Subject: tournament report - ptq ashford Date: Mon, 12 Oct 1998 17:10:24 GMT From: gordon.benson@butterworths.co.uk Newsgroups: uk.games.trading-cards.misc Here’s a quick report of how I managed to qualify for Rome. This is the deck I played: 4 tradewind riders 4 counterspell 4 forbid 3 capsize 4 whispers of the muse 2 hammerhead shark 3 legacies allure 4 awakening 4 wall of blossoms 2 spike feeder 2 spike weaver 2 skyshroud forest 4 reflecting pool 8 forests 10 islands sideboard: 3 portcullis 1 tranquility 1 treasure trove 1 scragnoth 3 dominating licids 1 capsize 4 propaganda 1 constant mists In different ways, many people were responsible for the way this deck turned out. Thanks go to: Guy Brew, for telling me to play the deck and the propaganda tech, Ollie for the dominating licid, treasure trove tech (also Chris Manners) Stuart Ballinger for Scragnoth tech and Tony Dobson for ‘main deck shark, you need more monsters’ tech. Round 1: Darren Stevens (Kent Counter Sliver) Before this round began Darren came up to me and said “Would you care to take bets on which round we end up playing each other in?” as we always tend to play each other when we’re at a tournament together. It was quite funny when I sat opposite him at the beginning of the round. Darrens first turns consisted of forest, forest muscle sliver. It wasn’t really too hard to guess what he was playing, especially after he started dropping winged slivers. I had a pretty good idea of what was in his deck as I’d played Colin (Kent player) who had been playing a similar deck at a previous tournament. I started off pretty unsure what I should be doing with the deck. I hadn’t had that much experience with it, as I’d only used it as a test deck before so I was sitting there bouncing his slivers, praying that he wouldn’t make a crystalline and ruin my day. I then worked out that I was supposed to bounce land, which I did and Darren soon conceeded. The only scarey thing which happened in the first game was that Darren cast his main deck Allay (!) (without buyback) which freaked me out a little Don’t think I sided in anything. The second game goes pretty much the same with the lock coming a lot quicker. 1-0 Round 2: Somebody playing living death (sorry, forgotten your name, think he was a Kent player) First game we start off slowly, though he manages to get out a survival of the fittest. I tap out to counter something (recurring nightmare?) and he lobotomies me, taking all my awakenings. I sigh and sit back for a long game. I eventually win after countering his attempts to living death/survival and my walls/spikes hold off his scragnoth (main deck!). I eventually beat him up with spiked up tradewinds after countering his last ditch attempt to cast spike weaver. This guy had played really slowly so we only had about ten minutes left for the second game. Basically I made a tradewind, a dominating licid and a portcullis (which was a mistake at the time) and he had a scragnoth. I was playing relatively slowely because I had a large number of decisions to make due to forbid/capsize and awakening. People around me said I was stalling, but I wasn’t and I hope my opponent didn’t think I was as he seemed a nice bloke. 2-0 Round 3: Sombody playing red spells (sorry I don’t know your name, but I think Challis knows you and you might live/study in Southampton). First game he drops some fireslingers, a stalking stones and a bottle gnomes so I think it’s a red deck which is designed to cope with sligh. This doesn’t really help with me though and I capsize/awakening lock him pretty quickly. I didn’t sideboard in the propagandas as I didn’t see any 1 casting cost monsters. Of course this game he drops his first turn monster and then some more monsters and proceeds to swarm me. Ouch. In go the propagandas. I play a land, he drops a mox (cool!) and plays a fireslinger. I make a wall and then a propaganda and my opponent forgets to play any more land. Oops. He eventually attempts to attack with a mogg fanatic and I capsize with buyback his mox. That’s pretty much game there. I bounce his stuff and attack with a spike feeder. 3-0 Round 4: Nick Thane, playing counter pheonix I have to mulligan and then draw a land with three forests. I decide I have to keep it, but I don’t draw blue mana until it’s far too late and I get beaten senseless with pheonixs. I side in: treasure trove, scragnoth, 1 dominating licid (as he boarded them in too, he said so) and one portcullis. This game was *really* long. I think it came down to me being able to cast the treasure trove. I cast whispers with buyback at the end of his turn which he had to counter, then with no blue mana left for him I dropped the trove. I drew a bazzillion cards. Make two tradewinds, (he had a dominating licid) and a portcullis which prevented him from playing pheonixs, capsized his licid and won with tradewind beatings. We ran out of time in the third game so this ended up as a draw. I’m not convinced that the rogue portcullis tech is the best sideboard against counter pheonix. I’m not really what would be? Any suggestions folks 3-0-1 Round 5: Stuart Ballinger playing tradewind awakening. I ask Stuart if he wants to draw, he declines so we play. First game is pretty unexciting. I end up holding nothing but an awakening and a counterspell. Stuart makes two awakenings and casts whispers with buyback. I counter. He has zero cards and next turn draws a whispers. He destroys me with card advantage. Oh and a capsize! We both side out all our awakenings. I bring in 3 dominating licids, 1 constant mists, a treasure trove and a capsize. I manage to make the first tradewind which is always a good thing I hear. He then drops scragnoth followed by another scragnoth. I hold one off for a bit by blocking and bouncing walls and then draw a constant mists. The mists backed up with counters goes all the way, along with spiked up tradewinds. Next game I do really unfair things to Stuart, like making, allure, allure, wall, licid, tradewind. I then bounce his blue mana (preventing him getting to five mana for Scragnoth) using tradewind and capsize. He conceeds. 