My name is Blake Moody and I’m the Australian Destiny champion. My tournament had ups and downs but ultimately ended in the best way possible. The process leading up to the event was the most important as all the time and effort put in beforehand would help me through. We only had 3 weeks’ notice of the event dates and empire had just dropped. Man did we have some work to do.

I enlisted the help of fellow West Australian Des (thanks for everything mate) and our

plan was to grind TTS almost every night once the kids were in bed so we could work out where the meta would be at. Just about every known deck that had potential was tested but we spent most of our time on 3 decks;

Week 1- Thrawnkar.

Heaps of work went into this as at the time it felt strong against everything old and even some new. The list was starting to tighten up and I started to develop game plans for each match up. Then we started to fall to super aggro, mostly within our own testing but it wouldn’t be long before others caught up.

Week 2 – Anikan/Phasma

I received my 2p starters the week after empire dropped and the 1st deck on the radar was Anikan/Phasma. I wanted something that could hit hard and fast.

There was a win-a-box the following weekend and I knew this was the deck to play. The Thrawnkar match up was solid and it was great vs every big guy little guy deck.

The win-a-box was a success and the deck was looking great, however I started to see an important obstacle…

Week 3 – FnKylo!

This deck was great in every way and it had positive match ups across the board. The number one target was FN, which would leave Kylo left to close the game. At 12hp and a crazy good ability, he would always be the last man standing!

Perfect! Except it didn’t fit my preferred play style. It seemed a little too midrange and I would much rather be on the aggro spectrum.

For the next week I tested every deck against KyloFn and the only positive match up I could find was rainbow 9’s. I didn’t feel comfortable in rainbow 9’s positioning against the expected field of crazy burst decks and Unkar so with little time left to refine it I moved on.



If you cant beat em join em!

KyloFn would give me the best shot at nats so I started testing. The deck was very different to my initial assumptions of being midrange. It was very much a tempo based deck that would get ahead on the board and still be able to contain the opponent.

It can play aggro or control at any given time and it can play well from behind. Coming from a magic background I knew this style of deck would dominate the current format.

Caw caw!!

I played a bunch of games and started mapping out a plan for each match up. I wrote a list of each deck in the expected meta and how to mulligan against them, what to name with Kylo, and ultimately how the games should play out.

With that in place my final list came together naturally. Although it was fairly stock I made a few changes based on the expected meta. We also went through each match up and the role of each card in the list.

Notable mentions:

2 x Force Illusion – I went up to 2 with the expectation of a decent mount of Cad/Phasma and Sabine/X decks. These decks can push out absurd damage with the right rolls and you don’t even get a chance to mitigate. Force illusion is also a great card in the mirror, Although the deck has Vibroknife its not typically one to have a pile of dice out at once.

2 x Lightsaber Throw – This card provides amazing reach to the deck and makes any melee side hit hard

2 x Sound the alarm – I quickly learned the power of this card while considering my game plan for the mirror. The plan is to get ahead on upgrades on the table and mitigate the best I could. It’s also a nice bonus being grey. Against the not completely busted draws of Sabine and cad it would also provide a chance against never tell me the odds and heat of battle plays.

1 x Imperial HQ – This was just there for Thrawnkar as they can disrupt at any point of the turn, it was great in the mirror at certain times as well. Although it can be clunky at times I would always run 1

The Event!



Coming solo from literally the other side of Australia and not arriving to my classy abode until 1am (airbnb was the only option)

Red bull was going to have to carry me the next day!The morning of the event the local McDonalds was to be the source for bacon, eggs and a hot coffee.

This is where I met the Brisbane crew who kindly adopted me for the weekend. Congrats to Brayden walker for a top4 finish!A quick stop at the local servo to stock up on red bull and I’m ready to roll!

Round 1 – CadPhasma (loss) My opponent ended up making top8.

This was a degenerate cadphasma game. His 1st action he rolls in phasma hit double special, second action ambush on cad rolls out another 4 damage. Maybe a bait and switch was involved here.

Oh shit! I tried my best to pull it back but it was not meant to be.So here I am wondering what is to be next. Having flown across the other side of the country, invested the last 2 weeks of almost every night testing and it could be over before it begins.

Round 2 K2so/Padawan (win) My opponent played hit and run into its a trap for 9 damage turn 1. Lucky his second turn hit and run didn’t net him the same result and k2 quickly fell.

