Pre-Alara Triple Treat (Block) - Sep 13, 2008

I used the same Doran Assassins deck that I used in the Grand Prix:



// Lands
4 [MOR] Murmuring Bosk
1 [SHM] Reflecting Pool
4 [LRW] Gilt-Leaf Palace
2 [EVE] Twilight Mire
1 [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] Profane Command
2 [LRW] Crib Swap
3 [SHM] Firespout

// Sideboard
SB: 1 [LRW] Cloudthresher
SB: 2 [LRW] Crib Swap
SB: 4 [LRW] Thoughtseize
SB: 4 [SHM] Kitchen Finks
SB: 3 [SHM] Faerie Macabre
SB: 1 [EVE] Wickerbough Elder


Round 1: vs. Mirror (lost)

My first round opponent's first play was a Murmuring Bosk into a Treefolk Harbinger. Great -- a mirror match -- which pretty much means it's a 50-50. The first game started off exactly that way, with me just winning at the end via a double Firespout, killing my opponent's Colossus, and me with a Cloudthresher surviving the fire blaze.

SB: -3 Cloudthresher, +2 Crib Swap, +1 Wickerbough Elder

In game 2, it pretty much more of the same, but my opponent won the race thanks to a crucial Primal Command -- with both of us at 5 life, it then put him back to 12. In game 3, we did mirror pro moves, but I ran out of gas eventually, and lost.

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


Round 2: vs. Gb Warriors (lost)

I'm always comfortable with aggro matchups, with my huge arsenal of removal, but this one was apparently too fast for me as my opponent beat me with the Colossus-on-Battle Axe-haste trick. I made the same SB strategy as the previous match because this deck, like the mirror, had no flyers -- thus taking out the Threshers.

SB: -3 Cloudthresher, +2 Crib Swap, +1 Wickerbough Elder

In game 2, my opponent couldn't do anything to the Harbinger-Harbinger-Doran pro moves, and I easily beat him at 20 life. In game 3, we were once again racing, and we were eventually both at top deck mode at the end, with him at 5 life, and me at 3 life. He had a Crib Swap token in play though, which put me down even more to 1 life, until I was able to Nameless Inversion it. However, despite the long topdeck battle, he still won and drew his Profane Command before I did. (He had 2 in his deck; I had 4)

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


Despite being down 0-2, I didn't lose hope, and I was aiming to bounce back to 5-2, after 7 rounds. One can always dream, right? ;)


Round 3: vs. Mono G Warriors (won)

My opponent's first play: Nettle Sentinel. What? You again?

I easily won the first game though, thanks to a Firespout, leaving my Doran alone in the board. In game 2, it was a close battle all the way, but I lost to 2 Crib Swap tokens (Yes, you read that right -- I lost to two 1/1 tokens). In game 3, I was back to my winning ways and beat him with a Profane burn to the face and fear to swing.

That's 1 down, 4 to go.

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


Round 4: vs. UR Rogues (won)

In round 4, I was reading my opponent's cards all match, as he was playing a mono-red deck, but utilizing the UR hybrid cards from Eventide (which I'm not very familiar with). I still beat him though in the first game with a Profane to the face. :)

SB: -2 Cloudthresher, +2 Crib Swap

He beat me in the second with a boarded-in Inside Out and a Crag Puca (apparently, this one is also good against Doran). And I beat him in the third game quite easily with various beats.

That's 2 down, 3 to go.

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


Round 5: vs. UB Faeries (won)

My faeries opponent was serious... dead serious. And I couldn't buy a conversation with him, even if I wanted to. But heck, serious or not, he couldn't do anything against my semi-pro moves (1 Harbinger only), and easily lost game 1.

SB: +1 Cloudthresher, +4 Thoughtseize, +1 Wickerbough Elder, -4 Scarblade Elite, -2 Firespout, -1 Doran

In game 2, I was able to do the full pro move... almost, because he had Broken Ambitions for my Doran. But anyway, I was still able to pull off the win as he was not able to draw the Cryptic Command late in the game to bounce the Bitterblossom that eventually killed him off.

3 down, 2 to go.

