Philippine National Championships 2

Decks. Decks. Decks. I have three decks in consideration and it's killing me how to choose between Cunning Wake, UG Madness and Beasts. Beasts brought me this far. Cunning Wake is a very good deck IF you have played with it intensively for some time. UG Madness is popular, Tier 1 and consistent.

As I decide which deck to use, I looked back and figured how I assess my performance during the regionals event. My performance was good. I racked up 4 straight wins bringing down the following decks: RG Beats, 2 UG Madness and a Tog. I was pretty fine then when my match-up with Erwin Yu, was posted. Erwin was a friend, a team mate as a matter of fact. Erwin was piloting Aqualube. And it is a deck that can easily demolish my deck. I lost to him 0-2 and faced Linstad Ramon who again raced me with his aggressive UG build to 0-2. I won my last match as a result of a no-show from my opponent. As I searched what deck would I have faced, it dawned on me that my Beast deck has too many match ups it can't easily dominate.

I was able to make top 7 and got my invitation to play for the biggest tournament in the Philippines. This was the event I have been preparing
for-- The National Championships.

I play tested UG intensively for the succeeding months when I was able to face a deck that I had neglected. My Beast deck has auto losses against it. I just didn't know that my UG will lose too. The deck was Cunning Wake. I immediately got the cards thanks to my friends Dexter, who lend me his set of Mirari's Wake. George lend me his Cunning Wishes and Krosan Verges. I play tested it and realized it's potential for being so powerful. I obviously lacked time to master it and decided it's not even a choice.

I was left with two good decks, UG Madness and my Beasts. I have to go with UG Madness.

As I prepared the sideboard of my UG Madness, I made sure I have the right sideboard stuff against my feared match ups. I had Envelop, Callous Oppresor, Ray of Revelation, and Chain of Vapors.

Once I'm done, I went to bed and slept tight.

Then out of nowhere a stream of light flashed before me...

Oooops. Was it just a dream? I awoke at 5AM and sat beside the bed looking at my decks. An obvious question was "Am I really decided to leave my Beasts?" I prayed for the Lord to give me some signs to help me decide.

I took a coin from my purse and went Beasts for Heads, UG Madness for Tails. I flipped the coin high enough and caught it before it landed on my lap. I closed my eyes as I opened my hand... Heads.

Round 1: vs Elliot Que (Cunning Wake)

Elliot Que, a seasoned veteran was my first round assignment. It is obvious that there are no easy matches on the National Championships.

Game 1: They were kidding that we were playing the mirror. Which left me thinking Beasts mirror matches are not easy. He won the dice roll and we both kept our hands. His first turn was Krosan Verge tapped, then go. Cunning Wake??!! I would have not imagined myself being paired with a great player and a seasoned veteran bringing in something that has auto-wins against my deck. And then I remembered it might be the reason they were saying it was a mirror match since I played Cunning Wake the day before.
I tried to put him out as early as I can by playing aggresively. But it has nothing against his Peaces and when Mirari hits the table I know I have to concede to have a chance on the second game.

Game 2: Nothing much has changed. Peaces stalled the game and Mirari hits the table. As I sign of fight, i did not concede and went to play my Anurid Brushhoppers and played Worship. When he started wishing for Ray of Revelation, I offered my hand and it was a game i had zero chance of winning.

Standing 0-1-0

Round 2: vs Ronnel (UG Madness)
Game 1: I won the dice roll. Played Forest and Birds or Paradise. His turn was Careful Study, discarding a Basking Rootwalla and Wonder in the graveyard. My turn saw me wishing for Intrepid Hero. He played Quiet Speculation, dropping 2 Roar of the Wurms and a Deep Analysis to his graveyard. He attacked for 1 and passed the turn. I played Intrepid Hero and a Llanowar Elf and passed the turn. These are signs that I have just started to cut off his fat. He played Aquamoeba and passed. My Ravenous Baloth met Circular Logic. After he played 2 Wonders and 2 Mongrels, my life went easily from 17 to none.
Game 2: If it's not luck or consistency, then what could it be? His first turn Careful study againt found basing Rootwalla and Wonder on the graveyard. I need to race this one since a Living Wish didn't made it thru my opening hand. I played a second turn Call and and a third turn Call flashback. I was able to put him near lethal damage but so am I. He was down to 8 life and I was down to 7. Ronnels Mongrels were tapped with his Rootwallas. He only has Merfolk Looter untapped. I declared my attackers. 2 Elephants, 2 Elves and the Intrepid Hero for a total of 9 points of damage. Ronnel activated the Looter, and discarded Arrogant Wurm! I responsed by playing reprisal to eliminate the potential blocker. This means game 3! Damn. With his remaining Island floating 1 Blue mana, he Unsummoned one of my Elephant tokens which means another match loss for me.

Standing 0-2-0

Round 3: vs Jason Ascalon (GWR Beasts Madness)
Game 1: My opening hand was perfect. Living Wish, Forest, Contested Cliffs, Birds of Paradise, Wooded Foothills, Ravenous Baloth and Call of the Herd. I got the wish once I had superior board position and went for the easy kill.

