Feature Article – Faeries in the Top 4 at Grand Prix: Los Angeles

I was nervous on the Saturday morning of the Grand Prix as I shuffled up a new Faerie build. I had only tested it on Magic-League. Thirteen wins later, and 1,500 dollars wealthier, I was impressed by the swift tricks with which the Faerie deck defeated my opponents. I love my Faeries.

This article will cover my 17 rounds of competition in Los Angeles. I will also cover how I came to the build I used, and where it should go from here, in a future article. You can see the earlier versions of my deck on Magic-League (username Gluedman), where I won the Jan 10th trial and Jan 11th trial with the evolving Faeries deck.

Here is what I ended up at Saturday morning:

The only last minute changes I made were the Relic of Progenitus in the sideboard. Thank you to Alex West, Max, Dan and Gavin for convincing me at breakfast that the new Loam decks were actually worth preparing for.

Round 1

I only had one bye, and I was lamenting that fact when Steve Sadin reminded me that he won Grand Prix Columbus with only one bye himself. Good point… I really tried to take this to heart. My old mantra is “Just Win,” and how many free wins you get does not change the ultimate goal.

Played: matches 0-0, games 0-0

Round 2 – Ryan Brougham from Portland, playing UB Faeries

A mirror match was a good way to get things going. Game 1 we both had Ancestral Vision, but he was able to get aggressive with a Mistbind Clique and killed me before I could find a way to deal with the huge 4/4.

For game 2, Ryan mulligans to five and never gets beyond two lands.

Game 3, Ryan was able to get Bitterblossom down before I could counter. Normally it would be very hard to win a Faeries mirror match from this board situation. Thankfully I had two Goblin Sharpshooters in hand at that point, so all I had to do was make sure that the goblins can get in play and stay on my side. When Ryan tapped low for a second Bitterblossom, I mentally pumped the fist and sneaked a Sharpshooter through. His Blossoms ate him to death while my Gatling Gun took care of his replenishing Fae army every turn.

A thought regarding the mirror match… In game 1, it is more important to notate what lands they play than the spells, because it is vital to know what they might be sideboarding. Watery Graves, Secluded Glens, and River of Tears mean you will see Bitterblossom. Steam Vents and Breeding Pools? Get ready for Ancient Grudge and, maybe after LA, Goblin Sharpshooter. Your sideboarding strategy is very different depending on their manabase.

Played: matches 1-0, games 2-1

Round 3 – David Frances playing All in Something

It seemed like David was playing All In Red early, but I had a feeling something odd was going on. A Wild Cantor made it that clear this was a new build. Two Seething Songs into a Charbelcher, and two burps later, and game 1 ended. I think that my sideboard is actually pretty good here, as Ancient Grudge can break the combo up. In my early rounds, I played pretty sloppily overall as I grew comfortable with the deck and the event… I don’t think I played perfectly in a single match of the event, but my standards are also very high.

For game 2, David resolved a Belcher but I Grudged it after one activation which reveals only one spell. He did not have other threats and I won. After that game, I asked David how many lands he had. Six, all Mountains, David helpfully told me. Hmmm, as he had four in play that game I realized I was very lucky to be alive. I could not let Belcher hit the board in the next game. I did not, and I win the third game.

So many of the cards in the All In decks are just blank in the long game. If there is not a huge threat on board by the fourth turn or so, the deck is going to have a hard time winning.

When I checked my DCI page on the Wednesday after the Grand Prix, this round showed as me playing against Elijah D’Arcy this round. I am not sure who Mr. D’Arcy is, but when I checked the pairings, David was who I actually played. Just a reminder that everyone should keep a log of who they play in sanctioned matches. The DCI is run by people and computers, both of whom are fallible. The DCI is also pretty good about correcting errors.

Played: matches 2-0 games 4-2

Round 4 – Matt Benjamin from Davis, playing TEPS

A member of LSV’s team, Matt crushed me with the combo deck. I could have survived game 2 if I had countered one of his Rituals instead of waiting. Unfortunately, this mistake would lead me to counter a Ritual later that I should have let resolve. My overcorrection for this error in the semifinals caused me to make the opposite decision, again a mistake, and help Luis win straight games against me.

