Pro Qualifier Report-Syracuse
RAW STEAL
Here's how it went.
Swiss style for 4 rounds. Top eight play single elimination. My friends
Claude, Rudy, and I were all excited to test our decks versus the best in
Central New York. The top players from Ithaca, Cornell, Syracuse(us),
and Rochester(best overall) were there.
Rudy was playing R/G Stormbind. Claude was playing W/G
Armageddon. I was playing B/r Necropotence.
My deck.
Black
-----
3 Necropotence
4 Drain Life
4 Hymn to Tourach
4 Hypnotic Specter
2 Order of the Ebon Hand
2 Black Knight (knew Serrated Arrows would be popular)
4 Dark Ritual
Red
---
4 Lightning Bolt
Artifact
--------
1 Zuran Orb
1 Ivory Tower
3 Nevinyrral's Disk
Land
----
2 Strip Mine
4 Mishra's Factory
2 Mountain
4 Sulforous Springs
16 Swamp
60 Cards
Sideboard
---------
2 Detonate
1 Incinerate
2 Gloom
2 Ishan's Shade
2 Fountain of Youth (never used them, would've vs straight burn)
1 Feldon's Cane
1 Land's Edge
1 Jalum Tome
1 Serrated Arrows (wanted 2 dammit! only remembered to bring 1)
2 Dry Spell (should have been 1. see above. worked out well though)
General ideas: I knew W/G Armageddon would be the most popular deck. I
was right. Out of 64 decks here was the breakdown, roughly. 30-35
Armageddon decks, 15-20 R/G decks, 2 Necro decks, 5 W/U, 5 other(a.k.a.
shit) decks. I wanted low casting cost spells. Drain Lifes become
usefull at about 5 mana, Disk costs 4, rest is 3 or under. Vs Armageddon
decks I would pull some Drain Lifes and the Disk will wipe out everything
Armageddon doesn't, which is usually a lot vs these decks.
First Round: mono-Black
I get lucky and face a shit deck the first round. He had Urza
lands and Ashen Ghouls and some other stuff. Didn't get to see much of
his deck as I beat him twice in under 10 rounds. I was the first one
done and of course that makes me everyone's target. Bring it on.
I go over to watch Rudy's game. It is tied up and Rudy's opponent
attacks with both Ernhams to put Rudy at 4 life. Rudy has no cretures,
no Stormbind, and only five mana. Opponent is at 5 life. Nothing will
save him. But what does he draw?...Eron the Relentless!! A smashing,
unbelievable victory. Claude on the other hand has the worst luck of any
human being on earth. He is in a bad situation and needs either a
Disenchant, Swords to Plowshares, Armageddon, or Ernham to show up. He
has not drawn ANY of them yet. He has 4 of each in his deck. He has
Land Tax out. Five striaght rounds of drawing land, after Taxing. All
of his luck went to Rudy I guess.
Second Round: R/G big creature
Ernhams, Shivans, Jokulhaups...scary stuff. First game he pulls
Tinder Wall and starts laying land. I start getting some damage in with
2 Black Knights. 3 Turn he summons Daddy Shivan and has a happy look on
his face. I happen to be holding a Dark Ritual and a Drain Life with 5
Swamps out. He loses. Next game he beats my ass with two quick
Ernhams. Third game I get Necropotence, Ivory Tower, and Nevinyrral's
Disk out. I know he has Shatters so I plan on gaining life until he
destroys the Tower then Disking, or Disking if he happens to get another
Shivan out. I have a Specter and 2 Orders on the table. He has
nothing except Thelon's Chant (knew I'd see this too) which causes some
trouble but I just hold Swamps in my hand. I start to relax a little.
His turn and he takes a long time staring at his hand. I start thinking
"What the hell can he do?". By the way, my Disk is tapped at this
point. He seems to come to a conclusion and starts tapping lands -
Jokulhaups...shit. I am left with nothing except Necropotence out and at
this point I only have 11 life. I see his Thelon's Chant staring me in
the face and I get scared. I lay a Swamp and start trying to recover. I
go to 8 life. His upkeep he tosses the Chant in the graveyard and
draws. It is then that I remember that the Chant has Upkeep. I pretend
like I knew it the whole time, but I feel stupid for laying a Swamp out.
My deck recovers faster and I pull out a win.
Note: the other Necro-deck in the Tournament was played by a
friend of mine from Rochester and he was playing at the same table that
round. He got his ass kicked by his opponent's R/G deck. I pray that I
don't have to face that guy.
Round Three: Rudy and his R/G Stormbind deck
We got randomly set against each other last round and the
Tournament director John was kind enough to shuffle us. But through some
twist of fate it happened again and John just said sorry, oh well. First
game I get a few Hymns early on and knock out 2 Stormbinds! I feel lucky
and shitty at the same time - this is my friend. I go on to beat him.
