razvan
03-13-2012, 06:25 PM
First, congratulations to Nathan Zamora for owning up SCG: Dallas-FW. First after swiss, and won it all. Good job to see Aggro Loam doing well.
Also, congratulations to Pascal Maynard, the end-boss of Canadian magic for top-8ing, too bad you fell to the end boss of GP:Indy, Tom Martell (grats to him too :P).
I played this list to a 85th place finish, going 10-5.
4 Dark Confidant
4 Scavenging Ooze
3 Terravore
2 Grim Lavamancer
2 Liliana of the Veil
2 Seismic Assault
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Life from the Loam
2 Maelstrom Pulse
2 Engineered Explosives
1 Sylvan Library
4 Mox Diamond
4 Wasteland
4 Wooded Foothills
3 Badlands
3 Taiga
2 Bloodstained Mire
2 Forgotten Cave
2 Tranquil Thicket
2 Forest
1 Mountain
1 Barbarian Ring
1 Volrath's Stronghold
1 Bayou
Sideboard
3 Pyroblast
2 Devastating Dreams
4 Leyline of the Void
4 Sphere of Resistance
2 Ancient Grudge
So overall, the deck was really doing great. I mulliganned a fair number of times, and I top-decked and failed to top-deck about the same amount of times. I actually tried focusing for this event, and I think that also helped (realllly???).
I managed to get zero hours of sleep since Friday morning, so that didn't help me in any way. I was just hoping I wouldn't lose my deck.
I started the day with 3 byes, so I used that time to smoke, mill around, watch what my friends were doing, and just to see what people are playing. I saw a lot of Maverick, which was great because I think I have at least an ok match-up, a lot of UW Stoneblade (ditto), and of course various ways to cast Delver of Secrets. Also, there was a bit too much bloody combo for my liking. Stupid combo decks.
Anyway, round 4 hits, and I actually have to start working for my wins (gasp!).
Round 4 - Alisha - Elves
Sometimes, before a round, I try guessing what my opponent is playing. It never works out. Alisha is 3-0 without any byes, and we talk a bit while the announcements are going on, and for some bizarre reason, I put her on Affinity. I figure, you need a bit of luck and such to do well, so I hoped that my lucky guess would pay off, and Alisha seemed like a person that would play Affinity.
She opens with Forest, Fyndhorn Elves.
Crap on a stick. I never really tested against Elves, nor can I possibly prepare for it too much, and hope that since I kept a hand that's good vs. Affinity (lots of removal), it will help me out.
So I bolt, Pulse and Lavamancer everything, and my Engineered Explosives are a 4-1 and 3-1, and still barely get there game 1.
Seriously, I killed 4 elves, and she's like... "Ok, no problem, here are 4 more". She makes a few good plays circumventing as much of my destruction as possible, but finally a rather large Ooze gets there, having eaten MANY of the dead elves.
Game 2, she just comboes off, and I watch the interactions a bit just to see what else she has. At some point she has 30 elves and I ask her what she's looking for and she says Emrakul. Ok, all I needed.
She sided in Thorn of Amethysts, and I sided in Sphere of Resistances, so things cost a lot, and she still made a billion things through all that (mind you, Thorn only affects her GSZ/Glimpse). Damn Elves.
Game 3, I land an early Confidant, I believe, and nuke her Dryad Arbor that she GSZed for, and she doesn't draw a land for a while. I can deal with one elf a turn pretty good, I even had Devastating Dreams in hand if things would have gotten out of hand.
4-0 (2-1 this game)
Round 5 - Shawn - Sneak and Show
4-1 (0-2 this game)
Yeaaaaaaaaaappp... so game 1, Shawwn opens up with Arid Mesa, Go. What is this man playing, Zoo without having dropped something Turn 1? Boy howdy, I can win that since I have 2 bolts and Life from the Loam in hand, and a Confidant, just in case.
Then turn 2, he goes land, double fetch, Lotus Petal, Seething Song, Sneak Attack, Emrakul.
Well. Played. Sir.
Then precisely the same play on game 2, except off an Ancient Tomb.
FFS. This was fun. I look at the clock and there is like 43 minutes left in the round or something. We chat for a bit and he tells me he's not running Force of Wills, since he probably can't fight as easily through Dazes and Pierces and such, but Trinispheres. Interesting.
Round 6 - Nicholas - Goblins
Nicholas is probably one of the quietest people I met all weekend, but very nice and polite. He also Tarfired my turn 1 Dark Confidant, which made me like him a hell of a lot less.
However, I manage to get his Lackey with a bolt or something, then get an Ooze that's pretty chunky. I continue to kill his threats, eat them, up, then swing.
Game 2 I bring in Ancient Grudges because I saw an Aether Vial, and 2 Devastating Dreams.
I trade a Confidant for his Lackey (any day of the week!), then get an Ooze down, while he gets land-flooded a bit too much to be able to deal with my disruption. He is actually forced to hard-cast a Siege-Gang Commander into my Grim Lavamancer, to at least be able to do something, maybe have blockers for the Ooze.
I also get a warning for playing 2 lands a turn, because I forgot about a stupid Wasteland 3 Dredges before. Nicholas lets me call the judge myself.
He also tells me to relax a bit and take my time doing things, instead of rushing and making mistakes. I was exhausted, and didn't even realize that it could have dire consequences.
I show him the Ancient Grudges, and he tells me they are terrible against him, which I agree, and should have kept the Terravores in there too. I treated his deck like Burn, and not like Goblins, which is foolish.
I wish him luck, and I am not surprised at all to see him having made Day 2. I am slightly surprised to see him with a better record than me on Day 2.
5-1 (2-0 this game)
Round 7 - Mike - GW Maverick
Ah, yes, Maverick. Finally, something I came prepared for.
Mike starts off with a Mulligan and GSZ for Dryad Arbor, but I waste the land and bolt the Arbor (I think this is how the turn went). He gets stuck on land, and I simply overwhelm him very quickly.
Game 2, he swords an early Confidant, but then again gets hurt by Bolts and Wastelands on his mana creatures, always being one turn short of doing something big. He gets an Ooze in play, and as do I, and there is this situation:
Mike: 2/2 Ooze, one green mana open
Me: 2/2 Ooze, Mox Diamond, Barbarian Ring, Taiga
There is only a hierarch or something in his GY I believe. I need to topdeck a red or green source that comes into play untapped. I do so, then proceed to Devastating Dreams for 2, and remove the Hierarch with the Ooze. He cannot remove it in response because of my green mana, so he removes the Ancient Grudge instead. This kills his ooze, and his lands.
