This weekend, at Grand Prix: Kyoto, I played Angelfire (or Three Color Control, as the Japanese like to call it). My final score was once again very mediocre, but I can’t blame the deck. After several tries to update the deck by myself, and with the help of Frank Karsten (who put his own version of Angelfire on the internet the week before Kyoto), I discovered at the Grand Prix Trials the day before the main event that the Japanese metagame doesn’t resemble the Online or the European one at all. On that Friday, the best option seemed to be to take advice from players who would be playing the same deck as me… so I did, from Ichiro Shimura and Kenji Tsumura.
The metagame in Japan is full of control decks, mostly playing Blue for countermagic. For example, before the Extended portion of this year’s Worlds someone came up with the following quote: “Europeans are going to play Boros tuned to beat Boros, Japanese are going to play control tuned to beat control.” From what I learned, some Japanese Pro Players like to play their own deck creations for tournaments – a decision that sometimes pays off – while others don’t. For reference, see Katsuhiro Mori with a big hitter like U/W TriscuitTron that propelled him to a Worlds Top 8 finish, and a big flop like the Numot-Tron which didn’t win a round at Grand Prix: Kyoto. But the non-pro Japanese players who play frequently at shop tournaments lean towards playing control.
I believe Grand Prix: Kyoto was rewarding for regular Standard players. Usually, Pro Players don’t think too much about Standard, as the format is irrelevant except for Worlds and Nationals. But for players who weekly attend tournaments, Standard is the most commonly played format, and thus they were rewarded. Kenji told me Yuyua Watanabe went something like 30-5 in his local Standard tournaments. And if you look through the final standings of the Grand Prix, you’ll notice a shortage of big name players.
As for myself, Standard is my favorite Constructed format. I feel there are too many cards available in Extended, and block is only fun for a short period of time until all the possibilities are run out. But I also felt very unprepared playing at this Grand Prix. I didn’t know all the decks, and I questioned some of my plays. In Constructed, you have to know what you’re doing as soon as you identify the matchup you’re playing. You don’t just play the cards in your hand, or drop the cards in the order you draw them. You need to have a game-winning plan against every deck. Even though I felt, during the Grand Prix, that I had a good list, sometimes I felt a little helpless when playing at such a large tournament. This was something that I already knew… I didn’t learn it in Kyoto.
Nevertheless, I decided to attend anyway. You can even say that the Grand Prix was not my main reason for travel, but more of an excuse. Of course I wanted to perform the best I could, and was slightly disappointed by finishing just outside Top 64 after playing for two full days. At the time of Grand Prix: Dallas I had to choose between attending Grand Prix: Singapore or Grand Prix: Kyoto, as both had roughly the same cost and flying distance when departing from Lisbon.
Here are the pros for both choices:
Singapore
I was well prepared for Extended, after a week of intensive testing with the Dutchies and a solid performance at Dallas.
It would make the playtesting done for Dallas a little more worthwhile.
I’d never traveled to that part of Asia.
Kyoto
I could stay at Shuhei’s house once more.
We could practice Two-Headed Giant Draft together. We’re teaming for Grand Prix: Massachusetts.
I wouldn’t mind sightseeing in Kyoto again, as the last time we were here we only took a very quick tour. Plus, as Katsuhiro Mori says in his own words, “Kyoto girls are very kind.”
Long story short, I used the excuse of being a Level 6 and having a Grand Prix in Kyoto to go back to a place I love, to meet nice people who I don’t have much chance to be with outside of Pro Tours.
After Grand Prix: Amsterdam, Frank Karsten had almost convinced me to play his new take on Angelfire with maindeck Teferis, Boom / Bust, and Detritivores, which he later posted in his article the week preceding Kyoto. Here’s the list for reference.
