The Mountains Win Again - Another TMWA Double Top 8

The Mountains Win Again!
Another Double TMWA Top 8

   Our tale begins on Saturday, December 9th while preparing for the latest Vintage tournament at The Beanie Exchange in West Springfield, MA. I’d been looking forward to this event since the previous weekend. We hosted an event at Myriad Games on December 9th, which ran smoothly as always, with 34 players – more than I’d expected for a holiday weekend with a PTQ on the same day and another Vintage tournament the next day. After a busy day making sure everyone had a good time, I would be once again suiting up and taking my day off to test out The Mountains. There had been just a few tweaks since the Gateway Comics tournament on the 2nd. Here’s the version I played.

The Mountains Win Again version 25.10

1x Mountain
3x Plateau
1x Badlands
1x Scrubland
4x Bloodstained Mire
3x Flooded Strand
1x Mox Ruby
1x Mox Pearl
4x Wasteland
1x Strip Mine
4x Mishra's Factory
4x Jőtun Grunt
2x Grim Lavamancer
2x Kris Mage
4x Dark Confidant
4x Swords to Plowshares
4x Magma Jet
4x Hide and Seek
4x Pyroblast
1x Vampiric Tutor
1x Enlightened Tutor
1x Seal of Cleansing
1x Umezawa’s Jitte
1x Pyrostatic Pillar
1x Null Rod
1x Crucible of Worlds
1x Goblin Bombardment

Sideboard
1x Sacred Ground
4x Shattering Spree
2x Grim Lavamancer
1x Red Elemental Blast
1x Engineered Plague
2x Cabal Therapy
4x Duress

Changes from version 24.3 include the addition of two Cabal Therapies in the side (replacing 2 REBs), moving the Sacred Ground to the side in favor of a Jitte in the main, adding one Engineered Plague as a silver bullet against the new Empty the Warrens Gifts tech (and Goblins in general), and adding another Pyroblast to the main, removing Tormod’s Crypt. Chad played a similar version, testing out a Mox Jet and running the old school Goblin Vandal defense against Stax as opposed to the cutting-edge-new-technology of Shattering Spree!

Tournament: The Beanie Exchange, West Springfield, MA
Saturday, December 10th, 2006

I enjoyed a filling breakfast before jumping in the car with Sara and Chad to drive to meet Mike. We made the trip to Point Mike without any major impediments other than a suicidal squirrel. After stocking up on Barq’s Root Beer and assaying our stocks of comestibles, we were off! The drive went smoothly with Mike piloting and Chad navigating. We stopped at a McDonald’s just before we reached our destination to use the facilities and purchase some pre-prepared foodstuffs. They were surprising satisfying; it’s incredible what they can do with the right combination of chemicals. En route, we discussed the upcoming event. I’d been to several Beanie events before, while this was Mike’s first. Chad and Sara had each been to at least one other event there. The hospitable owner, Dave, is a most welcoming gentleman. This particular event was to be organized by one Mr. Nate Pease while previous events were organized by Hatch. This made some players leery of coming, since Nate has a certain reputation for cunning shenanigans. Having just spent the day ensuring a fair and balanced tournament, I was particularly aware of the potential for the aforementioned shenanigans. That being said, I had never personally witnessed Mr. Pease cheating, despite the numerous rumors to that effect. While he had previously engaged in what was certainly unsporting conduct at our tournaments, I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. Truly, I spend most of my days being an optimist and looking for the best in people. I was a bit nervous about one of my opponents having access to my decklist – either before or during the event, so I was hoping there would be someone else officiating. We arrive and paid our entries, turning in our decklists to a fellow I recognized from earlier visits to the Exchange. I took heart at this and made a point of turning in my decklist face down since other players were nearby. I did notice that Nate was one of the many people wandering around behind the counter however, particularly in the area of the computer that was being to run the event, and the stack of decklists next to it. After waiting a while, pairings were up. We had 25 players. Around 12:45, we started Round 1.

