nightmares-and-dreamscapes-atlanta-dpc
Title: nightmares-and-dreamscapes-atlanta-dpc
Author: Matt "Old Skooler" Lush
Date: Apr 29, 2002
When I first heard there was going to be a DPC in Atlanta, I figured there would be a good chance I’d go, as I go to Atlanta a lot (I’ve got a lot of friends over there), and tickets aren’t too bad. $165 from Dallas to Atlanta and back isn’t too bad. Justin (hoostino) hooks me up with some decks to play, as I’m too lazy to come up with something on my own besides this wacky-ass podding LSC for the dark that looked like it’d be fun as hell to play, but would most likely get me bent over like a choir boy at a Catholic Men of the Cloth convention. So, I buy the ticket, and fly out there Saturday as I’m taking Monday off, and couldn’t get a 4-day weekend. Lennie and his woman Amy pick me up from the airport, and we’re off to check out some car show that he got tickets for for free, and I’m pissed cuz I at the car show I see Mazda has fixed the cupholder problem that my ’99 Miata has, and even added a 6th gear. Bastards. I want a non-annoying cupholder in MY car, dammit! Anyways, after checking out all the new cars, (that new Lamborghini just looks @#$%ing EVIL, and I’m going to upgrade to the Lotus Elise whenever I save some damn money), we close the place out at 10 and head back to Lennie’s place. Amy heads home, and after my stank @#$% takes a shower, Lennie and I head out to some place called the Riviera.
The cover just to get in to this place is $20, so I figure it better be good. It turns out to be off the hook. We got there around midnight, so it was still early, so Lennie and I play pool until it starts jumping. We bet $50 on the first game, I win. Double or nothing. I win again. Double or nothing AGAIN. I win again. Lennie wants to play double or nothing once again, thinking he’ll eventually win. This game would be for $400. At the rate I’m drinking, he’s probably right. I decide to let him off the hook and play again, instead of demanding $200 from him, and he pulls a win out of his ass. The place is getting better by then so I go out on the dance floor as I’ve finally had enough alcohol to make myself believe I can actually dance, and end up dancing with this short little Hispanic hottie. I don’t know what my problem is, Texas is LOADED with Hispanic chicks, so what do I do when I go to Atlanta? I promptly find another one...nuts. Anyways, things get fuzzy after a while, thanks to the Absolut and Red Bull concoctions I was drinking, and after swaying over to the bar to close out my tab I find out that it’s 100 bucks. @#$%. I didn’t plan on spending that much...but a bit late for caution. I throw a $20 tip on it, and grimace as I sign my name. I really shouldn’t of let that bastard off the hook at pool, I could of used that $200....
Waking up the next morning, I’ve got half an hour to get ready for this thing. Takes ten minutes to get there, so after frantically throwing some clothes on, and grabbing my cards, I stagger out to Amy’s car and try to wake up while driving on the Grand Prix racecourse that is the 485, Atlanta’s beltway. I think I was doing about 85 mph or so, with some wizened-looking nun in a old Volkswagen beetle behind me honking her horn for me to hurry the hell up, when I realized two things: coffee would be a good thing to wake my @#$% up, and I probably shouldn’t go over 90 as I would probably still be intoxicated according to a breathalyzer. Oh yeah, and that I should probably move into the slow lane, but there was the slight problem that I already WAS in the slow lane, so I was kinda screwed on that. So after the nun finally zooms past me (giving me a dirty look and the finger to add insult to injury), I find the place, wander in, and see all kinds of cool people I haven’t seen in a long time...David Akers, Neal Razi, Steven Lewis, Gabe Alonso, Clint Hays, Jim Colson...I also get to put some faces to some people I’ve just heard about like Andy McClure and Brad Reinhold. Jim gets things organized, I try to learn how to speak in coherent sentences again (still trying to recover from the debacle known as The Night At The Riviera), and we start.
