So being from the middle of Ohio makes you a Tigers fan? Interesting.

Up here in Minnesota there is only one team worth watching... the defending AL Central champs the Minnesota Twins. 

While I won't rule out the Yankees competeing for the wild card, I think that this year there are too many good teams in the AL for them to pass over. Toronto, Seattle, Minnesota, Oakland and Cleveland all look to be fighting for the wild card, I think that it is unrealistic to think that the Yankees can surpass all those teams. Although, stranager things have happened in baseball. I thought it was unrealistic for the Tigers last year to get swept by Kansas City and give the Twins the AL Central, so please take my opinion with a grain of salt. 

Vintage, Legacy, Extended, Standard, Draft, Sealed, Two-Headed Giant; whichever format allows me to make the most money at the time.  The more formats I play in the better overall Magic player I am.

Congratulations on your Top Eight finish.  I have not yet received the final standings from Jason but if I remember right there were 23 people playing.  The top eight was:

Brian Cox (Browser) with Animal Farm vs. Nick Jacquet with Gay Red; Brian wins
Nate Siftar with FCG vs. (Draven) with 3 1/2 CC; Nate wins
Me (Frost) with 2 Land Belcher vs. Alan with Salvagers; I win
Jesse River (jesseriver) with TPS vs. Jon with U/W Landstill; Jon wins

Top four:
Nate vs. Brian; Nate wins
Me vs. Jon; I win

Finals Nate and I opted to split the Mox.  I took the artwork while Nate wanted the text box.  Thankfully Jason had a scissors handy so we could get a clean cut.

For those interested next month on the second sunday will be Dreamer's next Vintage tournament.  The prize will again be a Mox Jet.  Hope to see you all there.

If a mod could move this to the tournament area that would rock!

Alright, one week after SCGIII Dreamer's will be hosting its monthly Vintage Tournament.  What can we expect in the meta with the advent of Meandeck's Doomsday Device?  Will we see workshops and welders everywhere?  Will waSP finally make his triumphant return to Vintage?  Can monotone repeat his 9th place finish at SCGIII?  Do you have what it takes?

Where: Dreamer's
When: 1:00PM Sunday November 14th
Prize: A Mox Emerald
What: Vintage five proxy

(Please reread this prentending it is Jesse "The Body" Ventura loudly saying it.)

Congrats on the win with Tog!  It was great meeting you and Clown (er Bob, sorry!). StarCityIII was a blast although a dinner break would have been nice.  Those tacos we had at 1:00AM did not sit well with me the next day!

I am excited to see all you guys again at the next one.

Chris congratulations on taking 2nd, Mike congratulations on 1st.  I was pleasently surprised by the turnout considering that it was a Tuesday night.  I think that the T.O.'s at The Source were too.  All in all it was a fun well run time.

A couple of quick points. The deck you played round three was actually The Man Show taken from SCG's previous tournament.  Sean had talked to me about the deck before and told me that was what he was going to play.  

The Top Eight broke down like this:

Jon Tschida (Frost) TPS vs. Chris Byrnes (monotone) TnT, Chris wins

Adam St. Sauver URG Gro vs. ? Gay/r, Adam wins

Mike Vraa 4CC vs. Jason Burney Trinistax, Mike wins

Craig Olson (Milton) vs. Rylan Klatt 3 Color Madness, Craig wins

Top four

Chris Byrnes vs. Adam St. Sauver, Chris wins

Craig Olson vs. Mike Vraa, Mike wins

Finals

Mike Vraa vs. Chris Byrnes, Mike wins

Unfortunately it seems that we don't like collecting deck lists here in Minnesota otherwise I would post them for reference.  But I will will list my deck here for any who are interested.

