Subject: PTQ LA-NY 1/17/98 Date: Mon, 19 Jan 1998 18:53:52 EDT From: faesi@uhavax.hartford.edu To: FKUSUMOT@IX.NETCOM.COM As a longtime resident of the Midwest, who would I be to pass up a chance to go to a qualifier in THE CITY? Although I'd been there a couple of times before, I was excited to hit the big-time yet again. And I'd also never been to Neutral Ground before. So, myself (driving), the Lavoie brothers, and Mark Daly of NH headed from my school-time home of Hartford, CT to get some Q action. Big mistake. Oh, the tournament was fine; Neutral Ground, despite running low on space (like anyone in NY), ran a decent qualifier and I got a chance to meet and talk to some fine magic players, but: I didn't realize you had to give your keys to the lot attendant when parking downtown!!! (go ahead and laugh at me big-city boys, it's probably very amusing) Visions of Ferris Buehler flashed through my head, then I realized the car I had was a Plymouth Neon. Besides running late (as usual), I was now super paranoid that when I returned to the car after qualifying (hey, a man can dream, eh?) it and the fine educated parking attendant would be happily into Canada. With my Magic collection. To make it worse, the tournament was using the STANDARD MULLIGAN RULE! My deck does not like that. And it cost me, as you will see. On to the action: After attending (and finishing 5-3 at) both the Chicago and Indianapolis qualifiers the two previous weeks, I felt comfortable and confident in my knowledge of the Extended format and the metagame. The now-famous "PT-Jank" deck won all 3 slots between those 2 tournaments, staving off sligh, prison, counterpost, pebbles, and all sorts of creature decks. What better deck to play in NY? My version, which had 61 cards, is listed below: 4 Savannah Lions 4 White Knight 4 Soltari Priest 3 Frenetic Efreet 3 Suq'Ata Lancer 2 Incinerate 4 Lightning Bolt 4 Cursed Scroll 2 Disenchant 1 Aura of Silence 2 Swords to Plowshares 4 Tithe 4 Wasteland 4 Mishra's Factory 4 Tundra 4 Plateau 5 Plains 1 Undiscovered Paradise 2 Flood Plain SIDEBOARD: 2 Hydroblast 1 Sleight of Mind 2 Pyroblast 1 Red Elemental Blast 2 Aura of Silence 1 Disenchant 1 Swords to Plowshares 1 Wrath of God 1 Serrated Arrows 3 Honorable Passage As I arrive I notice few pro-level players that I recognize; I feel very confident about my ability to qualify here going into round one (that is, until Tony (head judge) announces that the STANDARD FREAKIN MULLIGAN RULE is in effect. Not good for the 8 colorless land deck. Without further ado, ROUND 1 v. John Ortiz playing W/G useless enchantment deck Game 1: He goes first and drops a turn 2 Soltari Trooper. I think ARMOR! mostly because I got beat by it last week, so refrain from playing a creature so I can bolt his. He drops City of Solitude. I laugh to myself and begin playing creatures. Turn 5 he drops a Sacred Mesa with no extra white untapped. I almost feel bad for John as I deliver the 6th turn kill. I side out 2 Wastelands (saw only basics) for 2 Auras, thinking he might have Earthcraft/Mesa jank. Game 2: This time he drops 2nd turn JUNGLE BASIN! And me with only 2 Wastelands! A Serra's Blessing and City of Solitude later, his life reaches 0. 1-0, 2-0 ROUND 2 v. Greg Kleiman playing Texaco Sligh (R/b/g/u) Game 1: He quickly takes the offensive with a turn one jackal pup, turn two miner. Luckily, I have bolts for both. Next turn he drops 2 more pups. TOO MANY LIGHTNING RODS, NO MORE BOLTS! I have 2 Mishra's out to block his 2 pups, but he misplays by bolting one (which I use to pump up the other) after each has been declared to block one of his pups. So, I lose one Mishra for a pup and a bolt. I bolt the other one next turn. (He is at 11 from his own flea bitten mongrels!) I begin to smile as the game turns my way. Until he drops Ernie. Then I stop smiling, and