Subject: Mpls Bottomfeeder's PTQ Report Date: 18 Sep 97 00:08:05 -0600 From: "David Wintheiser" Newsgroups: rec.games.trading-cards.magic.strategy On Saturday, September 6, I had no idea that I would be playing in a PT Chicago qualifier, but I already had my deck. There are three of us: myself, Ben Colglazier, and Paul Rubenis. When we're all together and time permits, we like to sit down in Paul's basement and do Magic; play duels, talk strategy, bounce deck ideas off each other, what-have-you. We liked the Mirage-Visions-Weatherlight (MVLite) constructed environment, so we built decks. Paul, being the most tournament-oriented player among us, built the popular PTQ decks he'd seen on The Dojo: ErTog, Blue Control, Celerity-Burn. Ben, being the first in our group to play Pox and accustomed to combining cards that the rest of us don't much care for, built a couple of decks that looked odd at first glance, but proved to be incredibly powerful in their element: the best in my opinion was a deck he called Gaea's SoB--20+ Goblins (including Recruiters), Song of Blood, Gaea's Blessing, Nature's Resurgence. He had a splash of black for Vampiric Tutor and Ebony Charm, and quickly added Tombstone Stairwell after some early playtesting. And me? Well, I like to play decks that seem stupid somehow. I'd like to think I invented Type Ii Wildegeddon (Stampeding Wildebeests and Armageddon), but probably not. I'd also like to think that I was the first person to play Peacekeeper and Righteous War in the same deck, but again, probably not. I'm the guy who played in type II tournaments around the Twin Cities with a creatureless Stasis deck that relied on Power Leak and Errant Minion for the kill; my best story from that summer starts out, "At the end of my last upkeep phase, I had 67 life." If we were the type of guys who gave each other nicknames based on the way we play Magic, my nickname would be "Festive". So it's probably not surprising that I quickly gravitated to one of the most festive cards in the MVLite environment: Aether Flash. I decided that, since we'd already had CounterPost and CounterHammer, the time had come for CounterFlash! CounterFlash version 1.0 was a monstrosity. Aether Flash. Ogre Enforcer. Desertion. Abduction. Half the spells in the deck required either RR or UU to cast, and almost every one of those were three total mana or more. It wasn't just the Non-Sligh, it was, "Mana curve? What mana curve? I just sit here until the deck is half-empty and then, if I'm still alive, I smash!" The only creatures were Ophidian and Straw Golem (the idea was to Dissipate or Desert all of opponent's creatures after the Golem was out). It became pretty obvious pretty quickly that the idea as it existed was just not going to fly. Then Ben noticed the deck. "Here, let me see that," he said. I've learned from experience that it's a mixed blessing to have Ben reach for your deck asking, "Here, let me see that," because it means two things: first, that you're going to be subjected to ideas that you're convinced couldn't possibly work but in fact prove to be extremely sound, and second, that he's going to wonder why you don't splash black for Vampiric Tutor and Ebony Charm. Once he got done looking over the deck, he made some recommendations. Some I accepted without hesitation: "Your deck really starts humming at about three mana. Mana Prism will work in this deck. You probably want a Lotus Vale, too." Some I took at face value and modified for my own style: "Ancestral Knowledge is too slow. Replace them with Sage Owl." I stayed with the Ancestral Knowledge for the interactions with Mind Stone and Ophidian, as well as the deeper peek into the library. Some I ignored: "Spash black for Vampiric Tutor and Ebony Charm." I mean, we can't all play Ebony Charm, can we? Anyway, Ben made more minor suggestions, as did Paul. I also was inspired by a couple of postings on this newsgroup, though I don't remember the names of the people who posted: one article was singing the praise of Azimaet Drake, while the other was a detailed chart on the proper distribution of land vs. artifact mana. If you recognize your own postings by these lame descriptions, thanks for your help! As I said at the top of this post, I hadn't expected to be playing in a PTQ with MVLite, so when I checked the newsgroup