Tournaments | trekcc

Unjustly Banned (RedDwarf)
Tournament Report - 2E - Worlds Day One
2012-09-08 - 09:00 AM
Klingon Net Deck [v1.2]
Introduction
As my Klingon speed deck performed relatively well at GenCon a few weeks ago, I thought I may as well stick with it for day one Worlds. I didn't know how many players would be there, but went into the day fully expecting to go 6-2 or better.

Round 1	Robert Dawson	FW (+60)
Rob was playing Starfleet, with all the usual suspects. He had a very bad draw however; and didn't get Nathan Samuels, Damaged Archer or the Future Enterprise out for ages. To make matters worse, I played Kruge after a few turns and left Rob with the prospect of losing his ship if he went out early. As it was, I ended up making the first mission attempt. I only had one Treachery personnel in the team (J'Dan), and was more than willing to stop him when given the chance. Naturally, I then faced Back Room Dealings, and had someone else killed. Bugger. As a result of my attempt, I think Rob felt the need to attempt himself. He went out to Eliminate Sphere Network with seven personnel, but I realised I only needed to stop one and he wouldn't have the attributes to complete it. I drew Hard Time and that was that. My next attempt was stopped by Intimidation. Rob then flew to one of his planet missions (as he didn't have the range to fly to Earth and back), and attempted with 6. I killed another with Back Room Dealings, and stopped the attempt through lack of attributes again. On my turn, I increased the Kruge intimidation by playing a battle event. I then completed Investigate Alien Probe before getting stopped at Rescue Prisoners by another copy of Intimidation. Rob finally played a second ship, and was able to return to Eliminate Sphere Network with enough personnel to complete it. I stopped him with Outclassed. On my turn, I played the Sword of Kahless and a second ship (to further increase the Kruge intimidation). The opportunity to Kruge a ship wasn't there though, so I attempted missions instead. I completed Rescue Prisoners, but was stopped at Brute Force. On his next turn, Rob finally completed Eliminate Sphere Network with the help of Karyn Archer's attribute boost, but I'd stopped a few personnel in the process so he only had seven remaining for his planet mission. Hard Time and Rogue Borg Ambush stopped them cold and took two personnel out of the attempt. When I attempted Brute Force on my turn, Rob played Hard Time followed by An Issue of Trust. Klag made the second dilemma ineffective and I took the mission to win the game. FW: 100-40


Round 2	Craig Giblett	FL (-30)
Craig was playing a Borg assimilator 2-mission win deck. My favourite. Not. I slowed his progress by blowing up two copies of Quintessence early on. That left Craig simply drawing/playing, so he was hampered somewhat. He played lots of cheap events and cheap interlink drones, but no Queen or Locutus. By the time he was ready to attempt, I had already been out to Investigate Alien Probe and lost three personnel to Tsiolkovsky Infection. I'd already limped home for reinforcements, and returned to the mission only to get attempts stopped by An Issue of Trust (no Klag) and, the following turn, Gorgan (no 7 cost cards in hand). Basically, Craig's dilemma pile was keeping him in the game at this point. When Craig eventually attempted, I one-stopped him with Intimidation. He then returned the favour, by stopping me with a second copy of An Issue of Trust. I then returned the favour one more time with Dignitaries and Witnesses to stop him without putting any more dilemmas under the mission. I finally completed my space mission on the following turn, but forgot to use Fajo's Menagerie to download the Sword of Kahless. I stopped Craig's next attempt with a combo ending in Hard Time and then Warm Welcome (both of which didn't go under the mission), and was feeling particularly pleased with myself. On my turn, I completed Rescue Prisoners, but wasn't feeling confident about my third mission, Brute Force, as I didn't have enough Security in play to complete it. In a moment of madness, I decided to fly to Seek Savior instead. Tsiolkovsky Infection reared its ugly head, and I lost three personnel. I also lost another to Tactical Disadvantage and I regretted my decision not to spend a turn at Qo'noS immensely. Craig finally completed his space mission on the next turn, and then the pain began. He used The Will of the Collective to assimilate Kor from my ship, and took a few others using Reborn and Unrelenting. Not only did it leave my ship stranded, but it also meant my best weapon against his deck - Dignitaries and Witnesses - was now no longer of any use. The following turn, he used Knowledge and Experience to bust through my dilemma combo and complete a planet mission and, thanks to a couple copies of One with the Borg scoring him 40-odd points, he won the game. FL: 60-100


