FNM - Oct 17, 2008

I was in Bangkok last week for a duty travel and a weekend vacation (aka shopping) with Beej. Of course, I wouldn't let the opportunity pass without playing a sanctioned game in a foreign land. By hook or by crook, I was going to play in Bangkok! :)

Before leaving last week, I did two things to try to accomplish my mission:

1. I got into contact with Kong, a Thai player that I played in the recent GP Manila. We exchanged emails a few times, but when it was time for him to tell me about the location of MTG stores in Bangkok, he didn't reply in time. In fairness to him, he DID reply eventually this week, and said that he was apparently also out of town for work.

2. I brought a list of FNM locations in Bangkok from MTG.com. I then asked the receptionist of my hotel which of those were nearest, and she pointed me to Big Magic at the Amarin Plaza. That was where my adventure began. :)

On Friday afternoon, after my meeting had concluded, I proceeded to confirm the location of Big Magic, and walked from my meeting venue (Nai Lert Park Hotel) to Amarin Plaza, which was one Skytrain station away. When I reached Amarin Plaza, I went to the 3rd floor where it was supposed to be, and walked around the floor around three times. I never found it. :( Disgusted, I went downstairs to the Information counter, to confirm what was obviously the case -- the shop has closed and is no longer there. :( Luckily though, the lady knew where Big Magic had moved! :) She gave me the new location -- Union Mall -- and directions on how to get there.

Psyched up with my new found knowledge, I went back to my hotel (Baiyoke Suite Hotel) to drop off my laptop and get my deck and binder. I walked to Rachathewi BTS station, and took the train to Mo Chit station. When I got there, I took a taxi to Union Mall, and after a few minutes of looking, voila, I was there! Big Magic indeed! :)

The shop was just small, pretty much like NG in Galleria, but they had a few more tables in place outside the stall. I was just in time for their booster draft FNM signup (360 bhat), and was 4th in the signup sheet. After looking at a couple of binders for singles, I was about to start a casual game with someone when they announced that our 8-man pod had filled up. It's time! :)

My first pick was a Thunder-Thrash Elder, but eventually ran out of red cards, but eventually proceeded to draft a Naya deck. Here's the deck that I built (note: the shop lent us card sleeves to use!):



// Lands
7 [ALA] Forest
5 [ALA] Mountain
5 [ALA] Plains

// Creatures
1 [ALA] Algae Gharial
1 [ALA] Cylian Elf
1 [ALA] Court Archers
1 [ALA] Naya Battlemage
1 [ALA] Cavern Thoctar
1 [ALA] Skullmulcher
1 [ALA] Mosstodon
1 [ALA] Woolly Thoctar
1 [ALA] Thunder-Thrash Elder
1 [ALA] Viashino Skeleton
1 [ALA] Incurable Ogre
1 [ALA] Knight of the Skyward Eye
1 [ALA] Guardians of Akrasa
1 [ALA] Sunseed Nurturer
2 [ALA] Rip-Clan Crasher

// Spells
1 [ALA] Obelisk of Naya
1 [ALA] Sigil Blessing
1 [ALA] Branching Bolt
1 [ALA] Excommunicate
1 [ALA] Magma Spray
1 [ALA] Resounding Roar
1 [ALA] Lush Growth

The first round was against a Grixis deck, where I had a lot of trouble against a couple of Tidehollow Strix and Undead Leotau's. The second round was against a Naya mirror, but he apparently had a superior deck to mine, as he had multiple Wild Nacatl's, while I had none. Unfortunately, I sucked in my very first IRL draft experience, and went 0-2 in two rounds of play (though both rounds took 3 games). Good thing though that everyone in the pod got an FNM card. :) Now I have a souvenir from Bangkok. :)



After the game, I chatted with a few of the other players, and even got to play a few casual games against two guys -- one with our draft decks; and another, playing Standard with his Jund tokens deck featuring Sprouting Thrinax and Mycoloth.

All in all, it was a truly unforgettable experience, one that I will always remember Bangkok by. :) I hope to be able to go back there later. :)

FNM - Oct 10, 2008

This is my first time to get my feet wet in post-Shards of Alara standard. Unfortunately, I still haven't decided on a particular deck to build, so for today's FNM, I decided to just build a deck based on cards that we currently have. At the same, I also wanted to use something new, and since this is an FNM in a brand-new location (what will, hopefully, be our home base) I also wanted to use something fun.

