In judging the meta and what I thought people were teching for against me, I decided to brush the dust off one of my old interaction decks, TOS Battle. Having never played it in Palm Bay before but having played it for my first Florida regional which took place in Orlando, I thought it fitting that I complete the circle and use it for this regional.

TOS, as most would agree, have a lot of built in answers to things in the current meta, but what a lot of people overlook is their access to cheap ships and their ability for dilemma recursion. I chose to abuse that while having the discipline to maintain a tight deck size and cut out all of the fluff most battle decks contain.

The only meta adjustment I made as adding a third Moral Choice due to the high number of Fed decks at the Orlando regional just a few weeks prior and Dan Matteson’s history of playing TOS at his regional.

Using this build by turn three, you should have 2 ships staffed with leadership on each, two battle cards, and atleast one Unexpected Diffulcties out. I did this in every game and was prepared to pounce once my opponent came out. The idea is that if they go space first, you tag them with a Gomtuu Shock Wave and a Dreamer And The Dream, drop your two battle cards the following turn and take the ship. I would generally then play a McCoy at cost +3 to pull two dilemmas back, then either bounce McCoy with Pavel Chekov or by having him attempt Survey New World by himself. Shuffle the dilemma pile with Alvera Tree Ritual. Rinse. Repeat. If they go planet first, I would throw a Necessary Execution and a Dreamer And The Dream, to remove mission skills and Diplomacy then make them discard their hand. I would pull the dilemmas back with McCoy and then bounce him. Shuffle the dilemma pile with Alvera Tree Ritual. Rinse. Repeat.

The deck contains other tricks, but I won’t go into detail concerning those. It’s a fun deck to play, expecially when it’s a surprise to the opponent and you see the look on their face when you take their first ship with 9 personnel on it. You have to prepare for this deck when you build your deck or it’s tough to overcome. You sit down against this build with only three ships in your deck? It’s tough. You bring with you only 3 people with Diplomacy against this build? It’s tough. No Metreon Arena? Its worse.

This deck has caused a lot of rage quits. Most notably from former Continental Champs and other top ranked players.

Dominion Jem’Hadar Solver using Friction. Standard attrition dilemma pile. All Jem’Hadar.

Sean played two ships during this game. I destroyed the first one during his first attempt with a landed Gomtuu and two battle cards. That ship had 9 personnel on it. The second ship he played this game had 7 personnel on it and on his first attempt with it, was hit with a Gomtuu. The game ended before he could return home and before I could destroy it.

In both of Sean’s attempts, I threw the same dilemma combo [Personal Duty/Dreamer And The Dream/Gomtuu Shock Wave].

I used McCoy once and bounced him. Sean attempted a Friction, which I cancelled with Worf’s ability.

I went second. 16 killed this game.

Sean got TK’d. 100-0.

Terok Nor Solver using Ruling Council. Standard attrition dilemma pile.

Tammy played two ships this game. The first one with 9 personnel, three hand weapons on board, and three Ruling Councils in hand. She attempted Kressari Rendevouz. She hit a [Caretaker’s Guest/Dreamer And The Dream/Gomtuu Shock Wave] in which I used CG to remove her second Diplomacy. Tammy lost her hand at the end of turn and ended that turn with a landed Gomtuu on her ship. I McCoy bounced resetting the mission and took her ship the following turn.

On a later turn, she built back up and flew out to a planet mission trying to stay away from the Gomtuu’s. I threw a [Necessary Execution/Dreamer And The Dream] combo which I used to remove required mission skills blocking her from completing that turn. She lost her hand of seven cards again.

She flew back home the next turn to regroup. A few turns later she returned to Kressari to try again and again, hit a Gomtuu ending the attempt. I took this ship too the following turn with seven aboard which effectively ended the game for her.

I used McCoy and Shran quite often this game.

Tammy ended up using Odo twice scoring 10 points.

I went second again. I killed 18 of her personnel.

Tammy got TK’d. 100-10.

TOS Solver which tried to solve Aid Legendary Civilization early. Standard attrition dilemma pile.

Dan played two ships this game. One of which was the Enterprise-B. I destroyed that ship using three battle cards. The other was the movie version of the TOS Enterprise which I did not touch.

This game decided the tournament and I also decided to change strategies as one of the weaknesses of this deck is Feds with a high amount of Diplomacy and I thought Dan’s deck was that version. It really wasn’t. It focused more on Medical, Biology and Exobiology.