die. Out come 2 disenchants, aura, 3 lancers, in go 2 hydro, 1 plow for ernie, 3 passage for ball lighning which I know he has. Game 2: After a battle of the Wastelands, I drop a Priest which he has no answer to (like he would in a mostly red deck). Finally, he plays a City of Brass which he taps along with his 2 duals to play Ball Lightning. I smile and say "OK, passage, you take 6." That pretty much sealed it. I side out a Lion for my sleight in case he gets wise and plays anarchy. Game 3: I play Flood Plain. He wastes it. I play Wasteland. He plays Badlands, I waste it. I draw and play Tundra, he wastes it. He plays Badlands, I draw and waste it. What a waste! He draws ANOTHER wasteland, but keeps it for mana. Soon, the scroll comes out and wreaks havoc on his now mana-screwed arse. 2-0, 4-1 ROUND 3 v. Lyle Cohen playing PT Jank I hate it when it comes down to luck. Game 1: I draw 2 wastelands as my only lands. DAMN THE MULLIGAN! Before I have colored land, he has a frenetic on the board. Then I manage to topdeck aa plains and a tithe, and recover with priest, knight, knight, lion. After a lucky frenetic flip I manage to pull of the win as he cannot draw a creature (perhaps his version has none?) I side out my aura and 4 Lions (suck vs. every creature in his/my deck) for ARROWS, WRATH (key anti-jank), disenchant, 2 passages) Game 2: I draw Mishra's as my only land. See game one for the profaning of the Antiquated Mulligan Rule (AMR) as I now dub it. Within 3 turns he has 3 creatures out vs. my Plateau and Mishra. At 14 life I finally start drawing land. At 10 life my cursed scroll is out and rolling. At 8 life all his creatures are dead (thanks to 2 disenchants in hand and one BROKEN scroll). Soon my opponent finds peace in the grave. 3-0, 6-1 ROUND 4 v. Seth Burn (NY state Type II champ) playing Texaco Sligh (R/w/g/b) Game 1: After laying out my 7 cards, I pick each one up individually. Cards 1-6: no land. Card 7: Wasteland. AMR. Doesn't the no-land Mulligan not include Wastelands? Five turns later I have only a Mishra and Tundra as lands, but think to myself that there's no way he knows what I'm playing. He doesn't see the bolts and lancers backed up in my sub-par excuse for a hand. A Ball Lightning, Erhnam, and several Ironclaw Orcs put me out of my misery. In come the hydros, passages, Arrows, and plow. Out go the lions, aura, disenchants. Game 2: Anyone watching this game up until about turn 6 would swear that there was no way I could recover. I agreed at the time. For some reason, my opponent didn't. He plays a cursed scroll (which I saw in game 1 too - smart move siding out all the anti-artifact), then an orc. I plow it instead of bolting it (could my play get any worse?) then stare at his unboltable green monster named Ernie. I calmly topdeck another plow. He calmly plays another ernie. I am such a good player, I can't get over it. I draw and play cursed scroll, which he breaks with a timely sex monkey. (When isn't a sex monkey timely, anyway?) I have a Mishra, 2 Knights and a Suq'Ata Lancer out, with 12 life; he has Mogg, Ernie, Orc, and orangutan with 15 life. Since I have that damn bolt in hand, I attack with everything (but Mishra). He lets it go (the Lancer's forestwalking), he's down to 9. His couter attack puts me to burnout range, but I am unconcerned. By the way, he still has the scroll out with low hand size. Instead of scrolling (he later told me he had only a 50/50 chance), he plays a miner. I shrug and attack; he's down to 3. I sit there amazed for a few seconds then bolt him dead. How'd I win that game? Game 3: After yet another 1 Wasteland draw (AMR), I plains-tithe my way to mana. Soon I have 2 Priests on the board wreaking havoc on his little 20-sided die. I figure he'll anarchy on turn 4, so I don't overextend. Instead, he plays a mogg fanatic then an ernie again. I