Pro Tour Rome Report
By Manuel "Poulidor" Bevand
Hello everyone!
Just came back from PT Rome where I had a great time. here's my compiled
experience.
THE TRIP
I left Lyon (southeast of France) on wednesday night in a bus that WotC
France had arranged for players and volunteers. (what a great idea,
thanks!). We spent several hours going across southern France to get
people at meetpoints and then headed to the border.
In the bus we did about 12 drafts in all the weird possible formats. I
mean "we" figuratively. I was personnaly sleeping like a groundhog in
the winter. :)
Anyway, thanks to Mark Rosewater for giving precision about the speed of
removing his pants in the unglued FAQ. It allowed me to kill more than
one hurloon wrangler. :)
After a 20 hours trip, we finally reached Rome and found the hotel
Nicolas Labarre had reserved for himself, me and Julien LeLoeuff and
Greg Hardy, 2 guys from the Nantes contingent.
THE DECK
After a few weeks of playtesting it was obvious that none of the usual
archetypes seemed to dominate. Necro, Sligh, Jank, all neutralized each
other. Now there was the unknown academy factor (will it be as good as
everyone predicts? will many good players play it?). There was also that
recuring nightmare deck, adapted from T2 and Rath, with the ba-roken
Great Whale which allows 4th-5th turn kills.
I had tested the Recur deck a lot and it seemed to beat all the
regulars. It lost horribly to academy, but I thought it could be solved
with a solid sideboard. It seemed solid, both Alex Shvartsman and Zvi
Mowshowitz were playing it and despite Cathy Nicoloff's warnings and
metagame predictions (academy everywhere) I decided to play it.
Here's the list:
4 Recuring Nightmare
4 Survival of the Fittest
2 Living Death
2 Firestorm
3 Hermit Druids
4 Birds of Paradise
2 Wall of roots
2 Wall of Blossoms
1 Monk Realist
1 Monk Idealist
1 Triskelion
1 Great Whale
1 Krovikan horror
1 Nekrataal
1 Uktabi Orangutan
3 Ashen Ghoul
1 Thrull Surgeon
2 Spike Feeder
1 Staunch Defender
1 Wood Elf
4 Bayous
3 Tropical Islands
1 Taiga
1 Savannah
2 Cities of Brass
7 Forests
3 Swamps
1 volrath Stronghold
Sideboard:
1 Spike Weaver -> vs Slivers and WW and Sligh
1 Nekrataal -> Mirror Matchups and WW/Sligh
2 Spike Feeder -> beats sligh if you can living Death
3 Lobotomy -> in mirror matchups and vs academy
3 Arcane Laboratory -> vs academy and combo decks in general
1 Living Death -> vs Sligh and WW
1 Anarchist -> with lobotomies and living death
1 Disenchant -> god was that random disenchant useless
1 Zur's Weirding -> could never cast it.. what a shame :)
1 Gorilla Shaman -> eats moxes, mana vaults, scrolls etc..
So on to the tournament:
ROUND 1 - vs Daniel O'Mahoney-Schwartz (USA)
Game 1
I have a good draw with bird and wall of roots and it appears that
Daniel is playing the same deck when he cast wall of roots with 2 duals.
I think a while and nekrataal his wall, which seems to beat him since he
doesn't have any more lands in hand. I quickly kill him with ashen
Ghouls.
Game 2
I get an early bird and survival, look for the whale and wood elnds in hand. I quickly kill him with ashen
Ghouls.
Game 2
I get an early bird and survival, look for the whale and wood elf, and
get a quick kill. My draws were pretty good but Daniel was nice about
it.
1-0 in matches, 2-0 in games
ROUND 2 - German Guy playing Sligh
We had played each other already at European championships and he had
beaten my monogreen draft deck :( . Time for revenge! :)
Game 1 - my draw is poor in creatures, and though I play survival and
recuring I don't get a creature to go with. He burns me out.
Game 2 - I fill up my graveyard with feeders and defendersand then cast
living death. He concedes.
Game 3 - Again, he concedes to Living Death bringing back life
creatures.
Matches 2-0, games 4-1
Round 3 - Aras Senyuz (Turkey) playing recur/whale/triskelion with no
green.
Game 1 - my draw is below average and he keeps animating triskelions,
killing off all my creatures. I never get survival, so I lose that game.
Game 2 - I lobotomize his recuring nightmares to prevent him from
killing me too fast and go for my own combo. It was close though.
