The Magic Show #123 – Grand Prix: Atlanta

Hello everybody, and welcome to another edition of the Magic Show. This week we’re live in Atlanta, discussing Magic with the biggest and brightest in the game. Hear about the Magic Pro lifestyle, their thoughts on Extended Elves, the importance of luck, sizing up unknown opponents, a judge chat with Riki Hayashi, and more. Let’s go!

Topics (in order):

Magic Pro Lifestyle (1:08 mark)
Size Up Players (3:17)
The Infamous Crown Royal Dice Bag (4:20)
Elves (5:14)
The Importance of Luck (7:35)
Judge Talk with Riki Hayashi (8:36)
Chess Clocks (9:19)
California States (10:40)
Letters from Toby (11:24)

Special Text-Only Section

For those who like to play along at home, I had a 1-round bye in Atlanta, and was confident I had a very good chance at Day 2 when I opened this monster of a pool:

GP Atlanta Sealed

Evan Erwin

Test deck on 11-23-2008

Shards of Alara Limited

Creatures (40)

• 1 Goblin Mountaineer
• 1 Gustrider Exuberant
• 1 Sanctum Gargoyle
• 1 Sighted-Caste Sorcerer
• 1 Sunseed Nurturer
• 1 Welkin Guide
• 1 Yoked Plowbeast
• 1 Cathartic Adept
• 1 Dawnray Archer
• 1 Steelclad Serpent
• 1 Vectis Silencers
• 1 Deathgreeter
• 1 Demon's Herald
• 1 Dregscape Zombie
• 1 Puppet Conjurer
• 1 Undead Leotau
• 2 Bloodpyre Elemental
• 1 Caldera Hellion
• 1 Hissing Iguanar
• 1 Incurable Ogre
• 2 Rockslide Elemental
• 1 Court Archers
• 1 Cylian Elf
• 1 Drumhunter
• 1 Elvish Visionary
• 1 Godtoucher
• 1 Rhox Charger
• 1 Spearbreaker Behemoth
• 1 Wild Nacatl
• 1 Carrion Thrash
• 1 Deft Duelist
• 1 Jhessian Infiltrator
• 1 Kederekt Creeper
• 2 Kresh the Bloodbraided
• 1 Rip-Clan Crasher
• 1 Thoughtcutter Agent
• 1 Tidehollow Sculler

Lands (5)

• 1 Bant Panorama
• 1 Esper Panorama
• 1 Grixis Panorama
• 2 Jungle Shrine

Spells (28)

• 1 Infest
• 1 Naturalize
• 1 Dispeller's Capsule
• 1 Excommunicate
• 2 Marble Chalice
• 1 Tortoise Formation
• 1 Bone Splinters
• 1 Executioner's Capsule
• 1 Resounding Scream
• 1 Shadowfeed
• 1 Dragon Fodder
• 2 Magma Spray
• 1 Soul's Fire
• 1 Ooze Garden
• 1 Savage Hunger
• 1 Soul's Might
• 2 Agony Warp
• 1 Blightning
• 2 Hindering Light
• 1 Sangrite Surge
• 1 Sigil Blessing
• 1 Obelisk of Bant
• 1 Obelisk of Esper
• 1 Obelisk of Grixis

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C’mon, try and build it yourself.

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Okay, here’s what I sleeved up:

GP Atlanta Sealed - Final Build

Evan Erwin

Test deck on 11-23-2008

Shards of Alara Limited

Creatures (16)

• 1 Dregscape Zombie
• 2 Bloodpyre Elemental
• 1 Caldera Hellion
• 1 Hissing Iguanar
• 1 Rockslide Elemental
• 1 Court Archers
• 1 Drumhunter
• 1 Elvish Visionary
• 1 Rhox Charger
• 1 Spearbreaker Behemoth
• 1 Wild Nacatl
• 1 Carrion Thrash
• 2 Kresh the Bloodbraided
• 1 Rip-Clan Crasher

Lands (17)

• 5 Forest
• 5 Swamp
• 5 Mountain
• 2 Jungle Shrine

Spells (7)

• 1 Infest
• 1 Bone Splinters
• 1 Executioner's Capsule
• 1 Dragon Fodder
• 2 Magma Spray
• 1 Soul's Fire

