I finished second. I'm going to very quickly gloss over the first five rounds, bring up a few issues which should be raised, and get to the heart of the matter: The Rochester draft.

My cards weren't great. They were decent - and considering there were only twenty-six people, I felt I had a good chance. The only problem was, I was playing G/B/r. Black sucks in this format, but it was the only colour, other than Green, which had enough playable cards. The deck was pure beats, just like all the Sealed decks I build in Odyssey, with the red splashed for more removal.

I could go into the details of my build, but let's face it; the details aren't needed, and I'm not going to claim that I had the optimal build. I am pretty far from being good enough to tell you how to build a Sealed deck.

What I will comment on is twenty-six people. That's pretty sad, even for Montreal, and even for limited. Where were the people from Ottawa and the US? What you think, we're too good all of a sudden? One third of the people who showed up made the Top Eight. One third! Anyone could have made Top Eight with just a bit of skill. Heck! I made top eight with what I described as an average deck - not great, but good. There is another PTQ in Montreal in a month (November 24^th). Please, for the love of $deity, make the trip to Montreal; you won't be disappointed by your easiest top eight of all time. If you'd like you can contact me by email to know when and where the next PTQ will be held.

And now, the matches:

I lost round one (what an opening line). I made a huge mistake that cost me game three. He was playing Green, and like me, he was playing Moment's Peace, a great Fog card for decks that race. I could have ditched a card to my Wild Mongrel to drop him to three, but I didn't. Instead I left him at four. Now I knew I had another Morbid Hunger in my deck, and it would take him at least two turns to kill me. Sure enough, he cast Moment's Peace and I drew Morbid Hunger, costing me the game. My opponent tried to tell me that it wasn't a mistake, but it was (he was trying to make me feel better, but personally I am very glad that I spotted my error). People, one of the key rules of Magic is: ALWAYS. KNOW. WHAT. CARDS. ARE. IN. YOUR. DECK.

I won round two.

I won round three. My opponent got a game loss after I was up 1-0. Why did he get a game loss? Double misrepresentation of card. The first time he targeted my Foul Imp with a Ghastly Demise. The second time he cast Acceptable Losses as an Instant. I was not aware that he would get a game loss. I was up 20-3 in life, with complete control of the board, as well as a Screams of the Damned in my hand with plenty of mana in play (you know, maybe this double Morbid Hunger, Screams of the Damned deck was pretty good after all). Why did I call the judge? Well, in the past, I've had judges give me sh!t for not calling them over after a rules violation - plus, were I the one who had made the error, I would have called a judge on myself. I'm just leveling the playing field by holding my opponents to the same standards that I hold myself to.

I won round four. Only thing to note here is that my opponent was very friendly and a pleasure to play against. Now if only I could remember his name to give him proper credit.

I intentionally drew in round five and made it in to the top eight as the seventh seed.

The top four played, and one of them got knocked out of the top eight, allowing Francis Cormier to make it in as the eighth seed. The guy who beat me in the first round also made top eight.

Time for the draft. This is my third lifetime Rochester draft. Most of my knowledge of Rochester is theory, and I have yet to draft Odyssey, so I'm not really familiar with all the cards. I do, however, know that Green is the best and Black is the worst. I think I would like to go G/R because it offers me the best beatdown combination (although I'd be happy to draft White over the Red).

The first place guy (who is seated to my left) picks the guy to my right to pick first. Huh? Say again? The first seed just chose to pick third. Most people would force their first round opponent to kick-off (making themselves pick fifth), or perhaps they would choose to pick fourth. His decision made no sense, but there was nothing I could do about it.

My daddy chose a White card as his first pick, and I snatched up the Flame Burst. There were no good Green cards available, and I love drafting removal. The first seed drafted something non-Green, and non-Red.

I open the second pack, and draft a Chlorophant over a Nantuko Disciple and a Firebolt. Some people felt that I made a huge mistake here, as Chlorophant is not nearly as good as Firebolt. I agree. However, I was pretty sure that my daddy really didn't want to fight me for colours, and I felt that if I signaled Green before he did that he would avoid Green. I would make sure to avoid Blue, White, and Black, encouraging him into those colours instead. He went W/B, so I got my Green.

My bitch, however, chose the Firebolt. Well, I stuck to me guns, and drafted any good Green or Red that came my way. Unfortunately, so did my bitch. For some reason, my bitch decided to draft the same colours as me! Now, here's a tip for all you bitches out there (that's all of us, because in Rochester, we're all bitches): DO. NOT. DRAFT. YOUR. DADDY'S. COLOURS. You pick before your daddy one third of the time; he picks before you two thirds of the time. Do the math - you will end up with a crappy deck. Naturally, however, my deck ended up being crappier as well.

I myself made a big mistake. I assumed my daddy was W/B based off of some early picks, when he ended up being W/U in the end. I drafted some blue cards here and there with mind towards a splash, and it cost him. Fortunately, he wasn't vindictive, or he could have made things difficult for me.

