Even after ten years of playing Grand Prix Magic, there is still a thing I can’t get used to when visiting the America… GPs usually don’t take place in the city where they are announced. It is often better to go to a different airport to that of the supposed host city. Grand Prix: Tampa Bay, for instance, was located a “mere” $120 cab drive from Tampa airport. For once, I was glad I was not travelling on my own.
Grand Prix: Tampa Bay actually took place in… where was it? I only remember it sounds like Tomato, like Pometo or something. [That’ll be Palmetto – Craig.] So, Saturday morning, I arrive at the Tomato Convention Center (Tomato does sound kind of awesome after all), and I see a lot more familiar faces than usual. It makes sense, considering the tournament happened only one week after Pro Tour: Austin, and the flight was pretty cheap.
I could discuss my sealed deck construction, but it is quite pointless, as three of the colors where unplayable, and all that was left was a decent WR Aggro deck. My brother opened the same deck, with a Dragon and a solid Ally motor, and I was pretty sure he’d make Day 2, as would Manu B running a four-color Ally deck. It was interesting to see each other’s decks after playing a lot of Sealed on Magic: Online over the previous week. Antoine, Manu, and I have discussed the format a lot lately, and we’ve come to understand a rather interesting thing. Our best looking decks were always going 1-3 or 2-2, when the worst-looking builds were never posting negative records. At first we thought of it as random variance, until something occurred to us: the aggro decks were not working very well in Sealed. How could that be, when the draft format (and most Zendikar cards in general) are an invitation to attack?
Most people will agree that Green in ZZZ draft is one of the weakest colors seen in a while. However, if the draft format is too fast to focus on spending the first few turns fixing your mana, the Sealed format allows it, as the most aggressive decks usually are a little slower. Take Red/Black for instance. In draft, it usually has several early removal spells and a lot of early drops, including several Goblin Shortcutters, each of which guarantee to land good attacks. In Sealed, there is less choice, and the Red/Black player must often rely on Torch Slinger and Heartbeater Mosquito to clean the path. Unfortunately, at the moment you reached seven mana, your opponent should already have several guys too big for your 2/1 army.
In the meantime, Green may be weak as far as individual quality is concerned, it has a lot more time to cast its big guys in Sealed than in draft, and it has, with Harrow and Khalni Heart Expedition, the two more reliable ways to run three colors or more.
I made it to Day 2 with a 7-2 record. Even though I was pretty disappointed by my level of play over the weekend, I got lucky to play against opponents who gave me at least 3 games in my four wins. Antoine didn’t have that luck and didn’t make Day 2. Here is basically what he said after Day 1 ended:
“I didn’t even get unlucky. I drew pretty well for the whole day, but I just couldn’t win. WR just can’t win in this format.”
Manu was 6-0 without much of a surprise, when he lost 2 straight. He then came to ask me if he could draw into Day 2.
I checked and confirmed that one point was very likely to be enough for Top 128. After the end of my final match, I visited Manu’s table. As I arrived, I saw his opponent (who had probably refused the draw) making countless mistakes in what appeared to be game 3, but Manu still couldn’t do a thing and had to take a third straight loss. He obviously seemed to be very badly affected by this, and we left the venue pretty quickly.
After waiting for our cab for about 20 minutes, one thought came to my mind. What if Manu had made Day 2 after all? If a draw would’ve propelled him to about 120th place, if he had great tiebreakers, he probably wouldn’t be that far off making Top 128. I went back in, checked the standings, and saw Manu had actually made it!
I ran outside to tell him the good news.
“Are you sure? You know I’m gonna kill you if I didn’t make it…”
Okay, let’s go and double check… gotta be better than dying.
117, 118, 119, 120, 121,122… here we are: Buttler, Jason (19).
And my heart stopped beating.
Wait?! No! No no no no no! It can’t be!
123…
124: Bucher, Manuel (18).
Yes! Yes! YES YES YES YES YES! I was really scared for a moment there…
My Day 2 started pretty well, with a 2-0 record drafting a very good WR deck, until I decided to dig my own grave. I totally screwed up game 1 of the third round, and then took a mulligan to four, which would have been enough if he hadn’t topdecked an unlikely-to-be-decisive Mind Sludge, catching Bladestusk Boar and Mark of Mutiny when he was on ten with a 3/3 on the board while I had three 2/2s. But as most players would have won game 1 in my place, and as I should have battled in a decisive game 3, I couldn’t really contest the fairness of the result.
My following draft went the way a Green draft often goes.
– You don’t feel like going for it.
– Your neighbors make it clear they won’t be passing you anything else.
– You have a pretty good-looking deck.
– You get your ass kicked.
