So it has been a while since I have even thought about writing in this blog about Magic. I had a less than stellar performance at the PTQ in Indianapolis and there has not been any events within range to justify traveling for. I have been playing a lot of MODO most recently. Unfortunately my favorite deck will be coming to an end when M10 comes into digital form. The Cascade LD deck has been pretty insane. With the loss of rain of tears and boomerang this deck is basically garbage, which some may say it was in the first place LOL. Anyways we are onto new things in this new M10 meta. The elephant in the room is Kithkin followed by those always dominating faeries. Red Deck Wins will see some play, but I think the deck will not be able to hold its own. The Jund Cascade decks are still very strong and will still be at the top tables. Im not sure how I feel about Reveillark. Most of my friends have moved onto other decks and left this behind so I think I will follow. Although I do like my Reveillarks in the Elementals deck which is very strong at the moment. Elfball is fairly sick and will seem some rise in popularity now that wrath is gone.
This past weekend was the M10 prerelease. I showed up to the site to sell some cards and hang for a bit. Low and behold some old friends from GO Games had started playing again. Austin and Steve were 2 of the younger players at the old store that had very solid game and minimal play mistakes. They both did very well for themselves when JSS was still around. Anyways after chatting with them a while we decided we would start playtesting again for the Kentucky Open this upcoming weekend. Steve is looking at Kithkin as being the best aggro deck is something he is used to playing. Austin is looking into Faeries as he played it for a bit before he took his break from the game. On the other hand Joe Hein and myself have been looking into 5 Color Control again as I think Anathemancer is taking a seat on the bench for a bit. Here is the list we have been testing.
3 Mulldrifter
2 Broodmate Dragon
1 Platinum Angel
1 Bogarden Hellkite
4 Esper Charm
3 Broken Ambitions
4 Cryptic Command
2 Pyroclasm
2 Firespout
3 Hallowed Burial
1 Doomblade
2 Cruel Ultimatum
3 Runed Halo
2 Maelstrom Pulse
1 Makeshift Mannequin
4 Reflecting Pool
2 Exotic Orchard
4 Vivid Creek
4 Vivid Marsh
3 Vivid Meadow
3 Sunken Ruins
3 Mystic Gate
1 Cascade Bluffs
3 Island
The deck has been performing very well against the top tier decks. There have been many times to where Kithkin has gotten the nuts and we have been able to stabilize around 4-6 life. The sideboard is still in progress and will change throughout testing in the week. Right now it looks like there will be a handful of Plumeveils, some Volcanic Fallouts, possibly a couple Essence Scatters, and a lot of 1 ofs. The deck is already playing so many threats that some choices seem suboptimal. Anyways check back next week as I report back with how we all did. We will be heading the the PTQ in Kentucky the next day also. Check for live feeds at Twitter PHILAPHUNK
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Friday, June 19, 2009
Victory Comes One Land Drop at a Time....
This is the first PTQ of the season I had been able to goto for Austin. I was looking for other people in our group to go, but the drive kind of made people not want to go. So Ben Swartz and myself were on our way to Detroit Friday evening. We get to RIW around midnight and see everyone up there. Most of the sharks in Detroit are already qualified from the GP or the PT so the field is more watered down than usual which is a good thing. Anyways we end up finding a cheap hotel and call it a night. The next day we goto Pandemonium and sign up. I decide to run the 5 color Cascade LD deck that I had been running online all week thanks to my friend Christian(who I had talk to on b9/MODO and awkwardly met sitting next to each other at GP Tacoma) Anways here is my 75 I ran for the tournament:
4 Boomerang
4 Rain of Tears
4 Fulminator Mage
2 Grixis Charm
2 Kathari Remant
4 Bloodbraid Elf
4 Cryptic Command
3 Deny Reality
2 Primal Command
2 Incendiary Command
2 Enlisted Wurm
1 Cruel Ultimatum
1 Fire Lit Thicket
1 Flooded Grove
4 Sunken Ruins
2 Casacde Bluffs
4 Reflecting Pool
4 Vivid Creek
4 Vivid Crag
3 Vivid Marsh
1 Exotic Orchard
1 Mountain
1 Island
Sideboard:
1 Cruel Ultimatum
3 Thought Hemorrhage
2 Primal Command
1 Wrath of God
3 Hallowed Burial
1 Austere Command
4 Consign to Dream
Round 1 Tiffany Kelly playing Budget White Weenie with Random Cards Game 1 she came out the door quick and I got smashed. I also kept a weak hand and didnt hit my 4th land until turn 7. Game 2 I side out Fulminator Mage for wrath effects. I hit a key wrath off an Enlisted Wurm and he goes all the way. Game 3 was too close for comfort. She had a couple dudes and a Stillmoon. I had a lot of land out and 3 land in hand. I ripped into Cruel Ultimatum and proceded to draw Cryptic, Bloodbraid and a land. I tap her guys draw a card. It was another Cryptic. I play bloodbraid cascade into grixis charm kill a dude. I attack she goes to 9. She attacks all in I assume she will pump her knight for lethal so I let her attack she does as expected I command her dude back to hand and draw the 2nd ultimatum. How lucky. 2-1 overall 1-0
Round 2 Lazorus Jackson playing Red Deck Wins with Black. Dont recall too much. Game 1 he had 0 land in play and Bloodbraid Elf went the distance. Game 2 he hits a key anathemancer and flame javelins for lethal.. Game 3 was very close. He has 2 land and a ram gang. Im at 7. He attacks in I goto 4. He passes. I draw a blank and he hits a land and Javelins me for the win.
