CardShark Content - Adam Fischer (7/11/2002)

As I do every year, I made the trip to Columbus, OH, for the Origins gaming convention over the 4th of July weekend. The convention is a blast, and also has the first Block Constructed PTQ of each season. I was quite pleased about coming in 2nd in this first OBC PTQ, even if I didn’t quite get the qualification I wanted.

Up until a couple of weeks before the tournament, I hadn’t played hardly any constructed Magic of any kind for about 5 months. I had been focused on practicing limited for the PTQs for Nice and then for Nice itself, even to the exclusion of Regionals. After Nice, I started working on practicing team limited, which paid off in New Jersey. So, going into the PTQ, I had to get up to speed on OBC.

In the hopes that some people find this helpful, I’ll briefly explain how I went about learning the OBC environment and choosing and tuning a deck. Unfortunately I didn’t have as much time as I would have liked, but the season hasn’t even officially begun yet, so I’ll be doing a lot more work on OBC in the coming months. I started off by reading all the OBC resources I could find online. From my interpretation of how the top decks from Osaka might be affected by Judgment, to strategy articles by trusted writers, to the tournament results from an OBC (with Judgment) tournament held online by e-league, I gathered all the deck types and deck lists I could find. I also did my own thinking about what new decks might be viable. From all of this research, I came up with about 12 different decks that might make a showing in OBC.

I then entered lists for these decks in a program I use called Magic Suitcase, which I highly recommend and which can be downloaded at http://www.perldragon.com/~suitcase/download.html, with additional files available at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/magicsuitcase/files/. I used the neat playtesting feature of Suitcase to play various decks against one another informally by myself to get a feel for how they worked, which ones beat which other ones, what the strengths and weaknesses were, etc. This wasn’t the rigorous and formal statistical testing I plan to do later, nor was it perfect since I was playing against myself, but it did provide me with a rough feel for things in a short amount of time (and could even be done on the plane :)). I also built these decks with physical cards, using Suitcase to help proxy the cards I didn’t have or didn’t have enough of to put in the multiple decks that used them. I played the physical decks against various people, starting with the CMU guys when I was staying with them in Pittsburgh for a few days between GP New Jersey and Origins.

Once at Origins, I did more playtesting, entered a few side OBC tournaments, and just generally tried a few things out. In the end I settled on a variant of a particular version of the powerful and popular “Quiet Roar” deck that was suggested to me by Nick Eisel.

So, without further ado, here is the deck I ended up playing in the PTQ:

Main Deck:
10 Forest

Forest
	Set: Oversize Cards Color: Land Type: Land Rarity: X Artist: Tony Roberts Text: T: Add G to your mana pool.

10 Island

Island
	Set: Oversize Cards Color: Land Type: Land Rarity: X Artist: Tony Roberts Text: T: Add U to your mana pool.

2 Cephalid Coliseum

Cephalid Coliseum
	Set: Odyssey Color: Land Type: Land Rarity: U Number: 317 Artist: John Avon Text: Tap: Add U to your mana pool. Cephalid Coliseum deals 1 damage to you. Threshold - U, Tap, Sacifice Cephalid Coliseum: Target player draws three cards, then discards three cards from his or her hand. (Play this ability only if seven or more cards are in your graveyard.)

3 Nimble Mongoose

Nimble Mongoose
	Set: Odyssey Cost: 1 Color: Green Type: Creature Sub Type: Mongoose Rarity: U Number: 258 Artist: Terese Nielson Power: 1 Toughness: 1 Text: Nimble Mongoose can't be the target of spells or abilities. Threshold - Nimble Mongoose gets +2/+2. (You have threshold as long as seven or more cards are in your graveyard.)

4 Werebear

Werebear
	Set: Odyssey Cost: 2 Color: Green Type: Creature Sub Type: Druid Bear Rarity: C Number: 282 Artist: Carl Critchlow Power: 1 Toughness: 1 Text: : Tap: Add G to your mana pool. Threshold - Werebear gets +3/+3. (You have threshold as long as seven or more cards are in your graveyard.)

4 Wild Mongrel

Wild Mongrel
	Set: Odyssey Cost: 2 Color: Green Type: Creature Sub Type: Hound Rarity: C Number: 283 Artist: Anthony S. Waters Power: 2 Toughness: 2 Text: Discard a card from your hand: Wild Mongrel gets +1/+1 and becomes the color of your choice until end of turn.

4 Roar of the Wurm

Roar of the Wurm
	Set: Odyssey Cost: 7 Color: Green Type: Sorcery Rarity: U Number: 266 Artist: Kev Walker Text: Put a 6/6 green Wurm creature token into play. Flashback 3G (You may play this card from your graveyard for its flashback cost. Then remove it from the game.)

4 Wonder

Wonder
	Set: Judgment Cost: 4 Color: Blue Type: Creature Sub Type: Incarnation Rarity: U Number: 54 Artist: Rebecca Guay Power: 2 Toughness: 2 Text: Flying As long as Wonder is in your graveyard and you control an island, creatures you control have flying.

4 Careful Study

Careful Study
	Set: Odyssey Cost: 1 Color: Blue Type: Sorcery Rarity: C Number: 70 Artist: Scott M. Fischer Text: Draw two cards, then discard two cards from your hand.

4 Mental Note

Mental Note
	Set: Judgment Cost: 1 Color: Blue Type: Instant Rarity: C Number: 46 Artist: Bradley Williams Text: Put the top two cards of your library into your graveyard. Draw a card.

3 Envelop

Envelop
	Set: Judgment Cost: 1 Color: Blue Type: Instant Rarity: C Number: 39 Artist: Don Hazeltine Text: Counter target sorcery spell.

