I started things off Friday afternoon by leaving work at 3 a.m. and making $30 (entry fee? how convenient!) by driving 650 pounds of clay and glazes home to mom. When I got there, we had meatloaf for dinner, which also means, that’s right, meatloaf sandwiches for lunch on Saturday. Yes!
Saturday started off with the aforementioned sandwiches—sometimes it’s the simple pleasures. When Jerry arrived in the Malice of Retribution with Nam, Juan, and Angel as crewmen, it was off to the Toledo System and the homeworld of Twaun P. Pownerton. On the way, we stopped at waypoint Hero Zone. I bought Caustic Wasps with gift certificates because Caustic Wasps are secret tech and gift certificates are like money but free.
An hour later in Toledo the games started, and Anthony and I started a Master Lock Challenge match for the ages, with a toast of Jameson Irish Whiskey. Another game and another toast and we were off to J. Alexanders for some fine steaks. I had mine with bleu cheese and a side of baked potato, all followed up with a gigantor slice of chocolate cake.
Back at Twaun’s apartment, he and I finished up our Master Lock match while others playtested or took tests for online networking classes. Though the match ended at 3-2 in Twaun’s favor, I feel it was a valiant effort. He is a worthy competitor and retained the belt even after a subsequent match with Angel with a surprising 4-0 record.
A few more games of testing and some Jameson and Coke (also Hypnotiq, which even Twaun now admits tastes like dog bath) and it was time for sleeping.
In the morning, once everyone was awake and ready, we headed to Livonia, Michigan and the Bob Evans Restaurant there, where I wrote out my decklist on the back of my placemat, in crayon—color coded. This time the card I forgot was Lotus Petal, which would come back to haunt me. Remember that.
After breakfast, we made it to RIW on time, registered, greeted friends and got ready to play.
4x Goblin Charbelcher
4x Empty the Warrens
1x Memory Jar
1x Wheel of Fortune
2x Living Wish
4x Goblin Welder
3x Red Elemental Blast
2x Pyroblast
5x Moxen
4x Tinder Wall
4x Rite of Flame
4x Elvish Spirit Guide
4x Simian Spirit Guide
4x Land Grant
1x Black Lotus
1x Lion’s Eye Diamond
1x Lotus Petal
1x Sol Ring
1x Mana Crypt
1x Mana Vault
1x Grim Monolith
1x Chrome Mox
1x Channel
1x Taiga
4x Street Wraith
Sideboard
4x Tarmogoyf
3x Seething Song
1x Mishra’s Workshop
1x Tolarian Academy
1x Ancient Tomb
1x Taiga
1x Bazaar of Baghdad
1x Storm Entity
1x Gorilla Shaman
1x Ingot Chewer
As always, RIW was great. My only complaint is that it was so cold in the tournament room all day. Though I didn’t get a chance to have any, the mostacholi and chicken they served smelled awesome. And they gave me my dollar back after I lost one in the pop machine!
Round 1 – Dan – UG Canada Fish
I think I usually get paired up against a Canadian in round one in Michigan, either that or Mark Trogdon. Since Trogdon wasn’t there today, it had to be a Canadian. I didn’t get much time to talk to my opponent, but I’d seen him at previous RIW tournaments before. He was a nice guy, but I could tell he was disappointed at having this matchup afterward.
We started off game one with him on the play, and he led with Tropical Island and a Nimble Mongoose. I knew that since he was playing Fish I had to be wary of Force of Will, but I had Welder as a possible bait spell. So I played Welder, Rite of Flame, Rite of Flame, and Emptied the Warrens for eight tokens. He drew his card for turn and scooped.
I shuffled in 15 cards and sideboard out the same 15, leaving me with the same maindeck.
When I received my deck from him after cutting, I accidentally knocked over the top few cards, clearly revealing Mox Ruby. Dan was nice enough to let me shuffle again and re-present, no problem.
He mulliganed in game two and opened unhappily with a Mishra’s Factory. I opened with Ruby, Rite of Flame, Rite of Flame, Sol Ring, Belcher and Welder, all of which he allowed. He drew, played a blue source and passed. I drew my card for turn (in case I pulled Taiga or Land Grant) and activated Belcher, which elicited a Stifle from my opponent. He drew his card for turn and scooped.
