Date: Wed, 10 Sep 1997 17:12:02 -0600 From: mattv99@hotmail.com Subject: PTQ in NY - Neut. Grnd. Runs Mediocre Tourney Newsgroups: rec.games.trading-cards.magic.strategy So in a last ditch effort to rescue myself from disappearing into Tam-like obscurity I went to NY for the Neutral Ground PTQ for Chicago with Gary Krakower and Dennis Bentley (who wanted to qualify a third time with a third deck...). It's a long trip, even with an overnight stay in Rochester (home of the Bentley) but rest up in a motel in Jersey and head into New York early in the morning. Arriving at 8:30 we find that the tournament won't be until 10:30-11:00. That's the last time we let Bentley take care of things! Apparently most Neutral Ground (NG) qualifiers are held at the New Yorker hotel so they delayed this one in case anyone went to the wrong place. Enough travel - on to the tournmaent! I was using a red-green-white anti-black deck which started 4 scalebanes, 4 twisters, 4 torch, 4 centaurs, 4 sentinels, 3 incinerate, thunderbolt, 2 afterlife, pacifism, 4 wall of roots, 2 rampant growths, 2 uktabi efreet and 2 SHADOWBANE. I had found that even if I could catch up and lock the ground against the all black decks (which were everywhere and I despised), I was often too low in life to survive late game drains. So I could shadowbane really early (an askari or stalker) and gain a 4 point spread, or I had late game defence against the drain. (crypt rats suck, however). Krakower used an original peacekeeper deck which he insists is viable. he has fewer and fewer supporters each tournament. Bentley used a black deck that we brought him. There was a mention elsewhere that he was cheating by forgetting to take damage from the stalker when he had a furnace in play. In his defence, he had never played the deck sideboarded before the tournament, so he just wasn't used to it. EVERY black opponent I played "forgot" that they had a snakebasket, or a mindstone or whatever out in play when the stalkers were in play. It happens. Dennis even did things like "sac the furnace to avoid the damage, main phase, cast serrated biskelion" next turn "oops, uh, use the biskelion on itself". He honestly wasn't used to the deck! So, first round I play the alabaster dragon deck. It's white blue with no viable offence except man-o-wars and ophidians(?) and at least one alabaster dragon (you can never tell!). I play harsh at one point, he's at 4, I attack for 6, he writes down -2 life and I say "you're dead right?" and he goes, "nope, I'll cast Mangara's Blessing and gain 5 life". I almost let it go but then realize it's an important tournament and hold him to the fact he's already written down that he's dead and can't cast a life-gainer during damage prevention. Even if I hadn't, there were still 3 creatures beating on him. In between rounds, I notice (throughout the tournament) that people just sort of freely wander through the play area. I question the head judge about it and he makes a half-hearted attempt to prevent scouting by announcing that players in the qualifier should not be wandering the play area. I manage to beat the alabaster dragon deck, i mean, what kind of scrub-player loses to the alabaster dragon deck? :) ROUND II (1-0, 2-0) I'm playing against Ertai's. First game I draw two walls of roots and 4 forests, no multi-colored lands at all! He has all these ground creatures that can't get through as I play all four sentinels and two centaurs. he has a 'tog out and about half his DECK in the graveyard from two ertais. I guess that he's using soulshrieks so I always make sure to have the same number of creatures as he does plus 1 (for the man-o-war). At one point he man-o-wars his own ertai's and then casts it (i guess to prevent me from getting my 5th lanowar sentinel?). I finally draw a floodplain, and then a rampant growth, and predicting a beatdown, cast the efreet. Next turn, afterlife the 'tog, savage twister for two, killing ALL his creatures (and my centaur), and attack with 4 sentinels and an efreet. Game over in two turns. I just don't know why he didn't wipe out all my creatures one at a time with the 'tog. RND III (2-0, 4-0) Playing against all red with more than the usual creatures (biskelions, wildfires). He wants me to explain shadowbane (very good starting against red) and honorable passage (after side-boarding). He draws almost no kill and can't hold back the bigger creatures (or even the centaurs) and the torch finisher. RND IV (3-0, 6-0) Playing