Pojo's Magic The Gathering
Judge's Corner

Complicated Stacks & Report
7.29.02

Q: Some really interesting (and confusing) play came about when I was playing B/U versus a mono black deck:

1. My opponent plays Hymn to Tourach.
2. I have two cards in my graveyard. I discard two cards from my hand to Psychatog. One is Circular Logic, which I play for madness cost and place it on the stack targeting the Hymn. (Psychatog would be 3/4 upon resolution, and I would have 3 cards in my graveyard.) (Quick side note: I Memory Lapsed a Contagion earlier in the game so I knew he had it in his hand at this point, whish is why I discarded 2 cards to Psychatog)

A: First time I have to step in. 

To play the Logic for its madness cost, its first trigger has to have resolved. So you've both passed to the madness trigger, he passes again, and you play the Logic targeting the Hymn. The stack now looks like this:

Logic (Targeting Hymn)
Tog Pump
Tog Pump
Hymn (Targeting You)

You also have 2 cards in your graveyard at this point, since the other card is already in the graveyard.

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3. My opponent responds by playing the Contagion (he pays 1 life and removes a black card from his hand instead of paying its mana cost.) and intends to place both -2/-1 counters on Psychatog.
4. I respond by playing Fact or Fiction. The Fact or Fiction yields 2 Force Spikes.

A: You say it gets confusing in the next step, so let me update the stack here. The Fact or Fiction has just resolved, so this is what it looks like:

Contagion (targeting Tog)
Logic (Targeting Hymn)
Tog Pump
Tog Pump
Hymn (Targeting You)

You also have 6 cards in your graveyard now (assuming the Force Spikes were the only 2 cards in that side of the split).

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5. (This is where it gets confusing) I play both Force Spikes, targeting Contagion.
6. My opponent taps Lake of the Dead, Sacrificing a tapped swamp to it for 4 black mana.
7. My opponent uses 2 of the 4 mana to pay for the two Force Spikes.

A: OK. Both Force Spikes have resolved, and your opponent has paid 1 mana for each of them. So the stack now looks exactly like it did in my last comment, and you have 8 cards in your graveyard.

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8. Contagion resolves, and Psychatog gets -4/-2 making him a -3/0 until end of turn.

At this point does the Psychatog die?

A: Yes. Your Tog has a toughness of 0, and it dies as a state based effect. (Why you didn't remove 2 of the 8 cards in your graveyard is beyond me, but…).

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Q: Does that make it impossible to play Circular Logic for its madness cost and discard the other card to it?

-Craig

A: I don't know where you are here. You've already discarded the Logic, and it is on the stack. Once you've discarded the Logic, it doesn't matter what happens to the Tog. The madness trigger exists independently of the effect that created it.

So, stating what is happening right now … Psychatog is dead. Logic is on the stack, targeting the Hymn. (2 Tog pumps are in between, but since the Tog is gone, they won't do anything.) Once Logic resolves, your opponent will have to pay 9 mana, or the Hymn is countered. (The 8 from before plus the Tog that just arrived.)

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Q: In reading your last week's post, I noticed at the end of it, the statement: "If your opponent had tapped his mana before he played the Rancor, he would have G floating in his mana pool also."

I've heard different things about this before, but exactly how does this work? Can someone declare they're playing Rancor, and then tap the lands?

A: Yes. When you get to the point where you are required to pay for the spell, the game is asking for a mana payment, so you can tap the land then. (409.1f)

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Q: If so, if they decide they don't want to play Rancor, does nothing happen except the opponent seeing that they have a Rancor in their hand, or do they have to play the card?

-Brian

A: Before you get to the mana payment, you have to declare the target for Rancor. Once you've declared the target, if you don't have the mana to pay for it, you can't cast the spell. If, however, you have a land to be able to pay for it and choose not to, you'll typically be hit with a large penalty in a tournament (for Unsporting Conduct).

So technically, the answer is yes. But in any real world application, don't do it.

