It wasn't pretty; it was downright ugly. There was a massacre scheduled to occur at Guardian Games this Sunday, and I was the cattle, eyes glazed over, unwittingly strolling into the slaughterhouse.
What do you do when your deck insists on losing? Do you keep going? How long do you let the butchery continue? I could take only three rounds of the nightmare that was this most recent tournament---Two losses to people I don't ordinarily lose to; one loss to someone I was supposed to beat; two comments after the game about how my opponent has always wanted to beat me, how it feels so good to finally win one, blah blah; three games where my deck drew over 50% land; one game where I punted away the match like an idiot. It was ugly I tell you; downright ugly.
I played R/G Wolf Run, and the deck failed me. How did it happen, you ask? Here, let me descibe the misery...
First, there was Justin Norman, running mono-white humans. Justin casted an Angelic Destiny on a Mirran Crusader with 2 Honor of the Pure already in play. I took 16 damage in one turn. Yeah, I scooped that game. In Game 2, I sideboarded in Combust, but never drew one, and Justin was able to cast Angelic Destiny on a Champion of the Parish (with three counters on it). I must have done something immoral recently because the flying, first striking, Angels had it in for me. I lost the match quickly, 0-2.
In round two there was Jacques Buteau, who I've played before, but I don't ordinarily lose to. Jacques was running the U/G Infect deck, which has been slowly gaining popularity at Guardian Games. For those who don't know, the deck uses Wild Defiance and various Giant Growth effects to try and kill you with an Inkmoth Nexus or a Blighted Agent as soon as possible. I've lost to it before, but I failed to adjust my sideboard afterward because I just didn't view it as too much of a threat. That was probably a mistake. My sorcery-speed removal spells (i.e., Slagstorm and Whipflare) were fairly useless against Inkmoth Nexus and Spellskite. I managed to win one game, but land-flooded in game three and got stuck with a Slagstorm and Whipflare in hand. I lost the match 1-2.
In round three I was paired against Henry Romero. Don't ask me how Oregon's current Seasonal Points leader (and ranked 23rd in Oregon in Lifetime Points) ended up at the bottom of the pairings with me. He was running Jund Pod, or Zombie Jund Pod, or Zombie Jund Pod Metamorph, whatever you want to call it. It was fast. Diregraf Ghouls, Gravecrawlers, Geralf's Messengers, Phyrexian Metamorphs and Birthing Pod. He sideboarded in Zealous Conscripts. Games 1 and 2 weren't close, as I land-flooded in game 1 and he land-flooded in game 2. Game 3 however, was intense, at one point the board just sort of stabilized and we both just sat there, drawing cards until we could find a threat. I drew a Primeval Titan and really put the pressure on, but he eventually killed it with a Tragic Slip. Then, I made a terrible play mistake, failing to kill a Geralf's Messenger when I could have and allowing Henry to "combo out." He played a Phyrexian Metamorph, copying the Geralf's Messenger, sacrificed one of the Geralf's Messengers with the Birthing Pod to find Phyrexian Metamorph, copying Birthing Pod and dealing two damage to me in the process. Then he did it again, and again, eventually dealing enough damage to kill me with an attacking Geralf's Messenger. "It was all my fault," I thought to myself after the game. "I should have just killed the Messenger."
So that was it. I was done. It was the worst tournament performance I've had in a while, and I've been humbled; my confidence shaken. I've responded by making some changes to my main deck and sideboard, hoping to take some victories this Tuesday. Until then....
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