4 Quiet Speculation

Quiet Speculation
	Set: Judgment Cost: 2 Color: Blue Type: Sorcery Rarity: U Number: 49 Artist: John Avon Text: Search target player's Library for up to three cards with flashback and put them into that players graveyard. Then that player shuffles his or her library.

1 Deep Analysis

Deep Analysis
	Set: Torment Cost: 4 Color: Blue Type: Sorcery Rarity: C Number: 36 Text: Target player draws two cards. Flashback - 1U, Pay 3 life.

1 Krosan Reclamation

Krosan Reclamation
	Set: Judgment Cost: 2 Color: Green Type: Instant Rarity: U Number: 122 Artist: Gary Ruddell Text: Target player shuffles up to two target cards from his or her graveyard into his or her library. Flashback 1G.

2 Upheaval

Upheaval
	Set: Odyssey Cost: 6 Color: Blue Type: Sorcery Rarity: R Number: 113 Artist: Kev Walker Text: Return all permanents to their owners' hands.

Sideboard:
3 Squirrel Nest

Squirrel Nest
	Set: Odyssey Cost: 3 Color: Green Type: Enchant Land Rarity: U Number: 274 Artist: Anthony S. Waters Text: Card Text: Enchanted land has ``Tap: Put a 1/1 green Squirrel creature token into play.``

3 Krosan Beast

Krosan Beast
	Set: Odyssey Cost: 4 Color: Green Type: Creature Sub Type: Squirrel Beast Rarity: R Number: 248 Artist: Kev Walker Power: 1 Toughness: 1 Text: Threshold - Krosan Beast gets +7/+7. (You have threshold as long as seven or more cards are in your graveyard.)

3 Ray of Revelation

Ray of Revelation
	Set: Judgment Cost: 2 Color: White Type: Instant Rarity: C Number: 20 Artist: Doug Chaffee Text: Destroy target enchantment. Flashback G

2 Moment’s Peace
1 Aura Graft

Aura Graft
	Set: Odyssey Cost: 2 Color: Blue Type: Instant Rarity: U Number: 62 Artist: Ray Lago Text: Move target enchantment that's enchanting a permanent to another permanent it can enchant. Gain control of that enchantment. (This effect doesn't end at end of turn.)

1 Krosan Reclamation

Krosan Reclamation
	Set: Judgment Cost: 2 Color: Green Type: Instant Rarity: U Number: 122 Artist: Gary Ruddell Text: Target player shuffles up to two target cards from his or her graveyard into his or her library. Flashback 1G.

1 Howling Gale

Howling Gale
	Set: Odyssey Cost: 2 Color: Green Type: Instant Rarity: U Number: 244 Artist: Greg Staples Text: Howling Gale deals 1 damage to each creature with flying and to each player. Flashback 1G (You may play this card from your graveyard for its flashback cost. Then remove it from the game.)

1 Envelop

Envelop
	Set: Judgment Cost: 1 Color: Blue Type: Instant Rarity: C Number: 39 Artist: Don Hazeltine Text: Counter target sorcery spell.

First of all, I’d like to comment on the overall version of the deck I chose. The Ferrett has pointed out so well in his article at http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/expandnews.php?Article=3299 that he sees 3 basic versions of the Quiet Roar deck:

1) Threshold
2) Madness
3) Non-Catalyst Stone

Catalyst Stone
	Set: Odyssey Cost: 2 Color: Colorless Type: Artifact Rarity: R Number: 297 Artist: Tony Szczudlo Text: Flashback costs you pay cost up to 2 less. Flashback costs your opponents pay cost 2 more.

I agree with him about there being three basic versions of the deck, although I see the third version as more of an “other” category that may or may not include Catalyst Stone

Catalyst Stone
	Set: Odyssey Cost: 2 Color: Colorless Type: Artifact Rarity: R Number: 297 Artist: Tony Szczudlo Text: Flashback costs you pay cost up to 2 less. Flashback costs your opponents pay cost 2 more.

s (as is true with the first two versions as well).

The version I chose is clearly more of a Threshold version. I chose it for several reasons:

1) It has a good “Plan B” against many decks in the form of “Upheaval

Upheaval
	Set: Odyssey Cost: 6 Color: Blue Type: Sorcery Rarity: R Number: 113 Artist: Kev Walker Text: Return all permanents to their owners' hands.

, float some mana, lay a land, drop a fat Mongoose or Werebear

Werebear
	Set: Odyssey Cost: 2 Color: Green Type: Creature Sub Type: Druid Bear Rarity: C Number: 282 Artist: Carl Critchlow Power: 1 Toughness: 1 Text: : Tap: Add G to your mana pool. Threshold - Werebear gets +3/+3. (You have threshold as long as seven or more cards are in your graveyard.)

”. I like this feature as sometimes games can just go wrong, and Upheaval

Upheaval
	Set: Odyssey Cost: 6 Color: Blue Type: Sorcery Rarity: R Number: 113 Artist: Kev Walker Text: Return all permanents to their owners' hands.

can quickly turn a losing situation into a winning situation. Moreover, often times, Upheaval

Upheaval
	Set: Odyssey Cost: 6 Color: Blue Type: Sorcery Rarity: R Number: 113 Artist: Kev Walker Text: Return all permanents to their owners' hands.

can be an entirely acceptable “Plan A.”

2) It doesn’t rely so much on the Wurm tokens in order to win. This is good since many decks are packing an awful lot of hate for Wurm tokens.

