PTQ LA in Costa Mesa, California
by Anthony Cantu (Cantu)

Originally I was only going to write this because I have been playing since 1995 (minus one hiatus between Ice Age and Weatherlight) and I have never qualified until now. So basically, it was going to be a chance to give some friends some props and then a couple of decklists. But I decided since Invasion is still new, maybe some of my notes can help other people testing the PTQ waters with this set. If you are just looking for humorous anecdotes, try reading a Hacker report. (They are hilarious. I still randomly say "Homies got rolled like it was 1998" from time to time.) Anyway, here goes.

The night before was good times. The lovely Mindy was over for some Domino's Pizza that night while I competed in an iMagic event on IRC. She brought over a classic video, "The Goonies," to watch while I played online. Ph33r not, fellow mages, I tapped mana with her between rounds. After she leaves and I finish in the top four, I get some much-needed rest.

Morning rolls around and I make my way to pick up Derek Starleaf (jokulhaup on IRC) in Burbank. I target 9:59 a.m. as our arrival time at the Costa Mesa Women's Club (which, surprisingly, never has more than four women there whenever Magic is played). We miss that target by five minutes - but thankfully, Dan Gray and crew always wait around for stragglers. So that strategy worked, as we officially had our hands stamped with the little dragon logo at 10:04 thanks to some Speed Racer-like driving, good tunes by the late, great 2Pac, and effective use of Carpool Lane technology. Our friend, Daniel Chung (RaiNiNG on IRC) was supposed to roll with us that day, but he had to get his car fixed or something.

We roam around and see the usual Costa Mesa Women's Club suspects, say "hi" here and there, and then get seated. I sat across from Hacker during registration. That was cool. I figured maybe some of his mizerliness might make its way towards me for the day. The only thing I saw in my packs that really made me happy was a foil Island, but it was the one ugly Island from Invasion. So, the rare-drafter and competitive magic player in me was really kind of hoping that I wouldn't get this deck back.

Sure enough, I got the deck back. After taking a closer look at the new additions to my Magic collection, I realized that what I had wasn't horrible. It was just going to need solid draws and solid play. That's asking a lot of the Magic gods. With just over a hundred planeswalkers duelling at the Women's Club that day, I had seven rounds of swiss ahead of me.


Here's what I opened and didn't maindeck.
Blue: Dream Thrush, Fact or Fiction, Faerie Squadron, Rainbow Crow, Stormscape Apprentice, Tidal Visionary, Traveller's Cloak, Vodalian Merchant (2x)

White: Angel of Mercy, Capashen Unicorn, Crimson Acolyte, Glimmering Angel, Prison Barricade (2x), Rampant Elephant, Razorfoot Griffin, Restrain (2x), Reviving Dose, Rewards of Diversity

Green: Aggressive Urge, Llanowar Elite, Llanowar Vanguard, Thornscape Apprentice, Wandering Stream, Whip Silk, Explosive Growth (I had two but only maindecked one. I sided it in all day.)

Black: Addle, Dredge, Nightscape Apprentice, Phyrexian Battleflies, Ravenous Rats, Tainted Well, Urborg Skeleton, Cursed Flesh (This got sided in a decent amount, usually to stop Bradshaw - a.k.a., Crimson Acolyte.)

Red: Kavu Scout, Scarred Puma (2x), Stun, Roger Kavu (Rogue Kavu. At prerelease, I saw one from a distance for the first time and thought his name was Roger Kavu. My friends and I have called him that as a joke ever since. I should have played him because a 3/1 attacker for 1R is very good, especially for early beats.), Zap (This got sided in every now and then, usually to stop Farooq - a.k.a. Obsidian Acolyte.)

Artifact: Troll-Horn Cameo

Split: Wax/Wane, Pain/Suffering

Gold: Coalition Victory (lol), Galina's Knight, Horned Cheetah, Slinking Serpent, Wings of Hope

Now then - on to what I DID play:

Green:
--Explosive Growth
--Fertile Ground

--2x Kavu Climbers
--2x Quirion Sentinel (In hindsight, I probably should have played one Cursed Flesh and one Explosive Growth, but I was concerned about not having enough critters.)
--Serpentine Kavu
--Thornscape Master (All of the masters are good, and since I had no direct white mana in the deck I had to focus on his "two damage to a critter" ability. This card was very solid for me whenever I actually saw him.)
--Verdeloth the Ancient (Who doesn't play with a 4/7 dude that makes Saproling Tokens?)

