"From The Battle Zone" Tourney Report:
Phal Control at the Invitational Part II
September 22, 2005

What I enjoyed the most about playing Phal Control at my first Invitational was that no one expected the deck. When some players saw Light blockers they assumed I was playing a Diamond Cutter deck. When they saw 4 different colors of mana fan out they didn’t know what my deck was meant to do until Phal dropped. I went undefeated at the tournament. It was one of those wins you let yourself feel happy about because you ran a rogue deck and it surpassed your expectations (despite being flawed, lol).  

But, happiness is often short-lived. Although Phal Control went undefeated at 2 local tourneys, I had to run the deck at another big event to see if I could remain consistent with it. People bring decks they feel will give them the best chances of winning to big events, so my deck would be pitted against stiffer competition again. Next came the Thundercharge 5 Civilizations Tournament. Phal Control posted another undefeated record. To celebrate I gave away more than half my box of Thundercharge packs to my playgroup and some out-of-towners.  

Still, I craved for a drastically different dueling gauntlet. So, I drove 6 hours away from home to play in another Invitational. I didn’t have “the surprise factor” or the luxury of knowing the expected field of decks. For one, I had already gone through the trouble of explaining how my deck worked here on Pojo, and several opponents had read my article. Secondly, while I did correctly predict that the meta would be largely Aggro/Rush and Aggro-Control, I didn’t anticipate a certain W/F Aggro deck splashing Holy Awe. In fact, Holy Awe was splashed in a great number of decks that normally wouldn’t run the spell like D/W/F Control. Third, Paladin was in like everything! There was so much hate, and I made some questionable deck choices. Not a good mix. But, those were exactly the circumstances that would put my deck through the challenge I desired. 

Phal Control

Created & played by: cecillbill
Event: Invitational IL, Niles, August 27, 2005
Ranking: 2^nd Place

Quantity	Creatures/Spells	Mana Cost	Civilization
4	Sarius, Vizier of Suppression	2
2	Emerald Grass	2
3	Senatine Jade Tree	3
3	Phantom’s Dragon Flame	3
3	Aqua Hulcus	3
3	Energy Stream	3
2	Crystal Memory	4
2	Thrash Crawler	4
3	Locomotiver	4
3	Magris, Vizier of Magnetism	4
3	Phal Eega, Dawn Guardian	5
3	Corile	5
2	Hopeless Vortex	5
3	Forbos, Sanctum Guardian Q	6
2	Holy Awe	6
4	Terror Pit	6
4	Burst Shot	6
2	Apocalypse Vise	7
1	Lost Soul	7
1	Bolmeteus Steel Dragon	7
1	Twin-Cannon Skyterror	7
1	Bazagazeal Dragon	8

 

Mana Cost	Quantity Visual	Quantity Numerical
1		0
2	IIIIII	6
3	IIIIIIIIIIII	12
4	IIIIIIIIII	10
5	IIIIIIII	8
6	IIIIIIIIIIIII	13
7	IIIII	5
8	I	1

 

Civilization	# Of Creatures	# Of Spells	Total
	3	9	12
	3	7	10
	18	2	20
	8	5	13
			55

I run ugly decks. Some might even say horrible decks. But, having mapped it out, I know how to play it. This version has the same game plan as past versions, but some answers & threats are different. It’s tailored to fit the meta I projected the deck would face, with safe choices included because too much “anti-X” focus can lead to problems when I don’t face the “X” deck. Wacky things/counts are calls I made given my thoughts on the meta. Anyways, things weren’t too bad for me at my second Invitational… 

Swiss Rounds – About As Much Fun As A Six-Hour Root Canal

I was paired against several players who packed the type of threats & answers that can give Phal Control a real toothache. Yippie! Sorry folks, but I don’t remember names: 

Round One – Water/Fire Aggro w/Awe splash

Opponent’s Cards: Holy Awe, Crystal Paladin, Aqua Hulcus, Spiral Gate, Energy Stream, Deadly Fighter Braid Claw, Rikabu the Dismantler, Choya the Unheeding, Kooc Pollon, and other low mana stuffs  

Intro: As soon as I saw Water mana drop I knew to expect Paladin. Fire speed + Water’s draw + Paladin = the way this Aggro deck trumps Control. When the first Awe hit the dirt, I really felt the pressure. Paladin + Awe = my 11 blockers are a serious liability.  

