From: jqsterna@midway.uchicago.edu (Jeff Sternal) Subject: Another Midwest Regional Report (Long) Date: 28 May 1996 22:39:51 GMT I'd like to apologize in advance for the hazy quality of this report. If anyone I played sees this report, please drop me a line to clarify things. Others have commented on the organization of the tournament. I've talked to Chris Galvin, and he's fully aware of people's dissatisfaction. All I can say is that 19 people (total staff) wasn't enough to deal with close to 800 competitors. It was grueling for everyone involved. My only gripes were that we didn't use the optional draw rule, and no points were given for drawn games. The tournament was 6 round swiss, by game. 1st Round: Me vs. Harlow (don't know his last name - any help from the Big Daddy's crew?), playing W/B. This was classic. He goes first, lays down Land Tax. I'm ready to play the stalling game, so I play a Swamp and sit tight, waiting for a Dark Ritual to bring out a Knight. On his second turn, he discards an Ashen Ghoul. D'oh! He managed to pummel me with the re-animators until I got a few creatures out - I think I was under 10 life. Then, I stripped his three swamps, which meant no recurring Ashen Ghouls, and he didn't draw another one until he was dead. The second game was brutal land screw for him. No fun. I don't remember the third game very well, but I won. Result: 3-0 / 9 points 2nd Round: Me vs Michael Kaczmarek, playing W/U Winter Orb. I don't remember a lot about these games, except that my opponent was surprised by Infernal Darkness (I'm not sure he had read it closely before). Energy Flux was also key in this match. Result: 3-0 Total: 6-0 / 18 points Editorial break: Infernal Darkness won me many, many games. All I can say is that it's a better, more versatile sideboard card than Gloom. But I did feel a little grimy when using it (as my opponents realized that they couldn't do *anything* except cast artifacts and use whatever happened to be on the board at the time I cast it). 3rd Round: Me vs. ?, playing ? For some reason, I'm having a tremendous mental block about this round. This might be due to the fact that during the pairing procedure, there were a few glitches (two teammates were paired, one person's score was wrong), and I ended up being paired with four different people before the round began (and I lost every single 'see-who-goes-first' roll). I think the guy my have been playing a black weenie deck, without Necro. But I'm not sure. I do know, however, that I swept my opponent. The best part was after the match, when a young guy named Joe asked me to play a game for fun against his deck. He whooped me with his enchantment-heavy, flying black weenie deck (Vampire Bats with Divine Transformation, Feasted Bog Imps, etc.). He was a cool guy, and probably too humble for his own good (he didn't want to enter the tournament because he thought he'd get creamed). Result: 3-0 Total: 9-0 / 27 points Editorial break: I always get nervous at tournaments. I get fevers, I get sinking feelings, and I always dread the next pairing. It's a testament to the power of the Necrodeck that I didn't feel that way at the biggest tournament I'd ever been to. I knew perfectly well that I wasn't unbeatable, but I knew that no matter what deck I faced, I had a chance. 4th Round: Me vs. Mark, playing Black Weenie, no Necro. This guy was very nice, but he got very frustrated as Disks + Necro kicked into gear. Furthermore, he was playing with Orders, so my Serrated Arrows cleared the path, and best of all, my Moor Fiends walked right through his swamps. I don't remember the games very well - another sweep. Result: 3-0 Total: 12-0 / 36 points I've all but qualified for the playoffs, and haven't started the fifth round of Swiss yet. Right now, I'm thinking "If Necro or the Hymn doesn't get restricted by the end of the day, I'm moving to Australia. In the next round, I get evidence that this isn't necessary. 5th Round: Me vs. Phil, playing R/G/W The first game was textbook NecroNightmare. I think it went like this (for him): turn 1, Elf; turn 2, Spectral Bears; turn 3, Ernham; turn 4, Armageddon. Ack. I did the natural thing, and died. I won the second, Hymning away creatures, then supplementing that with a rush of my own. He won the third with (if I recall correctly), a Dervish and Ernham. Result: Defeat! 1-2 Total: 13-2 / 39 points Editorial break: Though I heard Phil (my previous opponent) say that he'd beaten several Necrodecks during the tournament, I definitely had a chance against his deck. In the final game, I drew 2 Mishra's as my only lands for the first several turns. Lest anyone think I'm whining or making excuses - I'm not. I know I won several games from my opponent's Land-screws that day, and I was spared the worst of it myself. He might well have won that game, but it's more evidence of the power of these kinds of decks (and the bad luck they foster in other decks) that I had a chance. 