Last week, I left off with me in 37th place after the first five rounds of Constructed, extremely pleased with myself. I had managed to dodge Mono Red, beat Boros in an extremely close match, and I was seated at a fairly soft draft pod:
33 – Surkamp, Florian
34 – Eeghen, Elmer van
35 – Komuro, Shuu
36 – Jacob, Michael
37 – Phillips, Cedric
38 – Jacobsen, Kjetil
39 – Frantuma, Marco
40 – Kuo, Tzu Ching
Of these people, the only guys I knew were Shuu Komuro and Michael Jacob. I considered MJ my biggest threat, and would probably have to beat him if I planned to 3-0 the pod. Not easy, but far from impossible.
Coming into the Limited portion of this Pro Tour, I had practiced Rise of the Eldrazi Limited a great deal. I was doing at least three online drafts a day to make sure I was up to speed with all the archetypes available, and I was consistently asking Limited mastermind Tim Aten about my picks. To my knowledge, these were the archetypes available:
UR Kiln Fiend = People figured this out early, and the deck isn’t even that good if you do manage to get it.
UW Levelers = Extremely hard to get, but impossible to beat if you get the necessary number of Venerated Teachers.
UB Levelers = Another deck reliant on Venerated Teachers, but can be better than UW Levelers since the Black level-up creatures are higher impact.
BR Control = A removal-heavy deck with Surreal Memoirs and hopefully Ulamog’s Crusher(s) to finish the opponent off. With any luck, you manage to open a Sphinx Bone-Wand
UR Mnemonic Wall = A better version of BR Control because of Mnemonic Wall. I’ve only had this deck a few times, and haven’t gotten close to losing with it. You get to see your whole deck every time, if drafted properly.
GW Aura = Aura Gnarlid and Totem-Guide Hartebeest do a lot of the work here. It’s a pretty basic deck, but it can be quite difficult to beat.
GRb Ramp = The goal is to cast Eldrazi ahead of schedule, or find a good use for the tokens. Hits include Broodwarden, Ogre Cleaver, Pennon Blade, and Lavaclaw Invoker to maximize useless Eldrazi Spawn.
Of these decks, GRb Ramp was my deck of choice to draft. Green had been under-drafted the week leading into the Pro Tour, and I was cleaning up online because of it. Cards that go extremely late, like Brood Birthing and Ancient Stirrings, have a home in the ramp deck, so you can easily table them while taking other awesome cards.
My goal was to force the GRb Ramp and see where it could take me. Even a bad ramp deck was passable due to how deep Green can be in ROE Limited.
I don’t remember much from either draft, but what I do remember from this draft was terribly frustrating. I first picked a Growth Spasm and was passed a Kozilek’s Predator in pack 1. When Overgrown Battlement came fifth pick, I felt like I was good to go.
I was not.
Nothing, and I mean nothing, came for the rest of the draft. All that I remember was that fourth pick pack 3, I had the pleasure of cutting a Sphinx of Magosi and sending through a Domestication. Nice life, right?!
I don’t have a decklist for you, but what I do have are the wacky combos I had in my deck:
– Defense! (2 Vent Sentinel, 1 Overgrown Battlement, 2 Ogre Sentry, 1 Battle Rampart)
– Offense! (1 Aura Gnarlid, 1 Snake Umbra, 1 Spider Umbra)
– He’s heating up! (1 Goblin Tunneler, 2 Valakur Fireboar)
– C-c-c-combo Breaker! (1 Haze Frog, 1 Splinter Twin)
– Kill it! (1 Staggershock, 1 Heat Ray, 1 Flame Slash)
– Lifegain! (2 Joraga Lifestrider that work incredibly well as defenders)
Magic sure is an emotional rollercoaster sometimes. Coming into this draft, I felt like I was unstoppable. After I registered my deck, I felt like I was going to 0-3 and be sleeving up Jund for the Saturday PTQ.
