It’s the night before I’m leaving for Yokohama and there’s a 4x Magic Online Block Constructed Premier Event. I’m sure you’ve all heard about it by now.
The entire Top 8 was White Weenie.
The question was: How was this premier event going to affect the Pro Tour?
Would people end up just giving in and play White Weenie? Or would they come prepared for it instead?
…
About a week or two before the Pro Tour in Yokohama, Julien Nuijten and Ruud Warmenhoven stayed at my place in Minnesota. My friends and I were ecstatic with the prospect of having multiple foreigners around. Our mission?
Why, to Americanize them, of course!
We even managed to make it to Minnesota Twins game. I think we lost 12-2.
(We were slightly inebriated at the time)
Ruud and I found some time to get in some practice for the Pro Tour through Magic Online. We tested a bunch of U/B/r control decks, but we weren’t impressed with a single one. A lot of them were too inconsistent, and the card quality you have to choose from isn’t very high.
White Weenie seemed like the most consistent deck we tested by far. It just never got a draw incapable of winning any game it played.
Another deck I was testing before Julien and Ruud arrived was a Red/White control deck. It was performing very well for me on Magic Online, so I figured it would be a good bet for the PT. Here’s what I was running…
4 Mana Tithe
4 Dead / Gone
4 Prismatic Lens
4 Boom / Bust
3 Thunder Totem
4 Magus of the Tabernacle
4 Avalanche Riders
2 Voidstone Gargoyle
4 Desolation Giant
2 Akroma, Angel of Wrath
4 Flagstones of Trokair
4 Terramorphic Expanse
6 Plains
11 Mountain
Sideboard
3 Disenchant
4 Temporal Isolation
3 Serrated Arrows
2 Detritivore
1 Akroma Angel of Fury
2 Sacred Mesa
The deck looks like a complete pile on paper, but after playing with it for a while, you’ll notice that it’s full of synergy. The White Weenie match up is probably somewhere around 80/20 in Red/White’s favor, which was the main reason I wanted to play this deck.
Against control, the mana denial element of the deck truly shines, although the Blue control decks were still giving me trouble. They can just accelerate with Prismatic Lens
Magus of the Tabernacle is also a card with lots of potential. This card can straight up beat Green decks by itself. They have no way of removing it from their way, besides bouncing it with Gone. Also, if you ever resolve a Bust with Magus in play, the game is basically over. Unfortunately it doesn’t really fit into any of the mainstream control decks out there.
With the intentions of playing either Red/White or White Weenie, Gadiel and I arrive in Japan the Monday prior to the Pro Tour in Yokohama. We planned on staying in Tokyo for three nights where we would meet up with Julien, then head down to Yokohama the Thursday before the PT.
This was the extent of our testing…
Tokyo Disneyland, need I say more? (We may have been slightly inebriated at the time)
JCTI (Jiminy Cricket That Is)
Gadiel and I did actually manage to fit in ten games or so of the Red/White versus White Weenie match-up, while waiting for Julien to check out in the lobby. White Weenie won eight of those games. Therefore, Red/White was scrapped.
Now what?
While Julien and Ruud were staying at my place we had tested a Mono-Red Sligh-type deck. There was also a version with Blue for Psionic Blast and Looter il-Kor to madness out Fiery Tempers.
We figured Mono-Red would be a great choice for this field. Not that many people actually knew about the deck in the first place, which is something that is very important when deciding what deck to play. It’s the sole reason I played Affinity in Dallas earlier this year. [*rolleyes* I dunno, these folk who always mention their past successes… – Craig, English National Champion 2006.]
The deck also crushed White Weenie and had solid matchups with the other decks in the field, with the exception of the Green-based decks with Wall of Roots. The last card you want to see across the table is the dreaded 0/5.
Gadiel, Julien, and I decided in the end that Red was the best choice for the PT. Here’s what we ran:
Creatures (18)
Lands (24)
Spells (18)
Sideboard
There were still a couple of question marks about the deck going into the tournament.
The first was the number of lands we were going to run. We originally had 23, but with the addition of Wildfire Emissary to the main deck and the higher-end casting cost spells in the sideboard, 24 lands was a necessity.
The other question mark from the main deck was over the two open slots. We ended up running Dead / Gone because of its versatility. Raph Levy, who got our list from Julien prior to the tournament, played Sudden Shock instead. Not knowing what the field was going to be like heading into the tournament would lead me to believe a card with more flexibility like Dead / Gone would be a better choice. However, if I had to play the deck again, I would probably play four Sudden Shock maindeck over the two Dead / Gone and the Wildfire Emissary. Having an uncounterable burn spell against Teferi would have been so important, looking back on the tournament.
