Subject: PTQ Miami 1/17/98
Date: Tue, 20 Jan 1998 03:46:03 GMT
From: leech@gate.net (Adam Maysonet)
Newsgroups: rec.games.trading-cards.magic.strategy

PTQ at Miami 1/17/98

     Preparation for this qualifier began in earnest a week before the
tournament itself. I had a few friends over (Al Sousa, Karen Roche,
Justin Gary and Jeff Kostick) to practice with Melody and I.
Unfortunately, none of us had a Tongo deck built, or a Fruity Pebbles
(aka Atomic Bomberman). Instead, we had prison and burn decks.
Needless to say, we didn’t get any real good playtesting done. A few
days later Jeff and Aaron Terry came over to practice, and we
basically did the same as last time.
     Friday night and Saturday morning consisted of me making two
decks  one for me and another for Melody to play. For her, I chose a
white weenie deck with lots of creatures, empyrical armors, and
artifact removal. I myself played what is termed as “Cursed Sligh”. I
basically took my t2 deck and converted it to extended format. I’m not
going to list the deck, as I might be using it next weekend in
Orlando, and if I don’t, I don’t want others using it against me.
     Al, Karen, Melody and I drove 3 hours north to Orlando in his
Camaro, which btw does not have very big back seats. But unlike many
other tournament reports posted, nothing else eventful happened, like
getting a flat tire, waiting for cheesesteaks, etc. Just a plain,
boring ride, which I read the third book of the “Star of the
Guardians” series by Margaret Weis.
     Al was playing a monoblue control deck, very heavy anti-red (to
my dismay), and Karen was using a R/G Vineyard/Stormbind/Scroll deck,
running Primal Orders standard. Both decks seemed very strong,
although Al wasn’t particularily confident with his deck. He made it
only because he couldn’t think of another deck to play. After all,
everyone has their default decks they can fall back on, and Al’s is
blue, blue, and more blue.
     We arrived at the tournament a couple of hours early, and talked
a bit with some old friends and players I hadn’t seen in a while. Yuh
Kong Liao from Tallahasse came down, and found out the crew (Aziz,
Pete Leher, Alex McConnell) weren’t coming. Scoping the field, I saw a
lot of W/r decks, and a lot of green, strangely enough. Not much
prison, and only a handful of Fruity Pebbles (ends up there were only
3 at the tournament). Now on to the tournament, which BTW was for 1
slot.

Round 1  Kent Barrett  G/W Erhnageddon
0-0-0

Game 1: It began with me slightly mana screwed (2 mountains and a
mishra), while my opponent had a Land Tax out. He drops an Erhnam and
a White Knight. I have out a Dwarven Miner and a Cursed Scroll. In
hand I’m holding 2 Fireblasts and a few other cards, no land. He then
Armageddons. I do what I must, attempting to Cursed Scroll the Erhnam,
having a 2 out of 5 chance of hitting it. I do, and then I fireblast
the Erhnam, killing it. Then all our land disappears. He drops a land,
and attacks. I draw a Lightning Bolt, he attacks again. I draw a
mountain, play it, and bolt the knight, and attack for 1. He drops a
Forest, but is out of land, while I draw another mountain and play an
Ironclaw. I finish him off shortly after.

I sideboard in Anarchies and a Nevinyrral’s Disk.

Game 2: I get out 2 Mishras and 2 Mountains, while holding an Anarchy,
and he has out a Freewind Falcon. I also have an Ironclaw Orc and 2
Mogg Fanatics. I attack with all, and for a few turns he blocks my
Ironclaw, allowing my Fanatics to get through for a few turns before
he realizes what he is doing wrong. I refuse to attack with my Mishras
because I know my luck in drawing land, fearing him to have a
Disenchant. Then here comes the Armageddon, cleaning the board of all
land. I do manage to draw 1 mountain, and get him low, holding an
Incinerate and Fireblast in hand. He drops 2 Erhnams, a Quirion
Ranger, and a White Knight. He is at six. On my turn I sacrifice my
Fanatic, forcing him to give my Ironclaw forestwalk. Then I get
knocked real low on life, not able to survive another turn. I topdeck
a mountain, attack him, then Incinerate him (with a Fireblast to back
up if necessary).

