It's now Sunday October 16th. I am awake and wishing I was asleep on the night of the 14th. I finished 11th at States and needless to say I'm quite disappointed. You see I've been playing Magic for a very long time and only really tasted "success" once. It would be fair to say I expect to win every tournament I attend. I have the skill and the deck building capabilities to do so but, for some reason I just can't seem to finish the tournament well enough. Always a bridesmaid never a bride some would say. To be in contention to top 8 at so many events only to fall short is disheartening to say the least. Now if you know me well enough as many of you do I will whole heartedly admit I'm am a lot of things and a bit of a sore loser is definitely one of them. I can't help but have a bitter taste in my mouth when I lose and its out of my control. I know you're saying 11th place out of 105 of the best players in LA is pretty good and you would be right. I know it's good just not good enough for me. I expect more from myself and I think it's under that pressure I strive for greatness. I will admit I made plenty of play mistakes and that came from not testing as much as I should have. Overall I had a great time I finished "well". Not to mention I got to play and see some of my best friends. Now on to the deck and the tourney report.
G/B Rock
Creatures:
4 Birds of Paradise
2 Llanowar Elves
4 Skinshifter
3 Mayor of Avabruck
2 Spellskite
2 Thrun, the Last Troll
2 Bloodgift Demon
Spells:
2 Doom Blade
3 Dismember
3 Beast Within
1 Green Sun's Zenith
Planeswalkers:
4 Lilliana of the Veil
2 Garruk Relentless
Artifacts
2 Sword of Feast and Famine
1 Sword of War and Peace
Lands:
4 Woodland Cemetery
2 Ghost Quarter
10 Forests
7 Swamps
Sideboard:
3 Surgical Extraction
2 Rachet Bomb
2 Naturalize
2 Spellskite
2 Creeping Corrosion
2 Tree of Redemption
1 Dismember
1 Beast Within
Overall is was extremely happy with the deck. I feel like it has great matches all around. I'll get the changes I would make at the end of my post. Now for the tourney report.
Round One vs. Ryan Suire w/ W/u Geist
Ryan and I go way back he is a staple in the Lafayette Magic community and all around a good guy. Normally he plays very aggressive red deck and I automatically assume that's what he is playing. Boy was I wrong.
Game One
He wins the die roll and we both keep seven. He rolls out a Champion of the Parish off a Seachrome Coast I'm stunned. I play a BoP and pass the turn. He plays an Inkmoth swings for 1 with champ and passes the turn. I play a Skinshifter and pass back. Turn 3 he plays Mirran Crusader luckily I have Lilliana in hand to deal with it. I play Liliana kill his Champ w/Doom Blade and make him sac his Crusader. Turn 4 he rolls out another Crusader and passes. I Draw and go into the tank I have a lot of gas in my hand I play a Bloodgift Demon and decide not to active Lilliana at all this is a GIANT misplay as I assume he will attack Lilliana anyway so why discard one of my good cards and he has something like 5 cards in hand. Turn 5 He untaps casts Angelic Destiny and takes me to 7 not even bothering with Lilliana. on my turn I draw 2 cards go to 6 find no answer and scoop it up onto game two.
Sideboarding
Out
3 Mayor of Avabruck
2 Garruk Relentless
In
2 Spellskite
2 Naturalize
1 Beast Within
Game Two
I'm on the play and mull to 6 he keeps 7. I play a BoP and pass. He plays Champ and passes. Turn 2 He plays another Champ and swings for 2. Turn 3 I play my land and a Sword of F&F and pass he Misses his land drop and plays yet another Champ he swings for 5. Turn 4 I play my land and a Skinshifter equip sword to BoP Attack for 2 and pass.
He misses his land drop again and plays Elite Vangaurd he swings with his 4/4 Champ I Dismember paying no life. Turn 5 I play a Ghost Quarter and drop a Bloodgift Demon swing for two untap my lands get another card and equip my demon with sword pass. He finally plays his third land and and attacks with all 3 creatures I block the 3/3 champ with my demon and take 4. Turn 6 I draw 2 and take 1 I try to cast Garruk it gets Mana Leaked. I swing with Demon he takes seven I untap Having nothing but lands I pass. He plays an Inkmoth attacks for 3 which I take and he passes. Turn 7 I draw 2 and take 1 going to 4 I attack he blocks my Demon with Inkmoth to which I allow thinking of Disperse or Rebuke and that I'll Ghost Quarter his Seachrome Coast in response setting him off of either blue or double white he searches up an Island I immediately realize my mistake and he plays Snapcaster Mage EoT and thats game. After the matches he mentions he only plays one island and was sandbagging lands the entire game. I played this match very poorly and I think it was very much my game to lose.
