I would respond to those people with a few numbers from the US Census: Rhode Island had approximately 1.1 million people in 2000, while Massachusetts had 6.3 million. Those numbers break down to 25.5 magic players per million attending RI states, and 22.7 players per million attending MA states.

As another comparison, think about the 15.8 players per million attending Maryland states (84/5.3 mill). I think Rhode Island did pretty well turning out Magic players.

The deck I took with me from Aquidneck Island (Rhode Islanders know where this is) to Your Move Games, Providence, on Sunday, was my version of Squirrel Opposition. It's listed on the YMG site and on StarCity as U/G or U/G Madness, maybe because YMG listed the 4x Oppositions as 4x Opportunities. (That's since been changed - The Ferrett) The build is the result of mostly internet article and message-board reading, plus a little testing vs. Timmy decks down at the local shop, plus the fact that I just can't leave a net-deck alone..

Land (23)
1 Deserted Temple
2 City of Brass
10 Forests
10 Islands

Creatures (18)
3 Birds of Paradise (all I have)
3 Llanowar Elves
4 Merfolk Looter (indispensable, even if I had run no Logics)
2 Wild Mongrel
3 Phantom Centaur
1 Hystrodon
1 Quicksilver Dragon (gotta have two different morph critters, plus my son loves dragons)
1 Ravenous Baloth (I wish I had more)

Spells (20)
4 Call of the Herd
4 OPPOSITION
3 Squirrel Nest
1 Bearscape (stunk it up...I never played MBC, and it should have been Nest # 4 at least, or even an Aquamoeba to sac to the Baloth would have been better)
2 Counterspell
3 Circular Logic
1 Boomerang (I hate not having any main-deck answer to random nonsense like Ensnaring Bridge or Worship)
2 Deep Analysis

Sideboard:
2 Roar of the Wurm
3 Quiet Speculation
3 Naturalize
2 Ray of Revelation
1 Confiscate
2 Symbiotic Elf (vs. Wrath of God, Mutilate, Pyroclasm, and other mass removal - got the idea from a guy who posted to a message board)
2 Static Orb (Sideboard MVP, helped win every game I played it, wish I had three in the main deck)

I know the deck has 61 cards, and I know I have somewhat random stuff like the Hystrodon and the Dragon. But I play in real life so rarely that I wanted to make sure I could have a little fun, even if I scrubbed out (did I scrub "in" to the top 8, perhaps?). The sideboard is heavily influenced by the late Saturday returns on the success of Rift and Wake Decks, and the almost assured presence of Opposition decks. All of those decks were present, but I played against none of them.

Here's the report, as far as my notes can take it.

Round 1 - Richard Shay (eventually got 2nd) with Quiet Roar
Game 1 - I played a Turn 2 Nest, and a turn 4 Opposition. He never got any blue mana, and I think he never got past 3 Forest and a Wild Mongrel before he conceded to Squirrel-lock.
Game 2 - Rich got at least one Careful Study, followed by two quick Quiet Speculations that loaded his graveyard with Wonder, Wurms, and Rays of Revelation. My life total went 20-14-8-....I attacked with a Call, a Centaur and a Mongrel, hoping to draw my random Boomerang, but I could not win the race.
Game 3 - Rich's deck "malfunctioned" (his word) once again, leaving him with only two Islands for mana. I think he had to mulligan once as well. He did not have much of a chance as I beat down with Call tokens and maybe some Squirrels.

It was after this round, I think, that I watched the end of a Wizard vs. Elf duel. The elf player was over fifty life due to a Wellwisher, but could not seem to break through the wall of wizards. The wizard player seemed to have the board stable, but could not bounce any of the elves already on the table due to at least one Steely Resolve. The match ended in a draw. Cool!

Round 2 - Greg Tuttle with Black/White Cleric deck with Rotlung Reanimators, Doomed Necromancers, and Oversold Cemeteries
I had seen Greg just the day before at my local card shop winning a small, unsanctioned tourney with this same deck.

Game 1 - I countered an Oversold Cemetery, and perhaps a Doomed Necromancer, and Greg's smallish black clerics and zombies could not stop the Centaur beatdown.
Game 2 - I brought in two Naturalizes and two Static Orbs. Greg started to build up the cleric count, with Rotlungs and a Nameless One. I did not let him keep the engine in play, countering one Cemetery, and Naturalizing another. He did get a Circle of Protection: Green in play, but I was able to get out the Dragon! This threat forced him to Wrath, and I subsequently played out a Centaur and followed by a Static Orb without Opposition to slow him down. The Centaur slowly beat him down as he continued to sac clerics to a Starlit Sanctum and make 2/2 black Zombies. The Opposition came out late to completely lock him down while the Centaur finished.

