fk07-16-97 From: [email protected] (Francis Keys)
Subject: 7/12 Chicago PTQ Tournament Report
Date: Wed, 16 Jul 1997 01:41:59 GMT

I've been hanging out with the Crew for the last few months, both on IRC and at big tournaments, sharing deck ideas and playtesting. When Sam, Ron, and Max invited me to join the team, I jumped at the chance. My one concern was knowing that all three of the other members had played in at least one Pro Tour, while an invitation continued to elude me. Qualifying for Pro Tour Chicago was already important to me, and joining the team made it a must.

I took a methodical approach to understanding the Mirage/Visions/Weatherlight constructed deck environment. I already knew the winning decks from PT Paris through online reports and the Duelist Sideboard, but the banning of Squandered Resources changed the environment significantly. I decided to sketch decks of each color and two-color combination. I found mono-blue, blue/white and red/black most interesting and developed test decks. Mono-blue seemed to provide the most continuous results, thanks to Impulse and massive delay tactics like Man-o-War, Memory Lapse, and Boomerang.

I talked to Jason Gordon on IRC, where he shared both his Paris deck and an updated version. While I liked his deck, I didn't like the inconsistency his deck seemed to have getting white mana, and I didn't like how long the deck seemed to take to win. I structured my deck with an aggressive creature base, plenty of counters, and heavy disruption.

When Melissa and I left for Chicago, I still hadn't decided between mono-blue and red/black, but I was heavily inclined toward the blue. Max Szlagor showed me the deck he and Ron Serio intended to play, similar to both Jason Gordon's deck and one recently played by Tom Guevin. I made a few adjustments based on Max's suggestion (he wouldn't let me play with Ray of Command!), but remained mono-blue. Sam Heckman decided to go in another direction with mono-red burn and creatures without summoning sickness.

After a slight mishap at an earlier PTQ, we were all up and ready to go early. We arrived at the event to face over 150 competitors in eight rounds of Swiss. I was confident in my deck, but concerned about the undeveloped nature of the environment. I expected to see some of everything, and it seemed to be there.

My first opponent was James Kroesch, playing an interesting red, green and white deck with creatures, burn, and utility. Two unusual creatures included Llanowar Sentinal and Scalebane's Elite, as well as the usual contingent of Jolrael's Centaur, River Boa, and Incinerate. I was unsure of how aggressively to play in our first game and lost in a tight race to zero life. In the second game, I started bringing the flyers early and won easily. Our third game was our best battle, as I had some problems developing early and came back for the win. 1-0 match record, 2-1 games. Sam beat a four-color deck, Max won against Sands/Equipoise, and Ron lost with mana problems against a red/green/black deck.

Next I faced Bob Maher from Team ACD and his white weenie deck with Empyrial Armor and a splash of blue. I met Bob in New York and had a good time hanging out with him. Unfortunately for Bob, this was a bad deck matchup for his side of the able, as I easily beat him with superior air power and board disruption. 2-0 matches, 4-1 games. Sam won against mono-blue, Max beat a green/red/blue control deck, and Ron took down a blue/green creature deck.

In the third round I played Kai Martin with his red/white Aether Flash control deck. Kai was late returning from lunch, but he's a friend, so I stepped out of the large line of players without opponents and in effect gave up a game win. This appeared to be a big mistake as I looked at my first big mana problem--an opening hand with one Quicksand. I eventually drew land after taking heavy damage and he finished me off. In our second game, I drew massive board disruption, delaying his development with Memory Lapse and Man-o-War as my big flyers attacked. In our third game, my hand full of Abduction, Mind Harness, and Desertion forced him to use his burn on his own creatures as I eventually killed him with his own Wildfire Emmisaries and Bogardan Phoenix. 3-0 matches, 6-2 games. Sam lost to red/black with heavy discard, Max won against R/b, and Ron again ran into mana problems against a falcon/armor deck.

