Subject: PTQ: Birmingham Report Date: Mon, 27 Oct 1997 15:58:28 -0500 From: gs11slm Newsgroups: rec.games.trading-cards.magic.strategy Here's what happened at the Birmingham PTQ, minus the stream-of-consciousness "me and my friends" crap that normally precedes tourney reports and no one but the people involved really cares about. On with the report: Me: Sol Malka Event: PTQ-Mainz, 5e/Vi sealed + 3x5e Booster draft (no visions :( ) Date: 10/25/97 The pack I opened was very strong, with lots of green fat, 2 crypt rats, nightmare, animate dead and other good black stuff...easily a heavy green and black, touch of blue deck with 7 forests, 7 swamps, U/B Pain, 3 islands, and a sextant (breezekeeper, manowar, and impulse in the blue). Magma Mine too. Not my actual deck. Oh well. My deck had some strong blue cards like Spout, Azure, Knight of Piss, Lab Minotaur, and decent support like Undo, Unsummon, and Unstable, but in the end I decided against blue because I _had_ to play G and R and my extra lands were black and white (and I can't play just 17 land). No special lands. I went with white for Scalebanes and Miraculous Recovery mainly, plus Icatian Scout, Lion, etc. Deck follows: Shanodin Dryads Llanowar Elf River Boa Aurochs Panther Warriors Durkwood Boars Mountain Goat (Billy the Kid) Wall of Stone (biggest ass I saw all day) Talruum Champion Freewind Falcon Icatian Scout Jamuraan Lion Scalebane's Elite Wall of Spears Clay Statue Fireball Fireblast Pyrotechnics Feral Instinct Disenchant Miraculous Recovery Serpent Generator 7 Forests (4+3) 6 Mountains (4+2) 5 Plains SB cards with potential: Emerald Charm, Spider Climb, Tranq, Crumble, Arensons Aura, Hearth Charm, Errantry, Relentless Assault, Mana Vault, Amulet of Kroog. My black had Knight of Stromgald and a couple of mediocre creatures, Infernal Harvest, Coercion, and some average spells, and was ruled out early. Visions gave me at least 8 cards that were complete and utter chaff: Breathstealers Crypt, Summer Bloom, Desolation, Wicked Reward, Swine Rider, Death Watch, Mortal Wound among them. All this without a bounce land or a chimera. I wasn't a big fan of my deck because it had too many 1/1's and the Auroch, many times I would lay a 1/1 turn 1 and then do nothing until I got the 5th land. the 1/1 landwalkers made my sideboarding easier though, usually leaving vs. the wrong colors and being replaced by the emerald charm. Errantry would have been nice with any of the 3 landwalkers but I was desperate for creatures (see Aurochs). I apologize if I got your name wrong or forgot it, this is all from memory (even the decks). Round 1: Chris Clark, U/G/W. Game 1: I get a turn 1 icatian scout and use feral instinct to kill his Merfolk of PT while he attacks with a freewind. I still can't produce the 4th land by turn 4 despite going second. He gets a bunch of weenie/midrange creatures such as Orangutan, Knight of Valor, and Puffy. I get a Durkwood but it and the Icatian scout die to GG on the Sex monkey. I pyrotechnics some stuff to slow the beatdown once I get the mana going, and my panther warrior dies in combat before I miraculous it on the end of his turn (he's at 9 and I will die next round to his flyers). I attack with the 7/4 panther and mountain goat but that only gets him to 1. I die next turn. It was all about the mana start. Game 2: He gets turn 2 freewind and I get turn 2 boa. I have enough mana this time but he has turn 3 puffy right on the mana curve while I have to wait until turn 5 to get out anything meaningful. We trade damage with him in the lead; I get out the dryad too. We're both fairly low on life, I have 2 turns to live due to his freewind and puffy; he also has a sex monkey (he had 2 in his deck!) vs. my boa, dryad, and boar. He's at 7 with no blockers so I know he has something; I think ray or fog. I attack with only the 2 landwalkers and he takes it. I am holding pyrokinesis. I do it to him for 4 but he Remedies it! I had not even considered that. He attacks with the flyers and gets me to 1 or 2. I draw nothing useful