While Greg could not get his engine working against me; I later saw him holding off a Wake deck in game 3. He eventually lost to overwhelming Elephant tokens and a graveyard with just too few creatures to support the two Cemeteries he had out. However, recurring Beloved Chaplains that make a zombie token and cause the opponent to lose two life or their controller to gain two life when they die, can be very annoying!

Round 3 - James Hanson (eventually got 3rd) with AGGRESSIVE Br beatdown
Game 1- James got a game loss for mis-registering his sideboard. That was bad luck for him, since his sideboard (Pyroclasms, Stone Rains) could potentially wreck my deck.

Game 2 (un-sideboarded) - James mulliganed to six, while I mulliganed to five. Fortunately I drew Opposition and all four Calls of the Herd to match up against his Nantuko Shade, Wretched Anurids and Nantuko Husk. He was able to Reckless Charge his Shade once or twice before I started tapping down his creatures.

Round 4 - Manuel Pacheo (eventually got 1st) with U/G Madness with Cunning Wish and splash black. I was paired down this round and could not draw in
Game 1 - I am not sure from my notes how this game played out, but it appears I got beat down by Manuel's Arrogant Wurm and my own City of Brass.

Game 2 - I got a Turn 2 Nest followed by Calls, Symbiotic Elf, and three Roars (one was cast from my hand) to keep the beatdown coming. His Wild Mongrels could not hold off all the big monsters.

Game 3 - Again, Manuel's deck was too fast for mine. My life total indicates massive Wurm beatdown, and he had several Rays of Revelation in his graveyard. I'm sure his sideboarded Smothers took care of several of my creatures.

Round 5 - Bowman Horton (Top 8 but I'm not sure of his final place)
Intentional Draw - (I know, boo-hiss, but I like to win too. Bowman was in 1st place going into the top 8)

Top 8

1. Bowman Horton - UG Quiet Roar
2. Andy Lamb - RW Astroglide
3. Andrew Mandes - MBC
4. Preston Graham (me) - UG OPPOSITION
5. James Hanson - AGGRO Br
6. John Dorman - Mono-red goblin
7. Manny Pacheo- UG Madness splash black for Smother
8. Richard Shay - UG Quiet Roar with Catalyst Stones

A guy playing Three-Color Wake came in ninth, and missed out on the top 8 on tie-breakers. I also saw another Slide deck, Wu Opposition, Mono-white weenie with Glory, several elf decks and a t least one wizard deck.

Quarterfinals - James Hanson - B-r rematch
Game 1 - The judge informed us we now had ninety-minute rounds, but since the first game lasted about 2 minutes, I don't think we had to worry about time. James got out some very quick 3/3 guys, and beat me to a pulp in about three or four turns.

Game 2- This game was almost as fast, but this time I won as I got the perfect Squirrel Prison Draw. Turn 2 Nest, turn 3 Call, turn 4 Opposition, turn 5 Orb. I also had out Deserted Temple and was making two squirrels a turn. I kept forgetting to leave one critter untapped to tap down my Orb at the end of James' turn, and he waited for me to stop being stupid before conceding.

Game 3 - I had bird, Call, and Opposition in my opening hand so I kept. I then proceeded to draw lands and one Wild Mongrel for the rest of the game as James Smothered and Edicted all my creatures while beating down with Reckless Charged Rotting Giants.

For my efforts, I won 12 packs and a very questionable "playmat" for making top 8 (where's the pin!?). I really wanted that plaque, and I probably would have accepted some ludicrous prize-split in the finals to get it. It wasn't to be, so I guess I'll have to wait until next year.

The rest of the Top 8 played out as follows

Quarters
Shay (U/G Roar) defeated Horton (U/G Roar) - Rich's Catalyst Stones were the difference in this mirror match

Dorman (goblin red) defeated Mandes (MBC)

Pacheo (UG-b Madness) defeated Lamb (RW Rift)

Hanson (Br Aggro) defeated Graham (UG OPPOSITION)

Semis
Shay (UG Roar) defeated Hanson (Br)

Pacheo (UG-b Madness) defeated Dorman (mono-red)

Finals
Pacheo (UG-b Madness) defeated Shay (UG Quiet Roar) (although I don't know if there was a prize split here, since I had to leave before this)

Apparently most were pleased that Bowman did not walk away as State Champ, although I'm not sure why.

I'm too old for props and slops, but everyone was a gentleman (or a lady, as Melissa Detora was in attendance) from what I could see. Thanks for the games and the trades everyone! And thanks to Your Move Games for the well-run tournament!

Preston Graham
PrestonG on Magic Online - a tiger in search of a Spiked Collar
Parallax1967@aol.com