Subject: [PTQ] Baron Harkonnen in Indiana - Top 8 [long] Date: Tue, 20 Jan 1998 15:39:35 -0600 From: The Corrupter Newsgroups: rec.games.trading-cards.magic.strategy How I Qualified with Baron Harkonnen in Fort Wayne, IN ---- or ---- Fort Wayne - Sexecuted! --- As usual, analysis at the end, along (this time) with the top 8 and such. It's a long post... Once again, only a few of the Sexecution Society (aka Team Rogue) could make the trip to the far-away PTQ in Fort Wayne IN. But, as always, it seems as though we couldn't get everyone to come along. Then, more problems decided to hit us: Brian's car decides that it doesn't like its tailpipe. We scramble and scramble, but eventually manage to get a ride down to Ft. Wayne. Fort Wayne... 79 people and 5 teams in attendance for 1 slot. I talk to the head judge, Ken Roth, and he mentions that a number of the players are here for their first PTQ... :) The qualifier is once again run by Great Lakes Games, and they do a good job, considering that none of their other judges decided to show up. The Field --------- I expected 3 things: WW variants because of Indiana's general liking of them, Green decks because of tournament Organizer Todd Hansen's 250$ bonus for a qualifying mono-green deck, and Fruity Pebbles, both because of Tobey Tamber qualifying with it and because many of the more experienced players wanting it for play against a fairly naive field. It all came true... Brian and I decide to play Senor Gonzalez and The Baron Harkonnen, respectively. The Deck -------- I was once again playing Baron Harkonnen. I had been frustrated all qualifying season, being one game out of the final 8 in both St. Louis and Chicago, losing a match in the Final 8 from a mistake in Indianapolis, and being beaten down by Pikula in Chicago when playing for fun. :) I meant revenge... Baron Harkonnen is 4 Wall of Roots 2 Serrated Arrows 2 Nevinyrral's Disk 2 Control Magic 2 Hailstorm 3 Gaea's Blessing 1 Brainstorm 2 Impulse 2 Whispers of the Muse 2 Sylvan Library 4 Counterspell 4 Force of Will 2 Disrupt 1 Interdict 3 Natural Spring 1 Splintering Wind 1 Mahamoti Djinn (The Baron) 3 Thawing Glaciers 4 Wasteland 4 Tropical Island 5 Forest 7 Island The Baron is basicly based on 3 sources: my own Green Machine library manipulation experience, my "Psycho" deck manipulation engine (similar to Xerox, developed at roughly the same time, modified for Tempest), and my regionals "Whatever" deck, a UG deck very similar in actual card selection. The Baron plays extremely well against what I feel the field is. It generally ruins 3CWW (PT-Jank), Frenetic Control, Blitz, Fruity Pebbles, Prison, Stompy, and Randall. It generally is only ruined by heavy discard (or a sideboard prepared for it). My current PTQ record with it is 29-7-1. The Report ---------- [All player's ratings are given in Standard... There simply aren't enough people with Extended ratings to matter.] ROUND 1 - Greg Patrick - independent - Warsaw IN - 1600 - SchneiderPox Greg Patrick was a good player who has apparently been playing for some time, but this was his first Sanctioned event. His SchneiderPox was Extendedized. Game 1 - I counter his early threats, but a Mishra is coming down on me. I drop a Wall of Roots, and he starts coming in with 2 mishra's. He casts a Steel Golem, and I let it resolve, despite the counter in my hand, because I know I can stay alive loosing only 2 life a turn from the unblocked Mishra's. He comes in again, and I hailstorm... His side of the board has only one threat: the Steel Golem (referred to around Madison as "The Pig"). My walls hold him off as I get