The announcement at the end of 2011 that Wizards would have
Modern PTQ’s was a huge turning point in the amount of magic I was to play. My
primary Magical interests lie in Legacy and Magic finance. Attending PTQs, GPs and other large
tournaments is something I had only ever done sparingly and when they have been
convenient (read: close by). All of that would change, now that I could attend
PTQs and play a format that I was actually interested in. In addition, I would
still be able to buy and sell magic cards and play in my local weekly legacy
events when I was not travelling for other events.
The
beginning of 2012 was a little slow for me due to being busy with a new job,
which I only started at the end of the previous year. That was also the time that Bonnie and I
moved in together. While she wasn't my
first girlfriend, she was the first one I chose to live with, so I wanted to devote
some time and energy to that. Right when
she moved here, she had to sit for the Texas Bar Exam. Being an old passing veteran of that exam, I
focused on trying to ease her stress during the studying months. But as soon as she passed and secured a job,
I was right back into the scene, ready for the 2012 GPs and PTQs, especially
the one that would send me to the Pro Tour.
As a Houston PTQ approached I was
deep in the thick of researching lists and I spent the week before the PTQ
emailing lists back and forth with CHRIS ODORIZZI. There were a lot of articles
being written and we both wanted to make sure we didn’t miss anything. The
format was still pretty raw so the anticipation to solve the format was
tantalizing.
Top 8 a PTQ with Splinter Twin
At the very first Modern PTQ I played Splinter Twin. It was
a last minute decision after reading several articles about the deck (several
people had managed to TOP 8 PTQ’s with the deck) and just generally feeling
like the deck was very well positioned. The main problem was that I had never
cast a splinter twin in my magical life.
My 1 and only
experience with twin was playing against it at an FNM where I had borrowed a
UWB control deck from a friend to play for the evening. I remember winning the
match because I sculpted my hand to be full of counter spells over the course
of the game and I won because he miss-timed his fetch lands which allowed me to
spell pierce with his fetch trigger on the stack.
I was x-0 in the PTQ until the 5th round when I
faced off against the mirror match. I had absolutely no idea how to play the
match and ended up losing 2-0. I won the next round and ended up drawing the
last round because I was playing against a guy who was locked for t8 with a
draw and was also playing twin. I ran the risk of not making t8 by doing this
but I was also pretty sure that my knowledge of the mirror match would be a
liability in the mirror. After sneaking into t8 as the 8th seed, I
was quickly dispatched in two games by JOE BASS playing UWR Geist of Saint
Traft (insert link).
I learnt some valuable lessons playing in this tournament
which are still applicable to modern in 2013:
1.
Modern plays a lot like legacy but there are far
fewer checks and balances. The main difference is that there is no force of
will and there is no wasteland. This makes combo and multi-colour decks very
powerful in the format.
2.
A lot of people will play budget decks (For 2013
expect to see Burn, Red-Black Burn, Affinity/Robots and Boogle).
3.
A lot of people will play pet decks whether they
are good or not (For 2013 expect to see - Tron, Birthing Pod, Living End, Eggs,
Tokens and Splinter Twin).
4.
A lot of people do not own or have access to
Tarmogoyfs (this may or may not change with modern masters).
As usual the time spent before the next PTQ was occupied by
multiple emails between CHRIS and me. We had a copy of JOE BASS’s list as it
was in my email as a potential deck that we had highlighted the week before the
Houston PTQ. Most of the week before the Lafayette PTQ I spent thinking about
sideboard plans and how much I hated the Burst lightning’s in Joes deck. Sure
you could sometimes kick is to kill a deceiver exarch but overall it seemed very
weak. I also wanted to think of a trump
for the mirror. I knew that there would be a few people on the deck after JOE
BASS did well with it. The other big break out deck from this week was the RG
TRON deck that CHARLES GINDY had won a Magic Online PTQ with. I figured most
people wouldn’t have seen those results yet or there wouldn’t be that many
people throwing the list together.
Top 8 a PTQ and win the PTQ with UWR
The night before the PTQ Chris had asked me to pull some
Ajani Vengeants for him as well as a few other cards. This was his way to
overpower his opponent in the mirror and in some of the other slower matchups.
While going through cards I found an old sideboard favorite of mine from when
BLOODBRAID ELF was in type 2 – DEFT DUELIST. I decided that I was going to play
3 in the sideboard. I also changed the main deck burst lightning’s to forked
bolts. The only other deviation was that I played 3 leyline of sanctity’s in
the board.
The night before the PTQ I played no magic and cycled 30miles
and went to bed early…I also ate well throughout the day thanks in part to food
packed by my girlfriend.
While making my sideboard I went around the room and looked
at the decks people had sprawled out in front of them. I saw very few decks
that were reliant on the graveyard so decided I would go all in on no graveyard
hate. About 3 minutes before they were about to ask for deck lists someone came
round asking if anyone had living ends. I made a comment to CHRIS ODORIZZI that
I wouldn’t trade a living end to anyone since I had no graveyard hate in my
board…I secretly hoped that there were no living ends in the room for him to
find.
