Here is the report as posted by the winner, Shawn Stewart (Balzary), on mtgontario.com. Decklists can be found here:
http://www.401games.ca/features/type1nov212004.html-------------------------------
Tournament Reports: It's Good to Be Lucky or Is It Lucky to Be Good?
Posted on Monday, November 29, 2004 - 12:41 PM EST by Trent
Balzary writes: How I Finished First at the 401 Convenience Black Lotus Tournament.
After driving 6 hours to Ottawa the previous weekend for a Lotus tournament, it was a refreshing change to only have to drive for 2 to attend another. Trying to get teammates (Chris Moon) fully powered, I bought a Mox Ruby off eBay, and since the seller lived in Toronto, we agreed to meet beforehand at a Second Cup. The transaction goes smoothly, and we have a bite to eat before heading out. Chantelle (Chris's girlfriend) winds up getting some type of drink that is so caffeinated that she may as well have chewed on some coffee beans, but she is able to ride the high for a few hours, so it's all good I suppose. We show up at 10:15 and no one from Listowel has arrived yet. We are a little worried, since Dan likes showing up at least an hour beforehand, but it turns out they just got turned around due to construction and make it at 10:50. 56 people show up which I think is a little small, considering it is for a Lotus, but whatever, 6 rounds of Swiss works for me. I have been out of the tournament scene for a while, with the Ottawa tournament being my first in about 6 months. Not having high expectations, I didn't take notes at all, so the entire report is from memory only. I apologize beforehand for the lack of detail or any mistakes in describing the games. Anyways, enough with the preamble, on to the report.
Round 1: Ray Mitchell - Cherry Parfait
Game 1: He wins the roll and lays a mountain and passes. My turn, I drop Gemstone Mine, 2 Moxen, and a Trinisphere. He lays plains and passes, and on my turn, I cast Crucible and drop a Strip Mine. Whoops. Shocked
SB: Out - 4 Trinisphere, Duplicant. In - 4 Chalice of the Void, Triskelion.
Game 2: He starts with a plains and a Land Tax. I drop a Mox Ruby and a Sol Ring and pass the turn. He plays another Land Tax and passes. I drop a Welder and a Chalice for 1 to prevent StP. We exchange Seal of Cleansings on Scroll Rack and the aforementioned Chalice, but although I saw no Smokestacks this game, I did see all four Tangle Wires, and a Sundering Titan was Welded in and then out to lock him down enough so I could squeak out a victory.
Matches 1-0, Games 2-0
Round 2: Mark Sims - 3c Tog
Game 1: I kept a shady hand and it ended up costing me tempo and the game. It was something along the lines of Wasteland, Mana Crypt, Tinker, Welder, Thirst for Knowledge, Demonic Tutor, Smokestack. I ended up not drawing any land or Moxen for four turns, and when Mark Duressed me on turn 3, he commented on there being six spells that he wanted. But by that time, he had a significant advantage, and I scooped when he cast a Tog with lethal hand and graveyard size.
SB: Out - ?. In - 3 Red Elemental Blast, 2 Tormod's Crypt.
Game 2: I had a nice soft lock going with Trinisphere, Crucible and Strip Mine, but he still had 2 lands and a Mox when I was Stripping a land each turn. He was able to drop a land to keep him at 3, and then apparently top decked a Pernicious Deed, which wrecked my board of Mox, Glimmervoid, Welder, Workshop, Crucible and Trinisphere. To add insult to injury he dropped a Back to Basics soon after, and I got trounced soundly.
Matches 1-1, Games 2-2
Round 3: ? - Oath
Game 1: I had another ridiculous start in which I locked him under a Trinisphere, Crucible and Strip Mine. He scooped and I only saw an Island, Fetch and Tundra.
SB: Out - 2 Seal of Cleansing, Duplicant. In - 3 Red Elemental Blast.
Game 2: He lays a Forbidden Orchard and passes the turn. So he's not playing 4cc, it's Oath. Good thing I sided out all my anti-Oath cards! Confused I drop a Strip Mine, 2 Moxen, Lotus and Smokestack. He Brainstorms on my end step. On his turn, he plays an Island and an Oath. My turn, I add a soot counter, swing for 1, and play a Crucible, which thankfully resolves. I Strip both his land, and pass the turn. During his upkeep, he has to sac the oath to the Smokestack, but Oaths up Spirit of the Night. I take 6, but then stabilize with the Smokestack to gain a lucky win.
Matches 2-1, Games 4-2
There is a half hour lunch break so 4 of us take the opportunity to go get some pizza. Chantelle has lost her caffeine buzz, so she hops across the street and buy $11 worth of Sweet Tarts, Gobstoppers, and other bulk candy to get hopped up on sugar.
Round 4: Chris Moon - Dragon
Chris is a teammate, and we decide to draw, since it's advantageous to do so. We will both pretty much have to win out either way. We do play 3 games for fun though, just to kill some time. (I win of course! Laughing )
Matches 2-1-1, Games 5-3-1
During the match and afterwards, I mow down on the candy that Chantelle bought, eating as many purple Gobstoppers as I can sneak, and according to her, giving me the luck that would eventually win me the Lotus.
