As 2012 winds down I've been staying busy mostly with visiting family and Melanie. I did have a chance to attend an FNM at Thou Shalt Game in Temecula, California last weekend. I have to say, if you ever have a chance and are in the location, Thou Shalt Game has a pretty decent FNM. Although the tournament management was a little inefficient and the starting time is a bit late for a 6-round tournament (7 p.m.), the prize pool is outstanding, with $100 going to first place, $50 to second, and $25 to third and fourth.

I brought Junk Angel to the tournament and did reasonably well, scoring 5-1 and placing third on tiebreaks. I used the store credit to purchase a bunch of foil EDH cards, which is the format I'm currently interested in. I don't play EDH much, but I guess I just like how EDH focuses a bit more on "bling" and less on substance, and I like how the format is pretty underdeveloped. I'm currently brewing a sick deck with Jhoira of the Ghitu as my commander.

My only loss in the tournament was against Naya Midrange. I think my opponent net-decked the winning list from the SCG Open in Las Vegas, which can be found here. I had to mulligan to 5 cards on the play in the first game. I did the best of I could, fought tooth and nail, but I couldn't overcome the drastic card disadvantage. It turns out, Huntmaster of the Fells and Bonfire of the Damned are still pretty good cards (who knew?).

I also played a bunch of Goglari aggro decks, which is strange because that deck is not very popular here in Portland. Rakdos and Mono Red Aggro are far more popular. Junk Angel has a better matchup against Golgari than against Rakdos or Mono Red because Golgari is far slower than either (Gogari has fewer 1 drops, no Hellrider, and no Falkenrath Aristocrat. Rancor and Dreg Mangler are nice, but come on, Falkenrath and Hellrider...). I think I was paired against at least 2 Golgari aggro decks and I beat them easily.

In the final round I played against a unique 5-color reanimator list running Supreme Verdicts, Griselbrand, Gisela, Blade of Goldnight, Angel of Serenity, Thragtusk, etc. In the first game we got into a huge Angel of Serenity battle. We both gained tons of life and were casting angels every turn exiling eachother's angels and returning Thragtusks to hand, etc. etc. The game went nowhere and my opponent soon ran out of cards because he was running Faithless Looting and I wasn't. Game 2 I hit an early Deathrite Shaman and that bad boy went pretty much all the way. I'm glad to have picked up another foil copy of that card on Friday, especially as I think I got the better end of the trade (I gave up 2 non-foil copies). I finished the match 2-0 and thus took third place.

And so, it was a very productive evening, but it took a long time to get through the six rounds and I didn't get out the door until 1 A.M. I was hella tired. Still, despite the fact that I basically only earned $4 an hour for 6 hours, rack up another strong finish for Junk Angel; it's now 40-11-1 in its current version and 62-28-10 overall. I want to play Tuesday somewhere, but I'm not sure which shops are open on New Years. Stay tuned.

I haven't been playing much Magic lately due to work and the holidays, but I did play in an FNM at Guardian Games the Friday before last, scoring 5-0 and placing clear first with Junk Angel. With the $27 of store credit I bought a Winter Orb (beta) in excellent condition. Junk Angel is now 35-10-1 in its current version and 57-27-10 overall.

The Standard metagame has been fluctuating ever-so-slightly these last couple weeks. Dark Bant has emerged as the deck to beat after Reid Duke piloted it to first place in the SCG Invitational. Human Rites also scored well and has been gaining popularity. Both of these decks are difficult matchups for Junk Angel and I've been forced to alter my sideboard to accomodate the current metagame. Of course, there is always Rakdos Aggro to worry about as well.

There isn't much else to report. I'm planning to play an FNM at a shop close to my parents' house, where I'm currently staying. It should be interesting. Stay tuned.

Why Jace, Memory Adept Sucks

 

 

At various points last week, I had conversations with Nick about which cards are currently well-positioned in the Standard metagame. Obviously, there are a few cards in the format which are simply dominant, and help to shape the current metagame, most notably, Thragtusk. However, there are also a few cards that Nick and I agree are below the radar. One of those cards is Jace, Memory Adept.  
 
Jace seems well positioned because of the enormous amount of life gain in the format. Thragtusk, Centaur Healer (plus Restoration Angel), and Sphinx's Revelation mean that most damage-based decks are forced to deal roughly 25-30 points of damage before they can reliably win a game of Magic. In an environment saturated with so much life gain, it’s no surprise that players began to explore ways to win games without dealing damage--such as milling. Travis Woo’s Omnidoor Thragfire deck was another such attempt: Travis ran Omniscience, Temporal Mastery, and Door to Nothingness (and Worldfire!) in an attempt to simply ignore life totals and win the game in an unforeseen fashion. Similarly, Dark Bant emerged as a tier-one deck, fueled primarily by Nephalia Drownyard as a win condition.