1-2 overall 1-1
Round 3 Justin McComb playing BW Tokens. Game 1 I keep him on 2 land the whole game and try to race his bitterblossom. I think I cast incendiary command to early because it killed 4 dudes and my bloodbraid but I needed to keep him off his 2nd white source. I he ends up at 1 and is swings in with 7 tokens. Game 2 and 3 I get solid LD spells and dudes. Game 3 he said he kept a risky hand and it did cost him. He had no permanents and Enlisted Wurm went the distance. 2-1 overal 2-1
Round 4 Jack Nowakowski playing Red Deck Wins with Black. Thankfully these decks are chocked full of nonbasic goodness so the matchup isnt too terrible. I just have to make sure my life total is out of javelin range. This round not much happened. Dudes were played and killed. He had no land both games and I eventually ground out a win finding guys and swinging. 2-0
overall 3-1
Round 5 Kurtis Droge playing UW Reveillark. This matchup is god awful. They play so many basic lands that it makes me never want to play Fulminator Mage. He eventually gets Sowered and blows up my own land. I can never get a real advantage on this deck and lose in 2 quick games. Later to find out that Kurtis did eventually win the PTQ. His deck was very different in the fact that he ran Figure. Also the singleton Heap Doll in the sideboard lol. 0-2 overall 3-2
Round 6 Matt Cafferty playing 5 color Bloodbraid. This deck was designed to punish this deck. He never gets over 2 lands and gets the Bloodbraid beatdown. Game 2 was very similar. My opponent told me I was a horrible person for playing a deck like this and I thought it was pretty funny. 2-0 overall 4-2
Round 7 Josh Edelman playing Elementals. Turns out Manuel Bucher had been playing this deck on MODO during the week and ended up doing well with it at GP Sao Paulo. Horde of Notions can be very scary as can Infinite Fulminator Mages. The engine of Smokebraider and Bloomtender is quite ridciulous. Anyways game 1 I hit the nut cascade of wurm into reality into bloodbraid into fulminator mage. He has no colored source and has no answer to the wurm. Game 2 my oppoenent fetches up fulminator mage with his guy. Then procedes to play pithing needle turn 2 naming fulminator mage. LOL nice play idiot. Turn 3 he plays Mage and tries to sac it I point to needle and he has a retarded look like wow did I just do that. I procede to bash this mongoloid for his bad plays. 2-0 overall 5-2.
Round 8 Erik Robertson playing UW Revillark. Not much to say about this round. The matchup is really awful and I barely lost in 3. Game 3 he had no cards in hand. Rips into an Archmage with mana up. My only card in hand was Cruel Ultimaum which was going to be lethal with my dudes getting in. I am never able to get around the archmage the rest of the game. 1-2 overall 5-3
The deck wasnt too bad, but it does have a problem with Reveilark. I also see that deck getting very popular and has been making quite a few top 8's. Therefore I would not recommend this deck for the upcoming weekend. As I think Faeries will be out in fullforce. I think I will be playing an updated version of 5 color bloodbraid or rocking the Fae.
4 Boomerang
4 Rain of Tears
4 Fulminator Mage
2 Grixis Charm
2 Kathari Remant
4 Bloodbraid Elf
4 Cryptic Command
3 Deny Reality
2 Primal Command
2 Incendiary Command
2 Enlisted Wurm
1 Cruel Ultimatum
1 Fire Lit Thicket
1 Flooded Grove
4 Sunken Ruins
2 Casacde Bluffs
4 Reflecting Pool
4 Vivid Creek
4 Vivid Crag
3 Vivid Marsh
1 Exotic Orchard
1 Mountain
1 Island
Sideboard:
1 Cruel Ultimatum
3 Thought Hemorrhage
2 Primal Command
1 Wrath of God
3 Hallowed Burial
1 Austere Command
4 Consign to Dream
Round 1 Tiffany Kelly playing Budget White Weenie with Random Cards Game 1 she came out the door quick and I got smashed. I also kept a weak hand and didnt hit my 4th land until turn 7. Game 2 I side out Fulminator Mage for wrath effects. I hit a key wrath off an Enlisted Wurm and he goes all the way. Game 3 was too close for comfort. She had a couple dudes and a Stillmoon. I had a lot of land out and 3 land in hand. I ripped into Cruel Ultimatum and proceded to draw Cryptic, Bloodbraid and a land. I tap her guys draw a card. It was another Cryptic. I play bloodbraid cascade into grixis charm kill a dude. I attack she goes to 9. She attacks all in I assume she will pump her knight for lethal so I let her attack she does as expected I command her dude back to hand and draw the 2nd ultimatum. How lucky. 2-1 overall 1-0
Round 2 Lazorus Jackson playing Red Deck Wins with Black. Dont recall too much. Game 1 he had 0 land in play and Bloodbraid Elf went the distance. Game 2 he hits a key anathemancer and flame javelins for lethal.. Game 3 was very close. He has 2 land and a ram gang. Im at 7. He attacks in I goto 4. He passes. I draw a blank and he hits a land and Javelins me for the win.
