P.S. Not written by me. Sorry if that causes confusion.
~Tim
===================
So Cal Regionals Trip Report
"Proving Tim right… that the best deck in the format is whatever I build, but only when I play it"
by Bryce Yockey
I built this deck for fun about a week before regionals. I was testing it and it was a blast to play. That was good enough for me. I started playing it, and was amazed to find out it wasn’t losing to anything. However, my testing gauntlet was a bit incomplete. Still, I was absolutely tearing apart aggro. That was good enough for me. I managed to convince one of my friends to play the deck as well. Dustin took it to FNM, and tore it apart, smashing Charlie playing RDW, Revelark three times, and some other random jank. (foreshadowing)
Dustin and Charlie are long test playtime partners and are good friends of mine, although we don’t live anywhere near each other. I met them a long time ago back when extended was an absolutely awesome format. (Right after 5th dawn came out I think. Maybe champions, but it’s not like anyone used CHK block cards in extended.)
I had to spend a shocking $87 at Frank and Son’s to finish my deck. Bleh.
I found out later that a guy I knew had like half the cards I needed to buy. Another bleh.
The actual deck, I had to borrow most of. Sadly, I want to keep it. It’s so much fun.
I spent Friday night preparing, by borrowing cards than playing a home game. I went to a $0.25/$0.50 poker game. I dumped like $260 by the end of the night. I got so bored half way through. I decided I was bored and started playing every hand. Litterally. By the time I had lost a $300 pot with J2o, (open shove the King river, what you have AK? Nice hand) I decided I was done.
Before the tournament started, I was fishing around for cards so Dustin could finish his copy. He ended up with an identical list except with Turn to mist instead of vanish into Memory and Karplusan Forests instead of Grove of the Burnwillows.
So Cal Regionals had just under 200 players. I expected to face a lot of aggro and was pretty confidant in my chances of doing well. (Foreshadowing! Although only half right)
R1. Jack piloting Faeries
We both take a mull and we’re off.
My round one opponent goes Island, suspend Ancestral Vision. So much for aggro.
I don’t cast a single resolved spell other than my wall of roots.
He has t1 visions, t3 vendillion clique, t4 cryptic, t5 mistbind clique, t6 scion, spell stutter. GG
It’s looking ugly. Faeries is my self proclaimed second worst matchup. I had decided only Revelark was worse. I bring in the LD package and hope for the best.
T1 bop
T2 fulminator
T3 riders
T4 body double riders
T5 evoke revelark
T6 body double revelark
T7 venser, body double.
He shrugs and we head to g3.
G3
He is mana screwed. Against my LD package.
GG sir, t2 bitterblossom doesn’t do much when you have 0 land.
R2 - Tony playing Revelark.
He goes t1 vivid, and I sigh. I get memories of GP San Jose (San Fran, but w/e), of building a deck to beat one type of deck and only playing the other.
G1, he does some stuff with Mulldrifter, Revelark, Body Double and Momentary Blink that makes me concede games when he’s up like +20 in CA.
Board in LD
G2, I LD him.
G3, he combos me on like T5. I draw no LD.
1-1 isn’t a good way to start. I pray for a bye (aggro) next round.
I walk up to Dustin and watch him wish for Turn to Mist and cast it on a creature with Shield of the Oversoul. Lol.
He drew Round one vs Zack, one of the strong local players. Zack was piloting Doran. I dunno if Dustin would’ve won if the game was played out, but definitely both players were robbed by the clock.
R3 – Jeff playing R/W Restore Balance Gargadon combo?
Well… it’s not aggro. But I guess it’s a bye.
I steam roll him 2-0. Mercifully. Compared to the guy sitting next to me being an ******* to his opponent, who is playing U/B rogues. I find out later Dustin’s one loss comes from this deck. Rogues that is.
R4 – Charlie playing RDW.
He is playing Mono Red. Our conversation goes something like
Me, “lol, this is my first aggro deck of the day. Sorry Charlie.”
Him, “Man, you and Dustin are the only people I don’t want to play.”
Me, “Well yea, it’s a really bad matchup for you.”
Him, “This match up is 50-50. It’s all about who wins the roll.”
Me, “Really? How can you beat Kitchen Finks?”
Him, “Trust me I tested with Dustin.”
Me, shrugs “If you say so.”
G1, I play finks, than order ranger and suspend gargadon. Win on T5.
Boarded in redcap, and firespout, since I know he has magus. Dustin thinks I should’ve boarded in LD I dunno.
G2, He nukes my BOP, and drops t3 magus of the moon.
G3, I combo him on t4 after his t3 everlasting torment.
Charlie “WTF, soooooo lucky.”
Me “Want to play 10 games and see who wins more?”
Games 2-10 were sideboarded, where he supposedly had an advantage.
I go 8-2 much to the amusement of the bystanders. We had quite a crowd watching.
Eventually he concedes it’s a terrible matchup.
Regardless we had a lot of fun.
R5 – Lost your name sorry, Faeries again.
Figures.
