POST 100! - Jim breaks magic!

By Jim Marlow

Hey everyone,

Before i get started, being the 100th post and all, i thought i would just say a few things. Firstly, i want to say how pleased i am that the blog has managed to survive to 100 posts, which is no doubt because of the full support i have had from Ben Heath, Mick Edwards and Rob Wagner, who have done loads to keep this thing ticking over when i havent been able to. Also, 100 posts on im still glad that people are reading it too, obviously there wouldnt be much point doing this without your supportive, and constructive, comments. I have no plans to stop doing the blog as long as both these things exist so hopefully i will be saying similar words in a few months time in the 200th post, fingers crossed.

So for those non-Leeds readers, and for people who havent finished making a deck for the upcoming unsanctioned multiplayer planechase event happening at TJ's club in Leeds this wednesday, then i am about to offer you an absolute peach.

Obviously, this event is pretty casual, and most of you will be preparing some mixed bag of hilarious combo's, ridiculous 8 mana enchantments, and various other piles dragged straight from the kitchen table of a 10 year old near you......not me im afraid.

I decided i would take this seriously, put in the hours, evaluate the metagame, and create an unbeatable deck.

It was meant to be a secret, but i wanted to nab the 100th post (i'd told wagz he could do it but he hasnt posted in a while), so i thought i would get it on the internet before it gets sprawled across StarCity and Channel Fireball....just remember folks, you saw it here first.

.....Oh, and have a sickbag ready.

Mono W Enchantress

4 x mesa enchantress
1 x reveillark

4 x martial coup
3 x idylic tutor

3 x sigil of the empty throne
4 x oblivion ring
4 x curse of chains
4 x pacafism
4 x runed halo
1 x armoured ascension
1 x rise of the hobgoblins
1 x endless horizons
1 x greater auramancy

23 x plains
2 x gargoyle castle


Yep.


Im looking forward to wednesday, almost as much as im looking forward to the zendikar release, i may buy a box of Zendikar as well...goddam priceless treasures making me buy boosters, as if the fetchlands were'nt tempting enough.

Untill then,


Jim


As always, feel free to comment on this article, or anything related or unrelated to magic whatsoever. If you would like to contribute to the TLM blog, please email any pictures, ideas or articles to ss07jm@leeds.ac.uk

Zendikar Prerelease - Leeds 26th September

By Jim Marlow

Hey everyone,

In my last article i discussed how wizards often make sets that contain plenty of money rares but are not so great in limited play. Well zendikar is certainly not one of these. Sure, the enemy fetchlands are serious money cards, and will be staple in any and all formats which they will be legal in forever, but Zendikar limited, or what i have seen so far, looks insane!

My sealed pool was pretty average. I had decent removal in the form of 2 x burst lightning, 2 x arrow volley trap, a journey to nowhere and 2 x goblin torchrunner. However, my creatures were all a bit pants, most of them 3 mana 2/2's, i think i may have had 3 guys which had more than 2 power.

Sadly (well not really i suppose), i manage to organise a draft afterwards with prize boosters we all got, so i managed to mix my deck and pool into my draft wares so i cant give an exact list of my pool and deck.

I was pretty happy with my deck, most creatures were 2 toughness so i could easily deal with most guys, but i knew i would have a problem against any of the green landfall fatties.

I ended up 2/3 before i dropped to try and do some trading (trust me, im not protecting any kind of rating), which was awesome, except i didnt have any fetchlands and everyone else did.

My 3 losses were kind of annoying, 1 match i totally punted game 1, making a ridiculous error where i thought i was burning my opponant out only to realise i had a teetering peeks, and not a mountain, and then game 2 my opponant topdecked a removal spell when i had fought back from near defeat, but with him threatening a 7/1 hastey elemental trampler. I had decided to keep back a goblin torchrunner to remove any creatures he found....sadly he found gatekeeper of malakair.

Another game i lost to a better deck, piloted by Rob Catton, no slouch at magic, and certainly someone who i seem to not be able to beat right now. I seem to have random bogey opponants (mostly people who are better than me!), and he seems to be one, beating me with his 5/5 shroud flyer sphinx, which got the job done despite my arrow volley trap and journey to nowhere in hand. To be fair, in the funzies game we played his landfall guy got in for 16 in one turn, so i wasnt annoyed at losing this one.

