Pro Tour Berlin Qualifier I - Aug 16, 2008

With the 2008 Philippine Nationals in the history books (with Polar Nest conceding in the Finals to his good friend Bayani), it's now Block season, and we have exactly two weeks to prepare for the upcoming Grand Prix Manila.

For a couple of weeks now, I have had this idea of a Doran Assassin deck, but I just never had the opportunity to use it because I was unable to play in the Block Division of the Philippine Open, and an earlier Block tournament got cancelled because very few players signed up. Anyway, here comes GP Denver, and I saw Hunter Burton's deck make it to the Top 8... it looked very familiar... with a few minor differences (Wren's Run Vanquisher instead of Stillmoon Cavalier), it was practically the same deck! I just had to change the mana base because we had only 1 Reflecting Pool. But heck, after a few playtests, it proved to be manageable. So anyway, here's the Doran Assassin deck that I used in yesterday's Berlin PTQ I. I wasn't able to get the Stillmoon Cavaliers in time, so I ended up with practically the same MD as Burton's.



// Lands
4 [MOR] Murmuring Bosk
4 [LRW] Gilt-Leaf Palace
1 [SHM] Reflecting Pool
2 [EVE] Twilight Mire
2 [EVE] Fetid Heath
4 [LRW] Vivid Grove
4 [LRW] Vivid Marsh
2 [UNH] Forest
2 [UNH] Swamp

// Creatures
4 [LRW] Treefolk Harbinger
4 [LRW] Wren's Run Vanquisher
4 [MOR] Scarblade Elite
4 [LRW] Doran, the Siege Tower
4 [MOR] Chameleon Colossus
3 [LRW] Cloudthresher

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

// Sideboard
SB: 1 [LRW] Cloudthresher
SB: 4 [LRW] Thoughtseize
SB: 3 [SHM] Guttural Response
SB: 4 [SHM] Kitchen Finks
SB: 3 [SHM] Faerie Macabre

Round 1: vs. Chapin Toast (lost)

I really have the worst luck in matchups, as I was quickly paired against a top player in Round 1. He used Patrick Chapin's latest build of Quick 'N Toast featuring Archon of Justice, Oona's Grace and Runed Halo -- the one used by the eventual champ of GP Denver, Gerry Thompson. In the first game, I had a blistering start of double Harbinger and Doran, and he very quickly lost. In the second game, I had a pretty good start as well, but he was able to shutdown Doran with Runed Halo, so he was able to prolong the game and I eventually lost to some Kitchen Finks and Mulldrifter beats. In the third game, I got almost completely shutdown, with both Doran and Chameleon Colossus getting named by 2 Runed Halos. I eventually resolved my third threat, Cloudthresher, but he was able to Cryptic Command (tap + bounce) ftw.

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


Round 2: vs. Elf Grenade (won)

This was a fun game. I lost pretty badly in the first game, but I had fun watching the elf grenade in action. I mean, Luminescent Rain for 10, and gain 20 life? What's not fun about that? But the fun had to stop in the second and third game, as I killed each crucial elf that he had, and he never even damaged me in both games.

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


Round 3: vs. Gr Treefolk (won)

Game 1 wasn't close, with 3 Timber Protectors in my opponent's board. In game 2, I was able to Thoughtseize a crucial Fertile Ground and my opponent got too delayed and lost, despite being able to Dawnglow Infusion twice. In the third game, I made a risk by keeping a 1-land hand with 1 Swamp, 1 Thoughtseize, 3 Vanquishers and 2 Nameless Inversions. The risk paid off, when I drew my second hand right on the draw, and won the match.

