. We even started betting him dollars if he could leave only the 10 pin each frame. Jared walked away a rich, rich man. :-)
Brian Choongphol: This is his first time bowling. After he figures out how to hold the ball, how to avoid the gutter, how to not piss off the redneck bowling next to you, and how to hit more than just the two end pins, he did rather well. He even picked up a strike and several spares.
So it was fun. Their "arcade" room had a basketball game with a caged area keeping you away from the baskets. Turns out Andrew can’t shoot to save his life, even to the point where the ball went on the roof of the game and just stayed there. His rebounds - the ones that hit the side of the game and went back away - hit me twice. Then Jared picks up a couple games and shows us all what’s up. Yeah, suddenly we ALL suck at basketball. But it was fun.
So this was quite the fun weekend. Nothing went wrong, and I got to see a lot of friends that I haven’t been around in a long time. Here are your props and slops:
PROPS:
* Jared for running the cool tournament
* Choongie for bowling
* McCormacks and crew for coming down to play
* Profit for winning both games by more than 30
* Everyone who came down for continuing friendships instead of ratings
SLOPS:
* ASU for having a not-as-good-as-when-I-was-there & expensive arcade
* ASU for not having open resteraunts the day before classes start!
* Me for being too good a person to bash Decipher in the Slops section
* Mike for hurting me and screwing over your own son’s future just to cover your own @#$% - you know what I’m talking about.
Thanks for reading! I’m still around as long as I’ve got friends who will still play. Long live tracking! Until next time,
-Steve