Tonight was the night that the comic shop I am loyal to didn't have a tournament. I was sad, but the other shop in town was having an all-8th draft. Seeing as how my 8th Edition stuff so far was only as good as the Underworld Dreams and the Ensnaring Bridge I opened at the prerelease, I decided that picking up more stuff along the way wasn't a bad idea.
Before the tournament, I looked through what I had opened at the prerelease and looked at the options of what each color had given me. Blue had some countermagic and a small amount of bounce, white had big angels and lots of damage prevention (but weenies out the wazoo, which was not that great), green had a lot of fatties and some combat tricks (Nantuko Disciple and Giant Growth), black had very good removal and good creatures for three or less, and red had lots and lots of burn. I decided that I was probably going to go Red/Green or Red/Black, since those combinations give you the most amount of removal and creatures to smash face with. So I packed up some trade stuff, got my pad and pen, and went off to the tourney.
My draft position wasn't all that great: I was sitting next to two scrubs, which is never good. Big Ryan on my left had drafted with us at the other store before, so I'm sure he wouldn't be as bad - but the kid on my right probably didn't know what was good or not. My rares generally sucked - but Jeezum, I almost went mono-red, for I was blessed with the dumbest amount of burn ever. Here's what I ended up playing:
10 Mountain
7 Swamp
1 Ravenous Rats
1 Nekrataal
1 Giant Cockroach
1 Shock Troops
2 Anaba Shaman
1 Scathe Zombies
1 Balduvian Barbarians
1 Orcish Artillery
1 Ridgeline Rager
1 Severed Legion
1 Bloodshot Cyclops
1 Volcanic Hammer
2 Stone Rain (questionable, I'm sure)
3 Lava Axe (Who in the world passes this?!?)
1 Nausea (good against scrubbies)
1 Soul Feast
1 Sizzle
1 Ambition's Cost
1 Fodder Cannon, a.k.a. Mr. MVP
As you can see, I didn't get any Dark Banishings, but I did get enough burn to probably play goldfish in some games, burning the crap out of my opponent. I felt that my removal was very good with the Cannon and the Cyclops that, and hardly anyone drafts artifact removal until late. My sideboard sucked, so nothing in it is worth mentioning.
I didn't know many of the people well enough to give last names, so I'm sorry if last names are important to some of you.
Round 1: Robbie playing R/W
I might have played him once before, and I knew who he played with, so I thought he was a scrub.
Game 1 was a beating: He cast Sacred Nectar and that was about it for him the whole game. The Artillery killed off everything he could muster against me, and Nekrataal kept his weenies at bay. He got a Worship on the board, so I pinged him with Anaba Shaman until he got within Soul Feast range, then killed him from there.
The second game was basically the same as the first, but this time he kept pecking at me with an Aven Flock. I eventually drew removal for him, and Fodder Cannon ate everything. I dropped the Cyclops, and swung with him and a Severed Legion with Shamans on the defense.
Round 2: David Errington, playing U/B
I've known David for almost the amount of time I've been playing in tournaments. He is an okay player, but he has improved recently and I'm glad to see that.
Game 1 was all about the Orcish Artillery and Fodder Cannon. He kept beating my face with fliers, but eventually they got shot down and I Soul Feasted him out of the game.
Game 2 was where I got smashed. He dropped a big vampire and swung with it. I was hoping for something like a Volcanic Hammer or a Fodder Cannon, at least - but he swung with the Vampire and a Phantom Warrior, winning in six attack phases.
Game 3 was pure madness. I got an early Lava Axe on him and pinged most of his creatures. His fliers kept swinging until the Cannon finally showed up and I shot down his team. The game's turning point was when he dropped Underworld Dreams on my head: He had a Wall of Air and another weenie on the board, and I was hoping to topdeck something to win with - and I did. I dropped the Cyclops, and he had no answer. On the last attack phase, I swung with my team to get him down to two - then slapped down Lava Axe. He extended the hand.
I must say, that was the scariest game I played all night.
Round 3: Charlie Andrews playing U/G/w
I've known Charlie from my first Magic tournament three years ago, so we've been playing together for quite some time. I saw his deck before the tournament began, and he got some sick stuff: Five Unsummons, three Mana Leaks, four Dehydrations, and other bounce stuff with Master Decoy and big fatties like Moss Monster, Craw Wurm, and Spined Wurm. I was really hoping I wouldn't lose to him.
