06:55 Saturday
The alarm sounds and it's time to roll out. Never mind the
5.5 hours’ sleep. My flatmate, this website's proprietor, ranks the explosive
efficiency of my morning routine up there with turn-one Mox into Sol Ring into
Fellwar Stone, so we're good to go in no time at all!
07:51
I board the train to head north.
An artist's
interpretation of the Virgin Train to Edinburgh
07:59:30
We depart, surprisingly ahead of schedule. I nestle down
into my standard-class seat with my Prêt coffee and sandwich (which are quickly
dispatched) before indulging in an eighty-minute nap.
Coffee Mana Battery
online
09:50
Having awoken, but not having the space across two seats to
set my cards out for a fine-tune of my deck, I read several Magic articles before
inevitably succumbing to boredom and heading to eBay to acquire a couple of
mis-cut cards for my cube, taking advantage of the final hours of a Nectarcard
points promotion!
11:30
The train has thinned out and I fine-tune my 75 for the
tournament and give some thought to sideboarding. The expected meta is black-bordered
and nostalgia-filled, but otherwise unknown!
I am playing The Deck
which is ostensibly the original control deck in Magic, heavily UW splashing RGB.
12:20
The train rolls into Edinburgh. After a brief sojourn into
the tourist information office to collect some timetables for my
timetable-obsessive father (don't ask!) I head over to the venue in good time
for the 1pm start. Naturally I expect the tournament will start late in any
event, in the tried-and-tested fashion...
13:15
The tournament begins...!
There are 8 of us, so 3 rounds of Swiss, then a Top 4. But
to create more Magic, a "quarter-final" has been built in. The first
placed player gets an automatic berth in the semi-finals, with places 2-7
battling it out in single-elimination to fill the other 3 semi-final places.
The prize pot was £80 - divided £50/£30 between the finalists...
Round One 2-0 vs.
Sebastion on Grixis Aggro Dreams
Sebastion is one of the pillars of the UK Old School scene,
and had feathers positively in his cap, having won a tournament in Birmingham
in the spring. As such I was expecting a tough match-up.
Game One
A relatively tense opening saw a Black Vise do some early
damage before being Disenchanted. I was able to establish mana rocks but was
somewhat light on Factories. Sebastion had seen several creatures either
countered or sent to the farm, but had a Shatter for my early Jayemdae Tome.
Running low on card advantage, I plumped to Timetwister
despite the risk of recycling Bolts etc. for Sebastion. I was able to Twister
into some reasonable spells, a Balance included, however unwittingly allowed
Sebastion to set up a Demonic Tutor into Mind Twist to take my hand away! Sebastion
compromised on developing his board (as one would) to Mind Twist, however this
would be an unfortunate line as I promptly top-decked my own Mind Twist and
decimated his hand, hitting several threats.
So we were weaponless again. However it would not be for
long, as I drew into Jayemdae Tome (was it ever thus?) and took control of the
board. Sebastion meanwhile was drawing 3 Black Vises, which unfortunately did
little as I was able to empty my hand of non-counters and manage a hand size of
four or less. This did lead to an interesting moment where Sebastian tried an
Ancestral Recall targeting me for what would have been a lethal 9 damage,
pushing my hand to 7 at the end of his turn. However I had the Counterspell and
shortly after a huge Fireball ended the game.
The Deck
Game Two
This game saw a more aggressive start with two Black Knights
from Sebastion. However I had the perfect answer in a split Fireball to kill
both.
I was here able to establish a lock of sorts, with Greater
Realm of Preservation and Jayemdae Tome enabling me to edge ahead. Using two
Hyppies, Sebastion could deal with one Serra Angel, but not the second! Game
two ended shortly thereafter.
Sebastion's Grixis
Aggro-Dreams
Match 2 - 2-1 vs
Bryan Connolly on ErhnamGeddon
Game 1 saw Bryan establish a clock with Argothian Pixies, despite
my having drawn counters/removal to deal with a pair of aggressive early
Savannah Lions. I was struggling to establish my board presence whilst dealing
with these threats, and was quickly left "needing a Balance" after a
Serendib Efreet hit the table. With my life total dwindling rapidly, an
Armageddon from Bryan saw me scoop.
Game 2
Bryan had a less aggressive start in game 2, which coupled
with a timely Counterspell on an Energy Flux moved the pendulum towards me. A
painful Mind Twist saw me then take command, before eventually drawing an out –
a Serra Angel - that saw me over the finish line.
Game 3
The most concerning game with Bryan on the play post-board.
I was able to deal with early threats before starting to chip away with
Factories. Fearing an army of Djinns, I'd resolved a City in a Bottle, and crucially
could out-draw Bryan with Tome. Being able to trade one-for-one with Bryan's
threats I could then slowly inflict enough punishment with the Factories.
Bryan's GWU
ErhnamGeddon
Match 3 - 2-0 vs Rod
Smith on Troll Disco
Game 1 saw a long period of draw-go, as the growing
manabases of two black-border purists stared menacingly at each other from
across the playmats. A pattern emerged with Rod either Swordsing or
Disenchanting my Factories and me Swordsing his Trolls.
Unfortunately for Rod this meant that he was not putting me
under any pressure. This led to my restricted cards doing what they do best.
