fcon-by-brian-fred-the-way-i-remember-it
Title: fcon-by-brian-fred-the-way-i-remember-it
Author: john "comando" matrix
Date: Feb 16, 2002
so like a month later i decide to call up steve brentson and see what the heck he has been up to.he starts telling me about how worlds is back on.im like wtf(again).this is also about a month before it is supposed to take place.he asks me if im going.well last i heard it wasnt going on so i had no cash saved up,and had no clue how i was supposed to get around 300 bucks in less than a month.im like no man i cant make it.he starts tellen me how this is probaly the last chance i will have to do sometihng like this.because the liscense is gona run out,and everyone thinks the game is gona die cause they canceled dcon.steve really gets to me,and i know how bad i wana go since i had qualified and hadnt gone last year.he offers to pay for half my plane ticket,and now i am really considering it.about this time i tell my mom what is oging on,and she reminds me about my ticket from last year.i get on the phone with my dad,and start discussing it.we find out i can cash in my ticket at like 75 % its value towards i new ticket.he also tells me he will give me 150 $ as my b day and christmas money.i get ahold of steve again,tell him about the ticket,and he takes care of the rest.hells yeah,im goin 2 worlds again!!!
i have a local tourny about a week before i go.i have senate decks for both sides,and they appear pretty strong.i play them at the local and go 5-1,losing once with my darkside cause i made a silly mistake and ended up getting my vader crossed to the lightside Vs tigih.however i still like my deck knowing that i sohuldnt have lsot a game,but mistakes do happen.
so it is the day,the day of destiny.i am prepared for worlds(or so i think)and ready to win some stuff(t.v.,video game systems,games,etc) so i drive up to indianapolis with my mom,and she drops me off before she goes to work.i have to get there 5 hours early because of her work scheduele.so i am siting in the airport and am soooo bored.(have any of you spent 5 hours in an airport?) i decide to start messing with my decks.i pull out this profit deck that i think is half way decent.change a few cards in it and decide its fine.i have a tdigwatt deck that absolutely crushes saber combat,and i am planning on using this deck at worlds.i also fix up my lightside senate deck cause i think its money.about an hour left and im sitting here falling asleep.i decide to get up and walk around,smoke a few cigs,and before you know it my flight is ready.
after a layover in pittsburgh i finally make it to virginia beach.steve was gona be there waiting for me.now i havent seen steve in over a year at this point.i didnt know he would be wearing glasses,i guess he didnt know i would be wearing glasses now either.so i see this guy who looks like steve,i squint a little,and low and behold it is steve brentson.we stroll out to the front of the airport and get a cab.we start talking about tech on the way to the hotel.i ask about bongo,but he says something about retirement.
we get to the hotel,and put our @#$% away.we grab our cards and decide to go find something to eat.i decide to pay for lunch,since steve is the reason i am here in the 1st place and helped me get my ticket.we bust out some goofy decks at lunch.i have my profit,and he has a type 2 senate deck.he rapes me 2 games in a row with it,and i decide i cant play a deck that loses to an episode 1 deck.1 deck down
we get back to the hotel,and start lokkin for peeps we know.after we make it to the 2nd floor i see some people i recognize.chris praskak,clint hayes,and a few others.i had never met hayes hunter before this point,and he was also there.after while people like brian hunter start roaming around.i paly some pick up games and check out what is going on.then my good friend dave dalton shows up.i havent seen this guy in like 2 years.we shoot the @#$% for awhile,and talk about old times.so after play testing and hanging out awhile we go back up to the room and order pizza.we are checking out the tv and making some changes to decks.we go downstairs again for a few,and play test some with out new decks/changes.i find out evan fitzgerald won the last man standing and gets a spot in day 3.im pretty happy for him cause it means we have another corellian in the tourny.then we head back up to go 2 bed.we are flipping through the channels again,and some how we end up looking at the pay per view/porn channels.im like dude turn this @#$% off,and he is like ok.so he hits something,and then the porn channel starts coming in.he turns it off right after the porn channel becomes clear,and im like "dude,flip it back on" so he does,and this goofy @#$% porn is on now.