Subject: NY Regionals Report Date: Sun, 17 May 1998 19:38:45 PDT From: "Sean McKeown" To: fkusumot@ix.netcom.com Well, the whole Regionals experience makes me start to feel like Jerry Seinfeld in his 'Break-Even' episode; after a bit of stomping at last week's Extended championships, it was just my turn to have the Bad Mojo kick into overdrive. I played a 5c WW Goodness deck that ran through some major testing, changing from a janky version with 3x Dwarven Miner standard (that would have gotten me KILLED...WTF was I smoking?!?) to a version that was actually able to (theoretically, of course) apply beat-down. The biggest weakness the deck had was that it was suceptible to early Wastelands, which showed up in the some of the matches I lost against other speed-weenie decks. I hung out with Seth Burn the afternoon and night before, we playtested from about 4:30 till just past midnight, trying to get my WW or 'Janky-Burn' deck to work properly. He was testing a Suicide Black (nothing special, as they go) and a illogical extreme of the Draw-Go deck, not even using Steel Golems or much of anything at all besides 19 Counterspells of various shape and form. We call it The Pile, and after about ten consecutive losses to it I give up and swear that thing will Finkelize me dead if I have to play against it again. So the WW starts performing at last (the C-Burn just *died*, although my friend Kevin played it and did the .500 thing after four rounds), going about 8:10 against the monoblack w/o sideboarding. We puzzle about the metagame, and all we can basically decide is that it would be creatures, creatures, and some more creatures for the most part... in THE place where control decks are more prevalent than any other, Neutral Ground (NY), speed was everything and the only thing. I was expecting about a 50-50 split between aggro and control, and despite tuning the WW to be about as fast as reasonable without giving it the ability to turn into a bad, bad pile against control, the SB should have reflected more of what was in the field: Creatures, Creatures, and more Creatures!!... but I gimp some spots that in forethought would have been great for extra Passages, Warmths, Sleights, that kind of anti-Red, anti-Black jank... at least 4 slots for anti-Sligh cards, 4 for anti-Black cards, and some anti-Control... but not as much. Here's Seth's Pile, which he used to qualify for Nationals with. I don't know what he ended up beating except for three Sligh decks, but he only lost to 1st and 2nd-turn River Boas with Wastelands for his Quicksands, and some answers for his Allures...Chants or Pyros I assume. 4x Stalking Stones 4x Quicksands 3x Syvelundite Temple 15x Islands 1x Rainbow Efreet 1x Legacy's Allure 4x Nevinyrral's Disk 4x Impulse 4x Whispers 4x Counterspell 4x Dissipate 4x Dismiss 1x Force Spike 1x Desertion 3x Power Sink 3x Memory Lapse Relevant SB: (It was basically bad, but that hardly mattered) 3x Allure 2x Beat-Stick 4x Hydroblast 2x Firewalker Some other garbage, onesies of silly cards like Dream Tides and such. My 5cWW was: 4x Tithe 3x City of Brass 3x Undiscovered Paradise 3x Gemstone Mine 1x Volrath's Stronghold 9x Plains 4x White Knight 4x Warrior en-Kor 4x Soltari Priest 2x Soltari Monk 2x Soltari Champion 3x Man o' War 1x Uktabi Orangutang 2x Derelor 3x Empyrial Armor 3x Armageddon 4x Incinerate 2x Wrath of God 2x Aura of Silence 1x Disenchant SB: 2x Winter Orb (Drop like a bad habit!) 4x Pyroblast 2x Disenchant (Drop one of them...) 1x Aura of Silence 2x Wrath of God (4x Wrath Is Good! Don't Piss Off Mr. God!) 2x Honorable Passage 2x Sleight of Mind I would have wanted to have 3x Warmth rather than Passages and some other crap, if not four. At least one Light of Day should have been in there, or something else to deal with the Black Weenie decks... Wall of Essence would be a consideration, or Pacifisms for those Erg Raiders }:) The deck was solid, a beating in fact more often than not... the WW deck theory is still sound, but I just didn't have a sideboard to deal with what everyone was playing. I will concede that I should have won one of my matches but didn't because of a mistimed Man o' War, making me take 11 points of damage from a Sliver and Flunkie vs. a Song of Blood deck... I was trying for the Armored Priest first, as I forgot he had the Songs in there. D'oh! Sideboard was everything. EVERYthing. WW can beat anything as long as it has the sideboard to deal