Bath Magic Standard Tournament
10th April 1999
Bath, UK
21 Players, 6 Rounds Swiss

After a reasonable performance with this deck last time out I decided to take it along to the first regionals last week end where spectacularly failed to perform. Based on that performance and the fact that Black dominated the top of the field in a variety of forms I decided that my next qualification attempt would be with my trusty Suicide Black. This weekend however I would continue to try and tune the Elf Thing.

The Deck
A few things have changed since the last time I posted a report and few tweaks have been made since seeing the field at the regionals. (Tarik's deck can be found on the Past Tourneys pages).

The main change made to the deck from previous incarnations is the inclusion of the Birds which allow me to run the Geddons and the one main deck disenchant more reliably, and also allow me to have some fun with my sideboard. A few rouge sideboards cards versus Lifeline, and my anti blue changed from three choke to the gibbons and the Grid. For some reason I left the Torture Chambers that worked so well against small critter decks last week.

Round One
Shane Silk-Reeves DCI No.268747
Shane is playing a traditional White Weenie with the shadow buggers I hate so much. Why of why did I not keep the chambers in the side? A few geddons keep him with out too much land but shadow does me in again.
Games 0 - 1

I think I sided in the extra disenchants for his crusades.

The second game was even worse with a Soul Warden getting Shane up to 31. I manage to hit him for 14 the turn before I die just to make sure how trample works with protection under it's new wording.
Games 0 - 2
Matches 0 -1

Round Two
Andy Smith DCI 266139
Andy is a Bath regular and I think I beat him with my suicide last month. This time Andy is playing a prison type deck with Rings of Gix, Winter Orbs, Propaganda and Kismets. In Game one I manage to apply some simple beatdown and win quite easily.
Games 1 - 2

I side in the Gibbons, the grid and the Heretic.

The second game goes more Andy's way as he stops my early assault with him at eight and locks me down with three rings, and two propaganda and a Winter Orb. I try to get off a geddon which he counters, activating the gibbons that were on the table. The next turn he taps out to cast a Kismet to seal the lock and I top deck another geddon, cast it, he can't counter all our lands die and with some more critter mana (assorted elves and a bird) I get out my heretic. He has an Orb, three rings, Kismet, two Propaganda, and two Moxes on the table and he scoops.
Games 2- 2
Matches 1 -1

Round Three
Eric Wakeman DCI No. 1102255
Eric is just getting back into magic after a while away from it and is playing a mostly green deck with some shadow somewhere. The first Game is over pretty quick as I get an early hit in with a village and the proceed to draw three Might of Oaks with the first five or six goes. His life total went 20 - 17 - 7 - 1 -dead.
Games 3 - 2

Yet again did not sideboard anything memorable. Would have loved to have the chamber for this match as well.

The second game goes Eric way as I die by what I think was the only shadow thing in his deck. I do frighten him a little when I double Might of Oaks a double Rancored Bird and come in for seventeen the turn before he kills me.
Games 3 - 3 Game 4 - 3
Matches 2 - 1

Round Four
Robert Bown DCI No. 270266
Robert is a very good player and has the 12th highest composite ranking in the country. He is also someone I want to beat very badly thanks to something that happened not long after I got back into Magic. Robert has very good White Weenie with Cursed Scrolls. I am shadowed and first striked to death with some scroll action for insurance.
Games 4 - 4

God I wish I had the Chamber in the side, instead in come the disenchants for the scrolls and the crusades.

