Subject: from Robert Bailey Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1998 19:16:10 -0700 From: "Bob Bailey" To: fkusumot@ix.netcom.com NM State Championships * A Goat's Perspective On November 21, 1998, Team Goats plus a bunch more dueled for the title of State Champion here in boring old New Mexico. What follows is a first person account of the events that transpired during the previously mentioned event. Team Goats playtested in secret for weeks before the State Championships, releasing none of our tech (ok, so we had none:). I talked with a bunch of casual players at my high school and convinced something like 9 or 10 people to attend (sorry, everyone, I had forgotten how slow lines move when 10 people are registering new DCI cards. I admit, it was me:) So at the event, there were 44 people with most of the usual people showing as well as a new group from Roswell playing in their first sanctioned tournament. It was 5 swiss rounds with single elimination top 8. Only two Academy decks, neither made top 8. Overall great tournament. I tooled around with revising the amazing 5CDonias deck, and found it to be a viable option. Forbid buyback replaced the necessity for Gaea's Blessing, and Staunch Defenders provided the much needed life boost. Earthquakes are probably needed in the main deck as I had a little trouble drawing my Wrath of Gods in rounds 3, 4, and 5. 4CBailey 4 Counterspell 1 Dismiss 4 Forbid 1 Memory Lapse (drop for a second Dismiss) 4 Portent 1 Rewind (drop for an Earthquake) 4 Whispers of the Muse 4 Wall of Blossoms 2 Fireball 3 Disenchant (drop 1 for a second Earthquake) 2 Staunch Defenders 4 Wrath of God 2 Adarkar Wastes 4 City of Brass 8 Island 1 Mogg Hollows 4 Plains 2 Thalakos Lowlands 2 Vec Township 3 Wasteland (drop 1 for a Mogg Hollows) Sideboard 3 Annul 2 Propaganda 2 Slight of Mind 2 Scragnoth 1 Wasteland 2 Circle of Protection: Red 1 Disenchant 2 Light of Day Here is how I would recreate the sideboard, based on my experiences in the new Standard environment, the aforementioned changes in the main deck, and in accordance with local meta-game. 2 Hydroblast 2 Legacy's Allure 2 Slight of Mind 2 Scragnoth 2 Circle of Protection: Red 2 Disenchant 2 Light of Day ...and one more of any of the above for what suits your environment (currently a Legacy's Allure). Other sideboard options include Maze of Shadows and Wall of Diffusion (a surprisingly good card and an excellent card against Suicide Black). Onward... Round One * Tom with Necropotence Tom is a great guy with the kewlist sleeves I have ever seen. His deck was in black backs which were put into those huge cases which elementary school kids but their Ken Griffey, Jr. cards in. It's all about the sleeves. He commented about the years of practice he put into shuffling. Game One * Turn one Duress sucks and I soon realize that he is playing Necro which sucks even worse. He proceeds to beat me down with pumped Knight of Stromgalds. "It's all about the sleeves." Game Two * I sideboard in the Propaganda, Slight of Minds, Disenchant, Light of Day. Big deal. Turn one Duress, turn two Duress. Whee! I love playing against Necropotence. Tom keeps commenting about how sorry he is for abusing my deck in this way and how I should probably make Top 8 despite this horrible pairing. 0-1 Round Two * Christopher with R/G land destruction Anything with Argothian Worms poses a problem for my deck, but fortunately he didn't use any Eladamri's Vineyards (MIKE!!!), so I stood a chance, in fact a very good one. Game One * His early elves apply some beatdown, but the turn after he drops the Argothian Worm, I show him the Wrath of God tech. Bye! Lots later on, after everyone else has finished their rounds, they start watching our first game. Wow, deck attention. Cool. I get the eventual Staunch Defender beatdown followed by an 11 point Fireball. Yay! Everyone seems impressed that a U/W deck is still viable. It always is. Game Two * I sideboard in my Circle of Protection: Red for kicks. I stop his early rush of land destruction with minimal losses and Counterspell his Argothian Wurms. I have a little trouble killing him though, and I stall looking for the a Defender. I get it and begin application of beatdown. I bludgeon him for a few turns but he starts dropping blockers while I have no Counterspells! Ahhh! I have one Forbid left in my 7 card deck and I can't draw it! At one point, if he plays a creature, I cannot kill him and will deck myself, but eventually I draw the Forbid, lock the game up, and apply finishing beatdown. 