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.

*Editor’s Note* – The Game Academy will host Legacy tournaments every Thursday; signups begin @ 6 PM and tournament entry is $7. All entry will be given back to top finishers in store credit to use towards anything in the store. Keith will always be in attendance, so if you have any questions or need deck advice don’t hesitate to ask! =)

Since the last time you’ve all heard from me, I made some significant changes to the Life deck, now incorporating Black in the main deck, replacing Meddling Mage and Pithing Needle with Thoughtseize and Tidehollow Sculler. I’m a big fan of the new changes, as being able to know exactly what your opponent can do to stop you from going-off is extremely valuable information. That’s not to mention some of the cute tricks you can do with a Tidehollow Sculler with Vial [1] or Diamond Valley [2]. Additionally, Doran becomes much easier to cast, and we can now easily support multiple copies in the main deck, greatly strengthening the deck against strategies that can win without having to deal damage, i.e. Grindstone, Academy Ruins [3] and Jace, the Mind Sculptor.

[1] Using Vial to make a Tidehollow on an opponent’s draw step allows you to deny the opponent their top deck for a turn.
[2] Put Tidehollow’s ability on the stack, then sacrifice him to Valley to permanently exile a card from your opponent’s hand.
[3] The presence of Academy Ruins in 38-Land allows them to easily deck the Life player.

As many of the true innovators out there know, making drastic changes to a deck requires much time and effort; it’s not unusual for the theory behind certain card choices and strategies to prove itself invalid. Nevertheless, it’s important to learn as much as possible for such experiments. In the case with Life, we did not immediately think that Black was a stronger choice than Blue, rather it was the product of a failed experiment.

Due to the popularity of those troublesome strategies mentioned above, myself and some non-local players [4] decided it may be worthwhile to combine Life with Cephalid Breakfast [5], adding to the deck’s flexibility, while also adding a possible turn 2 nut-draw kill. This is exactly the same sort of reasoning used recently by Yurchick’s GP Oakland 2nd-place Thopter-Depths, and as far back as Kai Budde’s Oath of Trix, which combined the aggro-stomping Oath of Druids engine with the popular Illusions-Donate kill. As it turned out, two problems plagued our hybrid deck. First, the presence of Dread Return, Sutured Ghoul, 3x Narcomoeba, Dragon’s Breath and Lord of Extinction made the deck mulligan at least 80% more often. In many testing sessions, I’d be ecstatic to only mulligan to six, but even then, those hands would commonly include a Narcomoeba or the like, effectively making them five-card hands. Second, many games you’d be forced to choose whether to go for the cephalid kill or infinite life. The two are completely mutually-exclusive since the using the cephalid reduces your library to only a few cards at most. If the opponent had a Sensei’s Divining Top in play, there was some probability that there is a Swords to Plowshares just waiting on top of the library for the Ghoul to hit play, complicating the decision to some degree.

[4] Doug Azzano, in particular.
[5] The combo involves targetting Cephalid Illusionist a large number of times with Shuko, or Nomads en-Kor to deck oneself. Several Narcomoebas come into play, which are sacrificed to Dread Return targetting a very large Sutured Ghoul (removing Lord of Extinction or Terravore). Dragon’s Breath gives the Sutured Ghoul haste.
[6] Turn 1 Shuko or Nomads en-Kor, turn 2 Cephalid Illusionist.

Though we had a lot of problems with consistency, we found that a few of the matchups had vastly improved (at the expense of others). We were nearly beating Merfolk every game as we could determine the exact number of Stifles and FoW’s we needed to fight though before committing thanks to Cabal Therapy and Thoughtseize.

After giving up on Cephalid-Life, it became clear that we could strengthen some matchups by making the blue-for-black swap, while also slightly shoring up our weak manabase [7]. Here is the list:

Dark Life
4 Aether Vial
4 Shuko
3 Nomads en-Kor
3 Daru Spiritualist
3 Task Force
4 Thoughtseize
3 Tidehollow Sculler
2 Doran the Siege Tower
4 Eladamri’s Call
4 Living Wish

3 Diamond Valley
2 Starlit Sanctum
4 Windswept Heath
4 Marsh Flats
3 Horizon Canopy
2 Savannah
2 Bayou
2 Scrubland
3 Plains
1 Forest

Sideboard
1 Diamond Valley
1 Nomads en-Kor
1 Daru Spiritualist
1 Doran the Siege Tower
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Harmonic Sliver
1 Progenitus [8]
3 Nature’s Claim
3 Tormod’s Crypt
2 Gaea’s Blessing

[7] We were already playing a couple sources of black mana in the main deck for Doran and sideboarded cards.
[8] To prevent being decked. Build up to a full hand, then discard Progenitus whenever you draw it.

