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Author: Michael "Longshot" Mendoza
Title: ca-championship-5-5-01
Date Published: 2001-05-10
This was it, when almost all of the greatest players in Cali battle
to see who’s #1. The championship was run at A-1 Comics in Roseville,
not far from Sacramento. Mike Hardy was to be the TD.
So I hook up with Nick Stefanko and his station wagon in Pleasanton &
make the trip to Roseville with his brother, Alfred Dong (who I
predicted would win the championship), Steve Daniel, and Andrew Meewis.
It was by far the most uncomfortable trip of my life, sitting in back
on a ROCK HARD seat, and virtually no room at all for my legs. It was
absolutely unbearable, and I would not sit in that station wagon ever
again.
I’m still in final exam mode, but had managed to find time to modify my
decks somewhat. I had been using EBOX and Hunt Down w/unique TIEs, but
changed them. My LS was still EBO, but using Mon Cal Cruisers instead,
and more EPP mains to fight on land more effectively. My DS was still
Hunt Down, but I ditched the space power and went for ground beats. I
used several bounty hunters, All Wrapped Up, and Bounties for retrieval.
I also had been seeing a trend of a lot of EBO decks lately, which would
rip up my deck, so I added in an ATAT cannon and TTMG. I was expecting
on playing against AT LEAST 2 EBO decks. Unfortunately, I had no time
to playtest them, so the decks were all theory and would be new for me,
but oh well, I’ll have to manage.
So we all get to the venue, but Hardy’s not there yet so we sit around
for a while, and I see some big name players arrive. Paul Feldman, Eric
"Big E" Bruen, Jeff Miller, Tray Frazier, Pete Nordstrom, Jason Makohon,
& the "Lodi crew" all arrive. But as I said, a lot of Southern CA talent
was missing. I was betting on Bruen, Dong, or Feldman to win the title.
So we fill out decklists (those of us who hadn’t already done so), pay
the $10 entry fee, and get ready to play. Over 60 people are playing
(65 I think it was).
Game 1: DS v Steve Daniel’s Y4 Throne Room jank (Insurr, DODN/WA, ????)
I’m confused when I don’t see Staging Areas as a starting effect. So I
have no idea what to expect, plus this is the first time playing my new
deck, so its double trouble for me. He pulls 1/0 DBs, but no twix sites
yet. I pull Exec DB, then Tat DB and put DLOTS there on my 2nd turn.
He cancels Visage w/TT combo, then EPP Obi comes to battle DLOTS, they
both die. Then he plays OOC, but doesn’t get Vader. I drop another
Vader and Jodo, then EPP Luke comes to battle, and kills Vader, but Jodo
captures Luke. Thats because I started All Wrapped Up (along with IAO &
Mob Pts). He OOCs a couple more times, but still misses Vader. Turns
out he’s playing 9 OOCs! Yikes! Steve deploys 8D8 to Y4 War room, my
next turn I Twi’lek for YCHF to prevent odds. Then he deploys Artoo w/
8D8 and plays HDWGITM to draw a new hand (he does it several times
during the game). He REALLY wants to get Vader OOP. I deploy CHYBC to
stop any retrieval he might have in his deck (turns out he uses Edge
cards), and he deploys Battle Plan.
Now I’m paying 6 to drain for 2 at my CC and Tat Dbays (no BG systems in
my deck, I use Mob Pts to pull Executor). Search and Destroy comes out,
he he inserts AFA 3 times on me, but only once it hits because 2 other
times he had EPP Obi on table to battle. Obi frees Luke by killing
Jodo, but I put a Bounty on Luke’s head and recap him. By now Steve
realizes he can’t hurt me or retrieve force, so he hits me with a late
game Surprise Assault for 2 force and eventually does get Vader OOP.
In fact, he put 20 cards of mine OOP, I had no lost pile. But I still
win by 15. 2 (+15). I find out he plays 3 EPP Obis and 3 EPP Lukes.
So when I capped Luke that really hurt him.
Best: Coward & YCHF earned their card slots in that game.
