Subject: PTQ Rome Date: Tue, 3 Nov 1998 19:49:25 EST From: JCR6330@aol.com To: fkusumot@ix.netcom.com Team LosBastardos was at the PTQ in Seattle on October 17th, 1998. My report does include the top 8 and who won the Rome qualifier. I also have the deck types in the top 8. Dave Lawson and I (Justin Rider) were there representing the team. Dave was playing the same deck he played at the last Rome qualifier we we're both at. Dave finished 10th (4-2), and I finished 12th (4-2) with my blue jank. Dave deck is a version of sligh with plains standard and for disenchant and COP:red in the board. 57 people showed up at the qualifier making for one of the biggest turn outs yet. I decided to play our teams version of counter pheonix. The reason I chose this deck is for starters only 2 people have played a counter/pheonix deck in Seattle and neither did very well. So when I tweaked the deck I took out the best cards for the mirror match since I figured there would be no other pheonix decks there. My rating was only 1911 for the tourney. Here's the decklist: 1 mogg fanatic 4 kindle 4 shock 4 shard pheonix 3 capsize 4 intuition 4 mana leak 4 forbid 4 counterspell 4 reflecting pools 10 mountains 14 islands Sideboard 3 grindstones, 3 mogg fanatics, 3 thalakos drifters, 3 hammerhead sharks, 3 portcullis Now onto the tournament 6 rounds of swiss top 8 and so on! Round 1 - Tom Lacaille - B/U - Rating 1600 Tom starts out by telling me this is his first PTQ and he drove up with a couple friends from Salem Oregon. Tom's deck really didn't come together for him to well and he had no way to stop me from recurring pheonix's. Tom was a cool guy to play and I think his deck kind of well yep sh*t on him. Match 1-0, Games 2-0 Round 2 - Calvin Carty - B/U - Rating 1719 I have seen Calvin around the tournament center before so I don't expect a easy match. In the first game calvin starts out with 2 legacy allures on the table and nothing he can take in my deck. But Calvin is having mana problems so on my 7th turn I play a pheonix I had earlier intuitioned for leaving two blue mana open. I was thinking this way I could counterspell his lobotomy and if he countered my pheonix so what. He powersinks my pheonix for 2, I'm thinking oh f#ck so I pay the 2 mana and my pheonix stays on the board. On his turn he lobotomies me and I'm holding my 4th pheonix he removes 3 pheonix's from the game. Pete Radonjic is sitting to Calvins left and goes yep it's over. I then beat Calvin with my 1 pheonix. Game two Calvin plays trun two and three chills but I deck him with my grindstones. Calvin was playing the deck with legacy's, tradewinds, slaughter, various counters, etc. Match 2-0, Games 4-0 Round 3 - Jay Elarar - Sligh - Rating 1885 Jay had just beaten my team mate Dave in the previous round. So we talk a little crap back and forth and the games are pretty tight. I think one of the deciding factors in are match was that I won the coin flip and played first in game one. After I sideboard and went up to 4 fanatics, 4 kindle, 4 shock, 4 pheonix, 4 hammerhead sharks, the deck beats sligh pretty regularly. Jay gave me my first nickname in Magic which I think was very appropriate. He called me Justin "The Answer" Rider, since I had a answer for every card he played. Match 3-0, Games 6-1 Round 4 - Brian Weiner - Counter/Sliver W/G/U - Rating 1570 Brain was a cool guy and got pretty frustrated in are games since I always had the answer for any card he played on the table. Game one I capsized his winged sliver and hit him with pheonix's every turn. In game 2 Brain played a first turn COP:red with a pedal. I ended up just intuitioning for a thalakos drifter and won the game with it. This was Brians second tournament and his first PTQ ever. He made it to the semi-finals as well. Good Job man! Match 4-0, Games 8-1 Round 5 - Ty Holcomb - Living Death - Rating 1821 We draw! Round 6 - Alex Mitchell - Trade/Awake - Rating 1795 We draw! The top 8 were by seed: 1) Justin Rider (me) - Counter/Pheonix - Team Los Bastardos 8) Peter Radonjic - Living Death - 98 Canadian National Champ 5) Brain Weiner - Counter/Sliver 4) Jay Elarar - Sligh - 98 Junior Super Series World Champion 3) Alex Mitchell - Trade/Awake 6) Alan Epley - Trade/Awake - Team Seattle Thunder 7) Dave Lawson - Sligh w/ splash white - Team Los Bastardos 2) Ty Holcomb - Living Death - Team Seattle Thunder Quarterfinals - Peter Radjonic - Living death - Rating Pete and I know each other prety well and we both know this is going to be the toughest match in the final 8 for both of us. We are the only two people in the top 8 who would actually go to Rome and I don't think I'd go. Well we all know what this means about the rest af are opponents if you know what I mean? Game one's highlight was when I have zero cards and so does Pete. Pete has a recurring nightmare and a survival on the board with tradewind, verdant and so on in his graveyard. I have land in play and 4 pheonix's in the graveyard. So on my turn I buy a pheonix draw a land and tap out to play the pheonix, saying how I must have big balls to tap out. Pete draws a diamond, I do the same thing on my turn again tap out and play my second pheonix. Pete draws a land. My turn I buy my third pheonix draw my third land in a row, and tap out to play another pheonix. Everyone including Pete is like f*ck 3 pheonix's damn give me a creature. Pete draws probably the best creature possible an anarchist and I lose. But it was one hell of a good game. Game two I belive was decided when Pete played a turn two recurring nightmare, and lobotomied all my pheonix's. The final 4 were : Pete Vs. Brian = Pete Ty Vs. Alex = Ty Pete ended up giving Ty the prizes for the invite. Good luck to the other fellow canadians going to Rome. Good luck guys!!! Later, Justin [The Answer] Rider (Team Los Bastardos)