to my libary manipulation and lifegain. Eventually The Baron knocks him around... I'm holding counters but don't need them. Game 2 - He's mana-screwed early by a wasteland, and after I draw and lay down enough land to have him at a four-land disadvantage, he disgustedly concedes. GAME/MATCH: 2-0/1-0 Brian plays versus LobotomyBeatdown, winning 2-0. ROUND 2 - Leonard C. Richardson - Team Spectacular - Louisville - 1884 - Necrodisrupt Leonard and I met each other for the first time over a year ago, and know each other well. Ray Deguzman and I designed a deck that he played at the last US Nationals (though he did badly :/ ), and Chris and I have shared ideas numerous times. He's already qualified and we play a relaxed game. Game 1 - He Dark Rituals out a Necro. :/ Not Good. I disrupt his turn 2 hymn. From there on, its a difficult ride. He's Necroing and disrupting me with various evil cards, while I slowly thaw and get whispers going. He consults for a drain and knocks me to 2. His consult hurts his deck badly. I gain life like MAD (something like 24 life). Each time he responds with a slightly bigger drain. But he's getting to the point where he has no deck left. I barely win, by decking him!!! Game 2 - He Necro-disrupts me out of the game... Game 3 - I go first. He darks ritual Necros. I lay my own Necro (Sylvan Library). I eat 12 life in the next 2 turns, he eats 9 life. Through a combination of good counters (god bless interdict) and life gain, he gets Necro Locked with no cards left in his library, and I smilingly kill him with the Baron... GAME/MATCH: 4-1/2-0 Brian loses vs Fruity Pebbles (1-2), his first loss ever vs. Pebbles. ROUND 3 - Yogi Olivare - Team Spectacular - Kokomo IN - 1712 - Fruity Well, here it is again, another member of team Spectacular. At first I think he is 3CWW, but quickly realize he is playing Fruity Pebbles (touching green in the side). The Baron likes eating Fruity Pebbles for breakfast. Game 1 - Fairly uneventful... He tries to sneak a scroll rack by me, and I let him (i.e., I didn't want to FOW a counter away that turn, and I didn't see any real shufflers up to that point). He begins tithing for one land, and getting good cards, which worries me, but I bust apart the combo real good and he eventually concedes when I start whispering. Game 2 - He drops an extremely early Goblin Bombardment and Shield Sphere. Time passes. He casts Enduring Renewel. I let it resolve. Our hands... Him: Red Elemental Blast, 2 land, Impulse, Force of Will Me: Counterspell, Disrupt, Tranquil Domain, Interdict I interdict his activation, he Red Elemental Blasts, I disrupt (just to stop him from being able to both cast force of will and impulse, as well as to make him think I draw into the tranquil domain). He pays for it. I take 1 from Goblin Bombardment and he casts shield sphere, in response I tranquil domain, he forces, i counter. He was fairly certain I drew into that tranquil domain, but nah... I go on to continue to mess with his combo until he concedes. GAME/MATCH: 6-1/3-0 Brian wins (2-0) vs. BW Creatures + utility ROUND 4 - Terrence Young - independent - Indianapolis - 1635 - Frenetic Control After some time passes, I realize he is playing a combination of top of the top 8 decks from PTQ at Chicago (the 1st one). He is playing a combination of Maher Frenetic Control (the winner) and Corrupter Frenetic Control (also in the Final 8). He adds in impulses. Kinda neat. I even ask him about his deck and he mentions getting it from the Chicago report. Cool! Game 1 - Long Slow game. He gets down some early beatdown, and I recover. His Ophidian draws