2001)

I only live a couple of hours from Detroit, but Marcus and his friends had decided to get a hotel for the nights of the tournament, and offered to let me stay with them, so I drove to Detroit on Friday. I followed the advice that everyone espouses but no one practices: I got to bed early. It was quite an experience for me, as my typical routine involves being up past 1.

I got up before 8 the next morning and took a shower before heading down to enjoy a complementary breakfast. Booyah! I think the scrambled eggs did not agree with me, and for the first couple of rounds of the tournament I was regretting my choice of food.

We all drove to the tourney together, and arrived with plenty of time to spare. Those of us who hadn’t registered did so. The Grand Prix was taking place in Detroit’s Renaissance Center, and the room was massive. We watched Dave playtest a rogue deck against Fires and waited for the tournament to begin.

Things took a while. We were seated for deck registration around 10:45, and I was seated opposite a woman from Michigan whose name eludes me, but whom I met judging or organizing a tournament in January. In a room filled with so many people I didn’t know it was comforting to be seated opposite a familiar face. The deck I received looked decent, but not fantastic. There were plenty of nice blue fliers, capped with a Waterspout Elemental. Black also looked good, but white looked really weak. There was some good red stuff, but there was very little of it. The deck also had too little removal for my liking.

We turned in the decks, and waited for deck construction. The deck I received had some good blue fliers and great red and black removal, but the red and black creatures were pretty weak. I choose U/B/r, but looking at the card pool I think I should have given more consideration to G/r/b. I had Quirion Elves, Quirion Dryad, Nomadic Elves, Yavimaya Barbarian, and Horned Kavu as 2 drops. I also had Thicket Elemental, Stone Kavu, Kavu Chameleon, and Serpentine Kavu as fat 5 drops. I could have added Rith’s Charm and Frenzied Tilling had I played R/G/B. I would have lost all my fliers and Tidal Visionary, as well as Probe, Repulse, Rushing River, Stormscape Battlemage, and the Spite half of Spite/Malice. I doubt that I had the mana fixings to play all four colors, and I still think the blue was stronger, but I probably should have considered sideboarding into R/G/B in some games.

At the time, I wasn’t fanatical about my cards, but looking back I think they were jaw-droppingly good. The fact that I had ten green cards that qualify as 1st to 3rd picks in draft and great blue picks was great.

Here’s what I played:

Invasion Planeshift
Blue:
Metathran Aerostat
Hunting Drake

Probe
Rushing River

Repulse
Stormscape Battlemage

Shoreline Raider
Stormscape Familiar

Tidal Visionary

Vodalian Merchant

Black:
Agonizing Demise
Phyrexian Bloodstock

Duskwalker

Urborg Skeleton

Red:
Zap
Flametongue Kavu

Magma Burst

Mire Kavu

Slingshot Goblin

Gold:
Plague Spores
Cavern Harpy

Split:
Spite/Malace

Artifact:
Drake-Skull Cameo

Land:
Salt Marsh
5 Mountain

6 Island
5 Swamp

Take a quick count of the removal: seven removal spells, plus Slingshot Goblin, Phyrexian Bloodstock, Hunting Drake, and two bounce spells. That’s really, really nice. Take a look through those cards, and try to guess the day’s MVP. Magma Burst? Won me a couple of games, but not it. Flametongue Kavu? Really strong, but not the best. The right answer is Tidal Visionary. Once that hit the table, my opponent couldn’t use black removal, couldn’t avoid my black removal, and couldn’t rely on protection from a color. To add insult to injury, Tidal Visionary took Phyrexian Bloodstock from good to amazing, and Slingshot Goblin from good to serious MVP contender.

The first card I saw that impressed me looking at the cards was Metathran Aerostat. After all, it’s a 2/2 flier with an ability that makes it hard to remove. In play, however, the Aerostat was never that useful, and I never took advantage of its ability.

In a typical game, my opponent would come out faster than I did. I would player bigger and better creatures, Probe, remove my opponent’s creatures, then attack. My opponent would play a creature on his or her turn, and I’d remove it and attack on my turn. The deck just rolled over people.

Marcus and I played a few practice games, and I was winning something like 80 to 90 percent of them. Unfortunately, I kept making really stupid mistakes. I’d forget that the Harpy has gating and play it as my only creature. I’d tap the wrong mana and keep red open when I controlled an Urborg Skeleton and could have left a swamp untapped. I was very, very dumb. Fortunately, I decided to make all my mistakes in practice, and I played very well during the actual tournament.