Red:
--Maniacal Rage (For those of you who remember Rath Cycle, the "cannot block" ability can sometimes win games for you if you place it on an opponent's critter at just the right time. Most often, however, it makes one of your little/evasive fellas very important to deal with.)
--Rage Weaver (Not counting Spike Weaver, because that would be unfair, Sky Weaver is the best weaver. But all the weavers are solid, and since I was playing G/R/B its ability was handy.)
--Scorching Lava (I listened to Ali "I Went to a Playboy Mansion Party in my Neighbor's PJ's" Eslami loudly boast about how he had never read the kicker part of card. He then proceeded to remove a Pyre Zombie from the game.)
--Stand or Fall (This card won me a handful of games. Other times I was greedy and wished it was something better, like a creature. If you are playing an aggro limited deck, try this rare if you get it.)

Black:
--Phyrexian Slayer (Sadly, my only flier. Fortunately, he's a black flier that says that no white dudes should block me.)
--Soul Burn (Reason Number One I had to play Red and Black.)
--Trench Wurm (Hill Giants are always good.)
--Urborg Phantom (This guy can't block, and his optional Gaseous Form ability seems irrelevant to me in limited. I played him because he was 3/1 for 3.)

Split:
--Assault/Battery (This is a pretty good card and one that requires a bit of thought. I only use the Assault part if there is a Tappy Tapper dude [like Master Trapper] or some evasive critter that I must stop. Otherwise, the little elephant guy is pretty good times.)

Gold:
--Giant Trap Door Kavu (a.k.a. "Hunting Kavu," he's very good removal and usually my turn 3 drop.)
--Plague Spores (Reason Number Two I had to play Red and Black. Tech with this card is killing a land enchanted with Fertile Ground and then destroying an Armadillo Cloaked critter. Four for one in that case is pretty goooooood.)
--Tsabo Tavoc (Reason Number Three I had to play Red and Black. This dude is a pimp. Err, dudette. It's a she-male, cuz it looks like shes got a mustache, but she's also got mammaries. Oh well, who am I to judge? It was good to me the few times I saw her/(him?)
--2x Yavimaya Barbarian (I often dropped these the same turn I dropped a Quirion Sentinel the way my mana draws worked out.)

Land:
6x Forest
5x Mountain
4x Island
1x Sulfur Vent (CIP tapped swamp that you can sac for UR)
1x Shivan Oasis

If the cards I had been given, especially the Gold ones, hadn't so strongly pulled me into G/R/B, I would have liked to have played Blue because of the goodies there. But, all the gold cards and the Soul Burn told me to go with the deck I built above. The major things I would have done differently would be to ditch the 2 Quirion Sentinel in favor of the second Explosive Growth and either Roger Kavu or Cursed Flesh.

Round 1: Got spanked by Tom (a quarterfinalist that day) who had many homies out against me game one... and had many homies out against me game two. My homies were holding the porch down that round, I guess. He was polite that round, mostly because he was throttling me. He's known, however, for talking a lot of smack. (Then again, most people at Costa are known for talking a lot of smack. So much talent in the SoCal area, but way too many of them are aware of their talent and cocky as a result.) Anyway, I thanked him for the whipping and wished him good luck. (0-1, 0-2)

Round 2: Some little dude. I'm a big fella, so most people are little to me. I think his name was similar to Aku Djinn. I guess djinn stands out, since he had Sulam Djinn (two of them) and that fattimucus Verdeloth. All three games he saw his Treefolk Legend. All three games I never saw mine. Game ends in a draw, however, on time. I'm not feeling too good about the situation here, as I have to win every match for the rest of the day. Oh well, Del Taco will still be there for me. (0-1-1, 1-3-1)

