HOW TO MAKE YOUR MANA RIGHT FOR LIMITED PLAY . . . or I hate doing math in my head!

GATECRASH is coming this weekend.  It’s time for another set release, which means it’s time for a weekend of limited sealed pre-release events.   

Other than selecting the cards to use, your mana base is the most important thing during a limited event.  Every limited tournament, people ask other people how much mana should I put in the deck.  This inevitably leads to an opponent seeing your card pool and it takes the element of surprise from you when facing that “helper.”  At a venue with a small playing pool like Lilac House, this could affect the game greatly. 

In the early days of Magic, a constructed deck was made of 20 creatures, 20 spells and 20 land. If you piled your creatures and spells into groups of 4, your would end up with 10 piles of 4 cards, adding 2 land to each pile made 60 cards and 20 years ago this mana base would have been fine with all the artifact mana fixing available like Sol Rings and Moxes.  Shift to the here and now of Magic and Mana bases have changed drastically.  Most decks bump the mana curve and run more than 20 land – even with mana dorks and fetch cards.  Most modern era decks run 23-24 land. 

Limited is VERY similar to the old days of Magic constructed yet it has the uneven mana ratio of a modern day deck.  A limited deck is 40 cards, not 60.  One would say that by using the old school “math,” you could get away with running 10 lands.  That isn’t the case.  You have to jump the curve. 

Depending on your highest casting card, a limited deck should have at LEAST 15 land.  If the highest casting cost is 5 or more, you should seriously consider 17 or even 18 land in your deck.  Yes, I know that is nearly half your deck, but if you want your “bomb” 6 or 7 drop Mythic to hit the table, you DO NOT want to miss land drops.  Mana fixing artifacts and man dork creatures can help alleviate this problem and lower your land count. 

Let’s say I pulled the following cards in a Return to Ravnica limited event.  Sealed or draft is moot, the formula is the same.  Because it is me we are talking about here, I would not want to disappoint Rich Bourque and not use Rakdos as an example.  Here is my pool, broken up by cost and separating creature from spells, enchantments and artifacts:

As you see, I have once again acquired a great Rakdos selection (wink at Rich!).  I have a good balance of creatures, removal, pump and some mana boost.  This deck would run 17 mana sources.  16 land plus a Rakdos Keyrune in order to be effective with my large amount of 3 drops and afford the Chaos Imps.

After I become satisfied with my selected cards, I then place them in piles of 4 based on color:

Note I have placed artifacts in slots where I had no cards to match the color(s) present.  There are 6 piles of 4 and a last pile of 2 Rakdos Guildgates dual lands I managed to obtain. 

Now place 2 land of each appropriate color on each stack of 4:

 On the multi colored stacks, place 1 of each color in the pile:

On piles with artifacts, place 1 of each color in the deck, as well:

After this you should have 6 piles of 6 cards in each and one with 2 cards, the acquired lands.  This will make 38 cards.  On the land pile place 1 of each land:

You now have a 40 card limited deck with a proper mana ratio.  Your building field should resemble this:

Sleeve, shuffle and run a few test hands before you face your first opponent. 

If you play more than 2 colors, adjsut the mana according to the colors you are playing, especially in regards to artifact and land piles; these should reflect the 3 or more colors you are playing in which cards you place there.  For example:  your last pile of 4 lands should have at least 1 of each color you are playing.

This simple visual tool can help solve many math problems for experienced and novice players.  I’ve used it for 20 years and it still works without fail as I rarely have mana issues in a limited event.  This formula also guides you by restricting the ceiling of your build.  Too many neophytes make limited decks larger than 40 cards.  That is a cardinal NO NO!  The smaller the deck, the better the odds that you will draw what you need.

Good luck to all those come to the Gatecrash Pre-Release this weekend at Lilac House.  Mark is running 3 release events: 1 on Saturday at 1:00 and 2 on Sunday at 1:00 and 5:00 respectively. I hope to see you all there! 

 

And Rich?  Please note the following:

Until the next time I draft a BOROS deck . . .

 

 

PEACE!

(Rich Bouque is the level 2 Sanctioned Magic the gathering DCI Judge for Central New York.  Please see him for all your judging questions.  If you wish to become a Magic the Gathering Judge, Rich can also assist you in that.)

GP Atlantic City, An Unexpected Journey OR The quest to “Not be THAT guy!”