Round 3 – Anakin/Phasma (win) It was a close game and my opponent played great. Having experience in the match up would mean I wasn’t going to let the deck I didn’t play stop me!

Round 4 – KyloFn (win) I love a good mirror match. The plan was to get ahead on resources on the table and control the opponents development where possible. Kylo’s disrupt side shined in this match.

Round 5 – KyloFn (win) My opponent was brand new to the game and played well, although experience in the matchup paid off and I was able to stick to the plan of getting ahead on upgrades on the table.

Round 6 – Thrawnkar (win) This match was on stream and you can find it here……

My opponent resolved a turn 2 crime lord targeting Kylo. Skilfully(luckily) I managed to finish Unkar that same turn and that left Thrawn vs Fn. At one point he even had an Fn dice underneath a prized possession. Fn did what he does best and closed the game with overwrites.OK, 5 -1 now and I have battled back. This is where all the prep has paid off. Having a solid plan for each match up has carried me through.

Round 7 -KyloFn(loss) Another mirror except this time my opponent is undefeated and is playing like a master. After 6 rounds and only 4 hours sleep I went into autopilot. I made a gamble to reroll instead of using my doubt. My re-roll missed twice and my opponent quickly pulled ahead in the damage race.5 -2 however my sos is looking good. 1 round to go and I’m sure I can make it in with a win here.

Round 8 – ePhasma2/Fn/trooper (Win) Sitting down across a mono coloured deck for my essential win and in gave me a sense of relief. Kylo got to work and my opponents deck never really took off after Phasma went down early. 6-2 time to pray.

The W.A. destiny Facebook page blew up as standings were online before they had been announced.

I waited patiently because I knew there was still a chance I miss……. And I’m in!!!!!!

A quick celebratory dinner with the Brisbane crew and I’m off to have a shower and get some zzz’s

Top 8!

(Johnathon choi) KyloFn! (win) My opponent handily beat me in the Swiss and i knew this match was going to be tough. This time the plan worked out and i played a bit more conservatively. He played tight but his rolls were not hot. With the plan of getting ahead on the board it wasn’t long before i was 2-0 and heading into the top 4.

Top 4 –

(Lindsey Hemming) KyloFn! (win) This match was a flat-out race. I had a great start with damage and thought it was safe to take my left-over dice and setup to close the game next round. My opponent plays boundless end of turn and matches the damage. There was a tough decision here whether I overwrite into a rocket launcher or a lightsabre. The lightsabre would give me redeploy onto Kylo but the Rocket launcher had a 66% chance to kill Fn. This would finish Fn before he could overwrite into a redeploy. Leaving Kylo to spend his turn on my Fn whilst I could use my Kylo to get ahead. He played crossguard, killed fn and it was a battle from there. Tight play and a lucky roll tipped the game. Game 2 I stuck to the plan, my deck turned it on and I was off to the finals!

Disclaimer…

This is about the time the nerves really kicked in. I have re watched the stream and I am still happy with every technical decision, however I got loose with the basic functions of the game (a little embarrassing) This is where having a solid plan for each match-up would carry me through. Lessons were learned and hopefully I have mastered the nerves by the time worlds comes around.

The Finals

(David Leslie) AnikanPhasma (…..)

We have half an hour before the match kicks off and I used that time wisely to talk to a couple of dudes who are considered to be at the top of the game right now. We devised a plan for the match and I felt good to go. Thanks a million Mike and Joe!

Both games are absolute nail biters play for play and this is where the mishaps took place. I quickly fell behind game 1 but I had a plan, rolled some dice and took the game. * a huge sigh of relief as I’m up a game in the finals. And we are off to another nail biter however this time I’m ahead. We’re getting down to the very last actions of the game. David has 1 health remaining on Anikan and Kylo has 6. He has to roll and resolve a 3r and then claim Throne Room to flip to a special, killing Kylo before Anikan takes the 1.

David double checks with the judge and they go off in search for a ruling. We were not told to stop at this point and I had to re-roll.

And that’s the match! Thanks for watching!!

P.S. I re-rolled into a 2 and a 1 melee, David used sound the alarm and I rolled into a 1 and a 1 for lethal before David could take the last action he needs!

Wow! What a weekend.

Thanks to everyone who helped. Everyone from the Perth community, everyone from the Hyperloops discord, the Brisbane squad and of course my family back home who support me while I spend countless hours playing a card game with no real understanding why.

Also, a huge congrats to the other top 8 competitors! GG!

-Blake Moody

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