Every year in Ontario, hundreds of people flock to the Greater Toronto Area to try their hand at becoming the Provincial Champion. A lot of professionals consider these championship tournaments to be the"Whose Line is it Anyway?" of Magic tournaments where the results, like manners to a modern teenager, just don't matter. However for the majority of us whose successes in Magic are highlighted with less prestigious things like, 2^nd place in last week's eight man pick-up draft; or 'proof were still living in the past things' like qualifying for Nationals in 1999, champs is a worthwhile and educational event.

While preparing for this year's tournament our playgroup followed pretty much the same formula we always do:

1) Build Decks.
2) Test Decks against each other.
3) Tweak Decks to better beat the decks we've played against.
4) Realize that we should probably check our amazing decks against established archetypes.
5) Test deck against real gauntlet.
6) Either abandon decks and grab a net deck, or tweak deck some more and pray.

I had a deck I was quite happy with all through the six steps, it even survived step five. The whole idea behind the deck was to over commit creatures in play and then punish people if they cast mass removal. The deck was built as follows.

4 Diabolic Tutor
3 Nantuko Husk
3 Nekrataal
2 Twisted Abomination
1 Grave Digger
4 Infest
4 Terror
3 Smother
2 Naturalize
3 Natural Affinity
1 Caller of the Claw
3 Consume Spirit
2 Mind Sludge
1 Unholy Grotto
5 Forests
18 Swamps

Sideboard:
4 Mind Wrench
4 Mind Rot
1 Smother
2 Naturalize
1 Caller of the Claw
1 Nekrataal
2 Persecute

The deck worked fairly well - there was even enough creature destruction to handle Goblins, sometimes even the Goblin God draw. Often the deck would kill be sneaking through an unblocked Nantuko Husk then using Natural Affinity to sack all your lands to the Husk. Sometimes it would play like Ernham Geddon with Twisted Abomination playing the part of Ernham Djinn and Infest/Natural Affinity playing the part of Armageddon. Where the deck shined, however, was when my opponent cast one of five quite popular cards:

Akroma's Vengeance
Wrath of God
Infest
Pyroclasm
Starstorm

A Natural Affinity in response to any of these turns into an Armageddon as well, and since I was prepared for the land loss and they were not it usually swung the game in my favor. The only real problem deck was land destruction and the sideboard helped against that. Now don't take that wrong I am not claiming that the deck easily beat all archetypes except land destruction. I am just saying that it had a fair chance against them.

Then a new deck entered our gauntlet: Affinity.

I play tested against it. I changed Terror to Dark Banishing, I added more main Deck Naturalizes. I lost. Almost every game. I mean were talking a win percentage so low the Detroit Tigers would look at it and feel bad.

My deck could not beat Affinity. So I had to decide, face certain death against a constantly-gaining-in-popularity Affinity deck or change decks.

As Daffy Duck (and most other Bugs Bunny enemies) used to say,"If you can't beat 'em, join 'em!"

So here is what I played:

4 Nim Shrieker
4 Frogmite
4 Myr Enforcer
2 Broodstar
4 Lightning Greaves
3 Welding Jar
4 Talisman of Dominance
2 Talisman of Progress
4 Dispersal Shield
3 Thirst for Knowledge
3 Thoughtcast
2 Temporal Fissure
2 Rush of Knowledge
1 Riptide Replicator
2 Island
3 Tree of Tales
2 Great Furnace
3 Ancient Den
4 Seat of the Synod
4 Vault of Whispers

Side Board:
4 Leonin Bladetrap
4 Dark Banishing
3 Stifle
4 Annul

The following are cards I feel I need to explain:

Great Furnace/Tree of Tales/Ancient Den
Through testing, I knew I wanted six artifact lands and two Islands. The first ones I found (after the four Blue and four Black ones, which are a given) were the ones listed above. A few days before the tournament I was able to obtain the rest of the lands, but decided to keep the mana base the same because it constantly left my opponent wondering what I was capable of casting.

