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After Memorial Day we had agreed on gaming again in 2 weeks and since Ethan’s birthday is coming up we let him name the format. He had long heard stories of “build-a-bad-deck-deck-swap” tournaments so that’s what he named and that’s what we set out to do. We did decide on a few constraints. We wanted bad decks not unplayable decks. Fun interactions was still the holy grail. After a some brainstorming at the table and a number of FB messages we agreed on:
The Devil’s Draft
Highlander format
6 resource producing cards
6 units that cost 4 or more than can legally be on the table at the same time
6 pods of any off-color affiliation (if playing off color)
We also decided on a 4 neutral pod max (for mono decks, the affiliation constraint dealt with this for two color decks) and since we wanted to maximize league points we decided to build with the BAN list in mind. Also it was understood we were building 10 pod decks.
The idea with these constraints was to provide an engine to win (units and money), avoid getting color-screwed (off color affiliation constraint making sure at worst you were playing 6/4 and guaranteeing no tri-color), and making you dig deep in the binders to find the truly worst pods (highlander). It was also understood that the 6-6-6 constraint was a minimum, but it became the rule since nobody seemed to want to provide more money or mains that they absolutely had to.
We had two weeks to come up with decks. It was understood that we were going to snake draft them also with the constraint that you couldn’t wind up playing your own decks, which forced some choices for people. We were all pretty hush-hush about the construction process although there were cryptic texts going back and forth, mostly about how bad some pods were and how not-bad-enough other pods were. I kept looking at the decks I had built and thinking “they’re bad… but I’d play em!”
Danny felt supremely confident in the turd decks he was able to build and…. he was completely justified! He went 6-0 for the day and made decks that only won a single game each. He has secured his position as draft and deck-building king of our local meta…but we will continue to challenge his reign…
1st (Danny)
Affiliation: Smuggler (3-0, 2nd pick, made by Ethan)
Beyond the Rim
Prepare for Evacuation
Hero’s Resolve
Hero’s Duty
Out of the their Element
Embers of Hope
Message from Beyond
Journey Through the Swamp
Rumors at the Cantina
Courage of the Tribe
Affiliation: Sith (3-0, 7th pick, made by Tyler)
The Questioning
Hunters of the Jedi
Imperial Bureaucracy
Rogue Archaeology
Call of the Cult
Serve the Emperor
Looking for Droids
Corporate Exploitation
Endless Reserves
Asteroid Pursuit
2nd (Ethan)
Affiliation: Smuggler (1-2, 4th/5th pick, made by Danny)
No Match for a Good Blaster
Prepare for Evacuation
Message from Beyond
Embers of Hope
Hero of a Thousand Devices
Knowledge and Defense
Journey through the Swamp
Secret of Yavin IV
Frozen Refuge
Courage of the Tribe
Affiliation: Scum (2-1, 4th/5th pick, made by Mick)
Heart of Cold
Automated Assassin
Jabba’s Orders
Asteroid Pursuit
From the Abyss
Black Squadron Assault
Threat from the Depths
Imperial Bureaucracy
Emperor’s Cabal
Serve the Emperor
3rd (Mick)
Affiliation: Smuggler (0-3, 8th pick, made by Tyler)
No Match for a Good Blaster
Message from Beyond
Embers of Hope
Hero of a Thousand Devices
Knowledge and Defense
Hero’s Resolve
Journey through the Swamp
Hold the Line
Frozen Refuge
Courage of the Tribe
Affiliation: Scum (2-1, 1st pick, made by Ethan)
Shadow of Nar Shadaa
Jabba’s Orders
From the Abyss
Encounter at Stygeon Prime
Council of the Sith
Call of the Cult
Ghosts of the Dark Side
Serve the Emperor
Corporate Exploitation
Looking for Droids
4th (Tyler)
Affiliation: Rebel (0-3, 3rd pick, made by Mick)
Mission to Talay
Message from Beyond
Embers of Hope
Knowledge and Defense
Hero’s Duty
Stand Together
Last Minute Rescue
Rumors at the Cantina
Frozen Refuge
Courage of the Tribe
Affiliation: Navy (1-2, 6th pick, made by Danny)
Superior Numbers
Lord Vader’s Command
Shadows of Dathomir
Executor Arrives
Killing Cold
Council of the Sith
Call of the Cult
Serve the Emperor
Endless Reserves
Looking for Droids
What we liked playing x4
Jedi: Moisture Farmers, Old Ben’s Spirit
Neutral: Chief Chirpa
Sith: Anzati Elite
What we liked playing x3
Jedi: Daughters of Allya, Jubba Birds
Neutral: Frozen Refuge
Sith: Cultists
Neutral: Viper Probe Droids
Plays of the Day:
Ethan: Bulk action transport to draw into a guardian who can keep Han alive—he was dead on board with 2 damage on him facing off against Executor and an ISB.
Ethan: Plays Anger on Kyle. Kyle’s secret: he’s always angry! …until he dies. which he did.
Ethan: Quarren Bureaucrat stops a spider!
Ethan: Executive Override stops the spider again!
Danny: Size Matters Not on Chirpa for the game!
Danny: Needs 2 objectives to win. Has no money but lots of tactics, but facing off against 1 resource that can become a spider at any moment. Attacks an objective with 2 damage on it with a tukata. I let it go. He plays vast resources to pay for an Aphra droid, bids Allies of Necessity to blow up the objective. I can no longer pay for the spider and lose.
…heh… I build have paid for the spider before unopposed.. dang, this game is hard… /facepalm
Danny: Quarren Bureaucrat asks the spider for his papers and LS has no more money…
Tyler: Rebel Sympathizer sacs himself to force rejuv an ewok horde. Ethan demands to see the Jedi resource since Tyler only had one neutral money showing. Tyler points at the text of the rebel Sympathizer and proceeds with his strikes against Redeem the Fallen.
Tyler: Loses entire board to a first turn No Match Han with a looping Old Ben’s Spirit on him. Plays aggression on turn 3 and comes back
Tyler: Plays vast resources and taps out Lord Vader’s officer to hard cast the Executor. Sith Holocron is left on the board for the sacrifice effect!
Tyler: Force pushes off an Ewok Horde attack. I like to imagine teddy bears flying everywhere in the force explosion.
Tyler: Mon Mothma with Old Ben’s Spirit and a Concussion Rifle becomes a Weapons Master!
Mick: In the 2nd attack Secret Guardian into an Ewok Horde who double strikes with Size Matters Not
Mick: Gets the combo of Hunted/Dark Memories off on Kyle
Mick: Inquisitor crafts the hand which can win edge and play force shockwave to wipe the board.
Unfortunately, we did not have time to try a massive 2v2 game with these decks. The decks probably wouldn’t have been legal since Chirpa is limit 1, but we’d just allow it and say only one Chirpa can be on the board. In individual games the DS took the day 8-4, so it would be interesting to see if the ewoks hordes could overcome the Serve the Emperor decks in 2v2.
We still prefer the Collective Draft format, but this was a good change of pace and we enjoyed thinking about the construction of the decks for the time before the tournament. The games did seem to favor the DS, but they were still very interesting and often came down to the 11th hour. Tyler said “this feels a lot like core set” and I think that’s a positive statement and I agree with him!
It was interesting to see which pods we overlapped on. Chirpa definitely saw a lot of play because he checked so many boxes: 2 resources, 3 “mains”. We discussed changing the constraint to say 6 pods with mains and 6 pods with resources to deemphasize pods like Chirpa, Frozen Refuge and the Cultists.
We’ll try to play again in a month. More of the best games every played!
Do you agree with our bad deck decisions? Post in the comments and smash that subscribe button!!
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