Game 3 - Problem here ... he casts intuition for his recuring
nightmares, looks in his deck and doesn't find them! He apparently
forgot to put them back in his deck after game 2's lobotomy. Sigh ...
why do people keep doing this to me? I feel sorry for my opponent, but
this is the Pro Tour, not an open event like a Grand Prix. You're
supposed to pay a very close attention to the harsher rules.
Matches 3-0, games 6-2
Round 4 - Ben Farkas (USA) playing the High Tide stroke deck
Game 1 - I had no idea this deck would be popular at all, so when Ben
keeps playing Islands in game 1 I really wonder what he's playing. When
I cast ashen ghoul and he doesn't counter, I feel like something is
wrong. On his next turn, he casts High Tide and I immediatly know what's
going on ... he kills me.
Game 2 - My draw has 0 of my SB cards but it has mana so I decide to
keep it anyway. A few turns later, I lose with a handfull of lands on
the table and in hand.
Matches 3-1, Games 6-4
Round 5 - FEATURE MATCH vs Michael Debard (France) playing Academy
Game 1 - I play land, land survival, and watch him kill me on turn 3.
What can I do? :)
Funny thing on the side: Jakub Slemr is playing Recur on the next
feature table. His opponent is running Academy. Jakub has 2 lands and
survival on the table, just like me, and he's losing. We just look at
each other laughing while keeping an eye on our busy opponents.
Dialogue excerpt:
Jakub to me - "Some card really needs to be banned"
Me to Jakub - "You're so right. Survival is broken."
:)
Game 2 - I side in 10 cards. My draw is pretty good... turn 1 shaman!
Then turn 3 lobotomy followed by arcane laboratory and then another
lobotomy. I win.
Game 3 - Again I have shaman in my opening hand... but he's going first, Game 3 - Again I have shaman in my opening hand... but he's going first,
plays a lot of mana, 2 medallions and starts capsizing my lands to my
hand. Things aren't looking too good at this point. Then something goes
wrong.
Michael has 2 medallions (actually 1 sapphire and 1 helm of awakening)
so casting capsize with buyback costs 4. On his turn, he taps all his
mana and announces capsize with buyback twice on my 2 only lands, and
says "go". I untap, draw and stop ... something's wrong. I check his
graveyard and it's actually missing a capsize. He could actually
generate 7 mana only in his turn, so he underpayed capsize with buyback
and took it back in his hand.
Now this looks like an honest mistake from Michael's part (and I still
think it is) but I'm calling a judge anyway. You don't underpay mana on
the Pro Tour in such an important and tense game.
Carl Crook (Head Judge) comes over and we explain the situation. As far
as I'm concerned, I didn't hear Michael's annoucement that the second
capsize was with buyback, because it was *impossible*. I probably took
my turn a little fast so it took me like 5 seconds to realize he
actually meant the buyback twice. Now the situation has not evolved at
all, except I have an extra land in hand, or he has an extra capsize in
hand, and I have taken my turn and drawn.
Now here's the ruling the Head Judge makes.
"since you have drawn your card you've accepted the situation as it is,
he keituation as it is,
he keeps the capsize and you keep your land in hand"
I'm completely SHOCKED. Now this is like saying "Alright, your opponent
cheated but he got away with it, so we're not solving the situation. Pay
attention next time."
I'm breathtaken ... Of course, I complain. Spectators can't believe
what's happening and me neither. Michael starts feeling bad about the
whole thing too when I start quoting specific rulings where players
underpaying mana got game losses after their opponent noticed it and
took a turn.
Eventually my complain is heard, Carl discusses the problem with Dan
Gray and they come up with a completely different ruling. Michael keeps
his capsize, takes 3 points of burn and a warning and it's now my turn
with one more land on the table. This is harsh for him, but he was the
one who did something wrong.
He proceeds to win a VERY close game, drawing the last card he needs
with scroll rack on his last turn. Everything finally had an alright
ending and I got a normal loss. You know, the kind that involves Magic
cards being played the way they're supposed to.
Matches 3-2 , Games 7-6
Round 6 - Jon Finkel (USA) playing Recur/survival very similar to mine
Game 1 - I lose.
Game 2 - I lose.
what can I say? Despite having Raphael Levy in my team, I can't beat
Finkel. Jon very simply and basically outplayed me twice. In both games
I had the advantage oth games
I had the advantage and in both I lost. I don't think I made any mistake
in game 1 (at least I put him in a situation in which he needed to
topdeck a creature and of course he did) but game 2 was horribly
complicated with him low on life but about to kill me with the whale
combo, and me high on life with board and card advantage but having to
prevent the combo from going off.
