FNM - Jul 31, 2009

"Trust the Japanese."

I decided to netdeck Taichi Fujimoto's BR Aggro deck from the 2009 Japanese Nats, with a few minor changes:

-4 Blightning, +4 Boggart Ram-Gang
-4 Magma Spray, +4 Tarfire
-2 Shriekmaw, +2 Chaotic Backlash


Round 1: vs. Combo Elves (lost)

I keep a decent hand of 2 lands, Bolt, Hellspark, Ram-Gang, Javelin, Javelin. The third land didn't decide to show up until the 6th turn though, and by that time it was too late.

-4 Anathemancer, -4 Javelin, +4 Firespout, +2 Deathmark, +2 Shriekmaw

I'm confident with my Elves matchup, with 8 sweepers post-SB, and a ton of removal. And on the second game, it really started to look that way, as I was on my way to winning after clearing the board multiple times in the game. With my opponent at 7 life, I unearth my Hellspark, and drop a Demigod ftw... but wait! In comes Cloudthresher for my opponent (a singleton which he drew!), sending my Demigod to the ground, and putting him at 2 life. I Deathmark the Thresher before passing the turn to him, but on his turn, he plays Regal Force and goes off. :(

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


Round 2: vs. Br Discarder (lost)

I mull to 6 on the first game, and my opponent starts talking about how he's pressured to win the game now that I mull'd. WTF? Apparently, it so happens that he plays a discarder deck, so the one less card was a huge advantage for him. Anyway, I apply quick beats as I always do, but he Terminates most of my creatures, and stabilizes at 7 life. All the while, he's pecking at my hand with Scepter of Fugue, and eventually drops a monstrous Nyxathid on the board. With nothing to kill the black elemental with, I lose the game.

-4 Fallout, -1 Anathemancer, +3 Bitterblossom, +2 Manabarbs

I play a turn 2 Bitterblossom and a turn 5 Manabarbs (I missed one land drop). He's able to Fallout once, but afterwards, I just sit back and watch my faerie army do their thing. :)

In the third game, I send my opponent all the way down to 1 life, but my lone attacker by then -- a Ram-Gang -- meets a gigantic Nyxathid. I was safely at 17 life then, so I decide to attack and wither his elemental, and hope for the best topdeck. Then, I draw land after land, and meanwhile, my opponent drops a SECOND Nyxathid. I slide my final draw across the table, and guess what, it was another land. :( I've just been Nyx'd!

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


Round 3: BYE
Loser round. Nuff said.

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


Round 4: vs. Naya (won)

By this time, I've just been texting Beej to come to UM early. And meanwhile, I play my final round against my round 1 opponent from last week. I easily win game 1 this time (no more mulling to 5), and board in Deathmarks and Shriekmaws for my Anathemancers (which were useless all night). In the second game, we play an extremely close game, with both of us in topdeck mode and at 6 life, but he draws Cliffrunner Behemoth. With Trace of Abundance in play, it has haste AND lifelink -- meaning I lose. Game 3 gets by very quickly and I win with minimal problems. 3/3 Wild Nacatl? Bolt that. Bloodbraid Elf into Cerodon Yearling? Fallout that. Woolly Thoctar? Deathmark that. Another Thoctar? Shriekmaw that. And swing. :)

OMG, it felt so good to finally get a win.

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

Of course, I get grouped again with the losers who will battle it out for random foil cards. I was one of the winners again, and guess what I picked AGAIN? Another DCI foil Slave of Bolas. LOLZ!

FNM - Jul 24, 2009

If the M10 Prerelease was my first tournament in 2 months, last Friday's FNM was my first Standard tourney in more than 3 months! And rust (and a lot of bad luck) definitely played a factor in my downfall to a measly 2-2 record. :(

First off, here's the deck that I took to the FNM. It's basically a post-M10 build of the Blightning deck that I've been using before the 3-month layoff.