My deck felt like I was playing all aces to everyone else’s
jacks, queens and kings. The only matchup I played that was close all day was
against Storm. In the swiss I played against a transformational storm deck and
in the semis I played against the same deck. Both matches went to 3 intense
games. I won game 3 of the semi finals match by side boarding differently than
I had every other match. There was only one card left in my sideboard that he
had not seen that was potentially playable against him. The card was molten
rain. I remanded his serum visions on turn 2 when he was on mountain,
island/steam vents. Then on turn 3 I molten rained his island… My opponent’s
eyes widened telling me that I had just won the game. He told me after the
match that he would have combed the next turn turn if I hadn’t destroyed his
land.
In the finals I learnt my opponent was on living end…and it was
the very same player who earlier was looking for living ends. Oh crap. My 0
card sideboard was going to be awesome in this matchup. The games were uneventful. I overloaded the
board with as many dudes as possible and kept up remand where possible in the
hope that I could swarm him and kill him. It worked both games while he
stumbled on finding a cascade spell.
I got to call my girlfriend and tell her that we were going
to Spain. This was one of the best phone calls I have ever made. She was with a
group of friends who didn’t play magic and she had made an attempt to describe
to them why I wasn’t at the party even they could not contain their excitement
when they found out that I had won a trip to Spain.
Oh yeah I also traded for some Russian cards during the day.
I learnt some valuable lessons playing in this tournament
which are still applicable to modern in 2013:
1.
It is easy to go over the top of your opponent
in sideboard games in modern; again this is similar to Legacy. There are so
many cards available it is hard to sideboard against everything. I did this
throughout the day with LEYLINE OF SANCTITY and DEFT DUELIST.
2.
Your sideboard is going to be weak to some
matchups but if you have counter spells + aggression you can still win the
game.
3.
Modern is going to have its own circular meta
game cycle just like legacy does. For example - Dredge is only good in Legacy
when nobody is prepared for it.
4.
Play skill and play style are very important in
Modern. Since there is no obvious “best” deck (other than Jund), playing a deck
which fits your play style and which you play well will win you more games than
trying to solve the format (unless you can somehow break the modern format).
PT Barcelona w/ GF
Preparation for this was tough. I was busy with work and
training for the MS 150 (link).
I learnt a very valuable lesson which is that I should trust
my own evaluation of the format. The first time I make it to the pro tour is a
very inopportune time to learn this lesson but learn it I did.
Other than that I got to draft next to Gerry T, and I played
against Caleb Durward (and spoke with him about Modern/Legacy). I also met John
Finkel who choked on fish when my gf started speaking to him.
Delver, Delver and more Delver
Delver is the other reason I played a lot more magic than
usual in 2012. When Delver had its break out performance I played 2 tournaments
over the course of the weekend and just crushed everyone. The deck was so much
more powerful than what everyone else was doing it was not even funny. By being
an early adopter of the deck I also gained a lot of experience in the mirrors
that I would end up playing for the coming months. The skills I have learnt
from many years of playing with brainstorm and ponder in legacy made the deck
very easy for me to adapt to and master. I had an unfortunate run at a PTQ
where I was 4-0 and whilst playing in the mirror in round 5 I made a slight
play error when we were both about to go into a top deck war. He recovered
quicker than I but I would have been +1 card up if I had played slightly more
optimally. Basically I needed to flashback a thought scour rather than a vapor
snag in order to be up 1 card on my opponent.
I also got a very encouraging text from my girlfriend when I
sent her a text saying I lost in round 5. Its simplicity was what made it so
poignant Spain > Seattle.
I learnt some valuable lessons playing in this time period
that are just applicable to magic in general:
1.
Sometimes your opponent will just top deck what
they need and you need to be ok with that.
2.
Even when you know a deck very well new plays
still crop up. Take a little bit of time and evaluate the game state if need be.
3.
Your life total matters but sometimes it matters
less than you think.
4.
You can’t always win.
Overmaster
My financial purchase of the year.
TOP 8 SCG NOLA
T8 with RUG but a very disappointing exit from the t8 of
that tournament.
London Holiday
This isn’t even magic related but I took my lovely
girlfriend to London for a week where we ate and drank our way through the city.
One particular highlight was eating at Heston Blumenthal’s Dinner the 9th
best restaurant in the world. It was worth every penny. Other notable visits
included: Borough Market (a whole market just filled with food), Yotam
Ottolenghi’s Otollenghi restaurant, Imperial War Museum, The War Rooms
(including Churchill’s room),
Misprints/Miscuts
Part of the reason Magic is such a huge passion to so many
people is that there are so many facets to the game. As well as playing magic I
also thoroughly enjoy collecting magic oddities.
Daybreak Coronet
My financial miss of the year. It wouldn’t have paid off
until 2013 but you have to be patient in Magic finance.
Goals for 2013
1.
Qualify for all the SCG Invitational’s in 2013
(I am already off to a bad start on this one since flu stopped me attending
Dallas SCG)
2.
Attend a Legacy and/or Modern GP
3.
Go to Vegas to draft Modern Masters
4.
Go to Gen-Con
5.
Qualify for PT San Diego and PT Ireland
6.
Pick up more sweet misprints/miscuts
Thank you for reading.
-Cheers-
