With the Top Tens coming up soon, I thought it might be a good idea to revisit
this particular iteration.
Over the site's life there have been a number of truly great rivalries. Ten are in the list above, and more have emerged in the past year or so. And as I have said on many occasions, it is this part of TSC that is so compelling. Anyway, today a new rivalry emerged: Me and that upstart SDM. (Strictly speaking this rivalry is not "new", but
that story has been told enough times that it doesn't need retelling.)
The war was not waged on the traditional battlefields, though. Instead, the battle was staged on two fronts. First, to the card table for a spot of Magic. SDM's playing a white/black control deck that couldn't get off the ground in game 1, and I'm playing Those Fucking Clerics (props to RPG for the name). So I offer a game 2 and the tension begins.
Early on, I play a few clerics including Dark Supplicant so as to threaten to bring Scion of Darkness out. Unfortunately, SDM's Dark Confidant pulls up Wrath so I dare not try. He wipes the board with Damnation instead, so I know he's got one spare.
Conveniently at this stage, I drew into a fifth land for Liliana Vess. However I've got no creatures and he has one, so building up to 8 is not going to be easy. After two more turns I forced him to discard his Wrath though.
Next turn, however, I have a decision to make. I've got two creatures in play (a Zombie token and a Sleeper Agent that SDM passed me) and I can't defend all of SDM's advances. Instead of trying to hold out until I hit 8 (which wasn't guaranteed at any rate), I change tack, attacking for 5 (a move later countered by his Children of Korlis) and using Liliana to search for Patriarch's Bidding. SDM had his own clerics in the deck so it ended up that we both had full strength lineups after the Bidding, but then SDM pulled out another Wrath (after sacrificing two Martyr of Sands for 6 life each) and we started again. The difference, though, was that I had Rotlung Reanimator in play, giving me a net gain of five Zombies. SDM's next move was to play a reclamation spell, bringing back a Children of Korlis and two Sleeper Agents (which went to me).
So as it stands, it's 21-7 to SDM. It's about to be 21-3 because of the Sleeper Agents. This effectively means I have to win in one turn. Luckily, I have a lot of firepower at my disposal - 7 creatures to 1. It's still not enough damage to win though. What do I do?
I have three cards in hand:
-Ambition's Cost - would do wonders for my card position, but would also lose me the game
-Corrupt - take out Children of Korlis and swing for 16, leaving it in my favour at 10-5? Tempting, but SDM could topdeck just about anything that could screw me over.
-Coat of Arms - I sought a clarification on whether SDM could somehow stack Children of Korlis's ability for any good. Apparently not, and this last play won the game.
One of the most epic Magic games I have ever been involved in. It took something like 45 minutes from start to finish.
And from there on to Sonic 3! SDM picks Knuckles and I pick Tails. The ploy works on Balloon Park (I don't know why, it just looked like SDM couldn't find the gap) and Chrome Gadget, despite four laps of spectacularly bad racing. Desert Palace, to date my one stronghold against SDM, fell just as Tails did through the sand bar. And so it came down to Endless Mine to decide proceedings.
The result was never really in question: SDM racked up 40"84, with Knuckles, with the lag. Far too good.
What next for this emerging rivalry? Stay tuned!
And yes, this entire topic is just an opportunity to show off the Magic game >_>
