From: "Daniel Gray" Subject: San Diego Chicago QT: Report Date: 7 Jul 1997 22:28:40 GMT Yesterday, a Qualifier Tournament for Chicago was held in San Diego, California(and in several other places, I imagine). The event drew 103 players(14 from Phoenix, with the remainder split about evenly between Los Angeles and San Diego area players). Like any new constructed format, most players showed up with little idea of what to expect in the way of deck archetypes and metagame issues besides the obvious(the "obvious" in the case of Mirage/Visions/Weatherlight being a lot of red and a lot of burn). Because of this, the decks were interesting, unpredictable, and a lot of ideas that I thought had no chance of working actually did work fairly well(in fact, two of them made the final 8). The tournament was run by organizer Scott Larabee with myself and Andrea Kunstt acting as co-Head Judges. We were ably assisted by judges Bob Blackman and Julia Berggren and tournament staff Rick and Connie Takenaga. We ran seven Swiss rounds, and managed to do it all in just over twelve hours(we posted first round pairings at 10:15 am and the finals finished at 10:30 pm). All in all, there were a _lot_ of interesting decks. Below, in my usual format, I'll list the decks that made the final 8, but I'd like to take the opportunity to briefly mention some of the other interesting decks that didn't quite make it. One deck archetype that, while not unexpected, worked very well, was the monogreen big creatures + Dense Foliage deck. This was exactly what it sounds like-- lots of green creatures(Quirion Ranger, River Boa, Wall of Roots, Maro, Bull Elephant, Llanowar Behemoth, Jungle Wurm, and even Canopy Dragon were all creatures choices). Shaun DeArman, who went 4-2-1 in the tournament, probably had the best deck of this type. Another interesting deck was monoblack in various incarnations. Frank Gilson played a deck revolving around the Infernal Tribute/Urborg Justice combination, while Randal Newell's tried to make abusive use out of Strands of Night. Several different control deck variants were played(and many of them somewhat or closely resembled the deck used by Jason Gordon at PT Paris), and Binh Pham's U/W deck(countermagic, white removal, Impulse, Ancestral Knowledge, Hazerider Drake, and Rainbow Efreet) met with the most success.Another interesting deck was Gary Rush's attempt to play Prosperity Bloom without Squandered Resources. Perhaps the most interesting deck in the entire tournament was Ray Powers's monoblue Sands of Time/Teferi's Realm deck, which employed a number of rarely used cards(Sapphire and Vision Charm, Reality Ripple, and Teferi's Realm, just to name a few), and is probably the first deck in history about which could be said, "It's all about the Avizoa." Several people on IRC have asked me about which cards in particular were popular. In black, Cadaverous Knight, Fallen Askari, Infernal Tribute, Urborg Justice, Tombstone Stairwell, and, of course, Nekrataal all appeared with high frequency. In blue, most of the countermagic(especially Power Sink, Dissipate, and Memory Lapse), Impulse, Ancestral Knowledge, Rainbow Efreet, and the seemingly omnipresent Man-o'-War. Green was any large, big creature, River Boa, Quirion Ranger, Wall of Roots, and Dense Foliage. Red-- anything direct damage-like, the "no summoning sickness" creatures, plus Orcish Settlers and AEther Flash came out to play. White was mostly removal(Pacifism, Gossamer Chains, and Afterlife) and life gaining(especially Gerrard's Wisdom and Mangara's Blessing), plus Abeyance. Plenty of Snake Baskets and Bosium