The event wasn't a PCQ or anything but it was the first local WOW TCG event that was sanctioned, meaning it would be a good competitive environment to test decks and have fun.
I was deciding between my Grennan and Senzir deck. Senzir seemed more appealing at first since it required less thought to play but I decided to go with Grennan in the end since he was my favourite character in the set.
A total of 24 people turned up to play. The format was to be 5-rounds Swiss with top 8 finals.
Match 1: Vs. Dizdemona
The first round went by rather peacefully in the early game. I only saw a Sarmoth on his side while he spent a few turns Life-Tapping away. The later turns were quite funny, with him recruiting Infernal 3 times in a row after I kept taking him down in a variety of ways (mostly by Vanquish). He eventually attached a Curse of Agony to me but I managed to win by repeatedly attacking with 2 Mokos in play.
For round 2, his first few turns saw more activity this time, with Parvink, Crazy Ivgand and Sarmoth. Sever the Cord took out my Caydiem. Moko was once again my MVP as he repeatedly attacked for damage. I think he didn't get good cards or something. He used Missing Diplomat to tutor for a Magni Bronzebeard and put 2 Curse of Agonies on me as the game went by. It left him open for my Moko's attacks and I won.
After the match, I realized that he never used Dizdemona's hero ability to destroy any of my Mokos for both games. Maybe he forgot about it.
Result: 2-0
Match 2: Vs. Grennan Stormspeaker
My opponent was a rather cheerful person who spoke with an accent. Might be a foreigner but definitely not a 'black man' (inside joke). *Feels devilish horns coming out.*
The moment I saw Ghost Wolf and Thunderhead Hippogryph, I recognized it as the deck from the Gen Con reports. I just played normally and kept Vanquishes in my hand for Zy'lah. Ghost Wolf gave me a bit of trouble when I only had one ally in play. Caydiem kept me alive since his Ferocity allies left my health rather low earlier on. The second round went by quick as Moko helped me push for the win again.
Result: 2-0
Match 3: Vs. Boris Brightbeard
I was kinda demoralized when I saw that I was playing against a Priest. It was a stall deck with tons of fatties and recursion. My opponent was a very stern-faced guy and he did not smile at all despite some of my wisecracks. It led me to feel that he wasn't a friendly person. One thing to note, though, was he had doodled over his hero card, giving Boris a different look for his armor.
For the first round, I had no idea how the deck worked yet so I went about my usual thing. He did not recruit any allies for the first few turns and I was beginning to suspect he might not have any early drops at all. He managed to mess up my hand earlier by Mind-Spiking my 2 Searing Totems each time I got it out. His Mind Control even took my my Moko and I had no choice but to take it down myself.
The game lasted very long and soon, Grayson, Jaina and Magni Bronzebeard started appearing one at a time. Surprisingly, I managed to take them all down with the Vanquishes, Chain Lightnings, Caydiems and Moko but it left me with a dwindling handsize. When I had no more cards in hand, Medoc made an appearance and it was at this point, I felt he was saving it for last. The entire game went by very slowly and I counted he had nearly 15 resources. I top-decked, saw my next card and decided to concede. I was hoping for Panax but he never appeared.
I boarded out all my dead cards and in went Mildred, Gellrin, Ophelia and my 4th Vanquish. I decided that I would drop as many allies as I could for every turn. So long as I could have a sizeable board, I felt that I could pressure him since Priests did not have any AOE. I was delighted that my plan was working since I managed to knock him down to 6 health by turn 6 and he was forced to use his hero ability to get back to 12 health. I proceeded to get him down back to 5 health but time was called. I may have won the round by time up but he had the first win of the match so he was the winner. Darn, the first round took way too long.
At the end, we were packing up and he started chatting. He asked me why I didn't have Zy'lah in the deck (he must be a fan of fatties). I told him that I preferred Moko as my finisher because he gets the job done the moment he comes out. He remarked, "Moko is a poor man's Fury." Normally, that would be a joke but he never said it with a smile. One could interprete that statement in a lot of ways and none of them could possibly be nice.
Result: 0-1
Match 4: Vs. Senzir Beastwalker
It was Edward this time. Having played against him before, I felt that I was actually more afraid of Senzir than Elendril. The main reason being that Senzir's allies had 2 health which made it harder for Searing Totem and Taz-Ping-o to do their job.
The first round went by pretty quick. I traded my allies with his as much as I could so he didn't overwhelm me. I managed to pull off Chain Lightning on turn 5, destroying his Fury and other weenies. He ran out of steam and I won.
The second round began with Edward rushing. I did not manage to clear his board early as Ravenous Bite prevented my allies from trading and his Arcane Shot took out my totem. I was down to 6 health by turn 7 and things looked pretty grim. But I hung on and soon drew into Caydiem, followed by Deacon Johanna. I managed to heal up a whole lot and won the game as a result. Wee.
Result: 2-0
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Intermission
It was supposed to be a 5-round Swiss but it was 7:30 pm and ComicsMart was closing at 8 pm. The organizer decided to cut to the top 8 immediately. Since I was sitting at 3-1, I was in for the finals. Hooray.
