Feb 17, 1997

This is a story that began two Saturdays ago in Philadelphia. I hadmisjudged the field, and without Divine Offerings in my sideboard, went4-2, missing the final 8 cutoff with my much-discussed mono-white 'Pileof Bitches. Both my losses were to fine players, but more than that, toMystical Tutor + Balance + Zuran Orb. Not just Balance + Zuran Orb... MYSTICALTUTOR is essential.

After the tournament, I switched 2 Wrath of Gods out of the sideboard-- they seemed redundant with my 4 Serrated Arrows and 4 Nev's Disks anyway-- and decided that the additions of 2 Divine Offerings would be enoughalteration to knock the New York Prisons on their ears. (I had decidedthat I could beat mono-red anyway).

On Thursday, at our usual playtesting session, I went 1-4 against ElliotFertik's mono-red creature deck. I won the first game decisively, but lostthe next few. In my defense, I didn't shuffle very well, and drew 0 Swordsto Plowshares in all the remaining playtest games. Nonetheless, I had togive Sligh a second thought because it was so very dangerous in Philly.

On Friday, just before going to bed, I checked my email, and saw a notefrom John Shuler. Let me just say that John Shuler is a genius of deckdesign, and I think that his note basically got me into the final 8 thispast weekend. I went up to 61 cards in the main deck, switching the BlackVise from the sideboard to the main deck. I yanked my 2 Abbey Gargoylesout of the sideboard completely, and replaced them with 3 Conversions.Props to Mr. Shuler. Anyway, on to New York...

ROUND ONE

I am against Jeremy Schneider, Justin's little brother. Jeremy is runningthe same mono-red deck that earned him 20th place at Pro Tour Dallas. Iwitnessed Jeremy give his brother a serious beatdown with Lightning Boltsand Ball Lightnings, and knew serious fear...

Game 1, Jeremy is manascrewed, and I wreck him.

Game 2, I Vise Jeremy on the first turn, much to his chagrin. He Pillagesmy Outpost, and sends a lot of direct damage my way, just to get cardsout of his hand. On turn 5 or 6, I bring out a Conversion. Jeremy says"Um, what does that do again?" and I tell him. He seems worried,but brings out a Disk on his turn. I wilt because I had sideboarded out1 of my 4 Disenchants. Ouch. Now this is one my day's many Kodak moments.Let me just say that Jeremy and I were one of the first matches to concludein that first round, and I knew no one had finished yet. Nonetheless, itseemed the whole world saw my shaking hand draw... the Disenchant. JonFinkel yelled "Strong!" Brian Schneider and Elliot Fertik lookedup from their match. Jeremy just shook his head. I sat back the rest ofthe game and watched the Conversion + Black Vise do its work against mono-red.

Match 1-0, games 2-0.

ROUND TWO

I am matched against Rich, whose last name my spelling will not butcher.Rich wins the roll, and elects to go first. I draw... 2 Serras, 2 Armageddons,1 Wrath of Gods, my Balance, and a PLAINS. Wow. Great. I am so good. WhileI am lamenting my manascrew to myself, Rich drops a Karplusian Forest anda Black Vise. I am so dead. Anyway, Rich Strips my only land, and I takea ton of Vise damage. Rich has a Birds of Paradise, a Fellwar, 3 land,and an Erhnam. He whacks me, and I go down to 5 or so, and he is playingred. I Balance. The funny thing was, the Balance didn't do much but getme under the Vise, because Rich still had the board advantage with a Fellwarand another creature soon after. I kept 3 cards, all Knights, pitching2 Swords to Plowshares and some other very good cards. In any case, mydeck kicks in, and I get Serra-geddon against a red deck. Red decks cannotbeat Serra Angels. This was one of the hardest victories I've ever had,especially since Rich is a pretty good player, who made the finals in Phillyrecently.

Game 2 I get an Outpost with 2 other mana and a Land Tax. Rich has anErhnam and casts Armageddon. Then he plays a Mishra's Factory. I thinkboth moves were mistakes -- with my Land Tax and multiple soldier tokens,the Erhnam and Armageddon did not put him at much of an advantage. TheMishra actually helped me out because now I could Ancestral Recall forfree. The mistake cost Rich dearly, as I destroyed his Erhnam, FellwarStone, and Stormbind with a Nev's Disk (he sideboarded out his Disenchants;I expected Wildfires). In two turns, I had Serra, Serra. He conceded.

Match 2-0, games 4-0.

ROUND THREE

I am matched with Joe Weber, another Pro Tour vet. My luck is horrible,drawing three very strong opponents in the first three rounds of this PTQ.If nothing else, I will put the 'Pile of Bitches to the test...

Game 1, I am severely manascrewed and Joe's Sligh deck runs all overme. He Pillages everything, and has weenies growing out of his weenies.Let me just tell you how manascrewed I am. On turn 5 or so, I have to TAPOUT for an Aeolipile. Joe freely whacks me with a Ball Lightning. I lost.

Game 2 is funny because we are both manascrewed. Neither of us reallydoes much because we are stuck at 1-2 mana for so long. At one point, Iam really scared, so I Balance-Zuran Orb away a GOBLIN TINKERER. The longerthe game goes, the more it favors the 'Pile, I think, because I have powerfulthreats and staunch defenses. I eventually get all 4 of my Serrated Arrowsout, which is doom for a Sligh deck. Then I get Serra-geddon, and likeI have maintained, red decks cannot kill Serra Angels.

