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Editor: Jacob Moriarty (Fox Murdoch). Wednesday 18th January 2006.
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New Years Days Tournament/We've Kami long way baby.Ho ho ho! No wait, it's a bit late for that. Er, happy new years! That's more like it. Now, we're recovered from copious amounts of alcohol? Good. We've gotten our new years resolutions written down with electro-pens in our brains? Good. We're all going to keep playing Magic? I know I sure am! The topic of New Years seemed to be a very one sided topic for me. I had the idea to play a great big Magic tournament, and my friends loved it. My Magic playing friends that is. Everyone else thought I was utterly insane to be playing Magic on New Years eve. New Years Eve? I said. God no, New Years Day. Well, that seemed to put a cork in everyone's complaints and got them back to preparing for their New Years. For me it was pretty easy. Before going into work one day, all I had to do was take a wee detour to find my nearest Games Paradise shop. However seeing I got to work late, I had my darlingest ever gf get the cards for me and deliver them after I had started work. I told her she could also get herself something and she bought the tiniest little model horse, about yay big. No wait, more like hey big, yeah. But as easy as that, my New Years was all ready! Come New Years Eve, and I had headed over to my brothers, to celebrate with him, his gf, two of my three sisters, four of our multitude of cousins, bazillions of my brothers' friends and a few bottles of grog. The night kind of gets blurry and we return home, I remember that much. Then the new Dawn arose. A new year. Limitless potential, brand new chances, all that jazz. This was a chance, crystal clear and with the potential to do anything I wanted, alter the world, create a new life, begin something new... And what did I do? Cleansing Beam Daza's Saproling hoard to save myself. Oh yes, I figured in the new year, if I was still so very into Magic then playing it with my usual group of friends, on a day when I knew there would be no interruptions, no "clean the house", no "go to shops and get blah", no "can you take little Suzzie to cricket practice?" A brand new day of no interuptions, and I knew it was perfect to spend it playing Magic with friends. New Years Day TournamentNow, that was a rather long intro, don't you think? Sorry to those of you still reading, I thank you and congratulate your longer than should-be-needed attention spans. If you liked my previous such-like articles, then you'll like this one, and vice versa if you didn't like it. So I suppose if you're one of the latter people you should really have stopped up at the start. Anyway, onto the players! Not ya uzual playaz...Returning for another presumable whomping, we have Prowler, Daza, Thimu, Fox (that's me) and Derek. Although Derek managed to pull his most famous move once again, the SorryguysIcouldn'tmakeit. Never to mind, we had four players and that was rather more fortunate, seeing you can't run an even amount of duels with 5 players. On the up we had Prowler and Thimu, who looked to be the favourites for winning, seeing neither of them drink and New Years is notorious for being the single biggest reason to get drunk. (other than St Patrick's day) After them comes Fox and Daza, who both drink, when occasion calls, but luckily for them the previous nights grog had fled their systems before the game began, so no really stupid plays were made. That doesn't mean bad plays weren't made, just not stupid ones. After a breif discussion about whether to draft or not, we decided it'd be best to just open and build. Despite a real burning to draft, it started to look like it would be too much of a hassle if we opened packs then wrote everything down so everyone could get their cards back. So we opened our packs and built! Oh, the monstrosities. Here they are, in all their powerful and win-draw-lose ratios glory. OK, so you've had a look at the decks or you just skimmed over them, wanting to get to more writing. This teeny weeny bit is for the people who read the decklists, and I'll start by saying What the heck? Have you seen Daza's deck? 8 pieces of removal, and he lost every match. He's also got plenty of life gain to stay alive until he draws the removal right? Oh hang on, deck's 55 cards big. That's an extra 15 turns before he draws anything useful... well atleast I'm going with that being the reason for Daza's 3 loses. However each match did go 2-1, so he won atleast one game if you stamp those 3 wins together. But perhaps there's another reason? Eitherway we can see that Daza's deck was hoping to cast plenty of Saprolings, helped out by Doubling Season, who could then