My pleasure, it's been a lot of fun for me too! Hope to rope you in next time!

Game 2: Jim 114, Matt 52. Jim wins 2-0

My squad:

http://www.bloomilk.com/Squad/231395/unforced

Matt's squad:

http://www.bloomilk.com/Squad/231352/knights-of-the-roand-table

We both had Gangster's Vault. I won map role, and he deferred. I took the right side. In the first and second rounds, we positioned, and I used the swoop bike to snipe 2 of his activations. We both continued to play cagey and I kept the activation advantage. I used my Talon move all game to either snipe pieces or move back to safety after a late round extension by Boba. Matt was unable to advance because my shooters were covering advancement areas and he only had melee. Finally he made a break for it with Marasiah Fel and then Roan Fel but I was able to kill them both. Matt made 2 good moves with Roan to get LOS on Talon, but I made both save rolls to preserve his CE. Time expired with my squad controlling the center.

2 really good strategic games by Matt tonight. Pinning my triple twin shooter in game 1 with Enfy and Nym locked the win for him, and if I'd missed either of the save rolls in the second game with Talon, it was possible he could have broken the game open.

I'd like to thank everyone for accommodating me for the duration of the league. I just wanted to play, although I knew the community would have let me take a few games off. I am turning the corner with side effects and I hope to be back to normal soon. I wish all of you a Merry Christmas!

Holy cow epic last round already!!!

Dark_Dracul looks like he secured his place in the top 4 by TYING spryguy1981's tournament points, but has the better record. Depending on the final games this round, it remains to be seen if he'll be the 3rd or 4th seed.

Spryguy1981 has to wait and see what happens in Mando's matches.

There could even be a 3 way tie by tournament score, but not a 3-way tie for record (what an odd switch from what we've been used to.)

If Mando scores more than 4 points (or gets 4 points from two 2pt wins), he's in as the 3rd seed, and Dark_Dracul drops down to 4th seed. If Mando scores 3 or less points, Spryguy 1981 nabs the 4th slot for the playoffs and Mando misses them. If he scores 4 points from specifically a 3pt win and a 1pt loss, we will go to further tie-breakers. Dark_Dracul and Mando split their matches in round 1 of the tournament, so head to head is also tied. Next tie-breaker is number of factions played. Bryan has played a very respectable 9 different factions in the tournament. Mando has only played a paltry 6 so far, and even if he plays 2 new factions in the final round, he will lose this tie-breaker to Dark_Dracul.

*Edit - there was a disadvantage to the fact that Mando did not get to play any factions during the concession from Udorian84. That round did have Separatists and New Republic as options- factions he has not played yet. So - should we come to a place where tie-breakers are considered to this level, then we will take that into consideration. Luckily this does not mean the difference between making the playoffs or not, it only matters with seeding 3rd or 4th in a very specific circumstance.

So will Mando play Yuuzhan Vong and Fringe, (2 factions he hasn't played yet) to possibly get the tie-breaker over Dark_Dracul? (Not to mention put himself in a more flexible position should he make the finals). If he plays with Mandalorians this round, that would be his 3rd time and he loses the chance to play with them again if he makes the finals. Should he make the semis, if he uses Sith or Old Republic (both used twice already), he won't have those options should he make the finals.

spryguy1981 has also played a very respectable 9 factions, but also did not get to play factions in the concessions from Udorian84. Luckily it doesn't matter for the final standings because he'll be in or out based on record and tournament score. Should he make the finals we will take that into consideration. Should he make the playoffs, he will have the option to pick up his last faction (OR) in the semis, and if he doesn't play NR (played twice already), he'll have all 10 factions available for the finals should he make it.

thereisnotry has played a very respectable 9 factions, and looks likely that he won't get to play factions this round. However, he's already locked into the #1 seed and the factions he hasn't played in the tournament are not available this round anyway, so it has no bearing on either the playoffs nor if he makes the finals. The semi-finals however does have the faction he hasn't played yet (OR), and if he doesn't play either there, he MUST play them in the finals should he make it. If he plays NR in the semis, that would be time #3 and doesn't get them should he make the finals.

Dark_Dracul skipped out on the Republic, and if he does make the finals, he MUST play with them. He's already played Imps 3 times, so he CANNOT play with them if he makes the finals. If he uses OR, NR or Fringe (all played twice already) in the semis, he may not use them in the finals either. Will he go for it in the semis with Yuuzhan Vong and Sith, thus leaving more options for the finals, or play it safe in the semis and have less choices in the finals?

TimmerB123 has played 9 factions going into the final round, with Fringe (the only one he hasn't played) available as an option in this round. He's played Seps, Republic and OR two times each, and none are available this round, so he'll play at least one more faction for a second time, but none for a third. If he plays Old Republic in the semis (the only option of the three he's played twice), he won't have that option for the finals should he make it. If he decides to play Yuuzhan Vong this round AND in the semis, he won't have the option to play them in the finals should he make it (spoiler alert - very unlikely scenario)

SEMI-FINALS

Apologies, corrected above.

