TNM 12/20/12

Has it really been two weeks since my last post?  Well...crap.
I went to TNM at Beyond Comics, located in Frederick, MD.

A dozen people showed up for a four-round standard tournament.
I took Ian Kendell's R/B Aggro deck to see how it played out.

The Deck:
4     Stromkirk Noble
4     Rakdos Cackler
4     Ash Zealot
4     Knight of Infamy
3     Hellhole Flailer
4     Falkenrath Aristocrat
3     Hellrider
2     Thundermaw Hellkite
4     Searing Spear
4     Pillar of Flame
4     Blood Crypt
4     Cavern of Souls
4     Dragonskull Summit
10   Mountain
2     Swamp


Round 1: Aaron Blough with G/W Werewolves/Humans
Aaron was unable to put any real pressure on me, while my maindeck Knights of Infamy did an excellent job against the White half of his deck.  His creature drops were not on par with mine in the Power+Toughness/mana cost department and I was able to overwhelm him in both games.
2-0

Round 2: Megan Hill with Budget Epic Experiment
Megan's deck revolved around ramping up to a large epic experiment to hopefully reveal a worldfire and another burn spell.
Her deck was woefully unprepared for an aggro deck.
2-0

Round 3: Steve Martino with 5-color mythic rares.
Steve built his deck on really good rares and mythic rares.  He had Terminus, Bonfire, Thragtusk, Restoration Angel, Huntmaster of the Fells, and others.

Steve easily took the first game on the back of Thragtusk and removal for most of my one-drop creatures.  I scooped when he dropped Garruk, Primal Hunter.

I sided out all of my one drops and brought in 2 Duress, 2 Appetite for Brains, 3 Vampire Nighthawks, and an Olivia Voldaren.  In game two I cast a turn one Appetite for Brains, he reveals five land, a Searing Spear, and a Sphinx's revelation.  I play out Hellrider to get the Spear out of his hand, and then Thundermaw Hellkite and Falkenrath Aristocrat to seal the game.

In game three, Steve got out an early Rhox Faithmender and began to gain a TON of life off of the Thragtusk/Restoration Angel combo.  Eventually, he began to run out of threats and dropped a Supreme Verdict when our boards were very full.  I was able to get through with a lot of fliers, while I kept Ash Zealot's on the ground to block.  I sacrificed all of my creatures to a Falkenrath Aristocrat, making her a 7/4, while Steve was left with a 3/3 Beast from a Thragtusk.  I top decked a Thundermaw Hellkite and swung for 12, putting Steve to 2.
All he had was a restoration angel and a Sphinx's Revelation, neither could save him.
2-1

Round 4: Alex Geck with BUG Zombies
As the sole 3-0's, Alex and I decide to split (5 packs each) and play for the Silverblade Paladin promo card.
In game one, Alex dropped a Lotleth Troll.  I cast searing spear and asked if he had 3 creature cards to pitch to it.  He obliged.  On my turn, I cast two Pillar of Flames to see if he had one more.  He did. The troll is now 6/5.  We begin racing, but since Alex has dropped so many cards into Lotleth troll, I am able to race him with Thundermaw Hellkite and Falkenrath Aristocrat.

In game two, Alex got two lands and conceded when I told him that, yes, I would trade him the Silverblade Paladin.
1-1-1 (ID)

I like this deck, it is fast and can easily side into a control-esque midrange deck.
I went 2-0, 2-0, 2-1, ID, which I think is nice.  I will take this deck to FNM tonight to see how it does.

Until next time.

FNM 12/7/12

I went to Gotham Comics in Westminster, MD for FNM.
This FNM was Commander, and the prize was the ability to purchase the arsenal at MSRP.  Twenty people showed up (Actually more than that, but due to seating registration was capped to twenty)

We would do two rounds.  The first round is five four-person pods.  The winner of each of those pods would form a five-person pod for the finals.


I took my Degenerate Hermit Druid self mill deck.  Progenitus is my commander.

Round One:
Me: Progenitus
Tyler: Mangara of Corondor
Chris: The Mimeoplasm
John: Child of Alara

The guys spend their first couple of turns building up their board.  They are all tapped out when I go off turn five and kill everyone.
We then played another game where I switched decks to Grimgrin.

