G
Gizmo
Guest
It`s okay for you slacker casuals, but some of us have to actually play for money, you know! This weekend is GP: Manchester (UK), or as we like to call it, GP:My Back Garden as I live in Manchester.
BTW, this isn`t the same as saying PT:NY is in your back garden because I`m under the impression that NY is significantly bigger than Manchester. BIGGER, even.
The format for the first day is Invasion Sealed, 7 rounds of Swiss competition for which my mystery Limited ranking gives me a first round Bye (or lunch break as we call them). There are 250+ players here, mostly UK and Us, very few Euros as it seems it is easier to fly to Manchester from LA than it is from Paris. Wierd. Most big US are here - Price, Kastle, Schvarstman, Mowshowitz and all the others whose names are less famous but are no less good at Magic. Everybody but Finkel it seems.
Before we start I`m sitting down arguing with a bunch of UK players that you`d pass a Plague Wind if you opened it in a M/N/P draft - I say you pass it because you want to pitch land to Spellshapers, they say you take the broken card. As they outnumber me 7-1 I`m losing the argument. Then Zvi sits down next to me, concurs that Plague Wind is a scrubs-only card, and the argument is mine (well, mainly his I guess, but I get to feel good all the same).
ANYHOO...
The deck (pre-logged...HURRAH!)
These were my cards in each colour in order of wheaty goodness. Cards in normal type were in my deck, cards in Italics were not in my deck.
GOLD
Armadillo Cloak
Armadillo Cloak
Spite/Malice
Llanowar Knight
-------
Shivan Zombie
Vodalian Zombie
Raging Kavu
Yavimaya Kavu
GREEN
Canopy Surge
Kavu Chameleon
Serpentine Kavu
Kavu Climber
Fertile Ground
Llanowar Cavalry
Aggressive Urge
------
Blurred Mongoose
Quirion Sentinel
Whip Silk x2
Wandering Stream x2
WHITE
Angel Of Mercy
Benalish Trapper
Glimmering Angel
Crimson Acolyte
Razorfoot Griffin
Prison Barricade
Samite Menistrations (terrible, thought it could save a creature)
------
Protective Sphere
Strength Of Unity
Ardent Militia
Rewards Of Diversity
BLUE
Distorting Wake (B-OMB! The only broken rare in Invasion limited)
Tower Drake
Repulse
Prohibit
Exclude
------
Dream Thrush (SB in for the Menistrations)
Opt
Probe
Metathran Zombie
Disrupt
Wordly Council
Essence Leak
Phantasmal Terrain x2
BLACK
Goham Djinn
Do Or Die
Phyrexian Reaper x2
Duskwalker
Phyrexian Butterflies
Cursed Flesh
Hate Weaver
Firescreamer
Defiling Tears x2
Urborg Skeleton
Hypnotic Cloud x2
RED
Scorching Lava
Pouncing Kavu
Ancient Kavu
Zap
Slimy Kavu
Maniacal Rage
Savage Offensive x2
Obliterate
Shivan Harvest
ARTIFACT
Treva`s Attendant
LAND
Ancient Spring
Island x4
Plains x6
Forest x6
------
Archeological Dig
Sulfur Vent
Geothermal Crevice
I`m really happy with this deck overall, the Springs and Fertile Ground mean I might actually get to Malice as well as Spite occasionally. I`m missing a White Apprentice as I`m low on critters and would like to defend them and I`d like to have a U/W land to make it easier to cast Distorting Wake - but you can`t complain with two Cloaks!
Round One: TEAM BYE
(Team Bye are terrible, but always seem to make it to tournaments. I have never failed to beat a Team Bye player 2-0, in fact the only players I have a better record against are green players
)
2-0
Round Two: Alan Mai (UK)
He is playing a 5c deck based in R/B it seems and this is just begging for him to be screwed. He is but I Wake his monsters back into his hand and drive home a merciless kill anyway.
2-0
Round Three: Joseph Cristophe (France)
R/W/g deck but in both games I simply Cloaked up a monster and rode it home. First game I Waked a win, the second I made a DIY Morphling with Cloak/Glimmering Angel and that was game.
2-0
Round Four: Oliver Ruel (Belgium)
He gets screwed with his 5cG deck but I am slow to capitalise as my only beatdown is a 1/4. He recovers, Harrows up some basic land and smashes me with a 6/6 Serpent and the 5/5 Trample Prot:Red+Blue Legend. Second game he gets two land and I crush him. Third game his mana comes out nicely and the quality of his spells is overwhelming. Plus his 5/2 Kavu Scouts and the Trumpeting Armodon reprint are a bit of a beating.
1-2
Round Five: Nield Sanders Jensen (Denmark)
Angel Of Mercy + Armadillo Cloak = beatings. I finish game one on 33 life, and game two on 39 life. BEATINGS! Oh, and Distorting Wave on 7 monsters is quite good as well.
2-0
Round Six: Mark Brian Humphreys (UK)
I screw out.
He screws out.