6th Round: Me vs. Fred, playing Serrageddon. Before Fred and I started the round, a smallish crowd began to gather. Well, 'crowd' is a gross overstatement, since there were only about eight to ten people, and either Phil or I knew half of them. One of the judges came over to tell us that we could ask spectators to leave (or back off) if we wanted to, which (of course) we didn't care about. Then, he mentioned that if anyone gave us advice, *we* would be disqualified. Ack! Fortunately, no one spoiled things for us, so we were able to get down to business in an honest way. The first game, I died to Armageddon. In came the Serrated Arrows, another Dancing Scimitar, and the Infernal Darknesses. I won the second game, then had the best match of the day in game 3. Basically, it's like this - he gets me down to 4 life, while he's just shy of 10 (I think). I disk away everything, with six land in play, holding an Infernal Darkness and Dark Ritual. On his turn, he plays an Elf and a White Order. He's got 2 Plains out, and can kill me on his next attack (4 damage, right?). My next draw is another Disk. First, I frown. Then I realize that I'm still in it. I Ritual out the Infernal Darkness & play the Disk. On his turn, he attacks, and starts to pump up the Order, when I remind him that 3 damage is all I'm taking. The next turn, I Disk, and we each spend a turn or two drawing nothing. I regain superiority, and end up winning the game. *whew* Result: 2-1 Total: 15-3 / 45 points So I finish Swiss with the #1 seed. Of course, given the format that meant nothing. Onto Elimination: It was midnight, which meant that we had to leave the Expo center that we'd played in all day, so we head to a lounge at the O'Hare Hyatt Regency to play in alcoves and plush chairs (or, in my case, on the floor : -) ) Round of 32: Me vs. Dave (argh - I think), playing Necro. Can you say luck? First game, I get the best draw of my day. I've got Necro/Tower going by turn 5 or 6. Needless to say, I won. In come the Moor Fiends and Arrows, since he's playing with Pump Knights. Second game, he wins. Third game, I get a better draw than the first. He Paralyzes an early Specter and an early Vampire, but Necro/Tower comes out soon, and he's facing more than anyone could be expected to deal with. I got the good draws, so I proceed. Round of 16: Me vs. Steve (? - why didn't I write this down?), playing R/G Stormbind/Creatures. Turns out that my opponent is from my hometown, Tacoma. He's really cool, and we have a nice chat before the game. The first game, he gets a Stormbind out, neutralizing my smallish offense until I get a Disk out and refill my hand. My creatures bring him low, then he gets out a Zuran Orb, but a Drain Life finishes him off. The second game, I felt terrible. I'm getting a steady supply of mana, so I can put out increasingly bigger creatures. However, he finds a way to stop them. So, everything's going well for him when I get Ihsan out to cope with his Ernham. He bites the bullet and Earthquakes for 5, then plays something smallish. The next turn, I play ... another Ishan. With two in the deck, I felt fairly lucky again, and this was compounded when I drew a Sengir next turn. I went on to win 2-0. Getting into the round of eight meant that you were qualified. There was not a lot of incentive to go on, except for pride & airfare. To make matters worse, it's 2am. Ack. Round of 8: Me vs. Aaron, playing R/W, cookbook-ish deck. The first game is close. I get hit by a Mishra and Savannah Lion a couple times, but come up with counters for his creatures. Unfortunately, he's got counters for mine, in the way of Disintegrates, StP, and Incinerate. I get into a fairly good position, with several uncontested creatures, but my life is low, and a Disintegrate finishes me off. *Waittaminute!* Before game 2, we find out we're being kicked out of the Lounge, since none of us are Hotel patrons. So Chris, the organizer, rents a suite for us. Game two, he's somewhat mana-screwed, getting only two white for the first 6 or 7 turns. Unfortunately for me, it only takes one white to put out two Savannah Lions. :-( Though I have many, many cheap things in the deck to stop Lions, I don't draw any of them, and it takes me a good six or seven turns to get above two colored mana myself. So, I sat there with a Sengir, Ishan, Disk, Hippy, and Infernal Darkness in my hand. I try a disk - Disenchanted (which may have been a mistake; I don't remember what life I was at, but I may have been able to afford an Infernal D. for a turn, to protect the Disk - then again, it may not have mattered). I try bringing out a Hippy to stop the injustice, but he gets his Mountain and Bolts it. He finishes me off - at 3 in the morning. Aaron went on to win the tournament, so we may have a first here - a Regional Tournament won by something other than Necro. So, after 19 hours of tournament, I go home tied for 5th place, with a spot at Nationals, where we may or may not see new breeds of decks. I apologize to everyone who reads the newsgroup for not staying until the dirty end for more reporting, but I came with four people who had waited long enough for me to get outta there. ;) My deck was fairly standard Necro, with small variations - primarily in the sideboard - which made enough of a difference that I'll give a total listing. (61 total) 4 Nevinyrral's Disks 2 Dancing Scimitars 1 Ivory Tower 1 Zuran Orb 4 Hymn to Tourach 4 Black Knights (ArrowPhobia) 4 Hypnotic Spectres 4 Dark Rituals 3 Sengir Vampires 3 Necropotence 3 Drain Lifes 2 Ishan's Shade 2 Demonic Consultations 12 Swamps 4 Mishra's Factory 4 Strip Mines 4 Underground Rivers (?) Sideboard 2 Infernal Darkness 3 Serrated Arrows 3 Energy Flux 3 Moor Fiends 1 Dancing Scimitar 1 Drain Life 1 Black Vise (never used it) 1 Necropotence Jeff