FRIDAY
8:00am
I woke up and found myself with just over two hours to walk the ten minuets Robb Davis’s place so that I could catch a
ride with him to Grinders. Normally this would not be a problem, but since I wasn’t sure where I’d be spending the
night I had to pack for the weekend. This meant packing my hairdryer, assorted hair products, clothes, accessories,
and I guess my deck. Even though everyone I know was telling me not to, I still planned on playing a Green/White deck
that I’d been working on for a couple of weeks.
Here is the list:
The deck is about 70% versus the Red aggro decks, and at least 50/50 versus Angelfire, Omni Chord, and Solar Flare. It
can’t possibly beat any of the Combo decks (Project X, Storm, NarcoBridge), and is behind against most decks with
Blink. I have no idea how it does against the Goyf & Rack, as I had a female visitor from out of town for the week
leading up to Nats, was not able to test much. Going in, I thought I was behind, so I put in a bunch of sideboard
cards for the matchup.
Off to the event center!
On the drive over, the car was filled with the upbeat melodies of Mika and, in particular, his song "Big Girl." In
fact, we all decided that "Big Girl" is the new anthem of Robb’s yellow jeep, and must be played at least once every
trip.
12:30pm
I came to the tournament center to watch the Grinders and to partake in some side drafting. I quickly found myself in
two-on-two, and drafted a passable Black/White number.
I didn’t think it was anything ridiculous, that’s for sure. However, I did crush my first opponent because I kept a
hand of Deepcavern Imp, Triskelavus, Dread Return, and some lands. Long story short I 2-0’d, and we won the draft. I
felt this was a good omen for the weekend.
1:15pm
I found myself sitting at an out-of-the-way table trying to write this article while I waited to finish my draft. This
was not the best of ideas, as players and friends were constantly coming up to me asking me to look at their decks, or
wanting to know if I would draft with them. I have had to implement a new policy that I will only do one draft at a
time. This policy come about as a result of the 10th Edition release, where at one point I found myself in the main
event, a league, and two side drafts. Even though I Top 8’d the main event and won both drafts, I was way too
overextended and barely had time to breathe, let alone eat. Lesson Learned.
At the table next to me, two people were repeatedly testing Angelfire versus Goyf & Rack. A constant hum had started
to fill the room as the number of players at the event continued to grow. There was an excitement building as every
player felt that they would be the next Canadian National Champion. Alas, this dream would become a reality
for only one guy.
SPOILER ALERT!
That guy was Andrew Ting-A-Kee.
END SPOILER.
RANDOM STORY TIME!
A bunch of Alberta players were team drafting after Grinders, back at the hotel lobby. Most of them had failed to
grind into Nationals, so getting sleep was not a high priority. It was about two in the morning, and Josh Roach from
Edmonton was struggling to stay awake. He appeared to nod off a couple of times, but was awoken by his opponent
passing priority and attacking him. However, Josh’s body eventually took full control and he went down for the count.
He woke up about two hours later, and no one was there. The draft was over, and everyone had gone to bed, leaving Josh
to sleep in the hotel lobby, still holding his hand from the last game he vigilantly tried to play.
SATURDAY
During the player meeting, I was seated next to Robb Davis — who is easily the most popular Ontario Magic player. As I
looked around the room, I could see that other players were clearly jealous. I must say I have the best of luck when
it comes to seating for the player meeting. At every GP/PT I always get to sit next to Antonino De Rosa, and even once
I got to sit next to Paulo Vitor Da Rosa.
Must.
Is.
Round 1 versus Charles Xie playing RDW with Goyf
Game 1 he led with a Mountain. That put an extra hop in my step, as I knew the Red aggro decks are my best matchup.
There was not much to say about the game, as all he did over the first two turns was play out a couple of Seal of Fires
and used one of them on my Scryb Ranger. I followed up with a couple of Soltari Priests and a couple of Hierarchs. He
couldn’t really deal with the life gain or the Priests, and I was quickly up 1-0. Game 2 was more of the same, except
this time it was a turn 4 Grafted Priest which got Cloaked up. A 6/5 man of the cloth is impossible for a Red deck to
deal with.
At this point I was just hoping to avoid His Grumpiness Rich Hoaen, as I knew that he was playing the G/B Dredge deck.
