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Hello once again. Today, your intrepid magic reporter has to forsee 29 competitors who have showed up this beautiful sunday to compete for the “greatest” of all prizes: the coveted Greater Morphling.
April fools.
Well, not about the number of players. We really do have 29 players, but today they compete for a prize much greater than Greater Morphling or even Greater Gargodon. Today, they compete for their own lives!
April fools.
Actually, they want to win a Mox Emerald. Let's move on to round 1.
Round 1: Vince Stevenson (gifts combo) v. Marco Barreno (4-color stax) Game 1: Vince stevenson wins the die roll in this first feature match, and elects to play. His turn is uneventful, as he plays only a land, but Marco's is much more interesting. He leads with Black Lotus, sacrifices it for red mana, casts two Goblin Welders, plays a Strip Mine, and finishes with Sphere of Resistance. Vince is confined to playing a second land, and Marco gets to attack for 2. On Vince's third turn, he decides to go for the gusto. Sacrificing both his sac lands, he gets up to three Islands and taps out for Merchant Scroll, which tutors up Ancestral Recall, but is out of gas for now.
Marco begins his third turn by thinking through a difficult decision of some kind, does a little math involving the number of cards in Vince's hand, attacks for 2, and plays Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth. Vince is stuck on draw/go for now, and Marco seems to be as well, though he attacks for 2. Vince finishes Marco's turn by drawing three cards, and goes to his own turn. He leads with a sac land and follows it up with Mox Pearl. With his newfound Volcanic Island, he Burning Wishes for Pyroclasm.
Marco takes the bait and Strip Mines the aforementioned Vulkaninsel after attacking for 2. It would seem that Vince had not prepared for this eventuality, as he is forced to discard a Tendrils of Agony rather than playing anything at all this turn. After Marco's attack, however, he plays Repeal on Sphere of Resistance and warms up to take what may be the most important turn of the game.
At 7 life, Vince plays Demonic Tutor, Mox Ruby, Pyroclasm, and is done once the red men (green men?) are burned to death. Marco has found Crucible of Worlds, though it doesn't help him much as Vince has found Force of Will and his Fact or Fiction to go with it. During Marco's end step, he plays Vampiric Tutor dropping to 4 life.
On vince's turn, he draws, casts Tinker sacrificing his pearl, and gets Darksteel Colossus. Marco, however, has finally found a Mishra's Workshop, and plays Tangle Wire which Vince counters with Mana Drain. Marco follows that up with Goblin Welder.
Using his newfound generic mana, Vince plays Gifts Ungiven for Time Walk, Yawgmoth's Will, Black Lotus, Recoup. Marco sees that there is no way to deny Vince his extra turn, and picks up his cards. Game Score: Vince 1, Marco 0
Game 2: Marco leads with Wasteland, Mox Ruby, Mana Crypt, Trinisphere. Vince remarks that he can't win now, and plays a sac land. When Marco follows up his first turn with Strip Mine and Crucible of Worlds, Vince prepares for game 3. Game Score: Vince 1, Marco 1
Game 3: Both players finish the match with no mulligans, and Vince leads with Underground Sea, Duress. Looking at Tinker, Trinisphere, Ancestral Recall, Chalice of the Void, Sphere of Resistance, Darksteel Ingot and Mishra's Workshop, he remarks that this is a terrible choice to have to make. He eliminates first Chalice, then Tinker, then Ancestral Recall, and finally makes Marco discard his Trinisphere, following it up with Mana Crypt.
Marco plays Mishra's Workshop, Darksteel Ingot, Ancestral Recall. Vince counters with Force of Will, and on his turn takes 3 from his crypti di mana. His Merchant Scroll gets him the usual Ancestral Recall, and he takes a mana burn. Marco gets out Sphere of Resistance, Mishra's Workshop, Chalice of the Void (1 counter). Vince confines himself to draw/go, and Marco goes after his only land with Wasteland. After some arguing over whether it is possible to Repeal the Chalice of the Void, the players conclude that it is not, and Vince “gets beat raw,” to use his own words.
