Needing exactly eight players for the event, I was short on options. There were only two other people in the room. I was one of them, so I decided to sign myself up in Skye's spot as the points leader (since I theoretically would have had the most points). The final remaining person in the room was some random guy we found lying unconscious, hidden in the rubble of the FITSSFF office. After administering necessary CPR procedures, we revived him and told him that we needed him to play because he was the only other person available. He happened to be Michael Carney, who was 27th in points for the fall semester, but happened to be leading in points for the spring, so we decided it was worth giving him a shot so that we could proceed with the event.
*Note: Much of the previous paragraph was either grossly exaggerated or entirely untrue. But it's still awesome.
The Scars of Mirrodin draft proceeded quietly and deliberately, as many players sculpted some powerful decks, many full of commons and uncommons, as many weak rares were passed around the table. I opened the good stuff, pulling Molten-Tail Masticore and a foil Skithiryx, the Hard-to-Spell Dragon. However, I got Skittles too late to be poison. That honor went to John and Liz, who sought to spread the plague of Phyrexia throughout the rest of the Mirran drafters.
Immediate contenders emerged. First was Hunter's green/white metalcraft deck, which played 27 copies of Glint Hawk Idol, leading to the immediate destruction of my fairly weak RG metalcraft brew. After getting pummeled by 2/2 flying artifacts, I inspected his deck to figure out if it was physically possible to draft 27 Glint Hawk Idols (note: it is, but you need one in each pack, plus 3 foils), I somehow only found three, forcing me to acknowledge my deck's shortcomings.
My deck was originally supposed to be the RG dinosaurs deck, but Michael Smith prevented me from drafting it to the degree I wanted to. He rode his own prehistoric beasts to an early 2-0 record, but got buzz-sawed by Glint Hawk Idol.deck, leading Hunter to a 3-0 start, putting him in a prime position to make the top 4. Along with Michael Smith, Emile also started off 2-1 with a red/black deck with double Exsanguinate to pull off some wins. Also, Liz went 2-1 in the draft, beating me down in game 3 with a Putrefax, followed by a Corpse Cur to recur the Putrefax. After taking 217 poison counters in one turn, I was forced to concede and finish my draft at 1-2.
After an excellent lunch at Panera Bread, we returned to do battle in Standard, which comprised the second half of the event. It started off with undefeated Hunter, with red/white control, facing off against Emile, playing the absurdly original Red Deck Wins. Ultimately, Hunter pulled out the win thanks to life gain from his Wurmcoil Engines. Having seen part of the match, I think Emile's loss had to do with his obnoxious unfamiliarity with the deck, having not played it in the last 4 hours. Also to blame is that there was an exceptional weakness at the one-mana slot, as turn 1 Goblin Guides and Lightning Bolts are obviously just not the kind of cards you need to win at Magic.
Also in Round 4, Joe and Michael Carney also stayed alive in the running for top 4, both moving to 2-2. Joe's Genesis Wave Elf deck managed to overcome the assault of Michael Smith's mono-red proliferate combo deck, which looked to play Chandra Nalaar and proliferate her immediately to 8 counters so that she can resolve her ultimate and probably win the game right there. Michael Carney's re-vamped Quest White Weenie deck defeated Liz's black/white poison control, partly thanks to its newly added red splash for Cunning Sparkmage, who suddenly looks a lot more like Visara the Dreadful after he picks up a Basilisk Collar. Well, minus the giant horns and looking like it got whacked several times by an Ugly Stick.
In the final round before the cut, Hunter was guaranteed the top seed, but all but one of the remaining players (sorry John :( ) were 2-2 and playing for a spot in the top 4. Emile defeated Joe rather anticlimactically, burning out his mana sources before he could cast large creatures or Genesis Wave for value. In two extremely exciting matches, Liz defeated John in game 3 by the slimmest of margins, proliferating him to death for the last poison counter with just her Contagion Engine and four lands. Where did the rest go? They all got sacrificed to Kozilek's Annihilator ability. Talk about a close call! Speaking of which, Michael Carney advanced to the semifinals with a win over Hunter, stabilizing with an Ornithopter at 1 life and equipping it with four different equipments!
