<DIV>I placed 9th in the FNM T2!</DIV><BR>
<DIV>R/W/B "Newspaper"</DIV>
<DIV>Michael Malovich (Crimson Mage)</DIV>
<DIV>Beaverton, Oregon</DIV>
<DIV>FNM at Rainy Day Games on the 12th</DIV>&nbsp;
<DIV>21 people participated in 4 rounds of swiss, then divided into the top 8 
and the 2nd tier single elimination rounds.</DIV>&nbsp;
<DIV>"Newspaper"</DIV>&nbsp;
<DIV>3x Desolation Angel</DIV>
<DIV>4x Death Grasp</DIV>
<DIV>1x Wrath of God</DIV>
<DIV>3x Terminate</DIV>
<DIV>2x Phyrexian Arena</DIV>
<DIV>4x Spectral Lynx</DIV>
<DIV>2x Ghitu Fire</DIV>
<DIV>1x Shivan Dragon</DIV>
<DIV>4x Void</DIV>
<DIV>4x Vindicates</DIV>
<DIV>4x Orim's Chant</DIV>
<DIV>2x Disenchant</DIV>
<DIV>2x Voice of All</DIV>&nbsp;
<DIV>2x Sulfurous Springs</DIV>
<DIV>2x Caves of Koilos</DIV>
<DIV>2x Battlefield Forge</DIV>
<DIV>7x Plains</DIV>
<DIV>7x Swamp</DIV>
<DIV>5x Mountain</DIV><BR>
<DIV>Match 1: Round 1- Newspaper vs. Mono-Green Stompy</DIV>&nbsp;
<DIV>A good matchup for this deck, I got really good hand against it, starting 
with a Plains, the Swamp, then Spectral Lynx. Surprisingly I didn't see any 
Blastoderms in his deck, but I did see a few elves and a Rhox or two hit the 
table. Needless to say by the time I had 2 Lynxes and a Voice of All pro green 
out the game was mine.</DIV>&nbsp;
<DIV>~~~~~~~~Round 2</DIV>&nbsp;
<DIV>Pretty much the same as above, only I Voided away all of his birds and 
elves and had 2 Lynxes, gotta love em.</DIV>&nbsp;
<DIV>Match Record: 1-0</DIV>&nbsp;
<DIV>Match 2: Round 1- "Newspaper" vs. R/W Land Destruction</DIV>&nbsp;
<DIV>This one was an easy win for him, he kept me at 2 or 3 lands the entire 
time, the only thing I was able to get out was a Lynx and he killed it right off 
with 2 Shocks (Regenerate, kill).</DIV>&nbsp;
<DIV>~~~~~~~~Round 2</DIV>&nbsp;
<DIV>This one was much closer, he didn't appear to draw much land destruction so 
I was able to get to my 5 or so land breaking point, voiding away all of his 
hand, taking a few of his creatures, good stuff. Who would have known that when 
he Ghitu Fires me for 10 it would hurt so much? Before he did that though, I had 
put out a Phyrexian Arena, so I was drawing my two cards every turn, and most 
importantly losing my 1 life. 5 turns before the end I'm at 5 life, he can't do 
anything because he doesn't have any burn (go Void!). I pray and pray to get a 
Death Grasp to not only kill him, but to kill him before I die (I had plenty of 
mana). It doesn't happen unfortunately, I kill myself on my upkeep. Happily 
giving him the win.</DIV>&nbsp;
<DIV>Match Record: 1-1</DIV>&nbsp;
<DIV>Match 3: Round 1- Newspaper vs. Fires</DIV>&nbsp;
<DIV>I didn't do too badly this game. I came in here fearing fires the most, 
since I can't target those darn Blastos. This game was really close until the 
very end, I got out my Lynxes, and he got out his blastos, I was doing really 
well for a while. So what if he played Restock to get a Rage and a Blasto back? 