Round Two (The Finals)
Me: Progenitus
Rob: Karador, Ghost Chieftan
Jordan: Zur, the Enchanter
Paul: Ob Nixilis, the Fallen
Josh: Animar, Soul of Elements

This is a pretty stacked pod, with at least two other decks (Zur and Animar) being combo decks.

Paul (Ob Nixilis) gets a pretty threatening board state immediately with a turn 3 Skithiryx and begin infecting people for four.  I drop a turn two Survival of the Fittest.  I sit quietly and play no other spells, nor do I activate Survival.  They are unprepared when I combo off again on turn five. (It turn out that the person to my left was also going to combo off on turn 5)

So, I end up winning both games by going off on turn five.  The deck is completely dirty and I imagine very unfun to play against.  Since it accomplished its goal, I will be disassembling it.

Until next time...

TNM 12/6/12

I went to Beyond Comics in Frederick, MD for Thursday Night Magic.
Standard was the game, so I brought out the Jund Juggernaut.

Round 1: Andrew Weaver with BUG Zombies.
This version of Zombies utilized Gravecrawler, Lotleth Troll, and a variety of other Zombies to punish opponents.
I had to mulligan down to five in game one and was quickly dispatched by Lotleth Troll, who had grown to a 6/5 .

In game two, it happened even faster.  Gravecrawler came down turn one and got double-rancored in turn two.  Lotleth Troll followed.
0-2

Round 2: Richard Vera with Izzet Control
Richard had some mana issues in both games.  Also, it seemed that his deck may have been a budget deck of some sort.
He never really dropped any threats, and seemed unable to remove any of mine.
2-0

Round 3: Alex Geck with Grixis Walkers
I felt like this matchup should have been good for me, but it was not to be.
Alex had answers for every one of my creatures and planeswalkers.  He established control relatively quickly, and except for one game, had me in top-deck mode the entire match.  I made an error in game three when I cast Rakdos's Return on him and he redirected it back to me.  Even though I am not a legal target, I brain-farted and let it resolve.  I discarded two Thundermaw Hellkites, the only cards in my hand.
In the end, he got a board state of Bloodgift Demon, Snapcaster, and Rakdos Charm and laid the beats down.
1-2

This is my absolute worst showing ever for a TNM.

So, some thoughts.  I think my iteration of Jund is failing pretty spectacularly.  The IQ, SCGOpen, and this TNM have kind of shown that something is wrong with my design.  I have no ability to deal with control, and my match up to ANY kind of aggro deck has been shown to be very poor.  Something to ponder while I sleep tonight.

Until next time.

Wednesday Night Legacy

Eric, Jimmy, and I went to Xanadu Games in Baltimore MD on Wednesday 12/5/12 to play some Legacy. (With proxies allowed)
I took the only Legacy deck I own, Maverick.  We planned on playing four rounds with a cut to top four at the end.

Round 1: Jimmy Peyton with Dredge.
In game one, Jimmy had to mulligan down to three and quickly conceded.  In game two, he went off very quickly and it was I who quickly conceded.  In game three I was able to get a Scavenging Ooze out early and untap with it to lock down Jimmy's graveyard.
2-1

Round 2: Nick Thompson with RUG Delver.
RUG Delver is a good matchup for me.  I got out the beats in games one and three, but was overpowered in game two due to two Delvers flipping early.
2-1

Round 3: Chris Cornwell-Shiel with Aluren
I took game one because Chris got heavily mana screwed.  In game two he went off early by dropping a Show and Tell and I scooped to the combo.  In game three, I got out Linvala, Keeper of Silence early (with Mother of Runes protection) to lock out the combo.  Chris audibled into his backup win condition, Emrakul and Show and Tell.  He cast Show and Tell putting in Emrakul and I dropped a Knight of the Reliquary to "tutor" up Karakas.  Chris scooped.
2-1