I decided to try Dark Bant myself on Tuesday at Ancient Wonders, but I wanted to take the milling plan to the next level by adding Jace, Memory Adept. I constructed the following deck:

Creatures (4):
4 Thragtusk

Spells (31):
4 Farseek
4 Supreme Verdict
4 Azorius Charm
3 Detention Sphere
3 Sphinx's Revelation
3 Jace, Memory Adept
2 Terminus
3 Syncopate
2 Dissipate
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Garruk, Primal Hunter
1 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage

Lands (25):
4 Sunpetal Grove
4 Temple Garden
4 Hinterland Harbor
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Hallowed Fountain
2 Overgrown Tomb
1 Isolated Chapel
1 Alchemist Refuge
1 Nephalia Drownyard

I ended up scoring 1-2, and after three games with the deck I've reached the following conclusion: Jace, Memory Adept sucks. Here's why:

First, Jace really needs to come down on an open board, and in the present metagame, an open board doesn't happen that often. He costs 5 and can't protect himself, which means that if your opponent has any creatures on the board when Jace arrives, Jace will probably just die. He doesn't protect himself like Tamiyo, the Moon Sage or Jace, Architect of Thought, or any number of other planeswalkers. You will end up spending a card to force the opponent to mill 10 and save yourself 5 damage, and this sort of effect is just not worth the cost. In my first matchup against Jund, I found that I simply could not utilize Jace effectively because early in the game he would cast Huntmaster of the Fells, and late in the game because of Rakdos Keyrune + Kessig Wolf Run, Thragtusk, or whatever. I had a couple turns where I played Jace into an open board, only to have it attacked by a Thundermaw Hellkite on the following turn.

Second, Jace's utimate is just terrible. How the hell can you use that to an advantage? If you've drawn a bunch of cards off Jace's +1 ability, you don't really need to draw 20 more to win the game, and if you're trying to mill the opponent, well, you'll get there a hell of a lot faster by using his 0 ability for four turns, rather than milling 1 enough times to save up for his -7. The ultimate ability is just useless.

Third, there are a lot of reanimator strategies in the current meta, and they dont mind TOO much that you are putting cards in their graveyard. Sure, they don't want to leave Jace out for 4+ turns, but a couple turns of letting you mill can actually help their game plan.

At this point, some of you are probably thinking, "Of course Jace, Memory Adept sucks, Ryan. How could you not know that already?" But like I said, we were trying to explore alternative avenues. I won the next round against Abi's 4-color midrange deck, and lost the final round to Ryan running Yuji's reanimator list from GP Nagoya.

Im currently trying to brew a Standard turbofog list where I think Jace's abilities might be better utilized. Any ideas?

 

"It's a poor sort of memory that only works backwards."
 ----Lewis Carroll,
Through the Looking Glass











I played a lot of Magic this weekend, but without much success. On Friday and Sunday I took Junk Angel to Guardian Games, scoring 4-1 and 1-2 respectively. The first result was good enough for fourth place, and I received a foil Preordain and two packs of Return to Ravnica as my prize. I opened the packs and cracked a Jace, Architect of Thought. I win!

On Sunday I was at Guardian Games again and I lost to Dark Bant and Mono-Red. It was just a day of bad luck. Dark Bant beat me in the third game of the match on turn 4 of the time control. Strangely, the real issue with Dark Bant for my deck isn't the Nephalia Drownyard; it's the Alchemist's Refuge. Angel of Serenity is a pain in the ass when your opponent casts it in response to your attack phase.  I boarded in Acidic Slimes but never drew one. Perhaps I should also make room for a Ghost Quarter in my sideboard.

I was also unfortunate against Mono-Red. My opponent drew the nut curve in both games he won. Game 3 was particularly frustrating because I stabilized at 9 life by casting an Angel of Serenity, exiling all his creatures except an unleashed Gore-house Chainwalker. He top-decked the land he needed and played a Zealous Conscripts, winning the match. One more turn and I could have cast Thragtusk and been fine.

Junk Angel is now 30-10-1 in its current version, and 52-27-10 overall.

Modern

On Saturday I played in a Modern tournament at Ancient Wonders, scoring 1-1-1 and placing fourth. This result was good enough for 2 packs of Return to Ravnica, which I opened to receive an Angel of Serenity. I win again! I played the Martyr Proc deck some of you may remember from a few seasons ago. Here's the current decklist:

Creatures (17):
4 Martyr of Sands
4 Serra Ascendant
4 Ranger of Eos
1 Figure of Destiny
4 Squadron Hawk

Spells (19):
4 Path to Exile
4 Lightning Helix
2 Proclamation of Rebirth
3 Hide/Seek
3 Ghostly Prison
3 Supreme Verdict

Lands (24):
2 Emeria, the Sky Ruin
3 Flagstones of Trokair
3 Ghost Quarter
2 Sacred Foundry
1 Godless Shrine
1 Hallowed Fountain
4 Marsh Flats
4 Arid Mesa
3 Plains
1 Mistveil Plains

Sideboard (15):
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Ghostly Prison
2 Rule of Law
1 Ethersworn Cannonist
1 Dryad Militant
1 Hide/Seek
4 Leyline of Sanctity
1 Meddling Mage
1 Nevermore
2 Oblivion Ring

The first round was basically a toss-away as my opponent was unprepared for the format. I drew in the second round with Spirit Jund, which is actually a terrible matchup for this deck. I won the first game after 40 minutes by getting two Emeria, the Sky Ruins online.  I lost game 2 and there wasn't enough time to finish the match.