I was prepped and ready to run a very similar list in a local tournament, but I figured it’d be more exciting if I wrote about something new. I convinced Nolan Blackwelder to switch decks with me prior to the tournament so I could talk, instead, about his interesting concoction, Bomberman [9].

[9] Nolan lost in the top 8 with the Life list, though he was winning both games prior to receiving a game-loss, and the unfortunate mistake of forgetting to board in the Progenitus against Stax.

Here is the list I piloted.

UWr Bomberman
3 Swords to Plowshares
3 Fire/Ice
4 Counterspell
4 Force of Will
4 Accumulated Knowledge
4 Trinket Mage
3 Auriok Salvagers
2 Intuition
1 Painter’s Servant
1 Lion’s Eye Diamond
1 Pyrite Spellbomb
1 Aether Spellbomb
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Sensei’s Divining Top
1 Grindstone
1 Tormod’s Crypt
1 Pithing Needle

1 Tolaria West
1 Academy Ruins
1 Dust Bowl
4 Flooded Strand
3 Arid Mesa
4 Volcanic Island
4 Tundra
3 Island
1 Plains
1 Seat of the Synod
1 Ancient Den

Sideboard
2 Shattering Spree
1 Relic of Progenitus
2 Tormod’s Crypt
2 Engineered Explosives
2 Meddling Mage
2 Red Elemental Blast
2 Pyroblast
2 Painter’s Servant

I don’t agree with all the card choices, but I decided to play the deck as-is. With around twenty players, the tournament structure was annouced to be four rounds, with a cut to the top-eight. Here we go:

Round 1, Robert Cone (U/G Natural Order)
Robert started on the play, and after a mulligan, ran out a Llanowar Elf on an Elvish Spirit Guide (no land). I untapped and played a Swords to Plowshares, practically ending the game on the spot. Robert found a City of Brass on the next turn and played a Concordant Crossroads, and on the following turn played a Birds of Paradise before passing. I ran out a Trinket Mage fetching Lion’s Eye Diamond and beat in for two. Robert didn’t do much on his following turn before passing back, where I resolved an Auriok Salvagers and generated infinite mana with Lion’s Eye Diamond [10], before drawing my deck with an Aether Spellbomb and going for the kill with Pyrite.

[10] Sacrifice the Lion’s Eye Diamond for three mana, then return it to your hand with Salvagers for two. Replay, rinse, repeat.

I sideboarded in the extra Painter’s Servants, Engineered Explosives and 2x Meddling Mage for the Tormod’s Crypt, Pithing Needle and 4x Accumulated Knowledge. This time Robert led off with a turn one Verdant Catacombs and City of Brass before playing a Vexing Shusher, while I played a Painter’s Servant. Robert resolved a main phase Mystical Tutor fetching Natural Order, and passed back before I ran out a Trinket Mage, fetching Grindstone. Robert, untapped and went for his Progenitus, I played out my 4th land drop along with the Grindstone. Robert scooped immediately, though I actually tried to stop him to ask if he had a second Progenitus in his deck. He hadn’t realized at the time, but Grinding into a Progenitus with Painter’s Servant ends the game in a draw, as the Progenitus keeps replacing itself only to be hit by the Grindstone again, creating an infinite loop [11].

[11] This is only the case because Progenitus’s ability is a replacement effect. If it were a triggered ability, the game would continue leaving the player with only Progenitus in his library.