Strips, with sideboarded Phyrexian Furnace(vs. Hammer) and Bubble Matrix(vs. AEther Flash and direct damage) were the bulk of the artifacts. Results after the Swiss Rounds: This list includes anyone who finished with 13 match points(a 4-2-1 record) or higher during the Siss rounds. Name Match Points(3 for a win, 1 for a draw, 0 for a loss) 1. Jason Zila 19 2. Riad Mourssali 18 3. Michael Nickoloff 18 4. Kevin Dimdiman 18 5. Preston Poulter 17 6. Eric Householder 17 7. James Takenaga 16 8. Ernest Alexander 16 9. Cory Jones 15 10. Shane Cargilo 15 11. Andrew Corley 15 12. Salvatore Tomazzoli 15 13. David Freeman 15 14. Mario Robaina 15 15. Steve Pletsch 15 16. Mike Hoehn 15 17. Adam Vieyra 15 18. Shaun DeArman 13 19. Christa Miller 13 20. Binh Pham 13 21. Les Douglas 13 Due to a severe Floor Rules violation during the seventh Swiss round, Jason Zila was disqualified from the tournament, so the ninth finishing player, Cory Jones, made the top 8. Quarterfinals: Riad Mourssali defeated Cory Jones 2-1 Eric Householder defeated Preston Poulter 2-0 Ernest Alexander defeated Michael Nickoloff 2-0 James Takenaga defeated Kevin Dimdiman 2-0 Semifinals: Riad Mourssali defeated Eric Householder 2-0 James Takenaga defeated Ernest Alexander 2-0 Finals: Riad Mourssali defeated James Takenaga 2-0 The Final 8: Decks and Player Bios Quarterfinalists: Kevin Dimdiman San Diego, CA As far as I could tell, this is not only the first time Kevin has made the final 8 at a Qualifier, it is the first SCGA-run tournament he has ever played in. His deck was a B/G affair based around killing with creatures large and small, with Tombstone Stairwell and discard to help it along. The sideboard is aimed principly against Empyrial Armor decks, other black decks, blue-based decks, and weenie hordes. Kevin's deck: 1 Anvil of Bogardan 4 Fallen Askari 2 Fallow Wurm 1 Feral Shadow 9 Forest 4 Hidden Horror 2 Jolrael's Centaur 3 Mtenda Lion 2 Necrosavant 2 Quicksand 4 River Boa 2 Rogue Elephant 2 Skulking Ghost 4 Stupor 9 Swamp 3 Tombstone Stairwell 2 Urborg Justice 2 Veteran Explorer Sideboard: 3 Coercion 2 Crypt Rats 3 Dark Banishing 3 Emerald Charm 2 Roots of Life 2 Serene Heart Cory Jones Dana Point, CA Cory is regular player at Southern California tournaments, and he has played in numerous Pro Tournaments, and was a semifinalist at this year's Southern California Regionals. Cory and Shane Cargilo co-designed this R/W deck, which is based around controlling the game and gaining life, and wins by either starting Hammer of Bogardan recursion or by overruning the opponent with Sacred Mesa tokens. In the meantime, Cory would just sit back incapicitating the opponent's creatures through a variety of means, and gaining life with Gerrard's Wisdom and Mangara's Blessing. The sideboard is designed principly to counteract burn decks and blue control decks. Cory's deck: 2 Amber Prison 2 Bogardan Firefiend 2 Disenchant 1 Enlightened Tutor 4 Gerrard's Wisdom 3 Gossamer Chains 2 Hammer of Bogardan 3 Honorable Passage 4 Incinerate 3 Kaervek's Torch 1 Mangara's Blessing 7 Mountain 3 Pacifism 11 Plains 3 Quicksand 2 Sacred Mesa 2 Tithe 4 Torrent of Lava 2 Undiscovered Paradise Sideboard: 2 Abeyance 2 Disenchant 1 Honorable Passage 3 Mangara's Blessing 2 Phyrexian Furnace 1 Shadowbane 4 Sirocco Michael Nickoloff: La Canada, CA Mike is a longtime Southern California player who recently sold the majority of his cards and semi-retired from tournament play to take up judging. Because he discovered he enjoyed the Mirage/ Visions/ Weatherlight format so much, he decided to temporarily come out of retirement and try and qualify