Hi, I’m Mary Jacobson. I’ve been playing Magic since November 2009. I started playing Magic with a Garruk vs. Liliana Duel Deck. Within days, I was drafting, and within weeks of that, I was playing Standard. In May of 2010 I attended my first Grand Prix, and although I did poorly, I discovered how much fun the competitive Magic scene can be. Shortly after that I became interested in judging, and in September of 2010 I became a Level 1 judge. I started travelling to more tournaments both to play and to judge. In February of 2011 I played in (and made Top 8) of my first StarCityGames.com Legacy Open. After that I was hooked; one tournament every month or two wasn’t enough. I started grinding the StarCityGames.com Open Series and consistently cashed in Legacy. My love of the game led me to create my blog where I write about my quest to attend every US Grand Prix in 2012. A couple weeks ago I attended Grand Prix Lincoln where I finished in 5th place.

Friday

After a very long drive from Corbin, Kentucky, I arrived in Lincoln shortly after noon. I was pretty sure I wanted to play Affinity, but I didn’t have a specific build in mind. Having never played Modern before, I had mostly speculation and the advice of friends to go on. I spent a while researching online, taking a look at successful Affinity decks and making sure there weren’t any other decks I thought I’d like more. After going through half a dozen or so decklists, I made a rough draft of what I wanted to play. I proxied it up and play tested it a bit. I chatted with friends about potential sideboard cards while trading for the necessary pieces. Over the course of the afternoon, my 70% proxy deck slowly transformed into a complete 75-card deck. I made some changes, such as moving up to four Steel Overseer and down to two Arcbound Ravager.

I opted for a sideboard full of three-ofs, mostly because of my unfamiliarity with the format. I chose to include Blood Moon for Jund; Ethersworn Canonist for Storm; Whipflare for Boros and other aggro decks with small creatures; Torpor Orb for Splinter Twin and Melira Pod; and Ancient Grudge for Affinity, Melira Pod, and Isochron Scepter. By 10 PM I owned a 75-card deck that I had less than half of that morning.

Affinity

Mary Jacobson

5th Place at Grand Prix on 02-19-2012

Modern

Creatures (26)

Lands (16)

Spells (18)

Sideboard

Saturday

I awoke rested and ready to play Magic on Saturday morning. It was chilly in Nebraska, but I didn’t mind the cold; I was ready to smash with some robots. I sat down for the player meeting with a complete decklist, an unusual occurrence for me. I patiently waited for the decklists to be collected so I could playtest during my byes. 716 players: I was surprised a Grand Prix in Nebraska had attracted so many people.

Round 4: Denny playing Boros

The pairings went up for Round 4… I was paired against a friend of mine, Denny Dowty. “Great,” I think, “once again, I’m playing against a friend in an early round.” This was not the first time this year I had to face a friend from the SCG Open Series in an early round at a Grand Prix. As we sat down, we talked about how we both had byes and how neither of us had much experience with the Modern format. Denny was piloting Boros, one of a few decks that I had considered playing for the Grand Prix. I had a rough idea of how Boros should look, but a mulligan to four in game 1 didn’t leave me in good shape. I sideboarded in some Whipflares and pulled off a victory in both games 2 and 3. Record: 4-0

Round 5: Tyler playing RUG Delver

This was a matchup I’d been warned about. Though I never got a chance to test against it, I knew I was going to have a difficult time winning this round. I got crushed pretty quickly by a 5/6 Tarmogoyf in game 1. After some sideboard, I lost game 2 to a 5/6 Tarmogoyf as well, this time with Ancient Grudge having cleared the way for it. Although this matchup is unfavorable from the beginning, I think if I had played better I might have been able to win game 2. Record: 4-1

Round 6: Jesse playing Splinter Twin

Game 1 I defeated my opponent so quickly that I realized I did not know what he was playing. One Spellskite, one Grim Lavamancer, Serum Visions, and Sleight of Hand led me to believe that he was most likely playing Splinter Twin. I wasn’t sure, though. Having never played Modern before and knowing that some of the cards I saw were popular in more than one combo deck, I wasn’t sure what to do for sideboard. I decided not to sideboard because I already had seven burn spells main deck, and siding in Torpor Orb would have given me dead cards against combo.

Game 2 it became clear that he was playing Splinter Twin when he discarded a Pestermite. We spent most of the game in topdeck mode, with me trying to get some damage through and him trying to stall long enough to cast his combo. He slowed me down by casting and flashing back Ancient Grudge. At one point he played a Deceiver Exarch, but I killed it before he untapped. In the end he got mana flooded while I finally pushed through some damage. Record: 5-1

Round 7: Dre playing Four-Color Snapcaster Special

Game 1 went similarly to game 1 against Splinter Twin. My start was so explosive that he didn’t get a chance to do much. I saw cards I recognized as being part of popular decks, but I was not sure what my opponent was playing. Snapcaster Mage, Lightning Bolt, Path to Exile. I had heard about the U/R/W Isochron Scepter deck, with a few of my friends having encouraged me to play it at the Grand Prix, but I had only briefly looked at a couple decklists. My opponent had several of the cards I knew were part of the Scepter deck, but he didn’t cast any Isochron Scepters. When the game ended with him controlling lands that produce W/R/U/G I realized he was probably playing the “four color awesome” deck a friend of mine had mentioned losing to earlier.

