Hello again! It seems as though every fall season I get to write a tournament report retelling my escapades in the land of Magic. Although this years' State Championships didn't go as well as the last two (I dropped after round 5), I have always felt as though Extended was a format in which I was comfortable and could do well. Last year I made the finals of an Extended PTQ for PT: Philadelphia (my hometown) only to lose games 2 and 3 and get sent home with only a measly box of boosters for my effort.

After reading that the next PT was going to be in Hawaii, I discovered that the state of Arizona, the Mecca of gaming that it is, was getting three PTQs for PT: Honolulu! What better chance of finally getting that first individual Premier Event win in Arizona than three chances of going to someplace absurdly amazing!! The PTQs are in Flagstaff, Mesa, then Tucson; none of those are farther than a two-hour drive, so it would be easy to play in all three.

The first PTQ of the season didn't go so well; I went 3-3 with the Boros deck, losing to No Stick, Tog, and the mirror match. As it turns out, Rob (my Boros opponent) wound up winning the whole thing by beating my good friend Phimus Pan in the finals (playing Desire). I felt good about the deck, but I wanted to make some changes to give it better game versus Tog and the mirror match. Here is the deck that I took into battle:

4 Grim Lavamancer
4 Savannah Lions
3 Isamaru, Hound of Konda
4 Goblin Legionnaire
3 Kataki, War's Wage
2 Silver Knight
2 Mystic Crusader

4 Firebolt
3 Lava Dart
4 Lightning Helix
4 Pillage
2 Molten Rain

4 Sacred Foundry
4 Mountains
4 Wooded Foothills
3 Bloodstained Mire
3 Windswept Heath
1 Plains
1 Shinka, the Bloodsoaked Keep (wow, I STILL hate these long names)
1 Eiganjo Castle

Sideboard:
4 Purge
4 Suppression Field
3 Fledgling Dragon
3 Disenchant
1 Mystic Crusader

The primary changes made to the deck were the addition of Silver Knight and Mystic Crusader to the maindeck and Suppression Field in the board. The protection from red creatures really help in the mirror match, plus the protection from black nature of the Crusader can fight a Psychatog and live (with threshold, he also blocks WonderTog!). Suppression Field was intended to help with the Psychatog match as well as any potential CAL decks that people might show up to play (Thanks to Owen Davis for convincing me to just put 4 Fields in and stop thinking about Umezawa's Jitte).

Only 60 people showed up for the PTQ, so 6 glorious rounds of Swiss would determine the Top 8. Rumor has it that PTQ attendance is way up across the country (even an Arkansas qualifier got 102 people!)... well, everywhere but Arizona apparently.

Round 1: Thomas Yates with U/W/R
Game 1: My opponent's life total decreased by two ten times. My turn 1 Isamaru swung a bunch and a Grim Lavamancer helped out. The only cards I saw from his deck were counterspells, Wrath of God, and a Lightning Helix.

Sideboarding: -3 Lava Dart, -2 Mystic Crusader, +3 Fledgling Dragon, +2 Suppression Field

I originally thought he was playing No Stick, but he flashed me some cards during shuffling that gave me pause (like Prophetic Bolt) and I just realized I had no idea what he was playing (Goblin Trenches, maybe?). The Fledgling Dragons and Suppression Fields just seemed better than the cards taken out. I'm sure I could have sideboarded better, but oh well. If he was indeed playing No Stick, I could put other cards in for game 3.

Game 2: I lead with an Isamaru again, and made sure not to put too many creatures out at one time to make Wrath of God a back-breaker. I got a few attacks in, then my opponent Jilted my Isamaru with kicker on my wizard! I was impressed because that card is hot versus Boros deck. I replayed some men (and hounds), only to have God get mad at my team. Lucky for me, that meant seven cards were in my graveyard and my Fledgling Dragon came out to play. I got one swing in for 12 damage, then on my next attack it was fried with Char and Fire/Ice. I played another, and on the next attack the game and match were mine. On a side note, I took 15 damage in the match total... two of it was from my opponent.

