Date: Mon, 08 Sep 1997 22:06:27 -0600 From: Jack Stanton To: fkusumot@ix.netcom.com Subject: Salt Lake City PTQ Hello All, Made the trip down to Salt Lake City from Idaho Falls, Idaho for my last chance to qualify for PT ChiTown this past Saturday (Sept.6). Catching a ride with Alan Chandler of Rigby, Idaho, we pulled into town around 11pm. Alan dropped me off at temporarily retired Minions of Atog player Mike Callahan's house. Mike and I ran out to a local coffee shop and I tested out my Ertai's Deck against the much copied mono blue. Now, many have told me to play the mono blue if I wanted to qualify, most notably Alan Comer, who had come up with a mono blue deck two months ago that looks quite similar to what is now running rampant across the globe. The reason I did not want to go with such a deck was that initial reports had many players in the Utah region gearing up heavily against mono blue and the Ertai's decks via moocho green. Though this really didn't affect my deck's beatdown, it did affect the various U designs I had tested, so I decided to stick with the design I was most familiar with. The Deck (Not to be confused with The Deck) The Mad Zombies (love the Zombies in this deck very much) 4 Bad Rivers (Very helpful in thinning out the deck early on and finding the land I needed. Though I might take a few points of damage early while waiting for the land to become useful, I quickly made up for it by drawing moocho beatdown thanks to the fetch land's deck thinning effects). 2 Rocky Tar Pits (Needed to be able to get that one Mountain in the deck. Guildmage must have Mountain! If he doesn't get Mountain, he gets pissy. So I included a Mountain).;) 1 Mountain (Guildmagis' idea. They threatened to boycott if they didn't have their own real estate deal) 2 Undiscovered Paradise (Ever needed a Mountain, but couldn't find a Rocky Tar Pit to go fetch it? More of the Magis' ideas) 2 Gemstone Mines (Sometimes, the Undiscovered Paradise doesn't come up) 4 Islands (The Ertais and Man O Wars, upset at the way I kowtowed to the Magis, demanded a little land deal of their own. I agreed, but only under the condition that they put in mondo overtime during the tourney) 6 Swamps (Other than some snide remarks by the Ertai and Man O Wars about lowering property values, nobody really complained about the addition of the Swamps) *Seriously The land count in the deck may look a little shaky, and at times, I do take my bit of mana screw. But consider this, 23 of the 39 critters in this deck rely on two mana to get out. The odds of getting the appropriate amount of mana are tremendous and with the fetch lands, getting exactly what you need to operate is further enhanced. 4 Ertai Familiars (Thick as thieves, this group is. I thought they were a great Millstone. Put them in my deck and found out they didn't do anything but Millstone me!!! Still, the Barrow Ghouls didn't seem to mind, so I let them stay). *Can't say enough about the power of the Ertai. The great thing about this deck is that it doesn't always rely on the Ertai to pull it through. 4 Man O Wars (Very popular with the other guys in the complex. Do alot of work others don't want to do. I'm thinking about lowering their rent.) *In combination with the beatdown nature of this deck, the Man O War deserves much praise. 4 Nekrataals (Kind of like the vigilanties of the house. Very outspoken and downright rude. But they keep the riffraff out.) *Taals were taken out against other Ertais decks in favor of the three Biskelions and extra Barrow Ghoul in the sideboard. 4 Necratogs (Not very nice dinner companions. Can't tell salad fork from the dinner fork. Uses sleeve as napkin---USA Today Living Section 9/6/97) *Tog is a very effective game ender, but suprisingly, you could put the Serrated Biskelions in his place if you really want to. I pretty much removed these guys against mono U if I know that player is playing Rays of Command and the like. It's just too tempting a target for your opponent to use against you. 4 Zombie Scavengers (Very underrated quartet. Keeps the other Ertais neighborhoods at bay. Necratogs from other camps can't seem to get it through their heads that the Zombies don't want them ruining the lawns.) *Matt Place sent me a deck two weeks before Origins explaining what he thought was the best Ertais deck