I wake up around 9 a.m. and I feel groggy. I've only had about four hours of sleep. I just couldn't close my eyes long enough to fall asleep. So I sit at my computer gold fishing my deck, U/W/r Landstill. This Saturday afternoon I am going to playtest in preparation for an upcoming Grand Prix Trial in Austin, Texas. I haven't played or touched my cards in six weeks and this is a much-needed break from the monotony of unpacking boxes. Magic > Moving.

Thor's Hammer, in Austin, is the closest store for me to play against anyone with competitive skills. I have yet to find a store here in San Antonio where I can actually learn something useful. I am driving 90 miles, over an hour and a half, to play in a Legacy tournament. Driving my fiancés' truck, averaging 21mpg on the highway and $2.89 a gallon, it'll cost me $26 just to show up. It's worth it for the experience I'll gain for the GPT. You see, my philosophy in Magic is that you can't learn anything from someone unless they are better than you are. You can learn from your mistakes against inferior players, but then again who doesn't? You can learn more from an experienced player by watching him go through his motions and playing his game than by beating on your friend's horrible Re-animator life gain deck.

My fiancé finally gets out of bed around 10 a.m. and rushes to get ready. We drop off my son at my moms' house and we're off. My fiancé and I argue about whether we should eat first or eat when we get to Austin. My point is that we can eat during the ride. If we wait until we get to Thor's, we'll either be eating between rounds and rushing, which is not good, or starving while we play. She gives in and we grab some awesome breakfast tacos. We continue onwards towards our destination as I begin talking and rambling to her about decks she may encounter and what she should do in certain situations. Oh yes! A girl that plays Magic! Teh win! Somewhere along the line I realize that even though we are going 80mph in 70mph zone, we're going to be late. The tournament starts at Noon, so I push the go pedal further and speed up to 85.

We finally manage to get through downtown traffic and get to Thor's at 12:10 p.m. to find out they hadn't started yet. Yay for being early! I walk up to the counter to sign up and remember that I forgot the one important thing I needed! I left my wallet in the truck with my DCI card! So I run outside and grab it and come back in to find my fiancé laughing. When she mentioned that she was entering the tournament, the T.O. was surprised to find out that a girl was playing. Score! After I sign up I walk towards the back of the store and start my usual ritual, which is to order my cards by mana cost and then shuffle it up and count my deck and sideboard. I start peeking around the tables and watch some people playing. I look a bit harder, trying to catch a glimpse of some cards that might be played today. From across the room I see a combo deck using Aluren and Cloud of Faeries, I hear about a guy wanting to play Fish and catch some other random red decks. I immediately change my sideboard with my newly found wisdom. Gotta love pre-tournament banter! (Ninja Hearing: 2 points!) Pairings go up soon and the tournament begins. Here's the list:

4 Force of Will
4 Counterspell
2 Mana Leak
2 Wrath of God
4 Nevinyrral's Disk
4 Fire/Ice
4 Swords to Plowshares
2 Fact or Fiction
4 Standstill
4 Brainstorm
2 Crucible of Worlds

Land
4 Wasteland
4 Mishra's Factory
4 Flooded Strand
4 Tundra
3 Volcanic Island
2 Plains
3 Island

Sideboard
2 Exalted Angel
2 Pyroclasm
3 Disenchant
2 Red Elemental Blast (Added in at the last minute replacing Blue Elemental Blast)
3 Stifle
3 Pithing Needle

Round 1 - Angel Stompy
Game 1 - I couldn't stop the onslaught from Silver Knights fast enough. Fire / Ice tapped them down for a few turns but I drew nothing but land and found no answers.

I side out 2 Mana Leaks for 2 Exalted Angels. Mana Leak was a dead card later in the game after my opponent cast Tithe. I decide to stick with Fire/Ice and draw cards off of icing his creatures.

Game 2 - My plan pays off and I win off the back of an Exalted Angel.