I knew I couldn’t beat him as his deck crushes mine, and he is a master and I am not.
1-0
Round 2 versus Paul Hunt playing G/B/U Dredge
Man. No Richie, but I still got paired against Dredge. What a beating... literally. My only hope to win is to
cloak up an early Soltari Priest and hope they don’t kill me on turn 4. In game 1 I had the Priest and the Cloak, but
he had the Darkblast to punk my dude. Paul eventually flashbacked Dread Returned targeting the angriest of zealots,
and a bunch of hasty zombies followed him into the red zone, ending the game.
I sided in the 2 Faith’s Fetters and 4 Saffi, taking out 1 Sanctuary, 3 Trolls, 1 Warhammer, and 1 Paladin.
In game 2 he got off to a slow start but I was unable to punish him. At one point he brought back Ancestor’s Chosen,
putting his life up to 48. I tried to hold on and hoped to deck him, as I had removed all of his Bridges with the help
of a pair of Saffis, but he eventually pushed through enough damage.
1-1
Round 3 versus Feature Match
See the Coverage!
I love getting feature matches and reading about myself, and looking at myself, and talking about myself... This is
undoubtedly due to my extreme narcissism and self-involvement, but man, am I pretty!
2-1
I was happy to be 2-1. I really couldn’t have done any better considering I was paired against an unwinnable matchup.
When I "won" Nationals in 2005 I started off the same way, so I was in good spirits.
Draft 1
My draft was a disaster, and I don’t exactly know what happened. Coming into Nationals I knew that I wanted to be
Black/X or Blue/White as I felt that Black was being criminally under drafted. I started off with a first pick
Tendrils of Corruption and a second pick Strangling Soot. I made a suboptimal third pick when I took a second Tendrils
over Nightshade Assassin, and at the end of pack one I had the three cards just mentioned plus Gorgon Recluse, Funeral
Charm and Undertaker in Black. For my second color I had a choice between Blue (Dralnu and Cancel) or Red (Coal Stoker
and Thick-Skinned Goblin).
I looked through the Planar Chaos pack knowing I was going to take the best Black, Red ,or Blue card in it. I took a
Cradle to Grave. Danger, Danger, Will Robinson! Disaster Ahead! I hoped the next pick would be better to me, as I
could still take the best card in any of the three colors. I took Aquamorph Entity. The rest of the packs were not
much better, and with Future Sight the beats just kept on coming.
Here is the deck I registered:
2 Cradle to Grave
1 Leaden Fists
1 Kor Dirge
1 Funeral Charm
1 Cancel
2 Tendrils of Corruption
1 Strangling Soot
1 Drifter il-Dal
1 Dreamscape Artist
1 Undertaker
1 Deepcavern Imp
1 Aquamorph Entity
1 Unblinking Bleb
1 Veiling Oddity
1 Cutthroat il-Dal
1 Drudge Reavers
1 Mesmeric Sliver
1 Synchronous Sliver
1 Gorgon Recluse
1 Dralnu, Lich Lord
1 Nihilith
9 Swamps
7 Islands
1 Mountain
I convinced myself that I could 2-1 with this pile. Man, was I delusional. This was probably due to the narcissism
and self-involvement we talked about earlier.
Round 4 versus His Grumpiness playing Green/Black
Before we began, Rich noticed that I’d written his name as "Grumpy," so he picked up my score pad, scratched out my
name, and wrote "Dopey." I asked him why... he replied, "I thought we were dwarves."
Fair enough.
Rich really is a master, and he outplayed me on every turn. At one point he even got me to Cradle to Grave his Deadwood
Treefolk. Man, Cradle to Grave really is just a redicu-bad version of Remove Soul. I thought I had a shot in game 1,
as I resolved a Dralnu with six Swamps in play and both Tendrils in my graveyard, but Rich killed me before I had a
chance to use the Lord of the Lich.
I don’t fully remember game 2, just bits and pieces here and there; it’s all a little blurry. I felt like a
prizefighter feels after going ten rounds. I was battered, I was bruised, and I could barely remember my own name
(Dopey, right?), let alone tell how many cards Rich was holding up. Mercifully, the Grumpiest of all Grumpies put me
out of my misery in two quick games.