Round 4: Paul Lynch
Paul and I intentionally drew into the top 4.
0-0-1

Round 5: (Top 4): Paul Lynch with U/W Miracles
Paul got me in lockdown in game one with Counter-Top, followed by a Jace, the Mind Sculptor.  I scooped to the counter-top fateseal lock.
In game two, Paul got mana flooded and I was able to get creatures in for the kill.
In game three, I got Gaddock Teeg out early, followed by Sigarda, Host of Herons.  I hit Paul for lethal while he had ten great but uncastable cards on top of his library.
2-1

Round 6: (Top 4) Nick Thompson with RUG Delver
Even though I am favored in this matchup and have already defeated Nick, we agreed to split.  (Plus, Eric and Jimmy wanted to play EDH)
0-0-1

We each walked away with $26.50 in store credit.  This is the first time that I have done really well with Maverick.  I feel like sticking with the deck has made me better with it.

Until next time.

Playing a little catch-up...

I want to "put to paper" my last month or so since 5-0'ing FNM @ Alternate Worlds (my last post).  So the following is a recap of several tournaments, playtest sessions and formats for the last several weeks.

The Commander's Arsenal Standard tourney at Alternate Worlds 11/17

I finished this tourney 2-2, not earning any prizes.  I lost round 1 to Esper Walkers/Control, an admittedly bad matchup for me (playing Naya Midrange).  In game three I made a big mistake... when I stole Sorin with a Zealous Conscripts I told my opponent to just leave it on his side since we were tight on play space and it had glass bead counters on it instead of dice.  I made an emblem (Sorin down to 1 loyalty) and attacked.  After combat I played Bonfire to kill off the rest of his tokens and Sorin....................... except I controlled Sorin... ugh....  Had I waited a turn I could have gotten Sorin and maybe some more tokens and would have been in a much better position.  Lesson learned! ---> Always move the stuff you steal to your side of the board!

The other round I lost was against Jund when in game 3 I had SEVERAL, like 4-5, turns to draw a Mountain, Clifftop Retreat, Rootbound Crag, Cavern of Souls or Borderland Ranger to immediately win with Bonfire, Conscripts or Wolf Run :(

In one of my wins my opponent playing Grixis control had a Desecration Demon in play vs my Sigarda.  The judge ruled that I WAS able to still sacrifice creatures to tap the Demon at the beginning of combat. I later learned this to be incorrect.

Jimmy and Nick both top 4'd.  Nick scooped to Jimmy as Jimmy had the better matchup against both of the other top 4 decks.  Jimmy then ended up splitting the Commander's Arsenal in the top 2.

Black Friday at Mike's

I put together the standard Rakdos deck that made top 8 at GP Charleston.  I played a bunch without a sideboard against Mike's Jund and felt Rakdos was favored, especially since it was able to win games even with Mike sideboarded.  I also got to test my Tarland EDH that I had super-charged for the Commander's Arsenal FNM coming up.  It was pretty sick :)

Standard for Standard Duals @ Xanadu 11/24

I left the house around 11:30 to drop off Lucy at a church near Penn Station (for her niece's baptism) and still make it to Xanadu by 12.  (Which is why I didn't join Mike, Jimmy and Nick in Urbana for the IQ).  After I drop Lucy off she calls me a couple minutes later crying that it's the wrong church.  Where's the church?..... Parkville!  I grab her and recklessly speed to Parkville, while calling Xanadu 5 times along the way, but no one is answering :(

I get to the shop at 12:40 hoping to get a 1st round bye and get into the tourney.  Even though their phone was unplugged and dead I can only join with a round-1 loss.  with 14 players I'll need to win out to make top 4.  I win round 2 vs Esper Walkers!  I don't remember how but I assume it was due to some awesome plays on my part.  Next round I lost to Reanimator after I get trounced so bad in game one that I thought he was only playing Junk midrange and I didn't board in Rest in Peace :(  I got hoofed game two.

After two disappointing tournies in a row I'm thinking I need to move off Naya.

I did get to battle Talrand head-to-head with Ben's Krenko.  His deck is pretty degenerate as well, but I win about 2 to every 1 he does over about 9 games.