He topdecks a Hierarch, which I Devastating Dreams again for 1, killing another land, and my last land. I end the game with One Mox Diamond and a 5/5 Ooze. I couldn't draw another land to save my life.
Very close, and I think this match-up simply comes down to who has a better mana-base, and keeping his Knight off the table.
Damn Knight of the Reliquary.
6-1 (2-0 this game)
Round 8 - Larry - Burn
20-18-16-13-11-(10-4-1-0)
20-19-17-15-(11-7-4-0)
6-2 (0-2 this game)
This were my life totals from the games. The things in brackets are all on the last turn.
There really isn't that much to say. I cannot beat burn in literally, a billion years. Yes, the infinite monkey theory at some point will tell me that they could mulligan to 1 without finding a land in two games, but that's just about the end of it.
Damn burn. I congratulate Larry on making day 2. Sam Black next to me (I didn't know that was Sam though) comtemplates on how Sphere is bad against burn, to which I agree with, and suggest pretty good alternatives (Zuran Orb). I thought about it, but it's just such a narrow card...
***********************************
As an interlude, and this is a theme for me, I have been very lucky in my magic career to always play against fun people. I cannot think of a single person in recent memory that was a jerk, unpleasant, angry beyond reason, or anything.
As such, I usually go out of my way to joke around and banter with my opponents, not to jedi mind trick them, but just to have some fun and defuse the tension of a big event. Most comply, and even those few that don't, at least nod and smile politely :P.
Larry even went beyond that, and despite my completely sleep deprived state, I remember him cracking jokes right back, and making this round actually fun.
Keep in mind, I lost a win-and-in to Day 2, I lost to Burn, a deck I loathe and can't ever beat, and I still had some fun.
So yeah.
***********************************
Losing sucks. I hate losing, and the fact that I knew I couldn't beat burn doesn't make it any better.
I am at 6-2, another round of win-and-in, and I keep thinking how much it would suck to have 3 byes, again, fail to make day 2, and lose 2 rounds of win-and-in.
I go talk to Lukas Siow, and tell him my tilting, and he's like... "Don't worry about it, you'll just win your last round and be in day 2."
Alright, I actually feel better. I go have a smoke (god knows I had enough time, since that match took little more than 21 seconds), mill around and just try to relax.
At this point, the announcement that the Day 2 will start at 9am, not 10am, and we will lose an hour due to the stupid Daylight Savings Time (seriously, fuck Daylight Savings Time). So if I lose, I get to sleep in. Not bad. Hey, silver lining.
Round 9 is about to start.
Ok, which sucker... I mean player... will feel my unholy wrath! I am pumped now!
Adam Prosak.
One of the best players, the Invitational champ, a man that has won multiple SCG events. All this while fighting for the last chance at a day 2 spot.
FFS.
Round 9 - Adam - Dredge
Adam sits down across from me (I guess, as opposed to sitting down somewhere else?), and we start rolling dice to see who goes first.
This went on for like 2-3 minutes, while we kept tying. As I told Adam, I expected to fight tooth and nail for this... but not starting at the damn die roll.
I was ok playing against Dredge, however, and I assumed Adam was on dredge. Great player or not, I am prepared for this. I can side in 10 very live cards against him, 4 of which are the bomb, and the spheres would make it nearly impossible for him to get rid of the Leylines. Furthermore, there are 4 Scavenging Oozes maindeck. I also have 4 Zombie Sweepers, as well as bolts and Terravores.
Ah, Terravores.
Anyway, I win the die roll 4-3. I won quite a few die-rolls this weekend, but none that took this freaking long.
I open a hand with 3 lands, one of which being a wasteland and a cycler, Terravore, Mox Diamond, Maelstrom Pulse and something else. I wish it had an Ooze, but it's sometimes not worth risking it, mulliganning that away.
Adam also mulligans to 5, which is helpful. He keeps a rather slow hand, and his dredges don't help very much. I cast a turn 2 Terravore, he dredges again, hitting very little. I attack him (the Terravore is a 5/5), and cast a second one that I just top-decked.
He dredges and gets somewhat better results, 2 bridges, a narcomoeba, and the Ichorid he dredged before. He attacks with his Ichorid and 2/2 Putrid Imp into my untapped 6/6 Terravore.
So now I start thinking. I know that I have him if my Terravores don't die. He is at 14, the Terravores are 6/6 each. He will get 2 Zombies from the Bridge, then 2 more when the Narcomoeba dies in my attack. He will go down to 3, (I mistakenly said 1), and I can pulse the Zombies, leaving him with the Imp, Ichorid, and whatever he can dredge next turn. He has to get a Narcomoeba, and a Dread Return, and then get 6 Zombies. Even then, that's barely enough to cover the current Terravores, which grow bigger with every land he dredges.
But if I block the Ichorid, he might have tricks. That's the thing about playing Dredge. I have so in Vintage since it was legal, and the deck messes with your mind. It makes you do things that are esoteric, in order to make the deck better. I have played Fiery Temper. Firestorm and Lightning Bolt do exist. Should I block, and risk the Terravore dying, or should I go to 12. 15 and 12 are a world of difference. He has 5 damage on the table in Ichorid and Imp, and he will have 4 zombies next turn. This means that if something goes wrong, 15 is enough to live and 12 is not.
But I cannot risk the Terravore dying. So I simply take the 5 and go to 12. As expected, I attack with the 6/6s (can't buy a wasteland or anything), he blocks with the Narcomoeba, goes down to 3, and I nuke the Zombies with the Maelstrom Pulse.
Insane.
Game 2 is very brief. I think Adam kept a hand of Land, LED, Faithless and Breakthrough, but I have a Turn 0 Leyline. He just grins and tells me he won't even bother trying to fight through that, assuming that I have a creature in my deck that can beat him (I had an Ooze).
Despite getting bad beats in game 1, and me opening game 2 with 7 cards and Leyline, Adam was cheerful and very nice throughout both games. He was one of the people I was hoping to meet at this event, and I was not disappointed in doing so.
7-2 (2-0 this game)
So yeah, day 2!
I don't get much sleep... again :(.
Round 10 - Alex - Affinity
Affinity is one of those decks that I hate playing against. They are fast, resilient, and you cannot over-commit hate against it, because that will cut down your other game percentages. It would be nice to have 4 Ancient Grudges against them, however.
