It seems like every writer this week is writing about Regionals, and I’m no different. We’ll see tournament reports, deck lists, bad beats, and lucksack wins. We’ll hear of bad matchups that were won, easy games that were punted, and everything in between. But not here.
While we’re on the subject,
Could we change the subject now?
I was knocking on your ear’s door,
But you were always out.
This is my Regionals story. Buckle in; I tend to drive a little fast.
Our story starts a week before Regionals. Any of you Facebook Friends know I agonized over my deck up until the very night before. I had B/W Tokens as my default, but there was just something in the back of my head that wanted to be able to interact more with my opponent. I tried G/W Tokens, but it wasn’t feeling like my style.
It’s important to play a deck that you will play well. Playing the best deck is pointless if you don’t play it right, or if you become frustrated by it. One of my teammates played Turbo Mill this year, and dropped after going 1-1-3. He was blowing out opponents in one game, and losing the other by not getting the cards he needed, but taking so long in protecting himself, with Evacuation and Cryptic Command and Boomerang, that he was drawing too many matches. I suspect he needs to play the deck more to learn to mulligan, but the truth of the matter is that the Sanity Grinding deck ground his sanity.
Looking towards the future
We were begging for the past
Well we knew we had the good things
But those never seemed to last
Oh please just last
I tried to make a Faeries deck work, but it felt too clunky. I never thought I’d type those words in one sentence, but the Faeries just didn’t feel like the well-oiled machine of days gone by. I yearned for the sleek machine that I had been unable to control last year. I knew there was a build out there for me, but I couldn’t find it in time.
I tried a recursion deck, using UBR with Evoke critters (Mulldrifter and Shriekmaw) Anathemancer and Nucklavee, Makeshift Mannequin, Cruel Ultimatum, and Soul Manipulation. Sprinkle in Volcanic Fallout to taste, and it played pretty well. Just not “B/W Tokens” well.
Everyone’s unhappy
Everyone’s ashamed
Well we all just got caught looking
At somebody else’s page
It seemed like every deck I found was good, but not “B/W Tokens” good. And we were all looking at each other, knowing that it was likely our neighbors were looking at our list, just as we were looking at theirs. It felt like we were all playing with the same 90 cards and we were just cutting a different 15 to get down to 75. I wanted something new.
My last ditch effort was a R/G aggro elves build with Bloodbraid Elf. It was fun, and it was fast, but could it hold up? It came down to the fact that it wasn’t consistent enough for me. My friend, Aaron, ended up playing it to a 3-4 record, which isn’t bad for a guy who picked up the game 3 months ago. In the end, I ran B/W Tokens. I could not find another deck that felt better.
Well nothing ever went
Quite exactly as we planned
Our ideas held no water
But we used them like a dam
The morning of the event, our carload of gentleman set off around 6:30 for the event. It’s a little-over-two-hour drive, and I like to get there early, naturally. Our car was running the following decks: 3 B/W Tokens, 1 Sanity Grinding, 1 G/r Blood Elf Aggro. I’d like to say we talked about matchups, and sideboard plans, but that just wouldn’t be our style. We talked about Burger King Glasses, and made sexist jokes. Christian kept trying to get his two-dollar discount on gas, which I was having none of. Kurt didn’t say a word until about 8:15, when we found out he hadn’t slept at all last night. We recapped our various sleep amounts, and it was not promising. Kurt was the leader, with a whopping zero hours of sleep, not counting the 25 minutes he dozed off in the car. Needless to say, he borrowed a four-pack of Red Bull from me. (Side note, I have DI Red Bull, and have replaced my bloodstream with Red Bull. Mmm, Red Bull.) Aaron and Dan both came in second with 2.5 hours of sleep. Dan came over from Boise, and didn’t get into town till 2 in the A.M. and Aaron is just a night owl anyway. I rocked a whopping 3.5 hours of sleep, but none of it consistent. I normally get to sleep until 7:45, which is what my natural alarm clock is. If I have to wake up before then, I tend to wake up constantly in the night, checking the time to make sure I didn’t oversleep. Christian, the old man of the group, got a whole 4 hours of sleep. I earned honorable mention for being kicked in the side of the head by my daughter at 4 in the morning. Isn’t that adorable?