1 Adarkar Wastes
3 Island
4 Izzet Boilerworks
4 Sacred Foundry
2 Shivan Reef
4 Flagstones of Trokair
4 Hallowed Fountain
1 Urza’s Factory
4 Lightning Angel
4 Court Hussar
1 Detritivore
3 Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
2 Boros Signet
4 Compulsive Research
2 Izzet Signet
3 Lightning Helix
3 Remand
3 Wrath of God
3 Azorius Signet
3 Boom / Bust
2 Demonfire
Sideboard
2 Faith’s Fetters
1 Lightning Helix
1 Sacred Mesa
2 Shadow of Doubt
2 Teferi’s Moat
1 Wrath of God
2 Condemn
1 Detritivore
3 Riptide Pilferer
Friday on the site there were 17 GP Trials in single elimination mode. The most predominant decks were the control ones, as expected, but mostly what the Japanese call the “Triple Control:” Blue/White/Red or Blue/White/Black. Except for the Dralnu strangely and U/B Pickles, all the other control decks were represented, including infinite versions of Tron. Thanks to the advice received, and after looking ah Kenji’s and Ichiro Shimura’s lists, I set on this maindeck list.
3 Island
1 Plains
3 Hallowed Fountain
2 Steam Vents
2 Sacred Foundry
2 Adarkar Waste
2 Shivan Reef
2 Izzet Boilerworks
2 Boros Garrison
2 Flagstones of Trokair
1 Urza’s Factory
1 Sunhome Fortress
4 Azorius Signet
3 Boros Signet
4 Remand
3 Lightning Helix
4 Compulsive Research
4 Court Hussar
4 Lightning Angel
3 Detritivore
3 Wrath of God
2 Demonfire
1 Aeon Chronicler
1 Akroma, Angel of Fury
1 Vesuvan Shapeshifter
That’s 30 mana sources, 23 lands, and 7 Signets. Playing this deck without a turn 2 Signet is a painful experience, as it seems you’re trying to operate with a defective deck. You also have the Compulsive Researches to get rid of extra lands, and the suspend spells from Planar Chaos need plenty of mana early to power them. But the main reason to adjust the manabase was the dismissal of Boom / Bust, which made me drop the number of Flagstones of Trokair, and as a consequence I adjusted the colors of the bounce lands and the remaining non-basics.
Kenji wasn’t a big fan of Aeon Chronicler after trying it Online, while Ichiro played with three maindeck. Every time I drew the Chronicler it was good, as most of the time you’ll pay five mana to suspend it. On the next turn, you draw a card, and then it’s usually a 5/5 or 6/6 that comes into play with haste, and you have your mana untapped to force him through countermagic, or to play something else. Plus, if you are in no rush of a mid-sized body, you can always suspended it for more counters and stock your hand.
The cards that didn’t impressed me that much at the Grand Prix were the Demonfires. Every Blue deck now runs Mystical Teachings and Commandeer, so it might be a little risky to go all in with hellbent. Akroma was not very hot either. I don’t think she dealt a single point of damage, thanks to Damnation and Vesuvan Shapeshifter to name but two. I would replace one of the Demonfires with the fourth Helix, and the remaining two slots could become two Numot, the Devastator, more Aeon Chroniclers, or more Vesuvan Shapeshifters.
Detritivores were the best addition from Planar Chaos, as they turn all the control matchups (which where close or tough) into quite decent if you happen to draw them. For instance, Dralnu du Louvre plays with 5 or 6 basic lands. After everything is considered, I still love this deck and I believe it will always be a good deck choice for any tournament. It plays with powerful cards, as opposed, for example, to U/B Pickles, which is a combination of some sub-par cards that work together but are a little weak by themselves. No matter what cards you draw in Angelfire, as long as you have mana and spells you should be fine. Second, it’s a really balanced deck against an unknown field: it can hold its ground against any creature-based deck, and it has a decent chance against control. Third, it’s my favorite deck at the moment, and it probably plays with all my favorite cards available in the format. I’ve said multiple times how important it is to play with a deck that you like.
