Subject: [Tournament] NY State Champion Date: Wed, 18 Nov 1998 22:51:17 -0500 From: "Kierin Chase" To: Well, we were late showing up at Neutral Ground (isn't this how all these start). Elaine and I decided to play Academy since we could. Tony Parodi couldn't believe we were able to put two of these monsters together yet some of the field knew what we we were playing when we walked in the door. Enough chit-chat here's the stuff: 4 Spiral 4 Stroke 3 MoMa 4 Vault 4 Windfall 4 Intuition 3 Scroll Rack 2 Mox 4 Petal 4 Key 4 Sink 4 Academy 4 Wasteland 12 Island SB 4 Counter 3 Interdict 2 Turnabout 2 Capsize 4 Chill Elaine and I tested the deck for about two weeks concentrating on the mirror match. We had decided that 4 Wastes standard was the best game 1 defense. We also figured that most other decks would come to the same conclusion making them even better. Ancient Tombs (popular in other versions) turned out to be rather bad against speed decks as the mana boost doesn't always help you win faster just die faster. 4 Intuitions and 3 Racks are extremely important because they allow you to "dig deep" for the victory. After a while the deck feels like a "Magic: the Puzzling" with the win always buried...somewhere. Rd. 1 Kierin vs. WW Saw a knight, shadow guy, and a disenchant game one and then he died. As I Intuitioned out my three Richard Garfield signed MoMas (each with a different "Killer Instict" combo written on them) Brian David Marshall remarked "That's right-- you had a version of that deck back at Origins." Eric Arezzo and I designed a deck when Exodus came out that used MoMa and Mana Vault with Well of Knowledge and Prosperity. Torches were used for the kill. Unfortunately it was too slow because there were no "broken" cards in it. After game one my opponent complained about my deck (the only person all day) and sideboarded at least two Presence of the Master both of which got countered before I won game two. Elaine vs Crystal Rod/Tim The poor kid didn't even know the Academy deck existed. Needless to say, he got educated. Rd. 2 Kierin vs. Suicide Black (Wil) Game 1 I got run over by 2 turn 1 creatures. Uh-oh. For game two he sideboarded the card that gave me the most trouble all day: Sphere of Resistence. It slowed me down enough that had he a better draw I would have been dead. Game three was a quick victory for me. Elaine vs. Counter Phoenix We were worried about this deck (mostly because we really didn't test against it). It turned out not to be a threat. Game 1 she waited to set up her hand before attempting to go off. He foolishly tried to cast a Phoenix... sink for two, game over. Game two she waited to cast a MoMa with two counter cover. He didn't have enough to stop it. Rd. 3 Kierin vs. Recurring/Whale/Drake/Stroke type thing (Todd) I like this deck because I built one for fun when Urza first came out. In game one it seemed like he was always on the verge of going off but he never did. We had a few counter wars which he always won but tapped him out enough to let me me go off. Game two I countered an early Lobotamy and battle what seemed like a million counters till I went off again. Elaine vs. Counter Phoenix She wasn't too worried after how easily she had beaten the last CP deck. She doesn't even remember what happened beyond the fact that she won 2-0. Rd. 4 Kierin vs Necro (Hashim) Hashim has my number-- he'd been gunning for me all day. I know it's just because he was scared. Truth is I was more scared than he was and with good reason. He had tailored his deck agianst Academy with Duress, Disk, and Persecute standard and Planar Void and Opression in the sideboard. Game one I over extended and dropped all my artifacts fearing Duress and hoping to draw a card drawer. Then a disk came down and blew it all away. I lose quickly. Game two I win with an Opression on the board. Ha! Game three he was quicker than me. Could it be possible? Could Academy lose? Yes. Elaine vs. Vineyard/Argothian Wurm In game 1, a first turn Vineyard lets her go off turn two or three. She saw a city and a bird pop out , though, and had a feeling Arcane Lab was going to make an appearence from the sideboard. Sure enough, there was one real quick that got countered, a wurm which did not, and a dead opponent. BTW, she has yet to lose a duel. Rd. 5 Kierin vs. Sligh (Dean) Game one I won quick and he said that I was the first Academy deck he played against all day. He acted matter-of-fact that he was going to lose and then drew great against me and won game two. However none of my 4 chills hit the table. Game three they did and he lost. I shook his hand and gave him style points for playing with Shivan Gorge. Elaine vs. Academy (Hogan) Sigh. This really is the most difficult matchup for this deck. Before they start, he offers her a draw. After looking at the math, she decides not to, because with our luck, she would lose next round and then be paired up against me in the 7th, knocking one of us out. And although Hogan always beats her down in limited she is undefeated against him in constructed. Game 1 he goes first and goes of on turn 3 or so. So now she knows what others have been going through all day. Game 2, she goes first, and wins. But not without seeing some of Hogan's secret SB tech. Game 3, he decides to stick with going first, but gets mana screwed. She wins eventually (turn 5 or so). Rd. 6 