with the metagame. I didn't see a single deck where the WOrbs would have been a giant help, at least not one that was a significant part of the metagame. I wasn't planning on writing a report, but since everyone seems to expect one from me nowadays... mise well let everyone get a good laugh, neh? I remember only my last two opponents' names, as I knew them beforehand ;) Round One: vs. R/B Speedy Weenie Essentially a scrub deck, because while he started out with the basic B/R speed-kill concept he also tried to do something with Megrim in there... I kill him before I find out what with an armored Priest and some other assorted Knights. I figure it's R/B Weenie, and the Megrim was a fluke, so I SB out most of my Chant, Monkey, and something silly for Sleights and the other Aura (Might as well try to slow down the Glooms/Dreads, right??) Second game he Rituals out the 3/1 Shadow dude, and starts a beating. I play a Monk after taking a hit from the Marauder (?)...he follows up with a Dread. I say 'Whatever', play the Stronghold, and cast some Champions. We trade beats, me with my 2 Champions (still 2/2 each, cool beans!) until I draw a multiland and Sleight the Dread to Black (Oh Terrence, you're SUCH an asshole!), killing the Marauder and adding to the beatdown. I find Mr. Monk from the graveyard, and continue the beating. He draws land, land, land, land... that's skill! :) Games: 2-0 Matches: 1-0 Round Two: vs. StOmPy Somebody should have just told this guy that a monogreen deck wasn't going to work at Regionals. Hell, as fun as Naturepotence is, I wouldn't play it at Regionals... and it might even work those Black decks into a froth, if I manage the second-turn Disk that it's not-incapable of popping down. He plays some stupid Green Elves, Walls, Elephants, and the Wurm that puts him back up to two Lands (drat!), and I chump-block the Elephant with my lone en-Kor, going down to about 14 or so. Turn Four Wrath (Die Stompy Die!), Chant the Scroll, play 2 Knights and I geddon before he plays another creature (he had like 2 cards in hand). He draws no more lands, period. I SB out the Chant for another Aura (why not?? Out-of-hand Scroll protection, if it slows him down that's a good thing, right??), and pull two stupidish cards (the Monkey maybe, or an en-Kor) for the other Wraths, do the exact same thing next game...turn four Wrath, although I waited till turn seven to Geddon because I played 2 Knight-thingies and a Big Poppa Derelor before hammering in the Geddon for the helpless beating. Games: 4-0 Matches: 2-0 I put on my Junior Super Series 'Scrub' sign, which I will shortly be melting over a large fire because of its wicked ability as a bad-luck charm. I also should burn my Dojo shirt, for the same reason, but it's still cool as long as I remember not to wear it at a tourney ;) I don my secret second identity, the Super-Scrub, for the third round...although I didn't know it. Round Three: (another Habib) vs. Sligh (monored) Gee, someone forgot the old adage, that Sligh don't win tourneys no more. Seemed to work for him, I should have probably given him the Super-Scrub sign after he handed me my ass. Game one, he does the standard Pup-Kitty-Burn opening, depleting my blockers while getting in a creature offense (YES, Sligh still needs creatures to work!). I kill a Pup with the Incinerate, but needed a Wrath before I could start over... Incinerate-Incinerate-Fireblast, let's shuffle some more ;) I SB in Passages and Sleights for the less-useful weenies, specifically the Monks, a Geddon, and the Chant. Like I said, I need more anti-Sligh stuff...this repeated itself later. I somehow manage to pull off a slow-assed (but giant-sized ;) beating, as my hand is sooo slow... lands, Man o' War, both Derries, a Tithe and Armor. I hope for a turn-two Priest so I can build my own homegrown Burly Protector, as I'd Tithed for a second basic Plains, but don't draw it. I play a Gemstone and Man o' War the 2cc creature he'd played, leaving a blocker for his Pup. He plays another Pup, Shocks the Mano, and proceeds. Derry #1 comes out to play next turn, and is swiftly Armored before Fireblasting the beast would be less of a problem. So of course something silly happens, I still haven't drawn jack, so I play a fifth Land and play Derry #2 (for 5 mana, remember...), and eventually Armor that one too for a pair of 8/8 beasties, when he only has Jackal Pups to block. Cry me a river, burn-boy... Game