Taking Things To The Ninth

Generally speaking, taking ninth place at a tournament is the ultimate dagger. I have frequently joked around and even earnestly suggested to a variety of
people that they need some sort of gag gift to give out to the ninth place player at each event. In a game where tournament structure dictates that you cut
to a single-elimination playoff with the top 8 players, let’s just say that ninth isn’t exactly the stuff of dreams.

We measure Magic success in top 8s. That ninth place player deserves a consolation prize for being the closest to succeeding without actually “succeeding.”
Preferably, this would be some sort of gift that doesn’t really enrich their life in any meaningful way but serves as a constant reminder of the near miss.
Perhaps a rubber toy dagger? Most of my ideas for the gift to give to the ninth place player aren’t exactly appropriate material for this article, but the
point remains. Ninth sucks. One is the loneliest number. In Ravnica, two is the worst number. In Magic, ninth is the saddest number.

A few days after Brad Nelson wrote an article about how I get ninth place fairly
often in tournaments, I ended up getting ninth place in the SCG Invitational. The moral of the story is that I blame Brad Nelson and his evil witchcraft
for this result. I recommend burning him at the stake.

I started 7-1 in this tournament, but I wasn’t able to convert that to a top 8 berth. Throughout the entire weekend, I heard a lot of discussion about how
often I’ve started 8-0 or 7-1 in Invitationals, only to fall short of the top 8. It would be really easy to take another great start that petered out into
a top 16 and turn it into a source of frustration. It would be really easy to view my performance through the same lens that so many others see it: a great
start, but ultimately a failure.

I don’t really see things that way, though. I’m actually really happy about my ninth place finish. I consider the weekend to be a success. Sure, I didn’t
quite make it into the top 8, and yes, I was hoping for a bit more, but all things told, I felt like I came out of this weekend with a success under my
belt.

I want to start by talking about why I feel that way and what I learned from the tournament before I move on to what I played in the tournament and
deck-specific discussion.

Perspective

I think it’s interesting how me starting 7-1, going 5-3 on day 2, and then finishing in ninth place is considered a failure. Finishing ninth out of 571
players puts me in the top 1.5% of finishers. In nearly any field, that would be considered a giant success, but as Magic players, we rarely view things
that way.

Out of the 18 players who started 7-1 on day 1, only 2 made the top 8. That means that 16 out of 18 of those players failed if we are judging success and
failure based solely on the metric of making top 8. If that is our sole indicator of success and failure, then 563 players failed, and only 8 succeeded.

I think it’s weird and potentially very harmful to look at Magic that way. I think it’s really weird that a lot of people consider Invitationals to be an
event where I have failed to succeed when in reality, I have put up very good numbers in these tournaments. Sure, I don’t have the same rate of success as
players like Gerry Thompson, Tom Ross, and Reid Duke, but it’s possible to have a successful tournament and not make top 8. It’s possible to do well at a
series of tournaments even if you aren’t the best at them. It’s possible to be good at Invitationals even if you’ve never won one.

I’ve played in 14 invitationals, and I’ve finished in the top 20 of 11 of those, including 4 top 8s. Considering most Invitationals are averaging like
300-350 players, that’s a really consistent high level of performance. I wish I could bring that same level of performance to other events, even just
regular SCG Opens, where I have a much worse rate.

I bring this up to point out that we have a very flawed idea of what constitutes a success or a failure. Everyone enters a tournament with the hopes and
dreams of making top 8 and eventually winning. There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s good to have dreams of big success. Where it becomes a potential issue
is when we set our expectations to the same level as our dreams.

When we expect to top 8, and anything less is a failure, we’re just setting ourselves up for disappointment, because frankly it is unrealistic to have
those expectations. Magic tournaments are often hundreds or even thousands of players. Regardless of size, there are still only eight players who can make
the top 8. If we allow ourselves to measure success based on something other than simply achieving the top 8, then we give ourselves a lot more room to
experience happiness at Magic tournaments.