I combo him G1 when I bait out some countermagic on his turn with Venser.
G2, I LD him.
Play of the day right here.
Dustin wishes for Turn to Mist vs mono blue control, and uses it on Platinum Angel on an opponent at -2 life.
R6 – This page of notes was on the other side of R5. Revelark
G1, I mentally bang my head in frustration when he leads with a Vivid Creek.
We try to build card advantage in our various ways as the game progresses. I slowly whittle his life total down, while using bonded fetch to fix my hand.
Eventually he completes the combo, but only has Sower of Temptation to loop. So he kills all my guys. Then he passes.
Me: Tapped out?
Him: yea.
Me: Body Double?
Him: hmm, what do you choose?
Me: Revelark.
Him: Pact of Negation.
See his mistake?
He let me choose for Body Double. Hence it was too late to play Pact.
I proceed attack for lethal with my Revelark next turn. He blocks and I bring back two Redcaps and kill him anyways.
boarded in LD
G2, I mull and can’t get any action going with my LD. He just plays beat down with Revelark and Mulldrifters. We play a pretty intense game, but I start thinking about not boarding it in when I am on the draw vs Revelark.
G3, I board OUT my LD now. It’s an intense game. I drop a t2 finks t3 redcap and they get in there. He plays a t4 revelark to shut me down, and loving my persist guys send right into it. He trades. He slowly starts to stabilize at 2 life, but I manage to dig into a blink and blink redcap, he pacts, and I flash it back. GG.
5-1 and on the verge of getting into the top 8. Pray for aggro. My buddy Andrew is playing B/G elves and went 6-0. Nice.
R7 - Ramon, representing G/R mana ramp.
He leads with t1 TTV. I think finally aggro.
Then he casts a t2 into the north.
And I’m like, oh it’s not aggro.
but hey, it’s still a bye. I’ll take it.
I wish for order ranger on t2. play finks t3. Suspend gargs on t4. and play Order ranger on t5. I wait a bit since he had a mouth of ronom in play and can stop my combo if he times it right. I wait till next turn, when I have mana to play and flash Blink. I attempt to combo, he attempts to Mouth it, I blink, and he shrugs.
He asks me how much life. I think.
200 billion.
He shrugs again and scoops up his cards.
Didn’t board
G2, he plays into the north, wall of roots, goyf and tries to build. I am sitting on a wall of roots fixing my hand with bonded fetch. He eventually drops chameleon colossus and warhammer.
So I combo him next turn before he can attack.
Top 8 locked up, I hope. My breakers should be good enough.
Standings are posted and I’m kinda sweating. I’m 5th seed. There are three 19 pointers, and seven 18 pointers. I am currently ahead of all of the 18 points except one. However…
The issue is there are four 16 pointers, one of which with better breakers than me. I pray to get paired against someone that is a higher seed than me so I can draw in.
R8 – ID vs 4th seed.
We agree to draw really fast and then play DC10 till final standings are posted.
Top 8
1st seed, Unknown, 7-1-0
2nd seed, It’s a secret, 6-0-2 in the swiss
3rd seed, Merfolk 6-0-2 in swiss, but only one ID
4th seed, Andrew playing G/B elves, 6-0-2
5th seed, Faeries, 6-1-1
6th seed, Unknown, probably 6-1-1
7th seed, Myself, 6-1-1
8th seed, Unknown, probably 6-1-1
Dustin is 5-1-2. So close.
Top 8
Not Aggro piloted by Corey
Corey and I chat about out decks before our match. Perhaps not the smartest thing, especially since I’m piloting a rogue creation. However by this time, it’s seems like the whole room knows what I’m playing.
I lose the die roll. Against Revelark. In the Top 8.
****.
I mention the fact, I tend to win matches I lose the roll. Everyone just laughs.
G1. We both take a mull and I lose to some early beats from a faerie conclave, and then him getting garg in and finishing me. I tried to build a defense but couldn’t get anything going.
Boarded in LD
G2. I get a t3 A riders in, and it gets in there a few times with blink. I just start dropping power, and he rebuilds his mana using mana artifacts. He holds down the fort with sower and mulldrifter. I redcap the sower, and use Fetch to dig into finks and fulminator in the next turn, and he tries to dig for sower and fails.
Boarded out LD
G3. I mull to five.
Corey: Man that’s not how I want to win.
Me: That’s fine with me, because then you won’t win.
I go t1 bop into t2 finks trying to bait counter magic. It resolves, so I drop bonded fetch next turn. That Bonded Fetch kept me in the game. The card selection it provided allowed me to stay in the game.
He drops a Revelark on t4 to block, and I Venser it and smash. He drops it again and trades with half a finks, and then plays body double on revelark on the following turn.
I have to sit there for a little while he tries to rebuild. He finds a Sower and casts it on my finks. I dig into redcap and shoot Sower. He draws some cards with mulldrifter, and I think carefully. I fetch, and pitch venser, then cast Wall of Roots into Wish. He pacts my wish, which is what I was hoping for. He taps his mana (damn), and then passes the turn. I slam down body double to copy sower taking his revelark and putting him on lethal.