and attack with all 3; he chumps the boar with the monkey and I get him to 1 (yes, _again_). I die next turn. 0-1, 0-2. Round 2: Dickie Rochelle, B/R/(G?). Game 1: I get Billy on turn 1, he gets turn 2 drudge with a mtn and a swamp. I attack and he takes it. I attack next round and he says it's dead, moves to regen the drudge, and i inform him that he can't block my goat since he has mountains. I drop a wall of spears. He goes and attacks...huh? block with wall he regenerates. I get out more creatures than he does because his deck is 50 cards and he can't find the 3rd color. I get Jamuraan Lion to keep the drudge from blocking and force him to chump block my fatties. I win fairly easily. Game 2: He mulligans and then draws 1 land. I get turn 2 freewind which he harvests on turn 3 with his mountain and swamp. I don't think he ever sees the 3rd land after that and discards many times. I get up to 5 land on turn 5 and drop scalebane, boar, talruum champion. I beat him down with fat. 1-1, 2-2. Round 3: Gordon Howes, W/G/B. Game 1: I have the elf from the start but not one of my 7 forests. I barely cast anything while he applies with the elvis he got on turn 2. I get 3 mountains and 2 plains but no forest. No sixth land either so I have to sac 2 mtns to FB his Abyssal Specter before it can hit me. Next draw: Talruum Champion. I lose. Game 2: I take some early damage (let's hear it from my mana curve!), kill a 2/3, then pyrokinesis 2 1/1's and a 3/2 with fear. 4 for 1...that's game. Game 3: I get the dryad turn 1 and lay a mountain turn 2; he gets an early creature (boa) as well. He goes first and coercions me on turn 3. My hand: Boar, Scalebane, Miraculous, Pyrotechnics, Wall of Stone, Plains. I look away and prepare to lose my plains and get eliminated from the tournament, but when I look back my scalebane is in the graveyard and I am back in business. I start drawing more mana and get out the boar. He can't seem to find anything good and goes crazy drawing cards off a Jalum Tome (fat!). I MR the Scalebane to block the attacking Boa (it regens, but it can't block for the turn). Opp's at 11 or so after I attack. He draws Ashes and goes for the Scalebane and the Boar but I inform him that the scalebane's pro-black, so he nails the dryad instead, going to 6, with the boa back to block. I technics the boa for 1 and him for 3, then apply with the scalebane for the win. 2-1, 4-3. Round 4: Can't remember, G/R. Game 1: Perfect mana curve--turn 1 elf, turn 2 boa, turn 3 spears, turn 4 scalebane. Then a Boar. I beat him down quickly. Game 2: This time he gets his celerity creatures--Lancer, Stalker, Ambush Party. I get fatties so I start the damage race--I have a Fireblast in hand. I tap out to lay some fat and he drops a Worb. I untap my 1 plains and draw another land (chant in hand). I attack and he will die next turn. I'm at 7. He drops the stalker and attacks with it and the lancer which has been applying since turn 3. I FB the lancer since I have wall of spears in hand for the stalker and I can tell by his actions that he has no incinerate (I've hit him twice with Panther Warriors). I dis the worb I think and attack for the win with my fatties. 3-1, 6-3. Round 5: Koby Kennison, U/W/R. Game 1: I'm pissed since he's undefeated (1 of 5 left). I get a nice draw with Icatian Scout, Clay Statue, and a fatty which apply really hard and faster than he can counterattack. I Fireball his turn 3 brassclaw orc so my weenies can get thru, but he drops another larger creature next turn. He gets some serious TDS (top deck skills) like a Fireball the turn before I will kill him, then I put out the Goat with him at 1. He manages to kill it too. He rebuilds his defense with Teferi's Honor Guard, Brassclaw Orc (recovered with now-dead Guiding Spirit), and Personal Incarnation (It killed my chump-attacking Boar when I went for maximum damage). I have 1 fat creaature and Koby is starting to apply with the Honor Guard, I wait and don't block with my wall of spears. I'm at about 10 when I draw another good creature. He