This is what I came up with:


// Lands
4 [10E] Treetop Village
18 [UNH] Forest

// Creatures
4 [10E] Llanowar Elves
4 [EVE] Nettle Sentinel
4 [EVE] Twinblade Slasher
4 [LRW] Wren's Run Vanquisher
4 [EVE] Talara's Battalion
4 [10E] Troll Ascetic
2 [SHM] Boggart Ram-Gang
2 [SHM] Wilt-Leaf Cavaliers

// Spells
4 [SHM] Manamorphose
3 [10E] Giant Growth
2 [SHM] Tower Above
1 [10E] Loxodon Warhammer

// Sideboard
SB: 4 [SHM] Raking Canopy
SB: 4 [EVE] Snakeform
SB: 2 [SHM] Guttural Response
SB: 2 [10E] Naturalize
SB: 3 [SHM] Faerie Macabre


Round 1: vs. Quick 'N Toast (lost)

My opponent's first two land drops were vivid lands. I think to myself: Great. I bring a fun deck in this FNM, and someone is playing QNT. And I have to play him. :( Anyway, I decide to give it a go, and in the first game, I actually give him a run for his money -- despite being able to cast a Broodmate Dragon, I was actually able to kill both! Giant Growth on one, and Tower Above on the other. But heck, my opponent goes ballistic on me, as he taps colors on 7 mana for Cruel Ultimatum, netting him back his Broodmate buddies and the win.

SB: -3 Giant Growth, +3 Snakeform

In game 2, I drop him down to 9 life, but he slowly creeps back with Kitchen Finks shenanigans. He eventually drops his Broodmate buddies again -- and I kill both again! This time with Snakeform and Tower Above. However, he later drops his "other dragon", in the form of Oona, Queen of the Fae, and I scoop, without anything to do against the large faerie.

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


Round 2: vs. BG Rock (won)

Basically, my opponent beats me with his Colossus in game 2, but I won games 1 & 3 with the Troll-Hammer combo.

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


Round 3: vs. Quick 'N Toast (lost)

Wow, two players are playing QNT. I ask my opponent why he's 1-1, he tells me someone else is playing Faeries. Wow. Then, my luck completely abandons me, as I mulligan to 4... with no lands! I decide to give it a go, but of course lost the game. In game 2, I gain control of the board, but my opponent always has that resiliency with Kitchen Finks and Rhox War Monk lifegains shenanigans. I eventually lose to a flashed out Cloudthresher, sweeping my attackers and netting him a gargantuan beatstick that I cannot handle.

Game standing: 2-5
Match standing: 1-2


Round 4: vs. Mono Red Goblins (won)

My opponent and I joke around that we're just there to wait for the random FNM card giveaway, and in the process, I beat him easily in two games. I get surprised with Fists of the Anvil at one point, but my opponent gets even more surprised, when I did a double Giant Growth. Ha, take that. :)

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

All players that had no chance of getting to top 3, were asked to roll a 20-sided die. The one with the highest roll would win the fourth FNM card. I actually got the highest roll (13), tied with someone else, but when they did the rankings, the TO mentioned that I actually rank 6th overall, and was actually winning a pack! Wow. I take the pack, and the Serrated Arrows foil went to the other guy. Inside the pack was a mythic rare:



Coolness. I gotta think of a deck for The Anima. :)

TS/CS Out, ALA In

Today marks the first time that I will be experiencing a set rotation in Magic.

To give a short background -- the most commonly played format in Magic: The Gathering, Standard Constructed, utilizes the latest core set (10th Edition, as of today) and the two latest expansion blocks (Time Spiral/Coldsnap and Lorwyn/Shadowmoor). Now, today marks the release of the newest expansion block -- Shards of Alara. That, in effect, means the "rotation" of Time Spiral/Coldsnap OUT of Standard Constructed. Meaning, goodbye to tournament staples such as:

Snow-Covered lands
Using snow-covered lands didn't give any drawbacks whatsoever, and it even gave access to powerful cards such as Skred, Phyrexian Ironfoot, Mouth of Ronom, and the snow dual lands.


Dragonstorm
This card was such a big hit among combo, as well as budget players, because the deck was relatively cheaper to build than other tournament-worthy decks -- even making the finals of the 2007 World Championship.


Momentary Blink
Blink-Riders, Blink-Riftwing, Evoke-Blink, Reveillark-Blink... this card was in every control player's deck.


Rune Snag
The rotation of Rune Snag marks the removal of a decent 2cc counterspell for blue mages everywhere. For now, I guess we will have to put up with Remove Soul and Negate.


Damnation
The color-shift of Wrath of God to black made white unplayable. With Damnation rotating out, will white once again reclaim its old glory?


Tarmogoyf
The big daddy. The card smackers dream of, going from being a crap rare to a chase rare. For a while, it was in every deck that had green mana. The hype went down though, but the price tag didn't change. And I doubt that it will, as "the most powerful 2-drop ever" is still usable in older formats like Extended.


Which card in the new Standard will impact the format the most? Will any card mimic Tarmogoyf in terms of price and usability? How will current decks adapt to the rotation? Will the meta be control-based, as many people predict?

I don't know the answer to any of these questions, but I sure am looking forward to this brand-new Standard. :)