Game 2: He was able to put an Intrepid Hero to play, I quickly played mine too after my first wish resolved. Still, it was hard for me to face uo my Exalted Angels. Once I drew my second wish, I went for... Goblin Sharpshooter! I thought that maybe I can messed up the activation of his Glory. I played my second Angel face down and decided to start swinging. I was awfully low at 8 life where he was at a safe 23. But by then I was in complete control of the board with a Sharshooter, a Hero, 2 face-down Exalted Angels, and an Anurid Brushhopper compared to his three-some of BoP, Mongrel and Intrepid Hero. This is were the ISSUE came to start.

Arvin: Declaration of Attackers.
Jason: ...
Arvin: Declared Brushhopper, 2 face-down creatures as attacking.
Arvin: Done. Declaration of Blockers?
Jason: Mongrel blocks face-down creature.
Arvin: (thinking) Should we put damage on the stack?
Jason: (hesitant) Discarding Basking Rootwalla to Wild Mongrel.
Arvin: (thinking) ok... resolve ability? (put's a +1/+1 counter on Wild
Mongrel) So 3/3 and green.
Jason: Ok. (marks down his life total to 18.
Arvin: My priority, discarding 2 cards for Brushhoppers ability, (one of which is Glory) and activating for Pro-Green.
Jason: Wala na!... resolved na yung damage eh!...
Arvin: I never said I wanna resolve the damage. I said ability resolves. So it's my priority now.

After a long debate and discussion (violent?), we called the head judge DJinn Paculio to help us with it. Jason continued to explain what happened according to "what" he heard me saying. DJinn more or less said I was right and Jason was conceding he was wrong and was being reprimanded by DJ that he should not concede with the rule yet he was arguing with DJ at the same time.

It was very uncomfortable and I got the feeling that everybody was now watching us (which was true).

After that, I lost drive to fight. I was given a warning for stalling which I accepted. I think that was what I needed to be fired up. I easily killed his Hero and BoP by leeting him use all his mana on his turn protecting hi creatures. Then I faced up my Angel to be killed by hi Hero so I can activate my Sharpshooter twice to get rid of the Hero, the Rootwalla and the BoP on the same turn. I topdecked a Ravenous Baloth and he conceded.

With no one to turn to, I went and hot myself some drinks and some hotdog waffles. Anger was burning inside of me. I wanna shout. I wanna curse.

I was about to get back my strong play and this?!

Standing 1-2-0

Round 4: vs Roy Luyun (BG Cemetery)
Game 1: He shuffled my library. I asked if I can riffle to 3 times (as mandated by the Rules) but my seatmate told me "i-cut mo na lang". He opened up with Birds. I opened up with Llanowar Elves. He followed it up with Elves and Smother. I passed. He played Braids. I played Brushhopper. With no cliffs insight it was game.

Game 2: He got a second turn Stronghold Assasin and I was not able to catch up. His wish for Visara on the 7th turn means I won't be able to keep up with the pressure.

Standing 1-3-0

Round 5: Ranier (Beasts)
Game 1: I won this game pretty easily by dropping Glory on my Mongrel and swinging with it and a Phantom Centaur. Game 2: He was able to play Anurid Brushhopper and with Cliffs in play means game for me. Game 3: I have two Exalted Angels but white mana never gave me a chance as he cliffed my angels and Elephant tokens.

Standing 1-4-0

Round 6: Nomer (UG Madness)
Game 1: I lost to Wonder and Flying Wurms.
Game 2: I lost to Wonder and Flying Wurms.
*Is it ok not to draw angel? was it ok to have brushhoppers without cliffs? was it ok when ur ravenous baloth was countered with logic?

Standing 1-5-0

I can say that there were a lot of pretty good players in Manila.
But it could have been better if the deck listened and the deck put up a fight. But it did not.

Philippine National Championships

Hi guys. I'm back. It's been a very tiring 3 day event but it's worth every minute, every sweat and profanity all the way.

Here's the summary of the events that happened on my first Philippine National Championships experience.

Thursday, June 12, 2003:
My Mom fetched me here in the office at 4PM and we are on our way to the airport. By 5PM and 2 hours to go before my boarding time, thoughts of the event kept running on my mind. I was thinking what to play on the pre-national event that I'd planned to attend. My current project involvement hindered me to spend more time in preparing for the event. I lacked play testing and have not rochester drafted even once in an actual tournament. But I knew that even if I do, it will be no where near the skills of the players in Manila.

By 9PM, I was on my way from the NAIA to SM Megamall to meet a childhood barkada who was already working in Manila. After that, I went to Greenhills and took a good night sleep.
Friday, June 13, 2003:

I woke up around 7:30AM. The stress of the flight and anxiety probably took toll thru the night and made me slept more than I should. With just coffee for breakfast, I was on my way. I just rode a jeepny to EDSA and stopped at Robinsons for a bus ride to the nearest MRT station for Ayala. The MRT ride was good. MMDA made a good job in keeping it clean and in good tip top shape. The air coniditioning was ok. But when I arrived at Glorietta... Damn. I was too early! Glorietta opens at 10AM and it was still 9:15AM. I scouted some resstaurants and bumped at Country Waffles. I got some Beef tapa and scrumbled eggs for breakfast which cost me ~240.00. The cost of living here is too high if you don't settle for fastfoods.

