Musings from the Eye of Ugin or How to Be a Drama Queen
It was Thursday morning right before the Pro Tour.
I agreed to help Face to Face Games vend for the weekend.
Something to do with my insane Asian language capabilities.
That said, it was Thursday, the pro tour had not started.
I was free to do whatever I wanted.
Like a good tourist, I go around Nagoya, sightseeing, buying gifts, taking pictures and other touristy things. Around 12, while at a local Starbucks, I come to a sudden realization.
I asked myself, “who am I kidding?”
I go to the venue, and sleeve this up for the last chance qualifier.
[Deck Title=Pile of Garbage by Eugene (Ugin) Ho]
[Lands]4 Celestial Colonnade 4 Glacial Fortress 2 Inkmoth Nexus 4 Island 4 Plains 4 Seachrome Coast 4 Tectonic Edge[/Lands]
[Creatures]2 Mirran Crusader 3 Spellskite 4 Squadron Hawk 4 Stoneforge Mystic[/Creatures]
[Planeswalkers]1 Jace Beleren 4 Jace, the Mind Sculptor[/Planeswalkers]
[Spells]1 Batterskull 2 Condemn 1 Into the Roil 3 Mana Leak 4 Preordain 3 Spell Pierce 1 Sword of Feast and Famine 1 Sword of War and Peace[/Spells]
[Sideboard]1 Batterskull 3 Day of Judgment 3 Divine Offering 1 Jace Beleren 1 Mortarpod 3 Oust 1 Spellskite 2 Sun Titan[/Sideboard][/Deck]
This was a list that I took from a SCG open from a month ago or so, except the list played 2 [Card]Spell Pierce[/Card] and 2 [Card]Into the Roil[/Card], instead of the 3-1 split in my list.
The reason was I couldn’t bring myself to shell out 200 yen to buy at the site.
The deck was just all kinds of terrible:
– Main deck [Card]Spellskite[/Card] felt really stupid every time I drew it.
– [Card]Mirran Crusader[/Card] was pretty much a [Card]Gray Ogre[/Card] every time I had it.
– I never sided in [Card]Day of Judgment[/Card] or [Card]Mortarpod[/Card].
– There is a good reason why people run [Card]Dismember[/Card] over [Card]Condemn[/Card] nowadays.
The Last Chance Qualifier was 7 rounds of swiss with top 4 qualifying for PT Nagoya.
As for the tournament, let’s just say I crushed.
I went 5-1 for the first 6 rounds, beating [Card]Splinter Twin[/Card] combo, Mono Red Burn, and whatever people are playing these days.
The one round I lost was against U/B where I have a pretty decent hand in game 1:
– [Card]Stoneforge Mystic[/Card]
– 3 Lands
– 3 Non-Mystic Good Cards
And then drew my fourth land on turn 7.
He pretty much counters everything I play.
[Card]Grave Titan[/Card] and his cohorts make short work of me.
In game 2, I mulligan two one-landers into 2 lands + 3 spells
I lost the game without ever playing a third land.
Otherwise, I beat a bunch of Japanese people.
The field was really soft, just a bunch of local players who came for fun.
Most of the good players were already qualified and there weren’t any ‘ringers’, because who travels to Japan in hopes of qualifying thanks to an LCQ?
So where was I?
I was X-1, and had just lost to my good friend [Card]Mana Screw[/Card].
Whatever, if I win out, I can go play in the Pro Tour.
I sit down for round 7, against Sean, an American.
Apparently he was studying at Temple University, Japanese Campus.
We chatted for a bit, with the highlight of the small talk being a bad beat story from his side.
Apparently his opponent missed a land drop on turn 3 and on turn 4 played a land thought for a while, and played another land.
Sean: “You played a land already”
Opponent: “No I didn’t, it’s the fourth turn, and I have four lands in play”
Sean: “… are you serious?”
Opponent: “Yeah”
Sean: “JUDGE!!!!”
Judge comes over, and the Japanese guy convinces him it was fourth turn and he didn’t miss a land drop. Head judge appeal follows soon afterwards, and believes the judge over Sean.
I was like, “Cool Story Bro!”
Anyways, Sean was playing RUG control.
He doesn’t have the turn 2 [Card]Lotus Cobra[/Card], nice deck bro!
So I have two Jaces in hand, and he taps out to play his Jace, I [Card]Spell Pierce[/Card] and on next turn, I play one of mine. I brainstorm into the land I was looking for the turn, play it, and pass.
He kills my Jace with a [Card]Raging Ravine[/Card] activation.
I play another one.
And he kinda goes on a mini rant:
“Man I can’t believe you got the Spell Pierce.”
“You’re so bad why did you let Jace die?”
“OMG how lucky you have second one!”
In my mind:
“Wow you’re obviously so much better for running Jace right into Spell Pierce.”
“Because I wanted to [Card]Brainstorm[/Card] and [Card]Time Walk[/Card] you.”
“Obviously, because I’m no longer a scrub.”
In the end, I crush him that game.
Game 2 he still doesn’t have the Cobra, nice deck!
I have turn two Mystic.
Game.
Throughout the game, I wasn’t exactly sure what he was trying to accomplish, but he kept on insisting that he was so good, RUG is so hard to play, how unlucky he was for losing to a judge call, how he had such an insane block deck, and how much he tested.
He did, however, give a pretty epic quote:
Me: “Yeah, I know, RUG has some pretty intense decision trees.”
Him: “Dude, fuck trees man. It’s like an entire decision forest!”
Anyways after I beat him I told him not to sign the match slip quite yet.
I thought about my scenario.
I could:
A) Win and play in the Pro Tour, without a deck or experience in the format. Scrub out badly. And, Face to Face Games won’t comp my trip.
Or
B) Concede and let him scrub out badly on the Pro Tour. In the rare event he actually finishes with money, he might remember me scooping and give me a piece.
(SPOILERS: He scrubs out. BAD!)
So I conceded to him.
Head back to the Face to Face Games booth.
Tell Mat how I totally qualified for the Pro Tour.
But was super nice instead and let my opponent win.
Mentioned I didn’t want to break my promise to help vend.
Mat tells me I’m fucking stupid for conceding and to stop being a drama queen.
(Justin Richardson probably has something to say about this)
I’ve completed the achievement of “conceding to my opponent in the finals of a PTQ”
Well, not really, but close enough.
On Friday, the PT starts with me confined to my vending duties for the weekend.
I slip out every now and then to watch the Pro Tour, and it was unreal.
The intensity of the matches, the whole battle of wits blew my mind.
Watching the pros play was definitely the highlight of the trip.
As for buying and selling (i.e. vending), I’ll have to quote Alex Hayne on this:
“It was fucking boring!”
Most players think it’s really cool to open a store.
Have quasi-infinite supply of Magic cards without spending money.
It’s nothing like that.
Buying and selling cards is boring and time consuming.
I felt miserable the whole time due to the fact that the Pro Tour, the highest level of Magic being played was just a couple meters away, and I was stuck in a booth, servicing customers and trying to lowball people for their pieces of cardboard.
Vending cards might be the thing for some people, but not me.
Next time I go to the Pro Tour, I’m playing in it.
-Eugene Ho!
Eugene Ho is a passionate MTG player from Taiwan who is looking to take his game to the next level.