So, Kimball, Brenna and I did an M11 draft last night at Pastimes. Three of the people at the table were making snarky comments literally at each of their picks. "God, THIS card shouldn't be here this late. " "Come on, people, pick up on the SIGNALS!" "Jeez, am I the only one who knows what he's doing here?"
It was super annoying. The rest of us were dead silent, respectfully drafting our decks and trying to not be distracted.
You know who lost in the first round of that draft? All three of those chumps. Kimball and I split in the finals. Sadly, Kimball knocked Brenna out of the bracket in the first round. :(
I guess the moral of the story is that it's cool to read MTG strategy articles, but don't spout out shit that you don't understand, and most importantly, be respectful of your fellow players. You shouldn't be saying anything during a draft, and you should ever be insinuating that your opponents aren't as knowledgeable or as skilled as you are.
Especially right before they destroy you.
Monday, July 12, 2010
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
later, suckers
-Greg
Hey, gang. I got a real life gig writing about MTG for Pastimes Events. Between the 50 hours a week I work, the two night classes I'm in, the dog I take care of, and the wife I'm trying to stay married to - well, let's say all that plus this new writing thing I'm not going to have time to update this ole blog anymore.
The site content goes live in about 3 weeks, so you guys make sure to check it out! I'll be posting content weekly, with a video every couple weeks or so.
Hey, gang. I got a real life gig writing about MTG for Pastimes Events. Between the 50 hours a week I work, the two night classes I'm in, the dog I take care of, and the wife I'm trying to stay married to - well, let's say all that plus this new writing thing I'm not going to have time to update this ole blog anymore.
The site content goes live in about 3 weeks, so you guys make sure to check it out! I'll be posting content weekly, with a video every couple weeks or so.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Insert Clever Worldwake Pun Here, pt. 2
-Greg
I'll skip the clever introductions this week and cut right to the chase. At the first Sealed event I did with Zen/Zen/Zen/WWK/WWK/WWK, I opened the following pool:
White
2 Kitesale Apprentice
Steppe Lynx
Apex hawks
Lightkeeper of Emeria
Nimbus Wings
Journey to Nowhere
Arrow Volley Trap
Windborn Charge
Rest for the Weary
Cliff Threader
Ruin Ghost
Brave the Elements
Sheildmate's Blessing
Blue
Mindbreak Trap
Jwar Shapeshifter
Spell Pierce
Dispel
AEther Tradewinds
Spell Contortion
Caller of Gales
Quest for Ancient Secrets
Shoal Serpent
2 Twitch
Kraken Hatchling
Calcite Snapper
Sejiri Merfolk
Gomozoa
Windrider Eel
Horizon Drake
Wind Zendikon
Paralyzing Grasp
Black
Abyssal Persecutor
Needlebite Trap
Urge to Feed
Dead Reckoning
Quag Vampires
Corrupted Zendikon
Soul Stair Expedition
Mindles Null
Disfigure
Heartstabber Mosquito
Red
Pyromancer Ascension
2 Skitter of Lizards
Spire Barage
Magma Rift
Molten Ravager
Shatterskull Giant
2 Cosi's Ravager
Torchslinger
Bladetusk Boar
Plated Geopede
Green
Timbermaw Larva
Relic Crush
Nature's Claim
Leatherback Baloth
Gnarlid Pack
Arbor Elf
Snapping Creeper
Grappler Spider
2 Slingbow Trap
Oran-Rief Recluse
Khalni-Heart Expedition
Baloth Cage Trap
Oran-Rief Survivalist
Nature's Claim
Graypelt Hunter
Land
Sejiri Refuge
Aride Mesa
Quicksand
Halimar Depths
Greypelt Refuge
Khalni Garden
Bojuka Bog
Piranha Marsh
Artifact
Amulet of Vigor
Expedition Map
Explorer's Scope
Kitesail
Pilgrim's Eye
Evaluating the bombs
Normally when opening a sealed pool, I start by figuring out which, if any, of my cards are truly "bombs." That is, which of these cards will create an amazing board presence for me, and will reliably help me win any game in which it's cast? Sadly, this pool was a little short on bombs. Abyssal Persecutor is a face-smashing machine, but there was no way I was going to be able to play him and remove him with any consistency. Pyromancer's Ascension is worthless, as there is no way you can open a bunch of the same, good instants and sorceries. Since Amulet of Vigor, Jwar Shapeshifter, and Mindbreak Trap were all equally worthless, I pretty much had to rely on the power of my commons and uncommons to get there every game.
Almost bombs
So what are we left to win with? Well, quite a bit actually. Fliers are worth almost any premium cost associated with them, and here we have some very strong options. Lightkeeper of Emeria is a really strong card, bringing the beats overhead while boosting your life total. Blue also gives us the very powerful Windrider Eel, cheap beats in Horizon Drake, and the surprisingly fast Wind Zendikon. While Bladetusk Boar isn't much of a flier, the intimidate ability means he can start smashing most decks within a relatively short amount of time.
Black, since I'm missing most relevant vampires, lacks much of a bite (har har har). Green presents another interesting conundrum: The meat is there, but not in a form that is easy to cast unless we dedicate ourselves to playing forests in abundance. Timbermaw Larva hits hard, but only if you have lots of trees. Leatherback Baloth is a huge body for a reasonable cost, but it's a very specific cost that makes it very difficult to cast.
At this point, it looks like we're going to have to go with some combination of red, blue, or white.
The Rest
So, now that we've anaylized our win conditions, our next step will be to analyze each color's abillity to remove threats, fix mana, and the strength of utility cards.
Tune into the next installment, where I'll do just that, and show you guys the final forty I decided on. Thanks for reading!
