Matt Kirk (CaptMDKirk) Tournament Report - 2E - Online Event 2013-08-05 - 12:00 AM TN Trix - Academy Introduction So I needed one more tournament to complete the cycles of 5-play achievements with all the 2E headquarters. Terok Nor was last on my list, and I had avoided it because it really only has one type of game it plays (Kressari 2-mission win with Ruling Council). But with Academy on the schedule, it seemed the right time to give them their last hurrah and finish the cycle I've been hacking away at for over a year. Round 1 Michael Van Breemen FW (+60)View opponent's ReportView original Report Mike was playing a deck similar to the one I had brought to GenCon for the Academy tournament - TOS with Aid Legendary as an early target. I went second and got Odo with Historical Research, and starting downloading after I got three mooks on the table. I was lucky enough to start with Weyoun in hand as well, and starting weeding out his Leadership folks, aiming for the JH Entrenchment lockout. I barreled through Kressari after a couple stops, and started working on Survey New World as Mike was finishing up his space mission. Mike dropped Lending a Hand at SNW, and I just happened to have a second Geo in hand to finish off the mission. I had sent Odo underneath before since I knew I would be stuck at 95 after SNW was complete. I held Mike off for the one turn I needed and played Odo a second time for the win. The pile failed me in this round as a bad draw in space = 70 or so points in space. While I got through space eventually (bad random selection gods), he had too much of a headstart. Round 2 Matthew Zinno FW (+100)View opponent's ReportView original Report Ah DS9. With my recent regional spate of Niners, I felt like I knew what Matt was working towards. He had the appropriate Integrity missions out, and I knew he didn't have a whole lot of Leadership in the deck. Luckily, I started off with a couple Jemmies and 2 JH Entrenchments, so I started digging for my third Jemmie. Matt went to space early on, I got a quick stop, then dropped the Entrenchment aboard. Weyoun had kindly taken out Benjamin Sisko and Kira had died on a Psycho-Kinetic Attack (sleeper dilemma FTW). He made a go at his planet mission, but again, I was able to weed out Non-Aligned Jadzia with Inequitable Exchange, and he was out of Leadership for the mission. I dropped another JH Entrenchment aboard, while Matt dropped Holding Cell to snag my Dukat. I had to play carefully around HCell, dropping two meaningless Holding Cells just to play Dukat again and get Kressari down. He played a second Cell before I got Survey New World down, and again, I used my sneaky SNW to get a second Odo out for the win. All of my missions need Leadership, and that's what Matt's deck was designed to target. He played Terok Nor, and used Weyoun to get rid of my Leadership personnel, plus Jem'Hadar Entrenchment to make me need even more. I had some early Leadership in Sisko (why doesn't this Kira have it?), but he was taken by Weyoun. Later I got some in Dax, and she was captured by a dilemma. I had a draw-7 turn where I finally dug down to Watley, then spent a Product Placement to play him without his power just for the leadership -- and he hit Necessary Execution. (I even left a person on the ship during that planet attempt, hoping Matt would agonize over whether I was protecting Watley with a bluff attempt, but he didn't even notice.) Meanwhile Mardah was doing her best to rescue people. Sisko returned and survived an attempt, but then the game ended. The other side of the story starts over in my core, where I got out Holding Cell and trapped his Dukat (which made me glad I hadn't managed to get Weyoun, as Dukat would just have nullified it), making Matt change his Tenak'Talar plans to a different Gul, and also preventing his Ruling Council interrupts. Eventually he played the interrupts just to Decay the Holding Cell, but once Dukat came back out, I played it and trapped him again. The loss of his point loss engine made him send Odo on a one-man attempt at Survey New World, so that he could replay him for a round-the-corner five points, which made his second mission (first was Kressari with lots of bonus) get him to 100. Round 3 Michael Moskop FW (+60)View opponent's ReportView original Report Michael is a key contributor on my 2E Creative Team, and I was pleased to meet him finally at GenCon this year. Mike was playing the Continentals reigning champs Starfleet, and seeing as how I convincingly beat the one Starfleet deck I saw all weekend, I was pretty confident I knew what to do as long as he didn't pull three Lustful Distractions before my three Ruling Councils (luckily I got to download mine). He starts turn one with Samuels and some cheap SF Aliens. Unfazed, I drop Weyoun to download Dukat and play Yelsar. Weyoun sends Samuels packing early. Michael plays a second copy, and I respond with Dukat to download a second Weyoun. After I