I faced Wes Winters and his falcon/armor deck for the fourth round. As I mentioned before, my deck seems to beat falcon/armor, and our match was a repeat of my earlier match against Bob Maher. 4-0 matches, 8-2 games. Sam beat an aggressive blue/red deck, Max lost to a copy of the blue/red/black good stuff deck, and Ron's mana woes continued against another blue/green deck.

At the halfway point, the team was in good shape, with two 3-1 records and a 4-0. We looked good for a couple spots in the final eight.

Cliff Wallach played red/black against me in the fifth round, but incredible draws quelched his fire. In the second game, I had an amazingly dominant start as he chose to draw first and I caused him to discard with Boomerang on his first turn Rocky Tar Pit. I summoned Waterspout Djinn as he sat looking at two mana. 5-0 matches, 10-2 games. Sam wins against a mon-red big creature deck, Max takes down mono-blue with Undo, and Ron beats a red/white/green good stuff deck.

Ironically, my next opponent was Cliff's brother, Ken Wallach, playing mono-blue. In close games, my larger creature base proved dominant. 6-0 matches, 12-2 games. I can draw the final two matches into final eight. Unfortunately, our team runs short of luck as Sam and Max have to play, with Sam winning.

In the last two rounds of Swiss, I drew with Brad Balk playing a black/blue creature deck and Brandon Rutter of Team ACD with his blue/red/black good stuff. Sam won against mono-red with a green sideboard and a Sands of Time/Equipoise deck to finish at 7-1, also making the cut. Half the team heads for the finals.

While we've been playing in the PTQ, Melissa has been wronging the Chicago juniors for the third or fourth time, winning their Super Series.

I take a deep breath and head for the final eight, as close to a Pro Tour as I've been. I face Matt Severa with R/b. I have massive mana problems for just the second time today, but it costs me the first game. In the second game, the mana problems reverse and I beat him quickly. Finally, I Mind Harness his Snake Basket token and Suq'Ata Lancer to finish him off in the third game. Unfortunately, Sam loses to Bob Maher.

The semifinals are deja vu for Bob Maher and I as we face off again. I take consecutive games, very similar to our match in the Swiss. I'm going to the Pro Tour.

I discuss the final match with the team. I'm feeling extremely confident and the team concurs, so I decide to play for it all. When Brad Balk beats Ken Wallach in the other semifinal match and offers me a split, I explain that I really want the plaque and the DCI points. He immediately agrees, for half the cash prize. Final result for my faithful deck: 8-0-2 matches, 16-3 games, with a concession.

Here are the final standings:

1 Francis Keys aggressive blue
2 Brad Balk black/blue creatures
3 Bob Maher white/blue falcon/armor
4 Ken Wallach defensive blue
5 Sam Heckman Gansta Sligh
6 Christopher Faesi blue
7 Brand Rutter blue/red/black good stuff
8 Matt Severa red/black beatdown

In retrospect, I enjoyed some great draws throughout the day, with only two serious mana problems. Mono-blue continued to provide extreme consistency as well, with any given mix of spells useful in almost every situation. In an environment that I expected to be dominated by burn, only three decks with red made the final eight, and many different designs appear to be viable, with the possible exception of Prosperous Bloom. If I play in other qualifiers, I'll likely experiment with other decks designs, but big blue was extremely fun. The biggest disappointment appeared to be Abeyance. Discussing the card afterwards, no one I encountered appeared to have been beaten by the new Time Walk.

Thanks to everyone who wished me congratulations on the win, particularly Andrew Nishioka of Team ACD, and the rest of The Crew for believing I could go the distance. See you in Chicago.

"Aggressive Blue" by Francis Keys

 
19 Island
4 Quicksand
4 Dissipate
4 Memory Lapse
2 Desertion
4 Impulse
2 Boomerang
4 Man-o'-War

3 Knight of the Mist
2 Cloud Elemental
4 Azimaet Drake
        
Sideboard:
2 Boomerang
3 Mind Harness
2 Power Sink

4 Waterspout Djinn
2 Rainbow Efreet
2 Mist Dragon
        
Sideboard:
4 Floodgate
3 Abduction
1 Knight of the Mist


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