Tournament Report - 5/1/99 - New Brunswick, NJ - Comic Attituedes
There were 9 people to start the tournament which meant that we would have the 'dreaded bye' to deal with, but thankfully 3 more players showed up a little late so no one ever had to sit out. Among those 3, Ray Bordier, #1 in Coruscant and one of the top ranked players in the world, Ray's brother and Joe Young (all very good players). Those 3 in addition to much of the usual local talent was sure to make for a tough tournament.
I took my same decks w/ some minor modifications. LS was the Bothawui/Rebel Speeder/Ops deck I've been using for a while (looking to make a new deck). DS was the same Mains deck I used last tournament, I really like this deck, it's done great so far. On to the games!
1st game - DS vs. someone's LS MWYHL deck
I've played this guy before, he's a nice guy but not exactly the best SW player around. He starts doing his Jedi Test thing, getting Luke and Yoda out eventually (took him about 4 turns as I used Monnok'ed his Yoda to his used pile 1 turn). Meanwhile I set up Avenger and later Devastator joined at Kashyyyk. I dropped Zuckuss and Bane down to drain early at the Hoth: Def. Perimeter and JP:AC. Meanwhile he slowly but surely started his testing (he didn't play it too well so it took him an extra turn to catch Jedi Test #2). Eventually I spread out more, Vader at the CC: Plaze, EPP Fett at JP, J'Quille and Evax somewhere, and 2 Monnoks at the Holotable. I got to verify his deck and he had a lot of stuff to deploy to fight me, but he never did it, too busy w/ his jedi testing. He managed to get to Jedi Test #3 before I drained him out. Win by 26. (2 +26)
2nd game - LS vs. Mark Littlewood's Nal Hutta Ops
Mark won the last tournament in this store so I know I'm in for a good game, he starts w/ Bad Feeling Have I. I get a good draw and we both deploy sites, I draw up and get what I need to flip on my 2nd turn and my Bargaining Table out. I flip w/ Ops on Speeders and an Ithorian at the Jungle. His turn he deploys Zuckuss, Mosep, 2 Rodians and an Op at each site and flips his objective. He also Scanning Crews me and takes away EPP Obi and I'm left w/ EPP Luke. My turn I drop EPP Luke, an Incom Engineer, and a Rebel Speeder and clear out the site w/ 2 Rodians and an Op while losing the Speeder and the Engineer. Luke moves to block the drain in front of Mosep. His turn he just moves Zuckuss over to the site w/ Luke and draws up lots of cards. I set up a 4th and later a 5th site w/ an Operative and move Luke away from his guys (I was just gonna Bargaining Table the drain anyway). He drops Djas, Tarkin, Rodian and an Op and kills off Luke and I take out the Operative and Houjix the damage, Djas dies too. My turn I put a minor beatdown on Tarkin and the Rodian w/ 3 Rebel Speeders (locked Flaps) an Engineer and Sic-Six. He spreads out to get in a few more drains, I drop some more Speeders on his planet and set up my 6th site and another Ithorian. I get off my Windchimes for 6 and drain him out. Win by 27 (4 +53)
3rd game - LS vs. Rich Haman's ISB Walker Garrison
He starts Coruscant and Imperial Decree. He draws no sites early, I get my 2nd turn flip and try to do some early damage to him. Unfortunately next turn he finds 2 Hoth sites, Mountains and North Ridge and set up an Imperial Walker w/ a pilot on both at each site for Decree. My drains are cut down to 3 and I play an invasion w/ my Bothan Spy but I'm not getting much force yet. His next turn he fortifies his sites w/ ISB agents and soon after drops 5d6 on my planet and my drains are minimal. I get an Ithorian out, and later another to get in some drain. I also drop the Tantive at his Coruscant. He sets up a 3rd site (Ice Plains I think) w/ another Walker and I know to expect the Walker Garrisons. He gets a PotF at his Mountains and North Ridge. I drop my strike force of Harc Seff, EPP Luke, 2 Sic-Six and 3 Rebel Speeders (no flaps). I battle, he Tramples 1 Sic-Six and I kill off some pilots but the Walker survives. He Walker Garrisons but doesn't get me for much as I Harc Seff some of the drain, Bargaining Table another. He Ice Storms my guys at the Mountains (ouch). I had forfeited 2 Rebel Speeders in the last battle, EPP Luke and Sic-Six