There is so much Magic to report. This weekend I attended no less than three magic tournaments—FNM on Friday, the Portland Pro Tour Qualifier on Saturday, and Game Day at Guardian Games on Sunday. I ran Jund Wolf Run in all three events, scoring a total of 10 wins, 6 losses, and 2 draws.



Now I realize this record isn't very impressive, but I did manage to tie for first place at the Game Day event and reach the prize pool at FNM, so the weekend was not without its high points. I can't possibly describe the matches in detail, as there were far too many games, but I can try to hit the highlights. First, for my decklist:

Creatures

4 Primeval Titan
3 Inferno Titan
1 Thragtusk
1 Huntmaster of the Fells
4 Solemn Simulacrum

Spells

4 Rampant Growth
4 Sphere of the Suns
4 Whipflare
3 Slagstorm
1 Blasphemous Act
1 Green Sun's Zenith
2 Doom Blade
2 Beast Within

Lands

4 Copperline Gorge
4 Rootbound Crag
1 Woodland Cemetery
4 Glimmerpost
1 Inkmoth Nexus
1 Kessig Wolf Run
3 Mountain
3 Forest
1 Swamp
4 Cavern of Souls

Sideboard

3 Ancient Grudge
1 Melira, Sylvok Outcast
2 Green Sun's Zenith
1 Blasphemous Act
2 Grave Titan
1 Doom Blade
1 Karn Liberated
1 Beast Within
2 Sever the Bloodline
1 Curse of Death's Hold

FNM

Although I scored only 3-2 at FNM, several of those victories were against top Portland players. In round two, I beat Henry Romero running U/R Talrand Delver, 2-0. Henry used cards like Talrand, the Sky Summoner, Grim Lavamancer, and of course, Delver of Secrets. G/R Wolf Run has always had a good matchup against U/R Delver, as the Whipflares often impede U/R Delver's ability to gain any traction. Nevertheless, Henry won the 193-player PTQ the next day by using this same deck, qualifying for the Pro Tour, so apparently his deck has its merits. I didn’t feel like his deck was that strong, but I am often wrong. Anyways, congrats to Henry on his qualification!



In round 3 I played against Mono Red Goblins and lost 0-2. The MonoRed deck eventually won the FNM, 5-0...don't ask me how. Apparently, penny sleeves and Goblin Grenades are all you need to win an FNM at Guardian Games. Go figure.



In round 4 I played against Henry Freedman running Bant Pod, and I won the match 2-1. Henry is definitely one of the top Portland players I mentioned above, as he is consistently ranked at the top of the Planeswalker Points charts (we will leave the discussion of whether placing at the top of the Plansewalker charts makes you a “top player” for another time—but Henry is definitely legit). Bant Pod has surged onto the Standard scene recently, using cards like Phantasmal Image, Deadeye Navigator, Mist Raven, Frost Titan, and of course, Restoration Angel. I played against the Bant Pod deck at least three times this weekend (scoring 2-1). All I can say is that I find Bant Pod far more threatening than its Naya Pod cousin, since the Phantasmal Image—Sun Titan combination often gives Wolf Run a lot of headaches (a theme I have mentioned before), but that I find the matchup is still winnable, especially after sideboard. Ancient Grudge is just so good against all these pod decks.



I lost the final round of the FNM to a Mono Black control deck. I ramped into a Primeval Titan, but he ramped into a Griselbrand, and it wasn't pretty after that. I lost the match, 1-2.



So that was it for FNM. I think I got like $10 in prizes which I used to obtain two more copies of Cabal Therapy. Legacy Dredge is nearing completion.

PTQ

The PTQ went kind of terribly. I had never played in a PTQ before this weekend, so I didn't quite know what to expect. In general I found the tournament well-organized, competitive, and most importantly, air conditioned! (It’s been really hot here).



After waking early in the morning, I drove down to the convention center, stood in line, registered, and awaited the first round pairings. I saw all the usual players around the tournament hall.



The first round pairings went up and I learned that I was playing Nick Rennard. I had heard of Nick before, but I wasn’t sure where from. It turns out, Nick is an accomplished Oregon player; He was 2010 Oregon State Champion and has several top 8 finishes. We made small chat, shuffled, and the match began.



Nick was running R/G Aggro, so he wanted to get a first turn Bird of Paradise equipped with a second turn Sword of War and Peace. He also ran the usual goodies like Green Sun’s Zenith, Strangleroot Geist, and Bonfire of theDamned. The first game was close. At one point Nick got me down to one life before I was able to resolve a Primeval Titan, fetching Glimmerposts and gaining enough life to keep me in the game. Eventually I stabilized and won the first game.



Games two and three did not go as planned. I think not sideboarding in any Ancient Grudges in game 2 was a mistake on my part, as Nick drew the nuts—turn 1 Bird, turn 2 Sword. On turn three he attacked me for something like 8 damage. The Bird had protection from red and was immune to Slagstorm. I think I lost this game by the fifth turn or something ridiculous like that.



I added 3 copies of Ancient Grudge in game 3, but I never drew them, and Nick once again drew the nuts—a turn 1 Bird followed by a turn 2 Sword of War and Peace. I tried to dump my hand as fast as possible to reduce the damage, but I was already too far behind, and I eventually lost the game and the match, 1-2.



Thus, the PTQ started terribly and didn’t get much better from there on out. I won rounds 2 and 4 against U/W Delver, but lost rounds 3 and 5 against Bant Pod and U/W/R Miracles. After my third loss I knew I could not get a prize, so I dropped from the tournament. I went home and reflected on how bullshit Magic is sometimes. There’s seemingly too much luck in this game, but then, how do the pro players consistently place well at these top events?

Game Day

Game Day turned out to be my most successful tournament of the weekend. I scored 5-1-2, thereby tying for first place. This record may appear strange, but Guardian did a strange tournament format, cutting to top 8 after 5 rounds. I intentionally drew the fifth round to make it into the Top 8, and then I intentionally drew in the finals to get the prize store credit, so thats where the two draws came from.



This tournament started off poorly with a loss to B/G Pod. I was afraid I’d have a repeat of the PTQ the day before. My opponent was using cards like Sheoldred, the Whispering One, Rune-Scarred Demon, Massacre Wurm, and other huge black creatures. I don’t think the deck was necessarily good (as any Pod deck without Restoration Angel seems suboptimal), but I thought B/G had a viable matchup against me. I lost the match, 1-2.



After losing this match I won the next three, and so drew into the top 8.



Probably the highlight of this tournament was beating Ryan Engbrecht in the semi-finals. I respect Ryan as a player and definitely consider him a strong opponent, so it was nice to put a dent in his Bant Pod list, which he was undefeated with up to this point.



I drew with David (who was running Esper Midrange) in the finals, thereby taking the 10 pack prize. I converted the packs into store credit and acquired the last two copies of Bridge from Below I needed. Now all I need to complete the Legacy Dredge deck are Cities of Brass.



See you at Ancient Wonders on Tuesday!