I’ve got the Power!

So, yesterday was the final event in the Antiquity Magic tournaments.  This was the event for the Mox Jet, and I was really hoping to win even though I thought John. A would beat me.   The previous events were every other Sunday and here were my results in them.

Type 0 #1 – UW Control 3rd Place.
Type 0 #2 – UW Control 1st Place.
Type 0 #3 – RB Goblin Burn Scrubbed Out.
Type 0 #4 – UW Control 1st Place.

Today again I was playing UW Control because Josh had decided to give up on Type 0 the week I played RB Goblins.  I got an Icy Manipulator from Grayson before the event began, and then started.

In round one I played against Grayson, who was also playing UW Control.  In game one I had a strong start with Library of Alexandria and some Mishra’s Factories.  I killed him pretty quickly.  In game two I counter some of his spells, and try to deck him with a Braingeyser for 23, but he had used Feldon’s Cane and I couldn’t get enough cards.  He beats me with the awesome seven cards he had left after the draw spell.  In game three I beat him to one life, and then he manages to stabalize.  Time ends the match with a draw.  M 0-0-1, G 1-1-1

In round two I play against Curtis who is playing White Weenie.  In game one he starts with three Crusades, and no creatures.  His hand is way too slow, and I have all the time I need to set up my board and kill him.  In game two I just draw the cards I need to counterattack his every play. M 1-0-1 G 3-1-1

In round four I play against someone I don’t know playing a WBR Underworld Dreams deck.  In game one I draw a Mirror Universe and trade lives keeping me alive and beating him with Mishra’s Factories.  In game two I am forced to counter a third Underworld Dreams and he has Wheel of Fortune to kill me.  In game three he sees a slow hand, and I Disenchant his first two Underworld Dreams.  I don’t remember ever being at a life total I was concerned about and eventually kill him. M 2-0-1, G 5-2-1

In the last round before the Top 4, I was playing Shane and his BRw Aggro deck.  He beats me game one with a Hymn to Tourach, and then a Mind Twist to hit my whole hand.  I bring in Greater Realm of Preservations, and a third Control Magic.  I win the next game with Greater Realm, Icy Manipulator, and Maze of Ith.  In the last game he has a weak hand I pretty much smash him. M 3-0-1, G 7-3-1.

I make the Top 4 along with Shane, Curtis, and the Underworld Dreams player so I am feeling pretty good about this result.

Semifinals.  I play against Shane again.  In game one he plays Hymn to Tourach on turns 2, 3, and 4.  I make an epic comeback at 2 life.  I end the game over twenty life because of Ivory Tower.  In game two his whole game was basically a stall tactic.  I try to deck him with Braingeyser, but he has three Red Elemental Blasts and wins the counter war.  I eventually kill him with two cards left in my deck.

Finals.  I get to play Curtis with White Weenie again, which is honestly the deck I wanted to play against.  I can’t remember all the plays, but I do remember that I won game one with an insane hand.  In game two I cast three Wrath of Gods, and Balance.  He came close to killing me but I made a trade with Mirror Universe, and eventually finished him off.

So, I left with a nifty glass trophy thing, and a Mox Jet.  Yay me!

An almost Winter King

So, this is quite a bit after the actual event, but I haven’t much felt like writing.  Anyway, the event was the Bluegrass Magic Winter King tournament.  The deck I decided to play was Gifts Rock.  I had been playing it for awhile, and talked with Tom LaPille for awhile and come to what I consider an amazing list.

I picked up the last cards I needed that morning, and the event began.  In round one I was playing against Ben Stoll.  He was playing Goblins.  In game one I kept an opening hand with 2 Birds, 2 Tribe Elder, 2 Eternal Witness, 2 Lands.  I didn’t really draw any spells, and all I could do was play my X/1 creatures.  He got a Sharpshooter, and ended up attacking for lethal in the first combat.  In game two it was basically a thirty minute game of me clearing the board, and waiting to draw Profane Command to kill him, which I eventually did.  We had about twenty seconds left at the start of our third game, and so we drew.  I kept an opener with 2 Tribe Elders, and a Smother.  He couldn’t get in the kind of damage he needed with those out. So, M 0-0-1, G 1-1-1.

