For Gold & Glory: In Which I Attend the Northern Paladins 2019 Winter Blast

A History

"You are a Planeswalker." That's what they told me, all those many years ago. And it was a revelation.

In those days of my youth, I exulted in my newfound magical talents. I sought with eagerness the spells to summon the largest and most exotic creatures, and I collected the artifacts of the ancients with enthusiasm. (If only I had sought land as eagerly: I am haunted to this day of the rare ley-lines I traded away to others for dubious summoning spells!) The magics of the forests and the grasslands were my first loves. I yearned for the power of those wizards, slightly richer or luckier than I, who wielded spells and artifacts still spoken of in hushed tones today. And I found others like myself, others equally invested in this new magic and eager to prove ourselves by pitting our skills against each other. For a few years, we lived and breathed magic, and our community of wizards was strong.

Then, as so often happens, we began to fall away. For myself, it was romance and athletic competition that drew me away, then the demands of scholarship. I can’t speak for the other wizards that I knew, but they all had their reasons, each as valid as mine. And the reasons only multiplied—vocation, family, and children came to consume the hours and effort that I once spent on sorceries and summoning.

Even so, I never completely forgot about the magic. Even though I had fallen away from the other wizards I had once battled against, even if I did not seek out new adversaries, I still paid attention to the magical world. I kept my grimoires and spellbooks with me through all the years. Occasionally I would seek out new spells to supplement them, whether through assortments of the new spells that are constantly developed or through seeking the treasured relics of my youth. But as the years passed, things changed. The spells became much more powerful, the creatures stronger. These new spells came from elsewhere in the multiverse—new and unsettling planes far removed from my beloved home of Dominaria. Even the look of the new spellbooks changed, and magic became all but unrecognizable to me. I resigned myself to my dreams of the past, content with the knowledge that I at least retained my spells and my ley lines even should I never encounter another ancient wizard again.

It was with great joy, then, that I discovered that there were others like me: mages that still appreciated the old ways. I began to hear rumors of sorcerous duels in far-flung lands where Juzam Djinn and Serra Angels still fought and Mana Drains still depowered Mind Twists. While these tales filled me with hope, I also despaired of ever traveling so far to partake of them. But before long, this revival of the old ways spread, creeping closer and closer to me. And then it happened: the Northern Paladins began gathering wizards of the old school right here in my homeland of Parma! Here was my chance to once again cast the spells of long ago, and I would seize it!

In all my years as a Planeswalker, I had never ventured into an organized tournament of wizards: whether through lack of knowledge, lack of time, or lack of interest. So it was with excitement and trepidation that I prepared for my first of such contests. Though my preferred style of spellcasting has evolved towards a more Keldon persuasion, I decided to return to the traditional ways of Shanodin and Parma for my return to wizardry.

My classic Erhnamgeddon

I spent a few months gathering together the spells that I already knew and supplemented them with a few potent additions that I had never acquired in the old days. Since I had little experience, I decided upon a tried-and-true selection of Erhnam Djinns, Serra Angels, and Armageddons. Not knowing what I would be facing, I made sure to include a heavy amount of removal in the form of Disenchants and Swords to Plowshares. I even called upon the august druid of Argenti, the storied Lord Magnus, to assist me. Perhaps he could protect me from those who, empowered by my Djinns, would sneak through my forests. But it is more likely that he happened to fit into my chosen spellcasting style and that I just wanted to see him again after all these years.

The Tournament

(For the official report and all decklists, go to http://northernpaladins.com/2019/02/16/northern-paladins-2019-winter-blast-tournament-report/.)

Traversing the White Wastes

The day of the gathering finally arrived, and I trekked out of the far reaches and through the frozen wastelands of Parma, beset by a great blizzard, to my destination of Universe Games. There, I met nineteen other ancient wizards who had also braved the weather to battle for glory and fame. My new fellows greeted me with enthusiasm, though whether it was for my company or in anticipation of fresh blood and easy victory seemed unclear. Given my own feelings, I can hope that they are as happy to have companionship in the old ways as I am, but I cannot say for sure that their motives aren't more sinister.

Stevi's 5 Color Aggro

Before I had too long to worry about this, I was pitted against my first opponent of the day. Stevi is a master of all five magics, but aside from that fact, I could not easily tell what her style was. Perhaps it was because I was overly nervous about being in an arcane duel again, but to the best of my knowledge she aimed to quickly summon aggressive creatures and back them up with removal against any I might summon against her. Not too different from my own strategy, though with more flexibility, I’d guess. She quickly won our first duel, but I battled back and won the next two duels in narrow fashion, aided in no small part by the damage dealt to her by her own Serendib Efreets. But victory is victory, even if it is close to defeat, and I emerged from our battle with greater confidence in my spellcasting. (1-0)

Joe's "Lonely Atog and the case of the missing Mountain"