Games 0-2
Matches 0-1
Round Two vs. Hillary Joubert w/ R/G Wolfrun Ramp
Hill and I are very good friends and he is a great player. He texted me the night before the tournament his choices for decks. I figured him to be on U/W control as he normally is. Once again I'm very wrong. Now many people may think by assuming I know what my opponent is playing that I keep hands that are better against those decks. As a matter of fact I make it a point to not keep hands I wouldn't keep any other time. Unless I'm 100% sure I know what my opponent is playing.
Game One
He wins the die roll and mulligans to six while I keep my seven. Turn 1 he plays a Rootbound crag and passes. I play forest and BoP pass. Turn 2 he plays Copperline Gorge and Viridian Emissary the jig is up. We go a few turns playing land with me holding alot of removal he eventually take the game with multiple Primeval Titans and we go to game 2.
Sideboarding
Out
3 Mayor Avabruck
1 Garruk Relentless
In
2 Spellskite
1 Beast Within
1 Dismember
Game Two
I know now he's on Wolfrun and play accordingly saving Beast Within and Ghost Quarter for the important lands. He lands a Batterskull but plays it a little conservatively and eventually I take the game with a Bloodgift Demon w/Sword of Feast and Famine.
Game Three
We start game 3 with about 10 minutes left. He lands an early Pimeval Titan I have Lilliana for it and we start a very long drawn out game. We go to turns and I stick a Bloodgift Demon on turn 1 and we end the game with him at 5 and me at 7 poison with 3 Inkmoths on the board.
Games 1-1-3
Matches 0-1-1
Round 3 vs. Mike Laviolette w/4 Color Burning Vengeance
Mike is a very skilled veteran of the Louisiana Magic scene. Unfortunately these games aren't very close.
Game One
We both start off with tapped lands and I attempt a turn 2 Skinshifter he leaks it and we play another turn of draw go. He casts EoT Think Twice and on his turn plays Burning Vengeance. I cast a Thrun all he does is try to draw an answer for the next 5 turns.
Sideboarding
Out
4 Lilliana of The Veil
1 Garruk Relentless
In
2 Spellskite
2 Naturalize
1 Beast Within
Game Two
Pretty much the same thing as game one only I Stick turn 3 Thrun and the game is over shortly after.
Games 3-1-3
Matches 1-1-1
At this point I get into the mentality of "All you need to do is win out" I really don't like this mentality and I wouldn't recommend it. You play your best magic when you are having fun and you're relaxed enjoying yourself. This particular mindset can only set you up for 2 things failure or heartbreak both of which I know quite well and neither are very fun.
Round 4 vs. Lawrence Ledy w/Tap Out Solarflare
Lawrence and I got paired up at the Nationals Qualifier earlier this year in top 8. He was playing RUG while I was on Big Red. He destroyed me both games casting Thrun and me having no answer at all. So to say I was out for revenge was a bit of an understatement.
Game One
He wins the die roll and mulls to six as do I and we are off to the races. I play BoP and Skinshifter for the for few turns while he plays the draw cards and fill my yard plan. He lets every single spell resolve so I gather he's on the Tap Out version with little to no counters. I beat him down with my Skinshiters eventually landing a Sword of Feast and Famine grinding him out while he does some Sun Titan+Unburial Rites action but, I'm already too far ahead for him to catch up.
Sideboarding
Out
4 Lilliana of the Veil
3 Mayor of Avabruck
In
3 Surgical Extraction
2 Naturalize
1 Beast Within
1 Dismember
Game Two
I keep 3 Land,BoP ,Thrun, SoFaF, Extraction. I'm in complete control of this game from beginning to end. He plays O-Ring on my SoFaF to which I respond by casting another and blow up his O-ring with Beast Within. He really get the graveyard full and I draw another Extraction. He attempts to go off I in response take all his targets for Sun Titan and he has only lands to get back. I then cast Bloodgift Demon representing lethal next turn he plays a Phantasmal Image copying my Demon but I have the removal spell to get rid of it.
Games 5-1-3
Matches 2-1-1
Round 5 vs. J.T. w/ RDW
Game One
He wins the die roll and we both keep seven. He plays a Storm Kirk noble and I play a BoP he Arc Trails and gets in. I play Skinshifter with no mana up to see exactly what he does he picks it up and reads it good news for me. He plays a Chandra's Phoenix and bashes. I play my third land and pass I end up getting a roughly 4 for 1 out of my Skinshifter shooting the Phoenix with a Doom Blade. He plays a Shrine post combat which is bad news for me because if he gets up around 5 counters I just die. He plays another on the turn after and I keep playing guys he keeps getting counters on his shrines and eventually points the at me for lethal.