Round 1 – Jon LaFreniere with Food Chain Goblins

   I don’t recognize Jon’s name. He mentions that he mostly plays Standard. We shuffle up and I win the die roll to start. I mulligan down to 6 on the play, an occurrence with will turn into a trend throughout the day. Jon keeps at 7 cards. I lead with a Bloodstained Mire (BSM) and pass. He leads with Mountain, Lotus, Ringleader – not a good start for me. He reads Ringleader, stating that he doesn’t know what it does. He reveals a Piledriver, 2x Goblin Matrons, and a Food Chain, which goes to the bottom. Great, that’s like a mini ancestral into 2 tutors and a beatstick. I take two damage from the Ringleader of this crazy Goblin circus and drop a land. He beats with Ringleader and passes back to me, noting that Goblins is supposed to be a bit faster than this. Fortunately for me, he’s stuck on one land. He drops a Lackey and I send it farming. I take more beats from Ringleader while dropping a Sacred Ground. The next turn, after getting punched in the face for the third time by this over-zealous circus gobbo, I drop a Jet of Magma on top of him and scry into … Strip Mine – hooray! I drop the Strip Mine and take out his only land. I drop Jötun Grunt and start swinging. He still doesn’t draw anymore land and I drop another Grunt to speed up the clock. Grim Lavamancer shows up as backup and Grunt #1 gets replaced by Grunt #3. I end up Hiding my own Sacred Ground during my upkeep to keep two Grunts around and swing in for the win. I count that one as lucky for me and sideboard accordingly. Fifteen minutes after we began our first game, we start Game 2. Jon leads with 1st turn Lackey. I lead with Mishra’s Factory and Mox Pearl, hoping he doesn’t have a Wasteland. He doesn’t. He has a Lightning Bolt instead! Thankfully he only drops a Skirk Prospector off the Lackey – it could be worse. I drop Dark Confidant the next turn and trade with the Lackey. He drops Food Chain but doesn’t kick it up. I change his Skirk’s profession from prospector to farmer to prevent him from starting the chain and block his Goblin Warchief with another Confidant. I off his Taiga and he has 3 more lands left in play. I draw and play Jitte. Now generally that should be enough to seal the game. All I need to do is equip it up and start swinging and he’ll be severely crippled. He Matrons for Ringleader and gets a Fanatic and a couple of other Goblins when he casts it. That Fanatic stops me from playing and equipping a single creature that could then engineer the destruction of all of his forces. He then drops a Lackey that I cannot answer and drops a Siege-Gang Commander after he swings. I manage to STP his Fanatic so that I can land a guy, but it’s a turn too late, since the Siege-Gang is more than capable of preventing me from equipping Jitte. I die a gobliny death a few turns later. We start Game 3 with about fifteen minutes left in the round. I lead with BSM for Mount Fuji! He leads with Ruby into Lackey. I Magma Jet Lackey. He drops a Skirk Prospector and no land. I Hide his Ruby, drop a Confidant, and get a Therapy off it next turn. I play the Therapy and name Lightning Bolt. I grab two of them and see a few Goblins including a Mogg Fanatic and 2x STP in his hand. I play a Grim Lavamancer and sacrifice it to flashback Therapy, naming Swords to Plowshares. Just one more piece of removal in his hand can take out my Confidant – Mogg Fanatic. Even though he’s stuck at no land, he can sacrifice his Prospector to play the Fanatic and kill my draw engine. He doesn’t draw any land, but swings in with Prospector and passes the turn. He’s obviously frustrated. I reveal a Hide and Seek off Confidant – ouch – down to 9 life. I keep swinging with Confidant and eventually STP his Prospector. Mishra’s Factory shows up and helps save the day. I wish Jon the best of luck and give him my customary set of Myriad Dice to go with the foil land that we signed before the match. I continue this ritual with each new opponent. I enjoy having memorabilia from events and my opponents don’t seem to mind.