He draws, tanks for a bit and passes.
I untap. Think, and fetch. Draw nothing relevant. I run through all the cards he might have to stay alive. None of them turn an alpha strike into a bad play, so I team.
Corey: “Well it’s not pocket aces.” And he throws a pair of lands on the table.
We shake and he’s a really good sport about it.
2 boxes and an invite to Nats WOOT. Time to test.
Dustin round by round.
R1 Doran Draw 1-1-1
R2 W/G elves – 2-0 sexy turn to mist and Mirrorweaving Revelark action
R3 Revelark - 2-1, blink riders get the job done in sideboarded games.
R4 Mono White Control - I find out when writing this, he should’ve won the match 1-0 but somehow it got reported as a draw. Ghey.
R5 U/B rogues – Lose 1-2 lol - g1 double thoughtseize, bitterblossom, loxodon warhammer, g2 combo, g3 mana screw
R6 Mono blue – 2-1, needled plats and gargs in g3, so Turn to mist on Plats FTW
R7 Lark 2-1
R8 Lark 2-1
Dustin ended with 17 points in 25th place. If either of his losses or draws were a win, he would’ve made top 8.
Sucks, we couldn’t put two copies of my deck in t8.
Oh wells.
He had some nice plays that never came up for me. Like t3 Venser their land and follow up by blinking him a few times.
Props:
Deck X2 for being awesome
Dustin for playing it.
All my opponents for being great sports.
Andrew for 6-0ing with elves. Sorry you didn’t win the t8 match.
The LD board.
Slops:
J2o and being bored. Also playing poker till 6AM the day of the PTQ. And not winning money.
Dealers and charging me money for cards I could’ve borrowed.
Lack of Grove of the Burnwillows in general.
Charlie for trying to claim the matchup is 50-50
Matt for not coming
Tim for telling me my deck sucks (actually he said, Dear god why?) and then playing Quick and Toast.
Yep. I should know better than to counter a wish :-/. It's interesting, your deck was the only deck that I hadn't tested against. I basically went into it as if it were the mirror match. I always tend to play board control decks, but with no counterspells, so I'm still unsure on what to counter and what to resolve. I knew to let you resolve the wish, but my brain decided not to listen to itself :D. I'm assuming you would have grabbed like kitchen finks with the wish right? If so, I'm sure you would have dropped the body double the next turn anyways, which would have given me the win (assuming I still had the pact).
Anyways, well written report man, and I basically have the same game plan. Play a deck that smashes aggro, and try to beat control out of the board ;).
Good luck at Nats, represent us so-cal kids well! If you fail, I'll tell tom about it, and he'll never let you live it down :p.
I remember seeing you there. I like the deck and I watched you combo out after I was done with my match. I lost in the 8th round against Faeries with MBC, thinking that 6-2 would get me in. Oh well, a very meh 5-3 finish that saw me having problems with Faeries and losing to an easy matchup of RDW.
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Legacy - Sneak Show, BR Reanimator, Miracles, UW Stoneblade
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/ Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander - Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build) (dead format for me)
It still blows my mind how you played 9 rounds of competitive magic without geting a DQ for your marked sleaves...
And your round 5 faeries opponent was an auto win because he didn't even know how the combo worked. He called the judge even after you explained it...
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I will play what wins, not what is convenient. Personal preference is nothing, The win is all that matters. I will netdeck at every opportunity, but I will not let that stifle my creativity. Style points do not appear on tournament reports. A good deck with an incompetent pilot is nothing more than a dressed up match win. I will crush my opponent mercilessly, and expect no less from him. Victory is its own reward, The prize is just a bonus.
Legacy is dying
well yea sorry I didn't mean to call him a cheater and its just that he marked his sideboard by writing on them which is technically outside notes. It was just supprising that not one of his 9 opponents took a free win against him.
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I will play what wins, not what is convenient. Personal preference is nothing, The win is all that matters. I will netdeck at every opportunity, but I will not let that stifle my creativity. Style points do not appear on tournament reports. A good deck with an incompetent pilot is nothing more than a dressed up match win. I will crush my opponent mercilessly, and expect no less from him. Victory is its own reward, The prize is just a bonus.
Legacy is dying
I've talked to L3 judges before that said that writing on the inside of the sleeve is legal. all i did was write sb in the corner. if anything it's an advantage to my opponent since it's additional information for them.
Judge said it's not much different from drawing on the face of a card, as long as its recognizable, it's legal.
I plan to crush nats btw... I just have no idea what to bring. Can't wait for eventide.
Can the mana base be made to look any cheaper in this deck? Mostly im just looking for replacements for grove of the burnwillows, cos I dont have 4. Any advice there?