TPS
4 Polluted Delta
4 Underground Sea
4 Dark Ritual
3 Island
2 Swamp
1 Underground River
1 Tolarian Academy
7 SoLoMoxen
1 Mana Vault
1 Mana Crypt
1 Lotus Petal

4 Duress
4 Force of Will
4 Brainstorm
2 Rebuild
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Chain of Vapor
1 Future Sight
1 Time Spiral
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Windfall
1 Yawgmoth's Bargain
1 Mind's Desire
1 Necropotence
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Cunning Wish
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Timetwister
1 Time Walk

2 Tendrils of Agony

Sideboard

4 Blue Elemental Blast
1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Rebuild
1 Ebony Charm
1 Frantic Search
1 Stifle
1 Brain Freeze
1 Misdirection
1 Tinker
1 Darksteel Colossus
1 Memory Jar
1 Echoing Truth

If a Mod wants to move this to the tournament forum I would appreciate it.

Once again it is time for Dreamer's monthly type 1 tournament.  This month priazes will be a Bazaar of Baghdad for first and a Mana Drain for second.  While this is not as exciting as last months Black Lotus and Ancestral Recall, it is still cool and we should all be out there supporting Jason for holding these tournaments for us.  And if we get over fifty we become data for Dr. Sylvan!!!

Where:  Dreamer's in St. Louis Park, MN
When: Sunday July 11, 2004 @ 1:00
What do I get: 1st:  Bazaar of Baghdad
                      2nd: Mana Drain
                      3rd:  Store Credit
                      4th:  Store Credit
What if I am busy:  Break your plans and play Magic
But it is MN and could be nice outside:  Yes, with 90% Humidity
What about the girlfriend: Give her Sligh and let waSP ogle her*
Alright, what do I bring: A non-Proxy Type 1 deck.  I know, I know there are still some diehards here who do not appreciate the beauty of running proxy tourneys.  Believe me I would love to play with my 8th edition card face proxy power over those ugly unlimited cards but what can you do?

* Just kidding Steve, we tease because we love.

If a Mod could move this to the Tournament Forum I would appreciate it.

On Sunday June 13th Dreamer's in St. Louis Park, MN will be hosting a 3-Proxy tournament with a very pretty, artist signed Black Lotus for 1st.

When: June 13, 2004
Where: Dreamer's in St. Louis Park, MN
Time: 1:00
What to bring: A 0-3 proxied Type 1 deck
Cost: $20 if you are unproxied, $23 if you ARE proxied
What will make you smile: An artist signed Unlimited Black Lotus for 1st, and if 60+ people show an artist signed Unlimited Ancestral Recall for 2nd, after that you get store credit.
Who are invited: Everyone!!!

What better way is there to spend a Sunday afternoon?

If a Mod could move this into the Tournament Forum I would appreciate it.

When: May 9, 2003 (Always the second Sunday of the month)
Where: Dreamer's in Saint Louis Park, MN
Time: 1:00
What to bring: A non-proxied Type 1 deck
What do you get: A Mox Pearl for 1st, store credit after that

Think you have what it takes to finish 1st?  Then bring it!

Wow, I was not expecting this much of a reaction.  Well, now that I am back from vacation I can respond to some of this.  First a little explanation, something that I should probably done as to why I am building this deck.  One of the places that we play in Minneapolis offers multiplayer nights every two months or so.  Most people choose to play decks that are "kitchen table" friendly, however, there are a small number of people who show up packing combo decks that are not fun for most people.  (example: Biorhythem decks, False Cure, Worldgorger Dragon)  I suppose this happens when product is at stake.  The store manger asked me to come up with a deck that would help "police" this problem.  This is where I suggested having a Shahrazad deck available.

I don't mean to play this at any old kitchen table or with random people I don't know.  This is for certain people who have proven time and again to take away the enjoyment of others.

For those who have offered suggestions, I thank you.

This past Friday night I picked up my fourth Shahrazad.  I wanted to abuse what could be the most annoying card in Magic with Darksteel’s Panoptic Mirror.  I put together the following deck for multiplayer games.  

