From: Ben Drago Newsgroups: rec.games.trading-cards.magic.strategy Subject: Northern Cal PTQ report - Go Rice! Date: 27 Aug 1997 17:54:27 -0700 [Ugh. I took notes of all my games, had everyone's names, approximate card lists, etc. And I lost them.] Well, this is my first PTQ _and_ my first report. Actually, it was my first "real" tourney as well (well, since '94) or so. I picked up Magic at Origins in '93, played casually for a couple of years, but then school kept me way too busy. I had been out of the scene since Fallen Empires, and just picked up the game again after Weatherlight. So I didn't have high hopes this weekend -- winning three games was my goal. But I digress... The PTQ was held at MatchPlay in Mountain View, CA. We got started about 10:30, which wasn't too bad. I'd been playtesting a R/b blast/discard deck, but I feel that Red is just to boring -- the turn 4 "What's your life? 14? Incinerate-Thunderbolt-'Blast-'Blast" is just boring. So this is what I played "Go Rice!" 4 x Call of the Wild 2 x Incinerate 2 x K. Torch 4 x Sage Owls 4 x River Boa 4 x Wall of Roots 4 x Stampeeding Wildebeest 3 x Warthog 3 x Jolreal's Centaur 3 x Quiron Ranger 3 x Giant Mantis 3 x Man-o'-War 2 x Thundermare 4 x Gemstone Mine 1 x Undiscovered Paradise 12 x Forests 4 x Islands Sideboard: 4 x Honorable Passage 3 x Femeref Archers 3 x Disenchant 2 x Elephant Grass 3 x Scalesbane Elite Simple. Weenie-weenie-weenie. Then start calling at least once a turn, usually at the end of opponent's turn. More stategy at the end. Note -- this is heavily pre-sideboarded against 'tog. I don't see one friggin' 'tog deck all day. feh. Round 1: U/W Beatdown I get great draws both games -- the River Boas fly out, Giant Mantis/Incinerate his 'spouts, and then he taps out and I throw big torches at him both times for the win. (1-0) Round 2: W/b Gerrard's/Chains/Pacify So I'm playing at table #1! Course, it is round two. :) Opponent is playing a white control deck. Lots of Afterlifes/Gerrard's Wisdom, Gossamer Chains, Pacifies, etc. I think he had a couple of Falcon's in here, but I don't think it was a ArmorFalcon deck. Game 1: Ugly. Turn 2 Boa, Turn 3 Warthog, Turn 4 Roots,, Warthog, Turn 5 Mantis, Wall. He afterlifes a couple of Warthogs, but it's over real quick. He plays a Sacred Mesa on turn 3 or 4, which was a bad idea 'cause I had too much in play for him to stop anything. I side in my Disenchants for the Warthogs -- they were tough in game one, but I need the disenchants. Later in the tourney I would usually side out one Call and one Torch every game -- 4 Calls are too many. This game was much slower. I had 2 torches in my opening draw, a few forests, and a wildebeest. Ugh. My first couple of draws are land (forest and a gemstone), and then I get three Wall of Roots in a rows. He gets out a couple of blockers (2 Cloud Elementals), I incinerate one. We finally stall out with me having lots of creatures on the board (two Wildebeests, two boas, a ranger, and three Roots), and he had a Cloud Elemental and 2 Gossamer chains in play. *** Note *** Stampeding Wildebeests and Wall of Roots are an incredible combo. You can declare that you are return a Wall of Roots (or another green creature) to your hand during your upkeep, and in response declare you are returning the SAME wall to your hand. They resolve, and the second one fizzles but upkeep for both have been played. In every game I played this my opponent called the judge over to question this. So he's casts Gerrard's with 9 or 10 cards in his hand (stupid Chains) everytime he gets down to ten life, and I procede to slowly knock him back down. I get a Call out, and I'm calling twice a turn at this point, slowly building up creature advantage. He then casts a Sacred Mesa, which I immediately disenchant. We run out of time with him at 35 or so life and me still at 20 with lots of creatures on the board. (2-2) Round 3: Monoblue Fred Pood I really, really, really wish I had left the Meerkats in this deck. It would have