It’s Extended season. The metagame is vast and varied, and PTQ attendance seems to be way up. I played in Madison, along with 195 others, and I’ll break down what worked, what didn’t, and what to expect at the PTQs. With 15 decklists, including a Top 8 Reanimator list!
Quick note – I got my info courtesy of Steve Port and Legion Events. Thanks!
My first impression was that people love this format. We had 195 players – comparable to a prerelease – and 89 were still playing at the end of the Swiss. That’s all the more impressive since we were having a blizzard in Madison at the time and everyone still playing knew their drive home was going to be snow-covered and tedious. [This is particularly interesting when compared to the dismal attendance at the opening Grand Prix of the season. – Knut]
The Top 8 had some familiar archetypes, and some surprises. I expected Tog, and it appeared in both the Life from the Loam and Burning Wish varieties. I also expected, and got, Boros and Astral Slide. I expected CAL to do well, and it bombed. I did not expect Reanimator to finish fourth. Anyway, here are the Top 8 lists.
G/W/B Bob
First Place: Taylor Laehn
2 Smother
4 Duress
4 Gerrard’s Verdict
4 Vindicate
4 Pernicious Deed
4 Call of the Herd
4 Dark Confidant
4 Withered Wretch
3 Phantom Centaur
3 Sakura-Tribe Elder
2 Loxodon Hierarch
1 Plains
2 Forest
2 Temple Garden
2 Overgrown Tomb
4 Windswept Heath
1 Wooded Foothills
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Nantuko Monastery
1 Llanowar Wastes
2 Caves of Koilos
5 Swamp
Sideboard:
3 Kataki, War’s Wage
3 Choke
1 Ravenous Baloth
4 Cabal Therapy
1 Smother
3 Naturalize
Note the maindeck Withered Wretch and Phantom Centaurs – any surprise this deck beat Tog in the finals? This was one of a number of GWB aggro / aggro control decks in the tournament. A number of others ran similar builds, while still others built around Vinelasher Kudzu. (I’ll include one of those decks later.)
Burning Tog
Lucas Duchow – 2nd
4 Memory Lapse
4 Remand
3 Flametongue Kavu
3 Counterspell
2 Repulse
4 Nightscape Familiar
3 Psychatog
3 Burning Wish
4 Fire / Ice
4 Fact or Fiction
1 Opt
1 Deep Analysis
1 Meloku the Clouded Mirror
3 Bloodstained Mire
3 Flooded Strand
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Mountain
1 Swamp
1 Sulfurous Springs
2 Shivan Reef
2 Watery Grave
1 Oboro, Palace in the Clouds
8 Island
Sideboard:
1 Cranial Extraction
1 Deep Analysis
1 Vindicate
1 Chainer’s Edict
1 Pyroclasm
1 Nightmare Void
1 Upheaval
1 Haunting Echoes
2 Duress
1 Reprocess
4 Kataki, War’s Wage
Lucas was at the top table all day and ended at the top of the Swiss. The Burning Wish plan certainly worked well for him, but he is also a very good player. Based on that, I’m not going to say whether the Burning Wish or Life from the Loam versions are better, but Life from the Loam certainly showed up in far greater numbers, and did not do so well.
Boros
Keith Foss – 3rd
4 Grim Lavamancer
4 Goblin Legionnaire
4 Silver Knight
4 Savannah Lions
3 Isamaru, Hound of Konda
3 Kataki, War’s Wage
3 Lava Dart
4 Firebolt
4 Magma Jet
4 Lightning Helix
2 Char
1 Shinka, the Bloodsoaked Keep
2 Mountain
3 Plains
1 Eiganjo Castle
4 Sacred Foundry
2 Flooded Strand
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Windswept Heath
Sideboard:
3 Pithing Needle
2 Kami of Ancient Law
4 Disenchant
3 Paladin en-Vec
3 Sword of Light and Shadow
Nothing surprising here. Boros is a good deck, and this is a fairly typical build.
