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everythingitouchdies
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« on: November 15, 2004, 04:15:55 am » |
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Kalamazoo Compulsion Art Tournament 11-13-04 Report
This was a ten-proxy tournament and it had 23 players
This was at a store called Fanfare in Kalamazoo Michigan that I have never been to before, and I would like to say that this was a really cool store and a great tournament. Everyone there was really cool, and it was great having Bob as a judge so Razer51 could play.
A Brief Intro:
I work nights, managing a receiving department in an obese and nameless orange box. This entails generally getting out of work around 4:30 or 5:00am. I also live two hours or so from Kalamazoo, so the synergy between work and playing cards was not so fantastic. To top it off there was the fear that my car would not make it out of my apartment complex, so I had no ride.
But things have a fascinating way of working out. Razer51 found me a ride with Angel (who drove 20 minutes out of his way to pick me up, then had no idea how to get to Kzoo and took a long route out, pushing the drive there to about two and a half hours.) I mized my way out of work about one, was asleep by three, and up by seven ready to play some cards. All was well, and I was looking forward to winning this thing.
As a side note, I would like to state that I think everyone who owns a car in Kalamazoo was trying to hit or kill John. I think we avoided about 15 accidents on our way in and out by a very narrow margin. I had no fear, but I think Angel was developing a complex about it.
My Deck Decision:
Dragon (Finished 3rd/4th)
4 Worldgorger Dragon
1 Ambassador Laquatus
1 Sliver Queen
4 Force of Will
3 Duress
3 Xantid Swarm
4 Bazaar of Baghdad
2 Compulsion
4 Intuition
3 Squee, Goblin Nabob
1 Vampiric Tutor
2 Lim-Dul’s Vault
1 Ancestral Recall
4 Animate Dead
3 Necromancy
4 Underground Sea
2 Tropical Island
1 Bayou
1 Island
1 Swamp
4 Polluted Delta
1 Black Lotus
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Crypt
Sideboard:
3 Verdant Force
3 Coffin Purge
3 Ray of Revelation
1 Sundering Titan
2 Null Rod
3 Chalice of the Void
Round One:
Sean with Blue/Red Welder/Titan centered on Crucible and Artifact lands
Game One: I did not write down what I had in my hand to start, but I led the first turn with a duress. I saw a hand that suggested underpowered Slaver, and smiled at my fortune. I played a second turn Xantid Swarm, forced it through, and won on the third turn. My presumption had me eager to side in Coffin Purges and Null Rods
Game Two: This is where I learned what my opponent was playing to a much better degree. First turn, he drops Aether Vial off a Darksteel Citadel. I am thoroughly surprised but unconcerned. I cast Vampiric Tutor for Bazaar of Baghdad, since I have a Dragon and Squee in hand. On his second turn he played a second artifact land and a mox sapphire. On my second turn I set up my combo, still missing the animate spell but having a Force of Will and a Compulsion in hand. On his third turn, he proceeds to play Waterfront Bouncer from the Aether Vial and Crucible of Worlds. I let the Crucible of Worlds resolve, thinking I now need to win on my next turn or let the bouncer go active. If he has a Force I am going to need mine. My third turn consists of digging with the bazaar. I find no animate spell, but I do find a Null Rod. I duress away a force of will and play the rod. He plays another artifact land, and attempts to play something. I remind him that he cannot access his mana with Null Rod on the table, and he passes the turn. Back to me, I draw the animate spell and hold it. I pass the turn. He draws another card, seems frustrated, and attacks me with the bouncer. I proceed to my turn and animate the dragon. It’s a pretty good start to the day.
1-0
Round Two:
Charlie Krug with CruciSlaver
Game One: Charlie goes first and plays a basic island. There is no question that he knows I am playing Dragon, as I am always playing Dragon and we have discussed the deck in detail in the past. He passes the turn to me. I draw for the turn, drawing a Sliver Queen. I have an absolutely disgusting hand, including two xantid swarms. I play one of them, and Charlie asks how many cards are in my hand as he considers FOW. For some reason I have one too many cards. When I drew the Sliver Queen and a Bazaar of Baghdad were stuck together and I didn’t notice until I fanned out my cards. Since I had played X swarm and he brainstormed, I was given a game loss.
