Jeff Zandi is a five time pro tour veteran who has been playing Magic since 1994. Jeff is a level two DCI judge and has been judging everything from small local tournaments to pro tour events. Jeff is from Coppell, Texas, a suburb of Dallas, where his upstairs game room has been the "Guildhall", the home of the Texas Guildmages, since the team formed in 1996. One of the original founders of the team, Jeff Zandi is the team's administrator, and is proud to continue the team's tradition of having players in every pro tour from the first event in 1996 to the present.

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This Space For Rent

The Southwestern Paladin

First-Timers Take the Bull by the Horns in Cowtown Fort Worth
PTQ for London Tournament Report
by Jeff Zandi
5.02.05

In the end, the Fort Worth qualifier for Pro Tour London on Saturday, April 16th, ended in a final match up of two highly ranked, highly skilled Magic players and Pro Tour veterans. However, this Pro Tour Qualifier turned out to be a tremendous opportunity for area players that were not as experienced in big tournaments. The make up of the top eight really tells the story.

While Eric Jones and Tony Menzer, the two finalists of the PTQ, are each Pro Tour veterans, each with many top eight PTQ finishes, the rest of the top eight were all relative newcomers to “big time Magic”. Anyone who has ever finished in the top eight of a PTQ look forward to being awarded their top eight pin. This pin was introduced years ago as a special commemorative reward, in part due to suggestions from Texas/Kansas/Oklahoma tournament organizer extraordinaire Edward Fox. Five people in today’s top eight have never gone home with a top eight pin. These five first-time top eighters included Clay Cook-Mowery, Douglas Effler, Blake Miller, Christopher Schlosser and Matt Hoffman. As a matter of fact, Christopher Schlosser had never played in a PTQ before, and had played in only one other tournament of any size. The green-haired Devon Wilton, seen fairly regularly in the Dallas-Ft. Worth tournament scene, rounded out the top eight with his second-ever such appearance.

Top 8 Pins

For the past two weeks, I have been sharing with you tournament reports from two other sealed deck qualifiers for Pro Tour London. Today’s article completes this topic with a look at how five relative newbies made their way to their first top eight. Equally interesting is the match up in the finals of two very good Magic players who drafted next to each other, seemingly fighting over the same color (black). These two players, Tony Menzer and Eric Jones, were not only the two best players in the top eight, but also arguably drafted the two best decks. In the finals, Tony Menzer ended up agreeing to an equitable split of the tournament prizes. Tony Menzer has been on fire lately. A little more than a month ago, Tony won an Extended qualifier in Waco, Texas, to qualify for Pro Tour Philadelphia. The week before the Fort Worth event, Tony finished in the top eight of the Oklahoma City qualifier for Pro Tour London, accepting a split of prizes in the finals in that tournament as well. (Tony also eliminated ME from the Oklahoma City PTQ in an exciting three game match!) But we’ll talk more about the finals of the this tournament, and how Tony made his decision to split the prizes, a little further down.

The top eight draft decks, as well as the sealed decks of the top eight finishers, are listed at the end of this article.

THE VENUE

The PTQ was held at the Fort Worth Convention Center in downtown Fort Worth.
The early morning scene was a strange one. Normally, when players begin appearing at a convention center looking for their Magic tournament, they can count on the first big room with tables and chairs set up in the familiar style to be the right place. Not so on this sun shiny Spring Saturday. Next door to the relatively small convention area being used for the qualifier for Pro Tour qualifier was a larger tournament featuring a different collectible card game…one intended, in general, for somewhat younger players…one with a cartoon featuring a spiky haired kid with the Egyptian paraphernalia with that thing strapped to his wrist holding his cards. Yeah, you know the one. Anyway, that OTHER card game was preparing for a larger turnout that we were expecting for the PTQ. It was a little confusing for the Magic players who had to KEEP WALKING a little further down the convention center’s hallway to find the RIGHT tournament, but I don’t believe we lost any players because of the slight confusion.
AussieFox, Edward Fox’s tournament organizing company, frequently uses the Fort Worth Convention Center because, for the money, it is simply the best facility available in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Today was no exception. The tables and chairs were set up correctly before the event, and in the number and exact positioning in the room that was desired. The staff of the convention center are great at checking on the event to make sure the trash cans are kept clean and that things, in general, are both hunky and dorey.

