Thundering TANNONdon: Nashville SCG open series and the 2011s

Hey guys, my name is Tannon Grace and here is a little about me before I get this article started. If you have played magic in Louisiana, especially the Baton Rouge area, then you have probably ran into or heard of me over the last 8 years. I play mostly competitive magic and have been known to do a fair bit traveling for the game I love so much.
I started playing magic when I was a kid in 1995 but quit a few years after that, never really going beyond the kitchen tables with my gaming. In 2002 I was brought back into magic by a friend and started going to my local game store weekly. Anyone who knows me can tell you that I can be very competitive and really do love the challenges this game brings. In 2003 I attended my first few PTQs and had my first taste of success with a top 8 that season. To say I wanted more was an understatement. In 2004 I really worked on my game, traveled to every tournament within driving distance and had my first real break winning a PTQ in Texas. I went to my first Pro Tour that year. Over the next few years I became a regular on the PTQ circuit and had my fair share of success. In 2007 I was playing some of the best magic of my life and had a great year culminating in finishing 4th at Grand Prix Daytona. In 2008 real life beckoned, I decided to put aside slinging spells for a time and really concentrate on college and found a job.
Fast forward to 2011. I graduated from college but lost my job. With no promising prospects on the horizon I found myself bored. I re-immersed myself in online poker online to have that taken away from me half way through the year. With the government having taken away my job and one source of gaming fun I thirsted for another outlet. Magic again came calling.
So I started showing up to the local store to play a little and see what the game was like these days. I had been following magic happenings online and watching the coverages on the mother ship and on Star City Games. The Open Series they had started was a great idea and offered what felt like mini GPs all over the US. So some of my new friends and I decided to start attending the events.
After going 7-3 in my first SCG open (ATL) I had high hopes for Nashville. So John "perilous myr" Canville, Sam Barth, Chase Usey and I left Friday afternoon with ideas of glory in our heads, and a free place to stay for the weekend. +1 (Thanks Kori Lopreore)
Road trips are one of my favorite parts of magic. It is where you really get to bond with your friends, and I could not have asked for a better group for this trip. And not to mention there are always a few funny stories or happenings on each one trip.
We leave Baton Rouge around 5 Pm and plan on reaching Nashville around 2 in the morning. Half way there we decide to stop for some food and the only restaurant we see in a 100 mile span is a Chilies. About 2 hours after we eat we have to stop for gas when John notices a problem. He does not know where his credit card is. After a quick inspection of the car and our persons I figure the card has to be at the restaurant still. John looks up his credit card statement on his iPhone while I look up the restaurant's number on mine. With 3 minutes we have the card located and someone holding it for us for our drive home. I do not know how people got things done or fixed problems before technology like the iPhone was invented.
We arrive in Nashville at 2:30am and find Kori's place easily. After checking out his sweet pad, playing a few games, and playing with his awesome dog we settle in for a few hours sleep before heading to the site.
We arrive that morning with plenty of time to spare and find the extra cards we need. I love the giving and trusting nature of the magic community. Without you guys I would never be able to play this game I love. Thank you to all who have ever loaned me as much as a single card, I hope to find a way to repay you all.
I register this saucy deck...
Maindeck:
Creatures
4 Snapcaster Mage

Instants
2 Ancient Grudge
3 Beast Within
3 Desperate Ravings
4 Dissipate
3 Geistflame
1 Incinerate
4 Mana Leak
4 Think Twice

Legendary Creatures
3 Thrun, the Last Troll

Sorceries
4 Slagstorm

Basic Lands
2 Forest
5 Island
3 Mountain

Lands
4 Copperline Gorge
4 Hinterland Harbor
3 Rootbound Crag
4 Sulfur Falls
Sideboard:

1 Daybreak Ranger
4 Tree of Redemption
2 Ancient Grudge
2 Galvanic Blast
1 Incinerate
1 Negate
3 Surgical Extraction
1 Consecrated Sphinx

Chase and Sam were both on mono-red and John was on GBW pod. Junk Pod I think its called. Now I wish this was a triumphant story but alas it is not. But I would like to share a few of the things I learned this weekend playing the deck, after I go over a few rounds.