@#$%ing steve acidentally hit the order button while he was trying to turn it off.the 2 buttons are really close 2 each other,,,either that or he did it on purpose-lol.so we watch for awhile,and make fun of how lame it is,and how goofy the music is.we start calling people names on there.all of the guys we call jim stud,,,steve made this up,i dont know what it means,but it is @#$%ing hilarious.so i lmao for awhile,and say i am calling 1 of my world decks "jim stud number 1"
we get up the next day.it is friday now,and we still dont have to play.we decide to get some more pick up games going.i am play testing huntdown and mkos all weekend,and trashing people,but i know i want to play tdigwatt so i dont practise with it cause i dont want peeps to know what i have.also along the line i find out my light senate deck is ass.i start play testing my wys,and the 1st game i use it i play brian hunter.this is the 1st time i have ever played him,and i am kinda nervous.i make a mistake and it costs me big.he smashes me out by 37 with some other dudes deck.man that sucked.so anyways my friend dave dalton comes out and he looks more dejected after every game(he is playing in the day 2 qualifier) i think he ends up dropping and playing raw deal.at about 11 pm some dude decides to run a tournament.i start tellen everyone to get signed up.i go with wys,and tdigwatt.they call pairings,and im thinken i will get an easy game in cause alot of randoms are there.1st game steven lewis.great.
my tdigwatt Vs steven lewis’s rst
i drop executer 1st turn at bespin using you may never again leave this city.his 1st he pulls general cal,and squadren assigns him to gold squad 1.he also has 9 numb in hand,of all the luck.he drops agaisnt executer,and battles.i end up losing 4 cards so i can keep the big e.my next i deploy ga thrawn ready for the kill,and he it can waits.i fly to endor with the e.he starts deploying down to endo getting ready to blow the bunker.i come back to bespin with thrawn and guri on the e,and drop some mofo to the db.he leaves bespin and sets up menace fades.my turn i set up the deal and cco.with menace i cant hurt him much though.he blows the bunker,and on his turn drops obi on 1 of my peeps on cc.he swings and hits,and we kill each other and i lose like 2.i deploy baron fel agaisnt gold squad 1,and a tie gun.battle and shoot,i draw a 1.he precedes to kill baron and his ship with his 2 destiny.the rest of the game he drains and i drain.his drains are more at this point,and he is ahead by alot.fl by around 20
after that game the next 3 games went by in a blur.i don’t remember the names of the 3 people i played.i had never played any of them though.i won both games with my wys,and lost both with tdigwatt.
so we go back up to the room.pizza is closed cause it is so late,so we end up hitting the 7-11 for some chips.i am pretty rattled at this point,cause the dark deck i was planning on playing at worlds the next day just got it’s @#$% handed to it.i have been wrecking people all weekend with huntdown and mkos,but i wasnt fully confident in them.it then dawns on me that i should play my dark senate deck.i hadnt play tested this deck for like 2 weeks,but after much thought i decide to go with my dark senate,and i decide to go with my wys because it is the deck i know the best and have the most faith in.so i fill out my deck lists,after changing a few cards,and hit the sack.
next day roles around,steve is filling out his lists when i wake up.he decides to go with a version of wys much like mine,and his faithful watto deck.so we go down and grab some food in the diner,and talk 2 scott lingrell a bit.
