[Report] 78th at GP: Columbus

Friday , May 18th 2007
Nick Ramsey, a regular in the Bluegrass Magic scene, meets me at my local comic shop to take me to the B.M.E in Louisville to test and try to find more people to ride with us. At this point, there was just the two of us making the roughly 4 hour drive, and that was going to cost circa 25 to 30 bucks a person. Not fun. We get there and test for a bit and pick up 2 more guys, Clay Baker and Mike Nolastname. I test the hell out of Threshold and we get a goblins list built for Mike. He walks all over me with Gobbos, and I walk all over Nick who’s playing Flash. Yep, it looks like a trinity to me. Clay doesn’t test at all with Aggro Loam, he just has it. As we get out to the car, Mike asks me why I’m playing Threshold and not Golden Grahams. I tell him that Golden Grahams folds to Flash and he shakes his head. I figure the discussion is over, but Clay arrives and Mike tells him what he’s trying to do. Clay backs up Mike and I’m pretty annoyed. I’d been testing Thresh and hadn’t played Golden Grahams for at least 3 weeks. I make a comment about needing a Pernicious Deed and a Leyline of the Void if I’m even to think about it (since I did bring Golden Grahams just because.. well, I can’t not have it. I’m pretty sure Bomholt always has a copy of IGGy Pop on him, right?) Clay has the Deed and Nick has the Leylines. Damn. I make up my mind to audible during the drive. 4 hours and a traffic jam (the second one of the day actually), later we arrive at a Motel 6, to only find out that they’re full for the night. We go to Team RamRod’s room and after Nick talks to them, we’re paying $5 each and sleeping on the floor. Sleeping bags for the win. We test some more with the Threshold V Flash matchup, for Nick’s sake, and build a monoblack discard/disruption thing for Mike, who hates Goblins.

Saturday, May 19th 2007
Long story short, I don’t sleep but an hour, and someone is snoring loudly. Great. The alarms go off at 7:30, and everyone gets showered, which is hard when you have 8 magic players in one room. We get out of there with decent time left, and find a traffic jam, great. That’s number 3. A cement truck was in an accident and the road was blocked. Fortunately a crew was cleaning it up, and we only lose about 5 minutes in the exchange. The driving continues and we get into town, only to run into a 12k run ‘race for the cure’. Great. Our 4th traffic jam/detour/thing that makes our lives harder. After some work we still get to the venue and walk forever long, passing by a dance competition and young preteens dressed like they belong on a street corner. Comments were made about how they shouldn’t have these events at the same time as a Grand Prix because it makes Magic players look bad if they even glance at a girl with a wtf face. Stereotypes for the loss. We get in there and register, I stick to my guns this time and write down the list for Golden Grahams.

Golden Grahams GP Columbus

Lands: 20
1 Bayou
1 Scrubland
1 Savannah
2 Windswept Heath
2 Bloodstained Mire
2 Polluted Delta
2 Snow-Covered Swamp
2 Snow-Covered Forest
1 Wooded Foothills
1 Badlands
2 Swamp
1 Plains
2 Forest

Creatures: 5
3 Gamekeeper
2 Auriok Salvagers

Spells: 36
4 Living Wish
4 Duress
4 Cabal Therapy
4 Lion's Eye Diamond
1 Pyrite Spellbomb
4 Tainted Pact
3 Pernicious Deed
1 Chromatic Star
4 Sylvan Library
4 Dark Ritual
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Chromatic Sphere

Sideboard 15
SB: 1 Gamekeeper
SB: 1 Auriok Salvagers
SB: 1 Phyrexian Tower
SB: 1 Orzhov Guildmage
SB: 2 Harmonic Sliver
SB: 3 Massacre
SB: 1 City of Brass
SB: 1 Pernicious Deed
SB: 4 Leyline of the Void

While waiting for the tournament, I meet up with a member of Team Fatal Evolution (Artandage), and we share our lists as they’ve both changed since we last posted on the team boards; his with a better aggro matchup, and mine with a different deck altogether. A little more time passes and the GP starts.

Round 1: BYE (60 land.dec)
I win the die roll, and elect to go first.
I lost my notes for this round, but apparently I beat him pretty quickly. He didn’t play any spells or anything else. Weird.

To keep that joke from getting stale, I’ll just come out and say that the next two rounds were also byes, and I spent the time talking to my friends as well as Chris (LandDestroyer), Nick (Seraphim3577) and Brandon (emidln). Lunch is grabbed with Chris, because we both had 3 byes, and we discuss Flash, WotC, and are scarred by overweight girls in spandex. Remember ladies and gentlemen, spandex is a privilege, not a right. 3 hours and almost nine hundred words in my tournament report later, round four starts and I find my pairings.

Round 4: John T Lynch (Goblins/G)
I sit down with a smile on my face. It’s my old arch-nemesis from GPT Indianapolis. Well, if you want to consider someone who I enjoy playing against and have nothing but respect for as an arch-nemesis.
He wins the die roll and we both start off by mulling before going full out. He gets out Mogg Fanatic and starts swinging. He taps out on turn 3, and on my turn 3 I double Dark Ritual into a Salvager, drop the Lion’s Eye Diamond and have the Chromatic Star. I side in the Massacres and the Deed for 4 Sylvan Library. Game 2 he gets out an early Siege Gang Commander and I don’t really have the capability to deal with it. Deed makes its presence known, but sometimes it’s just too little and too late. Game 3 I take his hand down a bit, and start to mill from Gamekeeper but don’t get the sauce; just Salvagers, 2 Lion’s Eye Diamond, and Engineered Explosives. His board stays clean and I just keep nuking everything and leaving the Explosives at 3 so he doesn’t get Warchief shenanigans going on. A few turns into my unfair combo, I get a Spellbomb and win. I wish John the best of luck, and mean it.

