stsung's blog listings. Feed Zend_Feed_Writer 1.10.8 (http://framework.zend.com) http://community.wizards.com/stsung Highlander Series Tournament no.8 So the day before the tournament I put a deck together. It was once again the crazy Necrotic Ooze combo (+ Phyrexian Devourer and Triskelion). I tried few games with it but lost every one of them. (Actually 3:0 against one deck and 0:3 against another one). After the 0:3 I decided to try a different deck...I decided to play good stuff once again but this time with blue.

After a very long talk with my flat mate I went to sleep early in the morning. At 8:45 I woke up for some reason and headed for the tournament.

Round 1
I wasn't entirely sure what I play against. At first I thought and hoped it would be some kind of GW aggro because against that I have a good match up but when Selesnya Signet showed up I was caught offguard. From this moment on I knew that I should be expecting anything and Sigarda was one of the cards I did not expect. Soon I was facing Advent of the Wurm token and some other creatures, Master of the Wild Hunt among them. There wasn't much I could do with it. In game three I tried as I could to gain tempo but I did not really manage it and it came down to a moment in which I should decide either I would be killed by Sigarda or Silverblade Paladin. I decided that getting rid of Paladin is easier but in the end it was vice versa because my next draw was Enlightened Tutor which could fetch Phyrexian Metamorph and thus get me rid of Sigarda. Timely Reinforcements and Snapcaster Mage were trying to keep me alive but in the end I was facing both paired Paladin with Eternal Witness and Sigarda. I lost 2 games (and obviously won one...) but at least I was forced to use my brain and think. This helped me quite a lot because I decided to win the remaining games. (it came true^^)

Round 2
In this round I played against Lukas. He has a burn deck and mono green but today he decided to play mono blue artifact deck. This deck can be pretty annoying but without the right mana acceleration it cannot keep up with the competitive highlander meta (Bitterblossom backed up by a counterspell and Sword of Fire and Ice did the job). I won the first game quite quickly and in the second game my opponent was stuck at 3 lands. We played a third game in which I let him live for 3 more turns then was necessary and he managed to beat me. But I have to admit that was he showed me was pretty impressive. But Creeping Tar Pit is still the number 1 card against mono blue (along with Bitterblossom that won me the first game).

Round 3
I played against some dark bant deck. It was surely less aggressive than my build. I don't really remember what was going on in the games. In the game two I mulliganed several times because I couldn't manage to have some lands. This lasted for another few rounds and Putrid Leech was dealing me 4 damage each round. I still had a chance to possibly win (if my opponent would not have more counterspells than me) but I did not draw a card that would help me. When my opponent played Restoration Angel I decided to play Remand and deal with it later. That was most probably a mistake because at that time I could still play Snuff Out and don't die from it (I was at like 7 life). A turn later I lost the game.

In game two I had relatively ideal hand (that means it had 4 lands, 2 creatures and a counterspell). It was my turn to be aggressive and it worked and Evasive Action worked wonders. I attacked as I could and countered what I could and won. In game three it wasn't clear who would win till the very end in which it was either me being faster or my opponent. In this game it was my turn to attack with Putrid Leech. It took my opponent down to 7 life but then he played Kitchen Finks and my poor Putrid Leech attacked twice and killed the Finks. I took 4 damage and had to counter Stifle in order to kill the annoying creature^_^. After this my opponent couldn't do much and lost the game few turns later.

Round 4
Next I faced a control deck. In game 1 I kept a hand with one land and it wasn't a good one either. So I played my Treetop Village. It was hit by Wasteland. Five turns later I still had no lands and Baneslayer Angel showed up. I had Dismember to deal with it but no land to kill to play it. I played Creeping Tar Pit. Ajani Vengeant took care fo that land. I drew another land - Island. I tried to play Dismember but it was Daze'd or something. (note that against this player I usually play without lands^_^ or completely mana screwed)

Game two was pretty quick. I started with a mana dork, followed by some 3 drop. I simply attacked and that sufficed (more or less). In game three it was quite tense but I kept my opponent under pressure from the beginning. He was facing two threats - from my creatures and from my manlands (fetched by Primeval Titan). He played Consecrated Sphinx, Jace TMS and Brainstorm but was unable to find a response to both of these. He managed to play Swords to Plowshares on my Tarmogoyf (I did not attack with Creeping Tar Pit to avoid the Sword or Path) and deal with the last creature. But still the unblockable manland was a problem. In the meantime I played Dark Confidant and hoped to draw some counterspells. I had Force of Will and Evasive Action so I felt quite safe. Wasteland would be a problem but still I was hardly dead.

Round 5
Adam Koska and Zoo. Kird Ape was the first creature he played. Then he added Goblin Guide and attacked. I did not hit a land and was incapable of dealing with those creatures...it was a question of time till I would lose. In game 2 I slowed my opponent by playing Timely Reinforcements. He couldn't attack till he played River Boa that simply went past my soldiers, Baleful Strix and Shadowmage Infiltrator (oh yeah I was playing Esper^^). I was attacking with Jon Finkel, drawing an extra card each turn. Later I played Lingering Souls and flashbacked them. I did not expect Maelstrom Pulse but I still could easily win. I just totally messed the game up^_^. I also had Maelstrom Pulse and with that I could deal with lonely blocker taking my opponent to 1 and I could deal the last damage by alpha strike if I would have played Arbor Elf. But instead I did not play anything...(because I chose to draw a different card via Sylvan Library.) Few turns later in which I managed to mess what I could and played yet another Timely Reinforcements I won.

The last game was pretty quick. I played Geist of Saint Traft on t3 and Dismember'ed Lotus Cobra standing in the way. That dealt 6 damage to me (Ravnica dual land + 2 black Phyrexian) but it did not matter. In three turns my opponent was down to 0 as he couldn't deal with the spirit.

BUGw Good Stuff
1 Arbor Elf
1 Avacyn's Pilgrim
1 Aven Mindcensor
1 Baleful Strix
1 Birds of Paradise
1 Dark Confidant
1 Deathrite Shaman
1 Delver of Secrets
1 Edric, Spymaster of Trest
1 Elves of Deep Shadow
1 Eternal Witness
1 Fauna Shaman
1 Fyndhorn Elves
1 Gaddock Teeg
1 Geist of Saint Traft
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Kitchen Finks
1 Knight of the Reliquary
1 Llanowar Elves
1 Lotus Cobra
1 Mother of Runes
1 Noble Hierarch
1 Phantasmal Image
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Primeval Titan
1 Putrid Leech
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Rhox War Monk
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Shadowmage Infiltrator
1 Shriekmaw
1 Snapcaster Mage
1 Tarmogoyf
1 Thragtusk
1 Tidehollow Sculler

1 Abrupt Decay
1 Ancestral Vision
1 Bitterblossom
1 Brainstorm
1 Counterspell
1 Daze
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Detention Sphere
1 Dismember
1 Eladamri's Call
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Evasive Action
1 Force of Will
1 Gitaxian Probe
1 Green Sun's Zenith
1 Inquisition of Kozilek
1 Into the Roil
1 Lingering Souls
1 Maelstrom Pulse
1 Mana Leak
1 Memory Lapse
1 Mental Misstep
1 Miscalculation
1 Mox Diamond
1 Natural Order
1 Path to Exile
1 Remand
1 Snuff Out
1 Spell Snare
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Sylvan Library
1 Thoughtseize
1 Timely Reinforcements
1 Vindicate

1 Bayou
1 Breeding Pool
1 City of Brass
1 Creeping Tar Pit
1 Dryad Arbor
1 Flooded Strand
1 Forest
1 Hallowed Fountain
2 Island
1 Karakas
1 Marsh Flats
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Plains
1 Polluted Delta
1 Savannah
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Scrubland
1 Stirring Wildwood
1 Swamp
1 Treetop Village
1 Tropical Island
1 Tundra
1 Underground Sea
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Wasteland
1 Watery Grave
1 Windswept Heath
1 Wooded Foothills

So it was time to redeem my credit. The total being 950CZK (for the series) for which I could afford Thoughtseize. Along the way I got Urborg, Watery Grave (these were expensive at that time) and some other less expensive cards.

