How did this happen?
Last weekend was the Star City Games: Washington DC
event. By random luck, I was able to attend, because my job wanted me to go to
Washington DC from Sunday till Tuesday. It meant that I wouldn’t be able to
play in the Legacy Open on Sunday, but I was mostly alright with that, since my
Legacy deck is still broadly ‘under construction’ – missing a Karakas, Urborg,
four Wastelands, and three Bobs. (Plus some other assorted cards that have
since been filled). That’s not exactly a small list, but still, we’re getting closer.
So, Standard Open was going to be my best bet – with hopes
that I would make Top 8 and secure an invitation to one of the two remaining invitational’s
of the year. That was the goal. To accomplish that, I’d most likely have to go
x-1 or better, with the potential of a draw in the last round.
To this goal, I wrote an article about my Naya Aggro
deck, which can be found Here.
The decklist I ended up building to play in the event was as follows:
There was a lot of power in this deck, and it has the
potential to run away with games that it was clearly losing. Hero of Bladehold
and Gavony Township provide a strong top-end, and four Caverns give the deck a
lot of game against Delver Style decks. With Restoration Angel to back up any
assault, and Bonfire for the occasional blowout, the deck was strong.
And I hated it.
I played some test games with it, but it constantly felt
like I was mulliganing into oblivion. I was never able to find the lands that I
wanted, a dork, and some reasonable sequence of plays that didn’t depend
entirely on “and then I’ll draw all the cards I need.” I found myself playing
out my hand quickly against other similar aggro decks and lacking a way to go
over the top to win, instead getting into a board stall and knowing that I
really didn’t have many (if any) outs.
I called up Marshall on Thursday, after posting my counterpoint
about Bonfire. A lot of the points that I’d made were festering in my mind –
countermagic WAS strong against that kind of deck. Tokens did have a lot of
recurring threats that made it viable against Naya style decks. Delver was
still a flying Wild Nacatl for U that needed to be dealt with.
What if I merged the two decks?
I drove to Marshall’s that night and we spent the better
part of four hours piecing together the deck that I’d be taking down to DC.
Late night audibles rarely work, because you end up with little familiarity
with the deck and not enough practice. I ignored this because I figured that it
was just tokens with a support package instead of a Humans package. It looked
strong. Plus, I got to sideboard Day of Judgment and go to town with that as
tech against Naya and the Elf deck that BW is completely incapable of beating.
This deck looked like it had everything. A strong early
game with Delver/Snapcaster/Vapor Snag, it had the late game with Anthems and
Lingering Souls. We were able to find a mana base that worked (partially by
being very careful to avoid double-colored spells), and enough removal to punch
through the biggest offenders in the format. We were positive we were on to
something here.
Unfortunately, we finished the deck at Dark O’Clock and
didn’t have time to test it. I couldn’t go to FNM on Friday to test it because
I was busy sleeping – since my train to DC left at 5am. Still, I felt confident
that I’d be able to do well with the deck. I slept a healthy amount before the
tournament, and we were ready to go.
-----
It’s 10:05. The tournament was scheduled to start five
minutes ago, but there’s still a line out the door. I’m staring across the
board at two Rancors on a Blighted Agent.
“This deck is pretty bad,” I admit – referring to mine,
not the UG Infect deck that’s been tossing me around like a ragdoll for the
last hour.
“It’s probably a bad matchup for you. Don’t worry.” That’s
my friend Mark. I’ve seen him at a bunch of events, and he offered to play a
few rounds to get each of us used to our decks. It isn’t going well. I’ve managed
to squeak out a single win – he’s got more than half a dozen under his belt.
“It’s not that your deck is good,” I explain. “Well, I
mean, it is. You’re really explosive, but my deck isn’t flowing the way it
should. The mana feels fine, but I just don’t feel like I’m going to have the
power to punch through and actually get a kill.”
“So, what’re you thinking?”
“I’ve still got all the cards that I’d need for BW Tokens…”
I say, hesitantly. I could also audible to Delver – since I have that almost
built as well, but that doesn’t put me in any better shape.
“I don’t think that’s smart.” Mark answers, and we keep
playing. “Maybe you’re just getting bad hands.”
Five minutes later, one of Mark’s friends comes by and
reports. “I’m seeing a ton of control decks in the field today – and a lot of
Delver too. A lot of Pod, but not a lot of Naya Aggro or Humans.”
Mark taps some creature, probably an Ichorclaw Myr. “Four
infect at you?” I try to remove it, and he casts apostle’s blessing in
response. Two Wild Defiance Triggers go on the stack and I scoop it up.
“Last call for registration!” goes the shout. I take one
last look at the deck and make the call.
“Help me unsleeve this.”
It’s 10:25 and I’m frantically writing on a deck
registration sheet, putting back together a deck that I’d played in more than a
dozen tournaments. If there wasn’t much Naya in the room, and the read was
right, Tokens would cut through the control decks and the Delver decks – all I
needed to do was dodge the Naya decks.