1-2 overall 1-1
Round 3 Justin McComb playing BW Tokens. Game 1 I keep him on 2 land the whole game and try to race his bitterblossom. I think I cast incendiary command to early because it killed 4 dudes and my bloodbraid but I needed to keep him off his 2nd white source. I he ends up at 1 and is swings in with 7 tokens. Game 2 and 3 I get solid LD spells and dudes. Game 3 he said he kept a risky hand and it did cost him. He had no permanents and Enlisted Wurm went the distance. 2-1 overal 2-1
Round 4 Jack Nowakowski playing Red Deck Wins with Black. Thankfully these decks are chocked full of nonbasic goodness so the matchup isnt too terrible. I just have to make sure my life total is out of javelin range. This round not much happened. Dudes were played and killed. He had no land both games and I eventually ground out a win finding guys and swinging. 2-0
overall 3-1
Round 5 Kurtis Droge playing UW Reveillark. This matchup is god awful. They play so many basic lands that it makes me never want to play Fulminator Mage. He eventually gets Sowered and blows up my own land. I can never get a real advantage on this deck and lose in 2 quick games. Later to find out that Kurtis did eventually win the PTQ. His deck was very different in the fact that he ran Figure. Also the singleton Heap Doll in the sideboard lol. 0-2 overall 3-2
Round 6 Matt Cafferty playing 5 color Bloodbraid. This deck was designed to punish this deck. He never gets over 2 lands and gets the Bloodbraid beatdown. Game 2 was very similar. My opponent told me I was a horrible person for playing a deck like this and I thought it was pretty funny. 2-0 overall 4-2
Round 7 Josh Edelman playing Elementals. Turns out Manuel Bucher had been playing this deck on MODO during the week and ended up doing well with it at GP Sao Paulo. Horde of Notions can be very scary as can Infinite Fulminator Mages. The engine of Smokebraider and Bloomtender is quite ridciulous. Anyways game 1 I hit the nut cascade of wurm into reality into bloodbraid into fulminator mage. He has no colored source and has no answer to the wurm. Game 2 my oppoenent fetches up fulminator mage with his guy. Then procedes to play pithing needle turn 2 naming fulminator mage. LOL nice play idiot. Turn 3 he plays Mage and tries to sac it I point to needle and he has a retarded look like wow did I just do that. I procede to bash this mongoloid for his bad plays. 2-0 overall 5-2.
Round 8 Erik Robertson playing UW Revillark. Not much to say about this round. The matchup is really awful and I barely lost in 3. Game 3 he had no cards in hand. Rips into an Archmage with mana up. My only card in hand was Cruel Ultimaum which was going to be lethal with my dudes getting in. I am never able to get around the archmage the rest of the game. 1-2 overall 5-3
The deck wasnt too bad, but it does have a problem with Reveilark. I also see that deck getting very popular and has been making quite a few top 8's. Therefore I would not recommend this deck for the upcoming weekend. As I think Faeries will be out in fullforce. I think I will be playing an updated version of 5 color bloodbraid or rocking the Fae.
Day 2:Destination Failure
After a quick bite to eat at the Spaghetti Factory we went back to the hotel room and chilled then went to sleep. Woke up got ready got some new sleeves and we were off.
Round 10 Steven Stadnicki with Jund Cascade I figured I would start seeing these decks more on day 2 since they had been at the top tables all day. I keep a fairly quick hand of dudes and glorious anthem. He ends up being manascrewed and we are off to game 2. I mulligan to 5 and he comes out quick. Putrid Leech into Finks into Bloodbraid hitting pulse on my spectral and Im pretty much done for. Game 3 was really close. I had mirrorweave underneath my heights and had cloudgoat and friends a cenn and 2 spirit tokens. I swing in he doesnt block, he then bituminous blast my ranger, I let cascade resolve and he hits anathemancer(does his 2 damage) and he doesnt block. I activate heights with the blast on the stack copy my cenn and my dudes are huge and lethal. 2-1 overall 8-2
Round 11 Jamie Park with Nassif GBR Elves I knew he was playing some sort of elf deck after talking with Owen because he played him the first day. I knew he had colossal might as a blowout. Game 1 was going back and forth and creatures. I played Cloudgoat ranger to get blockers and potential lethal for the next turn. He goes to attack and has 2 cards in hand. I assume he has the colossal might so my block was correct, but he also had nameless inversion to trample over enough for lethal. Didnt see that coming! Game 2 was pretty similar we went back and forth with some guys. Im pretty sure this turn was where I messed up. I needed to play Cloudgoat Ranger so I could go on the more aggressive side(I had double anthem) so I wouldnt get blown out by fallout ect. His next turn he untaps lays his land and shows me chaotic backlash. I counted my white permenants and scooped it up. If I dont play the ranger that turn I probably live but would not have enough pressure on him. He still had 4 cards in hand. 0-2 overall 8-3
Round 12 Joey Zappelli playing BW Tokens. Dont recall much from this round except that this matchup is pretty much impossible since we have no general removal. 1-2 overall 8-4
At the point I cannot lose another match if I want to make some money.
Round 13 Tyler Blum playing Red Deck Wins. The first 2 game were very lopsided for both of us. Game 3 was an actual game. We went back and forth with some guys, he seemed to draw lots of Boggart Ram Gangs. He had a 4/4 Figure on the table also. Our life totals were tied at 10. He had no cards in hand and I passed turn. I didnt have anything strong in hand for tricks so he draws his card and hits the nuts because his facial feature was priceless. He taps 4 and plays EMBER GALE!1!!! WTF who plays that card in standard. Anyways I lose to a draft card and am out of money contention. 1-2 overall 8-5 At this point I could have dropped but I had nothing better to do and still played.
Round 14 Robert Berni with 5 color control. Not much happened here. I was able to race him game 1. Game 2 I blew him out with negate twice on cruel and cryptic command. 2-0 overall 9-5
Round 15 Corey Joffrion with Esper Lark. I sit down and have no opponent. He then shows up last minute in a panic and tells me his deck had been stolen. He runs up to the front and luckily someone had turned it in. This is a first time that someone in the magic community is not scum. Anyways we shuffle up and my opponent mulligans to 4 and 5 both games and I have explosive starts and I win a matchup that I shouldnt have won. 2-0 overall 10-5
So I finished in 92nd place out of 1145. I liked the deck, but would not play the blue part ever again. It is just too weak against other token decks.