Creatures (21)
- 1 Withered Wretch
- 1 Nezumi Graverobber
- 1 Rorix Bladewing
- 4 Akroma, Angel of Wrath
- 3 Sundering Titan
- 4 Hapless Researcher
- 4 Putrid Imp
- 3 Blazing Archon
Lands (16)
Spells (23)
Sideboard
This, on the other hand, was surprising. However, I think a lot of his success came against Boros and other aggro decks. In the quarterfinals, I watched Tom Woodward’s Boros deck struggle to hold off a turn 3 Sundering Titan. This deck absolutely destroys decks that don’t have counterspells, Withered Wretch, or Putrefy – and Putrefy is not the answer to Akroma.
Slide w/ Living Wish
Shawn Iden – 5th
4 Sakura-Tribe Elder
3 Eternal Witness
3 Loxodon Hierarch
4 Astral Slide
4 Living Wish
4 Wrath of God
3 Plow Under
4 Gilded Light
3 Renewed Faith
3 Life from the Loam
4 Windswept Heath
4 Tranquil Thicket
4 Secluded Steppe
2 Temple Garden
3 Nantuko Monastery
1 Nomad Stadium
3 Plains
4 Forest
Sideboard:
3 Naturalize
2 Purge
1 Blinkmoth Well
1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
1 Kataki, War’s Wage
1 Eternal Witness
1 Viridian Shaman
1 Nikko-Onna
1 Hokori, Dust Drinker
1 Anurid Brushhopper
1 Loxodon Hierarch
1 Sundering Titan
Slide decks were heavily played, and did quite well against anyone unprepared for them. I would expect them at all future events.
Creatures (20)
Lands (18)
Spells (22)
- 2 Disenchant
- 4 Armadillo Cloak
- 4 Magma Jet
- 3 Damping Matrix
- 3 Chrome Mox
- 2 Pithing Needle
- 4 Lightning Helix
Sideboard
This is not Boros with Armadillo Cloak – it is really G/W/r aggro. Note the maindeck Damping Matrix. This was a very sweet little deck that might have run the table, if it had not run into Reanimator.
Dredgatog
Asa Snyder – 7th –
4 Psychatog
1 Meloku the Clouded mirror
1 Genesis
1 Wonder
1 Stinkweed Imp
4 Counterspell
2 Smother
1 Darkblast
1 Last Gasp
1 Life from the Loam
2 Circular Logic
2 Mana Leak
3 Pernicious Deed
3 Gifts Ungiven
3 Force Spike
1 Putrefy
3 Cunning Wish
1 Tranquil Thicket
1 Barren Moor
1 Lonely Sandbar
1 Cephalid Coliseum
2 Watery Grave
1 Swamp
1 Oboro, Palace in the Clouds
4 Island
3 Overgrown Tomb
3 Bloodstained Mire
4 Polluted Delta
1 Underground River
3 Yavimaya Coast
Sideboard:
1 Fact or Fiction
2 Viridian Shaman
3 Duress
1 Circular Logic
1 Hideous Laughter
1 Ghastly Demise
1 Stifle
1 Krosan Reclamation
1 Putrefy
1 Mana Short
1 Coffin Purge
1 Naturalize
Here’s the top finishing Loam Tog deck. This was the most common archetype on the day – but there were a huge number of decks being played. (The complete breakdown follows.)
Gifts Rock
John Pehlke – 8th –
2 Gifts Ungiven
3 Flametongue Kavu
3 Living Wish
1 Genesis
4 Carven Caryatid
4 Cabal Therapy
4 Pernicious Deed
1 Haunting Echoes
3 Terminate
1 Spiritmonger
3 Ravenous Baloth
4 Sakura-Tribe Elder
3 Eternal Witness
7 Forest
1 Island
2 Llanowar Wastes
2 Swamp
1 Mountain
1 Contested Cliffs
3 Bloodstained Mire
3 Wooded Foothills
4 Overgrown Tomb
Sideboard:
3 Duress
1 Terminate
2 Oxidize
1 Blinkmoth Well
1 Nantuko Vigilante
1 Withered Wretch
1 Kamahl, Fist of Krosa
1 Spiritmonger
1 Genesis
1 Ghost-Lit Stalker
1 Viridian Shaman
1 Eternal Witness
As a former Rock player, I really like this archetype. Living Wish, Wall of Blossoms (okay, almost), Ravenous Baloth, Spiritmonger, Pernicious Deed – it’s a flashback to GP Vegas. Now that Boros is playing almost no fliers, maybe the Carven Caryatids can buy enough time top make this deck work – and I would want to playtest against Slide and Desire. Still, it did finish above 187 other decks, so something must work.