With Counterspell back-up I Braingeysered for 4, and then took three turns in a
row off Time Walk into Recall fetching Time Walk, developing my board to epic
proportions. Then like an anaconda squeezing the life out of its prey, I was
able to use my Tome draw engine and edge ahead, with a grip of answers and
disruption.
Rod fought on valiantly, seeing for instance a Disintegrate
for 9 Mana Drained, before I locked up the game with a huge Fireball.
My keep in game 1
Game 2 saw Rod stutter on mana early, meaning that my Chaos
Orb, Stone Rain and Strip Mine did brutal work. A pair of Mishra's Factories
then quickly put the game away before Rod could recover.
Rod's Troll Disco
Being top of the Swiss at 3-0 meant that as top seed I had
the honour of an automatic berth in the Semi Finals, whilst places 2-7 fought
on in single elimination games to fill the remaining three places...
Semi Final - 2-1 vs Bryan Connolly on ErhnamGeddon
Bryan is a skilled veteran operator, and probably my
toughest opponent of the other semi-finalists (Rod had graciously knocked out
the UR player, Karl!). So my heart sank a little being paired against Bryan,
knowing that I would have to go through him (again!) to make the final.
Game 1 saw early Savannah Lions apply early pressure.
Despite it being likely suboptimal, I was forced to Timetwister in search of
answers. Suffice to say they didn't appear and I was duly 0-1 down.
Sideboarding was interesting here, as I wanted to keep my
City in a Bottle threat. However by this point it seemed unlikely that Bryan
had all his Arabian Nights fatties in his deck (if any at all...) Moreover he
appeared to be favouring a more controlling build, relying on his white
creatures and disruption towards my manabase via Energy Flux. However the City
in a Bottle had such potential potency that it had to stay in...
Game 2 was probably the most interesting- I traded answers
for early creatures, before an Energy Flux caused both our manabases issues
(however my manabase moreso), and I was forced to sacrifice my Tome after only
one draw. Unfortunately for Bryan he had "gassed" and seemed to stop
drawing threats. So I was able to pick off his Energy Flux with a Disenchant
and then go to work with a second Tome.
It seemed very much a game of marginals. For example, we
exchanged Mind Twists, but I probably hit the more significant cards. I was
also able to draw a two-for-one with Balance to take out several threats in one
hit. Ultimately Bryan seemed to run out of creatures, and without an Armageddon
landing, died at the hands of a Factory and a Serra Angel.
Game 3 saw my most broken start in recent memory. A hand of
3 Moxen, Black Lotus, Regrowth, Mind Twist saw me Mind Twist Bryan for 6 (his
entire hand) on turn 1.
A devastating play, but his response, a turn two Savannah
Lion off the top put me under early pressure, as I lacked the Factory nor a
Swords to deal with it. I established my Tome and was drawing two cards each
turn. However whilst I could counter additional threats the Lions continued to
scratch away at my life. Finally on 6 life, after 7-8 turns, salvation came in
the form of a Factory! Not wanting to fall any lower I immediately took the
trade.
From there, now with two Books doing the Lord's Work, I
moved further ahead, although I did fall to 2 off an end-step Psionic Blast
from Bryan whilst I was tapped out.
From there I set-up the kill with counter back-up with Demonic
Tutor and moments later an enormous Fireball for 13 put me into the finals!
What a Fireball for 13
with counter back-up looks like
Final - 2-0 vs Rod
Smith on Troll Disco
Our first game was unnervingly similar to our previous game
1. Rod was unable to exert enough pressure early, before succumbing to the
vice-like grip of the Tome, which provided me with unrivalled card advantage.
This time I was able to protect my Factories, before
producing a Fireball for the win.
Game two saw me mulligan to 5, but fortunately into a hand
with Ancestral Recall, almost immediately restoring parity with Rod in terms of
cards in hand.
I was somewhat choked on lands, but had a vital Balance in
hand. This was to prove devastating, as I set up a Tome on board, whilst
opposite Sedge Trolls were amassing and each dealt me three damage a turn. My
plan was to Balance to leave us with 0-1 cards in hand, but with my Tome handing me the advantage in an empty board. This worked perfectly, with Rod
losing his Trolls and 5 lands (due to the 3-8 land disparity).
From there, the Tome saw me race ahead, with Factories
drawing the concession soon thereafter.
I was duly crowned King of the North!
I was particularly chuffed: this was my first victory in a tournament
outside of a GP side-event, having made the semi-finals in several. This win
also comes with an invitation to Noobcon 10 in April next year, where I will be
representing the UK!
An aside to congratulate Rod on organising a great event.
Rod had done much of the initial publicity and had generously donated an
Unlimited Jayemdae Tome to the prize pot, which was randomly assigned to one
lucky Karl Hagan by way of a die roll!
It is a testament to the UK Old School community that people
are prepared to travel across the country to play in events like this, in truth
not because of the promise of exorbitant prize support, but to socialise and
indulge in a much-loved format with like-minded friends who "get the
joke". Long may it continue.
My congratulations also to Gabor on hosting a great event
and firing a sanctioned Old School tournament at the first time of asking. The
players were made to feel very welcome throughout the weekend. Even if you do
not play Old School, I would recommend checking out a tournament at Mox in the
Hole if you are ever in the Edinburgh area.
Some other action
shots of Ben vs. Chris in the Swiss. Amazingly innovative decks and check out
Ben's beautiful altered Howling Mines!