Round 2, Todd Palmer (Merfolk)
I played first, but Todd started with an Aether Vial before getting first blood by beating in with a Mutavault. I played a Trinket Mage fetching Engineered Explosives. Todd attacked again with the Mutavault, but I opted against blocking, and Todd Vial’d a Lord of Atlantis into play to add a point of damage, before adding a second Mutavault. I untapped and used Engineered Explosives to dispatch the Lord, before attacking with Trinket Mage. Todd stayed aggressive by sending both his Mutavaults, sending me to 11 life. A turn later, Todd came in again with both Vaults, and I decided to throw the Mage in front of one, but Todd Vial’d a Merrow Reejerey to pump his Vault. I attempted a Swords to Plowshares, but he has Force of Will, sending me to 8 life. On my following turn, I cycled an Aether Spellbomb, but didn’t have much action, with only a Swords to Plowshares, a Lion’s Eye Diamond and a bunch of lands, and had to send the turn back. Todd ran out a Jitte, and hooked up his Reejerey, but I send it to the farm, and dropped to 3 from the Vaults. He passed the turn back, and I was all dead-on-board, until… I peeked at the top card of my library… Auriok Salvagers. I ran him out, into Todd’s two card hand, but he had no Force of Will. The Lion’s Eye Diamond hit the board next, and Todd scooped it up.

I sideboarded out all the copies of AK, the Tormod’s Crypt and the Intuitions for 2 Red Elemental Blast, 2 Engineered Explosives, a Pyroblast and 2 Painter’s Servant.

In game two, Todd started out with a Silvergill Adept, followed by a Lord of Atlantis and got in for a few points before an Stp dispatched the Lord. An Engineered Explosives on two was met by Force of Will, and a Mutavault joined Todd’s team. A Red Blast took out the Adept and a Trinket Mage hit play, but a Jitte came online for Todd, and the game ended soon after.

In game three, Todd led off with Wasteland and Pithing Needle on Grindstone. I had a Pithing Needle of my own, but opted to hit up his Wastelands. A Standstill came down, which was met by my Force of Will. Todd ran out an Aether Vial and a second Standstill along with a Force for my Counterspell. We passed the turn back and forth several times, with Vial moving up to three counters, but without ever putting a guy into play. Finally, a Rejeerey hit play along with a Mutavault, and I was forced to break the Standstill with a Swords to Plowshares. I tried a Painter’s Servant but Todd had another Force of Will. A Dust Bowl hit play, and I was started taking out the Mutavaults, while using various removal on Todd’s remaining creatures. This went on for several turns before time was called, with the board being my Pithing Needle and Academy Ruins against Todd’s Aether Vial, Pithing Needle and three turned-off Wastelands. On turn one of the final five, Todd peeled a Tormod’s Crypt but I put the Servant on top with Ruins in response, and followed with a turn two Trinket Mage fetching Grindstone and played an Explosives on one (to deal with the Pithing Needle on Stone). Todd could only add a Reejerey to his army on turn three, while I had enough mana up to Grind him out of cards on the fourth, forcing him to deck on the final turn. Phew!

With only four rounds before the cut, I was safe to draw into the top eight.

Quarterfinals
Natalie Scott (Dredge)
With Natalie on the play, the first spell she attempted was a turn two Putrid Imp. I went for the Force of Will, hoping to lock her out of discard outlets, but she had a Careful Study, discarding a few dredgers. On the following turn, I was able to counter a Breakthrough, but the damage had been done, and within three turns I was facing down six Bridge from Below tokens and a Bloodghast. I managed to peel an Engineered Explosives (which I called ahead of time, as it was my only out), and put an end to the tokens, but was already down to three life. The Bloodghasts cleaned things up fairly quickly.

I cut a Fire/Ice, three Swords to Plowshares, the AK’s, Intuitions and the Pithing Needle for 4 Red Blasts, 2 Tormod’s Crypt, 1 Relic of Progenitus, 2 Meddling Mage and 2 Painter’s Servants.