Kierin vs. Suicide Black (Erik) I thought that this was the identical deck to Hashim's so I was really nervous. It turned out not to be and game one I went of really quick (turn 3). Game two he didn't see any of his sideboard and got me down really low in life. Then I went off. Elaine vs. 3 color White Weenie (Sean) At this point, Elaine would be happy to draw into the finals, but Sean can't afford it since he drew with the 11 year old Academy player earlier on. He seems pretty sure of himself, though, since he had gone 2-0-1 against Academy so far that day. Game one he plays a knight and goldfishes for her. Game two he sideboards about 20 cards and gets off to a quicker start. Despite his beatdown, he gets desparate and casts a turn 4 Armageddon (kindly tapping out his Wasteland) which gets countered, and dies. Rd. 7 I take a chance and ID, hoping to get in on tie-breakers. Elaine IDs with the only other undefeated person who has been dubbed "Goblin Boy." Finals Luckily with Elaine seeded 2nd and myself seeded 8th we wouldn't meet until the finals. Quarter Finals Kierin vs. "Goblin Boy" He didn't play against Academy all day which could explain why his goblin deck made it this far. His deck also was surprisingly fast. Game one I went off turn 3 or 4. Game two Chills didn't come out fast enough and his deck goes: turn one- Goblin Lackey, turn two- Raging Goblin, Mogg Fanatic, attack, play a Flunkie for free. Fast enough to beat me. Game three he gets me down to one and I have two Chills out. If he attacks I'm dead so I dig for about 10 min. (no exaggeration). I find it and win. Whew. Elaine vs. Academy (Hogan again) Everyone got deck checked before we started this round, so Elaine and Hogan both took a full five minutes to shuffle their completely separated decks. She must have done a really good job because she could have gone off turn 1 if she had the balls to not drop an Island before Windfalling. Anyway, she wins turn 2. Second game she wins again-- she had a good hand, and he didn't. Semifinals Kierin vs Necro (Hashim again) After I beat "Goblin Boy" Hashim came over to congratulate me and said he was sorry because we had to play again. Oh well. Game one I mulliganed down to six and got Duressed turn one. It seemed like the game was over but Hashim drew terrible and I drew amazingly. I took a few turns to build up but then went off quickly. Wow. Game two he didn't see any of his sideboard or main deck defense and I went off turn two. I'm in the finals. Elaine vs. Academy She won first game very easily. Then it all went downhill. Sometime in the middle of him going off in the third game (he kept starting and stalling) she commented that she was drawing like Hogan. I guess we don't get to share the title. And, as always, I'm called in to vindicate my fallen teammates (this guy also beat Eric in the swiss). Finals Kierin vs. Academy Throughout the final 8 I had been playing poorly. I was tired and making lots of mistakes. Going into the finals I knew one thing from weeks of testing against this deck; all things equal whoever gets the better draw wins. Game one it was me. This was only after about 10 turns of both of us trying to go off and failing. Including my Spiraling for seven cards, drawing 6 islands and Sink, Racking for 7 and drawing the same exact thing. AAgh! Game two it was him. He went off turn three. Game three he had tried to do some stuff and this left him with two tapped Vaults and only 3 lands. He then had to use one to waste my Academy. Each turn he was taking 2 points of Vault damage and drawing crap. I'm capable of going off but don't want to risk stalling so I cast MoMa (just in case his Vaults ever did untap) and let him die to his own Vaults. Thoughts on the deck This version of the deck needs only minor tweeking. First the Counterspells need to replace the Sinks. Elaine and I both swapped them in every game. Second 2 Islands need to come out for something else. We are not sure just what yet; maybe Meditate or Time Warp. The sideboard is where most of the changes need to take place. One thing that is true about the deck is that it is very forgiving if you make a play mistake. Also with all the searching ability it allows you to dig really deep for a victory. Oh yeah, it is all about the first Time Spiral. Props: To Eric and Max for being two cool guys. The boys at Gray Matter and the Ground -- the BEST tourney organizers on the planet :) Our opponents for all playing well and being really cool in the face of one of the cheesiest decks to hit type 2 in a long time. And to everyone who supported us. Thanks. Slops: A bad ruling made in the first round of the finals. The cat fried rice I was forced to eat for breakfast at about 7PM -- It certainly was not pork. The WotC design team for allowing a deck to surface which regulates type 2 to the level of type 1-- it is all about who can afford the cards, who plays first, and who has a better draw. Isn't this what they were trying to avoid when they created type 2 in the first place? DCI for not having States feed into nationals. How is it fair that you can slop your way to the final 8 in regionals with a 5-0-2 record (or get lucky on tiebreakers) and qualify, and yet the winner of a 111 person tourney doesn't? Oh, well. There's still time for them to change their minds :) Kierin Chase (and Elaine Ferrao) Team Jungle Boogie