Game standing: 5-4
Match standing: 2-1


Round 4: vs. Chapin Toast (lost)

I was up against another top player, which was actually the cousin of my first round opponent. He was even using the same Chapin Toast deck. The first game was really close, with my opponent at 4 life, and me at 2 life in the end. But then, Kitchen Finks did its job, and my opponent went all the way up to 10 again. In the final play, my opponent thought for quite a while, having a Mulldrifter ready to attack, and me with 6 mana open, threatening a Cloudthresher. But when he finally realized that I was down to 2, he eventually attacked, and I scooped (although I did have the Thresher in hand). In game 2, I was able to win very easily despite some more Kitchen Finks shenanigans. In game 3, my opponent was "borrowing" my dead creatures with Puppeteer Clique all day, and it was too late by the time I got Crib Swap, and I had already lost the match.

Game standing: 6-6
Match standing: 2-2


Round 5: vs. WW Kithkin (lost)

It's pretty easy to determine the outcome of Kithkin matches. If they resolve a Mirrorweave on their attack, it pretty much means they've won. If they do it on the defense, it means you're winning. The latter was the case on the first game, and I won despite having no creatures on board, via an evoked Thresher (he was on 1 life). In game 2, the former was the case, as I had no chance against the 1-2-3-4 combo of Stalwart, Cenn, Spectral Procession, Mirrorweave. Game 3 was the best game of all, with both of us at 2 life, and top deck mode at the end. Too bad I drew all lands, and my opponent was eventually able to draw Rise of the Hobgoblins, netting him 7 angry Goblin Soldiers ftw.

Game standing: 7-8
Match standing: 2-3


Round 6: vs. BR Wild Swing (won)

To be honest, I was surprised my opponent even got to 2-3 with his deck. It was the ultimate rogue deck, with him using a bunch of cards I've never seen in sanctioned tournaments before, like Wild Swing and Rekindled Flame. It was fun though, not just because I won undamaged in both games, but because he was quite lucky with his Wild Swings... even hitting Doran, and my lone Reflecting Pool (making me mana screwed for a short time).

Game standing: 9-8
Match standing: 3-3


Round 7: vs. W Weenie (won)

It was the end of the day, and I was expecting another "normal" player in round 7, but I was surprised to see myself paired once again, against a top player. That makes 3 Nats players in one tournament. Wow. Anyway, if I ever want to be competitive in Magic, I had to get used to this. In the end, I eventually saw why he was in the loser's bracket this time, as he was using a weird mono white deck, that had the usual Kithkins and Mirrorweave, but also had some Safehold Elites in it. He was probably trying to innovate, but obviously the innovation didn't work. I beat him easy in 2 games, and gained me some major DCI points in the process. ;-)

Final game standing: 11-8
Final match standing: 4-3


Final verdict: The Doran Assassin deck has lots of potential -- having some game, even against the top control deck of the format, Quick 'N Toast. But it still has to be further improved and tested against other archetypes, as I never played against Faeries, RDW, and the mirror. Hopefully, we can make those improvements by next week's PTQ.

FNM - Aug 15, 2008

I used the same BG Elves deck that got beat up in the Philippine Open last week. I just added 1 more Kitchen Finks and removed 1 Faerie Macabre, anticipating that there wouldn't be much Reveillark decks, but rather, more RDW decks on the FNM.

Round 1: Mono U Merfolk (lost)

The first game starts with my opponent having a Cursecatcher and a Lord of Atlantis in play, while I have just a Swamp and a Mutavault (I cast a Thoughtseize earlier). He attacks with the Cursecatcher... I think for a second, and block with the Mutavault. The Cursecatcher dies, the Mutavault lives on, and I secretly laugh, thinking that this would be an easy round. But then, later on, his Merfolk engine turns up a notch and I come across a hoard of 8/8 Wake Thrashers. He casts Cryptic Command, and makes a single alpha strike ftw.

For the second game, it wasn't even close. My opponent gets a god draw (and he himself admits that this was his first time to ever see such a hand). He casts 2nd turn Banneret, then 3rd turn Reejerey, then another Reejerey, then 4th turn, 3 Lords of Atlantis -- for free. And he still has a Cryptic Command in hand.

