From: rbleiwe@panix.com (5) Subject: Pro Tourney Qualifier NY--A Report Date: 10 Mar 1996 22:58:34 -0500 Saturday was the first Pro-Tournament qualifier for NY. There was one spot available, and 56 or so people competing. First prize was airfare to LA, but more importantly, a chance to play in PTII. The following is my report of what happened in New York, at neutral Ground. Preface: I won the tournament :) It took 13 hours, went 8 rounds, and ended past midnight. I am Really happy about winning, because it's the first big tourney I'd won in New York (I'd made sealed deck at NY Magic, and won SEVERAL tournaments in New Orleans). Moreover, before I give my recap to qualification, I'd like to thank a few people. Bob, who drove me around all summer in New Orleans, going from Tourney to tourney. He helped me out loaning me cards and being a friend. Tony, who's helped me immensly since I came to New York, and has tought me a lot about Type II. Brian, Glenn, Jim, and Karla at Neutral Ground, where I've played too much magic, won all of Glenn's good cards in league play, and are flying me out to LA ;) Robert Hahn, because he's gonna *HAVE* to make Necropotence a school of magic now ;) And my family and friends, all the people at NG, and those New Orleans people I beat up on before I transferred schools ;) On to the tournament: 8 Round Tournamnt (5 Rounds Swiss, 1 playoff, 2 final rounds) Round 1-- I came into the tournament with a Necrodeck (mono-black). It was low on creatures, but high on "risk" cards--ie, consultation, Disks, and 2 glooms to start. From the decks played by New Yorks are PTI, I figured if I could Ritual Gloom, or Ritual Hymn first turn, I'd have a good chance of screwing land tax. My first opponent was a mystery deck at first. I won die role, and choose to go first. ME: Swamp, Dark Ritual, Gloom Him: Strip the Swamp Me: Swamp Him: Strip the Swamp Me: Mishra Him: Mishra (By this point, I figured he was playing white, and was trying to do anything he could besides play white lands) Me: Strip the Mishra Him: Swamp (Me: DOH!) So much for the metagame! He procedded to start hymning me, and paralyzing my creatures. However, this was a person who had NOT practiced with his deck. ALL three games, he killed himself by dropping the necropotence at the wrong time. For example: He's at 9 life. I have 2 hypnotic specters out. He has nothing. He casts Necropotence, and draws 3 cards. I look at him, and say "You just lost the game." why? He's now at 6 life, and is GUARENTEED of discarding 2 of the 3 cards he just drew. By his NEXT upkeep, he only has 1 card in hand, and is at 2 life. If he had NOT cast necropotence, he would have drawn 1 more card, and had 1 more turn. Anyhow, I swept that set 3-0. GAME 2: W/U ??? deck vs. Me The guy I played had won because his oppoenent in round one had an invalid deck (It wasn't professional). Anyhow, he was playing a deck where the only creatures he had were Vodalian Wizards, and 2 Mahamoti's. No control Magics, no sleights. Game one, I gloomed him, game over. Game two, I gloomed him, game over. Game three, he got up and early COP black. I managed to gloom him twice, and drop a specter. Then I dropped a knight. He HIGH TIDED with 8 islands out to pay 14 to COP both my creatures!! however, all was for naught, and he died shortly thereafter. Record: 6-0, 2 sets Game 3: White Weenie (Mono) vs. Me The guy I was playing (Mike May) sat down (he's a friend of mine) and basically said "I know I'm screwed." He could do *NOTHING* about my glooms. That's why, in game 1, I drew 6 swamps and a specter on my draw, and drew 3 swamps the next 3 turns :( He procedded to whip the snot out of me with orders of leitbur. Even more insulting, he did the final two damage with an AELOPILE!. (Ick) Game 2, the deck went to 4 disks, 4 glooms. I gloomed him first turn. I gloomed him 4th turn. Game over. However, I DID finish *HIM* with an aeopile, causing us to call the judge, and asking if killing the opponent two games in a row in this way was legal! Game 3, it looked like he got an early jump. However, I hymned his disenchant out of his hand, and managed to disk out his entire side (2 weenies, 2 knights), and drop 2 glooms within 2 turns. With 2 glooms out, he knew he had no chance, and I procedded to stomp on him. Record: 8-1, 3 sets. Game 4: Chad (W/G Armageddon) vs. Me Gloom, gloom gloom. Man, I love the meta-game. For the third round in a row, I hosed the opponent in the first game with glooms. The second game, he got up and early lifeforce, but tapped down to two forests. I stripped the forest, necropoteneced, and dropped a disk. Game over for him. Game 3, he made a mistake that would have cost him the game, but I was a nice guy, and let him take it back (I had an aelopile on the table, he had 2 forests, and an elf...he taps a forest to cast Birds, and I respond to kill his elves. He says "Look, it was a stupid mistake, and I've been making them all day--can I take that back?" I