After a long weekend there is just so much to do. I have a pile of work, chores and what not, but there’s only 1 right thing to do now, and that’s writing this blog while it’s still relatively fresh in my mind. It’s probably a long one with lots of rambling and many of these stories I’ve already told to many of you at the event. But I went all-in during this weekend and if the only one who ever reads this again is me, it’s still a great idea. I’ve always enjoyed reading back my own blogs from the days I’ve played poker but these MTG events are something special. Many of us keep repeating, and it might become a bit boring to say but I really do think we should not forget how special this actually is. While the world is getting more polarized by the day and parts of it are literally burning, we came together as one community. We forget politics, religion, nationality (okay, maybe not that when rooting for others) and play the same game we all love and enjoy banter, lighthearted conversations but sometimes also deep ones. This blog is mainly self centered around me but it was a great weekend because of all of you!
The journey into Uthden Troll Cup started early as always. Last year I already decided for this year I would come on Thursday. Some drinks on Thursday, Swaffel and Draft on Friday and the main event on Saturday. With Rob and Gwenn joining the Ante world, we agreed to make Thursday a night for Ante40k, even better. Since the number of tournaments I can join a year is limited, I always come with a plan. I’ve tried hard in 2022 after brewing with Henk and Anne together where the three of us failed miserably. In 2021 and 2024 I built a five-color “spice” deck and both times missed the cut-off by 1 match. Seven rounds is just too much to play bad and/or slow decks. Funny enough I always say that but then bring a T2+ deck. So, this year was going to be about playing a lot of MTG and trying hard to perform well while still enjoying it.
Thursday: Homecoming
The moment I arrive in the hotel, I grab my razor and shave off my beard, leaving just a moustache. By order of Reindeer, obviously. My wife hates it, so she left a razor at the front door for when I returned home. There are already some folks who have been sitting in a bar for a couple of hours. You can hardly notice it. It’s a cozy bar with people enjoying a beer on Thursday afternoon, and 10+ idiots talking loudly, drinking triples and laughing hard. They’re are my kind of people, so we were really off to a good start.
After dinner we go to the Troll Cave. Rob and I have a score to settle. We made a bet on who would lose the most weight before Düsseldorf at the end of August, which I won. But the bet on who would lose the most weight for UTC, I lost, big time. I actually gained some weight. The bet was to play with 0 Jeweled Birds in our first game of Ante at UTC. 1 Bird in game 2, 2 Birds in game 3, until I would be back at 4. Luckily, Rob had already been drinking since lunchtime. My track record against Rob is pretty bad. I grabbed my Erhnam Burn’em deck and butchered him in game 1. Good start. I lost a Llanowar Elves in game 2, won game 3, and lost a Bird in game 4. Well, that could have gone differently. At least we have that done. I remember Fork being MVP, with both a forked Mind Twist as well as Tutor. Erhnam Burn’em was on a roll anyway this weekend with a T16 finish in the main event, played by Yorick.
I built a new Ante deck: Titania’s Song. It’s one of my pet decks, and since Ante games are slower, I wanted to see how it does. Tower, Tax, Winter Orb, Icy, Relic Barrier, and The Abyss, you get the drill. After getting my Land Tax active, I searched for the Forest, which I need for my wincon. I searched once, twice, three times… Where is it? Did I forget to put it in my deck? Nope… It’s in my Ante. Oops, I forgot that was even a possibility. I just have Factories now for a potential win, but Rob plays Plows and Disenchants, so I can’t use them till he’s in a total lock. Rob plays Bird to save his Ante, another Bird, and then plays City in a Bottle. I’m not worried about losing a Forest, but still… I got my Tower active. Rob hopelessly played Contract from Below to draw a new hand, with an active LoA as well, but went nowhere. With City in play, he couldn’t save his new Ante card with a Bird. With the Contract and active LoA, he was decking himself. He Disenchanted the City in a Bottle to play Bird, which I Disenchanted on activation. I did the same with his last Bird, so we’d have something to win… I love Ante. Just a Shatter, but the game was on! I switched to playing Gwen, who plays with power in Ante. I won the first 2 games, not bad, but just Birds. He won game 3, taking an Erhnam Djinn. Darn! I asked Jurriaan to alter it, because I’m terrible at it. Not bad, I’d say!