Game one goes to me, but with an uphill battle due to Paladin and Awe. Very annoying thing here was Choya forcing the break/block depending on what was running shotgun with it—evil when Pyrofighter/Rikabu were the other hitters. He drew into his threats with Hulcus/Stream, so top decking him wasn’t a permanent thing. I won this thing with like no shields to my name.  

Game two was another struggle. I kept his field at bay, discarding Paladin & Awe from his hand. He’s got me down to no shields, but can’t connect with any more anti-defense answers. Forbos searches for sweepers, Phal recycled sweepers and Stream/Memory, and I set up my field for the OTK.  

Winner: Me, 2-0  

Round Two – Darkness/Fire Aggro-Control

Opponent’s Cards: Photocide, Lost Soul, Tornado Flame, Terror Pit, Ghost Touch, Critical Blade, Pyrofighter Magnus, Locomotiver, Rikabu Dismantler, Twin-Cannon Skyterror, Proclamation of Death, Rikabu’s Screwdriver, Kooc Pollon, Bloody Squito, Death Smoke, Comet Missile 

Intro: The hate just kept coming. I haven’t seen a D/F Aggro-Control deck for ages, and this one packed like every Darkness/Fire trigger burn spell under the sun to back up quick guys.  

Game one goes to my opponent; his fast creatures, blocker-hate and discard did a real number on me. I had the field set up for peg attacks and got him down to within reach, but his blocker answers came through for him with his speed guys. 

Game two I know what to expect from his deck. I draw early mucho, set up defense with my cheap blockers, and peg his field with Shot. I Soul his hand. I have the coolest hand that included Baza, Bolly, Forbos, Phal, Memory, Stream only to see him topdeck Soul and toss them out the window. I have superior field presence, and once I get him choking on one card and I’ve done some drawing, I nail with the OTK.  

Game three saw Photocide give me a headache. I don’t think I was able to keep Light guys out long enough to hit with them. Maybe just a few hit. Slam with Twin to have ‘Cide nail it next turn. ‘Cide goes bye-bye so my Lights start sticking. He just can’t keep up any solid field presence—hitters come and go, though he’s able to get me down to no shields. I’m able to hit him with my field. 

Winner: Me, 2-1  

Round Three – Big Blue Bounce (Mono-Water Aggro-Control)

Opponent’s Cards: Crystal Lancer, Crystal Paladin, Crystal Memory, Aqua Jolter, Aqua Hulcus, Aqua Ranger, Aqua Vehicle, Energy Stream, Aqua Guard, Angler Cluster, Aqua Solider, Spiral Gate, Marine Flower, Teleportation 

Intro: Yes, more hate please. While you’re at it, why not toss that hate into yet another deck that can draw. Major worry here is Lancer/Paladin. He will get them in hand.  

Game one I see Liquid People. I aggressively peg off his evobait, leaving dink blockers. Cluster starves off attempts to attack. Paladin is easy drop due to Aqua Guard, but I don’t lose many shields. I time discard to his tutoring and draws, and just keep things off field. Lancer gets me down to no shields but he isn’t able to connect to answers for the win.  

Game two he’s able to bounce my defense more aggressively, and tutor for Paladin to disrupt blocker defense en masse. He drops Lancer and things go in his favor as he realizes he cannot hesitate to attack me.  

Game three I do more of the same things that kept me on top in game one. Shot was amazing here as it had been for those other speed decks. Wave would have been better early, but having him tip it off in the shields was sweet. Ended up using kill to hit Clusters so my guys could get through. His field is little guys that can’t get thru since Lancer/Paladin came and went, and I wrap game up before he can draw into defense answers.  

Winner: Me, 2-1 

Round Four - Alcadeias Beasts Aggro-Control (Light/Nature)

Opponent’s Cards: Alcadeias, Aeris, Urth, Barkwhip, Bronze Arm-Tribe, Fighter Dual Fang, La Ura Giga, Ladia Bale, Mist Rias, Magris, Senatine Jade Tree, Gran Gure, Holy Awe, Natural Snare, Mana Nexus 

Intro: The last thing a 4-civ spell deck wants to see is Alcadeias drop. If I can’t Forbos-Awe, Phal-Awe, and Thrash Crawler-Awe then I’m up the creek without a paddle. Awe is the only spell in my deck that can be played with Big Al out. Yippie! 

