Subject: Western Australian State Championships (countersliver) Date: Sat, 17 May 2098 16:18:47 +0800 From: "Jean Pierre Franger" To: This years State Championships in Perth, Western Australia was held in East Victoria Park, on May 16, 1998. It featured 8 rounds of swiss with prizes for top 8, including free entry to the Exodus, and all Urza-saga prereleases in Western Australia for the 1998 State champ, in addition to 150 dollars and a box of stronghold. Having been narrowly ousted from the top 8 last year by the 1997 State Champ (James Philbrick) by 2 % countback, I was set to bring my rightful vengeance onto the playing field. With Sam Word :P being in the States on his "USA Magic Tour" and some of the other more prominent players such as Adrian Yeo not being able to attend... I thought myself with a high chance of bringing home the title... just one problem.. a deck to use. Throughout 1998, I have been using a cursed sligh deck, it started out as a mono red which called on the other 4 colors in the sideboard for cards like forsaken wastes and tranquil domain, etc powered by city of brass. It then mutated into a mono red, with Nev's in the side to combat anything that red couldn't handle, and flashfires to combat against monastary, and miners and wastelands against 5cu and 5cblack/green. However, the deck was impotent against slivers without a god draw, and pyroblasts were a weak solution to crystaline sliver. I was constantly beaten by mono blue with bottle gnomes standard, and wall of blossoms just laughed at my weenies. Well, I didn't feel like getting creamed.. so I experimented with a red/blue counter hammer, which won me a tournament with my only loss to a trap deck. The counter hammer features only three creatures (bottle gnomes) and no permanents apart from land and nev's, to try to gain as much as possible in the form of leaving dead cards in the opponents hand... a fireball and hammers for the win. But this deck also has weaknesses against quick combo decks like squandered stasis, 5cu, and white/armour decks. With no deck decided on, I decided to take the deck that Darren Williams used for the sydney invitational, and made a few minor adjustments. (original credit for the deck goes to Mcnish) 4 Crystaline Slivers 4 Muscle Slivers 4 Winged Slivers 2 Hibernation Slivers 3 Legacy's Allure 4 Manowar 2 Uktabi Orangutan 2 Disenchant 2 Cursed Scroll 1 Armageddon 4 Counterspell 2 Mana Leak 4 Portent 1 Wasteland 1 Volrath's Stronghold 7 Island 3 Gemstone Mines 3 City of Brass 3 Undiscovered Paradise 3 Adakar Wastes 1 Reflecting Pool Sideboard: 2 Propoganda 2 Hydroblast 1 Bottle Gnome 2 Winter Orb 2 Uktabi Orangutan 2 Wrath of god 1 Lobotomy 2 Tranquil Domain 1 Disrupt Here's the report.... Round 1: Ken Skinner Ken was playing a 5cg deck with tradewind lock and lots of counters.. First game I got a perfect draw of crystaline, winged, muscle muscle, and it was over before it started... Second game saw him draw 3 pyroblasts and 3 mana leaks, which just shut down my sliver population, and he droped the tradewind lock. Third game was down to the wire, as I cast a few slivers, and he cast walls and birds and elves, but nothing threatening... I beat him down for a few turns and portented him, putting his tradewind at the bottom.... when he finally reached his tradewind, and cast it, I wrathed next turn. I then layed a muscle sliver, with him on 2 life and he topdecks: a lurgoyf!!.. hmmm... next turn I draw a winged sliver and sail over for the last 2. (1-0-0) Round 2: Joseph playing 5cu. Well, this deck is one of the reasons why I play slivers, and both games are the usual routine, I get two slivers out and keep hitting him, countering the occasional wrath and wisdom. Second game I side out the creature control and add disrupt, lobotomy and orbs, and repeat my performace in the first game. (2-0-0) Round 3: some guy with a red beard playing 5cg His deck is 5cg except without the incinerates or terrors, or anything useful.. it turns out to be a weird variant using hermit druid and scroll rack as a combo, and trying to win with maro or tradewind lock. Both games I draw amazing hands of three slivers, a portent, a counter, and two