The Zapped Giants Open II - 19 February 2011

The big day then. I awoke at 7am and promptly turned my alarm off as 7am is no time to be up on a Saturday. Good job I know myself well enough to set two further alarms the night before to go off before 7:20. Manchester is 80 miles away and our travelling circus consists of:

- Me
- My long-suffering wife
- Julian, aka FusionReaktor
- Alex, aka agg_toaster

Julian arrives at 8:10 and we set off to pick Alex up. Alex is located 20 miles in the wrong direction. Awesome! To top it off there are reports of snow in the direction we're heading. Thankfully the journey is completely uneventful, though it transpires that Alex has broken his elbow and has lost a lot of use in his right hand, which is ideal for a day of cards...

On the way up we discuss our decks and what we expect from the day. Based on my previous results at pretty much any big event I'm ever the pessimist. Having built a deck and done a smidge of testing, I had a last-minute crisis of faith and built three further decks that had a combined total of six games' worth of playtesting. Those decks were the Emek that double-top-8'd DMF Orlando, Martiana the Mindwrench Mill which finished 50th at the same event and the Filipino Combo Loraala deck that surfaced on the Team R.A.M.P.A.G.E blog recently (which is well worth a read).

Mage was out simply due to its weakness to Worgen; I pulled the deck out against Morgan at our local battlegrounds and while I appreciate this was a good draw, he did the following:

T1 Garet Vice
T2 Devout Aurastone Hammer, Garet Vice
T3 Stash an Heirloom Trinket, King Genn Greymane

Martiana had been taken to a Love is in the Air tournament and really struggled against decks that weren't playing lots of three- or four-ofs due to its lack of removal for lots of card types. Add to that the fact that I'd been reading Ironforge incorrectly (it says 'Put target armor or weapon card from your graveyard into hand if its cost is less than the number of Dwarves in your party.' whereas I'd been reading it as 'Put target armor or weapon card from your graveyard into hand if its cost is equal to or less than the number of Dwarves in your party.').

So I stuck with the deck I'd put together based on a well-known archetype, with my own choice of cards, all chosen for their own reasons and purposes. It had the benefit of being the deck I knew how to play best, something which Alex was very keen to point out is a Very Good Thing.

Julian had done much the same - he'd reverted his Ashnaar/Gift deck to a version that had been solid in the past in lieu of a 'better' deck. He's been playing it for a couple of months now. Alex was playing Blue Death Wish due to its lack of bad matchups and the fact that so many decks don't pack enough equipment hate to deal with it. Such as my deck, which packs precisely zero.

Which reminds me! What I settled on in the end.

Witch Doctor Koo'zar


3 Dispel Magic
4 Shadow Word: Anguish

4 Rosalyne von Erantor
4 Onnekra Bloodfang
4 Broderick Langforth
4 Bloodsoul
4 Shadowfiend
2 Trade Prince Gallywix
4 Ruby Flameblade
4 Ruby Enforcer
4 Uruka the Cutthroat
4 Twilight Vanquisher Knolan
4 Babagahnoosh the Grumpy
3 Sava'gin the Reckless
4 Cairne, Earthmother's Chosen

4 For Great Honor

Jack Fejer wrote an article for Daily Metagame which interested me - I've always loved Koo'zar and piloted him terribly at the original Zapped Giants Open during the Classic portion of the day, making use of past heavyweights such as Broan Charges-the-Fight and Kagella Shadowmark. That build contained fifteen quests (including zero For Great Honor, strangely), twelve abilities (United Front, Mist of Corrosion and Dispel Magic) and clearly not a particularly well-thought-out ally pool as I lost all my games quite handily.

I don't think the list Jack posted is particularly amazing - Eye of the Storm and Babagahnoosh don't work together at all, Crawling Claw is fun and easy to fish out of the bin, but not guaranteed to attack, and there are simply too many one-drops. That may sound crazy; I'll come back to that point when it becomes relevant.

