(Michifus) Podcast Episode 4: Grand Prix Cincinnati Recap

In episode four, Pieter and Willis are joined by Mason "The Muggle" and Grand Prix Cincinnati Top 16 and Top 8 finishers Jadine Klomparens and Jeff Pyka (respectively) as we discuss the tournament, the Standard metagame, and look towards the future. The full episode can be downloaded or streamed below:

(Michifus) Grand Prix Cincinnati Recap

This last weekend saw us heading westward to southern Ohio for Grand Prix Cincinnati. It had been quite a while since I had played a large-scale Standard tournament, with much of our focus seemingly on Modern and Legacy with Standard being reserved for those weekends where it was a smaller tournament and there was "nothing better".

With our original plan of leaving Thursday night and staying in Pittsburgh quashed due to scheduling conflicts, I kinda glossed over the fact that we had an extra ~2.5 hours of driving to do on Friday morning. Something I don't think I realized until Wednesday. Suddenly, "leave by 6-6:30" became "on the road by 5".

Ha. Five nightowls packed, ready to go, and on the road by 5am? That didn't happen, as we had misunderstandings on when we were leaving, errands to run, and things forgotten that had to be picked up. On the road by 6 was the new plan.

Thankfully, the trip went relatively smoothly (minus a little bit of road work / oh-no-we-better-drive-20-under-to-look-at-the-big-yellow-trucks-50-feet-away-from-us fuckery in Ohio and briefly visiting Kentucky due to a closed street near the Convention Center) and we arrived shortly after noon.

(When in doubt, #showthemyourteeth)

After getting to the hotel / convention center lot, we were ready to jam some Magic. With most everyone else needing to build, fine tune, prep decks, and test it later in the afternoon before we started any competitive play. The other four dipped into Standard (either grinders or WaB), while I opted to bust out the fish for a couple rounds of Legacy, since I probably wouldn't have a chance later in the weekend.

After starting 1-2, I was out of any serious prizes and the others were ready to check-in and rest up. None of the matchups had anything of note, minus some misplays on my part that were silly, since Legacy is brutally unforgiving most of the time. Since the Hyatt was booked for the tournament, we ran into a sweet situation while trying to figure out a way to sleep five of us in a room. Story aside, we ended up trading our basic 2-bed room for a conference suite(?) that had a massive table, kitchenette, large sectional sofa and two roll-away beds. Toss in free wi-fi and breakfast and we were some happy Magic players for the weekend.

(Cincinnati #teamswag HQ)

(Hello from 2108)

Friday night saw us wrapping up with a walk to KungFood Chu's Amerasia in Covington, which I highly recommend if you're a fan of kung-fu kitsch, hole-in-the-wall restaurants, and/or delicious Asian food. I wish I had snapped some photos in there, but, trust me, it was A+.

Cut to Saturday morning, where Pieter, Abel, and I were ready to grab some breakfast and head in for Round 3 of the main event (Kane and Sean were already battling away). We ended up fielding 4 decks that weekend, with Kane and Sean on U/w Devotion, Pieter on B/W Midrange, Abel on Monoblue Aggro, and me on B/r Devotion)

My final list ended up being as follows:

Creatures:

4 Pack Rat

4 Lifebane Zombie

4 Desecration Demon

4 Gray Merchant of Asphodel

Spells:

4 Thoughtseize

3 Bile Blight

3 Devour Flesh

1 Ultimate Price

4 Hero's Downfall

4 Underworld Connections

Lands:

4 Blood Crypt

4 Temple of Malice

4 Mutavault

13 Swamp

Sideboard:

2 Dark Betrayal

2 Doom Blade

3 Mizzium Mortars

2 Rakdos's Return

2 Drown in Sorrow

2 Erebos, God of the Dead

1 Whip of Erebos

1 Sire of Insanity

As I had struggled over the past few weeks to find a Standard deck that really "clicked" with me, I realized I wanted to go back to Monoblack Devotion, as that deck had served me well in GP Louisville and was still well positioned in the current meta.

I thought that it was a bit lacking though, and had to answer the question of "what do I splash?". Red seemed like the perfect choice, as you gain answers to a LOT of decks with the inclusion of Mizzium Mortars, Rakdos's Return, and Sire of Insanity. This was a deck made to give Esper and B/W a run for their money and I think it was a fine choice for the Cincy meta.

Round 1 - Bye

Round 2 - Bye

Round 3 - Win, 2-1 (Esper Control)

Game 1 - It was 2 Pack Rats in hand for me vs. missed land for the control player which resulted in a steamroll victory for me.