I still won my first round of this pod, against Joel Calafell and his “double-mulligan-game-2, triple-mulligan-game-3,” when his deck was clearly better than mine. I still had a pretty good spot for Top 16 then, but I lost the last two to Guillaume Wafo-Tapa and Seth Manfield respectively. I was very unhappy about my playing and my results this weekend, but I still managed to leave Tomato with a smile when I saw the final standings…
64: Ruel, Olivier (30)
I’d won money! $200 wasn’t that bad. Oh wait, I forgot the 30% tax, so actually 140 bucks. Minus the registration fee, that’s $100. The taxi from Tampa, the hotel, and the morning cabs? 100 dollars less. So basically all I got is a pro point, which doesn’t take me much closer to my end-of-season objectives (30 points now when I need 50).
However, I still feel happy, both thanks to the magical #64 effect, and because considering my sealed deck and the level of my game this weekend, I didn’t deserve any better.
Back to Tampa airport, and I had to wait for 29 hours before my flight would depart. I enjoyed this opportunity to do some ZZZ drafts for my column, and also a lot of Sealed decks, in which I tried the strategy to go control no matter what to check the pertinence of our theories on the format.
The results were quite interesting. When I forced control despite not having the good cards for it, I went 1-3, 2-2, 2-2. When I had absolutely no other build possible than a mediocre aggro deck, I went on a very lucky 2-0 before the program crashed. When I did have the cards to play control, I went 2-2, 3-1 and 3-1. And no, I haven’t found a way to bend the time/space continuum; I only happen to run multi tables during release weeks.
Let’s now see one of the 3-1 sealed deck I was talking about.
Lands:
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Arid Mesa
2 Graypelt Refuge
1 Sejiri Refuge
1 Turntimber Grove
1 Piranha Marsh
Many dual lands and fetchlands, it opens possibilities.
Artifacts:
1 Carnage Altar
1 Spidersilk Net
1 Explorer’s Scope
1 Khalni Gem
Khalni Gem is a fantastic target for Mold Shambler and Kor Sanctifiers, but it is still one of the few cards which can allow you to run more than three colors. Its combos with the gain life lands, and Landfall abilities are interesting as well.
White:
1 Landbind Ritual
1 Shieldmate’s Blessing
1 Sunspring Expedition
2 Kor Duelist
1 Cliff Threader
1 Noble Vestige
1 Kor Cartographer
1 Kabira Evangel
2 Kor Outfitter
1 Journey to Nowhere
1 Pitfall Trap
1 Caravan Hurda
2 Kor Sanctifiers
1 Windborne Charge
One strong Ally in Kabira Evangel, a pair of removal spells, and two of the excellent Kor Sanctifiers. Might be a little light to be the deck’s core, though, in which case White loses its double-White drops, meaning pretty much everything it has got.
Blue:
2 Cancel
1 Paralyzing Grasp
1 Ior Ruin Expedition
1 Trapfinder’s Trick
1 Shoal Serpent
1 Reckless Scholar
1 Tempest Owl
1 Spreading Seas
1 Sphinx of Lost Truths
1 Sky Ruin Drake
1 Living Tsunami
Two bombs… and crap.
Black:
1 Bog Tatters
1 Vampire Lacerator
1 Marsh Casualties
1 Heartstabber Mosquito
1 Sorin Markov
1 Hideous End
2 Grim Discovery
1 Mire Blight
1 Guul Draz Vampire
1 Soul Stair Expedition
1 Ravenous Trap
1 Feast of Blood
1 Mindless Null
One of the best rares (Sorin Markov), one of the best uncommons (Marsh Casualties), and one of the best commons (Hideous End) make Black very tempting. However, it seems to be short on playables.
Red:
1 Demolish
1 Spire Barrage
2 Slaughter Cry
1 Kazuul Warlord
2 Molten Ravager
1 Goblin Shortcutter
1 Torch Slinger
1 Bladetusk Boar
1 Magma Rift
1 Punishing Fire
Not many playables, but the Warlord could be the core of a five-color Ally deck.
Green:
1 Primal Bellow
1 Zendikar Farguide
1 Scythe Tiger
1 Quest for the Gemblades
2 Beast Hunt
1 Nissa’s Chosen
1 Timbermaw Larva
1 Vastwood Gorger
2 Joraga Bard
1 Grazing Gladehart
2 Turntimber Basilisk
1 Oran-Rief Survivalist
1 Khalni Heart Expedition
2 Harrow
Many weak cards, but the very precious Khalni Heart Expedition, and double Harrow.
The deck has all it takes to be control: bombs, fixers, and not enough good cards in any color.
Obviously, the Green is a must. As you want to have your Green mana in every opening hand, you have to make Green the color#1 of the deck. Therefore, these will definitely make it in:
1 Grazing Gladehart
2 Turntimber Basilisk
1 Oran-Rief Survivalist
1 Khalni Heart Expedition
2 Harrow
You probably won’t play enough Green to have much chance of playing Nissa’s Chosen on turn 2, and the Bards’ playability will depends on whether you want to run Allies or not.
Black is the next must-play color. You have to play these:
1 Heartstabber Mosquito
1 Sorin Markov
1 Hideous End
1 Marsh Casualties
It’s not that many cards, but they’re so strong and you have so many fixers that you’ll figure out a way to run them.