While Edward Fox arranged this event, the onsite tournament staff include my wife, Willa, on the computer keeping score and the talented level one DCI judge James “Funky Cold” Medina. I was the head judge for this event. This level of staffing was very comfortable for the size of the tournament. A mere thirty-four players took part in this last Texas qualifier for Pro Tour London. Due to some unfortunate planning, the Fort Worth PTQ ended up being scheduled on the same day as a PTQ in Houston. Even though Houston is four hours south of Dallas/Fort Worth, having the two tournaments on the same day costs EACH of these events anywhere from fifteen to thirty players.

Registration for the tournament ran from nine to ten in the morning, with players seated and receiving their sealed decks to register promptly at the top of the ten o’clock hour. Thirty-four players meant that there would be six Swiss rounds before cutting to a top eight. The top eight players would then be randomly seated for a Champions/Champions/Betrayers booster draft.

THE SEALED DECK TOP EIGHT

Blake Miller and Eric Jones reached the top eight undefeated after six rounds of sealed deck play. Each won their first four matches before settling on intentional draws with their opponents in rounds five and six. Eric Jones recently moved to Texas, promptly supplying the Lone Star State with its highest ranked Magic player. Blake Miller finished in the top eight of a PTQ for the first time with a nasty black/green sealed deck featuring BOTH Gutwrencher Oni and Painwracker Oni (but no Ogres at all!), Kodama of the North Tree, a Devouring Greed and a big pile of Spirit creatures to feed to that game-finishing sorcery. Eric’s deck was a more modest three colored affair, a testament to his playing ability. To be sure, most of the sealed decks that finished in the top eight consisted of superior cards. There can be no doubt that luck plays a bigger factor in sealed deck tournaments than in constructed competitions. The level to which luck (the random distribution of quality cards in the sealed decks) affects sealed deck and draft play from year to year depends on the make up of the sets of cards.

Luck plays a larger role in limited formats when these formats become dominated by the presence of powerful rare cards whose casting costs require them to be played as either the primary or secondary color of a player’s deck. The current limited formats are said to be more luck-based than in some past years for this reason.

Regardless of the degree that luck plays in any Magic tournament, it is still no small achievement to finish in the top eight. A tournament with only thirty-four players may seem like an easier tournament to some, but I believe the only thing about a smaller tournament that really helps players is the number of rounds. For explanations too lengthy to go into here, I have always felt that a six round tournament is a much better tournament than one requiring seven or more rounds. There are a lot of reasons.
However, I have never thought that having a smaller number of players in a tournament enhances any particular player’s ability to win that tournament, or even to finish in the top eight. All that matters is whether or not there are seven or more players in the tournament equally skilled or for whatever reason equally likely to make the top eight as you. In other words, no matter how many people are in a tournament, the real story is what happens in the top eight. The cream will almost always rise to the top. This Fort Worth PTQ was no exception.

THE TOP EIGHT BOOSTER DRAFT

The booster draft for the top eight was not a thing of beauty. Like anything else, drafting a great deck in a booster draft requires a lot of practice and experience. This top eight is full of guys who simply have not played in very many Champions of Kamigawa booster drafts. This is evident right away in the draft, as multiple players begin drafting the same color as the player next to them, blissfully unaware of the signs that their neighbors are giving them through the cards that remain in the packs as they are passed. These subtle messages are much more evident to experienced players, but even good players sitting next to each other can end up fighting for the same color. This suboptimal experience occurred in this draft. The two best drafters at the table, Eric Jones and Tony Menzer (sitting on the left of
Jones) each opened and selected the same double black casting cost card as their first pick, Hideous Laughter. This powerful card is a great first pick, but does have the effect of locking a player into black due to the 2BB casting cost of Hideous Laughter. For the rest of the first Champions pack, Menzer is drafting sloppy seconds from Eric Jones where black cards are concerned. Meanwhile, across the table, several players are taking cards from three different colors and one has purposefully drafted cards of all five colors from the first pack. Suboptimal to say the least. When each player opens his second pack of Champions, and passing is changed to counter-clockwise, Menzer and Jones each begin concentrating on non-black cards. Menzer goes into green while Jones selects blue. In the third booster pack (Betrayers of Kamigawa), Jones deck separated itself from the rest of the pack. Jones’ first five picks from the Betrayer’s packs included two copies of Eradicate and THREE copies of Ninja of the Deep Hours. Eric Jones’
draft deck was clearly the most balanced, a deck with enough synergy to be of almost constructed deck quality.

