The SCG Open returned to Baltimore this past weekend. With 5 open series points from my Super IQ 2nd, 2 for playing in the last Invitational and 1 each from opens in Somerset(2), Baltimore(2) and Minneapolis, I came into the weekend on 12, needing just 3 to qualify for another Invitational. A top 64 either day would do it for me. With both my recent success piloting Omni-Tell in Legacy and the fact that Legacy opens draw significantly fewer participants than Standard Opens, I thought my best chance would be Sunday. So I decided to play Bant Aggro Saturday. I haven't really had any success with the deck, which is similar to the BUG Aggro Nick and I played earlier this summer (except it trades Dreg Mangler and black removal for Voice of Resurgence, Geist of Saint Traft and Selesnya Charm), but is super fun, even when losing, and the decrease in popularity of Pillar of Flame is really good for me.
Standard Open - Saturday - 545 players - 10 rounds
Round 1 vs B/G The Rock
Having played Standard only twice in the last month I hadn't seen this deck in person yet. Game one I flooded out and was never really in it. I decided to go as aggro as possible for game two and left in Rapid Hybridizations I normally board out against decks with lots of removal. I'm rewarded with a turn 4 kill. In game 3 I mulligan but start with Experiment One and Strangleroot Geist. Unfortunately my opponent has turn four Mutilate then goes Thragtusk, Thragtusk, Thragtusk the next three turns.
0-1
Round 2 vs G/R Kibler
I win game one with a nut draw and decide not to board in the Blind Obedience's that were a last minute sideboard addition specifically for this matchup. He starts game two with Elvish Mystic and I play Young Wolf. He then plays Domri and ticks up to 4 loyalty netting a Hellrider. But my turn two is Rancor, Rancor, kill Domri. Turn three he drops the Hellrider and the race is on. I beat for 5 with my Young Wolf and drop a Voice of Resurgence. Life totals are 14-13 in my favor, with each of us having played an untapped shock land. Turn four Thundermaw is his play and I chump the Hellrider, leaving me at 7. On my turn I swing back with my 5/1, hold back my Elemental and drop another wolf. (7-8, him). When he plays another Hellrider I bounce his dragon with Simic Charm... at this point I'm tapped out and dead on board - all he has to do is attack with all three of his creatures (Hellrider x2 and elf) since I only have two blockers and go to 1 off the Hellrider triggers. I know my only chance to win this game is if he holds back a creature so I grab my pen, hold it over my notepad and make eye contact with him, suggesting to him that he doesn't have me dead and trying to get him to hurry through this decision. It actually pays off when he only swings with the two Hellriders, putting me to 3 on triggers and I block both. When I swing back with my wolves (5/1 trample and 2/2) he chumps the 2/2 but I have Selesnya Charm to deal exactly 8 and put him at exactly 0.
1-1
Round 3 vs U/W Flash
OMG this match ends up being frustrating! Every single turn he asks, "Untap?" and waits for me to say yes. Then "Upkeep?".... Then "Draw?"... FUUUUCK! So I spend 10 seconds every turn nodding my head. I've played against dudes who announce each step... no big deal. I've played against guys who check during their upkeep; fine... but this kid is driving me nuts. Anyway, game one I turn my Young Wolf into a 2/2 wolf and a 3/3 frog lizard in response to an Azorius Charm, netting me some damage before his Supreme Verdict. A couple turns later I hybridize his Restoration after it blocks a trampler to take game one... super important in this matchup, especially with how slow this kid is playing. Game two then takes over a half hour as I'm able to counter a couple Sphinx's Revelations while Terminus, Verdict and Detention Spheres are enough to keep him alive. Eventually he drops an Aetherling and I scoop with 9 minutes left in the round. Oh yeah -- not only is this kid playing the slowest deck in the format, AND playing slow as shit, he also shuffles slower than anyone I've ever played against... Multiple pile shuffles, plus multiple mulligans during the match.. I'm about to snap. A judge joins us for game three which starts with less than 6 minutes remaining in the round. I had brought back in the Rapid Hybridizations hoping to just get him dead before timing out. I'm playing as fast as possible and making strategically poor plays (if time wasn't a factor) in hopes of just getting there. With seconds remaining:
Dork: "Untap?"
Me: "YEAH!"
Dork: "Upkeep?"
Me: "YES! GO!"
Dork: "Draw?"
Me: "I DON'T HAVE ANY CARDS IN HAND AND I'M TAPPED OUT!!"
Table Judge: "Ok, now."
Me: "Sorry, but he's been doing this all match and it's why we're not going to finish"
Head Judge: "Standard players that is time in the round..."
1-1-1
I want to drop after this round but decide to stick it out.
Round 4 vs W/G Tokens
Not a real deck.. I win easily... There is a turn where I have two 2/2 Experiment Ones and a Voice of Resurgence attacking and grab a nearby judge that I happen to know personally saying, "Um.. this turn is going to get pretty confusing - can you just watch?" and show him the Rapid Hybridization in my hand. The opponent ends up not blocking so I just Giant Growth with Simic Charm for the win. I go through the Rapid Hybridization play with the Jeremy (the judge) afterward just to confirm the line that gets my Experiment Ones to 4/4.
2-1-1
Round 5 vs B/G The Rock
After round one I discussed this matchup with Jimmy, pretty certain that it's not nearly as bad as it turned out for me, and this round proved just that. I beat down with undying dudes until he plays Desecration Demon and admits that it's awkward. I sac a Strangleroot Geist to tap down the demon and swing for an extra point of damage. He then Mutilates to kill only my 3/2 leaving me with a 2/2 wolf and two 3/3 elementals. I exile the demon with Selesnya Charm and swing for the kill. Game two he mulligans to 5 and never plays a second land.
3-1-1
Round 6 vs B/G The Rock
I do lose a game this round when she's able to mutilate my team and we both draw-go for four turns with zero non-land permanents in play - but she finds a Thragtusk before I can find anything. A timely Loxodon Smiter for Liliana lets me take game 3 with some Rancors. Other than that, my undying guys match up well vs her cards.
4-1-1
Round 7 vs U/W Flash
This round is a heartbreaker as I'm ultimately eliminated from top 8 contention. I lose game one to three straight turns of attacking into Restoration Angel. Game two his only permanent is Archangel of Thune and I beat him decisively. Game three is our best game and after countering a Sphinx's Revelation we're in a spot where we're racing. He has a Restoration Angel and I have a Zameck Guildmage and tons of mana. I'm able to play a some small guys and eat counters off of them to try to draw something that will impact the race more than the +1/+1 but can't find a Rancor or charm. Ultimately he wins the race with the help of Jace, Architect of Thought +1's.
