Subject: Tounament Summary, PTQ Rome, Des Moines, Ia
Date: Sun, 13 Sep 1998 20:03:42 CDT
From: Michael C Reinking <lotus@iastate.edu>
To: fkusumot@ix.netcom.com

        This is a summary of the events at the Rome ptq in Des Moines,
Ia, held september 12th.  I was not playing, having qualified last week,
but the event was held by Mayhem Collectables, the store I work for, so I
was on hand to watch all the action.  Somewhere around 70 people showed
up, which was kinda low for a 2-slot qualifier, but that's probably
because it's our 1st one and no one knew where it was.  The head judge
was Barrat Moy, who did his usual excellent job.  Several teams
were present for the 6 rounds of swiss, including jla, our own team
mayhem, and several acd/ultra pro affiliates.  There were large amounts
of living death, awakening, counter-phoenix, and suprisingly, white
weenie, as well as some sligh and some red land destruction.  At the end
of the 6 rounds, the top 8 were:
        1 Mark? Slapak, acd type, counter-phoenix, 5-1
        2 Dave Peterson, acd type, death, 5-1
        3 Lee Curtis, independent, trade/awake (pre-oath board), 5-1
        4 Scott valleroy, independent, trade/awake (w/oaths), 4-0-2
        5 Dennis Nichols, independent, white weenie, 4-0-2
        6 Christian Krugler, team mayhem, sligh, 4-0-2
        7 Eddie Woods, independent, death, 4-1-1
        8 Chris Stelzer, team mayhem (we think :), death, 4-1-1

        Quarterfinals:
        Stelzer def Slapak 2-1
        Nicols awarded win due to disqualification
        Krugler def Curtis 2-0
        Peterson def Woods 2-0

        Semis:
        Nicols def Stelzer 2-0
        Krugler def Peterson 2-0

        Finals:
        split, since they both qualifed.
        Some details:
        Portcullises and spell shocks were amazing for Krugler all day,
and the awakening deck really needs_ the oaths vs. sligh.  4 helm and 4
cataclysm seem to be enough to let white weenie compete against death,
although Dennis admitted that his semi-final match-up was his 1st vs.
death all day.  Scragnoths seemed to be winning games every time I looked
around, which may or may not mean anything.  Land destruction, even with
mad anarchists and erratic portals, is still a bad idea.  Humility/prayer
was the most under-represented deck in the top 8 in relation to the # of
people playing it, followed by land destruction and white weenie.  There
was almost no hatred, and those few were wrecked by round 4.  Some rouge
decks in contention included an ensnaring jank and an oath of
scholars/peace of mind/humility/prayer/bridge deck, as well as a white
weenie with tradewinds and curiousities, all of which finished 4-2.
I don't really want to get into the details of the dq, since I wasn't
directly involved, except to say that it after talking to a variety of
witnesses I'd say it was probably justified.
        Well, that's it, no props and slops since I didn't actually play,
and aren't we all sick of them by now anyway?  Hope to see you all again
for Mayhem's 2-spot qualifier for LA on Dec 5th.  Later.