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Ben is the general manager for StarCityGames.com and a hated member of the Vintage community, which is the primary reason he's a Shooting Star today. Doug is a member of Team Meandeck and was a quarterfinalist at the first SCG Power 9 event
When Ben sat down he asked who Doug was. Ted told him that Doug made Top 8 at the first SCG Power 9 event, then I told Ben that he was Hi-Val, a name that he was familiar with. They are apparently partners in crime, banninating troublesome scoundrels on the StarCityGames.com forums.
Their pre-round chatter consisted of reminiscing on their past adventures in banning hooligans and riff-raff that pollute the message boards from time to time. Both players bested the predominant deck of the tournament, Fish, in round one, which forecasts a good amount of success if they can keep it up.
Game 1: Doug cast a flurry of spells including an Ancestral Recall, Brainstorm, two Moxen and finally, a Tinker, fetching Darksteel Colossus. Ben didn't have the Force of Will and scooped to the 11/11 monstrosity. Apparently Doug had a Vampiric Tutor to grab a Time Walk, so it was "Good Game" for Ben either way.
Doug brought in some Red Elemental Blasts and Ben sided in Energy Flux in an attempt to shut off Doug's artifact mana and Darksteel Colossus.
Game Two: The game began with Doug attempting a Mind Twist for three off a Black Lotus, but Ben had a Mana Leak to stop it. Doug attempted to cast an Ancestral Recall off of a Mystical Tutor, but Ben had a Misdirection for it. The next few turns consisted of Ben playing a pair of Chalices of the Void for one and zero, a Powder Keg which he left at one counter, and lots and lots of lands. Doug's game plan was severely hampered, leading to a series of discard steps filled with useless Duresses and zero cast cost mana accelerants. Doug hit a second land and tried to cast a Demonic Tutor, but Ben's full hand contained a Mana Leak, and after a few more turns of inaction, Doug decided to concede in the interest of saving time.
Doug's sideboarding was short and sweet, though Ben switched up a few cards before eventually presenting his deck, switching out his Powder Kegs for Back to Basics..
Game 3: Both players kept their opening hand, and Doug led off with a Polluted Delta to grab a basic Island which he used to cast a Brainstorm. Ben led off with Flooded Strand which also fetched a basic Island. He followed that up with an Ophidian which he cast off a Black Lotus and was able to protect it from Doug's Force of Will with a Mana Drain that he cast off his Island and a Mox Sapphire. Unfortunately Ben cast the Mana Drain in his first main phase and was unable to use the five colorless mana on his second main phase, leading to a hefty five points of mana burn.
Ben got in with his Ophidian after an uneventful turn from Doug, and was able to get in a few more times of the next few turns, putting him very far in the lead. Ben cast a Chalice of the Void for one which Doug responded to with an Ancestral Recall, but Ben had a Misdirection for it like he did in game two. Doug had no counter, but cast a Vampiric Tutor in response before it was shut down by the Chalice.
A Morphling came into play for Ben after he drew a card with his Ophidian, and Doug had no counter, but cast a Fact or Fiction at the end of Ben's turn which resolved. He flipped Island, Tendrils of Agony, Mana Crypt, Rebuild and Duress, and Doug got a Tendrils and Mana Crypt, putting Rebuild, Duress, and Island in the graveyard. Morphling attacked on Ben's turn, then Doug attempted a Mana Crypt which was responded to with Impulse and then allowed to resolve. Doug tried to cast Tinker off Mana Crypt, but Ben had a Force of Will for it. Doug was left with no outs, so he was forced to cast a Tendrils of Agony with only one copy to buy himself a turn. Ben cast Impulse at the end of Doug's turn and then attacked on his own. Doug's next draw step yielded no kryptonite for Bleiweiss's Superman and he shook Ben's hand after a game well played.
Though Doug lost the game, he won a prize in the form of a Ben Bleiwiess T-shirt, which are being given out to all of Ben's opponents because of an error with the company that made the shirts. They pumped out around twenty of the shirts featuring Ben leaning out of the window of a bright yellow school bus.