Matches 1-0, Games 2-0, Masochism 13-Opponents 2

In between rounds, my good friend Owen Davis busts out his Nintendo DS and Mario Kart DS, and using my own DS we start to game... a lot. Owen had lost his first round to Affinity due to savage peeling, so he wasn't exactly happy (losing first round sucks, but apparently Owen likes it; he has lost in the first round and made Top 8 about five times in the last year or two). It not only helped us blow off steam between rounds, but it also helped the time pass a lot more quickly between rounds. I have since bought the game, and I will never be at another Magic tournament without it. I advise anyone out there with a DS to get this vicious beating of a game. [Concur, wholeheartedly. - Knut]

Round 2: Michael Mindes with Psychatog
I played Michael in the last PTQ and it was the exact same matchup. Last time I won because I was able to keep him off of 3 mana, so I was hoping my new build would do just as well with the new sideboard.

Game 1: I opened the game with some early threats, and am able to blow up his land enough to keep him off of a Psychatog until it was too late; I was able to burn him out of the game soon after he played it.

Sideboarding: -3 Lava Dart, -3 Kataki, War's Wage, -2 Silver Knight, -1 Firebolt? +4 Purge, +4 Suppression Field, +1 Mystic Crusader

I don't remember what the 9th card I sided out was, so I'll just guess Firebolt. It was time to see if the new sideboard cards worked!

Game 2: I lead with a Savannah Lion, and it got Darkblasted. I played a Goblin Legionnaire, and it was Force Spiked. I played an Isamaru, and finally got some damage through. M eventually played a Psychatog, killed my last creatures, and attacked me for 17. I had no idea if my new build was worth it yet, as I didn't draw a single sideboarded card.

Game 3: I mulliganed down to a playable hand: 2 fetchlands, Mountain, Isamaru, Suppression Field, and Pillage. Looked good enough for 6 cards! I lead with the Isamaru, he answered with a fetchland. My second turn I play Suppression Field, and he responds my popping his land and... no Force Spike! Isamaru got his freak on for about four more turns until a Psychatog hit the other side of the board and I had to hold back my attack for a turn (the only other creatures I drew were more Isamarus, but I was able to blow up some lands). My opponent played Pernicious Deed, and passed with two mana up. My opponent was at 6, and my hand was 2 Isamaru, Lightning Helix, and Firebolt. I lamented not having the kill yet, since he can blow up my world the next turn and try to get himself back in the game. I Lightning Helixed his Psychatog EOT (he can't save it unless he counters it), and proceeded to draw Purge on my draw step. Ugh, a turn late! He activated the Deed on my next attack, countered/killed my next two creatures, but he could not deal with the Grim Lavamancer I played afterwards and in combination with the Firebolt in hand won the match for the home team.

Matches 2-0, Games 4-1, Masochism 23-Opponents 19 (I'm still winning!)

Round 3: Alex Etzel with Mind's Desire
True to form, Alex's table received a "random" deck check in the tournament (I think that is at least 2 years running). Our illustrious TO Ray Powers (not Terrell Owens) swore to us that it is really just a long string of coincidences, but some of us aren't so sure since Alex is known and admits to being a little sloppy (just ask him about trash at events). Alex is a good guy though, and our deck checks came up clean.

Game 1: I mulliganed to 6 and Alex mulliganed to 5 to start off, and I felt good about my draw until I missed my crucial turn 3 land drop (I had 2 in hand to start while on the draw). I could not start playing the LD spells I had in hand to support the two creatures on the board, so Alex hit his fourth mana and Fact or Fictioned, revealing a crucial Moment's Peace that bought him enough time to go off and kill me. Hulk hate Moment's Peace!

Sideboarding: -2 Mystic Crusader, -1 Silver Knight, +3 Disenchant

I don't have a lot of cards for this matchup, but I took out the slower beats for the 3 Disenchants to hit some Heartbeat of Springs.