Lesson number 1: Do not eat on restaurants.

After a good breakfast, I went on to work my way thru Neutral Grounds. Luckily, I noticed a group of men whom I recognized as Magic players because of the terms they have been using in their conversation. "Na trade mo na ba yung City of Brass mo?" was all I needed to hear to follow them. Their place was big. It has actually 3 playing areas. and there are more than 80 people there in less than 30 minutes. The store offers a lot of goodies and there were a lot of singles for sale. I must admit some cards on the store are cheaper in prices compared to prices here in Cebu. Which means value of those cards are even CHEAPER if you just get it from players.
As the tournament registration started, I decided which of the decks I brought should I use. I have Cunning Wake, UG Madness, Beasts and Astroglide. After much thought, I went with Cunning Wake. It's almost 12PM+ and the pre national tournament had not yet started. So I decided to go get some lunch. When I went back to the playing area, Match 1 had started and I was given a match loss. Wow. I was hoping it's not a sign of things to come.

Match 2: vs UGW (Roel)
I am hoping this could be a good match up in favor of Cunning Wake.
1st game: He opened with a first turn Careful Study and dropped a Basking Rootwalla and a Wonder. I played Krosan Verge. After taking some points of damage and playing Moment's Peace for the setup, I Wrath and played Exalted Angel on the same turn. (With Mirari's Wake in play) It's a 4 turn clock shortly.

2nd game: Almost similar to the first game but my board was insane with 2 Mirari's Wake in play and a Mirari. After doing Compulsion to get my second Wrath and two Angels, it's 2-0.

Match 3: vs UGb (Rey)
Rey was the National Champion way back 2001. This can be an interesting match-up, or a very lopsided one. (in favor of him of course!)
Game 1: As usual, UG's opponening hand is a careful study. NOPE! I was blessed he passed the 1st turn and just said "done". I went an played Island and said go. His second turn Aquameobe went it while I get to play only a lonely sandbar and passed the turn. As the beating goes with the beast, I was able to draw a Moment's Peace that kept my life at a safe 12. Unfortunately, there were no answers to his Wurm and Beast because my Wrath was simply countered by Logic.

Game 2: I played first and the same simple things that makes UG stronger than other beatdown decks is it's element of control. As my Wrath was countered and my flashbacked Peace was again foiled.

Standing: 1-2-0 (1 game at Match Loss)
Here's the good part. Rochester Drafting. As the rules where explained, I'm happy to have went 1-1 in constucted. I have no previous experience in drafting and this will mean a great start to feel how rochester drafting in REAL works.

I started picking green and red stuff. Red? who would not want to pick 2 Sparksmiths in a row! But I love beasts and it shows as my other early picks were Glowering Ragon and Berserk Murdolant, Kurgadon. Some elves joined the fun, Fierce Empath and Krosan Drover. But the bomb came when I got Krosan Warchief! With Chartooth Cougars and a Wirewood Guardian, I'm good to go!

Match 1: Against Quincy (UB with Arcanis)
Quincy is one of the players there that I met during the National Qualifier here in Cebu. He is a good guy

Game 1: I played a face down creature followed by Sprouting Vines the next turn. He played some face down creatures as well. But then Krosan Vorine made an appearance. And who wouldn't want the Krosan Vorine when you can follow it up with Krosan Warchief! It's game over after my beasts massacred his face down wizards!

Game 2: Nothing much has changed from game 1. My draws kept on getting insane when I had a Krosan Drover, Krosan Warchief and Chartooh Cougar in play.


Match 2: Against Edsel Alvarez (UB)
Another UB from Edsel, the life of the DCI Phils mailing list.

Game 1: I was able to put him to two life thanks to my creature rush but then he was able to stabilize the board position with his consecutive creature removals. His fliers did me in shortly there after as I drew 6 lands in a row.

Game 2: My beasts were angry for being humiliated by miniscule flyers! They went back with a bang and killed him in a little over 8 turns.

Game 3: This is were I got even with a rule debate. I have a Kurgadon in play when I played Chartooth Cougar that was promptly countered by Edsel. After the spells had resolved, I placed 3 counters on my Kurgadon which made Edsel react. Edsel informed me the Kurgadon would not have the 3 counters since he was successful in denying me my Cougar. Edsel then called DJinn and asked him what he has to say. DJinn informed him that it was exactly what I did. I played a 6 casting cost creature in Cougar so the Kurgadon gets to keep it's 3 +1/+1 counters. Anyway, this game is where I realized the importance of creature kill. I was doing well in keeping our life totals at par when a Clutch of the Undead hit it's mark on my Krosan Warchief. Regen what?!
1-1.

Then for some unknown reason, DJ dropped me! I think he failed to drop the person who requested to drop and I was awarded a bye. Mistakes happen.
2-1.

Total score 9 Points (3-3-0)

Seems good to me. The next day will be totally different.

... to be continued.