Subject: Sealed Deck Touney Report Date: Wed, 8 Jul 1998 13:58:12 -0700 From: "Brian Merkley (General Employment)" To: "'fkusumot@ix.netcom.com'" Greeting all!!! This is my first tourney report and will prob be posting more often. I am writing this one from memory and will try to keep better records next time. This sealed took place at WoTC game center in Seattle Washington. Approx 14 people showed so basically a small tourney, but allot of regulars so good competition. Format was Tempest, Stronghold, exodus and I opened up a visibly broken deck and was dismayed to learn AFTER we opened we were gonna register decks and they would be switched randomly. Oh well...sigh Notable cards opened: Volraths Stronghold, Equilibrium, Capsize, Elvish Fury, Searing Touch, Tempting Licid, and a bunch of nice creatures! I wander off after registration talking with some friends how life isn't fair and we are told to go back to our seats..... Lo and Behold my deck was still there!!! I do a little dance in my chair and start to construct my deck. Black and blue where definitely main colors just because of the bouncy cards and recursion. Oh did I mention a Dark banish, cannibalize, and deathstroke? :> White just sucked so it was left to Red and Green. Red had lighting blast and a searing touch and lowland giant. Green had Fury, Tempting licid, that 5/4 Wurm, Rootbreaker (Oh did I mention wall of fish?) and a couple of little guys. So I opted for the green. From memory my deck was something like this: Capsize, Equilibrium, Wall of Fish, Manta Rider, Hammerhead Sharks, Banish, Cannibalize, Death Stroke, Trull Surgeon (Umm with stronghold...NO BUYBACK FOR YOU!!), Rootbreaker, Fury, Manakin (You don't mind if I time walk do ya?!), Avenging Druid, 5/4 Worm, Heartwood Dryad, Rootwalla, Dream shadow dude that locks creatures down, ummm some other decent stuff. Oh and the Stronghold AND a reflecting pool. First Round against Lenny (A local yokel) First game is vague I won without much trouble he said if I hadn't played a creature on turn before I killed him he coulda killed me. I don't think so with a banishing in my hand..but ok :P Second game he busts out with a Dauthi Marauder and cats Maniacal Rage on it..Thats a 5/3 shadow guy for you people counting. I stare at my banishing and cry. Ok next game...we exchange blows until I FINALLY get the 3 black mana to destroy his offence. I cannibalize one of his creatures to his 5/4 worm making it a 7/6 and then death stroke it. I then start capsizing and he never recovers. Second Round against Dave (Another local!) First game whent like this... Him plains..go. Me swamp..go. Him swamp..go. Me swamp...go. Him Swamp...Soltari Crusader..go. Me forest..go. Him attacks..me banish him play some 2/2 creature. Me play land..go. Him attack and say "What are you at?" I answer confused, "20..same as you." He casts hatred for 19. I recover from shock and deny reality for awhile before moving on to the second game. Oh did I mention that was a 5th turn kill in sealed?!? WTF...hmmmm better play more defensively now that I have seen his Ba-roken card. Game 2: He starts out fast and I play VERY CAUTIOUSLY watching life totals and blocking whenever possible and not casting creatures that would require the 1 and 2 blue I need to capsize without buyback. Eventually he casts a Serpent Warrior and his life is lower than mine so I can relax about the Hatred for now. I get out an equilibrium and Stronghold and start recurring creatures to bounce his defenders. He puts out a stalker that he can't regenerate. So I pop my tempting licid on my Horned turtle and elvish fury it to kill his 2 blockers. He plays Staunch and I bounce it trying to do more damage than he can gain but then decide to just lock Staunch down with my Dream. I expect him to concede with me having total board control Stronghold and Equilibrium out with capsize and fury in hand. But he doesn't and we precede into a long game as he dumps out his weenies and cast a Visionary which I forget to block and lose my Licid (Too bad I have to recur him and turn him into a man-o-war huh? :>) despite making a couple of scrubby mistakes I finally kill him. And with 5 minutes left to play the third game we barely start and time is called. I really hate draws :{ I'd rather have a clear winner especially in a small 4 round tourney..oh well. He should go undefeated with his deck. Btw we go back and forth about who had the better ba-roken cards :P Third Round against ?!? (Sorry didn't get a name) I get paired up against an undefeated and I have never seen the guy before. Oh and Dave plays against Len my first round oppen and beats him. I beat the guy in 2 games not much noticeable about his deck. I had all the answers for him. Can't remember much cept I was never below 15 in either game. :> Fourth Round against the only Undefeated Guy. (Didn't get his name either :P) He is in a hurry to get the match over with and shuffles my cards so I start to shuffle his and he gets impatient and grabs the cards from my hands and demands me to cut. So being an easy going guy I say fine and cut his deck. I draw 5 lands Capsize and a manakin and decide to play it. (Slaps self) I end up drawing 7 more land and get my Capsize coercioned away after he Necros for 6 and ALSO drop a Skyshroud Vampire. Hmmmmm okie Maybe 2-1-1 will get something :P On to the second game we trade creatures for awhile and I hope to draw the Stronghold so I can recur the creatures he hasn't cannibalized. Eventually he gets me down to 10 with Fanning the Flames buyback. I top deck a Rootbreaker Worm and cannibalized my useless Shark to it, making it a 8/8 I then cast Fury with buyback then with out buyback and he concedes as he was about to get trampled on big time. (He was at 6 life and had a lone Devil Bunny out) Next game he mana stumbles and I breakout with an early Rootwalla and equilibrium with capsize in hand. He sonic blasts it while I pick his Skyshroud Vampire out of his hand.(Good trade!) He cannibalizes my Worm from the game and leaves me with a 4/4 tempting licid with beat him down under capsize/equilibrium protection. Yea, 3-0-1 for a Tie for first with Dave. Oh and Dave played the guy I played in the third round as well :> I woulda like to have played a third game with him, I think I would have taken him as long as he didn't get an early hatred. Dave and I get $15 in credit for other tourneys. Kinda sucked since the entry fee is $15 for sealed. (Tho I didn't pay to get in :>) I whent home immediately after to go to sleep as I had to work in the am. Well thats about it..My personal email is BloodyChz@aol.com. Any questions and or comments welcome. Props to WoTC for giving me my deck back!!! Slops to Jessie Wilke for being a pain in the butt! :-} Thanks, Brian Merkley "...there is always inequity in life. Some men are killed in a war and some men are wounded, and some men never leave the country, and some men are stationed in the Antarctic and some men are stationed in San Francisco. It is very hard in the military or personal life to assure complete equality. Life is unfair." John Fitzgerald Kennedy