This can be something as simple as “I’ll be happy if I make day 2,” but it can even be more than that. Personally, I found the weekend to be successful
because I learned a lot about the Standard format that I am going to be playing in the Pro Tour in next weekend. I also learned a lot about the correct way
to build Miracles in Legacy, something that is very useful information moving forward. I also feel like I learned something important about deck selection
for big tournaments that will aid me for years to come.

You could also just measure success by how much quality time you got to spend with friends or people you enjoy seeing. “I got to hang out with some nut
high, DI, gas sickos, so my weekend was a rousing success!” is another way to look at a Magic tournament. I wanted to do well this weekend because it has
been a long time since I have done well in a Magic tournament, but I knew going in that anything could happen, and I wasn’t going to let a poor finish ruin
my weekend.

Ninth is far from a poor finish. It wasn’t the best it could have been, but things could have also gone far worse. I won a lot of close, tight matches. I
made a number of mistakes, including some on camera, but I also felt like I played very well throughout the weekend, in general, especially in Legacy. If
nothing else, actually winning some matches of Magic in a tournament really helped boost my confidence going into the Pro Tour.

It’s also worth noting that the better you’re doing in a tournament, the harder it becomes to continue to win matches. If I start out 8-0 in a tournament,
I should expect to go something like 4-4 or 5-3 on day 2 because my quality of opponents will be higher than if I start out 5-3. If I start 5-3, then I can
increase my expectation of how well I will do on day 2 because I won’t be playing against the best players with the best decks unless I win a lot of
consecutive matches.

When you take a more objective look at tournaments and not focus solely on the idealized “top 8 or bust” mentality, it becomes a lot easier to take things
in stride and get enjoyment out of playing Magic and not let the swings ruin your weekend.

Deck Choice for Big Events

Brad Nelson has told me on a number of occasions that he believes the reason I have started so well and then ended up trailing off at the end of
Invitationals in the past has a lot to do with deck selection. Over the past few months, in working more with him, I’ve come to realize that there is a
good chance this is actually true.

A lot of decks that I have played in Invitationals are what some of my friends refer to as “BBD decks.” They are these high-powered clunky shells full of a
lot of big cards that ultimately lack malleability. By playing decks with powerful but clunky effects, I’m giving my opponents the ability to outmaneuver
me, especially when they figure out what my deck is doing.

Over the course of a long tournament, people begin to figure out what everyone else is playing, and any secrets you had don’t really stay secret very long.
For example, I played Esper Control in one Invitational with no Dissolves in my deck. On day 1, people played around Dissolve. By day 2, a lot of my
opponents knew that I didn’t have them, or at the very least had the ability to know that I didn’t have them. That makes it a lot easier for them to
maneuver around me in a game when they know that certain things are going to work or not work against me.

I think a lot of the reason that I’ve been doing poorly over the course of the last few months is that I have been playing decks that don’t give me the
ability to change gears or change gameplans. I am playing one-dimensional decks that are very good at executing one specific gameplan but that falter and
fail when that plan gets disrupted or when that plan simply isn’t good enough.

In this Standard format, I don’t think that’s where you want to be. The cards in Standard right now are so powerful that I feel like the only decks capable
of consistently putting up strong finishes are decks where all of your cards are good, decks where you are capable of shifting gears midgame or in
sideboarding to fight your opponent’s plan.

There’s a reason why Abzan Control has outperformed a deck like U/B Control. Abzan Control has the ability to shift gears. It can get aggressive with
Fleecemane Lions and Siege Rhinos. It isn’t locked into playing the same game each and every time. U/B Control doesn’t have that luxury. Abzan Control is a
hard deck to plan or metagame against because it can do so many different things. U/B Control is an easy deck to plan or metagame against because you know
exactly what it is going to do and exactly how to fight that.

I also feel like having cheap interactive cards is where you want to be in Standard. Murderous Cut is an example of a cheap interactive card. Thoughtseize
is another. So is Chained to the Rocks or Stoke the Flames. These cards are so good because they let you catch up; they give you options. When all the
cards in your deck are things like Utter End, you are capable of dealing with any problem your opponent can present, but sometimes you just can’t do it
fast enough or efficiently enough. Well, I guess not quite any problem. Stormbreath Dragon can go “rotate out of Standard” himself.

