Sunday Type I @ Neutral Ground *1st*

Sanctioned Sunday Type I @Neutral Ground

February 2nd, 2003

19 Players

Today I journeyed to my first sanctioned tournament since December 20th, when I ended my six month hiatus. I was once again playing Legend Ankh Sligh. In said December tournament, I posted a 3-1 record, which was good for fourth place out of fifteen. My only loss in that event came at the hands of a White Weenie deck packing four Conversions. Today I ran the same LAS list as last time, with a couple of minor changes. Most importantly (or so I thought) I had a Mox Ruby for the first time, having acquired one a week ago. Amazingly enough, I never drew it in the nine games I played. Most of my games were not all that lengthy, but still, my hiding Mox Ruby was certainly anomalous. Also, I was running Scalds in the sideboard, which have long since replaced Dwarven Miners. The Scalds were of course quite excellent. What this all added up to was a mowing down of the opposition with only one game loss. Simply put, two of my opponents were quite strong, while the other two were rather weak. Now, here is the list:

Legend Ankh Sligh: (LAS)

4 Gorilla Shaman
4 Jackal Pup
4 Goblin Cadets

4 Lightning Bolt
4 Chain Lightning
4 Incinerate
4 Price of Progress
1 Fork

4 Ankh of Mishra
4 Cursed Scroll
1 Black Vise

16 Mountain
1 Mox Ruby
4 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine

SB:

4 Pyrokinesis
4 Scald
4 Mogg Fanatic
3 Rack and Ruin

ROUND 1: Jacob Heidt playing Keeper

GAME 1:

Keeper is perhaps my best matchup. Jacob goes first, and has a strong draw with a land and a couple of Moxes, including Sapphire. I lead with a Goblin Cadets. However, the Goblin Cadets ends ups doing very little, as an Abyss comes out. But what do I care? I've got The Abyss on the pay-no-mind list. Jacob has just spent four mana during his main phase to kill a Goblin Cadets, tapping out and permitting me a full turn with which to carry out whatever sinister plans I have in store for him. I have no other creatures in my hand, but plenty of burn and artifact damage waiting in the wings. The Abyss is inconsequential against my deck. I take advantage of this brief window of oppurtunity to get an Ankh and a Scroll into play. Soon afterwards, Jacob uses his Ancestral Recall. He continues to develop his mana, but the Ankh exacts a steep price for this privilege. Several end of turn burn spells get through as the game moves along. Finally, very low on life, Jacob just has no answer to Cursed Scroll.

GAME 2:

I side in the Scalds for the Incinerates. This game gets out of hand pretty quickly. Jacob's draw features double City of Brass and a Mox. However, a Gorilla Shaman eats the Mox, a Jackal Pup joins in, and a Scald hits the table as insurance should he draw any islands. Jacob is able to tutor for a COP Red, but it is meaningless since his only mana sources are Cities. Seeing this, I cruelly Wasteland his freshly played Wasteland. An Ankh hits the table. The situation is becoming desperate for him. Jacob plays a Mox and Black Lotus. I don't know why he does this, but I find out when I smash both artifacts with Shaman and he Dismantling Blows my Ankh with kicker in response. This yields very little for him, though, and when another Ankh comes down, this game is all but over. I still have not lost a game to Keeper when Circle of Protection:Red hits the table. I really do not find it to be particularly troublesome.

1-0, 2-0

ROUND 2: Nathaniel Williamson playing Suicide Black

GAME 1:

I found his deck to be suboptimal, running Mishras Factories and Zombies. These were rather unconventional games for the Sligh/Suicide matchup. He goes first, Rituals, and pulls my Cursed Scroll with a Duress, leaving me with nothing but a Bolt and a Cadets. I am able to bolt his Nantuko Shade that comes out off the other two ritual mana, but from that point on, I draw something like five Mountains in a row. I am completely flooded, with no Scroll in sight. Fortunately for me, though, Nathaniel has the opposite problem, unable to draw a second Swamp. He begins to chip away at me with a Carnophage, but I am hitting with a Shaman and a Cadets - until a Mishra comes out and I am unable to find a Wasteland for it. However, I finally draw some burn to clear away the Carnophage, and a Waste for the Mishra - all the time with Nathaniel still unable to find a swamp. Amazingly enough, I end up killing him with a Black Vise supported by Nathaniel's earlier Carnophage upkeep damage, and a few burn spells here and there.

GAME 2:

I side in the Fanatics and Pyrokineses, for POPs and Ankhs. I lead with a Jackal Pup. However, I get Hymned on the first turn, taking my other Mountain. Then Nathaniel Sinkholes my first Mountain. I fail to draw another Mountain and get overrun by a Nantuko Shade and a Carnophage.