quickly before leaving work on Wednesday, September 10, I was shocked to see the announcement, "TWIN CITIES GETS LAST CHICAGO PTQ." Of course we had to go. We'd been working on decks for the sheer joy of it for weeks and now we were going to get to actually test them in tournament conditions? We met on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday, made a few last minute tweaks to our decks for the metagame, and set off for Rosedale on Sunday morning, filled with confidence. (A fourth player, Jack Brown, had planned to come with us to the PTQ, but he wound up with tickets to the Vikings-Buccaneers game at the last minute and decided to take in football instead--excuse me while I prepare my Nelson imitation: "Ha, ha!"). The tournament was being held at the Ramada Inn, Rosedale. (Most Twin Citians consider Rosedale to be a suburb of St. Paul, despite the fact that you can get there faster from downtown Minneapolis.) We arrived in plenty of time, filled out our deck lists, and registered. The tournament was to be held in one of the hotel's large banquet rooms/conference halls, and there were certainly enough tables to go around (a welcome change from the Weatherlight Pre-release that we played in the Hopkins VFW). However, the amenities left something to be desired; there were a few padded chairs and a sofa in the hotel lobby, two wooden benches out on the narrow sidewalk (we're pretty passive-agressive toward smokers in MN, if you couldn't tell from our attorney general), and oodles and oodles of open parking lot to wander around in (keep this in mind, as it will become important later). Refreshments were also something of a problem. The hotel restaurant had apparently just closed when we arrived at 9:00am (!!), and the only other immediately available option were the traditional hotel vending machines, where you could purchase a Coke for $1 and a pack of Hostess Ho-Hos (expiration date hidden) for $1.25. Feeling just a bit peckish, we scampered off to find breakfast. We returned just in time for the scheduled start of the tournament, and so we settled in to wait ten minutes until the announcements began. First, the tournament organizer plied us with a little advertising copy regarding upcoming tournaments that his store (Great Lakes Games) was hosting, then he asked us for a little market research data on how we found out about this tournament on such short notice. Then the head judge got up and gave us an abbreviated MVLite FAQ: Illusionist/Biskelion works, Sands of Time doesn't tap itselt, yadda-yadda-yadda. Not once did the head judge review the basic DCI floor rules for sanctioned tournaments (keep this in mind, as it will become important later), although he did make a serious effort to point out that, although the rules allowed for 70 minute rounds, he was sure we wouldn't need that much time and was prepared to start following rounds as early as allowable (keep this in mind,...). After the judges distributed the match-record sheets to show first-round pairings (no computer, alas), we got underway. The powerful weapon that was CounterFlash was lurking at my side, waiting with deadly earnest for its first victim. Oh, yeah. Maybe you'd like to know what was actually in the deck? ÇounterFlash Land (22) 10xIsland 9xMountain 1xUndiscovered Paradise 1xLotus Vale 1xWinding Canyons Artifacts (5) 4xMind Stone 1xMana Prism Red (12) 3xAether Flash 4xIncinerate 2xKaervek's Torch 2xOgre Enforcer 1xHammer of Bogarden Blue (21) 1xFlooded Shoreline 3xDissipate 2xBoomerang 2xAzimaet Drake 1xTimid Drake 4xOphidian 2xPower Sink 2xDesertion 2xAncestral Knowledge 2xImpulse Sideboard: 1xAether Flash 1xTimid Drake 2xMind Bend 2xAzimaet Drake 2xBoomerang 3xChaos Charm 2xHeart of Bogarden 2xImpulse Round 1 (0-0/0-0) Opponent: Brett de Jesus (B/U Control) Game 1: The deck worked perfectly. Turn 1: Mountain. Turn 2: Island, Mind Stone. Turn 3: Mountain, Aether Flash. He countered the Flash with Memory Lapse, so I cast it again on turn 4 and this time it went through. I dropped Ophidian. Nothing. I dropped Timid Drake. Nothing. I started the beatdown/card engine. He started pitching Guildmages and Men-o-War into the Flash, hoping to slow the beating, but it was no use. I was on a roll. Game 1 was mine. Game 2: Since I knew through playtesting that my deck does well against ErTog, and that was what I figured he was playing, I didn't sideboard. He did. This one kind of went his way: Turn 1: Him-Swamp Me-Island Turn 2: Him-Island, Dark Ritual, Benthic Djinn Me-(pause for breath) Island, Boomerang Benthic Djinn Turn 3: Him-Dark Ritual, Benthic Djinn Me-(stare dumbfounded at board) Island, Flooded Shoreline I was able to hold him off for a few more turns, but once he got enough land into play, I was forced to play stupid Flooded Shoreline tricks on his Djinn while he performed Guildmage/Man-o-War beatdown. 