So, a little background first. The format was to be 200 points and you have 3 players on a team who each play a different faction. The rounds were 4 rounds at 50 minutes. When two teams faced off the captains would roll a d20 and the winner got to choose 1 matchup and the loser the other 2. Now, I only bought tix for the 150 on thurs and the champs on sat, so my Fri was wide open. Since I hadn't been to GENCON before I was thinking "wow can a person really spend all day in the hall and not go nuts?", so when Leshippy posted on gamers he was looking for a teammate I said sure cause I figured it would give me something to do and not be bored out of my skull. Thurs everyone was talking about the team tourny, so I knew all the big players would be in, so I never dreamed we would do anything other than playe a couple of games, get trounced and wake up the next day revved up for the champs tourny. Boy was I wrong on all counts. So, Les and Nate Ferraro tell me they are playing Rebels with Speeder and Seps with Lancer and I can do whatever I want. Great help guys lol. I decide to give NR a go and haven't played with much, but one match back home Monni316 was helping me prepare for GENCON and played a NR squad with Leia Skywalker and Dash with Jagged Fel and I liked that. So, it is 12:30am Fri morning and I figure I better get my squad figured out and am on Bloomilk trying to figure out how to get all the toys in the pool with Kyle BM. My roomie Eruthelo asked me what I was doing and I told him and he suggests I go with Kol. I hadn't played with him yet, and was like sure I need sleep lol. I also didn't plan this cause if I knew I was playing this I would have brought Raveged Base and don't have it, so I pick the new Muun instead. So here is what I ended with-
Mara Jade Jedi
Kol Skywalker
Leia Skywalker
Dash RS
Wedge
TBSV
Jagged Fel
x2 MD
uggie
10 acts 150 points
We find out there are 21 teams in this. We have to come up with a Team name and we are all wearing shirts with Yoda that say "I sense much fear in you" so I say we should be Team Fear (cause I am afraid of most of these opponents lol)
First round we get matchup at the 2nd table. A couple tables over Team Cinci with Lobo, FrakkinMando, Jedispyder (could be wrong on Lobos teamates since I didn't get to play them) gets paired with Team Elitist Jerks with Dean, Billiv, Mt. Magus and the entire crowd goes Ooohhhh! at the announcement. We win roll and I get paired with the other teams NR version (this will be a theme) I play Mark who has Kyle BM with Luke spirit Mara and the rest and Ravaged base muhaha. I win map and pick his. He picks right and gets first round gambit. Next 2 rounds is more positioning with a twist. Since I have 2 days of gaming under my belt and don't know anyone I have found myself seting up "tests" during the game to find out the skill of my opp. My test in this match was to see how well they played Kyle cause with him having the point lead I need him dead, so in the 2 rds of positioning I purposefully leave my MDs 7 squares away from my cluster of Kol Mara with the door open. I figure if my opp sees that he will rush Kyle up and nades me we let the die sort it out and then I rush and kill Kyle. If he doesn't then I need to rush his squad and probably die a glorious death. Round 4 he rushes Kyle up the hallway and nades my team. GOT EM NOW! Kyle is now dead along with Luke spirit, but I lose TBSV. Now he has to rush me and loses Mara next round because of it. Time is called and I win 132-81. Good game. My other teammates have won and we sweep 3-0 and I feel good cause I actually helped my team and wasn't dead weight like I thought would happen.
Second Round. We lose roll and the captain for the other team sees my squad and can't beleive I don't have Dodonna (which will also be a recurring theme throughout the night
) I get paired with another Mark who has a republic squad with Dark Woman, R2 Astro, TBSV, Ani Stap, Qui Gon JT, Jareal and fodder. He wins map and has Rancor Pit. I pick left and setup at the bottom. This is my first time against DW and all I know is she has some crazy wall tricks. I see her stats again and realize she can't hurt me and focus on R2 and Ani. 1st rd he gets gambit thanks to tow. 2nd round I am able to put Mara in harms way a little, but it is worth it cause I get R2 Astro. I also get TBSV in that round and he gets a MD from me. Rd 3 he tries a strafe with Ani, but can't kill anything and Ani is toast. I chase him around, but no deaths insue and I win 72-13. Good game, but his squad just didn't have any power. Our team goes 2-1 with Les losing, so 2-0 for the tourny.
