Tourney Results and Deck Analysis

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Fairbanks:  Sep 20, 1997 --  Expanded format.

The Great Fairbanks Road Trip - Part II

By Rex Plunkett

This article reports on the Expanded format tourney held in Fairbanks, Alaska on September 20, 1997. A simple analysis of decks encountered follows.

Prelude: Three members (Jeff Moeller, Darrell Breese and I) of Team Dinosaur drove to Fairbanks on the Friday before the Saturday tourney. We stayed at Terry Borden and Jim Ruppert's wonderful home just out of town, and had a very pleasant evening after our arrival at 7 PM Friday.

Both Jeff and I were trying out modified Czech gun decks, this tourney, and of course Spenser Ruppert (Jim & Terry's10-year old son) was building his deck at the table while we wandered around and did the semi-final sideboard tests on ours. The net result is that Spenser received advise from all three of the TD players from Anchorage, combined with a LOT of little side shots we took at each other. While we don't know this yet, Spenser will go 2-2 tomorrow, and only lose matches to Jeff and Darrell 2-1.

Without really doing any real analysis, Jeff, Darrell and I test decks against each other and work on sideboard choices. For simplicity, let's assume that we each started with the Czech gun deck. In play test, Jeff reveals that the two Wildfire Emissaries were out of his deck to make room for land tax/sylvan library. He keeps the Savannah Lions in his main line. My deck ditches the lions and two Ernies for a Mtenda herder (cheap flanker), two Freewind Falcons, Pikeman, Empyrial Armor, and one Enlightened tutor. I find other places to come up with slots for a second tutor, and COP:Red. All disenchants (main line and sideboard) are replaced with Aura of Silence. Right or wrong, both Jeff and I ditched two 4-cost creatures and put in our personal gimmicks. In play test, Jeff's deck doesn't really come out, and the Falcons and Armor are huge. Jeff is forced to put Armor in his deck (I will consider this to be an event on par with Paul's trip to Damascus). Freewind Falcons appear as well.

Since I have enchantment fish cards all over my deck, my sideboard is sprinkled with enchantments. It is significant that the Aura of Silence is an enchantment. Tomorrow I will fish it at least twice to save games. The deck I will play is as follows:

Land (22): 2x Plateau; 4x Savannah; 1x Taiga; 5x Plains; 1x Mountains; 2x City of Brass, 2x Undiscovered Paradise, 1x Quicksand; 2x Mountain Valley; 2x Grasslands

Creatures (20): 4x Order of Leitbur; 3x Order of the White Shield; 3x White Knight; 2x Freewind Falcon; 2x Ernham Djinn; 2x Wildfire Emissary; 1x Pikeman, 1x Mtenda Herder; 2x Benalish Hero.

Removal (11): 4x Lightning Bolt; 2x Incinerate; 3x Swords to Plowshares; 1x Aura of Silence; 1x Stormbind.

Tricks: (9): 2x Giant Growth; 1x Armgeddon; 1x Eye of Singularity; 2x Enlightened Tutor; 1x COP:Red; 2x Honorable Passage.

Sideboard: 1x Karma; 4x Guerilla Tactics; 3x Pyroblast; 1x Aura of Silence; 1x Armgeddon; 2x Honorable Passage; 1x Outpost; 1x Justice; 1x Serenity

Deck Building -- yes; this deck started with the Czech gun deck - - Jakub Slemr deserves all of the credit for the deck chasis. (Jakub, if you read this - Obviously the less than stellar results I achieved with the deck was due to inferior play, not your superior design.) I think the deck is the best balanced deck in the enhanced arena today.

LAND: No you do not have to have a ton of Dual lands. I played 7 dual lands because I owned seven dual lands - the original deck had twelve duals, but my substitutions worked just fine for me. The four fish lands (Grasslands and Mountain Valley) made it easy to get colors when they were needed. In general, I would have been just fine with 2x Savannah and 2x Plateau. I added 2x City of Brass and 2x Undiscovered Paradise for color, but would have been better off with 3x Gemstone Mine and an empty slot. The 1 Quicksand did ok for me.

CREATURES: A mixed bag - during the whole tourney, I never had more than three creatures on the board at any one time. Creature removal was the dominant theme, with every deck I played having at least seven cards of it. When examining the creature mix, keep in mind that I planned to use the Eye of Singularity as a hidden weapon - it worked pretty well. After this tourney, I'll probably cut down on knights in general, and beef up with green creatures. During the whole tourney, the sequence of good creature = dead creature was the overwhelming theme.

REMOVAL: I wouldn't even consider cutting down on my selection. Aura of Silence is HUGE - and will probably get even better.

TRICKS: Since this is the do your own thing area, I won't claim any wonderful results here. The Giant growths were a natural after I noted that green was very easy to come by and leave open in my land mix. (I like cheap) The one Geddon didn't help me much against the mix of opponents I met, but was nuclear in Jeff Moeller's deck. Eye of Singularity was a partially successful gimmick. It went off only twice during the whole day, and was almost always sideboarded OUT, but when it works, It generally has excellent board and mental effects. It is fun to watch the other player dance around his land/creature mix on the board after they know you have "The Eye" in your deck. Enlightened Tutor generally got either an Empyrial Armor or Aura of Silence.