won me the game. First game starts a little slower than I would like. I get a couple of Boas and Walls out early, and knock him down to to 11 before they get Man-o'-War'd and then countered. I slowly build up a creature base, Calling so that they can't get countered. I get a Wildebeest out and think it's over, when he plays Floodgate. And then another one the next turn. He's got 10 or so islands, so all my creature go away if I attack with the Wildebeest. We're at a stalemate for a long time when he gets a DragonMask and wipes my creatures with the damn gate. He smacks me with 'Spouts and Elementals, so I'm at 14 or so. I call 3 times that turn and get a Man-o'-War, Ranger, and Thundermare! I draw -- Incinerate! Looking at the board, I have 10 Forests and 3 islands in play. No gemstones or paradises. None in my graveyard, and I only have 20 or so cards left in my library. I attack for 8, he's at 3. And I pray to pull something on my next draw. I say done. He attacks and drops me to 2, and TAPS OUT to play three blocker! I call three times at the end of his turn: Ranger Wildebeest Island And I draw -- a Torch. My next next 5 cards were 3 Gemstones, Paradise, and a Thundermare. I'm just not lucky enough to be a PT player. We've only got about 10 minutes left for game 2. I sideboard quickly, and he does the same. But I get a lousy draw and we run out of time (2-1) Round 4: B/R counterburn I'm kinda bummed about losing the previous match. And then I get paired with against this little punkass kid who doesn't say shit. Just "heads or tails" and then "play or draw." Game one sucks. I get 3 Islands on my opening hand, and then get the 4th on my first draw. He impulses twice and then gets an Frenetic Efreet out. I eventually draw a Sage Owl (countered), and then get Thunderbolt-Blast-Blast'ed. feh. I side in the passages and the archers. Game two sucks more. My opening hand: Passage Passage Torch Torch Incinerate Forest Forest I draw two more forests in a row. Finally cast a Boa and then a 'Beest, which is Lapsed. I cast it again: Lapse. I cast it again: Lapse. I cast it again: Dissipate. Fuck! I try another one. Cast it. I'm getting beatdown by another Efreet, and I'm at 6 life or so. Next turn I untap and then draw like the SCRUB I am, and the little punk just reaches over and throws the 'beests in my graveyard. Looking back, I could have argued this -- the card doesn't say "...or bury Stampeding Wildebeest." But I don't. I cast an Owl, see my next four cards are forests, and concede. (2-2) I continue playing for the experience and do pretty good. I lose one duel because of mana screw in the third game, and just barely lost to a Falcon/Armor deck like this: He's at 14 with a couple Pro Green falcons and a Gossamer chains in play. I have 2 life, and a Wildebeest, Wall of Roots, and Call. I have a Disenchant in my hand, and I draw a Thundermare! But I only have one Gemstone in play, so I can't Disenchant and then cast the 'Mare and attack for the win. *ugh* Still, not too bad. I beat up on a G/R Natural Order deck and a Buried Alive/Necrosavant/Reanimator deck, and get edged by another monoblue (I should have left the meerkats in.) After further tweaking, my deck looks like this: 3 x Call of the Wild 2 x Incinerate 1 x K. Torch 4 x Sage Owls 4 x River Boa 4 x Wall of Roots 4 x Stampeeding Wildebeest 2 x Warthog 3 x Jolreal's Centaur 2 x Karoo Meerkat 4 x Giant Mantis 3 x Man-o'-War 2 x Thundermare 4 x Gemstone Mine 2 x Undiscovered Paradise 12 x Forests 2 x Islands Sideboard: 4 x Honorable Passage 4 x Femeref Archers 3 x Disenchant 2 x Elephant Grass 1 x Warthog 1 x Karoo Meerkat I'm also toying with adding Roots of Life, Tropical Storm, Worldly Tutor or Savage Twister to the mix. But I'm trying not to dilute the number of creatures. Playtesting will tell which works better. And for those who read this far: I just graduated from Rice University, and our mascot is the Rice Owls. Thus the "Go Rice!" nickname. Cheers, Ben -- Ben Drago bd@pobox.com