Round 10 Steven Stadnicki with Jund Cascade I figured I would start seeing these decks more on day 2 since they had been at the top tables all day. I keep a fairly quick hand of dudes and glorious anthem. He ends up being manascrewed and we are off to game 2. I mulligan to 5 and he comes out quick. Putrid Leech into Finks into Bloodbraid hitting pulse on my spectral and Im pretty much done for. Game 3 was really close. I had mirrorweave underneath my heights and had cloudgoat and friends a cenn and 2 spirit tokens. I swing in he doesnt block, he then bituminous blast my ranger, I let cascade resolve and he hits anathemancer(does his 2 damage) and he doesnt block. I activate heights with the blast on the stack copy my cenn and my dudes are huge and lethal. 2-1 overall 8-2
Round 11 Jamie Park with Nassif GBR Elves I knew he was playing some sort of elf deck after talking with Owen because he played him the first day. I knew he had colossal might as a blowout. Game 1 was going back and forth and creatures. I played Cloudgoat ranger to get blockers and potential lethal for the next turn. He goes to attack and has 2 cards in hand. I assume he has the colossal might so my block was correct, but he also had nameless inversion to trample over enough for lethal. Didnt see that coming! Game 2 was pretty similar we went back and forth with some guys. Im pretty sure this turn was where I messed up. I needed to play Cloudgoat Ranger so I could go on the more aggressive side(I had double anthem) so I wouldnt get blown out by fallout ect. His next turn he untaps lays his land and shows me chaotic backlash. I counted my white permenants and scooped it up. If I dont play the ranger that turn I probably live but would not have enough pressure on him. He still had 4 cards in hand. 0-2 overall 8-3
Round 12 Joey Zappelli playing BW Tokens. Dont recall much from this round except that this matchup is pretty much impossible since we have no general removal. 1-2 overall 8-4
At the point I cannot lose another match if I want to make some money.
Round 13 Tyler Blum playing Red Deck Wins. The first 2 game were very lopsided for both of us. Game 3 was an actual game. We went back and forth with some guys, he seemed to draw lots of Boggart Ram Gangs. He had a 4/4 Figure on the table also. Our life totals were tied at 10. He had no cards in hand and I passed turn. I didnt have anything strong in hand for tricks so he draws his card and hits the nuts because his facial feature was priceless. He taps 4 and plays EMBER GALE!1!!! WTF who plays that card in standard. Anyways I lose to a draft card and am out of money contention. 1-2 overall 8-5 At this point I could have dropped but I had nothing better to do and still played.
Round 14 Robert Berni with 5 color control. Not much happened here. I was able to race him game 1. Game 2 I blew him out with negate twice on cruel and cryptic command. 2-0 overall 9-5
Round 15 Corey Joffrion with Esper Lark. I sit down and have no opponent. He then shows up last minute in a panic and tells me his deck had been stolen. He runs up to the front and luckily someone had turned it in. This is a first time that someone in the magic community is not scum. Anyways we shuffle up and my opponent mulligans to 4 and 5 both games and I have explosive starts and I win a matchup that I shouldnt have won. 2-0 overall 10-5
So I finished in 92nd place out of 1145. I liked the deck, but would not play the blue part ever again. It is just too weak against other token decks.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Grand Prix:Seattle Faeries Salvation
May 29th 2009- After eating 48 dollars for a taxi cab from the Seattle Airport to the Tacoma Convention Center I arrive to the tournament center. I walk up and see my friend Ben playing in a grinder. He was playing GW Tokens. That did not fair too well for him after losing in the 2nd round. He then played Faeries and then finally Cascade Swans and ended up losing in the finals of the last grinder of the night. I was not sure if I wanted to spend 20 dollars on a single elimination tournament, but I was also unsure of what to play for the tournament. I was leaning towards 5 color control or 5 color bloodbraid, but always kept thinking of getting blown out by anathemancer. The other deck that I had built on me was BW Kithkin. I have always been a fan of the Kithkin since Lorwyn Block. So I dusted off the deck without really playing any real matches and entered Flight 16. Round 1 I found myself up against Sanity Grinding. This should be a terrible matchup for me. Luckily game 1 I got the nut draw and went Stalwart, Knight, Spectral, Ajani. Game 2 saw my opponent mulligan to 3 and that was the end of that. Round 2 pairings go up and I here someone reading my name outloud. It was my friend Chuck Higgins from Indiana. After flying all the way out to the West Coast, we now find ourselves battling. Chuck was playing Elves, but he is not running Putrid Leech which is good for Kithkin. I get a pretty fast start and zealous persecution during combat messes up his board and ride to victory. Game 2 is a little more scary. He resolves a Wilt Leaf Liege and makes his dudes bigger. I had an Ajani and 2 Glorious Anthems out plus more dudes then him. I still needed him to block with the Liege for me to be able to get in for lethal. He holds back and I finally swing all in. He blocks accordingly and thinks I have Zealous Persecution,which I do, but I also have a Rustic Clachan that will get me the 1 point of damage for lethal. He scoops it up and go on our way. Rounds 3 and 4 I found myself up against BW Tokens. This matchup is all about whos dudes are larger and if they resolve a Bitterblossom. It is also very dependent on who gets the timely Zealous Persecution. I got there very easily as they were never able to get a token advantage on me. Round 5 was the finals. I was really hoping the previous round that the 5 color bloodbraid deck would win because it would be an easier matchup for me, but it was not meant to be and I found myself up against the 5 color planeswalker deck that made top 8 in Barcelona. This is the worst matchup alive. They have infinite removal and blockers in the form of plumeveil. Once Jace was active I could not keep up. I also did not have the path to exiles in my board for the grinders. So I ended up with 24 packs for my wasted time and still with only 1 bye, which was the biggest dissapointment. Having to play in the early rounds of a GP guarantee that your tie breakers will be horrendous Day 2, which could be the difference in making money or not. That night I met up with Owen, Ben, Noah, AJ, and Tommy to get some pizza and go back to the hotel.
