Hi, it's me again. Last time I went 1-3-1 with a Parfait deck in my shop's monthly T1 tournament and woved to do better the next time. Well, the next time was today and I actually managed to do better.. a little at least.
Here's what I played:
Lingonberry Parfait v2.0
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4x Land Tax
4x Argivian Find
4x Orim's Chant
3x Swords to Plowshares
2x Wrath of God
2x Humility
1x Balance
2x Story Circle
2x Sacred Mesa
2x Replenish
2x Aura of Silence
1x Seal of Cleansing
1x Enlightened Tutor
1x Blood Moon
2x Scroll Rack
2x Zuran Orb
2x Powder Keg
1x Soldevi Digger
1x Marble Diamond
1x Sol Ring
14x Plains
2x Mountain
3x Wasteland
1x Strip Mine
Sideboard:
2x Replenish
2x Spiritual Focus
2x Karmic Justice
1x Replenish
1x Ivory Mask
1x Swords to Plowshares
4x Abeyance
1x Moat
1x Blood Moon
I have to admit that I'd taken cards out of my original Parfait for my casual decks and forgot to replace them with anything decent. This is the version I built at the shop before the tournament, and I was quite happy with it (before got around to I plaing that is)
I loaned a boatload of cards to different people, the most notably being my whole TnT deck (unpowered, which is the reason I didn't play with it. The guy I loaned it to, Jussi, managed to rub salt on my wounds by placing in Top 8. He did have his own Ancestral, Walk and Sapphire though). I even managed to get all of the stuff back, which I was really grateful for (I loaned my Drains, Workshops and all the other cool stuff just because I wanted to play with bad white cards )
The tournament was more popular than anybody had anticipated. We got a whopping 30 players, which is probably the record for any T1 tournament held in Helsinki ever. A lot of people here are getting into Type 1 at the moment.. a year ago you couldn't find opponents and now the tournament draws more people than most T2 tournies. The bad part was that the tournament venue, our local shop Safe Haven, was so full of people that it was difficult to move around. Also the air quality was quite bad, and you could definately smell more than one pair of teenage armpits. Ugh.
The metagame was surprisingly refined.. I don't know what everybody played, but at least three Keepers, a Mask (which ended up winning), my Parfait, a Stompy, some Slighs, a Suicide Black, a Monoblue, a TnT, a ProsBloom and A Beautiful Mind made a showing. I guess there were some rogue decks as well. The amount of power was quite high, and I estimate there was at least around 30 P9 cards.. and loads of other stuff like Drains, Voids, Underworld Dreams, Moats, stuff like that. I guess I'll have to start investing on P9 again to be able to compete. Every time I see a power card, I kick myself for selling mine.
Anyway, we hang out for a while and trade cards, when the pairings are called.
Round #1: Eeva Lempinen playing Sligh
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The amazing thing was that there was a girl playing in the tournament. She's a girlfriend to one of the shop's regular players and was playing his Sligh deck. I was quite surprised to be paired against her, but I have to say that many male players would do well to learn some manners from people like Eeva. This was easily the most enjoyable match I played in the whole tournament.
We shuffle, chat a bit and the dice tell me I get to go first.
Game 1:
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This wasn't even a close game. I opened with a hand of Land Tax, some removal and most of all, a Story Circle. I didn't know what she was playing and went with Plains/Tax, and when she played Mountain/Grim Lavamancer, I had a sigh of relief. I stabilize pretty quickly, Tax and Rack, get something like 5 or 6 mana on the table, Plow and Balance her creatures, kill her Scrolls and finally I show her the Sacred Mesa. She scoops. My life totals tell me that I went all the way to two life and ended up sacrificing some of my land to my Zorb, but still was never close to dying.
I side in a Swords, Moat and the Ivory Mask and take out the Blood Moon, an Argivian Find and the Seal of Cleansing.
1-0
Game 2:
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This was a sad and a quick game. She opts to go first, I draw my seven cards and.. a really bad hand. I got three plains, two Argivian Finds and some other crap, probably Auras. I mulligan.. into a great hand with no land. I mulligan again.. into a hand that has a Tax, a Sol Ring, Moat, Scroll Rack and the Story Circle. I decide to risk it, all I need to do is to draw a Plains and I will win.
I don't draw the Plains.
1-1
Game 3:
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This was quite close. I manage to get the Tax/Rack thing going on and I got the game under control, but unfortunately I don't seem to draw the Mesa no matter how hard I try. I stabilize at 8 life and stay there when the time is called. There is no way I can win in three turns, so it's a draw.
