Zorks Tournament Report (Part 2) by Chris Reilkoff

 After ages upon AGES of tense waiting (okay, a few days. Sue me!), here's part 2 of Chris Reilkoff's Gen-Con report!

Round 5: Morganis Blackvein – Undead Frost Mage Midrange – Corey Burkheart

Corey Burkheart has been playing mid-range Mage decks for the last year of tournaments, so when I saw Morganis Blackvein I was not surprised. I figured his deck contained Dethvir (his reason for being undead), Water Elemental (his reason for being frost), numerous Counterspells, and possibly Flickers From the Past to replay cards like Mystic Denial, Brittilize, and Mana Sapphire. I knew this would be a very difficult match for me, but I decided to go for a game plan of using Blackout Truncheon and Lord Jorach to play ally control, while Vuz’din would be used to keep him off his healing and card drawing. Kel’Thuzad would likely be dead in this matc-hup, due to Corey’s love for Mystic Denial, while Carnage and Deadliness would struggle to deal with his Dethvirs.

Won Die Roll (The first of the tournament!)

Game 1:

I started with a hand of Broderick and Blackout Truncheon and was was satisfied, as I could use both to clear his Water Elemental as well as get near fatal damage on any Dethvir he played. After getting some early damage in with Broderick, Corey played out Marksman Glous and Water Elemental on consecutive turns. I shifted to the control player in the match-up, but Corey seemed to have unlimited steam. Over the course of the game, I continued to slowly take damage randomly from Blizzard, Broderick, and Vanessa Fairgraves and could never get the board completely under control. I managed to get a Raptor and Boots soft lock (while using Vile Aggression to destroy his resources) but when Corey started top decking for an answer, he got his For Great Honor to hit a Spell Suppression. Unfortunately, his ally suite was very similar to the Death Knight deck I had some problems with, but he had the important interrupts to stop my KT finisher.

Game 2:

While my hand wasn't perfect, I had Broderick, Vuz’din, and Lord Jorach, which I hoped would allow me to pressure Corey enough that he must play a reactive game. My early Broderick beat down with his twin on turn 3, forcing him to Blizzard early to slow me down. When I played my Vuz’din next turn, I figured I was sitting pretty.

Little did I know Corey had Terokk’s Shadowstaff in his deck from his sideboard. I got completely blown out when he stole Vuz’din on turn 5, and then took the Lord Jorach I played the next turn. Corey quickly beat me with my own allies, and I was left shaking my head.

I take consolation that I didn’t make significant play mistakes, and I could play well for the rest of the tournament. This match-up was terrible for me, but at least I was playing better

Record: 3-2; 6-5 in games

Round 6: Zagrun Wolfeye – Shaman Orcs – Dan Payne

When my opponent put down Zagrun, I admit I was a bit puzzled. Noticing the hero had a seemingly “blank” flip, I assumed he chose Zagrun because he was Enhancement (Feral Spirit) and Orc (Kazamon and possibly Orgrimmar). Even when you are unsure what your opponent is playing in his deck, you can make assumptions on his card choices based on the fact that he is playing a seemingly unplayable hero.

Lost Die Roll (at least I was not playing in a Craps tournament)

Game 1: My opening hand contained no Zalan Ragewind, and I was quickly punished for it when he plays a Signet of Manifested Pain on turn 2, followed by a Tuskarr Kite on turn 3. It was clear I wouldn’t be winning the attrition war, so I hoped to hold on long enough that he got to near fatal with his own Signet. My mount kept me in the game for a while, as I struggled to trade my allies into his signet tokens. On turn 8 when he played a Garrosh Hellscream with 4 tokens in play, the damage race of 18-16 was over immediately.

