EEEYYYAAAAAAARRRRRGGHH!

Magic - Canadian Regionals

Hi there!

For those of you not interested in reading about my experience playing the game of Magic: The Gathering, please feel free to stop reading now. The following may be as dull as listening to somebody talking about their hobby without stopping to explain what any of the jargon means. Because that's exactly what will happen...

So I decided to write in our blog about my trip to an 8 round Swiss Magic tournament in Toronto last Saturday called "Regionals" in Magic circles. The top 8 finalists go on to compete for the National Championship in a few months, and there were about 160 starters all vying to be the top deck.

The format: Type II Magic, which includes the 9th Edition Core set, everything from Ravnica block and everything from Time Spiral block. Multicolour decks are still the go since Ravnica's dual-lands are still playable (but only until September...). The top three decks-to-beat are, in no particular order, Dragonstorm, Dralnu du Louvre, and Gruul Beats. It's a little like Rock-Paper-Scissors in that Gruul Beats (the beatdown deck) does well against Dralnu Du Louvre (the control deck) because Gruul is very fast and Dralnu can't keep up, Dragonstorm (the combo deck) is even faster than Gruul so it gets the edge in that matchup, but Dralnu has disruptive elements that stop the Dragonstorm combo from going off, so Dralnu has the edge in that match. As such, there isn't a "best" deck, and you're at the mercy of who you are randomly paired to play against.

My choice of deck for regionals? An AngelFire variant (blue-white-red) called "Boom-Wrath Opera". Here the list of cards:

4 Boom/Bust
4 Wrath of God
4 Lightning Helix
4 Remand
4 Court Hussar
4 Lightning Angel
4 Foresee
2 Numot the Devastator
1 Aeon Chronicler
4 Azorius Signet
2 Izzet Signet

1 Plains
4 Flagstones of Trokair
4 Sacred Foundry
1 Boros Garrison
2 Hallowed Fountain
1 Azorius Chancery
1 Adarkar Wastes
2 Island
3 Steam Vents
1 Izzet Boilerworks
1 Urza's Factory
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion
(60 Cards)

(15 Sideboard Cards)
1 Aeon Chronicler
3 Detritivore
2 Disenchant
4 Riptide Pilferer
3 Faith's Fetters
2 Pull From Eternity

This deck is well-established in Type II of late, and it is designed to hunt beatdown decks by either Wrath'ing and killing all their creatures, or gumming up the board with Lightning Angel or Numot, and then winning through card advantage. It has trouble against control decks that use counters, especially Dralnu, which is what the Riptide Pilferers are for (cast on turn 2 and attack their hand), and also has trouble against combo due to a relative lack of disruption (see also Riptide Pilferer). The land destruction (Boom/Bust, Numot, and Detritivore in the board) helps against some combo decks, but these are difficult matchups.

I knew going into Regionals that this probably wasn't the best deck choice, but I'm a beginner at Constructed Magic, and I could actually assemble the cards I needed for this deck, which isn't something I could say for a lot of the other decks going around. I also had a fairly good idea that i'd beat good players and lost to bad players more or less no matter what I played, so I picked a deck, practised a lot with it and hoped for the best.

So, last Saturday, after staying up with my friend Mike late to test our decks out against various dummy opponents, I went along to the centre-of-town-Toronto venue. Mike and I met with with another friend Miles - we'd been debating over email about the best decks to play, the decks to watch out for, and who was going to win what. Mike had high hopes with his home-brewed green-blue-white Scryb'n'Force deck that played a few fatties but also some comes-into-play creatures such as Mystic Snake that he could Momentarily Blink. Miles had decided Gruul Beats was the way to go, and had a fast, tuned, efficient deck that wasn't worried about making metagame calls, but instead going all in on Plan A ie dead opponent RIGHT NOW!

160 players. 8 round tournament. Top 8 go though to Nationals. So we need at least 6 wins, probably 7. Let's go!