The idea of the deck is to kill your opponent as fast as possible. Best case you'll get it done on your third turn,  but that does require something of a ridiculous hand. More often than not you'll ready all your cards on turn four with an empty hand and a mortified-looking opponent.

My two concessions to going all-out murder were the ability 'suite' included in the deck - both one-cost, instant, and designed to inelegantly destroy any roadblocks put in the good doctor's way. Turn 2 Blizzard? That's why you left your readied resource from last turn's Shadowfiend open. Mikael? Five damage on your hero is nothing compared to losing half your board. Warlock riding a horse? Zap that toothy bastard before he starts stashing Trolls and killing your guys. With those roadblocks out of the way you are free to dump the remainder of your hand on your third turn and let your opponent fret over what to do to avoid dying horribly in the immediate future.

Mist of Corrosion didn't make the cut. Despite being one of the few available answers to equipment for Priests, it more often than not didn't achieve the desired effect - it's clearly obvious that you're playing it because you want whatever is on the board dead, so opponents would almost always choose to discard when possible, making it something of a wasted card and resource.

Following Alex's in-car pep talk I was feeling a little more confident that Koo'zar was the right choice. Arriving at the store we learned we had a turnout of 43, and would play eight rounds - I made it my aim to come out with a 4-4 or greater record, and set out to pimp my wares (i.e. trade folder full of shit) amongst the others gathered while we awaited the start of the opening round. I picked up the final Sava'gin for my deck from Liam 'Trothael' from Stoke, sleeved up, registered my deck and checked it several times, and proceeded to get nervous.

Then the pairings were called.

Round 1: vs Will Booker, playing Velindra Sepulchre (1-0)

The first thing you notice about the tables at Fanboy3 is that there's never *quite* enough room to fit all your stuff on - your playmat dangles off the end of the table, you have nowhere to put your dice, your deck or your graveyard, and then someone sits next to you and makes it even more difficult!

Will looked uneasy upon seeing my hero. I didn't feel too great either - as I mention above I'd got tech against Mages but hadn't been able to test it simply due to not being able to find a Mage-playing opponent. I win the roll and draw into a hand containing a Dispel Magic and six other cards, and I'm good to go.

My plan is to drop a T1 Rosalyne, a T2 Shadowfiend and leave the readied resource open. Unfortunately Will turns my Shadowfiend into a Shadowsheep using Velindra's flip, plonks a Blizzard down and I lose the pet. Cursing myself for my greediness (I have another one-drop in hand that I should have played over Shadowfiend, being mindful of the flip) I vomit the remainder of my hand into play (no Babagahnoosh - I thought there was but my mind is playing tricks on me!) on my third turn and swing for fatal on the fourth.

Will would later make Top 8 - good going sir!

Round 2: vs Ronny Schmertosch, playing Souldrinker Bogmara (1-1)

Ronny is part of the German 'Bootcamp L.E.' team, three of whom have made the trip over to Manchester to play today. I'm not feeling too confident facing his hero - having played the deck myself I know it's going to boil down to who has the best 'turn' - first turn for Ronny, third for me.

Ronny wins the roll, drops a Bloodsoul, steals my Shadowfiend out of my hand thanks to Lesson of the Nether, flips his hero and then drops two Twilight Vanquisher Knolan. That'll do nicely I guess. I make a go of turn 3, dropping my entire hand and spending turn 4 trading my guys in to Ronny's, leaving him at about 22 damage and me at 24, me with a Babagahnoosh on table and his board, finally, cleared, but with a single card in hand.

He untaps, and shows me the Ruby Enforcer he is holding. That's going in to my face then I take it.

Round 3: vs Anssi Alkio, playing Jeremiah Karvok (2-1)

Having played a couple of friendlies with Ronny I'm confident that the Bogmara matchup is not 'bad' for Koo'zar, merely more of a crapshoot depending on who draws the better hand. The Warlock has the better long game thanks to Hesriana and Bloody Ritual but it's the bits in between Turn 1 and 4 that Koo'zar really excels at.

Pragmatic, I march up to the new listings to see who I'm playing, and outwardly sigh, bumping into Alex on the way to my table.

