Subject: Grand Prix San Francisco / PTQ LA report (long) Date: 08 Dec 1997 15:59:05 -0800 From: Ben Drago Newsgroups: rec.games.trading-cards.magic.strategy The following message is a courtesy copy of an article that has been posted to rec.games.trading-cards.magic.strategy as well. Grand Prix San Francisco / LA PTQ GP San Francisco offered a great opportunity to qualify for PT:LA. There were 8 spots up for grabs in the GP, plus another 2 spot qualifier on Sunday for those not good enough to advance in the top 64. With several of the local 'top' players in Germany for PT Mainz, there were several new faces in the top 16. I'd like to point out right now that I did not make it to the finals either day. I felt pretty happy with my decks and the way I played, so the weekend was pretty successful. I was 4-2 in the first day of the Grand Prix, but did not have the tie breakers to make it to the second day. I went 2-2-1 in the PTQ before dropping, but I had some extremely bad luck to drop both games. So if you're looking for the 'bomb' deck to copy and play at your local PTQ, this might not be the report you are looking for. You may go about your business. Please move along. ;) Saturday: Grand Prix I believe there were 280-300 participants in the Grand Prix; split into 2 flights of roughly equal people. For those who were there, I was in the 'Blue' group. The tournament was run very smoothly by the fellows from Match Play in Mountain View. Things got started around 9:30 am, and there were 6 rounds of Swiss scheduled for the day. There was also a Junior Super Series tourny being run at the same time. The environment was heavy with White Weenie (Land Tax was _everywhere_), B/r Frenetic/Bolt/'Phid (some with white splashed ala Tongo Nation's Chicago decks), all 31 flavors of Necro (mono-black, Lauerpotence, B/u Counterpotence, B/g/w (!) etc), lots of 4/5CG (which I always ran into), and lots of Fruity Pebbles (Enduring Bombardment - although I didn't hear about any of them making it to the top tables). Locally, WW was very popular, as it had won both qualifiers for 2 round byes at Matchplay during the month before. I was playing mono-white WW with the very abusive Scroll Rack/Land Tax "combo." This is the same deck I played to the top four in the Matchplay qualifier the week before, except that I took out one Javilneer and one Lion and added the two Crusaders. I toyed with splashing blue into the deck to add Sleights and Hydros, but it wasn't as consistent as the original. The GP used the Paris mulligan rule, which hurt. I am playing with a very low land count (only 15 basic plains), so I get no lands once every 10-15 hands. However, with 4 Taxes and 3 Tithes, I can usually function fine on the first couple of turns with only 1 plains on the opening draw. The Scroll Racks are very powerful--with the Tax it's like getting an Ancestral every turn for 1 colorless. When I get to tax/rack 6 or 7 cards once or twice, I usually end up winning as the card advantage is just too great. So here we go: 4 Longbow Archers 4 White Knights 4 Soltari Priests 3 Savannah Lions 2 Icathian Javilneers 2 Zhalfirin Crusader 4 Land Tax 4 Crusade 2 Aura of Silence 3 Armageddon 3 Tithe 2 Swords to Plowshares 2 Honorable Passages 1 Disenchant 3 Scroll Rack 2 Cursed Scroll 15 Plains SB: 2 Disenchant SB: 3 Warmth SB: 2 Wand of Denial SB: 2 Wrath of God SB: 2 Honorable Passage SB: 2 Serrated Arrows SB: 2 Swords to Plowshares Some hints when using this deck: - The Tithes are best used to shuffle your deck. During your upkeep, Tax three lands into your hand, use Scroll Rack to exchange them with the top cards in your library, and then use Tithe to shuffle them away before your draw phase (unless you put stuff on top of your library with the Rack that you want back ;). - Aura of Silence is very strong - I was always happy to play them on turn 3 or 4. Disks don't come out until turn 6, and then you can immediately destroy them. It also slows down the Fruity Pebbles decks. - The Wands in the sideboard are pure jank, but without Sleights/Hydros I have no way to stop Anarchy and Glooms, which were everywhere. Any advice on sideboards would be appreciated. I felt pretty happy about this deck. I had actually playtested and tweaked it pretty extensively, so I knew what to expect and how to play it. It wasn't