I was determined to break the streak. I hadn’t made money in a Magic tournament since Grand Prix: Chicago aside from appearance fees (I even had to look it up because I couldn’t remember the last time I made money). I felt like I had been not trying as hard at Pro Tours because I was already being paid to go because of the players’ club. Pro Tour: Los Angeles was kind of a slap in the face for me. School was going to have to make room for Magic. I already had confidence in my Ravnica drafting ability, so the only other things I needed to work on were Standard and Extended. I put together a Black deck that I always wanted to play, but hadn’t tested much. I decided that I was going to play it at Worlds. This is the list I wanted to bring… although I didn’t end up playing it for reasons I will explain later.
Cak Black
4 Duress
4 Cabal Therapy
4 Dark Confidant
4 Withered Wretch
2 Mesmeric Fiend
3 Umezawa’s Jitte
3 Gerrard’s Verdict
3 Hypnotic Specter
4 Rotlung Reanimator
4 Vindicate
2 Braids, Cabal Minion
4 Chrome Mox
3 Tainted Field
4 Bloodstained Mire
3 Caves of Koilos
1 Sacred Foundry
8 Swamp
Sideboard:
4 Kataki, War’s Wage
4 Crimson Acolyte
1 Braids Cabal Minion
3 Pithing Needle
2 Darkblast
1 Umezawa’s Jitte
I tested a couple games with another version of the deck and almost played it at Pro Tour: Los Angeles, but didn’t have enough time to test or gain confidence in it. I think this kind of deck would be perfect for the current PTQ metagame. People are starting to play more and more controlling decks and any control deck is a good matchup.
As for Constructed goes, Gerry Thompson said that he was making a million tickets playing an aggro Red deck splashing for White creatures, Lightning Helix, and Faith’s Fetters out of the sideboard. The deck looked like a pile, but I got it together on Magic Online and won like three tournaments in a row so I decided that I was going to play it. Worlds could not have come at a worse time for me however. It’s the end of the semester for me at the University of Minnesota and I would have to miss a full week of classes to go. To me though there was no choice – I had to go. The night before I was going to leave I realized that I had forgotten to write one of my four papers I had to do before I left, so I decided to replace sleep with four red bulls instead. I guess you could say it worked, but I was a mess for the next couple of days. I also want to mention that Tim Aten had bought a flight for Taka Sato to come to Japan with us just because he’s Japanese. It turned out to be an awesome plan…
For the next 20 hours I would be traveling to Chicago with Gerry where we met up with Gadiel. We then were off on our twelve and a half hour flight to Tokyo-Narita airport. Before the flight I came up with the ingenious idea of taking more than enough Nyquil to sleep through the entire flight, or so I thought. All it ended up doing to me was giving me a bad headache and making me feel nauseous. After the non-stop excitement filled flight, we arrive in Japan. We are then forced to buy a $40 train ticket to get to Yokohama, but I was willing to pay a lot more just to get to our hotel room. We arrive at the Yokohama station about an hour and a half later, which is followed up by taking a taxi and finally getting to our hotel. The site looks amazing and the hotel room is actually normally sized unlike the hotels in Nagoya were. There is also a giant ferris wheel and roller coaster right outside our window. Gadiel and I head out for some “exploring”, which was basically us going to the local Hard Rock and hitting on the waitresses there. She still hasn’t called me back yet. Here is a picture of downtown Yokohama…
The following day we do some additional touring of the city and ride the roller coaster. It didn’t seem very big, but it went underwater so we had to run it. It was okay for the 10 seconds that it lasted. We then head over to the site like everyone usually does the day before the PT. However, they aren’t open yet, so we get a game of hackie-sac going, which just embarrasses me further. I don’t think Tomoharo Saito had ever seen a hacki sac before in his entire life and he was way better than I was. Luckily Frank Karsten joined in later on and made me look a little bit better. Once we make it in the site we are forced to sit down and sit through practice for the flag ceremony, which takes forever. We are then treated to “dinner” by Wizards, which ended up being the biggest disappointment of the entire weekend. Nothing else really happened before the tournament so I’ll get to it.
The day of the tournament, we sit through the flag ceremony again and then the Hall of Fame induction. I kind of enjoyed seeing some of the best up there, but was kind of disappointed that Finkel ended up not playing. I’m sure he would have Top 8’d. Here’s what I ended up playing in Standard…
Boros Deck Doesn’t Win
4 Savannah Lions
3 Isamaru, Hound of Konda
3 Frenzied Goblin
4 Boros Guildmage
4 Hearth Kami
4 Orcish Artillery
4 Zo-Zu the Punnisher
4 Shock
4 Lightning Helix
4 Char
1 Mikokoro Center of the Sea
1 Eigango Castle
1 Shinka the Bloodsoaked Keep
4 Forge[/author]“]Battlefield [author name="Forge"]Forge[/author]
4 Sacred Foundry
4 Plains
7 Mountain
Sideboard:
3 Bottled Cloister
4 Faith’s Fetters
4 Flames of the Blood Hand
4 Kami of Ancient Law
If I could change anything in the deck I would definitely add a land to the sideboard for when you bring in the Fetters/Cloister package. I would also probably not play the Mikokoro because the deck can’t afford to draw it in the early game. Other than that I was very happy with the deck going into the tournament and expected something like a 4-2 out of it.
