Normal Prize Breakdown*:

1st Place – 10 Packs or $25 Store Credit

2nd Place – 6 Packs or $15 Store Credit

3rd & 4th Place – 4 Packs or $10 Store Credit

5th-8th Place – 3 Packs or $7.5 Store Credit

Top 2 Finishers will receive a FNM Promo!

Entry Fee: $0 (FREE!!!)

*Participants have the option to pay a $5 Entry fee to double their prize. If you choose to pay the $5 entry fee, you will receive the following prize support:

1st Place – 20 Packs or $50 Store Credit

2nd Place – 12 Packs or $30 Store Credit

3rd & 4th Place – 8 Packs or $20 Store Credit

5th-8th Place – 6 Packs or $15 Store Credit

FNM Promo for April 11′

We would love to see you for our Friday Night Magic (FNM) tournaments every Friday ! Details below:

FREE FOR EVERYONE!!!!!

Tournament Details:

Format: Standard

Prizes*:

GUARANTEED Booster box of the latest set for the Top 8 finishers!

Top 2 Finishers will receive a FNM Promo!

Random Door Prizes will be given away throughout the night.

Entry Fee: $0 (FREE!!!)

Registration starts @ 5:30 PM

Tournament Starts @ 7:00 PM

If you have any questions, please call 813-914-7000

Gatekeeper of Malakir FNM Promo for November 10′

Click Above for More Details

This Pro Tour didn’t start off too great after being 0-3. Luckily, I woke up for round 4 and rattled off 9 straight before losing 1, winning two more, and losing the last round to make 27th place!

I Qualified for Pro Tour: San Juan by getting 12th at Grand Prix Houston 2 months ago. I did a lot of testing, and with the help of Adam Fox, Christopher Fennel, and Harrison Greenberg, came up with the Mono Green Eldrazi ramp deck that is very popular on MTGO now. We had the deck almost perfected when it got leaked on MTGO. This was a huge problem, because the reason to play the deck was the surprise factor. Since everyone knew our list and still had a week left to test, they were able to add it to their testing gambit and find a way to beat it. The easiest way was Tajuru Preserver, which was easily splashable in any blue, green, or black deck due to Verdant Catacombs and Misty Rainforest being in the format. All is Dust and the Annihilator keyword cause the opponent to sacrifice permanents and Tajuru Preserver stopped that.

So we were back to square one with 2 days left until the tournament. I was about to leave on my flight to San Juan when I called the testing group and asked if there was any cards they needed me to bring before I left. Their answer was as many Terastodon’s as I could get. That seemed awesome. Instead of ramping to 10 or 11 to play an Eldrazi, we could just get to 8 and blow up all their Eldrazi Temples, or keep them off White mana to prevent a Day of Judgment or Journey to Nowhere. With the addition of Summoning Trap, we had a deck…or so I thought.

This is the list we all ended up playing:

4 Overgrown Battlement

4 Wall of Omens

1 Iona, Shield of Emeria

1 Pelakka Wurm

3 Avenger of Zendikar

4 Terastodon

4 Explore

3 Journey to Nowhere

3 Growth Spasm

3 Day of Judgment

4 Summoning Trap

6 Forest

5 Plains

3 Verdant Catacombs

4 Graypelt Refuge

4 Stirring Wildwood

3 Tectonic Edge

1 Marsh Flats

Sideboard:

4 Mold Shambler

4 Vengevine

2 Kor Skyfisher

1 Pelakka Wurm

3 Kor Firewalker

1 Journey to Nowhere

The problem with the deck is that it didn’t really do anything against a Jace, the Mind Sculptor, or even a Tectonic Edge. It’s also very reliant on Explore and Overgrown Battlement. You HAVE to mulligan any hand with out 1 of those unless you’re playing against an aggro deck. We all talked after each round of the tournament and had similar stories. “Got my Overgrown Battlement Flame Slashed and lost” or “He played a Jace and I got milled 6 turns later after he countered my 1 relevant spell”. We misread the metagame and thought there would be a lot more aggro deck. The deck did beat one the mono green eldrazi monument deck that came out at the PT.

To put it simply, Harrison and I had the best record with the deck at 5-5. The overall record with the deck was 14-16; not too good for a PT. Luckily I was able to 6-0 the limited portion and finish in 27th place, which was a godsend. Every match I played with the deck I felt I had to get lucky in order to win. I could usually steal 1 game out of a match, but winning 2 was near impossible. If you play Magic Online, or a local store is holding a block tournament, I would not suggest trying this deck. After the tournament, I feel the best block decks are Mono Green Eldrazi Monument/Beastmaster’s Ascention and UGR control.

Both drafts I ended up BG. I try and force green since it’s so powerful, and I feel so behind every time I play against a green deck. I usually end up RG and less often BG or GW Aura’s. Both drafts I ended up having the Mortician Beetle/Bloodthrone Vampire/Pawn of Ulamog combo deck. If you have Bloodthrone Vampire in play along with 1 or 2 of the other cards your creatures are so big it puts you’re opponent on an auto abyss. The first draft, I ended up with multiple pieces of the combo cards (Including a splashed Sarkhan the Mad!) but not a single removal spell. This would come back to haunt me in game 3 of the last round of day 1 that I needed to win to make day 2 when my opponent had Dawnglare Invoker in play. I didn’t have my Sarkhan to give him a dragon to give me a chance. He had 10 power in play along with a Battle-Rattle Shaman. On his mainphase, he tapped my team, and went straight to an attack. He tapped all his guys, and then realized he forgot about Battle-Rattle Shaman. He tried to give a guy +2/+0 but I called a judge. He messed up his story 10 minutes in, and I was able to untap and attack for roughly 60 damage and move into day 2. This is my 1st draft deck.

