Barry Windschitl (JamesValEson) Tournament Report - 2E - Andoria Regional 2015-04-25 - 11:00 AM "You need a light just because You're So Afraid, Now Bow Down and learn to be a Good Slave!" Introduction Here we are again, The MN Regionals. A notoriously cut-throat affair, when you have to beat the best to.... um, beat the best.... Yeah, that sounds good! I originally was working on a different deck for this gig (for about the last few weeks), but decided to bring the new Dominion deck I've been thinking about off the back burner. It uses the new HQ, and also supplements it with two Causal Recursions and, for two-mission-win decks, a Pivotal Destiny. I don't think I ever use those three dilemmas, but in most games, the HQ was enough to turn the tides. Round 1 Mike Harrington ML (-30) This was very much a toe-to-toe affair. Mike sent my battleship on a trip early in the game, and just chipped away at his missions. My dilemmas were keeping him pretty much at bay, while I struggled to get my first mission. I held him to two missions, 70 points, while I had only gotten my 40-point missions done. This was a close game, and my only loss of the day. My major tactical mistake was discarding an attack ship, and cycling away other ships, then needing another one late in the game. I also passed up the chance to put a "The Game" on his SB 718 mission early game, which would have made it harder for him when he went back to it later on. Good Game Mikey! Round 2 Ryan Heiberg  FW (+100) This game, on the other hand, was a very lop-sided affair. I got chugging along, while Ryan just couldn't get thing rolling (and with TOS, they Roll when they get rolling). I quickly shrouded my way to a victory. Good Game, Ryan! Round 3 Mark Morris FW (+65) My first game against Mark, and I can see the brotherly resemblance (as I have played Kieth before). When I first saw his mission, two 50-pointers and two 40-pointers, I thought "Crap, a two-mission win" and then "Crap!! Causal Won't Work!" Even when he gets mission, and Wolf 359 drops, he would still have three 40+ point missions. But as we were both churning out dudes and steeds, it became apparent that he didn't have the bonus point stuff to get a 2MW (at least nothing came out to show that was going on). I get two missions fairly soon, then, by the look of the score, he gets one of his his 40 pointers done. It ends with me getting my final mission (Mine Mizsinite), for the win, and another 5 points on my differential. Great Game, Mark! Round 4 Jeremy Benedict FW (+45)View opponent's ReportView original Report This was a mirror match to be remembered. We were both using the new Dominion tech, and taking CS shots at each other. Jer got out and scored two missions early, while I was just slogging through my first one, trying to get it solved. During that time, I got a Causal Recursion in his core to up his win conditions. Jer hit me with a dreamer at my first mission, and this essentially freed me up to dump three shrouded by lights away for a following dilemma to exclude three Jemmies from random selections. This led to a turning point in the game: Jer was, at that point, up 70 points to my 0, and I was able to solve SCF for 40 points, and make him lose 5. I then had enough people to double up at Torga IV and solve it that turn as well. Now the score had swung to me being up 70 points to his 55. The game was winding down, and Jer took a swipe at his next mission (Strange New Worlds if I recall), and I was able to hold him off of it. I was then able to avoid another Crippling Strike by dancing my ships around to take down my last mission and score the full win. This was a Great Game against a friend long-time Trek Rival. Barry was bringing the same Dominion tech I had but focused on all Gamma Missions including Torga IV for additional point loss. I got out to a very early two-mission lead with strong early attempts. I told Barry that was going to be a problem which he realized later since I'd used up all my point loss when he hadn't scored yet. I knew I wasn't going to be able to play from behind, so it was all I could do to get ahead and try to end the game first. Once he completed his first two missions and set me back 15 points (to 55) it got that much harder, even with a 35 point mission ready to be solved and Jem'Hadar Ambush in my hand for 10 more points after solving (eyeing his Warships with my Battleship). Barry sealed the deal at his third mission before I was able to finish my third and battle in a very close game that came down to the final turn. Round 5 Nat Kirton MW (+5) This was another close game, where we were both using copious amounts of gamesmanship. Nat was up in score early with his Voyagers, and named Chula: The Game with his solve text at Inversion Mystery. This had me making some different decisions with my dilemmas for the remainder of the game. Once he was up, it was my time to take some whacks at my missions, and I did what I could. Everything came down to our last two turns. Nat had two ships out to decoy my Cripplings, and I threw what I could at him to keep him from getting his last mission, even using uninvited to get a zero-coster and then luckily drawing into a Timescape for the one draw I had. I didn't think much of it, but this allowed me to stop his secondary team, and keep him from getting the full win. On my last turn, I was able to solve a second mission, and knock him down 5 more points to nab a Modified Win from him. This was a close game to finish up the gig, and it Was a Good one. Good Game, Nat. Closing Thoughts This deck looks to have a lot going for it. The point-loss gave me some Nice swings during the later games, and Crom can get you what you need to set things up early game (Arak-Taral, Keevan, and a Founder). Crippling Strike will have your opponents thinking hard during each game, and Keevan draws, while they may negate CA, can make them dance around what to discard and what to hold in their hand. This is one that I will keep in my back pocket for future tournaments where the field looks fierce.