Speaking of the other 187 decks, here’s the complete breakdown of the decks played at the PTQ. “Archetype” should be obvious. The # Played is the number of people who registered the deck. Top finish is, again, obvious, but the numbers count only those who finished all eight round of Swiss – if the column is blank, or says “(dnf),” that means that everyone playing the deck dropped before the final round.
Archetype | # Played | Top Finish |
GWB Aggro | 7 | winner |
w/ Burning Wish w/ Life of the Loam straight UB Madness (Moreno) | 35 2 19 10 5 | – 2 7 22 (dnf) |
Boros Deck Wins with Isochron Scepter | 21 2 | 3 (dnf) |
Reanimator | 2 | 4 |
8 | 5 | |
Zoo (multicolor small beaters) | 6 | 6 |
GB / Rock Red Rock w/ Gifts aggro, with Bob traditional Rock | 15 2 8 6 | – 8 11 35 |
Scepter Chant | 11 | 9 |
GW Beats WW w/ Armadillo Cloak | 7 3 1 | 18 23 |
Wake | 2 | 19 |
UW Control w/ Akroma’s Vengeance | 1 | 20 |
Heartbeat Minds Desire | 10 9 1 | – 21 41 |
w/ Erayo | 7 4 | 31 53 |
GBW straight black | 4 2 2 | – 33 |
Goblins | 4 | 36 |
Hunting Grounds / Dredge | 2 | 38& 39 |
Mono Blue Control (w/ Shackles) | 1 | 42 |
Elves | 3 | 50 |
UWB Finkel & Pikula | 1 | 53 |
Grave Troll Threshhold | 3 | 61 |
Madness (traditional UG) | 2 | 75 |
WhiteWeenie | 2 | 79 |
1 | 87 | |
9 | (dnf) | |
Balancing Tings | 1 | (dnf) |
Tooth & Nail w/ Gifts | 2 | (dnf) |
Straight Burn | 2 | (dnf) |
RG Aggro | 2 | (dnf) |
“These are All the Rares I Own” | 4 | 79 |
In looking through the decklists, I found one real surprise. Would you expect this.
2 Dark Confidant
2 Draco
Yes – one after the other, in the same deck. What is even more amazing is that he ended the day 3-5, after getting a game loss for a decklist error. More on that deck later.
The Hunting Grounds deck was interesting. Here’s a look. Both of its pilots ended up 5-3 on the day.
Hunting Grounds
Jacob Bagha & Ryan Spindler
4 Counterspell
4 Mana Leak
3 Force Spike
4 Gifts Ungiven
3 Echoing Truth
1 Life from the Loam
3 Wrath of God
4 Living Wish
2 Hunting Grounds
3 Mystic Snake
1 Akroma, Angel of Wrath
1 Mystic Enforcer
1 Plains
1 Forest
5 Island
2 Temple Garden
4 Flooded Strand
2 Windswept Heath
2 Yavimaya Coast
2 Adarkar Wastes
2 Nantuko Monastery
1 Tranquil Thicket
1 Lonely Sandbar
1 Secluded Steppe
Sideboard
4 Meddling Mage
1 Viridian Shaman
1 Eternal Witness
1 Mystic Enforcer
1 City of Brass
1 Genesis
1 Akroma, Angel of Wrath
1 Mystic Snake
1 Blazing Archon
1 Myogin of the Cleansing Fire
1 Aven Cloudchaser
1 Nantuko Monastery
I haven’t seen Hunting Grounds played in a long time – but it apparently still works.
While I’m typing decklists, here’s what I played, followed by a brief tourney report, followed by still more decklists – including a playable version of my archetype.
