Subject: Another T2 Report Date: Mon, 5 Oct 1998 17:12:11 -0400 (EDT) From: Sol To: fkusumot@ix.netcom.com Hell, as long as I'm winning, may as well write *another* tourney report! HEY YO! This is Sol Malka, and here's what happened this Saturday (10/3) at Neutral Ground-Atlanta in the weekly swiss type 2. 12 people showed. That's a record low. I'm not sure what else was going on, maybe people are just waiting for Urza's to rotate in. I played my 4MDB Survival (that's 4 Main Deck Boas, no deaths, no firestorms) listed in previous reports. It's won its last 3 type 2 events. Round 1: James Holland, R Burn/Sligh Gabe Alonso, the store manager, offered me a pack of Urza's if I won since James came into the store talking some smack. Game 1: I get a slow start, he opens with a Mogg. On turn 3 he balls me down to 12. I get a feeder and he incinerates it. I get a weaver turn 4 but that gets lit up too, also with an incinerate. On turn 5, after he laid a pup, I put out my boa, but he TD's incinerate #3. Whatever. I don't get anything else useful and lose. I had parised, too. Game 2: I get an early verdant and my life total never enters the risky range. Game 3: I hump a scroll, O/W see game 2. 1-0, 2-1 and a pack of Urza's. Round 2: Derek Brackett, R/W weenies/burn: 2cc white dudes, pups, shock, incinerate, burst, disks, disenchant, kor chant (!) Game 1: We trade hits until I go down to about 7 or so, I start applying with a weaver which also fogs twice (he has 2 shadows), I lay a chaser, next turn a nightmare; he responds by mogging the weaver, I respond by moving the counter to the eagle, he responds by bursting it so I have no critter to recur with. I tap 2 cities, taking 2 irrelevant damage to gaea's 3 creatures into my deck (better to have 2 draws instead of 1 to find a creature, especially with 3 more in the deck); this taps me out, and I draw land off the gaea's. He attacks me down to 1, I untap and draw another land and lose. My top card before gaea's: wall of blossoms. Whatever. Game 2: This time he gets a disk out and I get none of the combo, though I have tons of land. I have a weaver desperately holding off 2 shadows and the disk sits there turn after turn when I have *4* humpmonkeys in the deck. I draw the verdant, then a few straight land (no cards in hand other than that) and drop it once I have a land open to fog, but he doesn't disk. I use up the weaver fogging, and attack with the verdant next turn but he chumps it. He attacks next turn and bolts me. I lose. 1-1, 2-3. That really sucked. Round 3: Jerry Winklestein, B/u Weenie/Hesitation thingy Game 1: He lays swamp/sarco/done after I laid a bird. I get a turn 2 boa and Jerry forgets to lay any more lands/spells and concedes quickly. Game 2: This time Jerry parises to 6 and starts the same way. I do too, including the boa. Jerry does nothing turn 2 (I'm so Mahna screwed!!!) but this time actually lets me kill him instead of conceding. He never sees the second land. 2-1, 4-3. That was...weird. Round 4: Matt Ranks, U/g/w Flagpole-ish with booty gnomes, disks, and Treasure Hunters...self-built, and strong. Game 1: This goes on forever...he gets enough land, and a couple disks, but I hump them I think. He whispers a couple of times with buyback but eventually I get a coffin queen out and he has no counter. The card advantage it gives me is too good, and after some early damage I finally get out the spirit of the night for the kill. Game 2: He goes first but I get turn 2 army ants after he had laid a wall turn 2...he lays the 3rd land, and the 4th, but the 5th is a tapped land and he never gets to disk away the ants...I think I get a hermit druid to feed the ants and it's a lock. 3-1, 6-3 and into the final 4 (swiss was 4 rounds). Semis: Sean Ott, B Suicide. Game 1: I get a bird and a hermit...but no other critters, just 2 gaea's in hand. His draw is solid if unspectacular and he runs through me quickly. Game 2: I get out elephant grass once he gets a few critters and my life's around 10-12...I then lay a hermit druid to feed the grass and watch his erg raiders hump him. Game 3: See game 2...elephant grass/hermit druid is some good...I chaser his bad moon and attack with the eagle since I have no ergs to help me this time :-) similar to game 2, only I drew the second grass. 4-1, 8-4. Finals: James Holland, see above Game 1: He wins the roll...turn 1 pup, turn 2 attack (18) orc (me survival), turn 3 ball, attack (8) (me feeder), turn 4 land, ball, attack (block pup and remove one counter for 2 life) (I'm at 2) then he taps his last land and shocks me. Nice draw, dude. Game 2: I get a turn 4 verdant in play after drawing the nightmare on the 3rd turn, then recur feeders like mad and never drop below 20. His draw was ass with turn 2 and 3 flunkies followed by a couple of lancers once the 7/7 House was in play. Game 3: I get 2 forests and a survival out while he gets pup/flunky, he hits me to 13 and lays a Mogg. I get a turn 3 feeder and he attacks with the pup and flunky, I remove 1 counter, he shocks it, I remove another and find myself at 14 and him still with 3 critters. I get the 4th land (2 forests and 2 swamps) and survival for a wall and cast it, drawing nonland. He attacks, I block the flunkies, and he shocks the wall. Now I'm at 11. Next turn I put out another wall with survival but still can't find another land, repeat of his last turn finds me at 8 I think. I never draw the next land which would allow me to survival/feeder or survival/nekrataal or lay the weaver in hand backed up by a land to fog, and die in a few turns. It takes some really weird draws for me to lose to red, but it happened. 4-2, 9-6, second place and about $25. Oh well. However, I get in an Urza's draft later, cut off black early, and end up with B/r (red was 3! spelunkers, 2/2 can't block, and arc lightning; black was 2 terror-type things, 2 corrupts, pestilence, good flyers, swampwalkers, and ghouls) and win 2-1, 2-0, 2-1 in a tough draft to collect the goods (the sweep was over James Holland so I got my revenge :-) ). Black is great IMHO in Urza's (though White has the greatest pct of good commons). Red and Green aren't that amazing, and Blue is probably my 3rd favorite color in Urza's. Peace out, Sol Malka nWo Hollywood (Florida) gs11slm@panther.gsu.edu