4-2-1
I want to drop but Jimmy gives me a pep talk which combined with our buddy John being 7-0 and possibly having to crash at my place that night (top 4 plays Sunday morning and he lives in WV), convinces me to stay in.
Round 8 vs B/W Tokens
I'm pretty sure this is full-on tokens... the only cards I see are Tragic Slip, Doomed Traveler, Cartel Aristocrat, Lingering Souls and Intangible Virtue. He's able to take game two with double Lingering Souls and Intangible Virtue, but the first and third games aren't even close
5-2-1
Round 9 vs U/W/R Flash
Game one is an odd draw in which I only showed him cards that are in Bant Hexproof and am able to win with Geist of Saint Trafts and Rancors. I decide to try out the Blind Obedience's since it nerfs Restoration Angel and Snapcaster and it seems like the extort could be important in this grindy matchup. I do surprise him with it and it does nerf his Thundermaw Hellkite (buying me a turn) and the few points of life also end up buying me a turn but I'm not really in the game. The white enchantments come out game 3 for something more proactive. I'm able to bounce a Restoration Angel after it blocks a trampler for the win.
6-2-1
Round 10 vs Jund
I had avoided this matchup all day and was pretty disappointed after losing game one handily to Huntmaster into Thragtusk. Jimmy is watching me though and I'm able to quickly go off tilt and am determined to win. I keep a 7-card, 1-land (Temple Garden) hand on the play that has Young Wolf, Rancor and two Voice of Resurgence (and Geist of Saint Traft and Garruk Relentless). The hand is all hard to kill threats and I can't afford to go to 6 and keep hand with half the threats. I'm rewarded with a Hinterland Harbor off the top and completely ignore Liliana in combat (pitching Garruk, Geist and a land, in order as he +1's toward her ultimate) while also drawing a third Voice. Fuck Yeah! Game three he mulligans to 5 and while he does live long enough to cast Thragtusk, I'm able to take the game with a Selesnya Charm to trample through for exact damage.
7-2-1
Those with 22 points stretched from 21st place down to 37th... I was 37th. $50 and 2 open points, but most importantly - qualifying me for the next invitational (assuming I at least show up Sunday).
And I do show up Sunday, going 0-2 drop :-p
I'm fine with it though since I lost a really good match round one and to my worst matchup round 2. Plus I was exhausted from the day before (and the day before the day before when I woke up at 4am to buy a FTV:20 at retail then played Seasons 'til nearly 2am).
So I'll be joining Nick and Jimmy in Indy in a couple months :)
e
Monday, August 26, 2013
Monday, August 19, 2013
I got to battle Legacy twice this past weekend and didn't do too shabby.
Before this past weekend I hadn't been able to play any legacy for quite a while. At the Invitational I 0-4'd the Standard and dropped before the format switch. Then on that Sunday at the Open in New Jersey, we decided to head home early rather than play. And even though I had hoped to play the recent Legacy Open in Minneapolis while I was in town for work, said work actually took longer to finish than expected and I missed out again. So when I saw Games & Stuff had a legacy tourney Saturday I opted for that over Xanadu's Standard IQ so I could knock off the rust before Xanadu's Sunday Legacy tourney.
The tourney at G&S drew only 9 players and we had 4 rounds of swiss w/ cut to top 4.
I brought mono-blue Show and Tell and faced Jund, Slivers, Dead Guy and Esper Deathblade. Jund and Dead Guy are favorable and played out that way. Against discard decks I bring in Leylines and choose to draw and my experience both Saturday and Sunday backed up that strategy. The Sliver deck should have been favorable too, but game one he rushed me with lords while I couldn't find a Show and Tell. Game two he boards in hate bears and was able to get me with Thalia and Meddling Mage. Esper Deathblade is probably one of my worst matchups since fighting through discard AND counters is quite difficult. I boarded 3 Leylines AND 3 Defense Grids which was definitely wrong. I lost this match but decided that against U/B/x I would only board Leylines in the future and put that strategy to good use Sunday. I finished 2-2, in 5th place and got a Noble Heirarch.
Sunday's tourney at Xanadu offered a foil Jace the Mind Sculptor to 1st with prizes down to 16th place. 42 players came to battle.
I made one change to my deck which was swapping the Sapphire Charm in the side for Wipe Away as a better answer to Thalia/Relic-Warder/Ethersworn Canonist with an active Mother of Runes.
I got to start vs Burn which I was happy about and game 1 ends with a rare Emrakul kill. Game two I bring in Leylines and side out Pacts, completely forgetting about the existence of Pyroblast. After my attempt at an unprotected 2nd turn win is stopped for one red mana I'm able to make another attempt while at 2 life. This time it's a Wear//Tear on my Dream Halls in response to Enter the Infinite that lets Goblin Guide finish me off despite a hand of 40+ cards. I board out the Leylines for Grids game three and win after he spends his turn Wear//Tearing a grid and leaving himself unable to Pyroblast more than once on my turn.
Storm takes game one from me in round 2 which is expected since they have discard spells AND a faster combo. I bring in Leylines for game two but decide to play first, respecting their faster combo. I mulligan and keep a 6 that includes 2 Leylines. We draw-cantrip-go for a while until he plays 2 sorcery speed Chain of Vapors to handle both Leylines, but I follow on my turn with Dream Halls, discard Leyline to play Leyline and pass with an Enter the Infinite in hand. He doesn't find a 3rd removal spell and I topdeck Force of Will to play Enter and win. Game 3 I get to keep 7, on the draw with a Leyline and win turn 4 or 5 after he Wishes for Empty the Warrens.
Round three vs Shardless BUG - Game one winds up in my favor though I had no business winning that game. I mulligan to 4 on the play, never seeing a land. My 4 is Brainstorm, FoW, S&T and Omniscience.
Turn one: Go.
Turn two: After he suspends Ancestral Visions I draw Enter the Infinite. Go.
Turn three: After having Show and Tell discarded via Thoughtseize I draw another Show and Tell. Go.
Turn four: After he cascades into Tarmagoyf I draw Scaling Tarn and play it. Go
Turn five: After he swings and plays another Goyf I draw City of Traitors! I go off AND have the Brainstorm to pitch to FoW to protect it. Insane!
I bring in Leylines for game two, shaving Island/Dream Halls/Cunning Wish/Emrakul so I can keep in Pacts. I go for the win turn 3 with Fow + Flusterstorm backup, but he has the same two counters to shut me down. Each of his next two turns he naturally cascades into Ancestral Visions while I'm working toward a kill with Dream Halls. The turn before I can go off he plays his third Ancestral (this one was suspended earlier), Brainstorm, fetch, Jace the Mind Sculptor and brainstorms with it, then casts another actual Brainstorm. I start to get excited that he's digging so hard and I think I have a shot. But he finally does find some action and Thoughtseizes away my win. Shardless Agent beatdown gets the job done. Game 3 I choose to draw first and nail the Leyline in my opening 7. I proceed to win on turn three with exactly enough blue cards for the Dream Halls kill + Pact backup.