Then things got really crazy. Rob jammed some games against Gwen, and Gwen got to save his Sapphire, good save! But the next time, he wasn’t so lucky. Rob won against Gwen, and a Mox Sapphire was flipped over. It’s what you put at risk, obviously, but when it happens, it does hit a little different. Gwen took it well and got to do his first alter on a Mox, that’s also a new experience. I was told that up till then, a Mishra’s Workshop was the biggest win in Ante40k. Well, it’s hard to top a Mox Sapphire! I got to play another two rounds, and after drinking too much beer, I went to bed, skipping the night out in town. One of the better decisions of the weekend.
Friday: Orgg Orgg Orgg
I really wanted to play Swaffel. For those who don’t know, it’s Swedish B&R + Fallen Empires, with Hymn restricted. So just one Strip Mine, one Mishra’s Workshop, and no mana burn. I think Fallen Empires is great to add some cards to the card pool every once in a while. I opted for different decks, but each time I was drawn to Orggg.dec. I played it back in 2020 in my first ever Atlantic tournament organized by DFB during the COVID pandemic. It’s a deck played by Mano, which he improved in his podcast. I used all of his comments back then and played it to a 5-2 finish, but above all, had loads of fun playing Orgg. If you don’t know, it’s 3RR for a 6/6 trample, which can’t attack if the defending player controls an untapped creature with power 3 or greater, and also can’t block creatures with power 3 or greater. I expected fewer UWx decks in Swaffel because people like to play something different. I expected more Orders, Goblins, and other small stuff. And I really wanted to play Orgg, but I already said that. So, instead of three last time, I added one. I also added one Atog and removed two Icy Manipulators. All in!
Round 1 against Sander (Twin Sander). Now that’s a good start. I think I already found out at that moment that those Icys were in the deck for a reason. Tapping the untapped creature so that your Orgg can attack did work… Oh well, Shivan, Blood Moon, and burn also do the trick. My memory is already fading, but Round 3 against Frank (Twin Frank), and we really battled it out all the way. While normally I’m never a fan of draws, it was the perfect result for this game. Everything happened with power over power, Balance after Balance, and topdeck after topdeck.
I got to play (and win) against my favorite Italian, Andrea, and in Round 6 I lose my first match, to make the T16 in 8th place. The cut-off for T16 in Round 6, was to be on time for those who also wanted to play the draft. I obviously couldn’t draft and was really enjoying playing Swaffel. During the day I could still feel Thursday, and because I was trying hard, I wasn’t drinking heavily. I already figured out in my Dwarven Warriors blog of last year that that’s a great help. Time for dinner and a couple of beers. Enjoy the ride and ready to Orgg Orgg Orgg some people.
T16 was a quick one, after which I got to play Frank R., in my book, one of the better Dutch players. He plays the circuit still as well, so he practices just a little more. But he’s also trying to equal things out by drinking beer all day. He buys me a Duvel and we are off for a great… Nope. Ancestral into Time Walk into Tutor into Mind Twist, or in whatever order these cards came… He didn’t allow me even to take three zips of my beer before the first game was over. Game 2, maybe more luck. I think this was the game where he had one active Vise before a D7, drew two extra, and passed the turn. I could avoid three damage by playing a Bolt, somehow survived, stabilized on three, and I was ready to play Orgg for a three-turn clock… Topdeck: burn. Game over.
Orggg.dec is perfect. Play it! Obviously, Blood Moon is MVP, and it wouldn’t work as well in a UWx meta. But Swaffel is softer, so this deck has real game. Just like in Ante, Fork was also great again. My best Fork was on a Demonic Tutor for which my opponent tapped out. Did he search a Mind Twist or Ancestral Recall? Well, it didn’t matter because I searched for a Blood Moon to give him no mana to play for the rest of the game. Don’t cut the Fork, just don’t!
