Date: Tue, 2 Sep 1997 18:00:51 +1000 (EST) To: fkusumot@ix.netcom.com From: Grant Anthony Mitchell Subject: KINGS Inferno Tournament Report Saturday 30th August 1997 KINGS Inferno Type 2 Tournament Report I always look forward to the KINGS tournament because being a tournament organiser myself I often don't get to play in tournaments, and hence KINGS is one of the regular tournaments that no one asks me to help judge with (after all, Team KINGS has 6 people to look after things!). I was very impressed with 41 players making it to the tournament, and I looked forward to playing a varied field, especially after last weeks experiences at the Ice Age Masters tournament, where Senor Stompy came in 2nd, 3rd and 4th, and Dead Guy Sligh came 1st. Time to meta game (for once), and with thanks to Wayne Lawson, Sam Ward, Shui Lai and other guys on Efnet IRC #mtg, as well as the guys I test with (Andrew Corney, Neil Crighton, Dylan Chan, Adam Kemp, Stephen Edney and Skeeve Stevens) I built a Mono-black Buried Alive deck with elements of control against Dead Guys, Stompy and White Weenie. Round 1 I was matched up against Daniel Marshall, whom I play tested with an initial version of the deck at Lift Off in Eastwood on Thursday night. Daniel was feeling over confident because he smashed me Thursday night. I was feeling smug because the deck was quite different to that one, and my Bad Moons would show their worth against his Red-White flanking guys deck. The first duel he smacked me around a bit, and a few of my knights got incinerated, but after a Buried Alive and a few other creatures died, a had a Black Knight under a Bad Moon, and I dumped a Withering Wisps. After Wisping for 2 ALL his creatures bit the dust, and the knight and recyclers took him out, and a 3 point Wisps finishing him off with me on 11. The second duel Daniel was still feeling confident, and after a second turn Circle of Protection: Black he thought he had me beat. I was under no such delusion. I slowed down, and got out an Urborg Stalker and a Black Knight to hold off his white flankers. He took 4 damage from the Urborg's ability, forgetting to CoP each time, and then my Disk showed him who was boss. After the second Buried Alive, it was death for him. Match score 3 points Round 2 It was a pleasure to sit down and play Shui Lai, of whom I had talked with often during that week on IRC. We both basically knew what we were playing, so we got down to it. His Senor Stompy deck would be a good test run for me, as I had predicted to Shui that the deck would be both good and popular on the day. Duel 1 I got creatures out to hold the pain off, and then a I got an Urborg Stalker. Using the recyclers to stall him, and a Wisps to control the deck ("Wisps for 3 - oh look, the Stalker lives!") he took 6 damage over 6 turns from the Stalker, and another Wisps for 3 helped finish him off. The second duel I expected to see the anti black stuff appear, and sure enough an early Whirling Dervish appeared. Lucky for me a 3rd turn Quicksand stalled him too, opting not to bluff his way through. I soon got a Wisps down to control all his other creatures (the Dervish kept the Wisps alive), and the Buried Alives got me enough creatures to swarm him. Match score 6 points Round 3 I was matched against Kwong Siu, a player I have noted that enjoys playing the game, rather than having a pure killer instinct as some do. His skills were adequate, and I knew this would be a good match. He pulled out a Green Red White Good Stuff deck. The first match I finally met that card I hate the most against Buried Alive - Swords. Hence the deck was not focussed around winning solely using this method. He got out mana critters and so on, but a Wisps soon showed him where they could go. The recycling creatures that he burnt kept coming back, and I stormed him. The second duel was a slow one for me - mana screw. Kwong pulled out another card that makes it hard to win against - Armageddon - especially after being mana screwed. I hadn't expected it, and was caught with a hand full of no land. His Lhurgoyf soon finished me off. The third duel was an interesting one. I couldn't seem to get anything going, instead having to Wisp away Outpost tokens. He finally made me Wisp enough to get low, and burnt me to zero. Fortunately, despite having many swamps tapped out from attempting a Disk last turn, I pulled out a Dark Ritual and brought the game to a draw. Hey - better than a loss! Match score 7 points Round 4 It was time to meet the very good player Howard Mak. This man continues to show that he can build good decks and win with them, and it was very pleasing to be matched up against a player who acted very professionally but not like a asshole. Howard had chosen to play - da da - Mono-black Buried Alive. Well - when he placed a Snow-Covered Swamps down first turn I pretty much guessed what was going on. The first duel his early double Buried Alive took over, and all I could do was throw my meagre Black Knight in front of one each time to minimise the damage. His Withering Wisps ensure him a rapid success. Duel number two it was my turn to get out an early Wisps, and sit it behind a black knight, Wisping for 1 to burn his creatures and then bring mine back and attack with them. A small Drain Life also helped. The third duel started with very little time left, as continually pulling creatures out of graveyards, or at least each of us checking the opponents' graveyard to see what would happen (although, as Howard will remember, I could tell him the order of his creatures every time just as he started to look). We tried our best to play quickly while minimising errors, and I seemed to have control with Lake of the Dead and a Wisps, and creatures for both of us, but time was called and I couldn't do a big enough Drain to win. Another draw, but a deserved one, as Howard played his very best. Match score 8 points Round 5 Time to play another Senor Stompy, in the hands of Jacob R. Unfortunately for Jacob he confessed to having no Dervishes in the Deck or S/B, but still he looked happy to be on the score he was. The first duel is the most memorable from the Swiss rounds. Stompy did its thing and stormed all over me, while I got out a few blockers and he got me down to 2. However, by