Okay so, this post might turn into a little bit of a rant, but whatever.

I played some Magic this weekend, scoring 5-4-1 overall with Dark Bant control and winning absolutely nothing. I ran the following list, which I actually like quite a bit, despite the poor results:

Creatures (8):
4 Thragtusk
4 Augur of Bolas

Spells (26):
4 Farseek
4 Supreme Verdict
4 Azorius Charm
4 Sphinx's Revelation
3 Think Twice
2 Merciless Eviction
2 Syncopate
1 Dissipate
1 Selesnya Charm
1 Detention Sphere

Lands (26):
4 Hinterland Harbor
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Sunpetal Grove
4 Hallowed Fountain
3 Temple Garden
2 Nepahia Drownyard
1 Isolated Chapel
1 Godless Shrine
1 Breeding Pool
1 Watery Grave
1 Alchemist Refuge

The sideboard is confidential for now.

This list is very similar to Reed Duke's Dark Bant list from the SCG Invitational (linked here). I made some alterations; the most serious being the addition of Merciless Eviction. Some players have criticized this decision, but I actually found Merciless Eviction to be more useful than Terminus. In the control matchup, Terminus is basically useless, but Merciless Eviction can hit enemy Detention Spheres or planeswalkers. Yes, your matchup against aggro gets slightly worse, as sometimes you won't have the black mana to cast Merciless Eviction on turn 6, but I still prefer the flexibility of Merciless Eviction over Terminus.

Anyway, in reaching my incredible 5-4-1 record, I did get to play some interesting matches. The first match of note occurred in the final round of Time Vault Games's Mox tournament. I was 3-1-1and needed a win to make Top 8. I got paired up against Naya Midrange. I lost the first game after I mulligan to five, but I managed to stabalize in the second game. I was starting to mill my opponent with Jace, Memory Adept when the judge announced the end of regulation. I managed to mill my opponent out on the 5th turn of the time control, but because there were no additional terms the game was drawn, and thus, the match was lost, 0-1-1. It was tragic.

This made me think of all the cards in the format that can make an opponent draw a card, and how I wish i had any of them. Bloodgift Demon; Harrowing Journey; Inspiration; Jace, Memory Adept; Otherworld Atlas; Reforge the Soul; Righteous Authority; Sign in Blood; Whispering Madness;

Okay, Rant begins here.

I hate the current Magic rules regarding time usage. I understand why they exist: Tournaments run better when rounds are limited to 50 minutes. Increasing the time limit even 5 minutes could potentially extend the length of a tournament by 20-60 minutes. However, something is wrong with a competition where the time for playing is shared between the competitors. After winning the first game, its simply good strategy to play the second game as slowly as possible. We can complain about this being poor sportsmanship all we like, but RULES are what keep competitors in line.

MTGO rectifies this problem by asking the active player to hit "okay" whenever passing priority becomes necessary for the game to proceed. If competitive Magic ever wants to be taken more seriously, it needs to find a way to manage time similar to this online system. I make the following suggestion based on my experience with competitive chess:

Each player has 25 minutes for all actions in the match. If any player's time expires, he lose's the match (not just that game). Black hits the clock to start the game. White's time begins to run. White untaps, upkeeps and draws. If Black wishes to take any action during any of these phases, he can hit the clock (causing White's time to stop and Black's time to run), announce which phase he wants taking the action in, then he can tap land, play a spell, etc. After removing his hand from the spell, he may hit the clock (restarting White's time). If White has no response, the spell resolves and any affected cards are removed, etc. During White's precombat main phase, White plays a land and casts a Llanowar Elf. White hits the clock to pass priority (Black's time begins to run). Black may spend as much time as he likes deciding whether to Mental Misstep the Llanowar Elf, but if his time runs out, he loses. Black chooses not to respond to the elf, and simply hits the clock (White's time begins to run). White announces the end of his turn and hits his clock (Starting Black's time again). Black can now decide whether he wants to Gut Shot the elf at the end of White's turn. If he does, he can pay 2 life, cast the Gut Shot, and then hit the clock (running White's time). White has no response, removes the elf, and hits his clock, once again starting Black's time. Black untaps, upkeeps, and draws, and the process repeats.

Why can't Magic be played in this fashion? A friend of mine said it would extend the length of a match due to clock usage; but this criticism doesn't seem to make sense. If anything, clock use would REDUCE match length by causing players and judges to adhere to their own restrictions. The match will NEVER last longer than 50 minutes. After 50 minutes, someone's time will run out. The judge will never fail to realize that the time control should have been announced ten minutes ago. In fact, the judge would never have to announce the time control ever again.

I realize the addition of clocks would change Magic to an extent, but clock use enhances the experience of playing competitive chess, and I wonder if it could do the same for Magic. Let me know your thoughts?

Rant over. I lost the game due to time control and that's just the way Magic currently is.

The next interesting match occurred on Sunday. In the final round, I played against Oliver Garcia running R/G Aggro. The final game of the match was incredibly close and went long. I was at 2 life and Oliver was running out of cards in his library. We were both top decking. I needed to draw a Sphinx's Revelation, which would have won me the game, and Oliver needed to draw a Skullcrack or any creature with haste. I drew first, but drew a Hinterland Harbor. Oliver drew a Skullcrack and finished me off. The next card in my library was a Sphinx's Revelation. Again, tragic.

So, those were the most interesting matches. Hope you've enjoyed reading. See you next time.