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Massachusetts Grand Slam Report
by Paul Conti Ten players came for the Grand Slam at TJ Collectibles in Milford, Massachusetts on Saturday. Everyone was on time or even early. Just about every affiliation was represented, and there were almost no decks with the same or even similar strategies, which made for some very interesting games. I finished second with a Cardassian armada deck. Round 1: vs. Tom Langberg Tom was playing a K'chiQ/STA deck that seemed to also have some ship battling power as well. Tom hadn't played in a while so the game went a little slow. By the time I blew up his HQ time was almost up, so I abandoned my battle plan for attempting missions. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough time to solve any missions before time was called. He managed to solve a 35-point mission and score 10 points off my Barclay's with the people I hadn't blown up. Game: 0-45 Total: 0(-45) Round 2: vs. Brian Harcourt Brian played a Romulan deck that used Science Vessels, the Apnex, and the Cha'Joh downloaded by Hidden Fighters. I really didn't get to see much of this deck because I blew everything up too fast. =) The main highlight of this game was when he commandeered my Nor with the personnel hidden away on his Apnex. This slowed me down a little but didn't make much of an impact on my strategy. I eventually win with the personnel I have drawn. Game: 100-0 Total 2(+55) Round 3: vs. Chris Lobban Chris was playing a PNZ deck that used Romulus with both HQs for fast reporting. His lack of an outpost seemed a little odd, but it didn't seem to affect him much. Instead of the usual Science Vessels or Shuttles he was using the D'Deridex Advanced, which put a crimp in my plans. When I scanned Mining Survey I found a Borg Ship seeded first. As soon as I brought my armada out of the Neutral Zone I popped it for 45 points only loosing two ships thanks to a Picard Maneuver. I was one turn away from winning when he launched the Phoenix from his HQ, bringing him to 100 points after one PNZ, Romulus, and a Barclay's self-seeded. Just as a side note, also self-seeded under Romulus was a Starry Night, with which he grabbed Data's Head and Mona Lisa. I have never seen anyone play with Mona Lisa before... EVER. I can definitely see where it can fit into this deck, though. I think Chris should have done much better with this deck than he did, it was very original. Game: 45-100 Total: 2(+0) (I couldn't do this if I tried... =) ) Game 4: vs. Steve Clicquennoi Steve was using a basic Dominion mission-solver with Founders and Baby Jemmies for extra speed. He was using all GQ missions and no Ultimatum. Fortunately, I packed two Bajoran Wormholes for Ore Processing and to allow me to battle in such situations. I got an oversized armada together and ran through the Wormhole to start making things go boom. Before I had a chance to finish off his HQ he Tented for Bashir Founder and took out my whole armada. The upside of this was that I was at the Founders' Homeworld at the time. =) This left him paralyzed without a place to report to. After two Sheliaks, two Borg Ships, two Regenerates, and countless ships and personnel, I won with minutes left. Game: 100-0 Total 4(+100) Game 5: vs. Ted Witt Yet another Dominion deck, this time an invasive beam-in deck... WITHOUT Jemmies. He used seeded Gold-Pressed Latinum (at Primary Supply Depot) to grab weapons and a Hanok to download 34th Rule of Acquisition in the tent to draw cards. He also used some Espionage to win. A Kevin Uxbridge took care of the 34th Rule and fear of my armada kept him in his own quadrant. =) He couldn't get past my dilemmas at a mission or two and decided to try to steal one of mine, which I protected with a seeded HQ: Defensive Measures. I quickly scanned three missions and won. Game: 100-0 Total: 6(+200) YAY!!!!!! Second place!!!! Jason Petkus finished first at 10(+361) and took home the uncut Rare sheet of BB Premier. I brought home the Uncommons. Ted Witt finished third and passed up the Common sheet for a foil Dax that we pulled from prize support packs, leaving the common sheet to the fourth place finisher. (sorry, I forgot who it was, I think Steve Clicquennoi) Over all, a very good, fun tournament. Thanks to Chris Brennan for running things and to TJ Collectables for hosting the tournament! by Paul Conti
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