Star Wars LCG Regional
IQ Games Centre, Huddersfield, UK
Saturday, 21 st June 2014
The Venue:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/IQ-Games-Centre/167330556767547
In one word? Fantastic.
Massive building, with a huge footprint and multiple floors, so we had a floor entirely designated for the Regional. The lower floor we used holds c100 card gamers.
Separate floors meant other games / events going on didn’t disturb each other, and each ‘group’ seemingly had a handful of staff dedicated to them – so hats off there. Also worth mentioning the building itself is right in the centre of Huddersfield, 2 minutes from the train station. Easy to get to for out of towners.
The Facilities:
Apparently, toilets are important to people on CardGameDB. (??) So yes, it has a pretty sizeable, lockable bathroom. Kept clean throughout the day.
The store also has a full range of refreshments on sale, alongside its impressive range of LCGs, CCGs, Miniatures, Board Games and misc hobby items on sale. There also appeared to be a bank of 6-8 PCs set up for online play.
The Staff:
As above, each floor / section of the venue appeared to have 2 staff permanently assigned to it. The store owner, Stephen, led the SWLCG Regional team throughout the day. A few part time staff actually competed in the event itself, and were always happy to help with any queries. (Most notably, Keith Wilson – UK X-Wing 2014 National Champion, who will be smashing face at Worlds in November I’m sure!).
Staff had all the relevant hardcopy materials printed on the front desk, a laptop and score sheets for the pairings, and were always on hand for rules calls. They actively judged the top cut games, only intervening on mandatory effects (such as double-focussing units that were committed etc). Very impressed by the level of staffing, I can’t say it enough.
Finally – Stephen and the crew at IQ bolstered the prize support with store credit giveaways and force pack prizes! Most impressive!
Let’s talk decks….
My Lightside deck:
Affiliation: Rebel Alliance
2 x Defence of Yavin4
2 x Across the Anoat
2 x Raise the Stakes
2 x Against All Odds
1 x Prepare for Evac
1 x Ble Sq Support
Rebel Vehicle rush deck that has always done me well.
I think other Smuggler decks are technically “better”, but im just so comfortable with this deck, I know every card, every chance of what draws are possible that I can make more informed decisions. Plus, I’ve felt like death-warmed-up this week, so not having to remember a million smuggler triggers was fine by me
One notable tweak from the last event, I reduced down to 10 objective sets to maximise probability of drawing Yavin4 objective.
This means I took out 1 x Prepare for Evac, but in retrospect id probably rather take out 1 x Against All Odds. (renegade Ywings are so good)
My Darkside deck:
Affiliation: Sith
2 x Fall of the Jedi
2 x Servant of the Emperor
2 x Emperors Web
1 x Counsel of the Sith
1 x Executor Arrives
1 x Imperial Command
1 x Repair + Refurbish
Again, my Sith deck from last event with one tweak: I took out one of the Executor Arrives in favour of the Motti set.
Executor has great resources for acceleration, but I felt I needed more low cost defenders. Stormtroopers being neutral are great. Imperial command brings just as many resources (if not more) than Executor, so didn’t feel like I was losing out on too much.
Also worth noting, in my experience the heavy-hitting Sith deck can have problems closing the game out via objective destruction. So having Orbital Bombardment back in the deck can certainly help there.
Finally, I felt I should discuss my choice to stay Sith affiliated: looking at the key Sith pods in the deck – EVERY character I think bar 1 x Kuati team requires Sith resources. That’s why, plain and simple. I didn’t want to start Imperial and draw into repair + refurbish and limit myself on deployment. Without an Imperial objective, the cards you cant play are Motti, Imperial Officer Resource dude, Orbital, Thunderflare and Weapons Upgrade. Only a couple of which I care about…. I was willing to take that hit.
4 Rounds of Swiss, followed by cut to top 4.
Round 1: Store Championship bye.
Won it at the IQ Games Store Champs, so felt right to bring it back to their Regional.
9 points
Round 2: vs Maciej (Navy Shielded Walkers + Smuggler Affiliated Sleuths)
Game 1: Mac was playing Imperial Hoth walker/troopers, and flipped 2 x A Dark Time for the Rebellion in his starting objectives!! That hurt. Seeing I was playing Sleuths, no ATATs hit the table. Instead a wall of stormtroopers, ATSTs, Motti and Veers hit the table. I was damaging his objectives, just not as fast as id like. In the midgame, a Forward Command Post hit the table, and allowed Mac to go on the offensive. Thankfully I had 2 Shifty Lookouts on the table – so Mac had few cards to win an edge battle. Ultimately his offensive fell 1 damage short, and the blockade runners claimed the win on the counterswing. Close game against a clinical player!
Game 2: Mac was also running Sleuths, but within a pure Smuggler deck. (so no DoY4). This game was over on turn one really. A turn one Holocron, Mara, Protector and Stormtrooper kept board control on the DS. Solid wall of defenders did their jobs valiantly till the dial hit 12. Not exciting – but a clean win.
[break for lunch]
Round 3: vs Dave (Sith Force Control + Jedi Speeders)
Game1: Dave is a regular at IQ games, and a pleasure to play against. He’s had an affinity for the speeders and champions their decks whenever he gets the chance. This time he was running Hoth Ops + APD + Jedi pilot Luke. My memory fails me somewhat on this game, but a) im sure we caught it on video, so look out for commentary on Fully Operational soon! And b) I seem to remember the APD triggers never really paying off… which always slows this deck down when there’s no DoY4 to support it. Vader + Mara hit the table midgame, cleared the board and ticked up the dial for the win.