My other loss was single handedly caused by the 8/8 trample green guy. Both games my opponant found it, immediately halting my attack, and although he was cautious attacking with it because i had some threats down, i could even find removal to create a 2/3 for 1....so it soon killed me.


Anyway, the draft afterwards was awesome, it looks like a really cool set to draft, i already have some limited favourites from what i have played with....although due to my pool this is mostly the bad cards in the set.


Anyway, here are some cards i really like in the set so far.

1) Journey to nowhere - obv, really nice

2) Kor shyfisher - one of my favourite creatures in the set so far, its good at any point in the game....so like tarmogoyf yeah?

3) Torch slinger - really good guy who can also be a removal spell, i like.

4) Steppe Lynx - sick beater, it seems like its a slower set than some, so this guy can easily get in for 6-8 without fetches/harrow

5) Harrow - probably the best mana fixing and combat trick in the set, i wouldnt count on seeing these in draft later than pick 2, they really are that good.

6) windrider eel - solid guy, as are most with landfall. I also like the green guy who gains 2 life. Its less amazing than the gets +10/+10 or whatever, but the life gained from 1 or 2 of these and lands is really important in the race.

7) Expeditions - The two green ones (one gets lands, other gives counters), the red one who makes a 7/1, and the blue one who draws cards are all really solid.

In the draft i managed to make turn 2 khalni heart expedition, turn 3 land then end of turn harrow and break the expidition.....turn 4 - untap with 6 lands in play! (who says you need a lotus cobra for turn 4 ultimatums!)

8) Vampire Hexmage - 2 power and first strike means he can rumble with about 75% of the creatures in the set.

9) Marsh casualties - sick

10) traps - i had two arrow volley trap, and it was activated approximately zero times. However, fire at will was awesome, so 5 damage for 5 is pretty hot two, and if you ever pay the alternate, you are really shitting one someone.


Anyway, im not trying to say these are the best 10 cards in limited, just some great cards to watch in the common and uncommon slot, because early on in the format you can get some late picks when people havent realised how good cards are....(for reference, i am the worst player ever at evaluating new sets, so i will probably be badmouthing every one of the aforementioned cards in weeks to come)


As for my current favourite card in the set.... it has to be Kor Skyfisher. I really love this guy.


Anyway, its unsanctioned planechase multiplayer this wednesday as a bit of funzies before the release, and my deck is HOT!. Watch out tomorrow, as i may post it.

Untill then,


Jim


As always, feel free to comment on this article, or anything related or unrelated to magic whatsoever. If you would like to contribute to the TLM blog, please email any pictures, ideas or articles to ss07jm@leeds.ac.uk

Leeds WNM - saying goodbye to Lorwyn

By Jim Marlow

Hey everyone,

This week's T2 standard constructed event marked the last time to play lorwyn block before zendikar rotates in. The lack of recent articles, and the content of the few produced, have surely made my feelings clear on the current state of standard.

All in all, it was a good season. There were plenty of winning, and potentially winning decks made, made better, and unmade in the last 18 months. However, like anything, after 18 months the format was fairly exhausted, the metagame unpredictable (at high level, let alone fnm).

So this left me with quite the dilemma over what to play, with days untill wnm i was speaking to wagz about how i had no deck, whereas Rob is decktesting his decks for unsanctioned multiplayer planechase over a week away (dedicated?)

I had a choice between many decks, because i have been lucky enough to bag sets of most key cards in the format up till now, only really excluding m10. But, looking around i didnt see a deck i either liked, or hadnt played to death for the last year.

In the end i played this.

4 x noble heirarch
4 x treefolk harbinger
4 x putrid leech
3 x gaddock teeg
4 x doran the siege tower
4 x kitchen finks
4 x wilt leaf liege
2 x chameleon colossus

4 x maelstrom pulse
4 x path to exile
1 x behemoth sledge

4 x murmuring bosk
4 x gilt leaf palace
3 x twilight mire
2 x wooded bastion
2 x sunpetal grove
2 x reflecting pool
3 x forest
1 x plains
1 x swamp

S/B

2 x primal command
1 x behemoth sledge
3 x garruk wildspeaker
4 x great sable stag
2 x cloudthresher
3 x infest

Im not going to do a massively in depth report, but i ended up 2/2 on wednesday, which is respectable, but not quite what i was hoping for. My two wins were to a doran splash red for bloodbraid deck, and faeries. MY losses, were of course, to warp world and a goat deck. I did manage to bag 4th place for my troubles, and overall it was a really nice end to a really nice format.

