Mistaking Myself for Granted - 43rd at SCG Day 1

Star City puts on some fantastic events. If I weren’t so exhausted, I’m sure there would have been an exclamation point after that sentence, but the extra button pushing just wouldn’t happen.

Oh man. Forty-eight hours of Magic extravaganza. Extravaganza!

There we go.

Everything started off great, as I got to take a half-day on Friday to drive Dave Daugherty, Stephen Menendian, and myself to Toledo, where we met Yangtime, Snoop Trogg Don Juan Diego de la Vega Rodriguez, and Jimmy McCarthy at Twaun’s apartment to consolidate cars and ate some hot extruded pork and beef. Thanks, Twaun!

Oh, also, Steve apparently trapped the cat Twaun and the Late JC have been trying to trap for a while.

Six hours later...

In the hotel room, most of us set ourselves to building and perfecting decks, gathering cards, writing out lists, and testing. The only major action came with the delivered pizza, as Jimmy almost lost a panini to Juan’s fist of doom. Juan was stymied by his own indecisiveness, though, as he couldn’t remember whether Jimmy was “in” on Sandwich Punch, and Jimmy was able to dive back and save his food from flattening.

The next day was down to business. Star City registered 123 players and would indeed be giving out the Power Nine for first through ninth and some impressive cards through the top 16, including Juzam Djinn and a string of black-bordered Dual Lands. The convention hall at the College of DuPage was large, clean, well-lit, and spacious. Plus, the sound-damping walls kept the noise from getting out of hand and produced some interesting dead areas.

Here’s the deck I registered for Day 1.

4x Ninja of the Deep Hours
4x Spellstutter Sprite
4x Meddling Mage
3x Jotun Grunt
4x Aven Mindcensor
4x Stormscape Apprentice
4x Force of Will
4x Swords to Plowshares
4x Stifle
1x Time Walk
1x Ancestral Recall
1x Mox Emerald
1x Mox Jet
1x Mox Pearl
1x Mox Ruby
1x Mox Sapphire
1x Lotus Petal
1x Black Lotus
3x Flooded Strand
2x Polluted Delta
3x Tundra
2x Island
1x Plains
4x Wasteland
1x Strip Mine

Sideboard
4x Kataki, War's Wage
4x Thorn of Amethyst
3x Pithing Needle
2x Sword of Fire and Ice
2x Umezawa's Jitte

The change from Hapless Researcher to Stormscape Apprentice was absolutely correct. First, there was no Ichorid that I saw, and that’s the only deck Happy is defensive against. Second, the amount of huge creatures was astonishing. To spoil a bit of the surprise, by my count there were 15 Tarmogoyfs and 12 Gushes in the top 8 day one.

Putting the Apprentices maindeck, I felt meant I could drop Bouncers from the sideboard. That gave me room for the four Thorns to bring in against combo and Gushes.

Long story short, I was really pleased with the deck and really annoyed at how many opportunities I missed to play better. There were at least two games I think I would have won, had I just paid attention. They might not have led to more match wins, but still.

Anyway, after the player meeting, the spit hit the pan, so to speak—

Round 1 – Bruce – URB Mask Naught

Bruce is a good opponent that I usually run into at the RIW tournaments in Michigan. He’s serious when it comes to the game, but is willing to talk and joke about the little things. All in all, a fun match up, but a challenging first round.

I opened game one by Wasting his Volcanic Island and sending one of his Mishra’s Factories farming (at this point, I was suspecting UR Landstill). I applied some pressure, taking him down in small increments with the Moxie Crew and in larger increments with Jotun Grunt. He got Phyrexian Dreadnaught into play with Stifle, but I had Stormscape Apprentice the following turn and took only one hit, sending me to 8. Stormy held the board for me, and I won from that.

Game two he Stifled my first fetchland, which would have set me back had I not had Mox Pearl. I played Pithing Needle on Illusionary Mask, but he Repealed a first turn Explosives to reset them at one and blow up my Needle. I played Aven Mindcensor to hopefully shut off his fetchlands, but he continually found lands in the top four—how nice. Finally, he Pyroclasm'd one Bird and Drained a second to empty my board. Illusionary Mask hit, and Bruce put two upside-down Dreadnaughts into play. I drew three Swords to Plowshares, two of which got through to give my opponent 24 life and send him to 37—ouch. Sword of Fire and Ice hit play on my side of the board, but he keeps me off creatures long enough to finish me off with his own Fishy guys.

Bruce got three Mishra’s Factories in game three to block my second turn Ninja. Those lands proved to be a constant pain for me, and he kept me off my fliers. We traded beats periodically, and he took enough damage from Dark Confidant (eventually he had two in play) to put himself even with me. I was attacked by two Confidants and two Factories at eight life with; he was at four. Looking at the situation, I knew I had to leave his Dark Confidants alive so that he could die to them next turn; instead, I blocked one factory and a Bob, going to four. He does not reveal Force of Will and lived to attack me to death next turn.