Game 2: Alex mulliganed again, and did not draw a green source early enough to stabilize through the barrage of creatures and burn.

Game 3: Alex mulliganed again, and had to pull out all the stops on turn 4 or 5 having to Early Harvest twice on my attack to dig for a Moment's Peace with Gift's Ungiven to avoid dying. He worked really hard in this deciding game, but it was all for naught as he just couldn't race the barrage of burn pointed at his nugget.

Matches 3-0, Games 6-2, Masochism 37-Opponents 19

At this point there were 6 players at 3-0, including good friend and last PTQ's finalist Phimus Pan (who must have started a trend, because there were a lot of Mind's Desire decks at this PTQ). You know what that means, don't you?

Round 4: Phimus Pan with U/W Control
Game 1: Having borrowed 4 Absorbs from me that morning, I knew what Phimus was playing and vice versa. I figured the matchup was going to be hard for me, but Phimus never seems to draw good cards when playing against me in these events. I was able to beat him down to 4 before he could Cunning Wish for Pulse of the Fields and start to stabilize. As it turned out, I had too much pressure on the table and combined with some timely land destruction, Phimus was unable to find a Wrath of God in time to turn the game around.

Sideboarding: -3 Lava Dart, +3 Fledgling Dragon

I took out the insignificant burn for some must-answer creatures. That's all I have to say about that.

Game 2: Phimus had a really hard time finding White mana, exacerbated by my Pillaging of his first White-producing land while I was administering the small beatings (no more than two creatures at a time, to avoid large swings from Wrath of God or Akroma's Vengeance). Once he got a White mana to stick, he was forced to cycle a couple of Decree of Justices to try to find a second White source. He found a Fact or Fiction, but had to take the pile of one card (Plains) over the pile of 4 cards (not Plains). He played Akroma's Vengeance to clear my board, but I just played a couple more creatures I had been holding the next turn. Phimus tried his hardest to stabilize, but a timely Molten Rain took out an Adarkar Wastes and I was able to ride his mana hardships to the match win.

It always sucks to have to play a friend in such a critical situation, but it happens and we wished each other the best. Phimus only needed one more win and he is a good player, so I assumed he would just crush someone else's dreams.

Matches 4-0, Games 8-2, Masochism 49-Opponents 19 (What a blowout, I'm finished)

Upon looking at the standings, I saw that I had awful tiebreakers (my first tiebreaker was only 46%) so even though I should have been fine I was prepared to play this round if needed. Pairings go up, and I see that I have been paired down with a 10-pointer. What time was it? Game time, HUH!

Round 5: Michael Conway with Mind's Desire
Game 1: My opponent played first, and I started with an Isamaru followed by Savannah Lions and Grim Lavamancer on turn 2. On his turn 3 he tapped out for Heartbeat of Spring, so I played my third land and double Pillaged his lands. Oops. It got ugly quickly after that, as I had the Lava Dart for his Sakura-Tribe Elder on the following turn in addition to playing a Savannah Lions with 2 Lightning Helix in hand.

Sideboarding: same as Round 3

Game 2: I looked at my opening hand and it read like this: Windswept Heath, 2 Savannah Lions, Grim Lavamancer, Disenchant, Lava Dart, Pillage. I kept it on the draw, since I had lots of action and even one land (let alone two lands) puts me in a great position to take the game quickly. As it turned out, my opponent also kept a one-land hand and while I play two-power creatures, he plays draw-go. He gets his second land before I do, but once again his Sakura-Tribe Elder eats a Lava Dart. At seven life and in a very bad board position my opponent offered the draw! He would definitely be in the Top 8 with a draw and a win in the final round as opposed to a loss and a win, since he would have to rely on tiebreakers that way (since the number of people in the tournament was so close to the cutoff for an extra round, a few X-1-1's would miss Top 8). I am confident that a draw here would pair me with another 4-0-1 next round (since there were only 2 others, and they just "played" each other) so I accept his offer and wish him luck in the next round. I don't really want another Desire deck in the Top 8, but he was a nice guy and I am a big fan of Karma and its role in the universe.

