I had the immense pleasure of attending an event in Quebec City a few weeks back, more specifically at Le Corail. I had had good runs and a lot of fun there in the past, even bringing back the coveted Unlimited Lords of Atlantis signed by all in 2016, and so I was pumped to be going back. The usual suspects were going to be present, and guys from Montréal had also made the 3-hour drive. We also had the honour of having a visitor from Ottawa, so when the whole thing started, we had a 23-man event — a very respectable number considering our relatively small city. It had been announced before the event that we’d try the Atlantic rules, but I ended up opting for a Swedish-legal deck. More on that later.

I try to bring a different deck to all tournaments I go to, just because I like brewing. What I love about this game is how differently all decks play, what the game plans are. I have a past of chess in me, so I see decks like different openings. Do I want the game to drag and win the attrition war? Am I playing a King’s Gambit with its cutthroat lines? The safer Sicilian, what I figure to be Serra Angels and Efreets? What are the best moves against such and such strategies? What are the worst cards that could be played against me? How do I ensure that doesn’t happen? I ended up playing a red/white Atog deck that had a bit of everything in it. I know I wanted to play the red creature, but I also wanted to run Savannah Lions. I had a feeling Disenchant was going to be huge, so I wanted these in. This is the pile I ended up shuffling up:

GETTING STARTED

Pairings were called, hands were shaken, decks were shuffled. First opponent was Jesse on a several-color brew. He had been my opponent in the finals for the same event so I knew anything could happen. His deck had a slew of restricted spells, burn, a full set of Ball Lightning, and a lot I didn’t get to see. In game 1 I resolved an early Black Vise and Ankh of Mishra. These did quite a bit of damage. I then cast a pair of Bolts and swing with an Atog for the win. The only damage I took was from a Ball Lightning. The game was over fairly quickly. I had not seen much of his deck, but I boarded in Blood Moon #3, on account of having seen only duals the first game.

Game 2 he sticks an early CoP:Red, but instead of artifact-munching madmen I draw into a trio of Lions. He burns one, but the other 2 do the work. At the end of his turn I Disenchant the Circle and double Chain Lightning on my turn. Again not a very long engagement, but I’m playing an aggressive pile so that is bound to happen. 1-0

A MINOR SETBACK

Second opponent is Karl from the Montréal with a B/U deck playing Mana Vaults, Copy Artifacts, Triskelions, Mahamoti Djinns and copies of Animate Dead. Game one I fail to draw white and die a painful death. I have to use 2x Bolts on a Mahamoti but it is Animated the next turn. I die holding a pair of Disenchants and internally curse my pile.

Game 2 my decks does its thing and I draw answers to his threats. My Ankhs/Tablets do some work and Lions prove hard to deal with. I Disenchant his rocks. When the stars align, there is little you can do.

Game 3. At some point, this game felt like a puzzle straight from the Inquest Magazine. He draws 3 copies of Mishra’s Factory and they chip away at my health slowly, as not only do I not have answers to deal with them, but I am very short on lands. I rip Balance from the top of my library and cast it, forgetting to swing with my Lion. I facepalm when I realize the error of my ways, but hey, we’re all human, and the mistake would not have changed the outcome of the match. After a few turns, my opponent is somehow down to 4 life. I have a Copper Tablet in play. I’m at 12 life, facing a single, still 4/4 Triskelion. I like my odds. I pass the turn, and my opponent is down to 3 in his upkeep. He casts what I felt was the riskiest Wheel of Fortune of all time, and I think, “That is it.” I have 2 lands in hand, which I happily dump for 7 fresh cards. I need one of my bolts in the next 8 cards and that is game over. I draw 6 lands, an Ankh and I don’t remember the last card, while he draws 2 copies of Copy Artifact, makes 2 more formidable Shop Vacs and pings me to death. 1-1

DOUBT

Third opponent is LG from Ottawa on a beautiful monogreen brew. His decks plays mana dorks, so Ankh is pretty bad here, a full set of Giant Growth, Giant Spiders, several copies of Berserk, maindeck artifact hate and more. Pendelhaven, in particular, proves to be a real pain. My Lions are no match (all his creatures pumped with the land now kill mine) and it seems like all my attempts to Bolt his guys result in Giant Growths. He was playing so many creatures… All my cards feel irrelevant. Game 1 is quickly lost, I am overrun.

Game 2 I board out my 4x Black Vises and 4x Disenchant on account on his deck usually emptying his hand in a flash, and not running troublesome enchantments. Little did I know that he, on the other hand, had boarded in several copies of Ivory Tower. He plays a pair of early Towers and keeps cards in hand, gaining 4-6 life per turn. My Atog and Lion are no match. I bolt him because I have to, but they only singe him lightly. I gradually get rid of his Towers and bring down his life from 40+ to 0, a much grindier match, but an important lesson learned. There is always a chance Ivory Tower rears its ugly head from the board, and that can make my life difficult. Keep removal in for them just in case.

