Order Info

The Place: Alonzo's Sportscards, Marietta, OH
The Time: 9am EST - ? (turned out to be 8:30p)
The Formats: Type 1 & Type 2 constructed

Invitation to the Tournament of Champions was based on two factors:

1) You had won at least one tournament of any format in the past few months at Alonzo's, or

2) You were invited based on a personal thank-you from Alonzo for attending many events or sinking a lot of cash into the game.

There was a lot of trash-talk leading up to this event. Several players were gunning for yours truly, several players of great skill and solid deckbuilding. I was the leading contender at the event with 10-plus tournament wins, the closest to me being two fellows at four wins a piece... So there was a price on my head.

The competition was shaping up to be largely Sligh territory. There were three tables of about five to six persons each, and there were at least two Sligh players at each table (one had three). My initial choice was Pox, as shown below:

Pox Wox, Pox variant (Original build based on information gleaned from the Beyond Dominia Primers, may BD rest in peace and honored memory)
4 Nether Spirit
4 The Rack
3 Cursed Scroll
4 Pox

3 Spinning Darkness
4 Diabolic Edict

2 Unmask
4 Hymn to Tourach
4 Duress

4 Dark Ritual

1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor

16 Swamp
4 Mishra's Factory
1 Quicksand

Although I had the three maindeck Spinning Darknesses, this Sligh territory tends to run a lot of anti-Oath type Sligh creatures (however, no one plays Oath, so figure that one out), and I often enough don't have a good, solid target for the Darknesses. Additionally, do not ever cast Pox against Sligh.

In addition to the Sligh dominance of the metagame, I was seeing a lot of beatdown, which Pox can sometimes stall out against. No, I had a better idea against this metagame:

Pegasus Hero)
3 Land Tax
2 Scroll Rack
1 Enlightened Tutor
2 Jayemdae Tome (Draw-Go hate)

4 Argivian Find
1 Planar Birth
1 Soldevi Digger
2 Tormod's Crypt (Reanimator/Replenish hate)

2 Zuran Orb (I'm considering cutting at least one of these, since they were often pretty useless)
3 Story Circle (Sligh hate)
1 Ivory Mask
1 Ivory Tower
1 Island Sanctuary (more synergy than Moat in this build)

4 Swords to Plowshares
2 Wrath of God (random creature build hate)
1 Seal of Cleansing
2 Aura of Silence

1 Mox Diamond
1 Lotus Petal
1 Sol Ring
3 Kjeldoran Outpost
4 Mishra's Factory (all four artworks; Summer is signed by both artists)
4 Wasteland (manland hate)
13 Plains

SB: 3 Masticore (vs. Sligh, et al)
SB: 1 Wrath of God (vs. Sligh, et al)
SB: 4 Honorable Passage (vs. Sligh, et al)
SB: 1 Warmth (vs. Sligh, et al)
SB: 4 Spiritual Focus (vs. Pox and Null-And-Void)
SB: 2 Tormod's Crypt (vs. Reanimator and Replenish)

Regulars to the Type 1 community will be stunned by the crack-induced build above, as it really butchers K-Run's original theories and applications. The reasoning behind it all is that K-Run faces top-tier decks like Keeper, Oath, Stacker2, SuiBlack, Stompy and so on. These decks don't show up at all around here. This is Sligh territory, first and foremost. After that is Draw-Go and Reanimator (hence the MD hate - 2 Crypts, 2 Tomes, etc.).

Also, no one around here plays Wasteland, so the land-based win conditions will often enough pull me through. Sacred Mesa, on the other hand, would get nailed all the time by Disenchants and counter-magic. I made the switch based on the lack of Wasteland, the abundant counters, and Sligh/Reanimator (meaning that it had to be quicker than 5cc to be effective, as well as it not having an upkeep).

There were five at my table, meaning four rounds. I would likely have to go 4-0, 3-0-1 or at least 3-1 to make it in as second seed. They are only taking the top two seeds from each table, so I would have no leeway.

Round 1 - Jonathon Eaton, Sligh
Jonathon's deck mirrored my own Sligh deck a great deal, even down to the inclusion of Urza's Bauble for cheap, quick 0cc cycling. However, Jonathon goes anti-conventional by including Raging Goblins.

Jonathon is a solid player in the area and has been invited on the basis of winning a tournament some time ago. He has a good deal of experience with Type 1 and switches between Sligh, Trix, and BSB in tournament play.