Game 2 - I kept a slower start, which my opponent had answers for when I tried to get anything online. I ended up scooping once he ripped his second Sphinx's for 6.

Game 3 - This was the game that showcased why we splash red. After Thoughtseizing and seeing that I needed to play VERY cautiously, I waited for my opponent to tap out to Elspeth, which I immediately nabbed with Hero's Downfall. The next turn, I dropped Rakdos's Return for 6, forcing him to pitch his hand and play topdeck mode. The turn after saw me landing Erebos and drawing into a Lifebane which I could cast that turn to seal the game.

Round 4 - Loss, 1-2 (Reanimator / Dredge)

I was on the Pack Rat plan in all three games, but he was able to drop an Angel of Serenity to finish me off in Game 1 and land an early whip in Game 3 to bring back value creatures like Armada Wurm. All three games were very close and very good, but I didn't see my hate cards when I needed to.

Round 5 - Win, 2-0 (Jund Monsters)

The Jund version of Monsters gives me a bit more of a headache, but it's still a relatively easy matchup, as he is able to get some swings in, but Gary keeps things out of reach as I pound in with my fatties. I also brought in Rakdos's Return in Game 2, as he was feeding me tons of information off of Courser and Domri, so, even if for 2-3, forcing a problematic card out of hand seemed good.

Round 6 - Win, 2-1 (B/W Midrange)

Game 1 - If your opponent is not blinking an Obzedat because he HAS to block your Pack Rat to avoid lethal damage, you're probably sitting pretty.

Game 2 - Alms beast came out of the sideboard this game, which seemed like an odd inclusion, but after taking two mulligans to 5, the derpy 6/6 was able to beat in for the game.

Game 3 - I missed a couple of early land drops, but my opponent drew some ineffective threats that I was able to answer and then stabilize with Gary to get in there.

Round 7 - Win, 2-1 (R/W Burn)

Game 1 - My opponent was sitting on plenty of life, but I had plenty of devotion and two Garys in hand, just never saw that fifth mana.

Game 2 - Desecration Demon and Gary took this one home, as I was able to keep my life total just out of reach.

Game 3 - I kept a removal-heavy hand with the intent of turning them into rats, but my opponent had a very creature-heavy hand, which was surprising for that deck. I think he had the right idea in that I would probably take a good chunk of my removal out / not want it in hand, but this time it didn't work as I ripped his creatures and hand apart and then started the Pack Rat engine.

Round 8 - Loss, 0-2 (B/W Midrange)

Both games saw me getting my opponent close and then seeing an Elspeth or Brimaz + removal some in and seal the game. Even with a Whip on board, he had enough hate on board to stop me dead in my tracks as the aggressor.

Round 9 - Win, 2-1 (Monoblue Devotion)

I FINALLY BROKE THE ROUND 9 GRAND PRIX STREAK! WOOOOOOO! And man, it was a close one. I didn't actually take any notes on this, but looking at my lifepad, G1 was incredibly long and grindy with Underworld Connections doing it's thing before I was able to start slamming in big chunks of damage.

Game 2 was the aggro-nuts from my opponent, as I never got a chance to touch him.

Game 3 was incredibly stressful, as we went to time shortly after the game started. Thankfully, I was on the Pack Rat plan and was able to get him in Turn 5 due to a super-lucky Mutavault topdeck to punch in for exact damage with a hoard of 7/7 rats when he was at 7.

Round 10 - Win, 2-0 (Orzhov Midrange)

Pack Rats + removal for Blood Baron got me through the early and mid game as Desecration Demon sealed the deal as my beater.

Game 2 was nuts as I had triple UWC online, a Whip of Erebos, and two Garys to be able to stay alive and dig for whatever I needed.

Round 11 - Win, 2-1 (Orzhov Midrange)

I had the perfect mix of speed and removal to take the first game fairly easily.

Game 2 saw Gary trying to save the day, but a lack of answers to my opponent's threats gave him the game fairly easily.

Game 3 saw the ol' T1 Thoughtseize, T2 Pack Rat plan, which he never had an answer for.

Round 12 - Loss, 0-2 (Monoblue Devotion)

In both games, my opponent had fairly quick, heavy devotion hands that either got a ton of advantage off of Bident + Nightveil Spectre (G1) or a Master of Waves that I couldn't answer (G2)

Round 13 - Loss, 0-2 (B/r Devotion)

My first mirror of the day was not a good one, as my opponent was able to get UWC and Gary online before me in the first game and had a ton of hand disruption in game 2 to pick apart my mulligan.

