Al Schaefer (ltkettch17) Tournament Report - 2E - Deep Space 9 Regional 2018-04-15 - 10:00 AM Planet Voyager Jr Jr Hand-cuff Edition v1.3 Introduction Those who Kahn... don't win. Sadly, the only deck I had built that had a FW under it's belt was my TRiH deck. Ultimately, having had a FW was the deciding factor to play it today. I give this deck a lot of crap, but it plays very consistently. It has some awful weaknesses and can get locked out very easily by a handful of cards/decks. But it also has some great strengths that offset the weaknesses and make it an attractive, albeit risky, deck to play. Round 1 Jeremy Huth MW (+5) Jeremy was playing something I hadn't planned for today, DS9 Androids with a Chula pile. Their high attributes and skill gaining abilities made my dilemma plays very challenging. I went second and used my first turn actions to get Kahn and Surprise Party into play. I completed Ceti Alpha V relatively painlessly and was off to Regula before the first Chula The Game appeared. I made a rare decision when facing Pick One to Save Two that resulted in my not completing Regula and having to grind it out another two attempts. Chula was really dragging out my final attempts and Jeremy was plugging along. The only thing that really kept him from running away with this game was his own Tolian Soran. He really needed Tolian's skills to pass some of my dilemmas which resulted in some key stops an inopportune times that prevented him from completing missions and I got away with the mod-win. Round 2 Steve Nelson FW (+80)View opponent's ReportView original Report Steve had apparently just faced Jon's TRIH, and while he won that game, he wasn't too happy to have to face it again. I went second again and got an identical first turn as the last game. I didn't have trouble getting a good group of Genetically Enhanced out early, but Steve had some good one stop dilemmas and some good fortune to keep me from completing Ceti early. Steve used his Resistance personnel to pick a fight and score some bonus points, but then I completed Ceti and rolled onto Regula. Steve started to feel the pressure after losing a pair of Bajorans to Space Seed and made a pair of questionable decisions. I took the opportunity and ran to the finish line, completing Genesis and scoring the FW. Another Khan deck and just like last game, a JLOT is destroyed and Space Seed barely succeeds to nab my personnel. Twice. In this game though, my dilemma pile just doesn't stop Al's attempts as effectively as it did against Jon. The only points I do manage to get are bonus with a JLOT and with Kira Taban. After facing two Khan decks, I'm thinking maybe I should have gone with Maquis after all. Round 3 Casey Wickum FL (-30)View opponent's ReportView original Report I went first against Casey but still managed to get Kahn out first turn. I had a tough time getting a second Medical in play. I just kept drawing more copies of Udar and Arik Soong and didn't pull a Vendetta or These Are The Voyages or Waken Superior Sleeper to help cycle the deck more quickly. Unfortunately, Casey also attempted two space missions which only gave me one opportunity to play Space Seed which got me a Kirk and a Nagata. I didn't have a Self Replicating RoadBlock for Genesis Planet and Casey was able to stop me easily before going on to double attempt and complete his final mission. I saw that 4 of the players that pre-reged for the tournament had been running NA focused decks, about an hour before I was to leave I decided that I would include two copies of The Seen and Unseen in for shits and giggles, but I couldn't find where I put the ones I had already printed out so I decided I would just pass on it. Anyway, Al drops Khan turn one, but starts really chugging out people at a somewhat slow pace. I knew that Silik would be the big key to this game, though I couldn't get rid of him at all. Plus I couldn't draw a CC which would have made this a breeze. I took advantage of the mission skill shortage Al was dealing with and made my best attempts to start chugging through my own missions. A space seed hit, though Thankfully the peeps chosen weren't seriously hurtful as it was a 2 cost Kirk and a Nagata I believe. With the planet out of the away I felt reasonably confident that my space would go well. I had 3 dilemmas underneath and could solve with just about any 4 personnel I had out. Knowing this I overthrew hard on his Genesis Planet putting it all on the line to finish on my turn. By throwing a Intimidation + Rapid Progress + Infinite Diversity as Silik can only cheat once a turn. But Intimidation pretty much got everyone as it was and that was that. I solve Protect the Escapees and finish the game. Round 4 Maggie Geppert ML (+5)View opponent's ReportView original Report Even though I went first in this game, I had one of my best starts and best early mission attempts. Maggie was struggling to find a ship and got delayed by Greater Needs and Where No One Has Gone Before. Unfortunately, she had managed to kill some key players at Genesis Planet and I felt I could grind it out with what I had left. I couldn't make the trip back to Ceti in one turn to pickup reinforcements, but I eventually got it to the point where she would only be able to draw/play one dilemma. After the first draw was unplayable, she used her Unexpected Difficulties to draw again, and after a cut got Zero Hour which made the attribute requirement too high. Time was called on her turn and after a failed double attempt, she managed the mod-win because I had only planet missions completed. I easily would have had the FW on my next turn. I probably should have used Grav Trap on her Friction much earlier in the game, or used it on her Unexpected on the last turn. Lots of missed actions in this game that kept me from a FW. Al went first and got Khan out right away. I a little disappointed because I had Friction in hand, which would have been a heavy blow that first turn. It took me a little while to get a ship out, but when I did I had Remata'Klan, Arak'Taral, Odo and some of the other heroes. I was feeling good. I went to Stakoron Strait. Whoops! On the 2nd attempt I ended up WNOHGB. Oh well, there were 3 cards under and I had a 2nd ship in hand. I dropped that and when my peeps were back, we went back and finished patrolling the shipping lane (Odo handed over to cash to Al so my 5-person team could make it through to complete). I then took everyone over to Teplan Prime. I think I completed it in two attempts. By now it's late game and I'm sweating his Genesis Planet attempts. I think he had attempted three times and there were 5 dilemmas under. He attempted with 6 and I draw AIoT. No bueno. That was my last face-down dilemma, so I shuffled the pile and told Al to choose his fate. He chose poorly: Zero Hour with 3 events in core. That was enough to scuttle his last attempt, as time was called. I had the Mod Win and tried for the Full, but wasn't able to Mine Miszinite properly. Closing Thoughts I feel like I'm an above average player when it comes to speed. I don't really feel like any of my opponents were playing slow today either. I had practiced my deck well enough that I knew what my first turn downloads were going to be whether I went first or second and tried to do them as quickly as possible. Yet, three of my four games went to time and only two ended in complete games. I don't think it's a good idea to increase the time limit of games, but I don't know what the answer is either. It's just annoying not to complete games. If I had gotten a FW in the final game I would have been in a 3-way tie with Casey and Steve, not sure how the computer would have calculated it out. I don't know what other changes I can make to the TRiH deck. I was 4/4 in getting Kahn out first turn, regardless of going first or second. I also had Surprise Part out on the first turn in every game but one where I played it on the second turn. The draw deck is playing very reliably, only the game with Casey I was struggling to get a mission skill.