Blind notes from the Fishliver Oil Cup Ed 3

Let me start by saying that the weekend in Genoa was the sweetest large magic event I've played. I've been a frequent guest at conventions since 1997 and never felt more excited, welcome nor entertained at a convention or large tournament than I did two weeks ago. It may be hard to compare an 130-plus-player 3-day event like Fishliver Oil Cup something more casual like the 12-player Dwarven Warriors tournament, and they scratch different itches. But I can safely say that this was the sweetest gathering of thirty-plus Magic players I've encountered yet. Can't wait to see what the crew will come up with for Winc0n next year. That's the tl;dr.

Last time I was down on Italian turf was at Fishliver Oil Cup 0 in 2016. Though it wasn't called Edizione 0 at the time, and the tournament took place in Camaiore rather than Genoa. Back then we were three Scandinavians in attendance; Hardy and myself from Oslo, along with Martin Berlin from Stockholm. Then I missed out on Fishliver in 2017 as I was getting married at the time, and then again in 2018 as there was a kid on the way. High time to return, and I was out of excuses.

In a field of 133 players, I would be - perhaps strangely - the lone representative from Norway. Additionally I was the only guy with Swedish background apart from Gordon and Svante whom hosted the stream. Most old school players in Sweden appear pretty bad at traveling outside the Scandinavian borders. I hope we'll remedy that in 2020, particularly with Winc0n looming in the horizon.

Anyway, I took pictures, noted matchups and sweet plays on my phone, and had a brilliant plan to write an in-depth report. Or at least show some rad pictures. Then I came home, and in my infant-parenting zombie state managed to lose my phone at a playground. I did manage to get a replacement SIM card, but my current state of portable tech is pretty much this:

Known in the business as "Tempest era tech"

I am sure there's a personal lesson in here somewhere. Probably has something to do with backups and/or sleeping.

So no pictures and no notes. But luckily I've winged once or twice before in my life. So let's just write something anyway.

The weekend started Thursday September 26, at 4 AM. That's the current opinion of reveille for the changeling in the house, and I had opted in for the graveyard shift. A year ago, 4 AM meant that I hadn't gone to bed yet, or that I was to catch a plane somewhere. And though I was in all fairness going to catch a plane on this particular September 26, it wasn't taking off before high noon.

Six hours later I stepped out of the door and began my pilgrimage to the great continent. And I did throw away a tweet at the airport, so here's one picture:

I have returned the Strip Mines and a handful other cards to their respective decks and binders, and don't have the service-mindedness to reassemble the deck for a new photo-op. But I did actually register this deck in an online tool to try out opening hands and stuff. So here's a rare text-based deck list for all y'all netdeckers. At least a picture of some text.

My baseline was good ol' Project M. Then I just took around 23 or so proper mana sources, added 4 Strip Mines and 4 Factories, and shuffled about with the last 29 spells so they didn't demand too heavy an emphasis on colored mana. EC peasy.

I had a long layover in Paris. And I had not really dreaded that wait. Sitting alone with a beer and contemplating existence doesn't seem like that bad a deal. I don't even really remember what I did, except logging in to Facebook for the first time in a good while, quietly reminiscing about good gatherings and dolling up my mat with an extra row of pins for the occasion.

Hey, another picture. Maybe we'll get through this.

After about five hours and a solid stream of Heineken later (the only beer available), I was ready to board. At that point I realized that the gate was in fact far further away than I had anticipated, and a rare occasion of airport running occured. I arrived at the gate as the last people checked in, when I realized that I had dropped my phone somewhere during the run. This was clearly some sort of foreboding. Generally, I do not consider myself the kind of guy to lose my phone twice in one week. So I had to run back to try and find it, carrying a not insignificant bag, being on about three hours of sleep for the night, and having most of my nutrition of the day coming from Heiniken, of all beers. At this point I got to check "having my name sternly called on airport speakers" off the bucket list. But I did find the phone, and I did board. Slightly rugged and sweaty, to the delight of my fellow passengers.

I wish I had the pictures from when I landed. Megu and Andrea actually took the time - in the middle of the evening dinner they hosted nonetheless - to pick me up at the airport waving a Swedish flag as I entered Italian soil. These guys, I tell you.

For those of you who haven't had the chance to interact with Megu, let me quickly say that he is just a spectacular human being. Without going into details about his charitable work, encouraging activism, or stunning compassion for fellow humans, I'll simply state that whenever I meet him I feel humble, inspired, and happy to be alive. It is quite a treasure to get to meet people like him through this card game.