My next challenger was Joe, the tireless promoter and hero of the Northern Paladins himself. I had no doubt about his strategy--the sheer number of Lightning Bolts, Chain Lightnings, and even Falling Stars that I saw him cast spoke eloquently to his intent. And if that wasn’t enough, he brought forth formidable creatures of artifice to finish what his red magic started. But I was no novice any longer, and I bravely stood against him. Unfortunately, he crushed me in our first duel as I struggled to find the ley lines to power my spells, but I battled back to win our second duel. I managed to stand the longest for our third duel, but at a cost. While I was able to save myself from his Ball Lightnings through the use of Swords to Plowshares, such efforts only strengthened him to outlast my summonings long enough to drop Falling Stars and Lightning Bolts upon them. The writing was already on the wall, but a spell miscast against his Triskelion sealed my doom, and the third duel and the battle went to him. (1-1)

Andrew's Monoblack Rack

Only slightly deterred by my defeat, I regathered my wits and met my next opponent, a black mage with a twisted predilection for The Rack. I leapt out to an early victory in our first duel through the strength (and luck) of immediately summoning an Erhnam Djinn with my Black Lotus. He wised up to my ways in our second duel and summoned forth Gloom against me. Choked out of my white spells, my green magic was not enough to save me. (I could not even summon Lord Magnus, who offered his assistance to me only this once during the day’s battles!) I was able to recover and defeat Andrew in our third duel, and emerged from our battle victorious. (2-1)

Michael's BUG Aggro

I next faced Michael, a formidable wizard and champion of the recent Madison Offensive, a gathering of wizards and demons in the city where once I studied alchemy. Versatile and adept with many magics, he did not bring the blue spells and artifacts he used to win the previous week’s tournament to this day’s contest, but instead opted to face me with an aggressive mix of blue, black, and green magic. I quickly crushed him in our first duel, being lucky enough to once again use the smoke-borne visions of my Black Lotus to summon forth an Erhnam Djinn, but my luck soon soured. In both of these duels, my opponent cast as flawlessly as might be expected by a champion of his caliber, but in one he was assisted by a mistake on my part--one that I regretted as soon as I made it. He had brought forth the fearsome Nevinyrral’s Disk, and I neglected to cast the Armageddon I had in mind before he used it. Perhaps the lack of mana would have dissuaded him from destroying the rest of our resources in the fear that he would have been unable to recover them, perhaps not. But the certainty of having no creatures to fight for me once he unleashed its destruction crippled me for sure. Yet even while I lost both of these duels, I at least had the satisfaction of summoning a pride of Savannah Lions using mana drawn from their native Savannah during one of them! (2-2)

Shon's Monoblack Rack

Reeling from the mistakes of my previous battle, I confronted Shon, another hero of the Paladins and an adept at casting visions of our convocation to those far and wide. But even with these impressive credentials, he turned out to be another of the suspiciously-common black Rack-wielding wizards gathered this day. The pattern was sickeningly familiar: after a victory in our first duel, Gloom came again to haunt me in our next two contests, as well as a horde of Black Knights and Orders of the Ebon Hand against whom my Swords to Plowshares were useless. I was not so lucky as I was against my previous Rack-wielding opponent, and lost both contests and the greater battle. (2-3)

Jeremy's Tribal Merfolk Control

Exhausted from the day’s spellcasting, I limped to face my final challenger, a blue mage named Jeremy who enlisted the merfolk tribes in his fight for conquest. True to the habits of filthy blue wizards (I admit that I may be prejudiced against blue magic…), he seemed to always have a Counterspell or the like for my Djinns and Angels, and had an insidious habit of twisting my own ley lines into those of Islands to assist his Lords of Atlantis and Merfolk of the Pearl Trident in closing in to close range with me. These dirty tricks forced me into a slower strategy than my preferred one of overwhelming force as soon as possible, but I managed to adapt. As I fell into a more cautious battle, I relied upon my Swords to Plowshares to keep his merfolk horde in check and my Disenchants to unravel his magical threats--I even survived his Chaos Orb duplicated twice with Copy Artifact! And in both of our fights, my patience was eventually rewarded when I managed to summon a Serra Angel that he could not counter. But it took all of my cunning, such as when I was forced to Tsunami my own twisted ley lines to prevent his merfolk from closing in on me. I count myself lucky: both fights were close and could have easily ended in his favor. (3-3)

Once the gauntlet of battle ended, myself and my competitors all gathered to celebrate our efforts and to award the worthy. I was ranked 12th of the 20 wizards in attendance, a rank I was more than happy with given my inexperience. Furthermore, I was recognized for the sheer, perhaps excessive, amount of Disenchants and Swords to Plowshares I had cast throughout the day and granted a fine spellbook containing a customized version of Swords to Plowshares for my efforts. Along with a customized Sol Ring, I left the convocation with some fine treasure. Though others of my new companions went on to celebrate over food and drink, I regretfully left to return to my home and family, who no doubt feared that I had met my demise in either the blizzard or at the hands of my opponents. But I look forward to challenging them again once the season changes!