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Sun, 19 May 2013 14:02:55 -0500 http://community.wizards.com/stsung/blog/2013/05/19/highlander_series_tournament_no.8 http://community.wizards.com/stsung/blog/2013/05/19/highlander_series_tournament_no.8 So the day before the tournament I put a deck together. It was once again the crazy Necrotic Ooze combo (+ Phyrexian Devourer and Triskelion). I tried few games with it but lost every one of them. (Actually 3:0 against one deck and 0:3 against another one). After the 0:3 I decided to try a different deck...I decided to play good stuff once again but this time with blue.

After a very long talk with my flat mate I went to sleep early in the morning. At 8:45 I woke up for some reason and headed for the tournament.

Round 1
I wasn't entirely sure what I play against. At first I thought and hoped it would be some kind of GW aggro because against that I have a good match up but when Selesnya Signet showed up I was caught offguard. From this moment on I knew that I should be expecting anything and Sigarda was one of the cards I did not expect. Soon I was facing Advent of the Wurm token and some other creatures, Master of the Wild Hunt among them. There wasn't much I could do with it. In game three I tried as I could to gain tempo but I did not really manage it and it came down to a moment in which I should decide either I would be killed by Sigarda or Silverblade Paladin. I decided that getting rid of Paladin is easier but in the end it was vice versa because my next draw was Enlightened Tutor which could fetch Phyrexian Metamorph and thus get me rid of Sigarda. Timely Reinforcements and Snapcaster Mage were trying to keep me alive but in the end I was facing both paired Paladin with Eternal Witness and Sigarda. I lost 2 games (and obviously won one...) but at least I was forced to use my brain and think. This helped me quite a lot because I decided to win the remaining games. (it came true^^)

Round 2
In this round I played against Lukas. He has a burn deck and mono green but today he decided to play mono blue artifact deck. This deck can be pretty annoying but without the right mana acceleration it cannot keep up with the competitive highlander meta (Bitterblossom backed up by a counterspell and Sword of Fire and Ice did the job). I won the first game quite quickly and in the second game my opponent was stuck at 3 lands. We played a third game in which I let him live for 3 more turns then was necessary and he managed to beat me. But I have to admit that was he showed me was pretty impressive. But Creeping Tar Pit is still the number 1 card against mono blue (along with Bitterblossom that won me the first game).

Round 3
I played against some dark bant deck. It was surely less aggressive than my build. I don't really remember what was going on in the games. In the game two I mulliganed several times because I couldn't manage to have some lands. This lasted for another few rounds and Putrid Leech was dealing me 4 damage each round. I still had a chance to possibly win (if my opponent would not have more counterspells than me) but I did not draw a card that would help me. When my opponent played Restoration Angel I decided to play Remand and deal with it later. That was most probably a mistake because at that time I could still play Snuff Out and don't die from it (I was at like 7 life). A turn later I lost the game.

In game two I had relatively ideal hand (that means it had 4 lands, 2 creatures and a counterspell). It was my turn to be aggressive and it worked and Evasive Action worked wonders. I attacked as I could and countered what I could and won. In game three it wasn't clear who would win till the very end in which it was either me being faster or my opponent. In this game it was my turn to attack with Putrid Leech. It took my opponent down to 7 life but then he played Kitchen Finks and my poor Putrid Leech attacked twice and killed the Finks. I took 4 damage and had to counter Stifle in order to kill the annoying creature^_^. After this my opponent couldn't do much and lost the game few turns later.

Round 4
Next I faced a control deck. In game 1 I kept a hand with one land and it wasn't a good one either. So I played my Treetop Village. It was hit by Wasteland. Five turns later I still had no lands and Baneslayer Angel showed up. I had Dismember to deal with it but no land to kill to play it. I played Creeping Tar Pit. Ajani Vengeant took care fo that land. I drew another land - Island. I tried to play Dismember but it was Daze'd or something. (note that against this player I usually play without lands^_^ or completely mana screwed)

Game two was pretty quick. I started with a mana dork, followed by some 3 drop. I simply attacked and that sufficed (more or less). In game three it was quite tense but I kept my opponent under pressure from the beginning. He was facing two threats - from my creatures and from my manlands (fetched by Primeval Titan). He played Consecrated Sphinx, Jace TMS and Brainstorm but was unable to find a response to both of these. He managed to play Swords to Plowshares on my Tarmogoyf (I did not attack with Creeping Tar Pit to avoid the Sword or Path) and deal with the last creature. But still the unblockable manland was a problem. In the meantime I played Dark Confidant and hoped to draw some counterspells. I had Force of Will and Evasive Action so I felt quite safe. Wasteland would be a problem but still I was hardly dead.

Round 5
Adam Koska and Zoo. Kird Ape was the first creature he played. Then he added Goblin Guide and attacked. I did not hit a land and was incapable of dealing with those creatures...it was a question of time till I would lose. In game 2 I slowed my opponent by playing Timely Reinforcements. He couldn't attack till he played River Boa that simply went past my soldiers, Baleful Strix and Shadowmage Infiltrator (oh yeah I was playing Esper^^). I was attacking with Jon Finkel, drawing an extra card each turn. Later I played Lingering Souls and flashbacked them. I did not expect Maelstrom Pulse but I still could easily win. I just totally messed the game up^_^. I also had Maelstrom Pulse and with that I could deal with lonely blocker taking my opponent to 1 and I could deal the last damage by alpha strike if I would have played Arbor Elf. But instead I did not play anything...(because I chose to draw a different card via Sylvan Library.) Few turns later in which I managed to mess what I could and played yet another Timely Reinforcements I won.

The last game was pretty quick. I played Geist of Saint Traft on t3 and Dismember'ed Lotus Cobra standing in the way. That dealt 6 damage to me (Ravnica dual land + 2 black Phyrexian) but it did not matter. In three turns my opponent was down to 0 as he couldn't deal with the spirit.

BUGw Good Stuff
1 Arbor Elf
1 Avacyn's Pilgrim
1 Aven Mindcensor
1 Baleful Strix
1 Birds of Paradise
1 Dark Confidant
1 Deathrite Shaman
1 Delver of Secrets
1 Edric, Spymaster of Trest
1 Elves of Deep Shadow
1 Eternal Witness
1 Fauna Shaman
1 Fyndhorn Elves
1 Gaddock Teeg
1 Geist of Saint Traft
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Kitchen Finks
1 Knight of the Reliquary
1 Llanowar Elves
1 Lotus Cobra
1 Mother of Runes
1 Noble Hierarch
1 Phantasmal Image
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Primeval Titan
1 Putrid Leech
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Rhox War Monk
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Shadowmage Infiltrator
1 Shriekmaw
1 Snapcaster Mage
1 Tarmogoyf
1 Thragtusk
1 Tidehollow Sculler

1 Abrupt Decay
1 Ancestral Vision
1 Bitterblossom
1 Brainstorm
1 Counterspell
1 Daze
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Detention Sphere
1 Dismember
1 Eladamri's Call
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Evasive Action
1 Force of Will
1 Gitaxian Probe
1 Green Sun's Zenith
1 Inquisition of Kozilek
1 Into the Roil
1 Lingering Souls
1 Maelstrom Pulse
1 Mana Leak
1 Memory Lapse
1 Mental Misstep
1 Miscalculation
1 Mox Diamond
1 Natural Order
1 Path to Exile
1 Remand
1 Snuff Out
1 Spell Snare
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Sylvan Library
1 Thoughtseize
1 Timely Reinforcements
1 Vindicate

1 Bayou
1 Breeding Pool
1 City of Brass
1 Creeping Tar Pit
1 Dryad Arbor
1 Flooded Strand
1 Forest
1 Hallowed Fountain
2 Island
1 Karakas
1 Marsh Flats
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Plains
1 Polluted Delta
1 Savannah
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Scrubland
1 Stirring Wildwood
1 Swamp
1 Treetop Village
1 Tropical Island
1 Tundra
1 Underground Sea
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Wasteland
1 Watery Grave
1 Windswept Heath
1 Wooded Foothills

So it was time to redeem my credit. The total being 950CZK (for the series) for which I could afford Thoughtseize. Along the way I got Urborg, Watery Grave (these were expensive at that time) and some other less expensive cards.

