Subject: Report from PTQ Boston Date: Sun, 20 Sep 1998 16:29:12 -0400 From: "Stella A. Lynch" To: fkusumot@ix.netcom.com Hi Frank, This is my First tourney report ever and it is on the recent PTQ in Boston (rath cycle). I might as well start from the night before, my Friend Will Morgan and I took a trip to milford mass. to play test for the PTQ at TJ`s a store which we are both team members. We both did have the intention to play test, but they have a T2 tourney on that night so our testing was cut short cause I couldn't help but to play in it. Well I went LD and felt pretty confidante in playing that deck type and ended up 4-0 wow 13 points all night (I hate the new K system). So before I left the store I also talked to Billy Jenson (who is already Q`ed for the PT ROME with an amazing 1900+ extended ranking) and his opinoin of the format for the next day was to play death and hope for good draws. That was basically what my thoughts were since this format was just to whacked! But I still wasn't sure on what to play so when Will and I got back to my house I was to tired to play test anymore but asked Will to build a Buehler counter p deck in order to get a few play test games against his new sideboard, with that said I crawled down stair to actually get some SLEEP before a big tourney! My friend Jared showed up after I was asleep, and tested w/ Will all night. When I woke up the next morning I felt pretty sick and didn't fell like changing my death deck from T2 form into the rath cycle version, but luckily Will built me the counter Phoenix deck and being half awake I put it in my bag and we left for another long battle in Boston. Here is the deck I regestered: 4 Shards( the fat bird!!!!!!!!!) 4 Forbids 4 Shocks 4 Mana leaks 4 Counterspells 1 Mogg Fanatic 4 Intuitions 3 Capsizes 2 Dismisses 2 Scroll racks 10 Mountains 14 Islands 4 Reflecting Pools Sideboard: 3 mogg fanatics 3 Portcullis (the porks!!) 2 grindstones(vs. trade awake) 1 Dismiss 3 Thalakos Drifters 3 Shattering Pulse We all showed up just in time to reg. and make our deck list and also get some thoughts from the already Q`d Bregoli and he thought Shared Grenade was a good choice for today, well that was good for me to hear since I haven`t even drew a practice hand, let alone a practice game playing this deck or against it all I knew at this time I wanted more sleep! 1st round vs. ( sorry man i`ve known you for a while but i can`t remember your name) 1st game After finding my seat after the pairings and seeing a semi- good player sitting across from me my thought were 0-2 and drop since this isn't a good place for my 1st play test w/ the deck. Well I took a beating 1st game, he got a great death draw, after going 1st he dropped a turn 2 survival and ran w/ it all game and after making me use all my counters he got the volrath`s stronghold down and brought his friends back, I loose =( 2nd game This game was all me, since death sometime draw perfect it also has a tendency to draw crappy. I got shard forbid lock and beat down, hey I understand the deck good after this game and isn`t wasn`t as weak as I thought after game one. I win =) 3rd game Well death gets a good draw but I have the side board tech, a mogg and a shard on the table for a while with him having a tradewind and him recurring a trull surgeon every turn via volrath`s I was in trouble, but the portuluis came to the rescue, lock down when I intuition for a capsize Yes, this deck is fun I win ! 1-0 2nd round vs. Andrew Ranks 1st game This is a result of the non-scouting rule, we had a long game and we went back and forth he was playing death, but I knew the guy he played the round before (Jeff Madrid) and he told me that he lost to a death deck playing no non-basic lands and forbids and mana leaks main deck so in the first game when he cast 3 mana leaks on me and played no non- basics I knew he was holding a forbid at the end of the game so when he got a tradewind out with only having 2 life and me with a shard in play and only a capsize and 3 land in hand I had to wait in order to just get a mana leak to stop his possible forbid by my scroll rack (so good in this deck, better than whispers) well the next turn I got to it and played the capsize w/ out the buyback and he proudly cast fobid(as if he hid it all game) and then I mana leaked it with a smile. I win =) 2nd game I lock in record speed for this deck mogg mogg pork!!! I win =) I love the sideboard, at this point my friends will is 0-2 and dropped also jared is 2-0 go Jared! 2-0 3rd round vs. a random nice guy game 1 Well this was a mirror match and I knew that counter decks normally win because of the ability to play a land every turn, and also getting the shards into the grave is also key. well I did both and out played him cause a one point he should have countered my intuition for my shards. After a long game and some stalking stone beat down from him I win =) game 2 See game 1 I win =) 3-0 At this point Jared lost and decided he didn`t like the decks that were left and dropped. I was feeling pretty good right now and after winning a mirror match and 2-0 against death, I couldn't ask for anything more, give me my next victim. 