three, I draw only one Basic, no Tithe, and 4 Multilands. He got 3 Wastelands off his draws, and the fourth multiland showed up a turn too late...otherwise I'd have won the race, because while I had only 2 Priests to race his 2 Pups/Kitties/Orcies, I hadn't managed to play another Priest and a WK...or an Incinerate, on his Pup of course ;) Lose to a pair of Shocks (he didn't have any more burn, no Fireblast or anything) the turn before I would have killed him with what I *did* have. Games: 5-2 Matches: 2-1 ~sigh~ I hang my head in shame, and remove the Scrub sign before it becomes any truer. Round Four: (Nameless Wonder) R/B/G Song of Doom! He wins the first with a Song of Blood for 3 and a pair of creatures, hitting me early. I Wrath the board away, hitting 4 of his to my one...after attacking of course ;) but he still manages to nibble away. I Mano the 'Tog, start a race with my Armored Priest, but he wins on three life after I Geddoned (he was helpless, I had some Land in hand...) because he Wasted my Paradise the turn before, preventing my Incinerate from killing him... I think. Game two I get fast Priest, Armor Up, beatdown. Play some non-shadow protected blockers and just gimp him for eight a turn. I'd sided in the other two Wraths, and the two Passages. He wins the third because I time my Man o' War poorly, rather than Man'o'ing the Acidic Sliver when he had Acidic + Flunkie, I play a Priest and try to Armor Up...he Songs, smacks me for 11, ~sigh~... I start winning the race, as I have pro-Black Knights, pro-Red Armored Shadow, and a Warrior on the board, when he throws the Acidic at the Knight. I point out the protection, he sighs and just flings it at me instead (I go to four). He flings two more, straight off the top of the deck, and wins on four life facing a Priest and an angry Kinnigit. Yes, he read my article, 'Topdeck Like A Pro' and was sure to mention it. I was just about dripping with the irony... yeah, that was 'irony'. Close match, I'd have won if I remembered he played with Songs (would have Man'o'd at the right time instead!) Games: 6-4 Matches: 2-2 Two losses and you are soooo out of contention it's even funny. I'd drop but Seth was 3-1, so he was still in the running, and I was bored. SoOoOoOoo... Round Five: vs. Zvi Mowshevitz (I know it's wrong, but at least I tried, neh?) w/ Turbo-Zvi Speaking of bored... I decide to play, as apparently everyone knows Zvi is playing Turbo-Zvi. I play a turn 2 Knight, turn 3 Aura, turn 4-6 2x White Weenie. Win with a Wrath in my hand...too bad Zvi left his Words of Command at home ;) I SB out anti-creature stuff, and some useless critters like Man'o, Monkey, for Pyros, Chants, Auras so I can at least try to disrupt his ability to use the Halls. He didn't SB in his 15 creatures because he knew better than to race Armors... He elects to draw first, I guess because he wants the added card and doesn't want me Tithing well. I Paris, as my one Land was a Gemstone, no Tithe, no Chant or anything. Paris second time because I had a Paradise, Chant, no Tithe or anything. I settle for a Warrior en-Kor, Incinerate, Plains, 2x Pyroblast because it's pretty damn good, and I'd already bent over twice for him ;) I play the Plains, he plays Temple, I say 'Go', he plays a Petal, Island, and finishes. He Meditates during my turn, after I played a Plains and the Warrior. I draw and play a Gemstone, no creature (no 2cc critter in hand...both Champs, but no 2cc'ers). He plays another Land, and Severances. I know that's not where the battle is, as he still has plenty of mana available, so I act helpless. I draw and play a City, and use that and the Plains for a Champ. He plays Halls #1, I Pyro...he only had five mana avaliable, and he'd Severanced the rest away, so he couldn't counter back or Abeyance me first or anything. I play another Champ, attack him to ten or something, and Pyro the one he plays next turn too...game. Could have killed him the next turn with an Incinerate in my hand, if by chance he had a third Halls or something. He thanks me for booting him out of the tourney officially, I apologize because like every Neutral Grounder I like Zvi. Game-one Aura surprised him though... ;) Games: 8-4 Matches: 3-2 Should have dropped now, because I was hungry and there were some cool side tourneys going on, but for some reason I play it out or something... I refuse to play in a side tournament, ever. Period. Round Six: