Pro Tour Mainz Report - By Manuel "Poulidor" Bevand

Hey guys,this is Manuel again, from the country that won 4 Grand Prix
out of 5 in Europe! :)
A bit of national pride doesn't hurt sometimes, and
Mainz was the best PT we had us french players for a long time.
Guess what, 6 french players in the top 64 had never been made before.
And my teammate Raphael Levy rolled over everyone, just to lose to
both eventual finalists at the last table. He finished 12th, a point
away from the final 8.

Well, as for myself, I finished 37th. That's the bes for myself, I finished 37th. That's the best I ever did in my
4 Pro Tours. Here's the detail of the draft and games.

First table:

My draft deck was just like a type 2 deck. It had so many good cards in
it! people at my draft table were mostly scrubs (PT scrubs that is, it
means they are good but inexperienced players) but there is David Price
. And David has a revenge to take against me, since I beat him down at
PTLA with 2 stone rains and 3 solfatara in a row (the worst games he
ever had in Pro tour as he admitted :).
My deck had master decoy, 2 capsize, spirit mirror, altar of dementia
(combo!), a lot of damage prevention spells and healers, life gainers,
3 rootwater hunters, 2 powersink and 1 counterspell. Some crabs were in
to round up the deck and add some muscle. Don't forget 2 orim's prayer
to slow down shadow guys.

1st round: David Price

Game 1, I am manascrewed with 2 lands for a long time, when I get to 4
lands its already too late to recover.
Game 2 I draw 11 lands and 5 spells, only 1 creature (Orim priest).
I die to David's army of red/blue creatures.

2nd Round : Bob Maher Jr

1st game, I seem to get complete control of the game with spirit mirror
2 orim prayers and altar of dementia, when he cast Apocalypse! Wow.
However, apocalypse is a very random card, and I recover first with 5
lands while Bob can't draw more than 2.

2nd game, he mulligans and start a bit manascrewed. I have a healer
and can deal with his mogg fana
and can deal with his mogg fanatic. Also my rootwater hunter is
wrecking havoc in his little creatures (he can't draw more mana).
I win.

3rd Round ; forgot the name, sorry :)

The guy had a weak deck, he lost the first round and had a bye in the
second one. Both games I take complete control of the game with capsize
counterpells and damage preventers with orim prayers on the table :).
He concedes to my rootwater hunters when they finally show up.

That deck was one the the strongest I ever saw that weekend. I think it
could even have beaten Matt Place's final 8 deck (which was incredible)
.

Second draft.

I go to look at my table teammates, and I am just amazed. I'm sitting
with Olle Rade, Terry Borer and Hammer! Nothing less than 3 Pro Tour
champions! And to spice it up a little more, I'm sitting BETWEEN Olle
and Terry.
The draft went very strangely, but I ended up with probably the best
deck. Here's how it went: first pack, Olle gets a rolling thunder.
Second pack, I get nothing. Third pack, Terry gets a rolling thunder.
I'm thinking, OK, I won't play red this time...until I draft a sponta-
neous combustion defensively. Then I look at my 2nd pack...rolling
thunder...Olle's eyes lit, but I draft it. Third pack, another thunder!
I end up playing with a very strange deck: 3 red cards (2 thunders and
spontaneous combustion) along with my B/G original draft plan. Im also
playing with elves, harrow, and rampant growth to get the neerampant growth to get the needed
mountains.

Round 4 - an american guy from the washingthon state, forgot his name
but he was an excellent player and a very good sport.

First game, he gets the advantage with 5 weenie creatures and has a
capsize rolling. I have a rootwalla and a regenerating troll. He has
6 mana. I chose this moment to pull my most impressive play of the
weekend. I attack with both creatures. He blocks the troll, and lets
rootwalla through. I do not pump it, he thinks a little and capsizes it
! Now I play spontaneous combustion in response, sack the rootwalla,
kill his 5 creatures safely, and have his capsize fizzle, and
regenerate the troll!! woohoo! Guess what, I won. :)

I win the second game as he has 1 single blue land for a long time and
 can't cast his 2 counterspells.
Tough game anyway, I have to kill him with my black licid and a top
decked rolling thunder (he was going up on life with essence bottle).

