Good Gamery

Category: mtg

  • Neurokmancer

    Venser’s journal, Mirrodin.

    7 cards – The [card]grindclock[/card]s were striking sixty and the slick, dark tides washed in against the [card]darkslick shores[/card]. I was new on the streets of Synod City, and had the distinct feeling I was not welcome. I had been summoned here for a reason, by some planeswalker in need, and I intended to help them however I could, as long as it involved exiling their permanents and returning them to the battlefield at the beginning of the next end step. But first I had to find them – and finding a distressed mage in Synod City is a little like finding a [card]pithing needle[/card] in a [card]smokestack[/card]: difficult, and involving many references to artifacts.

    6 cards – No matter the world, the one place to go to find information cheap is a local tavern. I stepped in from the quicksilver rain to the least expensive-looking joint I could see: a hole in the ground named the [card]Myr Reservoir[/card]. Even before my eyes had adjusted to the low, smoky light I realised exactly what kind of establishment I had wandered into: the robot patrons were hunched over darksteel tankards of a noxious, bubbling slime I recognised as Phyrexian oil.


    “INTERROGATIVE – What’s your poison, stranger?” An enforcer of a myr addressed me from behind the bar, his dishrag disintegrating even as he swabbed it against an infected glass.


    “You hear of any planeswalkers passing through town recently?” I asked the droid straight, leaning forward over the counter conspiratorially and giving a slow wink. I slid an argentum coin towards him.


    “CRYPTIC STATEMENT – Look for the negative girl.” Popping the coin into his mouth for metals analysis, the myr turned away to poison another customer, and I slipped out into the rain.

    5 cards – The Knowledge Pool stands at the heart of Synod City, its ducts criss-crossing from spire to spire carrying knowledge from every corner of town. It’s kind of like a public library, except the information doesn’t come free and certainly isn’t public. Still, being a planeswalker does have its advantages, and after renting a terminal I was quickly able to equip an [card]infiltration lens[/card] and dive deep into the system’s more sensitive networks. Sure enough, I spotted a user on the server under the name ‘Negative Girl’, masking her presence with a dummy signal containing the nonsense message ‘selling gg 9’. She, too, was deep in the data banks, evidently searching for something not intended for her eyes. I launched a [card]psychogenic probe[/card] in her direction to find out exactly why she had spent the 3WU to call me, and to my surprise received this instantaneous answer:


    ‘He’s coming. Not safe here. Meet me elsewhere.’


    And with that, she was gone, utterly traceless. Although I didn’t understand her warning, I closed my channels and yanked the terminal as quickly as I could – but not before I felt a trail of red mana light up the pathways I had been perusing a moment before. Whoever we were up against – whoever ‘we’ were – they meant business.

    4 cards – I’m not the [card]magical hack[/card]er I used to be. I had spent the remainder of the day worrying about tracers planted in my mana pool or [card]mana short[/card]s in my access protocols left by the mysterious red mage I had so narrowly avoided; instead, true to his colour philosophy, he somehow tracked me to my hotel and blew the doors off in the middle of the night. I hurriedly attempted to planeswalk away and gather my wits, but he stopped me with a [card]guttural response[/card]:


    “Stop!” Rivulets of magma ran through my assailant’s surprisingly perfect abs. As he prepared to turn me to slag, a grin spread across his face. “Hammertime.”


    They say a cat has nine lives; luckily, I had won a spare from Ajani last week in a poker game. Moments before a mountain fell on me I felt a current of white mana wash over the hotel, quite suddenly reducing the mountain, the guest rooms, and the creepily nubile leonin staff to so much rubble. There she was, the fourth most attractive female planeswalker to see print: my old acquaintance [card]Elspeth Tirel[/card]. Was she the reason I was here in the first place?

    3 cards – The hotheaded local planeswalker had got away, and he knew both of our faces. Elspeth and I figured we had about 24 hours before he or someone else came looking. There was a lot to do in that time, but the most important thing was to catch up over a glass of [card]tanglesap[/card]. We took a table at a bar called the [card]Gilded Lotus[/card] and I asked Elspeth what was going on. Her story was odd, to say the least: she had come to Mirrodin after ‘a wizard told her’ that the Phyrexians were hiding a powerful artifact from her homeworld here. She claimed to understand the risk that she was walking into a [card]trapmaker’s snare[/card], but was determined to find out the truth. After running afoul of security she had called me in for my knack for making things unblockable, but her signal had been weakened by the [card]damping matrix[/card] over the area. It was clear that Synod City was hiding something, but I was worried about what exactly we would find.