Vince manages to find another land, however, and plays Volcanic Island, but Marco gets Tangle Wire to slow things down even more. When Marco gets Tolarian Academy, he hardcasts Sundering Titan. Game Score: Vince 1, Marco 2
Round 2: Nicholas Weed (two-land Belcher) v. Eugene Koo (Gifts combo) Game 1: Eugene wins the die roll this round, and leads with Mox Jet, Mox Ruby, Tolarian Academy, Demonic Tutor, go. Nicholas has an even more explosive start with Mox Jet, Dark Ritual, Duress (countered by Mana Drain from Eugene), Duress (taking out Ancestral Recall), Duress (taking out Brainstorm). Eugene is forced to play land-go, and Nicholas plays Demonic Consultation for Land Grant, which he casts for free revealing Tendrils of Agony, Mana Vault, Memory Jar. He gets a Tropical Island and taps it for the aforementioned Mana Vault.
Eugene sacs a sac land and goes into thinking cap mode. After extended deliberations about whether to attempt to combo out this turn, he decides to let Nick take another shot.
Nicholas taps out for Memory Jar, breaks it, plays Bayou, Land Grant for free without getting anything, and plays Extirpate on Eugene's old Mana Drain, stripping the remaining 3 out of his library. Before discarding his new hand, Eugene plays Brainstorm to set up his next few draws, and then Gifts Ungiven to put Recoup, Yawgmoth's Will, Mox Sapphire and Mana Crypt into his graveyard.
Eugene declines to do anything on his turn, and Nicholas plays Timetwister on his, which runs into Force of Will. Again, Eugene sits with no action until the end of Nick's next uneventful turn, when he plays Fact or Fiction. The two piles are Gifts Ungiven, Mana Vault, Volcanic Island vs. two Merchant Scroll, and Eugene goes for the former.
On Eugene's turn, he appears ready to move. He plays Mana Vault, Volcanic Island, Rebuild, Mox Ruby, Mox Jet, Mana Vault, flashback Recoup, Yawgmoth's Will, Mox Sapphire, Mana Crypt, Burning Wish, Tendrils of Agony. Game Score: Nicholas 0, Eugene 1
Wizity Wizard has his own myspace if you feel like paying him a visit.
Game 2: Nicholas keeps his first hand this game, but Eugene tanks. Eventually, he decides to mulligan. Nicholas leads with Bayou, Duress. He takes out a Sol Ring, and plays Land Grant for free revealing Goblin Charbelcher, Chromatic Sphere, Brainstorm and Demonic Consultation, tutoring up Tropical Island.
Eugene plays Volcanic Island, Lotus Petal, and Merchant Scroll for the usual. Nicholas plays his new land followed by Mox Emerald, Chromatic Sphere, Brainstorm, Mox Pearl, Dark Ritual, Goblin Charbelcher. Eugene plays and sacs a sac land, draws 3 cards, Black Lotus, Rebuild. Nicholas, stalled for a turn, recasts his charbelcher, and Eugene hopes for a miracle draw. Demonic Tutor cannot get him anything and we go to game 3. Game Score: Nicholas 1, Eugene 1
Game 3: Both players mulligan in this climactic third game. Eugene leads with land go, and Nicholas plays a couple moxes and a Duress. Eugene responds with Brainstorm, and Nicholas settles for making him discard Time Walk. After Land Grant, Nicholas plays Dark Ritual off his new Bayou and casts Goblin Charbelcher. Eugene, highly dispirited, plays Merchant Scroll for the usual. Nicholas untaps and uses Charbelcher on his own upkeep. He reveals 43 cards and then a Tropical Island to end the game. The Lethal Stack. Game Score: Nicholas 2, Eugene 1
Round 3: Austin Martinez (Oath of Druids) v. Brett Allen (Blue/Whie/Black weenies) Game 1: Austin leads with Mox Jet, Duress. He has no choice but to take out Brett's Mox Sapphire, as the rest of his hand is creatures and land. Brett seems stalled, and does nothing but play a sac land. Austin has a Strip Mine to menace him, so brett spends the first two turns with nothing while Austin plays a Mishra's Factory, another mox, and an Island. On the third turn of the game, Brett plays a second sac land, sacrifices both lands for Tundras, and plays Meddling Mage. Austin has a Remand for the mage, but Brett burns Force of Will on the remand and names Oath of Druids. On his next turn, Brett plays Jotun Grunt, which gets Remanded successfully. When he finds an Underground Sea, Brett plays Dark Confidant and Isamaru, Hound of Konda. Both players develop their manabases, but Brett seems to be getting the better of it when he uses Wasteland on Austin's factory and starts attacking. Soon the Jotun grunt joins the team.
