GenCon '96: The Sights, The Sounds, The Smells (or, "Look Out; Here Come the Vampires!") Part Two: Saturday and Sunday At 7 am, the alarm goes off. I doze until 7:20, then get up and get ready to take the shuttle. At 8:00, I leave the room. My other 6 roomates are still unconscious. I decide to leave most of my Highlander in the room. Since I've qualified, Ben's informed me that I can't play in any of the other tournaments. =( I recommend that, in the future, TCG either change this policy or provide alternate tournaments. And don't qualify people from the Ironman tourneys, either. After a bit of meandering, I head over to the mall for a bite to eat. I come back and register for a noon MtG type II touney at noon (mistake). See a few people I know from the list around: Alan Grohe, Monique, and others I can't recall. Seen on a T-shirt: "Help, I'm Having an Out-of-Money Experience!" Chip had brought two Star Wars cards (Obi Wan and Han Solo) to trade for a box of ME; I bet him 2 packs he couldn't swing it. Sure enough, he does, finding a sucke- er, person at TCG willing to give him a box for the two. I pawn off my mint Unlimited Black Lotus for 3 more boxes of ME and some Magic. The Highlander Best of the Best tournament apparently doesn't take place when no one shows up. Imagine that; no one wanted to pay $25 to try to win unspecified "cash" prizes -- "cash" meaning "GenCon gift certificates." Somebody oughta send the person running the BotB tourneys a dictionary. I got to the MtG tournament with a white "destroy everything" deck. I win first round vs. a Necrodeck, then lose to a mono-red. They give me a handshake and tell me to get lost; everyone who won the second round gets to go to another tournament. Seems it was just a "qualifier" for another tourney; you get nothing for winning, and there isn't even a round beyond the second, despite it being advertised as a tournament. Sheesh. As if judges who know nada about the rules wasn't bad enough... The free promo card today is Forged Steel. I wander over to the alternate Ironman -- where I learn from Bob that Ben was wrong; I could've played in it. Unfortunately, my cards are now across town at the hotel. If looks could kill, Ben Durbin would not have survived my glare. As it turns out, they want a 16th person, so Ben drafts me. I get in free, but have to borrow a deck. The only person willing to lend me one is Charlie Bernstein, and it's Khan. To put it mildly, I wouldn't want to play this deck in sealed deck, let alone in a tournament. And, as fate would have it, I draw Charlie (playing Nakano) in the first round. Essentially, he runs me through my endurance until I'm dead. I burn him through his once. Whee. I try to rather kindly tell him this deck is something I'd expect to find floating in a toilet; he agrees. After all, that's why *he* isn't playing it. Terry Doner winds up winning the tourney with his Connor Cave/WGW/Honor Bound deck. Way to go, Terry! So, he's in tomorrow as well. Meanwhile, Chip, Matt, and Mike have played in the $1500 Wyvern sealed deck tourney. Chip literally falls asleep in between turns because one opponent is taking so long. Matt actually makes it to the final 8. Ben still believes a Katana deck will take it all, even given the "conventional wisdom" (pardon the pun) that he's overrated, and the fact that every such deck so far has been destroyed. Chip and I head back to the hotel room on the early shuttle. He takes a nap, I take a shower in the hopes of shaking a terrible headache. In a moment of semi-somnolent epiphany, I conceive the ultimate toolbox deck: Katana cheese with Nakano and Kane Quickenings. I scramble to build it. I test it against Chip's Slan Sedarius deck and destroy him two straight, prompting him to try another idea instead. I dub my deck "General Street Punk." While Chip sets out to build a Khan B&H deck, I doze off. Sunday is the big day. The world championships. All the marbles. At 8 am. Ugh. We have my watch alarm, the room alarm, and a wake-up call just to make sure we don't miss it. We get there in time. Those playing in the qualifier: Mike Swailes, playing Slan denial (Honor Bound/Renee/ WGW) with a "make hidden attacks if you