Singapore Sling — Overdriver
Fuzz-rock is another one of my interests, and while normally I tend towards more accelerated and energetic stuff (i.e. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club), this particular band does neo-psychedelic super-fuzz so well that I have to tell you about them. It is impossible to not feel like a badass when you’re driving with this song on the stereo.
It’s time for the last installment of my daily column, and I think that it went fairly well. I will miss writing it, but I’ll keep doing it and throw the dailies together for some lovely Hat Rack goodness. As for now, I’m going to talk about a deck that is legal in the current Standard format. Some dashing young upstarts played it at Pro Tour Honolulu, but the history of it has been lost to the sands of time.
Until now.
In the ruins of ancient Mayan civilization, etched on a forgotten ziggurat, the symbols for “four,” “candle,” and “spirit” were found in succession. Other related markings were found, but none were cohesive enough to form a coherent message, and archaeologists dismissed it after months of research.
Centuries later in Rome, shortly before the Rubicon was crossed, a messenger was seen bearing a scroll draped in black cloth. Caesar read it, drew his sword, and rallied his troops. What did it say? Legend has it that “four Thief of Hope” was written in blood.
At the signing of the Magna Carta, three members of the king’s court who had been placed into the pillories by the barons complained of a lack of sleep while they were imprisoned. A fourth claimed that the barons could not subdue him and that his will was unbreakable—indomitable, if you will. The comments were made in passing, but a scribe present at the signing took down their words and saved them in the royal library.
When Christopher Columbus sailed to America, upon his landing and encountering of the “Indians,” eight designated tribesmen emerged with gifts and offerings of peace. Four of the Indians had fish of a luster so smooth that they seemed to shine, while the other four had fish of such a dark color that they appeared to be plagued and sickly. These gifts were later referred to as “the Shoals of peace”, though their historical relevance has been long forgotten.
Finally, a band of American soldiers were looting an abandoned German mansion after the surrender of East Berlin. In the basement, four identical paintings were found, each of a council of ghosts. They seemed to glow by themselves with a spiritual light. The soldiers made a pact to never tell anyone of what they had found, and they came together as brothers. They called themselves… Cymbrogi.
Bearing the paintings as they escaped from the German villa, they returned home and were determined to find out the significance of these otherworldly paintings. They researched, they traveled, and they discovered the hidden puzzle pieces that had been written throughout history. Finally, on top of an old Mayan ziggurat, they found the last symbols they had been looking for. “four,” “candle,” “spirit”…
Four Tallowisp.
And that, children, is how Ghost Dad came to be.
The anecdote today takes place at PT Honolulu with this very deck. I wouldn’t call this tournament a failure, but this particular match illustrates a point that I want to relate.
Round 16 — Ben Goodman versus William Moreno
We were playing for $2500, and Billy was playing Zoo, a matchup that I had been hoping for the whole day. As many of you have undoubtedly heard before, the Zoo matchup is very good for Ghost Dad. I felt fairly confident sitting down, even though I was still a little annoyed at losing to Osyp and missing Top 8. Either way, I was planning on winning this last match.
Game 1 I mulliganed my opening no-lander and drew Swamp, Plains, Confidant, Shining Shoal, Shining Shoal, Indomitable Will. Should be fine, right? I drop a turn 2 Confidant… and he Lightning Helixes it. Okay. I miss my third land drop and drop another Confidant… and he Lightning Helixes it. I still haven’t drawn another White card. Okay. He drops more 3/3s, I don’t recover in time, and I die.
Game 2 I get Tallowisp down and I think I should be okay… he has Kami of Ancient Law? That’s annoying. He has Glare of WHAT oh crap. Unfortunately I do not draw a Ghost Council or a Kami of my own or really anything in my deck that’s good after the Tallowisp except for a single Thief of Hope, and that gets killed when I have to chump block. I’m at three, he untaps, and shows me the Char he drew. I die.
So the moral of the story?
Magic happens.
Luck is part of Magic no matter what anyone tells you. Skill is very important, and without a base of good talent all the luck in the world won’t help you, but sometimes your deck just doesn’t work or your mana doesn’t come and you just lose. I don’t think this is news to anybody, but it’s important to reiterate. Getting mad doesn’t make you any luckier.
It’s been fun, ladies and gents, and I plan on giving you much daily love again at some point in the future. For now, I’m going to be away the entirety of next week, so you won’t see much in the way of Hat Rackery. I’ll be back, though. Just you wait.
I’ll see you in the forums.
–Ben Goodman
RidiculousHat just about everywhere