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


Round 2: 5-Color Elementals (lost)

First game, I mulligan to 5, with 1 land. Nuff said. On the second game, we fight a close match, but I lost to a Horde of Notions, because he was able to Crib Swap away my entire army.

Game standing: 0-2
Match standing: 0-2 drop.

Magic Player Rewards - Aug 14, 2008

Last night, I was surprised to find the following in the mail:



My first ever Magic Player Rewards! :)

Unfortunately, I didn't make it to 20 tournaments before their cutoff (some events didn't get reported... :( ), so I didn't get a foil Damnation. It was still all good though, as I got a textless Incinerate, Harmonize, Corrupt, and 2 Ponders.

Getting these last night most certainly encouraged me to play even more... so I'll be playing in tonight's FNM at Galleria (if the weather will cooperate). ;-)

Philippine Open, Standard Division - Aug 10, 2008

If you're not interested in learning how to lose in tournaments, stop reading now.

Still there? Ok fine.

Expecting a RDW and faerie infested meta, I modified my BG Elves deck by removing Garruk and putting main deck Slaughter Pacts:



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

// Creatures
4 [10E] Llanowar Elves
1 [CS] Boreal Druid
4 [LRW] Wren's Run Vanquisher
4 [FUT] Tarmogoyf
4 [LRW] Imperious Perfect
4 [10E] Civic Wayfinder
3 [MOR] Chameleon Colossus

// Spells
4 [LRW] Thoughtseize
3 [LRW] Profane Command
4 [LRW] Nameless Inversion
2 [FUT] Slaughter Pact

// Sideboard
SB: 2 [SHM] Kitchen Finks
SB: 2 [LRW] Primal Command
SB: 4 [LRW] Cloudthresher
SB: 1 [TSP] Squall Line
SB: 3 [SHM] Faerie Macabre
SB: 2 [PLC] Damnation
SB: 1 [TSP] Sudden Spoiling

I think I was on the right track. In fact, I read the metagame today very well, as you will see. But unfortunately, luck was just not on my side today. Lady luck was waaaaay over on the other side of the world.


Round 1: vs. Red Deck Wins

Game 1, mulligan to 5. I kept a hand with 1 Gilt Leaf Palace and 1 Vanquisher. I was still able to hit my second land drop though, but my opponent just easily burned everything I put down, and beat me with his 8/8 Kithkin Spirit Warrior Avatar while still at perfect life. In Game 2, I come out of the gates roaring, and attacked my opponent until he stabilized at 3 life. But remember my comment about lady luck? After several turns waiting for any one of my three Profane Commands, they just never came out, and I still ended up losing that game to a Demigod of Revenge.

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


Round 2: vs. Red Deck Wins

Game 1, mulligan to... wait for it... 5 again. We start off racing, but eventually, I had no chance against 2 Demigods. In game 2, it wasn't even close. My opponent just burned everything I put down, and I got stuck at 4 lands, with 2 Primal Commands in my hand.

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


Round 3: vs. UB Faeries

I actually had a chance in this one, with my opponent even making a few mistakes (casting Mistbind Clique during my main phase & blocking my Vanquisher with another Mistbind Clique), but I eventually lost to my opponent's superior card draw (you probably already noticed the abundance of Mistbind Cliques...). In game 2, I did something I've never done in a tournament. I lost by forgetting to pay for Slaughter Pact. W-T-F.

Game standing: 0-6
Match standing: 0-3 drop. With a big L in my forehead.