Round 5 - Olle "He's the man" Rade

I know Olle a bit from PTLA and other places, though we never played
each other even in a friendly game. He's playing the red/black deck.
First game, he starts strong with shadow creatures and my life total
is very low. Also I'm using a G/B tempest land and taking damage.
I finally cast spontaneous combustion and kill his creatures. I'm down
to 5 life, he has 17 but I just played my Rootbreaker Wurm, 6/6
trample. He cannot deal with it at that point, it seems. I attackat point, it seems. I attack
and bring him down to 11. Then, like the stupid overconfident player
that I am, I use my pain land and cast gravedigger. Olle looks at me
with his usual cool look, and lighting blasts me. I suck! :(

Second game my rolling thunder helps me to kill the shadow creatures
before he can do some damage. Then my rootwalla eats him up. Rootwalla
is so good! We were looking at each other with 3 lands in our hands :)

Third game is different. Again my spontaneous combustion and rolling
thunders get rid of his creatures. He gets rid of mine. I gravedigg
the wurmie.He banishes. He's looking a little bit annoyed, and I start
to
think he's drawing nothing but land. I draw emmessi tome and another
creature while he keeps drawing lands. That is game.

Olle finished 67th overall.

Sorry again Olle, but my top decking skills are improving on a daily
basis. Anyway you're still the "One and Olle". :=)

Round 6 - Intentional draw with the french speaking guy from Iceland.
Good guy and excellent player. We were at one of the toughest table
and we still won it :).

At that point I'm 37th seeded going into day 2.

                *****Intermission*****

I hear a story I think I should tell you about, because it's so funny
and sad at the same time. It's called "Chris Pikula is doomed".

6th round of first day, our happy Chris Pikula comes to table 14 across
Michael Debard. They're both at 4-1 and need to draw to be sure 4-1 and need to draw to be sure to get
into the top 64. Michael is a french nationals finalist, a 5 times
PT player, and he still looks like a scrub (despite being one of the
best player I know). Chris Pikula is a PT semifinalist and is said to
be good at the game. Dialog summary:

Pikula : "Hi! draw? (giving his hand)

Debard : "I guess not.."

Pikula : "??" (taking his hand back)

Debard : "I don't want to draw".

Pikula : "But why?"

Debard : "you know..."

Pikula : "No I don't *know*, gimme a good reason not to draw!"

Debard : "Well, I came to play"

He came to play. Is that clear enough? :=)

Michael , of course, proceeds to crush poor Chris in under 10
minutes (it was even faster than my own intentional draw!). Chris is
understandably pissed off. Then the last standings are posted...
and guess who's 65th?

Sorry about that Chris....but he came to play.

        ***end of intermission, now let's go back to the movie****

Second day

First draft -> VERY strong drafters at my tables, including teammate
Gary Wise, Ben Bleiweiss (who I didn't recognize at first because he
now has a beard and a cap :), Team Advisor Alan Comer, John Chinnock,
the iceland guy (sorry but your name was too complicated to remember :)
and Paul Ferker, Mike Luccarello...

I draft my deck, and I feel bad about it. It had very few creatures in
the beginning, and I strated drafting green, annoying Paul Ferker a lot
(I love to change colors at  Ferker a lot
(I love to change colors at the right moment, it surprises and ruins
a lot of opponents decks which could have been unbeatbable). My deck
looks weak, though it has a lot of weenies and some big wurms (nobody
likes them but me).

Round 7 - Ben Bleiweiss

I know Ben from Neutral Ground, when I was in NYC last year for
vacation. He has a red/black deck.

First game, I get big creatures, but I make a mistake (forgetting he
could double-block with 2 first strikers). He beats me down a lot,
as I can't draw anything but lands.

Second game, I spend the first 5 turns laying lands and doing nothing
with them. I lose.

Round 8 - Alan Comer

Alan has the scariest deck at the table, it's a real strong card
advantage deck with a lot of gravediggers and evincar's justice,
disturbed burial and white shadow.

Game 1, he gets the shadow beating, but my creatures are just bigger.
He cast extinction on wurms killing my rootbreaker (doh!) but I cast
another one the turn after :). Even the gravedigger*2 combo can't stop
the wurmie. I win.

Game 2, I thinks he had to mulligan. Again, as I build my decks with
lots of mana, I get the big creatures, while he doesn't. My renegade
warlord gave me enough power to overwhelm him.

Round 9 - Michael Luccarello

He has the white/blue deck, as it's pretty much defensive.

Game 1, I gain control as he draws a lot of lands and attack like crazy
. One turn before his programmed death, I attack with everyorogrammed death, I attack with everyone, bring
him down to 1. I have 9 life, he has 10 mana and just 3 creatures,
no cards in hand. He just can't win. He draws....and plays Gerrard
Battle cry! I couldn't remember he had drafted one! He attacks and
pretty much overruns me.