I'll skip the clever introductions this week and cut right to the chase. At the first Sealed event I did with Zen/Zen/Zen/WWK/WWK/WWK, I opened the following pool:
White
2 Kitesale Apprentice
Steppe Lynx
Apex hawks
Lightkeeper of Emeria
Nimbus Wings
Journey to Nowhere
Arrow Volley Trap
Windborn Charge
Rest for the Weary
Cliff Threader
Ruin Ghost
Brave the Elements
Sheildmate's Blessing
Blue
Mindbreak Trap
Jwar Shapeshifter
Spell Pierce
Dispel
AEther Tradewinds
Spell Contortion
Caller of Gales
Quest for Ancient Secrets
Shoal Serpent
2 Twitch
Kraken Hatchling
Calcite Snapper
Sejiri Merfolk
Gomozoa
Windrider Eel
Horizon Drake
Wind Zendikon
Paralyzing Grasp
Black
Abyssal Persecutor
Needlebite Trap
Urge to Feed
Dead Reckoning
Quag Vampires
Corrupted Zendikon
Soul Stair Expedition
Mindles Null
Disfigure
Heartstabber Mosquito
Red
Pyromancer Ascension
2 Skitter of Lizards
Spire Barage
Magma Rift
Molten Ravager
Shatterskull Giant
2 Cosi's Ravager
Torchslinger
Bladetusk Boar
Plated Geopede
Green
Timbermaw Larva
Relic Crush
Nature's Claim
Leatherback Baloth
Gnarlid Pack
Arbor Elf
Snapping Creeper
Grappler Spider
2 Slingbow Trap
Oran-Rief Recluse
Khalni-Heart Expedition
Baloth Cage Trap
Oran-Rief Survivalist
Nature's Claim
Graypelt Hunter
Land
Sejiri Refuge
Aride Mesa
Quicksand
Halimar Depths
Greypelt Refuge
Khalni Garden
Bojuka Bog
Piranha Marsh
Artifact
Amulet of Vigor
Expedition Map
Explorer's Scope
Kitesail
Pilgrim's Eye
Evaluating the bombs
Normally when opening a sealed pool, I start by figuring out which, if any, of my cards are truly "bombs." That is, which of these cards will create an amazing board presence for me, and will reliably help me win any game in which it's cast? Sadly, this pool was a little short on bombs. Abyssal Persecutor is a face-smashing machine, but there was no way I was going to be able to play him and remove him with any consistency. Pyromancer's Ascension is worthless, as there is no way you can open a bunch of the same, good instants and sorceries. Since Amulet of Vigor, Jwar Shapeshifter, and Mindbreak Trap were all equally worthless, I pretty much had to rely on the power of my commons and uncommons to get there every game.
Almost bombs
So what are we left to win with? Well, quite a bit actually. Fliers are worth almost any premium cost associated with them, and here we have some very strong options. Lightkeeper of Emeria is a really strong card, bringing the beats overhead while boosting your life total. Blue also gives us the very powerful Windrider Eel, cheap beats in Horizon Drake, and the surprisingly fast Wind Zendikon. While Bladetusk Boar isn't much of a flier, the intimidate ability means he can start smashing most decks within a relatively short amount of time.
Black, since I'm missing most relevant vampires, lacks much of a bite (har har har). Green presents another interesting conundrum: The meat is there, but not in a form that is easy to cast unless we dedicate ourselves to playing forests in abundance. Timbermaw Larva hits hard, but only if you have lots of trees. Leatherback Baloth is a huge body for a reasonable cost, but it's a very specific cost that makes it very difficult to cast.
At this point, it looks like we're going to have to go with some combination of red, blue, or white.
The Rest
So, now that we've anaylized our win conditions, our next step will be to analyze each color's abillity to remove threats, fix mana, and the strength of utility cards.
Tune into the next installment, where I'll do just that, and show you guys the final forty I decided on. Thanks for reading!
Monday, February 1, 2010
Insert Clever Worldwake Pun Here, pt. 1
-Greg
I'm going to have to open with an apology.
Despite the obvious love MTG players, and internet blog readers in general, have for puns - today I am offering none. In a world full of "Worldwake up!" and radio DJs poking fun at the new iPad, I'm afraid all the good puns have been made, repeated, and hammered into oblivion by appearing in demotivational posters and lolcats pictures. The ship has sailed, as it were, so instead of making the lot of you groan at my lack of wit... I'm going to make you groan by writing a two-part post that's way too long!
But, anyway, since this is an MTG blog, let me stop complaining about puns and move onto what the MTGnet is up in arms about: Worldwake.
Being two people who love eating poorly almost as much as we like slinging cards, the wife and I threw our dice and sleeves in our pockets and headed to the Midnight Prerelease Worldwake Nerdapalooza 2010 (not their official title, but I heard a lot of people referring to the event as the MPWN2010... Ok, not really. Sorry to lie to you in the opener). Despite everything happening either at a the time of day that can arguably be called either way too late or way too early, or the day after, we both went home pleased with the time we had spent. My hat goes off to the guys at Pastimes for holding yet another enjoyable, well-organized event. Thanks, guys!
Casual Magic
We go to a lot of large events, sometimes driving several hours at a time to slug it out at PTQs and 1/5Ks, but until last weekend we had never ventured out to check out a big casual event. I gotta tell ya, we might start doing it more - and I urge you guys to do the same. As I've written about before, casual players are friendly as hell. They're as excited by the cards as they are the game itself, and playing a few rounds against people who didn't show up with only winning in mind was a really pleasant change of pace for the two of us.
This slightly-shifted player base is bizarre and interesting compared to the usual teens/twenties dudefest we usually run into. There were adults there, some professional guys in business-casual attire. There were some older people, which I love to see, including a friendly gentleman who must have been 70 years old. There were kids, some of whom must have been ten or younger. There were girls there (more than a dozen out of around 150 on the second day), and they seemed to be having an awesome time. It was a really cool mish-mash of people who you would never expect to all be in the same room together, let alone having fun together - and the resulting sense of community was truly humbling. There we were, spread across more demographics than you'd care to count, and the end we were all united by one thing that; we were all nerds who relish in the art of cracking packs and turnin' 'em sideways.