Post-Eventide Metagame

This past weekend, there were a lot of major tournaments around the world, with various National Championships, as well as Grand Prix Kobe in Japan. This would very much dictate the post-Eventide metagame so here are the results for reference:

US Nationals (Standard):
1st - Red Deck Wins
2nd - BG Elves
3rd - UB Faeries
4th - Red Deck Wins

France Nationals (Standard):
1st - Red Deck Wins
2nd - UGrwb Quick n Toast
3rd - Red Deck Wins
4th - UW Merfolk

Italy Nationals (Standard):
1st - BR Tokens
2nd - UB Faeries
3rd - BG Elves
4th - Ramp-Toast

GP Kobe (Block):
1st - UB Faeries
2nd - BGw Doran
3rd - BGw Treefolk
4th - WW Kithkin

Quite noticeable is the apparent emergence of 2 RDW's on the top 4 of the US as well as the France Nats. Here's the decklist of the US National Champ, Michael Jacob:



// Lands
2 [FUT] Keldon Megaliths
22 [CS] Snow-Covered Mountain

// Creatures
4 [EVE] Figure of Destiny
4 [TSP] Magus of the Scroll
4 [PLC] Blood Knight
4 [FUT] Magus of the Moon
4 [SHM] Ashenmoor Gouger
4 [SHM] Demigod of Revenge

// Spells
4 [SHM] Flame Javelin
4 [10E] Incinerate
4 [CS] Skred

// Sideboard
SB: 4 [SHM] Murderous Redcap
SB: 2 [10E] Pithing Needle
SB: 3 [MOR] Spitebellows
SB: 4 [TSP] Sulfurous Blast
SB: 2 [EVE] Unwilling Recruit

Hmm. Anyone want to sell their Magus of the Moon? I'm buying at 150PhP each. ;-)

Nationals Qualifier - Aug 3, 2008

I had mixed emotions coming in to yesterday's Nats Qualifier tourney. I was partly scared, because a lot of players who barely made it to Nats, but think they deserve to be qualified, will be playing. On the other hand, I was also partly relieved that none of the top players would be playing, because, well, they're already qualified for Nats.

Anyway, I once again joined the tourney with, more or less, the same BG Elves deck:



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

// Creatures
4 [10E] Llanowar Elves
1 [CS] Boreal Druid
4 [LRW] Wren's Run Vanquisher
3 [FUT] Tarmogoyf
4 [LRW] Imperious Perfect
4 [10E] Civic Wayfinder
3 [MOR] Chameleon Colossus

// Spells
3 [LRW] Garruk Wildspeaker
4 [LRW] Nameless Inversion
3 [LRW] Profane Command
4 [LRW] Thoughtseize

// Sideboard
SB: 4 [LRW] Cloudthresher
SB: 1 [TSP] Squall Line
SB: 2 [LRW] Primal Command
SB: 2 [SHM] Kitchen Finks
SB: 2 [SHM] Faerie Macabre
SB: 2 [FUT] Slaughter Pact
SB: 1 [SHM] Incremental Blight
SB: 1 [TSP] Sudden Spoiling


Round 1: vs. Red Deck Wins (lost)

On the first game, my opponent easily overran me with a barrage of red creatures -- Magus of the Scroll, to Figure of Destiny, to Ashenmoor Gouger, and finally curving up to Demigod of Revenge. On the second game, I tried to hold fort, but my opponent just burned my blockers and he still managed to push through with his Gougers ftw.

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


Round 2: vs. UWb Quick n Toast (lost)

After that really quick first round, I thought I was going to have a long game in the second round, when my opponent's first two land drops were Plains and Swamp. What's this, Turbo Fog? But then again, my opponent's deck unravelled, and it apparently was some kind of UWb control deck. I lost a really tight game, when my opponent put down Oona, Queen of the Fae on the board. On the second game, my opponent never had a chance when I put down creature after creature, and he quickly lost. On the third game, he was able to manage my army with some removal via Shriekmaw and Murderous Redcap, and I lost a long, but one-sided game.

Game standing: 1-3
Match standing: 0-2


Round 3: vs. a 75-card deck (won)

Things were not looking good. And the day was shaping up to be one of those 0-3 or 0-4 drop days. That was until I met my round 3 opponent. It began really weird, while shuffling, when I noticed that he had a really thick deck. I figured it must just be some new sleeves or something. But then again, after shuffling, when I offered a die roll, he instead said that I could just go first. I asked him if he was sure, and he said he was. Fine. I played first.