Next game he gets Stormbind out on the second turn. My creatures all go
down in a blaze of glory and I follow shortly afterwards. Third game
turns out like the first. Some early turn Hymns make the difference and
I win. I feel bad for Rudy because my record was slightly better than
his at that point and this seriously hurts his chances of getting into
the Finals.
Claude is at 3-6 overall after 3 rounds. His deck is as good as
any W/G deck out there and he has made no playing mistakes. Like I said,
he is simply the most unlucky player on the planet.
Round Four: W/G Armageddon (finally)
I smile on the inside. If I know anything about magic then I
know that my deck can beat an Armageddon deck 9 times out of 10. His
deck plays well and he casts Armageddon multiple times but my deck
recovers virtually as fast as his. Believe it or not, Dry Spell actually
made a HUGE difference in the second game. I drew two in a row and
proceeded to whipe out his creature sources of mana. I win easy in all 3
games. Total record at this point is 10-2. I am undefeated and third
overall. I am going to the finals. Claude had been elimanted by the
Third Round unfortunately. He even swept his last Round. Rudy was on
the bubble but lost 0-3 to a Land Destruction deck. He is ranked like
9th or 10th. Only top 8 go to finals. He takes it pretty well
actually. My friends know their decks are good and that they are good.
Luck is at least 25% of all games and it is something you can't affect.
Finals
------
Round One: W/G Armageddon
I am playing against Pat, a top player from the Rochester area.
He has won numerous type 1 and 2 tournaments all around. I would have
been suprised if he did't make it to the finals. Despite these facts I
don't mind playing him for 2 reasons, I know the EXACT contents of his
deck and plus it is and Armageddon deck! This is the true test my deck
has been waiting for. First game he pulls and 3rd turn Ernham but I just
happen to be holding 2 Bolts - down goes that Djinn. Second game he
pulls another post-Armageddon Ernham. I have no land...hmmm. What the
hell can I do? Well, I'll tell you. Make sure your next 4 cards are
good. They were. I don't remember how I pulled that one out but I did.
I win 3-0. I hear him talking later about how lucky I got. 3rd turn
Ernham? Post-Armageddon Whirling Dervish ALL THREE GAMES? And I got
lucky?!?!? I got about as lucky as he did, maybe.
Round Two: R/G big creature
It was that guy that beat the other Necro deck. I was scared
shitless. First game...land screw - him. Not my fault. I win easy.
Next game I get to see some pissed off Ernhams come to kill me. Two
Strormseekers with a Necropotence out didn't help much either (that's 14
damage for the slow ones out there). Last game he has a few Elves out.
I cast Ishan's Shade with no other creatures out . He draws a Ernham and
casts it. I pretend to get pissed, he is at 5 life. I go, draw, and
say "I'm done". He goes to draw and I casually mention "My Ishan's got
forestwalk." He stops mid-draw and looks at me with a smile of defeat on
his face. He takes a glimpse at his drawn card and looks at me..."That's
game." I am going to the Final match and more importantly
I AM GOING TO CALIFORNIA BABY!
I am ecstatic. I could care less if I win the Finals. I just wanted to
go to California.
Final Match: w/g/B odd deck
I can't quite get a read on this deck. He mentions that he knows
I play Necropotence and is scared of it, um...OK. I guess that helps
me. His deck has elements of a Necro deck and a Armageddon deck. But
with neither Necropotence or Armageddon. It has Autumn Willow, Hymns,
Specters, Disenchants, STP, Land Tax, Ishan's Shade and some other stuff.
??????????????????? How do you play this deck?
I decided not to worry about it because I didn't care. First game I get
a first turn Hymn AND Specter. Pretty cool. I win. After that I find
out that the Final match is best 3 out of 5. OK. Next game he casts
Autumn Willow. I tap out to cast an Order and a Black Knight. He
carefully reads the Order card and looks at my tapped mana and attacks.
I take it. Next turn I untap and start praying for a Disk. His turn and
he pulls a HUGE tactical error...he attacks again. I quickly block with
my first-striking Black Knight and my NOW first-striking Order. He
smacks himself and tosses the Willow in the graveyard. I win in 4 turns.