against Eric K, one of the finalists (grrrr...) with an all black deck. You would think I would have nothing to worry about, but in fact, despite ALL the anti-black stuff, I still can barely hold my own against a good black player. Eric is a good black player (sort of). He drains me too fast first game after a creature beatdown. Second game, he knows I have a shadowbane, but forgets that if I shadowbane one of the crypt rat damage points, I would gain one. His miscalculation allows me to top-deck a torch and finish him off EXACTLY (with the help of his own crypt rats). He's really pissed off at himself, so as a favor, in the third game, instead of discarding when I've got 8 kill in my hand (and he has no creatures) and an elephant grass on the table, I incinerate him, which taps me out. He takes advantage of this to double-ritual drain me, getting me low enough for his other cards to do the job. If I had left the 1W open, he would have waited on the drain, and I could have double-incinerated and torched him. Sigh.... He also had an unnatural talent of drawing two quicksands whenever I drew a scalebane - very frustrating! RND V (3-1, 7-2) Playing another all-black deck played by a kid who had a tendency to make mistakes. First game he plays askari, I wall of roots, he fledgling djinns, I pacify it, he plays morinfen and attacks, I shadowbane it, he plays a stalker and attacks with morinfen, I shadowbane it again. i then FINALLY draw a red and twister all his crap away, and I'm at 27 life. Normally an EXCELLENT position with 6 mana on the table, many cards in hand, and my opponent with none. However he then draws nothing but good cards. He spends the entire 30+ turn game at 4 mana. I'm stunned. I can't handle it as I eventually draw manas 7 through 11 while he draws stalkers and drains and so on. He wins first game. Another mistake he made first game - he has a 'tog out, attacks, I let it through, he removes 6 creatures from his graveyard at once, I incinerate it. Not nice. 2nd game, I get a great draw and beat him down. Burn, Burn, Scalebane, Torch. Good game. 3rd game, we have a misunderstanding. he has an afterlife token in play and a stalker and is afraid of the torch. He asks if he can sacrifice it to the tribute to avoid the damage. I'm not really listening (honest!) and think he means he wants to sac the stalker (maybe I'm just hoping!). He sacs it and I decide to check the tribute. it says "any card" which does NOT include a token. normally not a problem, however he's already looked at his next card. A judge is called and tells him he still has two mana in his mana pool and gets a caution. I probably should have just let it go (i would have protested if he got a real warning). He sacs the tribute. Later on he attempts to necromancy my scalebane, which I allow, however it didn't stay in play long. Finally, he's about to take me down with two big creatures after coercing my third torch from my hand (I was one mana short of killing him) and I have one draw to save myself. Either I need 1 on of the two twisters to remove the stalker and fledgling, or a torch to kill him. I top-deck the torch, way to go me. Round VI (4-1, 9-3) ANOTHER all black deck, this time with snake basket. Of course, with four twisters in the deck, I die to snake basket tokens first game. The irony seems much less funny at the time. I beat him down 2nd game with the help of three twisters, and third game get an elephant grass out. He pops the basket but instead of attacking one turn, casts a stalker and necromancies a stalker. So now I'm taking 2 a turn, but so is he, and I've got a torch. He does more damage with the snakes, but the stalkers lower him enough that I let go of the grass and torch him exactly. Rnd VII (5-1, 11-4) I'm definitely in for the top 8 (my tie-breakers are decent) so I draw with my 5-0-1 opponent. I don't like drawing, but i'm not going to risk anything at this point, especially with someone who has nothing to lose. So I'm seeded 7th or so, and Dennis is seeded first (I believe). There is one other qualified player in the top 8 and everyone is hoping they'll do well so the third and fourth placed guys can get a chance. Unfortunately they both bomb out in the quarters. Dennis apparently had a game where his oppoenent went, island, island, boomerang, ophidian, ophidian, man-owar, counter, counter, counter (or something like that). I get to play against another red-green deck which is rumoured to have aether-flash and big creatures and burn. As that only affects my 4 centaurs, I'm not worried. First game he plays some knights and v. stalkers which I incinerate, and a wildfire, which I twist away. I play a scalebane, he torches, I play another, he twists, I shadowbane, he fireblasts. I play a couple sentinels all at once, uh-oh....I manage to remove his river boa and deal some damage with a torch follow through. 