"I have to play Anssi," I tell him. "I'm fucked!"

Anssi is the current EUCC champion, hailing from Finland. I was surprised to see him turning up in Manchester but it turns out he's studying here for a bit and figured it would be worth turning up for! I figure this deck will be somewhat similar to Stuart Wright's DMF-winning deck and that I really need to watch out for the Dreadsteed when it invariably arrives. We shuffle up, me being very jealous of Anssi's mad shuffling skills while I throw parts of my deck on the floor thanks to the new sleeves I'm using.

I win the roll and come out the gates, stashing Cairne and playing Broderick; Anssi returns the favour with his own Cairne. I run the team into his hero, play a Shadowfiend, reclaim my resource and pass, hoping to see the horse this turn. Anssi untaps, trades his token for mine, and drops a Dreadsteed, right into my Shadow Word: Anguish-shaped trap. I struggle to contain a grin. Anssi appears to not really care, and passes to me.

The traditional turn 3 hand-vomit is not particularly strong this time around but Babagahnoosh hits the table, I discard a Uruka and find Anssi lacking in further horses. He untaps, stares at the board for a moment and shrugs before picking up his cards.

We play a couple more games to pass the time (Koo'zar has a habit of leaving you with spare time each and every round), me keeping a hand without Anguish on purpose in the second game to see how bad it would be (the answer: quite) and getting back to business in the third.

It was at this point that I started to get excited. Not only had I defeated the reigning EUCC champion but it looked like my choice of tech cards were really starting to pay off. I bumped into Julian after his game finished, barely able to contain my glee, before trudging out to Tescos to get dinner.

Bonus Round: vs Tesco Fish Sushi Platter (game loss)

The Sushi was surprisingly good considering the trend for supermarket sushi to be ass, but I did manage to spray soy sauce all over the table and my t-shirt. A quick cleanup later and we were back to the grind.

Round 4: vs a person with a deck (3-1)

I'm afraid I can't remember anything about this. If you are reading then I'm really sorry - I'm hoping Ross (who TO'd the event) can provide me your name and deck in the event that it'll jog my memory somewhat.

I won anyway.

Round 5: vs Tom Battcock, playing a 3-drop Shadowmeld Protector on turn 2 (Lunira Swiftbreath) (4-1)

"Perfect - exactly the sort of deck I can deal with!" - a not entirely convincing exclamation from Tom as we shuffled up. I took a guess that this would be a version of the Ashnaar/Gift deck that Julian was playing, and given my testing against that, figured I shouldn't have much trouble thanks to my trusty Shadow Word. Tom won the roll, I kept a hand containing said Word, and confidently dropped some guys on my first turn before Tom stumped me a little, flipping Lunira, discarding a Druid and playing Treewarden Tolven on his second turn.

I had to take a brief pause to think about how I was going to deal with this the best way - I couldn't take it out by choice but it was going to eat my Shadowfiend for free, and I was just going to have to suck it up considering the lack of Ruby Flameblade in hand to give it the extra point of damage. Tom let the first Shadowfiend through and left Tolven ready for the time being, before eating him on the second time of asking. By then it was too late though - I'd done the usual turn 3 stuff and a 2/4 wasn't going to stop me now, even if I'd dumped the Shadow Word in the bin in disgust thanks to Babagahnoosh.

Round 6: vs George Randall, playing Pidge Filthfinder (4-2)

By this point the field was starting to thin a little. I was sitting on table four, being told that six wins would be a lock for top 8, and wondering how on earth people knew this information after only five rounds. I'm so used to staring at the bottom half of a table that it's never really been relevant for me!

My opponent seems pretty happy to be so high up the table, whereas I'm racking my brains trying to remember what the average Pidge deck plays. I decide the primary target should be the horse whilst keeping an eye out for Mikael, and am lucky enough to have an Anguish in hand along with a For Great Honor to help me dig out another one if necessary. The rest of my hand is one-drops, which seems like a good idea at the time.

