Pre-release tournament. | Sunday, April 23, 2006


I am so mentality drained. Probably only Moses might understand this post.

It's been ages since I played in a tournament, and this is my first time playing at a pre-release. Needless to say, I lacked experience and skill.

It was held at Suntec convention centre. The hall reminded me of an examination hall, except with chinese restaurant-ish chairs and spacious tables. And it was freezing. Expected out of an official tournament.

So yadada, I did on registration, paid my entry fees(freaking expensive), and chatted a bit. Quite a few familiar faces. Oh, and the one that attended to my registration was a pretty young lady judge - the other players call her chio bu. She has really nice eyes! And she helped me again with the decklist later, because I was a bit slow. Hey, I think a lot before I finalize the third colour okay.

At 3pm, the pre-release officially starts. As this was my first time, I asked the guy sitting beside me many questions. So, each player was given a tournament deck and 3 boosters. And the guy at my table opened 2 Duals and 2 more good rares. And he had to bloody draft them away? OH MY GAWD, he was tearing. That's like fifty dollars flying away right at your face. Judges making rounds laughed at him - as if it wasn't bad enough. Poor guy *sigh*

I wasn't spared too. My opening was good, really good. It had my favored strategy, and a foil rare that could sell to boot. But nooooo, it was drafted away for another set.

A.F**KING.MAJOR.SUCKFEST.SET

If I could rate that epitome of suckiness on a scale. One(1) being the Very bad, five(5) being average, ten(10) being great.

I give that pile of sucky junk...NEGATIVE THREE!!! OH, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?

Here's the reasons why it sucked so badly.

1) MAJOR CRAP RARES.

2) Out of six rares, I didn't even bloody use one.

3) Balance of five colours

4) A very different strategy.

5) Whatever other reasons. The set sucked so much it's not even fit to be used as birdcage liners.

But of course, it's not entirely hopeless. Clement prides himself as an above average deckbuilder with rather okay skills. Magic is a game of probabilty, curves and maths. Heck, I even brought my calculator to calculate all the statistics. If you ever wondered how Clement can get 10/10 for probability without doing his homework, this is the reason why.

So, I build a three-colour deck. Green, black, and blue.

Black: Creature kill. Unblockable.
Blue: Flying, walls, counters.
Green: Mana fixers, critters, fatties.

Here's my planned strategy I came up at the spot. For the early stages, stall the game with critters, followed by beating him with flyers and unblockables, then deal the finishing blow with fatties. Creature kills and counters are meant for opponent's finisher. This strategy blows away rush strategies and hold on its own against late gamers.

Round 1: Some skinny guy with a really cool cap.
He was playing the rush strategy. And I beat him with relative ease.

Round 2: Some polytechnic guy
NOW, this guy is a veteran. He has been playing for ages(a lot of experience), and from what I heard; he went undefeated the event earlier on. What luck! Wowee, my first time and a sucky pile, guess what are my chances? Apparently, I was beaten soundly. Wall deck. Can you imagine it? WALLS, and then chip my life away with flying critters.

Round 3: Jerry
Hoho, I can't believe my luck. This is one of Singapore's better standard players. He claimed 1st spot in quite a few type 2 tournaments. And he's rich and pretty well-known. Just my freaking luck. Usually, out of 3 games, each game is estimated 5 minutes. For the first game, I put up a good fight for 30 minutes; made a few careless mistakes because his presence was so intimidating. Then got owned due to a bad draw on game 2. Boohoo.

Oh, I won a lucky draw. And got one more booster.

Round 4: Some working person.
This was even easier than the first round. Sometimes, you have to play through the psychological effect, and scare the opponent. I did that by doing some good tempo plays, and won through some flying beats. Moroii is the bomb. Okay, and I cheated a bit too.

Conclusion: Huh? No top 8 in pre-release? But I was pleasant suprised by my achievement with this suckfest pile of dung. It must be my powerful deck-building skill! And walked away with two additional booster for my effort. Roxy-square's vintage tournament, I am starting to get scared of playing there, most powerful format with the most thought-intensive games around.

Clement: *Before I even start a play*

Opponent: I go first, yay! Woah, good(god) draw. First turn, combo goes off. You lose.

Imagine losing a game in one minute. Meh.

And I met BOB! Remember him, Moses? He seemed to recognize me. Bob's mother wanted a daughter last time, and it turned out to be a son! So, his mother used to dress him in dresses when he was young. And he has a womanly man voice...oh well. We used to make fun of him. Oh well... And what's with 45+ balding men playing Magic? Aren't they a bit...too old?

The three boosters are staring at me now. I have not opened them, but I will now. If I ripped a foil dual or something, I buy some flowers for Mother mary. Wish me luck.

*Open boosters eagerly*



Clement: .... what rotten luck...

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I blogged at 2:30 PM
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About Me


Name: Clement
Age: 20
Status: Single, and on hiatus
Interest: Writing, Maids, Animes
Currently: National Service
Located at: Purgatory

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A tinge of creativity transcends reality into a beautiful fantasy

I am too modest a wizard to reveal the full extent of my capabilities

If you can't seduce a woman, you won't be able to write a novel either

Speaking to God is prayer, God speaking to you is schizophrenia

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