Game 3 - I drop a Mishra's Factory then follow next turn with a Wasteland. I drop Tundra and attack with Mishra's Factory holding a Crucible of Worlds. Next turn my opponent plays Armageddon. I have no counters. I get finished off by an Umezawa's Jitte equipped Silver Knight after drawing zero land for two turns.

0-1, 1-2

Round 2 - Full English Breakfast
I get paired with a friend of mine, Emerson, from The Mana Drain. We had talked a little trash before in an IRC channel. He predicted a win with Volrath's Shapeshifter / Phage the Untouchable. I predicted I would Fire / Ice it and walk around it.

Game 1 - I lose fast to a Volrath's Shapeshifter / Phage the Untouchable while I'm tapped out. Luck play.

I side in 2 Disenchant to handle Survival of the Fittest and drop two Mana Leak.

Game 2 - I beat down with multiple Mishra's Factory as Wasteland / Crucible of Worlds demolished his mana sources.

Game 3 - This game went to time and extra turns. I offer to concede the game and give Emerson the match 2-1. A few seconds later he decided to just go with a draw. He ended up going 0-1-3 for the day.

0-1-1, 2-3-1

Round 3 - U/R Burn
Game 1 - I lose quickly to Incinerates and Lightning Bolts. Mishra's Factory gets burned all over the place, yadda, yadda, yadda.

I side in 2 Exalted Angels, taking out 2 Mana Leak (See a pattern here?).

Game 2 - I manage to morph Exalted Angel only to have her burned. She paved the way for Mishra's Factory beats. My opponent then manages to draw nothing as Wasteland fends off Faerie Conclaves long enough for the win.

Game 3 - I drop an early Exalted Angel and the fat lady sings.

1-1-1, 4-4-1

Round 4 - Mono U Urza-tron?
Game 1 - I did some nasty things with Crucible / Wasteland and Mishra's Factory.

Game 2 - My opponent gets the Urza-tron going and I lose to a pair of mean Triskelions with single points of damage flying at me.

I side in 2 Disenchant for the Triskelions taking out 2 Wrath of God. I also bring in 2 Red Elemental Blast taking out 2 Mana Leak.

Game 3 - I manage to get an all land hand. It contained 2 Mishra's Factory, Tundra, Volcanic Island, Plains, Wasteland, and Island. I laughed about this since I've never, ever drawn a seven-land hand before. My opponent notices my laughs and asks if it's an all land hand. I snicker and he dares me to keep it. I do keep the hand and beat down with multiple Mishra's Factory and finish him off with Fire/Ice.

2-1-1, 6-5-1

My fiancé ended up 1-3 with the one off Angel Stompy. I didn't put together the most optimal build for her, because I don't have everything the build requires. She plays enough Magic to have the deck built but not enough to justify her buying a set of Umezawa's Jittes. Experience wins out. I end up 5^th out of 15 people. I was content with my standing though I could have done better. If one or two key plays had gone my way I could have been 3-1, 7-4-1. I was happy with my deck choices. Even though I never used Stifle. I was expecting to play a storm combo deck and I didn't get paired with one all day. I also never used Pyroclasm, as I didn't play against a goblin deck. Exalted Angels and Disenchants were golden. Red Elemental Blast only came in during one match, Urza-tron. These were last minute additions for the Fish deck that I heard was running around. The Mana Leaks would have better off as Mystical Tutors. I would have liked to have Chain of Vapor in the sideboard as well.

I stick around a bit to trade, but not long enough to find out who wins. Off to the next stop. Oh yes, a second chance! Next stop, Action Brothers Legends and LANs! But first, Fuddruckers for dinner!

There is no place like Fuddruckers for hamburgers. It's about 5:30p.m. and I know it'll be after midnight when we get home, so I order a 1/2lb-monster slab of good old American red meat. I also grab a strawberry shake. We take a seat and I mess with my new cell phone trying to add numbers from friends and some stores. One of the employees brings me my freezing cold shake and I feed my girl the cherry in a seductive way. (Yes, I do other things than play Magic.) So now I have no cherry (lol) as I get up and grab my glass and head for the soda fountain. After an hour or so we head on our way.

