This past weekend, I had a chance to play in a Grand Prix Trial for Seattle. I was all set to shuffle up a new Faeries build as of Wednesday, but further testing showed all I did was weaken my manabase and still lose to Volcanic Fallout too much. So, this week, I’m going to give you a quick rundown of my games, show you some glaring mistakes, and give some turn by turn coverage of another match (what, I had to do something during my ID). After that, story time. I think you’ll like it. Let’s get started.
So, as mentioned, I had made a Faeries deck splashing White for… well, some options. I wasn’t sure what all cards I wanted out of White, other than Forge[/author]-Tender”]Burrenton [author name="Forge"]Forge[/author]-Tender. After some testing, I was winning good matchups, but the deck felt clunkier and less powerful. This is not the right step to take. I was going to run Five-Color Swans at the GPT, but the night before, I decided to try a stock B/W Tokens List. The only change I made was dropping the two Scepter of the Fugue in the sideboard for 2 Runed Halo. Going into an unknown metagame, I wanted a blanket answer. I was worried about Anathemancer most of all, and since Anathemancer targets a player, not an opponent; an unwary opponent can actually burn themselves by casting it. On top of that, Halo is a pretty decent answer to any number of cards as well, so I was happy to bring it in. I like Scepter, but only in a more known meta-game.
Here’s the shocking part: I have never played B/W Tokens ever before in my life. I’ve tested against it, but done well enough that I wasn’t sure they were playing right. So, I wanted some insight of my own into it. Maybe not the best idea for a semi-major tournament, but I have my eye on Regionals, and this was just a tune-up tournament for me anyway. Three byes would be nice, but Nationals is the real goal. Here’s the list.
B/W Tokens, by LSV
3 Zealous Persecution
3 Terror
4 Tidehollow Sculler
4 Kitchen Finks
4 Murderous Redcap
2 Cloudgoat Ranger
4 Glorious Anthem
4 Bitterblossom
4 Arcane Sanctum
4 Reflecting Pool
4 Caves of Koilos
4 Fetid Heath
4 Windbrisk Heights
2 Plains
1 Swamp
2 Mutavault
Sideboard:
1 Cloudgoat Ranger
1 Ajani Goldmane
2 Path to Exile
2 Identity Crisis
2 Runed Halo
3 Puppeteer Clique
4 Wrath of God
One thing to note, I boarded out two lands every single match, and never saw a decrease in my mana capabilities other than not getting flooded. I ran 25, boarded down to 23, and never got mana stranded. Your mileage may vary, and obviously this is a small sample size, but for what it’s worth, I think 23 or 24 is closer to right. Of course, the list I go came from LSV, PT Champ and all around Good Magic Player. I’ve won some FNM’s, and may be the clearinghouse sweepstakes winner.
Either way, on to the matches!
Round 1: Aaron Hurst, B/W Tokens, 2-0
They say half of winning is just showing up, and here, it was definitely true. The GPT wasn’t scheduled to start until 2pm, and round 1 actually started about 2:40, but a crew coming from Boise still didn’t make in the door until 6 minutes into the round. Game 1, in the bag. They weren’t able to get their deck lists in on time, and I ended up with a free match win. I should have spent this time actually goldfishing my deck, which I had yet to even draw an opening hand for, but instead did some scouting. Yes, I never playtested the deck either. Some may say that’s the wrong decision, but I stand by my decision to play with my kids instead.
I saw a lot of Black/White Token decks in the room, a UW Fish lark deck, mono-White Kithkin, Vengeant control. I didn’t see any R/B decks, which I was overly worried about. As Bill Stark said, it seems people aren’t yet taking Anathemancer seriously. I’m not sure of the right build for him myself, and we’re still playing around with cards. Do you go aggro, or Blightning Control with him? I wonder if Regionals will have a few good builds, and a lot of Jank trying to capitalize on him, but without the right support. I guess we’ll see.