Lightning Greaves
Lightning Greaves is the best uncommon in Mirrodin bar none. Yes I realize that Icy Manipulator is a classic and is also uncommon, but classics are things of the past. I also know that a lot of people will argue Isochron Scepter and how broken it is, but it's not. A good card? Yes! Broken? No! Better than Lightning Greaves? Not a chance.

Untargetability and haste are both granted to any creature you desire for a cheap original investment of two mana and an impossibly low transfer fee of nothing. That's right - all the banks of the world take note! A zero transfer fee. If you are playing Affinity and not playing any Lightning Greaves, then stop playing Affinity. If you are playing Affinity and playing less than four Lightning Greaves, then you need to rethink every card in your deck and make sure because the Greaves are that damn good. (I still stick to my guns on this point even though the winner of this year's Ontario Provincial Championships, Jean-Marc Babin, was playing a zero Lightning Greaves Affinity build).

Dispersal Shield
Why are people not using this card in Affinity? By the second turn, you usually have a four-mana critter out and soon after that a seven-mana or even ten-mana permanent. In Affinity, there are very few situations where this card is not better than Mana Leak. The only time all day I wished I had a Mana Leak instead of a Dispersal Shield was in the very last round when someone cast Akroma, Angel of Wrath against me. However on numerous occasions I was able to stop Wrath of God, Akroma's Vengeance, or other would-be devastating spells when my opponent had more than enough to pay for a Mana Leak.

Riptide Replicator
This is in the deck because... Well, it made for an easy sideboard decision game 2. Okay, so it was a horrible mistake - I had one slot left and thought this would work well. I was wrong. This slot should have gone to Fireshrieker. How could I, of all people, not think of Fireshrieker. It would have helped this deck (ok it would have been better then Riptide Replicator at least).

Cards I don't need to comment on because they are a standard Affinity Build
The rest.

We arrived at the tournament - five guys from Welland in two vehicles. I was designated to drive some people home early because I was expected to go 1-3 drop at best. Since I had a lot to do that day I was determined that if I had two early losses or three losses at any point, I would drop.

We got to the tournament site, sleeved our decks, registered them just in time, and the tournament started on schedule.

One hundred and sixty-seven people meant eight rounds.

Round 1: vs. Soldiers
My opponent told me that this was his first big Magic Tournament. He was playing Soldiers.

Game 1: My opponent saw only a few land and I had a decent draw; by the fifth turn, I had a rather large Broodstar flying in to beat on him. His ground-based soldiers could do nothing more than wave as he flew over for the kill.

Game 2: I had no idea what to side in, so I just pretended to put different cards in and then shuffled it up. He saw a much better draw this game and was applying pressure. My Broodstar, who was playing defense, was holding back his Dawn Elemental and three or four other creatures (my Frogmites and Myr Enforcers were preventing an alpha strike). Eventually he started getting through with four damage a turn as my chump blockers died to Glorious Anthem, Daru Warchief, Shared Triumphed Soldiers. He kept his Dawn Elemental back to block, and when I was finally at low enough life to be in real danger I drew a Temporal Fissure to bounce his blocker and finish him off with my Broodstar.

1-0

Round 2: vs. R/W Land Destruction
Game 1: I had no idea what my opponent was playing and by the fifth turn all I had seen from his deck was a Plains, a Mountain, and two cycled Lay Wastes. Unfortunately, I was unable to take advantage of this, as all I saw were two Islands. He broke the mana stall before me and cast a Stone Rain on my Island. I was eventually able to get a few Welding Jars out and regenerate my land enough to get a Frogmite or two in play - but I had nothing capable of racing his Exalted Angel.

Game 2: I had a solid draw this game but so did my opponent. Turn 2 land destruction in the form of Shatter, was followed by Stone Rain, Molten Rain, Lay Waste, and finally Exalted Angel. My life total went 20-18-14-10-6-2-Dead.

I was a little disappointed because I thought my Affinity build could handle land destruction - but I have to admit, I had never tested against Red/White land destruction.

