Subject: Rick's incredibly late PTQ report- includes top eight and other delights! (LONG) Date: Tue, 27 Oct 1998 11:49:33 -0600 (CST) From: kysersze@creighton.edu Newsgroups: rec.games.trading-cards.magic.strategy Greetings! Normally, when I write one of these things, I never have finished well, and I regale you with tales from the sidelines of my 3-2 finish. Well, NOT TONIGHT!! This top eight is a bird's eye view from the number one seed! (Had to get that part in early) Okay, let's start at the top. I've been to 3 PTQ's for Rome. I had no intention of going no matter how well I did; I was playing for pride and fun. So, in that vein, I was determined to not take it too seriously, and play my own decks. I refused to play an archetype, since that was boring as shit. With that in mind, I went to the first PTQ of the season at Lincoln, NE. I was playing a black/blue Scrivener Recurring Nightmare deck- Scrivener got back 18 cards from my deck, potentially. This deck was too far ahead of it's time, I've determined. It was focused on a sea of control oriented decks, which it could beat handily. Instead, I ran into, in this order, Black weenie, Sligh, and Black Hatred. I was 1-2 when I finally dropped. Sligh and Hatred were all over the place that day, and I should have anticipated that the faster decks would dominate the field, since the control ones weren't ready. With all that in mind, I went too far the other way for the next PTQ. Iowa City was our next stop, with four of us making the trip. Adrian Sullivan had just posted a Vineyard/Corpse Dance/Spike report on the net, and it reminded me of an old Monogreen spike deck I had thought of when I first saw Tempest. So, I looked at his report, added Black, and gave it a whirl. Not a great result. Once again, I had misjudged the enviornment, and couldn't outcounter decks enough to win. By now, I was very close to just throwing my hands in the air and going Dojo. Some people go postal; Magic players go Dojo. But I only had one PTQ left to go. There is a midterm break at my college, and I used it to go home to St. Louis to visit my family and some friends. I got in on Friday night at eight, and that left me with a few hours to playtest at the shop until the tourney the next day. I picked up a friend named Tony Rich at the shop, and we played for awhile. I was back to the Black/Blue Scrivener deck, as I thought it might win in a sea of control and White weenie, which I expected a ton of, based on the talk around. After about 2 hours of playtest, I realized that all the black pretty much sucked against the general field of CP and Weenie, but I used the Volrath's Stronghold in almost every game. So, I didn't want to take the black out, but the deck was stronger as a mono-blue. Therefore, the only thing I could do was compromise..... "What the Hell are the Swamps for?" ----------------------------------- 4 Bottle Gnomes 2 Mindless Automaton 1 Portcullis 1 Mawcor 2 Dream Cache 2 Mana Leak 4 Forbid 4 Counterspell 3 Capsize 4 Merfolk Looter 2 Thalakos Drifters 3 Tradewind Rider 1 Scrivener 4 Whispers of the Muse 12 Island 1 Wasteland 1 Volrath's Stronghold 4 Rootwater Depths 3 Reflecting Pool 3 Swamp Sideboard --------- 1 Stronghold Taskmaster 2 Coffin Queen 3 Hammerhead Shark 2 Torture Chamber 2 Portcullis 2 Lobotomy 3 Chill So, that's the deck. Mono Blue until boarding, with 7 straight sources of black in the main deck, not counting Pools. What are the deck's weaknesses? There is one. Scraggy. There is no way to deal with a Scraggy on the board, and that should have been changed. Thank god for some great pairings all day long! Tony crashes on my couch, and we make the trip to The Fantasy Shop for the tourney. I saw a few people I knew, said some hellos, and got down to registering. The tourney was being run by Barratt Moy, with a turn out of about 54. Quick note here: Barratt is probably the best judge and organizer in the entire midwest. His prize support is always astronomical, and he's a pretty cool guy, to boot. If you ever hear us in the Midwest talking about him, trust me, it's deserved. Now, for the first time in months, I didn't take notes. I'm doing all this from memory a week later, as I have been away from a computer with a telnet connection. So, please pardon my fuzziness. Round 1 - CounterPhoenix - went on to make top eight Game 1- It's a long battle with CP. It all comes down to who can force their spells through, but I do have a slight advantage- most of my creatures can survive a Phoenix, so I can allow them to hit the table somtimes. With that in mind, It's far easier to get a Tradewind Lock, and I mop up soon. Remember, I tell myself, counter the Intuitions! Game 2- as game 1; I come through with creatures for the kill. Games: 2-0, Matches: 1-0 Round 2 - Red/Green Ensnaring Lockdown Now this was an interesting deck. It used Burn, Seismic Assault, and Bridges to lock