knew he would win if I let him, but I was a nice guy, and did it anyway. I lost the 3rd game. *SIGH*...I'll have to be a dick more often ;) Record: 10-2, 4 sets won Round 5: John (U/W) vs. Me For the FOURTH straight round, Gloom hosed the opponent royally in game one. Round two, we had a tense matchup. I nailed most of his disenchants, but he had a 2 knights and a serra (3 white mana on board) vs. my 3 black knights. I was at 18, him at 10. (Me at 4 black mana, strip). He attacks for 9, knocking me to 9. What he didn't know was that I had a drain life ;) I attacked him for 6 (knocking him to 4), then drained him for 2 (Me, 11, him 2). He goes :"Oh shit! There's goes the math!" The next turn, he knocks me to 4, then wraths. We kept drawing back and forth, but eventually he got too many coutnerspells, and killed me first. Game 3 was a heartbreaker for him :( John is a teriffic guy, and an opponent who is VERY gracious and courteous. I love playing against him :) Anyhow, his first draw was THREE counterspells, Adakar wastes, Island, Island, Something. My draw was TWO strip mines, two consultations, swamp, something, something. To makea long story short, He played an island. I played a swamp. He played an island. I consulted for a swamp, which he let throught. I stripped. He played his wastes. I stripped. He didn't get another land the whole game! Afterwards, he showed me his hand (3 counterspells, and 2 control magics by the end). It's bad to lose on a mana screw :( Final Swiss Score: 12-3, 5 rounds won. This allowed me to qualify for the final 4 (elimination), along with 2 other people. 2 people were tied with IDENTICAL Win-Loss/point totals at fourth, so for round SIX, they played for the 4th spot. I didn't see this round (no watching the competition play). Round 7: (U/W creatures vs. Me) I played a guy who's creatures were orders of Leitbur, Serras, and TIMS! I'm going to be honest as all hell here: My deck was SO set up to hose his, it wasn't funny. I DESTROYED him in game one, and sideboarded in 3 arrows, 2 aeopiles, and 1 disk (4 total) game 2. That game, I double gloomed him, and SERRATED ARROWSed TWO of my own controlled Knights to death. He didn't have a chance. This advanced me to the finals! Round 8: R/W/G BIG creature/armageddon vs. Me First turn for him, I saw white. I jumped for joy. He whipped the SHIT out of me. I sat there the whole game drawing peripheral cards (mishra, hymns, strips), but NEVER getting a potence OR a creature :( Game 2, I got the tower/potence out against him. He had sideboarded out his disenchants, and I CREAMATED him. Game 3 was one of the BEST magic games I ever played in. He got a stormbind out against my necropotence, and was hitting me for 2 a turn (Smart move..I'll tell you more about this guy and his deck in a minte). Anyhow, I hit him with a double dark ritual drain life (for 9 total), and hang on a while longer. however, he's still hitting me. Finally, he has no cards in hand, and I necro myself to 8. I get the Zuran orb. I have a disk in play. However, next turn, he draws. Holds the card. My upkeep, I set aside 3 cards with Necro (didn't want to be bolted), to drop me to 5. He Stormbinds me with his card (Autmn Willow). I'm at 3. I set off the disk (So I get a draw), and drop my zuran orb. I start going to work on him. By the end, he had 3 strips and 1 plains in play against a black creature horde. He concedes one turn before I kill him. :) Anyhow, this won me about 300-400 in cards (Ice Age, Foreign editions, Italian Legends Packs), a T-Shirt, and airfare to Los Angeles :) Some notes are: Playing the meta-game won me the tournament. Yes, it's a fancy word for guessing, but having glooms instead of icequakes hosed seven of my eight opponents on the day! The guy I played in the finals (I forget his name) came down with about 6-7 friends from Montreal. They were all rooting for him while he played, and he had a really damn good deck (Bolts, Stormbinds, arrows STARTING in the deck, disenchants, Armageddon, Autumn Willow, Blinking Spirits, Mishras, Strips, Ehrnams in sideboard for blinkers, since his only green lands were 4 brushlands, and 2 sacrifice FE lands). Anyhow, my words of advice for mono-black necro-players: Practice with the deck for a GOOD long time. You *WILL* kill yourself with Necropotence if you drop it at the wrong time. A good player will notice when a necropotence is dropped at the wrong time, and kill you. Every other mono-black deck got destroyed, because the people playing them thought that the point of the Potence is to draw a weenie horde, regardless of your life total. That's not the way it's played. Anyhow, One last thanks to the LA Necrodeck players. No, I never saw them play their decks (I was in school during PTI). However, the ideas I heard allowed me to change my U/W/B necrodeck to one that is vastly superior in the current forum. Ben Bleiweiss AKA Poker Face PS--BOOSTER DRAFT? UGGGH. Time to buy more cards and practice :)