As I sit here in the Aqua Waikiki Wave hotel without a care in the world, I ask myself…
Self? What is the deal with the run-walkers in an airport? Clearly, the person is in a rush to get to their flight, as missing a flight is a giant inconvenience, but they won’t make a full sprint to get there? If you aren’t going to make a full sprint and give it your all to make the flight, then why on Earth are you even jogging or walking fast? It makes no sense! If a land shark was chasing you, would you just walk quickly to get away, or sprint to the best of your ability to get away?
Yes, I just compared missing your flight to being chased by a land shark. These are the things that run through my head on a consistent basis.
Hi, by the way. How have you been? Last week I wrote to you all from Seattle, Washington. If you haven’t had the chance to go to Seattle, it’s something you must do before you die. The city completely blew me away, and I am now strongly considering moving there after graduation. The great atmosphere, great food (Redmill Burger), an awesome arcade scene (I had to wait over an hour to play a match of Street Fighter Four at Gameworks), and a great Magic community. All are extremely high selling points. Go to Seattle if given the opportunity. You won’t regret it.
Now, let’s talk about the love of my life; little White men. Last week, Kithkin took me to a quality finish in Barcelona. Knowing full well that I was going to pilot Kithkin again, I analyzed the format to see what I needed to change to prepare for Seattle. As we all know, Swans dominated Barcelona and Sam Black made Top 8 with an old school Faeries deck. Because Fae is a favorite against Swans, I assumed that those two decks would be the decks to beat for Seattle. Fae would be played by the pros, and Swans would be played by the people that didn’t know any better. Let me explain that statement:
I don’t find Swans to be that good a deck. I think it was a great deck to play at Grand Prix: Barcelona because it was still a mystery, and players didn’t know how to fight against the deck correctly. Now that players know how the deck operates and have all the information available to them, it really isn’t that difficult a deck to prepare for. When preparing my deck, I assumed players at Grand Prix: Seattle would choose to play Swans based off its success at Barcelona as well as it being the cool new deck on the block. With this thought process in mind, I prepared accordingly, and felt the rest of the players not playing Swans would do the same. Swans isn’t a deck that can battle through numerous hate cards, like some of the combo decks of old, because it has so few spells.
I assumed the format would be a lot of Swans, a resurgence of Fae, a decline in BW Tokens, a sharp decline in GW Tokens, and a smattering of everything else. With all of that in mind, here is the deck I chose to pilot:
Creatures (24)
- 4 Meddling Mage
- 4 Cloudgoat Ranger
- 4 Goldmeadow Stalwart
- 4 Knight of Meadowgrain
- 4 Wizened Cenn
- 4 Figure of Destiny
Planeswalkers (3)
Lands (25)
Spells (8)
Sideboard
Changes of note:
Meddling Mage is the natural answer to Seismic Assault. I feel Meddling Mage works great in this deck because I am playing it and backing it up with a lot of pressure. If Swans doesn’t draw Deny Reality/Bituminous Blast then they have no shot at winning. In addition, Meddling Mage is a fine enough card against Fae. Cryptic Command is a problem for any deck, and also being able to name Bitterblossom on the play is a real heartbreaker. It isn’t good against Token decks or Five-Color Control, but Meddling Mage is pretty good against the decks I predicted would be represented.
Path to Exile made it back into my sideboard because it is very important against Fae as well as being useful against Swans and BG Elves. Being able to handle Miistbind Clique is really important and Swans typically sideboard Countryside Crusher in against Kithkin. Since I expected a sharp decline in Token decks, Path to Exile seemed good again.
Negate was chosen for various reasons. Negate is awesome against Swans, to stop their answers to Pithing Needle/Meddling Mage as well as countering Seismic Assault itself. Against Fae, it was there to counter Cryptic Commands, Jace Beleren, and random Infests that they may have. Against the rest of the format, there are random Wrath of Gods out there and other things to counter. If you get ahead and have Negate in your hand, it will be there to counter most answers in the format. It was easily the best card in my sideboard.
With my deck selected, it was time to do battle in the Grand Prix. Oh, and I had three byes. Suck on that, David Sutcliffe!
Round 4 versus Beg, Zaiem
Game 1 I am paired against Zaiem. I met him earlier in the week when I did some drafting with the locals. Unfortunately for him, I knew he was playing Swans so I was mulliganing for Meddling Mage as soon as the match began. I found one and locked down Seismic Assault to win game 1.
