My name is Wessel Oomens. I have attended Pro Tours on a regular basis in the past and last weekend I finished second at the Dutch National Championships. Here’s my story about this particular tournament.
As soon as it became clear to me that we were to play our Nationals the week after Japanese Nationals, I realized that playtesting would make the most sense if we would start doing that once the Japanese decklists were there. I had a small preference for a similar Viridian Rats deck like the one Evans played at the Canadian Nationals, although I felt it’s results were not good enough against decks like U-Tron and Tooth and Nail. Because of that I was quite happy to see that Rats decks didn’t perform that well in Japan. Two decks really drew my attention at the Japanese Nationals. First of all the Tooth and Nail decks that were in the Top 8, either with a splash of Red or Blue, caught my eye. I hate Tooth and Nail, so I was sure I wouldn’t play either deck but we had some serious testing to do against those. The other deck that drew my attention, but in a positive way this time, was the mono-Red Stompy deck by Tomohiro Kaji. Kaji went 7-0 in the Standard portion of the tournament and placed his friend Ichirou Shimura in the Top 8. His list was as follows:
Creatures (15)
Lands (4)
Spells (41)
A very aggressive version of the popular Mono-Red decks and as soon as I played a couple of games with it I knew this was my deck for this year’s Nats. The adjustments I made were to take out a couple of good cards against Tooth and U-Tron, since those matchups are really good for you anyway, and make the deck a little better in the mirror and against Rats.
This is the list we came up with in the end:
16 Mountain
4 Blinkmoth Nexus
3 Zo-Zu the Punisher
4 Frostling
4 Slith Firewalker
4 Hearth Kami
3 Jinxed Choker
2 Guerrilla Tactics
4 Chrome Mox
4 Magma Jet
4 Molten Rain
4 Shrapnel Blast
3 Genju of the Spires
1 Pithing Needle
Sideboard
1 Jinxed Choker
4 Shatter
4 Granite Shard
3 Vulshok Sorcerer
1 Pithing Needle
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Sword of Light and Shadow
The one Pithing Needle was a little random since it doesn’t really interact with your deck that well. The deck doesn’t play that many artifacts for the Shrapnel Blasts though and we just didn’t want a fourth Choker maindeck, since that card is extremely bad in the mirror.
At the start of the tournament I was very confident with my deck although pro’s like Rogier Maaten and Julien Nuijten decided not to play it. The deck wouldn’t prove me wrong.
Round 1: Karel de Haas (White Weenie)
I always hate playing the first round of such a tournament so I was happy to be paired against someone I never saw before. First game Karel didn’t play a lot of spells since I destroyed his second Plains with Molten Rain and his hand is probably loaded with double White spells.
For the second game I bring in all the Shards, Sorcerers, Shatters and a Sword. Karel has a good start with multiple creatures including 2 or 3 Auriok Champions, but I easily gain control with a Sorcerer and a Shard. I also have a Shatter backup to destroy his potential Damping Matrix.
1-0
Round 2: Robert Jan van Medevoort (Mono Green Aggro)
Robert is a up and coming player who qualified for the last 2 Pro Tours, and we always have tight matches against each other. Apart from that, this matchup is a nightmare for my deck. After sideboarding it becomes a little better, but I still think he has about 70% chance to win the match. Luckily I win the die roll and have a Slith on turn 1 – my only chance of winning before sideboarding. He gets rid of the Slith but he hasn’t got enough blockers for my Genju.
Game 2 he just totally crushes me with a turn 2 and 3 Troll Ascetic.
Game 3 I board my Molten Rains back in to be able to keep his Trolls and Iwamoris of the board and that’s exactly what happens. He doesn’t find his third land in time, which is usually not a good sign against a Red deck.
2-0
Round 3: Jasper de Jong (U/G controllish deck)
Coming in to this round I have no clue what Jasper plays and actually I haven’t got a clue after the round either. The only thing I saw were Aether Vials, Aether Spellbombs and Trinket Mages but nothing that really does anything. I easily beat him 2-0 and he admits that he hasn’t tested at all and just brought a deck that he thought was fun to play.
3-0
So the first portion of Standard I’m 3-0. This is a very good result for me, since I think I’m better in Limited than in Constructed. But this is the same position I was in last year when I 0-3’d my first draft pod. Better luck this time.
My first draft pod is not insane but certainly not bad either. To my right is Frank Roelofs, a guy I know is a good drafter, and to my right I have Kamiel Cornelissen and next to him is Frank Karsten. I think all of us cooperated fairly well during the draft, but the packs just didn’t seem to be that good. I end up with a W/B spirit deck without any soulshift guys because there weren’t any. Still I expect to go 2-1 with the deck with a little bit of good fortune.
Round 4: Frank van den Hanenberg (W/R)
Frank used to draft a lot with us in Amsterdam during the time Noah Boeken still played Magic, so I know he’s a good drafter. He has drafted a W/R deck though, which I believe is the worst combination of colors in this format.
First game I’m hosed big time, but still manage to make it a game after a Final Judgment. I’m too far behind at that point though so I still lose. The second game is a quick one as a have an insane curve and Frank scoops on turn 5.
The third game Frank curves nicely until turn 5. I try and hang in there, but when Frank plays a sixth-turn Patron of the Kitsune, it’s over.