around. While I didn't agree with all his choices (or the seventeen lands in the deck), the Scavengers have proven to be one of the best cards one can place in the Ertais deck. For one, they stop the other guy's Necratog from completely wrecking you. They are also very strong versus the Aether Flash decks that have claimed to crush the Ertais decks (I haven't lost to an Aether Flash yet 4-0 in sanctioned play). Favorable conditions have me laying the Zombie after Ertai has been established or Vulture in hand. Then, I follow up with the Man O Wars to get some very fast damage in. Much better than adding the Songs of Blood (5-1 against Songs/Ertai decks), which can lead you to increasing your non black and blue mana sources, increasing chances of mana screw. 4 Circling Vultures (Lawyers) *Against R/G, G, and other Ertai decks, these guys really pull the team through, winning soooo much of the time, though a couple of them do come out for the Mind Harnesses and Biskelions from time to time. 4 Skulking Ghost (Usually, when the bad guys come around, they go off and hide, letting the Barrow Ghouls and Togs do the heavily work.) *For those of you who laugh at my Ghosts-----screw you!!!;) So what if they die to Direct Damage! What 2/1 critter doesn't? Yes, Man O War and Boomerang do kill them, but look at it this way, if it was something else you put back into my hand, I'm going to have to just recast it again. With the Ghost going away, I have the option of bringing out bigger critters who need the graveyard into play. Yes, the Man O War does equal card advantage, but so what!!! The BEATDOWN keeps going on and on, with the Ghost being in the grave possibly helping even more than it being out. You never know. As Alexander Blumke so correctly stated it in his tourney report, with the Ertais deck, you have cards that can be used twice, or even three times! Do the math! BTW, it's amazing how much damage a little ghost does during the course of a tourney when the opponent has nothing but groundpounders. 1 Fledgling Djinn (Needed a mascot) *Matt Place's deck originally had 3-4 of these guys. I didn't really fall for them due to their inherent nature of kicking my ass. Found myself in early tests getting down too low because of them and getting burned beyond recognition. The Ghosts are much better. 4 Fallen Askari (Never protect the complex. Always pissing off the neighbors. Very unsocialable) *Very quick, and very dangerous, thanks to many not using as many knights in their Mervin decks anymore. Their slacking off blocking is still a problem, though it's something I can normally live with (no pun intended). 2 Barrow Ghouls (They prefer to be called security personel, not gardeners) *Took the place of the two Biskelions I had in here during the Provo qualifier in August. Work much better against the Aether Flash decks. Also good at dropping them in order to have a one turn wall after being mana screwed early on. 4 Shadow Guildmages (A small group of independent businessmen who moved into the complex for various reasons, none of which have been made public. They do like a good scrap, however, and generally help the group as a whole. Best friends with the Nekrataals and Man O Wars, whom they see often in social situations) *Four is the very appropriate number here, as they frighten so many decks early on and work well with the Taals and MOWs. Sideboard 1 Barrow Ghoul *More meat against A.Flash decks and other Ertais decks. 3 Serrated Biskelions *Very strong against them damned Falcon and Boa decks. A must against other Ertais decks due to the other guy having his own Guildmages. A forth wouldn't be out of the ordinary and could be a strong addition to the three already inhabiting the side. 1 Bubble Matrix *Aether Flash Decks appear to really hate this, though I didn't have them in the earlier versions of the deck (where I went undefeated against the Flash). I considered them too slow, as my mana curve couldn't support them in a very sudden game. But then again, the Flash games don't always go by that quick, so a second would probably be a very strong idea. 4 Mind Harness *Anticipating moocho Green and Red due to Utah's strange meta gaming (shoulda seen what percentage played the anti-Necro decks at qualifiers). I felt they were going to go balls to the wall against Ertais, which, if you are intelligent, means much Green (and Mono Blue, which they anticipated, so they had the Boas and Meercats to go along with it). 