Lords Friedman, Moss & Punts break down OS95 action from the Lords' Fall Brawl 2.5.

We have no names, man. No names! We are nameless.

We're peering under the hood of the Alpha-Alliances format with guests Cayce Grissom & Lord Bill as Meatball phones in from the galactic center.

It is an early September Saturday, sunny and mild, perfect for enjoying a bike ride, backyard barbeque… or shutting oneself indoors to play Old School Magic: the Gathering on a webcam versus twelve pals. Thusly we found ourselves, thirteen wayward mages, waylaid by the pervasive oddity that is This Year 2020, sleeving up, logging in, adjusting our lighting and grinding out games in search of the almighty doubleyou. Thanks to the organizing efforts of Lord Punts, who’s served as the lodestar by which the Lords have navigated this year's online meetups, we circled the wagons for a “family only” Gathering, our first since Lords Haus in February.

To that end, we picked up right where we left off. Maybe there was a little rust in our Orb flipping, as anecdotal evidence of more misses than usual crept into The Pit, the video chat channel used for grilling each other between rounds. Meanwhile, our “tables” for each pairing were chatrooms named after classic LOTP hotspots around the City: DMen, Maproom, Hopewell, Revolution, Bob’s Backyard, and Crown Liquors (RIP). The field offered a nice snapshot of classic archetypes and current villains: UR Burn, RUG Aggro, Monowhite, Esper Aggro, White Prison, Underworld Trix and Atogs (RUG and a White variant) among others. See our gallery below for all the technological glory.

After five rounds of Swiss + 1, it was our illustrious Meatball that proved undefeatable, sweeping the afternoon with his patented RUG Atog pile. It seems that Lord Petray, having not died a hero, has now seen himself live long enough to become the villain. His prize for successful grinding? Continued one-on-one training with the merciless Bulu Master. Luckily for R-Kid, the 90 degree temperatures seem to have abated for the season.

Can anything be taken away from this (or any) online “tournament”? The actual gameplay suffers in this environment, no doubt, and we're at the continuous mercy of our ISPs, but assembling in The Pit or catching up between rounds is the trve value of a virtual Gathering. Absences in these odd times, have indeed made hearts grow fonder, but though we may be distant, that doesn’t mean we must remain apart.

Standings (Swiss +1)

Gallery

The Kids Are Alright: The Q-Cup3 Report

It was during this, our ceaseless summer of discontent, that fifteen maniacal mages Gathered online for the latest installment of the LOTP Quarantine Cup. For our third iteration in the Q-Cup series, we consulted with assorted Deep State dossiers and Dark Web databanks to dredge up two hyper-niche formats in which to wield our aged cardboard. Batch One was Scryings, the Swedish-style Old School variant that features a 116-card “expansion” drawing from Fallen Empires through Weatherlight. Batch Two was Classic, which is essentially EC Old School + Middle School with a lengthy Restricted List. For a rundown of QC3 play, check our Pitcast episode “Sounds Like Emotional Jenga” where Final Four players, Lords Elleman, Velasco, Rohr & Baran, weave tales from their batch, semis and finals battles. Lord Ellemen continued his sizzling 2020 and can now boast back-to-back Q-Cup victories! Finally, a quick shoutout is in order to Lord Punts, our trackless Q-Cup organizer, who dominated batch play at 7-1 but was unable to complete in the Final Four.

The Lords & Co. selected The Chicago Community Bond Fund as our QC3 charity of choice with donations serving as entry fees. The CCBF pays bond for people charged with crimes in Cook County, IL. Through a revolving fund, the CCBF supports individuals whose communities cannot afford to pay the bonds themselves and who have been impacted by structural violence.

Standings (After Batches)

Scryings Gallery

Classic Gallery

We're breaking down the LOTP Q-Cup III (feat. Scryings & Classic) with its Final Four: Lords Elleman, Rohr, Velasco & Baran.

In this post-Father’s Day special episode, Lords Casleton, Sanders and Rohr open a pack of Spectral Chaos and ruminate over cards that were never meant to see the light of day.

Quarantine Cup 2: Cabin Fever gathered 21 Lords & friends to battle over the interwebs from the safety of their COVID bunkers (aka mothers' basements). Event fees were donated in support of Chicago Meals on Wheels and also served as entry for a sweet door prize. Q-Cup2 was again structured using two batches, however this time we followed with a Top 4. Following precedent from the first Q-Cup, use of proxies was permitted.

Batch 1 consisted of four matches of randomly-paired EC 93/94. Batch 2 followed with four rounds of Middle School with pairings based on records from the first batch. After the batches, the top four players revealed their deck lists and ran back their OS brews to determine the champion. The event culminated with hometown hero Lord Ellemen on an Esper-midrange deck battling southern boy Cayce Grissom on RUG Aggro. Thanks to Big Brain Bob’s technical prowess, the Lords gathered in a virtual Discord room for happy hour and live spectating. This was our virtual answer to recreating the gathering around the finals table to root for a hero of choice with friends. (Or to slander them both!) After two tight games, Lorien bested Cayce to defend the club and earn the crown.

We have lots of good-looking deck lists to check out. Lord Piquardo played a sweet mono-red Goblins deck that featured Goblin Rock Sled and Rajah broke out a slick Gauntet of Nuggetry stew. The real technology came out in the Middle School rounds, however, and undoubtedly the story of the event was Lord Etters’ insane Battle of Wits brew. After going 0-4 in OS, Tyler swept his MS opponents with his massive stack of digital cardboard. You can listen to his breakdown of the deck on the Pitcast episode “Five Alive.” (It’s totally worth grinding through Carter’s bloviating to hear it!) Lord Velasco brought a sweet take on an Esper control pile and Lord Semmens battled using a sweet Necro-Donate deck with Togs in the board. Meanwhile, Moss and I took the new MS boogeyman, Reanimator, to a combined 7-1 record. Turn one Akromas proved too much for the field to handle and I imagine an upswing in sideboard hate will follow. Moss went with Oath of Druids out of the board while I tried Show and Tell. It’s a blast to play if you like six minute matches and angry opponents.

Given the violence, worry, and uncertainty gripping the world today, the Q-Cup series has been a welcome digital Gathering to escape to connect over a children’s card game. Stay safe and take care of each other out there.

Standings (After Batches)

Old School Gallery

Middle School Gallery

We’re beating the heat by diving into the deep end of collecting artist signatures & alters with Lords Bergeson and Mith.

The Lords crack open their Memory Jars to tell tales of victories and beats from yesteryear to the current day.