The old style decks I used to play were the Utter End kind of decks. I preferred versatility and didn’t care about paying more for it. That’s simply not
the case anymore. Now, I’d rather play a card like Chained to the Rocks. This card is efficient, and I can leverage that efficiency to my advantage. There
are going to be situations where it won’t be effective, but that’s where having a deck that is capable of shifting gears after sideboard is going to be
extremely valuable to present a completely different gameplan when that is the case.

The same principle holds true in Legacy as well. I won Grand Prix New Jersey because my deck was more efficient than my opponents’ decks. I had a plethora
of free and cheap spells and Treasure Cruise to refuel. When I played Miracles this past weekend, I ended up moving away from some of the more clunky “BBD
cards” like the Stoneforge Mystic package in favor of a more streamlined Ponder build. I felt like the deck was much smoother and much more powerful as a
result.

The Invitational

I was very happy with both of my decks for this tournament: Jeskai Tokens in Standard, Miracles in Legacy. I went 6-2 in both formats.

I won’t dwell too much on Jeskai Tokens. Brad Nelson and Todd Anderson did the majority of the work on that deck, with Todd playing his build to a 7-1
record and a top 8. I have to assume Michael Majors’ love affair with Dragonlord Ojutai also had something to do with our Dragon-based sideboard plan, and,
well, Michael was definitely right that Ojutai is a busted card.

I decided to follow suit and play the deck when it became apparent that the deck was simply beating everything we were throwing at it. This deck is way
outside of my comfort zone when it comes to deck archetypes, but I enjoyed playing it nonetheless, and I really liked the versatility of the deck and how
it could change gameplans after sideboard.

If I didn’t end up playing Jeskai Tokens, I would have otherwise played a build of Abzan Aggro featuring Brimaz prominently, similar to a list I had in my article last week.

Here’s the list of tokens I played.

Jeskai Tokens

Brian Braun-Duin

9th Place at Star City Games Invitational on 03-27-2015

Standard

Creatures (8)

Lands (24)

Spells (28)

Sideboard

Michael Majors and I both played a relatively stock version of Miracles. Neither of us really liked Entreat the Angels very much and wanted to play a
different win condition, but I expected a lot of Shardless Sultai and Sultai Delver. I wanted to have access to Entreat the Angels as it is one of the best
ways to beat them, and since they don’t fold to Counterbalance, it is very hard to grind them out.

Miracles

Brian Braun-Duin

9th Place at Star City Games Invitational on 03-27-2015

Legacy

Creatures (2)

2 Snapcaster Mage

Planeswalkers (3)

3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor

Lands (21)

Spells (34)

Sideboard

I wanted to play Stoneforge Mystic in the sideboard, but Michael Majors wasn’t sold on the card, and I ended up following suit when it became apparent that
I couldn’t play everything I wanted in the sideboard along with Stoneforge Mystic, Meddling Mage, and Containment Priest. One of those creatures had to get
cut, and I ended up settling on Stoneforge Mystic.

While I really like having access to Stoneforge and the plethora of free wins it provides, it really just makes your good matchups better. Containment
Priest and Meddling Mage, on the other hand, can provide valuable help in some of the scarier matchups, like fast combo decks. Miracles is such a powerful
deck and the engine so overwhelming that really the only matchups I truly fear in Legacy are decks with Liliana of the Veil and Abrupt Decay that can grind
through Counterbalance, or decks that are capable of winning on turn 1 and turn 2 that simply don’t give you a chance to get rolling.

Entreat the Angels is the best way to attack the Liliana of the Veil/Abrupt Decay decks, and having access to powerful hate cards like Meddling Mage and
Containment Priest lets you come after Reanimator and Sneak and Show from multiple angles. Decks like Sneak and Show and Reanimator couldn’t possibly exist
in Legacy if they were unable to beat cards like Flusterstorm and Force of Will. It’s clear that they are well-prepared to beat those cards. That’s why it
is important to attack them both with countermagic and with permanent-based hate like Meddling Mage and Counterbalance. It is hard for them to beat both.