SCG Open 12/1 and 12/2

Well I end up playing NO magic all week and when the weekend gets here I don't feel comfortable going into the Standard Open with Rakdos.  After the 4th round I'm 2-2 with Naya having beaten Rakdos twice and lost to Bant Control twice.  Round 5 I played mono-red and learned how good Pyreheart Wolf is.  I was able to stabilize in game two having handled his initial push and killed his board when I lost to runner-runner Thundermaws.  Oh well.  I drop, head to pickles and eat dinner.  BTW, I also appealed to the head judge when a floor judge ruled I could NOT sac to tap a Desecration Demon while I had Sigarda in play.  Head Judge rules that I in fact CANNOT and we get a 7 minute time extension, which I end up going on to win anyway.

Sunday I took Belcher hoping to either get lucky or get knocked out early and head home to watch the Ravens/Steelers game.

Game 1 Round 1 I have a nut draw and even though he goes turn 1 Inquisition of Kozilek on the play and takes LED, I'm still able to play out a Belcher and end my turn with a Mox and Taiga in play.  On my turn I topdeck a mana source to kill with the belcher turn two.

Game 2 I mulligan to 5, but he doesn't have discard for me.  He plays turn 2 Ethersworn Canonist and my second turn goes Mox, Mox, Lotus Petal, Land Grant for Taiga, play it and play Belcher with the mana necessary to kill him during my upkeep! :)  He plays Pithing Needle for "Charbelcher" next turn :( and though he takes a while to kill me I can't find a Burning Wish for the Shattering Spree.. I also just correct him and name "Goblin Charbelcher" instead of calling a judge.  It wouldn't have mattered anyway since he has to name a real card.

Game 3 I'm one mana short of Wish for Warrens first turn and pass on the play, without a play.  He wrecks me with Inquisition and Thoughtseize the next two turns and I can't claw back.

I won round 2 vs Burn, perhaps my best matchup... Round 3 I have the turn one kill but I'm on the draw and lost to Doomsday without getting a turn.  Something he tells me is not very common.  Actually he talks a lot this match and is just annoying and my small headache is turning into a much more painful one. :-/

Game 2 I'm a mana away from a turn one Wish for Warrens and pass without a play.  Next two turns I brick Chrome Mox after Chrome Mox  when I have nothing to imprint on them (because I need all my non-artifacts).  He plays Duress for my Wish and then wins on his third turn.... I didn't play a single card.  I'm 1-2 and my head is killing me so I walk home from the convention center and watch football.

Wednesday Legacy @ Xanadu last night

I take Belcher in my pocket and don't bring any other decks, cards or dice.  I win game one vs RUG Delver, even playing around a Daze on turn 1.  Game 3 I got Belcher into play turn one with only a Taiga as a "sticks around" mana source.  I should have waited until I could make 4 so that I could Pyroblast, but I went for it on turn two and FoW stopped me.  The blast ended up taking out a Delver way later to give me another turn.  On my last turn before dying I went for it again and Belcher got Stifled.

Next round was against Jimmy and Dredge.  He goes first and Therapies for LED which I don't remember having.  I know I win game one but don't remember if it was Belcher or Warrens.  Game two I wish for Infernal Tutor, tutor for Wish and Wish for Warrens making 20 Goblins. (Annoyed that I decided against putting a Tendrils in my board).  He makes a bunch of 2/2's on his second turn and Dread Returns Flame-kin Zealot.  I scoop but some other guys mention that I was one goblin short of taking  6 of the 3/3's to the head, chumping the rest and swinging back for the win since Jimmy had used Tarnished Citadel twice.  So I would have lost anyway, but it was a good lesson to at least do the math before scooping.

Round 3 against BUG control I go off first turn 3 straight games with game 2 only getting 14 damage with a Belcher.  I didn't see a FoW all match.