We drove to a restaurant Megu is in charge of, and got to meet 30 or so of the early arrivals. Many familiar faces, not the least travelers like Gordon Anderson, Svante Landgraf, Jason Schwartz, Alban Lauter, Constantine and Mitja among them. This is why you never really travel alone to an old school event; at the very least you'll be surrounded be friends and family once you land. The pasta was of course wild, and the tiramisu was fit for a leviathan. We filled up on wine and good food until the late hours, when it was time to find the hotel.

Loaded up with beer from Megu, I played some good games with Constantine. Eventually the alcohol got the better of me and I joined in with Jason and Svante who were playing Ante 40K. It is btw super fun to see Svante playing 40K; he was certainly not one of the guys I immediately expected to enjoy this insanity of a format. Anyways, as the only cards I'd brought with me were my tournament decks and I didn't have a good way to replace potential card losses before the tournaments started, I was graciously offered to use my Adventure Island deck and simply put €40 in the ante against Jason. Good bloke. Jason was on RB Atog, and it was a very tight game. In the end I managed to win after an intense top-decking war, slightly after he had changed his Ankh of Mishra in the ante to this particular Jeweled Bird:

Guess this one is more brag-worthy anyway ;)

In Ante 40K, it is custom to sign or alter any cards you pass along. The fun thing with this bird is that it is now signed by both Jason and Christian Reinhard, two of the more prolific 40K players in the world. It is almost like I don't want to activate this in risk of losing it, but on the other hand it might be even sweeter for the next guy to win it and have it triple-signed. And I guess not playing it would be against the spirit of the format.

I don't know what time it is at this point, but I've probably been awake for at least 24 hours. Time to go to bed. And not having to wake up for any other reason than being well rested.

A little north of twelve hours later I crawl out of my comfort zone. Rested, sure, but somehow with a truly splitting headache. Doesn't really feel like a hangover headache, but more like someone emptied a can of salt on my brain. I almost never get headaches. I guess I should find my bearings, eventually find something to eat. I have a breakfast of champions in my room (some leftover beer from Megu), and eventually manage to get out and meet the world.

Strolling around in Genoa, I quickly locate the Lanterna and decide to try and walk my way there to perhaps meet up with some fellow wizards. Somewhere in the middle of my urban exploring I get stuck on foot in a car tunnel. Eventually, after about two hours of mindless wandering, I find that the actual walking path to the Lanterna is closed, and I'm unable to get to the site. Regardless, the pounding headache is surprisingly terrible at this point, so I decide to try and find a pharmacy. I think I can count on one hand the number of times I've taken a headache pill in the last twenty years, but here's to breaking that streak. I practice pronouncing "mal di testa" with my best tourist accent and am eventually directed to a drug store located within a Coop supermarket. Success.

As I exit the store, a familiar scream is heard from across the counter. It is The Worst Community. The Mad Dutch.

Erwin Demmer in front, and Wilfred being blocked in the shot by yours truly. Picture sent from Erwin the other day :)

The Dutch aren't actually the worst community. It may well be the actual best community. They are however the only community I've frequently interacted with that have me, in whatever conscience I have, act like the wet blanket in the room, and often try to slow down the decadence rather than push it forward. I've had a beer or two at Magic events in my life. Approached the game as party and pushed some people to do some questionable things in the spirit of the Gathering. Done some things I probably shouldn't write explicitly about on the internet. But Jesus, when I meet the Dutch, I just jump on and go along for the ride. They don't brag about it, or market themselves as wild cards. It is just that in their deck of 52, all the deuces and treys are jokers. If you ever get the chance to sling with the Dutch of 4,000, roll with it and enjoy.

The Dutch crew logo / warning sign.

My headache is making me slightly less social than leprosy at this point however, so after quick pleasantries I down a beer and a couple paracetamol and return to the hotel for some recuperation before the tournament starts. It works, and an hour later I'm back in the game.

Walk outside to meet Marc Lanigra and Richard Leßman among some other rad characters. They are talking about pinball. I've been a major - albeit very casual - pinball fan for the last three years. Eventually getting a machine is way up on the bucket list. Few conversations with the wife about potential vacation cabins or just furnishing in general manage to avoid the topic of me eventually getting a pinball machine. Hell, I still refer to the storage space in the basement of our apartment building as "the pinball room". I had no idea of the overlap between old school magic players and pinball enthusiasts.