1,001 Arabian Tales, Version 2.0
4 Bayou
4 Savannah
4 Scrubland
4 Windswept Heath
2 Plains
1 Forest
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Pearl
1 Sol Ring
4 Shahrazad
4 Panoptic Mirror
4 Wrath of God
4 Diabolic Tutor
2 Gaea’s Blessing
2 Naturalize
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Burning Wish
1 Balance
1 Living Wish
1 Time Walk
1 Cunning Wish
4 Leonine Abunas
4 Wall of Roots
2 Serra Avatar

I would also carry with me a set of wish targets to answer specific board threats.  This was my first thought on how to abuse Shahrazad and Panoptic Mirror.  I am looking for other thoughts and ideas on which to take this deck.  All ideas are welcome.

Because everything standard, block and draft became boring after Invasion left the formats.  I really hated when everyone here played Psychatog and Madness in Type 2.  Every match, same two decks!

@ defector

Funny, of the six pieces of power I have won in the last year, three of those have been won with a hang over.     Go figure!

Also, I keep seeing posts by you but I am not quite sure who you are at Dreamer's.  Let me know!

Quarterfinals Match Brian Cox (Browser) playing Combo Slavery vs. Lee Hall playing R/G Beatz
Game 1
The first couple turns both players worked on developing their respective mana bases.  Brian made the first move when he Ancestral Recalled himself and followed that up with a Metalworker.  Lee did nothing more than play a Mountain on his turn giving Brian a chance to take a broken turn.  Being the good Slavery person he is, does.  He proceeds with a Duress to which Lee responds with a Price or Progress dealing four damage to Brian.  The Duress snags a Naturalize and Brian creates two Gilded Lotuses and a Mindslaver.  Lee brings forth Urza’s Rage on the poor little Metalworker but Brian follows with a second on his next turn.  Brian also Thirst for Knowledge, Tinkered away a Mox for a Panoptic Mirror and decided he needed to take full control of both players turns by activating his Mindslaver.  Lee draws and shows Brian a hand of all land.  Over the next two turns Brian manages to find a Goblin Welder and Vampiric Tutors for a Time Walk to seal his victory.
Game 2
Remember back in the old old old Extended days there was a deck called DrawGo?  The decks did nothing but play lands and say “go!”  No?  Perhaps you were too young to remember, but I do.  Brain and Lee decided to revisit those glorious days by doing nothing but playing mana sources for five straight turns!  The end of Brian’s fifth turn, Lee got started by flinging a Lightning Bolt at Brian’s head.  And then . . . played a Forest!  Brian summoned forth a Metalworker on his turn to which Lee promptly replied by making the artifact mutate into three 1/1s that served him.  Lee swung for three damage on his turn and cast a Call of the Herd to help increase the pressure on Brian.  Brian tried to make a blocker by casting Pentavus but history has a way of repeating itself as Lee managed to mutate that into seven 1/1s.  Brian had enough mana available to make two tokens of his own but they were not enough to stop the hoard from taking Brain down to eight life.  Lee cast a Price of Progress to seal the deal.
Game 3
Lee finds himself in the unfortunate spot in Magic by having to mulligan down to five.  Brian is able to capitalize on Lee’s bad luck by playing a second turn Memory Jar and sacking it to find himself with a hand of Underground Sea, Mox Ruby, Black Lotus, Gilded Lotus and a Metalworker that all find their way into play.  Sometime on Lee’s turn, however the metalworker decided to take a trip to the local Incinerator never to return.  Well unless Brian welds him back into play!  Low and behold a Goblin Welder does appear on Brian’s side of the board.  Much to his chagrin it is met by the rage of mighty Urza.  Brian, not to be dissuaded spawns another Goblin Welder on this time it comes with a Mindsalver.  Lee can do nothing more than summon a Troll Ascetic as Brian proceeds to abuse his newfound weapon.  After two activations and a Pentuvus joining Brian’s war machine, Lee offers Brian his concession.

