Erection Time, or how I made top 4 at Untouchables

Erection Time or how I made top 4:

The North Bay crew had decided we were going to this event as the previous to have been so much fun, though we almost did not make it as a ride problem came up but we found a way.

So we start this tale with myself and a crew of Al, Dustin, Chris and John and set off around 730sih.

We end up making it to Mississauga around 10:45 with plenty of time to catch up with some members of team wasted travel from Ottawa.

I end up throwing together this list which resembles something played by the great Atog lord himself:

2 flooded strand
3 polluted delta
3 underground sea
3 tropical island
1 island
2 volcanic island
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Black lotus

4 force of will
2 misdirection
1 echoing truth
3 mana drain
3 duress
1 cunning wish

4 brainstorm
4 merchant scroll
4 gush
3 opt
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Regrowth
1 Time Walk
1 Fastbond
1 Yawgmoth's will

1 Demonic tutor
1 Vampiric tutor
1 Mystical tutor

4 Quirion dryad
1 Psychatog

sb--
2 yixlid jailer
1 oxidize
1 artifact mutation
1 energy flux
2 red elemental blast
1 berserk
1 fire/ice
2 pithing needle
1 submerge
1 Naturalize
2 tormods crypt

So we eventually get settled in and the first round matches are posted, and as it turns out I am playing my friend Brandon.

Please note my notes suck as I have names and life totals.

Round 1
Brandon Laxton playing Stax

So it always sucks to play a friend in the tournament, however I feel I have a great match vs Stax and look forward to the match.

I win the die roll, and proceed to drop some cantrips and find a dryad who with help from a fast bond and a bunch of Gushes makes short work of this game.

I side in some stuff that gives Stax the finger for some cards that don’t.

The second match, I get down a dryad with a few spells, however he has Duplicant, I cast a second one only to be shown a second dup… oh well looks like doctor teeth has shown up to take it all home in one fell swoop.

Win 2-0, 1-0

So after the match I check on the status of my friends, who all appear to have lost their first match.

Round 2
Kyle with Metalworker/Staff combo

I start with a solid grip that gets a early dryad down, and he does his thing with his partner in crime Gush.

I again choose cards that hate on artifacts.

Kyle opens strong and gets his combo rolling with skullclamp, and myrs, which has me really worried. He drops 2 razormane masticore but I have Etruth for those bastards.
I do have a lotus on the table and enough to cast demonic for Energy flux, which gets me back in, I lose my other moxes, he loses a bunch more and it is back to him bringing back myrs each turn. I throw down a dryad and start pumping him slowly, and have the game next turn when he drops 2 trikes and I just happen to be at 6… oh well.

Time is close, so I mull to 6 with a 1st turn dryad, he plays ancient tomb go, and I start hitting for 1 for a few turns, hitting a brainstorm or an opt along the way to grow my guy a bit. Kyle at one point throws a ravager out, but I am holding a oxidize for that shenanigan. I end up throwing a 2nd dryad and that is all I need to take it.

Win 2-1, 2-0

I am pretty happy at this point, as usually I 0-2 drop these or win then lose out, so I am kind of worried going into round 3.

Round 3
Eugene Lo playing Bob bomberman of sorts

I start out kind of shanky with 2 lands and a brainstorm, and eventually a strip mien followed up by a Cow is all he needs.

Game 2 is pretty mcu h draw go, until I try for a dryad at which point I have fast bond and a Graveyard filled with scrolls and gushes for my Yawgwill to play with. However I fizzle with my will turn, and have to pass. His bob reveals a few ones and such along with a force of will, which brought him to a low level of life combined with a few dryad swings. Eventually he has the game in hand with bob and trinket mage for spell bomb, which he bounces Bob. I end up killing the trinket and he is forced to reply bob, which on his next turn reveals salvagers to force game 3.

Game 3 is fast as I try for an early dryad and he has a bob to show on his side, along with a time walk. We throw some spells at each other and time is called. I am basically done this game and can only hope for the draw. He gets all he needs down and ready to win, however time walk was used already and I get the last and final turn so he has the combo but can not kill me due to the lack of pyrite spell bomb.

1-1-1, 2-0-1

I am starting to feel like I can actually make a run now if I can keep on the winning record that is. The pairing for round 4 goes up and my friend tells me I got Arend as we laugh or way to the table. He is playing URphid with main blood moon and magus of the mob, so needless to say I am scared shitless.
Round 4
Arend K rocking URphid
I hope up game 1 with duress, and see some counters with draw. I snag a drain. I proceed to get a dryad active and I am able to fight through a rather large dryad to him dome.

He does some sb changes as do I.

I open game 2 with a duress, which found Aven Mindcensor, Mana drain, magus, fire/ice and REB. I end up ditching the drain, and he does not see any more mana this game so I end it quickly.

2-0, 3-0-1

I have talked to my friends who are all out of contention and playing in the side event, and am feeling like a king, realizing I need only win my next round to ID in to top 8.

Round 5
Lam Phan playing the GAT mirror
So not exactly what I wanted to see.

Game 1
I open with a brainstorm, he opens with LOA….this game is over already and I play through a few motions with a dryad on the table, however he cunning wishes for a submerge in response to my dryad and he goes away. I top deck her again however it is 2 late and he just has to much card advantage for me to handle.