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Q: Does Solitary Confinement prevent you from losing life? For example, if I had Solitary Confinement out and Played Phyrexian Rager would I still lose 1 life, or would Solitary Confinement prevent that?

-Eddie D.

A: Solitary Confinement
{2}{W}
Enchantment
At the beginning of your upkeep, sacrifice Solitary Confinement unless you discard a card from your hand.
Skip your draw step.
You can't be the target of spells or abilities.
Prevent all damage that would be dealt to you.

Read the card. It does exactly what it says it does, and no more. The loss of life for the Rager isn't damage, and it's not targeting, so Solitary Confinement won't help with the life loss.

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Q: Voracious Cobra has First Strike. Also, whenever Voracious Cobra deals combat damage to a creature, that creature is destroyed.

Does that mean that the Voracious Cobra does damage to the creature and then the blocking/blocked creature is destroyed, therefore, not destroying the cobra itself? 

-Pyroclown

A: If the blocking creature doesn't have first strike, you are correct. Since the Cobra has first strike, it will deal damage before the other creature will, and its destroy effect will trigger and resolve before the other creature has a chance to hit back.

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Q: If a fresh Phantom Tiger was blocked by two 1/1s, would it die? I heard a lot of people say that since combat damage is dealt simultaneously, 10 creatures could block it and only 1 counter would be removed. This sounds bogus to me, since the damage is being dealt by more than one source.

-Nick Halgren

A: A similar question came up on the judge's list, so I'll present it here. The > was the question, the : was an answer from Rune Horvik (netrep for DCIJUDGE-L), and the normal text is comments from Dave DeLaney.

> Player A attacks one of the Phantoms.
> Player B blocks with two creatures.
>
> Player B now calls a judge and wants two (2) counters removed from 
> the phantom. Based on the fact that combat damage goes on the fact 
> as a single pseudospell, I ruled (and the rest of the team agreed) 
> that only one counter would be removed.

:This is correct. A parallel is that you only need to regenerate a 
:creature once, even if it's blocked by 2 creatures both capable of 
:killing the attacker individually.

And "how do we tell this from the wording?" gets the answer "They say 'if ~ would be dealt damage, ...', not 'if ~ would be dealt damage from a source, ...' or 'if a source would deal damage to ~, ...', so each time damage would get dealt to them - regardless of how many places the damage is from right at that moment - the replacement effect gets invoked once: the damage gets prevented and a counter gets removed."...

(Usually the only time multiple sources CAN be dealing damage at the same time is from combat damage.)

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Q: If a Kamahl, Pit Fighter has the Regenerate on it, and your opponent shocks Kamahl and you regenerate it. Then you am tapped out and your opponent has a Jeska, Warrior Adept. They tap it to deal 1 damage to Kamahl, Pit Fighter. Then I tap it to deal 3 damage to Jeska. Will Kamahl die, Jeska die or will they both die?

A: They both die.

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Q: I have a question about MTG. If a Serra Angel attacks and a Sengir Vampire blocks, will they both go to the graveyard or will just the Serra Angel die because of Sengir Vampire's ability? 

-Randy Hopkins

A: They both die. Sengir's ability triggers on a creature being put into the graveyard. So it has to wait until both creatures do their damage and the Serra dies. At that time, the Sengir dies also. Then Sengir's ability goes on the stack (but it won't do anything, since Sengir is not longer there).

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Q: I have a Krosan Beast out without Threshold. My opponent casts a Faceless Butcher and removes my Krosan Beast from the game. On my next turn, I cast Living Wish and choose the Krosan Beast that the Butcher removed. I also obtain threshold that turn by casting other spells and/or losing creatures. I then play my Krosan Beast. My opponent casts Chainer's Edict on his next turn and I have to sacrifice my Krosan Beast. On my next turn I cast Chainer's Edict and my opponent must sacrifice his Faceless Butcher. The question is: do I get my Krosan Beast back?

-Raymond Moore

A: No. As soon as you recovered the Beast with the Wish, the Butcher lost track of it. It becomes, in essence, a completely different Krosan Beast.