Four of a Kind = Proof of a Tuned Deck
Peter Jahn
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Dark Confidant
4 Troll Ascetic
3 Withered Wretch
2 Viridian Zealot
2 Wild Mongrel
2 Phantom Centaur
2 Llanowar Elves
1 Elves of Deep Shadow
4 Cabal Therapy
4 Putrefy
3 Call of the Herd
2 Sword of Fire and Ice
2 Umezawa’s Jitte
1 Chrome Mox
1 Polluted Delta
5 Swamp
6 Forest
4 Overgrown Tomb
4 Llanowar Wastes
Sideboard
3 Pernicious Deed
3 Naturalize
3 Duress
3 Smother
2 Phantom Centaur
1 Withered Wretch
Round One: Jerad Berhow- Heartbeat Desire
I think this is where I used up all my luck for the day. My turn one was Llanowar Wastes, Birds. His turn two ended with him having a Forest, Island and Sakura Tribe Elder. Hmmm – smells like Desire. My turn two: Forest, Cabal Therapy # 1, Cabal Therapy # 2, black Elf, flashback Therapy. He had nothing in hand but Nostalgic Dreams, so next turn I dropped Withered Wretch.
Sideboarding: – 4 Putrefy, – 2 Jitte, -1Troll, -2 Mongrel, + 1Wretch, + 3 Duress, +3 Naturalize, + 2 Phantom Centaur.
Game two was more of the same, but I did have to pass the turn to him when he had five lands and Heartbeat in play, plus Early Harvest in hand. He ripped Mind’s Desire and came very close to going off , but it didn’t quite happen. He did get some Moment’s Peace in the graveyard, so the next few turns were interesting, but not enough.
Round Two: Matt Gaffman – Boros
Round one, I mulliganed into Overgrown Tomb, 2 Birds, Elf, Dark Confidant, Troll. Fine – unless my opponent is playing burn. He won the die roll and opened with Foothills into Sacred Foundry and Savannah Lions. My Bird died to Lava Dart, the next one to Helix and I was toast soon after.
Sideboarding: – 4 Cabal Therapy, -2 Wretch, -1 Confidant, +3 Smother, +2 Phantom Centaur, +2 Deed
Game two I got lands and an early Centaur. I also dropped some Trolls, but he had a pile of first striking knights to hold off my creatures. However, he failed to play around Deed, and I managed to clear his board with a Deed for two, then kill him. Game three, though, was again all about the 2/2 first strikers – and this time he did play around the Deed. It is very close, but I got a touch mana flooded and he swarmed me.
Round Three: Justin Kuester- G/W/B Cabal Coffers
Game one I saw Llanowar Wastes and Swamps, so I cast Cabal Therapy naming Troll Ascetic. Not only did I whiff, I saw Cabal Edict, Living Wish, Genesis, Mutiliate and Cabal Coffers! His deck ran Mutilate, Pernicious Deed, Innocent Blood and Putrefy – Holy many-for-one, Batman! I got him to ten, then watched him crush me.
Sideboard: ???? in: Duress, Centaurs, out Jittes, 1 Wretch (double Black can be a pain), Putrefy, 2 Cabal Therapy (I had no idea what to name.)
Game two I got him to 3, then he cast Living Wish for Ravenous Baloth. I knocked him back down, when – thanks to the Cabal Coffers – he cycled Decree of Justice for 20 soldiers. Game one I didn’t even see White mana.
Here’s his decklist:
2 Death Grasp
4 Consume Spirit
3 Putrefy
4 Living Wish
3 Decree of Justice
4 Pernicious Deed
3 Mutilate
4 Duress
3 Innocent Blood
3 Chainer’s Edict
4 Windswept Heath
4 Wooded Foothills
4 Overgrown tomb
4 Cabal Coffers
1 Temple Garden
10 Swamp
Sideboard
4 Withered Wretch
3 Engineered Plague
1 Kataki, War’s Wage
1 Maga, Traitor to Mortals
1 Duplicant
1 Visara the Dreadful
1 Boseiju, Who Shatters All
1 Ravenous Baloth
1 Genesis
1 Tainted Field
Interesting. Justin came in 33rd. This deck should certainly crush creature decks, but I’m not sure how it matches up against decks with counterspells.
Round Four: Matt Fristad – Zombie Bidding
Yes, it really was Zombie Bidding. Any thoughts of being able to sneak in at 6-2 pretty much ended at that point – I was going to have horrible tie-breakers. I was playing for fun. Game was not close – turn one Birds, turn two Sword of Fire and Ice, turn three Phantom Centaur, equip and win. A mono-black deck has some trouble with a 7/5 pro black creature that draws cards.
Game two was about the same, but I had Withered Wretch early and Pernicious Deed in hand. I had little pressure, and he eventually got the mana to cast Patriarch’s Bidding – but had no zombies in the graveyard. Phantom Centaur made this a cakewalk.