then I had Buried Alive twice, and I started to take control. I sat behind an Urborg Stalker and the recycling creatures to hold off his HUGE Lhurgoyf (ha ha - no trample means no win) and Elephants. I got him into a "Krovikan Horror Lock" - does 3 damage a turn and complete recycles, all for 5 mana. This pinged off the smaller creatures he kept putting down, and eventually after taking 7 damage from the Stalker, and watching two Lhurgoyfs be his remaining creatures ("How big are they now? Ah - who cares.") the mass of recyclers kept attacking and getting one through, which killed him. Duel number two he got quite mana screwed, and a double Buried Alive assured great victory. Match score 11 points Round 6 Finally I get matched up against another man I have known from IRC - Colin Ho. Colin has tested hard with Team Mojo, and it appears they chose a very strong suit - Colin was playing white weenies with board control. I wasn't too scared, but I didn't underestimate Colin's skill. Colin asked for an intentional draw, but on principle (not points analysis) I refused. Duel 1 the idea of Swords to Plowshares slows me down. I realise too late that the fear was unfounded and should have been casting those Ghouls anyway before I got the Krovikan Horror out (a classic way to save them from being Plowed). Consequently he took over, and a well timed Armageddon with Diamonds to back him up brought me to my demise. The second duel was a very good one - I played more aggressively and barraged my way through with Dystopias. We exchanged damage, but after a double Buried Alive my recyclers just took over and made a short mess of him with me on 3 life. Now the pressure was on - this duel may very well decide who goes to the finals and who does not. A timely Urborg Stalker helps get some damage through more than he gets me, and a Disk cleaned up the act allowing the recyclers to do their stuff. Match score 14 points I predicted that Colin was doing so well that he would come 8th. Unforunately for him he came 9th. An uplifting point for me was that I ended 2nd after Swiss, right behind Michael Hodgson with an unbeaten match record. This winning thing seems to be a lot easier without the KINGS guys. Quarter Finals Brendan Foong, a friend from Eastwood, was my opponent to start the finals. Brendan had called last night looking for ideas, and my suggestion of white weenie had appealed to him (Team Mojo also suggested the idea, so I don't take full credit). I knew I would have to be careful because Brendan can be a sloppy player sometimes, and if you let him play sloppy he can get away with some bad stuff (like double use of land etc, because he forgot to tap it for a previous spell that turn). The first duel saw Brendan do very well - lots of first strikers, an Infantry Veteran (nice touch) and a Crusade, allowed him to do lots of damage with his Protection Black creatures before I could Disk or Urborg Justice the dangerous stuff. I took him down low with the recyclers, but it wasn't enough. The second duel was all mine, despite Brendan getting an early swords and a Phyrexian Furnace out. He made a small error in disenchanting a dystopia rather than a tapped disk (though it was quite skillful of him to get the disenchant in the first place, using the Furnace to pull out the last Ghoul in my graveyard and then consequently drawing the Disechant). So I disked, and then got creatures out faster than him and then finished him with a Wisps. Duel no. 3 and Brendan semmed to have good control of the table. He swords my Urborg Stalker, knowing how painful it was, but that meant less swords for the recyclers. A timely Drain Life kept me in the race, but sheer superiority of creatures won the day. Semi-Finals Jonathan Chan was my opponent. I have watched Jonathan a lot as a judge since he is only new to the Sydney tournament scene. He is a very thorough and skillful player, so I knew this would be the hardest match of the day. The first duel Jonathan had very good control - swords the recyclers, burn the Prot Black, and Armageddon. Fortunately I had guessed that an Armageddon would come soon and so my hand of 6 cards at the time of the Armageddon was all land. However, he very quickly finished me off. Duel number two, and I lasted a lot longer with Dystopias to boot. Then Jonathan played his trump card - EMPYRIAL ARMOR. A 6/6 White Knight came stomping in every turn. I was as good as dead. One turn left to live and I said "What the hell - I'll attack you with my Knight an Nether Shadow just as a last ditch effort" and he consequently used Quicksand on the Knight. I smiled happily, and cast URBORG JUSTICE. His sole 6/6 White Knight bit the dust, and Jonathan had learnt the next lesson in becoming a good player - if it can't kill ya' now just let it through. I quickly regrouped some recyclers and took him out. Now the time concerns were over, we were very relaxed for our third duel. Unforunately for me Jonathan got a god draw for his deck, and I saw no Dystopias or Disks. Second turn Knight, fourth turn Empyrial Armor, and I was dead on turn six. Well done Jonathan. Final Placing: 3rd Jonathan went on to play Mark Champion, but Mark was playing one of the best decks to beat white weenie - counter post. Consequently Mark became the champion. So, thanks to team KINGS for a great tournament, and also a small mention to thank Team Mojo for their humourous antics (and yes, guys, that promise of a lift to your next Eastwood tournament is still on). Before I go, here's the deck I used: 4 ashen ghoul 4 black knight 4 knight of stromgald 2 krovikan horror 2 nether shadow 2 sewer rats 2 urborg stalker 2 dark ritual 2 drain life 3 bad moon 3 buried alive 2 contagion 2 urborg justice 2 withering wisps 2 neviyrral's disk 17 snow-covered swamp 2 lake of the dead 3 quicksand 1 thawing glacier S/B 1 Nevinyrral's disk 2 serrated arrows 2 winter orb 2 drain life 4 dystopia 2 forsaken wastes 2 infernal darkness `~._.-"`~._.-"`~._.-"`~._.-"`~._.-"`~._.-"`~._.-"`~._.-"`~._.-"`~._.-" name://Grant.Anthony.Mitchell The next Eastwood Magic: TG email://grant@magic.net.au Tournament is on http://www.myinternet.net/grant/ Saturday 20th September Irc://Scrixer and is Type 2 MiViWl Phone://+61.412.167.234 1st Prize = UL Timetwister