And so, the top 8 was held at McDonald's. Normally, I think we would be chased out but this was Serene Centre we were talking about, so I guess the McDonald's staff didn't mind.
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Quarter Finals: Vs. Boris Brightbeard
It is the same guy again. I was hoping that he'd ease up and at least show me a smile since I have been all chummy with him. But nope, he was still so stern. The stiff probably needs to get laid.
Round 1:
I thought I was gonna lose since I felt couldn't do well without sideboarding. But then I saw my starting hand which consisted of a curve full of allies. Normally, this would be a bad hand but it was what I needed against his super slow deck.
I tried to rush him as much as I could, dropping down an ally every time I could for every turn. I even put down all my key Ability cards as resources (Chain Lightning, Searing Totem, etc) while saving up only Vanquishes. It was working as the look on his face told me that he was feeling pressured by my neverending wave of allies both big and small. "This is so annoying!"he commented. Mind Control gave me a problem along the way but he conceded the game when he ran out of ways to deal with my allies. I felt amazed that I managed to win.
Round 2:
I boarded in Mildred, Gellrin, Ophelia and 4th Vanquish again. I tried to do the same thing I did in the previous game. I was rushing well for the first few turns but I ran into trouble as a Lord Grayson showed up. I didn't have a Vanquish handy and went through a lot of trouble to take him down at the expense of my precious allies. It didn't feel good as the game seemed to be a reminiscient of the match I had with him earlier. The game went ultra slow and he went up to 15 resources. "Look, I can now play Rise to the Challenge," he said, though I couldn't tell if that was meant to be a joke. He began building up his board again and I saw Medoc. I had no more cards in hand and his fatties would all be coming back. I was stilll sitting at close to full health and was actually thinking, "Why isn't time called yet???" Looks like I wasn't gonna win by time up.
I had no more cards in hand and no allies in play. I top-decked into In Dreams and put it down. Medoc returned Magni Bronzebeard to his hand while he Resurrected Jaina and recruited a Parvink. I completed In Dreams on his end phase, thinking that there was nothing I could possibly do at this rate. To my surprise, I drew into Chain Lightning and Frost Shock. I checked Boris' life and he was left with 4 health thanks to my early rush. I launched both cards at his dome and managed to win. I believe he wasn't expecting it either. That was a relief. I didn't want to endure another round with him. He remarked that I won due to my top-decking In Dreams. I just kept quiet cos' I felt he was right; I did have mad top-decking skillz™.
It was at this point, I realized the guy was an M:TG player (he was wearing some PTQ shirt or something). Down with unfriendly M:TG players~
Result: 2-0
Semi-Finals: Vs. Grennan Stormspeaker
It was good old Ryan of the GBT. Haven't played with him in ages. I knew it was going to be a fun and quick game and I could see how his Shaman rush deck was like. "This is ridiculous," he complained, "We spent like 8 hours here today and 4th place is just gonna get ONE booster pack!" I actually agreed with him; the prizes kinda sucked when compared with the effort you have to put into winning them.
Round 1:
I saw Elder Moorf, Kagra and other 1-drops early. I traded my allies as usual. I played Searing Totem but he traded it with his own Searing Totem. We both had around 18-20 health when Barak the Shamed made an appearance. I bid 9 health for it, thinking that I may get it but he actually bid 13. I was quite shocked at his boldness. I managed to trade my Moko with his Barak. I managed to get the Draconian Deflector out which helped to blunt most of the damage and slowly attacking back for the win. "That Draconian Deflector came out of nowhere!" he laughed.
Round 2:
He boarded in some new cards. He started with Kagra, followed by 2 Gellrins. I had a very slow start and had to use Frost Shocks on each Gellrin on Turn 4. I got out Caydiem on turn 5, hoping to divert his attention to her but Karkas Deathhowl promptly cleared the way for more beatings. I was left with 6 health and he was over 15 when he recruited Barak again. I didn't dare to make any high bids (wrote down a 1) while he bid 7. LKY came by and teased Ryan, "Why did you bid a 7? Your opponent only has 6 life left; you could just bid 6." Then we all laughed. I was rushed to death following that.
Round 3:
The last round went by pretty well for me. I managed to trade my allies with him earlier and a Chain Lightning on turn 5 helped my board position a lot. Barak appeared again (which he bid for and won). There was one time when he played Kibler and I saw Elder Moorf and Karkas. He went for Moorf, much to my relief since I was holding Panax in my hand. I recruited Panax on my next turn and Frost-Shocked Barak when he tried to attack. I then blew Panax up the following turn to clear his board of 3 allies. He ran out of gas and following that, I got an assortment of allies out and managed to win. Overall, it was a fun game.
Result: 2-1
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Final Intermission
There was supposed to be a Finals but it was already 10 pm. No one wanted to play the last round or else it would last till 11 pm. My opponent was WayLong (sp) and he was playing Elendril. They suggested a prize split and we were all on our way. haha.
I enjoyed myself today except for that Priest guy. I was glad that I never ran into any Equipment decks. I learnt quite a lot and overall, it was a good experience. It was very tiring, though, since it was best 2 of 3 and some rounds lasted over 30 minutes. I was just kinda disappointed that I was not the only Shaman-lover around. hehe.
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