3) It has a HECK of a lot of cheap search, with not only the 4 Careful Study

Careful Study
	Set: Odyssey Cost: 1 Color: Blue Type: Sorcery Rarity: C Number: 70 Artist: Scott M. Fischer Text: Draw two cards, then discard two cards from your hand.

s, but also the 4 Mental Note

Mental Note
	Set: Judgment Cost: 1 Color: Blue Type: Instant Rarity: C Number: 46 Artist: Bradley Williams Text: Put the top two cards of your library into your graveyard. Draw a card.

s. This really helps find the right type and amount of mana and get the deck to its key cards much faster. And it gets the deck threshold as a bonus.

Again, I would like to credit and thank Nick Eisel for the base version of this deck that I worked from. I made a few changes from his version, namely:

-2 Deep Analysis

Deep Analysis
	Set: Torment Cost: 4 Color: Blue Type: Sorcery Rarity: C Number: 36 Text: Target player draws two cards. Flashback - 1U, Pay 3 life.

, -1 Upheaval

Upheaval
	Set: Odyssey Cost: 6 Color: Blue Type: Sorcery Rarity: R Number: 113 Artist: Kev Walker Text: Return all permanents to their owners' hands.

, -1 Nimble Mongoose

Nimble Mongoose
	Set: Odyssey Cost: 1 Color: Green Type: Creature Sub Type: Mongoose Rarity: U Number: 258 Artist: Terese Nielson Power: 1 Toughness: 1 Text: Nimble Mongoose can't be the target of spells or abilities. Threshold - Nimble Mongoose gets +2/+2. (You have threshold as long as seven or more cards are in your graveyard.)

, -2 Island

Island
	Set: Oversize Cards Color: Land Type: Land Rarity: X Artist: Tony Roberts Text: T: Add U to your mana pool.

, +2 Cephalid Coliseum

Cephalid Coliseum
	Set: Odyssey Color: Land Type: Land Rarity: U Number: 317 Artist: John Avon Text: Tap: Add U to your mana pool. Cephalid Coliseum deals 1 damage to you. Threshold - U, Tap, Sacifice Cephalid Coliseum: Target player draws three cards, then discards three cards from his or her hand. (Play this ability only if seven or more cards are in your graveyard.)

, +1 Krosan Reclamation

Krosan Reclamation
	Set: Judgment Cost: 2 Color: Green Type: Instant Rarity: U Number: 122 Artist: Gary Ruddell Text: Target player shuffles up to two target cards from his or her graveyard into his or her library. Flashback 1G.

, +3 Envelop

Envelop
	Set: Judgment Cost: 1 Color: Blue Type: Instant Rarity: C Number: 39 Artist: Don Hazeltine Text: Counter target sorcery spell.

Comments on some of the noteworthy choices in the deck are:

1) 2 Cephalid Coliseum

Cephalid Coliseum
	Set: Odyssey Color: Land Type: Land Rarity: U Number: 317 Artist: John Avon Text: Tap: Add U to your mana pool. Cephalid Coliseum deals 1 damage to you. Threshold - U, Tap, Sacifice Cephalid Coliseum: Target player draws three cards, then discards three cards from his or her hand. (Play this ability only if seven or more cards are in your graveyard.)

:

I have to thank The Ferrett for this suggestion. As soon as he said it, it seemed such an obvious choice. With how quickly the deck obtains threshold, the Coliseums can turn useless lands or other cards into essential business spells. The damage isn’t too bad, though I don’t think I’d run more than 2 of them.

2) 3 Envelop

Envelop
	Set: Judgment Cost: 1 Color: Blue Type: Instant Rarity: C Number: 39 Artist: Don Hazeltine Text: Counter target sorcery spell.

:

These are essentially pre-sideboarded, but I think they make sense given the amount of Quiet Speculation

Quiet Speculation
	Set: Judgment Cost: 2 Color: Blue Type: Sorcery Rarity: U Number: 49 Artist: John Avon Text: Search target player's Library for up to three cards with flashback and put them into that players graveyard. Then that player shuffles his or her library.

s, Roars, Battle Screech

Battle Screech
	Set: Judgment Cost: 4 Color: White Type: Sorcery Rarity: U Number: 3 Artist: Randy Gallegos Text: Put two 1/1 white Bird creature tokens with flying into play. Flashback - Tap three untapped white creatures you control.

es, Living Wish

Living Wish
	Set: Judgment Cost: 2 Color: Green Type: Sorcery Rarity: R Number: 124 Artist: Eric Peterson Text: Choose a creature or land card you own from outside the game, reveal that card, and put it into your hand. Remove Living Wish from the game.

es, Haunting Echoes

Haunting Echoes
	Set: Odyssey Cost: 5 Color: Black Type: Sorcery Rarity: R Number: 142 Artist: Arnie Swekel Text: Remove all cards in target player's graveyard other than basic land cards from the game. Search that player's library for all cards with the same name as cards removed this way, and remove them from the game. Then that player shuffles his or her library.

, etc. that are out there. They worked out quite well for me in the PTQ.

3) 1 Deep Analysis

Deep Analysis
	Set: Torment Cost: 4 Color: Blue Type: Sorcery Rarity: C Number: 36 Text: Target player draws two cards. Flashback - 1U, Pay 3 life.

:

I cut the 3 Deep Analysis

Deep Analysis
	Set: Torment Cost: 4 Color: Blue Type: Sorcery Rarity: C Number: 36 Text: Target player draws two cards. Flashback - 1U, Pay 3 life.

down to one since given how fast the environment is, I often couldn’t afford to take the damage or wanted to use mana for other things. One is useful to be Speculated for in the right circumstances, though.