Game 2: Brutal. Dave was running Sith Force control with Jerec leading the charge. A poor hand was Dave’s downfall though. Only one 2 cost unit hit the table. As Dave moved to conflict, I swindled the poor blighter and kept the Force with the LS. The blockade / sleuth barrage was relentless from there. Win with Dial at 2. Fastest I’ve seen this deck perform.
Round 4: vs Keith Wilson (Sith Hoth Control + Rebel Sleuth Rush)
Game 1: Keith and I always seem to run pretty similar decks, and always meet in these events. I played DS first, and opened with resources, Motti + DS Apprentice. Keith came out swinging with the perfect objective flop (DoY4, Raise the Stakes, Across the Anoat). Dropping Red Two and Renegade Ywing, he began putting damage across my board.
Early game saw no big characters, just bolstering the 2cost sleuth defence. Whilst Keith built his board to scary levels.
Turn three saw Vader + Mara hit the table via a Holocron. Keith played more protectors (!!), whilst a blockade runner killed my second objective.
Finally, a last turn offensive by Keith didn’t manage take out a third (owing to Vader, Mara, Stormtroopers and apprentices being on guard.) This left an open board – which an enraged Mara + Vader punished to get the dial up to 12.
Game 2:
Keith dropped Motti on turn one, whilst my vehicle deck came out with Sleuth + Blockade. With no open defenders, Keith was on the back foot.
He managed to tactics out my blockade runner, but refreshed with an Emperors Web.
Turn two + three saw Cloud City Operative’s free up the blockade runner and seal the game.
I’m starting to notice that Operative saving my bacon more and more.
Went into the cut on 36 points, as 1 st seed.
Semi Finals vs Michael Clarke (Mono Scum + Heroes & Legends Jedi)
Game 1 : My first game against Jedi! Michael was running Kyle, Kenobi, protector deck. The same deck that beat me in the finals the week earlier at Sheffield. Thankfully, in his first two turns, Mike I believe deployed a Luke and 4 protectors! One force lightning later, Luke was gone and Michael seemed to dry up on his draw. With no big hitters on the table to capitalise on Heroes + Legends, the Sith built up the classic defensive wall and took the dial to 12 with 2-2 objectives destroyed.
Game 2: As 1 st seed, Michael would need to win as DS against a Sleuth rush deck, destroying three more objectives than me. It’s worth noting here that Michael was running pure Scum, with a deck that had tactics out the wazoo, but no real offensive objective damage. My vehicles couldn’t get through the wall of defenders + tactics that lay opposite – but ultimately I let Mike keep the force, to tick the Dial to 12 quicker.
FINALS vs Keith Wilson (Sith Hoth Control + Rebel Sleuth Rush)
Game 1: We meet again. These games were very tense, and thankfully caught on camera – so I wont say too much, so there’s something kept back for the videos.I will say these were the closest, most calculating games of the day.
Starting off as DS, I flipped Emperors Web and Repair and Refurbish. So not the end of the world.
Keith did not get DoY4 in his opening objectives, which slows that vehicle deck down drastically.
Still, didn’t stop him dropping a turn 1 blockade runner with 2 x Across the Anoat. My Objectives started to fall quicker than I was expecting, and I needed the 2 cost defenders.
Thank the Emperor for 2 x Royal Guards. A timely attack with Advisor to the Emperor pulled double time focussing out the blockade runner, and turning off Raise the Stakes. Vader got his lightsaber and started targeting the big threats, and removed Raise the Stakes, but Keith was still able to take out objectives with Sleuths, Astromechs and Ywing defenders. I needed to stay strong on defence, as already had one objective gone and an Emperors Web with 3 damage on it!!!
In the final turns, Keith wasn’t able to refersh with Defence of Yavin 4, played a bloackde runner and hit a wall of imperial defenders. He won the edge, claimed the 2 nd objective, but lost his final unit, leaving an open board. Lategame Mara and Vader destroyed a second objective to get to 12. 2 Objectives a piece.
Game 2: Keith did not drop any of his Hoth specific objectives (to reduce my handsize) but was left with the classic Fall / Counsel objective set up. No early game resources left him deploying a Kuati team and a 501 st trooper for defenders.
I drew into Defence of Yavin, Across the Anoat and Against All Odds.
Turn one saw a blockade runner and Blue Sq Leader hit the table.
The blockade sacrificed itself against both defenders to put 3 on Counsel, leaving Blue Leader open to put 3 himself on a Fall, and his (amazing) trigger put a fourth damage on Counsel, leaving it nicely within Target of Opportunity range.
Turn two allowed the Darkside to set up some resources and bolster defences with some welcome stormtroopers.
The Lightside board was reinforced with a Renegade Ywing Protector, a Bothan and a Cloud City Operative (which tactics’d out the fresh stormtroopers). The bothan promptly died to a Force Choke. The Cloud City Operative attacked the undamaged objective, forcing a block to deny the tactics icon being placed. This then left Blue leader open to kill both objectives weakened in turn one.
Keith retaliated with resources and Palpatine, to lock down my board, but unfortunately refreshed his objectives into the Emperor’s Web.
Having no available units to strike, I’d have to draw into the tools I needed.
Dropping a Sleuth, Astromech upgrade, Undercover Operative and a Renegade Ywing, I swung for the new Emperor’s Web with just enough damage to kill it.
With Counsel of the Sith gone, Keith was out of cards, so I kept a Holding All the Cards back for the battle (instead of playing it to give Keith defensive options).
LS won the edge, made sure to strike in the right order and sealed the win.
Thanks again to everyone at IQ for a phenomenal event in a spectacular gaming venue.
It was great to see some Father and Son competitors, and the scene growing for this great game!
Thanks to all the players and staff I met, and watch out for video commentary and coverage of the event on Fully Operational : https://www.youtube.com/user/FullyOperationalLCG