May 30, 2009- After doing well in the grinder the night before I finally decide on playing Kithkin. Late Friday night I saw Cedric and asked what he was playing for the GP. He said he was playing something similar to Barcelona, except he was going to play blue instead of black in his list. The blue would add Meddling Mage and Negate in the board to strengthen the Swans matchup. Although the BW tokens matchup percentage goes down when losing Zealous Persecution. So here is the list that I ran:
4 Goldmeadow Stalwart
4 Figure of Destiny
4 Knight of Meadowgrain
4 Wizened Cenn
3 Meddling Mage
4 Cloudgoat Ranger
4 Spectral Procession
4 Glorious Anthem
3 Ajani Goldmane
1 Mirrorweave
2 Rustic Clachan
2 Mutavault
4 Windbrisk Heights
4 Adakar Wastes
4 Mystic Gate
9 Plains
Sideboard:
4 Negate
4 Path to Exile
3 Pithing Needle
4 Stillmoon Cavalier
I have a round 1 bye so I was going to get something to eat with the people I stayed with, but they had either 2 or 3 byes and were going to be out longer so I decided to stay and watch the first round. I watched some of my friends that traveled to the event and Ben, Chuck, and Rob all won. There seemed to be infinite Cascade Swans decks every table I looked at.
Round 2-Jeff Meadows playing Swans. I have to mulligan my opening hand and find myself with lands Meddling Mage and Figure. He opened with a Spinerock Knoll, which was gas for me because I knew I was naming Seismic Assault on my next turn. His only out was Bituminous Blast. I was able to bash with dudes and and assault his life total. He didnt sideboard, which meant he was sticking to the combo plan. I brought in 4 negate 2 path to exile and 3 pithing needle. He got a decent board position on me and started bringing beats in the form of treetop village and Bloodbraid elf. I play my 3rd windbrisk heights of the game and see a mirrorweave. I play spectral procession and a figure and pass turn. He swings in and puts me at 2. I needed to draw a creature or a pump spell to swing for lethal. I swing in activate my first heights playing Knight of Meadowgrain, my 2nd heights reveals wizened cenn, and finally my 3rd heights reveals mirrorweave which targets the cenn. He counts up the damage and has no effects I show him the rustic clachan in hand and he scoops it up. (2-0) overall 2-0
Round 3-George Blankenship playing Cascade Swans. This was starting to remind me of a PTQ in St Louis in which every round but 2 I played against TEPS. Game 1 I got a sick draw of dudes and pump spells and get there quickly. I didnt see a Mage or any blue source so he has me on mono or BW Kithkin. I side in the Needles and Negates and 2 PTE. I have to mulligan to 5. I have 2 lands 2 dudes and a needle. He lands a turn 3 assault, turn 4 bloodbraid into pulse for my needle then procedes to play swans of bryn agoll turn 5. Nice draw. Game 3 was really close. Im putting the pressure on him. He hits a timely pulse off of an elf to kill my figure. He then plays another elf and hits his assault. He then plays a deny reality on my pithing needle and attempts to combo off. I was at 19 life. It was starting to look good for me when he kept drawing infinite cards. He went into the think tank and has 2 cards in his library left. I count his graveyard and his last 2 cards have to be land which would give him 10 lands in hand. I dont think he realized he hadnt attacked yet, which is why losing this matchup was awful. In a Lebron James like fashion I deny the handshake and go on my way. (1-2 ) overall 2-1
Round 4-Michael Neward playing 5 color Bloodbraid. I was on fulltilt this round after losing to a terrible player. I had to mulligan to 5 game 1 and he followed me. I lead off with a figure. I ended up riding that figure the whole way. He never was able to get a stable manabase. Game 2 was very different. The game went later and such nightmares like Broodmate Dragon and Dragon Broodmother joined the table. I end up building a huge board trying to out token his stupid dragon. I finally have 5 more dudes then him and swing in since he tapped out for an ultimatum. I mirrorweave his dragon and get in for 20 and the win. He was pretty pissed, but that is what mirrorweave is there for. The wins you are never supposed to get. (2-0) overall 3-1
Round 5-Justin Lackey playing BW Tokens- This matchup was rather terrible for me. I knew I lost the edge when I did not play black. Both games he resolved a Bitterblossom and was able to annihilate my board with persecution. Nothing too interesting happened. (0-2) overall 3-2
At this point I really started to question why I played this deck. I made some questionable keeps up to this point and need to step up my game if I want to Day 2, which meant winning out from here.
