I was out, you know.

Done, kaput. I had slung my last spell, built my last deck, worried for the last time about getting that last card for the sideboard the morning of the tournament. I was ready to go, I’d reached the end of the road, insert cliché here.

States, 2003. A tournament report on this very website details my travails that day. Broken car windows, stolen decks, a transmission ready to head for the great beyond, and somehow making the Top 8 without a sideboard are all included in that comedy of errors. Without a lot of cards, without any real hope for the future, I decided I was ready to hang it all up.

I had a whole thing planned, too. 'Magic player, of no distinction, retires' was going to be the headline at your local website. I would sing the praises of the game, fondly remember the first pack I ever opened (an Unlimited booster over 10 years ago), my first Pro Tour Qualifier (ALICE, in the ancient days of 1996-97), my one Pro Tour qualification, the few times I made day two on a Grand Prix, and, of course, my 3 Top 8s at States. 3 times, 2 finals, no plaque.

But I digress.

It sneaks up on you. You haven’t played in almost two years, and then, your girlfriend is out of town on a Thursday. She's never out of town on a Thursday. But then she is, and you drift around, looking for something to do.

Bar scene? Nah, done that.

Karaoke? Please.

Suddenly, that itch scratched again. It was a Thursday. Draft day at Dragon's Lair.

"What the hell?" is the thought that you have. It’s not like you were doing anything else; why not head on down and play some cards again. Beats watching Tron or something.

You’ve missed all the prereleases, you have no idea what the hell is going on. Near as you can figure, everything in Magic went Japanese all of sudden. All these weird cards, this weird block, and then something stirs in you.

This is fun.

This is really fun. Again.

All of a sudden, your girl is working on Thursdays, because, let’s face it, you’re not around anymore. Every Thursday is consumed as you work off the rust, figure out this 'Arcane' nonsense, and try to come up with the correct pronunciation of 'Arashi' [I'd be much happier if everyone figured out that there are two syllables in 'Jitte' -Seamus]. Then the first PTQ comes, and you throw together a deck, not expecting much, when, lo and behold, another top 8, top 4 even, secure in the knowledge that had you played the top 4 right, you would have won that one. Of course, you had no chance in the finals, but hey—you could still play this game.

Then it's off to the next PTQ, and there is where you first hear about a new block coming, previews starting soon. You sigh, because you know that there’s no turning back. And when that prerelease comes a-knocking, you’re ready to go, winning a pod and half a box in your flight. All of a sudden, you’re back in.

And then, like the albatross facing the Ancient Mariner, the one tournament comes around again. The one, stupid, inconsequential tourney that you could never seem to win. States. Where your mark of futility is measured in the ways that you continue to come so agonizingly close, yet can’t quite punch through. 4 State tournaments. 3 Top Eights. 2 Finals.

0 Plaques.

This is your year, you can feel it. This is why you came back after missing States last year, this is the reason you’ve built your first trade binder in two years, this is why you’ve downloaded Magic Workstation to play late into the night.

It’s your time.

Ladies and Gentlemen, this is my story of the 2005 Nebraska State championships.

Sometime after my reconnection to the game, I realized that there was just too much history to fully grasp in time. Two years is a long time to be away from Magic, and the last time I had played a constructed tournament before Kamigawa block was Standard right after Mirrodin was released. As such, I figured that it was useless to try to figure out the past, and best to just work on the future. Near as I could tell, Arcbound Ravager and a card called Skullclamp were pretty good (For those who think I’m exaggerating, please believe me when I tell you I am not—I literally hadn’t picked up a Magic card while those two cards were legal in any format).

That in mind, I hit the forums and skimmed for useful information. I printed out the Ravnica spoiler and simply giggled at the thought of getting to this format on equal footing. I wanted to play Rock; who didn’t? I remembered it, and Ravnica looked like it only made it stronger.

This is an illusion. Believe me—Standard Rock needs some work before it’s the best deck.

Deck after deck I designed. But the one that stood out for me was the first attempt at abusing Heartbeat of Spring and Eye of the Storm. Believe me, that deck went through a lot before I got it on the right track. I just had a feeling about the Eye. And then the Star City forums starting popping up about it in a couple of threads, and they showed me how to really build the deck and gave useful ideas all around. It all started to come together.

At Dragon’s Lair, I found the players, the ones who worked at the game, and got down to the designing. In this, the deck was tuned by me and Rob Hinton, who also essayed the deck at States. And the list?