I missed most of the semifinals because I was busy finishing up the side events, but they were both rematches and both had the same result, as Michael Carney defeated Liz and Hunter defeated Emile. In the finals, Hunter stopped Michael's assault with an early Day of Judgment, but Michael activated his Quest for the Holy Relic, equipping his Cunning Sparkmage with the mighty Argentum Armor, suddenly making it able to deal much more than one damage. Though it got Condemned by Hunter, Kor Outfitter came down for Michael, equipping a second Sparkmage and ending the game shortly after. In game 2, Michael did not find the Quest early, and Hunter stabilized with two Days of Judgment, finishing the game shortly thereafter with Gideon Jura and Wurmcoil Engine. However, in the final game, after a closely fought war of attrition, Hunter's deck went on the unfortunate "Quest for the Holy...Crap Why Have I Drawn 8 Lands in a Row?", which is not particularly effective, even after being sacrificed with lots of quest counters on it. Because of the mana flood, Michael Carney was able to take game 3 home with a mere Kor Skyfisher and become the rather unlikely winner of the Fall Invitational.
Final Results:
1. 5-2 Michael Carney - UW Metalcraft and Wr Quest Aggro (Prize: Tarmogoyf)
2. 5-2 Hunter Garrett - GW Metalcraft and RW Control (Prize: Elspeth Vs. Tezzeret Decks)
3. 3-3 Liz DiGangi - GB Infect and BW Infect (Prize: Planeswalker Mystery Box, which contained Sarkhan the Mad, Chandra Nalaar, and 9x Boggart Arsonist!)
4. 3-3 Emile Paul - BR Midrange and Red Deck Wins (Prize: Chandra Nalaar Playmat)
5. Dominic Casali - RG Metalcraft and RUG Control (Prize: Nothing for your poor T.O.)
6. Michael Smith - RG Dinosaurs and Chandra Combo (Prize: Textless Harrow)
7. Joe Hammond - BR Aggro and Genesis Elves (Prize: Textless Brave the Elements)
8. John Kreinbring - GB Infect and RW Eldrazi (Prize: Giant Wurmcoil Engine Promo)
Thanks to everybody who came and made this event such a success. Finally, here is the Spring Standings, updated with the invitational and both side events. Note that players in the invitational get credit for attending two events, since it was such an extensive and time-consuming event:
1. 20 - Michael Carney (4)
2. 13 - Jason D'Mellow (3)
3. 11 - Chris Pear (4)
4. 9 - Kevin Hoover (3)
5. 8 - Joe Hammond (3)
6. 8 - Hunter Garrett (2)
7. 7 - Michael Smith (3)
8. 6 - Liz DiGangi (2)
9. 5 - Bryant Benson (1)
10. 4 - Kevin Crowley (2)
10. 4 - Emile Paul (2)
12. 4 - Scott Record (1)
13. 3 - Max Kruger (2)
13. 3 - Noah Senzel (2)
15. 3 - Dane Newton (1)
16. 2 - John Kreinbring (2)
17. 2 - Will Sturges (1)
18. 1 - Gustavo Bora (1)
18. 1 - Anna Hallahan (1)
18. 1 - Richard Harper (1)
18. 1 - Alex Kerns (1)
18. 1 - David Kim (1)
18. 1 - Megan Moreno (1)
18. 1 - Steven Nelson (1)
Thanks to everyone who made this semester a great Magic success, and I hope we can keep up the fun and excitement next semester. Check your email over the break for information about a couple fun events I'm going to try to organize through free Magic programs on the Internet. They won't be for any more league points until the spring semester starts, but hopefully it will be fun and give us a chance to play more together over the break. Have a very Merry Christmas and I'll see you all again when we start up again in January!
- Dom
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