Sideboard: Pretty fair overall, though the Guerilla tactics were almost useless when they were used against a discard deck (Darrell Breese kicked my little behind). In the right situations, the Outpost and Justice did well for me.

Now, on to the tourney report.

Round 1: vs. Terry Boren [b/r/u/tricks] (yes, the beautiful lady who allowed me to eat her food, drink her wine, and put a roof over my head for the tourney) - oh no, I immediately draw another Team Dino member (six Dinos were playing - Darrell Breese, Jeff Moeller, Hal Tippins, Jim Ruppert, Terry and I) -- Game 1 -- We dance for five or six rounds with creatures / creature removal - Terry gets out her Stormbind, and generally Black weenies which draw bolts and swords. I get out a mix of Knights, weenies and they fall to Stormbind. Around turn 8 I get off the Eye of Singularity and lose three Savannahs while Terry loses like six lands and two knights. After that, Stormbind doesn't save her. Game 2: Terry makes a grand entrance with black Knights, Black Orders, Stormbind and COP: Red. To make my plight complete, she lays down Celestial Dawn. My burn deserts me, and only to timely appearance of two Wildfire Emissaries give me even a chance. Terry is nice enough to waste her Stormbind on my white creatures after she has the upper hand. I hold back one Emissary to minimize damage and attack and pump the other each turn. Terry's COP falls to an Aura of Silence I tutor from near the bottom of my deck. The game ends with a sequence where she attacks successfully with two black pump knights and forgets to pump them, leaving me at one life before she falls to a pumped Emissary. The game reveals the first glaring weakness of my deck - if anybody can create a creature stalemate, I just don't have enough death in the deck. 2-0 : 1-0 (both games ended with me at less than 5). (Team Dino goes 5-1 with Terry the only loss). Spenser Ruppert (age 9.7) lets the whole room know when he THUMPS Jeff Moeller in their first game - obviously my superior advice to include the dreaded armor overcomes Jeff's insidious advise that it is an evil card. The balance of the universe is restored when Moeller takes the next two games.

Round 2: vs. Brian Wooster [white weenie] -- Game 1: We're pretty even the whole game, with each getting in a few licks before creature removal sets in. My minor mana hose gives him an early advantage, but I win because I get in ONE hack with an Empyrial Armored knight and he has to plowshare it (net swing, twelve life). Game 2: Out goes land destruction and defense, in comes the Guerilla tactics. Brian's weenies have a board expectancy of about twelve seconds, and he falls to an excellent draw series for my deck - I feel MUCH better now. 4-0 ; 2-0 (three games with me ending at less than 5). (Team Dino is now 10- 2 with both losses coming in games where TD played itself) (Spenser Ruppert and another youngster got into a trash talking contest before their match, then Spenser won.).

Round 3: vs. Jim Ruppert [red burn-no creatures except ball lightning] - (It is not enough that I have to meet the beautiful lady of the house which is sheltering me, I now have to threaten the lord as well.) Game 1: Jim takes about thirteen damage (one at a time) from a Freewind Falcon before he anarchy's it (and only it) away. We end the game in the typical fire orgy but at least I end up over 5 life. I discover that ball lightning still hurts when it hits you. Game 2: A continuation of game 1 except that land destruction is out and honorable passage is in and I can't find a freewind falcon. Jim forks a lightning bolt I throw at him, and I honorable passage it back. Honorable passage saves the day, and I end up at three life - Jim may let me sleep with the dog tonight. 6-0 ; 3-0 (four games ending with me at less than 5). (Team Dino suffers its first outside losses, we're now 13-5 with 2 outside losses).

Round 4: vs. Mark Pyle [r/u burn - no forks visible, but exactly the right number of counterspells] -- By far the best deck I eccountered to date. Mark makes a tiny mistake in game 1 (he casts a ball lightning when I have an untapped Pikeman in play - first strike means no trample damage) and we exchange bolts, creature attacks and he smites my creatures for a very rapid game that ends with me at 5 or 6 lives. Game 2: Same as game 1 except I have the honorable passages in and Mark picks Anarchy when needed. Again a fast game with Mark getting too much mana. When he and I both are at eight lives, he attacks a ball lightning and then counterspells when I try to cast the Honorable Passage I have reserved for this event. A couple of turns later, (with Mark at 6 and me at 2) I top deck my Armor with exactly enough mana (including a city of brass) to cast it with five cards remaining in hand (including one honorable passage) to win with one life. I could have actually survived the next turn by using honorable passage, but he had me. At the end of the game, Mark had eight lands in play to my three. If he draws even one less land, Mark wins easily.

