Subject: PT Rome report Date: Wed, 25 Nov 1998 18:43:40 +0100 From: Federico Dato To: fkusumot@ix.netcom.com Hi, here is my PT Rome report. The deck was born about one month and half ago, and it was a RU deck with mana flares. From then the deck was upgraded many times: first of all it becomes monocolor with the introduction of the high tide, then few other cards changed. Sideboard was completed only the night before the tournament. Here is the decklist: 4 Time spiral 4 stroke of Genius 4 Turnabout 4 High Tide 4 Impulse 4 Intution 4 Force of Will 4 Arcane Denial 3 Mind over Matter 2 Merchant Scroll 1 Rescind 22 Island SB: 3 Disrupt 3 Hydroblast 3 Counterspell 2 Mana web 2 Vision Charm 2 Rescind Report: Friday, 13 1° round Brian Fletcher-Pox This was the worst round I played in the whole tourney: I lost because I played a game with my Time Spiral out of game. I know, I'm stupid. 0-1 2° round Micha Schulte Middelich-Necro I win easily the first game, and lose the others two games because of his heavy sideboard: he was playing 6 pyro, 4 duress, 4 hymn. 0-2 3° round Paul Smith-LLL First game he tries to destroy some lands but I have counters, so he starts attacking but I am faster. Second game he begins attacking and the turn before I would be dead I try to close the match: after the TS I draw nothing to go on. Third game is easy with the help of disrupts, and I win. 1-2 4° round Brian Selden (World Champion)-recurring whale In the first game he wins the flip but draws without chosing the play/draw rule: I call the judge and it's game loss for him; I was sorry for that but we were playing in a PT and there was rule enforcement level 5. During the second game he closes the combo by 4th turn. In the third game I begin, and during his third turn he plays a wood elves that I counter with arcane denial, then I am able to close the combo during my turn. 2-2 5° round Tietjen Lars-Academy I win both games without ending the combo: in the first game I win because he isn't able successfully end the combo after taking enough damages to die; in the second game I win thanks to MoMa: I tapped his city of brass, after drawing 30 cards with a stroke, enough to kill him. 3-2 6° round Jason Opalka-Tide Spiral (the other version) This deck is similar to mine, but slightly different: he plays 6 more counters and 1 more land but he doesn't play turnabouts, merchant scroll and THE rescind. I preferred combo cards to counters, and I like very much the turnabouts because they can be used as Abeyance if played at the end of opponent's turn. The first game was very slow: I closed the combo after about 20 turns, thanks to turnabouts. The second game was easier: I sideboarded many good cards that help me against control decks. 4-2 7° round Victor Rodenburg-LLL I.D. We are both in the top 96 with I.D. 4-2-1 I am 78th. Not so bad for the first time I go to the second day after 5 PT played. Saturday, 14 8° round Yuichi Taguchi-Yawgmoth Pandenought (I don't know the real deck name) I win the first game without any problem. The second is harder: during his turn 4 (3rd mine) he plays Lion's eye Diamond, taps 3 lands and casts the will, I counter it with arcane denial, so he casts ritual and one more will, I can't counter it, then he sacs the diamond and discards pandemonium and 2 dreadnoughts, recasts the diamond for 6 red mana, casts pandemonium, dreadnought and the second dreadnought, in response I hydroblast pandemonium. I won as he had no cards in his hand. 5-2-1 9° round Raphael Levy-LLL In the first game he takes a mulligan( this is the first time an opponent takes a mulligan); he plays a wasteland and no more lands for 4 turns. Second game he starts very fast and forces me to try to close the game during the 5th turn: I don't draw anything to keep going after the Time Spiral. Third game: he plays very slow and at turn 4 he has 6 mana, he casts a creeping mold on a land, but I have 3 disrupts in my hand; I close after few turns. Raphael is a very nice guy, I hope to meet him again soon. 6-2-1 10° round Lee Curtis-Monored All games are very fast: if I can't close by turn four he wins. I win the first at turn 4, lose the 2nd by his turn 5 and win the third game during third turn. 7-2-1 11° round Jamie Parke-Tide Spiral (the other version) This game is pretty much the same as against Opalka: I win both thanks to turnabouts and my good sideboard. 