My Record: 4-0

Round 5: Brian Feigley [Torgar on the Source] (Mono White Control)
Game 1 is pretty much a wash in my favor. Deed takes care of things that I need it to take care of. Deed and Massacres come in for a Wish, Tainted Pact, Star, and a Dark Ritual. Game 2 is much slower and he draws out things with 2x True Believer (which stop Cabal Therapy cold, and he gets a peek at my hand). I deed to take care of problems, and he Chants on the turn I need to go off and not die. 16 seconds left on the clock aren’t enough and we draw.

My Record: 4-0-1

Round 6: Bobby Graves (UG/w Threshold)
Bobby rode up with some other Bluegrass Magic guys, and I frown. Damn. I hate seeing our guys across the table. Game 1 I get beat down to 13 with 1/1s before Therapy and Duress go to town and I win. Deed and Massacres come in for a Wish, Tainted Pact, Star, and a Dark Ritual 4 Leylines come in too for the other 3 Living Wish and a Tainted Pact. Game 2 I drop a turn 0 Leyline, and then later I 3 for 1 him with Massacre for 2 mages (one on Deed, the other on Explosives which I used game 1) and a bear. I seem pretty good until I forget about a Vedalken Shackles. Salvagers gets stolen for his team and I hardcast the other one. They stare down for a few until Deed for 3 comes down and I win.

My Record: 5-0-1

Round 7: Colin Wu (U/w Stompy/Fish)
Game 1 is pretty pathetic, I destroy his hand, and Pact away a Gamekeeper and a Salvager. There’s one in my hand and I neglect to notice this. I sacrifice another Gamekeeper and start the chain. When my last card is flipped I see my error and kick myself. That’s the definition of a punt my friend. Deed and Massacres come in for a Wish, Tainted Pact, Star, and a Dark Ritual (see a pattern?) Game 2 and 3 are much better and after Massacres come down and wreck him a bit along with Deed, I win without too much problem.

My Record: 6-0-1

Round 8: Paul Cheon (UWb Bigger Fish)
I destroy him Game one because he’s kind of lost as to what I’m doing. He doesn’t know the format, and I’m just that good with my deck. Game 2 and 3 are brutal because Massacre doesn’t take care of Shadowmage Infiltrator, and the CA you get off that card is sick.

My Record: 6-1-1

Round 9: Adam Yurchick (Goblins)
I offer the draw, and he says no. He drops Mountain/Lackey and I smile. Game 1 versus goblins is always in my favor, and this is no exception. Game 2 wasn’t too much of a battle either, and I sweep him in a convincing 2-0 manner. Not a bad guy, but he should have accepted that draw.

My Record: 7-1-1

Between Day 1 and Day 2: We get screwed on parking, and have to play another $7, which sucks. Clay made Day 2 with me, and yeah, that’s about all that’s relevant.

Sunday, May 20th 2007:
We get moving late and arrive at 8:25 with the players meeting supposedly starting at 8:30. We meet, we fill out paperwork, and we get paired.

Round 10: David Raczka [‘Guy I Don’t Know’ on the Source] (Hot Cocoa aka 42 lands)
Game 1 is brutal. He gets the nutz hand with Bayou, Manabond, drop LftL, Wasteland, Port, Treetop Village, Bayou. He dumps his hand turn 1. My turn one is Swamp, Dark Ritual, Chromatic Star (pop for Green so I can cast the Sylvan Library in my hand), Draw Living Wish, Play 2x Lion’s Eye Diamond, Cast Wish and sacrifice the Diamonds for 6 White, and win. My nutz > his nutz. Game 2 we have a leyline battle, and his ports/wastes slow me down so he can beat face. Game 3.. well, see game 2.

My Record: 7-2-1

Round 11: John Moore (Counter Sliver)
Game 1 is pretty short in his favor with him getting all the right answers and me not drawing the right threats. Game 2 and 3 are cleared up though when I 3 for 1 him twice with Massacre and Sylvan Library keeps my hand filled with goodies like Duress and Cabal Therapy.

My Record: 8-2-1

Round 12: Jonathan Rusiecki [Mr. Nipples on the Source] (Kiki Flash)
His win condition is a 2 cost instant card that I can’t really get around unless I keep an aggressive discard hand. I don’t and he wins. *yawn* The player was nice, the deck, not so much.

My Record: 8-3-1

Round 13: Benji Ashman (Goblins/G)
Game 1 is brutal as I beat him down like there’s no tomorrow, but then the hate comes in, I get bad hands and lose the next two. He also keeps me down with Port and Wasteland. Just think, that I already tweaked the manabase once to not get obliterated by Goblins mana denial.

My Record: 8-4-1

Round 14: Dan Overbeek (Kiki Flash)
Game 1 is brutal as I make him discard a lot. Game 2 is worse when I get Leyline, duress and cabal therapy in the first few turns. A Sylvan Library sticks a few turns into it and well, that’s all she wrote.

My Record: 9-4-1

Round 15 Zack C Hall (Kiki Flash)
3 times, 4 rounds. WotC, what’s this about a varied metagame? I thought you liked not seeing the same deck everywhere. *annoyed* Game 1, he smashes me turn 2. Game 2, Leylines hit, and I wreck his hand a bit. Game 3, I make a bad play by duressing the wrong card away and he wins after casting Burning Wish for Reverent Silence. Ouch.

Okay, 2,000 words later, I’ll just reduce it to props and slops.

Props:
3 Byes
Having opponents across from me that I respect
Dick in a box
Clay Baker for making day 2 with Aggro-Loam.
Golden Grahams for carrying me again.

Slops:
Finding out that the annoying person that made me want to quit magic at GPT Indy made top eight.