Paddy Tye (KazonPADD) Tournament Report - 1E 2013-09-01 - 10:00 AM Gozar and his Non-Aligned Block Buddies Introduction I dislike Block. It's fine for newcomers, but when Grand Masters like Nuttall get involved, it just becomes a bloodbath! Round 1 Danny Nuttall FL (-100) My two seeded ships were just a little too far apart so Danny got his forces going and started picking me off. I tried to get through Raid Ancient Burial Ground, but was stopped by Difference of Opinion, leaving Danny free to sweep in and pick up the points. The one good thing was Danny's trick to use Vekor and the Venus Drug to try and avoid Subspace Shockwave, only for me to stop his Vekors with Difference of Opinion before following up with Shockwave. After blasting my remaining ships to smithereens, my only way to move location was via The Nexus, in a vague effort to salvage some points. Only for Danny to then inform me that Planet happened to be where he'd seeded Dead End. Bum. Round 2 Steph Reading FW (+65) A much more pleasant game against Steph. Being a newcomer, I left her universal mission alone rather than being mean and trying to steal it. I played as a solver and finally my deck was doing what it was supposed to - reporting up to 4 personnel for free each turn. Steph struggled with some of my dilemmas - her Feds were naturally low on Treachery, but also struggled to provide much Honor either. My Captain's Holiday (needing 2 Archaeology or 2 Geology) and Medical Crisis (needing Biology) also gave her some difficulty. My army of Gozars, Borg, Scientists and Mercenaries finally completed a third mission with Steph only having cleared through one. Round 3 Mark Kelly FW (+65) Mark had just played against a similar deck from Niall, and had been defeated in that game, so felt less than optimistic for our match. As another new player, I again left his stealable missions alone. I started reporting all over the shop, whilst Mark's huge deck (taller than it was wide) was not giving him what he needed. My guys were powering through again, building up skills in multiple so I could get through a doubled Armus Energy Field at Observe Stellar Rebirth and waiting for a Friendly Fire to tick down at Foster New Collective. Closing Thoughts I still prefer Virtual to Block - gives more options!