Round 1 – Chris
with Bant Pod
Chanting “Not Naya” while I shuffled, my opponent leads
with Razorverge Thicket into Birds of Paradise – because why not. Luckily for
me, I’ve got the fast start, and he’s not really playing Naya at all. He’s on
Bant Pod – a deck that I know exists, but not much more than that. I remember
the older Bant Pod lists – flicker an acidic slime a bunch of times with Venser
and lock you out of the game, or get a Stonehorn lock. I imagine that this deck
plays out much the same.
Luckily, I have the Champion > Gather > Anthem >
Anthem draw, and he goes down on turn five. Before he’s able to set anything
up.
I play game two much more conservatively – unsure if he’s
running Day of Judgment in his list. He almost gets a stonehorn lock on me, but
I’ve got removal for the Venser to keep me on the right side of the matchup. I
end up killing him while I’m on 31 life.
1-0 (2-0
in games)
Round 2 – Steve
with Mono Black Control
Game one is agonizing. I get my beatdown on, dropping him
down to three life over the opening turns of the game with a fairly aggressive
start. I’m still on 20, and feeling great. He topdecks a Mutilate to wipe my
board, but I’ve got a Gather the Townsfolk in reserve. This unfortunately does
nothing when he drops a Wurmcoil Engine, and I quickly drop to two life as he
beats me down with it (and removes my human tokens). He goes back up over
twenty before I find a Gather the Townsfolk and a Hero of Bladehold to stop
him. I’m poised to gain 20+ life the next turn and kill him off a vault of the
archangel swing, but he topdecks a second mutilate and kills me with the
Wurmcoil Tokens.
Ouch.
Luckily for me, his good luck breaks and he mulligans in
the second game. Despite him activating mindslaver twice on me, he can’t quite get
a lock on the game and I kill him through two pristine talismans that gained
him 16 life over the course of the game.
Our third game is a classic Tokens vs Control matchup,
with me always having more gas to stop his attempts to regain control. I slow
roll every token maker, buying a board wipe from him every turn until he
eventually runs out. Even his pair of pristine talismans can’t keep him up
through two anthems and any creatures.
2-0 (4-1
in games)
Round 3 – Robert
with GW Elves
Let me just go on record and say that I don’t know why
this deck isn’t bigger. In game one, I remove his turn 2 Archdruid, and still
die on turn 5 to a swing for 45 damage off a Craterhoof Behemoth that he green
sun zenithed for. Shockingly, I almost survived. Almost doesn’t count.
I have no notes for game two. It went more poorly than
game one.
2-1 (4-3 in games)
Round 4 – Brad Nelson
on BW Zombie Pod
I read the pairings and I’m on fire. Brad Nelson, player
of the year for 2010. This is the first game I’ve ever had against a player of
his caliber, and I’m nervous as all hell. I sit down, and try to make some
small talk – he seems pretty quiet. Understandable, since he’s already picked
up a loss. We present our decks and I move to cut his, but my hand slips and
flips a card.
Geralf’s Messenger.
Both of our hands shoot into the air and I get a warning
for Looking At Extra Cards.
I apologize, and he nods. “It’s alright, just sucks
because it’s a pretty big tell.”
That’s pretty fair, I think. I hope that he doesn’t think
I did it deliberately, because I can see how it could be interpreted like that.
Brad is one of my favorite writers, and I’d hate to think he had a negative
opinion of me because of a mistake like that.
I’d like to tell you guys that I drew a hand that was
marginal against Zombies and kept it because I was doing the honorable thing.
Truthfully though, the hand was just all gas. He gets some quick hits in with a
nighthawk before I land two heroes. He answers the first, but the second gets a
combat step with Vault of the Archangel and start beating in for 24 point life
swings. He goes down and we sideboard.
I love my zombies sideboard in this deck – it’s one of my
favorite parts about playing it. To this day, I’ve only lost to zombies once
with Tokens, and that was due almost entirely to a gigantic misplay on my part.
Today kept up that trend, and despite him getting the
Restoration Angel/Geralf’s Messenger combo going, I beat him down and win the
round.
3-1 (6-3 in games)
Round 5 – Gavin
with RG Pod
I don’t have a lot of experience against this deck, and I
keep a slower hand. He doesn’t seem interested in playniog that game, and
crushes me in a quick game one.
Game two, he mulligans and we both stall out on the
ground, unable to make a profitable move. The game comes down to me being able
to draw flyers, and him never finding a bonfire to miracle.
Game three, I pull off a miracle’d Entreat the Angels for
1 on turn 4, and the angel went the distance to beat him down for the win.
4-1 (8-4 in games)
Round 6 –
Andrew with Esper…well…
The round starts, and I win Game 1 without any real idea
what he’s playing except Esper colors. He cast a lingering souls, a ponder, and
a mana leak – which effectively means he could be any Esper archetype ever. He
boards in a bunch of cards, but I’m hesitant, and end up presenting my original
60.
