Subject: Report on PTQLA (Columbus, OH) on 14 Dec, winning deck (from David Harris) Date: Sat, 20 Dec 1997 15:17:45 EST From: Chaosorbit To: fkusumot@ix.netcom.com Here is a brief report on the PTQ-LA in Columbus, OH on Sunday, December 14, 1997. 148 people showed up to play for one slot in the LA Event. Right up front I have to give big props to the ANDON UNLIMITED staff, as always they ran a smooth, well organized tournament. My buddy Don and I had been playtesting the Extended format since the beginning of November. The first deck I built was a mono-red sligh deck with standard Blood Moons, at the time I thought it would be a good deck to be prepared for, but I was sure it wasn’t the deck to play. We also playtested various Necro, White Weenie variants, W/R/G/U Winter Orb, and the ever dreaded Fruity Peeples. The more I played the Blood Moon Sligh Deck and the more I tuned it, the more comfortable I became with it. In the end I decided it was the deck I played the best and had the best chance with it. It turned out I was right. I won. Here’s the Deck: Creatures (19) 2 Ball Lightning 2 Wildfire Emissary 4 Squ Ata Lancers 4 Fireslingers 4 Mogg Fanatics 3 Goblin Vandals Burn/Removal (15) 4 Lightning Bolts 4 Fireblast 3 Incinerate 1 Earthquake 1 Goblin Bombardment 2 Serrated Arrows Other Stuff (3): 3 Blood Moons Land (23): 4 Mishra’s Factory 4 Wastelands 15 Mountains Sideboard (15): 4 Anarchy 2 Havoc 4 Pyroblasts 1 Blood Moon 2 Nevinyral’s Disk 2 Fissure A few notes on the deck, the Blood Moons were not near as important as I thought they would be, they hosed a couple decks but would be better off in the sideboard. The main deck would have been better with another Incinerate, Goblin Bombardment, and something else. Also, the Fissures (which were there for big fatties) were dead in the sideboard. Otherwise, the deck was fast almost all day. A quick recap of the decks I faced: Round 1: WW/blue slights (actually had to play Don, who I had come with). 1-0 Round 2: Lauer-Potence style necrodeck. 2-0 Round 3: W/R/G/U Winter Orb/Icy/Jerry/Gaeas’ Blessing. 3-0 Round 4: W/G Land Tax, Scroll Rack, Vineyard (Very Strong Deck). 4-0 Round 5: Mono-Black Weenie Beatdown/Drain Deck. 5-0 Round 6: WW/R (Bolts and Firestorm), War Beasts. This deck killed me. 5-1. Round 7: Mono WW, All First Strike and Crusades. 6-1 Round 8: Intentional Draw. 6-1-1. That was good for 5th seed. Quarters: Tongo Deck (R/U Frentic Control), Justin Nelson?. 7-1-1 Semis: Another Tongo Deck played by Craig DeShane, this is my toughest fought match of the day; I barely win game 3. 8-1-1 Finals I face the WW/R deck that killed me in round 6, it was played by Anthony Foirian (sorry if I spelled your name wrong). This time it was a little different. Game One goes back and forth, we are both at 8, he has two creatures (one of them was a Soltari Priest), I have three. His turn he Firestorms for 4 to kill my creatures and do 4 to me, he empties his hand, in response I sac 4 mountains and double Fireblast him. We sideboard. Game 2 my opening draw is 1 Bolt, 2 Incinerate, 2 Havoc, 1 Mishra’s, and 1 Mountain. Turn 2 and 3 I drop Havocs, I manage to get rid of the knight he has out. Now he has to pay 4 life to play most of his cards. He manages to get 2 creatures up, but by now I have an Anarchy in hand and the mana to cast it. He Firestorms again to deal with my creatures and damage me. I didn’t realize he was at 0 cards, the next turn I realize it and no longer fearing an honorable passage, I Fireblast for the WIN! Amazing, I’m still in shock. The best part is I think I’ve got my wife talked into letting go to LA. So, I’m psyched. Good luck to All. David Harris