4) 1 Krosan Reclamation

Krosan Reclamation
	Set: Judgment Cost: 2 Color: Green Type: Instant Rarity: U Number: 122 Artist: Gary Ruddell Text: Target player shuffles up to two target cards from his or her graveyard into his or her library. Flashback 1G.

Again a sort of pre-sideboarding, but this is so useful not only in the mirror match but also against other trouble cards such as Glory

Glory
	Set: Judgment Cost: 5 Color: White Sub Type: Incarnation Rarity: R Number: 11 Artist: Donato Giancola Power: 3 Toughness: 3 Text: Flying 2W: Creatures you control gain protection from the color of your choice until end of turn. Play this ability only if Glory is in your graveyard.

, Genesis

Genesis
	Set: Judgment Cost: 5 Color: Green Type: Creature Sub Type: Incarnation Rarity: R Number: 117 Artist: Mark Zug Power: 4 Toughness: 4 Text: At the beginning of your upkeep, if Genesis is in your graveyard, you may pay 2G. If you do, return target creature card from your graveyard to your hand.

, etc. that I found it useful to have one copy that could be Speculated for.

5) Sideboard choices:

I wasn’t able to spend as much time with the sideboard as I would have liked, but my thoughts on the cards were as follows:

- Squirrel Nest

Squirrel Nest
	Set: Odyssey Cost: 3 Color: Green Type: Enchant Land Rarity: U Number: 274 Artist: Anthony S. Waters Text: Card Text: Enchanted land has ``Tap: Put a 1/1 green Squirrel creature token into play.``

: Great against Black
- Krosan Beast

Krosan Beast
	Set: Odyssey Cost: 4 Color: Green Type: Creature Sub Type: Squirrel Beast Rarity: R Number: 248 Artist: Kev Walker Power: 1 Toughness: 1 Text: Threshold - Krosan Beast gets +7/+7. (You have threshold as long as seven or more cards are in your graveyard.)

: Beats up on Wurms
- Ray of Revelation

Ray of Revelation
	Set: Judgment Cost: 2 Color: White Type: Instant Rarity: C Number: 20 Artist: Doug Chaffee Text: Destroy target enchantment. Flashback G

: Enchantment kill that can be Speculated for
- Moment’s Peace: Good against White Weenie or other fast decks
- Aura Graft

Aura Graft
	Set: Odyssey Cost: 2 Color: Blue Type: Instant Rarity: U Number: 62 Artist: Ray Lago Text: Move target enchantment that's enchanting a permanent to another permanent it can enchant. Gain control of that enchantment. (This effect doesn't end at end of turn.)

: Mainly for Squirrel Nest

Squirrel Nest
	Set: Odyssey Cost: 3 Color: Green Type: Enchant Land Rarity: U Number: 274 Artist: Anthony S. Waters Text: Card Text: Enchanted land has ``Tap: Put a 1/1 green Squirrel creature token into play.``

- Krosan Reclamation

Krosan Reclamation
	Set: Judgment Cost: 2 Color: Green Type: Instant Rarity: U Number: 122 Artist: Gary Ruddell Text: Target player shuffles up to two target cards from his or her graveyard into his or her library. Flashback 1G.

: For mirror match or anything else that has key cards in the graveyard
- Envelop

Envelop
	Set: Judgment Cost: 1 Color: Blue Type: Instant Rarity: C Number: 39 Artist: Don Hazeltine Text: Counter target sorcery spell.

: For mirror match, control Black, or anything else using lots of sorceries
- Howling Gale

Howling Gale
	Set: Odyssey Cost: 2 Color: Green Type: Instant Rarity: U Number: 244 Artist: Greg Staples Text: Howling Gale deals 1 damage to each creature with flying and to each player. Flashback 1G (You may play this card from your graveyard for its flashback cost. Then remove it from the game.)

: This one is thanks to Elliot Fertik, who suggested it as tech against White Weenie – not only does it kill off birds, but it can be tutored for!


--------
MATCHES:
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OK, now on to the matches. As before, I’ll talk about what decks I faced as well as the interesting highlights. There were 131 players, and it was announced that there would be 7 rounds of swiss followed by a cut to the top 8. Since the tournament started at 5:45pm, this meant we were in for a late night . . .

Match 1 vs. James Baxter playing BU Zombie Infestation

Zombie Infestation
	Set: Odyssey Cost: 2 Color: Black Type: Enchantment Rarity: U Number: 170 Artist: Thomas M. Baxa Text: Discard two cards from your hand: Put a 2/2 black Zombie creature token into play.

:

I received a match win. James forgot to register 3 cards in his main deck and so received a match loss against me. We played it out anyway, though, and I ended up winning 2-1.

Match Record: 1-0

Match 2 vs. Adam Baker playing mono-B control:

I won 2-1. Game 1, I kept a hand with 2 Forest

Forest
	Set: Oversize Cards Color: Land Type: Land Rarity: X Artist: Tony Roberts Text: T: Add G to your mana pool.

s and failed to draw any Blue mana sources for multiple turns and never really had much of a chance. In retrospect, I probably should have mulliganed that hand. In Game 2, I got Echoed for a lot of cards, but luckily I had done a lot of damage by that point and one of the Squirrel Nest

Squirrel Nest
	Set: Odyssey Cost: 3 Color: Green Type: Enchant Land Rarity: U Number: 274 Artist: Anthony S. Waters Text: Card Text: Enchanted land has ``Tap: Put a 1/1 green Squirrel creature token into play.``

s I had sided in was key to finishing him off – though I almost got decked! In Game 3 I started to get into trouble when he had a Shade out that could get quite big, but 2 Werebear