217.1c A card that moves from one zone to another is treated as a new card. Effects connected with its previous location will no longer affect it.

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Q: I have Soucatchers' Aerie, Commander Eesha, Suntail Hawk and Aven Cloudchaser on the board and my opponent casts Wrath of God on me on their turn. The next turn I play another Suntail Hawk. Would it get +3/+3 from the three dead creatures or just +1/+1?

-B.P.W

A: +3/+3. Since three birds went to the graveyard when Wrath of God resolved, the Aerie will trigger three times, and you will put three feather counters on the Aerie. Then, when the new Hawk comes into play, it will get +3/+3, since there are three feather counters on the Aerie.

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Q: If a card like Innocent Blood tell from both you and your opponent to sacrifice a creature and you don't have a creature, can you still play it? In other words can you play spell that tell you to do something you can't do?

-Jesus D.

A: Sure. Since sacrificing the creature isn't part of the cost to play Innocent Blood, you can cast it just fine. Then, when Innocent Blood resolves, each player has to sacrifice a creature (if they have one). If a player doesn't have a creature when Innocent Blood resolves, then that player does nothing.

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Q: Hunting Ground and Meddling Mage. My opponent plays a spell activating Hunting Ground. Can I play Meddling Mage naming that spell therefore "countering/fizzling" that spell?

-Chris L.

A: No. The spell has already been played. Meddling Mage is not a counterspell. It will just prevent future spells of that name from being played.

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Q: Psionic Gift on Scalpelexis: can you use the milling ability?

A: No. The Gift wouldn't be combat damage, even if you activated it in a combat phase. Combat damage is damage creatures do as a result of attacking or blocking.

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Q: My opponent and I each have 5 untapped lands out. I control a Pernicious Deed, and my opponent controls a Jolrael, Empress of Beasts. My opponent uses Jolreal's ability to turn all of his lands into 3/3 creatures. Before his combat phase but after Jolrael's ability resolves, I activate the Deed for 5. Would this then, kill all of his lands and Jolrael or just the Jolrael?

-Moomoo2

A: It would kill all of his lands. Since Jolrael's ability had resolved, the lands are also creatures, with a converted mana cost of 0. Since that fits the description of what to destroy due to the Deed's effect (creatures with a converted mana cost of 5 or less), the lands will be destroyed.

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Q: If my friend uses Braids' ability to sacrifice Pyre Zombie, can he then activate the Zombies come
back to hand ability? I'm thinking no, because the game will check at the moment your upkeep starts, to
see if the Zombies are in the graveyard, and it won't check again.

-Elfzealot

A: You are correct. He won't be able to get the Zombies back in the same upkeep.

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Q: My friend was playing a deck. He had 1 life left, and he Life Bursted himself. But here's the catch. He used his City of Brass to tap for white. Is he dead, or is he at 4?

-ItalianStalion

A: Depends on when he tapped the City of Brass. If he tapped the City of Brass for mana before he played the Life Burst, he'll gain the life before the damage resolves, and he'll be at 4. If he tapped the City of Brass as part of playing the spell, though, he'll be dead, as the damage trigger will go on top of the Life Burst.

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Q: Player A casts Time Stretch and adds a copy to the stack using Mirari. First spell on the stack targeting himself and copy above it targeting Player B. Both players let the stack resolve completely. End Turn and the question is who goes next? 

-harbor1941

A: When multiple extra turn effects are created, the most recently created extra turn will be taken first. So Player A will take his turns first, as they were the most recently created.

300.6. Some spells and abilities can give a player extra turns. They do this by adding the turns directly after the current turn. If a player gets multiple extra turns or if both players get extra turns during a single turn, the extra turns are added one at a time. The most recently created turn will be taken first.

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Q: I was watching a game where the Bob decides to Flame Burst his opponent. He also has other Flame Burst and Pardic Firecat cards in his graveyard, which would boost the Flame Burst total up to 7 point of damage. His opponent tries to counter with Grip of Amnesia. Bob removes his graveyard from the game in order to continue with the Flame Burst. Does his opponent take the 7 damage, or only 2 damage since the graveyard is now empty?

