"In Praise Of" Part 1: Fork, by Brother Jonas

Part One of an occasional series where we ask members of the London Old School community to reflect on their favourite cards.

"The best move you can ever play in chess is not the best move.  No, the best move you can ever play in chess is the move your opponent least wants you to play"

            - Stephen Fry, The Stars' Tennis Balls

Fork is one of my favourite cards in Old School and receives a fairly heavy amount of play.  There is even a deck archetype, the Fork Combo, built around it.  So this article doesn't seek to defend the card, because that is clearly unnecessary.  This said, I feel that sometimes its utility is misunderstood and underappreciated. 

The fundamental reason why this card is in my Top Five of all time is that, to me, it just screams Old School.  The flavour is bang on - it speaks to the fact that red is meant to be the unpredictable colour.  A red mage should never be counted out of the game until it's all over.  The modern game has taken this tendency to extremes with red being imbued with excessive variations on unpredictable card draw.  This is a step too far.  But part of the fun of playing red is that you never know what might happen next - in Old School, your Wheel or Earthquake or Ball Lightning could be just around the corner.  Fork will rarely dig you out of a hole on its own, but it will bring a true element of chaos to the table.

The other element that for me is crucial to Old School is that it is a relaxed format which celebrates novelty and serendipity rather than grinding out results.  Fork embodies this tendency in the same way that some of the other iconic cards of the format do - Chaos Orb, Timetwister, Shahrazad.  Fork is an anecdote-worthy card - whether it's making a black mage ditch his hand to his own Mind Twist, nullifying a Time Walk, or forcing a player of The Deck to Disenchant his own Tome.

And Fork is also a leveller.  If you don't own blue power, then just play Fork and copy it when your opponent plays theirs!  A red Ancestral (or, better, Braingeyser for 6) is always a welcome development for the pauper.

Some plum targets for your Fork (picture credit: Old School Mtg)

This leads on to a second point about the card, which is that an experienced player will have to play around Fork.  Some people look at red and believe that it is just a colour that can be played on autopilot, with an unreactive strategy.  While it's true that part of the appeal of heavy-red is its brutality when the draw goes your way, to apply this across the board is a real misconception.  When I am playing mono-red I tend to have to go 'into the tank' as much as when I play The Deck. 

For instance, when games go long and people tend to count red out, Fork gives you the licence to disrupt an opponent's alpha strike.  Experienced players know this and will try and finish you with what they have left on the board - which gives you a chance to get back in the game with a top-deck.  At the last big London meet I played a very memorable game against Oli's RG Zoo build, where he had the Fireball in hand to finish me off but couldn't unleash it in case my Fork drew the match.  As it turned out, I wasn't bluffing and the battle of minds made the game feel like a real mental clash.  You don't need blue to have that feeling.

When you are playing against other colours, Fork becomes like a judo throw - using the opponent's own weight against him.  See also the quote opening this article.  For instance, counter mages hate having their spells countered - as soon as you bring Fork and Red Elemental Blast into your deck you are going toe-to-toe with them on the big counter battles.  As such, a rounded red player has to understand what it's like to play using the other archetypes.  For a player with COP:Red down to have to hold their Disenchant against your Factory in case you turn it back on their Circle is a truly tricky position to put them in - whether you have the Fork in hand or not.

When it comes to turning a player against themselves, at worst you are drawing out their counters and clearing the way for a Bolt or Chain to the opponent's dome.  In other contexts, you can force your opponent to take unwarranted risks - or believe that they will have to - by leaving the two red mana open. 

Thus far I have focused on copying the opponent's plays - but Fork also gives the red mage many options with their own cards.  In particular, Fork provides one version of what I call "the ninth bolt" (after Bolt and Chain) - which is the dream of every red mage.  Old School has Mana Clash, Storm World, Blood Lust, and Black Vise - but no true ninth bolt.  Fork is perhaps the closest we will ever come to that mythical card.  And if you are playing with Fallen Empires (not that we tend to in the UK), Fork opens the door to possibly the most egregious damage-dealer of all (along with Berserk): Goblin Grenade.  The Fork in hand during a Grenade either wards off the devastating Counterspell (and being on the wrong end of a two-for-one) or, even better, it allows you to inflict 10 points.  This holes most opponents below the water-line.

Bolts 1-8

Fork doesn't always shine.  On occasion it is a dead draw, and in a high-tempo deck this is highly damaging.  As a burn player, starting the game with two (or more) in hand is a bit of a nightmare, because in the early game you don't want to be sitting back with the mana open.  So how many to put in your deck?  With a strong red mana base, two is a good number, and if you are playing burn then three is a solid quota.  I used to be tempted to play four, but Karl H in the UK scene convinced me - I believe correctly - that unless the whole deck is relying on Fork, this many is excessive. 

