From: sprmario@netcom.com (Mario Robaina) Subject: PT5 Qualifier Report (Los Angeles) Date: Thu, 3 Oct 1996 00:47:14 GMT Well, having read jamie Wakefield's rather lengthy report, I got in the mood to do one for the Qualifier I competed in last week. Before the tourny prep: Mark Chalice and I have been working on a B/W Necro deck for Ice Age/Alliances since seeing Brian Weissman, John Immordino, and Matt Place's decks from PT3. A lot of the preliminary work was done by Mark and he asked me to take a look at it before a PT5 Qualifier in Riverside the weekend before Atlanta. I liked it and decided to play it there as well. Although we did well, Chalice and I were both knocked out in the quarterfinals after having finished 3rd and 7th, respectively, in the Swiss portion of the Tourny. Not too bad considering we were the only people playing that type of deck. However we were both somewhat dissapointed with the deck's ability to deal with the Scott Johns and Fleischman type decks that made up 5 of the top 8 decks in the swiss... I lost to Scott johns twice and Chalice lost to Fleischmanesque decks twice. I decided that I would play the B/W deck again at the next qualifier, but I didn't wan't to lose to R/W, R/W/G, or R/W/U decks again. I decided to play the odds (aka the metagame) and set up my deck to beat these foes. To that end I limited my creature defence to only two StP and the 3 Soul Burns in the main deck. I also had two standard Infernal Darknesses since I saw so little black at the previous qualifier. I also upped the number of creatures in the main deck to take advantage of the Darknesses once they were down. On the Thursday before the qualifier there was a small IA/AI tourny at the SCGA and Chalice borrowed my deck. Although the sideboard was incomplete, he managed to win the event with a 5-1 record. Not too bad. I felt pretty comfortable and was excited about the upcoming weekend. The Day of the TOurny: I arrived early to the Costa Mesa Women's club and sat around waiting for Chalice to bring my cards that he borrowed on Thursday, but with less than 30 min left before the tourny he hadn't arrived so I decided to scrounge up the cards for my deck just in case. Thanks to Dan and Andrea, I was able to rebuild the deck with only a few seconds to spare. I then had to sleeve the cards, because a number of Andrea's cards are signed... Oh well. Round #1 - I am paired against Sam Huggins (excuse any misspellings) he is playing a R/W/G deck very similar to what Scott Johns plays. For those of you who are not familiar with Scott's deck, it is R/W with lots of removal and Blinkys, Insects and Sormbinds. Game #1 - I really don't know what Sam is playing, but I drop a couple of creatures, in the first few round and he kills most of them... when he doesn't kill a pump knight I throw down the Infernal Darkness and the Game is over. That was easy. Game #2 - This time it took a little more manuvering, but in the end I drop the Darkness and toss down a couple of abyssal specters to finish him off. Not too bad.... two games won via the Darkness. The metagame pays off early. Round #2 - I draw Tim Vandenberg who is playing a W/U deck that is looks like a Browse/Digger deck, but I never see a Browse. Game #1 - Tim must have a ton of counters in this deck because for the first 4 or 5 turns he counters every spell I cast. I finally feel that the counters are finished so I drop the Darkness and the rest of the game is easy as I have a Zuran Orb on the table. Game #2 - I add in another Darkness and Outpost and I'm ready for battle once again. This time Tim is very careful about not letting me get the Darkness out, but I use them to draw counters and I win via the Outposts. Round #3 - I'm paired up against a junior that I don't recognize... However, he plays very well, and puts up a great fight playing a R/W/G deck. Game #1 - I really don't remember the details of the game, but he got out an insect that almost kicked my butt. I barely beat him. Game #2 - He is completely mana screwed, but with his only two lands he casts all three of the white pump knights he had in the sideboard. I once again barely beat him with pump knights of my own. Hmm, I'm pretty damn happy at this point, at 3-0 in matches and 6-0 in games. Round #4 - I play Julia. Julia is a good friend of mine and she tries to convince me of using an intentional draw. I'm only really playing in the tourny for the ranking points, so I don't want to, but since it's 2 pm and I haven't eaten, I agree. I drop from my #3 spot with a 3-0-1 record. Round #5 - I play a White weenie deck in this round... THe guy seems pretty amiable. Game #1- I am forced to out run him, as neither one of us draws any creature removal... I have the edge with my flyers and my outpost. The key point of the game is when I Soul Burn his Phyrexian War Beast and he doesn't toss it at me with his Skull Catapult. the six point swing in my life total is the key to the game. He is upset becuase I wouldn't let him take back the move. However, the he had already nodded ok to the soul burn had placed the beast in the graveyard and I had already modified my life total... I think he was way too late. After that he is not very amiable. Game #2 In come my Dystopias and COntagions. These are easily the key as I get a two for one advantage every time they come up and they did often. With a Gargoyle and two dudes on the table I drop my