7 Forest

1 Mountain

9 Swamp

2 Bala Ged Scorpion

2 Bloodthrone Vampire

1 Bloodrite Invoker

1 Cadaver Imp

1 Dread Drone

1 Mortician Beetle

1 Mul Daya Channelers

2 Nest Invader

1 Nirkana Cutthroat

1 Null Champion

1 Ondu Giant

2 Pawn of Ulamog

2 Sporecap Spider

1 Essence Feed

1 Growth Spasm

1 Might of the Masses

1 Prey’s Vengeance

1 Sarkhan the Mad

My second draft deck, the 1st 3 rounds of day 2, was a little bit more of what the deck should look like. The rares I opened were 2 Corhelm Commanders and 1 Sphinx of Magosi. I took a Vendetta over the Corhelm Commander pack 1 and 2 and a Corpsehatch over the Sphinx of Magosi pack 3. Vendetta is a straight bomb in this set. I was super grateful for all the removal I got after I didn’t have a single one in my first deck. Another note from the draft is that I got passed the Consume the Meek pack 1 pick 2 after their was a common missing. I asked him when I ran into him what he took over it, and he told me Venerated Teacher. Pack 1 Pick 1 that seems a little greedy to me, because what if there is not many levelers in the packs? That guy did not make day 2.

Here is the 2nd draft list:

6 Forest

12 Swamp

2 Arrogant Bloodlord

2 Bala Ged Scorpion

1 Bloodthrone Vampire

1 Cadaver Imp

1 Dread Drone

1 Gloomhunter

1 Kozilek’s Predator

1 Mortician Beetle

1 Nirkana Revenant (7th pick!!)

1 Null Champion

1 Ondu Giant

1 Ulamog’s Crusher

1 Consume the Meek

1 Corpsehatch

1 Essence Feed

1 Growth Spasm

1 Induce Despair

1 Might of the Masses

2 Vendetta

Overall, I was very happy with my performance at the PT. I got my 10th Pro Point which qualifies me for US Nationals. Also, I qualified for PT Amsterdam with my Top 50 finish and made $1700 after a long weekend. Until next time, look forward to my bi-weekly article right here at thegameacademyonline.com Please feel free to leave any comments below =)

David Sharfman

Day 2 of Grand Prix Houston

Round 10 Christian Flodstrom-Sconce // Next Level Blue w/Red for Blood Moon and Firespout

Game 1

He plays 2 Scalding Tarns, while I play a turn two Tarmogoyf after going to six cards. I have no clue what he’s playing, so I get dual lands instead of basics. I think he may be some sort of Hive Mind deck or something (you see where this is going). Sure enough, he cracks his fetches, untaps, casts a Blood Moon, and beats me down with some Trinket Mages and a Vendilion Clique after killing my Tarmogoyf.

I board out:

3 Lightning Helix

4 Path to Exile

1 Bant Charm

I board in:

3 Negate

4 Meddling Mage

1 Ranger of Eos

Game 2

I cast a turn 3 Knight of the Reliquary after negating a turn two Blood Moon from him. Sure enough, the knight is a huge problem for him as he has no way to kill it, and it goes the distance.

I leave the board the same.

Game 3

I mulligan to a hand with a Meddling Mage, Knight of the Reliquary, Tarmogoyf, Negate, and two lands. On his first turn, he plays a land, Chrome Mox, and plays Chalice for one. At this point, I’m amused because of the lack of one drops in my deck. On turn two I play a Meddling mage and name Threads of Disloyalty, because I don’t want him stealing my Tarmogoyf. The game ends with him playing Thirst for Knowledge, discarding two Threads of Disloyalty, and casting Jace, the Mindsculptor. He concedes shortly thereafter.

9-1

Round 11 Pete Pickard // Boros Deck Wins

Pete ended up squeezing into 8th place thanks to my tiebreakers ; )

Game 1

We both take turns playing and killing creatures, but he ends up drawing enough burn spells to finish me off. Not to mention, my opening hand of Stomping Ground, 3 Wild Nacatl ,2 Lightning Bolt and Kird Ape never draws another land. An uneventful game, but I actually like this matchup since I know that the deck has a hard time winning if you kill the one or two creatures they draw each game. Also, my list with 4 knight of the reliquary gives them problems since they only have 4 paths for my 4 goyfs and 4 knights that are too big.

I board out:

1 Lignting Helix

1 Bant Charm

1 Ranger of Eos

I board in:

3 Qasali Pridemage

Game 2

He goes down to four cards and I easily take this game on the back of my two Tarmogoyfs and Knight of the Reliquary.

Game 3

He plays a steppe lynx, and I path it. He plays geopede, and I play Nacatl and Bolt it. His helix kills my nacatl, and I play a knight, which he also paths. My next play involves me casting two tarmogoyfs. He uses two burn spells to kill one of my goyf’s, but I untap and play a 5/5 knight to match his lone geopede. At this point, I’m low on life because of my lands and the few burn spells he’s thrown at me. My hand consists of bant charm and lightning helix at 5 life, while he only has one card in hand. I attack and bring him to lethal in two turns. After his draw step, he has two cards in hand and passes the turn. After I untap, he throws six points of burn to my face, but I have the bant charm to stop one of them, and take the other one going down to two life. I still have the lightning helix in hand, an untapped sacred foundry, and an untapped knight with some other creatures. I attack with everything except the knight, and he’s dead next turn no matter what. He’s excited after drawing a burn spell on his turn, but my lightning helix keeps me alive in order to be able to attack next turn for the win. Very exciting game!

10-1

Round 12 David Daniel // Thopter Depths

Game 1

I keep a one land hand with all one drops, while he plays turn one sword, turn two he transmutes muddle, and turn three has the thopter foundry. I die shortly after.

I board out:

1 Forest

2 Path to Exile

3 Lightning Helix

4 Tarmogoyf

I board in:

3 Negate

4 Meddling Mage

1 Ranger of Eos

1 Bant Charm

1 Ghost Quarter

Game 2

He leaves in the hexmage//depths combo and kills me on turn 3 after drawing a thoughtseize to steal the path out of my hand.