Round 6-Jason Nugent playing 5 Color Planeswalkers. This was my revenge from the night before. I knew the matchup was bad, but tried to get there. I played a figure into a meddling mage naming wrath of god. He had the weirdest look when I played the mage. He ended up having 3 wraths in hand at the end and didnt draw another removal spell. Game 2 he mulliganed to 6 and didnt seem to confidant in his hand. I had a solid hand of creaturs and anthems. He wraths away my 2 guys and I follow it up with a spectral procession into Heights with a cloudgoat underneath. He has the fallout, but I still am able to activate heights and play the ranger and friends. The next turn I drew another anthem and swung in for the win. (2-0) overall 4-2
Round 7-John Gilmore playing Cascade Swans. I saw him playing to me the round before and know he is playing Swans. I mulligan to 6 and hit a Meddling Mage. The meddling mage bashes for 8 before he is able to be blocked. I played spectral procession and a figure. He played a swans and passed. I played mirroweave on his swans and got there for the win. As a one of I seemed to draw this card quite often. Game 2 I had 2 negates 2 wastes and dudes. I took a lot of damage off my lands, but am able to counter his main threats. He never is able to resolve an assault and my guys bash for the win. (2-0) overall 5-2
Round 8-James Fields playing Cascade Swans. Figures I would have to deal with this matchup again. The matchup isnt too bad. If I dont get there game 1, games 2 and 3 are in my favor percentage wise. This round was a nightmare. I mulliganed to 4 game 1. Lost very quickly. Game 2 I mulligan to 5 and hit 2 answers to his combo. Im able to stabilize and bash in with dudes. Game 3 I see him sideboard and he brought in the land destruction package, which Im not sure if that was the right call on his part. He lands a turn 3 crusher and it gets gigantic fast. I happen to have a path in hand and get his guy. He fails to search for a land and passes. He then procedes to draw into 4 spells and no land. Im able to bring the beats and decrease his life total to 0. (1-2) overall 6-2
Round 9- Jared Hafer playing Red Deck Wins with black. He plays a turn one figure which I match, but turn 2 he has the magma spray and pumps his guy. He then plays a ram gang and burns me out from that point. Figures I would be down a game when my deck seemed to finally be doing well. After we sideboard the judges walk up and do a midround deck check. This was my 3rd of the day. Both of us were good to go and no warnings were issued. I was on the play and had a solid hand, which my opponent had to mulligan to 5. I sided in path to exiles, while most red deck wins players will be thinking that burrenton forge tenders are coming in, which we did not even play. Game 2 was quick and he scooped it up for game 3 with plenty of time to play. We both mulligan to 6 and grind it out. The board is pretty clunked up with creatures. I played a heights and hit the cenn. I then proceded to draw an anthem. I play the anthem and spectral and pass turn. Im out of range of double fallout. He swings in leaving 3 blockers and brings me to 5. He has 3 land untapped, which I have him on flame javelin. I untap and rip a mirrorweave. I declare attacks and he sprays and incinerates a dude. I then proceed to activate my first heights and hit the cenn. He counts up and asks to goto damage. I activate my 2nd heights and play procession. He is tapped out and I reveal mirrorweave which makes my dudes super lethal. It was a very exciting game 3. (2-1) overall 7-2
With a 7-2 record I am into Day 2 of the Grand Prix. Ben also won his match to avoid elimation. AJ unfortunately had a feature matchup against Saito and lost eliminating him. 4 of the 6 peoples I stayed with made day 2 and we then went to get some food and crash for the night as day 2 started nice and early at 9am.
I will have a recap of Day 2 tomorrow night and my thoughts on the future of Kithkin in general.
Thanks for reading.
May 30, 2009- After doing well in the grinder the night before I finally decide on playing Kithkin. Late Friday night I saw Cedric and asked what he was playing for the GP. He said he was playing something similar to Barcelona, except he was going to play blue instead of black in his list. The blue would add Meddling Mage and Negate in the board to strengthen the Swans matchup. Although the BW tokens matchup percentage goes down when losing Zealous Persecution. So here is the list that I ran:
4 Goldmeadow Stalwart
4 Figure of Destiny
4 Knight of Meadowgrain
4 Wizened Cenn
3 Meddling Mage
4 Cloudgoat Ranger
4 Spectral Procession
4 Glorious Anthem
3 Ajani Goldmane
1 Mirrorweave
2 Rustic Clachan
2 Mutavault
4 Windbrisk Heights
4 Adakar Wastes
4 Mystic Gate
9 Plains
Sideboard:
4 Negate
4 Path to Exile
3 Pithing Needle
4 Stillmoon Cavalier
I have a round 1 bye so I was going to get something to eat with the people I stayed with, but they had either 2 or 3 byes and were going to be out longer so I decided to stay and watch the first round. I watched some of my friends that traveled to the event and Ben, Chuck, and Rob all won. There seemed to be infinite Cascade Swans decks every table I looked at.
Round 2-Jeff Meadows playing Swans. I have to mulligan my opening hand and find myself with lands Meddling Mage and Figure. He opened with a Spinerock Knoll, which was gas for me because I knew I was naming Seismic Assault on my next turn. His only out was Bituminous Blast. I was able to bash with dudes and and assault his life total. He didnt sideboard, which meant he was sticking to the combo plan. I brought in 4 negate 2 path to exile and 3 pithing needle. He got a decent board position on me and started bringing beats in the form of treetop village and Bloodbraid elf. I play my 3rd windbrisk heights of the game and see a mirrorweave. I play spectral procession and a figure and pass turn. He swings in and puts me at 2. I needed to draw a creature or a pump spell to swing for lethal. I swing in activate my first heights playing Knight of Meadowgrain, my 2nd heights reveals wizened cenn, and finally my 3rd heights reveals mirrorweave which targets the cenn. He counts up the damage and has no effects I show him the rustic clachan in hand and he scoops it up. (2-0) overall 2-0
Round 3-George Blankenship playing Cascade Swans. This was starting to remind me of a PTQ in St Louis in which every round but 2 I played against TEPS. Game 1 I got a sick draw of dudes and pump spells and get there quickly. I didnt see a Mage or any blue source so he has me on mono or BW Kithkin. I side in the Needles and Negates and 2 PTE. I have to mulligan to 5. I have 2 lands 2 dudes and a needle. He lands a turn 3 assault, turn 4 bloodbraid into pulse for my needle then procedes to play swans of bryn agoll turn 5. Nice draw. Game 3 was really close. Im putting the pressure on him. He hits a timely pulse off of an elf to kill my figure. He then plays another elf and hits his assault. He then plays a deny reality on my pithing needle and attempts to combo off. I was at 19 life. It was starting to look good for me when he kept drawing infinite cards. He went into the think tank and has 2 cards in his library left. I count his graveyard and his last 2 cards have to be land which would give him 10 lands in hand. I dont think he realized he hadnt attacked yet, which is why losing this matchup was awful. In a Lebron James like fashion I deny the handshake and go on my way. (1-2 ) overall 2-1
Round 4-Michael Neward playing 5 color Bloodbraid. I was on fulltilt this round after losing to a terrible player. I had to mulligan to 5 game 1 and he followed me. I lead off with a figure. I ended up riding that figure the whole way. He never was able to get a stable manabase. Game 2 was very different. The game went later and such nightmares like Broodmate Dragon and Dragon Broodmother joined the table. I end up building a huge board trying to out token his stupid dragon. I finally have 5 more dudes then him and swing in since he tapped out for an ultimatum. I mirrorweave his dragon and get in for 20 and the win. He was pretty pissed, but that is what mirrorweave is there for. The wins you are never supposed to get. (2-0) overall 3-1
Round 5-Justin Lackey playing BW Tokens- This matchup was rather terrible for me. I knew I lost the edge when I did not play black. Both games he resolved a Bitterblossom and was able to annihilate my board with persecution. Nothing too interesting happened. (0-2) overall 3-2
At this point I really started to question why I played this deck. I made some questionable keeps up to this point and need to step up my game if I want to Day 2, which meant winning out from here.