1-0, 2-0
Round 2: Andy LaForge, R/W Vengeant Kithkin, 0-2
Andy is playing aggro Kithkin with a Red splash to support Ajani Vengeant. The first game, he curves out with Goldmeadow Stalwart, Wizened Cenn, and Knight of Meadowgrain. I kept a hand with triple Arcane Sanctum, Bitterblossom, Spectral Procession, Kitchen Finks and Ajani Goldmane. I drew Terror, and had to off his Cenn instead of cast Bitterblossom on my third turn, as I was at 8. Finks helped me a bit, especially to survive a turn where he had lethal even after blocks. Having Kitchen Finks block the Knight of Meadowgrain, stacking First Strike Damage, persisting back the Finks, gaining two life, and then doing regular damage kept me alive. But not long enough. I die shortly thereafter. I’m pretty sure I played that one entirely wrong, but I still don’t know how. It all happened so fast, did anyone get the license plate of the Kithkin driving that truck?
Sideboard- I brought in Path and Runed Halo. I think I took out Sculler for them, as it seemed too slow.
I kept a hand of 2 Plains, Murderous Redcap, Glorious Anthem, Cloudgoat Ranger, Spectral Procession, and Ajani Goldmane. Just need that third land. He laid Stalwart, Knight of Meadowgrain. I drop Spectral turn 3, drawing the land I needed, he plays Cenn, Windbrisk Heights, swing. I don’t block, feeling that Ajani, pump is the better use of my tokens. I play Ajani, pump, He attacks plays a land, another Cenn, swings, Windbrisks out an Anthem, and I die shortly thereafter. Ouch.
Looking back, I’m pretty sure I made a lot of mistakes in those games, and didn’t know enough to even recognize them. I test a bit after the round, and then await round 3. 3-1-1 will be the cut, so I just need to win runner runner.
1-1, 2-2
Round 3: Aaron Fleck, Elves, 2-0
Aaron is running an Aggro elf list from The Starkington Post, with Twinblade Slasher and Tower Above. He has Tower above as a trick, as well as Snakeform, but neither is particularly worrisome. I win quickly, and we head out to Wendy’s for Dinner with the remaining 30 minutes.
2-1, 4-2
Round 3.5:Wendy’s Baconator
The Baconator put up some resistance, using a grease spell to try to make me discard my hand. Fortunately, I have the counter, and hang on for the delicious victory. In the second game, they tried to rub salt in my wounds with the French Fries, but I persevered and took down the game and match, filling me with confidence and dead animal.
2-1, 4-2, Satisfied
This round is a win and in situation. If I lose, I have to rely on luck. The last time I was in this situation, last month’s PTQ, I let stress get to me, and lost on my misplays. This time, I’m just going to relax and have fun.
Round 4: Bryan Greer, Bant Sledge
Bryan was one of the lucky ones from Boise, as he got paired up with his car mate. They avoided Match Losses, and played to a draw. Round 2, he wrecked my buddy running Five-Color Jank, so I had a very good idea what he was playing.
Game 1, he wrecked me fast with Sledge. I tried to race early, but Sledge is better than Finks at changing that race in someone’s favor.
I boarded out some lands and Zealous Persecution and brought in Path and Identity Crisis
In the second game, he played out Noble Hierarch, and then Qasali Pridemage. I killed the Pridemage in battles, and then cast Identity Crisis, taking 4 cards and his graveyard. Next turn, I Pathed the Reveillark, and went aggro to victory on Finks and Anthems.
Game 3, he lands turn 3 Sledge, turn 6 he taps out for Mulldrifter (he missed a land on 5) to draw up to 7. I have 5 lands in play with 3 Spirit Tokens. I have a few cards in hand, most importantly Path to Exile and Identity Crisis. If I Path the Mulldrifter, and draw a land, this game is basically over. However, if I don’t have a land on top, I need to Path one of my token to get to 6 lands. What to do? I’m pretty sure the right play is to Path my token, get a land, and Crisis his full grip. I can Path the Mulldrifter later.
Well, I’m an idiot, and don’t do either. I just lucksack a Plains on top of my library, and Crisis him anyway. And oh boy, what a hit! He lost 2 Jenara, Asura of War, 2 Reveillark, Mulldrifter, Behemoth Sledge, and a land. Good Beats, sir. He equipped and swung with the Sledge-Drifter, but it was pretty much over after that. It’s hard to recover from that kind of beating.