Round 1: Madog Williams
I’m kind of nervous playing in my first Worlds and all, and seeing that I’m paired against someone named “Mad dog” round 1 doesn’t make it any better for me. He is playing an aggro Green/Blue/Black concoction, which is my best matchup by far though. The first game I get off to a very quick start with Isamaru, Savannah Lions and Boros Guildmage and I have the Shock for when he tries to Moldervine Cloak up his Hypnotic Specter. He loses shortly after. I board in 3 Kami of Ancient Law and 4 Faith’s Fetters and take out 4 Zo-Zu and 3 Frenzied Goblin. Game 2 I mulligan into a hand with no removal and I lose straight up to his nuts draw of 2 Last Gasp, Putrefy, and a ninja’d Ink-Eyes. Game 3 I stall on lands early, but he has a hard time dealing with my Orcish Artillery and it takes me to victory.
Record 1-0
So I’m off to a good start and head over to the players lounge to see if they have anything to eat or drink. Wait, apparently there is no player’s lounge, Man! Instead, I buy a mystery treat at the store that was close by, which turned out to be terrible. I still don’t know what it was.
Round 2: Bernardo Da Costa Cabral
He is basically playing the exact same deck as I am except he has Volcanic Hammer in place of Orcish Artillery. He even has the Bottled Cloister, Faith’s Fetters tech out of the sideboard.
Game 1 he gets off to a fast start, but I stabilize with some Artilleries at low life. He eventually gets enough burn to get passed the Helix that I drew. I board in 3 Cloister and 4 Faith’s Fetters for 4 Zo-Zu, 2 Char and 1 Frenzied Goblin. Game 2 goes exactly how I want it to with me having multiple Cloisters out and he can’t handle the card advantage that is generated. Game 3 is one of the closest games I played on the day with both of us having Cloisters out and both of us drawing multiple Faith’s Fetters. He eventually finds a Kami for my Fetters, then I get run over.
Record: 1-1
I wasn’t really expecting to see much WW/r or R/w decks at Worlds not to mention the exact same list I was playing. The next round was very important for me, not only in the tournament itself, but also for me mentally. If I lost this one I thought for sure I would tilt, which is what usually happens.
Round 3: Geoffrey Sirloin
Not someone I wanted to see round 3 and he was playing Blue/Black, which is a deck I did not want to be playing against. Game 1 I get a very fast draw and he only has a Jushi, until he equips it with Umezawa’s Jitte. Maindeck? I get rolled after that because I can’t deal with it. Game 2 goes exactly the same way that game 1 did, but I found a Hearth Kami for the Jitte. He then followed it up with another Jitte. He also managed to not win another round in Standard after that. [He was sick and went to his hotel after round 4. – Knut]
Record 1-2
I’m feeling pretty bad going into this round and I feel worse after seeing my next round opponent.
Round 4 Ruud Warmenhoven
My favorite Magic player! We always manage to play against each other when we are 0-4 or whatever at PTs. He is playing Karsten Gifts, which is probably a bad matchup for me. Game 1 I get a very bad start and I have no way of winning when he Gifts and gets the combo. I board in 4 Flames of the Blood Hand and 4 Kami of Ancient Law and take out 4 Orcish Artillery and 4 Hearth Kami. I keep a hand of Plains, Mountain, Mikokoro, 2 Zo-Zu, 2 Flames of the Blood Hand. I figure with all of the Red sources in the deck I can draw one by turn 3. Instead I draw back-to-back Lightning Helixes. I do manage to draw a Mountain a bit after that, but by that time he has cast Gifts and has a million lands in play. He gets kind of careless though and I manage to burn him for like 16 in four or five turns. Game 3 he gets the worst draw ever and just laughs when he Tops. I feel kind of bad and say to him “You know Ruud, one of these days, one of us is going to Top 8 or do something good.” We just stare at each other and laugh after that for obvious reasons. I don’t know what I was thinking. Ruud was still feeling good about his chances though.
Record 2-2
Okay, so if I can manage to 1-1 from here I’ll be happy. I’m pretty happy when I see my next round opponent too.
