Subject: The First ever Teams Ante Report, By Gary Wise Date: Thu, 09 Jul 1998 14:59:31 -0700 From: Tracey Wise To: fkusumot@ix.netcom.com Hey Frank: I just returned from an extremely memorable trip to origins, and felt I should share my experiences and thoughts on the tourney with your readers. Unfortunately, i was so wrapped up in ante drafting with teammate Gab Tsang (as canadians, we are not inclined to care too much about U.S. Nationals any ways), that I'll only be able to report on the happenings within my life this weekend as opposed to doing an official tourney report. So here goes nuttin', Gary Wise' first ever teams ante report. Things started at 2: 47 AM thursday morning, when I was finally picked up for the 7 hour drive down to Columbus. Among the six persons going on the 2 car trip were Canadian team member Terry Tsang, Vancouver's Jeff Fung, Toronto's Benjamin Roth and teammates Eric Tam and Gab Tsang (Eric, Gab, and I, along with Elijah Pollock, Ed Ito and Seyil Yoon form the roster of 'The Black Knights' a local team who has not tried to gain too much international attention). After a quick stop at Mac's Milk, a local variety store where we pick up all kinds of good road trip eats, we head onto the highway and ....yada, yada, yada, we're in Columbus (Its about that easy when you fall asleep for the final 3 hours of the trip). Any ways, we head inside, and after splitting up from the others and saying a few hellos, Gab found Brian hacker, with whom he chatted it up for a little while. When Brian, who was trying to qualify by running the gauntlet, had to go and play, i pointed out to Gab that most of the Jersey crew (Nate Clarke, Dave Bachmann, Mark LePine, Feming Chan, Steve OMS, and Eric Phillips) were perched in the back of the huge auditorium which was housing most of the US Open tourneys, and we proceeded to head over with the intent being a quick greeting. What we found instead was Feming in a mood to draft (Apparently he wanted to practice for Friday's nationals draft) and he immediately enlisted the help of PT runner up and GP champ Steven O'Mahoney Schwartz in challenging we two lowly canadians in the first of many 2 on 2 ante matches for $40 a head. If the match reports get a little boring, skip past them for stats and other observations 'Round one' Steve O'Mahoney Schwartz and Feming Chan vs. Gab Tsang and Gary Wise Now, having come in the top 32 in the last 2 limited PTs, as well as having done more TSE drafting than anyone n preparation for Canadian nationals, I've been feeling pretty confidant in my abilities in draft, but Steve O has without a doubt been the one guy on the pro tour who I have had the most difficulty beating. He essentially taught me how to play the game during our first meeting, a feature match at PTLA2 in which he handed me one of the worst losses of my career, and has always been able to mana screw me, draw the right card or just outplay me in our matches. All this made the fact i was able to beat him that much more satisfying. with gab's mediocre deck splitting his 2 matches and my 2-0, we were of to a good start 1-0, $40 During the match, a number of the jersey guys came around to cheer their mates on, and when they saw a couple of lowly canadians beating their boys, they picked up the gauntlet..... Round 2 Mark LePine and David Bachmann vs. Gary Wise and Gab Tsang Round 3 Nate Clarke and Feming Chan vs Gab Tsang and Gary Wise four of the best players in the world, and in two drafts, these guys couldn't make a dent. We went 8-0. Christ now I was 6-0, vs Nate, Bach, OMS LePine, and Feming, and feeling like I should be advancing to the top 8 of a PT, not collecting a couple of $20 bills per match, but I'm not saying I'll take it;-) 3-0, $120 Round 4: David Williams and Pat Callahan I knew Dave from past PTs and from IRC. Callahan I knew only by his ranking, one of those guys who keeps getting invited places because his rating is so damned high. Callahan's weak 3 color deck and Williams bad mana draws made this one another 4-0 sweep. Let me mention here that when Gab and i split the cards, the team MVP for that particular draft gets first choice on the rares, and that's why the 4th match in these drafts that we swept were completed 4-0, $160 At this point, Brian hacker locates us again, informing us that he'd been eliminated from the open in which he was playing, and that he'd basically given up on qualifying for Nationals (Not a huge tragedy, brian is qualified for worlds). The three of us grab something to eat in the convention center food court and make our way back to the great hall where the Jersey boys are