Round 14 - Loss, 1-2 (Monoblue Devotion)

Man this one was a bummer. Game 1 was Pack Rat carrying the game with no problems. I almost got there in game two, but ht was able to keep Thassa Devotion up and swing in for pretty big chunks of unblockable damage.
Game three was probably the worst of it, as I was off to a strong start, but he had the perfect mix of interactive cards to shut down both of my in-hand Pack Rats. Close, well-played games, and he just got ahead of me.

Round 15 - Loss, 0-2 (Esper Control)

Out of all of the games I played this weekend, these were the two where I felt the most helpless. In game one, he had a Last Breath and Supreme Verdict to hold off the Pack Rats and was able to pluck away my other good cards with his Thoughtseize and counter-magic. I scooped on a resolved AEtherling.

Game two saw me dropping a Lifebane Zombie and looking at his hand, which had a double Jace, Syncopate, Mutavault, and a Supreme Verdict. Based on what I had in hand, there was no line of play I could take that he couldn't answer. Damn.

All in all, it was a pretty decent showing, but I was a bit bummed out to miss the top 100 and getting some cash. Still, a top 150 finish was better than my usual trick of missing out on the win-and-in round. Minus the final round against the Esper player, none of the games felt out of reach and came down to some luck, bad lines of play/decisions biting me in the ass, or letting my opponent dictate when I play my hand.

I definitely loved the deck and the direction that red took it in, as I was able to handle most of the Blood Baron decks I saw and had a pretty good time against Esper, which were the two decks I was on the lookout for.

After finishing Day 2, I had a couple of hours to burn as the others were doing various Sunday side events. With one spot left in the final Standard Win-a-Box of the weekend, I decided to give the ol' gal one last spin before calling it a night. 

After beating B/W Midrange and Esper Control (in which I got to do the ol' Rakdos for 5. Countered? Okay. Rakdos for 6? Resolves? Good. Sire of Insanity. Let's play topdeck, bitch.) Pro tip: Control players get real salty whenever you steal their thunder in dictating the pace and state of the game. My opponent in the finals was amicable to giving me the win if I would split the box with him and give him 2 of the 3 packs I got for coming in second (since there were no more events for the 'free entry' to be worth anything).

-----

Moving forward, I still think Monoblack is one of the best decks in the format. Esper was in force this weekend, as the top lists were well tuned and had their thumb down on what to expect. If you are expecting a wide range of creature decks, control, and B/W, I think the B/r list above it perfectly fine to run an event.

If you're expecting the meta to copy a lot of the top 8 decks and with a shift to a lot of control, I think their might be some merits to looking at a blue splash for Far // Away and Notion Thief. (In an ideal world, Grixis Devotion could be a thing, but even with a very light red splash the mana base is spread a bit too tight for my liking).

(Michifus) Podcast Episode 3: Grand Prix Richmond Roundup

In episode three, Pieter and Willis are joined by Mason "The Magic Muffin" to discuss Modern and Grand Prix Richmond. The full episode can be downloaded or streamed below.

In the first part of this episode, we discuss Turbo Twin as our "Deck of the Week". A link to the deck can be found on SCG here.

(Michifus) GP Richmond Recap & Notes on Affinity

Hey everyone. Pieter beat me to the punch for getting the GP Richmond Recap published first, so check out his post for a look at the event and weekend happenings.

We ended up running the same list that weekend and hammered out a 75 that we were both pretty happy with.

GP Richmond Affinity (Click to Expand)

4 x Darksteel Citadel
4 x Blinkmoth Nexus
4 x Inkmoth Nexus
3 x Glimmervoid
1 x Island

4 x Cranial Plating
4 x Springleaf Drum
4 x Mox Opal
3 x Thoughtcast
2 x Galvanic Blast
1 x Welding Jar

4 x Arcbound Ravager
4 x Vault Skirge
4 x Ornithopter
4 x Signal Pest
3 x Steel Overseer
3 x Etched Champion
3 x Memnite
1 x Master of Etherium

Sideboard:
3 x Thoughtseize
2 x Spell Pierce
2 x Spellskite
2 x Wear // Tear
1 x Ancient Grudge
1 x Grafdigger's Cage
1 x Relic of Progenitus
1 x Rule of Law
1 x Whipflare
1 x Illness in the Ranks