Round 6 versus Shuu Komuro
Poor Shuu. If I was him, I’d be mad I lost to me. I won the die roll and happily chose to draw first hoping he would either stumble on mana or mulligan into oblivion. Have to get every edge you can, amirite?!
Game 1, Shuu got stuck on mana for a few turns. When he finally hit four mana, he played Lord of Shatterskull Pass, but I was able to Heat Ray it and move on. During his mana troubles, I was having a grand time assembling my terrible combos. At one point, my board was Battle Rampart, Goblin Tunneler, and Ogre Sentry.
Nice!
I was finally able to draw Valakut Fireboar and put a form of pressure on Shuu. He finally began to draw out of it his mana troubles and had a Kargan Dragonlord to cause trouble. I drew my Spider Umbra to put on Joraga Lifestrider to hold the fort down for a while bit before the Dragonlord got fully leveled. Things got ugly for me quickly, and the game got the point where I had to topdeck Aura Gnarlid and give it haste with Battle Rampart on my last turn.
I did.
How embarrassing.
Game 2 was more of the same comical garbage from me, but this game I was unable to kill his Kargan Dragonlord before it got fully leveled.
Game 3 was very close. I chose to draw again, and Shuu had the Dragonlord on turn 2 again. I played a Goblin Tunneler on turn 2 and had to suit it up on turn 3 with Snake Umbra to find an answer for his mythic rare. Fortunately for me, Shuu was having mana troubles again, so the Dragonlord couldn’t get out of control before I was able to peel Heat Ray on and finish it off. Some other stuff happened after that, but I finally got a hit in with the vastly overrated Rapacious One when I was at one life and then played a Joraga Lifestrider post-combat to gain 18 life.
This match left me with my head in my hands. I couldn’t believe I won against a deck that was so superior. Not only had I won, but I locked up Day 2. Hurray me!
Oh right. I have to play two more rounds with this monstrosity.
5-1
Round 7 versus Tzu Ching Kuo
Guess who got the late Domestication in my draft?
5-2
Fine, I guess I’ll explain. Actually no I won’t. He was UW Levelers and I got crushed before I could even take my suit coat off.
5-2
Round 8 versus Marco Frantuma
Ah yes! The man who cut me in the draft. I was very ready to get my revenge. Marco was the reason I didn’t have a deck in this draft. It was business time.
Game 1, Aura Gnarlid got enchanted with Snake Umbra and I got pretty far ahead on cards and life totals. He finally found an answer in Broodwarden, but I peeled a Flame Slash and kept giving beatdowns. Vent Sentinel and his defender friends helped me finish up game 1.
Game 2 was more of the same. Marco was playing a bunch of guys that make Eldrazi Spawn but never had anything to do with them. Eventually, I was able to make a big enough defensive stand with Vent Sentinel and Ogre Sentries that the three damage per turn was too much to handle, and Marco conceded in disgust.
That will teach him to never pass-cut me in a booster draft again!
6-2
I was relieved to get a 2-1 out of that draft deck, and I sent it packing to the nearest garbage can available. I donked around at the site for a while, but I was far too tired to do any drafting, grabbed a bite to eat, and headed back to the hotel with Stephen, Tommy, and AJ. We watched the awesome ending of the Lakers/Suns game, and called it a night.
Saturday, May 29
As tired as I was from not sleeping the previous night, my body decided that five hours was all I deserved, and I was awake by 6:00am. This time Justin Bieber and I got to know each other a little better as I got my suit situated for the day.
And before the Bieber-bashing starts, just stop!
There is a reason Justin Bieber is being endorsed by such successful artists like Usher, Ludacris, and Sean Kingston. The kid is talented. I have no problem with people not being a fan of this genre of music, but for people to hate him because his young and talented is completely ridiculous. This isn’t Aaron Carter or Jesse McCartney, people! This young man actually has a lot of talent. Let him do his thing!
