Classic Reprint: My First Sanctioned Tournament

This was in 2003ish at a Friday Night Magic Event (I think).

I entered with a black and red power/speed deck. Back then I (almost obsessively) used black or red in all my decks. I thought I could beat anyone with my combination of burn and removal. In hindsight, the deck was hopelessly flawed.

In brief, the deck was filled with cheap creatures, and the above mentioned creature removal and burn cards.

Still, my confidence was bolstered by several quick wins. I beat the first two opponents 2-0 and 2-0. My third opponent was using a black zombie deck, which I struggled against, but won 2-1.  In the fourth and final round, I played against a red/artifact deck.

I won the first game easily. Then the guy sideboarded against me. Quick timeout: up until this point in my Magic career, I had never used a sideboard, but I made one for this tournament since that was what everyone else was doing. In the old days, sideboarding was modifying your deck after a loss so you could win the next game. In the old days, people would swap out for COPs. Little did I know sideboarding had become almost a crucial part of tournament play.

I found out why in the second game. Masticore was the card the guy sideboarded 4 of against me, and it singlehandily won him game 2. I had 4 Diabolic Edits in my sideboard, so I switched them in for game 3. This worked against the Masticores, but the game dragged, and my opponent eventually started using some of the higher casting cost cards that had not been a factor in the first couple games. The one in particular that won game 3 was Lightning Surge, and its flashback and threshold abilities.

Still, I hadn't done too bad. I had a playoff spot. My final record was 7-3. Only the guy playing the Reanimator deck (who had gone 8-0 and would ultimately win) had a better record, I figured I had a shot at winning. But unfortunately for me, my round 4 opponent managed to edge his way into the playoffs with his win over me. And wouldn't you know it? I was paired against him first.

I think at this point, Masticore guy knew he could beat me. I realized that whoever won game 1 would probably take the series, and he did, and of course, he did. He had exposed my weakness in our last match, and he didn't need to sideboard the second time around. I was beaten soundly in games 1 and 3, while edging out a game 2 win.

Based on final record, I finished third, not a bad finish for a first tournament I might add.