The Junior Deck and Tournament

[Note from Beakman]This article was authored by a regular SW:CCG Junior Tourney player. He was asked to share some of his thoughts on what he feels are the most important things for players to know.

Making decks for Juniors tournaments can be a lot more challenging than people think. Sure, three Obi's or whatever is nice, but then that fills up room for more vital cards that could be of more use. Most Junior Tourney players don't have multiples of the same mains. And the point is, you really don't need mains to win in the Juniors. Its pretty simple. All you need is a really quick deck.

Junior decks, being 40 cards, are a lot more vulnerable then 60 card decks. An insert that causes 9 damage is almost a fourth of their entire deck. Likewise, force retrieval is really beneficial. A Kessel Run in a 60 card deck is pretty good. But in 40 cards?? Retrieving a fourth of your deck worth of cards? Thats what wins games. Really quick damage or force retrieval.

A good combination of numbers and force retreival is the obvious- Death Star Plans. Pound with inserts from the beginning and do the Plans to retreive a third of your deck. *Plans/Numbers will squash the compitition. Another good Light-Side deck is the Asteroid Sanctuary. Losing so much force from the beggining is very valuable, game-wise and mentally. When a little kid sees his IG-88 or some other 'good' character lost from his reserve, he'll usually go downhill from there even if he has a chance. I personally use a 40 card Asteroid Sanctuary, as well as a 40 card Kessel Run.

Dark decks also must fall into one of the same categories to win: quick force loss for the opponent or force retrieval. And since there is no decent way to retreive force, your pretty much stuck with quick loss. Although for dark, Imperial Decree could almost be its own category.

There are 2 main kinds of dark decks that do well, the fast/drain or numbers and the ground Imperial Decree. Dark Deal is nice, gets big force drains, and when you occumulate the right cards, can be deadly with 40 cards. I personally use this, and I can get Dark Deal on the 3-4 turn. Skrilling/Numbers is also pretty useful. Sure, you've got numbers, but an Ultimatim can mess that up. Thats why Skrillings are so popular and good to use. Not only do they have good destiny, you can drain with them, and they have high power/low deploy. This enables you to go where they are.

Imperial Decree is a very dangerous effect. Make a Hoth/Walker Garrison deck and smash the opponent. Or Hoth/Clouds works nicely. Either way, its gotta be quick and have power. If your deck is not quick, it needs to have lots of brute strength (which is not always good.)

Mains and Toys are very good decks...in 60 card. No 40 card deck can live against a 7 force loss on their second turn due to an Asteroid Sanctuary/Big One drain. I can't think of a deck (40 cards) that would with-stand a good, solid Dark Deal deck. And another thing. People in my area almost NEVER play numbers! Play Asteroid Sanctuary with numbers! Hey, why not? Try to combine two fast damageing things, but don't water your deck down.

Preparing For The Tournement:
Playtest. Playtest a lot. Get a friend and play your decks over and over. Most of the decks I've talked about, its just getting the numbers right. A deck with 15 Asteroid Feilds and 10 Asteroid Sanctuaries is a bit much. Play against different kinds of decks.  Think about its weaknesses, and try to counter them. Ground drain a weakness? Add 3 Arcona's and 2 Houjix's. Numbers? Torture/Don't Forget The Droids. Death Star Plans? Look Sir Driods. Almost every deck has a weakness, but for your opponent its getting the card that will cancel your decks theme, or at least slow it down. Thats why you must have speed.

Good Cards (Esp. in Juniors..)

• We're Doomed -- Cut force drains in half?? Whoa! Used? Even Better! In Juniors, its a lot easier to have less than 15 life force about half way throught the game..
• Monnok/Grimtaash -- Most of these decks that win use multiple of the same card. Thats why these (Lost Interrupt) can be very powerful slowing down your opponent.
• Scanning Crew -- Most people aren't ready for this one.
• There'll Be Hell To Pay/What Are You Trying To Push On Us -- Slows down if not stops heavy interrupt decks like Tallon Roll or Scanning Crew.

At The Tournament:
Don't go to the tournament expecting to win. Don't set goals. Don't expect to get anything physical out of it at all. Just go to play and trade. Do your best. If you get a bad hand, so what? Draw until you get what you need..there is always another game or another tournament.
Pay Attention!! You should never have to ask what your opponent just did unless you don't understand it.

REMEMBER TO FORCE DRAIN. nuff said.

Well, I hope some of these tips help you out at the next Juniors! Good luck, and remember to FORCE DRAIN!!

Let me know what you think of my first article.