2-2
Round 5 versus Noah Long playing Marauders.dec
Still a little woozy from having to face the Grumpy Lord of Limited last round, I didn’t really believe my opponent
when he told me that he was running 4 Keldon Marauders with a Snapback and a pair of Dream Stalkers.
In Game 1 he showed that it was no joke, as he laid out his first Marauder on turn 2. It attacked, and he Snapped it
back. The Marauder came back down and attacked again. Then it got Dream Stalkered and was played for the third time.
After it got in one more attack it finally vanished away, but I was left at precariously low five life. After another
Marauder came face to face with the poor man’s Remove Soul, I was down to two life. Riddle me this: How did I die?
Answer: Riddle of Lightning for two revealing his third Keldon Marauder.
Nice Deck.
In game 2 he never drew a Red source, and therefore never did anything. I won that one.
In game 3 I kept a hand of Deepcavern Imp, Tendrils, Cutthroat, Kor Dirge, and 3 Swamps. I drew a fourth Swamp, but a
bunch of Blue cards followed, and therefore I was never in it.
Upset over my loss I went outside to get away from things and find some fresh air. I saw Richie out there, so I begged
for a cigarette. I felt much better afterwards.
2-3
Round 6 versus Danny Wei playing G/R/b/w
His deck was worse than mine, somehow, so I beat him. I really don’t want to talk about this deck any longer, as it is
making me depressed, plus I don’t want to ruin all the street cred that I have with the community. Can we all just
agree that this draft never happened?
3-3
I am on the brink of elimination now. It’s do or die. Man up or go home. There’s no crying in baseball. They may
take our lives, but they'll never take... OUR FREEDOM!
Draft 2
This draft was much better. Pick 1 I took Firemaw Kavu. Pick 2 I took Penumbra Spider, followed by a Fathom Seer over
Gemhide Sliver. My general drafting strategy is to take the best card out of the pack for the first 3-5 picks, then
see what colors are flowing, and Fathom Seer is definitely a better card than Gemhide. In pack 4 I took Dream Stalker
over Grapeshot. I’m not sure if this was correct, but with FTK and Fathom Seer already in my pile I was seduced by the
synergy. In pack 5 the heavens opened up and gave me a sign, for a Greater Gargadon was mysteriously staring back at
me. I couldn’t even tell you what else was in the pack... all I knew was that at least two people in front of me
mispicked. I rounded out the pack by picking up a Goblin Skycutter, a Snapback, and an Orcish Cannonade. In Planar
Chaos the hits just kept on coming, as Serra Angel’s Blue counterpart was nestled in the rare slot. I was absolutely
giddy by the end of Planar Chaos, but knew that I was lacking a little in the removal department. My first pack in
Future Sight held the goods, as I took Ghostfire over Gathan Raiders and Infiltrator il-Kor. Next I took Spin into
Myth over all three of those cards. Rich later informed that Ghostfire was the correct pick there. Booooo.
Overall, I was very happy with my deck, and thought I could 3-0 the pod and stay in contention. Here is what I
registered:
2 Brute Force
1 Snapback
1 Orcish Cannonade
1 Ghostfire
1 Leaden Fists
1 Foresee
1 Spin into Myth
1 Riddle of Lightning
1 Greater Gargadon
1 Dream Stalker
1 Gossamer Phantasm
1 Veiling Oddity
1 Blood Knight
1 Goblin Skycutter
1 Fathom Seer
1 Unblinking Bleb
1 Aquamorph Entity
1 Fomori Nomad
1 Serra Sphinx
1 Synchronous Sliver
1 Firemaw Kavu
1 Boldwyr Intimidator
[And some land, I presume — Craig, amused.]
Round 7 versus Hall of Famer Gary Wise playing Mono-Black
Anytime you get paired against a HoFer you have to be a little nervous, but Gary told me before the match that he was
not planning on playing Day 2 and would scoop to me no matter the result. I thought this was very nice of him. Gary
has done a lot for the game over the years, and it is nice to see him out every now and then still enjoying himself.
The match went the full three games, but his four maindeck Melancholy stunted his mana too much, and I was able to
prevail.
4-3
RANDOM STORY TIME!