The high point of this game was when she played a Black Vise that surprised me completely. I'd used all my removal on getting rid of her Scrolls while protecting myself from the red damage using the Story Circle. When the Vise hit the table I thought that this is it. Luckily, I topdeck a Balance (I had six Plains in my hand and no way of getting rid of them before I die) and cast it to get rid of my _own_ hand, as she only had one card in her hand. The crowd watching the game bursts into laughter.
Games: 1-1-1
Matches: 0-0-1
hmm.. this is not the way I wanted to start the tournament, but the games were enjoyable and even though I think I should have won the last game (and I would have if the time wasn't called), I'm not complaining. She was quite nervous and made some small newbieish mistakes, but I guess we're all like that if we're not seasoned tournament players.
Round #2: Sami Tuomi, playing Black Weenie
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I don't know what to call his deck. It had Carnophages and Sarcomancys along with Negators, but it seemed to lack disruption. I think I'll call it Black Weenie.
Game 1:
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I keep a mediocre hand, he gets a good hand. He draws creatures, I don't draw removal. I Keg and kill some stuff, but the combination of a Negator, a Carnophage and a Sarcomancy proves too much to handle.
In go the Spiritual Focii, StoP, Moat, Ivory Mask and a Karmic Justice just in case he has a Dystopia.
0-1
Game 2:
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This is easy for me. I keep a good hand with a Tax, Rack and some Orim's Chants and stall for a while until I draw my Moat and play it. I ask him if he wants to concede, as his ground forces can't attack but he says no and plays a Hypnotic Specter. I topdeck a Spiritual Focus and play it. He thinks for a while and scoops. No dystopias.. *whew*
I make no changes in my deck. I don't know though, maybe I should've sided out the Justice.
1-1
Game 3:
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This game is quite close. I mulligan a bad hand a get a better one with two StoPs, which I use to kill his early creatures. He gets two Mishras on the table though.. I hate those things because they don't care about Humility and laugh at my Wraths and Balance. I am reduced to topdecking while he assaults me with all kinds of nasty creatures.. I finally find myself in three life staring at two Negators, two Mishras and a Carnophage. Okay, a Wrath and then something to kill the Mishra with and I'll be fine... unfortunately I topdeck an Aura and the Negators finish me off.
1-2
Games: 2-3-1
Matches: 0-1-1
Damn, this is definately not the way I want the tournament to go. Oh well, three rounds left.. 3-1-1 has a shot at the Top 8.
Round #3: Tuukka Mähönen
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This guy is a bit of a legend at our shop.. a lot of people joke about him. When the pairings are called, I shout his name and see if anybody responds. Nobody confesses to being him, so I ask again. Again, people just giggle. I find out that he has left and feel happy about my first win People tell me later that he was playing his mighty Trained Orgg/Archangel-technology..
2-0 (I think)
Games: 4-3-1
Matches: 1-1-1
I'll happily take a break from playing and get some fresh air. The air in the shop smells like Mordor.
Round #4: Jani Helenius - An UWD-Void-Monoblack-Weird-Combo-Thing
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He's an older player with an extensive collection. Last time he was playing Dragon and I ask if he's playing it again.. if it is the Dragon deck again, I might just scoop and go get a burger. He says he's playing something a bit more casual this time and so we find a seat and start playing. Along with Eeva, he was one of the more fun opponents today. We chat a bit before the first game and he ends up going first.
Game 1:
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I have no clear idea what he is playing when he starts the round with a Swamp. I do know that he's one of the most casual players I know, so it might be anything. He plays an early Underworld Dreams that slowly starts chipping on my life total. He also plays two Megrims on the table and I start fearing for my life. This game saw some frantic tricks from me when I tried to avoid taking damage from the Megrims (Plow my own Horse, play a Chant, then Rack my remaining Plains to reveal a salty Argivian Find that will do me no good. Oh well, 4 damage to the head then). I do manage to get a Mesa into play and hit him twice with some Horses, but then he plays Pox and I end up at two life with no Horses. After that comes the calm between the storm.. I even have time to think I might even have a chance when he plays a Jar with two Megrims in play. He then proceeds to play a third Megrim. I die.
I side in Abeyances and the Ivory Mask, I take out some creature kill.