Since returning to competitive Magic in 2009-2010, I’ve been to handful of Star City and TCG grinder events.  I’ve had mixed results, ending up in the middle of the pack somewhere at each of these and dropping after I hit the magic number of 3 or 4 losses.  This past weekend was the scheduled Grand Prix in Atlantic City, NJ – an event I hadn’t planned on going to – until an impulse decision earlier in the week.  Grabbing some of card gaming crew (Bobby King and Alex Artese), we packed my car and went on adventure to the Vegas of the East Coast. 

1646 Players.  The largest tournament I’ve participated in.  Ever.  Pro players dotted the landscape, impossible to tell them apart from your standard gaming nerd, except for buttons identifying them as pros.  We even stayed with a group of “them” Friday night when we got to Jersey.  Let me put it to you this way:  Magic pros party like rock stars.  That makes them my kind of people. 

When I go to grinders, I try not to be ME.  I can be obnoxious in a tournament setting, my lack of social skills shining like a shit stain on my underwear.  This can either make people laugh or turn them off, either is fine by me, to be honest, and locally I enjoy being a “character” in the game.  But when I go out of town, I don’t want to piss the wrong person off so I always tone it down to NIL.  I withdraw and keep my mouth shut and I play my favorite game.  Instead of sarcastically annoying my opponents and those sitting around me, I try to be mellow and calm with success.  This became the theme of my Grand Prix experience.  I thrived on it – but it was also my downfall. 

 

I came with 2 decks.  My recent play has been a Bant Mid-Range creature fest with which I’ve had some success with locally.  The build is unique in some aspects and it’s the variances of the deck that have made it successful.  I also brought my venerable RDW, the deck I won Lilac House Ravnica Gameday with.  The deck has subtly changed since I won, but kept the essence of a typical RDW I will play.  After consulting with Alex, I allowed him to talk me into playing RDW, accepting his sound logic that I should play what I know and what matches my play style best.  This was the first decision of the weekend I would regret making in hindsight.  I do not fault Alex for this, as his arguments for me playing the deck were sound. 

Main Deck:
4 Ash Zealot
4 Hellrider
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Rakdos Shred-Freak
4 Stromkirk Noble
3 Thundermaw Hellkite

1 Bonfire of the Damned
3 Brimstone Volley
3 Flames of the Firebrand
2 Mizzium Mortars
3 Pillar of Flame
2 Searing Spear

3 Cavern of Souls
20 Mountain

Sideboard:
2 Bonfire of the Damned
2 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Mizzium Mortars
3 Smelt
2 Tormod's Crypt
2 Volcanic Strength
2 Zealous Conscripts 

A typical RDW build for me, sticking with my “old school” thought process of “MAXIMUM FIREPOWER” and not going below 12 damage spells in the main board.  This would be both a benefit and a bane through out the day.  My second regret of the day was not including my Pithing Needles in my sideboard.  That mistake would be critical during the day. 

ROUND 1:  vs. RDW (Leo Redko) 

My first GP.  My first GP match.  And my opponent is LATE.

Grumble. 

I so do not want to be THAT GUY, so I don’t call judge.  My neighboring players are getting on me for not calling judge, but I tell them – I don’t want to ruin this guy’s GP.  He shows up, and get this – HE LEAVES!  The guy sitting next me laughs and says “Time to be THAT GUY?”  

I call for the Judge.  Leo is returns, is given a first game loss. 

Leo is playing a Vexing Devil RDW build.  I didn’t see much of it.  My deck played by the numbers.  Cackler turn 1, Zealot turn 2, Flames of the firebrand turn 3, Hellrider turn 4.  Turn Hellrider sideways, win.  Poor guy dropped 2 vexing devils and a cackler the whole game. 

ROUND 2:  Vs. Peddler Rites (Jeff Miller) 

My first real match of the day wasn’t a very happy experience for me.  Jeff was confident in his deck and showed it during play.  Game 1 was all me at first, I got Jeff down to 10 life then my deck started sputtering and his started rolling.  I hate conceding with 19 life left, but I had to after the game state got out of control with a plethora of humans on board. 

Game 2 was much different.  I got Grafdigger’s Cage out on turn 1.  He fights back by going pure agro, throwing Huntmasters at me.  I manage to maintain a Hellrider with Volcanic Strength and win the game. 

Game 3.  Ugh.  I’m not going to bitch.  Take this for what it’s worth.  