In round two I was playing against Jesse Adkins, playing Mono Blue.  In game one he kept a two land hand, and stalled there for awhile, and I had time to build too powerful a board position, and I also ripped his hand up with tons of Cabal Therapies.  In game two the match progressed slowly, and the end of the game had me with a bunch of lands, and a Pernicious Deed.  He plays a Meloku, I Putrefy it. He plays another, I play Eternal Witness, and Putrefy.  He plays a Spire Golem and has two Meloku tokens.  I play a discard spell, and then use Deed.  I beat him with Treetop, an d play a Witness.  He plays a Trinket Mage, we race and it comes down to him at 5, and me at 4.  He has a Venser, and a Golem that are tapped, and I have Treetop, and Witness.  I go to combat he uses Divining Top, and plays Cryptic Command, which taps him out.  I have Profane Command for five to kill him. M 1-0-1, G 1-3-1

In round three I play against the Doran deck piloted by Ian Sturgill.  I don’t recall a lot of details, I just remember Doran was only in play once, and I used Pernicious Deeds to 3 for 1 several times in our match. M 2-0-1, G 1-5-1

In round four I was playing against Jeremy Zimmer, who was 3-0 with Ichorid.  This was the beginning of me getting paired up for three rounds.  In game one he mulligans to six, and keeps a hand with no discard outlet.  It gives me time to play a Living Wish for Gaddock Teeg.  He manages to get very close to going off the next turn, and if he would have seen the play, could have beaten me.  He has 1 Narcomoeba, and all 4 Bridges, with Cabal Therapy in the graveyard, but passes turn.  I untap, play a land, and Gaddock Teeg to stop the combo kill, and then activate my Treetop Village and sacrifice it to flashback Cabal Therapy removing all his Bridges.  He despite the size of his graveyard only has one Ichorid, and I manage to play enough 4/4s to block them until I Profane Command to lose life, and fear to kill him.  In game two he has another hand without an outlet.  I get enough time to cast Gifts Ungiven, which he concedes to.  I had Extirpate/Tormod’s Crypt post Gifts. M 3-0-1, G 1-7-1

In round five I was playing against Brain Reeves.  He was also playing the Doran deck.  Both games were basically him with a strong start that wasn’t enough, and a mana flood when he needed to draw something powerful.  I ripped Hierarchs, and Eternal Witness several times when I needed to as well. M 4-0-1, G 1-9-1

In round six I would have played Tyler Winn, playing Psychatog.  We did some math, and determined he would make the Top 8 with any result next round, and so he conceded, sealing the Top 8 for me.

In round seven I was paired against Tom LaPille, and we drew into the Top 8.  Final record after the swiss was 5-0-2

Quarterfinals.  I was playing against  George Taylor playing Domain Zoo.  He registered his sideboard wrong, and had a game loss.  We start in game two, and I basically throw the game away with wrong play after wrong play for several turns.  He wins.  He wants to split the prize with me, and have one of us go on to play the Semifinals.  We determine that I will play a Doran player next round, and so I get the match win.

Semifinals.  I was playing against Owen Turtenwald playing the Doran deck.  I win game one despite several play errors.  He wins game two and I realize Leyline of the Void is more annoying than I thought.  I also cast Akroma’s Vengeance for the first time in the event this round.  I later decided that on a turn when I Damnation, I should have cast Faith’s Fetters on his Doran and raced two Birds of Paradise with Ravenous Baloth, and Loxodon Hierarch.  In game three I mulligan to five cards, and put up as much of a fight as I can, but it’s just not enough and he wins.

I end up getting $150 which I have to split with George and Scott Schauf who I split with earlier when we thought we were going to have to play eachother.  I give George $40 and Scott $55, and leave with $55 which is fine with me.  It was an awesome day.

Smashing with Gifts Rock

So for this Tuesday I am playing Extended at Something 2 Do again. I decided I like the Gifts Rock deck, and I am going to play it again. The list was updated, and now plays Profane Command which is really only second to Gifts in power.

In round one I get paired against Korey, playing his WRG Homebrew again. In game one several key draws lead to a Genesis lock, and he can’t recover. Game two precedes similarly, not much he could do. In round two I get paired against Scott, playing Mono U. Despite it being a terrible match up for me, Scott offers a split, and I accept. In the last round before Top 8, I play against Tracy, playing Boros w/Black. I win game one when he concedes after forgetting to pay Jotun Grunt’s upkeep. Then I win game two with Collective Restraint and life gain, which stalls until Meloku and Hierarch beatdown for the win.