After seeing Splinter Twin splash green for Ancient Grudge the round before, I wasn’t sure if this could be the Isochron Scepter deck doing the same. I chose not to sideboard because of my uncertainty. Game 2 I fought against some Timely Reinforcements and an Ancient Grudge to pull off the win. He wasn’t playing any Isochron Scepters. Record: 6-1

Round 8: Jeff playing Jund

Game 1: my robots displayed the consistency and explosiveness they are known for and quickly laid waste to my opponent. The self-inflicted damage from my opponent’s shock lands helped speed up the clock. Jund is a deck I’m somewhat familiar with. Jund was the dominant deck in Standard when I started playing Magic, and the Modern version of Jund was something I had considered playing for this Grand Prix before I decided that Affinity was both cheaper to build and something I would have more fun playing. I was a little worried about the combination of Ancient Grudge and Tarmogoyf. I sided in all three Blood Moons. In game 2, two unlucky Bloodbraid Elf flips from Dark Confidant scored me another win. Record: 7-1

Round 9: Chris playing Affinity

Hoping to be able to congratulate my opponent on making day 2, I got paired down. I felt bad because not only did my opponent need this win to get to day 2, but it was an Affinity mirror, a mirror match that is often decided by a coin toss. I won game 1, and after sideboarding wiped his board with an Ancient Grudge with no mana sources left, my robots earned me the record of 8-1 after round 9.

Wow, I had just made day 2 of a Grand Prix! To celebrate, or mostly because I just really wanted to, I went out dancing with some friends. If you value your sleep, I don’t recommend this. My group got separated from each other, and I didn’t get back to my hotel until sometime after 5 AM. So much for a good night’s sleep.

Sunday

I awoke not so rested but once again was ready to play Magic. A granola bar and some Code Red seemed like a healthy breakfast. I was really nervous about my first professional Magic tournament. 96 players made it to day 2.

Round 10: Stanislav playing Jund

Another match against Jund. After beating Jund in round 8 of day 1, I was less worried than before. Jund does so much damage to itself that Affinity can outrace it before cards like Tarmogoyf become a problem. In game 2 I finished my opponent by swinging in with an equipped Etched Champion twice then one-two punching with Galvanic Blast and Shrapnel Blast. Record: 9-1

Round 11: Rafael playing Jund

More Jund! I think I like this matchup. This round went similarly to the last, with my win in game 2 being almost identical to my game 2 win from the round before. Record: 10-1

Round 12: Andrew playing W/B Martyr

This round I got to sit at table 1. I was paired up against Andrew Ohlschwager, the only undefeated player in the room. He was playing a white and black deck that used Martyr of Sands to gain a bunch of life. I won game 1, and we went on to sideboarding. I made the mistake of not siding in all of my Whipflares. Game 2 he beat me with Spirit tokens and a Figure of Destiny. Game 3 I sided in the Whipflares and won in typical Affinity fashion. Record: 11-1

Round 13: Luis playing U/W Tron

Table 1 again, this time I got to play against U/W Tron piloted by some guy named Luis Scott-Vargas. I was pretty sure if I won this round I got to draw into Top 8. We got called for the on-camera feature match; no pressure, right? I was a little worried about Tron’s ability to reanimate Elesh Norn but also knew if I won the die roll, I could probably win the race. I won the die roll: robots smashed. I won game 1. Game 2 he reanimated Elesh Norn and locked me out of the game. Game 3, Cranial Plating brought me to swift victory. Did I really just Top 8 a Grand Prix? Record: 12-1

Rounds 14 and 15 I drew into Top 8. At the end of Swiss rounds I was in first place. Wow! I never thought I’d make it this far! This Affinity deck is awesome! One more round and I would be qualified for the Pro Tour!

My Top 8 ended pretty quickly however; once again I was met with the unfortunate Affinity mirror match. A bittersweet battle, I would see my Ornithopters come so far to stop just short of taking me to the Pro Tour. My opponent, Samuel Friedman, defeated me. I congratulated him on making it to the Top 4 and asked him to sign my Ornithopter:

Every Grand Prix I ask my opponents to sign a certain card for my deck, usually a common or uncommon that I particularly like or is especially representative of the deck I was playing. In this case, I chose Ornithopter. Ornithopter was one of my favorite cards when I first started playing Magic. It’s free, and it flies!

I made Top 8 of the first Modern Grand Prix ever! I’m both amazed and proud of myself. Modern was a format I had many doubts about going into the tournament, but after playing against so many different decks and archetypes, I really enjoy the format. I also really liked playing Affinity. Affinity is one of the most powerful decks in the format and certainly one of the fastest. I really liked the main deck I was playing and don’t think I’d change any of the cards. The sideboard is a different story. The lack of graveyard hate is a big weakness. If I were to remake the sideboard, I would cut one Ethersworn Canonist and one Torpor Orb and replace both of those with Grafdigger’s Cage.

P.S. About that ridiculous hat… It was purchased on the way to the Grand Prix at Ozarkland, a Barn Full of Bargains, located somewhere in Missouri.