FNM - Feb 22, 2008

Here's the deck that I played:



// Lands
8 [UNH] Plains
4 [MOR] Rustic Clachan
4 [MOR] Mutavault
2 [TSP] Flagstones of Trokair
2 [LRW] Windbrisk Heights
2 [10E] Forbidding Watchtower

// Creatures
4 [LRW] Goldmeadow Stalwart
4 [LRW] Goldmeadow Harrier
4 [MOR] Cenn's Tactician
4 [LRW] Knight of Meadowgrain
4 [TSP] Serra Avenger
4 [MOR] Kinsbaile Borderguard
3 [LRW] Thoughtweft Trio
1 [LRW] Ajani Goldmane

// Spells
4 [PLC] Sunlance
4 [LRW] Oblivion Ring
2 [LRW] Militia's Pride

// Sideboard
SB: 2 [TSB] Tormod's Crypt
SB: 4 [PLC] Mana Tithe
SB: 2 [TSB] Disenchant
SB: 3 [TSP] Temporal Isolation
SB: 2 [10E] Paladin en-Vec
SB: 1 [TSP] Tivadar of Thorn

I was initially supposed to use the Dragonstorm deck that Jovs and I built up, but I had last minute second thoughts. First of all, I hadn't played in over a month. I had no idea about the post-Morningtide metagame, other than what I had been reading on the forums and around the Internet. And from that knowledge, I realized that the deck might not fare so well. Rogues had Earwig Squad; Blue had Trickbind; White had Rule of Law and Story Circle; Red had blazing speed with Mauler and Crusher; and Green was, well, really good.

Bottomline is, I realized that I wouldn't be comfortable playing a combo deck in this FNM. I wouldn't be able to stand all the talk that my opponents would do while I was busy computing if I had enough mana to make the combo go off.

Round 1: vs. Mono-black Rogues

In the beginning, I was glad that I hadn't played the DS deck because I was instantly paired against the deck that I was fearing to play to begin with. But a few Prickly Boggarts, Oona's Prowler, and an Earwig Squad later ("jesterscapping" my Sunlances), my gladness easily faded, and I went down 0-1. Even after boarding in the Paladin en-Vecs and Temporal Isolations, I quickly lost because I was never able to draw them. :( Match score: 0-2; Standing after 1 round: 0-1

Round 2: vs. Mono-red Skred

I made some early damages (as Kithkins are supposed to do), until he got to play his Phyrexian Ironfoot. Good thing I drew into an Oblivion Ring and he didn't have enough removal, and he eventually bowed down in the first game to my small Kithkin army. For game 2, I once again boarded in the Paladins... which this time paid dividends. :) I was able to draw AND play two of them, and he had no chance against the pair of human knights. All he could Stalking Yeti was my Stalwart, but his snow creature being afraid of my knights, they couldn't do anything. Match score: 2-0; Standing after 2 rounds: 1-1

Round 3: vs. RG Warriors

I was extremely lucky, or should I say, my opponent was extremely unlucky in this round. He mulled to 5 on the first game with 1 land, not getting his 2nd land until he had 5 or so life left. For the second game, I decided to board in 4 Mana Tithes. Good decision! Game 2 was an even matchup up until he tapped out to cast a Chameleon Colossus. It always feels good when you beat a 400+ peso card with a 10 peso common. :) He eventually bowed to my Kithkins after I also Sunlanced his Imperious Perfect. Match score: 2-0; Standing after 3 rounds: 2-1

This FNM was starting to shape up like my first one... well, up until Round 4.

Round 4: vs. RG Mana-ramp

The first game took a loooong time to finish. I had a bunch of Kithkins; but he would play a Siege-Gang Commander, killing them all. I would pump my soldiers with Ajani; but he would Sulfurous Blast. Eventually though, his own end of combat Sulfurous Blast killed him, when he forgot to remember that one of my creatures hadn't been blocked. For round 2, I boarded out the Sunlances in favor of Temporal Isolations, and I also boarded in my lone Tivadar because I knew he had a Chameleon Colossus (I watched him in a previous round, where he had a Warhammered Colossus pumped up TWICE... from my calculation, that would make it a 28/25 trampler... scary.)

As game 2 progressed, I realized that I had no chance of winning the game. At around the same time, the tournament organizers were already asking for our match result. Being a fair player, I just proceeded to play the game normally, when other players would have already begun to stall. He eventually won the game, as expected, and we wound up with a draw. Match score: 1-1; Standing after 4 rounds: 2-1-1.

This was when things got a little, um, intense. My opponent got a little uneasy that we ended up with a draw. He told me, "Sayang naman yung packs. Kung ok lang sayo, bigay mo na lang sa akin yung panalo, tapos hatian na lang kita sa packs kung may mapanalunan." I thought for a second, then I told him, "Wag na bro. Yung totoo na lang, draw na lang tayo." He then angrily left the table and left.

In the end, round-four-guy ended up in 15th place, and I ended up in 16th place. Prizes were awarded to players up to 13th place, so we both went home empty handed.

Oh well. Better luck next time.