Worst: Paying 6 to drain for 2. Yikes!
Game 2: LS v John Monroe’s ISB Big Blue (IAO, Mob Pts, SSPFT)
We’ve played this matchup several times before, and I’ve never lost to
John’s ISB deck, but I didn’t know how Mon Cals would fare. I started
ANSB and luckily drew Battle Plan in my opening hand. So as I was
setting up EBO he pulled Exec (w/Mob Pts), Exec DB, and Piett w/Command.
He got Merrejk and eventually put them at Exec DB, while pulling all
his systems out. I draw into Staging Areas and Haven, great for me.
He pays 3 to drain for 2 at Endor while I setup Haven on Hoth & deploy
Defiance w/Hassh’n aboard. I use EBG to pull my Rogue pilots and get
Luke and Hobbie in Rogue 4 at the North Ridge, establishing Menace
Fades. He avoids Hoth and sets up at Fondor, Kashyyyk, and Endor. He
uses Den of Thieves and an ORS to kill my Hoth drain & I’m looking
for a Signal to pull Strikeforce (so he can’t cancel my space drain).
I drop 3 more cruisers to Hoth (-1 staging areas, -1 EBO, -2 Haven, so
they deploy for 4 force!), and move a couple cruisers w/pilots to
Endor. His other drains are only 1 each thanks to Menace. He just
runs most of his fleet to Hoth, taking advantage of the fact that his
other ships are safe since my cruisers only deploy to Hoth.
I battle at Hoth, he loses a couple ORS (he has flipped by now), and
I move from Endor to Hoth. He never deploys to the ground to satisfy
Battle Plan, but he does manage to block Menace Fades for a turn so he
pays to drain me for 3 at Kashyyyk (Chirneau adding to the drain).
I’m ready to do some Edge retrieval, when the TD says we have 1 minute
left. Jeez, we’ve each still got over 20 cards left, so I know we
won’t finish. Time is called, and he’s got 29 cards to my 24. *sigh*
Timed Loss by 29. 2 (-14).
Best: The deck seemed to work well.
Worst: John is a slow player, plus I think I was playing slower than
normal since I was playing the deck for the 1st time. Fun game though.
Game 3: DS v Norman Perion’s EBO (ANSB)
Ah-hah! Didn’t I say I’d play vs. EBO? Well, my opening hand stinks.
No Vader, ATAT, Cannon, or TTMG. But when I pull the Exec DB, I see
I activated the Cannon and Blizzard 1. So I draw those up. Just
need TTMG and a high ability pilot (like Vader or Mara). He sets up
EBO turn 3, with some Baragwins. They’re retrieving everything he’s
losing to Visage, so I Twi’lek for CHYBC to stop that gay retrieval.
By now I have Mighty Jabba at CC DB, Xizor at Tat DB, and Lando at
Exec DB (after I deploy Lando, he loses General Lando to Visage, lol).
So I leave them there and deploy Blizzard 1 with Vader and the Cannon.
He gives me look of amazment like he doesn’t believe what he sees.
He drops Sullust w/Haven and Gold 6 w/pilot there. I’m hoping I draw
high enough to kill EBO so I don’t have to eat that drain. On my turn
I play TTMG, and he just groans, I say I need to draw a 2, and I draw
a 2, so the MPGs are gone, ANSB is gone, and most importantly, EBO is
gone, along with 8 of his life force. Too bad I didn’t have Mara,
cuz she could’ve beat down a Baragwin badly.
Later during that turn I deploy the Executor to Sullust and move Lando
aboard. I also deploy Search and Destroy. So he’s losing to S&D,
Visage, and my drains. And he can’t retrieve. As the game goes on I
transit my guys over to Hoth, to kill the Baragwins. I battled at
Sullust and drew a 6, so Gold 6 and pilot died, along with Haven. So
Lando ruled space in the Executor. Win by 32. 4 (+18).
Best: CHYBC and TTMG earned their card slots. I would’ve died
horribly to this deck without those cards. The Baragwins are
retrieval machines!