Tony Menzer defeated Devon Wilton in the quarterfinals and Christopher Schlosser in the semi-finals in a pair of speedy, no nonsense 2-0 matches. Looking on at Eric Jones’ three game quarterfinals match with Clay Cook-Mowery, Menzer became convinced that Jones had drafted a deck superior to his own. Tony confided that he was likely to try to arrange a prize split with Eric Jones in the finals, but to play and try to win it all against any other player in the finals. When Eric, at some length, defeated Cook-Mowery and then Doug Effler, both in long three game matches, Menzer immediately sought a split with Jones, who Menzer was not sure he could defeat.

While there is nothing unusual or unseemly about PTQ finalists splitting the prizes without playing out their final match, it was kind of a shame that we didn’t get to find out which of these two decks was really better. I wanted to know which deck was actually better, so I built the two finalists draft decks myself. In the time since the tournament, I have played almost fifty games with the two decks, I have played Menzer’s deck sometimes, and also played Jones’ deck. Sometimes, I was even playing both decks. In the end, it was surprising to learn that Jones’ deck had no particular advantage over Menzer’s. The biggest flaw in Menzer’s deck was the addition of a third color, red, to support Yamabushi’s Flame and the seemingly poor choice Kami of Fire’s Roar. It would appear obvious that Menzer’s deck would be better able to support the TRIPLE green casting cost of Kodama of the North Tree.

In practice, however, there was nothing much wrong with Menzer’s splash.
Menzer’s sixteen land mana base (including eight Forests) was well-bolstered by his Orochi Sustainer, TWO Sakura-Tribe Elders and a Kodama’s Reach. The surprising strength of Menzer’s deck was the combination of giant-sized creatures and wonderful Splice onto Arcane possibilities provided by his pair of Kodama’s Might cards. Eric Jones’ deck, seemingly great on paper, had some surprising weaknesses of its own. The primary problem of the deck was the lack of removal options. Jones’ twin Eradicates were usually too slow for Tony’s early game creatures and completely useless against Menzer’s black creatures. Basically, the games between these two decks came down to two things, whether or not Menzer would drop Tribe-Elders, Sustainer or Kodama’s Reach in the very early game, and whether or not Jones would have the ability to get a Ninja of the Deep Hours active early in the game.

Finalists and Staff

Neither deck had any winning consistency when they were unable to begin the game with these combinations. In the end, I have to say that Tony’s deck is slightly stronger, because it relies on better creatures. As good as card drawing is, and card advantage is MIGHTY in the current limited formats, creatures are still the most effective way to win matches in limited formats, and Menzer’s deck had more guys able to deal more damage than Eric.

MORE ABOUT THE AMAZING TONY MENZER

Waiting for Eric Jones to complete his lengthy semi-finals match against Douglas Effler, I had a chance to talk to Tony Menzer. I have seen this player in many tournaments over the past few years, but had never had a chance to get to know him until today. Tony Menzer is twenty years and one month old. He lives in Oklahoma City, where he attends Rose State College (studying business). Known as a very confident, even cocky, Magic player, it’s a little surprising to learn that Tony doesn’t really have a big-shot group of players around him. Tony plays most of his Magic at a little game store located across the street from Dell City High School called Drake’s Place. Tony says he really doesn’t get THAT many booster drafts in between PTQs as the emphasis at Drake’s Place is Standard constructed, namely Friday Night Magic. FNM at Drake’s Place normally attracts eight players but sometimes explodes to twice that number. Humble Magic roots indeed. When Menzer travels south of the border into Texas, he usually makes the road trip with several of his Magic-playing buddies, none of which whom have had any of the success that Menzer has enjoyed. Two years ago, Tony qualified for his first Pro Tour event, PT-Osaka. Menzer scraped together every dollar he could find in order to make the trip to Japan. His hard work was rewarded, finishing 33rd and in the money at Pro Tour Osaka. Fort Worth not only makes his second top eight in a row and ninth top eight overall, it is the second week in a row that he has been in the finals. If players were allowed to win multiple PTQs in the same season, Tony would very likely have won Oklahoma City last week as well as Fort Worth this week.

