This will be my third draft of this post, and will probably be much shorter than my first two drafts. I keep deleting everything because I feel I'm filling this white space with bullshit rather than what needs to be said, and I'm sure everyone that is reading this would rather do something productive than read bullshit.
I want to turn back time about a year to the day and remember when I first started playing Type 1 seriously and reading articles on TMD. I first started really paying attention to this site when the Paragons of Vintage were arms and legs of God. When I began reading TMD, all I ever wanted at that time was to post in the Type 1 Forum and join all the great conversation with the best of the best in Magic. However, I feared I would never get there. I didn't think they would ever waste time on the likes of me - some kid from Michigan that had never done anything to impact Type 1. The coolest thing I did was resolve Opportunity against a 4-Gush GAT player and then kill him with an Ephemeron. However, I wasn't going to get anywhere on the Drain by posting opinions that Ephemeron > Tog.
During Type 1 Worlds, the tournament was not much different from any other large tournament I had gone to. I played against better players and better decks, but I didn't feel like I was in anything big until the Top 8. Making top 8 is a story in itself. I went 6-1-1, but so did a lot of people, and I was looking to take unlucky 9th place. How lucky for me, two other players with 16 points each drew in the final Swiss round and I ended up with 19 points when they each got 17, which put me into 8th seed of Top 8. SO GOOD!
GenCon's top 8 was a thing of beauty and terror. When you're surrounded by countless people, taking notes on everything you do and taking pictures every now and then, you know you're involved in something pretty big. You're in the spotlight and fouling up a play is not even an option at that point. You're forced to play your best or die. Once I made top 8, I had the ambition to win the tournament, and I wasn't going to give up until I had lost a match.
That ambition served me well vs Kevin Cron (CHA1N5), perhaps the best player I have ever had to face. His deck was a savage one, and a bad matchup for me. He obliterated me game 1, which was as expected, but I had this crazy ambition game 2 that took me through an hour or so of the most intense gaming I have ever done. When I won game 2 and looked around at all the faces, I knew I had done something truly amazing. Their reactions to the game made the whole trip worth while.
My two remaining opponents had amazing decks for the metagame. The games were intense and fun, and my opponents were also very determined to win. Fortunately for me, Control Slaver had a slight edge in each matchup, which led to victory. Each match got more and more intense as they went on, because more and more people gathered around to watch the magical spells fly around. Every time I made a good play, I could hear it in the crowd. Every time I made a mistake, I knew the world saw it. It was pretty wicked.
Winning Worlds was not my original intention. I had no idea I had it in me to take home the title, and that is something I need to remember. Anybody can win; all it takes is determination. I knew I had never played better in my life, and had I played even the slightest bit worse, my opponents would have taken me down because they were very skilled.
In the end, now that I'm back home, I decided to write this up for a few reasons. As you probably know by now, one of my main goals was to meet the top players and make friends with them if possible. I had that goal for a reason, as friendship towers over almost anything else. I want to take a moment here to thank a number of people for being who they are:
Steve Menendian - a true combo player at heart, who plays MonoU on the side. You're an obvious friend to me for these reasons alone. Plus, your philosophy on worldly matters agrees with mine and I'll always look forward to any conversations you and I may have in the future.
Kevin Cron - playing against you makes me a better player by the second. I imagine you want a rematch, and I promise you that you'll get it some day, probably sooner than you think! lol @ "Do you guys have awesome sauce?" when were were at SubWay
Kim Kluck - were it not for you, Control Slaver may have never seen the light of day. Thanks a ton for your original ideas and deckbuilding skills.
Rich Shay - you tweaked the fledgling masterpiece known as Control Slaver. You showed me the light. Since you didn't make it to GenCon I decided to show the world that you're the best deck builder in the land!
Ben Perry - my lone team mate, I love you man!!! Mystical Tutor tech for life. Thanks for your support all the way from MI. I'm proud to represent for us.
Josh Franklin - not too sure how you'll take this, but you're the best friend I could ask for. Thanks for all your support through the top 8; it meant a lot to me that you were sitting at my side. Good to know that you do NOT get Gilded Draked
"Zherbus" - shit dude... you're the man. I can't say much else. One day I'll meet you. Despite what people say, I believe you do exist and I'm determined to shake your hand before I die.
To the rest of my Type 1 community - I couldn't have done this without The Drain; I'm first to admit it. I'm so proud to call myself a member of this community, as you're all great people. Let's keep up the solid work and keep Type 1 alive. Any of you can win, and any of you can be among the top players. Reputation is nothing next to determination. I look forward to meeting all of you that I have not met already. At each event, I meet more people and I continue to be happy with each person I meet.
There's a lot of emotion that computer screens can't really show. I extend my fullest respect to everyone here. You're all amazing people and I'm looking forward to the day that we can all meet up and party our asses off.
~Mark B.
Edit: Awarding credit to Kim for deck design.