Austin draws Ancestral Recall, casts Repeal on the Meddling Mage, and then plays Oath of Druids. Brett draws a Time Walk off of his Dark Confidant and Austin picks up his cards. Game Score: Austin 0, Brett 1
Game 2: Austin plays land go, Brett does too, and on Austin's second turn he plays a Strip Mine. Brett attempts a Duress, which runs into Remand. Austin has nothing on this third turn, and Brett plays Black Lotus, sacrifice for blue mana, Brainstorm, Tundra, Seal of Cleansing (Remanded), Time Walk (countered by Force of Will removing Force of Will).
Austin leads with Brainstorm. He follows it up with Forbidden Orchard, Oath of Druids. Brett plays Seal of Cleansing, which runs into Force of Will again, but Brett has Daze this time, and the seal resolves, then destroying the Oath. Brett Stifles Austin's Strip Mine activation with his newly replayed Tundra. On his next turn, Brett plays Dark Confidant. Austin is stuck with nothing, and Brett starts beating down and drawing extra cards. A Duress from Brett takes out Austin's Regrowth, and Brett plays Jotun Grunt. Austin Duresses him, whiffing, and Brett starts beating down faster. A Wasteland takes out Forbidden Orchard and Austin concedes when he sees a Meddling Mage. Game Score: Austin 0, Brett 2
Round 4: Eirik Aune (Gifts Ungiven combo) v. Galen Lemei (Grim Tutor combo) Game 1: Galen, on the play, starts with Black Lotus, Mox Jet, sac lotus, Ancestral Recall, Lion's Eye Diamond, Mana Vault, Tolarian Academy, Dark Ritual, Vampiric Tutor, Brainstorm, tap Academy and sacrifice LED in response (discard Necropotence), Mind's Desire for 9, reveal a bunch of gas. Eirik asks to see a Tendrils of Agony, and when Galen shows it to him, he resigns. Game Score: Eirik 0, Galen 1
Game 2: Eirik, on the play this time, starts with land, Brainstorm, Mox Jet, Duress (taking Ancestral Recall). Neither player has much for a while after that, and they play only lands for a couple turns. On Galen's fifth turn, he plays Necropotence. In response, Eirik plays Gifts Ungiven for Mystical Tutor, Force of Will, Ancestral Recall and Black Lotus. He gets the Force and the lotus in his hand, and the Necropotence resolves. Galen sets aside 4 cards. After much deliberation, he discards and Eirik takes his turn.
Eirik starts things off on his side with Duress on Mind's Desire, Black Lotus, Mox Sapphire, sac lotus, Tendrils of Agony for 8, Yawgmoth's Will, Black Lotus, Tendrils of Agony for 12. Game Score: Eirik 1, Galen 1
Game 3: Galen mulligans to 4, and leads with land go. Eirik plays Duress, taking away Cabal Ritual (seeing Windfall and Wheel of Fortune), and Galen plays Tolarian Academy with no artifacts. Eirik starts his second turn with Brainstorm, and then has a land, a mox, and a Merchant Scroll for Force of Will. Galen has nothing, and Eirik makes Mana Vault. When Galen continues to have nothing, Eirik sets up with Gifts Ungiven for Black Lotus, Dark Ritual, Mana Crypt, Duress, and gets the second two in his hand.
His next turn is Dark Ritual, Duress, Mana Crypt, Yawgmoth's Will, land, Dark Ritual, Dark Ritual, Black Lotus, Merchant Scroll for Mystical Tutor, Mystical Tutor for Tendrils of Agony, Brainstorm, Tendrils of Agony for 22. Game Score: Eirik 2, Galen 1
Round 5: Jeff Neilson (stax) vs. Zac Carlow (mono-blue control) Game 1: Zac is on the play for this one, and both players keep their 7-card hands. Zac starts with land go, and Jeff starts with workshop, Trinisphere. Zac counters the sphere with Force of Will removing Morphling, and on his own turn, plays Wasteland, Mox Ruby, and Ophidian.