In the final round I faced RG Tron, which I thought would be a decent matchup for me because Hide/Seek, Ghost Quarter, and Path to Exile are good card against that deck. Nevertheless, I found that I was on my heels during all three games.

In conclusion, I definitely don't think this deck is a viable choice for a Modern tournament, and I've been considering other possible decks for next week. Thanks for reading.

"And topples round the dreary west
A looming bastion fringed with fire."
---Afred, Lord Tennyson, "In Memoriam"










I haven't been playing too much Magic lately, somewhat due to financial constraints, but also due to an attempt to find a new job. However, I did manage to attend a couple of tournaments this week, scoring 3-2 and 4-1 with my Junk Angel deck. The latter result was good enough for 4th place, earning a foil Cursecatcher and a pack of Return to Ravnica (which turned into a Niv-Mizzet, Dracogenius). Hurray! For those keeping score (like myself), I am now 25-7-1 with the current version of the deck, and 47-24-1 overall.

I played against Mono-Red four times in a row on Friday. I think the deck is popular because it is so cheap. I have a favorable matchup against Mono-Red (Go Thragtusk!), but in one of the rounds I went through 30 cards without discovering an Angel of Serenity, so I lost.

There isn't too much more to report. The metagame has basically solidified into two types of decks: those that attempt to go under Thragtusk (they try to beat you before you can play it), and those that attempt to go over it (by controlling the board and casting huge spells). Junk Angel definitely qualifies as the latter, but I find that Junk Angel has definite metagame weaknesses. First, it is often disfavored against other control decks in the meta, especially Bant Control becase planeswalkers are a bit of a problem. Second, the deck is also weak against aggro decks that nut curve---it's a little slow. First turn Reckless Waif, second turn Ash Zealot, etc., can often be problematic, but I think this is true for most decks. To the deck's credit, I obtain infinite life at least once per tournament (which is just fun), often to the surprise of my opponent. In addition, the deck is fairly interesting, and presents occasionally challenging lines of play. I am constantly discovering (and being told about) my play mistakes, so the deck is somewhat educational.

However, after ~70 sanctioned games with the deck, it is getting a little monotonous. I am looking forward to Gatecrash. I think the monotony has a lot to do with the metagame. After all, I think you're making a mistake if you're not playing Thragtusk right now, and Junk Angel kicks ass because it has Unburial Rites and Restoration Angel---cards which seriously utilize the power of Thragtusk. The monotony just comes from the fact that Thragtusk is everywhere.

I have been seriously toying around with a UWr Control deck with Worldfire as a win condition. Obviously the idea is just silly, but I feel like the Standard format is pretty much solved right now, and all that's left to do is durdle around with fun ideas. Case in point: Travis Woo's recent "Omnidoor Thragfire" deck. No matter what he says, I refuse to believe this deck is competitive. Counterspells are still present in the format and this deck will always just lose to any deck running enough of them.  Still, it's fun to brew and play with cards that might not see play ordinarily.

I knew I was getting cocky and it was time for some losses...and so they came. I played six games of Magic this week with my usual Junk Angel deck, scoring 3-3 and winning nothing.

My first loss was to David Stroud running Bant Control. I won game 1 because David got land screwed and fell too far behind. However, in the next two games, David's deck put on too much pressure with Jace, Architect of Thought and Garruk, Primal Hunter. As I noted before, Junk Angel seems a bit weak against Planeswalkers, and although Restoration Angel can provide some relief, she's usually not enough against THAT many planeswalkers. In Game 3, David was able to ultimate a Garruk and get like 8 6/6 Wurm tokens. I failed to draw an answer and scooped.

My second loss was to Jund. I generally like this matchup, but my opponent was able to cast Slaughter Games on turn 4 both games, removing the Unburial Rites from my deck (and hand). He also had a couple devastating Rakdos's Returns. I'm not sure if I was just unlucky in this match, or whether this Jund version was just particularly good against my deck.

My third loss was to the Reanimator deck originally piloted by Martin Juza at the Grand Prix. I hate getting net-decked, but hey, we're all guilty of it. I felt totally outgunned in this match, as if my deck was far too slow and stood little chance. The Somberwald Sages are a big problem, almost guaranteeing that my opponent's Craterhoof Behemoth arrives faster than any of my threats. The emergence of this reanimator version, as well as the constant prevalence of Bant Control, may be the reason to abandon Junk Angel momentarily. At least I finally got to see a foil Craterhoof Behemoth.

So there you have it. Not too much to report. I'm 13 Planeswalker Points closer to a level 34 Invoker (only 33 points to go. Woot!). The deck is now 18-4-1 in its current iteration and 40-21-3 overall. Until next time....