Game 3 gives me a more favorable board state, and at some point I think I can get rid of Mishra’s Factory with Disenchant, so I attack with my own, but Avoid Fate rains on my parade hard. My own Factory crashed into his, and several Giant Growths and Berserks later, I die. I am holding a trio of Bolts and no red sources. Sad face. Interesting note here: the Factories that ended me were the exact same ones I’d sold LG at a previous tournament. I don’t think this means anything on the karmic side of things, but it was interesting to get smashed by cards that were once your own. 1-2

HOW I STOPPED WORRYING AND GOT SMASHED BY TOURACH

Fourth opponent was Jessy on a monoblack deck. He was running sets of Hypnotic Specters, Juzam Djinns, Underworld Dreams and Hymns to Tourach. I keep a hand of 2 Bolts and a red source for game one, and feel pretty confident. He is on the play and casts an early Hymn to Tourach and discards my 2 Bolts. He then Rituals into Hypnotic Specter, and soon another joins him into the fray. I lose. Those 2 Bolts seemed very good…

Game 2 he’s short for 10+ turns and I win. Lions do the trick and Ankh/Vise destroy him in 5 minutes. Then again, if the opponent doesn’t draw lands for 10 turns and your deck doesn’t win, you have to ask yourself questions.

Game 3 my manabase is harassed by Sinkholes and I’m reeling after a few turns. Vampires are huge as I can’t chump block and bolt them. Lions are very much terrestrial creatures, after all. Interesting fact: if a Sengir Vampire connects 5 times in a game where you haven’t gained life, you die. At this point, I don’t trust my deck anymore. No pile played in an old school event has ever made me feel like that. Why haven’t I played my Urzatron/Carrion Ants/Lord of the Pit deck? 1-3

A NEW HOPE, WELL KIND OF

I am paired against Christian. The night before, Christian, like a true warrior of old, had made his way to my place in a snowstorm to drink some malts and play a few games in order to prepare for the next day. I knew his deck very well, and also knew my matchup was overwhelmingly favourable. He was on a very cool Enchantress deck running Remove Enchantment, Dark Heart, Fastbond and lots of Unstable Mutations. From our games from the previous day, I knew Ankh of Mishra, Copper Tablet, Disenchant, Lightning and Chain Lightning were very hard for him to deal with. We chatted for a bit and played, also recounting standout games from the day. I remember him sitting next to me in the first round with a crazy board state filled with enchantments, him tutoring for something. He told me a Berserk there on his Enchantress would have won him the game, but that that line of play had eluded him. I don’t remember much from our two matches but I remember him not having great draws. Game 2 I boarded in more Swords to Plowshares and now I had 12 removal spells to deal with his Enchantresses. 2-3

KARMIC JUSTICE

Last match of the day is against Bine. He is our resident, gentlemanly monoblack player. His deck is decidedly black-bordered and quite scary. In our previous meeting, our whole match had lasted a good 10 minutes. We reminisce about my past misfortune and laugh about it. Just to give you an idea, I had played a R/W/G Eureka build, and had cast Eureka on turn 2 for a pair of Serra Angels. He in turn had dropped double Juzam Djinns, Lord of the Pit and a Sengir Vampire. Wow. Cool loss though. Second game I’d gone for it again, and same had happened. My Serra and Shivan Dragon had been no match for his Royal Assassin, triple Sengir and Icy Manipulator. Never had I had Eureka backfire so hard, twice in a row, too, but the result is that the games were memorable. Fastforward to our games at hand, both times I play Ankh of Mishra on the first turn and he plays land go for 5 turns both games, taking 10 damage. A Lion swing in the first game, Black Vise in the second and 2 Bolts each game end him. 10 minutes for the whole match. History repeating, only reversed this time. Oh, and much less epic/memorable.

3-3

Here is what I figured out, playing this deck. At the end of the day, I’d much rather lose to my own ill-fated Eureka than win casting triple bolt to the dome. I guess I want games to be exciting and unique, and my deck just didn’t cut it. I love broken, swingy spells. My Atog build didn’t give me card advantage, not once, not ever. It ran no blue power cards, and every time one was cast against me, it hurt. Mind Twist always hurts, but it does even more so when your only outs to it are Balance and Wheel of Fortune. My opponents dreamt of the underworld, tutored, transmuted, regrew, recalled and walked while I played Copper Tablets. I didn’t feel like I was on a level playing field.

Regarding Atlantic rules, I enjoyed it, even if I didn’t play any Fallen Empires card myself. I liked Strip Mined being restricted, but if I’m honest, I absolutely abhor Hymn to Tourach. Ancestral Recall and Mind Twist are the best cards in old school Magic in my opinion, and the dreaded discard spell has to be third in EC/Atlantic rules. The fact that you can run 4 really takes it over the top for me. The thing is, most times you can’t do anything about it in the first few turns. A first turn Dark Ritual into Tourach is absolutely crippling, always. I didn’t get to play against Workshop decks that day (a deck running 4 copies won the event), but in a world of 1x Strip, it appears to be very powerful. Still, though, I’ll stomach a loss to early Sushi much more easily and a turn 1 double Tourach off Lotus. It’s just next level wrong for me. No decks can prepare for it, really, Psychic Purge or not!

All in all though, fun times, great event with cool people. I love the positivity surrounding these gatherings. We forgot about the world for a day. No driveway to shovel, homework to do with the kids, laundry to do. For a little while, the most beautiful cards, the oldest and purest of spells.

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Argivian Restoration has an alternate report for the same event, a very interesting read with actual pictures of decks and matches. Give it a look, too!