Subject: GP Lisbon Report Date: Fri, 18 Sep 1998 02:18:17 -0400 From: Rudy Edwards To: frank kusumoto The trip to Lisbon started on a very good note. Little did I know I had stumbled into an international conspiracy… one designed to wreck the very fabric of our nation. To take from us that which we hold most dear! The plane from Atlanta to Madrid was just jam packed with hot babes. They were "good qualities" everywhere… except in the seats next to me of course. It was a good flight, and this was but an omen of the week to come. Once in Madrid, Jose and I hung out with the guys at the local shop, Metropolis. I played a little Rath Cycle, and we hung out, drank, and ate. A little sidenote (as if this whole report hasn't been sidenotes so far) The Spanish love to eat. Their ham is greasy, but tasty, and they enjoy oddities like pig's ears and octopus (not so tasty). The Tortillas are awesome as is the hazelnut rum. Jose and I went to Lisbon with the Metropolis guys in a van. Oh man was this random town somewhere near the Spain/Portugal border full of those aforementioned "good qualities" at 3am! It was like there was a machine just crankin' em out or sumpthin. Amazingly we pry ourselves away from this place and make it to Lisbon. THE GRAND PRIX I haven't done whole bunches of playtesting in this format since worlds. In Seattle I played N.W.O. Wolfblack (The City of Traitors version of the Hatred deck) and went 5-2, my losses were to two of the three humility decks I played. I've since added Spinal Grafts and extra bottle gnomes in the board to make the matchup better. Had I been more comfortable with it, I would've played a control deck in the tourney, but such was not the case. N.W.O. WolfBlack (v.2: GP LISBON) (Andy Wolf, Jay Schneider, Rudy Edwards, NG Atlanta) 4 Hatred 4 Blood Pet 4 Dauthi Horror 4 Dauthi Slayer 2 Dauthi Warlord 4 Carnophage 4 Sarcomancy 2 Crovax the Cursed 2 Rats of Rath 1 Spinal Graft 4 Dark Ritual 4 Diabolic Edict 1 Slaughter 2 City of Traitors 2 Wastelands 16 Swamps Primary Differences between this deck and worlds Removed: 1 City of Traitors, 1 Mindless Automaton Replaced with: 1 Wasteland, 1 Spinal Graft The Sideboard also changed significantly to make it better vs. Humility and Mono Red. Rounds 1,2,3 Byes thanx to the fat PT Points from my spectacular season last yearJ (any chance to brag, I'll take) Round 4 vs. Living Death/Recur Game 1 I'm forced to mulligan down to 5 cards. I am, so far, 4-0 after mulliganing down past 6, because this deck just is amazing that way. My streak does not continue, I get an aggressive draw, and almost pull it off, but I never get past 2 land. Game 2 I jump out with the quick Beatings. Game 3 Oh man, do I hump myself here. I've got my opponent at 3, I Have 3 2 power shadows and a carnophage. He has a spike feeder. I have no cards in my hand. (or at least none worth a crap). I'm pretty sure he has living death in his hand, I'm at 16 or so and decide not to pay life for the carnophage because… well… because I'm in this lazy ass mood thanks to the laid back atmosphere of this grand prix! I draw.. an Edict. Now, I've discovered this exact situation in playtesting and just knew better, but because I wasn't in a competitive mood, I slacked my way into a loss. He Living Deaths the next turn and wins. Round 5 vs. Mono Red Game 1 my victory is all beatings. My opponent chumps a spinal grafted crovax with his Fireslinger. (It had summoning sickness) he wouldve lived through the next turn had he not blocked it, but I believe the damage would've been too much for him to overcome anyhow, cuz I had more 2 toughness creatures in my hand… Game 2 My Opponent gets the advantage mid game and I choose to Hatred draw us before he crushes me. Note: At this point my opponent begins to scoop and is ready to call a judge. I decide to inform him that we still have another game to play. Those are the types of wins that separate the Mike Longs from the mes of the world. Game 3 Despite early beatings and a decent draw, after the board is clear, my opponent top decks a creature to kill me after I draw 5 lands in a row (the creature was needed to get his conscript across the board) sigh. Round 6 Game 1 I mulligan down to 4 cards, and am going first. Remember that amazing record I had with going below 6 cards? This was one of those situations. Turn 1 Carnophage, turn two Spinal Graft. Game. Game 2. My Opponent Mox Diamond/ Rituals out a Living Death when I have 3 quick creatures out. I drop 2 more cretures, a Sarcomancy and a Blood Pet, and he gets a Spike Weaver and a Hermit Druid. I cast a Slayer, and he attacks with his weaver? So I kill it by double blocking. I then cast a blood pet and a portcullis. My opponent thinks long and hard, and casts a Living Death, quickly informing me that he gets his creatures or something or another. Whatever. I have to appeal all the way to the Head Judge before this nonsense is over and I win. So, At 4-1-1 I have to have the top tie break to make it in, which I had before the 6th Round but I was 70th. Blah. That Carnophage mistake was sloppy and I didn't deserve to do well anyhow. There was tons of Living Death and Wolfblack would've made a good showing day 2. My bust. Other Adventures in Portugal and Spain: Randy Buehler, Jose and I get to eat at an amazing restaurant with like 4 waiters and mad goodness. We sat at the bar cause we werent dressed for the place, and everyone leaving the place kept staring (mainly at me, I think) the bill came out to around 32,000.00 escudos (which is like $50 each) including a 800.00 bar tab (I've had one of those in dollars once!) Jose and I went to Expo '98. (Randy did too but he went separately) That place requires a little more than 6-8 hours to experience! We visited a lot of random African countries, and stood in line for this 3-D thing for like an hour. I met this sweet Portuguese chick, Ana Catarina, whose English was absolutely amazing (trust me, after a week of talking mostly to people who only speak broken English, this was refreshing!) I'll try not to travel again without learning more of the local language (don't I say that every time?) My friends in Madrid hooked me up with a bottle of that Hazelnut stuff…. Tasty! After showing the "Think Tank" Team picture we took at the Pink Pony, one of the guys at Metropolis exclaimed, "This is best team" I'm sure It wasn't bad english, but he was also a Sped fan, eh? Mark hit #62 while I was flying from Atlanta to Madrid. Sammy hit #62 while I was flying from Lisbon to Madrid. Europeans didn't care about either. That's OK, cause I don't really care about Futbol. Coolin' with the Portuguese guys at their shop, They sounded like true Think Tankers! (there was this great story about GP Madrid and a Disco that opened at 7 am) we even played Mirage/Visions/Homelands Sealed Deck Grand Melee well into the night! That should be a PT format or somethin. Remember that conspiracy I was telling you about? It seems that the Spanish and Portuguese are importing our Hot chicks from the states (I saw it with my own eyes…. The plane goin over there was full of 'em) but the not-so-hot chicks were scarce in Europe, until I got on the plane to go home. They're takin our hotties and exporting their sub-averages back to us! See you Fewls later... my current itinerary has me at the following destinations: High Point, NC (gotta see my boys again this weekend, eh?) PT Chicago GP England (Birmingham) GP Texas (Austin) AndCon '98 Toledo Ohio (Type I championships, baby) PT Rome GP Manilla what a year, huh?