First Place Winner of Tour Stop #1
Brian and Trevor “Bombay” Betts from Team Mech Killers interviewed the 1st place winner of the first tournament stop “Debris Fields of Jakku”, Michael Deegan. Michael made the 40-minute trek north to get his first win this weekend.
Brian: Hi Michael. Thanks for taking the time after the tournament to talk with us.
Michael: Thanks, the tournament was a lot of fun.
Brian: When you were planning your squad for today’s tournament, what were you expecting to see line up against you?
Michael: I didn’t see any Jumpmaster lists and I was surprised by that or party busses or any of the buzzwords that get dropped. It was fun to play defenders whether I fly them or face them, that warmed my heart just to see them on the tables.
Brian: Michael, when building your list you obviously have to think “What am I going to face today” and “what kind of counters am I going to come up with”. What I want to know is, what was your thought process when building this list?
Michael: I have been running the Decimator for a while now because I have to counter my inability to roll green dice well. So, he doesn’t have green dice and I take advantage of his engine upgrade to just try and avoid getting shot. This has worked well, much better than actually having to roll green dice. Then, the inquisitor who gets a lot of tokens and I‘ll Palpatine if need be so he can stay alive a little bit longer unless I’m stressed or go right in front of a Tie Defender at range 1. You seem to always draw a double damage when you’re in that situation, it’s just gonna happen.
Brian: So then, what were you flying today?
Michael: I brought Rear Admiral Chiraneau with Veteran Instincts, Engine Upgrade, Thermal Detonators, Extra Munitions, Gunner and Emperor Palpatine along with, a pretty much standard, Inquisitor carrying Push the Limit, Autothrusters and Tie/v1 Title.
Bombay: The interesting part of the Decimator was the Thermal Detonators, were you able to trigger that ability a lot today or was that something you kept in your back pocket.
Michael: Um, I spent them almost every match, at least two points of damage over the course of a match sometimes three or four. I always use them because he is a Pilot Skill 10, so he always gets to see what’s behind him before he drops them and the stress it gives helps. People forget, even I forgot, I have them and I missed one opportunity in the first match today. Yea, best 5 points I ever spent.
Bombay: What was your toughest match up today?
Michael: Well, Bombay, it was your defenders because of all your free evade tokens. Those Triple Defenders were always getting free evades except for that one time you were trying to not go off the table, but I didn’t have shots at Colonel Vessery.
Brian: Well now that this tournament is over, do you plan on attending any of the other tournaments on the tour?
Michael: Oh yea, I am all signed for all of them.
Brian: Oh that’s right! You’ve purchased the season pass from the RivCo site.
Michael: Yea. Top Deck Keep is really close, GMI is really close, the ones in Temecula I haven’t visited yet, but I am looking forward to it.
Brian: All right, sounds like you’re going to be a pretty serious contender.
Michael: I hope so.
Brian: Thanks coming it was great flying with you today.
Michael: Thanks again for putting this on.