Subject: Arkansas State Championships Report
Date: Sat, 21 Nov 1998 22:10:16 EST
From: JeSTeRx65@aol.com
To: fkusumot@ix.netcom.com

The Arkansas State Championships took place in my backyard at the Points Inn
in Ft. Smith, so of course Team Collusion, captained by yours truly, had to
defend it's turf.  The attendance was somewhat low (50 People), this of course
was caused by some sort of money tourney in Little Rock.  For those of you
skimming, I finished 5th, and the top 8 is included at the end.

After loads of playtesting, my team members and I decide to go with what we
each thought would perform the best, as well as what they were most
comfortable with.

Jerry Shannon Brown-Suicide Black
Blaine J. Nemier-Sligh
Jackie K. Steele-Sligh
and myself, Joey Jerrell-Collusion Tech Recurring Nightmare

I didn't keep track of my opponents names because I didn't care and I'm sure
no one else does either.

Rnd. 1 Some guy with a 'fro playing Draw-Go
1st game, I see niether a Nightmare or a Survival, does that mean I lost, of
course not, because he didn't see a disk.  Ravenous Baboons takes out a Stones
and deals all 20 points of damage.  I LOVE BABOONS!!!!!!
2nd Game, Coffin Queen comes to pass out the beatings, because th queen kills
Draw-Go dead, it's that simple

2-0, 1-0

Rnd. 2  Steven "Boogie" Williams, playing Acadamy of all things
NOTE: Boogie and I are frequent rivals, and I must say he's probably the
coolest Magic player alive, and loads of fun to play, win or lose
1st game, I can't beat Academy before sideboarding, so I lose
2nd game, I side in 4 Wastes, 3 Pyros, 1 Thrull Surgeon, and a Bullet.
Guess what, I can't beat Academy after sideboarding either, I lose again.

0-2, 1-1

Rnd. 3  Fire elves, no Cradle
1st game, He plays elves, I play Verdant Force, I win
2nd game, I play a little slower, with Shard Phoenix keeping Santa's helpers
off my back, I eventually bring out the Shivan Hellkite, who kicked it like
rock death.

2-0, 2-1

Rnd 4, same as last round, but with Cradle
1st game, he beats me down with about 8 elves until i'm at 9, but Shard
Phoenix doesn't like elves very much, so he kills them all.  The queen does me
a solid by recurring a Feeder every turn until I'm at 24, then I just take the
boots to him
2nd game, he whips out the secret tech, MANABARBS!  But the Monk laughs at
enchantments, and Shivan Hellkite decides to bring the noise and funk.
NOTE:  For those who said Elvish Lyrist killed Nightmare decks, he ran 4 main
deck, yet the only enchantment he killed was one Oath of Ghouls

2-0, 3-1

Rnd. 5  Suicide Black, this guy beat Blaine J. in an earlier round
1st game, His first turn: Mox, Mox, Swamp, Horror, Unholy Strength.  Does this
mean I lost?  NO!  after he beat me down to 5, the Fog Machine and the queen
decided to get some tag team action going, and once again, the Hellkite brings
it, that's right, noise and funk
2nd game, I whip out the secret anti-suicide tech, STRONGHOLD TASKMASTER!!!!
not to mention the fact that he only played two creatures.  Beatings,
Collusion style

2-0, 4-1

Rnd 6, Jerry Shannon
we ID in to the top 8

The top 8 consisted of:
Boogie-Acadamy 5-0-1
Randy Brown-sligh 5-0-1
Russell Tarrant-original Vineyard/Sneak Attack Tech 5-1
Epheron?-sligh 4-1-1
Jerry Shannon-Suicide Black 4-1-1
Blaine J.-sligh 4-1-1
Brent "Smiley" Simon-Academy 4-1-1
Me-Recurring/Survival 4-1-1

I played Boogie again, and lost again, so I won't even bother going into
detail on that one, but here's how it broke down.

Boogie beat me
Blaine beat Randy
Russell beat Jerry Shannon
Smiley beat Epheron

Russell beat Blaine
Smiley beat Boogie (BOO!)

Russell, a young kid who plays tourneys at the same store I do, had a deck
that was completly original, it was a sneak attack deck with phat like Avatar,
Collosus of Sardia, Endless Wurm, he's a good kid who deserved this kind of
good luck, but he lost to the perversion of all that is good in Magic, aka
Academy.

Of course, the obligatory Props and Slops
PROPS:
Russell
proof that you don't have to rip a deck off the dojo to do well in today's hi
tech scene

Mike Boze
owner and operator of Hawghead comics, for bringing the State tourney to Ft.
Smith, not to mention great support of the local scene and players in general

Boogie
for being an all around great guy, one of the few I don't mind losing too, not
to mention the fact that he gave me a complimentary pack of unopened 10th ed,
Garbage Pail Kids, circa 1988, very cool indeed

Jack Tarrant (Russell's dad)
for taking time to learn the game, and not just giving up because you don't do
well in your first few tourneys.  And also for being one of the nicest guys I
know

SLOPS:
WOTC
for printing Tolarian Academy, an obviously broken card

All in all, a great tourney.  Thanks for reading my pointless rantings, just
remember, Magic's a game, so have fun and don't play Academy