I quickly learn this is not the case. George wins the roll and drops a Dreadsteed on turn 2, and I bolt the horse, play a Broderick, and pass. My third turn involves dealing with a Mikeal with a second Shadow Word, and I empty my hand without even having to flip. I then realise I'm in massive trouble. No hand, not much board, and I've already used my lone quest.

A Weldon Barov is summoned up on turn 4, played on turn 5, joined by a Halford Wyrmbane on turn 6 and Jhuunash on turn 7. I kill the Weldon and the Halford but eventually go down to a couple of attacks from the felguard as I fail to topdeck anything good enough to help me push through the last six or so damage I need.

I bid George the best of luck for the rest of the tournament and for the first time don't offer a friendly - I'm cursing myself for keeping a bad hand and go and have a mini sulk. Going into that game I felt the favourite, which would put me 5-1, one game away from Top 8; now I needed a 100% record to guarantee a spot. Something I'd never before achieved or expected to achieve was now taunting me. What a bastard.

On the plus side, George ended up in the top 8 after Swiss.

Round 7: vs A man from Huddersfield whose name I forget, playing Everlasting Cold Mage (5-2)

Another Mage - could be worse. It was great to see some of the Huddersfield guys turn up - Patriot Games in Huddersfield has a thriving WoWTCG community and there were two representatives for the store present today.

Truth be told I had anticipated more Control Mage so having an Everlasting Cold dropped on me on turn 1 reminded me that not all Mages are created equal. Either way, like most Mage games I've played with this deck, I dispel a Blizzard and then win by face-eating.

Round 8: vs Loz, playing Aggro Death Wish (6-2)

"I read your blog!" were not words I was expecting to hear from anyone today - however it appears my overlong rambling has an audience of one, down in Dover. Hi Loz!

I'd already told Loz that I hoped to avoid him at all costs earlier in the day after learning of his choice of deck. Guardian's Plate Bracers is quite a speed-bump for Koo'zar, but with no way of getting rid of it efficiently enough, you just have to be content with trying extra-hard to run dudes at your opponent instead and hoping they can't soak up too much damage.

Luckily enough it wasn't much of an issue as I kept a strong hand only to find Loz dropping a solitary Broderick on his first turn, compared to my Rosalyne and Cairne token. The token took out Broderick on my next turn and I started piling on the hate with a Shadowfiend and a couple of free Knolans.

Loz landed the Greaves of Ancient Evil on turn 3 after a turn 2 Death Wish and started to systematically pick apart my board, before dropping a second Death Wish on turn 4. I was preparing to dispel the first one and get a free attack on his board but unfortunately it was not to be - all my guys died to an activation on my turn, and to make it worse, I forgot to attack with my hero. Oops.

Nevertheless, a bloodied Babagahnoosh remained on the table along with a weenie or two, and Loz sat at 22 damage. He drops a nightmare card - Cloak of the Shadowed Sun, killing off two or three more of my weenies - and is forced to pass turn. Babagahnoosh alone wouldn't be able to kill him, but the second one I tore off the top of my deck would next turn, despite my best efforts to screw it all up by mistakenly putting the first one in the bin after attacking, thinking Death Wish had been activated, which would have killed it. We realised our error pretty quickly and Loz extended the hand, unable to deal with a second grumpy Gnome, even if he could take the first one out.

"Make sure you write something nice about me."

So that was that - six wins, guaranteed Top 8. Despite this I was still pretty nervous and I had to sit through Ross distributing packs to those outside the top 8, in reverse order. It turns out that in Manchester, if you don't hit top 8, you get things thrown at your face.

I'd finished fifth after the Swiss rounds which was a ridiculous achievement for me. I was to play Oliver Gehrmann (AKA Soulwarrior) in the quarter-final, another of the German Bootcamp. After a short and nervy break, we shuffled up for our first game.

Quarter Finals - vs Oliver Gehrmann, playing Erondra Frostmoon

We both mulliganed - I was lacking punch and Oliver was clearly unhappy with whatever he'd drawn, before commenting on whether we really had to play these games or whether we could just shuffle and chat for an hour. I suggested we weren't at much risk of going to time, and eventually we cut each others decks and took a peek at what we'd been given.