Round 5: ? - Fish
Game 1: I don't remember much of this game, although I do remember blocking a Curious Grim Lavamancer with a Welder and locking him with a Crucible and Strip Mine soon after.
SB: Out - 4 Trinisphere, Duplicant, 2 Seal of Cleansing, Mana Crypt. In - 4 Chalice of the Void, 3 Red Elemental Blast, 1 Triskelion.
Game 2: I keep another shady hand, and fish does what it's supposed to, drop a Null Rod, some weenies, and Standstills. I think, once again I kept a hand of awesomeness without actually being able to cast any of it, and ended up not drawing land. After this game, I am pretty upset with myself, and vow to never keep tempting but risky hands again.
SB: Out - 4 Chalice of the Void. In - 4 Trinisphere.
Game 3: I obviously have some sort of brain disorder, and promptly kept another risky hand which at the time seemed like a good thing. It was 3 Wasteland, Triskelion, Crucible of Worlds, Ancestral Recall, Tolarian Academy. Surely I would draw some sort of accelerant right? I ended up drawing a Trinisphere and cast it on turn 3, with all three Wastelands out. As expected it got Dazed, and I felt my chances of Top 8 slipping away. Next turn, I cast Crucible, triggering a Standstill, and it resolved. Amazed, I then Ancestralled myself using the Academy, netting me a Tinker. The subsequent turn I was able to Tinker up a Sundering Titan. Although I felt lucky to win this game, I would also like to point out that the case above is why I stopped playing Fish. You can draw a lot of cards, but at the same time, Fish has a lot of bad cards in it.
Matches 3-1-1, Games 6-4-1
Round 6: ? - U/R/W Landstill
Game 1: He shuffles up and draws his hand, then tells me he forgot to de-sideboard. We call the judge over and he ends up getting a game loss. Not the way I want to win to be sure, and I feel bad for him.
SB: Out - 4 Trinisphere. In - 3 Red Elemental Blast, 1 Triskelion.
Game 2: This game was intense and very close. I thought I had him pretty much locked down on two separate occasions, but he was able to get out of them first with an StP on a Welder, and then a Balance, which is thankfully worded that lands are equalized first, so that when we went down to one land each, (Workshop vs. Plains) my Sundering Titan then left play, taking out his land and leaving me with mine. I was able to top deck better, and ending up winning the third time I had him locked down.
Matches 4-1-1, Games 8-4-1
So I end up making Top 8, getting in as the eighth seed. Unfortunately, there was one 4-1-1 who would not make Top 8 due to tiebreakers, and it turned out to be Peter (dicemanx) who ended up ninth. Peter is always a worthy opponent, and a hell of a nice guy, so the situation was disappointing to be sure.
Top 8 was:
Glen Miller (U/G Madness) vs. Me (Trinistax)
Ian Smith (Trinistax) vs. Rob (Suicide Black)
Razvan (Drain Slaver) vs. Steve Wolfman (Oath)
Mark Sims (3c Tog) vs. Duncan McGregor (Oath)
Quarterfinals: Glen Miller - U/G Madness
Game 1: We shuffle up and Glen tells me that he loaned out his deck at the Ottawa tournament, and since I know he is playing U/G Madness, I hope that it's not the same deck that annihilated me in round one of that tournament with all the main deck artifact hate in it. Turns out it was. I win the die roll and keep an amazing hand, something along the lines of Workshop, Trinisphere, Wasteland, Ancestral, Welder, Gemstone Mine and Smokestack. I lock him down pretty quickly and he never gets to three mana.
SB: Out - 4 Trinisphere. In - 3 Red Elemental Blast, Triskelion.
Game 2: I'm sorry to say I don't remember much of this game, although I do remember getting an Ancestral to resolve with the help of a REB, and Tinkering in a Sundering Titan, which took out three of his land. After knowing what was in his deck to deal with me, I feel pretty lucky that he either saw or resolved none of his hate.
Matches 5-1-1, Games 10-4-1
Semi-finals: Ian Smith - Trinistax
Game 1: I hate the mirror match with this deck archetype. It's just so random and dependant on the opening hand. Well, that and the fact I am playing against a very good player who always does well. I win the roll and I have to keep a hand of Gemstone Mine, 2 Welders, Smokestack, Lotus, Wasteland and something irrelevant. I resolve a first turn Welder, then a Smokestack, which keeps his side of the board clear. I believe I Tinkered up a Triskelion and rode it to victory after having a Smokestack/Welder lock for pretty much the entire game.
SB: Out - 4 Trinisphere. In - 3 Rack and Ruin, 1 Triskelion (in retrospect probably should have boarded in Tormod's Crypts as well).