Werebear
	Set: Odyssey Cost: 2 Color: Green Type: Creature Sub Type: Druid Bear Rarity: C Number: 282 Artist: Carl Critchlow Power: 1 Toughness: 1 Text: : Tap: Add G to your mana pool. Threshold - Werebear gets +3/+3. (You have threshold as long as seven or more cards are in your graveyard.)

s helped me cast an early Upheaval

Upheaval
	Set: Odyssey Cost: 6 Color: Blue Type: Sorcery Rarity: R Number: 113 Artist: Kev Walker Text: Return all permanents to their owners' hands.

and drop a land and a Werebear

Werebear
	Set: Odyssey Cost: 2 Color: Green Type: Creature Sub Type: Druid Bear Rarity: C Number: 282 Artist: Carl Critchlow Power: 1 Toughness: 1 Text: : Tap: Add G to your mana pool. Threshold - Werebear gets +3/+3. (You have threshold as long as seven or more cards are in your graveyard.)

afterwards which enabled me to win.

Match Record: 2-0

Match 3 vs. Randy Wright playing a Ugw Mirari

Mirari
	Set: Odyssey Cost: 5 Color: Colorless Type: Artifact Rarity: R Number: 303 Artist: Donato Giancola Text: Whenever you play an instant or sorcery spell, you may pay 3. If you do, put a copy of that spell onto the stack. You may choose new targets for the copy.

’s Wake/Solitary Confinement

Solitary Confinement
	Set: Judgment Cost: 3 Color: White Type: Enchantment Rarity: R Number: 24 Artist: Scott M. Fischer Text: At the begining of your upkeep, sacrifice Solitary Confinement unless you discard a card. Skip your draw step. You can't be the target of spells or abilities. Prevent all damage that would be dealt to you.

combo deck:

I won 2-1. This deck was nuts! Game 1, he did something like turn 2 Compulsion

Compulsion
	Set: Torment Cost: 2 Color: Blue Type: Enchantment Rarity: U Number: 34 Text: 1U, Discard a card from your hand: Draw a card. 1U, Sacrifice Compulsion: Draw a card.

, turn 3 sacrifice Krosan Verge

Krosan Verge
	Set: Judgment Color: Land Type: land Rarity: U Number: 141 Artist: Tony Szczudlo Text: Krosan Verge comes into play tapped. T: Add 1 to your mana pool. 2, T, Sacrifice Krosan Verge: Search your library for a Forest card and a Plains card and put them into play tapped. Then shuffle your library.

, turn 4 Mirari

Mirari
	Set: Odyssey Cost: 5 Color: Colorless Type: Artifact Rarity: R Number: 303 Artist: Donato Giancola Text: Whenever you play an instant or sorcery spell, you may pay 3. If you do, put a copy of that spell onto the stack. You may choose new targets for the copy.

’s Wake, turn 5 Concentrate

Concentrate
	Set: Odyssey Cost: 4 Color: Blue Type: Sorcery Rarity: U Number: 78 Artist: Glen Angus & Arnie Swekel Text: Draw three cards.

, use Compulsion

Compulsion
	Set: Torment Cost: 2 Color: Blue Type: Enchantment Rarity: U Number: 34 Text: 1U, Discard a card from your hand: Draw a card. 1U, Sacrifice Compulsion: Draw a card.

, and Aether Burst

Aether Burst
	Set: Odyssey Cost: 2 Color: Blue Type: Instant Rarity: C Number: 60 Artist: Adam Rex Text: Return up to X target creatures to their owners' hands, where X is one plus the number of Aether Burst cards in all graveyards as you play Aether Burst.

some of my guys, and then once he got to turn 6 I never got another turn. Basically, he did something like:
- Turn 6: Timestretch
- Turn 7: Put out Mirari

Mirari
	Set: Odyssey Cost: 5 Color: Colorless Type: Artifact Rarity: R Number: 303 Artist: Donato Giancola Text: Whenever you play an instant or sorcery spell, you may pay 3. If you do, put a copy of that spell onto the stack. You may choose new targets for the copy.

and search/draw a bit with Compulsion

Compulsion
	Set: Torment Cost: 2 Color: Blue Type: Enchantment Rarity: U Number: 34 Text: 1U, Discard a card from your hand: Draw a card. 1U, Sacrifice Compulsion: Draw a card.

/Rmxhc2ggb2YgInsight

Insight
	Set: Classic Sixth Edition Cost: 3 Color: Blue Type: Enchantment Rarity: U Number: 75 Artist: Ron Chironna Text: Whenever one of your opponents plays a green spell, you draw a card.

/Concentrate

Concentrate
	Set: Odyssey Cost: 4 Color: Blue Type: Sorcery Rarity: U Number: 78 Artist: Glen Angus & Arnie Swekel Text: Draw three cards.

- Turn 8: Timestretch again, with Mirari

Mirari
	Set: Odyssey Cost: 5 Color: Colorless Type: Artifact Rarity: R Number: 303 Artist: Donato Giancola Text: Whenever you play an instant or sorcery spell, you may pay 3. If you do, put a copy of that spell onto the stack. You may choose new targets for the copy.

(4 extra turns!!!)
Well, then he basically just proceeded to recycle cards with Krosan Reclamation

Krosan Reclamation
	Set: Judgment Cost: 2 Color: Green Type: Instant Rarity: U Number: 122 Artist: Gary Ruddell Text: Target player shuffles up to two target cards from his or her graveyard into his or her library. Flashback 1G.

