Disclaimer: I don't own Magic: The Gathering.
When Arrathir got to his next match, there was a boy, a bit younger than him sitting at the battle. The boy had short blonde hair and wore a shirt with a Chinese dragon on it.
"Hi!" said his opponent "I'm Ben!"
Well, at least he's in a better mood than Eva.
"Hey Ben," he said "My name's Arrathir."
"OK," said Ben, pulling out a D20 "Let's get started! I roll a sixteen!"
"I roll a five," said Arrathir.
"I'll go first," said Ben "Except I'm gonna mulligan." Ben shuffled his hand back into his deck and drew six cards. "I play an island and tap it to summon Fugitive Wizard (1/1). It's your turn!"
What is this guy, a noob? He mulligans and summons Fugitive Wizard…
"I play a swamp and summon Putrid Imp," said Arrathir "I discard one card to give him flying until end of turn and I say go."
"My turn?" asked Ben "Okay! I play another island and attack you with my wizard!"
"I block with Putrid Imp," said Arrathir.
This guy IS a noob. Great. Well, if my deck serves me well, I think I can execute a fourth-turn kill.
"My move," said Arrathir "I play a swamp and play Exhume! We each put a creature from our graveyards back to play. I return Hypnox (8/8, flying) to play!"
"Then I return my Fugitive Wizard to play!" said Ben "Done?"
"Yes."
"Okay!" said Ben "I tap both my lands to summon Voidmage Apprentice (1/1)! Go."
"Third swamp," said Arrathir "And I summon Putrid Imp (1/1). I discard Havoc Demon to give the Imp flying and I attack with Hypnox!"
BEN: 12
ARRATHIR: 20
"Main Phase 2," said Arrathir "I play Reanimate to bring Havoc Demon (5/5, flying) back! However, I loose life equal to its converted mana cost. Your move."
BEN: 12
ARRATHIR: 13
"Yes! Another land!" said Ben "I summon Spire Golem (2/4, flying)!"
So much for the four-turn kill.
"Go."
"I discard a card to give my Imp flying and I'll attack you full out," said Arrathir.
"I'll block Hypnosis with my Spire Golem," said Ben "And I'll take the rest."
BEN: 6
ARRATHIR: 13
"Another island," said Ben "And I play two Aether Spellbomb and sacrifice them both to return your Havoc Demon and Hypnox to your hand! Next I attack with my Voidmage Apprentice and Fugitive Wizard!"
Hmm, maybe he's not such a noob after all…
BEN: 6
ARRATHIR: 11
"Draw!" said Arrathir "Swamp, and I play Zombify to return Avatar of Woe (6/5, fear) to play! Next, I attack with Putrid Imp! Your move."
BEN: 5
ARRATHIR: 11
"Fifth island," said Ben "I play Repulse to send your Avatar of Woe back to your hand. Also I get to draw a card. Now I attack with everything. Go."
BEN: 5
ARRATHIR: 9
"I discard Havoc Demon to give my Imp flying and attack with it!' said Arrathir "Main Phase 2, I play Exhume to bring Havoc Demon back. Your move."
BEN: 4
ARRATHIR: 9
"I play another island," said Ben "And I play another Spire Golem (2/4, flying). Next, I play Rush of Knowledge, which lets me draw cards equal to the highest converted mana cost among permanents I control, so I draw six. With my last mana, I play another Aether Spellbomb. Your turn."
This is getting annoying.
"I discard my entire hand into my Putrid Imp. Since I now have Threshold, it gets +1+1 and can't block. I attack with everything."
"I block your Havoc Demon with my Spire Golem," said Ben.
BEN: 2
ARRATHIR: 9
"I play another island and play Rush of Knowledge to draw two cards," said Ben "Now I sacrifice my Aether Spellbomb to return your Havoc Demon to your hand. I attack with all my creatures."
BEN: 2
ARRATHIR: 7
"Fine, my turn," said Arrathir "I discard a card and I attack with Putrid Imp and finish you off.
BEN: 0
ARRATHIR: 7
"Wow," said Ben "Good game! I guess I'll start off again. I play an island and Aether Spellbomb. Go."
"One swamp," said Arrathir "And I play Vampiric Tutor. End turn."
BEN: 20
ARRATHIR: 18
"I'll sacrifice my Spellbomb to draw a card," said Ben "And I play another island. Next, I play another Spellbomb. Your move."
"I play a second swamp and summon Putrid Imp (1/1)," said Arrathir "Now I discard a card to give it flying until end of turn and I say go."
"I sacrifice my Spellbomb to draw a card and end my turn," said Ben.
Now, let the fun begin!
"I play Exhume and return Avatar of Woe (6/5, fear) to play. Next, I attack with Putrid Imp and end my turn."
BEN: 19
ARRATHIR: 18
"I play a third land," said Ben "And I play Repulse to send your Avatar back to your and to draw a card. End turn."
"Swamp," said Arrathir "And I discard to give my Imp flying. Next, I play Duress." Ben showed his hand: Cephalid Pathmage, Cephalid Pathmage, Machinate, Rush of Knowledge, Vex, Psychic Membrane, and Yotian Soldier. "Get rid of the Vex," he said. "Now I'll play Cabal Therapy and say Cephalid Pathmage." Ben put his creatures in the graveyard. "I attack with Putrid Imp. Your move."
BEN: 18
ARRATHIR: 18
"I summon Yotian Soldier (1/4)," said Ben "Attacking doesn't cause him to tap. Your turn."
"I discard another card to give my Imp flying," said Arrathir "I also play a swamp. I attack with Putrid Imp. Go."