thrown together in the car on the way to the GP while munching on an Egg McMuffin as most tourny reports indicate. It had it's weaknesses (Anarcy/Flashfires were my biggest fear, plus black with lots of knights and glooms). But is was very, very consistent. It rolled with only two lands, the Land Tax allowed me to thin my deck, and the Scroll Rack allowed me to grab specific cards (Swords, Arrows, Cursed Scroll as needed). I almost never lost a game to a bad draw, so if my opponent stumbled at all that was often game. In fact, I almost always won my first game. I didn't take very good notes, but ended up going 4-2 for the first day of the Grand Prix. However, my tie breakers were not good enough to make the top 64. I got to play again the next day in a two spot qualifier, so things were not all bad. One of my teammates (we don't have a name, but we play together alot) went 4-2 but made it to the top 64, where he went 5-1 to end up 9-3 overall. Grantley finished 13th, picking up a couple hundred bucks and plenty of respect with his U/r/w deck (not the Tongo nation deck, but his own creation). The next day I decided to play W/r, partly after seeing a couple of similar decks do very well. I didn't have a chance to playtest this deck, so it was kind of a risk. I did okay, but I would definitely change a couple things: 2 Soltari Guerrillas - great effect, but they're bolt bait. 3 Suq'Ata Lancers - very strong -- should have been four 1 Wildfire Emissarys - meta game against WW. so-so 4 Soltari Priests - the bomb 3 White Knights 3 Longbow Archers - stops frenetics cold; two can doubleblock a waterspout 4 Lightning Bolt 2 Land's Edge - late game only; sided out against WW 2 Aura of Silence - very strong 2 Swords to Plowshares - lot's of creatures in extended 3 Tithe 2 Armageddon - so-so. I think I might pull these and go more beatdown 2 Empyrial Armor - strong. putting one of these on a priest usually mean game 1 Gerrard's Wisdom - decent, usually sided out 3 Land Tax 1 Disenchant 2 Scroll Rack 2 Cursed Scroll 11 Plains 4 Plateau 3 Mountain 1 Undiscovered Paradise - I needed one more mountain. Gotta mana screwed a couple of times SB: 2 Pyroblast - I really needed more of these SB: 3 Warmth - okay, will probably drop one SB: 3 Havoc - awesome SB: 3 Blood Moon SB: 2 Earthquake - i'm putting two more in main, and two in side. SB: 1 Swords to Plowshares SB: 1 Disenchant Sideboard needs more Pyro/REB, and Passages against burn and necro. A round by round analysis follows: Round 1: Jeff playing G/w with Rangers, 'Geddons, Maros, Serras (Serrageddon?) This was a very close match. We both have very fast decks, but ended up running out of time with each of us winning one match. First game was very quick. I got out a couple early Priests and a Knight, and slowly whittled him down. I even got a Guerrilla out, but he was immediately Swords. The last turn I hit him with a Priest to drop him to 10, then Bolt, Bolt, Land's Edge for 8. Just to be sure. Second game was very, very close. I sided in the 'quakes and Swords against him. It was a pretty long game but he kept drawing big creatures (a Serra and two Maros) which I had to topdeck Swords to keep alive. I dropped an Armor on a Priest and then 'Geddoned, and hit him twice with it to drop him down to five. He topdecked a Swords, and we sat there for 5 or 6 turns. He got a Sylvan Library out, and finally found another Serra before I could get another land. Looking back, I should have held the 'Geddon but I thought I had him locked down. I did do 36 points of damage to him, but swording his big creatures kept him alive. Game three was awesome. It was so close. I put in a couple Havocs against him, which caused me to stay alive long enough to force a draw. Neither of was stalling, as the game was so back and forth that either of us could have won if our opponent was unlucky just once. I got out three Priests early that knocked him down to 8. I was fun - he'd Swords my Priest and lose two from the Havoc while I gained 2 from the Swords. He wrathed away the two priests, and then dropped two centaur's that beat me down to 6. I topdecked an earthquake to get rid of them, and then he promptly 'geddoned. We again sat there staring at each other, but he was drawing land faster than I was. At this point, I had not seen one Land Tax, Scroll