Jeff plays Wasteland and Juggernaut on his second turn, which gets countered by Force of Will removing Impulse. He loses his workshop to Zac's waste, and Zac draws an extra card. Jeff has nothing, and Zac continues to draw cards. Zac plays solitaire for a few turns, and Jeff realizes he's drawn enough extra cards to end the game. Game Score: Jeff 0, Zac 1
Game 2: Jeff leads with Mishra's Workshop, Black Lotus, Sphere of Resistance, Ancestral Recall. Zac plays land go, and Jeff casts Crucible of Worlds, which gets countered by Force of Will. Zac plays Pithing Needle on Mishra's Factory, and Jeff makes Goblin Welder and a second Sphere of Resistance. Zac has nothing, and Jeff gets a Trinisphere countered by a two-mana Force of Will. Jeff gets a Juggernaut, and Zac, now with enough lands to do stuff, starts digging with Impulse.
The Juggernaut is joined by its friend the Triskelion, which immediately fires a Lightning Bolt at Zac and then transforms into a Sphere of Resistance. Jeff powers out Gilded Lotus, followed by a second Goblin Welder. Game Score: Jeff 1, Zac 1
Game 3: Zac keeps 7, Jeff goes to 6, and Zac starts with land, mox, go. Jeff has Mishra's Factoty, Mox Pearl, Seal of Cleansing (Force of Will removing Ophidian). Zac gets out a Back to Basics on his second turn, which sends Jeff into the tank. It does not, however, stop him from playing Chalice of the Void with 2 counters on it. Zac puts a Pithing Needle on Goblin Welder and gets out an Ophidian.
After drawing a few extra cards via an Ancestral Recall, Zac finds Energy Flux which, combined with Back to Basics, is enough to get Jeff to surrender. Game Score: Jeff 1, Zac 2
____________________ PoTaTo!
Posts: 213 | From: Berkeley | Registered: May 2004
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Top 8: Christiaan Royer v. Eduardo Cervantes
Brett Allen v. David Ochoa
Nicholas Weed v. Sam Sherman
Jeff Huang v. Jenkins Mitchell
Top 8: Jeff Huang (Blue/White weenies) v. Jenkins Mitchell (Drain Gifts)
Game 1: Jeff, on the play, gets Isamaru out via Tundra. Jenkins casts Ancestral Recall, has too many cards in his hand, and ditches Timetwister. Jeff gets his second land and plays Meddling Mage, which Jenkins counters via Force of Will removing Brainstorm. On Jenkins' second turn, he uses Merchant Scroll to tutor up Force of Will. Jeff gets a Jotun Grunt on his turn, and wastes one of Jenkins' lands. Jenkins is stuck on land go again, and Jeff's next attack reduces him to 9 life.
Jenkins plays land go once again, Jeff's grunt puts more cards back into libraries, and Jenkins gets attacked to 3. Jenkins' Tolarian Academy bites the dust to another Wasteland, he takes himself to 2 with a sac land, and then he taps out for Gifts Ungiven. Jeff responds with Ancestral Recall, which Jenkins forces (going to 1), and Jeff takes his chance to Daze the gifts. Jenkins plays Yawgmoth's Will, land, Ancestral Recall, sees nothing, and packs up. Game Score: Jenkins 0, Jeff 1
Game 2: Jenkins plays land go, Jeff plays land go, Jenkins plays land go, Jeff plays Strip Mine go, Jenkins plays Brainstorm, land, go, and Jeff finally starts the action with Isamaru. Jenkins, however, is not yet ready to join in the fun, and doesn't even have a land this time. Jeff baits a Mana Drain with Orim's Chant and plays Jotun Grunt off of a lotus. Jenkins uses his generic mana to play Mana Vault, which he follows up with a mox. Jeff starts returning cards to people's libraries and attacks Jenkins to 11.
Jenkins plays Gifts Ungiven for three lands and Sol Ring and gets two sac lands. A Massacre takes out Isamaru, but Jotun Grunt continues swinging, and Jenkins is down to 5. Mana Crypt reduces him to 4 on his upkeep, and Vampiric Tutor to 2. A sac land takes him to 1, and Jeff responds to the sac land with Orim's Chant to seal the game. Game Score: Jenkins 0, Jeff 2
The top 4: Jeff Huang Christiaan Royer
Sam Sherman David Ochoa
Top 4: Sam Sherman (Ichorid) v. David "Web" Ochoa (Ritual Gifts)
Game 1: David is on the play, and leads with land, Ancestral Recall, Mana Crypt. Sam plays Sorrow's Path - I mean Bazaar of Baghdad, and discards grave-troll, Serum Powder, Cabal Therapy. He then plays Unmask by removing a second therapy, uses a Mishra's Bauble on David, and gets out Chalice of the Void for free. Web plays a Tolarian Academy and passes, and Sam goes into turbo dredge mode. He gets out an Ichorid and then uses it to play Cabal Therapy. David responds to the therapy with Gifts Ungiven for three land and a Merchant Scroll. He gets two land in his hand, and the therapy on Gifts Ungiven whiffs.
