3,000 Miles of Magic

This journey began a few weeks ago when my friend Brett Piazza told me him and Harry Corvese were going to be flying out to Pittsburgh to pick up a Jeep for Harry and then driving to Philadelphia for a Star City Games $5,000 standard event and then down to Memphis for Worlds. I checked out the side event schedule for Worlds and definitely saw good value. Plus there was a Vintage side event. Being a sucker for a good road trip and not having to work for the next month, I became their third man.

This meant a few things. First, I had to figure out what I was going to be playing in standard. There were two Win the Gold qualifiers in Denver and Boulder and I would also be able to play one FNM. If I top twoed a Gold qualifier, I could play in the $10,000 Gold tournament at Worlds.

Second, I don’t have many cards, so I had to call upon my good friends to help me put a deck together. After testing many lists from States and a few friends’ decks, I decided upon 5CC.

The first Gold qualifier was in Boulder, CO at Time Warp Comics. This shop is the nut high, and always has good events and good competition. My man Ed Word has many things in the works, and never disappoints. He is doing much for the Colorado Magic scene. I had a few rough matches as I was just learning the deck, but still managed to top four. I was paired up with Brett in the top four, and he is a far better limited player than I and just a general good guy, so I scooped him into top two. Harry also qualified at this event. Two of three. So far so good.

Next up was Friday Night Magic at Mile High Comics. I went 6-1 on the night, losing in the finals to someone I had beaten in the swiss. I was starting to get a good feel for the deck at this point.

Saturday morning came and the second and final Gold qualifier was to be held at Enchanted Grounds. I played ok on the day, finishing the swiss at 4-2 and in 10th place. I had one bad match-up against Reveliark where he saw the nuts both games and I was demolished. My other loss was due to my loose game play. Luckily for me however, two of the people in the top 8 did not want to battle for the invitation. This allowed me to slip in at 8th place. My luck didn’t end there, as Harry was my first match in the top 8, and after he scooped me to top 4, I was paired with Steve Golenda. Steve was not planning on going to Memphis, but was there to help me get a slot. He scooped me into top 2 and I was now qualified for the Gold tournament.

We left for Pittsburgh early in the week to get there early and test. Harry also was visiting family and old friends. I was able to get some very valuable testing in with fellow Meandecker Paul Mastriano while in Pittsburgh that would help once the Vintage portion of the trip rolled around.

We left Pittsburgh for the Philadelphia suburbs a few days before the SCG 5K in order to hang out with Harry’s old high school friends. His buddy whom let us crash at his place is in a band called the New Kings of Rythym. We saw them perform on Thursday night, and I danced my ass off to their funky grooves. We had a super good time, for sure. Much alcohol was consumed. I can personally attest to breaking off at least ten suckers on the dance floor. The robot competition was intense and unfortunately was won by someone else. I managed to lose a fresh Benjamin Franklin at some point, so I want to say you’re welcome to whoever found it. You owe me a drink.

After the show, Brett and I may or may not have taken a drunken stroll through the back alleys of wherever we were Pennsylvania. What may or may not have been enticing were the low roofs and how easy it looked to climb from one to the next. Apparently, two shady characters looking just like us dared to brave the roofs, showing their ninja like stealth while playing up above. Shortly thereafter the police decided to question us about this, and the crew was detained for a good 15 minutes while a few hard-ass police officers got there jollies off. I’d call it harassment, but we might have been guilty.

We played FNM the next night for some final tuning. Saturday was the SCG 5K event. Many many people showed up for the event. I punted my first match against a Realm Razor based deck. After not drawing lands and allowing him to keep Bloom Tender online for a few turns, our game 1 was over shortly. Game 2 went the same, but I couldn’t even answer the Bloom Tender had I wanted to. My next match was Elves and it went much better. Faeries was next, and poor play again was my demise. I won my next two rounds handily, facing Demigod Red and Kithkin. Up next was more Fae. My opponent dropped it like it was hot, with ridiculous draws showing why the Fae win more often than not. Thoughtseize leading the way for Bitterblossom both game 1 and game 2 on turn 1 and turn 2 was too much for my 5CC to handle, and I finished the day a disappointing 3-3. I did get to kick it with my boy and team mate Ashok after this however, which made up for the poor showing.