, get more extra turns (I believe he had like NINE left at one point), and eventually bounce all my guys and wish for Phantom Nishoba

Phantom Nishoba
	Set: Judgment Cost: 7 Color: Multicolor Type: Creature Sub Type: Beast Spirit Rarity: R Number: 140 Artist: Arnie Swekel Power: 0 Toughness: 0 Text: Trample. Phantom Nishoba comes into play with seven +1/+1 counters on it. Whenever Phantom Nishoba deals damage, you gain that much life. If damage would be dealt to Phantom Nishoba, prevent that damage. Remove a +1/+1 counter from Phantom Nishoba.

with which to finish me off. Luckily I was able to quickly kill him Games 2 and 3 before he was able to go off.

Match Record: 3-0

Match 4 vs. Steve Deflice playing UG Quiet Roar:

I won 2-1. Game 1 I kept a hand of Island

Island
	Set: Oversize Cards Color: Land Type: Land Rarity: X Artist: Tony Roberts Text: T: Add U to your mana pool.

, Careful Study

Careful Study
	Set: Odyssey Cost: 1 Color: Blue Type: Sorcery Rarity: C Number: 70 Artist: Scott M. Fischer Text: Draw two cards, then discard two cards from your hand.

, 2 Mental Note

Mental Note
	Set: Judgment Cost: 1 Color: Blue Type: Instant Rarity: C Number: 46 Artist: Bradley Williams Text: Put the top two cards of your library into your graveyard. Draw a card.

s, Quiet Speculation

Quiet Speculation
	Set: Judgment Cost: 2 Color: Blue Type: Sorcery Rarity: U Number: 49 Artist: John Avon Text: Search target player's Library for up to three cards with flashback and put them into that players graveyard. Then that player shuffles his or her library.

and some other stuff, figuring I would draw into more land, but although I saw another Island

Island
	Set: Oversize Cards Color: Land Type: Land Rarity: X Artist: Tony Roberts Text: T: Add U to your mana pool.

, I didn’t see a Forest

Forest
	Set: Oversize Cards Color: Land Type: Land Rarity: X Artist: Tony Roberts Text: T: Add G to your mana pool.

until about turn 7 and never did any damage to him. Game 2 he was mana-screwed. Game 3 he cast Quiet Speculation

Quiet Speculation
	Set: Judgment Cost: 2 Color: Blue Type: Sorcery Rarity: U Number: 49 Artist: John Avon Text: Search target player's Library for up to three cards with flashback and put them into that players graveyard. Then that player shuffles his or her library.

on turn 2 but I had Krosan Reclamation

Krosan Reclamation
	Set: Judgment Cost: 2 Color: Green Type: Instant Rarity: U Number: 122 Artist: Gary Ruddell Text: Target player shuffles up to two target cards from his or her graveyard into his or her library. Flashback 1G.

in hand and shuffled all of his flashback cards back into his library. A Krosan Beast

Krosan Beast
	Set: Odyssey Cost: 4 Color: Green Type: Creature Sub Type: Squirrel Beast Rarity: R Number: 248 Artist: Kev Walker Power: 1 Toughness: 1 Text: Threshold - Krosan Beast gets +7/+7. (You have threshold as long as seven or more cards are in your graveyard.)

helped beat him down.

Match Record: 4-0

Match 5 vs. Ken Rawson playing White Weenie:

I won 2-1. Ken was playing a deck that was essentially pure White, except he had a tiny Green splash for Nantuko Monastery

Nantuko Monastery
	Set: Judgment Color: Land Type: land Rarity: U Number: 142 Artist: Rob Alexander Text: T: Add one colorless mana to your mana pool. Threshold - GW: Nantuko Monastery becomes a 4/4 green and white creature with first strike until end of turn. It's still a land.

and Ray of Distortion

Ray of Distortion
	Set: Odyssey Cost: 4 Color: White Type: Instant Rarity: C Number: 42 Artist: Carl Critchlow Text: Destroy target artifact or enchantment. Flashback 4WW (You may play this card from your graveyard for its flashback cost. Then remove it from the game.)

from his sideboard. He was playing the version of white weenie that had more than just birds in it. I got beat down quite quickly in game 1, and a Vengeful Dreams

Vengeful Dreams
	Set: Torment Cost: 2 Color: White Type: Instant Rarity: R Number: 21 Text: As an additional cost to play Vengeful Dreams, discard X cards from your hand. Remove X target attacking creatures from the game.

from him took care of my counter-attack. I won Games 2 and 3, and Howling Gale

Howling Gale
	Set: Odyssey Cost: 2 Color: Green Type: Instant Rarity: U Number: 244 Artist: Greg Staples Text: Howling Gale deals 1 damage to each creature with flying and to each player. Flashback 1G (You may play this card from your graveyard for its flashback cost. Then remove it from the game.)

came in quite handy in both of those games.

Match Record: 5-0

Match 6 vs. Scott Herzberg:

Intentional Draw. Since we were both 5-0, we only needed one more draw between the next 2 rounds in order to make top 8, so we decided to take it while we could in case we got paired down the following round.

Match Record: 5-0-1

Match 7 vs. Marc Sozynski

Well, the plan was to ID again this round since it would assure me a place in the Top 8, but at the beginning of the round, the judge made an announcement saying that he apologized but he goofed. Apparently, 131 people was three too many to have 7 rounds, and so there would be an eighth round after this one. Well, needless to say, several of us were quite upset about this since we had made decisions last round that relied on there being 7 rounds, as announced at the start of the tournament. So, we went to speak to Mike Guptil, the tournament organizer, who discussed things with the judge and they decided that it was too late to add a round now and so the number of rounds would stand at 7, as originally announced. So, I IDed with Marc after all.

Match Record: 5-0-2

Well, the standings came out, and I was at #6 and so it was on to the Top 8!