Game one sees him win without Big Al dropping. He knew to rush me, though he showed hesitation at times, and Barkwhip led things until I produced Thrash and then kill. Then came Fighter Dual Fang, which plopped down some Big Al evobait. I discard copy of Al from his hand, but then he evos some Light guy into Ladia Bale. Didn’t see that coming, lol. Basically got Aggro-ed to death. 

Game two sees me bounce BAT, which I figured he’d replay to get jump on mana for a faster Big Al and other evos drop. Sends bait to the mana zone. He drops Rias, and I kill it after he gets like two cards from it. I do a much better job of keeping his field down to his blockers, trying to peg off ones that could evo into Ladia first. He was able to snag shields, but my better presence—once Gran was off the board—and Awe pulled through.  

Game three he makes the mistake of not being aggressive enough. If late-game Big Al doesn’t come online and he can’t Awe, things are going to be a little bit more in my favor. Okay, he drops Big Al. So, erase things being a little bit more in my favor. My next couple of draws were those usually-sweet-but-now-completely-useless non-Light spells. I didn’t have a hope until Forbos showed up. Even with Big Al out he doesn’t bring on the beats enough. I get through hits by dropping Awe.  

Winner: Me, 2-1

Round Five – Darkness/Water/Fire Control w/Awe splash

Opponent’s Cards: Searing Wave, Aqua Hulcus, Pyrofighter, Emeral, Corile, Energy Stream, Bloody Squito, Ghost Touch, Locomotiver, Crimson Hammer, Lost Soul, Holy Awe 

Intro: After a string of aggressive decks, I was looking forward to facing a Control deck. Major worries would be Lost Soul & Wave drops, but I can recover from them.  

Game one sees him drop Emeral to trade cards. He does that again after drawing with Hulcus. I didn’t think he got good cards in hand judging from his expression, and guessed he set some triggers. I see a Lost Soul hit the mana zone, which brings a smile to my face—probably just have to worry about one more copy. I build my field of Hulcus, Locos, Magris—3000 guys—and some blockers. He gets thru hits via Corile/Awe action, after assaulting my hand with his discard. I simply keep building my field, though I make some peck attacks. He Waves my field, but I don’t lose my 4000 blockers or hitters. I don’t see a Folk drop, but I get rid of most his field to cream the combobait anyway, get the right cards in hand. He makes more plays, and gets a hit thru. I drop Bolly and go to wreck ship next turn for the win. 

Game two he makes nearly the same moves here but hits my hand much more aggressively. I’m able to draw out of the card disadvantage despite being slammed with Wave. I build the better field, get him down to some dink being out and top decking. Baza is able to peg off most what he plays though he’s no longer topdecking—I could almost make him deck out—but I slam with my field for the win. 

Winner: Me, 2-0 

Single Elimination Rounds – Darn The Holy Awes! Darn Them!!!

Yay, another foil Hulcus! Now, all I need is another bracelet and DVD for my son. Here are the decks that made the final cut in the 15+ division: 

1^st seed—Phal Control (D/W/F/L)

2^nd seed—Water/Fire Aggro w/Awe splash

3^rd seed—Big Blue Bounce (Mono-Water Aggro-Control)

4^th seed—Alcadeias Beasts Aggro-Control (L/N)

Going into the Single Elim rounds as top seed, having handed everyone here a loss, I thought my chances of winning this puppy were good. Still, my matches were to close for comfort in the Swiss rounds, so I wasn’t over-confident.  

Top 4 Match - Alcadeias Beasts Aggro-Control (Light/Nature)

“I’m not gonna sit back and watch the things he do!” – Dib, Invader Zim 

Game one he hits me quickly and things aren’t looking too hot for me. That accel just kept getting evos and big blockers online faster than my answers came to hand. I hit his hand where I could and built up a sizable field—not overextending due to Awe action. I see evobiat hit like Urth, so I nail it. Aeris comes online to slam into untapped Locomotiver. It was too close for comfort, but again he played too conservatively. Sensing his hesitation, I dove right in for the kill. 

Game two big Al drops. He built enough mana to play it and evobait same turn. Al slams into blockers—just about everything he hit with did, but I lost some shields. He Awes my field, but sends most of his guys—including Bi Al—at tapped creatures and a few shields. So, he actually has out better attacking field but didn’t press for the win. I only have to hit him once to win—but he has blockers out. My only attacker out is Phal following some Awe tappage he did to kill my field. I Iook at my hand—Thrash & Forbos. I have two chances to grab Awe. With the mana I have out I do Thrash + Awe and then slam for the win. He tells me that he had Awe in hand, and that he hesitated due to the possibility of Awe being in my shields. I understand—that’s what I needed to win. He comments on how both games he waited too long to attack me and wrap up the game. I wholeheartedly agreed with him.  