Game One: My (actually, Justin’s, I didn’t change a card in this) Hunt Down vs. Grayson Thompson’s QMC
Ummm....as I’m still kinda dizzy and stuff, I don’t really remember too much of this game. He was making a strong effort at controlling space, but Thrawn on the Chimaera, with Iggy w/ gun and Super-Boba as additional pilots pretty much just wiped him out. (Yep, that’s 5 destinys. Sick, isn’t it?) Vader came down, there were a few random battles, but nothing too crazy.
Full Win by 15 (I think)
Highs: The 5 destiny drawin’ Chimaera regulating Bespin.
Lows: Those annoying Path Of Least Resistances.
Game Two: My (well, Justin’s, but I modified it a bit...) Light Senate Beats with Patent-Pending Palpy Tech! (Think it’s McClure’s patent tho...) vs. Charles Kerekanich’s Poddin’ Saber Combat
Hoo boy, did I get bent over in this one. I friggin’ hate Combat, either side. You’d think with all that activation they give you you could do something bad to them, but it never really happened for me here. Charles won the race handily, (it wasn’t even worth using the shield, the difference was 22, and yes, I was stacking race destinies), and Altered one of my Senses early on, which surprised the hell out of me.He had Lord Maul and his double stick just sitting there, hitting me for 4 a turn. Assorted EPP’s came down and battled occasionally, more often getting combatted, but everytime I got rid of a Lord Maul and his stick, there was another one down the next turn. Think I knocked out maybe two Mauls and one Vader...not enough. I couldn’t really get anything going, and Charles ended up taking it to me in a great game.
Full Loss by 20-something
High: Meeting Charles, a really nice guy, and having him beat the crap out of me. (Wait! That last bit isn’t a high!) Low: Podracing. Podracing bad! Podracing evil! Fire burn!
Game Three: Light Senate vs. Brad (wait...why did the command card say "Timothy"?) Reinhold’s Bombing ISB
THIS was a wacky game, Timoth- I mean, Brad started Coruscant planet, Combat Responsed a unique TIE Bomber of some sort with a pilot AND downloaded a Proton Bomb all on first turn. 2nd turn? Draws a blind five during the control phase and BOOM! there goes my Council Chamber. Well damn. I guess I’ll just have to put Palpy and this Hovercam on the Senate (after dropping the bombing shield on it first of course), Palpy shouldn’t need backup yet...oh crap! Two ORS later, Palpy and the Hovercam are gone. Hmm. Six force down the drain, let’s go for 8! Brad gets it with the Fanfare shield to screw up my Staging Areas. With my activation slowed to a crawl, I slowly get out a ground force of Ben Kenobi and Corran at one DB, and FINALLY get Home One out to satisfy Fanfare. With activation going good again, I manage to get Ben, EPP Luke, EPP Qui, Yogurt, and Corran together as a defense against his 2-3 walkers with assorted pilots and Vader. For space, I’ve got Lando, Pimp on the Home One giving me two destiny, with that and Palpy’s trick, I’m actually hanging against the Executor with assorted pilots. Not much draining going on, just battles, and this game takes quite a while. Jim calls time while I’m on my turn, and since I’m Light, once I’m done, that’s it. I can’t get rid of all his cards before the end of my turn though, so I just add the Liberty to the Home One and Lando combo, and initiate. I win the battle by 6, and Brad in an excellent display of sportsmanship loses the remaining six cards in his deck as opposed to some pilots on the Executor, giving me a Full Win. Thanks Brad.
Full Win: 18? (no idea really..)
Highs: Brad being cool and hooking a brutha up.
Lows: Having my activation slowed to crawl on the 2nd turn...
