[REPORT] Dueling-Grounds T1 Champs TOP 8

Dueling Grounds Type One Championship Tournament Report
TOP 8
Report by Andrew Petkovics

Where should I begin?

Of course, I could go straight to the decklist and the subsequent tournament report, but that would mean that I’ll be cutting you short of the events prior to tournament. I’m quite sure that many of you don’t really care about my personal life but what happened that Friday night led to somewhat poor playing the next day.

Here we go.

I was asked by one of my classmates if I wanted to come to his bash on Friday night. Considering I had a really rough week at school, which obviously includes writing an algeo and calculus test on the same freakin’ day, I thought that it would be a well-deserved break from my hectic life. Besides, who says no to free juice?

The bash was nothing too special. The music was just okay and there was more beer than liquor, which is a bad thing. Really, it was only a matter of time until people had too much to drink and pick a fight, which was exactly what happened. My dancing with the ladies was interrupted when a barrage of punches were exchanged by some Italians and Hispanics. Everyone crowded around to see what was going on but that crowd quickly dispersed once a couple gun shots went off. The police sirens that shortly ensued didn’t help either. Everyone raced for the back door, including myself. I was about to jump the fence but looked back to see some drunks barely able to stand trying to get out too – some where even crawling. How could I forget?! I ran back into the house and grabbed a couple forties and a bottle of Jack Daniels, then quickly dashed out with the bottles clanging in my jacket pockets and JD in hand. Mise!

Talk about priorities, eh?

Well, I woke up the next morning in my boxers surrounded by several empty bottles. The details are a bit hazy; I had a fucking massive headache. Those like twelve glasses of water were undoubtedly my hero that day, although I had to piss like a race horse shortly after.

I get on the computer for my morning dose of lesbian action with a side of www.mtgontario.com and www.themanadrain.com surfing. I see a thread on the Dueling Grounds Type One tournament and I remember it was something that I was talking to Richard and Lam about going to. My taskbar clock reads something like 7:00 am. Awesome! The tournament is scheduled to start at 1:00 pm, so I have plenty of time to take a shower and enjoy a nice coffee and banana.

So I arrive at the Royal Canadian Legion. It turns out there’s a pub in the basement! Mise! I look around the tournament site and find Paul having some fun games against IsoKeeper using his Charbelcher deck. Jean-Marc Babin and I play a round of mental magic. Easy to say I got my ass handed to me as Petko is in hangover mode.

I also spotted Elijah Pollock, but he wasn’t going to playing in the tournament. So he couldn’t share his immense amount of Vintage points with us! Grr!

Soon enough, the crew begins to show up. Al was even nice enough to lend me Gay/r! Of course, I lent out all the pimpin’ Beta power out to friends as well because I’m such a super person. After getting the missing pieces of the deck from Lam and Cyril, as Al was playing UW Standstill and needed some of the cards, I was all set to fill out the deck registration slip.

I suppose this is the part where I post the decklist.

Gay/r (en français)

1 Ancestral Recall
4 Cloud of Faeries
4 Curiosity
4 Force of Will
4 Spiketail Hatchling
4 Standstill
4 Stifle
3 Voidmage Prodigy
4 Grim Lavamancer
4 Null Rod

3 Faerie Conclave
3 Island
1 Library of Alexandria
4 Mishra’s Factory
4 Polluted Delta
1 Strip Mine
4 Volcanic Island
4 Wasteland

SB: 2 Sigil of Sleep
SB: 3 Rack and Ruin
SB: 3 Red Elemental Blast
SB: 2 Fire/Ice
SB: 2 Tormod’s Crypt
SB: 3 Maze of Ith

Nothing really out of the ordinary, I would say. Four Null Rods are a real beating!
I spotted a piano on the tournament site! Mise! At least I knew if I scrubbed out I would be able to whip out the Chopin. Awesome!

Enough blather! On to the tournament!

Just to let you know, I took no notes whatsoever because I’m a lazy French fuck. Prepare yourself for some crazy memory action!

Interesting enough I get paired up against Jean-Marc Babin Round One. His name rang a few bells and I recalled that he was the Ontario Provincials champion last year. I was a bit surprised to see him playing Vintage. We talk for a bit and then start rumbling.

Round One – Jean-Marc Babin, playing wMUD with Trinispheres.