I drew none in either game, and it was finished by an Etched Champion with either 1 or 2 cranial plating. I did draw a number of bolts that killed his Signal Pests and other stuff, but I was never really in it. He did 20 damage with one attack with one creature game 1, and 10 damage twice in game 2.
Disappointing start.
7-3 (0-2 this game)
The one notable thing about last round: the first blue spell was cast against me this entire event! Thoughtcast. Solid!
Round 11 - Dennis - RUG
RUG is a problematic match-up, but it is one I do not mind. I had some reservations when testing, but after I changed the deck a bit, it was better. One of the keys is keeping removal and a solid mana-base. Also, do not walk into Daze when you do not have to.
The first two games are blow-outs. I win game 1 without him doing anything but hitting me with a Delver (and me doing no damage to him, but just blowing up his lands and creatures), and game 2, is the exact opposite. He gets quick pressure and never lets up.
Game 3 was somewhat disappointing. We both kept good hands, but I couldn't draw another land for about 5 turns, and all my goodies were stuck in my hand. A clutch wasteland on his part did not help me. I needed a land, and drew THREE Mox Diamonds, Dark Confidant, and Liliana.
However, I did draw a land finally, my 3rd, and could stop his onslaught of Tarmogoyf and Snapcaster, with the Terravore, but he Submerged it. I recast it when I was at 8 life, to his Tarmogoyf and Snapcaster and Mongoose. It was smaller than the Goyf, so I blocked the Mongoose I believe (things sort of run together at this point). Anyway, after one more attack, I am at 1 life, but somehow, a second Terravore joins my board, staring down his Goyf and Snapcaster.
My hand is pretty stacked, but then he stands up and calls a judge.
I sort of realize what he is trying to do: he had a Submerge in the GY, and 3 mana in play, and was wondering if he can Snapcaster the Submerge, but he didn't want to give me extra information. I know you cannot, but I sort of sigh as the Snapcaster alone means death unless I get yet ANOTHER land (that comes into play untapped, and not a fetchland) to cast Liliana. I can cast Confidant if I don't, but at ONE life, that's not exactly great.
I draw... Bayou!
Sweet Merciful McGillicuddy!
I cast Liliana with Daze mana up, my last and best hope. Obi-Wan that shit!
Dennis, of course, has Spell Pierce. I didn't see it at all, and I was hoping he wouldn't play FoW, Daze, Pierce AND Snare, but what can you do?
But that is life. Dennis was a great opponent and we wish each other luck, We sort of meet again throughout the day and I think our records are very similar.
7-4 (1-2 this game)
Not exactly the way I wanted this to go. 0-2ing, well on my way to 0-6ing, is very unfortunate. But, I plow on. Funny enough, if I win one more game, I will be at 297 PWP for the season, 3 short of getting an invite to Canadian Nationals. All points coming from the GPT and this GP. Heh.
Round 12 - AJ Sacher - U/R
Yeah. After losing two rounds, you do not wish to face AJ. I have always admired his plays and his articles, and he was another player I wanted to meet this weekend. I sort of kept seeing him around (he is not difficult to see, tall, colored hair :P). I know he is playing U/R, but I am sort of unsure about the match-up, I think I am ok, but the deck can just run away with it. I have to expend every resource in stopping his creatures. EE for 1 to kill a Goblin Guide is good enough, and beware of stifle (I don't know if he played it).
So anyway, AJ tells me he is sick, and he looks incredibly pale. Still, it's AJ Sacher, so it won't be easy. Ok, deck, don't fail me now!
Game 1, I keep a hand with Ligthning Bolt, Mox Diamond, Seismic Assault, 3 lands and an Ooze. If he doesn't have a Force of Will for the Assault, that will go all the way, especially if I luck-sack into a Life from the Loam later on. However, every land I draw is a Shock anyway, and the rest is removal.
And Scavenging Oozes, which I get one and start eating his dead creatures. I start gaining some life with the ooze, while his Goblin Guides reveal lands. I don't think a single Guide bricked on my end, so I got lucky on that one.
AJ is forced to use 2 burn spells to kill the Ooze, but by then I drew a Life from the Loam and I am able to combo him out, and I have enough just in time before he starts throwing everything at me.
Game 2, he again starts with a Guide that reveals a land, then I bolt it after revealing (for the first time that match-up), not a land. His Guide buddy goes through, however, and it keeps going for a couple of more turns. I think at least once or twice more I get land off the Guide, and am able to deploy threats, including an Ooze.
AJ submerges it, then Predicts it (savage tech!), getting rid of a massive creature and drawing cards off it. However, I keep drawing removal, including a Pyroblast for his freshly-cast Delver, and he never gets more than one or two mana to do anything. I think a Terravore comes down, and it's pretty big.
However, even given the massive resource advantage I had both games, AJ kept it somewhat close, every one of his plays being very deliberate and careful to maximize his options. Unfortunately, his deck didn't really help him that much, whereas mine kept revealing lands to Goblin Guides and removal aplenty.
AJ was a great opponent, and I was glad to have had a chance to meet him.
8-4 (2-0 this game)
Round 13 - Jamie Naylor - Dredge
It was unavoidable, as out of the 5 remaining Canadians in contention, three of us were 8-4 (alongside Lukas Siow), and had pretty much the same records throughout the event, with Dan Lanthier being 9-3 and Pascal Maynard making a mockery of every event he enters. Seriously, the man is a machine.
And of course, he is playing Dredge. Excellent. I will show you Leylines and Oozes Jamie, let's see what you will raise me with.
Unfortunately, it turns out Dredge, game 1, keeping a 7-card hand with Careful Study and faithless Looting and the like is a lot more dangerous than the hands Adam's deck handed him. Jamie smokes me game 1. Stupid dredge. Also, unlike Adam, Jamie dredged into every possible Troll, Bridge and Ichorid right off the bat. Let's not mention FOUR NARCOMOEBAS. Oh, and he won the damned die roll. Pretty good, Jamie, pretty good.
Hey, this is the dredge decks I remember and love.
Damn Dredge.
So game 2, and at this point, I open my 7 cards. Come on Leyline! No Leylines, no Oozes, only 6 useless cards and a Tranquil Thicket as my only mana source.
Ok, deck, let's see what you can do with 6. No lands, no Leylines, no Oozes.
Good gravy.
My 5 are 5 lands. Hey, see, I knew Aggro Loam played lands, and here they all are. Jamie matched me mulligan for mulligan, but he sadly stopped at 5.