It went a little something like this:

Heartbeat of Spring Combo A Standard deck, by Rick Poehling 8th place at a States/Champs tournament in Lincoln, Nebraska, United States on 2005-10-23 Print this deck!
Maindeck: Creatures 4 Drift Of Phantasms 4 Sakura-tribe Elder Enchantments 3 Eye Of The Storm 3 Heartbeat Of Spring	Instants 4 Early Harvest 4 Telling Time Legendary Creatures 1 Maga, Traitor To Mortals 1 Meloku The Clouded Mirror 1 Myojin Of Seeing Winds Sorceries 4 Compulsive Research 4 Kodama's Reach 2 Recollect 1 Sins Of The Past 2 Time Of Need Basic Lands 12 Forest 9 Island 1 Swamp	Sideboard: 4 Boomerang 4 Mana Leak 3 Shadow Of Doubt 1 Arashi, The Sky Asunder 1 Cranial Extraction 1 Glimpse The Unthinkable 1 Time Of Need
Download this deck in Apprentice format!		Download this deck in Magic Online Text format!

Subtle nuances are the difference. Let’s start with the deck core. Heartbeat with Eye is simply better than just Heartbeat, the reason being that you can steal a game that you couldn’t otherwise win. It allows you to utilize alternate win conditions besides Maga, it gives you versatility in being able to copy the spell you need to go off, as opposed to simply playing for Heartbeat. I tested both versions extensively—I can say, without hesitation, that Eye is better. 3 of each was the number that I arrived on as optimal, based on over one hundred playtest games with various iterations of the deck on Workstation. Basically, it gives you the chance to go off without ever casting Eye, while the Eye is in your back pocket. Having that is a great strength in my opinion- versatility in a combo deck isn’t something you see every day.

Meloku, the Clouded Mirror? Well, give the credit for that one to Rob. He figured, and I agreed, that most of the good Black/X decks would run main deck Cranial Extraction, and we needed to be ready to win without Maga, plus Meloku is simply awesome against Hypnotic Specter. Of course, you can win without Meloku too—find out how when you get to my round 2 writeup. It simply diversifies your threats. Myojin isn’t even a question for me—in all my playtest games after he went into the main deck, I managed to lose only one game after he hit the table. I was asked by various people if he wasn't just a 'win more' card, and I responded that he wasn’t a 'win more', he was a 'win now' card. Since I was already running the 3 legends, with Arashi in the board, I ran the Time of Need toolbox, of which card 2 worked quite well—the third in my board was unnecessary.

I did not play with Tidings, which I found to be the very definition of a 'win more' card. Same with Weird Harvest—this deck already plays two enchantments that are symmetrical in power, and I never saw the need to add a spell that did the same. To each their own, but my testing showed them to be unnecessary and cumbersome. I was consistently going off on turn 5, and that was good enough for me.

I sideboarded against anything that was playing control. Regrets? I missed Needle Storm. I had Arashi, though. I would have liked another Cranial Extraction. Shadow of Doubt worked great. Boomerang dealt with Ivory Mask quite well, and was almost better than counters; in a playtest game, I bounced all my opponent's permanents before I killed him, with Boomerang on the Eye. Mana Leak was surprisingly ineffective, but I wasn’t encountering much permission—even so, I wish I had run 3 Leaks and 1 Dosan.

Okay, there’s the deck. So, how about the tournament?

Off we go.

I pick up Wayne from Dragon's Lair at 8:30 in the morning, and we head to Lincoln. On the way, I'm getting ready in my head to play today. Once there, I get the last few cards for the board, while Rob and I also run around putting together a third copy of the deck for a friend. It all gets done, we sleeve up, and the first round of pairings go up.

From here on in, we’re going to have a problem, as my first round convinced me that I was going nowhere and stopped me from taking names and notes for the rest of the day. I have a clear memory of the games, but names are pretty much gone unless I know you personally—if I forgot, sorry.

Round 1 - U/B Mill
He opens with an Island, and I groan inside. What am I up against? I look at my hand, which has Elder, Reach, 4 Lands, and a Harvest. Not the best, but I’m not sending that one back.

I nut it up and we play draw-go for the first few turns, with my Elder and Reach starting the acceleration. He plays a couple of Signets, and I have no idea what is going on until I hear the magic words:

"Traumatize?"

Great. The mill deck. I can and should beat this one.

Of course, 'can' and 'should' are relative terms. He casts two Glimpse the Unthinkables, Muddle the Mixtures a Telling Time, and pretty much stops me from doing much except saying the word 'go'. Finally, 5 cards left in the deck, and I go off—for 20. However, an earlier Psychic Drain for 8 kept him alive, and he Drained away the rest of my library before Maga crunched his face.

Sigh.

Game 2, the Leaks come in, and I get a quick start, looking to go off as fast as possible. Unfortunately, this is after Glimpse/Twincast manages to hit Maga, both Recollects, and the Sins. By the time I can go off, I have no victory conditions left in my deck. He finishes me off quickly.

0-1.

Not exactly how I wanted to start the day. I find out there are 7 rounds- 5-1-1 is what we need to get in. No less. I had given away my loss as early as possible. I resolve to make a comeback.

