Gamer's Paradise Pre-Grand Opening Tournament

This weekend I attended the first tournament ran by the new shop in town, Gamer’s Paradise. Overall I have to say that I was impressed. The tournament was run with efficiency and the site was great, having just enough room for all 55 of us, quite the showing. But the best part of the tournament was the aggressive prize payout. First place was to receive a full 4x play set of the yet unreleased Dark Ascension, while second would walk away with a 1x of the set. Not to mention the countless packs and store credit handed out to the other top 16 finishers. These prizes are great but when it comes to the tournament itself what did the winning decks tell us about the state of standard and where will we go from here when Dark Ascension is finally released to the world?

We will start with the winning deck list. A Wolf-Run list played by Ronndre Price.

Ronndre Price - Wolf-Run 1st Place
4 Primeval Titan
4 Solemn Simulacrum
4 Viridian Emissary
4 Galvanic Blast
4 Rampant Growth
3 Inferno Titan
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
2 Devil’s Play
1 Birds of Paradise
2 Green Sun’s Zenith
3 Slagstorm
1 Wurmcoil Engine
2 Whipflare
4 Rootbound Crag
4 Copperline Gorge
4 Inkmoth Nexus
8 Forests
3 Kessig Wolf Run
3 Mountains

Sideboard
1 Wurmcoil Engine
3 Beast Within
2 Incinerate
1 Shock
3 Acidic Slime
1 Slagstorm
2 Ancient Grudge
2 Thrun, the last Troll


Now while Slagstorm has been an accepted card in wolfrun since the decks coming out party, Ronndre’ was additionally packing 2 Whipflare in his main deck. I really like this inclusion. Whipflare goes a long way in slowing down the 2 most popular agro decks right now, delver and humans. Whipflare being one mana cheaper is really important in keeping the hexproof creatures in check. Also, Whipflare being only one red mana is an important detail in Ronndre’s deck since he is a little light on mountains. I love that he can more consistently cast his sweepers since he has also moved away from playing sphere of the suns. Ronndre’s sideboard also packs a little more burn than the typical wolf-run list, a fact that no doubt helped him wade through all the creature aggro decks all day long in route to his victory. Jody Keith also made top 8 with Wolf-Run, but with quite a different take on the deck.

Jody Keith - Wolf-Run Top 8
4 Birds of Paradise
3 Daybreak Ranger
2 Inferno Titan
2 Primeval Titan
2 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Stingerfling Spider
1 Thrun, the last Troll
4 Viridian Emissary
2 Batterskull
4 Galvanic Blast
2 Green Sun’s Zenith
3 Ratchet Bomb
3 Slagstorm
2 Sword of War and Peace
4 Copperline Gorge
1 Ghost Quarter
4 Rootbound Crag
3 Kessig Wolf Run
2 Inkmoth Nexus
2 Mountain
9 Forest


Sideboard
2 Ancient Grudge
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Gut Shot
1 Into the Maw of Hell
1 Karn Liberated
2 Mayor of Avabruck
2 Naturalize
1 Solemn Simulacrum
2 Sword of Feast and Famine
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
1 Acidic Slime


Jody made a few different choices than most wolf-run lists but I really like them. While Rondre’s list had Whipflare main to help keep the aggro decks in check, Jody had 3 Ratchet Bomb. I love this card right now in Standard. With obvious implications versus aggro decks it can really cause problems for decks that rely on cards like Oblivion Ring and Relic Warder to slow down and control this deck. I also really like the inclusion of Daybreak Ranger and Stingerfling Spider in the main, I’m not sure about 3 Daybreak Ranger though. I played Daybreak Ranger in Orlando and he was good for me all day long. Daybreak Ranger goes a really long way in keeping the aggro decks in check, especially delver. Not only can he hold all their Delvers in check, it forces them to start playing more cards on their own turn to keep him from turning into a real clock. This can lead to some awkward games for the Delver decks and more of the Wolf-Run player’s turns being affected. I had been talking with some friends lately about Stingerfling and Into the Maw of Hell in Wolf-Run and was glad to see Jody run them. Stingerfling just seems great versus Delver right now. Not only will it usually kill a flipped Delver when cast but also it keeps other Delvers in check. Not to mention how well it holds off Geist of St.Traft. Jody and I talked during the tournament about Into the Maw of Hell. I love this card for the mirror and so did he. Jody could not have spoken my mind better when he told me that one of the problems the deck has is just how cold you are to a resolved titan in the mirror. Usually you are going to lose if your opponent plays one before you do. Into the Maw of Hell allows you to not only kill their titan but also one of the lands they have searched up, putting you back into a much more winnable position. Jody told me after the tournament that while he didn’t get to use the card much he felt like he wanted at least 1 more copy in his sideboard.