Record: 1-0-0

Round 2 – Rob Moreau with Salvagers

I’d played Rob in round 2 at a previous tournament and he notes the fact that this is a Round 2 rematch. In our previous meeting, I’d defeated him 2-1. Let’s see how this time turned out. We both keep our opening hands and I lead with a Flooded Strand. He leads with a Guru Island – a strong play. I play a Mishra’s Factory, fetch, and play a Dark Confidant. It resolves – good sign. He plays a Brainstorm at the end of my turn and on his turn drops Tundra, Mana Vault, and Sol Ring, Tinkering away the Vault to get Black Lotus and play Salvagers. He doesn’t have the mana available to recur Lotus this turn, so I still have a chance. I reveal a Hide and Seek off Confidant and drop another land, attempting to STP Salvagers. He Force of Wills pitching a Force of Will. I Pyroblast the Force of Will. He gains 2 life. I swing with Dark Confidant and pass the turn. He draws and passes. I reveal a Wasteland and waste his Tundra before Seeking out his Yawgmoth’s Will. I reveal a Kris Mage, Magma Jet, and Goblin Bombardment over the next three turns while swinging in with my Confidant and Factory to wrap it up. We proceeded to what would be an epic Game 2. Rob leads with Sapphire and Underground Sea and passes to me. I lead with a BSM and Duress which gets Drained. Rob Thirsts, pitching Yawgmoth’s Will and Salvagers. I wonder what’s in his hand that he can afford to throw away those two cards. I attempt to cast a Jötun Grunt – it gets Drained as well. I cast Cabal Therapy, it resolves, and I name Force of Will. He reveals 2x STP, Disenchant, and Mana Drain. He Thirsts and I Seek in response, taking his Lotus. He resolves Thirst, pitching Tolarian and Tundra. I drop a Mishra’s Factory and start swinging. He drops Engineered Explosives and tries to blow up my Factory. I explain that since Explosives only blows up nonland permanents, the Factory is in fact intact. We call over the judge to clarify and he says that yes, the Factory dies. Let me backup and say that again. The judge looked at Engineered Explosives and confirmed that it kills Mishra’s Factory, a land. Multiple players around me immediately disputed the ruling, in what I hope was not an untoward manner. We ask him to read the card. He does and says that since it says nonland, it does not in fact blow up Factory. I Therapy again, taking 2x STP. He Mind Twists me – taking REB, Hide and Seek, and STP. Those would have been nice to have. I drop a Jötun Grunt – it swings for a few turns bringing him to 4 before he gets Engineered Explosives online again and blows up Grunt. This game has been going on for well over 30 minutes. When we ask, we have five minutes left in the round. Eventually, during the 5 turn extension, Rob Tinkers out DSC and swings in for the win. We end up at 1-1, wish each other luck, saying we’ll see each other in the Top 8, and prepare for Round 3.

Record: 1-0-1

Round 3 – James Sanguinetti with Brassman’s Gifts

James mentions while we’re shuffling that he usually plays Standard, and that he made Top 8 at the PTQ the day before. He says he enjoys playing Vintage because it’s more relaxed and the people are nicer. I do my best to reinforce that belief by being a good sport. I mulligan to 6 and James keeps. I lead with Ruby and Wasteland. He leads with an Island. I don’t draw the other mana source I was hoping for when I Magma Jet him to scry. He attempts to cast Ancestral, I Pyroblast, he Forces, pitching Mana Drain. I drop a Pearl and waste his Underground Sea, hoping to keep him off mana while I stabilize. He Vampiric Tutors and I Hide his Sapphire in response to try to mess up the math for whatever he’s planning. He just has one Island left in play. I Enlightened Tutor for Pyrostatic Pillar and have 4 cards in hand to his 7. I don’t get Pillar to resolve. He drops a Delta, followed by a Mox Jet, followed by another Delta on the following turn. So much for eroding his mana. I play draw-go while he Merchant Scrolls for Force of Will and casts Gifts. I try to cast a Jötun Grunt and he Mana Drains, I Pyroblast. He Gifts for Tinker, Ritual, Demonic, and Yawgmoth’s Will. We enter into a discussion about how even though Gifts is supposed to promote player interaction and allow for choice, there really isn’t a choice in cases like this. I give him Tinker and Ritual, pitching Demonic and Yawgmoth’s Utterly Broken Recursion Engine to the graveyard. He Tinkers away something for a Lotus Petal. I think, that’s odd, shouldn’t he be getting either DSC or Black Lotus? He elucidates by playing Black Lotus from his hand, followed by a Recoup, also in hand. He builds up a ridiculous amount of storm and shows me the Tendrils. I bring in my anti-Gifts sideboard including super secret, anti-Goblins tech, Engineered Plague. Game 2 begins with me mulliganing down to 6, on the play, again. I play a Plateau and say go. He plays a Flooded Strand, gets an Underground Sea, and Duresses away a REB, seeing a Waste in my hand. I predictably waste his Underground Sea and pass. He drops another Strand and Walks through Time. I do nothing for a couple of turns while he drops Tolarian. I drop a Pearl and 2x Mishra’s Factories to start the beats. I whittle him down to 13 and he Merchant Scrolls for Rebuild. I swing with my outraged Assembly Workers the next turn and he goes to 9. I Shattering Spree his artifacts, and he consults a Vampiric Tutor. He takes a mana burn and goes to 5. He predictably Vamped for Will and created one heck of a storm which caused 18 Goblins to Empty the Warrens to apparently revel in the brokenness. Two turns later, despite the valiant efforts of my Assembly Workers, it was all over. I wished James good luck and took the remaining 10 minutes to check in with Ray Robillard who was playing at the feature match table.