My opening hand contains the usual Parfait options, plus an Ivory Mask. I opt to keep, as I would need only draw into one of the seven removal spells to stall his early rush and shut down the late game. If one of the three Story Circles show up in my next three draws, I'll be all right.

Jonathon opens quickly, playing out three Jackal Pups over the first two turns and bolting my Factory. I see an Swords, but he sees two Factories and the beatdown is just too much. On the fifth turn, I draw into a Story Circle that mocks me, as all my land are gone to Zuran Orb and he's got four two-power beaters on the table. Sigh.

Side: +3 Masticore, +1 Wrath of God, -2 Tormod's Crypt, -2 Jayemdae Tome

I see the Ivory Mask in my second opening hand, again, plus a Zorb, so I keep. Jonathon opens quick early, again, playing out Puppy, burn for my Factory, a Ball Lightning and three Raging Goblins. I see another Factory a turn or two later, but he's got a Fireblast for it, swinging in with a legion of dorks. And, that's all for me, folks.

This was really a terrible way to start the day. I had sided in the appropriate cards and nothing at all seemed to work. I'm beginning to think about getting rid of at least one Zorb, as they really do not save you against Sligh (which is the matchup they're in there for in the first place), only succeed in allowing Sligh to turn all its Shocks into Stone Rains. On the other hand, it can be amazing with a lower mana curve of spells in hand and Land Tax, Zuran Orb opening up.

Planar Collapse may warrant more testing in this slot, as you can bait them into over-committing and possibly Wrathing for 1W, provided you can survive the one turn you need to bring it active, and provided he doesn't Shock/Bolt any of his creatures to keep you away from your Collapse. All right, so maybe that's not such a great idea. Testing will tell.

0-1, 0-2

Round 2 - Erik Shoeppner, Power Red
Erik's deck, as I saw last time, has an insanely high mana curve with Mana Flares and Ruby Medallions allowing him access to the higher casting cost spells quicker. I'm expecting more of the same, today, however, Erik has made some innovations.

I won't bore everyone with needless details, as his mana curve is way too high to be effective in T1. He conceded by turn 6, both games. Game one, I had a turn 3 Story Circle: Red that followed his Mana Flare, and he suddenly realized he had no way to overwhelm me. My sideboard strategy included +4 Honorable Passage, +1 Warmth, taking out the Crypts, Tomes and the Digger. Erik stalls on mana turn 2 and cannot recover while I lock the game down between an Ivory Mask and Story Circle: Red. He concedes to save time.

1-1, 2-2

Round 3 - Matt Kerby, UW Control
Matt has spent a lot of time and money attempting to refine and develop his own ideas, from the ground up.

You see, Matt is like every one of us at one time - he plays the cards he wants to play. I know this ellicits a great deal of snickering among the medium tier of players out there, however, hear me out.

Once upon a time, there was a Canadian lad that played a mono-white control deck, sporting Sanctum Custodians and other damage prevention/life-gaining engines. After a year of playtesting, he developed a mono-white, creatureless control deck that shook the tiers of established T1 play. His name was Raphael Caron and the deck he designed was Deck Parfait (see the BD Primers for the full story - or if they're down, e-mail me and I can forward the information).

Yes, it looked like garbage when he first started out. But, he kept with it. And, he developed a truly great deck. That is why I never laugh at people playing janky cards. There is always the possibility that what you're seeing could very well be the next K-Run, the next Deck Parfait.

Magic, by its very design, promotes creative deck building. There is no perfect deck, there are merely decks that are (at the time) perfected. We would do well to remember this.

Moving on, both before and after the match, I wondered at Kerby's design. He had very little countermagic and very few actual solutions. What he did have, though, were cards that came at you from different angles. Soltari Champion can often go unanswered and beat down for ten to twelve before someone realizes its a threat. Opal Titan can prove a definite problem to any deck not packing a myriad rainbow of removal, or Wrath. I once saw Kerby drop the Titan against a U/B Tog deck. I told the Tog player, well, guess you lose. He's like, why? I said, because that janky piece of cardboard right there has Protection from both the colors of removal in your deck, and you've no global removal. Therefore, he can block your Tog 'till the sun comes up again and you won't be able to do squat about it.

In addition, Kerby's deck has a lot of one-ofs and two-ofs. What he lacks in consistency, he gains in surprise value - and around here, this may actually pay off.