Game standing: 8-6
Match standing: 3-2


Round 6: vs. Quick N' Toast (won)

This round was surprisingly one-sided, as I easily won both games -- the first one with various beats and a Profane in the end, and the second game thanks to a mana flood for my opponent (which is the common drawback of the QnT deck). It was actually a scary sight as his first 4 lands were a Vivid Creek and 3 Reflecting Pools (whoa) -- he could practically cast anything. Luckily for me (and unluckily for my opponent), he didn't have anything to cast. LOL.

4 down, 1 to go.

Game standing: 10-6
Match standing: 4-2


Round 7: vs. UB Faeries (lost)

This is it. It's the final round, I was at 12th place, and playing for a slot in the top 10. The top 6 would get pre-release passes, and 7th to 10th places would get booster pack prizes.

It didn't start so well, as I lost game 1 after mulling to 6, and some pretty bad draws.

Game 2 was fun though. There was a funny sequence (can't remember it exactly), but he basically had a Sower championed by a Mistbind Clique in play, as well as some other faeries; while I had a Doran, a Harbinger, and a few other creatures. He made a crucial mistake in combat when he could have ended up with the Sower back and stealing my Doran, but instead he ended up with the Sower and my Harbinger. He attacked for a turn or 2 with the Sower, which I was eventually able to kill off with a Nameless Inversion, and ended with him at 1 life, and me at 3 life. I drew a Cloudthresher, looked at his open mana (enough for a Cryptic Command or a Broken Ambitions), he had 3 cards in hand.... and I decided to evoke the flashy elemental. I won the game -- he had no counters in hand. :)

And then, suddenly, I choked. Or should I say, my deck choked. :( I mulled to 5, and kept a hand of 1 Thresher, 1 Vanquisher, 2 Vivid Lands, and 1 Murmuring Bosk. On the next 3 turns, I drew nothing but more lands. This ended with the inevitable, and I of course lost the game, with all my lands coming into play tapped, nothing to reveal for my Vanquisher, and nothing else to play.

Game standing: 11-8
Match standing: 4-3

4-3 is not bad I guess. It's a good stepping stone up to my short-term objective of getting into a top 8. And I found out eventually (based on NG forum posts) that my round 7 opponent ended at 8th place, but the packs he won were all crappy. >:-)

I'm just happy that, at least, my ratings went up a bit again yesterday. :)

1700, here I come! ;-)

Grand Prix Manila - Aug 30, 2008

Here we go. The moment we've all been waiting for. It was an amazing event attended by 640 players -- it could have been a lot more, if not for the play area limitations.



I used the same Doran Assassins deck that I used in the GPT, but put all the Firespouts on the main deck, and the 2 Crib Swaps in the board (for those pesky Demigods of Revenge). I also lowered the land count to 24, as I felt that I got mana flooded too often. Finally, I put a singleton Wickerbough Elder in the SB for those game-breaking Runed Halos set to Doran and/or Colossus:



// Lands
4 [MOR] Murmuring Bosk
4 [LRW] Gilt-Leaf Palace
2 [EVE] Twilight Mire
1 [SHM] Reflecting Pool
1 [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
2 [LRW] Crib Swap
4 [LRW] Profane Command
3 [SHM] Firespout

// Sideboard
SB: 1 [LRW] Cloudthresher
SB: 2 [LRW] Crib Swap
SB: 4 [LRW] Thoughtseize
SB: 4 [SHM] Kitchen Finks
SB: 3 [SHM] Faerie Macabre
SB: 1 [EVE] Wickerbough Elder


Round 1: vs. Kithkins (won)

I went to a very good start in the Grand Prix as I was able to do my "pro moves" of Harbinger-Harbinger-Doran in the first game. My opponent was chump blocking all game, and I killed off any remaining creatures to win it easily.

My deck was built against creature-based decks like Kithkin, having 3 MD Firespouts (as mentioned earlier) and the whole suite of Nameless Inversions, Scarblade Elites and 2 Crib Swaps. Therefore, my sideboard strategy for Kithkin is -- none.

In the second game, I mulled to a 1-land, 5-card hand, and lost with my opponent at 30 life (thanks to a couple of Knight of Meadowgrains). In the third game, my opponent and I were in a life race, with all-in attacks and no blocks. Unfortunately for him, Kithkin decks have no "burn" cards, while mine had a Profane Command ftw.