Sideboard
3 Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
3 Faith’s Fetters
3 Annex
1 Detritivore
2 Temporal Isolation
2 Return to Dust
1 Circle of Protection: Red
I updated my maindeck Friday afternoon during the Trials, but I left the final decisions for the sideboard for the evening. I was set on the 3 Annexes, plus 3 Faith’s Fetters, and probably 3 Teferis. Before the Grand Prix I choose Return to Dust over Disenchant and similar because it’s always two for one in the matchups you bring them in: the mirror and Solar Flare. As for the rest of the sideboard, I asked Kenji a couple of minutes before the start of the tournament. Even Kenji changed his sideboard many times during the delay before the start. Our differences were that he had Trickbind and Sacred Ground or Sacred Mesa. At first I thought it was Sacred Ground, but later when talking to Masashiro Kuroda playing the same deck as Kenji, he praised the Sacred Mesas. Following their advice, I put Temporal Isolations in as an answer to creature decks, as they are especially good enchanting Soltari Priests, and they can also serve as a removal in the mirror or against Dragonstorm. The lone Circle of Protection: Red is not for Boros, though you can board them in. There is one matchup that usually lasts long enough to justify having one Cop: Red, which is the mirror. Once again, and now that I’ve finished the Grand Prix, I must say I’m happy with my deck choice, and would only replace a couple of cards. I’m sure I would’ve regretted it if I’d played with any other deck and didn’t post an absolutely great finish.
I started the first day by losing to a rogue deck, Turbo-Force. Thanks to a Llanowar Elf, my opponent accelerated into a turn 4 Spectral Force. On his next turn he played Might of Old Krosa turning it into a 12/12, then attacked and activated his Sunhome Fortress, dealing me 24 damage. In the second game he opened with Utopia Sprawl. I took two damage to bring a dual land into play untapped, in order to play Lightning Helix if needed. He played another Utopia Sprawl, followed by a turn 3 Spectral Force. I put a Faith’s Fetters on it and go to 22 life. He played another. Next turn he pumped it with Might of Old Krosa, and had the Sunhome Fortress in play as well. He attacked me for 24 damage, I play Lightning Helix on him to gain three, go up to 25 and survive the 24 damage attack. He passes, and I have two turns since the Spectral Force doesn’t untap next turn. I play Court Hussar or Compulsive Research to dig for an answer, but had to pass because I didn’t have enough mana left. He plays Scryb Ranger, untaps the Force to attack for the win.
Usually in the early rounds, I can predict how things will go for the rest of the weekend… and it wasn’t looking good.
I proceeded to win against a mirror match and a Solar Flare, both 2-1 with some luck, as both my opponents had mana problems in game 5. The same happened to me in the next round where I had three silly games, losing against Solar Flare 1-2. In the first he won the die roll, we both made turn 2 Signets, but he took advantage of me being tapped out to safely play a Persecute, which battered all six cards in my hand. I won the second thanks to a mulligan to five cards from his side, and lost the third to mana screw. With a 2-2 score I was know on the ropes with two rounds to go. I won 2-0 against Dragonstorm much more easily than I expected. He probably had weak draws. After asking for some advice and considering my situation, I decided to draw safely into Day 2, though there was a decent chance that I could make it even with a loss. Shuhei Nakamura, for example, ended 129th with three losses.
I remember at least five times where I could’ve drawn into Day 2, and decided to play even with the risk of being eliminated with a loss. In one of them I drew by time, and I won all the others. Ever since my last “draw into Day 2,” I’ve been chasing a Grand Prix Top 8. I believe GP: Porto in 2000 was my second GP, and the last time I drew into Day 2. I finished in 10th place after Antoine eliminated me in the last round to improve Olivier’s chances of making Top 8. They ended up playing in the finals. As Antoine jokes nowadays: “sorry, you missed your chance.”
