Tournament Report - 3/13/99 - Cedar Grove, NJ - Time Warp Comics
This was my 1st venture into the world of Bespin and Beyond tournaments and my confidence was pretty darn low. I knew that Operative decks would be strong, but I really didn't have enough of any of them to make a good deck. I knew Skrillings would be strong, but I didn't have enough of them either. I didn't have much time to get ready, I got home around 1:30 to get ready for the tournament at 5:00. I decided on a LS Tessek and Pucimir enhanced drain on CC deck. Eloms and EPPs were the characters of choice, even though I knew I wouldn't see too many imperials, I would've liked to play some Wookies, but only had 1. For DS I made a Dark Deal, CC Sabbac, CC Trooper deck. I started w/ the Security Tower for an early Lando, set up Dark Deal and drained a lot.
I showed up a little early, there were very few players there and the turnout was pretty small (10 players compared w/ the usual 25, B&B scared a lot of players off I guess). However those that did show up all knew what they were doing so it was sure to be an interesting tournament.
1st game: LS vs. Alex's JP drain
I started JP:AC and Uh-Oh, he started Den of Thieves and JP and converted
my AC 1st turn. I had to go looking for my BoShuda and eventually got it down. He got out Gallid and some guys at the AC and spread out to drain
inside of JP. I get out Rennek at the AC and looked for Tessek who was
hiding for a while. I couldn't manage to get Loje Nella either. I sent
EPP Leia to drain at the CC:Plaza and eventually set up w/ Tessek in the
AC while he drained around JP, and in Tatooine w/ a Skiff Master on a
Skiff ready to react where needed. I got out Harc Seff to the AC in lieu
of Loje Nella to cancel some drains (although in hindsight, the AC was no
longer a battleground so he shouldn't have worked, oh well). He was
spread out on Tatooine, so I spread out on CC w/ Pucimir out and Mains
and aliens swarming around. He eventually killed Pucimir w/ Boba Fett
carrying Dr. E's gun. Rennek got picked off by a Weequay Marksman and
Bubo went to feast on my AC contingent. EPP Obi went down to block some
drains and keep the Skiff occupied while some Eloms took over Tat:JP. I
got off my Windchimes to retrieve some force and drained him out despite
no longer getting any drain bonuses. Win by 7 (2 +7)
2nd game: DS vs. ????'s Kirdo 3 Ops
I got a pretty good draw, a few sites, a Combat Cloud Car, and I drew up
to get what I needed for Dark Deal and found my CC and Dark Deal and was
set to go. Meanwhile he had some clouds on Kirdo 3, w/ some Cloud Cars,
a Wookiee, a Gas Miner, along w/ some Operatives. He eventually got
control of 3 sites w/ Operatives and flipped his objective and I got out
Dark Deal w/ Lando and Lobot sitting in the Casino playing Sabbac. His
drains were pretty large for awhile (2 at each of 2 clouds, 3 at 2 ground
sites) while I was draining for 2 at the Casino, 1 at the Tower, 3 at the
PTD and Plaza. I was retrieving about every other turn w/ Sabbac and
amassing a strike force to go to Kirdo 3. I dropped EPP Fett and the
Dark Lord w/ some forfeit fodder to block the ground drains, and
eventually Bossk in the Bus took out his cloud car and blocked another
cloud car drain. His drains were temporarily slowed while mine continued
on w/ CC Troopers and Aqualish draining away w/ Lando Sabbacing. I got
off an Ornament on my Troopers and drained him out. Win by 24. (4 +31)
I've started to gain some confidence, but not looking forward to my next game, my dark deck just seemed too weak and I figured a better Ops deck would surely be able to beat it. I got to test out that theory.
3rd game: DS vs. Luis Rodriquez's Kiffex Ops
We both drew for a turn or 2 and I got out Lando, Lobot, Barquin and
Brangus at the Casino (good thing as Luis had just drawn his Lando to put
on Kiffex). He set up his guys on Kiffex w/ 3 sites w/ Ops and a Skiff
at the middle site. Next turn I set up Dark Deal w/ Bossk in Bus at CC
and some guys at the Downtown Plaza. I eventually spread out to the Sec.
