Old Rivals at the Northern Paladins 2019 Spring Regrowth

Old Rivals

It is said that our rivals make us who we are, and I believe this to be true. In my many years, I can think of many foes who, by challenging me, have made me a better athlete, a better scholar, a better father. Whether is is due to direct competition (training harder so I could defeat the foul scions of Eau Claire Memorial and Hudson in the next footrace) or due to an example to strive against (avoiding the mistakes of others to be the best parent I could be), rivalry has served me well. It is no different in matters of magic. And the two rivals who have shaped my magical abilities the most are Megan and Ryan, my sister and one of my closest friends. I have known each for a large portion of my life—Megan since the womb and Ryan since adolescence.

Born together, Megan and I have always been close, but that closeness has also inspired competition between the two of us. We were much alike in interests and vocations, and our similarity in age and aptitude often led us to conflict. But our conflict rarely escalated to enmity. Even today, many years after life has pulled us to different destinations, we remain close.

I met Ryan during our years of scholarship when he transferred from a different institution of learning to the one I attended. We soon discovered like interests, and the close proximity of his home to mine made us fast friends. It was he who encouraged me to pursue contests of speed on foot and in water, both forms of competition which became very important to me. But more importantly to this narrative, he introduced me to fantastical stories of ring-empowered dark lords and dragons of various seasons. If not for these tales, I may have never found an interest in magic.

It was after a few years of telling our own stories by delving into dungeons and slaying dragons that Ryan showed me an ancient spellbook, one that immediately piqued my interest. Inside were potent spells of destruction and fire and lightning, and (probably accidentally) an eldritch specter. I immediately had to know more, so he and the other wizards he dueled with that day explained that each wizard had a spellbook of their own, and that each could customize it as he or she saw fit with whatever colors of magic he or she chose. I knew I had to have one too, but alas—none would be available until later that day. Though I waited for as long as I could, night soon drew near and my parents expected me home. Ryan, however, offered to take my gold and purchase my spellbook for me when it was delivered.

True to his word, Ryan contacted me through the ether later that night, and with my permission, told me of what he found in my spellbook. I don’t clearly remember its contents, but I do remember that neither the summons for the Serra Angel nor for the Sorceress Queen were included—both creatures that had impressed me in Ryan’s earlier duels. Undeterred, I soon took possession of my spellbook and eagerly entered into the world of spellcasting.

Soon after obtaining my spellbook Megan wanted one of her own, too, and obtained one in short order. Before long, Ryan, Megan, and I were dueling against each other and against other local mages as often as possible. Ryan was by far the best among us, but due to our close relation Megan was the one I battled against the most. She and I dueled almost every day, whether at home or elsewhere. We honed our spellbooks against each other, and we made our own fantastic stories through our battles—she became the Dread Lady Shade, tyrant of the Polluted Sea and the Corrupted Forest, and I became the Artifact King, ruler of the Industrial Wasteland. Alas, no record of these stories remains but for our shared memories.

I’ve written before of how each of us went our own ways to pursue other goals. Megan sold her spellbooks years ago, though she was kind enough to give me her Moxen when she did so—Moxen that I still use today with great reverence. I took a middle road, not practicing my magic but still keeping my spellbooks, and I believe that Ryan followed a similar path. As it happens, though, I rekindled Megan’s interest as I discovered this ancient form of dueling, and she began amassing spells again last year--mostly standard to the current times, but also some of her beloved shades and the older spells to rebuild her havens in the Polluted Sea and Corrupted Forest. When we’d see each other, I’d lend her some of my ancient tomes, and we’d battle properly like we used to.

Before long, the glories of the old ways overcame Megan, and she began putting together her own spellbook of the ancient magics and I convinced her to make the trek from the outskirts of the Pit to Parma, and join me in attending the Spring Regrowth. I reached out to Ryan as well, as he too has returned to Parma, and he enthusiastically agreed to a chance to throw ancient spells again. And so, the Spring Regrowth is not just my second such tournament, but it is also a reunion for me with those who started me on this path long ago.

Those atogs are looking pretty 'roided up. It'd be a shame if they went berserk...