The truth is I’ve had some other opportunities in the following years but always ended up close but not there. And therefore I kept refusing draws into Day 2 so that I could position myself for a better shot at Top 8. Meanwhile I grew up. Seven years have passed. I like to believe that I’m now mature enough to not chase a wild dream of one day still making Top 8 at a GP. It’s still on my checklist of things to do, but I have responsibilities now. As a Pro Player, my number one priority is to gather Pro Points. I feel I don’t need to go all-in and risk ending with nothing, thus it’s safer to draw into Day 2. Especially because now the Pro Points are more valuable and there are more to be collected on the second day of Grand Prix tournaments. Some of the Pro Players from my country, younger and hungrier for the wins, travel to Grand Prix tournaments with high expectations, hoping to at least Top 8 and even win it all. Such young kids!
On the Grand Prix site, some like Katsuhiro Mori told me they would draw if in my situation, and Osamu Fujita also wanted to draw but his opponent refused. Others like Shingo Kurihara told me to play, and I believe Shoota Yasooka also played and won. Once again, one side sees the Old School playing it safe, and on the other a younger and hungrier generation are aiming big. It turns out that the difference for Top 8 wasn’t that big with either a win or a draw in the last round of Day 1. With a draw, I needed an easy calculation from a mathematically point of view: to 6-0. With a win, I only needed to 5-0 and could allow myself a draw. Both need a really lucky day where all every detail goes your way.
I woke up in Day 2 and felt a lot better. I’d not been feeling too good ever since I arrived in Japan on the Wednesday before, and I couldn’t figure if I was sick or jet-lagged. Since Grand Prix: Dallas I’ve had very few full nights of sleep. Before the second day of the GP I thought I was finally through the jetlag, as it was my fifth day in Japan, but the Grand Prix was already passed and today I fell asleep at 6pm, so it might not be the case. You may wonder what I’m doing in here besides practicing Two Headed Giant with my Massachusetts team-mate and the other Level 6 and 5 players from Japan. I’ve always loved Japan, and every time I won a PTQ and attended a Pro Tour here I always promised myself that I would be back one day. For me, Japan is one of those places to which you never say “goodbye,” but rather a “see ya soon,” as I always leave intending to return. Even if it’s hard to communicate because of the language barrier, you can still enjoy the company of nice people. Plus the food is healthier, and I always return home with less weight, to make up for those times where I spend a week in America. All in all, I feel calm here, so far away from the everyday life of my world.
Anyway, I felt fresh, awake, and happy to play on the second day. I was a little torn because I could not join Katsuhiro Mori and Tomoharu Saito girl-hunting in central Kyoto. If I knew they had planned girl-hunting on Sunday afternoon, and it was an extra weight in the balance pending to play the last round of the previous day. I am aware I wouldn’t be girl-hunting myself, but I would definitely want to pick up some expert techniques from the masters. At the GP I got an auspicious start with a 2-0 win against Dralnu. The matchup got so much better with the inclusion of three Detritivores and one Aeon Chronicler, plus the Teferis in the sideboard. But things went downhill from here.
I lost 1-2 to one of my best matchups, Scryb and Force, but I guarantee you this was the first time I’d ever dropped a game against Scryb and Force, and to make things worse it was two in the same round. Even though I had solid starting hands, none of them had Signets, and Scryb Force always has accelerators. He was on the play for games 1 and 3, so maybe I should’ve mulliganed into a Signet because I was always too far behind. In game 3 I managed to recover and clear the board with Wrath, but then we went into topdecking mode. I felt good about my chances as I had Court Hussar and Helix, but he got a Spectral Force to which I drew no answer. I hope I don’t start having nightmares featuring Spectral Forces.
My next loss was the round after, to U/B Pickles Tron. I think the Detritivores improve the matchup. I lost the game due to a huge topdeck. I won’t explain all the details in here, as the situation was very complex, but I was winning next turn for sure. In his main phase he flashbacked Mystical Teachings, and the best he could fetch was a Think Twice to try to topdeck one of his two outs… which he did, after playing and flashbacking the Think Twice. He needed either Brine Elemental or Vesuvan Shapeshifter. He already had one Brine Elemental in play face up, and a Shapeshifter in the graveyard.