Purists will say that a deck should have a strategy of its own and every element should support that course of action.  To view the card through this lens, it is true that it is impure.  When you look at some deck pics, you can see how every single card supports a single strategy and there's no doubt that there is a beauty in decks that are constructed in that way.

But this fails to acknowledge the card's amazing versatility.  More than this, Old School at its best is a social format which elevates the fun aspect of the game, and memorable plays, to a similar status to victory.  Few cards can deliver quite so many anecdotes-per-play, and for this reason alone I will remain committed to my Forks.

Tournament Report - GP Birmingham Old School 12 August 2017 - by Jonas

Old School's representation at GP Birmingham comes about through some good initiative from the community, most notably Jim Brophy.  First they arrange an informal side event to take place, and then successfully arrange to have it included in Channel Fireball's main programme.  Hats off to the proactivity guys!

The Old School is scheduled to take place on Sunday, but we attend the day before in order to check out the rest of the Grand Prix.  The Brothers Of Fire delegation gathers early on Saturday at Euston station to receive its first piece of bad news:

Brother Ben has been laid up in bed with a serious back injury.  We know it must be serious as normally NOTHING keeps Ben from his Old School.  Fortunately we meet Markus at the train station who is hastily enlisted as the fourth member of our delegation.

After a brief pitstop to refuel Jandor's Saddlebags, we head to the train, only to encounter a new setback in the form of the Old Man of the Sea, who takes considerable pressure to vacate our booked table seats and allow us to play Old School en route.  Eventually he quits playing dumb and moves opposite to leave us unmolested:

This done, we can get on with the matter at hand.  Markus makes an early claim for Loon Play Of The Weekend with the most crazy proxy I can remember seeing:

Yup, that's an Unlimited Volcanic on stiffening duty

After some brutal train-based beatdowns are delivered by Oli's black practice deck, the team reaches Birmingham:

(l-r: Your author, Stebbo, Oli, Markus)

We reach the venue and it's fair to say the scale of the event makes COPcon look like a handful of guys in a pub by comparison:

After checking out the trade stands and making a few Old School purchases, we split up.  Some of us opt to play Legacy (hiss), while Oli and I enter the 'throwback' event to play an Invasion Block Sealed.  Given that we had both long retired from the Standard game by the time it was released, the nostalgia factor of this event is rather lost on us. 

As we open the packs I am relieved to see that at least we are playing with cards in the 'old frame', but can't help but wince when a neighbour declares "This is real old school magic!".

During the event I try to drum up interest in tomorrow's Old School, but with little success.  One opponent tells me that she couldn't afford to play.  I try to convince her otherwise, but the huge price spikes in key staples which take place a couple of weeks after the event will have done nothing to alter her impression of the elitism, rather than the inclusivity, of the format.

Despite our total unfamiliarity with the cards in question, Oli and I respectively turn in at 2-2 and 3-1, picking up 120 tokens.  These feel quite worthless on a trade wall featuring a single old-frame card - All Hallows' Eve.  Apparently the dual lands were snapped up on the Friday.  Nevertheless, this event makes a pleasant amuse bouche for tomorrow's Old School.

We undertake some additional trading.  As I vainly seek to continue my buyout of the global supply of black-bordered Brothers Of Fire (stay tuned for the spike, everyone), Stebbo has rather more premium transactions to carry out:

Lovely lovely cardboard

This done, we head into Birmingham City Centre in search of a Balti.  We know we've found the right place when we enter a pub-cum-curry-house serving a very Old School beer, which might only be improved with an Anson Maddocks illustration on the badge:

Refreshed by pints, we pause only for Stebbo to knock a full flagon of Fallen Angel straight into my lap, meaning I can enjoy my Burnt Offering of an incredible tandoori selection with added squelchiness:

After frequenting a number of additional alehouses we return to the hotel, only to discover a breakfast policy that rides roughshod over Stebbo's "black border or not interested" card-acquisition philosophy. 

The next day, we wake relatively refreshed and head back to the NEC.  With a field of 23 entrants, we may be a tiny contingent compared with the fireworks of the main event, but we represent a good-sized field.  It's regrettable that the Revised sealed event clashes with our own, as many of us would have fancied cracking some of that product, but nevertheless - we made it.

One of the entrants (I believe Bryan) has very kindly put together a participation card to mark the event.  Before long these are covered in signatures.