Round 6-Jason Nugent playing 5 Color Planeswalkers. This was my revenge from the night before. I knew the matchup was bad, but tried to get there. I played a figure into a meddling mage naming wrath of god. He had the weirdest look when I played the mage. He ended up having 3 wraths in hand at the end and didnt draw another removal spell. Game 2 he mulliganed to 6 and didnt seem to confidant in his hand. I had a solid hand of creaturs and anthems. He wraths away my 2 guys and I follow it up with a spectral procession into Heights with a cloudgoat underneath. He has the fallout, but I still am able to activate heights and play the ranger and friends. The next turn I drew another anthem and swung in for the win. (2-0) overall 4-2
Round 7-John Gilmore playing Cascade Swans. I saw him playing to me the round before and know he is playing Swans. I mulligan to 6 and hit a Meddling Mage. The meddling mage bashes for 8 before he is able to be blocked. I played spectral procession and a figure. He played a swans and passed. I played mirroweave on his swans and got there for the win. As a one of I seemed to draw this card quite often. Game 2 I had 2 negates 2 wastes and dudes. I took a lot of damage off my lands, but am able to counter his main threats. He never is able to resolve an assault and my guys bash for the win. (2-0) overall 5-2
Round 8-James Fields playing Cascade Swans. Figures I would have to deal with this matchup again. The matchup isnt too bad. If I dont get there game 1, games 2 and 3 are in my favor percentage wise. This round was a nightmare. I mulliganed to 4 game 1. Lost very quickly. Game 2 I mulligan to 5 and hit 2 answers to his combo. Im able to stabilize and bash in with dudes. Game 3 I see him sideboard and he brought in the land destruction package, which Im not sure if that was the right call on his part. He lands a turn 3 crusher and it gets gigantic fast. I happen to have a path in hand and get his guy. He fails to search for a land and passes. He then procedes to draw into 4 spells and no land. Im able to bring the beats and decrease his life total to 0. (1-2) overall 6-2
Round 9- Jared Hafer playing Red Deck Wins with black. He plays a turn one figure which I match, but turn 2 he has the magma spray and pumps his guy. He then plays a ram gang and burns me out from that point. Figures I would be down a game when my deck seemed to finally be doing well. After we sideboard the judges walk up and do a midround deck check. This was my 3rd of the day. Both of us were good to go and no warnings were issued. I was on the play and had a solid hand, which my opponent had to mulligan to 5. I sided in path to exiles, while most red deck wins players will be thinking that burrenton forge tenders are coming in, which we did not even play. Game 2 was quick and he scooped it up for game 3 with plenty of time to play. We both mulligan to 6 and grind it out. The board is pretty clunked up with creatures. I played a heights and hit the cenn. I then proceded to draw an anthem. I play the anthem and spectral and pass turn. Im out of range of double fallout. He swings in leaving 3 blockers and brings me to 5. He has 3 land untapped, which I have him on flame javelin. I untap and rip a mirrorweave. I declare attacks and he sprays and incinerates a dude. I then proceed to activate my first heights and hit the cenn. He counts up and asks to goto damage. I activate my 2nd heights and play procession. He is tapped out and I reveal mirrorweave which makes my dudes super lethal. It was a very exciting game 3. (2-1) overall 7-2
With a 7-2 record I am into Day 2 of the Grand Prix. Ben also won his match to avoid elimation. AJ unfortunately had a feature matchup against Saito and lost eliminating him. 4 of the 6 peoples I stayed with made day 2 and we then went to get some food and crash for the night as day 2 started nice and early at 9am.
I will have a recap of Day 2 tomorrow night and my thoughts on the future of Kithkin in general.