1-1

Round 3: Vs. R/G Land Destruction
Game 1: From the beginning, this game went well for me; on turn 2 I tapped out to play Lightning Greaves, and then a Welding Jar allowed a free Frogmite to swing for two. His third turn took out an artifact land, but a Vault of Whispers allowed me to tap out for Myr Enforcer, throw the Greaves on him, and hit for six. A second Myr Enforcer the next turn left my opponent chump blocking with Birds of Paradise. Eventually he got a Troll Ascetic out to slow things down, but he couldn't hold off the Enforcers.

Game 2: Neither of us had an explosive draw this game and since he had sided out most of his land destruction I was not having any mana issues. My Myr Enforcers and Nim Shrieker had just ate his life down to a measly 6 points when he finally got the mana he needed to cast the Starstorm in his hand and regenerate his Troll Astetic. All of a sudden things were looking bad. Since I had no Lightning Greaves in play and no cards in hand my opponent had no fear of retaliation and started sending in first one Troll, then a second, then a third!

Two land draws and a chump blocking Frogmite left me at 5 life, with no cards in hand, no blockers, and staring at the wrong end of three ticked off Troll Ascetics. By now, my friends had gathered around the table, their games having already finished, to see how I was doing. They told me after the game that they were sure it was over for me. I had never had a lot of luck when it came to topdecking - but in this game, I made up for a lot of my past topdecking failures. I drew a Thoughtcast, cast it, and victory rose to my hand in the form of Lightning Greaves and Nim Shrieker. I played both cards and swung in for eight points in the air - two more points than what my opponent was at.

2-1

Round 4: Vs. Mono Blue Control
Game 1: I really hate mana screw. I understand it happens, but that doesn't make it any more palatable for all concerned. My opponent sat there with one Island and one Stalking Stones as his only land for close to nine turns. This victory was up there with one of the hollowest victories of all time

Game 2: It didn't take long into game 2 for me to realize that he was fully prepared for Affinity. Culling Scales ate my Welding Jar and Talisman of Dominance, and then Quicksilver Fountain came down and started turning all my lands into Islands. Without the cost cutting that the Artifact Lands provided, I couldn't cast the Myr Enforcers and Broodstars in my hand without him Mana Leaking them. Meanwhile I was being beaten down by the robotic version of Jens Thoren: Solemn Silmulacrum. My life total went as follows 20-18-16-14-12-10-8-6-4. Then I cast a Nim Shrieker and mentioned to my opponent:"Oooh, fear the 2/1 Nim Shrieker."

As fate would have it, a Judge was watching our game at that very moment (he had just started watching) and he quickly said"Actually, it's an 8/1 Nim Shrieker." Assuming he didn't fully understand the board situation I explained that the pile of lands in front of me were all Islands."Yes", he replied"Artifact Land - Islands." My opponent immediately questioned the ruling and the judge went on to explain that as of 8^th edition Land types have been clarified, they have a Supertype (Land, Basic Land, Artifact Land) and a Subtype (Island, Mountain, etc..). Quicksilver Fountain changes the subtype of the land to Island. Thus, my Seat of the Synod had been changed from Artifact Land, to, Artifact Land - Island, not Basic Land - Island like we had thought. My opponent appealed this to the Head Judge, who came over and explained the ruling was indeed exactly as the other judge had described.

Side Note:
This entire episode was done in the most courteous and professional manner I have seen in a long time. My opponent was questioning the rule because he did not understand it that way (nor did I), and the Judge offered to bring the Head Judge over because the ruling had such a dramatic effect on the game.

Since we had determined that my lands were still Artifacts, I had no problem adding a Broodstar to the table to join the Nim Shrieker and add Lightning Greaves (previously cast) to each of them. Since he had no blockers, I soared over with my two fliers for the kill. However I forgot one thing: He was still at twenty. My Broodstar and Nim Shrieker were only going to do a combined eighteen points of damage. He took the damage, going to two and then activated a Stalking Stones to help Jens finish me off.

After this game my opponent commented to his friend that the score was one land screw to one rules screw - and hopefully, game three would be a good one.

Game 3: I sided out a Temporal Fissure and two other cards this game (Riptide Replicator was gone in the second game) because his biggest offensive threat was really Solemn Simulacrum and he had played an Oblivion Stone at some point last game so I wanted Stifles. I started out fairly fast and forced him to put out an Oblivion Stone. He waited for me to attack before popping the Stone, but a Stifle on the Oblivion Stone left him at a perilously low three life.