waiting for us. Feeling a little more confident now (not to mention cocky), I start trash talking a little, and a 3 on 3 draft is quickly set up. Round 5: Dave Bachmann, Eric Phillips and John Chinnock vs. Gary Wise, Gab Tsang and Brian Hacker Hacker's draft deck looked somewhat suspect to me (His style is EXTREME beat down, considering 1/1s for 1 without any abilities playable) but it was then pointed out to me that his draft style in a team event is to draft some semblance of a deck while trying to completely disrupt the drafts of the two players on either side of him. This he did with incredible effectiveness as neither Dave Bachmann nor Eric Phillips won a single match within this showdown. I finished this one 2-0, as did John Chinnock. Lucky for me we didn't have to play, as while my deck was really good, John's been itching for a little revenge ever since i nearly counter drafted him right out of PT Mainz;-). I was now 10-0, and while ecstatic as a result of my play, i could help thinking that perhaps my timing was a little off;-) 5-0 $190 At this point, Bachmann was getting a little pissed off, and he came right back with another pair of drafters for our final draft of the night. This one started at around 3 AM (In case you didn't know, most PT players practice the most insane sleep schedule of any faction or group on the face of the earth) Dave Bachmann, Mark LePine and Jason (T2K) Opalka vs. Gab Tsang, Brian Hacker and Gary Wise Yet another drubbing. I go 2-0 AGAIN, grabbing another MVP honor and finishing the day 12-0. Hacker completely disrupts the draft for the Jersey boys, taking their cards, their colors and their hopes. Gab finishes the day 8-4. This was my favorite deck of the weekend, basing it around 3 cards: Fanning of the Flames, Capsize and Portcullis, essentially portcullis locking my opponent with the capsize (I had 2) until the fan came out. Eric Lauer would be proud. We asked Opalka for a rematch, but he refused, saying "I'm not drafting against Gab, he's a goddamn Juggernaut" sheesh, I guess 12-0 ain't good enough;-) When I complain, Oompa starts mocking my name tag (The tag had my full name, Joseph G. Wise, printed on it, and when he noticed it, he started referring to me as Joe and laughing in a somewhat scary way accompanied by a gurgling sound. ) I respond by asking if Oompa had been born near a Nuclear power plant. he quiets down 6-0 $230 wow, what a night. We get another bite to eat and I spend a little recreational time with Aziz Al-Doury, eventually heading back to the room where our roomies are preparing to leave for the PTQ. Fortunately, Gab and I are both q'ed for Chicago, so we wish them luck, hit the sack for almost 5 whole hours (The most we'd get all weekend), shower and head back tot he convention center. If you've never been to origins, i highly recommend it. there's always something to do, and I regretted not going a lot last year. We arrive on the sight, our heads in a fog, and head over to the area where the nationals are being held. i bump into a lot of friends I hadn't seen earlier, check up on the goings on, and no longer able to stand in one place, nudge Gab, saying, lets go to the auditorium. He sheepishly agrees and we head over. Once inside, we see that the tournament area is basically devoid of our PT counterparts, so we go to sit down and relax when we see Team Deadguy notables Dave Barthalow and Chris Pikula. The four of us grab a table along with Andrew Cuneo, and after a little light chatter we decide that a Black Knights vs. Deadguy ante match may be in order Round 7 Chris Pikula and Dave Barthalow vs. Gab Tsang and Gary Wise OK, for those of you who don't know me, I'm, a pretty verbal kinda guy, engaging in massive amounts of idle chatter, story telling, trash talk and the like, but in these departments, i can not hold a match to Chris Pikula. Chris and i have been buddies for a while, but we'd never actually played aside from a few fun T2 games in which I creatively beat him using Necro;-P. Working with a 12-0 streak at this particular con I was feeling pretty confidant, so the letdown was pretty big when Chris beat me with his UWG deck (The Green was a splash for Constant mists). The letdown was even more luminous when Barthalow's power RW deck dispatched Gab just as quickly. looking like we were about to lose our winning streak, Gab and I switched opponents and proceeded to even the match at 2 wins a piece, with my Plaguebearer wrecking Barthalow, who couldn't draw a kill spell to save his life. At this point, each team had to appoint a savior to send against one another (AKA David vs. Goliath) and