pump out fatty after fatty for a collosal win. Looking at Thimu's deck we can see an obvious want to stall the game until Szadek hits the board. If he gets swinging and isn't bum blocked it's a very quick track to scooping. Backed up with counter magic Tim had an OK chance of winning against other non-expert decks, but won and lost an even amount. Looking at Prowler's deck, the idea here was simply synergy. Green-white and green-black. Recursing fatties, and pump up spells. Prowler's deck was originally 53 cards big as well, but after I beat him in the first game 2-0, I went through his deck and took out the following; 2 Swamp 2 Forest 1 Plains 2 Dromad Purebred 1 Suppresion Field 1 Necromantic Thirst 1 Sewerdreg 1 Shred Memory 1 Woodwraith Strangler 1 Terrarion Our third game came right after I made the changes and Prowler took me apart pretty quick, which made me smile. I'd already won the match, and his deck never lost again that day, so I've gotta be happy about that. Then you get to my deck, which I know the best. The idea was efficient beat down. Every creature has power equal to their casting cost, or some form of evasion, as is the case with Dimir House Guard and Sewerdreg. I felt I was taking a chance with Indentured Oaf, but even if I was going to face down other red players then they were going to have to hold someone back to block him all the same. I didn't get as much removal as I would have liked, however Darkblast was useful when I didn't dredge away my useful cards, as I had no graveyard recursion. Sunhome was particularly useful as my 4 power creatures were 3 turn clocks if they went unchecked. I had Viashino Fangtail and Cleansing Beam to take apart weenie hoards, Rally the Righteous incase of no opposing blockers and Incite Hysteria to go straight to the dome if I had enough power. "But that's enough about the decks, how did the games turn out!!" you're crying. Alright alright, keep your pants on. This isn't, um, an Unglued tournament you know (Yeah, I know, bad joke. You can send me your beatings through the mail). The first match ups were Prowler vs Fox, and Thimu vs Daza. Round 1Game 1 goes this way, only Goblins on the board. Prowler managed to set up a small defense consisting of 2 Saproling tokens via Fists of Ironwood, which he played on his Screeching Griffin, but Fox's Mortipede came in to clear the way, and the match was his. Game 2 went to Fox again, as he kept a hand with only 2 creatures, Indentured Oaf and Roofstalker Wight. Fox looked ready to lose the game when he lost his Indentured Oaf to someone stronger than he appeared (curse you Veteran Armoror's +0/+1 bonus!!) and even more so as Prowler dropped his worst nightmare from the Ravnica prerelease, Golgari Rotwurm!! But this time Fox was prepared, and played a Sewerdreg that was smiling (Prowler had Mountains) and began thrashing (Fox had Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion). Game, set, match to Fox. After our match up, Daza and Thimu had only just gotten their first game complete. I took Prowler's deck and went over it as if I had've made the deck, so Prowler wouldn't be playing with 55 cards. Thinning it down to 40 cards, Prowler looked over it and didn't mind most of the changes, opting to try out the new deck as is (this is different from Daza, insisting he leave certain cards in.) I can't remember much from the game of Daza vs Thimu, but the first game was won by Daza, quickly, but in the next 2 games Thimu managed to slow the game right down and then hopefully mill Daza to death. He didn't manage to achieve this, however, because his flyers were simply faster. After the first round was over there was a little discussion about who would move seats next. I suggested that me and Thimu fight each other next, as we were both 1-0, but Prowler didn't want to move. In the end it was settled that Daza and Prowler would move, so the second round match up was Fox vs Daza and Prowler vs Thimu. Round 2Poor Daza. He'd just gone 2-1 against Thimu and was about to go 2-0 against me. It was a simple case of I drew all my removal, blew up what resistance he could draw, and then Boros Recruit, Dimir House Guard and Roofstalker Wight going all the way home. Game 2 I kept a shakey hand of just 1 plains, but I also had a Signet and drew a land first draw, so I was set. Daza managed to get Doubling Season into play, and Scattered the Seeds for six Saprolings, but as mentioned above I had Cleansing Beam which won me the game. Daza lost his last creature, a Skyknight Legionnaire, and that was it. Afterwards he showed me a Rally the Righteous, which would've swung 18 power at my face. In the Prowler vs Thimu game, Prowler's deck and my clippings had turned the game into a speed-demon. Thimu had little time to breath