Games – 2-0-0; Matches – 1-0-0
Round 2 – Bruce Dow – Long Combo
Bruce and I seem to play each other at every tournament we both attend. As such, we know each other pretty well, and the matches are friendly and fun. The last time was Chicago SCG Day 1 when he was playing Trinket Fish with Dreadnaughts and I made a couple of game-killing mistakes with my own fish build. I have a feeling this might be the first time I’ve beaten him (oops, spoiled a surprise!).
I won the die roll and elected to go first, leading with Black Lotus as a bait spell, which resolved. The subsequent Lotus Petal, Rite of Flame, Mox Emerald resolved as well, and I pitched Elvish Spirit Guide from my hand to play Belcher and activated with Lotus for the win.
“That was not how this was supposed to go,” said Bruce.
I shuffled in my sideboard and took out all of it plus two Living Wishes and a Goblin Welder, leaving in the three Seething Songs.
On the play, he Thoughtseized me and took Lotus Petal, keeping me off the red mana I need to play a threatening Empty the Warrens (or Empty the Warrens at all). I drew and passed, and he got a setup turn that led to Yawgmoth’s Bargain. Realizing I’m on the ropes and drawing a red-source, I Emptied the Warrens for eight guys. It was too late, however, and Bruce’s insane card-advantage engine gave him the game at two life.
Game three saw me play a turn one Belcher with plenty of activation mana for turn two and a Welder in my hand. My opponent, knowing the fix he’s in Tinkered away a Mana Crypt and deliberated a while over what to get. We both knew his two options were Platinum Angel, which would buy him a turn but probably wouldn’t get him past the inevitable Belcher activation or the Welder in my hand, or Memory Jar, which gave him the possibility to win right now. He went for Jar and whiffed. I got the game.
Games – 4-1-0; Matches – 2-0-0
Round 3 – Nam Q. Tram – Mono Red Shop Aggro
Nam and I both wanted to win this since whoever did would be 3-0-0 and woould be able to draw into the Top 8. That meant we both wanted to win the die roll real bad. Deciding on two 20-siders and the high roll, I got a 17 and an 18, easily beating him.
We were friends. We played games. We had fun.
Games – 6-2-0; Matches 3-0-0
Round 4 – Just kidding, just kidding… I can’t not tell about this match.
I opened game one on the play and Emptied the Warrens for 10 guys off of three moxes (Jet, Emerald, and Sapphire), which was pretty cool, especially considering I still had Wheel of Fortune in my hand and the mana to play it. Nam went with the blocker route and played Black Lotus for a Mox Monkey and two Welders. Then he played a Mana Crypt and ate my moxes. I attacked for 10 and he blocked two (losing Monkey and a Welder), going to 12. He played another Mox Monkey and passed.
Next turn I drew Black Lotus, which would allow me to cast Wheel once again. I attacked and he blocked another token with his sacrificial simian, going to five. I stupidly played the Lotus and Wheel with some mana floating, attempting to end the game now. Unfortunately, my Wheel came up bankrupt, and I’d basically just refilled my opponent’s hand. How good.
Luckily, the pressure of my original Goblin horde was still enough, and Nam packed it in after another two attacks.
I sideboarded, shuffling the whole thing in as before, this time taking out the red blasts and Living Wishes for four Tarmogoyfs, two Seething Songs, and an extra Taiga.
On the play, Nam made a Thorn of Amethyst and passed the turn. Though this is the weakest Sphere against me, it was good enough to limit my decision to either waiting two turns on an Empty the Warrens hand (and subsequently getting a miniscule Warrens) or pitching two Spirit Guides and playing Tarmogoyf. I played the Goyf as a 0/1 powerhouse of pain. Nam played a Magus of the Moon, then a Solemn Simulacrum, then a Solemn Simulacrum, then another Magus. In the meantime, after a few turns of draw-go, I’d seen nothing that would let me put an offense together. Nam won the attacker race eleventybillion to one and ran me down.
Game three, on the play, I opened with Taiga, ESG, Channeled into Belcher. If that didn’t kill him (it did), I had another Belcher in my hand.
That is how you beat 9-Sphere decks with Belcher: win the die roll, then Channel the living piss out of them.
Unfortunately, my win didn’t work out for either of us as we both ended up having to play next round.