-Ben

A: The opponent will only take 2 damage. The Bursts check for how many of that Burst are in the graveyard when the Burst resolves. Since there are no extra Flame Bursts in the graveyard when the Flame Burst resolves, it will only deal 2 damage to the opponent.

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Q: If I have two Ichorids in my graveyard and another black creature, say Nantuko Shade, is there anyway I can bring back both Ichorids? 

-Diane M.

A: No. Each Ichorid trigger will resolve separately, and thus, if you put one Ichorid into play by removing the Shade from the game, the other Ichorid won't have anything to remove, so he won't be able to come back.

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Q: Okay, I had a Nantuko Monastery out, with Threshold, and he had a Mine Layer out and had put a mine counter on the Nantuko Monastery. So I attacked him with my Nantuko Monastery, but my opponent said that it doesn't deal damage because it became tapped. I said that it deals damage first, and then becomes tapped. He said that it becomes tapped, and then deals damage. Who is correct?

-Aaron W.

A: Mine Layer
{3}{R}
Creature -- Dwarf
1/1
{1}{R}, {T}: Put a mine counter on target land.
Whenever a land with a mine counter on it becomes tapped, destroy it.
When Mine Layer leaves play, remove all mine counters from all lands.

The land will become tapped as part of it being declared as an attacker. That will trigger Mine Layer's ability to destroy the Monastery, and the Monastery will be destroyed long before it will deal its damage. (In fact it will be destroyed before anything has a chance to block it.)

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Q: First, how does the interaction between Sylvan Library and Abundance work? Would you have to put two of the cards back unless you paid 4 life for each or would you get to keep all of them because of Abundance? 

A: Abundance replaces the drawing of cards with flipping until you hit your choice and then putting it into your hand. Since the draw was replaced, you have no cards you've drawn this turn, and thus can't put any back.

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Q: Second, could I use Aegis of Honor on a kicked Urza's Rage?

-David W.

A: Yes. Read the card.

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Q: I had been under the assumption that when there was a legend in play, it would be sent to the graveyard if a new legend of the same name comes into play. A judge told me that no, in fact a new legend could not be played, and if it were, it would be sent to the graveyard.

A: The judge is correct. 

420.5e If two or more Legends or legendary permanents with the same name are in play, all except the one that has been a Legend or legendary permanent with that name the longest are put into their owners' graveyards. This is called 'the Legend rule.' In the event of a tie, each Legend or legendary permanent with the same name is put into its owner's graveyard. (If two permanents have the same name but only one is a Legend or is legendary, this rule doesn't apply.)

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Q: My opponent has a Rath's Edge in play. If I play a Rath's Edge, which would be buried, his or mine?

A: Yours.

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Q: I think perhaps I may have been confused by the fact that when an enchant world is played, another one will be buried if there is another in play.

-Jason

A: Yep. 

420.5i If two or more enchant worlds are in play, all except the one that has been an enchant world for the shortest amount of time are put into their owners' graveyards. In the event of a tie for the shortest amount of time, all are put into their owners' graveyards.

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Tournament Report: Orange, CA - FNM - 5th place

I get a message on IRC from a friend, asking me to borrow my deck again. So I end up playing Tog.

3 Swamp
4 Salt Marsh
9 Island
1 Darkwater Catacombs
4 Yavimaya Coast
3 Llanowar Wastes
4 Psychatog 
4 Nightscape Familiar
4 Counterspell
3 Cunning Wish
3 Fact or Fiction
4 Repulse
3 Circular Logic
2 Upheaval
4 Pernicious Deed
3 Force Spike
2 Memory Lapse

Sideboard
3 Gainsay
1 Fact or Fiction
3 Ghastly Demise
1 Mana Short
1 Recoil
1 Slay
1 Hibernation
1 Divert
1 Opportunity
1 Seedtime
1 Coffin Purge

The above is basically the deck Antoine Ruel used at GP: Sao Paulo, tweaked to fit my liking.