This was the quickest match out of the tournament, and at this point I was pretty upset to lose so quickly to nut draws.

10-2

Round 13 Patrick Chapin // Grixis Control

Pat is a cool guy, and a well known pro. I know what he’s playing after watching one of his feature matches, and I know this has to be a bad matchup for me.

Game 1

I cast creatures, and he kills them one by one. Eventually, he casts two cruel ultimatums, knocking me completely out of the game. I end up drawing all four path to exiles after starting with only one in my hand.

I board out:

4 Path to Exile

3 Lightning Helix

3 Bant Charm

I board in:

3 Negate

4 Meddling Mage

1 Ranger of Eos

2 Elspeth, Knight Errant

Game 2

I start too quickly for his deck to handle, and get ahead by resolving a Ranger of Eos. It helped that he started this game off with his first three lands being Sunken Ruins.

Game 3

I have my usual start of animal, animal, animal, animal, and he gets stuck on only blue and black mana with four lands in play. He can cast his damnations and cryptic commands, but those can only stall. Cruel Ultimatum is what he needs to get the card advantage to beat me. There is a turn in the game where he taps out to do something and I cast two Meddling Mage’s on Damnation as well as cast 2 Nacatl’s that I searched out earlier with Ranger of Eos. He dies on the next turn. He was a nice guy to play against and we wished each other luck in the last few rounds.

11-2

Round 14 Adam Yurchick // Thepths

I’ve never played against Adam before, but I know he’s very good. I’m also playing for top 8 because if I win I’m guaranteed to draw in, whereas he (since I got paired down..AGAIN..) is 11-2-1 and has to win win to make it.

Game 1

He has a turn one Dark Confidant and I don’t have a one drop or removal. He ends up hitting all 4 confidants, and one turn even has 3 in play at 7 life. Of course he doesn’t die, and sets up Thopter Foundry/Sword of the Meek that turn at 4 life! It was even more awkward that the Dark Confidants revealed Dark Depths, Dark Depths, Thirst for Knowledge. Then the next turn reveal Dark Depths again, Tolaria West. How Lucky!

I board the same as every other Thepths matchup.

Game 2

It gets pretty close but he eventually puts me on top deck mode by killing my last guy. He plays Hexmage with a Depths in play and I draw the 1 ghost quarter and quickly cast it. He can’t make the token! How lucky. He plays another hexmage and starts beating me down. I finally draw a guy and pass. On his turn he hexmages the Dark Depths, I let the counters come off and ghost quarter, he thinks about calling a judge to ask if he hexmages again will he get it which I know he doesn’t. He decides not too and just reveals his hand of tolaria west(to search for Dark Depths) and Rite of Consumption to kill me out of the game and top 8 contention. :[

11-3

Round 15 Josh Utter-Leyton // Thepths

I know what he’s playing because he won a modo ptq the week before and wrote about it in an article for another MTG strategy site.

Game 1

I play some Cats and Goyfs and he sets up the thopter combo with 5 lands open, and 9 life. I attack with 1 Nacatl and 2 4/5 goyfs. He makes 3 guys and double blocks Nacatyl and puts 1 on a goyf?!? He takes 4 and goes to 5. EOT he has 2 lands open and tries to make a Thopter. In response, I throw a Helix and a Bolt at his face as he shakes his head. HOW LUCKY. He could have just blocked all 3 of my guys or not made tokens at EOT and I would have had no chance.

I board out 1 Forest 2 Path 3 Lightning Helix 4 Goyf for 3 Negate 4 Meddling Mage 1 Ranger 1 Bant Charm 1 Ghost Quarter

Game 2

He has the god draw and kills me in four turns.

Game 3

He turn 1 thoughtseizes me. (18) I play a Nacatyl. He plays a land and sword, I attack with Nacatl (15) and play a kird ape. He deathmarks my Nacatl. I attack with Kird Ape (13). He mainphase smothers. I play a Pridemage. He plays another draw spell. I attack with pridemage (10) he plays a land and a confidant. I bolt it. I attack with Pridemage. (7) He plays another Confidant. I draw Bolt and attack with Pridemage (4) I think for a while and eventually decide to lightning bolt his head (1!) since he has Dark Confidant in play. I end up making the right choice, as he untaps and reveals Sword of the Meek! Got there!

I’m really excited now. I got 12th place which is $600 and a slot at Pro Tour San Juan which I’ve been trying to get qualified for all season. Also, I had to be back in Orlando Monday morning, so if I made top 8 I’d have to leave. Getting 12th was the best possible situation! Tune in, where in a few weeks I will report on how I do in San Juan!

15 hours of driving is A LOT of driving. Last Friday, my parents left town for a week on a vacation to Jamaica. Little did they know that when they returned, their son would be 2K richer just from playing some “stupid” card game. I knew that I was going to the $500 FNM, the Star City events on Saturday and Sunday, but that was all I told them. You can read about those two events in my last article. Tuesday comes around, and I bring my trophy up to my local card shop and play in some drafts, when I overhear some of my friends talking about a Grand Prix coming up in Houston. I take interest, until I find out that the format is extended.

I hate the current extended format!

I’ve played every deck under the moon in at least 10 different events between PTQ’s, Saturday tournaments, and MTGO 8 mans. I had not found one I liked. Since my parents were out of town and I had nothing to do anyways I said what the hell and decided I would be partaking on this 15 hour adventure. I had no clue what I was going to play; I just knew I was going.

I borrowed a Dark Depths /Thopter Foundry deck and a Bant deck from my friends Jimmy and Melvin, and I also sleeved up a Boom/Bust zoo deck. Those are pretty much the triangle decks of the format. When I finally decided what I wanted to play, at least I would already have the cards!

