When I initially heard about The Grudge Match, a tournament with three new formats, I knew I definitely wanted to play all of them; there was even a team portion!
Innistrad had just come out, and the Modern bannings made for all types of new decks. The new set looked very promising, and I knew that I wanted to play with Liliana of the Veil and Snapcaster Mage.
The tournament had an odd structure; the top 8 of the Sealed portion and the top 24 of the Standard would combine to play a 32-person single elimination tournament. With that information, I decided that my best chances would be mainly testing Standard (not to mention States is right around the corner).
Being the type of person who likes to play with Islands, I knew that I wanted access to Mana Leak, Day of Judgment, and Timely Reinforcements somewhere in my 75, especially in this undefined format (people tend to play red decks when a new format comes out). With that being said, I scoured for lists. I wanted to see what the most powerful and card advantageous strategy was in this new undefined format.
I came across Michael Jacob Reanimator list and knew that I wanted something of that nature. Dream Twist was a little too much for me, and after talking with Jacob Van Lunen and Nick Spagnolo, I knew exactly what I wanted. I envisioned a deck much like the old Solar Flare, but this time I had a sweet planeswalker that acted as a card advantage machine. Forbidden Alchemy was all the Compulsive Research that I needed, and Unburial Rites went side-by-side with Liliana of the Veil to push it over the top. Sun Titan in combination with Oblivion Ring reminded me of Angel of Despair. So here is what the initial game plan looked like.
Creatures (10)
Planeswalkers (4)
Lands (25)
Spells (21)
After playing several games on Magic Workstation, I realized Snapcaster Mage wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. Don’t get me wrong; the card is awesome. It is just better in other decks. I also realized that Dismember isn’t really needed anymore since Splinter Twin rotated out of Standard. I also wanted another discard outlet besides Liliana of the Veil and knew exactly what I needed.
After playing weeks of M12 Limited and always wanting a Merfolk Looter in every blue deck I drafted, I knew the 1/1 was the perfect card for the job. I added another Doom Blade in the spot of Dismember and remembered how good Consecrated Sphinx is. The one-of Visions of Beyond never acted as an Ancestral Recall even when I drew it late game, so it had to get the axe. Also I didn’t want three Day of Judgment, since I had a two-drop creature, so I shaved one of those, and here is what I came up with to register.
Creatures (13)
Planeswalkers (4)
Lands (26)
Spells (17)
The weekend of the tournament rolled around, and I realized I didn’t get much time to practice Sealed or Modern. I felt like I had the best Standard list, now to just find all the new cards. The night before the tournament finally came, Julie Williams and Dave Shiels drove up to New York City from Boston and met up with me and Christian Calcano. Dave and Calcano were on my team for the team event. Dave played a few games with the deck and quickly hopped on board. Calcano decided to play with a bunch of Mountains in his deck. We headed out for Philly the day of the tournament and got stuck in traffic. We ended up entering the Sealed tournament with a round 1 game loss for everyone on our team. That being said, here is my sealed pool and how I built it.
- 1 Burning Vengeance
- 1 Village Ironsmith
- 1 Infernal Plunge
- 1 Feral Ridgewolf
- 1 Harvest Pyre
- 2 Pitchburn Devils
- 1 Riot Devils
- 1 Ancient Grudge
- 2 Brimstone Volley
- 1 Stromkirk Noble
- 1 Skirsdag Cultist
- 1 Bloodcrazed Neonate
- 1 Butcher’s Cleaver
- 1 Graveyard Shovel
- 1 Sharpened Pitchfork
- 2 Blazing Torch
- 2 Night Terrors
- 1 Village Cannibals
- 1 Altar’s Reap
- 1 Corpse Lunge
- 1 Skeletal Grimace
- 1 Ghoulraiser
- 1 Disciple of Griselbrand
- 2 Maw of the Mire
- 1 Bitterheart Witch
- 1 Screeching Bat
- 1 Bloodline Keeper
- 1 Walking Corpse
- 1 Vampire Interloper
- 1 Manor Skeleton
- 1 Ghoulcaller’s Chant