After the Top 8, it was time to play some Ante. Rob got a beating from Will, losing 7-0, a Chaos Orb, and a Bayou. I told him I would avenge him, but first, some games against Svante. Our last time was N00bcon ’24, where I was too drunk, but I was able to win twice. This time the tables turned. Svante Disenchanted my Birds in both games to win a Mountain and Lightning Bolt. That’s not the greatest start, but again, could have been worse.
Next, Will! Will plays a mean deck, but I feel my Erhnam Burn’em might have some competition. Still, it’s Will, so I need to try hard. I was a bit ahead in the game with a Kird Ape and Scavenger Folk in play, likely behind in life because that’s what Will does. My Scavenger Folk had to stay home for a turn, after which Will played a Bird. Ah, folk that! The game developed in my favor, and we got to flip over Will’s ante… Mox Ruby… DAMN! Not one, but two in a weekend. What are the odds? It fits perfectly in my Erhnam Burn’em deck, so I put it in. Will replaced his loss, and on to the next game. He’s a real one.
Reindeer next for me. I never played Reindeer before, and I wanted to play my new deck again. I lost the first, after which I challenged him for another. Well, one more… My deck did what it needed to do. Winter Orb, Icy, Barrier, The Abyss, it’s all there. I didn’t have a Disenchant, but Reindeer didn’t have a Bird either. Mishra’s needed to do the work, but that worked as well. No Birds… So here we go again: Scrubland! Wihoe. Lady luck is on my side again, and what better dual to win if you are playing Black/White yourself.
After the game, I realized that Reindeer and I had discussed just the week prior that these types of decks are just awful to play against, especially against slow players. Now, I don’t consider myself a slow player, but it was kind of a dick move to grab this deck instead of the other two. Sorry, my brother. I hope that my moustache, Juggernaut, and hugs made up for it. I also promise to never bring the deck again, because while it’s obviously fair play and part of MTG, it doesn’t really feel like fun if your opponent is locked up, waiting to die.
I feel pretty good still; not drinking during the day has helped with surviving the evening. But then there is Rasmus, my Danish brother. He apologizes that Martin has already gone to bed after waking up at 03:00 to travel to Leeuwarden, but he’s ready for some shouting MTG. For those who don’t know what it is, trust me, you don’t need to know. But for those who were in the Troll Cave last year or this year, they’ll know. Unfortunately, the other Rasmus didn’t come this year, and Jurriaan was also already in bed. We order Duvel at the bar, sit down, and play with an unsleeved, 200-card, mono-white deck which we cut up into two pieces. Rob gets attracted by the noise, he accepts the invite and buys some more Duvel, and we split the deck in three. It all makes even more sense after Frank joins the game… Crazy banter, stupid games, nice Duvels. What’s not to like? I made another smart decision and skipped town, time to prepare for the main event.
Saturday: Burn Burn Burn
I wake up and feel… good. That’s a relief. 09:00 and 6.5 hours of sleep are good enough. What I didn’t feel great about was my deck choice. I wanted to play a fast deck, was obviously inspired by Pez, but actually started this brew based on Delfino’s win at Fishliver in 2018.
For those keeping count: yes, that’s 18 lands, plus Sol Ring and two Serra Angels main. Impossible. I changed this deck back in 2020 by playing Thunder Spirit instead of Serra and added blue power and a Lotus. Made an ODOL Final and have been triggered by it ever since. I’m a guy who thinks long and hard about the mana base. I grab Frank Karsten’s posts about proper mana bases quite frequently and normally play rather more than less mana, just because mana screw creates lousy MTG games. But what if… Let’s add some Moxen and an Atog. Stay away from Dibs and keep those City in a Bottles main. I expected a lot of The Deck, UWx in general, and DibAtog. This might work. Nine white sources plus Lotus for Savannah Lions, not great. But in a deck which operates on two mana, except for six cards (Psionic Blast plus D7s), taking a mulligan is, in a way, a bit of a free roll, because I can do with less mana. I know the math doesn’t really work out, but you also have the two D7s to make up for it. No City of Brass because the idea is that I’m faster in the mirror with Lion vs. Dib, and I want to take less damage than my opponent, who also likely gets at least two or three damage from Dib and City of Brass combined. Three damage is a turn, that’s again that card I might need to mull, or not… And that’s the advantage I’m hoping for.
