Subject: [Tourney Report] Southern Ontario Regionals Date: Mon, 25 May 1998 14:12:28 -0400 From: "John Robertson" To: fkusumot@ix.netcom.com --- This is the story of a scrub who's going to the Nationals. (Canadian, that is). Perhaps I should instead start, 'This is the story of a scrub who is going to the Nationals, eh?' Whichever work for you. I hadn't played Magic in a big tournament for a while, so I must admit, I was rusty. I had also missed the local Toronto regionals, so all signs pointed to a poor finish as I traveled to London Ontario, two hours away, but near my old home town of Woodstock Ontario. At least my anticipated defeat would take place in familiar surroundings. I love the Dojo, and was even part of the staff for a while, but I'm a firm believer in creating your own decks, so even though I was rusty as heck, I resisted and resisted and resisted the urge to copy a deck and take it. I've never won a major tournament with a Dojo deck, but I've won many with my own, so I laboured away to come up with something original. Since before the US Regionals and the first set of Canadian regionals, I had been working on a deck that worked like a "traditional" Ertai/Song deck, but used the power of Living Death as an extra hammer card. The deck was erratic, had mana problems, but it was so fun to play that I kept sticking with it, even when just about everyone I showed it to told me it sucked. After the regionals, I saw there were several decks on the Dojo that used Living Death, but most of these were much more control and defense oriented than I wanted. I wanted a deck that would work without the Living Death, that would kill a goldfish in a respectable time, as it were. The deck did go from a rough, middle of the pack deck to something much better thanks to the Dojo, though. Looking at decks like "Peaches" made me realize that though Bottle Gnomes were great, Spike Feeders were great as well, so some went in the deck. Looking at decks like "Five Colour Kastle" made me wonder why the heck they had Hermit Druids instead of Ertai's Familiars. After sticking some Hermits in my deck and trying them out, I never wondered again (wow, what a difference). Also, even though my deck was much more offensive than either of these decks, they both used Wall of Blossoms, and after some testing of my own, I realized that they would be fantastic in mine. Slowly, surely, the deck started to get better and better. While playtesting, I would constantly be on the verge of death, and then I would draw a card that would completely turn the game around. Sometimes, it would Living Death, destroying my opponent and bringing back all the chumps who had been blocking for me, itching for revenge. Sometimes, a Necratog would jump out of the graveyard doing a jiggy little Corpse Dance for 17 to win the game the turn I was about to lose. Sometimes, I would be about to lose a creature stalemate and find myself saying, "Hmm. Okay, I'll Song of Blood and attack for... let's see... 16?" That's why I really started to love this deck. If you were winning because of card advantage, or dare I say "beatdown", then great, but even if you were losing, you were never out of it. This deck could pull just about any game out of the fire -- and with a vengeance! Hence its name, crappy though it may be -- The Underdog! Black 3 Living Death (the hammer) 4 Dauthi Slayer (people are surprised at this one, but they evade so well, and that's golden) 2 Necratog (the Underdog!) 3 Nekretaal (Mr. Card Advantage himself) 2 Circling Vultures (These were so so. Some decks just can't handle them though) 1 Corpse Dance (Because sometimes, those gnomes just gotta dance! And sometimes, the Underdog just gotta dance of the graveyard and hit for 18) Red 2 Song of Blood (just when people think they understand the deck, everyone comes over with +4 +0 for the kill) Blue 3 Man o War (He's squishy, and he makes people with Empyrial Armor go home) 2 Ertai's Familiar (Even if he's bolted, he does his job) Green 4 Wall of Blossom (Turn that Living Death into an Ancestral as well - and stops the weenies) 4 Uktabi Orangutan (Your Orangutan plus their Mox Diamond equals a Hymn that gives you a creature!) 3 Hermit Druid (I can't say enough about how good these are) 2 Spike Feeder (So versatile. They attack, they pump up your guys, and they keep you alive) White 2 Cloudchaser Eagle (2/2 flyer that kills a propaganda, allure or spirit link? Sounds good to me) Artifact 2 Bottle Gnomes (Gotta dance! (Does anyone besides me even remember that episode of WKRP? Yeah yeah, I know, I'm old)) Land 7 Swamp 2 Forest 4 Reflecting Pool 3 Gemstone Mine 2 Undiscovered Paradise 3 City of Brass (All I have to say here is, I would have sworn I had more land than this. I deserved more mana screws than I had.) Sideboard: 3 Hydroblast (there wasn't alot of red, but these were very useful) 3 Ebony Charm (didn't play a deck I needed them against, but they were around) 3 Tranquil Domain (needed these so badly sometimes) 4 Pyroblast (I would have played with 6) 2 Sacred Ground (so so, a nice shock value card) And now the round by