Game 1 was really tough, but Fodder Cannon shone in this game. I got him down to twelve, and the game was almost at a stalemate. I knew that he didn't have Mana Leak in his maindeck, so I looked at my hand and my board position. I had ten mana on the board, with two Lava Axes in my hand; unless he drew something, he was dead. I tapped ten mana, slapped down both Lava Axes, and got a"Jeez!" from him. He drew nothing, and I topdecked Soul Feast the next turn.
Game 2 was horrible. He drew his fat and things like Staunch Defenders. He got me down to one and I drew crap: 'nuff said.
Game 3 was do or die time. He Chastised my Severed Legion early and I had trouble finding damage sources. Fodder Cannon hit the fourth turn, but I had trouble finding enough creatures to ping him and clear his team out. He got me down to one, but I took advantage of the board, dropping a Bloodshot Cyclops with enough useless creatures to pop his fliers and keep up on the damage race. Anaba Shaman got him down to nine, and I go for the gusto: I swung with my team, sac the Cyclops to his head, and Lava Axe him out of the game.
Round 4: Ryan Adams playing R/B
Ryan is a close friend of mine, and he went with me to Metaire, Louisiana to a prerelease the weekend before. His deck was sick, with three Dark Banishings, a Nekrataal, and instant-speed burn; I knew that I would lose to him... So we ID, because we are the only undefeated people there and we are guaranteed a spot in the Top 4. Fortunately, he had to leave to go bowling with some friends and the sweat was off of my back. Had he stayed, he would have won.
Top 4: Charlie Andrews playing U/G/w
Charlie kept saying that he didn't like his deck and that he put too much bounce in it. He hoped that I ended up winning the whole thing, and he wished he was in my seat at draft.
Game 1 was the shizzle. I got early creatures, and all he had was four Unsummons and a Boomerang; annoying, but not very good. His first creature of importance he drops is Hunted Wumpus, and my face shines. I drop the best creature in the whole set against the Wumpus: Nekrataal! We both joke about how we both wanted to see it the whole tournament, and he high-fives me for the play. I just burn the crap out of him from that point on.
Game 2 didn't really matter to him. He dropped an early Wumpus, and I drop Orcish Artillery to that. I got a Fodder Cannon out, and ping the Wumpus, then sac a dork to kill it. The only damage I took all game was from two activations of the Artillery. Good ol' Lava Axe finished out the game for me.
Finals: Robbie playing R/W
I hadn't seen the kid play his deck yet; all I knew was that he had four Panic Attacks and some cheap creatures. I wasn't worried about the matchup, but I didn't know what he could pull out.
Game 1 lasted about three minutes. I get a Scathe Zombie on the board, hit him twice with it, then burn him with two Lava Axes, Sizzle, and Volcanic Hammer.
Game 2 lasted about the same amount of time, but I took a beating. He dropped a third-turn Balduvian Barbarians and I couldn't find a creature. He dropped Lightning Elemental the fourth turn and swung for seven, then dropped an Ogre Taskmaster the next turn. I drew nothing, and scooped.
Game 3 got me worried a little: Fourth-turn Fodder Cannon saved my butt, for I only hurt myself from Orcish Artillery. I kept pinging him with the Shaman, but he was then Spirit Linked. I hoped to draw some more stuff so I can just Orc him to death, but he drew Sacred Nectar and I stopped using the Artillery.
He dropped a Two-Headed Dragon, and I almost crapped my pants. He didn't seem happy - and I looked down and forgot that Fodder Cannon was on the board! I dropped a land and passed the turn. He thought I was going to pop the Dragon on my turn - but nooo, Ben no be a bad Magic player. I sacced my Spirit Linked Shaman to kill the Dragon, then dropped my other Shaman to continue the pinging. I got him down to seven, and I had a Shock Troops on the board. I sac the Troops to him and Lava Axe him out of the game.
I was very happy to win the tournament, and I can't wait to get the foil (the foils were at GenCon - imagine that!). I hear it's Smother, but I could care less what the foil is, I just wanted my prize. Charlie, Mike Gill, and myself all went out to IHOP afterwards and had fun talking about random stuff. To quote Ice Cube,"Today was a good day."
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