Hey guys!  Well, I just got done playing my first Friday Night Magic as a resident of California.  I have the following to say:  "I want to go back to Texas."   Maybe I was spoiled by the good tournaments in that area, but the one I went to tonight just seemed to lack the luster of a good Rama Llama Comics in Plano, TX or even Grand Slam in Carrollton, TX.  Maybe it was the way it was done, maybe it's the way I felt rushed, maybe it was the tournament structure, maybe it was the people, or maybe it was just me.  I dunno, but I left feeling pretty empty tonight.  Well, enough about that.  How about some tournament details.

     The tournament had a whopping 11 people in it.  I'm not going to complain - it was enough to hold the tournament which is really all I want anyway.  First place got the foil Archer along with $25 (I think) in store credit.  The other two Archers were given away randomly.  They also dished out a couple of the "Facta Non Verba" T-shirts as well randomly.  Well, being that I've been pretty busy doing a cross-country move as well as start up this little 'ole website here, I've hardly had any time to playtest Type 2.  So, being the good drone that I am when I am busy, I went with a net deck.  Yes, I know, I feel like a scrub, but it's a deck-type I like and I had played with it some previously, so I thought it would be a good one to use tonight.  Since I blatently copied it, I'll blatently post the copy of it. 

Main Deck:
4 Counterspell
4 Absorb
4 Blinding Angel
4 Wrath of God
4 Opt
4 Accumulated Knowledge
4 Fact or Fiction

2 Dismantling Blow
2 Millstone
1 Teferi's Moat
1 Story Circle
1 Tsabo's Web
1 Misdirection
1 Dominate

8 Island
7 Plains
4 Adarkar Wastes
4 Coastal Tower

Sideboard:
3 Last Breath
2 Millstone
2 Mageta the Lion
2 Disenchant
1 Teferi's Moat
1 Story Circle
1 Misdirection
1 Disrupting Scepter
1 Thwart
1 Rout

     Did I change anything?  Nope.  Not a card.  Honestly, when I don't have any time at all to playtest, I say, "What the hey - it got 9th in Chicago - can't be too bad."   After having played it, I would probably make a few changes in the board, but the deck is solid for all us U/W Control Freaks.  Anyway, on to the tournament.  It was 4 rounds of PURE Swiss, 45 min time limits.  God do I hate pure Swiss.  

Round 1 vs Larry Tetone
     Seems I got paired with the local ringer round 1.  It's no big deal - just another guy playing cards for all I care.  Seems he's playing the same deck, tweaked a bit.   Game 1 I see very few mana problems and he kinda stalls out around 4 or 5 mana.  I make him burn a couple counters on early Blinding Angels - basically worthless in the match-up.  We draw some cards and take turns blowing up each other's Millstones.  Eventually, I get one down and rolling.  He has to draw some more cards to equalize, but it's too late - I've got counter backup and his library low.  I get it.   Game 2 we reverse rolls.  He has good mana while mine slows down on me.  He drops a quick stick, which I counter to get one back, untap, and disenchant.  I get a good Fact or Fiction with a Stick and Stone in it.  He makes the stick too good, so I take it.  I then throw down an Angel to draw a counter.  It doesn't, but I war over the Wrath a couple turns later.  This taps him low and allows me to force through the Stick.  He is real low on cards, and I stop a couple Accumulated Knowledges to keep him from getting more.  I might should have let him have one of the knowledges, because I eventually run out of counters.  I do get a Stone down, but it's a race.  I have about 12 or so cards left in library at the 2 minute warning.  He is able to drop a stone on me.  Time is called, and I do the math - he can't stone me out.  I don't have any counter-magic, though, so life is bad there.   Then, it happens.  Turn 4 of 5 he drops another Millstone.  Goodness - no cards in hand because I have sticked him to death, and he drops another Stone.  How lucky do you get.  One card later, and I win match.  Anyway, he stones me out, and I lose the game, and the match is a draw.
Game Record: 1-1    Match Record 0-0-1  

     As an interesting side note, it is NOW that I find out it was pure Swiss.  I might have been taking a little more time on my turns if I had known DURING the match.