The sideboard was something else we were worried about prior to the tournament. We knew we wanted four Avalanche Riders to kill Tombs of Yawgmoth, to prevent huge life gains from Tendrils of Corruption. Word of Seizing was actually my favorite card by far coming out of the sideboard. It won me countless games against Teferi decks, and gave me a little hope against Red/Green Spectral Force decks.
The Wildfire Emissarys were probably too much overkill for the White Weenie matchup, but they ended up being solid against the Mono-Red mirror match.
And finally, Eron the Relentless. Ah yes, I love me some 5/2 hasters. He actually ended up being a fine card, but nothing amazing.
One thing I would like to note before going into details about the tournament is my mindset going into the actual tournament itself. A PT usually gets me hyped up and nervous, causing poor play on my part. There was something different about this one. It just felt like another Grand Prix. I think this is the point at which players start to realize what it takes to win on the Pro Tour. If you can get past the nerves that flare up prior to a tournament, you can finally reach your full potential as a player.
Let’s move onto the tournament…
Round 1: Paulo Vitor Da Rosa
Last time I played against Paulo it was at Pro Tour: Charleston last year. He was playing Black/White and I was playing Boros, which is basically an un-winnable match up for me.
This time around, though, he’s the underdog as he’s playing White Weenie, which is a terrible match up for him.
Game 1: I start the game with a turn 2 Blood Knight followed by a turn 3 Sulfur Elemental basically halting his entire team. He does manage to Griffin Guide a Knight of the Holy Nimbus, but I draw a second Sulfur Elemental to go along with an active Magus for the win.
Game 2: Being that I am the luckiest player on the face of the Earth, I start the game with Gemstone Caverns in play with a “luck” counter, and proceed to cast Blood Knight turn 1 and another on turn 2. His turn 3 Griffin Guide on Soltari Priest still wasn’t good enough. Thanks.
Record 1-0
Round 2: Paul Cheon
Paul is playing a Blue/Red control deck splashing for Mystical Teachings. After playing a Mountain in game 1, Paul comments that this is his worst match up by far. I believe that’s good news for me. I end up winning game 1 easily, and game 2 I have to peel my second Word of Seizing for Fortune Thief. Last time we played he drew four removal spells in a row followed by Life from the Loam, to knock me out of the Top 4 in Dallas. What goes around comes around, I guess.
Record: 2-0
Round 3: Clement Lemaitre
Clement was a rather interesting character. He’s also running Mono-Red, but has Mogg War-Marshal and Greater Gargadon. Game 1 he establishes early board control and a Gargadon eventually runs me over. Game 2 he suspends Gargadon turn 1 again, but forgets to sacrifice to it multiple times. He also gets me down to nine and can straight up kill me with Gargadon, but decides against it. I win by burning him out. Game 3 is once again another close game and he manages to forget sacrificing to Gargadon multiple times. Eventually he decides to go all in on the Gargadon, putting me on a two turn clock, but I have Word of Seizing and use his own Gargadon to kill him.
Record: 3-0
Round 4: Daisuke Hirose
Daisuke is running the standard Blue/Black Teferi control deck. Game 1 I stall early on lands and he gains way too much card advantage from Shadowmage. Game 2 I get a blazing fast start involving multiple Keldon Marauders and eventually a huge Disintegrate ends the game. Game 3 was probably one of the closest games I played all day. I get him on the ropes early, but he eventually stabilizes at four life. He starts beating me with Phyrexian Totem and has a grip full of cards. At this point I think that I’m done for. I almost concede when he casts Mystical Teachings, but he searches up another Teachings for some reason, instead of a counterspell. He gets me down to one with the Totem. My next draw? Browbeat.
He let’s me draw three cards. The first? A Mountain. The second, a Keldon Marauders. The third card I draw, Fiery Temper. I cast them both and he offers the handshake. Apparently he sided out all of his Draining Whelks and Cancels in favor of board controlling elements.
Record: 4-0
Round 5: Yeung Sun Kit
This is Kairan on MTGO, for those Magic Online fanatics out there.