So unknowing of what Dan’s gameplan was, I for a change, decided to throw out a battle card turn one. My plan was to spook Dan into the buzzsaw of Necessary Execution over and over and over again by making him go planet first which he did do. He banged his head on Necessary Execution 4-6 times this game. I tagged him with Dreamer And The Dream 2-3 times and in one of those instances, he lost all four of his interrupts.

This game was 0-0 until the last turn. I scored the space mission I had been working on and then subsequently a planet mission. Dan scored the planet mission he had been working on and then, with thirteen personnel (which I feel I talked him into - which was good for me), attempted Transport Crash Survivors which had 4 dilemmas under it. I threw a combo of [Secret ID/Personnel Duty/An Issue Of Trust/Moral Choice/Dreamer And The Dream]. He failed the attempt, giving me the Modified Win.

I couldn’t find Dukat or Kruge the entire game.

I used McCoy 2-3 times bouncing dilemmas. I used Shran 1-2 times. Dan should have been locked out mid game but since I couldn’t find Dukat, he was able to keep pulling back from the dicard pile several of his personnel with Biology and Exobiology using Mark Piper who infact he got back using another personnel.

I went first this game. I killed 8-12 of Dan’s personnel.

Dan got TK’d. 65-30.

TNG Science Solver. Looked like half my build, half the general build. Standard attrition pile.

Alex only played a single Excelsior the entire game. I destroyed this ship using three battle cards after stopping her mega team on a planet.

Alex did not know what I was playing so went planet first where I stopped her first attempt with a Necessary Execution removing her only Geology and hitting her with a Dreamer And The Dream. I used this same combo on two of her following attempts at the same mission. On her fourth attempt, she brought an equipment in which she was using for Geology. She attempted with 20. I threw a combo of [Equipment Malfunction/Dreamer And The Dream]. So she failed the attempt, stopping all 20 personnel, and had to discard her last source of Geology at the end of the attempt. She had no hand and no cards left in the deck. I destroyed her only ship in play, the Excelsior the following turn. This stranded her and locked her out of the game since she discarded or was forced to all of the other ships in her deck.

I solved two missions and then decked myself for a double deck out FW.

I went first. I killed 8(?) people.

Alex got TK’d. 65-0.

Dreamer And The Dream is quite vicious in a ship destruction deck because discarding ships and removing them from the game using Dukat is more efficient than having to destroy them. I used this dilemmas atleast twice every game (usually getting a ship or two discarded). It never missed.

Removing enough Diplomacy to cause the opponent to fail Gomtuu Shock Wave is not too difficult when packing Secret ID and Caretaker’s Guest plus the common filters in the dilemma pile. Coordinated Counter Attack is a great card to beat cheaters – hands down.

McCoy, Alvera Tree Ritual, and Coordinated Counter Attack all were key.

I did not use Kruge a single time, nor did I use Suprise Amity.

I don't think I seen any, well maybe 1-2, cards from the last two expansions.

I did leave a pool of blood behind at the tournament after four rounds today. I destroyed 5 ships this tournament and killed somewhere around 54 of my opponent’s personel. Gomtuu hit every single time I threw it. It never missed.

It’s really “surreal” to finish my Florida stint with another Regional win. My first tournament in Florida was the Orlando 2E Regional back in 2012 in which I used a version of this deck to win that event as well. To think that I am 5/5 for Florida 2E Regional wins (making my way through opponents such as Geoffrey Peterson, Eric Robinette, Dan Matteson, Rick Kinney), warms my heart and I hope, earns the respect of my future opponents in Los Angeles and across the country when I make the move to Los Angeles in just a few short weeks to take on Nathan Wineinger and Chris Donati.

Today I was told that I play quite aggressively and that I show no mercy. One player told me that my eyes change, I get quiet and I become a different person. I focus and don’t really move. That I stand on my opponents necks and don’t stop until the game is over. I suppose that’s true. I like to win and this is a game I like to play. It’s fun.

Greg Dillon made a mistake not predicting TK to win this tournament. Poor guy. It seems when you bet against TK, you always lose. Dan and Ryan though, were right on point with their predictions. Congratulations to you two fine gentlemen.

Thank you to my haters out there for keeping my tech on it's toes. Thank you to Dan Matteson for throwing such a nice event - the hospitality was excellent. Dan also has a new woman that can cook really good. She made lunch for everyone and it was quite delicious so thank you to you too.