I agree, this is a pretty fun way to do mental gymnastics. It reminds me of the Princess Bride:

Vizzini: But it's so simple. All I have to do is divine from what I know of you: are you the sort of man who would put the poison into his own goblet or his enemy's? Now, a clever man would put the poison into his own goblet, because he would know that only a great fool would reach for what he was given. I am not a great fool, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of you. But you must have known I was not a great fool, you would have counted on it, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of me.
Wesley: You've made your decision then?
Vizzini: Not remotely. Because iocane comes from Australia, as everyone knows, and Australia is entirely peopled with criminals, and criminals are used to having people not trust them, as you are not trusted by me, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of you....

And yeah...if you and I face each other in the finals, then don't worry about any advantage that the format may have given you. Everything is proceeding as I have foreseen....

Mando and I will be playing our games this Wednesday at 7 PM central time in case anyone is interested.


(Mando did want me to warn everyone that he will be shouting "Are you not entertained?!!" in his best Russel Crowe impersonation )

Spheres of Influence round 7, game #2

Mando defeats TimmerB123. 185-101. 2pts for Mando, 1pts for Tim.

map: Gangsters Vault

My squad:

--Embolical Corde (Hutt Cartel edition)--
43 Jabba Desilijic Tiure
42 Embo
31 Morrigan Corde
28 Mira of Nar Shaddaa
20 Bib Fortuna, Majordomo
18 Devaronian Assassin
17 Sy Snootles
12 Rodian Assassin
8 R7 Astromech Droid
3 Mouse Droid
3 Rodian Brute
3 Ugnaught Demolitionist

Reinforcements: Sy Snootles (17) and Rodian Brute (3)

(228pts. 14 activations)

Tim's squad:

--Hylobons from Hades!!!--
32 Talon Karrde, Information Broker
27 Lobot
25 Dryden Vos, Crimson Dawn Leader
16 Chiss Captain
64 Hylobon Enforcer x4
15 Jabba, Crime Lord
14 Maul, Hologram
6 Mouse Droid x2

Reinforcements: Hylobon (16) and Mouse Droid (3)

(199pts. 14 activations)

I won map roll again. Tim set up on the right and put Dryden and Jabba in the Vault, very safe from my Embo deep strike. Tim and moved his guys up to land some shots on Jabba early on. I had put Jabba far up to lend himself to sending my key attackers into interesting spots with Bib's CE + Lookout interaction. The Hylobons were just 60 hp, so i wasn't too concerned with losing Jabba if it meant I could get a my guys into a good position. My rolls were kinda crappy this game. missed 2 early shots with Morrigan Corde and the follow up cannon shot from Jabbba only landed one hit. I sacrificed my Devorians movement to move Embo up, and then I sacrifed my Rodian Brutes move to move Mira up adjacent to Embo. I decided to sacrifice Embo's movement to send Mira up again to be within range of Jabba's Lookout. I got mira up in the action soon after but had to blow up a door first to get a grenade into a group of Hylonbons, doing auto 20 dmg to a few of them. I won init next round and did an aggressive move with Mira to lob genades 2 times at Talon Karrde who had surround himself with 2 mouse droids, Lobot and 2 Hylonbon's. My goal was to deal some solid damage to Talon and take out the mouse droids since it would really hamper his squads ability to do damage by shutting of his Jabba's CE and Dryden Vos's CE from affecting his guys for 2 rounds. Both Mice died and so did Lobot, and Talon took 40 dmg. A hylobon took 20 dmg. Was a aggressive move but i felt it was worth the risk. Jabba got to do one last move and gave my Rodian and Morrigan cannon shots, but the Hylobons really made getting damage to stick to Talon hard with their Unit BG ability. Talon was down to 20 hp for a lot of the game but his Hylobons kept him alive. Tim took out Jabba and now it was an interesting chess match. I ran up Embo to try and take out a Hylobon but missed both attacks which was really unfortunate. Embo got down to 30 hp after his Hylobons landed 2 hits but Tim's dice failed him and he wasn't able to take him out by the end of the round. I won init again next round and twin attacked with Embo and moved 8 squares behind my wall of stuff clogging up gambit to keep him safe. I made a really good move later on to really give my team a shot when I moved bib adjacent to his Chiss Captain and charging fired with Morrigan to do 60 dmg with Death Strike and i could actually hit with Close Quarters combat. I lost Sy Snootles and my Rodian Asassin. But i still had my Devorian, a full hp Morrigan and Embo safely tucked away behind my R7 an uggie and rodian brute. Next round i do the finishing blow by taking out his last 2 hylobons, and it was pretty much over. Tim did get above 100pts and his squad was very tough for my squad to deal with. Those Hylobons are no joke! they hit hard and Unit Bodyguard was a pain to deal with because they just spread the damage around. My squad is very much geared towards taking out uniques, so it wasn't easy dealing with 5 non-unique enemies that could hit hard and had good defense. Fun game and it was a real nail biter for a while. getting rid of all of Tim's mouse droids was huge and probably won the game for me since it took a while for Dryden and Jabba to get close enough to grant their CE's again. That Vault is really good at protecting commanders, but not easy for them to get out of also when they are needed. Good game and Tim is a great player! looking forward to seeing the rest of the tournament unfold!

Cool! Is there a way to find out which factions each player has used, and how many times for each?

The epic story of Trevor being defeated by the legendary Antares Draco