Round 1 (vs. Tom Magyarodi):

Tom comes out pretty fast with a U/W/B deck I learned featured Dromar. In the first game I play Slingshot Goblin, Phyrexian Bloodstock, and Tidal Visonary to Tom’s Galina’s Knight, Samite Pilgrim, and one other creature, as well as an Angelic Shield. Tom plays a Vodalian Serpent with kicker, but I draw a Cavern Harpy and use the Tidal Visionary to turn the Serpent white then bounce the Bloodstock. After I target the Serpent, Tom bounces it by sacrificing the Angelic Shield. When Tom replays the Serpent, I repeat the play and kill it. Eventually, I overwhelm him. I lack red mana early in the game. I only have one mountain, and it would have been nice to use Slingshot Goblin and cast Zap, but that isn’t possible.

In game two, Tom keeps a one-land hand and never really puts up any resistance. He tells me he kept it because he was holding Dromar. I don’t agree with that decision.

Tom made a couple of mistakes during play, such as attacking into a bad block. I let him take these moves back when he asks. To be honest, I doubt that I would have done that had the game been a bit closer.

Matches: 1-0
Games: 2-0

Round 2 (vs. Trent Rogers): Trent is playing U/B/R. I win the first game by eliminating his creatures while attacking with a Mire Kavu and one other 1/1. For the second game, I side in the Planeswalker Scorn for the Phyrexian Bloodstock. The game is quite close, with the lead going back and forth. I draw the Scorn, and make good use of it, killing three creatures in three tries. I play a Stormscape Familiar, and attack with it every turn. Trent keeps playing creatures, but I kill them and attack each turn. On one of the uses of the Planeswalker Scorn, I see a Spinal Embrace. I’m holding a Duskwalker and a Zap. I play the Duskwalker without the kicker. When Trent tries to Embrace the Familiar to block the Duskwalker, I Zap the Familiar in response, and that pretty much locks up the game.

Matches: 2-0
Games: 4-0

Round 3 (vs. Mauro Bongiovanni):

Mauro is the Canadian for whom this article is named. The reason for his prominent placement will soon become apparent. This is Mauro’s first match. He got two byes based on his high ranking. Apparently, he was four DCI points short of qualifying for Barcelona based on his rating.

In the first game, I get ahead, then decide to play conservatively. Mauro starts to stabilize, but I manage to win in a long game. I again side the Scorn in for the Bloodstock.

In the second game, Mauro has a Hooded Kavu, which has a quite useful ability against my Shoreline Raider. Mauro keeps up the pressure, and I can’t keep up. He delivers me my first game loss.

Mauro seems mana-screwed in the third game, but he puts up quite a good fight. My deck starts to roll, and I beat him with big creatures backed up with removal for his blockers.

After the match, Mauro points out that if you win the flip and choose to draw firt (as I did) then you do not need to mulligan first, you can wait until your opponent chooses whether or not to mulligan. That was nice of him.

Matches: 3-0
Games: 6-1

Round 4 (vs. Mary Rochelle):

Mary has come to Detroit from college in Philadelphia. She’s come to Philadelphia from Tennessee. This is Mary’s first match, since she won a GP Trial, and she tells me she’s quite nervous, but it isn’t apparent in her play.

In game one, I have no red mana, and I struggle for a while. Mary brings me down to six life, then I play a Flametongue Kavu to kill a Duskwalker and a Shoreline Runner to block her Caldera Kavu. I kill her Kavu next turn, then I attack for nine for two turns. She concedes before my final attack phase.

In game two, Mary draws too much mana. I keep attacking with weenies, and I kill every creature she plays by drawing a ton of removal.

Matches: 4-0
Games: 8-1

At this point, I start thinking about how I have to do for the next few matches to draw in. I figure if I win the next two I can draw in. I’m pretty sure that I won’t make it at 6-2.

Round 5 (vs. Scott Valastyan):

Scott has one four consecutive rounds, having a bye for his first.

In the first game, Scott gets an early lead, but my removal stops him in his tracks. Scott plays a Reckless Assault, which I have no way of dealing with, but I just keep playing threats and Scott can’t kill all of them because of the life cost.

In game two, I’m leading, at fourteen life to Scott’s five. Scott’s removal kicks in and he keeps bouncing my creatures. I have eight mana, but I’ve got so many creatures in hand that I wish I had more. I get down to four life to Scott’s three, with Scott having a 1/1 creature and 2/2, and me having a Cavern Harpy and Vodalian Trader. Scott also has a Reckless Assault. Scott attacks with both of his creatures and Rushing Rivers both of mine. If I let him hit me, he can Reckless Assault me, so I Zap the 1/1 and go to two. Scott shoots me with the Assault taking us both to one, and then shoots me again. I start to go into my annoying pedagogical mode to tell him this kills him first, but he knows and doesn’t put up a fight. I kind of wonder what would have happened if I hadn’t known. Perhaps Scott would have told me that he was dead, and he just wanted to see what would happen. Perhaps he would have not. I’m not sure if not telling me would have been technically legal but ultimately shady play, or if it would have been illegal.

Matches: 5-0
Games: 10-1

Round 6 (vs. Kurt Fruth):

Kurt had no byes, and has got this far though good play and an excellent deck.

In the first game, I’m doing pretty well, attacking with weenies and am ahead, but Kurt locks the ground with a Benalish Heralds and then plays a Plague Spitter, clearing my side. Kurt goes on to kill me.

In the second game, I get ahead and decide to press tempo by using removal on every creature he plays, but I run out of burn just in time for Kurt to drop a Tsabo’s Assassin. That card is pretty good. I eventually get Planeswalker’s Scorn and eight mana, which I use to kill off several of his creatures, but his advantage is too great and he beats me for my first match loss.

Matches: 5-1
Games: 10-3

Round 7 (vs. Ped Bun):

This is my first match against a name I recognize. Ped is partially responsible for MaherOath, the powerful extended deck.

Ped Parises in the first game then keeps a one-land hand. I get a pretty crummy draw, but he has almost no resistance and I win.

I get Tidal Visionary and Slingshot Goblin, so things look pretty good, but Ped plays Pyre Zombie, which I have no way of dealing with. Ped only has one red mana, so he can’t totally abuse it. I kill it every turn with the Visionary/Goblin combo, but that ties up those two creatures. I’m playing Cavern Harpy and blocking with it, bouncing a Vodalian Trader, but I can’t get enough. At one point, he plays Seer’s Vision, and sees something like Magma Burst, Flametongue Kavu, Agonizing Demise, Spite/Malice, and a couple of other decent cards. He Bog Downs with kicker, then forces me to discard the Kavu. Ped wins this game.

In game three, my deck decides it’s had enough of Ped, and just steps up. He plays a creature, and then I play removal and attack. He plays a creature, and then I play removal and attack. It seems like there’s nothing he can do. I bounce both of Ped’s creatures, a Sparring Golem and a 1/1 weenie, then attack with a Duskwalker and Tidal Visionary, bringing Ped to 1 life to my 15. On Ped’s turn, he plays a Pyre Zombie. On my turn, I turn the Zombie green then attack with the Duskwalker, for the game and the opportunity to draw into day two.

I could have attacked with the Visionary, I suppose, but he might have been holding removal.

Matches: 6-1
Games: 12-4

I’m pretty pleased at this point. I’ve never gotten this far, and I’m looking forward to playing in day two. Then I run into Mauro, my Canadian opponent from round three. Mauro asks me if I’m planning on drawing into day two, and I tell him that, of course, I am. He points out:
a) If I draw, I’ll need to do fantastically on day two, 5-1. If I win, I’ll probably only need to do 4-2. (As it turns out after the tournament, 4-2 would have put me at 33 points, and I would have been between 7th and 9th place.)
b) Mauro tells me my deck is fantastic. He says his deck is good enough to play this round (he’s also at 6-1) and mine is better than his. (This is probably true.)

I mull over this and consider a couple of other things. Coming in the top 32 would net me $250 dollars. That would impress a few people, including my parents and girlfriend. If I draw, I have a decent, but not great chance of making the top 32.

I also consider the fact that I don’t have any experience drafting Planeshift, and my experience drafting Invasion is minimal. My draft deck might not be so good. On the other hand, my sealed deck was great.

Finally, I consider the fact that if I draw, I’ll have to come back the next day, and I’ll probably blow it. If I play, I’ll have to come back, and I’ll probably blow it, but I’ll still finish pretty well. 3-2-1 will probably put me in the top twelve, and will probably net me a PT Barcelona invite, which is my goal.

I weigh these things carefully and decide I’m going to play. Pretty much immediately afterwards, pairings are announced. I see my table, but don’t bother to look for my opponent. I proceed to table 18, and see my opponent...

Round 8 (vs. Michelle Bush):

Mighty Mighty Michelle Bush

I sit down, and Michelle asks me if I want to draw. I mull over the decision a little bit, but say no. Michelle is not pleased. People around me ask me if I know who Michelle is. I tell them I do. Michelle tells me I’m making a mistake. I tell her I’m not convinced.

Michelle is pretty annoyed. She makes it pretty clear that she was hoping to draw this round, and that I’m preventing her from sleeping, eating, and otherwise not playing round eight. I feel a twinge of guilt, but mostly, I'm scared. I’m not scared of Michelle Bush beating me. I scared I’m going to beat her, and make some enemies. I’m scared I’m going to infuriate Michelle and have an enemy for life. I’m also afraid that I’m going to beat her and make an enemy of all of Michelle’s fans, which includes, I think, everyone who follows Magic.

Now, having said that, I don’t want to give the impression I didn’t play my best game this round. I did everything I could to win. I didn’t (intentionally, at least) give Michelle an inch. I was afraid of winning, but I’m hugely competitive, and my goal, for this round at least, was to put Michelle at 6-2.

In the first game I had to Paris. Then, Michelle took the lead with Volcanic Imp. We both had kickered Duskwalkers out, and we both had Cavern Harpies, and I had one other 2/2. I was stabilizing, and got down to one life. I played a Flametongue Kavu and killed the Imp. I thought, “I might win this game.” I have 9 power worth of creatures ignoring the Harpy, mana untapped, and a Rushing River in hand. She has two creatures, is at ten life. She’s going to attack with the Harpy, and I’m going to block with mine. I’ll block, and she’ll pay one life and go down to nine. She’ll replay the Harpy, then the Duskwalker. At the end of her turn, I’ll bounce both of her creatures, then win the game.

Michelle tapped two mana before attacking and played Ravenous Rats. I discarded an Island. Michelle attacked with the Harpy and I blocked with mine. She payed one life and went down to nine. She replayed the Harpy. In response, I bounced her Rats and Duskwalker with the River. Michelle allows this to resolve, and returns the Harpy to her hand. I put the River in my graveyard. At this point, there’s a little commotion. Michelle asks if I sacrificed a land to pay the River’s kicker. I look in my graveyard, and the top cards are Rushing River, then an Island, then Cavern Harpy. I remember discarding an Island, and tell Michelle I must not have paid the kicker cost. Michelle (who is enraged, remember, about having to play) is a little angry about this situation and turns to the judge (who is watching this game since most people have agreed to draw.) I look through my graveyard and notice an Island under the Harpy. The situation resolves without a problem.

Michelle replays the Rats, then the Harpy, then the Rats again. On my turn, if I draw removal, I’m in a good position. I can attack with everything, and Michelle will have to block because otherwise she’ll lose. I can remove the other creature after she attacks with it. I’m also looking good if I draw a flier. I can attack with everything, then play the flier to block the Harpy (or Rats if she chose to block with the Harpy and bounce it.) I untap and draw a land. I lose.

The next game is pretty similar. Michelle takes an early lead, and I stabilize at one life. This time, I have a hand full of removal, and some big creatures in play. Unfortunately, Michelle Death Bombs my Mire Kavu (sacrificing her only creature to do so.) If I’d had untapped mana, I could have killed the Kavu in response (which would have caused the Death Bomb to become countered.) Unfortunately, I had just tapped out to play the Kavu, and can only shake Michelle’s hand and wish her luck for the next day.

Michelle cheers up after winning the match. I mention that she seemed really, really annoyed at having to play. She tells me that she ´´played it up to intimidate me´´, and I guess that’s okay. One thing I didn’t enjoy this match was when the gathered crowd cheered after Michelle won the first game. Perhaps I’m just whining, but that seemed a little distasteful. I’m just some local scrub, and Michelle is the clear favorite to win. It’s not like I’m an experienced bully picking on Michelle and she’s the underdog in need of support.

I’m a little disappointed, but I’m pleased with my performance on the day. People congratulate me, and, writing this report, I see some plays I made that I’m pretty proud of (especially the Duskwalker without kicker in game two of round two). I run into Mauro after my game with Michelle. He lost in round eight after choosing to play, and so he’s also missed day two. I jokingly tell him off for encouraging me to play and tell him I’ll see him again soon. Ratings come up, and I’m in 75th place, although 6-2 went as high as 57th place.

Looking back on the decision to play in round eight, I still think it was the right move. I think my odds in that game were better than my odds on day two. Or course, given the choice between losing in round eight and tying, I’d definitely choose to tie, but given what I thought my odds were (and what I still think my odds were) I think I’d choose to play. The next time I’m in this position (which might not be very soon) I might change my mind, but if I could have a do over, I’d go back to the game as opposed to the choice to play. ´´Blame Canada´´, probably isn’t the most accurate title for this article, considering the fact that I think the advice was good, but I think it was the most appropriate title.

Good luck to all the competitors who made it to Barcelona.

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