Feb 23, 1997

Lots of prefacing this week...

First off, I wasn't going to write again, considering the fact thatI did somewhat dismally in Edison, but a number of people told me thatI had an "obligation" to write, and I shouldn't only write whenI make the final 8. Also, I learned a lot about my deck, and these aresome things to think about.

I wasn't even going to play the 'Pile of Bitches. I had lost to Balancetoo many times, and I was toying with Willowgeddon and Counterpost as anti-WinterOrb decks. The doubt that I had in my deck may have ended up as my downfall,because quite frankly, the 'Pile was angry with me today. Whenever someonetells you that a woman's scorn is something to be reckoned with, make surethe women involved aren't Serra, Beth Leitbur, and Lucy Fiksdotter-- they all carry swords and can get pretty pissed off.

Anyway...

ROUND ONE

I am matched with Byron, who is running a 96 version of Erik Lauer'smono-blue deck. I really like the mono-blue deck, and I think that itsweaknesses are few. However, I also think that this is a relatively goodmatchup for the 'Pile, as I have seen some of my buddies, also using the'Pile, beat down the mono-blue deck. Nonetheless, it seems I have yet anotherday of opening up with strong opponents.

The first game is quick and painful for Byron. He has mana troubles,and I draw my Strip Mine. I need not go into too much more detail.

The second game, I get first-turn Vise. At this point, I am like "Ihave first turn Vise against mono-blue. I am such a good player."Well, I end up bringing Byron down to 17 life with the Vise (whoopie).He establishes control, and is somehow able to Browse, Thaw, and do otherneato things while not taking Vise damage. I am held back by blue flyers.Great.

The third game is very close. I bring Byron down to 2 life, but haveserious troubles killing him. He Control Magics my Serra Angel, and proceedsto beat me down, but I have a million lands and a Zuran Orb. It is a raceto the Outpost... if I get it in time, I win. I get it when I am at verylow life, and make one soldier token. Byron has drawn... the Strip Mine.If I had it just 2 more turns, I would have won, but... A shattering firstround loss for Mr. Flores.

Match 0-1, 1-2 games.

ROUND TWO

I am matched with Dewey in the second round, who is a dealer at theshow, and is somewhat distracted during our match by customers (we playedat his dealer's table). He is with mono-red with direct damage, Wildfires,etc.

In game 1, I Wrath away some Wildfires and he Winter Skys some Knights.I get Serra, Serra, and like I have always said, red decks cannot removeSerra Angels. Armageddon seals it.

I side in my Conversions and Disks, but just as the game begins, Deweyconcedes to me. He seems very distracted between the tournament and hisjob, so I can't blame him. He drops out of the tournament.

Match 1-1, 3-2 games.

ROUND THREE

I am matched with Dan. Dan appears to be playing standard U/W WinterOrb with Tutors. My favorite deck. Yeah. Maybe I can go home early today.

In the first game, I go 36 turns without drawing a Disenchant. Takea flying guess whether or not I won. I side in 4 Divine Offerings (my newsideboard addition) and 4 Disks. I refuse to lose to Winter Orb this week.

I pummel Dan with various Factories and Knights, all of which he eventuallyremoves. I Disk a couple of times, which is game over for a Winter Orbdeck, and play my Serra. He plays... Taniwa. Wow, a surprise sideboardwith creatures, and me with no creature kill at all! I Armageddon whilehe is tapped out. I figure that he loses a great deal more resources thanI do, land-wise, and my Serra hits for 4 damage per turn, while his Taniwahits for only 3.5. I also have lands in hand, another Serra, and a significantlife advantage. My gamble pays off and I win in 2 turns.

I don't bother siding my creature kill back in for the third game. Whatthe hell, I still have the Disks. Two words: Serra, 'geddon. Obviouslythere were some Divine Offerings and Disks in there somewhere, but I justwanted to say "Two words: Serra, 'geddon."

Match 2-1, 5-3 games.

I am picking up some momentum now, and I am not so bummed out aboutmy first round loss. I have always maintained that losing in the Swissis good for you anyhow. I have the bad luck of being paired with a 3-0player, which sucks, but all of the Gray Matter staff assures me that itis in my best interests. I would rather go 5-1 running through scrubs,but it isn't like I have much choice in the matter, so I might as wellexploit the higher possible opponent's record.

ROUND FOUR

I am matched with Trey, who has a powerful 4-color deck. It is prettystraightforward, as far as 4-color decks go, with a base of green and redfor Erhnams and Stormbind, and white for removal. His surprise card: Derelor.Everyone has seen Derelor in the G/R/w deck, so don't act surprised.

Game 1 is really interesting. He has a first-turn Vise, I have one land.I gain a little life somewhere in the midgame when he Plows a Knight, butI am never really out of the manascrew the whole game. I do get an Outpostgoing, and eventually kill him with tokens. This was a huge win for me,because I fought back from an impossible position, against a turn-1 Vise,against a RED opponent.

Game 2, he nails me with the Vise on turn 1 again! He drops lots ofstuff, and I am severely slowed down by pesky mana problems. I get outa Disk, with an Armageddon in my hand. I know that if I survive the turn,I will win, even though Trey is at 13 life. He had a turn 2 Sylvan Library(which incidentally he had all three games), so he is able to bolt me todeath. I was not a happy camper.

Game 3 is really really close. He Vises me early again! He has a turn2 Sylvan Library again! He pounds me with Erhnams, but I get out some SerratedArrows and some Serras. We trade stuff, but I end up with 2 Serras andhe has 8 life. He has an Erhnam (which is only 3/4) and I am at 2 life.He Disenchants my Zuran Orb, but I don't sacrifice any land, because Iwant to cast Armageddon. He attacks with his Erhnam, and I of course killit. The Sylvan Library gets him... Stormbind. Damn. This match taught methat if you are short on mana all three games, and your opponent alwayshas the Vise, you will lose, even if you are in control of the game thewhole time. I hate red.