In the first round of Top 8, I am supposed to play Scott, then the winner of Tommy vs. Jeremy. Tommy quickly beats Jeremy 2-0, and we wait to see the other sides semis. It end up being Affinity vs. Flow Rock, and Flow Wins. Tommy packs to me, and I play Chris O. in the finals. In game one I take his non-creature spells with my double Duress, and then rip a Gifts, he drops a Confidant who only brings him lands. I eventually overpower him with Meloku, and we go to game two. I keep a one land hand with Birds, and Elder. He doesn’t kill Birds, and I draw a second land. I end up with Collective Restraint on 4 on turn 3, then play some 4/4s that gain life, then another Restraint to set his attack cost to 8, then some more gain life or removal, then a last Restraint making the cost 12. I then clear his board with a Deed, and he doesn’t have enough mana to attack anymore, and scoops. Taking first again this week with Gifts Rock and getting $17 from my three-way split.

Dream Crushed

So, this is a little late as a report, but let’s start with last Friday.  Standard at Something 2 Do, and I decided to play Dragonstorm again, because it still seemed broken.

In round one I was paired against Chris O. playing MGA again.  He won game one since I had basically no gas.  And he won game two with a double Riftsweeper hand on my double Lotus Bloom hand.  A bad start for me.  In round two I played against a person whose name escapes me, but he was playing Rb Goblins.  I won 2-0 because he didn’t see the lethal play in game one, and I went off, and in game two I wrathed him a few times with Hellkite, and Sulfurous Blast.  In the last round before the Top 8, I was playing against Zach playing UGw Blink.  In game one I mulled to four cards, and still won eventually.  In games two and three I drew really awful, and lost.  I didn’t make the Top 8 and it was a disappointing night.

The next event was the annual Something 2 Do Vintage Championship.  I had won this event the past two years, and I was hoping to make it a third.  I decided the morning of the event to play Werebear Party!, a deck I had been tinkering with for awhile.  It’s basically a WUG Fish deck.

In round one, all the people in the S2D Hall of Fame got a bye, so I didn’t have to play.
In round two I was playing against Grayson (a Type 0 player usually) playing Oath of Druids.  Game one he Tinkered a Colossus on turn one, and I died to it.  Game two I made a Dreadnought on turn two, and he died to it.  And game three I Spell Snared his first two Oath of Druids, and then locked him with Life from the Loam and Wasteland.  I eventually won with my Aether Vialed monsters.
In round three I played against Mono Red but I don’t remember the guys name.  He plays a Magus of the Moon on turn one, and I have the only Plains, and a Swords for my turn.  I play a Tarmogoyf with Pyrostatic Pillar in play.  He attacks with an Atog, and plays a second Pillar.  I play a second Goyf, and beat him down.  In game two, I pretty much did the same thing, but it was one Goyf, and a Meddling Mage on Magus of the Moon that won me the game.
I split with my opponent in round four, assuming I would be able to again in the last round and make it into the Top 8.
I  get paired down, so I end up having to play, but we waited to see if we would for most of the round.  I  win game one against Chris O. playing Goblins, and we decide to split.

I make it into the Top 8, paired against Tommy, and in the same bracket as Scott.  Scott wins against Chris O., and Tommy, Scott, and I decide to split and have me play the finals against Jesse, playing Flash.  He wins the roll, and chooses to draw.  He wins on turn one, when I had nothing to stop the combo.  In game two I play again, and play a turn one Pithing Needle on Carrion Feeder, and pass turn.  He plays a land, and Black Lotus.  I can’t make a play on my turn, because it would tap me out, and I didn’t draw the White I needed to leave Swords to Plowshares up, so I pass to him.  He sacrifices Lotus for UUU, plays Chain of Vapor, then removes a Sprit Guide to play Merchant Scroll, then removes another Spirit Guide, and casts Flash, I play Stifle on Hulk’s trigger, his last card is Pact of Negation.  So, I get sacked out, and lose.  It was incredibly disappointing, and the packs I got from my box weren’t so good either.

Victory

So, this Tuesday as usual I went to the mall to play Magic.  It was Extended again, and I had decided to play Gifts Rock this week.  A few more people came, but it was a small tournament anyway.

