Subject: PTQrome-Akron 2nd place Date: Sun, 04 Oct 1998 21:42:13 -0400 From: "David A. Weitz" To: fkusumot@ix.netcom.com Frank, I haven't wrote a tourny report in a long time so I figured it was due. First onto the unimportant stuff. The only two people that play truly competitve magic in Youngstown, OH is myself and Mike Yohman. We had been playtesting for Rome some and were unlucky with any results we would get. Well a couple weeks ago Mike got a call from KY-French player Trey Van Cleave. He was coming up to visit for a few weeks as the three of us were good friends and he was going to crash at my place for 2 weeks. Cool, someone with connections and fresh blood to give us a hand at qualifying. he time comes that he finally shows up and we start playtesting immediately. Well.... maybe not immediately.. there was alot of drinking and partying and listening to Adam Sandler but more on that in a little bit..... We came to the startling conclusion that in Rath cycle constructed that these things are true: 1) Hammerhead Shark (or Shawk as the Akronites like to call it) is a B-ting 2) Cursed Scroll is some good creature elim 3) the 3 best creatures are: a: Tradewind Rider b: Spike Weaver c: Thrull Surgeon 4) Rock-Paper-Scissors in matchups With this in mind we build and destroy several dozen decks coming to the conclusion that we hated them all. All the while we listen to a sketch about a talking goat and stroking some Cock and Balls. We come to the conclusion that we will goto the Prerelease in Akron then build a deck that night after we get home for the following days Qualifier in Columbus. We also feel like it is time to be recognized as a team. After much deliberating a team name is decided: Team CocknBalz (from this point on Team C=B) Team C=B goes to the prerelease: to make a long story short: Trey wins our tier of 64 with Mike and Myself going 4-2 each. Yeah Team C=B! I alos got throttled in a rath cycle construct side tourny by some chumly who convinced me to playtest Rath cycle a lot more :-( Onto Columbus!!! I have no idea what to play so I play Trey's WW. Trey plays the WW also. Mike plays a Curiosity variant that is much better than Nathan's I think. Columbus has a strong showing of 31 people so we make easy work of the field. With little effort at all, all 3 of us make top 8. I lose to some kid playing Nathans curiosity deck card for card. Trey whips up on Sligh then loses to Death. Mike beats Death then loses to the same kid who beat me with the curiosity deck. BOO!!!! Oh well first PTQ for team C=B (first PTQ for Rome for myself and Mike) onto Akron. This tourny was scary cause I walked into the tourny without a deck. I ran and found Akron's version of Erik Lauer- John Marks (or Mawks as we say in that area). I am utterly convinced that there will be tons of Death in the field so I ask him what beats death. He says Tradewind-Awakening so I ask him to build me Zvi's deck with a nice $100 bone if I win. He throws the deck together for me and hope I don't embarass myself in this amazingly strong field of players. Besides team C=B there is Worth Wollpert, Mike Flores, and the Mawks errr Marks brothers to name a few. Trey and Mike both play the blue deck Mike played last weekend. Round 1 Random R. Guy playing WW Game 1 he does this side shuffle with no riffles. He then hands me his deck with cards facing in both directions. Instead of calling over head judge Dave Troost I riffle his deck turning it as a shuffle to make sure things are randomized. He then receives a Witz-beating like only I can give ;) after game one the poop hits the fan Random R. Guy-"Did your mom and dad buy you those cards?" Witz- " I manage 3 comic book stores, am 22, and live in a van down by the river jerky." Random guy shuffles then declare he is going first. He draws 8 cards lays down a land and says done. I yell for the Judge. I tell the judge that this guy has drawn too many cards. He then scoops and reshuffles. I am like "no that should be a game loss" He then calls me a fat-fu#$ and Dave says "well, guess you lost now." Random Guy explains he is a lawyer and has a high pressure job and doesn't need my shit. I tell him that he should then respect rules and know I am right. He then acts like he wants to throw down. I am a lover and not a fighter so I run away with my Mach win like a wuss. 1-0, 2-0 Match 2 Mike Magby tradewind Awakening Mike is a very good player from I believe Pittsburgh. I had to play him in Indy in a Grand Prix trial in which I won. This match wasn't even close. I was able to capsize lock him very quickly as he was tapping out alot during his turn and not playing the passivie blue on blue game you have to play. Scragnoth lost to me bouncing a blocking wall every turn and thus whispering for G1 2-0 4-0 Round 3 Chum H. Lee Oath of Druids I didn't think that Oath of Druids was a viable deck type in Rath cycle. He proved me right. After a qucik capsize throttling and countering every Oath this match was quickly over. 3-0 6-0 myself, Trey, John Mawks, and Mike Flores were all 3-0 and could draw into top 8 in other news Mike Yohman gets horrible pairings having to play Worth Wollpert round 1 (which he wins) and then Playing Mike Flores round 2 (which he loses to a curious Manta Rider) Round of 8 Me (team C=B) vs Scott Teaman John Marks vs some guy with a burn deck Jason Marks vs Trey van Cleave (of team C=B) Mike Flores (team Discovery Channel) vs. Worth Wollpert (team Deadguy) yes look 2 CocknBalz to one deadguy!!! hahahahahaha I beat Scott in a very close game which envolved me shuffling his deck vigurously and him getting land screwed alot. other notables was Jason Marks beating Trey in a controversial match about life totals Mike Flores putting Manta Rider service on Worth's living Death deck and John Marks beating the Red deck Semi's me vs John Marks. Game 1 I shuffle Mawks and he mulligans. I shuffle Mawks again and he mulligans I shuffle Mawks again and he keeps it. He should have mulliganed. I capsize lock quickly and he scoops. Game 2 I sideboard in my lowly portcullis and some tranquilities. He 3 turn chokes me. haha I drew 4 of my 7 nonbasics so I have mana. I drop portcullis and he scoops. John knew I only had one so sideboarded zero verdigris. He complains how he built the deck that beat him but took consellation in knowing that if I win he will at least have another $100. While waiting for the Jason Marks Mike Flores matchup to end John Hunka tells me that I will win only $12 if I qualify. I have to give $100 to John Marks, $50 to each teammate leaving me $50. tax on $250 is $38. Thus leaving me $12. Lee McClain found this way funnier than I did. :-( Jason beat Flores and I was none too happy. I have this thing about losing to people with the last name of Marks. I used to never beat John but consistently beat Jason and now the opposite has happened. Jason throttled me the previous week at the prerelease and was about to do it again. Mike Flores is like "You will no longer be Tourless Dave Weitz" I'm like "yes I will". Jasons counter-phoenix deck throttles me in two seconds flat and I am yet again tourless, but 60 pack of Korean Rath cycle richer. Props: Jason Marks for qualifying again. Great guy. Couldn't ask to lose to someone nicer. John Marks for building my deck for me and being funny all day long. Mike Flores for Ranting about Manta rider and giving T2K and Worth fuel for their humor Worth Wollpert for being one of the nicest guys in magic Team C=B for playing two weeks as a team making 5 final 8 appearances and winning over 75% of their matches. The Magic Dojo for letting me rant and for inviting Team C=B to the next team challenge, right Frank? ;) Slops: To PTQ invites being so expensive that coordinators can't afford to run 2 slotters anymore. If this was last year I would probably have an invite. Cya later, Dave Weitz Tourless Dave Witz Puff Daddy of Constructed member team C=B