I manage to control the board early and get some hits in, and then turn 5 comes.  He has 1 white source (a Clifftop Retreat) and casts Faithless Looting. AFTER casting the spell, but BEFORE he drew his cards for the spell, he realizes he made a mistake in tapping his Clifftop Retreat.  He attempts to untap it and tap instead his Rootbound Crag.  I tell Jeff I can’t allow that.  He argues he changed the mana source before he drew and it was legal.  Now I know he can’t do this.  The REL is COMPETITIVE.  Once you tap a land it’s freaking tapped.  Bottom line.  I call Judge. 

I am not faulting Amanda Stevens.  I respect Amanda.  She is a fledgling Judge and was asked upon arriving at the event to assist in officiating.  Amanda ruled that because he had not yet drawn his cards he could adjust the tapped mana sources. 

So, sticking to my guns to NOT be THAT GUY, I accept Amanda’s ruling.  This allows Jeff to cast Unburial Rites; targeting Angel of Glory’s Rise and floods the board with Huntmasters, Nightshade Peddlers and Izzet Static Casters. 

I draw my card for my turn, I’ve got some outs.  A Bonfire would be nice, I say to myself. 

I pull Grafdigger’s Cage. 

ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME???? 

Scoop phase.  Handshake.  I lose my match. 

Let this serve as a lesson to all – if at any time during and Competitive REL you feel a judge has made a bad call – GO OVER THEIR HEAD AND APPEAL! 

Amanda caught up with me later in the day, admitting she had made a bad ruling.  I do not fault Amanda for this, she is still learning.  And did she ever learn from this experience.  And I learned sometimes I do have to be THAT GUY. 

I am now 1-1 going into Round 3. 

 

ROUND 3: Vs. Rakdos Zombies (Jonathan Silvestri) 

This is a quick match.  I knew all day I would have the advantage over RDW and Rakdos with my superior firepower.  It proved me right this match.  Game 1 is by the numbers.  Game 2 I win with double Hellrider on the board. 

Who’s NEXT?!?!  I’m 2-1. 

ROUND 4: Vs. Naya (Andy Tan) 

Andy is a brilliant player.  He made top 8 in the 2012 NY States tournament playing an Azorious build.  He came to the GP with Naya, a fantastic deck for the format.  We play 3 hard games. 

Game 1:  Andy’s deck sputters with land issues.  My deck plays by the numbers and I win on turn 5. 

Game 2:  My Fudge Up.  Andy’s deck rolls from the gate.  I’ve maintained a decent board state, throwing out creatures as fast as he does but he’s getting the answer every time.  During a combat exchange, he attempts to block a Stromkirk Noble with a Huntmaster.  Initially I don’t think of it, and then while he is still hemming and hawing over his block assignments, I realize he still throwing the Huntmaster in front of the Noble.  I eventually ask him if he’s passing priority, as I want to get this game moving.  He does, and when I tell him the Huntmaster can’t block the Noble, I realize he could never have assigned him as a blocker to the Noble to start.  We call judge and explain the issue at hand, feeling it would be better to have the judge handle the mess.  Andy is given a warning for essentially for not knowing his cards better and I am warned for not reminding Andy of the impossible block.  

In the end, Andy gets the win game 2. 

Game 3:  Andy starts out immediately having mana issues.  The right colors are not coming up.  My deck once again plays by the numbers.  Finally, on turn 7 I am able to swing with a Hellrider and searing Spear him for the win. 

3-1 Match record going into Round 4. 

ROUND 5:  Vs. Esper Control (Elijah Herr) 

Elijah was a fun opponent.  He came all the way from Bangor, Maine.  Game 1 goes to Elijah when I can’t deal with his board state.  Game 2 is a by the numbers win for me, again.  Game 3 I get him to 5 life, I can’t keep creatures on the board because Elijah is blowing up the board left almost every turn.  We play pass-mill for a number of turns, as he’s rocking a pair of Drown Yards on me. I’m not afraid, as I only need one of the 8 3-damage sources I run to beat him (I am holding a Pillar of Flame!).  He mills me out.  

And my earlier mistake in the day of not adding Pithing Needle to my sideboard bit me in the ass. 

3-2 going into Round 6.  I am in do or die now to make the day one cut and the day is only half over. 

ROUND 6:  Vs. Jund (Jeff Schoellkopf). 

Jeff hailed from the Reading area of PA and we had a great time playing our match.  He didn’t want to be there any more, neither did I.  Exhaustion and fatigue had taken their toll on both of us by this point.  He asked me a dozen times during our match to please win so he could go to bed.  I tried to accomodate him but things failed to work in my favor.

