Greg Hodgin (tomalak) Tournament Report - 2E - Cardassia Regional 2014-05-17 - 12:00 PM Never trust a Romulan. ESPECIALLY a dead Romulan. Introduction Playing against Michael Shea and some of the others in our local playgroup, I knew my deck was strong, but I was concerned about TOS-battle decks: I kept getting blown away at space and there were only rare occasions I could finish a mission in one shot; otherwise my ship goes to the discard pile. I chose to modify my Nationals Romulan deck which won me Nationals with a couple of changes; added one more non-Aligned and also teched against battles with Mediate Peace Treaty. NA Weyoun has all the skills for Mediate Peace Treaty, ALC stops the weenie decks, and Assess Contamination + Donatra = usually a free mission. I also flipped a coin over TT/ACE and stoppage. I made the right choice, but barely: I stuck with TT/ACE and added an Unbelievable Emergency which I never got to use. Sad face. Round 1 Nic Brautigam FW (+100) I've played Nic a number of times, and it's always a fast and fun game. This one was no exception. Nic was playing a deck he's always loved: Federation speed mission solver deck with Mot, Vic Fontaine, weenies and the Enterprise for some extra points. The Enterprise went out with 9 to a mission, I left Mot and JLP on the ship: extra irony points for leaving the barber with the Man Who Needs No Haircut! He starts looking for a ship; I get very VERY lucky and manage to P&P one of his ships to the bottom: by this point I've got GUYS and P&P out on the table and I'm dropping an event a turn. The Bozeman goes under. He spends 5 turns drawing 7 counters and ditching; I take my sweet time. By the time he's got a ship finally I'm on my third mission and burn through it with Power Shift. FW, 100-0. Round 2 Will Hawkins FW (+60) Will was playing a newer, Bajoran/ DS9 dual headquarters deck. I didn't know what in the world this thing was doing, but I DID understand the strategy the second I saw a Distant Exploration hit the table (which I immediately destroyed). I start out a bit slow, and he gets Opaka and Bariel out, heads to the Gamma Quadrant with 7 people at his space mission. I kill only 2, not enough (I was desperately hoping to pull Unbelievable Emergency and just WRECK his crew, but alas) and he solves his mission with 5. But he's out of range. At this point, I just draw 7, get tons of events and just burn through his dilemmas with little problem, unstopping as I need to. He gets his one mission, I finish my 3 in two turns. I think he forgot to read Access Contamination and that was basically a free mission. FW: 100-40. Round 3 Michael Schwartz FW (+70) Mr. Schwartz had come out swinging with a Romulan denial deck, Gal'gathong and all. Oh.. if only I knew Romulans. Romulan hate vs. Romulan denial. Turns out I've built a deck a lot like his.. it was a good idea, but don't teach your grandmother to suck eggs. He got the Thong out and started forcing my hand down a bit, but it wasn't going to be enough. It took him a while to get another ship besides the Thong out and he had all kinds of people just sitting at Romulus doing nothing. I, on the other hand, was chewing through his dilemmas. He finally get a ship out, but I killed all kinds of people and blew through my missions. He got a mission but it wasn't enough. Plus knowing he had the Thong out, when I was prepped to attempt a mission, I drew 7, played AWC and drew 7 more. I had a hand of 20 and just unstopped everybody on my mission attempts. FW: 100-30. Round 4 Michael Shea FW (+50)View opponent's ReportView original Report Ah. And here was where the tournament was decided. Michael, as expected, had bought his TOS battle deck, and I knew he was salivating to blow up my honorable, righteous Romulans even though they had done nothing wrong, as all Romulans are wont to do. We get started, he drops Standard Orbit on Turn 1. Well, that's just great. I try to get some cheese on the table; he's having none of it. No GUYS, no P&P, no Endangered. I'm stripped of tricks. I don't get a single bonus point the whole game, and this time (as opposed to at Nationals), I have no Phoenix to buy me time. I finally get to a mission, he stops me and throws a Gomtuu. He attempts a mission; I kill some but I know he'll finish the 40 pointer next turn. I attempt again next turn with the same people; he throws another damage marker on me and I'm stopped BUT there are dilemmas under. I know what's coming: he doesn't. He drops his 7 counters, he flies over (6 range) with his Ent-B and announces he's blowing me up. I pull up Mediate Peace Treaty, show him the text. He's crushed, and he's lost a turn. I drop a ship next turn, swap ships, finish the mission (fun note, I couldn't do the mission and he could only draw one: he threw Secret Identity, exactly what I wanted him to throw. I pull NA Weyoun and burn the mission). He finishes his mission and stops the B for 10 points putting him at 50, but we both know it's almost over. I head to Access Contamination, he throws Intimidation (automatically overcome) and then throws Shared Hallucination, giving me a choice: ditch my entire, 14 card hand to get the mission, or get stopped. I pitch 14 cards, take the mission. But now I'm out of tricks. I head over to ALC, attempt. He stops me with a few dilemmas, specifically 3. He heads to his planet; I kill a number of people but he's got enough ships out he can throw people down and finish his mission next turn: he's got 6 dilemmas under Sha-Ka-Ree, Ent-J on the table and I get one more turn. Very well. I drop some people, he gets 3 to draw/ spend. I don't have enough cards in my hand for Karina, and he knows it (he's got 5, I've got 3). He pulls Discommendation; no Klingons, but he gets a stop. Out of the 6, one was Setek. Yes! Setek! Whose text allows me to unstop him! He pulls for Discommendation, he pulls Setek. I choose Setek, I ditch an event, I've got 37 cunning and the skills. FW: 100-50. This was the match I'd been waiting for, and I blew it. My deck worked great. But a 2AM tech against TOS Battle and my neglecting to READ THE MISSIONS cost me a turn which was all he needed in the end. I fought him all the way but it came down to a race for the last mission. I had 6 dilemmas under my own and had managed to get rid of his Endangered. An unlucky random pull on Discommendation ended the game and Setek is my white whale! 50-100. Closing Thoughts As expected, Michael Shea bought the TOS battle deck, and as expected, I saw him in the last game. Mediate Peace Treaty saved me and I am keeping several copies for swapout if need be before a tournament. Fun fact: my last game at Nationals I won the exact same way, at the exact same mission, facing Moral Choice instead of Discommendation, using Setek's ability to unstop again. Setek is never leaving my deck. Ever. A lot of Romulan cards on the watch list, so we'll see if this deck comes out again or not.