3-1, 6-3
Round 5: Nick Elsing, ID
After double checking pairings just to make sure, we drew into Top 8.
3-1-1, 7-4-1
I did coverage this round of Pedro Rodriguez, battling with B/W Tokens, versus my car-mate Christian Simmons, running Five-Color. I’ll cover it after I finish my run in the Top 8.
Top 8:Matt Engelbert, MerLark
Ladies and Gentlemen, children of all ages, step up to see the Punt heard ‘round the Valley. Stay tuned to see a match throw away with the same mistake, game after game!
On to the actual match, Matt wins the roll, and plays Adarkar Wastes, Cursecatcher.
I play Mutavault, planning to go aggro. He plays Island, Boomerang my Mutavault, and swings with Cursecatcher. I play Mutavault, pass. He does it again. I get ready to scoop, but decide to play it out. It’s not like we’re timed, right? Eventually, I start sticking lands and threats, leaving two mana open every turn for Mutavault blocks, and to play around the ‘catcher. He Evacuates once (Harsh) and his Reveillark brings back two ‘catchers. I continue playing around them, and drop 2 Murderous Redcaps to off them. He is at 4 when he Evacuates again before I declare attackers. I simply recast each Redcap, and he dies. Yes, way to battle back!
Game 2, He again leads off with Adarkar Wastes into a ‘catcher. Grr, this game won’t be easy either. He beats me down to 6 before I stabilize with Finks, which persists back to put me at 10. Double Stillmoon Cavaliers hit the table, and those seem really good against me. I’m at 9, after another Finks, when he attacks with both Cavaliers and 5 White mana untapped. I shuffle my cards a bit, look at my life, his life, his graveyard, and then say “Okay, stack damage?” He says “Okay.” Reaches for the dice he’s using to track life, and then clears his throat, and says “Oh wait,” and tries to pump. I point out we’ve already stacked damage, he tries to take it back, but eventually it sticks. He’s at 8; I pump my Cloudgoat Ranger, Ajani it up, and cast a second Glorious Anthem to give it 8 power. He then Cryptics my guys to tappy tappy land, and wins on the next combat. Man, that spell seems really good. I should try playing it, maybe.
Game 3, again with the ‘catcher, only this time off Wanderwine Hub. I am always a turn behind thanks to Cursecatcher stunting my costs, and can’t quite stabilize in time. Wake Thrasher gets angry, and although Finks plus Anthem gets a lucky trade in, it only buys me time till his Reveillark returns his Thrasher again, and I lose, and take home my 10 packs and hopefully 15 Total rating points to get me another bye anyway.
So, do you see the massive Punt yet? It rhymes with Purse-Snatcher, and only affects Instants and Sorceries. I was playing around it with Enchantments, Creatures, and Planeswalkers. Yes, I thought it was Force Spike with Legs, and it easily cost me at least one of those games. On the ride home, Aaron (our new player, I think I’ve mentioned him a time or two) asks why I was leaving that mana open, since Cursecatcher only counters instants or sorceries. Christian and I, seasoned players we are, try to tell him he must have read it wrong. So we look it up on my blackberry, and lo and behold, I’m dumb. Take it from me, readers, RTFC (Read The Fine Card, as I believe we’re a family friendly site.) I can’t believe I punted it all away over a stinking 1/1. Learn from my mistakes. Friends don’t let friends lose to Cursecatcher.
Okay, now let’s rewind to round 5. Two things happened in round 5. One was my coverage, which is what we’ll start on. The second is a controversy involving bribery! Ooh, saucy. But first, the round 5 match.
Pedro Rodriguez (B/W Tokens) versus Christian Simmons (Five-Color Jank)
I played Pedro at the PTQ last month, and he wanted me to mention his super sick tech for Zoo, which was Imaginary Pet. It certainly wrecked me when I lost to him, and I forgot to mention it then, so here you go Pedro.
