B5CCG::Black Omega Squadron::tournament reports
Black Omega UK MASTERS 2001
The first major tournament of the year saw the intrepid Team Geordie Micra head off for Wales...
FRIDAY 12th JANUARY
Five people, one small car - it just wasn't going to happen, so we split into two groups. One started at 1pm and the other set off at 5pm. They were to have distinctly different fates...
The journey to Wales was surprisingly quiet. We read Raw Deal spoilers, we talked WWF, we occassionally drifted onto B5 even. The roads were clear, the sun was shining. Everything was good with the world (unless you happened to be in the two mile tailback on the M5 heading into Birmingham, which was funnier than it sounds...)
Wales was a bit of a shock to the system. Someone forgot to introduce them to the concept of road lighting so Andrew likened it to driving into Hell. Only when we saw the Golden Arches of Capitalism at Newport did we feel safe.
We got to Cardiff easily, found the hotel easily. Everything was going well. Too well, as it would prove later. The room was ...snug, but not uncomfortable and after some well needed relaxation we headed off into Cardiff for a pizza and some beers with Richie and James. Still all very nice, still all very pleasant.
Got back to the hotel and partook of the landlords choice of SKY channels - Men and Motors, Adult Channel Freeview and then back to Men and Motors. Needless to say we never shook his hand on the way out...
Then we got the phone call. Where were Mark and Ian? They were on Junction 15 of the M25, that's where they were. No, that's not a load of bull, that's the Gods honest truth. They went across to Carlisle, down the M6, didn't realise they had missed the M5 until past Northampton and then thought they would go all the way to London to join the M4. After the initial disbelief and panic, we ... well we pissed ourselves and spent the rest of the night trying to work out just how they had managed it...
SATURDAY 13th JANUARY
Early to rise, but not as early as the dynamic duo who finally arrived at 2.30am. Pretty good going considering! Yet more comedy porn entertainment from staff of the hotel as the feisty serving woman decided to tell us all about her tricks for Strip Jack Naked. Maxines Hotel and Bordello was proving more entertaining by the day!
Eventually got to Taffs Well after a few small detours around Cardiff and it's environs. Nice road system, sort of leaves a lot to instinct and luck. Nice venue Richie has there, with lots of space and good lighting. Only 18 people were there, but barring the Black Omega Champion Peter Meredith, there were all the usual high profile 'name' players. It was not going to be an easy tournament.
Another thing that struck me was the amount of open strategy banter that was being had between people. This was the first tournament since the release of Crusade and everyone had their own theories about the cards. We saw a full gamut of 'A Crusade for...' cards used, whilst many decks didn't use them but utilized a number of the new cards anyway.
There was some concern before the tournament about the current 'cheesemeister' deck - Apocalypse Box+Higher Calling+Martyr - but I'm very proud to report that no-one used it.
Another upshot of the new expansion was a predominance of Human as first deck choice and a total lack of interest in the League of Non-Aligned Worlds. We were forced to draft in NA decks from second, third and even fourth choice decks.
The tournament was a very open one, with a lot of games finishing before the Time Out and a good spread of winning deck designs. I think the jury is still out about the use of the Crusade decks and whether they add to or detract from deck design.
The finalists were Jo Tripp, a perennial Black Omega tournament favourite from Bristol, playing an NA diplomacy deck, Graham 'Dark Horse' Hobson from Newcastle playing a risky Centauri Intrigue deck, Richard Croton from Reading, playing Drakh Human in what may be a breakthrough appearance in big tournaments, James Blagden, a regular BO tournament finalist from Reading playing Minbari and Andrew Watson, captain of the reigning Team Champions, appearing in his sixth consequtive BO tournament final, playing Drakh Narn.
As in all but one of the previous rounds, Andrew's Ultra Fast Search for a Home deck was unstoppable, winning in about six turns. The deck itself caused some controversy. Some people viewed it as boring, uninteractive cheese, whilst others were very impressed by it's consistency, power and inventiveness. I personally haven't seen a deck sustain so much post-tournament discussion and dissection
( A note: In my opinion, all decks tend to be un-interactive. We build them with the express idea that the other players either allow you to win your conflicts or your defence is so strong that they cannot stop you. Only those other pesky players make you *have* to interact. Therefore, a deck like Andrew's, which is very intense and hard to play right time and time again is just a deck with an amazing defence rather than cheese...)
That evening we all enjoyed the hospitality of the Welsh players and drank rather a lot of beer and then curried into the small hours. Not quite the pseudo-lesbian floorshow of Sheffield, but it was a very nice curry nonetheless.
Back to the hotel for a much needed sleep.
SUNDAY 14th JANUARY
Easy, quiet ride home. Mark and Ian set off early and actually got home in one piece, which was comforting. The sunshine disappeared as soon as we got to Birmingham to be replaced by thick fog - but then again, it is Birmingham and you sort of expect that. Lunch at The Plough, in Lancaster - an old college haunt of mine - and then home.
So Andrew has finally won a title and he brought the Hardcore title back to the North East, where it belongs.
Out of interest, I did a little analysis of the player scores for the top four players from each 'area' as a taster for the upcoming Team Championships. The results panned out like this..
Bristol (Jo, Richard, Mark and Stephen) - 112.5
Newcastle (Andrew, Graham, Mark and Ian) - 106.5
Reading (Mike, Alisdair, Richard and James) - 105.5
Wales ( Ian, Clare, Paul and Andy) - 55
Tight as a gnat's proverbial at the top. Could Newcastle go the extra yard to be the first holders ever to retain a B5 title, or will Reading or Bristol step up to take the crown? And what has happened to once-proud Team Pump? Only time will tell as Triples approaches....
Neil (Gow)
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