as Prowler went heavy beat down with Rotwurm, his own Mortipede and Shambling Shell. Prowler told Thimu, "See, that's me beating you, and this is you licking your nose," and then went on to draw Thimu licking his nose on the score sheet. Click here if you want to see it. After the second round, I took Daza's deck and did the same thing I did with Prowler's, as I was waiting for Thimu and Prowler's game to end. To Thimu's credit, he did manage to make a deck that slowed down games. The edits I made to Daza's deck didn't go down so well with Daza, as he wanted to keep yay many cards in and take so many cards out, which I can't remember at the moment. I don't want to sound egotistical about deck building, but of the four players present I had the best idea of what was going to win the game, and what was going to sit there looking pretty. Or unpretty, depends really. At this point of the tournament Thimu and Prowler had gone 1-1, I had gone 2-0, and Daza had flopped on 0-2. If this were an eliminations game we were about to enter the Final Match, as me and Thimu were about to face off. Prowler and Daza were also to play each other, and having seen both decks, and having tweaked both decks, I felt rather certain that Prowler was going to win. Round 3Well, on the score I have with me, it goes Thimu, Fox, Thimu. Game 1 I can't remember at all, unfortunately, but game 2 I won with incredible speed, as I swung in on turn 5 for 12 damage, thanks to Mortipede and Roofstalker Wight (both pumped by Rally the Righteous) and a War-Torch Goblin who was holding hands with a Boros Recruit from turn 2. Game 3, the decider, was a very sped up affair, as Thimu had received a call on his mobile asking if he wanted to see a movie tonight. "Hurry up and kill me," Thimu instructed, but he made it incredibly hard to do. I got out many small creatures, opting to go for full offense, even casting Sparkmage Apprentice targeting Thimu for one, but his harmless Drift of Phantasms kept getting in the way. Turn after turn I'd swing with 3 creatures and get atleast one point of damage in. I drew Vigor Mortis and had the green mana to enhance, but my dead House Guard was going to remain dead as Thimu Induced Paranoia on it. I continued to play more creatures as others died, he managed to play a Snapping Drake which I killed consistently but he also brought back consistently once he played Necromantic Thirst on his Tattered Drake, and when he dropped Szadek I thought that was pretty much game. Szadek's first swing went for the full five. Second swing I contemplated the true worth of my sideboarding - Flash Conscription - as I realised I would only mill Thimu of a few cards or hold off the attack one turn. Hwoever as I played my Flash Conscription, enhanced or not, Thimu had a Convolute to counter it and that was game. With nothing else to do I milled the last 20 cards of my deck away on Szadek's third swing, and next turn couldn't draw. Game, set, match - and tournament - to Thimu. So the total days results look like this:
Or like this if you wanna go by points:
So that's it, right? Article over, seeing all the decks have been shown, and all the matchs have been (very quickly) run through. That's it, good bye, see you next article, right? Not this time. I figured if it's New Years, why not go nuts, or atleast make an article that's longer in length then could be considered decent, and I'm going to continue with the second half of my article; "We've Kami long way, baby." Around the same time each year, that is New Years, we always look forward to what's coming up (Ravnica, Guildpact, and Dissension) and we look back on the fun times we've had over the last year (Champions, Betrayers and Saviors of Kamigawa). And seeing you could tell the title of this article is the famous phrase "We've come a long way baby," I guess you can tell that this is going to be about drafting Kamigawa block. To all of you who just went Yes, I knew it! I applaud you.
Wow, notice that transition? The font's changed. But anyway, it was quite literally the day 2 days after our Ravnica tournament, and Thimu and Daza had things to do (plus Daza doesn't really like drafting). So it was up to me and Prowler to rip open the boosters I had, pick our cards, pass the pack and then pick from the same pack, minus one card, 2 seconds later. If you've never drafted like this you might like to try it some time, you're gaurenteed lots of the cards you see and go "ooh!" about, instead of just one of them, before the pack comes back to you totally unrecognisable.
To start off with, we didn't take down our individual choices, I simply wrote down the entire game and the card pools afterwards, so in reverse order I'll write up the card pools and then give you the game, OK? Here we go.
