Hi. My name is Josh. I recently Top 8ed the SCG Open Legacy portion in Indianapolis. So what, right? Even a blind squirrel finds a nut every now and
then. Well, I’d like to think I’m not quite blind, though I’m probably close. So why should you care what I have to say? I’ve
played this game for a long time; I have some stories; and I know a couple things about Eternal formats.
A quick Google search reveals Top 8 decklists of mine from Vintage events back in the early to mid-2000s as well as mentions of my name on the Mana
Drain as early as 2003 for deckbuilding and tournament performance. I Top 8ed the SCG Chicago Power Nine tournament in 2005. AJ Sacher occasionally
mentions me in his articles as the guy that taught him how to play Magic and, more specifically, how to cast Brainstorm. A lot of people probably just
know me as the guy that plays foiled-out decks around the Midwest or as a former Pastimes employee.
So with introductions and a thoroughly unimpressive resume out of the way, let’s talk about Indy. Approximately three weeks out from the
tournament, I wrote the following message as my Facebook status: “Anyone have room in their car/hotel for SCG Indy?” After investigating a
few leads, I came up dry. Two cars from Minnesota were already full. The only thing to do was get a fresh group together. I recruited Mike Hawthorne,
Dana Kinsella, and SCG Open ringer Ian Ellis and made arrangements. After taking a half-day at work on Friday, we left around noon and made the
ten-hour drive to Indy.
On the way, I informed my compatriots that we would be stopping at Portillo’s in Chicago for dinner. Having lived in Chicago for seven years, I
frequently dream about Portillo’s. And by “dream,” I mean I wake up in a cold sweat almost every night horrified that it’s not
readily available to me anymore. For those who have not had the pleasure, Portillo’s produces the Chicago staples of Italian beef sandwiches and
Chicago-style hot dogs. They also make the completely decadent cake shake. This involves them shoving an entire piece of amazing chocolate cake into a
chocolate milkshake.
I was clearly excited when I brought it up to the guys, and I probably built it up a little too much. They proceeded to butcher the name, frequently
asking me when we would be stopping at “Panchero’s” or later, “Popadopalis.”
Once we got to Portillo’s, I ordered for Mike and Dana and asked them if they wanted to try the cake shake. They enthusiastically agreed and
proceeded to order larges. I warned them against the large, but they wouldn’t listen. Upon receiving their Big Gulp-sized milkshakes, they seemed
a bit nervous but still pleased. Halfway through the meal, they were both leaning back in their chairs rubbing their stomachs and lamenting their poor
decision. Mike admirably polished off the majority of his, while Dana couldn’t even make it half way. I drank maybe half of my regular-sized one
and already felt ill.
God, I miss Portillo’s.
We got to the Hyatt in Indy around midnight and contacted the other Minnesotans to see where they were. Brandon Nelson, who some may know as Wakester
on Magic Online, was supposed to join us in our room, but the guys he was riding with had other plans. They booked a hotel four miles out from the
venue, and SCG Open champion Pat McGregor wasn’t interested in driving in to drop him off. It looked liked Brandon would be staying with them
this trip.
Jason Ford and Julian Booher needed cards but didn’t want to trek over to our hotel that late at night, so they said they would come over at 8:30
am. I wanted to go to sleep, since I couldn’t really accomplish anything, but my roommates had other ideas. Dana sat at the desk in the room for
a solid two hours tinkering with his Valakut deck. Mike called down for more pillows and blankets, took all of the extras from around the room, and
combined them all to make a huge pile in the middle of the floor that we would refer to as his “hamster nest.” Since Mike volunteered to
sleep on the floor, I wound up with my own bed, just as I had three weeks earlier in Atlanta for the GP even though we had more than six people
sleeping in that room. Apparently, I just run good.
Fast forward to 8:30 am. No call from JBoo or JFord. Standard. Mike has decided not to play and just trade all day, giving his deck to Dana and
completely negating the two hours he wasted the previous night. The funny thing is that when Dana was so busy tinkering all night, he had no intention
of including Green Sun’s Zenith. You see, he hadn’t realized that Green Sun’s Zenith put the creature directly onto the battlefield.
