Here's a quick overview of my MN T2 Blowout experience:
We arrived Friday night and were pleasantly surprised to see many familiar faces, including RDT who "wasn't going to be there". I jumped into T2 Sealed right away and got Falling Away in my Women's pack but nothing else amazing for my deck. T2 sealed was interesting and worth trying once. I'd do it again under the right circumstances. I played Zac, Alex and Nathan. I'm thankful to get to play against Alex who flew all the way from PA.
Bill's hospitality is second to none. We were very well taken care of from food to sleeping arrangements. Thanks, Bill!
Rnd 1 - Craig Fountain - I really enjoy Craig, he's like a dad to me. Well, more like a grandpa. An ornery old grandpa.
He had SoG/NJ by turn 2 and got a couple free souls (and Forts) with Zac. I didn't have any blockers. He whipped out some Garden Girls and started abusing my TGT. Instantly he was up 6-3 and I'd already played Falling Away. My defense finally showed up but I still had to wait for a way into his Sites. Craig kept the pressure on with rescue attempts almost every turn. I held him off and got to 5 because Naz stifled his defense. I had SoG when he used Water Jar. NJ was my top card. Next turn I rescued number 6. I made a comeback to squeeze out a 7-6 win.
Rnd 2 - Justin Alstad - This is the match up I was looking forward to and fearing at the same time. Justin is a T2 legend and I've learned a lot from him.
Within the first couple turns of the game I drew both of my "deck discard" Lost Souls. One hit his NJ, the other a key Hero. He made an early rescue with 2 Heroes banded. I made what turned out to be a pretty important block. It slowed his offense down enough that I was able to hold him off. The first third of the game I had to wait to get the right cards to deal with his powerful defense. Then, it took me a couple rescues before I was able to discard his protection Fort without putting myself at risk. After that I was pretty much able to walk through for a Lost Soul and finish the game with SoG to win 7-1.
Rnd 3 - Jacob Fountain - He's a really nice young man. He must get it from his mother's side.
I drew enough Sites to hide my Lost Souls most of the game. I only had a few key cards in my deck that were great against his offense. I drew most of them in the first few turns of the game. That allowed me to "use up" his NJ Site. My Pergamum shut down his Dragon Raid. He made a really nice play one turn. He played a Dominant to clear the LS from my Pergamum so he could use DR. The next turn I drew a LS to occupy it. I was able to walk in for a few Lost Souls since he didn't really seem to have a good answer to my offense. The final score was 7-1 in my favor.
Rnd 4 - Alan Rice - In T1 he's my nemesis. In T2 I guess I am his. It certainly didn't start out that way. He was completely teched out against my deck because he'd seen it in Austin two weeks before.
Early in the game he made a great play and banded all of my ECs into battle. I had to play Grapes to save them and my Hero. Without my defense, he got off to a quick lead, including SoG/NJ in the first few turns. I think it was something like 1-5 in his favor. I started to mount a comeback but he got Magic Charms. I rescued with a protected Hero. He played an EE that couldn't target my Hero so he had to target one of his own. Then he panicked because he didn't want me to have initiative and discarded his Charms. Since my Heroes were protected he had to target his own again. That may or may not have cost him the game. It's hard to tell. I made a comeback to a 5-5 tie. I drew my SoG/NJ and ended the game with a 7-5 win.
Rnd 5 - Nathan Voigt - I love playing Nate. He's one of the politest young men I've met. He's also a great Redemption player and comes up with some really cool, but unique strategies.
Nathan walked in for two free souls before I drew defense. A few turns into the game I was able to catch up. We stayed tied at 2-2 for a long time. I had defense and all he had was a Female LS I couldn't find access to. I was able to chump block him for a while to buy myself some time. Eventually, when some souls showed up I was able to break through his defense. The game seemed much closer than the final score would indicate. I think it was 7-3 in my favor.
There are so many really good players at this event I didn't think it was remotely possible to three peat. Justin was there for the first time in a couple years and players like Nathan, Alan, the KC Boys, etc get better every year. I had a lot of fun and enjoy the strong competition.
One of the highlights of the event for me was the amount of "elders" that were present. We had a chance to discuss things in person instead of through cyber space. I enjoy serving in this ministry alongside those guys.