Christian is running a basic five-color shell with a variety of win conditions, including 1 Cruel Ultimatum, 1 Ajani Vengeant, 1 Obelisk of Alara (better than most people think), and 2 Broodmate Dragons.
Game 1, Christian keeps Vivid Marsh, Vivid Crag, Vivid Creek, Reflecting Pool, Cascade Bluffs, Cryptic Command, and Broodmate Dragon. I don’t think you keep this hand, as he knows he’s against B/W Tokens. They can just aggro curve you out, and any Thoughtseize or Sculler just wrecks you, but he does keep.
Pedro leads off with Windbrisk Heights, while Christian plays Vivid Marsh. Pedro plays Fetid Heath, Knight of the White Orchid. Christian draws a second Vivid Marsh, plays Vivid Creek, and passes. Pedro beats with Knight for two, plays another Fetid Heath then plays Spectral Procession. Christian draws Esper Charm, plays Reflecting Pool, and passes. Pedro beats for 5, taking Christian to 13, and then plays Bitterblossom. At the end of Pedro’s Turn, Christian destroys Bitterblossom with Esper Charm. He draws Jace, plays Cascade Bluffs, and then passes. Pedro plays Glorious Anthem, lays a Reflecting Pool, and goes to battle. Christian plays Cryptic Command, choosing tap and draw. He draws an Esper Charm off Cryptic, and then draws Broken Ambitions on his turn. He plays Vivid Crag, and then passes. Pedro skips a land, and goes straight to battles. Christian destroys Glorious Anthem with his second Esper Charm, and takes 5 again, to put him at 8. Pedro plays a post-combat Ajani, probably trying to avoid the Cryptic blowout, and passes. Christian fails to find any more gas, and dies shortly thereafter.
Christian boards in 3 Maelstrom Pulse, 2 Ajani Goldmane, and 2 Wrath of God for 1 Mind Stone, 1 Obelisk of Alara, 1 Cruel Ultimatum, 1 Terror, 1 Esper Charm, 1 Plumeveil, and 1 Broken Ambitions. I think he didn’t know what to board out, and went a little haphazard.
Pedro boarded out 4 Path to Exile and 2 Zealous Persecution for 3 Thoughtseize, 2 Identity Crisis, and 1 Mark of Asylum.
Game 2, Christian keeps Vivid Crag, Cascade Bluffs, Island, Exotic Orchard, Pithing Needle, Broodmate Dragon and Cryptic Command. He leads of with Vivid Crag, pass. Pedro plays Caves of Koilos, takes some pain, and Thoughtseizes away Christian’s Cryptic Command. Ouch. Christian draws Esper Charm, plays Exotic Orchard, pass. Pedro plays Fetid Heath, and takes another pain, dropping him to 16, to play Bitterblossom. Christian draws Plumeveil, plays Island, and destroys Bitterblossom with Esper Charm.
Personally, I think playing Plumeveil is better here, as it blanks his tokens for a while, and you have a good chance of holding off until his own Bitterblossom becomes a liability. He hasn’t shown any belief that he’s running the persist version, and you have Pithing Needle to turn off Ajani, so he can’t really gain life.
Back to the action, Pedro plays Windbrisk Heights, pass. Christian draws Reflecting Pool, plays it, and plays Pithing Needle, naming Windbrisk Heights. Pedro plays Arcane Sanctum, Kitchen Finks, going back up to 18. (Looks like maybe I was wrong)
Christian draws Vivid Creek, plays it, and passes. Pedro attacks with Finks, Christian eats them with Plumeveil, and Pedro plays Tidehollow Sculler post combat to take Broodmate Dragon. Christian draws Path to Exile, plays Cascade Bluffs, and passes. Pedro plays Spectral Procession. At the end of Pedro’s turn, Christian Paths the Sculler, getting back his Broodmate, while Pedro searches out another Plains. Christian draws and plays Vivid Marsh, and plays Double Dragon! Pedro plays a Cloudgoat, and passes. Christian draws Vivid Crag, but doesn’t play it, instead holding it as a bluff card, because it’s his only card in hand. Pedro beats with Cloudgoat, and Christian opts not to block, going to 15. Pedro plays Marsh Flitter, and then passes. Probably the wrong play here for Christian, as there isn’t much he can have that’s bad for him. Zealous Persecution isn’t enough, although I guess removal for his other Dragon would leave him behind. Christian draws and plays Sunken Ruins, and when Pedro beats in, he opts to trade the Cloudgoat. Pedro plays Kitchen Finks, going to 22. Christian rips Volcanic Fallout, and Wraths Pedro’s board, minus a Marsh Flitter after Pedro makes it 3/3. Pedro stays at 22, and Christian drops to 13.