Game Two: I feel really bad. Part because I have never done that before and felt really bad about it and part because I hate winning or losing when it does not have something to do with the games at hand. I apologized to Charlie about fifty times, and had a really broken win. I did not write anything down because I was distracted by what had happened. I do remember Charlie played an Aether Spellbomb, and I played a Null Rod. He sac’d the Bomb in response to draw. I played a Xantid Swarm and Won on the third or fourth turn.
Game Three: I mulligan to 5 cards. Fortunately for me, those five cards are: Bazaar, Squee, Squee, Lotus, and Force of Will. My two cards off the Bazaar were Dragon and Emerald. Charlie slavers me third turn, and I play one Squee and leave 0 cards in my hand, with only one land and one mox and a bazaar on the board. I have three of seven animate spells in the yard, so this should not be a big deal. I untap, Charlie does not return the one remaining squee in the yard to my hand, but he topdecks animate dead. I lose, shake his hand, and head off to trade.
1-1
Round Three: Rich with Dragon
Game One: I am still a little upset about everything from the previous round, but I shrug it off and meet my very cool opponent for the third round. The guy next to me for some reason asks me about how I am with the mirror match, telling me that my opponent is also playing Dragon. While I assume everyone in the room knows I am, I comment on how I did not know what Rich was playing. Rich gave him some hell then tells me he has never played the Dragon Mirror before. We get into it, and he gets the Squee engine early. He is outdrawing me like crazy, and I am sitting with two cards in my hand, a bazaar, lotus, two lands and a mox. My two cards are Necromancy. I have pitched a FOW to bazaar at this point and he is not sure what I am up to. He digs and eventually finds a dragon. He attempts to animate it and I necro in response. It was the only chance I had of winning, since he was outdrawing me like crazy.
Game Two: I did not see any green in my opponent’s deck, so I assumed he was not running Xantid Swarm. I also did not see duress, which, though odd, seemed feasible since he did have maindeck deep analysis in multiples and some other random cards like demonic tutor that I do not run. I decided that the lack of X swarm and the fact that he had never played the mirror allowed me to be a little rebellious in this match. I sided out the Dragons and the Sliver Queen for 2 Coffin Purge and 3 Ray of Revelation. We went at it. On turn two I had ray in the yard and a Coffin Purge in hand with the mana to play both. I also had animate dead, necromancy, and Force of will. On his third turn he excitedly draws and plays Mana Crypt. I think I am even more excited because it gives me a win condition other than the Squee beatdown that will begin next turn. He casts CRANIAL EXTRACTION. I am stunned. I say sure, and he loudly announces Dragon. I laugh my ass off, and let him have at it. Confused, he suddenly realizes what is happening. It is not a pleasant sound that escapes his lips, and he eventually passes the turn. Squee edges in some damage, but the mana crypt is not doing me any favors. I drew a blue card, and he attempts to Cranial Extraction me again. I decide not to let this happen, and counter it. Unfortunately for me, next turn he reveals that he is playing green and drops a Xantid swarm. There are only a few minutes left in the round, and he has yet to dump a dragon. He dumps sliver Queen, and animates it. I untap, ray the animate and animate his queen on my side. I have about 11 mana sources on the board, and time is called. He scoops, in the face of beats from his own Queen. Chaos is a beautiful thing.
2-1
Round 4: Noah with TriniStax
Angel took detailed notes for me this round.
Game One: I go first. My hand is: Animate Dead, Xantid Swarm, Necromancy, Mox Jet, Duress, Bazaar of Baghdad, and Necromancy. I lead with Jet duress, hitting Chalice of the Void. I play bazaar and draw a Dragon and another animate dead. They both go along with Xantid Swarm. He wastes my bazaar and passes. I draw and play ruby, and pass. He plays gemstone, welder, and passes. I draw underground sea and play it, pass. He plays Workshop, Sol Ring, and Tanglewire. He passes, I tap down and pass. He welds out wire and in COTV. His turn he plays a Volcanic Island and Meditates. He then plays Crucible. With a wasteland in the yard I am doomed. He welds the wire back in. I untap, and cast Necromancy in response to the Wire. I draw this degenerate game.
Game Two: I side in Null Rods, Coffin Purge, and Verdant Force, two each. I take out a Dragon, 3 Swarm, 2 Compulsion and Vampiric Tutor.