Barthalow and i faced off again, with Pikula's mouth basically inside my friggin ear. after splitting the first 2 games, game three started with my failing to play a land on turn 3, and Pikula's celebration began immediately, trash talk et al. I bitterly asked chris to shut up, being perturbed that he would celebrate a mana screw, and when i finally reached 4 mana, with a slinger in play for Dave and my Plaguebearer in hand, I started dropping fatties with whom to chump block a voltronesque critter with some pants on it. I kept looking at the bearer, knowing i needed 7 mana to drop it and immediately kill the slinger, but I drew a cursed flesh when I was at 3 life and killed the pinger. I chump blocked again at 5 mana, and when Dave dropped a keeper of the light, I could see that look on Gab's face (sitting on the other side of the table) of resignation. I dropped another creature and a 6th land and manages to get Barthalow down to 4 life with a pair of 1/1s and a furnace brood in play. Dave attacked and I chumped, leaving him with an untapped keeper, with the scores set at 4 to 2 in his favor. I drew .....land! I dropped it, dropped the bearer, paid the 5 mana to immediately kill the keeper and attacked for 4, and the crowd who had assembled had a stunned look on their faces. 'I can't believe you won't that game' was all I heard Gab say amidst a chorus of Pikula's rantings and ravings. Gab and I high 5'ed each other, and i immediately turned on Chris, Trashing him to the point were he insisted on a rematch 7-0 $270 Round 8: Chris Pikula and David Barthalow vs. Gary Wise and Gab Tsang II: The Quickening So this time, I lose to Barthalow while Gab's losing to Chris, and we're down 0-2 again. We switch partners, go 2-0 forcing the final, this time the match up is Chris and I, complete with fanfare, trash talk hysterics et al. I win the first, lose the second, and drop the turn 2 cop: black in the third, and once again earn the right to trash chris like there's no tomorrow. he retires for the day 8-0, $310 At this point, people are starting to get weary of our little team. Bachmann suggests there may be some signals going on (Dude, you just sneezed, does that mean you're playing green?!?!?!) and Opalka warns potential drafters off, saying dude, gab's the juggernaut, don't go there. We finally do find another match. Round 9: Andrew Cuneo and John Starks Cuneo and I had met 2 years earlier at origins 96 and had reacquainted ourselves earlier in the day. While Andrew's fame lies in the ream of deck building (Draw-go is his creation) He drafted a pretty mean deck. Starks, a relative unknown, had Dave Barthalow vouching for his skillz. After Andrew beat me in a close three game match, Gab was beating Starks, and after I took us ahead 2-1 with a top deck angelic blessing when John had game 3 all but locked, Gab basically locked his 3rd game with Andrew down with Ertai and some creature advantage. Notable here is the fact that gab's three packs suited each other pretty well: he opened in succession tradewind, Silver Wyvern and Ertai! 9-0 $350 At this point, Gab left to go for the DCI dinner on special invite along with hacker and Pikula, so after getting a little bored, I teamed up with Andrew Nishioka for a 2 on 2. Round 10: Dan Clegg and Yap's Brother vs. Andy Nishioka and Gary Wise This one was a mistake. Not only do i respect Andy as a player, but I consider him a good friend. This aside however, one should never draft with a player who's game they are not familiar with. i really believe that. As I watched Andy play, I was going crazy, not knowing what would happen next. we lost this one on the 3rd game of the tiebreaker when Clegg Stone Rained my lone forest on the 3rd turn, and I only drew another the turn before I was to die, sitting with 5th fat green creatures in hand. The loss was in no way Andy's fault, but when drafting for money, one should try to draft with a partner whom one can read. i have drafted with gab so many times that i usually know what he's playing even when across the table from me 9-1 $310 At this point, I was fairly disappointed, as my personal streak was over. I definitely did not think that this was the best team we'd faced all weekend, and it it had taken good draws by Clegg in all 4 games he'd won to beat me twice (The only 3 cards in his deck that really made much of a difference were slinger, bull whip and the one time stone rain). Gab had already gone to sleep, so after some more recreational activity with Aziz, Eileen et al, I went back to the room and crashed out. Upon arriving at the center on Saturday, we didn't waste much