Subject: Tourny Report: PTQ Mainz Date: Mon, 03 Nov 1997 12:26:07 -0800 From: Cary Darwin Newsgroups: rec.games.trading-cards.magic.misc Yes- it's another tourny report from Cary Darwin(The best-or at least best looking-Magic player in Texas). This is actually two tournaments but I am only going to write the one report. Bryan "Red" Sammon and I left on Friday to take the six hour drive to Lubbock. Six hour drives are relatively short after driving to High Point to qualify for Chicago and then driving to Chicago itself. I'm not too hot about going to Germany, but I want to go to L.A. and to do that I need more DCI points. We walk into Mad Hatter's House of Games on Saturday and meet up with some of the AustiKnights: Adrian "The Pimpsta" Sayers, Chris Herdenan, and Brian Ogilbee. I don't remember all of my sealed deck, except for the fact that I had no power cards, but I didn't have one weak card in the deck. It was all-around solid. Here is what I can remember: 1 Fireblast 1 Pyrotechnics 1 Disintigrate 1 Suq'Ata Lancer 1 Hill Giant 1 Army Ants 1 Abyssal Specter 1 Tar Pit Warrior 1 Erg Raider 1 Funeral Charm 2 King Cheetah 1 Giant Spider 1 Triangle of War 1 Grizzly Bear 1 Stampeding Wildebeest 1 Panther Warrior 1 Giant Caterpillar The rest of the deck was creatures, most of them fairly big. I had a Seasinger and some mediocre blue cards in board, which I brought in a couple of games. Super small turn-out means that there will be five rounds. I have never ever been to a qualifier with five rounds before, but it seems pretty easy. I don't have my tournament record sheet, so I apologize if I forget the names. First round: I play a girl! She puts out 1/1 landwalkers (Shanodin Dryad and Mountain Goat) and I put out fat creatures and the Army Ants. She attempts to put out an Army Ant, and I am charmed to see it (Funeral Charm, that is). Second game- similar to the first. I kill her Army Ants, and she doesn't kill mine. I win. Match 1/0 Games 2/0 - She comes over to me later and says "Oh, Yeah, since you beat me, I'm have to give you a little pussy" and puts a sticker of a cat on me. :P What a tease! Second Round: Some guy. This guy stacks his land and does one quick riffle shuffle. I could call Hatter over, but I decide to give the guy the silent treatment and pummel him instead. I shuffle his deck and we begin to play. Why does everyone else want to play first in sealed deck? I don't understand. If I lose the roll, I still get to draw first. I draw... 0 green mana when half my deck is green. Forunately, my opponent decides to go Mesa Falcon beat down until he taps out and I Pyrotechnics three creatures away. I get seven green cards in my hand, but get the guy down to 2 and then I finally draw a green mana and pummel him. Second game- I get green mana. No contest. Match 2/0 Games 4/0 Third Round: Joel something. He is a former Lubbock player who moved to Austin to go to school. He is letting the AustiKnights stay at his parents place. First game- no green mana until turn 17. Joel is too good of a player to not beat me when that happens. He is playing islands, so I board in my Seasinger and other blue stuff, and board out my black since he had standard Elephant Grass. Second game- I stall it out until I get out the Seasinger and then I pummel him. Third game- no Seasinger, but I still crush him. Match 3/0 Games 6/1 Fourth Round: Jason Bedwell At this point I can draw my way in and will accept a draw if offered, but I won't offer because I'd rather win to increase my horrible (400) limited ranking. He talks about a draw, and I say I will accept if he wants to, but he isn't sure so we play. First game- One mana for me. Next. Second game- board in blue for the Seasinger, but I don't need it and I hold the one island and one blue spell I draw so the guy doesn't see them until third game. Third game- turnabout is fair play. One mana for him. Match 4/0 Games 8/2 Fifth Round: Some guy. We play because at this point there is no way I am not in the final eight, and I would rather take the DCI points. First game- he makes one major mistake of thinking that flanking works on defense too, and I win. Second game- he makes one major mistake of fireballing my creatures when he had 10 mana and I was at 8. I win. Match 5/0 Games 10/2 Final Eight is Rochester draft. This is the most difficult format and the one I am the worst at, although I have improved greatly since Nationals. I draft a red/green creature deck that was kind of lame due to the fact that the person on my right was drafting all five colors throughout the draft. Chris Herdenan, Brian Ogilbee, and I are the ones I know in the final eight. Adrian was 9th or so. They pair up Brian and Chris (both AustiKnights)first round. :( Sixth Round: Some guy whose name I really should remember, but I don't. First game- He gets out a Brothers of Fire and a Craw Giant with that funky green tutor where you sac a green creature. I am worried, except I draw my Lichenthrope and set it down. Then I draw Rock Slide so I attack. We kill each others creatures and I get him down to 5 or so. Then I draw and ask "How many creatures in your graveyard? I cast a 10/11 Lhurgoyf!!!" SCOOP! Second Game- Like Chumba Wumba says in their song Tub Thumper "I give BEATDOWN, and you know that, I'm a never gonna get beatdown!" Match 6/0 Games 12/2 Seventh Round- Chris Herdenan Chris and Brian were pretty much the only ones to get Black, and since Chris was seated directly in front of Brian, he got the better cards. I see doom in the future. First game- I come out slow, but a timely Solfatara screws Chris really bad. Next turn he Coercions me and sees no creatures in my hand and none on the board and shrugs. I of course top deck two creatures and begin the beatdown. He puts down a Time Elemental but never gets a second blue mana, and eventually is forced to block with it because he knows I have a Giant Growth in hand from the Coercion. I win. Second game- I draw only red mana and he gets the Time Elemental. Game over. Third game- I draw ONE mountain and he gets a Time Elemental again! SCOOP! MAtch 6/1 Games 13/4 I console myself with my packs and the fact that my ranking probably jumped at least a hundred spots. Cary Darwin The best and best-looking Magic Player in Texas!