In round one I played against Tony P. playing KCI.  I didn’t know what he was playing in game one, but I Living Wish’ed for Kakaki because all his mana sources were artifacts, and it seemed good.  He couldn’t recover.  In game two I used Pernicious Deed to clear his entire board, including lands, and then dropped a 4/4 and won.  In round two I got paired against my brother, playing UG Tron.  This is apparently a bad matchup.  I would have won game one, but I chose the wrong target for my Extirpate, so I couldn’t finish him off.  He won game two relatively easily which made me sad.  In round three I played against Tyler Winn, playing Flow Rock.  I am pretty sure this is a good matchup.  I won game one with Genesis bringing back Elephants to keep my life up there.  Game two was the same, but after I used a Pernicious Deed to clear off his Leyline of the Void.
I made the Top 4, and got to play against Korey, playing a WRG Good Stuff deck.  Basically efficient monsters and burn.  In game one, a long stall by me until Genesis and Elephants take action to beat him down.  In game two he had minimal disruption, and basically the same thing happened.  Although, I did have Collective Restraint for four at the beginning, and played a second to basically keep him off attacks.  In the finals I was supposed to play Tyler again, I offer a split, being nice since I figure he will be blown out if he plays me.  He decided he wants to play out the finals, so we battle.  I win game one with the Genesis thing that generally happens with this deck.  And, after I have a five card hand, with turn 2 Destructive Flow from him, I make an insane comeback and win game two.  It was basically me drawing all the cards I wanted to see, and him drawing lands and making play mistakes.  I enjoyed it.

In conclusion, I made $45, and bought some Pokemon cards to use as tokens.  It was a good time.

Can’t Quite Get There…

So, another Friday and Saturday happened, and I was obviously playing Magic.  The Friday tournament was Standard and I had heard of a Dragonstorm deck and was instantly planning to throw it together for the tournament.

I put together the deck and the tournament begins.  In round one I play my brother playing RG Mana Ramp.  Now, I’ve been told this matchup is good, but I don’t know how good.  In game one he doesn’t kill me before turn five when I decided I can combo and throw out a Dragonstorm for the win.  In game two I suspend a Lotus Bloom, that resolves and gets targeted to be destroyed.  I cast a Hellkite in response putting him at 15.  On my next turn I attack, (10), Shock him (8), which turns on my Spinerock Knolls, I use both, playing Incinerate and Shock (3).  He packs when I show him a Rift Bolt.
In round two I play against Scott, we were going to split, but I wanted to play the games to see how the mirror was, so we decided to play.  Both games he just doesn’t have anything to combo before I can.  So I get the match 2-0.
In the last round before the Top 8, I get paired against Chris Carman, who is borrowing my RB Husk deck.  In game one he beats me to 2 life, and I combo him.  He wins games two and three, but I don’t remember what actually happened.
I make the Top 8 regardless, and get paired against Tommy.  I get beat by a savage hand game one, and I get mana screwed game two once he plays Mwon. Acid Moss on my storage land.  So, he gets it 2-0, and moves on.  Too bad I suppose.

For the Vintage event I was going to play TarmoGush, but I didn’t really want to make it again, so I took someone’s Turbo Fog deck and added Type 1 cards and played it.

In round one I play against Tracy, playing Empty Gush, which is my deck without main Goyfs.  He wins game one since I don’t draw the Constant Mists to fog until I can deal with his Goblins and Colossus.  I would have won game two, but ran out of time to kill him.  So he gets it 1-0-1.  In round two I get to play against Goblins, which is like a dream matchup.  I won 2-0 through Fog/Chant lock, and making an 18/18 Ajani token.  In round three I play against a cycling deck.  He loses to my Angel’s Graces both times.
I make the Top 8, and play against a RG Aggro deck.  Game one I barely pull through with Tarmogoyfs, and Chants to stop counterattacks.  In game two I resolve an Ajani post Pyrostatic Pillar.  He eventually plays another one, and I just keep gaining life with Ajani.  I win because he can’t play spells without dying and I have Goyf and Ajani.  In the Top 4 I play against Scott, who is also a RG deck, but a better list.  I concede to him and have him play Tracy in the finals to get half of his prize, and end up with $25, and a pack of cards.  Nice type two deck huh?