Actually, that’s a bald-faced lie—I go outside, smoke, and curse in new and imaginative ways, none of which are appropriate for a family website.

Oh well, I’m in the 0-1 bracket, right? I'll at least pick up an easy match this time around, right?

Silly rabbit. Instead, I get paired up against the best player I'll end up playing all day.

Round 2 - Rock
He’s running Rock, and he has correctly put Persecute in the main, something that I know some B/G players weren’t doing. Those players are insane. Persecute is the bomb, yo.

So, here’s how the first game goes—Turn 3 Persecute. Turn 4 Extraction, naming Maga. Turn 5 Extraction, naming Meloku.

So I lost, right?

HOLY......(wait for it)........PIKULA!!!

(By the way, if there’s someone who doesn’t get that, I’m not going to explain it—it just proves that I am very, very old.)

His turn 3 Persecute knocks 4 cards out of my hand, including Telling Time, Research, and 2 Drift of Phantasms. I have an Elder on the table, and 4 lands (after a Reach). My hand is now land, Heartbeat, Reach. Turn after this, I draw Myojin. He Cranials Maga. I draw Eye of the Storm. He Cranials Meloku. This is his only mistake of the entire match, really. I untap, draw Harvest.

At this point, he has a confused look on his face—there’s no way I can win, outside of Elder beats. I have seven lands on the table.

Play Heartbeat, add 8. Harvest. Add 6, cast Myojin. Draw 9 cards. Add 8 more, Harvest off the Myojin, 6 left in pool. Tap for 14, play Eye, Transmute Drift into Harvest, play Harvest, play Compulsive Research. Play Recollect, getting back Drift, Transmute into Research. I now have something like 15 cards in hand, with Harvest, Research, and Recollect on the stack. I cast the second Research, put all the effects on the stack, and say the magic words: "Research, targeting you."

Thanks to Recollect, I keep getting back Drift until all four Researches are on the stack, and target him all the way, until his library is gone. His look of realization was priceless when he figured out what was going to happen. Had he taken Research instead of Meloku off the 2nd Cranial, I probably would have scooped immediately, as I would have figured the game out of reach. He kicks himself for missing that the Research reads target player, and we side and shuffle for game two. I know I got lucky, as he’s a good player, and won’t miss it again.

Game two, I Cranial his Cranials on turn 4. I should have smooth sailing. I combo out on turn six, with him holding Putrefy and Last Gasp, leading to my only rules controversy of the day, and one that I can’t get a straight answer on despite having talked to 3 different Level 3 judges over the last week, so if someone can provide a definitive answer on this , I’d appreciate it. I put 35 mana in my pool, and proudly Maga him for 32.

Now, this was incredibly stupid—I had a Mana Leak in my hand, and all I needed to do was combo him for 30 for the win. Therefore, I’m shocked when he puts Putrefy on the stack, targeting Maga, after his coming into play ability goes on the stack [Maga's counter-adding CIP ability isn't a triggered ability and doesn't use the stack. If it did, he'd die before he got the counters The only way to prevent the life loss would be to remove counters from the card before the life-loss ability resolves. If Maga leaves play before that ability resolves, the game uses Last Known Information, and the player loses life equal to the number of counters Maga had when it left play. In this case, LKI is used, and your opponent loses 30 life. -Seamus].

His argument, which is completely reasonable, is that if the Putrefy removes the Maga before his CIP ability resolves, it fizzles, since he isn’t there to get the counters. Under the rules as I understand them, he would be correct, but he still loses the life based on the last known information on the stack. 3 judges are called over, and after discussion, rule in my favor. My opponent is gracious in defeat, and I am on the watch for the rest of the day. A week later, and I’ve had conflicting emails about what the hell actually happens. Regardless, I take the win and even the record.

Lunchtime. I relate the story. Rob is 2-0, and he had missed the Research win too. He keeps his eye on it for later rounds, resulting in a hilarious situation against a Battle of Wits deck later, as he gets Cranialed for Maga early, and decides to give it a go decking Battle of Wits—he manages to get about 75 cards in the guy’s hand and about 100 in the graveyard before he finally runs out of steam.

Round 3 - WW/g
WW/g is awaiting me in the next round, and the games are less than memorable as I combo him out on turn 5 both games. Move along, nothing to see here. 2-1 now, and Rob takes his first loss to move to 2-1 as well.

I think we all know what’s coming.

Round 4 - Rob, Mirror match
Pairings for round 4 go up, and I scarcely need to look to know me and Rob are paired up. We are playing card for card main decks, so we may as well flip a coin [I just post 'em. -S]. Instead, we roll a d20—even, we play, odd, we draw. It comes up 15, and we shake hands without a fight, knowing we have to win out now. We play two quick ones and I win them both through lucky draws.

