We leave Joey's hosue as soon as I get there and drive up to Acme Games listening to D-12's insane lyrics the whole way.

We arrive at Acme Games at about 12:23 and people are still filling out decksheets and such. It was just me, Joe and Luke, not Matt this time.

When I first arrived I noted alot of blue, which seemed like a bad situation for Dark Fires, even my team-mate Luke was playing Blue..

So anyways, we fill out our decksheets and trade, etc., etc. until first pairings were called.

Round one vs. Skies(Chad)

There is no doubting whatsoever that Chad is a good player. Ever since I started going to Tournaments he was always Top 4, Top 8 material. Basically he knew his deck incredibly well and of course how to play against yours.

Game One: I keep a terrible hand and he beats me with a Cloudskate, Rootwater Theif and Idol.
Game Two: I keep a fairly decent hand but permission and flyers keep me from making any progress.
(0-1)(0-2)

I go off and watch Joey and Luke's games. Luke seemed to have things under control until his opponent rage him twice with kicker...Luke with no Misdirections in his hand fell to Rage. The second game he played involved him basically countering evrything he had EXCEPT COP:Blue. Luke tried to River it, which got through, but was not in a good position when he drew into no counters..

Joey, however, did win his match after losing his first game, and having a crappy hand third game. We just trade and stuff again until pairing are called.

Round Two vs. Blue/Red (Scott V?)

Game One: Basically I get the key cards. He disrupts me a bit with some bounce spells, but Burst and fires is a wrecking ball no matter what.
Game Two: I think this game was alot like the first. Basically Monger hit play with Fires on the board and I took the game.
(1-1)(2-2)

So we head to Subway, where Luke hits on the sub maker incredibly obviously. Luke and Joey both won, Luke havign the same record as me and Joey being undefeated.

Round Three vs. Black/Red

Game One: Bad hand for me as I stall out badly and just sit there for lands to come and of course none come. Skizzik and friends fly in for beats.
Game Two: Basically no sideboard agianst his deck, but this time I draw into 2 bursts and take the game.
Game Three: He gets Mana Screwed badly and Fires and Monger take the game.
(2-1)(4-3)

Luke and Joey both Won. This brought Joey to 3-0 and Luke to 2-1. Luke brags and buys some packs. I was pretty sure I would be put against him, but I didn't care, despite the fact that in playtesting it beat Dark Fires consistantly. The next round is called.

Round Four vs. Blue(Luke Huffman)

I didn't really wanna play Luke seeing as no matter what one of our DCIs would suffer, actually mine would have much more than his as the nickname I gave him was "DCI poison"..

Game One: Holy Crap. fastest game I have ever played. He stalls at One mana and I port him and beat him with Sap Burst and Derm.
Game Two: He Stabalizes fast, and I mean fast. I lay a Chameleon and he drops a Fat Moti. I am stcuk and he knocks me down with 4 swoops.
Game Three: Two Chameleons and a Ghitu Fire beat him to 0.
(3-1)(6-4)

Joey faced Chad and lost, tying us and pretty much explained we would be paired against each other next round...That sucks. Yup I was right. Pairing are made. Mike Fortine vs. Joey Balzer.

Round Five vs. Arena(Joey Balzer)

Like I said, I hate playing against teammates, and especially one as serious as Joe. This match usually is a horrible match-up for me..but.

Game One: I port his one swamp on his upkeep, while beating him down with creatures. He has 4 Plains out and I keep thinking he is going to wrath so I hold back two SpiritMongers. After I win, he reveals his hand of 0 Wraths.
Game Two: Still no wraths on his side. Sap Burst beats him low, and Ghitu Fires finishes him and esentially knocks him out of Top 4.
(4-1)(8-4)

So here we are. Luke is 3-2-0, as is Joey. Luke did very well for using his deck for the first time. I get paired up for the Top 4. I get paired against jeff, also playing Fires.

Round Six vs. Fires(Jeff Auer)

A Very good player. I expected no mistakes from him.
Game One: He beats me fast with Burst and Fires.
Game Two: This is when things get interesting. I am screwed with 4 lands. I drop a deed a turn before. he has two cards in his hand and the rest is ont eh table. He beats me to 8 and I blow everything up. He has trouble drawing creatures and draws into a Battlemage, which makes me discard my Spirit Monger, Karplusan Forest or Flametongue Kavu. I discard Monger and Forest and next turn play land and mage and kill his mage with Kavu and deal him about 6 a turn. I pull out the win that game.
Game Three: Starts off with us trading off Battlemages and Kavus with each other. The game gets every close and I Ghitu Fire for 8 to get the win.

Chad made it to the finals because his opponent dropped. I decided to split the packs with him because I had already established what a bad matchup his deck was for mine. So I finished Second and get 8 packs.

Props:
Luke's sucess. He only lost to good people which is good work.
Force Spike, for being Luke's MVP all day.
My topdecking skills were amazing that tournament.
Subway sandwichs were incredible. Wendys reaks of suckitude in comparison.
Me, for pulling a SpiritMonger in one of my packs.

Slops:
Joey going 3-0 the first 3 rounds then loing two, tough break.
My sideboard was badly constructed, end of story.
Having to face two of my teammates...
My Packs Reaking of Total Suckitude.

And that's all folks, from Mike Fortine at Team Beefcake