Weekly S2D Battle

As usual, this Tuesday I headed out to Something 2 Do to play Magic.  It was finally Extended which I was looking forward to.  Unfortunately, there were only seven people there to play this week, and if showing is low next week we revert to standard.

I decided to play Affinity this week, because I couldn’t use the cards for Enduring Ideal, or Gifts Rock.  In round one I got to play Jason, who was also playing Affinity.  It was a short match.  In game one I drew spells I couldn’t play, and in game two I drew spells I couldn’t play without the lands to play anything.  He got it 2-0.  In round two I played against Tony P., and he was playing Counterbalance.  I won game one with a pretty good topdeck of Cranial Plating the turn I needed it.  I won game two when he attacked with all his guys, and forgot I had a Blinkmoth Nexus to kill him.  In round three I played Chris O. playing UW Tron.  The matchup is really in my favor, so I was pretty confident.  I won game one like I thought I would, making a big Blinkmoth Nexus.  In game two he got 3 Ghost Quarter’s to start the game, along with Remands and Condescends, so I lost.  In game three I played turn one Land, Ornithopter, Springleaf Drum, Pithing Needle, Frogmite, Frogmite.   On two I played a Pithing Needle, and a Chromatic Star.  On three a Goyf, that was countered, and on four a Ravager for the kill.  It was insane.   I got 4th place, which was just a Mogg Fanatic, since there were so few people, and then I went home.

Conceding for prizes.

So, today I decided to go play City Champs at BME because it was a Lorwyn draft and I love that format.  The draft had ten players, who were Tony P., Scott Schauf, Nick Ramsey, Chris O., Tommy, Glenn, Jesse, Chris Car-man, Shahrazad Kid(Shane), and myself.

I thought my draft deck was really solid, and other people agreed.  Here was the list:
1 Squeaking Pie Sneak
1 Shriekmaw
1 Boggart Mob
1 Mad Auntie
1 Cloudcrown Oak
1 Boggart Harninger
1 Treefolk Harbinger
3 Warren Pilferers
1 Mulldrifter
1 Gilt-Leaf Seer
1 Hornet Harrasser
1 Eyeblight’s Ending
1 Nameless Inversion
1 Lignify
1 Colfner’s Plans
1 Moonglove Extract
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Weed Strangle
1 Footbottom Feast
1 Fertile Ground
1 Springleaf Drum
9 Swamp
5 Forest
1 Island
1 Plains
1 Wanderwine Hub
I didn’t have anything noteworthy in the sideboard of stuff I drafted.

In round one I got to play Nick Ramsey who drafted UW Merfolk.  I win game one with Boggart Mob making about 15 tokens.  Game two I mull to five, and would have pulled it off with one of five removal spells left in the deck.  In game three I needed to hit one of four removal spells over several turns, but didn’t see anything relevant soon enough and lost.  My deck was definetly better, but I got unlucky.  In round two I got paired up against Scott, who drafted Ub Faeries.  If I beat him, I had to win out still to make it into the Top 4, but if I conceded to him, he was almost in for sure.  So, I give him the win, and he says he will hook me up with some packs later.  He makes the Top 4, gets nine packs,  but opened them all and forgot to give me some, but I didn’t really care.

After the City Champs we headed out to the mall for the Vintage tournament at Something 2 Do.  I got my cards from Josh and Jason and threw together an Empty Gush deck.

In round one I played against Max playing UBw Fish.  I win game one with Tinker into Darksteel.  Then attack, cast Yawgmoth’s Win and Time Walk.  In game two I mull to five, and get a one land Black Lotus hand that has to draw one land to be insane.  I don’t get another mana source until he plays Null Rod, and the mana source was Mox Pearl, followed up with a Lotus Petal.  In game three I make a bunch of goblins on the turn before time, and end up beating him to 2 life so we draw.  In round two I play against the second John. T, who was playing a deck with 2 Black Lotus’.  So, I win game one with a nuts six card hand that has me make twenty goblins and Time Walk.  In game two I Tinker out a Colossus, and then make 12 goblins, and he scoops.  In round three I am playing Scott again, and he is playing the same deck.  I ask him to prize split and I will pack to him.  He was hesitant, and I reminded him about my packs from earlier so he agrees.  He plays against Cliff in the first round, and pulls out a 2-1 win.  Then gets sacked out pretty badly by Jeremy Z.  It wasn’t just Jeremy having a good hand, but Scott’s hand just turned to garbage after he drew five cards without a second land.  Tommy and Jeremy are the finals with an obscene advantage for Tommy with him playing Ichorid and Jeremy on Stax.   Tommy wins game one with a four card hand that was completely insane, and then loses with a terrible hand.  I only saw him win in game three, no idea what actually occured during it.