Winner: Me, 2-0 

At this point I’m happy. Phal Control made top 2 at another Invitational and I had the opportunity to make it two 1^st place finishes on the Circuit. I also was happy because I’m guaranteed a box of Thundercharge. I’d then take the box home to trade for a box of Stomp at my local store.

Top 2 Match - Water/Fire Aggro w/Awe splash

“Prepare for the most unpleasant pillow fight ever!” – Patrick, SpongeBob SquarePants 

Game one goes to my opponent—he’s able to drop Paladin twice, bounce blockers with Gate, and Awe me. Ouch. The real funny thing is that 2 Paladins were the only creatures he could keep out against me for the greater part of the match. Shot devastated his field, and other guys like DFBC slammed into blockers. I’d kill one Paladin to have him draw into another copy. I hate Aggro decks that can draw/tutor, lol. 

Game two was better for me, with struggles due to Paladin/Awe. Basically what kept this game under wraps was that he couldn’t keep a field to make his Paladin drops truly devastating. It would either be just Paladin or two hitters at most. Once blockers were back out I survived long enough to kill his field before Holy Awe/another Paladin gave him the chance to hit for the win. I paid very close attention to his graveyard and mana zone—noting the discards and drops—counting how many Awes and Paladins hit the dirt. Then I slammed with my field. 

Game three was one of the most “on the edge of my seat” matches I’ve had in a long time. I was being slammed with Paladins and Awes and speed left and right. Still, I was able to build up a field—like 7 hitters. This time hesitation would be my downfall—I should have done a bit more peck attacks sooner. He presses for the win, and I was nearly a goner with one shield left…its HOLY FREAKIN’ AWE!! I’m vocal for the first time of the event and yell out “YEEAAH!” I had no shields left when I went for the OTK and he had 3 shields. He’s top decking. I do some attacks get rid of his field—yes, you do that first—and the rest of my attacks are to slam for the OTK win. First shield…no trigger. Second shield…no trigger…looks sexy so far…here comes the last shield…oh no…it’s HOLY BLIPPIN’ AWE!! I fell into the Grand Canyon without a parachute as far as I’m concerned. He pretends like he didn’t have a bomb in his had—I know better. A silent opponent who doesn’t look like he needs his next draw with his opponent’s field all laid sideways = his bomb is already in hand. He kills me with…oh my god why…Rikabu, the Dismantler! LOL…WTH…HEHE. 

He was a cool duelist, and that was a cool match. It was just so on edge that I’m very satisfied with my results though I didn’t win. Good stuffs, and congrats to the victor!  

Winner: Opponent: 1-2 

Results:

1^st Place—Water/Fire Aggro w/Awe splash 

2^nd Place—Phal Control (D/W/F/L)

3^rd/4^th Place—Big Blue Bounce (Mono-Water Aggro-Control)

3^rd/4^th Place—Alcadeias Beasts Aggro-Control (L/N) 

Props:

--Duel Masters having more entrants than the Magic event & almost as many as the YGO event.

--Deck testing with Pojo forum’s Sniper989 & luster777, and Eddie. You guys are the best!

--Sniper989 giving me set of foil Locomotivers for my deck and trading with me for another foil Terror Pit. THANKS!!! Here’s comes my “pimped out” foil deck.

--Duelists here being the nicest bunch of guys, giving me props on my work, having fun test duels with so many people, and the winner’s friends inviting me to lunch. That’s sweetness.

--Meeting great duelists in both age divisions—sorry I am so bad with names—and hooking up great trades.

--luster777 winning the 14 & under event, and corile627 coming in 2^nd place. Congrats! 

Slops:

--HOLY AWE, YOU TRAITOR!!!!!!

--Losing so I didn’t get the DVD—my son really wanted it.

--Being my usual disorganized self. 

What’s Up Next?

Metagame Spotlight: Big Blue Bounce (Mono-Water Aggro-Control)

If you have any questions, want to see something covered in an article, or just want to chat, feel free to drop me a line at my email address: pojodmgirl@hotmail.com.

 

 

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