Oh, and we carried it all so well
As if we got a new position
Oh, and I laugh all the way to hell
Saying yes, this is a fine promotion
Oh, and I laugh all the way to hell
We arrived, and as unofficial team captain, I was left with finding cards for everyone else. I bought 4 more Caves of Koilos, to loan to Kurt, and a Zealous Persecution for Ted. I bought an Evacuation for Christian, and we were all set. I had my sights on winning a plaque, but a qualification for Nationals would be a nice consolation prize, if necessary.
Last year, I went 2-3-1 drop, when my deck was stolen after round 6. It was a fully fledged Faeries Deck, and yes, I was unhappy. But, I learned from it and moved on. (I now carry a bag for my deck, mat, dice, and life pad.) Round 1, I am paired against probably the best player in the room. A few friends remark on how it’s bad beats, but I’m fine with it. I want to play the best, as there’s no better way to improve. Besides, if I win, he’s likely to still do well, and if I lose, I should have decent tiebreakers, right? Of course, I lose, and we analyze a few key mistakes we both made, although mine were more numerous and egregious. I win the next 4 rounds, playing well enough, and feeling my groove.
Of course everyone goes crazy
Over such and such and such
We made ourselves a pillar
We just used it as a crutch
But I’ve been here before, haven’t I? The PTQ last month, 4-1, win and you’re in. I’m 4-1, I must be playing well, I must be good, right? So, here I am, playing round 6 against G/B Elves, and I’m feeling good about the matchup. Except I mulligan to 5, and can’t catch up. During sideboarding, he breaks a sleeve, and explains he’s switching it out. He asks if I see any others that are damaged, and I notice some of them are rather beat up in one spot, and others aren’t. I mention it, and we both call a judge over to inspect, but he finds nothing amiss. I win the second game, rather handily, during which I noticed he again had a foil Treetop Village in play. It’s pretty curved, and I call a judge over before round 3 to take a look. Sure enough, it’s easy to cut to repeatedly. We have him switch it out with a regular one, and we’re off to game 3.
The judge we had seemed rather new (he had no judge shirt, unlike the other three) and I wondered if there was supposed to be a penalty assessed, but didn’t push it. It is just a game, after all. Of course, I proceed to lose the third game by one turn, needing Zealous Persecution to win, and it was the card on top of my library, waiting to win me the game if I could have drawn it.
We were certainly uncertain
At least I’m pretty sure I am
Well we didn’t need the water
But we just built that good God dam
The last round, I know I’m out of the running for Top 8, and I make a few colossal mistakes. First of all, I should have just drawn with my opponent. Neither one of us can make Top 8. If either of us loses, we are potentially out of the prizes. I didn’t even think of it, and that’s my fault. If we draw, we’re both guaranteed in the prizes.
Second, game one I mulligan a one-lander (Windbrisk) into almost the same exact hand. One land (Windbrisk again) and for no apparent reason, I keep it. Yes, this is a mistake. I do nothing for a few turns, draw another Windbrisk, but have no action and eventually die. On the plus side, my opponent has no idea if I’m B/W or G/W yet. All he’s seen is Path to Exile. In the second game, He attacks with Mistbind Clique into 3 Spirit Tokens and a Glorious Anthem. I put him on Scion of Oona, and triple block. He plays Agony Warp to completely blow me out, and it’s never even close.
Oh, and I know this of myself
I assume as much for other people
Oh, and I know this of myself
We’ve listened more to life’s end gong
Than the sound of life’s sweet bliss
This is twice I’ve basically given away the last round of a tournament because I was too disappointed on losing the last round. Some may call it tilt, but it’s not quite that. I came down with a goal, and falling short of that goal is failure, at least in my book. I should have been more focused on the actual playing of the game than the goal.
Let me tell you a story about me and basketball. It’ll relate to Magic, I promise. Growing up, I played a lot of basketball. Somewhere along the way, I developed a mental block that I cannot make three point shots. I have played on courts with no line, and made my fair share of deep shots. But put me on a court with a three point LINE, and my shot goes to crap. If I know there’s a line there, somewhere in my mind, something clicks, and I shoot poorly. Now, the only time this is alleviated is if I have something else more important overriding my thoughts. For instance, in a church league a few months ago, I was 1-5 on 3’s; we were down 4 with about 35 seconds left. I get the ball, and sank one from about 22 feet. They get a 2, and we’re down three. I sink another one, with a hand in my face, from about 23 feet to force overtime. See, I was thinking about the time and the score more than where I was shooting from.