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Grand Prix Strasbourg Friday

I wanted to participate in Legacy GP for quite a while but it was never close enough for me. So finally this time I got the chance to go to Strasbourg to play Legacy.

We were leaving Prague at 9am. I went there with Pavel Matousek and Jirka Rehak. We arrived at the site at 5 pm more or less. I could decide whether I want to play in a GPT or Legacy Warm Up tournament. I decided to give the Trial a chance.

I wrote down my decklist (BWg Stoneblade) and waited for a really long time till our Trial was announced. It took another ten minutes before we could start. The very first game I played was against BUG control. The player did not speak English so it was a bit difficult to communicate and I wasn't even sure if I should call judge to solve our Tarmogoyf problem. But no matter how the situation would be solved I would win by just attacking with my Batterskull. It seems that BUG Control is a good matchup. Waiting for the second round was even worse. We waited an eternity and then we were told that there are technical problems and that we need to wait even longer. When the judge came once again he told us that we would get new pairings and once again we had to wait. The third round was starting when the previous Trials were already in their fifth round. After I lost to a creature with creature type - Ally - I could go anywhere I liked. As the rounds took ages though I couldn't participate in the Legacy Warm Up and I was late even for another GPT. At 8 pm I wanted to participate in the Magic Game Show. After a nice walk with Jirka we came back to the site and headed for the Chandra banner where the Magic Game Show took place.

This GP's Magic Game Show wasn't that fun as the previous ones I participated in. Richard Hagon looked in a pretty bad shape. Not sure if that was a jet lag problem or anything else.

There were 6 rounds. Round 1 was about Charms. There are many charms in the Magic: The Gathering history. They all start with a certain letter of alphabet. There are 8 letters that are not used as the first letter of a charm name. We got 7 out 8 right and we won some KMC sleeves.

Round 2 was about Mythics. There are 14 Mythic Rares that have cmc 9 or more. So we started writing some down. I couldn't remember how Omniscience is named and we did not that Darksteel Colossus was reprinted in some core set. We managed to list 7 out of those 14 Mythics. That wasn't enough to win the round.

Round 3 was meh. Well there are always questions like this but it wasn't fun. We were told the names of the WMCQ winners and we were supposed to write down the countries they would represent at WMC. In this round we also got half of it.

Round 4 was even worse. The question was good but we had no idea what those cards were. We were supposed to name 7 0/0 cards from Standard. We came up with Evil Twin and Clone but we couldn't come up with all those creatures that work with counters or Cryptborn Horror. But we weren't the last^_^

In the fifth round we were asked to write down decklist (rather the cards fromt he deck) of Shardless BUG that won the last StarCity Games Open. We got 18 out 20 cards right but it wasn't enough to win the round.

In the sixth round Hagon showed us his own drawings of certain cards. Writing down the names was quite difficult for us. We managed to get some of the obvious ones right but the rest was mystery to us. (all the cards were from Gatecrash)

After the Magic Game Show we played some Legacy with Jirka and after that we went back to our hotel. We got lost on the way so I parted them and went back and retraced the same route we took to the site. I was pretty angry and felt pretty sick but I promised a game of EDH to Kumano so I knocked on their door.

We played a multiplayer game that turned pretty badly as we were overrun by elves. I played another game with Honza Jestribek as we were eliminated first. We went to sleep after that.

By some miracle I actually managed to fall asleep but I woke up early in the morning. I was going through my deck and wondering if I shouldn't be playing more dual lands and change my sideboard. I did that in the end. Michal and Jirka lent me their cards and my deck was complete.

Saturday

(I add this later hopefully)

Sunday

After the Grand Prix main event I wanted to play more legacy and thus I wanted to participate in the Legacy Championship. I got up early once again as I couldn't sleep. When I got really bored in my room I went downstairs to eat my breakfast. Some Czech players were there already so we talked about the day before and ate our breakfasts.

We arrived to the site few minutes before the end of registration for the Championships. I registered and waited for the first round to begin. There were about 230 players or so.

In the first round I played against mirror. I knew this after I played my first discard spell and got a peek at his hand. Unfortunately I played Inquisition of Kozilek and not Thoughtseize so I was incapable of discarding Batterskull. In the upcoming turns I still did not get Cabal Therapy or Thoughtseize so I could get rid of that Batterskull. It landed in play few turns later and I did not have any response to that. So I tried to survive. Lingering Souls were helping me in that. Finally Stoneforge Mystic showed up, I tutored Batterskull and put it into play later. I was at 6 life at that time. I equipped my only creature with the skull (Mystic) and started attacking as well. This allowed me to survive long enough till I managed to get rid of all the opposing souls. The last one was hit by Liliana's second ability and the opponent conceded the game. We did not have much time for the remaining games. The second game was quick though and it was not in my favor. We asked some judges when the round ends. We got few answers like 1 minute, 2 minutes or 3 minutes. So we signed the result slip and waited for round 2. By having a draw in the first round there was a pretty high chance that I would play against yet another stone blade.

In the second round my opponent mulled to five. I played Cabal Therapy on Force of Will as that's probably the most played card (considering all types of deck). I hit it. The remaining cards were Counterspell, Karakas, Island and Plains. I decided that this deck is most probably a miracle deck. I played Bitterblossom and hoped that it would suffice. It did. In the second game I sided in Pithing Needle, Enlightened Tutor and what not but it was not even necessary as I managed to discard all his counterspells, play Stoneforge Mystic, fetch Batterskull and kill with it.

In round 3 I ended up really badly. I played Inquisition of Kozilek as my first spell and peeked at a hand full of Bloodbraid Elves. I hoped to draw a Cabal Therapy but it did not show. On turn 4 the first Bloodbraid Elf ended up on the table and cascaded into Baleful Strix. The next one brought Scavenging Ooze and the last elf brought Brainstorm. I did not have any removal and my only chance was to block the creatures and kill them in combat. But my 1/2s were not capable of stopping the elves. In the second game my first discard hit Umezawa's Jitte. But still I was under quite some pressure from Shardless Agents and creatures they brought in play. I had Jitte in my hand and drew Batterskull. This card could have saved me but my opponent top decked Tower of the Magistrate and played it. My only chance of survival was thus doomed to fail and I conceded.

Round 4 - Stone blade. Not entirely sure what was happening in these games except that I played Dark Confidant after Dark Confidant and it was always hit by Swords to Plowshares. I was discarding equipments and Vendilion Cliques and I was getting rid of other cards by playing Dark Confidants^^.

Round 5 was really interesting. I looked at my opponent's hand and I had no idea what he was playing - Ethersworn Canonist, Pernicious Deed, Enlightened Tutor, Phyrexsian Tower, Verdant Catacombs, Forest, Scavenging Ooze and Eternal Witness. Later in the game Veteran Explorer ended up on the table that's when I realized what I play against (or at least I had an idea). A turn later Grave Titan showed up. I played Swords to Plowshares on it but still the little zombies beat me. In the second game I tried as hard as I could and tried to avoid Pernicious Deed. My equipments got hit by Harmonic Sliver and my sideboard cards did not show up. I really needed Rest in Peace or Grafdigger's Cage. Anyway everything looked quite ok when I managed to play Lingering Souls, flashback them and attack with them (and Jitte) but turn before my opponent's death he drew Pernicious Deed and swept the board. He played Sun Titan and Recurring Nightmare then. I did not drew graveyard hate and died few turns later.

My opponents hand in round 6 consisted of 6 lands and Life from the Loam. Unfortunately all the discard cards force to discard so the Loam ended up in graveyard. I won this game but I did not really know what I was facing. I did not see any creatures so I was siding out Swords to Plowshares. In game two my opponent sided in many cards. Not entirely sure what they were but the card that certainly killed me was Tarmogoyf. I got overrun by three of them and Jace TMS was yet another problem I couldn't deal with. Game 3 I reevaluated my sideboard but my opponent did the same and the game did not end up good for me. I could fight Jace TMS and discard some annoying Cliques but what killed me this time was Life from the Loam + Wasteland. I did not get the chance to remove Life from the Loam nor the land.