Anyway…
Baby, baby, baby, oooooooooooooooooooh
Baby, baby, baby noooooooooooooooooooo
(Alright, I’ll stop…)
I arrive at the event site in 30 place and ready for very good finish. If I was able to 2-1 a draft with my previous deck, Lord knows I can 2-1 or 3-0 with a real deck, right?
Oh look! A whammy!
My second deck, much like my first deck, was not very good. Once again, I do not have a decklist for you, as I tossed this deck in the trash as well after I was done with it, but suffice to say, I would have kept it if things had gone better.
First, let’s take a look at my draft pod:
25 – Inoue, Tooru
26 – Nesi, Eugenio
27 – Costrell, Benjamin
28 – Leitzinger, Gerald
29 – Nakamura, Shuuhei
30 – Phillips, Cedric
31 – Jacobsen, Kjetil
32 – Dezani, Jeremy
Of these people, the only one I recognized was Shuuhei Nakamura. I’ve played Shuuhei a few times before, and have even beaten him a time or two, so I wasn’t afraid of having to beat him in order to 3-0 the pod. At the very least, I expected to end up 2-1.
I first picked an Aura Gnarlid from a rather mediocre pack, and was passed a Boar Umbra. I’m not the biggest fan of Boar Umbra, but there were no other Green cards in the pack and I felt that was a clear enough signal to move into some sort of Aura Gnarlid based Green deck. It didn’t have to be G/W Umbras, but I wanted it to be.
I ended up being GW with two Aura Gnarlid, six bad two-drops, two Boar Umbras, a Snake Umbra, two Emerge Unscathed, and some other filler garbage. My deck wasn’t special, but it had the potential to perform the 1-2-Step.
1-2-Step = Two-drop + Boar Umbra = Them Dead
The 1-2-Step is good for at least one match, and possibly two. Everyone has lost to the 1-2-Step in any format, whether it be to Griffin Guide, Armadillo Cloak, Elephant Guide, or Moldervine Cloak. It’s a miserable way to lose a match, but it has happened to all of us.
I point out the two Emerge Unscathed not because I think they are a great card (they are the definition of mediocre, in fact), but because they can protect the 1-2-Step from being broken up.
Round 9 versus Eugenio Nesi
Game 1, Eugenio mulligans to five and concedes on turn 3. Yes, turn 3. My plays were the following:
Turn 1 = Caravan Escort
Turn 2 = Level up Caravan Escort
Turn 3 = Snake Umbra targeting Caravan Escort
While it’s hard to say if Eugenio could have won that game, scooping it up that early just seems so poor to me. This is a Pro Tour! Get some information from me. I am probably going to need to play another card in the game to win it. You might as well see what it is.
It is easy to say that he didn’t want me to see any of his cards, but what if he draws a way to handle my only threat and I brick the rest of the game? Trust me, it’s possible!
Game 2, we battled back and forth and I was ahead on board until Gigantimancer came to play. That guy was a little too much for my GW deck to overcome, and we were on to game 3. I do remember that it had to be Gigantimancer for him to get back in the game, as I had an angry Aura Gnarlid going wild.
Game 3 was the second most infuriating game of my tournament. I was on the play, and played a turn 3 Aura Gnarlid. Eugenio’s start was pretty good, as he went turn 2 Overgrown Battlement followed by Vent Sentinel. Unphased, I played a Snake Umbra on Aura Gnarlid and was prepared to end the game in short order.
“Ugh, okay…” Eugenio Nesi
Next turn, Eugenio played another Vent Sentinel and left a Green mana open. From what I saw in the draft, his deck in game 2, and how his deck was constructed (rather controlling with a wall/ramp theme), I was a touch upset when I ran my Aura Gnarlid in there again and was met with a Might of the Masses on his Vent Sentinel. My Snake Umbra hit the bin, and the game pretty much ended right there. I drew my Boar Umbra after Eugenio had drawn his Gigantimancer, and was unable to do anything productive while Vent Sentinel lit me up.