Round 2  Rob Fitzpatrick  U/R Counterburn
1-0-0

Rob is a younger guy (about 14), and doesn’t own a lot of cards
necessary to make his deck better, such as Frenetic Efreet and
Volcanic Islands. Still, he manages to play well, and he runs 16
Counterspells, Rainbow Efreets, Wildfire Emissaries, burn, and disks.

Game 1: I burn Rob low, and still aren’t sure what his deck does. I
get 6 land, and decide to drop my second cursed scroll. Of course,
next turn he drops a disk. I get him down to 4 life, but can’t draw
anything but land. He gets out a Wildfire and a Rainbow Efreet, and
the turn before I die I draw a Fireblast. He, of course, counters it.

I side in 2 Nev disks, and I forget to side in Pyroblasts.

Game 2: After he draws his cards, he sighs, saying he sided in the
wrong color blasts. It doesn’t matter, as he is mana screwed and I
quickly pummel him into the ground.

Game 3: Close game, as we are both getting low on life. I have him at
4 life, and bluff him into counterspelling a Nev disk while he has a
Wildfire and a Rainbow on the board. I then proceed to Fireblast him.

Round 3  Jason Oliven  G/R burn/creatures
2-0-0

Game 1: We both get out Cursed Scrolls. He casts creatures along the
lines of a Spectral Bear, Granger Guildmage, Lava Hounds, and Rogue
Elephant. He finishes me off with a Fireblast/scroll/guildmage ping.

I side in an Earthquake and a Disk.

Game 2: I think he was a bit mana screwed, as he didn’t draw any red
mana. My deck has no mercy, and punishes him for something out of his
control.

Game 3: We exchange damage, and we both once again have a Cursed
Scroll out. I play a Goblin Vandal, and he scrolls it on his turn. I
draw a Ball Lightning and take him down.

Round 4  Al Sousa  Mono Blue
3-0-0

Al and I had talked about what we would do if we met in the Swiss
portion, since we figured it would happen (you know, everyone always
gets matched up with their friend at about this point in the
tournament report). We decided to draw so as to give us both a decent
chance to get into the final 8, and inadvertently causing havoc among
the requirements of what is needed to get into the top 8. I also
really wanted to draw with Al because I felt my deck would have a hard
time beating his.

Round 5  Daniel Mondragon  Cursed Sligh
3-0-1

Daniel and I had been trash talking each other, saying how we’d meet
and blast one another away. He felt his red deck could beat mine more
consistently, as he had a good sideboard vs. red decks. One lesson I
taught him  don’t run 2 Cursed Scrolls, run 4.

Game 1: I just remember lots of burn, but he crisped first.

Sided in Earthquake. I noticed he had Badlands and Plateaus, so I knew
to expect some Honorable Passages.

Game 2: Flames fly back and forth, and he passages a Ball Lightning.
He then kills me next turn with a Forked fireblast.

Game 3: We are even, but I get lots of Fireslingers out, and two Ball
Lightnings. He bolts the first, and is forced to Fireblast the second.
I have out a Cursed Scroll, and kill him with Fireblasts and other
assorted damage. In his hand he held 2 Honorable Passages, unable to
cast them due to not having any lands that produce white mana out in
play.

At this point I just need to win one more round and then I can draw my
way in. Two people are undefeated, one being Yuh Kong Liao with his
Fruity Pebbles deck. I got to watch this game and it was painful. He
was playing Lee Stedt, who also had a monored slighish deck. It’s the
3rd game, and Lee goes first, drops a City of Brass and a Fanatic.
Next turn he drops a Wasteland and a Dwarven Miner. Yuh Kong can’t
counter, because he has no Force of Will in hand. Unfortunately for
Lee, he doesn’t draw a single land the rest of the game, and Yuh Kong
wins it in about another 7 turns.

Round 6: Daniel Schmitz  U/R/w

Game 1: I drop two Fanatics and a Vandal, and proceed with the
beatdown. Cursed Scroll makes its usual game-winning appearance.

I side in 2 Bloodmoons, 2 Pyroblasts, 1 Earthquake, 1 Disk (Finally I
get to side in Bloodmoons!)

