Subject: UK Mainz PTQ 19/10/97 Report. Date: Thu, 23 Oct 1997 14:22:59 +0000 (GMT) From: Scott Wills To: Frank Kusumoto Here's my report on the first UK PTQ for Mainz. Damn early start for a Sunday (6:30 am is early to me anyway..) and around a three hour drive ahead with various stops along the way to pick up the five members of Team WALOP. Somehow we decide to all go in one car which (as you'll know if you're familiar with some of the 'wider' members of our team) was not the best of ideas! :-) **Side Note: For those that don't know team WALOP includes Rob Salmon (Worlds '96, Worlds '97, PT Atlanta) Mike Dando (PT Atlanta, some other PT I think), Nick Butterworth, Brian Herring and yours truly. As I'm sure you're all aware, it's limited format, 5th and Visions. All the PTQ's in the UK are going to be Sealed Deck (5th Starter + 2 Visions boosters) as there simply aren't enough qualified judges to do a 128 player Rochester tournament, and this one was no different. The tournament was organised and ran by the Swindon Crew and they did a great job as they always do. Deck registration and construction went smoothly, and each round started within 10 minutes of the end of the previous one. They've got a great system where they print out each round's seating on acetate then use an over-head projector to display it at 10m by 10m on a wall at the end of the hall. This is so much better than pages taped to walls with a hundred people crowding round trying to find their name. The deck I registered was nothing special so I didn't really notice what was in it. The deck I received however wasn't half bad: The Cards: Artifacts (6): Joven's Tools, Feldon's Cane, Gauntlets Of Chaos, Crystal Rod, Amulet Of Kroog, Barbed Sextant. Black (13): Murk Dwellers, Scathe Zombies, Brood Of Cockroaches, Plague Rats, Urborg Mindsucker, Bog Imp, Suq'Ata Assasin, Pestilence, Drain Life, Death Watch, Funeral Charm, Dark Privilege, Deathgrip. Blue (12): Sea Spirit, Knight Of The Mist, Shrieking Drake, Krovikan Sorcerer, Betrayal, Soul Barrier, Lifetap, Phantasmal Terrain, Inspiration, Brainstorm, Flood, Memory Lapse. Green (13): Bull Elephant, Ironroot Treefolk, River Boa, War Mammoth, Hungry Mist, Panther Warriors, Cockatrice, Wild Growth, Elven Cache, City Of Solitude, Emerald Charm, Spider Climb, Creeping Mold. Gold (2): Righteous War, Mundungu. Red (10): Spitting Drake, Suq'Ata Lancer, Golbin Hero, Dwarven Warriors, Pyrotechnics, Rock Slide, Incinerate, Tremor, Song Of Blood, Panic. White (7): Knight Of Valor, Freewind Falcon, Samite Healer, Pikemen, Wall Of Swords, Parapet, CoP: Black. Land (27): Coral Atoll, Dormat Volcano, Ruins Of Torkair, Karplusan Forest, Urza's Tower. Mountain x 5, Plains x 4, Swamp x 5, Forest x 4, Island x 4. Notes and thoughts on the cards: This is a nice set, very nice indeed. You can start with completely discarding Blue as it has no creature base to speak of, limited removal, and the only decent card requires massive support (Flood). Red is probably not going to be a main colour. Awesome spells (A fireball as well would have been just too rude I think!) but only four creatures and two of them are crap. Unless something amazing appears elsewhere we're definitely splashing red for 3-5 cards. Black is fine really. It has very few good creatures to speak of, they are all overcosted and have limited abilities with the exception of the Brood which is great. Pestilence is just broken though, and if we do commit to black we also have the Drain to help out against Swampwalkers. White has some good creatures but they are all Weenies (As is typical in this format). The Wall is fantastic, and we could go CoP:Black + Pestilence, but the Pestilence would also devestate any creatures we might have. Green is better IMO, it has a good number of solid creatures and good fatties. Cockatrice is just awesome. Good spells as well (for Green anwyay). With this in mind, here's