Round 1: My opponent is playing Dragonstorm (blue-red with, well, dragons). Doh! Not a good matchup, although I did okay in practice last night against it so I'll give it a go. Game 1 I win through a series of Booms and then a Bust taking out my opponent's land (thanks to signets and Flagstones, I still have land myself) and keeping him off Dragonstorm combo mana. For Game 2, I side in the Pilferers and the two Pull from Eternity (to take out a suspended Lotus Bloom), then have to mulligan to 5 which is bad. But I keep a hand where I drop turn 2 and 3 Pilferers and start attacking hand. Then my opponent goes off prematurely with an early Hellkite off a Lotus Bloom and Seething Song to kill my guys and hit me. I'm down to 10 life before I get Wrath mana to draw equal again. A few turns later, he hard casts a Hunted Dragon and, even though I get to swing back with 3 knight tokens, he's way ahead on the damage race. Game 3, I bring in 3 Faith's Fetters which are better than Lightning Helix in this match because they can stop a lone Hellkite. I swing early with a Lightnikng Angel and get him down to 11. I Pull a Lotus Bloom from Eternity and I put Faith's Fetters on his storage land to slow him down. Mid-game, he goes off prematurely into a Hellkite which takes out my Lightning Angel to equalise. I've got the choice between answering with Wrath or Numot (which is a bigger dragon than his) and I opt for Numot. A turn passes without his attack, so I'm confident now. I go to attack on my turn, but my Numot and some of my land get gigadrowsed. Next turn, he goes off in earnest, Dragonstorm for 4 and I lost on the spot :-( Very close, but Dragonstorm has an inevitability about it I wasn't prepared for.

Loss 2-1. 0 points out of 3.

Round 2: Opponent, a teenage kid, playing Boros Deck Wins (red-white). He claims he's playing the "best" version of Boros according to what he read on the web, but it really didn't matter because this is a matchup I'm fine with. I keep hands with early Wraths, and my Booms trump his bounce lands (heh-heh-heh), so he ends up with no creatures, no lands, and no cards in hand. Game 2, I bring in the Faith's Fetters to slow him down even more. I'm in a little trouble when he drops Circle of Protection: Red, but he's land-shy and keeps tapping out. A couple of Soltari Priests keep hitting me and I go down to 3, but ultimately, Numot hitting twice per turn thanks to Sunhome overtakes him in the damage race.

Win 2-0. 3 points out of 6. So far so good. I'd prefer to be on 6, and I've got to be careful now, but I'm still totally in it. Let's just hope for a good matchup next, say another beatdown deck.

Round 3: Opponent playing Mono Green beats with Greater Good. Game 1, I keep a slow hand, but it has Wrath on turn 4 so I keep not knowing what he's playing yet. I see lots of acceleration in green, Llanowar Elves, and Scrib Ranger which combos with elves to make a 5-drop on turn 3 if he wants. The deck is really fast and playing 12 hasty beaters in Timbermare, Groundbreaker and Giant Solifuge, along with Primal Forcemage to make them huge when they hit. Game 1 I'm on defence all the way. I wrath early, but he follows up with more beaters, and I'm taking trample damage all the while. I get one Lightning Helix hit in to stay alive a little longer but end up getting run over quickly. Game 2, I board in Fetters again and do much better on the play. I take a few hits, but Numot has the last say in the matter. My vigilant guys seem to be a good foil for his, especially Cout Hussar who can trade with either Groundbreaker or Giant Solifuge (who I can't kill any other way) while soaking up 3 points. Game 3, he's on the play again, and I haven't learned my lesson and keep a slow hand with Turn 4 Wrath. I do indeed Wrath but his hasty guys keep ahead and I'm down. Man I didn't see that one coming! Watch out for mono-green beats when Ravnica rotates out!

Loss 2-1. 3 points out of 9. So now I'll really be struggling to make Top 8. i need a lot of things to go right. Just 3 quick round and I'm already playing for pride most likely. Disappointing, but well I guess I didn't do as much homework as I might have.

Round 4: Opponent drops turn 1 Watery Grave :-( Looks like Dralnu, my worst matchup. Of all the luck. Dralnu decks aren't supposed to be as low down as Table 60-something in Round 4! This game is over pretty quickly - with a Spell Snare taking out an early signet of mine both games and me never resolving a spell. I get a glimmer of hope in Game 2 when I get 8 mana and Urza's Factory (which can make tokens whether or not my opponent has counterspells), but a huge Tendrils of Corruption puts him way ahead on the damage race.