    2 cards – I decided to stick around and help Elspeth, even though I hadn’t got to exile anyone’s permanents the whole time I’d been here. It was partly that I wanted to help her reclaim her past from the Phyrexians, and partly that I hoped we could increase both of our loyalties by proliferating, if you know what I mean. The artifact she was after was being held in a [card]phyrexian vault[/card] guarded by a mean customer named Geth. Getting in would be no trouble, but I would need a plan if I didn’t want his artificial claws to ruin my award-winning face. Equally troubling was the fact that Elspeth didn’t even know what the [card]spoils of the vault[/card] looked like – she had been told it was a mox of some sort, but whether diamond or just chrome there was no way of telling. Given some more time I could have gotten help from someone like Jace to ensure my face’s safety, but the appearance of our bodybuilding friend cost us that luxury. This may be the last entry.

    1 card – I snuck my way into the heart of the vault with no [card]opposition[/card]. Even Geth himself was a disappointment, in spite of his fearsome appearance – the obviously delusional man had an obssession with vampires and [card]undead slayer[/card]s, and kept muttering something about the ‘five seasons of the angel’. I cast a [card]keldon twilight[/card] to keep him occupied, because I knew he’d enjoy it.
    Inside the final chamber a single shaft of light fell on a small, glimmering object on a kind of altar – like a scene out of a Zendikari adventure story. As I stepped closer I could see that the altar was actually a complex network terminal, with the gem acting as a sort of arcane modem. There was no way to remove it without disturbing the server, but I figured just grabbing the thing and leaving as soon as possible was still the safest option. The gem itself did not look at all like I had expected: it was not made of any mineral I recognised, and was cut into a strange shape, its detailed textures making it look almost like a human brain. Still, it was not for me to judge the artistic customs of Elspeth’s homeworld, so I yanked the mox and was gone.

    0 cards – I don’t know if I’d say I regret the mox job, but it certainly didn’t work out the way I had intended it to. The stone had not been a relic at all, but a kind of breaker keeping in check an AI the Phyrexians had developed. The intelligence, which called itself [card]Gleemax[/card], was now free to expand itself throughout the city, and, perhaps, the multiverse. It was Gleemax itself that had tipped off Elspeth in the first place, of course, but it at least shielded us from the Phyrexians and rewarded for our services; I got a really shiny new helmet that is going to make Garruk super-jealous.
    I don’t know what Gleemax plans to do with its newfound freedom. It’s stayed under the radar thus far, letting the Phyrexians believe they’re still in control. It mentioned something to me about a particular plane it wanted to find, and a particular order of sorcerors I’d never heard of. The wizards of the sea, or something? Time will tell. It’s been a long sojourn even by my standards, but now… I’ve got some proliferating to do.

  • Chris Carter Memorial Tournament (Salem, OR)

    Our very own Justin Sexton (JSexton) has been working with Cascade Games to organize the Chris Carter Memorial Magic Tournament event in Salem, OR, on Saturday, December 11 (tomorrow).

    The following is from the event information page at CascadeGames:

    On October 19th, 2010 the Magic community lost an amazing and talented player. Christopher Ross Carter was an active member of the local Magic scene, playing in tournaments since his early teens. From mentoring new players to building his own online Magic store to creating his beloved Cube, his hand was in every aspect of the game. Known for his risky and innovative play style, Carter made a name for himself that reached past his own circle of players.


    Just after midnight on October 13th, Chris was in a car accident on his way home from work. He was in a coma for almost a week before passing away. Christopher left behind the love of his life Michelle, his two beautiful daughters and three stepchildren. As avid a Magic player as Chris was, he was an devoted father and husband. He found a balance between his love for the game and love for his family. Spending the first 4 years as a stay at home dad, he gave his children precious moments with him that they will hold dear forever.

    This year Christopher ventured out to become the breadwinner and give his wife more time to spend with their children. Though he had less time for Magic he compensated by playing casual games with friends on lunch breaks and days off. He also hosted game nights, holding Cube drafts until odd hours after tucking his children into bed.

    Christopher Ross Carter was an amazing man, a wonderful father, a devoted husband and a memorable player in the Magic community. He will be missed.

    Many different sites and individuals have generously donated into an impressive prize pool. All proceeds from the event are going to be given to the Carter family.

    Check out the event information page at CascadeGames.com for more information.

  • PTQ Report 12/5 Brisbane – *1st*

    The Brisbane qualifier for PT Paris was this past weekend, and it was the first PTQ in Brisbane in 6 months, so it felt like forever since I had a chance to get to the PT. Unless you count GP Sydney, but that was a hideous event for me. 0-6 in games in the main event, and 2-2 in the PTQ side event.

    It’s for that reason that I’ve barely practiced the Scars of Mirrodin format at all. I’ve done a total of 2 drafts in the past 6 weeks. I was convinced that I couldn’t really get an edge in this format and would likely be a victim to my sealed pool, so I spent time focusing on poker…I mean losing money at poker. I also made the poor decision to drink the night before, so I was super seedy on the morning of the event.

    I had my mate Justin Cheung from Sydney staying at my house for this event, which was a little scary as he’s really, really good and we’ve have far too many Brisbane events poached by interstate players, but he’s a good guy and if he’s good enough to win it, then so be it.