Round 3: Older fella named Rick or Rich. He was a nice guy. I saw my Plague Spores, Verdeloth, Soul Burn, and Thornscape Master for the first time that day. This was far different than Rounds 1 and 2 where I saw a lot of cards that did nothing but "T: Add to mana pool." So those games were good times. I finish early, but none of my friends did, so my Del Taco wishes are thwarted for at least another round. (1-1-1, 3-3-1)

Round 4: Older, crazy-haired fella that was very nice. I win game one easily. But game two takes forever and ever and he finally gets me by the exact two points on turn 5 of extra turns. He used Samite Ministration to stop my Explosively Growing Tsabo Tavoc to prevent twelve points of damage on turn 2 of extra turns to go up to twenty-one life instead of being dead at -3. *frown*. At this point, Ali Baba of Doom was walking back and forth around my match saying, "Cantuski, stop holding us up. What's the game count? Oh, this game doesn't even matter." Note: Ali Baba of Doom did not get a Top 8 pin that day, well unless he got one for $10 on eBay. I like Ali Baba of Doom, unlike most Costa players, but at this point in the day he ended up being very wrong. It should have been a 1-1 draw, but Crazy Hair instead said "I have to go, so I concede 0-1" and smiled and shook my hand. I should have been 1-1-2 drop, but instead I was like the BeeGee's. Gahd, being born in the seventies is not tech. Staying alive... (2-1-1, 4-3-1)

Important sidebar. The usually unpredictable Daniel Chung (RaiNiNG), shows up out of nowhere during Round 4. I go nuts when I see him because he is my best Magic-playing friend. He shows up to look in on my match at the beginning of the round and I go, "This is the best day, EVER." I say that all the time, though. Anyway, apparently BoBaLuEy (Matt Downie) and jake' (Jacob Kory) told him that I went like 0-2 drop or something. And I guess he was surprised to see me still playing. Good luck was with me from that point forward.

Round 5: Dave Kuykendall. I played a slower paced game designed to minimize my propensity to make the wrong play, since I respect Dave's play alot. I finished game one off with a Soul Burn for the exact two needed, leaving one mana open just in case. Yes, that is very scrubby of me considering that Daze is not even in Invasion, but I didn't want to chance it. Apparently this bothered Dave, and in game two he pressured me a bit about my play speed. I try to see it from your standpoint, but Dave, try not to be so abrasive about it, especially against a player that respects you. I've played you three times and each time you haven't really been all that friendly. Oh well. End rant. I 2-0'ed him. (3-1-1, 5-3-1)

Round 6: Rory Draxler. This guy is on IRC a lot. He was very kind and friendly and he seemed to know who I was, even though I'm not really heralded as an 31337 player among the Costa folk. We played two close games where I managed to get the best of him with fatties like Verdeloth. My hat's off to him for playing politely and respectfully despite the high level of competition and pressure involved in the match. Only one thing was out of the ordinary: When he is ready to make a play, he constantly stops and puts his finger to his mouth as if he is telling himself to shush. I have seen a couple of other players do it before. I don't know what's up with that, but I just happened to notice. The most pleasant match of the day. (4-1-1, 7-3-1)

At this point we wait for standings. Turns out I'm 11th, and a win will most likely put me in thanks to the fact that my tiebreaks were decent and Tom was still rolling people with his Blind Seer/Farooq (Obsidian Acolyte, remember?) combo. My friend Derek Starleaf, who we first met in the introduction, quietly steamrolled to a 5-1 record and got the lucky break of being paired up round 7, so he drew in. He used Fight or Flight and four Tappy Tap guys for most of the day to keep his opponents' attackers away. Yes, I just rhymed there. So I go searching for the impossible: A Top 8 appearance.

Round 7: Some guy that didn't get a Top 8 pin because of me : ( He beat me game one. All I remember about this match was that I won games 2 and 3. (5-1-1, 9-4-1)

Derek gets his first Top 8 pin as the seventh seed. Formerly the fourth-ranked Pokemon player in California, Derek has been tapping the Magical cards since Mercadian Masques. Cantuski, our protagonist in this story, squeaks in as the eighth seed.

