Picture the following scenario: It is Saturday morning, October 25, 2003. The time is 8:30 in the morning. I am sitting in front of Katie (my fiancé!!) discussing how I have decided to not participate in the tournament. She wonders why.

I explain that I have been up since the early hours trying to determine the deck I wanted to play for the State tournament, and for the two weeks leading up to the tournament I struggled and toiled over the deck I wanted to play. I knew Goblins, Goblin Bidding, and MBC were the decks I would most likely see at Crossroads Games (nice job, by the way, Brenden and crew), and that they were the decks to beat. I also knew that because Kai breathed the word"Affinity" that the deck would show up in large numbers, and being guilty of testing his build myself I knew the raw power the deck could have with a strong opening hand. My analysis of the format left me wanting for a deck that would consistently and effectively deal with this intricate and confusing metagame. I was extremely frustrated and confused. I was not having fun and I was not going to play.

Katie looks at me and sweetly says,"You are going. You have waited for this all year. I won't let you stay home. Jamie, it doesn't matter what happens; you are a good player, you have proved that every weekend during the year. Just stick to your guns and have a good time, and don't worry about the outcome."

It is about this time that my buddy Matt shows up. He's my best friend in the world besides Katie, and I knew he would laugh to find me in the usual position of not being ready. Then I hit him with my announcement:"I am not going today, Matt." He looks at me and cocks his head to the side a bit, then says,"You're kidding right? The kids are going to flip!"

That's when I felt Katie's stare burning through the back of my head. I turn around.

"If you don't get ready and go, I will kick your ass."

Needless to say, I was going.

The time was 8:45. Matty and I need to have left to pick up the guys we call"the kids" (A great group of guys who are younger than we are; they're still in high school. Props to Jonah, Cody, Craig, Sean, and Josh!). I know I am out of time and out of options.

In my time of extreme pressure and of extreme need, I turned to an old friend. U/W control had always been a deck I played well, and I knew it was a solid deck choice for any tournament. Here's the ten-second list I compiled from what must have been three hundred internet articles I have read over the past two weeks.

(I do apologize to any of you who feel this is your build, but I honestly cannot say I swiped this from any article card for card. I built it from my memory of what I thought was the strongest aspects of U/W Control.)

4 Eternal Dragon
3 Exalted Angel
1 Akroma, Angel of Wrath
3 Akroma's Vengeance
4 Wrath of God
1 Concentrate
4 Thirst for Knowledge
2 Wing Shards
3 Decree of Justice
4 Mana Leak
4 Rewind
2 Ancient Den
2 Seat of the Synod
4 Flooded Strand
4 Coastal Tower
6 Islands
5 Talisman of Unity
4 Temple of the False God

Sideboard
4 Karma
3 Sacred Ground
3 Circle of Protection: Red
2 Scrabbling Claws
1 Oblivion Stone
2 Ivory Mask

Obviously, the deck is as generic as a U/W Control deck gets. I won't go into card choices and all that mumbo jumbo - because quite frankly, they were not well thought out!!

At 8:50 a.m., Matty and I leave to pick up the kids.

Matty, Jonah, Cody, Josh, and I enjoy the ride to Crossroad Games in Standish, Maine. Jonah had heard about my morning troubles and was relieved to see that I had decided to go after all. Deep down inside I was glad I was going too, and I knew I would have to thank Katie regardless of the outcome when I got home.

We arrive at Crossroads all sporting our Choose Your Own Adventure (go Team CYOA!) store T-shirts provided to us by Alton and Leo (Thanks guys, and nice shirts!) There was a huge mass of people in the store, and I knew it would be a long and grueling day. By my initial estimates, I figured that it would be seven rounds of Swiss.

Now, I know U/W Control like that back of my hand, but any good Magic player will attest to the fact that playing control for seven rounds is a rough time. It is an exhausting and taxing experience that leaves you feeling drained and like you have had a Bonesplitter driven into your skull.

The organizers welcome every one and announce that there would be nine rounds of Swiss. Great. Nine rounds of U/W Control. My immediate thought was,"Why didn't I stay home and get my ass kicked? It would have been better then my brain imploding."

Round 1: Scott Parent with MBC splashing blue
I will apologize in advance for people's last names, as I remember all of them but I have a hard time figuring out which first name it belongs to.

Game One
I start the day with a one-land hand and have to mulligan. Freakin' wonderful!! I love starting the day off on the right foot!