time: Round 11: Brian Hubble and Brian Seldon vs. Gab Tsang and Gary Wise I liked this match up: it gave me a chance at revenge. Hubble beat my mono red deck in LA when I top decked 6 land in a row when he was at 2 with 2 lands and no cards in hand, so I'd been itching to play him ever since. I started drafting W/R, but the red started drying up, nd I defensive drafted so many decent Blue cards (Including a silver Wyvern) that my blue was good enough to replace the red, but I decided to splash the red for a Mage En-Vec, a fling and a Fireslinger, starting 18 lands and an oath of Lieges for mana production. The oath also worked quite well with my Cataclysm! We 4-0ed these guys pretty quickly in what I felt was our most dominant match of the weekend 10-1 $350 Round 12: Bill Macey, Chris Herdemann and Brian Oglivie vs. Gary Wise, Gab Tsang and Brian Hacker. Brian had finally rejoined us after an incredibly long 4 on 4 match he's been playing just in time. This was another revenge match, but this time the tables were turned, with Bill Macey seeking revenge on me for the beat down i administered upon him at PTNY3. While we won the match 5-1, mostly on the strength of hacker's power WU deck (Cataclysm, Allure, Equilibrium) Bill did get his revenge, beating me 2-1 in a good close match. When we asked later if he wanted a rematch, Bill told me there was no chance, with his logic being that he was lucky to beat me once, and didn't think it would happen again;-) 11-1 $390 Round 13: Donnie Gallitz, Dave Bachmann, Mark LePine and Mike Luccarello vs. Brian Hacker, Gab Tsang, Gary Wise and Terry Tsang So this time, the Jersey boys went and enlisted the help of the Tongo big man to try and take us down. Don Gallitz is a damn good playa, but more importantly, if he's winning, he knows exactly what to say to send hs opponent into a deeper funk, so their chances of winning may be even less. Needing a fourth, Terry Tsang volunteered and this came back to haunt us. Terry went 1-1 in our 5-2 loss, so his play obviously was not at fault, but neither Gab nor I had ever drafted with him as a partner before, and therefore there was no comfort zone in this one. At the same time, Terry's presence can not be blamed for our slaughter: Gab went 0-2, and I went 0-2 with a deck with more power cards than the rest of my decks on the weekend combined (Seismic assault, 2 x Volraths stronghold, thunder, helm etc.). All four members of our team drafted red 11-2 $350 Round 14 Gallitz, Bachmann, LePine and Luccarello vs. Wise, Hacker, Tsang and Steve OMS If you need a guy who you're comfortable with, might as well draft with the guy who's kicked yer ass the most, am I right? Steve O joins the team and goes 1-3, but its ok, because he screwed up two other player's drafts as LePine and Gallitz don't do so well. I draft a deck that can go mono black with 3 vampire hounds and Revenant being my mondo combo (I do write for InQuest you know), I splash white for pacifism and Kor chant, and after going 2-1 (losing to Bachmann) I have to play my final match vs. Donnie, with the series knotted at 8 a piece. Donnie has a cop black main deck, and I had no enchantment removal (Don drafted 2 disenchants, 2 allays and a serene offering or something like that!) i win the first game, lose the second to the cop, and sit and hold my breath every turn of the third as I beat Don down with my big black beauties...and he never draws the cop. Dungeon Shade is some good in mono black 12-2 $390 again Round 15 Kyle Bigos, Aziz Al Doury and Mike Turian vs. Gary Wise, Gab Tsang, and Brian Hacker Easy pickings, right? Wrong. Gab and i had been drafting Green all weekend, with our logic being that american players, by their own admittance, a) don't draft green, and as a result b) don't know how to draft green, but CMU members are an exception to that rule. Mike Turian is the origional green drafter, and hell, he taught me what emphases to use when drafting green. Turian may be a little weird at times for those who don't know him, but I consider him a good friend, and perhaps he most underrated drafter on the tour. Gab and I screwed each other this draft, sitting 2 seats from one another and both drafting R/G, and as a result, Gabs deck was horrid (I was sitting up table, so I didn't feel the effects as much). After I beat Aziz in two despite seeing slaughter and a vampire both games (Onslaught is so good when you're running like 18 critters), I came over to see what was happening in the other two matches, and my boys were getting their clocks cleaned. Not only that, but Bigos was sitting there with a big smile on his face as he