3-1
Round 5: Goedelief Sloot (U/B)
Godelief is the only woman in this year’s championship and says she has a horrible deck. This whole match was completely uninteresting, since I did not play a single Black spell in 3 games, whereas my deck is mainly Black, and although her deck is indeed bad, she draws Meloku twice. Needless to say, the overpowered legend kills me twice while I have a couple of Plains in play.
3-2
Round 6: Frank Karsten (U/R)
This is the first round of the second day and since Frank is a good friend of mine, he sleeps over at my place on Friday. We already tested the matchup the day before and after 10 games the score was 5-5. Although the testing was close, the match certainly isn’t as I play about 3 spells in both games combined.
3-3
And once again, I 0-3 my first draft at Nationals after staring the tournament with a 3-0 record. At that point my spirits are totally down and all I can think of is spending the night with my girlfriend at that point. Thanks to Ruud Waarmenhoven and his “keeping the dream alive” speech, I find the last bit of spirit in me and draft an insane W/U deck. I know I can easily go 3-0 with this deck and so I regain a little bit of faith.
Round 7: Jasper Blaas (W/B)
Jasper is a good friend of mine and we both don’t like the fact that after this round, one of us will be eliminated from the tournament. The first game is close as Jasper comes a couple of points short with his Dance of Shadows.
For the second game he has to mulligan and on turn 5 I have a flipped Faithful Squire, a Shimmering Glasskite and a Shinen of Flight’s Wings in play and he has no chance what so ever.
4-3
Round 8: Guido Sondag (G/R)
I never saw this guy before, but this was on the of the nicest matches of the tournament as we just joke around a little during the games. I can’t recall much of the match except that I screw up by blocking his Brothers Yamazaki with a 2/3 guy while he has a Shinka in play, but my Faithful Squire and flyers are too fast for his deck.
5-3
Round 9: Jonne Assen (G/B)
I know Jonne very well and again it sucks to play a friend at this stage of the tournament. Luckily for me he has no chance at all to win this matchup, since my deck is way too powerful for his deck and I beat him in two easy games.
6-3
So back to our Constructed decks and all of a sudden, I’m in a fairly good shape again. I still need to win out though. C’mon turn 1 Sliths!
Round 10: Jos Scheurs (Viridian Rats)
I don’t really like to play against Rats, but I believe that after sideboarding it gets a lot better for me. In the first game I don’t draw a Guerilla Tactics, but I still win easily as Jos doesn’t put creatures in play with three counters on his Aether Vial. Game 2 Jos has a Sword of Light and Shadow in play the whole game, but never gets to equip it thanks to my Vulshok Sorcerer. In the meantime, my Slith gets bigger and bigger and all Jos can do is play chump blockers.
7-3
Round 11: Jelger Wiegersma (U-tron)
I like this matchup, although I play Jelger, who I think is a great player. I win the die roll and I have a first turn Slith and a second turn Zo-Zu. It’s pretty impossible for U-Tron to beat that hand on the draw. Game 2 I mulligan and Jelger has a second turn Kami of the Vanishing Touch. To make things worse he has a turn 5 Meloku and within eight minutes, the score is 1-1. At least I get to play again in the decider. Jelger has to mulligan and while he’s shuffling he asks me if I have a good hand. I shrug and say it’s okay, and proceed to kill him on turn, even though he has a Kami again.
8-3
Round 12: Frank Roelofs (Mono-Red with Arc-Slogger)
The deciding round for Top 8, and I have to play a mirror that is not in my favor. If Frank plays an Arc-Slogger and I can’t kill it, I die instantly. Still… I’m keeping the dream alive.
Game 1 he has the Slogger, but I have a Blast waiting for the beast. After that I gain some advantage through some good trades and manage to finish him off with a Genju. The second game is far less interesting as Frank draws a lot of lands and I gain board control through some Granite Shards.
9-3
Apparently, some dreams come true!
Unfortunately Ruud loses the last round and after a huge comeback from 0-3 to 8-3 he misses out on Top 8.
As soon as the head judge announces the Top 8, I know I’m screwed. For the quarterfinals I play Bram Snepvangers, who is playing the Mono-Green Aggro deck I somehow managed to beat in round 2 of the tournament. I would need a huge amount of luck to win that match.
Knowing that Bram is already on the gravy train, I decide to ask him if he would be willing to concede to me. At the moment I have 16 PT points and with the 2 points I would get from attending Worlds and another possible 2 with the National Team would also make me gravy. Bram has to think for a while but in the end he decides that I have way more to win. It was a very nice thing to do from Bram, and something I am obviously very grateful for.
Semi Finals: Didier Deurloo (U-tron)
Julien Nuijten wrote a report about this match that you can read here:
So I made the team – exactly what I came for and only one match away from becoming Dutch champ. Unfortunately, Bas Postema, playing Tooth and Nail, didn’t win his semifinal so I had to play Mono-Red in the finals.
Finals: Douwe van Noordenbrug (Mono Red)
For full coverage check the report Frank Karsten wrote:
So I didn’t win, even though I pulled an Inquest killer combo. I couldn’t feel sad though. In the end I got exactly what I wanted.
I Hope you enjoyed reading this and I hope to see you all in Japan.
Cheers,
Wessel