ST1E World Champion 2018: Michael Van Breemen | openCards

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ST1E World Champion 2018: Michael Van Breemen

    imagePart of the coverage for the Big-Event "Worlds 2018".

    This Interview with Michael Van Breemen was hold by Lucas Thompson and was published first on "The Continuing Committee (trekcc.org)" at Oct 18th, 2018.

    Day One

    Title: BajRom
    Deck Archetype: Interference
    Play Engines: Chamber of Ministers, Continuing Committee, Office of the Proconsul, Bajoran Resistance Cell, Quark's Bar
    Draw Engines: Bajoran Resistance Cell, Temporal Almanac, War Council, Temporal Investigations, Remote Interference
    Bonus Point Mechanics: Dabo, Holographic Camouflage

    Day Two

    Title: CarDom
    Deck Archetype: Planet Lock-Out
    Play Engines: The Great Link, Reward from the Founders, Internment Camp 371, Central Command
    Draw Engines: Handshake, Reward from the Founders, Temporal Investigations, Deyos
    Bonus Point Mechanics: Training Ring, Combined Strike, Establish Dominion Foothold, For Cardassia!

    Interview

    Why did you choose the deck that you used? What other decks did you consider using?
    Because they were both achievement decks that I thought would have a chance at winning. Honestly, these were the only decks that I was considering to use as they were both very solid in terms of gameplay but at the same time achieved my goal of getting more achievements which, if I had done the math properly before I left, would also have ensured that I would pass Ken on the total achievements rankings (which it did.)

    What sorts of decks were you hoping to face while playing your deck? What decks did you hope not to face?
    Day 1 - Most anything that didn't have an answer to being harassed by Raptor 1 and 2. I didn't hope to face against Romulans (didn't put HQ: Defensive Measures in the deck) or Dominion personnel battle.

    Day 2 - Most anything that didn't have an answer to being stopped by Enemies of the State. I didn't hope to face against Borg, Sniper Decks or Vulcans with Temper Advancement.

    Prior to this tournament, did you have much experience playing this deck (or decks like it)? Did you learn anything new about it when you played it this time?
    Day 1 - I had tried out the Raptors the day before in the warm-up tournament, using the Raptors to steal missions and other harassment with Distant Control (for another achievement) but many people were using the same decks from that tournament for Day 1 so people were naturally wary of the Raptors, especially since I stole missions from my opponents. So, I'd imagine that they attempted more slowly and, in at least one game, put self-seeds under stealable missions which undoubtedly would slow them down. Couple this with a *lot* of card drawing (Temporal Almanac, War Council, Resistance Cell, Dabo w/Quark, Raptors, Renewal Scroll) and it wasn't difficult to draw into whatever I would eventually need while still harassing my opponents.

    Day 2 - Since it was the same physical day and thought I might see some of the same decks, I thought changing it up might work in my favor, especially since I was hoping that most of my opponents didn't know how this worked. I knew Greg did but, if he was playing the same deck as he had played for Day 1, I don't know if he would have the means to deal with it. Combine this with the potential for a two mission win and I thought the stall would work long enough to get the win.

    Did you use any situational cards (cards that you wouldn't expect to be useful in every game)? Are there any whose usefulness exceeded your expectations? Were there any that you wouldn't include if you played the deck again?
    Not particularly with either deck.

    What would you nominate as the MVP card from your deck?
    Day 1 - All the cards related to the Raptors: Card draws, blowing up ships without any of the personnel commitment.

    Day 2 - Enemies of the State to enable the lockout and a special mention to Oran who provided both Empathy and the AU icon that I needed to pass the second Quantum Incursions for the win.

    Do you have anything else you'd like to say about your deck?
    Thanks to everyone for making it a wonderful Worlds weekend across all three games.


    My Commentary

    Michael's Day One deck makes use of those Raptors everyone is talking about. As long as you don't need to stick to a certain property logo, and can fit Romulus in your deck, you don't have to play a 22nd century faction to use them too. Reshape the Quadrant makes an appearance here, but just to get Call For Reinforcements - the Romulus Time Location will break it even before the seed phase is over. I like the use of Scout Encounters as a way to soften up the attempting ships, stop them, and leave them vulnerable to the drones. The Battle Bridge side deck full of Breen Disruptor Bursts ensures that enemy ships will explode with only three damage markers.

    The Day Two deck may be chasing a different treaty achievement from MVB's US Nationals deck, but the goal is the same: lock-out planet missions using Enemies of the State. Enemies with Tadims and Aris who are boosted with Lower Decks is reeeeeally difficult to pass. I looked at adding a Kukalaka to a TNG Fed deck to help them with it, and even that isn't a guarantee. Kevin recommends Genesis Effect in the Sidney Day Two Thread which is probably the way to go for most decks, assuming you can see it coming.

    The last part of this competitive season's trifecta, Temporal Benefactor, shows up in both decks. Interestingly, it has a slightly different use in each deck. Day One's deck just uses it to make Valdore a Temporal Agent in order to use Temporal Almanac as a draw engine. Day Two uses it to download Disrupted Continuum (essential for covering a third mission with Enemies of the State) and Timepod Ring. In order to activate the effect, Michael has seeded Quark's Isolinear Rods, downloading Soval (who is conveniently downloaded to hand).

    It's a nice bookend to this season to have all three of these elements present across these two decks. The First Edition sets in the last year have certainly succeeded at introducing cards that shake up the meta. I'm looking forward to the next wave of sets; I'm hoping to see some stuff that will be able to compete at the same level.

    by Lucas Thompson, Ambassador