(Since I started reading Magic articles online - which is pretty much since I started playing Magic - I have seen plenty of tournament reports, but never a report from an online tournament. So, to start this new category, I present my report - which is also my first attempt at Magic writing. Enjoy!)

Last Sunday, I played in E-League's Type 1 Master. I've actually only played T1 online once before (when I used a Natural Order deck to some success) and I don't play in real life, so I was kind of at a loss as to what the metagame was. But since Fact or Fiction will be restricted in January and all the colored Power Nine cards are blue, I figured that most people would be using either mono-blue or something base blue for a last shot at using FoF. I checked my T1 folder in Apprentice - four decks. Natural Order, Discard, Sneak Attack, and Burn. Discard is a crap deck, and Sneak Attack loses to anything blue. Natural Order is good - but again, blue can be a problem. Burn is strong against anything, plus it sideboards Pyroblast, so burn it would be. Here is the list:

Burn
17 Mountain
1 Strip Mine
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Incinerate
4 Fireblast
4 Chain Lightning
2 Goblin Grenade
1 Wheel of Fortune
1 Mox Ruby
1 Fork
1 Black Lotus
4 Mogg Fanatic
4 Goblin Patrol
4 Goblin Cadets
4 Jackal Pup
4 Ball Lightning

Sideboard:
4 Pyroblast
3 Nevinyrral's Disk
3 Gorilla Shaman
3 Bottle Gnomes
2 Scald

Test games showed a pretty consistent deck, despite the lack of land. The fastest goldfish was about turn 4. Meanwhile, enough people showed up that the master would be five rounds of Swiss, then a cut to a top 8. I figured on the worst possible top 8 to be 3-2, or 3-1-1.

Round 1- Smennen, Monoblue
Pretty straightforward; I throw all my burn at him, he counters what he can. I take game 1, but he drops an early Morphling game 2 and the clock runs out. Game 3. I draw some early Pyroblasts and force down creatures, which go all the way as he fails to draw a Morphling or a Keg.

Matches 1-0
Games 2-1

Round 2- ??, Hatred
As soon as he drops Carnophage and Sarcomancy, I know exactly what he's up to. I take burn over creatures to try and block the Hatred, then kill off his zombies. Game 2, I side in two Disks and three Bottle Gnomes (they're 1/3 creatures versus his 2/2s, plus I can gain life in response to Hatred). Unfortunately, I don't see any of them in time as he summons up a horde of zombies and delivers twenty damage. Game 3 I stick with my sideboarding plan. I'm forced to Disk as he begins to build up zombies. I follow that up with a Fireblast that sends him to four, leaving me with two mountains on the table and a Goblin Grenade in hand. He drops Carnophage and passes the turn, and I've got two turns left to win. I cross my fingers and draw...Goblin Patrol! I drop the Patrol and Grenade it. He attempts to respond with Contagion, but I explain that sacrificing the Goblin is part of Grenade's cost, and his life drops to zero.

Matches 2-0
Games 4-2

Round 3- Larit, Burn
Game 1 was a record-breaker. Here's how it went:

Me- Mountain, Ruby, Lightning Bolt, Chain Lightning (fourteen). Go.
Him- Ghitu Encampment, Go.
Me- Mountain, Ball Lightning, attack (eight). Go.
Him- Mountain, Go.
Me- Mountain, Sac two, Fireblast, Fork. (zero).
Him- GG.

A turn 3 win! Not bad at all. Unfortunately, I can only guess that he's playing burn. I bring in three Gnomes. Game 2 is a typical burn vs. burn, but I end up topdecking more. Incidentally, Chain Lightning isn't very good in the mirror match. Neither is Goblin Cadets, for that matter.

Matches 3-0
Games 4-2

So I'm 3-0 in a five-round tournament. There are three other 3-0's: simz, SmiRK, and (Team Academy's favorite), Negator. I'm ranked 3rd and I'm up against simz, who is 4th. We ID and so do Negator and SmiRK.

Matches 3-0-1
Games 4-2

Next round, the standings show I'm in 2nd. I'm against SmiRK (in 1st) and we ID with little debate. Meanwhile, simz ID's with Negator and later is disqualified for threatening the TCHJ.

Matches 3-0-2
Games 4-2

So the Top 8 is as follows:

1- SmiRK
2- Me
3- Negator
4- jimmyz
5- czajak
6- xbox
7- Frag_1
8- Bizzy

Turns out that xbox can't use a computer, as brimstone spends close to twenty minutes trying to get his deck. He can't DCC, can't email, and mouse skills are doubtful. When he says he's going to restart his computer, we vote unanimously (including the TCHJ) to drop him and move everyone up. So the modified Top 8 is:

1- SmiRK
2- Me
3- Negator
4- jimmyz
5- czajak
6- Frag_1
7- Bizzy
8- Bye

So SmiRK gets a bye and I'm against Bizzy for the quarterfinals.

Quarterfinals- Bizzy, 5C Blue
Bizzy is playing some sort of 5-color base blue control deck. He takes game 1 easily with a Morphling and I start to get worried. In come four Pyroblast and two Disks (he's using lots of artifacts). Game 2 is very close and he ends up at one life, and I have one card in hand (Pyroblast) and a Mountain on the table. He Demonic Tutors for FoF and passes the turn. I draw Chain Lightning. I look at the situation - I can Lightning him now, but if one of the six cards in his hand is a counter (he has UU open), he can Fact or Fiction into a Morphling plus counters and beat me down... Or, I can hold the Pyroblast and try and stop the FoF. I finally decide to take the risk and play the Lightning. He says"gg" and shows me the two Force of Wills in his hand (he couldn't cast them at one life...), and it's onto Game 3. Game 3, he can't seem to find a Morphling and I can't seem to find a kill card. I attack him down to four and then he drops The Abyss. Bad news. I untap and all my creatures die. I've got three Mountains and a Ruby on the table, and a Fork in my hand. I pray for a topdeck and get it - Fireblast. I immediately sacrifice two Mountains and drop the Blast. He Mana Drains, and I play Fork. He says"hs." I'll leave you to figure out what that means.

Matches 4-0-2
Games 6-3

Meanwhile, Frag_1 has beaten Negator and jimmyz has beaten czajak. Semifinals are SmiRK vs. jimmyz and Frag_1 vs. me.

Semifinals- Frag_1, 5C Blue
His first few drops are almost identical to Bizzy's, so I assume the decks are similar. Most of my burn is countered and his Morphling finishes me off. Game 2, I bring in Pyroblasts and all three Disks. He Tutors for....Circle of Protection: Red!!! Not good at all. He drops the Circle, and I'm frozen until I draw a Disk. I eventually do get the Disk but it's countered, followed up by a Morphling which goes all the way.

Matches 4-1-2
Games 6-5

So I missed the finals and the gift certificate, but it's okay because I had a good time and this is my best placing so far. jimmyz gets the upset victory over SmiRK and goes on to beat Frag_1 and win the whole thing. Their decks should be posted here, as well as mine. Well, that's all for today! Hope you enjoyed this.

Andrew
kavutitan26@yahoo.com

P.S.- Any errors made regarding opponent's names, decks, or so on, are accidental and based on a lack of sleep and playing online Magic at 1 a.m. Sorry to anyone this might affect!