European Continental Champion 2010

This Interview with Ramata Klan was hold by openCards user RedDwarf and was published first on "The Continuing Committee (trekcc.org)" at Jul 28th, 2010.

Interview with the European Continental Champion 2010 Tyler Fultz:

Q: Congratulations on your win. You played Ferengi on day one. Why did you pick them?

A: I was tired of playing Cardassians, which were my other option, and I felt this deck needed to be avenged after its disastrous performance at the German National Championships last year. The release of the past Ferengi in Allegiance made that possible.

Q: How does the deck work?

A: Step 1: Use Ferengi tricks like Par Lenor (Lascivious Emissary) to spend a ton of counters turn 4-5. Step 2: Use Rom (Professional Soldier) to swap all the Rules in your hand with the interrupts beneath Fereginar. Step 3: Prevent your opponent from using Secret Identity to remove Reyga (Young Scientist) with The Play's the Thing and Ulis (Unidentified Pirate). Step 4: Use Reyga to wreck your opponent’s dilemma pile.

Q: Did you add any specific cards for this tournament?
A: I started using Straight and Steady. While the deck has no Starfleet personnel, I can still download any zero-cost card. Rule of Acquisition #6 is the usual target.

Q: How were your day one games? Did you have any close games or tough match-ups?
A: Some good, some not so good. I played one game against a Tragic Turn deck, which was close to an auto-win. Poor Soren just wasn’t going to kill anyone once I had three copies of Grish and Ulis (Unidentified Pirate) in play. In my game against Thomas, his Borg just walked all over my dilemmas and assimilated Tuvok (Coldly Logical Soldier), which really hurt, but the game was still "1-turn close" in the end. Playing against Vlad’s Original Series was also a close game. I was amazed at their ability to always have the skills and attributes needed. In the end, I made some mistakes and Vlad capitalized on them for the win.

Q: On day two you went with Maquis, why did you switch?
A: The Maquis had been very successful at this year's German nationals. I just couldn’t keep such a powerful deck in the box.

Q: How does the deck work?
A: A combination of Maquis tricks, Aid Legendary Civilization, All-Out War, the U.S.S. Defiant (Stolen Warship) and a dilemma pile that focuses on returning personnel to hand typically results in my opponent having no personnel in play and no cards in hand about mid-game.

Q: Knowing who you were likely to face in day two, did you add any specific cards to your deck?
A: I knew I would face an Original Series deck in at least one of the rounds. I was also worried about Klingons. Both have the ability to play high-cost personnel for cheap and get around the Maquis. I added an extra Moral Choice, Shocking Betrayal and Full Security Alert to counter them.

Q: Were there any players you didn't want to face? Or that you were glad someone else knocked out for you?
A: When Vlad arrived unannounced on day one, everyone was worried. Vlad has a reputation in Europe for being an intimidating and dominant player, which he certainly deserves. When Soren knocked him out on day two, I was relieved to say the least because I wasn’t prepared to face his Borg.

Q: How were your games on day two?
A: The Maquis worked beautifully. I only shuffled my dilemma pile once. Thomas forfeited our second game when he had no people in play 45 minutes in.

Q: Do you have anything else to add?
A: Thanks to all the players and judges who made Continentals a success. It was great fun and those who didn't come missed out. Also, people on the message boards have erroneously labelled me an American - for Trek purposes, I'm German. Finally, it’s time the talk about Maquis being one of the weak affiliations can stop. That being said, the secret is out now and people are going to be prepared at Worlds. I better go prep...
 
Thanks Tyler!