Creeping through the cemetery’s creaking front gate, I wandered through the aisles of tombstones. So many have been lost, a walk amongst their gravestones does nothing to pay proper tribute to the legacy they left behind, or the generations they inspired.
“The Masters
1999-2003”
When I first started playing Magic in ’99, I had no idea what the Pro Tour was, but in 2000, I picked up a Sideboard magazine from the shop. I read about the team event that had Jon Finkel Antarctica against the Ruel’s Black Ops.
It was enthralling, “Masters Series??” I wanted to know more and learned about all the different organized play programs that were really coming into their own during that time period. DCI rankings, Nationals, Junior Super Series; it was a ladder of progression that I wanted to climb and include myself in. There’s no ladder of progression in today’s Magic, and it hurts to see all the wasted opportunity and magical lives that will be lost because it’s much harder to get your foot in the door these days.
“Pro Player Cards
2005-2007”
Kamigawa was on the horizon, promising unique Japanese flavored sets after the abysmal reform of the card border and Affinity’s oppression in Mirrodin. We opened the tournament decks and packs at the Prerelease to find a host of pro player cards, and I wanted one from the moment I saw them. Didn’t everyone??
I was in my PTQ prime back in 2005, after having a couple years of success in JSS; I just turned 16 and wanted to play with the big boys. The names that were on those cards would last forever in Magic lore. I read each bio, indulged in the various stats that were placed about the card, and I got the complete set signed while globetrotting in the following years.
As each new series came out in the core set of each block, I talked amongst my peers about who would be next to get cards. I had my picture taken for what would have been series 4 back in 2007, and I felt like if I could muster a string of finishes together, I might be able to weasel a spot like Aten did as a “Rising Star.”
Then, they announced it would be discontinued. The cards had no real value; it was cute, and watching Gerard bar hop with a box of his player cards trying to pick up chicks was hilarious, but how long could they continue to make 20-30 cards every year?
The timeline for this series coincided with the Pro Players Lounge, the chill spot for competitors to unwind in between matches. They boasted free food, video games, pool tables, darts, and a host of themed attractions to highlight the unique location wherever it be around the world.
Back in 2005 it appeared as though Wizards was really getting things right. While cutting a Pro Tour, they also put that money to good use by supporting the pro player cards, the lounge, and a system that would make it easier for the professionals who represent the game to traverse the World.
“Pro Players Club
2005-2012”
While a new system is sure to be concocted, and despite the several iterations they’ve had to make to balance things out, this system was far more beneficial toward creating lasting stars in Magic than the previous “End of the Year Payout” structure. I’m not sure what it will turn in to, but I am a little scorned by the fact that when they announced the end of the Pro Players Club they tried to make themselves seem gracious by allowing the club level to stick until the end of 2012.
It feels like the equivalent to being told you’re going to be repositioned to the mail room from the corporate office, but hey, you can still have the health care package until we fire you at the end of next year.
“Junior Super Series
1999-2007”
This is the most tragic of all the dead programs Wizards has sent to the gallows in recent years, in my opinion from personal experiences. So many youths arose from JSS slums to become high-level Magic players and personalities. It was a grass roots program that gave incentive for parents to feel comfortable about their child’s unorthodox hobby; it gave a glimpse of what high level competitive Magic was really like; it was the first peg on the ladder to progress to being a glorified gravy trainer.
My mentor when I was growing up was Eddie Solis Jr, the winner of the 2002 JSS Worlds; he also hailed from San Antonio. His success there drove me to chase the heights of competitive Magic. I can imagine many other youths chased the other rising youths in the area to keep up, and JSS was that bar that a young Magic player had to cross during my generation to be worth a damn.
“Magic Invitational
1999-2007”
The holy tournament, the one that everyone wants to win. Aside from the prestige and fame, becoming immortalized on cardboard is the ultimate achievement in Magic. More so than a PT win, a World or National title. The Invitational is where legends are forged, and the game is exhibited by the best of the best in pant pleasing fashion.
Being on the 2007 invitational ballot was a great feeling of accomplishment for me. I felt like I was being recognized for all the hard work I’d put in during my adolescent years. All those late nights brewing, drafting, and gorging myself with Magic was concentrated into my invitational video metaphorically battling a giant pink-headed monster, the monster that everyone has to battle to overcome obscurity and arise to greatness…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEiLdDGM5bM
“US Nationals
1998-2011”
In its prestigious 13-year span, I’ve been fortunate to play in five nationals. Each has been a great experience; it’s like a PT or GP, except without all the greasy foreigners! Just homegrown American badasses duking it out fair and square, no language barrier, no slow-playing Asians, no shady Europeans, just people I can trust playing Magic against. Now, Nationals is just a glorified States tournament, which was really just a glorified FNM.
Nationals is now a big FNM. They took away our $20,000 1st place prize my first year at Nationals 2005, but now they’ve taken away the very root of the tournament: the prestige to represent your country at Worlds.