Turns out Marc himself owns a few machines, including the coveted Medieval Madness. It was his first machine. "My mistake when I started to play Magic" Marc noted, "was that the first card I bought wasn't Black Lotus. I wasn't going to make that same mistake with pinball." Good man. Clearly need to get down to their turf in Germany at some point to play pinball and oldschoolmtg. Alban Lauter apparently owned a Monster Bash, and an Arabian Nights was perhaps in the pipeline for Marc, so this should cover all bases of sweetness.

The pinball machine, not the expansion set. Though Marc does have a complete set of Arabian Nights as well when I think of it.

Anyway, Magic. We're supposed to play Magic after all, and the EC tournament is scheduled to start at the Lanterna in a couple of minutes. The Lanterna location is insane. A half millennia old lighthouse, by most ways of measuring the tallest traditional lighthouse in the world, as well as the third oldest lighthouse in said world. When I told my mom about the location we were playing at, she shone up and started talking about the awesome architecture of the structure and how she wrote about it during her pre-graduate studies. Our playground is an actual museum. How we're even allowed inside I can only speculate.

The genius. The sheer genius.

At the location, out on a grassy knoll at the foot of the tower, around 80 warriors gather. There's wine, foccacia and meats. And pesto. My god the pesto. People who eat it go silent. I hear a guy next to ask where he can buy some to bring home. The answer is that it is not really possible to do that, as they just made it right there, and having the ingredients completely fresh is an important part of making it. This is truly pesto alla genovese, in a way I never had before.

I chat with some more heroes. Exchange pleasantries and some tech with last year's winner Daniele Brunazzo. Share high fives and anecdotes with Christian Reinhard from Legion Urborg. And dodge talking politics and the supremacy of Strip Mines with American all-star Dominic Dotterer (for now).

Now, as I mentioned before, I don't have any pictures nor notes left from the actual tournament. So I'll try to just mention a few highlights.

• Having a poor Fellwar Stone bounced two turns in a row by Hurkyl's Recall, then getting killed by a sweet Black Vise + Ancestral in my face.
• Beating UW skies twice almost completely of the back of Forcefield. 
• Misjudging my opponent as playing Artifacts, when he in fact was on The Deck, and playing wrong for five turns before realizing when a pivotal spell was met with an unexpected Counterspell.
• Defeating Moat via Yawgmoth Demon.
• Stealing Preacher with Control Magic against WW for the win and the lulz.
• Casually defeating an opponent who started with an unchecked Library for six or seven turns.
• Emerging victorious from the Strip Mine Lottery more than once.
• Twiddle-Untap my Guardian Beast for the blow-out against Troll Disco.

Due to pretty embarrassing misplays against The Deck when I had my opponent on a different strategy, I was not to fight on in the elimination rounds. Still had a highly enjoyable tournament of course, and did end up with a winning record. I do believe there was some luck involved though. I had loaded my die for the Strip Mine lottery by playing over 30 mana sources - some of them Workshops - but I still think a handful of the games were won via better Strip Mine draws than the opponent. There's some entertainment in that, sure, but occasionally the victories can feel a little more random. If you've felt that the "Mishra Lottery" is an uneasy part of the standard 93/94 formats, I will attest that the Strip Mine lottery is real. And the only time my opponent actually had a turn one Library, I had no answer for it until I eventually won the game anyway. So I guess there's that as well. That being said, I fully understand that EC rules has appeal, and - not unlike playing the Modern format - is something I don't mind sleeving every now and then for variation.

Another sidenote about the tournament: Around round three, the Fishliver crew was handing out order slips for Pizza and beer. €10 for a proper Italian pizza and a fun-sized bottle of beer, delivered directly to the Lanterna. This was among the more brilliant things I've encountered yet in a tournament, perhaps paralleled only by DFB's lobster rolls at LobsterCon.

Yet another sidenote, this time about the brilliance of Christian Reinhard. At these kind of gatherings, people often bling out their jean jackets or playmats with pins from other tournaments they've been at. In some cases people will even trade for pins, or try to collect as many as possible (I myself am occasionally guilty of collecting pins, though I personally only attach pins of tournaments I've attended on the mat). Some teams or organizations have pins as well. Christian has however taken the pin swag to the next level. The Lord of Legion Urborg makes pins that communicate attitudes rather than achievements.

