All Decked Out (Star Wars Insider)
All Decked Out is Rich Handley's report in Star Wars Insider #48 (April 2000, pages 78–79) on the 1999 Decipher World Championship at DecipherCon 1999.[1][2] Its subtitle is "The Competition is Fierce at Decipher's 4th Annual Star Wars CCG World Championships". The contents page lists it as "Decipher This!".[1]
Star Wars CCG World Championship
Thirty-two finalists met at the Cavalier Hotel in Virginia Beach, Virginia, on 11–14 November 1999. Reigning champion Matt Potter of Minnesota was among them. Most had qualified at local events. The last two seats went to an eight-hour Wild Card Open on Thursday.[1]
Day One on Friday cut the field to 12 players. On Saturday the 12 played until two were left: Gary Carman of Bristol, England, and Steven Lewis of Nashville, Tennessee. Attendees watched their final on a video feed in an adjoining room.[1]
Carman won and became the 1999 Star Wars CCG World Champion. Kyle Heuer said it was the third time a British player had reached the final, and the first British win.[1] Mark Tuttle, Decipher's Star Wars Discussion List moderator, said: "Both players played masterfully."[1]
Carman won the first game with 28 minutes and 47 seconds on the clock. In Game Two he faced Lewis's hidden base. His plan was to drain at Kiffex and Kessel. Lewis won Game Two with five minutes and 44 seconds left. Carman's 22-card lead from the first game still gave him the title.[1]
Top 12 finalists
| Place | Player | Hometown (as printed) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gary Carman | Bristol, England |
| 2 | Steven Lewis | Tennessee, USA |
| 3 | Martin Akesson | Vasteras, Sweden |
| 4 | Steve Brentson | Connecticut, USA |
| 5 | Paul Todd Feldman | California, USA |
| 6 | Clint Hays | Tennessee, USA |
| 7 | Stuart Jones | Victoria, Australia |
| 8 | James Lafferty | California, USA |
| 9 | Yannick Lapointe | Quebec, Canada |
| 10 | Jason Kilby | Oregon, USA |
| 11 | Gregory Reid | Iowa, USA |
| 12 | Bastian Winkelhaus | Wuppertal, Germany |
The magazine prints the third-place name as "Martin Akessan".[1]
Other events
Players outside the title race played Allegiances, No Such Thing As Luck and the Iron Man. Several Sealed Deck formats ran as well, some with Japanese decks. Players rated 1800 or more on 8 November could enter the Star Wars Invitational.[1]
The convention also held the first Young Jedi CCG World Championship. Jonathan Quesenberry said: "Young Jedi is a much quicker game than Star Wars."[1] Greg Heisler of St. Louis won with a Dark Side deck full of tanks. He had come to qualify for the Star Wars Open, lost, and entered Young Jedi instead. Matthew Reed placed second.[1]
Guests and announcements
Jeremy Bulloch, Boba Fett in the films, signed photographs of himself as Boba Fett. "It's a real pleasure to be here," he said.[1] Shannon Baksa, cast by Decipher as Mara Jade, also signed photographs. She wore the leather-and-cape costume from her card and carried a replica of Mara's lightsaber.[1]
Decipher displayed upcoming cards, including a computer-generated Dengar and a modified Z-95 Headhunter. Warren Holland announced that Death Star II would be the last era-specific expansion for the time being. Later sets would focus on single characters, starting with Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader.[1]
Player cards
The article prints its winners as Star Wars CCG cards. Rich Handley took the photographs. Game text and stats as printed:[1]
- Gary Carman: Power 4, Ability 3. "Deploys in Bristol, England, with laser focus, cunning strategy, and strong Force powers. Wins the Star Wars CCG World Championship."
- Steven Lewis: Power 4, Ability 3. "Deploys in Tennessee and wherever in the universe there's a good CCG game brewing. Places 2nd in Star Wars."
- Greg Heisler: Used Interrupt. "Deploys in St. Louis at +4 power. Force is strong in this one. Wins Young Jedi World Championship."
- Matthew Reed: Power 4, Ability 3. "Deploys with both fierce competition and the meditative calm of a Jedi. Places 2nd in Young Jedi."
- Site card: "Shannon Baksa (Mara Jade) and Jeremy Bulloch (Boba Fett) sign autographs for fans during breaks in the action."
See also
- Magazines · Media · Star Wars Insider · Richard Handley
- 1999 Decipher World Championship · DecipherCon 1999 · DecipherCon 1999 photographs
- The Thrill of Victory (Star Wars Insider)
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 Rich Handley, "All Decked Out", Star Wars Insider #48 (April 2000), pp. 78–79; contents entry "Decipher This!". Scan: Star Wars Insider 48, Internet Archive.
- ↑ Star Wars Insider 48, Wookieepedia. Preserved copy: Internet Archive