I took the deck for a test run at ODOL, playing two Hurkyl’s Recall main, just to test them out. 22 mana sources and similar to the final deck pic below. Back in 2020 they did little, and so they did this time. I think I did use them twice, but most of the time it was the card I liked the least. Sure, sample size, but you can say the same about them being theoretically good. Hurkyl’s at end of turn for more Vise damage or to bounce the artifacts before a D7, it sounds great but feels clunky. On Wednesday, I swapped the two Hurkyl’s for Tundra #4 and a Relic Barrier. But after playing all day Friday and seeing what Blood Moon, Tutor, and Twist did, my deck still didn’t feel good. I discussed it with Bob, my roommate, and opted to go for Henk’s Counterburn with two or three Blood Moon main and the black splash. The other option was to play what I loved so much yesterday and swap the Orgg for Trike. Not bad, but not the same and definitely not with all those UWx decks in the mix. I change nothing and this is what I uploaded anyway already on Wednesday.
There’s only one option now, and that’s to pump myself to even greater heights and get revenge for yesterday. Round 1 I play David. He’s relativly new to OS but plays a serious deck. Game two I Psionic Blast his Trike after playing Copy. He has to pick another target and chooses his own Sol Ring while he could have picked my Vise while I had still 7 in hand with an active LoA. He wasn’t sure he could target me with the copied vise and probably wasn’t familair with OS enough to just ask. I win eventually and on to round 2.
Damn, Frank R again. At least an opportunity to get revenge. He’s a great guy, really. But he looked terrible. I compliment him on his hangover add some more trash talking, and off we go. I won the first, if I remember correctly, in godmode style, a bit like how he beat me in Game 1 on Friday. I think in Game 2 I made a memorable Mishra attack into an Atog with three artifacts in play. Unfortunately, he’s on 16, but the math that went on there was great. Holding two cards in my hand, he starts figuring out why I would make such a play. With Blue Blast, he would have killed the Atog before it attacked. So it’s likely a Bolt or Psionic Blast. If it’s one of those, the play still sucks. So it must be both. If it’s both, I’d rather not block. Fuck me. This guy knows what I’m holding. This isn’t fair. I would have loved to see what he would have done if he was lower, making the decision a bit harder. But he really does play Magic on another level than I do (not that I don’t ever think about these things, but you had to be there to really understand what went on). I’m not sure what happened in Game 3, but I took it down. Happy me, because that was a tough one.
Round 3 is one big blur, but Round 4 isn’t. I meet Johannes at the stairs after Round 3, and we talk about him playing my Ernham Burn’em list from this blog and him going 3-0. What are the odd that we get paired. Well, at least I know what he’s playing, but I’m in for a race. I took down Game 1, and in Game 2, I was well on my way, but he had a rather full hand. Yikes. I attack to bring him pretty low, knowing that I will take it down next turn if nothing crazy happens. He attacks, uses Pendelhaven, plays Giant Growth. I play Psionic Blast in response, which he Red Blasts, then goes Berserk, Berserk for 20 damage. Yeah, okay. Damn. Game 3 was mine again, so 4–0 it is. We sit down for Round 5 and look at this nice picture. Tables 1 to 3, only great people trying to win a tournament. It was at that moment that Henk and I decided to start drinking, except this Emiel guy didn’t want to tag along. Pussy.
I’m able to beat my German friend, whom I also played last year. Henk makes it to 5–0 as well, and Emiel gets to pay for his abstinence by messing up the easiest play of the year, by not stripping Gijsbert’s land before playing a crucial Orb (wasn’t it?). Joking, mate, still love you long time. We discuss a bit whether 5–2 would be enough today. With 205 players and a lot of draws around us, probably not. I had one of the best breakers at that moment, but I wasn’t taking any chances. Here we go.
