Subject: Report from Spain Date: Mon, 27 Apr 1998 18:35:13 +0200 (MET DST) From: Cesar Augusto Manivesa Vidal To: fkusumot@ix.netcom.com Hi. This is a tournament report from Valladolid in Spain. I didn't see reports from Spain here in the Dojo so I decided myself to send you this one. The tournament took place this Saturday in Valladolid, a medium size city in the North of Spain. There were about 50 players and this is what happens to me. The deck: 4 tradewind rider 4 wall of blossoms 3 wall of roots 3 quirion ranger 4 birds of paradise 3 incinerate 3 mana leak 3 suqata firewalker 2 uktabi orangutan 4 Armageddon 1 mystical tutor 1 vampiric tutor 2 awakening 3 propaganda 4 city of brass 4 gemstone mine 3 undiscovered paradise 2 reflecting pool 7 forest SB 4 hydroblast 3 pyroblast 2 sleight of mind 1 boil 1 choke 3 scragnot 1 warmth I have been playtesting two decks. The one I played and a slight. The day before the tournament a friend of mine called Manolo asked me if I can lend him a deck to play. He has not played magic since Ice Age and I think this deck was a bit complex to learn how to play it in one evening. So I give him the Slight and I told him what decks he was going to face and how to beat them. We made a bit of playtesting that evening and the Saturday morning the show began. Round 1 Spike Stompi I was afraid of weenie decks because I did not have anything to beat them in the SB, but I trusted in my deck. Game 1: I begin with forest, bird. He something. My turn: forest, wall of roots, wall of blossom. He cast a spike and the tradewind in my hand smiles me. My turn: tradewind. He something and in my turn I play the awakening. He ask me what is it and by the time he understand the card he has 9 cards in hand and no permanents in play. Done Game 2: This time my deck don't start very good, and I remember something like 5 land in my side and 3 walls. He had about 7 lands and several creatures in play, one of them was a 7/7 uktabi (fucked spikes) that was killing all my walls. I remember I thought " the only thing that can save me is a propaganda and a Armageddon". He attacks me and my life comes down to 9. I draw the Armageddon( just half a miracle), but that is not enough. He attacks again and reduces my life to 2(I wanted to keep my walls to the very end. I draw the propaganda I needed. He says: "Come on you are dead. Let's play the next one" "Wait a moment". I tap all my lands and I cast Armageddon. He smiles me. I put a counter on my wall of roots and play propaganda. He stops smiling. I'm done. In his turn he plays a forest, tap the forest and his llanowar elves and attack with the fucking ape. Another wall die for me. I draw, and again I see propaganda. I play a land, put two counters in two walls and the second propaganda hits the ground. Ouch! He plays and do nothing. I draw land. He nothing. I draw the third propaganda and he begins to say that there is not justice in magic. The next turn I draw the tradewind and when it come into play the game is won. Well I was a bit lucky here but...that's magic. Round 2 A fish deck. A lot of merfolks, some counterspells and unstable mutation. You know what I mean. Game 1 The standard play. Lands, walls to stop the blue stampede and a mana bird. I cast the tradewind and the game stalls. Some turns later, an Armageddon goes through his counterspells and the game is mine. Game 2 He says he is going to beat me because he now knows what to expect. The game begins and in second turn I cast a marvelous suqata firewalker. The suqata begin fishing and the second firewalker helps him to kill the lord of Atlantis. By the way, I could cast the first firewalker thanks to his tidal warrior making my forest an island. Round 3 A strange deck with a lot of weenies and incinerates and mana leak. Five colors. The player's name is Andres. A good young player. Game 1 We are using standard mulligan and as he do not have lands he draws 7 cards again. I decide to draw 7 new cards too because I had 6 lands in my initial draw. Big mistake. The second time I draw I only see 1 land in the whole game and I die horrible. Game 2 This time I begin and things looks going well. Turn 4. I cast an Armageddon and I put all my lands in the graveyard thinking the game will fall into my side when he says "Stop". "What happen?" I ask, and he says "I have a mana leak" 3 turns later he kills me again. Well this was a good lesson to me. Round 4 Same deck, different player. Game 1 My deck loves me after the launch break. Mana, bird, wall, propaganda, wall, tradewind, Armageddon. Done Game 2 He kills me when I have locked him with 2 land and no creatures. I think he throw me all his incinerates and shocks. Game 3 This was a hard game, but after the third Armageddon he could not recover. Round 5 A new deck idea with portcullis. Good deck, good player. Game 1 I has not played against this type of deck before and he has playtested a lot against tradewind decks. He plays better and he won. Game 2 This time he has portcullis, and the creatures in play are one bird and one firewalker (both mine). I cast awakening and Armageddon, kill