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


Round 2: vs. Kithkins (lost)

Winning the die roll and on the play, I made a crucial mistake in the first game by keeping a 2-land hand, with 2 Colossus and a Firespout. I didn't know my opponent's deck and paid the price for it -- losing quickly in the first game. In the second game, I thought for a while but still kept a hand that included 1 Colossus, 1 Nameless Inversion, 1 Firespout and 2 lands. I once again paid the price for keeping a bad hand, as I drew 2 more Colossus in the ensuing turns, as my second round ended in record time -- just at around 10 or 15 mins into the round.

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


At this point, I had some time to kill in the tournament, so I decided to have our Chameleon Colossus, Makeshift Mannequins and Dusk Urchins signed by artist Darrell Riche. :)



Round 3: vs. Kithkins (won)

I was up against the wife of a famous Magic player/entrepreneur... and her deck -- Kithkins again. Same as the first round, I was able to do my "pro moves" again, and easily won game 1. In game 2, my opponent and I traded damages for a while, up until when I was at 7 life, and she attacked with 3 Spirit tokens, and then Mirrorweaved my Vanquisher ftw. In game 3, I did a semi-pro move of just Harbinger to Doran, but it was enough to once again win against the Kithkin deck.

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


Round 4: vs. UG Merfolk (won)

Finally, a non-Kithkin opponent. In game 1, I won behind the back of just one Vanquisher, while removing all creatures that he was casting with Nameless Inversions and Crib Swaps.

SB: +3 Thoughtseize, -3 Cloudthresher

In game 2, I made a mistake in my SB (see above) by taking out the Threshers. I ran out of removal and lost to a crucial Sower of Temptation on my Colossus.

SB: +3 Cloudthresher, -3 Thoughtseize

Game 3 was so one-sided (I removed practically everything that my opponent cast), that my opponent was obviously pissed off at the end of the round, he didn't even want to talk to me while signing the result slip. Oh well, I was just happy I won. :)

Game standing: 6-5
Match standing: 3-1


Round 5: vs. Archon Toast (lost)

In game 1, my opponent cast some early Kitchen Finks, but after he used up both counters on his Vivid Meadow to counter some spells of mine, he practically became mana screwed, and he couldn't do anything and eventually lost the game.

SB: +4 Thoughtseize, -3 Firespout, -1 Scarblade Elite

In game 2, I went for the "pro move" but my first 2 Harbingers died to a Firespout. He then cast Runed Halo naming Doran, and I pretty much got nullified at that point. He proceeded in the game by digging up Oona, Queen of the Fae via Oona's Grace ftw.

Before game 3, having basically lost due to the card advantage generated by Oona's Grace, I did some serious thinking of putting in Faerie Macabres. However, after remembering that my opponent has never cast a single Makeshift Mannequin, I decided against it.

Game 3 was a classic -- easily one of the best sanctioned games I've ever played, period. It started with me attempting another "pro move". Unfortunately, my opponent had the Broken Ambitions in hand (he obviously didn't side it out) to counter my Doran. Afterwards, it was a blood bath. I would do some beats, then he would cast a Kitchen Finks. He would Oblivion Ring my Doran. He would Runed Halo for Chameleon Colossus. I would destroy the Runed Halo, but he would bounce it with Cryptic Command... and counter it when I attempt to cast it again. He would eventually win the game behind two cards -- Makeshift Mannequins (which he only cast on the third game), and Oona's Grace (once again). I knew I should have sided-in those Macabres...

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


Round 6: vs. Doran Shamans (lost)

The round didn't start so well, with me once again mulling to 5, with 1-land. I of course lost the first game very quickly. I was still quite confident with my deck on the mirror match though, as I was playing the Assassins version, which I believe was better than the Shaman version (featuring Leaf Crowned Elder and Wolf Skull Shaman). I just had to get a decent draw.

