July 19, 1998
I arrived at the Holiday Inn feeling excited and tense. Even in
tournaments in Gainesville I become nervous before I play, but playing
at Regionals loomed as some monumental task. Perhaps it was because
I had become overly frustrated by creating a Light Side deck, or
because I only had a few hours of sleep trying to sneak in a few
more minutes tweeking my decks. Or perhaps I knew the competition
would be some of the best players around.
I had come to the Regionals with some goals in mind. I wanted to have fun, and do fairly well in this tournament, my first Regional experience. I knew I wouldn't contend for first, but I nonetheless I wanted to make a good showing for myself.
My goal was to go 3-3 and have at least one victory with my Light deck. I also wanted to finish with a positive differential. My Dark deck had seen many iterations, but my Light deck was still experimental. I was not sure if I would encounter a manipulator in one of my games, and I wanted to be prepared for such a deck.
I felt confident with my Dark Side manipulator. I debated between that and my Space mains and toys deck which had done very well in tournaments. I decided to try something new and play the manipulator.
Queen Jawa and I entered into the Azalea Room of the Holiday Inn to find a room full of people trading, playing, and changing their decks. I too hoped to partake in some trading but that would be for later in the afternoon.
The gang from Gainesville arrived shortly after we did and we began talking. I was surprised that several of the guys decided to play with a Garrison clouds deck. That worried me a little because I hadn't playtested against such a strategy. I made a few final adjustments and then the pairings for the first game began.
To my dismay, I was the Light Side first. I cursed my luck as I met my first opponent, Craig (Later, I discovered he was a really good player). He was from Alabama, and (for all you Seinfeld fans) was a "Low Talker." He seemed nice enough as we chatted while shuffling our decks.
When we flipped our starting locations, I was shocked to see the Death Star as his starting location. I was sure I would play a manipulator right off the bat. I was surprised that he didn't use a starting interrupt to begin the game.
On his first turn he deployed Kashyyyk, and so I expected to play a space deck. "I might have a shot at this," I thought to myself. I started searching for my B'moarr Monks so I could force drain at the Hut. To my surprise, he deployed Mos Eisley. I had deployed Obi, his stick, Luke, Anakin's saber, and Chewie. I had Gift of the Mentor, Clash of Sabers, and Jedi Presence in my hand, so I converted Mos Eisley and a deployed a Monk so I could start "the shuffle."
That's when the hammer dropped. Down came Vader, his saber, Tarkin, Ozzel, another DS pilot, and Jabba's Sail Barge. I immediately played Clash of Sabers on Vader, hoping to thwart his plans of attack. But he made a game changing play. Down came the "Circle".
In one play, he changed the game. I didn't have a Courage of a Skywalker in my hand (it would have probably been much different if I had) so there was nothing I could do but watch. In one fatal lightsaber swoop de had turned some strong cards into nothing more than force fodder, rendered useless by a single interrupt. The two copies of Obi still in my hand, the two Jedi Presence, the Two Gift of the Mentors, and the other saber. I could envision Vader dueling Obi-wan in the movie, cutting him down like a lawn mower over tall grass.
He battled, and I targetted Tarkin. I drew a 1 and a zero. Man. My destiny was a 5. Cancelled. I played Rug Hug and drew some decent destiny. I lost the Monk and his turn was over. I deployed Wedge and Biggs, and initiated a battle, hoping to do more damage before Vader could battle again. I targetted Tarkin again. A drew a 3 and a ZERO!!! AHHH! Nothing was going my way. I moved to the Hut so that he couldn't battle me.
In the next couple turns he deployed Blizzard 2 with a pilot and moved him to the Hut. He waited until I used all but one force and then used Elis. I was stuck with no means of escape.
In the mean time he had slapped down Imperial Decree and was draining for 2 at the Defensive Perimeter and Kashyyyk. After Trampling Chewbacca, he initiated one last battle, hit Wedge with Vader's Saber, and the game was over. Craig won by 24 force.
I hadn't lost by that much in a very long time! I was frustrated and figured I was in for a long day.
My friends from Gainesville gathered to talk about how they had faired in their games. So far two of the 7 had won, and eventually a third would receive a timed win (and later place 8th). Queen Jawa had a victory with the Light side and I told her that I thought that was a great way to start the day. I took solace in the fact that I could make up ground with my Dark Side deck.
Next, I played a kid named William. He was playing an EBO deck. I knew that I would win against his deck, especially if I could find just one of my Star Destroyers. I never saw either. I didn't need too. I pulled out a fairly easy win by 23 force.
I was happy. If I could keep this up I might meet my goal. Suddenly, I felt energy zip through my body. What if I could go 3-0 with my Dark Side and pull out just one Light side victory? That would be much better than I hoped for!
We played the third game after lunch. I was familiar with my opponent, Andrew. He came to one of the tourneys in Gainesville, and I knew he was a big insert player. He was also a top 10 ranked player in Dagobah. But I remained hopeful when I saw the Audience Chamber as his starting location. If I could hold it down, I might be able to win.
After his first hand, he had already deployed 3 destiny four characters and had inserted into my deck. Oh boy! It came up two turn later, after Obi-wan had hit the table. I made one big stand with the jedi, wookie, and Farmboy before Vader hit the table. The game dragged on, but ended with me being handed a loss of 22! ARRGGG! So I was now 1-3 at -23.
