Levelling Up – Could Things Have Been Different? #2

Welcome to the second installment of "Could Things Have Been

Different?"

This series is my virtual time machine, rewinding us back to some key moments

of this season where I could’ve played differently. The tricky part here is, of

course, that we’ll never know if a different play would get a win instead of the

draw or the loss… but maybe I could’ve survived a couple more turns, with access

to a few more draws. This series serves to show that there are many possible plays

each turn, and instead of blaming a loss on the cards drawn – an easy cop-out – I

try to honestly analyze the whole game to find my errors.

My first article in this series covered Pro Tour: Geneva, and Grand Prix

tournaments at Dallas and Amsterdam. I believe it’s better to look back at your

games with some distance, giving you time to cool down and be more objective. Not

only do you have to decide upon the key moments in such games, you also need to

recognize that you probably made a mistake.

Today, I’ll try to find out what went wrong in the matches I lost at Pro Tour:

Yokohama, and the Grand Prix tournaments at Kyoto, Stockholm, and Strasbourg.

At Pro Tour: Yokohama, I played the following deck to a 4-3-1 finish.

I could’ve made Day 2 with one more win.

My Draw:

What Happened?
It’s game 3, versus Blue/Black Teferi, which is a decent matchup. The board is

empty on his side, and I know that two turns ago he had nothing (because I played

Void). I have more lands, and more cards. I’m in a better position to win the

game. My deck can kill all his win conditions, and eventually I’m sure to win. I

have a Phyrexian Totem that already attacked this game… I decided to activate it

again to attack for five extra damage, bringing his life total to a single digit.

He plays Tendrils of Corruption, and goes back to almost twenty life. I lose the

Totem, and have to sacrifice five or six permanents.

Why Did I Do It?
Because I was trying to avoid the game ending in a draw. There was little time

left in the round, so I tried to win the game as fast as I could. Two turns ago he

did not have the Tendrils, but after two draw steps there was some chance he drew

something, since he hadn’t played out his hand.

Could Things Have Been Any Different?
If I hadn’t attacked with the Phyrexian Totem, I could’ve waited to draw a Void to

play for four, an Urborg to kill his own (thus making a possible Tendrils unable

to kill the Totem), a Stupor, or another win condition. There wasn’t much time,

but it was possible to deal that amount of damage if I drew this way. It was

almost impossible to deal enough damage after the lifegain from Tendrils,

especially with a depleted land count. The thing is, if I held back and played

safely, and the game ended in a draw, I would be writting this from the opposite

side… I should’ve played more aggressively.

My First Loss:

What Happened?
I’m playing against Blue/Black Pickles, under the guidance of the Pro Tour:

Finalist Kazuya Mitamura. Game 1 he was forced to discard his hand, but he

recovered with multiple Careful Considerations. Game 2, his Ancient Grudge (and

flashback thanks to a Prismatic Lens) set me back, and he won by attacking four

times with Phyrexian Totem and clearing the path. I haven’t indentified any

situation where I could’ve played different… which doesn’t mean there wasn’t.

Could Things Have Been Any Different?
No, I think I lost it fair and square. His cards outclassed mine. The Careful

Consideration trumped my discard, and his Ancient Grudge and Phyrexian Totem

bested my Phyrexian Totem and Prismatic Lens. These things happen.

My Second Loss:

What Happened?
I’m playing against Black Control, splashing Blue for Teachings and Chroniclers. I

took a game 1 lead in a strange way… we both drew really bad hands. In the

second game, at four mana, I have the chance to go for Plague Sliver or Psychotic

Episode. I played the Plague Sliver, and he Enslaved it and beat me to death. He’d

played first, and had a Phyrexian Lens, so he had access to six mana on his turn

while I only had four on mine. Game 3 I was mana screwed, and he played much more

aggressively to kill me quickly.

Why Did I Do It?
I played by the book, maximizing my mana by using all four to play the Sliver. I’d

play the Episode next turn, and leave two mana open to charge a storage land. I

wasn’t too worried if he killed the Sliver, as I would just play another threat

later.

Could Things Have Been Different?
If I had played the Psychotic Episode first, I would see his hand and had access

to much more information. Even if I chose to force the discard on another card, I

could now play around the Enslave and thus avoid losing to it.

