Subject: Louisiana Top 8, Tournament Reoprt Date: Wed, 25 Nov 1998 13:21:05 -0600 From: Edward Guernica To: fkusumot@ix.netcom.com Hello Frank, The following is a Louisiana State's Tournament Report . The names of the innocent have been changed, but the names of the guilty have not. On Saturday, November 21st, Ryan Picolo Level 3 Judge and overall cool guy picks me up at my hacienda and we head over to the Quality Hotel on Causeway. Which, by the way is the second ugliest building in the metro New Orleans area. The first ugliest building is that Strayas, on St. Charles if you need to know. So we get to the tournament much too early, and I sit in the corner and start sleaving my deck (I can not fathom why "sleaving" is a verb). After a short time, the rest of team Flood Zone, or Flood for those who are intellectually challenged- shows up. Currently our numbers include, Andrew Seawell, Rick "Nails" Moscatello (yes, that is what he really looks like, just see your latest Duelist magazine for his latest picture), Paul "I only play magic for fun" Beleci, Ryan Picolo our resident techie, and yours truly Eddy "Juan" Guernica. For the last three weeks or so we had been practicing with a variety of decks: of course Sligh and Academy were the most competitive- but Paul had built a rather interesting Mana Breach-Exploration deck. Rich and I, decided to Play slightly different versions of Picolo's Starfleet Academy. The version I played is as follows 4 Time Spirals 4 Windfalls 4 Strokes of Genius (the first "repaired" reprint that is better than the original) 3 MoMs (What's really broken in the Academy deck) 2 Intuition 2 Power Sinks 2 Interdicts 1 Capsize 4 Mana Vaults- One English, One Spanish, One Korean, One Japanese 4 Lotus Petals 4 Mox Diamonds 3 Sapphire Medallions 2 Scroll Racks 2 Voltaic Keys 3 Urza's Baubles - (The DCI really needs to ban this card) And now for the ultra low but effective mana count. . . 4 Tolarian Academies 2 Waste Lands 10 Islands The Sideboard: Included some totally secret tech I just can't wait to show you the secret tech. . . hold on, its worth waiting for . . . . Okay, the Sideboard had. . . .The most powerful card in magic . . . Library of Leng- It's a Spellbook, kind-of, and anti-discard. Total power! Okay, on to the tournament. Round One v. Sligh: I sit down a little late, and look to both my right and the left. All I see in every direction are Mountains, Tolarians, Goblins, and assorted Artifacts. Most first round match ups, all seem to be Sligh versus Tolarian in its many variations. He wins the toss, and goes- Mountain, done. I draw and go, Mox diamond, Academy, Mana vault, Scroll Rack. I am such the best Magic player. On his second turn, he goes mountain, goblin, shock. On my turn, I Spiral, 15 minutes latter- game. The second game, goes much like the first, but I play a third, and forth turn Chill, followed by a hydroblast of his goblin Lackey. I go off on the fifth turn. Round Two v. White Weenie: I hate White Weenie, and of course I decided not to play Dread of Night, or any other White Color hoser. I thought, " hey, this is Louisiana everyone and their 2nd cousin, which they also happen to be married to, will be playing red" ( I was born here, so I am allowed to slam the place). In the first game, I am lucky to go off on the forth turn while still at 12 life. The second game, he goes and gets a quite good draw, by the forth turn he has 2 Soltari Visionaries in play. On my, turn four I top deck a MoM, and I already have an Academy in play and a Time Spiral in my hand. I go real cocky like, "And we are off !" I drop the MoM, untap the Academy and Spiral. When I pick up my seven new cards, I reveal on at a time. Island, Island, Island, Waste Land, Island, Waste Land, and, and, and , Island. I then say, far less self assured this time, mind you, "Oh, @#$%*!," I promptly get a verbal warning, and go on to lose the game, as I am forced to use the cards I drew to tap his Visionaries before they destroy my MoM and me. Game 3, I go off on the second turn, revenge is so sweet. Round 3 v. Tolarian Blue: It happens to be my team mate, so we decide to draw. We play it out for fun and he proceeds to beat the unliving hell out of