the deck I played: Lads (16): Murk Dwellers, Scathe Zombies, Brood Of Cockroaches, Plague Rats, Urborg Mindsucker, Bog Imp, Suq'Ata Assasin, Bull Elephant, Ironroot Treefolk, River Boa, War Mammoth, Hungry Mist, Panther Warriors, Cockatrice, Spitting Drake, Suq'Ata Lancer. Stuff (7): Barbed Sextant, Incinerate, Pyrotechnics, Rock Slide, Drain Life, Pestilence, Gauntlets Of Chaos. Mana (17): 7 x Swamp, 6 x Forest, 3 x Mountain, Karplusan Forest. Notes and thoughts: The creatures aren't the best in the world. Ideally I'd like to have replaced the Rats, Dwellers and Zombies for some other things (Drudge Skeletons and Crypt Rats would've been wonderful for example) but the Green more than makes up for it. I freely admit to being a total scrub with regard to the Assasin. I took one glance at it and thought it was the Abyssal Hunter from Mirage for some unknown reason, and I didn't realise my mistake until the first game. Sideboarded it out after every first game. I could've gone with Elven Cache or Creeping Mold in main deck as both would've been incredibly useful in this environment, but I was already light on creatures and I didn't want to lose anymore (I would've taken the Assasin out for the Cache if I'd realised though). I'll admit right here that I made at least one mistake with the Gauntlets Of Chaos. I've just re-read the card and noticed the 'bury all enchantments' clause. I know of one situation where that didn't occur. Apologies to any opponents that this might have affected, but I always gave the card to my opponent to read so it's a mistake on both sides. Emerald Charm, Mold, Funeral Charm, Deathgrip, Spider Climb and City Of Solitude make up the useful sideboard cards. Once construction was complete I go out and see what the other Team members received. Rob Salmon has simply the most fantastic deck. Nekrataal, Man O War *and* Dragon Mask. Cloud Elemental, Breezekeeper, Sibilant Spirit and some other funky stuff as well. Nick's was solid with some creatures and removal, nothing outrageous though. Mike's was better than he thought it was, but he hated it and just couldn't be convinced that it was fine. Didn't see Brian's. Anyway, the rounds get underway. Highlights only as I didn't make that many notes. Round 1 - Paul Davies A quick win for me here. Gauntlet'ed his Panther Warriors for my Plague Rats and proceeded.. Had an annoying Blinky + Freewind Falcon in the second game, but it just ended up being Incinerate Blinky, Drain Falcon for 1, attack for 9. Game Over. Win 2-0. Total Games: 2-0 Matches: 1-0 Round 2 - Barry Sealey Another Duel over in two. He was a little mana-shy in the first, but popped out a Crypt Rat. He then proceeded to put a Krovikan Fetish on it, followed by Sun Clasp, follwed by Spider Climb! That's a 3/8 Crypt Rat and he had 3 Swamps! Fortunately I am able to get out my Gauntlets and swap it for something crap. I thought he'd simply activate the Sun Clasp and take it back to his hand but I don't think he realised he could do this so the Monster-Rat won me the game. This is the only big mistake I made with the Gauntlet, but Barry read the card thoroughly and didn't notice either so I guess we're both responsible. My apologies Barry. Second game and my opening hand was 2 Mountains and Karplusan Forest, but I pulled the Swamp for Turn 2 Cockroaches, Turn 3 Suq'Ata, Turn 4 Spitting Drake, Turn 5 Hungry Mist. I wish I had Undo. Win 2-0. Games: 4-0 Matches: 2-0 Round 3 - Chris Weatherburn He did nothing until he hit 6-7 land except Flare my Rats. I took him to 8 with the Spitting Drake but then he Crypt Ratted it away (I think he was waiting to catch more than one with it, but I never played anything else). He had multiple Swamps and Mountains but a handful of Green apparently. Second game I almost lost, I was facing a Viashivan, but fortunately had my Cockatrice out so he didn't attack. I made the Gauntlets, he Orangutang'ed. I