Brian Cox 2, Lee Hall 1

Congratulations to both Lee and Brian for making it this far.  I am working on getting through my notes for the semifinal match now and will post that as soon as I am done.

@ Beowulf

Thank you for doing the survey for me.  It is nice to see what people were bringing.

For those who are interested, I played Dragon yesterday.  Here is the deck I played to a 10th place finish:

4 Bazaar of Baghdad
4 Polluted Delta
4 Underground Sea
3 Swamp
2 Island
1 Mana Crypt
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Pearl
1 Sol Ring
4 Worldgorger Dragon
4 Squee, Goblin Nabob
1 Ambassador Laquatus
4 Force of Will
4 Duress
3 Compulsion
3 Animate Dead
3 Dance of the Dead
2 Necromancy
2 Intuition
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
1 Lim-Dul's Vault

Sideboard
3 Stifle
3 Recoil
3 Tormond's Crypt
3 Cabal Therapy
2 Verdant Force
1 Sliver Queen

My rounds went:
Rd 1 against Sligh 2-1
Rd 2 against EBA 1-1-1
Rd 3 against Tog 1-1
Rd 4 against FCG 2-1
Rd 5 against GayR 2-0

@ Tempe

Basically once I realized that 3-0-2 would not be enough to make the top eight (actually it could have been but I needed a lot of help), I talked to Jason about getting the top eight decklists to post.  As people were loosing waSP and I were frantically writing down decklists, with the exceptions of Brian Cox and Steve Reinartz, who e-mailed them to me.

waSP and I also did some coverage on 2 of the 4 Quarterfinal matches, both semifinal matches and the finals.  I hope to get those posted soon so people can take a look at what transpired.

56 Players showed up for this month’s Type 1 at Dreamer’s in Minneapolis.  Congratulations to Brad Ojala who won the Mox Sapphire with his Oshawa Stompy deck.

The Metagame breakdown for this month was:
9 R/G Beatz
4 Tog
4 Fish
4 Sligh/Goblins
3 Dragon
3 EBA
2 Sneak Attack
2 Void
2 TnT
2 Stax
1 Parfait
1 SnowBlower
1 Mono Green (Splash Red) LD
1 Affinity
1 Star Spangled Slaughter
1 UrPhid
1 Grow
1 Suicide
1 Draw7.dec
1 Combo Slavery
1 MadDragon
1 Oshawa Stompy
1 Clerics
1 Mono Green Beatz
7 Unknown Decks (Somehow my notes only have 49 decktypes but there where 56 players who had signed up)

Top Eight Decklists

1st Place
Brad Ojala – Oshawa Stompy
14 Forest
4 Bazaar of Baghdad
2 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine
1 Lotus Petal
4 Elvish Spirit Guides
4 Squee, Goblin Nabob
4 Wild Mongrel
4 Basking Rootwalla
4 Arrogant Wurm
3 Troll Ascetic
4 Survival of the Fittest
4 Hidden Gibbons
4 Null Rod
2 Naturalize
1 Berserk

Sideboard
3 Xantid Swarm
3 Root Maze
3 Cursed Scroll
2 Ground Seal
2 Naturalize
2 Oxidize

2nd Place
Brian Cox – Combo Slavery

4 Mishra's Workshop
4 Polluted Delta
4 Underground Sea
3 Gilded Lotus
2 Volcanic Island
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Black Lotus
1 Sol Ring
1 Grim Monolith
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Emerald
1 Lotus Petal
3 Goblin Welder
3 Metalworker
1 Pentavus
4 Thirst for Knowledge
4 Duress
3 Cunning Wish
3 Mindslaver
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Tinker
1 Timetwister
1 Time Walk
1 Future Sight
1 Wheel of Fortune
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Panoptic Mirror
1 Memory Jar
 
