Joel Bray (Lejo) Tournament Report - 2E Standard - Risa Regional 2011-05-07 - 02:00 PM A Boat-load and Ship-full of Crap Introduction The San Diego (Risa) group hosted a fantastic 2E Regional and Dan Hamman did a great job running the event. Equally, he was patient with the multiple Chakotay silliness questions tossed his way as tournament director. This was my first time playing in our Risan neighbors' territory (Arby's which had a really nice salad; I know they aren't known for their salads, but it was yummy) and I had a great time playing the San Diego folks (new and old). Shaking hands with Chairman Charlie Plaine was a real treat too. Additionally, thank you to Carlos Maya who brought cupcakes (seriously)! I am publicly dismayed that neither Chris Donati nor myself brought a Maquis deck. After three different Maquis builds, a Klingon deck in the works, I decided instead to play a Delta Quadrant Federation deck full of dilemma "cheat" crap. My dilemma pile was retooled expecting decks like Borg, Klingon battle, and Ruling Council... none of which I saw (sigh), so it often worked against me (especially Round 5). My deck did as well as I expected but the players are what made my tournament experience fun! Round 1 James Floyd MW (+25) This was the first time I met and played against James. It was also the first of three TOS Federation decks I would face in a row! James was running a mission core of Integrity personnel (JTK OT, etc.) and my dilemma pile did the best that it could and I managed to squeak out a win after time was called. I look forward to playing James again! Round 2 Rogue Shindler MW (+25) Rogue ran a TOS deck that played havoc with my skill booster strategy. However, some well placed "Dreamer and the Dream" dilemmas helped curb his momentum. My deck proved to be super silly, especially Chakotay-ness, and I eeked out a modified win after time was called. Because I understood the sort of deck I was playing (which is not my normal play style by any means), I felt like I had more fun playing against his Firefly/Serenity deck (which was freakin' cool). Not only did I have fun with trivia banter, I also got a sun tan from the booth we sat at (my fault). Thanks Rogue! Round 3 Bryan Kopaska FW (+55) Seeing Bryan's HQ drew a sigh from me. However, this was the first time I played Bryan and we had a great time. Unfortunately for Bryan, his draws were stalled and he ended up with a handfull of ships. I got some lucky breaks in my mission attempts and pulled off a full win even though my dilemma pile failed horribly against his only attempt at solving his most difficult mission (I would see this happen again vs. Dan Hamman). Bryan and I had a great chat after our game and I appreciated his input with regard to the silliness that my deck contained. I hope we get the opportunity to play each other again. Round 4 Thomas Kamiura ML (-25) This was, without a doubt, the most challenging round for me. TK plays like a beast, and his Starfleet deck is nasty. I had played against it before so I knew what to expect. TK and I both made some key mistakes as we played that inevitably could have swung the game one direction or the other. This was the only round in which my dilemma pile was as "cooperative" as I could have hoped from it, but in the end, TK's skill and his deck beat me to the punch. I look forward to another challenging game versus TK again! Round 5 Dan Hamman FL (-80) This was the first time I played against Dan in 2E and I loved seeing the Equinox crew get their due! I could not have asked for a better starting hand, however, I got greedy and played against my better instincts which slowed me down two turns. My own stalling combined with my failed dilemma draw/play at Dan's first mission attempt/completion made me quickly realize that I was finished. I never recovered after because I was unable to cycle/draw into my deck (TATV, Bashir, etc. never appeared) so the best chance I had was to prevent Dan from getting a full win. My dilemmas and his fine deck didn't let that happen. In the end, I was pleased with seeing my favorite "not Maquis" in the hands of a great opponent and the pleasure knowing that this game is how my deck earned its title. Congrats on your tournament victory Dan!