The night before Regionals, Mike Singh and I playtested for a few hours. I ended up playing this:

Myco March
4 March Of The Machine
4 Mycosynth Lattice
4 Wrath Of God
4 Darksteel Ingot
4 Echoing Truth
4 Mana Leak
4 Thirst for Knowledge
4 Talisman Of Progress
3 Darksteel Pendant
2 Future Sight
4 Grand Coliseum
4 Flooded Strand
4 Mirrodin's Core
6 Island
5 Plains

Sideboard
4 Rewind
4 Pyroclasm
4 Circle of Protection: Red
3 Sacred Ground

I didn't have much time to playtest or build my sideboard, so my sideboard wasn't the best. The two Future Sights were horrible, and I should have put in two Pulse of the Fields in instead.

Round 1 - Rob Hobcroft - R/G Beasts
Game 1 he played a turn 3 and turn 4 Krosan Warchief. I bounced them both with Echoing Truth on his end step, and played March Of The Machines on my turn. He missed his land drop, and replayed a Warchief. I Leaked it, dropped a Mycosynth Lattice on my turn, and killed him two turns later.

Sideboard : I put in 3 Sacred Ground and took out 2 Future Sight and a Lattice

Game 2 - I got third-turn March, while he attacked with a Leery Fogbeast twice before I bounced it with the Echoing Truth, and again dropped a Lattice and killed him.

2-0
1-0

In between rounds, I played poker with my small stack and ended up with a hundred rares and foils before we started round 2.

Round 2 - Cameron Prescott - Goblin Bidding
This was my worst matchup when I playtested with him the night before.

Game 1 - I had a good start and locked him when I was at five life.

Sideboard - I put in 4 Cop: Red and 4 Pyroclasm and took out 2 Future Sights, 3 Darksteel Pendant, 1 Lattice, and 2 Thirsts. I had trouble sideboarding out because of lack of playtesting. [This seems to be a recurring theme.]

Game 2 - I had three Lattices in hand and no March. I managed to Wrath away his horde of Goblins, but he had the Bidding next turn.

Game 3 - This game I got a CoP: Red, and I knew I couldn't lose, so I dropped March when I could, Wrathed, and played Lattice to won the match.

4-1
2-0

Round 3 - Richard Vernon - G/W/B Jank Slide
Game 1 - This was an easy game. I got the lock off fast, while he only dealt a bit of damage to me with his Viridian Shaman.

Sideboard - I sided in nothing. I wasn't expecting this deck.

Game 2 - I had a bad draw, and when I played my only March I saw all game it got Naturalized. He beat me down with a Gravedigger. Doh!

Game 3 - I had three March, a Lattice and three land in hand. I drew a Talisman, and watched as he Naturalized all three of my Marches. He beat me down with a stupid Gravedigger again, and eventually an Exalted Angel with Astral Slide to protect it.

5-3
2-1

Round 4 - Johnny Fan - Ravager Affinity
I played this guy round 7 at Dueling Grounds when we were both 5-1, and the winner would top 8. He ended up winning, but I got my revenge.

Game 1 - He mulliganed to six, as did I, and he kept a zero-land hand on the draw. He finally drew a land turn 3 and dropped a Clamp, but the next turn I dropped the March and he scoped shortly after.

Sideboard - Here was the mistake I made... I didn't have anything to improve this matchup versus Ravager. So I didn't board anything.

Game 2 - He mulliganed again, but had much better hand. He Mana Leaked my Wrath and my March and killed me shortly thereafter.

Game 3 - He mulled another hand and had a very slow start this time, while I had my God draw. He scooped turn 4 when I cast March with two mana for the Leak back up.

I bought thirty-six rares for 5$ off a friend, and by the start of the next round I had three hundred rares from poker winnings, and sold the rares back to my friend.

7-4
3-1

Round 5 - Rob Stevens
For some reason, I lost the sheet on this match. But I know I won 2-0.

9-4
4-1

I just played some more poker before round 6.

Game 1 - He dropped a set of Urza lands then cast Viridian Shaman, targeting my Talisman and hit me with it until I was at six life. He tried hardcasting a Darksteel Colossus, but I Leaked it. I finally drew the March, played both combo pieces, and won.

Sideboard - I put in 4 Rewind and took out 2 Thirst, 1 Lattice, and 1 Pendant.