Sideboard
3 Fire/Ice
2 Rack and Ruin
1 Red Elemental Blast
1 Blue Elemental Blast
1 Coffin Purge
1 Ebony Charm
1 Firestorm
1 Chain of Vapor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Shattering Pulse
1 Diabolic Edict
1 Hibernation

3rd / 4th Place
Jeremy Zwirn – R/G Beatz
4 Forest
4 Mountain
4 Taiga
4 Wasteland
4 Wooded Foothills
3 Treetop Village
1 Mox Emerald
1 Sol Ring
1 Strip Mine
4 Kird Ape
4 River Boa
4 Troll Ascetic
2 Gorilla Shaman
2 Skyshroud Elite
4 Cursed Scroll
4 Incinerate
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Naturalize
2 Rancor
1 Call of the Herd

Sideboard
4 Red Elemental Blast
3 Blood Moon
3 Root Maze
2 Rack and Ruin
2 Forgotten Ancient
1 Naturalize

3rd / 4th Place
Jason Henke – MadDragon
4 Bazaar of Baghdad
4 Wooded Foothills
4 Taiga
2 Bayou
2 Badlands
1 Forest
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Emerald
1 Lotus Petal
1 Black Lotus
4 Elvish Spirit Guide
4 Squee, Goblin Nabob
4 Wild Mongrel
4 Basking Rootwalla
4 Arrogant Wurm
3 Worldgorger Dragon
1 Shivan Hellkite
1 Anger
4 Animate Dead
4 Duress
4 Survival of the Fittest
1 Demonic Tutor

Sideboard
4 Red Elemental Blast
4 Artifact Mutation
3 Engineered Plague
2 Tormond’s Crypt
2 Naturalize

5th / 6th / 7th / 8th
Lee Hall – R/G Beatz
8 Forest
8 Mountain
4 Wooded Foothills
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Emerald
4 Blurred Mongoose
3 River Boa
3 Troll Ascetic
4 Call of the Herd
4 Naturalize
4 Urza’s Rage
4 Incinerate
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Price of Progress
3 Blood Moon
1 Wheel of Fortune
1 Burning Wish

Sideboard
4 Artifact Mutation
4 Chalice of the Void
2 Ground Seal
1 Hurricane
1 Pyroclasm
1 Kaervek’s Torch
1 Chain Lightning
1 Pulverize

5th / 6th / 7th / 8th
James Beltz – Fish
4 Flooded Strand
4 Volcanic sland
3 Snow-Covered Island
2 Island
1 Strip Mine
1 Library of Alexandria
1 Mox Ruby
1 Chrome Mox
1 Black Lotus
4 Flying Men
4 Grim Lavamancer
4 Spiketail Hatchling
3 Serendib Efreet
4 Standstill
4 Curiosity
4 Force of Will
4 Misdirection
3 Daze
3 Stifle
3 Earthquake
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk

Sideboard
4 Chill
4 Pyroblast
4 Gorilla Shaman
3 Rack and Ruin

5th / 6th / 7th / 8th
Phil Doyle – Mono Green (Splash Red) LD

4 Taiga
4 Wooded Foothills
4 Wasteland
3 Snow-Covered Forest
2 Windswept Heath
1 Strip Mine
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Emerald
1 Sol Ring
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Fyndhorn Elves
3 Terravore
3 Troll Ascetic
1 Flametongue Kavu
4 Ice Storm
4 Thermokarst
4 Tangle Wire
4 Powder Keg
3 Root Maze
2 Naturalize
2 Creeping Mold
1 Winter's Grasp

Sideboard
4 Artifact Mutation
3 Chalice of the Void
2 Damping Matrix
2 Tormod's Crypt
2 Ground Seal
2 Pyroclasm