Record: 1-1-1

Round 4 – Sam Best with Gifts

My next opponent was one Sam Best. As we introduced ourselves, I told Sam about our upcoming Vintage tournament at Myriad Games on January 6th. He asked if players call other people names at Myriad Games. Thinking he was referring to the occasional smart remark that players quip back and forth across a table, I replied with something to the effect that we do our best to keep that type of behavior to a minimum by enforcing strict unsporting conduct penalties. He replies by asking specifically if they use racial slurs? *blink* … *blink* … *blink* I looked around for the Candid Camera, only to realize he was not in fact joking. He explained that he didn’t like coming here because they all make fun of him because he is Asian. He mentions Mr. Pease as one of the primary offenders. I was quick to assure him that we have no tolerance for that sort of juvenile and utterly inappropriate behavior at Myriad Games. There is an enormous difference between self-deprecating humor (e.g. Outlaw calling himself a Mexican) and picking on someone for their race, even after they specifically notify you that they are offended by your comments. I wish Sam the best of luck and we begin playing. He’s on the play and leads with an Island and Ancestral, not drawing much extra mana, and discarding Tendrils. I Strip Mine his Island, which seems like a perfectly good play. He plays a Flooded Strand and passes. I play a BSM and a Mox Pearl. He fetches for an Underground Sea and plays a Volcanic Island, Dark Ritual, Mana Vault, Yawgmoth’s Will, Dark Ritual, Ancestral, Sol Ring, and Tendrils for 14. I am now at 5. I Magma Jet him at the end of his turn to scry into something better. He Misdirects it at my face and I go to three, but at least I get to scry. He takes a point of damage from Mana Vault and another from Polluted Delta before Tinkering out DSC and casting Time Walk. Well, that’s one game in the bag. At some point during this game, Mr. Pease sidles up to Sam and sits down. Sam immediately says “get away from me” and Nate slinks off. We head to Game 2. I’m on the play and have to mull to 6 (noticing a pattern yet?). I open with a Duress, nabbing Ancestral. He has Volcanic, Gifts, Thirst, Brainstorm, Pithing Needle, and Juggernaut in hand. He plays Pithing Needle on Wasteland. I lay a Grunt and start swinging. He drops Juggernaut. I send it to the Swords for Plowshares Exchange to make a trade. He casts Gifts and I Seek out his Yawgmoth’s Will in response. He gets some other broken stuff. I give him the least broken, including Tinker. That may seem like a silly statement. I keep swinging with Mishra’s Factories and Grunt. I bring him down to 6. He Tinkers up DSC and realizes that if he swings, he loses next turn. Thankfully he does not have Time Walk again. I eventually get another guy and overwhelm him since for all his power, toughness, and indestructibility, Darksteel Colossus is no Two-Headed Giant of Foriys. We joke that he has interesting proxies, since he has some very nice cards like a Beta Mox Ruby, next to a proxied Darksteel Colossus. He has a Beta Underground Sea and a proxied one. Ah, Vintage. We begin Game 3 with 5 minutes left in the round. We both play very quickly to avoid going to time. He leads with 1st turn Library. I Waste said Library. He fetches for an Island and players a couple of artifacts, resolving a Tinker for Darksteel Colossus. I STP The Big Man and he doesn’t have a Force. I Pyroblast a Thirst for Knowledge and drop Pyrostatic Pillar. I have an uphill battle since I’m at 19 and he’s at 28. He casts a bunch of spells including Yawgmoth’s Will, Mana Vault, and Tinker (again) for Juggernaut. He Brainstorms, Demonics, and I Seek in response, taking something juicy that gains me 5 life – Misdirection I believe. He’s at 16 at this point and I drop a Grunt and block his Juggernaut. I drop another Grunt to start swinging. He has very little left in his deck that he can win with considering our life totals are now even and he doesn’t have the bounce for the Pillar. It looks like I’ll be able to pull this out. We go to turns. I swing for a couple of turns and bring him down to 8. On turn 4, he Time Walks into a Pyroblast and Force of Wills it through to take the last turn. I resign myself to defeat, sad that the clock ran out when I was so close to winning. Sam shakes my hand and as he’s doing so says, “I concede on the 5th turn.” *blink* … *blink* … I’m astonished that one so abused by his fellow players can be so generous. He explains that he can’t get in and I have a better record, so it just makes sense. And besides, he says, he thinks my deck is really interesting. I graciously accept his concession and we fill out the match slip. I make sure to thank Sam again and invite him up to Myriad whenever he would like to attend.