Infernal Darkness. I wait to see if he has any interupts and then I declare that I'm tapping a land for white to make one more dude... He gets all pissed off thinking that I'm trying to screw him or something. If the game weren't already over, I'd have called a judge over, but it just didn't matter at that point. Round #6 - I play Henry Johnson who I know to be a very good player... He is highly ranked in Type II and I expect a tough match. he is playing a R/W/G deck a la Scott Johns.. Damn I love the metagame. Game #1 He puts out a fifth turn Insect and fries everything I put out to block.... I die rather fast. Game #2 This game is the opposite. I get off to a fast start and finish him rather quickly with a turn 4 Darkness. Game #3 This was a totally ridiculous game... henry puts out an Insect and I only have a Blinky in my hand... I play it and he bolts it to smack me for 6. I play it again and he can't kill it, so we are in a stand off... I've got nothing in my hand that helps... i'm only holding disenchants and StPs. This goes on forever it seems. I've got the Darkness in my hand and I'm just waiting for any thing to put it out. Finally I start to draw Creatures... with a one creature advantage I put out the Darkness and Henry's fate is sealed. He starts to draw his heat one turn too late. Round #7 I'm at 5-0-1 and I'm #2 out of the 100+ player field. I've got to play either Gabe Higa or Tom Griffith who are also 5-0-1. If I am the odd man out I can't intentionally draw (i don't really care). I draw Tom and we take the draw. I'm hungry again so I use the break to go get some food... i feel extremetly confident about my chances. I come back from dinner to see who made the final 8. I end up ranked #2 just behind Tom by the third tiebreaker. The final 8 is something like... 1. Tom Griffith 2. Me (Mario Robaina) 3. Julia 4. Shane Cargillo 5. Larry McBride 6. Brandon Emerson 7. Gabe Higa 8. I don't remember Damn, I have to play Gabe... I feel kinda shitty about playing him because he is not qualified and I am, although the other 6 guys are rooting for me to win. Gabe is playing a Fleischman type Deck and I'm pretty ready for him... I can tell he is upset at having to play me. Game #1 - I draw one swamp the entire game and Gabe Pillages it the turn it comes in to play... He totally rolls me in no time at all... Seems like my good fortune is running out. Game #2 - I get a much better draw, but Gabe counters the Darknesses and I am in trouble... He has a huge mana advantage and I don't think I can win... My only real hope is that Gabe Jokulhaupses. I've got a glaciers in my hand and he thinks I'm in mana trouble. Someone walks by and asks how the match is going.... I flip my head around and say something like, "He's got me... He's just waiting for the Jokulhaups now." This got Gabe thinking and he used the Haups. I come off the Haups perfectly as I Icequake his glaciers and he is stuck at 3 mana. I finish him quickly thereafter. Game #3 - I get a great draw and Mind Warp his hand early with my lake of the Dead. He is at the mercy of a pump knight and dies fast. SemiFinals vs. Shane Cargillo. I've played Shane a decent amount and I've always managed to beat him... I think he may let that get to his head. Shane is also playing a Fleishmanesque deck. I'm very confident at this point. Game #1 - I draw 4 creatures in my opening hand and decide to put the pressure on Shane... he Swords the first, counters the second, counters the third and counters the 4th... hmm, I draw a fifth creature on turn 6 and try once more... He let's it through, I think he's out of counters, since this one is an Abyssal. I attack on my next turn and he takes the hit. I throw down the Infernal and the game is over fast. Game #2 - This game goes by even faster as he doesn't stop my second creature. 4th turn infernal = game over again. Shane is pretty upset that he had to play me, but he gets another chance to qualify if he wins the 3rd place match. Finals vs. Brandon Emerson. Brandon was very highly ranked a couple of years ago, but he really hasn't done much since then. He is playing a R/G LD deck with 12 LD Spells and 3 Conquers. He also has lots of heat and deadly insects. Game #1 - He is Mr. LD in game 1. He draws 8 of 15 LD spells, but I draw just as much land... He has a huge mana advantage and an Insect on the table... I have a Blinky that is holding off the Insect. I play a Pump Knight and attack with it on the next turn... He bolts the Blinky and hits for 6. I play it again and attack with the Knight. Once again, he Tactics the Blinky and his for 6. I play it and attack with the knight. He does nothing on his turn. I attack again. I had stopped playing mana, and he decides to Jokulhaups rather than wait for more heat. I was holding a Glacier and another land and come off the haups in great shape... I finish him with Abyssal Specters. Game #2 - I only draw 5 lands the entire game, but he only draws 3 LD Spells. I also drew my cheapest creatures Pump Knights and High Guard. He just can't get rid of all of them as a pair of High Guard end his day. YES! I finally win one of these things... I've mad the finals twice before at qualifiers only to lose. In fact, I'm pretty much the king of second place with something like 8 or 9 second place finishes in the past several months. At least I'm consistent. Anyways, hope that was interesting. Later, Mario Robaina. Team PCL.