Matches 2-1 games 4-4

Round 5 – Wes Anderson playing Rgb Goblins

Wes started off with a Chrome Mox into turn 1 Goblin Piledriver. On the second turn he dropped a Goblin Warchief. I looked at the useless Spell Snare in my hand and tried not to cry. I was not going to let this game go, so I started considering my options. I could Explosives away his Piledriver and trade a Mutavault for Warchief. As I was stuck on three lands, neither of those options were very exciting. My Snare finally found a War Marshall, but I was still staring down a three-turn clock. However, Wes decided to over-extend. He played Prospector and then War Marshall. I Rune Snagged the War Marshall. He thought for a second and paid two mana by tapping one land and sacrificing his Piledriver. My jaw practically fell out of my head in shock. I kept my standard poker face to mask my joy at the evil Piledriver’s demise. He then sacrificed the new Marshall and its two spawn, as well as the Prospector, and went for an Empty the Warrens for eight little guys. He hit me for eight, and I couldn’t be happier to take the damage. My three mana was more than enough to Explosives away all those tokens. I eventually traded a Vendilion for his Warchief, and took the game over.

After that game, Matt said he got too greedy with the Warrens. I silently agreed. It is so important not to give up on games even if they seem lost.

Game 2 he triple mulliganed. When I looked at his hand with Clique, I saw that he was playing Earwig Squad and Fecundity. He eventually drew some lands and hard-cast a Squad, not as exciting as a vanilla 5/3 for five. The game quickly ended in my favor.

Played: matches 3-1, games 6-4

Round 6 – Akio Akazawa from Seattle playing Ub Faeries

We discussed our records, and it came out that Akio was X-0-2 and his draws are both from the mirror match. I got nervous when I heard this.

When Akio started taking his time to slowly pileshuffle my deck and then riffle it a few times, I was already getting worried about time before we had even started playing. The correct call would be to call a judge and say he is taking more than his allocated minutes to randomize my deck. I do not make the correct call.

Akio had a really strong hand against me game 1. Visions, Archmage, Lab, and the game-deciding Sower. If all you care about is winning the Faeries mirror, Sower of Temptation taking their Glen Elendra Archmage is one of the best plays you can have.

I was worried about time and get really sloppy during sideboarding. I somehow shuffle my whole 75 cards together. I re-de-sideboard but realize that about half the deck is upside down now. I just shuffle a little more and present because we only have 18 minutes left.

Akio noticed that cards are different directions while pileshuffling my deck and he offered me the opportunity to fix the deck so he did not have to call a judge and give me a penalty. I was not happy, and told him that we were going to draw because he was shuffling too slowly, and that he should call a judge and see if it is a penalty to have a mix of card directions. He hesitated so I called the judge myself. While I am fixing the deck, the judge explains that it is only a penalty if there is a pattern. Of course, I have to mulligan, and Akio picks up my deck and pileshuffles it in slow motion again. I want to rip my eyes out of my head as I see the round clock tick away my doom.

I won Game 2 because of his awkward sideboard cards. If you avoid Red you are forced to bring in subpar things in the mirror. I countered a turn 2 Bitterblossom and followed up with a Vendilion Clique which saw Annul, Snare, Snare, Island, and I knew Vendilion would go all the way.

Played: matches 3-1-1, games 7-5

Round 7 – Patrick Chapin from Detroit playing Gifts Faeries Loam

Game 1 I was winning, but thinking through plays a lot. I was trying not to let Patrick know that I know who he is, as he does not seem to recognize me, and I would prefer to let him focus on joking with Brian Keibler at the next seat than on beating the little innocent nobody across from him. This game was not very friendly. On turn 3, when writing down the cards in his hand from an end step Vendilion Clique, Patrick called judge to watch for slow play. Patrick’s hand contained Ghost Quarter, Firespout, Delta, Sower, and Archmage. When I took Sower and countered the other relevant spells in short order, Patrick dismissed the judge with a “there does not seem to be an issue here.”

Game 3 began with Patrick leading and thinking through the plays. We both seemed to have relaxed somewhat, and during this game I got to see the fun, friendly side of Patrick Chapin which people often mention. Once he played Gifts and Loam, I realized I was going to lose, and I scooped game 2 hoping to get through the third in time.