Harrison kept on telling me to make a decision so he could get his friend a deck, but he obviously doesn’t know me if he’s asking that question. I’m known for sitting down at the player meeting with one deck and by the time they are coming around to collect lists, I change to a completely different deck. I’m not proud of being indecisive, but I like taking everything into account when I make my decision. This trip was nothing different.

Taylor R., James W. Harry G., and I all leave Orlando at 5 o’ clock, which is cutting it a little tight on time for Houston. Harry decides he doesn’t want to go 5 minutes into the trip, so we turn around, drop him back off with his car, get in my car, and get another 20 dollars a piece out of our wallets to cover the extra expenses. I take the first shift driving while I tell James to sleep so he can be awake for the next shift. My car is manual and Taylor doesn’t know how to drive stick so he definitely got the best deal. We get on the road, James’ cold gets worse, I get his cold, and Taylor sleeps practically the entire way. Somehow, I end up driving the entire trip.

Shoot me now.

We pull up at the hotel at 7:30 in the morning, get a room, take a shower, and have to go right to the tournament site, which is connected to our hotel. I bring my Boom//Bust zoo deck down with me since I’m running on zero sleep, and DDT takes too much thinking to play perfectly. I sit down with Pat Cox and Zach Efland to get my deck together. Pat’s playing the same Zoo deck he’s been playing all season with the exception of about 5 cards from the list he top 8′d Oakland with. Todd Anderson and Pat both tell me how you have to run good with Boom/Bust for it to work, and how they both don’t like how the deck has 7 situational cards being Boom/Bust and Blood Moon. Also, everyone is prepared for Blood Moon now, so even DDT has 5 basics in it. It kind of reminds me of Legacy, how people fetch for basics first just in case their opponent has Wasteland, in this case Blood Moon. I end up copying Pat Cox’s list, change 2 cards in the main, and move them to the sideboard. We basically have the same list, but I have +1 Knight of the Reliquary, -1 Loam Lion and switched the Bant Charm and Lightning Helix slots from main to board. (I have 3 Bant Charm 3 Lightning Helix main with 1 and 1 in board where he has 2 Bant Charm and 4 Lightning Helix main with 2 Bant Charm in the board). Overall, I was happy with the changes I made, considering how Bant Charm is awesome in every matchup whereas Lightning Helix gets boarded out a lot. I boarded in my 4th Bant Charm in every matchup with the exception of maybe one or two. Here’s what I ended up playing:

4 Kird Ape
3 Loam Lion
4 Wild Nacatl
3 Qasali Pridemage
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Knight of the Reliquary
2 Ranger of Eos
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Path to Exile
3 Lightning Helix
3 Bant Charm
1 Breeding Pool
1 Stomping Ground
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Steam Vents
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Temple Garden
1 Forest
1 Plains
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Arid Mesa
4 Misty Rainforest
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Stirring Wildwood

Sideboard:
2 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
1 Ranger of Eos
3 Negate
4 Meddling Mage
2 Ethersworn Canonist
1 Bant Charm
1 Lightning Helix
1 Ghost Quarter

The only changes I’d make from this list are in the board. I would get rid of 1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant for the fourth Ranger of Eos. Ranger was a blowout every time I cast it, where as Elspeth was just kind of meh. I might also take out the Ghost Quarter in the board because I never wanted to search with it with knight and DDT USUALLY (foreshadow) boards out the hexmage part of the deck for removal spells, so knight never lives anyways. I also never searched for the manland in any match; I only activated it if I drew it. Don’t get me wrong, Knight of the Reliquary is ridiculous; you just don’t want to waste a turn of attacking with your 5/5. The reason the Bojuka Bog is not in the sideboard is because against dredge, turn 4 activate knight is usually too late. In zoo decks with Noble Hierarch, it makes sense because you can do it turn 3, but in this list that is not the case. If dredge is popular in your area, cut the other elspeth and the Ghost Quarter for 2 Bojuka Bog so you can draw them if turn 4 activate knight is too slow. I pretty much conceded to dredge with this list which I am fine with for a GP because of how few of them there are.

On to the report…

Round 1 & 2 **Awarded Bye**
I got lucky and my rating hit 1954 because of the legacy event, so I barely got that 2nd Bye.

Round 3 – Jeremy // Zoo Mirror

Game 1
We both play some cats, trade, then I play a goyf, it’s a 2/3 since there is a creature and a land in the yard. He plays helix on my goyf. What a great way to start this GP. Needless to say I win easily from there, even though he tries to mount an offense with a figure of destiny.

I board in:
1 Lightning Helix
2 Elspeth Knight-Errant
1 Ranger of Eos
1 Bant Charm

I board out:
2 Loam Lion
3 Kird Ape (2/3′s aren’t good in the mirror when they have 3/3 Wild Nacatls)
.
Game 2
We’re both stuck on lands casting dorks when he Path to Exiles one of my guys that’s beating him down. That gives me land #4 to cast a seemingly endless supply of rangers and elspeths.

3-0

Round 4 – Bobby // Boom Bust Zoo

Bobby’s a nice guy who I continued to talk to about my progress for the rest of the GP.

Game 1
Most of my games start with me playing random dorks so ill leave that part out in the future. It gets to the point where I have 5 guys against his 2 goyfs and 1 knight with 1 card in hand. I have 2 burn spells in my hand so I go all in, if he has a helix I’m dead, if he doesn’t then he’s dead. I take the chance and he doesn’t. I board the same as the last zoo mirror.

Game 2
He get’s stuck on 2 lands while I play guys; he’s never really in it. My goyf and pridemage go the distance. He plays a Blood Moon and I’m never really pressured to kill it with my pridemage.

4-0

Round 5 – Phillip Yam // Tribal Zoo

Game 1
We both play guys and trade early. Turn 4 he attacks with a Loam Lion, I elect to take it, and end up taking 12 due to double Might of Alara! I go to 7, and stay there for the rest of the game as he draws lands and I draw spells. I end the game with a Bant Charm in hand to counter a bolt, so his only real outs were consecutive Tribal Flames.