Now I've never been to Action Bros. before and every time I hear someone mention the store they always mention going to the mall. Whenever I ask where the store is I get the same answer, the mall - Highland Mall to be exact. So we drive to Highland Mall and I grab my stuff and walk in. I finally manage to get through the crowd and find a directory only to see that there is no Action Bros. in the mall. Here I am with a trade binder in a Jansport, my huge Ultra Pro Case full of cards on my shoulder, standing in the middle of a busy mall on Saturday evening. Feeling just a bit geeky? We go back out to the car and call Directory Assistance and get a number for Action. Bros. The number is no longer in service? So I drive around the mall parking lot and see nothing of the store. I go down further and out of the parking lot and see a strip of stores about a block down. I turn into the parking lot and see a theater and small yellow sign. Eureka! We found the booty, arrrrr!

I walk in and see a massive amount of X-box systems and large High Definition televisions. A row of computers lines the wall from one side to the other. Everyone is yelling and laughing. The guys were playing Halo 2. I set my things down and mingle. I do a little trading and we decide to run a six-man for $3 a pop. I run the same deck, but I switch the 2 Mana Leaks in my deck to 2 Mystical Tutors and take out a Nevinyrral's Disk for the third Wrath of God I just purchased. I switch 2 Red Elemental Blast in the side for 2 Mana Leak.

Round 1 - Angry Tradewind Survival
Game 1 - I manage to get Troll Ascetic off the board with a Wrath of God after a few turns of punishment. I swing in for the win with multiple Mishra's Factory and maybe 6 cards left in my library.

I side out 2 Fact or Fiction and 1 Nevinyrral's Disk for 3 Pithing Needle.

Game 2 - The game went a little faster this time around. First turn Pithing Needle naming Survival of the Fittest followed with a second turn Pithing Needle naming Wall of Roots slowed him down. I throw a few Fire/Ice towards him and swing with Mishra's Factory.

1-0, 2-0

Round 2 - Grinding Station.dec
Game 1 - I can't draw into any Nevinyrral's Disks to rid my opponent of the single Grinding Station in his deck. I get milled to death.

I side in 3 Disenchant taking out 3 Wrath of God.

Game - 2 Crucible of Worlds / Wasteland locks him down and multiple Mishra's Factory swing for the win.

Game 3 - I lay down a Wasteland first turn and manage to keep his mana, and the single copy of Grinding station off the board with Disenchant.

2-0, 4-1

Round 3 - Millstone

Game 1 - I get milled to death and heckled about it by the guys in the store.

I take out 3 Wrath of God and 4 Swords to Plowshares and bring in 3 Disenchant, 3 Pithing Needle and Exalted Angel.

Game 2 - Millstone gets Disenchanted early. Mishra's Factory and Exalted Angel get sent in to do some dirty work.

Game 3 - See game 2.

3-0, 6-2

Round 4 - U/W Landstill
I get paired in the finals with my friend Emerson with a different deck this time around.

Game 1 - This game went on for a while and I couldn't hit any of his Mishra's Factories with any removal and took a beating from them along with Faerie Conclaves.

Game 2 - I try to Swords to Plowshares a Factory only to meet with a Teferi's Response. I play a second Swords to Plowshares again in response only to meet Teferi's Response number 2! Who holds 2 Teferi's Response? I draw a bunch of land, none of which can attack.