At 3-0 Jimmy and I get paired and decide to draw. Now we each need to win just one of our next two to make top 8 at 4-1-1.
Against Goblins in round 5 I comfortably take some damage until I win game 1 the turn before I would die. Game two I die on his third turn... something I didn't know the goblin deck was capable of. If you're curious here it is:
T1: Lackey
T2: Attack and put Piledriver into play, play another Piledriver
T3: play Chieftain, attack for 20.
Game 3 I go for an unprotected turn-three win while he's tapped out hoping he doesn't have Mindbreak Trap or something like Angel of Dispair - he doesn't and he gets covered in ants.
I intentionally draw again in round 6, making top 8 as the 2nd seed.
My quarterfinal match is against Maverick and is a matchup I like, but game one is spent cantripping into non-Show&Tells and non-lands and I die to Knights of the Reliquary one mana short of being able to cast my Dream Halls for the win. Game two I Probe a turn before going off (can't remember why and may have just been a mistake) but I see the coast is clear.. nothing worse than Gaddock Teeg and that only puts me on an Emrakul win since I do have the Cunning Wish I need for that. The only problem is that when I go for the win next turn, his only unknown card turns out to be an Iona that he topdecked on his turn. Fuck! Iona's ability is an "as ~this~ enters play" ability and cannot be responded to. If there really was no reasoning behind the premature gitaxulation I should have known about the Iona and could have wished for Eladamri's Call BEFORE casting Show and Tell. I really wish I could remember why I would have probed the turn before going off... maybe I knew what I was probing into and wanted to play it that turn... but I can't remember. I do remember paying a blue for the probe but I can't imagine my play was made to save two life. It must have just been a mistake on my part that probably cost me.
I do get 6 packs of Modern Masters for making top 8 and proceed to open nothing better than a Spell Snare :(
But now I'm psyched for the SCG Open in Baltimore next week! Hopfully I can keep improving with this deck.
e
Thursday, July 11, 2013
M14 and Angus Mackenzie
The M14 pre-release is this weekend. I plan on attending two pre-releases because I like playing and enjoy the people and place where I usually go.
Despite that, the set itself appears pretty lackluster. Only 3 non-basics is a bit of a letdown. I really would enjoy filter land reprints for EDH.
Speaking of EDH. I had a rare chance to get a hold of a copy of Angus Mackenzie, Legends Bant Fog-Master. I have been pondering (no pun intended) in what type of shell I best want to use Angus.
First I tries a Bant midrange disaster that doesn't even appear good on paper.
I then attempted to put him in a Legacy-style enchantress shell. I was unimpressed, it super-sucked.
I looked at my not-so-vast collection of Foil cards in Bant colors (It is well known that I fully enjoy Foil cards) and Progenitor Mimic, Phyrexian Metamorph, Restoration Angel, Angel of Serenity, etc. caught my eye.
It is time to send in the clones, in a bant control shell.
Bant has several clone effects.
-Progenitor Mimic
-Clone
-Phyrexian Metamorph
-Phantasmal Image
-Sakashima, the Impostor
-Sakashima's Student
-Vesuvan Doppelganger
-Body Double
-Duplicant
Bant also has several fun things to make copies of.
-Terastodon
-Sylvan Primordial
-Angel of Serenity
-Avenger of Zendikar
-Armada Wurm
-Mulldrifter
-Reveillark
-Thragtusk
Bant also has several ways of "Blinking" creatures.
-Restoration Angel
-Flicker
-Venser, the Sojourner
I think we can all see where this is going.
So, I think I am going to use Angus as a Fog-Engine until I can assemble an army of stupidly powerful creatures. More updates to follow.
Until next time.
Despite that, the set itself appears pretty lackluster. Only 3 non-basics is a bit of a letdown. I really would enjoy filter land reprints for EDH.
Speaking of EDH. I had a rare chance to get a hold of a copy of Angus Mackenzie, Legends Bant Fog-Master. I have been pondering (no pun intended) in what type of shell I best want to use Angus.
First I tries a Bant midrange disaster that doesn't even appear good on paper.
I then attempted to put him in a Legacy-style enchantress shell. I was unimpressed, it super-sucked.
I looked at my not-so-vast collection of Foil cards in Bant colors (It is well known that I fully enjoy Foil cards) and Progenitor Mimic, Phyrexian Metamorph, Restoration Angel, Angel of Serenity, etc. caught my eye.
It is time to send in the clones, in a bant control shell.
Bant has several clone effects.
-Progenitor Mimic
-Clone
-Phyrexian Metamorph
-Phantasmal Image
-Sakashima, the Impostor
-Sakashima's Student
-Vesuvan Doppelganger
-Body Double
-Duplicant
Bant also has several fun things to make copies of.
-Terastodon
-Sylvan Primordial
-Angel of Serenity
-Avenger of Zendikar
-Armada Wurm
-Mulldrifter
-Reveillark
-Thragtusk
Bant also has several ways of "Blinking" creatures.
-Restoration Angel
-Flicker
-Venser, the Sojourner
I think we can all see where this is going.
So, I think I am going to use Angus as a Fog-Engine until I can assemble an army of stupidly powerful creatures. More updates to follow.
Until next time.
Monday, July 1, 2013
Three Days - Three Formats
I got to play magic Friday, Saturday and Sunday this past weekend - so it was a pretty awesome weekend.
Friday night Nick and I went to Games&Stuff for Modern FNM. He played the Blistercoil Weird/Paradise Mantle list I sent him and finished 3-1. That deck looked so much fun and I might have to try it out at an FNM some time.
Instead of Aggro Mill, I played the Turbo Mill list that's had some success on magic-league.com. I lost to Eldrazi 1-2 in the first round. I really needed the black trap card that exiles a graveyard, but didn't find one before the tourney. I won the next round against a scrub then in round 3 lost game 2 when my Affinity opponent had 2 cards left in his library (and I had missed a crab trigger earlier) and then lost game 3. The last round I played probably my best matchup - Valakut. And game one I got to Archive Trap AND Surgical Extraction Valakut before even taking a turn!
So I finished 2-2. I might give the deck another shot, but it's severely less fun than Aggro Mill.
Saturday morning I scrambled to get the cards to play Travis Woo's Izzet Blitz deck, visiting 3 different card shops and finding everything except for a single Faith's Shield. I sign up for the SCG IQ at Xanadu just in time.