    So all I had under my belt was roughly 5 sealed pools and 15 drafts, and the knowledge that the bombs are really, really good in this format, and good removal is essential. Lack of removal (well, and lack of bombs) was why I did so poorly at the GP, so I was most keen for a removal heavy pool at this event.

    My sealed deck:

    [deck][Creatures]1 Glint Hawk
    1 Spikeshot Elder
    1 Glint Hawk Idol
    1 Leaden Myr
    2 Perilous Myr
    1 Myrsmith
    2 Vulshock Replica
    2 Bloodshot Trainee
    1 Oxidda Scrapmelter
    1 Golem Artisan
    1 Platinum Emperion[/Creatures]

    [Spells]1 Galvanic Blast
    1 Darksteel Axe
    1 Origin Spellbomb
    1 Contagion Clasp
    1 Arrest
    1 Barbed Battlegear
    1 Turn to Slag
    1 Contagion Engine[/Spells]

    [Lands]11 Mountain
    7 Plains[/Lands][/deck]

    Other notable cards were:

    [card]Dispense Justice[/card]
    [card]Seize the Initiative[/card]
    [card]Glint Hawk[/card]
    [card]Chrome Steed[/card]
    [card]Auriok Replica[/card]
    [card]Heavy Arbalest[/card]
    [card]Abuna Acolyte[/card]
    [card]Memnite[/card]

    So what stuck out for me was the sweet colorless bombs and good red removal. Sick as. I then had a choice between white and maybe blue, but ended up going white for the Arrest, Smith, and Hawks. The last card I cut was the Chrome Steed, as my artifact count was perhaps a little bit low, and a card that was sometimes a 4/4 but more often a 2/2 wasn’t going to cut it in my super-controlling deck.

    Round 1: Robbie Jackway

    Robbie is a real solid player, and apparently one of the few QLD players who can top 8 at Nats PTQ. His deck is pretty sick here, but my draws were so amazing that him playing [card]Myr Battlesphere[/card] and [card]Contagion Engine[/card] didn’t phase me at all. My own Engine and [card]Oxidda Scrapmelter[/card] cleaned him up. In game 2 I beat him by assembling the [card]Bloodshot Trainee[/card] combo, and I also had another Trainee as backup should he deal with the first.

    2-0 games, 1-0 matches

    Round 2: Kobi Mccleod

    As I’m approaching the table, Kobi says “I’m not playing you, am I!?” I slow roll it for a bit, look around at all the surrounding table numbers with a puzzled look before sitting down across from him. I also messed with his head a bit, saying “Wow, did you win? How did that happen?” Trattman laughed at me for trying to tilt a 12 year old, but it was all in good fun, as I have a history of trash talk with Kobi.

    Nothing too exciting happened in the matches, I assembled a machine gun in one game, and in the other I just played big dudes. Notably I had to recast my 8 drop a few times because he had [card]Dissipation Field[/card]. His deck was actually really, really good, with [card]Venser, The Sojourner[/card] plus good effects to use it with, but my deck came out too fast.

    4-0 games, 2-0 matches

    Round 3: Dale Wright

    Something really wacky happened with the pairings this round, so players got paired based on their round 1 points, rather than their round 2 points. So a bunch of win-win players were paired with win-loss players. I got paired down to Dale.

    Game one was a bit of a race, he had infinite 2/2 flyers and I had some sizable guys and [card]Spikeshot Elder[/card]. Eventually the Elder became active for 3 pings. His board was 3 artifacts, including [card]Rust Tick[/card] and [card]Rustic Golem[/card]. On his turn he casts Tempered Steel, and I screw up by not killing his [card]Rust Tick[/card] in response. I end up having to chump block the [card]Rustic Golem[/card] and just cant get back into the game despite killing a bunch of his artifacts.

    Game 2 is really close too, but I recover just enough to stay alive with some powerful artifacts. However he draws like a champ, ripping multiple [card]Sylvok Replica[/card]s off the top. I end up at about 2 life when we’re both empty again, and I end up assembling some equipment and dudes and attack him from 26 down to zero before he draws any more threats.

    Game 3 he doesn’t draw very well and my sweet removal cleans him up.

    6-1 games, 3-0 matches

    Round 4: James Jackway and Jerimiah

    I haven’t seen James in the 18 months since his accident. He was working as a rescue helicopter paramedic, being winched onto a ship when a cable snapped and he smashed his spine. Still, he hadn’t lost his ability to play magic, so with his nephew Jerimiah holding the cards and taking orders, he’s battled his way to 3-0. Not that he needed much help with [card]Sunblast Angel[/card], [card]Hoardsmelter Dragon[/card], and [card]Geth, Lord of the Vault[/card] in his deck.