Game One
He tries for an early Tangle Wire which meets my Force of Will. This does not look good for Babin as I quickly go into beatdown mode. He really doesn’t have much gas, but he has a shitload of mana. We’re talking like three Workshops and a Tolarian Academy. My Wastelands aren’t so good but it doesn’t really matter, as he become quickly overwhelmed. He drops a Smokestack sometime during the game, but it was way too late to make any sort of impact.

Game Two
I bring in some Fire/Ice and Rack and Ruins. Rack and Ruin is so hardcore. Babin starts off strong again, but this time it’s with a first turn Trinisphere! Who does that? I groan, but then I draw and cream my pants. What a miser! Library of Alexandria! I’m in the money. I Wasteland his Mishra’s Workshop, I believe. I then start dropping down manlands like no one’s business. He has a Rishadan Port halting down my dudes a bit but I’m picking away at his life. I manage to keep his threats off the table (including a Platinum Angel! WTF?!). Things look good until he sneaks out a Goblin Welder. I topdeck a Grim Lavamancer a turn after it becomes active, so by the time I send that dude packing, he has a Platinum Angel and Smokestack out. I do manage to get him down to zero life, but that Angel is a beating. My savage mising kicks in and I draw a second Grim Lavamancer to deal lethal damage to that Platinum Angel to win the game.

1-0-0 (2-0)

Most of the boys did alright. Paul lost to Al, but the games were tight. Sucks to have buddies paired against each other, especially first round. Richard also lost. Boo! If I remember, Lam, Arend, and Cyril all won their first games. Ray drew methinks. I head to the front to see if some ivory tickling is possible, but the judges have that area cut off. Boo! Anyway, me, Paul, and Al go downstairs and hit the pub. A beer was enjoyed. I spot another piano downstairs. This place is paradise! However, I don’t have time to play this round. I head back upstairs for the round two pairings.

I’m up against a regular at my local store. I’m quite sure his name was Andrew Chan. I lost my life total notepad, so names are pretty hazy as well as details. Well, I’ve only seen him play Suicide Black, and I didn’t expect today to be much different.

Round Two – Andrew Chan, playing Suicide Black

Game One
There was really nothing too fascinating about this game. His first turn Phyrexian Negator was matched by my first turn Grim Lavamancer off a Polluted Delta. Things went pretty much downhill from there as I kept on popping out threats. He had maindeck Tsabo’s Webs, which took good care of my manlands, but it really only delayed the inevitable.

Game Two
We both went into beatdown mode early off in the game. We were racing, and things were pretty good after a Fire/Ice, but he had a killer Hymn to Tourach. To make things even worse, he dropped a Masticore, which took ample care of my side of the table.

Game Three
Again, we both were popping out critters like mad early game and were racing again; quite literally in fact as there was less than ten minutes left in the round and none of us wanted a draw. Things looked pretty bad as he dropped a Necropotence as well as a Zuran Orb. The Orb was quite scary at this point, as he was pretty close behind me in the damage race. Of course, I mised a Null Rod off the top which left him sacrificing a few lands in response to stay alive for a bit. We soon entered a stalemate, with him at one life. Soon enough, I drew a Grim Lavamancer and that was game.

2-0-0 (2-1)

Things were going pretty good so far. Too bad I couldn’t say the same for Richard. Today just wasn’t his day at all. Al, Lam, and yours truly were all 2-0 at this point, so I went down to the pub to celebrate. I also treated the crowd down there to a little Rachmaninoff.

I go back upstairs to get some trades in until the pairings for the third round were posted.

Turns out I was paired against Kitchener’s very own Wayne Oikle, who by the way seems to have developed a habit of drawing the gassiest hands ever against me. Boourns!

Round Three – Wayne Oikle, playing UBR Mask

Game One
Like I said, the gassiest hands ever. A first turn Illusionary Mask, which was followed by a Phyrexian Dreadnought did not bode well for the valiant French hero.

Game Two
I sided in the Rack and Ruins as well as the Maze of Iths. I kept a pretty good hand seeing both a Rack and Ruin and a Maze of Ith. I start off with a Polluted Delta, but he starts off a Duress nabbing my Rack and Ruin. I Wasteland his Underground Sea but he simply shrugs and brings down a Black Lotus for an Illusionary Mask and TWO facedown Dreadnoughts. Like, who does that? I had a Maze for one, but TWO?! Jesus. I get smashed. Wayne Oikle is officially the luckiest Magic player ever!