Game 2: He is on the play, and has a decent hand of Mox, land, Chalice for 0, go. My hand again was quite good, which I think consisted of something like Crucible, Welder, Workshop, Smokestack, DT, Seal of Cleansing and a Gemstone Mine. I led with a Welder, and passed. On his turn he dropped a Workshop, Mana Vault, and played another Crucible and a Smokestack. I played a Crucible of my own, and passed. He added a counter, wasted my Workshop, and passed. I sacced my Gemstone to satisfy the Smokestack, and drew a Mana Crypt. I replayed the Gemstone Mine, put out the Crypt, and dropped Seal of Cleansing. At the end of his turn, I got rid of his Smokestack. On my turn I just replayed my Workshop, and cast a Tangle Wire. A weak play to be sure since he had twice the permanents. Nothing really happened for a couple turns then, until I was able to DT for a Tinker and cast it, getting a Triskelion.
It's important to note that Ian had taken 4 damage from of his tapped Vault. I was able to get two swings in with the Triskelion, and that combined with the Vault damage dropped him to 6. He cast DT, (taking City of Brass damage) which netted him a Duplicant, and my Triskelion bolted him prior to being RFG, putting him at 2. I had no play, and passed the turn. Ian took another damage from the Vault. (His mana base consisted of 2 Workshops, 2 Ancient Tomb, Sol Ring, Mox Sapphire and a City of Brass.) He swung with the Duplicant and dropped a Mana Crypt. I had no play, and passed. Ian untapped his Vault, and won the Crypt roll, and swung again. Once again I had nothing, so I passed. On his upkeep, he lost the roll, and I was in the finals. (Looking back on this, I know I had a Welder out, but I know at the end of the game, I didn't. I have no idea what happened to the little guy. I apologize for my lack of memory.)
Matches 6-1-1, Games 12-4-1
Finals: Razvan - Drain Slaver
We briefly discuss a prize split, but end up not doing it, since the prize differential was so great. Strangely, I am not nervous at all, just cold since it was 9:15 when we started, and the door was open.
Game 1: I am on the draw, and keep a hand that had a Trinisphere, Welder, and what must have been some acceleration, based on my first turn. Unfortunately, Razvan dropped a land and a Mox, making my turn one Trinisphere rather weak. He was able to Mana Drain my Welder, and nothing really of note happened for like five turns. I kept his duals off the table with Wastelands, and he was able to counter all of my key spells. I eventually resolved a Triskelion, and was able to get in a couple of attacks, but then Raz got mean and Mindslavered me, so I used the counters to bolt him. I had a slim chance, since he didn't have a Welder or a Volcanic Island out, was only at 5 life, and I had a 1/1 Triskelion out. But my hopes were soon crushed when he fetched a Volcanic, cast a Welder, and the turn after cast a Pentavus.
SB: Out - 4 Trinisphere, 2 Seal of Cleansing (I think, not sure on the Seals though). In - 3 Red Elemental Blast, Triskelion, 2 Tormod's Crypt.
Game 2: I can't remember much of this game, although I can tell you the key (lucky?) play was that I resolved a turn two Tinker saccing a Mana Crypt, and getting a Triskelion. Raz had a first turn Welder, and being able to kill it before it got active was key. Not sure if the Triskelion went all the way, but it was the Tinker that won me the game.
Game 3: I really, really want to keep a hand of Ancestral, Welder, 2 Triskelion, Workshop, Mox Emerald, Demonic Tutor. But I finally learn my lesson and mulligan. I once again have an Ancestral and Welder in my hand, but also a REB. Raz drops a land and passes. I believe I try for a first turn Welder, which is met with a Force of Will. Raz drops a land and passes, and I do the same. On my end step, he Mystical Tutors up an Ancestral, which is met with a REB, then I Ancestral myself. I am able to resolve a Tangle Wire, although I believe my second Welder is met with another FoW. Razvan eventually takes the initiative, and Tinkers up a Triskelion. At this point I have a City of Brass and a Mox in hand, and no threats on the board. I top deck and resolve a Crucible, having a Strip Mine in my graveyard.
I take a hit from the Triskelion, putting me to 11. I draw a Duplicant (how lucky!) but Raz still has 2 Islands on the board, and I need to avoid a Mana Drain. I pass the turn, and Razvan drops another land. Lucky for me however, it was Library of Alexandria. I take another 4, dropping me to 7. I Strip Raz's Island, leaving him with only one blue, and am able to resolve the Duplicant. I take 2 points, and the third counter is aimed at the Duplicant, which kills him when he becomes a 1/1. Razvan doesn't drop a land, and on my turn I am able to take out his last Island, since he has only 5 cards in hand and I don't need to worry about the Library. I draw a Welder, resolve it and swap in a fatty from the graveyard. That plus the Crucible/Strip lock gives me the game and the Lotus.
Obligatory Props and Slops
Props:
Finch - For playing and beating Enric in round 6, since he was 3-1-1 as well. Telling me to play stax.
Moon - For driving down, and finishing strong, giving me good tiebreakers. Telling me to play stax.
Everyone who came out - The competition was fierce. Every opponent I faced had a legitimate T1 deck.
Chantelle - Thanks for all the purple candy.
Dan & Co. - Thanks for sticking around for the support.
401 - For hosting a great tournament.
Slops:
Me - For not taking any notes.
I won a Lotus, what do I have to complain about? Wink
