Subject: [report] PTQ Bremen -- Mission Impossible Date: Mon, 23 Mar 98 12:34:28 +0100 From: "Daniel Brickwell" To: Hi, after my dismal finish in L.A. (and yes there will be a report but I already started it on my mail program and the mail system is down right now.) I was not just a little depressed. If I had finished in the Top 48 in L.A. I would have finally reached the "Gravy Train" of having 17 or more Pro Tour Points. 17-18 Points being the current gateway to endless Pro Tours via the new Top 64 Players with Pro Tour points system... I was left with only 14 Pro Tour Points and thats 3 short for the mathematically impaired amongst us. Now 14 points is not bad, but points count only for a year and that means that after PT New York, PT Paris no longer counts and I revert back to 12 points (No, I did not do well in Paris...). And qualifying for New York was almost an impossibility for me after all I have participated in 6 constructed Pro Tours and 0 (thats zero) limited Pro Tours. Infact I have never been in a Top 8 of a limited Pro Tour qualifier! To qualify was clearly going to be hard. So I tried in L.A and came in 9th in a 253 people qualifier with ofcourse a lot of Pro Tour Players. Close but no banana. To make things worse, because of my stay in L.A I had missed all german Pro Tour qualifiers except one and that was only for one slot! When I got home I got some good news and some bad news. While I was away 2 of my team members had qualified (hurray!), but the rest was either sick or unwilling to drive to a one slot qualifier 3 and a half car hours away. So my mission was clear, if I was to accept it. I would have to drive alone to the Pro Tour qualifier make my first Top 8 in a limited qualifier and then win the thing... Piece of cake ;) So I got up at 4 a.m. filled the car up with 32 Dollars of gas for the first leg of the trip (Germany has some high gasoline taxes....) and drove to Bremen. I took along a lot of CDs and listened to some tunes on the way. Though not Barbie Girl on single repeat. I am over that phase, eventhough I have to admit I had to buy the single after reading Eric Taylors report a while back... I arrived early and helped the organizers to set up. Then we waited for the Head Judge to show up. He did... about two hours later. By then 33 people had arrived. For the New York Qualifiers Amigo, the local WOTC representative, had tried to introduce one slot qualifiers to Germany, lets say they just did not take on. The organizers of the one slot qualifiers took quite a beating. As usual for such a small field there were quite a few good players. The deck I registered was great and I was very happy to get it back! It contained: 1 Scabland 1 Vec Township 4 Forests 4 Swamps 4 Mountains 5 Islands 5 Plains 1 Cold Storage 1 Squees Toy 1 Phyrexian Hulk 1 Patchwork Gnomes 1 Emessi Tome 1 Carrionette 1 Endless Scream 1 Evincars Justice 2 Disturbed Burial 1 Dauthi Horror 2 Gravedigger 1 Minion of the Wastes 1 Screeching Harpy 1 Rats of Rath 1 Dread of (k)night 2 Muscle Sliver 2 Pincher Beetles 1 Trumpeting Armodon 1 Trained Armodon 1 Tranquility 1 Respite 1 Dream Cache 1 Rootwater Hunter 1 Time Ebb 1 Twitch 1 Giant Crab 1 Wind Drake 1 Stinging Licid 1 Rootwater Diver 1 Thalakos Seer 1 Volraths Curse 1 Shimmering Wings 1 Insight 1 Davids Strength 1 Shadow Storm 2 Lightning Elemental 1 Shatter 1 Mogg Raider 1 Jackal Pup 2 Flowstone Giant 1 Mogg Fanatic 1 Rolling Thunder 1 Searing Touch 1 Kindle 1 Wall of Diffusion 1 Warmth 2 Cop Shadow 2 Cop Black 1 Cop Red 1 Cop Blue 1 Cop Green 1 Worthy Cause 1 Repentence 1 Disenchant 1 Talon Sliver 1 Advance Scout 1 Elite Javelineer 1 Soltari Footsoldier Ok, that I was going to play red and black was immediately clear. Both colors only had 4 lands so I would have to splash with 5 lands, if I wanted to play 18 lands. With 2 Disturbed Burials I definitely wanted to play 18 lands... White was basically a Cop color with 2-3 good creatures, but a great selection of