"Culture pins" in the top corner of my mat.

One of the pins in the picture shows my affiliation with NOSMTG (the main  Norwegian oldschool crew). The other two are Christian's creations.

The top left one is the "Gentlemen's Club" pin, which basically communicates that the wearer is always willing to remove Mind Twist and Library of Alexandria from their deck (mostly provided that the opponent does the same), commonly uses more fringe cards or strategies (though of course we do not strive to be easy prey), and are more willing than not to grant take-backs and help our opponent avoid simple mistakes ("please be aware, I have an untapped Mishra‘s factory which I can pump to 3/3").

The last pin, referred to as the Cabal Pin, states that the wearer is willing to play for ante. In tournament settings, usually the ante will be something simple like a beer or a card from the binder, but outside a tournament most bets are off. I've played "Scrye Magazine #3 prices" ante, "Scrye 1, Scry 1, Scrye 1, then ante" and a few other variants, but the Cabal Pin in particular signifies that you're into the madness that is Ante 40K. In order to get this pin, you need to participate in the 40K format.

We leave the Lanterna shortly after midnight and return to the Columbus Hotel to watch the top16 battle it out. In my infinite wisdom, or perhaps lameness, I opt to not stay up and watch the elimination rounds unfold. Instead I actually go to bed shortly after 2 AM. Not too shabby.

The finals was played out between Raul Roso - spearhead of Liga Catalana old school - and Miguel Ángel González Fernández - a handsome face of Liga Madrid (I think). Some may think it a little surpising to see two guys from Spain battle it out in the finals of an Italian tournament, but Spain is probably the most proficient country with EC Rules in Europe. Unlike most other places on the continent, many of the Spanish Ligas use EC Rules as default, and it is not uncommon for the Ligas to host monthly tournaments with highly skilled opposition. 

That said, Raul Roso finished in the Top16 of the main Fishliver event on Saturday as well, playing Lestree Zoo at that time. Versatile wizards for sure. But for the Lanterna tournament, both of them turned to the Shops; quickly landing huge treats and loading the dice of any Strip Mine shenanigans by having lands that tap for three and very few color requirements in their decks. Miguel even opting out of playing Mana Drain to only have cards that require a single colored mana. 

Miguel Ángel González Fernández's Prison Shops, 1st place.

Raul Roso's Animate Shops, 2nd place.

During the night, another showdown of legends takes place. The Dutch Super Cup pitting Raging Bull winner Megu against Knights of Thorn champion Hercule Rottiers. Using the exact 75 they used to win their respective titles, Megu will be weilding Deadguy Ale versus Hercule on The Deck. It is a close matchup with a lot of honor on the line. Also a trophy, a bracelet, and a unique playmat of Juzam Djinn boxing with Serendib Djinn; handpainted by Mark Tedin and Anson Maddocks in collaboration. In the end, Megu with his Deadguy deck chokes out the victory and our Italian host is granted the title of Dutch Super Cup Champion. This is a format without borders.

Dutch Super Cup swag.

I get around eleven hours of sleep for the night, and ponder if my current lifestyle choice of "constantly tired" may in fact be flawed. Being rested is the actual balls. Another sweet thing with the room I'm in (which was surprisingly and generously provided by Megu) is that it is on the very floor the Fishliver Oil Crew has rented out for the tournament. So to get to the tournament I only need to crawl about twenty meters. Breakfast beer it is, followed by a shower and crawling.

We're 133 players today, but will still go for six swiss rounds rather than eight. Also, as is Fishliver tradition at this point, there will be a Top16 rather than Top8 at the end of it. I really like this setup. Playing eight rounds with the same deck, and being bound to structure after so many hours of Magic (and beer) is not always the best way to spend the wee hours of a gathering of this proportion. I love being able to float around, play casual formats or ante, or just have the time to hang with the people I so rarely get to hang with.

My weapon for the day is Adventure Island.

Maindeck

Sideboard. A miser's Italian Triskelion for the locals. And let's go back to the card in the lower right corner a little later.

It is a very sweet deck. When sitting down to play I never really know how the deck is gonna try to win that game. Will there be card advantage via Sindbad and Sylvan? Will there be a Force of Nature bashing face? Will the Wolves of the Hunt eat you? Or will the Power Monlith combo come together?