Scott beats me down with an Undead Gladiator and things are not great as he has gained tempo on me by saving every Terror and Dark Banishing for my dragons. Eventually I make a play error, tap out, and get nailed by an eight-point Consume Spirit.

I don't feel too bad about game one. I know that after boarding Karma just gets the job done.

Game Two
This game is easily decided by a turn 4 Karma, turn 5 Karma. He does manage to Mind Bend the first one to plains, and then get an Oblivion Stone down to blow the other one. He waits the full extra turn to put a fate counter on the Plains Karma, which dealt him another four. After he blows the Stone, I play the topdecked Karma number 3, Rewind another Stone, and it's on to game three.

Game Three
I look at my opening hand and know that I have some serious mojo on my side. The two Karmas staring back at me are saying,"We love you, Jamie!" I love you too, Karma. The game is an odd one, as he Diabolic Tutors early (for a Withered Wretch, I believe, as I have plainscycled the Eternal Dragon two times, but I was nervous that was tutoring for his Mind Bend tech). The Karma starts on his life total pretty hard as he drops a Stone - and eventually, he is forced to blow the Stone on his own turn. A cycled Decree of Justice for eight guys seals the deal.

Round 2: Rick Marshall, fellow CYOA player - Red/Green Beast LD
I have known Rick for a little over a year and he has definitely grown as a Magic player. He has improved greatly since he picked up the game, and I know that the match will come down to the first few turns. We sit down and chat a bit before the judge starts the round.

Game One
Rick wins the die roll and elects to play first. I know that this is not good for me and that I need to be on my toes. His early LD spells could be really bad for my mana-intensive deck, and I need to hope for an early Mana Leak to stay ahead of the game.

Rick opens with a Birds of Paradise and I know that my clock has just been shortened. I play a Flooded Strand to ward off and thoughts of turn 2 LD for him. Rick lays a land, and passes the turn. I draw into a Mana Leak and play an island. Rick goes for LD on my island during his turn and it gets countered. On my turn, I rip another Mana Leak, lay a land, and pass the turn. Rick plays another land and tries to Molten Rain my plains, which I counter. On my turn I play a land and say go, holding a Rewind. Rick takes his turn, lays a land, and passes it back.

At this point I am betting that Rick has run out of gas, and that he is holding land. He had enough mana to cast anything in his deck and he passed the turn. I play an Exalted Angel and say go. Rick plays a Ravenous Baloth and passes it back. The Angel and Baloth swing back and forth, and you don't need to be a math teacher (which I am, actually) to see that it is not a race a Baloth can win.

Game Two
This was startlingly close to what occurred in game one. I Mana Leaked the early LD spells, played an Angel, and raced the Baloth. Pretty friggin' weird.

Round 3: Seth Wilson, fellow CYOA player and all-around tough competitor - Goblin Bidding
Seth and I have always had some very competitive games, and I am concerned about the"I win" hands the Bidding can produce. Even though I had not tested my deck for States, I knew I had the advantage. My good buddy Matt had taken a liking to Bidding when it first came on the scene, so I had played against it a little less than four billion times. I knew its strengths and weaknesses, and I was mentally focused for this game.

Game One:
Seth starts off with a few one drop-goblins and beats me about the head a bit, but stops dropping land after turn 2. I eventually kill his small Goblin team, play a face-up Exalted Angel, and start swinging back. After my life total has climbed back to eighteen, Seth concedes game one.

Game Two:
Seth has the Goblin God hand.

Turn 1 Skirk Prospector
Turn 2 Goblin Piledriver
Turn 3 Goblin Warchief
Turn 4 Siege-Gang Commander
Turn 5 Patriarch's Bidding to get back all of his freshly-Wrathed goblins

Little red men suck.

Game Three:
This game is won by a turn 6 (Temples are the nuts) Akroma smashing face, while Seth is stuck on four lands with an Oblivion Stone on the table. I quickly bring down his life total and win the match.

After the match, I am feeling pretty lucky. Goblin Bidding is one of those decks that is just nuts. For turns 1-8, it plays a very strong beatdown strategy. Turns 9-15, it hopes to be able to draw and cast Bidding so that it can either swing or do crazy Goblin Sharpshooter, Prospector, Siege-Gang tricks. Any deck that can morph from beatdown to combo in the matter of a turn is crazy.

My mojo must be pretty good today.

Round 4: Billy Hamm, MBC

Game One:
Billy plays a swamp on turn 1 and 2, and then stops playing land for the next eight turns. I cycle an early Decree of Justice, making three soldiers, and become the fastest U/W Control deck ever.