I board in:
1 Lightning Helix
2 Elspeth Knight-Errant
1 Ranger of Eos
1 Bant Charm

I board out:
2 Loam Lion
3 Kird Ape

Game 2
He keeps Loam Lion and 5 Lands after he mulls. My hand was awesome, involving Nacatl Goyf Burn Ranger and Lands. I make short work of him.

5-0
Round 6 – Mon Lee // Bant

Game 1
We go back and forth. He has War Monks and Goyfs and keeps getting around my guys with Path to Exile and Bant Charm. He puts Sword of Fire and Ice on a War Monk which I double block it with a Cat and the Stirring Wildwood. That leaves him with a goyf and 1 more War Monk. I draw a second removal spell and put the goyf on the bottom and path the War Monk. My animals deal the remaining 17 damage.

I board in:
2 Elspeth Knight-Errant
1 Ranger of Eos
1 Bant Charm

I board out:
3 Lightning Helix (all his guys were too big for me to kill with it, and on the draw it doesn’t kill noble hierarch quick enough)
2 Kird Ape

Game 2
I start way too fast for him. He doesn’t cast any guys on the first few turns, while I curve out with Nacatl, Goyf, and Knight. To deal with my threats, he plays path, Bant Charm, and Engineered Explosives. I then play Ranger of Eos and reload. Ranger was too much card advantage for his Bant deck to handle and I remain undefeated.

6-0

Round 7 – Dwayne St.Arnauld // Living End

This matchup is horrendous. Even with 9 cards in the board, it’s so easy for them to win.

Game 1
This game goes as planned. I play guys, he cycles and turn 4 Living Ends some Fulminator Mages, Deadshot Minotaurs, Street Wraiths, and Monstrous Carabids into play and I die quick and painfully.

I board in:
4 Meddling Mage
3 Ethersworn Canonist
2 Elspeth
3 Negate

I board out:
3 Bant Charm
4 Path to Exile
1 Lightning Helix
2 Knight of the Reliquary

Game 2
I play turn 1 Cat, he land goes, and I play Kird Ape and another cat. He shriekmaws my Kird Ape. That leaves me with 2 Cats, leading me to believe that he’s telegraphing Maelstrom Pulse. I play a Meddling Mage on Pulse since if he Living Ends, its just a wrath and he doesn’t get any guys other than Shriek back. He plays a Finks, I play another Mage on Living End and he fails to draw a Shriekmaw before my Rangers and Animals get him. First game I’ve ever beat Living End.

Game 3
He mulls into a 1 lander with 2 cyclers and 3 finks. I have a very quick start with turn one Nacatl and turn two Canonist with some more dorks. He draws land 2 but stalls a turn on a land which is exactly what I need. When he draws his 3rd land and plays finks, but the damage has already been dealt and I’m able to double Helix him out of the game, match, and undefeated bracket.

7-0

Round 8 – Matt Costa // DDT

This was a feature match covered here: http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/eventcoverage/gphou10/day1#11

I board in:
3 Negate
4 Meddling Mage
1 Ranger of Eos
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Bant Charm

I board out:
2 Loam Lion
3 Lightning Helix
4 Tarmogoyf

Tarmogoyf and Meddling Mage switch slots in this matchup as the 2 drop because goyf really isn’t that spectacular against them, whereas Meddling Mage can be very awkward for them to play against. Meddling Mage can be a very skill intensive card, so I suggest testing with him a bunch before playing with him at a big tournament.

I end up winning and advance to 8-0

I’m pretty excited at this point. All the pros keep coming up to me and asking how I’m doing which I’m very happy to tell them “yeah, I’m X-0.”

Round 9 – Jonathon Morse // DDT

Game 1
I mull to an awful hand with no little guys, Bant Charms, and a Ranger and somehow get there. Very awkward. I board the same as in the match the round before:

3 Negate
4 Meddling Mage
1 Ranger of Eos
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Bant Charm

I board out:
2 Loam Lion
3 Lightning Helix
4 Tarmogoyf

Game 2
He plays turn 1 Thopter Foundry off a Chrome Mox and Turn 2 Sword of the Meek. I have no Artifact Destruction and he kills me shortly after.

Game 3
I have another awkward mulligan. 2 lands 2 Meddling Mage and some rangers and negates. I play land go, and he plays land, Mox, Sword of the Meek go. I see where this game is going. I play a Meddling Mage on Thopter Foundry. He plays Dark Depths Hexmage, makes a 20/20 and says go. I have no Path or Bant Charm and I pick up my first loss. He shows me his hand after the game and he has the Thopter Foundry also. Pretty much the Nuts.

Zach Efland, Ben Stark, Faddy J, Matt Nass, Trevor, Taylor Raflowitz and 1 other guy that I don’t know go out for a filling dinner at Fogo de Chao. Yum. Taylor and I head back to the hotel room where I get my first few hours of sleep in the last 2 days. YEAHHHHH! Visit thegameacademyonline.com in a few days where I’ll go over my day 2 matchups and the rest of my top 12 finish.

I’d been looking forward to this past weekend for a few months. I knew that there was a weekend of magic tournaments coming to Orlando which is not uncommon, but three tournaments in 3 days? I’m down. First, my local card shop was holding a $500 FNM. There is a lot of people that strongly dislike this current standard because of a certain black, green, and red deck filled with card advantage and two for ones. It is quite annoying playing against the deck because cascade can be so random, but why not just play the deck yourself? Obviously the mirror is awful, and whoever draws more Sprouting Thrinax or the most Blightnings usually wins, but thus is a mirror. I played Jund for a few months, got bored of winning and spent the last month trying out all the other decks in the format. After playing in many FNMs and mid-week tournaments, I found myself right back where I started, playing Jund. Maybe it’s wrong to enjoy hearing my opponents whining and complaining after they get smashed, but they really can’t complain because they have the same opportunity to play this super powerful deck.