The zendikar prerelease looms, im sure i am not the only one who is massively excited by this set. If nothing else, a fetch land almost pays for the entire prerelease, and there seem to be some interesting cards in the set.

Having talked about it recently however, it seems Wizards has a habit of making sets with a larger number of money and ridiculous rares in, but its a horrible limited environment (especially sealed),

Or

a set with very few money rares, but it makes for an awesome drafting and sealed environment.

Fetch lands of course worried me because i hoped this wasnt a money rare set, but looking at zendikar it looks like loads of fun, and that with landfall it looks like the set has been really well worked to integrate the money rares into the whole theme of the limited environment.

Anyway, ill have a report from the prerelease up early next week,


Untill then,


Jim


As always, feel free to comment on this article, or anything related or unrelated to magic whatsoever. If you would like to contribute to the TLM blog, please email any pictures, ideas or articles to ss07jm@leeds.ac.uk

September Update - Back in Leeds

By Jim Marlow

Hey everyone,


Once again, if you havent read my post on the Team Leeds facebook page then i must apologise for the lack of activity on the site. Sadly, when i am back home, especially now without a car, i can play far less magic than i would like. However, even when i am back my computer was not working properly so i couldnt access the internet.

Luckily though i am now both back in Leeds, and back on the internet...so whats been happening then.

....nothing really.

Sadly its been quite a quiet few weeks for me and most others. The play the game, see the world tournament has been the only thing of interest to me in the last couple of weeks and i couldnt get back to leeds in time to attend (faeries won, woo!).

Other than that this is a fairly quiet time in the season. Even the GP season has seen only prague in the last weeks i believe.

However, i think having a quiet time for magic is the perfect time to build tension for the oncoming horizon of Zendikar, which i think has already proved itself to be a financially sound set, if nothing else.

I think Zendikar, more than any set i have been around for the release of, has created a great deal of arguing from both pros and amateurs alike. It seems no-one can really get their head round whether Zendikar is a completely busted set, or whether it just includes some ridiculous money cards which will affect the format, and loads of other underwhelming stuff.

Also, i really like the fact that the sealed and draft environment will be different. In the last couple of weeks i have convinced myself that m10 drafting isnt too bad, but i have come to the conclusion that this is in comparison to m10 sealed, and that really it is pretty shit.

For everyone saying its better than other core sets, i really dont care, its still pretty poo.

So although the last few weeks have been quiet, the next few weeks are sure to be full of some crazy happenings.

With the Zen pre-release and release party's to go to the pro tour qualifier season for San Diego will be open, and sealed, which is going to be sick.

Also, we are now coming up to GP Paris, and not long after, Worlds (which i am desperate to attend, but pretty sure i cant due to money). Im sure there will be players from Leeds going in my stead and if mick goes he will obv win.


This Wednesday is Standard at TJ's. I am really not sure what to play yet as i cant bring myself to play most decks in standard right now. I think if i had the cards i would probably play time sieve for laughs.

Look out for the report, if i play or not, on wednesday night.


Untill then,


Jim


As always, feel free to comment on this article, or anything related or unrelated to magic whatsoever. If you would like to contribute to the TLM blog, please email any pictures, ideas or articles to ss07jm@leeds.ac.uk

Forthcoming PtG,StW Qualifier (Extended)

By Wagz

This Saturday Fanboy3 in Manchester will host a Play the Game, See the World Qualifier. This is a qualifying tournament for a particular side-event at Worlds. The player(s) who qualifies get to go to Worlds and attempt to grind in through this side event, if I'm correct. The format for the qualifier is Extended, which should be very interesting for 2 reasons:

1) Extended has been out of season since March, and

2) This format is relevant for one tournament since Zendikar is a-coming.

With this in mind, I'm not sure how much it will pay to try to read the metagame so I think a good deck for the tournament will be something that doesn't care what your opponent is playing. Here's what I'm currently toying with:

4 Spark Elemental

4 Mogg Fanatic

4 Keldon Marauders

4 Ball Lightning

4 Rift Bolt

4 Lava Spike

4 Lightning Bolt

4 Shrapnel Blast

4 Incinerate

4 Flames of the Blood Hand

3 Blinkmoth Nexus

3 Darksteel Citadel

4 Great Furnace

10 Mountain

With a currently undecided Sideboard. Ball Lightning and Lightning Bolt may well have rejuvenated this deck to the point of playability. Also, not having to worry about what my opponent is doing is certainly an advantage!! Anyway, wish me luck.