David uses a sac land and Recoups his Merchant Scroll for Brainstorm. Sam returns two Nether Shadows and two Ichorids to play, flashes back a therapy to check for Force of Will, and then flashes back Dread Return to make a giant Sutured Ghoul with haste thanks to Dragon Breath. Game Score: Sam 1, David 0
Game 2: David starts with land, Mox Emerald, Sol Ring. Sam has bazaar again, and once again Unmasks (getting a gifts) and plays chalice for 0. David cracks a sac land and casts Demonic Tutor to get Ancestral Recall, which he uses to draw Pithing Needle for the bazaar. Sam dredges with a troll for his draw, but has nothing else to do, and David plays Brainstorm, land, Merchant Scroll for Mystical Tutor, Mystical Tutor for Dark Ritual.
Sam is still stuck with nothing, and David draws the ritual. He plays Dark Ritual, Chain of Vapor on Sol Ring, copy it to Mox Emerald, copy it to Pithing Needle, Mox Emerald (countered), Sol Ring, Yawgmoth's Will, Dark Ritual, Chain of Vapor on Sol Ring, copy it to Chalice of the Void, Mox Emerald, Sol Ring, land, Demonic Tutor, Tendrils of Agony. Game Score: Sam 1, David 1
Game 3: Sam uses bazaar and two bauble effects, and passes. David plays land, Mana Vault, Mox Sapphire, Gifts Ungiven getting Black Lotus, Dark Ritual, Pithing Needle, Tolarian Academy. He gets the lotus and the ritual and pops the lotus to play Necropotence and sets aside 5 cards. Sam has no dredge in his graveyard, and taps bazaar during his upkeep still failing to find anything with dredge. He does, however, get out a free Chalice of the Void and use Strip Mine on David's only land.
David still, however, has a mox, which he uses to make a Sol Ring. Then he plays a second land and Merchant Scrolls for Mystical Tutor. He sets aside 3 cards for the end of his turn. Sam keeps working his bazaar, but still can't find any dredge and so has to stick to Unmask which gets countered by Force of Will. He also plays and activates a Mishra's Factory, sacrificing it to Cabal Therapy away the Mystical Tutor.
David untaps his Mana Vault and sets aside 6 cards, dropping to 3. When it is once again Sam's turn, he finally hits some dredge cards, but can't do anything with them. David untaps for his must-win turn and plays Dark Ritual, Dark Ritual, Dark Ritual, tap his artifacts, Rebuild, Mox Sapphire, Sol Ring, Mana Vault, Brainstorm, Yawgmoth's Will. Sam resigns. Game Score: Sam 1, David 2
This time, the finals is a split between David Ochoa and his friend Jeff Huang.
Player Profile: David "Web" Ochoa Ryan: When did you start playing magic? Web: September 1995, when Mirage came out.
R: What was your favorite magic card when you started? W: Either Giant Growth or Craw Wurm. No, no. My favorite card was Forest.
R: So if you were in the finals of the Rock Paper Scissors world championship, 2 out of three, what would you throw? W: Well, I suppose I would only have to throw Rock twice, because nothing beats Rock.
R: What do you think is the most powerful "engine" card in Legacy? W: Intuition.
R: If there were going to be another one of these tournaments tomorrow, what would you bring? The same thing? W: Um, yeah.
R: Any changes at all? W: Probably, yeah.
____________________ PoTaTo!
Posts: 213 | From: Berkeley | Registered: May 2004
During top 8, there is only one of you, but somehow manage to cover 2 of the 4 games of Top 8.
Any way to get coverage of the other 2 games of top 8?
Sure, I'll do it.
Nick vs Sherm. Game 1, Ichorid smashes face. Game 2, Sam mulls to about, say, 3. Chalice, go. Nick expirates turn 5 discarded Grave Troll. Game 3, Sam mulls to I THINK, 2, but wins against Belcher.
I forgot what other game I watched.
Posts: 45 | From: Vacaville, CA | Registered: Apr 2006
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