I also kept an eye out for my first round opponent and for the table's bombs (of which there were few). My first-round opponent had an Iridescent Angel, so I drafted a second Sandstone Deadfall higher that I should have (the better choice was a second Sylvan Might).

In the end, I ended up with a decent G/R/u deck that could have been way better if it wasn't for my bitch spending the whole draft hate-drafting me. After the draft, he claimed that he was trying to intentionally ruin my deck so that my first-round opponent would beat me. Some of the spectators (like Louis Boileau who finished second at Grand Prix Montreal, and David Rood who also made top eight at grand Prix Montreal and who was touted as the number-one Limited player in Quebec on the Sideboard), however, claimed that he was just a bad drafter (apparently he has a rep for being a poor drafter), trying to find excuses for his behaviour after the fact.

I had beats in Green, burn in Red, and a Pulsating Illusion in Blue.

I destroyed my first round opponent; that's all you need to know. My deck was way faster, could burn all his creatures, and had more tricks than he could handle. The one game where he got the Iridescent Angel out, it was too late; by that point he would have needed at least three Iridescent Angels, and that probably would have only bought him a few turns against the inevitability of my army.

In the second round, I played against Daniel Kramer. I once left some cards with great sentimental value lying around at a tournament (I own a card signed by Jamie Wakefield, and another card signed by Anthony Alongi), and he returned them to me. I am unlikely to forget that. To add to all that, Kramer is a great straight man for my antics during our matches, and we tend to gather a crowd. However, this time the antics may have cost us some time, causing the third game to be decided by first blood. First blood, for those who don't know, means that the first life change determines the winner. If someone gains life, they win; if they lose life they lose. I made some quick sideboarding decisions, subbing out all my late game cards, as well as my Islands, for Mountains and all my one drops and two drops. I had a much faster deck, so I definitely had the advantage.

He is starting, however, so it's anyone's game. He keeps his first hand. I pick up my hand and look at it (tip for newbies: IF. YOU. ARE. NOT. STARTING. DO. NOT. LOOK. AT. YOUR. HAND. UNTIL. THE. OTHER. GUY. DECIDES. TO. NO. LONGER. MULLIGAN. It's all about the poker face. You do not want to give your opponent information about your hand before he decides on mulliganing. The best way you can keep information from him, is by not having any to give), I see no one drops, but I do see five lands, a four drop, and a three drop. I mulligan. Normally that hand would be great, but this is first blood, and I need at least one drop or some burn in order to have a chance.

My next hand is four land, a Chatter of the Squirrel, and a Druid Lyrist. I keep. He lays a Ravaged Highlands turn one. I lay a land and play Chatter of the Squirrel. He lays a land, sacs the Ravaged Highlands for Blue, and plays a Phantom Whelp. I lay a land and attack into him. He blocks, killing my squirrel, but sending the Whelp back up to his hand. I play the Druid Lyrist and the Woodland Druid that I just drew. On his turn, he plays a Mountain and passes the turn. I win. Kramer, you are a great opponent, hope to play against you again.

I am in my third top eight. I am in my third finals. My opponent is Francis Cormier. Francis Cormier is the favourite. Not only because his deck, G/W, is way better than mine, but also because - let's face it - he's a pretty popular guy. If I had to pick someone to win other than myself, I would pick Francis. I think most Montreal players would pick Francis. And thus, he is the crowd favourite.

We discuss for a bit whether or not he can afford to go. I insist that he can afford to go, the $250 American helps, plane tickets are dirt cheap now (and will continue to be dirt cheap for a while still), and as for lodgings... Well, it sucks, but he can stay at a youth hostel, or maybe the other Montrealers going will let him have floor space to sleep on for free. So there is no prize split, and we play.

Not much of a game, I make a lot of huge mistakes, he makes less mistakes. His deck is better. Do the math, better play, better deck, he wins.

I take the long walk home for the third time.

Cast of characters:

David Rood: The best Limited player in Quebec helped out our hero by pointing out errors in his draft, as well as errors in his play. He also rooted for our hero in the top eight - a first, as usually our hero is not a crowd favourite. In fact, in all his other top eight appearances, most people rooted for his opponents in all but one case.

Louis Boileau: See David Rood. Only, according to the Sideboard, you are not the best Limited player in Quebec. Sorry.

Round four opponent: People like you are what make tournament Magic worthwhile.

The judging staff: Two little-thanked individuals who deserve more respect than they receive from the players. They did a fine job judging the event, and our hero thanks them.

Francis Cormier: The champ. He played and drafted well, and it's the respect he receives amongst Montreal players that allowed him to make the top eight. However, he better find the money to go to San Diego, because not only has he been working at making the Tour for a long time, but the hero would feel really shafted if Cormier didn't go.

And the man clad in black who shows up for the tournaments with his signed cards? He would like to think that he has learned something of how to play the game; that he has learnt from his mistakes of the past. He may still be a scrub, skilled mainly in the art of the topdeck, blind to the intricacies of the game; never mind, let it go, let it be. I may never be pleased with him.

Good-bye and hello, as always.

christopher hearns
captainfeedback@hotmail.com
http://www.geocities.com/countplusplus