Subject: Rome PTQ 9-19 (Seattle)
Date: Thu, 24 Sep 1998 00:39:57 EDT
From: JCR6330@aol.com
To: fkusumot@ix.netcom.com

This is a tournament report for the Pro tour qualifier on 9-19 in Seattle.  It
does contain the top 8 and who won the tourney.  Well team Los Bastardos was
on hand once again and Dave Lawson and I (Justin Rider) were there
representing.  At the other qualifier in Seattle I attended on 9-5 I went 0-2
drop playing humility prayer.  My teammate Lance went 3-2 drop after getting
his second loss knowing 4-2 won't make top 8.  I got Trung a friend of mine
from Wenatchee to ride along with me and he also played in the qualifier.
Trung and Dave both played Sligh, I was playing a real janky blue speed deck.
Onto the tournament 54 people showed up with 6 rounds of swiss.  My low
standard rating for this tourney was 1956.

Round 1 - Brendon Delaney - Cataclysm WW -
I start off game one with a manta rider and start my pathetic wanna be
beatdown.
Brendon plays a second turn priest followed by third turn monk.  I block his
priest with a thalakos sentry (yes the 1/2 blue shadow, I told you I was
playing jank!) and we start trading damage him with the monk and me with my
manta rider.  I tap out for a tradewind when Brendon only has one card, of
course it's his cataclysm I lose.  Game two I start off with a first turn
spinrift drake, but it's no match for Brendon's draw.  Brendon plays first
turn priest followed by 2 paladins and another priest in the next couple
turns.  The blue deck janks out on me giving me zero curiosities, legacy
allures, rootwater hunters, propaganda's.  Yes all I had to say was WTF???
Match 0-1

Round 2 - Bye - What the hell is this I get a bye?
I win because I'm such a good player?
Match 1-1

Round 3 - John Drury - G/R land destruction -
Game one I am beating him down for 2 a turn with a manta rider and a thalakos
sentry.  John in the meantime has been killing all of my land and using scroll
rack to stay above me in land destruction versus the number of land I play.
John eventually destroys all my land and rolling thunders all of my critters
while he's at 2 life.  John does 20 damage to me with a cartographer and a
anarchist, which brought back his rolling thunder.  Game two and three are all
mine with me playing multiple chills and beating him with blue weenies.
Match 2-1

Round 4 - John Pennock - B/R beatdown - Rating
John and I have been friends for a long time since we were both trying to
qualify for PT3 Columbus.  John has finished in the top 64 at 4 or 5 Pro Tours
and had to quit the tour after PT Chicago for personal reasons.  I new this
would probably be my toughest match all day.  In game one John smacks me
around like I'm his jail house girlfriend or something.  He gets 2 fanatics
and a acidic sliver with a volrath stronghold, John just sits back and kills
everything I cast.  Game two is close once I stop his early assault.  But I
make a mistake by not doing 1 point of damage one turn.  At the end of the
game John is at 1 life when he kills me.  John goes on to beat my teammate
Dave in the 5th round.
Match 2-2

Round 5 - Thomas Shear - Team Seattle Thunder - Living Death - Rating
Well needless to say the reason I played this blue jank deck today was because
it always beats living death.  Game one I only get one land and he tradewind
locks me on turn five.  My tech sideboard card wins the next two games for me.
The amazing shifting wall it can block scragnoths.
Match 3-2

Round 6 - Gerry Lewandowski - B/U wierdness - Rating
Gerry's deck had black shadow speed with curiosity and tradewinds in blue.  He
also used bottomless pits and null brooch standard.  Game one I get early
tradewind lock and that's game.  Game two Gerry gets his amazing lots of black
shadow beatdown kicking my but.  In game three I once again lock him up with
my tradewinds.
Match 4-2

The top 4 were:
John Pennock  (B/R) Vs.
Kevin Pettinger (Trade/Awake)

Chris Benafel (Living Death) Vs.
Alex Mitchell (Trade/Awake)

John Beat Alex in the finals to win the spot!!

The top 8 decks were 3 living death, 3 trade/awake, 1 counter sliver, 1 B/R.

9) Trung Ke 4-1-1 lost out on tie breakers (who rode over with me) [Sligh]
10) Dave Lawson (Team Los Bastardos) [Sligh]
11) Brendon Delaney (my round 1 opponent) [Cataclysm WW]
12) Justin Rider (me) [Blue janky speed]

See ya all in Chicago,
Justin Rider
(Team Los Bastardos)