Round 7 was the best match I played^_^. I played against yet another Esper Stone Blade. In the first game I simply got rid of my opponent's Stoneforge Mystic and then played Lingering Souls and yet another Lingering Souls. These managed to win. In the second game it did not look good for me. I managed to play Pithing Needle forbidding Jace TMS but that did not stop my opponent dealing damage to me. When I finally managed to look at my opponent's hand it looked like this: Stoneforge Mystic, Jace TMS, 2x Supreme Verdict, Darkblast, Perish, Snapcaster Mage. That was even worse for me than I thought. My souls and Stoneforge Mystic would simply die to Supreme Verdict. It would take some time till I would draw more creatures and then it would get swept once again. Anyway I played the SFM and fetched Batterskull. My opponent then played Thoughtseize. I was ready to discard the equipment but my opponent decided to discard Liliana of the Veil while having four spirits in play. After that he managed to mess it up once again by playing Jace, the Mind Sculptor and thus losing one whole turn. His friend standing next to him seemed that he wants to kill him after such play but he didn't say anything. I pointed at my Pithing Needle and my opponent realized what he did. He passed me the turn. I drew Umezawa's Jitte and put it in play, equipped it and attacked. My opponent was down to 2 life. He had Stoneforge Mystic in play, 4 spirits and Jace TMS. He played Brainstorm and found Disenchant and Swords to Plowshares. Anyway he drew something and let me play. I expected him to play Snapcaster Mage and flashback Swords to Plowshares and then simply kill me. But to the surprise and entertainment of all present he did not do it. My draw was Wasteland, so I decided to destroy a blue source. I thought that he had Underground Sea untapped, but when targeting the land I realized that it was actually Scrubland. Anyway he tapped it for mana and played Disenchant on my already charged Umezawa's Jitte. After this my opponent's friend started yelling at him because this was already too much for him^_^. Me and Honza we started laughing so badly that I couldn't even talk for a while. I pumped my Mystic, killed the opposing Mystic and swinged for the win. My poor opponent was listening to his friend who just couldn't understand how he managed to mess the game so much. Judge came to us wondering what the hell happened so we filled in the result sheet and gave it to him.

Round 8 was not so much fun. But I've met a really cool guy. He came late and was given a game loss. But I knew that this would not stop him from winning the round. Japanese and German combined that can't be a bad player^_^. I looked at his hand and found 2 cards I did not like at all. Terminus and Moat. There was Repeal, Jace and some lands as well but those cards did not really concern me. Entreat the Angels was what would kill me and I knew I couldn't do a thing against that. I knew that this match up is rather unwinnable for me but I tried anyway. I played what creatures I could and attacked but after a third Terminus there was nothing I could play or attack with. Soon I was facing several 4/4 angel tokens. In game two I sided in all I could against this deck but I did not have Engineered Explosives in my hand. My opponent played the Entreat pretty soon where x was 3 and that was all he needed. I got rid of one angel and extracted the Entreat. But no decay, no sword, no liliana nor explosives for me. After the game ended we discussed my deck a bit. I had some free time before the next round for the first time during the tournament.

When I arrived to my table I was already too tired to take the game seriously. I did not even mulligan when I was supposed to. I played against Maverick. My top decks though were good and I won even though I certainly did not deserve that. In game 2 I had to mulligan to five. I managed to get two lands but one of them was Wasteland. This land was destroyed and I was left with one Swamp. I couldn't do much. In game 3 my hand was quite ok. But my opponent wrecked my plan with Pithing Needle on turn 1. The card I couldn't use was Liliana of the Veil and that was a problem. I needed to get rid of the needle so I could destroy Knight of the Reliquary. But my opponent was one turn ahead of me and played one more creature. So I decided to play Abrupt Decay on Knight of the Reliquary and hoped to draw something that would help. Unfortunately my following draws were only lands.

After the tournament I wanted to play more legacy and I decided that this deck is what I like. I should have played more Scrublands than Bayous but it did not kill me during the tournaments anyway. Having more duals though was ok except for the game against Life from the Loam + Wasteland. Also I was lacking more Pithing Needles.

We left the site about 9 or even later. We arrived to Prague round 3am and then we went to some Nonstop Bar. The first bar was closed. The second one as well...the third though was open. So we ordered some drinks and had some fun. This time finally I had the chance to play against Kumano. We played EDH till 6 am and then we left and parted our ways.

I'm really glad that I went to Grand Prix Strasbourg even though it cost me a lot of money that I would need now. It is something I really needed to get some energy and will to continue surviving in this madness of a world. This GP felt small and it was pretty expensive. Other GPs I went to where far better. For the money you paid you got something extra, could play in many different events and there was always something to do. Here it was rather meh, but as I spent the day playing Legacy anyway it was fine.

BWg Stoneblade
stsung
Legacy

Main Deck:
4 Dark Confidant
3 Deathrite Shaman
3 Liliana of the Veil
4 Stoneforge Mystic

4 Abrupt Decay
1 Batterskull
2 Bitterblossom
2 Cabal Therapy
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Lingering Souls
1 Sensei's Divining Top
4 Swords to Plowshares
2 Thoughtseize
2 Umezawa's Jitte

3 Bayou
1 Forest
4 Marsh Flats
1 Plains
1 Savannah
2 Scrubland
3 Swamp
4 Verdant Catacombs
3 Wasteland

Sideboard:
1 Disenchant
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Ethersworn Canonist
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Humility
4 Leyline of Sanctity
1 Perish
1 Pithing Needle
1 Rest in Peace
2 Surgical Extraction
1 Sword of Feast and Famine
0 Comments - Leave a Comment
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Wed, 17 Apr 2013 05:37:26 -0500 http://community.wizards.com/stsung/blog/2013/04/17/grand_prix_strasbourg http://community.wizards.com/stsung/blog/2013/04/17/grand_prix_strasbourg Friday

I wanted to participate in Legacy GP for quite a while but it was never close enough for me. So finally this time I got the chance to go to Strasbourg to play Legacy.

We were leaving Prague at 9am. I went there with Pavel Matousek and Jirka Rehak. We arrived at the site at 5 pm more or less. I could decide whether I want to play in a GPT or Legacy Warm Up tournament. I decided to give the Trial a chance.

I wrote down my decklist (BWg Stoneblade) and waited for a really long time till our Trial was announced. It took another ten minutes before we could start. The very first game I played was against BUG control. The player did not speak English so it was a bit difficult to communicate and I wasn't even sure if I should call judge to solve our Tarmogoyf problem. But no matter how the situation would be solved I would win by just attacking with my Batterskull. It seems that BUG Control is a good matchup. Waiting for the second round was even worse. We waited an eternity and then we were told that there are technical problems and that we need to wait even longer. When the judge came once again he told us that we would get new pairings and once again we had to wait. The third round was starting when the previous Trials were already in their fifth round. After I lost to a creature with creature type - Ally - I could go anywhere I liked. As the rounds took ages though I couldn't participate in the Legacy Warm Up and I was late even for another GPT. At 8 pm I wanted to participate in the Magic Game Show. After a nice walk with Jirka we came back to the site and headed for the Chandra banner where the Magic Game Show took place.

This GP's Magic Game Show wasn't that fun as the previous ones I participated in. Richard Hagon looked in a pretty bad shape. Not sure if that was a jet lag problem or anything else.

There were 6 rounds. Round 1 was about Charms. There are many charms in the Magic: The Gathering history. They all start with a certain letter of alphabet. There are 8 letters that are not used as the first letter of a charm name. We got 7 out 8 right and we won some KMC sleeves.

Round 2 was about Mythics. There are 14 Mythic Rares that have cmc 9 or more. So we started writing some down. I couldn't remember how Omniscience is named and we did not that Darksteel Colossus was reprinted in some core set. We managed to list 7 out of those 14 Mythics. That wasn't enough to win the round.

Round 3 was meh. Well there are always questions like this but it wasn't fun. We were told the names of the WMCQ winners and we were supposed to write down the countries they would represent at WMC. In this round we also got half of it.

Round 4 was even worse. The question was good but we had no idea what those cards were. We were supposed to name 7 0/0 cards from Standard. We came up with Evil Twin and Clone but we couldn't come up with all those creatures that work with counters or Cryptborn Horror. But we weren't the last^_^

In the fifth round we were asked to write down decklist (rather the cards fromt he deck) of Shardless BUG that won the last StarCity Games Open. We got 18 out 20 cards right but it wasn't enough to win the round.