vs. Eric Kang (Bad player from Flushing, Queens, I know from the silly l'il T1 tourneys... has NO RIGHT to EVER beat me in a game of type two, because he plays a T2 Zoo deck, poorly) playing anything-but-white weenie-burn w/o good cards like Scroll, good lands, etc. He starts the weenie beating, I Wrath after seeing some solid weenies, a Birds, and a Wildfie. I know exactly what he's playing, Scrubby T2 Type One Zoo Deck. Man o' Wars surprise me, but he Mano's the wrong creature (Warrior vs. Priest), so I guess I mise well Armor Up next turn! He uses painlands too much, and manages to double-Shock me when I'm at 4, putting him at one life. One too many uses of the City of Brass for me, but I used what I had... 2 Gemstones and 2 Cities...and I used them often, rather than roll over and die to his critters. SB in Sleights, Wraths, Passages for anti-Art/Ench, leaving the two Auras to slow the Glooms I suspect are in his SB (he had 4, put in 3 because he feared Sleights); I figure worst-case I can Sleight his Wildfie to pro-Blue, making it less of a hassle, or one of my Kinnigits so I don't die fast. He gets a turn-four Gloom out, I have no answer other than play more lands. I get six lands and start beating on him, also using Mano' and Derry, plus the Stronghold to pull back a dead Priest. Kill him one turn before I would have drawn the Sleight (which would have been followed with a Geddon ;) Game three I go WW, WW, WW...can I armor yet?? He plays ALL FOUR Man'O'Wars, and I didn't have the Wrath that would have been soooo convenient, as I now had a fistfull of creatures, an Armor, and a Geddon. I drew both the other Geddons though... might as well lose another match to the astounding irony of Strange Luck, eh? Games: 9-6 Matches: 3-3 (Drop) I'll remember to wipe my ass with this scrub later... I've got all summer to kick the crap out of Type One Boy here, and prove my mastery over him. He'd never even SEEN a Tithe before he came to the tournament today... Scrubbalicious! I spend the next few hours cheering Seth on, loaning cards and decks to minions so they can play the small T1 and T2 tourneys, and lend Alex Shvartsman all the parts I have to the Topdeck! extended deck I placed with last week. Seth and Alex don't seem bitter at each other, despite whatever animosities may have passed between the two over the last week or so. On a side note, there were a fair number of girlfriends there in addition to the regular cast of female players, for what is probably a record number of women actually *inside* Neutral Ground. At least it was fun to listen to the losers with their silly plans for what they'd do if they got within groping distance of one of them :o) Props and Slops (I got hassled for forgetting last week, so I'll do this for the last 2 tourneys...) Props: Erik Kesselman.. Sorry to misquote what team you're on, but at least I let everyone know the Extended deck was your brainchild about 1,724 times ;) Seth Burn.. For Q'ing with The Pile. Sheesh. Alex Shvartsman.. Spring Forth, My Burly Protector... You still have to sign my foreign Steel Golem, dude; and I'd kinda like the 30 or so cards I lent you back again... 'Mail me. All of my opponents except for Eric Kang, who has no right to ever, ever, EVER beat me at a game of Type II, much less an entire match. My minions, ever numerous and even now forming a worldwide branch including outposts in Indiana and, say, Colorado... y'all know who you are. Mike Pustilnik and Zvi, for having the guts to play Prosperous Bloom and Turbo-Zvi, respectively. Wall of Blossoms, for not being in any of my opponents' decks ;) Slops: Just one heading, I'm too nice a guy to really care that much... Anal People Suck! The girlfriends of my minions, Elaine and whatever-that-fat-skank's-name-is, for making me all but physically ILL at a major tournament. Signing off, the Dojo-posting scrub... --Sean McKeown --Gandalf@BDominia.com "it's not a question but a lesson learned in time it's something unpredicatable, but in the end it's right i hope you had the time of your life... so take the photographs and still frames in your mind hang it on a shelf of good health and good time tattoos of memories and dead skin on trial... for what it's worth it was worth all the while; i hope you had the time of your life..." 5th at Extended Chapionships 1998 Scrub anywhere else...Bad Mojo kicks in all the time. ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com