"...and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left." —Exodus, 14:22

·   

Okay, I'm starting to get a little cocky. I ventured to Ancient Wonders on Tuesday for the usual Standard tournament, scoring 3-0 and taking clear first. I defeated Adam Brown and Ryan Engbrecht along the way, two of Portland's finest. Ryan was running Travis Woo's mono-red deck, and Adam was playing U/W Flash.  Both matches were close and required a third game. In the final round I played against Jason, running U/W Control, aka Jace/Tamiyo. I won that round on the back of Craterhoof Behemoth, Restoration Angel, and Zealous Conscripts.

I feel bad about my match against Adam. I played a Cavern of Souls, naming Beast. Several turns later, I tapped the Cavern of Souls and played a Craterhoof Behemoth. Adam attempted to Essence Scatter it and I reminded him the Cavern was on Beast. He put the Essence Scatter back in his hand and attempted to untap his mana. I made him resolve the Essence Scatter, and I soon won the game. I might have won regardless, but do you readers think that is too much "rules lawyering?" Every level 1 Judge I've talked to said I did everything right, but I just wonder if I'm being too much of a punk. Then again, money is at stake...and I think playing Magic well means playing accurately and being aware of what's going on. Then again, it was just another Tuesday tournament; it wasn't like a PTQ or GPT or anything and I could have just let it slide. I don't know; I'm back and forth on this.

As I said above, I'm getting a little cocky. Over the last 17 games, the deck is now 15-1-1, with an overall record of 37-18-3. I'm starting to assume I'm going to win, which is never good in any competitive environment, Magic included. I need some humbling losses, and I'm considering venturing to Red Castle for their Wednesday Standard tournament tomorrow to try and get my ass kicked. I know good Portland players often attend.

I cashed in my Ancient Wonders prize money today. I generally like to save my prizes to get something nice, and I dream of one day getting like a Bazaar of Baghdad or a Mox Jet if I ever save enough. I had about $65 after Tuesday's finish, and I purchased a foil Unhinged Swamp, a foil Thragtusk, and a foil Talrand, Sky Summoner for my EDH deck. Not too bad.

I've had positive results with my deck lately. I made some changes to my Junk Angel deck and started winning fairly consistently. Here are the results.

I started playing this deck on 10/9/12----the Tuesday before the Oregon State Championship. I didn't make any serious changes to the deck until 11/4/12. During that time (about a month), I scored 22-17-2, which means I had a 56% match win percentage (I don't count draws as "at bats"). Those results include the 0-4 nosedive at States. Obviously, 56% is nothing to write home about, and my frustration with the deck's inconsistency was mentioned in my last post.

However, on 11/4/12 I made some changes to the deck, adding more Restoration Angels and another Seraph Sanctuary, thus increasing the chances of obtaining the infinite life combo. Since making those chagnes, I've scored 12-1-1, including two first place finishes (one was a GPT) and a third place finish on Tuesday.  My match win percentage is 92% when considering only these latest results, which means this deck has been dominating. All together, the deck is 34-18-3 (61%), but these most recent matches have been really promising.

Despite the deck's recent success, there is some cause for concern. On Tuesday my only loss was to Ryan Engbrecht running UWr Midrange. During the match, which I lost 0-2, I generally felt like the matchup wasn't good for me. Geist of Saint Traft is a problem for my deck, and when combined with other problematic cards like Tamiyo, the Moon Sage, Jace, Architect of Thought, and Searing Spear, the matchup feels unfavorable. Cavern of Souls is a great card against these UWx decks, but this is definitely a matchup I will be keeping an eye on.

In fact, UW and UWx decks seem to be gaining more prevalence in the current metagame. The most recent SCG in Dallas was won by a UW Flash deck, and on Sunday there were more than a few copycats. A lot of Hallowed Fountains out there right now.

Until next time. Thanks for reading.

I was frustrated on Friday night. I played FNM at Guardian Games, and went 0-2 before dropping. I'm only going to write a short post.

I didn't even try to salvage the tournament; My deck just isn't that fun. What the hell happened? I lost to GW Midrange in round 1 and Esper control in round 2. I lost the first round mostly because the first game took too long. There wasn't enough time to win game 2. Sometimes this happens when two control decks square off.

I lost the second match because I was not focused, mulliganned game 1, color screwed in game 2, and because my opponent was well-prepared.

Still looking for something different to play. Gonna try and catch another tournament Sunday.

I brought my Junk Angel deck to Ancient Wonders on Tuesday for the usual Standard tournament. I scored 4–0, placing clear first. Hurray! This was a far cry from the 1–3 result I had on Sunday. For a moment, I allowed myself to believe the deck was consistent enough to be truly competitive. After 15 more matches however (5 at FNM and 10 on Game Days)  I can finally conclude that this deck is probably not consistent enough to stick with for the remainder of the season.

