Let's talk a little about my personal experience. Knowing that I already had the tickets to move to Madrid, on July 28, 2023 I paid for my entry to the tournament. We had already spoken with Federico Yañez, who is Argentine from Rosario, who was going to be in Europe for these months and also had the intention of participating in both the Premodern European Championship and this tournament.
He was spending his days in Lisbon (Portugal), so we arranged for him to fly to Madrid, and then take a train to Valencia together. The day before the tournament I get the reservations for both a room with two beds on Airbnb and the train tickets.
It was a running day, where we even lost the train reservation we had (note to myself: be careful with the connections between Metro and train stations because they can be huge), we had to wait for the next train. After an hour of doing nothing at the Madrid Chamartín Clara Campoamor train station, we set out on the trip with some laughter about I don´t know what deck to play .
We arrived in Valencia, a direct taxi to the room reservation and after a few more talks, we went to sleep early (like the elderly gentlemen that we are) to be fresh the next day.
The next morning, we left the apartment, had breakfast at a seedy bar, bought cereal bars at a Mercadona and arrived at Gremio de Dragones having walked about 15 minutes.
To our surprise, the store had not opened, but there were already a lot of players waiting outside. Federico Yañez already knew he was going to play UW Tide Control and I was still thinking about what deck to play.
Once the store was open, we registered in the Companion app and then all the players had to announce themselves at the store cashier to control our reservation for the tournament. The tables were assigned, words from Head Judge Cristian, and the rounds began.
ROUND 1 - [MKWC] Pardal (UB Psychatog) -OtP-
Before the Judge's talk, we took the opportunity to take a photo of the players at the table and get to know each other, where I remember both Pardal, Mário Dias (Portugal) and Martti (Finland).
After the Judge's talk, we started the game. I have a hand with early interaction (two Swords to Plowshares, Mana Leak and Standstill) so I have an easy keep with the classic "land and go". He fetches UB and then Duress discarding one of the Swords to Plowshares. In my mind I think it's UB Stiflenought or UB Psychatog. In either case I didn't have a threat in the first turns, so on turn 4 I start attacking with Mishra's Factory and close the game quickly. I win a counter war against a Psychatog and he concedes.
Game two I decide to remove all Disenchant effects even knowing that I could put Engineered Plague to name Soldier, but he has the pressure to win the second one. In game 2 the first turn is "land and go", and on his second turn he discards me with Duress a Standstill. I immediately draw the second Standstill, I show it to him, we laugh at the good topdeck and the game passes in my favor and I close it quickly. We stayed talking a little about the choice of his deck and that is that UB Psychatog was his first deck of the format, so nostalgia kills the tier.
1-0 (2-0)
ROUND 2 - Robert Olmos (Mono U Stiflenought) -OtD-
First of all I want to say that Robert is very nice guy. It was a very intense game, but at all times we respected each other's times, we announced each spell or resolution in the stack, triggers, etc.
He starts with a turn 1 Portent, double Opt on turn 2 and Impulse on turn 3. By then I was sure it was Mono U Shrimp. I begin to accumulate answers in hand and then with 6 lands in play I started to attack with Mishra's Factory. I won the counter war for a Phyrexian Dreadnought and after cycling a Decree of Justicehe concedes.
Game 2 he plays a Winter Orb in turn 2 OtP for which I have no Annul. After that, he manages to lower a Shrimp on turn 4, and manages to protect it with Vision Charm in response to Swords to Plowshares, and counter to Disenchant. The Winter Orb was decisive, and did not allow it to play Impulse or double response to the Gamba in the same turn.