BEN: 17
ARRATHIR: 18
"I play Machinate," said Ben "I look at the top X cards of my library (X being the number of artifacts I have) and put one card in my hand; the rest go on the bottom of my library." Ben drew one card. "Finally, I'll play an island. Your move."
"Fourth swamp," said Arrathir "And I play Zombify to return Avatar of Woe to play (6/5, fear). Your move."
"I play Machinate to draw one card," said Ben "And I just drew an island so I'll play it and tap two to summon Voidmage Apprentice (1/1). Your move."
"I'll play Night's Whisper, drawing two cards and loosing two life," said Arrathir. "Now I summon another Putrid Imp and discard two cards to give both my Imps flying. As well, I now have Threshold, so my Imps become 2/2 creatures. I attack with Avatar of Woe and one of my Putrid Imps!"
"I block your Avatar with my Yotian Soldier," said Ben.
BEN: 15
ARRATHIR: 16
"Your move."
"I play my sixth island and play Echoing Truth on your Imps, returning them back to your hand," said Ben "Next, I summon Psychic Membrane (0/3). Go."
"I discard my last card to give one of my Imps flying and attack with Avatar of Woe and Putrid Imp," said Arrathir.
"I have to take it," said Ben.
BEN: 7
ARRATHIR: 16
Ben drew his next card and sighed.
"I give up. There's nothing I can do," he said "You'll finish me next turn anyway."
BEN: Concedes
ARRATHIR: 16
"Hey," said Arrathir "Don't feel bad. Was this your first tournament?"
"Yeah," said Ben "I've played Magic with my friends before, but I guess most players here are on a different level of play."
"Well your deck isn't that bad. Mind if I take a look at it?" asked Arrathir "Maybe I can suggest a few changes." Ben handed over his deck and Arrathir flipped through it. It was your basic counterspell deck. He also had Golem affinity and several drawing cards.
"OK," said Arrathir "Loose the Voidmage Apprentice. It's not that great a card since its morph cost is pretty high. You could throw in a few more counterspells to replace them. Aether Spellbomb is good, keep that. Really, the best way to improve this deck is to play with it and see what works and what doesn't."
"Thanks," said Ben.
Arrathir got up to report his win.
So far, this isn't going too bad for me.
Except for that little incident with the girl.
Shut up.
"Hey you!"
Speak of the devil…
Arrathir turned to see Eva heading for him. She looked furious.
"H-Hello, Eva," he said.
"Don't 'Hello' me," she said, "Because of you, I had to play against some looser who told me I should go back to playing dolls instead of trying to play a man's game! I'm gonna make you pay! I challenge you to a duel, here and now! The looser drops out of the PTQ!"
Want me to take care of it?
I think I can handle it. It would be nice to knock her off her high horses.
"Fine!" said Arrathir "I accept."
"I'm going to enjoy knocking you out of the tournament," said Eva, drawing her hand.
"Save if for when you beat me," said Arrathir.
"I roll a ten!" said Eva.
"I roll a three," said Arrathir.
"I'll start then," said Eva "I play one mountain and summon Jackal Pup (2/1). Go."
"Swamp," said Arrathir "And I summon Putrid Imp, discarding one card to give him flying until end of turn. Your move."
"Another mountain," said Eva "And I Magma Jet your Imp. As well, I scry two. Next, I attack with Jackal Pup. Your turn!"
EVA: 20
ARRATHIR: 18
"I play another swamp and play Vampiric Tutor!" said Arrathir "End turn."
EVA: 20
ARRATHIR: 16
"This is going to be easier then I thought," said Eva "From the way you were playing before, I thought you'd at least have something big out by turn two, but I guess not. I play a third mountain and summon a morph (2/2) and I attack with Jackal Pup!"
EVA: 20
ARRATHIR: 14
"Here comes my big creature," said Arrathir "I play Exhume to return my Havoc Demon (5/5) to play! Go."
"I end my turn," said Eva
"I'll play Duress," said Arrathir "Let's see your hand." Eva's hand was: Seal of Fire, Mogg Fanatic, Wasteland, and a mountain. "Discard the Seal," said Arrathir "I attack with Havoc Demon!"
EVA: 15
ARRATHIR: 14
"Fourth mountain," said Eva "And I flip my morph, Blistering Firecat (7/1, trample, haste)! I attack with Firecat and Jackal Pup!"
EVA: 15
ARRATHIR: 5
I can believe you didn't see that one coming.
Shut up!
You're going to loose, you know. Let me take over.
No! If I loose this, I'm taking it like a man.
The situation was grim. Arrathir only had one blocker and Eva had a large lead in lifepoints.
"I end my turn."
I'll play defensively for now.
"I summon another Blistering Firecat!" said Eva "And I attack with Firecat and Jackal Pup!"
"I block your Firecat with Havoc Demon," said Arrathir.
EVA: 15
ARRATHIR: 1
This time, I think I'm screwed…
To be continued…
Author's note: Well, Eva is persistent, isn't she? How is Arrathir going to get out of this one?
SeraphSong: Thanks, but I think Arrathir is going to have more mental lapses eventually.
ACS Dude: I'll consider adding Cabal Coffers to my deck.
John: If Arrathir can even duel Eva without screwing up, he'll consider himself lucky.
Technomagus: Thanks, from now on, I'll remember Vampirc tutor's effect.
Khell: The other Arrathir does have a name, it's just he hasn't told Arrathir yet. I know it's cumbersome to read, but it's even more cumbersome typing it over and over!