Round 5: Nicholas West
I was happy because I saw him building his sideboard before the tournament. It had a bunch of Worships and Opal-eyes and some other random cards. I’m pretty sure I saw a Boros Fury-Shield also. Game 1 I draw absolutely nothing and I get run over by some Paladin en-Vecs and a Glorious Anthem. I board in everything but the Flames and take out 4 Char, 4 Zo-Zu, 3 Frenzied Goblins, and 1 Isamaru. I keep a solid hand, but he has multiple Paladins again. Eventually he topdecks a Jitte and says something like, “I feel dirty whenever I top deck this card.” Well I had Hearth Kami in play with multiple mana open. The following turn I trade my Kami of Ancient Law for a Glorious Anthem and four of his guys. I’m at two from Paladin attacks and on the next turn he Fetters’s my only blocker, which was an Ancient Law, he grins and swings. I sac my tapped Ancient Law to kill the Faith’s Fetters that was on my untapped one, give the untapped one first strike with Guildmage, damage on the stack I sac it to kill Anthem. Being the master I am, I draw lands the rest of the game and still lose.
Round 6: Johan Sadeghpour
He is playing some crazy Blue/Red deck with all sorceries, including Eye of Nowhere, Wildfire, and Pyroclasm and he wins with Magnivore. Game 1 I don’t really know what to expect. The only thing I do know is to probably play around Pyroclasm, but he has Wildfire anyway. I have him very low on life and I eventually Shock him for the win. Game 2 goes the same way game 1 went. I have him down to two and I draw a land for my Isamaru. On his turn he Compulsive Researches and Stone Rains my land, then says go. I attack he goes to mark his life total and notices that he is dead. He thought he was at three from the previous game I guess. I had Helix in hand though, so I don’t know if he would have won anyway.
Record: 3-3
So I manage to squeak out a 3-3 with the deck and I am feeling very confident going into the draft day. Here’s my first pod for the second day…
Knight, Mark
Brown-Santirso, Julian
Pelcak, John
Krepli, Tibor
Patel, Glenn
Ladinig, Daniel
Aten, Timothy
Komuro, Shu
I obviously don’t like seeing Tim in my pod along with a player who won a Limited Pro Tour this season. Before the draft, I intended on going Green/White and I stuck to that plan after receiving some early Fists of Ironwood and Scatter the Seeds. I didn’t get any Evangels during the entire draft, but I did manage to open the best card possible pack 3, being Glare of Subdual. Must be nice. Here’s my deck…
2 Fists of Ironwood
1 Scatter the Seeds
1 Guardian of Vhitu-Ghazi
1 Siege Wurm
1 Conclave Equenaut
1 Benevolent Ancestor
1 Sandsower
1 Veteran Armorer
1 Dowsing Shaman
1 Caregiver
1 Bramble Elemental
1 Nightguard Patrol
1 Transluminant
1 Courier Hawk
1 Root-Kin Ally
1 Faith’s Fetters
1 Gather Courage
1 Wojek Siren
1 Glare of Subdual
1 Seeds of Strength
1 Bathe in Light
1 Overwhelm
1 Selesnya Sanctuary
9 Forest
7 Plains
I always force Green/White on Magic Online and my decks usually end up something like this. I was disappointed that I didn’t end up with any Selesnya Evangels, but my deck was still very good. Bathe in Light and Overwhlem can both easily end a game and if I ever draw Glare of Subdual I am probably not losing.
Round 7: Mark Knight
I drafted with him the previous night in the hotel lobby and he just smashed me the first round. He is four-color Green with his main colors being Green and White. Game 1 I draw like four creatures and all lands to his four land and all spell draw. He does stall though for a while, which slows him down. Eventually he all-ins me and I block so that I go down to two then the following turn I Overwhelm and deal him exactly enough damage. The following game wasn’t very close because I drew Glare of Subdual and he had no answer for it.
Record: 4-3
After seeing my deck in action I was fairly certain I could 3-0 the pod as long as I could avoid playing Tim my next 2 rounds.
Round 8: Julian Brown-Santirso
At the beginning of the round a judge comes up to me and asks me to count my deck list, which ended up being 39 cards as I forgot to mark the Bathe in Light in the played column. It only ends up being a game loss though so I’m still confident I can win as long as I don’t lose to mana screw or flood. Game 2 I get off to a blistering fast start and his draw is not fast enough to deal with mine. Game 3 is looking pretty bad for me because I have only Forests in play with my hand containing Glare of Subdual and a bunch of other White cards. To my surprise I draw the Plains and ride the Glare with my tokens to victory after that.
Record: 5-3
Tim was also 2-0 in the pod, so I would be playing against him in the following round, which is the last thing I wanted to do.
Round 9: Tim Aten
He had drafted the Blue/Red deck that abuses the card Drake Familiar with cards like Flight of Fancy and especially Galvanic Arc. He also had two Halcyon Glazes, which are the nuts in Blue/Red. However he got very unlucky in the 2 games we played and my draws were very good. I got out a turn 4 or 5 Siege Wurm both games, which Blue/Red can’t really deal with. [I’m not sure that’s actually how things happened… – Knut]
Record: 6-3
Well that does it for the first half of my Worlds report. Tune in next time for my second draft of day 2 and the extended portion of the tournament. Here is just a preview of things to come…
Thanks for reading
The Cak