Let me first introduce myself: I'm 21 years old, I live in Finland and I've been playing Magic since the 4th Edition/Ice Age period. I've always been a casual player, and I've always hated tournaments (I guess it goes along with being fanatically and militantly casual). When building decks and playing, I'm the kind of guy who will play a Eureka deck or something based around Wormfang Manta or perhaps Land Equilibrium control.
I haven't played in too many tournaments, and I haven't really done well in those few that I have. The best I've ever gone is 3-2-1, and that was in some random Prerelease when I got cards that should've given me 6-0. In other words: even though I'm good at maths and such, I suck at Magic. Also, it doesn't help my tournament success that I usually play decks that are fun, not decks mean to win.
Anyway, I've always loved different control decks. I've toyed around with things like Sylvan Library (one of my favourite cards ever), Abundance, Land Tax, Jayemdae Tome, Arboria, Island Sanctuary and the like. For a while, I've been reading tourney reports and I'm intrigued by Parfait. It is so much like the deck I like to play: It has control, it has a bit of combo, it has synergy, it has a lot of options to do every turn and best of all, it kills with flying horses So, when the local shop announced they had a Type 1 tournament, I decided I want to play Parfait.
I went through a few decklists on the Net, got a rough idea what's important and built this (it's one of the quirks of mine. I will never copy a straight decklist, I always want to build it myself):
Lingonberry Parfait
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4x Land Tax
2x Scroll Rack
4x Argivian Find
4x Orim's Chant
3x Swords to Plowshares
2x Aura of Silence
1x Seal of Cleansing
1x Balance
2x Humility
2x Story Circle
2x Wrath of God
1x Tormod's Crypt
2x Sacred Mesa
1x Enlightened Tutor
1x Replenish
1x Soldevi Digger
2x Powder Keg
2x Zuran Orb
1x Blood Moon
14x Plains
2x Mountain
3x Wasteland
1x Strip Mine
1x Marble Diamond
1x Sol Ring
Sideboard:
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1x Moat
2x Replenish
2x Spiritual Focus
1x Pariah
2x Karmic Justice
1x Jester's Cap
4x Abeyance
2x Powder Keg
I prefer to call it Lingonberry instead of a Cherry Parfait, as the Blood Moon tastes sour against a Keeper or some other dual heavy deck.
Anyway, I wake up early, grab a shower (traits not normally found in Magic players), make the train in time and head for the tournament place. It's our local shop called Safe Haven and it's quite small and usually infested by Type 2 players who act like little monkeys. Today's a different day though, and after buying a big bottle of lemonade I start writing down my decklist. Before I finish it, my friend Andy comes and lends me the Replenishes, which I don't have and which proved to be really good.
The turnout is really good, 17 players which is more than any tournament for a while. There has been a sort of a Type 1 resurrection here, as I used to be the only T1 fanatic at our shop, and now just about everyone seems to have a deck. Some guys have come from as far as Tampere, which is something like 150 kilometers away. The metagame seems is two or three Sligh, four (!) Suicide, a Pox, two Keepers, a Miracle Gro, two Dragon Combo, my Parfait, my friends Zoo that was built from my cards, a Monoblue, an Oath, a R/G beatdown and a strange combo deck.
I took very poor notes, so I apologize for the lack of any useful strategical info in this report. I'll do better next time.
The tournament is five rounds, with Top 8. The prizes are a total of 85 euros worth of store credit, divided between the top 4.
Round 1: Juho Leppänen, He-Man
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Juho is a good friend of mine.. he's playing He-Man, which is a sick combo deck of his. He has five Power (Emerald, Jet, Ruby, Walk & Twister), and he's playing all those, with all the regular combo pieces you might imagine. The deck kills with Mirror Universe (hence the name, Masters of the Universe) and Lightinng Bolt. This is a bad matchup for me, we played this the previous night, and I lost most of the games.
Game 1:
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It starts with him laying a huge load of different mana artifacts. I stall him with things like Orim's Chants and an Aura of Silence, who unfortunately gets Sealed. He takes a lot of damage from his Cities of Brass and a Mana Crypt while I play defensively, laying down permanents such as a Zuran Orb and Land Taxes (which I never get to use, he doesn't play more land and I can't afford losing any more land to the Zuran Orb). He is taking a lot of damage from his Crypt and Cities and Mirrors me. I go to three life and he goes back to twenty. The game finally ends when he gets another Mirror Universe on the table, plays a Bargain, Plagiarizes me and then plays Timetwister. Okay, okay, I lose, no need to go overkill
This whole game took like 35 minutes, He-Man is a slow deck to play and all the combo pieces require a lot of thinking. I know I'm on the losing edge, but I side in the Cap, the Kegs and the Abeyances. I take all anti-creature cards I have, as I know he's not running any creatures.