So I get down to the venue, and my friend Shawn and I play a few times while we're waiting for pairings.

Round 1 - James - R/G beats with Anger

Game 1 - I roll 6, he rolls 4, and I choose to play. I take an early pain to Force Spike a Wild Mongrel, and he casts 2 Flame Bursts at my dome and then starts to beat on me with a Raging Goblin. He gets in one hit with a Wild Mongrel when I take control and Heave for the win.

Sideboard: Nothing.

Game 2 - He starts to burn me, first with a Shock and then with a Volcanic Hammer. He then gets some beats in, but I stabilize. He then casts a creature. I say OK, forgetting he has Anger in his grave. I was at 1 life when I did that =\.

Game 3 - He starts out with a couple of burn spells. I quickly take control of the board, as I took no damage from creatures this game. I think I heaved for the win here too.

Games: 2-1, Matches: 1-0.

At this point, Shawn (the friend borrowing my deck) and I go outside to walk around for a bit. I was looking for something like an Orange Julius, but the only thing they had like that there was Jamba Juice. So I don't get anything.

Round 2 - Darcee - Stupid Red Burn

Game 1 - I roll 10, she rolls 8, and I choose to play. We each take a mulligan. My first hand had only one land. With tog, that's _never_ something you want to keep.

She comes out hard, throwing burn at my dome left and right. I make a slight error here. She Browbeats. I could have Wished for my Divert (she only had one mana open), but instead I just counter it. 

Somewhere in here, I cast a Fact or Fiction, and turn up Upheaval, Circular Logic, Fact or Fiction, and 2 lands. I think to myself, "Boy, I hope she overvalues the Upheaval [looking at the Upheaval already in my hand]." She splits Fact and Logic versus Upheaval and the 2 lands. I mutter, "Wow, she didn't overvalue the Upheaval..." She asks me what I said, and I tell her I was just muttering to myself. I was a bit short on land, but I believe I let the land go there.

She quickly gets me down to 3. I hold off one turn too long, and she drops a second Barbarian Ring. I think I've lost this game, but she decided to tap 2 of her mountains to cast Volcanic Hammer on me. I counter it. She then just tries to throw both Rings at me, but I have to remind her that the Rings require a red mana in addition to tapping the Ring itself. Tog goes in for the win, and I go up 1-0.

Sideboard: I wish I could take 7 cards out (the Repulses and Deeds), but I've got nothing to replace them. So I don't sideboard anything.

Game 2 - She allows me to go first this game. She again comes out hard, but only drops me to 12 before I stabilize. She Earthquakes for 1 a couple of times, and I either bounce or regenerate the Familiar she is trying to take off the board. Late in the game, I notice she has me at 7, while I have the following in my life total column:

18 Bolt (Firebolt)
16 "
12 Erupt (Violent Eruption, all 4 at me)
11 Q (Earthquake)
9 Bur (Flame Burst)
8 Q

I point out my notation, but she still seems a bit hesitant, so I call a judge over. Before the judge gets there, she changes my life, saying it was ok, but I go through it with the judge anyway.

She flashes back a Bolt on me, and I decide it's time to do the Upheaval dance, seeing as she has 2 Rings and a Petrified Field out.

Games: 4-1, Matches: 2-0.

I go outside to a vending machine and get a lemonade. I finish it off, and I go back in the store. 

Darcee meets me at the front, and asks about her FoF splits. I then tell her what I muttered in the game. I tell her I expected her to do a 4-1 split (Upheaval all by itself), and she asks, "I don't have to split it 3-2?" =\.

I then bring up the life total issue, and she says she just didn't want to disturb the judge. I comment to her that that's what the judges are there for, and bring up my general feeling on opponents:

Never trust your opponent.

I know that sounds cynical to you, but what I mean by that is that if you _EVER_ have a problem in the game, call a judge. That's what they're there to deal with.

Anyway, enough with the soapbox. On we go.