Game 3 saw Patrick in a very strong position casting Gifts Ungiven for Triskelion, Mutavault, Glen Elendra Archmage, and Ancient Grudge. Time was called. Things looked extremely bad for me when he cast the Archmage on Extra Turn 2. I had a Rune Snag to tap him out, which meant that my Visions would be resolving. On Extra Turn 3, I drew about the best four cards I could hope for: Archmage, Vendilion, Jitte, and Mutavault. Now I was the one thinking. I had seven mana, and his board showed a lethal combination of Archmage, Sower, Mutavault, and his Triskelion in hand to knock me from 8 to zero and dead. I knew any one card in my hand could stop him from winning, but now I wondered if I could do ten damage to him on turn 5. In the end, neither of us could win in the five remaining turns.

Now the hard part began. We were both X-1-1, and both felt like a second draw was virtual elimination. Patrick was very reasonable and kind in his request that I concede to him. I thought about it long and hard. He’ s the pro, I’m the noob, so I felt some inherent pressure to just give him the round and be part of his success. But I wanted to do well in this tournament. “It is just game theory,” Patrick said, “what is the best for the group overall.” I was really not sure, but I had to try. I apologized for not being able to concede, and pushed the slip to him. He signed it blank and sent it back my way.

Again, I had to agonize over what to do; the negotiations were over, it was all my call yet I still could not decide. The judges warning, “we have to have the results now” forced me to act. I scribbled the result, and felt like I was writing my own death warrant. Patrick wrote my name on his arm and hurried off. As I walked away, I heard the judge behind me confirm, “Mat Marr beats Patrick Chapin two to one.” I wove through the large crowd that surrounded us to find a place to hide from the most intense situation I have had to deal with in my Magic career.

Patrick Chapin had conceded to me, and now I will be a pariah from the Magic world for life, I fear. It turns out that my worries were unjustified. Patrick was really great later in the event, giving me some major props as I headed into the Top 8. But I did not know about this happy ending then, and still felt really bad about the way the round went.

The next round was worse.

Round 8 – Brian De Mars from Ann Arbor with Patrick Chapin deck

Brian was clearly not a happy man when we sat down to play. I was hoping to get over the stressful end of my last round by returning to my naturally friendly self. Unfortunately, Brian was stone cold ignoring all my attempts at conversation. Finally, Brian stated, “I have a scouting report on you, and if I get a hint that you are trying to slow play me, I will call a judge on you in a second.” Okay… “Same to you” I said in a slightly false friendly voice. Thinking for a moment, I said, “Why don’t we just call a judge now to be sure.” This seemed to take him off his high horse a little.

We settled into a grueling set of games that he eventually won off the power of Gifts Ungiven.

With my position crumbling in game 2, I decided to offer one more olive branch. “Now that you have avenged your friend by defeating me, can we call off the blood feud between our two tribes?” I say. “So, are you conceding or not,” he responded. Well, it was worth a try.

Played: matches 4-2-1, games 9-8

I wondered why I bothered to play this game. Would I ever beat the Gifts deck?

Round 9 – Jonathan Job from Las Vegas and Houston playing a variation on Chapin’s Gifts Loam

The ironies continued… here was my chance to face down the evil Loam Gifts engine again, and the winner had a shot at Day 2.

Game 1 was all about his dredge cards. I just could not keep up once he has Life going, and he had maindeck Darkblast to help find it. I sideboarded in my three Relic of Progenitus, replacing the often useless Shackles.

Game 2 my notes show that he Gifted for Ghost Quarter, Ravenous Baloth, Barren Moor, Kitchen Finks, and Rune Snag. After that strong and impossible (heh) five-card Gifts, I still somehow win the game. (This is a good time to say that my notes and memory are not perfect, and any mistakes are my own.)

Game 3 I had a turn 1 Relic for his turn 1 Raven’s Crime. When he Gripped the Relic, I played another, and with his engine turned off I won easily.

Day 1 total: matches 5-2-1, games 11-8

So I ended Day 1 with a 6-2-1 record. Not terrible for only one bye.

I thought that some X-2-1s might make it, maybe half of them. Luis Scott-Vargas mentioned that he was one of the X-2-1s that made it at Columbus. I was somewhat okay with playing in the PTQ on Sunday, because then I could add the fourth Vendilion Clique and get a real Mana Leak to replace the Rune Snags. On my way back from Subway, I found out that some X-3s got in, including Sean Collins from the Northwest. Far too many people dropped early, not thinking about how having 128 players in the second day would impact things. I am glad I did not drop after Brian De Mars demolished me in round 8.