Round 2 vs Trent Deal
     Trent is running a mono-red deck that got victimized by Larry the last week, so he added white for Disenchant, COP:Red (?) and Spirit Link.  The details of this match are quite boring, actually.  The only thing of note are the nightmares I am going to have about Capeshen Unicorns getting Spirit Linked and beating me in the head.  I didn't lose to them, but it's embarrassing getting beat in the head by any creature-type "Unicorn".  The end of both games was about him trying to kill himself before I do.  I was pretty dominant here.
Game Record 2-0    Match Record 1-0-1

Round 3 vs Chris Amaral
     Chris and I are there for 1 reason - for one of us to finish first.  We figure my deck with my play experience has a better chance to do this.  If she had been 2-0, I woulda conceded, but since we're both 1-0-1, she gives me the win to try to take the tournament.  Thanks babe - I appreciate it!
Match Record 2-0-1

Round 4 vs Eric Haskins (I think)
     Eric is running G/W stompy style deck with Noble Panthers and Wild Mights.  I pretty much knew that turn 4 wrath, turn 5 Angle was game.  Game 1, that's pretty much the story.  I did that with Misdirection (like I needed it) back-up.  Exactly 10 turns later, only countering a Tangle, the game was over.  Game 2 I mulligan a 1 plains start into a 5 Island, 1 Mageta start.  Not wanting to go to 5, I keep.  Well, I never draw another land, and I draw continuous white spells.  Oh well - deck's turn to hate me.  Game 3 I keep a mediocre land draw with an Opt, but see lots of land.  I bait him into about 4 critters before I Wrath.  Next turn is the angel with counter back-up.  Nothing he can do about this.  Green/White has Hurricane, and that's about it.  I don't think he even had that.
Game Record 2-1    Match Record 3-0-1

     Time to turn on Scott-vent mode.  I got 2nd.  Second <insert words not appropriate for this site> place.  Now I've been screwed on tiebreaks before, but I REALLY think we just saw the inherent flaw in Pure Swiss.  Who got first?  Larry.  He 3-0ed like I did, but he got paired up in round 3.  I lost to a computer.  Man that sucks.  There should have been a playoff, or something.  Break to top 4...something.  It was very clear the WotC employees at the store were ill-equipped to handle such a situation, and were quick to admit as much afterward.  So, but virtue of 60.42% vs 56.25%, Larry gets a foil Archer and $25 credit.  I get...a handshake.  Actually, I get a random shirt, but that had nothing to do with my record on the day.  The system was flawed, and they admitted it afterwards.  Unfortunately, for all their "admitting to being wrong", I still got screwed over.  Nice....I think I'm gonna seek out another FNM for next week.  Find something where matches determine winners, not computers.

Obligitory Props and Slops:

Props to Larry - a really nice guy, who plays a hell of a game.  If I couldn't get the Archer, he deserved it.

Props to Chris.  Who knows who woulda won, but it sure was nice not having to sweat through that match.  I appreciate it!

Hell, Props to all my opponents who were all good sports.  It was a fun night...mostly.

Slops to the store.  Sorry - when 2 people finish 3-0-1 (mind you, undefeated), then it does not take a rocket scientist to realize that either you need to split the prizes up somehow, have a playoff, or do something.  Maybe it's because I was new and Larry was established there.  I dunno.  I'm not going to speculate politics and certainly not going to accuse of them, but the judge seemed like a nice, fair guy.  I just know I went undefeated and got screwed.

Props to all the readers of Pojo.com.  Y'all are just the best.  Thanks for hangin' in there with us!

That's it.  I'll give it a close here.  I hope some more of y'all follow suit and write up some reports.  We could sure use them. ;)  Everyone have a great day and keep playing!

Scott Gerhardt