In the sixth round Hagon showed us his own drawings of certain cards. Writing down the names was quite difficult for us. We managed to get some of the obvious ones right but the rest was mystery to us. (all the cards were from Gatecrash)

After the Magic Game Show we played some Legacy with Jirka and after that we went back to our hotel. We got lost on the way so I parted them and went back and retraced the same route we took to the site. I was pretty angry and felt pretty sick but I promised a game of EDH to Kumano so I knocked on their door.

We played a multiplayer game that turned pretty badly as we were overrun by elves. I played another game with Honza Jestribek as we were eliminated first. We went to sleep after that.

By some miracle I actually managed to fall asleep but I woke up early in the morning. I was going through my deck and wondering if I shouldn't be playing more dual lands and change my sideboard. I did that in the end. Michal and Jirka lent me their cards and my deck was complete.

Saturday

(I add this later hopefully)

Sunday

After the Grand Prix main event I wanted to play more legacy and thus I wanted to participate in the Legacy Championship. I got up early once again as I couldn't sleep. When I got really bored in my room I went downstairs to eat my breakfast. Some Czech players were there already so we talked about the day before and ate our breakfasts.

We arrived to the site few minutes before the end of registration for the Championships. I registered and waited for the first round to begin. There were about 230 players or so.

In the first round I played against mirror. I knew this after I played my first discard spell and got a peek at his hand. Unfortunately I played Inquisition of Kozilek and not Thoughtseize so I was incapable of discarding Batterskull. In the upcoming turns I still did not get Cabal Therapy or Thoughtseize so I could get rid of that Batterskull. It landed in play few turns later and I did not have any response to that. So I tried to survive. Lingering Souls were helping me in that. Finally Stoneforge Mystic showed up, I tutored Batterskull and put it into play later. I was at 6 life at that time. I equipped my only creature with the skull (Mystic) and started attacking as well. This allowed me to survive long enough till I managed to get rid of all the opposing souls. The last one was hit by Liliana's second ability and the opponent conceded the game. We did not have much time for the remaining games. The second game was quick though and it was not in my favor. We asked some judges when the round ends. We got few answers like 1 minute, 2 minutes or 3 minutes. So we signed the result slip and waited for round 2. By having a draw in the first round there was a pretty high chance that I would play against yet another stone blade.

In the second round my opponent mulled to five. I played Cabal Therapy on Force of Will as that's probably the most played card (considering all types of deck). I hit it. The remaining cards were Counterspell, Karakas, Island and Plains. I decided that this deck is most probably a miracle deck. I played Bitterblossom and hoped that it would suffice. It did. In the second game I sided in Pithing Needle, Enlightened Tutor and what not but it was not even necessary as I managed to discard all his counterspells, play Stoneforge Mystic, fetch Batterskull and kill with it.

In round 3 I ended up really badly. I played Inquisition of Kozilek as my first spell and peeked at a hand full of Bloodbraid Elves. I hoped to draw a Cabal Therapy but it did not show. On turn 4 the first Bloodbraid Elf ended up on the table and cascaded into Baleful Strix. The next one brought Scavenging Ooze and the last elf brought Brainstorm. I did not have any removal and my only chance was to block the creatures and kill them in combat. But my 1/2s were not capable of stopping the elves. In the second game my first discard hit Umezawa's Jitte. But still I was under quite some pressure from Shardless Agents and creatures they brought in play. I had Jitte in my hand and drew Batterskull. This card could have saved me but my opponent top decked Tower of the Magistrate and played it. My only chance of survival was thus doomed to fail and I conceded.

Round 4 - Stone blade. Not entirely sure what was happening in these games except that I played Dark Confidant after Dark Confidant and it was always hit by Swords to Plowshares. I was discarding equipments and Vendilion Cliques and I was getting rid of other cards by playing Dark Confidants^^.

Round 5 was really interesting. I looked at my opponent's hand and I had no idea what he was playing - Ethersworn Canonist, Pernicious Deed, Enlightened Tutor, Phyrexsian Tower, Verdant Catacombs, Forest, Scavenging Ooze and Eternal Witness. Later in the game Veteran Explorer ended up on the table that's when I realized what I play against (or at least I had an idea). A turn later Grave Titan showed up. I played Swords to Plowshares on it but still the little zombies beat me. In the second game I tried as hard as I could and tried to avoid Pernicious Deed. My equipments got hit by Harmonic Sliver and my sideboard cards did not show up. I really needed Rest in Peace or Grafdigger's Cage. Anyway everything looked quite ok when I managed to play Lingering Souls, flashback them and attack with them (and Jitte) but turn before my opponent's death he drew Pernicious Deed and swept the board. He played Sun Titan and Recurring Nightmare then. I did not drew graveyard hate and died few turns later.

My opponents hand in round 6 consisted of 6 lands and Life from the Loam. Unfortunately all the discard cards force to discard so the Loam ended up in graveyard. I won this game but I did not really know what I was facing. I did not see any creatures so I was siding out Swords to Plowshares. In game two my opponent sided in many cards. Not entirely sure what they were but the card that certainly killed me was Tarmogoyf. I got overrun by three of them and Jace TMS was yet another problem I couldn't deal with. Game 3 I reevaluated my sideboard but my opponent did the same and the game did not end up good for me. I could fight Jace TMS and discard some annoying Cliques but what killed me this time was Life from the Loam + Wasteland. I did not get the chance to remove Life from the Loam nor the land.

Round 7 was the best match I played^_^. I played against yet another Esper Stone Blade. In the first game I simply got rid of my opponent's Stoneforge Mystic and then played Lingering Souls and yet another Lingering Souls. These managed to win. In the second game it did not look good for me. I managed to play Pithing Needle forbidding Jace TMS but that did not stop my opponent dealing damage to me. When I finally managed to look at my opponent's hand it looked like this: Stoneforge Mystic, Jace TMS, 2x Supreme Verdict, Darkblast, Perish, Snapcaster Mage. That was even worse for me than I thought. My souls and Stoneforge Mystic would simply die to Supreme Verdict. It would take some time till I would draw more creatures and then it would get swept once again. Anyway I played the SFM and fetched Batterskull. My opponent then played Thoughtseize. I was ready to discard the equipment but my opponent decided to discard Liliana of the Veil while having four spirits in play. After that he managed to mess it up once again by playing Jace, the Mind Sculptor and thus losing one whole turn. His friend standing next to him seemed that he wants to kill him after such play but he didn't say anything. I pointed at my Pithing Needle and my opponent realized what he did. He passed me the turn. I drew Umezawa's Jitte and put it in play, equipped it and attacked. My opponent was down to 2 life. He had Stoneforge Mystic in play, 4 spirits and Jace TMS. He played Brainstorm and found Disenchant and Swords to Plowshares. Anyway he drew something and let me play. I expected him to play Snapcaster Mage and flashback Swords to Plowshares and then simply kill me. But to the surprise and entertainment of all present he did not do it. My draw was Wasteland, so I decided to destroy a blue source. I thought that he had Underground Sea untapped, but when targeting the land I realized that it was actually Scrubland. Anyway he tapped it for mana and played Disenchant on my already charged Umezawa's Jitte. After this my opponent's friend started yelling at him because this was already too much for him^_^. Me and Honza we started laughing so badly that I couldn't even talk for a while. I pumped my Mystic, killed the opposing Mystic and swinged for the win. My poor opponent was listening to his friend who just couldn't understand how he managed to mess the game so much. Judge came to us wondering what the hell happened so we filled in the result sheet and gave it to him.

Round 8 was not so much fun. But I've met a really cool guy. He came late and was given a game loss. But I knew that this would not stop him from winning the round. Japanese and German combined that can't be a bad player^_^. I looked at his hand and found 2 cards I did not like at all. Terminus and Moat. There was Repeal, Jace and some lands as well but those cards did not really concern me. Entreat the Angels was what would kill me and I knew I couldn't do a thing against that. I knew that this match up is rather unwinnable for me but I tried anyway. I played what creatures I could and attacked but after a third Terminus there was nothing I could play or attack with. Soon I was facing several 4/4 angel tokens. In game two I sided in all I could against this deck but I did not have Engineered Explosives in my hand. My opponent played the Entreat pretty soon where x was 3 and that was all he needed. I got rid of one angel and extracted the Entreat. But no decay, no sword, no liliana nor explosives for me. After the game ended we discussed my deck a bit. I had some free time before the next round for the first time during the tournament.