------------------------------------------------------

Extra: Screenshot from the final of a ME3 draft sent in by Ben Scoones. Won that game apparently.

First thoughts on Zendikar

By Jim Marlow

Hey everyone,

I hope everyone in ok in Leeds, no doubt planning how best to defeat Rob Catton's merfolk deck. Seriously this week im hoping for 60%+ RDW....

Anyway, mtgsalvation has now got 51 cards spoiled, and even though a fair few of those are land, there are still enough cards worth commenting about, which certainly says something about the set. It seems that wizards of the coast are doing exactly what was expected, and making sure that Zendikar will be able to fit it's tiny little toes into the big empty shoes of Lorwyn block.

First of all, surely the reprint of Cancel is a joke right?? If cancel is seriously in Zendikar then my only thoughts are that Wotc are actually taking the piss, and this will only become funny if they reprint it in the next 2 or 3 sets, at which point it will still only be mildy funny.

Anyway, here's a few cards i'v picked out from Zen which i think are interesting.

1) Day of Judgement - Yes, its wrath; no, regeneration will not matter after this comes out; no, i dont care about shelling out for a new set of wraths; yes, this is awesome, and it will be great to have a 4 mana reset in the format.....im pretty sure this card has been talked about enough.

2) Mindbreak Trap - I think possibly the most exciting of the trap cards spoiled so far - its just a shame that it wont be as useful in post rotation extended because there will be no tendrils and minds desire. Nevertheless, if swath storm becomes big it will be awesome, and certainly has some relevency in legacy and vintage.

3) Vampire Lacerator - 2/2's for 1 have always been pretty damn nuts, and this is no exception. A largely irrelevant drawback for this little chap, he will no doubt be seeing a load of play in future standard. He might as well read 'lose 3 life' because if you play this guy and dont have your opponant to less than 10 life 3 turns later - you're doing it wrong!

4) Warren Instigator - Finally Evan Irwin's incessant hyperbole is actually deserved, this guy is the nuts. the printing of this is no doubt timed with the rotation of all the onslaught block goblins, but this guy is going to be nutty, like really nutty.

5) Lavaball trap - why are'nt you Wildfire....

Well thats all for now, it's only 5 cards, but considering the number of cards spoiled, i cant remember being so excited about a set.

I was really unsure whether wizards would print an absolutely cracker of a block to keep standard sick for another couple years or they would print a stinker to keep the power creep haters happy, at least i may play standard come october now....Happy Birthday to me i guess.

See you all soon,


Untill then,


Jim


As always, feel free to comment on this article, or anything related or unrelated to magic whatsoever. If you would like to contribute to the TLM blog, please email any pictures, ideas or articles to ss07jm@leeds.ac.uk

My favourite ever Magic cards

By Jim Marlow

Hey everyone,


Following the disaster i had at PTQ coventry.....

Yep, thats 30 points a just lost for a draft, yay for bad drafting, bad opponants and not being bothered to play anymore.

I decided to write something a little more light hearted, and hopefully something that other people can interact with.

I have recently been trying to figure out what i was going to play in the post rotation extended ptq season which will feed the second ptq of 2010....San Juan i think, and realised how much i love some of the cards in the decks im thinking of playing (more on these will come later this week, although they are obv not finished without zen block being released)

What i love about extended, and older formats in general, is that there are cards that i actually enjoy casting, unlike standard where very few plays actually get me excited. This got me thinking as to what my favourite magic cards were ever. If you know me, you should know my all time favourite card anyway.

...

...

...

No?, really should get some friends.

Anyway, im going to post a list of my 5 favourite cards from magic, ever. They are not necessarily the most powerful, just the ones which i love the most, although they generally are fairly good, as well as some other cards that come very close to the list. I am really interested in what would be on other people's lists, so please either post them at the bottom or email me at ss07jm@leeds.ac.uk and i will upload them for us all to look at.

1) Ancestral Vision

2) Dark Confidant

3) Force of Will

4) Reveillark

5) Jace Beleren

Other cards that are close to these 5 are; standstill, cryptic command, harmonize, vendilion clique, loxodon heirarch, thirst for knowledge, engineered explosives, umezawa's jitte and Skred.

Well these are the spells that i have had the most fun to cast since i have began playing magic, so i would love to know what other people enjoy playing the most, and what people think of my list - except if this involves bitching about ancestral vision because it is just the best!.