attacks with the honor guard and I counterattack with my 2 large creatures, 1 of which gets thru since he forgot about the Brassclaw's drawback (I was waiting for him to do that). I win. Game 2: I see why he's 4-0...turn 2 ironclaw, turn 3 valor, turn 4 more anger...I take large amts of beat before I get anything good out and can't recover in time. Game 3: He gets a pretty good start and finally gets guiding spirit, shimmering efreet, and a 1/1 flyer after starting with a wall of air. My clay statue does nothing until I get out more beef. My scalebane gets fireballed, something else gets manowarred, and my MR on the scalebane gets countered with the counterspell he just drew...this was _extremely_ demoralizing. I press on and topdeck the Fireball to kill his guiding spirit and shimmering, then get the boa (2 a turn) and a fatty...start applying, he blocks the statue with the wall of air each time but I'm damaging him, I get another fatty and he chumps with the manowar...he's pecking away with the remaining 1/1 flyer...7, 6, 5, ... but I'm damaging him much faster. I get the Serpent generator and wall of stone, add a couple snake tokens to the attack, and win the damage race. 4-1, 8-4. Round 6: John Deangelo, U/W/R. Game 1: He gets turn 2 healer, turn 3 raging gorilla, turn 4 something else...I take beat then get a scalebane to stop the damage after sustaining quite a bit. Long stalemate ensues, my freewind is neutralized by his healer and he has no flyers, I'm at 3. I get anlther fatty and am able to press for awhile, then get the generator and attack once I get about 4 tokens. He isn't as efficient as possible with his blocks and takes a fair amount of damage. He gets a quicksand and I press to try to make him use it since I'm holding a Boa (he doesnt). I lay a mountain goat I just drew to flush the quicksand, and he plays one of his own...shit! 3 turns to live...I have no chioce but to drop the boa, attack for lots, bloodbath, he quicksands the goat then goes to block the boa...oops just take the 2, I get him to 3 life. He attacks again with the goat getting me to 1. On the end of his turn I MR the goat and faced with two 2/x unblockables at 3 life he concedes. Game 2: Faster game, I drop a turn 2 boa but he lays no islands...get 2 fatties on the table and apply before he gets an island or anything good in play. He had 1 island but held it back since he just had an impulse. Scalebanes and Panther Warriors beat him down. 5-1, 10-4. Round 7: Cant remember. Found out where I stood...he offers me a draw and I accept...were both in. Played him a few for fun while we waited and swept him despite his millstone, grasp, puffy, gossamer etc. Final 8 included a few names I'd heard before: Koby Kennison (beat me at GA States and I beat him earlier in swiss), Kelsey Mc Nair (beat him at a MI/VI sealed LA PTQ several months ago), Lee Steht (just heard the name at a few competitions; had a Wrath in swiss). I draft a very strong U/W: Phantom Monster 2x Zephyr Falcon Lab Minotaur Wind Spirit Dark Maze 2x Davenant Archer Bureaucrat Pegasus Mesa Falcon Kj.Skycaptain Hipparion (early butt) White knight 2x Grapeshot Catapult Clay Statue Ray of Command Binding Grasp Spirit Link Gas.Form Barls Cage 40 cards total with 9 plains and 9 islands. I thought the deck had a few weaknesses: no tim and more importantly no disenchant (also no banding). SB included CoP Blue, Gr Realm of Pres, Magus of the Unseen, Helm of chatzuk, Meekstone, etc. Had a shot at a Jayemdae, Flood, and Tim, but there was better stuff in each case (like the Grasp over the Book). Round of 8: Koby Kennison, G/U. Game 1: I have a slow creature start with enough land, and he does a few with a Battering Ram/Tawnos Weaponry. He counters my grapeshot and clay statue (standard Counterspell--he had 3) as I try to flush his counters before the phantom monster. He drops a Seasinger (strong!)