My Third Loss:

What Happened?
It’s round 8 of the Pro Tour, a do-or-die match for Day 2. I’m facing my worst

matchup, Wild Pair Slivers. I have no way to deal with Wild Pair once it’s on the

table, and it’s almost impossible to win when it’s there. Game 1 he played it on

turn 5. Game 2, he played on turn 4, thanks to two Wall of Roots. On his fifth

turn, he played Gemhide Sliver fetching Firewake Sliver, and then a 2/2 sliver

that I killed with the Wild Pair trigger on the stack. He was allowed to search

for a 0/0 creature… so he fetched a Vesuvan Shapeshifter, copied Firewake

Sliver, and attacked with the three 1/1 hasted slivers to put me at seventeen. On

my turn, I have mana to play Void. I have to choose between naming two or three

mana. His board is: four or five lands, two Wall of Roots, one Gemhide Sliver, one

Firewake Sliver, and one Vesuvan Shapeshifter copying Firewake Sliver.

What Did I Name, and Why?
I named two, because I thought that denying his mana and keeping him at five lands

would slow him down. By naming two, his board became lands, Firewake Sliver, and a

copy of said sliver. On his turn, he morphed back the Shapeshifter. He then played

a creature that allowed him to fetch a 2/2. He got a Might Sliver. He unmorphed

the Shapeshifter, copying the Might Sliver, and attacked me for exactly seventeen.

Could Things Have Been Different?
If I named three, his board would be lands, Gemhide Sliver, and two Wall of Roots.

He would probably fetch Dormant Sliver and go off in a turn or two. I would live

at least one more turn, possibly a couple more, although it’s almost impossible

for me to win with a Wild Pair on the table.

Grand Prix: Stockholm

On the first day I had a good White/Red Sealed deck that carried me to a 6-1

finish. On the second day, I drafted two Green decks, first draft Green/White, the

second draft Green/Black. Both were solid, but not amazing.

My First Loss (Sealed Deck):

What Happened?
It’s game 3, and we’re entering extra turns. I’d been stuck on two lands early on

for quite some time, so I fell too far behind in both board position and life. I

did manage to make a comeback: his life total wasn’t very high, but it was still

comfortable. He has a Phyrexian Totem and a Reality Strobe suspended with some

counters, but I’m at five. I have a Keldon Halberdier, and I can make many plays,

the two key choices being:

Play another creature, and attack with the Keldon Halberdier to try to win the

game.
Play Opal Guardian, which will trigger if he plays a creature, and stay back with

the Keldon Halberdier to defend.

The first play is clearly the one that’ll help me win the game. The second

will achieve a better board position, but both make me lose if he has any way to

remove my blocker. I decided to play it safe. I played another creature, and

stayed back on defense with both.

Why Did I Do It?
This wasn’t one of those cases where one player has no chance to win, so is just

trying to hold back. No one wouldv’e lost with one more turn. I had a reasonable

shot at winning, but I had to be extra careful. I made the play that ensured I’d

survive at least one more turn.

Could Things Have Been Different?
No. He had a Sudden Death, so no matter what my play was, he would still win.

Keeping just one creature to block was an auto loss, as the Sudden Death would

kill it. Keeping two blockers, like I did, meant that one died to the Sudden Death

while the other was forced to chump block. I didn’t attack, and had no way to

race.

My Second Loss:

What Happened?
I blew up a Magus of the Disk to reset the board, and he had a Wrap in Vigor, so I

lost all my creatures and he kept all of his. A much easier game situation!

Why Did I Do It?
Because I was mana screwed at the beginning and had an awful board position, while

he had Spectral Force and Goldmeadow Harrier.

Could Things Have Been Different?
He was holding not one, but two Wrap in Vigor. My only chance would be

try to win without using the Magus, but you don’t play around Wrap in Vigor most

of the time.

My Third Loss:

What Happened?
I was down one game and had a nice hand. He started with Hedge Troll and another

good creature. I had Kavu Primarch as a 3/3. I played Cutthroat il-Dal and

attacked with the Kavu. He played Temporal Isolation on the Cutthroat, and

attacked with both of his creatures, dealing me six damage. I died by a single

turn, because he had Spirit en-Dal to forecast and give his creatures Shadow.

Why Did I Do It?
I was holding Deadwood Treefolk, Enslave, and something else, and I figured I

would be fine dealing damage as the Enslave would cut his offense and still

contirbute to the race. I assumed I would win the race, as I could control my life

total afterwards, but the re-usable ability of the Spirit en-Dal giving Shadow to

his creatures prevented me from blocking.

Could Things Have Been Different?
It could’ve been a very different game. He could use his Temporal Isolation very

differently, or even hold it back. I think that, while holding good cards like

Deadwood Treefolk and Enslave, I should’ve played more defensively and traded more

creatures in combat instead of trying to race, so I should’ve left the Kavu

Primarch on defense the turn I played Cutthroat il-Dal.