5th / 6th/ 7th /8th
Steve Reinertz – Draw7.dec

4 City of Brass
3 Gemstone Mine
2 Glimmervoid
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Saphire
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Diamond
1 Lotus Petal
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Lions Eye Diamond
4 Elvish Spirit Guide
4 Dark Ritual
4 Brainstorm
4 Force of Will
3 Diminishing Returns
3 Chromatic Sphere
1 Memory Jar
1 Minds Desire
1 Yawgmoth’s Will
1 Timetwister
1 Wheel of Fortune
1 Windfall
1 Tinker
1 Burning Wish
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Necropotence
1 Yawgmoth's Bargain
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Fastbond
 
Sideboard
4 Xantid swarms
2 Naturalize
1 Hull breach
1 Diminishing Returns
1 Tendrils of Agony
1 Regrowth
1 Balance
4 Misc Junk (Unfortunately these cards were not listed in the e-mail he sent me)

TMDers present who missed the Top 8
Craig Olson (Milton) 4-1 with UrPhid
Jon Tschida (Frost) 3-0-2 with Dragon
Ian DeGraff (I@n) 2-1-2 with Tog
Steve Petersen (waSP) 2-3 with SnowBlower

Jason Webster would like to thank all those who came out to the tournament and to let everyone know that there will be a tournament for a Black Lotus on the Second Sunday of June.  I will post more information closer to the tournament date.

@ JuJu - It may have performed better without red but I still like having wishable red removal (REB, Artifact Mutation and Rack and Ruin) in the sideboard.  As for Fire/Ice maindeck, I hated it.  I never wanted to see it and when I did it was mainly used for its Ice ability.  For the near future it will be a second deed.

@ jpmeyer - I have yet to actually test Firestorm.  Going into a place that I didn't know, I felt that sticking with something I knew was better than experimenting.

Chris Byrnes (Monotone) and I head out Saturday morning for the long trip to Kansas City via Des Moines for a little Magic.  We rolled into Des Moines at about six to meet up with some of my college friends and enjoy some drinks while watching to see if Drake could win out the MVC tournament and make it to the Big Dance.  A couple hours pass by and Drake managed to loose, I had Maker’s Mark spilled on my lap by my ex-girlfriend and was proposed to by two different women.  All in all a good time.  

The next morning Chris and I head out to KC ready to take home a Lotus for Minneapolis.  We cruise on down the highway at eight on a Sunday morning and learn that the only thing on the radio is music for old people.  Not that there is anything wrong with that.  We eventually come across a sampling of songs from Forbidden Broadway.  We found ourselves laughing at the satirical singing about Dustin Hoffman, the English and Les Miserables.  Maybe we were still a little drunk.

Anyway, we made it into KC grabbed some McDonald’s and were ready to go.  I chose to play Psychatog as I had no idea what their metagame would be.  The deck I played was:

Psychatog
4 Polluted Delta
4 Underground Sea
4 Wasteland
3 Tropical Island
2 Volcanic Island
1 Strip Mine
1 Library of Alexandria
1 Island
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Jet
1 Black Lotus
1 Mana Crypt

3 Psychatog

4 Brainstrom
4 Accumulated Knowledge
4 Force of Will
4 Mana Drain
3 Cunning Wish
2 Duress
2 Intuition
1 Yawgmoth’s Will
1 Mind Twist
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Fire / Ice
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
1 Pernicious Deed
1 Demonic Tutor

Sideboard
2 Red Elemental Blast
2 Blue Elemental Blast
2 Coffin Purge
1 Berserk
1 Gorilla Shaman
1 Stifle
1 Naturalize
1 Artifact Mutation
1 Deep Analysis
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Pernicious Deed
1 Rack and Ruin

Round 1 – Jeff with Tog
Game 1 – Ah yes, the mirror to start the day!  Game 1 came down to the fact that he could wish for answers to my Psychatogs yet I never could draw a wish to answer his.
Game 2 – I opt to play first this game and we each start by dropping early Psychatogs and Pernicious Deeds.  Grrr!  We spend the next twenty minutes drawing cards, filling our graveyards and staring at each other.  I finally find myself with the right cards in hand to blow the deed.  Eventually I find another Psychatog and I am able to steal this game when he taps out to play a Pernicious Deed.  I follow on my turn with a Yawgmoth’s Will.  Nuff said.