Despite his (relatively) bad showing in Rome, I think Finkel deserves
his best player in the World title. Despite taking twice the time he
took to think, I couldn't figure out what was going to happen. He did.
It's as simple as that.
Matches 3-3, games 7-8
3-3 in matches before last round is VERY bad. I am 101st before that
round though, which means I have great tiebreakers and might make top 96
(and day 2) if I win the last match.
round 7 - spanish Guy playing Legion Land Loss (L³).
Game 1 - he plays 2 mishras, wasteland, and discards... I have no idea
what he's playing so far, but I decide not to kill him immediatly. He
discards Triskelion and Icy manipulator (probably knowing that he's
gonna lose this game, not wanting to show a green spell) but that's
enough for me to guess.
Game 2 - He gets land - elf, but then no other land, so he has to play
elf-elf, then land-scroll-erhnam. Meanwhile I gather mana with hermit
druid and cast living Death which wins me the game.
Matches 4-3, Games 9-8
Matches 4-3, Games 9-8
So after rankings are posted I'm 90th! (phew) and finally make day 2 in
a constructed Pro Tour after 3 failed attempts.
DAY 2
Round 8 - Tony Dobson (UK), recur/survival with metagame changes.
Game 1 - I get a very lucky hermit druid use (milling wood elf and
whale) and win on my 5th turn.
Game 2 - I get the dream hand ; 3 land-bird-survival-recur-whale! I win
on turn 5 again despite being thrull surgeoned.
Despite my extremely lucky hands Tony was a very good sport about it,
congratulated me and we kept talking to each other all day.
Matches 5-3, Games 11-8
Round 9 - Francis Ann Hock Quak (Singapore) playing recur/survival
Game 1 - Going first, I get survival on turn 3 with wall of roots, he
gets the exact same start but I still lose. I probably made a mistake
somewhere.
game 2 - my hand's very poor but I topdeck lobotomy and get rid of his
nightmares. It's notenough though as he beats me down with lots of nasty
creatures (he even had sol'Kanar!).
Francis was very nice and friendly and played well, definitely deserving
his victory.
Matches 5-4, Games 11-10
Round 10 - Rudy Edwards (USA) playing recur/survival (again!)
Game 1 - he pulls off the whale combo and wins quickly.
Game 2 - My turn to pull off the combo very fast.
Game 3 - Rudy is a little manascrewed ... I summon Hermit Druid and mill
several ashen ghouls which come mill
several ashen ghouls which come back soon and do serious damage, winning
me the game.
Matches 6-4, games 13-11
Round 11 - Sigurd Eskeland (FEATURE MATCH) playing ... recur/survival !!
(4th in a row..)
Game 1 - I seem to have the edge, but Sigurd has survival and pulls off
the whale combo.
Game 2 - This one was insane.
I double-Mulligan (and go first).
Sigurd doesn't mulligan and draws.
After 10 or so turns I have:
6 lands in play
bird of paradise and ashen ghoul in play
wall of roots and forest in hand
Nothing particular in graveyard
4 bayous removed from the game (yeah, my hand was that bad I had nothing
to bo lobotomized but bayous).
Sigurd has:
plenty of walls and mana in play, with Survival of the fittest
lots of cards in hand
all the combo creatures in his graveyard
And he's waiting for his recuring nightmare or a vampiric tutor .. (he
played 2 I believe).
I was about to concede.
Two turns later, I win the game.
How? This will show you one big problem of the extended format. Combos
are TOO reliable.
I topdecked survival. Went for all the creatures I needed (great whale,
wood elf, triskelion, wall of blossoms). Sigurd killed it on his turn
but drew nothing. Next turn I topdeck Recuring nightmare and win.
Insane.
Game 3 - I have a great start and Sigurd's hand sucks. We both play
unsignificant lobotomies, but I have survival, so I emficant lobotomies, but I have survival, so I emtpy my deck of
creatures... time is running out, and the sides are reversed: I am
waiting for nightmare.
I am to take my turn and draw. I put my hand on my library. I hear "Time
is up, active player finishes his turn".
I draw.
Recuring Nightmare.
Again, my apologies to Sigurd for being so lucky.
Matches 7-4, games 15-12
Round 12 - Alan Comer playing ... hum ... some Alan Comer's deck =)
Game 1- Actually Alan was playing WW with a touch of green for night
soil, 4 enlightened tutors, and lots of metagame enchantments (night
soil,presence of the master, Pariah, Worship, all main deck).
