The tournament took place on April 22, 2000, beginning at 9:00 a.m. and ending at 6:00 p.m. The constructed deck tournament was to last six rounds. Around twenty-one people showed up. This was to be my first tournament, so I was really excited and was only planning to win one game with my Romulan Dual HQ Armada... well, it was kind of an armada...

For the first round, I was paired with Daniel Marshall from San Antonio. He was playing a Dominion draw deck with no Ketracel White and twelve Hidden Agendas. We started off as normal. I had a bad first draw with only one Hidden Fighter and one free report. All his dilemmas were Ferengi Ingenuity + Dal'Rok with a Access Denied HA. I only got to finish one mission before he moved in with his Founders and killed my crews. He used three Examine Singularities to Remodulate and Maska Transformation to draw like crazy. I lost 100 - 30. Note to self: Always carry a Scorched Hand... So far, I was 0(-70)

Editor's Note: apparently neither player noticed that Examine Singularity isn't cumulative... having 3 in play DOES NOT let you make 3 downloads per turn!

In the second round, I was paired with Aaron Russell, a beginner like me. He was playing a Non-Aligned/Klingon mission solver. I started off with and began to build a D'deridex, then got 10 and 01 with QIR and got Bynars Weapon Enhancements. I destroyed his Klingon Outpost, but he still had a Husnock Outpost. I then went to solving my missions and won 100 - 40. I was then at 2(-10). Already got my win... :-)

Next, I was to play against Bryce Prewitt. He played a Tri-Treaty Armada. He continuously drew with Kivas Fajo - Collector. I simply went straight to doing my missions and ended the game with a 100 - 0 win. After I won, we decided to duke it out with our armada's. He won the battle as he had Enterprise-E and three other ships from Alternate Universe. I was at 4(+90).

In the fourth round, I was paired with Christopher Briesch (aka Overlord). I knew him a bit as he tried to get me to go to the tournament a few months earlier. The was the most interesting game I played that day as we were both Romulan with Duel HQs. We both had a terrible draw, he had no ships, and I had all personnel with only one free report. We both used Traveler: Transcendence, but I stumped him by Kevining his. Luckily, he did not get to his Oof! before the game ended. I stole his Quash Conspiracy and Secured Romulus with another mission to win. It was odd how I only had one Tal Shiar that game and that was from a Ready Room Door download. The thing that won me the game was two of my dilemma combos along with Scientific Method. I was then at 6(+150)

In the fifth round, I was to play against Daniel/Danny Linquist (aka Yoda's Evil Twin). He has not lost a game yet, and I knew from the beginning he was going to win. He played Borg and assimilated Romulus in 6 (or was it 5) turns. The game ended there, but if I only I had not gotten Galen killed, I could have gotten 30 more points. He won 100 - 40. Not to self: Get a Drought Tree before you get a Traveler...

In the final round, I played against Matt Clouser, a tournament director from another city. He were both tired and made numerous mistakes. My Harvester Virus paid off when he red-shirted his homeworld and triggered Harvester Virus. Then he ran into Lack of Preparation and lost 10 points. Then I made some really bad mistakes like forgetting to scan and losing most of my personnel to a Borg Ship and losing some 20 points to The Higher... The Fewer and Lack of Preparation. If I only got that Exobiology, then I would have won the game! Or if I had remembered to flip HQ: Defensive Measures when he was stealing my mission. But luck was not with me that game, and I lost to a timed win, 80 - 41. It was a great game, and I ended with a 6(+51).

I got a Black Hole as my prize. It was a really fantastic tournament, and I enjoyed it greatly. Some things I noticed: No one had Fair Play, no one had HQ: Defensive Measures, Danny was the only Borg, two Bajorans, two Ferengi, no one had Scorched Hand, no Wake of the Borg, one Red Alert!, a few Federation decks, almost everyone had Traveler, no The Big Picture, one Mirror Image, and no one played unbalanced. Notes to self: Get a colony instead of that Drought Tree... and get some cards that let you draw... and get rid of that Balancing Act...

by Simon "Titan98RG/Agent N176-1" Gao