Game 3 was very, very close. I keep a hand with with 2 lands, Swords to Plowshares, Mana Leak, Impulse, Disenchant and Seal of Cleansing. Even though it was only two lands, the other cards I had forced me to keep. Turn one I drop a land and pass. He plays some cantrip on his turn. On my turn two I don't draw land, I play my second land and pass. Turn two he plays the Gamba and I play Mana Leak to the Vision Charm which he counters with Daze (1 to 0 in responses). I don't draw land on my next turn but if I draw a second Mana Leak, I play Seal of Cleansing and counter it with Foil (2 to 0 in answers). He draws, play a land, I take 12 damages and he passes with two open lands and one card in hand. My turn begins, I don't draw land and pass the turn. During his upkeep I play Swords to Plowshares but his last card was a Counterspell (3 to 0 in responses). I look at Christopher Rush's art on Mana Leak that I can't play for not drawing a land for 3 turns in a row and think "I'm that one."
We stayed talking with Robert about the decks and the situation, laughter and thanks. Then I go outside the store to do some math to see if the order of the spells in Game 3 would have had a different result but I conclude that I wouldn't have played differently. What I do take away is the emotional impact of not taken advantage of this opportunity in the tournament since I consider it to be a very favorable game for Landstill. I know that part of playing a long tournament is having an advantage with the pairings, but if you can't capitalize on it it is very difficult to come back.
1-1 (3-2)
ROUND 3 - Antonio Navarro (PitRack Artifact Control) -OtP-
When I approach the table I am amazed by all the PNG (Premodern Never Give Up) merchandising that Antonio was wearing, the only thing I'm not sure about is if he also had underwear on (because we played dressed up the entire game). Antonio is one of the promoters of the PNG community, and I mention community because it is not just a Premodern tournament via webcam like Argentog, but it is multi-product: they have a website, Youtube, Podcast and many more products.
The first thing he does when I sit down is ask me to sign the tournament Playmat, which I think is a great idea and one that I would have liked to copy. I would also have liked to do something more creative with the signature, at least I gave it the acronym "ARG" as a representative of Argentina. We talked a lot about PNG and my intentions to enter for the next edition.
Moving on to the game, he was playing a PitRack but with a more control approach abusing the synergy of Ensnaring Bridge and Gustha's Scepter, with Mishra's Factory, The Rack and Cursed Scroll as wincons.
In Game 1 as soon as I realize what he was playing, I focus my resources on countering or destroying his Botomless Pit. I find answers to his manlands with Dust Bowl, keep a large number of cards in hand and cycle a Decree of Justice that together with the manlands allows me to win in a single attack, if it weren't for the fact that he has two bridges and zero cards in hand. Between Fact or Fiction's and Impulse's my library starts to go down, but I finally find a Standstill that I play, I immediately play any spell so that he must draws three cards and has no way to discard and I win in a single attack.
In Game 2 I feel very confident because I have a million cards against enchantments and artifacts. It plays out very similar to the first except that it puts a lot of pressure on me with a Plague Spitter, but once I get rid of the spitter the game is easy.
2-1 (5-2)
ROUND 4 - Javier Ortiz (Sligh) -OtD-
Technoliga t-shirt, Technoliga playmat and even Technoliga metal coin. With a big smile we started talking with Javier and joking about all the Technoliga merchandising, a community that I don't think needs any introduction.
All that laughter ended when he wins the coin and leaves Mountain and Goblin Patrol. I realized that my luck with pairings had run out. My hand had some interaction but I am aware that winning the first Game with Landstill against Sligh OtD is almost impossible. The most notable thing is that I managed to play a Wrath of God to kill the Goblin Patrol, a Grim Lavamancer and a Mogg Fanatic. It wasn't enough to take Game 1 because at the end of the day, half of the cards on Landstill's mainboard are bad for the match and in the case of Sligh all of his cards, except lands, are good.
Game 2 I started, I put all the hate against Sligh but I made a mulligan to 6 in search of interaction. The most notable thing is that I stabilize, play a Standstill and when I break it I drew three Mishra's Factory. A couple more lightning and he quickly beat me.
We talk again with laughter about the communities and we wish each other luck since from now on I can't lose any matches. Then I could see that in round 7, he lost the win-an-in against another Landstill. Poetic justice? That's Premodern.