Before Dig Through Time was a card, I think there were a variety of styles of Miracles that were viable. Now, with Dig legal, I don’t think that is the
case anymore. Dig Through Time thrives off of playing cheap spells to fuel the graveyard. Ponder is the best card to help you find Dig Through Time in the
matchups where the card is good, while also providing a cheap way to fuel it.

I think the European Ponder-based build of Miracles that players like Philipp Schonegger have been pushing are simply the best way to build the deck right
now. They are the most consistent, the most efficient, and the best at taking advantage of Dig Through Time, a card with an extremely high power level.

Once you’re locked into playing Ponder, then Snapcaster Mage becomes a lot more appealing. I have never liked Snapcaster Mage in Miracles in the past
because the deck is based around the combo of an artifact and an enchantment. You can’t Flashback a Counterbalance with Snapcaster Mage. However, with
Ponder in the mix, there are now twelve powerful one-mana spells to Flashback between Ponder, Brainstorm, and Swords to Plowshares. I wouldn’t go overboard
and play a full set, but a few copies of Snapcaster Mage performed very well for me.

Ponder and Snapcaster Mage also make Entreat the Angels and Terminus a lot better. I’ve played with Entreat the Angels in the past and hated the card, but
it was so much better this weekend than it has ever been in the past for me. That is in no small part to Snapcaster Mage and Ponder. Ponder helps you set
up miracles or helps you find Brainstorm to shuffle the ones in hand back into your deck. Snapcaster Mage serves as additional copies of Brainstorm later
in the game to do the same thing.

I ended up going 6-2 in the Invitational with a build two cards off from the above build. I had two Vendilion Cliques in my maindeck and the second Entreat
and second Dig in the sideboard. I swapped those numbers and ran the deck back again in the Legacy Premier IQ on Sunday and went 6-0-2 to top 8 before
losing in the semifinals to Tom Ross and his Infect menace.

Tom Ross has bested me many times with Infect, but I was able to defeat both Tom and Seth Manfield playing it in the Invitational. Both times I went into
the match feeling confident I would win, and I didn’t end up dropping a game. It can be a scary matchup for Miracles, and sometimes they can just kill you
on turn 2 or 3 when you play a Counterbalance, but I don’t actually think it’s a bad matchup anymore.

I don’t think it’s a fluke that most people who played Infect this weekend didn’t do well with the deck. People have figured out how to play against it,
and the free wins the deck used to get just don’t happen nearly as much anymore. Playing against Infect is like playing against U/W/x Heroic in Standard.
Trying to kill their creatures in combat is playing with fire and asking to take a huge chunk of unnecessary damage. It’s more effective to try to kill
their creatures at the end of their turn or on your own turn and force them to use their protection spells when they are less effective. Granted, Tom did
thrash me pretty easily in the top 4 of the Premier IQ, but it doesn’t feel like destiny anymore to lose.

If nothing else, I had more fun this weekend playing Miracles than I have playing Magic in a long time. I know that this probably makes me the worst type
of person, but Miracles is simply my favorite deck to play in any format. I feel extremely comfortable and confident playing it, and I just enjoy playing
the deck so much more than anything else.

I wish there were more Legacy events and that I had more opportunities to play Miracles. I’m already looking forward to the next Legacy Grand Prix. Playing
Miracles is like solving a puzzle. I feel like you can win almost every game with the deck, but it’s just a matter of putting the pieces together in the
right order. There are so many variables and moving parts, but when you solve the puzzle it comes with a fuzzy sense of accomplishment.

I just hope the deck will still be viable by the time the next tournament rolls around, because if it is, you can bet I’ll be playing it. Island. Sensei’s
Divining Top. Go. I couldn’t draw it up any better…that is, unless I go to time. Then I’ll be drawing it up quite nicely indeed.