Last round against Junk.  He's on they play, Therapies and misses and sees that I have a guaranteed first-turn kill. He scoops before I get to take a turn... LOL

Game two I get to learn a bit more about my deck when he plays first turn Thalia off Mox Diamond (also playing a second Mox and dumping his whole hand).  I Land Grant for Taiga, paying the Thalia tax with a spirit guide, then Probe, with Taiga for the tax again. Next turn I lay a Chrome Mox, being able to pay the tax again.  I have a Burning Wish that I intend to get Pyroclasm with, and because he's only swinging for 2 a turn so far, I'm still in it!  He has a Deathrite Shaman in play but I decide to Rite of Flame into Right of Flame to try to get up to 3 mana and wish.  He sees the right play and eats the first Rite to nullify the second.  Maybe I should have waited but I'm not sure if it mattered.  Anyway, game three I mulligan and pass my first two turns with him whiffing on a Therapy for LED along the way. My third turn I get up to 8 with a freshly drawn LED and suspect a Maelstrom Pulse by the way he's acting and talking, so I grab the Diminishing Returns and kill with Belcher same turn.  He says he did have the Pulse, though he didn't show it before the shuffle and re-draw, so who knows.

Anyway, I'm really liking the deck and it seems more resilient to non-blue hate than I initially thought, having nearly played through Ethersworn Canonist, Pithing Needle and Thalia, and successfully playing through a potential Maelstrom Pulse.

Tonight I might play Standard at Xanadu if Lucy is OK with it.  I've got some Thundermaw Hellkites coming in the mail today and will be trying out the Naya list that won the SCG Standard Open last Saturday... though I've already fudged with the manabase as I'm having serious issues with early green mana for Pilgrim and Farseek in several goldfish games so far.  This weekend there are two tournies on Saturday: Standard at Xanadu (GPT for Atlantic City!) and Legacy at Alternate Worlds.  I'm leaning toward Xanadu.

See ya!

-Eric

SCG Open Baltimore 12/1/12- 12/2/12

I attended both days of the Star City Games (SCG) Open Series held in my birthplace, Baltimore Maryland.

First, I would like to point out that this was my first SCG event.  The vendor (Star City Games) was average, catering to Standard and Legacy players, but not to EDH or Foil-enthusiasts (as they did not bring any Foil or Oversized cards with them)

The artists were excellent. I found time to meet with and purchase from most of them.  I even got my Grimgrin oversized foils transformed into a 3-D alter (by combining 3 of the cards) by Lindsay Burley.  I purchased a very nice playmat from Noah Bradley, and purchased some art prints from Cynthia Sheppard.

Now, on to the games:

DAY 1: Standard:  I took the updated Jund Juggernaut.

Round 1: Tyler Eldrad with U/W Flash
This is a good matchup for me.  Tyler seemed to have problems piloting the deck as his decisions seemed to take a long time.  Unsummon and Azorious Charm are not value cards against Thragtusk...
2-0

Round 2: Matt Mercer with B/R Big Zombies
In an odd coincidence, I was texting with a friend between rounds about this deck and how I did not expect to see it.  In the first game I was utterly destroyed as I kept a weak hand.
In game two, I had to mulligan down to five, and even then I had no land.  I had just performed my first Farseek to get to three land before I was killed.
0-2

Round 3: Christian Harris with Junk Tokens (a version that had Angel of Serenity and Thragtusks)
I did not expect to see Angel of Serenity in his deck.  In my notes, I put down that I made several mistakes in this game.  I do not recall them off hand, but I can safely assume that the match was lost due to my own mistakes.
0-2

Round 4: Mike Skinner with Junk Midrange
In game one Mike had to Mulligan to five cards and it was a short game.  He took game two as I had not sideboarded and was still unsure what he was playing.  In game three I hit him with Slaughter Games and removed all of his Thragtusks, I was then able to get through enough damage with creature advantage.
2-1

Round 5: Graylon Wright with G/W Humans
Graylon was on the play game one and trampled over me.  I think I tend to keep hands weak to aggro matchups.
In game two he came out to a quick start.  He dropped Thalia on turn 3 and I was one mana short of wiping the board because of her.  I lost without playing a spell.
0-2

At 2-3, I decided to drop and join a commander pod.  Nine pods had happened already and I was the first one in pod ten.  I waited two rounds and no other players showed up.  So, I dipped out.

At the end of day one I was 2-0, 0-2, 0-2, 2-1, 0-2 for a combined 4-7.  I am not sure whether to be pleased or disappointed in myself with those results.  I could have done better, but I could have also done worse.