Game 2:

With the damage race being so close last game, I decided to switch gears and tried to play as the beat down deck. From what I saw, his deck was a mid-range version of Orcs, rather than the more aggressive style I expected. I got a hand that had both Swift Raptor and Boots of Utter Darkness to ensure that my strategy would work. By turn 4, I had him at 11 damage, but his Voice of Reason completely changed the game. Since my deck relied on a slow eventual kill, the mend power of his shield completely neutralized me. Despite my best efforts to play beat down, he stopped it easily and forced me to play control. My outs become Zalan Ragewind to kill the shield, or a Kel’Thuzad for a strike out victory. Luckily he never found an answer to my Boots/Mount combo, so when I finally drew Kel’Thuzad on what felt like turn 20, I chose the Rehgar in play, the Rehgar from his hand, and a Garrosh Hellscream from his deck. My opponent died the next turn, as his only hope to win was me leaving him with a Rehgar either in hand or in play to steal back his own Garrosh.

Game 3:

I looked up at the clock, and see there were only 6 minutes left in the round. After seeing the Voice of Reason last game, I was skeptical that I could kill him in time. I knew that I had get some early damage on him if I was to win this match at all. I mulliganed into Boots and Mount, and I knew immediately I had a chance. When my opponent played a Signet of Manifested pain on turn 2, I get immediately excited that he is going to put damage on himself while I sat behind elusiveness. This indeed happened, but surprisingly I was able to deal fatal damage in time, as my opponent had no answers for my turn 3 Vuz’din and turn 4 Lord Jorach. It seemed that his Signet was the only offensive play he had, so I chalked up this victory to a bad mulligan hand.

Record: 4-2, 8-6 in games

Round 7: Lord Benjamin Tremendouson –Death Wish – Niles Rowland

Needing only one more match win to ensure that I made the draft the next day, I did mental back flips when I saw Niles Rowland lay down his hero. This match-up is insanely good for me, so I feel like I am a lock for the next day of play. Combine my overconfidence with my fatigue and the fact that this took place in the feature match area, and it creates a situation where I punt away the ball on the first possession of the game.

Won Die Roll (Can this match-up get any easier?)

Game 1: Niles decided to play this game conservatively, making no plays in the first 4 turns of the game. I got the feeling that he was simply trying to set me up for interrupts, while avoiding playing any equipment or exhausting any resources to my Deadliness. On turn 5 when I drew a Junkboxes Needed, I decided to use the quest to clear the way to playing my Tuskarr Kite. I named ability, and saw a hand that contains Pummel, Bloody Ritual, 2 Keys to the Armory, Puncture, Shuriken of Negation, and Tanks for Everything. Knowing this match-up would be won on attrition, I discarded the Bloody Ritual and wrote down the remainder of his hand on my score sheet...

...and despite confirming my suspicions of his hand containing interrupts and writing it down to ensure I didn’t forget, I made the worst play of my WoW TCG life and immediately played out my Tuskarr Kite. Niles looked at me with confusion, and said, “Shuriken of Negation?” as he exhausted his four resources.

I immediately went on tilt as I put my Kite into the discard pile. For the rest of the game, I controlled his threats with Zalan Ragewind, but without the Lord Jorach to go with him I eventually got crushed by a Kel’Thuzad weilding a Jin’Rokh.

Game 2: With game 1 taking about 40 minutes to complete, most of my team mates made their way over to the feature match area to watch how I was doing. Seeing their support helped me calm down from my terrible game 1, and I got back into the match. Game 2 went exactly the way I want it to. I was able to play Lord Jorach and Zalan Ragewind multiple times to battle my way through his Rocket Launcher and constant Reconstructs, while destroying his resources with Band of Vile aggression to keep him off Kel’Thuzad. About two minutes before time was called in the round, I finally dealt fatal damage to Niles, with my hero unscathed.

Game 3: Going into sudden death with Death Wish was scary, as I knew my opponent can easily get a Guardians’s Plate Bracers and prevent me from dealing any damage whatsoever. I knew I had one chance in this game, and that was getting a Broderick Langforth into play and hoping he doesn’t get his Bracers. We both took a mulligan looking for our ace card, but neither of us got what we are looking for. In my opening hand, I had Purloin, Darkness Calling, and Swift Raptor, giving me a few possible plays:

-I could Purloin on turn 1 to take his possible Death wish, so he couldn’t simply play Death Wish on 2 and armor on 3 and win the game.