I can take it. Next turn&gt; So what if he plays Restock to get another Blasto 
and the Rage he used on me back? I can take it! 2 turns later&gt;&gt; Apparently 
I couldn't take the 3rd (yes 3rd, by 6th turn...) restock as he proceeded to 
double Rage me while I was at 6. Game goes to him.</DIV>&nbsp;
<DIV>~~~~~~~~Round 2</DIV>&nbsp;
<DIV>Ah, another very close game. He drew a much worse hand, without any 
Restocks. After taking a few hits from Blasty, down to about 12, I get out my 
Lynx, and he cries with a look of wild insanity in his eye. Rage me, down to 9, 
ok. Blasty dies... he draws elves and land for the next 4 turns while I proceed 
to beat his head down with a Lynx and a VoAll pro Green. 2nd to last turn, 
his... I'm down to 6 from a very timely Rage to my head. He's down to 8 from all 
the beatin' going on. He smiles with devilish glee as he draws Restock from his 
deck, instantly using it on his 2 Rages in the graveyard (1 discard, the other 
to my head). I start to feel that woosy feeling. Okay, this is super crunch 
time. I pray and pray. I draw my card, and attack. Fog?! What the hell?! I start 
to cry, he's at 5 land and next turn he's going to kill me! Looking at my hand, 
suddenly it dawned on me. The card I drew was a Death Grasp. Quickly counting my 
lands up, 11. I gave a sigh of relief as I play Death Grasp for 8 Dmg to him. He 
goes wild-eyed. Panics, starts looking frantically at his and the board. He knew 
his mistake, playing the fog. He was tapped out except for 5, if he had had 1 
more I would have been double Raged and lost. He bows his head, and I take a 
breather.</DIV>&nbsp;
<DIV>~~~~~~~~~~Round 3</DIV>&nbsp;
<DIV>This goes very different, as he sideboards HEAVILY against me. I soon know 
what as his deck has switched from fires to green/red land destruction beatdown. 
I'm kept at 2 lands and beat over the head with 2 blastos. Never had a chance. 
Oh well.</DIV>&nbsp;
<DIV>Match Record: 1-2</DIV>&nbsp;
<DIV>Match 4: Round 1- Newspaper Vs. Machinehead</DIV>&nbsp;
<DIV>Put a long story short, Machinehead did what it was supposed to do. I 
didn't have any hand during most of the game thanks to 2 Spectres and his life 
was at 47 to a new Degasanctuary I saw him play.</DIV>&nbsp;
<DIV>~~~~~~~~Round 2</DIV>&nbsp;
<DIV>We fought on the board a few times, killing creatures and destroying lands. 
But what really clinched this one for him was he destroyed my only Black source, 
which left me with 2 Voids and a Terminate in my hand, which quickly got scooped 
away by 3 Spectres. Needless to say I lost the match, but spied another weekness 
in my deck. Prone to land destruction.</DIV>&nbsp;
<DIV>Match Record: 1-3</DIV>&nbsp;
<DIV>Surprisingly enough, this was enough to place me in 9th place. I didn't win 
anything, but I came away knowing a few things to look out for. However, I fear 
now that Odyssey will be in the next T2 tourny up here. They have their fun, 
I'll have mine. Should I go Red/Black, or keep with Black/White/Red.. or go 
Black/White? Hmmm... we shall see.</DIV>&nbsp;
<DIV>Props:</DIV>
<DIV>Rainy Day Games, their new store is huge. I know all the people by name, 
and when I walk in the owner mysteriously knows how much money I have on 
me.</DIV>&nbsp;
<DIV>Slops:</DIV>
<DIV>That Fires player for making split second decisions and rushing the game 
along because he was "hungry" (he had been hungry for every match before then 
too..).</DIV>&nbsp;
<DIV>Wizards for making Blastoderm.</DIV>&nbsp;
<DIV>I hope you guys have had fun learning from my mistakes. I'll try to write 
reports as soon as I can (if you like them...). My E-mail is 
Mage_Mage@hotmail.com if you want to E-mail me with any suggestions for my deck 
or any advice on gameplay, or just other stuff. Have fun Magic Players, for we 
are the few, the proud, the intelligent.</DIV>&nbsp;
<DIV>-Michael Malovich (Crimson Mage)</DIV>&nbsp;