New Jersey

Since Nick and Jimmy qualified for the invitational I've been looking for every opportunity to hopefully join them.

Nick joined me last Saturday for the 5 hour round trip drive and the SCG Standard Open.

I played Kenny Castor's list from the finals of the WMCQ in D.C. a few weeks earlier, with zero updates from Dragon's Maze.

I started 4-0 beating two junk tokens decks, a grixis control and mono red. Nick meanwhile was 3-1 with BUG aggro, losing only to my list.

Round 5 the wheels came off as usual :-\

I played UWR flash losing a close first game then stealing game two with runner-runner Thundermaw Hellkites.

Game three I apply enough pressure to prompt Supreme Verdict, but respond with Gyre Sage, Emissary, Boar (8 power total). I get to bash once before Snapcaster + Verdict. I then drop a Thundermaw while he's tapped out. He has to Sphinx for 4 to stay alive and I have a turn to draw any hasty guy or rampager or bonfire for the win, but whiff. He stabilizes and eventually takes the game.

Round six I get to face Reid Duke and am never in the match. I go over my sideboard options with Nick and am certain I sided incorrectly.

Now at 4-2 I'm ready to play some commander pods, but decide to stay in the main event as long as Nick is (5-1 at this point).

I beat a UWR planeswalker control to get to 5-2, Nick is to 6-1.

I lose to Aristocrats round 8, having sided poorly again, and Nick gets his second loss. We decide to pack it up and get home around 10.

Sunday morning I'm IM'd by Ben from Xanadu that they only got 7 people for the release day sealed tourney, so I head in to be their 8th.  We do 6 packs of DGM, I pull 4 rares in Grixis, including Aetherling, and decent removal, and while the first 18-19 cards built themself it's still an exercise in sealed deck building to finish with 40 cards.

Anyway, I 3-0, only playing aetherling once (round 3; game 3), collect 8 packs (Ben didn't want to split) and open ZERO NOTION THIEVES!!