Subject: a Team Event tourney report - Standard, Extended, Sealed in Brasil. Date: Sunday, 29/03/1998 11:00 From: "Marcelo Machado" To: "Frank Kusumoto--The Dojo" Organization: MERLIN COMICS STORE Hei, there. J.J. in a team event here, in MERLIN COMICS STORE (www.merlincomics.com), DA BEST PLACE FOR MAGIC in Brasil. This time the weekly Sunday report was a team event (I've already said this, but I fear that you could be sleeping at this point, WAKE UP MEN!). Three slots in each team: standard (Type II), extended (Type 1.7!) and sealed. 20 teams in the tourney. Coul be more, but some guys forgotten to arrive in time for the tourney (hey, why I couldn't go into the tourney! It's just 14:00!). Anyway, this time yours "J.J" will be a judge. No, not only a judge, but DA JUDGE, the best in Brasil, in the world, I'll dominate the world, the universe, bwahahahah...gasp, cof, er, ahn, sorry, sometimes this could happen, it's was what the doctors said, dããã. Being a judge is a very cool way to stay tuned on the rules, give a good look in the metagame, and make mental notes of interesting plays (a thing that you couldn't normally do, once is not etic to look at the game of other persons that aren't your oponnent, besides you normally neither have time to do this). Once was my first time as a judge, I couldn't do much, neither want, so feared I was in make mistakes that could make someone lose. But the master judge, Marciel, was very cool, helped me a lot, and soon I was confident in mine judge skills. The tourney have gone without problems (except space, the shop don't have enough space for players AND for air; than we just stop breath, so simple). Then, this report will be a miscelaneous of coments, jockes and decks analisys. Go for it. The tourney was 4 hounds of swiss. Each team has three slots, one for Standard, one for Extended and one for Sealed, wich was a Rochester Draft with two boosters of Stronghold and one of Mirage (it could be Tempest, but the shop has no more Tempest boosters, they are selling like water, and forgotten to buy more from Devir, the Magic lincensed representant in Brasil). Final in single elimination. Only the swiss part of the tourney was sanctioned. SEALED DECK COMENTS: It was a intersting to see that most of the people figured soon wich colors to use, and start to pick up all goods of the choosen color. This made the sealed part of the event looks like a normal constructed tourney, once each one choosed a color, and picked up one, two, three, four, even five! copies of the same card. You get counter decks (Mana Leak), Sligh (Eduardo, a greta plyer, picked lots of beasts, all red, and lots of direct damage, Shock, Mogg Bombers, all Flowstone stuff). He made a lot of dirty tricks with Hornet Cannon plus the buybak Blood Lust (instant, red, give +3/+0 to target creature untill the end of the turn, R, Buyback 3). Imagine a 7/1 flying artifact creature every turn. Another friend, Fábio, catched up all en-Kor people. It was very fun to see those big beasts being stoped by little 1/1 damage redirection abilitys soldiers. The only woman in the tourney (and a observation here, I want to apologize myself for the jockes I made about you all, women, in the last tourney report, "Brasilian Trap"; it was just a jocke, but I don't have the right to do this type of thing, sorry: AND PLEASE, STOP SENDING E-MAILS TO MY GIRLFRIEND, SHE WAS ABOUT TO KILL ME, AARRGGHH !!!!) made all perfect plays, with her monogreen deck, with lots of comunist spikes, that loves to share with the comunity what they have in abundance: +1/+1 tokens for everybody. Spikes Colony, lots of mana sources and some smaller critters, plus Carnassid (I'm note sure about how write the name) a GG4 trample, regenerating 5/4 critter that spelled death to lots of players. She doesn't lose any match, going with her team with this record: 2-0, 2-1, 2-1, 2-0. She was from the Sky Games shop, a little shop in the São Paulo downtown. And, man, she play VERY well in constructed too. Sorry ma.., I mean, woman, I didn't remenber your name. Unfortunally her team, and herself lost the first game of the finals, taking something between 8th and 5th. Some sealed spotlights: - Final Blown (not sure about the name), sorcery, BB, destroy target tapped critter, lots of people taked then, and they smash; - Smit (I'm not sure about the name of all cards from here to the end, sorry), instant, W, destroy target blocked critter, like Final Blown; - Shock rules; - no Mox Diamonds in all the draft, and, with Cursed Scroll, they are the atual state-of-art in Brasil, everybody wants then, who has sell...for 20 BUCKS! =:0 ; - from all licids, the more useful is the Calming Licid, that shuts down the attack of any critter, specially the BIG ones. STANDARD DECKS COMENTS: Think in a deck, any deck. The deck you just thought was at the tourney, and ALL types that you could think. It's very hard to set what kind of deck apear more often, but Sligh, and Cursed Sligh, plus control decks (there isn't a variation that is used more than others, Big Blue, Flying Blue, Bouce Blue, Counterburn still popular, only Fish isn't used for now). There was two ProsBloom, whose the teams made the finals, then we had the ProsBloom X ProsBloom match, that taked something like 90 minutes to end, a very nervous game. Prado the master of the deck, won. In my previous report, I talked about a deck called 48 Crash, a recursion deck that uses Mana Flare, counters and Capsize for control and red for (literally) blown away the oponent, plus withe splash for goodies. Provolone was using this deck, but taked out the white. The deck performs really well. Take a look in my report "Three from Brasil", there you get the complete deck list of this deck, even the side. As I said above, Cursed Scroll is one of the most wanted cards here in Brasil. INQUEST people says it cost 6,00 bucks?!?!?! Bull$*@t!