Triple Treat (Standard) - Apr 13, 2008

This is a post on how NOT to play a BG Elves deck:



// Lands
4 [LRW] Gilt-Leaf Palace
4 [10E] Llanowar Wastes
1 [PLC] Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 [TSB] Pendelhaven
2 [MOR] Mutavault
4 [10E] Treetop Village
4 [UNH] Forest
3 [UNH] Swamp

// Creatures
4 [10E] Llanowar Elves
2 [CS] Boreal Druid
4 [LRW] Wren's Run Vanquisher
4 [MOR] Bramblewood Paragon
4 [10E] Civic Wayfinder
4 [LRW] Imperious Perfect
2 [MOR] Chameleon Colossus
2 [LRW] Shriekmaw
3 [LRW] Garruk Wildspeaker

// Spells
4 [LRW] Nameless Inversion
4 [LRW] Profane Command

// Sideboard
SB: 1 [TSP] Sudden Spoiling
SB: 2 [LRW] Eyeblight's Ending
SB: 4 [PLC] Extirpate
SB: 2 [PLC] Damnation
SB: 1 [LRW] Primal Command
SB: 2 [TSP] Krosan Grip
SB: 3 [LRW] Cloudthresher


Round 1: vs. UW Reveillark Control (lost)

Talk about bad luck. My first opponent was the guy who won first place the day before. I don't think I made any real blunders, but my opponent was simply much much better than me.

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


Round 2: vs. Red Deck Wins (lost)

Lost due to a sideboard mistake -- I forgot to board in Eyeblight's Ending. Greater Gargadon ftw twice!

Game standing: 0-4
Match standing: 0-2


Round 3: vs. Mono-black Rogues (lost)

I won when I drew a Chameleon Colossus. I got overran by Goblins & Faeries in the other two games.

Game standing: 1-6
Match standing: 0-3


Round 4: vs. BR Goblins (lost)

Getting Earwigged thrice in 1 game is sure to make you lose. Getting Earwigged twice on the other is not bad either.

Game standing: 1-8
Match standing: 0-4


After that, of course, I dropped from the tournament.


What went wrong?

1. My usual alibi -- bad luck. Here's my justification -- 1. I drew like 2 Imperious Perfects the whole day; 2. My opponents were crazy lucky; 3. Like always, I rarely, if ever, drew my SBs. Not to mention my crazy round 1 pairing.

2. Sideboard mistakes. I think this is where I REALLY need to improve. I think I already have a good grasp of what to board in for most matchups -- I just need to improve in knowing the cards that I have to board out.

3. Practice practice practice. I have been using a pretty good deck the past few weeks, so that's no longer an excuse. I just need to minimize my mistakes and hopefully this mean losing streak that I'm having will end soon. Besides, my birthday is coming up, so my bad luck is supposed to end, right?

For now, it's back to FNMs, since there will no longer be any more Standard tourneys until after Shadowmoor comes out in May.