Date: Sat, 9 Sep 1995 23:51:08 -0800
To: fkusumot@ix.netcom.com
From: budde2@reichenau.gmd.de (Budde)
Subject: ptq-Chicago, Germany, 9/7/97

Hi!

On Sunday I played the last ptq-Chicago in Germany. I have already played
in 2, where I went 5-0-2 (with bu(w)-tog), loosing in the quarterfinals
against a teammate, and 4-3 (I tried to play a gw-anti black-metagame-deck
and in the whole tournament were about 10 black decks (out of 80)). This
time I expected a lot of blue, mainly blue-white, but also mono-blue, like
the deck that won gp-toronto. I also liked the burn-deck with splash green,
called 'green fire', which was posted here some time ago. IMHO the deck is
VERY strong against blue, esspecially after sideboarding. I can't
understand why John Pennock, the creator of the deck, was afraid of
blue/white. Everytime my opponent started with a blue land, I was happy
.... Afterwards I played for fun against a blue/white-deck with 4 Hazerider
Drakes in the main deck and I went easily 5-1 (without sideboarding and
being mana-screwed once). I made some minor changes, mainly to the
sideboard and to the mana-configuration. Here is the deck I played:

Green Fire, Version 1.1

4 Mountain Valley 
4 Forest
2 Undiscovered Paradise
14 Mountains (I did not play Quicksands because I was afraid of mana-screw)
2 Mindstone
2 Wall of Roots (These are okay, but this is no defensive deck and so I
went with only 2 because IMHO Mindstones are superior cause you can trash
them when you don't need them any more.)

4 River Boa
3 Sandstalker
4 Talruum Minotaur (Flash resistant and 1 damage more than lancers)

4 Incinerate
4 Thunderbolt
4 Hammer
4 Fireblast
3 Torch
2 Savage Twister

Sideboard:
4 City of Soliutde (against blue AND passages)
4 Reign of Chaos (best hoser against blue imho)
4 Emerald Charm (during the last two qualifers in Germany bloom decks were
doing well (with lotus vale/emerald charm to get the necessary mana) and I
wanted to have at least the charms in the sideboard. also useful against
equipoise)
3 Elephant Grass (1 too less, I played 2 times against tog and I never saw
one of them)

There were about 140 to 150 players and it were 8 rounds:

1. mono-red
When he played a mountain, I thought that this could be a problem because
with the addition of green, my deck might be a little bit slower that a
pure red burn deck, but when he played a 4th turn embermage and 5th turn
bogardan phoenix, I knew that everything was fine. He died both duels in
round 6.
1-0-0, 2-0

2. Dirk Roth, second ranked german constructed player with bur(w)-ertaitog
He got a godlike start in duel 1. First turn guildmage, third turn tog
(okay, no creature on the second turn doesn't sound that good but ...) and
4th turn song of blood for FOUR creatures. One less would have been no
problem because I would have blocked his mage with my wall of roots, but 4
was just one too much. I had to block the tog and my wall died. I started
to burn him like a madman. I had not much time left. Then he was down to
eight and played a skulking ghost, which was his only untapped creature. In
my hand was a stalker, a fireblast  and a torch. But I had only 3 lands.
One more land and he would have been dead, but as usually I couldn't draw
what I needed and I died to the tog. In the second game I was again
slightly mana-screwed but the duel was decided by 2 things: His passage and
me not drawing one of my 3 grasses by turn ten ....
1-1-0, 2-2

3. Martin Huemmerich, mono-blue beatdown
In the first duel he had a good start with 2 cloud elementals backed up
with 2-3 lapses and other countermagic while I had only crap. The second
and third duel were decided by my sideboard. He sideboarded some disupts
which didn't help against my third turn cities followed by reign of chaos
and hammer recursion.
2-1-0, 4-3

4. blue/white beatdown
I won the first duel with one life left. I was confident that I would win
one of the following two duels because he sideboarded only 2-3 cards
(probably passages). My opening hand in duel 1 was 2 mountains, 1 city, 2
reign of chaos, torch, fireblast. I died about 10 turns later to his
ophidian and waterspout while I couldn't draw one further land, incinerate
or thunderbolt (to get rid of his creatures). Duel 3, see duel 2, except
that this time I died to a breezekeeper?!?!?! I was angry at this point.
With this deck (and esspecially sideboard) I shouldn't loose against any
blue deck, esspecially not against one with breezekeepers (I haven't seen a
veil and I don't think that he played with it). Furthermore it was almost
impossible to make the finals and if I should drop out now, I would
completely destroy my ranking (I'm currently No. 1 in Germany with 1900
points). I continued playing and hoped to finish at least 5-3.
2-2-0, 5-5

5. mono-blue, the same deck that won one of the two slots in the end
I won the first game with hammer-recursion. He had no chance in the second
because I played a third turn city followed by THREE reign of chaos. 
3-2-0, 7-5

6. mono-red
I won the first duel because he played 2 lava hounds. 8 extra damage were
just too much and he died in turn 5, just after he played his second hound.
He sideboarded the hounds and brought in wildfires. I couldn't sidebaord
anything. The second duel was a close damage-race, which I barely won with
a top-decked fireblast.
4-2-0, 9-5

7. blue/red, aether flash and the normal blue creatures backed up with dd,
a deck similar to what a friend of mine, Stephan Bulat, used one week ago
to win a qualifier
He was mana-screwed the first duel and couldn't counter a city in the
second duel.
5-2-0, 11-5

8. Martin Mauve, bu(w)-ertaitog
I was slightly mana-screwed in the first duel and he won. He had a bad
start in the second duel and I burned him. I won the third duel because he
was slightly screwed. He had only a swamp and a gemstone mine. He played an
ertai, which milled his lands and he drew only creatures. Again I didn't
see one of my Elephant Grasses.
6-2-0, 13-6

Okay, at least I went 6-2 overall. I barely missed the finals because 4
players were disqualified cause they flipped coins in the last round to
determine the winner of theirs matches when they run out of time and only 
the winners could make the finals. In the end a green/blue-anti-blue-deck
and a mono-blue won, while 2 ertais, including Dirk Roth, a bloom-deck and
a blue/black-deck lost in the quarterfinals. 3. and 4. were a sandsipoise
and blue/white.

Kai