One, perhaps odd, thing I've tried to do with the deck is to play as many white bordered cards as possible (two sideboard cards still withstanding). As I'm somewhat known to have a decent collection of black bordered cards at this point, playing white border power and lands can increase the sense of confusion from the deck. It is also not a bad deck. While I did end up on a losing record this time (losing twice to Erhnam Burn'em and once to The Deck; beating Troll Disco and Power Monlith; and drawing against The Deck for a 2-3-1 record), I think it was at least as much due to the skill of the opponents as ineptness of the pile. Adventure Island may not be a tier1 contender, but it is not a deck I'm afraid to play some high stakes games with either (as evidenced by my new double signed Jeweled Bird above).

In between rounds of the tournament, I also had the pleasure of dealing cards with Alban Lauter and Mitja, probably the nicest traders in the format. Got me an extra 36 cards towards my Unlimited set - you're not the only one going there, Willam Casale - including a couple of heavy hitters like Forcefield and Scrubland. 17 rares, 23 uncommons and 16 commons down to go, and only four cards left with a price tag over $100. This should actually be feasible.

Anyway, the tournament. I'm really bad at actually writing about the tournaments. I blame losing my notes, and the fact that everything around the actual Magic was magic as well. Anyway, six rounds, 2-3-1, and here are some personal highlights:

• Transmuting Chaos Orb into Aladdin's Lamp for the eventual win, and paying the difference without any Power Artifact shenanigans.
• Having Master of the Hunt as tech against The Abyss.
• Playing Force of Nature to seal the game, only to have my opponent resolve a slow-rolled Blood Moon the following turn and have the Force kill me instead.
• Turn three Amnesia a guy from seven down to two cards to take him out of the Library. Much more gentleman like than playing Mind Twist...
• Beating a control player with Mahamothi Djinn and Vesuvan Doppelganger after Swords were wasted on Sinbads and Factories.
• Getting to be on the stream round one, and then hang out with Gordon and Svante in the booth eating Djungelvrål and discussing the majesty of Aladdin's Lamp.
• Getting Master of the Hunt stolen via Control Magic by an opponent that didn't have green mana. Losing the master still cost me the game.
• Ring of Ma'rufing for sweet cards, having the opponent read the card almost every time.
• Feeling like I'm having a pretty favorable matchup against everything except Erhnam Burn'em.
• Getting destroyed by Marc Lanigra in like 15 minutes, then spending 40 minutes talking about pinball.

At the end of the swiss, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that I was in contention for the "Most creative deck" prize. Didn't even know they awarded such a prize. It would come down to me and a hero from Denmark playing some strange highlander Eureka deck with Basilisk and Lure.

The guy (whom I embarrassingly can't recall the name of right now; I want to say David or Henning? Plx comment if you know) seemed like a true wizard and a solid pick for the prize. However, it would take at least an hour or so before the stream would be ready for our play-off. And after two long days of Magic, he was out of gas. So eventually he opted for the bed and gave me the default win. "The best kind of win." We got to do some nice chatting at least, and I gave him my n00bcon 5 pin as a consolation offering when he mentioned that he had a friend who were into pin collecting.

Most creative deck award

Eventually the fight for the Fishliver came down to André Brunet and Marco Buti; both of them weilding the LauterDeck to claw their way to the finals. In the end, André Brunet stood victorious with his stunning artwork of a deck.

The glorious champion of Fishliver Oil Cup Ed. 3.

André Brunet's winning Lauter Deck.

Marco Buti's Lauter Deck. 2nd place.

It could be notable that Alban Lauter (of LauterDeck fame) played an artifact deck similar to Jesper Eisings deck from the n00bcon 11 top8 rather than his namesake pile. He still ended up at fifth place in the tournamet though. Dude is an endboss if I ever saw one.

Speaking of artifact decks and n00bcon 11 top8'ers, the winner of the swiss and eventual 3rd place finisher was Leo Bruder of Legion Urborg with his take on Artifact Aggro.

Leo Bruder's Artifact Aggro. 3rd place.

And while we're at it, let's also check out the last deck in the Top4, Gwen De Schamphelaere's Arabian Aggro.

Gwen De Schamphelaere's Arabian Aggro. 4th place.

There's some sweet tech in the top16 for those of you looking to delve. To see all the list, go check out Winc0n's Instagram account.

So, about Winc0n and that altered Fishliver Oil in my sideboard.