We left the site about 9:30 pm, and headed straight for Louisville, KY, where there would be a PTQ Sunday morning for Kyoto. Harry wanted to play in it, so we hit the bricks. There was also supposed to be a standard tournament for a hotel room at Worlds, but there was not enough support and the tournament was cancelled.

When we left Louisville our next destination was Friendsville, TN, home to Brett’s dad. We rested up and tested like crazy over the next few days.

Next up was Worlds.

I only played in three events, not counting 8 mans and side drafts.

First up was the Legacy 40 dual land event. I decided to play Ad Nauseam. I debated between that and Ichorid. I tested Ad Naus far more than Ichorid and it is a deck I can see myself playing at GP Chicago in March, so I figured the more experience the better. Unfortunately my list wasn’t very tuned and mulliganed very poorly while also fizzling with regularity. I ended up a disappointing 3-3. I’m still not sure all the lessons to be learned from this. I went off on turn two with a good amount of consistency, but the deck wouldn’t get there. Most of the time, I would either have Tendrils but no mana, or plenty of black mana but not enough blue mana to string together Mystical Tutor into Ponder/Brainstorm and finish the game. My sideboard was also pretty weak. Also of note is that I had some last minute changes to the deck after talking with an Austrian pro about his build I saw him running in the team portion of Worlds. Maybe not the best idea.

Here is the list I ran:

4 Ad Nauseam
4 Mystical Tutor
4 Brainstorm
2 Ponder
2 Infernal Tutor
2 Tendrils of Agony
4 Duress
4 Thoughtseize
2 Chain of Vapor
4 Dark Ritual
4 Cabal Ritual
4 Lion’s Eye Diamond
4 Chrome Mox
4 Lotus Petal
4 Polluted Delta
1 Bloodstained Mire
2 Underground Sea
1 Bayou
2 Swamp
2 Island

Sideboard:

4 Dark Confidant
4 Tarmogoyf
1 Bayou
4 Force of Will
2 Unknown

Sunday came and the $10,000 Gold tournament was next. I’d never played Shards sealed before, so this would be a new experience. I have drafted Shards enough to have a grasp of the format, but I was by no means an expert. I ended up with an Esper deck that wasn’t terrible, but I made a few bad choices because of my limited understanding of the format. I won my first round pretty handily. Ok, maybe I had a shot at this thing. Round 2 came, and I was paired against Gerry Thompson. Gerry is a far better magic player than I, and it showed in this round. I got caught up with being paired against someone I knew to be better than me, and I allowed it to let me make many crucial mistakes, costing me any chance at the match. At 1-1 and with the Vintage event barely 2 hours away, I decided to drop from the tournament.

Ah, Vintage. A format I know and love. This I was ready for. This I would do well in.

Since this would be a sanctioned event, and me not having any power, I played one of my favorite decks, Ichorid. A big shout goes out to Brennen Cook and Zach Gable, who collectively have allowed me to play this deck on numerous occasions. Thanks brothers! First off, my list:

4 Bazaar of Baghdad
4 Dryad Arbor
4 Golgari Grave Troll
4 Stinkweed Imp
3 Golgari Thug
4 Serum Powder
4 Cabal Ritual
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Unmask
2 Dread Return
2 River Kelpie
1 Flame Kin Zealot
4 Street Wraith
4 Narcomeoba
4 Bridge from Below
4 Leyline of the Void
4 Ichorid

Sideboard:

1 Bayou
3 Windswept Heath
4 Contagion
3 Oxidize
1 Ancient Grudge
3 Emerald Charm

Round 1 – Primoz - Tezzeret

I believe Primoz said he was Latvian. I honestly don’t remember. He was a very nice opponent. Game one saw me squeak out a victory, with him FoWing a Cabal Therapy giving me the one extra point of damage I needed to secure a victory w/ my hasty 3/3 zombies. Game two was very long, with Primoz finding the hate, and me trying to beat down w/ Dryad Arbors. I put him at six life before he took a lot of turns and finished me off. Game three never finished, as time was called. Ouch, a draw in the first round.