1-1. Game 3: I had thought that if the only creature I have in play is a Timid Drake, my opponent would find it hard to play Man-o-War. Timid Drake has a triggered comes-into-play effect, and therefore is resolved faster than normal abilities. However, I had neglected to consider that Man-o-War's ability is also a triggered comes-into-play effect, and since my opponent is the active player, he can choose to resolve his first. Having that demonstrated to me in game 2 as part of the coup-de-grace, I sideboarded out the Timid Drake in favor of another Aether Flash. He did nothing. I start the game with two Aether Flashes in hand, but no mountains. He drops a Guildmage. I draw, still no mountain. He drops another Guildmage. Ouch for 1. I learned through playtesting that if I have to cast Ancestral Knowledge before turn 5, I'm usually in deep trouble. I cast Ancestral Knowledge on turn 3. None of the top ten cards in my library are mountains or the Lotus Vale. I drop the cards back down on top of the library. Ow for 2. I shuffle. Ow for 2. I cast Impulse on his discard phase and find a Mountain. I play it, but hold an Incinerate waiting for the Benthic Djinn. It's not coming out. Ow for 2. i die from Guildmage beatdown with three Aether Flashes in hand and one mountain in play. I remind myself that this is precisely why I don't play 4 Aether Flashes in the main deck, but somehow it's not reassuring to know that the Aether-screw now comes game 3 rather than game 1. Round 2 (0-1/1-2) Opponent: David Schenk (U Control/Tempo) Game 1: He gets the god-draw. Turn 2 he Boomerangs my Mountain, turn 3 he plays Ophidian. By turn 7 he has three Ophidians in play and one in the graveyard (I didn't kill it, he discarded it). I, meanwhile, am forced to discard one of two Aether Flashes as a result of his turn 2 Boomerang, and things just get worse from there. I do manage to cast the same Timid Drake four times on four consecutive turns, though. 0-1. Game 2: As built, the deck is supposed to be strongest versus U Control, as he has very few ways to deal with the Flash, and no way to deal with multiples short of multiple Boomerangs. Since he's playing Boomerang, though, I decide to board out the Lotus Vale and the Timid Drake for two Hearts of Bogarden. This is the game that demonstrates that I am not a top-level tournament player. I call it, "The Comedy of Errors". Both of us are playing as though we're stuck in a Three Stooges movie. I tempo him on turns 2 and 3 to slow down his mana production, forgetting that those Boomerangs are nearly the only thing I have to stop his Mystic Veil once it's in play. He forgets to attack on one turn. Slapped down to 8 life anyway, I tap the wrong mana to put my Aether Flash in play while staring down the maw of a Veiled Waterspout Djinn, and thus cannot Flooded Shoreline my Azimaet Drake after blocking, but he casts a Man-o-War into the Flash to unsummon it before attacking anyway. I get Heart of Bogarden into play, but am able to pay only one upkeep on it before I forget; it blows for 2 points, harmlessly winging the Veiled Djinn. Finally, after an eternity, I win with burn. 1-1. Ben and Paul show up after discreetly watching our play from the hallway; they could tell from our reactions that I won the duel and expected that I'd won the match, but I tell them that we still had one duel to go. They look at me with surprise and hurry away so as not to draw a warning. Game 3: Before the game starts, he asks if he can go to the restroom. (That explains his mistakes...) I don't want to be a jerk about it, and say so, but his watch shows we have only about ten minutes left in the round, and he wants a draw even less than I do. Besides, if he has to go that badly, might he not mess up and give me a quick win? Yeah, right. Turn 5 he drops Mana Web on me, and I realize I have no chance. I start throwing down blockers like there's no tomorrow, and we end up in a draw. Round 3 (0-1-1/2-3) Opponent: Jerry Bartlett (W/G/R CrossColor Protection) Game 1: I stall at two land--one Island and one Mountain. Still, I consider Jerry to be hosed worse than me; three of his first four lands are Gemstone Mines, and I burn his Wall of Roots at the first opportunity. Mana does continue to creep out of both of our decks, but he's playing Wildfire Emmisary, and I'm playing Desertion. 