The board then has Christian with 8 lands, 1 Broodmate Dragon, and a Vivid Crag in hand, and Pedro with 5 lands, a Marsh Flitter, and 3 cards in hand. Pedro plays another Marsh Flitter, and passes. Christian draws Broken Ambitions, and plays his Vivid Crag. Pedro passes with no action. Christian draws Wrath of God, attacks Broodmate Dragon into Double Flitter, Double Pump. Pedro plays Spectral Procession; Christian plays Broken Ambitions for a lot, and clashes with Jace Beleren versus Windbrisk Heights. Pedro puts the Heights on the bottom, and mills away Caves of Koilos, Plains, Cloudgoat Ranger, and Tidehollow Sculler.
Christian draws and plays Jace, giving him +2, and drawing Esper Charm. Pedro plays Mutavault, Spectral Procession, and Glorious Anthem, taking 1 down to 19 on Caves of Koilos. Christian casts Esper Charm to draw two at end of turn, and draws Volcanic Fallout and Vivid Marsh. He draws another Esper Charm for his turn, and then casts Fallout to wreck Pedro’s board. He activates Jace and draws another Jace. Pedro has no action on his turn.
Christian draws Wrath number two, ticks down Jace again, drawing Sunken Ruins, plays the Sunken Ruins, and passes. Pedro plays Knight of the White Orchid, but finds no Plains in his deck, having both in play already. Christian plays Esper Charm at end of turn again to draw two, gaining Exotic Orchard and Mystic Gate. He draws Fallout for his turn, ticks Jace down to 2 counters and draws another Mystic Gate. He plays the Mystic Gate, and passes. Pedro plays another Knight of the White Orchid, and passes. Christian draws Wall of Reverence, takes Jace down to 1, and draws a Sunken Ruins off that, plays the Ruins, and casts Wall of Reverence, gaining 4 at end of turn (he still has a Broodmate Dragon in play).
The board is as follows: Christian has 12 lands in play, along with Wall of Reverence, a solitary Broodmate Dragon, and a Pithing Needle naming Windbrisk Heights. Pedro has 6 lands, 2 Knight of the White Orchids, a Marsh Flitter with no Goblins, and a Glorious Anthem.
Pedro plays Kitchen Finks, pass. Christian draws another Wall of Reverence, sacrifices his own Jace to draw a Broodmate Dragon, plays another Jace, which he + 2’s to draw Maelstrom Pulse. He casts Maelstrom Pulse to wreck the double Knights, and then gains another 4 to go to 19. Pedro is at 18 after the last Finks. He plays Fetid Heath, casting Thoughtseize to take Christian’s Volcanic Fallout, and then casts Identity Crisis. Ouch.
Christian draws Maelstrom Pulse, and then drops Jace to 4 to draw another one. Pedro casts Cloudgoat Ranger, pass.
Christian draws Cryptic Command, ticks Jace down again to draw Vivid Meadow, and Pulses the three Kithkin Tokens. He plays the Vivid Meadow and passes. Pedro attacks Jace with everything, losing his Cloudgoat Ranger, but killing Jace and the Dragon. They’re getting close to time, and Pedro says “Both your dragons are gone, can you actually win?” Christian asks if he can look at his sideboard, which Pedro says he can, and check to see if his Obelisk is there. It is, and he concedes.
First of all, I don’t know that you can look at your sideboard there. I doubt Pedro was trying to get Christian on a rules violation, as he would be just as guilty, and he’s not that kind of guy. I do think he was willing to let Christian talk himself out of a game he should have won. He still had all 3 Ajani Vengeant in his main deck, and after looking, they were 3 of the next 4 cards. So, Christian could have gotten the draw, but that screws them both over, as neither one makes Top 8 without the outright win.