Round 6, Nicolai on Juice’s The Deck. Well, I don’t like Towers, but what I do like is that I’ve played this exact same deck in my last two Swedish tournaments. I actually won a tournament with it, so I know what it does. That helps, especially since it has a transformational sideboard into Ernhams, Serras, and Pixies. I’d better not spread the word, but I actually won more games after sideboard than before with this deck. It’s mean, because people don’t expect it and are clueless about what you play in Game 3. Well, even with all this knowledge, I played my worst match of the day. I open with Vise; he opens with Tower, City of Brass, and Mox Emerald in play. I’m greedy and go with the Chaos Orb for the City of Brass, because I figured that if he had more land, he would have played that instead. Great thinking, but not if you play a Timetwister next. He’s able to Disenchant my Vise, things get ugly, and I lose Game 1. Well, there’s always Game 2.
With him at 3 and me at 18, I have nine turns to topdeck three damage because he’s attacking with a Mishra. I feel like this is in the bag, but with a Serra topdeck, it turns into three turns. Damn. I have two Vises in play, he had one (or maybe two) cards in hand, and I draw an Ankh. Well, I’ll play it, because you never know. Bam, ,Divine Offering. He goes to 5, I topdeck a Psionic Blast next turn, and I feel a bit stupid. Well, these things happen, but now I still have to work for it.
With loads of familiar faces around us, we all go for the win-and-in. I get paired against Gijsbert. And while I like the guy, he’s one up, skill-wise. I know what he’s playing, but he knows what I’m playing as well, we’ve been sitting side by side for a couple of rounds now. I’m not sure how I got there in Game 1, but in Game 2, I have the mighty City in a Bottle. That one ruins his plans completely, and I’m feeling very comfortable. Already on his back foot, he gets to Disenchant it to cast an Ernham, only to see me play another one the turn after. 2–0 and into the Top 16 in 4th spot. My long-time brother Henk makes it as well after beating Leo for his win-and-in. Gijsbert is the best 5-2, but finishes 17th. Sorry mate, happy I dodged that one.
The Top 16 is stacked with good players and also a good amount of Dutchies and some surprises. Yorick with Ernham Burn’em without blue power and being a new face, and again, Marten B with a brilliant Mono-Blue Ashnod’s Transmogrant, Control Magic, Steal & Copy Artifact deck. Yes, you read that correctly, Top 16. He also brings sweet stuff and is a great player, and this time he did it again. Unfortunately, these two have to play each other, so only one can advance, but luckily it’s on stream. Go watch it, it’s still up on Timmy Talks: https://www.youtube.com/live/IZRZ57ms6U0
Henk faces Wilfred, damn as well. And I get to play Viacheslav. He just arrived in the morning, I believe all the way from Bulgaria (he’s Russian). And with a belly full of food, I’m stoked to play. I believe Turn 1, if not Turn 2, Hippie. Uhm… I hadn’t seen Hippies all day. I didn’t consider that with my opening hand and had nothing. But well, topdeck burn is fine. Another Hippie, oh, uh… topdeck burn again. Sure, it’s sometimes just your day, isn’t it? I think creature number three is a Su-Chi, hard to remove if not for another topdeck. Obviously, I had my poker face on, so it looked like these were all in my starting hand, but I just got really lucky. Gwen is sitting next to me and can’t believe what he’s seeing. Game 1 is over pretty fast after that, about halfway through.
Then I hear Ron on the mic… “In 10 minutes we are going to open the Beta Booster in the tent…” The tent? Was there a tent…? (Joking, guys, that’s where all the 0–X people play.) But what’s worse is that I bought a slot with some FU money with the intention of being there… I don’t want to waste money that I would otherwise waste on more Black Bordered upgrades if I’m not actually seeing the opening of the pack. Oh well, I could always drop (or ask my opponent for a small pause) to make it a bit dramatic. 😉 Luckily, I win the next game within those 10 minutes and I get to see the opening. It did feel a bit strange to leave my opponent like this. We didn’t really get to play a real game after being so happy to both make the Top 16. Sorry for that, but the cards did all the work.