As of right now, the list looks something like this:

Creatures (21):
3 Angel of Serenity
2 Restoration Angel
4 Thragtusk
4 Fiend Hunter
4 Avacyn's Pilgrim
2 Centaur Healer
1 Craterhoof Behemoth
1 Trostani, Selesnya's Voice

Spells (16):
4 Grisly Salvage
4 Mulch
4 Unburial Rites
4 Farseek

Lands (23):
4 Cavern of Souls
4 Woodland Cemetery
4 Sunpetal Grove
4 Temple Garden
4 Overgrown Tomb
1 Forest
1 Vault of the Archangel
1 Seraph Sanctuary

Sideboard (15):
4 Deathrite Shaman
1 Restoration Angel
1 Craterhoof Behemoth
1 Centaur Healer
2 Ray of Revelation
3 Zealous Conscripts
2 Sever the Bloodline
1 Angel of Serenity

The deck seems pretty solid against control. My cards have decent value. I resolve Angel of Serenity exiling creatures in my graveyard, and when they cast Supreme Verdict or Terminus, I gain card advantage. Also, Thragtusk is an excellent card against control, often requiring two sweepers to completely get rid of. Unburial Rites can also provide card advantage.

 

That said, control decks run lots of planeswalkers (Jace, Tamiyo, etc.), and planeswalkers can be a problem for this deck. I do run Restoration Angel and Craterhoof Behemoth, which are fairly effective answers to planeswalkers, but they’re not as good as Dreadbore or Detention Sphere or other such cards.

This deck also has a pronounced weakness to artifacts. I have zero ways of interacting with artifacts, and it can cause problems. Case in point: on Sunday my opponent cast a Chromatic Lantern on turn 3, a Door to Nothingness on turn 4, and then just won the game several turns later. I had no way of stopping it. This deck is also weak to Grafdigger's Cage.

 

As bad as this deck is against control, it at least survives a few turns. Against aggro things could be disastrous. I've had games on the draw where I've just been crushed by turn 4. We have been constantly tweaking  the deck to try and make those matches more favorable (for example, we added Avacyn’s Pilgrims, additional Fiend Hunters, and now Centaur Healers), but I’m still not sure this deck is viable against aggro. Most of my losses have come from the GW Aggro decks that run Rancor, Loxodon Smiter, and Ajani, Caller of the Pride. If given the chance to stabilize, I can usually win, but getting there is not easy. My zombie matchup is a bit better, but still stressful at times.

One thing this deck has going for it against both aggro and control is the infinite life combo with Fiend Hunter, Fiend Hunter, Restoration Angel, and Seraph Sanctuary (There's also another combo with Trostani, Selesnya's Voice and 3 Fiend Hunters). Sometimes this combo will take an opponent completely by surprise and just win the game. Against aggro it's a near instant victory. However, against control, sometimes the combo is lackluster; it can result in this awkward situation where the opponent chooses to simply play on, comfortable with a draw because he knows you can't get enough attackers on the board to kill him. It's quite annoying. The combo happens frequently in the mirror match.

I think this deck is about 55/45 against the midrange decks in the format, like Jund. Jund runs 3-4 copies of Rakdos Keyrune, which can actually be kind of a problem when combined with Kessig Wolf Run, but for the most part I think we have a better endgame. I actually played 3-4 Jund decks this weekend and I think I came out about even, and lost one of those matches because of misplay.

Anyway, here are my results for the week:

Last Sunday: 1-3

Tuesday: 4-0

Friday: 1-2

Saturday: 3-2-1

Sunday: 3-2

With an overall record of 12-9-1, you can see this deck is hardly overwhelming. I'll only continue playing it until I find something better....See you next time.

It was a rainy Friday night here in Portland; perfect for playing Magic. I drove out to Guardian Games for FNM. There were about 20 players, some regulars, but I noticed right away that a lot of the veterans were missing. Maybe its because players haven't yet acquired the cards necessary to build the decks they want to play (Jace is $50!). I dunno. I brought the Junk Angel deck I posted last time, with some minor alterations to make the deck more viable.

Whereas the deck seemed to limp along at the Oregon State Championship, scoreing 0-4, at FNM the deck felt like it was on 8 cylinders. A couple games I got really lucky, but most of the games felt like they were solidly in my favor.

Round 1 I played against Bant control. He had to mulligan both games so the match was never really fair. I won 2-0.

Round 2 I played against Natty running U/R Delver. I never really got a chance to see how Natty's deck was supposed to work. He never cast a first turn Delver, which I was thankful for. He just seemed to switch the cards in his hand around a lot with Izzet Charm and Desperate Ravings. Eventually he played a Runechanter's Pike and I could see what he was trying to achieve, but there just werent enough creatures. I took the match 2-0, and I think I did get to 'hoof him in game two; Revenge for the thrashing he gave me with Bant Pod at the last PTQ.

Round 3 I played against another Bant Control deck. This time, my opponent didn't mulligan, and the games were extremely close. My biggest concern was running up against the time control, so I tried to play quickly. Game 1 seemed to be dragging on and on; I think it must have taken 30 minutes. I ended up winning it, but not without some crazy shenanigans. My opponent eventually took control of the board with a Sigarda, Host of Herons and a Tamiyo, the Moon Sage. Within a few turns, he had ticked the Tamiyo up to 8 counters while knocking my life down to12. The following turn, he ultimated Tamiyo, but tapped out for an Angel of Serenity. The following turn I summoned a Craterhoof Behemoth and dealt like 40 damage, winning the game. Craziness.

