Date: Mon, 08 Sep 1997 02:00:22 -0500 From: Ted Shroyer Subject: PTQ IL (08/31/97) To: fkusumot@ix.netcom.com Tournament was a couple weeks ago, but this is what I remember... (Forgive any sp's, I'm in college and no longer remember how to.) Ted's Deck (That's me :) Mono Black Screwed Up Trash --------------------------- Creatures --------- 4 Sewer Rats 4 Fallen Askari 4 Skulking Ghost 4 Abyssal Gatekeepers 3 Crypt Rats 2 Tarpit Warriors 2 Bone Dancers 2 Nekrataal Non-Creature ------------ 4 Drain Life 4 Stupor 2 Urborg Justice 2 Doomsday 1 Haunting Missery Land ---- 2 Quicksand 20 Swamps Side ---- 2 Nekratall 1 Crypt Rat 4 Dirtwater Wraith 3 Brood of Cochroaches 2 Mana Web 2 Bubble Matrix 1 Necratog It's not as bad as it looks, and with a little luck and a better side board (Lose the stupid bubble matrix <- That was the most worthless card in the whole side board) this deck can win. You don't believe me, well let me tell you how I did. Matches 0-0 Games 0-0 Round 1 (vs. Green Weenie w/ Maro): First game I draw lotsa land and a crypt rat. I think I can survive doing a huge rat bomb. He pulls out a Quint Ranger. Dinks me with it. Pulls out another one dinks me with both. I cast the rat, he cast a centaur and next turn a maro. I'm already down by 5 life and I think I can kill da Maro. I get cocky and rat befor the attack phase but he's got two rangers. OOPS. Ted feels stupid. Feels 5 rat damage. Feels 6 Maro damage. Feels dead next turn. Second game side in Nekrataal and Brood. Brood can block like a dirty mug. :) Nekrataal eats Maro all day. I draw more creatures and win rather handily. Third game is pretty even until I cast DOOMSDAY. So i pay nine or ten life, but I'm gonna draw four Drain Life and I have six swamps on the table. How do you stop it if your all green? Beats me, he couldn't. Matches 1-0 Games 2-1 Round Two (vs. Funky Blue/White Armor): Game One he plays a ProBlack Falcon. Well it came out fast and it blocks most of my stuff rather handily, but I cast a Fallen Guy (Doesn't block that :) So I attack and he block ?#!#@! I says his birdie dies and he says pro black so I retort Flanking. At this point he's frowning and I'm feeling bad cause I'm gonna beat down a rookie (What am I saying I've only been playing since the start of the summer?) So I don't feel so bad. Well he casts a chronatog ?#!#@! #2. So I drain life it and get to time walk. I cast an Abyssal and a crypt rat. Next turn I attack with the idiots then rat bomb. He lets me time walk again but woops. Abyssal went to the grave yard. :) Needless to say I crushed him. Second game more of the same minus the time walks. Emp decks don't seem to run enough creatures. Matches 2-0 Games 4-1 Round Three (vs. Green Weenie w/ Maro): This match proceeded similar to the first one. Not enough creature control in the first one. Same side. Dog him with Nekrataal and Brood/Abyssal the second game (Realize Brood is broken with Abyssal at this point and should be main deck:) Third game is nip and tuck at the end. I clear the board and brings out a centaur. His life is at 14 or so and mine is at 20 so I Doomsday. I got 8 swamps in play. He brings Maro out next turn, but alas he only has two cards. :) I take five. I drain six. I take six. He cast another Centaur. I drain six. I take seven. I drain for game. I might not be right on these life numbers but you get the idea. Real close to losing. Matches 3-0 Games 6-2 Round Four (vs. Boring Red): All I can say is that I can beat mono red if I play first. He won the roll on the first game and played first. He opened a fat can of whoop ass on me. 14 pts of damage on the 6 turn. I was at 16 life. He was at four. I was waiting one more turn to drain him for one extra pt of damage. My bad. Loss for me. Second game I go first get out creature damage fast he wastes damage on them. Sure loss for Mono red when he bolts three of my creatures. I don't even take damage until I kill him. Then he throws a little furry my way to look impressive. He goes first third game. I get down to 6. Drain him for four. I'm at ten he's at six I'm holding a drain. Looks like game I'm thinking. He draws a fireblast. I figured he was holding