Round 3 - Daniel - Poor Man's Junk (W/G)

Game 1 - He rolls 20, I roll 7. He chooses to play. He comes out blazing fast, and drops me to 7. I Wish at the end of my turn, and see a Wish already in there. I point it out to him, and scoop.

Sideboard: In - 3 Ghastly Demise, Out - Don't exactly remember, but I think it was a Fact or Fiction, a Tog, and either a Logic or a Counterspell.

Game 2 - I play. We each mulligan once (I mulligan a no-land hand). I manage to counter most of the early beats, and stabilize the ground, I think through a Deed. I Upheaval, and then attack a couple of turns. I could kill him this one turn, but that would take all of my cards in hand, and all of my graveyard, including the cards in hand. He has a Plains and a Forest untapped, and the first thing that comes through my mind is, "Fog." So I tell him to take the 2. The ground gets messy again, and for a second, I think, "Hmmm... time to go Wish for a removed Upheaval." (Both Upheavals are in the grave.) I quickly look at Upheaval and remember that it's a sorcery. =\. Finally I get a Wish, remove the Ghastly Demise in my graveyard with a Tog, and Wish for it to kill a Spurnmage Advocate, and go in for the win. I had to counter a couple of Tangles to do it though.

In between games, I ask him if he had one of those Tangles on the turn I could have originally won. He says he did.

Game 3 - He chooses to play. He keeps his 7; I have to mulligan once again. (I don't remember my hand this time.) He gets the quick beats, and drops an early Elephant Guide on his Spurnmage Advocate. I have a Nightscape Familiar out, and 4 mana open (2 Island, Swamp, and Coast). I Wish for my Recoil ... but I tap my Swamp to wish for it. =\. So I have to go down to 4.

I drop a Deed next turn, and Recoil the Advocate, waiting a turn to Deed. I take control at this point, and we get in a ground war stalemate. He pitches cards in 2 separate turns to a Wild Mongrel to get a third white creature to flash back a Battle Screech, but I have the counters both times. He eventually gets a creature in excess of the number of my creatures, and I still can't find an Upheaval. So I lose.

Games: 5-3, Matches: 2-1

I look through my library, and the first Upheaval was still like 8-10 cards down. This is with only 20 cards left in my library. Oh well, it happens, sometimes.

I also screwed up a couple of Fact or Fictions in this game ... I kept tapping 4 when I already had 2 Familiars out. He reminded me of that before I passed, though, so I was able to sink it into a regeneration shield.

Round 4 - Shane - ?

Game 1 - I roll 19, he rolls 1. I choose to play. I drop a Nightscape Familiar, and don't draw a 3rd land by turn 4.

At that point though, the cry goes out ... Re-pair!

Round 4 - Pep - Domain

Game 1 - I roll 6, he rolls 4, and I play. I take an early pain, which turns out to be crucial, as after I lose a counter war over a Cunning Wish (his), he untaps me and is able to do exactly 19 through a Death Grasp.

Sideboard - In: 3 Gainsay. Out: 3 Repulse.

Game 2 - I drop an early Familiar, and start going to town. I am able to drop a second Familiar, but am stuck on 4 land. During one of his end steps, I cast a Fact or Fiction, leaving open a Coast and Island.

"Fact or Fiction for 2 mana? That's broken!" - Him

The above should give you a sort of feel of how we were trading friendly jabs at this point. 

He tries to counter, but I counter back. I eventually get a third Familiar in play, and start beating him with them. He has too much mana out, so I decide to heave and replay the Familiars. He dies soon afterwards.

Game 3 - He chooses to play. I take another mulligan (no land again this time). I get down a quick Familiar, and soon find a Tog. He attempts a Harrow at 3 land, saccing his only Forest (leaving Plains and Mountain), but I Lapse it, and he dies to Tog beats.

Games: 7-4, Matches: 3-1

Before I get to my round 5 match up, I have to bring something up. The two top people ask if they are the only undefeateds, and they are. One of the guys (Darcee's fiancée) says to the other guy, "Draw and split the prizes?" (There was cash to first, boosters for the top 3, and foils for first, second, and random.) I bring up how it is technically illegal to offer a split based on the match results. The guy didn't know that, but the judge allowed them to draw anyway. (Besides, they could have just taken their prizes, gone outside, and done it anyway.)