The first tournament of the weekend was the $500 FNM. I chose to play open the vaults because a friend of mine, Gerry Thompson recommended it to me on MODO. It’s nice to have Bligntning cast against you and enjoy it. Here’s the list I played:

4 Wall of Denial
4 Architects of Will
4 Glassdusk Hulk
4 Sphinx of Lost Truths
3 Filigree Angel

3 Courier’s Capsule
2 Fieldmist Borderpost
1 Mistvein Borderpost
4 Open the Vaults
1 Sanguine Bond
2 Everflowing Chalice
1 Day of Judgment
2 Oblivion Ring
4 Spreading Seas

4 Terramorphic Expanse
7 Island
2 Swamp
4 Plains

Sideboard is your local metagame dependent but some combination of:
Flashfreeze, Doomblade, more Day of Judgments, Celestial Purge, Perimeter Captain, Tidehollow Sculler, Duress.

Things didn’t go so well, and I ended up dropping at 3-2-1. I think the deck is awesome, but the metagame I expected was not what it ended up being. I thought it would be the normal Jund filled environment I play in week in and week out, but boy was I wrong. I played against 2 UW ally decks, 1 Spread Em’ deck (my draw because we just sat there even though I would have won the match given 10 more minutes) 1 Mono Red deck (which is winnable if you draw Wall of Denial), a Jund w/W concoction, and 1 Jund deck. I would definitely suggest playing this deck if you know that you’ll be playing against Jund a lot, and not suggest playing it in a field filled with vampires due to Mind Sludge forcing you to top deck a Open the Vaults in a short period of time due to their fast clock.

I didn’t think I was playing OTV (open the vaults) for the 5K. Actually, I really had no clue what I wanted to play. Obviously, Jund is the audible in such a big tournament since you can just get there some times.

Saturday rolls around and I meet up with Adam Chernoff at the standard 5K, and we go over his Jund list. It seems very good so I end up playing it card for card. It was definitely a very good list, and I don’t blame my losses on the deck. Here’s the list:

4 Putrid Leech
4 Great Sable Stag
4 Sprouting Thrinax
4 Bloodbraid Elf
3 Siege-Gang Commander

4 Lightning Bolt
4 Terminate
4 Blightning
3 Maelstrom Pulse

4 Dragonskull Summit
4 Savage Lands
4 Raging Ravine
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Forest
3 Swamp
3 Mountain

I think when building a Jund deck for such a large tournament, where you know you’ll be playing against a lot of different decks, you want to keep your deck as consistent as possible. Notice in this list that there is no 2 of Broodmate Dragons, no 2 Rampant Growths/Explore/Trace of Abundance. I think that along with the 4 Great Sable Stag’s in the main (which is awesome against a lot of different decks) is what sold me. I hate Broodmate Dragon in this deck. I’d much rather have a lower curve that makes it so I don’t get blown out by Goblin Ruinblaster or Tectonic Edge.

I ended up dead at 3-2. I played against 3 Red Deck Wins splash black, 1 White Weenie (Cedric Phillips list which the Jund deck just can’t beat), and 1 other random deck. I lost to White Weenie, and my other loss came at the hands of the red deck.

I hung around and rooted on my friends John Dean and Taylor Raflowitz, who ended up finishing 3rd and 2nd. Congrats to Charles Gindy for winning the whole thing.

My friend Mike Letsch helped me build my Goblin deck for the Legacy portion of the event on Sunday. I had played in 2 legacy tournaments prior, and that was a few years ago. So basically I didn’t know anything about legacy other than what I had read in fellow writer Keith McLaughlin’s articles, and known from playing in those 2 events. I know about Daze, and FoW, and swords which are all good against my Goblin Deck. This is the list I ended up playing:
4 Goblin Lackey
4 Goblin Piledriver
4 Goblin Warchief
3 Goblin Chieftan
4 Goblin Matron
1 Stingscourger
2 Siege-Gang Commander
4 Goblin Ringleader
4 Gempalm Incinerator
1 Earwig Squad

4 AEther Vial
3 Warren Wierding

3 Bloodstained Mire (should be 4)
3 Scalding Tarn (should be 2)
6 Mountain
1 Swamp
2 Badlands
4 Wasteland
3 Rishadan Port

Sideboard
3 Pyrokinesis
3 Price of Progress
3 Mindbreak Trap
3 Blood Moon
1 Boartusk Liege
2 Tormod’s Crypt

This deck performed very well all day. I also played very well, but blame most of my wins on mulligan decisions. Against an unknown deck, I always mulligan a hand without Goblin Lackey, AEther Vial, or 2 Goblin Piledrivers and a Warchief/Chieftan. The format is so diverse that a hand without those cards usually means you’ll lose. Onto the report…

Round 1 Johnathan Goanos – Mono Red Goblins

Game 1:

I play Vial and pass, while he plays wasteland and passes. On my second turn, I play a Goblin Piledriver, and he simply plays a Mutavault. From the little legacy I know, I assume he’s playing Merfolk, because Goblins doesn’t normally play Mutavault. On the following turn, my Vial goes to 2. I end up playing a Goblin Matron to search for another Goblin Piledriver since it’s so important to have multiples of him in play against Merfolk because of his protection from blue. When my opponent finally draws his third land, he plays his own Goblin Matron and searches for Mogg War Marshall, making my previous play absolutely terrible.  I EOT put my Goblin Piledriver into play via my Aether Vial, and cast Goblin Chieftain on my turn. At this point, the game is basically over.

I board in 3 Pyrokinesis and the Boartusk Liege, and take out 3 Warren Wierding and the Earwig Squad.

