Beneath the steel grey of a late March Chicago sky, 22 Lords & Co. met to duel in the arcane arts of cardboard carnage at our longtime stomping ground, DMen Tap, for the first meetup of 2025 - the aptly titled “March Radness.” It had been quite some time (years, perhaps?) since the Lords had hosted a regular, “old school” old school EC 93/94 meetup, and interest seemed keen as we were able to attract a number of newcomers. There may have been some new faces, but the format remains, as ever: Blue is busted, White gets wins, and the rest is a matter of personal taste (plus four Strip Mines). Still, the ritual, dark though it may be, felt vibrant as folk met to give hugs, shake hands, pound knucks, deface cards, then battle to the death amidst the prismatic planes of Dominaria.
After five rounds of Swiss action, Lord Lorien Ellemen, still gleaming from an AD&D team championship win at the previous week’s Garycon XVII, piloted a particularly sweaty iteration of Atog-Shops to a sterling 5-0 record. Lorien defeated Lady of the Pit, Brie Agra (4-1, 5C Bantgeddon) to secure the top spot, as well as a group-signed Fear. Rounding out the top four were Lords Jimmy McCarthy (4-1, Shops) and Tim Baran (3-2, 5C Rack).
Other notable piles included Thrashin’ Dave’s highly-tuned Monogreen (3-2) as well as those from newcomers Graham, on UR Mind Bomb/Primoridal Ooze (2-3), and Sam, on “Storm” aka Candleflare (3-2). As is de rigueur for any LOTP meetup, some quantity of Atog and Monoblack lists also prowled the battlefield.
(It should be noted here that your faithful reporter, on Arabian Aggro, entered the day fearing no City in a Bottle, but that lack of streetwise resulted in a grim 1-4 showing, much to the attendees’ cheers.)
We fired round one at 12:30 p.m. and wrapped final announcements at 4:45 p.m., making for a fast-paced, fun afternoon, after which Lords and Thrulls dispersed onto Belmont Ave to depart along our various paths to Parts Unknown.
DECK LIST GALLERY
CANDIDS