Game 1 I win with double Hellrider once again getting me there.  Game 2 is all Jeff as a pair of Thundermaw Hellkites win it for him.  Game 3 is in my favor until turn 6 when Jeff drops a series of Thragtusks after I had beaten him down to 3 life – and I had a Brimstone Volley in my hand but not enough mana to cast it.  He drops a Thundermaw shortly after, Rancors one of the Thragtusks and quickly overwhelms me, getting the win.   

3-3 now.  I’m exhausted and drop from the GP and enjoy my time dealing with vendors and artists. 

 

I learned much from this Grand Prix.  When choosing decks I should always go with my gut and, not what’s easiest for me to play.  Would I have had more success playing my Bant build?  No one knows.  What I do know is sometimes I do have to be THAT GUY, but now I I’ve learned a healthy balance of the 2 and I intend to project that going into the future, locally.  It makes the gaming experience more pleasurable for my opponents and myself. I need to discover a way to facilitate sleeping into my schedule when I travel out of town.  Fatigue is the #1 reason a person will make a board state mistake or keep a loose hand and I do credit some of my play errors to that.  Could I have changed what the fates had in store for me that day by playing tighter and being more aggressive? It’s possible, but the Gods of Magic randomness always seem to throw something different at you when you least expect it. 

 

Before I forget my companions for the trip, Bobby went 5-3, so did Alex – they were both playing some form of Rakdos and were in it right up to the cut, both losing in round 8.  Both had strong performances.  Note that Bobby has played Magic for only about 2 months now and did as well as a seasoned player like Alex and outshined his mentor (that’s me!).  Good job, brother. 

Until he next time I call JUDGE!

 

. . . PEACE!

RDW – or HERE'S JOHNNY!!!

Red.  My favorite color in Magic.  My color of choice since August of 1993.  My original core group of magic gamers was myself, Sal Greco, Bruce Reade, Phil Mason and Kathy Marcoux.  When Phil introduced us to the game, he had each of us pick a color.  Phil chose Blue (of course!), Bruce went White.  Kathy chose Green. Sal & I argued over black for about 2 seconds until Phil told me Red had dragons.  That sealed the deal.  From the beginning of Magic the Gathering, I have played Red. I still own the very first Shivan Dragon I ever pulled from a pack for Christmas of 1993.  She’s Unlimited, she’s beat up and her back makes her unplayable.  But I still fondly recall the days when she was a powerhouse.  I’m mostly known, though, for breaking Powersurge, a now useless card that I resemble.   

Regular readers of this blog know my history with Red.  I’ve never been much of a proponent for RDW on a weenie level, preferring myself to play the control game of Big Red.  I find “Little Red” (as I call a normal RDW) to be boring to play and balance it with bomb creatures that can cause your opponent to enter scoop phase.  That theory worked pretty well up until now.  The game has changed and RDW must change with it, as well as my outlook on RDW.  Now it’s all about SPEED – and that means we gotta splash some black. 

I won Lilac House’s Gameday with RDW, splashing 2 Dragonskull summits to help activate Rakdos Keyrunes.  It worked then, but the rest of the world mutated about a week later into Bant Control and 4C Control.  And that is very bad for RDW.  Shortly thereafter some smart person bought a Rakdos Event deck and “fixed” it.  And now half your field at any given tournament is a Red Black Rakdos build or a Red splashing black build.  Call it RDW, BDW (Black Deck Wins), or Dirty Red or just plain Rakdos – the little guild that can. 

Consistently. 

Turn 1 – Rakdos Cackler.

Turn 2 – some 2 drop with haste

Turn 3 – kill a creature and make another 1 or 2 drop creature.

Turn 4 – Hellrider.  Win.

How do these decks stack up against your enemies in the critical game 1, a game the RDW player MUST win?  Here are some tips for the newer players to think about. 

Mirror Match!  RDW vs. Anything Red Black 

Creature control is the key to winning this match up.  Most decks only run 8 damage spells game 1.  I run 12.  Why?  Just because of the mirror match.  Having a firepower advantage over your opponent is always good in war.  Its why the North won Gettysburg and why – if you play your direct damage correctly, you should win the mirror match.  Only use direct damage to kill or set your opponent up for the kill.  Otherwise, chew up his field and kill his creatures.  RDW can’t win without creatures if they only have 4 Pillar of Flames and 4 Searing Spears. 