I go to 4.
Forgotten Cave. Crap.
Forgotten Cave. Crap.
Wasteland. Crap.
Leyline of the motherf-ing Void. Most excellent. I giggle like a schoolgirl.
I lay the Leyline, and one of the Caves. Two cards in hand, I ain't scared. Jamie lays a Gemstone Mine, and casts Careful Study, discarding random garbage.
I waste his land, and it turns out that the top card of his deck that he drew with the Study was a Nature's Claim. He does not have a 2nd land.
I lay down a creature. I can't read my own damn hand-writing from the pad, but his life goes from 20, to 1-something that is not a number, 12, 10, 6. I have no idea what manner of creature does this.
My life is 20, 19, 17, 15, 13, 19, 23, 25.
I would assume that the 13 to 19 is when he Nature's Claimed my Leyline, and at this point I guess the creature was a Scavenging Ooze. Jamie at some point also LEDs and Faithless Loots, but I save the 2 mana to let him do so, and instead eat the Ichorids and Bloodghasts that come out. I think he does get a Zombie off a Bridge from Below the Ooze eats.
Anyway, game 3, I mulligan to 5. Yeah, I ain't winning this game. Jamie keeps his seven, and just says go.
Ah, Draw-Discard-Dredge, without the Draw, without the Discard, without the Dredge, eh, Jamie?
But I do have a turn 1 Sphere of Resistance. Booyah.
He draws a card and discards a Stinkweed Imp.
I beg my deck... Ooze... Ooze! OOZE! I feel like Tom Hanks when he did nothing for two hours on that stupid raft except putting the audience to sleep.
SCAVENGING OOZE!
I slam a land down, cast the Ooze then remove his Imp.
Jamie points out the Ooze costs three. FFS.
However, I am still ok, he Dredges into very little of consequence, and the Ooze eats it all, dealing death back. However, at two mana, he Nature Claims the Sphere and sticks a Don't-Swing-into-it-Imp in play. A couple of Narcomoebas join the party, which actually start attacking me from 25 on.
I lay down a Leyline at some point to stop shenanigans, and I have about 10 turns to draw something (he is at 12, with the ooze being pretty big). I draw and play the Bob, and Maelstrom Pulse the Imp.
One thing I have always tried to do when playing Dredge, is cast Bridge from Below when I am losing horribly. This has not happened.
Paul Dean, Lukas and Maksym hang around the table, and someone points out that Jamie, in fact, can actually cast the Bridge, having 2 Undiscovered Paradises, City of Brass and Gemstone Mine. Then this dilemma happened:
Jamie: "I have a problem. I can't cast both Bridges."
Everyone: "What?"
Jamie: "Well, if I use the City of Brass, I am dead to the Confidant next turn. If I use the Undiscovered Paradises, they both will bounce back."
Good times.
9-4 (2-1 this game)
Round 14 - Chris - Hive Mind
Game 1 is sort of strange. I have no idea what Chris is playing, and I keep a Badlands, Wasteland, Grim Lavamancer * 2, Ligthning Bolt * 2, Life from the Loam hand.
He goes turn 1 Island, and starts chaning Ponder, Brainstorm and Preordain, while I attack with both Lavamancers and do not draw another land. His life goes:
20, 19, 18, 17, 15 (both Lavamancers, Booyah!), 12, 11, 6.
Sadly, the turn before I could kill him, he casts Show and Tell for Hive Mind. 2 lands are NOT enough to pay for the Pact.
I had a Terravore in hand, but obviously didn't reveal it, convincing Chris I was on burn. He seemed to side in fairly aggressively.
As did I. I kept a few bolts in there, just so I can finish him off, and took out the Lavamancers. Spheres, Dreams and Pyroblasts all come in, 2 bolts, 2 grims, 2 seismics, 2 ooze and a land come out.
I open with a Bob, waste his Ancient Tomb/City of Traitors, and start dredging into a huge Terravore.
Game 3, obviously, Chris re-sideboards out the useless stuff, so I put both Bolts back in.
He opens with Island, I open with a Mox, and I think he counters a Dark Confidant. I waste a Tomb/City, while he tries to get his stuff going through a Sphere of Resistance and a Liliana of the Veil that was quickly approaching 6 counters to his 2 Islands. We both fetched, and I cast a 9/9 Terravore with 4 lands in play and his 17 life.
He then casts a Show and Tell into Hive Mind with 4 mana in play, after top-decking a Tomb/City. He does not have enough to cast the last card in his hand, a Pact of the Titans.
I get a Wasteland down, and have 5 mana to pay for any pact (including 2 Mox Diamonds). However, it didn't matter. I waste his Tomb, making the Terravore an 11/11 and double-bolt him to death.
I could also have used Liliana to make him discard the last card in hand, but that might have left me dead to a top-decked pact (since I wasted his land, I was down to 4 mana).
So yeah, I beat Hive Mind with Aggro Loam.
This is why I like Sphere of Resistance over Chalice. Chalice would have done nothing (it doesn't counter the Pact copy at all). Nor am I sure Chalice is enough to beat High Tide either since they can simply Merchant Scroll for Cunning Wish for a bounce spell.
Both might be wrong anyway.
One game away from top-64.
10-4 (2-1 this game)
Round 15 - Aaron - ANT
Ah, ANT, how I loathe thee. Really, there isn't much to say. I get him down to 17 game one before he wins off Ad-Nauseum.
Game 2, I mulligan to this hand:
Taiga, Wasteland, Sphere of Resistance, Dark Confidant, Pyroblast and Life from the Loam.
I Pyroblast his turn 1 play, then cast Sphere of resistance.
I don't draw another land the entire game, while he casts a Confidant and beats me to death with it. He comboes off when I was at 5 life :P. Yay!
Fantastic.
A horrible ending to a great event, however.
10-5 (0-2 this game)
So yeah, what can you do. It was still a great event, lots of fun was had by people. Thank you to all my opponents, and almost everyone that came.
Oh, yes, that nasty business.
On friday, when he was registering, my friend Rob Johnson put his deck on the table, and filled out the form. In the 20 seconds this happened, with the deck inches away from his hands, someone actually stole it.
It was simply ridiculous. The boldness was staggering. Luckily, I could loan him my dredge deck, to which he responded with a 5-3-1 job. Not bad for never having played it before.
