Deck Building 101 - The Basics, Part 2

by Stephen Lee, Staff Writer

27th January 2009

Click here for Part 1

TOURNAMENT REPORT

Fourteen players show up on Sunday! It's a sad statement about our local football franchises, but good for Project Transwarp.

Round One vs. Michael Fernandez (Hirogen Battle)

Michael used the giveaway tournament to get rid of binder fodder by playing with an affiliation he wasn't very interested in. He had four ships out by turn four, but having drawn Chakotay on turn two and having played three to four personnel per turn, I was ready for Guerrilla warfare. I played a Vidiian Interceptor on turn five, and started moving my fleet away from Michael's armada. I solved Inversion Mystery quickly and cleared out Assist Cooperative, making sure In the Zone saw no play. Michael damaged my outpost next and, after solving Assist Cooperative, I solved Reinitialize Warp Reaction a turn later for full win.

100-0 Score 3(+100)

Round Two vs, Chris Castagnetto (Ferengi Cargo Run + 62nd Rule + Tribbles!)

The first thing I noticed during the seed phase was that Chris played one space mission and five planet missions. My deck had five space dilemmas, and I had to mis-seed two, hoping like hell my walls were strong enough. I also noticed the Tribbles pile, and knew it would be a frustrating game. Chris went first and had a fast set-up, running cargo on his first turn. I drew Chakotay in my opening hand and set up like mad. Chris completed more cargo runs and played 62nd Rule of Acquisition on Feldomite Rush. The first dilemma, Spatial Rift, ate two guys for the stop. Chris was not playing all 1 Tribbles, so the frustration level was manageable. By this time, I had got almost all of my guys on the table and started clearing out Answer Distress Signal. The last dilemma, Ankari “Spirits”, stuck on Voyager, killing three guys total and deactivating Neelix. On the next turn, Chris cleared out Spatial Rift with Rom, only to have the whole away team (7 personnel) die to Kazon Bomb. That was the break I was looking for, but I wasted it. I tried playing the U.S.S. Intrepid to the Vidiian Outpost, but Chris pointed out the misplay (quadrant restrictions). Strategema was on the table, so I played a Vidiian Interceptor instead and transferred my crew from the "Spirit"ed Voyager. However, because the Interceptor had no Holodeck, I lost out on the hologram bonus points when I solved Answer Distress Signal. On the next turn I red-shirted through Inversion Mystery. Chris had been playing Dabo since turn two, and played the Phoenix for a total of 30 points. Sensing that I was about to roll my last mission, he threw his away team at one last dilemma and hit Friendly Fire with only one Leadership. I'm glad he had no Rule of Acquisition #33 to play. He used Dabo for another 6 points and I solved Liberation for the win. ... I miss playing Tribbles.

100-36 Score 6(+164)

Round Three vs. David Holtmann (Starfleet + 34th Rule)

David was one of two other players who was undefeated, and he always has creative decks. I made a major mistake during the seed phase... I forgot to seed something at Empok Nor. I drew Chakotay again in my opening hand, and set-up fast while David was in the Alpha Quadrant attacking Empok Nor for card draws with 34th Rule of Acquisition. After three or four turns of that, we were both almost decked, but David took control of Empok Nor and spied my Dead End at Mining Survey from the Science Lab. I start red-shirting Inversion Mystery, and solved it for 45 points. Dave decided to red-shirt Espionage Mission, but my walls were stopping him. I red-shirted Reinitialize Warp Reaction for another 45 points and found Dave's Dead End at Assist Cooperative next turn for the win. Friendly Fire was huge again!

100-50 Score 9(+214)

Round Four vs. Dan Webster (Motion Picture Klingons + Big Mission Points)

Four of Dan's missions (Wormhole Negotiations, Pegasus Search, Hunt for DNA Program and Signal for Rescue) were worth 40 points or more. He was only going to do two missions to win, which is what all good decks do. Dan set-up quickly, playing two to three personnel per turn, while I dug for Chakotay. I got him turn four, but Dan's Klingons red-shirted through a Gravimetric Distortion and Spatial Rift. Luckily, Friendly Fire slowed him down for two turns. I set up with Chakotay and Delta Quadrant Spatial Scission, and red-shirted through Inversion Mystery. Friendly Fire went to discard pile, and Dan scored 50 points with his mission specialists. I was in trouble. I started red-shirting Reinitialize Warp Reaction but got stopped. Dan played a few more guys and, luckily for me, found my Lack of Preparation under Signal for Rescue. He was now back down to 40 points, and I no longer needed to worry about him walking through my Dead End (yet). I completed Reinitialize Warp Reaction and Liberation on the next turn for the win.

100-40 Score 12(+274)

4-0 for the tourney! Not bad for ten Voyager starters and some donated cards. Friendly Fire was the best card choice for this deck as it won me three games. The U.S.S. Intrepid did not work all day. I had to count on a great opening hand and going first to avoid Strategema.

Now where did I put my Tribble side deck?

stephen lee
(grendelX)
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