Worst: No Mara to infiltrate Hoth with. I had to transit guys over.
Game 4: LS v Steve Daniel’s BHBM (IAO, Mob Pts, ????)
I think he also started Crush, but I could be wrong. Anyways, he
gets Emp and Janus to Endor DB, DLOTS to CC DB. I start ANSB and
deploy destiny 6 Luke to DLOTS. I get Battle Plan out early to make
him pay to drain, but can’t find Haven. So I setup EBO and drop 2
cruisers to Hoth. Hobbie and Zev in Rogue 4 go to the North Ridge.
His turn he beats the hell out of Zev and Hobbie. Tempest 1,
Blizzard 2, and Fett hit the Ridge, and I lose Zev and Hobbie and
stack a card. Hobbie goes to the Bacta Tank. So I pay for my space
drain, and decide to let him have the Ridge. I move to Chandrila to
activate more force, leaving Hoth empty. He drops Chimarea w/Ozzel
& another pilot to Chandrila, I move back to Hoth, he follows. Now
I’ve got Haven, so I drop 2 cruisers, Lando in Falcon, & RL in R1
to beat the hell out of the Chimaera (power was 50 to 19), but he
just Ghhhks. I drew a 6 and 5 for battle destiny. Then I split my
fleet between Chandrila and Hoth. He drops Zuckuss w/4LOM to
Chandrila, but I barrier Zuckuss. I deploy I’ll Take the Leader to
make him power 2, then battle to kill Zuckuss plus 6 overflow damage.
I had Ackbar and Hassh’n there, but I forgot to use Ackbar’s text at
the start of my turn to pull Thaneespi. That could’ve been a nice
beating on Zuckuss (power 2 and NO destiny!).
Now I own space, and he spreads on the ground so I deploy Wedge, RSL
on Rogue 4 and shuttle Hobbie there to hold the Ridge. He deploys
another Chimaera w/a couple pilots later, but steers clear of my
fleet so he can drain for free (he has Carida out). But my drains
are much bigger, and I eventually kill the Chimaera again (not in
a beating though), and drain him out for the win. Win by 8.
6 (+26).
Best: Deck seemed to work well yet again. Only 1 card got stacked.
Worst: I deployed a LOT in this game. Plus Vader and Emp were
draining me all game. Where were my EPPs?
Game 5: LS v Tray Frazier’s TDIGWATT (IAO, Mob Pts, Crush)
I start ANSB and as I was doing that, he got Emp, Janus, and Mara
w/saber all at the CC Db with a POTF there. Drain of 4! Ouch.
Times like this I wish I was playing EBOX so I just use an xwing to
cancel it. Oh well, I eat that drain and get Haven on Hoth and put
GL in G1 and a cruiser there along with Luke and Hobbie in Rogue 1
at the Ridge. Menace Fades is out, so he’s draining me for 2 now.
HE comes at me with Dengar w/gun and Lord Vader to the Ridge, I
barrier Vader. On my turn, I Ice Storm and he’s really pissed when
I do that. So Menace Fades is back, and I’m draining for 4 at Hoth
now since Launching the Assault is out. He drops Chimaera w/Guri
and Thrawn and battles, sending Ackbar to the Tank. He has his
Order out whoch makes his ships immune to attirion<8, so I need to
get a new Order out. I deploy Lando in Falcon and Home One to Hoth
and kill Guri and Thrawn, he runs to Chandrila and puts 2 more
pilots on it. I move Home One over with Luke and Wedge, RSL aboard.
He stays there, so on my turn I deploy Liberty and EPP Han there &
smash the Chimaera (drawing 2 high destiny and cancelling his draw)
and now I own space. The big space drains shortly end the game.
He only deployed Bespin, CC DB, CC West Corridor, & a 1/0 Dbay.
Win by 10. 8 (+36).
Best: I’m liking this light deck.
Worst: The deck for some reason just can’t win by very high
differential. I’m 4-1 but with really low diff, even compared to
the people who are 3-2.
