Subject: [TOURNAMENT] UT States - "Only the Lonely" *8* Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1998 11:30:59 -0700 (MST) From: William Edward Guerin To: fkusumot@ix.netcom.com Well, another tournament that I do well in that I didn't plan on writing a report ... anybody see a pattern here? ... anyway, the usual pre-tournament stuff. Couldn't find a ride to Mind Games, so I had to spend 3 hours on the bus getting there ... all this after 2 hours of sleep ... anyway, I get there and am able to borrow the last of the cards I need for my deck ... listing follows - 4 Counterspell 3 Intuition 3 Mana Vault 4 Meditate 3 Mind Over Matter 4 Mox Diamond 4 Power Sink 3 Scroll Rack 4 Stroke of Genius 4 Time Spiral 2 Voltaic Key 2 Windfall 2 Ancient Tomb 11 Island 4 Tolarian Academy 3 Wasteland Sideboard: 4 Capsize 4 Chill 3 Interdict 3 Mana Leak 1 Wasteland Why the name "Only the Lonely," you ask? Well, someone borught to my attention the fact that with this deck, you usually say "Stroke myself for ...." I'll let you take it from there. On to the matches ... 5 Rounds Swiss before the top 8 break... R1 David Hunting U/B Weenie 604398 D1 - He gets me too fast before I am able to go off. D2 - I end up drawing like 5 counters and only 3 mana ... I comment later that if my deck pulls this one more time, I'm pulling the counters out. M: 0-1 D: 0-2 Well, time for me to win the next 4 matches... R2 Steven Stewart G/W (Endangered Geddon?) 606882 D1 - I again have trouble pulling any of my combo out of my deck, and lose. D2 - I finally am able to go off. D3 - See D2 ... my deck has now woken up ... and just in time, too. M: 1-1 D: 2-3 R3 Don Preston WW (I think??) 762189 Ahhh, finally ... someone who is not from Provo ... I go off easily both duels without being pressured. M: 2-1 D: 4-3 R4 Richard Cook U/B Weenie (?) 1333021 He seems to draw nothing but land both games, and the few things he does draw I counter ... I go off after 10+ turns both games. M: 3-1 D: 6-3 R5 Joe Ellis G Beatdown D1 - He taps his Elvish Lyrist (sp? ... ability : G,T:Destroy target Enchantment) and I go off that turn. D2 - He destroys my first MoM, and after 2 Spirals, I get another and go off. M: 4-1 D: 8-3 I am 6th place going into the final 8. A strange occurance happens here ... they check the decks of the top 8, and one of the players has not reset his deck correctly (or something like that ... he may have played it that way all day, since there were no deck checks up until this time (K=28, so not required)) Anyway, after a discussion, he is given a warning and duel loss. We at the other table were surprised, as we felt it should have been a DQ offense; but Bill explained to me later that he feels that he has to follow the Penalty Guigelines to the letter so players know what to expect ... I told him my thoughts that they are just guidelines and the weakness of the penalty will not deter this indivdual (or any other person at a Utah tournament ... this is the one thing I feel needs to be changed here - stricter penalties for cheating) from trying something again next time, and that I would have DQed him for this one. Anyway, the top 8 starts... Quarterfinals Sammy Batarseh Sligh Now I get to play Sligh ... jeez, it's about time! D1 - I am not able to draw much of the combo before he overruns me. D2 - A very strange occurance here ... I lay the MoM, Sammy lays his hand down, expecting to go to game 3, and I cast 2 Meditates ... and draw nothing. I tell him to take 3 turns, which startles him, and I play stupidly and lose. Final: M: 4-2 D: 8-5 The person who got the duel loss won 2 straight to knock off the #1 seed, and 1 other Sligh and an Academy deck win. So the semis were 3 Sligh and 1 Academy, Finals 1 Sligh and 1 Academy, and Jack Stanton with the Sligh deck wins the tournament. Anyway, here are the changes I would make to my deck first ... 1 Capsize 4 Counterspell 4 Intuition 3 Mana Vault 3 Meditate 3 Mind Over Matter 3 Mox Diamond 3 Scroll Rack 4 Stroke of Genius 4 Time Spiral 4 Voltaic Key 4 Windfall 2 Ancient Tomb 11 Island 4 Tolarian Academy 3 Wasteland SB: 3 Capsize 4 Chill 3 Mana Leak 4 Power Sink 1 Wasteland No props or slops lists today ... I've already said what needed to be said. See you at the Ramada Inn on 5 December!! Bill