4 Vision Charms 2 Touchstones *These last two were a weak attempt at stopping the Sandsipoise decks. Let me be the first to say, "Sands is dead thanks to there being waaaaaay too many mono U decks in this format. Only an idiot would attempt to make a Sands deck so as to win a PTQ!!!! It's just a waste of time playing that deck if you have any intention of winning!!!" The Ertais decks should not even bother preparing for Sands. If they run into it, take the loss and move on. Simple as that. I did this at the Provo qualifier and found my sideboard much more interesting. PLAYING THIS DECK Pretty much, you want to out critter your opponent and pound him into little itty bitty spots on the carpet. Against the various other Ertai decks (weak with Songs), you just pound on their little noggins through massive critter advantage (39 to their 30-32 normally, as they dilute their draws with sorcerys and such). Though they may drop a Tombstone, they are quickly using it as a defensive, as you have dealt too much damage too quick. Also, you should have as many critters in the grave as they through agreeable attrition (though by drawing less land and no sorceries, you draw more critters to lay out). Only incredible draws by the Songs/Ertai deck or mana screw will defeat you. The mono blue decks are a very bad matchup at this moment in time, though those playing mono blue must feel really good about their chances once everybody else starts playing mono blue.;) My initial testing had me blowing through these decks when I got the low casting cost critters out early and fast, dealing much damage early. This would force the U deck into dropping blockers in defense (as opposed to using counters, etc) in order to stop the bleeding. This allows you to cast your Taals and MOWs to gain even more beatdown. My loses to U pretty much come about when I draw too many of the three casting cost critters and no tricks (Taal, MOW, Guildmage). Aether Flash=Joke! Out go 2 Vultures, a Ghost, the Fledgling Djinn, a Necratog, and Guildmage for the Barrow Ghoul, the Bubble Matrix, and four Mind Harnesses. Most of the Flash decks are happy to give you fat critters to steal before the Matrix and Ghouls and Zombies come in for the kill. Just too easy. Anything Green----I lose if I get mana screwed. Sandsipoise---Bend Over and take it. Just take the loss and move on. MaroArmor/Falcon---Has this won anywhere? Oh well, on to the report. Saturday, September 6th, 1997 I woke up. This generally proves to be a very good sign before the start of a tourney, as if you don't wake up.............Anyway, Mike Callahan drove me over to the tourney site. On the way, stopped by and sprung for bagels (the best damned diet a serious Magic player can have). After what seemed like an eternity driving (5 minutes), we finally reached the tourney site and noticed, after finding the playing hall, that fellow teammate Aaron "Sealed Deck GOD!!!" Muranaka had made the trip, though his brother Robert, did not. Robert Brennen and Travis Thomas (both now living in Utah, once of South Florida) also showed up. The usual crowd from the area had shown up, though there were many who didn't (just can't take getting beat anymore). All in all, 45 showed up, representing six states. 1st Round Tim Hendley of Provo, Utah Playing U/W/g Duskrider/Freewind Falcon/Maro Armor with a touch O'Green for Elephant Grass (as I stated earlier, Utah loves to play against the favored deck types) As for Tim, it seems to me that every time I play in a big Utah tourney, Tim and I get paired at some point. This has not always been good for Tim, as I have always brought the big Rock, while he always seems to bring Scissors to our showdowns. One of my favorite people to see at the Utah events, as he is an all around cool dude. 1st Game---Tim brings forth the big funky Freewind Falcon. I bring out Guildmage, Taal, Man O War, and a whole lotta their friends. I do believe the Freewind got bigger at some point during the match (Maro Armor) right before the Man O War made his debute.;) 2nd Game---I start a little beatdown dance early with Guildmage and Ertai, though Tim Boomerangs the Ertai to slow me down a round. I get