Games – 6-2-0; Matches 3-0-0
Round 4 – Ben Perry – Long Combo
Ben Perry and I used to talk about Belcher all the time until he turned traitor and started running Dark Rituals and Tendrils. He’s a good guy and one of my favorite people to talk to about Magic. Plus, he’s planning on going to Sandusky in February, and that makes him a-okay in my book.
On the play in game one, I played Living Wish for Storm Entity, cast it off of two moxes, and attacked for six. Unfortunately, this wasn’t quite fast enough, as Ben opened with Lotus and Time Walk, then Pondered and played Imperial Seal into Ancestral. On his Time Walk turn (already at 11 life) he played Vampiric Tutor, likely for Yawgmoth’s Will, and Ancestrals. He passed the turn. I attacked him down to three and, knowing I had to win now, played Memory Jar and cracked it. I found nothing and he won on his next turn with a huge Yawgmoth’s Will.
As before I sided in the Seething Songs for Living Wishes and Goblin Welder.
Again, I’m on the play, but I mulliganed to five and only cycled Street Wraith before passing the turn. Our hands turned out to both be slow, and his got slower when his Memory Jar whiffed. Next turn, I was able to make six goblin tokens, but couldn’t fight through his Echoing Truth backed up by double Force of Will. I was hoping to get a Welder to Weld in Jar and win, but I didn’t. He hardcast Platinum Angel and went all the way with it.
Games – 6-4-0; Matches 3-1-0
I was able to draw intentionally into the Top 8 from there.
By this time I was super tired and hungry. I had a water and tried to relax, but it was too noisy and I was still hungry.
I made it into the Top 8 at eighth place.
Games – 6-4-0; Matches 3-1-1
Top 8 – Josh Franklin – Tog
Though he didn’t remember it, Josh Franklin and I had played each other before, and a somewhat similar matchup to boot. It was back in the summer, just after Gush’s unrestriction, and I was playing Belcher versus his GAT deck. I beat him in two games, and showed him this with my trusty Moleskine—intimidation tactics? Josh is a nice guy and a definite challenge in the first round of Top 8.
Josh was on the play in game one, mulliganed, and led with an Underground Sea and some mana artifacts. I played a turn one Belcher after he Forced (pitching Time Walk) my Land Grant to shut off the Red Elemental Blast in my hand. At the end of my turn he played Intuition and got Accumulated Knowledges. He AK’d on his turn and drew a bunch of cards, then played Merchant Scroll for Cunning Wish, passing the turn. I drew the mana source I needed and fired Belcher for the win.
My deck stayed the same for game two.
This game was fairly epic. He played a blue source and a Mox Ruby, while I was able to Empty the Warrens for 16 goblins after my opponent played Force of Will and Accumulated Knowledge to boost my storm count. Unfortunately, he had Echoing Truth. That pretty much emptied his hand, however, and my next draw was Pyroblast, l’esprit de l’escalier that countered his Ancestral Recall.
We played draw-go for a while, and he took some damage from his Mana Crypt before he killed it with Ancient Grudge. I Welded it back in, but he Grudged it again, removing it permanently from the game with Psychatog. His draw engine wasn’t working, though, and even when he Merchant Scrolled for Intuition for his last three Accumulated Knowledges, his Tog wasn’t lethal.
Finally, I drew Goblin Charbelcher, and, though he countered it, I was able to Weld it back in and win a turn later.
Games – 8-4-0; Matches 4-1-1
Top 4 – Charley – Slaver
Charley seemed friendly, though I can’t remember having seen him before at RIW or anywhere else. It was a pleasure meeting him, and even better meeting him in the top four. Unfortunately for me, Slaver is one of the harder matchups to face, and Charley was the 411 Answer Man all day apparently, having beaten Twaun and knocked him out of the Top 8.
He was on the draw in game one and mulliganed to four while I played a turn one uncountered Belcher with two moxes (Sapphire and Emerald) as potential mana. He drew, played a land, and passed on his first turn. I drew not a useable mana source. He drew, played another land, and played Engineered Explosives, blowing up my moxes.
What a kick in the junk. Literally half of the cards in my deck would have been useable to fire Belcher with those two moxes on the table, and I could not find one of them.
Oh well. We continue to play draw-go and eventually he played Welder, Welded in Slaver and Slaved me, killing me with my own Belcher.
I did not sideboard.