TOP EIGHT DRAFT DECKS

Devon Wilton
Draft position 2
Finished 5-8
17 Plains
1 Bushi Tenderfoot
1 Devoted Retainer
1 Eight-and-a-Half-Tails
1 Ethereal Haze
2 Harsh Deceiver
1 Horizon Seed
1 Hundred-Talon Kami
1 Innocence Kami
1 Kabuto Moth
1 Kami of the Painted Road
1 Kitsune Riftwalker
1 Myojin of Cleansing Fire
1 Otherworldly Journey
1 Reciprocate
1 Silent-Chant Zubera
1 Terashi’s Cry
1 Kami of False Hope
1 Silverstorm Samurai
1 Split-Tail Miko
1 Tallowisp
1 Shuko
1 Slumbering Tora
Sideboard
1 Takeno, Samurai General
2 Vigilance
1 Floating-Dream Zubera
1 Hisoka’s Defiance
1 Peer Through Depths
1 Reach Through Mists
1 River Kaijin
1 Sift Through Sands
1 Wandering Ones
1 Deathcurse Ogre
1 Strange Inversion
1 Kami of Tattered Shoji
2 Takeno’s Cavalry
1 Kaijin of the Vanishing Touch
1 Mistblade Shinobi
1 Reduce to Dreams
1 Gods’ Eye, Gate to the Reikei
1 Kumano’s Blessing
1 Overblaze

Christopher Schlosser
Draft position 4
Finished 3-4th
9 Forest
7 Plains
2 Devoted Retainer
1 Honden of Cleansing Fire
1 Kitsune Blademaster
1 Kitsune Diviner
1 Burr Grafter
2 Commune with Nature
1 Dripping-Tongue Zubera
1 Kashi-Tribe Reaver
1 Matsu-Tribe Decoy
1 Moss Kami
1 Orochi Eggwatcher
1 Orochi Sustainer
3 Serpent Skin
1 Hundred-Talon Strike
1 Moonlit Strider
1 Split-Tail Miko
1 Tallowisp
1 Matsu-Tribe Sniper
1 Traproot Kami
Sideboard
1 Orochi Hatchery
1 Kitsune Mystic
1 Silent-Chant Zubera
1 Hisoka’s Guard
1 Midnight Covenant
1 Nezumi Bone-Reader
1 Shimatsu the Bloodcloaked
1 Sokenzan Bruiser
2 Joyous Respite
1 Jukai Messenger
1 Shisato, Whispering Hunter
1 Vine Kami
1 Hundred-Talon Strike
1 Terashi’s Grasp
1 Minamo’s Meddling
1 Crawling Filth
1 Akki Blizzard-Herder
2 First Volley
2 Harbinger of Spring

Blake Miller
Draft position 3
Finished 5-8
10 Forest
7 Swamp
1 Ashen-Skin Zubera
1 Befoul
1 Devouring Greed
1 Nezumi Graverobber
1 Rend Spirit
1 Swallowing Plague
1 Thief of Hope
1 Feral Deceiver
1 Hana Kami
1 Kami of the Hunt
1 Kodama’s Might
1 Kodama’s Reach
1 Lure
1 Rootrunner
1 Psychic Spear
2 Child of Thorns
1 Gnarled Mass
2 Petalmane Baku
1 Sakura-Tribe Springcaller
Sideboard
1 Lifted by Clouds
1 Soratami Savant
1 Distress
1 Akki Rockspeaker
2 Battle-Mad Ronin
1 Crushing Pain
1 Devouring Rage
1 Hearth Kami
1 Soul of Magma
1 Stone Rain
1 Gale Force
1 Joyous Respite
1 Jukai Messenger
1 Vine Kami
1 Wear Away
2 Floodbringer
1 Minamo’s Meddling
1 Crawling Filth
1 Kumano’s Blessing
1 Overblaze