With this list, I was looking at the following gameplan:

vs. Jund
Good: Etched Champion, Spellskite, Relic of Progenitus, Thoughtseize, Spell Pierce
Bad: Memnite, Galvanic Blast

vs. Ajundi
Good: Etched Champion, Master of Etherium, Thoughtseize, Whipflare, Illness in the Ranks, Relic of Progenitus
Bad: Memnite, Galvanic Blast, Signal Pest, Steel Overseer

vs. UWR Control
Good: Etched Champion, Thoughtseize, Spellskite, Grafdigger's Cage, Wear//Tear, Rule of Law
Bad: Steel Overseer, Galvanic Blast, Memnite, Signal Pest

vs. UWR Midrange
Good: Etched Champion, Thoughtseize, Spellskite, Rule of Law, Ancient Grudge (if playing Blade Splicer)
Bad: Steel Overseer, Memnite, Signal Pest

vs. Zoo
Good: Etched Champion, Spellskite
Bad: Memnite, Steel Overseer, Thoughtcast

vs. Splinter Twin
Good: Spellskite, Thoughtseize, Spell Pierce
Bad: Steel Overseer, Memnite, Master of Etherium, Thoughtcast, Signal Pest

vs. Burn
Good: Spellskite, Etched Champion, Spell Pierce, Rule of Law
Bad: Memnite, Thoughtcast, Steel Overseer

vs. Melira/Kiki Pod
Good: Etched Champion, Thoughtseize, Whipflare, Grafdigger's Cage, Illness in the Ranks (if playing Lingering Souls)
Bad: Memnite, Signal Pest, Thoughtcast, Steel Overseer

vs. Merfolk
Good: Etched Champion, Thoughtseize, Wear//Tear
Bad: Memnite, Thoughtcast, Master of Etherium

vs. Soul Sisters
Good: Etched Champion, Whipflare, Thoughtseize
Bad: Signal Pest, Memnite, Thoughtcast, Steel Overseer

vs. GR Tron
Good: Thoughtseize, Spell Pierce, Spellskite, Ancient Grudge
Bad: Etched Champion, Thoughtcast, Galvanic Blast

vs. Scapeshift
Good: Thoughtseize, Spell Pierce, Spellskite
Bad: Etched Champion, Galvanic Blast

vs. Faeries
Good: Etched Champion, Thoughtseize, Illness in the Ranks, Whipflare
Bad: Memnite, Signal Pest

vs. Infect
Good: Thoughtseize, Spell Pierce, Spellskite, Ancient Grudge
Bad: Signal Pest, Thoughtcast, Master of Etherium

vs. Bogles
Good: Thoughtseize, Spell Pierce, Etched Champion, Spellskite, Rule of Law
Bad: Memnite, Steel Overseer, Thoughtcast

vs. Storm
Good: Rule of Law, Spell Pierce, Thoughtseize, Grafdigger's Cage
Bad: Thoughtcast, Galvanic Blast, Steel Overseer

vs. Blue Moon
Good: Thoughtseize, Spell Pierce, Grafdigger's Cage
Bad: Galvanic Blast, Steel Overseer

vs. Ad Nauseum
Good: Thoughtseize, Spell Pierce, Spellskite
Bad: Thoughtcast, Galvanic Blast, Steel Overseer

vs. Living End
Good: Arcbound Ravager, Etched Champion, Relic of Progenitus
Bad: Thoughtcast, Galvanic Blast, Signal Pest, Memnite

vs. Affinity
Good: Spellskite, Ancient Grudge, Steel Overseer
Bad: Memnite, Etched Champion, Signal Pest

---------------------------------

Quite a bit to go through and there were STILL decks I played against outside of this list. Anyway, here's the breakdown of each round:

Round 1 - Bye

Round 2 - Bye

Round 3 - Loss, 0-2 (All-In Twin)
Game 1 seemed pretty good, as I had the "dump your hand by turn 2 and start swinging" plan, but I was able to only get my opponent to 4 before he was able to go off with Pestermite + Splinter Twin.
Game 2 was a very grindy match with Spell Pierce keeping him off of combo, but hardcasting the Flash&Tap guys and a lack of manland+BB Cranial mana ultimately kept me off of significantly pressuring him.

Round 4 - Win, 2-1 (Affinity)
I won the flip, which is generally a huge factor in the mirror.  After the board started to get clogged up, having BB for Plating and a Galvanic Blast in hand allowed me to swing in for 12 damage + 4 off of the Blast to win me the game.
In Game 2, we had another long game where I had a misplay in allowing his Grudge to hit my Plating instead of redirecting it to Spellskite, as he didn't have a source of green until I would have been able to swing in.
Game 3 was a pretty east victory, as my opponent mulled to six and kept a very risky no-lander. After Thoughtseizing his Mox Opal, he was unable to gain any traction and two big swings were enough to lock the game down.