    Game 1 started out pretty well, I dealt with many of his threats after taking early damage, and we were both roughly 6 life while he had an empty board and I had 3 creatures. He then topdecks [card]Hoardsmelter Dragon[/card] and I scoop to it.

    Game 2 I assembled 2x [card]Bloodshot Trainee[/card] combo! I did take a bit of extra damage here and there though, because I never wanted to tap both of them in his turn and lose them to [card]Sunblast Angel[/card]. (Sunblast Angel is seriously the best card to know is in your opponents deck.) Eventually I build up a board and he either just drew the Sunblast, or was slow-rolling it. He kills about 3 of my creatures including one of the trainees, and I’m able to kill the Angel and control the game.

    Game 3 he just draws mostly land and none of his bombs, and I’m able to play my power cards and overwhelm him.

    8-2 games, 4-0 matches

    Round 5: Kyle Trattler

    So somehow I don’t know anything about Kyles deck at this point, strange given I’ve sat next to him a few times. In Game 1 he plays some UW lands and spells, and I assemble 2x [card]Bloodshot Trainee[/card] with 1 equipment. I end up taking a bit of extra damage from his guys because I’m not sure if he has Sunblast Angel, but in the end I take way more damage than I should, playing around an Angel when at times he didn’t have the mana to play it!

    Still, even when playing poorly its difficult to lose with two cannons on the table.

    In game 2, I mulligan a crap hand into a 1-lander, which was [card]Mountain[/card], [card]Darksteel Axe[/card], [card]Iron Myr[/card], [card]Glint Hawk Idol[/card], [card]Oxidda Scrapmelter[/card], and [card]Contagion Clasp[/card]. So many powerful spells for not many mana,so I keep it on the draw. I miss on turn 2, but get there on turns 3 and 4, and play out all my awesome spells while he struggles to maintain a board presence.

    Turns out his deck has TWO [card]Venser, The Sojourner[/card], and a bunch of good effects to abuse, but his deck never gets online.

    10-2 games, 5-0 matches.

    So my deck provided the nuts for 5 rounds, and I lost 1 game to a dragon and 1 game to me being an idiot. Good times. In the next two rounds I ID with Justin Cheung and Rory O’Hagan. In the end, there’s a few too many IDs, and one player ID’s themself out of top 8. Rough beats.

    Top 8

    There’s some discussion about what the easiest way would be to allow James to draft, and in the end he said he’d be happy to have Jerimiah hold the cards up for him to indicate his pick. To make it easier the draft was untimed. Seating was:

    1. James Jackway
    2. Chris Worrell
    3. Matthew Tyrell
    4. Thor Whilmer
    5. Levi Hinz
    6. Rory O’Hagan
    7. Nathan Wintle
    8. Justin Cheung

    So I would face James in the Quarters. Also interesting that I wouldn’t face Justin until the finals, but I was fairly confident he’d at least make the finals, because he’s amazing.

    My first pack I open [card]Kuldotha Pheonix[/card] and [card]Shatter[/card], preferring the “Take the bomb and hope it works out” over the “keep options open” approach. 2nd pick was an [card]Arc Trail[/card] over [card]Shatter[/card], which was unfortunate for signals, and then a 3rd pick Arrest landed in my pile. Nothing much else happened in pack 1 other than me taking a few blue cards because it seemed underdrafted. Also of note was a [card]Sunspear Shikari[/card], and I was hoping to take a few more equipment for the Shikari deck later on.

    In pack two my first pick was weak but somehow I ended up with A THIRD PICK [card]PRECURSOR GOLEM[/card]!!! It was foil, so the rare and an uncommon were missing. I don’t know what the rare was, but Rory to my left took [card]Skinrender[/card]. I think the Golem is probably better but its debatable. Still I wasn’t complaining. I continued to get a bunch of red removal spells and white creatures, and I hate drafted some big blue flyers and a few infect cards. Both those archetypes were being severely underdrafted it seemed. I also grabbed a [card]Bloodshot Trainee[/card] and a [card]Barbed Battlegear[/card] in this pack.

    Pack 3 had a [card]Oxidda Scrapmelter[/card] and [card]Glimmerpoint Stag[/card]. It would have been nicer to see them in different packs but I can’t complain about opening a Scrapmelter. I also got a Stag later on so its all good. I couldn’t find any more equipment for my shikari and Trainee other than a [card]Strider Harness[/card], which obviously doesn’t work with the Trainee but hopefully it would be useful.

    In the end my deck was just like my sealed: Red removal, combos, and a few bombs.