He has a great start with lion, plow my druid and another lion on turn
2. He does a lot of damage, but after some turns I have 7 lands so I can
summon the whale and get into recursion. I mean, I could have infinite
mana, and infinite damage to myself with my cities of brass...and that's
it.
Game 2 - Alan mulligans THREE times before seeing a land. I don't really
have a problem winning this one.
Game 3 - Alan mulligan once, and starts with some creatures, but I
summon triskelion by turn 6 and kill them all. I eventually win before
he's able to cast Night Soil.
Matches 8-4, games 17-13
Round 13 - Olivier Piechazyck (France) playing Legion Land Loss
Game 1 - He gets a really perfect start, destroys 6 or 7 lands in a row
then kills what I had played.
a row
then kills what I had played.
Game 2 - I double mulligan and start with one land, never see another
one.
Congrats to Olivier for making top 32 for his first Pro Tour.
Matches 8-5, games 17-15
Round 14 - Mike Pustilnik (US, from Team Legion too) playing Tradewind
Game 1 - he plays wall-tradewind early. I bait with a survival which he
forces, then cast firestorm for 4 which he forces too! Then he geddons,
waiting for a third creature to achieve the lock. I draw a couple land,
he finally draws another wall, and he bounces my new survival while I
keep playing it again. Eventually, he gets a double tradewind lock, but
I come out on top with Wood Elf and Whale with recuring nightmare.
Game 2 - He geddons early again, I recover and gets the combo in a
similar way, using survival to get all my birds and walls of roots.
Matches 9-5, Games 19-15
So eventually I end up 32nd, making top 32 for the first time in 8 Pro
Tour events! About time ...
Soon I hear that my long-time friend and magic partner Nicolas Labarre
is qualified for the top 8, and I'm very happy for him. Merfolk Power!
If I had to play this deck again ... I probably would either change the
whole Sideboard and some things main deck, or I would just change decks
. Almost everyone who played this deck (supposedly a strong one) failed
to make a good showing. Even Finkel didn't make top 32 with it.
It was probably a very it.
It was probably a very bad metagame choice after all... teaches me to
listen to Cathy more often :).
SUNDAY
I get up early as I want to keep company to Nicolas as we walk down to
the Tournament location.
As we get there, I ask for a press badge while Nicolas goes to take some
pictures. WotC did a little more than giving me a press badge: they
hired me as a stage assistant for the finals. So, for all the duration
of the finals, I was standing next to the tables telling life points to
the video crew, and answering precise questions from Mark Rosewater,
basically feeding the commentators with interesting stuff they couldn't
see.
In less words, I got to see every game :). That was certainly cool, and
I would gladly do it again in the next 12 Pro Tours.
Why the next 12? Because my last finishes were 37th in Mainz, 35th in
Chicago, 32nd in Rome. At that rate, I'll make top 8 in approximatively
12 tournaments. Expect to see me competing for 29th place in Los
Angeles! :)
The usual PROPS and SLOPS:
PROPS:
- NICOLAS LABARRE NICOLAS LABARRE NICOLAS LABARRE NICOLAS LABARRE ,
MERFOLK POWER MERFOLK POWER MERFOLK POWER!!! He was 10-0 against Academy
/ high Tide decks before the finals with Tommi Hovi. How good is that?
:)
- Tommi Hovi, repeat PT wins = strong. Still afraid of falling off the
gravy train? :)
- All of my opponents for being good sports and good players, ieing good sports and good players, if not
always very friendly :)
- Sigurd for staying cool despite my insane topdecking skillz.
- The French! 5 players in top 32! One in top 8! That's MUCH better than
what we usually get in Pro Tours.
- Cyril Grillon for the free drafts in the Bus.
- the Paris players running NECROSLIVERS!! how can a deck be cooler than
that? And Pierre "Caribou" Malherbaud made top 32 with it.
- Mark Rosewater and Bruno of WotC, for hiring me and being nice to me
despite my horrible french accent! :°)
- Tiebreakers. 32nd!!! :)
SLOPS:
- Nothing really ... except maybe 20 hours bus trips :OO .. and $4
sandwiches.
Take care all, and see you hopefully in LA - (and New York, and
Barcelona, and Prague, and Amsterdam, and Olso and even Tokyo with some
luck ;)
Manuel Bevand
Team Legion
|