Round 5 - Loss, 1-2 (Affinity)
After an incredibly long mirror, I was treated to another one, which end to turns and ended on turn 5. In the first game, I had the coin flip AND the nuts, which wasn't event close, as it was 27-9 before my lethal swing.
Game 2 was his turn for the nuts, as he had a turn 1 Plating and a turn 2 kill with Infect.
Game 3 was incredibly long. I started to fizzle out towards the end, as I needed to draw some play and pressure, which I didn't end up seeing as my opponent kept gaining ground on me. As we went to turns, I thought I had the stall, but he was able to drop two more 0-drops to get around my blockers via Arcbound Ravager on Turn 5.

Round 6 - Win, 2-0 (Merfolk)
These were pretty easy wins with Etched Champion + Steel Overseer carried me through Game 1. Game 2 saw a Phantasmal Image copying my Spellskite and a Hurkyl's Recall, but I was able to play through those and get there with manlands and Arcbound Ravager to get the flexibility I needed to swing in through the air.

Round 7 - Win, 2-1 (Bogles)
My starting hand was pretty nuts and Arcbound Ravager + chump blockers was a stud against his pimped out Kor Spiritdancer.
Game 2 saw my opponent throwing down threats more quickly than I could answer them. The lack of lifegain on my end was a huge detriment, as our life totals were very swingy in this game.
Game three saw me dropping a Spellskite and my opponent have no answers for it, while Vault Skirge and Cranial Plating quickly put me out of reach if he did ever get the answer for it.

Round 8 - Loss, 1-2 (Reanimator)
This was honestly a rogue matchup that I wasn't expecting the late in the tournament, and it caught me with my pants down. In Game 1, he was able to combo off on turn 2, which I had no way of stopping whatsoever.
Game 2 saw Inkmoth Nexus get me there, as Thoughtseize and Spell Pierce held him off.
Game 3 saw an iffy keep on my end, as it had plenty of gas, but Thoughtseize was my only hate card in my 6. Ripping the Thoughtseize on T2 saw 2 Simian Spirit Guide, 1 Faithless Looting, 2 Goryo's Vengeance, a Darkslick Shores, and a Griselbrand, so nothing I grabbed would have kept him from going off. And off he went, and I was out of making day 2.

Round 9 - Win, 2-0 (Rock)
Losing the win-and-in on the final round stings a whole lot, but losing the round before and then having an incredibly easy matchup the next round certainly doesn't take too much of the sting away. Game 1 saw the T1 hand dump and Cranial Plating online by T2. My opponent played a Swamp and promptly scooped. I think it was a good call, but even playing that Swamp gave me a good amount of information to work on.
Game 2... black... scooped right away. Lots of discard effects? Lack of artifact hate in the main? I decided to go with an well-round sideboard approach and brought in 1 x Thoughtseize, 2 x Spell Pierce, 1 x Spellskite and dropped 3 x Thoughtcast and 1 x Signal Pest. It turned out to be a pretty good call, as I was able to counter his T3 Liliana of the Veil and swing for a ton of damage (getting him to 1) before he ripped a Creeping Corrosion the next turn. At that point, he was tapped out and I still had a Blinkmoth on board to activate and snout him with.


Overall, I was incredibly pleased with the deck. None of those losses felt like I was completely out of it, except for the Reanimator deck where I should have taken a more aggressive approach to my mulligans (though Thoughtseize seemed like it was enough to keep him from going off).

It's a bummer missing Day Two by one loss once again, but, for not playing Modern that much, I was incredibly pleased with the results and it was definitely nice to be running the same deck as a fellow teammate. Our combined experience and thoughts on the 75, lines of play, and sideboarding definitely helped, as we each had moments where we would have came up short if not for the other person's impact coming through.

Until next time, #donttilt and #showthemyourteeth,
-- Michifus


PS Pieter, Mason "The Mangler", and I will be back to podcasting on Monday. Look for our thoughts and discussions on Richmond, Modern, and more on Monday night.

(Pietart) GP Richmond Report (324/4300)

I'm sure you're all aware that Grand Prix: Richmond, the largest constructed tournament of all time, took place this weekend.  TeamSwag shattered its own record, fielding a full six (6!) players in the event (.14% of the field), an increase of 20% from GP Louisville.  Nice!  We drove to Virginia Thursday night to stay with some friends, and made our way to the tournament site early Friday morning.

