I thought it was about time I covered event from Lincolnshire and our local TO Karl Bown at Comic Culture, the local Magic Shop from Lincoln. The Shop is located in the town centre off the High St in the Mall so we have a reasonable amount of space to play, we have nice tables to play at and usually a fair bit of elbow room as we get to play in the Mall. This is great in the summer as it is airy and comfortable, even in winter it is comfortable and not stuck in a loft or dungeon.
So to Saturday 6th January and the first event of the year, it’s Standard Constructed and things are looking good with forty minutes before play is due to start we have six players and know of two more on the way. The Yu Gi Oh finishes and looks like we are off.
Chris Bengner, the Lincolnshire Champs Champion, Time Spiral Pre Release winner and pretty much been dominating the Magic arena since his arrival. Chris is playing a new Black-White deck.
Andrew Leeder, one of the UK’s top players who won Doncaster Nationals Qualifier and is in the Top 100 in England. Andrew is yet again playing Control (yawn) and is piloting his Firemane Angel deck since losing in the Lincs Champs final.
Sonny Jensen, quality player and my pretty much my testing colleague. Sonny is playing Mishra Tron control utilising Jester’s Sceptre and Cap.
Ollie Frith, Ollie is a good player and recently returned to Magic. Always a tough match when you play Ollie. Ollie is playing Black Red Snow Beat and Burn.
Louis Frith, Ollie’s younger brother and an interesting opponent who is a rogue deck builder. Louis is playing White Blue Snow Control.
Patrick O Reilly, one of Lincolns founding fathers of Magic is a tough opponent and is playing mono green custom elven stompy.
Rochelle Wadner, my girlfriend and only been playing a few months. Rochelle is playing a custom build White Green beat down built by myself.
Myself, I have built a Black White Discard deck inspired by a few of the online decks but been modified over the last few months.
Mark draws Andrew Leeder. Gulp L, I have played Andrew three or four times recently and never managed to put one over him and in fact not sure if even took a game off him so it’s going to be tough. First game starts off well and Andy has his hand virtually gone until the Ancestral Vision kicks in and then the second to avoid the rack, two more racks later though and you would think the match would turn but three Firemane Angels are in the bin plus card draw is keeping his hand above three. Andy accelerates off up to well over thirty life but hasn’t locked in yet but then the mana production drops and then the Angels start appearing in play in upkeep. Despite a hand packed full of removal it is only a matter of time before Andy moves in for the kill but its been a fight. Game two and it’s a savage match we have fifteen minutes left to complete the match but Andy is binning Angel’s like there is no tomorrow after some careful consideration. It is at fifty five life and seconds from time on the round that Andy gets his much deserved 2-0 win, both games were hard fought.
Other results
Sonny beats Ollie 2-1.
Patrick beats Louis 2-1.
Rochelle beats Chris 2-1
Pardon ! Rochelle beats who ? The field are a bit surprised as Rochelle has had a massive giant killing and I am stunned as I may have built a deck that works !
Mark draws Louis and this is going to be interesting as I know a bit about Louis deck, I was the fool who gave him a play set of Coldsnap Commons and traded away a lot of other Coldsnap staple cards for his deck. This could come back to haunt me in a big way. Looks bad as lose the die roll but Louis drops a Boreal Shelf. Play Swamp and drop a Rack, turn 2 Louis drops another land but no spells and I smile as I draw Castigate, play a plains and send his only creature a Phyrexian Ironfoot to the bin. Still nothing on the other side of the and next card is a Stupor, Louis is on the rocks and looking at a very bad place with a Rack looming. Out comes a Ravenous rat and his twin. Louis is in his upkeep and taking damage. Soon Louis has no hand and creatures are coming in. Louis drops a Rimefeather Owl only to see it Mortified and a second one two turns later. Between Racks and creatures the game is soon over and not a point of damage taken. Game Two and after some furious side boarding I have a much more tuned deck. Things go well again and Louis cannot believe it as he is Castigated again turn two and discard suite starts rolling. Then the Rack comes out to an anguished look from Louis. By now the Hypnotic Spectres have the board under control and it is another white wash as no damage is taken.
Other Results
Rochelle beats Paddy 2-1
Andy beats Sonny 2-1
Ollie beats Chris 2-1
So Chris is not happy and shows Louis and myself his deck, my comment is I would be worried by the Festering Goblins and Chris is very direct “Yeah the deck is shit”. I wonder if when editing ‘Horsefeathers’ will appear.
The biggest surprise though is Rochelle beating Paddy to be in the final, Andy is very much intrigued as what is Rochelle playing to be doing so well.
I play Ollie and things are bad with mana screw and again … down to five cards and really have to play it and risk the consequences. Ollie is going first and drops a Hypnotic Spectre turn 2, oh the irony as my favourite card is being played against me. And then the Spectre starts knocking out the cards in my hand and his removal is nailing my creatures. I don’t damage Ollie and beaten out of sight. Game two goes much better and plenty of discard to feed my Jotun grunt but eventually the cards run out before the Skreds start removing my other creatures. A two nil defeat and my mood isn’t particularly good. Later on though I realise that the double mana screw may well be connected to the mana base which for a primarily black deck is maybe not weighted enough towards the black side being more fifty – fifty on the mana base. A few more tweaks and it will be ready to go.
Sonny beats Patrick 2-0
Chris beats Louis 2-0
One of the strangest moments of the day came when Chris announced to Paddy
“You are tapping your lands an odd way ?”
To which Paddy replied
“Yes, I tap them to the side I dress.”
Hmmm, too much information me thinks.
And so to the final and Andy is about to meet the deck of doom. There is much squirming from the guy approximately four hundred ranking points above her, there are substantial growns when a Loxodon Warhammer’s is dropped on a Griffin Guided Watchwolf. However, Andy is patient and after fettering the Warhammer and repealing the wolf the Firemane Angels come down and after a titanic struggle from high life totals Andy wins game 1. Game 2 is again a life gaining battle to rival Martyr – Proclamation but the more skilled Andy is able to hang on for his deck to lock in. Andy beats Rochelle 2-0
And so to the final standings and after tie breakers we have.
8th Louis 0-3
7th Chris 1-2
6th Me L 1-2
5th Patrick 1-2
4th Ollie 2-1
3rd Rochelle 2-1
2nd Sonny 2-1
1st Andy 3-0
The tournament is over but outcomes the Type 4 deck, Type 4 is a fun friendly format with no land with a shared library and players able to cast one spell per turn regardless of mana cost. For some strange reason I manage to survive until the last two and in a deft move dredge the golgari grave troll to finish off the library and pass the turn without attacking to win by decking my last opponent. Paddy is now going to increase the size of the deck as there is no way I should have won by decking lol.
And the thing about Magic is it is like buses, you don’t see one for ages then two come along at once. The following day is the Mox Radio Mini Nationals so the double header and second part of this report will follow.
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