2nd game, I don't know if the aetherflash rumor is true, so I don't bother worrying about it. I leave all enchantment removal and put in two passages, removing two centaurs (everything in the deck was good against red green). So i get mana-screwed, with 1 wall of roots and two forests. I play a centaur, he plays aetherflash. I hit him for two, he plays wildfire. I attack and he blocks while tapped out. I play a red-green sac land, get a mountain. he holds back, I attack again and he doesn't block (fearing the incinerate I'm holding in my hand). I'm not sure why he didn't attack on his turn, but I'm not complaining. he has a guildmage out too and is shooting me (and him) for a point every turn. He finally attacks with the wildfire so at the end of his turn I incinerate him. I attack again with the centaur and decide to gamble. I have THREE torches in my hand and four mana. So I torch him for three. He bolts me and attacks with the wildfire. I draw a land (top-deck!) and torch him for 4. He incinerates me and attacks, I block. He says "go"..... I torch him for four. He literally killed himself with his own guildmage, however he did have the finishing fireblast in his hand which would have killed me the following turn. All I have to do is win ONE MORE MATCH. So of course I have to play Eric K. again, the only person to beat me so far today. I'm NOT thrilled. Round 9 (6-1-1, 13-4) I draw three lands. Third turn, he coerces one from my hand. 4th turn, he agonizing memories me. 6th turn he plays necrosavant. 11 turn I die. (blocked with a sentinel for a turn). Not pretty. Then things begin to get weird.... We're preparing for the second game and there's lots of people sitting around and watching. I'm trying to concentrate and get into the "zone" but I'm having some trouble as there are people right behind me yapping away about some game or something. As well, the judge is having a conversation with someone. I guess toronto may be different from most, but in toronto there's dead quiet for the top eight and the judges make sure the spectators are well back and quiet. The judges themselves are generally quiet as well. So, we shuffle. I have a shuffling ritual where I riffle shuffle and so one for a minute or two, then 8-pile, the riffle shuffle for another minute or so and 8-pile again. I do this, and my opponent cuts. I shuffle his deck. Suddenly a spectator says to the judge - "Did Matt bridge-shuffle his own deck 3 times at the end?". The judge asks and I say I didn't, so he insists that I re-shuffle my deck and end with 3 riffle-shuffles. Now, I've been to 6 pro-tours, dozens of qualifiers and lots of small tournaments and I have NEVER had that rule enforced, EVER, EVER, EVER. I understand it IS the rule, but NO ONE uses it. Perhaps if he had mentioned it BEFORE shuffling was complete, I wouldn't have minded. But no, it wasn't until we're about to start. AND - he never asks my OPPONENT any of these questions! For some reason he enforces obscure rulings on my, but not my opponent. More on this later. So, I shuffle everything again, and I'm a little thrown off with having to argue the obscurity of the ruling with the judge (it's good that he had time to notice it between talking to his friends). I draw, and of course get one forest. I discard my only tranquil grove, which turns out to be the mistake of the game (other than shuffling). he coerces a sentinel (that's how not scared of my hand he was). He has little to start with (only 3 land, no small creatures) but eventually draws a fourth mana and agonizing memories me. I draw a land and a rampant growth eventually. he plays a stalker, I pacify it as I feel I may draw mana and elephant grass seems unnecessary. he draws lots of land and uses his tribute to convert it into cards. he plays another stalker. I get a fifth mana and torch it. He plays a 3rd stalker and necromancies another one into play. I draw a sixth mana and twist them all away. he necromancies another stalker (notice all the enchantments he's playing!). I torch it, but i'm at 2 at this point. He sits and waits, i play a scalebane, he plays an askari, I now have a shadowbane in hand, but he's sacking land to the tribute like made. Maybe I have hope.... He coercions the shadowbane, drains me for two. Game over. I'm less than thrilled but I shake his hand as he has been nothing but a friendly opponent who I can respect. Neutral Ground however, I have problems with. The good things about NG: 1. the prizes were healthy - in toronto there's a persistent rumour that the prizes are skimmed to pay the judges (in montreal, you may never even see the prizes!). I got 4 ital. legends, and a dozen or so korean 5th and visions. In toronto i get ice age, renaissance and fallen empires. 