Round 1: Zavodney, Ken playing turbo fog
Now anyone who knows me can attest that I can be a "little" chatty around magic, but this guy made me sound silent. So we chat a little before the match and he seemed to like to talk about himself and his deck alot so I listened and tried to pick up anything I could to help me. Ken went on to say " I like playing rouge decks, so I built one to beat the top 32 from last week. I would love to win this tournament with a deck of my own creation." Now this tells me alot about Ken's deck before I ever see a card. I can assume that his deck choice will be a little loose and maybe that it will not be a list I have seen before. So when I see my opening hand of 4 lands a mana leak, dissipate, and think twice I snap keep. With the information I have I can assume that Ken is not on mono red or tempered steel so I do not need a hand that can keep up with an agro deck. This hand seems great vs any "brew" like deck. I go on to win a LONG 40 minute game one highlighted by the final turn. Ken has 4 mana open and is at 13 when I attack with a snap caster and Thrun. Ken taps a green mana and casts for, I leak and he pays for it tapping him out. I then proceed to cast slagstorm, slagstorm, slagstorm, incinerate, and flash back a Geistflame. Yep, 15 mana on the last turn for 13 exactly. We dont have time to finish game 2 and I take the round 1-0. Sitting next to me Sam beats Chris VanMeter, who went on to win the Legacy open the next day. Good job Sam. Sam is quickly becoming the king of round 1 wins.
Round 2 Parente, Justin with UB control
I lose a long drawn out game one and have to try and win a quick game 2. I surgical extraction him for his Liliana at the end of his 4th turn and see a hand full of blank spells. I played two naked spancasters and follow them up with Thrun. Over the next 2 turns he kills both snapcasters and then finds a tribute to hunger to stay alive at 3 when time runs out in the round. 1-1
Round 3 Kibler, Brian with RUG agro
You read that right. None other the the Hall of Famer himself the Dragonmaster. I look forward to matches like these. I love to play great players and have had a pretty decent record in my career vs pros. For those of you who have never met Brian he is a really cool guy, down to earth, and just plain approachable. He and I know each other a little bit and have talked at a few events before, including the Open in ATL this year where I played his deck to a decent finish with him checking on how I did after every round and talking to me about the deck he made. Back to this match, things did not go so well. I mulligan to 6 on the play. Keep a 2 land hand and never draw out of it. Brian 4th turns a Garruk, Primal Hunter into turn 5 Inferno Titan. We play a closer game 2 but Brian gets a Garruk to resolve again and I am just dead to it. Kibler may play faster than anyone I have ever played before. And yes he was shuffling everyday. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KN-zYxwIimE (if you dont get the reference) 1-2
Not the was I wanted to start the tournament. I play a few more rounds to get some Planeswalker points but finish with a 3-3 record.

As for what I have learned of the format going forward and thoughts for states, there are a few things. Dissipate is great right now. While I have never really like cancel this card shined all weekend for me. I probably flashed it back with snapcaster more than every other card combined. The exile part of the card is so important right now vs the top decks. Against the flare decks hitting a unburial rites or sun titan is awesome. Against mono red hitting a phoenix can often leave them a few points short of killing you.
Ancient grudge is also great right now. With so many great targets you are sure to get value every time you cast the card. Against tempered steel it can simply win you the game almost by itself.
Thrun, while still being good, is probably the worst it has ever been.
The Concentrated Sphinx should have been main, I could not win fast enough sometimes.
Would I play this deck again? No. Do I think its a good deck? Yes. I just dont think it is the right time for this deck. Why? I dont think draw-go is where you want to be right now in standard. With everyone either being to fast for you or doing things over and over again that are more powerful than your deck. Often if you do not have a dissipate for and unburial rites you are just dead. And if your opening hand is just a little slow and the play turn one mountain then guy you are so far behind you may never catch up.
In Standard right now you want to be doing one of three things. You want to be faster than everyone else, like mono red, wolfs run red or tempered steel. Mono red or wolfs run red would be the decks I would play of the bunch. Secondly you want to be doing something degenerate while slowing down your opponent enough to give yourself time to win. Solar flare seems like the best deck at doing this right now, and we have alot of new lists to choose from after this weekend. More on this later. Lastly, you could just try to go bigger and faster than everyone else. Brian Kiblers RUG deck and the winning list, wolf run ramp, from this weekend seem to be the best at doing this.
If states were tomorrow what would I play? Kiblers list, wolf run ramp, or a flare control list. I am leaning towards flare right now unless one of the other 2 lists really impresses me this week. Right now I feel that attacking is the way to go in standard. While I have becoming more of a fan of this lately I feel like I may need to return to my control roots for states. The reason being that I expect a BUNCH of agro decks at states. With the red decks the most. Red decks being very good, and one of the cheaper decks to build, expect to see this deck alot. Having bigger and better creatures is one strategy, with Virridian Emissary being really good right now. If you do not plan on blocking alot this weekend then I suggest you be ready to fight the agro match with removal and life gain. Sorrin's thirst is a card I am looking forward to testing this week since tribute to hunger seems to me to be best as a one of.
The Flare decks really adapted this week in ways I told a few people they needed to. They played more basics and removal to be faster and keep up with the red decks. One even played celestial purge main, something I was laughed at for suggesting but want to look into more this week in testing.
I plan on testing a bunch this week at my place with anyone who is interested. Also I am going to need to borrow cards as always. If anyone has any questions about the deck I played, states, or anything else feel free to post in the comments or email me at tannongrace@gmail.com.