for Chicago. Mike's deck is a modified version of a deck designed by Preston Poulter(see below), and Andrew Corley also played the exact same version as Mike. The deck is essentially an AEther Flash/Abeyance denial deck-- kill your opponents creatures as they come into play, and slow them down with Abeyance. Large creatures(Ogre Enforcer, Wall of Roots, and Subterranean Spirit), as well as regenerators(Jungle Troll and River Boa) get around the AEther Flash, and burn finishes the opponent off. The sideboard is designed primarily against burn and creature-heavy strategies. Mike's deck: 4 Abeyance 4 AEther Flash 2 Forest 2 Gemstone Mine 3 Grasslands 4 Hammer of Bogardan 2 Honorable Passage 4 Incinerate 4 Jungle Troll 3 Kaervek's Torch 11 Mountain 3 Mountain Valley 2 Ogre Enforcer 2 Plains 4 River Boa 1 Subterranean Spirit 2 Undiscovered Paradise 4 Wall of Roots Sideboard: 4 Afterlife 3 Disenchant 3 Freewind Falcon 1 Phyrexian Furnace 1 Plains 3 Savage Twister Preston Poulter Orange, CA Preston is longtime Southern California and professional Magic player. Preston has played in virtually every Pro Tournament and was a semifinalist at 1996 PT New York and a quarterfinalist at 1996 PT Los Angeles. Preston's R/G deck is the original version of the deck played by Mike Nickoloff(Mike added white for additional removal and control), and is essentially an AEther Flash deck designed to slow down small-creature based attacks while Preston attacked with his large creatures and finished the opponent off with burn. The sideboard is designed to combat blue and white. Preston's deck: 4 AEther Flash 3 Fireblast 5 Forest 3 Hammer of Bogardan 4 Incinerate 4 Jungle Troll 3 Kaervek's Torch 3 Mind Stone 11 Mountain 4 Mountain Valley 2 Redwood Treefolk 4 River Boa 2 Subterranean Spirit 3 Talruum Minotaur 2 Undiscovered Paradise 3 Wall of Roots Sideboard: 2 Blossoming Wreath 3 Creeping Mold 1 Juju Bubble 2 Phyrexian Furnace 2 Reign of Chaos 3 Savage Twister 2 Sirocco Semifinalists: Eric Householder Phoenix, AZ Eric is a member of Team Jester, one of Phoenix's two competitive tournament teams(the other is Team Arizona Collector's Paradise), and he has played in numerous Qualifiers before, but has never made the final 8. Eric's deck was designed by the members of Team Jester(principly by Eric himself and Riad Mourssali), and is a variant on the traditional monored Sligh/burn deck. It differs from most other decks of this type in that it runs 23 land, rather than the usual 20 or 21 land. Tournament Champion Riad Mourssali played a deck virtually identical to Eric's. Eric's deck: 1 Dwarven Miner 4 Fireblast 4 Goblin Elite Infantry 4 Hammer of Bogardan 4 Incinerate 3 Kaervek's Torch 20 Mountain 3 Orcish Settlers 3 Quicksand 4 Suq'Ata Lancer 3 Talruum Minotaur 4 Thunderbolt 3 Viashino Sandstalker Sideboard: 2 Builder's Bane 3 Chaos Charm 2 Dwarven Miner 2 Goblin Tinkerer 2 Snake Basket 2 Torrent of Lava 2 Wildfire Emissary Ernest Alexander Santa Barbara, CA Ernest is another longtime Southern California player, and he has been playing in Qualifiers since the beginning, although he has never qualified for the Pro Tour. Ernest is reowned for his interesting, combination-based decks. He was, in fact, one of the first players in Southern California to make a Prosperity Bloom deck(about a week about Visions was released). So when Ernest first showed me his B/G/U Call of the Wild/Ancestral Knowledge deck several weeks prior to the tournament, I thought he was insane- the deck was extremely slow, and relied on unlikely combos involving Nekrataal and Shadow Guildmage for creature removal and board