Kris Sonsteby (LORE) Tournament Report - 2E 2016-02-13 - 10:30 AM That's All We Needed... A Druish Princess Introduction The 2015-2016 T2E Tough Enough League playoffs began with a First & Second Edition double feature on a frigid morning at Fantasy Flight Games Event Center. With most of the participants chasing bonus points, this showcase of our favorite B-side designs led to one of the most evenly matched fields I can remember. Round 1 Justin Kaufman FW (+25)View opponent's ReportView original Report Crimson was trying out Damaged Starfleet, and gave my Chula pile fits as Archer and Phlox both made appearances early. Eventually killing the duo, I corralled him at Investigate Anachronism shortly before powering through Intercept Renegade courtesy of The Central Command to win a nail biter at the wire. FW 100-75. I was able to get Damaged Archer out early which helped me get out to a lead. Kris was able to come back thanks to Central Command which helped him pull out the win. Round 2 Barry Windschitl FW (+15)View opponent's ReportView original Report The Genius was working Borg Assimilation, but was starved for new recruits as I sat tight at Cardassia Prime until I had 20 personnel in play. Losing a handful to assimilation and another group to the ALC bomb, I had just enough fuel left in the tank to shrug off an Intimidation in space to notch the victory. FW 100-85. As Pies said, once he smelled my shenanigans, he went into his Plan C mode, and turtled at his HQ until he had most of his guys out on the table. After discarding down four ships, he sent two out to crop-dust a couple of planet missions. By that time, I had my hand set up to snatch people, and two targets locations to choose from. I chose the one with "Richer" targets, and went to work, snagging at least 5 guys. After that, it was a race to the finish that saw me get stalled at ALC for several turns while I was working without a skill or two (again, that mission's coming out). My Biggest mistake was ALC- Bombing him, which allowed him to add fuel for his Central Commands on his last turn. A Close game (closer than I thought it would be), but a Good Game, Kris. Round 3 Jeremy Benedict TT (0)View opponent's ReportView original Report The Razor was utilizing Relativity, and chopped down my dilemma pile from the onset as he attempted 4 different missions in rapid succession. Out of interrupt ammo for Intercept Renegade and losing ground to Hindrance, I fired my last bullet in the form of Chula: Trickery to earn a hard fought tie as time expired. TT 65-65. The game was close from the opening draws. The whole time we were playing well and making move and counter move. I started trying to get rid of dilemmas I didn't want to face before attempting my first mission, but if I had waited I would have been able to break down Chula: The Game a lot better. I spread attempts out to get all three copies played at my space missions before going to ground and clearing my planets first (we both had our plants completed by the end but no space). Final turn got my second planet solved with almost everything out of Kris' dilemma pile in the process. I planned a run at a space mission to go for the win and didn't pay attention to the game state or I would have realized he only had one dilemma left. I sent 6 when I should have gone with 12 since even a best-case Chula 3 stop with two Games on the mission would have left me with 7 personnel. I'm going to take to heart the lesson here and keep my head in until the final play. A tie that could have been a full win if I had been paying better attention. Kris did everything right, including an intention space at planet play to gut his dilemma pile down to only Chula cards. It was an incredible game and I can't be upset for anything so well played. Closing Thoughts Our first tournament of the day was a wild ride in which all six of the matches turned on a clutch decision here or a lucky draw there. In an environment where the unconventional is often unsurprising, you certainly have to be on your toes when playing in The Land of 10,000 Champions.