I had intended to field an army of Trolls and a collection of the lich lord Nevinyrral’s signature Disks for this tournament, but my plans changed upon Ryan’s entry. He, too, said he wished to compete with a spellbook of red and black magic, and I happily agreed to lend him the powerful artifacts that I possessed as would assist such a plan of battle. So instead, I turned my gathered my legion of atogs and the artifice and spellcraft to back them up—I hoped that it would not suffer too much from the lack of power that I would lend to Ryan. This, too, had been the first collection of spells that I gathered for battling in the ancient ways, and I was eager to finally test it against opponents other than Megan. For her part, Megan reverted to her old ways of foul black magic, and brought out her Racks to torment those of whom her dementia magic would bring to kneel before her.

My Wolf(hounds) of the Hunt. Click here for files suitable for printing at makeplayingcards.com.

The creative process. I, uh, should really have color-corrected the scanned paintings before making the tokens, though.

As the days before the gathering grew shorter, I became more and more excited to see my friends old and new. To show my appreciation, I decided to bring gifts. I had, years ago, met the Master of the Hunt and fallen in love with his wolfhounds (he calls them wolves, but look at them—they’re wolfhounds!). Having obtained a pair of them, I felt the need to share them with others. While it is beyond my legal ability to scribe scrolls of summoning of my own, I can at least provide my own Wolfhounds of the Hunt to assist my friends in battle, assuming they are on good terms with their Master. It is my hope that my hounds will be appreciated, if not called to fight, by all who bear their images.

(I think that I gave everyone at least one of each of my wolfhounds of the hunt. If you were there and I missed you, let me know at djhyland at gmail dot com and I'll make sure you get them!)

The Tournament

(For the official report and pictures of all the competitors' decks, go to http://northernpaladins.com/2019/05/25/northern-paladins-2019-spring-regrowth-tournament-report/.)

The designated day finally arrived, and Megan and I made our way to the celebration of Regrowth. Ryan arrived shortly after we did, and he brought with him two others: Brandon and Joey. I knew Brandon from my youth, though not well, but Joey’s was a new face to me. Yet they came with Ryan, and I welcomed them as friends as well as worthy rivals. We were greeted by many who were strangers to me last time, but now are friends: Joe, Angelo, Jeremy, and Stevi who I battled in the Winter Blast, and all of the others I met there too. It felt good to be amongst other ancient mages once again.

Kevin's The Deck.

My first battle of the day was against Kevin, a mage skilled in the controlling ways of blue and white magic. I could not have started the fight better—drawing upon my Black Lotus, I immediately fielded a Juggernaut against him and our first battle was over as soon as it began. My luck slipped afterwards, however. In our second skirmish, I lead with Lightning Bolts but could not sustain my initial advantage due to an unfortunate wealth of ley lines and little else. Kevin likewise prevailed in our third battle, managing to rebuff both of my castings of Blood Moon (which surely would have crippled him, as he greedily drew his power from those rarer lands) and to destroy whatever factory workers of Mishra that I sent his way. By the time he finished me off with a Fireball, his own Factories had already sealed my doom. (0-1)

Jeremy S's The Deck.

I recovered from my unfortunate start to next face Jeremy, another wizard favoring the dreaded spellbook of the famed mage Weissman. It was in our battle that I began to realize that I had made a mistake in preparing for this day—the Atogs and Juggernauts alone felt like too small an army for my liking. I know that other wizards have had great success with only small to call upon or even none at all, but I concluded that that style of battle does not suit me well. Regardless of my discomfort, though, I managed to defeat Jeremy in our first fight: I was able to withstand my Copper Tablets better than he, and despite my lack of other soldiers, I sent my Factory workers to finish him off. I did not fare so well in our second fight, and despite my last-ditch attempt to kill his Serra Angel by driving her to recklessly kill herself in a Berserk rage, I succumbed to my own Copper Tablet immediately thereafter. In our final confrontation, I fielded a Juggernaut early. Jeremy’s frantic attempt to find a way to stave it off with a Timetwister only aided me in providing me with two Berserks. And just like that, my doubly-enraged Juggernaut crushed him from unharmed to defeated in an instant. In that, my proudest moment of the day, victory sure tasted sweet. (1-1)

It tastes sweet when you're on the dealing end of it, at least...

Jeremy J's RG Aggro.

My blood running hot with elation, I next faced another Jeremy—this one my final opponent from the last gathering of mages. I was pleasantly surprised to see that he had traded in his foul blue magic for red and green and a strategy similar to my own for the day’s contest. I won our first battle by whittling him down with my Ankhs of Mishra and Lightning Bolts, then cleared the way with a successful Chaos Orb for my Atog to bring him low. In our next two battles, though, I found that the multiverse must have a sense of karma, and not just the one that punishes us for dabbling in black magic. He first defeated me by weakening me with Lightning before twice casting Giant Growth on his Llanowar Elves and then sending them into a Berserk frenzy, then repeated the feat in our last battle by doubly-Berserking a Kird Ape after scorching me with two Ball Lightnings. As sweet as my Berserk-enabled victory had tasted, my defeat in the same manner was horribly bitter. (1-2)

Marcus's Stasis. (How monstrous!)

