Letters from Glorycon

Dearest Donnie,

The march from Philadelphia to Gettysburg was without event. I was the first of the 215 Brigade to reach Gettysburg, joining the 570 Brigades of Northern Pennsylvania, and the Brigades from New England. I immediately reported to the General of the Army, Mike Frantz, who issued me my kit and told me to enjoy my last night before the battle. The local militia welcomed us with open arms. We passed around quite a few beers and whiskeys while sharing stories of past battles. Some of us sparred to pass the time. I played matches of Old School against Jason Dorman and Jimmy Johnson and finished my night of Magic with a match of Premodern against the Warden of the POWs. While I was equipped with a full set of Finkels and Pikulas, his Deranged Hermits were able to take the victory.

After we left the camp, several of us decided to continue to celebrate the evening before the battle. As you know, dearest wife, this will be my first taste of war; I only have whiskey and tobacco to calm my nerves. Thankfully the 215 bivouacked close to the center of town. I only had a short stumble back to my tent.

With love,

Nate

Dearest Donnie,

I awoke this morning feeling as if the Lord’s Wrath had descended upon me. This is not the state I expected to find myself the morning before battle was expected to commence. I have been coaxing my weary body into obedience with a measure of coffee, tobacco, and morphine (Advil). I am now sitting to write this letter to you at a table with Andrew Williams, Dan White, and Jason Shadish, the other members of the 215 Regiment, or as we like to call ourselves, “the Angry Mob.”

I have planned my whole battle strategy around the strengths of the Angry Mob. Evil Presence is quite powerful as a poor man’s Strip Mine. And with Cyclopean Tomb, I have a chance to lock my opponent off the battlefield with the help of some timely Disenchants and Swords to Plowshares. Once my opponent is sufficiently hampered, Angry Mobs, Serra Angels, and a couple of Karmas should be able to do the rest. Crucially, I was un-powered going into battle; my expected Jet and Pearl were not going to make it.

As we watch the purple uniforms trickle northwards into town from DC, everyone can feel that battle is near. There is a low murmuring amongst us as if a lightning bolt had struck down close by, reminding us of our fragility. I pray that my plans are sufficient.

With love,

Nate

Dearest Donnie,

The battle has been joined, and I fear I am worse for wear. One of the purple shirts, Rubens Campana, joined and defeated me in battle. Rubens was equipped with a black, white, and red mid-range deck featuring Hypnotic Specters, Hymns, Sedge Trolls, Bolts, and Swords to Plowshares. I took one of the first two games we fought by trading resources, locking down his ability to produce red and white and closing the game with an Angel. But in the other game, and in the deciding third game, Hypnotic Specter and Hymn to Tourach kept me on the back foot long enough for Rubens to finish me off.

Oh, but Donnie, the worse was yet to come. I now know too well the pain that comes from facing my own brother on the other side of the battlefield. Twice now, I have been forced to grapple with another member of the 215. First, it was Dan White. In our first game, he was able to lock me down with Icy’s, an Orb of winter, and Kismet. I knew Dan well from prior spars and came into game 2 with a compliment of artifact destruction and Damping Fields. As time was called, I was able to do the last damage with Karma to take the game. And so, our fates were left in the hands of the Chaos Orb. Donnie, I have not been that nervous in a long time. Unlike during my practice on the firing range, my hand was trembling as I held that Orb. And while the flips get landing, the tremble did not recede. At last, after Dan and I traded at least a dozen shots, I finally missed. While vanquished, I was proud of the 215.

No sooner than I was able to pick myself off of the ground than I was called to the battlefield again. I was disappointed to see another member of the 215 across from me. As usual, Will Magrann’s uniform was camouflaged and covered with medals from battles long past. I was not pleased to be facing one of the most-seasoned members of the 215 but gamely prepared myself. My dear wife, the way those games started, I thought that our baby was going to be born without a father. I was summarily dispatched by Living Lands, Triskelion, and Prodigal Sorcerer. Evil Presence and Tomb were not particularly effective against an opponent that was planning to do much worse to my lands than make them into swamps. And while the Mobs roared into life on my turn, their small size on Will’s turn made them far to easy to obliterate with Triskelion.

Thankfully, after that, it was time to break bread. Donnie, you may have heard, as I have, that army rations are near inedible. That was not my experience at all. We were served a wonderful meal of coq-a-vin, ham, salad, and soft sweetened and white breads, among other delicious foods. One of the 215, Andrew Williams, even shared his fare with one of the New York contingent, Paul DeSilva, under candlelight.

Given the severity of my wounds and my poor performance in prior rounds, the top brass decided to give me a break from the action to recuperate. I spend the time nursing my wounds as well as purchasing art and discussing matters of great import with Jeff Menges. I am thankful that I had the time to write you this missive before again being called to battle.

With love,

Nate

Dearest Donnie,

I am ashamed of my performance in the next round of battle. I fought against a Julian Mertz who was fielding a mono-black deck featuring his own Evil Presences. On turn 4, I was able to play a Karma that would almost certainly win me the game, even through Julian’s two Orders of the Ebon Legion. However, Julian had been able to Evil Presence one of my own lands, and so the Karma was not quite as one-sided as it would normally be. I believe I erred when I played my second Karma. Although Julian took ten, he had sufficient mana the next turn to swing and pump up both of his Orders for the win. Game two should almost certainly have been a win for me as well. I was once again able to land a Karma. And even though Julian had two Gloom out, I drew a Demonic Tutor for Chaos Orb to protect myself long enough to win the game. Unfortunately, when it came time to flip the Orb on Julian’s Derelor, I missed, and that, with a Drain Life was enough to swing the game away from an easy win for me.

I went into the last round against Eric Caputui hoping to capture my last chance at a victory. I had been watching Eric battle at tables near me all day long and knew that he was on a mono-red Atog list. Game 1 went according to plan. I was able to dispatch his threats and slowly began turning all of his lands into swamps with my Tomb. Unfortunately, with one mountain available before it became a swamp, Eric played Blood Moon. Suddenly, all of his non-basic lands were mountains, and no amount of Evil Presences or mire tokens would be able to change them into swamps. Eric slowly clawed his way back in to do the final damage to me and take the game. Game 2, I landed a Circle of Protection Red, but Eric had two Ankhs and two Black Vises out. I threaded the needle as long as I was able, but I finally felt the need to tap for a Serra angel with mana available for 2 activations of Circle. Eric had the requisite number of Lightning Bolts and Chain Lightnings to finish me off.

Donnie, I am excited that I am going to be coming home to you. After the battle had ended, I was awarded third place for showing my valor (spice) in battle. I was also given a purple heart (pack of Wyvern) for the great wounds I suffered at the hands of my opponents. Now, I feel it is time to turn in my weaponry and return to the fields where I belong.

With love,

Nate