-Greg

Hey guys. Madison ended up being a total wash for me, and my record was completely abysmal. I got some bad draws, kept some sketchy hands, and basically paid through the nose for not being fast enough to keep up with any form of aggro. Brenna did well, going 4-3, and narrowly missing the 5-2 record she needed to finish in prizes. I'll not spoil what she was up to, as I'm hoping she'll write here about what was a really interesting day for her. BUT, the man of the hour was our buddy Matt Grandgeorge, who was debating a last-minute change to some junk deck, and instead took his Baneslayer/Cascade deck all the way to first place! Congrats, Matt.

I'll give a couple brief paragraphs in a minute about my matchups, but first I have to tell you guys this story about Magic Workstation...

There was a guy with a game open who requested you not use counters or bounce spells from shadowmoor, conflux, and some other new set. So, being a little bored of playing fair games against people who are sane, I joined. I grabbed the first deck I saw with no blue (a type 2 elf/banefire combo), and popped in.

The game was going fine for a few turns, and I had a throng of elves and a few lands on my fourth turn, to his bird of paradise and sword of fire and ice. I play primal command, choosing to bounce his equipment, and search for a guy. Here is the transcript of what happened after that.

bounce the sword, search creature
dog ears is looking its Library...
Did you read the game name?
dog ears shuffles library
dog ears stops looking its Library...
yeah, no counters
i don't have any counters :/
dog ears is looking its Library...
dog ears puts Elvish Archdruid into play from Library
dog ears shuffles library
dog ears stops looking its Library...
So you read the 2nd word and the 2nd to last word and somehow
missed all the rest?
dog ears puts Elvish Archdruid to Hand from Play
it said no shadowmoor, conflux counters or something
just a bunch of sets that you didn't like the counterspells from
it also said 'No Returns"
dude, you're playing one of the most broken pieces of
equipment of all time, and you're complaining about my primal command?
Either play the game you joined or forfeit
you forfeit!
I win
you don't
You joined my game
because i won
not the other way around
i refuse to concede
Then I suggest you choose another for Primal
if you refuse to follow the rules, then you lose automatically.
Actually, if you refuse to play the game you joined, you
automatically forfeit
Because you should have never joined in the first place
and i still say that i choose the modes of returning your
sword of fire and ice to your library's top, and i will search a
creature
so thanks for the win
yeah right
Learn to read
thank YOU for the win
because i am winning so hard
i was going to make a million elves
dog ears is now the controller of Sword of Fire and Ice
Sword of Fire and Ice's note changed: bounced
Kam is now the controller of Sword of Fire and Ice
dog ears is now the controller of Sword of Fire and Ice
dog ears puts a Sword of Fire and Ice on top of Library from Play
Kam puts Sword of Fire and Ice into play from Library
dog ears is now the controller of Sword of Fire and Ice
Kam is now the controller of Sword of Fire and Ice
dog ears is now the controller of Sword of Fire and Ice
Kam is now the controller of Sword of Fire and Ice
dog ears is now the controller of Sword of Fire and Ice
Kam is now the controller of Sword of Fire and Ice
dog ears puts a 0/1 Sore Loser token into play
Kam is now the controller of Sore Loser
dog ears is now the controller of Sore Loser
Kam is now the controller of Sore Loser


INCREDIBLE.

Anyway, the tournament:

Round 1 - 4C Bloodbraid
I totally dominated game 1, dropping creatures, countering spells, and bashing for the win in around 9 minutes. Game 2 was totally opposite, as I drew nothing relevant, and died to lots of hasty dorks. Game 3, I mulliganed to a SICK 6 card hand, and realized I had drawn seven cards. I call a judge immediately, who issues me a warning for improper mulligan, and has me go down to five. I get a one lander, and fight for surprisingly long time, but his card advantage just happened faster than mine. So, rather than losing to superior skill, I lose to my own inability to count to six, and am the only one on the team to lose round 1. Stellar.

Round 2 - Fucking Time Sieve.
Game 1 is mine again, hitting Larks for infinite Siege-Gang Commanders, and blow him out with multiple Austere Commands. Game 2 I tap out for massive board advantage, betting that he can't go off - and of course, he luck-sacks the top deck to hit me for exacties. Game 3, I walk right into a Safe Passge with lethal on the board, and lose in extension turn 4, with about 25 peole standing around us. The game was close, but his playing was just tighter than mine.

Round 3 - QUILLSPIKE COMBO
The only interesting thing to happen here was this: I punt massively by not countering Deathrender, which he uses to somehow put Progenitus on the board. I dig hard with Lark/Mulldrifter and Jace, finding two Cryptics to stall two turns, and do exactly twelve damage with Lark and an enormous Figure of Destiny to completely crush this extremely nice person's dreams.

Round 4 - RDW
These games were really boring, as his deck just couldn't get there. Runed Halos, Cryptic Commands, and Siege-Gangs are too much, and we wrap it up fast.

Round 4 - BR Aggro
This guy got total vengeance on his mono-colored counterpart, and it's over before I know it. The awful thing about magic is if your opponent gets the nuts and you don't, you're toast. I had to mulligan to five, got hit by a nasty Thought Hemorrhage for Cryptic Command (my only hope), and am forced to Halo for Hemmorhage it next turn. He smiles when I scoop, showing me two more in his hand. What an awful time.

Round 5 - Sulli Merfolk
He takes the beatdown role game one and two, taking game one with Wakethrasher + Sygg, River Guide, and I can't keep up. Next game, I lock him completely out and Banefire for the win with three life - just enough to not get Harm's Wayed to death. Game 3 I lose in some way that must have been stupid, because I didn't even write it down.

Round 6 - Soldiers
He takes me to two life two games in a row, and I lock him down and blow him out. It was pretty boring, actually. Sweep soldiers, play Larks, bounce Larks post-combat for Siege-Gangs and Anathemancers.

Round 7 - Soldiers
Two frustrating games of not drawing the right mana, and the tournament is over. Too many soldiers, not enough Austere Commands.