Next round I had an easy matchup, Green/Black/White. The games were not exciting, and it ended with a 1-1 draw. He was at two life, me at 26. I actually showed him I could kill him next turn. He had only four or five lands thanks to a Detritivore, and almost no cards in hand. He still refused to concede, and eliminated us both from Top 64. I thought about dropping and scooping myself, but then I thought that maybe I’d read the standings incorrectly, and there was still a chance that a 2-0 in the final two rounds gets to Top 64. Otherwise, he probably would’ve conceded. Well, there was only one way to figure it out.
I won the next two rounds very easily, against Green/Black/Blue dredge and Dralnu. I have no idea about the matchup against Dredge. It doesn’t seem very good on paper, but I had good draws, and managed to delay his Imp recursion with Detritivore in game 1. After sideboard I have Faith’s Fetters and Isolations for them. Dralnu gets a lot easier with Detritivores, if you draw them, and I did in this round. As I expected, I finished just outside Top 64, but after the round that ended in a draw, I had no way to read the standings at the time.
I wasn’t upset after the GP, as I had a great time during, before, and after the tournament. There was only one incident that made me feel very miserable, which was when I received a warning for not removing a card with Castigate. There was a Judge watching, probably because we had extra time due to a deck check, and we were playing very fast. My opponent played Castigate, and I showed Compulsive Research and Demonfire. He picked the Compulsive Research.
The judge asked me, “which card did he choose?”
I answered, “the Compulsive Research.”
The judge then said, “please remove it from the game.”
I took it from the top of my graveyard and put it aside, and the judge informed me that I’d received a warning, and started writing it on the result slip.
It felt pretty harsh. I appealed to the Head Judge, even knowing that rules are rules, and I had to receive a warning, but to let them know how unfair that warning felt to me. At the whole Grand Prix, there were players making procedural errors (or whatever they call it) like playing Compulsive Researches, placing the card in the graveyard, then drawing three and discarding a land on top of the Research, and those players were just educated or corrected. I mean, the situation was so easy to fix – I simply needed to set the card aside. I don’t think the Judges understood my point of view, because of language issues, and I took the warning, but I would like them to know that I felt it was very undeserving, even if it is stated so in the rulebook. Anyway, now that I’ve expressed myself, please don’t start any further discussions on this in the forums. I accept whatever penalty is in the rulebook, and respect whatever opinions anyone may have regarding this. I think this zero tolerance policy is better to catch cheaters, even at the cost of some unfair minor casualties, like myself at this time.
Other than this, my stay in Japan was amazing. At first I missed the company of the usual crew of European Pro "idiots" willing to travel to a distant Grand Prix, but after a while, every Japanese player was very welcoming and kind to me, trying to make me feel as integrated as possible. Another big highlight of the weekend was when Masashiro Kuroda introduced me to the Lightning Angel girl. Who’s the Lightning Angel girl? I misheard her name, and it felt rude to ask for a third time. To me, she’ll always be the Lightning Angel girl…
The first time I saw an Angelfire deck, or Triple Control, was in a side event at Pro Tour: Kobe, “Lightning Angel girl” was playing it. I immediately knew I was going to play Angelfire at Worlds. Many things happened in my way to a Top 8 finish, including Draft and Extended, but if I had to rewind it back to a point, that would be the start. And guess what she was playing at the Grand Prix Trials and at the Grand Prix?
Yeah, you guessed it right.
I’m sure I’ll be playing with Lightning Angels again at some point this season, so maybe I’ll ask her to sign some for good luck at Pro Tour Yokohama. Hint: read this as you will… who knows, maybe I already have a Lightning Angel deck to play at Pro Tour: Yokohama!
From Japan with love,
Tiago