4th round vs. Jaime Park 1st game Wow! did I get my ass handed to me, he went 1st and never looked back, 1st turn forest mox diamond druid. 2nd turn survival and later a FAT INCOMING DEATH! I loose =) 2nd game Same as above and add a 1st turn oath of ghouls instead of a druid and then the druid came 3rd turn after I had to counter a survival. Death is the deck in this format, but it seems you need a finklish touch in order to take this deck to a final 8 This suck`em large I loose =( 3-1 This PTQ was only 6 rounds so if I won that match I would have been able to draw the next 2 and make it in so back to the competition looking for a win next round to make it in at 4-1-1. 5th round vs Elloit (I know this kid also but don`t know his full name sorry man) 1st game We sat down before the round started and he asked me if I want to draw, now I was against it since my 1st and 2nd round opponents only and 1 match win between the both of them and decided to play. I`m glad I did cause I got a great draw, 2nd turn leak 3rd turn leak 4th turn dismiss, then a scroll rack and then a few turns later the shards arose from the grave! GO YOU CRAZY BIRDS!! I win =) 2nd game Well this is the 9th game today against death and i`ve only lost 1 of 4 after side board, so I felt good, and proudly brought out the tech even with a oath of doom on the board, shock you feeder play the pork and with a mogg on the board play a shard. I win =) Death count at 4-1 Time to draw! 6th round vs. Michelle Bush Game 1 We talked about drawing but she was against it, she had marked one of her matches wrong in the early rounds and played in the losers bracket for a while and her tiebreakers sucked, so she couldn't draw since most likely she won`t make it, so I was thinking here we go another tourney bust! Well 1st game i don`t remember much except she got a below average draw I win =) In between the 1st and second games I was commenting on playing 5 out of 6 death decks on the day and i was sick of it she said " shut up you just kicked my ass, what do you want" =) Game 2 I side board the same as I`ve done all day, and this time it doesn`t work she drops an early oath of doom and a hermit druid, and I make a real bad mistake, I don`t shock the druid cause I wanted to intuition for moggs and w/ a pork in hand I wanted to lock her down w/ her own oath, but she really got a lot of creature in the grave w/ a good druid and that was game. I loose =) Game 3 A bad death draw allows me to use the side board tech to win, she played nothing until turn 5 or so, win by the great draw, loose by the crap draws? I win =) 5-1 Hey I`m in at 3rd seed hey this is cool!! This is a chance to put right my DQ from GP Boston during the second day 2 weeks earlier. The final 8 looked something like this 4 Deaths(Hammer, Jamie and 2 other that I don`t know) Sligh(Chad Ellis) My counter p(me) White wennie(?) Trade awaken( a real nice guy) Quarter Final vs Hammer ( damn this is one guy who has my #, it seems that in the last 4-8 PTQ`s he knocked me out, i owe him one =) ) game 1 I think from now on before i play Hammer I`m gonna kill some small animal and do some sort of a ritual to stop this trend, cause I drew shit!!!! He was also playing death and played very conservative, for the threat of me having counter, but I didn`t counter anything like all game which lasted forever since I kept recurring my shard to block his scrag, during the game, he actually said " hey I`ve never seen a counter p. deck w/ out counterspells??" haha =( . But the worst part is we had a lot of Boston area players watching our match and saw me slowly but surely get get destroyed! I drew 4 spells and 14 lands to start with , I loose =) Game 2 After shuffling my deck to death and making a few jokes w/ people watching in order to calm down and focus, I got my second hand 2 islands, 2 intuitions, 1 shock and 2 porks so i have my side board goodness in hand and not all land so I kept it, but if it isn't getting all land its getting none I stayed at 2 land until turn 5. I was lucky to top deck mana leaks to keep him at bay. When I did finally get some lands I taped out to play a pork w/ him having a hoe bag scrag and me having a mogg hoping to draw a second shock and play the shard in my hand was my only chance to win this, but when I tapped out and him only having 2 cards in hand one had to be a lobotomy, Damn he got my fat birds and I just sat there and took beating I loose =( It was a fun tourney ,time for props and slops Props: Will the "king of the 1700`s" Morgan for building the deck, if not I wouldn't have played Hammer for being a nice guy, and beating me down(he`s got a great sideboard) Jared for coloring his hair like Finkle and signing an autograph for Jamie Park and Ben Farkas =) The Potatoe for Not being there Brad for watching on of my matches and not being bitter towards me Mike Bregoli for the use of the porks Alan Macki for mashing the potatoe on friday night =) Slops: Your Move Games for not having a computer there Well later Brian`whatever` Lynch Gone to get beer!