States

[doctorclockwork]

Any of you Vermont residents thinking of going to States in burlington next saturday (15th)?

[waylander]

Already won that once! No need to go...

[doctorclockwork]

No, I meant the one this year in 2011, not in 1923.

[andyp]

Well, unlike Rod, I have won the VT state championship several times.

Honestly, I am bored with the lack of competition there.

Andy

[doctorclockwork]

Tough talk, but I haven't seen it yet. PROVE IT!

[antholin]

Its on Saturday the 15th at Quarterstaff Games in Burlington. Registration starts at 9:15, with the tournament commencing at 10AM. The cost is $25.

[doctorclockwork]

im bad at math

[antholin]

Registration actually starts at 9AM and finishes at 9:45, with the tournament starting at 10. So, is anyone from Triple Play going?

[doctorclockwork]

I will most likely be going Jeff. But I think carpooling is out, because my girlfriend will most likely be driving us up and then cruising around shopping all day while I battle.

[antholin]

I was just curious, more or less wondering who might be making the trek. I'll be going up after work early Saturday morning and staying in Burlington that night, so same boat, no carpooling on my end.

[sqp]

I haven't decided on states yet. Depends on how i do friday i guess. made a few tweaks to the deck so if i do better than 2-2 i might consider it. also the debate on whether i go to NH states which should have some serious competition or VT states and basically pay $25 for a plaque and a T8 playmat.

[doctorclockwork]

Are you a vt resident ian? Im told they will be checking id...

Also dixies wants to draft if we have product but I honestly want more testing with my deck.

[sqp]

Doesn't matter as i'd likely be going to concord anyway, and yeah, i'd rather get some playtesting in myself. Tweaked the deck and if it doesn't do better than it did last fnm then i'll prolly not bother with states as i wont have time for any more deck tweaking.

[doctorclockwork]

Trip report: Vermont states

Playing a homebrew RDW build that I started testing on cockatrice about a week before Innistrad. It's very similar to other RDW, since the card pool is pretty small.

49 people entered, I think only 10 showered and wore deodorant.

First round: vs. mono red Goblins. Was able to sweep him pretty early on in the first game before he got off the ground. A timely slagstorm in the second game clinched it for me. 2-0.

Second round: vs. W/G Township humans. First game's opening hand was 5 lands, which I wouldn't normally keep but I decided to play it safe since I didn't know what he was playing. I proceeded to draw three more lands, and lost on fourth turn to a Mirran Crusader with Sword of War and Peace attached (I had 5 cards in hand). Second game was pretty similar, we went back and forth a bit but he managed to outlast my burn and critters. 0-2.

Third round: vs mono white humans. I win the first game, but second game he sided in a lot of control and smashed me with a Grand Abolisher with Angelic Destiny. Third game, despite Elspeth hitting the table, I was able to pull ahead and go 2-1.

Fourth round: W/U Swords and Blade Splicer. Blade Splicer proved to be a tricky thing to handle, and Gideon made me cry when I waited until after he turned into a creature to try and kill him with burn spells, which obviously didn't work. I managed to squeak out one win, but in the end he overran me. 2-1

Fifth round: Finally, my deck was like "alright dude, you've had some bad draws this tournament, how about I give you exactly what you want for two games in a row?" vs. mono black infect centered around lashwrithe. First game went smoothly, with a turn five kill. Second game the Ancient Grudges I sided in turned up early and I was able to get around his main kill condition. 2-0.

Sixth round: Standings were posted this round so all the guys at the top can decide how they want to draw in order to guarantee their top 8 spot. It's looking extremely unlikely that I can get in even if I manage 12 points by winning this round. I'm hoping I can at least make 9-16 to get 3 packs. It's not as much as the 25 entry fee, but it's something.

Having been out of the game for a long time, and never really playing in a serious business tournament, I may have made a slight faux pas. After we rolled off, one of the guaranteed top 8 guys came over and was speaking quietly to my opponent. He seemed to be urging him to request that I concede, in order to give the guy a top 8 spot. If I win, I won't get into the top 8 so it would be courteous to do so. A judge came over to make sure there was no funny business, but after thinking it over I said "I'd rather play". (After the match, my opponent's friend explained that usually when someone defers a person into top 8, that person will hook them up with some packs. You can't say so before the match because collusion is an instant DQ. Now I know better)

This match was a NAIL-BITER. He was running Kessig Wolf Run Ramp, which I've never seen in action. My first game saw my deck firing on all cylinders, and it was a slower go than usual but I won. Sided in all the artifact hate I had to deal with Inkmoth and Wurmcoils, and the second game was really close...until Batterskull dropped with a Wolf Run and 10 lands on his side. The rubber match was instense, and I was sweating hard. Almost pulled it off by killing all of his attacking Inkmoths with Ancient Grudge played and flashbacked. He was able to recover though once Tree of Redemption showed up. 2 life became 13 life and it set me back enough that he did it.

I'm glad that he won because I would have felt horrible for robbing him of top 8, and I think he felt good that he earned the win. It was a really intense match, and he was a good guy. I didn't stick around for the top 8 playoff, but all of the guys playing were really solid.

I ended up in 18th, so no prizes for me. But I had fun and learned quite a few things. I'm still going to play RDW after some tweaking.

tldr: states was fun. dont be a Richard; concede and profit

[sqp]

Went to NH states, 90 people showed up. My deck crapped all over me all day and I ended up at 1-6 for 86th place.

tldr; you have A.D.D.