Subject: Grand Prix San Fran Report Date: Tue, 9 Dec 1997 16:38:44 -0800 (PST) From: Peter Radonjic To: fkusumot@ix.netcom.com Hey Frank... here's my report from the San Francisco Grand Prix. I decided (along with the rest of my team) to skip PT-Germany because I was really busy with school and did not have the time necessary to playtest Tempest Rochester -- and with finals coming up in the next two weeks we wouldn't have time to see Germany. So we chose to take the weekend off and visit San Francisco instead. Me and my fellow teammate Ryan Fuller (who brought his girlfriend Shannon along) made plans to meet up with Brett Quorn in San Jose, where the tourney was actually held. SJ is about an hour away from downtown SF, where our hotel was. Instead of being true Magic players, we spent the day before the tourney NOT PLAYTESTING. :) We saw SF -- and went to Alcatraz. We saw Alcatraz. We really saw Alcatraz. (Travel tip: the coolest parts of Alcatraz are the restricted areas) ;) Thought it would be ironic if we got caught. We would be the first ones to get kicked OFF the rock. Anyway, 208 people played in the GP, and Scott Larabee and Chris Galvin split it into two flights (because they expected more players). Me and Fuller are separate flights, so there's no chance we'll match up in Day One. (Whew) Six rounds, day one -- cut to top 32 from each flight for Sunday. Six more rounds Sunday (points carry over), top 8 playoff. We register our decks, we both play B/r Consult decks (with necros in there somewhere ;) ). We both have 3 byes due to PT points and ranking so we go for breakfast with Poulter, Colin Mayfield, Heath Jennings, Chris Pantages, Quorn, and Will Hilts. These guys are hilarious -- it was cool hanging out with them for the weekend. I had wondered why WoTC placed little emphasis on the Grand Prix -- I thought they were big tourneys in terms of prestige, just below Worlds, PT, Nationals, and Regionals. But it was just a qualifier in terms of skill level. (Could be that all the top players were in Germany, hmmmm, do ya think?) Fuller beats up on Casey McCarrel (top 8 US nationals) for money in a Rochester draft to pass the time -- even though he was playing like a scrub IEO (In Everyone's Opinion) to pass the time waiting for round four. The tourney finally starts, it was cool having byes, but when almost everyone else is playing, you feel like you are missing out. Round Four - I play a email friend Keith Oullette. Just barely win. Win one game at 7 life, the other at 2. Round Five - Win game at 1 life, other at 2. Round Six - Win both games at 2 life. :) When playing with necros, it's all about necro'ing down to 1. It really is. Managing necro is summed up like this: Necro to 1 life above what damage the opponent can do. :) So, the game I won at 7 seven life means I should have necro'ed for six more. 6-0 Fuller also goes 6-0. So for us Canadians to have a clean sweep today, all we need is for Shannon to win the booster draft side tourney she entered. 8 player single elim. She drafts an excellent deck. (I suspect she might be a better drafter than me. Ugh.) She wins her first match. Takes the second to go to the finals against... Zak Dolan, '94 World Champ. She has no clue who he is, but wonders why so many people are watching the match. Takes him to three games -- but loses. She later complains she didn't have the right mana -- she's becoming a real Magic player ;) Day two. Round one - I play Heath Jennings, another 6-0 playing W/r/g prison. I manage to win two straight -- but I must of screwed up game 2, I was at 32 life. Hmmm, that's 31 cards I didn't necro. Oh, yeah, gotta have the necro in play first. Cool. 7-0-0 Ryan loses to go 6-1-0 [Enter sounds of crashing and burning] Footnote: Transcript - Two weeks earlier. Fuller: Hey, there's this deck in Extended that wins with Enduring Renewal, Goblin Bombardment, and Shield Sphere. Me (watching hockey game): Really. Wow. Fuller: Let's build it and playtest against it so we know how to deal with it. Me (still watching hockey game): Later. Damnnit Canucks, score already. Fuller: I think it might beat our necrodeck. Me (watching commercial): Nothing beats necro. Round eight: Play against this machine. Take game one. When in doubt, Hymn away! Game two I have a tapped disk in play and a shatter in hand. He has GB and a SS in play, one card in hand. I want to be greedy, blow up the GB and SS, and save the shatter for the next SS. I say go. He consults for a Renewal and wins. I lost this game becuase I didn't playtest against this deck. Game three I make tatical mistakes and lose again. I lose the match because I did not playtest against this deck. 7-1-0 Fuller wins to go 7-1-0 Round nine: Me and Ryan pair up and abuse the intentional draw rule. 7-1-1 Round Ten: I lose to counterpost. Counterpost! Straight U/W COUNTERPOST! No way I should lose. But I lost my focus, my concentration, because I didn't not play the round before, and so I sat there and simmered about the fact I could have won against Bombardment. I did not lose because of mana-screw, top-decking, or any form of luck. I lost because of my decisions. That makes me mad. I lose this round because of the first loss. Now I am PO'ed. Two preventable losses. 7-2-1 Ryan wins to go 8-1-1 Round Eleven: Mistakes beget mistakes, apparently. I forget to SB out a dystopia and happen to get deck checked. So I get a warning and can not use my SB for game two of this match. (Another preventable mistake. That's 3, for those counting). I play Rob Swarowski (eventual winner) playing mono-red (W and B in SB). Lose game one. I cannot SB for game two. He goes nuts with his. I look on in envy :) I start with a mulligan. My back is so against the wall. I... manage... to... barely... win. Phew. Game three. Now I go nuts boarding. I lose game three in an aggrivating way. 7-3-1 Ryan cruises. 9-1-1 Round Twelve: I don't play well this match because I cannot win anymore, but I win a close one. 8-3-1 Ryan draws to finish second seed at 9-1-2 I finish 18th. Blah. $150. Thank god I'm splitting cash with my teammate. ;) Top 8: 1 Clegg 2 Fuller 3 Shears 4 Aldrich 5 Quorn -- Go Brett! 6 McCarrel 7 Alexander 8 Swarowski Quarters: I sitting on the sidelines now, pulling for Fuller. He wins against #7 Alexander, playing Worb/Tax/Scroll Rack/Blessing. Semis: Swarowski vs Quorn. Swarowski wins a close one. Fuller vs. Shears. IMO, Fuller made a couple of errors, but there's that saying "those who can do (Fuller), those who can't, teach (me)" Ryan wins. Finals: Ryan goes balls to the wall and plays necro against mono red early both games. Necroes up shit tho', no discard, consults, or drains. Loses. I tried to fit in stuff I look for in other reports, but I don't do decklists. I'm sure you can find them somewhere else. Notes: Bombardment kicked ass until it played good players with good decks. Do not play it at qualifiers where good players will participate. If you live in Wisconsin, though, it is 'THE tech'. I just noticed I slammed myself pretty good with the "Bombardment kicked ass until..." line. I lost to that deck. :) Congrats to Mr. Place for taking Germany. Good work! It would have been cool if Peer Kroeger won, thus defending his country from invasion.... I probably missed some stuff, but anyway, Peter Radonjic Vancouver, B.C. pradonji@sfu.ca