I think I actually stand by this decision. My sideboard
cards for the Esper matchups are pretty weak overall, and I’d rather not dilute
my deck with dead cards if I guess wrong. Unfortunately, I have a quick draw
and he has the answers for it, stalling me out until his plan becomes obvious –
as he copies a bunch of Sun Titans with the least fair clone creature ever
printed.
To be honest, I’m positive that I could have won this
one. I made a bad removal early on, sacrificing a creature to kill his doomed
traveler clone – thinking that it would be sacrificed and not give him the
token. This is 100% absurd – the only reason I thought it was because my
opponent a few tournaments ago had missed his trigger, not because it doesn’t
happen.
I got him to 1, and he killed me with triplicate Sun
Titan attacks and Dead Weight and such. It was unpleasant.
Game three, I was forced to mulligan, and I couldn’t put
out enough pressure. He stabilized at 8 life, and I never got to touch him
again.
4-2 (8-6 in games)
Round 7 – Naya Pod
And here we go, folks. The matchup I feat more than
anything – Naya. Cocked and ready to go with a quartet of Bonfires, we squared
off. I lose the first game after he gains a ton of life off a Thragtusk to
change the math on our race. Both of us sideboard, and we’re off into game two.
Game two was the best match of magic that I have played
in a long time. I have a slower start, with a slew of anthems. After losing my
board in the late game to a catastrophic Bonfire, he beats me down to 4 life – with
him still on 20. Things look grim, but I topdeck a Gather the Townsfolk,
putting 20 power and toughness onto the board with a vault – but one mana shy
of using it. He had a single flyer – a restoration angel that dropped me
to 1 life. I attack, and he
first-strikes down one token, eating eight damage, and losing only a little bit
of his ground force while we trade off creatures. I gain sixteen, going to
seventeen and having more than lethal on the board. He draws, and finds no
help, playing another Blade Splicer and hitting me for three in the air, I go
to fourteen. I draw for the turn, attack, and pass after destroying a few more
of his guys.
He topdecks a bonfire, and hitsme for five with it,
wiping my board. The crowd (because we’ve drawn a crowd at this point) goes
wild, and he turns his guys sideways for the win.
I drop Midnight Haunting, blocking his angel and a
splicer token to go to six, and then counter swing to kill him the following
turn.
Game three was
sadly a little anticlimactic, with him mulling to six and stumbling on lands.
He still made a fight of it, but I manage to get an Angel of Jubilation out to
turn off his Pod, and without the mana advantage, the threat of a bonfire was
minimal. I killed him with a Pod rotting in hand, and a Bonfire that could
never have killed anything.
5-2 (10-7 in games)
Round 8 – Ian on
RG Aggro
In our first game, I manage to get the tempo advantage on
him once I’ve got an anthem set up, and I run him over pretty handily. Our
second game isn’t close, with him getting a turn 2 sword of war and peace and
crushing me.
Our third game goes much the way of the first, with Vault
fo the Archangel sealing the game once I get ahead. Ian reveals after the match
that he runs four Sword of War and Peace main, as well as four bonfires that he
never saw a miracle of. I was probably lucky to get out of this one.
6-2 (12-8 in games)
Round 9 – Russo
with RG Aggro
I know Russo – he plays at the shop I used to go to all
the time back in NY. He’s on RG Aggro, and while I’d love to say they were both
close games, decided by the skill of both players, he crushed me in both with
T2 Sword, and T2 Sword. I really don’t know if there’s a good answer to that
card in white that doesn’t open you up to an insane blowout if they don’t have
it.
6-3 (12-10 in games)
Aftermath
While the tournament was 10 rounds long, a quick look at
the standings after the ninth round revealed that there was no way that I could
make the top 64. It was unfortunate, and crushing, because up until then, I
felt like I was doing fairly well in the tournament.
My losses were against Elves (which is a bad matchup – I’ll
need to Sideboard some Day of Judgment in the future. The loss to Esper was
avoidable – I think – if I had remembered my Phantasmal Image interaction
better and not flubbed the second game.
The games against Russo were probably not winnable – as he
had the nut draw in both games, but without Sword in the picture, I can’t
imagine that he has a terribly good match against me. Both games were winnable
if I had a turn or two to breathe, so maybe Gut Shot would have been all I
needed to take the lead there.
Altogether, for the longest tournament I’ve ever played
in (10 rounds is monumental, and kudos to the judges for keeping it running so
smoothly) it went reasonably. I would have liked to have finished x-2, but then
again, so would everyone else in the room. Next time, I will.
-----
This weekend, I’ll be attending (and judging) the Top
Deck Games Summer Open. If you’re interested in going to GP Boston, this
represents a great tournament with a robust prize, in addition to some
spectacular side events that range from Standard Win-A-Box to
Ravnica/Dissention/Guildpact drafts. You should absolutely come on down and
check it out.
The facebook event can be found Here. I'll be one of the guys in the Judge Blacks.
No comments:
Post a Comment