Subject: 2ND KNOXVILLE PTQ REPORT 12/13 Date: Sun, 14 Dec 1997 17:15:31 -0500 From: David Doust To: fkusumot@ix.netcom.com New Wave Conventions would like to thank Tennessee for a tremendous showing at the 2nd Knoxville Pro-tour Qualifier. We had a total of 101 players in the main event for a 1 slot qualifier! I would like to thank everyone for their support that help make the event a success. The Comfort Hotel was really comfortable! a nice cozy place with X’mas trees and decorations everywhere. We met at the Warzone and drove up in three cars on Friday night. We had a total of 9 players form the zone: Jay Schneider, Bin Chen, David Leader, David Mcminn, Byron Bickes, Zach Heaven, Josh Gorfain and Andy Wolf and Chris Dodson. We got to the hotel around 1:30 and got to sleep. We booked a relative small room for the event because of the low turnout at the last Knoxville PTQ, we were expecting maybe 70 at best. But we ended up with 101. Luckily, there was another ballroom 1 floor down form the main room for us to spill over to, which saved us! There were once again a variety of decks. Quite a few new players, which made a pretty good mix. After 7 rounds of Swiss, the top 8 is as follows: 1 Brian Pyatt (VA) Red/Geeba 2 Chris Lovelace(TN) Necro 3 Chris Honan (FL) G/W/R Fatties 4 Andy Wolf (GA) Pox (of course, what else!) 5 Alex McConnell (FL) The father of "Fruity Pebbles" ( Atomic Bomberman) 6 Yuh Kong Liao (FL) Fruity Pebbles 7 Bin Chen (GA) Pox 8 Jay Schneider (GA) Fruity Pebbles Jay beat Chris Dodson by 0.0014 so I decided to give Dodson an invitation to the Grand Prix! So the field was pretty even, 3 from Florida, 3 from the Zone (GA), 1 form VA and 1 local, and a pretty good mix of decks. 1st round elim: Didn’t watch the Brian Pyatt/ Jay Schneider match, but Jay won. Bin Chen beats Chris Lovelace. Yuh Kong lost the first game to Chris Honan quick with no land, but came back. 2-1 I chose to watch Andy Wolf/Alex McConnell match, Pox vs Pebbles, should be a good one. However, it did not last long at all. First game, Andy consulted for a hymn, lost 2/3 of his deck and top decked one more hymn the turn after, danced the Triskillion and won the game. Second game was brutal, Andy got 3 wastelands and 2 hymns, need I say more. Semis: 2 mirror matches, featuring Pox vs Fruity pebbles. I chose to watch the Chinamen matchup - Bin Chen / Yuh Kong Liao! First game was tight, Yuh Kong bought some time with a well timed pyroclasm. The highlight of the game came when Bin hymned Yuh Kong. Yuh Kong had 2/3 of the combo on the table, so he enlighten tutored for the Enduring renewal in response to set up the win. The only way for Bin to stop this was to Pox, ( get rid of some land) so he boldly consulted for his last Pox, but unfortunately it was in the first 6 cards…doh! 1-0 to Yuh kong. Second game was not as exciting, with an early gloom, Bin dominated, and the second gloom kind of nail the lid on the coffin for Yuh Kong. 1-1 Third game went down to the wire, Yuh Kong was at 1 life, ended up top decking the shield sphere, lay the city of brass, and went for the tie ( tap the city to cast the enduring renewal, goes to 0 life, start the combo!) Forth game was really exciting at the beginning, Now I know why Blood pets are so good. First turn Blood pet by Bin, Yuh Kong laid a land, second turn hymn, Yuh Kong tried to disrupt, but Bin had the Blood pet, got off the hymn and……….got 2 lands, with the gloom, pretty much game over. Great match, there were at least 30 players watching and I never seen them so quiet before! Finals: Jay Schneider vs Bin Chen ( Both Warzone players that drove up together, oh well!) Jay won the first game easily, he basically had the entire combo in his hand. Second game he sided in his secret sideboard card - Peace keeper! And 3 disenchants for the Glooms, which won all the matches for Bin against pebbles. But Bin just had too many Gloom and Poxes! 1-1. Game 3 was interesting, Jay got the peace Keeper on the table, Bin tried to Pox - Force of will! Doh! But 2 turns later Bin drew another Pox and this time Jay had no answer and it just took too much from Jay. So, Congratulations to Bin Chen. It was not easy at all! And happy Birthday to Jay Schneider, sorry this was a 1 slot qualifier! See you all in Atlanta this weekend! David Doust New Wave Conventions South/Florida Regional Co-ordinator Atlanta/Orlando/Puerto Rico Pre-release Co-ordinator Atlanta(GA)/ Orlando(FL)/ Puerto Rico(PR)/ Miami(FL)/ Knoxville(TN)/ Dickson(TN)/ Columbia(SC)/ Birmingham(AL)/ Pro-tour Qualifier Co-ordinator Wizards or the Coast Policy Advisory Committee PMPA Advisory Committee Wizards of the Coast DCI Level 3 Judge