Hello again!
With work tying up a lot of my free time, I was scrambling for a Standard list to play at the Baltimore Invitational. Luckily, I knew just the man for the job. After a brief discussion with Gerry Thompson about some potential Delver lists, he had this nugget of wisdom.
"Oh yeah, bring some Intangible Virtues."
Well, that was not the answer I was expecting when I asked GerryT what else I would have to bring. But okay, you have piqued my interest. Tell me more, Mr. Thompson.
"Don’t be lazy, just watch MJ’s stream."
Well then.
I logged onto Darkest_Mage’s stream to see what kind of spice we were bringing for that weekend, and I was not disappointed. Despite MJ’s propensity to get drawn out (his rage very apparent in stream), the deck looked super sweet. Lingering Souls was already the best answer to a flipped Delver, and if everyone else was on the Souls Train we would need a trump. The fact that they tacked on vigilance to an Anthem effect was just the icing on top. It already provided a trump in racing them, butohbytheway their Spirit tokens now could not even attack. Needless to say I was hooked like the fish that I am.
After borrowing the majority of the deck from Evan Bernett, I was on my way to Baltimore.
Why I Hate Yu (or how Jarvis cost me $30)
MJ and I were seated across one another before the player’s meeting. Neither of us had the requisite Sorin, Lord of Innistrad needed to complete our sideboard. Jarvis sauntered over, unqualified for the main event, and asked if I needed anything. "One Sorin please," I requested. "Sure," he responded, as he reached into his bag. He pulled out the single planeswalker and set it down between MJ and I. "Here you go, guys." "Guys?" I thought. I looked at MJ; he looked back at me. Sigh. "Ok. I guess we should settle this with a die roll."
After a quick stop at the dealer booth (and with my bank account $30 lighter), it was time to get seated for the player’s meeting. I had taken the under on 250 players, but I was very surprised to see that only around 150 were attending. This led to one of the more interesting tournaments that I have ever attended.
A side note on Michael Jacob. After he started the day by going 0-3, he rattled off five consecutive wins to make Day 2. After we had talked for a bit, we came to realize that there was the potential for none of his opponents to have made Day 2, which is absurd if you think about it. I like to think that they didn’t so that I can imagine MJ sitting at the table after winning each round and spouting his fictional catch phrase, "You’ve just been executed." Michael "The Executioner" Jacob. Yeah, you’re right, that will never stick.
Here’s the 150 that I registered for the event.
Creatures (11)
Lands (21)
Spells (28)
Creatures (11)
Lands (19)
Spells (30)
I was very happy with how the Standard deck came together. I think that the Intangible Virtue plan was super sweet, and I would definitely recommend giving it a shot going forward.
Day 1
Here’s a look at how the first day went along with some notable matches.
Round 1: Ben Isgur, 2-1 W
Round 2: Jeremy Fain, 2-1 W
Round 3: Hunter Weisheit, 1-2 L
Round 4: Larry Swasey, 2-1 W
Round 5: Eric Drain, 1-2 L
Round 6: David Gearhart, 0-2 L
Round 7: David Bauer, 2-0 W
Round 8: Harold White, 2-0 W
I played Larry Swasey in round 4. Apparently Larry had had the good fortune of playing against Ben Hayes and Gerry Thompson in the previous rounds. After we had chatted a bit he felt pretty confident, having gone 1-1 against them. "I like this matchup a lot better, especially after Gerry told me how to sideboard."
…
..
.
THOMPSOOOOOON!!!!!!!
After a quick two games, it was down to the decider. Larry tanked over his mulligan decision and eventually went to six, then five, then four. "Well then, this should be easy." I had kept a pretty loose seven and was punished when Larry had a turn 1 Delver, flipped it on 2, and was well on his way to victory. Fortunately for me, the Ancestral Recall that I had over him from the start was too much to overcome as he fizzled out.
I was happy to get out of the first Standard portion at 3-1, and I looked to finish the first day on a good note. Unfortunately, I gave up two quick losses in the first two Legacy rounds. It was a pleasure playing against David Gearhart because he always brings something awesome to the table. This time was no exception. Check out his list dubbed "The Patriot Act."
After I barely survived Day 1 with a pretty mediocre record, I was exhausted. Back at the hotel room, I was leveled yet again by MJ. In our room there was only a single king sized bed, leaving MJ and I to determine who would get the couch. Always the gentleman, I led with the, "So, do you want the couch or…" But before I could finish, MJ interjected with the quickest, "Sure!" I had ever heard. Played poorly, got executed; such was the story of that day.
Day 2
Round 9: Jeph Foster, 1-2 L
Round 10: Charles Johnson, 2-0 W
Round 11: Reid Duke 2-1, W
Round 12: Todd Anderson, 2-1 W
Round 13: Gerard Fabiano, 1-2 L
Round 14: Andrew Schneider, 1-2 L
Round 15: Brian Thomas, 2-1 W
Round 16: Matthew Hoey, 2-1 W
Reid Duke and I met for a match of Legacy in round 11. This match was covered by the crack coverage team at the event.