With that revelation, he had to change his list again.
Nine a.m. rolls around, and I finally get a call from Julian. He says he’s walking over now. Twenty minutes later, Julian finally arrives at the
room, and I hand him a pimped out Valakut deck. He picks through it for the cards he needs, aka most of them, and I get ready to head to the venue to
get cards I lent to Brandon to build my deck. Of course, Jason calls and tells me he’s close. I inform him that I can’t really wait and
walk out to the elevator to leave. Just as I’m about to hit the button, the doors open to reveal Jason. We quickly run back into the room to grab
cards for him as well.
After finally getting all the card needs squared away, we head to the venue. We make it there after 9:30 am, and I head up to the SCG booth to pick up
the foil Besieged cards I ordered while calling Brandon. He obviously doesn’t answer, and I walk around looking for him. When I find him, he
informs me he forgot his phone, but at least he remembered my cards. I finish out my deck, and I’m only missing a few foils, though none of them
are from Besieged. My non-foil Inquisition of Kozilek looks pretty stupid next to my foil Tezzerets. I’ve chosen to do battle with a Tezzeret
control deck, since I was pretty tired of typical U/B and Caw-Go. AJ Sacher makes fun of me for my deck choice but helps me make some card decisions.
My deck:
Creatures (3)
Planeswalkers (7)
Lands (20)
Spells (30)
- 4 Island
- 4 Mana Leak
- 4 Everflowing Chalice
- 4 Inquisition of Kozilek
- 4 Preordain
- 2 Contagion Clasp
- 2 Tumble Magnet
- 2 Ratchet Bomb
- 2 Black Sun's Zenith
- 2 Go for the Throat
Sideboard
The tournament goes pretty poorly, and I’m out early. I liked the deck, but it was missing something. The Tumble Magnets and Contagion Clasps
were really weak. The Precursor Golems and Myr Battlesphere out of the board were great all day.
I talk with AJ about Legacy and bird. AJ tells me about a Counterbalance list he’s brewed up, but I know I don’t want to play with that
card. I ask him if he’s updated his Natural Order deck from GP Columbus, and he says it hasn’t changed much. Seeing as how I lent him the
whole deck for that tournament, I have all the cards up in the room. After talking about its position in the metagame, I decide to audible.
I go build the deck as AJ and I discuss and head back for a “quick” cube draft. I end up waiting around for hours until people are ready,
but we only get a four-man together. It ends up being Dana and me against Martin Lohman and Pat McGregor. Pat has been consuming a certain gas-station
beverage with a partially Spanish name and is acting rather absurd. The entire time I’m playing Pat, I can’t help but remember Mike’s
comment from earlier in the day that something about Pat’s mannerisms and speech is very reminiscent of a Muppet. Pat, of course, obliges me and
plays it up, flapping his mouth and bobbling his head. His hair is sticking up slightly and flopping back and forth, and I can’t keep it
together. If you ever see Pat, take a good, hard look and make sure to call him out on his Muppet-like qualities. You won’t regret it.
After the cube, Pat breaks out a Lands deck and battles my Natural Order list. It’s not close, and I’m having a blast, making me more
confident in my decision. Once the Standard tournament winds down, we get most of the Minnesotans together for Catch Phrase and drinking. Brandon
Nelson joins us after losing in the quarters, and it turns out that while he’s an excellent Magic player, he may be one of the worst Catch Phrase
players of all time. Meanwhile, Mike managed to finagle a phone number from a local girl working at the Noodles & Co and calls us to let us know
not to come back to the room. Obviously, all of us head back to the room immediately. When we get there, he’s on his way out with the girl, which is
horribly anticlimactic, but at least we tried. Everyone else heads out to Steak ‘n Shake while I get some sleep for Legacy in the morning.