Round 3	stephen lee	FL (-40)
Stephen was playing a TNG/Cadet 2-mission win speed solver. His deck was so fast that he was out attempting before me, and that rarely happens. Fortunately, he didn't have many Cadets out, so I could stop his team with a single Hard Time. More Cadets hit the table the following turn, and a Moral Choice was needed to stop them. When I went out to attempt, my team wasn't the best. I hadn't drawn into any of my high-cost personnel, so I was left with a bunch of 2 cost jobbers and a couple of 3 cost dudes. That played directly into Stephen's dilemma pile, which was targeting cost with dilemmas like Unfair Terms and The Dal'Rok. My first attempt at Investigate Alien Probe faced Well-Prepared Defenses and then the Dal'Rok, but that was not enough to stop me from completing the mission. Stphen then one-upped me by completing his mission on the next turn and, thanks to Tallera, scored 45 points from it. Having actually remembered to download the Sword of Kahless the previous turn, I played it straight away, but that would be my downfall. Unfair Terms decimated my team, and then the Integrity-2 drawback on the Sword meant I couldn't overcome Greater Needs. I was stopped, and my ship was stopping me from attempting a mission where it was parked. Stephen played the Enterprise-D (Personal Flagship) on his next turn and it became apparent that he only needed one more mission to take the win. I was extremely lucky to stop his first attempt, when Stephen stopped Tim Watters (with 2 Leadership) to Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?, before Dignitaries and Witnesses (requiring 3 Leadership) stopped everyone. I then stopped the second attempt with Moral Choice and The Captain's "Guests". My final turn of the game saw me complete Rescue Prisoners, but my dwindling number of personnel in play meant Stephen could stop me at Brute force easily. He then played Kirk on the following turn, and I knew the game was up. With three dilemmas under his mission, and enough personnel in play for two attempts, I would need a miracle to stop him. I didn't get that miracle. I tried two dilemmas against his first attempt. Stephen Kirk'ed the first dilemma, and Lwaxana and Bashir were left to overcome The Dal'Rok by themselves (practically). FL: 60-100 I don't want to take anything away from Stephen, who played a great game; but of all the games I played in day one, I really do feel this game could have been so different if my deck had been kinder to me.


Round 4	Herman Chan	FW (+30)
Herman was playing a Borg solver. We start off evenly matched, trading mission attempt after mission attempt. I stop him with Intimidation. He stops me with An issue of Trust and Gomtuu Shock Wave. I stop him with Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? and Dignitaries and Witnesses (knowing the Queen would be stopped by the first dilemma). He stops me with Personal Duty and Where No One Has Gone Before. While I was twiddling my thumbs because of Where No One Has Gone Before, Herman takes the lead by completing his first mission and beginning work on his second. I had to play a load of dilemmas to guarantee I could stop him because he had Unyielding in his core. I'd blown one up, but Herman was keeping the second alive with Fourth each turn. I ended my combo with Greater Needs, and it turns out that dilemma was going to win me the game. On my turn, I jumped back into the lead by completing Investigate Alien Probe and Rescue Prisoners in quick succession. Herman then wanted to complete his second mission, but couldn't attempt while his ship was there. He left five personnel behind, before moving his ship away and completing the mission. He didn't have the range to fly back, pick them up, and move to his third mission though, so Greater Needs had basically bought me a turn. I had enough personnel to double team Brute Force by this point. Herman stopped the first team, and then top-decked a No Kill I to stop the second. Knowing I could auto-complete next turn, Herman tried to micro-attempt his third mission, but Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? killing one personnel was enough to prevent him from completing the mission by 1 Cunning. I was lucky with that draw. Herman could have prevented any random stop with Unyielding, but he couldn't prevent the kill. FW: 100-70


Round 5	Smiley	FW (+60)
Mr "Iron Mike" was playing a Non-Aligned Thief deck, using Gatherers Raid to set up Pickpocket for micro-attempting. Mike had played this deck against me earlier in the week, so I knew it would be tough to stop once he was set up. Fortunately, Mike was slow to get personnel into play, while I actually got a bunch of 8 Strength personnel in my opening hand (for a change.) My first attempt at Investigate Alien Probe sees me run into Occupational Hazards. I'd normally fail to overcome that, but Chang comes to my rescue, and I complete the mission there and then. On my next turn, I fly to Rescue Prisoners, but my lack of Transporters is a slight problem when Mike plays Whisper in the Dark. Three personnel die. I still have four personnel remaining and can still staff my ship, so I'm not too worried. I should have been though, because it would take me three more turns to get another four personnel into play. While I'm stuck drawing every non-personnel card in my deck, Mike makes his move. He doesn't have Pickpocket out, so I only have to deal with 6 Cunning chumps. I stop his first attempt in space, and then get lucky at his second attempt. I played Pitching In, Dark Page and then Gomtuu Shock Wave, and Mike decided to stop Brull and Vic Fontaine (his only two Diplomacy personnel) to the first two dilemmas, before Gomtuu damaged his ship. I finally get enough personnel in play to make an attempt and am forced to go to Brute Force, as I still don't have any Transporters in play for Rescue Prisoners. With help from the Sword of Kahless, I complete the mission, and decide to just sit at my headquarters rather than risk losing more personnel at a mission attempt I know I can't complete. On Mike's turn he uses Gatherers Raid to reveal the top three cards of my deck. Two of them are Transporters personnel - yay! Sadly, the top card wasn't, so Mike could use Pickpocket to pump his thieves attributes up. I couldn't stop his mission attempt in space, but I go get a few stops. They, in turn, mean I can just about stop Mike at his planet mission. Then, all I needed to do was draw and play my Transporters personnel, before double teaming Rescue Prisoners. The second attempt took the mission and won me the game. FW: 100-40