    [deck][Creatures]1 Glint Hawk
    1 Gold Myr
    1 Iron Myr
    1 Silver Myr
    1 Necropede
    1 Sunspear Shikari
    2 Snapsail Glider
    1 Oxidda Scrapmelter
    1 Bloodshot Trainee
    1 Glimmerpoint Stag
    1 Precursor Golem
    1 Kuldotha Phoenix
    1 Flameborn Hellion
    1 Darksteel Sentinel[/Creatures]

    [Spells]2 Panic Spellbomb
    1 Revoke Existence
    1 Arc Trail
    1 Arrest
    1 Barbed Battlegear
    1 Strider Harness
    1 Turn to Slag[/Spells]

    [Land]10 Mountain
    7 Plains[/Land]

    [Sideboard]1 Rusted Relic
    1 Seize the Initiative
    1 Flameborn Hellion[/Sideboard]
    [/deck]

    Quarterfinals: James Jackway and Jerimiah

    James was poison in this draft. Game 1 he was pretty slow though, and I had 3/3’s at the right time to trade with [card]Ichorclaw Myr[/card]. I went to about 3 poison but assembled the cannon to wrap up the game.

    Game 2 I was pretty slow. He didn’t have a 2 drop but had [card]Cystbearer[/card] on 3. I had [card]Bloodshot Trainee[/card] on turn 4, but I didn’t have the Battlegear, so I decided the best use of Trainee was to block the [card]Cystbearer[/card] twice. Unlucky for me I drew the Battlegear after the first block. I didn’t really have other plays so I played a [card]Strider Harness[/card], but then my brain started working and I realized I could double equip the [card]Bloodshot Trainee[/card] to get him active. He had a [card]Strider Harness[/card] as well, and also a [card]Tel Jilad Fallen[/card], So I went to 9 poison while mopping up his team. He didn’t have much more after that so I managed to win while on the brink of death.

    Semifinals: Matthew Tyrell

    He had a RWg removal deck as well, except that his removal was way better than mine. “Sometimes a 1/1 myr goes all the way” he said. Double [card]Arrest[/card], double [card]Dispense Justice[/card], [card]Shatter[/card]s, Bolts, Slags, etc. He’s also hella greedy and has [card]Acid-Web Spider[/card] as well. I was not feeling confident.

    Game 1 I had [card]Kuldotha Phoenix[/card] and [card]Precursor Golem[/card] in hand, but he being pretty loose with how he held his hand and let me see what looked like an Arrest in his hand. I played [card]Precursor Golem[/card] first and he had [card]Revoke Existence[/card], and then had [card]Arrest[/card] for my Phoenix. I debated casting [card]Turn to Slag[/card] on my phoenix and regrowing him, but I only had 3 artifact and figured he’d be able to kill one. He did play [card]Acid-Web Spider[/card], and flickered it with Stag, to kill the two equipment I had in play. I drew blanks for many, many turns and he stuck a creature which went all the way.

    Game 2 I’m sketchy on the details, but I’m pretty sure it involved some flyers wearing a Battlegear. 6 power flyers? You betcha!

    Game 3 he mulliganed to 6, tanked, and kept. He was basically on 1 land for most of the game, while I had turn 2 myr, turn 3 myr, turn 4 [card]Precursor Golem[/card] + [card]Glint Hawk[/card] to ensure at least one 3/3 was getting through should he have removal. He scooped.

    Finals: Justin Cheung

    So the lone invader from Sydney crashes at my house and then we meet in the finals. Like I said, Juzza is amazing. Unfortunately I hadn’t seen anything of his deck as I was playing longer than him both matches. It was probably sick though.

    Game 1 He plays turn two [card]Riddlesmith[/card], and on turn 3 he triggers it twice but still misses land 3. Turn 4 he plays a Myr and misses again. But this point he’s discarded [card]Sky-Eel School[/card] and [card]Volition Reins[/card], which he now believes was a mistake. It was also possibly a mistake of mine to not trade my myr with his [card]Riddlesmith[/card], but I kept it instead to play turn 4 [card]Kuldotha Pheonix[/card]. he plays a Grand Architect, which powers out a bunch of nuts stuff, and we’re racing. I get a [card]Snapsail Glider[/card] in play along with a Myr and Pheonix, and he’s tapped out after an attack. I draw Glint Hawk, so I’m able to attack with all three of my guys to put him at 6, then bounce and replay the myr to allow for chump blocking. He attacks with everything but the Architect, I chump with my myr, and use [card]Panic Spellbomb[/card] to make his [card]Flight Spellbomb[/card] irrelevant on the attack back.

    Game 2 his had Architect again, and I Arrest it. He has a [card]Sky-Eel School[/card] which I momentarily forget is a 4/4, while pondering whether I should offer a trade with an equipped [card]Glint Hawk[/card]. I work it out before I make any dumb plays though. I play some cards, he atacks, and then I play a [card]Glimmerpoint Stag[/card] which gets in there for haste with the [card]Glint Hawk[/card], and we’re racing. He has [card]Volition Reins[/card] though, and cracks back with a hasted Stag. I try to [card]Revoke Existence[/card] on his Reins, but he [card]Disperse[/card]s to get it back. I crack back again and play a [card]Necropede[/card], and equip that instead of the stag so he can’t haste me.