I lead this game with a Duress off an Underground Sea. I get nothing noteworthy (Angel so not so hot with notes this game) He plays waste and pearl. I play nothing. He plays Workshop, Juggernaut, and I Vampiric Tutor for Bazaar. My next turn is Bazaar, Draw Necromancy and Sol Ring; discard Verdant Force, Coffin Purge and animate dead. I play the Sol Ring and he wastes my Bazaar. I smile, lacking a poker face, and keeping my underground sea. He takes his turn, hits me with Juggernaut, and passes. I cast Necromancy on Verdant Force. I pass; he plays Volcanic Island and Welder, which I Force. He swings and I eat. I untap and cast necromancy on his Welder. I beat with my own fat guy. He plays a Welder, and passes. I play a tropical island and Swing again. He goes and plays Tanglewire. I weld it out and he welds it in. Now his little guy is tapped and I have a ton of tokens anyway, he realizes lethal damage is coming and scoops.
Game Three: He plays first. He plays Workshop, Lotus, and Trinisphere. I play bazaar, dump bazaar, VF and Lim-Dul’s Vault. He plays Gemstone and Tanglewire. I play Delta. He plays another Workshop. I fetch a swamp. He plays a strip Mine. He plays a Crucible. I pick up my cards.
Game Four: Lack of Poker Face is Apparent. I have a hand: Delta, Squee, Sapphire, Lotus, Intuition, Animate Dead, and Duress. I play the Fetch, grab a swamp, play the mox, and the Lotus, intuition for two Verdant Force and Coffin Purge. He puts a Verdant Force in my hand and I animate the other. His first turn is less exciting. He plays wasteland and passes. I play duress; get nothing of consequence and swing. John walks off and stops taking notes here, but I believe the next action involves my opponent scooping.
3-1
Round Five: Jason with FCG
I am at table three and the top two tables split. I look at the standing and for some reason think I have to play, which in retrospect was untrue. My notes on the Food Chain matches are light because it’s not the most exciting thing.
Game One: I went off second turn with little effort. He did play a first turn Food Chain, which I could have Forced and did not.
Game Two: I did something ridiculous which required digging with two bazaars in the face of lethal damage on the following turn, and finally got my animate spell and won on the 4th turn. My opponent should feel cheated, because I completely hosed him with my card draw.
Top 8:
I am in first seat, and the Food Chain deck is in 8th seat. We get to do this again. I am starving at this point, each round forsaking food for trades.
I win on the second turn again game one. Jason is flustered, but game two he seems pretty happy as he leads with a root maze. My hand was Lotus, emerald, animate dead, bazaar, dragon, Squee, duress. I would have won first turn. I play lotus, Emerald and bazaar and pass. He plays Ancient tomb, annoyed that it comes into play tapped because he wants to play ground seal, which he shows me as he tries to do, then is reminded and it goes back. I untap and draw the game.
Game three I have this: FOW, Intuition, Lotus, Necromancy, Sapphire, Bazaar, Dragon. He again tries to Root Maze, and I Force it. I take my first turn and win.
Top 4: Kurk with the Mirror (of sorts)
Dragon Mirror: I am famished at this point, and game one I mull to 5. I have Lotus and Necromancy, but little else. He keeps, has bazaar and two squees. He gets supreme card advantage and buries me. Game two is a repeat of game one, and I walk into a stifle that I know he has because he is going to win anyway. I have no real chance with a 6 hand and him having that busted draw engine going. I wish him luck, and head off to do some more trades instead of eating.
I am given a Red Bull by Razer51 and some Pizza by the store owner. I am feeling fat and sassy now, as I have traded for so much cool stuff for my deck that I cannot believe it. I won an unlimited Forcefield, and was unable to stick around to find out who won due to the Two Hour Drive that would take me back home.
It turns out that kurk went on to beat my round two opponent Charlie Krug in the finals. Congratulations.
All in all this was a great tournament, and I would drive that far to do it again.
Props:
Razer51 for the Asian Necromancies, the Red Bull and the effort to get me out there
Angel for driving, the round 4 match notes, and the last foil delta
The guy that traded me the Asian foil ambassador, the Japanese Null Rod, and two excess foil dragons (I love these things)
Aaron from Chicago who traded me the FBB Underground Sea
Everyone who helped set up, run or played in this awesome tournament.
My Top 4 opponent Kurk for beating me and keeping me from doing something absurd with the art (like painting over it)
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