Sideboard
Out
3 Mayor of Avabruck
4 Lilliana of the Veil
In
2 Tree of Redemption
2 Rachet Bomb
2 Spellskite
1 Beast Within
Game 2
I'm on the play and don't have a 1 drop He has an arsonist so on turn 2 I play Spellskite and pas i dont block and he plays a Stormblood Berserker. I play a Sword of war and peace and pass he misses his land drop and swings for 4. I equip my Skite and serve for 7 gaining 5. he plays a third land and a Phoenix and swings I keep pressure and then I play Rachet Bomb and a BoP and he looks rather stunned. He plays quite a few guys including a Lavamancer intending on racing but, I keep coming in with Skite and re-equipping my BoP post combat. I eventually bring him to 4 he finally kills my Skite and I rip a SoFaF to end the game with my BoP.
Game 3
Time is running low and we play very fast. I stick turn 1 BoP into turn 2 Skite into turn 3 Tree of Redemption. He plays an Arsonist into Phoenix into Berserker into Hero of Oxid Ridge. I kill Hero and we start the grind I keep swinging in with a Skinshifter with SoFaF but only for 4 a turn. Then post combat equipping my Tree effectively gaining 2 each turn. This goes on for a while but he never finds his second Hero and I kill him with Skinshifter.
Games 7-1-4
Matches 3-1-1
At this point I'm noticing a trend I keep getting paired down and start to do the math. I will have the worst breakers at 5-1-1 even if I do win out. This is quite disheartening but, if EVERYTHING goes right I could top 8 off of luck and not too many IDs...
Round 6 vs. Brian Basoco w/ R/G Wolfrun Ramp
I know Brian as he goes almost everything in driving distance. He's a good guy knows all the same people I do and occasionally plays at Rocket's. He is a very solid player and I expect a very good match
Game One
I win the die roll and keep seven while he mulls to 6. I play a Bop and pass he plays Copperline Gorge and passes. I play a Mayor of Avabruck for the first time the entire tournament and pass he plays an Emissary and passes. I pass the turn with a Beast Within and Dismemeber in hand flipping my Mayor. He plays a Rampant Growth and attacks. I know I want to keep the Primeval Titan off as long as possible so I decide to take it. On my turn get a wolf play aggressively. I cast a Garruk which makes a 3/3 wolf which I hear is rather impressive and get in for 3. He misses his land drop and leaves his Emissary up to block. I kill the Emissary and come in for 9 make 2 wolfs and pass the turn. On his turn he plays 2 spells to flip my mayor but I have Lilliana to kill his blocker and and take the game with exactsies.
Sideboarding
Out
3 Mayor Avabruck
1 Garruk Relentless
In
2 Spellskite
1 Beast Within
1 Dismember
Game Two
This game went very quickly I play a BoP and pass He plays and Emissary on turn 2. I have a Thrun for turn 3 but he lands a turn 5 Wurmcoil Engine and I can't really get back into it so I scoop.
Game Three
I play a BoP. He plays a Rootbound and passes. I decide to Beast Within his land on my turn 2. He comes in with the beast while I slam Skinshifter and he misses his land drop I try to keep him off lands but I run out of gas far too quickly. im playing off the top trying to race off of 3 lands and my BoP but I'm starting to fall behind then he lands a primeval titan and I have to start blocking he eventually has plenty enough to kill me with an Inkmoth we go to time. I ask Brian to concede to my before we ever taking a turn explaining he has this game won anyway but at X-2 he doesn't have a shot at top 8 while I do at X-1-1 he thinks about it for a minute and says its just packs and gives me the win. This is a very honorable thing to do and I know for sure I would have done the same thing and will continue to do so when the situation occurs.
Games 9-1-5
Matches 4-1-1
Round 7 vs. Nic Olsen w/ W/g Tokentown
Nic was the talk of tournament. He is April the owner of Rocket's nephew and a cool kid. He started off 4-0 then losing the last two matches. Before we play I ask him hows he's been and he says "I just ate 22 Tic Tacs so I'm in the zone!" He also mentions a promise of 3 candy bars from his Aunt if he top 8s. I get the feeling hes going to play his little heart out and I expect no less.
Game one
I stick an early Skinshifter he makes a ton of tokens and we are off to the races. He lands an Honor of the Pure and Gavony Township all the while making tokens. I get him down to 2 and pass. He plays an Elspeth gaining 4 life and now he has lethal on his turn. Luckily I rip a SoFaF and I'm able to kill him.
Sideboarding
Out
3 Mayor of avabruck
3 Liliana of the Veil
In
2 Rachet Bomb
2 Naturalize
1 Beast Within
1 Dismember
Game 2
I mulligan to 5 he keeps seven and just destroys me he plays very conservatively though making sure he has plenty eneough to kill me he also has a sick curve out of Doomed Traveler, into Honor of the Pure, into Midnight Haunting while playing Gavony Township, into Shrine of Loyal Legions and Intangible Virtue, into Elspeth just BRUTAL. For as young as Nic is the skill he has after 22 Tic Tacs + 4 during sideboarding is amazing and I really hope he stays with the game.
