Title: Memorial Day Tourney Report

From: Travis Merkle

At first I didn't feel like playing in this tournament. I
didn't have a light side, and I had gotten barely any sleep over the past few days. I am
glad I went though. It was great fun, and I got to put some names to
faces(ex. Mike Girard and Jon Vandermeer). I believe 26 showed up, many from
out of state. I played a Bothawui Ops deck that I threw together the night before for LS and a HDADTJ deck for DS.

Game 1: My LS vs. Matt Berta's HDADTJ(Ranking:1585)
When I saw his objective, I was scared because Hunt Down eats Ops, especially
the Ops I played. Turns out, he didn't even get a Vader down on first turn. I eventually flip
while he is struggling for sites. He lays some CC out with a Bespin and CC Occupation. A Rebel Leader takes out his ship and the
Occupation. I drain him out for the win.

Full Win by 24
Cumulative Score:2(+24)
Highlights:Beating Hunt Down.
Lowlights:Ops are too cheesy.

Game 2: My DS vs. Preston Pendergraft's Hidden Base with Clouds(Ranking:1434)
Vader comes out on 3rd turn and he starts losing to Visage. I take a few
drains in the sky until he finally flips. I bring out Da Bus and some
Dreadnaughts and probe his base(Tatooine). A couple of drains and Visage eat him away.

Full Win by 30
Cumulative Score: 4(+54)
Highlights:Beating Hidden Base. Lots of battling.
Lowlights:Fairly boring game.

Game 3: My LS against Josh Martin's Old School JP/SAC(Ranking:1950)
I will have to say that I was scared going into this game, but I kept my
cool. We have a few skirmishes on my planet until I flip. Then the same
thing happens every turn: He drains at the Cantina with Fett for 2(with POTF)
then moves Vader and Tarkin over to a site with an Op and some other guys. I would drain for 4-5 at 2 sites then move my guys over. There might have been
one or two battles all game. I drained him out for a small win.

Full Win by 6
Cumulative Score:6(+60)
Highlights:Beating the 43 best player in the world.
Lowlights:Ops winning.

Game 4:My DS vs. Josh Martin's Smart X-Wings HB(Rating:1950)
I hate HB!!!!! The game went like this: Drain with Vader. Cancel. Drain with
Bane. Cancel. Lose to Visage. Go. Drain at Coruscant, Corulag, and Kiffex. I
did probe his base(Tatooine) right the first time I could. There was only a
few battles all game. He drains me out for a small win.

Full Loss by 5
Cumulative Score:6(+55)
Highlights:Canceling Hb first probe. Drawing a 6 with Bane against an Obi with a draw of 2.
Lowlights:Boring, as usual. And I hate playing against HB or Ops.

Game 5:My DS vs. Ted Hansen's Revovler Mains and Toys(Rating:1792)
This game was pretty cool. He revolved my Meditation Chamber and started
force choking me. I eventually got Vader out and Altered both Goo Nee Tay
and Revolution. The battling went back and forth for a couple turns at Kiffex and on Tatooine.
His force choke proved to much, giving him the win by 22.

Full Loss by 22
Cumulative Score:6(+33)
Highlights:Lots of battling. Drawing my extra Visage for destiny against his Leaders at Kiffex.
Lowlights:Losing twice in a row. Screwing my chance of winning the tourney.

Game 6:My LS vs. Steven Cannon's Old School SAC start with Defensive Perimeter(rating 1904)
Another good game. Steven hadn't played against Ops since the WC. He was
pretty unprepared. After I got the flip, he could barely drain me. I
battled a few times when I probably shouldn't have, but I still won.

Full win by 10
Cumulative Score:8(+43)
Highlights:Beating another 1900 player. Actually battling with my Ops.
Lowlights:Uneventful game. Another win for the stupid Ops.

I ended up taking 4th. Steven Cannon took first with Vandermeer behind him. I got a measly 2 packs. For the team event, I got my team up to 3rd.
Fun day with lots of refreshments and cool people. Thanks to Chris Hines for
running this tournament. Congratulations to the couple getting married(I am
sorry that I can't think of your names at the moment.)
Travis Merkle
Tatooine Region(Las Vegas baby!)