him back down and drop a Vulture the same round due to my graveyard being able to support. He drops an Elephant Grass and a Heavy Ballista.:P The Ballista gets a little bigger thanks to Maro Armor, but he can't really attack without suffering Ertai beatdown!!! (I have two out at this point). He does anyway, and I block with a Zombie (regenerating it). He slaps himself as the Ertais and a Biskelion kick him in the rib. Still, the Grass was doing it's job of keeping the Black critters from doing anything. Finally, I managed to get a red source of mana, and as I was at a higher life total than Tim, I started to bink him with the Mage. Eventually, I managed to get enough damage on him to bring him to two (as well as Man O Waring his Maro Armored/Ballista) so that a Fat Ertai House could end the game and match. Match 1-0 2nd Match Travis Thomas of Salt Lake City, Utah playing Mono Blue Travis is a really cool guy who used to play for Team South Florida which our team beat during the Origins Team Challenge last year. He's one of the best players now playing in Utah, though his work schedule hasn't allowed him to really get out and play as much as he'd like. His deck was a deck that he and Robert Brennon had received from Adam Maysonett a week ago, tweaked to their taste and the Utah Metagame. 1st Game---I start off with a very slow hand (too many three casting cost critters). This isn't good. I get him down to 10 before the inevetable happens----Mad Waterspout beating on my head.;( 2nd Game---A very quick start for me, as I draw lots of 2 casting cost critters. I get him down to 4 life before his game comes around and shuts me down (Blue's sideboard is incredible against Ertais decks). In both the first and second games, I didn't manage to draw any tricks to shut down his Waterspouts. His tricks---Illusionists/Ophidians didn't really show up, though his Undos and Boomerangs did. Also, Winding Canyon did come out for him, allowing him to sit back and counter me on my turn, or cast out a big fattie if I choose not to play a spell, on my turn. Note to everybody---Undos kick the living bejesus outta Ertais decks. Why people haven't been playing them, or enough of them, is beyond me. Match 1-1 3rd Match Spencer Hopper of Salt Lake City, Utah playing a R/G Don't know Spencer, as I didn't meet him when I housesat down in Utah last year. His deck was not a very tweaked version of the R/G, and he had a tendency to drop everything very quickly. 1st Game---I draw a Bad River.;P In go my four Mind Harnesses and two Serrated Biskelions (for his River Boas and Guildmages) 2nd Game---He drops a very early River Boa, and after taking a couple of hits from it, I steal it with my Mind Harness and drop a Serrated Biskelion. Spencer drops a drive-by and holds back for a turn, so I attack him with his Boa.;) Next turn, he drops an Armor of Thorns on the drive-by and smacks me. My turn, I Mind Harness the drive-by and attack him with the Boa and Biskelion. He drops nothing on his turn, so, not being able to upkeep both Mind Harnesses, I Serrated Biskelion the River Boa and do a little drive by of my own. At this point, Spencer drops a Centaur and on my next attack, blocks, and Quicksands the Drive By in order to kill it. Want to talk about card advantage? Four to one.;) BTW, Spencer is outta cards at this point, trying to topdeck anything to keep him alive. Meanwhile, I'm dropping critters like mad for the attack. He drops another critter and I steal that, too. Guess I sideboarded right for this game. 3rd Game---Pretty much the third game resembled the second, in that I only got to steal two creatures from him. Highlight came when he blocked the River Boa I had stolen with one of his Centaurs. He threw the critter into his graveyard and wanted the Boa. I told him no, as I was regenerating the Boa with my Undiscovered Paradise. Talk about a big DOH! Match 2-1 4th Match Christopher Scanlon of Salt Lake City, Utah playing mono U deck with Ancestral Knowledge/Owls/Waterspouts/Things. Christopher is a guy who comes to some PTQs from time to time, though it'd be great to see him more often. Last time I remember playing him was during a PTQ for Dallas last year. Fun match. I looked forward to this meeting. 