Subject: tournament report Date: Mon, 20 Jul 1998 07:48:02 -0600 From: "Bob Bailey" To: fkusumot@ix.netcom.com [TOURNAMENT REPORT] On July 15, 1998, Team Goats attended the weekly Type II tournament at Wargames West on Central in Albuquerque, New Mexico. My teammates, Michael Byhoff and Ryan Lyle played a Green Control deck (not SGD) and a Burning Bridge, respectively. We all went 2-1, and finished 5th, 6th, and 7th. Swiss format, two bucks entry fee, about 20 people showed, mostly regulars. The deck I took was our team's Controlling Bwatdown: 4 Undiscovered Paradise 3 Gemstone Mine 1 City of Brass 7 Island 5 Plains 1 Volrath's Stronghold 4 Counterspell 3 Mana Leak 1 Ertai, Wizard Adept 4 Legacy's Allure 4 Man-'o-War 3 Nomads en-Kor 3 Freewind Falcon 3 Staunch Defenders 3 Disenchant 4 Wall of Blossoms 4 Incinerate 1 Teferi's Realm 1 Firestorm 1 Mangara's Blessing 3 Pyroblast 3 Circle of Protection: Red 2 Titania's Song (a little last minute Tech for the sideboard was necessary:) 1 Disenchant 3 Propaganda 1 Mangara's Blessing 2 Slight of Mind I made a few sideboard changes from the original for two reasons: I realized how strong Burning Bridge was against this deck (Seismic Assault especially) and Mike needed to borrow my other Realm, so I let him. I stumbled upon the Titania's Song the day of the tournament and decided to add two to the sideboard. Aside from neutralizing Cursed Scrolls, it kills Mox Diamonds, turns Phyrexian Furnaces into 1/1's, allows a Nomad and a Defender to kill a Disk, etc. I removed the graveyard removal spells because of the absence of effective graveyard manipulation locally. If you still want to run two Realms (one main/one board), remove either a Slight, Propaganda, Disenchant, or the Mangara's Blessing as these are also anti-Black cards. (I would remove the Blessing.) Round One * El Nino (Dan) Game One * I get no early creatures (which is bad) and he drops a couple of Wall of Blossoms. As soon as I assume he is playing 5CU, I drop a Staunch Defender (in the hopes of top-decking some more weenies) and on his turn, Tradewind Rider. My response is "WTF?!?" I scramble to get a Counterspell for his Armageddon, casting multiple Walls, but my effort is in vain. He 'Geddons, drops an Allure, steals my Defender, Firestorms my Walls, and beats me down before I know what hit me. Game Two * In go the Pyroblasts. Here's what happens: Me: Land, go. Dan: Land, Bird, go. Me: Land, go. Dan: Land, Bird, Allure, go. Me: Land, go. Dan: Land, Rider, go. Me: Land, go. Dan: Land, Armageddon. (Me: Counter.) (Dan: Counter.) Me: Land, go. Dan: Land, Bounce yours, etc... until... Me: Firestorm for four. (Dan: Counter.) until... Me: Pyroblast tapped Tradewind. (Dan: Counter.) Afterwards, I get beat on by a Man-'o-War and an Uktabi Orangutan. That was officially the worst draw I have ever gotten with this deck (and the wrong deck to get it against). At some point during this round, John, who was sitting diagonally from me, smiles and says, "You gotta love last minute changes" when he gets a main-deck Elephant grass against SuiBlack. It was a precursor of things to come. (0-1, 0-2) Mike wins, Ry loses to my third round opponent. Round Two * SuiBlack (Bill) Game One * A couple early Legacy's Allures, a Wall of Blossoms, and an Incinerate wrap this one up. I win with a big Staunch Defender. (Note: Controlling Bwatdown slaughters SuiBlack and Sligh.) Game Two * In go the Slight of Minds, Propagandas, Mangara's Blessing (for his Stupors), and only one of the Titania's Songs (as I hadn't seen a Scroll yet). He plays turn 1-3 Gloom! By the time I get to 11 mana to cast one of my Disenchants, he had out a Winter Orb! Oh, well. No Slights and no Realm. So much for sideboarding. Game Three * He gets one land in 20 draws! I get a turn 2-3 Allure, turn 4 Propaganda, turn 5 Wall, turn 6 Defender. by the time the game ended, my Allures were at 10 and 9 counters. Even without the mana screw, he stood no chance as my hand was permission and Incinerates. (1-1, 2-3) Mike wins, Ry wins. Round Three * Sligh (Nick) Game One * Dame Fortuna smiles on me here as I get two Freewinds and two en-Kors in my opening hand. I remove/steal/neutralize all of his creatures to make way for mine. He gets a Cursed Scroll, but I Disenchant it. Once again, Sligh stands NO chance against this deck. Game Two * In go the CoP's, Songs, and Propagandas. I get a turn 1 en-Kor, a turn 2 Chicken, and a turn 3 Circle of Protection. He mumbles something about needing a Cursed Scroll. When he finally draws and plays one, I have my Song waiting. Tech sideboarding pulls though as this completely screws him. Another Chicken shows up to finish him off. The final blow came from 2 Incinerates. Sweet. (2-1, 4-3) Mike loses to my first round opponent, Ry wins. There is a faint hope for Top Four (as there are 3 3-0's), but Kirk steals the only 2-1 slot with WW. I tie with Mike for 5th/6th, and Ryan takes 7th. Top Four was an SGD, Dan's Tradewind, a 5CG variant, and Kirk's WW. The deck is really strong (5-1 overall tournament record) and it is still running perfectly. I have not made any main deck changes for a while so there's not much to talk about. Watch out for El Nino because it kicks CB's ass (bad draw notwithstanding). If it's popular in your area, Cursed Totem or four Pyroblasts might be some sideboard answers, and a few more main deck Firestorms always help. (Note: If you play with Totem, replace the Nomads with something better... Duskrider Falcon, Soltari Priest, Soltari Monk, White Knight, etc. Also drop Ertai for another Mana Leak or a Power Sink.) I will be in NoCal (Northern California) for the next three weeks visiting old friends, and I will be playing in a couple local tournaments in Mountain View at Neutral Ground around the 20th to the 25th (unfortunately, I won't be able to attend the PTQ in San Francisco on the 25th), so if anyone sees me, feel free to introduce yourself, ask questions, or make comments. I would love some more feedback on this deck or any of the team's others. Until next time (which should be about three weeks), Robert Bailey Team Goats (name change forthcoming) DCI 759311 Advocate for Titania's Song in every sideboard. P.S. Once again, I'm sorry if my earlier post about the CB deck screwed anyone up. Teferi's Realm does NOT trigger come into play effects like Staunch Defenders' or Wall of Blossoms'. I apologize for any problems or confusion caused by my error.