Game 2:
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This game was a totally different matter. He starts by laying out a Mox and a City of Brass, and takes some damage from the City. I go Plains, Land Tax, which gets Forced. It's okay though, as I use the Argivian Find on the next turn and get the Tax back and then play it. I lay out a Sol Ring and a Sacred Mesa and start the beatings. He Vampiric Tutors, putting him down to 14, takes damage from a City of Brass, lays out a Bargain and plays a Jar. He then uses the Jar and we both draw a new hand. At this point I try to Chant him, but someone from the crowd (this is one of the last games going on and certainly the most interesting, so we have some people watching) says: "You can't do it yet, you don't have priority". Juho then says out the thing that was repeated (and I believe will be repeated again and again on the following days) during the tournament: "What fucking priority?". He's an oldschool player and doesn't know all the new terms, so somebody explains it to him. He plays something and then I Chant, which ends his turn as he can't do anything else. I start the beatings yet again, and even though he tries to draw stuff with his Bargain, I seal the game by dropping the Blood Moon screwing up his mana and then beat him to death with my horses.
As there is something like 5 minutes left, we take a draw.
Matches: 0-0-1
Games: 1-1
At this point my notes become much worse and some of this might not be accurate, as I'm writing this mainly from memory. Sorry about that.
Round 2: Andrew Patel, Keeper
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Andy's one of those guys who played Magic back in the day and then quit. He's not originally Finnish and I've really had to brush up my English when talking to him (which is a good thing, now I don't feel like a dead fish anymore when I try to talk with foreigners). He started by playing Type 2 and then gradually turned into a real Type 1 player again. His pride is his set of Moxes and a Time Walk, as well as a set of Mana Drains and other useful stuff like The Abyss. He's really worried about this matchup, as he should be.
Game 1:
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I start by going Plains, Tax, Go. He plays a land and a Sol Ring I think, and a turn later a fetch land. It shows on my notes that he took two damage from a fetch land and burn. I get early beats, he Skeletal Scryes for three but doesn't draw anything useful. He Forces my Sacred Mesa, after which I drop the Blood Moon. He thinks for a while and then scoops.
I side in my Replenishes, Kegs, the Cap and the Abeyances and I yet again take out a lot of the creature kill. I leave in the Humilities and the Moat, in case he tries to beat me with his Mishras and Morphlings.
Game 2:
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I get a second-turn Mesa with a Sol Ring, so I start really early beatings. He tries to delay the inevitable by Time Walking, playing Balance like two times, but it is of no use. I play the Blood Moon again and he dies to horses and fetch land damage. I hardly broke a sweat. He had a Morphling in play, as well as a Mishra, but you just can't beat the flying horses, now can you?
I took no damage during either one of these games. For some reason, I'm feeling really good.. I usually get nervous at tournaments and I don't know what to do and how to play, but I feel a Zen-like peace of mind. I see things clearly, I don't make many play mistakes and I do what I have to do. It's a really great feeling, I haven't experienced it before. Also, I get new confidence in the deck.. there aren't too many decks that can smile and say casually "ok" when Morphling hits the table.
Matches: 1-0-1
Games: 3-1
Round 3: Tomi Korkki, Suicide
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He's a good player, and we like to trash talk a lot. He complains that his deck is not optimal, but as I rarely beat him in casual play, I'm not feeling too good about this matchup. Also, because I constructed my it like in a minute, my sideboard stinks against monoblack.
Game 1:
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I have to mulligan down to six, which is bad. The second hand is better: it has a Balance, a Story Circle and a Mesa. He gets first turn duress and takes my Balance. The second turn he plays down two Carnophages and starts the beatdown. He also hymns me, taking my Story Circle. At his end of turn, I Find it back and play it down, but he's gotten a Mishra into play and is hitting me hard. I finally manage to use the Circle, but it eats all my mana, and I can't draw an answer to the Mishra. I die.
I side in all my extra creature hate and the Kegs, as well as the Karmic Justices and the Spiritual Focii. At this point I wonder if I should play four Kegs maindeck, I seem to side them in every single game.
