Subject: Winner of the Norwegian Nationals - 14 Date: Thu, 2 Jul 1998 22:42:21 +0200 From: Snorre Helvik To: fkusumot@ix.netcom.com Hi, I am Snorre Helvik, a 16 year old from Trondheim, Norway. I am the winner of the Norwegian Nationals, and going to Worlds! Here is my report from the Norwegian Nationals, June 26-28. The Norwegian Nationals is divided into three parts; first day sealed deck, second day standard and the last day top eight rochester draft. I have mostly written about the standard and the rochester draft. FIRST DAY - SEALED DECK: TE STARTER, TE/ST/ST BOOSTERS My first impression of the cards I got was great, but the deck was not as great as I thought. The deck was good, but not very good. I was playing G/B/r with Shard Phoenix, Bullwhip and some good creatures, but I had no finisher like Living Death, Thunder, Disturbed Burial, Overrun etc. I was expecting to go 4-2 or maybe 5-1 if I was lucky, but it did not go as I expected. I met very good decks (I met two people ending up in top 8 and one nearly top 8) and had some bad luck. I won the first round, but lost the next three. At that moment I needed to win the two last rounds to get qualified for day two (!), and I had to win the next 8 rounds to reach top 8. Sounded difficult to me. Here are the six rounds: Round 1: Halvor Dalaker 2-0 Round 2: Kim Eikefet 0-1 Round 3: Helge Aarvik 0-2 Round 4: Gisle Salem 0-2 Round 5: Kim Saastad 2-0 Round 6: Kent Ole Haukjen 2-1 3-3 (6-6), ending up at number 52 the first day. SECOND DAY - STANDARD: 14 I had decided to play 14. 14 had been good during playtesting, and I thought few expected to meet 14 at the nationals. Also, I love fatties :) The deck was actually made by Bjørn Skogseth, another member of Team Slum - the best (and only) team from Trondheim. However, he made a late change, and replaced the Mana Leaks with a Furnace and a Lobotomy, fearing Godzilla, Kastle and Bloom. I stuck with the original, and am glad I did :) Here is the deck: MAIN DECK SIDEBOARD 1 Spirit of the Night 1 Staunch Defenders 3 Volcanic Dragon 1 Wall of Blossoms 1 Staunch Defenders 2 Mana Vault 2 Wall of Blossoms 1 Warmth 4 Buried Alive 1 Light of Day 4 Living Death 2 Lobotomy 4 Vampiric Tutor 1 Pyroblast 2 Mystical Tutor 1 City of Solitude 4 Impulse 2 Ebony Charm 2 Brainstorm 1 Disenchant 3 Pyroblast 1 Tranquil Domain 2 Mana Leak 1 Gloom 1 Disenchant - 15 4 Dark Ritual 7 Swamp 4 City of Brass 4 Gemstone Mine 4 Underground River 3 Ancient Tomb 1 Crystal Vein - 60 Round 7 - Øystein Hunnes, Sylvan Pursuit I think. Game 1: He did not do much, was screwed I guess. Third turn he discarded a Pursuit of Knowledge. The next turns he only played a couple of lands, before he got 14 damage two times and died. Game 2: I mulliganed. He did not do much this game either. I played first turn tutor, second turn Buried Alive (with Ancient Tomb). Third turn he played a Propaganda, but that didn't help much when I played Gemstone Mine, Dark Ritual, Living Death and Pyroblasted the Propaganda in round three! Next turn he Wrathed, but that did not help much either as I some rounds later tutored for a new Living Death and Mana Leaked his Mana Leak after I played Living Death. 1-0 (2-0) on day two 4-3 (8-6) total Round 8 - Sjur Hendseth, mono-white weenie. Game 1: I mulliganed. I do not remember much from this round, but I think it was this game he first Wrathed and then played Geddon the next turn. I had two Impulse, two lands, and a Dark Ritual on my hand, so he lost about 5 turns later :) Game 2: Second turn he played CoP: Red, but he should have waited a couple of rounds playing it, because when I played Buried Alive in turn three I fetched two Staunch Defenders and the Spirit of the Night. Some Impulses, Brainstorms and tutors later I casted Living Death, keeping