one already. And he had a rinky little creature on the board I couldn't block. Stupid fallen askari. He games me one turn before I get him. Going first is huge. Matches 3-1 Games 7-4 (Games don't look too impressive) Round Five (vs. Sandspoise) All I can say is that my deck can't beat sandspoise. Ever. First game I get out lotsa creatures and knock him around. He brings out the combo. I rat for six. He's at five. My life ain't to important cause he's gonna deck me. He's got a wand of denial out. I forsee no victory but play it out. One turn he forgets to denial me. So it gets tapped by the sands. Next turn I draw (drum roll) the one card in the whole deck that can save me Haunting Missery!!!!!!!!! Hurray. I cast it for six. I win! Next game he never draws a sands of time or anything to go for it. Creatures pound him. I win. I can't beat sandpoise with my deck. Ever! I feel really lucky at this point. Matches 4-1 Games 9-5 Round Six (vs. Blue/Red/Black ertaitog) First game he's pounding on me. He got out more creatures and hi creatures are kinda useful when they go to the grave yard. He knocks me down. Way down. I'm holding an urborg justice. My life is at seven. He has the tog and the barrow ghoul out. Big damage. Poor me. Looks bad. TDS for.... ABYSSAL GATEKEEPER. He has no cards cause he just dropped the Ghoul. I lay the Keeper. Next turn he attacks. I block the tog. Take four. Cast Justice. No more creatures. The card he drew was a land and he played before the attack. So I don't even feel threatened. I draw some creatures and beat him down. Game two I side the Dirtwaters and the 2 Broods. Lose the Nekrataal and the Stupors. Get one Dirty guy out and pound him to death in short order. Matches 5-1 Games 11-5 Round Seven (vs. Meta Game w/ red) I'm playing the only undefeated guy left (Somehow ended up with the second best record at this point. Don't ask me) He had just pounded my friend who was playing mono blue. I hang with him for a while but all hope is lost after I double quicksand a scalesbane elite and he follows with a second one. I get whittled away. Second game he pounds me alot. I doomsday. I look at the board and realize I lost. I need two cards for victory a crypt rat and a justice. Can't draw two cards. I lose. Matches 5-2 Games 11-7 End of Swiss. Chances to make the finals look bad. Four people had taken draws and were 5-1-1. One guy was 7-0. Another guy was 6-1. I barely make it. Eight seed. I get to play Meta man again. Hope to win one game. My deck can't win a match from him. No way on earth. But maybe I can win a game. Quarter Finals Meta man shuffles my deck for me. We're both relaxed. We both think I'm gonna lose he's gonna get an invite. He couldn't have given me a more broken shuffle/cut. I draw three stupor in the opening hand. About turn four I draw the third swamp I need. He has no hand in two turns. I then clear the board with a justice/crypt rat probably. I don't remember for sure. Bring out Bone Dancer (He hand't been good for much but drawing bolrs until now) and dance all over him. I get a wall. And then I get SCALESBANE ELITE. Feelit. Yeah. Yeah. Take that pro-black garbage your dishing and eat it. Scalesbane beatdown for him. I dont' remeber how I won the second game but I remeber have lotsa abyssal guys in play and then quicksanding one of them to clear the board. :) Abyssal Happiness. I end up winning on drians I think. I think I even Doomsdayed for them but can't recall. Matches 6-2 Games 13-7 Semi Finals I have to play my mono blue friend. :( I win but lost one of the games. I don't want to talk about it. Matches 7-2 Games 15-8 Finals I play agains a Green/Black necratog deck. He wins the toss but lets me go first. I find this puzzling. Do some neat crypt rat urborg justice abyssal gatekeeper stuff. Wipe him out. Ask him about him letting me go first. He says he has a horrible fear of getting land screwed. I say yeah, that happens. I side the Dirt. He plays a land first turn. He summons THE LAND SCREW. No more land. I cruise to an un fun victory. Matches 8-2 Games 17-8 Closing thought... How the **** did I win? Now preparing to get beat down in Chicago. :o TTFN TED