Game 2:

He thinks for a while and keeps, while I mulligan an awesome hand against any other deck with Aether Vial, Goblin Piledriver, 2 Goblin Ringleaders, and 3 lands. This hand can’t possibly beat a turn 1 Goblin Lackey, and it’s the main reason I chose to mulligan. My six card hand is much better and exactly what I needed in the form of 2 Mountains, Goblin Lackey, Gempalm Incinerator, Siege-Gang Commander, and Goblin Ringleader. On his first turn, he played a Goblin Lackey, and I did the same. After his draw step, it was apparent that he didn’t have a second land, and from then on, the game was mine. He was pretty upset, and chose not to attack, instead saying “GO”. If he had attacked with his Goblin Lackey, I would have been forced to block with mine, and the game would have been much more difficult from there. Instead, I draw a card for my turn, and cycle my Gempalm Incinerator to kill his 1/1, resulting in a turn two Siege-Gang Commander for me. That’s game!

Round 2 Matthew Cross- 43 Lands
I’d never played this matchup before but know it’s supposed to be strongly in his favor.

Game 1:

He casts Exploration, while I simply play a Goblin Lackey. He then cycles Tolaria West to search out Maze of Ith, and then casts Life from the Loam to get back his Tolaria West. At this point, I decide to concede the game to save time. His deck takes the full 50 minutes to win, and I need to win at least one game in order to have a chance at a draw.

I board in 3 Blood Moon, 3 Price of Progress, and 2 Tormod’s Crypt for 3 Warren Weirding, 4 Gempalm Incinator, and 1 Goblin Chieftain

Game 2:

I Blood Moon him out of the game.
Game 3:

We sit there with me having an Aether Vial while he has no Life from the Loam. I’m stuck on 1 land, but he fails to draw any real action for at least eight turns. Eventually, I draw a Blood Moon and kill him on the following turn with Goblin Warchief, Goblin Chieftain, and two Goblin Piledrivers.
Round 3 Robert “Wu” Tang – 43 Lands w/ Red for Gamble

Game 1:

I know what he’s playing, so I know that I need a turn one Goblin Lackey in order to have any chance game one. I mulligan to five, but my draw is the absolute nuts if he doesn’t have a Maze of Ith or Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale. My hand is Goblin Lackey, Siege-Gang Commander, Goblin Piledriver, a Mountain, and X. He fails to draw Maze of Ith or the Tabernacle, and the game is quickly over on turn four.

I board in 3 Blood Moon, 3 Price of Progress, and 2 Tormod’s Crypt for 3 Warren Weirding, 4 Gempalm Incinator, and 1 Goblin Chieftain

Game 2:

We get mid-round deck checked and have to re-sideboard. Apparently, he boarded in Ancient Grudge instead of Ray of Revelation. On turn three, I cast a Blood Moon, and in response to my Blood Moon, he sacrifices a fetch land to get the one basic forest out of his deck. While looking through his deck, he comes to realize that he can’t actually win because of the mistake he made, and can only stall the game. At this point, he respectfully concedes.

Round 4 Charles Chandler- Mono Black splash Tarmogoyf

Game 1:

He casts Thoughtseize against me twice this game, and shortly thereafter plays a Tombstalker. I end up ripping a Warren Weirding from the top of my deck, and my Goblin swarm overwhelms him.

I board in 1 Boartusk Liege (in case of Engineered Plague) and board out 1 Siege-Gang Commander (didn’t seem too good against so much discard)

Game 2:

He plays turn one Dark Ritual into Hypnotic Specter on the play and I die shortly after under so much discard along with his Nantuko Shade.

Game 3:

I have a turn one Aether Vial, but he has his Hypnotic Specter on the first turn to match. I continue to play Goblins, and use Rishadan Port to lock down one of his two lands. We get to the point where he is in single digit life points, and I have nothing in hand, but I have a Goblin Piledriver and a Goblin Warchief in play against his lone Hypnotic Specter. With him still being short on lands, he has no other choice but to keep passing the turn. I continue to draw Goblins, and there is a point in the match where he calls the judge over after I won’t let him take back one of his plays. He lies to the judge, and instead of arguing, I say “whatever” and continue playing. Eventually, his misplay ends up costing him the game.

BTW, I HATE when people lie.

Round 5 Omar Hamid- Bant Natural Order Counter Top

Game 1:

This game is very close. After dealing with each other’s threats, we reach a stalemate with me at 1 life, a few goblins in play, and a Siege Gang Commander. He has a Rhox War Monk, Tarmogoyf, Counterbalance, a bunch of lands, and is at a healthy 17 life. Eventually, I resolve a Goblin Ringleader, reveal 4 Goblins, and he concedes.

I sideboard in 3 Pyrokinesis to deal with his Rhox War Monks and 1 Boartusk Liege because he has firespout in his board. I shave some goblins (meaning taking out 1 or 2 of each) because I really didn’t know what to take out. Just being honest.

Game 2:

We start the game with 15 minutes left, and he’s stuck on a Plains, Forest, and Island in play. My Rishadan Port is tapping one of his colors down each turn, and I manage to play around Firespout to take the match.

At this point I’m 5-0 and double draw into Top 8 with AJ Sacher and Julian De Los Santos. There was 1 match that decided if I made it or not, and they ended up drawing which locked me into 8th place.

Quarterfinals Lewis Laskin Bant Fish w/Stoneforge Mystic
Game 1:

He has double Swords to Plowshares and an Aether Vial with two counters, along with Tarmogoyf and Stoneforge Mystic. The Stoneforge Mystic allowed him to get a Sword of Fire and Ice, and he takes the game in under five minutes.
I sideboard in 3 Pyrokinesis and take out 2 Goblin Chieftan and the Earwig Squad. I usually board out Goblin Chieftains against decks that the size of my creatures doesn’t matter.
Game 2:

He has a lot of counters and removal but only draws a Spellstutter Sprite as his creature along with two Mutavaults, both of which I wasteland. I eventually draw and play more Goblins, and take the game with my creatures.
Game 3:

Much like game two, he is again low on creatures. He only draws a Jotun grunt and Spellstutter Sprite in the early turns and gets severely Mana flooded while I cast Goblin Ringleaders to keep my hand full. With five lands in play, he casts a Stoneforge Mystic and tries to equip his Spellstutter Sprite. I cast Pyrokinesis to kill both of his creatures, and take both the game and the match.