Now, I'll point out a way which you should be able to do it.

First, you ask, "Split the prizes we get tonight?"

Then, after the other player says yes, ask, "Draw?" (If the other player balks at this point, point out that by drawing, you receive a maximal amount of prizes to split.)

You can offer either at any time with anyone. The problem you run into is putting them together.

I am walking a very thin line here, as the above might still be illegal. However, in my mind at least, you have sufficiently separated the prize split from the draw.

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25. Conceding Games or Matches
Players may concede a game or match at any time within the following guidelines. The conceded game or match is recorded as a loss for the conceding player. If a player refuses to play, it is assumed that he or she concedes the match.

The following actions are prohibited:
- Offering or accepting a bribe or prize split in exchange for the concession, drop or draw of a match
- Attempting to determine the winner of a game or match by a random method, such as a coin flip or die roll

Players who engage in these actions will be subject to the appropriate provisions of the DCI Penalty Guidelines. 

Players are allowed to share prizes they have won as they wish, such as with teammates, as long as any such sharing does not occur as an exchange for concession or draw of a game or match.

Players in the final of a Top 8 single-elimination tournament have the option not to play their match. If both players of the final match agree not to play, one of them must agree to drop from the event (in order for prizes to be awarded). The DCI ratings of the players will not be affected because no match will have been played. The dropping player receives the second-place prize, and the other finalist receives the first-place prize. The prizes will be sent only to the winner (that is, the finalist who did not drop); Wizards of the Coast will not send the Pro Tour invitation and the travel award to different people.

Example #1: If all players in the Top 8 single-elimination portion of a tournament decide to split the first- through eighth-place prizes equally among them instead of following the original distribution announced by the organizer, they may do so as long as no matches are conceded in exchange for the prize split.

Example #2: Two players in the final of a Pro Tour Qualifier may agree to split the prizes (the travel award and the Pro Tour invitation), but this agreement cannot alter the results of the match. One player must drop from the event, leaving the travel award and the invitation to the player who did not drop from the event. That player is then free to split the prizes as agreed upon. The prizes will be sent only to the winner (that is, the finalist who did not drop); Wizards of the Coast will not send the Pro Tour invitation and the travel award to different people.

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Anyway, back to my match...

Round 5 - Frank - W/G Thresh-a-(Thauma)Tog

Game 1 - He rolls 10, I roll 1, and he plays. He comes out quickly, along with an Armadillo Cloak. I hold back a little defense, but he drops lands into his grave for threshold to pump up his Werebears. I've had enough at this point, and Upheaval or Deed (I don't remember which). I manage to drop a Familiar and Tog, and then a Deed to clear out his Monastery. Eventually, I go in for the win.

Sideboard: Nothing.

Game 2 - He plays. The attack is much less severe this time, and I Deed away a bunch of stuff while regenerating my Familiars. I didn't have to pump my Tog this time ... just nibbled away at his life this turn. I may have Upheaveled the last turn or not ... I don't remember. It wasn't crucial, in any case.

Final: Games: 9-4, Matches: 4-1

I end up in 5th place, at the bottom of the 4-1's. Shawn gets the random foil. 

I watch Shawn play one more game, do a trade, and head home.

I've got to give it to the Block ... they've really turned things around from when I was there last. There seems to be completely new management. The players are the same, but they seem a bit cooler too. A reflection on the store, I guess. Since Brea isn't doing FNM any more (their judge quit), I guess I'll be coming here again every week.

Other changes I would make to the deck: Getting rid of the Slay, Seedtime, and Mana Short in the board. There was never a time when they would have helped. In the local metagame, I would have replaced them with a 4th Gainsay, and 2 other cards. Probably another couple Hibernations right now.

-Bill Guerin
PojoMagicJudge@hotmail.com
DCI Level 2 Judge