None Of The Above

When I arrived at NG Galleria at around 11am, there was a looong line all the way up to Filbars. When I got near the counter a few minutes later, we were told that we will have to be placed on the waiting list. Damn. If I had just arrived a bit earlier. I think I was around 5th on the waiting list.

Eventually though, at around 12:30pm, with the tournament already starting at the 4th floor, we were told that we could still play, but we would have to do it inside the crowded store, standing up or on the floor. Oh well. For the love of the game.

Here's the deck that I used -- Doran Rock LD:



// Lands
4 [MOR] Murmuring Bosk
3 [LRW] Gilt-Leaf Palace
4 [10E] Llanowar Wastes
4 [TSB] Gemstone Mine
2 [FUT] Horizon Canopy
1 [TSB] Pendelhaven
1 [PLC] Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
3 [UNH] Forest
1 [UNH] Swamp

// Creatures
3 [LRW] Doran, the Siege Tower
3 [FUT] Tarmogoyf
4 [10E] Llanowar Elves
4 [10E] Birds of Paradise
2 [LRW] Garruk Wildspeaker
3 [10E] Troll Ascetic
1 [MOR] Chameleon Colossus
2 [LRW] Shriekmaw

// Spells
2 [LRW] Profane Command
4 [TSP] Mwonvuli Acid-Moss
3 [MOR] Bitterblossom
2 [PLC] Damnation
4 [LRW] Nameless Inversion

// Sideboard
SB: 2 [LRW] Oblivion Ring
SB: 4 [PLC] Extirpate
SB: 4 [10E] Rain of Tears
SB: 2 [PLC] Damnation
SB: 2 [LRW] Cloudthresher
SB: 1 [LRW] Primal Command

Round 1: vs. BG Elves

My very first hand of the day was apparently a sign of things to come. One land, no mana elf. Mull to 6. I kept a 1 land hand with a BOP & an Elf. It still wasn't enough though because the 2nd land didn't come until the 3rd turn, and by then, my opponent was swinging with an army of Vanquishers. Game 2 was hard-fought. Me with Doran and BOPs and elves, he would Damnation. Him with 2 Perfects and some mana elves, I would Damnation. Finally, with me at 3 life and my opponent at 4 life, it was down to who would draw his Profane first. Unfortunately for me, he drew it first.

Game standing: 0-2
Match standing: 0-1


Round 2: vs. UB Faeries

Game 1 was a battle of attrition, with me getting all the way down to 1 life due to my Bitterblossom. But with Garruk online, I swung with my army of faeries. Overrun ftw. On game 2, my opponent was stuck at 2 lands, and I ended the game the same way as the first. Another Garruk overrun ftw!

Game standing: 2-2
Match standing: 1-1


Round 3: vs. RG Mana-ramp

I lost game 1 easily due to a single attack of a double-charged Colossus. While boarding for the second game, I just suddenly realized that I had not much answers to Colossi MD -- just the 2 Damnations. I then decided to board in the remaining 2 Damnations in my SB and the 2 Oblivion Rings. That's 6 cards in all... that SHOULD be enough. But apparently, it was NOT. I drew just 1 Damnation the whole game (killing 1 Colossus), but he drew another Colossus ftw. I asked my opponent (who eventually made top 4 in the tourney) after the match how many Colossus he had on his deck, because I didn't see any other creature from him (normally Mana-ramp decks have various sorts of fatties). He said he only had 3 Colossi. Oh well.

Game standing: 2-4
Match standing: 1-2


Round 4: vs. Reveillark

For round 4, we were finally merged to the main tourney area in the 4th floor -- so I no longer had the disadvantage (and excuse) that we were playing while standing up. My opponent had the version of the Reveillark combo deck that used the Bonded Fetch method, so that he could discard combo pieces onto the graveyard... and he did. By bouncing all my permanents. GG. I had lots of SB for his deck though, so I wasn't affected much. In: 4 Extirpates & 4 Rain of Tears. Let's see if that happens again. Unfortunately, I just couldn't draw ANY of my SB. But it was ok, because I was beating him down... all the way down to 2 life... and then suddenly... another combo. GG.

Game standing: 2-6
Match standing: 1-3


Round 5: vs. RG Tarox

In game 5, I finally got matched up against a non-Tier 1 deck. Sure enough, I easily beat him in the first game. But AGAIN unfortunately, I got beat up by some pretty sick draws by my opponent, most notable of which was a Might of Oak'd and Grandeured 22/21 Tarox Bladewing. And I was "comfortably" at 17 life at that time. GG.

Game standing: 3-8
Match standing: 1-4


Round 6: vs. UB Faeries

For round 6, I got faced against a relatively familiar face. I knew this guy topped-4 at a recent FNM. And I knew this guy had a powerful faerie deck. I was wondering then... why was he matched up against me, in my 3-point table? I soon found out why. Apparently, he was a relative noob as well, just like me. In fact, he was more of a noob than me, because he kept on reading and misunderstanding Doran's ability. I easily won the match in 2 games.

Game standing: 5-8
Match standing: 2-4

Round 7: vs. Reveillark

I was once again against a familiar face. I knew my opponent had a Reveillark deck. In fact, when the player beside me was chatting and talking about his recent game that had a Reveillark player go up from 2 life way up to 23 life via Riftwatchers, I told my opponent, "Wag mo gagawin sa akin yun ah." :)

Things didn't start very well because I mulliganed to 4....although it WAS a pretty sick hand, with 2 lands and 2 Bitterblossoms. I eventually found out that 2 Bitterblossoms, plus a Garruk, apparently, equates to a win. :) My opponent was pissed off. Losing to a mulligan to 4 does that to you. On game 2, I lost due to a SB mistake... I forgot to board in my Oblivion Rings, and I had no answer to a Teferi's Moat for Green. Game 3 was well fought. Me down to 3, and my opponent at 5, I lost to flyers which I couldn't block -- he had a Porphyry Nodes disabling my Bitterblossom.

Game standing: 6-10
Match standing: 2-5


It was already 9pm, and I decided to drop because I knew that with 250+ players, I had no chance of getting the Imperious Perfect that we so badly wanted (Sorry Jovs!).

Another tournament, another disappointing result. Maybe I should stick to FNM's in the meantime...