Cops! Blue had the Rootwater Hunter, a Drake and the Crab basically. Also not a lot of creatures. Green had good creatures and nothing else. As I already had very good utility in Black and Red, I chose green for early creatures giving me a better manacurve. Because I also only had 4 Forests I had to utilize the Vec Township though as a fifth source of green mana. This is the deck I played: Non-Creature (8) -------------------- 1 Evincars Justice 2 Disturbed Burial 1 Emmessi Tome 1 Endless Scream 1 Rolling Thunder 1 Searing Touch 1 Kindle Creatures (15) ----------------- 1 Carrionette 1 Jackal Pup 1 Mogg Fanatic 1 Lightning Elemental 2 Flowstone Giants 2 Gravedigger 2 Muscle Sliver 2 Pincher Beetles 1 Trumpeting Armodon 1 Wall of Diffusion 1 Dauthi Horror Lands (18) ---------------- 7 (+3) Mountains 6 (+2) Swamps 4 Forests 1 Vec Township I played 41 cards. If I would have to change something I would probably have played the Screeching Harpy instead of the Emmessi Tome. The Tome is great but too slow in a deck were I prefer to just Burial later on... I could have also put the Carrionette in the sideboard and played 40 cards... Cards I did not play which I normally do (when I don't have god decks...) the second Lightning Elemental Rats of Rath Patchwork Gnomes Trained Armodon (GG Casting cost) Phyrexian Hulk (another expensive spell) Squees Toy Mogg Raider My sideboard 1 Dread of Knight 1 Tranqulity 1 Shadow Storm 1 Shatter white 1 Disenchant enough Cops for NYPD Blue Needless to say I went 4:0 with this deck and like the callous Pro Tour player I am, I intentional drew myself in. The deck lost one game that day. Part 1 of mission accomplished! I have made my first Top 8 in a limited Pro Tour qualifier! The Top 8 were Rochester Draft which was a relief as I prefer Rochester to Booster Draft (and I have played a lot more Rochester than Booster Draft). This is the cards I ended up with I was not so happy with myself, but still hopeful... Not in the Deck ----------------- 2 Mounted Archer 1 Disenchant 2 Cop Black 1 Cop Red 2 Talon Sliver 1 Armored Pegasus 1 Warmth 2 Crown of Flame 1 Mogg Conscript 1 Muscle Sliver 1 Skyshroud Elf 1 Rampant Growth 1 Choke 1 Respite 1 Tranquility 1 Sadistic Glee Deck ------- Non-Creature (8) ------------------ 1 Puppet Strings 1 Pacifism 1 Dark Banishing 1 Disturbed Burial 1 Endless Scream 1 Spontaneous Combustion 1 Elvish Fury 1 Harrow Creatures (15) ---------------- 1 Gravedigger 1 Rats of Rath 1 Marsh Lurker 2 Soltari Trooper 2 Servant of Volrath 1 Dauthi Marauder 1 Dauthi Horror 2 Rootwalla 1 Soltari Lancer 1 Angelic Protector 1 Skyshroud Vampire 1 Knight of Dawn Lands (18) ------------- 1 Pine Barrens 1 Mogg Hollows 2 Forests 1 Mountain 7 Plains 6 Swamps Yes, I know I should not have played 4 colors. The Spontaneous Combustion and the Harrow were a mistake. The Combustion was a second pick which makes things worse I could have probably gotten a sixth shadow instead and the Harrow was a wasted slot. Also I would probably only play 1 Servant of Volrath. Otherwise the deck is not bad... Quarterfinals: Patrick Mello, one of the better Hamburg Players (Limited Rating 1738) Game 1: Patrick had drafted a very good almost mono-black deck with a touch of Red. Game one was a damage Race with a Knight of Dusk, a Clot Sliver and a Bottle Gnome on his side and a Soltari Trooper a Soltari Lancer and an Angelic Protector on my side. It looked for a while like I was winning the damage race with Elvish Fury but then Patrick Endless Screamed his Knight for three. Now the Bottle Gnome life reared its ugly head... Than Patrick tapped out to play a Marsh Lurker. I topdeck an Endless Scream (That card won me sooo many games that day... and I come over for 13 Points of damge in one round. Patrick dies with Spontaneous Combustion in his hand, but no mana to cast it... Game 2: I sideboard in 2 Cop Black and a Disenchant for the Harrow, and 2 Servant of Volrath... I get an early Cop Black and a Soltari