Game 2: I’m holding 2 Scrolls, and bait him with one. He Force of
Wills. I then drop a Bloodmoon, and begin playing lots of creatures,
in addition to my other scroll. He drops a Serrated Arrows while I
have a Ball Lightning I was going to play next turn. I hold it, and a
few turns later I draw a Fanatic, and play it like I’m excited about
it. He falls for the bait and Arrows it on the spot. I toss it at him
for a point, then cast the Ball Lightning, and hit him for 6 more. The
look on his face was worth a Willy Wonka winning chocolate bar. He got
out a Wildfire Emissary, but it was too late.

Round 7  Yuh Kong Liao  Fruity Pebbles aka Atomic Bomberman
5-0-1

There is no reason to play, as I can draw to get in, and we do.

Al also won all his matches, so he too got into the top 8. Melody, on
the other hand, went 4-3, losing her last match to Jeff Kostick partly
due to bad draws. Al and I were trying to figure out if we would be
playing against one another in the top 8, and figured we’d be 3-4th
place. Unfortunately, Chris Honan, who was 5-0-1, played his last
round and won, putting him into the top seed, and me and Al into the
4th and 5th positions.

Quarterfinals: Al Sousa  Mono blue

Game 1: He get’s out an early Sea Sprite (which I sadly reminded him
to put into his deck before the tournament). I do get him low, but he
drops a Fountain of Youth and begins gaining life. He also gets out a
Suq’Ata Firewalker (talk about anti-red!). I have a Cursed Scroll in
play, but unfortunately I am not drawing a lot of land, thus, it is
hard for me to get rid of my cards in hand and still use the scroll. I
manage to get him down to 2 life, and am holding 3 cards: 2 Ball
Lightnings and a Mogg Fanatic I just drew. Since I only had 3 land in
play (and had just 3 land for like most of the game), I use the scroll
and pray. Of course, he picks the Fanatic, and Fountains out of range
in the next 2 turns, along with killing me.

I sideboard in 4 Pyroblasts, 2 Nev Disks, 1 Earthquake. I expect him
to side in 2 Hydroblasts and 3 Chills.

Game 2: Once again, I am slightly mana screwed. Well, I have 2
mountains and 2 Mishras in play, with the Mishras doing about 8 damage
to him early on. But I’m soon holding 3 Fireblasts and 3 Ball
Lightnings, and can’t really cast any of them. Literally, 15 turns
later I draw another mountain, and yell out “Are you ready to
rumble!?!?!”. I cast 3 consectutive Ball Lightnings, which he of
course counters. I get my Cursed Scroll action going, manage to
finally draw a few more mountains, and barely finish him off, even
with his early game Fountain of Youth.

Game 3: I have a decent hand, holding a Pyroblast, 2 Ironclaws, a
Fireblast, 2 mountains and a Badlands. I lay my Ironclaw Orc, and next
turn he lays a Chill. On my turn I lay my 3rd land and Pyroblast it,
but he Force of Wills. A few turns later he plays his 2nd Chill, and
Wastelands my Badlands. I draw 1 more mountain for the rest of the
game, and he kills me with a Waterspout Djinn and a Triskeleon.

Oh well, such is life. Another top 8 adventure. Al ends up playing
Chris Honan, who is using a G/R/W deck consisting of green critters,
Stormbinds, Swords to Plowshares, and other assorted things and loses
two straight. I think Chris wins the whole thing.

After the tournament, a whole group of us were planning on going to
dinner, then Mars Bar. It was late, but those who were still at the
tournament who were planning on going were ready. Unfortunately, my
car was blocked in and I couldn’t get out, due to two big vans
blocking the only exits from the parking lot. I went to the hotel
security desk and they tried to find out what was going on. Ends up
the parking lot is for the rental car company, and they block it off
at night so no one can steal the cars (this is Miami after all). Yet
me and a couple other people were parked back here too. The hotel
manager said the rental people went home, and they were trying to
solve the problem. An hour later nothing was solved. Luckily, I was
able to sleep over at Karen’s place, so I relaxed a bit. We all went
to Denny’s to have a watered-down milkshake and a tiny Super Bird
sandwich. We went back to Karen’s place and crash, forgetting about
the club due to the time and how tired we were.

That’s the report.

Adam Maysonet