Sideboard

• 1 Naturalize
• 1 Goblin Mountaineer
• 1 Dispeller's Capsule
• 1 Excommunicate
• 1 Gustrider Exuberant
• 2 Marble Chalice
• 1 Sanctum Gargoyle
• 1 Sighted-Caste Sorcerer
• 1 Sunseed Nurturer
• 1 Welkin Guide
• 1 Yoked Plowbeast
• 1 Cathartic Adept
• 1 Dawnray Archer
• 1 Steelclad Serpent
• 1 Tortoise Formation
• 1 Vectis Silencers
• 1 Deathgreeter
• 1 Demon's Herald
• 1 Puppet Conjurer
• 1 Resounding Scream
• 1 Shadowfeed
• 1 Undead Leotau
• 1 Incurable Ogre
• 1 Rockslide Elemental
• 1 Cylian Elf
• 1 Godtoucher
• 1 Ooze Garden
• 1 Savage Hunger
• 1 Soul's Might
• 2 Agony Warp
• 1 Blightning
• 1 Deft Duelist
• 2 Hindering Light
• 1 Jhessian Infiltrator
• 1 Kederekt Creeper
• 1 Sangrite Surge
• 1 Sigil Blessing
• 1 Thoughtcutter Agent
• 1 Tidehollow Sculler
• 1 Obelisk of Bant
• 1 Obelisk of Esper
• 1 Obelisk of Grixis
• 1 Bant Panorama
• 1 Esper Panorama
• 1 Grixis Panorama

Quick synopsis:

In Round 2 I played Robert. Game 1 I crushed him with Caldera Hellion, that sneaks up on everybody, and in game 2 Dragon Fodder tokens deals 6 damage before Spearbreaker Behemoth showed up to finish the game out.

Round 3 I got blown out by Flameblast Dragon in Game 1, as he is wont to do, in Game 2 my Elvish Visionary deals six damage before Caldera Hellion wraths the board and wins the game for me. Game 3 is decided by 1/1s, as I’m not dealt a point of damage while my Goblin Mountaineer, Rockslide Elemental, and Dragon Fodder tokens take it home.

Round 4 I play Chris and take him down Game 1 with Dragon Fodder tokens and Carrion Thrash. Note I didn’t mark when my opponent got manascrewed, which could’ve very well happened, obviously. Anyway, Game 2 Vein Drinker shows up to kick my ass and tag teams it Batman & Robin style with Algae Gharial backup. Yeah. Insane. I can’t find one of my two Bloodpyre Elementals to deal with her and the Vampire and Crocodile take it home. Game 3 my Wild Nacatl gets in there early along with an unblockable Goblin Mountaineer. Rhox Charger joins the party and soon he’s in single digits. Then it’s Spearbreaker Behemoth time, along with Hissing Iguanar to make blocking and not dying impossible.

Round 5 I play against Naoto, a.k.a. Billy. Billy is bringing the bombs. Game 1 I lose to Double Dragon (a.k.a. Broodmate Dragon). Game 2 I keep a slow hand while his Elvish Visionary takes 5 out of my ass. Soon another Elvish Visionary and then Wild Nacatl show up, and my slow draw can’t stop the beats or his removal for my blockers.

In Round 6 Rip-Clan Crasher deals 9 damage in Game 1 all while fighting monsters like Battlegrace Angel, with Carrion Thrash helping him mop up. Game 2 I didn’t get dealt a point of damage as Rockslide Elemental went all the way with a little help from Bloodpyre Elemental.

Round 7 I sat next to Guillaume Wafo-Tapa and got my ass handed to me by Brent. His Vein Drinker saw no removal for me and my Wild Nacatl wasn’t enough to kill him by any means. Game 2 he has an Algae Gharial that gets to ridiculous proportions and I can’t stop it. Now I’m X-2 and most likely not able to make Day 2 because of my low tiebreakers.

Round 8 I played a 3-game match versus Justin, where in Game 1 it was all about Rip-Clan Crasher dealing 6 damage and his buddy Drumhunter helping with the rest. Game 2 my Elvish Visionary tried to go all the way as an Exalted 2/2, but his Carrion Thrashes were too great. Game 3 I just crushed him but am not exactly sure how. Wild Nacatl got him to 15, Blightning to 12, and then his life total is listed as 1. Hrm.

Round 9 I played against former World Champ Carlos Romão. I would like to say I scooped him into Day 2, as there was probably no way I could make it and he had the 3-bye advantage. But of course I battled. Game 1 Wild Nacatl got him to 11, Rhox Charger took him to 6, and a Wild Nacatl dealt three more and Soul’s Fired him out of the game. Game 2 his Blister Beetle took out my Hissing Iguanar, quite the sweet play, and his double Blightning just obliterated my chances. Game 3, I’m positive, I punted quite badly. Almost every turn it felt like I was doing something wrong. I’m not exactly sure of which mistakes I was making, but it felt like I was making mistakes. I wish I could word that better, but regardless I lost and Carlos made Day 2.

Until next week Magic players, this is Evan Erwin. Tapping the cards…so you don’t have to.

Evan “misterorange” Erwin
eerwin +at+ thegmails +dot+ thecoms
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