Solidarity takes the Mox!

[Deep6er]

So, I hear about this event like 4 days before it happens. I'm not even sure that I can get a ride as Anwar had previously said that he wasn't going. So, while calling Alix, he tells me to call Dave Price (who doesn't have a cell phone) and try to work things out. Anyway, I scramble to find a ride and blah, blah, blah I manage to get there and shit. Anyway, on to the awesomeness!

Round 1: George Whitaker playing Goblins
Game 1: He mulls to 6 and keeps a shitty hand. I go off at 10 with 7 lands in play.
Game 2: He has kind of a weird hand. He leads Fanatic while my hand is reasonably solid. Turn 2, I Impulse, and he blasts it. I think for awhile as this is really weird and proceed to Peek at his hand seeing THREE MORE BLASTS. Dear...Jesus. So, with this newly acquired information, I decide on a plan of action. I have a bit of time as he's having an issue drawing creatures, so I wish for Remand and proceed to pull ALL of the Blasts out of his hand with a chain of Tide, Hydroblast, and Remand. Leaving me with Tide, Meditate, Reset, Impulse in hand. Lolz. Thanks Peek!

Round 2: Mike Morgan playing Iggy Pop
Game 1: As soon as we're paired, Mike lets out this huge "FUCK!" and I grin as I get to play a match that's so heavily favored for me, that I could probably take a nap and still win. I lose the die roll and he keeps his seven. I keep a seven that doesn't have force, but has some dig and a Tide. He plays land and passes, while I play a land and pass back. End of my turn, he plays Mystical Tutor, and I think for awhile. I only have a Peek for the first turn dig but have double Impulse as I had thought that he might not have the turn 2 win. Anyway, he Mysticals for Infernal and proceeds to go off. I Peek in response to Cabal Ritual and don't find the Force. Frownz.
Game 2: I open a hand of Double Force, Opt, Flash and three lands. Not amazing, but probably good enough against Iggy Pop as the Forces will buy me a fair bit of time. He drops a turn 1 Xantid Swarm, which I Force, pitching Opt. I draw for my turn, play my land and pass my turn. He draws, drops his land, and thinks for awhile. He tries to go off and I force the Infernal that discarded his hand. Who draws Double Force? The game continues for awhile and I draw the OTHER TWO FORCES. As I draw them, I just leave them face up on the table and just drop lands and pass. Goddamn, I'm such a douchebag. :)
Game 3: He drops a turn one Xantid Swarm off of Lotus Petal which I don't have the Force for. Things look kind of grim but his next turn he draws, swings and then passes the turn. He can't draw a land (his second, his only land in play is an island) and proceeds to beat me for zero while I draw and play draw spells on my turn. Finally, I find the maindeck bounce and bounce it with an Island and a Flooded strand untapped, and two other Islands tapped. I fully expected to have to go off that turn in response to his go off, but it never happened. He just discarded the Swarm and passed it back to me. Wow, what a beating. By the time he finally gets the land he needs to go off, my hand is entirely too retarded for him to deal with.

Round 3: Shaheen Soorani playing "Classic" U/W Control
Game 1: We draw as I want him to make top 8 and if he loses here, he could easily get knocked out of top 8 contention.

Round 4: James Buckingham playing Goblins
Game 1: Wow, what a ridiculous beating. Seriously, this is the most ridiculous beating that I have ever received. Possibly ever. Like, even worse than Jesse targeting my spells. It was retarded. He drops Lackey into Siege Gang into me losing the game. I didn't have the Force for the Lackey, but I did have the hand that could theoretically go off turn 3. So, forced into it, I try and have to Freeze myself. I hit a string of cards that I really needed to keep in the deck and proceed to lose as I try to consider if there are enough of the important cards to win with. Frownz.
Game 2: I keep a one-lander with a decent bit of dig, but I'm really wary of going down to six, as I knew his previous board plan (which consisted of 4 Pyrostatic Pillar and 4 Red Elemental Blast) was going to be difficult to deal with. I felt (incorrectly) that if I kept a hand that had a lot of dig, then I would theoretically be able to find Hydroblasts easier. I should have mulliganed but didn't actually think about it enough. I was still kind of irritated about Game 1 and didn't think things through like I should've.

Round 5: Nick DiTizio playing Threshold
Game 1: No offense to Nick, but he's not the strongest Threshold player I've met. He also seems to have just given up this match as he calls over to James that he's about to do something that he's been told to never do. He taps out turn 4 to play a Mystic Enforcer with threshold. I look at him quizzically, then say "sure?" I then proceed to win on my own turn with just a single Force from his side of the table.
Game 2: He boards in Mages and Grunts and I board in my amazing cards. He drops Mage naming High Tide and I respond with "No Problem!" My hand is so retarded that I can't possibly lose. I say, "Oh, I guess I should write down what you're naming with Mage," I then proceed to write down "High Tide = Awesome" and then show him. Two turns later, I go off because storm is broken. Lolz.