"Tournament site" doesn't really describe how massive this event was.  We reached the convention center around 11:30 but didn't enter the actual tournament hall until we conquered the 2.5 hour line.  As much as I love shuffling my feet and making small talk with strangers, I was ready to battle.

This hallway, completely full.  The line turned the corner and looped around at the end.

I couldn't help but grin as we finally picked up our playmats and entered the familiar chaos of players, vendors, judges and tables.  After a brief search for the last sideboard cards and a fourth Mirrodin Ornithopter, I played my complimentary Mini-Master.  The first opponent said he was conceding to go play some Modern, and just wanted his pack.  I liked his style, so after getting my second pack for the free W, I scooped to my next opponent to make time for a Last Chance Grinder.

I already had my byes, but Willis and I had finally come up with a reasonable sideboard that morning and I was eager to test it.  This is the 75 that Willis and I registered for the Grinder and main event.

4 Darksteel Citadel

4 Blinkmoth Nexus

4 Inkmoth Nexus

3 Glimmervoid

1 Island

4 Cranial Plating

4 Springleaf Drum

4 Mox Opal

3 Thoughtcast

2 Galvanic Blast

1 Welding Jar

4 Arcbound Ravager

4 Vault Skirge

4 Ornithopter

4 Signal Pest

3 Steel Overseer

3 Etched Champion

3 Memnite

1 Master of Etherium

---

3 Thoughtseize

2 Spell Pierce

2 Spellskite

2 Wear/Tear

1 Ancient Grudge

1 Grafdigger's Cage

1 Relic of Progenitus

1 Rule of Law

1 Whipflare

1 Illness in the Ranks

(Shoutout to Karlito/Karl Drogo for lending me the cards!)

The Grinder itself solidified what I already knew about the deck: Affinity has some insane draws and punishes people for skimping on sideboard hate.  Even if they find hate, Thoughtseize, Spell Pierce and Wear/Tear can answer most of it pretty easily.  I didn't take notes during the Grinder, but I remember most of what happened.

Round 1 - Tarmo Twin

He floods out pretty badly in Game 1 after playing Tarmogoyf into a 3-for-1 Electrolyze, and I finish him off with a timely Plating.  For Game 2, he gets stuck on two lands and I run him over.

Round 2 - UW Control

I knew of my opponent (Steve Guillerm) from his writing on TCGPlayer, and he was as pleasant as I had gathered from his articles.  In the first game, I play 6 permanents on the first turn, including Steel Overseer, forcing him to Path it on his turn.  The second land plus the Citadel/Opal I had in play let me cast and equip the seventh card from my opener: Cranial Plating.  He dies in two swings from my team.  In Game 2, he mulligans plays a tapped land, and I run out a couple guys and a Thoughtseize that sees Tectonic Edge, Path to Exile, Snapcaster Mage, Stony Silence and Baneslayer Angel.  I have a Wear/Tear in my hand, so I take the Snapcaster since I can fight through a Path pretty easily.  He draws enough lands to stay in the game and eventually sticks the Baneslayer, stabilizing the board.  I flash the Galvanic Blast which is more than enough to finish off his last 3 life points.

Round 3 (Top 8) - Protean Hulk Combo

I'm not exactly sure how my opponent's combo worked, but it involved Protean Hulk, Viscera Seer, Body Double, Reveillark and Mogg Fanatic.  It was pretty sweet, but my Game 1 was significantly faster.  For the second game, I brought in some disruption that pulled his Reanimation spell and bought me enough time to get in the last points of damage.

Round 4 (Semifinals) - Ad Nauseam

I'd talked to my opponent during the player meeting and between rounds, fulfilling my objective to make at least one friend at the tournament.  In Game 1, he sticks a Phyrexian Unlife at a low life total, buying himself enough time to combo me.  For the first time, I got to ask my opponent "Am I dead?" and get a straight "Yes."  My postboard plan works out perfectly for Game 2, a fast clock backed up by Thoughtseize and Spell Pierce.  At one point, his outs were reduced to drawing multiple cards for his turn, prompting an unprotected value-Ad Nauseam.  He didn't find all the pieces, and we were on to Game 3.  I play out cheap dudes while he cantrips and plays some acceleration.  On the final turn, he cashes in his Pentad Prism to use Hurkyl's Recall, which I Spell Pierce.  He has the Pact of Negation, but not enough mana to pay for it and hold off a lethal swing on the following turn after I rebuild my board post-combat.  On to the finals!