I lose because I`m really good at Magic (actually true - one of the freak occurences when the correct decision gets you killed, and the wrong choice would win the game). This is worth going into detail for:
I have just finished my attack phase.
I have 11 life, a Glimmering Angel+Cloak, a Crimson Acolyte, and UUUWWWWGG mana available. I am holding Distorting Wake and two land.
He has 3 life, a Phyrexian Battleflies, Shivan Zombie, Vodalian Zombie, two Phyrexian Defiler, (10 damage total) and at most BBBUWR available next turn. He is holding two cards and will draw a third.
Question: Do I Wake all his monsters back to his hand? The game ends next turn regardless - if I survive his attack I win, but if he can find extra damage he wins. So do I Wake?
Pros: I avoid the potential he might find an extra point of damage. In fact my Acolyte can happily chump block a 2/2 monster so he has to find 3 extra damage to stop me. Plus to this he has to save BB for the Battleflies so it can only cost 4 mana at most. This means he wins if he has a Tribal Flames (not seen that from him yet) or Breath Of Dairgaaz forces a draw (he cast that in the first game).
Cons: If I Wake then I tap out of blue mana and can no longer protect my Angel from the black removal I know he is playing with (Agonising Memories and Exotic Curse for certain). If I lose the Angel by Waking then I lose because he puts his creatures back down and kills me.
So do I Wake and possibly lose to several cards I know he has in his deck, or not Wake and possibly lose to one of the few cards he can have but I haven`t seen yet in three games?
Answer: Don`t Wake. Sit on the Angel and hope he can`t find the extra damage.
Result: He topdecks Skizzik and beats me. Casting Wake would have won me the game as his hand was Mountain and Breath Of Darigaaz.
1-2
Round Seven: Winner makes second day, loser goes home empty handed - it must be time for me to play somebody like Mr Kai Budde (Germany) then...
Game One: I double Paris, screw totally and concede turn 3.
Game Two: Angel Of Mercy + Cloak = his lifetotal reading 20, 15, 10, 0...and me taking 27 damage and still having 16 points left.
Game Three: Crimson Acolyte + Cloak = his lifetotal going 17, 14, 11, etc...and me finishing on 35!
YAY!
2-1
So Gizmo beats Budde to claim 60th place and make it into day two! Makes up for Marco Blume knocking me out of GP:Birmingham two years ago I guess, and now my $$$ await!
Gotta get good at this Rochester lark real fast, though...
(Wow, that [i/]was long, wasn`t it. Thanks for staying to the thrilling finale, and be sure to tune in for the next episode tomorrow night, same Bat-Time, same Bat-Channel.)
[Edited by Gizmo on October 7th, 2000 at 06:43 PM]
BTW, this isn`t the same as saying PT:NY is in your back garden because I`m under the impression that NY is significantly bigger than Manchester. BIGGER, even.
The format for the first day is Invasion Sealed, 7 rounds of Swiss competition for which my mystery Limited ranking gives me a first round Bye (or lunch break as we call them). There are 250+ players here, mostly UK and Us, very few Euros as it seems it is easier to fly to Manchester from LA than it is from Paris. Wierd. Most big US are here - Price, Kastle, Schvarstman, Mowshowitz and all the others whose names are less famous but are no less good at Magic. Everybody but Finkel it seems.
Before we start I`m sitting down arguing with a bunch of UK players that you`d pass a Plague Wind if you opened it in a M/N/P draft - I say you pass it because you want to pitch land to Spellshapers, they say you take the broken card. As they outnumber me 7-1 I`m losing the argument. Then Zvi sits down next to me, concurs that Plague Wind is a scrubs-only card, and the argument is mine (well, mainly his I guess, but I get to feel good all the same).
ANYHOO...
The deck (pre-logged...HURRAH!)
These were my cards in each colour in order of wheaty goodness. Cards in normal type were in my deck, cards in Italics were not in my deck.
GOLD
Armadillo Cloak
Armadillo Cloak
Spite/Malice
Llanowar Knight
-------
Shivan Zombie
Vodalian Zombie
Raging Kavu
Yavimaya Kavu
GREEN
Canopy Surge
Kavu Chameleon
Serpentine Kavu
Kavu Climber
Fertile Ground
Llanowar Cavalry
Aggressive Urge
------
Blurred Mongoose
Quirion Sentinel
Whip Silk x2
Wandering Stream x2
WHITE
Angel Of Mercy
Benalish Trapper
Glimmering Angel
Crimson Acolyte
Razorfoot Griffin
Prison Barricade
Samite Menistrations (terrible, thought it could save a creature)
------
Protective Sphere
Strength Of Unity
Ardent Militia
Rewards Of Diversity
BLUE
Distorting Wake (B-OMB! The only broken rare in Invasion limited)
Tower Drake
Repulse
Prohibit
Exclude
------
Dream Thrush (SB in for the Menistrations)
Opt
Probe
Metathran Zombie
Disrupt
Wordly Council
Essence Leak
Phantasmal Terrain x2
BLACK
Goham Djinn
Do Or Die
Phyrexian Reaper x2
Duskwalker
Phyrexian Butterflies
Cursed Flesh
Hate Weaver
Firescreamer
Defiling Tears x2
Urborg Skeleton
Hypnotic Cloud x2
RED
Scorching Lava
Pouncing Kavu
Ancient Kavu
Zap
Slimy Kavu
Maniacal Rage
Savage Offensive x2
Obliterate
Shivan Harvest
ARTIFACT
Treva`s Attendant
LAND
Ancient Spring
Island x4
Plains x6
Forest x6
------
Archeological Dig
Sulfur Vent
Geothermal Crevice
I`m really happy with this deck overall, the Springs and Fertile Ground mean I might actually get to Malice as well as Spite occasionally. I`m missing a White Apprentice as I`m low on critters and would like to defend them and I`d like to have a U/W land to make it easier to cast Distorting Wake - but you can`t complain with two Cloaks!