me. I would say, a rather fortuitous draw, if you ask me. Round 4 v. Sligh: Are you beginning to see a trend. He goes first and proceeds to build a massive goblin army. I get lucky again, and go off on the forth turn before he runs me over. In go 3 Chills, 3 Hydros. Game 2, I get squat, and he proceeded to show me how well his red killing machine is tuned by killing on turn 5, I believe. In game 3, I go set the combo and go on turn 3, quite appropriate I must say. I forgot your name, but my opponent this round like all of my opponents in this tournament were the consummate sportsmen. This is not a sexist comment mind you, but since I played no members of the better gender, it is an accurate statement. Oh, by the way at the end of Round 4, I am 3-0-1. Round Five: Versus, I hope he considers me his friend: Josh Watts. Josh, I am still looking for those 2 BB Japanese Mana Birds : ). Josh is playing a rather good, and well tuned Blue- Control with all the usual suspects: Whispers, Counters, Forbid, Mana Leaks, Strokes, Nukes, and the side has Arcane Lab, I suspect. First game, Josh Knows what I am playing and holds to counter, I play conservatively and Spiral, sink his counter spell, and I go off. In the game, we both play rather conservatively, and the game goes, and goes like the Energizer Bunny. Finally, we are both holding full hands, and he has exactly 13 cards in his library. I am holding 3 strokes, a Spiral, 2 Pyros, and a powersink. I draw another, Spiral, and during his next turn, I proceed to force the issue, I get lucky, and Stroke him out of his last 13 cards. He of course is mad as all hell, as his deck was cut to beat Tolarian Broken. As usual, I top decked what I needed, when I needed it. Sorry Josh. 4-0-1 and Ranked 3 or 4th going in Round Six: Senta Miller. Senta is playing a discard Necro Deck, and we decide to draw in. Senta all most always beats me like a red headed step child, so it was a wise choice on his part. 4-0-2 Final 8 Tolarian- Cannon- "I look like Vinnie Falcone" Boling Tolarian- Jeff Taylor -With secret -Karn and Scragy tech! Tolarian- Rick "Nails" Moscetello -Defending State Champion Tolarian- Me Sligh- "little Josh" Pejsach Sligh-Chris Huang Sligh- Brad Ryan Necro/Discard- Senta Miller Round of 8: I of course, get matched up with little Josh. Who I have not beaten in the last year. We both get deck checked, and after a short while we start. I draw, get a decent hand, I only need one more artifact or land to get going, as I have a Spiral, Windfall, Academy, Mox, and some other assorted stuff. I never get what I need and he stomps me into the ground with shocks, goblins, and Incinerates, and Iron Claw Orks. In the second game, It is much the same, but I mulligan, and get an okay draw, but I proceeded to draw nothing but basic land for 3 turns, and he stomps me into the ground by turn five. I am such the best magic player. I get beat by the same deck, I housed 8 to 10 times in a row in the last 2 weeks. However, Josh was not playing at the time and his team member, Jeremy "Slemer" was. Josh goes on and losses in the finals. During his game, Rick gets beat up by Karn and we are both out. And now for the obligatory Props and Slops. Props: Rick for putting up with my constant complaining and for buying a matching Ertai Counter, which in turn I took from him when I lost mine. Props to Tim Weissman for another well run tournament, and 12 packs of extremely cool foreign magic, especially the Two Korean Cataclysms. Props to Ryan, for building a good deck and not losing his cool after I time Spiraled for Seven lands-5 Islands and 2 waste lands with an Academy and MOM on the board. To Josh and Jeremy and other members of Team Pimp Slap, you two are the luckiest scrubs ever play magic--congrats. And finally, last but not least, eventual State Champion- Cannon Boling. Slops to Ben Bliewiess for constantly calling a Judge over in the first round, accusing poor Paul "I play magic for fun" at trying to look at his deck during shuffling. Its a game, Ben get over it! To Little Josh, for hexing me once again. My bad draws and mana-screw in the final eight, and of course ... To Pancho's Mexican Buffet, for crappy food, and anyone named Juan.. .