Game 2 was a long drawn out affair where I had a Pithing Needle and Meddling Mage shutting down Seismic Assault, but was having trouble finishing him off. Zaiem finally got out of my miniature lock and actually had the opportunity to kill me, but he whiffed on his one shot with Swans. I played pretty badly this match and was upset that game 2 even got to that point. Starting the day off win a win was good, but that was one I was not happy about earning.
I tried to explain this to a few people during the Grand Prix, but for whatever reason they did not believe me. When I make a mistake in a game, I hope that I lose that one. I hold myself to a higher standard when I play Magic. There are plenty of things I cannot control, but one thing I can control is how well I play. If I don’t play well, I feel like I deserve to lose. This match was a classic example of that. I made a bunch of little mistakes and won anyway. I don’t like when that happens.
4-0
Round 5 versus Schreier, Todd
Game 1 was a pretty close game. I resolved a Cloudgoat Ranger that I was positive was going to get countered and had just enough attackers to finish him off. He revealed three lands at the end of the game. Guess he flooded and I was playing around nothing…
Game 2 I kept a sketchy hand and got Thoughtseized turn 1. Didn’t see that coming! Lost this game pretty quickly.
Game 3, nothing really happened. I played around a bunch of cards he didn’t have because he had all lands again. One thing to note was his deck was all foil, which was pretty badass.
5-0
Round 6 versus Alnouri, Majid
I keep a one-lander with a bunch of one-drops and a Wizened Cenn. I keep this hand a lot when I am on the play because if I hit the second land drop in the next two turns, the game is pretty much over. Clearly, I didn’t draw the second land for a few turns and got mangled by some Mistbind Cliques.
Game 2 I keep another one-lander. It was basically the exact same hand as the previous game, and I missed again. I was getting close to pulling the game out, but Majid drew three Mistbind Cliques in a row. The best part was each time he drew one, he told me during his turn he was going to have upkeep effects with a giant smile on his face. I’m over here with two lands, and you are peeling 4/4 Time Walks every turn. He also told me that nothing I was going to do would matter, because he had Cryptic Command in his hand and I couldn’t win. After the match, he asked to take a picture with me. Any guesses what my answer was? Sometimes, kids, you gotta take the low road.
5-1
Round 7 versus Efland, Zach M
Ah yes, the notorious Zach Efland. I knew he was playing Five-Color Control, and that is bad news for Ceddybear. Game 1 he floods out. EARNED IT!
Game 2 I get my team dismantled a bunch of times and the game is never close.
Game 3 is a pretty close affair. I start with Figure of Destiny followed by Meddling Mage naming Plumeveil. I know Zach has Volcanic Fallout, Firespout, and Hallowed Burial in his deck, so I tried to make it so he would have to deal each stream of creatures with a different spell. I was sitting on a Negate for a while to try to blow him out, but he never played a spell that I could counter. My goal was to play a creature and have Negate mana up, but I never drew the fifth land to do so. On his turn 6, he cast Broodmate Dragon and my sweet plan went up in smoke. On the next turn, I was forced to play some creatures to swarm the Broodmate Dragon and got Firespouted. Ugh.
5-2
Round 8 versus Suh, Mike
Game 1 he plays a Forge[/author]“]Battlefield [author name="Forge"]Forge[/author] so I assumed he was playing Boat Brew, but he Incinerated my first two plays and played a Fulminator Mage. The mage killed my land, and all of a sudden I was kind of mana screwed. I kept drawing two-drops I could play, and he Path to Exiled them for no real reason. Yes, he gained three life off his Todd Anderson Liege, but it allowed me to get back into the game with the Cloudgoat Rangers that were stranded in my hand.
Game 2 I got ripped to shreds by a Figure of Destiny and numerous Spectral Processions. I was still somewhat confused at this point about what deck he exactly was. Was he just a Boat Brew deck or some sort of homebrew? He did sideboard in a lot of cards against me.
Game 3 I got very fortunate. I led with a Spectral Procession and he Path to Exiled one of my creatures to keep me off of Windbrisk Heights. I played Cloudgoat Ranger and assumed I was in the driver’s seat. When he cast Wrath of God, I felt pretty stupid. I had nothing of relevance in my hand and was pretty sure I was going to lose. I kept drawing pretty well, but he kept killing my guys. Very late in the game, I had a 3/3 Wizened Cenn with him at four life. He ripped Spectral Procession and had two Windbrisk Heights in play. All of a sudden, I was in some serious trouble. I sent the Wizened Cenn into battle and he thought for a while before declaring no blocks. I show him Rustic Clachan and he shows me a sad face. YAUS! His top card was Reveillark. Phew…
6-2
Round 9 versus Moral, Carlos
I kept a land-light hand with two Goldmeadow Stalwarts and a Wizened Cenn. This time I drew my lands on time and started giving him the beatdowns. Broken Ambitions countered my Wizened Cenn, and it revealed Plumveil for him. He decided to keep it when his lands were Mutavalt and Island. The next land he played was Swamp, and I was sufficiently confused. That play had to be incorrect. In any event, I won the game much later down the road through his 4/4 defender.