On a public note - Mark was totally hosed in this match - his deck was much stronger than mine, and his play was more than good enough. If it helps any, the players for Eielson AFB (Mark, Alex Bridenbaker, and Sean Baker) all suffered more than their share of bad luck. In particular, from what I saw, Alex and Mark both had decks that should have made the final four instead of mine. Alex ran a squandered stasis deck, went 3-1, and lost out due to tie breakers, while Mark got hosed by his match with me and finished 2- 2 in the prelim. After the 4 prelim rounds, I am 8-0 ; 4-0 (five and maybe six games ending with me at less than 5 lives). (Team Dino finishes at 16.5-7.5 and places three in the four-person final). (Spenser Ruppert beats TD member Hal Tippins to finish 2-2 in match play, with his only losses being a pair of 2-1 matches to Jeff Moeller and Darrell Breese - not bad for not yet ten years old). Jeff Moeller and I are both 4-0 at this point, but Jeff has a couple of losses in games. It is now 4 PM.

Semi-Finals: With my stellar performance, I get seeded first in the final four. (What a joke). I am paired with Sean Baker from Eielson. Before our match, Sean and I were talking and he let slip that Jeff Moeller had nuked his deck pretty bad. I am feeling pretty good about things since my deck is theoretically close to Jeff's. WRONG -- With only minor difficulties, Sean mops the floor with me in two straight games. He generally ties me up with Icys and thumps me to death with Ernies both games - though I get off the dreaded Eye of Singularity in the first game to sweep four lands and two token creatures off the board and make it appear to be closer. In the second game, I choose to fish an Aura of Silence instead of my Serenity when he has out a COP:red and two Icys, and so lose my only chance to even make things close. Yes, I could have gotten all three, and maybe been respectable. In both games, mana does not show up just perfectly, but I have plenty of resources, if and only if I manage to get something rolling. This is just not to be. Sean gets out his Outpost both games, and between Ernies, outposts, and Icys my poor little creatures are merely fodder.

An interesting event which deserves mention happened in the last game. The situation was one where I had an Ernie, an Emissary and Pump knight out, while Sean had an Ernie (which I had to give forest walk) and one Icy in play. I had four mana of almost any color combo available. In short, he attacked, and I blocked with everything even though his Ernie had to have forest walk. He taps my ernie, and I pump the Emissary for mutual creature anhilation. On the his next turn, Sean remembers that his ernie should have been unblockable. Instead of sulking or screaming, Sean merely commented on the situation, and said his ernie should have survived. I think that this type of extremely gentlemanly behavior should be recognized. Sean still had more than enough resources and skill to stomp me as I resigned a couple of turns later. Since I made the error, and also benefited from it, Sean deserves better than just winning anyway.

Consolation finals: Jeff Moeller (TD) beats Darrell Breese (TD) in the other semi, and so Darrell and I meet for third place. He easily overpowers my weenies with his direct damage, Necrataals and Jellyfish in two straight games. I bluster and we play a third, and Darrel smokes me again. I think I did a total of ten damage to him in three games.

During the playoff series for Jeff, Darrell, Sean and I, Event organizer Hal Tippins assembled a giant Grand melee game for consolations, with all players allowed to attack only to the left, and spells limited to one person range.  Terry Boren (TD) swept all minor opposition away in this event, winning the game and all arguments through sheer mastery.    . . . and it came to pass that after all dust and disaster had settled, Team Dinosaur again ruled the earth, and Tyrranasuarus Rex (oops, make that Jeff) was master of all he beheld.  All grovel before T-Jeff.

After opening my big three packs for forth place, (and watching Darrell open an Abeyance for third place), we all return to Jim and Terry's where beer and excellent pasole help to dry my tears. I probably play another twenty games of magic with varying decks, and win exactly one more game. After the big 8-0 luck streak in rounds 1-4, I don't win a single game between 4:00 PM and about 11:00 PM. I even get to watch Hal Tippins deck which went 1-3(?) in regular play smoke my wunderdeck in three straight games. At least I don't to sleep with the dog - but I would note that Darrell Breese's snores could derail a freight train.

Expanded format postscript -- The gun deck chasis didn't do too bad for Jeff and I overall, but I wouldn't expect to see it to do well too much longer. Anarchy will be a main line card for anybody playing red (just as COP:red is in my main line), and was the key to shutting down my Gun deck in this tourney. I played two burn decks and one creature deck and at this tourney, and energed with a very healthy respect for burn, but little hope for creature rush in the expanded format. Cards I would expect to see in many, many decks include cheap red burn, Aura of Silence, Honorable Passage, and WOG. Jellyfish, Necrataals and Freewind Falcons have all emerged as HUGE creatures for their respective colors, as have Emissaries and Ernies for red and green. The version of the Gun deck I played will have to thin out the white creatures and add something if it wants to compete in an arena that includes Anarchy and Distopia. 

OH, by the way, Jeff Moeller has an excellent posting of his tourney win, and Sean Baker deserves credit for a very good day as well. As for Darrell Breese, he snores but still smoked my best efforts . . . but I'll be back.

Rex Plunkett (rexadmin@rexdata.com)