So, Top 8? No! Beta Booster opening it is. 600 euros for a slot but 20% goes to charity, a great deal. I got one. Ron gets to open the booster in a packed tent. My Dutch comrades Erwin and Koos are in it as well, and so is Marten, but he’s actually playing on the livestream for his Top 8 spot. Reindeer is trying to get back a Scrubland (sorry, sorry) and is in for two slots, and Ron and Wijnand also try their luck. One guy really wanted to see the opening because he bought the remaining slots for a total of five. Here we go! Ron carefully asks which side he needs to open… Where’s the rare? He opens the pack, and a Nightmare peeks out… Now that’s a great rare. Imagine pulling that as a kid, it felt great to see it getting pulled, feeling a bit like the booster was yours. To top it off, a Sol Ring gets pulled as well. Awesome pack and worth the money. Now let’s see who gets what… With three slots to go, there’s the Nightmare, Sol Ring, and Island left, and I’m still in it. But being lucky all day needs to stop at a certain moment, so I get the Island. No regrets for sure, especially seeing how happy Koos was with his Nightmare. The grading of the cards came for free, but Koos opted not to grade it, he will play it instead. Hero!
Oh yeah, Top 8. The Danes are still playing their match. The goal was to get a Dutch winner, at least that’s one Danish dynamite less to beat. Some beers and just wait until it’s time for the next one. Alex and I sort of figure out we need to play each other, another tough one.
It’s time! We get to play on stream. You can watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/live/IZRZ57ms6U0?si=mMY1IiUxaTIOpH9n. From my point of view, definitely worth the watch. I hadn’t missed Mind Twist and Demonic Tutor all day, quite strange, actually. And I knew before the match that my City in a Bottle might be worth a lot. I’m on the play, that’s a huge advantage. Plateau, Vise, Sol Ring, Time Walk, Psionic Blast, Chain Lightning, and a Bolt. That’s at least 13 damage and a Time Walk, but no blue (yet). Mulligan. Six cards: Tundra into Lion, and let’s go.
Alex goes City of Brass, Mox, Mox, Sol Ring into Atog. Yikes. He likely has some good cards coming along with those, and I want to keep the pressure high. After playing an Atog (okay, that might not have been the best, but I wanted him to block the Lion, actually), I attack with Lion. Pass turn, and he attacks. I insta-block, which I had already decided before I attacked with the Lion. He’s caught by surprise and goes into the tank. He doesn’t want to eat artifacts into his Atog. That was because he was playing into Armageddon, which I didn’t know yet. But it was one of those plays that made it a really interesting game, and not just burn vs. burn. We trade Atogs later by both playing a Psionic Blast, and Alex plays Geddon, which became the best Geddon an opponent has ever played against me, after topdecking a Savannah Lions and City in a Bottle. Bottle did some real work today!
Game 2, and I have a real struggle deciding what to sideboard. He just lost to City in a Bottle and most likely doesn’t know I’m playing Dibs in the sideboard. So, let’s go: +4 Dib, +2 Blue Blast, +2 Red Blast, +2 Divine Offering, +1 Hurkyl’s Recall. -2 City in a Bottle, -1 Relic Barrier, -2 D7s, -2 Ankh of Mishra, -2 Disenchant, -1 Atog, -1 Black Vise (if I recall the last two correctly). Eleven cards, the most I sideboarded all day and it feels like too much, while at the same time I think the idea to surprise him might work out after all.