One thing that I would add is that Reid Duke can flat out play. He was always taking his time and figuring out the correct play. Just an amazing player and someone I always look forward to playing against, not only because I learn a lot simply by sitting across from him but because he is a legitimately pleasant person.
I arrived to the table a few minutes after round 12 had begun and accepted my game loss as a penalty. I was pretty frustrated by this, but I had nobody to blame but myself. On the plus side, I was paired against Todd Anderson, someone I had never lost to in sanctioned play.
We were locked in a RUG Tempo mirror match, and due to Stifles and Wastelands the board quickly bogged down to us both having no lands and a Nimble Mongoose a piece. Of course, I started ripping lands and pulled away in the first (technically second) game and won fairly handily.
"I’m just so unlucky," Todd muttered as we shuffled up for game 3. I was thinking about the free game win that he had, but I held my tongue and geared up to play the decider.
I was able to get a quick flipped Delver and a Nimble Mongoose and started to whittle down Todd’s life points, but after a while he stabilized and again we were down to no lands. Like the last game, I was the first to start drawing lands and took down the decider. Todd decided to go off again about how unlucky he had been and how poorly he was running, much to the delight of MJ and Brian Kibler who were seated right next to us. I had to stifle my own laughter as they started to egg Todd on about losing a mirror match to bad luck even after he started up a game.
Todd quickly left and forgot his deck box with his deck inside. Being the kind soul that I am, I caught up with Todd later and returned his cards. Sure, the man can do well at the Pro Tour, Top 8 a GP, then go on to Top 8 the Legacy Open the very next day, but please tell us about how bad you ran against me.
 <3 you Todd 🙂
In the penultimate round I had the pleasure of playing against Brian Thomas, who had brought G/R Wolf Run to battle. Brian was a stand up guy throughout the match, never once complaining about his luck, even when I took game 3 of the match on a runner-runner of Sorin, Lord of Innistrad, into a Vapor Snag to bounce his lethal Inkmoth Nexus. All told, he was a true gentleman and someone that I look forward to seeing at future events.
The Fish and Chips That Got Away
After locking up a money finish with my last round victory, it was time to unwind. After congratulating Nick Spagnolo and Drew Levin on their Top 8 achievements, we set off towards the movie theater to catch a showing of The Hunger Games. We had had plans to attend the movie on Thursday night but decided against it due to having to play early the next day. Fate had other plans, as we were welcomed by a "SOLD OUT" sign next to the movie.
After being no-sirred by the theater, Gerry, Kaitlin, Crystal, Stella, and I left with no plans on Saturday night. We thought about making a trip to a nearby theater, but the waitress at the restaurant we were eating at vetoed this idea for us. "I mean, you could go there, but you’ll probably get stabbed. Or robbed." With neither a stabbing nor a robbing on my to-do list that day, we wisely chose to look elsewhere for a night’s enjoyment.
Luckily, we were rescued by a message from Osyp Lebedowicz, with an invitation for a night of dancing. Responding to this invitation was without a doubt the best decision that I made all weekend. The roster for that evening included as follows: myself, Gerry, Kaitlin, Osyp, Phil Napoli, dancing superstar Tim Landale, Brad Nelson, Todd and Kali Anderson, Patrick Sullivan, AJ Sacher, Ben Hayes, and Josh Jacobson. It was just the best group of people that a person could ask for when it comes to a night on the town…and Josh Jacobson.
A list of things that may or may not have occurred that night:
– A guy in a captain hat buying everyone in our group a round of drinks
– I was able to convince two ladies at the bar that Osyp was "Berry Pamous in South Korea."
– Ben Hayes was unable to use the restroom at a nearby hotel because he was too busy convincing a hotel attendant not to call security.          Â
– Osyp triumphed over Landale for "Best Dancer of the Night," as awarded by a bachelorette party and polling from multiple females at the bar.
Only one of these did not happen that night.
The only thing that would’ve made the night even better is if I had been able to actually eaten my fish and chips. Nice job, Thompson; I hope your shoes smell like tartar sauce forever.
The next day saw me meeting an untimely demise in the Legacy Open, but this was by far the most fun that I have had at a tournament in recent memory. The field was incredibly small for the amount of prize money at stake. I would highly recommend coming out the StarCityGames.com Open Series events and claiming your place in the remaining Invitationals for this year. The payout is absurd, and I’m very much looking forward to attending the Invitational in Indianapolis for another chance to take my share of the $64,000 up for grabs.
Looking ahead to next season with Standard PTQs, Delver (in its many different forms) must be accounted for. Personally, I’m very partial to the list that I ran at the SCG Invitational in Baltimore. Intangible Virtue and Lingering Souls were banned in Block, so they must be good in Standard right? If you don’t want to join the horde of Delvers, I would recommend taking a look at some of the fantastic articles on this website about alternatives to fighting the Insectile menace.
Thanks to all the people who made this such an awesome event. And as always, thanks for reading.