When I arrived to my table I was already too tired to take the game seriously. I did not even mulligan when I was supposed to. I played against Maverick. My top decks though were good and I won even though I certainly did not deserve that. In game 2 I had to mulligan to five. I managed to get two lands but one of them was Wasteland. This land was destroyed and I was left with one Swamp. I couldn't do much. In game 3 my hand was quite ok. But my opponent wrecked my plan with Pithing Needle on turn 1. The card I couldn't use was Liliana of the Veil and that was a problem. I needed to get rid of the needle so I could destroy Knight of the Reliquary. But my opponent was one turn ahead of me and played one more creature. So I decided to play Abrupt Decay on Knight of the Reliquary and hoped to draw something that would help. Unfortunately my following draws were only lands.

After the tournament I wanted to play more legacy and I decided that this deck is what I like. I should have played more Scrublands than Bayous but it did not kill me during the tournaments anyway. Having more duals though was ok except for the game against Life from the Loam + Wasteland. Also I was lacking more Pithing Needles.

We left the site about 9 or even later. We arrived to Prague round 3am and then we went to some Nonstop Bar. The first bar was closed. The second one as well...the third though was open. So we ordered some drinks and had some fun. This time finally I had the chance to play against Kumano. We played EDH till 6 am and then we left and parted our ways.

I'm really glad that I went to Grand Prix Strasbourg even though it cost me a lot of money that I would need now. It is something I really needed to get some energy and will to continue surviving in this madness of a world. This GP felt small and it was pretty expensive. Other GPs I went to where far better. For the money you paid you got something extra, could play in many different events and there was always something to do. Here it was rather meh, but as I spent the day playing Legacy anyway it was fine.

BWg Stoneblade
stsung
Legacy

Main Deck:
4 Dark Confidant
3 Deathrite Shaman
3 Liliana of the Veil
4 Stoneforge Mystic

4 Abrupt Decay
1 Batterskull
2 Bitterblossom
2 Cabal Therapy
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Lingering Souls
1 Sensei's Divining Top
4 Swords to Plowshares
2 Thoughtseize
2 Umezawa's Jitte

3 Bayou
1 Forest
4 Marsh Flats
1 Plains
1 Savannah
2 Scrubland
3 Swamp
4 Verdant Catacombs
3 Wasteland

Sideboard:
1 Disenchant
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Ethersworn Canonist
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Humility
4 Leyline of Sanctity
1 Perish
1 Pithing Needle
1 Rest in Peace
2 Surgical Extraction
1 Sword of Feast and Famine
0 Comments - Leave a Comment
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0
GP Strasbourg - Getting Ready After preregistering and sending 45USD to the organizers I really need a deck that I like to play.

I like my deck so far but I'm not sure if it should stay the way it is. At before last GPT I terribly died (it was the only match I lost) because I couldn't deal with Grove of the Burnwillows and Academy Ruins can be pretty annoying as well. So I was wondering if I actually should play Wasteland. I decided not to play too many dual lands and thus have better match up against anything tempo and other disruption decks. This worked wonders but still there are some lands I need to get rid of and Vindicate does not sound that good either. Anyway I almost made it to Top 8 (due to my missplays I just did not make it but it wasn't the deck's fault).

During the short period during which I play with the deck I made few changes. I added one more Umezawa's Jitte because many people are simply playing more than one and there are Decays everywhere. I cut Oblivion Rings and added 3rd and 4th Deathrite Shaman. But after last two tournaments I decided to go back to 3. The Shaman was actually one of the cards I usually sided out. Instead of that I added one more Lingering Souls and it 's quite ok.

My sideboard more or less consists of 15 random cards and I will most probably change the discard cards. I should play Thoughtseize as I need to deal with Jace TMS and Batterskull for example and play less Cabal Therapies as I will be playing against people I've never seen in my life and I won't know what they play thus. So 4 Thoughtseizes (I don't have those...so we'll see if I can get them) and 2 Therapies should be the right number. I was also wondering if I should run Pernicious Deed or Engineered Explosives. There are times in which I would really appreciate a card like this and match ups as well.

Anyway if you have any ideas that could help me or some feedback just comment underneath this post. I'll appreciate it. The decklist follows.

BWg Stoneblade
stsung
Legacy

Main Deck:
4 Dark Confidant
3 Deathrite Shaman
3 Liliana of the Veil
4 Stoneforge Mystic

4 Abrupt Decay
1 Batterskull
2 Bitterblossom
3 Cabal Therapy
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Lingering Souls
2 Sensei's Divining Top
4 Swords to Plowshares
2 Umezawa's Jitte

2 Bayou
3 Forest
4 Marsh Flats
2 Plains
2 Scrubland
5 Swamp
4 Verdant Catacombs

Sideboard:
2 Ethersworn Canonist
1 Mindbreak Trap
2 Nihil Spellbomb
2 Oblivion Ring
1 Perish
2 Pithing Needle
2 Surgical Extraction
1 Sword of Feast and Famine
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Zealous Persecution
0 Comments - Leave a Comment
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Thu, 04 Apr 2013 03:39:47 -0500 http://community.wizards.com/stsung/blog/2013/04/04/gp_strasbourg_-_getting_ready http://community.wizards.com/stsung/blog/2013/04/04/gp_strasbourg_-_getting_ready After preregistering and sending 45USD to the organizers I really need a deck that I like to play.

I like my deck so far but I'm not sure if it should stay the way it is. At before last GPT I terribly died (it was the only match I lost) because I couldn't deal with Grove of the Burnwillows and Academy Ruins can be pretty annoying as well. So I was wondering if I actually should play Wasteland. I decided not to play too many dual lands and thus have better match up against anything tempo and other disruption decks. This worked wonders but still there are some lands I need to get rid of and Vindicate does not sound that good either. Anyway I almost made it to Top 8 (due to my missplays I just did not make it but it wasn't the deck's fault).

During the short period during which I play with the deck I made few changes. I added one more Umezawa's Jitte because many people are simply playing more than one and there are Decays everywhere. I cut Oblivion Rings and added 3rd and 4th Deathrite Shaman. But after last two tournaments I decided to go back to 3. The Shaman was actually one of the cards I usually sided out. Instead of that I added one more Lingering Souls and it 's quite ok.

My sideboard more or less consists of 15 random cards and I will most probably change the discard cards. I should play Thoughtseize as I need to deal with Jace TMS and Batterskull for example and play less Cabal Therapies as I will be playing against people I've never seen in my life and I won't know what they play thus. So 4 Thoughtseizes (I don't have those...so we'll see if I can get them) and 2 Therapies should be the right number. I was also wondering if I should run Pernicious Deed or Engineered Explosives. There are times in which I would really appreciate a card like this and match ups as well.

Anyway if you have any ideas that could help me or some feedback just comment underneath this post. I'll appreciate it. The decklist follows.

BWg Stoneblade
stsung
Legacy

Main Deck:
4 Dark Confidant
3 Deathrite Shaman
3 Liliana of the Veil
4 Stoneforge Mystic

4 Abrupt Decay
1 Batterskull
2 Bitterblossom
3 Cabal Therapy
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Lingering Souls
2 Sensei's Divining Top
4 Swords to Plowshares
2 Umezawa's Jitte

2 Bayou
3 Forest
4 Marsh Flats
2 Plains
2 Scrubland
5 Swamp
4 Verdant Catacombs

Sideboard:
2 Ethersworn Canonist
1 Mindbreak Trap
2 Nihil Spellbomb
2 Oblivion Ring
1 Perish
2 Pithing Needle
2 Surgical Extraction
1 Sword of Feast and Famine
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Zealous Persecution
0 Comments - Leave a Comment
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0
Gatecrash Game Day

Spending quite a lot of time in a local game store I was more or less forced to build a type 2 deck. Everyone was asking me for a game of standard and that's what I never had - Legacy, EDH, Highlander yes, but not type 2. So I build such a deck and after few games I realized that I might actually like to take it to a tournament. Game Day seemed as a nice choice as that would mean more rounds and more fun thus. I was pretty ill the day I decided this and wasn't sure if I could recover till that time (I'm still ill). Some time ago I decided not to play Magic while being ill because I can't keep track of anything - be it my life total or what is going on on the table. But the Game Day was near and I did not want to miss it.