The Event
One of the things that really helped MTG get its hooks in me at an early age is the art. Even looking way back to times before WotC could really devote the resources they currently employ, I still found myself totally enthralled by the world depicted on the card's images. Lhurgoyf was a big scary thing feeding off a graveyard. Wrath of God was a battlefield of strewn bodies. Even the guy on Forget looked like a dude who had forgotten something (aside: he's dressed like Snoop dogg). It made sense. It was impressive. I've always suspected I was not alone in this regard, and seeing the people flock this weekend to shake hands with and buy prints from featured artist Steve Argyle definitely confirmed this in my mind. I got a handful of cards signed (including my set of textless Ponders), but it took me a long time to find a moment between rounds that I could wait through the lines forming around his table. Having artists at events is a great idea, even more so when they're extremely nice guys like Steve. If anyone has a similar love for the pretty picture aspect of the game, I definitely encourage them to drop by the artist table at any event that has one. It's rare to find people who love what they do so much, and even rarer to find people so appreciative of their fans. Also, if you bring a stack of cards for signatures, make sure you slip them a couple of bucks. It's by no means mandatory, but it's a simple gesture that shows you appreciate their time as well as their art.
Another cool feature at the big events is the the Gunslinger table, where an accomplished MTG player just hangs out all day, playing any challenger in any format and handing out packs to anyone who can best them. While I have to laugh at the title a little bit, I have to laugh at myself even more for being so excited about it; The excitement is apparently infectious, as the line to trade licks with the most recent pro tour champion was always long. I was able to watch Brian Kibler play about a dozen games, and the guy was so friendly and fun that I don't think a lot of people minded the savage beatings he was handing out. Just a side note: If there's a shop out there looking to add more girls to their usual players, all I can say is hire Kibler to hang around and work the crowd. Even my own wife was swooning at this handsome bastard, to the point that she kept a seven card hand of Bitterblossom, Bitterblossom, Bitterblossom, Island, Island, Spell Snare, Watery Grave. *
Complaints
I have literally one complaint about the entire weekend: Pastimes had no way to accept a card as payment while in the motel event room. Subsequently, the motel's ATM ran out of cash, and I ended up paying for a draft with a handful of singles and a dollar in quarters. Very embarrassing. :x
Wrap it up, Already
If you, like me, have become disillusioned by the stress and work you have to put in to achieving even a moderate amount of success in competitive Magic, then hitting up one of these events is an awesome way to remember why you even got into the game in the first place. All the friendly faces, all the high-fives, and all the new friends I made really took me back to being a kid growing up in small town in Oklahoma. Back then, I had to beg my mom to drive me two towns over to track down some comic book shop or game store that I found in the phonebook, and even then there was no guarantee that they would have any cards at all. Finding someone to play with in a town of 3,000 was even more difficult, so it was pretty much my brother and me. Now, that's not to say that I didn't enjoy every second of being crushed by my brother's ridiculous decks. I just wish that we could've had access to places like this - places where we could just be ourselves - enjoy ourselves - doing something that the people around us were quick to ignore or ridicule.
______________________________________________
* This is a hand she'd normally throw back without thinking. I should probably mention that she's a pretty damn good player, with a respectable rating.
I'm going to have to open with an apology.
Despite the obvious love MTG players, and internet blog readers in general, have for puns - today I am offering none. In a world full of "Worldwake up!" and radio DJs poking fun at the new iPad, I'm afraid all the good puns have been made, repeated, and hammered into oblivion by appearing in demotivational posters and lolcats pictures. The ship has sailed, as it were, so instead of making the lot of you groan at my lack of wit... I'm going to make you groan by writing a two-part post that's way too long!
But, anyway, since this is an MTG blog, let me stop complaining about puns and move onto what the MTGnet is up in arms about: Worldwake.
Being two people who love eating poorly almost as much as we like slinging cards, the wife and I threw our dice and sleeves in our pockets and headed to the Midnight Prerelease Worldwake Nerdapalooza 2010 (not their official title, but I heard a lot of people referring to the event as the MPWN2010... Ok, not really. Sorry to lie to you in the opener). Despite everything happening either at a the time of day that can arguably be called either way too late or way too early, or the day after, we both went home pleased with the time we had spent. My hat goes off to the guys at Pastimes for holding yet another enjoyable, well-organized event. Thanks, guys!
Casual Magic
We go to a lot of large events, sometimes driving several hours at a time to slug it out at PTQs and 1/5Ks, but until last weekend we had never ventured out to check out a big casual event. I gotta tell ya, we might start doing it more - and I urge you guys to do the same. As I've written about before, casual players are friendly as hell. They're as excited by the cards as they are the game itself, and playing a few rounds against people who didn't show up with only winning in mind was a really pleasant change of pace for the two of us.
This slightly-shifted player base is bizarre and interesting compared to the usual teens/twenties dudefest we usually run into. There were adults there, some professional guys in business-casual attire. There were some older people, which I love to see, including a friendly gentleman who must have been 70 years old. There were kids, some of whom must have been ten or younger. There were girls there (more than a dozen out of around 150 on the second day), and they seemed to be having an awesome time. It was a really cool mish-mash of people who you would never expect to all be in the same room together, let alone having fun together - and the resulting sense of community was truly humbling. There we were, spread across more demographics than you'd care to count, and the end we were all united by one thing that; we were all nerds who relish in the art of cracking packs and turnin' 'em sideways.
The Event
One of the things that really helped MTG get its hooks in me at an early age is the art. Even looking way back to times before WotC could really devote the resources they currently employ, I still found myself totally enthralled by the world depicted on the card's images. Lhurgoyf was a big scary thing feeding off a graveyard. Wrath of God was a battlefield of strewn bodies. Even the guy on Forget looked like a dude who had forgotten something (aside: he's dressed like Snoop dogg). It made sense. It was impressive. I've always suspected I was not alone in this regard, and seeing the people flock this weekend to shake hands with and buy prints from featured artist Steve Argyle definitely confirmed this in my mind. I got a handful of cards signed (including my set of textless Ponders), but it took me a long time to find a moment between rounds that I could wait through the lines forming around his table. Having artists at events is a great idea, even more so when they're extremely nice guys like Steve. If anyone has a similar love for the pretty picture aspect of the game, I definitely encourage them to drop by the artist table at any event that has one. It's rare to find people who love what they do so much, and even rarer to find people so appreciative of their fans. Also, if you bring a stack of cards for signatures, make sure you slip them a couple of bucks. It's by no means mandatory, but it's a simple gesture that shows you appreciate their time as well as their art.