Coleman Peret was the lone control player to make the top 8. Coleman, despite being just 15, is a very talented local player who has a bright future in front of him if he gets more time to play. If it wasn’t for a misplay in the top 8, to eventual winner Rondre, we may have seen this tournament as a coming out party for the youngster.

Coleman’s weapon of choice was a UB control deck that grinds out games and piles card advantage on its opponents. His list was only 2-3 cards different from the list I played myself at the tournament, we worked a lot on the list and I really liked and respected his ideas on the deck versus the field.

Coleman Perret - UB Control Top 8
1 Karn Liberated
1 Batterskull
2 Black Sun’s Zenith
2 Blue Sun’s Zenith
2 Curse of Death’s Hold
2 Liliana of the Veil
3 Forbidden Alchemy
2 Tribute to Hunger
3 Snapcaster Mage
3 Dissipate
4 Mana Leak
3 Think Twice
3 Virulent Wound
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Go for the Throat
1 Doomblade
4 Darkslick Shores
4 Drowned Catacombs
2 Ghost Quarter
2 Nephalia Drownyard
7 Islands
7 Swamps


Sideboard
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Go for the Throat
1 Azure Mage
1 Curse of Death’s Hold
1 Life’s Finale
1 Sorin Markov
1 Black Sun’s Zenith
2 Nephalia Drownyard
2 Nihil Spellbomb
2 Bloodline Keeper
2 Jace, Memory Adept


I really like this deck vs the field right now. You just have so much game against every deck out there. The real standout for me in this deck has been Virulent Wound. Why not Wring Flesh you ask? While Wring Flesh does take away 3 power for the turn it does not leave a –1/-1 counter like wound does. Combine that with Coleman’s Zeniths and Curses and you can get a lot of value out of that one mana. I really like the sideboard options Coleman has. Being able to add lands to your deck for the control match ups is just awesome. But wait, those lands do so much more. Against most other control decks Drownyard is pretty unbeatable. While you have Ghost Quarter to deal with their opposing Drownyards or their quarters making it safe for your own milling land. Bloodline Keeper seems great to bring in against the decks that are going to shave removal against you, allowing the limited all-star to take over the game. This may be the best “Jace” deck I have seen in standard; the more I play with the deck the more I want one main. I would also like to add a Ratchet Bomb to the deck to help out with a few matchups, especially UW humans, maybe taking out the Azure Mage.

Jeffery Moseley - Puresteel Paladin Top 4
1 Sylvok Lifestaff
4 Flayer Husk
4 Mortapod
3 Sword of War and Peace
2 Sword of Feast and Famine
2 Spellskite
3 Etched Champion
2 Leonin Relic-Warder
3 Glint Hawk
4 Pursteel Paladin
4 Mirran Crusader
2 Mox Opal
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Seachrome Coast
2 Moorland Haunt
2 Inkmoth Nexus
10 Plains


Sideboard
4 Dispatch
2 Oblivion Ring
4 Mana Leak
2 Celestial Purge
2 Hero of Bladehold
1 Trinket Mage
1 Mentor of the Meek
1 Batterskull
2 Timely Reinforcement