Semifinals Michael Brady- Merfolk
Game 1:

He mulls to 5 but has a turn two Standstill which I break for a Goblin Chieftain, undoing his mulligan. We both play creatures, but he gets an active Jitte against my Goblin Chieftain and double Goblin Piledriver. Luckily, my Goblin Piledrivers make it so that he can’t get more counters on his Jitte because of their protection from blue, and the Goblin Chieftain I played on turn three gives them both three toughness. Eventually, I resolve a third Goblin Piledriver, and at 14 life, my 5/2’s take game 1.
I board in 3 Pyrokinesis and 1 Boartusk Liege and take out 1 Earwig Squad 2 Goblin Warchief and 1 Stingscourger.
Game 2:

This game goes by pretty quickly as I have a turn one Goblin Lackey followed by turn two Aether Vial, and my Pyrokinesis to kill his blockers on turn three allows me to put Siege Gang Commander into play via my Goblin Lackey. After I rip my second Siege Gang Commander on the following turn and kill off some of his blockers, he concedes.
Finals Zack Wilson Aggro Loam
We decide to prize split, even though he didn’t want to at first because it’s a “good matchup” for him.
Game 1:

I have a turn one Goblin Lackey on the play, which he can’t deal with unless he has his own turn one Devastating Dreams. My Goblin Lackey puts a Goblin Matron into play on turn two, and I search for a Goblin Ringleader. Goblin Ringleader comes into play and I end up putting four Goblins in my hand. He’s land screwed and is forced to play his cycle lands instead of using them for card advantage with the Life from the Loam in his hand. I Earwig Squad him on turn three and remove all his Devastating Dreams from his deck. After I search through his deck, I know what is in his hand, and what to play around. Despite having a Seismic Assault, he dies in short order to my Goblin Horde.
I board in 3 Price of Progress and 2 Tormod’s Crypt. Price of Progress is the best possible sideboard card against his deck and he knows it. I shave some goblins, including Goblin Chieftain, Stingscourger, and Gempalm Incinerators
Game 2:

He talks about keeping a “fundamentally decent enough hand that makes you think, well, it just might get there” and eventually just chooses to mulligan. I have a turn one Goblin Lackey again, and put a free Goblin Ringleader into play. He plays a Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale to try and slow me down, but it just wasn’t happening today. I play a Tormod’s Crypt and battle! He resolves a Countryside Crusher, but I have Warren Weirding to kill it and attack again. He plays Burning Wish to get a Devastating Dreams, but has only one other card in his hand. I choose to let my Goblin Ringleader go to the graveyard, and cast a Goblin Warchief. I decide to put Earwig Squad into play for free off my Goblin Lackey since he can’t Devastating Dreams it away even after he draws another card. He has to cast the Devastating Dreams anyway, and my Earwig Squad gets him!
David Sharfman is your StarCityGames Legacy Open champion in Orlando!

Worldwake Pre-Release @ The Game Academy

The Game Academy

5671 East Fowler Ave

Tampa, FL 33617

Call us @ 813.914.7000 for any questions

Click Here For A Map To Our Store

Event Itinerary and Details

Sealed Events: Cost will be $22 per player. Players will receive 3 Worldwake Packs and 3 Zendikar Packs to build a 40 card minimum deck.  Players will also receive 1 Foil Promo Joraga Warcaller (while supplies last).

Drafts: Cost will be $11 per player. Players will receive 2 Worldwake Packs and 1 Zendikar Pack to draft a 40 card minimum deck. Prizes will be 1st Place: 7 Packs of Worldwake 2nd Place: 3 Packs of Worldwake 3rd Place: 1 Pack of Worldwake 4th Place: 1 Pack of Worldwake. Drafts will be single elimination.

Friday 02-05-10
05:30 PM             Registration for Friday Night Magic
07:00 PM             Friday Night Magic

($10 entry per player, 100% of the entry will be distributed to the top finishers in store credit)

Saturday 02-06-10
12:00 PM             Registration begins for Worldwake Prerelease Tournaments.

1:00 PM                Sealed Event #1 Begins

3:00 PM               Draft #1 Begins

3:30 PM                Sealed Event #2 Begins

4:00 PM               Draft #2 Begins

5:00 PM               Draft# 3 Begins

6:00 PM               Sealed Event #3 Begins

Sunday 02-07-10

12:00 PM             Registration begins for Worldwake Prerelease Tournaments.

1:00 PM                Sealed Event #1 Begins
2:00 PM               Drafts Begin

Players who enter any event other than a draft will receive (while supplies last) a foil promo Joraga Warcaller

FREE FOR EVERYONE!!!!!

Tournament Details:

Format: Standard

Prizes Breakdown*:

1st Place – 10 Packs or $20 Store Credit

2nd Place – 6 Packs or $12 Store Credit

3rd & 4th Place – 4 Packs or $8 Store Credit

5th-8th Place – 3 Packs or $6 Store Credit

GUARANTEED Booster box of the latest set for the Top 8 finishers!

Top 2 Finishers will receive a FNM Promo!

Random Door Prizes will be given away throughout the night.

Entry Fee: $0 (FREE!!!)

Registration starts @ 5:30 PM

Tournament Starts @ 7:00 PM

*Participants have the option to pay a $5 Entry fee to double their prize. If you choose to pay the $5 entry fee, you will receive the following prize support.

1st Place – 20 Packs or $40 Store Credit

2nd Place - 12 Packs or $24 Store Credit

3rd & 4th Place – 8 Packs or $16 Store Credit

5th-8th Place - 6 Packs or $12 Store Credit

This month’s FNM Promo: