Subject: Philly PTQ-Mainz 11/1 touney report--long, scrub
Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1997 14:35:41 GMT
From: rochelle@uscom.com (Rochelle Webster)
To: fkusumot@ix.netcom.com

Frank, I’ve been checking the dojo twice a day for over a week now for a PTQ-Mainz
Philly report & haven’t seen one.  So here’s a scrub/non-finalist report for you:

I went to the Philly PTQ-Mainz as my first big tourney for the experience, hoping it
would be fun,  and hoping to feel that I could play on par with the local players in a
competitive environment.  It was a great experience, lots of fun, and I finished 4-1, which
I was very happy about.

This tourney stands out as being a model of good sportsmanship.  I was expecting the
opposite.  When large prizes are at stake, as with a PTQ, I expect that some people are
willing to let some principles go for the all-important win.  I see cheating & poor
sportsmanship all the time at local tourneys when the stakes are usually getting nothing
vs. $3.75 vs. $12.  This tourney gave me hope that it doesn’t need to be that way.  I
suspect that the no-BS judging style of Tony Parodi had a lot to do with it, but my respect
also goes to all the opponents I played that day.

I got lost on the way to the tourney, driving through pouring rain, but got there on time
anyway.  There were a couple familiar faces.  The organizers said there were 50 people
playing total; I noticed 3 or 4 of us were women.  I played a couple games of type 2 with
Linnea, who I met when I played at Paul Ferker’s shop about a year ago.  We sat down to
register decks & I noticed Elliot Fertik sitting nearby who’s name I recognized from the
net, but didn’t recall how.  I introduced myself.  Since then I’ve noticed that he writes
quite a bit for the dojo.  Hi, Elliot!

The cardsI registered had a ball lightning & a viashino sandstalker, but was otherwise
weak in red.  I didn’t know if I would have played them or not if I had those cards.
Nothing that thrilled me.  I was glad not to get that deck back.  Later I talked to the guy
that got my deck, & he played with the sandstalker, but not the ball lightning.  The deck I
got I was pleased with.  I had decided while practicing with myself (geeky, yeah) that
river boa was where it’s at, so my fondest hope was to get 2.  Yes, I got 2.  I’m not
experienced at 5th/Visions sealed, so I’d also been reading the dojo.  I included parapet in
my deck just from remembering that somebody wrote that it’s good, even though I
couldn’t really see it when I got the card.  It was awesome, that thing single-handedly
won me games (thanks, Frank!).  People would just be tired at the end of the day & forget
that all my creatures were +1 toughness.  I was also happy to see wall of swords &
gossamer chains in white.  I got used to seeing a hopeless look pass over opponent’s faces
when I cast the flying wall.

Here’s the deck:

king cheetah
2 river boa
durkwood boars
radjan spirit
giant spider
mortal wound
tarpan
2 freewind falcon
icatian scout
gossamer chains
icatian town
mesa pegasus
wall of swords
parapet
teferi’s honor guard
retribution of the meek
serra bestiary
shivan dragon
rock slide
talruum champion
dwarven ruins

sideboard:
death speakers
wall of brambles
scavenger folk
spider climb
feldon’s cane
suleiman’s legacy
shatter

not used:
orcish farmer
keeper of kookus
orcish captain
the brute
mob mentality
urza’s power plant
howl from beyond
kjeldoran dead
drudge skeletons
2 wicked reward
evil presence
pit scorpion
infernal harvest
weakness
2 funeral charm
ashes to ashes
matopi golem
ashnod’s transmogrant
mana vault
dragon mask
amulet of kroog
hipparion
relic ward
holy strength
brainstorm
twiddle
vanishing
soul barrier
betrayal
vision charm
shrieking drake
labyrinth minotaur
waterspout djinn
ray of command
krovikan sorcerer
knight of the mists

Yeah, yeah, hold the flames.  I should have played with dragon mask, I blew it.  I’m
making up for it now by including it in a t2 deck  :)  My standard sideboard, as I realized
some of my mistakes, became the scavenger folk for the tarpan, wall of brambles for the
king cheetah, and the spider climb for the serra bestiary.  That darn bestiary looked great
when I got it, but caused me nothing but trouble as I would either be low on white mana
or just forget to pay for it.  It nearly killed me not to play black for the ashes to ashes &
other critter removal, but now I think white/green/blue was the way to go.  My fear of
river boas steered me away from blue & made the funeral charms look mighty good.  I
was disappointed in the rock slide too.   I had dreams of killing 2-3 creatures with it each
game, but it rarely got more than one for me.  I don’t know if that was because I wasn’t
playing it intelligently, or if my opponents held back in anticipation of it, or what.  The
shivan, of course, was quite nice.  There seemed to be quite a few of them around that
day.  Clumps in those boxes of 5th Ed. starters, I guess.

The rounds (5 rounds of swiss, then the finalists drafted):

Round 1:  a teenager named Justin  (sorry I don’t recall names or many details, I wasn’t
expecting to write anything) (blue/white/?)