kept activating his cursed scroll;-(. needless to say, we got our asses handed to us in a brown paper bag 12-3 $340 ok, I was now 2-3 in my last 5, and I knew i needed a break. I went and did some gun slinging in Mike Flores little 'beat the pros' booth (First time I've done decently in constructed in like half a year, thanks to Kibler and macey for the use of their respective Suicide Black and Draw-Go decks), and then, when i heard Richard Garfield, the creator, was entering a grand master tourney, i had to get some of that action, so I ran over and slapped my money on the table. After registering though, i found out that the tourney was using Richard's new game, Xena: Warrior Princess (I may be the only person in the world who finds the show stupid, I don't even dig Lucy Lawless....too much shoulder, too much jaw), but I agree to stay in if Richard agrees to alter one of my cards. he agrees, decimates one of the thousand Mox Diamonds i'd won on the weekend to my liking, and they quickly teach me the rules, with the game dynamics being like magic with less opportunity for deception and no summoning sickness. I win my round of 8 and 4 matches, and meet Richard in the final. We played to 5 in this one, having a great time, complete with trash talk and accusations of cheating from both sides. Finally, I win a close game 5, take all the cards and give then to the kid I beat in the first round (except the one richard signed 'Gary kicked my ass with this card'), and went back and found Gab again. Round 16 Steve OMS, Nate Clarke and Eric Phillips vs. Gary Wise, Gab Tsang and Eric Tam This one started around 3 AM, and with hacker nowhere to be found, Tam eagerly joined us for his first draft of the weekend, taking a break from the judging he'd been doing. The draft went ok, with phillips and I screwing each other from the start by BOTH opening a Dreggs of sorrow, and BOTH taking blue as our other color. after we got swept in the first round, Phillips showed me his burial, equilibrium and capsize to go with his Dreggs, and we were quickly down 0-4. I went to play steve O and won that one, with all 6 drafters playing a if this one was over. As I beat Steve, Gab and Eric were beating their opponents, and all of a sudden we had a match again. Eric then beat Nate down, and when Steve had to tap out against Gab, Gab attacked for 6, taking steve to 4, and then showed his Lightning Blast. HUGE comeback. 13-3 $380 Any ways, after a few short hours of sleep, we awoke sunday and head back to the center. The world is watching the finals, so we go and find LePine and Bachmann, to lay down some more of that beat down feelin' Round 17 Dave Bachmann and Mark LePine vs. Gab Tsang and Gary Wise OK, this one was kinda funny. These guys had been beaten down by Gab's green decks so many times that they tried to draft it themselves, at which point green rule #2 came into effect. After Bachmann Ogre Shamaned my ass in our match, Gab lost to LePine on a couple of ass draws in their match. Fortunately, they didn't know they were ass draws (Gab's deck was really good), so when we evened things up at 2 a piece, they sent LePine up against gab, with the logic being that if Mark beat gab once, he could do it again. gab won the first game, and when he was down to two in the second and facing a Dauthi Horror, he top decked a Mogg fanatic and went on to win the game, the fourth match in which we'd been a single match away from losing without a single match win. 14-3 $420 At this point, with hacker having rejoined us, Gary Krakower came up to us and said lets draft, leading to some confusion. We said fine, assemble your team, while Gary had meant he wanted to draft with us. When we realized our error, it was already too late, with gary thirsting for blood. Round 18 Gary Krakower, Igor Frayman and David Williams vs. Brian hacker, Gab Tsang and Gary Wise Gab and i drafted a couple of pretty ass decks for this one, but they were the kind of ass that can work, with me playing the best kind of ass, RW jank. we won this one fairly easily, with my highlight being the third game against Frayman, in which I angelic Blessinged a WILD WURM (I know, I know), hit for 8, and then flung it at the big Russian .....um .....take 16?? 