time for the tournament finally
1st game:my dark senate Vs evan fitzgerald’s boom race
i didnt like my chances in this game,cause the bunker damage hurts alot.i start out pulling carida,and flipping with lott dod and random senater.he draws on his turn.next turn i get out a walker to my battle plains and a have the "minus 3 to a destiny" political effect.he comes down with general solo and cracken and battles,and cancels my draw.i lose my pilot.i move my walker away after deploying a pilot.he puts down another crew and attacks again,but i lose nothing because i subtract 3(i would do this all game)race hits,and i lose 6.i go to space with the chimera and thrawn,and his back door with another walker because all his people are on naboo.he puts a crew in the bunker to try and blow it,but i come in with epp maul(that i won in the local tourny before worlds) and clear the site.he comes down again on his next turn,and i put out epp vader and clear the site.i do my once per game retrievel and get maul and vader back.he comes down a 3rd and final time,and i use lott to pull maul again,and clear the site again.after that i drain him out. fl win +20 some
highs:my senate deck won.woo hoooooo
lows:playing 1 of only 2 other people from my region 1st game
game 2:my wys Vs a kid who i think some 1 called harry potter’s endor opps
i have no clue what to expect when he turns over endor opps.i set up fast with i’ll take the leader,and get some docking bays and tatookie system out.he puts up a huge fight in space once i put kessel out.this whole game was battling,and me running away alot.after maul died in space i was able to drain freely,and he had to pay for battle order.i dont remember many specifics in this game.fl by about 15
4+(about 35)
game 3:my dark senate Vs chris mcclure’s lsc
i start out about the same as last game.pull carida,and some naboo docking bays.and flip with lott dod,and yeb yeb.
he gets down a epp luke at the generator core.i drop down epp vader,and get barriered.next turn he battles vader and we both die.i am using yeb yeb all this time.i get 2 qui gons,and 2 obis with yeb yeb,and he is having trouble finding anyone.i get some walkers out at the battle plains,and a docking bay and start hitting him for drains,plus senater direct damage.he us using baragwins like a champ and saving alot of force,but he doesnt really do much besides that.after the game he says "boy,your real good,you beat a 13 year old"i say to him"yeah.and if i lost i bet you would make fun of me for losing to a 13 year old"turns out later on i heard some 1 telling a tail of him making fun of them for losing to a 13 year old.fl +20
6+(about 55)
highs:beating saber combat,being 3-0
lows:being a champ for beating a 13 year old??
game 4:my wys Vs chris praskak’s watto deck
he is really not feeling well,and telling me how he keeps having to go to the rest room.he isnt in his normal mind state i dont think.looks really dejected.anyways.his 1st turn he flips,makes me lose 2 for his obj,and gets out search and destroy.my turn i put down ecc lando agaisnt watto,he barriers.i am ok cause i got dodge in hand though.i save 2.his turn he gets a epp vader for free vs lando.he battles,i dodge to safety.i get out some ships to tat,and i back up lando.i save 2 all game so he cant hit me with damage,sometimes i lsoe 2 because i think he may play a ship.he gets the executer out and we fight in space alot.i catch his imperial command.and eventually start to wittle away at him.this was a reall close game,and i played like a champ.i end up edging him out by about 10.fl +10
so now i am 4-0 (8 + about 65)
david irvine and i go to grab some lunch.while we are waiting for the food i start feeling sick.so i have to spend about 20 mins in the b room.then i scarf my pizza down.while we are waiting for pairings i see brian rippetoe and i are the last 2 undefeated’s.i hear people asking "Who the heck is brian fred" and clint tells a few people how i was one of the greats back in the day,and i had quit for like a year.
game 5:my dark senate Vs rippetoe’s throne room mains
throne room eh.havent seen this in along time.his 1st he pulls ddta so i cant get carida.he drops yoda"master of the force" to my battle plains(which i was starting with cause i feared revos)im thinking oh well i can cancel that drain till i am set up.i flip with 2 senaters(not lott dod) this draw is horrible.i dont even have a senater for my pol effect.i drop battle order shield.he activates a ton(cause he also had 3 twix site opening hand) and uses the tunnel vision he got with yoda(control/tunnel) and then spends 3 to drain even though i have the pol effect.damn! he then drops booush at the battle plains.im like ok.next turn he draisn again.i say cancel it.he says "no,read booush"i pick her up and read her and im like omg,cant cancel force drains when she is under cover at same and related sites.it burns!!!so i lose 2. he backs yoda up.i get lott dod out,and i still havent found endor or carida so i am getting like 6 force a turn.he gets phylo next door to yoda at my docking bay,and backs her up.now it is 5 i cant cancel,yay!!so i finally get a system,and put out chimera,guri, and evax.he has been using naked droid all game,and he is getting mad force.he drops home one with a crew of peeps and battles.i have toonbuk out so i get to add big time attrition on him.so i lose evax.he lsoes 2 peeps.next turn i get thrawn down,and battle,he reacts with spiral.i kill the spiral and another guy.he pulls han out of the bacta tank,and puts him back on home 1.all the while he is draining me for 5 i cant cancel.finally i kill home 1,but he stalled me long enough,and was draining for 5 a turn and i couldnt stop him.full loss by about 25
8+(40 some)
highs:ummmmm....
