From: Trevor Newsgroups: rec.games.trading-cards.magic.strategy Subject: PTQ Toronto .... a scrub redeems himself, kinda Date: Sun, 10 Aug 1997 01:17:48 -0400 Okay, first things first. This is my first tourney report, so forgive me if I break any kayfabe, or make any errors. Second, I freely admit I'm a scrub (even said so on my name tag). Haven't won a game in my last two tournaments, so I'm thinking that the trend will continue. Went in with a deck that looked similar to the ForgottenOrb decks running around in T2, with Mana Webs for Orbs, and Power Sinks and Disrupts doing the countering business. 24 creatures, plus Banishings and Abeyances rounded the field out. 21 mana sources were iffy, but being a scrub, this is expected :) Game 1 - Mono Blue Okay, this guy wasn't the best opponent. He came into the day thinking this was sealed, so he had to modify a T2 deck. Breezekeepers, Sandbars and Chimeras provided the damage First game, I get the Nekrataal recursion (Nekrataal and Shadow Guildmage)going and clear the board, walking in with my critters. Second game I get the phaser beatdown due to a lack of removal spells (Nekrataal, Man O War and Banishing). Third game, I run over him since he never gets a fourth island out. Match 1-0 Games 2-1 Game 2 - Ertai Familiar I hate this deck. I played for a grand total of 10 minutes. My opponent,, from my understanding, is fairly high ranked and own/runs 401 Convienence here in Toronto. But that aside, I was unprepared for this deck. Game 1, Song of Blood 4 creatures, attack for 28. Second game Song of Blood 3 creatures, attack for 19. The smell of burnt jellyfish filled the hall/gym Match 1-1 Games 2-3 Game 3 - Mono Red Ugh, made quick work of me. Sideboarding was useless as second game saw 1 Undiscovered Paradise. So bad I won't even continue Match 1-2 Games 2-5 Game 4 - Red/White This was like the mono-red deck (your basic celerity/burn), but with Abeyances, Disenchants, and I think Honourable Passages. See game 3 for the results Match 1-3 Games 2-7 So at this point, I drop out and set my sights on the Grand Prix Trials. Top players gets a two round bye. I know I'm not playing in the GP, but I'll play in the trial just for the hell of it. Before I go any further, the finals were between Gary Wise and John Robertson (sorry if I mispelt the names guys). Gary played Ertai's Familiar, and John by the looks of things played Tombstone Stairwell. Didn't play each other in the finals. Just took the draw and I guess they'll settle it in Chicago. Good luck guys. I tune my deck slightly, adding a little more card manipulation (Sage Owls) and more mana (added 2 swamps) So onto the mini tourney. 16 players, top 8 in playoffs. 4 rounds of swiss. Game 1 - R/G A lot of green creatures with the red DD to back it up. Opponent gets mana screwed in game 1, and I run over him with Askari and Cloud Elementals. He SB's in Savage Twister and Elephant Grass and that spells doom for me in game 2. Game 3, he gets the grass out, which stops all my black critters. But with a Guildmage and a Nekrataal out, I start the recursion, killing of his creatures, then going in for the kill Match 1-0 Games 2-1 Game 2 - W/U This deck beat my playtesting buddy who was running something similar to mine. I took game 1 easily with the utility creatures. Game 2 posed some problems. See, Man O Wars and all black stuff don't like Duskriders enchanted with Favorable Destiny. After one of the most grueling matches I've ever played (which doesn't mean much), I squeezed through enough damage to win Match 2-0 Games 4-1 Game 3 - U/W Lots of counters and Hazeriders. I get Mana Webs out in both games, but they mean nothing. He can out counter me, meaning he can keep his Hazeriders out long enough to beat me into the ground. A very solid deck. Match 2-1 Games 4-3 Game 4 - Intentional draw Lucky for me. Another mon-red. We played for fun and he trashed me. Match 2-1-1 Games 4-3 So I make the final 8! Quarters - Sands of Time Equipose Lucky for me he never gets the combo out. Quite the interesting game, as we battled back and forth. I made a scrub mistake (hey, I'm allowed. I am, of course, a scrub) and play more creatures that my opponent, allowing him to phase out my flyer with Equipose and beatdown with Waterspout in the second game. All I have to say, is that when Mana Web is phased in, it rocks! COmbo with Disrupt, Abeyance or Power SInk and its quite rude Semis - "The 5 colour black deck" This was a solid deck put together by a really annoying and well hated person. But he is a good player, I'll give him that. Packed with Man O Wars, Nek's, Guildmages, Necratogs, Abeyances and Incinerates, this made short work of me. Out I go So I redeem myself for the time being. I walked away with a bunch of packs. Pulled Korean BB Serra, Strip Mine, and Stasis. Some great WL, which brought me closer to my set. All in all, a good day. So that's it. Someone else will come along and give a better, mroe experienced report, but this is mine, so I hope you enjoyed. Trevor