15-3 $460 so now its getting late on sunday night. the auditorium is closed, but we head over to a common area where the hangers on are gathering. We make a general announcement asking if anyone wants to draft. Adrian Sullivan, a renown deck builder from Milwaukee answers the call, and we agree to play for $20 (These guys were begging poverty) Round 19: Adrian Sullivan, Jacob from Milwaukee, Brian from Milwaukee vs. Brian Hacker, Gab Tsang and Gary Wise we thought we had easy pickings here, but ....wrong again. After i beat Adrian's constant mists, Ensnaring bridge deck, Jacob gave me what was EASILY my biggest beating of the weekend. went like this: land land land land, slayer land, Marauder Convictions on the slayer, take 3 attack with marauder, play cloud spirit Evincar's, attack for 3 Darkling stalker super paladin Cloud Spirit Pegasus Refuge FUCK! After jacob had disposed of me, the match got close, but we did eventually squeak this one out. 16-3 $480 By the end of the match, we'd been kicked out of the common area, and sent down to the cafeteria. at the end of the match, we got kicked out of the cafeteria, and headed to the bar (it was closed, shut up). It was now 5 am, and we were hoping to get one last draft in for the weekend. Who did we find? why none other than LePine and Bachmann, along with crazy mike Luccarello. Round 20: Dave Bachmann, Mark LePine, Crazy Mike vs. Gary Wise, Brian Hacker and Gab Tsang this draft went ok, with Brian and I both going GW and gab goin UW. By this point, LePine and I were trash talking one another at every opportunity (I don't think he likes me *sniff*), so when I beat Bachmann, and Hacker Overran LePine, it was lookin good. Then, Gab beat Luke, and all of a sudden, we were up 3-0. partners switch, and i beat down Luke as Hacker beats Bach, and we keep on going. We're up 7-0 (just playing for the true sweep at this point) when their team becomes completely unraveled, with both Bachmann and LePine accusing one another of losing more than loserson. Hacker starts saying shit like 'Mark, you should have heard what Dave said about your game, dude...' and the two of them were soon playing for $20 a game, convinced their bad record for the weekend was each other's responsibility. Easily the funniest moment of the weekend. 17-3 $520 At this point, the restaurants had opened, so we grabbed some breakfast, Brian checked out, and the three of us, along with Pat Chapin, who was sticking in Columbus to try and shtup the cute cafeteria girl went back to the room and crashed till the late hours of the afternoon. Pat split, and Gab Brian and I piled in the car, the plan being to drop mr. hacker at the airport, get some grub, and head home, but when we headed out, there were some serious problems with gab's car. Seems someone tried to break in during the con, and when trying to disable the alarm, screwed up the computer instead. On our way to a service station, we pulled up to a light along side an airport shuttle, which i pointed out to Brian. We caught the driver's attention, Brian hopped on, and Gab and I ended up staying in Columbus for the next couple of days. An ant infestation in our room netted us an amazing suite, complete with washing machine, separate kitchen, separate living room etc., and we got the car wednesday at noon, getting home that night (Worth, Jeff Donais, where were you?!?!??!) So that's the basic story, now a few thoughts and stats (as if this weren't long enough as it was!) The Black Knights Guide to Team's Ante Drafting 1) OK, for those of you out there who are amongst the 99% who are ignorant enough to say 'Green sucks' and discard it at that, you're wrong. The best color in this game is the one that no one else wants to draft, because you're always the only one in a four person draft playing it, while the other four colors are being fought over. Here are the rules for drafting green: Rule #1: Rootwalla Rule #2: heartwood Dryad (Perhaps the most important creature for Green to get) Rule #3 don't play provoke other really important creatures are Spike feeder and Spike Weaver, both of which win you the race. The race is very important, because as a general rule, control does not win in draft. Even blue must go beat down to win. 2) You MUST be comfortable with your partner's play and draft styles, and familiar with his game (not to be confused with his achievements). Good example of this: Andy Nishioka is a good friend and a better player, but i haven't played with him enough times that we should be partnering up. Our styles were very different from one another, and as a result we lost our match. Only draft for ante with those you know VERY well. 3) Don't draft with someone just because you're friends. To quote gab: "Money draft is war", and to win, you need to go in with your best. If you draft with someone who you know isn't the best player, but who at the same time you're drafting with only because they're your friend, you're throwing your money away. This is not to say that sometimes