draw my arrows and play them, meanwhile lowering his life quickly. He attacks, I arrow the Ernie in readiness to bolt it next turn. He's at 8 when I draw honorable passage. I attack-he's at 4. I arrow the mogg, then passage the damage, and bolt him out. I might add that Seth was a really cool guy and we maintained a friendly (albeit competetive) banter throughout the games. There were many times where he almost had me, but his inability to draw 3 mountains game 3 really hurt. Also, he told me he didn't side in anarchy (!) I'm sure that helped a bit...In the end, I am his only swiss loss. Good deck, nice guy, fine player. I ended up hanging out w/ him and Gandalf for much of the day. 4-0, 8-2 ROUND 5 v. Chris Senhouse playing PT Jank. Winner double draws into final 8, loser scrambles for 2 more wins. We're at table one. Game 1: He plays creatures faster than I and wins quickly. We each disenchanted a cursed scroll this game. In come my arrows, wrath, disenchant. Game 2: I draw a disenchant and 6 land. Looks like I'll be losing this one...somehow he has a slow start also and I get double priest action beating on him for 4 a turn-until he drops an arrows. Nobody plays with arrows in this deck! Still, he is at low life with bolts in my deck. I topdeck 2 and win that one. On to a very crucial game 3: Game 3: I smile after seeing my textbook hand: 2 knights, a lancer, a disenchant, and enough mana (amazing, eh?). He gets off to a lightning fast start with a knight and a lancer of his own. We trade 4 life for awhile, then he gets a lion out. At this point I'm at 8 and he's at 12. His going first made ALL the difference. I manage to trade creatures with him, then drop an Aura and Disenchant his scroll. We both stall for awhile (he tithes 3 times), then I get a priest. He goes down to 6 while I draw Disenchant, Disenchant, Land. Then he pays 6 MANA for Arrows. If one of those disenchants was an aura, I would have won right then...He gets out a scroll, which I disenchant immediately, but not before he bolt-scrolls me dead. In the end, my siding out creatures for Disenchants really hurt, I was just so afraid of the scroll...in hindsight, I should have left in 3 Aura's and 1 disenchant and 2 more creatures. 4-1, 9-4 ROUND 6 v. ??? (sorry, he was a cool guy, just forgot the name) playing W/U prison Game 1: After he drops turn 2 diamond I smile and think final 8 is in sight. This deck ROCKS prison after sideboarding. It is just too fast. Evidently he disagrees, as he drops turn 3 propaganda, turn 4 'geddon followed by scroll rack-land tax. I just can't deal with an ancestral recall each turn. Game over. I've never been prison-locked so early in my life. I'm almost embarrassed. Well, in go the 2 auras, 1 disenchant, 3 pyros for 4 scrolls and 2 lancers. I left my plows in for serras he might side in (my friend has an identical deck which does this). Game 2: I don't see any sideboard cards, but get him down to 10 fast. He drops an orb to slow my creature rush. Then, he topdecks a propaganda. Then a land tax. Then a scroll rack. I finally find a pyroblast and resume attacking, that is until he drops another one. 12 turns into the game I still haven't seen any anti-artifact/enchantment or any direct damage. The tax/rack racks me beyond recovery. I discard plow. He plays Serra. Game. Set. Match. Tournament. 2 losses is too much. How did I lose to prison? It was a great deck played by a solid player (although he gave away a lot with his face when scroll racking) but I should still win. That's the way it is. I decide to stay in and take my frustration out on my 7th round opponent. 