I came back home and started wondering what my sideboard should look like. That took me about three hours of mindlessly roaming my room. Later I lay down to sleep and an idea showed up in my head - Skullcrack, Nephalia's Drownyard and Rakdos's Return are not cards I would want to be hit with. So at least two cards in my SB were decided - Witchbane Orb. Along with some Negates and random cards. I put also Planar Cleansing in my SB because this can take care of annoying Planeswalkers and there's no Vindicate I could use on them in this format.

In the morning I managed to wake up (I was already awake when my alarm clock started to ring). I ate a bit and ran for the tram. I arrived on time, bought 2 copies of Witchbane Orb and waited for the first round.

Round 1 was against Matej Maly who completely devasteted me with his combo deck. Well, in the first game he killed me with Nicol Bolas. I had Detention Sphere in my hand, but Bolas took care of my white sources so I was pretty much screwed up. In the second game I couldn't do anything and did not have the counterspells I needed. So Omniscience + Enter the Infinite ended the game.

Round 2 Mariusz and his UB Mill deck. I showed him that I can mill faster^^. He was playing Consuming Aberrations and Lazavs in his deck and I was able to take them down one by one. His deck ran a lot of removal spells and such which was pretty much useless against my deck that hardly played a creature. So I milled him faster and won.

In Round 3 I played against Patrik Fiala. The only person I played before the tournament so I knew what to expect. The question was what would happen after he and me sided. He kept a bad hand (obviously) and lost. More or less the same happen in the second game. But I have to admit that I was milling the best cards I could so there wasn't much he could play any way.

Round 4 was the toughest. I was already pretty tired and hardly concentrating. When someone by accident noted that we are going to play a mirror match I knew that this round would take ages. I dropped Nephalia's Drownyard early so I started milling soon. This helped me a lot as I managed to hit all the lands that my opponent needed. After really long game we started a second one. I waited a bit and then played Witchbane Orb when it seemed to be more or less safe. After that I was hoping to draw Nephalia's Drownyard so I could mill my opponent but it never showed up. During that time my opponent went through his whole deck and finally killed me with Snapcaster Mages, Dissipates and Restoration Angel. I knew this would happen but my hands consisting of 5 lands could not provide any answer to that. I could have maybe saved one more turn but still there was no way I could win this. My Planar Cleasing was countered so I couldn't get rid of my opponent's Orb so I could play Psychic Spiral. Getting rid of the previous Dissipates was difficult enough. There weren't so many threats I could actually play (except Drownyard and Supreme Verdict which can't be countered)

Round 5 against Boros aggro. Augur of Bolas showed to be a good blocker^_^. It cannot do anything with Boros Reckoner but it can stop 1/1, 2/1 etc from attacking. Enough time to draw Supreme Verdict and then take care of occasional Hellkite or Hellrider or whatever is in the deck. My opponent wasn't lucky and died quite soon. My hand containing 3x Sphinx's Revelation was too much to handle.

Round 6...I rather not talk about that. I won the first game easily. I played against Jund. Dreg Manglers, Deathrite Shamans, Strangleroot Geists, Ghor-Clan Rampagers etc...In the second game I did not kill Hellrider when I had the chance and was then killed by 2x Bloodrush saying +4/+4 Trample. In the third game I managed to do even 'stupider' thing by playing Restoration Angel and forgetting to block the one and only creature in play on the other side of the table - Falkenrath Aristocrat. This sealed the doom. I managed to draw six lands straight then but even if I would draw something I deserved to lose^_^. Such plays should not be happening at all. I lost two games I practically couldn't lose....What a shame. My won Firemane Avenger will remind me of this Restoration Angel/Falkenrath Aristocrat combat for quite some time^_^ I guess.

The Game Day was fun. I was afraid that it would be a torture as I'm still ill, but it was really enjoyable. Thanks for the games!

Esper Control
stsung
Type II

Main Deck:
4 Augur of Bolas
2 Obzedat, Ghost Council
3 Restoration Angel
2 Snapcaster Mage

4 Azorius Charm
2 Devour Flesh
2 Dissipate
1 Dramatic Rescue
3 Sphinx's Revelation
4 Supreme Verdict
2 Terminus
4 Think Twice

4 Drowned Catacomb
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Godless Shrine
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Isolated Chapel
3 Nephalia Drownyard
4 Watery Grave

Sideboard:
2 Blind Obedience
1 Detention Sphere
1 Duress
1 Jace, Memory Adept
2 Negate
2 Planar Cleansing
1 Psychic Spiral
1 Rest in Peace
2 Ultimate Price
2 Witchbane Orb

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Sat, 23 Feb 2013 13:43:28 -0600 http://community.wizards.com/stsung/blog/2013/02/23/gatecrash_game_day http://community.wizards.com/stsung/blog/2013/02/23/gatecrash_game_day

Spending quite a lot of time in a local game store I was more or less forced to build a type 2 deck. Everyone was asking me for a game of standard and that's what I never had - Legacy, EDH, Highlander yes, but not type 2. So I build such a deck and after few games I realized that I might actually like to take it to a tournament. Game Day seemed as a nice choice as that would mean more rounds and more fun thus. I was pretty ill the day I decided this and wasn't sure if I could recover till that time (I'm still ill). Some time ago I decided not to play Magic while being ill because I can't keep track of anything - be it my life total or what is going on on the table. But the Game Day was near and I did not want to miss it.

I came back home and started wondering what my sideboard should look like. That took me about three hours of mindlessly roaming my room. Later I lay down to sleep and an idea showed up in my head - Skullcrack, Nephalia's Drownyard and Rakdos's Return are not cards I would want to be hit with. So at least two cards in my SB were decided - Witchbane Orb. Along with some Negates and random cards. I put also Planar Cleansing in my SB because this can take care of annoying Planeswalkers and there's no Vindicate I could use on them in this format.

In the morning I managed to wake up (I was already awake when my alarm clock started to ring). I ate a bit and ran for the tram. I arrived on time, bought 2 copies of Witchbane Orb and waited for the first round.

Round 1 was against Matej Maly who completely devasteted me with his combo deck. Well, in the first game he killed me with Nicol Bolas. I had Detention Sphere in my hand, but Bolas took care of my white sources so I was pretty much screwed up. In the second game I couldn't do anything and did not have the counterspells I needed. So Omniscience + Enter the Infinite ended the game.

Round 2 Mariusz and his UB Mill deck. I showed him that I can mill faster^^. He was playing Consuming Aberrations and Lazavs in his deck and I was able to take them down one by one. His deck ran a lot of removal spells and such which was pretty much useless against my deck that hardly played a creature. So I milled him faster and won.

In Round 3 I played against Patrik Fiala. The only person I played before the tournament so I knew what to expect. The question was what would happen after he and me sided. He kept a bad hand (obviously) and lost. More or less the same happen in the second game. But I have to admit that I was milling the best cards I could so there wasn't much he could play any way.

Round 4 was the toughest. I was already pretty tired and hardly concentrating. When someone by accident noted that we are going to play a mirror match I knew that this round would take ages. I dropped Nephalia's Drownyard early so I started milling soon. This helped me a lot as I managed to hit all the lands that my opponent needed. After really long game we started a second one. I waited a bit and then played Witchbane Orb when it seemed to be more or less safe. After that I was hoping to draw Nephalia's Drownyard so I could mill my opponent but it never showed up. During that time my opponent went through his whole deck and finally killed me with Snapcaster Mages, Dissipates and Restoration Angel. I knew this would happen but my hands consisting of 5 lands could not provide any answer to that. I could have maybe saved one more turn but still there was no way I could win this. My Planar Cleasing was countered so I couldn't get rid of my opponent's Orb so I could play Psychic Spiral. Getting rid of the previous Dissipates was difficult enough. There weren't so many threats I could actually play (except Drownyard and Supreme Verdict which can't be countered)

Round 5 against Boros aggro. Augur of Bolas showed to be a good blocker^_^. It cannot do anything with Boros Reckoner but it can stop 1/1, 2/1 etc from attacking. Enough time to draw Supreme Verdict and then take care of occasional Hellkite or Hellrider or whatever is in the deck. My opponent wasn't lucky and died quite soon. My hand containing 3x Sphinx's Revelation was too much to handle.