RDW vs. Control 

The early ramping of the Bant Control and 4C builds makes them susceptible to the speed of Black Red.  Most for these decks aren’t ready to role until turn 4 and it’s usually a Supreme Verdict or Sever the Bloodline by this point, which puts them back another turn.  Not to mention, Hellrider kills Jace and Tamiyo dead allowing you to still punch your opponent in his grill with your horde of 1 and 2 drops.  NEVER OVER EXTEND!  Supreme Verdict and Detention Sphere will rain on your parade faster than you can check your losing results on your match slip.   

RDW vs. Red Blue 

Adding counter magic means your opponent has removed some direct damage or creatures from his deck.  You will win the battle of attrition 9 times out of 10 against the blue red player.  Bait his counterpells and direct damage with threats that are serious but more likely to die quickly early on.  Once he’s used his resources on that, drop your Hellriders and Dragons for an Izzet barbeque the Dinosaur would envy. 

RDW vs. Humans and GW aggro 

Same theory as the mirror match, except KILL MAN DORKS should be your immediate rule of thumb.  Swarm as much as possible but keep in your mind that Green White has as much removal as Red Black.  Don’t overextend – as the removal they have is on par with Bant Control and should never be underestimated.  Your own mass removal cards can even this match up nicely.  Always try to run at least a couple Bonfire of the Damned or Mizzium Mortars (or Killing Wave/Sever the Bloodline!) in your main board to prepare for this match.  

 

Whether your pleasure is Zombies, Devils, Humans or Vampires, RDW Rakdos style is an effective killing machine!  Until the next time I unleash a Cackler ...

PEACE!

And the winner is – SELESNYA or how many times can I play the same Thragtusk?

Rotation has come and gone and the metagame is settling.  The old deck archetypes have fallen by the wayside.  RB Zombies has puttered with the loss of Mortarpod.  Delver decks are pretty much non-existent.  RDW had its usual immediate post rotation success but now the BIG decks are surfacing.  And other than the expected Jund builds, all the successful decks have a common denominator:  Green and White. 

Naya, Junk and Bant builds are coming out of the woodwork.  They are dominating the competitive scene.  All because of a handful of cards.

One can argue that the Selesnya Charm is the most versatile of the new charms, now.  All of them have their merits, but Selesnya Charm is the New York Yankees of charms with these builds.  Exile an opponent’s big gun, flash out a blocker or go over your opponent’s creatures with trample.  The Selesnya Charm is a trooper.

 

How many times in one game can a person kill the same Thragtusk?  This monster card from M13 saw moderate play when he hit standard this summer.  In most green builds he was the replacement for our primetime friend the Primeval Titan.  Now he’s an essential part of any agro deck.  Give me life or give me a blocker.  Thragtusk hitting the battlefield is a win-win situation every day.  And what makes him so versatile is this beast’s beauty . . .

. . . The Restoration Angel.  Avacyn restored gave us plenty of good cards.  Griselbrand continues to see play in re-animator decks, the Miracle cards are still hot in any deck but the late game winner of this set has to be the Restoration Angel.  A 3/4 flyer with flash that blinks another non-angel creature when she hits the board?  And that target is usually a Thragtusk?  Thundermaw who?  Block it and gain 5 life.  My turn.  You have 10 life?  You’re tapped out?  Swing alpha for 11.  WIN.  This happens to me with RDW nearly every time I play against a build with WG. 

IF YOU CAN’T BEAT ‘EM, USE THEIR GUNS AGAINST THEM, DAMMIT! 

Mark Jr & Sr, Chris Reno, Steve Wizins and I have been developing builds featuring Selesnya combos.  All the decks are similar on the fundamental level in colors and some of the above mentioned shared cards only.  My venerable WB Miracle/Planeswalker build evolved into a Junk Planeswalker and has now become a 4C Rites deck, bucking the trend of WGBR by making it WGBU . . . and taking out most of my Planeswalker pals while in the process: 

Main Deck:
2 Acidic Slime
2 Angel of Serenity
2 Armada Wurm
2 Garruk Relentless
3 Geist of Saint Traft
1 Griselbrand
4 Restoration Angel
2 Thragtusk

2 Detention Sphere
3 Farseek
3 Forbidden Alchemy
3 Grisly Salvage
2 Supreme Verdict
3 Terminus
3 Unburial Rites

2 Drowned Catacomb
3 Glacial Fortress
4 Hallowed Fountain
1 Isolated Chapel
4 Overgrown Tomb
1 Plains
2 Sunpetal Grove
4 Temple Garden
2 Woodland Cemetery

Sideboard:
3 Abrupt Decay
2 Detention Sphere
2 Nevermore
1 Sever the Bloodline
2 Stony Silence
2 Supreme Verdict
3 Syncopate 

It’s a simple build, and it gains control of the board by turn 4.  I’ll take a beat down – and in play testing have come back from the brink of death (as in 1 life facing a board full of big creatures and an opponent with 30 life!) to win.  My sideboard is designed to add some control to the game when needed and for defense against graveyard control.  This deck does not mess around. 

