In the weekend May 22.-24. 2026 the Whisperer in Darkness II was held in the Magical Landscape of Hald Ege.
It was the second iteration of The Whisperer, and last time, things did not go well for me. But I did win for most on-theme deck. Yay!
This time, I was hoping that some Fork action could result in some more wins than last time’s measly 2-5 record.
I had even done the best preparations I know of: Play and test a decklist for a month. Scrap everything and build a new deck two days before the tournament. Go to a party the day before the tournament. And do an epic roadtrip to Jutland
Right, so preparations were on point. The roadtrip was awesome, and we even stopped at our roadside beer-cave for the traditional 9-30-o-clock pint.
What could possibly go wrong?
…
Well, everything, apparently.
After the first two rounds, it was abundantly clear that my deck had no intentions of playing Magic that day. Even though I managed to win the third round, it wasn’t even satisfying, as the deck didn’t really win the way it was designed to win, and it basically won against an opponent that had even less luck than me, and more or less did nothing the entire match.
Yeah. It was not a great deck that day.
“Can we see a deck pic?” you ask.
NO!
I dropped out of the tournament after round five (1-4). Yes. I dropped. That’s a first. I have never before dropped out of an Old School tournament (at least not in the swiss…).
I never play tournaments to win, simply to have fun and meet great people, but this deck drained me so much, I simply had to just leave it be, and enjoy the great atmosphere and awesome people at the event.
So no. You will not see a deck pic this time. I disassembled my deck ever so swiftly, and I will never build it again – not even to warn others…
“What kind of deck was it?” Well, that is the strange part. It was an Underworld Dreams combo deck. Featuring a playset of Fork, which is obviously not optimal, but it wasn’t even because of the Forks I lost. The deck just really didn’t want to do anything right. When I drew my Dark Rituals, I never saw Underworld Dreams. When I found Underworld Dreams, either I couldn’t play them, or I had only City of Brass to provide black mana.
Even when I finally resolved an Underworld Dreams, it was either swiftly dealt with, or I never followed it up with any kind of draw seven. In one game I had mulliganned and tried to throw my opponent off, by playing Winds of Change to give him a new seven that he couldn’t mulligan. He continues to play Library of Alexandria, mox, lotus, Serendib. It was like that all the time…
You don’t believe me?
In round five I tried the same Winds of Change trick. With almost the exact same outcome…
After I had dropped out, I sat at the table where Lando was playing. I mentioned that I had dropped, and Lando’s opponent asked me if I was “one of those guys that get mad whenever they lose?”
I don’t think I am. Even though I admit I am a very sore loser in almost any game, BUT Magic, I don’t think I often get mad about losing a game of Magic. Neither did I this time. It was just not fun to play. It had nothing to do with my opponents nor the fantastic event I was at. It was just not fun for me anymore, and I was afraid that I was about to get somewhat annoyed without retaining the ability to still laugh some of it off, and then I decided to stop.
Was it the right call? Maybe. Brincher – the man in charge, the TO – told me I should be ashamed of myself (jokingly, but only so). I agreed. I was; ashamed. Somewhat. Because, as mentioned, this was my first drop-before-the-end-of-swiss, and I had gone to Jutland to play Magic.
But I got over it. And you know what? The rest of the day was awesome. I really, truly enjoy just hanging around at tournaments, looking at other players, their playstyle, their cards and doing all the math in my head, to see if what I would have done would have changed the outcome of the match.
So what to write in a tournament report, that is not a tournament report?
First and foremost a big great thank you to my opponents. YOU were great. It had nothing to do with you, if I was being a lame idiot. It was my deck… I hope I wasn’t being too much of a lame idiot…
And then also, of course, a giant thank you to Brincher and the rest of the team organising the event. As always, it was a monumental joy and a great experience. I think we were 86 og 88 players gathered and we started out singing a song together (a great Danish tradition, even though not something I have tried at a Magic tournament before). It was a nice way to start the day.
And the rest of the day also just worked out! Food, great people, okay weather, copious amounts of beer (but not for me, I was the designated driver). And just the normal, patented Brincher-infused cozy good times where everyone (I hope) just has a feeling that things will work out. We will be fine. Everything will be in order.
Bottom line is this: even though my deck forced me out of contention and even out of the playing brackets all together, I had an absolute blast of a day! This really speaks volumes about this hobby. It is so much more than the game…
So thank you all for that!
After round five, I was looking through some awesome trading/sales binders, and I found the perfect set of cards to take with me home. A 1/4, just like me, and it has regenerate. In other words, it will be back.
Just like me!
And would you look at this amazing set of cards!
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