2-2 (5-4)
ROUND 5 - Paco Benlloch Sánchez (Enchantress) -OtP-
After around an hour lunch break, a beer with Federico Yañez (who had a 2-1-1 record with UW Control Tide) we return and it's my turn against Paco. Again good attitude, smiles and let's play.
I'm left with one hand with interaction in the first few turns. Earth and you go. He comes out of Forest and Wild Growth. Two options in my head: it can be Enchantress or Terravore Oath. I play a second land on my turn to have a Mana Leak online and he plays Enchantress's Presence which is countered. I immediately know that it is a difficult match but I have several Disenchant effects and I know that I must focus all my resources on countering his engage pieces and Replenish. On her next turn she plays a second Enchantress's Presence for which I have no response and the Game is gone. I just wait to see what his wincon is and he wins the Game with Words of War. I get up quickly and go to Game 2.
In Game 2 I know I have to close it quickly, but I am forced to mulligan in search of counters or Disenchant effects. They are not enough and once again he manages to have his engage online. It slows him down a bit with Dust Bowl for his Serra's Sanctum but it's inevitable and closes the game quickly.
Paco showed himself to be a very good player with the deck, even the entire match took us less than 25 minutes. We talked a little about the format but more about life, again with smiles.
2-3 (5-6) although 5-0 on good opponents
ROUND 6 - Stelios Ntouris (Enchantress) -OtD-
Stelios is from Greece and again we had a great time. Even though I'm out of the Top, I want to finish as high as possible and keep an eye on the tables at the top of the tournament because both my partner Federico Yañez and people I know like Carlos Orellana (RG Goblins) and Sete (Devourer Oath) had chances.
With an English with a Greek accent and a few beers, we embarked on the game, this time I took fewer notes.
Game 1 was similar to the previous game: he managed to get the engage and it became impossible for Landstill. I wait to see his wincon and it ends up being Sacred Mesa and I see an Opalescence.
In Game 2 I have answers to his engage and I play very aggressively with both Mishra's Factory and Decree of Justice, which allows me to close the game and bet on a Game 3.
In Game 3 we went to play it but we didn't have time to at least get a draw out of an almost impossible match for Landstill.
2-3-1 (6-7)
ROUND 7 - Samurai Kamikaze (Mono U Stiflenought) -OtD-
Only for the love of the format I continue playing the tournament. I also had to make time to see how Federico Yañez was doing since he was playing win-an-in.
I sit down and Samurai arrives wearing a T-shirt from the Málaga community, a group that is growing and who all seem very cool.
We started laughing, joking about how we played for nothing.
In Game 1 he starts with Island, some cantrips the first few turns and was clearly playing Mono U Shrimp. I accumulate answers and the game stops because somebody are carrying a person out of the store in their arms. Samurai recognizes that he is one of the Málaga team and he goes to his rescue, leaving both his cards and all his personal belongings. A few minutes later one of the judges came by to let me know that we have 15 more minutes of the round because my opponent was assisting his friend.
Luckily I was very close to Table 1 so I started to enjoy the win-an-in between Landstill and Sligh. After a while, I pick up all the Samurai's belongings and leave them to the store employees, closing the game like a draw, leaving my game open for when I visit the guys from Málaga.
2-3-2 (6-7)
Well, the conclusion he reached: the choice of Landstill was good (there were even three players who reached the Top15 and one of them reached the final) but experience is essential in these long tournaments.
Finally I'm going to see how Federico Yañez is coming but I just found him taking his cards. When we get closer he tells me that his win-an-in was against Stasis and that he lost so goodbye to the Top 15 for the Argentines. Did I tell you how important it is to avoid bad pairings to win a tournament?
Once outside the store we were able to meet several of the boys, among them Samurai who confirmed to me that his friend was alive, sleeping peacefully in a square near the store. Then I met with Carlos Orellana who with RG Goblins reached the Top 15, so at that moment I chose who was my candidate to win the tournament.
We stayed in the store for the MBP trophy (see next section) and finally we go to dinner with Carlos Orellana and Federico Yañez near the store and went to sleep.