I elected to play, but my opening seven was just a bunch of Counterspells, Salvagers and lands. Without a winning gameplan here [12] I sent it back and received a similar six. The five wasn’t much better, and finally I wound up keeping the following four: Tormod’s Crypt, Red Blast, Painter’s Servant and Counterspell. Notice the lack of lands. Natalie came out the gates with a Pithing Needle on Crypt, followed by a turn two Tireless Tribe pitching Golgari-Grave Troll. She managed to dredge for three turns, without card drawing, her draw wasn’t very explosive. Not to mention, she didn’t hit a single Narcomoeba and only a single Bridge from Below. A Therapy came down, and missed on Trinket Mage. Finally, I peeled a second land, and ran out my Painter’s Servant naming blue. Natalie, still not hitting much action on her Dredges, continued to dig before passing back the turn, not realizing that her Pithing Needle was about to succumb to my Red Blast. And with that, the Red Blast knocked off the Needle and the Crypt took out her bin. A pair of Fire/Ices locked the land-light dredge deck out of blue mana for a couple turns before a Meddling Mage shut off Dread Return entirely. Natalie finally was able to hit a few Narcomoebas a few turns later, but it was too late. A Trinket Mage found Grindstone, and Natalie entered her scoop phase.

[12] I need to be able to lock her out of discard outlets, or have access to an early Tormod’s Crypt.

Being on the draw makes Counterspell much worse, so I cut two copies for a pair of Intuitions.

After such an epic game two, game three was quite anti-climactic. Natalie started with a Putrid Imp, to which I answered with a Tormod’s Crypt and Relic of Progenitus. Natalie was in no position to try to dredge and was forced to just hardcast a bunch of crappy guys. Between a pair of Trinket Mages and seven self-inflicted damage points from a Coliseum and City of Brass, the game ended in a hurry.

Semifinals
Carrena (Stax)
I kept my opening hand, with a Painter’s Servant, Trinket Mage, Force of Will, Intuition and three lands, and was pretty sure this game would be easy. That was, until Carrena resolved a Trinisphere on turn two. I figured that since I was going for the Grindstone kill, I should save my FoW for something more important, like Armageddon. That was until I realized that I couldn’t cast Force without paying three mana! On the following turn, I burned the FoW on morphed Exalted Angel, as I simply didn’t have anything better to do. When I tapped down for a Trinket Mage on the following turn, Armageddon hit the stack, my lands hit the bin, and I packed it up.

I boarded out the narrow removal spells (StP and Fire/Ice) along with two Intuition and a Tormod’s Crypt for Relic of Progenitus, 2 Shattering Spree, the pair of Painter’s Servants, 2 Meddling Mages and 2 Engineered Explosives.

We played land-go for a few turns before Carrena attempted a Crucible of Worlds, which was met by Force of Will (as she had Wasteland). A turn later, she tried a Trinisphere, which resolved, but was met by my Shattering Spree. Unfortunately, this left me tapped out, giving Carrena an opening to resolve Choke. Within a few turns, Carrena added a Smokestack, and fairly soon I was completely out of land. I started to build back, and was able to resolve a Painter’s Servant, and could Trinket Mage for a Grindstone as soon as I drew a mountain to Red Blast the Choke. Unfortunately, Carrena found an Armageddon before I could pull that off, ending my presence in the top eight.

3-1

After playing in the short tournament, I feel like I got a pretty good feel of what the deck wants to do, and how to play it fairly well. I noticed that it typically felt it was easier to go for the Painter’s Grindstone kill than Salvagers combo, particular post-board, although on paper it seems that the latter should be easier to set up.

Here are a few comments on the deck:
1. The Intuition/Accumulated Knowledge engine felt especially bad, as one doesn’t typically have that kind of time to invest, and drawing three cards is not necessarily better than using the Intuition as a tutor. Honestly though, if I was able, I almost always pitched AK or Intuition to Force of Will when given the opportunity. Perhaps I’m doing it wrong, but I don’t really think so.
2. I was very unhappy with the Tolaria West. I think it makes more sense if the deck had Pact of Negation. As is, I never found myself in a situation when I would rather transmute for a spell, than just play a land. That could also just mean that the deck is too land light.
3. The lack of Plateau put me in several situations where I had to choose between having access to red or white mana. The presence of Wasteland in the format, makes this come up more often than one might think.
4. Thirst for Knowledge seems very good in a deck with this many artifacts, particularly since most of those artifacts don’t mind being deposited directly into the graveyard.
5. Though Meddling Mage is a nice trick out of the sideboard, I think Counterbalance would be even stronger, and has the obvious synergy with the fetchable Sensei’s Divining Top.
6. There isn’t enough red mana in the deck to support Shattering Spree and I’m not sure if there is enough board space to worry about blowing up artifacts in a metagame that isn’t heavily shifted towards Stax.