Tony Menzer
Draft position 6
Finished 2nd
8 Forest
2 Mountain
6 Swamp
1 Lantern-Lit Graveyard
1 Dance of Shadows
1 Hideous Laughter
2 Waking Nightmare
1 Kami of Fire’s Roar
1 Yamabushi’s Flame
1 Burr Grafter
1 Feral Deceiver
1 Kodama of the North Tree
2 Kodama’s Might
1 Kodama’s Reach
1 Orochi Sustainer
2 Sakura-Tribe Elder
1 Time of Need
1 Bile Urchin
1 Genju of the Fens
1 Pus Kami
1 Shirei, Shizo’s Caretaker
1 Budoka Pupil
1 Gnarled Mass
1 Unchecked Growth
Sideboard
1 Deathcurse Ogre
1 Midnight Covenant
1 Ragged Veins
1 Akki Avalanchers
1 Akki Rockspeaker
1 Crushing Pain
1 Godo, Bandit Warlord
1 Ronin Houndmaster
2 Sokenzan Bruiser
1 Stone Rain
1 Dripping-Tongue Zubera
1 Vine Kami
1 Quillmane Baku
1 Call for Blood
1 Psychic Spear
2 Skullmane Baku
1 Ogre Recluse
2 Uproot

Matthew Hoffman
Draft position 8
Finished 5-8
10 Mountain
7 Swamp
1 Sensei’s Divining Top
1 Befoul
1 Gutwrencher Oni
1 Kiku, Night’s Flower
2 Villainous Ogre
1 Akki Coalflinger
1 Ben-Ben, Akki Hermit
1 Earthshaker
1 Ember-Fist Zubera
1 Frostwielder
1 Hearth Kami
1 Kami of Fire’s Roar
1 Ronin Houndmaster
1 Blademane Baku
1 First Volley
1 Frost Ogre
2 Goblin Cohort
1 Patron of the Akki
3 Torrent of Stone
Sideboard
1 Nine-Ringed Bo
2 Blessed Breath
1 Cleanfall
1 Kitsune Blademaster
1 Kitsune Diviner
1 Quiet Purity
1 Eerie Procession
1 Cursed Ronin
1 Devouring Greed
1 Ragged Veins
1 Desperate Ritual
2 Uncontrollable Anger
1 Unnatural Speed
1 Vine Kami
1 Toils of Night and Day
2 Psychic Spear
1 Skullsnatcher
1 Nourishing Shoal
1 Uproot

Eric Jones
Draft position 5
Finished 1st
9 Island
8 Swamp
1 Consuming Vortex
1 River Kaijin
1 Soratami Cloudskater
2 Soratami Rainshaper
2 Teller of Tales
1 Blood Speaker
1 Hideous Laughter
1 Nezumi Cutthroat
1 Nezumi Ronin
1 Painwracker Oni
1 Villainous Ogre
1 Mistblade Shinobi
3 Ninja of the Deep Hours
1 Phantom Wings
1 Veil of Secrecy
2 Eradicate
1 Skullsnatcher
1 Takenuma Bleeder
Sideboard
1 Counsel of the Soratami
1 Floating-Dream Zubera
1 Guardian of Solitude
1 Hinder
1 Hisoka’s Guard
1 Mystic Restraints
2 Peer Through Depths
1 Psychic Puppetry
1 Reach Through Mists
1 Ashen-Skin Zubera
1 Scuttling Death
1 Akki Underminer
1 Battle-Mad Ronin
1 Brutal Deceiver
1 Kumano’s Pupils
1 Mistblade Shinobi
1 Akki Blizzard-Herder
1 Ashen Monstrosity
1 Shinka Gatekeeper

Douglas Effler
Draft position 7
Finished 3-4th
9 Plains
7 Swamp
1 Shizo, Death’s Storehouse
1 Cage of Hands
2 Hundred-Talon Kami
1 Kami of the Painted Road
1 Kami of the Palace Fields
1 Kitsune Blademaster
1 Kitsune Diviner
1 Konda’s Hatamoto
1 Samurai of the Pale Curtain
1 Distress
1 Nezumi Ronin
1 Scuttling Death
1 Villainous Ogre
1 Waking Nightmare
1 Indebted Samurai
1 Mending Hands
1 Tallowisp
1 Waxmane Baku
2 Blessing of Leeches
1 Skullsnatcher
1 Stir the Grave
1 Shuko
Sideboard
1 Terashi’s Cry
1 Consuming Vortex
1 Floating-Dream Zubera
1 Part the Veil
1 Psychic Puppetry
1 Sire of the Storm
1 Soratami Mirror-Guard
1 Soratami Seer
1 Wandering Ones
1 Deathcurse Ogre
1 Numai Outcast
1 Devouring Rage
1 Hearth Kami
1 Unearthly Blizzard
1 Budoka Gardener
1 Patron of the Moon
1 Quash
1 Call for Blood
1 Goryo’s Vengeance
1 Frost Ogre
1 Shinka Gatekeeper