Another cool feature at the big events is the the Gunslinger table, where an accomplished MTG player just hangs out all day, playing any challenger in any format and handing out packs to anyone who can best them. While I have to laugh at the title a little bit, I have to laugh at myself even more for being so excited about it; The excitement is apparently infectious, as the line to trade licks with the most recent pro tour champion was always long. I was able to watch Brian Kibler play about a dozen games, and the guy was so friendly and fun that I don't think a lot of people minded the savage beatings he was handing out. Just a side note: If there's a shop out there looking to add more girls to their usual players, all I can say is hire Kibler to hang around and work the crowd. Even my own wife was swooning at this handsome bastard, to the point that she kept a seven card hand of Bitterblossom, Bitterblossom, Bitterblossom, Island, Island, Spell Snare, Watery Grave. *
Complaints
I have literally one complaint about the entire weekend: Pastimes had no way to accept a card as payment while in the motel event room. Subsequently, the motel's ATM ran out of cash, and I ended up paying for a draft with a handful of singles and a dollar in quarters. Very embarrassing. :x
Wrap it up, Already
If you, like me, have become disillusioned by the stress and work you have to put in to achieving even a moderate amount of success in competitive Magic, then hitting up one of these events is an awesome way to remember why you even got into the game in the first place. All the friendly faces, all the high-fives, and all the new friends I made really took me back to being a kid growing up in small town in Oklahoma. Back then, I had to beg my mom to drive me two towns over to track down some comic book shop or game store that I found in the phonebook, and even then there was no guarantee that they would have any cards at all. Finding someone to play with in a town of 3,000 was even more difficult, so it was pretty much my brother and me. Now, that's not to say that I didn't enjoy every second of being crushed by my brother's ridiculous decks. I just wish that we could've had access to places like this - places where we could just be ourselves - enjoy ourselves - doing something that the people around us were quick to ignore or ridicule.
______________________________________________
* This is a hand she'd normally throw back without thinking. I should probably mention that she's a pretty damn good player, with a respectable rating.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Indianapolis PTQ - Almost Got There
-Greg
We arrived in Indianapolis late on Saturday night, pulling in to Pete's aunt and uncle's house around 10 pm. Even though we stayed up late poring over matchup tech and sideboard slots, they were plowing us with snacks and soda, and were genuinely amused at how a group of young adults such as ourselves preferred to spend our free time. Pete's uncle was particularly interested in the cards, especially the foils and foreign ones. I have a feeling that if we'd stayed another day we would've had him hooked on the game, too.
We arrived at the venue with enough time for everyone to scope out the decks people were registering, help Tom grab some last-minute cards, and register. There was a unusually large number of players sleeving up Affinity, which we were all a little confused by, but luckily we built our Tezz boards to double as affinity hate. Midway through writing our lists down, one Adrian Sullivan dropped by with a big smile and a box of clementines! I got this warm and fuzzy feeling of community spirit, which I quickly buried deep inside , reminding myself that between 2 and 8 of these people would be my sworn enemy for one hour each. I just hoped I didn't have to play Adrian, because I would've wanted to scoop on the spot to return his gesture of kindness.
I don't have my whole list in front of me right now, but I basically played aggro-loam with every stupid two-card combo I could think of that would fit in Naya colors. Bloodbraid Elf into Boom//Bust, Flagstones to make sure my mana denial left me a step ahead, Seismic Assault with Life from the Loam and Countryside Crusher, and Punishing Fire with Groves all gave me that "I'm an asshole for playing this" feeling. I'll post the full list later, as a lot of people seemed interested in the deck's inner workings.
On to the report!
Round 1: Dark Bant
The guy that sat down next to me I immediately recognized from the player meeting. He was trying desperately to figure out what he had messed up on his deck reg sheet, riffing through cards desperately as his strangely supportive girlfriend tried to sort it out. I took it personally how rude he was being to his lady friend, and decided to pass on calling the judges (who were busy poring over lists, anyway), and completely humiliate him in a rousing game of MTG. Of course, if Brenna's super-sleuthing abilities hadn't already tipped me off that he was playing Doran, I might have done the right thing and went to judge-town. Actually, if he were playing mono-red burn... I definitely would've called the judge. Pro tip: Have your shit together before the tournament starts.
Game 1: I chose to keep a mediocre hand of seven with relevant lands and some burn. I torched his first BoP, but he had the second on turn two to drop the third-turn Rafiq. I chuckled a little bit at facing down Rafiq before I realized that the unchecked 0/1 bird was now officially a threat. He played another land and spun the Bird sideways. I asked what color mana he wanted to make, and he says "ATTACK! ATTACK!" I said, "Go back man, declare your attack step." After this, a Path to Exile on Rafiq was all it took to put him completely on tilt. I continued playing attrition with him for a while, waiting until I got a clear read that he didn't have anymore removal in-hand by obviously tapping five lands and counting out 1-2 white mana before playing Baneslayer. He winced noticeably at this, and when she hit the table, it looked like someone had kicked him in the stomach. Of course, he drew his card, and did this cartoon-style I'm-so-relieved act and pathed her in his first main phase. Then I died to a Qasali Pridemage carrying a Jitte when I couldn't draw anything before it got to infinite counters.
sideboard: + 2 purge, + 2 runed halo, -2 something, -2 something.
For a deck that relies solely on creatures, mine were substantially better - so I decided to board in a way that would 1 for 1 him until I could burn him out. Sorry about the spotty notes I took; I didn't really take this guy seriously.
Game 2: I started off slow, forcing him to play into an attrition war with me by playing just enough creatures to trade with the ones he could ramp into, then burn everything else, including him, to the ground. The only trouble I had for the entire game was a Jitte, but every time one of his little dorks tried to pick it up I singed them with a never-ending supply of Punishing Fires. Surprisingly, I never draw anything but burn, removal, and Baneslayers... So I killed him with a Baneslayer while he was playing with an empty hand. I chuckled a little to myself when he scooped, and somehow resisted the urge to show him my hand. STILL HAD ALL THESE LIGHTNING HELICES.