Finally, though, to everyone I have met this weekend, it was great to meet you all. Sources, Americans, people from far away, Manadeprived people, everyone, it was great, and you made this weekend great.
Also, congratulations to Pascal Maynard, the end-boss of Canadian magic for top-8ing, too bad you fell to the end boss of GP:Indy, Tom Martell (grats to him too :P).
I played this list to a 85th place finish, going 10-5.
4 Dark Confidant
4 Scavenging Ooze
3 Terravore
2 Grim Lavamancer
2 Liliana of the Veil
2 Seismic Assault
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Life from the Loam
2 Maelstrom Pulse
2 Engineered Explosives
1 Sylvan Library
4 Mox Diamond
4 Wasteland
4 Wooded Foothills
3 Badlands
3 Taiga
2 Bloodstained Mire
2 Forgotten Cave
2 Tranquil Thicket
2 Forest
1 Mountain
1 Barbarian Ring
1 Volrath's Stronghold
1 Bayou
Sideboard
3 Pyroblast
2 Devastating Dreams
4 Leyline of the Void
4 Sphere of Resistance
2 Ancient Grudge
So overall, the deck was really doing great. I mulliganned a fair number of times, and I top-decked and failed to top-deck about the same amount of times. I actually tried focusing for this event, and I think that also helped (realllly???).
I managed to get zero hours of sleep since Friday morning, so that didn't help me in any way. I was just hoping I wouldn't lose my deck.
I started the day with 3 byes, so I used that time to smoke, mill around, watch what my friends were doing, and just to see what people are playing. I saw a lot of Maverick, which was great because I think I have at least an ok match-up, a lot of UW Stoneblade (ditto), and of course various ways to cast Delver of Secrets. Also, there was a bit too much bloody combo for my liking. Stupid combo decks.
Anyway, round 4 hits, and I actually have to start working for my wins (gasp!).
Round 4 - Alisha - Elves
Sometimes, before a round, I try guessing what my opponent is playing. It never works out. Alisha is 3-0 without any byes, and we talk a bit while the announcements are going on, and for some bizarre reason, I put her on Affinity. I figure, you need a bit of luck and such to do well, so I hoped that my lucky guess would pay off, and Alisha seemed like a person that would play Affinity.
She opens with Forest, Fyndhorn Elves.
Crap on a stick. I never really tested against Elves, nor can I possibly prepare for it too much, and hope that since I kept a hand that's good vs. Affinity (lots of removal), it will help me out.
So I bolt, Pulse and Lavamancer everything, and my Engineered Explosives are a 4-1 and 3-1, and still barely get there game 1.
Seriously, I killed 4 elves, and she's like... "Ok, no problem, here are 4 more". She makes a few good plays circumventing as much of my destruction as possible, but finally a rather large Ooze gets there, having eaten MANY of the dead elves.
Game 2, she just comboes off, and I watch the interactions a bit just to see what else she has. At some point she has 30 elves and I ask her what she's looking for and she says Emrakul. Ok, all I needed.
She sided in Thorn of Amethysts, and I sided in Sphere of Resistances, so things cost a lot, and she still made a billion things through all that (mind you, Thorn only affects her GSZ/Glimpse). Damn Elves.
Game 3, I land an early Confidant, I believe, and nuke her Dryad Arbor that she GSZed for, and she doesn't draw a land for a while. I can deal with one elf a turn pretty good, I even had Devastating Dreams in hand if things would have gotten out of hand.
4-0 (2-1 this game)
Round 5 - Shawn - Sneak and Show
4-1 (0-2 this game)
Yeaaaaaaaaaappp... so game 1, Shawwn opens up with Arid Mesa, Go. What is this man playing, Zoo without having dropped something Turn 1? Boy howdy, I can win that since I have 2 bolts and Life from the Loam in hand, and a Confidant, just in case.
Then turn 2, he goes land, double fetch, Lotus Petal, Seething Song, Sneak Attack, Emrakul.
Well. Played. Sir.
Then precisely the same play on game 2, except off an Ancient Tomb.
FFS. This was fun. I look at the clock and there is like 43 minutes left in the round or something. We chat for a bit and he tells me he's not running Force of Wills, since he probably can't fight as easily through Dazes and Pierces and such, but Trinispheres. Interesting.
Round 6 - Nicholas - Goblins
Nicholas is probably one of the quietest people I met all weekend, but very nice and polite. He also Tarfired my turn 1 Dark Confidant, which made me like him a hell of a lot less.
However, I manage to get his Lackey with a bolt or something, then get an Ooze that's pretty chunky. I continue to kill his threats, eat them, up, then swing.
Game 2 I bring in Ancient Grudges because I saw an Aether Vial, and 2 Devastating Dreams.
I trade a Confidant for his Lackey (any day of the week!), then get an Ooze down, while he gets land-flooded a bit too much to be able to deal with my disruption. He is actually forced to hard-cast a Siege-Gang Commander into my Grim Lavamancer, to at least be able to do something, maybe have blockers for the Ooze.
I also get a warning for playing 2 lands a turn, because I forgot about a stupid Wasteland 3 Dredges before. Nicholas lets me call the judge myself.
He also tells me to relax a bit and take my time doing things, instead of rushing and making mistakes. I was exhausted, and didn't even realize that it could have dire consequences.
I show him the Ancient Grudges, and he tells me they are terrible against him, which I agree, and should have kept the Terravores in there too. I treated his deck like Burn, and not like Goblins, which is foolish.
I wish him luck, and I am not surprised at all to see him having made Day 2. I am slightly surprised to see him with a better record than me on Day 2.
5-1 (2-0 this game)
Round 7 - Mike - GW Maverick
Ah, yes, Maverick. Finally, something I came prepared for.
Mike starts off with a Mulligan and GSZ for Dryad Arbor, but I waste the land and bolt the Arbor (I think this is how the turn went). He gets stuck on land, and I simply overwhelm him very quickly.
Game 2, he swords an early Confidant, but then again gets hurt by Bolts and Wastelands on his mana creatures, always being one turn short of doing something big. He gets an Ooze in play, and as do I, and there is this situation:
Mike: 2/2 Ooze, one green mana open
Me: 2/2 Ooze, Mox Diamond, Barbarian Ring, Taiga
There is only a hierarch or something in his GY I believe. I need to topdeck a red or green source that comes into play untapped. I do so, then proceed to Devastating Dreams for 2, and remove the Hierarch with the Ooze. He cannot remove it in response because of my green mana, so he removes the Ancient Grudge instead. This kills his ooze, and his lands.
