Subject: Tourney Report: 10 Jan 1998
Date: Sun, 11 Jan 1998 12:24:01 EST
From: NSabin123 <NSabin123@aol.com>
To: fkusumot@ix.netcom.com

to whomever is reading this~

it was a dark, stormy night. the place? Capitol City Diner, in Concord, NH.
the date? January 10th. the organizer? Bob Jarmak. Team Fallen Angels (working
title) was in a disappointing showing with only myself and Karl Boettcher in
attendance.

i was standing tall with the 5CB deck i had been working on, while Karl had a
3CW in tow.

it was to be four rounds of Swiss, with a final 8 afterwards. this was one of
the most interesting tournies i've ever been to, and you'll see why...

First Round (forgot your name, man. sorry) playing WW

Game One: the only lands i get for six turns or so are a City of Brass and a
Quicksands. i think "oh no, i'm <expletive> hardcore." But no! my deck somehow
wakes up, throws me the land i need, and i administer beatdown with a mixture
of Nekrataals, Man-O-Wars, and Dauthi Slayers. thank god this deck can run on
three land.

i sideboard in my two Glooms, as well as two Knights of the Mist, as i saw
plenty of knights game one.

Game Two: my hand is perfect. two swamps, a guildmage, slayer, City of Brass,
and Gloom. from then on, i apply the frue beatdown, getting plenty of removal
to kill anything he dropped, including the Death Speakers he paid 3W for.

Game Record:WW, 2-0
Match Record: 1-0, 3 points

Karl also applies beat to a Stompy deck. he's 2-1, with a Match win.

an interesting side note at this point is during the first game, Aaron
Fournier, a player from the Pembroke area, drops a Glaciers against his
opponent. this happens AFTER i told him before the tourney that they were
illegal. he had to concede the first game of every match, and i don't think he
ever recovered.

Round Two: Chris Trachy, playing B/R Landkill with Phyrexian Grimoire and some
other weirdness.

for those of you who don't know, this is the match i DIDN'T want. Chris is one
of the best players in this area, and me being the average Joe i am, was
thinking "oh no" the whole match.

Game One: Somehow, i apply quick weenie beatdown and burn away the rest of his
life.... he successfully kept my land count down, but this deck doesn't take
much mana to run....

Game Two: Same as the first. Slayer beatdown followed by lotsa Kindles and
Incinerates.

Chris had the thought to play Phyrexian Grimoire, which in his deck gives him
a lot more endurance. it's a sweet card, and it fit in perfectly in Chris'
deck.

Game Record: WW, 4-0
Match Record: 2-0, 6 points

Karl also wins, i don't know whom against, but he wins. so at this point,
we're both 2-0 and feeling pretty damn good about ourselves.

Round Three: Larry Leavitt, playing Voltron madness

Due to the fact that there were only seven 2-0 players, one of the 1-1s had to
play up, and it was Larry.

Game One: now, Larry was playing a totally unorthodox deck. it had all the
Urza Lands, as well as Mogg Hollows and Gemstone Mines to fuel the large
Fireballs or Torches he used to bump me off.... the Walls and Watchdogs he
used, in conjunction with the Quicksands he held, kept my creatures away long
enough to Torch me away. my first game loss.

i side in my Sex Monkeys to counteract his artifact love...

Game Two: i get my first turn Guildmage and a third turn sex monkey, but they
both die, and he throws some more Torchy goodness my way...

Game Record: LL, 4-2
Match Record: 2-1, 6 points

now, here occurs the worst part of the tourney. Karl administers serious
beatdown on Chris Jarmak, the best player who comes to these tourneys. Chris
doesn't like to lose. everyone knows his reputation. so he accuses Karl of
cheating. not to the judge, but to all his buddies. this gets me really angry,
and after discussing it with some of the folks outside, i report him to the
judge for Unsportsmanlike Conduct. nothing happens, but the judge and i talk
it over and understand eachother well.

Round Four: Derrick Stearns, playing mono-red beatdown

Game One: still fuming a little over Chris, i am a little mad when i start.
but it matters not, as Derrick is playing a strong deck, which, combined with
my land-screwedness, gets Derrick the win.

Game Two: a distinct repeat of Game One. Burn everywhere, and Scalding
Tongs/Cursed Scroll wickedness. i go down in flames.

Game Record: LL, 4-4
Match Record: 2-2, 6 points

note that Derrick had a mighty deck, and made it into the final 8. even if i
hadn't been screwed over, he still would have mightily kicked my ass.

Karl loses to Dave Rys, who was playing almost the same deck as Chris Jarmak,
if i'm not mistaken. he's 3-1 now, and also makes it to the top 8. he loses to
Chris MacStravic in the first round of the final 8. the irony of it all is
that Chris is a math teacher at my high school, and karl's teacher
specifically... that added a bit of humor to it all....

*Props and Slops*

Props to:

Karl Boettcher, for performing strong and administering the beatdown.
Tofu and Luci, for listening to me bitch.
Larry Leavitt, for playing the rogue deck of the tourney.
Bob Jarmak, for being a decent human being.

Slops to:

Andy LaFontaine and Sarah Towey, for not showing. but i ain't mad at ya.
WotC, for inventing the Ophidibastard.
Derrick Stearns, for kicking my ass proper. jus' kidding, man. :-)
Christopher Jarmak, for being the single most conceited and arrogant snob
since Jason Opalka proclaimed himself the "t2k." the angels are coming.

decklist available upon request, and may you all never have to play against
mono-blue.

Nicolas Sabin
Team Fallen Angels