23 land – a little light one would say, yes? – but with 9 cards I can fetch or seek out land with, and 2 of them being instants, the deck reaches its mana curve nicely.  I held back from using Keyrunes, despite their advantage when playing Terminus, due to my ability to ransack my graveyard or seek out creatures.  Farseek also allows me to shuffle my deck after a Terminus, putting any creatures I’ve had out back into the deck.  Finally, I chose Blue over Red to be able to access not only board control, but to have a reliable and re-playable seek card in Forbidden Alchemy. 

The Magic metagame has settled until February of 2013.  May the best deck with GW win! 

Until the next time I play the same Thragtusk six times in one game . . .

 

PEACE!

RETURN TO RAVNICA GAMEDAY or The Devils Made Me Do It!

 

It seems like more and more large events are occurring in the Magic world.  They are popping up like every weekend.  Pro Tour and Grand Prix qualifiers, Open Grinders and scheduled Wizards Magic “events” are materializing faster than you can say “There’s a Jace that’s $50.00 again?”  

With that in mind, this past weekend saw great turnouts in all the local venues for their Gamedays, as did the out of town event in Philly.  We had a small gathering at Lilac House, only 10 players, but in contrast to our first Gameday for M13, which saw a field with many newer players, it seemed the sharks came out to feast at Lilac House.  Kudos to Joanne, our rookie, for hanging with said sharks and making the best of it.  You go girl! 

I was uncertain about what I would play going into this.  For a week I hemmed and hawed.  I pimped out more of my Junk Planeswalkers deck but was unsatisfied with its performance play testing against Bill Barrett’s Jund Zombie build.  My sleeper deck had been my mono red Big Red deck, and I had broken it out on occasion over the past few months with positive results.  Rotation took away Koth and some of my other toys, but they found surprising replacements in Return to Ravnica’s card pool. 

4 Ash Zealot
4 Hellrider
4 Rakdos Cackler
3 Thundermaw Hellkite
4 Vexing Devil

4 Bonfire of the Damned
2 Brimstone Volley
2 Flames of the Firebrand
4 Krenko's Command
2 Mizzium Mortars
2 Pillar of Flame
2 Rakdos Keyrune

3 Cavern of Souls
2 Dragonskull Summit
2 Hellion Crucible
16 Mountain

Sideboard:
2 Annihilating Fire
4 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Mizzium Mortars
1 Pillar of Flame
3 Smelt
1 Witchbane Orb
2 Zealous Conscripts 

I’ve got a similar deck on Magic Online.  I’m accused by control players of only “turning Hellrider sideways” to win with this deck.  Well.  Yeah.  That’s what it does.   

And it wins.

 

The object of the deck is swarm without over extending, utilizing Hellrider to add onto the damage dealt.  The sideboard is set to destroy zombies and aggro decks.  With such a simple strategy, you’d think it would be easy to facilitate the way people have complained.  In a perfect world, this deck wants turn 1 Rakdos Cackler, turn 2 Cackler and a Vexing Devil drop or Ash Zealot, turn three Krenko’s Command and turn four, Hellrider with a killing blow on the table. Looks great in black and white, but the fact of the matter is we all know the world of magic IS NOT PERFECT. All day I was plagued with mana drop issues – I wasn’t making my fourth land drop some games until the 6^th or 7^th turn.  This was frustrating at first – but after a few games of dealing with it, I learned the mana humps were actually slowing me down and pacing me.  I found a rhythm and kept to it. 

Round 1:  Vs. Leo Walter IV (UW Cops) I win 2-0.  3 pts. 

I call Leo Leo’s UW build “Cops” for the simple fact that every card in the deck either detains, exiles or otherwise incapacitates every creature you have.  For example, in game one Leo allowed me to drop 3 Vexing Devils.  He played Arrest on EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THEM! Add to this mix Jace 2.0 and though I won not only that game; but also the entire match 2-0, it took forever and was hard fought.  Leo’s forte is building decks that buck the metagame and once again he proved that going Rogue may not win, but it certainly is fun to play (and to play against!). 

Round 2:  Vs. Steve Wizins (GW Tokens) I win 2-0  6 pts. 