lows:getting a terrible draw,and finding out what else booush did(the hard way)
game 6: my wys Vs brad reinhold’s huntdown solid
he starts the game by getting lord vader down to my db 1st turn.so i eat for visage.i get a ship to the system.lose to visage.his next he doesnt drain,and moves vader to cantina.i get some monkeys out on the ground and flip.he drops empy in the cantina,and puts down blizzard 4 and pulls tarkin,and moves vader out.i lsot 1 of my tat db’s off the top 1st card.so only sites on tat are cantina,db 94,and spaceport db.so i finally cancel visage,but he is drawing everything he needs.on turn 5 he has out empy,and ig88 in the cantina,blizzard 4,lord vader w/ stick,and tarkin at a db,epp maul and dre combo at the other db.and on his 5th turn he puts out ga thrawn and the chimera,and plays an imperial command so i can only draw 1.i think i was flustered at this point because if his draw,and i drew 5’s over and over(chimera immune to less than 6)and i never remembered to paly my starting interupt from lost pile to kill thrawn.his draw was so god like,and i was coming off i horrible game,and i self destructed.full loss by about 25
8+(15)
highs:ummmm....see last game
lows:his draw was so killer,my friend copied hayes deck(same as what reinhold jsut played)and played agaisnt my wys 2 times,and i crushed him both times.brad’s draw was jsut to good
game 7:my wys Vs paul meyers mkos
this was do or die time for us both.i start camp,and aim high.his 1st turn he just draws,cause all his peeps are to much ro deploy.i get dash out at the system.his turn he puts down might jabba,and bib and some other dude at audience chamber.my turn i put people at 2 sites on the ground with i’ll take the leader out,and deploy battle plan shield.his turn draw.i drain and draw on mine.his turn he puts some guys down at another site.basically i jsut drain and draw from here on out.on everyone of his turns all he does is put myo down,battle,retrieve 2 and cancel my draw.all game he does this.he is taking like 5 mins a turn,and finally i have to call a judge over cause there is only 15 mins left and all he does every turn is drop myo,and battle and retrieve.i use ooc and pull his guri,so now he isnt gona come to space.i get kessel,and drop 1 guy at every tat site cause there is now 10 mins left,and he has over 30 cards.i can tell at this point he is going for time win,just like what he did to hayes last game.i am palying so fast,and trying to get him to play so fast,that i dont even notice he plays boba fett again(even though boba is removed from the game)the game has like 2 mins left,he is taking his good sweet time again on his turn.he battles,i swing my light saber,but dont say at who cause i am trying 2 hurry to fast.the judje watching the games instructs me as to what i should do.he says paul gets to pick who dies,but paul wants to waste more time so he calls another judge.she says i shuffle,pick who i wana target,and draw over.so now it is still his turn with less than a minute.he sits there thinking,and taking his good sweet time again.he says"i will use 3 force to use quick reflexes to retrieve a hidden weapons"he takes like 15 seconds to find it.finally i get my turn and drain for like 8,just enough and get the full win.i drained him for over 30 last 4 turns of game by the way.full win +17
10+(32)
highs:beating the staller that stalled hayes out of last game,and being 1 game away from finals
lows:this is the 1st time i have ever had to call a judje over 2 watch a game,and after the game,the female judge cussed at me cause she thought i was being an @#$% about it.she didnt have to paly in that game though,and didnt see him stall all game
i go outside for a smoke asap cause i am soooo pissed.when i get out there marten akkeson,and yannick lapointe are smoking also.i was like wtf,cause i have never seen either of them smoke.i tell them about the game,as best i can cause i am so pissed and out of breath at this point.i smoke 2 cigs while i am out there trying 2 calm myself.i think they both agreed how much bull that game sounded like.