And an updated list,

UWr Bomberman
4 Swords to Plowshares
2 Fire/Ice
3 Counterspell
4 Force of Will
4 Thirst for Knowledge
4 Trinket Mage
3 Auriok Salvagers
2 Intuition
1 Painter’s Servant
1 Lion’s Eye Diamond
1 Pyrite Spellbomb
1 Aether Spellbomb
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Sensei’s Divining Top
1 Grindstone
1 Tormod’s Crypt
1 Pithing Needle

2 Tolaria West
1 Academy Ruins
1 Wasteland
4 Flooded Strand
3 Arid Mesa
3 Volcanic Island
3 Tundra
2 Plateau
3 Island
1 Plains
1 Seat of the Synod
1 Ancient Den

Sideboard
3 Tormod’s Crypt
1 Relic of Progenitus
2 Engineered Explosives
3 Counterbalance
2 Red Elemental Blast
2 Pyroblast
2 Painter’s Servant

That’s all for now. Don’t forget to leave me some nice comments!

Keith McLaughlin

*Editor’s Note* – The Game Academy will host Legacy tournaments every Thursday; signups begin @ 6 PM and tournament entry is $7. All entry will be given back to top finishers in store credit to use towards anything in the store. Keith will always be in attendance, so if you have any questions or need deck advice don’t hesitate to ask! =)

I’ve been testing a little bit of Legacy lately, but as usual, I’ve decided to stick with my trusty Life deck for the time being. For those who aren’t in the know, the Life combo is a deck based which requires three pieces. The first is a Kor, such as Nomads en-Kor, Shaman en-Kor, Outrider en-Kor or whatever. You use the Kor to target Daru Spiritualist, Task Force or Angelic Protector an arbitrarily large number of times before sacrificing the Spiritualist/Force/Protector to a Worthy Cause, Starlit Sanctum (Spiritualist only), Condemn or Diamond Valley (Alternatively, Doran allows you to deal infinite damage with an unblocked Spiritualist/Force/Protector). Though three card combos that don’t outright win the game aren’t so hot, what makes this deck very strong is the redundancy. You have on the order of eight of each combo piece, along with Eladamri’s Call (which can fetch a Kor or Spiritualist) and Living Wish (which can get any piece).

The deck was played a billion years ago, but is mostly known during it’s time in Extended prior to the latest rotation, when the metagame shifted towards aggro decks, such as Red Deck Wins and Goblins. I wasn’t a big fan of the deck because of the popularity of the Mind’s Desire deck which won with Brain Freeze. A year or two later, everyone had forgotten about the Life deck. Doug Azzano, Jack Hutchings and myself were preparing for Grand Prix Philadelphia (I believe, 2005), which was Legacy. The most popular deck, by a large margin was Goblins. Other competitors were the Vault/Fusillade combo deck, Threshold and Solidarity (Reset/Brain Freeze). Life came to mind as being potentially being quite broken, just based on the volume of Goblin players at every event. This was before Doran was printed, so the best way to win after gaining infinite life, was by decking. Gaea’s Blessing was already going to be immensely helpful for the Solidarity matchup. After throwing together a list, we found that the only really weak matchup was against Time Vault/Flame Fusillade. I figured that deck wouldn’t be as popular as Time Vault was over $100 at the time.

(For a tournament report from that Grand Prix, search for my article on StarCityGames.com or check my website kmclaugh.myweb.usf.edu.)

Our gambit paid off, as I faced a total of seven Goblin players (going 7-0 matches), while never playing against a Time Vault the entire GP, while finishing 15th and earning an invite to Pro Tour Honolulu.

Since then, I’ve stuck with the deck for two more events, finishing in the top 8 of an 80-man Legacy event at Pro Tour Atlanta (in 2005, I believe) and then more recently splitting in the top 8 of a Grand Prix Tampa side event for a total of five dual lands and four fetch lands.