On his turn, I was expecting another Oblivion Stone as he had the mana to both cast and activate the Stone, but instead he dropped down a Platinum Angel. I beat him down with my Myr Enforcer and Broodstar to ensure he would be sufficiently dead when the Platinum Angel left play and then we played"draw, go." After a few turns of no action, my opponent cast Bribery and took my last Broodstar and then suicided it into my other Broodstar. Finally, he drew what he was waiting for, Oblivion Stone. While I was still playing"draw, go" he used the Stone to save the Angel and then activated the Stone to blow up all my non-land permanents and swing for four. I immediately played a Nim Shrieker I had been saving for just such an occasion and we were back to draw go. After a few more turns of"Draw, Grimace, Pass the Turn," I finally got my Temporal Fissure. My opponent only had one Rewind left in his deck, so I decided to go for it.

With nine land and a Nim Shrieker as my only permanents I cast Talisman of Dominance, Talisman of Progress (he allowed both), and then Temporal Fissure targeting Platinum Angel, Platinum Angel and (you guessed it) Platinum Angel. He responded with Mana Leak on Temporal Fissure 1, Mana Leak on Temporal Fissure 2 and Mana Leak on Temporal Fissure 3.

I have to be honest and say that I was not expecting that at all, as I thought the only way he could have survived was with Stifle. However, since I was prepared for Stifle I tapped my two Talismen and then cast Dispersal Shield on the third Mana Leak, in response my opponent tapped two Islands and... shook my hand. For a moment, he had me going.

As asked for, Game 3 was a great game.

3-1

Round 5: Vs. Mono Black Control
Game 1: I couldn't have asked for a better draw this game.

Opponent: Swamp.
Me: Vault of Whispers.
Opponent: Swamp.
Me: Seat of the Synod, Welding Jar, Lightning Greaves, Frogmite. Attack for two.
Opponent: Swamp.
Me Seat of the Synod, Myr Enforcer. Attack for six.
Opponent: Swamp, Diabolic Tutor for (presumably) Mind Sludge.
Me: Vault of Whispers, Nim Shrieker. Attack for fourteen. Dead opponent.

Game 2: No God draw this game, but I still thought I could get a victory. On his fifth turn, he Mind Sludged all but one of my cards away - a Broodstar. I cast a Talisman, and then only needed one more artifact to be able to cast my Broodstar. He didn't give me the chance, as he Sludged again while I only had one card in hand, catching the aforementioned Broodstar. I was never able to recover - and two Consume Spirits and one Platinum Angel later, the life totals were 36-0 in his favor.

Game 3: I sided in three Dark Banishing for the Platinum Angel and sided out three Thirst for Knowledge. The game started out with a Chrome Mox and two Swamps for my opponent but he missed his third land drop. I, on the other hand, did not have land issues, but with three Lightning Greaves, a Talisman of Progress, and one Frogmite, I was not exactly applying pressure.

Next turn he saw Swamp number three and attempted to cast a Solemn Simulacrum. However, I decided that he didn't need a fifth mana source so I used Dispersal Shield to prevent Jens from entering play. After two more turns, he was still stuck at three swamps and I still had no black mana source for my Nim Shrieker. I drew a Temporal Fissure and used it with the two Welding Jars in my hand to leave him with just a Chrome Mox in play, meanwhile Frogmite had beat him down to eight. On my opponent's turn, he drew, showed me the Swamp he just drew and put it in play.

I drew a Vault of Whispers and put him out of his misery.

4-1

Round 6: Vs. Charbelcher Combo
Game 1: This game started normally for me and I had a respectable force of Frogmites and Enforcers before God got angry and sent all my creatures to the graveyard. I was attempting to recover but drew many mana sources and no threats. Meanwhile, my opponent had played a Raise the Alarm and nothing else. I finally drew a threat - a Riptide Replicator, of all things, which I cast for five. The turn after my Replicator hit play, my opponent resolved a Proteus Staff and used it, revealing his entire deck. On my turn I tried to Rush of Knowledge into a Dispersal Shield, but I had no luck and died the next turn to a twenty-one point Belch.