Here are the things I remember about my Rochester Draft. Derek and Rick Chong both got two warnings. Derek, because he has never Rochestered before, and Rick for just minor things. My quarterfinal opponent starts off heavy black and I happened to be early heavy white. So I pick up one Farooq and one Yavimaya Knight early. My second color becomes blue as I take a Tower Drake. My draft lacks one serious element: removal. I manage to draft two Prohibits, one Repulse, and one Exclude. That, my friends, was the removal in my deck. Having drafted a Yavimaya Knight, I decide to make green my last color for splash. I take a Sulam Djinn that most people thought was going to Peter Szigeti (ptr on IRC), but it was clearly the best addition in my mind to my deck - and I was hoping for just one Armadillo Cloak to turn up later, since only one other fella on the other side of the table was drafting White/Green. Kirk (not Kurt) Cole (KCole on IRC) hated on me by taking a Tappy Tapper and I glared at him, which was very unsportsmanlike of me, but it was his first white card and we were well into the draft by then. He later explained to other people that he wasn't set yet on colors... so whatever. He later redeemed himself when he and ptr both let the only Armadillo Cloak of the draft that night go to me. That card would prove rather important that night.

So, anyway, here is what I ended up playing:

Blue:
Exclude (Remove Soul cantrip)
2x Prohibit
Repulse (Unsummon cantrip)
2x Shoreline Raider (Pro-Kavu dude)
Sky Weaver (best Invasion weaver)
Tower Drake
Vodalian Serpent (big mofo if you pay kicker, can't attack unless they have islands)
Zanam Djinn

White:
3x Benalish Lancer (very versatile guy, great with kicker)
Glimmering Angel
Farooq
2x Razorfoot Griffin

Green:
2x Sulam Djinn

Gold:
2x Galina's Knight
Llanowar Knight
Armadillo Cloak (MVP)

Land:
6x Island
6x Plains
4x Forest (I wanted to make SURE I could cast Cloak if I had it)
1x Elfhame Palace

Quarters: Number one seed with black and red stuff. He wins game one. I storm back in games 2 and 3 with Armadillo Cloak and pure speed.

Semis: Peter Szigeti. He is playing mostly Red/Green, but it looks like he's running four colors. That match wasn't too fair, as he parised both games - and I had Cloak on a flier game one and fourth-turn Cloak on the Protection from Kavu dude in game two.

Finals: Rick Chong. I offer box and money for my first shot at Pro Tour. He declines. He wins game one. I win game two. I don't offer again before game three.
In game three he gets a Shivan Zombie out against me, puts a +1/+1 enchantment on it (Scavenged Weaponry), and starts serving. I'm very mana hosed but I try and play as patiently as possible, often asking myself what Daniel Chung would do in each instance. I took nine damage from the unblockable 3/3 (the few weenies I had in play were white). I then Repulse it and, with the cantrip, things got better from there. I stabilize on the board, but he had so many Agonizing Demises (at least two). They hurt me bigtime on my Djinns. However, he killed one of them (Zanam) without paying kicker because he didn't have the mana, and that helped a lot.

He has had The Rock (Plague Spitter: RaiNiNG said he looked like a big ole' rock, so we call him The Rock) in play since about turn three, so we had both been taking a steady flow of damage. Pivotal point in the match comes when he attacks with a Phyexian Slayer, and all I have on the board is a Tolarian Emissary that I had sided in to kill his few enchantments. I tell him that I'm blocking with the Emissary. He informs me that Slayer flies. I tell him that my guy flies also. Given the fact that all critters had taken one damage already that turn from The Rock, I trade my piddly little 1/2 flier for his Slayer. Things swing to my favor as I get a Cloaked 6/6 first striking, trampling Benalish Lancer and I get some life back. I then drop a Razorfoot Griffin. Next turn he sacs a tricolor land and an Attendant golem dude and Plague Spores my super lancer and a forest. Then he attacks with The Rock and I block with my first striker. I then realize my mistake as The Rock deals one point of damage to all creatures and players again. Bye bye, Razorfoot. From there he's at six life and I'm back up to around thirteen. I drop a Glimmering Angel with three open blue mana, and she did the rest for me.