8-2-1 12° round Darwin Kastle-Academy This is my first feature match in my life. Both first and second game are all about speed: in the first I am faster, in the second he is faster and has an abeyance to protect the combo. The third game is a draw since time was up and no one was going to win the game. 8-2-2 I have to win both the last rounds to make the top 8. 13° round Rui Mariani-Academy First game I win at turn 4: he isn't able to do anything to stop me. The second is harder: he successfully casts a lobotomy targetting my MoMa; I eventually win the game thanks to several turnabouts, high tides and time spirals. 9-2-2 14° round Adolfo Martinez-recurring whale The best match in the whole tourney, this was my second feature match, too. He wins the first game due to fast bird mana. I win the second because he has no time to cast any sideboard card. And now the greatest game, the top8 game with about 30 people looking at it: he starts, all is normal until he casts an arcane laboratory and I have no counters in my hand but the worst thing is that I have nothing in the deck to remove it. I am so close to conceeding the game, when I ask how many lives he has and he replies "17". Therefore I think of a solution: the only way to victory left is to kill him with his 2 cities of brass he has in in play. When he casted the lab, he had in play an orcish settlers, but he couldn't know that he would die to his CoB. I managed to deal 17 damages tapping his lands with Turnabouts, countering spells when I didn't cast the Turnabout and reshuffling with Time Spiral when those cards were ending up. Coolest game. 10-2-2 I'm in the top8!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I end up as 5th. Sunday, 15 Quarterfinals Mark Le Pine-Tide Spiral (Same deck of Opalka and Parke) First game: each one knows the opponent's deck after 3 turns and noone does anything other than playing a land. After several turns he casts High Tide and then a Time Spiral: I draw an arcane denial, stroke and nothing else. He therefore casts two more high tides and then a MoMa, I arcane denial it but he has a counterspell; so he strokes himself for 30 and I play in response stroke for 20 on him: he has no more counters and I win. Second game I manage to succesfully cast a Mana Web, but after it noone does anything. After many, many turns he taps in my discard phase to cast an impulse, leaving only 2 mana in the pool (other lands tapped due to the mana web), in response I cast a 15 stroke on him with 4 counters in my hand: game. In the third game I draw few lands and he he has mana advantage; during the game the head judge tell us that this is the last game because it is very late. My opponents wants to end the game anyway and he succeeds in winning the game. 11-2-2 Semifinals Nicolas Labarre-Fish I know that I can't win this match because my deck isn't so fast as Academy and he plays several counters. Anyway I win the first game because he draws nothing after a Time Spiral. In the second game I take a mulligan; he drops some creatures in the first 3 turns and then waits, countering everything I try to do. The third game is the same, except that I take two mulligans. The fourth is a copy of the second. :( It is my fate, at nationals I lost in the quarterfinals to a fish, and now again, I lost to an "old school fish"!!! 11-3-2 Final for 4th place Justin Gary (US champion)-WR weenie Before the match we talk a little, and I realize that Justin is a very nice guy. Anyway the game isn't too difficult: in the first I win at turn 5. In the second he applies a mishra's factory beatdown, but I can win the turn before he kills me. 12-3-2 I am 4th!!!!! Great! The best italian performance in a professional tournament. Props Raphael Levy and Justin Gary, very nice opponents; Italian players for their support during last matches; My room friends (Andrea, Patrick and Marco); The hotel, only 10 minutes far from my home; 8,000 $: they could be useful; All Magic players that I know and I haven't mentioned; All other Magic players. Slops Fishes... :) Feel free to write me for any reason at: federico.dato@iol.it Thanks for your attention, see you in LA!!!! Federico Dato Given on IRC ICQ# 13175058