Doing some quick math, I concluded that I needed to 6-0 for Top 8, 5-1 for Top 16, and 4-2 to make money at all. I would sure like to get a prize, and the pro point, so I was determined to play better and make the most of it. It was hard to go to sleep, but I was feeling good about Magic again for the first time in weeks.

I decided to treat Day 2 as a new event, where I just needed to stay undefeated, and I was set. Letting go of the stressful rounds from the first day was not easy, but once I did I was off to sleep. I woke up ready to battle.

Round 10 – Chia Lee from Stockton with Bant

First turn Birds into second turn Troll Ascetic is not easy for me to break up on the draw. Chia said “this is the start b
Blue decks hate.” I agreed, as I lost three points for five turns in a row. I was finally able to create a situation where I could protect a Jitte against his removal with an Archmage, and started the counter attack. It was important to try to use a second creature such as a Sprite to wield the Jitte, as using the Archmages ability during combat would mean not getting the critical four life that turn. I was slowly gaining back a little life each attack. A Rhox War Monk threatened to take back all those gains. I had an Engineered Explosives, but made a critical mistake. I played it for three and destroyed it on my turn. My concern was that Chia would draw Stifle. The correct play was to detonate it on his upkeep, forcing the Troll to be tapped and saving me three life while still not putting the top card of his library into the equation. Unfortunately, the mistake cost me when he added a Venser to the board the next turn, and finally ripped the last few life points away.

I was determined not to let the same thing happen in games 2 and 3. But we used over 25 minutes, and were both concerned about time. We agreed that a second draw was nearly as bad as a loss for us both, and we both sped up our play. So my notes from the next two games are scant.

Game 2 he double mulliganed. I saw Gaddock Teeg for the first time. I was able to take his Jitte out of his hand with a Clique. It picked up a Jitte of my own, and we were on to game 3. I am not sure why people bring in Teeg against Faeries, it only stops Engineered Explosives and no other card. I guess if he does not know I have Firespout, he might think that it stops my only removal.

Game three was an odd one. Chia was stuck on lands for a long time, but I don’t really have any action. He hit me five times with a Teeg, which finally got a one-for-one trade with a Firespout. By the time Chia drew lands, I had so many counters in hand that he could not recover. I believe Mutavault might have gone all the way this game.

Day 2 record: matches 1-0, games 2-1

Round 11 – Dylan with GB Cloud Loam

In game 1, the key play was turn 5. I had played an Archmage the turn before, which he threw a Putrefy at to use up its Persist ability. I would’ve liked to get Jitte going, but that would tap me out as I missed the fifth land drop. I thought that even if he killed my Archmage, I could get the Jitte on the Mutavault and still be in good shape. Unfortunately, I just don’t do the math for what it meant if he Death Clouded here. Once he played a land and cast it for two, I realized how crippled I was. Two lands and two cards in hand, to his three lands and nothing in hand would be fine (normally), but if he hit a Loam anytime in the next turns he would be so far ahead. And with his next draw of a Ghost Quarter, my Mutavault would not get far on foot.

This is the nightmare scenario Alex West talked about: balanced hands that are good against other decks are bad against a resolved Death Cloud. If you are mana flooded, you will at least have the land to cast what you topdeck. If you are threat-heavy, they will not be able to kill all your guys. But a nice even draw means you lose everything to the Death Cloud. I feel like Death Cloud versions of the deck should be a good matchup for Faeries (unlike the Loam and Gifts versions that can be bad for us).

Once again, I was ready to fight to win two in a row. In the second game, Dylan kept only two lands, and I punished him hard for it. I got my fastest kill of the tournament thus far, with turn 2 Vendilion Clique, turn 3 Archmage, turn 6 you are at zero. It is fun to play aggro sometimes.

Game 3 was all about dredge. I had guys, he had Darkblast. He was picking them off, but because of Archmage it was taking him a lot of cards to thin them out, and he kept taking damage the whole time. His dredges refused to find him a Loam even after going through half the deck, and eventually the remnants of my team limped through his dark defense to the win.