Loss 2-0. 3 points out of 12. There's a lesson here. Inevitability is a necessity against control decks like this. Cards like Urza's Factory are good because they just keep coming. Cards like Numot are fine, but not if you can't resolve them. By the way, the Detritivores looked like a good idea in theory, but even with three of them suspended, they just aren't fast enough. Also, Teferi stops them coming into play, so they're just slow land-d spells. And I didn't see my Pilferers.

So, now definitely playing for pride. At the same time, Mike has won 3 out of 4 and looking hopeful. Miles even more so as he's unbeaten. That was huge! Go Gruul!

Round 5: Opponent playing Gruul Beats. For some reason my opponent was rattled - he missed a draw phase in Game 2 and we both got a warning from the judges because neither of us noticed til a whole turn later. And then he nearly did it again. Game 1, I kept his creatures off the board, especially his Radha Heir's to Keld (I sensed he needed the mana, so 2 in a row met with an untimely Lightning Helix). Some Land-d to follow slowed him down. Eventually, a large Aeon Chronicler (a full grip means I'm swinging for 7 or 8) finishes the job. Game 2 is similar though I go down to 5 before Numot comes down and starting picking off his lands in pairs.

Win 2-0. 6 points out of 15. At last some success. It's too late now, so I'm just playing for ratings points and experience. But it's still fun anyway.

Round 6: Opponent playing an unknown deck with Green, Black and White. Game 1 he doesn't put up mich of a fight and mentions not getting the cards he needs. I speculate out loud that he's playing Project X I think, but he says not. One and then another Lightning Angel seal the deal after I see off two Birds of Paradise with Lightning Helixes. For Game 2, I board in the Detritivores and take out a Wrath, and Court Hussar and something else. Now, I find out what he's really playing. I see Wall of Roots, then Loxodon Hierarch, then finally Glittering Wish searches for whatever multicoloured tool he wants from his toolbox sideboard. He hits with Crime (of Punishment fame) and kills me with my own Lightning Angel. Game 3 I figure out to put that 4th Wrath back in and basically decide my Game 1 deck is best. On the play, I get hit by various disruption spells (Extirpate and Seek and Castigate) but manage to keep a couple of Boom Busts in the deck. I Bust midgame with no creatures on the board, but with several signets on my side. I recover to 4 mana quickly, drop a Court Hussar, find a second and then a Lightning Angel. With me hitting him for 5 each turn, and him having nothing but a signle Godless Shrine, he concedes. Now that is a game where the gameplan really worked. When Bust works, it really works. This is also what Angelfire decks do to Solar Flare.

Win 2-1. 9 points out of 18. Onward. I'm starting to work my way up the board tables again, so I'm playing closer to the top players. By now, Mike has lost 2 rounds on the trot, partly due to accidentally including half his sideboard in with his main deck. He blames this on the deckbox I lent him... Miles on the other hand is still unbeaten, having only agreed to a draw in Round 5 against an opponent with the same deck. They decided their mutual best chances were by agreeing to a draw. In any case, he only needs to win one more and he's through.

Round 7: Opponent playing some weird mono-black monstrosity with Stuffy Doll. Okay, so now I'm really up against the dregs. At first, I was expecting a mono-black "The Rack" discard deck (he has Augur of Skulls and Persecute), but he reveals he's not playing The Rack. That's a good thing because I got wrecked by a mono-black discard deck in Missisauga just last week. So the combo appears to be Stuffy Doll, swing with Stuffy Doll, then tap multiple Deserts targetting Stuffy Doll to do "wow" 3 points of damage to me. i laugh and drop my flying 6/6 dragon that kills lands (like say his Deserts)). He has a Damnation for Numot #1, but not for top-decked Numot # 2 and loses Game 1. In game 2, I find out that he's playing Korlash, Heir to Blackblade, but Korlas hdoesn't do so well when I Bust all his lands away. As with Round 5, this is my ideal game, where I recover more quickly, drop a couple of Lightning Angels and charge through for the win!

Win 2-0. 12 points out of 21. Okay, so there are prizes for the Top 32. I might just squeak it in. It's doubtful though cos there are a lot of people on 15 already. Anyway, I can but try.