play no Specials" Q Bill Chien, playing a Katana Taunting Toadies deck Me, Jeff Barnes, playing General Street Punk Ryan Christian, playing Slan Denial Curt Arndt, playing his Richie 2 Quickening deck Carl Garner, with a Slan Angry Mob/Careful Planning Charlie Bernstein, playing something I didn't write down Chip McMann, with a Khan B&H cheese deck James Rapinac, playing Connor Cave/Denial Bruce Loebrich, with a Katana Ped-5 minitower Mark Hoskins, playing Connor Disarm Jerry Schattenburg, playing Bob (?!?) with lots of Edges Joe Alfano, with a Connor Jack Donovan/Honor Bound deck David Hilgendorf, playing a Khan turtle deck Terry Doner, with his Connor Cave/Denial deck Chris Berg, with a Richie Tower (I think) David Phillips, playing a Connor spelunker deck Tim Spangler, sporting a standard Kastagir deck I'm the #3 seed, and draw David Hilgendorf in round one. He's running Khan with a gold foil, a PG Darius for a Watcher: Treatment, and 3 TCGs. He opens with a first turn Katana nemesis. Joy. I somehow manage to refrain from playing any situations (had he waited three turns, I might have been in trouble). I use two Punks to get him to 14, but he Reporters back to 16. Fortunately, Kate isn't too fond of the media, and he finds himself back at 14. Angry Mob with Careful Planning puts him to 11, whereupon he plays an LE QBlade. Kate doesn't much like that either, so he's now at 10. I use a Focus on his Nemesis, then exert to remove it; he calls Ben over for a ruling, but I'd already checked with him before the tournament, and it's perfectly legal. I even kind of get Ben to admit to the existence of the Zeist card in the process. =) He Street Punks me, and I tell him to Do It Yourself. Another 2 Careful/ Mobs and two Punks -- that's it. Next up is Curt Arndt, playing the same Richie deck he did in the first qualifier, except he's added a PG Darius for a Luck. He tries to Catwalk me, but I remembered the Illusory Terrains this time. However, I nearly cost myself this game through carelessness. He does a Shooting Blade while the Catwalk is out; I'm holding the Terrain and a HG. I play the terrain, forgetting that I threw away my dodge in a Holy Ground not long before. Ouch. Five points with his Kurgan Q. I get rid of that Q post haste. Another hit and I find myself at 8... then at 6. I'm in deeeep trouble. He, meanwhile, plays a Master's Advice to get to 17. Fortunately, his supply of attacks begins to dwindle. I get my Master down and remove his Master's Advice, then use a Kirk Matunas to work him down to 14. A Planned Mob places him at 11, and then a Toadies pushes him to 9. His attacks are dodged or Holy grounded one by one. Out come 2 ME Scorns, and a Punk. Kirk Matunas, Toadies, and a final assault complete the comeback, and I'm through. I breathe a deep sigh of relief. And then it's him. Bill Chien. Playing Katana. With 2 TCGs and 3 Qs: Slan, Kane, and Ramirez (3/5 exertions). I win the roll and Divine his Kane Q; he returns the favor on my turn. I use my Nakano Q to discard a QBlade and copy his, removing his 3/5 Q. He tries Taunt with a Thrust Power Blow, but I run to Holy Ground. A few turns later, I think I have him, as I play 3 Kirk Matunas. However, he has his only Greenfield Hobby in his hand, and yours truly pulls a Buddy and doesn't think to rip a TCG. A Taunted power blow gets through. He gets rid of my Nakano Q, then tries a Do It Yourself on my Street Punks. I waste my DIYs to send it back at him, and he sends in his Toadies. I miscalculate on the first one, believing I have 6 cards in my endurance. I only have five, and I only find one defense. Ouch. This destroys me, as I find myself at 3. Another Toadies (no defenses) and a Taunted Power Blow reduces me to zero. I congratulate Bill on getting his revenge -- even if I do escape with my head. =) Once again into the losers' breach... er, bracket. I draw a bye the first round, then play James Rapinac. James has a gold foil and 2 PG Darii for slashes. Neat idea. He holds me off for a long time, but an Illusory Terrain stops his Mountain Cave. I play my Darius'ed Disguise to keep him from Policing my situations. Eventually, he gets a Focus and gets rid of the Terrain, but