When we were sideboarding, Carlos asked me how Meddling Mage had been for me. I told him it had been okay this weekend, which it was, but told him how bad it was against Five-Color Control. He joked that I should board some sort of counterspell against Five-Color Control, and I had to hold back a laugh. WAS HE ON TO ME!?
Game 2 went super long. I killed his first Jace and then he played another one. He had us both draw a card, and I decided from that point on that I wasn’t going to waste my time on his Jace and was going to focus on getting him dead There were plenty of draws in his deck that were good, but there were a good amount of bad ones too. Bitterblossom, more Jaces, Broken Ambitions, Spellstutter Sprite, and lands were all pretty crappy for him. There was a turn where he Broken Ambitioned by spell and won the clash. As I milled the four cards away, I kept saying to myself “Please god, not Negate” since I had one in my hand. Thankfully, I didn’t mill one and that Negate won me the game about eight turns later. He was really surprised when I cast it to one up his Cryptic Command.
7-2
Back-to-back Day 2s? Where is the Cedric Phillips who couldn’t Day 2 a Grand Prix for over two years?
Round 10 versus Tomasek, Riley R
Game 1 he played a turn 1 Mogg Fanatic. Happy face! I played a turn 1 Goldmeadow Stalwart and passed it back to Riley. He played a turn 2 Hellspark Elemental and attacked with both his guys, and I traded with his Mogg Fanatic. He was a little surprised that I blocked, and that was good news for me. The goal of this matchup, from my point of view, is to go as long as possible. Ajani Goldmane and Cloudgoat Ranger have the ability to take the game over all on their own, so you just need to prolong the game to find those cards.
Game 2 was me executing my gameplan again, and having two Negates to take care of a Flame Javelin and Incinerate.
8-2
Round 11 versus Peloquin, Greg C
Game 1 Greg mulls to five, and I give him the beatdowns. He casts a Hallowed Burial on turn 5 to stay alive, but I finish him off a few turns later. Another Five-Color Control match. Joy…
Game 2 is a pretty long game. I Meddling Mage Volcanic Fallout and look to be in good shape. I had already gotten Cruel Ultimatiumed so I felt I might be able to steal the game back. My board was Meddling Mage, Knight of Meadowgrain, and Mutavault that had a very pretty Runed Halo around its head. I had two Goldmeadow Stalwarts and a Cloudgoat Ranger in my hand. Greg was eight life and had a bunch of cards in his hand. I considered playing both Goldmeadow Stalwarts that turn and putting lethal on the table so that he had to draw some sort of Wrath of God that turn, but I felt he had no way to get the cards out of my hand, and I could just steadily finish him off while making any Volcanic Fallouts he may have hurt more than help because of the two damage they deal. Greg drew his card, asked how many cards I had in my hand, and then Cruel Ultimiatiumed me for a second time. I lost the game after that, but I was pretty surprised to be Ultimatumed for a second time that game.
Game 3 I mulliganed to four. I guess I should have just won game 2. Argh! I feel like whenever I lose to Five-Color Control it is my own fault. Last week against Waffle Taco, and now both times this in this tournament.
8-3
Round 12 versus Munson, Matt
Game 1 is a pretty long game where, if Matt would have been much more aggressive, he surely would have won. Instead, he was just sending in Chameleon Colossus as a makeshift Abyss. The game got to the point where I needed to peel a land for my three Cloudgoat Rangers in my hand or I was dead. I did, and that was game shortly thereafter.
Game 2 was a short beatdown battering. Ajani Goldmane made a relevant appearance for once.
9-3
Round 13 versus Yurchick, Adam
Adam is a good friend of mine from Ohio. We have been grinding Magic together for years. The sanctioned matches we have played have both been one-sided blowouts in his favor. We played a Teachings mirror, in which I didn’t draw Mystic Teachings either game, and Scepter Chant versus Aggro Loam match a year or two ago. In that match, I had a lethal Seismic Assault on the stack when he had already cast three of the four Counterspells in his deck. He cast Fire/ICE in response to draw a card, peeled Counterspell number four, and had me in the Scepter Chant/Teferi lock two turns later. I think you know how this next match is going to go, of course.