Clay Cook-Mowery
Draft position 1
Finished 5-8th
4 Forest
7 Island
6 Plains
1 Cage of Hands
1 Kabuto Moth
2 Kitsune Healer
1 Sensei Golden-Tail
1 Mystic Restraints
1 Soratami Cloudskater
1 Squelch
2 Thoughtbind
1 Feral Deceiver
1 Kami of the Hunt
1 Order of the Sacred Bell
1 Thousand-legged Kami
1 Heart of Light
1 Kami of Tattered Shoji
1 Genju of the Falls
1 Jetting Glasskite
1 Ninja of the Deep Hours
1 Shimmering Glasskite
1 Lifespinner
1 Matsu-Tribe Sniper
Sideboard
1 Quiet Purity
1 Counsel of the Soratami
1 Wandering Ones
1 Blood Speaker
1 Deathcurse Ogre
1 Distress
1 Gibbering Kami
1 Kami of Lunacy
2 Rend Spirit
1 Waking Nightmare
1 Hearth Kami
1 Ore Gorger
1 Stone Rain
1 Wear Away
1 Takeno’s Cavalry
1 Ribbons of the Reikai
1 Stream of Consciousness
1 Veil of Secrecy
1 Blazing Shoal
1 Splinter


TOP EIGHT SEALED DECK LISTS

Blake Miller
4-0-2
1st place after six rounds of Swiss
8 Forest
9 Swamp
1 Sensei’s Divining Top
1 Devouring Greed
1 Gutwrencher Oni
1 Nezumi Ronin
1 Painwracker Oni
1 Rend Spirit
1 Waking Nightmare
1 Wicked Akuba
1 Dripping-Tongue Zubera
1 Humble Budoka
1 Kodama of the North Tree
1 Kodama’s Reach
1 Serpent Skin
1 Sosuke, Son of Seshiro
2 Bile Urchin
1 Okiba-Gang Shinobi
1 Skullmane Baku
1 Takenuma Bleeder
1 Budoka Pupil
1 Child of Thorns
1 Roar of Jukai
1 Sakura-Tribe Springcaller

Eric Jones
4-0-2
2nd place after six rounds of Swiss
6 Island
2 Mountain
9 Swamp
1 Callous Deceiver
1 Mystic Restraints
1 Soratami Cloudskater
1 Soratami Rainshaper
1 Ashen-Skin Zubera
1 Cursed Ronin
1 Kami of the Waning Moon
1 Pull Under
1 Swallowing Plague
1 Wicked Akuba
1 Glacial Ray
1 Jetting Glasskite
1 Ninja of the Deep Hours
1 Toils of Night and Day
1 Veil of Secrecy
1 Bile Urchin
1 Genju of the Fens
1 Horobi’s Whisper
1 Okiba-Gang Shinobi
1 Skullsnatcher
1 Stir the Grave
1 Frostling
1 Torrent of Stone

Christopher Schlosser
4-1-1
3rd place after six rounds of Swiss
8 Plains
9 Swamp
1 Long-Forgotten Gohei
1 Blessed Breath
1 Cage of Hands
1 Isamaru, Hound of Konda
1 Kitsune Diviner
1 Lantern Kami
1 Mothrider Samurai
1 Nagao, Bound by Honor
1 Otherworldly Journey
1 Ashen-Skin Zubera
1 Dance of Shadows
1 Nezumi Graverobber
1 Rend Flesh
1 Scuttling Death
1 Thief of Hope
1 Indebted Samurai
2 Kami of False Hope
2 Silverstorm Samurai
1 Bile Urchin
1 Genju of the Fens
2 Horobi’s Whisper
1 Ogre Marauder