Game 2, I win very fast. Going first is the right strategy when you're
playing tempest draft. You can put your opponent on the defensive.
And the Heartwood dryad is a hell of a good creature.

Game 3 is decided by late-game draws. As I get red cards wich I can
play with my wurms, he gets more and more lands. I win.

I was 6-2-1 at that point, and could still hope that a 3-0 record
would get me in the top 8.

Last draft.

My table has Mark Justice, Gary Wise, Jess Means...Mark Justice is my
Pro Tour bane. I played him in LA and Chicago, and he crushed me twice.
I just hope I won't have to play him again.

My deck looks excellent. It has a lot of white control, master decoy,
winds of rath and pacifism, as well as excellent green creatures
(rootwalla, trumpeting armodon, 2 wurmies ;). I also counterdrafted
strong black cards at the very end (endless scream, gravedigger and 2
disturbed burials, so I decide to go with GREEN-white-black.

Round 10 - Julien "Pipo" Mozziconacci

A french player, who I always beat in constructed, and who always beats
me in in limited. Bad sign. He has a white/blue deck with 2 propaganda
and tims and fliers and shadowers.

Game 1 - I get tand shadowers.

Game 1 - I get the perfect draw. Trumpeting armodon. He has 2 creatures
on board and attacks. Endless scream on the armodon, for 4. He has 4
creatures and attacks. Winds of rath. He dies to the screaming
trumpeting armodon. :)

Game 2 - He pretty much locks me with Thalakos dreamsower. I die.

Game 3 - I have a very bad draw, too much lands, and he plays the
dreamsower again. He locks a creature but I pacify it. He's having
a lot of creatures, but I finally draw an elf, and can winds of rath
 everyone away. Getting back the creatures with disturbded burial I
think I win. But he has saved his Thalakos Mistfolk from the winds
and keeps on beating me. I draw no shadow defense. I get a master
decoy but he puts a stinging licid on it. I'm at 1 life when I can
use my only red SB card, Fireslinger. He attacks with the 2/1 shadow
which I ping, hoping that he'd be stupid enough to save him and
have the damage fizzle. But he doesn't, and I lose. I'm pissed off to
lose to another french player.

Round 11 - Gary Wise

Gary has a monored deck. 5 mogg conscripts, 4 mogg fanatics, a lot
of burn and other creatures..He has to play with cards like stun but it
works very well.

Game 1 - No land draw, mulligan.
He does early damage but my creatures are bigger than goblins.
I'm one turn shy to kill him when he cast apocalypse. Damn.
I have 1 land in hand, si I play it. But he gets 5 lands before I can
get a third one and destroys me.
a third one and destroys me.

Game 2 - A first turn squee's toy almost kills his strategy. I run
over him with big green guys while he can just block with goblins.

Game 3 - I get the no land draw. mulligan.
I get a full land draw. 5 turns with a single rootwalla, while he goes
conscripts-conscripts-conscripts-fanatic-flowstone giant. I lose.

Round 12 - Jess means (PTLA junior champ)
Jess was a tough opponent and a good sport.

Game 1 - he beats me with shadow, as I make a time mistake, casting
a wurm with 7 mana when I could choose to play master decoy and
survive for 2 more turns.

Game 2 - I get the Armordon-Endless Scream-Winds of rath combo.
I win.

Game 3 - He's beating me down with shadow when I cast winds of rath
again. This time I have a Soltari Monk which causes him many problems.
I'm at 2 life but my big creatures come in and I overwhelm him.

I'm 37th, just like at the beginning of second day. 6 more rounds, 3-3
and no changes. Oh damn, I came to play too :)

As a dickhead style admirer,I'll try to do the props-slops part.

Props to:

Raphael "And finally, I crushed him" Levy, the best magic playing kid
in the world.

My other teammates who helped me to prepare for this event.

Olle Rade, for being so cool even in defeat.

French players, who this time weren't destoyed in a Pro Tour.

Chris Pikula, who finally was a good sport about it.

Matt Place, he had a killer deck in the final 8.

Gabriele Pissichr deck in the final 8.

Gabriele Pissichio, who invented the most complicated combo ever in
a PT quarterfinal. Jackal Pup, Telethopter, Phyrexian Splicer,
Strom front. Think about it.

Slops to:

Jakub Slemr, for dropping out. Fight until the end my friend!
There's still playing for honor.

WotC and their new tournament software. Test it before you use it in
a Pro Tour, guys. We were like 4 hours late.

Michael Sochon, who's the biggest cheater in all Magic. How can you
stall without problems? Get a friendly judge watching. What's worse,
he's been proud about it.