Brian Sykes (Armus) Tournament Report - 2E 2014-01-26 - 12:00 PM Thievin' Ain't Easy v1.0 Introduction Round 1 Neil Timmons ML (-15) Neil was playing his 'Evil Kirk and Friends' TOS Solver: Neil was teched for all of the common dilemmas, which worked out well for me because I wasnt running any of them! :wink: Good News: I got Morn in my opening hand. Bad News: Neil got Evil McCoy in his opening hand! A turn later, Raimus met a similar fate thanks to Chekov bounce and McCoy Replay I attempted my space mission with 9 and was able to get passed WNOHGB with 36 cunning, but that left me unable to solve. but it did leave 5 under. On my next turn I had to make the decision of flying home and dropping off people to solve with 5 or going with 9 and hoping to get through whatever neil had left. I opted for the former, because Neil was a mission and a half ahead of me and I needed to get my War Games turned on. I think that was the right decision, as I was able to hit him with one of them on his next turn. On my turn I started working on Deliver Ancient Aritfact, and after some Navaar shenanigans to get around Sylvia, I found myself ONE CUNNING SHORT of winning thanks to Galen stuck on Hard Time (No Artifact in the Discard Pile unfortunately). Time was also called on my turn and I went first. Since Neil already had planet and space at that point he had the win, but I was able to hit him with War Games again after he went all in and attempted with 17, probably fearing the Timescape that I hit him with on a previous turn. In retrospect, since Galen was on Hard Time, I should have blown up the Thought Maker in my core. That would have gotten me the win, but alas, I only thought of it after the game. D'oh! Round 2 James Self FL (-5) James played a solid Relativity Solver. He also Ran Gomtuu, and the fact that this game was close said a lot about my dilemma pile being able to keep me in a game. I get a slow start, but I do have Christening in my hand so I get the Ent-A. On his first mission attempt at Navigate Xindi Corridor I get a crap draw and am only able to throw Pitching In + Accelerated Aging which would have worked, if not for Simmons having Astrometrics as his SECOND skill. Meanwhile, I go out to my space mission and promptly get hit in the nuts by Unbelievable Emergency (killing Baran) + Gomtuu. Next Turn, I attempt again and get hit with Gomtuu #2. So at this point I only have 6 dudes in play, 2 Gomtuus on my only ship, and Tallera is still in my hand. Needless to say I'm thinking this will turn into a 0-100 rout in pretty short order. I spend the next turn playing Tallera and Kivas Fajo and attempt with my busted ship, hoping that he doesnt have a 3rd Gomtuu. He doesn't and I actually get some cards under a mission. On his next turn he solves Avert Danger and things start looking bleak again. At this point he has about 20 people in play, as I haven't killed anyone, and spreads out to Historical Research and Deliver Ancient Artifact and starts crop-dusting. I hold him off at each mission with 1-2 dilemmas per attempt, but that will only hold up so long. I finally play Combat Vessel and a Gatherer and send my reinforcements out to rescue the crew. I attempt with 6 and get stopped by a timely Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, which would have killed someone had Kivas Fajo not been there to swap in Acquisition as a requirement. Next turn is more crop dusting the two missions and I'm quickly running out of options. My turn I manage to finally (FINALLY!) solve, my space mission for 50 points thanks to Tallera and the Ent-A both being present. I fly both ships to the HQ and leave the Ent-A there for repair while I head over to Deliver Ancient Artifact. I attempt and somehow blow through the dilemma combo to solve on the first attempt! This is bad though, as I only get 45 points for my effort, leaving me at 95. The theory of that attempt was to stack some dilemmas for a next-turn solve, but I actually brought a 'real' crew, so oops! Unfortunately, I only have 4 cards on Display of Wealth at this point because I havent managed to get Bustling into play this game, so I can't auto-win the next turn. I'm out of range, so I just end my turn with the intention of going hard after Qualor II Rendezvous on my next turn. Alas, it was not to be. After buying time with Timescape and Accelerated Aging, the 20+ person Relativity crew splits up and double-teams Historical Research. I draw a War Games to stop the first attempt, but the second attempt dilemma draw is not the greatest -- I have 5 to spend but can only play Cargo Pirates and The Caretaker's Guests, which doesn't do anything because he has all three Simmons in this attempt. I'm REALLY starting to dislike that guy. Full Loss, 95-100. Round 3 Joe Huntzinger FW (+100) Joe was playing TNG Enterprise-C, big cost guys: This game stuff finally clicked. I got the Ent-A in my opening hand, got Bustling early, got set up, and everything worked! I was also able to stall him at his first space mission (Investigate Derelict) by removing his Security to the top of his deck with The Caretaker's "Guests". That also set up Pickpocket nicely. I solved my space mission on my first attempt, and only got stopped once at my planet mission. After two very near misses, this game went like clockwork. Full Win 100-0. Closing Thoughts I should have definitely taken James's advice about Gem, but I'm not quite sure where to put her, as the deck already feels a few cards too big. This was a good 'first pass' at a Thief mechanic, and I'm sure that with a little more practice/fine-tuning I could reduce the play mistakes, but I still think it has a ways to go before this thing is tier-1.