Anyway, see you all soon, im afraid i may not make it back for the event at Fanboy3 on the 12 of september, depending on when i can come back to Leeds, but i should be up some time the following week, so i will see everyone then.

See you all soon

Untill then,

Jim

As always, feel free to comment on this article, or anything related or unrelated to magic whatsoever. If you would like to contribute to the TLM blog, please email any pictures, ideas or articles to ss07jm@leeds.ac.uk

Heathy reports on PTQ conventry

By Ben Heath

PTQ Austin in Coventry – A Heathy Adventure

Howdy
Having had two days to look back at the PTQ in Coventry, here’s my personal report on the day.

Deck: G/W Overrun
Experience with deck: Not enough. Five matches tops I’d say.
Prediction: Anything better than 3-3 would do.
Deck tech: Three Great Sable Stag main, one sneaky Martial Coup in there as well. 22 land and more mana bugs as well. This was gonna be interesting.

Round 1
Vs. Fae

Pre-Match – I had never met this player before, never mind played against him, so I didn’t know what to expect really.

Game 1 – Spec Proc turn 3, Cloudgoat Ranger turn 4. Draw land for the next five turns. I get Vendilion Clique’d twice, revealing land hands of 4 and then 6. However Ajani Goldmane comes to town, then leaves thanks to Cryptic Command. Garruk arrives along with Great Sable Stag and somehow I win Game 1.

Game 2 – Turn 2 Bitterblossom gets me worried. The deck is still working far too slowly, but I eke out a result due to my opponent not getting any Spellstutter Sprites or Mistbind Cliques. With both players getting bad draws in this match it wasn’t easy on the eye.

Aftermath – This guy went on to recover to 3-1 but lost the last two rounds.

Round 2
Vs. Neo-Fae

Pre-Match – Next up, some ginger guy. He’s from Leeds too, apparently. Jim is one of my deck-testing partners and we both knew each others decks inside out. I hadn’t lost to Jim in 3 competetive matches of Magic, so I was quietly confident going into this.

Game 1 – Stag and 3 Spirit tokens on the board with Overrun in hand. Firespout from Jim puts an end to that plan. Cloudgoat Ranger resolves, flip a Windbrisk to reveal Spec Proc. Jim makes the play of the game by scooping.

Game 2 – Quick out of the blocks again, but this time Jim’s deck was having a party, and countered everything and anything. My frustration was clear to see and despite having 24 life, that quickly disintegrated thanks to double Scion and double Bitterblossom.

Game 3 – If Game 2 was the Fae party, Game 3 was the morning after, the hangover. No red mana source meant no Firespout or Lightning Bolt, and it was one of those games that made you appreciate the traditional Fae build. Not how I wanted to win but a win is a win.

Aftermath – Jim went on to 1-2 drop. Shame.

Round 3
Vs Bant Aggro

Pre-match – The draw I had been dreading. Thomas whooped Rik 2-0 in Round 1 as this deck is very fast. He had Top 8’d at the last PTQ and had improved the deck since then. This wasn’t going to be fun.

Game 1 – Thomas shoots out of the blocks, landing double Hierarch and Rafiq. This usually means victory, but as I’m playing tokens I just kept on generating blockers until I had enough to swarm him. Wilt-Leaf Liege under the Windbrisk helped immensely.

Game 2 – He casts silence on my turns 4 and 5. With only 3 Spirit Tokens to save me, I don’t last long. It didn’t help that I had to mulligan to 5 and the only non-land cards I drew were Spec Proc, Ajani and Overrun.

Game 3 – This is the first game where I feel I was truly outwitted. I didn’t expect to see Jenara in the deck. After he Paths my Cloudgoat Ranger, I have two turns to find Spec Proc. It doesn’t come. I lose.

Round 4
Vs Kithkin

Pre-match – I had never met Steffano before, but had watched his last game against Mick Edwards so I knew what to expect. This guy was a very competent Magic player and a better player than I. He was also playing Kithkin. I didn’t think I was going to win this.

Game 1 – He plays Honor of the Pure and two Wizened Cenn. That’s right, on Turn 4 he has two 4/4 Kithkin on the table and 5 cards in hand. I’m stuck with two lowly 1/1 Spirit tokens and I’m staring defeat in the face. Suddenly though I find myself on the front foot thanks to token generators. He makes two Figures, which both promptly bite the dust. A second Honor of the Pure can’t save him from Ajani, Spirit Tokens and Cloudgoat Ranger though and we’re onto Game 2.

