Alara Reborn Prerelease - May 3, 2009

Due to Customs issues, the Alara Reborn Prerelease here in Manila was delayed by a week. We were all still up for it though, so Joven and I went to our local store on the day of the Pacquiao-Hatton fight, to feed our MTG addiction.

I open a sealed pool that contained Thought Hemorrhage, Spellbreaker Behemoth, and Rafiq of the Many. I contemplated dropping since we were going to pass the registered pool, but eventually decided to play anyway, as I crossed my fingers to get passed at least a decently playable pool of cards.

I was wrong.

My card pool was weak in all 5 shards, and had very little mana fixing to splash any of my "bombs" on other shards. I ended up playing an RG-heavy Naya deck:



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

// Creatures
2cc:
1 [ALA] Elvish Visionary
1 [ALA] Knight of the Skyward Eye
1 [ALA] Sigiled Paladin
3cc:
1 [ALA] Vithian Stinger
1 [ALA] Exuberant Firestoker
1 [ALA] Hissing Iguanar
1 [ARB] Godtracker of Jund
1 [ALA] Mayael the Anima
4cc:
1 [ALA] Godtoucher
5cc or more:
1 [ALA] Mycoloth
2 [ARB] Gorger Wurm
1 [ARB] Pale Recluse
1 [ARB] Valley Rannet
1 [ARB] Dragon Broodmother

// Spells
1 [ARB] Intimidation Bolt
1 [ALA] Soul's Fire
1 [ALA] Magma Spray
1 [ARB] Sangrite Backlash
1 [ARB] Colossal Might
1 [ALA] Dragon Fodder
1 [ARB] Trace of Abundance
1 [ARB] Behemoth Sledge


Simply put, I won in all games when I drew either the Mycoloth and/or the Dragon Broodmother. In all other games, I lost.

I made a couple of misplays, most notably:
1. Forgetting the upkeep trigger of the Exuberant Firestoker
2. Playing Intimidation Bolt on my opponent's defender, before declaring attackers
3. Playing Sangrite Backlash at EOT of my opponent (I thought it was an Agony Warp, LOL)

In the end, I finished with a 3-1 record (which was decent, considering my god awful card pool) -- the 3rd "win" was against Joven, whom I got paired with on the final round.

None of us got a t-shirt this time around, but it was still worth the (1 week) wait. Too bad though that we didn't get any "money cards" this time around. Hopefully we get a little bit luckier on our booster box and fatpacks. ;-)

City Champs - Apr 18, 2009

A chance to win extended art Mutavault or Bramblewood Paragon...


Round 1: vs. Naya (lost)

In game 1, I get stuck in 2 lands, and get surprised with a main deck Burrenton Forge Tender from my opponent. I lose, of course, to the unorthodox Naya deck. In game 2, a pair of Ram-Gangs is all I need to win. In game 3, my opponent plays 2 Reveillarks, while I get mana flooded FTL.

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


Round 2: vs UB Faeries (lost)

I get faced against a familiar Nats player, but when I see him play Sunken Ruins, I smile a bit, as this is supposed to be a good matchup for me. However, it was not to be, as an early Mistbind Clique does me in, and I have no answer for the 4/4 flyer. In game 2, I mulligan to 5, and another early Mistbind Clique defeats me. Oh well.

There goes the EA Mutavault...

Game standing: 1-4
Match standing: 0-2


Round 3: vs. BGW Doran (won)

I totally forgot any details about this round. All I remember is my crucial SB of the Everlasting Torment, and I win it in 3 games.

Game standing: 3-5
Match standing: 1-2


Round 4: vs. Bant (lost)

I lose in 2 games due to lifegain shenanigans.

Game standing: 3-7
Match standing: 1-3

I contemplate dropping from the tourney at this point, but since I was meeting someone for a card deal, I just continued playing while I wait.


Round 5: vs. 4-color Ramp (won)

In game 1, I have no answer against a Broodmate Dragon. In game 2, I get really unlucky with a mull to 5. But get awesome draws, and I get my turn 1 FOD all the way to 8/8 ftw. In game 3, FOD once again won the game for me -- 2 of them.

Game standing: 5-8
Match standing: 2-3


Round 6: vs. Dark Bant (lost)

All I remember here is that I didn't see the Doran, nor his black manabase in game 1 (where I lost), so I assumed that it was a pure Bant deck -- making me SB incorrectly. The legendary treefolk came up in game 2 though, and screwed my plans to get back in the game. Afterwards, I just dropped from the tourney. There goes the EA Paragon...

Final game standing: 5-10
Match standing: 2-4


Disappointing, to say the least. :(

FNM - Apr 17, 2009

I've been pretty busy with work lately, so I haven't been able to blog about my recent tourneys. Good thing I finally found an excuse to take a day off, and finally found some time to try to recall my recent mistakes, misplays and errors. LOL. Here's the first of three tourneys that I haven't blogged yet. I'll try to remember as much as I can, but since it's been a few weeks already, well... let's just say I'm going to trust what I wrote in my score sheets. ;-)


I planned to join the City Champs on that weekend, so I used the FNM to try to "playtest" the Blightning deck.

Round 1: vs. Esper Mannequin (won)

Things didn't start off well, as I mulliganed to 5. But I still kept enough pressure to put my opponent down to 2. However, a Mannequin'd Inkwell Leviathan sealed the deal, and I couldn't do anything against the shrouded trampling monstrosity. In game 2, I took the gamble and kept a 1-land hand of FOD, Hellspark & Ram-Gang. It paid off and I drew 2 lands in the next 2 turns, to easily beat my opponent. In game 3, I once again applied early beats and my opponent tried to delay the game with a Magister Sphinx, but he had no answers to my hasty army.

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


Round 2: vs. Bant Control (won)

Game 1 was pretty easy as I finished the game unscathed. In game 2, my opponent dropped 3 Stoic Angels throughout the course of the game, and I ran out of answers for that. In game 3, a crucial Everlasting Torment sealed the deal for my opponent, as he couldn't gain life off his Rhox War Monks.

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


Round 3: Naya Planeswalkers (lost)

What can you do when you're facing your opponent along side Ajani Vengeant, Garruk, Sarkhan Vol & Chandra? Scoop. In game 2, it was me who got burned, as my opponent accumulated a huge Banefire directed straight at my dome.

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


Round 4: RW Kithkin (won)

This was an easy matchup. I practically threw all my burn at my opponent in both games, on my way to a 3-1 finish.

Final game standing: 6-4
Final match standing: 3-1