were lost in the storm, and I was left w/ Harc on a Rebel Speeder to deal w/ the ensuing beatdown. He dropped a Dune Walker, 2 pilots and battled, he pulled a 0 for destiny and thankfully I only had to lose everything and 5 (where's my Houjixes when I need them?). I give up on fighting on his planet and I draw for my Double Agents to get some drains in. I get my Double Agent off, but in the meantime he hits me for another Walker Garrison which makes me lose around 7 force after Bargaining Table-ing the biggest drain. With 5d6 gone I set up the 2 more sites w/ Operatives and get in a nice healthy drain of 7 through the Decree. His next turn he drops another 5d6 at the other end of my planet :(. I survive one more Walker Garrison and we're getting down to the end game. I've got a drain of 3 (2 Ithorians, 1 @ Coruscant) and he's got a drain of 3 (2 PotF w/ ISBs and the Hoth:DB w/ an ISB). I've got 1 Double Agent left, but my Bothan Spy is will take a few turns to get to his 5d6. He Hell To Pays my Windchimes and gets out Secret Plans so I can't pay for the retrieval and forego drawing up for an alien to put on my Bargaining Table. In the end he's got 4 force left and he draws his final Walker Garrison. My turn I drain for 3 and he has to lose the Garrison in order to keep 1 card in his life force! He can only drain for 3 and I'm left w/ 2 life force left! Incredibly close game. Win by 2. (6 +55)
4th game - DS vs. Rich Haman's MWYHL/Harvest
Since our last game was so close, we figured we'd be matched up again, which is cool w/ me, Rich is one of our local Squadron Members and a fun guy to play against (we have a knack for having great games like the one above). He gawks at his opening hand and I hope it means what I think it means. He gets a 1st turn Yoda thanx to me giving him force, I get Coruscant out and JP:AC. 2nd turn I drop Vader at the Jundland Wastes, luckily successfully alter Goo Nee Tay and he draws cards. My 3rd turn I Masterful Move for a Monnok and he cringes. The Monnok reveals 4 Harvests (as well as a bunch of mains, no doubles). There goes that part of his deck :). His turn he drops EPP Luke and Kal Fal, battles Vader and plays Glancing Blow to reduce Vader's power to 0. He pulls a 2 for destiny, I pull a 6 (circle) and only have to lose 2 cards, he loses both characters. I know he's got mains left but I've got a Ghhhk in hand so I go for the spread and drain w/ Zuckuss @ JP, Bane @ JP:AC, 2 Monnoks at the Holotable. I get in 1 turn of draining before he drops Ben Kenobi and EPP Luke to battle Vader. He plays Glancing Blow (which I sense), Courage of a Skywalker (which I fail at sensing twice) and Smoke Screens. Thankfully he missed Vader w/ his Swing and I lose Vader and 2 cards and save my Ghhhk. Next turn I drop Devastator at Coruscant, EPP Fett at the AC, search my deck using the JP game text (there's no site there of course, and no Vader's Saber's either :). I then Weapon Leviatate Vader's Saber to go along w/ my Dark Lord and Circle. His turn he Nabruns Luke and Ben to JP, drops EPP Han and beats the snot out of Zuckuss and I'm glad I saved my Ghhhk all this time. My turn I drain, then pick up my Monnok and check out his 3 card hand to find nothing to stop my Circle. I drop Dark Lord, his Saber, Circle Ben, deploy Evazan, and battle. I choke Han, he swings and misses at Vader. I swing and hit Luke, decide not to operate in hopes for some battle damage (probably a mistake) and he pulls a better destiny than me so there's no damage. Now I'm in control and I push my advantage, Jabba and Blizzard Scout 1 go to the Wastes to drain, J'Quille joins Fett and Bane in the AC, Avenger goes to Kashyyyk. He drops EPP Leia and Melas to fight Vader but they die miserable, there's nothing left for him to do. Win by 21. (8 +76)
I was the only undefeated on the day so I got the Obi-Wan shirt and 4 or 5 packs of WB. There was nothing of interest in my packs. Thanks go out to Rob Middleton for beating Ray so I never had to play him :P. It was a pretty fun tournament, probably had the best competition of any tournament I've ever been in, everyone seemed to really know what they were doing w/ only a few exceptions. As usual Jason Lembo runs an excellent tournament.
faramir