I wake up and put together Brandon’s and AJ’s decks. We get to the venue much earlier this time, and I’m feeling good despite a
headache, mostly because I’m enjoying a delicious foot-long sub from Subway and am about to attack some people with Emrakuls and Progeniti as
early as turn 3.
For reference, here is the list I played:
Creatures (15)
Planeswalkers (1)
Lands (18)
Spells (26)
Round one, I play someone I recognize but am not sure where from. I put him on a blue deck and am not disappointed. I win the roll, play turn 1 Noble
Hierarch, turn 2 Natural Order off an Ancient Tomb. He has a Force of Will, and so do I. Progenitus enters the battlefield, and my opponent scoops. I
do the usual sideboard plan, which is taking out Show and Tell and Emrakul and bringing in Tarmogoyf and Vendilion Clique. I play turn 1 Noble Hierarch
again. Turn 2 I play Tarmogoyf, and he casts Counterspell. Tarmogoyf is my favorite game-one Duress effect. Turn 3 I cast Natural Order into his three
open lands. He Forces, and I Force back. He scoops. Counterspelling the Tarmogoyf likely lost him the game. 1-0.
Rounds two and three I play against Zoo. I win the race. One game I only win because I cast Natural Order into Natural Order on my Progenitus to give
him ghetto vigilance. After this play, my opponent reveals the Karakas and Pyroblast in his hand, and I reveal the Show and Tell and Emrakul in mine.
3-0.
Round four vs. Kyle Kloster playing Reanimator.
Game one he gets an early Iona. Game two is interesting, as I’ve seen Animate Dead in game one on an Iona naming blue. We play some draw-go, and
I Vendilion Clique him on his third-turn draw step. He has an Iona in the yard, and his hand is double Animate Dead, double Iona, land, and some blue
card. I let him keep them all, as I have Natural Order for Terastodon and Jace in my hand. He Animates Iona and names green. I Jace bounce her and then
Natural Order for the win. Game three, he mulligans to five, and Tarmogoyf beats get there on their own. I Krosan Grip his Pithing Needle (naming Top,
which isn’t in my deck) to pump both my Goyfs for the last two points. Reanimator is one of my favorite archetypes of all time, so my opponent
and I chat afterward. We continue to talk throughout the day. He was a really nice guy and ended up getting Top 16. Grats to Kyle.
4-0.
Round five vs. Dredge.
I win game one because my opponent doesn’t realize that Emrakul has flying. He attacks with a Narcomoeba and leaves himself with six permanents
instead of the seven he needed to win the game. Whoops. I’m a bit slow game two, and he takes it. Game three, the board state at one point is my
Progenitus and Emrakul facing down his Iona. You can guess which monsters come out on top here.
5-0.
Round six vs. Show and Tell.
My opponent is a dedicated Show and Tell deck with Personal Tutors and Lotus Petals. I don’t know this before it’s too late and am one turn
slower as a result. Rather than give him more information, I just scoop to his Show and Tell into Emrakul, only showing him some blue lands and Noble
Hierarch. Assuming I have the clear advantage, I get to board out my Show and Tells but leave in my Emrakuls. I was correct and end up getting him
pretty good.
Game two, I Natural Order into Progenitus and then Vendilion Clique him. He reveals Show and Tell and Progenitus in his hand and is utterly baffled
when I let him keep them, actually saying out loud, “I’m so confused.” He casts the Show and Tell and then gets to see what’s going
on. He puts a Progenitus into play, and I drop an Emrakul on the board. Zing. A friend of mine was quick to point out that I probably should’ve taken
his Show and Tell and rode my Progenitus to victory, as it’s likely the extra card off the Clique would not have swung the game. That way, I
would’ve preserved secrecy for game three as well. He’s probably right, but I was way too excited about the play to make a different one. Game
three we play a little draw-go, and then I Natural Order for Terastodon to destroy all his lands. He obviously blocks when I attack, and then I fetch
up a Dryad Arbor to Natural Order again into Progenitus.
6-0.
Round seven vs. Drew Levin with CounterTop Natural Order.