I sb in some rebs and a submerge I belive.

Game 2

I open with a good starting hand and we play cautious for a few turns, I end up trying for a dryad however he counters it. I at one point have submerge for his dryad, but he gushes back his forest so I must wait. No matter as submerge is pitched to fow in a battle for a dryad of my own. This game comes down to me having 2 drayds to his one. He did cunning wish for a berserk, however he questioned it afterwards, and I advised it didn’t really matter as I had ways of dealing with the drayd anyways.We trade a pair of 8/8 dryads and my 3/3 dryad goes the distance to force game 3.

Game 3
I stick with an okay starting hand, and Lam does the same.
We both jockey for position, we with getting down a fast bond and a few gushes. Eventually, I drop a drayd down, and seeing as he resolved tried Yawgwin which also resolved. This allowed me to play a second dryad and 4 gushes and grow my 2 guys big enough to deal 18 points to him.

Win 2-1, 4-0-1

So I am now ecstatic as I have made it to the pint where I can draw my next round and guarantee myself a top 8 spot.

The pairings do up, and I see that Adam Ragsdale and I can safely split, I also spot that Kevin is pitted vs my round 3 opponent, so I shed light on the match up as Kevin can possibly make top 8 with a win. So I find him during a heated team draft match and we shake hands for the ID.

So I wander around for like half an hour trading and talking with the Ottawa guys, and it seems that Kevin won so he and Barry may have a shot at top 8 depending on Breakers.

The final standings go up, and it turns out that Kevin and Barry just miss out on tie breakers…which totally sucks, and just proves Team Wasted travel does have the worst luck ever.

I check the top 8 brackets for my next battle, and see that it is Mike A with U/R Landstill.

Top 8
Mike Antonarakis playing U/R Landstill

So we set the stage for this awesome match by doing a long shuffle process and I lay out the playmate.

Game 1

I start the game off with a fetch for Underground Sea, then casting Duress to find:
Fow, drain, 2 islands, stifle, null rod and brainstorm. He then takes his turn and Plays Island go.

On my second Turn, I top deck a opt and play it with my island which finds me a second duress, which I promptly cast. He responds with a brainstorm, and after he is done I see:
Island, Lotus, 2 drains, a factory and a Spellsnare I take the mana drain *should have taken the spellsnare....
I get down a small dryad that pings away at this life total, however a couple of wastelands, a null rod and counter back up mixed with factory beat I pack it up for game 2.

Game 2
I open with duress again, this time seeing a hand of recall standstill brainstormx2 spell snare, wasteland and a lotus I believe, and I wisely take the lotus hoping for him to not draw a blue source.
He does not, however I am also in top deck mode as I find a island but after he wastes my sea I am left at one blue and that is no good. I eventually do and I am able to apply ample pressure and take this down as Mike finds blue sources Way to late in the game.

Game 3

I keep a sketchy hand of 3 brainstorm, 2 dryads, a demonic and a fetch land. I open with fetch for Island and brainstorm into a 4th brainstorm, a 3rd drayd and a new land.

I am eventually able to brainstorm down far enough to be able to stabilize after finding a mox emerald to cast my dryad. I get down a dryad. On mikes turn, he leads with a mox monkie which eats my mox. I have 2 needles in hadn so play one naming the shaman. On his turn, he casts threads of disloyalty on my poor 1/1 dryad and things seem lost as he also plays a factory.
I throw down my needle with factory as the target and after drawing a useless yawgwill I pass the turn.

I take a few beats and get an opening after he attempts a echoing truth on my needles, at which point I am able to misdirect to my dryad to by myself time.
Things get a lot better when I top deck black lotus and with Mike at 1 card in hand, I decide to risk everything with lotus cracking for will. He lets it resolve and I bring back my mox my lotus, cast 2 dryads, play a land and a pair of brainstorms and a gush, which gives me enough power to take this one home.

After this match, Mike and myself are really exhausted as the heat in the store was unbelievable and I am sure I smelt like a dirty little bastard.

Win 2-1, 5-0-2

I then proceed to write my name in the brackets, and one Kris Kavanugh informs me that I am now paired with Richard Mattiuzzo…which also means my probable death.

We take our time shuffling and we talk it over with the other 2 top 4 guys and one decides they would split in top 2, we I am forced to play this game out.

Now I am not going to do a play breakdown as I can sum up the 2 games I played as this “Total Shit!”
Rich got exactly what he needed, and had a way of willing the standstills to the top of his deck.
I also had the pleasure of being seated beside the hilarious Razvan who alone made the trip worth it with his comments. He also agreed that Rich draws like a champ and needs to not look so serious in his games lol.

At one point, the winner of the side event (who beat my friend John to do so) yells out a Borat quote of which I can not remember. Rich mutters ‘If I hear one more Borat impression I am going to punch someone” and I proceed to stifle my “Very Nice” comment.

So I end up losing to Rich, and the loser of the other top 4 match aggress to split as my crew needs to get back to the Bay.

I end up with $175.00 in my pocket and a tired smile on my face as we make our way home, stopping in Barrie for some Licks which Al loves to death.