1st Game---Nothing new here. I brought out an army and pretty much assumed control by forcing the mono blue player to drop critters in defense, allowing me to Nekrataal at will with them tapped out. Great strategy!;) 2nd Game---I draw an Island on the initial draw with a Gemstone Mine coming up shortly after. Meanwhile, Chris is setting up the bitchslap with a couple of Owls and an early Ancestral Knowledge. So, I try and cast some stuff. My memory sucks and the Gemstone gets depleted, and I draw deja vu all over again. All during this time, the Owls are doing a little dance on my head. So, I draw another Island.;P Great card with a hand fulla Black. After finding a source of black (the Gemstone had been sold off a long time ago), I started to bring some stuff forth, being at a very low life total due to very pissed off owls. My magic proves to be weak and ineffective, as the Owls prove too much for me to handle. I die, having suffered 19 points of pecking damage from them dudes. 3rd Game---Um, my deck plays like a control deck. That is, I have so many creatures out, that Chris has to drop blockers, forgetting to counter and stuff, as he doesn't have any untapped land (thanks to him playing the defense) to counter with! Match 3-1 5th Match Corbin Fox of Salt Lake City, Utah (owner of Mind Games) playing U/B/r Ertais deck w/Fervor. Corbin is one of the best players in the state of Utah, having come close on so many occasions without actually making it to the pro tour. This match would be a chance for Corbin to get revenge for his only match loss during the swiss portion of last month's PTQ in Provo, Utah at my hands. 1st Game---Short and sweet. I get a Zugschwanged mana draw and can't get out early beatdown. If that wasn't bad enough, he out critters me.;P 2nd Game---Nearly ideal draws for both of us. We each get the other down to very low life totals, me at 4, him at 5. On the board, he as a Fervor, Fledgling Djinn, Fallen Askari, Man O War, Necratog (there was one critter in grave), and another Necratog with one Biskelion counter on it. He had one card in hand with a Red and Black mana untapped. I had out two Fallen Askari, a Guildmage, a Biskelion (with a counter on it), and a Man O War. He attacked with the Djinn, Askari, Man O War, and undamaged Necratog. How do I need to block to win? Da Da Da Do, Da da da, Da Da Da Da DA! da da da da da...... I blocked his Tog with my Guildmage, his Man O War with my Biskelion, and his Askari with my Man O War. Then, during the fast effects phase, I used the Guildmage to put the Man O war on top of my library, and Serrated Biskelioned the Necratog (who had already had a counter on it) left back to block. He then summoned a Guildmage with me at two (his Djinn hit me). On my turn, I drew the MOW, cast it to get rid of the Guildmage, then attacked with the Askaris, bringing Corbin to 1. He then died to his Fledgling Djinn on his upkeep.;) 3rd Game---Corbin drops an Undiscovered Paradise on his second turn. Means he's mana screwed and I drop everything. I end up killing him with an 11 point Necratog. Sad way for him to lose. Match 4-1 After my victory over Corbin, I found out that there were eight people with 4-1 records, and one at 5-0. Corbin and I had made a deal during our match that whoever lost would have to play in order to help the other's chances of breaking out if it came down to a tiebreaker. Christopher Scanlon also decided to play. With opponents like these, it makes it easier to draw into the top eight, especially when the 5-0 player decided to play, as well as one of the 4-1 players (Phuong Chau) having to play against a 3-2 player. 6th Match Michael Johnson from Boise, ID playing ? This was Michael's first PTQ, but he knew the drill. All of the 4-1s who could draw did. Matches 4-1-1 With that, Robert Brennen, Aaron Muranaka, Kevin (from Denver and drawing at 4-1), and myself walked a whole block over to the Crossroads Mall for dinner. Coming back, we ran into Phuong Chau. He had won his match, so it came down to the 5-0 player winning to keep us all from going into a tiebreaker (BTW, the 5-0 player had an illegal sideboard, so he was forced to play without it for the whole tourney). After coming back to the hotel, we found that the 5-0 player had indeed won, putting all 4-1-1s into the finals. After pairings went up, I had them recheck the numbers, as I didn't believe I should be so high (4th) in