The most evil and devious of my rivals of the day was Marcus, who I encountered next. As our first skirmish began I felt confident, as I managed to field two Juggernauts. He managed to keep them at bay with his Relic Barrier, but I was certain that he could not maintain such efforts for long. But with mounting horror, I realized how wrong I was as he cast the battlefield into Stasis. With his Howling Mines flooding my mind with spells and with no mana to cast them, his Black Vise made short work of me. He was, however, unable to lock me into his diabolical trap quite so securely for our next two fights. In our next battle, my early Lightning and Factory workers before his Stasis set in allowed my Ankh to whittle him away as he sought the mana to maintain its chill grip. Sweating from the effort to attain that victory, I fielded my own Black Vise early in our third battle and called forth torrents of Lightning before he cast Stasis, and between his imperfect hold on his spell, my Factory workers, and his own Cities of Brass, I emerged victorious again if only by the skin of my teeth. I was glad to have survived, but the memory of helplessness while I stood at a standstill will long haunt me. (2-2)

Brandon's Troll Disco.

I was next pitted against Brandon, a member of my own contingent who came prepared with Disks of Nevinyrral and an army of Trolls, much as I had originally planned to do. I began our first battle with a strong showing of mana-producing artifice, but had little to cast with my wealth. He soon took it all away with a detonation of his Disk, and his Trolls made short work of me. I beat him to the punch in our next round with a Juggernaut summoned with the powers of the Lotus and he could not recover from it. Our third battle was our longest, and I assembled a selection of mana-bearing artifacts, a Copper Tablet, and an Atog before he brought a Disk to bear against me. Before he could detonate it, however, I fed my collection of trinkets to the Atog, and once strengthened by his meal, sent him forth in a Berserk frenzy to attack. Between the Atog’s suicidal assault and the Factory workers I had remaining after he set off the Disk, Brandon soon kneeled in defeat. (3-2)

Jesse's Black Discard.

As the day’s gathering drew to a close, I hoped for the chance to battle against Ryan or against my oldest and bitterest of foes—the Dread Lady Shade herself—Megan. But such was not to be. Despite my disappointment I eagerly met my last challenger, Jesse, with more victories than defeats and hoped for yet one more win. Jesse’s weapon of choice turned out to be black magic and the Rack—it seems that I could not escape the day without facing my nemesis from the last gathering. My fears came true in our first battle when Jesse was able to destroy my early Juggernauts and soon used his Disrupting Scepter to bring me to torturous defeat upon his Racks. I fought back to victory in our second conflict and injured him grievously with my Juggernauts before finishing him with a well-placed Lightning Bolt. Alas, I had no hope for victory in our final battle when he summoned forth a Hypnotic Specter with a Dark Ritual. Without a Lightning Bolt to kill it, I soon fell to its mind-destroying powers. (3-3)

If only I'd been playing Erhnamgeddon...

With all my battles behind me, my happiness could not completely eclipse my disappointment. I had hoped that my selection of spells would serve me better, and once again wished that I had prepared more summoning spells. I found myself to have obtained a rank of 16th out of 27 wizards, about the same as I had fared at our last gathering. But it is hard to wallow in regret when all around you are making merry, and I found great enjoyment in seeing how my friends, old and new alike, fared in the day’s efforts. Accolades were given to all, and I was recognized for having the most destructive set of spells amongst those gathered. (Apparently, word of my victories with Berserk spells had spread faster than my defeats with the same!) For my efforts, I was awarded a customized Nevinyrral’s Disk, one which I hope to put to good use in the near future. The finely embellished tome of Regrowth that I received, too, will be treasured—although perhaps not as soon as the Disk, as I feel the need to branch out after slinging green spells for both tournaments I’ve attended so far. Lastly, I was presented with a gargantuan scroll to summon an Erhnam Djinn, signed by all who fought today. I may not be able to use it in battle, but I will display it with pride and honor.

A noble treasure haul indeed.

 Danatoth of Alsoor (Dan Hyland)


This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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!

I will use these with pride!

Danatoth of Parma (Dan Hyland)


This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.