him a card before a splintering Wind holds it off. He disks away his own ophidian, a Wall of Roots and a Splintering Wind, and I begin Whispering. After the match has progressed for 60 minutes he concedees the match. It looked fairly obvious I was going to kill him with his controlled creature and I had begun to discard counterspells. Game 2 - Conceded GAME/MATCH: 8-1/4-0 Brian loses to a 2cg because of Overrun. It is his first 0-2 ever w/Gonzalez. ROUND 5 - Mike Donovan - Team Gathering Ground - St. Louis -1668 - VineyardRGW Mike is not a good matchup for me. He's played a less honed version of the Baron before, and knows my surprises. He's watched me play in the final 8. He knows how to sideboard against me, and I have a feeling that he has some stuff ready for me particularly. Uh-oh. Game 1 - I get standard Early Slow Down, and follow it up with Late Game Control. His Wildfire kills him. Game 2 - He sides in MASSIVE anti-enchantment. I can't compete with his sideboard. Emerald Charms, City, etc... Combined with his knowledge of my deck (not attcking with all creatures or pumping his Mishra if I have potential Hailstorm), he ruins me. Game 3 - It all comes down to one moment. Let's show you the situation and see what call you make... His side: 2/3 Ehnram, Jolreals, no white mana sources, red open My side: Wall of Roots, massive land with Glaciers running, one blue open My Hand: Disk, Counter, Force of Will, sylvan (knowing Blue Blast is on top) He casts: City of Solitude. Do you counter it? IMHO, the correct answer is no. Since he has no white mana, he likely can't disenchant the disk. He might however be able to blast your counter of the City, and then you will have doubly lost. If, however, he doesn't have the disenchant + white mana, you will likely win at this point. It is basicly a dice throw. I don't counter. I cast Disk. He top-decks a plains and disenchants. I slowly loses. In case you were wondering, he had the REB in my hand. It bothered me until I found out that he had it. GAME/MATCH: 9-3/4-1 Brian wins 2-0 vs Black Beatdown ROUND 6 - Glenn Panner - independent - Frankfort IL - 1690 - Fruity Pebbles Glenn is a friend of the Wallach's and so I expect a tight, control-based Pebbles. I get it. Game 1 - I outcounter him, with my library manipulation getting me more counters, and his library manipulation split between counters and combo. Game 2 - As game 2. GAME/MATCH: 11-3/5-1 Brian wins 2-0 versus Br Necro ROUND 7 - I draw with David Ross of Team Spectacular (really nice guy) I make the final 8! FINALS (seeded) ------------- 1 - Yogi Olivarez - Team Spectacular - Kokomo IL - 1712 - Fruity Pebbles 2 - Mike Donovan - Team Gathering Ground - St Louis - 1668 - RGW Vineyard 3 - Jason Moungey - Team C&C - Madison - 1886 - PseudoPrison 4 - Adrian Sullivan - Sexecution Society - Madison - 1794 - Baron Harkonnen 5 - Chuck Tanner - Team Anonymous - Richton Park IL - 1717 - Tradewind Orb 6 - David Ross - Team Spectacular - Louisville - 1636 - Fruity Pebbles 7 - Ken Heritage - Team Anonymous - Datton IL - 1735 - Black Swarm (Kenny) 8 - Chad Butterfield - Team C&C - Madison - 1627 - PseudoPrison Deserving Special note is James McCoy, the original #1 seed. He got DQed at deckcheck. I believe he is a part of Team Screw. Final 8 decks at the end. ROUND of 8 - Chuck Tanner Chuck is a nice opponent, and he plays an intriguing deck. Game 1 - He drops an early bird and an early Quirion Ranger. On third turn he drops the Tradewind Rider, but fortunately, my Serrated Arrows can kill his bird. I then end of his ranger, and Control his tradewind which he manowars. An orb