He’s on the play anyway, so in my opinion, you have to take more risks. D7s are not in my favor on the draw but the biggest issue was my Atogs losing a lot of food. Now it’s Alex who has to take a mulligan, but his opening is pretty good: Mishra, Mox into Atog, which I Blue Blast on my turn. Another Mishra into attack for two. At that moment, I’m holding a Hurkyl’s Recall in hand, and I’m already having so much fun. I hated it while playtesting and I hadn’t used it all day, and now in the Top 8, I get the perfect opportunity. All I hope for is that Alex goes land into attack with 2 Mishra’s for four damage, tapping out. Since I’m already on 14, that seems great to me. If my Hurkyl’s resolves, he would be two land drops down, and I’d still be on 14. Since he has a Red Blast in hand and I kept a blue open, he opted for a single attack… DAMN. I still play it, because I’m behind for sure, but I’m a bit gutted he didn’t go all in. I’m too aggressive and if it would have been me, I would have been fine losing one Mishra to a Psionic Blast, never expecting a Hurkyl’s. Alex definitely plays a different style. 🙂
I’m on the back foot for the remainder of the game, get two Atogs, and draw a Serendib while on 7. Not playing it isn’t really an option in my opinion, but it felt suboptimal for sure. I was pretty happy with my Lions all day in stead of Dibs, and sure, this one game is just sample size. But still.
Game 3. I put in my whole sideboard and start pondering which fifteen to take out. On the play, I want my D7s again, go back to City in a Bottle, and no Dibs. Two lands and a City in a Bottle in my opening hand, this is a keeper, because this card has won me some very important games already today. And with most likely at least some Dibs still in, City of Brass and Library of Alexandria, the cards can do some serious hurt. No Moxen, so I go land, pass. Alex goes Library of Alexandria, draw, Mox. Boom! City in a Bottle. With the Library, it hits hard. I miss my third land drop, but so does Alex (who is on one land because of Library), sweet. Now I just need a white land and off we go.
Balance… damn… I go to one land as well and lose my Atog. He discards a Mind Twist, which is big. No black mana and no access to City of Brass, so understandable, but it does make my advantage even bigger. No lands, so my hand is getting full. Alex plays a Vise, so I bolt him to the face and luckily get a Mox Pearl and can finally play that Divine Offering. The idea was that Mox all along, but I need that Vise to disappear as well. I’m holding a Wheel and a Timetwister, so I’ll likely need to play one at a certain moment, also because I have a Vise up. Maybe the Mox would have been the better play, but in hindsight, it wouldn’t have mattered. Alex plays a Lotus and ponders for some time, choosing between playing a Wheel or Timetwister himself, because he’s getting pressure from a Lion by now. He chooses Wheel, which puts all other draw-sevens in the graveyard. I have to let go of another Lion, which could have done a lot, together with a Psionic Blast. Damn. I felt I could really win the game from that spot, but now lady luck had to help me again. A Library of Alexandria, my second City in a Bottle, and just one burn spell, a Chain. Argh. That’s not what I was looking for.
Alex gets Moxen, an Atog, and a land, so my Vise is not active anymore. It’s slipping away here. Drawing three lands in a row after the wheel, that was exactly the opposite of what my deck midgame was supposed to do. Drawing two more Vises felt brutal as well, the worst cards in the deck at that moment. Luckily, Alex didn’t draw any pressure either, so I got to play some more turns. Strip on Strip, Mishra for Alex, and there’s the pressure. Still no instant damage. Blast war with a Psionic Blast from Alex and that’s game. Great games, no regrets, and so my story ends!
The tournament obviously continued, and both Martijn and Alex each have to play a Dane to reach the finals. Both of Martijn’s games are also on stream, and after first beating Steffen, he gets to face Alex in the finals. At least I lost to a finalist both days, but both days, they were the runner-up. Martijn takes it down with The Deck, playing seven The Deck mirrors, while I only played one against Nicolai, which was the Sylvan/Tower version, so not even a real one. That was most likely a lot of grinding and very long games, while Martijn was drinking beers all day long.
This was a night out I couldn’t skip, and we head out into town. After some partying, we went to Scooters around 02:30, the place where we often meet during late nights only to find Martijn still celebrating his victory with a bunch of Dutchies and a couple of crazy foreigners. What a guy, unstoppable! I think the picture says it all.
Thanks Troll Crew. Thanks to the (Lowlands) Ante Brothers. Thanks Dutch Old School Community. And thank you to all the players who travelled to Leeuwarden to enjoy this awesome event together! See you all next year!
Great read as usual! Thanks for the fun and how great we both made it so far!