Yeung is also playing Blue/Black control, but is more prepared for aggro decks than other control decks because of cards like Snapback in his deck. Game 1 I play a first turn Magus and he claims this is by far his worst match up. I guess he was right because neither game was really ever close at all. Early pressure both games followed by an ample amount of burn gives me the match easily.
Record: 5-0
Round 6: Dane Young
Dane is piloting the first Green deck I have to play against. He is splashing Blue for Chronicler and Intet. Game 1 he mulligans into a one-land Search for Tomorrow hand. My draw is fine, but he rips three consecutive lands I believe and I get overrun by large monsters. Game 2 I keep a solid hand, but don’t draw a single spell the entire game. I concede after a Browbeat wields three more lands.
Record: 5-1
Round 7: Paulo Carvalho
Paulo is also playing Red/Green, but has Lotus Bloom to accelerate into Dragons much faster.
I’ve never been beaten as badly in a match of Magic as I was this round. I think I conceded on turn 5 both games.
Record: 5-2
Round 8: Gaudenis Vidugiris
Big Gauds is running straight Blue/Black control with Tendrils of Corruption being the swing card in the match up. Game 1 I get a textbook draw against his deck. Turn 2 Keldon Marauders, turn 3 Sulfur Elemental, followed by massive amounts of burn. Game 2 I get him very low early, but he eventually stabilizes and gains a million life with Tendrils fueled by an Urborg. Game 3 I keep a pretty sketchy hand on the play and I don’t draw my fourth land for the three Avalanche Riders in hand to eliminate his Urborg on the other side of the table.
Record: 5-3
So the day is finally over. After being 5-0, 5-3 was pretty disappointing for obvious reasons, but I was still happy about making Day 2.
We head back to the hotel for some much needed shut-eye, to prepare for what’s coming the following day.
Round 9: Chapman Sim
Chapman is running basically the same deck my as my eighth-round opponent, except for he had the full amount of Tendrils and Urborgs after sideboard. Who plays four Urborg?
Game 1 I get a fairly fast start involving Keldon Marauders and Sulfur Elemental. He is forced to use Tendrils for one on one of my guys to stay alive, but dies the following turn. Game 2 he does find Urborg for his Tendrils, but I have the Avalanche Riders to stop that nonsense. He misses some land drops and I hit a second land with another Riders to end the game.
Record: 6-3
Round 10: Luis Scott-Vargas
Luis is running the same exact deck as Paul Cheon, which ends up being an amazing match up for me. Luis battles hard, but there is really nothing he can do to overcome how terrible the match is for him.
Record: 7-3
Round 11: Ryuuichi Arita
Ryuuichi is playing Black/Blue. I mulligan into the nuts basically for game 1, as I suspend multiple Rift Bolts early and he can’t really deal with my pair of Sulfur Elementals. Game 2 is looking fine for me, until he unmorphs Willbender redirecting a Fiery Temper to one of my guys. He then unmorphs Shapeshifter copying the Willbender and I concede shortly after. My draw for game 3 is fairly slow, but I draw six cards off Browbeats. At one point of the game my hand is eight solid spells. However, he has a face up Brine Elemental and if he draws a Shapeshifter he can completely lock me out of the game. He doesn’t though, and I win with a huge Disintegrate.
Record: 8-3
Round 12: Kazuya Mitamura
Kazuya is playing a Blue/Black control deck. I have no answer for his turn 3 Shadowmage and he gains far too much card advantage off it for me to have a chance. Game 2 He plays a face up Brine Elemental on turn 4 and then copies it with Shapeshifter on turn 5. Nice.
Record 8-4
Round 13: Mamoru Yamanishi
This is the first time in the tournament that I get to play against something a little rouge-ish. He’s playing Slivers with Wild Pair. Game 1 he starts out strong with a Wall of Roots that holds back my team for a while, but every Sliver he plays I manage to kill with some burn spell. Even his Pulmonic Sliver gets Disintegrated right out of the game. He never draws a Wild Pair so I eventually just burn him out. Game 2 is basically a replica of game 1 as he never manages to find a Wild Pair and his creatures don’t really stand a chance without it.
Record: 9-4
Round 14: Haruki Nakatani
This is actually the only mirror match I get to play throughout the entire tournament. Game 1 we both get fine draws, but my multiple Browbeats provide me with too much card advantage and he slowly gets overwhelmed.