First round I lose to Jund 0-2 and want to drop to go play in the standard tourney at G&S, but decide to play one more round for some practice with the deck. Second round vs Bant Control goes way better for me as I get the 4th turn kill game one, and a single Guttersnipe goes all the way game two. I conceded with a lethal Boros Charm on the stack and drop from this event to head to G&S.
We have 19 players, so 5 rounds and top 8.
Round 1 vs R/G Aggro. Game 1 I had the combo kill while he was tapped out and hit him for 20 when he would have dealt lethal to me next turn. Game 3 he's at 14, taps out for Hellrider and swings with him, a Boros Reckoner, Burning-Tree Shaman and two 3/3 Flinthoof Boars, putting me to 4 with the Hellrider triggers. I have a Boros Reckoner of my own, a Geist of Saint Traft and a Nivix Cyclops. I also have two Boros Charms in hand, and 3 untapped lands. I win this game :)
I block his BTE with Geist, Hellrider with Reckoner and a boar with Cyclops leaving his Reckoner and other boar unblocked. I give his Hellrider doublestrike with Boros Charm and give my Reckoner first strike. When first strike damage resolves I shoot his unblocked boar and then go to 1 from the unblocked Reckoner. On my turn I topdeck a Thought Scour to make Cyclops 4/4, Boros Charm to make him 7/4 doublestrike for lethal!
1-0
Round 2 vs Jund. Game 1 he mulls to 5 and is tapped out on my turn 5 while at 25. I'm able to get my Cyclops to 13/4 unblockable with doublestrike for the game. Game 2 he mulls to 5, me to 4. I keep a hand of two lands and two Geists. He has a Rakdos Return for 2 and I'm left with my 3rd land and 1 Geist in hand. I play him and he goes the distance since my opponent never plays another spell.
2-0
Round 3 vs R/G Aggro. I get the combo kill turn 4 while he's tapped out. Games 2 and 3 are grinds. Game 3 Faith's Shield w/ Fateful Hour to survive a lethal swing and have a turn to topdeck Boros Charm for the win, but don't hit it after looting.
2-1
Round 4 vs Junk Reanimator
I win game 1 after double pillar on Fiend Hunter to get my Cyclops back. Game 2 Deathrite Shaman owns me. Game 3 I'm on 3x Guttersnipes and burning his face with Charms and Pillars but he eventually finds the lands to stablize and take the game.
2-2
Round 5 vs Naya
I like this matchup because they play very little removal. Game 1 he dies to Guttersnipes, Game 2 to unblockable beaters.
I make top 8 in 7th seed.
Quarterfinals vs R/G Aggro (from round 3).
Game 1 I keep a bad hand with Thought Scour, Geist, Cyclops and 4 lands. I get STOMPED!
Game 2 I find a late Reckoner and use 3x Feeling of Dread's defensively to just stay alive. I have one turn to find Harvest Pyre for the win, rip an Izzet Charm to dig two more, but don't find it and die.
After the 8 rounds across two tournaments I made some of my own changes to Woo's list. Here's where I'm at now:
3 Clifftop Retreat
1 Glacial Fortress
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Sacred Foundry
4 Steam Vents
4 Sulfur Falls
3 Artful Dodge
4 Faithless Looting
4 Pillar of Flame
4 Thought Scour
2 Azorius Charm
4 Boros Charm
4 Feeling of Dread
3 Izzet Charm
4 Boros Reckoner
4 Geist of Saint Traft
4 Nivix Cyclops
Sideboard:
2 Electrickery
2 Faith's Shield
2 Azorius Charm
1 Harvest Pyre
2 Skullcrack
2 Snapcaster Mage
4 Guttersnipe
I plan to work on this list for the next few weeks and play it at the Invitational in Jersey.
Sunday was Legacy at Xanadu. I get there when Mike does and Jimmy and Nick show up shortly thereafter. I really want to play Standard and Commander, but sign up for Legacy anyway after some prodding from Jimmy. I'm running Mono-blue Omni-Tell and lose to Death & Taxes round 1. (FYI - phasing out a creature with a "leaves the battlefield" ability does not trigger that LTB ability - so I don't get my Omniscience back from Leonin Relic-Warder). After the round Ben and I are in the middle of one of our best Krenko VS Talrand games of EDH ever, so I drop from the tourney to finish the game. We play a couple more during round 2 and get a 4-player in with Jimmy (Riku) and Kurt (Edric) before round 3. I sign up for the Legacy side-event for $5 instead of $30 because Ben is such a nice guy and it finally fires right before I'm about to go home. So I decide to play Belcher and get it over with, win or lose. I play against a Cloudpost deck and take game 1 easily. Game two I battle through a Chalice-for-1, Mindbreak Trap and Powder Keg and have a couple turns to draw any business spell but can't find one. Game 3 I have the turn-1 kill with Belcher and he lays down Leyline of Sanctity (his only copy). I don't find any other business and spend a couple turns belching a PrimeTime and a Kozilek. At this point my deck is completely stacked, but he has the resources to Eye of Ugin AND play Emrakul the same turn, and I die on his extra turn.
A sweet weekend of magic even though I didn't have much success in Modern or Legacy. I'll most likely be playing Omni-Tell at the Invitational at the end of the month.
e
Friday night Nick and I went to Games&Stuff for Modern FNM. He played the Blistercoil Weird/Paradise Mantle list I sent him and finished 3-1. That deck looked so much fun and I might have to try it out at an FNM some time.
Instead of Aggro Mill, I played the Turbo Mill list that's had some success on magic-league.com. I lost to Eldrazi 1-2 in the first round. I really needed the black trap card that exiles a graveyard, but didn't find one before the tourney. I won the next round against a scrub then in round 3 lost game 2 when my Affinity opponent had 2 cards left in his library (and I had missed a crab trigger earlier) and then lost game 3. The last round I played probably my best matchup - Valakut. And game one I got to Archive Trap AND Surgical Extraction Valakut before even taking a turn!
So I finished 2-2. I might give the deck another shot, but it's severely less fun than Aggro Mill.
Saturday morning I scrambled to get the cards to play Travis Woo's Izzet Blitz deck, visiting 3 different card shops and finding everything except for a single Faith's Shield. I sign up for the SCG IQ at Xanadu just in time.
First round I lose to Jund 0-2 and want to drop to go play in the standard tourney at G&S, but decide to play one more round for some practice with the deck. Second round vs Bant Control goes way better for me as I get the 4th turn kill game one, and a single Guttersnipe goes all the way game two. I conceded with a lethal Boros Charm on the stack and drop from this event to head to G&S.
We have 19 players, so 5 rounds and top 8.