round report: Round 1 - Doug Buchannan (White Weenie with Earthquake) I don't recall the exact order of the games, but I won one game by proving that with The Underdog, chump blocking is a viable strategy, as all my chumps hopped out of the graveyard and had the last laugh at all of his weenies who had been sticking around and beating on me. Living Death just completely reversed the table. The other game, I just won because of the inherent card advantage of the deck. Man o War one creature with Empyrial Armor, Nekretaal it as soon as its recast and re-armoured, then Orangutan the Mox Diamond. Doug was a great sport though, and it was a real pleasure to play someone who was obviously there to be a good guy and have a good time. You can't say that about enough people, unfortunately. That sentence is NOT a lead in to my next opponent though. :) Round Two (1-0-0) - Bryan Goat (Sligh with blue) Goat's deck was really interesting, but he didn't ever really get it going in game one. Through our entire match, he never got a Cursed Scroll pick wrong, which is great, but in game one at least, it was because he drew nothing but mountains. His direct damage method of kill won't stop the Underdog though, who kept pumping up on the souls of his departed brethren. I lost game two due to a mana screw that I deserved - 21 land? I would have sworn I had 23. Bryan's deck isn't exactly gentle with those who don't start well, either. Game three was similar to game one, though Bryan had a moderately better draw. Eventually, Orangutans ate the scrolls, then joined all the Dauthi Slayers in the graveyard just in time for the Living Death party, which was probably the best Living Death for me all day. In fact, Mike Donais used it as a quiz for another judge, since of the 12 or so creatures I had coming out of my graveyard, about 7 had "coming into play" effects. Round Three (2-0-0) - Mal Andrews (Old-Style Forgotten Orb) Except for the fact that he usually beats me, it's always a pleasure playing Mal. He was playing a 5 colour black deck, but I didn't even know that until game 2, thanks to something of a mana screw for Mal. All he played game one were black weenies and swamps, so fearing choking sands and wastelands, I sideboarded myself almost to oblivion after winning game one. In came the Sacred Grounds, out came the Nekretaals. It was pretty much sheer luck for me that I didn't draw many of my crappy sideboard cards - how often can you say that? To be honest, I can't remember many details for this match. I remember losing game two, despite the furious dancing of my Bottle Gnomes. I think I gained 15 life from them, but it still didn't matter. I remember that I won game three, and I remember that Mal liked my deck, and I liked his, once it actually started working a little. Mal said he didn't mind losing to a deck that was an original, and not just taken off the net, and that's why it's always nice playing him, because he doesn't let the disappointment of a loss keep him from being a good guy. Throughout the tournament, people kept saying that they really liked the deck. I admit, it's not the next Necrodeck, but it's not bad, and it was different, and so it was generating a nice little buzz around the tourney. And you know? Even if I hadn't qualified, I would have walked away from the tourney happy for that reason alone. More people should try for this sort of satisfaction. Round Four - Stuart Kovinsky (mono blue counterfest with Rainbow Efreets and Force Spikes) Stu and I drove to the tourney together and we both knew the other's deck very well. I really really did not want to play Stu, because I knew that his deck would quite likely eat me alive. The Underdog can beat weenies all day, but when heavy control enters the equation, and Stu's deck was about as heavy a control deck as they come, things get shaky. Living Death is the deck's main weapon against control, but if Stu can't counter on turn 5, something's wrong. Game one should be an automatic loss. And it was. Game two, luck was with me, as my sideboarded Pyroblasts came to me early, allowing me to counter his turn 6 Whisper, which ultimately won me the game, Stu and I agree. Because Stu wasn't able to start drawing like mad, I was able to get out of my mana problems and force through a Living Death. Suddenly all my discarded creatures from the early mana screw were back, and I eventually won with them. Game three was a similar story. This time, there was no real mana screw for either of us, but Stu wasn't drawing as many counters as he would have liked. A Hermit Druid made the graveyard huge, and a pyroblast forced a Living Death through. He wouldn't have died the next turn (there was only 18 points of damage coming at him), but a Song of Blood boosted it up to 24 or so, and that was game. In case you're wondering why I consider myself a scrub, here's an example. I can't remember whether it was game 2 or 3, but one of the times I cast living death, all Stu had in the way of a counter was Force Spike. I was so hyped on the Living Death maybe going through that I actually tapped my one available mana