--there's my Grasp target. I start dropping my creatures and steal his ram, overrunning him before the 2 counters he Recalls (had a shot at that too) can matter. Game 2: Longer game...he drops a Bees and allows my Grapeshot to come into play, then steal artifacts it. I get enough creatures out that it doesn't affect me. He does a little damage with the bees and I reply with a Mesa falcon and wind spirit, which does a good deal of damage when he forgets the blocking restriction on it (he had a transmogrified sea sprite but had attacked with the bee/3 forests). I mutual the spirit for his bees next turn with an assist from grapeshot #2. He gets a sea serpent which dies to a gang block (only my grapeshot dies). His sprite is held off by my mesa. I put Spirit link on the sprite with Koby at 2, and attack; he takes it, goes to 1. Blocks next turn with the sprite, I gain 2 life. He gets something to stop me from attacking with the mesa and it's all about TDS now, I get the ray and ray his sprite for the win. Round of 4: Blair ?, U/B/r. Game 1: His bog rats do 1 before my turn 2 hipparion, then I start dropping flyers and prepare to apply. Somehow he recovers with a broken visage on the wind spirit, disintegrate the skycaptain, kills some other stuff...before I know it my entire legion has been neutralized (he got a tim too) with him at 2 life or so, plus he's starting to answer with tim and MY animated wind spirit. I have a davenant. I have to lay Gas Form on the spirit. Finally I start to build up my creatures, and drop Barls Cage to stop Tim (he stops poking). I get a phantom Monster to go with the grapeshot I got, and attack with it next turn; he has to block with the wind spirit allowing me to davenant/grapeshot kill. Phantom kills him next turn. Game 2: Again rats do 1 before hipparion. He gets turn 4 Phantasmal forces and I grasp them on my turn. I attack once before he gets an azure drake, I gladly mutual to stop the 3 mana upkeep and start laying good 4cc creatures. Having killed his 2 best flyers with 1 card _and_ done 4 damage, I overrun him. I'm going to Germany! Finals: Lee Steht, U/W/R. Game 1: He gets turn 1 flood and proceeds to lay an army of 1/1 and 1/2 white creatures, notably healer and bander. I get thru for 1 at a time with a mesa falcon/bureaucrat tapping his healer while my fatties stall his ground attack, and he only has 3 islands so he can only flood once per turn. He gets some damage in too, and the best I can muster with my ray is the removal of his bander (icatian scout for him helped here). Eventually he gets some fat and the 4th island, meaning he can flood 2 on my end phase and 2 more for his attack, and the 1 a turn from the mesa can't get the job done in time. Lee wins a long game. Game 2: I get a turn 4 clay statue and grasp his homarid warrior next turn; beatdown commences. I mutual the homarid with his grapeshot in a gang block (he had clockwork steed), get both archers, and start applying with the statue, which forces many chump blocks. He has an icatian scout left and a clockwork steed. I keep attacking with the statue, he first strikes it, I regen, it loses a counter, when it gets down to no counters I force 1 or 2 chump blocks and win. Game 3: The first 2 games took about 54 minutes, prompting me to announce to the audience that what we need now is a fat mana screw to end it quickly. I get it with 2 islands, 2 expensive creatures, and some white (1W and 2W) creatures. I draw first. He gets turn 3 gpblin hero, I updraft to draw a card, but can only manage another island turn 3. He attacks for 2 and lays the Steed. I draw shit and discard barls cage. He attacks for 6 and lays the homarid. I draw...Zephyr falcon. Play it, chump the steed, take 5. I draw a plains and try a Lab Minotaur but he counters and that's game. For my efforts I get a box of Tempest and the invite, Lee gets $250 and the draft pot, plus the invite of course. I must state this for the record: Fifth edition draft, with no other sets like visions involved, is a LOT of fun, and I highly recommend it. Hope you enjoyed the report. See you in Germany! Sol Malka -- gs11slm@panther.gsu.edu Station LS109-B98 in room LS109, Georgia State University