Record: 2-1-1

Round 5 – James Mankins with U/W Fish

A match against my second James of the day – and one I’ve played before. Last time I played against James, he kicked me around with Superman aka Morphling in Game 2. This time we each had to win in order to make it into the Top 8, so we were both hopeful and cautious. We both keep our opening hands and James leads with Isamaru. I look at the Factory in my hand and hope he doesn’t have a Wasteland. I lead with the Factory and take some beats from Isamaru. He Wastes my Factory. I drop another Factory. He Wastes that one too. I take a couple of damage from a Hallowed Fountain as I Waste his Tundra and then his Hallowed Fountain. This truly is Waste Wars. I’m at 10 at this point from Legendary Hound Beatdown and I try to mount a stalwart defense by aiming a Magma Jet his way. He Misdirects it to one of my dudes and sends my Kris Mage farming. I finally send Isamaru to join the Mage in the fields and stabilize, with my Jötun Grunt blocking his Jötun Grunt. I drop a Dark Confidant while I’m at 5 life. It brings me down to 4 next turn, and I decide I should do something about that before I flip a Hide and Seek. I Seek out a Force of Will to gain 5, seeing a Hide and Seek as the top card of my library --- is it hot in here? I drop another Jötun Grunt that gets S-word-ed and keep swinging with Dark Confidant and Mishra’s Factory. I drop another Grunt. It joins its fellows in the agricultural section. I bounce back up to 17 from 4 thanks to Seek (+5) and 2x STP (+8) and keep drawing extra cards off Confidant. James drops a Meddling Mage and beats for two, but he’s at 6 and shortly thereafter I overwhelm him. Game 2, I mull to 6 again. James is on the play and leads with an early Isamaru. I play Scrubland and Ruby and drop a Confidant to block. He wastes my Scrubland, negating the 2nd Confidant in my hand. He Time Walks, Brainstorms, and gets a Plains and Island in play. He drops a Meddling Mage naming Magma Jet and I try to STP it on my turn. He Dazes. I look at the Pyroblast in my hand and hope to rid myself of this Meddling Mage next turn. He drops another Mage and names … Pyroblast. I Swords a Grunt and take four more turns of beats from Mages without drawing sufficient answers to get through his counters. After our twenty minute first game, this ten minute game feels like a massacre. We both keep in Game 3 and I have a strong hand. I play a Mishra’s Factory and pass to him. He leads with a Hallowed Fountain and Brainstorms. I Waste his Hallowed Fountain. He plays a Polluted Delta and fetches an Insel. I Strip Mine his German Island and he Brainstorms in response, Dazing his own Brainstorm to return the Insel to his hand. That’s not bad. I drop a Grim Lavamancer and Jötun Grunt, which gets sent to the fields (popular choice, that). I resolve an Enlightened Tutor for Crucible of Worlds and play it the next turn with Strip Mine in the graveyard. He tries to come back but I STP Isamaru and resolve a Dark Confidant. He takes beats from Confidant and Kris Mage and then STPs my Grim Lavamancer. I Vampiric Tutor for STP to take out a Grunt. I drop my own Grunt and keep swinging with dudes, drawing backup off the Confidant for about 4 turns before it’s over. I wish James good luck in all his future games and prepare for Top 8.

Record: 3-1-1

I once again slip into the Top 8 and I’m paired against one Jim DeMarsico, who I recognize from previous events, though I cannot recall exactly where. Apparently I have a knack for playing against people named James today.