Steve is a hell of a player.  He takes deck archetypes and turns them on their heads, sort of like Cabin in the Woods did to slasher flicks.  Gameday proved to be no different.  Steve’s version of GW tokens was a difficult contest for me.  I eventually won 2-0.  At no time did Nicol Bolas intimidate me. (EDITOR'S NOTE:  I oopsied on Steve's deck when I first wrote this blog, thinking for some reason he was playing Junk Zombies.  So sorry, Steve.  How could I forget such an unforgettable deck.  Note to self - take better notes next time.)

Round 3: Vs. Rich Bourque (Starbucks Coffee Pot) I win 2-1 9 pts. 

I love Rich’s deck builds.  He always puts just the right balance of cards into his Rogue decks. And what gets me is lately he’s been putting them together just before leaving the house that morning for the tournament.  He did it with his Championship deck at last Gameday, and did it again this time.  Thus I shall call his decks “Coffee Pot” builds from herein.  It’s like the caffeine hits his brain and makes brilliant and wonderful card epiphanies.  

Rich stomped me Game 1.  I kept a loose hand and it showed.  He whipped Jace out in no time, making my Goblin tokens ineffective.  In the end, my intent to deliver a paralyzing and game-changing blow with a Thundermaw Hellkite backfired when he stole it from me and delivered his own deathblow.  I fall to my own dragon.  Sizzle.  Good play.   

Once again Rich was in my head.  I shook it off and pulled the Krenko’s Commands from my deck in sideboarding.  Now, most often I sideboard out the Vexing Devils, they just aren’t as effective against certain decks.  But Rich having Jace changed this for me.  It turned out the decision was a wise one, I took out the Commands and replaced htem with more fire power.  After a quick beat down leading to a multi turn pass go, I sandbag a Pillar of Flame to deliver the deathblow. 

Game three was just as ferocious, but I quickly burned him down and took the victory.   

Now that I’ve gotten over letting Rich in my head, we are developing a great rivalry and I look forward to our next match. 

Game 4:  Vs. Justin Cohen (WG Aggro) We draw into Top 4 10 pts. 

Justin and I draw into the top 4. Like Rich, Justin’s appearances at Lilac House are welcome.  He’s a heck of a player and has proven it over and over again.  Our top four becomes myself, Justin, Rich Bourque and Mark Carfagno Sr..  Rich recovered from his loss in round 3 by winning his Round 4 match and Mark Sr. snuck into the top for the 4^th seed, becoming my first opponent in the top 4. 

TOP 4 PLAY OFF: 

Round 1 Vs. Mark Carfagno Sr.  (RDW) I win 2-1  

Mark built his RDW about a month ago.  It’s a fun deck with some fun cards in it and is surprisingly fast and explosive.  He quickly beat me down in game 1.  Game 2 was different and I gained an advantage over him in the end.  Game 3 was epic, with my deck playing by the numbers.  The decision to play a Hellrider rather than a Thundermaw Hellkite in the last two turns of the game was my strategical coup of the match.  Unknown to me, Mark had a Traitorous Blood in hand.  Stealing the Hellkite if I had cast it first would have cost me the match.  Keeping with pace, I played the Hellrider instead, and, as fate would have it, took the Highway to Hell and victory.(EDITOR’S NOTE:  I must digress for one moment.  Mark’s deck would have done much better overall if he had put artifact destruction and graveyard control into his sideboard.  He did neither.  I would like Mark to go back and review my previous blog on sideboarding and keep this in mind the next time he builds one.)

Rich and Justin had a solid match marred by mana issues for Rich that eventually cost him the match.  This would be a theme that carried on in to the next and final round. 

Round 2: Vs. Justin Cohen (WG Aggro) I win 2-0 

Winning a tournament is exciting.  It is.  No matter what the size or the prizes, when you win you feel good. 

Most of the time.  Not today. 

Since playing in Gamedays since 2009, I’ve made a few top 8’s.  This was my first victory.  And it was stained by Justin’s deck puking on him.  For as exciting and well played a match as Rich and I had in the M13 Gameday, this was the polar opposite. 

See, when I write, “I win 2-0” in the heading, it should really be “Justin Loses 2-0.”  I didn’t win in my mind; I didn’t beat him or his deck.  Simply put, his deck was behaving like an overtired three-year old in a candy store – it wasn’t cooperating with anything.  It just didn’t like him this round for whatever reason.  In game one, he mulligans to 5 cards on the play.  I get a nut draw after a mulligan to 6.  Justin fights hard but eventually falls after becoming land flooded.  Game 2 is even worse.  Justin mulligans to 4 cards, once again, on the play.  This is not good.  He quickly recovers, but AGAIN falls into a mana pocket and my deck overwhelms him.  It was a bittersweet victory.  I don’t like losing that way myself and I certainly do not relish victories made in that manner.