0-1. Game 2: Having seen his Wall of Roots, I take the opportunity to board in three Chaos Charms along with two Mind Bends. He outfoxes me, though, and boards out his Wall of Roots (!!). Neither one of us is mana-screwed this game, and as the board develops I realize to my horror that I've drawn somebody playing anti-Flash, even if only unconciously. At this point I know I'm dead, so I just try for interesting plays. I actually manage one, too: He has a Wildfire Emmisary in play and casts a Freewind Falcon. I Desert it and follow up with a Mind Bend to sleight the protection on his Emmisary so I can block it. My first thought is to sleight to ProBlack, the only color neither of us are playing. But, thinking it over, I realize that he is playing green and so might have green enchantments in the deck like Briar Shield, Armor of Thorns, what-have-you, so I sleight to ProGreen. I'm then able to drop my Azimaets to deter his Emmisary, so I start plinking him with the Falcon. I think I just might be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel when he casts Savage Twister. He's just about to put his Emmisary into the graveyard until, driven by the humor of the situation, I remind him that the Emmisary has ProGreen and won't die. He smiles pleasantly, thanks me for being honest, and proceeds to burn me to death. 0-2. To address a point that has been pretty common on this newsgroup lately, all three of the opponents I faced were fun to play against, even if they did have different styles of interacting through play that took a bit of getting used to. De Jesus started out shy, but warmed up after the first two blitzkrieg games and made it almost bearable to be mana-screwed. Schenk had more of a manic personality, reminding me of the "Crazy Midnight Bomber What Bombs At Midnight" from The Tick. (The "I have to go to the bathroom" before game 3 was pretty endearing, too, I must admit.) Bartlett was an older guy, very casual and unhurried, and we chatted pretty freely during both duels. Then again, I was bottom-feeding in this tournament; had I started 2-0-1 instead of 0-2-1, I might not feel the same way. The first side event was going to start shortly after Round 4 got underway, and i was torn over whether to drop out to participate (MVLite Booster Draft) or stay in and keep trying to validate CounterFlash. Finally, in a fit of utter indecision, I walked over to see how many people had signed up for the draft, and saw the one name on the list that immediately made my decision for me. Melissa Lang was playing in the draft. She doesn't know it, but Melissa and I have a history. It's a completely one-sided history--my side--which is why she doesn't know about it, but I suspect it wouldn't matter to her even if she knew. I first met Melissa about a year ago when Ben was the founder and CEO of the Minnesota Metagaming Association (MMA), a local tournament organizing body. The MMA had entered into an agreement with Coach's Corner, a sports card vendor dabbling in Magic, to run a series of tournaments at the dying mall which housed their store. At that time I was convinced that I was a sh*t-hot Magic player, and that my decks (like the creatureless Stasis or Enduring Inheritance) were brilliant works of genius that other players didn't recognize and failed entirely due to my tremendously bad luck coupled with my opponents' unforgivably good luck. The tournament that day was an Ice Age/Alliances sealed deck, and I had just lost by the trifecta to Ben's wife Wendy (she reduced me to zero life in game 1, decked me in game 2, and poisoned me in game 3; hey, I told you my nickname should be "Festive"). I was happy for Wendy, but feeling a bit sorry for myself, and told Ben that the day could only be salvaged if I played against Melissa. Ben told me