WNM @ Magic Comics, November 13, 2013

The time has come for another trip into my extensive ego.

Time to delve deeply and tread lightly as we unearth the happenings of a time when I lead the forces of Thassa into battle against the unwashed hordes of the enemy. 

I heard tell of successful campaigns waged by the mage "Sam Pardee" in the service of the Lady Thassa in which a technique of Domestication was employed to turn the enemy to the service of the blue. To make room for this advancement in technology the arrogant Planeswalker Jace was moved fully to the reserves to be called upon should we encounter an enemy that he could excel against. In addition, a pair of Shapeshifters from the Aether were employed to shore up our weaknesses to Esper mages. 

I arrived on the field of battle a good time before the scheduled beginning of hostilities. I spent the spare hours in practice skirmishes with some of the less vile mages in attendance, calling on the strength of Norin the Wary to bring Chaos to the room. Alas, an Elemental from the Maelstrom was better suited to the chaos in the room and I was shortly crushed beneath the feet, hooves and flowing energy of monstrosities it had found while wandering. 

Just as I had finished readying myself for a follow up battle the Organizer of the evening's festivities announced the commencement of the event. He bellowed the names of our opponents and made known that there would be a total of 4 rounds of merriment this night. Each round would be decided by a best of 3 engagement between 2 mages, chosen by a magical box known as a "Compyutor".


Enemy Number 1 - Travis and his filthy Red and Black minions

Travis is a mage who does not consistently travel to our fair region. He treks from the far land of Covington with his blood relative Grant and he is well met. 

Our first fracas was resolved by a Fanatical minotaur and a zombified Merchant who both caused me great harm upon their arrival. I had poorly instructed my Wierds earlier in the battle, not realizing that they were able to defend against some of the intimidating creatures that Travis sent my way. Had my frosty minions intercepted Travis' cackling demon I may have survived long enough to crush him with a legion of Elementals. 

The second of our scuffles fell to me as a freakish raptor I encountered while in Ravnica grew to monstrous size, feeding off of the energy of my ground troops. I was able to protect myself from Travis and his creatures, even employing the Domestication technique to provide myself with a blocker who would never be intimidated. Eventually Thassa herself showed up and hid my troops in a veil of mist to sneak through the final blow. 

The final battle of the match played out similarly to the second, though my thoughts felt scrambled and my troops were slow to arrive to the field. A specter was my first attendant but he was swiftly joined my a Domesticated creature of Travis' army. I had taken quite a bit of damage myself in the time before I could find my forces and was in danger of outright death should one of those blasted zombie merchants arrive to join with the one already in play. Luckily I remembered an obscure spell from the mage Pardee's arsenal, a wicked Curse that turned zombie into pig just in the nick of time. Travis did indeed call upon a second Merchant but it was not enough thanks to my Curse. 



Enemy Number 2 - The King and his explosive menagerie of Green. 

This mage is known only as The King and he is renowned for his mastery of the denizens of the Forest. 

I claimed victory in our first encounter by summoning a swarm of Cloudfins and hindering his accelerated growth with a merfolk of the Tidebinder guild. My watery minions swept in for the kill just as The King called upon Polukranos. My troops showed true Devotion to Thassa and her cause, throwing themselves upon the great World Eater and sacrificing their lives to end the conflict before anything truly monstrous happened. 

Our second dance went The King's way, his battle plan was far too swift for me to react to. A cursed satyr and a pair of shamans prayed at the Shrine of Nyx, calling a colossal Hydra out of the mist that shrugged off all of my spells. I may have been able to hold back the lone Hydra for a time but he was swiftly joined by the World Eater himself who consumed any hope I had of survival. 

The war with The King came down to a final clash, one that sadly fell in his favor. Though I poured on the fury of Thassa it was not long before another of his blasted satyrs was joined by elves and shamans at Nykthos. The Planeswalker Garruk brought along some of his woodland friends and, as has become a pattern in these battles, Polukranos slammed the final nail in my coffin. 



Enemy Number 3 - Kyle with his pure black soul.

Kyle is a follower of the dark God Erebos and, despite the darkness in his heart, is an honorable opponent to duel. 

I overcame Kyle's flurry of death spells with just the right mixture of Birds, Raptors and Specters. Despite him seizing my deepest thoughts, Kyle was caught off guard when I employed the Domestication incantation on his Nightveil Specter. This turned the game in my favor and allowed me to claim the last bits of his strength before I ran out of creatures to feed to his terrifying demon. 

Similarly, my small forces overwhelmed Kyle in our second encounter and when Thassa sent aid through her Bident it became impossible for him to match my devoted minions with words of death and decay. 



Enemy Number 4 - Nicholas, devoted to Pink. 

Alas, this final skirmish was not to be one of interest. Nicholas assaulted me with quick creatures, their hatred burning brightly, and I could not mount a strong enough resistance through his fiery mortars to stem the bleeding. Try as might, all I could think of were deserted Islands, bereft of creatures, and soon I was as lifeless as they. 

I was determined going into our second battle not to focus so much on the Islands and, though I was successful in that, it resulted in my undoing. I became so focused on the powerful things I planned to use against Nicholas that I failed to summon enough Islands to bring them to life. Eventually a furious minotaur crushed the life out of me while I stared helpless at the arsenal unused in my mind.



I stand a frustrated wizard today, unsure of my future path and questioning my devotion to Thassa. Though surely some of my current state can be blamed on my own actions I know that largely the events of the tournament of mages were out of my hands. Assuredly questioning one's allegiance to a God is not the state one aims for just before a large gathering of Planeswalkers, but even so it is the where I find myself. Is it time to abandon the ways of the sea for the heated passions of Purphoros? Perhaps a more controlling path would be wise. 

I must make my choice, for in less than 3 moons I will stride into a war amongst the best players in the region. I must claim the title in the kingdom of Big Easy Comics, I must become the SLAMpion.