Top 8
Alix Hatfield playing Goblins
Game 1: He gets some terrible draws and loses.
Game 2: Look up.
OUCH, Alix Hatfield, got some AWFUL draws. He mulliganed to 5 in game two just looking for a red source of mana. Frownz. He had a decent chance if his draws didn't keep screwing him over.

Top 4
Calosso playing Goblins
Game 1: Calosso, well, we all know what I think of Calosso. Also, we're all pretty sure he sucks at Magic. Anyway, he proves it again this game. He keeps a hand that can't ACTUALLY beat Solidarity and decides to run with it. His first turn is Fanatic, go. His Second turn is Piledriver, go. His third turn is play land, let me draw a card, beat for 4, go. His fourth turn is play land, let me draw a card, beat for 4, go. His fifth turn is lose the game. Seems like a pretty good series of events right? Interesting quote of this game, "I don't know what tempo looks like, but I'm pretty sure it's that."
Game 2: Calosso starts with Lackey, I respond with Peek because I already have the Hydroblast, and see a hand of Piledriver, Warchief, Pyroblast, Matron. I don't actually have the second land but my hand is pretty good. After the Peek draw, my hand is Tide, Brainstorm, Opt, Hydroblast, Impulse, Meditate, and I don't remember the last card, but I believe it was a Reset. Anyway, I draw for my turn and still don't hit the land. Irritated, I 'Blast the Lackey and pass the turn. He drops the Vial that he drew for his turn and passes it back to me. End of his turn, I Opt and get the land. I draw for my turn and drop my land and pass. He ups the Vial to one, thinks for awhile and passes the turn. I play Impulse, which he 'Blasts, and take my turn. I drop the third land and pass back. He ups the Vial to two, drops his land and passes the turn. I do some more drawing at the end of his turn, and take my turn, miss my land drop, and have 8 cards. Knowing that my ONLY OUT this game, is for Calosso to fuck up, I think for awhile and say, "End step?" knowing that announcing everything is one of the better ways to get Calosso to fuck up. He says sure, and I immediately discard my card before he can think better. After I discard, he tries to activate Aether Vial. I tell him that he can't do that and why, at which point he immediately calls the judge. He gets so incredibly pissed about his fuck up that he takes his turn, draws his card and spins vial to drop a warchief into play. I immediately say, "Didn't you draw your card?" at which point he tries to move the Vial up to three. Lolz. That shit ain't gonna fly. Anyway, it's important to note, how incredibly frustrated Calosso was about the end of turn fuckup.

Top 2
Shaheen Soorani playing "Classic" U/W Control
So, we decide to split, even though I would beat the ever loving shit out of him. We play it out as I MUST be declared the winner. Anyway, the game goes mostly as he said, with him not drawing enough Sideboard cards to beat me and I crush him 2-1. My loss came to me not finding High Tide. Eh, whatever.


So, I take the Mox, and leave him crying in defeat. Also, the obligatory, I'm Awesome at the Magic thing. Seriously.

Props
Me, for being awesome at magic.
My opponents for losing to me.
Soorani for making top 8 when I made sure he would.
Alix for making top 8.
Me for making top 8.


Slops
Calosso, for being Calosso.
James Buckingham for beating the crap out of me. (Although, he's a cool guy)
Dave Price for being the rain-god douchebag.


More Props
Me, for being awesome at magic.




Overall, this was a pretty well-run tournament. It was a good time and it was always good to see the SoVA people again. Also, I had a good time taking their Mox. Suckers.

[Kadishack]

I love David Gearhart. You are my hero

[NANTUKO_SHADY]

Sounds like a pretty solid two weeks of magic for you Gearhart. Well done! Are there any believers out there that still believe Mike Herbig is superior to the Asian power!?

[SillyMetalGAT]

We will see, we will see...

[ShaheenSoorani]

Everything there is acurate except David being good at magic, that is completly false.

[Lego]

You've moved ahead of Zilla. You're now my number 1 hero.

[herbig]

Everything there is acurate except David being good at magic, that is completly false.

True. He is phenominal.

[FakeSpam]

Sounds like a pretty solid two weeks of magic for you Gearhart. Well done! Are there any believers out there that still believe Mike Herbig is superior to the Asian power!?

Herbig is dreamy.

[herbig]

Herbig is dreamy.

He is indeed. But congrats DG. Now is the time to start playing Vintage, to put that mox to good use.

[NANTUKO_SHADY]

I know this is rather random, but is teh Mox in good condition???

[calosso]

I know this is rather random, but is teh Mox in good condition???

No, it really wasn't.