We shuffle up and Kerby's really bucking to do me in. We've faced each other on and off, Kerby having yet to take a game from me... But he's still trying, and you gotta admire that.

I open with quick beatdown in the form of Mishra's Factory, until Kerby answers with Fog Bank. I squeak through a Tormod's Crypt, in case it comes down to decking/graveyard recycling and we stare for many, many turns. If I can force through the Digger, I can assure myself of winning through decking, providing I can answer his win conditions. Matt drops a Telepathy early and my surprise value is shot.

The Soltari Champion shows up, but I punch through a Story Circle: White. Matt fires back with Icy Manipulator. Icy!

We're taking punches for two from each other, as I drop another Factory to keep the beatdown going, but that Icy just shut down that plan. I get an Ivory Tower through, neutering his Champion. Land Tax makes an appearance, making sure my hand will be full and keeping me ahead in the life-gaining race. I find an Aura of Silence finally and play it - and am shocked when it resolves. I blow away his Icy and a Faerie Conclave via Wasteland, but Kerby spites me by Disenchanting my Ivory Tower. He may not have been aware that the Factory is an artifact creature when activated.

Factory beatdown continues and Kerby has no Icy to hide behind, now. After ten turns of beats, Kerby gives.

I side in the extra Wrath, taking out a Tome, going on the theory that I'll avoid decking myself if it comes down to it. His build seems fairly centered around dropping out hard-to-deal-with creatures, hiding behind Walls and so on, plus, the Icy. The Wrath should let me get through my Factories, more, I hope.

Game two also sees a Factory in my opening hand, followed by the Ivory Tower. After my lucky start, Kerby answers with Plains, Fog Bank, again. That's fine, I tell myself. I can play the waiting game way more than he can with all that card-drawing I'm sure is lurking in there. I draw into a Balance, and have played out a good bit of my hand, so I Balance, sweeping away the Fog Bank and tearing some cards out of Kerby's hand. I mention to Tom Wood to my left that I just Balanced for a Fog Bank. He laughs and shakes his head.

Kerby comes back with another Plains and a Disenchant for the Ivory Tower. My lifegaining days are over, boss. Sigh. I draw into another Factory, play it, attack with the one and pump him, bringing Kerby to seventeen. Kerby answers with two Icies over the next couple of turns... But I draw into an Aura, blowing his foily one.

He begs me:"Not the foil, man!" But I'm a jerk and say,"Yes, Matt - the foil one. Teach you to play Icy on me!"

I draw into another Plains and play it, swinging in with the mighty Factory Workers, bringing Kerby down to ten. He untaps, draws, plays a Soltari Champion... And an Island Sanctuary. Island Sanctuary! My own tech coming back to bite me in the butt! Crap and double crap!

I force through a Story Circle, but my Argivian Finds get Quashed. That hurt, as it's four-sixths of my recursion. If I can't force through the Digger, Kerby wins the recursion/decking game. However, I've still got beats on the table, if I can get rid of his Sanctuary.

There's a Soltari that gets Zephid Embraced, but Wrath sweeps all that away. However, I get a Scroll Rack going, which 'draws' me into an Enlightened Tutor. So, I end-of-turn Tutor for my own Island Sanctuary, which gets forced through.

At this point, I explain to Kerby that we draw. He's like, huh? People are patting Kerby on the back, offering their sympathies. I explain how both of us can skip our draw steps to the Island Sanctuary into infinity. He says he can still win. I ask, with a Story Circle: White on the table? He says nope. I ask if he can disenchant it or something, which he says, yeah... And then I ask if he can do it and win in the next three minutes? He just shakes his head, so I offer the handshake.

2-1, 3-2

Round 4 - Ian Boice, Mono-Black
Ian and I love to play each other. Occasionally he rips me apart, which gives him no end of inspiration and desire to keep coming back for more, which is just great. This game is meant to go back and forth. A battle of titans is far more enjoyable than a bye.

My opening hand is unremarkable, but I like one card in it enough to keep it. Ian's playing Mono-Black, so the Mask in my hand is just icing.

I have Swords for all his early drops, consisting of Abyssal Specters. I get Duressed, I get Hymned.... But Parfait is great at coming back from these sort of plays, and I establish control while beating him down with Factory Workers. I draw an early Digger that neutralizes the effectiveness of his discard, in the long-term.