Matches 4-0-1, Games 8-2

After my match, I saw what might have been one of the best Jedi Mind Tricks ever. My friend Owen was 3-1 and playing someone who could gently be described as an irrational gamer (shocking, huh?) He gets unreasonably mad at people when they try to shuffle his deck, yells at his friends and threatens them with bodily harm when they do not do what wants when he wants, gets banned from local card shops for his attitude, has acid for blood, and is generally unpleasant. Owen was playing B/G aggro and attacked with a Withered Wretch, Wild Mongrel, and some other guys that added up to lethal match-winning damage. The opponent, who was with Mind's Desire, tapped four mana (leaving a Forest and 2 Islands untapped) and cast the last card in his hand, Fact or Fiction. The five cards revealed were Fact or Fiction, Gifts Ungiven, Nostalgic Dreams, Cunning Wish, and finally Moment's Peace, possibly the gassiest Fact or Fiction ever for this deck. The look of relief that crossed the opponent's face was immense, and Owen promptly split the cards 1 and 4, Moment's Peace or no. These aren't the droids you're looking for...

HEE-HAW!!!

Like the donkey that he is, his opponent gladly scooped up the Moment's Peace and put the other four cards in his graveyard, thereby giving him an extra turn to live and try to topdeck something the next turn that could possibly give him an avenue to victory...instead of taking 4 insane cards, flashing back Moment's Peace with the 3 mana he had available, and having a great chance at winning the following turn when he untaps with 10 lands in play! Owen went on to win the next turn when his opponent did not draw anything close to the 4 cards that went to his graveyard last turn. Owen sold that Moment's Peace as the Savior Himself, the Messiah, and the XBox 360 all wrapped into one and it totally blinded his opponent. What a great play/donkey play, and it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy. By nicer guy, I mean someone who really needs to look at their attitude towards the game and other people and realize that no one likes to play with people like you.

The moral of the story: If you act like a jackass, you deserve to play like a donkey.

Round 6: Warren Ikemura with Boros Deck
We are both at 4-0-1, so we ID into the Top 8.

Matches 4-0-2, Games 8-2

At this point Owen and another friend Rocco were paired with each other at 4-1, so they drew and hoped for the best with their tiebreakers. Another friend of ours, Riad, also drew with his opponent at 4-1 each. It looked like 4 of our group of Magic friends could make the Top 8!

In other news: Phimus lost his last 2 matches after losing to me, the donkey beat my round 5 opponent to knock him out of Top 8 contention, and Mario Kart DS is the best thing ever to bring to a Magic tournament (besides food).

After the round is over, the Top 8 is announced and the decks are as follows (in no particular order):

Affinity
Mind's Desire
Boros Deck (Me)
Boros Deck
Boros Deck
B/G Aggro (Owen)
B/G Threshold?
Goblins

Both Rocco and Riad missed out on Top 8 at 4-1-1, finishing 9^th and 10^th respectively. My friend Owen and I were in opposite sides of the bracket, so it was possible that both people who drove to the tournament in my car could be in the finals! After some decklist review and Mario Kart DS, it's time to play for that plane ticket!

Quarterfinals: Jordan Wadsack-Stewart with Goblins
Go goblins! Maybe enough people have left the Engineered Plagues home that Goblins can again rise to prominence. I knew that Jordan has Umezawa's Jitte and Sword of Fire and Ice main deck but no Patriarch's Biddings since he was splashing White in his deck for Goblin Legionnaire and sideboard cards like Faith's Fetters and Kami of Ancient Law.

Game 1: I played 2^nd turn Silver Knight, 3^rd turn Mystic Crusader, and 6^th turn Mystic Crusader. Combined with burn, I just killed his important goblins and let the protection guys go to work. It was such a beating that the Head Judge came over to check my sideboard to make sure I didn't pre-board!