Game 1, my board is Goldmeadow Stalwart, a level 1 Figure of Destiny, and three spirit tokens. His is Llanowar Elves, Mutavault, Wren’s Run Vanquisher, and Chameleon Colossus. Adam fired up his Mutavault and sent in with everything but his Llanowar Elves. At this point, I had not a clue what to do. I could kill his land and his Chameleon Colossus to try to mana screw him a little bit. I could kill his two big creatures, but that Mutavault would prove to be annoying later in the game, and what if he was light on lands? Basically, this attack by him is freaking awesome. I have no read on the situation and Adam is pretty close to unreadable. Another thing to take into account is that I can’t just let those Spectral Procession tokens sit there because of Maelstrom Pulse. I had another Spectral Procession in my hand, but if he just Pulses them all, I feel foolish for not getting the appropriate value out of my cards. I decide to kill the Mutavault and the Chameleon Colossus, leaving me with one spirit token. He plays a Putrid Leech after combat and passes. I play my Spectral Procession and my spirits get Vindicated. Two turns later, I was facing lethal and my deck rallied for me. Running Cloudgoat Rangers followed by Ajani Goldmane stole this game right out from underneath him. How fortunate! (I don’t use the word lucky.)
Game 2 is another close game with some back and forth action. I start to pull ahead and his board is Chameleon Colossus, Llanowar Elves, and a Garruk Wildspeak with four counters on it. I had a level 2 Figure of Destiny and a Path to Exile in my hand. I attack Garruk Wildspeak and he immediately blocks my Figure of Destiny. I thought that was a trade I wanted at the time, since my Path to Exile could be more valuable, but that was actually as good as it was going to get. I lost to Garruk a few turns later and was chastising myself about my misplay.
Game 3 is pretty relaxing compared to the previous games. He drew a Shriekmaw and a Profane Command, but he was on the back foot for most of the game. I drew two Spectral Processions and a Cloudgoat Ranger, and he didn’t draw any Maelstrom Pulses. We’ll take it!
10-3
Round 14 versus Woo, Travis
Game 1 Travis leads with Treetop Village and Graven Cairns. I was on the play and had a nut draw, so I felt pretty good about things as long as he didn’t have a turn 3 Seismic Assault. On his turn three, he cast Rain of Tears on my Windbrisk Heights. WTF? I win two turns later. I guess he was a pre-sideboarded Swans deck?
Game 2 I played a turn 1 Figure of Destiny. On turn 2 I play a Goldmeadow Stalwart and a Pithing Needle naming Seismic Assault. Turn 3, Travis plays Rain of Tears on one of my lands. Turn 5 comes around; Travis is at one life and says that he needs to rip. Pardon me? What can he rip? He draws and plays Hallowed Burial. Okay, what is going on here? What kind of Swans deck is this? The next four turns, I get Incendiary Commanded and now the jig is up. It has been a pretty long time since I have got gotten, but Mr. Woo tricked me good. If I hadn’t spent that mana playing a Pithing Needle, he would have been dead on turn 4.
Game 3 I am giving him the business but a timely Grixis Charm (yes, Grixis Charm) ruins my day. Travis starts cascading into Rain of Tears/Fulminator Mage, and I end up losing a match I was almost certain I was going to win.
Speaking with him during and after the match, he had gotten a few people with just like he got me. Travis ended up making Top 16, so more power to him. He seemed like a very good player, and he played the part very well. Grixis Charm may seem obscure, but he had gotten people with the +2/+0 effect a few times over the weekend since no one plays around that effect of the card (or any of them, considering it doesn’t see any play in Standard.) This was a pretty tough loss to take.
10-4
Round 15 versus Stark, Ben
Ben is a friend of mine, and we discuss drawing. As long as a lot of matches don’t draw, we were in the clear to draw to make Top 64. He explains the numbers to me, and I agree to an intentional draw. I knew Ben was playing GW Tokens, which is a very close matchup for both sides. I finished 61st and Ben finished 63rd. What a mize!
61st place, $200, and another pro point. Another fine weekend though one point of damage may have caused me to miss Top 16. It’s my own fault for being uninformed about the deck, so I deserved the loss. Pro Tour: Honolulu is on the horizon, and I am pretty excited about it. I don’t have a deck I’m too confident in, but I have a good feeling about the tournament. And if I do poorly, it’s not a big deal. I’m in freaking Hawaii after all!
Next week, I will discuss my Honolulu performance, make fun of Brian Six for sticking his finger in the chocolate fondue fountain numerous times when he thought people weren’t looking, and much more. See everyone next week!