Dustin played Karplusans, but they are basically worse. It's the best replacement for karps though. If you do that, I would consider cutting some of the other painlands for other fixing to reduce the pain from the lands. Horizon canopys are basically irreplacable though, they help you dig.
well yea sorry I didn't mean to call him a cheater and its just that he marked his sideboard by writing on them which is technically outside notes. It was just supprising that not one of his 9 opponents took a free win against him.
writing sb on the front side of your sideboard cards to make your life easier is not illegal in any way. it doesn't give you any possible advantage other than ease of desideboarding.
if anything it's a good way to avoid getting game losses for shuffling in wished for cards.
Eventides gonna be a load of crap, just like the last 3 sets of lorwyn =P. You can quote me on that.
Just play something you're familiar with, or something that you can extensively test. Regionals was basically just a giant FNM, whereas Nats is the best of the best, from each region.
Good luck there, and bring us home a trophy =P.
(Oh by the way, if you do win, I'm taking my cut of that 5 grand, for...you know...giving you the win and all in the top 8 ;).
I've talked to L3 judges before that said that writing on the inside of the sleeve is legal. all i did was write sb in the corner. if anything it's an advantage to my opponent since it's additional information for them.
Judge said it's not much different from drawing on the face of a card, as long as its recognizable, it's legal.
I plan to crush nats btw... I just have no idea what to bring. Can't wait for eventide.
Dustin played Karplusans, but they are basically worse. It's the best replacement for karps though. If you do that, I would consider cutting some of the other painlands for other fixing to reduce the pain from the lands. Horizon canopys are basically irreplacable though, they help you dig.
Bryce
interesting seeing how they ruled the complete opposite about the pacts that you can't mark the card to remind your self to pay for it,nor write a note on the sleave.
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I will play what wins, not what is convenient. Personal preference is nothing, The win is all that matters. I will netdeck at every opportunity, but I will not let that stifle my creativity. Style points do not appear on tournament reports. A good deck with an incompetent pilot is nothing more than a dressed up match win. I will crush my opponent mercilessly, and expect no less from him. Victory is its own reward, The prize is just a bonus.
Legacy is dying
interesting seeing how they ruled the complete opposite about the pacts that you can't mark the card to remind your self to pay for it,nor write a note on the sleave.
That's because you aren't allowed to make notes on a card that will help you in any way to play that card "better" or "more efficiently." Writing on a Slaughter Pact to remind you to pay for it during your turn is illegal because you've made a note that will help you to play the card correctly.
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Member of Team RIW Read my Constructed column on Star City, Thirst for Knowledge! View my MTGS-era TFK articles here!
I've been told that you can't keep a list of your sideboard on you, due to it being outside notes. The fact that they would allow you write SB on your sleeves seems to be inside the same realm of offense, and should be ruled the same way.
I don't really know, the judges seem to never be right, at least in southern California...
I had a judge in southern cali tell me that mana burn triggers bloodthirst...
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I will play what wins, not what is convenient. Personal preference is nothing, The win is all that matters. I will netdeck at every opportunity, but I will not let that stifle my creativity. Style points do not appear on tournament reports. A good deck with an incompetent pilot is nothing more than a dressed up match win. I will crush my opponent mercilessly, and expect no less from him. Victory is its own reward, The prize is just a bonus.
Legacy is dying
Yep, just remember kids...you can't Venser an epic copy of enduring ideal
The fact that our judges are like, probably level 1 still, and they're usually shorthanded, gives us a huge disadvantage when it comes to rulings. On average, we're lucky to get 2-3 judges for a 200+ person event.
I haven't seen Dan grey at an event in forever. Becky pretty much handles it all now. Meh, I am more compentent with the rules than most of hte judges. I dont know much about the other stuff judges handle though.
well regionals was her last event and dan gray only shows up for pre releases where he makes like 70k on one day...
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I will play what wins, not what is convenient. Personal preference is nothing, The win is all that matters. I will netdeck at every opportunity, but I will not let that stifle my creativity. Style points do not appear on tournament reports. A good deck with an incompetent pilot is nothing more than a dressed up match win. I will crush my opponent mercilessly, and expect no less from him. Victory is its own reward, The prize is just a bonus.
Legacy is dying
well regionals was her last event and dan gray only shows up for pre releases where he makes like 70k on one day...
Can somebody verify this? Is this true? If so, I'm in the wrong profession.
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Legacy - Sneak Show, BR Reanimator, Miracles, UW Stoneblade
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/ Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander - Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build) (dead format for me)
I haven't seen Dan grey at an event in forever. Becky pretty much handles it all now. Meh, I am more compentent with the rules than most of hte judges. I dont know much about the other stuff judges handle though.
I would suggest taking the level 1 test, but you need a level 2+ with trainer stuff to administer it, which is difficult to come by.
Also you're too obnoxious to be a judge.
P.S. Not written by me. Sorry if that causes confusion.