2-1-0 (0-2)

I was pretty bummed about my first match loss of the day. But it that was absolutely nothing when I soon discovered that one of Lam’s brothers couldn’t find their deck. A deck that just so happened to have my Beta Mox Jet and Beta Mox Ruby. Time for a paragraph break.

FUCK!

We looked around frantically but couldn’t find it. The tournament organizer, Wayne Mittlestead, made announcement concerning the lost deck, but as time progressed, it became more and more evident that the ‘lost’ deck, was in fact, stolen. Who the fuck swipes a deck from a kid?

At this point, time was spent trying to figure out who might have been responsible for stealing the deck. It was noticed that two guys who drove all the way down from Montreal ‘just to watch’ the tournament disappeared from the tournament site. It was rather suspicious, as who drives all the way down from Montreal to come to a tournament for only two around, then vanish like a fart in the wind right after?

I talked to Al and Arend about it and they also thought it had to definitely be them, as they said those two individuals were banned from Carta Magica for stealing infractions or something. I even traded with them prior to the tournament.

Let me just take the time to say,

GAH! MOTHERFUCKING FRENCHIES! BASTARDS! AHHH!!!!

Phew…

Damn, shifty Frenchmen. Heck, I’m French myself, so if anyone knows how shifty the French can be, it’s me. I was really pissed off, but I can just imagine how pissed Lam and his brother were.

Well, it’s just cardboard right?

I spent the rest of the time in the pub until the pairings for the next round were posted. The first prize for the tournament was a Mox Jet, so I was really looking to have it replaced by the end of the day (although it was fugly white bordered).

Round Four – Tony Yip, playing GaT

Game One
I start off very strong this game. I counter his Quirion Dryad, I believe, and resolve an Ancestral Recall. I then dropped down a Cloud of Faeries and a Standstill. It was pretty grim for Tony from that point on. I bring on the manlands and go to town.

Game Two
I side in the Red Elemental Blasts and Sigils of Sleeps for this game. He starts off pretty strong with a Psychatog but it’s not quite a Moat when all your creatures fly. Sometime during the game, I Blast his Psychatog and drop a Standstill, which meets its own Red Elemental Blast. I still keep on the offensive and Tony’s life is looking dangerously low. He Vampiric Tutors for a Pernicious Deed, but it really doesn’t matter as I have the Stifle.

3-1-0 (2-0)

I don’t exactly remember what I did between this round and the one after, but I most likely would have been in the pub. Yes, again.

Round Five – Adrian K. (Sorry, forgot the last name), playing BG Void

Game One
This game was pretty interesting. He was a bit mana screwed for Black, but managed to draw all four Mishra’s Factories. His attempt to resolve a Nether Void was thwarted by my Force of Will. I managed to draw some more Wastelands to take care of some of his Factories, but what was really cool was that I was able to bring out all three Voidmage Prodigies. I then went into Kai beatdown for the game.

Game Two
He mulled down to four, I believe. Ouch. He starts off with nothing and passes the turn. OUCH! That really sucks. This game really was no contest, as when he drew a Swamp to Ritual out something, which met my Force of Will, I had the Strip Mine for that Swamp. I really hate winning like this but, it happens.

4-1-0 (2-0)

Things were going pretty well with respect to the tournament. I just needed to pull a win next round so I can draw my way into the top eight. When the pairings for the sixth round were posted, I saw that I was playing against another regular at my local store, Bryan Finch.

Round Six – Bryan Finch, playing UB Dragon

Game One
I have to say that I was a bit surprised to see Dragon making it this far in the tournament, as I saw quite a bit of Dragon hate. There’s not much I can say about this game as I kept a hand that I should have mulled. Me drawing pretty much shit didn’t really help too much either. He won a counter war over my Stifle on his Worldgorger Dragon. Too bad he already had the Ambassador in his graveyard so I couldn’t wait for him to drop to zero cards in hand if he were to use his Bazaar to mill for it. Meh.

Game Two
There’s really not much I can say about this game either, as I kept an opening hand consisting of three Stifles. He Duressed one of them early game, but the other two pretty much did him in as I went to town with Standstills and critters.