Please don't think I am portraying Trey in a bad light. He is a fineplayer with an interesting deck... I am simply bitter about my luck thisround. It would have been hard to lose to a nicer guy.

Match 2-2, 6-5 games.

I pretty much want to drop out and sleep, but I am told that one 4-2will make it into the finals by the Gray Matter staff. Both of the playersI lost to (Byron and Trey) are 4-0, and will draw through the next 2 rounds.That is supposed to be good tiebreakers for me... though I would ratherhave played some scrub instead in round 4. Oh well, I keep playing.

ROUND FIVE

I have been told repeatedly that my deck is vulnerable to Gloom. I havecountered that Gloom has absolutely no effect on my deck. I hope this definesthe situation for the naysayers of the 'Pile of Bitches.

In the FIRST game, my opponent Troy Glooms me THREE times. Yes, forthe folks at home, that means that each Disenchant or Knight now costs11 mana. I win in 6 turns against his Bad Moon swarm deck. DoesGloom affect Aeolipile? No. Because of that, I can kill his Knights, hecan't kill the one I manage to get out, who hits for like 6 damage perturn. Add some collateral damage from his self-destructive black weenies,and you get a fast win for the 'Pile.

In the second game, we play removal spells. I Plow Hypnotic Specters,Arrow Knights, Aeolipile Knights, etc. He Dystopias away some soldier tokens...You get the picture. I don't think a black deck can win that particularwar of attrition, because Dystopia costs way too much life against an Outpostdeck, and I can remove Knights very easily in the second game, while hehas a bit more trouble with mine. I win with the Outpost and some Mishra'sFactories.

Match 3-2, 8-5 games.

ROUND SIX

I am basically praying for a victory here so I can squeeze into thefinals. I am matched with Hugh, who is a good friend of Erik Lauer, andlike Byron, is running Lauer's mono-blue deck. He is a fine player, whomake the round of 8 in Philly two weeks ago. I tell Hugh that I am goingto get revenge against mono-blue for my first round loss!

In the first game, my deck loves me the way she should. Tax and ZuranOrb come out very early. I draw more cards than God, and play a millionPlains. Each of my Knights is as big as a house, and quite capable of destroyingGhost Ships, stolen Serra Angels, and even Walls of Air via pumping. Iwish I could draw like that all the time!

In the second game, my deck sits on my face. I draw 2 lands the wholegame, and Hugh Strips one. Oh joy. The funny thing is, I am completelymanascrewed, and I live for twenty minutes or so. He says "If I wereplaying Erhnamgeddon, you would be dead now. You would think I could jumpon a manascrewed opponent better than this." Eventually he does, andI go down with my lone Plains and some useless Knights that are scaredof a 1/5 Wall of Air.

I get a very silly hand in the third game. I open up with a Vise thathe can't stop, which ends up doing a lot of damage. I never draw any creaturesat all, but I do get 3 Swords to Plowshares, which all successfully destroy2 Walls of Air and 1 Ghost Ship. I get 2 Outposts, which eventually winme the game. Hugh didn't know I had Outposts, and sided out his PoliticalTrickeries! If nothing else, this was a moral win for me.

So anyway, I finish 4 and shit, and am tied with 753 other people forthe 8th slot in the finals. I don't get it. Argh. I haven't been so frustratedin a tournament since... last week when Finkel Balanced me out of a couplehundred dollars and a trip to Paris.

Anyway, the final 8 breakdown was 1 mono-blue deck, 3 Bad Moon decks,1 U/W Control, 1 Turbo-Stasis, 1 4-color Erhnam monstrosity, and 1 Sligh.A couple of repeat offenders made the finals from last week, includingJohn Chinnock, Fred Foure, and Alex Shvartzman. The championship was takenby Chinnock with U/W Control, and Fred took second with Stasis. I mustparticularly commend Fred because he made the finals 2 weeks in a row withStasis, a deck lots of people criticize, and actually qualified with it.Luckily for Fred, he hit 2 Bad Moon decks in the final 8... much bettermatchups than nasty Winter Orb, I'd say.

Anyway, my predictions from last week seemed to hold true. I said thatafter the drubbing that red took in New York, Necro would be back witha vengeance, and here we have 3 Bad Moon decks in the finals. I know thatAlex and Brian Schneider ran Necro, but I don't know the other guy. (Hehad the same deck that started Glooms that I faced in round 5 of the Swiss-- but I don't know the deck contents specifically). I am actually surpriseda Sligh deck made the finals at all, but I am not surprised at John Chinnockwinning the tournament -- also a prediction from last week. My only misstepwas that I would be the other champion, but hey, no one is right all thetime.

For this coming week I expect an interesting progression for both Necroand Sligh. Necro players will say "Hey, 3 of us made the finals inEdison! Necro forever!" The Sligh players will say "Look at allthese Necro players we can burn to death. More Sligh!" Because ofthat, for the 4th straight week in a row, Winter Orb will be the best deckas Necro and Sligh grow (temporarily) in numbers.

I am likely going to DC this weekend to see if I can take some nameswhile all the good players are in LA. I will of course be accompanied bythe 'Pile of Bitches, because I think it is the all-around best deck againstNecro, Sligh, and Stasis, and is as good as any non-blue deck can be againstWinter Orb. Even though I didn't do so well today (4-2 is nothing stellar)I didn't actually lose on metagame matchups so much as bad pulls on mypart vs. great pulls on my opponents parts, and both my vanquishers madethe final 8.