Quarterfinals vs. Donald Smoot playing White Weenie splash Blue:

I won 2-0. Game 1 he mulliganed and then cast 2 Divine Sacrament

Divine Sacrament
	Set: Odyssey Cost: 3 Color: White Type: Enchantment Rarity: R Number: 19 Artist: Ray Lago Text: White creatures get +1/+1. Threshold - White creatures get an additional +1/+1. (You have threshold as long as seven or more cards are in your graveyard.)

s but failed to draw any creatures. Game 2 I Envelop

Envelop
	Set: Judgment Cost: 1 Color: Blue Type: Instant Rarity: C Number: 39 Artist: Don Hazeltine Text: Counter target sorcery spell.

ed a Morningtide

Morningtide
	Set: Torment Cost: 2 Color: White Type: Sorcery Rarity: R Number: 10 Artist: Tony Szczudlo Text: Remove all cards in all graveyards from the game.

which was key and I also was able to use Ray of Revelation

Ray of Revelation
	Set: Judgment Cost: 2 Color: White Type: Instant Rarity: C Number: 20 Artist: Doug Chaffee Text: Destroy target enchantment. Flashback G

to destroy a dangerous Divine Sacrament

Divine Sacrament
	Set: Odyssey Cost: 3 Color: White Type: Enchantment Rarity: R Number: 19 Artist: Ray Lago Text: White creatures get +1/+1. Threshold - White creatures get an additional +1/+1. (You have threshold as long as seven or more cards are in your graveyard.)

.

Match Record: 6-0-2

Semifinals vs. Craig Wescoe playing UG Quiet Roar:

I won 2-0. In Game 1, my Envelop

Envelop
	Set: Judgment Cost: 1 Color: Blue Type: Instant Rarity: C Number: 39 Artist: Don Hazeltine Text: Counter target sorcery spell.

ing his Quiet Speculation

Quiet Speculation
	Set: Judgment Cost: 2 Color: Blue Type: Sorcery Rarity: U Number: 49 Artist: John Avon Text: Search target player's Library for up to three cards with flashback and put them into that players graveyard. Then that player shuffles his or her library.

was KEY. In Game 2 we both had to double-mulligan, but I lucked into the better draw.

Match Record: 7-0-2

Finals vs. Marc Sozynski playing Bu Beatdown:

So Marc and I were destined to play after all! Since Marc and I both really wanted the slot, there was no deal to be made and we just played for it, although we agreed to split the $250 prize.

Marc was playing a Black deck with a splash of Blue in it. Cards I remember seeing in the two games we played were Shadowmage Infiltrator

Shadowmage Infiltrator
	Set: Odyssey Cost: 3 Color: Multicolor Type: Creature Sub Type: Wizard Rarity: R Number: 294 Artist: Rick Farrell Power: 1 Toughness: 3 Text: Shadowmage Infiltrator can't be blocked except by artifact creatures and/or black creatures. Whenever Shadowmage Infiltrator deals combat damage to a player, you may draw a card.

, Aether Burst

Aether Burst
	Set: Odyssey Cost: 2 Color: Blue Type: Instant Rarity: C Number: 60 Artist: Adam Rex Text: Return up to X target creatures to their owners' hands, where X is one plus the number of Aether Burst cards in all graveyards as you play Aether Burst.

, Braids, Nantuko Shade

Nantuko Shade
	Set: Torment Cost: 2 Color: Black Type: Creature Sub Type: Insect Shade Rarity: R Number: 74 Power: 2 Toughness: 1 Text: B: Nantuko Shade gets +1/+1 until end of turn.

, Innocent Blood

Innocent Blood
	Set: Odyssey Cost: 1 Color: Black Type: Sorcery Rarity: C Number: 145 Artist: Carl Critchlow Text: Each player sacrifices a creature.

, Chainer’s Edict, Shambling Swarm

Shambling Swarm
	Set: Torment Cost: 4 Color: Black Type: Creature Sub Type: Horror Rarity: R Number: 82 Power: 3 Toughness: 3 Text: When Shambling Swarm is put into a graveyard from play, distribute three -1/-1 counters among one, two, or three target creatures. Remove those counters at end of turn.

, Faceless Butcher

Faceless Butcher
	Set: Torment Cost: 4 Color: Black Type: Creature Sub Type: Nightmare Horror Rarity: C Number: 60 Power: 2 Toughness: 3 Text: When Faceless Butcher comes into play, remove target creature other than Faceless Butcher from the game. When Faceless Butcher leaves play, return the removed card to play under its owner's control.

, Slithery Stalker

Slithery Stalker
	Set: Torment Cost: 3 Color: Black Type: Creature Sub Type: Nightmare Horror Rarity: U Number: 84 Power: 1 Toughness: 1 Text: Swampwalk. When Slithery Stalker comes into play, remove target green or white creature an opponent controls from the game. When Slithery Stalker leaves play, return the removed card to play under its owner's control.

, Balthor the Defiled

Balthor the Defiled
	Set: Judgment Cost: 4 Color: Black Type: Creature Sub Type: Zombie Dwarf Legend Rarity: R Number: 61 Artist: Carl Critchlow Power: 2 Toughness: 2 Text: All Minions get +1/+1. BBB, Remove Balthor the Defiled from the game: Each player returns all black and all red creature cards from his or her graveyard to play.

, Coffin Purge

Coffin Purge
	Set: Odyssey Cost: 1 Color: Black Type: Instant Rarity: C Number: 124 Artist: Pete Venters Text: Remove target card in a graveyard from the game. Flashback B (You may play this card from your graveyard for its flashback cost. Then remove it from the game.)

, and Rancid Earth

Rancid Earth
	Set: Torment Cost: 3 Color: Black Type: Sorcery Rarity: C Number: 78 Text: Destroy target land. Threshold - Instead destroy that land and Rancid Earth deals 1 damage to each creature and each player.