down creatures. Game 1- Against decks that can't counter me, I can normally cruise- I do so here, returning every permenant to his hand. Game 2- Same as game 1, except this time I kill with 2 Battle Gnomes under a Portcullis Games: 4-0, Matches: 2-0 Round 3 - Trade/Awake - went on to make top eight Game 1- I gain control early, and he can't recover from a Trade lock. Game 2- He brings in Legacy's Allure, and gets one on the second turn. I can't play tradewinds the whole game, and he refuses to take anything else as he locks me. Game 3- I mulligan to a hand with 2 land, 2 Hammerhead, a counter, and a Whisper. I then refuse to draw land for about 5 turns in a row, and he beats me down. Games: 5-2, Matches: 2-1 Round 4 - White Weenie Game 1- I get a tradewind lock at about 5 life, and drop my main deck Portcullis. Game 2- As game 1 Games: 7-2, Matches: 3-1 Round 5 - White Weenie Game 1- He comes out like a house afire, and I simply cannot keep up, or find a Drifter. Game 2- In come the torture Chambers, and I get one off the opening draw. Game. Game 3- same as game 2; he can't find a disenchant for the Chamber. Games: 9-3, Matches: 4-1 Round 6 - CounterPhoenix I wanted to draw, but my opponent's breaks were bad and he couldn't. Game 1- He simply plays better, outcountering when it counts, and never letting a tradewind get a semblance of a lock on the table. Game 2- I get enough early Bottle Gnomes, and use the Stronghold to recycle them through his counters. It's a long one, with him eventually being decked about 2 turns before he could kill me. Game 3- This game was ridiculous. I mulligan all the way to five, but get a good draw there. My opponent, literally draws counters, a single Searing Touch, and land. Lots of land. I kill with a tradwind and a Bottle Gnome. Games: 11-4, Matches: 5-1 Wow. For the first time in months, the final eight of a PTQ. 1. Richard Poehling (Me) - Mono Blue w/ Black 2. David Hagar - White Weenie 3. Mike Heffern - Trade/Awake 4. Homero Flores - White Weenie 5. Charlie Hanford - Counter Phoenix 6. Kyle Kloeckner - Mono Blue 7. Larry Slattery - Trade/Awake 8. Mike Jackson - Blue/Green (not Awakening) Round of 8: Mike Jackson - Blue/Green, no Awakening This was a nifty deck. It used Survival and c-spells to set up a Tradewind lock quickly. Guy was a good player, and deck was unique. Game 1- I'm wary when I see both islands and forests, so I set up to the point where the Awakening would have helped me just as much, and finish with a Tradewind Lock. Game 2- I've got a Portcullis lock, when I make a major mistake- I don't leave enough mana open to safely counter 2 spells. I have to counter a Vendegris, and that allows him to Capsize my Tradewind and play a Scragnoth. I have no way to deal and lose. Game 3- He never sees a Scraggy. I lobotomy him early and take his Forbids, but he only had 1! I can outcounter him now, and take the game with a tradelock. Round of 4: Homero Flores - White Weenie Homero had the tech; Master Decoy. That card can be a beating, since I can't block and Tradewind at the same time. Game 1- I see 2 Looters off the draw, and that's it. Literally. I get to my lock cards quickly, and am soon at the point where I can return 4 permanents a turn with Capsize and Tradewinds. Game 2- I don't see enough counters off my draw. I quickly establish a Tradewind lock, but I can't safely tap out to Capsize and allow him to Cataclysm. Eventually, I draw into my Torture Chambers, and start to swing the game my way. Unfortunately, I took too much early damage, and am forced to counter a creature, allowing him to Cataclsym and come through for the final 2 points. Game 3- For the first time all day, the deck failed me. I just didn't draw enough counters to keep up, and he gets off 2 Cataclysms within 3 turns. I also couldn't get a Drifter, which protects me from Cataclysm against White weenie. Overall, a fantastic day. I was proud, since I built this version of the deck, although I hadn't yet seen Donais' "George." It's not really a great deck- it rolls over for Scraggy, but it's solid against the field. I won the first game of the match six times out of eight today. Okay, let's do Props and Slops: Props: Tony Rich- a cool all-around guy, a vastly improved Magic player, and a fellow Les Mis fan. Baratt Moy- gotta love that Prize support! All of my opponents- Everybody was really cool today, no incidents at all. Scraggy- for staying away all day. Rath Cycle- for being a better format than people think. Slops: Hardees- When I say No Mayo, is it really that hard to understand that I want NO FUCKING MAYO!?!?!?!?!? Well, I guess it's off to the Urza's Saga sealeds for me. Good luck to everyone in qualifying for LA! Drop me a line if you want to talk about Magic strategy, decks, whatever! Yours in the Force, Rick Poehling FINALLY made the top eight again- May not be qualified, but feels damn good anyway.