~Tim
===================
So Cal Regionals Trip Report
"Proving Tim right… that the best deck in the format is whatever I build, but only when I play it"
by Bryce Yockey
I built this deck for fun about a week before regionals. I was testing it and it was a blast to play. That was good enough for me. I started playing it, and was amazed to find out it wasn’t losing to anything. However, my testing gauntlet was a bit incomplete. Still, I was absolutely tearing apart aggro. That was good enough for me. I managed to convince one of my friends to play the deck as well. Dustin took it to FNM, and tore it apart, smashing Charlie playing RDW, Revelark three times, and some other random jank. (foreshadowing)
Dustin and Charlie are long test playtime partners and are good friends of mine, although we don’t live anywhere near each other. I met them a long time ago back when extended was an absolutely awesome format. (Right after 5th dawn came out I think. Maybe champions, but it’s not like anyone used CHK block cards in extended.)
I had to spend a shocking $87 at Frank and Son’s to finish my deck. Bleh.
I found out later that a guy I knew had like half the cards I needed to buy. Another bleh.
The actual deck, I had to borrow most of. Sadly, I want to keep it. It’s so much fun.
4 Wall of roots (Borrowed cause I can’t find mine)
4 bonded fetch (bought a foil for 1.5, Another for 0.5)
3 greater gargadon (Borrowed 2, bought two more for 8 a pop. Then I cut one.)
3 body double ( Managed to borrow 2, bought one for 4)
3 reveillark (Borrowed all SWEET)
3 kitchen finks (borrowed)
3 murderous redcap (Borrowed 1)
3 glittering wish (bought for 3 each)
3 momentary blink (had a foil, borrowed 2)
2 venser, shaper savant (had them from tog WOOT)
2 Juniper order ranger (buck each)
4 grove of the burnwillows (6 each BLEH)
4 reflecting pool (15 a pop? No way, Borrowed 4)
4 vivids all different colors (bought a creek and crag for $1, couldn’t find them.)
2 yavimaya coast (borrowed)
2 shivan reef (I own a set and signed by Rob Alexander. Definitely why I won)
2 mystic gate (had one borrowed one)
1 battlefield forge (borrowed)
1 Teferi's Moat (bought one for 2 cause I couldn’t find mine. Then borrowed a foil one.)
1 Kitchen Finks
1 Murderous Redcap
1 Juniper order ranger
1 Mirrorweave (I actually had this)
1 Firespout (Had this too)
1 Vanish into memory (had this as well, tossed it in when digging for other cards)
4 avalanche riders (I had a playset from a TSP block deck)
4 Fulminator mage (borrowed one, others were 12 each)
Man, I don’t own ANYTHING.
I spent Friday night preparing, by borrowing cards than playing a home game. I went to a $0.25/$0.50 poker game. I dumped like $260 by the end of the night. I got so bored half way through. I decided I was bored and started playing every hand. Litterally. By the time I had lost a $300 pot with J2o, (open shove the King river, what you have AK? Nice hand) I decided I was done.
Before the tournament started, I was fishing around for cards so Dustin could finish his copy. He ended up with an identical list except with Turn to mist instead of vanish into Memory and Karplusan Forests instead of Grove of the Burnwillows.
So Cal Regionals had just under 200 players. I expected to face a lot of aggro and was pretty confidant in my chances of doing well. (Foreshadowing! Although only half right)
R1. Jack piloting Faeries
We both take a mull and we’re off.
My round one opponent goes Island, suspend Ancestral Vision. So much for aggro.
I don’t cast a single resolved spell other than my wall of roots.
He has t1 visions, t3 vendillion clique, t4 cryptic, t5 mistbind clique, t6 scion, spell stutter. GG
It’s looking ugly. Faeries is my self proclaimed second worst matchup. I had decided only Revelark was worse. I bring in the LD package and hope for the best.
T1 bop
T2 fulminator
T3 riders
T4 body double riders
T5 evoke revelark
T6 body double revelark
T7 venser, body double.
He shrugs and we head to g3.
G3
He is mana screwed. Against my LD package.
GG sir, t2 bitterblossom doesn’t do much when you have 0 land.
R2 - Tony playing Revelark.
He goes t1 vivid, and I sigh. I get memories of GP San Jose (San Fran, but w/e), of building a deck to beat one type of deck and only playing the other.
G1, he does some stuff with Mulldrifter, Revelark, Body Double and Momentary Blink that makes me concede games when he’s up like +20 in CA.
Board in LD
G2, I LD him.
G3, he combos me on like T5. I draw no LD.
1-1 isn’t a good way to start. I pray for a bye (aggro) next round.
I walk up to Dustin and watch him wish for Turn to Mist and cast it on a creature with Shield of the Oversoul. Lol.
He drew Round one vs Zack, one of the strong local players. Zack was piloting Doran. I dunno if Dustin would’ve won if the game was played out, but definitely both players were robbed by the clock.
R3 – Jeff playing R/W Restore Balance Gargadon combo?
Well… it’s not aggro. But I guess it’s a bye.
I steam roll him 2-0. Mercifully. Compared to the guy sitting next to me being an ******* to his opponent, who is playing U/B rogues. I find out later Dustin’s one loss comes from this deck. Rogues that is.
R4 – Charlie playing RDW.