Game 2:
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I keep a hand with two land, two Focii and something else. He gets an early Carnophage and a Hypnotic Specter. I take some early beatings and manage to get a Focus on the table, even though he Unmasks me. I'm already down to 12 life at this point though, and then he plays Dystopia. I have no idea what the card does, and after I read it, the only thing I can say is "oh shit". It eats my Focus, I can't draw an answer to all his threats and die shortly afterwards.
I was really shocked when I read what the card does. I shouldn't have sided out so many of my anti-enchantment cards.. I'll be wiser next time, as I later saw other people running Dystopias too. Why wasn't I told that such brutal anti-white cards exist?
Both of these games were quite close, but I was a turn or two too slow. I wish I had the Pearl for this deck. Six months ago I had all the power sans the Pearl but I sold them (food, rent and all that stuff is quite nice, you know). Now I've decided I will want my P9 back. The first one I'm going for is the Pearl, it's the only one I've never owned and whenever I play Andy on casual, he seems to get it in his starting hand. That Pearl haunts me.
Matches: 1-1-1
Games: 3-3
Round 4: Mikko Snygg, Dragon combo
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Snygg's one of the best players in Finland, he's played a lot of the Pro Tour and all, and his deck is a bad matchup for me. Definately not looking good.
Game 1:
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I don't remember much of this game, except that it ends in two turns. I lose and there's nothing I can do about it.
I side in my Abeyances and Kegs (again!), I side out Wraths and all the useless creature kill, but keep the Humilitys in case I might get them into play.
Game 2:
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This one is a bit more even. I get a first-turn Tax, he plays a Jet and an Underground Sea. I Strip his Sea and play another Tax, and then Zuran Orb. He then lays out a Sol Ring and a Badlands, and we stall for many turns. I then make a huge mistake and Waste his Badlands, after which he points out to me that now he can play his blue mana source without letting me Tax. Oops. We've been drawing cards for so many turns and he has Entombed, so I know he has his combo ready. In a last desperate attempt to survive, I Keg his Jet, but he plays a land and goes off the next turn anyway.
Even though I lost both games, these games were quite enjoyable and he was kind enough to discuss strategy with me after the game.
Matches: 1-2-1
Games: 3-5
At this point I play a few casual games with Jussi, another good friend of mine. He took a deck of mine, an oldschool Zoo, and then tweaked it into something horrible. He calls it Bad Zoo, and I can do nothing but agree. He's running Death Wishes!!, Living Wishes!!, Stern Judge in the sideboard!!!! and all kinds of other stuff you don't want to know about. You will sleep better. The best part about the Death Wish technology is that he's only running one Bayou and three Gemstone Mines as his black mana sources. I don't think he cast those black Wishes during the tournament. Anyway, he surprises everybody and goes 2-3 with this pile of crap. The age of miracles is not over yet.
Anyway, I win the first game by doing what Parfait does: Play the Blood Moon, play Mesa, play Humility and run over him with my Pegasi. I would've won the second game as well, unless he hadn't had a Ankh of Mishra in play (don't even ask
) and I accidentally played a land. Oops. At this point the time is called, and we prepare ourselves for the last round.
I guess I could've quit at this point, because I had no theoretical chances to get into top 8, but I decided to play because that's what I came to do.
Round 5: Mikko Tornikoski, Oath
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This should be easy matchup for me. He's a friend of Juho, and he's been integrating slowly into our playgroup. I got paired up, so if he wins, he's going to be in the Top 8. If I win, neither of us have a shot for the first place. I still want to play though, so he has to fight for the points.
Game 1:
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This is the game that I will always remember from this tournament. He mulliganed, my deck was doing it's thing, I was in charge of the game and he had really no possible way to win (I had multiple Taxes, both Racks, a Zuran Orb and all the mana money could buy). Until...
I Tax for six lands and then use the Scroll Rack. I give him the turn and Chant him during his upkeep to prevent him from doing nasty stuff. Then during my upkeep, I Tax again. WTF? Where are all my lands..? "well I guess I put them somewhere", I think and continue playing. I Rack, take the top six cards from the top of my library and then put them aside. But what's _this_ pile here? Oh, they must be the lands I forgot to put on top of the library during the last time I used the Rack. Ooops. I offer to take a game loss, no point in calling the judge. He accepts and we start preparing for the next game. I guess he would've allowed me to take it back, but as the game state had already progressed (I had seen the next cards and all), I didn't even ask him. I believe in fair play, and while I might let an opponent take back some bad moves, I definately don't want to keep playing after I break the rules.