White is the last color you absolutely have to play, as it has two common duals with Green, and several strong cards including a pair of removal spells.
1 Pitfall Trap
1 Journey to Nowhere
2 Kor Sanctifiers
These will make it for sure.
Then there are two questions to answer before being able to complete the deck:
A- Can you afford a fourth or fifth color, considering you already have lots of double (if not triple) colored mana spells?
B- Do you want an Ally base?
The question to the latter is quite easy. The only pump-type allies are Oran-Rief Survivalist and Kazuul Warlord. You need at least four powerful allies to compensate for the risks you take running several colors, and Kabira Evangel is nothing spectacular here. Therefore no, you don’t want to go with an Ally strategy.
When considering the 4th and 5th color, I’m not sure they cost as much as it seems. Let’s try putting the most powerful cards left into the mix: Living Tsunami, Sphinx of Lost Truths, and Punishing Fire.
Also, as we’re now running both fetchlands, Grim Discovery becomes excellent in the deck, as it also recuperates the land sacrificed with Harrow. Many times in this event I sacrificed a dual land to reanimate it with Discovery and gain one life. Add a couple of control-oriented cards (Sky Ruin Drake and Caravan Hurda), and that’s 22 playables.
Let’s now see if the mana can work:
1 Grazing Gladehart
2 Turntimber Basilisk
1 Oran-Rief Survivalist
1 Khalni Heart Expedition
2 Harrow
I need seven Green sources to pull one in the first three turns, not counting the Gem that will take too much time getting me there.
2 Graypelt Refuge
1 Misty Rainforest
4 Forest
That should do. Now the Black:
2 Grim Discovery
1 Marsh Casualties
1 Heartstabber Mosquito
1 Sorin Markov
1 Hideous End
Eight Black mana sources would do. Good news, as these spells are less necessary in the first few turns, so I can count the Green fixers as possible sources.
5 Swamp
2 Harrow
1 Khalni Heart Expedition
1 Khalni Gem
That seem good. I’m not counting the Green fixers as one Black exactly, as sometimes I’d be willing to go for other lands.
Now let’s move on to White:
1 Pitfall Trap
1 Journey to Nowhere
1 Caravan Hurda
2 Kor Sanctifiers
This won’t take much White mana. The ideal would be six sources, but five should do.
2 Harrow
1 Khalni Gem
1 Khalni Heart Expedition
2 Graypelt Refuge
1 Sejiri Refuge
1 Arid Mesa
1 Plains
This way, I’ve more than enough. However, I don’t put two Plains, even though I’ve a pair of Kor Sanctifiers. The first reason is that, in the worst case scenario, the 2/3 is still a good early blocker, something my deck needs a lot. The second point is that, with the Gem and the three duals, I should be able to kick it anyway.
Now for the Blue:
1 Living Tsunami
1 Sphinx of Lost Truths
1 Sky Ruin Drake
To work out, it will take about six Blue mana sources.
2 Harrow
1 Khalni Gem
1 Khalni Heart Expedition
1 Sejiri Refuge
1 Misty Rainforest
2 Island
As most my fixers can go for two lands, it should be okay, but I still feel like running two Islands. Why so, when I chose to go with only one Plains in a similar situation despite running more White cards than Blue? Simply because my White cards can be efficient, even with only one White mana available, and because I’d like to draw one Blue in order to be able to search for something else with my Green fixers. Also, it allows the Rainforest/Discovery combo to let me play all my Blue cards.
And as far as Red is concerned, one Mountain will be more than enough for Punishing Fire. Adding all those lands together gives 18 lands, just what I was intending on playing.
Here is the final build of the deck:
1 Plains
2 Island
4 Forest
5 Swamp
1 Mountain
2 Graypelt Refuge
1 Sejiri Refuge
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Arid Mesa
1 Oran-Rief Survivalist
1 Grazing Gladehart
2 Turntimber Basilisk
2 Kor Sanctifiers
1 Heartstabber Mosquito
1 Living Tsunami
1 Sphinx of Lost Truths
1 Sky Ruin Drake
1 Caravan Hurda
1 Khalni Heart Expedition
2 Grim Discovery
1 Marsh Casualties
1 Journey to Nowhere
1 Punishing Fire
1 Hideous End
1 Pitfall Trap
2 Harrow
1 Khalni Gem
1 Sorin Markov
To conclude, I think control decks are those which can make the better use of power cards by making the games longer. Therefore, if you have either bombs or lots of removal spells and fixers, feel free to go for more than three colors. If you’re short in fixers but still have cards which make you want to make the game last, try and go control, and don’t fear to run three colors if you can afford it.
If none of those options is possible, my experience taught me than an average aggro deck is a little more efficient than a forced control one, as a shorter game will leave your opponent less chance to draw their proper mana and best spells.
Have a great weekend!
Oli