0-1
Game 2:
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This was a long and fun game. He gets an early Megrim, Duresses my Mesa and and Hymns me shortly afterwards. I get beaten by a pair of Mishras, but manage to survive. I then get a Zuran Orb and a Story Circle on the table. I Chant like a maniac.. I think I played all four of my Chants in something like five turns. I feel safe until he drops.. a Nether Void. Okay, so everything is a bit more expensive.. I don't care. I have an Aura on the table which makes his enchantments cost a whopping 5 more. I pay a meager four mana to Find the Mesa and play it. I start making horses and eventually kill him.
The end of this game was quite exciting though. I had a Spiritual Focus on the table and some mana open for the Story Circle. He then plays a Jar using a Cabal Coffers (which I immediatly Waste), but calculates his mana wrong so he can't play the stuff that's in his hand (he later said that it cost him the game). When the end step comes, we wonder how exactly does the synergy between an Underworld Dreams, a Megrim and the Focus works.. if I get the life before I lose it, I will stay alive, but otherwise I will die. We decide I will live and then my Pegasi run over him.
1-1
Game 3:
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He gets not one, but TWO early Underworld Dreams. I feel threatened but get a Story Circle. The time is called quite early in this game, as the second game took a long time. There is no way I can win, but he can actually manage a win using some nasty Megrim tech and I don't have too much life anyway. I do have a Zuran Orb in play and manage to play a Land Tax so I can feed it. He thinks for a while, gets all the mana he can and then plays an Abyss, a Void and extends his hand. Again a draw.
1-1-1
Matches: 1-1-2
Games: 5-4-2
Round #5: (I forgot to take his name, sorry
) playing some kind of black/green Elf deck.
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He's 1-3, so I believe I actually have a chance of beating him. It doesn't matter, but I feel that a winning record would make me feel better.
Game 1:
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This game is brutal. He gets an Elf on the table, I plow it. He gets another elf on the table, I kill it. I wrath. I Chant. I run him over with my horses.
In go my creature kill, out come Argivian Finds and something else I think.
1-0
Game 2:
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I mulligan. This is not a good way to start a game, but my second hand makes me smile. I've got only one Plains and no Tax, but TWO Swords to Plowshares, a Balance and a Humility. He goes first, plays a Bayou and says go. I draw a Wasteland and kill the Bayou. He Consults for a Lawnmower Elf. I kill two early creatures and then stall. He plays a Land Grant, revealing... two Llanowar Elves, two Rancors and three Briar Shields. I have a Humility in my hand but no mana to cast it, so I Enlightened Tutor for a Sol Ring and then hope that I draw a Plains. For one the goddess Fortuna is with me and this is exactly what happens. I play the Humility, effectively making his huge 4/4 Llanowar Elf with three Briar Shields into a 1/1. He then attacks and deals 10 damage to me.. good thing he didn't have a Berserk. I'm at six life and topdeck my Moat. I pray he doesn't have anything to kill it with.. His Elves sit safely and do nothing. This goes on for a few turns, he says he has Naturalizes so he hasn't lost yet.. then, unfortunately for him, he discovers that he lost both of them for the Consult. It's scoop time.
2-0
Games: 7-4-2
Matches: 2-1-2
I finally end up in the 14th place out of 30, which I don't think is _too_ bad. Of course, I would've preferred to be in the Top 8 but somehow I just don't feel like my deck carries enough punch. I don't think I'll play Parfait in February anymore.. it's a fun deck to play in a bar environment, but somehow I felt it let me down on more than one occasion. It's on the verge of winning, but doesn't draw the final removal spell or dies one turn too soon.
I guess this concludes the report.. I do have to mention the fact that I traded like never before and got my hands on my third NM Beta Icy Manipulator
After this tournament, I feel like I need to get Power.. and I want it more than ever before. Too bad I'm quite poor at the moment, time to sell some cards I guess.
And oh yeah, here are the obligatory...
Mudholes:
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Blood Moon - You sucked the whole tourney
Ivory Mask - I sided you in because I wanted to _draw_ you. No way I'll play with you again.
Me - for not doing better with a Dojo deck. Or then my version is just crappier than the ones on the Net.. I'll have to check.
My memory - I'm sure there are errors in this report. Sorry about those.
Upheavals:
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Andy - For not sucking that much this time with almost fully powered Keeper
My new Beta Icy - I love your dark colors and near mint borders.
My unpowered TnT - Apparently it's not unplayable after all. Maybe I should try it the next time.
Safe Haven - For organizing Type 1 tournaments.
The participants - For keeping Safe Haven organizing Type 1 tournaments
See you next month!