Rack, or Tithe. Jeff got a ranger out and hit me for a couple before time was called. This was a very fun game, but kind of a disappointing way to start the day. (0-0-1) Round 2: Jeff playing mono-red Sligh Ugh. My deck is pretty fast, but Sligh is so much faster. I do pretty well after sideboarding, but the first game is always luck if I pull it off. First games he gets the usual turn one vandal turn two ironclaw turn three ironclaw _and_ vandal. But I get a white knight and longbow out that slows him down a little bit, and then get a Priest on turn 4. I armor him the next turn, and attack for 7. Next turn I bolt him and attack again for game. I side in the Warmths and the earthquakes. I get two priests out early, and then go nutty with a cursed scroll (I had 5 plains and one disenchant in hand). I get a second turn Warmth, which wins the game for me. I gain 8 points of live from the Warmth, but he can't bolt/bolt/fireblast/fireblast me for game when I'm at 12 because of the Warmth. I also had a swords in hand to swords my own priest in case he came close. (1-0-1) Round 3: Bobby (sp?) Dietzel playing mono-blue Tradewind Riders/Walls This deck came as quite a surprise, and taught me to pack more red blasts in my sideboard. Basically, he had lots of cheap walls (Glacial Walls, Wall of Air, Floodgates), Tradewind Riders, a few counters, and Suq'Ata Firewalkers to damage me. He'd drop a couple of walls, and then use them with Tradewinds to bounce all my stuff back to my hand. He also had Man-o'Wars and Capsizes. First game he got down two Glacial Walls and the Rider by turn five. I think he had a Mishra's factory out as well. He then dropped a Floodgate and bounced it back to knock of my knights as well. I 'geddoned and tried to swords the Tradewind, but he Forced. I conceded when he started bouncing all my lands back to my hand. Game two I pulled off after siding in two Pyroblasts and two earthquakes. I played an early Land Tax, bolted him a few times, and then Pyro'd his Rider. I then dropped a Priest, Armored him, and hit him for 11. He Man-o'-War'd the Priest, but I was able to 'quake and then bolt him for the last 5 points. Game three he got the combo out again on turn 5. I conceded. His deck was pretty strong, especially as it was unexpected. Scragnoths would eat him for lunch, though. This deck would probably be better when another color (white?) for removal. 'Geddons would work pretty well too. (1-1-1) Round 4: John playing G/r/? Ugh. More green. First game was pretty close. He surprised me with a Sandstorm, which knocked off a couple Priests. :( He had lots of Elvish Archers, which hurt my knights but fall to the Lancers. I hit him with an armored priest and then threw 4 plains at him with the Land's Edge for game. Game two was ugly. Second turn knight, third turn Armor, fourth turn Blood Moon (he had all non-basics) in play. He bolt/bolt/incinerated the priest, (!), which I should have Swords to gain the life. But he couldn't get rid of the Blood Moon, and I whittled him down. (2-1-1) Round 5: Dan playing U/b He had Browse, Edicts, Quicksands, Wastelands, Forces, Dissapates, Counterspells, Rainbow Efreets, Disks, etc. Game 1: I won this one pretty easily with weenie beatdown. Priests, Lancers, Knights. Game 2 was _so_ frustrating. It went on forever, and I could not draw anything for the longest time. I have a bolt, land's edge, and 4 lands in hand, and he taps out each turn for a browse. He finally plays a Ghost Ship and a Knights of the Mist. Next turn I draw a Tax, which he Forces (!) - he's tapped out with only one card in hand, which he lays -- A quicksand. I draw -- a Lancer. Dammit! I can do 11 points with the bolt and the land's edge, but he's at thirteen. I have the mana to cast the lancer, but he quicksands it. I die. Game 3 was even worse. Let's just say that I have 3 cards left in my library. At one point I had a land's edge, 2 Pyro's, and 4 land. He has 8 life left. He's forced two Tax's, so I risk it with him having 5 cards and 3 blue mana available. Land's Edge Counterspell Pyroblast Blue Elemental Blast Pyroblast Force, tossing another BEB. *argh* Oh well. I need Abeyances. ;) Overall, I was pretty happy. I played well, and think that I might be able to make it to LA with a little luck (once I learn to sideboard). Cheers, Ben bd@pobox.com