Round 6	Johannes Klarhauser	FL (-70)View opponent's Report View original Report
Johannes was playing a Voyager deck with the Chakotay twins to bust through dilemmas. I'd played a similar deck back in 2007, so I had a fair idea of what to expect. Sadly, my shuffle wasn't kind to me in this game. Once again, my high cost personnel seemed to be hiding from me, and I was left attempting with weenies. To start with, things were not too bad. I had a team attempting Investigate Alien Probe for pretty much the whole game. Johannes stopped them with Accelerated Aging (twice), Gomtuu Shock Wave, Well-Prepared Defenses/Temptation (with only two Honor/Treachery in my team to begin with), and a few more combos that I can't remember. He stalled me there for so long that I had time to play a second ship, staff it and go out to Rescue Prisoners. Bizarrely, I completed that in a couple of turns, and moved on to Brute Force. There, my weenies faced The Oracle's Punishment (stopping my only two personnel costing 3 or more) and then Unfair Terms (which killed three). Even though Johannes was stopping me a lot at my missions, he wasn't faring much better with his attempts. I stopped him with Gomtuu Shock Wave, then Outclassed (as Voyager was damaged), Moral Choice (twice), and a couple of other dilemmas. The problem was that Johannes wasn't using Revised Chakotay (I assume because preventing one stop wouldn't make a difference against those dilemmas). This meant he was building up copies of Chakotay in hand to fuel the ability and I had to use a little more dilemma stoppage than I would have liked. Eventually, I ran out of "good" dilemmas to stop his attempts, and had to use things like Intimidation knowing it would probably only stop two personnel, and both would likely be unstopped. Once that started, I had little defence against his mission attempts. To sum this game up in one sentence; Johannes had a better dilemma pile and was better at playing dilemmas than I was. FL: 30-100
This was a very close and hard-fought battle. Twice in this game, I had Reprogrammed ready to prevent James' interrupts (The Promise/BOT?), so thanks to Vlad, who had suggested I add that card.

Round 7	Michael Van Breemen	FL (-40)View opponent's Report View original Report
Michael was playing his Bajoran Covenant dilemma avoidance deck. It was the same deck (more or less) as the one he played at the North American Continentals. That wasn't great, because I was playing the same Klingon deck (more or less) as the one I played at the North American Continentals, and Michael beat me there by one turn. Knowing I didn't have long to win, I went all out speed in this game trying to complete my three missions before Michael was set up. Things looked promising when I completed Investigate Alien Probe in one turn. Michael stopped one, and took another out with Hard Time, but I could still complete. The following turn, Michael gave me Intimidation at Rescue Prisoners. In a team of 8, I only had one non-Klingon (Riker). Guess who got picked first? Yep, it was Riker. That meant I could complete the mission that turn, and move on to Brute Force with the six guys I still had. They were stopped, but I figured I still had time. The following turn, I picked up reinforcements and attempted again. Michael stopped me, but left me with enough overcome dilemmas that I could auto-complete on the next turn. Just like at GenCon, this was when Michael decided to make a move. My only chance was to stop his attempt at Investigate Maquis Activity. He attempted with five personnel and I drew two copies of Hard Time, The Captain's "Guest", The Caretaker's "Guests", and a space dilemma. I figured I had a chance if I stopped three with The Captain's "Guest" and then took one out with Hard Time. Unfortunately, I played The Caretaker's "Guests" instead of the The Captain's "Guest" and it was game over. Whoever I took out would be replaced by Bareil. (shakes fist) Next Time Michael... Next Time... FL: 60-100
A repeat of Continentals with the same result almost identically since we were both playing the same decks.

Round 8	Amber Van Breemen	FW (+65)
And so it came down to the final game. I was paired up with Amber, who was also sitting at 3-4. Whoever won this game would have a chance at qualifying for day two. The exact same thing happened at Worlds in 2009, where we played against each other in the final round of day one knowing only one of us would qualify. I won that day... Amber was playing Voyager. A deck similar to the one Johannes had beaten me with earlier. This time though, I had better personnel in play, and had drawn a lot of my tricks for beating dilemmas. I also drew a damage event, so I played it figuring it might affect Amber's gameplay choices. Despite that, Amber was out attempting before me. I stopped her with Moral Choice and Gomtuu Shock Wave though. She then stopped my attempt at Investigate Alien Probe. On the following turn, Amber abandoned Caretakers Array and moved to another space mission. I stopped her there with Outclassed as her ship was still damaged. On my turn, I completed my space mission, picked up some reinforcements but was then stopped at Rescue Prisoners. I then stopped Amber one more time, before completing my second mission and moving to my third. True to form, I was stopped but I thought I had a good chance of completing it on the next turn. Amber finally completed her mission on the next turn, but I was able to stop her attempt on the planet. I then completed Brute Force for the win. (sorry for the lack of dilemma specifics for this game). FW: 100-35


Closing Thoughts
Turns out I only played three Australians out of eight games. That must be why I didn't go 6-2. I blame Matthyas for pairing me up against "tougher" European/North American opposition ;)