He topdecks a Hierarch, which I Devastating Dreams again for 1, killing another land, and my last land. I end the game with One Mox Diamond and a 5/5 Ooze. I couldn't draw another land to save my life.
Very close, and I think this match-up simply comes down to who has a better mana-base, and keeping his Knight off the table.
Damn Knight of the Reliquary.
6-1 (2-0 this game)
Round 8 - Larry - Burn
20-18-16-13-11-(10-4-1-0)
20-19-17-15-(11-7-4-0)
6-2 (0-2 this game)
This were my life totals from the games. The things in brackets are all on the last turn.
There really isn't that much to say. I cannot beat burn in literally, a billion years. Yes, the infinite monkey theory at some point will tell me that they could mulligan to 1 without finding a land in two games, but that's just about the end of it.
Damn burn. I congratulate Larry on making day 2. Sam Black next to me (I didn't know that was Sam though) comtemplates on how Sphere is bad against burn, to which I agree with, and suggest pretty good alternatives (Zuran Orb). I thought about it, but it's just such a narrow card...
***********************************
As an interlude, and this is a theme for me, I have been very lucky in my magic career to always play against fun people. I cannot think of a single person in recent memory that was a jerk, unpleasant, angry beyond reason, or anything.
As such, I usually go out of my way to joke around and banter with my opponents, not to jedi mind trick them, but just to have some fun and defuse the tension of a big event. Most comply, and even those few that don't, at least nod and smile politely :P.
Larry even went beyond that, and despite my completely sleep deprived state, I remember him cracking jokes right back, and making this round actually fun.
Keep in mind, I lost a win-and-in to Day 2, I lost to Burn, a deck I loathe and can't ever beat, and I still had some fun.
So yeah.
***********************************
Losing sucks. I hate losing, and the fact that I knew I couldn't beat burn doesn't make it any better.
I am at 6-2, another round of win-and-in, and I keep thinking how much it would suck to have 3 byes, again, fail to make day 2, and lose 2 rounds of win-and-in.
I go talk to Lukas Siow, and tell him my tilting, and he's like... "Don't worry about it, you'll just win your last round and be in day 2."
Alright, I actually feel better. I go have a smoke (god knows I had enough time, since that match took little more than 21 seconds), mill around and just try to relax.
At this point, the announcement that the Day 2 will start at 9am, not 10am, and we will lose an hour due to the stupid Daylight Savings Time (seriously, fuck Daylight Savings Time). So if I lose, I get to sleep in. Not bad. Hey, silver lining.
Round 9 is about to start.
Ok, which sucker... I mean player... will feel my unholy wrath! I am pumped now!
Adam Prosak.
One of the best players, the Invitational champ, a man that has won multiple SCG events. All this while fighting for the last chance at a day 2 spot.
FFS.
Round 9 - Adam - Dredge
Adam sits down across from me (I guess, as opposed to sitting down somewhere else?), and we start rolling dice to see who goes first.
This went on for like 2-3 minutes, while we kept tying. As I told Adam, I expected to fight tooth and nail for this... but not starting at the damn die roll.
I was ok playing against Dredge, however, and I assumed Adam was on dredge. Great player or not, I am prepared for this. I can side in 10 very live cards against him, 4 of which are the bomb, and the spheres would make it nearly impossible for him to get rid of the Leylines. Furthermore, there are 4 Scavenging Oozes maindeck. I also have 4 Zombie Sweepers, as well as bolts and Terravores.
Ah, Terravores.
Anyway, I win the die roll 4-3. I won quite a few die-rolls this weekend, but none that took this freaking long.
I open a hand with 3 lands, one of which being a wasteland and a cycler, Terravore, Mox Diamond, Maelstrom Pulse and something else. I wish it had an Ooze, but it's sometimes not worth risking it, mulliganning that away.
Adam also mulligans to 5, which is helpful. He keeps a rather slow hand, and his dredges don't help very much. I cast a turn 2 Terravore, he dredges again, hitting very little. I attack him (the Terravore is a 5/5), and cast a second one that I just top-decked.
He dredges and gets somewhat better results, 2 bridges, a narcomoeba, and the Ichorid he dredged before. He attacks with his Ichorid and 2/2 Putrid Imp into my untapped 6/6 Terravore.
So now I start thinking. I know that I have him if my Terravores don't die. He is at 14, the Terravores are 6/6 each. He will get 2 Zombies from the Bridge, then 2 more when the Narcomoeba dies in my attack. He will go down to 3, (I mistakenly said 1), and I can pulse the Zombies, leaving him with the Imp, Ichorid, and whatever he can dredge next turn. He has to get a Narcomoeba, and a Dread Return, and then get 6 Zombies. Even then, that's barely enough to cover the current Terravores, which grow bigger with every land he dredges.
But if I block the Ichorid, he might have tricks. That's the thing about playing Dredge. I have so in Vintage since it was legal, and the deck messes with your mind. It makes you do things that are esoteric, in order to make the deck better. I have played Fiery Temper. Firestorm and Lightning Bolt do exist. Should I block, and risk the Terravore dying, or should I go to 12. 15 and 12 are a world of difference. He has 5 damage on the table in Ichorid and Imp, and he will have 4 zombies next turn. This means that if something goes wrong, 15 is enough to live and 12 is not.
But I cannot risk the Terravore dying. So I simply take the 5 and go to 12. As expected, I attack with the 6/6s (can't buy a wasteland or anything), he blocks with the Narcomoeba, goes down to 3, and I nuke the Zombies with the Maelstrom Pulse.
Insane.
Game 2 is very brief. I think Adam kept a hand of Land, LED, Faithless and Breakthrough, but I have a Turn 0 Leyline. He just grins and tells me he won't even bother trying to fight through that, assuming that I have a creature in my deck that can beat him (I had an Ooze).
Despite getting bad beats in game 1, and me opening game 2 with 7 cards and Leyline, Adam was cheerful and very nice throughout both games. He was one of the people I was hoping to meet at this event, and I was not disappointed in doing so.
7-2 (2-0 this game)
So yeah, day 2!
I don't get much sleep... again :(.
Round 10 - Alex - Affinity
Affinity is one of those decks that I hate playing against. They are fast, resilient, and you cannot over-commit hate against it, because that will cut down your other game percentages. It would be nice to have 4 Ancient Grudges against them, however.