2. the people - everyone at neutral ground is very friendly! Tony the head judge is more than pleasant, bruce is nice, no one gives a bad impression. The bad things about NG: 1. the space - there's a lot of space for ONE tournmant, however they were holding about THREE in the room. The judges also seemed thinly spread out. 2. DECK CHECKS - they CLAIMED they had some, but i never saw it and i was in the top 8. In toronto ALL the top 8 are deck-checked. My advice to future NG PTQ participants is to CHEAT. You won't get caught, and maybe if enough people do it, they'll actually enforce the USEFUL rules. They'll make sure I shuffle 3 times MORE after two 8-pile shuffles and before my opponent shuffles, but they don't care if I have 5 torches. In toronto, we average about one disqualification per 2 tournaments on illegal decks IN THE TOP EIGHT. 3. Player Favouring - after I explained my problem with the judge requesting that I shuffle (after the match) to Tony, the head judge (who was judging the other semi-final match I hope), he points out that he doubts it was done out of malice as no one there really knows me enough to dislike me (I didn't point out that it doesn't take much to dislike me!:) ). This sort of misses the point. It's not that they dislike other players, NG may just favour their own. My judge KNEW my opponent, and didn't ask if HE had shuffled. In my own experience, I have learned that I should never judge matches between my best friend and someone from out of state. I would hope that at NG they would attempt the same thing, but they didn't. In a similar incident earlier, someone asked for a ruling and they spent 15 minutes checking it up because they didn't agree with him but he was often a judge at their tournaments so they wanted to make sure. I understand them doing that, but I don't think *I* would have gotten the same sort of preferential treatment, despite having judged several tournaments myself - just not for Neutral Ground. I had heard rumours that NG favoured its own but had hoped they were not true. Now I'm not so sure. 4. Scouting - it seems that the only rules they DO enforce are the shuffling rules (and only for out-of-towners). There was NO way to determine who was in the PTQ and who wasn't, and there were always people wandering around the play area. I had 4-1 competitors watching my match. This is NOT good. But I have more advice - bring 5 torches and if, after scouting, you feel you need a 6th, or perhaps another incinerate, add them in. Make sure you scout each round so your deck is optimal. So that's it (I think). My take on the tournament would obviously be much better if I had won it. I can't truthfully say that anything NG did made me lose, though I can say that if they hadn't enforced the inane shuffling ruling selectively then I would have gotten a different (and no doubt better) opening hand in my last game. I don't use sleeves so my cards stick together, so I pile shuffle after bridge-shuffling - to INCREASE the fairness of the deck. I'm not sure I would ever drive 9 hours to a NG tournament again. I expect unprofessional tournaments in Syracuse ("sorry - we can't rochester the final eight, we used the boosters for a draft") or other small town tournaments, but if I go to NY, I want the BEST. Perhaps they should hire Donais to run their tournaments, the Toronto Grand Prix went VERY smoothly. Washington Grand Prix (run by NG of course) on the other hand, was not so smooth and i encountered MORE judges who made incorrect rulings, always to help their friends. Enough of me being bitter - I will point out again, NG personnel are all very nice people, unfortunately they are nicer to some than others.... -------------------==== Posted via Deja News ====----------------------- http://www.dejanews.com/ Search, Read, Post to Usenet