1-1   / 0-0-1

Round 2 – Nick with Goblins
Game 1 – He plays early Goblins and drops my life to eleven before I am able to Deed away his little army and Mind Twist his hand away.  He is forced to topdeck answers to my Psychatog but cannot before I go lethal.
Game 2 – I Force his first turn Lackey and he has no other threats for three straight turns.  The only damage I take this game is from my force and fetches.  Eventually I Mind Twist his hand away and after that it was pretty academic.

3-1 / 1-0-1

Round 3 – Jesse with Sligh
Game 1 – Unfortunately, for him, he is forced to Paris to five while playing first.  He creates a Slith Firewalker but I have a Psychatog to hold it off.  He tries for an Incinerate and Fireblast on the Tog but it didn’t matter as I had the second tog in hand and I swing in for the win.
Game 2 – This game I win the game by Fetching for a Guru Island to trump his Guru Mountain, wait, no that was for who's basic land was more pimpin’.  Actually he tosses an Incinerate and Lightning Bolt at my head.  I joke with him about him trying to burn me out.  I Twist away his hand and see that he was in fact trying to burn me out!  I drop the Tog and swing in for the win.  

5-1 / 2-0-1

Round 4 – Justin with Affinity
Game 1 – Justin does some quick math to see if we actually need to play this game.  Given my first round draw it would be too risky for me to try to draw my way into the top eight.  We start the game with him playing two Arcbound Ravagers, a Disciple of the Vault and a Myr Enforcer.  I manage to tutor for and play a Pernicious Deed while holding a Lotus and a land in hand to get to seven mana.  He brings me down to four life before I can Deed for seven sending three artifacts to the graveyards and loosing three life.  I stabilize and eventually kill him with my Tog.
Game 2 – I take a couple of hits from Frogmites but Tog did what Tog does best, I drew a lot of cards, cast Yawgmoth’s Will and smacked him for twenty!

7-1 / 3-0-1

Round 5 – Andy with Slavery
We opt for the intentional draw as we are both in the top eight.

7-1 / 3-0-2

Quarterfinals – Chris with Vengeur
Game 1 – Ah, the power of cheese!  No, I mean Pernicious Deed.  I am able to wipe his board clean and swing for victory with a Berserked Tog.
Game 2 – I get smacked in the head with a Dreadnought but am able to Cunning Wish for my Rack and Ruin to gain some time.  He eventually taps out on a Survival and gives me an opening to swing in with my Psychatog.  I know that of the four cards in his hand he has a Shapeshiter, Birds, Akroma and one unknown card.  He had not cast a Force yet this game so I decided to Mind Twist him first rather than go for the kill thinking that the Mind Twist gave him a 25% chance of winning that game versus an auto loss for me if he has the Force.  I Twist him leaving the Shapeshifter in hand and Akroma as the top card in his graveyard.  Damn statistics!  On to game three.
Game 3 – Game three was a virtual repeat of game one.  I win by casting a Deed and forcing him to play around me.

9-2 / 4-0-2

Semifinals – Andy with Slavery
Game 1 – We fight an early counterwar leaving us both depleated.  He ends up topdecking better and takes the game quickly with Welders and Trikes.
Game 2 – He plays a second turn Platinum Angel which I Force followed by a third turn Slaver.  Sigh!  My hand at the time consisted of a Brainstorm, Shaman, Will, BEB, Cunning Wish and a Duress.  I try my best to Brainstorm the hand into something but I still left him with too much to do damage with.

9-4 / 4-1-2

All in all it was a fun trip.  I receive a Library of Alexandria for my troubles and Chris and I head back to Des Moines for the night.

Props
Jeff, Nick, Jesse, Justin, Andy and Chris for being enjoyable people to play Magic with.  It made the six hour trip from Minneapolis worth it.