1-1 Round Three * Josh with mono-Red Josh is a casual player from my school and I am not extremely worried about facing him. My deck does well against mono-red anyways, and his is slightly sub par (random stuff like Fling, Seething Anger, Blood Frenzy). But red is red, and that is a bad thing. Game One * He goes crazy with a double Seething Angered Goblin, but this drops his hand to a whopping 0 cards and I amass 7 Counterspells before he draws a non-land. Staunch Defender serves. Bill Goldman, an incredibly talanted local player, sits down to watch the match, amazed that blue/white control is alive and well. More deck attention. Game Two * In goes Circle of Protection: Red and Slight of Mind. I get an utterly horrible start, drawing nothing good. I tap out to play a life saving Defender and he follows it up with Goblin King and Ball Lightning. Beatings!!! Game Three * Turn 2 Circle of Protection: Red is some good. I stop all of his stuff and double Fireball him to death. An utterly uneventful round except for the fact that when I tap out for the first Fireball, he casts a Ball Lightning, Blood Frenzies it, attacks (I block with a Wall), and he Flings it. Wow! 16 points of damage with a Ball Lightning, but like I said, utterly uneventful. 2-1 Round Four * Edward with Suicide Black Edward is a pretty cool guy from Santa Fe and I enjoyed playing against him a lot. I hope to see him at a few more tourneys soon, and sorry about the Sarcomancy beatings. :) Game One * He drops lots of early weenies and a Bad Moon. I get lucky and top deck a Wrath of God. He takes two a turn from his Sarcomancys while all of his creatures get Countered. Eventually a seven point Fireball puts him out of his misery. Game Two * I get another turn four Wrath of God, which he can't recover from. I drop three Walls, and eventually two Paralyzed Staunch Defenders eventually serve beatings. 3-1 Now I'm in the classic win and you're in situation, as is teammate Mike Byhoff. He complains about how he knows he will play me, and I keep saying that we won't and not to worry. Round Five * Mike (go figure) with Evil Wurm'Geddon Game One * He gets massive Vineyard action and I burn to death. An utterly boring game. Game Two * He gets massive LD action, and one land cannot play a Wrath of God to stop the Spike Feeder, Spike Weaver, and Argothian Wurm he has out. Whee! I took a combined four mulligans in these games as well, and probably should have taken a fifth in the second game. 3-2 and twelfth in the state. Not bad, not good; but the deck attention was probably worth it. Everyone seemed amazed that a control deck was that good. I got several comments like, "I used to play a lot of U/W, but I thought it wouldn't work anymore," or "What card are you using to kill with because Gaea's Blessing is out of print?" or "How did you find a worthy life gainer? What is it?" Well, now you know. Overall, our team went a combined 13-8 including side tournaments and the top 8. Not bad at all. Props The Roswell crew for their 1st/3rd place finishes!!! Shawn for winning the whole tamale!!! Mikey B for finishing fourth in the state!!! Ryan for winning the side tournament!!! Me for placing twelfth!!! Slops Random pairings!!! and impossibility to draw into the Final 8!!! Me for sucking it against Mike in the last round!!! Team Omega for only putting one member in the Final 8!!! Yay Kirk!!! Robert Bailey Team Goats DCI 759311 "Staunch Defenders 4 Life." Advocate for Staunch Defender beatings. P.S. See you at the Western Junior Super Series Qualifiers in December!