Thanks for reading.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Regionals and the progress of 5 color Bloodbraid
So to start off with regionals was a dud for the two people that played Chapins decks in Chicago. I went 4-2 drop and Shep went 3-3 drop. Ari Lax in Detroit went undefeated with the 59 of 60 cards the same as our deck except switched out the cloudthresher for a cruel ultimatum. The sideboards were 15/15. The deck is very solid, but deciding which hands to mulligan are very crucial. You absolutely need to have at least 2 creatures in your opening hand or you will be behind. The manabase seems clunky, but with the addition of the 2 vivid creeks it seems to be able to cast cryptic command easier when it needs to be. Anyways round 1 I played against G/W tokens. From my testing with Jon Knapp this matchup seemed to be insane for me if they had to go the token route. The matchup only gets tough if they go beatdown with Lieges and then get an overrun when you are below 13. Anyways I start off with a mulligan to 5, but this hand is a rager. It has Vivid grove, twilight mire, putrid leech, bloodbraid elf, and maelstrom pulse. If I can hit a couple runner lands this game will be good. Only thing was that I did hit a reflecing pool. but then did not see another land for 5 more turns which I was dead from there. Game 2 I sided in 2 more Threshers against his spectral procession along with another jund charm. I keep a solid opener of 4 lands and 3 dudes. This game goes long, but I never seem to be able to get over the hump. I wiped his board 3 times and he seemed to always hit runner runner dudes. Anyways 0-2 0-1. Round 2 I got to play G/W tokens again. This was either going to be my demise or finally see my deck turn its self around. Game 1 I bashed with Putrid Leech for 4 turns before he did anything relevant. He wraths my board away. Then plays Cloudgoat. I jund charm wiping his tokens. I hit a huge pocket of land and keep passing. He ends up bashing me with treetops and I scoop it up with lethal coming at me. I go with the same board plan as last round. This game was really close I was at 5 life and had a putrid leech to block. If I pump the leech I will die to trample damage. He attacks all in, but I have the surprise of pumping my Leech with Jund Charm, block then swing for lethal the next turn. Game 3 was kind of like game 2. He was swinging in for lethal, which I negate with Cryptic command. He then makes a beast token for a blocker to stop my lethal swing back and also plays a Runed Halo naming Putrid Leech to stop the 2 on the board. I have one out and of course I mise out a cryptic command off the top. I tap his beast and bounce the halo and swing for 13. How lucky! 2-1 1-1 Round 3 I find myself against Chris Osinki. I know he is play U/W reveillark and he also thinks I am playing it lol. Anyways this round was awful for me. I was never able to resolve a jund charm or resolve a thought hemmorhage post board against him. 0-2 1-2 At this point I thought about dropping to go and cube or money draft, but I decided to stay in and at least get some more games in despite being irrelevant. Round 4 was basically a bye. I played a random guy who just started playing and he gets crushed. 2-0 2-2. Round 5 I find myself against the almost mirror except it was straight Jund Aggro with Ram Gangs, Figures, Outlanders, and Demigods. This matchup was close both games, but it ended up with who resolved Anathemancer first for lethal. Game 2 was sick because I thought hemmorhaged him for Anathemancer, he had 3 in hand so he took 9 got rid of a major threat then proceeded to swing in for 8. What a nice turn lol. 2-0 3-2. Round 6 I found myself against some wigger playing Faeries. Nice Deck choice, I still think faeries are awful now despite what Sam Black thinks and is able to produce with his results. We goto game 3 and he plays double bitterblossom. I Pulse them then goto work on him. We have a few cryptic command battles and I swing in for lethal. 2-1 4-2. I decided to drop because I am feeling kind of sick still and Joe Hein wanted to get something to eat. So we hit up White Castle of all terrible places. We come back and cube draft for 5 bucks. I drafted a sick 5 color recurring nightmare deck. Our team won and took the money. I am not sure if I plan on playing Bloodbraid in Seattle or not. It seems like Blast Swans is getting popular now from playing online last night. So I think I am going to test that deck some. Congrats to Bernat for top 8ing with an old 5 color deck from Kyoto, and Grandgeorge for winning the entire regionals. Hopefully he will decide to actually goto nationals unlike Wade lol.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Team Chicago Almost Gets There.....
I decided to make a last second deck change about 1am Saturday morning because of the metagame shift taking place. It seems the two most popular decks right now are Saito zoo and Cedric/Gabes Astral Slide. Storm has insane matchups against both of those decks, so I call up Jon Knapp and ask to borrow some steam vents. He opts to play U/W Tron, which him and AJ had talked about the week before. It turned out to be a great call as Jon finished 2nd. His plane ticket was raped away by a troll ascetic carrying retarded equipment. Mike Lampert another of the people we all play with got the dissapointing 9th place. Always sucks as I have been there once this season. As for myself I finished in 14th. My 2 losses were to Next Level Blue and Astral Slide. The Next level Blue matchup seemed OK but he was able to shut me down game 3 with rule of law. I did resolve Akroma, but he had applied too much pressure by then in the form of Tarmogoyfs. On a side note, game 2 of our matchup was hilarious. I had him on trickbind, but I have to go for it no matter what because I die next turn. I storm up for 7 and he plays trickbind. I shuffle it up and praise to Jah that I hit a tendrils or minds desire. He cuts I flip and at last JUSTICE! right in his eye a MINDS DESIRE. My astral slide opponent has a curse on me I think. He had beaten me in Madison knocking me out of top 8 contention. When he saw me suspend lotus blood he knew it was bad for him. I storm up for 6 and fizzle getting a tendrils but not for lethal. I procede to storm for 5 and 3 in the same game and still not get there. Game 2 was the same way I fizzled twice. It was the only way he had a chance as we both knew. My other matchups were Life, TEPS, Affinity, Faeries, and Faeries. Im not sure what is in store for next weekend. Everyone is sick of extended and the dissapointment it has caused us all. Kentucky or bust!
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Guess Which 7 Deadily Sin I Am?
Sloth! duh! I will be updating this very soon with a bunch of things from 4 or 5 PTQ's and the most recent GP in Chicago. I will also be doing some live updates from Indianapolis for the Starcity 5K from my Twitter account(username: PHILAPHUNK) to keep anyone interested in what's happening there.
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