[report] 29th with Big O @ dual lotus

[boasnapes]

Well, I decided to write a report on my decent finish in CT. I went by Cowboy if anyone cares (or if you played me and wish to correct the mistakes I will most certainly make here, I didn't take notes )

The Drive
I wake up at 6:30 AM. Having gone to bed at 3:30 AM, and having lost in the local tournament the night before to fucking Dragon in the top 4(I was 4-0 in swiss). Needless to say I wasn't in the greatest mood. I have a 2 hour drive ahead of me so I am out the door at 7 with only 2 packs of cigarettes and 3 gatorades to keep me going, no food. After a trip to the gas station, I pick up my buddy Jason and we head out towards CT.
Let me say some things about CT and MA ..... the drivers suck.....the street signs suck(in the case of CT, they don't exist).....the roads suck.... and the people have no fucking clue where they are in their own towns. The drive ended up being close to 3 hours as compared to the 1:45 it should have been.

The Tournament
Well it started an hour and a half late, so I had plenty of time to watch Jason trade. Around 12:30 they say we will be starting soon, so I go outside for a smoke. I am already on my second pack for the day :shock: . No sleep, no food, and a stressfull drive does that to me.

THE LIST:
"Big O, Cowboy Bebop Remix"

4 Mongrel
4 Arrogant Wurm
4 Rootwalla
2 Troll Ascetic
2 Viridian Zealot

4 Null Rod
4 Hidden Gibbons

4 Survival
4 Bazaar
4 Squee

12 Forest
4 ESG
4 Waste
1 Strip
1 Sol Ring
1 Emerald
1 Lotus

Round 1 vs. Food Chain Goblins

Game One: I test the waters, Forest, Gibbons, Go. He follows with some goblins. I finally realize what I am up against but its too late.

Game two: I play big guys that trample.

Game three: He goes, Ruby, Lackey. He has no land. I play a survival off an ESG. He attacks, and plays the guy where he gets to stack his deck. Still no land for him. My turn two, I play null rod. With about 10 goblins on the top of his deck, he wasn't seeing mana for a long while.

1-0-0

Psuedo Round 2 vs. "Bad Deck" (mad dragon)

I'm not going to bother saying anything about the games other than I won 2-1. This guy was really cool though. We were joking around the whole time, it was great. He called his deck "Bad Deck", but really the idea is awesome. Its just too bad that I bring in 11 cards vs. dragon.

1-0-0

Real Round 2 vs. Jacob Orlove w/ U/G fish

Game one: I win cuz I have fat. I find out that Jacob is a really cool guy who is a pleasure to play against.

Game two : He stops some of my fat and pings me to death.

Game three: Damn land light deck. I see one forest/land all game. It gets stripped to boot. In hindsight I shouldn't have taken the opening hand, but a first turn Troll off two ESG's looked so good.

1-1-0 (would have been 2-0-0 but they fucked up )

Round 3 vs. some Dryad/Forgotten Ancient thing

Game one: I build up enough fat to get through his huge dryads.

Game two : A little tougher because he had like three 9/9 guys. But survivaling up all four Rootwallas EOT got through that.

2-1-0

Round 4 vs. Keeper w/ standstills and ophids

Game one: Big fat guys.

Game two: I have never had so many spells countered before. I finally build up fat but the turn before I was lethal, he casts Balance. I pitch my hand to Mongrel w/ four Squees yard, a Survival, and two Bazaars on the table. He has to pitch his hand as well. My turn, with less than 15 cards in my library, I Survival. I only have 2 Mongrels and 2 ESG's left for attackers. I play Mongrel, Bazaar into an ESG, play an ESG, lethal next turn.

3-1-0

Round 5 vs. fast Gro-Atog(w/ Deep Anal and lots of goodies)

Game one: This guy, John, is real cool. I believe I heard he was on the pro-tour or something, but anyways. I lose this game because I am starting to get very tired. I do put up quite a fight though. This was too long of a game considering the decks. Time walk with two Togs, an 11/11 dryad, and berserk in hand kicked my ass.

Game two: Fat + 4 Rootwallas = too many attackers to block

Game three: We start this one with the 5 turn rule in effect. Neither of us can kill fast enough. Draw.

3-1-1

I am very tired at this point, I am considering in my head if I can afford a night in a hotel so I don't fall asleep at the wheel while driving 2 hours home.

Round 6 vs. Trinisphere TNT

Game one: First turn Tinker into Trinisphere kicks my ass.

Game two: First turn Root Maze kicks his ass.

Game three: I fell asleep during this one, no joke. You know sometimes when your driving tired, you take little 2 second naps. Well I took a few of them during this game. All I remember is being at 4 life under Trinisphere, Naturalizing his only Jugg, somehow breaking his land and dropping null rod leaving him mana-less under his own Trinisphere while I drop 2 Arrogants for the win.

4-1-1  

I believe I was 16 or 17th seed at this point, not bad for my first tournament with over 20 people  

Round 7 vs Steve Smemenen w/ Meandeck Slaver

Game one: I can't out race the infinite turn loop. I find out that Steve is more talkative and energetic than I imagined from reading his articles. It was a great pleasure to play against him.

Game two: I side in artifact and graveyard hate. He tells me that he has done more testing against Big O than any other deck. I play first and second turn hate. He plays second turn Pentivus. I see no creatures as he continues to bash my face with a 5/5   . Shit happens.

So I finish with a record of 4-2-1,  29th place. Not bad seeing as my two losses came against two of the most respected players in the game (damn third game land screw vs. Jacob, I think I could've taken that one )

My friend Jason ends up with a decent record and a binder worth more than my car. So he had a good day as well.

Mandatory props/slops

Props:
The chick at Subway who actually gave useful directions.
Jason for putting up w/ my bullshit about directions.
Winstons for tasting sooo good between rounds. (total: 38 on the day)
The guy with mad dragon, for being cool.
Jacob Orlove, and Steve Smemenen, for kicking my ass (wtf?)

Slops:
CT and MA, for sucking worse than NY
My round 3 opponent for being a Red Sox fan(I 2-0'd him, GO YANKEES!!)
CT and MA, for sucking worse than NY
The organizers for fucking up.
CT and MA, for sucking worse than NY
MA toll booths for not labeling Fast Lane booths, I'll be getting a picture of my car and a ticket for that one.
CT and MA, for sucking worse than NY

[Kowal]

Slops:

NY for having toll booths at both ends of a bridge ($4 and $8 respectively.)

My state OWNED you and your $1.60.

Congrats on the finish, by the way.  

[tehmajickguy]

Congrats on your finish. Out of curiosity, what did was your sideboard and do you feel that the zealots pulled their weight?

[boasnapes]

Kowal: I didn't pay out a dime to MA. I went through a speedpass toll booth cuz I would rather pay a 50 dollar ticket than hand $1.60 to one of those damn Massachucettites. I'm just kidding, MA is cool, it just has a shitty baseball team thats all.  I still went through that toll booth though.  

themajickguy:
4 root maze  (slaver,tnt,combo,dragon, anything faster than you)
4 ground seal  (welders, dragon)
3 tormonds crypt  (tog)
2 naturalize  (abyss, humility, deed, ect.)
2 oxidize  (yeah.....artifacts)

As far as the Zealots.....I think what makes them so good is that they never sit dead in your hand. I didn't draw them against any of the artifact decks, or have survival active to get them. Thats why I can't really say too much about their ability. I know I did blow one against Tog, when he had a huge dryad out, a berserk in hand(cunning wish) and an emerald as his only green source. Taking out the emerald bought me a few turns as I was able to block and regen with a troll. Overall they are a decent body, and usefull at times.