Douglas Effler
4-1-1
4th place after six rounds of Swiss
6 Forest
5 Plains
6 Swamp
1 General’s Kabuto
1 Kabuto Moth
1 Kitsune Blademaster
1 Mothrider Samurai
1 Reciprocate
1 Befoul
1 Cruel Deceiver
1 Gutwrencher Oni
1 Nezumi Ronin
1 Rend Flesh
1 Scuttling Death
1 Soulless Revival
1 Burr Grafter
1 Hana Kami
1 Kodama of the South Tree
1 Moss Kami
1 Orochi Leafcaller
1 Hundred-Talon Strike
1 Moonlit Strider
1 Throat Slitter
1 Budoka Pupil
1 Child of Thorns
1 Scaled Hulk

Tony Menzer
4-1-1
5th place after six rounds of Swiss
6 Island
9 Mountain
2 Plains
1 Cloudcrest Lake
1 Kabuto Moth
1 Callous Deceiver
1 Floating-Dream Zubera
1 Meloku the Clouded Mirror
1 Mystic Restraints
1 Soratami Cloudskater
1 Soratami Rainshaper
1 Frostwielder
1 Hanabi Blast
1 Hearth Kami
1 Honden of Infinite Rage
1 Uncontrollable Rage
1 Yamabushi’s Flame
1 Waxmane Baku
1 Kaijin of the Vanishing Touch
1 Phantom Wings
1 Akki Raider
1 Blademane Baku
1 First Volley
1 Frostling
1 Fumiko the Lowblood
1 Goblin Cohort

Matthew Hoffman
4-1-1
6th place after six rounds of Swiss
10 Island
7 Plains
1 Tenza, Godo’s Maul
1 Cage of Hands
1 Ethereal Haze
1 Kabuto Moth
1 Kitsune Diviner
1 Kitsune Healer
1 Hinder
1 Honden of Seeing Winds
1 Keiga, the Tide Star
1 Reach Through Mists
1 River Kaijin
1 Soratami Mirror-Guard
1 Soratami Mirror-Mage
1 Teller of Tales
1 Kami of Tattered Shoji
1 Opal-Eye, Konda’s Yojimbo
1 Waxmane Baku
1 Callow Jushi
1 Floodbringer
1 Mistblade Shinobi
1 Shimmering Glasskite
1 Teardrop Kami
1 Veil of Secrecy

Clay Cook-Mowery
4-1-1
7th place after six rounds of Swiss
3 Island
6 Plains
5 Swamp
1 Eiganjo Castle
1 Minamo, School at Water’s Edge
1 Waterveil Cavern
1 Blessed Breath
1 Harsh Deceiver
1 Kami of Ancient Law
1 Nagao, Bound by Honor
1 Guardian of Solitude
1 Mystic Restraints
1 Soratami Cloudskater
1 Ashen-Skin Zubera
1 Devouring Greed
1 Rend Flesh
1 Thief of Hope
1 Wicked Akuba
1 Genju of the Fields
1 Hundred-Talon Strike
1 Kentaro, the Smiling Cat
2 Moonlit Strider
2 Silverstorm Samurai
2 Ninja of the Deep Hours
1 Toils of Night and Day
1 Horobi’s Whisper

Devon Wilton
4-1-1
8th place after six rounds of Swiss
8 Forest
7 Plains
1 Tranquil Garden
1 Sensei’s Divining Top
1 Tenza, Godo’s Maul
1 Eight-and-a-Half-Tails
1 Harsh Deceiver
1 Indomitable Will
1 Kabuto Moth
1 Kami of Ancient Law
1 Konda’s Hatamoto
1 Pious Kitsune
1 Samurai Enforcers
1 Burr Grafter
1 Commune with Nature
1 Feral Deceiver
1 Kashi-Tribe Reaver
1 Kashi-Tribe Warriors
1 Kodama’s Reach
1 Orochi Leafcaller
1 Ronin Warclub
1 Terashi’s Verdict
1 Child of Thorns
1 Gnarled Mass
2 Matsu-Tribe Sniper
1 Sakura-Tribe Springcaller

Of course, I’m always interested in hearing what YOU think.

Jeff Zandi
Guilty Tax Mages
Level II DCI Judge
zanman@thoughtcastle.com
Zanman on Magic Online