    I’m on really low life though and he has a 4/4 flyer and a Reins in hand. I’m trying to work out if I can win if I draw Pheonix but I’m pretty sure I’m dead. He plays [card]WURMCOIL ENGINE[/card] though and its a lot more obvious that I’m dead.

    In game 3 I again have the turn four [card]Kuldotha Phoenix[/card], but he sideboarded in a [card]Bonds of Quicksilver[/card] which deals with it. I have 5 mana including 2 myr, and use [card]Turn to Slag[/card] on his [card]Grand Architect[/card], lose one of my myr to [card]Instill Infection[/card], and then use [card]Oxidda Scrapmelter[/card] the following turn on his [card]Moriok Replica[/card]. I’m struggling to find 6 land so I can get in with [card]Flameborn Hellion[/card], but I attack anyway with [card]Oxidda Scrapmelter[/card] and Myr into his [card]Perilous Myr[/card]. He tanks and decides to trade with Scrapmelter, and he now has a 3/3 flyer to my 1/1 myr. I drop my 5th mana and a [card]Snapsail Glider[/card], and we trade 3 damage for turn or two, then eventually I draw a sixth mana to cast my haste guy. He keeps attacking, but my beats are just too fast, and the best chump blocker he can find is a [card]Necrogen Scudder[/card] which makes him lose 3 life anyway, so my next attack is exactly lethal with help of [card]Arc Trail[/card]. He’s holding 3 land.

    So after 3 years and a string of second-to-fourth-place finishes, I’ve finally won another PTQ! I’ve been excited about the idea of the super-pro-tour ever since I heard the Magic Weekend announcement. For those who haven’t heard, that means there’s a Pro Tour and Grand Prix on the same weekend in Paris, and I get to play in both of them. So cool!

    Props!

    • James Jackway – For being a champ. You can break his back but not his spirit nor his magical ability.
    • Jerimiah – For spending 8 hours holding and tapping cards for uncle James. You did a great job, kid.
    • Juzza – For not beating me and stealing another Brisbane PTQ :P Bad luck mate!

    Slops – How can there be slops, I’m going to Paris!

    Thanks for reading.

    – Levi Hinz

  • PTQ Report 11/14 Rochester – *1st*

    No one has ever asked me how to win a PTQ, but if anyone ever did, I wouldn’t have a good answer anyway. While playing well is a big help, there are enough other obstacles that I’ve never found the blueprint. What is personally more important to me than the prospect of winning is the competition against similarly skilled players. I’m overmatched at Grand Prixs and Pro Tours, but at a PTQ I am most likely to meet someone who is about where I am in terms of skill. More so than any other match, these victories are the ones I enjoy most.

    The venue for this PTQ was Rochester, which provided me the privilege of being only an hour away from Buffalo. I was able to get up at a reasonable time and drive myself to the event. I chatted with a few acquaintances to kill time, and then started listening to a podcast. After nervously waiting while we got seated and registered decks, we finally got passed our pools. Without looking inside the bag that contained my pool, I offered to trade it with anyone else’s. After a bit of hand-wringing from others, I did eventually find a taker in Bob, the person seated diagonally from me.

    [deck]
    [White]Arrest
    Auriok Sunchaser
    Fulgent Distraction
    2 Ghalma’s Warden
    Loxodon Wayfarer
    Razor Hippogriff
    Seize the Initiative
    Soul Parry[/White]

    [Blue]Lumengrid Drake
    Neurok Invisimancer
    Plated Seastrider
    2 Riddlesmith
    Screeching Silcaw
    2 Steady Progress
    2 Stoic Rebuttal
    Turn Aside
    Vedalken Certarch[/Blue]

    [Black]2 Bleak Coven Vampires
    Blistergrub
    Contagious Nim
    Carnifex Demon
    Fume Spitter
    Grasp of Darkness
    Instill Infection
    Moriok Reaver
    Necrogen Scudder
    2 Plague Stinger
    Relic Putrescence
    2 Tainted Strike[/Black]

    [Red]Assault Strobe
    2 Barrage Ogre
    Blade-Tribe Berserkers
    2 Bloodshot Trainee
    Ferrovore
    Furnace Celebration
    Melt Terrain
    Oxidda Scrapmelter
    Scoria Elemental
    Shatter[/Red]

    [Green]Blunt the Assault
    Carapace Forger
    Cystbearer
    Ezuri’s Archers
    Tel-Jilad Fallen
    Untamed Might
    Viridian Revel
    Wing Puncture[/Green]

    [Artifacts]Accorder’s Shield
    Auriok Replica
    Chrome Steed
    Darksteel Myr
    Echo Circlet
    2 Flight Spellbomb
    Glint Hawk Idol
    Golden Urn
    Golem Foundry
    Golem’s Heart
    2 Infiltration Lens
    Liquimetal Coating
    Livewire Lash
    Memnite
    2 Neurok Replica
    2 Origin Spellbomb
    Soliton
    Strata Scythe
    Tower of Calamities
    Trigon of Rage
    Tumble Magnet[/Artifacts]

    [Land]Darkslick Shores[/Land][/deck]

    Coming into the tournament I thought I had enough experience with this sealed format that I’d be ready for anything, but then this pool caused me to feel foolish. After the requisite handling of the infect cards (into a trash can), I was left with a significant problem: the cheap artifact cards in this pool are pretty shallow. I have 0 Myr, while the Spellbombs and Replicas I have pull me away from my most powerful colors.