there was little chance of that, since Melissa was in the running for the final 8, while I was in the running for a Fallen Empires booster, our group's booby-prize for the player with the worst record. Ever since that day it's been a personal quest for me to play against Melissa in a tournament setting. It hadn't happened yet, and it wasn't going to happen that day; we didn't even sit in the same drafting pool... : ( As I was dropping from the main tournament to play in the booster draft, Ben was about to undergo an extremely unpleasant experience which convinced him to drop from the tournament. I'm not sworn to secrecy or anything, but he's the only one who has all the details, so I'm leaving it up to him to explain the problem if he chooses to do so. I have no idea why I've done so poorly in booster draft. Although I didn't open anything I remember as mind-blowing in the first booster, I was at least smart enough to draft the Cursed Totem when it was passed to me for pull #2. In fact, let me list the Mirage cards in my draft (not in order drafted): Flood Plain, Cycle of Life, Cloak of Invisibility, Hazerider Drake, Acidic Dagger, Blind Fury, Soulshriek, Dwarven Nomad, Spitting Earth, Restless Dead, Fetid Horror, Grave Servitude, Armorer Guildmage, Cursed Totem, Dark Banishing. Granted, it's all over the spectrum, but I can go anywhere from here, right? Visions (again not in order drafted): Elephant Grass, Quirion Ranger, Warthog, Sun Clasp, Desolation, Vampirism, Coercion, Fallen Askari, Keeper of Kookus, Mob Mentality, Wicked Reward, Death Watch, Goblin Swine-Rider, Infernal Harvest, Talruum Champion. Again, decent cards, but still diluted, and not nearly enough creatures in any single color. Weatherlight, knowing I have to draft creatures (not in order): Duskrider Falcon, Sage Owl, Angelic Renewal, Fire Whip, Buried Alive, Fledgling Djinn, Fatal Blow, Spinning Darkness, Shadow Rider, Mind Stone, Abyssal Gatekeeper, Abyssal Gatekeeper, Abyssal Gatekeeper, Abyssal Gatekeeper. Oh, my. I wind up playing B/R. I decide not to play Fire Whip, Desolation, Soulshriek, Blind Fury, Acidic Dagger, Buried Alive, or Vampirism. I am playing Cursed Totem along with Restless Dead and Fetid Horror, plus all four Gatekeepers. (Another reason my nickname should be "Festive.") Round 1 (0-0) Opponent: Chris Hanrin (U/R) Game 1: He drops a turn 2 Orcish Settler and grins. I drop Cursed Totem turn 3 and grin back. I throw creature control at everything I see: Bloodrock Cyclops? Spitting Earth. Bogarden Phoenix? Dark Banishing, whick becomes the third black card in the graveyard so I can follow with Spinning Darkness on the same turn. He continues to put out fatty after fatty, and I block with abandon. Teferi's Drake? Fledgling Djinn. He beats me down to four life with Breezekeeper and I draw Infernal Harvest on my turn. Unfortunately, Breezekeeper is phased out. 0-1. After this game, Hanrin makes what I thought was the most graceless comment of the entire afternoon, "All I could draw in the draft were big flyers and land destruction." I forgive him, though, since he only looks to be about 13 and probably doesn't know better than to taunt his elders. Game 2: He starts out color-screwed in red, and I take advantage to start the weenie swarm: Keeper of Kookus, Abyssal Gatekeeper, Fledgling Djinn, Armorer Guildmage. He manages to start rolling two Teferi's Drakes on opposite turns, and those plus my Djinn are hitting me nearly as hard as I'm hitting him. Finally, with both of us down deep in the single digits, he drops his second red land and plays his ace: Cone of Flame. It catches the Gatekeeper, clearing the board, and he finishes me quickly. 0-2. Final tally on the afternoon: 0-3-1 in rated matches, 2-7 in rated duels. I also discover to my surprise that Brett de Jesus, the man who performed Guildmage beatdown to come back from down 0-1 in round one of the main tourney, had dropped out to play in the draft and was spanked in the first round as well. We agree to play our drafted decks for fun, and he rolls me 0-2. Sometimes I guess I just get demoralized. Was this worth $30 plus meal money? Well, at least I got a Cursed Totem out of it... David Wintheiser "Dammit, Jim, I'm a doctor, not a transcendental signifier!" -Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy, "Derrida's World"