Round Five: Justin Stone, Slide
I expected to see four main archetypes at the top tables: Slide, CAL, Tog and Boros. The Phantom Centaurs were in the deck for Tog and Boros – and the Withered Wretches were there for Tog, Slide and CAL. If they wanted to use cycling lands and Life from the Loam, they were going to have to wish for them.
Game one, my hand had a lawnmower elf, Cabal Therapy, Withered Wretch, Call, Wastes and Forests. I finally got my second Black mana source on turn 7 – after my opponent had cast Life from the Loam three times.
Sideboard: – 2 Putrefy, -2 Wild Mongrel, – 2 Jitte, +3 Naturalizes, + 1 Wretch, +2 Duress
Game two I had the Wretch and some dudes – but he dropped a Loxodon Hierarch on turn 4 and 2. I killed them, but he had Witness and Loam action going, while the Wretch was stuck in my hand until too late again.
Round Six: Matt Ely – Elfball, sort of.
I was definitely playing in the just-for-fun section now, and the games were indeed fun. Matt had Lava Spikes, but I didn’t see anything to splice to them. He played out his elves, and I played Centaurs and Trolls. All my dudes went two-for-one or better – and when I dropped Jitte, the game was, effectively, over.
Sideboarding (as if this matters to anyone): – 4 Cabal Therapy, -2 Withered Wretch, + 3 Smother, + 3 Deed.
Once again, his fast start and burn got me to low levels, but I stabilized and Deed did what Deed does to Elves. Shortly thereafter he was trampled by Elephant tokens.
I desideboarded and we played a few games for fun, but none were even close. Zombie Bidding is probably a bad choice for this meta. (Duh.)
Round Seven: Jake Nicolai – G/W/B aggro Bob
Game one was very close, but I won this by getting both Swords on a Bird and flying over for a lot of cards. He had an Armadillo Cloak on Troll. It was very close.
Sideboard: – 4 Cabal Therapy, – 3 Withered Wretch, +3 Smother, + 2 Naturalize, + 2 Deed.
Games two and three were brutal. He dropped the big guys faster than I could – and I had to trade elephant tokens for Hierarchs and Brushhoppers. His Vinelashers came out turn 2 and got fat quickly. I had to make some suboptimal trades and never saw the cards (Deed, Smother) that could have saved me. Towards the end, Deed would have won the game – but I drew Mongrel. The match finally ended when I had one life left and had to cast Dark Confident to chump. He just passed the turn, and I revealed Call of the Herd.
The three-color decks are amazing when the mana works. In this match, his mana worked. For a decklist – just look at the one that won the tournament.
Round Eight: Christina Bock – Elvish Succession
Yes, really, Elvish Succession. I had some big advantages: I recognized her (not a lot of women wearing bright pink Packers hats at the PTQ), I knew approximately what she was playing from seeing her earlier in the day, and I used to play her deck a lot. She got a fast start, I stabilized at four life, then Birds + Sword + Wretch swiftly destroyed her board. Elvish Succession is all about slow graveyard recursion, and Wretch ended that threat, while a herd of elephants overshadowed all her creatures except the Baloths. After sideboarding, I had Deeds, and the games (including a few for fun) were even more lopsided.
A few quick comments on the deck:
Phantom Centaur: Solid against Boros and Tog. About the only things that kill them are Wraths (or attrition.) This is not just my opinion – the winning deck had some.
Withered Wretch: really good – if you can get the Black mana to actually cast them. The winning deck ran all 4.
Chrome Mox: I hated this. Way too often I ended up having to remove a card I wanted. I don’t think the acceleration is worth the card disadvantage – but remember where I finished. However, if I play this again, the Mox will become a fetchland.
Viridian Zealot: It killed Heartbeats, Armadillo Cloaks, Jitte – and beat down on occasion. I really like having Disenchant effects maindeck, but not if they are dead cards.
Enough of my tourney report – I suck, let’s move on.
A couple players ran G/W decks with Armadillo Cloaks and Vinelasher Kudzu. These stayed close to the top tables all day – and at least one player was still in contention when he had to leave to beat the snowstorm. Here’s a version that ended up 18th.