Game 2 was similarly climactic. My opponent once again summoned Tamiyo, the Moon Sage, but this time when he ticked her up to 8 I stole her with a Zealous Conscripts and gave myself the emblem. The following turn I summoned another Zealous Conscripts, stole his Thragtusk, bashed him with it, then used Restoration Angel on it so I could keep it forever. Yeah, it was pretty epic. I won the match 2-0.

Round 4 I played against Jund. I ended up losing this match 1-2. In game 2, I never drew a black mana and I had a handful of Sever the Bloodlines and Grisly Salvages; I didn't last long. Game 3 was close, but Fiend Hunter is generally not good against Thundermaw Hellkite. Especially when Jund is running so much spot removal. I also found Rakdos Keyrune to be an effective blocker against my Thragtusks.

Round 5 I played against GW Aggro, a deck that gave me a lot of problems at States. This time though, I seemed to have GW's number. The combination of Centaur Healer, Thragtusk, and Angel of Serenity ensured that I was able to enter the midgame, where Junk Angel is most effective. I won the match 2-0.

So there you have it. I scored 4-1 and placed first after tiebreaks. I used my credit to purchase a signed Wooded Foothills (completing a playset!). See you next time.

Fuck you, Guttersnipe











Now that the sting of losing has finally subsided, I guess its time to blog about States. As many of you know, I attended the Magic the Gathering Oregon State Championship this weekend, scoring 0 wins and 4 losses before dropping. Ouch. I don't know what happened. I felt like I spent a lot of time and thought preparing for this tournament, but I didn't expect the large number of aggro decks that eventually showed up and I basically just got run out of the building. Here is the deck list I ran:

Creatures (16):
2 Armada Wurm
1 Trostani, Selesnya's Voice
4 Fiend Hunter
3 Angel of Serenity
2 Restoration Angel
4 Thragtusk

Spells (20):
2 Lingering Souls
4 Mulch
4 Grisly Salvage
4 Unburial Rites
4 Farseek
2 Sever the Bloodline

Lands (24):
4 Temple Garden
4 Overgrown Tomb
1 Seraph Sanctuary
2 Vault of the Archangel
4 Sunpetal Grove
4 Woodland Cemetery
1 Isolated Chapel
2 Forest
2 Cavern of Souls

Sideboard (15):
3 Deathrite Shaman
1 Restoration Angel
4 Cathedral Sanctifier
2 Angel of Glory's Rise
2 Craterhoof Behemoth
2 Ray of Revelation
1 Angel of Serenity

In round 1 I faced GW Aggro. This new GW Aggro deck is especially potent because of cards like Silverblade Paladin, Loxodon Smiter, Rancor, and Sublime Archangel. He won the die roll, went first, and played an Avacyn's Pilgrim. It seemed like every turn thereafter he played a Loxodon Smiter. Even though I was eventually able to cast a Thragtusk it wasn't enough to hold and I lost the game.  I lost the second game in similar fashion.

In round 2 I faced, surprise, GW aggro again. Sigh. Same deck, same result.

In round 3 I played against BR Vampires. I think my opponent was running an exact copy of this deck. I got my face smashed in once again as my opponent seemed to draw the nut curve both games.

In round 4 I played against a deck based around Guttersnipe. I can't believe I lost this round. I just went home with my 0-4 score. So, States went awful.

Still, I do like the tournament a lot. Unlike most other tournaments, States gives players some opportunity to show off their deck building skills. That said, the tournament does have several flaws: First, the card pool is quite small, so it's really difficult to innovate and come up with something that can "corner" the metagame. Usually, whatever deck you create has been tried and published in the weeks leading up to States, and you are simply running a variation of the deck. It comes as no surprise that most players are prepared for the cards you're running. Which leads me to my second point: States has a lot of aggro. Maybe this is because the card pool is so new or fresh, but for whatever reason, the last two State Championship tournaments have featured a lot of aggro decks. Last year it was Mono Red. This year it was GW and BR. Something to keep in mind next year.

Gonna make some changes to the deck. Until next time.

On Tuesday I rejoined the ranks of the Magic playing community. I ventured to Ancient Wonders for their usual Tuesday Standard tournament, scoring 3-0-1 and tying for first place. For the moment, I don't want to disclose the decklist I used, as State Championships are this weekend, but I will give my thoughts on the current state of Standard, and the decklists/cards that I currently like. To accomplish this, I examine a few of the top decks from the most recent tournament, SCG Cincinnati (see the lists, here).

First, we have a U/W/R Control list piloted by Todd Anderson. I like this list a lot and think it will be a popular list at states, although I wonder if the deck will be that prevalent given Jace's current $50 price tag. Nevertheless, I think anyone who is going to States should be well prepared to face this deck.