Round 5 - WG
White and Green again, bigger creatures. No problem in the first game. I lose game two holding 2 Harvest and 2 Heartbeat in my hand—I have six turns to draw a Drift, Time of Need, or a card drawing spell to get either one. Instead, I draw all my Elders and die. I disappoint the spectators for our third game as I Maga for only 35—I had two Harvests on the Eye with one in hand, but felt no need to rub it in.

Round 6 - Fungus Fire
My opponent plays game one well, and kills me the turn before I go off, Seed Sparking a Heartbeat in the middle of an attempt on turn 5. Game two, I get a God draw and can go off on turn 4 if I want, but wait to do it safely on turn 5. Game three is close, as I side out all the Eyes and beat him down with Meloku and followers. The game ends with me at 6 life.

All of a sudden, I’m 4-1-1, and looking for my 4th top 8 at states.

Round 7 - Dan Paskins, Fungus Fire
Dan Paskins, the TO for many Hobbytown events, a guy I’ve known for years, is playing today. He’s my opponent for Round 7, and it’s win and you’re in. Fungus Fire again. I go off in game one on turn five, literally top decking the Eye on the last turn I have. I have mixed feelings about game 2, as I really don’t want to be the guy who knocks out Dan—but I also get the best draw I’ve seen all day, as short of a lightning bolt striking me down, nothing was going to stop me in this game. Dan can do nothing as I fondle my deck lovingly [ew. -S] on turn 5, spitting out a Maga for 40-something.

Top 8

In an article about the World Series of Poker about 4 or 5 years ago, in reference to one of the competitors, Andy Glazer wrote "....then I realized I had it all wrong—he wasn't staring at the money. He was staring at the gold bracelet they draped across the middle of the bills." Tom congratulates me on getting there again, and I ask him to see the plaque. Yeah, it's a stupid tourney, but it means something to me. I want that plaque. I don't care about the cards, the playmat, any of that crap. I want that plaque.

I take a deep breath and see that my first round opponent is...

Quarterfinals - Ryan Vonderohe
All of a sudden, it’s the night before the tournament. Last minute play testing. Ryan is running B/G aggro. We play about 13 games or so, and I win 8-5. Something I notice—every game he plays a turn 2 Hippie, I lose. He does this in 3 of the 5 games he wins. I have the first game advantage, but I know that he’ll have his sideboard ready for me, so I really want that first game.

I lose the die roll, and draw a pretty good opening hand. He opens with forest, Elves of Deep Shadow. I have a sinking feeling on turn 2, as he drops a swamp and drops.....turn 2 Hippie.

Ouch.

I put up the best resistance I can, and the Hippie yanks a land on his first go-round. An Elder allows me to Reach, and I’m actually okay—I have a lot of outs in my hand, so long as he doesn’t hit Heartbeat on this turn, I’m okay. He drops Jitte, equips, and attacks.

He rips the Heartbeat.

I go through the motions, but it’s elementary from there.

0-1.

Houston, we have a problem.

I side in the Shadows, Cranial, etc.

Ryan drops Shambling Shell on turn 2 this time, and I breathe a sigh of relief. I Time of Need for Myojin on turn 3, he Cranials Maga on turn 4. Turn 5, I draw.....Meloku. No problem. I missed a land drop, so I drop Drift of Phantasms as a blocker while I get set up, and he Putrefies it.

I have to recover from that—he left the Putrefies in. I was shocked. The Shell takes me from 13 down to 10, and would prove to be the most important spell that he cast that game.

I drop Meloku, draw Arashi, cast him. He’s sitting on Open Fist in his hand, but can’t cast it for fear of Myojin. I’m getting ready to start making tokens and to send this thing to game 3, when he casts a second Cranial, getting rid of the Myojin. He then drops the Open Fist safely. I should be okay, though, and I am, until he drops.....Shizo, Death’s Storehouse.

All of a sudden, I’m facing a two turn clock.

I can’t make enough tokens in time, and my creatures are too afraid to block the Open Fist, who smashes me out of the top 8 at states for the fourth time.

He had 2 Putrefy left in the deck after board, 1 Shizo. He drew both.

It wasn’t meant to be.

There’s no fairy-tale ending here.

But there is one thing......I’m back.

See you at the extended PTQs.

CONGRATS: All the Top 8; Matt, who’s been playing almost as long as this old hoss, for winning the whole show. THANKS: Rob, for being a great playtest partner, Ryan, same thing; the entire crew at Dragon’s Lair- Josh, Andrew, Patrick and the rest; Tom, Jesse, Skylin and everyone at Hobbytown USA for running another smooth tourney.

Questions about this epic? Email me: jedimacewindu@yahoo.com

I’m out,
Rick Poehling