Round 1 vs R/G Aggro. Game 1 I had the combo kill while he was tapped out and hit him for 20 when he would have dealt lethal to me next turn. Game 3 he's at 14, taps out for Hellrider and swings with him, a Boros Reckoner, Burning-Tree Shaman and two 3/3 Flinthoof Boars, putting me to 4 with the Hellrider triggers. I have a Boros Reckoner of my own, a Geist of Saint Traft and a Nivix Cyclops. I also have two Boros Charms in hand, and 3 untapped lands. I win this game :)
I block his BTE with Geist, Hellrider with Reckoner and a boar with Cyclops leaving his Reckoner and other boar unblocked. I give his Hellrider doublestrike with Boros Charm and give my Reckoner first strike. When first strike damage resolves I shoot his unblocked boar and then go to 1 from the unblocked Reckoner. On my turn I topdeck a Thought Scour to make Cyclops 4/4, Boros Charm to make him 7/4 doublestrike for lethal!
1-0
Round 2 vs Jund. Game 1 he mulls to 5 and is tapped out on my turn 5 while at 25. I'm able to get my Cyclops to 13/4 unblockable with doublestrike for the game. Game 2 he mulls to 5, me to 4. I keep a hand of two lands and two Geists. He has a Rakdos Return for 2 and I'm left with my 3rd land and 1 Geist in hand. I play him and he goes the distance since my opponent never plays another spell.
2-0
Round 3 vs R/G Aggro. I get the combo kill turn 4 while he's tapped out. Games 2 and 3 are grinds. Game 3 Faith's Shield w/ Fateful Hour to survive a lethal swing and have a turn to topdeck Boros Charm for the win, but don't hit it after looting.
2-1
Round 4 vs Junk Reanimator
I win game 1 after double pillar on Fiend Hunter to get my Cyclops back. Game 2 Deathrite Shaman owns me. Game 3 I'm on 3x Guttersnipes and burning his face with Charms and Pillars but he eventually finds the lands to stablize and take the game.
2-2
Round 5 vs Naya
I like this matchup because they play very little removal. Game 1 he dies to Guttersnipes, Game 2 to unblockable beaters.
I make top 8 in 7th seed.
Quarterfinals vs R/G Aggro (from round 3).
Game 1 I keep a bad hand with Thought Scour, Geist, Cyclops and 4 lands. I get STOMPED!
Game 2 I find a late Reckoner and use 3x Feeling of Dread's defensively to just stay alive. I have one turn to find Harvest Pyre for the win, rip an Izzet Charm to dig two more, but don't find it and die.
After the 8 rounds across two tournaments I made some of my own changes to Woo's list. Here's where I'm at now:
3 Clifftop Retreat
1 Glacial Fortress
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Sacred Foundry
4 Steam Vents
4 Sulfur Falls
3 Artful Dodge
4 Faithless Looting
4 Pillar of Flame
4 Thought Scour
2 Azorius Charm
4 Boros Charm
4 Feeling of Dread
3 Izzet Charm
4 Boros Reckoner
4 Geist of Saint Traft
4 Nivix Cyclops
Sideboard:
2 Electrickery
2 Faith's Shield
2 Azorius Charm
1 Harvest Pyre
2 Skullcrack
2 Snapcaster Mage
4 Guttersnipe
I plan to work on this list for the next few weeks and play it at the Invitational in Jersey.
Sunday was Legacy at Xanadu. I get there when Mike does and Jimmy and Nick show up shortly thereafter. I really want to play Standard and Commander, but sign up for Legacy anyway after some prodding from Jimmy. I'm running Mono-blue Omni-Tell and lose to Death & Taxes round 1. (FYI - phasing out a creature with a "leaves the battlefield" ability does not trigger that LTB ability - so I don't get my Omniscience back from Leonin Relic-Warder). After the round Ben and I are in the middle of one of our best Krenko VS Talrand games of EDH ever, so I drop from the tourney to finish the game. We play a couple more during round 2 and get a 4-player in with Jimmy (Riku) and Kurt (Edric) before round 3. I sign up for the Legacy side-event for $5 instead of $30 because Ben is such a nice guy and it finally fires right before I'm about to go home. So I decide to play Belcher and get it over with, win or lose. I play against a Cloudpost deck and take game 1 easily. Game two I battle through a Chalice-for-1, Mindbreak Trap and Powder Keg and have a couple turns to draw any business spell but can't find one. Game 3 I have the turn-1 kill with Belcher and he lays down Leyline of Sanctity (his only copy). I don't find any other business and spend a couple turns belching a PrimeTime and a Kozilek. At this point my deck is completely stacked, but he has the resources to Eye of Ugin AND play Emrakul the same turn, and I die on his extra turn.
A sweet weekend of magic even though I didn't have much success in Modern or Legacy. I'll most likely be playing Omni-Tell at the Invitational at the end of the month.
e
Friday, June 21, 2013
Storm in Modern (6/20/13)
The Modern Format...
Our local TO wants to try to push Modern into our monthly rotation of TNM events. We had a 21-person Modern Masters draft and the hope is that MM will catapult players into playing Modern.
Unexpectedly (to me), he was right. We had 16 people show up for Modern; quite the increase over the 3 we had last time around. I took three decks with me: R/G Tron, Storm (by Jon Finkel), and $5 Mono-green infect. The plan was to lend out decks to those who did not have one.
I ended up loaning out Infect and playing Storm. I guess it is worth noting that I assembled the Storm deck 2 hours before the tournament began. I also had no sideboard. Entry was $18, but the prize packs would be payed out in Modern Masters.
Round 1: Chris with Mono-Green infect. (The deck I loaned out)
In game one, I misplayed by not producing the right color (blue) from manamorphose. I stall on my combo and scoop.
In game two, I am able to combo out on turn four. There was a bit of a learning curve, I will admit.
In game three, I played two lands, a pyromancers ascension, then died to one attack from a Glistener Elf who had been pumped to lethal.
0-1
Round 2: Cody with a 70-card, unsleeved, w/b control.
Cody does not have explosive starts or any kind of discernible disruption; I combo off on turn five. In game two I stalled a bit and left myself open to a turn five Painful Quandry. I scoop, as I have no way to deal with it. In game three I combo off on turn 4-5. I waited a bit until I knew the coast was clear thanks to Gitaxian Probe.
1-1
Round 3: Nick with Esper Urzatron.
The only reason I beat Nick was because he did not know how to thoroughly abuse Gifts Ungiven. His copies are Kamigawa block and read that you must search for "four cards with different names" he would casually reveal things like Iona, Unburial Rites, Urza's Mine, along with something else. I ended up setting up my combo off in both games before he could drop something awful like Elesh Norn or Iona.
After the match, I explained how he could have easily won both games if he had known about how to properly exploit Gifts Ungiven.
2-1
Round 4: Ian with Orzhov
Ian had another tempo based deck without any kind of disruption. We basically raced each game.