Chris Byrnes for helping me tune my deck.

Rando for giving me directions

The people at A to Z Comics for running a nice tournament

Slops
I.H.O.P. for running out of Coke.  What are we suppose to enjoy Dr. Pepper instead?

Once again it is time for Dreamer’s monthly type 1 power tournament.

Where: Dreamer’s in St. Louis Park
When:  Sunday March 14th at 1:00, Doors open at Noon
Cost:    $10
Prizes:  1st  Mox Sapphire signed by Richard Garfield
            2nd TBA depending on attendance
            3rd TBA depending on attendance
            4th  TBA depending on attendance

The tournament will be DCI sanctioned no proxies.  However, they will be having a full proxy tournament on Friday March 12th at 6:30.

We invite anyone who will be in the Twin Cities area that weekend to come out and test your might against Minnesota’s best.

@ disrupting specter

I have tested this deck and discussed card choices with waSP since he started playing around with Isocron Scepter back in October 2003.  I can assure you that this deck has been tested against a number of the top decks in the filed.  I do not believe that this deck is better than current Sligh builds, however, it does push the discussion of finding an optimal Sligh build.  If one exists.  I believe that was the original intent of this post.

@ waSP

What are your thoughts on running green over blue in this deck?  In particular Dryads and Naturalize?

29 Mana sources seems like it should be high for this deck given how cheap your threats are.  The lone Treetop Village seems a little strange to me as well.  You mentioned wanting more disruption, have you thought about cutting some of the mana sources for Stifles?  Which deem to be good in our area.  Also, what do you think of adding two blue fetches and an Island in place of two Forests and a Coast?

So much of bluffing is intelligent play.  How you tap your lands.  What mana you leave available can send signals to your opponant about the cards in your hand.  I notice a lot of players who tell me their hand just by what lands they tap.

Second, there is something that needs to be said for how condident you are when/as you make your plays.  You can send subtle signals to your opponant.  If you play frustrated your opponant knows they can up the pressure somewhat.  If you play loose and confident it is harder to tell what your situation really is.

For the longest time I have been opposed to the idea of running proxy tournaments, especially unlimited tournaments.  Lately I have been warming to the idea.  

In any given area of the world, there are only so many of the older cards in floating around in competitive players or stores hands.  I say competitive because I know many people who own a great number of power cards yet do not play competitive Type 1 and are collecters or casual players and do not wish to trade their power.

This puts a limit on the number of players in a given area who can play DCI sanctioned tournaments.  In Minneapolis we have been averaging about 30 players per DCI sanctioned power tournaments.  As the price of power increases, it becomes harder for stores to justify running no proxy tournaments as it will limit the number of people who can play.  We cannot just keep raising the entry fee as that will lower the number of people who will play.  Eventually we will need to allow proxies.  I can only assume that this is a phenomenon that will eventually occur elsewhere.

As for the number of proxies allowed, well, I think anything pre-Legends is a good starting point.  Although, as time goes by it may need to be expanded upon.

Considering what you listed for power, I would play Hulk.  It is one of the strongest decks in the field and versatile enough to handle any environment.  As for a deck list, well, there are a number of them on this site so take a look at them and choose one that best fits your metagame and adjust the sideboard to beat your environment.

My name is Jon and I am from Minneapolis, Minnesota.  I have been playing Magic since Legends came out.  I try to keep up on all formats but my first love is Type 1.  I am usually running combo or aggro-control, go little fishy, go.  But occasionally like to smash face with Juggernauts or Dreadnoughts.

I regularily play at Dreamers and The Source, the two biggest places to play in the Twin Cities.  If anyone here finds themselves in the Twin Cities and is looking to play Magic check these places out.

Outside of Magic I spent three years in banking before I decided to up and quit to go to law school.  I like all outdoor activites; hockey, skiing, snowmobiling, all those fun things to do when the temperature is 10 below zero.

If anyone wants to reach me I am on AIM under tke972sparky.