two mana and a Mana Leak in hand. He never casted Wrath before he died. 2-0 (4-0) on day two 5-3 (10-6) total Round 9 - Thomas F. Gundersen, a Humility-Orim's Prayer deck with lots of counters. Game 1: I mulligened. Thomas was the last player I wanted to meet. Thomas is my teammate (on Team Slum) and during playtesting he beat my deck 5-1 or something. I had a bad feeling about this. Anyway, I got a good start, played some Tutors/Brainstorms/Impulses, and a third turn Buried Alive. He played a third turn Orim's Prayer, and another in the fourth turn. In my fifth turn he had only one mana untapped, so I casted a Living Death and dealt 8 damage. Next turn he played a Humility and thought he pretty much had won, but he had forgotten my main deck disenchant :). In my next upkeep I tutored after the disenchant and destroyed the Humility while Mana Leaking the Counterspell he used. He took another 8 damage. Next turn he played Wrath. I had no new Living death, but I successfully cast a Volcanic Dragon (!) that hit him for 2 damage. He played a Gerrard's Wisdom for 10 life, but he did not get rid of the Dragon. Within 6 rounds my little Dragon had beaten him to death. Game 2: After heavy sideboarding we started up again. He played third turn Orim's Prayer again, but luckily he did not play any more lands after that. He never got the fourth mana before he died. In his hand he had 3 Wraths and a Humility + some more! 3-0 (6-0) 6-3 (12-6) total Round 10 - Lars Are Drabløs, 5CWhite Game 1: I got a good draw, and won pretty easily with a Living Death on turn five. Game 2: I mulliganed. I got a pretty slow start and he got a good start, with Mox Diamond and many creatures. I was only on 4 life when all of his creatures disappeared and a Spirit, a Dragon and a Defender appeared. Unfortunately, he played Wrath followed by a Geddon next turn. At that time he had two Moxes and one Warrior en-Kor in play and no cards in hand. I had a City of Brass in hand. I drew a Wall of Blossoms, but no more lands until I had two life left. Unfortunately, the land I drew was another City of Brass. Game 3: He mulliganed twice. Still he was screwed, with only one land I think. He drew another land 2-3 turns later, but it was too late. 4-0 (8-1) 7-3 (14-7) total Round 11 - Erlend Miller, White Weenie with red and blue. Game 1: I do not remember that much from this round, but I think he got a pretty slow start. Mana Leak was always a great card to have in my hand when I casted Living Death. It could (as usual) counter a Firestorm or a next turn Wrath. He never played any of those cards, but I felt safe as long as I had it in my hand. Pyroblast was also a great card, but only against counters and other blue cards (of course). Game 2: I mulliganed. I got a good start, second turn Buried Alive. But unfortunately he played Phyrexian Furnace, and removed my three creatures, one by one. I did not get enough mana to play Living Death before he had removed all of my creatures. When he played a Geddon next turn, I had pretty much lost. Game 3: I got a good draw this time too, and this time I casted some tutors and an Impulse before Buried Alive to make sure he could only remove one creature with a Furnace. He got no Furnace and lost pretty soon. 5-0 (10-2) 8-3 (16-8) total Round 12 - Tor Grieg Toyomasu, White Weenie, 5C I think. Game 1: I had now won the seven last rounds, but I still needed to win this one. I knew that if I won this round I was 90% sure to get in the top 8. I think I mulliganed this game too, and got an ok hand. I did the same now as I did against Erlend in round 11, always kept two mana for Mana Leak unless I had to use all my mana. I never had to use my Mana Leak this game either. Game 2: This time I got a perfect draw. First turn Swamp