Afterwards I asked Dylan if he had Choke game 3. He said he does not play it because this is a good matchup. As he would have crushed me with Choke game 3, I was glad he came to that conclusion.

Day 2 record: matches 2-0, games 4-2

Two in the bag, four to go…

Round 12 James Wise from San Antonio with RGwb beasts

James was a friendly player with an interesting Tier 2 deck. He did not seem to remember that we played at the PTQ at Worlds in Memphis. He was using the same list then, and I was using the old poor Black version of Faeries, with Dark Confidant and Bitterblossom. We ended the match both at one life on turn 5 that day, and that he was able to force through one attacker on that last turn haunted me for a while.

I knew that Contested Cliffs would be important, and that he had a lot of unusual removal in the form of Stomphowler and Thornscape Battlemage.

Game 1: When he dropped a turn 3 Woolly Thoctar, I was worried. When I Cliqued his hand, I was both devastated and relieved. He had another Thoctar, a Thornscape Battlemage, an Indrik Stomphowler, two Engineered Explosives, and two Heartwood Storytellers. But no fourth land. I was forced to let him keep his cards to avoid helping him find the land. I just prayed that I could stabilize.

He played Storyteller, and when my Visions went off the next turn, I asked for responses. “Go ahead, there is nothing I can do about it” he said.
“Okay, I draw three. Ready for my draw step?”
“I get to draw a card for the Visions” he said. So he did not forget the trigger, as I had thought… he’d just played it wrong.

I agonized over what to do for about 30 seconds, and finally called a judge. She explained that the triggered ability of the Storyteller resolves before the Visions, and if he let me draw for Visions, he chose not to draw for Storyteller. He said he just had it wrong, he thought they happened at the same time.

People, please take some time to read the rules. Knowing how the game works is pretty important in high level play.

I resolved a Shackles, and now he’d lose the Storyteller if he tried to attack with the Thoctar. I stole his Storyteller before I played my next spell, to keep him from drawing the card. Oops, that’s not how Storyteller works… he still draws the card.

People, please take some time to read the cards in play. Knowing how the cards work is pretty important in high level play.

Still, if I could just protect the Shackles and get a fifth Island, I’d be set. We proceeded to play one of the longest games of Magic of my life. Venser recursion was key to protecting Shackles once I had exhausted the last of my countermagic. There are so many interesting interactions that happen for each of these decks when they get to high amounts of mana. One fun thing is that, when he gets to 12 lands, Chameleon Colossus becomes a major threat because he can pump it out of Shackles range. But Venser recursion easily trumped that. I eventually won with less than five minutes left in the round.

James said he could win in that time, and pressured me to sideboard quickly. I was in no hurry here, as I wanted to make sure I had the max defensive set up in place. When I debated the last card to take out, James said I was not serious about finishing the match, and stomped off. It was too bad, because it was a very friendly relaxing moment until right then. And I was not trying to slow play him; I just wanted to get it right. He probably should have conceded twenty minutes before that, and he might have been mad at himself for losing with that little clock left.

James came up to me later and apologized, and congratulated me on the Top 8.

Day 2 record: matches 3-0, games 5-2

Round 13 – Jed Dolbeer from Portland

When Jed moved to Oregon, he displaced me as the player with the most lifetime pro points in the region. He was on a great run, with a Top 50 finish at Berlin. It was great to see Jed helping run the PTQs for Kyoto when he was already Qed, as he has been a great addition to the Oregon Magic community.

Jed and I were both associated with Team Unknown Stars, and the Alex West and Dan Hanson centered team that was key to the final version of the Faeries deck I played. I knew that Jed had settled on the Black splash in the sideboard, and I was not sure that he has found out about my Sharpshooters, so I felt pretty good coming into this match.

My hands were insane in these games, with double Vision in both the starters. Game 1 went extremely long. I was starting to wonder how anyone would ever win when we both had Shackles and Archmage and Riptide Lab creating extremely mana-intensive standoffs. I finally realized that Venser was the way out because it could bounce Shackles and let me have a clear turn to attack. I conveniently drew a Venser the next turn. I used Venser to slowly create positions every third turn where I could get through with a Jitte-wielding attacker. My incremental advantage from resolving an early Vision eventually won me the game.