(I think). In Game 1, I started off with a hand of 3 Island

Island
	Set: Oversize Cards Color: Land Type: Land Rarity: X Artist: Tony Roberts Text: T: Add U to your mana pool.

s, Quiet Speculation

Quiet Speculation
	Set: Judgment Cost: 2 Color: Blue Type: Sorcery Rarity: U Number: 49 Artist: John Avon Text: Search target player's Library for up to three cards with flashback and put them into that players graveyard. Then that player shuffles his or her library.

, Deep Analysis

Deep Analysis
	Set: Torment Cost: 4 Color: Blue Type: Sorcery Rarity: C Number: 36 Text: Target player draws two cards. Flashback - 1U, Pay 3 life.

, and a couple of other cards, but no Forest

Forest
	Set: Oversize Cards Color: Land Type: Land Rarity: X Artist: Tony Roberts Text: T: Add G to your mana pool.

s. I was nervous about the hand but didn’t want to risk going down to 6 cards. Unfortunately, despite a good deal of searching and card drawing, I wasn’t able to find a Forest

Forest
	Set: Oversize Cards Color: Land Type: Land Rarity: X Artist: Tony Roberts Text: T: Add G to your mana pool.

soon enough and quickly died to his Shade. In Game 2 my mana was OK, but he just kept removing all of my threats with Coffin Purge

Coffin Purge
	Set: Odyssey Cost: 1 Color: Black Type: Instant Rarity: C Number: 124 Artist: Pete Venters Text: Remove target card in a graveyard from the game. Flashback B (You may play this card from your graveyard for its flashback cost. Then remove it from the game.)

, Slithery Stalker

Slithery Stalker
	Set: Torment Cost: 3 Color: Black Type: Creature Sub Type: Nightmare Horror Rarity: U Number: 84 Power: 1 Toughness: 1 Text: Swampwalk. When Slithery Stalker comes into play, remove target green or white creature an opponent controls from the game. When Slithery Stalker leaves play, return the removed card to play under its owner's control.

, Faceless Butcher

Faceless Butcher
	Set: Torment Cost: 4 Color: Black Type: Creature Sub Type: Nightmare Horror Rarity: C Number: 60 Power: 2 Toughness: 3 Text: When Faceless Butcher comes into play, remove target creature other than Faceless Butcher from the game. When Faceless Butcher leaves play, return the removed card to play under its owner's control.

, etc. At one point I was staying somewhat alive with 2 Squirrel Nest

Squirrel Nest
	Set: Odyssey Cost: 3 Color: Green Type: Enchant Land Rarity: U Number: 274 Artist: Anthony S. Waters Text: Card Text: Enchanted land has ``Tap: Put a 1/1 green Squirrel creature token into play.``

s, but I was still falling behind. An Upheaval

Upheaval
	Set: Odyssey Cost: 6 Color: Blue Type: Sorcery Rarity: R Number: 113 Artist: Kev Walker Text: Return all permanents to their owners' hands.

would have put me in a very good position, but unfortunately one never came. :(

Even though I lost, since we agreed to split the prize I still got $125 plus the box of Judgment, so it was a good result overall. Though by the end of it at almost 5:00am I was exhausted!


RECAP:

Due to intentionally drawing twice, I was able to get a good view of the metagame. In fact, I have so much information that I am working on an entire article that will have lots of statistics about the OBC metagame throughout Origins. The article should be up on CardShark shortly.

Overall, I was happy with how the deck performed. As for changes I would make to the deck, I’m still not sure, but I think the Upheaval

Upheaval
	Set: Odyssey Cost: 6 Color: Blue Type: Sorcery Rarity: R Number: 113 Artist: Kev Walker Text: Return all permanents to their owners' hands.

s might belong in the board, as they often got sided out against really fast decks, but I would like access to three of them. Also, I would really like to find room for Catalyst Stone

Catalyst Stone
	Set: Odyssey Cost: 2 Color: Colorless Type: Artifact Rarity: R Number: 297 Artist: Tony Szczudlo Text: Flashback costs you pay cost up to 2 less. Flashback costs your opponents pay cost 2 more.

s and Aether Burst

Aether Burst
	Set: Odyssey Cost: 2 Color: Blue Type: Instant Rarity: C Number: 60 Artist: Adam Rex Text: Return up to X target creatures to their owners' hands, where X is one plus the number of Aether Burst cards in all graveyards as you play Aether Burst.

s either in the main deck or the sideboard, but I’m not sure what to take out for them. Oh well, I guess that’s what testing is for . . .

There are many people I’d like to thank for their help in preparing for this tournament:

- Nick Eisel, for giving me the base deck
- The Ferrett and Elliot Fertik for some key card suggestions
- Brian Akers, Matt Crofoot, The Ferrett, Mark Globus, Andrew Johnson, Denver Liston, Paul Sottosanti, Mike Turian, and Olwen Wee for help testing OBC in general and the deck in particular and for providing much useful advice

Finally, I’d like to end with a few comments on lessons I learned and part of what I think contributed to my doing well at this tournament:

1) Get PLENTY of sleep and eat well – this is WAY more important than I think most people realize

2) Practice as much as you can

3) Plan you plays in advance – figure out how you’re going to win against your opponent and play in order to get to that point

4) Do lots of research and know what decks and cards are out there so you know what to expect

5) Plan your sideboarding against each deck (both what to put in as well as what to take out) in advance

6) Learn from your mistakes – write them down and refer back to them later so you don’t repeat them

As always, please feel free to email me with any comments or questions.

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