Round 8: Walkover when my opponent doesn't show. I watch my neighbours play and see a Black-white "The Rack" discard deck tear a dragonstorm deck to bits. Game 1, the Dragonstorm guy can't keep cards in hand at all and loses. game 2, he mistakenly takes his Gigadrowses out and ends up losing to Circle Of Protection: Red even with 4 Bogardan Hellkites on the table. A single Gigadrowse would have finished it. As it was, black "The Rack" wins.

Win (though hollow) 2-0. 15 points out of 24.

I finish 43rd and well out of prizes, but that's one game more than last year's Regionals (I borrowed a beatdown deck from Mike and won 4 out of 8). Mike is steamed about the circumstances of his match losses and calcluates he could have won 7 matches ifonly various things had gone right. But that's the way the cookie crumbles. Mike also finished a bittersweet 33rd, one place outside prizes (only 3 packs, not the end of the world).

The big news is that Miles finished on 22 points: 6 wins and 2 draws, and 3rd place overall! He's going to Nationals! He was absolutely stoked! We were really glad for him because he earned it. Here is proof: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=mtgevent/regionals07/scarborough
scroll down to 3rd place. Miles won a whole box of Future Sight boosters for his troubles.

Hey, if you're looking at that link, also note that in 6th place was an Angelfire deck that was very close to what I played. The key differences? A single maindeck Firemane Angel which would have provided that inevitability against Dralnu I so badly needed (once you hit 10 mana, you can return it to play from the graveyard again and again without counter worries). Also, two Ivory Mask in the sodeboards, which answer Dragonstorm (want to deal 20 damage to me? now you can't!) and also discard decks to a certain extent. This just goes to show I should look through the card lists more diligently. I would have struggled to get two copies of this 9th Ed rare, but still it's nice to know what it would have taken. And of course I'm sure this guy knew what he was doing better than me.

The other Top 8 decks were Dragonstorm, Mono-Blue pickles (copy Brine Elemental with Vesucan Shapeshifter each upkeep so your opponent never untaps again), and mono-black "The Rack", along with another Gruul, a Zoo deck and a mono-red beats which came first overall. No sign of the feared Bridge from Below dredge combo deck, which probably claimed a few wins but generally got hated out of the metagame by graveyard hate. Lucky for me because I had a weakness there!

Anyway, that's that. Back to drafting for me (the kind of Magic where it doesn't matter what cards you own already), at least until the next time I feel like trying my hand at Constructed Magic. It is indeed fun!

--

This post proudly brought to you by Boom-Crash Opera.

"Said you'd never get any where!
They don't care and it's just not fair.
You know and I know better."

(Actually that turned out to be a Screaming Jets song instead, and I didn't recognise any of the songs that Boom-Crash Opera did in the 80's, so I'll just pretend to remain ignorant of my mistake...)

Buskerfest

Not last weekend, but the one before it was Buskerfest in Dundas!

This meant that the downtown area was full of street performers! Really good ones! There were several shows which were on rotation at different times and locations along King st (the main st).

We went out and had sushi on Friday evening and then caught some of the shows!

We caught the second half of the silly (?something) waiter show, which involved making lemonade with a catapult and juggling chickens.

Then we saw the Quebec Russian Bar trio. For those not in the know, the Russian Bar is a flexible plank. The show part involves two muscular young men holding the bar on their shoulders while an athletic young woman does amazing tricks like BACKFLIPS on the plank!!! (Remember please, that this is in the middle of the street, although they did have a few mats on the ground). Anyway it was very cool!!

We also caught some of the puppet tamer ventriloquism show (which was very funny) before my legs gave out.

On Sunday afternoon we went out again and saw some more of the puppet tamer's show, a bit more of the Russian Bar trio, some of the Dexterity brothers (who weren't as funny), some other guys we didn't catch the name of (but who were very good) and Miss Tallulah and The Ladder of Men who was incredibly funny! (Check out the video on her site : )

We had lots of fun!

And Ben got a puzzle box (it's really tricky to open).

You can see some extra photos here (we forgot to take the camera...)

Canadians - the nice Nazis

Hey there.