- 2 Tribute to Hunger
- 1 Smite the Monstrous
- 1 Rebuke
- 1 Urgent Exorcism
- 1 Spare from Evil
- 1 Purify the Grave
- 1 Moment of Heroism
- 2 Silverchase Fox
- 1 Doomed Traveler
- 2 Village Bell-Ringer
- 1 Voiceless Spirit
- 1 Chapel Geist
- 1 Slayer of the Wicked
- 1 Abbey Griffin
- 1 Woodland Sleuth
- 1 Lumberknot
- 1 Hamlet Captain
- 1 Grizzled Outcasts
- 1 Naturalize
- 1 Darkthicket Wolf
- 1 Festerhide Boar
- 2 Prey Upon
- 1 Gnaw to the Bone
- 1 Clifftop Retreat
- 1 Moorland Haunt
- 1 Woodland Cemetery
- 1 Hysterical Blindness
- 1 Memory’s Journey
- 1 Runic Repetition
- 1 Delver of Secrets
- 1 Stitcher’s Apprentice
- 1 Deranged Assistant
- 1 Armored Skaab
- 1 Fortress Crab
- 1 Battleground Geist
- 1 Skaab Goliath
- 1 Spectral Flight
- 1 Curse of the Bloody Tome
- 2 Forbidden Alchemy
- 1 Think Twice
- 1 Grasp of Phantoms
- 1 Lost in the Mist
Here is what I ended up registering:
1 Stromkirk Noble
1 Bloodcrazed Neonate
1 Skirsdag Cultist
1 Riot Devils
2 Pitchburn Devils
1 Manor Skeleton
1 Vampire Interloper
1 Walking Corpse
1 Bloodline Keeper
1 Screeching Bat
1 Village Cannibals
2 Night Terrors
2 Brimstone Volley
2 Blazing Torch
1 Rebuke
1 Smite the Monstrous
2 Tribute to Hunger
1 Ghoulcaller’s Chant
2 Plains
1 Clifftop Retreat
8 Swamp
6 Mountain
I ended up going 2-5. The tournament went horribly; not only did I get a match loss for being late, but I lost round two. Starting out 0-2 is always discouraging, but I stayed in there for the team points. My teammates were doing well; they both ended up 5-2, giving us a total of twelve wins! I was ready to put the Sealed format behind me and play some Standard. I felt very confident in the list that I had and just needed to tighten up and focus.
I woke up the next day and tried to get in the zone. The parings went up, and I could feel my adrenalin pumping throughout my body. I was ready to battle!
Round 1 vs. George Baboussis playing Big Red
Game one my deck does what it does. Turn 2 Merfolk Looter makes for a smooth game. I get a Sun Titan in play bringing back Phantasmal Image and Liliana of the Veil.
Game two I keep a hand of five lands, Day of Judgment, and Doom Blade. My first four draw steps are lands, and I die to Koth of the Hammer and Kuldotha Phoenix.
Game three I keep five lands, Oblivion Ring, and Day of Judgment. Obviously I didn’t learn my lesson from game two. My first four draws are lands; he plays Koth of the Hammer. I Oblivion Ring the planeswalker, and a Naturalize off Sphere of the Suns puts me away. I do my best to stay focused and just chuck up the loss.
0-1
Round 2 vs. Daniel Thomas playing White Weenie
He flashes me a Memnite while shuffling, and I put him on Tempered Steel. He starts off with Elite Vanguard. I cast Day of Judgment on turn 4, and he is out of gas. Game two goes the same way, and now I have four Day of Judgment in my deck.
1-1
Round 3 vs. Andrew Kerrigan playing U/W Control
Game one I have a turn 2 Merfolk Looter that gets Dismembered. Liliana of the Veil does what she does best and makes the game unfair. I reanimate Sun Titan, and he puts the game away. Game two Andrew mulligans, and Liliana of the Veil rips his hand apart.
2-1
Round 4 vs. Brendan Hurst playing U/B Control
Game one we play land-go; he ends up beating me with a Batterskull and Snapcaster Mage. Game two I bring in my Nihil Spellbombs, since he has Forbidden Alchemy, Think Twice, and Snapcaster Mage. I end up getting a Sun Titan in play to seal the deal. Game three I drop an early Snapcaster Mage and beat him down to ten before it dies. He gets Batterskull but has no hand thanks to Liliana of the Veil. I eventually draw a Sun Titan and end the game.
3-1
Round 5 vs. Dylan Thompson playing U/W Shape Anew
Game one goes back and forth; he is beating me down with Blade Splicers and Phantasmal Image. I start to stabilize; he Shape Anews an Inkmoth Nexus to put Blightsteel Colossus into play, leaving him with one card in hand and four lands. I attack with my Sun Titan and bring back Phantasmal Image to copy Blightsteel Colossus. I also cast a Phantasmal Image from my hand, so now I have two Blightsteel Colossuses!