last game,game 8:my senate Vs i wana say matt berta,but i dont know if that is right,he is from the uk,playing lsc
i had beaten a lsc deck earlier,so i knew i could win this game.i flip 1st turn with tikkes,and lott dod,and his 1st turn he puts qui gon out.so i set up my walker direct damage with the senater who makes them lsoe 1 for every naboo site i control.he sacs yisyw and grabs honor,and plays it.i only have 2 naboo battle grounds so i cant make him lsoe force now cause of honor.he is draining like a machine inside,and i am draining like a machine outside.about the time i get my 3rd battleground he gets booush out to block my drains at the battl plains.i never see yeb yeb all game,so i cant do the extra damamge i needed with him.he is about 20 cards up on me when i get the direct damage flowing.we are both paying for battle order,and the 20 card advantage he had on me was dwindeling,but the damage had been done.he ends up edging me out by 7.so we both finish 5-3.i was diapointed,but i had a great time playing.steve also went 5-3,and so did evan.matt scott from ohio went 4-4.so we didnt do 2 bad
after the final 6 was announced we go order some pizza,and buy some beer.steve is still trying 2 play people with his type 2 senater deck.i think maybe he should have played that at worlds-lol.after awhile we go back down stairs.dave dalton and matt scott go back to their room,and i run into jason kilby and david irvine.we go back up to the room to have some more beers,and dave and matt are in the room also.we play a game of hearts for money.i end up winning like 10 bucks all together.we go back down and find out that the final 4 is 2 hunter’s,a bastian,and a marten.dave and matt disapear.we go back up to my room and brentson is watching tomb raider.i kinda watch it but am not paying attention.we start talking about the team tournament.and decide we will play.irvine,and kilby are watcging tomb raider off the mirror behind my bead cause they are sitting at a weird angle.i leave to go up to dave;s room.there is hit everywhere.i look around,,,trash all over.so i grab a bag og chips and throw it on the floor.we are all pretty buzzed at this point,and a little delirious.i keep walking around and grabbing random things and throwing them on the floor.we all laugh.dalton has these shoe odor eater like things laying outside on the ledge.i am like wtf,,,and he is like they stink bad man.so i get 1 of them between my feet,and sorta like do some crazy hackey sack move,and the odor eater flies at matt’s head.he gets the blanket up to shield himself before it hits.then he starts trying 2 get away from it and he throws it.i find this spoon on the floor and pick the other 1 up and hide it in the chair under this dude named veesey’s book bag.dalton throws the other 1 out side,but i pick it up with the spoon,and sit it on veesey’s pillow.dave says"that isnt right"and picks it up with the spoon,and trys to wedge it into the register.this was @#$%ing hilarious,but alas i am tired.