Game 2 - This was almost the exact same as game 1, but it came down to whether he had the Naturalize or Oxidize in his hand to answer my bombs. I went for the Combo, and luckily he didn't have either.

11-4
5-1

Nothing happened but more poker after this round, so on to round 7.

Round 7 - Shawn Carmicheal - R/G Land D
Game 1 - He had a good draw, but no big creatures so I didn't have much pressure. I didn't combo him out, but ended up killing him with my Darksteel Ingot swinging for three a turn.

Sideboard - I put in 3 Sacred Ground and took out 1 Lattice and 2 Future Sight. He told me he was boarding fifteen cards against me... who the hell metagames Lattice?

Game 2 - He had a broken hand and got four land destruction spells in a row starting on turn three. I scooped when he Naturalized my Sacred Ground and kept destroying my lands. He eventually dropped a Ravenous Baloth and wrecked me.

Game 3 - I got second turn Sacred Ground, and when he destroyed it with Creeping Mold on turn 4, I ripped another Sacred Ground off the top. I played it, and then he tried to Stone Rain a land, which did nothing except waste his spell. I comboed out two turns later.

13-5
6-1

I was too nervous to do anything, so I just talked to some friends.

Round 8 - Kevin Phelan - Ravager Affinity
This is a very good player that I respect. He is a very fun opponent to play against, but he had some bad luck when he faced me.

Game 1 - He didn't know the combo, so I didn't have that much trouble ending this game with a third-turn March and a fifth-turn Lattice.

Sideboard - I put nothing in... again.

Game 2 - This game was close. I comboed out on defense, but he had the Oxidize for my Lattice and won the game.

Game 3 - He mulliganed to six and kept a bad hand of Great Furnace, Glimmervoid, Frogmite, Skullclamp, Mana Leak and something else. I had a very good start, and played around the Leak when casting March. He had got three Glimmervoids out, and I had to wait to play the Lattice, again in fear of Mana Leak. He finally played a Ravager, so I bounced it with Echoing Truth, and then dropped a Lattice for the win.

15-6
7-1

At 7-1, all I needed was a win. I was very nervous, so I just walked around until next round.

Round 9 - William Ma - U/W Control
I Played this guy in top 8 at JSS at 401 and he beat me, so I was back for revenge.

Game 1 - I had the best draw ever with a second-turn Talisman, third-turn Ingot and Talisman, fourth-turn March. I didn't attack with my Talisman and Ingot so I could Leak anything he played. He played a Temple of the False God and cast Akroma's Vengeance, which I Leaked, and sealed the game up on the next turn with yet another Mycosynth Lattice.

Sideboard - I put in 4 Rewind and took out 2 Future Sight, 1 Wrath and 1 Lattice.

Game 2 - I mulliganed and drew a very good hand. Once again I got turn 4 March, and even though he had a Mana Leak ready, I Leaked right back. Unfortunately for William, he was stuck on three lands and a temple. I ripped another Mana Leak off the top of my deck and played the Lattice while showing him oh-so-fresh Mana Leak, so he scooped and congratulated me. He's a very nice guy and ended up seventh place. Good job, Will.

17-6
8-1

I was so happy knowing a draw would get me top 8, but then found out there were five people with 24 points and one with 22 points. Whoever played Ben Wastle (22 pointer) was forced to play. Thankfully, I played Mike Vasovski, who had 24 points, and drew into top 8. Sacha Bakht played Ben Wastle and barely won. Sacha went 9-1 and captured first place in the 2004 central Canadian Regionals. Congratulations to all of the top 8 players:

Sacha Bakht 27 Pts
Henry Liam 25 Pts
Greg Darkeff 25 Pts
Mike Vasovski 25 Pts
Jason Patterson(me) 25 Pts
Matt Enss 24 Pts
William Ma 24 Pts
Eli Priest 24 Pts

My buddy Mike Singh went 8-2 and got tenth place. I'd like to thank Alan for a perfect tournament, minus the one mistake with Damping Matrix and morphing, as well as the rest of the judges. I also want to thank Alex Lecky for all of the rares and foils I picked up off of him, and Mike Singh and his dad for giving me a ride down and helping me test play.

I will see some of you at Nationals, and if I do well I will write another article.

Jason Patterson