Game 3: 3 went exactly like 2 with one exception: instead of Purging a Doran, I Pathed me a Rafiq.
1-0
Round 2: Affinity.
Game 1: I drop Seismic Assault on turn 3, burn lands at the end of his turn, and start casting and dredging Loam on turn 4. I continue to burn the few Ornithopters and Frogmites he can play, and eventually just whittle him down. I literally only cast two spells this entire game. It was awesome.
Board: +2 krosan grip, +3 Kataki, War's Wage, -2 assault, -3 path.
Path is awesome in this matchup because they don't have basic lands. It sucks, though, because they have Ravager. Grip and Kataki do what Path does and more.
Game 2: I eat a turn 1 Toughtsieze, and have to bin my Countryside Crusher. My hand looks a lot worse now, but I hang in there with Punishing Fire and Lightning Helix. Eventually, I look pretty much dead as the board is me with some lands, him with 2 Ravagers, 2 artifact lands, Frogmite, and a pretty scary Cranial Plating. Like the true pro I am, I rip Kataki off the top. He eventually succumbs to my furious 2/1 beats and some burn spells.
2-0
Round 3: Hypergenesis.
Game 1: Hypergenesis into Iona, naming white. I manage to stay a live for a while since I had cast multiple Lightning Helices, and have him to the point where I can burn him out with Loam+Assault if I can just untap. He swings with an exalted 8/8 Iona while I'm at 9 life, then casts Violent Outburst and chooses not to cast the cascade spell. This seriously confused me, until I realized that that made Iona get me for the last point of damage. Ouch.
Sideboard: +2 purge, +2 runed halo, -4 punishing fire and hope for the best...
I had taken out all my sideboard HG hate, so I just... Wished for the best, I guess. In hindsight, he would always name Iona to white, so I have no idea why I put in two more Purges over Punishing Fire. Runed Halo is good because you can still put it into play when they cast Hypergenesis.
Game 2: He mulls to six card, which makes my LD Heavy hand seem pretty decent. Turn 2, I Boom//Bust his land and my Flagstones, putting me a land ahead. Turn 3, I Ghost Quarter him, leaving him again with one land in play. Then I start slamming down Bloodbraids, desperately trying to hit a Boom//Bust to lock him out. Of course, it never happens, and he dumps his hand. Progenitus, Iona set to white, and TWO Darksteel Colossi. Thanks for playing.
2-1
Round 4: Mono-red Burn.
Game 1: We were just discussing the never-scoop policy in the car, and I'm glad I stuck to it. I cast the heavy half of Boom//Bust at 1 life, and win with nothing but two Goyfs on the field. Pro play, Greg!
Sideboard: +2 Celestial Purge, -2 Boom//Bust
For some inexplicable reason, I brought Gaddock Teeg to a gunfight. I would seriously learn my lesson of not packing Kitchen Finks...
Game 2: I am at 3 life with lethal damage on the board when he topdecks Bolt to burn me out.
game 3: I am at 4 life with lethal damage on the board when he topdecks Flames of the Blood Hand to burn me out.
2-2
Normally, people drop at x-2, but I didn't want to let two fluke matches ruin my run. I knew the deck could win in almost any situation, so I stuck it out, determined to play tighter.
Round 5: Almost AIR (splashing white for Path)
Game 1: I can't figure out what he's playing, so I just start grinding his manabase with Boom//Bust and Ghost Quarters. Eventually I tap out and he drops a very unexpected Thunderblust (!!!) to get in for seven. Next turn, he plays Demigod and swings in for the kill. I Quarter my own tapped Flagstones to grab a Plains, and he starts tapping lands and playing irrelvant instants to do irrelevant shit, which I should've realized was to throw me off my game. I start stacking triggers, too, burning his Thunderblust twice to kill it for good, and in the argument over timing I forget to resolve my Quarter trigger to Path his Demigod before I take the damage. I lose a totally winnable game soon after, because I let this guy throw me off my game - intentionally or not.
Sideboard: +2 purge, +2 runed halo, -2 ghost quarter, -2 punishing fire
Game 2: I play the early game around Blood Moon, making sure I can get my Plains and Forest in play so I'm not totally wrecked if he combos out. Thankfully, he comes out of the gate pretty slowly, so I Runed Halo for Demigod, and Purge/Path his Thunderblusts. He's forced to save Shrapnel Blasts for my Baneslayers, and I Loam+Assault him into submission.
Game 3: He puts me to a pretty low life before I can Purge his threats, then I cast Bloodbraid and flip Boom//Bust. He's skeptical that this trick works, but the judges assure him my tech is legit, and I'm rewarded with a board that's totally empty except for a ridiculously large Knight of the Reliquary.
3-2
Round 6: Affinity
Game 1: Just to remind everyone, I didn't play during Mirrodin block, and have never faced Affinity before this tournament. Luckily, no one was around when I was proving this to my opponent, who sacced his Ravager to itself in response to my Path to make a giant Ornithopter. I make a mental note to read the cards that I'm unfamiliar with, and we go to game two.
Sideboard: Same as before.
Game 2: I mulligan to a sick six-card hand with Kataki and spot removal. In his second turn, he goes down to one robot, giving up a land, and then plays Glimmervoid. I untap, Path his one guy, and then point to his Glimmervoid (I read the card!). He says "What? Oh shit. Nah.. Fuck it, I can't deal with this," and scoops them up.
Game 3: We grind each other down for a while, with me using my newly found knowledge of the Modular ability to play chase the counters with his Ravagers. I'm successfully matching his threats 1 for 1 for a while, Gripping his Masters of Etherium, and casting Punishing Fire in response to Ravager's Modular ability. In the end it just came down to me playing a better game than him, and after I cleared the air of Thopters, I crashed Baneslayer in for massive damage. The best lesson I learned today is that it is an awesome idea to play foreign cards. He swung a 14/2 Thopter that was carrying TWO Cranial Platings right into my Baneslayer... Who has first strike.