 

 

A bittersweet victory, but a victory nonetheless; and for the first time in a long time I went home with the box and finally earned a play-mat. I look forward to the next time Justin and I can play when his deck is in a better mood. 

I noticed some important things during play on Saturday. 

 

The most obvious was the lack of impact Bonfire of the Damned had on my games.  Though it was helpful when it came up, for the most part the card was a non-factor most of the day.  This is notable due to the value of the card.  Might we see a decline in this miracle’s value soon?

RAKDOS CACKLER IS AWESOME.  Got that?  Unleashed, he's a throwback to the Zendikar goodness of Goblin Guide for all intents and purposes.  So what he can't block and don't have haste.  He's never blocking anyway!  This creature won more games for on Saturday than you would think.  Watch this uncommon go up in value. 

Thanks to everyone who made it out and for the great matches that took place!  It’s you guys that make Lilac House the best spot in town to play. 

Until the next time we get a Frankenstorm . . .

 

PEACE!

It’s Not Easy Being Green or: Why are most judges grouchy

Before Mark opened the doors of Lilac House to Magic, the first thing he did was ask me to be his rules judge.  He did this because of my experience and my 2 year tenure as a judge for Tales Twice Told.  I went into this wild adventure as his Rules Advisor, not anticipating the baggage that comes with this “prestigious” title. 

Since March, I’ve had to hand out very few hand slaps.  As long as the players tap 90 degrees and use token cards for tokens and NOT dice (tap a square die 90 degrees, I triple double dog dare you), I’m a pretty easy-going guy and this nonchalance mirrors the “casual” environment that Mark has created. A handful of game losses from not un-sideboarding between matches and tardiness between rounds are the only major “infractions” I’ve had to assess in 6 months.  But for as relaxing a casual environment can be, it can also breed bad habits and disrespect for the “law.” 

Yes, it’s a casual environment.  But we still have rules to follow in the game.  FAM and Saturday Standard tournaments at Lilac House are primarily there for us to have fun and for newbies to learn the game.  Well fine, you’ve got a deck and you “know the rules” so you can play the game and don’t have to “learn” anything new.  Wrong.  Now you turn FAM into practice pit for bigger tournaments – your Gameday box events, PTQ’s, GPT’s and $XK events like Star City Opens and TCG Gold & Platinums.  This forces you to learn proper play and etiquette.  Arguing with the tournament official is pointless, regardless if your point seems logical to you or not.  There is a reason the DCI formats things the way they do and it is the tournament official’s duty to enforce it.  We live in a country where freedom is the way.  Yet we all still stop at red lights or pull over if the lights are flashing behind us.  Stop Signs and Speed Limits become the stack and triggers in Magic.  You can’t have freedom without order.

People need to remember that arguing with an official leads to disrespect.  The official loses their “Air of Authority” from this.  Ignoring an official after they make a ruling is unpardonable.  Colluding behind the Judge’s back to create an outcome in your favor is just as bad.  All of this adds up and makes the Judge wonder why they even bother.

My wife asked me why I haven’t taken the Judge’s Exam.  I told her I’m not ready for it yet, as I still have much to learn.  The rules?  Oh, except for a minor brain fart here and there, I know the rules.  The rules aren’t the problem here. The problem lying herein is my attitude.  I tell myself “Until I can learn patience and develop that iron skin where I can ignore someone’s comments, I can’t take the test.”  Bottom line.  I have to make myself a better person, and for every 3 steps I take forward in what I believe to be positive progress, I do something to wreck it all.  But I can’t be nihilistic regarding my attitude.  I should be LEARNING from my mistakes instead of dwelling on them.  How can I improve my attitude without making a concerted effort to do just that?  Well, I have to judge tournaments, first and foremost.  And that also means I have to take the test.

So this week I’ll be taking the test.  Our reserve Judge, Mark Jr., recently passed the Rules Advisor exam and I now will be doing the same.  Mark and I want you to have the best experience you can at Lilac House and will do all we can to insure that.  Not just for a select few, but for everyone who walks in the door.

We fall so we can get back up.  And run faster.

Until the next time Popeye the Sailorman eats a can of spinach . . .

PEACE!