He is playing Mono Red. Our conversation goes something like
Me, “lol, this is my first aggro deck of the day. Sorry Charlie.”
Him, “Man, you and Dustin are the only people I don’t want to play.”
Me, “Well yea, it’s a really bad matchup for you.”
Him, “This match up is 50-50. It’s all about who wins the roll.”
Me, “Really? How can you beat Kitchen Finks?”
Him, “Trust me I tested with Dustin.”
Me, shrugs “If you say so.”
G1, I play finks, than order ranger and suspend gargadon. Win on T5.
Boarded in redcap, and firespout, since I know he has magus. Dustin thinks I should’ve boarded in LD I dunno.
G2, He nukes my BOP, and drops t3 magus of the moon.
G3, I combo him on t4 after his t3 everlasting torment.
Charlie “WTF, soooooo lucky.”
Me “Want to play 10 games and see who wins more?”
Games 2-10 were sideboarded, where he supposedly had an advantage.
I go 8-2 much to the amusement of the bystanders. We had quite a crowd watching.
Eventually he concedes it’s a terrible matchup.
Regardless we had a lot of fun.
R5 – Lost your name sorry, Faeries again.
Figures.
I combo him G1 when I bait out some countermagic on his turn with Venser.
G2, I LD him.
Play of the day right here.
Dustin wishes for Turn to Mist vs mono blue control, and uses it on Platinum Angel on an opponent at -2 life.
R6 – This page of notes was on the other side of R5. Revelark
G1, I mentally bang my head in frustration when he leads with a Vivid Creek.
We try to build card advantage in our various ways as the game progresses. I slowly whittle his life total down, while using bonded fetch to fix my hand.
Eventually he completes the combo, but only has Sower of Temptation to loop. So he kills all my guys. Then he passes.
Me: Tapped out?
Him: yea.
Me: Body Double?
Him: hmm, what do you choose?
Me: Revelark.
Him: Pact of Negation.
See his mistake?
He let me choose for Body Double. Hence it was too late to play Pact.
I proceed attack for lethal with my Revelark next turn. He blocks and I bring back two Redcaps and kill him anyways.
boarded in LD
G2, I mull and can’t get any action going with my LD. He just plays beat down with Revelark and Mulldrifters. We play a pretty intense game, but I start thinking about not boarding it in when I am on the draw vs Revelark.
G3, I board OUT my LD now. It’s an intense game. I drop a t2 finks t3 redcap and they get in there. He plays a t4 revelark to shut me down, and loving my persist guys send right into it. He trades. He slowly starts to stabilize at 2 life, but I manage to dig into a blink and blink redcap, he pacts, and I flash it back. GG.
5-1 and on the verge of getting into the top 8. Pray for aggro. My buddy Andrew is playing B/G elves and went 6-0. Nice.
R7 - Ramon, representing G/R mana ramp.
He leads with t1 TTV. I think finally aggro.
Then he casts a t2 into the north.
And I’m like, oh it’s not aggro.
but hey, it’s still a bye. I’ll take it.
I wish for order ranger on t2. play finks t3. Suspend gargs on t4. and play Order ranger on t5. I wait a bit since he had a mouth of ronom in play and can stop my combo if he times it right. I wait till next turn, when I have mana to play and flash Blink. I attempt to combo, he attempts to Mouth it, I blink, and he shrugs.
He asks me how much life. I think.
200 billion.
He shrugs again and scoops up his cards.
Didn’t board
G2, he plays into the north, wall of roots, goyf and tries to build. I am sitting on a wall of roots fixing my hand with bonded fetch. He eventually drops chameleon colossus and warhammer.
So I combo him next turn before he can attack.
Top 8 locked up, I hope. My breakers should be good enough.
Standings are posted and I’m kinda sweating. I’m 5th seed. There are three 19 pointers, and seven 18 pointers. I am currently ahead of all of the 18 points except one. However…
The issue is there are four 16 pointers, one of which with better breakers than me. I pray to get paired against someone that is a higher seed than me so I can draw in.
R8 – ID vs 4th seed.
We agree to draw really fast and then play DC10 till final standings are posted.
Top 8
1st seed, Unknown, 7-1-0
2nd seed, It’s a secret, 6-0-2 in the swiss
3rd seed, Merfolk 6-0-2 in swiss, but only one ID
4th seed, Andrew playing G/B elves, 6-0-2
5th seed, Faeries, 6-1-1
6th seed, Unknown, probably 6-1-1
7th seed, Myself, 6-1-1
8th seed, Unknown, probably 6-1-1
Dustin is 5-1-2. So close.
Top 8
Not Aggro piloted by Corey
Corey and I chat about out decks before our match. Perhaps not the smartest thing, especially since I’m piloting a rogue creation. However by this time, it’s seems like the whole room knows what I’m playing.
I lose the die roll. Against Revelark. In the Top 8.
****.
I mention the fact, I tend to win matches I lose the roll. Everyone just laughs.