4-2
Round 7: Rubin Zoo
Game 1: I keep a bad hand and get crushed pretty fast.
Game 2: During his mull to four, I accidentally dropped some of his cards on the ground. I acted dumb, which in conjunction with his bad draws upset him enough that he accidentally scattered his cards all over the table. I slow-roll the burn win to push him over the edge. I am the Jedi.
Game 3: I mull to a decent six-card hand that's heavy on creatures. He plays Nacatl, Path, Goyf, Path, Deathark, Path. Not much you can do about that.
Round 8: No Show.
I got paired WAY up, and was really looking forward to hopefully doing some dream-crushing while waiting to see if the Wife would win her way into the top 16, but the guy never showed. I hope he's ok, because he had enough points to potentially win into half a box and he just... Didn't show up.
5-3
This deck is strong, and amazingly fun to play. It packs a wide range of extremely relevant threats and win conditions without being too unfocused, which gives you a number of different strategies to win that can be easily modified on-the-fly. This wide range of options isn't always good thing, however. Everything matters. Every land decision, every point of life, and every single trigger from your side or the other will affect the game more than another deck would. But that's what's so rewarding about it. Every win you pull it is based totally on your skill, and in your ability to run percentages in your head while still evaluating the strength of your and your opponent's threats. It's extremely important to remember everything the deck can do, and figure out or know how your opponent's deck works. I feel like every game loss I got (with the exception of the two nutty games against Hypergenesis) were completely within the realms of winning.
At any rate, there are some changes that need to be made. The deck needs a way to survive the burn matchup. I've been kicking some ideas around, and it's pretty much CoP: Red or Kitchen Finks - but if I run Finks, I think I want to run a single copy of Oran Rief, the Vastwood to gain massive amounts of life. It's easily tutorable with Knight of the Reliquary, but in order to make sure I can always hit RRR and WW, it will have to replace a Ghost Quarter or a take up another sideboard slot. I'm not sure if it's worth it yet.
Want to guess what my absolute best sideboard card was all day?
Runed Halo.
SERIOUSLY.
At any rate, I'd like to end this post by saying the guys from Pastime's ran a nice, tightly organized event, and the judge team were all great. I know some people dont like to play at Pastime's for whatever reason (I, myself, prefer not to attend any big event they try to hold in their shop in fear that I will be trampled by the crowd trying to escape a fire), but I definitely appreciate the way they run their larger events and treat their customers. Big thanks to Alan, Ron, and all the other guys whose names I can never remember!
Cheers!
We arrived in Indianapolis late on Saturday night, pulling in to Pete's aunt and uncle's house around 10 pm. Even though we stayed up late poring over matchup tech and sideboard slots, they were plowing us with snacks and soda, and were genuinely amused at how a group of young adults such as ourselves preferred to spend our free time. Pete's uncle was particularly interested in the cards, especially the foils and foreign ones. I have a feeling that if we'd stayed another day we would've had him hooked on the game, too.
We arrived at the venue with enough time for everyone to scope out the decks people were registering, help Tom grab some last-minute cards, and register. There was a unusually large number of players sleeving up Affinity, which we were all a little confused by, but luckily we built our Tezz boards to double as affinity hate. Midway through writing our lists down, one Adrian Sullivan dropped by with a big smile and a box of clementines! I got this warm and fuzzy feeling of community spirit, which I quickly buried deep inside , reminding myself that between 2 and 8 of these people would be my sworn enemy for one hour each. I just hoped I didn't have to play Adrian, because I would've wanted to scoop on the spot to return his gesture of kindness.
I don't have my whole list in front of me right now, but I basically played aggro-loam with every stupid two-card combo I could think of that would fit in Naya colors. Bloodbraid Elf into Boom//Bust, Flagstones to make sure my mana denial left me a step ahead, Seismic Assault with Life from the Loam and Countryside Crusher, and Punishing Fire with Groves all gave me that "I'm an asshole for playing this" feeling. I'll post the full list later, as a lot of people seemed interested in the deck's inner workings.
On to the report!
Round 1: Dark Bant
The guy that sat down next to me I immediately recognized from the player meeting. He was trying desperately to figure out what he had messed up on his deck reg sheet, riffing through cards desperately as his strangely supportive girlfriend tried to sort it out. I took it personally how rude he was being to his lady friend, and decided to pass on calling the judges (who were busy poring over lists, anyway), and completely humiliate him in a rousing game of MTG. Of course, if Brenna's super-sleuthing abilities hadn't already tipped me off that he was playing Doran, I might have done the right thing and went to judge-town. Actually, if he were playing mono-red burn... I definitely would've called the judge. Pro tip: Have your shit together before the tournament starts.
Game 1: I chose to keep a mediocre hand of seven with relevant lands and some burn. I torched his first BoP, but he had the second on turn two to drop the third-turn Rafiq. I chuckled a little bit at facing down Rafiq before I realized that the unchecked 0/1 bird was now officially a threat. He played another land and spun the Bird sideways. I asked what color mana he wanted to make, and he says "ATTACK! ATTACK!" I said, "Go back man, declare your attack step." After this, a Path to Exile on Rafiq was all it took to put him completely on tilt. I continued playing attrition with him for a while, waiting until I got a clear read that he didn't have anymore removal in-hand by obviously tapping five lands and counting out 1-2 white mana before playing Baneslayer. He winced noticeably at this, and when she hit the table, it looked like someone had kicked him in the stomach. Of course, he drew his card, and did this cartoon-style I'm-so-relieved act and pathed her in his first main phase. Then I died to a Qasali Pridemage carrying a Jitte when I couldn't draw anything before it got to infinite counters.
sideboard: + 2 purge, + 2 runed halo, -2 something, -2 something.
For a deck that relies solely on creatures, mine were substantially better - so I decided to board in a way that would 1 for 1 him until I could burn him out. Sorry about the spotty notes I took; I didn't really take this guy seriously.