winced. :-) I think the Rock Slide won me the match. Win 2-0. Games: 6-0 Matches: 3-0 I'm feeling strong for the top 8 at this point. My deck is working for me and giving me everything I need just when I need it. Round 4 - Ben Jacobson First two games are split as we alternately get a little mana-screwed. Third game is a biggie. He's a little mana-screwed again, and I get him to 12 early, and chuck out all my big guys. He Ashes To Ashes a Bull Elephant and Panther Warriors I think to clear the board, but I get a Hungry Mist, and he has only 1 Mountain and 2 Swamps, and an Ashnod's Transmogrant. He attacks me with his sole creature but doesn't lay any defence. I'm think he has to be holding Rock Slide so Creeping Mold his Mountain before I attack, but he uses the Ashnod's on the Mist and Hearth Charms it to kill it! I have only my Mindsucker, but I top-deck my Pestilence with 3 swamps in play. He's now beating on me with a Gorilla and Fallen Askari. I Block the Gorilla a turn later and do a 1 point Pestilencevto kill it. He responds by Rock Sliding all three creatures, thus clearing the board (and his hand I think)! Pestilence goes, but I have an Incinerate and Spitting drake in hand (No red Mana yet) so I Pestilence for 3 and drop him to 3 and me to 11. I just need a Mountain, my Karplusan, or my Sextant. Next draws: Me - Swamp. Him - Land. Me - Forest, Him - Wake Of Vultures (uh-oh - I have 4 turns). Me - Cockroaches. (Can't block Wake though) His next attack takes me to 8. I draw Zombies (c'mon..). He attacks me next turn and Howl From Beyond's using all his available mana to take me to exactly 0 life. My next draw - Karplusan Forest. SICK! Loss: 1-2 Games: 7-2 Matches: 3-1 That was one of the best games I've played in ages - Kudos to Ben for his stunning deck skills. :-) Round 5 - Chris ........ I take the first, Chris takes the second. Second game he puts up no defence despite having 5 land (3 colours) down. Apparently he had Orcish Artillery, Sandstalker and Jokulhaups (!!!) in hand, but only a single mountain. What can you say? Win: 2-1 Games: 9-3 Matches: 4-1 Round 6 - Bart Wobesckizxy (or something.. sorry Bart :-) ) Bart's lift home decides not to hang around (shame on you Ollie..) so Bart has to leave a couple of seconds before the round starts, and I get handed a free 2-0 win. Thanks Bart, I owe you one. :-) Round 7 - Steve Easton - Mostly R/G with some U (?) I suppose being able to draw would've been nice, but I was 8th going in to the round and a draw would've put me out for sure. Steve is 5th coming in, but isn't assured a place so we play it out. First game Steve beats on me hard until I'm dead. He gets 6-7 2/3 CC guys whilst I have a hand of fat 5CC stuff and can't draw my fifth land (it was always a risk with this deck). He Feral Instincts one of my blockers and Giant Growths another. That's game. Second game he sees all mountains and no forests. I got an early Deathgrip too so even if he had gotten forests his options would've been limited. I take this one. Third game and we both have the necessary mana. I get weenies (Boa, Zombies) to halt his early onslaught, but he appears to have sided in white and gets out a late Seraph to bring me to a stand-off. I attack with Bull Elephant he blocks and Growths Seraph, thus stealing the Elephant (He had only one card in hand and I was safe to risk it) but can't really attack as a Treefolk holds him off. I top-deck Pyrotechnics a turn or two later to kill the Seraph and thus bury my Elephant and my remaining Fat takes the game for me. Win 2-1. Games: Matches: 6-1 That takes me through to the top 8 in fifth place I believe. Top 8 go on to a Booster draft (should have been Rochester guys..) using two 5th Edition and one Visions booster. I'm not at all nervous at this stage (which is weird cos I was a little earlier on) as I believe I'm a strong drafter, but anything can happen. I went for Blue early as I