    I started with a U/W deck because it seemed the most synergistic color combination, but was pretty unhappy with both the overall power level and the near total lack of removal. I next attempted a B/R deck designed to house my most powerful cards, but without relevant cheap artifacts I couldn’t take advantage of the red. A U/B/r seemed like the best place to be, and so I spent considerable deck-building time attempting to make it work, but with no success.

    Again, the lack of Myr really hurt, as I would have to play 18 lands to realistically support three colors (I also intended to play [card]Tower of Calamities[/card]) Also, despite being in three colors, I was struggling to find playables because of the strangeness of my pool. After a solid core of about 16 cards, I could not figure out how the rest of the deck should look. The build didn’t have enough artifacts to support the metalcraft cards – [card=Vedalken Certarch]Certarch[/card], [card=Lumengrid Drake]Drake[/card], and [card=Chrome Steed]Steed[/card] – only a dozen or so. The only other available artifacts would either have been off-color or kind of weak.

    But replacing the metalcraft cards would have resulted in maindecking so many slow cards that I didn’t think I’d ever be able to stabilize the board before I died. My few remaining artifacts would be under the gun when I did play them, as it is the rare sealed deck that doesn’t have access to artifact removal. With all that, the payoff isn’t even that high, as I’d just be gaining mediocre cards like [card]Stoic Rebuttal[/card] or [card]Bleak Coven Vampires[/card]. And I would still need to play my pair of [card]Riddlesmith[/card]s as creatures #2 and #3 that cost two mana or less.

    With about 2:30 left in deck-building, I went back to the U/W deck, as it was the one I was most comfortable with playing. It would never blow anyone away with its draws, but I didn’t see any other build I had having enough power to overcome the weaknesses it would have had.

    [deck][Land]8 Plains
    7 Island
    1 Darkslick Shores[/Land]

    [Creatures]Vedalken Certarch
    Auriok Sunchaser
    2 Riddlesmith
    Auriok Replica
    2 Neurok Replica
    Chrome Steed
    2 Ghalma’s Warden
    Lumengrid Drake
    Razor Hippogriff
    Soliton[/Creatures]

    [Spells]Accorder’s Shield
    2 Flight Spellbomb
    2 Origin Spellbomb
    Glint Hawk Idol
    Livewire Lash
    Trigon of Rage
    Arrest
    Strata Scythe
    Tumble Magnet[/Spells][/deck]

    I wasn’t terribly impressed with how I had built my pool and considered my chances of top 8 to be pretty low. The only nice thing I could say about my deck is that my card selection would allow me to see more of my good cards than my opponent would, even if they weren’t as strong. But with almost no removal or bombs I had to count on my opponent not having their own plan work out, which is far from a reliable plan for winning six rounds.

    138 players, 8 rounds before top 8. Rather than a blow by blow, I’m going to offer a couple notes on each match where I feel it most appropriate. If there was a particularly interesting game state, I’ll attempt to communicate it.

    Round 1 – Brittney Pone

    1-0 (2-0)

    She was playing G/B Infect. In game one I was worried about a [card]Hand of the Praetors[/card], but on the last turn before I would attack her for lethal damage, I bounced the Hand. That meant she did not have enough mana to cast the Hand and the four drop infect creature she drew that turn that would have killed me. In both games, she played a [card]Putrefax[/card], and it was tapped each time before attackers were declared.

    While the updates to the card store (Millenium Games and Hobbies) had made it look a lot nicer, the room we are playing in has little ventilation or climate control, so I made my first of many trips out to my car to sit and listen to music while waiting for the next round.

    Round 2 – Andre Segarra

    2-0 (2-0)

    I made things a little chippy when I got myopic about the rules during Game 1. We then debated the merits of playing Magic competitively between games, and it seemed to annoy him that I took the game a lot more seriously than he did. In game two he played a [card=Geth, Lord of the Vault]Geth[/card], but I bounced it with [card]Lumengrid Drake[/card], which meant it was one turn too slow. I set up a turn where I could attack for lethal, but botched it when I used all of my tap and bounce effects , not saving one to negate a flying blocker he had from his onboard [card]Flight Spellbomb[/card] (stolen from my graveyard with Geth). Luckily, I had enough spells in reserve that I could refill the board and make another, successful lethal attack.