More importantly, I grew up with Magic being a ladder system. If you do well, you can keep climbing. If you do well at Regionals, you get to play Nationals; you do well there, you’re going to Worlds; you do well there, and, well, you’re the damn top dog World Champ! Every player who is in a late round at Regionals realizes they’re potentially playing to be World Champion, and now, the luster is gone like record players.
“World Championships
1996-2011”
I’ve never been good enough at Magic to play in this tournament; it’s been the only level of competitive Magic that has eluded me. Now, I never will be able to, and the kid inside of me that dreamed every night of Magical greatness is now stomped, splattered, and swept away in the wake of these horrendous changes that give me an upset stomach.
“Play the game, see the world
2005-2011”
The slogan that was reinforced by the Pro Players Club is now dwindling at best, if not completely dead. The encouragement to be a good Magic player is now gone without an efficient way to stay qualified.
There are many more graves that I didn’t have time to walk by in that hallowed cemetery. The nostalgia of Magic is a driving point for many elder Planeswalkers. Take Flores for example; have you ever read an article of his that didn’t reference one of these points?
-His glory days from the Dojo
-His glory days for 2005 States
-The book “Decade”
–Jon Finkel and/or Napster
-Top 8 Magic and/or fivewithflores.com
It’s nostalgia from his point, something that when he’s hammering out an article is always on his mind. It’s completely understandable, if not insanely belabored over his gross tenure as a Magic columnist.
My point is that nostalgia is just as important to Magic as the pros that play the game and the company that prints the cards. We have a strict Magical calendar every year. Four sets are released; within that time frame, there are several formats to engage; within those formats there are tournaments we attend; within those tournaments are memories that stick in our head and give us perspective on this ever-growing enigma we indulge in.
The changes Wizards made directly impose on the nostalgia that has kept us such a tight-knit group all these years, and it saddens me. I want to listen to Elliott Smith and the Goo Goo Dolls while I cuddle up with a plush stuffed animal while the thermostat is set to 60 in an attempt to freeze this pain in my heart.
But hey, at least I won FNM again last week! Woo! Here’s the decklist…
POTC
Creatures (8)
Planeswalkers (6)
Lands (25)
Spells (21)
Not much has changed; the deck is a real underplayed beast right now. Spellskite and Distress are two of the most impacting two-drops you can play in Standard. They both do wonders to set up a turn 3 Liliana, followed by a turn 4 Tezzeret or Phyrexian Obliterator.
Lots of removal, some card draw for consistency, a rock solid manabase that rarely falters, and cards to claw back into a race like Batterskull and sweepers make this a great metagame choice for the current Standard environment.
G/W Tokens is a very comfortable matchup because of all the sweepers I have. They are also light on removal, which makes an Obliterator or Batterskull tough to defend and attack into.
U/B Control is put to the test in the face of spells they must counter in fear that they’ll lose their grasp on the game. Many discard spells are the key to getting them into topdeck position, because they don’t have a true card advantage card like Gambit; they’ve just got card selection like Think Twice and Forbidden Alchemy.
Wolf Run has a very hard time combating discard and good removal. Aside from Beast Within—or Karn Liberated in some cases—they have no way to effectively deal with Obliterator. Liliana is equally troublesome for them when backed up by a Spellskite, and the hand pressure she provides narrows down their endgame plan. These new white versions apply more early pressure than the others, but it’s definitely nothing scary, as a Black Sun’s Zenith wipes out all their one-drops and Crusader, and they usually only have three Beast Within to be reactive.
Mono Red is tough if you don’t draw a couple early spells to one for one it, but Spellskite provides great Shrine protection. If they don’t get any early damage and I’ve got an answer for Shrine, they typically are dead in the water. I actually like to board in a few Mind Rot in after sideboarding. They’ve got Manic Vandal coming in, so be sure and clear the way before dropping Batterskull; it’s the best card against them, and there isn’t much they can do about it.
The various blade decks, U/W, Mono U, U/R really aren’t that deep. They play an awkward midrange game that isn’t the good at being the attacker or defender. I’ve got lots of removal, so I’ve got more of a leg to stand on, and while Snapcaster can be difficult to play around because I’m making them discard cards, they run out of gas often without any good card drawing. They have a tough time committing to swords, which is their main source of attrition because of the versatile removal suite.
Round 1 – BYE!
I’m Mr. Lucky here recently with these things…
Round 2 – Colin Dowdy with W/G Tokens
I played Colin last week in the second round! He was playing RUG last week and admitted not having any answers to my Obliterators, so he built W/G Tokens in an attempt to have a better matchup against me!
Game one I had an oppressive board of Spellskite, Obliterator, Liliana, and Tumble Magnet, but I couldn’t break through to his Elspeth before he wiped it all out. I recouped with Batterskull + Inkmoth Nexus, and he didn’t have a Beast Within to stop the beatings.
Game two I was rattled by his techy sideboard card that gets around Spellskite to kill Obliterator: Celestial Purge! Go for the Throat is equally troublesome, but this one came out of nowhere to get rid of Obliterator and can double down on duties to take out Liliana!
Game three was back and forth; his Garruk caused some problems, but he didn’t have an answer for Batterskull or Obliterator because I used Mind Rot to take out his removal spells.