i go back up to the room and every one is gone.i go down and watch the final duel(congrats bastian).after words i go back up and steve wakes up for a few.says a few unintelligent things and falls back 2 sleep.then i hit the rack to
in the morning steve is like come on we gotta play in the team tourny.im like no dude my head hurts.we pack up and head down stairs.david irvine and jason kilby are given me hell for trying 2 bail on the team so i end up playing.i decide to use my huntdown,and wys again.my head hurt so bad i only remember a few things about this tourny.i went 2-2.winning both my games with wys,and losing both my games with huntdown.and both the games i lsot were to light senate.1 of the games i won with wys was agaisnt sycfa,but im sorry man i dont rememeber your name
my huntdown Vs andy mcclutes light senate
this game kinda suckec cause i played like a tard.he starts dtf,and battle order.i set up my peeps at db’s,and he gets horax and palpy to flip.then he starts using hit and run on my jedi.i am being a moron,and not saving force to use force field,and i have you now so he is killing my guys,and losing his every turn,plus causeing a few overflow.i put presense on his jedi council chamber,and put a guy there.he drops some dude with stick and kills me,,,didnt save force again.arent i smart.he drains a few here and there,and jsut kills all my guys.good game for him,abd for me
my huntdown Vs dan kitzman light senate
his is much different than andy’s.he starts out squad assigning wedge to coruscant system.i get out my guys.i am so wrecking him this game.he trys to battle me twice when he has a destiny set on colo claw fish to kill my vader.and i dark strike him twice.he is a little bent out of shape because i am playing 2 sniper/dark strike,but im like "dude this is lafayette tech.he covers up his coruscant with the se version and is hitting me 3 a turn.he only has 1 guy on the ground.corran horn is roaming all over the world.there is like 5 docking bays out.i have vader and maul’s saber,but i can never pin down corran horn,he constantly had menace fades in effect,and i cant kill that damn corran horn!!!2 turns left in game he top decks a booush and cancels my visage,and has a drain for 2 now also.he ends up draining me out and winning by 4.
our teamd didnt do so well.kilby and i were at the bottom tables almost the whole time,and i dont know how dave and steve did.
on the weekend my wys went a very impressive 7-1,and all my dark decks were rather scrubby-lol
so steve and i say our good byes and we head to the airport.it was cool cause we both were on the same flight to philly.i bought a playboy at the terminal,and we checked it out.i was kinda out out cause the center fold didnt have much of a chest.steve starts getting pissed,and telling me how it doesnt matter,and pointing out all these chicks he said were ok.can i help it if i like a little meat on their bones.anyways we get on the plane and talk about some @#$%,and decide we will have to get together and do this @#$% again sometime.
in philly we part ways and i get on the flgiht for home.some chick is sitting by me on the flgiht home,and she lives in lafayette also-weird.anyways she is like 40 and she starts offering me a ride home,and im like nah i got a ride.i finally get her to leave me alone,and i try and sleep
when i get to the airport i rome around for like 20 mins trying 2 find my moms.finally i find her and we are off.
1st off i wana thank everyone that made fcon such a blast.
i also wana thank all the peeps who read this.a big thanks to decipher for putting up a 10k prize for 2002,just dont back out on us this time.remember all,the gameonly dies if we allow it to die,and i for 1 am going to continue playing.
time for some slops and props
props:
to steve brentson for making my @#$% go to fcon,it was such a blast
steve brentson for arranging all this
dave dalton for being the man,im glad your still around bro
hayes hunter for being tall-lol(i saw some 1 else say it,so i couldnt resist
bastian for being a true champion
marten for being a deck genious,and a great player
all the guys at deck tech for setting this up
kilby,irvine,and brentson for being the sweetest team to be on(even if we lost)
wys for being a champion objective
my moms for putting up with my ass,and making sure i got to the aiport and picking me up
the family cat for playtesting with me(even though he only allowed to use the cards he tears up)
all my boys in lafayette for being some of the coolest players in the world
slops:
steve for ordering the porno
steve for calling the guys in the porno"jim stud" even though it was @#$%ing hilarious
all my freaken dark side decks
booush for bending me over,and over all weekend
the last guy i played for tricking me with honor of the jedi
the chick who kep bothering me on the plane trip home
paul meyers for being slower than kent(a local player who times out 3 times a tourny)
dave daltons odor eaters
the family cat for tearing up my cards
oh yeah,like a week after the tourny my friends and i are talking,and they remind me tikkes suspends honor of the jedi.oh my @#$%ing god,,,that honor saved him 6 cards,and i had tikkes out from turn 1.i should have made final 8.god i felt like a freaken champ,and they still tease me about it.
1 more slops:
me for not knowing what my freaken card does,cause no 1 in lafayette uses honor cause it is pointless.i should have made final 8!!!
thanks all for reading this mess,and sorry in advance for my spelling and grammer.
brian fred--aka(john matrix)