The Lady of the Mountain II

At the beginning of May, the Sisters of the Flame held a retreat in the Poconos full Old School Magic fun. It was a 16-person, invite-only event. There were five different competitions throughout the weekend. Players were competing in groups of two for the weekend totals.

I didn't write this report until six weeks later or so. Mainly because the formats were not something that are widely played, but also due to the exclusive nature of the event. However, for my own records I've decided to write up this synopsis.

The Events

Two constructed formats: Swedish69 and Sisterton 2HG

Swedish69 is like Swedish rules, but you need at least nine cards from each of Arabian Nights, Antiquities, Legends, and The Dark in your deck at all times. Additionally, you must have at least three from each set in your sideboard. We played with modified rules that banned Blood Moon, Black Vise, and City in a Bottle. There was some confusion as the intention was for Mind Twist and Library of Alexandria to also be banned, but this was not communicated to the players. It's a bit weird to have cards banned while others are restricted, but for such a casual event it was fine.

Sisterton is the Sisters variation on Singleton. It is a 100 card singleton format with most of the powerful cards banned. It is quite popular at meetups as the games are quite varied and interesting. The banned list is Black Lotus, The Moxen, Ancestral, Time Walk, Library of Alexandria, Mind Twist, Sol Ring, Braingeyser, Fireball, Disintegrate, All Ante Cards. It is popular to play pick-up Two-Headed Giant with the decks, but for this event players could build the decks with their partners deck in mind. 

Cube draft. There were two cubes. Paul had his Urza's Chalice cube, and Andy had his modified Legends cube. Each member of the team would play in a different cube.

Card design contest. Teams were tasked with designing a card and then everyone voted for their two favorite cards. The two winning cards will be printed out in the future and made legal in Sisterton.

Magic Art Trivia. I think it was about 30 images in a slide show and you had to identify the card. The art was modified by Claudia and focused on some of the smaller details of the cards.

Deckbuilding

I managed to convince Will Magrann to be my partner. We decided early on that the 2HG decks should most likely be identical to increase the chances of drawing the strongest cards. I looked for cards that would benefit both players and found Mightstone, Crusade, Army of Allah, Jihad, etc. So then it was trying to find the best 40-ish White or Artifact creatures to put in the deck. Here is what we ended up on:

(The facedown card is Jihad proxy)

For Swedish69, it was clear pretty early that The Dark didn't have a lot of good cards at all. Maze of Ith and Fellwar Stone could go in every deck though. Maze probably ended up being too good and would need further restriction if you play this format again. I went back and forth on several ideas before realizing that Pendelhaven in my 1/1 Flyer deck also let me play Argothian Pixies. Here is the deck I played:

I Love Sunken City

Will decided to play a Blue White tempo deck with Su-Chi and Serendibs. 

The Weekend

I had planned on being in Delaware to help watch my niece and nephew for the week and driving up from there. Those plans fell through however, so I was able to meet up with Jared and carpool from Clinton. After we had some lobster rolls at Metropolitan Seafood, we hit the road and arrived around 4pm. 

 First things first: Andy was making margaritas for Cinco De Mayo. The Aerathi Berserker one was incredible.

As more people began to arrive, an issue came up. One player bailed at the last minute, meaning there would only be 15 players. This left Jelani without a partner. There was some discussions about it, and in the end we decided to pair Will with Jelani. I would participate the weekend as a solo player, but my results would count double. I could manage to play the 2HG event easily enough, and I think this was the deciding factor for how to solve the problem. My team would be the Scryb Sprites, and I would play alone.

Swedish 69

We started play with Swedish69 either during or after dinner. I don't remember much about the matches six weeks later, but I'll do my best.

Round One - Ian

He was playing a Red aggressive deck with Ball Lightning I think. I think he may have mulligan or had mana issues, but I won.

1-0

Round Two - Phil

I don't remember this at all. I probably won with flyers.

2-0

Round Three - Dom on Living Plane

I do remember this one. Game one I was able to get Sunken City to protect my flyers from his Brothers of Fire. Game two he destroyed me with Living Plane plus Falling Star. Game three I had a good start. I then got to destroy his Living Plane with Concordant Crossroads followed by Mana Drain on his second Plane. He didn't have any additional interaction and the flyers got there.

3-0

Sunken City > Brothers of Fire

Round Four - Will on UW Tempo

He easily beats me game one with his more controlling build. Game two I manage to Control Magic his Serra Angel when he's empty handed, but he topdecks Braingeyser and finds a Disenchant and I get crushed.

3-1

Swedish69 Finals

The rest of the evening is a blur of margaritas and beer. I know I had fun.

Card Design

Saturday morning they presented the task of designing a card. I submitted this:

Cavalry Tactics - XXW

Sorcery

Put into play X horse tokens. Treat these as 2/2 creatures. They have banding with Knights and Soldiers

Card designs filtered in throughout the day. I was the first one done since I didn't have to design by committee. I'm happy with the card design and flavor, but compared to other cards it was maybe too straightforward as a "good" card. I don't think it's too strong or anything but it doesn't do much besides advance you board state. 

When votes were tallied, I was in a tie for second place with Andy's team. I got crushed in the runoff vote however.

Two-Headed Giant

This took place right after lunch. Once again, I don't remember much.

Round One - Electric Eels (Ian and Seth)

They had both Earthquake and a Wrath of God to stop my assault.

0-1

Round Two - Uthden Trolls (Andy and Adam)

I think this game I had a fast start followed by Winter Orb to lock the game up. 

1-1

POV: You are playing two decks at once

Round Three - Spitting Slugs (Jared and Vince)

Jared never drew a third land and I won easily.

2-1

Round Four - Merfolk of the Pearl Trident (Will and Jelani)

I start off strong but draw nothing but lands in the midgame and they win from there.

2-2

I love playing Two-Headed Giant and wish I got to play more than just four games with the decks I built. They are a bit too strong and boring for the casual fun games though.

Art Trivia

I'm not very good at noticing art on Magic cards. It's just a blur of color in my head until I take time to look closely. I also am playing by myself, which is a big disadvantage here. Not surprisingly, I finish DFL.

Played from up here, nice view

Cube Draft

After dinner it was time to cube draft. I don't have any photos of deck or games. I only vaguely remember pairings. The White Russians Jared kept making finally catching up. I chose to play in the Legends cube because I love what Andy has done with the Legends.

Round One - Vince

I don't remember.

1-0

Round Two - Jelani? Adam? Not sure

I don't remember

2-0

Round Three - Matt

He beats me. I don't remember how.

2-1

Prizes and Final Standings

Picture of all the prizes

I end up 2nd place Swedish69. I finish 3rd or 4th on breakers in the cube, 3rd in 2HG, 3rd in Card Design, and DFL in Art Trivia. I'm not sure how Paul tallied the scores, but that did put me tied with Will for the most points overall. That also meant when my score was doubled, I was far and away the best "team". Maybe playing alone was an advantage? It would be a big disadvantage on the other side of 50%.

My prizes and swag

Weekend thoughts

I had a great time participating in this event. I'd love to do this again. I know people say these kinds of events are the best part of Old School. I can see the appeal, but I do still greatly enjoy actual Magic tournaments. This will never replace that, but it doesn't need to or want to. I had a great time hanging out with all the people there. I got to meet some new faces and make some lasting memories. It was great

Props:

Paul and Andy for putting the whole thing on

Will for helping me make decks

Jared for the ride to the place

Claudia for making the Art Quiz

Slops:

Whoever it was that didn't show up leaving Jelani without a partner. You know who you are and you should feel bad

The Lady of the Mountain II