G/W Kudzu
Rashad Miller
4 Anurid Brushopper
4 Vinelasher Kudzu
4 Watchwoolf
3 Troll Ascetic
3 Mystic Enforcer
2 Loxodon Hierarch
3 Eternal Witness
4 Armadillo Cloak
2 Steelshaper’s Gift
1 Umezawa’s Jitte
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Sword of Light and Shadow
3 Pithing Needle
4 Chrome Mox
4 Windswept Heath
4 Wooded Foothills
2 Flooded Strand
3 Temple Garedn
3 Forest
2 Plains
1 Suncress Prairire
1 Mikokoro, Center of the Sea
1 Vitu-Ghazi, the City Tree
Another comment on the format – everything is being played. The TO’s website lists a couple dozen archetypes, both highly competitive and less so – and a ton of people showed up sporting blast-from-the-past decks. You can play Fires of Yavimaya / Shivan Wurm decks again. You may not win the event, but you should have fun.
Here’s a deck that was both blast for the past and competitive, finishing 20th.
U/W Control
Noah Swartz
4 Force Spike
4 Counterspell
2 Absorb
3 Fact or Fiction
3 Sensei’s Divining Top
3 Renewed Faith
3 Decree of Justice
3 Wrath of God
3 Akroma’s Vengeance
3 Echoing Truth
2 Cunning Wish
2 Eternal Dragon
2 Meloku, the Clouded Mirror
10 Island
5 Plains
4 Flooded Strand
3 Adarkar Wastes
2 Temple of the False God
Sideboard
3 Meddling Mage
3 Damping Matrix
2 Sphere of Law
1 Disenchant
1 Arcane Laboratory
1 Rule of Law
1 Opportunity
1 Absorb
1 Orim’s Chant
1 Pulse of the Fields
Next up, here’s a tuned version of the pile I built. This deck finished 11th. He has four Wretches maindeck, but not the Phantom Centaurs.
G/B Bob
Tyler Clatanoff
2 Chrome Mox
2 Umezawa’s Jitte
2 Sword of Fire and Ice
4 Putrefy
4 Duress
4 Cabal Therapy
3 Call of the Herd
4 Birds of Paradise
2 Llanowar Elves
4 Withered Wretch
4 Troll Ascetic
4 Dark Confidant
2 Hypnotic Specter
5 Forest
5 Swamp
4 Overgrown Tomb
4 Llanowar Wastes
1 Wooded Foothills
Sideboard:
4 Pithing Needle
1 Call of the Herd
2 Skeletal Scrying
3 Smother
3 Naturalize
2 Stinkweed Imp
Finally, the list I referred to earlier. This list is obviously not tuned, but I give anyone that builds their own decks and plays them a lot of credit. Evan has a lot of interesting combos built into the deck. They may not all work consistently, or necessarily play well together (Bob – Draco – Ow!), but he put some thought into the deck, and he did finish 3-5.
Dark Draco
Evan Nimmer
1 Undermine
4 Counterspell
2 Circu, Dimir Lobotomist
2 Dark Confidant
2 Draco
2 Cabal Ritual
3 Dralnu’s Pet
2 Umezawa’s Jitte
1 Cranial Extraction
4 Hypnotic Specter
2 Megrim
2 Smother
2 Cabal Therapy
2 Dimir Infiltrator
2 Dimir Signet
2 Chrome Mox
2 Duress
1 Sensei’s Divining Top
1 Lore Broker
1 Cruel Edict
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Doomsday Specter
2 Underground River
2 Polluted Delta
7 Swamp
7 Island
Sideboard
1 Lightning Greaves
2 Withered Wretch
2 Moriok Rigger
2 Mnemonic Nexus
2 Duress
2 Last Gasp
2 Cabal Therapy
2 Hideous Laughter
Some things leap out. Draco and Dark Confidant. Megrim. Doomsday Specter in a deck short of creatures. More importantly, eighteen lands, two moxen, 2 Cabal Ritual and a pair of Signets – not much mana for a control deck. All the two-ofs look strange, until you consider that he can transmute for most of them. All that aside, some of the combos, like Dranu’s Pet and Draco, would be really cool if he can pull it off.
Remember, we all start somewhere, and I applaud Evan for a decent finish with a truly unusual deck.
Extended has a few short weeks to run. If you can get to a tournament, go. I had more fun playing at this PTQ that at any tournament in a long time.