Round 5 (Finals) - Kiki Pod

My opponent (Brian Liu, you may have heard of him in relation to this event) didn't have byes yet so we immediately started negotiating splits.  Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to separate the VIP upgrade from the byes, which would've been ideal for both of us.  After some consideration, we decide that I get the packs and he gets the byes: 3 extra Modern Masters packs and half a box of BotG made up for not getting the free upgrade/sleep-in special (which I'd already paid for), and he seemed pretty excited about getting byes.  Spoiler: he wins the whole tournament.  Pretty sweet!

It's pretty late at this point, so we walk a few blocks to the hotel and get to bed at a (gasp) reasonable time.  I feel good about the sideboard after seeing it in action, and fall asleep feeling quite confident.

The next morning, Willis and I enjoy a leisurely breakfast and coffee before getting to the convention center around noon.  At this point, I'm struck by the sheer vastness of the tournament: we have to cross the street to get to our flight.  Willis, Mac and I are in the same flight, though we're isolated from the rest of the team.  After some bonus friendmaking, we say our "good luck"s and get ready to jam.  Headphones in, hat on, feeling good.

Round 3 - Justin, Middle Zoo

We chatted a bit while shuffling each other's decks, but once the clock started it was all business.  Game 1 was pretty brutal, as only the fastest Zoo draws can try to race Affinity pre-board.  I hold my ground guys back for a turn, chipping in for one in the air after he Bolts my 9/1 Vault Skirge.  He swings back, putting me to 12, but the second Plating off the top seals the deal.  He draw is better in Game 2, but he never finds removal for my Steel Overseer and dies to a pair of Vault Skirges and an Ornithopter.  3-0.

Round 4 - Mike, Bogles

He doesn't do much Game 1 without Daybreak Coronet, and I easily race him.  After boarding, I land an early Spellskite with Welding Jar backup, forcing him to use both copies of Back to Nature before jamming Auras, which bought me enough time to get in some Plating hits.  4-0!

Round 5 - Mitch, Kiki-Pod

Mitch's deck had some elements of Melira Pod as well as the Kiki-Jiki combo, allowing him to blow out my board of Overseer, Memnite, Skirge with a turn 3 Orzhov Pontiff, the turn before I can activate the Overseer.  In Game 2, I put some pressure on him, but lose a turn saving my board from Kataki.  I find the Whipflare to clear his board, but he draws the combo before I'm able to finish him off.  4-1.

Round 6 - Drew, UR Delver-Mancer

Finally, a three-game match!  Aggro-control is pretty soft to super fast starts pre-board, and he couldn't find enough burn to keep the Plating from hitting him.  For the second game, he plays a turn 1 Delver which immediately flips off Hurkyl's Recall.  He clocks me while alternating between killing my guys and bouncing my whole board and I can't get anything through.  In the third game, we trade hits and removal until I'm dead on his next swing with a lone lethal attacker on my side.  Both of his Snapcasters have attacked, and he leaves a Vendilion Clique on defense.  We're on turn 5 of turns, several people have crowded around.  I untap and knock the top of my deck.  Galvanic Blast!  I kill his Clique after declaring attackers, getting in for exactly enough damage.  5-1!

Round 7 - William, BG Rock

Rock is a pretty easy matchup, since Creeping Corrosion is one of the only cards that interacts favorably on their side.  I crush him in the first game, and build up a solid board in the second.  Knowing I'm only dead to a land off the top for his Corrosion (I'd seen his hand with a Thoughtseize), I pass with Spell Pierce up and lethal on board.  He doesn't find the land, inducing a bit of salt, so I show him the Spell Pierce.  "Yeah, fair enough, you got it."  6-1!

Round 8 - Jeffery, Tarmo Twin

The adrenaline of being so close to Day 2 makes my memory of this match a little fuzzy, but I know how the games ended.  Game 1, I have him dead on board, but he has Exarch for my Plating creature and has the Twin in hand.  Game 2 he doesn't draw any hate and I run him over.  Game 3 goes very long, and he's eventually able to get through with a sizable Tarmogoyf and Batterskull.  We go over my sideboard plans and discuss the match (I forgot that his build also plays Batterskull in the board and didn't bring in any answers for it).  At 6-2, I have my fingers crossed for a good matchup in the last round.

Round 9 - Ian, BG Rock

Fortunately, the finger crossing works and I get an easy matchup.  Game 1 isn't remotely close, and in the second I have double Thoughtseize to match his double Creeping Corrosion.  7-2, into Day 2!

