From: efertik@netaxs.com (Elliot Fertik) Newsgroups: rec.games.trading-cards.magic.strategy Subject: Philly PTQ Report Date: 10 Aug 1997 23:57:21 GMT Another scrub's report from the Philly PTQ, or Playing with fire. Well, its been a while since I did a tourney report. The last one I did was for regionals in Maryland, and it was the best tournament I ever went to. Then I went to Nationals - and the less said about my Nationals performance, the better. Anyway, there was a PTQ coming up in my hometown of Philadelphia, and I knew that I would be going, The problem was quite simple - what the hell would I play. I follow the net pretty closely, and I also read the magic dojo, and that gives a pretty good idea of what the winning decks are. The problem is that there really is no dominent deck in this environment - instead there are about 3-4 decks that consistantly work well. Anyone who pays attention on the Internet now knows that these decks are - the winning ingredients are only decidng what "personal touches" to put in the deck. Anyway, last week I put together a mono-red beatdown deck and a blue/white ophidian deck and played them against each other. Both of them seemed to be pretty good decks, but I noticed that the red deck, when it got a good draw, was nearly unstoppable. Still, I really didn't know what to play. I work full time, and so I really don't have time to playtest (or even play Magic) except on the weekends. Therefore, I can't playtest as much as I might like. Anyway, on Thursday I suddenly get a email mesage from Mike Flores. He tells me he has a starling new deck that is really good. I'm not going to say anything more about it, but I agonize about playing it. I also make a B/U/r Ertai's starwell deck, and think about using that (I even manage to trade for an Ertai's Familiar, which got me alot of strange looks.) But I'm still not sure about it. the morning of the tourney, I wake up early still not sure what I'm going to play. Mono-red burn starts becoming more attraactive, but I only have two Hammers of Bogarden, and you definitely need 4 for the deck. I bring all three decks with me = Mike's, the Ertai's deck, and the mono-red deck. I get to the hotel where the tournament is being held. I manage to buy two Hammers fairly easily, and so after a little bit more agonizing I decide to go with teh red burn. Why? Simply because in many ways it is the most consistant deck in the environment. Bad draws are not that refrequent, and with a good draw you'll beet any deck without question. However, I then make a very dumb decision. I really don't like the Elite goblin Infantry that so many people play with, so I decide to splash black for Fallen Askari. In retro, this really wasn't a good idea - you should either play mono-red or play with Gemstones, etc. so that you can have more sideboarding goodness. Anyway, as I frantically run around putting the deck together in time for the tournament, here is what I finally come up with: 4 Incinerate 4 Thunderbolt 4 Hammer of Bogarden 4 fireblast 3 Kaervek's Torch 4 Suq'Ata Lancer 4 Talruum Minotaur 4 Orchish Settler 3 Fallen Askari 3 Vashiano Sandstalkers 4 Rocky Tar Pits 3 Swamps 16 Mountains Sideboard (this needed some work - it really didn't help me nearly as much as it should have) 4 Wildfire Emisary 4 Aether Flash 3 Stupor 4 Sirocco Anyway, here's a round by round account of my (mis)adventures. Round 1 - Dan Granden Dan is playing a Blue/red/white deck with blue creatures (merfolk traders, Waterspout, Fog Elementals) Game 1 - I managed to get out a few fast creatures such as my Talruum and knock hm down a few times. I make a stupid mistake by Thunderbolting an Azimet drake when obviously much more fearsome creatures were coming. He then gets down a few big creatures such as Waterspouts and I'm staring down the barrel of a gun. He taps out to put me at five, but I have a incinerate and fireblast in my hand. I attack with a Talruum and a Vashino. He could have blocked one of them but instead he passages the sandstalker. That's nasty, and knocks me down to one life, but I then use the burn to finish my opponent off. Second game, he's mana screwed (only 2-3 lands) and I get out an quick orchish settler, kill his lands. Game over quickly Record: 1-0 Round 2 - Michael Boyle Michael is playing another burn deck, but he is playing 4 Phyrexian Furnances and 4 Mindstones standard(!). He has the same kind of burn as me, a few less creatures. Game 1: As is typical for these types of matches, the main question is who can reduce the other to a crispy char first. He does, getting out a Vashino that unfortunately I can't burn. His extra mana (from the mindstones) is crucial, as I stall out at 4 mana or so - not mana screw, but I couldn't do more than one or two things or turn, while he could burn my creatures and cast more as well. Game 2: I'm mana screwed, and he gets out an Orcish Settler. 