Matches 0-1-0; Games 1-2-0

It was a significant mistake. I had no options to kill him myself in game three, and he probably had tricks, but I definitely missed an opportunity there. On the other hand, I feel like I played adeptly around a Trickbind he never had in game one. Why play around the imagined threats and ignore the very present ones? I don’t know.

Round 2 – Brandon – Mono-Red Shop Aggro

I don’t remember my opponent very well other than that he was quiet and seemed discouraged, even though he had the upper hand.

We both mulliganed to open game one and started with one drops—Mox Monkey versus Stormy. Soon he had a Magus of the Moon (against my Island and Plains) and I had a Jotun Grunt that could live for two turns. I won the damage race until he found and played Juggernaut. While Stormy held off Big Juggs, his other creatures got in and kill me. I could have kept Jotun Grunt alive to block his Juggernaut, but didn’t. I don’t remember the specifics of that, though.

Kataki hit play in game two and hampered his development, but he found enough Mountains before I found enough creatures to kill him. I can’t swing with Kataki, since his opening play was Goblin Welder. When he played Sword of Fire and Ice, it was pretty much over. Though he was locked down for multiple turns, I only hit him to 12.

Matches 0-2-0; Games 1-4-0

The note I wrote at the end of this game emotes, “Where are my dudes?!” This game was eminently winnable, if I could have found things to deal damage in all the turns he was stuck. Reason for running Brainstorm? Possibly. It certainly made for a very unhealthy start, and with 23 creatures, I would have thought it unlikely as well.

Round 3 – Matt Hazard – Mono Black

It’s never fun to meet friends at the tournament tables; though meeting them this far down in the casual circuit makes it a little better. Or worse. Depending on your point of view. I guess. Matt’s deck was interesting—a lot of discard, four Dark Confidant, four Nantuko Shade, and a Tendrils finish if he could get there. Plus, Dash Hopes was a total surprise.

Matt opened game one with a Dark Ritual, then Duress and Dark Confidant. Pretty good. I had creatures too, though, and he was short on lands. Bob was not helping him in the damage race, and wasn’t helping him find lands either, as he had to Imperial Seal for a Swamp. When I tried to play Grunt as a finisher, with plenty of cards in both graveyards thanks to all the discard, Matt tried to Dash my Hopes. Unfortunately for him, I still had plenty of life to pay, and the game ended quickly from there.

Game two was surprisingly similar—Matt opened with a turn one Hymn to Tourach and followed with Demonic Tutor. The Nantuko Shade he played would have been a threat, but he was so low on mana that I was able to double block and kill it. Dark Confidant showed me two Dash Hopes on consecutive turns, so when I played Meddling Mage that was the most reasonable call against my opponent’s three-card hand. So, yes, I put Meddling Mage on Dash Hopes. Matt Vampiric Tutored for Swamp (again!), and double Grunts hit him hard before finishing him off.

Matches 1-2-0; Games 3-4-0

So, yeah. Matt, you’re always a pleasure to play against, but next time, let’s do it a little higher up in the standings, or at kitchen table arena. Matt had the consolation prize, though, of going to the Bulls game after dropping. Apparently the game was terrible, but still, sounded fun.

Round 4 – Quinn – Stasis

Quinn seemed like one of the younger players there, and Stasis, wow, what a bold choice. I looked through his deck afterwards because I was curious about it; seemed interesting. Frozen Aether allows it to be mono-blue, and it might just take one or two more cards to make that deck a consideration.

The story behind this match, however, is that between some earlier rounds, I overheard Juan say that he had two “byes,” including Stasis. Because of that comment, I knew there was Stasis in the room and was far too prepared to face it.

In game one, Quinn opened with Island, Black Vise, go and effectively Lightning Bolted me on my first and second turn upkeeps. My opening hand had enough lands to keep up, though, and I played Mage on Brainstorm on turn two, turning that into a Ninja (Ninja and Vise are a combo, let me tell you) next turn. Mage came down again just in the nick of time naming Stasis, and it was all pretty much over from there. I took eight damage from Vise all game.

I brought in Thorn of Amethyst for game two, though I’m not sure I had to. Seemed like it would hobble him if he gets Stasis down. Anyway, he Spell Snared one Thorn on turn one. Ninja came down again, along with another Mage on Stasis, and an Aven Mindcensor, so the game looked to be locked up until he played Energy Field. That is a card I did not know existed! I was wondering how to get out of this, but realized it wouldn’t be hard. We got into a counter war over Black Vise, a card he would have had to discard anyway, and Energy Field powered down. I swung in for the win.