I drew none in either game, and it was finished by an Etched Champion with either 1 or 2 cranial plating. I did draw a number of bolts that killed his Signal Pests and other stuff, but I was never really in it. He did 20 damage with one attack with one creature game 1, and 10 damage twice in game 2.
Disappointing start.
7-3 (0-2 this game)
The one notable thing about last round: the first blue spell was cast against me this entire event! Thoughtcast. Solid!
Round 11 - Dennis - RUG
RUG is a problematic match-up, but it is one I do not mind. I had some reservations when testing, but after I changed the deck a bit, it was better. One of the keys is keeping removal and a solid mana-base. Also, do not walk into Daze when you do not have to.
The first two games are blow-outs. I win game 1 without him doing anything but hitting me with a Delver (and me doing no damage to him, but just blowing up his lands and creatures), and game 2, is the exact opposite. He gets quick pressure and never lets up.
Game 3 was somewhat disappointing. We both kept good hands, but I couldn't draw another land for about 5 turns, and all my goodies were stuck in my hand. A clutch wasteland on his part did not help me. I needed a land, and drew THREE Mox Diamonds, Dark Confidant, and Liliana.
However, I did draw a land finally, my 3rd, and could stop his onslaught of Tarmogoyf and Snapcaster, with the Terravore, but he Submerged it. I recast it when I was at 8 life, to his Tarmogoyf and Snapcaster and Mongoose. It was smaller than the Goyf, so I blocked the Mongoose I believe (things sort of run together at this point). Anyway, after one more attack, I am at 1 life, but somehow, a second Terravore joins my board, staring down his Goyf and Snapcaster.
My hand is pretty stacked, but then he stands up and calls a judge.
I sort of realize what he is trying to do: he had a Submerge in the GY, and 3 mana in play, and was wondering if he can Snapcaster the Submerge, but he didn't want to give me extra information. I know you cannot, but I sort of sigh as the Snapcaster alone means death unless I get yet ANOTHER land (that comes into play untapped, and not a fetchland) to cast Liliana. I can cast Confidant if I don't, but at ONE life, that's not exactly great.
I draw... Bayou!
Sweet Merciful McGillicuddy!
I cast Liliana with Daze mana up, my last and best hope. Obi-Wan that shit!
Dennis, of course, has Spell Pierce. I didn't see it at all, and I was hoping he wouldn't play FoW, Daze, Pierce AND Snare, but what can you do?
But that is life. Dennis was a great opponent and we wish each other luck, We sort of meet again throughout the day and I think our records are very similar.
7-4 (1-2 this game)
Not exactly the way I wanted this to go. 0-2ing, well on my way to 0-6ing, is very unfortunate. But, I plow on. Funny enough, if I win one more game, I will be at 297 PWP for the season, 3 short of getting an invite to Canadian Nationals. All points coming from the GPT and this GP. Heh.
Round 12 - AJ Sacher - U/R
Yeah. After losing two rounds, you do not wish to face AJ. I have always admired his plays and his articles, and he was another player I wanted to meet this weekend. I sort of kept seeing him around (he is not difficult to see, tall, colored hair :P). I know he is playing U/R, but I am sort of unsure about the match-up, I think I am ok, but the deck can just run away with it. I have to expend every resource in stopping his creatures. EE for 1 to kill a Goblin Guide is good enough, and beware of stifle (I don't know if he played it).
So anyway, AJ tells me he is sick, and he looks incredibly pale. Still, it's AJ Sacher, so it won't be easy. Ok, deck, don't fail me now!
Game 1, I keep a hand with Ligthning Bolt, Mox Diamond, Seismic Assault, 3 lands and an Ooze. If he doesn't have a Force of Will for the Assault, that will go all the way, especially if I luck-sack into a Life from the Loam later on. However, every land I draw is a Shock anyway, and the rest is removal.
And Scavenging Oozes, which I get one and start eating his dead creatures. I start gaining some life with the ooze, while his Goblin Guides reveal lands. I don't think a single Guide bricked on my end, so I got lucky on that one.
AJ is forced to use 2 burn spells to kill the Ooze, but by then I drew a Life from the Loam and I am able to combo him out, and I have enough just in time before he starts throwing everything at me.
Game 2, he again starts with a Guide that reveals a land, then I bolt it after revealing (for the first time that match-up), not a land. His Guide buddy goes through, however, and it keeps going for a couple of more turns. I think at least once or twice more I get land off the Guide, and am able to deploy threats, including an Ooze.
AJ submerges it, then Predicts it (savage tech!), getting rid of a massive creature and drawing cards off it. However, I keep drawing removal, including a Pyroblast for his freshly-cast Delver, and he never gets more than one or two mana to do anything. I think a Terravore comes down, and it's pretty big.
However, even given the massive resource advantage I had both games, AJ kept it somewhat close, every one of his plays being very deliberate and careful to maximize his options. Unfortunately, his deck didn't really help him that much, whereas mine kept revealing lands to Goblin Guides and removal aplenty.
AJ was a great opponent, and I was glad to have had a chance to meet him.
8-4 (2-0 this game)
Round 13 - Jamie Naylor - Dredge
It was unavoidable, as out of the 5 remaining Canadians in contention, three of us were 8-4 (alongside Lukas Siow), and had pretty much the same records throughout the event, with Dan Lanthier being 9-3 and Pascal Maynard making a mockery of every event he enters. Seriously, the man is a machine.
And of course, he is playing Dredge. Excellent. I will show you Leylines and Oozes Jamie, let's see what you will raise me with.
Unfortunately, it turns out Dredge, game 1, keeping a 7-card hand with Careful Study and faithless Looting and the like is a lot more dangerous than the hands Adam's deck handed him. Jamie smokes me game 1. Stupid dredge. Also, unlike Adam, Jamie dredged into every possible Troll, Bridge and Ichorid right off the bat. Let's not mention FOUR NARCOMOEBAS. Oh, and he won the damned die roll. Pretty good, Jamie, pretty good.
Hey, this is the dredge decks I remember and love.
Damn Dredge.
So game 2, and at this point, I open my 7 cards. Come on Leyline! No Leylines, no Oozes, only 6 useless cards and a Tranquil Thicket as my only mana source.
Ok, deck, let's see what you can do with 6. No lands, no Leylines, no Oozes.
Good gravy.
My 5 are 5 lands. Hey, see, I knew Aggro Loam played lands, and here they all are. Jamie matched me mulligan for mulligan, but he sadly stopped at 5.
I go to 4.