Game 2 was probably the most entertaining thing that’s happened to me in a match on the Pro Tour. I look at my seven-card hand of Mountain, Rift Bolt, Rift Bolt, Magus, Arrows, Fiery Temper, and Keldon Marauders, and decide that I’m probably taking a mulligan. However, I first have to wait for my opponent to resolve his mulligans. He looks at his seven-card hand, and mulligans. Looks at his six-card hand, and mulligans. Looks at his five-card hand… and concedes the match. I can’t believe what has just transpired here. Top 8 was still on the line and he wasn’t willing to play out a game with four cards? People get crazier every year.
Record: 10-4
Round 15: Tsuyoshi Fujita
Tsuyoshi Fujita. Last time we played was playing for Day 2 of Pro Tour: Columbus, and it was the Red Deck Wins mirror match. I was crushed.
This time around though, things are not quite the same. I’m still playing Red, but he has brought a Mono-Blue tempo concoction of his to the table. I know that the match up is in my favor, but anything can happen when you’re playing against a player of his status. Game 1 I start with a pair of Blood Knights, which is a card that actually is very good in this matchup. He tries to stabilize with some Snapbacks and counters, but I have enough burn to finish it off. Game 2 my draw is not quite as good as the first game, but I do get in some Sulfur Elemental beats early on. His paired Serrated Arrows really don’t affect the board that much, as I’ve just started to cast Browbeats and suspending Rift Bolts. He casts a Teferi main phase to stop one of my Rift Bolts from resolving, which is what I wanted him to do as I have the Word of Seizing to break open the game. He Draining Whelks one of my burn spells and gets me low on life, but my Magus of the Scroll finishes him off a turn before he has the chance to kill me.
Record: 11-4
With that round in the books, I’m now just one win away from making the Top 8. I get pretty nervous at this point, but who wouldn’t in my position?
Round 16: Guillaume Wafo-Tapa
The man with the best name on the Pro Tour is playing a Blue/Black Teferi control deck, to no one’s surprise. Game 1 I mulligan into a decent hand, but his is just far better than mine. He stops a Rift Bolt of mine with a turn 4 Teferi and follows it up by countering a Disintegrate for four with Draining Whelk. I die shortly afterwards. Game 2 I mulligan once again, but this time my draw is a lot better. He is forced to Damnation away a Sulfur Elemental turn 4, but I have Eron the Relentless waiting for him on turn 5. He Damnations again, but I have the burn to finish the game.
So here it is. Game 3, playing for Top 8 of the Pro Tour. So much is on the line here.
I mulligan for the third consecutive time in the match, and am forced to keep a pretty marginal hand. I apply some early pressure with some guys, but he has the Damnation. At this point my hand is starting to fill up with five-mana spells, but I only have four lands in play. At one point in the game he is forced to tap out, and if I draw a land I think I win. But I don’t, and Teferi followed by a massive Draining Whelk end the game.
Record: 11-5
Although I didn’t make Top 8, I did manage to acquire seven pro points and four grand for my efforts. Not a bad weekend, if I do say so myself. This also puts me at sixteen pro points for the season, and in great shape for leveling up this year.
There happened to be a Future Sight prerelease at the Pro Tour as well, which got me thinking how the set would impact the deck I played. Here’s a couple of cards I think might see some action.
Emberwilde Augur
This guy can probably replace the Blood Knights, as White Weenie is slowly losing ground as a Tier 1 deck. He acts as an early beater, but the most important part is his ability. Three damage is a lot for not having to spend mana to use in the late game. This guy will definitely see play.
Magus of the Moon
This is more of a sideboard card I think, but it will definitely see play in all kinds of Red decks. It renders storage lands, Desert, and Urza’s Factory useless. However, there are some non-basics that red decks might want to use now from Future Sight.
Ghostfire
On the surface, this doesn’t really seem any better than Fiery Temper, but it does take out Soltari Priest, which may or may not be important in time to come.
Tarox Bladewing
This might be a bit of a stretch, but this card has so much potential I just couldn’t leave it out. If you draw multiples of this, your opponent will not be alive for long.
Thunderblade Charge
This card, on the other hand, will get played in a Red Deck Wins style deck for sure. It may only get two or three slots in the deck, but recursive damage will be very difficult for some decks to deal with.
Keldon Megaliths
I can see playing two of these in the deck. It’s insane in the late game, but you don’t want to be slowed down too much in the early game.
Zoetic Caverns
If Blood Knight does end up getting cut, you can play four of these for sure. This is a card Wizards needed to print a long time ago, but at least they eventually got to it.
That just about does it for this week. See you in Columbus! (Worst format ever.)