Well this one should have been 061122

A bit tired of blogging =P

losing direction...

plus I am really busy haha

Anyways I was rather tired of losing, and you know what, you must want to win in life, cos if you do not you WILL lose ;)

Anyways my play was alot tighter, I still made mistakes, but at least I knew where my misplays were.

Also exchanged for my first pack from the store... but I had to top up 50 cents for a pack of Timespiral... had to open immediately and surrender my plastic wrapper...

I wonder why.


I actually like my plastic wrapper as i use them to store the cards (yah yah you think we all use shoe boxes??? lol)


For extended I joined a local extended tourney.

1st round I lost 2 in a row I think. To Stamford I think.

2nd round I managed to draw. But given a more tested build I should have won.

Now I learnt an important lesson in this match. Never do anything for your opponent =P

I sped up play. I could have played slow (a CAL deck is very very slow). I could have pile shuffled. All PERFECTLY LEGAL.

But I did a simple shuffle. POTENTIALLY giving myself a crap draw, and in the event I was flustered and shuffled a sideboard card into my main board (rather I left it in there - I played wishes). And dear Clement decided to call on me. And it was very deliberate since he was watching very closely for the error.

Luckily he was too eager ;)

He called before the match started. I had not offered my deck for cutting, nor had play started. Thanks Bernard! And the guys were also rather supportive of that call as bad sportmanship.

I had mixed feelings.

I had sped up play even before the 2nd round ended, I had won my first round, so I had EVERY incentive to just do the CAL thing and go for the draw with a time out (oh yah Clement did the call with 1 minute left). But I did'nt, I took a loss, sped up my shuffling. And this is what I get.

I guess the problem is that I have a rather casual take on the tournament. So it really left a bad taste in my mouth.


Still at the same time, I know that this is an infringement had the game started. So, better to get this experience in an 8 man tourney than at a high level tourney. So in a way I am thankful that the incident happen and for people like Clement.

I will be more careful in future, I might still do my oppoent favours in the name of sportmanship, but NEVER again at my expense. No quarters given, none taken. I am a nice guy, not a fool. Its sad, but I am beginning to find that this world is so full of carrion feeders that you must be strong enough to be nice. Strength by grace is a stance only the strong can make.

Anyways third round was against David. Man Haunting Echoes. The only SB I can think in response is Shunt. But I want something that can screw Tormod as well. The best I can think of is trickbind/Voidslime/stifle. but all blue based =( Another solution is to play my own Haunting Echoes hohoho.

Actually I am beginning to think that Tormod cannot hurt CAL that badly. sure it sucks. But it is really what you let keep in the grave.

As a newbie to CAL, I suspect i have been very sloppy in what i keep in my grave, hence the haunting echoes was all hurt.



Anyways... the following is a draft on a FNM(actually up to this point I am actually typing on 061203)


First match:

Colin first dropped a death spore, but I had no removal for it.

Eventually he got down Vol. 7 as well as Vhad il-Dal.

All this time he was building saprolings while I was playing slivers.

I had watcher slivers and spineret slivers, as well as gemhide slivers.

But all it was a good defense.

The only offense I had was 2 looters.

When he got his combo, he proceeded to clinically remove the slivers.

Vhati il Dal converted toughness to 1 and a saproling was fed to the deathspore to finish it off.

So you know the thallid won that round lol.


2nd Match. an early griffin guide dropped Colins life total quickly. He got out a Hydra. but it met my sideboarded molder.

I gained 5 life from it.

I proceeded to race. and he succumbed.

Not to silvers mind you. So I got lucky I guess.


Third game same as game one. I mucked up the ground.

Stallmate, but he started popping saprolings.

Looters do what damage 1/1s can do.

But a deathspore soon stemmed the bleeding.

Eventually he swarmed and tromped the domains for the win.

TIme was called i lost on my last turn sighz

Oh yah. I was meant to lose. Why? Well I think he alphaed. My next card was camoflage. My full attack would have him I believe.

Life sucks and we move on.


2nd Round was paired with Sean

Lost 1st match as I got greedy and decided to keep a 2 land land (off colour as well).

Conceded early as he got a protection from white? ivory Giant.


2nd Match lost.

I'm not sure why =)




3rd Round was paired with Daryl I think.

Only 1 match as it took really long.

Essentially the game mucked up the floor again.


And he stormed empty the warrens.


Errors I made, and this is worth reflecting as it is a culmulative error.


I did not drop the spinneret sliver in hand as i wanted to muck up his combat maths.

But actually by then he had so many gobbos it did'nt really matter.

That was my mistake.

Subtle but it cost me the win. Why? Cost when stormed and attacked. He alphaed and I had the camoflage.

I fogged.

and.

I was 1 point short of winning that match (which would have won the game as time was called).


He alpahed me the following turn and that was that.

2nd match went into time quickly, but I knew it was over as both our decks do not win quickly.

Onlookers said I should have gone aggro and just drop everything, true, but going through the maths, I could'nt deal enough damage in time =(

ah well. So close to a win.