the standings. Another reason I didn't want to be in my bracket was because it represented the hardest one to come out of. My first round opponent was to be Travis Thomas, my second round opponent who represented my only loss of the day. Not only that, the 6-0 player was in the bracket, facing Robert Brennen, who was playing the same exact deck that Travis was playing.;P All the decks in the other bracket happened to be R/G or R/B types that I could steamroll easily. After the math had been done (the judge who usually brought the computer didn't show that day, so all results were by hand), it was proven that the math was correct and that I'd have to play against Travis.:( Quarters Travis Thomas from Salt Lake City, Utah playing Mono Blue I wasn't looking forward to this. I can honestly say that. I knew if I somehow won, I'd be facing yet another exact copy of this deck in the semis, as I didn't put much faith in the 6-0 player's U/W getting past Robert's mono U, regardless of record. 1st Game---Something strange happened this game. Travis didn't draw a second land for about four turns. By then, I had four creatures out, with Nekrataal and MOW in hand. What a shitty way to win a game. 2nd Game---Travis draws two lands this game and before he can draw a third, I had another nice group of creatures coming over, forcing him to drop a blocker here or there which would get Nekrataal'ed away. With a Guildmage out, I kept putting the Taal back on top of the library at the end of my turn if he cast a blocker. It wasn't pretty and it was a very shitty way to win the match. I really want Wotc to start allowing the New (though now old) Mulligan to be used in qualifiers. After all, I, along with my opponents, pull way too many one land draws, while drawing very few no land draws. I'd at least like the option of taking the chance while losing a card, as opposed to having very little chance at all. In Robert Brennon's game against the 6-0 guy, it gets comical. Robert had lost to the guy during their swiss meeting and claimed that his only mistake was not siding in his Abductions. He proved this theory correct as he cast an Ophidian. His opponent did the same. Robert abducted the Ophidian and hit the guy, drawing an extra card. Then Robert dropped another Ophidian. The opponent drops another Ophidian. Robert Abducts that and hits the guy with three Ophidians. He ends up having four Ophidians attacking the guy! Life is pretty funny sometimes.;) Over in the other bracket, Aaron Muranaka lost (the only player I worried about, as his R/G deck was very anti-black). Kevin from Denver, playing a R/B deck won, as well as Michael Johnson R/B, the guy I drew in the sixth round. Semis Robert Brennon from Salt Lake City, Utah playing Deja Vous (Mono U) Robert and I have a semi good time during our match, as we are friends. Pretty much, we made each other a promise that whoever won the match, had to win the tourney. It's nice when you can be civilized during a match. 1st Game---On my opening draw, I find I have drawn an Undiscovered Paradise as my only land against a mono U deck. I think about calling a mulligan, but remember just in time that I'm not playing in the Pro Tour (the intellectual tourneys), I'm playing in a PTQ, where mana screw is part of the equation. I sit for a while, drawing and discarding. Then Robert brings out a Waterspout. I conceed the game without having lost a point of life. That game really drained me, as I had to spend so much mental energy deciding which cards to discard. Magic is very intellectual.;P 2nd Game---This game proved to be a little more interesting, as I managed to put a few critters out. Problem? I had too many three casting cost dudes in my hand from the outset. This is a major problem, as to beat the mono U after sideboarding, I needed to be dropping two creatures a turn in order to establish beatdown. After getting stuff Boomeranged a couple of times, as well as MOW'd, Robert managed to drop a big fat Waterspout intent on causing me physical harm. Nothing wanted to come up at this point, and looking over the board, I told Robert to show me an Undo and I'd conceed the match (he was in the middle of Impulsing at this point). He told me he didn't get one on the Impulse, but picked up his hand and showed me the one there. So, wanting to waste no further time (Robert's, mine, or Karl Batdorff's, the TD), I conceeded. The Finals Michael Johnson from Boise, Idaho, ended up being Robert's finals opponent for the one available Pro Tour spot. Regardless of the outcome, it would be the first PT for either contestant. 