Game 6: DS v John Monroe’s HB mains (Insurr, Staging, Squassin)
I’m thinking its an auto-win here. John has played this deck since
the dawn of time, and it seems he always will play it. I figure
I’ll capture his guys, and retrieve w/Bounties. It started off
well when he put Ben Kenobi w/stick to Tat DB. I put a Bounty on
him and deployed Bossk w/gun and Dr. E/Ponda and battled. DLOTS
was at the CC DB. I capped Ben w/Bossk, so he took him over to
DLOTS. He’s activating 10 force, and drops Jedi Luke w/saber,
battles, steals Vader’s stick, hits Bossk (barely), plays SATM/BP
to make him lost, then hits Vader w/Ben. I draw a 5, so Ben
revives Luke. But now Ben and Luke are at my CC DB, and I couldn’t
believe how badly that went. Anyway, EPP Vader went to Tat DB,
I deployed CC Prison, deployed Lando aboard Tempest 1, and moved to
Vader’s site. Then I deployed Sim and Emperor to Vader’s site.
He put Wedge, RSL and Mirax with Ben and Luke. I moved everyone
(except the Emperor) to Ben and Luke’s site, adn he moved away.
That continued until we heard "5 minutes left." Like I said, John
is a rather slow player, but its partly my fault cuz I was talking
to him about stuff, which just slows everything down even more. I
was mad at myself (I didn’t want a timed win), so when I moved my
guys over to his guys, I used Sim to check his destiny, and he had
a zero on top. I knew I had a 5 and 4 on top, so I decided to duel,
but who would I duel first? Both had sabers, so I picked Luke (he
is harder to duel). I had more life force than John, so I could’ve
let things progress, but I didn’t want a timed win. He draws a 0
and 3, but plays Glancing Blow, so he wins the duel. I’m in shock,
(like Norman was when I played TTMG), and I lose my 9 force. Oh
well, I had to risk it. A timed win would’ve been just as good as
a loss for me. When time is called, he has 27 to my 19. Timed
loss by 27. 8 (+9).
Best: None really, I needed to battle him so I could duel and use
Tarkin to cancel on of his destiny. But he wouldn’t stick around
to battle. I thought about picking up Vader, but I never had
enough guys to back up Vader with.
Worst: Really boring game, it really was just those 2 battles at
the start of the game, then just avoidance. I guess that’s why I
started talking to him, cuz I was bored.
John decides to drop at this point since he’s got 3 timed wins and
one loss.
Game 7: DS v Pete Nordstrom’s Profit (Insurr, Staging, Wise Advice)
I start Mara and EPP Fett. I deploy Exec DB, JP Dungeon, Tat DB,
& DLOTS to the Tat DB all 1st turn. He draws. When Vader drains,
he plays Lost in Wilderness, but draws a 1, so Vader’s safe. He
deploys his CC DB, and deploys BoShuda. I deploy my CC DB, I
deploy Lando and Tempest 1 there, so Lando w/Ax is not a worry
anymore. I also deploy Mara’s saber and CHYBC. I move Fett &
Mara outside to JP. He deploys EPP Obi to Vader and they kill
each other. I deploy EPP Vader and Tarkin, then deploy Search &
Destroy. I know he wants to free Han but doesn’t know how he’s
going to occupy 2 BG sites. I keep deploying every turn, and I’ve
got Emp at Tat DB, Jabba, Fett, Mara, and 4LOM at JP, Vader and
Tarkin at my CC DB, and Dr. E/Ponda and Lando in Tempest 1 at his
CC DB. Where would you deploy? He puts Ben at Tat DB, and
battles the Emp. I draw low so I lose 2 force.
I move Vader and Tarkin over, but he runs to CC DB (which is now
empty since Vader and Tarkin moved to Tat DB). Vader & Tarkin
follow Ben, so he deploys Orrimaarko to battle the Emp with a
tracked 6, I draw low so I lose Emp and 2 force to Orri’s text.
Ben moves over to Orri’s site. I move Vader and Tarkin over.