Game 2 saw his Blossom turn bitter when I was able to keep control of my Sharpshooter for a turn. Extirpate on my Grudge did not stop Jed’s Bitterblossom from bleeding him to death from there.

Day 2 record: matches 4-0, games 7-2

In between rounds, I met up from a friend from Magic-league, Jacques from the Czech Republic. We were having a nice discussion about the evolution of the Faeries deck, and he mentioned that some of his country-mates were also playing Faeries.

Round 14 – Martin Juza from Czech with Ub Fae

The next round I was sitting across from one of the people that flew in with Jacques. I was ready for another mirror match against another good player.

Game 1: Martin Moxed into a turn 2 Vendilion Clique on the play, and I was on the back foot. It was going to be hard to recover from that quick damage. However, Vedalkan Shackles is so strong, and it forced him to return all of his threats to his hand with Riptide Lab. I eventually found something and kill him.

Game 2: I mulliganed twice to his once, and finally keep two land and some countermagic. But he played too many threats for me to recover from the mulligans.

Game 3: he mulliganed once into a one-land non-Blue-producing hand. When I Cliqued on turn 3, I saw Ancestral Visions, Mana Leak, two Vendilion Clique, Thirst for Knowledge, Spell Snare, and Spellstutter Sprite. I chose not to take a card. Without a third land in sight, Martin wished me luck and scooped.

Day 2 record: 5-0 matches 9-3 games

Five down, one more to go.

Round 15 – Drew Christensen from Vancouver with Mono-U Fae

The deciding round, it was win and in for both of us. We thought that Drew is probably a lock for the Top 16 with a loss, but my breaks were bad so I would probably not get the invitation if I lost.

The key play was his turn 4. He tapped out for an Archmage that threatened to counter my suspended Visions. I could Vendilion Clique, but I really wanted a way to resolve the Visions, so I cast Thirst for Knowledge instead. The Thirst found me a Shackles, which I resolved while he was tapped out. On my next upkeep I stole his Archmage before the Visions went on the stack, forcing him to bounce it with a Lab in response. By the time all these extra cards were in my hand, I was at two life from his Vendilion and Mutavault. I got Jitte online and was coming over with it on a Mutavault each turn, to regain some life. I almost gave up too much life, and was extremely nervous that he might kill me with some trick. A Venser came down for Drew, but somehow I stayed alive and eventually pulled out the win.

Game 2 he was stymied by drawing too many of the subpar mono-U sideboard cards. Annul is not very exciting when I go Archmage beatdown. He also kept in Explosives for game 2, which does not seem correct.

Drew is a really great guy, and I was bummed when I found out that he did not make the Top 16 and qualify for Hawaii.

Day 2 record: matches 6-0, games 11-3

Six down and three to go!

Three mirror matches and six wins in a row, and I was suddenly in the Top 8. All the talk about how to handle the mirror with Alex West in the week before the event had really paid off. I drew great in all three matches, but I also felt like I knew the matchup better than any of my opponents. My 4-0-1 record in the mirror overall can attest to the deck and pilot’s strength against other Faeries players.

In the Top 8 I would have to beat Affinity and TEPS (they had a mirror match in the other quarterfinal on our side of the bracket) before I had a chance to maybe face another Faeries mirror in the finals.

Quarter Finals – Carl Hendrix from Texas playing Affinity

This match is covered very well by Bill Stark on the Mothership, here.

This is a very hard matchup for Faeries, as Affinity has a number of ways to get bigger threats than Shackles can handle early. Many of their spells, such as Enforcer, as nearly impossible to counter. I was sad that I cut a Grudge and the Krosan Grips from my sideboard, but very happy that three Grudges would still be coming in. I am not sure what the mono-Blue players can really hope to do against Affinity. Drew told me that he needed both his Hurkyl’s Recalls to win his match against Affinity.

When we exchanged decks (yes, we just looked through each other’s decks and sideboards), I noticed that he had zero Atogs, three Master of Etherium, and three Red Berserk effects (Fatal Frenzy). He would bring in Delay for sure (nice tech against Grudge , counterspells, and Wrath), probably Thoughtseize, and maybe Darkblast.

This was one of the friendliest matches I have ever played. We were both cracking up our table judge with our outstanding banter.