Since I was still alive at the end of Day 1 a bunch of us went out to celebrate. Robb, Nassim, and I met up at Ian’s
before we headed out. When we got into the elevator to leave, there was a cute blonde already in there... let’s call her
Rebecca. Unfortunately, the elevator had those thick sheets up, as it was being used to move people in over the
weekend. Everyone laughed at me, as I was unable to stare at myself in the mirrors. Saddened by this turn of events,
I leaned against one of the sheets and scratched it with my fingers. An unusual noise was made by this act, and Ian
quickly asked if I had broken wind. I assured him that I had not, and scratched the sheets again to prove my
innocence. Not wanting to be left out of the fun, Rebecca piped up that actually she did fart, and just
didn’t want to say anything. At this point, the quick-witted and always smooth Robb Davis, who is gay, retorted:
"Yah, but it smells kinda nice."
It was just a little awkward, and just a lot creepy.
Immediately, I said "Wow! Now I know why you’re gay. You have absolutely no game when it comes to women."
Needless to say, Robb was mocked mercilessly for the remainder of the weekend for his way with fairer sex.
SUNDAY
There was a PTQ starting at the same time as Day 2 nationals play, and this left a lot of 4-3’s with a tough decision.
Do they continue to play in the main event knowing that they have to 5-0 to make Top 8, or do they roll the dice with
the PTQ? One of the players who chose to drop from Nationals with a 4-3 record was King Grumpy. You see Rich, has
ONLY 19 Pro Points this season, and since the PTQ was for the first PT of next year he was technically not qualified
for it, even though all he has to do is just show up at one of the remaining two Pro Tours to secure Level 3 status.
Rich was giddy about being able to play in a PTQ for the first time in years, so obviously he got the most ridiculous
pool ever. Here was his deck:
Greenseeker
Essence Warden
Deathspore Thallid
Augur of Skulls
Gemhide Sliver
Mire Boa
Hedge Troll
Vampiric Sliver
Spectral Force
Teneb, the Harvester
Corpulent Corpse
Citanul Woodreaders
Slaughter Pact
Thrill of the Hunt
Sunlance
Temporal Isolation
Strength in Numbers
Ichor Slick
Strangling Soot
Sprout Swarm
Tromp the Domains
Enslave
Zoetic Caverns
Pendelhaven
7 Forest
7 Swamp
2 Plains
Rich shockingly made Top 8, before conceding to his roommate, Steve "The Wolf" Wolfman, in the semis.
Round 8 versus Sam Lau and his G/W/u deck.
Not much to say. Sam crushed me in two straight, as his deck was a lot faster than mine. I was never really in either
game. With this loss, my record fell to 4-4 and thus ended my quest to become the 2007 Canadian National Champion.
Sorry to let you down, faithful readers.
RANDOM MAD PROPS!
Before I leave this week, I want to say a little bit about our New Canadian National Champion Andrew "AMAT" Ting-A-Kee.
It’s no secret that Canada hasn’t produced a World Class Magician since Richie Rich first came to fame. Over the last
two years he is the only Canadian player to reach level 3. However, I think this all could change with Mr. Ting-A-Kee.
I’ll admit that I have underrated both his skill and potential over the last year, but he has clearly proved me wrong.
One of the reasons I think I didn’t give him the credit he deserved was that due to school and work he had never had
the opportunity to play in a PTQ. In his career he has only played in two events that were higher than 24K. 2007
Canadian Nationals and GP: Toronto. AMAT made Day 2 at GP: Toronto, a feat that clearly showed how much potential he
had. AMAT is known to be a relentless tester when it comes to Constructed and has even managed to get himself 1900+
Limited rating while not having the time to fully commit to the game. In fact, on Saturday night we called him to see
if he wanted to join us for a pint to celebrate his 6-1 start. He declined, as he was busy testing Constructed in case
he made top 8. Now that, my friends, is how you win Nationals. I’m not sure how much time he is going to
have to focus on the game with the other commitments he has in his life, but I know that if he did Canada could finally
have a second Level 3 player again. Just remember last year Paul Cheon, Luis Scott-Vargas, and Ben Lundquist were all
virtual unknowns coming out of U.S. Nats, and look where they all are now. I expect AMAT to do very well at Worlds,
and know he will represent Canada with pride.
Congratulations Andrew, and good luck at Worlds (not that you’ll need it).
Until next time,
J. Evan Dean
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