and Tutor, second turn Ancient Tomb and Buried Alive, and third turn City of Brass, Dark Ritual, Living Death and one mana for my Tutor in case he Wrathed. He did not Wrath, he just died. 6-0 (12-2) 9-3 (18-8) total I MADE IT!!! I went 6-0 the second day, ending up 7th! It was difficult to believe! I was now qualified for the European Championship and I was only one match from Worlds! In the top 8 were Kim Eikefet, Tommy Hammer, Frede Tunsjø, Nicolai Herzog, Jan Pieter Groenhof, Gisle Salem, Me and Gutorm Høgåsen. None of the others in top 8 were from Team Slum. But four others where in top 25; Christian Brandzæg and my brother Torbjørn playing 5C Flagpole, Tallak Tveide playing Suicide Black and Endre Sjetne playing ProsBloom. My impression of day two was that 14 beats White Weenie :) ROCHESTER DRAFT - G/R (NORWEGIAN STYLE) DECK The day before, I had discussed with some of my teammates what colors to draft. I said that I always like to go for green, and they all agreed with me. I just feel a bit naked without any fat in the deck. :) But green doesn't have creature removal (only player removal :) ), and the best removal is black and red. So we agreed that I should try to go for green/red or green/black. It seemed like our "analysis" was correct, because the finals consisted of a green/red and a green/black deck. I knew I was going to play against Tommy Hammer in the quarterfinal. I started drafting mostly green and red, and a little blue. I had Gutorm Høgåsen on my left drafting blue/white, and Nicolai Herzog on my right drafting green/black. So I decided that green/red was the way to go. The first time I had the first pick I thought: "Please, pleeeeeeease, I want a Thunder". And, of course, in the middle of the booster; a Rolling Thunder. Seven boosters later I got another Thunder! WOW! Tommy was drafting both red, black, blue and white (why no green?? :) ), and it did not seem like he had decided what colors to play. After a while he stopped drafting black, and drafted more red. Unfortunately, he drafted a Chill and a CoP: Red. After that I startet drafting more and more green and less red, ending up with mostly green. Luckily, I had drafted a Tranquility before Tommy drafted the Chill and the CoP. MAIN DECK SIDEBOARD 1 Coiled Tinviper 1 Heart Sliver 1 Metallic Sliver 1 Flowstone Giant 1 Spined Sliver 2 Flowstone Blade 1 Muscle Sliver 1 Furnace Spirit 1 Barbed Sliver 1 Overgrowth 1 Spike Breeder 1 Mulch 1 Spike Worker 1 Skyshroud Ranger 2 Rootbreaker Wurm 1 Endangered Armodon 1 Seeker of Skybreak 2 Respite 1 Skyshroud Elf 2 Volrath's Curse 1 Lowland Basilisk 1 Shimmering Wings 1 Skyshroud Troll 1 Giant Crab 1 Heartwood Dryad 1 Mana Leak 1 Mogg Fantastic 1 Mask of the Mimic 1 Mogg Conscripts 1 Power Sink 1 Lowland Giant 1 Twitch 1 Flowstone Giant 1 Spirit en-Kor 1 Flame Wave 1 Rabid Rats 1 Tranquility - 21 1 Broken Fall 2 Rolling Thunder 1 Aftershock 9 Mountain 9 Forest - 42 Round 13, Quarterfinal (best of 5) - Tommy Hammer, R/u/w whith many weenies. Game 1: Tommy had beaten a Team Slum member two times before, both in PTQ NY Oslo. First in the quarterfinal (against Thomas F. Gundersen) and then in the semifinal (against Bjørn Skogseth). Both times the Team Slum member was mana screwed. Both of them were now watching our match, just waiting to see me screw him! And it actually happened, he got pretty screwed, I think he only got three lands or something. He did not play many creatures either (as I had expected he would do). I summoned many creatures, and after a while I finished him with Flame Wave. Game 2: This time he also got mana screwed, not as bad as in game 1 I think, but he had few creatures this time also. I don't remember much from this game, but it was similar to game 1, I got too many creatures, and he