Was it ever worth it?
Was there all that much to gain?
Well we knew we missed the boat
And we’d already missed the plane
How do we relate this to Magic? I’m pretty sure I have a mental block once we get close to the finish line. As long as I need more than one win, there’s no pressure on me. I know, sounds weird, but if I need three more wins, then I can put the pressure on the next game. But once there is no next game, I choke. Exactly unlike Basketball, because my choke mechanism is that there’s only 1 round left. So, that’s my new goal to work on, overcoming my choke mechanism.
I think the best way is to focus on the game, on having fun, and on playing tight, not on making Top 8, or prizes, or anything else. Just on this game. Just play.
We didn’t read the invite
We just danced at our own wake
All our favorites were playing
So we could shake, shake, shake, shake, shake
Afterward, during the quarterfinals, I had a chance to visit with a friend of mine, Jack Stanton. Jack is one of those people who are probably more important to Magic than most people know. Jack did online coverage way back in the 90’s on the Pro Tour, and designed the sideboard.com coverage. He did coverage for the Dojo as well, and has had some good finishes at a few Pro Tours as well, notably a 7th place finish at PT: Charleston in ’06. Jack is more than happy to regale you with tales of the past, present, and hopefully future of the Pro Tour and Magic in General if you’re willing to listen and think. Keeping up with Jack isn’t easy, but it’s definitely worth it for the knowledge and experience.
Tiny curtains open and we heard the tiny clap of little hands
A tiny man would tell a little joke and get a tiny laugh from all the folks
Sitting drifting around in bubbles and thinking it was us that carried them
When we finally got it figured out that we had truly missed the boat
It was after a rowdy dinner at Squatters that I truly began to appreciate the Regionals experience. (It was Dan’s 25th birthday, and he was legally bound to get as drunk as possible. At least, that was his claim.) I came down here to play Magic, and win a spot to Nationals. But I couldn’t even go to Nationals if I did qualify (I would have a newborn daughter around that time, and probably a very tired wife. Neither is conducive to a weeklong trip away), and I’d probably have to rule out GenCon, which I’d rather go to anyway. I had a pretty darn good day with my friends, and I wasn’t going to let a bad round or two ruin that for me.
Oh, and we carried it all so well
As if we got a new position
Oh, and we owned all the tools ourselves
But not the skills to make a shelf with
Oh, what useless tools ourselves
One last bit before I sign off.
1. Be careful about who you are associated with. A gentleman from my town, but not my car, and certainly not my group, was caught stealing cards from the dealer. I quickly went over to apologize, explaining I did not vouch for him, and would certainly inform all of my local players. I also apologized, explaining my team and my town aren’t like that. Fortunately, I’ve had past dealings with this particular entrepreneur, and so it was easily reconciled.
2. Another player from my car, Kurt, also finished 4-3, although with somewhat easier matchups. He was ecstatic to do so well, whereas I was obviously disappointed. He started to become down, thinking that 4-3 wasn’t good. I explained to him that we are at different places on our Magical journey. (That sounds a little too Reading Rainbow, doesn’t it?) For him, this is a good finish, and he needs to continue to improve on it, getting better. His goal was to finish better than most other local players, and he did. Now, he needs to set his goals higher. He’s accomplished this goal; he isn’t just another bad Magic Player. Now, he needs to set new, more difficult goals.
3. On that note, players also need to be realistic in their goals. Setting a goal like winning Regionals when you are not equipped to do so is a poor choice, and setting yourself up for failure. One local player set a goal to do better than I did. Except he hasn’t finished higher than me at a tournament we’ve both been in, and he didn’t objectively select a deck to play well but a pet deck. He did not succeed in his goal, but it was not a very realistic goal. If you learn one thing, it is to set your goals high enough to be challenging, but make them actually obtainable.
Until next time, this is Jeff Phillips reminding you: Don’t make the Loser Choice.
P.S. If you can ever corner me at an event, and bribe me with Red Bull, I’ll tell you about The Houdini, our invention on the car ride home.
Italics: Modest Mouse, “Missed the Boat”