Tournament Report
Author: Travis John "Salacious Crumb" Willse (1544)
Date: 16 January 1999
Location: Rainy Day Games, Aloha, Oregon
Director: Glenn Hall (Listserve Denizen)
Players: 16 total
My decks for the tourney:
LS: Hidden Base Cheese
DS: Dagobah Clouds
Today's total of 16 players was slightly less than the average of 20. Right before the pairings were announced, I looked around and saw that today's showing contained a wide cross-section of skill levels. High-ranking contestants included John Davis (1684), Ron Berkan (1619), Don Kitzman (1617), D.J. Tobey (1614) and Stephen Kimbrough (1614). We had (at least) one newbie (who eventually got last place, but his ego wasn't crushed--I think he'll be back).
Game 1 (LS) vs. John Davis (1684)
"Ugh," I think. Glenn Hall (our local TD) has this annoying tendency to match me up against former tourney winners. I had a six-tourney streak in which this happened (a feat that I later found to have the odds of roughly 11000:1). When I finally broke this pattern, I played my friend Brandon in the first round; I finished third that day. In any case, today Glenn matched me against John Davis, a friend of mine (also the highest-ranked player in the tournament and 11th in the state), and one of the most aggressive players I know. His SWCCG credentials (in addition to the ones I've mentioned) include former tournament winner and third place at the 1998 Endor III regional.
John starts with ISB Operations and Coruscant (I think). I get off to a slow start, drawing no starships in my hand. After a couple turns, the game has shifted in John's favor. He declares that he will crush me; I appropriately ask for mercy. One or two turns later, I pull off Asteriod Sanctuary and insert NTMTO and AFA (yes, it's cheesy). Over the next several turns, my drains, inserts and battles in space cause him serious Force damage (which is eventually moderately encumbered by his ABCTTU), which includes his lone copy of Resistance. Near the end of the game, we each drain each other for four to five per turn. It comes down to the very end, in which I eek out a very close, very lucky win with 2(+2).
After one game, I'm 2(+2).
Game 2 (DS) vs. Matt Sutherland (1429)
Interestingly, Dark was destroyed in the first round (winning only one of eight games)--because my Light win was so minimal, I was matched against the person who was 15th out of 16 after the first round. Matt was a guest from the Alderaan region; some time before the tourney, I E-mailed him with the tourney info. Aware of his tourney record, I thought that I'd have my easiest win of the day--I was wrong. He started with Local Uprising on Bothawui, and shortly thereafter deployed Sunsdown on Bothawui and by Tooex droids with Bothan spies and operatives. I discovered that game that Dark Dagobah Clouds is quite dysfunctional. He pulled off NSWC mid-game and retrieved 14 Force. Needless to say, I lost. Luckily, he had most of his deck on the table, so my loss was minimal 0(-12).
After two games, I'm 2(-10).
Game 3 (DS) vs. John Tobey (1491)
I believe that John Tobey, like his brother D.J. (who sat next to me and played my best friend Court), is a former tourney winner, and he was adorned with a Falcon T-shirt. After my second-round loss with my ill-fated Dark deck, I fully expected to be destroyed.
The first half of the game was a virtual stalemate, in which we did little more than deploy locations and draw each turn (I never deployed any Clouds this game). In one turn, he converted my Dagobah Big One, deployed Captain Han and Chewie on the Falcon there, set down AS and used Closer?! to return the Falcon safely to Dagobah. In an effort to cancel it, I deployed on my next turn a Sentinel-Class to the Asteroid Field nearest the Big One; I promptly move over. Nothing significant happened until I Force drained him there on my next turn, upon which my Sentinel-Class was lost to asteroid destiny.
Not wanting to be outdone, he deployed a Rycar's Run on the Big One and targets (of course) the Falcon. During his move phase, he uses Closer?! again and moves the Falcon to the Big One (upon which the Rycar's Run returns to the system). He tries to play it again in attempt to complete the Run in one turn, but I remind him that it's unique. I quickly calculate that I would need to draw a five to eliminate the Falcon--not an easy thing to do with my deck.
My next turn, I activate everything in my RD. I use Reactor Terminal to return four or five cards to my Used Pile (making sure that a certain card remains on top). I draw several cards, including some destiny 4 characters. During his control phase, I draw asteroid destiny--Tech M'or + three other asteroid sectors (9); John is (appropriately) stunned as he places the Falcon and it's pilots in the Lost Pile. Later that turn, he uses Hidden Base to pull out Ralltiir, deploys a Freighter Captain on an X-wing there and plays Kessel Run targeting him, and deploys a lone Y-wing on Kessel. That move phase, he moves him to Kessel upon which I draw a non-zero.
During my next turn, fully knowing that a successful Run would allow him to retrieve a lot of Force (including Han, Chewie and the Falcon), I activate everything except one card (again, Tech M'or). I then deploy the Executor with two aliens (another Tech M'or and a Skrilling) and a Sentinel-class there, and insert 3720 to 1. I initiate a battle, and we both draw destiny; he draws a three (I eventually forfeit a Sentinel-class) and I draw (of course) a 6. He loses everything. After the insert comes up, he's desperate to pull off some kind of comeback, so he pulls out Kiffex with Hidden Base, flips the objective and deploys one starfighter each to several of the core systems.
My next turn, I deploy another destiny 4 alien and insert again; I move the Executor to Bespin, where his lone Y-wing is present, and successfully probe. The remainder of the game occurs in a simple, but tense pattern: each turn, he would activate one, Force drain at each system that he controlled (I canceled the Coruscant drain each time by placing something at the Bargaining Table) and move his Y-wing away from my Executor; on my turns, I would activate, Force drain, use Reactor Termanal, move to chase his Y-wing, and draw. Eventually, the insert came up and the game was over.
After three games, I'm 4(+3)
Game 4 vs. John Tobey (1491)
I was surprised to see that I was playing John again. He tells me that he was glad to have another chance to play me; I agreed. I start out with Hidden Base, and he starts with Ralltiir Ops. This game was much better for me than my Game 1. I play insert after insert, causing nine to 12 damage each time (except with the AFAs). We also had some fun space battles, and I had a chance to do lots of Force draining. Once, while I was playing Sabacc, I made him lose GMT. In the end, it was one of the best games I've ever played (with regard to play enjoyment), and I duplicated my first win against him 2(+13).
After the final game, I'm 6(+16)
Not a bad day; it was my second-best finish ever in a sanctioned tournament (6th out of 26). I was the second-highest placing player of the day who hadn't yet won a tourney (next to Matt Sutherland).
Top finishers, my opponents and my close friends:
1st: Don Kitzman - (1617)/6(+90) (Second tournament win)
2nd: D.J. Tobey - (1614)/6(+85)
3rd: Jeff Abramson - (1547)/6(+64)
4th: John Davis - (1684)/6(+50)
5th: Matt Sutherlad - (1429)/6(+29) (His top placing ever; Listserve denizen)
6th: Travis Willse - (1544)/6(+16) (Me; Listserve denizen, under the alias Salacious Crumb)
7th: Court Ficker - (1390)/6(+11) (His top placing ever; Listserve denizen, under the alias C. Alan Ficker)
11th: Cory Wells - (1429)/2(-39)
12th: John Tobey - (1491)/2(-41)
13th: Matt Tardy - (1540)/2(-43)
Interesting things that happened today:
-D.J. Tobey was the only playe to win all of his games, but finished second (he had two timed wins)
-Matt Sutherland traded a DVDLOTS or a Darth Vader to a newbie for a Chewie (Hoth 2PK)
Travis John "Salacious Crumb" Willse