slowly died. Game 3: This time he was not screwed I think :) Also in this game I survived in the early game, and thought I had pretty good control when I drew the 7th land so I could summon my two Rootbreaker Wurms I had in my hand. But his deck had some nice defense too, with Puppet Springs and Calming Licid. One turn he made a mistake and tapped out while the Licid was an enchantment. I played Tranquility and removed Chill, Pacifism and the Licid. Game. I MADE IT!!! I am going to Worlds!!! Despite that I was stupid and left the Flowstone Blades in the sideboard I won over Tommy - the Team Slum Beater!! The quarterfinals ended Kim Eikefet - Gutorm Høgåsen 3-0 Nicolai Herzog - Jan Pieter Groenhof 3-2 Gisle Salem - Frede Tunsjø 3-0 Snorre Helvik - Tommy Hammer 3-0 Round 14, Semifinal (best of 5) - Gisle Salem, W/B with 3 Banishing, 2 CoP Red and a very defensive deck. Game 1: I got a good start, but his early Orim's Prayer was enough to slow me down until he got too many blockers. But when I later played Flame Wave, killing all of his creatures, the game ended shortly. Game 2: He got a better start this time, with lots of weenies. He had many creature enchantments like Hero's Resolve and Conviction in his deck. Evincar's Justice was the card he used to get rid of my creatures, while he slowly ended me with a Skyshroud Falcon with Conviction. Game 3: Even though I got many good creatures in play this game, he did not take much damage. This game he had his Orim's Prayer and creatures like Clot Sliver with Hero's Resolve, Warrior en-Kor, Angelic Protector and Advance Scout. I managed to kill his Warrior with a Flowstone Blade, and at last I got too many creatures for him to block. Game 4: This game was pretty even. I was at 11 and he at 12 when he started to cast Evincar's Justice with buyback. There were no creatures in play, and we both drew nearly nothing but land. I had a Rolling Thunder and Flame Wave in my hand, but unfortunately he had a CoP: Red. I was on 1 and he on 2 when he played a Skyshroud Falcon. Guess what I drew that turn.... the Tranquility :) The Semifinals ended: Nicolai Herzog - Kim Eikefet 2-0 (best of 3) Snorre Helvik - Gisle Salem 3-1 Round 15, Final (best of 3) - Nicolai Herzog, B/G with creatures like Skyshroud Vampire, Crovax, Spikes and other fatties. Game 1: I mulliganed, and I am very happy I did, because my second hand was PERFECT. First round Mogg Conscripts, second turn Heartwood Dryad, third turn Spike Worker, fourth turn Lowland Giant and fifth turn Barbed Sliver. Game. Game 2: He got a fourth round Crovax and a fifth round Spined Wurm. He usually kept the Wurm back to block, but hit with Crovax (first growing, then getting smaller and smaller). I had seven Forests and only one Mountain, sitting with Thunder, Aftershock and Lowland Giant in my hand. I finally drew a Mountain when I was on 7, playing the Giant. Next turn he attacked with his 2/2 flying Crovax, casted Evincar's Justice and played a Dauthi Horror. My next turn I Thundered his two creatures and attacked, leaving him on three or something. He did not draw a creature, telling me I was The Champion!!! See you in Worlds! Snorre Helvik! Props: - Rune Horvik for being a nearly excellent judge and organizer. - Teammate Bjørn Skogseth for making a really god deck. - Mike Cooper for creating the original 14 deck. - Teammate Thomas F. Gundersen for letting me stay at his parents' house. - My Spirit of the Night for being 6/5, flying, trample, first strike when attacking, protection for black AND unaffected by summoning sickness. :D - Team Slum for good support during the third day. Slops: - Thomas for serving me food with egg the second day - I am allergic. (Of course, he didn't know :) ) - Kim Eikefet for drafting all MY green cretures.