Game 2 – Another Rapido start from Steffano and I promptly find myself on 6 life. Martial Coup makes it’s first appearance of the tournament for 5 and it seems to swing the match in my fasvour…until two Cloudgoat Rangers appear on his side of the board. We’re onto Game 3 folks.

Game 3-
WARNING. THIS GAME CONTAINS SCENES OF EXTREME LUCKSACKERY. PEOPLE WITH HEART CONDITIONS, PREGNANT WOMEN AND RIK POWELL SHOULD NOT LOOK. SERIOUSLY, THIS MAKES ROB WAGNER LOOK LIKE A LUCKSACKING N00B.
I’m on the play, It doesn’t matter though as Steffano immediately hits the front foot with Double Stillmoon Cavalier, 3 Spirit Tokens and Honor of the Pure in play. I’m sat there with a single Cloudgoat Ranger, no tokens, 4 life, manaflooded (9 land), 1 card in hand (Ajani). One hope, a one in forty chance of drawing it. I do the corniest thing I can think off. I copy Gabriel Nassif. I arrange my mana for Martial Coup for 7. I draw the card, face down. If it’s not Martial Coup, I lose. I flip it over. I win the game.

Aftermath – Steffano drops after being lucksacked out of the tournament. I realise that in that one instance, I have used up all my luck. How right I was…

Round 5
Vs. 5 Color Cascade

Pre-Match – A PTQ debutant, Jake was 3-1 with a pretty darn good Cascade build. I went into this round 8th in the standings. I was on the bubble, I had to win.

Game 1 – Jake plays. Kitchen Finks followed by Bloodbraid Elf into Kitchen Finks puts him in ridiculously good position. At this point I only have Spirit Tokens. They soon get Pulsed. Only 3 land on the table, all the cards in hand need 4 or more to play. We’re onto game 2 and I fear the end is nigh.

Games 2 and 3 – These were exactly the same so I’ll put them up together. Spirit tokens + Cloudgoat Ranger + Ajani + Overrun under a Windbrisk. Jake’s starts were slower this time round and by the time he played anything with any meaning, it was too little too late.

Aftermath – Jake would go on to finish 3-3, a good first outing to a PTQ then, considering mine was 3-3-1.

Round 6
Vs. Time Sieve

Pre-match – I was 7th going into this final round, and I was up against Daniel, who was in 8th place. We had to play. Richard Bland wanted to make us the feature match, and from the spectators it quickly drew I could see why. But we both refused. Not sure why really, it would have been cool. But this was it. Winner would be 1st seed, loser would crash out of the PTQ.

Game 1 – I keep a good hand on the draw. However my opponent decides to get God hands and draws all 4 cryptics. I see no Stags. I don’t stand a chance.
I force him to combo out hoping he’ll screw up. I’m not worried about time because I know I have to beat him quickly anyway to stand a chance of winning. He doesn’t screw up. I’m 1 game away from falling at the last.

Game 2 – Again God hands gets two Cryptics and a Pollen Lullaby in his opening hand. However, I draw two Gutteral Responses and despite preventing one wave of attacks, Daniel can’t prevent the second wave and it’s 1-1.

Pre-Game 3 – I quickly make a note saying that I’ve pushed my luck far enough, and that I’ll be happy no matter what the result was. That last one turned out to be BS…

Game 3 – Double Noble Hierarch, Great Sable Stag, and 6 Spirit Tokens. Ajani hits the board. Game over, surely? No! Pollen Lullaby No. 1 appears. He’s some way to comboing off, here comes wave number 2. Pollen lullaby again! I’m glad to see the back of them. After his good luck in drawing the previous two games, surely he hasn’t drawn like a God again? He has! Pollen lullaby number 3 appears. I couldn’t believe it. It’s bought him all the time he needs. All he has to do now is not to make a mistake. First warning! Missed trigger off of the Howling Mine. Three of his turns later...second warning! All he has to do is screw up a trigger again!


He doesn’t. Game over. After not seeing a turn for 20 minutes, I actually fell asleep. I won’t lie, I was devastated. Despite Rik trying to comfort me, I couldn’t believe it. I thought I’d blown it. In hind sight I hadn’t, Daniel had drawn better than I had. Looking back I’m happy with how things went. Bring on the next PTQ season! Oh wait, it’s sealed…I won’t bother then.