SB: -3 Cloudthresher, +2 Crib Swap, +1 Wickerbough Elder

Game 2 was, as expected, very close. At the end, here's what happened: with me at 12 life and him at 9 life, he attacked with a Colossus (with 7 mana open), with a Harbinger left behind as blocker. I also had a Colossus, and also had 7 mana open. He was probably expecting me to trade Colossi, but he was surprised when I didn't block. He pumped the colossus, putting me at 4 life. At EOT, I Nameless inversion his Harbinger. He was shocked. If I could just draw 1 land (to double pump the Colossus), or a Profane (I could pump the Colossus, and Profane for 1), I would win. I slowly peeked at my draw... and it was a land. :) Despite just being on the second game, my opponent had to shake my hand in congratulations. We were now at 1-1.

Game 3 was even better than the previous game. It started with me playing a Doran. My opponent then cast another Doran, to kill it off. On my turn, I played a second Doran. Guess what -- my opponent also cast a second Doran to kill it off. Eventually, my opponent was able put me down to 6 with various other beats and Profanes. Then, I stabilized and eventually got a Colossus online and put him down to 4 life -- when he finally Crib Swapped my Colossus. The shapeshifter was able to put him down two more points to put him at 2 life. Then, it was his turn to use a Colossus. Fortunately, I had a Crib Swap in hand, and he had to attack me with his Shapeshifter. We were both in top deck mode, as the changeling put me to 5... then 4... then 3... then 2... then 1. On the last draw, I once again slowly peeked at my draw... praying and wishing that something similar to game 2 would happen. In a way, I got what I wished for, as I drew just another land. I smiled and congratulated my opponent. :) See you in October in Bangkok! ;)

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


After the match, I had to drop out of the tournament, because we had a concert to watch. :)

All in all, the Grand Prix was a big success -- that one annual leave was definitely worth it. ;) I got to see some of the pros -- Levy, Saito, and Nakamura -- I was even able to see an actual Saito match (he didn't slap himself though), I got our Colossi and Mannequins signed, I played a really decent game of Magic the whole day (aside from that one round against the Kithkin, I actually had a shot at winning all the other rounds) -- and most of all, I had fun. :) I do hope that the Grand Prix, or even better, the Pro Tour, would come back here in Manila in the following years. :)

Super FNM - Aug 29, 2008

I got passed a very good sealed pool (in terms of deckbuilding -- NOT in terms of card value), and built the following RW deck:



// Lands
8 [UNH] Plains
9 [UNH] Mountain

// Creatures
2cc:
1 [SHM] Bloodmark Mentor
1 [SHM] Safehold Elite
1 [SHM] Safehold Sentry
1 [EVE] Heartlash Cinder
3cc:
1 [SHM] Boggart Arsonists
1 [EVE] Hoof Skulkin
1 [SHM] Wilt-Leaf Cavaliers
4cc:
1 [EVE] Ballynock Trapper
1 [EVE] Hotheaded Giant
1 [EVE] Belligerent Hatchling
1 [SHM] Barrenton Cragtreads
1 [SHM] Watchwing Scarecrow
5cc:
1 [SHM] Scuzzback Marauders
1 [SHM] Cultbrand Cinder
6cc:
1 [SHM] Morselhoarder
1 [SHM] Twilight Shepherd

// Spells
1 [SHM] Trip Noose
2 [EVE] Unmake
1 [SHM] Scar
1 [EVE] Flame Jab
1 [SHM] Flame Javelin
1 [EVE] Rekindled Flame

It has really good removal -- Rekindled Flame, Scar, Flame Javelin, Flame Jab, Trip Noose, and 2 Unmakes. And it also has some bombs in the form of Twilight Shepherd (which unfortunately only came out once the whole tournament), and Belligerent Hatchling (which unfortunately always died on the turn I play it). I made a mistake though in the land count, and should have put in at least 18. The mana curve was high, and I needed the extra lands to retrace Flame Jab.

I drew my first two rounds, before eventually going 1-3 on my final 4 rounds, to end up at a final standing of 1-3-2 -- very disappointing, considering I had a potentially very good deck. Oh well, learning point.

At least, it was still worth the 1,000 PhP entrance fee because in addition to the learning experience, we got a foil Crystalline Sliver and the August FNM card (Desert) for free, just by attending the tourney. :)