6-3
This loss was a little disheartening, especially after Eugenio conceded on turn 3 of game 1, but it was time to get back on the horse.
Round 10 versus Kjetil Jacobsen
Game 1 against Kjetil was a race that I was able to win due to a major error on his end. On the relevant turn of the game, Kjetil did the following:
Play fifth land.
Level up Halimar Wavewatch twice (fully leveled now)
Distortion Strike on Halimar Wavewatch
Attack with Zulaport Enforcer (level two) + Halimar Wavewatch (fully leveled)
I took ten damage.
I then checked his life total (4)
I then checked his creatures back to block (2)
I then checked the amount of two-power creatures I had in play (4)
I then said “You’re dead on board.”
“You’re right,” said Kjetil Jacobsen.
Glad I know to play around this Distortion Strike now!
Game 2 was another race in which I lost to said Distortion Strike due to my inability to draw a third Forest for my Pelakka Wurm for two turns.
Game 3 I was hoping to perform the 1-2-Step for the first time in the draft, but instead mulliganed into this six-card hand:
Knight of Cliffhaven, Spider Umbra, Forest, Forest, Forest, Plains
I had to keep this mediocre hand, and had to hope Kjetil didn’t have a Vendetta in his hand. The problem was I could tell how he kept his hand that he kept a hand with Vendetta in it. I can’t really explain in words how I knew this, but if I were a betting man (which I am), I would have bet everything I owned that he had a Vendetta in his opener.
I played my Knight of Cliffhaven on turn 2, attacked with it on turn 3 and leveled it up post combat. Kjetil played his third land and cast Inquisition of Kozilek. My hand was lands and Spider Umbra, so naturally the aura went to the graveyard. It was at this point that the following exchange occurred:
Me – “Boy, am I going to draw a nice one next turn.”
Him – “Is that so?”
Me – “You know it. You are going to have nightmares about my next draw step.”
What did I draw? Snake Umbra!
What got Vendetta’d in response? Knight of Cliffhaven!
6-4
Round 11 versus Tooru Inoue
Tilt was staring to set in. I was up a game in both matches, something had to go wrong in both game 2s for me to lose, and I had not yet performed the 1-2-Step. It had to happen sometime soon, right?
Game 1 is a blur, but I know I won because I won all of my game 1s in this draft.
Game 2 is not a blur. This is my most frustrating game of the tournament. This is the game where I was ahead on the board due to a Snake Umbra on a fully leveled Caravan Escort that had drawn me five extra cards (read: lands) and still lost. Tooru was stuck on four lands for what felt like forever, but had a Hedron Field Purists buying him some time. When he played his fifth land and Dawnglow Invoker, I could already see how I was going to lose the game.
It should be noted that if I drew Emerge Unscathed at any point, the game ended on the spot, but that is neither here nor there.
Land #5 came off the top for Tooru. Then land #6. Land #7. Tooru had done everything he could to stave off death while I was bricking every single turn. It is a tribute to him for managing his resources so well that peeling land eight was even a possibility. On the last turn of the game, Tooru turned over the top card of his deck…
Game 3, I was on the play, did not perform the 1-2-Step, and got absolutely crushed.
6-5
It was at this point that I decided to take a step outside. I take pride in my ability to avoid tilt at this point in my Magic career, but that last match broke me. I could not believe what had happened in that draft. GerryT was outside to let me vent, but it really didn’t matter. I was too upset to say or do anything productive. I had never 0-3’d a draft in a Grand Prix or Pro Tour in my life, and I sure as hell didn’t expect it to be right now.
This morning I had woken up with a Top 16 or better in mind. Now I was just wishing the tournament was over.
Round 12 versus Nate Siftar (Eldrazi Ramp)
Hah!
Hahahahaha!