Round 6...I rather not talk about that. I won the first game easily. I played against Jund. Dreg Manglers, Deathrite Shamans, Strangleroot Geists, Ghor-Clan Rampagers etc...In the second game I did not kill Hellrider when I had the chance and was then killed by 2x Bloodrush saying +4/+4 Trample. In the third game I managed to do even 'stupider' thing by playing Restoration Angel and forgetting to block the one and only creature in play on the other side of the table - Falkenrath Aristocrat. This sealed the doom. I managed to draw six lands straight then but even if I would draw something I deserved to lose^_^. Such plays should not be happening at all. I lost two games I practically couldn't lose....What a shame. My won Firemane Avenger will remind me of this Restoration Angel/Falkenrath Aristocrat combat for quite some time^_^ I guess.

The Game Day was fun. I was afraid that it would be a torture as I'm still ill, but it was really enjoyable. Thanks for the games!

Esper Control
stsung
Type II

Main Deck:
4 Augur of Bolas
2 Obzedat, Ghost Council
3 Restoration Angel
2 Snapcaster Mage

4 Azorius Charm
2 Devour Flesh
2 Dissipate
1 Dramatic Rescue
3 Sphinx's Revelation
4 Supreme Verdict
2 Terminus
4 Think Twice

4 Drowned Catacomb
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Godless Shrine
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Isolated Chapel
3 Nephalia Drownyard
4 Watery Grave

Sideboard:
2 Blind Obedience
1 Detention Sphere
1 Duress
1 Jace, Memory Adept
2 Negate
2 Planar Cleansing
1 Psychic Spiral
1 Rest in Peace
2 Ultimate Price
2 Witchbane Orb

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Esper Control Standard - A thought Last time I played standard was at RTR Game Day which I managed to win and the time before that it was the before last Game Day in which I came out second because mono white was too fast and killed me on turn 4 so no wrath could safe me (played Solar Flare). At the RTR GD I played Bant Control. The deck was slow as hell but was capable of beating quite a lot of decks. I had problems with resolved Rakdos's Return and really fast aggro decks. Zombies and RDW were giving me a hard time. I could deal with UWx and something slower. But true control still beat me. The deck needed to be rebuild and I did that. Played with it few times just for fun (winning) but not playing at a tournament. What helped the deck was more Azorius Charms against fast decks and Nephalia Drownyard for the really slow ones^^. Anyway I wanted to build something like one of these decks.

The colors should be - White and Blue for certain but not sure about the other color. So I wrote down some cards by color. (cards in bold are the ones that would make it to main deck)

Blue-White
Supreme Verdict
Detention Sphere
Azorius Charm
Feeling of Dread

Blue
Dissipate
Snapcaster Mage
Augur of Bolas
Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
Jace, Architect of Thought
Jace, Memory Adept

White
Terminus
Restoration Angel
Oblivion Ring
Blind Obediance

Black
Lingering Souls
Forbidden Alchemy
Obzedat, Ghost Council
Merciless Eviction
Dimir Charm

Red
Searing Spear
Aurelia's Fury
Pillar of Flame

Green
Thragtusk
Farseek
Centaur Healer

After looking at this I realized that there is Dimir Charm and Obzedat and Lingering Souls at one place. Thus the third color was chosen - Black.

So what the deck needs? Something to survive early threats. For that there is Ultimate Price, Dimir Charm or Azorius Charm. In Dimir Charm's range there's quite a lot of creatures so it seems to be pretty valid. It also helps milling or looking for a card and can counter a sorcery spell. Azorius Charm slows down or draws a card and Ultimate price does just one thing and I decided to drop that card. I should be able to play some Wrath effect if this works and won't be useless because of Boros Charm I can play my win con in this case that would be Obzedat. I was trying to figure out what it should be and I almost missed this!

This deck can mill via Nephalia's Drownyard and could possible use Memory Adept to its advantage. I think that there are many annoying cards that can slow down and if that means surviving till 6 lands there's Merciless Eviction that can deal with indestructible creatures or annoying walkers. Obzedat and Jace, Memory Adept are both cards that can win a game at this point. It will take time but it should work. Not to mention the fact that we still have here Lingering Souls and we all know the power of this card.

Esper Control
3 Augur of Bolas
2 Jace, Architect of Thought
3 Obzedat, Ghost Council
1 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage

3 Azorius Charm
2 Detention Sphere
3 Dimir Charm
3 Dissipate
2 Blind Obedience
3 Lingering Souls
3 Sphinx's Revelation
2 Supreme Verdict
3 Terminus

4 Drowned Catacomb
Glacial Fortress
4 Godless Shrine
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Isolated Chapel
3 Nephalia Drownyard
4 Watery Grave
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Thu, 07 Feb 2013 15:21:02 -0600 http://community.wizards.com/stsung/blog/2013/02/07/esper_control_standard__-_a_thought http://community.wizards.com/stsung/blog/2013/02/07/esper_control_standard__-_a_thought Last time I played standard was at RTR Game Day which I managed to win and the time before that it was the before last Game Day in which I came out second because mono white was too fast and killed me on turn 4 so no wrath could safe me (played Solar Flare). At the RTR GD I played Bant Control. The deck was slow as hell but was capable of beating quite a lot of decks. I had problems with resolved Rakdos's Return and really fast aggro decks. Zombies and RDW were giving me a hard time. I could deal with UWx and something slower. But true control still beat me. The deck needed to be rebuild and I did that. Played with it few times just for fun (winning) but not playing at a tournament. What helped the deck was more Azorius Charms against fast decks and Nephalia Drownyard for the really slow ones^^. Anyway I wanted to build something like one of these decks.

The colors should be - White and Blue for certain but not sure about the other color. So I wrote down some cards by color. (cards in bold are the ones that would make it to main deck)

Blue-White
Supreme Verdict
Detention Sphere
Azorius Charm
Feeling of Dread

Blue
Dissipate
Snapcaster Mage
Augur of Bolas
Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
Jace, Architect of Thought
Jace, Memory Adept

White
Terminus
Restoration Angel
Oblivion Ring
Blind Obediance

Black
Lingering Souls
Forbidden Alchemy
Obzedat, Ghost Council
Merciless Eviction
Dimir Charm

Red
Searing Spear
Aurelia's Fury
Pillar of Flame

Green
Thragtusk
Farseek
Centaur Healer

After looking at this I realized that there is Dimir Charm and Obzedat and Lingering Souls at one place. Thus the third color was chosen - Black.

So what the deck needs? Something to survive early threats. For that there is Ultimate Price, Dimir Charm or Azorius Charm. In Dimir Charm's range there's quite a lot of creatures so it seems to be pretty valid. It also helps milling or looking for a card and can counter a sorcery spell. Azorius Charm slows down or draws a card and Ultimate price does just one thing and I decided to drop that card. I should be able to play some Wrath effect if this works and won't be useless because of Boros Charm I can play my win con in this case that would be Obzedat. I was trying to figure out what it should be and I almost missed this!

This deck can mill via Nephalia's Drownyard and could possible use Memory Adept to its advantage. I think that there are many annoying cards that can slow down and if that means surviving till 6 lands there's Merciless Eviction that can deal with indestructible creatures or annoying walkers. Obzedat and Jace, Memory Adept are both cards that can win a game at this point. It will take time but it should work. Not to mention the fact that we still have here Lingering Souls and we all know the power of this card.

Esper Control
3 Augur of Bolas
2 Jace, Architect of Thought
3 Obzedat, Ghost Council
1 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage

3 Azorius Charm
2 Detention Sphere
3 Dimir Charm
3 Dissipate
2 Blind Obedience
3 Lingering Souls
3 Sphinx's Revelation
2 Supreme Verdict
3 Terminus

4 Drowned Catacomb
Glacial Fortress
4 Godless Shrine
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Isolated Chapel
3 Nephalia Drownyard
4 Watery Grave
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