Subject: Tourney Report... Date: Wed, 2 Sep 1998 18:52:20 -0500 From: "Bob Dove" To: This is a report for a T2 tourney on Sunday, August 30...first prize was a box of Exodus. It was 5 rounds of swiss with cut to top 4. I decided to play an incredibly janky deck I've been playing for about a month...it looks like a total pile, but it works well, at least for me...So, without further ado, here is the decklist... "Scholarship" (not much of a name, I know) 4 Birds Of Paradise 4 Spike Feeder 3 Sex Monkey 2 Wall Of Blossoms 2 Sylvan Library 2 Gaea's Blessing 1 Wall Of Roots 1 Survival Of The Fittest 3 Man-O'-War 3 Tradewind Rider 3 Oath Of Scholars 3 Propaganda 2 Legacy's Allure 4 Cursed Scroll 3 Null Brooch 8 Forest 7 Island 3 Gemstone Mine 3 Quicksand SB 3 Emerald Charm 2 Scragnoth (completely worthless on this day...should have been Firestorms) 2 Gaea's Blessing 3 Chill (much better than Hydroblast in this deck) 1 Legacy's Allure 2 Bottle Gnomes 2 Phyrexian Furnace I originally had 2 Firestorms in the deck, but they eventually rotated out...I meant to put them back in before the tourney (or at least SB them), but I forgot. Anyway, on to the report proper. Round 1-Adam playing SGD *sigh* Of course, I get paired with my friend/playtest partner/fellow team member first round...we hadn't been paired against each other in some time, so I guess we were due. Anyway, this is just about his worst matchup, and I exploit that horribly...after I get 3 active Tradewinds and a Null Brooch on the table, he concedes. He sides in Emerald Charms and Scragnoths for Vineyards and random stuff, while I just add in the 2 Gnomes just in case he starts to get the bwatdown going. Anyway, I get a 3rd turn Tradewind, 4th turn Brooch, 5th turn Brooch, and lock him down. I felt kinda bad, since we play each other constantly, and we both knew how hard it would be for him to beat this deck...Oh well. Round 2-Ryan playing Recurring/Survival This in an interesting match. He wins the first game when I fail to draw a Tradewind or Scroll, even with an active Oath on the table. Second game goes on for a long time, as we both establish control and just sit there. It becomes eveident that the time limit will expire before we finish the game, and when he finds out that he'll win because he won the first game, he does possibly the classiest thing I've ever heard anyone do in a tourney...he offers a draw...he says he doesn't like the idea of winning like that...so we draw. Class act right there. Round 3-??? playing land destruction/burn/discard jank First game, I get an ass draw, but think I can come out of it, so I keep it instead of mulliganing. Well, he kills my 2 lands and my Bird, and burns me to death...I end the game with no permanents on the table...yay. So, I side in the Chills, Gnomes, and a Blessing (to recur my lands and life-gainers if I need to)...I draw a Chill in my opening hand, cast it second turn, and draw another 2 turns later...I Tradewind lock him a turn later...but he doesn't concede, even after I explain to him that he'll never have another effective turn. So, I am forced to go into beatdown mode, which is a little difficult, since the fattest creature in my deck is a very burly 2/2...I beat him down and we go on to game 3. I get out a couple Chills and start to beat him down. I get out 2 active Tradewinds, and soon all of his lands disappear...of course, he doesn't concede, so I am forced to beat him down again. I get him to 6 and time is called, one turn before his death. He took a lot of time on his turns...if he hadn't been a new player, I'd think he was stalling, but he didn't seem to be aware of the time limit. Round 4-??? playing some mono blue thing These games are fairly short...first game, first turn Scroll and some beatdown do the trick. Second game, I get out an early Scroll and an active Tradewind and end up Scrolling him to death. No real problems...I even forgot to sideboard...:o) Round 5-David playing R/G with some burn and whacked out fatness First game takes a while, as he kills both Tradewinds I cast and I have to madly use my Feeders and Blessings before I get him into the full lock (active Tradewind, Brooch, Oath, Sylvan, Scroll)...after a few turns of that, he concedes. Second game is a little more to my liking...'Gandas and Feeders slow him down until I establish control and lock him. So, I am 3-0-2 and the #2 seed in the top 4...the judge rolls a die to determine pairings (????) and I inwardly groan as I hear my opponent... Round 6-Semifinals-Adam playing SGD Twice in one tourney...guess the pairing gods really wanted us to play this time...:o) First game is all me, as I get out a couple Tradewinds early and back them up with a Null Brooch...he concedes shortly afterwards. Second game is an epic...it lasts for about 50 minutes...he has 2 Scragnoths on the table, one of which is 4/5, and the other is 7/8 (due to Feeder counters)...I have a couple walls, 'Gandas, and a couple Scrolls...eventually, I get an Oath, and start to draw more cards...I start recurring Feeders like mad to stay alive, and eventually get my 4th Scroll...I cast it, and quadruple Scroll his 7/8 Scragnoth...:o) I Scroll his other Scragnoth next turn, then Scroll him to death...a little anti-climactic, but I'll take it...:o) Round 7-Finals-Ryan playing Recurring/Survival We roll a die to see if we play or split, and we end up playing. First game, i get a GREAT draw, and basically lock him 6th turn...we play a few more turns, then he concedes. I side in 2 Furnaces, 3 Charms, and a Blessing (if nothing else, cast it on him to put creatures back into his deck)...my opening hand looks like this: 2 Island, 2 Scrolls, 2 FURNACES, and 1 Allure...I keep it, even though it's a little risky...I figure I'll draw into good stuff eventually, and 2 early Furnaces will wreck him...So, I get out both Scrolls, both Furnaces, and the Allure...he Eagles the Allure, and Monkeys a Scroll (no clue why he didn't Monkey a Furnace), and gets out a Settler...next turn, he blows up my 2 Islands...I topdeck a Forest and play a Bird, and start going...cast a Sylvan, Spike Feeder, Spike Feeder, all the while using the Furnaces...Due to my Feeders, his Living Deaths are merely a formailty, and he's treating them as Wraths for the most part, since he never gets more than one creature from it...so, I eventually get my Tradewind back out, followed by a Null Brooch...he Living Deaths again, and I counter it...so he casts his Survival, tapping out...I bounce it at the end of his turn and cast another Brooch...I counter his Survival, start bouncing land, and he concedes. I'm surprised I swept him, although he didn't draw a Recurring Nightmare in the entire second game, although it wouldn't have helped him too much, since I had 2 Furnaces going... So, I win a box of Exodus...yippee...there you have it. Once again, I KNOW the deck looks horrid, but it seems to work for me...don't really understand why...Anyway, any feedback is welcome, even flames...I'm used to those...:o) Anyway, good luck with whatever you do... BTW, please visit The Church Of Noise (my web page)...www.geocities.com/Area51/Shire/7429 I promise I'll start updating more often...just been really busy lately. Thanks. Bob Dove, esq. "Enough is enough, and it's time for a change!"