Subject: Tournament Report: Colorado State Championship Date: Sat, 28 Nov 1998 22:18:13 -0800 From: Reno Riter To: "'fkusumot@ix.netcom.com'" Hello again Frank. I think after hearing so much about my previous posting from my fellow players and judges (Urza's Pre-release) and with my results from States 98', I thought I would share some of my thoughts on various subjects involving the last few weeks. First I would like to clear up misconceptions of which store one should or should not frequent in regards to tournament play. It seems silly to have to write this, but I am not the type to start favoring or bashing anyone or anything an any way, shape, or form. In my previous posting it may have seemed that I showed enthusiasm for a particular store. But I never said a single harsh word against a store (I'm purposely avoiding the use of store names). If this is in any way unclear, I have a suggestion. LEARN TO READ. I frequent many outlets for tournaments and have mutual respect for the owners. If there is a need to explain this further, please e-mail me. Nuff said. The State competition for Colorado was an exciting one. Many players with many different ideas for this new format were there to strut their stuff. However, there was only one deck on my mind....Tolarian. Yes, yes, the big stupid deck. All day at work I thought of ways to deal with this menace that seemed to be the deck to play. We in Colorado knew that the deck would be there. Everyone except for the uninformed. And as much as I try not to conform (I mean, Jesus, there is an enormous amount of cards in the pool for which to play with) I was looking at this deck as the deck for me to play. After work, I burned over to a tournament at A STORE to test out some new type 2 decks that I'd been throwing around. The two decks I made were a discard deck with Oppression, Bottomless Pit, Ensnaring, Null Brooch, Cursed Scrolls, Duress....you get the picture. And the other was an all red Land D deck that I had high hopes for. After the tournament, I threw those ideas out da' do'. Fast creature rush and Tolarian would have left me thinking about how short life really is. So, with my thoughts expunged on how to deal with these decks I was left not knowing what I would play. So, two of my teammates, Jason Henry and Kenny York, picked me up and we broke the situation down over at J's house. I knew from the get go what the two of them were going to play....Tolarian. This damned deck haunted me. I couldn't get away from it. So we built all kinds of decks to see how each deck would do against it. The Aftermath....Tolarian. 3:00 a.m. rolls around. Still no deck for me to play. We were getting tired. Finally, I decided to just make a deck that would do well on a general level. What Chris Otwell would later call in his posting...."Other Rogue Deck". I conceded that Tolarian would be there, so I made my sideboard heavy against it. I was fairly determined to beat it. I ran Counter-Pheonix. My reasoning behind it was, I figured it could hold it's own against most decks. And I knew right off the bat that with Jason and Kenny running the decks they were, one of us was going to have a good chance and a good day. 9:00 a.m. - One hour and 15 minutes worth of sleep. I was ready. Sort of. We arrive at, you guessed it, A STORE, and we sign up. There was a tremendous turnout in comparison to last year. This fact alone makes me happy for the game. And everyone I expected to be there was, except for Ryan Cole and Heath Kennel who were riding the waves at Pro-Tour Rome. First match Guess what I went up against. C'mon guess. You're right!!!!!!! Tolarian!!!!! I lay my island. He lays an island and a Fountain of Youth. Here we go. Luckily enough I see timely Wastelands, Meltdowns, and Arcane labs. I shut him down, knowing that this guy built this deck and hardly playtested it. Ultimately, I knew his deck better than him. 1-0 Second Match Necro???? What the....? He sees a necro, a knight, a contamination????? and holy shit I die. After I sided against him, I saw all the right cards including the disk. 2-0 Third match Crapola....mirror match. Pheonix upon pheonix. I didn't expect it. After the first game I realized that he who had the first pheonix out on the board (usually) won. I also saw a Douse against him. He never saw his own pheonix again. 3-0 Fourth match Rogue, rogue, rogue. Black/white fatties w/ discard (Abandon hope??!!!) w/ Living Death. This deck worked miracles against sligh decks (lots o' life gain). After the first game I knew what to counter. 4-0 Fifth match The deck you love to hate. Sligh. First game......oh well. Second game I stopped the initial assault and mid to late game saw a Douse (this card beats down upon the ass). Next game ditto. Being able to Douse a pyro is....oh what's the word I'm thinking about.....OH! That's good!!! Yeah, that's it. 5-0 Sixth match Two more to go and I get matched up with a 4 and 1. I think his name was Bob. I talked him into drawing with me to give myself a 5-0-1 record and a secure spot in second place. In retrospect, he probably shouldn't have drawn with me, however I let him make the decision. I really didn't have a problem playing him, I just thought I'd ask him. He seemed like a pretty nice guy. We both wished each other luck and we moved on to round 7. 5-0-1 Seventh Match Losing here wasn't that big of a deal. I went up against a classic white weenie. The choices people make...sheesh. Two WW players went into the final eight and I believe there were only two WW players at the tourney. I have to hand it to them, That was the last type of deck I expected to see. Completely threw off my idea of the metagame, and obviously everyone else's. WW vs. Counter-Pheonix.....advantage WW. 5-1-1 So it was down to the nitty-gritty. 2 WW decks, 4 Sligh, 1 Tolarian, and me (the "Other Rogue Deck") Counter-Pheonix. As much as Rob Raven and I see things differently, I don't know if I know anyone else who can play Sligh as good as he. I'm sure there are others out there, and I may have not played against them, but I have to tell you; I was concerned. However, I felt extremely confident. I'd