My Fourth Loss:

What Happened?
Rich Hoaen killed all my creatures both in games 1 and 2. He had lethal damage on

the board, thanks to a Coal Stoker and a couple of smaller creatures. I could’ve

play Sprout Swarm, to make one token to chump block, but instead I played Cuttroat

il-Dal. He shot it down with Keldon Megaliths, as he was holding no cards.

Why Did I Do It?
The game was very bad for me. I figured that trying to block and kill the Coal

Stoker was better than making a 1/1 to chump block.

Could Things Have Been Different?
I could’ve scooped instead of playing the 4/1 – that would’ve been a much better

play! Other than that, I feel I could’ve played a little differently in both

games, but I don’t know exactly how or when. If only someone was watching the game

behind me…

Grand Prix: Strasbourg

A huge Time Spiral Block Constructed event, featuring Time Spiral and Planar

Chaos only. My 11-2-2 score was good enough for a Top 32, as ridiculous as that

may sound, but there were many players in attendance. I played the following deck:

Both losses were to Mono Red decks, and one of the draws was also to Mono Red,

which makes me believe is not a great matchup. The other draw was against

Blue/Black Pickles. The match against Mono Red is tough because you need to have

good draws, while they can be in the game with an average hand, and their best

card by far is Greater Gargadon. All the games I lost to Mono Red at Strasbourg

were short – a real bloodbath, I don’t recall any possible different plays. This

is down to one of two possibilities. First, maybe I haven’t identified any

particular play I could’ve made that would’ve had an impact. Second, sometimes

even if you play correctly you will lose because of the cards interactions.

Instead of looking back at my losses and try to figure what I could’ve done to

change things, I’m going to give you three examples of my own bad play, made at

the tournament.

Play 1:

What Happened?
My opponent had just bounce a Draining Whelk back to my hand with Riftwing

Cloudskate, because he was dying to the big flyer. At the end of turn I

flashbacked Teachings for Teachings, and on my turn I played Teachings for a

removal spell to allow me to attack. I passed the turn with one Island and one

Dreadship Reef studded with four counters… a total of five mana, while the Whelk

costs six.

Why Did I Do It?
I assumed that when he bounced the Draining Whelk back to my hand, he had a

counter for it, since the board was favorable for me and he had to play more

spells to be in with a shor. However, I had an Aeon Chronicler, and I was trying

to make him as big as possible, so I was holding back my lands. This turn, I

should’ve played one more, as insurance in case I needed to play the Whelk.

Could Things Have Been Different?
He could’ve taken advantage of the fact that I had no mana to play the Whelk that

turn to play something, but thankfully for me he didn’t played anything harmful.

This doesn’t mean I played correctly, of course… even when winning, you can (and

will) make mistakes.

Play 2:

What Happened?
I randomly attacked with a Shadowmage Infiltrator, and he blocked with his Urza’s

Factory token.

Why Did I Do It?
I forgot it was an Artifact Creature!

Could Things Have Been Different?
If he made another Factory token and double blocked, I would’ve lost the

Shadowmage, but he played it safe and just blocked with the one he had. He had no

need to kill the Shadowmage, as it was no longer an attacking threat, just a 1/3

blocker. Even so… such a simple error.

Play 3:

What Happened?
I’m playing against Blue/Green morphs. We have a balanced game state, in cards,

creatures, and life totals. We both have Urza’s Factories. He passes his turn with

all his mana untapped. I don’t make a Factory token, and I lose the Factory

advantage.

Why Did I Do It?
He had a face-down unsleeved card on the table. I thought it was a morph, and I

didn’t want to tap out as I was afraid of it being a Brine Elemental. It turns out

it was just his lone Factory token. I’m used to seeing face-down Magic cards as

morphs because of all the drafts I play.

Could Things Have Been Different?
I still won, but I could have an extra creature. This was key at that point. I now

consider face-down Magic cards as terrible tokens, at least when there are morphs

in the format… so beware!

With this series, my goal is not to show you how bad I am… although

sometimes, that’s exactly what I’m doing. Instead, I’m trying to correct myself

and my sloppy plays, and at the same time I’m sharing these experiences with you

to make it easier for you to find and identify your own errors.

In the end, it doesn’t matter how many errors we’ve made, as we’re still going

to find new ones to make every single day. That’s why I know I’ll be writing a

third article of this series, even though I’d love to avoid such losses, and such

mistakes.

Because faultless play is the dream… and I, for one, am a dreamer.

Thank you for reading,

Tiago