friendship is not worth a few dollars, but if you are taking that particular attitude in your money drafting, please come find Gab and I if you are money drafting at a con we are attending: we'll be glad to take your money. Black Knight Statistical Analysis for Origins Here's the fun part: composite records for each player playing against teams including both Gab Tsang and Gary Wise Steven O'Mahoney-Schwartz 0-2 -$80 Feming Chan 0-2 -$80 Nate Clarke 0-2 -$80 David Williams 0-2 -$80 Pat Callahan 0-1 -$40 John Chinnock 0-2 -$40 Jason Opalka 0-1 -$40 Dave Barthalow 0-2 -$80 Chris Pikula 0-2 -$80 Andrew Cuneo 0-1 -$40 John Marks 0-1 -$40 Brian Hubble 0-1 -$40 Brian Sammon 0-1 -$40 Chris Herdemann 0-1 -$40 Bill Macey 0-1 -$40 Brian Oglivie 0-1 -$40 Donnie Gallitz 1-1 $0 Mike Luccarello 1-2 -$50 Kyle Bigos 1-0 $50 Mike Turian 1-0 $50 Aziz Al Doury 1-0 $50 Eric Phillips 0-2 -$80 Gary Krakower 0-1 -$40 Igor Frayman 0-1 -$40 Adrian Sullivan 0-1 -$20 Jacob from Milwaukee 0-1 -$20 Brian from Milwaukee 0-1 -$20 and most importantly.... Mark LePine 1-5 -$170 Dave Bachmann 1-6 -$210 Thanks guys;-) Props and Slops Props: Gab Tsang- easily my first choice as a partner for money draft, especially after this weekend Dave Bachmann- despite getting repeatedly, dave was a good opponent and was actually fun to play against, even when losing. i was pleasantly surprised by his demeanor. While I'm not the biggest fan of the chair pulling incident, Dave is actually ok, and those of you who don't know him probably shouldn't judge only by what you hear Brian Hacker- good to get a chance to really get to know the best damned blue haired player in the world. the rest of the Dickheads weren't around, so brian became canadian for the weekend Chris Pikula- funniest guy on the tour Aziz Al Doury- weirdest guy on the tour - for introducing me to your uncle herb LanDHo- Vietest guy on the tour Jason Opalka- for knowing when to quit Richard Garfield- for being a good guy, not being afraid of a little trash talk, and creating a game that millions around the world can enjoy Eileen - the best damn fan club a guy could have Skinless chicken sandwiches- for getting me through origins Gary Krakower- Hey he was national champ 2 times in a row .....gotta give him recognition for that Pat Chapin -T1 draft - trying to shtup the cafeteria girl The 3 Frisco guys- for joining me in making fun of LePine Mike Turian- the best green drafter in the world Bryan Hubble: giving me my revenge Bill Macey and Brian Kibler: letting me use their decks, not to mention being good guys Turian, Aziz and Kyle, to be the only team to not only beat us, but to keep the money;-) Andrew Finch - For always having a moment to listen Kibler, Nishioka and Bob Maher- for finally letting the world see your hair Teams Sped and CMU- for enjoying the game more than anyone else on the tour Alan Comer and Scott Johns- for sharing all and being accommodating PT roomies Frank Kusumoto - the best damned sponsor a guy could have Beth Morsund- for making rulings on money drafts rules disputes Jeff Donais - love Slops: Gary Wise- apology time. in my last report i said some pretty abrasive things about Mark Justice, and while my opinions have not really changed, it was wrong of me to air those opinions in such a public way. Mark, what you chose to do with your life is your decision. Sorry I was such an ass hole. Mark LePine - a brilliant player who has a lot of growing up to do. Its unfortunate that in the nineties, a time of supposed enlightenment, that there are still people who insist on using homosexual references as intended insults. While I'm not gay, i do have gay friends, and I'm offended on their behalf. Stop calling people 'faggot' Mark, it really doesn't look good on you Aziz Al Doury- One word..... BUSTYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY The DCI- for putting Grand Prix Indianapolis on the same weekend as Canadian nationals, thus depriving two of their stars, Gab Tsang and Eric Tam the chance to make worlds (A top 8 finish would have given either enough PT points to make it) The DCI- for not finding a way to get Gab into worlds. The most heard statements of the weekend were A) Gab Tsang is the friggin JUGGERNAUT, and B) I'm not draftin against THAT guy. Get him in Gary Wise- for unedited Tourney reports Mike Turian - for never singing the Welkin Buddy song for me Dan Clegg- HURRY THE HELL UP! Spell Check- for not recognizing M:tG card names Well that's all of it in a nutshell hope you enjoyed. If you did, pray for me to do well at worlds, if I do, there'll be another report. Seeya. PS Anyone know you won US Nationals?