3-1, 6-4

Overall I go 5-2-1, 12-9-1 with my build. I made a few minor mistakes and I could have done better. I can only blame horrible draws of land when I needed spot removal. Mana Leak was terribly disappointing. All day it was sided out and never brought back in. If I had a third Wrath of God to begin the day, they would have been Mystical Tutors. 2 Mystical Tutor and 3 Wrath of God proved to be a good combination later in the day. 4 Nevinyrral's Disks feels like too many copies. Dropping the 2 Faerie Conclaves for 2 Island came back to haunt me when I found out they are desperately needed in the mirror match. Faerie Conclave can soak up Wasteland when you need that single Mishra's Factory in your hand to live long enough to beat down. I say that because Mishra's Factory is the better of the two man-lands at attacking and blocking. Exalted Angel coming in from the side is a good Lightning Bolt target. She plays the sacrificial role as a 2/2, when Mishra's Factories are short to come by and you don't have Crucible of Worlds out yet. Exalted Angel is also very useful on turn 4 when you don't need to cast a Nevinyrral's Disk or Wrath of God because your opponent has been holding back or is drawing horribly. Having three colors, however, may be a bit of a stretch. I didn't see many Wastelands during these tournaments but I know they are out there. So I've dropped the Volcanic Islands (I'll miss you Fire/Ice!) in hopes of strengthening the mana base.

Here is the current list I'd use at this time:

Landstill
4 Force of Will
4 Counterspell
3 Wrath of God
3 Nevinyrral's Disk
4 Swords to Plowshares
2 Fact or Fiction
4 Standstill
4 Brainstorm
2 Crucible of Worlds
2 Disenchant
2 Exalted Angel

Land
4 Wasteland
4 Mishra's Factory
2 Faerie Conclave
4 Flooded Strand
4 Tundra
2 Plains
4 Island

Sideboard
3 Pulse of the Fields
4 Meddling Mage
4 Chill
1 Disenchant
3 Pithing Needle

By including three colors I was stretching my mana out for four main deck and four sideboard cards. These cards aren't strong enough to justify taking a beating from opposing Wastelands. With the deck wanting double White mana and double Blue mana available at the same time, having a land that doesn't produce both of these colors nor have invulnerability to Wasteland is a risk to run. I was lucky this time around and I won't take that chance anymore.

Meddling Mage is a good card that stops storm combo decks better than Stifle. The earlier you play Meddling Mage, naming key cards, the quicker the opponent has to deal with it in order to go off, since it puts them on a clock. This gives you time to find what you need to counter any spot removal played on your Mage while you beat down. Meddling Mage is also great in the mirror match stopping Teferi's Response, Swords to Plowshares and Pithing Needle.

Pulse of the Fields is a great addition to the sideboard. Many games I found myself sitting at three life or less after leveling off against my opponent. Trying to win under that situation is very tough when a Bolt can end the game quick. Dying before Exalted Angel can gain you life is no fun either. You need instant life gain and Pulse of the Fields is the answer.

Chill can only slow down Goblins without Aether Vial in play but it's absolutely needed in order to slow the assault. Once you can draw an answer for Aether Vial, Chill should hold the Goblin player back enough for you to take control and win the game. Multiple Chills in play is a tough obstacle for Goblins to overcome after you've established board control.

I'm planning on attending more tournaments in Austin in the near future with Landstill. This testing will be very valuable to me and I want to be ready for the Grand Prix Trial. Lower gas prices would help with me getting out there more frequently but I doubt that'll happen. There's a signed Beta Mox Jet or $500 travel award as a prize along with the 3 round bye in Philly for first place. This is very tempting to me, as I am a Vintage player before a Legacy player. Now don't get me wrong, I'd love to take the $500 travel award and go to Philadelphia but I think that Mox Jet would look good in my collection. Taking time off to travel to Philadelphia would be really tough, but I'll always have time to cast that Mox Jet. With the right luck and play skill, I feel very confident I will do well at the GPT with this deck.

Marshall Davila

P.S. These tournaments all happened on September 3^rd. I didn't take enough notes on the games I played and it probably shows. Everything written in the reports is from what I can recall and may be a little inaccurate. I apologize to any of my opponents if I misrepresented you or your decks in any way.

P.P.S. Thanks to Andy Probasco for helping me with my rough draft and proof reading.