As a final tuneup for this weekend's regional tournament in Bloomington, IN, I made the drive up to West Lafayette for their Regional Qualifier. At stake: free entry into their regional tournament in June (which I won't be able to make, sadly). There was a decent turnout with 8 of us there, resulting in a straight 3 rounds of swiss for the championship.
My decks:
DS - Sith Control
Sith Affiliation
Fall of the Jedi x2
The Emperor's Web x2
Counsel of the Sith x2
Shadows of Dathomir x2
Cruel Interrogations x1
Reconnaissance Mission x1
LS - Targeted Prep for Battle
S&S Affiliation
A Hero's Journey x2
Forgotten Heroes x2
The Secret of Yavin 4 x2
Questionable Contacts x2
Preparation for Battle x2
Round 1 - vs Eric
Game 1 - My LS vs his Sith/Navy control
This game ends quickly. I have prep for battle on board to start, then get out an early Han with Trust Your Feelings. Han absolutely chews through anything he manages to get on table and is eventually joined by Luke to win with the dial at 5 and 3 objectives to 0. For almost the entire game, all of my units (and especially Han) were invincible, which proved to be too much for him to handle.
Game 2 - My DS vs his Rebel Vehicles with Renegade Squadron
This can be a tough match-up for Sith control as a lot of my removal doesn't work against vehicles. Luckily, I'm able to get enough bodies on the board to hold off his offensive and eventually set up Vader with his lightsaber to start picking things off and take out a couple of objectives on the way to the win. Dial at 12, 2-0 objectives destroyed.
Round 2 - vs Jeff
Game 1 - My LS vs his Sith control
I don't get quite as fast of a start this game, but the ending is just as fast. Prep for Battle again starts on table and again I get out some shielding units early. Between those and tactics from the speeder tanks I keep everything locked down until I find Luke and Trust Your Feelings. At that point, the game ends quickly with the dial again on 5 and 3-0 on objectives.
Game 2 - My DS vs his Rebel Hoth Vehicles
I set up strong with my weenies, but go through the entire game without finding Vader, the Emperor, or even a Force Lightning. I still manage to advance the dial to 8 with 1 objective destroyed for each of us, but with 2 of my objectives sitting with 1 health left and Home One on the other side. Home One is joined by 3 speeders for a final attack and their Edge (1) ends up to be too much for me to overcome, losing the edge battle 12-10 and allowing Home One to strike and win the game despite my 2 Heat of Battles knocking it down to a single health. If I win the edge battle, Home One dies to my first strike, the objective still ends up dying to the shielding speeder thanks to Prep for Battle giving in a blast icon, and I win on my turn with the force balance and a 2nd objective destroyed. Instead, I lose with the dial on 8, giving me the bonus tiebreaker point.
At this point, I'm sitting in 2nd place going into the final round as my brother-in-law has managed to go undefeated so far, setting up for an epic final match between 2 people who won't even be in the state for the regional.
Round 3 - vs Mike
Game 1 - My DS vs his Rebel Hoth
My control sets up and controls early and easily. I get a good wall of defenders and resource ramp up early with a couple of Force Chokes to help out. Eventually, I find Vader and his lightsaber and am able to go on the offensive. Subzero Defenses slows me down a little, but Vader manages to recruit the help of a Human Replica Droid to strike and Sensors Are Placed, which is then finished off by a Nightsister committing. Next turn, Vader is joined by some help and takes out Defense of Yavin 4, raising the dial to 10. Mike is unable to take back the force balance and I win in my next Balance phase, with a 2-0 edge in objectives destroyed.
Game 2 - My LS vs his Sith Control
Mike is playing the same Sith list that I use, so I know what to expect from it. I luck out and start Prep for Battle for the 3rd time, which ends up being more than he'll be able to overcome. Both of us play a couple of utility units on our first turns. Turn 2 he drops Vader and commits him. I follow up with Luke on my 2nd turn and start using invincible Luke on both attack and defense for the next few turns, quickly ending Vader. The Emperor eventually shows up and shuts down Luke for a turn, but I follow with Han to take out the Emperor. No Trust Your Feelings shenanigans this game, but they aren't needed as I end up winning with the dial on 6 and a 3-0 edge in objectives destroyed.
That ends up being enough for me to win with 11 points. The table below us ends up splitting, which allows Mike to hold on to 2nd with 8 points. As neither Mike nor myself would be able to make it to the TippCon Regionals in June, we deferred the entry prize down to 3rd place, which was Jeff. Thanks to everyone there for a great tournament and I apologize for any errors in describing your decks as I didn't take notes and am just working from memory.