In the second game a double Rancored Bird gets me ahead early and I disenchant his turn one scroll. Robert comes back however and it is quite tight in the end but the early bird damage get me the game.
Games 5 - 4

The third game does not go so well for me as an early Bird get scrolled after getting him down to twelve. Shadow action again is the death of me as Rob picks away at me life. He actually worked out he could survive most anything I could do and he was right as I only managed to do him eleven thanks to Might of Oaks leaving him on one when he killed me.
Games 5 - 5
Matches 2 - 2

Round Five
Paul Dale DCI No. 1102261
Another regular who I have played and beat when I was using my Suicide Black. Paul is a nice guy and a notorious blue lover (I think). I need to win both of my last two to stand a chance of getting a prize so I hope I can beat him with this deck too. Paul is playing a counter Palinchron deck with Wrath's and Disks for anything he does not counter. I get good start with a Rancored elf doing some early damage and following up with Treetop Villages for the kill. The key play was hurling my rancored elf at his Dragoons so I could get the rancor to go on the treetop village while Paul was tapped out for the echo of the Dragoons. This allowed me to kill the Dragoons as Paul could not afford to take five damage.
Games 6 - 5

In come the disenchants for the Disks along with the Gibbons and the Grid.

In the second games there are eight cards in my graveyard before I draw a land that is not Cradle. This is after I mulligan down to five. Somehow I managed to survive until time and get the odd hit against Paul who has to capsize his own Dragoons to keep out on Might of Oaks range. Paul was also mana screwed and thus we run out of time before he draws a Palinchron.
Games 6 -5
Matches 3 - 2

Round six
Mike Hampton DCI No. 263584
I take a quick check of the standings before this game and I am right at the bottom of the top eight so I definitely need to win to get a prize. Mike is playing a land destruction deck with Argothian Wurms and fast mana. Very much like the deck I lost too in Maidenhead with the first incarnation of this deck. The first game is all about the Wurm and I die horribly after getting mana screwed at the start. His incinerates show up enough to stop my elf from getting rolling and when the Wurm shows up I can only keep it away for one turn.
Games 6 - 6

In comes the Viashino since he has at least one and my elf's can't block it.

In game two I geddon as soon as he is anywhere near four mana after waiting a turn the first time and having to lose a land to keep the scary Wurm off the table. A Rancor on successive Birds goes all the way.
Games 7 - 6

The last game and I am very tense again geddon as often as possible but Mike manages to get three mana critters in play lays a land and get the scary wurm out. I have a rancored Priest of Titania, a Llanowar elf, another elf and two walls of blossoms out when I stop top decking land to keep the scary thing away. Mike as I mentioned has two elves out as well so the Priest gives me five. I have another priest in hand and draw an overrun the turn after the wurm finally hits the table. I am on eleven so I figure I can do it if Mike uses the big nasty to hit me instead of holding back, so I tap the priest fo five and cast the other priest taking three burn down to eight. Mike does attack and I block with one wall and take two to go down to six. On my turn I tap the un-rancored priest for six cast overrun take point of burn and attack with the Llanowar and the rancored priest. I only need to get five through and mike can only stop three. Very close, it would have been different if Mike had held back his big wurm but I think he was also playing to be in the prizes and he had not seen an overrun in the previous two games.
Games 8 - 6
Matches 4 -2

I end up in fifth place for my highest finish ever and get a booster of stronghold, booster of Saga and a box of fifth for my trouble. In the packs I get a Volrath's Stronghold, a Gaea's Cradle, a Shivan Dragon and a Mana Vault.

MVP of the day has to be the Birds as they so often provided beatdown early on an sometimes went the distance. Rancor of course is key to this deck and again proved to very good, as did Might of Oaks which is very nasty and more than once was applied third turn to something with rancor on it. The Torture Chamber's will definitely find their way back into the sideboard as this deck needs something against shadow especially. I might even try again with this deck at a regional.

First place went to a Green Stompy with red for incinerates and other stuff, second was I think necro, third was a non standard green thing and Shane's White Weenie from the first round got forth also on 4 - 2.

Props
Phil Mattingly for very friendly tournaments with some good opposition.
Eric who traded me my forth foil rancor.
Everyone I played.

Slops
Alan for letting 'her indoors' not let him attend, still at least he has a 'her indoors'.

That's it folks see you in London next weekend for that regional and Totnes the weekend after if I have not yet made it.

Tragic
Team BeatStick
DCI No 297913