got some good stuff, but it dried up a little in the second and third boosters. I switched to Green (despite an early Incinerate and Disintegrate) cos I was getting passed some mad creatures. I've always liked Blue/Green with Visions anyway (Blue's control combined with Green's superior creature base is a great combination). Here's my deck: Lads (15): Clay Statue, River Boa, Giant Caterpillar x 2, Wall Of Brambles, Scaled Wurm, Warthog, Chub Toad, Ghazban Ogre, Bull Elephant, Grizzly Bears, Wall Of Air, Shrieking Drake, Dark Maze, Labyrinth Minotaur. Stuff (9): Counterspell, Spell blast, Remove Soul, Flood, Undo, Portent, Feral Instainct, Incinerate, Disintegrate. Mana (17): Forest x 7, Island x 7, Mountain x 3 Total = 61 cards. I like this deck. nice board control, can play damn fast (Ghazban, Bears, Warthog, Elephant) or defensive, (Walls, Minotaur, Maze, Regenerators). Nice board control, and three Counters. Quarter-Finals - Gordon Benson. Gordon was playing Red-Green I think. It was a 2-1 win for me but had some scary moments. He tapped out first game and laid a Shivan Dragon which got some nice comments from the onlookers, but I tapped out and Disintegrated it for 5 so that was that. :-) I think my Counterspells definitely made the difference over three as I could stop occasional threats that I wouldn't have been able to deal with otherwise. I win 2-1. Semi-finals - Anita ........ Anita was playing a very defensive deck - first game she got out Castle + Parapet very early so even crappy Goblins were 1/4 Walls! :-) We had massively long creature standoffs. I managed to get her down within Disintegrate range, but she'd started hitting me with a Hulking Cylops which I could only chump block. I decided to wait a turn for a creature swarm as I figured she would be holding Remedy and I didn't want to waste the Disintegrate. She was actaully holding Spirit Link, and Linked the Cyclops next turn taking her back out of kill range! D'oh! At this point I knew I couldn't kill her, so I counted libraries. We both had 14 cards but she was going to draw next. I decided to try and deck her. I disintegrated her Bird Maiden she'd just laid and chose to chump block the Cyclops for a few turns as I had both my Flood and Regenerators still in my deck which could hold off the Cyclops where-as only my Wall Of Air could stop the Maiden. I top-decked my Flood the very next turn and proceeded to lock things down. I had to put my Feral Instinct to one side just so I didn't forget and cast the damn thing - the judge gave me a weird look then laughed out loud when I showed him what card it was! 14 turns later I win with no cards in my library as Anita can't draw. Phew! :-) The second game went by so fast I don't remember what happened other than the fact that I won! :-) Top two get the trip so I'm off to the pro-tour baby! ;-) It's around Midnight so we draw the final, and go home. We find a 24 Hour McDonalds (a MacDonalds open at 1:30 am on a Sunday Night/Monday morning?? How much are they paying these people?!) and stop off to get some much-needed food. I get home around 3:30 am, but it was well worth it. Kudos to the Swindon crew for running the tournament, to APC for their support, and to everyone I played that day, especially Ben Jacobson and Gordon Benson who gave me the most enjoyable matches. If anyone want's to e-mail me to talk Tempest Rochester I'd be more than happy, especially other UK players - including the other guy who qualified. I didn't really get time to congratulate you but well done. Get in touch if you can. Wel that's all from me, thanks for reading. Wills s.wills@alman.co.uk scott.wills@nene.ac.uk ****************************************************************** Scott Wills Nene College Of Higher Education APS Faculty IT Advisor Boughton Green Road E-mail: scott.wills@nene.ac.uk Northampton, NN2 7AL Tel: +44 01 604 735500 (ext 2557) Fax: +44 01 604 719465