The deck's basic plan is to win with a miracled Entreat the Angels or a planeswalker ultimate. Tamiyo, the Moon Sage and Jace, Architect of Thought are a powerful team, and difficult to eliminate using creatures alone. Tamiyo does an amazing job of dealing with Thragtusk, probably the most prevalent creature in Standard, and Jace is effective against most aggro decks. Anderson's deck has Pillar of Flame and Snapcaster Mage, as well as Terminus and Azorious Charm to live through early aggression. When you add Detention Sphere, the deck is easily able to deal with most threats.

Nevertheless, in my opinion Anderson's deck is not the ideal way of meeting the format. The deck  seems weak to Thragtusk, which in my opinion makes it instantly questionable. In addition, the deck actually has very few win conditions.

Next we have the 4-color Reanimator list piloted by Chris Weidinger. I like this list a lot and playtested something similar online, though I personally did not include red. While Dreadbore is an important card in this list---helping you deal with the pesky planeswalkers mentioned above---it always seems to find its way to the graveyard after Grisly Salvage or Mulch. Therefore, Weidinger is really relying on his creatures to eliminate any pesky planeswalkers, and they fail in this respect. Griselbrand and Angel of Serenity just gets locked down by Tamiyo. What this deck really needs is a card that can kill planeswalkers from the graveyard.

At third place we have a Jund Midrange deck piloted by Lauren Nolen. I also like this list, especially its inclusion of Farseek. I absolutely love Farseek right now and I think it is one of the strongest turn two plays. Farseek is especially potent in this deck, because of the high number of 4 drops: Garruk Relentless, Olivia Voldaren, and Huntmaster of the Fells. And of course, the inclusion of Thragtusk makes this deck especially resilient against aggro and control. The Rakdos Keyrunes give this deck some resilience to sweepers.

I want to get to the rest of the decks in the format, but everything is developing so rapidly I have to get this post out there before it becomes outdated and irrelevant. States this weekend! Stay tuned.

To make a prairie it takes a clover and one bee,
One clover, and a bee,
And revery

Emily Dickinson










As some of you may have noticed, my posts have been sporadic these last few weeks. I haven't been playing much lately, because I'm feeling a little burnt out on Standard right now. Kessig Wolf Run was a fun deck, but it doesn't seem competitive in an environment saddled with Zombies and Infect. It just wasn't putting up good results anymore so I had to put it down. I took some time off and just brewed decks and organized my collection. I've been tracking the spoilers for Return to Ravnica and I'm generally excited about the new set, so I think I might play in a few sealed deck events when the set is finally released. Until then...I probably won't play much.

Anyways, I did manage to play in a couple of Standard events last week, running MonoGreen Infect both times. MonoGreen is fairly easy to play and cheap to build, so I thought I'd give it a shot. Some of you may remember, I was a big Tempered Steel fan back in the day, and MonoGreen has the same sort of balls-out aggro mentality. Both decks mulligan aggressively to get shape their starting hands. I scored 4-1, on Sunday, and 3-2 on Tuesday, which was sufficient for a second place finish and a new Mox Diamond.

I also played in the SCG Legacy Open on Sunday, scoring 2-3-2 with Merfolk and placing 89th (whoopee!). The SCG Open was definitely on my mind in the days leading up to tournament. I was testing several decks online, but came to the conclusion that I didn't like playing any of the viable decks in Standard, and that my time was better spent testing Legacy. I decided not to attend the Standard event at all, which was probably the right decision. I would have played Wolf Run, and the results show that the SCG Open was dominated by Zombies and Infect, which Wolf Run is just bad against.


Although I did not play in the Standard event, as I said before, I did play in the Legacy event. I really wanted to try this format, which is packed with expensive and powerful cards and seems rarely played by anyone inexperienced. I ran the following decklist:

4 Lord of Atlantis
4 Merrow Reejerey
4 Cursecatcher
4 Silvergill Adept
4 Master of the Pearl Trident
2 Coralhelm Commander

3 Standstill
4 Aether Vial
4 Daze
4 Force of Will
3 Spell Pierce

12 Island
4 Mutavault
4 Wasteland

3 Venser, Shaper Savant
1 Spell Pierce
4 Submerge
1 Umezawa's Jitte
2 Kira, Great Glass Spinner
2 Tormod's Crypt
1 Surgical Extraction
1 Relic of Progenitus

Another version of this deck did well at this same tournament, and can be found here. Merfolk is a decent deck, but I now realize it just isn't my style. Merfolk is an aggro deck, but it has a lot of control elements. With 18 non-creature spells in the deck, I often felt like the deck had too few threats and would deplete its resources rather quickly. A few Lightning Bolts or Swords to Plowshares followed by a Snapcaster flashing them back was really all it took to remove enough of my Merfolk creatures and tip the game in my opponent's favor. I also realized my matchup against Maverick was less than optimal, since the islandwalk effect was virtually useless and Mother of Runes could block whatever she wanted to all day long. I guess that's why the deck runs four copies of Submerge in the sideboard. Honestly, if I had my choice of decks before the tournament, I probably would have played Lands, but I didn't have a copy of the Tabernacle of Pendrell Vale---a crucial card in that deck. That one is definitely on my wish list.