Game Three
I kept a nice hand for this game, so I was feeling pretty good. Too bad those were the only really good cards I saw all game. He Vampiric Tutored early on for what I presumed to be Bazaar. I let it through as I had Wasteland. He dropped the Bazaar and tried for Ancestral Recall, which I responded to with my own. I wasn’t too pleased with drawing three lands off the top. I still had my own Force of Will and a Blue card to pitch, so I did that. I Wasted his Bazaar and passed the turn. He tried to Intuition which was met by my Red Elemental Blast. He then dropped another Bazaar and tried for Animate Dead with a Worldgorger Dragon in the graveyard. I had no Force of Will. Boo!

4-2-0 (1-2)

Things were pretty scary now. I looked at the standings and saw that there’s it would be quite tough for me to make top eight at this point. There was only going to be one 5-2 who will be able to make it in. I had pretty decent tiebreakers but I was really depending on my previous opponents to kick ass.

Round Seven – Andy Kornet, playing IsoKeeper

Game One
I started off with a Grim Lavamancer which he dealt with a Swords to Plowshares. I dropped a Cloud of Faeries and Spiketail Hatchling the following turn. He resolved a Fact or Fiction, flipping over a Isochron Scepter, Swords to Plowshares, a Mox, and some other random stuff. He passed over the Isochron Scepter for the Swords pile, so I assumed he either has another Scepter in hand or nothing at all. Either way, a Null Rod came down on my side of the table. Things were going pretty good for me from that point on, especially with the help of Standstill.

Game Two
Things really didn’t go well for Andy this game. After countering both of my early attempts to drop down Null Rod, all he seemed to draw from that point on were lands. I went to town.

5-2-0 (2-0)

Turns out things went my way, as Bryan Finch won his seventh round game along with some of my other previous opponents. I was hoping that it would be enough to give me high enough tiebreakers to make it in.

It was quite an anxious time when the top eight standings were announced.

1. Frankson Lee, playing TnT
2. Bryan Finch, playing UB Dragon
3. Ian Smith, playing IsoKeeper
4. Wayne Oikle, playing UBR Mask
5. Matthew Kershaw, playing Red Deck Wins
6. Andrew Oyen, playing Food Chain Goblins
7. Wilson Kan, playing Sligh
8. ANDREW PETKOVICS, playing Gay/r

MISE!

It turns out that there was really no contest concerning the tiebreakers. Arend missed out on the top eight, as he finished in ninth place after facing David Rood, who was playing Neo Academy, in the last round of Swiss.

Quarter Finals – Frankson Lee, playing TnT

EDIT - The coverage for this match can be found here:
http://www.mtgontario.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=448

So I guess I couldn’t replace the Mox Jet that day. Meh. Bryan Finch ends up winning the whole thing.

Dragon still wins? WTF?!

Oh, well… Aside from my Moxen playset being broken, it was a pretty good day. I end up getting a Savannah for my troubles.

Savannah?! WTF?!

Lam also ends up paying me back for the Beta Jet and Ruby with assorted pieces of Power 10. He’s a real champ.

Wow. I really half-assed this report near the end. Better cram in the props and slops.

Props

- The pub downstairs! It had a piano too! OMG!
- Wayne Mittlestead, for running such a great tournament.
- Duncan McGregor and Allen Pengelly, for the awesome judging.
- Al Dubuc and Cyril Crocker, for lending me the missing cards.
- Lam Phan, for being a great friend. I’m sorry that ever had to happen.
- Arend Kraehling, for the good finish. Ninth place is still pretty good. Too bad my tiebreakers owned, nay, petkowned yours.
- Peter, for taking the time to come down. You have to play next time!
- Paul Shriar and Ray Mitchell, you guys are great too!
- Richard, for taking it like a man. You’re still my hero!
- Subway, for filling my tummy with food. Wait, you bastards raped my wallet. Into the slops you go!

Slops

- Subway, grrr!
- Those shadey Frenchies!
- Jason Chua, get off your fucking lazy ass and get that coverage up!
- Me, for being a total hypocrite and posting this report like a month after the tournament.

EDIT: Jesus. How could I forget about the most important part of the tournament report?! I came home to watch LOTS and LOTS of LESBIAN PORNOGRAPHY! Chasey Lain is my Godess!