I took game one on a relatively slow combo-off on turn 6+. In game two I stalled and Sorin, Lord of Innistrad was there to make me pay. It did not help that he had Thrull Parasite to lock down Pyromancers Ascension. In game three he got out a Blood Baron of Vizkopa on turn 5 and was at a healthy 23 life. The best I could do on my turn was unleash Grapeshot for ~12 killing his three creatures (Baron, Tithe Drinker, and Thrull Parasite). It would be another 3 turns before I top decked a Sleight of Hand to grab Past in Flames netting me the storm kill. (At this point we were the last game and well past time in the round, almost every other player was watching our game)
3-1
So, I went 3-1, which netted me 4 packs of Modern Masters. The packs were unremarkable.
The one thing I could not help but notice was that during my games, my opponents looked bored and generally disinterested in what I was doing. At one point I declared "Casting Manamorphose, hold priority, cast Increasing Vengeance targeting Manamorphose, two triggers from Pyromancers Ascension", an onlooker then stated, "who are you talking to? He (my opponent) is not paying attention." Well, he was right. At this point all I could think of was that this was of no fault of my opponent; I am playing an uninteractive "self-pleasure" deck. I had fun piloting Storm as it was both difficult and rewarding, but I doubt my opponents saw it that was or had any fun. One guy stopped me to ask why I was marking up "Storm Count", he had never heard of Storm. It was his first Modern tournament.
I kind of felt like the "that guy" of the tournament.
Until next time.
Our local TO wants to try to push Modern into our monthly rotation of TNM events. We had a 21-person Modern Masters draft and the hope is that MM will catapult players into playing Modern.
Unexpectedly (to me), he was right. We had 16 people show up for Modern; quite the increase over the 3 we had last time around. I took three decks with me: R/G Tron, Storm (by Jon Finkel), and $5 Mono-green infect. The plan was to lend out decks to those who did not have one.
I ended up loaning out Infect and playing Storm. I guess it is worth noting that I assembled the Storm deck 2 hours before the tournament began. I also had no sideboard. Entry was $18, but the prize packs would be payed out in Modern Masters.
Round 1: Chris with Mono-Green infect. (The deck I loaned out)
In game one, I misplayed by not producing the right color (blue) from manamorphose. I stall on my combo and scoop.
In game two, I am able to combo out on turn four. There was a bit of a learning curve, I will admit.
In game three, I played two lands, a pyromancers ascension, then died to one attack from a Glistener Elf who had been pumped to lethal.
0-1
Round 2: Cody with a 70-card, unsleeved, w/b control.
Cody does not have explosive starts or any kind of discernible disruption; I combo off on turn five. In game two I stalled a bit and left myself open to a turn five Painful Quandry. I scoop, as I have no way to deal with it. In game three I combo off on turn 4-5. I waited a bit until I knew the coast was clear thanks to Gitaxian Probe.
1-1
Round 3: Nick with Esper Urzatron.
The only reason I beat Nick was because he did not know how to thoroughly abuse Gifts Ungiven. His copies are Kamigawa block and read that you must search for "four cards with different names" he would casually reveal things like Iona, Unburial Rites, Urza's Mine, along with something else. I ended up setting up my combo off in both games before he could drop something awful like Elesh Norn or Iona.
After the match, I explained how he could have easily won both games if he had known about how to properly exploit Gifts Ungiven.
2-1
Round 4: Ian with Orzhov
Ian had another tempo based deck without any kind of disruption. We basically raced each game.
I took game one on a relatively slow combo-off on turn 6+. In game two I stalled and Sorin, Lord of Innistrad was there to make me pay. It did not help that he had Thrull Parasite to lock down Pyromancers Ascension. In game three he got out a Blood Baron of Vizkopa on turn 5 and was at a healthy 23 life. The best I could do on my turn was unleash Grapeshot for ~12 killing his three creatures (Baron, Tithe Drinker, and Thrull Parasite). It would be another 3 turns before I top decked a Sleight of Hand to grab Past in Flames netting me the storm kill. (At this point we were the last game and well past time in the round, almost every other player was watching our game)
3-1
So, I went 3-1, which netted me 4 packs of Modern Masters. The packs were unremarkable.
The one thing I could not help but notice was that during my games, my opponents looked bored and generally disinterested in what I was doing. At one point I declared "Casting Manamorphose, hold priority, cast Increasing Vengeance targeting Manamorphose, two triggers from Pyromancers Ascension", an onlooker then stated, "who are you talking to? He (my opponent) is not paying attention." Well, he was right. At this point all I could think of was that this was of no fault of my opponent; I am playing an uninteractive "self-pleasure" deck. I had fun piloting Storm as it was both difficult and rewarding, but I doubt my opponents saw it that was or had any fun. One guy stopped me to ask why I was marking up "Storm Count", he had never heard of Storm. It was his first Modern tournament.
I kind of felt like the "that guy" of the tournament.
Until next time.
Friday, June 14, 2013
Modern Masters Draft! 6/13/13 and DGM on 6/12/13.
I went to a $35 Modern Masters draft at Beyond Comics in Frederick, MD.
I studied in advance for the draft and went in knowing that I wanted to draft Red/Blue Arcane, possibly with a Green splash. 23 players showed up.
In my first pack I pick Peer through Depths, for the next three packs, I see ZERO playables in my forced colors. (The guy to my right was drafting the same thing) I now wasted my first four picks on across the board cards of Mulldrifter, Maelstrom Pulse, and an Affinity artifact. I grab the next pack for ANY open signals. I get passed Worm Harvest. Perhaps dredge is open. The following pack contained a Life from the Loam. All in.
I end up with the following limited Dredge deck.
1 Maelstrom Pulse
1 Phthisis
1 Death Rattle
1 Divinity of Pride
1 Horobi's Whisper
1 Faerie Macabre
1 Tombstalker
1 Marsh Flitter
3 Street Wraith
2 Stinkweed Imp
1 Life from the Loam
2 Raven's Crime
2 Warren weirding
2 Worm Harvest
2 Syphon Life
3 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Vivid marsh
1 Dakmor Salvage
10 Swamp
3 Forest
My first opponent was Carter/Porter(?) with Mono-White. My opponent was new to magic and new to drafting, but knew the rules well enough that he did not have any questions about play. He did not draft well and his deck was a mixture of Rebels, Thallids, and Giants. I got my discard engine going (Loam+Raven's Crime) to remove his hand since he was on a slow start (probably with a lot of expensive fatties).
I finally got Divinity of Pride and Tombstalker down to take control.
In game two, I did not draw into my discard engine but did draw into my Worm engine and Tombstalker.