Tower and the PTD and he got out some Ithorians to boost his drain. He
had drains of 3, 3, and 2 on Kiffex (1 canceled w/ Den) I had 3, 3, 2, 1
on CC (1 canceled w/ the Bargaining Table. I was winning thanx to my
Sabbac, but he soon got out 2 more sites w/ Operatives and I had to make
some sort of move. I dropped EPP Fett, a Combat Cloud Car and an
Aqualish to battle his Skiff while the Dark Lord went to battle an Op and
some 2/2 rebel. Fett took out an Ithorian and the Cloud Car was lost,
however the Dark Lord failed to choke the Operative and I drew a 0 to his
5 so the Dark Lord was lost. His turn he battle Fett who Hidden Weapons
the Operative, shoots another guy, but I end up having to lose Fett and
keep the Aqualish for fear of leaving a lone Fett to be ambushed. I
replace Fett and the Aqualish and he move to a safer site to block that
drain. His turn EPP Luke, EPP Han and an Operative drop into the Casino
to put an end to my Sabbacing by wiping out all of my gamblers and Lobot,
my Real Hero doesn't manage to take out more than 1 of the EPPs. As time
ran out, I got off an Ornament on my Troopers and the Dark Lord made
another attempt at killing the Operative and 2/2 rebel and this time was
successful and caused some small battle damage. His last turn he drained
for a bunch and I lose most of my hand, he moved to block a drain and I
drained for a few. I ended up w/ more cards left in life force although
I think he was on his way to the win. Timed Win by 14 or so. (5 +45)
4th game: LS vs. Manny Rodriguez's CCT Musician deck
I get to play Luis's brother this game, although I have much more
confidence in my LS deck. To my dismay, the only rebels I have in my
deck are EPPs so I give him EPP Han :(. I get a good start w/ EPP Leia
and Obi in hand and some aliens, I get BoShuda out at the AC but no one
there. He saves some force and I decide to make my move hoping he
doesn't have too much power in hand and I send Leia and a Sic-Six to
rescue Han. He drops CC Fett and the Dark Lord, chokes Leia and puts a
beating on my Sic-Six, ugh. I lose a bunch of force and decide to
regroup, I get out my Bargaining Table to stop his drain and look for
Tessek and drop him at the AC. I get EPP Leia and an Elom at his Casino
to drain for 3, and he drops Bubo to eat Tessek. Next turn I YWGTJN for
another Tessek and put Rennek there to keep Bubo at bay. He gets out
Lando, Lobot and Barquin Dan adjacent to Leia (just after I pick up my
Lando!) so I drop Harc Seff w/ her to cancel that drain. He tries to
Carbon Freeze but fails, I eventually convert his Chamber to make it
harder, and he gets out AkRev and the musicians begin to flow. He gets
out Dodo to allow him to look at his top cards of reserve deck, but he
needs to find a 5 destiny and can't seem to do it.
Meanwhile I get out 2 Eloms and Pucimir at another CC site, and 2 more Eloms at another site at the far end from the Casino. Lando gets some Musician friends and starts to chase Leia and pals around and gets off a few Sabbacs to retrieve force. He spreads out a little but I'm canceling drains w/ the Bargaining Table, Harc Seff and the CC site that lets you cancel 1 (occupied by my Eloms) so he gets off maybe 2 drains all game long. Eventually he splits up his group chasing Leia and Lando, Lobot and Bane Malar sit themselves at the Casino. I drop EPP Obi there to block his drain and hopefully take out Lando but I can't battle cause I don't have enough of a reserve deck. His turn he battles Obi who hits Lobot and takes out Lando and Bane w/ a 5 destiny draw. Meanwhile Leia, Harc Seff, and an Elom take on Vader and Fett who moved out of the Carbonite Chamber. Leia hits Fett but dies in the process. Next turn Vader chokes a newly freed Han and beats up Harc. By this point my drains of 3 per turn at my 2 CC sites are really starting to add up, and time is running out. I Windchimes to retrieve 6 for my Eloms and time runs out. I had 20 life force, he had 6. Timed win by 20. (6+65)
I was the only undefeated, and edged out the other players w/ 6 points on differential so I won the tournament and the prized Dark Lord shirt! I also got 4 packs of WB and pulled a Falcon. Also got a SE poster from the TD Rich Haman who as usual ran a great tournament. The tournament was really fun, timed games really stink but I have no complaints as I had 3 of the most exciting games of SW I've had in a while, looking forward to maybe going to another B&B tournament w/ a revamped DS deck and a few tweaks for that LS deck!
faramir