I feel _so bad_ about this. This is just the kind of thing that prevents me from being a really good player.. I have fairly good concepts of the game strategy, I build good and innovative decks (I'm a lot better deck builder than a player), and then I make idiotic mistakes like this. The "Zen-feeling" is gone.
I side in Abeyances and all the regular control hate.
Game 2:
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I don't remember a lot about this game, except that it took a _long_ time. He refuses to acknowledge the situation that I'm winning and keeps on playing, even though I'm drawing cards like there is no tomorrow. He does manage to keep my Blood Moon off the table, and combined with my screwup with a Mesa (draw a card, then remember I should've paid the upkeep) twice(!), it takes me for a while to win. Despite these mistakes, I still manage to kill him with my precious horses. He tried to Disk at some point, but I Rack for 11 card and the final one I get is the Aura. Whew.
Anyway, I know the "feeling" is gone, and so do my friends. I feel their eyes on my back, I fall under pressure and start making more and worse mistakes. No more Zen for me in this tournament I guess.
Game 3:
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I keep a hand with a Wasteland and a Plains, because I have some nice stuff to go with them. Unfortunately for me, I'm dumb enough to Waste a land of his and I end up stuck at one plains for something like 15 turns (and no Tax either) while he's drawing cards, Brainstorming and laying out enough mana to counter my hands worth of spells. I do get a Wasteland and both of my Mountains in play, but it's too late: I have no chance to survive and I get run over by a Mishra.
I shake his hand and the tournament is over for my part.
Matches: 1-3-1
Games: 4-7
The top 8:
Oath vs. Miracle-Gro (2-1)
Dragon vs. Suicide (2-0)
Keeper-Sligh (2-0)
Monoblue-Sligh (2-1)
Top 4:
Dragon vs. Oath (2-1)
Monoblue vs. Keeper (2-0)
The final:
Dragon vs. Monoblue (2-1)
The Dragon piloted by Mikko Snygg wins!
I end up in the 15th place, of which I'm not at all happy. In retrospect, I guess I could blame it on my hasty deck construction and sideboard, but being the cheerful chap I am, I blame in on myself. I have to admit though, that like Andy said, this is just my kind of a deck and I'm going to keep on playing and tuning it (usually my decks have a lifespan of three weeks, after which I get bored of them and take them apart, but as this isn't taking any resources from my other decks, it can stay together for a longer time). The sad part about my final ranking is that I'm one of the more vocal T1 players at my shop, just like Andy who places below me (my only consolation
)
So, I guess this concludes my report. I believe this is my deck for the next tournament too, as I don't think I can get a playset of Moxes really soon to put in my TnT (If anyone can tell me how to make it work without power, please tell me). I am definately going to play it more to get a feeling what I should do to it, but I'm certain I will put in another Blood Moon. It was useful in just about every game. During many of those games I lost, I felt I was on the verge of winning, but lacked the last final bit of punch. Going to work on it
I like reports that concentrate more on the general surroundings and feeling of the tournament instead of strategy, and that's what I've been trying to write here. Sorry about the lack of useful strategy advice, but I guess you all like to laugh at the casual player who tries to take the game seriously for a change
This is my first tournament report ever, so critique, flames etc. are not only accepted, but welcomed with an open mind. And I apologize for my English, I'm tired and it's not my first language.
And in the end, the obligatory props & slops:
Tolarian Academies:
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Blood Moon - For winning me games.
Snygg - For winning the tournament.
Andy - For lending me the Replenishes and being my only win
K-Run - For originally coming up with such a great deck.
Jussi - For playing with crappy cards in a crappy deck and still winning two matches.
Safe Haven - For organizing Type 1 tournaments.
Teferi's Isles:
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Andy's Mox Pearl - You are annoying. I hate you.
Me - for screwing up with that Scroll Rack, along with many other mistakes.
Jester's Cap - I sided you in against combo, but I didn't draw you. I won't play with you any more
He-Man - for going Walk twister ritual ritual lion's eye diamond jar regrowth walk plagiarize twister etc. Boring.
That's it then.
P.S. If you ever happen to be in Helsinki on Wednesday, please do come to Olutravintola Kaisla in the evening. We'll be there, playing Type 1 and casual games, as well as occasional board games.