drops down, and then another (in case of Icy, I think). I drop and protect a disk, and then begin whispering my way to victory. Game 2 - I control every decent creature of his and serrate the rest. I keep a disk on the table for insurance. Also this round: Chad Butterfield (PseudoPrison) wins 2-0 over Yogi Olivarez (FruityPebbles) Jason Moungey (PseudoPrison) wins 2-0 over David Ross (FruityPebbles) Mike Donovan (RGW Vineyard) wins 2-0 over Ken Heritage (Black Swarm - Kenny) ROUND of 4 - Chad Butterfield Chad is playing a deck I've played against before. Bob Maher loves this deck (of Team C&C's design with probably some heavy borrowing from a number of sources), and unfortunately for Chad, I played Bob with it enough to know how to beat it. I know the deck well-enough that I don't expect any problems. Game 1 - We start running out of time, with me countering all of the pertinent stuff. When we realize there is only 20 minutes left, the whole table (including Mike and Jason) start playing a bit faster. I need Jason to win versus Mike (easier Matchup)... more on this later. I start recurring Natural Springs to get more life, but he's _way_ ahead and if we get to time, he wins on tie-breakers. I drop the Baron ("I Will kill him!") and he attempts multiple times to swords it, and finally drops an icy. I attack, interdicting his Icy, and start recurring Natural Springs and the interdict. Time gets called, but I've done enough to finish him in the tiebreak. [Side Note on Moungey: A friend and former Sexecutioner once said about Jason the following: "You know, he's playing this deck [pseudoprison] because he wants people to respect him. And I have to say he does a fine job with it. But somewhere, deep in his heart, Jason Moungey just wants to _Beat_Down_." ] In the Jason/Donovan match, Donovan finally wins the first game in about 45-50 minutes. This means that Jason has to win and get to the 3rd game with a deck that is notoriously slow in the kill. As I'm playing my game against Chad, suddenly we hear an "ARGHGHRH!" to the left. I look over, and Jason is standing up violently thrusting his hands onto the table and twisting them. About 10-15 artifacts on the table mass-tap and attack Donovan, killing him. It made me think about what had been said about Jason, and smile. Jason outlifegains Donovans damage in the time that is left. FINALS - Jason Moungey Jason is a former teammate and we've faced each other in a final 8 twice in my memory. The first time was at a Type 1 tournament long,long ago. The last time was when I was playing Jungle Book versus his Gr MetaSwarm. He won the type 1, I won the type II. We banter throughout the match, but Jason is at a distinct disadvantage: he doesn't really know my deck, and I know his. We each place our sleeved mascots on the table. His is "Pipistreli Vampiro" mine is "Baron Vladimir Harkonnen". And then Game 1 - He squanders his hand. After redrawing he brings up a second turn scroll rack which I counter. His land tax goes through unmolested, and we begin the wait. I counter his major threats and begin whispering. He never seriously recovers. I've gotten to recursion, but haven't killed him yet. He is waiting me out, knowing that he can't win but wanting to see more of my deck. When he is satisfied, he concedes. Game 2 - Time passes and we sit back doing nothing. Finally we have the following situation: I have no counters and he has an aura, 3 diamonds, and a scroll rack on the table. I have a wall of roots, 6 tapped mana, and a disk (leaving me with one blue open). My disk is tapped. He geddons. I cannot counter, but I put a