Game Two:
MOJO MOJO MOJO, baby! A turn 4 Karma deals four damage. He passes the turn and I lay another Karma. He takes ten during his upkeep and plays a Stone and says go. I throw him the"you understand you lose" look, take my turn and pass it back. Billy tries to blow the stone before Karma kills him on his turn.

Um, no, sorry - I am no rookie. Karma still gets him.

Round 5: Joe Musante, Affinity

Game One:
This matchup makes me a bit nervous. I understand the explosiveness that can accompany an Affinity deck, but I know that Vengeance just wins me games. Thankfully, the game starts slow, with Joe only casting a Frogmite. I look over at the other side of the table and see Joe has no blue untapped and look back to my hand. The Vengeance in my hand is pretty much game and I know it. I untap and cast Vengeance. Joe looks at his side of the board, sees he has no untapped blue, and sighs. His"in play" cards quickly become his graveyard.

I pass the turn, he draws, and passes it back. On my turn I draw a Decree, lay a land, and pass the turn. Joe draws, and passes again. I cycle, making four soldier tokens, while my cycle draw reveals another decree. I untap, take my turn, and swing for four. I then pass. Joe draws a card, and passes the turn back. I cycle for another five soldiers at the end of his turn and Joe picks up his cards.

Game Two:
Joe plays a bunch of early artifacts and then drops a Lodestone Myr. The Myr, equipped with a Bonesplitter, swings for eight and Joe leaves three mana untapped before passing the turn. I know that the Vengeance in my hand will not resolve, as Joe has counter mana available. On Joe's next turn, he plays no spells and pumps the enforcer to a 12/12. I respond with a Thirst for Knowledge and then a Wing Shards. Joe counters the Shards, but forgets that storm goes on the stack even if the spell is countered. Joe calls a judge over to verify that he has just wasted a counter spell and that his Myr was dead.

Even worse for Joe: He was tapped out. I drop the Vengeance on my turn and the game is quickly finished by a cycled Decree for seven soldiers.

Round 6: Lucien Longlais - R/W Control

Dear Reader,

The only thing more boring than writing about a control-on-control matchup is reading about it. Let me paraphrase: My deck plays better game one and I win. In game 2, Lucien's deck plays better and he wins. In game 3, we ran out of time and we took the draw.

At this point, my record is 4-0-1. I am feeling pretty good about my chances getting in to the top 8 especially because they announced that there was an error and that there were not going to be nine rounds. Instead, there would only be eight rounds - and that was fine with me. I was currently ranked number 2 in the standings, and I was still feeling the mojo flowing through me.

Before round 7, I try to determine if by drawing with my opponent (who is currently ranked first), I would be able to draw the next round and make it in. I decide that it isn't worth risking my position and that the smartest move would be to play it out and see what happens.

Round 7: Mitchell Breton - Goblins

Game One:
Goblins always make me nervous and I am not sure that I have made the right decision. Mitchell plays a few early Goblins that I Wrath away, followed by a few more goblins, which I again Wrath away. Mitchell's hand is now empty and I drop an Exalted Angel. He decides that the four life a turn is too much for him and he concedes.

Game Two:
This game is simply all about the fact that I see and early Circle of Protection: Red. Mitchell does manage to get me down to seven life before I fully stabilize and drop an Eternal Dragon. The Dragon, along with the mana to prevent damage from eight red sources a turn, kills Mitchell quickly.

I know that at this point being 6-0-1 that I am all set and that the top 8 is a lock. I also know that if the second-seeded Lucien decides to draw as well, I will go in as the top seed.

Round 8: Nick Camire - Intentional Draw
During this round Nick, Eric Courriveau, Lucien Longlais and I hang out and talk about what the potential matchups might be for the top eight. Eric and Lucien decided to take the draw and I know that I should be seeded in first, followed by Lucien. My guess is that Mitchell will be seeded third based on the results of his round.

I decide to take this opportunity to watch a game between my good buddy Craig Chabot. Craig needs to win the round in order to make the top eight. He manages to pull it out and the final pairings are listed.

Rank	Name	Points	Deck
1	Jamie Jensen	20	Blue/White Control
2	Mitchell Breton	19	Goblins
3	Lucien Longlais	20	RW Control
4	Seth Wilson	19	Goblin Bidding
5	Joe Musante	19	Affinity
6	Nick Camire	19	Little Green Men
7	Eric Corriveau	19	Red/White Control
8	Craig Chabot	19	Green White Control

Quarterfinals: Craig Chabot - White Green Control

Game One:
D'oh! Craig forgets to take his sideboard out and he gets the game loss.