2-0
Round 3 – Jacob Dugan with U/W/B Alchemy
I’d like to say these games were close, but he really didn’t have many options after Liliana and Distress ripped his hand apart; then the planeswalker took out half his mana while Obliterator ran over his face.
Game two was much of the same. I had a double Mind Rot draw with Nihil Spellbomb to back it up, so his Snapcasters and flashback spells were all duds. He was a little shy on mana this game, but playing that deck just asks for problems.
3-0
Round 4 – Brance Alexander with R/B Midrange
I’ve never played Brance before, but he was already irritating me because he kept forgetting Shrine counters, then shoved it in my face that it isn’t a may ability. Of course, it’s my responsibility to remind him, but he was just sloppy, so I hate him now and everything he stands for.
Game one I stabilized at 16; we played a lot of Magic. He had Olivia Voldaren, Chandra’s Phoenix, Chandra, the Firebrand, Tezzeret’s Gambit, Galvanic Blast. He was stone dead to an Obliterator from what I saw, but Olivia could really cause some problems since my Victim of Night doesn’t take care of her.
I got him down to three life after some Obliterator beatings, but he had a Shrine with fourteen counters on it. He forgot to put one on during his upkeep, slammed the top card of his library face up when he drew it; it was a Berserker, but he didn’t realize I was dead! I scooped them up. He thought he lost, but then when I was like, Shrine for 16 is hard to play around, he put two and two together to realize he actually won that game. BAH! I would have scummed him if it were a GP, or PT, or any tournament of relevance, but at FNM? I didn’t have the balls.
Game two I man handled him. He used Memoricide on Obliterators, but Tezzeret, Spellskite, and Tumble Magnet took five-point chunks out of his life total until he succumbed.
Game three I was on my heels the whole game. He had a turn 1 Stromkirk Noble, into Berserker, into another Berserker, into Olivia. My Tumble Magnet into Obliterator draw wasn’t enough to stay alive in the face of two Berserkers.
3-1
Top 8 – Travis Pillow with G/W Tokens
I’ve been really beating up on Travis lately; in my last six FNMs, I’ve played and beat him in four of them! He had some Celestial Purge action for me, but it was pretty easy to sit back, Mind Rot and Distress him, playing the waiting game because he’d lose to impatience before I would.
Game one I had Ratchet Bomb and Zenith to back up Obliterator.
Game two he cast STONY SILENCE! I obviously drew three Spellskite, three Ratchet Bomb, and Tumble Magnet during this one and lost without being able to use my spells.
Game three I boarded out all my bad artifacts and ripped his hand apart with a couple Mind Rot. He had the turn two Stony Silence, but I didn’t even draw an artifact that game, making it a mulligan for him.
4-1
Top 4 – Kyle Larson with U/B Sorin’s Vengeance
This was an exact copy of the U/B Vengeance deck I lost to Google with a couple weeks back. The deck was interesting, eschewing the six-drops that are common in U/B; it looks to play a more controlling Snapcaster game before finishing the opponent off with a couple Vengeance.
Game one I had a turn 1 Inkmoth Nexus and attacked him nearly every turn until he died to the poison.
Game two Batterskull teamed up with Tezzeret to take nine-point chunks out for three turns after using Mind Rot and Distress to clear the way.
He had clunky draws both games, but I’m not sure how streamlined a deck that relies on a seven-mana sorcery in the format can be.
5-1
Finals – Jacob Dugan with U/W/B Alchemy
Dugan climbed back from his round 3 loss to me and made it all the way to the finals! I was watching his top 4 game against Colin Dowdy, and it was painful to watch him continue to recur Phantasmal Image copying Sun Titan, while Colin had a Thrun in play that was causing problems for him!
After making fun of him and seeing the clock strike 1, I didn’t want to stick around and grind it out only to drive home in crazy drunkard traffic. We chopped; however I negotiated the win, giving me a 6-1 record and 60 Planeswalker Points in the bank!
Back to back with Obliterator, baby!
After seeing Standard continue to evolve in the SCG Tour®, I think the deck is as poised as ever to make a serious showing at Worlds. Decks are very vulnerable to hand disruption right now, and no one’s offense is that impressive unless you’ve got a great curve on turns 1-2, and there simply isn’t the quality one- and two-drops to carry an aggressive deck right now.
I’m definitely not looking to play this deck next week at FNM; battling through Celestial Purge and Stony Silence isn’t my idea of fun.
I need a deck that beats Tokens, as that’s the most popular deck at our shop. Anyone got any good ideas for me? Shoot me an email to [email protected], or message me on Facebook if you’ve got some suggestions!
I’m looking for something people aren’t on to yet. When I got thrashed by U/R a couple weeks ago I thought about building that deck, but after this past week in Vegas that deck is out of the closet now.
I might just stick to black and play a more aggressive Obliterator + Liliana deck. Something that tops out at Obliterator, then uses Liliana’s +1 while having dumped my hand already to get some card advantage off her.
Thanks for reading,
Sanchez
…
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