Sideboarding: -3 Kataki, War's Wage, -1 Molten Rain, +3 Disenchant, +1 Mystic Crusader

I didn't want to get blown out by equipment or get hosed by the Faith's Fetters I knew he had in the sideboard, so the Disenchants came in along with the last protection dude.

Game 2: Jordan started the game quickly, answering my turn 1 Savannah Lions with a turn 2 Goblin Warchief. I couldn't find any burn for the dangerous card, and soon thereafter I am overwhelmed by card advantage generated by Goblin Ringleaders as I continued to draw lands. My opponent missed a few points of damage off of Goblin Sharpshooter, but it really didn't matter; I got blown out even though I played a 2nd turn Silver Knight.

Game 3: I started the game once again with turn 1 hound or lion and turn 2 Silver Knight, while he had 2nd turn Goblin Matron off of a Chrome Mox, tutoring up a Goblin Warchief. I Lava Darted his Matron and got in for 4 damage, and Jordan played his Warchief, but passed the turn without playing another land. On my turn I swing for four again, Firebolt his guy and then Disenchant his Chrome Mox to keep him off of mana. As it turns out, Jordan doesn't draw another land before I can kill him.

Matches 5-0-2, Games 10-3

Jordan was a very gracious and professional for such a young age (he looked to be about 13 or so, maybe younger), and this was his second PTQ Top 8. If he keeps playing, I bet he will be doing well on the JSS Circuit and more later in life. Good job, Jordan! In case you were wondering, it feels kind of strange to beat a young kid at a game when his father and younger brother are watching the match. I felt like I was committing child abuse (especially when I played 3 pro: red dudes game 1).

Unfortunately, Owen lost his Top 8 match so it was up to me to take home the title for Team 1991 Subaru With 180000+ Miles. Owen did help me relax between rounds, though, by making me play some more Mario Kart DS!

Semifinals: Warren Ikemura with Boros Deck
Woo, a mirror match! I was looking forward to that matchup all day, as I was confident my deck was well built to handle the mirror.

Game 1: The match starts as any Red mirror, with the average life expectancy of a creature at about 1 turn. In the mirror, I think it is important to take the role of the control deck and that is exactly what I did; I never played a Goblin Legionnaire without a Red mana available, never let him two-for-one me with his own Legionnaires, things like that. Creatures are at such a premium that you really can't waste your legendary creatures as pseudo-Terrors unless you absolutely have to (you know who you are). Which would you rather have: a spell that does 3-4 damage, or a creature that can do more? With our life totals fairly even at about 10 each, Warren and I entered a topdecking war. New creatures were met with flashed-back Firebolts, and eventually I got a Goblin Legionnaire to stick and it won the game for me. I felt like one of those guys standing next to him in the card. Warren never drew any Lightning Helix to gain life and stay in the game, and I never drew a protection from red creature, so I was counting on being able to surprise him with them in game 2.

Sideboarding: -2 Isamaru, Hound of Konda, -3 Kataki, War's Wage, -2 Molten Rain, +3 Fledgling Dragon, +3 Disenchant, +1 Mystic Crusader

Once again the Disenchants came in to prevent equipment blowouts and any other shenanigans I may not have expected. Dragons and the Crusader are natural subs, and my legendary creatures hit the board in favor of better creatures for this matchup (1 Isamaru stayed in because he doesn't die to Lava Dart).

Game 2: I played a second turn Silver Knight and a 4th turn Mystic Crusader (after getting a White source Pillaged) and Warren just could not get back in the game. I ended the game at 17 life.

Matches 6-0-2, Games 12-3

Yaus! In the finals for Hawaii! I really didn't want to play against the Mind's Desire deck in the other semifinal (even though I had effectively beaten it twice), as I felt I had a much better matchup versus the other Semifinalist.

Finals: Mike Griffin with Boros Deck
After the Ray Power PTQ Finals Speech^TM, I asked Mike if he was planning on going to Hawaii if he won. He said yes, so we decided the loser would get all of the product while the winner would get the ticket and the invitation.