Game 1: I mulliganed away five-land no removal into one non-Blue land. My next five were Mutavault, Island, two Spell Snare, and something else. As long as he was banking on Plating and/or Ravager, I should be set. Unfortunately on turn 2, I played a Spell Snare instead of a land. For the first time in my Magic career, I uttered a profanity at my terrible sloppy action. Carl told me it was okay as he had no two-drops in hand. He ran out a 9/9 Master of Etherium to show he was telling the truth, and we are on to game 2.

In Alex West’s article about Fae, he advocates taking out Ancestral Vision because they are too slow. My thought is a little different. I think that our countermagic and main deck removal can slow them down enough, but then we have no answers to the massive phat of Arcbound Ravager, Master of Etherium, and Cranial Plating. Ancient Grudge solves all those problems. So I want to keep in early disruption and card draw, to try to find Grudges as fast as possible.

I sideboarded like this: on the draw -2 Vendilion, -1 Archmage, -1 Jitte, +3 Grudge, +1 Firespout. On the play -2 Archmage, -1 Jitte, -1 don’t remember, +3 Grudge, +1 Firespout. The difference is that you can get Master out of their hand on turn 3 with Clique on the play, but on the draw it is often just an overcosted chump blocker.

When Carl didn’t play a Springleaf Drum on turn 1 of the second game, I had to consider the land destruction route. Generally you win the late game, so setting them back twice with Grudge is often right. But if you both get flooded, you are going to hate yourself for wasting the double Vindicate on land instead of saving it for threats. I decided to destroy his only land on my turn 2. When he only dropped another land and passed, I was feeling pretty good. He practically dared me to destroy the new land, pretending to put it in his graveyard when I thought the turn over. Based on my read of him so far, this told me that the land meant something to him, and he was trying to bluff into saving it. The land went to the bin, and his next land was a Blinkmoth Nexus, meaning that Grudge had finished its Time Walk work for me for now.

The LD play seemed to be working, as he did not play much, but I was starting to get nervous that I took out too many threats from my deck, as my Jitte was sitting there lonely for quite a while. I eventually found a guy and won the game.

Carl and I took a break together before the deciding game, and joked about the match along the way. My opponents at this tournament were fun to compete against, and Carl took the cake for most laid back guy I faced.

The third game was the closest. By the time I was able to untap with Red mana up, I was facing down a
6/6 Master, Arcbound Worker, Frogmite, and a Blinkmoth Nexus that could activate. I could either Grudge the Master immediately, wait to Grudge the Master, or Firespout the little guys. I considered Spouting for a long time, as I would’ve loved to prevent the Nexus from getting the Worker’s counter, but I would take too much damage from the Master if he had Fatal Frenzy. So the Master must die first.

On his turn, he cracked his Sphere to try and find gas. Carl used the mana to activate Nexus and send me to 12 life. Bill Stark told me later that my opponent was holding Delays, and in that case losing the Sphere hurt him badly. Delaying Firespout effectively counters it for good, as I have no way to pay a color for it off suspend.

When I Spouted the next turn, he does not forget to send the Arcbound counter to the Nexus, and I needed to find an answer to the Nexus soon. I drew great threats, and it started to look good. The turn before I killed him, he played a Ravager. I had a lethal attack on the board if I got the Ravager out of the way, so I flashed back Grudge on his endstep to eliminate them both. He started sacking land to it, and I was getting a little nervous. “Does he have Soul’s Fire?” I started to think. “Wait, there is no mana being floated, and I am at ten life,” I reminded myself. When Carl started discarding his hand to pump his Ravager up even more, I know that he just wanted the round to end with the same playful friendly note on which it began.

It was time to face the TEPS menace again, with the red hot Luis Scott-Vargas in the pilot’s seat.

Day 2 record: matches 7-0, games 13-4

Semifinals – Luis Scott-Vargas from Davis and Oakland playing TEPS

The round is covered on the Mothership here.

When I looked over his decklist, I noted that Luis would bring in three Pact of Negation and two Gigadrowse against me. Games 2 and 3 would be rough.

Game 1: I made a decision to put Luis on a two-turn clock with a Venser on my fourth turn (to dodge Remand), rather than wait and protect my Vision against his Remand the next turn and kill him two turns later. In retrospect, this was probably a mistake, as the extra card for him and three less for me mattered a lot once he was able to stay alive with a small Tendrils back to nine life from one.