control. Nevertheless, Ernest committed himself to this deck, and made it work, balancing the land ration so he could play three colors, and including Stupor to give himself more control over the game. The objective of the deck is simple-- to bring out large creatures, preferably by playing Call of the Wild and then using Ancestral Knowledge to "stack" your library to get them out cheaply. The sideboard is mostly used against blue control decks that could counter key parts of the combination or key creatures. Ernest's deck: 3 Ancestral Knowledge 4 Bad River 1 Catacomb Dragon 3 Call of the Wild 8 Forest 2 Gemstone Mine 4 Hidden Horror 1 Island 3 Llanowar Behemoth 2 Lotus Vale 3 Man-o'-War 1 Morinfen 4 Nekrataal 2 Quirion Ranger 3 River Boa 1 Spirit of the Night 4 Stupor 5 Swamp 2 Undiscovered Paradise 4 Wall of Roots Sideboard: 1 Ancestral Knowledge 1 Call of the Wild 2 City of Solitude 3 Emerald Charm 1 Man-o'-War 1 Serene Heart 3 Shadow Guildmage 3 Uktabi Orangutan Finalist: James Takenaga Riverside, CA James is a longtime player and sometime judge in Southern California. His parents often help out at our tournaments, and James is also a longtime resident of the Junior Pro Tour, and was a Junior Quarterfinalist at PT New York last month. James played a deck that was virtually an exact copy of the deck Jason Zila used a PT Paris(and Zila's deck was itself a variant of a deck designed by PCL member Mario Robaina). The deck is R/B/U, and is based on control via small creatures, direct damage, and a some countermagic. While James admitted he wasn't very creative in designing it, it certainly worked, and we wish James the best at PT Chicago in October. James's deck: 2 Amber Prison 3 Bad River 3 Cadaverous Knight 3 Impulse 4 Incinerate 5 Island 2 Kaervek's Torch 2 Knight of the Mists 2 Man-O'-War 3 Mountain 2 Necromancy 1 Necrosavant 4 Nekrataal 3 Power Sink 3 Rocky Tar Pit 3 Shadow Guildmage 1 Snake Basket 4 Stupor 8 Swamp 2 Undiscovered Paradise Sideboard: 3 Bubble Matrix 2 Coercion 2 Crypt Rats 2 Dissipate 1 Magma Mine 3 Mind Harness 1 Necrosavant 1 Power Sink Champion: Riad Mourssali Scottsdale, AZ Riad is another member of Phoenix's Team Jester and is currently a Top 25 ranked Classic player. This is the first time he has qualified for the Pro Tour as a Master. His deck was another monored Sligh/burn affair, and was only a few cards different from that of his teamate, semifinalist Eric Householder. Riad's deck: 1 Dwarven Miner 4 Fireblast 4 Goblin Elite Infantry 4 Hammer of Bogardan 4 Incinerate 3 Kaervek's Torch 21 Mountain 2 Orcish Settlers 3 Quicksand 4 Suq'Ata Lancer 3 Talruum Minotaur 4 Thunderbolt 3 Viashino Sandstalker Sideboard: 2 Builder's Bane 2 Chaos Charm 1 Dwarven Miner 1 Goblin Tinkerer 2 Reign of Chaos 2 Sirocco 2 Snake Basket 1 Torrent of Lava 2 Wildfire Emissary Congratulations to Riad and James for qualifying, and a big "Thank you" to all the people who attended from myself, my staff, and organizer Scott Larabee. Future upcoming SCGA- run events include two more Qualifiers for Chicago(on July 26 and September 6 in Costa Mesa, CA), the InQuest $1,000 Classic(in San Diego on July 27) and $3,000 Classic Restricted(in Costa Mesa, CA on August 10) tournaments, plus Qualifiers for Germany(in Phoenix and Los Angeles), and, on October 4, the Tempest Pre-release(in Los Angeles, San Diego, and Phoenix). For more information on these and other SCGA events including the Saturday Gathering, call SCGA's tournament hotline at (714) 444-4601. Thanks to all for reading,and I hope players preparing for future Qualifiers find this information useful. Dan Gray