Game Two:
I apply a lot of early pressure with an Exalted Angel and Craig seems to draw nothing but land. He is able to get his hands on an Eternal Dragon, but I have a hand full of Rewinds and Mana Leaks. I am able to get Craig to recur and try to recast the Dragon for five turns, which allows me to finish him off with the Angel.

Hey Craig, don't worry, man. It happens to the best of us. Dork!!

Semifinals: Seth Wilson - Goblin Bidding
Oh boy! Here we go again.

Seth starts trash talking before game one starts. I don't think Seth realizes that I am very tired, my mind is only focused on Magic, and that trash talk is cheap. Seth says,"This should be over quick."

"You had better hope so - because if I can get to turn 4, I am going to kick your ass."

Game One:
Seth beats me down pretty badly this game. I don't think it matters a whole lot, but by turn 4 I am looking at the Wrath in my hand and thinking, phew! I sacrifice the Flooded Strand and search my library for an island, and start shuffling. When I start tapping my mana I realize I only have three lands. I am at first very confused, and then realize that when I had searched my library I neglected to actually find an island. Needless to say, this was not a good idea, and I lose the game to a horde of goblins as Seth drops a Siege-Gang Commander on his turn.

Game Two:
I laugh off what may be only mistake that I have made all day. It was a stupid move, but nothing serious.

Seth starts very slow this game and I am able to make it past turn 4. Seth never gets me below ten and I smash with a Dragon supported by Rewind for Bidding.

Game Three:
Seth mulligans his opening hand down to four cards and I mulligan my hand down to 5. Seth takes his turn without dropping a land and I can not help but feel excited. I know that if I have enough time to get set up against his deck I have a very good chance. Seth plays an amazing game, coming back to challenge my triple-Circle draw with a triple-Stone draw. I Rewind the only Bidding attempt, recur a dragon, and swing away for the victory.

Finals: Mitchell Breton - Goblins

Game One:
This is the most frustrating game of the day. I am able to get Mitchell and his quick start under control only to never draw a Dragon or an Angel to provide a threat. I eventually draw a Decree of Justice and am able to make four 4/4 flying angels. Mitchell is at twenty life - and if I had one more land, I could have made one more soldier and swung for the win next turn.

Normally, I would never do this; I always cycle for soldiers, and I did not leave counter mana up because Mitchell's only non-land permanent was an active Goblin Sharpshooter. The problem was also that Mitchell had eight lands, so we would be able to pay for any mana leak I might have, and I had already used three rewinds. If I was Mitchell at this point I would be playing anything I drew, so thinking Mitchell would think like I would think, I played the Decree for Angels. During his turn Mitchell plays a Gang Commander. With my life total at eight, I know I am in trouble. I need to draw a wrath off of the top, but fail to do so and lose the game.

Game Two:
I look at my opening hand and see only one land, so I throw it back. In my second hand I see only one land, but the Circle of Protection: Red is game breaking against his deck. He has as much admitted to me he cannot handle it. I know I am taking a risk by keeping the one-land hand, but I still felt I had mojo on my side. My next five draws are land, and I am able to stop the initial rush of creatures Mitchell throws my way. Mitchell casts two Sharpshooters while he has a Warchief and Goblin Sledder in play. I am able to Wing Shards a small army and take the game with Exalted Angel and Akroma.

Game Three:
This game is pretty close to game 2. Mitchell plays a goblin on turn 1 and nothing on 2. I play a Coastal Tower on one and a land on two. On turn 3, Mitchell tries for a Sulfuric Vortex but I am able to Mana Leak. On turn 4, Mitchell again tries for a Vortex and this one resolves. I take the two damage during my upkeep and topdeck a Circle of Protection: Red. I am able to keep the red damage off of me and drop an Exalted Angel. Between the Vortex and the Angel, Mitchell dies quickly.

I friggin' win. As Rizzo would say...

"Heh."

After the tournament the onlookers congratulate me and shake my hand. The story of the day's events circulates around the room and chants of"Katie! Katie!" break out among my closest friends. If it wasn't for her, I would not have gone.

What else is there to say?

Oh yeah.

I know.

Thanks, Katie.

I love you.

Jamie Jensen