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.