Subject: new england regionals - donais 5CU Date: Sat, 16 May 1998 23:31:07 EDT From: Drtyrm To: fkusumot@ix.netcom.com hello frank...here's a report from the new england regionals on 051698 (kinda long) This is my first report (and first regional). I've just recently returned to magic after selling out a few years ago. After infecting a few friends with the bug again we decided to go to the regionals for the experience plus it's not too far (about an hour from southern mass where we live). After playing around with my crew of Marco, Russ and Matthew we surfed the dojo for deck ideas and also to see what we could expect in the field. Mostly we were looking for a competitive deck that suited our styles of play. I'm a control player at heart and chose to play Donais' 5CU after much dithering (mostly due to fear of 'geddon and wasteland). After playing the deck for about 2 weeks I only tweaked the lands a little, put in 2 rolling thunders for the fireballs and traded 2 dismiss for 2 disrupt on friday night, thinking it a better choice against a turn 3-4 'geddon. Matthew (my brother) chose Cursed Stompy, Russ created some strange R/G land destruction w scrolls and Marco...well, let's say when I went to bed on friday he still had 3 more hours of choosing a deck in front of him. I awoke to find Marco had decided on some strange U/r/w control thing. I won't waste space on my decklist just throw the sideboard at you: 3 Pyroblast 3 Sacred Ground (obviously i fear the ld) 2 Hydroblast 2 Lobotomy 2 Karma 1 Disenchant 1 Null Rod 1 Cursed Totem Not bad...but not too good either... The qualifier was held at some Golf Course which my brother gave me directions to so i don't even remember the name. We entered the hall and after registering (which did go on for a while) we were suprised to hear an announcement that the tourney was exceding fire code limitations at had to be moved to another building. The Your Move games guys handled this pretty smoothly but the tourney didnt start till about 12 (if i remember correctly). I find my pairing, find my seat and sit down for my first tournament (just a little nervous...) Round 1: Mark G., MA, G/W Creatures Game 1: Mark opened up with Plains,Mtenda Herder which left me a little puzzled. I played an Island and when I Whispered (no buyback) at the end of his turn, he had to ask exactly how the card works. It turns out Mark was a little out of circulation too.Our game continued with him throwing centaurs and pinchers at me, which I wiped out with the Wrath. From there I started the Gerrard's-Blessing thing and ended the game at 89 life. I don't think Mark even realized he could concede, and with no geddons or mana control he couldn't stop me from rolling him out. I chose not to sideboard. Game 2: The second game went just like the first; I ended on 47 life. 2-0 games, 1-0 match Round 2: Scott C., ME (i think), B/U Zur's Weirding /Megrim Lock Game 1: This game against Scott saw me losing the counter war and then taking a beating under a Megrim-Anvil of Bogardan combo. The Uktabi I needed was countered, then the Zur's hit the table, lock ensues, concede. Not too much fun. Plus, my brother had played around with a deck like this and I still didnt see it coming. Not too happy with myself. Sideboard: Out: 4 Wraths, 2 Whispers In: 3 Pyros, 2 Karma, 1 Disenchant Game 2: This game went more my way. With the pyros as back up I won the counter wars over his lock cards. I guaranteed I'll keep winning by blessing them back in. With plenty of counter support, I lay a karma while he has one swamp in play. After 4 turns of pinging, and realizing he can't be playing disks due to his heavy permanent commitment I lay another karma and he dies from the damage of just one swamp. Game 3: This game was a little closer than game 2. More counter wars after we setup our mana. I Uktabi his Anvil and the Uktabi, suprisingly, goes 7 turns before he can get the Zur-Megrim lock on. At that point he doesn't have enough life advantage and I finish him with the Uktabi. 4-1 games, 2-0 match Note: At this point I'm feeling pretty satisfied, but then again, I have very little tournament experience. :) Round 3: Walter O., VT, WW w scroll Game 1: We both paris to get better hands, and I open up with Svylenuite, Thalakos Lowland and I'm afraid to go to 5 cards. Walter's white shadows don't mind him only having 2 plains. By the time I get the 2nd white source for the Wrath, I'm at 6 life, no Gerrards to be found, and I die from a scroll. Sideboard: Out: Dismiss, 2 Whisper, In: 2 Sacred Ground (pretty sure he was packing 'geddon), Disenchant Game 2: Again I am forced to paris with a just a Reflecting Pool. Maybe I need a new shuffling method. The new hand is 2 Gemstones, and once again, too scared to go lower, I play it out. This is when Walter does 2nd turn wasteland, and Tithes of the 1st plain. I lose this game as well to solitari's, longbows and white knight. I can't really complain, because I knew going in the deck was vulnerable to the ld, especially Wasteland. 4-3 games, 2-1 match Round 4: Allen S., MA (I think), WW/r/b (this one I didnt write down so it's all from memory) Game 1: This game was really the most fun I had all day. Allen is a very cool guy to play against, smiling, laughing. He knows my deck right off and when he Tithe's at the end of my second turn, I've got a pretty good idea of his too. This game is a good one for me as a I draw plenty of counters, keeping a 'geddon away, and Wrath-Blessing a little too. Allen hands me a pretty good beatdown before I get control, but after my first Gerrard's he concedes. Sideboard: Out: Dismiss, 2 Whisper, In: 3 Sacred Ground Game 2: This game is a another beatdown like the first, except in this one i never gain control :(. He 'geddons once, I almost come back into the game, because of the lands I was holding back, but the second 'geddon really hurts. Game 3: I paris this game, come back with an okay hand, 2nd turn Sacred Ground. Yippee, no more 'geddon! Unhappily, I don't see anymore lands anyhow. I finally get to learn what BBE stands for when the solitari's start wearing empyrial armor and walking all over me. 5-5 games, 2-2 match At this point, I know it's pretty poor, I drop. I kind of made a promise to myself that I'd play out the rounds, but my friends took mostly massive beatings (Marco 1-3, Russ 1-3, Matt 2-2), and being real tired we pack it in for home. As a small side, like I said earlier, I'm back to magic after selling off my cards. I cruise the dojo, I know a little about the pro tour and the players. When my brother (Matt) plays Shawn the "Hammer" in Round 4, I gulp a little. (I've got the guy's pro tour 96 deck in my house. It's just a little ... surreal). Hammer beat him 2-1 with ProsBloom. Matt said it was a fun match, even though he was a little nervous. All in all, it was a fun (well as fun as it can be when you play .500 ball). props to: mr kusumoto, best site on the web team wide-load,team wood-chuck,team speed-bump people i met - allen, joules haigh (really nice guy) mr donais, thanks for the design slops to: Rt 495 and its mean old speed bumps $3.00 for a ham sandwich me, for not playing through like i told myself i would please email comments -- christian riley drtyrm@aol.com