Subject: Ct State Championships Date: Mon, 9 Nov 1998 20:49:45 -0000 From: "Harry Sanford" To: Let me start by thanking everyone for making the Connecticut State Championship a memorable and fun event. The players and judges created an excellent environment that I was happy to be a part of. After playtesting and predicting the probable decks, fellow Team Smack Down (T.S.D.) member Manny Morales and I decided that Counter Phoenix was the most powerful deck type. Playtesting proved that the deck destroyed Academy decks, and basically any counter based decks. It could also beat Sligh and Suicide Black often enough (even though i would change the sideboard in hindsight). Well, here is the version of the deck that I decided to play- 3xShard Phoenix 3xArcane Lab (kills Academy and lock with Phoenix/forbid) 4xIntuition 4xKindle (better than incinerate with intuition) 4xCounterspell 4xForbid 4xWhispers of the Muse 3xNev's Disk 3xForce Spike (I love that card!) 1xSearing Touch 1xCapsize (ended up saving me a lot of land against against Land destruction) 2xReflecting Pool 2xWasteland 14xIsland (Thanks to Manny for hooking me up with the rest of the Arena lands I needed) 9xMountain Sideboard 4xPyroblast (kills Academy and counters) 4xMeltdown 2xAnnul (maybe I went a little overboard with the anti-Academy stuff, oh well) 2xDouse (should have had 3 so I could use Intuition) 3xSteamblast (should have replaced with propaganda) On to the Tournament! Team Smack Down arrived at the University of Hartford a little after 9. After registering I took a walk around and noticed that there was a wide variety of decks around, but we were fairly accurate in predicting the environment. Round 1 (By the way, 70 minute rounds are too long when you have 7 rounds of swiss, and 3 rounds of single elim) Gary Hutchinson Elf-Armageddon-Burn Game 1- His deck really didn't apply much pressure early, having only a lanowar and a felwar stone in play by turn 3. he started to hit me with 4 and 5 point fireballs, but the Phoenix beatdown and buyback forbid was to much for him to deal with. Game 2- Nothing really useful in the sideboard, so I kept the deck the same. I paris once after drawing only 2 mountains for lands. he starts a bit quicker by laying a first turn Vineyard, and what really hurt was that i had no disks or buybacks in my hand. i play and island and burn for 2. second turn he plays another vineyard and a fellwar stone. to make a short story shorter, I lost. Game 3- going first helps when you are plaing force spike. Third turn I intuition for the Phoenix and have 2 out by turn 7. He Armageddoned, trying to draw a counter, but i let it through and finished it with the phoenix before he could get more lands out. 1-0-0 3pts Manny also won with his version of the deck ( 2 cards different) but Myles( the other member of team Smack Down) lost with his Reccuring Nightmare deck. Round 2 Tony Lavoie Tolarian Academy Game 1- I love the Academy deck, but it doesn't stand a chance against Counter Phoenix. The first game was his only chance before 10 sideboard cards came in. he starts off fairly slow, and i won the roll and got to go first so i was able to intuition during the end of his 3rd turn after he tapped out. of course I went for the Arcane Lab. He had no way of coming back from that and was Phoenixed to death. Game 2- 10 sideboard cards stop him early and he gets academy locked early. 2-0-0 6pts Manny wins again but Myles got beat by a suicide black deck even though he dominated the first game ( Myles was my good luck charm that day, after each round I played him one game, and evry time he beat me. he sucked up my losses, and i think i might have sucked up his wins). Round 3 Jeff Senecal Millstone Game 1- this was a deck I was considering playing, but it just wasn't as strong as Phoenix. Still, it was still a strong deck and gave me a challenge. the first couple of turns played like Draw-Go versus Draw-Go. he ended up playind a grinstone, which i countered. i then intuitioned for the Phoenix and propaganda and pariah couldn't stop it. game 2- Sideboard in my academy sideboard, it was perfect against millstone too. he goes first and ends up playing a circle red before I can counter it. That was a serious problem. i ended up intuitioning for the disk, and I had more counters, so it stayed in play. unfortunately it got disenchanted. my Capsize got milled, so I had no way left to deal with it. game 3- He gets the circle out again, and again disenchants the disk ( how was i supposed to know he had 2 in his hand?). he forgot i had the capsize in my deck, so i started whispering like crazy. he gave me a confused look since he was trying to run me out of cards. By this time I had a hand full of counters and 3 Phoenixes in play. i draw the capsize, play it, and win the counter-war. i then lay the arcane lab. with a forbid in my hand and 3 phoenixes on the table that's a lock. 3-0-0 9pts Manny beat TurboCongregate (a.k.a. Stream'O'geddon) which