my bird and I cast another firewalker. He is manascrew and I am going to win unless I make a great mistake. When he is at 6 I cast a uktabi. He has portcullis and a cursed scroll in play, 2 lands and 7 cards in hand. I decide to destroy the scroll. Why?? I don't know. If I have destroyed the portcullis I will do 2 damage to him with the firewalkers and in the next turn I will kill him with the uktabi. But I destroy the scroll...My uktaby goes to the limbo. In his turn he plays a land and cast manowar. Next turn he cast nekrataal...I have no creatures and I am not going to have them anymore. Finally he kills me. Sometimes I play like a goblin. After this match if I wanted to be in the top eight I have to win the 2 last rounds. My friend Manolo was in the same conditions. He has to win the 2 last rounds. Round 6 White weenie with Armageddon, winter orb and empyreal armor. Game 1 Good draw for me, and he cast a second turn orb that helps a lot. Walls, tradewind and that is game. Game 2 He plays his deck perfectly. Land, land, knight, land, empyreal, he kills all my walls and then he kills me. Game 3 Again my deck knows how to beat weenies. Second turn propaganda, third turn Armageddon and propaganda again. Walls, tradewind and a second tradewind hits him 20 times ;) Round 7 Now is the last mach. If I win I go to the top eight. We go to our seats and I face Andres, the guy that kills me in round 3. I ask for a judge to avoid playing the same person twice during the Swiss rounds, but the judge tells me that in the last round it doesn't matter. Let's play then. Game 1 I begin. Land and mana bird. He cast mogg fanatic and my bird die. I play land and wall of blossoms. He plays 2 jackal pups, and in my turn I cast quirion. He plays mtenda lions, shadow creatures, more mogg, incinerates me and again I die to this deck. Game 2 My last chance. Land, mana bird. He plays land. I play wall of blossoms and the card I draw is vampiric tutor. He plays land and river boa. I think for a while and finally I use the vampiric to take the firewalker. When the firewalker hits the table he could not belive it. He told me he was going to lose the game and he was right. I begin to kill all his creatures and a second firewalker finish the game. Game 3 I look my SB and I realize that hydroblast could help me a lot. The game begins. He cast red weenies and my recently side in hydroblast take care of them. I cast walls and a tradewind, then awakening, and his hand begin to grow. Finally he concedes. Great!! I am in again, and my friend Manolo is in too. Incredible because thought the deck is good he has played very few matches in the last two years. Another friend with a shapeshifter/dreadnought deck goes to the finals too, but he loses against a counterhammer. Final 8 We are happy with our decks by now. The judge show us our seats and...Oh no, I have to win Manolo to go to the semi-finals. This is a bad match because yesterday he beats me almost every time we played. Game 1 I didn't win and I couldn't have won. He cast weenies and kill my walls. His deck is like a stampede over me. Game2 My sideboard is ready for this. The game begins and after 4 turns I take control of the game with a lot of walls and an Armageddon. I am happy. Then he plays land. Doesn't matter. Land again and he cast...scalding tongs. He says me: "You was right when you told me this one was better than the scroll for this deck", and he smiles. The game continues and he cast creatures, I play propaganda. He plays cursed scroll and I respond with Armageddon, but the tongs are still there. He plays lands, and all he can to keep his hand below 4 cards, and finally I die. Well that was all for me. At least I lose to a friend with a deck of mine. Manolo plays semifinals against a counterhammer and his deck speed was too much for the other player. The final was Manolo versus Diego. Diego is a very good player and he is playing a blue deck with a lot of control and tradewind, capsize, dream tides, disks, rainbow and ophidian. The first game Manolo overrun Diego with creatures and finish him of with scalding tongs. In the second game Manolo draw 7 lands in the first 10 cards and this gives Diego time to take control of the board. Two chill helped a lot. Last game. The difference between being the winner or the first of the losers. Second turn, Manolo play his second mountain and for a moment he doubts to play a fireslinger. Fortunately he says "I am done" and then Diego plays land and chill. Manolo says "wait" and his pyroblast open his way to victory. Then he plays scalding tongs, creatures and finally incinerate and fireblast for the last 8 points (+ tongs). If you are interested in the slight we like to play, Manolo's deck was: 3 fireslinger 4 suq'ata lancer 3 ball lightning 4 mogg flunkies (maybe one less) 3 scalding tong (one more is needed) 3 cursed scroll 3 shock 3 fireblast 4 mogg fanatic 4 canyon wildcat 4 incinerate 4 urza's bubble 3 wasteland 15 mountain I hope you enjoy this report and excuse me for not to write English very well. Augusto Manivesa (AKA Kryztof) alum0091@dirac.dec.cie.uva.es