4-0-1 I make top eight. I didn’t make a note of who else was in top eight (maybe Owen can help us out?) but I know that Nick Thane (counter pheonix) Ollie Schnider (curious mawcor) Dan Paskins (Team Top Deck technology) Dan McNeill (sligh), Dan (hatred black) made it. Quarter Finals: Dan Somebody (McNeill? American) playing sligh. First game my permanents consist mostly of land and I get a mega beating from fourty million red weenie creatures. I side in a capsize (manicial rage) and four propagandas). This game he comes out fast again with pup, rage. I have a wall and use it to block and make a propaganda. Only the pup can attack, but it’s big enough. Meanwhile I have a legacies which is growing. I manage to steal the pup and make a wall. The both block the pup. The wall bites it. I make a tradewind. Next turn the tradewind and the pup bite it. The only non land permanent in play is a flunky on my side of the table. Dan makes a wildcat, I make a legacies. I take beats down to about four or something. Dan makes a flunky and I rob the wildcat. I start attacking him for five. I have three cards in hand one of which is a forbid. I forbid with buyback something, I attack. Dan or I will die next turn. I have drawn one other card. Dan has two cards in hand. He makes a bombardment, I forbid. He kindles me. I cast the only card in my hand, counterspell. He can’t believe it. I laugh and tell him I sided out three counterspells! Third game Dan keeps a one land hand with 2 pups and 2 goblins. He comes out fast but I make second turn wall, third turn propaganda. I soon make a tradewind and a capsize and return all his permanents. I eventually win. Phew. Semi Finals: Dan somebody else, local Kent player with hatred black. First game he goes first with swamp, ritual carnophage, carnophage. Fortunately I can make 2 walls. Dan doesn’t draw much more land and I’m able to lock him with capsize/awakening but I take ages to draw a method of killing him and he forces me to play it out to see my deck. I side in 4 propaganda, 1 constant mists, 1 capsize. He goes first: land. I go land. He goes land, slayer. I go land legacies. (I have to, I have no counters anyway), he hates me for 18. Game three. I make second turn legacies but am already being beaten down by a maurader. I counter another and crovax comes to play. Dan starts to make a couple of mistakes. He attacks with a 2/2 crovax and forgets to make it fly so I block and kill it on my hammerhead shark. Then I get attacked by the shadow again. I’m tapped out for some reason or another. I say take the damage. The judge starts writing the damage. Dan asks me if we’re still in “damage dealing” I say yes, so he attempts to cast ritual, hatred. I explain that you can’t cast hatred during damage dealing and he burns for five. I have nothing useful in my hand but I steal his shadow monster. He has no monsters. I draw a forbid and feel much better. He still makes no monsters. I draw constant mists and feel a lot more secure. He again makes no threats. I draw a capsize and feel very cool. I beat him with his own shadow. After this game I am really shaky. Tony points out that I'm the luckiest magic player alive. I agree. Finals: Dan Paskins (Team Top Deck) Top Deck Tech This is the deck which Tony used to qualify at Shrewsbury the week before. It’s a very good deck. I go first and soon make legacy with backup legacy. Dan manages to kill all my monsters with corpse dance/gravepact but I eventually capsize/counterspell the pack. I play an awakening and Dan uses it to activate his stalking stones which was a mistake as I rob them with the allure and capsize the rest of his land into his hand. Next game I mulligan and keep a hand with 5 lands and an awakening. Dan removes counterspell and spike weaver with thrull surgeons and I don’t really draw anything useful. I get killed by a mean sideboard tech (sorry can’t reveal, speak to Tony/Dan). Third and final game: Dan mulligans. I throw my arms to the heavens and shout “Yes!”. I play a skyshroud forest. As I do so I have a sudden vision of it being wastelanded. I have yet to see any wastelands in Dans deck but of course it gets wasted. My only other two lands are reflecting pools which I make. Fortunately Dans only other land is a stalking stones. Which one of us can top deck first? Me! I draw a forest and make a wall. Dan draws a swamp and makes a surgeon. I draw and island and bring out a weaver. I then draw a tradewind and proceed to destroy him! PROPS: Guy Brew for driving me there and telling me to play the deck. Ollie/Tony/Chris/Stuart/Guy for deck inspiration. Stuart for not drawing with me and playing it out. Owen Cole for a *very* well run tournament. Mark Langley for being cool (again). Darren Stevens for the haircut. Ollie for driving me home. The judges: Chris, Tony, Owen and some guy I’m afraid I don’t know the name of. Excellent job guys! Gordon. Qualified Spike. Team Spike UK. -----------== Posted via Deja News, The Discussion Network ==---------- http://www.dejanews.com/ Search, Read, Discuss, or Start Your Own