Prowler wins the roll and mulligans down to six cards. Fox keeps a hand of seven.
Prowler's turn 1 Fox's turn 1 Prowler's turn 2 Fox's turn 2 Prowler's turn 3 Fox's turn 3 Prowler's turn 4 Fox's turn 4 Prowler's turn 5 Fox's turn 5 Prowler's turn 6 Fox's turn 6 Prowler's turn 7 So, the first game ends very quick, due to Prowler's almost drought-like shortage of mana. Not to mention Fox's 6-power Mountain, up and running by turn 3. Neither player did any sideboarding in between rounds. Just as the game ended Prowler went through his library until he found his first Mountain, which was 9 draws away. Sighing frustration, he simply shuffled up for the next game...
Prowler lost, chooses to go first. Keeps hand of seven cards. Fox Mulligans down to five.
Prowler's turn 1 Fox's turn 1 Prowler's turn 2 Fox's turn 2 Prowler's turn 3 Fox's turn 3 Prowler's turn 4 Fox's turn 4 Prowler's turn 5 Fox's turn 5 Prowler's turn 6 Fox's turn 6 Prowler's turn 7 Fox's turn 7 Prowler's turn 8 Fox's turn 8 Prowler's turn 9 Fox's turn 9 Prowler's turn 10 Fox's turn 10 Prowler's turn 11 Fox's turn 11 Prowler's turn 12 Fox's turn 12 Prowler's turn 13 Fox's turn 13 Prowler's turn 14 Fox's turn 14 Prowler's turn 15 Fox's turn 15 Prowler's turn 16 Fox's turn 16 Prowler's turn 17 Fox's turn 17 Prowler's turn 18 Fox's turn 18 OK then, Fox beats Prowler going 2-0! And the main reason Fox did so well? Removal removal removal. Remember, when it comes to drafting, if it's not a creature, it should kill a creature. Prowler made some interesting plays (such as Splicing the Wear Away) but in retrospection felt he should have used it on something better, say Genju of the Spires, rather then his own Oni Possession. Still, he managed to get Fox down to 8 life before succumbing to his horrible hoards, so good on him. However Fox didn't seem to mind one bit, without a single crumb of life-gain in his deck. Of interesting note right there is the fact that that's how suicide black decks play - to hell with life "totals", just gimme one point of it and I'll kill the guy sitting across from me.
AND NOW it looks like the end of my first article for 2006. By the time this article is actually up it will probably be February, and I'll be writing up my next one, and I promise it wont be so long. I have to thank you all again for reading this far, and please make sure you stop in at the forums and tell me what you think!
Fox Murdoch, aka Darkur_fox in the forums.
What's this? More article? OK, Extra extra article. What am I still going on about? If you recall from back at the start of this article (I know it was a long time ago), you'll remember that Derek was meant to come along, but couldn't. His cards were put aside and we played without a fifth player. Once I'd handed him his boosters he opened them all, and there was shockers in there. I decided to write up all 7 boosters and offer up a challenge for anyone to take up: draft your own deck.
The prize? Well, I figured simply saying "Go crazy, make a deck" without any real incentive would go rather undone, so here's the prize and how you can go about winning.
The prize is a Ravnica booster of your choice (you get to pick the image on the front, ooh!) and the winning person has to create a deck with Derek's cards that beats the most out of Daza, Prowler, Thimu's and Fox's decks, 3 points for a win, 1 for a draw, 0 for a loss. Simple, huh?
There's also an extra little game on the side, which only Manga fans will really be able to play. This is for the Ravnica booster of your choice as well, so it's possible you can get 2 boosters out of reading this article (I think the length warrants some kind of reward). In one of my previous articles, there's a small quote which is a small play of words from the famous manga Neon Genesis Evangelion. Sure, Manga and Magic have nothing in common from the word go, but in the context I've used them I managed to tie them together. The aim for winning the second booster is to be the first person to correctly PM me the quote and where's it from in Neon Genesis, as well as the article title. (Vanwolfgang - MTG Paradise is happy to sponsor this competition)
Now finally, I swear to you, that's it. Nothing else. After these lines and Derek's boosters, there's no more. And, once again, to all of you, Happy new year!!
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