Forgotten Cave. Crap.
Forgotten Cave. Crap.
Wasteland. Crap.
Leyline of the motherf-ing Void. Most excellent. I giggle like a schoolgirl.
I lay the Leyline, and one of the Caves. Two cards in hand, I ain't scared. Jamie lays a Gemstone Mine, and casts Careful Study, discarding random garbage.
I waste his land, and it turns out that the top card of his deck that he drew with the Study was a Nature's Claim. He does not have a 2nd land.
I lay down a creature. I can't read my own damn hand-writing from the pad, but his life goes from 20, to 1-something that is not a number, 12, 10, 6. I have no idea what manner of creature does this.
My life is 20, 19, 17, 15, 13, 19, 23, 25.
I would assume that the 13 to 19 is when he Nature's Claimed my Leyline, and at this point I guess the creature was a Scavenging Ooze. Jamie at some point also LEDs and Faithless Loots, but I save the 2 mana to let him do so, and instead eat the Ichorids and Bloodghasts that come out. I think he does get a Zombie off a Bridge from Below the Ooze eats.
Anyway, game 3, I mulligan to 5. Yeah, I ain't winning this game. Jamie keeps his seven, and just says go.
Ah, Draw-Discard-Dredge, without the Draw, without the Discard, without the Dredge, eh, Jamie?
But I do have a turn 1 Sphere of Resistance. Booyah.
He draws a card and discards a Stinkweed Imp.
I beg my deck... Ooze... Ooze! OOZE! I feel like Tom Hanks when he did nothing for two hours on that stupid raft except putting the audience to sleep.
SCAVENGING OOZE!
I slam a land down, cast the Ooze then remove his Imp.
Jamie points out the Ooze costs three. FFS.
However, I am still ok, he Dredges into very little of consequence, and the Ooze eats it all, dealing death back. However, at two mana, he Nature Claims the Sphere and sticks a Don't-Swing-into-it-Imp in play. A couple of Narcomoebas join the party, which actually start attacking me from 25 on.
I lay down a Leyline at some point to stop shenanigans, and I have about 10 turns to draw something (he is at 12, with the ooze being pretty big). I draw and play the Bob, and Maelstrom Pulse the Imp.
One thing I have always tried to do when playing Dredge, is cast Bridge from Below when I am losing horribly. This has not happened.
Paul Dean, Lukas and Maksym hang around the table, and someone points out that Jamie, in fact, can actually cast the Bridge, having 2 Undiscovered Paradises, City of Brass and Gemstone Mine. Then this dilemma happened:
Jamie: "I have a problem. I can't cast both Bridges."
Everyone: "What?"
Jamie: "Well, if I use the City of Brass, I am dead to the Confidant next turn. If I use the Undiscovered Paradises, they both will bounce back."
Good times.
9-4 (2-1 this game)
Round 14 - Chris - Hive Mind
Game 1 is sort of strange. I have no idea what Chris is playing, and I keep a Badlands, Wasteland, Grim Lavamancer * 2, Ligthning Bolt * 2, Life from the Loam hand.
He goes turn 1 Island, and starts chaning Ponder, Brainstorm and Preordain, while I attack with both Lavamancers and do not draw another land. His life goes:
20, 19, 18, 17, 15 (both Lavamancers, Booyah!), 12, 11, 6.
Sadly, the turn before I could kill him, he casts Show and Tell for Hive Mind. 2 lands are NOT enough to pay for the Pact.
I had a Terravore in hand, but obviously didn't reveal it, convincing Chris I was on burn. He seemed to side in fairly aggressively.
As did I. I kept a few bolts in there, just so I can finish him off, and took out the Lavamancers. Spheres, Dreams and Pyroblasts all come in, 2 bolts, 2 grims, 2 seismics, 2 ooze and a land come out.
I open with a Bob, waste his Ancient Tomb/City of Traitors, and start dredging into a huge Terravore.
Game 3, obviously, Chris re-sideboards out the useless stuff, so I put both Bolts back in.
He opens with Island, I open with a Mox, and I think he counters a Dark Confidant. I waste a Tomb/City, while he tries to get his stuff going through a Sphere of Resistance and a Liliana of the Veil that was quickly approaching 6 counters to his 2 Islands. We both fetched, and I cast a 9/9 Terravore with 4 lands in play and his 17 life.
He then casts a Show and Tell into Hive Mind with 4 mana in play, after top-decking a Tomb/City. He does not have enough to cast the last card in his hand, a Pact of the Titans.
I get a Wasteland down, and have 5 mana to pay for any pact (including 2 Mox Diamonds). However, it didn't matter. I waste his Tomb, making the Terravore an 11/11 and double-bolt him to death.
I could also have used Liliana to make him discard the last card in hand, but that might have left me dead to a top-decked pact (since I wasted his land, I was down to 4 mana).
So yeah, I beat Hive Mind with Aggro Loam.
This is why I like Sphere of Resistance over Chalice. Chalice would have done nothing (it doesn't counter the Pact copy at all). Nor am I sure Chalice is enough to beat High Tide either since they can simply Merchant Scroll for Cunning Wish for a bounce spell.
Both might be wrong anyway.
One game away from top-64.
10-4 (2-1 this game)
Round 15 - Aaron - ANT
Ah, ANT, how I loathe thee. Really, there isn't much to say. I get him down to 17 game one before he wins off Ad-Nauseum.
Game 2, I mulligan to this hand:
Taiga, Wasteland, Sphere of Resistance, Dark Confidant, Pyroblast and Life from the Loam.
I Pyroblast his turn 1 play, then cast Sphere of resistance.
I don't draw another land the entire game, while he casts a Confidant and beats me to death with it. He comboes off when I was at 5 life :P. Yay!
Fantastic.
A horrible ending to a great event, however.
10-5 (0-2 this game)
So yeah, what can you do. It was still a great event, lots of fun was had by people. Thank you to all my opponents, and almost everyone that came.
Oh, yes, that nasty business.
On friday, when he was registering, my friend Rob Johnson put his deck on the table, and filled out the form. In the 20 seconds this happened, with the deck inches away from his hands, someone actually stole it.
It was simply ridiculous. The boldness was staggering. Luckily, I could loan him my dredge deck, to which he responded with a 5-3-1 job. Not bad for never having played it before.
Finally, though, to everyone I have met this weekend, it was great to meet you all. Sources, Americans, people from far away, Manadeprived people, everyone, it was great, and you made this weekend great.