Matches 2-2-0; Games 5-4-0

Like I said, I was more than prepared for this. Putting a Mage on Stasis both games really hurt his gameplan, since, well, that was his gameplan. I think he was playing his Gushes too early too; in Stasis it seems more like a lock piece and an emergency draw-spell than a free draw-spell early in the game.

Round 5 – Brian – GAT

Brian was a fun opponent to play against, and he knew GAT pretty well, which is bad for me. We had some good back-and-forth games, though, and Stormscape Apprentice again showed his worth, and Empty the Warrens showed its power.

The shorthand of game one is that Brian opened with Fastbond. His double Gushes must have been incredibly weak, though, as he seemed to take a while to put anything together. First turn Stormy held back his Tarmogoyf until he Cunning Wished for Fire & Ice. By then, I had multiple Swords to Plowshares and nailed the Goyf. He played a desperate Empty the Warrens for four guys to stay alive and comboed into a Quirion Dryad that finished me off.

Game two was odd. Both of us spent a long time drawing completely irrelevant cards, which for me meant mana and for him meant more draw spells. He countered two Birdmen and took damage from two Grunts, but he finally got a respectably large Dryad and Strom Goyfman into play to finish me off. I’m just not sure why it took so long.

Matches 2-3-0; Games 5-6-0

That loss officially put me out of contention, even though I would have been a longshot up until that point anyway. I think I could have won the second game because my other first turn play was a Mox Jet. All those times we were just drawing cards, doing nothing I could have been shooting him with Stormscape Apprentice. It might just have put him down far enough to finish off since I only needed a few more points. Ouch.

Round 6 – no show – Success!

My round six opponent doesn’t show, so I play some games against Willy Milton and his Staxless Stax deck. We went 1-1, but I didn’t take notes.

Round 7 – Frank – Turbo Titan Gilded Aggro

Frank was a cool opponent, and his deck seemed neat and fun to play too. Workshops and Drains in the same deck? Awesome! I saw him playing at the same tables with the same deck on day two, so it seems like they must be pretty good together.

In game one, Frank mulliganed, and I opened with Stormscape Apprentice. He played Island and passed, attempting to play a Brainstorm on my end step. I play Spellstutter Sprite, and he has to Force of Will it. Yes! Unfortunately for him, that meant he really didn’t have much gas. He took some damage from his pain lands (i.e. ones that don’t die to Sundering Titan); I Forced a 7/10; and he died to beats. The last note I have on this game is “Draws desperately TT, MD” but I’m not sure what those abbreviations are for.

Game two he played a second-turn Triskelion. I gave that enough targets that I’m able to make it trade with my guys, but my resources are depleted after I countered Tinker. He draws and casts a second Triskelion, a Welder, and a Platinum Angel for the win.

Goblin Welder meets Pithing Needle in game three, and Kataki meets Force of Will. Frank never saw a land beyond the first one, though, and I found a Strip Mine for that a few turns into the game. Academic—Ninja, two Stormy, Grunt, Mage on Brainstorm, and Kataki versus Mox Ruby.

Matches 3-3-0; Games 7-7-0

My sixth-round bye gave me a 4-3-0 record and 43rd place overall. It would be nice to say I made the top third of players, but unfortunately I’m just out of that particular tier

Still, the deck was pleasing. It could probably stand a little more draw power to find spells, which means I should probably figure out how to get four Brainstorms in there. Also, where were my Stifles? I saw so few of them all day! I consider that a strong weapon against a lot of decks, including GAT, and I can’t even remember holding one in my hand or pitching one to Force.

My two little guys—Stormy and Essie—were solid all day. Stormscape Apprentice was definitely right over Hapless Researcher, and Spellstutter Sprites countered multiple spells, and when they didn’t, they turned into Ninjas or flew over defenses.

Aven Mindcensor must be viewed as a huge deterrent by some players. The only one I played that didn’t get countered was the one against Bruce in round one, who Pyroclasm’d it away a couple turns later, so he could fetch. I know his effect is strong, but I never saw it as being that much of a threat!

I think I should have put in a few more hours at the practice tables for this tournament. There were multiple times—many of which I marked—where I made the blatantly wrong play and possibly cost myself the game. Clearly Fish was not going to be the best deck in the format, but I should really have played it better to make it come even close. I spent a large part of the day being frustrated with myself at obvious mistakes, starting with that missed block in round one.

Anyway, still a total blast.

That night, Juan, Steve, Willy, Trogdon, and I got pizza at Giardano’s. My pepperoni and mushroom Chicago-style deep dish romped through the top eight and came home with the prize easily, no sideboarding. I consider being able to go to that dinner a match win.

Plus, in bigger news, that’s also where we found out that Stephen Menendian is in on Sandwich Punch. Look out world!