G1. We both take a mull and I lose to some early beats from a faerie conclave, and then him getting garg in and finishing me. I tried to build a defense but couldn’t get anything going.
Boarded in LD
G2. I get a t3 A riders in, and it gets in there a few times with blink. I just start dropping power, and he rebuilds his mana using mana artifacts. He holds down the fort with sower and mulldrifter. I redcap the sower, and use Fetch to dig into finks and fulminator in the next turn, and he tries to dig for sower and fails.
Boarded out LD
G3. I mull to five.
Corey: Man that’s not how I want to win.
Me: That’s fine with me, because then you won’t win.
I go t1 bop into t2 finks trying to bait counter magic. It resolves, so I drop bonded fetch next turn. That Bonded Fetch kept me in the game. The card selection it provided allowed me to stay in the game.
He drops a Revelark on t4 to block, and I Venser it and smash. He drops it again and trades with half a finks, and then plays body double on revelark on the following turn.
I have to sit there for a little while he tries to rebuild. He finds a Sower and casts it on my finks. I dig into redcap and shoot Sower. He draws some cards with mulldrifter, and I think carefully. I fetch, and pitch venser, then cast Wall of Roots into Wish. He pacts my wish, which is what I was hoping for. He taps his mana (damn), and then passes the turn. I slam down body double to copy sower taking his revelark and putting him on lethal.
He draws, tanks for a bit and passes.
I untap. Think, and fetch. Draw nothing relevant. I run through all the cards he might have to stay alive. None of them turn an alpha strike into a bad play, so I team.
Corey: “Well it’s not pocket aces.” And he throws a pair of lands on the table.
We shake and he’s a really good sport about it.
2 boxes and an invite to Nats WOOT. Time to test.
Dustin round by round.
R1 Doran Draw 1-1-1
R2 W/G elves – 2-0 sexy turn to mist and Mirrorweaving Revelark action
R3 Revelark - 2-1, blink riders get the job done in sideboarded games.
R4 Mono White Control - I find out when writing this, he should’ve won the match 1-0 but somehow it got reported as a draw. Ghey.
R5 U/B rogues – Lose 1-2 lol - g1 double thoughtseize, bitterblossom, loxodon warhammer, g2 combo, g3 mana screw
R6 Mono blue – 2-1, needled plats and gargs in g3, so Turn to mist on Plats FTW
R7 Lark 2-1
R8 Lark 2-1
Dustin ended with 17 points in 25th place. If either of his losses or draws were a win, he would’ve made top 8.
Sucks, we couldn’t put two copies of my deck in t8.
Oh wells.
He had some nice plays that never came up for me. Like t3 Venser their land and follow up by blinking him a few times.
Props:
Deck X2 for being awesome
Dustin for playing it.
All my opponents for being great sports.
Andrew for 6-0ing with elves. Sorry you didn’t win the t8 match.
The LD board.
Slops:
J2o and being bored. Also playing poker till 6AM the day of the PTQ. And not winning money.
Dealers and charging me money for cards I could’ve borrowed.
Lack of Grove of the Burnwillows in general.
Charlie for trying to claim the matchup is 50-50
Matt for not coming
Tim for telling me my deck sucks (actually he said, Dear god why?) and then playing Quick and Toast.
Anyways, well written report man, and I basically have the same game plan. Play a deck that smashes aggro, and try to beat control out of the board ;).
Good luck at Nats, represent us so-cal kids well! If you fail, I'll tell tom about it, and he'll never let you live it down :p.
2 Southern California Regionals top 8's : 2008, 2009
Standard
:symw::symu::symr: American Control
:symw::symu::symb: Esper Control
:symw::symb::symg: Aristocrats
Modern
:symw::symu::symr: Splinter Twin
:symb::symr::symg: Living End
Herbal_Poultice_Deck_Wins
Rules Advisor
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/
Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander -
Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build)(dead format for me)And your round 5 faeries opponent was an auto win because he didn't even know how the combo worked. He called the judge even after you explained it...
Personal preference is nothing, The win is all that matters.
I will netdeck at every opportunity, but I will not let that stifle my creativity.
Style points do not appear on tournament reports.
A good deck with an incompetent pilot is nothing more than a dressed up match win.
I will crush my opponent mercilessly, and expect no less from him.
Victory is its own reward, The prize is just a bonus.
Legacy is dying
Personal preference is nothing, The win is all that matters.
I will netdeck at every opportunity, but I will not let that stifle my creativity.
Style points do not appear on tournament reports.
A good deck with an incompetent pilot is nothing more than a dressed up match win.
I will crush my opponent mercilessly, and expect no less from him.
Victory is its own reward, The prize is just a bonus.
Legacy is dying
Judge said it's not much different from drawing on the face of a card, as long as its recognizable, it's legal.
I plan to crush nats btw... I just have no idea what to bring. Can't wait for eventide.
Dustin played Karplusans, but they are basically worse. It's the best replacement for karps though. If you do that, I would consider cutting some of the other painlands for other fixing to reduce the pain from the lands. Horizon canopys are basically irreplacable though, they help you dig.
