I went undefeated. 8-0-2, all the way to Nationals. If there had been a top 8 faceoff, Elves would probably have taken the championship, considering there were four Blue/Green decks in it. The Elves reign supreme – somehow. All I can say is that many Angels suffered and many Birds got big. In the end, even Silvos had a thing or two to say. Regardless, I have single-handedly increased the value of Seeker of Skybreak in the past week.
I had to play against the only competent person left in contention at the Ohio Regionals. The winner would be first after the Swiss and thus first overall, as the top 8 doesn’t get played out anymore; the loser would get essentially nothing….
One more round and I would have qualified for Nationals for the third consecutive year. One more round and I would have been first place in the last two Regionals I’d played in. One more round and I wouldn’t have to leave the tournament site a loser. One more round and I would still have believed that I was good.
The reports have been flooding in, which is great – but unfortunately, tournament reports are one of the most editing-intensive and time-consuming jobs I have. I worked ten hours yesterday doing nothing but editing, and I’m still about twenty publishable articles in the hole. So if you have sent something in to me and haven’t seen it up yet, or if I’m slow to respond to someone, I apologize; I am, in every aspect, completely swamped.
It will get done. Eventually. I promise. Tomorrow: Nate Heiss’ triumphant report, Tim Aten’s valiant attempt, and the rest of John Stephens’ coverage.
“Hunting Sound” is the pet name for the Hunting Grounds deck I played six months ago, re-applied to the updated U/G/w aggro mold. The deck was extremely aggressive, with almost no board control elements whatsoever. This made the deck somehow comforting to play. You either beat your opponent upside the face , or the deck just didn’t deliver and you’d shrug your shoulders to show your disdain for those overpriced fetchlands that don’t even fix mana 75% of the time.”Flooded Strand,” you’d remark,”Who needs ’em?”
I have a confession to make: I am Adam Prosak and I have an addiction to Wild Mongrel. I also have an unholy love for Quiet Speculation, which was so good to me that it placed me 5th at Grand Prix: Cleveland and won me the Kentucky Open (sorta), so you know I’ve been playing U/G since it began. And though I’m qualified for Nationals on ranking, here’s a complete listing of the U/G build I would play if I were to go to Regionals, the sideboarding strategyes, and what to watch for in each matchup.
I was all prepared to do a big blowout article like I usually do, bringing your ass fully up on all the latest tech… Until I read Scott Johns’ article yesterday and realized he covered everything. So now that you’ve been brought fully up-to-date on what the metagame looks like, I’m going to take a look at how to attack each of the decks Scott covered. If you wanted to go about disrupting their game plan, how exactly would you do it?
Your friends and teammates are best used for reconnaissance. For example, during a Constructed tournament, during the final rounds of Swiss play, your buddies can walk around the top tables and remember unusual maindeck or sideboard cards. During the actual final 8, there might be temptation for your pals to watch your match; instead, send them out to scout the next round’s opponent, again looking for relevant maindeck and sideboard cards. And if you want to know how to stop people from scouting you, well… You’ll have to read the article.
I talked to Carl a bit after I had made my decision on the winners in order to find out what modifications he made to the deck over the last few weeks. He told me he hadn’t changed the maindeck (there was too much synergy in the build he originally submitted), but he did provide a sideboard that represents a virtual transformational sideboard against other control decks like Tog, MBC and Slide.
I became somewhat enchanted with the Green/Blue deck I played at the M’s Collectibles Invitational. It performed so well for me and gave me a nice feeling that I hadn’t felt in a while in Constructed: The feeling that in some games, there was nothing my opponent could do to stop me from winning. Let me show you my unconventional sideboard (no Composts?) and the sideboarding strategies for each matchup.
Here’s the dirty little secret to casual and multiplayer games – people do not want to think long and hard. If you present them with a mess like a Spike Feeder, a Seal of Strength, and a Wild Mongrel, they are not going to attack you – they will attack someone else who doesn’t force them to do as many mathematical calculations. In most cases, you don’t need to have an indefensible position – a complex position is often enough redirect attacks. It sure works for me.
It won the thirty-player Kings Games Tournament. It won the NEC tournament at the Dragon’s Lair in West Hartford, Connecticut. Alex and Zvi both made the top 8 at the MagicSingles.com Invitational with Elvish Succession; Alex defeated Zvi in the quarterfinals and went on to take 2nd place. Rob’s played it in eleven Magic Online eight-man tournaments, splitting in the finals of seven of them for a total match record of 16-4. Is this the dark horse for Regionals?
I’m going to tell you about how I was soundly defeated in Round 1 of the single-elimination cube draft by Josh Rider. This in itself is not newsworthy, but his method of victory was a strange one – he took me down without a single shot being fired. In fact, he took me down solely via his extremely clever method of being drunk off his ass, using a technique I like to call”Strategic Inebriation.”
For those competing this weekend at U.S. Regionals, at this point you’re either putting on those last polishing touches, reviewing potential opponents’ deck lists, trying to decide which deck of your favorites to go with, or cramming for a deck at the last minute. No matter which applies to you, the time for abstract theory is over and the time for decklists decklists decklists is in full swing! In this article, I’ll be covering as many archetypes as I’m capable of, with a focus on the key choices available while keeping an eye toward the metagame as a whole. No deck exists in a vacuum – and after this article is done, hopefully you’ll know where yours stands.
Regardless of whether you chose to run U/G yourself, you are going to see a boatload of Wild Mongrels that first Saturday in May; many Wonders will be pitched and there will be numerous flying Wurms, of both the Arrogant and Roaring variety. So why not take a closer look at the art on the core cards, and let your right brain take over for a bit?