I also really like the deck that eventually won the tournament (a copy of which can be seen here). If Merfolk taught me anything, it's that a turn 1 aether vial can be one of the strongest plays in Legacy, or Modern for that matter, and like Merfolk, the winning deck ran four copies of Aether Vial. It looks like the price of Karakas has been steadily rising because of this deck, and because of the success of Show and Tell decks in general. I would pick up copies now, while they're still under $100.

In all, I had a lot of fun and learned a lot, so it was a great experience. The tournout for the SCG was a bit low, so I'm unsure if they'll hold the event in Portland again next year, but I hope they do. Thanks for reading.

"Must not all things at the last be swallowed up in death?"
---Plato
















I ventured to Ancient Wonders for the usual Standard tournament last Tuesday, hoping to break the losing streak I was currently entertaining. Only 10 players attended this week; far less than last week. I saw a lot of familiar faces, and had a good time testing my Modern decks over the course of the evening.

 

In round 1, I was paired against Jordan running G/W Aggro. Jordan got mana-screwed both games and had to mulligan to 5 cards accordingly, so there isn’t much of a match to report. He seemed to be trying out his own home brew, utilizing cards like Elspeth Tirel and Ring of Kalonia.

 

In round 2 I faced Steve Empey running U/B Tezzeret Control. Steve’s deck had cards like Ichor Wellspring, Mycosynth Wellspring, and of course, the new addition to this achetype, TradingPost. Personally, I feel like Steve's version of this deck is weaker than others I’ve seen recently, most notably, the versions utiling Grand Architechts and Myr Superion. Still, Steve's version has a strong late game if left alone for too long.

 

I won the first game with an unchecked Primeval Titan, but not without some interesting play along the way. There’s one decision which I’d like to describe: On turn fifteen-ish, Steve tapped out to cast a Wurmcoil Engine. I was at 20 life; he was at like 29, so on the following turn, I attacked him with Inkmoth Nexus, tapped out for Kessig Wolf Run, and delivered 8 poison counters. On Steve’s next turn, he attacked me with the Wurmcoil; my life went to 14; he went to 35. My next turn, Steve had 1 card in hand, and he had conspicuously left mana open for something (or so I thought). I refrained from attacking with the Inkmoth, instead attacking with the Titan and using Wolf Run. I thought Steve might have an answer to the Inkmoth, and that by not attacking, I was forcing him to leave mana open every turn for a Doom Blade or a Tragic Slip, or whatever it was in his hand. Was this decision correct?

 

Well, in hindsight, it wasn’t. I learned after the game, the card in Steve’s hand at the time was a Mycosynth Wellspring, and by not attacking for lethal poison, I gave him time to eventually draw a Ghost Quarter. Effectively what this means is: Steve bluffed me.

 

Poker players lose to bluffs all the time, and the question you always have to ask yourself afterwards is, given the information I had at the time, was my decision correct? In this particular case, that means asking, should I have attacked with my Inkmoth Nexus?

 

The following pieces of information are perhaps pertinent to answering this question: (1) as I currently run the deck, I have only 1 Inkmoth Nexus, and no other way of dealing poison damage. If my Inkmoth dies, my chance for a victory by poison disappears---and the previous 8 poison I delieverd would end up meaningless; Being unable to kill your opponent by poison seems especially pertinent when they are playing Wurmcoil Engine; (2) Earlier in the game, Steve used a Go for the Throat to kill a Titan. For obvious reasons, Go for the Throats can't kill Inkmoth Nexus.


In chess, we have a saying: “the threat is stronger than the execution.” In the words of an article I found online:

"A threat can be stronger than it's execution because once you have executed the threat the opponent no longer has the threat to worry about and can defend. In a way, if you  cause your opponent to have to always worry and calculate a threat after every move it can be psychologically difficult and frustrating, and lead to mistakes. If you hold a hostage for ransom, once you kill the hostage, your power has gone."

 

 

I am unsure if this concept described above applies to Magic like it does to Chess. After all, there are many rules of thumb that do not apply to both games. In chess, it is often wisest to play your strongest threat first. In Magic, the opposite seems true.

 

 

Regardless of the merit of my decision, I eventually won the match, 2-0.

 

In round 3, I played against PTQ winner Dillon Winter, running U/W Delver. Dillon was playing the version of the deck that basically transforms into U/W Midrange after sideboarding. As we were both undefeated, Dillon and I agreed to draw.


In round 4, I played against B/R Zombies, but a less consistent version than usual. I don't remember much from the match except that my opponent was running Sorin's Vengeance and I mana flooded in game 1. Nevertheless, I won the match 2-1.


At the end of the tournament, I was 3-0-1 and received first place after tiebreakers. George awarded me $20 of store credit, which I used to purchase a foil Unhinged Plains. Good times.


P.S.: Since drafting this post, I played in 2 additional tournaments, with terrible results in both. Zombies has been crushing my face recently....going to have to make changes to the deck with the SCG Open coming this weekend.