Game 1: Just like my semi-final match, we both started by burning each other's creatures until I played a turn 4 Mystic Crusader (which drew an "uh-oh" from my opponent). I commenced the Crusader beatdown, and as his life total dwindled, he cast a card I did not expect to see: Pulse of the Forge. This was a bit troubling, as I had to start managing my own life total to insure I wouldn't get Pulsed out of the game. Luckily my opponent never reached six mana, (so he couldn't Pulse me twice) and the Mystic Crusader and the burn in my hand were able to finish him off.

"I feel like I'm bringing a knife to a gunfight" - Mike, while sideboarding

Sideboarding: Same as semi-finals

Game 2: Once again we traded some early creatures and burn, but M Pillaged my second White source on turn 3 before I could play the Mystic Crusader I had in hand. I drew another Mountain, and just played the control game until I drew another fetchland. I sacrificed it for an untapped Sacred Foundry and Threshold. Guess who? My opponent groaned when the Fledgling Dragon hit play, as he had only one or two cards in hand at the time. Without an immediate answer and no White mana in play, my opponent had to pass the turn. After a swing for six, a 3/2 Mystic Crusader came to play for the R/W Threshold deck. On the next turn my opponent played a Bloodstained Mire, sent a Firebolt to my dome (I'm about to send 2 to the dome... OH NO! Crybabies go home!) and passed the turn. I attacked for eight, taking my opponent to seven, and left my four mana up (I had two Lightning Helix and a Firebolt in hand). When I passed the turn, M went to six to sacrifice his Bloodstained Mire, and I responded by promptly sending both Lightning Helixes to his nugget. Without the White mana to play his own Helix, the game and match were mine!

I shook my opponent's hand, and gladly handed over the two boxes of Ravnica boosters in exchange for that round-trip ticket to Hawaii! As someone pointed out, those are the easiest two boxes of product I have ever lost!

As far as the deck goes, I was pretty happy with its performance even with the changes I made. It may seem like the double White requirement of Silver Knight and Mystic Crusader is difficult, but it was very rare for me not to be able to cast any of them because of the color requirement. Those two cards almost single-handedly won the matches in the Top 8 for me, so I obviously think they are worth the slight risk of not being able to cast them. Even though there are only six LD spells, I never wanted one in hand instead of the cards I had drawn (I just wanted a third land on time!). Mind's Desire was the only matchup in which I felt as though I had to get lucky since I didn't have a lot of sideboard action, but that could be remedied by adding Pyrostatic Pillars (which is how my finals opponent won his semifinal match). Even though I only played Suppression Field once, I would not play this deck without them in the sideboard; it helps you way too much versus Psychatog and CAL to not include it.

Excited about my win, I tried to make a few phone calls (on my recently acquired cell phone!) in order to relate the good news. I called my wife (on her cell phone!), my good friend Adam Prosak (who had already qualified for Hawaii), and a couple other Magic-aware friends, but no one was answering! I had to settle for a couple of text messages and some high-5s followed by Mongolian BBQ, which was just fine. My wife, ever the fan of Magic: The Gathering, (see my other reports to validate the truth of this statement) was very happy that I had won. Unfortunately for her (and me), she is performing in an opera the weekend of the PT and will be unable to make it a really sweet vacation for both of us. I guess you still can't win them all! I guess I will have to get lei'd without her.

See you in Hawaii!

Odds and Ends:
- Props to Owen and Mario Kart DS, for keeping me loose and having fun in the Top 8. Props also to Phimus Pan for winning a two dollar bet at the Mongolian BBQ for eating all of his three pounds of food.

- Yes, my wife and I finally got cell phones! I think I use it more for text messaging than calling people, though.

- For more information on how you can provide care and look out for the welfare of donkeys in your part of the world, please go to The Donkey Sanctuary. You too can make a difference in a donkey's life!

Anthony Avitollo
anthonizzle42AThotmail.com