Belgian Nationals, Part 1

1. Foreplay

Ah, nationals. The tournament of tournaments. It’s like the Olympics, only more special. Even for people who already have numerous Pro Tours under their belt, there is something extra-ordinary about it. In theory it’s just a quadruple PTQ, but in practice everybody wants to be that guy carrying the flag come December (well, except Stan, who probably prefers sleeping).

2002 Belgian National Team. So young and naive.

 2. Vandaag is rood, de kleur van jouw lippen

 In my preparation for nationals, I had some dilemmas:

• I had almost no time for practicing
• I had almost no willingness to test standard
• I really wanted to do well, in a vain attempt to reach 30 PT points this season and regain some self-esteem

This left me with only one out: play a red deck.

I choose red.

 3. Grand Prix Copenhagen

I leave for this tournament bringing only the bare necessities: my red cards and my mobile phone. I give Frank Karsten (the man, the myth, the buffoon that played Rekindled Flame) a call and he shares his decklist, which, next to Rekindled Flame, also features Brute Force. 

The deck performs quite well, as I only lose to Red-Black tokens (bad matchup I guess), Elves (bad luck I guess), and twice to other red decks (out of four matches, seems fair).

Since my theory is that almost everybody always plays creature decks in Belgium I plan to adapt the deck to win the mirror and win nationals. 

I bought this card at a dealer. So much for my self-esteem.

4. Les Ardennes 

In order to fully prepare ourselves mentally (be completely Zen) for the tournament of tournaments, I organised a magical weekend (need more puns) in the Ardennes. All present: Fried, Peter, Pascal, Marijn, Kelly, Christophe, Jurgen, Stijn (although not always conscious) and myself. I once again bring only the bare necessities: my red cards, packs, and water balloons. 

A day in this soothing environment lifts me to higher spirits and I build the perfect red deck:

4 Figure of Destiny
2 Magus of the Scroll
4 Blood Knight
3 Mogg War Marshall
4 Ashenmoor Gouger
2 Boggart Ram Gang
4 Demigod of Revenge
4 Skred
4 Incinerate
4 Flame Javelin
3 Keldon Megaliths
22 Snow-Covered Mountains

Sideboard:
3 Greater Gargadon
3 Unwilling Recruit
3 Faerie Macabre
2 Magus of the Moon
2 Sulfur Elemental
2 Sulfurous Blast 

The key in the mirror is very simple:

•  Don’t take damage (Mogg War Marshall)
•  Kill their big guys (Skred, Unwilling Recruit + Gargadon)
• Let your big guys do the job (Greater Gargadon)

Not that I had any chance to test the sideboard, but it looked great in theory. 

I did test against Reveillark though, where I went funky against Marijn and brought in Sulfurous Blasts (alongside Macabres, obviously), which were surprisingly good. Since they sideboard in Condemns, Runed Halo, etc. they have to take out action cards and most of the time they are rather low on gas. The Sulfurous Blasts together with all the other direct damage ensure you can kill all their guys (obviously you need Macabres with this strategy) and eventually they’ll die. I believe it was 5-1 in testing (sample size, schmample size). 

I mentally put all the other decks in the box ‘Creature deck/Bad deck/Other’ which I considered a good matchup without having to test. 

Boosterdraft was another story. I felt comfortable with LLM, having practiced a lot for Malaysia. I only got the chance to draft SSE twice, going a combined 1-2. The sole win being against judge Jurgen who was screwed.

5. Oh such a perfect day

It’s the 5^th of September, 7:30 a.m. Together with Stan I’m cruising on cobblestone roads in order to avoid traffic. Is this the real life, or is this just fantasy?

It makes me think about all the sacrifices I’ve already made in my life, just in the hope of getting there once. Spent thousands of euros. Played 2HG with Geoffrey Siron. Slept in the same bed as Marijn Lybaert. Sat in planes & airports for 36 continuous hours. Sold my soul to the devil. Had my fries stolen by Marijn Lybaert.

But it’s just the price I pay.
Destiny is calling me.
Open up my eager eyes.
I’m Mr. Belgian Champ.

To be continued.