// Lands
2 [M10] Dragonskull Summit
4 [SHM] Graven Cairns
4 [ALA] Savage Lands
2 [SHM] Reflecting Pool
11 [UNH] Mountain
1 [UNH] Swamp

// Creatures
4 [EVE] Figure of Destiny
4 [CFX] Hellspark Elemental
4 [M10] Ball Lightning
4 [SHM] Boggart Ram-Gang
4 [SHM] Demigod of Revenge

// Spells
4 [M10] Lightning Bolt
4 [SHM] Flame Javelin
4 [CFX] Volcanic Fallout
4 [ALA] Blightning

// Sideboard
SB: 3 [SHM] Firespout
SB: 4 [LRW] Shriekmaw
SB: 2 [M10] Deathmark
SB: 3 [ARB] Anathemancer
SB: 3 [MOR] Bitterblossom


Round 1: vs. Naya (lost)

The first thing I found out about my opponent is that he was a newbie -- as evidenced by the new DCI card that our TO handed to him as we were shuffling our decks. I thought to myself, this is good -- I'm being eased off nicely back to MTG tourneys with an easy round. :) That was until I mulliganed twice to start things off in the night. I even pondered on mulling for a third time as my 5-card hand (on the play) had only one land, a Lightning Bolt, and three 3cc cards. I decided to keep, and quickly got punished by a pair of Cerodon Yearlings. Eventually, I was able to clear the board, with both of us going into topdeck mode but I drew all lands, and I was beaten by a THIRD Cerodon Yearling.

The second game eased off my doubts on whether I chose a decent deck, when I easily finished my opponent off at perfect life.

In the deciding game, my opponent shifted from putting a bunch of hasted, vigilanced 2/2 beasts, to plain vanilla 5/4 beasts, in the form of Woolly Thoctars. I didn't have enough removal to kill all of them, and I got outraced to a first round defeat.

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


Round 2: vs. Wg Exalted (lost)

On the second round, I got paired against a player that I was watching before the FNM started. I knew he was playing a white weenie deck, but except for kithkins, he used a bunch of exalted guys. In the first game, I had no answer to a Behemoth Sledge strapped on to a Sigiled Paladin. In the second game, much like the first round, I also got back at my opponent with a quick and easy victory. In the third game, despite having 7 sweepers in my deck (4 Fallouts & 3 Firespouts), I drew just 1 Firespout all game, and lost to an army of spirit tokens and Akrasan Squires.

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


At this point, I was totally down on myself, having lost 2 rounds to players I could have easily beaten 3 months ago. I decided to continue playing anyway, as it was still early and I didn't want to go home without at least a single win under my belt.


Round 3: vs. Jund (won)

There you are, Ball Lightning! I drew and played a pair of early 6/1 tramplers on my way to an easy game 1 win. By the time we were done, all my opponent could cast was one Putrid Leech. :) In the second game, my opponent beat me with Bloodbraid Elves and Scarland Thrinaxes (and saprolings). In the third game, I finally got to see my Figure of Destinies (first time all night!) on the way to an easy victory -- and my first one in more than three months. :)

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


Round 4: vs. Naya-Uril (won)

In the fourth and final round, I got the surprise of my night, when on my way to my supposed easy victory in the first game, I got smacked down by a Uril, the Miststalker, with a Runes of the Deus attached to it, and a Qasali Pridemage in play. Do the math -- that's 20 damage in one turn. Right. My opponent got so happy in that first game though, that he forgot to show up in the final 2 games, and I easily beat him with Demigods and burn. Good thing Uril never showed up again.

Final game standing: 6-6
Final match standing: 2-2

As usual, the losers of the tourney rolled the dice for random free foil cards. Luckily, I was one of two lucky winners, and despite the abysmal record, managed to take home a DCI foil Slave of Bolas.

Magic Player Rewards - July 14, 2009

Just received the following in the mail today:



I got an oversized Lightning Bolt card, and just one textless card -- Terminate, because I hadn't played much recently. But the 'older card' that came with it was a Flame Javelin! Yeah! :)

WotC sure knows how to inspire me to play again. :)