Overall it was a pretty lame day as far as success in events went, but it was still a good time and that is what you really want out of it anyway.

DCI Reporter FTL

So, this Friday I was obviously at Something 2 Do.  And, I decided to play a new deck because I was getting tired of the same old thing.  I threw together a Doran deck only missing three Gaddock Teegs from the sideboard.

In round one I played against Trevor playing Mono Black Rack.  In game one I remember him starting out okay, but I got a lot of guys down and he couldn’t handle the beats.  I mulled some amount of time in game two, and still dealt 23 damage with one attack on turn 5.  It was silly.  In round two I played against Chris O. with his MGA deck again.  Every game we have played has been ridiculous for one player, and not what I would call “good games”.  I all I remember is mana flood both games, and so I lost.  I should have gone to six cards for game one, but I kept a hand with five lands, and two Edge of Autumn hoping to draw some nonland cards.  In round three I played Joe playing UW Mefolk.  Game one I lost to Sygg and Surgespanner.  In game two I mulled to five and still absolutely dominated the game.  I won game three also, but it was much closer.  I got to remove his Sygg when he tapped out to give it protection from green to block a 5/6 Goyf.
I made the Top 8 and once again played Tommy in round one.   We decided to prize split, and played it out for who got the win.  Also, he was playing GR Mana Ramp this week.  I won game one with all four Dorans and some vigilance with Ajani.  I apparently sideboarded wrong, hearing this from Tommy, the deck maker and lost the next two.  Although, he drew some really good hands for our last two games including three Tarmogoyf in game two, and three Siege-Gang, and at least double Goyf in three.  So, Tommy plays Chris in the top 4 and wins, Scott took the other bracket, and we three way split again.

Le Sigh

So, last night was the weekly S2D event again. I decided to play Husk, but mostly because I didn’t have anything else I could play.

In round one I got paired aganist Andy(Fandy), and he was playing UW Pickles. In game one I got him down to about 11 before I was out of things to play. I had a Gargadon on about five, and ended up killing his Brine Elemental with evoked Shriekmaw, and got in for lethal. In game two I brought in 4 Thoughtseize, and 4 Auger of Skulls for 1 Siege-Gang, 1 Gargadon, 1 Liliana, 1 Loxodon Warhammer, and 4 War Marshal. I start with 3 Mogg Fanatic, then I get Wrathed. I drop an Auger on 4, he plays Serrated Arrows and kills it. I drop Liliana Vess, make him discard. On my 6 I make him discard, cast the Thoughtseize I drew, he Venser’s Liliana, and play a land and make him discard again. I use Liliana to get Factory. I have a Factory, a Gargadon on 7-8, and Grave Pact. I eventually beat him after a Thoughtseize shows he can’t counter Gargadon if I put it in. In round two I play Tommy, he is playing Gb Elves. In game one we sort of stalemate until I draw back to back Grave Pacts, and then Loxodon Warhammer. I win that one. In game two he has a strong start that accels into a Nath. I can’t deal with that guy, and I hadn’t made a play in the first 4 turns, so I lost. In game three we both get a good start, but on a turn he taps out I wrath him with Grave Pact. He semi-recovers, but I eventually take the advantage and kill him. I decided after the match that I didn’t want to play anymore, so I concede to him, and drop from the tournament.

After I dropped I drafted Scott’s Cube with Matt, and built a neat, but pretty weak, URg deck. I won 2-0 vs Matt with Tradewind Rider ftw both games. It didn’t help him that he was mana short in game two. After that, we drafted again with Scott and Chris O. joining. I drafted a terrible UWg deck, and the manabase was so bad I lost almost just to it.

Overral it was an alright night, but I am hella bored with how Standard is right now. I would try to play something fun, but I don’t have the cards, or the decks just aren’t fun The best part of this day though had to have been the Mongolian Grill that I had for lunch.