Given the Channel Fireball B&R list, I'm playing a variant of my post-Goblin deck with fearsome Goblin Grenades boosting my burn:

Owing to the loss of my notebook, my recollections of my games are somewhat limited.  My first match-up is pure Spirit of Old School - it's my opponent's first competitive meeting and his blue weenie deck, including such classics as Merfolk Assassin and War Barge, is a true delight of nostalgia.  My burn rolls straight through in game one, before crafty Phantasmal Terrains cut off my red mana in game two.  Fortunately I take the third despite some pesky Force Spikes.  It's been a fun start to the event and in the coming days I am pleased to learn on Facebook that my opponent has caught the Old School bug.  

Next up I face Bryan - it's nice to put a name to a face after reading many of his online contributions.  His UGb zoo plays some beautiful synergies.  In game one I manage to unleash a Forked Goblin Grenade.  It's hard for anyone to come back from 10 points to the face and he scoops.  However, he exerts total dominance in our following two games, picking me apart with a looped Time Walk in game two, and building up three pumped Whirling Dervishes in the third.

My third opponent has travelled all the way from Belgium and we enjoy a good-spirited game.  However, he has horrific mana problems in the latter two, compounded by fortunate Chaos Orbings and a Strip Mine from me.  No-one likes to win like this, but sadly that's how it works out sometimes, and a lesson against the risky keep.

Although the Channel Fireball event officially concludes after four rounds, it's been informally agreed that the top four will play on to find a champion.  At 2-1 I take a seat at table number two to decide whether I will be among them.  My opponent from Spain is sporting a Team Juzam t-shirt and unsurprisingly is playing mono-black.  I anticipate heavy hand destruction and aim to lay my cards on the table as soon as possible.  Taking the first game with some fortunate Ball Lightnings coming past his defences, on game two all I can do is Fork his devilry (copying both a Hymn, and - even better - a large Mind Twist) as I am picked apart by Factories.  In game three I make a key unforced error pushing for the win, opting to send my Chain Lightnings to his dome rather than the Black Knights he has assembled, and my opponent goes on to be a deserved winner.

My fellow Brothers of Fire have also run out at 2-2 - including some blue-on-blue action as Oli faces Stebbo and is duly "four-booked" by his team-mate:

Four Tomes: that's a lot of card-draw backup

As a result, none of the four of us makes the elimination round - although a personal placing of ninth out of 23 feels reasonable enough.  Jason Savage goes on to win the event with a fierce-looking UR Counterburn deck.

For us, though, this is the end of the Old School.  We catch up with a few of the attendees and then seek out the other essential component of the format: BEER.

We pool our prize tokens and take away a box of Kaladesh for a draft - although obviously the new borders don't sit well with us...

After some relaxed beers in the Wetherspoons, all that remains is the essential step of more Magic.  As Oli and I crack the box of Kaladesh, pausing every twenty seconds to remark at how overpowered the creatures are, Markus and Stebbo admirably try to complete play in rather a confined space.  It doesn't help that Richard is playing The Deck.

Mind-twisting a Juzam - not cool

Eventually we make it back to London and can look back on an epic weekend.  Thanks to those who made it possible.

REMINDER: COPcon IV takes place on 21st October.  We may not quite get 23 players, but all are very welcome indeed.  Event on Facebook here.

Tournament Report - King of the North 29th July 2017 – by Richard Stebbing

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! 

Grand Prix Birmingham

A Brothers Of Fire delegation will be attending GP Birmingham to participate in the Old School event which is being organised there on SUNDAY 13th from midday.  More details on the UK Old School Magic Facebook group.

Current indications are that this event will follow Channel Fireball's Old School rules, which means mana burn will be in effect - and Fallen Empires will be legal.  

Personally I'm a fan of mana burn being part of the rules in Old School.  Firstly, whatever its faults, it is a part of the original game's heritage and flavour.  Secondly, getting rid of the rule means that some cards like Su-Chi and Mana Drain (and even Black Lotus) don't have a balancing drawback which was clearly intended when they were released.  

I'm assuming the Vancouver mulligan (scry mulligan) will not be in effect.  On this I'm with the innovators rather than the traditionalists, as it balances out bad luck on the draw.  

This feeling - of half-welcoming the modern age, and half wanting to escape it - seems to be at the heart of Old School, and the philosophy and appeal behind it.  I prefer to look at the format as Magic's most 'perfected' form - a quest to isolate the form of one of the greatest games ever, rather than purely enjoy it as a throwback attraction trading exclusively on the past.

Whatever your thoughts on the matter, it should be a great day.