Finally, Ian busts out some defense in the form of a Hornet Cannon. It may look like jank, but its going to stop the mighty mighty Factory worker from doing much. However, Ian is tapped out. I draw into another Find and attack him down to ten. He lays a Highway Robber, sucking the life from my bones down to eighteen and pumping himself back to twelve. At the end of Ian's turn, the Robber decides it'd be a great idea to go farming and Ian's back up to fourteen.

I draw a Planar Birth, which does nothing to punch through that Hornet Cannon; however, he's tapped out, and I get to attack him down to twelve. He untaps and lays a Thran Dynamo to power his Cannon. Great. I draw into a Wasteland, which is not a solution to the Cannon, mind you. However, I attack, anyway - and before thinking about it, Ian takes himself down to ten with his friend sighing next to him."What?" says Ian sheepishly. His friend points at the Hornet Cannon and I make the appropriate motion with my hand, telling Ian,"That's not the Hornet Cannon you're looking for. I can go about my attack step. Move along."

Ian repeats after me.

On his turn, Ian is really singing an ode to Tourach tonight and I'm losing cards wholesale... But the Digger is there to make it work for me, rather than against me. I draw into a Balance and play the Tome. Ian plays a Lim-Dul's High Guard. I draw into Enlightened Tutor and play the Balance, clearing the High Guard, at least. Then, I get all excited and swing my Factory worker into a Hornet token and have to take a moment to wipe the drool from my stupefied face."I are good at Ma-geek, I are." I proclaim softly.

Ian follows up my grandstand play with a Jet Medallion. I draw into a Story Circle and play it, naming Black. Ian passes back without any action. I draw into a Plains and play it. Ian draws and plays the hated Icy Manipulator, so I use his end of turn to fetch the Aura of Silence, finding my Seal of Cleansing already at the bottom of my graveyard. Sigh. I play it out and blow the Icy, getting all excited, again, and swinging into another Hornet. There are voices, somewhere, far away, but I can't make out what they're saying...

Ian takes his turn playing a Lurking Jackals. We both chuckle, as he can't seem to bust through my defenses enough to threaten my life total. I draw into the other Aura and play it out, blowing the Hornet Cannon off the face of Dominaria and sigh with relief as Ian forgets to make a token to fog for a turn. I attack him down to eight and his friend abandons him, disgusted. I gotta give Ian credit, I've never seen a guy with more determination... But more on that some other time.

Ian manages to find an Order of Yawgmoth, but the Order missed its calling in life and decides the life of an Amish farmer would be great. Another Mishra's Factory shows up to seal the deal.

I side in +3 Spiritual Focus, taking out -2 Tormod's Crypt and -1 Jayemdae Tome. My opening hand consisted of Wasteland, 2 Swords to Plowshares, Mishra's Factory, Plains, Lotus Petal and Seal of Cleansing. Not surprisingly, I keep.

Ian drops a Swamp and leads with Lurking Jackals. He gives a"whoo!" proclaiming he only has to deal me ten more damage for the Jackals to come down on me. This guy's great. I draw into a Swords to Plowshares. I chuckle, putting it with the two others, and play out the Factory. Ian groans at the sight of it.

Ian passes it back without a play beyond a Swamp. I draw into... Swords to Plowshares. Que? Eh, oh, well. I lay the Plains and play out the Seal, cautious of Icy or Hornet Cannon. Ian drops another Swamp and passes. Lots of mana on that side of the table building up.

I swing for some time with the Factory worker before it gets Befouled! The Digger shows up, again, followed by a Scroll Rack, which finds me another Factory and I begin the beatdown in earnest. Some crazy Scroll Racking on my part (six a turn or so) gets me to the good stuff, and I have answers for everything Ian plays. He Rains another Factory, but it's not difficult for my mad card-drawing to find another. He Befouls that one. Good grief. At least the Digger's getting 'em back every time they get nailed.

Finally, an Outpost shows up and the hordes stomp over Ian, as he has no mass-removal for them.

3-1, 5-2

At 3-1, I have nine points, second seed at the table. Jonathon's having a great run at twelve points, undefeated, and is securely in the Finals. I am as well, though, as they're taking the top 2 from each table, giving me some breathing room for the next leg of the tourney.

Next: Type 2! DAngel faces Tog, Stompy, and twin concessions!