It’s noon & I’m getting hungry, so I’m munching on my trail mix as we play.  Justin plays
well & carefully.  I won the match, but it wasn’t easy.  During the last game I cast icatian
store & used a few almonds as tokens.  I was attacking with all my creatures for the last
few turns to get some damage through for the win, even though losing creatures.  I got the
giggles while tapping my almonds when attacking for the win, which I felt bad about.
I’m a very gracious loser, but my winning sportsmanship could use some work.  I think
the match was 2-1.
1-0

Round 2:  Maurice who made the finals  (black/?/?)

I’m now getting stupid hungry, trail mix didn’t cut it.  Maurice didn’t play blue & I’m
starting to think that I’ll win with my boas against blue players & otherwise lose.  He was
another careful, very good player.  I don’t recall him making any mistakes at all.  I, on the
other hand, forgot serra bestiary upkeep & attacked with my icatian scout instead of
holding him back for his ability.  Maurice commented once that I used my gossamer
chains to kill his tarpit warrior instead of targeting it with the radjan spirit (target creature
loses flying...).  I had considered it, but decided it didn’t matter much & I didn’t want to
bother with the chance that he would think I couldn’t target the warrior with the radjan
spirit.  I think the match was 0-2.
1-1

Round 3:  James (black/green/?)

Last round I was getting stupid hungry, this round I’m bottomed out.  I was counting out
loud trying to figure out what creatures died after combat, it was so bad.  Needless to say,
James won first game.  James played a great psych move:  midgame he asks to look at my
graveyard, & counts my creatures out loud.  Then counts creatures in his graveyard (10
total).  I spend a few turns completely distracted as I try to plan how to deal with the
impending lhurgoyf.  Nah, he just had a necromancy & was looking for a good target  :)  I
liked it.  It was totally intimidating _without_ being at all obnoxious or rude.  Second
game, he’s beating away, & then says “I concede.”  I’m shocked.  His record is also 1-1
(soon to be 2-1), but he says he can’t go to Germany anyway & wants to play in the t2
side tourney.  He concedes next game also.  Thanks, James!  That was fun for me to be
matched against the better players for the other rounds.  I have some time to buy some
Goldfish crackers & talk a while with Tony Parodi, who did a great job judging this
tourney.  How do other people deal with their blood sugar & general stamina during these
tourneys?  Why is my report all about food?
2-1 (oughta be 1-2)

Round 4:  sorry, don’t recall your name, Justin’s dad (red/white/?)

This guy played a meekstone on his first turn, which made me happy, as I have plenty of
weenies & I thought it wasn’t a very strong play, so I had a chance.  Also, the goldfish
carbos are making their way to my brain & I’m able to think again.  We both had pretty
defensive decks, so game one lasted a long time.  Part way through the game he notices I
have 2 red mana available & says something about my shivan.  I look him in the eye &
say “what shivan?”  thinking how does he know?  Is there a rumor going around, “the
short chick has a shivan?”  Of course, it turns out he’s Justin’s dad (see round 1), so
Justin told him.  This minor bit of scouting was the worst thing I saw all day & totally
understandable.  Later in the game he forgets about his meekstone & thinks I’m wacky as
I knock myself out doing fatal damage to some regenerating flying fatty he’s got.  Of
course, it stays tapped under his meekstone, allowing me to fly in for the kill.  Our second
game got called for time.  Great opponent, very polite, called me ma’am, which was a
strange experience for me, but polite of him  :)  Match was 1-0-2.
3-1 (oughta be....  oh, well :) )

Round 5:  sorry, don’t recall your name, friend of Justin & Justin’s dad (red/white/?)

Well, after I beat both his pals, this guy wasn’t thrilled to find himself across the table
from me.  Because of a kind of a clerical error I was playing him even though his record
was substantially lower than mine.  I think the match was 2-0 as I beat him with river
boa’s first game.  Second game he went in for a massive critter kill with a fireball,
tapping very carefully to do one damage each to multiple critters, assigned the damage, I
raised my hand to scoop the weenies into the graveyard, then remembered my parapet.
Game.
4-1
Turned out lots of people were 4-1 & I didn’t make the finals, so I placed somewhere
between 9th & 21st or something.  I am happy.  Especially since the guy who registered
my deck said he thought it was awful & was surprised that I did so well with it.

After the last round James & Tony showed me where I went wrong building my deck & I
played a couple rounds against James with an alternate white/green/blue version.  He had
a suq’ata assassin (the poison dude) those games that turned out to be surprisingly strong,
that baby was unblockable.

All in all, thanks everybody, the folks I met, Greymatter, and Tony, for a fun day.
Somebody who made the finals, or who knows who won, please write in!

So, the next week, it’s back to the local tourney scene.  One opponent (who has been
complaining bitterly about others cheating) is desperate for me to throw our second game
because it’s taking me forever to win with my capsize/ophi deck, then wants to collude
the last game so one of us has a win for the match instead of a draw.  The guy sitting next
to me calls his opponent a bastard.  There’s a huge yelling ruckus about match-ups (it
turns out there was a clerical error).  Sigh...  all for a few bucks in store credit.

Rochelle Webster

Rochelle on EFnet
DCI rated.... nah, too embarrassing
mom to Liam who just turned 1