Drew plays a tight game but runs out of gas before I go for Show and Tell game one. He correctly puts me on AJ’s Columbus deck for game two, but
it ends up not mattering. I draw enough threats that he runs out of gas again, and after he pitches both Progenitus and Llawan to Forces of Will, I’m
pretty confident the path is clear for my Progenitus.
7-0.
Round eight vs. Ben Wienburg with four-color CounterTop.
I was hoping to draw in, but I was the only X-0 going into this round. I could scoop Ben in but would rather just play it out. He ends up beating me up
pretty badly assembling Counterbalance + Top early in both games. Game two, he also has Grim Lavamancer, which is amazing against me. On the final turn
of the game, I hard-cast Terastodon, and we have a large counter war, which Ben obviously wins.
8-1.
Round nine Alex Bertoncini, and I draw in.
8-1-1
Top Eight vs. Josh Guibault.
I peruse his list before we get started, and I get a bit worried. He has maindeck Ensnaring Bridge, Moat, Karakas, Wrath of God, and two Jaces. Who
does that? He has two more Wraths and Humility in his board.
Game one, I land a quick Progenitus on turn 2. Turn 3, I bash and then do something super greedy. He has a Top in play and three mana open, and I elect
to cast Show and Tell. He Enlightened Tutors for Ensnaring Bridge, Tops to draw, and plops it into play. I had a Daze in my hand, so this play is
obviously wrong. He would have to have the Bridge and another land available to stop me from winning. A Moat or Jace would just get Dazed. I ask him
after the match, and he informs me he didn’t have the fourth land in hand at the time, but he would’ve had five cards to find one. C’est la vie. Even with this terrible play, I still had many, many turns to draw outs and just bricked off.
Game two is excruciating. He plays turn 3 or 4 Counterbalance, and I Clique in response. He FoWs; I FoW back. Clique lands, and I see an unexciting
hand. Counterbalance resolves, and I go for the Natural Order on my turn. He flips Jace. I start the Clique beats, and he plays Jace to buy some time.
He ends up drawing a Thopter Foundry to stop the Clique. Mind you, I have had multiple turns to draw a Hierarch, Goyf, another Clique, or even
Terastodon and continue to brick. I elect to trade the Clique so he can’t pull shenanigans with additional artifacts anytime soon. The game
grinds on for many, many turns, and the window where I can realistically hard-cast a Terastodon for the win comes and goes.
On my penultimate turn of the game, I draw a Brainstorm. I cast Preordain, which prompts the Top to draw play. I respond with Brainstorm and need to
hit Terastodon and Ancient Tomb to cast it. My second card is Terastodon, but my third card is Daze. Rats. I get one more turn even though I know
I’m sunk. There’s only one thing to do. With brazen excitement, I tap all of my lands and make an absurd Elephant trumpeting noise, as I
throw Terastodon onto the battlefield. He Force of Wills it, and my tournament is over.
I watch the rest of the Top 8 and then return to my room to sleep while my roommates stay out late into the night. I’m such a wet blanket. We
leave around 10 the next morning and make it back to Minnesota without incident, stopping for “Panchero’s” again on the way.
The deck performed as expected, and I believe it was an excellent choice for the tournament. Most of the aggro decks, with the exception of Merfolk,
are great matchups. A huge advantage of the deck is looking like a Counterbalance list until you’re winning the game. Without the surprise
factor, the deck loses some edge, to be sure.
Had I known I wouldn’t face Merfolk the entire tournament, I would’ve changed the sideboard slightly, and that small change would’ve given me a
much better chance against the Counterbalance decks. The deck has so much velocity that even small changes can have a huge impact, as you’re
pretty likely to be able to find cards you need. If I were going to play this deck tomorrow, I would cut the Ponder for a Top in the main and one Goyf
and one Llawan for a Krosan Grip and another Clique in the board.
Thanks a lot for reading. Hopefully I’ll see some of you at the SCG Invitational.
Josh Rayden
JRDameonHv on Twitter and MTGO