-I could play Swift Raptor on turn 1 so I could complete Darkness Calling on turn 2, increasing my chances of being able to discard Broderick for 1 damage

-I could play nothing on turn 1, hoping that Nile’s made a misplay by playing Death Wish on turn 2 and attacking my hero (putting 3 damage on each of us). I could then play mount and my Darkness Calling to heal 2 damage, and win the game 3 damage to 1.

Remembering the Death Knight match-up from earlier, I decided to make the play that would prevent me from losing if my opponent had the nuts. I purloined to take his Death Wish, but took note of the Smash in his hand. On my turn two I played a facedown resource, keeping my mount and quest in hand, hoping Niles would top deck a Death Wish and misplay it. Instead, Niles drew Keys to the Armory to find a Netherbane, and I am left with 3 draws to find and discard a Broderick. I fail at finding my one drop, and Niles was able to attack for 2 in sudden death to win the unwinnable match.

Record: 4-3, 9-8 in games

Round 8: Auryna the Lightsworn –Paladin Torch of Holy Fire – Michael Barnes

I was on complete tilt after losing to Death Wish, so I was sure that I was not the nicest guy to my round 8 opponent. I assumed my opponent chose Auryna for synergy with Argent Crusade allies, putting me on thinking this was a Paladin Fordring deck. A Band of Vile Aggression should be all I need to win, if that was the case.

Won Die Roll (Even the Dice Gods knew I needed to cheer up after the last round)

Game 1:

I started off the game with a Purloin and saw that my opponent was actually playing an Aldor Torch of Holy Fire deck. My strategy changed significantly, as Torch decks are significantly more mid-range than the Fordring deck I was expecting. Boot of Utter Darkness immediately went from “easy resource” to “must get in play”. My opponent got me to about 10 damage as I adjusted, but when he played a Myriam Starcaller, I was completely blown away. The Myriam dealt 10 damage to me before I drew a Carnage, and my opponent was able to draw another Torch of Holy Fire to 2 me to death.

Game 2:

I brought in my Enveloping Shadows to help give me untargetable against the Torch, and to slow down his early allies of Xavar, Kaldel, and Giralo. The plan became to set up a Boots/Mount/EnvelopingShadows board in order to reach a Kel’Thuzad finish. Zalan Ragewind became essential in the match-up, as Auryna must exhaust in order to activate the Torch. My opponent started off good with Xavar and Torch, and transitioned well into a mid-game of Myriam Starcaller. Despite being able to get me to about 24 damage (I never got my Boots of Utter Darkness) I was able to eventually clear the board, and Kel’Thuzad for the win.

Game 3: Again, there was only about 3 or 4 minutes left in round when we started this game. My opponent, having a faster deck than me, should guarantee him the victory here. When time is called, I had a total board lock-down of Boots of Utter Darkness, Double Enveloping Shadows, and a Lord Jorach against his board of 3 or 4 weenies, but there was no way I can deal 15 damage in two turns to win the match. Had the game gone on 5 or 6 more turns, I should have easily been able to take the match and go on to draft day. Unfortunately, my deck’s inability to win quickly cost me the match.

Record: 4-4, 10-10 in games

At the end of the tournament, I ended at a mediocre 4-4, yielding me 74^th place. While I didn’t get to draft, the deck did what it was supposed to: get me into the money so I could pay for my flight.

Looking back, I do not regret my deck choice at all. I actually felt it performed pretty well, given the level I was playing at throughout the day. I did poorly not because of poor preparation or deck choice, but rather poor piloting caused by extreme fatigue.

While it is easy to say I should have played the Pidge deck my teammate Ian played to 2^nd place, I am glad I chose Zorks. Under extreme fatigue, it is ideal to play the deck you know best so you can autopilot the matchups you know well. Had I been playing any other deck, it is highly likely I would have made more mistakes and done much worse. When in doubt for any tournament, play what you know best.

In my upcoming articles, I will take a look at Zorks going into the future, as well as the lessons I have learned about taking care of your body on tournament day.

Chris “Jedion” Reilkoff is currently the top rated Canadian player in the game, and one of the primary deck builders for Team East Coast. His past successes include a top 8 at DMF Seattle, two Realm Championship top 8s, 37^th at NACC 2009, 10^th at NACC 2010, and 34^th at Worlds 2009.