He draws, plays a land untapped, and casts Venser, the Sojourner to make his creatures unblockable and kills me. He tells me he drew the Venser, the Sojourner that turn to put the icing on the cake. UGH! I just keep telling myself to stay focused, but it’s hard not to tilt when you lose to a topdeck. I digress.
Game two goes in my favor, and we’re on to a clutch game three. He mulligans to six, while I’m down to five cards. I keep two land, Oblivion Ring, Mana Leak, and Merfolk Looter. Probably the best five cards that I could get! Six turns later, Consecrated Sphinx puts in work and makes up for my mulligan allowing me to win! WHEW! That was close!
4-1
Round 6 vs. Joshua Milliken playing Red Deck Wins
Game one he keeps a one lander and bricks until turn 4 when I’m putting 6/6s in play, and I win the game. Game 2 he comes out the gates ridiculously fast! He has three one-drops in play at the end of turn two. On my turn four, I’m at three life and have the choice of Timely Reinforcements or Day of Judgment; he still has two cards in his hand. I cast the Timely Reinforcements, hoping to chump and regain some life. He drops Hero of Oxid Ridge to push to game three. Guess I would have died either way.
Game three I don’t really remember. I just know I play Looter for the first time in the match, and he Arc Trails it and pushes his creatures through to kill me. I think I’m 100% sure I can still make top 24, so I continue to battle, not to mention team points and Planeswalker Points.
4-2
Round 7 vs. Jake Taft playing Reanimator (with Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur and Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite)
This match was very awkward. He makes some strange plays; in game one I have the choice to bring back Oblivion Ring with Sun Titan or Phantasmal Image to copy the Titan and then bring back Oblivion Ring, but I’m sure he has a Doom Blade, so I bring back the Oblivion Ring, and he plays Doom Blade at the end of my turn.
On my next turn, I reanimate Sun Titan bringing back the Phantasmal image and Liliana of the Veil. I make us both discard our last cards, and he plays Doom Blade on Sun Titan in response. Awkward. So for those who don’t know, if he played the Doom Blade with the Sun Titan’s ability on the stack, the Phantasmal Image would have come into play with nothing to copy. Long story short, I run the same play next game returning two Phantasmal Images this time, and again he plays Doom Blade at the end of turn on my Sun Titan.
5-2
Round 8 vs. Shawn Gorzkowski playing Solar Flare (mirror match)
Game one I start out with a mulligan to five, but a turn-two Merfolk Looter makes up for that, ensuring I can Consecrated Sphinx on turn 6. Game two he mulligans to five this time, and I get a Sun Titan in play, and the beats commence.
I end the tournament at 6-2 and just assume that I made top 24. The first two rounds of single elimination start in about 30 minutes, and I hear the judge tell everyone that we can change our decks for the top 32. I meet up with Dave Shiels who went 7-1 with the deck, and we go and talk about what we want to change. There was a lot of Mono-Red, Solar Flare, and U/B Control, so we adjust accordingly. Here is what we end up registering for the top 32.
Creatures (11)
- 3 Merfolk Looter
- 1 Grave Titan
- 3 Sun Titan
- 1 Consecrated Sphinx
- 1 Azure Mage
- 1 Phantasmal Image
- 1 Snapcaster Mage
Planeswalkers (4)
Lands (26)
Spells (19)
As I’m walking up to the parings for the top 32, I come to the harsh realization that I was one of the three people who went 6-2 and missed on breakers… Dave ends up losing the first round in the top 32 to a Mono-Red deck. But it’s not all bad news; we end up making the top four in the team event!
Now we have that to prepare for. Calcano already has a Legacy deck; I have a Standard deck, but no one has a Modern deck… We look to see what the cheapest Modern deck to build is since none of us have Modern cards. I go in the morning and get an Affinity deck and join the Modern tournament, while I’m waiting for the team event to fire (double queuing, got to get those planeswalker points!).
Creatures (24)
Lands (15)
Spells (21)
I enter the event with no sideboard since I didn’t have time to get one yet. I start off 2-0, and then it’s time to play the team event. We end up losing the round, and I go back to the Modern tournament. I win my next round and am 3-2 now since I had to miss two rounds due to the team event.
The next round I play against Zoo and get the burn spell slow rolled on me. I tilt and drop from the tournament (should have stayed in for planeswalker points!). Overall I had a great time seeing some new and old faces. I think the deck is very solid and has a ton of card advantage. My next tournament will be States, where I plan on reanimating Sun Titans again! Good luck and hope to see you there!