sent Samuels away the second time, he didn't show up for the rest of the game, which was key. I finally rolled into Odo just before polishing off Kressari for 60 (with Odo's 5, made 65), and I had dropped a Debate Over Dinner on Survey New World. Michael got Sphere Network down and started attacking his planet missions - I managed to get Insurrection down on his first Delphic planet to stall him. By this time I've got four under SNW and two Ruling Councils in hand. I sent eight (keeping just enough for staffing and the Ruling Council unstop aboard my ship), and Michael stopped two on a Pitching In, then confounded me with Pivotal Destiny. And all of a sudden those Ruling Councils ended up being important - I played one for the extra 10 points, which he countered with Lustful. I winced and played my second one, and Michael couldn't stop it. TN rolling on 3-0! 2E Creative showdown! Matt and I have worked on the Creative team for a while now but hadn't actually met until a few weeks ago at Gencon. Now we finally got to play against each other. This was another very close one. I thought I would be able to stall Matt out with a clutch draw of Pivotal Destiny, but he had two Ruling Councils in hand and I was only able to cancel one of them. Good game. Round 4 Kris Sonsteby FW (+35)View opponent's ReportView original Report I was sure after seeing Kris' recent decks that he would be playing an Academy version of his TOS Doctors, going for an early Aid Legendary Civilization to roll a bunch of my cheap guys under. So color me surprised when he dropped 3 of the same 5 missions I had, including the HQ. Well I figured someone else would be trying Terok Nor, but I had managed to evade a mirror match so far. I knew that the deck was super short on Leadership, so as long I could keep Weyoun, Odo, and Dukat cycling underneath with my own Dukat, I'd really only have to worry about Noret'ikar or maybe some Non-Aligned support. Sadly, I never saw Jem'Hadar Entrenchment this game (with only 12 cards left in the deck at the end XD). I started by being patient, and Kris milled one of my two Tenak'talars early on, which caused me a bit of panic. I hung out and waited until I could pop Odo to download my second copy, and started rolling his personnel under (Yelsar, Davin to try and destaff him, Weyoun, Odo). My dilemma pile was kind enough to drop an Insurrection on his first attempt @ Kressari. He was having difficulty keeping a second Treachery out, so he changed tactics and went to Deliver Prisoners. I started working on my own Kressari - Kris knew I only had 2 Treachery out and expertly returned my Insurrection with a Back Room Dealings kicker. I stopped him with no dilemmas under on the next turn when he went with 6 and I comboed Code Forty-Seven and Polywater. I wasn't drawing my Jem'Hadar Entrenchments, so I knew I needed to get ahead. I dropped one of my Ruling Councils to unstop my team after they got 5 under Kressari, and Kris couldn't topdeck an answer. On his next turn, I fail to stop him on an unlucky Ominous Presence pull (Odo :P) and he evens it up at 65. I had started working on Survey New World with the Insurrection underneath, but I lost my Engineer Jemmie to a well-timed Cultural Differences. I would have to complete it the hard way, and started spamming SNW with all my personnel. Kris was working on Penetrate Enemy Lines, and again, I knew I had his Leadership down to a minimum. I played He Wasn't Nice (Noret'ikar) and Intimidation to get him down to 5 personnel and no Leadership. He had to go pick up Odo on the next turn to have a chance at PEL, and I took a risk and with Shared Hallucination - Coolant Leak - Navigational Hazards. He had 9 cards in hand, and I was betting that my deck would finally cough up a JH Entrenchment so I could lockout REL. All I got was Weyoun, and I rolled Odo underneath, not paying attention to the fact that Kris only had 3 cards left in his deck and could just play him again for 2 next turn and win. My last attempt at SNW started with 4 underneath, The Clown: Go Away, and 10 personnel (one of which bounced immediately, and Kris had 6 to spend. He tried Moral Choice - Occupational Hazards - Polywater. I stopped a Jemmie on Moral, I had the 2 Treachery for Hazards (Dukat and a Davin), and Polywater ended up being overcosted. I showed my skills for the win and the tournament! Mr. Charisma was also utilizing Terok Nor, and had me on the ropes from the onset as Weyoun was constantly giving my Treachery the run around. With my final mission buried in crunch time, I couldn't find a Gorgan or Excalbian Drama in a d6 / s6 spot, and just like that the Alliance's authority was overruled. FL 100-65. Closing Thoughts Thanks to Daniel Matteson for running the event, and to all my opponents (Mike, Matt, Michael, and Kris) for some entertaining matches. Academy is still entertaining but could use a little more policing (interrupts are money against anyone but SF and DS9).