1st Game---Robert takes some early damage from a Wildfire Emissary and drive bys, but quickly gains back the tempo with Boomerangs, MOWs, and a Flooded Shoreline. Eventually, the Ophidians come out and start doing the Dance of Book and the advantage is won. Michael even conceeds, as he knows he's not going to get anything going from there on out. 2nd Game---Robert sides in three Shimmers and just crushes Michael, getting a Shimmer out for both Swamps and Mountains, along with several Ophidians, Illusionists, and other mean and disgusting things. Michael conceeds the match. So, Robert wins and qualifies for the Pro Tour for the first time. Afterwards, we all go over to the Salt Lake City Greekfest that was going on a few blocks away (if you ever want to go visit a really nice and compact town with a great history, go to Salt Lake. You can walk just about anywhere). Finding out that it would be a 30-60 wait in line for food, I decided to walk two miles back to Michael Callahan's apartment in order to relax a little (as I was pretty beat from lack of sleep). As for my deck, in three PTQs and a Worlds side tourney, I achieved a record of 16-6-5. Of the six loses, three can be directly attributed to getting mana screwed in the third game. I don't include my loss to Robert in this catagory, because I really feel that the match was his to lose, so my first game mana screw against him probably wouldn't have mattered. Four of my draws were intentional, with the fifth coming in the Worlds side event (only 45 minutes, I needed two turns to kill the opponent, but time was called). If you want a very smooth running deck (other than getting the occasional mana screw), try it. It did get me into two PTQ top eight. As for my props and slops: Props to: Karl Batdorff for running yet another smooth PTQ. Those of you who haven't played in one of his tourneys is missing out. Locations are nice, players are nice, no real arguments, and the judges take time out to make sure the ruling is correct. The tourney was run by hand (due to the computer not showing up), and showing that he knew his stuff, he managed to not only get all the pairings up in time, but get us a lunch and dinner break, while finishing out the tourney around 8pm. Now how often does that happen? Still had time to wander the city and enjoy myself.;) Robert Brennon for winning the whole thing and qualifying for the first time. He deserved it, as he only got stronger as the tourney rolled along. Corbin Fox and Christopher Scanlon for staying in the tourney even after I gave them their second loss. Even though their victories after that ended up being unnecessary, they would have secured me a spot in the top eight if the 5-0 player had lost in the sixth round regardless. BTW, I had a very bad tiebreak before my wins over Corbin and Chris. Due to their staying in the tourney, I ended up the second highest 4-1-1 (4th seed overall). Talk to your opponents and ask them to stay in the tourney if there isn't a side tourney going on. It might just pull you over the top. Mike Callahan for putting me up again. I just wish he was still playing Magic, though I understand his reasons for not. Alan Chandler for driving me down to the show. Alan ended up goi8ng 4-2 on the day. His last loss had him losing to a..........Prosbloom. Talk about crazy.;) Slops to: Me for joking that I wanted Travis Thomas to get mana screwed five minutes before our match (though I did tell him immediately before the actual game I hoped we wouldn't get screwed). It won't happen again (some things shouldn't be joked about). The Greek Festival in Salt Lake City. I pay my $2, then find out the wait for food is quite long. Just couldn't stand there doing nothing, so I left. Should have stuck around and watched the ladies, though.;) Talk about amazing! Take care all. If you use this deck, let me hear how you did. Hope everybody qualifies. Das, Jack Stanton Minions of Atog Contributor to the Duelist Sideboard Finally ranked over 1800 due to this deck (and actually playing in some type II tourneys)