Now this! This is funny! Not only was I sufficiently tilted from the last three rounds, but now I had to play against the person with whom I built my deck on Thursday night. We even had the sideboarding sheet we made on Thursday night still in our deck boxes.
Not only had I built my deck with Nate, but in our testing of the mirror Thursday night, I think I won one game of eleven. This could be the straw that broke my back.
Game 1, Nate was fairly ahead on the board, but wasn’t able to draw an Eldrazi. He did find an Eye of Ugin and was ready to activate it, but I had other ideas. I peeled a Kozilek, Butcher of Truths and drew into an Expedition Map. I cast my Expedition Map and Nate let it resolve. I then cracked my Expedition Map, and Nate also let that resolve. I then searched out my own Eye of Ugin, legend ruled his, and won the game the next turn when he wasn’t able to peel an Eldrazi.
He misplayed, but I’ll take what I can get!
Game 2 was a total joke. Our sideboarding plan consisted of siding in Summoning Trap + Avenger of Zendikar and to try to live the dream as fast as possible. I was able to Summoning Trap into Kozilek and Ulamog while Nate was able to Summoning Trap into Avenger of Zendikar.
Nice. Mirror. Match.
7-5
Round 13 versus Darwin Kastle (Mono Red)
Darwin played a turn 1 Goblin Guide in games 1 and 3. About that…
7-6
Round 14 versus Ted Slone (UW Control)
Ted knew one of my friends from Canada, Phil Samms. Phil Samms is a classy man who used to guard chocolate as his profession. No, this is not a joke. A security guard for chocolate!
Ted was playing UW Control. I needed a bye to get off of tilt. This was sufficient.
8-6
Round 15 versus Travis Woo (RG Land Destruction)
For those of you who don’t know my past with Travis, here it is a brief overview:
Travis killed me with Grixis Charm at Grand Prix: Seattle
Travis killed me with Street Wraith at Grand Prix: Houston
Travis and I always play when we are both doing well, and he always beats me with some obscure card.
I will probably never beat Travis when it matters.
He is my rival.
I love Travis.
Travis was playing RG Land Destruction. If there was ever a deck that I could not beat besides Mono Red, this was it. Saying I got crushed is not giving what Travis did to me enough justice.
8-7
While Travis was giving me a silly beating, I listened in to a conversation Alexander West was having with his opponent after he beat him:
Alexander – “You really shouldn’t drop. You could get your rating up from your next round opponent.”
Opponent – “I don’t really care about my rating.”
Alex – “Well, how about the extra pro point? Winning next round will get you another one.”
Opponent – “Hey, good point. I guess I’ll stay in!”
Any idea where this is going?
Round 16 versus THE GUY ALEXANDER WEST TOLD TO NOT DROP, WHO WAS PLAYING MONO RED
What do you think happened?
8-8.
105th place
This went from a tournament I felt like I wanted to remember to a tournament I was very ready to forget.
I got off of tilt eventually, but the tilt didn’t affect my play. Saturday was just a lot to take. The losses in the draft especially destroyed my psyche, not so much because I lost, but how I lost.
Winning game 1, losing game 2 in gross fashion, and then never just 1-2-Stepping someone out for the win was infuriating. Furthermore, by going 0-3 in the draft, it left me in the same area as the Mono-Red players.
If there is anything to take away from this tournament report, it’s that sometimes you just do not win. You can be super prepared. You can have your head on straight. You can have your game face on.
And you know what?
Sometimes it just does not freaking matter.
Sorry if this felt like me whining a bunch, but these are true events. For how great Day 1 went, Day 2 was a complete disaster. It’s easy to say there is always the next Pro Tour, but I really wanted to do well at this one.
I promised you guys a way to shake up the Standard format, but that will have to wait until next week. I can’t disclose it just yet, but if you are going to the StarCityGames.com Open in Seattle, you will get a sneak peek!
Until next week!