Next game I fail to realize something simple and am forced into a
stalemate with his Ishan's Shade and my Black Knight and
Specter. I have 2 Mishra's out and 2 Disks in hand. I just keep
attacking with the Specter. He pulls a Bird every other round it seems and
has a Land Tax out so just keeps discarding land. He is at like 23 life
from a previous Ivory Tower. I finally glance at my
Mishra's and my Disk at the same time and realization springs into my
head! I yell "Oh my God! How stupid I've been!" I cast the Disk and
one of my friends Jamie who had been watching the game over my shoulder
said "I wondered how long it'd take you to catch that." I beat the guy
ten turn later with my Mishra's after Disking once again. I won the
Final Match. They were great games. I proceeded to beat Jamie for
mocking me during the Final match. I complained to John that he better
Sponsor me since he was the Tournament director, the local gaming club
owner, AND my friend. He said we'll talk about it. I traded him a pack
of Italian Legends that I won for a bag of Doritos (with the deal that if
he got a Mana Drain he had to give it to me).
I hope to see many of you in California. I will be the one with
the Tales Twice Told tee-shirt on and the black Camel hat. (if John
doesn't make me wear something gay)
Some notes about the deck:
Would've put in the Fountains and the Jalum Tome vs a straight burn deck
but I never faced one. Never once put in the Detonates because I never
saw Serrated Arrows or Icys. Strange. Probably going to move Ishan's
Shade to the main deck. I sideboarded him in so many times.
Good luck to all!
BILL
Sweet Dods
am)
Anyway, congratulations and good luck in Long Beach if you're going.
sweet do...@aol.com
btw- I live ten minutes outside of Syracuse and I can't believe I missed
this.
Jason Seemann
On 16 Apr 1996 05:41:59 GMT, wrho...@newstand.syr.edu (RAW STEAL)
wrote:
>General ideas: I knew W/G Armageddon would be the most popular deck. I
>was right. Out of 64 decks here was the breakdown, roughly. 30-35
>Armageddon decks, 15-20 R/G decks, 2 Necro decks, 5 W/U, 5 other(a.k.a.
>shit) decks. I wanted low casting cost spells. Drain Lifes become
>usefull at about 5 mana, Disk costs 4, rest is 3 or under. Vs Armageddon
>decks I would pull some Drain Lifes and the Disk will wipe out everything
>Armageddon doesn't, which is usually a lot vs these decks.
>
>
Re: 5 other <aka shit> decks
Well thats very open of you..i usually enjoy reading tourney
reports..however..i was turned off by this comment. So..what you are
saying..is that anyone who doesnt COPY an archetype of deck design has
a shitty deck. Well..guess what? Fuck off! Sure..maybe all new decks
aren't as good as the archetypes..but if _someone_ With a little
creativety <i don't expect you to understand about creativity> invents
a new deck that works..good for them..until it reaches archetype
status at which time they, the creative designers, get lumped in with
assholes like you. If you would like to retract yoru statement then
fine..otherwise, this is the most space i desire to waste on you and
your brethren..
To others: Sorry about the explicitives, i am pissed.
Jason Seemann
Maondas on IRC
S. Lewis
In article <31740a26....@news.inet-serv.com>,
Jason Seemann <see...@proteon.inet-serv.com> wrote:
>On 16 Apr 1996 05:41:59 GMT, wrho...@newstand.syr.edu (RAW STEAL)
>wrote:
>
>
>>was right. Out of 64 decks here was the breakdown, roughly. 30-35
>>Armageddon decks, 15-20 R/G decks, 2 Necro decks, 5 W/U, 5 other(a.k.a.
>>shit) decks. I wanted low casting cost spells. Drain Lifes become
>>usefull at about 5 mana, Disk costs 4, rest is 3 or under. Vs Armageddon
>>decks I would pull some Drain Lifes and the Disk will wipe out everything
>>Armageddon doesn't, which is usually a lot vs these decks.
>>
>>
>
>Well thats very open of you..i usually enjoy reading tourney
>reports..however..i was turned off by this comment. So..what you are
>saying..is that anyone who doesnt COPY an archetype of deck design has
>a shitty deck. Well..guess what? Fuck off! Sure..maybe all new decks
>aren't as good as the archetypes..but if _someone_ With a little
>creativety <i don't expect you to understand about creativity> invents
>a new deck that works..good for them..until it reaches archetype
>status at which time they, the creative designers, get lumped in with
>assholes like you. If you would like to retract yoru statement then
>fine..otherwise, this is the most space i desire to waste on you and
>your brethren..
>
>To others: Sorry about the explicitives, i am pissed.
>
>Jason Seemann
>Maondas on IRC
It's allright. You have every right to swear at this guy. It's players
like him who make the game really boring. MY general approach runs like
this:
1. Build a deck that isn't on his list.
2. Find him.
3. Kick his ass. Preferably in a tournament.
4. Inform him of where he stands in relation to your shit deck.
Besides,, It doesn't even seem that R/W has hit where he plays.