For me, it was good. For Oliver, perhaps not so much. I was able to lead off with a guy on turn 1, a Shadowfiend, a guy and two Knolans on turn 2, and the rest of my hand on turn 3, including Babagahnoosh. Shadowfiend retreated to my hand and Oliver looked visibly distressed, but felt a little better after ripping Corpse Explosion from his deck, and happily exploding whatever ally he could get his hands on.

Even then, this still left me with 11 damage on board, in the shape of two Knolans and a heavily wounded Babagahnoosh. "That's not really helped me, has it?" came across the table - the answer was no as I topdecked a second Shadowfiend, sent in the guys and then played both pets out to hit 31 damage.

"Ahh, meiner!" was the response to Oliver's team-mate Christian appearing with a timely Tesco Knockoff Red Bull. "We call him the energy drink king - he has tasted them all". I attempt to cut all of the best cards to the bottom of Oliver's deck, but he keeps his opening hand and I'm hoping it's just because of a horse or a Mikael or something.

Instead, it's my worst nightmare. He lays an Extract of Necromantic Power on his first turn and all of a sudden we've got a real game on our hands. Thankfully my hand is pretty sexy all the same and I have an explosive first three turns, finding another Knolan on turn 2 and Baba on turn 3. I'm swinging for game on turn 4 - Oliver has hit 28 damage, I have a Knolan preparing to turn sideways to finish the job, and from out of nowhere - Blackout Truncheon. Shit. It's okay though - I've still got Shadowfiend and one more swing will do it. In the meantime, Oliver goes to town tidying up all my 3ATK allies with his new favourite weapon, soaking up the damage with the Extract; I fail to topdeck anything relevant. On turn 5 he kills a guy and plays a Tuskarr Kite, turn 6 kills another guy and plays a Zempre, Grace of Elune and at this point I am pleading with my deck to give me a Shadow Word: Anguish or a Dispel Magic - just something that will let me stop Zempre from doing her thing and let me push through the one final damage, using the few dudes remaining on board, and my in-hand Shadowfiend.

It never comes.

We shuffle up once again and Oliver snap keeps. I start off strongly with a Broderick and I see the Turn 1 Extract again, but this time it's backed up with a second on the next turn. I'm lacking in melee damage in the deck but manage to drop a Uruka and a Ruby Enforcer, but they are swiftly despatched with the help of Mikael and I never really recover. I deal ten whole damage for the entire game and eventually just give up in despair after attacking Erondra rather than the exhausted Zempre on the table with my Baba. There's clearly no way out from here.

I came to this tournament fearing three things... Dreadsteed, Blizzard, and Guardian's Plate Bracers. I have answers for two, raw power for the third. The Extract is worse than all three of them. Double Extract is like swallowing down your own sick.

So the Top 8 dream came crashing down, one point of damage away from a quarter final date with Jack Fejer, also playing Extract of Necromantic Power. Oliver loses to Jack and is defeated in his semi final, coming fourth overall; Jack goes on to win it, and as we'd both be in Stoke the day after, I challenge him to an impromptu game the next day to see what could have been.

I receive five packs of Worldbreaker (three of which containing rares I want, or rares I can trade for stuff - a great hit rate) and a Priest deckbox for my trouble. Time to put my feet up for a bit and reflect on a good day's work.

I'm (obviously) really pleased with how the deck performed; if I had to make a change to it I'd consider playing the fourth Dispel Magic simply due to the fact that killing a Tuskarr Kite in the games that go a bit longer can make all the difference. As it stands though I'm over the moon with the result, still don't quite believe it's happened, and have had a bloody great time.

Hopefully the turnout of 44 (Lammy turned up after two rounds, took two game losses and proceeded to win his remaining six games; he only missed top 8 due to scooping to his friends to improve their records, and so he could spend the evening playing Yu-Gi-Oh) is considered enough to run another one of these in a few months.

I'll definitely be there if it happens, and I've no doubt I'll be back to my old losing ways!