2-0
I then played against Toby with his Bant Thallid/Suspend deck. He had some Errant Ephemerons that were easily held at bay by Stinkweed Imp. Toby was reluctant to attack into the Imp's as I had previously been dredging them. I was able to stall long enough to get my big fliers (Tombstalker and Divinity of Pride) into play. In game two I got my discard engine AND my worm engine going.
2-0
At this point I am 2-0 and an ID nets me and my opponent 4 packs of MM, so we ID'd.
Sean and I then played, since neither of us had lost a game yet. He drafted Red/White Giants. In game one, I chose to be on the draw and began Dredging from turn 1, due to cycling a Street Wraith at Sean's EoT. I took game one off of my worm tokens. In game two Sean wiped the board with Thundercloud Shaman, then the Giants came in and finished me off. In game three I made 6 Worms on turn 5. I followed that up with back-to-back Worm Harvests off of top decked land. (making 7 then 8 Worm tokens)
I opened a Vedalken Shackles in my prize packs, and nothing else of interest.
REWIND TO THURSDAY!
I went to Games and Stuff in Glen Burnie, MD to play a DGM draft. The following are lists of my pick ones in each round.
1: Beetleform Mage
2: Domri Rade
3: Vraska the Unseen
The guy sitting to my right, this was his second draft ever. Needless to say, my deck was very very good. I had enough playables in BUG that I initially built a 60 card deck that, depending on which half I drew, could either be aggro-control or Mill. I put the 20 aggro cards into the sideboard and went with the mill plan.
I won four games in a row the following ways Mill, Mill, Mill, Vraska Ultimate. I split in the final round in order to play the Holodeck (something I have not yet addressed on this blog) with the tournament organizer.
So, two very good back-to-back drafts. (Which to be fair were preceded by a poor draft and a poor sealed.)
Until next time.
I studied in advance for the draft and went in knowing that I wanted to draft Red/Blue Arcane, possibly with a Green splash. 23 players showed up.
In my first pack I pick Peer through Depths, for the next three packs, I see ZERO playables in my forced colors. (The guy to my right was drafting the same thing) I now wasted my first four picks on across the board cards of Mulldrifter, Maelstrom Pulse, and an Affinity artifact. I grab the next pack for ANY open signals. I get passed Worm Harvest. Perhaps dredge is open. The following pack contained a Life from the Loam. All in.
I end up with the following limited Dredge deck.
1 Maelstrom Pulse
1 Phthisis
1 Death Rattle
1 Divinity of Pride
1 Horobi's Whisper
1 Faerie Macabre
1 Tombstalker
1 Marsh Flitter
3 Street Wraith
2 Stinkweed Imp
1 Life from the Loam
2 Raven's Crime
2 Warren weirding
2 Worm Harvest
2 Syphon Life
3 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Vivid marsh
1 Dakmor Salvage
10 Swamp
3 Forest
My first opponent was Carter/Porter(?) with Mono-White. My opponent was new to magic and new to drafting, but knew the rules well enough that he did not have any questions about play. He did not draft well and his deck was a mixture of Rebels, Thallids, and Giants. I got my discard engine going (Loam+Raven's Crime) to remove his hand since he was on a slow start (probably with a lot of expensive fatties).
I finally got Divinity of Pride and Tombstalker down to take control.
In game two, I did not draw into my discard engine but did draw into my Worm engine and Tombstalker.
2-0
I then played against Toby with his Bant Thallid/Suspend deck. He had some Errant Ephemerons that were easily held at bay by Stinkweed Imp. Toby was reluctant to attack into the Imp's as I had previously been dredging them. I was able to stall long enough to get my big fliers (Tombstalker and Divinity of Pride) into play. In game two I got my discard engine AND my worm engine going.
2-0
At this point I am 2-0 and an ID nets me and my opponent 4 packs of MM, so we ID'd.
Sean and I then played, since neither of us had lost a game yet. He drafted Red/White Giants. In game one, I chose to be on the draw and began Dredging from turn 1, due to cycling a Street Wraith at Sean's EoT. I took game one off of my worm tokens. In game two Sean wiped the board with Thundercloud Shaman, then the Giants came in and finished me off. In game three I made 6 Worms on turn 5. I followed that up with back-to-back Worm Harvests off of top decked land. (making 7 then 8 Worm tokens)
I opened a Vedalken Shackles in my prize packs, and nothing else of interest.
REWIND TO THURSDAY!
I went to Games and Stuff in Glen Burnie, MD to play a DGM draft. The following are lists of my pick ones in each round.
1: Beetleform Mage
2: Domri Rade
3: Vraska the Unseen
The guy sitting to my right, this was his second draft ever. Needless to say, my deck was very very good. I had enough playables in BUG that I initially built a 60 card deck that, depending on which half I drew, could either be aggro-control or Mill. I put the 20 aggro cards into the sideboard and went with the mill plan.
I won four games in a row the following ways Mill, Mill, Mill, Vraska Ultimate. I split in the final round in order to play the Holodeck (something I have not yet addressed on this blog) with the tournament organizer.
So, two very good back-to-back drafts. (Which to be fair were preceded by a poor draft and a poor sealed.)
Until next time.
Monday, June 10, 2013
A month's worth of mediocrity...
Not many great finishes since Mother's Day, hence the lack of posts. Here's a quick run-down of my performances across several formats.
FNM 5/17
I played the same list I played Mother's Day, but went 3-2 at G&S, losing to little kids playing bad decks poorly. This was enough to push me away from R/G and I picked up the cards to play BUG Aggro which looked like a ton of fun...
Super IQ 5/18
Playing BUG Aggro, went 2-3 drop, going 1-3 vs R/g Aggro with Pillar of Flames... ugh, not a great metagame call by me to be running Strangleroots and Young Wolves.
FNM 5/24
Playing BUG again, I start off 2-0 then ID'd with Nick (also at 2-0). I then lose round 4 after being up a game and throwing away game two on a horrible math mistake (shocked myself to play an untapped land thinking he had enough on board to put me to 1... he had enough to put me to 0). I leave after this round at 2-1-1 to head to the beach. I don't drop since I expect to be paired against a friend who is also 2-1-1 so he can get the free win. So technically I finish 2-2-1.
SCG Open Baltimore 6/1 & 6/2
I play BUG once again on Saturday to a 3-3 finish. I still love the deck as it can be both fun and explosive at times, but I think it's just underpowered in this metagame. The other grindy/synergistic decks like Aristocrats (both BWR and BWG) at least have powerful cards like Sorin and Skirsdag High Priest mixed in with their "Young Wolves". I haven't played Standard since this tourney and am having a hard time finding a competitive deck that I actually like (the same reason Mike has been absent from every Standard tourney for over a month).