The last deck I am going to talk about is certainly the most fun deck of the top 8. While Puresteel decks have been around and on the fringe the whole season, I like this deck choice right now. Mortapod has not been this good since Squadron Hawk and Stoneforge Mystic ruled standard. I talked to Jeff after the tournament and asked him what he would change about the deck going forward. Jeff only wanted to change a few cards in his maindeck, starting with the swords. He said that while Sword of Feast and Famine was good for him during the day he wanted the 4th Sword of War and Peace. This is a move I can get behind since Sword of War and Peace is a game breaker in the UW humans and Delver matchups. Jeff also told me that he would have liked the Trinket Mage main. I can see this change really helping out with the games that go longer since anything Trinket Mage searches up has so much value in this deck. The final change Jeff wanted was the cut the Inkmoth Nexi from the deck and play another Moorland Haunt. Jeff told me that he was never in postion to poison someone during the day and just felt that it was unrealistic. Adding another Moorland Haunt would help this deck a lot in the long and grinding games, not to mention allowing another basic land in the deck to help the mana. If you are looking for a fun deck to play in Standard look no further.


The top 8 was rounded out by a few stock UW humans lists and one Delver deck. Until Dark Accession hits standard these three decks will continue to wrack up lots of wins and be the dominant decks in standard. So make sure you play a deck with both main deck and sideboard plans to combat them. Until the new set is standard legal I will be playing the UB deck with a few changes. If you have any questions or comments leave them in the forum or email me.

Tannon Grace
tannongrace@gmail.com
tannon311 @MTGO

Update of Banned and Restricted List

copy link below ->
http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/feature/174a

now i am not the most competitive player out there so i will leave those sort of
articles to the other bloggers on this site who are much more inclined to write those
what i do want to write about today is a player made format that one of my clan/guild
mates on mtgo or magic onilne introduced to us it is called clone magic the idea of the format is that a couple friends get together and create a fix set of cards our pool was like 250-300 cards give or take then everybody in your playgroup acquired a full set of the chosen pool note it is recommended to have a pool that consist mostly of cheap and widely available cards unless your playgroup is full of high rollers once you get a group of players together this is the fun part a player chooses the deck building rules
this can be as complicated or as straight forward as you like but everybody in your group has to build a deck form the cards in the pool we would usually rotate who came up with the constrction rules some examples of rule sets are no mana cost higher then 2
all creatures. all cards that the number 1 is wrtten on it. the sky is really the limit here

ANNOUNCING...

Hey Everyone,

 It's been a while since I've posted or for that matter played MTG in real life. This will be changing soon however because, Tony has finally found his location for Gamers Paradise! Now if you've been paying any attention at all to our Facebook page we have been hinting about a tournament of some sort. This isn't just any tournament no no its much more than that. We understand it comes at a time of "limbo" for the Magic community so we've really brought our A+++ game to make this a very appealing tournament to all. So without any further ado I present to you.............



Click on Picture to enlarge....

Thanks for reading,

Daniel Suydam

OrbstinityMaster on MTGO

Recent Banning of Alex Bertoncini - Cheating and how it affect the games integrity

Hey guys,

If you all follow Magic, you might have heard that Alex Bertoncini has been suspended from competitive Magic play by the DCI. For those of you who do not know, Alex Bertoncini has been a Star City Games Open Series grinder and this past year was named the Player of the Year and won the Star City Games Invitational. The prize was $10,000 and Power 9.

In short, Alex was caught either purposefully cheating or misrepresenting the current game state. On one occasion, he Brainstormed for five and it was caught on camera. On another occasion, Alex had Kira, Great Glass-Spinner out. His opponent used Jace, the Mind Sculptor’s bounce ability and then used Cursed Scroll to kill Kira. Instead of putting Kira in his graveyard, Alex returned it to his hand. Purposefully of not, Mr. Bertoncini has on multiple occasions negatively impacted the game state that were in his favor.

I wanted to see if others have witnessed another player cheat or been part of this experience. I must admit that I witnessed another Magic player cheat at an FNM and did not say a thing. It was the last round of the night and my FNM was over. I finished with a 3-2 record, on par for me. As I went over to watch the two players playing for first place, I was not surprised when I saw a Caw-Blade deck. Its pilot was one of the better players in the shop. As I sat and watched the game progress, the game came to a stalemate. Neither player was doing much of anything until the Caw-Blade player cast Preordain. He looked at the top two in one hand and looked at his current cards in the other. Soon, he brought both hands together and treated it more like a Brainstorm. He then put two on the bottom and drew from the top. The guy basically drew three cards and put two “dead” cards on the bottom of his library. From there, he took the game over and won. His opponent had not realized what had happened as he was reading his cards while his sly opponent took advantage. Looking back, I should have said something but did not since I was not part of the game.