GAME 3:

I quickly discover that Nathaniel has made a colossal sideboarding error. On his second turn, he Rituals out a Masticore. I Pyrokinesis it. Nathaniel doesn't seem to have much else after that, and I mana-screw him by Wasting his Wasteland and then Wasting Mishra's Factory. I begin to swarm with some creatures. Then it happens - Nathaniel plays - a NULL ROD!?!? I vividly recall discussing this rather simple sideboarding concept back in the day with regard to Legend Black. Folks, this is just a matter of common sense for any Suicide Black player - Null Rod and Masticore should never be in the deck at the same time. Not that it affected the outcome of the game, but it was clearly a very poor decision on his part. It gets worse for Nathaniel when a Carnophage and a Sarcomancy token get killed. His Null Rod just sits there as his life total dwindles down to critical numbers thanks to his own Sarcomancy token, a Gorilla Shaman, and my Black Vise. He is unable to mount any sort of retaliation, and the game ends pretty quickly as he chokes on the Vise. He shows me his hand, which includes a couple of Null Rods, and a couple of Masticores. He should have at least played the other Null Rods to try and avoid some of the Vise damage. Oh well.

2-0, 4-1

ROUND 3: Eric Wilkinson playing Keeper

GAME 1:

Eric is one of the longtime better Keeper players at Neutral Ground, and with this match, I have now faced him more than any other opponent. The rivalry continues. Heading into this match, I am 2-3-1 against Eric, with the last loss coming to his White Weenie deck - the one with four Conversions. Time for revenge. Swift and brutal revenge to even things up. He mulligans to six. I go first. I lead with Pup. Eric has a Polluted Delta and a Mox Pearl. I don't have another Mountain, so I use a Wasteland to cast an Ankh. He gets an Undergound Sea with the Delta, then proceeds to play a Volcanic Island and a Mox Jet. Somehow another Ankh resolves. The situation is rapidly becoming untenable for him. Eric drops a Library of Alexandria. I ignore the Library and instead Waste his Undergound Sea, leaving him with only one blue source. Having taken repeated Ankh damage, Eric is at two life. I have plenty of burn ready to finish him off. However, I still need to draw my second Mountain of the game, as Eric has stripped my only Mountain, leaving me with no land. As expected, I draw the Mountain after not too long of a wait, and proceed to deal with him in the way I know best.

GAME 2:

Same sideboarding as in the first round. Eric mulligans again. His start is not explosive, with just an Underground Sea. I have three Jackal Pups in play by the second turn, but they all get Balanced away. No problem, though, as over the course of the next few turns, I am able to drop two Scalds, an Ankh, and a Cursed Scroll. At a certain point, the situation is this: Eric has one card in his hand, and is at thirteen life. I have no cards in my hand. I draw a Price of Progress. I Scroll naming POP, reducing him to eleven. I POP for twelve. He shows me the Swords to Plowshares in his hand, and the match is over. Splendid.

3-0, 6-1

ROUND 4: Jim Dunne playing Pox

GAME 1:

Jim was an exceptionally nice guy, but his deck was decidedly suboptimal. I have no idea how he made it to the 3-0 bracket, to the match to decide 1st Place. But he candidly tells me that he probably got the three easiest pairings he could have hoped for. Well that explains it. But the most important thing is that he was a good sport and a nice guy. That is always the most important thing. Anyway, these games were fairly one-sided. In this game, I get a Cursed Scroll pulled out of my hand with a Duress and then must wade through an early Hymn, but I begin to attack with a Shaman and a Cadets. I am stuck on two mana, while Jim has three mana and a Scroll that will become active next turn after he empties his hand by Hymning me once again. I need to draw a third mana to be able to smash the Scroll. I do. Shaman takes care of that, and from there I have little trouble overruning Jim with some creatures and a Cursed Scroll. A Steel Golem is the only obstacle, and is easily removed. We are on to the sideboards.

GAME 2:

I side out four Ankhs and four POP for three Rack and Ruin, four Mogg Fanatic, and a lone Pyrokinesis. Jim goes first and has double Dark Ritual. However, he makes a playing error here, electing to cast a Steel Golem with the first three mana instead of leading with the Duress in his hand. Well, it just so happens that I have drawn my lone Pyrokinesis in my opening seven, so when Jim tries to Duress me AFTER playing the Steel Golem, I am able to Nesis in response. The Duress then misses, seeing only some land and three creatures. With the final black mana, Jim consults for a Cursed Scroll, only finding it after a considerable tour through most of his deck. It matters very little though, as after this opening sequence, I am easily able to swarm Jim with a creature horde that brings the game to an abrupt conclusion as Jim just sits there with only two mana in play.

Final Record: 4-0, 8-1

So I get what I would estimate to be about 20 rating points, which should up my DCI Vintage rating to just short of 1850. I also win twenty-five dollars store credit, which I use for some fetchlands to complete my Red Stompy deck. But back to LAS for a minute. Right now it is very clear to me that my deck is a total buzz-saw. As a result of my last two tournament appearances, I now possess the utmost of confidence in the deck, having pretty much buzzed right through most opponents with an assortment of damage coming from all over the place. I found no problems whatsoever in the way the deck ran today, and I would change nothing at all in its design. I am very pleased.\n\n