Again, I took solace in the fact that I would be the Dark Side next. But this time would not be so strong for my Dark deck. I played a kid named Ernie. He started with the Cantina so I deployed to it on my second turn. Then I scanning crew-ed his hand. Not one rebel. All non unique aliens, and I didn't have even one monnok.
Between Bacta Tank, Bargaining Table, and the Wind Chimes, he was handling my manipulator quite well. But I was also playing his game instead of my own.
A few turns later he proceeded to drop Sic Six, and several Klatooinians. I had forgetten all his aliens were power plus 1 in the Cantina and the Sic Six made my pilots forfeit minus two. We battled it out for a few turns. I dropped Bane Malar, but it didn't help much. So I tried to make a hasty escape, but he shuffled out and put a hurting on me. It was a long game, and I probably lost because I played his game from the start (mainly because I hadn't played against a non unique alien deck with such power. The Revolutionarys really were strong and I never had a chance to beat them. I just didn't realize that until it was too late. I lost by 15. Not the end of the world, but I no longer thought I could meet ANY of my goals.
My fifth game was against a guy named Michael. He was a very nice guy and we chatted a while before playing. He saw that I was a Florida Gator and we talked about school and stuff.
I started with JP and got a quick drain out. On his first turn he deployed K3PO, but I wasn't sure why. Two round later I found out when A Gift hit the table. Funny, I hadn't seen anyone play with this card. I figured Hutt Smooch would frighten anyone from using such a card. But somehow I had forgotten to take such counter-measures against spies, and now I would pay.
As I discovered the power of the Gift, I scrambled to reaarange my characters so all my aliens drained from separate spot sites as my imperials. He dropped Yoda's Hut and a Revolution. It was getting worse all the time.
He had a seperate drain on Cloud City going as well. It was Leia, a saber, and Saber Proficiency. Lando made it down early, but I scanning crew-ed and Onithed all the big hitters like the Farmboy, the old Man, and the Wookie. He also managed to get Artoo down with an Undercover. All this and the drains at Cloud city and Dagobah made for a slow game. AAA pulled the victory out for me because he couldn't consistently put down ability. I kept my wits about me and won by 15 force.
So now I was 2-3 (-23). All I needed was a strong finish to meet my goal! But it would have to be with the Light Side. "How ironic that in order to meet my goals, I would have to win just one game with the deck that had proved to be so weak," I thought.
I met my opponent. He was an older gentleman named Clyde. I had seen at the tournament and had over heard him say earlier that his Dark Side was strong and so I was a bit worried.
But I had a great draw: Obi, Luke, their matching sabers, Gift of the Mentor, Jedi Presence, a site, and a Nabrun Leids. I dropped Obi and Luke very quickly, but he amassed two forces just as quicly. The first were four characters at the Jutland Wastes, and the other three charcters were hanging out in the Cantina. I saw an opportunity to go for the big win by using Nabrun Leids to jump to the Cantina. But I violated a rule. I didn't wait for a Grimtaash to check his hand.
I Nabruned and suddenly heard Greedo saying those infamous words, "Oota Gooto Solo." He only had one warrior so he captured Obi and sent my others to the used pile. I didn't panick. If he held Obi-wan in the Cantina, I might be able to deploy Chewie, Han and Lando to take them out... except one of the three characters was Ephant Mon so I couldn't even deploy or move any of those three there. Oh Boy.
The game took a turn in my way. I deployed Lando and a Monk to start a drain. He had pulled out the dungeon and now I knew he was going to get greedy and go for the two force retreival. But I would still need some help from Lady Luck.
He had Blizzard Two holding down the Expanded drain at the Wastes, and so he moved his escort to the Blizzard, boarded, and moved. I don't know why he went alone, but he did. By now, the Farmboy had reappeared in my hand with Courage of a Skywalker Clash of Sabers, and my second Obi-wan's Saber . I still had a chance if I could free Obi-Wan. I deployed Han and Chewie with Lando and the Monk and battled the Blizzard. Come on high destiny. We both drew... I drew a 5. He drew a 2. Obi was a free man though at the cost of Lando kicking the bucket!!!
The Walker survived. I'm still not sure why he didn't forfeit it, but he didn't. I moved Obi-wan to his Hut and let him go.
His turn went quickly... draining me, and then moved the Blizzard to the Hut where Obi-wan was alone. If he only knew what was in my hand would cost him the game!
Next came one of the most glorious routs I have every participated in. I deployed Luke, Obi's stick, and initiated a battle. I had been tracking my destines by now, so I knew I would draw at least 1 five when I played Gift of the Mentor. Then I took a closer look at my hand and it was like God had sent a blessing down upon me.
I played Gift of the Mentor, and drew a four, five, and three. Then, since he didn't have a destiny draw, I played Courage of a Skywalker, making the Farmboy power 7 (how can he be more powerful that Chewie!), and followed that with Jedi Presence. Luke was now POWER 14!!! Yikes. The guy couldn't believe it. He checked and rechecked the combo. But it was all good.
With that rout I was able to move to clean up the scum hanging out at the Wastes and the Cantina... and I pulled out a win by 5 force... What a day!
So I had accomplished most of my goals in just that one game, pulling my record to 3-3 and winning with the Light Side!
I claimed my prize pack (which you MUST read about) and then watched the Finals. Queen Jawa and I compared notes and then headed back to Gainesville, exhausted.
Beakman