To help maintain the integrity of the game we all love, we all need to hold each other accountable for cheating, slow game play, and sloppy technical play. This kind of behavioral should not be allowed at any level of competitive play or on the kitchen table for that matter.

What do you all think about calling others out when you witness someone trying to misrepresent the current game state?

Thanks.
E17

The Ides of November, Sorta....

Well hello to all of the faithful, or not so faithful blog viewers (we love everyone regardless). I have to sort of appologize for the lull in content on the site, I have to take full responsibility for it. I have been trying to get stuff together for a big statement I hopefully will be making soon. (With God's grace). Unfortunately, I have not had the time or budget as of late to be more involved with our local store and gaming community. Therefore out of site out of mind. I have not had the opportunity to play Magic myself which has hindered my ability to write my own articles.

I do still want to take this time to thank EVERYONE who has in some form or fashion contributed to this Blog. Without you guys there would be nothing much for me to be talking about or appologizing for. Even if none of you who have contributed decide to stay actively involved I am still very grateful.

So I take this time to say thanks to everyone and I/We will be working hard to keep this thing up and running and to keep this an interesting place to visit for years to come. Just bare with me as I continue to work on this Blog and make it one of the coolest places on the web..... hopefully.

Thanks,

Tony D.

P.S. nothing good comes easy.

The Right Commander For The Job

So a couple of your card filpping buddys wants to play some commander. But you don't have one of these fabled commander decks. The solution to this problem seems pretty straightforward build one. But you don't just want any old Legendary critter. no you want a general that will Bring you that Glorious victory. Or at the very least have some fun trying. You need the right commander for the job. first things first you have to decide what your deck does.

There are three main archetype in magic. As i am sure any one reading this knows. aggro, control ,and combo aggro rarely ever works in commander. You may get one or if your lucky two players down. But you normally lose soon after. Don't get me wrong it's still a option just the weakest of the three. Combo on the other hand is quite good especially if you have the right set up and some tutors. cards like niv mizzet the fire mind who can win the game with a sample two card combo. Stuff like curiosity and similar effects can end the game quite easy if not interrupted. Last but not least you have control. and it is by far the most widespread of the trio. Commanders like sakashima the impostor that can and will become the spitting image of the biggest guy out there. And merieke ri berit who can just steal the best creature on the board make it do her laundry kill the creature then rinse and repeat. are just some of the manipulative commanders out there.

After you have decided on a archetype it's time to pick the color or colors of the deck and the overall theme of the said deck. Not all commander decks have to follow a theme but there are many generals that are stronger when the deck supports its theme. Take zur the enchanter; for example without any enchantments for him to fetch up he is no good. but put even a few halfway good ones in and he is quite dangerous. it is also important to remember that some color combinations have assess to many different commanders with different themes. blue and black has guys like grim grim corpse born who needs a steady flow of creatures to be effective while oona queen of the fae works best in a deck that has a strong mill focus.

Another important aspect to keep in mind when picking a commander is its mana cost. You want your generals out on the battlefield as much as possible. and due to the hostile nature of commander creatures die including your generals. So getting them off the bench again is key to your survival. This is why rhys the redeemed is one of the better generals out there. Not only is he extremely cheap and easy to recast but he can build his own army one that keeps growing with every passing turn. But with that being said your average generals cost anywhere between 3 to 6 mana. If you do plan on playing one of the more expensive legends, then it should have a game ending effect lona shield of emeria is a prime example of a general that will most likely only come out once. But can easily stop the game cold in it's tracks.

The last thing to consider when picking your commander is how much attention do you want to attract. After all commander is a format full of politics alliances and of course back stabbing. Some generals are just so easy to abuse to the point where the game is one sided and not fun. Even if your deck is not made to be abusive the other players will for the most part still be weary of your decks capabilities and try to target you. Generals such as zo-zu the punisher, azami lady of scrolls, jhoira of the ghitu and momir vig simic visionary are just a few of the generals that will put a target on your head. that is all i have for now it is time to retire the old keyboard.