For game two I keep a hand that relied on Land Grant resolving to play Empty the Warrens, and that didn’t happen. A couple of turns later, I was able to Empty the Warrens for six, but they only got one attack before Charley Slaved me and Echoing Truthed them. We continued playing draw-go as he waited for another artifact to weld, but Slaver got there when he was able to make me cast Channel (off the treacherous Lotus Petal I drew as a second green source!) and kill myself.
Games – 8-6-0; Matches 4-2-1
Third Place – Ben Perry, Epic Rematch – Long Combo
I have decided it is always a pleasure to play friends when you’re both guaranteed a piece of power no matter what the outcome.
The die fell my way and I kept a risky hand of two Empty the Warrens, three Street Wraith, and a Simian Spirit Guide figuring that two of the cyclers at least should get me mana sources, and I might be able to get there. Unfortunately, no. I started the game at 14 life and passed the turn. Ben Duressed my Lotus Petal and Force of Will’d the Tinder Wall I tried to play on turn two that would have let me play Empty the Warrens.
Fortunately for me, all of the countermeasures my opponent used emptied his hand and slowed him down. I managed to Empty the Warrens for four tokens, got in for 12 damage, then emptied them again for six to put lethal on the board.
“I guess I have to win now,” said Ben. He drew his card and looked at it, tapped a Swamp and windmill slammed it into play—Dark Ritual, Dark Ritual, Dark Ritual, Black Lotus, Hurkyl’s Recalled himself, Black Lotus, Chain of Vapor Black Lotus, Black Lotus, sac Black Lotus, pass the turn. Nice!
I sideboarded in the Seething Songs for a Welder and two Living Wishes.
I mulliganed twice in game two and Ben mulliganed once, opening with a Needle on Belcher versus my Welder. Though it took him a while to set up, he got Bargain into play. That was pretty much it. I don’t think I did much except for attack with Welder a couple of times and get Duressed.
In game three, I started off with two more mulligans, and was forced to pass with no action on turn on. Ben’s hand was good enough to Thoughtseize any action I had (Elvish Spirit Guide in this case) and play Ancestral Recall. Then he Duressed my Empty the Warrens and played Pithing Needle on Belcher on turn two. I was dead in the water when he topdecked Yawgmoth’s Will and blew me away.
Games – 9-7-0; Matches 4-3-1
Ben wanted the Time Walk, so I took home a Mox Sapphire for my troubles. That seems pretty good. That probably puts me $250 ahead on the weekend, at least. Speaking of which, anyone want to buy a lightly used Mox Sapphire?
From my notes, the numbers read like this:
Successful Belches or scoops in the face of imminent combustion: 6I’ll write up some thoughts on the matchups and sideboarding later. For right now, I still don’t think Seething Song is right. I’m not sure what’s better, but there was never really a time where I necessarily wanted Song in my hand or had to topdeck that to win.
Empty the Warrens tokens created: 64
Storm Entities: 6/6
Mulligans: 8 (All against Ben Perry? That can’t possibly be right.)
Die rolls won: 5
First games won: 5
Second games won: 2 (Both two game matches.)
Third games won: 2
Games won by Goblin Welder: 1
For now, I think I’ll just say that it feels great. I’m sorry I was too tired to really enjoy it last night, but it is an awesome feeling to actually take home power. I wish it had been from first place, but, oh well. I’ve still got some time.
Thanks to everyone who was there, Twaun for hosting, and Jerry for driving and telling me repeatedly to play Belcher. I’m really glad all my friends play Stax and not counterspells, hah!
Anyway, I’m sure I’ll see all of you at the Hero Zone in another week and a half, right?
Second Saturday Vintage Tournaments
The Hero Zone
127 E. Market St.
Sandusky, OH
419-621-0282
www.theherozone.com
All tournaments are full-proxy, and everyone who enters will get a free premium or signed card or proxy just for signing up!
February 9, 2008
Registration - 12 noon
Tournament - 1 pm
Cost - $15
Prize - Full cash payout of entry fees awarded to top four
1st: 50%
2nd: 30%
3rd: 10%
4th: 10%
How awesome is that? Everyone who goes to one of these tournaments ends up becoming a rock star and being elected to major political office, by the way. You’ll have more sex and more money than ever before, too.
You should come; it’ll be fun.
3 comments:
<3
That was me. :)
8 mulligans for the double win... hah hah. You are a hell of an opponent.
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