0-0-1

Round 2 – Shaheen – Goblins

Shaheen was also a nice opponent. Unfortunately for him, his deck wasn’t built very well. I had little trouble destroying the little red men, with a very tasty turn 2 kill game 2.

1-0-1

Round 3 - ??? – I can’t find my notes on who my third round opponent was or remember what happened. I won though. Yay.

2-0-1

Round 4 – Scott – Mono Red Stax

I played Scott in the Legacy event, and recognized him from Gencon as well. Again, a stand up opponent. Game 1 saw me take advantage of one Bazaar activation taken all the way to victory. Magus of the Moon owns Bazaar. Luckily I was able to get Ichorid and a dredger in the yard, and the deck took care of me from there, with Bridges and more dredgers and more Ichorids joining the party. Game 2 was one of the most exciting games of the day. Scott brought in Leyline of the Void, which I didn’t see coming, and I didn’t bring in Emerald Charms. Thanks to Mana Crypt and Dryad Arbor, I still almost pulled this game out. Not quite though. We would play a game 3. I mulled to four for the second game in a row, but this one was special. Double Bazaar. Nice. Unfortunately, Scott kept a double Wasteland hand. Ouch. This was another long battle, and after almost getting there, Scott found all the answers he needed to survive and I ended up with my second draw. What the fuck?

2-0-2

Round 5 – Mike – Ad Nauseam

This is a match-up I know well, as I love Ad Nauseam. I don’t think there is a deck in the format with a better game 1 against Ichorid than Ad Nauseam. There is an important lesson in my first game. I mulled to four for the third game in a row but didn’t find the Bazaar. I looked over at Brett, who was sitting next to me, and proclaimed my frustration. He told me to buck up, find the Bazaar and win the game. Why hadn’t I thought of that? I mulled to three, found Bazaar, and won. Always keep your head in the game and believe in yourself and your deck. My three also had a Chalice, which proved to be the back breaker. I had a very difficult decision this game though. Mike Merchant Scrolled for Ancestral Recall on his turn one. I played my Bazaar and activated, only to find Unmask and a Golgari Thug. With my draw for the turn, I had enough cards to either Unmask Mike and take his Ancestral Recall or drop Chalice of the Void for zero. Knowing Ad Nauseam fairly well, I decided his artifact acceleration was more of a threat than his Ancestral Recall. I was correct and he ended the game holding Black Lotus and multiple other zero drops. Game 2 Mike won on turn one. How broken! Game three was similar to game one, in that a Chalice at zero busted his plans up and Ichorid did what it does. I disrupted his hand while applying a clock.

3-0-2

Round 6 – Akira Asahara – Tezzeret

Earlier that morning, while waiting for the Gold tournament to start, I watched Akira lose in the top 8 of Worlds to eventual winner Antti Malin. This would be interesting. Game one wasn’t. Akira dropped a turn one Voltaic Key and followed it up turn 2 with Tinker for Time Vault. Good game. I almost decked myself game 2, as River Kelpie got out of control with Narcomoeba and Cabal Therapy allowing me to draw more cards than I cared to. Poor planning early almost got me. All was well though, as I finished the game w/ 2 cards in my library and more than enough zombies on the board to take game 2. Game 3 was very exciting. Akira managed to find and activate multiple Tormod’s Crypts, making my victory slow and painful. The power of Ichorid shined here however, and even with a small stack of cards I managed to get there.

4-0-2

The event was swiss plus one, so those six rounds were all she wrote. I finished the day in third, behind big Willie Milton and LSV. Two Meandeckers in top 3. Nice. For my troubles I was rewarded with a signed UNL Mox Jet. Not bad.

All in all I had a good two weeks. There were countless untold drafts and some Type Four thrown in the mix. Lots of drinking and smoking as well. Good stuff, indeed.

Props -
- I want to give props to all the fools who loaned me cards and helped in testing. Thanks .
- I would like to give props to all the kind people out there. You know who you are.

Slops -
- Police officers. Give it a fucking rest. There is no need to be so hostile.
- The city of Memphis. What the fuck? I expected a bit more. That place is run down.

If I forgot anybody or anything, my bad. It was a long two weeks.