Top 8 – Jim DeMarsico with 5 Color Stax

We introduce ourselves and shuffle up to play. I know what he’s playing, so I’m not terribly on edge, but I still don’t like having to mulligan to 6 on the play, again. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, Magic players of all ages: I present for your entertainment and fascination, a tale of myth and legend, a story fraught with puissance and astonishing fortune, the tale of…

“The Game Mountains Won With Only a Mox Ruby”

I lead with a Mox Ruby and Mishra’s Factory. I was hoping to draw out an early Wasteland to avoid being locked out of colors. Turns out I would not be so lucky. Jim dropped a Mox Jet, Mana Crypt, Mishra’s Workshop, Crucible of Worlds. Not a bad opening play. But wait, it gets better. He continues, casting Vampiric Tutor and then a Sphere of Resistance! Looks like Mountains has its work cut out for it. I can’t play anything relevant in my hand thanks to the Sphere, so I get in there for 2 with Mishra’s Factory. On his next turn, he takes damage from Mana Crypt, plays a Strip Mine and kills Mishra’s Factory. I know I’m in trouble now because with Strip lock, I need to get two lands online before I can cast anything relevant like Jötun Grunt. On his next turn, Jim doesn’t take damage and plays a City of Brass. The turn after that, he takes damage from Crypt and I drop a Bloodstained Mire, hoping he won’t remember to double Strip it on his turn. Unfortunately, he does remember, but he also takes no damage from the Crypt (even at 2/4 flips now) and drops another City. I only have a Mox Ruby in play, and I continue drawing and discarding such stellar cards as Pyroblast. Jim draws mostly lands for the next four turns and loses four consecutive Mana Crypt rolls (go odds!) All in all, Jim won 2 out of 8 flips, taking 18 damage from the dangerous promo card. And that, my friends, is the tale of how The Mountains Win Again won again, using only a Mox Ruby. Jim is a bit shaken by his bad luck in the opening game and he attributes it to the fact that he didn’t wish me good luck when I was mulling down to 6. I take this opportunity to again wish him good luck and hope my own luck holds. Game 2 is a blowout. He mulls down to 6 on the play and leads with a Ruby and a Shaman. I play a BSM and pass. He drops a Sol Ring and swings for 1. At the end of his turn, I crack the BSM for a Plateau and E Tutor for Sacred Ground, dropping another Plateau on my turn and playing the protective enchantment. He plays a City of Brass and swings for 1 more. On my next turn, I Waste his City of Brass, look at his Sol Ring and Mox Ruby, and go on a Shattering Spree!

BADOW!! Buh-bye Sol Ring!
THWAP!! There can be only one Mox Ruby!

I follow up the next turn by dropping a Jötun Grunt and a Kris Mage. I discard Mount Fuji to kill the Gorilla Shaman and swing in with the Grunt for the win. I wish Jim the best of luck and thank him for playing. The match took all of 25 minutes. I prepare for the Top 4.

Record: 4-1-1

Rob Moreau (my Round 2 opponent) just won his match and it looks like we’re keeping good on our promises to meet each other in the Top 8. Meanwhile, Chad is playing against Ray, and their Game 2 is ridiculous. Chad is up a game and they have most of their permanents on the board. To the point where Ray has about 12-15 cards left in his library. I decide to wait for this match to finish in case the Top 4 would like to do a four-way split. Rob says he’s fine with that, and we join the cluster of people around the feature match table. I ask the two players if they mind if we watch, as is common courtesy. They inform me that they do not, in fact, mind at all. This epic game played for another ten minutes or so with Ray locked down under a Null Rod, fending off Chad’s Mishra’s Factories with Crucible Waste / Strip lock. Chad has Sacred Ground in play, so there are many amusing plays resulting in untapped Factories as they draw and go. Trinisphere is out, which always makes things tricky, and Ray has a Memory Jar in play. He sacrifices the Memory Jar at some point and both players draw their cards. Of all the people watching the match, only Mike immediately noticed that this was impossible with Null Rod in play. He informs me of the situation and I, in turn, inform the players. Since nothing much had been done, we call the judge, only to realize that he had previously left the tournament. We decide amongst ourselves that the cards should be returned, the Memory Jar returned to play, and the decks shuffled. Each player receives a warning. Play continues and eventually Ray tutors for Gorilla Shaman and blows up Chad’s Null Rod. He then proceeds to Memory Jar into 2 Triskelions and 2 Welders. The end is not far away after that, and they head into Game 3. I step outside to get a breath of fresh air (this stylish suit does keep me nice and toasty) and a bite to eat. I get a Barq’s as well, as I feel I may need the Bite in the Top 4. When I come back in, some 6 minutes later, Game 3 is already completed with Ray locking out Chad rather promptly. I prepare for my next match, a rematch against Bomberman.