Excited but exhausted, we make our way back to the hotel and try to sleep.  As is common, we fail miserably and discuss standard and modern for several hours.  At some point, I drift into an uneasy sleep fully aware that Daylight Savings would rob me of an hour.  The alarm sounds far too early, and I drag myself to the shower.  All the teamswagmates we're incredibly supportive, ensuring that I was set up to do well the following day: letting me have the bed, first shower, and bring my non-magic stuff to the car since I had to be at the tournament an hour earlier.  You guys are the best! <3

Round 10 - Brandon, Merfolk

As soon as we present our decks, the pair of judges near us immediately swooped in for a deck check.  Apparently I had forgotten to write 4 Darksteel Citadel on my decklist (16 lands, 4 lines of lands, seems good.) when I turned it in Friday night.  Hooray for a game loss!  Luckily, Merfolk is a very easy matchup and I beat him pretty quickly in games 2 and 3.  My opponent was very nice and apologetic about the decklist error, and we both agreed it was pretty lucky that it happened then and not one Day 1 during a tight match where the loss could've knocked me out of Day 2.  Have your friends look over your decklist before you hand it in!  8-2, frazzled but alive.

Round 11 - Keenan, Melira Pod

In Game 1, he blows out my board of Overseer and 1 toughness creatures with an Orzhov Pontiff, then gets Qasali Pridemage to stop my Plating.  For Game 2, I get him to 1 but can't find the Cage to stop his active Pod, and he finds the combo.  8-3, we definitely need the second Cage in the board.

Round 12 - Branden, 8-Rack

I had never tested this matchup before, but I figured I just had to dump my hand and try to race his Rack effects.  In Game 1, he nut-draws me after I mulligan: Inquisition into Thoughtseize + Raven's Crime into double Shrieking Affliction and the Rack (Take 9).  Game 2 is pretty quick, I have a fast start and sandbag a land to slow down his Rack.  He doesn't get enough pressure on board, and I kill him easily.  For Game 3, I mulligan to 5 and can't apply enough pressure to race his Liliana and racks.  He has an Ensnaring Bridge in play, and I'm on the Overseer plan but can't find an Ancient Grudge or Wear/Tear to remove it and die to his racks.  He missed multiple Rack/Affliction triggers which bought me a few turns, but not enough to find an answer.  8-4, disappointed but still happy to be in Day 2.

Round 13 - Jonathan, Storm

This matchup seems pretty good, but my draws were insane in both games so he was never really in it.  For game 1, I play out my entire hand, including a Plating and Vault Skirge which gets there quite easily.  I board in my hate and disruption and jam my entire hand on the first turn again.  My clock is a little slower (turn 1 Ravager instead of Plating) but I draw Wear/Tear his Ascension and Thoughtseize a ritual out of his hand, locking up the W.  9-4!

Round 14 - Greg, 8-Rack

I'd met Greg a few months ago after he won our win-and-in at a Sealed PTQ.  We'd seen each other at tournaments since then, so our match was pretty social.  He was on 8-Rack, which I definitely didn't expect to play twice.  He grinds me out with a multiple Rack draw in the first game, and I take the second with a few massive Plating swings.  I mulligan in Game 3, which is the worst thing to do against the discard heavy deck.  I needed a fast, redundant hand, but was only able to fulfill the former.  I played out most of my permanents and he Inquisitioned the Plating, leaving me on the mediocre beats plan.  He gets two Ensnaring Bridges into play while I brick for a couple turns, reducing my outs to the lone Ancient Grudge.  I can't find it, and die horribly and slowly.  9-5, dead for cash.

Round 15 - Andrew, Tempo Twin

In typical Game 1 fashion, I run him over before he assembles much of anything, but I see enough to know that he's on Twin.  He finds the combo in Game 2 after seeing two of his three Ancient Grudges.  In the third game, he curves Spell Snare into double Electrolyze, leaving me with a Plating and some manlands.  I hit him to 7 poison, but he finds answers to both Inkmoths.  I transition back to the damage plan, but play around his Cryptic Command too hard.  By playing around it every turn, I never actually put him in a position where he needs to cast it, and the lack of aggression gives him time to beat me down with 2/1s.  Finished 9-6, same record as DC.

While I was a little bummed to not do as well on Day 2, I was still ecstatic to make it that far.  Affinity was absolutely a good choice for the tournament (2 in the top 8, 3 more in the top 16) and it's one of the top considerations for the upcoming PTQ season.  Later this week I'll post a report on the deck itself and our card choices, as well as what to change moving forward.  

Thanks for reading!

<3 Pietart