DAY 2: Legacy:  I took the only legacy deck I own, Maverick.  I have recently been experimenting with replacing the single Stoneforge Mystic with Thrun, the Last Troll.  I was so pleased with Thrun that I decided to make the replacement permanent.

Round 1: Shawn French with U/W Stoneblade Miracles
I was unable to get Gaddock Teeg, Thalia, or a Knight of the Reliquary going in either game.  I also set myself nicely for a 5-1 Terminus hit  (a Knight, a Pridemage, a Dryad Arbor, and 2 Noble Hierarchs) leaving me with a single Savannah facing down a Jace, the Mind Sculptor.
0-2

Round 2: Zack Mullin with Sneak and Show
Zack went on to make the Top 8.  Great job Zack!
Our games went thusly.
Game one: Turn 2 Emrakul.
Game two: Turn 3 Emrakul (via Sneak Attack)
So, both Emrakuls attacked in turn three and wiped me out.
In game two, I had Karakas out and bounced Emrakul before combat.  Zack dropped a Lotus Petal and replayed it.  I have no defense against draws of that caliber.
0-2

[At this point in the day, I decided I would drop when I got loss number three]

Round 3: Billy Clifford with Nic-Fit
I am very unfamiliar with the deck "Nic-Fit", it just looked to me like a homebrew.  I may have made some errors, but was otherwise able to get control in two games leaning on the backs of Linvala, Keeper of Silence and Rafiq of the Many. (The latter of which, I windmill slammed onto the table)
2-1

Round 4: Ben Sturtz with RUG Delver
In game one, Ben got a bit flooded and I was able to get a big enough Knight of the Reliquary to push through Tarmogoyf and Nimble Mongoose.
In game two Ben flipped an early Delver and I could not find a removal spell or flier.
In game three Ben got a little flooded, ending the game with three lands in hand.  2-1

Round 5: Trevor Humphries with Goblins (green splash for Tin Street Hooligan)
In game one, I dropped out Linvala, Keeper of Silence on turn three, which shut off most of his synergy.  I was able to keep the Lackeys under control with Mother of Runes.
In game two he hit 4/4 with Goblin Ringleader and finally dropped Krenko to seal the beats.
In game three I got out an early Thrun, the Last Troll.  In the following turn, I equipped him with Umezawa's Jitte.  He played a Goblin Matron to grab Tin Street Hooligan, but was not able to cast it.  On my turn I used two Wastelands to destroy his Taiga and his Cavern of Souls.
2-1

Round 6: John Gatza with RUG Delver.
So, this matchup is very good for me.  In game one I got out an early Thrun, the Last Troll who has no problem swinging into Tarmogoyf or Nimble Mongoose, especially when he gets a few Exalted triggers.
In game two I got out an early Sigarda, Host of Herons.  The game ended when I cast a Green Sun's Zenith for four and grabbed Rafiq so that Sigarda could swing for fourteen in the air.  John was bemused, I was just glad he was not playing Storm.
2-0

I want to mention that Sunday evening the Baltimore ravens were set to play against the Pitsburgh Steelers in Baltimore, one half-mile from the convention center.  Between rounds Nick and I were able to have some beer when we semi-crashed a tailgate party.  I feel like this fueled my comeback streak.
So, after round 6, Nick and I are both 4-2.  Nick convinces me to drop and go to a local sports bar.  I feel like an asshole dropping after a win in which my opponent dropped, but I agreed.

At the end of DAY 2 I am 0-2, 0-2, 2-1, 2-1, 2-1, 2-0 for a combined 8-7.  Pretty close to .500.  Unlike standard, I know how I feel about this record.  The answer is very damn proud of myself and my deck.  Thrun, Sigarda, and Rafiq have the ability to take over games by themselves and I LOVE having them in the deck.

In summary, I guess I am disappointed, but not surprised, about how I fared in Standard.  I am very pleased with how I did in Legacy and will likely be practicing more on Wednesday and Thursday.  Friday I have the degenerate EDH tournament.

Until next time.