4-2, 9-6. It was looking so good for awhile... ROUND 7 v. Daniel Olmo playing fruity pebbles - should be my game easy Game 1: Since I run only 3 hosers against him, I have to win fast. Thanks to 3 early wastelands on my part, it happens. He shows me the combo after he dies. In go 3 pyros, 2 hydros, 2 aura, 1 disenchant. I have a PHAT board against this guy. Game 2: But the 'board doesn't matter. See game 1 above for details on this turn 6 victory. Daniel and I end up talking for awhile. This is his first big tournament and he shows exceptional promise going 4-3. So, I finish 5-2. Since I'm afraid to see if my car's still here, I stay for the final 8. So, for those of you who have remained steadfast and probably bored to death by now, but are still reading I present to you: the final 8 of PTQ LA New York City, 1/17/98 (which is also my sister's birthday. Happy Birthday Emma!) 1. Seth Burn (Texaco sligh. I was his only swiss loss) 2. Scott Seville (W/G/r control with centaurs, priests, armageddon) 3. ??? (Tongo variant) 4. Aaron Cummings (Tongo, but his errorred decklist cost him the match) 5. Scott Wilcox (WW with red; tax, rack, armor, etc.) 6. Eric Kesselman (Tongo variant) 7. Chris Senhouse (PT Jank) 8. Sam Ward (very intriguing mono-blue with glaciers, brainstorm, impulse, ophidian, manowar, tradewind, firewalker, air elemental, heavy countermagic) Sam Ward defeated Seth Burn 2-1; his Tradewinds, Firewalkers, and Sea Sprites from the side proved too much for Burn's burn (!) and red creatures. Chris Senhouse beat Scott Seville in two very fast games. Scott remarked that there was little chance of him winning that matchup. Kesselman beat his opponent (sorry I don't remember the name) due to his Dismisses Scott Wilcox defeated Aaron Cummings's Tongo deck thanks to a decksheet error which cost Aaron game one, and manascrew which decided game two. In the semis, Scott Wilcox defeated Chris Senhouse due to his continued ability to mana screw his opponents. But the game most watched and hotly contested... Sam Ward's big blue control against Kesselman's Tongo control. In game 1 Eric was able to get an early lead thanks to a pair of priests. At 8 life, Sam played a Firewalker, but it was too late as a pair of Frenetics hit the table. Rob Hahn commented: "That's why he's in the final 8; his frenetics say '0 to phase out,' mine say '0 to bury.' Early mana screw in game 2 on Eric's part allowed Sam to build up a large amount of land and a full hand of counters. Eric was forced to Force two Ophidians due to the lack of land, and the card advantage loss proved to be too much as Sam steamrolled into victory with another Ophidian and an Air Elemental. Game 3 was long-fought, but Kesselman could not stop drawing land and get a creature out. Sam's library manipulation proved to be too much in the end for Eric, as he dropped game 3, managing to draw at least 23 mana sources. So, mono-blue and WW + red qualified... I chose to leave at this point (it was about midnight) so I have no idea who won or if they just split and went home. The whole way back to the parking garage I was sweating and wondering how much bus tickets for 4 back to Hartford would cost...I hand the guy my claim ticket and pay the exhorbitant rate, then wait impatiently outside. Within minutes, my '97 Neon comes flying out the door. It's in one piece! I slowly open the trunk to see...my cards are unharmed! And all this time I thought the garage was just s front for mass magic card theft. I feel relieved. There were 95 cents missing from the car, but that's a small price to pay compared to the feeling of having the keys to your own car in hand again. So, the quest continues. I'll see you in Boston on Jan. 31. Thanks to Al Lavoie, Tony Lavoie, and Mark Daly for driving down with me. Also to Bill McQuillan for spending every waking moment testing Extended. Last of all, long live Team Indy, my hometown magic crew. Good Night. My email address is faesi@uhavax.hartford.edu. Feel free to mail me with comments, suggestions, complaints, or anything else. -Chris Faesi Team Indy