Game 2: In went the Stifles, out went the Replicator and two Welding Jars. My opponent came out like a house on fire with a second-turn Raise the Alarm and a third turn Proteus Staff. On the fourth turn I was looking at the angelic face of Akroma, Angel of Wrath, who proceeded beat me into the two-loss bracket.

4-2

Round 7: Vs. Combo Affinity
This match was a Feature Match and was covered magnificently by Duncan McGregor of mtgontario - so rather than give a blow-by-blow account, I will just point you there.

5-2

Round 8: Vs. R/W Control. Played by Ian Lippert.
Game 1: I came out strong this game and was beating Ian down with a Frogmite and a Myr Enforcer. He attempted a Wrath of God on the fifth turn, but I was ready with a Dispersal Shield. I left enough mana open to bluff Dispersal Shield for the inevitable Akroma's Vengeance. Ian had the Vengeance, but decided not to cast it because a Dispersal Shield would lose him the game. Instead, since he was at six, he decided to just keep the Vengeance and cycle a card after I attacked to take out my Frogmite. My Nim Shrieker next turn drew out his planned cycling card, and he was forced to cycle the Vengeance to stay alive. His turn gave him no answers and he conceded.

Between games he asked if I had the Disperal Shield; I told him I was bluffing, and he just smiled and said,"It worked."

Game 2: My opening hand this game contained two Myr Enforcers and a Dispersal Shield; I tapped out on turn 3 and played an Enforcer. Ian dropped a fourth land and passed the turn. With my opponent at only four lands, I figured I had one more turn of safety from Akroma's Vengeance because I was fairly certain he was not playing Chrome Mox. With that in mind, I tapped to one mana to drop another Myr Enforcer and swung for eight. Somehow I had forgotten about Temple of the False God, and Ian was kind enough to"imprint" it into my head for good when he dropped a Temple of the False God and destroyed my entire side of the table with Akroma's Vengeance. I continued playing, but was quickly overwhelmed by an Exalted Angel.

Game 3: I mulliganed into a decent draw this game and soon had a Myr Enforcer and Frogmite applying pressure with one more of each in my hand as backup. I was also holding the much needed Dispersal Shield. A fifth turn Temple of the False God by Ian was not followed by an Akroma's Vengeance - instead, it was followed by a Wrath of God. I decided to let this through, since I had backup cards in hand and didn't want to waste a Dispersal Shield on a non-Akroma's Vengeance card.

I played a new Frogmite and Myr Enforcer on my turn and left enough mana open to Dispersal Shield the Akroma's Vengeance. Ian had other plans, though, he dropped another Temple of the False God and tapped out to cast Akroma, Angel of Wrath. Akroma has a converted mana cost of eight. The highest I had was seven. This would be the first (and only) time all day that I would rather have had a Mana Leak than a Dispersal Shield. Akroma was a huge clock and the only defense I drew that game was a Nim Shrieker, who refused to block Akroma no matter what incentive I offered.

Final Record: 5 - 3

All in all, the day went fairly well for me. Affinity is a strong deck, but I was not playing the strongest build. Cabal Interrogator needs a spot and despite how good they may seem, I just don't think Thirst for Knowledge is everything it is cracked up to be. The deck also needs to be heavy on counters and Broodstars. Getting a Broodstar out and protecting it is how Jean-Marc Babin won the tournament. The players at the tournament were, for the most part, great to play against and trade with... The lone exception being the loudmouthed chin beard who somehow managed to talk in a voice that was only marginally below the maximum allowed before safety requirements would demand ear protection.

For the first time in a long time I managed to place higher than all my friends in the standings

30 Alward, Wayne K 15 points
75 Marshall, Billy 12 points
85 Smith, Josh 10 points
95 Regimbal, Jay 9 points
156 Cassibo, Tim 3 points

Congrats to Jean-Marc Babin for winning the whole thing with an Affinity deck.

Thanks to my trade whores for coming home with close to a hundred new cards and not trading away anything I will really miss.

Wayne Alward
Double Strike Dude.
Jagar on MTGO