and Pyroblasted the Force Spike. Yeah, I deserve to go to the Nationals. :) It worked though. Round Five (4-0-0) - Steve Wolfman (Blue/Green Tradewind/Awakening) Though initially I would have though I would do all right against this deck, it owned me the day before, playtesting, and it owned me here too. Two Cloudchaser Eagles just aren't good enough to take out the Awakenings, and once they hit the table, Steve's mana effectively quadruples, and mine, because I have no instants at all in the main deck, stays the same. Soon I was picking up about 4 permanents a turn... *shudder* Game two, I thought I would have a good chance once the three tranquil domains and four hydroblasts came in, but if you don't draw them, they can't help you. Wow, did he crush me. This is a really good deck. Round Six (4-1-0) - Derek Nicholls (White Weenie with red for Earthquakes) Game one of this match was essentially a repeat of the games I played in round one. Card advantage from my creatures is just too much for my opponent's deck to handle, even though his earthquake gave him a little as well. Game two, Derek took a risk that didn't pay off. As he looked at his opening hand, he was obviously struggling with a "to mulligan or not to mulligan" decision. He took the mulligan, which was, I think, probably good. Then he put the same face, on, obviously having drawn six mediocre cards. He decided to keep this one, which only had a Wasteland for land. Normally, this would be, if not good, at least moderately good against my deck, especially considering that he drew two MORE soon thereafter. Fortunately for me though, I drew my sacred ground and got it out ASAP, which saved me from mana oblivion. His slow start cost him though, and I card advantaged him to death. Round Seven (5-1-0) - Benn Gatt (Five Colour Green) First game, Ben didn't have the best assortment of cards. All be did the whole game was play two forests, a winter orb, and discard a Jorael's Centaur. It was a mana screw, but a 5cg deck can live off 2 forests easy, so long as it draws some birds and Quirion Rangers, which sadly for Ben, he didn't. Well, once again, I sideboard COMPLETELY incorrectly based on game one. I hadn't seen many cards, but I guessed (very wrongly), that I was playing a Stompy deck of some sort. Wow, was I wrong. Despite that, game two was a very exciting little affair. I got up to five land fairly quickly, and attempted to Living Death, which would have EASILY won me the game. Unfortunately for me, Ben Mana Leaked. Okay... I had another one in my hand. The Winter Orb was troublesome, but eventually, I'd be able to cast it again. This time, hopefully backed up with the pyroblast I was holding. Or so I foolishly thought. When I attempted to cast the previous Living Death, I had burned up my Gemstone Mine. So I was at four mana, with two reflecting pools who only spoke black. And so I remained... and remained... and remained... The game was pretty much a stalemate. Ben had out a huge Maro, but my Underdog was potentially about a 17/18 on the other side of the table, so Maro was staying put. So he waited for a Tradewind Rider and I waited for any land. Finally, on about turn 22, he drew the Tradewind Rider. I was still stuck at 4 land, staring at my Living Death. He had SO many creatures out, a Living Death would have destroyed him, but they worked well for him as soon as the Tradewind was awake. Because of all his Quirion Rangers he was able to bounce three things a TURN with the Tradewind. As soon as I drew and saw I didn't get the land, AGAIN, I conceded. Game three, quite frankly, has disappeared from my mind. I can't remember what happened at all really. I seem to recall a Dauthi Slayer doing an awful lot of damage, and Nekretaals killing everything, but it's all a haze. I won though, moving me to 6-1-0. Ben was quiet, but a great guy to play against. With 18 points, I was able to draw my way into the top 6 (this was a straight swiss, 6 spot qualifier), and so I did. The final six looked like this (I'm quoting Gary Wise for the most part here, thanks for the details Gary). 1st: James Snook - White Weenie/orb/armor 2nd: Paul ? (Blond Miltonite) same deck 3rd; Steve Wolfman - Tradewind/Awakening 4th: Robin ? - Godzilla 5th: John Robertson- The Underdog 6th: Tom Byrne: Trap Overall, I'd have to say the environment was weenie oriented, with little red, but there was literally everything out there, which is good. The tournament was very well run, but could have used a sound system in the cavernous location we played in. Thanks to: Stu, for the ride, and not hating me for losing to a deck he shouldn't have. Gary Wise and Mike Donais for predicting my deck would win before we even started. Whoever picked the location, it was fantastic, other than being 2 hours from Toronto. No thanks to: Steve Wolfman, for making a deck I couldn't beat if you quadruple mulliganned. :) Mark Zajdner, who seems to be this year's John Robertson, for getting disqualified from not one but TWO regionals! Your deck was too good to lose that way! Thanks for your attention, John Robertson - johnr@myna.com