Game 3
In my head I'm thinking play tight don't make any mistakes and do your best and maybe you can beat him. In reality I'm probably about to get creamed by a ten year old which is fine won't be the first probably not the last. I look at my opening seven and I see a Rachet Bomb I'm stoked the rest of my hand is very good a Llanowar Elves, Skinshifter, Thrun and 3 lands I keep and Nic does as well. I decide to slow roll my Rachet Bomb. He doesn't play anything for the first 4 turns on my turn 5 I play Thrun with a big grin on my face swing in for another 4 with my Skinshifter putting Nic at 8. Nic then draws his card plays Day of Judgement... the crowd goes wild he blew me out I have nothing but removal he slow rolled me like a champ. I never saw it coming the amount of restraint to slow roll me like that is incredible. I really felt like we played roll reversal for a second and I was the 10 year old who just walked into the DoJ. I draw for turn it's a Skinshifter and play it and Rachet Bomb and pass. I get in for 4 bringing him to 6 he plays and Elspeth and tries to gain life I kill all his creatures in response. He plays a Traveler after the the Elspeth and passes. I draw a SoFaF but dont have enough to play and equip so I just play it and a BoP, swing for 2 flying bringing him to 4 so he doesn't get a flying token so that I have lethal on my turn with flying and the SoFaF. He plays an Inkmoth and makes some tokens and an Honor of the Pure. Knowing I have to draw a removal spell for the Inkmoth I draw for turn.... Naturalize!!! I go through the motions and win the game. Nic was an awesome sport and my best match by far all day.
Games 11-1-6
Matches 5-1-1
At this point my friend Marcus Bailey says he thinks I will make top 8. I'm pretty skeptical because I was at a PTQ a couple months ago with the same number of rounds and players. What ended up happening was a couple people drew themselves out of top 8 and the guy who went 0-1-1 then 5-0 got 9th. I get my hopes up talking nonsense but, deep down I really know it's not my day and I'm pretty upset about it. They call top 8 sure enough my names isn't in it. Visibly I'm pissed off but what about? Had Brian not scooped to me I wouldn't even be in contention. Did I really deserve it anyway? I feel like I did what any other person would have done. Try to win the tournament by any means other than cheating. I didn't force Brian to scoop to me. He did the right thing in my opinion. I think there's a fine line there but, hey what can you do some people are gonna see it one way others will see it another ya know? When you win a tournament its because everything went your way it was meant to be scoop, no scoop, undefeated or squeaked in on breakers. EVERYTHING has to go your way on that day. October 15th wasn't my day but I will have mine. Hopefully sooner than later but, until opportunity knocks I'll be waiting.
About my deck as you can see I boarded out Mayor of Avabruck almost every match this guy can be great if the meta changes but as it stands I don't think he's quite good enough. Lilliana, Garruk, and Bloodgift Demon were all very good when I casted them and I wouldn't change the numbers at all. Skinshifter and Swords were amazing all day long and I couldn't have been happier about adding the Swords. MVP goes to Spellskite in this meta he is just plain amazing stealing Wolfrun activations and blanking alot of burn and removal. Here are the changes I would make to the deck if I were to play the deck again.
G/B Rock
Creatures:
4 Birds of Paradise
2 Llanowar Elves
4 Skinshifter
4 Spellskite
2 Thrun. the Last Troll
2 Bloodgift Demon
Spells:
2 Doom Blade
3 Dismember
3 Beast Within
1 Green Sun's Zenith
Planeswalkers:
4 Lilliana of the Veil
2 Garruk Relentless
Artifacts
2 Sword of Feast and Famine
2 Sword of War and Peace
Lands:
4 Woodland Cemetery
2 Ghost Quarter
10 Forests
7 Swamps
Sideboard:
3 Surgical Extraction
3 Rachet Bomb
2 Naturalize
2 Sever the Bloodline
2 Tree of Redemption
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Dismember
1 Beast Within
Well I really hope you enjoyed this post it was ton of fun to play and write. I really cant believe all of the involvement we have had on the blog so far. I know when Tony and myself came up with the idea we never thought it would be this big. So thanks to all the contributors and readers for making this such a "success". I can't wait for the upcoming PTQ season as INN limited is very fun to play and I'll for sure be in Lafayette for the PTQ on the 12th. As for writing and playing I'll be on a bit of a hiatus as I'm getting married on the November 5th and I have a lot of things left to do before the wedding.
Thanks for Reading,
Daniel
OrbstinityMaster on MTGO
1 comment:
Great job on the article, cant wait for the wedding! Congrats
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