Top 4 – Rob Moreau with Salvagers (Take 2)

I ask the other players if they’d like to take a four-way split. Dan Cunningham and Ray seem to be considering it, but Rob wants to play, so we all promptly sit down to our respective tables. He mentions that he enjoys Barq’s as well – it’s the only soda pop he drinks. We both keep our opening hands and Rob leads with Mox Sapphire, Underground Sea. I Waste his Underground Sea and he drops a Pearl and a Sol Ring. I drop a BSM and fetch at the end of his turn, Enlightened Tutoring for a Null Rod to knock out all his mana. He Thirsts in response to the E Tutor. I consider for a moment and Pyroblast the Thirst. I get the Null Rod and try to cast it right away, before he can get anymore counters. He Force of Wills, pitching Mana Drain. He casts Trinket Mage for Lotus the turn before I Seek. I grab his Spellbomb since he already has the Lotus. He’s very Thirsty, this time pitching a Tormod’s Crypt. I take a swig of my Barq’s and note our cards in hand – 5 each. I drop a Mishra’s Factory and start swinging. I Vampiric Tutor and drop a Grunt, which resolves. He drops Salvagers, top decks a Mystical and gets a Tinker. He blows up my Grunt with Explosives that he got off another Trinket Mage and swings in with the Big Man. Game 2 I have to mulligan to 5 on the play! On top of that, he leads with Island, Ancestral Recall and I don’t have the REB. He plays an Emerald and discards a Brainstorm. I drop a Dark Confidant as it’s the best I have in hand and he Trinket Mages for Lotus next turn, Duressing away one of my cards and then casting Demonic Tutor. I have 2 cards while he has 5. I cast my own Duress (which I draw off Confidant) and see Jötun Grunt, Salvagers, Brainstorm, Mind Twist, and Time Walk. I think a while and take Time Walk. In retrospect, I think I should have taken the Brainstorm. He didn’t have the white mana available for Salvagers and Brainstorm allows him to dig one card deeper to find it. I take beats from a Trinket Mage and get a Jötun Grunt off my Confidant. He drops a Pearl and Thirsts, pitching Tundra and Mind Twist. I Seal of Cleansing his Mox Pearl after he casts Salvagers, but before he can recur the Lotus. He gets another white mana before I get removal for Salvagers. He recurs the Lotus. He doesn’t have anything to kill me with yet, however, as I have a Mishra’s Factory available to block his 2/x creatures. He eventually Brainstorms putting two cards back. He thinks for a while and when he puts the second card back, he says “Decree”. I’m confused, but I think I know what that means and I don’t like it. He says that he’s done putting cards back from Brainstorm, in response to my puzzled stare, and I take another swig of Root Beer with Bite. He drops a Polluted Delta the next turn and casts Decree for 1,000 4/4 Angels. This does not look good. I somehow kill one of his angels and the next turn he swings with 999 Angels in the air along with a Salvagers and Trinket Mage. I block the Trinket Mage with a Mishra’s Factory and accept my fate. I wish Rob the best of luck and wish I’d been able to pull that out. Rob goes on to face Dan Cunningham in a Bomberman mirror-match after Dan defeats Ray. I get some useful cards as prizes, talk with Ray a bit, thank Dave for hosting, and we head out as the finals start.

We head to IHOP for their fabulous buy-one-get-one-free Sunday night omelet special (4 PM – 10 PM). We arrive, order way more food than we can eat, discuss the events of the day, and pack up a bunch of take-out containers after we’ve eaten our fill. The waitress was most hospitable and we reward her great service with a hefty tip. We hop back in the car and head home, arriving later in the evening and preparing for work the following day. We discuss potential improvements for The Mountains on the way.

Until next time, may The Mountains Win Again!