~It costs about 20,00 bucks, at least, the same price people here is selling the mox diamond. But I think that the Mox will go a little very soon. It's powerful indeed, but with lots of Sex Monkeys (use condoms, guys!) and everybody ready for artifacts (Winter Orb is very popular among the weenie players, and Propaorb are everywhere) the Mox will be not so good, when you start to use then in tournament (still can't, I think that Stronghold, called Fortaleza here, will rotate in in April, not sure). Anyway, brasilan people, that's what I figured from the standard game, as judge. Be read for control, in the form of counter and counter burn decks. Be prepared for weenies, specially for Green Beatdown. Some multicolor decks, specially green (there was a long time since a saw the last 5cb, or 5cw, don't now if they exist or not) and be prepared A LOT for Prosbloom. There are only 4 to 5 players that use then, but they masters this deck. Sligh is very popular specially among the newbies, once the staple sligh cards are cheap and easy to get (except the Cursed Scroll and the Ball Lightining, but, then, they don't use these cards, or use the one or two that they can buy). Anyway, stay on for a insane fast burn from nowhere. Some standard spotlights (and coments about Stronghold/Tempest): - I'm only sure about one thing: the game, and the metagame WILL change completly in the next two months. Is not only a question about if Stronghold is so good or not, but there are some cards in this expansion that can create new archetypes. The Slivers could become more common in the tournament, not exactly a all Slivers deck, but a weenie deck that uses some of then, give a look in the Crystal (Slivers can't be targeted), the Acidic (2, Sac Sliver, gives 2 damage to any target) and another one I couldn't remenber the name (w/g 2, Sac Sliver, gains 4 life). They are really powerful; - Mana Leak is every where, in the tests of the control players; - Soltari Champion (W2, 2/2, shadow, when it attacks, all others creatures that you control that are atacking get +1/+1) is STRONG, test it with beatdown decks; - Shock everywhre, Shoch really rules; - and a little funny (and usefull) combo: Mogg Maniac, any en-Kor people (the more you have in game, better) and a litlle Earthquake, only one to three damage: using the en-Kor ability, redirect ALL damage from the Earthquake to Mogg maniac and that's it, you still have your creatures (except the Maniac), wipe out the Table from these nasty First Strikers ypu oponnet has, and give a really BIG damage to your oponnent with low mana, I tried this sometimes, as my friend, Quico (ce la vi) and it's very fun when it work; - Mogg Bobers, a good blockes, better attack and a potencial free Lightining Bolt against your oponnet; - the new medallions ru (medallions don't affect the buyback costs) made buyback spells go really down here, bye, bye bounce decks (except the Tradewind based ones). If I maid some mistake due for not knowing enough the rules, E-mail me and made the correction, please. Sorry in advance for any mistakes. EXTENDEND DECKS COMENTS: It's curious, but the extended game looks a lot like the standard, just with some cards to fill your deck. You have Counterpost (that is, in some way, like Big Blue), Erhnnan Dijinn/Armageddon (looks like MaroGeddon) and others decks that aren't so diferent of the decks in standard, in the strategy, I mean. A deck that performs very well was a couterburn that was using Bosium Strip (wich he always could lay, ALWAYS) and get HUGE card advantage from it: the same counter was used two times, as all direct damage spells. He plays like this: in my turn bolt (anyone of then), Bosium acived, bolt again, in your turn, Bosium actived on the begin of the upkeep, counter anythyng, counter it again. The strategy of use more cards then counters the oponnet could have didn't work against this player, once he always has two times more counters than it could have. Works pretty well. Final Coments: Hey. come on, I made all the coments that I could just high above. Props: To all players, that played and enjoyed the tourney a lot, for Nuno and Guru, the store's owner's, great work guys, and Marciel, the first judge, for helpng me, and for give me a very cool MERLIN COMICS STORE T-Shirt. Yeah, thanks a lot guys!! Slobs: For all these morons sleeping players that get in the store too late to get the subscription. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!!!!!!!!!! Weel, thats all for now. Next week back to the torney as a simple player, and then, in 12/04/98 no reports, once it will be a holyday, and I'll enjoy my family (hum!, Sundays Big Lunch, I love family, really!) but back with the report of the 19/04/98 tourney. See ya!!! Hey, I love Magic, Enya and Loreena Mckennitt. If you like one or more of this three, E-mail me and send me some places in internet where I can get informations and chat a little. Thanks. E-Mail? Suggestions? Come on. I know you are all there. I can hear your breath! Marcelo "J.J." Machado mreis@netpoint.com.br ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------