Glory. Anson Maddocks will be present at Winc0n 2020 in person btw :)

This card - which some of you may have glimpsed an earlier version of at the n00bcon 11 stream - was graciously bestowed upon me by the Fishliver crew during the weekend. It comes with historic innuendo. A Giant Shark chasing away the Fishliver Oil fish, world looming in the background. Winc0n 2020. Old School World Championship.

As I assume most readers know by this point, starting next year n00bcon will no longer host the World Championship of Oldschool Magic. Instead, that honor will be awarded at Winc0n, a new tournament organized by the Fishliver Oil crew. Winc0n will take place in September next year, though an exact date isn't set just yet. I will assist as a consultant emeritus of sorts, helping out with whatever may be needed in terms of making the transition as smooth as possible. Though if my experience at Fishliver Oil Cup 3 is any indication, they won't need much backup from me. Might assist with some mid-90s HTML and random anecdotes from n00bcon 4 I suppose.

The Winc0n location will have a lot more space than Rotary Pub where we've hosted n00bcon, and as such the number of slots will be far less constrained. In fact, at least at the writing of this, Winc0n will be an open tournament where you don't have to run through qualification gauntlets of some kind to get to fight for the title. Also, in the spirit of the last n00bcons and Fishliver Oil Cups, there will be multiple tournaments over the course of a few days rather than only a single Championship event so everybody will get their fill of old school. The World Championship tournament will use Italian/Ravenna rules; i.e. having a much more relaxed reprint policy than most Swedish events.

I believe this will be awesome. It is the start of a new era in Oldschool Magic, and I wouldn't miss it for the world. Also, it is a chance for me personally to fight for the Giant Shark and the World Championship title again, which will be rad.

As new information about the gathering unfolds, I will keep you updated on the blag. I also recommend that you check out Winc0n's Instagram account for news and announcements if you're on that platform.

So what about n00bcon 12? Will there still be a tournament in Gothenburg next Easter? The short answer is yes, but it wont be the same scale as the last few years. Also, the main focus on invites will not be to try and gather as many communities as possible in one spot in the same way as previous years, as that prerogative now lies with Winc0n. n00bcon will revert to the size it had about half a decade ago, and be similar in size to the current Arvika Festival. Additionally, the focus will be more on local Scandinavian players. Last year a little over 20% of the invites were given out to Swedish or Norwegian communities, next year it will probably be closer to 60% (so maybe around 35 out of a total 60 players).

Since back in 2010, two Giant Sharks have been awarded at 93/94 tournaments each year. One has been given out at n00bcon, and one has moved around a little; the first seven years at the Swedish Nationals at BSK and then the last three at the Scandinavian Championship in Arvika. This is however the last year KungMarkus and the Arvika crew will host the Scandinavian Championship. So in 2020, the Giant Sharks will be awarded at the World Championship at Winc0n and at the Whatever Championship at n00bcon respectively.

n00bcon 12 is by some (me) refered to as "NepotismCon" due to how the invites will be allocated. Basically the invite structure is that I'll just randomly say yes to friends, people that are rad, or old guards of the format until I'm out of invites. Still, everyone who has ever won a Shark is of course still welcome, as always being invited everywhere goes with having the Shark.

As n00bcon no longer have the weight of the World Championship on its shoulders, next year's tournament will also come with a pretty major shakeup in the card pool. Why? Because I've played this format for over twelve years, and I just feel like flipping things on its head. I don't expect the card pool changes for n00bcon 12 to be adopted in any general way, but I suspect that most tournaments I host next year will use them just to see what happens with a wrench in the existing strategies. So at n00bcon 12 we'll add a 116-card "future shifted" set called Scryings - very similar to a reversed Chronicles - containing selected cards from Fallen Empires to Mirage block. This idea has been on my mind for a good while now, but I haven't really had a proper outlet to try it yet. More information and spoiler season for the "set" will start next month, so please give me a heads up if you would like a card to spoil at your platform.

So there's that. I hope we managed ok without notes nor photos. If you survived all the way down here, cheers to you my friend.

Gatherings like Fishliver Oil Cup is the essence of Magic for me. It is fantastic to see how many likeminded and passionate nerds we are in the world. Participating in a gathering like this is a humbling experience, and if this was the last Fishliver Oil Cup, they surely went out with a bang. Can't wait to see where the crew will take us with Winc0n next year. And I much hope to see all of you there.

Cin cin ragazzi!