'Nuff said. Record: 1-1 Match 3: Randy Collins Randy was playing a white/blue deck with some counterspells, creatures, but I really didn't see much of the deck. Game 1: Some people don't like settlers, but this game shows why they can be so good. He gets a few creatures out, but I burn them. Next I get out a settlor, kill both of his islands. Next settlor kills three of his plains. Nuff said. Game 2: He's mana screwed - only one land. I get out a settler, and that's all she wrote. Record: 2-1 Match 4: David August David is playing a red/black/blue good stuff deck, with man'o'wars, bit of burn, some counterspells, and Necktraal. Game 1: As is so typically in this format, I get another win through mana screw, with a settlor helping out. Game 2: This game is much more interesting. I sideboard in my Aether Flashes, either to find out how they do. We trade a few blows, then I try to cast my Aether Flash. He Dissipates it. however, I draw mad Talruums (like three of them). He counters one, incinerates another, but can't deal with the third. I win. Record 3-1 Match 5: Max Bresner Max, along with his brother, is playing another burn deck. His brother is right next to our match. Oh, boy . . . Game 1: I'm mana screwed. Game over Game 2: I draw much better than him, after having learned correctly to burn him rather than his creatures. Game 3: this game shows me that I made a huge mistake not playing with Quicksands. He has a quicksand out shopping my sandstalker, while he can merrily pound away with his. He gets me down to 4, then fireblast, fireblast puts an end to my PTQ dreams. Sigh - burn versus burn is such a crap shoot. I decide to keep going, mostly to get good experience in the format. Match 6 - Elaine Ferrao Elain is playing a green/red deck with burn, and nice green creatures such as Artic Wolves (good creature, BTW!), Boas and Wall of Roots. Round 1: We trade blows a little bit, with me hitting her with my Lancer. I get her down to 14, but she looks like she thinks she is still in it. Silly Elaine - I then show her the Incinerate, Incinerate, Fireblast, Fireblast in my hand. Fromage, anyone? Round 2: This game, I make several mistakes that really cost me. First, I try to torch her Boa while she is tapped out. Hello, Elliot, did you notice she had a Wall of Roots out as well?! She then gets out an Elephant grass out on me. I can't pay all of the mana necessary to attack her and also burn as I might like. She then torches me for eight. Round 3: Remember my ultra cheese from the first round? Well, Elaine returns the favor with interest. She tell me after the match that her opeing hand was 3 Incinerate, 2 Thunderbolt, 1 Lancer and a Forest. She then draws more land, and her last Incincerate to boot. I look like Betty Shabazz by the time I'm done. Record 3-3 Well, I certainly managed to get a scrub's record today, didn't I? I drop out to play in a Mirage Visions Weatherlight draft. This is the deck I manage to draft: Lotus Vale Grinning Totem 2 Redrood Treefolk Benalish Infantry Kyscu Drake Femeref Scout Fog Elemental Wave Elemental 2 Giant Mantis (!) Knight of the Mists Village Elder Harbor Guardian 2 Breezekeeper (!) Chimeric Sphere Teferi's Drake Parapet Striped Bears Fallow Wurm 2 Freewind Falcon Mist Dragon(!) Well, I think this was a pretty good draft, with really nice creatures but very little removal. It was single elimination Match 1: Danial Madanat Game 1: I manage to get out some really nice big creatures, and I beat him down. Game 2: He's mana screwed. Match 2: Pat Casey Pat is a good player. Round 1: We both get out ground cretures. Pat has drafted 3 (!) Ohidians. He has a shimmering Efreet, and he's using it to phase out my mantis. He also put Soar on an Ophidian, and I'm worried. He then attacks with the Ohpidian. I then pull off what I think was a pretty nifty play. I block with two Freewinds and my 2/1 Chemeric Sphere. He then Thunderbolts the Sphere, but I then transform the Sphere into a 3/2 creature! The Thunderbolt fizzles, the Ophidian dies (I regenerate the casualty with my Village Elder) and I go on to victory. Round 2: I get out my Mist dragon pretty quickly. The first turn, I'm really worried about a Thunderbolt - until Pat points out that the dragon doesn't have flying unless I give it to him. :) Several times I attack with the dragon, forgetting to use flying, so I have to phase it out after he blocks with his Blistering Barrier. Still, there really isn't much he can do, and I win fairly easily. The last round I split with the other finalist because he needed to leave. Got 6 packs of Weatherlight for my trouble. Lost three of them in another Booster draft, but that's another story... Final thoughts: I have to say that I really don't care for the Mirage/Visions/Weatherlight constructed format in general. Mana screw seems to decide more games than anything else, particularly when red is so strong. Of course, with Mainz qualifiers being 5th edition sealed (which sucks horribly), maybe I shouldn't complain. Anyway, feel free to comment, flame, etc. I'll probably be in Washington in two weeks - see you there! -Elliot Fertik