From: slacker@parktown.com
Date: Sun, 24 Aug 1997 09:58:36 -0500 
Subject: New Orleans PTQ
To: fkusumot@ix.netcom.com

Hi Everybody,

For those of you who don't know me, my name's Mike Bowen and I'm
from Montgomery, AL.  I'll end the suspense by saying that I didn't
qualify in New Orleans and didn't even make the top eight.  I did go
4-2 however which isn't so bad for a scrub like myself.  The deck I
played was a variant of one played by Jeff Broido of San Diego, CA
in an earlier PTQ.  Here's how my version looked.

4 Benalish Knight
3 Longbow Archer
3 Serrated Biskelion
4 Man o War
3 Ophidian
3 Waterspout Djinn

4 Abeyance
4 Memory Lapse
3 Powersink
3 Impulse
2 Honorable Passage
2 Pacifism

3 Flood Plain
1 Gemstone Mine
1 Undiscovered Paradise
2 Quicksand
8 Islands
8 Plains

(Yeah, 61 cards.  I said I was a scrub, didn't I?)

Sideboard:
2 Mind Harness
2 Knights of the Mists
2 Disrupt
2 Boomerang
2 Honorable Passage
2 Amber Prison
3 Disenchant

Comments on the deck:

First off, it's a lot of fun to play.  People see U/W and they think
it's one of those slow methodical beatdown decks.  This deck,
however, can explode early in the game.  I absolutely *love*
Benalish Knights.  It's so cool being able to hold back and counter
something if you need to and if you don't then you just drop the
Knight at the end of your opponent's turn.  Follow it up with a Man
o War or two and you've a nice little weenie assault going.  Just
not what most people expect from U/W.  

Unfortunately, the way I have the deck layed out is just a recipie
for mana screw.  Longbow Archers (WW) and Waterspout Djinns (2UU)
can sit in hand for a while waiting for the land needed to cast them
to come up.  If I play the deck again, I'm going to cut it back to
sixty cards and maybe up the land count to twenty-four.

Another thing to note is that a big creature deck can really be hard
to deal with.  Benalish Knights and Longbow Archers together can
defend against big phat Hidden Horrors and Barrow Ghouls but they
just don't have the muscle to attack.  Against "big black" I could
get the early weenie assaut going but when the big boys hit the
table, my attacking chances diminish considerably resulting in a 
creature stalemate.  If I don't draw a Waterspout (and keep it
in play) then I eventually die.  I definitely need more anti-black
cards in my sideboard. 


Here's who I played and how I did:

R1: I won 2-0 over David Leader from Atlanta, GA.  David played a
B/U reanimator/Teferi's Veil deck.  Fog Elementals, Breezekeepers,
Man o Wars, Impulse, Necromancy, Shallow Grave and such.  Very combo
oriented and U/W is always trouble for a combo deck.  BTW, This was
a revenge match for me as I would have qualified for New York if it
hadn't been for David. 
Match Record: 1-0

R2: I lost 1-2 to Charles Wolfe from Dallas, TX.  Charles was
playing a U/W deck similar to mine but with no weenies and much more
control.  I steamrolled him the first game though but in the end all
of the control was too much.  I could have been a real jerk and
stalled my way to a draw but I conceeded when the ultimate outcome
was obvious.  There was less than a minute left in the round at that
point.  Charles is excellent player however so at least I didn't
lose to a chump.  Match Record: 1-1

R3: I went 2-0 against James Wise of San Antonio, TX.  James was
playing a five color mono-red deck and somehow he *never* got mana
screwed.  His deck had lots of burn, AEther Flash, Hazerider Drakes,
Cloud Elementals, Afterlife and even odd things like Fog and
Mischevious Poltergeist.  Ophidian really shined for me in this
match.  Multiple Man o Wars against a creature light deck ensured
that Ophie got through enough times to draw what I needed to win.
Honorable Passage was a big card too, obviously.
Match Record: 2-1

R4: Another 2-0 victory for me, this time over Herb Russell who was
a local player.  Herb was playing what looked to be a variant of the
G/w deck that the guys in Austin, TX had such success with a week
ago.  However, he never draws any Abeyances or Preferred Selections
in game one and if he sided in City of Solitude or any of the other
anti-blue stuff in his sideboard then he never drew that either.  So
I was able to take control early in each game and administer the
Waterspout beatdown.
Match Record: 3-1

R5: I win 2-1 against Robin Strickland.  Robin is playing a
mono-black deck with splashes of red and blue.  It didn't look like
Ertai/Necratog though.  I lost game one to mana screw as I saw no
Islands until the outcome was obvious.  Games two and three went my
way, both resulting in hordes of weenies that he couldn't deal with.
Match Record: 4-1

R6: Yes, this is the "Mike goes down like a h0!" round.  I lose 0-2
to Bryan Hubble who just happens to be the current Texas Type II
champ.  His deck looks simple but its really nifty - Sewer Rats,
Fallen Askari, Hidden Horror, Barrow Ghoul, Urborg Stalker,
Nekrataal, Necrosavant, Drain Life and Infernal Tribute with Stupors
and Dark Banishing in the sideboard.  I lose game one to mana screw.
I had only one plains and an island for the longest.  Game two
looked to be going my way until two unanswered Nekrataals crush my
early assault.  Then I die to a massive creature beatdown.  Once
again, at least I didn't lose to a chump.  

Well, let me give a *big* thank you to John Daniell, owner of
Vision's Comics & Games in Montgomery, AL.  John let me borrow four
boxes of cards so I could build as many decks as possible for play
testing and even spotted me the entry fee for yesterday.  Okay, so
it's not the kind of backing that Tongo Nation enjoys but it's
really a big help for me and I truly appreciate it.

'Til next time.

- Mike Bowen
slacker@parktown.com