all for naught as I'm holding another Terrain. I use a Careful Mob to put him at 13, at which point he heals back to 15. However, 2 Kirk Matunases put him down to 12. Time starts to run short, and I'm at 11. I use another Careful Mob to put him to 9, then Punk him as time expires. Whew. I eke out a victory. Which brings me to Mike Swailes, playing Slan denial, with a PG Darius for Honor Bound, and a Connor and make hidden attacks Qs. Unfortunately, I don't draw a dodge the entire game, despite using 3 LE HGs. Sigh. I think I could've taken him with a good draw, but I'm having to HG and exert for defenses, whic allows him to get out Master's Advance, WGW, and Honor Bound on me. I do manage to get him with a Toadies and a Careful Mob to take him to 11, but it's all for naught. His power blows get me down to 5, and I have to exert through my endurance. So, I'm out at #4. Oh, well, I feel more than redeemed from my poor showing at Origins. Mike moves on to play Mark Hoskins, who sports a Connor disarm deck. I wander off to the bathroom and when I get back, Mike has him low on life. Mike downs him when Mark can't play his disarms due to denial. Nasty. Which means it's Mike vs. Bill for the championship. The #1 ranked player vs. the national champion. I sit by and record the play-by-play (I'll post it later, when I feel like it, so don't flood my mailbox with requests =). Matt wanders in; he lost in the first round of his Wyvern tournament to the guy who wrote articles in WYVERN SHADOW magazine on sealed deck play. =) It's a close battle at first, as Bill manages to Taunt Mike a few times. Mike uses more than his share of Renees and hidden power blows to pull it out, though, as Bill's exertions for defenses prove fruitless. Bill eventually concedes the match, leading to a one game final. The next game proves an intense nail-biter, as neither player can get the early jump on the other. Mike Divine's Bill's 3/5 Quickening, but Bill gets out an Ancestral Blade this time. Mike manages a WGW followed by Honor Bound, but Bill exerts to remove the Honor Bound and polices the Wargames West. A 3 point Toadies puts Mike at 12, and he is forced to exert through his endurance, putting him down to 7. Bill also exerts through, but plays a Watcher: Treatment to put him back up to 12. A Shooting Blade with Catwalk out and a Renee Delaney knocks Bill down to 8 (I had thought Bill had made an uncharacteristically critical error by not TCGing the Catwalk). Another Watcher: Treatment helps soothe the pain for him, though. A Taunted power blow gets through for Bill, putting Mike down to 3. Another Toadies puts him down to 2, then yet another places him at 1. Bill attacks and Mike concedes, taking the blow, but Bill decides to play a Head Shot and exerts for an attack. He doesn't get one, so the match ends anyway, and Bill finds himself with yet another sword. Chip asks when Bill will be opening his own sword shop. =) We head back upstairs, where Mike Sager is trading Qs. I swap back with Chip (his Nakano Q for my Slan Q, since the Nakano was the first Q he had won), then swap the Slan for another Nakano with Mike. I then realize the two Qs I *really* wanted to trade are out in Chip's Blazer, so I rush across the street to get them. I come back to trade my Kim and Connor Qs for a Kurgan and a Methos Q. Yes! We congratulate Bill on his victory one last time, then head out. As we leave the parking garage, we see Ben Durbin crossing the street -- but Chip doesn't notice him until it's too late to swerve for him. Rats. =) The way back is mostly quiet, with a few outbreaks of conversation on topics like gamer stench (we decided it does stack). And, of course, "BRAKES!!!! USE THE %&$##$ BRAKES, CHIP!!!" =) We get back to Chip's house about 6 pm, and I pack up and head for home, getting in at about midnight. All in all, it was a great time, and I'm glad I let Chip talk me into it. Met a lot of great people, got to see many more I'd already met at Origins, and got some really cool new cards (6 boxes, in case you lost count -- 4 for me, 1 for my newbies, and 1 for my brother). Thanks to everyone for the memories! CONTINUED IN PART 3: My Deck and General Analysis