Believe it or not, we're still here. In spite of general blogging slackness (notwithstanding Rachel's recent Florida update) we're still out here in lovely (read smelly) Hamilton batting away as the weather heats up. In fact it's getting quite warm at the moment. We saw off the last of the snow about 3 months ago and now we're within a few weeks of the summer solstice already! Time flies when you're having fun.

Since it's hot, I decided today to resume my Monday evening swimming exercise, which I had discontinued months ago due to having too many things on weeknights. I discovered that the usual session I had been going to had moved to an hour earlier, so said swimming didn't eventuate and I'll need to leave work a little earlier next Monday if I'm to get that to work.

Oh well. It's a pretty good deal really. You see, what I do is I turn up to the swimming pool for some part of the hour of open swimming that's advertised on their website. It's really meant for members of the student union, which of course I'm not, so I'm actually expected to make a sizeable donation to their coffers every so often. The thing is, even though the charges and subcharges and membership fees and supercharges and ubercharges are spelled out in meticulous detail on the website, there doesn't seem to be any way to actually pay them money.

Almost a year ago when I first went to the McMaster pool, I stopped at the front counter just outside the turnstiles and got my wallet ready while I asked the cashier to remind me how much it was. The cashier looked dumbfounded, and eventually settled on some excuse about "umm I don't think you have to pay this week, just go on through". By then I've noticed that people are walking through the turnstiles in both directions and they don't appear to prevent anyone from going anywhere. Okay fine, well maybe someone further in is the person I'm supposed to pay. I vaguely remember there being a contact name on the internet so there must be someone responsible for collecting monies. On through the winding hallways, past the squash courts and the gym, til I find a place that looks like the locker room area. There's another counter and a couple of undergrad-looking people there. I ask again about who I'm supposed to pay to use the pool and again get a confused look of "huh? I didn't think this job required me to actually know anything...?", and they direct me to the locker rooms, so on I go. Okay so I've got this far without anyone so much as asking me to show a student card -interesting! I get changed and carry my gear through to the poolside area, and finally there's a guy sitting behind a table looking like he's actually in charge! But of course as I approach it becomes clear that he's really: "don't ask me man, I'm just .... sittin' here". (I would have said working, but if he was incapable of telling me anything useful about the open swim session currently going on right in front of all of us, then what job could he possibly have been working?)

Fine! So on I swim wondering what the deal is. A free swim I guess! I don't feel great about taking something that's worth money and not paying for it, but what can I do? Shoving a handful of twenties down a drainpipe in the shower room as penance wouldn't really help anyone, would it? And in the umpteen times I've gone back, feeling sometimes sheepish and sometimes delightfully naughty, I've never ever been challenged.

"Excuse me sir, you're clearly not a student of McMaster. We can tell by your complete lack of student demeanour! What right do you have to be here? Guards, escort this man off the premises immediately!"

Canadians have these ridiculously complicated bureaucracies that they love to construct. But when push comes to shove, they're really just nice people who want to come up and say hello. Are they even the same people? Are they some sort of were-creatures who are nice by day and then turn into Nazi rules-lawyers by night who put up signs everywhere saying you're not allowed to do anything? And do they actually abide by these rules themselves? As I rarely see anyone suffering the consequences of not following the rules, I have no idea...

Today, upon returning to the pool after my hiatus of several months, I thought my luck had finally run out. The usual door to the locker room was locked and looked like it had swipe card access. Okay, so at last they've cracked down. Well it was good while it lasted. Guess I'd better try once again to find someone who I can bribe to get into the pool.

But then, another student walked past and looked at the door the same way I had. He spoke up and told me that they're renovating and to try around the corner. He sounded quite convinced that I actually had a right to be there, and so a glimmer of hope reappeared.

Round the corner then, and the glass door had a sign saying "Do Not Enter". Oh well. Once again, thwarted. Clearly I'm not supposed to be here. But read on... "Emergency Exit Only, Door is Wired to Alarm" - well I guess that really does apply to everyone, not just Ben the felon. And then, through the glass, a door opens off to the side, and a man in his board shorts with a towel over his shoulder emerges and walks down the hallway toward where I know the pool area is. Okay, so there's a "secret entrance" now! They're getting trickier! Can I find my way to where the secret entrance is?

