Dutch Nationals 11th Place Rex’s Ragtag Regiment with Deck 1.0

• Версии
• 1.0

For more information on the decklist and the purpose of certain cards, refer to my original decklist from the Nordic National Championship (http://swdestinydb.com/deck/view/601923)

Tournament Report

Round 1 (W): Yoda/Hondo

Just like last weekend at the Nordic Nationals, my day began with Yoda/Hondo. This match-up is definitely a difficult one, as my mitigation suite is geared more towards damage decks. But I still have some solutions when facing this deck, like entangle and easy pickings. Another strategy I have is choking my opponent’s deck of resources by eating the damage. The final part of my strategy is defeat Yoda as soon as possible to reduce the risk of Force Wave hitting the table in round 1 or round 2. This strategy paid off and I managed to defeat Yoda in the second round, then knock out Hondo through a Second Chance. One key moment in this game was removing my opponent’s easy pickings with a friends in low places, seeing a hyperspace jump, and using scruffy looking nerf herder to pull it before he could jump out.

Round 2 (L): Dooku/Talzin

Sometimes a deck just goes off, and this is one of those times. Double force speeds, it binds all things, overconfidence, and an heirloom lightsaber first round made this a difficult matchup to say the least. With one force speed in play, I can expect maybe 4 damage per Dooku activation; however, with two on the table, that damage gets multiplied drastically. With Talzin’s focus ability and strong rolls by my opponent, he was able to deal bursts of 10-12 damage in rounds two and three, none of which I could mitigate as he would take 4 consecutive actions. Definitely disappointing as there is nothing you can do when someone gets that fortunate.

Round 3 (W): Cad/Snoke

Ready to take my revenge on super aggressive decks, I went into this match-up knowing a victory was needed to give me a shot at the top 8. I played a fairly typical game, managing to mitigate Cad’s dice most of the game, defeating Snoke first in Round 3, then defeating an already indirect damage Cad in Round 4. My opponent missed a Snoke ability play, but it would’ve cost him as I had mitigation to counter if he left dice on the table. All in all it was a solid match and a good win.

Round 4 (L): Snoke/Aphra/Battle Droid

I started having flashbacks to the Dooku/Talzin match-up in round two as my opponent proceeded to play BT-1 and 0-0-0 turn one. You know when this combo hits that table first turn that the game is functionally over, but I fought it out and still made the match relatively close. I defeated Aphra and the Battle Droid, and Snoke ended the game with 5 remaining health. I look forward to the day the Aphra’s draw ability and Snoke power action are nerfed because I feel that their power level was unintended by the games creators. Also, draw mechanics are incredibly powerful and for hers to trigger upwards of 4 and 5 times per round is incredible unfair. Imagine if Ezra could just take an action to draw a card? Everyone would say that is broken, but no one complains that Aphra’s draw mechanic is flawed. For example, activate BT-1 (draw 1), activate Climate Disruption (draw 2), play crash landing (draw 3), draw into XXXX (draw 4), play XXXX to heal two damage then deal two indirect to a bubble shield (draw 5). You have been able to gain utility from 33% of your deck and cycled through many of the cards that are critical just by mitigating your opponent’s dice and dealing damage through card effects. Where is the downside?

Round 5 (W): Dooku/Ciena

After a tough loss, I knew my chances at the top 8 were out, but I wanted to still fight back and see how close I could get. I typically try to eliminate the red character, but once I saw the plot (Built to Last), I knew Dooku would be my primary target. I was able to mitigate Dooku’s dice and also pull Leadership with a friends in low places to effectively shut down his deck. The play that likely ended the game was a defensive position, sweeping the board of 10 damage. After Dooku was defeated, Ciena fell soon after, though I felt bad about the defensive position play, but was happy to get revenge on a Dooku deck, as it is one of my better match-ups.

Round 6 (W): Talzin/Mandalorian/Mandalorian

I went into this game knowing that I needed to win to give myself a chance at the top 8. I was playing a member of the Your Destiny team and was excited to see them play Talzin/Mandalorians as this is one of my better match-ups. My plans were thwarted as they drew into the Sith Holocron and Force Wave on the first round, which forced me to target down Talzin instead of the Mandalorians like I like to. Thankfully, through Friends in Low Places plays, I was able to remove my opponents mitigation in rounds 1 and 2 and defeat talzin early in round 2, which saved me from force wave (though it was able to trigger once). Then I was left dealing with the ping damage from the mandalorians coupled with two XXXX, which I was hoping to only see one of. Thankfully, with 27 health, I was able to absorb the indirect and direct damage and kept Rex alive to the end, dealing 5 indirect damage to end the game. Rex still had 4 health and I was sitting on some strong mitigation, but it was incredibly close regardless. One key moment of the game was rolling a 3 damage side on Talzin to put her within the reaches of death. Another good fortune was my opponent failed to draw into Witch Magic in round 1 and round 2. Regardless, it was an incredibly close game and also worth noting that my draws were similarly bad. For most of the game I was sitting on a pile of resources so large that I had to get more resources out of my deck box, which never happens.

Conclusion

In the end, I finished 11th, which I feel is respectable. It was unfortunate that they didn’t cut to top 16, because the field was nearly 50 players and I would’ve loved a shot at a playmat. But regardless, I got a set of shield tokens and a spot gloss, so I feel it was still a worthwhile experience. Thanks to all the friends I made and everyone I played! This tournament had some very competitive players, all of whom enjoyed playing or watching them play. Special shoutout to one player for bringing GUNGANS to the tournament, what a brave man!