I’m not sure that Life is as strong as it was several years ago, as the other decks have become much more powerful, so I decided to give it a whirl in a local Legacy event in preparation for the Orlando 5K coming up in March. Here’s the list:

4 Aether Vial

3 Pithing Needle

3 Nomads en-Kor

4 Shaman en-Kor

3 Daru Spiritualist

2 Task Force

1 Doran, the Siege Tower

4 Meddling Mage

3 Condemn

4 Living Wish

3 Eladamri’s Call

3 Diamond Valley

2 Stalit Sanctum

1 Scrubland

1 Tropical Island

1 Tundra

3 Savannah

3 Horizon Canopy

3 Windswept Heath

1 Arid Mesa (I was short a Heath)

2 Marsh Flats

2 Flooded Strand

1 Forest

3 Plains

Sideboard:

3 Krosan Grip

1 Diamond Valley

1 Gaea’s Blessing

1 Doran, the Siege Tower

1 Task Force

1 Daru Spiritualist

1 Nomads en-Kor

3 Tormod’s Crypt

1 Pithing Needle

1 Tidehollow Sculler

1 Yixlid Jailer

Round 1 Dredge

Lost the die roll, and my opponent mulled to 5, which had me pumping the fist. He kicked off with a Gemstone Mine into a Cabal Therapy blindly naming Force of Will. He followed with a Careful Study on turn 2, but had no dredge outlet, and finally with a Breakthrough on turn 3. Meanwhile, I kicked off with a turn one Aether Vial, Meddling Mage’d Cabal Therapy on turn 2, and on turn 3 played Living Wish for Yixlid Jailer and Vialed him out. All but sending my opponent packing for game 2. As a sidenote, I avoided playing any Kors as I finished my opponent off with the Mage and Jailer, as I’m not typically fond of giving my opponents free information.

-3 Pithing Needle, -1 Task Force

+3 Tormod’s Crypt, +1 Yixlid Jailer

I brought in a Jailer, as Living Wish is the most common Therapy target, and it gives me some small probability of getting the nuts turn 2 Jailer. My opponent again mulled to five, while I kept six. He started off with land-go for a few turns, while I ran a Tormod’s Crypt on turn 1, followed by Daru Spiritualist and a Kor soon after. On turn four or five, my opponent still hadn’t significantly advanced his board position, and I was able to Condemn my Spiritualist for infinite life, sending him packing.

1-0

Round 2 – Jared Serrano – Reanimator

Game one, Jared had the nuts. He won the roll, and Entombed an Iona at the end of the my first turn (I played a Vial). A turn 2 exhumed Iona (naming white) blanked my two Condemn’s in hand. I wasn’t out of this game yet, as I had the Kor and Spiritualist that I could Vial out, but didn’t manage to get a Diamond Valley or Living Wish in time.

-3 Pithing Needle

+3 Tormod’s Crypt

Game two, I kicked off with a turn 1 Tormod’s Crypt and Aether Vial. Jared tried to set up for Reanimation with a Careful Study and Mystical Tutor for Intuition. Meanwhile, I Vial’d out a Nomad and Spiritualist. When Jared passed his third turn, I played an end-step Eladamri’s Call to fetch up Doran, and Vial’d him out for the next attack step.

Prior to game 3 Jared took forever to sideboard which drew a bit of suspicion from me. He kicked off the game with a Leyline of the Void, which was, at first, quite confusing. After realizing he was going to Helm of Obediance me out, I became pretty disappointed that the Pithing Needles were sitting in my sideboard. At the end of my first turn, Jared Mystical Tutor’d for Dark Ritual, and down came a turn 2 Helm. With no way of stopping his turn 3 kill, I scooped it up.

1-1

Round 3 – URB Combo/Control

My round three opponent had an interesting budget deck. It had no dual lands or other flashy cards, but ran both, the Painter Servant + Grindstone combo as well Thopter Foundry + Sword of the Meek, along with Remands, Brainstorm, Lightning Bolt (which we agreed should’ve been Red Elemental Blast), Trinket Mage and Duress.

Game one I ran out an Aether Vial, and made a Kor and Spiritualist, before it got Pithing Needle’d. Stuck on one land for several turns, I played my own Pithing Needle on Grindstone and ultimately drew a Condemn and was able to go infinite. My opponent had cluttered the board with a Vendilion Clique a Trinket Mage and Sower of Temptation, so I couldn’t get much damage in, but soon found an Eladamri’s Call for Doran. Unfortunately, I was still stuck on two lands, and my opponent eventually drew an Engineered Explosives to crack my Needles. On the following turn, he played out both, his Painter Servant and Grindstone and decked me.

