2001)

Detroit PTQ IBC (8.18.01)

This past weekend I attended the IBC PTQ held in Detroit, Michigan. The event was run by Mike Guptil and the folks from PES (Professional Events Services), with the turnout for the event being 122 people! Travis Cullum and I left my house (Marshall, MI) about 8:00 a.m. and set out for the PTQ. After a relatively uneventful trip, we arrived at about 9:30 a.m. and proceeded to register our decks. A quick-glance of the room revealed that virtually none of the Egghead’s (Columbus, OH) team members were present except for Randy Wright. I did get a chance to speak with some of the guys from the Ann Arbor playtest group (Pat Chapin, Bill Fleming, Mike Stewart and Mark Herborholtz) about the B/U/R control deck (Chapin’s deck) and some of the changes I had made to the sideboard. I decided to play Chapin’s deck, I’ve always enjoyed control and Yawgmoth’s Agenda is incredibly powerful (nothing beats re-casting everything in your graveyard). Here is the deck I played:

Chapin and EDT’s B/U/R Control

Maindeck
4:Ravenous Rats
4 Blazing Spectre
3 Flametongue Kavu
4 Undermine
4 Fact or Fiction
4 Void
4 Fire/Ice
3 Terminate
3 Yawgmoth’s Agenda
2 Recoil

Lands
4 Shivan Reef
4 Urborg Volcano
4 Salt Marsh
5 Islands
5 Swamps
3 Mountains

Sideboard
3 Gainsay
3 Trench Wurm
2 Spite/Malice
2 Lobotomy
2 Slay
1 Urza’s Rage (for the mirror)
1 Flametongue Kavu
1 Crosis the Purger

I opted not to play with Disrupts simply because this deck is all over the net and I assumed my opponents would play around them anyway. I also chose to not play with Dodecapods and never regretted not having them. For the most part I was pleased with the sideboard except for Urza’s Rage, it was never a factor in the mirror.

Analysis of the Field
The field for this PTQ was not what I had anticipated. Chapin.dec (B/U/R) and Goblin Trenches (U/R/W) were in abundance. G/R beatdown was present in modest numbers and there were virtually no Solution decks to be seen. There were an assortment of Rogue decks and I believe a couple of them made it into the Top 8.

The PTQ
The tournament gets started in a timely fashion and play begins shortly after 10:00 a.m.

Round 1 vs. Justin Wolbert Rogue Land Destruction
Justin is the younger brother of John Wolbert who is a friend of mine. Justin is playing with Pain/Suffering, Dwarven Landslide and big fat Nishioba. Justin is able to destroy all of my Islands game 1 and I cant mount any kind of defense, Nishioba shows up and crushes me. Games 2 and 3: Justin is forced to play around my phantom Disrupts and I’m able to win quite soundly. 1-0

Round 2 vs. Thom Bissell Counter-heavy Dromar
My opening hand Game 1: 3 Ravenous Rats, I end up shredding Thom’s hand and riding the rats to victory. Game 2: I’m able to force Blazing Spectre through and the Spectre decimates Thom’s hand. Thom was a good sport throughout the match and a really nice guy. 2-0

Round 3 vs. Jared Reeder Mono-Red with lots of burn
Game 1: I can’t seem to find any removal and Skizziks and Urza’s Rage do me in. Game 2: Jared drops Firebrand Rangers and Rage Weavers, I Void and gain some card advantage. Jared gets me down to 4 life but a pair of Blazing specters show up and do their job. Game 3: is really close but Yawgmoth’s Agenda wins the match for me. 3-0

Round 4 vs. Pat Chapin Mirror Match
I playtest with Pat in Ann Arbor on Thursday nights and I know I’m in for a rough match.
Game 1: I win the toss and get to go first(huge advantage in the mirror). Pat stalls on mana and I’m able to pull the game out. Game 2: I make a major mistake and tap out for Trench Wurm. Pat is able to get a Void through and just destroys my hand.
Game 3: Pat’s tech shows up and I just can’t deal with it. 3-1

Round 5 vs. Mark Herborholtz Mirror Match
Damn! I also play with Mark on Thursdays, and get stuck with another tough match. Game 1: Mark gets mana-hosed and can’t recover. Game 2: It is a much closer game, I’m able to lobotomize the Chapin tech and win the match.

Round 6 vs. Daniel Rodeman G/R beatdown
Game 1: Blurred Mongoose and Raging Kavu bring me down quickly
Game 2: Same result as game 1. I never see Fire/Ice or rats and I go down without much of a fight. Blurred Mongoose is a major problem for this deck

Round 7 vs. John Dubois U/W/R beatdown with goblin trenches
Game 1: Void kills Galina’s Knight and Goblin Legionnaire. John gets goblin trenches into play but Fire/Ice kills his minions as fast as he can make them. Game 2: Spite/Malice gets rid of the troublesome knights and Agenda hits play, game over.

Overall the U/B/R is really strong but G/R continues to be a tough matchup for the deck.
I end up 13th overall and finish out of the prizes.

Props:
All the guys from the Ann Arbor playtest group
Matt and Marcus for their sponsorship
Dave and Travis for making the drive to playtest with me.
PES for running such awesome events

Slops:
Myself for scrubbing out

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