I joined a Commander Pod after dropping from the main event. Don't play in SCG open Commander pods without a buddy! My pod had two guys who were friends, a random dude who never did anything of relevance the entire game, and myself. The entire game I have to hold up counterspell mana to stop one of the friends from going off.. I'm able to do this for several turns, even with his non-combo friend attacking me and killing my Talrand and my planeswalkers. Eventually I run out of counterspells (I only play like 7 in the deck) and the combo deck kills us while he's at 7 life from a combination of Necropotence and Drake beats.
Sunday I'm super excited to play Omni-Tell w/ Enter the Infinite. It's a deck that had been getting results online the week leading up to the open and Baltimore was a breakout tournament for this deck, with 3 copies making the top 16. Unfortunately, I lost the last round to finish 5-4 and out of the money. Some Defense Grids in the side would have been nice since all my loses were to opponents with more counter-magic than I - at least on the turns I cast Show and Tell.
FNM 6/7
I decided to play in the modern FNM since G&S is increasing their prize support by $100 for every Modern tournament the rest of the year. The tourney also starts at 7 instead of 6, and is only 4 rounds instead of 5. Playing my Esper Aggro Mill I win the first round, then lose the next 3. I think I'm going to try out Storm in modern over the next month. I still love beating down with Jace's Phantasms and Nihiliths but the deck is too inconsistent. My records in sanctioned tournaments with the deck have been 0-4, 4-4 (started 4-0), 0-2, 3-1 (second place) and this 1-3.
I didn't get to play any magic this past Saturday, but Sunday morning I headed to Xanadu actually hoping to draft, even though they had a GPT (Standard) scheduled. Luckily, not enough people showed up for standard and we drafted Modern Masters instead. For prize we would draft cards to keep from the entire pool in order of finish, so there was no point at all in rare drafting. I opened a weak pack and took Frogmite tihnking maybe I could pull a few more. Second pick Shrapnel Blast, third pick Frogmite and I was set. I finished with a ton of modular guys, 2x Faerie Machinists, 3x Frogmites, 4x Etherium Sculpters and a good amount of burn, including the Shrapnel Blast, Rift Bolt and Electrolyze as the best of those. I even had a Pyrite Spellbomb and Academy Ruins! Oh yeah, and a Keiga too. I 3-0'd the draft and got the obvious first choice of Elspeth from the pool. I got a handful of other goodies as well, including 2x City of Brass. These cities look so cool that I immediately dusted off the Dredge deck when I got home and plan to play it this week. I looked over recent Open finishes by Dredge and found a list with 3x Winds of Change in the side. I have no idea what they're sided against, but the card alone looks fun as Hell. I think I'll pick up a couple to try out.
e
FNM 5/17
I played the same list I played Mother's Day, but went 3-2 at G&S, losing to little kids playing bad decks poorly. This was enough to push me away from R/G and I picked up the cards to play BUG Aggro which looked like a ton of fun...
Super IQ 5/18
Playing BUG Aggro, went 2-3 drop, going 1-3 vs R/g Aggro with Pillar of Flames... ugh, not a great metagame call by me to be running Strangleroots and Young Wolves.
FNM 5/24
Playing BUG again, I start off 2-0 then ID'd with Nick (also at 2-0). I then lose round 4 after being up a game and throwing away game two on a horrible math mistake (shocked myself to play an untapped land thinking he had enough on board to put me to 1... he had enough to put me to 0). I leave after this round at 2-1-1 to head to the beach. I don't drop since I expect to be paired against a friend who is also 2-1-1 so he can get the free win. So technically I finish 2-2-1.
SCG Open Baltimore 6/1 & 6/2
I play BUG once again on Saturday to a 3-3 finish. I still love the deck as it can be both fun and explosive at times, but I think it's just underpowered in this metagame. The other grindy/synergistic decks like Aristocrats (both BWR and BWG) at least have powerful cards like Sorin and Skirsdag High Priest mixed in with their "Young Wolves". I haven't played Standard since this tourney and am having a hard time finding a competitive deck that I actually like (the same reason Mike has been absent from every Standard tourney for over a month).
I joined a Commander Pod after dropping from the main event. Don't play in SCG open Commander pods without a buddy! My pod had two guys who were friends, a random dude who never did anything of relevance the entire game, and myself. The entire game I have to hold up counterspell mana to stop one of the friends from going off.. I'm able to do this for several turns, even with his non-combo friend attacking me and killing my Talrand and my planeswalkers. Eventually I run out of counterspells (I only play like 7 in the deck) and the combo deck kills us while he's at 7 life from a combination of Necropotence and Drake beats.
Sunday I'm super excited to play Omni-Tell w/ Enter the Infinite. It's a deck that had been getting results online the week leading up to the open and Baltimore was a breakout tournament for this deck, with 3 copies making the top 16. Unfortunately, I lost the last round to finish 5-4 and out of the money. Some Defense Grids in the side would have been nice since all my loses were to opponents with more counter-magic than I - at least on the turns I cast Show and Tell.
FNM 6/7
I decided to play in the modern FNM since G&S is increasing their prize support by $100 for every Modern tournament the rest of the year. The tourney also starts at 7 instead of 6, and is only 4 rounds instead of 5. Playing my Esper Aggro Mill I win the first round, then lose the next 3. I think I'm going to try out Storm in modern over the next month. I still love beating down with Jace's Phantasms and Nihiliths but the deck is too inconsistent. My records in sanctioned tournaments with the deck have been 0-4, 4-4 (started 4-0), 0-2, 3-1 (second place) and this 1-3.
I didn't get to play any magic this past Saturday, but Sunday morning I headed to Xanadu actually hoping to draft, even though they had a GPT (Standard) scheduled. Luckily, not enough people showed up for standard and we drafted Modern Masters instead. For prize we would draft cards to keep from the entire pool in order of finish, so there was no point at all in rare drafting. I opened a weak pack and took Frogmite tihnking maybe I could pull a few more. Second pick Shrapnel Blast, third pick Frogmite and I was set. I finished with a ton of modular guys, 2x Faerie Machinists, 3x Frogmites, 4x Etherium Sculpters and a good amount of burn, including the Shrapnel Blast, Rift Bolt and Electrolyze as the best of those. I even had a Pyrite Spellbomb and Academy Ruins! Oh yeah, and a Keiga too. I 3-0'd the draft and got the obvious first choice of Elspeth from the pool. I got a handful of other goodies as well, including 2x City of Brass. These cities look so cool that I immediately dusted off the Dredge deck when I got home and plan to play it this week. I looked over recent Open finishes by Dredge and found a list with 3x Winds of Change in the side. I have no idea what they're sided against, but the card alone looks fun as Hell. I think I'll pick up a couple to try out.
e
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)