-1 Condemn, -2 Meddling Mage

+2 Krosan Grip, +1 Gaea’s Blessing

In game two, I mulled to six keeping a hand with three lands and three Living Wish. My opponent started with a Cabal Therapy naming Daru Spiritualist and missing. I untapped and drew …… Another Living Wish! This was very scary, as my opponent is a single Trinket Mage away from Mind Twist’ing me. I played the first Wish for a Spiritualist. He had no Trinket Mage and I was able to attempt a second Living Wish, but he had Remand. On turn four, he still had no creature, and I was able to untap and play two of the remaining Living Wishes, for a Doran and a Nomads en-Kor. Two turns later we were shuffling up for game three.

In game three, both me and my opponent got slow draws. He kicked off with two Brainstorms (augmented by fetchlands) while I ran out a Meddling Mage on Trinket Mage, followed by a Shaman en-Kor and finally a Spiritualist. I attacked for several turns, then on turn six, my opponent tapped out to transmute a Muddle the Mixture for a Thopter Foundry, played a Sword of the Meek and Pithing Needle’d my Shaman en-Kor. With a Diamond Valley in play, I had the option to sacrifice the Spiritualist for infinite life prior to the Needle, but decided against it. Instead, I untapped and ripped a land off the top, to Living Wish for a Nomads en-Kor, and played a Doran with the help of my opponent’s Urborg (letting Diamond Valley tap for black), and went in for the kill.

2-1

Round 4 – Green Aggro

My round four opponent was playing a mono-green stompy deck with Berserk, Rancor, and a bunch of weenies along with Kavu Predator and Invigorate. This seems like an auto-win, as even an Kavu Predator isn’t very good against me, provided I am able to get two copies of Spiritualist/Task Force, the first to block, and the second to gain infinite life. After winning the roll, I opened up with the nut draw. Turn 1 Aether Vial, turn 2 Daru Spiritualist while using Vial to make a Nomads en-Kor, and a turn 3 Diamond Valley. My opponent opted to continue attacking (for no particular reason, but he likely had no outs, so who cares?), which gave me an opening to make a Task Force on the end step (with Vial), and attack with the team. When he declared no blocks on the Task Force, I used Eladamri’s Call to find Doran and used Vial for the win.

Game two was much of the same. My opponent mulled to six, and kept a sub-par hand, which only got worse. By turn four, I had infinite life, while he had two creatures in play, neither of which were Kavu Predator. From there Doran cleaned up.

3-1

This record was good enough to finish in second place. This would’ve been a first place finish, but Ross Chancey (playing my Merfolk deck minus a set of Aether Vials) decided to concede to Jared Serrano, to guarantee me a money-finish ($18 store credit). Turns out, had he not done that, we would’ve finished 1st and 2nd. Oops. Jared was a good sport about it and hooked Ross up with some dinner, so everyone was pretty satisfied.

—–

Before wrapping up, I just thought I’d talk a little more about Jared’s deck. Obviously reanimator has a really tough time winning through cards like Tormod’s Crypt, but Jared also plays Show and Tell. Now that card is admittedly very bad if your opponent is holding a Progenitus, but otherwise it’s pretty baller, even if your opponent puts a Dream Halls into play, since you’ll be getting Iona on blue. What that essentially does, is give your deck access to nut draws (Turn 1 Ritual, Entomb, Exhume/Reanimate, etc.), while also having a very strong backup plan. The following list is not Jared’s actual build, but is what I would run as a starting point for the deck.

4 Show and Tell

4 Exhume

4 Reanimate

4 Mystical Tutor

4 Dark Ritual

4 Iona, Shield of Emeria

1 Blazing Archon

4 Ponder

4 Careful Study

4 Force of Will

4 Thoughtseize

1 Intuition

1 Wipe Away

2 Verdant Catacombs

1 Bloodstained Mire

2 Marsh Flats

4 Polluted Delta

4 Underground Sea

3 Swamp

1 Island

I would imagine the matchup against Counter-Top-Balance is sketchy, and Merfolk appears to also be somewhat unfavorable, but this deck seems like it would have some serious game against pretty much anything else.

That’s all for this time. Feel free to hit me up with questions and comments.

Keith McLaughlin

kmclau@gmail.com