was one of the most interesting decks out there, and myles was just having a bad day. i went to get some lunch with Myles after this round, and I have a little advice for everyone...Stay away from the University of Hartford's cafeteria! Round 4 James Lavoie Land destruction game 1- he couldn't destroy enough land or keep out an argothian wurm. Phoenix beatdown once i reached 3 mountains. Game 2- this was the one game i regretted not playing incinerates, Albino trolls are tough to kill. he has an Albino troll, a lanowar elf, a bop, and an argothian wurm out. I have 2 Phoenixes in play and a kindle in my hand. he has his birds tapped and only one forest untapped. i sac one Phoenix, killing the elf and leaving him1 mana short of regenerating the troll, sac the other one, and kindle the wurm. he just couldn't come back from that. 4-0-0 12pts Manny lost to a sligh deck and Myles won against a deck i don't remember. Congratulations Myles! Round 5 Matt Hale tradewind-awakening Game 1- he gets 2 reflecting pools out for his only lands after 4 turns ( he Parised down to 5 cards) he Couldn't come back from that. Game 2- i sideboard in the Pyroblasts. he gets mana-screwed again, but I get almost nothing but land. he eventually plays a scragnoth a bird of paradise and a Portcullis. I am pummeled down to 5 life by Scraggy before my "Move of the Day". I have a kindle and a phoenix and a kindle in my hand, lots and lots of land in play, and a phoenix in my graveyard. i buy back the phoenix, kindle the bird so I can play a phoenix, sac the phoenix so I can play another phoenix, and sac that one to kill scraggy. I comeback to win. 5-0-0 15pts Round 6 Chris "Critter" Choma Suicide Black Intentional draw, i really didn't want to play against that deck. 5-0-1 16pts Round 7 Bob Fusco Sligh Either way I'm in the final 8, so I'm not that dissapointed when I get my ass kicked. Only high point was when I forced a draw with a furnace of rath out. I hit him with 3 kindles and a steamblast for 22 points of damage. 5-1-1 16pts I get the 7th seed and the bracket that isn't full of sligh and suicide black. Quarterfinals Dan McNeill Turbo BAD ( fast land desturction w/ vineyard, wurm, and raze. One of the coolest new decks) Game 1- I get 6 land before he can put any real pressure on, and capsize evrey land he tries to destroy from that point on. He did catch me by surprise when he desert twistered my disk and was left defenseless for part of the game, but i recovered in time. Eventually got 4 red mana and phoenix beatdown began. Game 2- Almost identical to first game, but when he tried to twister the disk this game he goe force spiked. Semi-Finals Brian Beverly Academy Game 1- I was relieved to be playing against academy, he had even heard about my anti-academy sideboard, so he knew he had to win the first game. I got several counters, but so did he so I couldn't really stop him from going off either turn 4 or 5. i am know terrified of losing to the deck i was most ready for. Game 2- 10 cards in is really tough to deal with. i draw 2 meltdowns, a force spike, and a pyroblast. i went first and the game was already over. 5th turn arcane lab ended it, even though he sideboarded in disenchants to stop that i had a counter to stop the disenchant. Game 3- None of my sideboard card in my opening hand, but i had 3 lands, 2 arcane labs, and a force spike, so i kept it. it was a gamble beacuse he could have gone of turn 2 or 3 without me stopping him, but i guess I got lucky. I got the lab-forbid-phoenix lock out and was on my way to the finals. Finals Brian Beyor Sligh Game 1- I dreaded this match and was thinking about how the second place prize was pretty good. Luckily, I won the roll and got a great draw. 4th turn disk stopped the sligh rush and i got the phoenix-arcane-forbid lock out after that. he drew one burn card and no scrolls that game, so i got real lucky. Game 2- In go the douses and the steamblasts. i get rushed by a goblin lackey and his friends, followed by 8 points of burn. Ouch. game 3- I get the perfect draw, land, a douse, a kindle,an intuition, and a force spike. i hold him off long enough to get a phoenix out. he brings me down to 1 and I play a douse. No cards left in my hand, if he draws a scroll i lose......he draws, a mountain. i draw an intuition and immediately go for a counterspell. he can't get by the douse, even though he gave it a valiant effort. I win against a sligh deck with only 1 life left! Good game Brian. I still can't believe I'm the Connecticut state champion, and the bag I got as part of my prize is awesome. I'd like to thank the rest of Team Smack Down, Manny Morales and Myles Woods for all the help. I'd also like to thank Sam's Comic Book Shop for being the home of T.S.D., and if anyone is ever looking for someplace to play and you're in Meriden, stop by at sames. Thanks for reading all of this! It's good to be the champ. Duncan Sanford Harry.Sanford@worldnet.att.net "Know Your Role" Tam Smack Down