We both made some mistakes that game, he more than me. With luck and a few errors on his part, I Q'ed finally. He was a polite and kind player and showed nothing but class in our games. He's been on the tour before, and my understanding is that he is Q'ed for Chicago right now. It was my time, I guess.

When he scoops, I let out the loudest most thankful, "Oh my God!" in my life and I got very emotional. There's already a rumor circulating that I cried. First, there's nothing wrong with crying. Second, there was something in my eyes and they were just irritated. (g) In all seriousness, I have been dreaming about this and working for this for a long time, and I was thankful for the day to finally come. The entire realization of it all is still sinking in. It was especially nice to win at Costa, and with Chung and Derek there watching me as good friends that play this game called magic. Since I live in Los Angeles, I'm happy to say that I will certainly be there on The Boat, hoping to make some waves :/ (That horrible pun is for you, RaiNiNG.)

Now then, the part that I have been waiting for (forget about the tortured soul that actually read this report): Pops and Heat (since I lub rasslin and want to work for the WWF one day).

Heat:
--BoBaLuEy: I don't care if you were joking or not, who goes up to Cantuski and says, "AREN'T YOU ALWAYS 0-1-1?!"
--Derek Starleaf: You coulda made it a lot easier on me by just making it to the finals and conceding to Cantuski.
--KCole: Who hates on my Tappy Tapper? Who doesn't say "Congrats"?
--Kappa_9 and Jacob on IRC: Okay, I'm your online teammate and you still haven't said anything as simple as : ) to me. I'd do it for you :_( Ask PT Craig Guile (Plag on IRC)
--RaiNiNG Technology "Tap two islands, return them to hand, Gush, draw two... islands, burn for two" (c)2000 All Rights Reserved: This tech plagued me in the first two rounds, as luck was not on my side. That bad luck went away for the rest of the day. (Doh! Another stupid rhyme.)

Pops:
--BoBaLuEy: I still lub j00. BoBaLuEy's Daily Ghetto Poetry is still one of the best things about IRC.
--Derek Starleaf: You've been playing since Masques and you are getting better every day. You are "Soooooooo Gooooood" (Vato Tech). Thanks for not meeting me in the finals so that I'd have to give you money to concede to me :o
--KCole: Thank you for Armadillo Cloak. You are a good guy. Fear not, we will still get Derek to drink a Wine Cooler!
--The Entire Team of The Unforgiven: dager, Plag, Nold, RaiNiNG, Kappa_9, and Jacob and to all you former team members (esp. Reaper wherever you are) and Unforgivaholics, Cantuski lubs j00
--RaiNiNG: How can I not give you props? Watching you play MBC taught me that I don't have to always hate Islands and taught me so much about playing control. Even though you are also still waiting to Q, your play is solid and I learn a lot from you. Moreover, thanks for being my friend.
--My magic friends in Belfast, Northern Ireland: Marty, Hunter, Dave, Adrian, and Ronin. I haven't forgotten about you. Thanks for befriending a lonely Magic player from the states while he did a Master's Degree in the most unlikely place.
--Team Hobo (well at least Dino and Wayneo): Dino, thanks so much for helping me get started again when I got back into magic, you taught me a lot about this game, more than you'll ever know. And Aaron, wherever the hell you are, start playing again fool.
--Seth Burn and Bryce Currence: Fellow Claremont McKenna grads, you two taught me most of what I know about this game - especially you, Bird. You guys are my magic heros.
--DeMaci and JuGs: You two PT playas supported me and that means a lot to Cantuski.
--ptr: This might not mean much to you, but it was an honor playin ya esp with you being kind and not rude during the match, you'll Q for LA one way or the other, I'm certain
--Dan Gray and Co.: I have been doing Costa since 1995, and you guys have always been there. Thank you. You guys do this because you love the game. If it wasn't for you all, Costa Mesa MTG wouldn't be what it is today.
--Mindy: You have watched me play this stupid game for three years, and you have supported me every step of the way. I love you. I finally did it!

Thank you for taking the time to read this. I hope it was at least moderately amusing and helpful to at least one person out there trying to Q. God bless.

Anthony Cantu
Cantu on IRC (Newnet: #apprentice, #iMagic, #theunforgiven)
[email protected]