So back down the maze of pathways, back past the gym and the squash courts, toward where the main entrance is. It suddenly hits me! It's not a conspiracy to expose cheaters like me at all, they've just been doing renovations to upgrade their locker rooms! The old locker rooms were pretty ancient after all. I hold my breath once more as I walk past the main desk and observe that there is nobody stamping tickets on the way in - successfully evaded the authorities again! Arrright!

A makeshift sign says this way to change rooms - good!

Then around a corner, and the choice of two sets of double doors. Which one goes to the pool? I don't see any obvious signs, so I walk toward one set and just as I reach for the handle, a girl who has come in behind me says "Uh, that's the ladies, the men's is over there." Right! Okay then the other set of doors! That was a little close for comfort. Surely somebody must suspect that I'm really a fraud sooner or later with all these slip ups! Why, any real uni student would surely just know, without the prompting of mere "signs", which way they were supposed to go, right? I must have given myself away, and security is on their way right now...

Anyway, into the men's locker room and, good heavens this is like a level out of Quake!? The passages just go on and on and there seem to be so many places for space marines and demons alike to be lurking. Actually, back to reality, it's just a change room, but it looks like it's fitted out with enough space to host the olympics. I just keep walking, through the locker area, past the showers, and past the signs saying that each patron absolutely must take a shower, including salient washing details, and on through to the double doors to the pool.

Okay, so now finally I'm in the home stretch! I'm back into a part of the building that is actually familiar and on way to the pool. But wait - look at the speed at which those swimmers are attacking their lengths! They're not casual swimmers! I've seen this before when I've come 5 minutes early for the open session - they're doing drills! But too late now, the lifeguard is already hailing me, and the swim coach, seeing me hesitate, calls out to me. Here we are! I'm finally busted right at what might have been the moment of triumph. It's plain that I'm not supposed to be here, and now I'm caught....

Wait, what did he say?

"You're in the right place! Come join us! Hi! I'm Steve!" (Offers a handshake which I accept.)

"I'm Ben. Uh, is this the open session?"

"No, this is the triathlete training session."

"Right, didn't there used to be an open session on now? I haven't been here in a while."

"Oh, that's from 4-5pm during the summer break." (As opposed to the 5-6pm I was accustomed to. Fine!) "But if you like you can join us here, if you want to join in the drills?"

"Uh, thanks, that's okay, I'm a bit out of practice, so I just want to warm up slowly. I'll come back next week - a bit earlier perhaps!" (Smile! Remember, it's not a lie if you believe it! So says the famous George Costanza.)

May I also point out that it must have been perfectly obvious that I hadn't showered on the way out to the pool, as instructed. I hadn't even grabbed a handful of water on the way past to make my hair look wet. But nobody seemed to care!

I walk away, and the lifeguard also says hi on the way past. What nice people! They really just want people to get into the sport. Which is great!

It's a good idea not to judge Canadians by the signs you see around the place - you'd totally get the wrong idea about how laid back they are. They're not Nazis, they just make rules and signs like Nazis. And not even useful signs like "Cashier" or "Men's Change Room", just signs with rules that they don't enforce!

VSS pics

As promised: me wearing glow-sticks in my hair, looking like an alien! The full glory is not clear in the picture because the top is not visible and the glow does show up, but you get the idea... I am shown here with the lovely Jen (photo by Jenna).

The antennae were so long that I almost put out people's eyes if I bent down (good for posture?). There was one other person with sort of antennae (little short stick stuck in a headband arrangement). Vickie started talking loudly about how we were the same species and would have to breed and he hastily left... should I be insulted?

I should point out that this photo was taken at Club Vision, the disco which is part of the official VSS program... They hand out free glow sticks. So I DO look more freakish that most of the people there, but not as much as if I had brought my own glow-sticks!

What does VSS stand for? Ben says Very Sexy Scientists... there are SOME of those at the meeting, but it really stands for Vision Sciences Society.

(For those confused by all the names: Jen & Jenna both study faces at McMaster; Vickie hates faces and is about to finish her PhD in infant motion perception, also at McMaster.)