Round One: TEAM BYE
(Team Bye are terrible, but always seem to make it to tournaments. I have never failed to beat a Team Bye player 2-0, in fact the only players I have a better record against are green players
)2-0
Round Two: Alan Mai (UK)
He is playing a 5c deck based in R/B it seems and this is just begging for him to be screwed. He is but I Wake his monsters back into his hand and drive home a merciless kill anyway.
2-0
Round Three: Joseph Cristophe (France)
R/W/g deck but in both games I simply Cloaked up a monster and rode it home. First game I Waked a win, the second I made a DIY Morphling with Cloak/Glimmering Angel and that was game.
2-0
Round Four: Oliver Ruel (Belgium)
He gets screwed with his 5cG deck but I am slow to capitalise as my only beatdown is a 1/4. He recovers, Harrows up some basic land and smashes me with a 6/6 Serpent and the 5/5 Trample Prot:Red+Blue Legend. Second game he gets two land and I crush him. Third game his mana comes out nicely and the quality of his spells is overwhelming. Plus his 5/2 Kavu Scouts and the Trumpeting Armodon reprint are a bit of a beating.
1-2
Round Five: Nield Sanders Jensen (Denmark)
Angel Of Mercy + Armadillo Cloak = beatings. I finish game one on 33 life, and game two on 39 life. BEATINGS! Oh, and Distorting Wave on 7 monsters is quite good as well.
2-0
Round Six: Mark Brian Humphreys (UK)
I screw out.
He screws out.
I lose because I`m really good at Magic (actually true - one of the freak occurences when the correct decision gets you killed, and the wrong choice would win the game). This is worth going into detail for:
I have just finished my attack phase.
I have 11 life, a Glimmering Angel+Cloak, a Crimson Acolyte, and UUUWWWWGG mana available. I am holding Distorting Wake and two land.
He has 3 life, a Phyrexian Battleflies, Shivan Zombie, Vodalian Zombie, two Phyrexian Defiler, (10 damage total) and at most BBBUWR available next turn. He is holding two cards and will draw a third.
Question: Do I Wake all his monsters back to his hand? The game ends next turn regardless - if I survive his attack I win, but if he can find extra damage he wins. So do I Wake?
Pros: I avoid the potential he might find an extra point of damage. In fact my Acolyte can happily chump block a 2/2 monster so he has to find 3 extra damage to stop me. Plus to this he has to save BB for the Battleflies so it can only cost 4 mana at most. This means he wins if he has a Tribal Flames (not seen that from him yet) or Breath Of Dairgaaz forces a draw (he cast that in the first game).
Cons: If I Wake then I tap out of blue mana and can no longer protect my Angel from the black removal I know he is playing with (Agonising Memories and Exotic Curse for certain). If I lose the Angel by Waking then I lose because he puts his creatures back down and kills me.
So do I Wake and possibly lose to several cards I know he has in his deck, or not Wake and possibly lose to one of the few cards he can have but I haven`t seen yet in three games?
Answer: Don`t Wake. Sit on the Angel and hope he can`t find the extra damage.
Result: He topdecks Skizzik and beats me. Casting Wake would have won me the game as his hand was Mountain and Breath Of Darigaaz.
1-2
Round Seven: Winner makes second day, loser goes home empty handed - it must be time for me to play somebody like Mr Kai Budde (Germany) then...
Game One: I double Paris, screw totally and concede turn 3.
Game Two: Angel Of Mercy + Cloak = his lifetotal reading 20, 15, 10, 0...and me taking 27 damage and still having 16 points left.
Game Three: Crimson Acolyte + Cloak = his lifetotal going 17, 14, 11, etc...and me finishing on 35!
YAY!
2-1
So Gizmo beats Budde to claim 60th place and make it into day two! Makes up for Marco Blume knocking me out of GP:Birmingham two years ago I guess, and now my $$$ await!
Gotta get good at this Rochester lark real fast, though...
(Wow, that [i/]was long, wasn`t it. Thanks for staying to the thrilling finale, and be sure to tune in for the next episode tomorrow night, same Bat-Time, same Bat-Channel.)
[Edited by Gizmo on October 7th, 2000 at 06:43 PM]