Game 4: Hunt Down vs. Clint Hays’ Senate
Holy @#$%. After NUMEROUS times of playing in the same DragonCons, Worlds, and Grand Slams, I FINALLY get to play the infamous Clint Hays. Goddamn. I’ve been waiting for this for about 5 years now. I know he doesn’t @#$% around, so I make sure I don’t make any stupid mistakes. Well, at least that was the idea. I get a good start on him, and drop Bad Feeling Have I to hinder his beatdown capability, and drop Blizzard 4 to a DB and yank Vader out. I save three, but pay upkeep just a little to late...like when he’s activating. He wanted to ask Jim if I had to lose Blizzard 4 or not, but I said don’t worry about it and put it out of play. My mistake, I’ll take the hit for it. I want this game legit, with nothing disputed in it. I’ve got Vader at a DB while Clint’s setting up the Senate, and he’s got Yogurt at the JCC...all alone...I go for the beatdown. U-3PO, Mauly Maul with Stick, and Doctor E. with Ponda pay the little green elf a visit. Swing swing swing, chop chop chop, Yoda’s gone with 10 overflow. Huge moment in the game, as beatdowns like that can simply break you. Clint comes back with a random EPP here and there, and is cycling all kinds of random 5’s back into his deck. I don’t grab ANY of them with Allegations, as I’m waiting for him to play that On The Edge I saw during a deck verification. He never plays it though, as I’ve got the CHYBC Shield out and he can’t satisfy it. I ping away with small drains and Visage, and eventually wear him down.
Full Win by 22.
Highs: In case it’s not @#$%ing obvious, FINALLY playing Clint. And winning.
Lows: Not a damn thing. Well, maybe forgetting to upkeep Blizzard 4.
So....apparently I did good enough for the final 4. I play McClure single elimination, and since he placed higher than me, he picks which side. He picks Light, which I was happy with, as I figured my Dark had the best chance. Uh...whoops.
1st (and last..) Final Game
Andy’s playing his Senate, and since he’s the master of it, he pretty much hands me my head. An early Goo Nee Tay on my @#$% HURT, along with a serious beating by EPP Qui against an EPP Maul. He draws two fives, adds three to each with Amidalia and a Senator, and hit Maul with the swing as well. Overflow was about 10-12, and that was a huge play, just like mine against Clint’s. Thrawn and Chimera cost way too much with Goo, so THAT doesn’t happen. He also got an Uncontrollable Fury on Vader, and I wasn’t EVEN expecting that...Palpy in the Senate though made me lose two a turn, and I was stupid enough to forget the damn HD Objective text. (Gee...PICK UP Vader...no more Fury...slap arm across chest like this...) So at any rate, he starts using the hand manip text to really screw me over, I’m getting low on cards, can’t afford to put anyone out, and he pings away with another EPP Qui at my DB and another drain or two, and I just draw up as I literally can’t do anything. DAMN good game...now I see how Senate gets played properly.
So Jim hands me $30 for my hard work, and I play a pick-up game against Brad with my wacky-ass Podding LSC I had built against HIS wacky podracing (I win the race by ONE), and pull off a Maul and Dr. E/Ponda beatdown on his Corran to end it, say later to everyone, and head back to the house. I was expecting SIX games, not 4, so I don’t fly back until Monday, but that’s fine as it gives me a little more time to hang out in my eventual hometown. And now.....
Props!
Lennie and Amy for picking my @#$% up for the airport and basically taking care of me while I’m in Atlanta, as usual.
Barry, for being the master chef that he is. I swear this guy could make shoe leather taste delicious.
The hottie Mexican chick. (I never did get her name...come to think of it, I don’t think she spoke English...I just remember her grinning a lot..maybe she was laughing at me)
Neal and Dave, for driving up to Atlanta.
Clint and Steven, for driving down to Atlanta.
Everybody else who drove or flew LONG @#$% distances to play in the SW DPC.
Me, for FLYING and not DRIVING to Atlanta.
Justin Warren for hooking me up with some decent decks.
Justin’s mom for giving me that lovin’ feeling.
Slops!
Stacy, for visiting her family in Chicago on the weekend I fly out to Atlanta and forcing me to go out to expensive clubs and run up ridiculous bar tabs and get drunk and associate with women who don’t even speak English.
Mazda, for having a VERY badly designed cupholder/center console in the ’99 Miatas.
ME, for blowing over a HUNDRED dollars in ONE club. That’s just sick.
ME, for letting Lennie off the hook when I shoulda ganked his @#$% for that $200. If I had known how much that bar tab was going to be, I’d of done it, best friend or not.