Bryce
writing sb on the front side of your sideboard cards to make your life easier is not illegal in any way. it doesn't give you any possible advantage other than ease of desideboarding.
if anything it's a good way to avoid getting game losses for shuffling in wished for cards.
Just play something you're familiar with, or something that you can extensively test. Regionals was basically just a giant FNM, whereas Nats is the best of the best, from each region.
Good luck there, and bring us home a trophy =P.
(Oh by the way, if you do win, I'm taking my cut of that 5 grand, for...you know...giving you the win and all in the top 8 ;).
2 Southern California Regionals top 8's : 2008, 2009
Standard
:symw::symu::symr: American Control
:symw::symu::symb: Esper Control
:symw::symb::symg: Aristocrats
Modern
:symw::symu::symr: Splinter Twin
:symb::symr::symg: Living End
interesting seeing how they ruled the complete opposite about the pacts that you can't mark the card to remind your self to pay for it,nor write a note on the sleave.
Personal preference is nothing, The win is all that matters.
I will netdeck at every opportunity, but I will not let that stifle my creativity.
Style points do not appear on tournament reports.
A good deck with an incompetent pilot is nothing more than a dressed up match win.
I will crush my opponent mercilessly, and expect no less from him.
Victory is its own reward, The prize is just a bonus.
Legacy is dying
That's because you aren't allowed to make notes on a card that will help you in any way to play that card "better" or "more efficiently." Writing on a Slaughter Pact to remind you to pay for it during your turn is illegal because you've made a note that will help you to play the card correctly.
Read my Constructed column on Star City, Thirst for Knowledge!
View my MTGS-era TFK articles here!
I've been told that you can't keep a list of your sideboard on you, due to it being outside notes. The fact that they would allow you write SB on your sleeves seems to be inside the same realm of offense, and should be ruled the same way.
I don't really know, the judges seem to never be right, at least in southern California...
2 Southern California Regionals top 8's : 2008, 2009
Standard
:symw::symu::symr: American Control
:symw::symu::symb: Esper Control
:symw::symb::symg: Aristocrats
Modern
:symw::symu::symr: Splinter Twin
:symb::symr::symg: Living End
Personal preference is nothing, The win is all that matters.
I will netdeck at every opportunity, but I will not let that stifle my creativity.
Style points do not appear on tournament reports.
A good deck with an incompetent pilot is nothing more than a dressed up match win.
I will crush my opponent mercilessly, and expect no less from him.
Victory is its own reward, The prize is just a bonus.
Legacy is dying
The fact that our judges are like, probably level 1 still, and they're usually shorthanded, gives us a huge disadvantage when it comes to rulings. On average, we're lucky to get 2-3 judges for a 200+ person event.
2 Southern California Regionals top 8's : 2008, 2009
Standard
:symw::symu::symr: American Control
:symw::symu::symb: Esper Control
:symw::symb::symg: Aristocrats
Modern
:symw::symu::symr: Splinter Twin
:symb::symr::symg: Living End
I mean, Dan Gray's cool and all, but it's nice to have
properly programmed CompRulesLevel 4 judge.Personal preference is nothing, The win is all that matters.
I will netdeck at every opportunity, but I will not let that stifle my creativity.
Style points do not appear on tournament reports.
A good deck with an incompetent pilot is nothing more than a dressed up match win.
I will crush my opponent mercilessly, and expect no less from him.
Victory is its own reward, The prize is just a bonus.
Legacy is dying
Can somebody verify this? Is this true? If so, I'm in the wrong profession.
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/
Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander -
Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build)(dead format for me)Then again, you have to factor in the thousands of dollars he spends to rent the places out, the staff he has to pay, the product to buy...etc
If he was making that much money, he could afford to get some weight reduction surgery or something :-/.
OR OR, he could train more judges to learn the damn game, instead of handing out illegitimate rulings to little kids.
Just my two cents...
2 Southern California Regionals top 8's : 2008, 2009
Standard
:symw::symu::symr: American Control
:symw::symu::symb: Esper Control
:symw::symb::symg: Aristocrats
Modern
:symw::symu::symr: Splinter Twin
:symb::symr::symg: Living End
I would suggest taking the level 1 test, but you need a level 2+ with trainer stuff to administer it, which is difficult to come by.
Also you're too obnoxious to be a judge.
2 Southern California Regionals top 8's : 2008, 2009
Standard
:symw::symu::symr: American Control
:symw::symu::symb: Esper Control
:symw::symb::symg: Aristocrats
Modern
:symw::symu::symr: Splinter Twin
:symb::symr::symg: Living End
that'd be me.
I posted this when I noticed people were confused. Apparently, people are still confused.
But yea, take teachings to nats, that'll show them
2 Southern California Regionals top 8's : 2008, 2009
Standard
:symw::symu::symr: American Control
:symw::symu::symb: Esper Control
:symw::symb::symg: Aristocrats
Modern
:symw::symu::symr: Splinter Twin
:symb::symr::symg: Living End