He deploys Mirax in the Chamber and I realize he’s going to transit
Ben to CC DB to occupy 2 BG sites, then free Han, so I blindly
duel Ben, drawing two 5’s to his two 1’s, and he just scoops up
his deck right then and there, so I win by 23. 10 (+32).
Best: Don’t try those blind duels at home, they’re dangerous. :P
Worst: Both Pete and I had planned on doing better than we were
doing, so I can understand him being a little pissed.
Game 8: LS v Jeff Miller’s Endor Ops TIEs (IAO, Mob Pts, Decree)
He pulls Wakeelmui and every 1/0 Dbay there is. I start ANSB.
He draws for a while, I deploy Battle Plan and get EBO by turn 2.
I put Liberty and Zev at Hoth, he drops 2 Interceptors and 2
Dreadnoughts (I barrier 1 of them), battles and of course plays
APTW. I lose Zev to the Tank and Liberty to the used pile since
he outpowered me by a good amount. Oh yeah, he had SFS out too.
So I deploy GL in G1 w/Zen aboard and move them over to Wakeelmui.
Hobbie and Wedge are in Rogue 4 at the North Ridge. He deploys
Janus to Endor DB to satisfy Battle Plan, and deploys 2 more
Interceptors and a Dread to his Sullust. I’ve got Haven in hand
so I can go to either system, but I fear his text on Sullust (I
lose 8 force if he cancels Haven). I decide to hold off on Haven
and put RL in R1 at Chandrila. That also satisfies Menace Fades
for me so he’s not draining for as much. He drops an interceptor
w/cannons and blows up Red Leader. Now I drop destiny 6 Luke to
Janus, he barriers, then runs Janus to the Bunker.
I decide to deploy a Cruiser to Hoth, then put down Haven and
deploy Lando in Falcon & another cruiser. He deploys an
interceptor to Wakeelmui and deploys Emp’s Sword to Hoth, battles,
and plays APTW so I lose a cruiser, and since I draw low on both
draws he just loses a TIE. He moves his fleet to Wakeelmui (he
had been moving it from Sullust to get it closer to Wakeelmui)
so Gold Leader and Zev run away. Then we hear "only 2 minutes
left," and I’m wondering where the time is going. Jeff is playing
slowly, but I didn’t think an HOUR had passed already. Anyway,
I do 2 On The edges but he still has 24 force to my 20 force when
time is called. I honestly don’t know where the time went. Does
it sound like all that happened in an hour? Well, it did. Timed
loss by 24. 10 (+8).
Best: I owned all the BG sites.
Worst: He owned most of the BG systems. TIEs are just too fast
for my deck I think. An why is my LS timing out? I’m not a slow
player at all.
So I finish 17th place with a score of 10 (+8). What terrible
differential, huh? Here are the top 6:
Alfred Dong 14 (+111)
Paul Feldman 14 (+100)
Paul McKelvey 12 (+120)
Jason Makohon 12 (+104)
Alexander Sheynis
Kyle Ishimaru
Alfred and Paul played in the final, with Paul winning both games,
thus earning the title of State Champion. Alfred used his Hunt
Down v Paul’s WYS, with Paul winning by 2 or 3 force, then Alfred
played his Y4 Throne Room deck v Paul’s SYCFA manipulator deck,
where Paul won again (they didn’t count the diff). Congrats to
Paul, and thanks to all of you for reading. Back to studying for
finals.
Props to:
Alfred for getting to that final.
Paul for winning the final.
Paul Mckelvey for doing waaaay better than I thought he would.
Kyle for doing waaaaaaaaaaay better than I thought he would.
Phil Green for doing waaaaaaaaaaaaaay better than I thought.
Steve Daniel for actually winning with that light deck.
Nick for the ride.
Mike Hardy for running the tourney.
Slops to:
Nick’s station wagon, that wagon sucks.
Alfred for losing to Paul’s WYS deck. Somehow he let Paul back in
that game cuz it looked like Alfred had it locked.
Mike Hardy for being late. |
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