Later,
KaosKnight
Greg Hunt
Jason Seemann (see...@proteon.inet-serv.com) wrote:
: On 16 Apr 1996 05:41:59 GMT, wrho...@newstand.syr.edu (RAW STEAL)
: wrote:
: >General ideas: I knew W/G Armageddon would be the most popular deck. I
: >was right. Out of 64 decks here was the breakdown, roughly. 30-35
: >Armageddon decks, 15-20 R/G decks, 2 Necro decks, 5 W/U, 5 other(a.k.a.
: >shit) decks. I wanted low casting cost spells. Drain Lifes become
: >usefull at about 5 mana, Disk costs 4, rest is 3 or under. Vs Armageddon
: >decks I would pull some Drain Lifes and the Disk will wipe out everything
: >Armageddon doesn't, which is usually a lot vs these decks.
: >
: >
: Re: 5 other <aka shit> decks
: Well thats very open of you..i usually enjoy reading tourney
: reports..however..i was turned off by this comment. So..what you are
: saying..is that anyone who doesnt COPY an archetype of deck design has
: a shitty deck. Well..guess what? Fuck off! Sure..maybe all new decks
: aren't as good as the archetypes..but if _someone_ With a little
: creativety <i don't expect you to understand about creativity> invents
: a new deck that works..good for them..until it reaches archetype
: status at which time they, the creative designers, get lumped in with
: assholes like you. If you would like to retract yoru statement then
: fine..otherwise, this is the most space i desire to waste on you and
: your brethren..
: To others: Sorry about the explicitives, i am pissed.
: Jason Seemann
: Maondas on IRC
Rofl, you are not the only one that RAW STEAL (aka Bill Hodack) has pissed off.
He seems to have this beautiful knack for being obnoxiously arrogant, stupid,
and shitfaced, yet he never notices it. You can always identify him in a
tournament, because he'll be the one losing, but saying "your deck sucks". He
did that pretty nicely when a fellow Ithacan, Dave Price, kicked his butt in
the finals of a lotus tourny. After the game, he told a bunch of people "blah
blah, his deck sucks". Shrug, oh well. That's enough bandwidth wasted on the
charming characteristics of the oh so manly RAW STEAL!!
Greg
Jack Madison
Jason Seemann (see...@proteon.inet-serv.com) wrote:
: On 16 Apr 1996 05:41:59 GMT, wrho...@newstand.syr.edu (RAW STEAL)
: wrote:
: >General ideas: I knew W/G Armageddon would be the most popular deck. I
: >was right. Out of 64 decks here was the breakdown, roughly. 30-35
: >Armageddon decks, 15-20 R/G decks, 2 Necro decks, 5 W/U, 5 other(a.k.a.
: >shit) decks. I wanted low casting cost spells. Drain Lifes become
: >usefull at about 5 mana, Disk costs 4, rest is 3 or under. Vs Armageddon
: >decks I would pull some Drain Lifes and the Disk will wipe out everything
: >Armageddon doesn't, which is usually a lot vs these decks.
: >
: >
: Re: 5 other <aka shit> decks
: Well thats very open of you..i usually enjoy reading tourney
: reports..however..i was turned off by this comment. So..what you are
: saying..is that anyone who doesnt COPY an archetype of deck design has
: a shitty deck. Well..guess what? Fuck off! Sure..maybe all new decks
: aren't as good as the archetypes..but if _someone_ With a little
: creativety <i don't expect you to understand about creativity> invents
: a new deck that works..good for them..until it reaches archetype
: status at which time they, the creative designers, get lumped in with
: assholes like you. If you would like to retract yoru statement then
: fine..otherwise, this is the most space i desire to waste on you and
: your brethren..
: To others: Sorry about the explicitives, i am pissed.
I'd have to agree here. I currently have a couple decks put together,
one a Black/Green Necro-using deck and a W/R Armageddon deck. The
B/G isn't the "standard" Necro deck, no hymms, no pump-knights, but
it does have a couple disks and uses a similar (not same) strategy.
My W/R deck has armageddon, Serra's, dragon whelps, plus the standard
disenchants, STP, and direct damage from Red. Also a similar strategy
of get out a big/medium creature (all flyers in this case), then wipe
out opponents creatures and land, then attack unmolested. With all the
talk on the group about Necro decks and Armageddon decks I have decided
to take mine apart, never to use them again. I'd like to think I'm creative
enough to make a deck unlike the other common decks that can still compete.
In fact, I'm working on a straight green deck because of all the "straight
green sucks" posts that went around recently. Basically what I am saying
is that I'm bored of hearing about those "standard" decks, don't want to
play anything similar, and am insulted by someone who would call my deck
a "shit" deck because I didn't create it with a cookie-cutter.
Note: If you were calling these other decks "shit" decks because they
were crummy and not because they were different then ignore this message.
Jack
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e-mail: jmad...@netcom.com
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