3rd round we get matched up against Team Hello Kitty at table 1. They all have hello kitty handercheifs around their neck. It is funny. I get picked first again lol to play JD Jersey and his Sith squad on Chancellors Starship. I start talking to him and he is every stereotype a Jersey person would be and I like him immediately and we become fast friends. He has Malak, 3 Sith Apps, 2 Sith Lords, Dash RS, MDs, HaloSid and fodder. I win map an pick his and so he gets right side and first round gambit. I advance thru the top hallway trying to see if I can mobile him to death and stay out of LOS for grip and lightning. 2nd round I lose a MD due to grip and we both get gambit, so it is 8-5 JD. 3rd I go ahead when I take out an Apprentice, uggie, and MD. I screw up big time though cause I forget that his Dash has a force point and he uses it on extra movement and my Dash takes alot of damage. 4th round I lose Dash and TBSV, I get a Sith Lord, but Mara takes a lot of damage for it. I base Kol on Malak, so no more lighting unless he decides to hit himself. I lose Mara and we swap MDs. Time is called and I lose 109-75 in an awesome matchup. My other teamates win though, so we go 2-1 and 3-0 for the tourny.
4th round we are stunned just to be here. There are 3 teams 3-0 and Team Texas and Team Elitist Jerks face off while we get paired down to a 2-1 team. We lose roll and again the other team thinks I am crazy for not having Dodonna in my squad and they choose to have me play Dan (Echo) agianst his version. He has the Kyle BM version with fodder instead of Luke Spirit. I win map and choose his Ravaged base. He gets first round gambit. 2nd round more positioning we each get gambit. 3rd round I am getting nervous cause he seems content to hang out in the middle, so I prepare to rush. 4th round he goes for the Kyle nades. I lose an uggie, TBSV and a MD. I get a MD and gambit, but now he is exposed and has to run Mara up to shield Kyle. 5th round I win init and down goes his Mara. I then am able to finish Kyle and win 117-70. Very good game. My other teamates sweep 3-0 and we are 4-0 for the tourny.
So here is where it gets a little crazy. This whole time we don't know if individual records matter or if it is just Team. Team Texas won, so now we are both 4-0. The issue is that it is 12:30 IN THE FRAKKIN MORNING! and we have to register squads for champs at 9am. My team is shot and can't beleive we are even in the equation, so we start figuing out how to split the prize. Well, Team Texas wants to play and soon enough Jim (Moses) comes over and confirms that we are playing it out. So, but now we know we are playing for a complete set of IE for each team member and the loser is going to get 2 boosters of JA a piece.
5th round for Championship. I lose the roll again (I rolled a 20 the first round, so my team has had me roll each time since and I have lost lol) and again the other team sees no Dodonna and instantly uses their pick to have me play their NR guy. Les is playing Lancer against Wedge and Yobuck, while Nate has Speeder on Speeder. I play Frank (who is just an awesome guy and made the top eight the next day btw) who has Kol, Leia, Dash, Mara, Talon Kaarde, Wedge, Lobot, fodder. I win map and pick his Ravaged Base. He gets right, but sets up more conservativley where he won't be using Kol to get first rd gambit. Finally I won't be losing right off the bat. 1st round I get everyone into the room. 2nd round more positioning and since it is like 1am Frank and I make an agreement to let the dice sort it out and he uses his extra acts to setup a 3rd round strike with Mara such that whoever wins init the others Mara is going down. 3rd round I lose init and down goes Mara. I am now in a 45 point hole. I put as much damage on Mara as I can. Next round he wins init and I lose TBSV and a MD. I am able to finish his Mara and put 40 on Talon thanks to a Wedge Crit. Kol is based to Kol and Talon is holding the door. and the square to the left of Kol is empty. I am setting up for next round when time is called. I find out Les has lost to Wedge and Nate has won. So, no pressure on me LOL. I take a minute to analyze the board one more time. It is Franks turn and he spins Lobot and says next. Then through the delirium I see where I can give up an AOO with my Kol and move around his Kol and push Talon. I do it and go up by 3 points.
We both analyze the bored and slowly realize there will be no more points this game other than gambit. I actually win on the last second 84-81! What a game. Again Frank was an awesome opponent.
So, Nate went 5-0, Les went 3-2, and I went 4-1 and we all win a complete set of IE! Woot!
There you have it. That is how I became a GENCON Champion!
You know the minis are great, but the friends made and the experiences shared are what is going to last FOREVER! I didn't have one bad experience the whole weekend. EVERYONE ROCKED!