PTQ: Baltimore 7/28/12

I went to a local PTQ in Baltimore, MD on Saturday, July 28.
The event was sponsored by Games & Stuff, a game store in Glen Burnie, MD.

I took Naya Midrange to the 8-round event.

4     Avacyn's Pilgrim
2     Primordial Hydra
3     Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
2     Daybreak Ranger
4     Somberwald Sage
3     Wolfir Avenger
3     Huntmaster of the Fells
4     Restoration Angel
2     Acidic Slime
2     Wolfir Silverheart
2     Inferno Titan
2     Gisela, Blade of Goldnight

3     Garruk Relentless

4     Cavern of Souls
4     Clifftop Retreat
12   Forest
2     Kessig Wolf Run
2     Mountain

I went 0-4 before I dropped.  Definitely a disappointing showing as I thought that my deck was much better than it was.

In Round 1 I faced against Wolf-Run-Ramp, I got off to a good start, by turn 3, I had a Pilgrim and a Sage in play and was about to drop some threats, Slagstorm hit and killed my mana guys.  I never got more than two forests in play, one of them was Acidic Slimed.

In Round 2 I faced Mono Green Infect. The deck was just too fast for me.  I have no instant speed removal.
I managed to steal a game with Inferno Titan, but only because I got very lucky with my Mana.
Game 3 went like this:
Opponent: Forest, Glisener Elf.
Me: Land, pass.
O: Inkmoth Nexus, Rancor on Glistener Elf, 3 Poison.
Me: Land, pass.
O: Forest, activate Inkmoth, Rancor Inkmoth, swing for 6 Poison.
Me: Land, concede.

Ouch.

In Round 3 I faced another Wolf-Run-Ramp deck.  Bonfire made short work of my creatures, Inferno Titan killed me.  I got lucky in Game 2 and was able to win it with yet another Inferno Titan.  In the end,. his two Inferno Titans trumped me.

In Round 4, I faced what I assumed was RWU Miracles.  Frost Titan removed blockers and tapped land.  Bonfire Killed my Mana Guys.  The Match was decided by a Temporal Mastery cast as a miracle with a Frost Titan in play.  (All I had was a super-tapped Wolfir Avenger and a hand full of cards I could not afford.

I entered an M13 draft, and lost Round 1, putting me at 0-5 on the day.  Despite my poor showing, I did enjoy myself and I learned a lot about what current decks are out there.

So, what did I learn about MY deck?  Well, for starters, it seemed that whenever I lost a Mana producer, I lost a game.  My land base can simply not support my creature base on its own without any Mana producers (Avacyn's Pilgrim, Somberwald Sage)  It seems I need to go back to the drawing board on the Naya-Midrange

I also made a lot of in-game mistakes due to being a relatively inexperienced player.  In at least one, I failed to see a game winning play as it was happening.  Hopefully more practice will help.

Until next time.