lands. I win both games in 5 minutes, adn the only scare he gave me was trying to cast a living death, which I countered. (3-0-0) I take the opportunity to ask around to find out what everyone else is playing, and find that there are around 8 sliver decks of varying types, lots of 5cg, and a few necro decks... there is one 5cu, a few red/white creature decks with enkor, and one stompy and one sligh present. The high number of sliver decks scares me, as I thought that I would have been one of the only ones. Green/red also seemed to be popular, as around 8 people were playing that. The rest of the decks were a maro-geddon, a few blue / bluewhite variants, and of course the manditory white weenies, and burn decks. We break for lunch and feel like chicken, so go down to Chicken treat and order chips, half a chicken and garlic bread... on the way back, James Philbrick almost reverses into a parked car that he didn't see, followed by a sharp right where he momentarily fishtails and regains control of the car right before smashing into the curb... needless to say, I am well awake when we get back to the venue. Round 4: Pavel Franger 5cg Well, I helped my brother design his deck, and we playtest often, and I seem to win 80 percent of the time... I save my manowars and allures for the maro's and tradewinds, and save a counter for his one wrath, and commence beatdown. Second game I side out geddon and disenchants and replace with wraths and a lobotomy. I lobo out all his geddons, and take over two of his tradewinds to take the second game. (4-0-0) Round 5: Thomas To - Counter sliver Well, I new I'd face one someday, but his deck had some modifications, like he didn't use a stronghold, and ran more counters I think. First game I just out sliver him, and he is constantly chump blocking as I get my stronghold going and bring out a sliver every turn. Second game, I lobotomy out all his muscle slivers, but he still draws more slivers than i do. Last game, he get's mana skrewed with 2 gemstone mines and nothing else, and after I counter the slivers that he tries to bring out, his mines are depleted and I just beat him down. (5-0-0) Round 6: Glen playing 5cg Another 5cg!! this was not a deck that I expected that much of... oh well.. First game I bring out two quick slivers ( a crystaline and a muscle) and he gets out a bird followed by a derelor two turns later. I proceed to manowar the derelor three turns in a row and he conceeds. Second game I drop a crystaline folowed by a winged and a muscle.. I think that I am safe from anything but a wrath, and tap out to cast a scroll and an allure.. he savage twisters next turn DOH! followed by a derelor and a centaur, I die. Last game his is mana screwed and I pull four slivers on his ass, and allure his bird. Game. (6-0-0) Round 7: Jason Robinson (aka The Gimp) Necro Well, this is the matchup that I think countersliver is on the wrong end of. I lose the first game as he draws 2 wastelands, then ritual necro's and destroys my hand, then disks my slivers. Second game I lobotomy his necro's and beat him down. Last game his paris's, and I have a land of 6 land, so I paris as well... I draw two islands, but keep it.. and he draws one land... We both can't cast anything and he pulls out of the mana screw first to kill me. Oh well.. shoulda kept the land hand eh? (6-1-0) Round 8: Chris J. Enkor Deck with mogg maniac and burn and white weenies. Both game he is skrewed for white, and my crystaline laughs at his kindles as he is joined by two muscles and beat him down for 10 a turn. (7-1-0) the countback goes down between me and the gimp... I cringe at thinking of the gimp as our state champ, but luckily I played people who ended up higher up that day, and I take home the 150 and the box, which I sell on the spot.. Whoo hoo... The deck performed admirably, and the high speed and control of the deck is amazing... I wish everyone else luck in their regionals, and although I won't be able to attend Nationals in Canberra this year, I hope all the national contenders luck, and especially the Australian team for this year. cheers. Milan Franger Now OFFICIALLY the best player in WA Is not a homosexual doesn not "bop" roos.