This situation was an empirical example that Tendrils is better than Grapeshot as the TEPS win condition. I win the game if Luis brought Grapeshot to the table instead of Tendrils. Even if Luis has both Grapeshot and Swath I still only take 15 damage and kill him the next turn. Even if he uses the Grapeshot to “clear my board,” my Mutavault still kills him because Grapeshot is a sorcery and does not gain life. (Richard Feldman has a great analysis on the merits of Grapeshot versus Tendrils at the end of a recent article.) I also countered the wrong thing with my Spellstutter Sprite that turn, trying to play around Desire instead of the Tendrils I knew was in his hand. If I had thought longer, I would have known that with both of his Tendrils in his hand, he had to get double Black at some point, even if he had a Desire. So the only card that was truly dangerous for me was Manamorphose. If I had tested this matchup more, I’d likely have won this game. It was still an extremely close game. If I drew one counterspell in the first four turns instead of dead cards like Shackles and Firespout, I would have won.

Jed Dolbeer told me later that he handles the TEPS matchup completely differently. He uses Cliques mid-combo to take away their precious Storm cards, and holds Venser for a storage land with a least three counters. Considering my overall record against TEPS is atrocious and I clearly do not know how to beat the deck, Jed’s approach is worth considering.

Game 2: The coverage was slightly off in saying that Luis found a Seething Song with a Peer Through Depths. I never let a two-drop resolve the whole game, thanks to my awesome four Spell Snare draw (man, I drew a lot of that card in the Top 8). This game was not really close at all. Pact of Negation is just so strong against Faeries.

Both my hands were a little subpar and maybe should have gone back. Luis was playing so tight that I think if we replayed that match 100 times, he wins at least 70 of them. Congratulations to a great player for another great win.

I am pretty happy to be tied for 3rd in the Player of the Year race. I am sad to miss out on Kyoto. Getting on the Pro Tour as a regular is a long time goal of mine, and 6 points early in the season is one of the best starts I could ask for. All the North American Grand Prix tournaments, and maybe a few overseas, can expect my attendance.

Day 2 total: matches 7-1, games 13-6

Overall event record in played games: matches 12-3-1, games 24-14, presideboard games 6-10, post-sideboard 18-4

I liked my sideboard a lot. It is so important to take the time to get to know all 75 of your cards, including the 15 that start your first game on the bench.

Record by opponent archetype: Faeries mirror 4-0-1, Chapin Gifts 1-1-1, TEPS 0-2, All in 1-0, Death Cloud 1-0, Affinity 1-0, Bant aggro 1-0, Goblins 1-0, Beasts 1-0

I played nine distinct archetypes during the Grand Prix. As you can see, Extended is very diverse right now. Clearly Faeries, TEPS, some Loam deck, and Affinity are the most important players to be prepared for. But you also have to be ready for all the Tier 2 and 3 strategies. If you over-metagame with your main deck, you could be sad when you lose to a Bant or similar mid-range deck.

I would play Faeries again tomorrow without hesitation. Of course, with Conflux in the mix, things may be a little different… however, the deck is still as strong as ever, and the new cards do not impact the archetype to a massive degree. My next article will touch on some aspects of the deck with Conflux in the mix.

Props:
– Great coverage team assembled by Bill Stark including the Northwest’s Max McCall
– My family and my co-workers at OLCV and the Ashland School District for all their great support
– The whole Magic-league.com community for the help getting there and all the kudos afterwards
– My brother Isaac Marr for getting me back into Magic. Bro, if I miss your gradation for Magic, my wins will all be in your honor
– All the Northwest players that stepped up that weekend, Including Gavin Verhey 13th, Jed Dolbeer 41st, Tom Huteson 40th, Sean Collins in the misers 64th, Jon Loucks and Stuart Benson
– Alex West, Dan Hanson, Peter Beckfield, Max McCall, Gavin Verhey and all the other people that systematically tested the Faeries deck

– My girlfriend, Heather Craig, for her assistance in writing this article.

Slops:
– The venue really was bad. But the location was so close to the airport that it was almost worth it. I am curious what players look for in a venue.

I will be happy to respond to questions and comments in the forums.

Until next time!

Mat Marr