----- Original Message -----
From: Oscar Tan
To: p***i@o***s.com
Sent: Sunday, December 03, 2000 12:33 AM
Subject: Extremely exciting play...


Hi. I left the Sealed tournament at Galleria today after Round 6 (I think I was #10 by then) since it dragged on so long and the family had guests over. However, I just found the last game I played so funny.

(In any case, I still maintained my record of opening at least one foil rare at every Sealed tournament... this time it was a foil Fight or Flight)

I was paired with Froggy Ong, who ran over me with a stream of 3/3s and 4/4s in game 1, and game 2 settled down after a few exchanges that left us above 10 life each.

The table was stalled with a Nightscape Apprenitce, a 4/4 and two 3/3s on my side, and two Nightscape Apprentices, a Sky Weaver and another 3/3 (that later died) on Froggy's. The bounce ability of the Apprentices really stalled everything, though the Serpentine Kavu's 4/4 allowed it to get 12 damage in.

Froggy broke the stalemate by playing Tek (4/2 flying first-striker in this game) and I Delivered it back to his hand to allow Serpentine Kavu to get another attack in. I was at 10 life and he was at 4, and I cast Fact or Fiction. Froggy gave me a Saproling Symbiosis (put a 1/1 into play for each creature you control) and made me discard an Agonizing Demise and three other cards.

We both had four creatures, but he played Crosis. With Tek, it could fly over for 10 damage, killing me, so I placed a Mourning on it, leaving exactly six mana open. He bounced Tek using an Apprentice, and I did not return Mourning to hand to leave six mana open.

It turns out that he was not able to read the full card text of Saproling Symbiosis, so I could not believe it when he attacked with Crosis, naming green to discard the Symbiosis. I tapped out and played it after he declared attackers, and I then had 8 creatures. He replayed Tek, giving him four blockers and a tapped dragon, but could not block the four Saprolings which dealt exactly 4 damage.

I think Butch and Mario had fun watching this.

I was glad to meet Froggy as he was really nice (and one of few I saw playing with his girlfriend beside him), but the third game was even more exciting. Froggy was insisting that we play the third game to break the tie when it was announced that only two minutes remained in Round 6. When time was called, Butch said, "Teka! Nag-shushuffle pa lang!"

It ended with Froggy playing his alotted three turns goldfish style while I stood in front of him shouting, "Sige! Patayin mo ako! (Maghanap ka ng Channel-Fireball sa Sealed Deck!)." Hey, I took two damage...


This was the deck I got, and I was wondering if Butch or someone might want to look through it, since it had no power rares whatsoever (everytime I saw a Dragon on the wrong side of the table, I got creamed) and I couldn't figure out how to unbalance the colors to smooth my mana:

BLACK (7)
2 Agonizing Demise
1 Duskwalker
1 Nightscape Apprentice (MVP stall card)
1 Reckless Spite (never cast, since I needed to use it when I was at 5 life)
2 Recover (always swapped out for Mourning and Defiling Tears)

BLUE (6)
1 Deliver
1 Exclude
1 Fact or Fiction (the new Ancestral Recall... brutal)
1 Faerie Squadron (only flyer)
1 Probe (always screwed opponents)
1 Prohibit

BLACK/BLUE (2)
1 Vodalian Zombie
1 Slinking Serpent (drove anyone with a forest wild)

GREEN (7)
1 Elfhame Sanctuary
2 Nomadic Elf
1 Pincer Spider
1 Quirion Trailblazer (swapped out for Hate Weaver against faster opponents)
1 Saproling Symbiosis (best chump blocker generator after Verdant Force and Kjeldoran Outpost)
1 Serpentine Kavu

ARTIFACT (2)
1 Sparring Golem
1 Treva's Attendant

LAND (16)
5 Forest
5 Island
5 Swamp
1 Sulfur Vent

SIDEBOARD (successfully swapped white in for green one game, but almost got color screwed)

BLACK
Bog Initiate
Defiling Tears
Firescreamer
Hate Weaver
Hypnotic Cloud
Mourning
Twilight's Call (with the few creatures I played?)

BLUE
Barrin's Unmaking
Tidal Visionary
Phantasmal Terrain
Vodalian Serpent

GREEN
Aggressive Urge
Llanowar Elite
Llanowar Vanguard
Saproling Infestation
Treefolk Healer
Wandering Stream

RED
2 Ancient Kavu
Hooded Kavu
Rogue Kavu
Savage Offensive
Scarred Puma
Shivan Harvest
Skittish Kavu
Turf Wound
2 Zap

WHITE
Ardent Soldier
Capashen Unicorn
Fight or Flight
Obsidian Acolyte (single-handedly defeats the deck I built)
Orim's Touch
Restrain
Samite Ministration
Shackles
Razorfoot Griffin
Strength of Unity
Wayfaring Giant

GOLD
Armadillo Cloak
Coalition Victory
Frenzied Tilling
Galina's Knight
Seer's Vision
Shivan Zombie
Wings of Hope
Yavimaya Kavu

NON-BASIC LAND
2 Irrigation Ditch
Tinder Farm