Game 2: I started off slow, forcing him to play into an attrition war with me by playing just enough creatures to trade with the ones he could ramp into, then burn everything else, including him, to the ground. The only trouble I had for the entire game was a Jitte, but every time one of his little dorks tried to pick it up I singed them with a never-ending supply of Punishing Fires. Surprisingly, I never draw anything but burn, removal, and Baneslayers... So I killed him with a Baneslayer while he was playing with an empty hand. I chuckled a little to myself when he scooped, and somehow resisted the urge to show him my hand. STILL HAD ALL THESE LIGHTNING HELICES.
Game 3: 3 went exactly like 2 with one exception: instead of Purging a Doran, I Pathed me a Rafiq.
1-0
Round 2: Affinity.
Game 1: I drop Seismic Assault on turn 3, burn lands at the end of his turn, and start casting and dredging Loam on turn 4. I continue to burn the few Ornithopters and Frogmites he can play, and eventually just whittle him down. I literally only cast two spells this entire game. It was awesome.
Board: +2 krosan grip, +3 Kataki, War's Wage, -2 assault, -3 path.
Path is awesome in this matchup because they don't have basic lands. It sucks, though, because they have Ravager. Grip and Kataki do what Path does and more.
Game 2: I eat a turn 1 Toughtsieze, and have to bin my Countryside Crusher. My hand looks a lot worse now, but I hang in there with Punishing Fire and Lightning Helix. Eventually, I look pretty much dead as the board is me with some lands, him with 2 Ravagers, 2 artifact lands, Frogmite, and a pretty scary Cranial Plating. Like the true pro I am, I rip Kataki off the top. He eventually succumbs to my furious 2/1 beats and some burn spells.
2-0
Round 3: Hypergenesis.
Game 1: Hypergenesis into Iona, naming white. I manage to stay a live for a while since I had cast multiple Lightning Helices, and have him to the point where I can burn him out with Loam+Assault if I can just untap. He swings with an exalted 8/8 Iona while I'm at 9 life, then casts Violent Outburst and chooses not to cast the cascade spell. This seriously confused me, until I realized that that made Iona get me for the last point of damage. Ouch.
Sideboard: +2 purge, +2 runed halo, -4 punishing fire and hope for the best...
I had taken out all my sideboard HG hate, so I just... Wished for the best, I guess. In hindsight, he would always name Iona to white, so I have no idea why I put in two more Purges over Punishing Fire. Runed Halo is good because you can still put it into play when they cast Hypergenesis.
Game 2: He mulls to six card, which makes my LD Heavy hand seem pretty decent. Turn 2, I Boom//Bust his land and my Flagstones, putting me a land ahead. Turn 3, I Ghost Quarter him, leaving him again with one land in play. Then I start slamming down Bloodbraids, desperately trying to hit a Boom//Bust to lock him out. Of course, it never happens, and he dumps his hand. Progenitus, Iona set to white, and TWO Darksteel Colossi. Thanks for playing.
2-1
Round 4: Mono-red Burn.
Game 1: We were just discussing the never-scoop policy in the car, and I'm glad I stuck to it. I cast the heavy half of Boom//Bust at 1 life, and win with nothing but two Goyfs on the field. Pro play, Greg!
Sideboard: +2 Celestial Purge, -2 Boom//Bust
For some inexplicable reason, I brought Gaddock Teeg to a gunfight. I would seriously learn my lesson of not packing Kitchen Finks...
Game 2: I am at 3 life with lethal damage on the board when he topdecks Bolt to burn me out.
game 3: I am at 4 life with lethal damage on the board when he topdecks Flames of the Blood Hand to burn me out.
2-2
Normally, people drop at x-2, but I didn't want to let two fluke matches ruin my run. I knew the deck could win in almost any situation, so I stuck it out, determined to play tighter.
Round 5: Almost AIR (splashing white for Path)
Game 1: I can't figure out what he's playing, so I just start grinding his manabase with Boom//Bust and Ghost Quarters. Eventually I tap out and he drops a very unexpected Thunderblust (!!!) to get in for seven. Next turn, he plays Demigod and swings in for the kill. I Quarter my own tapped Flagstones to grab a Plains, and he starts tapping lands and playing irrelvant instants to do irrelevant shit, which I should've realized was to throw me off my game. I start stacking triggers, too, burning his Thunderblust twice to kill it for good, and in the argument over timing I forget to resolve my Quarter trigger to Path his Demigod before I take the damage. I lose a totally winnable game soon after, because I let this guy throw me off my game - intentionally or not.
Sideboard: +2 purge, +2 runed halo, -2 ghost quarter, -2 punishing fire
Game 2: I play the early game around Blood Moon, making sure I can get my Plains and Forest in play so I'm not totally wrecked if he combos out. Thankfully, he comes out of the gate pretty slowly, so I Runed Halo for Demigod, and Purge/Path his Thunderblusts. He's forced to save Shrapnel Blasts for my Baneslayers, and I Loam+Assault him into submission.
Game 3: He puts me to a pretty low life before I can Purge his threats, then I cast Bloodbraid and flip Boom//Bust. He's skeptical that this trick works, but the judges assure him my tech is legit, and I'm rewarded with a board that's totally empty except for a ridiculously large Knight of the Reliquary.
3-2
Round 6: Affinity
Game 1: Just to remind everyone, I didn't play during Mirrodin block, and have never faced Affinity before this tournament. Luckily, no one was around when I was proving this to my opponent, who sacced his Ravager to itself in response to my Path to make a giant Ornithopter. I make a mental note to read the cards that I'm unfamiliar with, and we go to game two.
Sideboard: Same as before.
Game 2: I mulligan to a sick six-card hand with Kataki and spot removal. In his second turn, he goes down to one robot, giving up a land, and then plays Glimmervoid. I untap, Path his one guy, and then point to his Glimmervoid (I read the card!). He says "What? Oh shit. Nah.. Fuck it, I can't deal with this," and scoops them up.
Game 3: We grind each other down for a while, with me using my newly found knowledge of the Modular ability to play chase the counters with his Ravagers. I'm successfully matching his threats 1 for 1 for a while, Gripping his Masters of Etherium, and casting Punishing Fire in response to Ravager's Modular ability. In the end it just came down to me playing a better game than him, and after I cleared the air of Thopters, I crashed Baneslayer in for massive damage. The best lesson I learned today is that it is an awesome idea to play foreign cards. He swung a 14/2 Thopter that was carrying TWO Cranial Platings right into my Baneslayer... Who has first strike.