It was then that I knew that he was a new player. He played spells like Arena, Wheel of Fate, Sudden Impact (which actually took me down to 7 life), and creatures like Deep Slumber Titan and Juggernaut. Nuff said. I won very easily in two games.

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


Round 4: vs. Red Deck Wins (won)

After finally getting a break in the tourney, it was time to start winning on my own. I was up against another RDW, pretty much like my first round, and I think he actually had an identical deck. On the first game, we were racing in life and trading attacks up until he was at 11, and I was at 12, and it was his turn. He thought for a second, and swung with everything. I then thought for a second, and after everything resolved, I went down to 2 life. When it was my turn, I swung with all my creatures, and he was baffled. He apparently forgot about my man lands, and lost.

In game 2, it wasn't even close. I was able to draw my sideboards, and the expression on his face was priceless, when I Primal'd for 7 life and searched for a Kitchen Finks. And I had the second Finks in hand.

Game standing: 5-3
Match standing: 2-2


Round 5: vs. WW Kithkins (lost)

I was up against a really irritating opponent who I think wanted to finish all his rounds in 15 minutes. He played extremely fast and rolled his eyes each time I stopped to think for a second. I don't even want to bother with details, but basically, he won in 2 games, both close though, and both won via f!@#$ Mirrorweave.

Game standing: 5-5
Match standing: 2-3


Round 6: vs. Mono-G Treefolk (won)

I initialy thought that it was going to be a mirror match, when my opponent did a first turn Llanowar Elf. When he tapped 2 lands and the elf in the second turn, I was already bracing for a Perfect, when he instead put down... a Battlewand Oak. Whoa. Treefolk. Right then and there, I knew what to do. I had to race him. However, things didn't turn out good when he was able to put down a 12/12 trampling indestructible Dauntless Dourbark. What do you do in these situations? You wait for your opponent to make a mistake. LOL. Down to 5 life, my opponent attacked with his Dourbark, and I immediately went down from 20 to 8 life. On my turn, I thought for a second, and swung with everything. Much like my round 4 opponent, he also forgot about my man lands and lost.

In round 2, I had really awesome draws, by getting 3 Vanquishers and a Perfect early, and he never recovered from my quick beats.

Game standing: 7-5
Match standing: 3-3


Round 7: vs. BGw Doran (won)

This was the closest to a mirror match that I had all day. I'm proud to say that I simply outplayed my opponent in this round, and I beat him in 2 close games, despite him boarding in a ton of life gain in the second game. All I can say is... Doran is awesome, but Profane Command is better. :)

Game standing: 9-5
Match standing: 4-3


Round 8: vs. UWr Tricolark (won)

Uh oh. Reveillark. I have a really bad record against this deck, and things didn't start very well, when my opponent beat me with a Gargadon-Reveillark-Redcap combo in the first game. On the second game, I beat him with a quick Garruk overrun, putting him down to 4 life. Luckily, he didn't draw any life gain, and he quickly lost afterwards. On game 3 though, he DID draw his life gain, and went up to 26 life thanks to some Kitchen Finks and Aven Riftwatchers. However, I was more lucky and I was able to once again drop him to 9 life via another Garruk overrun. I eventually finished him off and won the third and deciding game.

Game standing: 11-5
Match standing: 5-3


Round 9: vs. UW Reveillark Control (lost)

It was already 9:00 pm, but despite being extremely tired, a little hungry, and having a bit of a headache, I felt pretty good in the tournament. And that hadn't happened in a loooong time.

For my last round, I was up against another Reveillark deck. He had the original UW build, and I actually hanged in there quite well, but my fatigue caught up with me, and I made some costly mistakes (like not casting a Thoughtseize that I had in my hand. Duh.) to eventually lose in 2 close games.

Final game standing: 11-7
Final match standing: 5-4


For most players, this would have been a disappointing finish. But for me, in my current DCI level, I'd be happy to get 5-3's or 5-4's any day. :-) I just want to get back to 1600. ;-)