Lancer. He puts out a Coiled Tinviper. I have a Pacifism but hold it back. Next round he puts an Endless Scream for 5 on the viper. I am glad I kept back my Pacifism and thats game... Semi-finals: My opponent is a young player who just kicked out Michael Nessler in the quarterfinals. Which would be quite an upset, except that Michael already kind of gave up in the middle of the draft.... Game 1: I have to mulligan, but my six cards are good and I always let the other player play first im Limited, because of the Paris Mulligan. I have a Lancer when he puts out a Sandstone Warrior. I have to pacify it, because he has 3-4 Mountains out. My opponent then puts out a Phyrexian Splicer and a Coiled Tinviper. I attack. He has no mana for the Splicer and lets it through. The following round I get my fifth mana and attack. He takes the shadow from my Soltai Lancer and gives it to his Sandstone Warrior and blocks the Lancer with his Tinviper. I Elvish Fury with Buyback the Lancer... Next Round I put out a Rootwalla. He has to Rolling Thunder before my green mana untaps. After the Thunder, I put down a Servant of Volrath and beat him down. Game 2: He lets me play first, but has to mulligan. He gets one land and keeps it because he has three 2 casting cost spells. He doesn't draw land for the first two rounds and has to discard once. I stall at two lands but I have drawn 2 Soltari Troopers (Super Troopers). He gets a second land and has to Pacify a Trooper. Next round he puts down a Master Decoy. I draw my third land and put down a Marauder. Then I get a fourth land and put down an Angelic Protector... He conceeds having drawn no more land... not a nice way to win, but I'll take it... I have to wait for an hour for the fourth quarterfinal and then the other semi-final to finish and I am in the land of the walking dead. It is 10 p.m. now and I could fall asleep at any moment. I try to arrange to stay over in Bremen, because I am not looking forward to a 4 hour drive home alone, but the Youth hostel is booked full and the organizers have no room. Then I get the great idea to ask Gunnar Refsdahl if I can stay at his place in Hamburg. Hamburg is one hour from Bremen by car, but in the right direction! He agrees and I am happy that I will only have to drive one hour after the finals. I just hope my magic skills function on automatic! Finals: I have to play against a young but pretty good player from Darmstadt. Game 1: He wins the dice roll and lets me play first. Drat! I do get the Shadow beatdown though which is only somewhat stopped by his Master Decoy. When he is at 9 life he puts out Safeguard. I banish his Master Decoy before it is my turn and can do 8 damage with the endless scream that I have in my hand. I topdeck a mountain and suddenly I can do nine! Gotta love Endless Scream! Whew that was close... He could have safeguarded 2-3 Creatures a round already... Game 2: This game my tiredness causes my first big mistake. I overlook a Broken Fall and lose a Rootwalla I have pumped with Pine Barrens! Ouch! But my opponent also makes some mistakes. Once he tries to Dreg of Sorrow a Black and a White Creature of mine, but I ofcourse tell him that only non-black creatures are invited at that banquet. He can utilize the one remaining mana in his manapool though. He also forgets to attack with his Selenia Dark Angel twice when it would have been possible. All in all a very equal game which my Knight of Dawn and an Elvish Fury stem in my favor.... And I WIN! Yes! Mission Accompished! I am qualified for my seventh Pro Tour and my first limited Pro Tour ever! It seems that I am getting better at limited... Infact my limited ranking should now overtake both my standard and my extended ranking, atleast till New York ;) Friendly Greetings Daniel Team Highway to Hell, Team Captain Team Legion, Advisor "If you can make it there then you can make it... anywhere. It's up to you New York, New York!!! dat dat ta da da tat dat da da..."