4-2
Round 7: Rubin Zoo
Game 1: I keep a bad hand and get crushed pretty fast.
Game 2: During his mull to four, I accidentally dropped some of his cards on the ground. I acted dumb, which in conjunction with his bad draws upset him enough that he accidentally scattered his cards all over the table. I slow-roll the burn win to push him over the edge. I am the Jedi.
Game 3: I mull to a decent six-card hand that's heavy on creatures. He plays Nacatl, Path, Goyf, Path, Deathark, Path. Not much you can do about that.
Round 8: No Show.
I got paired WAY up, and was really looking forward to hopefully doing some dream-crushing while waiting to see if the Wife would win her way into the top 16, but the guy never showed. I hope he's ok, because he had enough points to potentially win into half a box and he just... Didn't show up.
5-3
This deck is strong, and amazingly fun to play. It packs a wide range of extremely relevant threats and win conditions without being too unfocused, which gives you a number of different strategies to win that can be easily modified on-the-fly. This wide range of options isn't always good thing, however. Everything matters. Every land decision, every point of life, and every single trigger from your side or the other will affect the game more than another deck would. But that's what's so rewarding about it. Every win you pull it is based totally on your skill, and in your ability to run percentages in your head while still evaluating the strength of your and your opponent's threats. It's extremely important to remember everything the deck can do, and figure out or know how your opponent's deck works. I feel like every game loss I got (with the exception of the two nutty games against Hypergenesis) were completely within the realms of winning.
At any rate, there are some changes that need to be made. The deck needs a way to survive the burn matchup. I've been kicking some ideas around, and it's pretty much CoP: Red or Kitchen Finks - but if I run Finks, I think I want to run a single copy of Oran Rief, the Vastwood to gain massive amounts of life. It's easily tutorable with Knight of the Reliquary, but in order to make sure I can always hit RRR and WW, it will have to replace a Ghost Quarter or a take up another sideboard slot. I'm not sure if it's worth it yet.
Want to guess what my absolute best sideboard card was all day?
Runed Halo.
SERIOUSLY.
At any rate, I'd like to end this post by saying the guys from Pastime's ran a nice, tightly organized event, and the judge team were all great. I know some people dont like to play at Pastime's for whatever reason (I, myself, prefer not to attend any big event they try to hold in their shop in fear that I will be trampled by the crowd trying to escape a fire), but I definitely appreciate the way they run their larger events and treat their customers. Big thanks to Alan, Ron, and all the other guys whose names I can never remember!
Cheers!
Monday, January 4, 2010
Into the Blue
A special guest post this weekend from a fellow Team Barnabus card-slinger and good friend Luciano Leon. Hope you guys enjoy it!
-Luciano
-Luciano
As of this writing, blue mages have been left out in the cold. In years past, blue was the go-to color of control and tempo. Blue had control, in the form of counter spells, and tempo, in the form of Memory Lapse and bounce effects. Most competitive forms of counters and tempo cards are pretty nonexistent at the moment. Anyone hoping to stand a chance at winning in the new standard piloting a blue deck must come to grips with how to deal with Jund, where WotC has decided to put most of its card advantage.
The main reason why blue-based control experiences such an uphill battle is that its control cards are roughly a turn too slow. That is to say, slow, compared to how fast an aggressive deck can deploy its beats. The only aggressively costed counter spells are Essence Scatter and Negate. The inherent problem with running these cards is, they can catch you in an awkward position of having brought the wrong weapon into the fight. Holding a Negate in your hand while facing down a Broodmate Dragon or Baneslayer Angel on the stack is just incredibly frustrating for control players. Standard desperately needs a simple two-mana counter that does not care what spell it targets. Now, I know we are not getting Counterspell back any time soon, if ever, but I think this format calls for something like Remand. Remand costs two mana, can counter anything, and even cantrips. It isn’t a hard counter, it’s more of a tempo swing, as it returns the spell back to the caster’s hand when it counters it. It is these little incremental tempo swings that blue-based control thrives on.
Another thing blue is in dire need of is card draw at instant speed. If WotC wants to make blue reactive, that’s fine, but going a turn without accomplishing anything is not ideal. Jace Beleren can only do so much in this aspect. A step in the right direction would have been to have made divination into an instant, instead of a sorcery. It wouldn’t be too much to ask, considering the power of counter spells has been throttled down.
Even when most have all but given up on blue, there are those who continue to play
I, personally, am looking forward to whatever Worldwake brings. Blue mages everywhere will rejoice if the set brings powerful tools to pair with the recently spoiled Jace, the Mind Sculptor. Hopefully that will be the case. Even if blue continues its slump, Standard will benefit from an additional set, as it will inevitably help create new archetypes and add overall variety to the format.
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Bonus - Tom is PISSED
-Greg
A bonus post for tonight, dudes. EDH with the team is always hilarious, and in this covert sound clip that Brenna took one night, you can hear Tom's extreme anger over Luciano's dick move.
What happened:
Tom has some token making monsters out, and some tokens. I have three relatively harmless Slivers. Pete has some utility guys that aren't really a threat. Luciano casts Hex to destroy six creatures. He looks around the board before pointing rapidly at Tom's guys, including his 1/1 Dragon and Saproling tokens saying "this one, this one, this one..." Tom FFO's.
Here's the File
A bonus post for tonight, dudes. EDH with the team is always hilarious, and in this covert sound clip that Brenna took one night, you can hear Tom's extreme anger over Luciano's dick move.
What happened:
Tom has some token making monsters out, and some tokens. I have three relatively harmless Slivers. Pete has some utility guys that aren't really a threat. Luciano casts Hex to destroy six creatures. He looks around the board before pointing rapidly at Tom's guys, including his 1/1 Dragon and Saproling tokens saying "this one, this one, this one..." Tom FFO's.
Here's the File
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