On to the other controversy of the final round, BRIBERY! (Cue ominous music)
Apparently in the final round, there were 4 players gaming for the last two slots. Pedro and Christian was one of them, and the other game had some interesting situations.
Let me clarify a few things: I did not witness these events, and am merely relaying information from the judge, first-hand spectators, and one of the participants. Second, I am not going to name any names, because it doesn’t matter. If either of the interested parties or anyone at the event wants to do so, obviously I can’t stop them. For the purposes of this article, I will name them Dude Guy and Popped Collar.
Okay, so apparently Dude Guy and Popped Collar are both playing win and in. Dude Guy gets a call from his significant other, and makes some plans for food later.
Some witnesses then say that he agreed to scoop to Popped Collar, as Dude Guy wasn’t going to Seattle, or wanted to leave, or whatever. Some say it didn’t happen.
Either way, they game for a while. Dude Guy wins the match, although those who say it was a scoop beforehand say it was just for fun. As he’s leaving, some sort of comment is made about Popped Collar giving his prize packs to one of Dude Guy’s buddies, since Popped Collar has DI cards anyway, and only wants the 3 byes.
This is the big Brouhaha. The judge gets statements from everyone, and says he’s not DQing anyone. I leave for food, as I don’t care. I’m above him in standings anyway, I can’t play him until the finals, and I think I can beat him. I have to flip a U-turn to bring back a card my buddy borrowed for his sideboard, and chat with the judge about it, out of curiosity and good writing material. This is exactly what he told me (I took notes, like a real journalist!)
“They were playing out their match, and Dude Guy said ‘Hey, I’ll concede if you give your winnings to my buddy. I want to go have dinner with my S.O. anyway’ to Popped Collar. Their written statements corroborate this.”
I tell the judge that I think that meets the exact rules definition in 161, and he should probably look it up, which he hadn’t done yet.
He decides to DQ them, which I figure seems right, as this is a very grey area, and I remember some sort of big discussion on this exact type of thing a short while back (although I can’t remember where) but the consensus seemed to be if it is mentioned on site, it’s probably bribery.
They end up talking the judge into un-DQing them (pretty sure that’s a new term), and then he proceeds to lose in the quarterfinals anyway.
I don’t know if that’s Justice, or what. Afterwards, having been involved with WotC at various levels and positions in the last 5 years, the Judge asks me what I think.
Were it me, I would have gathered all the info, and based on what the judge told me, I would have DQ’d. I think it’s too close to be definitive, but it’s clear there was a concession and an exchange of packs discussed on site. More importantly, though, I told him he needed to make a decision, have it be final, and stick to it. Whatever the judge decides is final, and that was what he needed to do. Let me know what you think in the forums. Again, we’re dealing with imperfect information, but its fun to play “What if?”
Most importantly, I found 2 Flooded Strand, 2 Polluted Delta for my Legacy Deck, for $10 apiece. Good beats!
So, B/W Tokens seems to be the real deal. I, however, will probably be running either Blightning/ Anathemancer or something with Cryptic Command at Regionals.
Let me leave you with a U/W deck list we whipped up on the car ride home.
Creatures (18)
Planeswalkers (7)
Lands (21)
Spells (17)
Sideboard
The sideboard is obviously a little rough, and we aren’t sure if we should change the manabase by -2 Island, -2 Plains, -4 Fieldmist Borderpost, +4 Adarkar Wastes, +4 Wanderwine Hub. One gives us better game against Anathemancer, but is weaker overall.
The idea came with Glen Elendra just seeming strong right now, and Ajani making for DI counterspells. From there, Reveillark and Finks seemed a natural leap. It might be right to main deck the Remove Souls over Negate, but it just seems like you always want Negate over Remove Soul.
Obviously, the best choice is to play Cursecatcher, and wreck your opponent with it. Works against me, apparently.
Until next week, this is Jeff Phillips, reminding you: Don’t make the Loser Choice.