Game 3 we trade creatures and creature-kill. He casts Goblin BalloonBrigade, I Plow it. I send in a Factory, he Gorilla Tactics it. We go onlike this for 4 or so turns, then I play Conversion. Joe says "Mostpeople don't know how good Conversion is." I nod. We play for a fewmore turns, but Joe concedes when I get out 2 Mishra's Factories, knowinghe can neither kill them nor win.

Match 3-0, games 6-1.

ROUND 4

I play Fred in the 4th round, who is with Turbo-Stasis. John Chinnockis sitting next to us, commenting that this will be one of the best matchesbecause we are both fine players. Do I never get easy matchups? Game 1I have the Vise on the first turn. This wrecks a lot of decks, but U/WHowling Mine decks have REAL problems with the Vise. Fred simply cannotrecover, and my Factories run him over. I side in 2 Divine Offerings and4 Disks.

Game 2 Fred counters the early Vise, but not the Winter Orb. WinterOrb hurts Stasis decks a lot, and he again has problems recovering. I Disenchantor Divine Offering all of his Howling Mines, gaining tremendous card advantage.He Recalls some, and I Disk away his whole defense. This is a really lopsidedmatch, and to Fred's credit, he recovered the next two rounds to make thefinal 8.

Anyway, Mike Lucarello, Jon Finkel, John Chinnock, and myself all sitaround, and like the undefeated, smug, Pro Tour bastards we are, decideto intentionally draw the next two rounds. Finkel sleeps, I talk to somepeople I haven't talked to in a while, and we all get some time lay aroundand do nothing. Paul Ferker was 3-0-1 at the time, and we hadn't takenhim into consideration when we decided to draw though. Paul won his match,and then there were five of us at 4-0-1 after 5 rounds. Mike Lucarellowas the unlucky one who was randomly chosen, and had to play in round 6.Any one of us would have likely won at that point, but I for one HATE beingthe first seed out of the Swiss. It usually means you haven't been manascrewedmuch, and your manascrew is bound to catch up with you.

The final 8 was an impressive lineup, with most of us Pro Tour veterans...

1. Mike Lucarello (he had to play in round 6)
2. Me, Mike Flores
3. Jon Finkel
4. "Happy" John Chinnock
5. Paul Ferker
6. Fred Foure
7. Alex Shvartzman
8. Rory (I don't know his last name)

Lucarello and Ferker had Dallas White trash, Happy John and Alex had mono-blackNecro, Fred had Turbo-Stasis, Rory had Mean Red-green, Finkel had U/W Balance-control,and I had the 'Pile of Bitches. I was really confident with this final8, knowing I could beat anyone in most cases except Finkel, with Finkel'sdeck being the only one capable of Mystical Tutor + Balance + Zuran Orb.Lucarello and Ferker both had hardcore defense with Serrated Arrows etc.,but it is the Mystical Tutor I was worried about.

Anyway, I was paired with Alex in the quarterfinals. He was manascrewedto some degree in the first game, but how much mana does Bad Moon Necroreally need to run? I Plowshares some Skulking Ghosts, rather than HypnoticSpecters, because I don't care about what is in my hand that much, andI would rather not HAND life to a Necro deck. In the end, I am pumpingout 2-3 soldier tokens per turn, and he can't keep up, life-wise.

My sideboard switch is:

-1 Armageddon
-1 Serra Angel
-2 Wrath of God
+4 Serrated Arrows

This is my usual switch for mono-black Necro, but for some reason, justbefore I offer my deck to Alex for the cut, I decide to switch out 1 Disenchantfor 1 Disk. I don't know why, but I just do.

Alex gets the heinous jump on me, with Dystopia, Bad Moon, Gloom, and2 Knights. I am well into Drain Life range, and really scared... and thenI play the single Disk I had sided in. Alex's losses are huge. He concedeswhen I whittle him down to 4 life with 2 Factories, 1 Knight, and an Aeolipileon the board, along with a good deal of Plains for pumping. I mutter "Onemore game" to myself, thinking I will play the winner of Chinnock-Ferker.

Finkel has won his match, and we begin discussing how we will splitthe prize money. We must have been brain dead, because we have to faceeach other! Rory upsets first seed Lucarello -- I've always said you don'twant to be first seed -- and Ferker wins. I think I would have been atan advantage against Rory, and a slight disadvantage against Ferker, butI would rather play either than Finkel. Finkel prefers to face Ferker,and tells me that I have the best shot of beating him. Jon's only gameloss in the Swiss was to Elliot Fertik, who had copied my deck.

Anyway, to make a very long story only long, Jon has 4 Mystical Tutorsin his deck. I play my heart out and make no errors, but he squashes mein game 1.

In the second game, I am Balanced-on again, and draw no lands. I dieto a Vise with 2 Disks, 2 Disenchants, 2 Divine Offerings, and a Knightin my hand. I go to shake Jon's hand and congratulate him, but he justapologizes for Balancing on me so much. Better luck next week.

I played pretty well this week, and I am confident with the 'Pile ofBitches. There should be no Jon Finkel in the qualifier next week in Edison-- he's more comfortable in Type I anyway, so I plan to meet John Chinnockin the finals. You just can't keep Happy John off the Pro Tour. Ha!