blue in my pool. He looks at me and Auras away my disk. I put a green in my pool from the wall of roots and interdict. The crowd goes wild. Next turn, I disk for total reset and lay my glacier. Time passes. He gets out a cap, which I do not counter. He caps me! I interdict. More wild crowdness. He casts some other spell which I must counter, and I cast Force of Will, tossing out the Baron Harkonnen. My only path to victory is now Gaea's Blessing. I begin to Whisper and slowly deck him. On his last turn, he casts Spirit Mirror, smiles and shakes my hand. Qualified again... :) It feels DAMN good. ---- TOP 8 decks 8th place (seeded 7th) Ken Heritage - Black Swarm/Reanimation 4 Necromancy 3 Nevinyrral's Disk 4 Hymn to Tourach SIDE: 3 Dark Ritual 3 Disenchant 2 Drain Life 3 Dysotopia 3 Diabolic Edict 2 Perish 1 Contagion 1 Pillar Tombs of Aku 1 Vampiric Tutor 2 Forsaken Waste 4 Black Knight 2 Warmth 3 Gravedigger 2 COP = Red 3 Order of the Ebon Hand 2 Dauthi Horror 2 Nekrataal 2 Hidden Horror 1 Crypt Rat 1 Ihsan's Shade 11 Swamp 4 Scrub Land 4 Mishra's Facotry 2 Undiscovered Paradise 1 Lake of the Dead --- 7th Place (seeded 6th) Dave Ross - Fruity Pebbles 4 Goblin Bombardment 2 Arcane Denial 3 Disrupt SIDE: 3 Power Sink 2 Wasteland 4 Impulse 2 Glacial Chasm 4 Force of Will 3 Pyroblast 4 Tithe 2 Blue Elemental Blast 4 Enduring Renewal 2 Mana Short 4 Enlightened Tutor 3 Disenchant 1 Ornithoptr 1 Aura of Silence 3 Shield Sphere 2 Scroll Rack 4 Tundra 1 Island 2 Flood Plains 4 Plateau 3 Adarkar Waste 2 Volcanic Island 1 Undiscovered Paradise 3 Plains 2 City of Brass --- 6th Place (5th Seed) Chuck Tanner - Tradewind Orb 2 ManOWar 2 Wall of Air 3 Birds of Paradise SIDE: 3 SuqAtta Firewalker 3 Disenchant 4 Ehrnam Djinn 3 COP Red 3 Quirion Ranger 3 COP Black 2 Sage Owl 2 Dread of Night 3 Tradewind Rider 2 Hydroblast 3 Icy Manipulator 2 Pyroblast 3 Winter Orb 4 Power Sink 4 Force of Will 4 Counterspell 4 Tropical Island 5 Forest 6 Island 3 Undiscovered Paradise 3 Gemstone Mine --- 5th Place (1st Seed) Yogi Olivarez - Fruity Pebbles 1 Mana short 2 Scroll Rack 3 Disrupt SIDE: 3 Disenchant 2 Pyroclasm 4 Shield Sphere 3 Red Elemental Blast 1 Phyrexian Walker 2 Mangara's Blessing 4 Enlightened Tutor 2 Mana Short 4 Goblin Bombardment 1 Gaea's Blessing 4 Force of Will 1 Aura of Silence 4 Enduring Renewlal 2 Wasteland 4 Impulse 2 Glacial Chasm 3 Arcane Denial 4 Tithe 4 Tundra 4 Plateau 3 Flood Plain 4 City of Brass 4 Plains --- 4th Place (8th Seed) Chad Butterfield - PseudoPrison Decklist withhled by request --- 3rd Place (2nd Seed) Mike Donovan - RGW Vineyard 4 Eladamri's Vineyard 4 Lightning Bolt 4 Ehrnam Djinn SIDE: 4 Jolrael's Centaur 3 Pyroblast 3 Stormbind 2 Disenchant 3 Swords to Plowshares 2 Honorable Passage 3 Wildfire Emisarry 2 City of Solitude 3 Cursed Scroll 2 Anarchy 2 Disenchant 2 Emerald Charm 2 Walking Wall 2 Pyroclasm 2 Tithe 2 Enlightened Tutor 2 Uktabi Orangatang 4 Plateau 4 Taiga 4 Savannah 3 Forest 3 Wastealdn 3 Mishra's Factory 1 Plains --- 2nd Place (3rd Seed) Jason Moungey - PseudoPrison Decklist withheld by request --- 1st Place (4th Seed) Adrian Sullivan - Baron Harkonnen See top of post --- No props/slops. A good tourney. I only want to apologize to the players at the tourney for another player from Madison's incessant remarks about "Madison dominating". Whatever. :) Good luck all who try to qualify. I'll see you in LA. Look for the guy with the big mug. Adrian Sullivan @#$ The Corrupter $#@ GAT/CS/WS C(+++)$ N++ PS++@ b++ R+++* r+ z++**? Game Theorist, Coffee Addict, Opinionated Gynophile Hedonist MHTHTS But who needs labels? - Comments always welcome...