    Afterward, he fliped over his [card]Hoard-Smelter Dragon[/card] and two [card]Turn to Slag[/card], which were uncastable off of his single Mountain.

    Round 3 Joseph Irvin

    2-1 (1-2)

    For the first time in the tournament I was just overpowered. Honestly, I was surprised it had taken this long. Between a [card]Myrsmith[/card], two [card]Darksteel Axe[/card]s, and a [card]Molten-Tail Masticore[/card], I was not able to offer any meaningful defense. I won game two when he missed his third land drop on the play. That involved me taking a risk that backfired when I playing a [card]Ghalma’s Warden[/card] before I had metalcraft, and was then punished when he drew a Swamp for his [card]Grasp of Darkness[/card]. Luckily, I was not punished for that outcome, and ended up overwhelming him before he could stabilize the board. I then lost game three after I ended up enough early damage that I was forced into chump block before I could start looping my [card]Razor Hippogriff[/card] and [card]Neurok Replica[/card].

    Round 4 – Nicholas Patnode

    3-1 (2-1)

    Something funny happened at the start of game one. Nick played [card]Spikeshot Elder[/card], then [card]Darksteel Axe[/card], and I did not have [card]Arrest[/card] in hand. He lacked a second red early though, and was eventually forced to keep playing spells to keep up on the board. At 2 life, I played a [card]Trigon of Rage[/card] to get him from 10 life exactly the turn before I would have died in a game I couldn’t figure out how I was going to win after turn two. Game two I didn’t have such good fortune though. An early [card]Arc Trail[/card] set me very far back, and additional removal prevented me from defending at all. I took 5+ damage several turns in a row, to give you an idea.

    Nick had a fast start in the decider after I put him on the play, with two early [card]Snapsail Glider[/card]s. I put out a [card=Razor Hippogriff]Hippogriff[/card], then traded a [card]Neurok Replica[/card] for one of the Gilders when he double blocked. That allowed me to gain air superiority, and despite him playing his [card]Arc Trail[/card], I whittled down his life total quickly. On his last turn, he resignedly said, “one time” before he drew a blank, conceded, and flipped over his deck that featured a 2nd [card]Arc Trail[/card], [card]Contagion Engine[/card], and a [card]Sunblast Angel[/card].

    Round 5 – Josh Lombino

    4-1 (2-1)

    We split the first two games while he averaged 1.5 [card]Skinrender[/card]s cast. Game three was dominated by my [card]Riddlesmith[/card]. We traded numerous creatures, but the [card]Riddlesmith[/card] allowed me to keep applying pressure, even though I lost two creatures to a metalcraft’d [card]Dispense Justice[/card]. I held a [card]Strata Scythe[/card] that would represent lethal damage, but wanted to wait for the coast to be clear. On a late turn, he thought for a while, read [card]Livewire Lash[/card], then attacked with his only creature. I took it. After combat, he [card]Instill Infection[/card]’d my [card]Riddlesmith[/card], and I simply dealt the two to him. He then was dead on board, regardless of the Scythe.

    Round 6 – Evan Halstead

    5-1 (2-0)

    Evan is actually a celebrity at the University of Buffalo as one half of a pair of twins featured in a poster in the basement of Capen Hall. He had a powerful deck, but I kept two low land draws with a [card]Riddlesmith[/card], neither Smith died, and I slowly ground him out in spite of a heap of removal. Both times, he got me into single digits, but I “locked” him with [card]Razor Hippogriff[/card] and [card]Neurok Replica[/card]. As I crawled back above double-digit life, I was able to start attacking with the Hippogriff, and soon after equipping it for extra damage. He never found a way to deal with the Hippogriff in either game and eventually died to it.

    Round 7 – Royce Walter

    6-1 (2-0)

    Royce and I had been introduced by a mutual acquaintance before the tournament began, so we were disappointed we had to play each other. Royce was probably more disappointed as he ended up flooding in game one while I was able to trigger [card]Riddlesmith[/card] multiple times. I pulled very far ahead while he did nothing: he drew two thirds lands in spite of removing four with a [card]Clone Shell[/card].

    In game two, after I passed turn two with no play, he traded a [card]Fume Spitter[/card] for my [card]Vedalken Certarch[/card]. I’d like to say I was holding a [card]Riddlesmith[/card], but I was just lucky enough to draw it. He played an [card]Acid Web Spider[/card] that jammed me up to a degree, but I drew enough extra cards that I was able to make it a non-factor even without drawing Arrest. First, a [card]Lumengrid Drake[/card] got it out of the way, then a [card]Neurok Replica[/card], then finally a [card]Tumble Magnet[/card] let me fly over and into the top 8.

    Round 8 – Andrew Noworaj

    6-1-1 (ID)

    As soon as I sat down, Andrew politely offered the draw. I gratefully (and also hopefully [card=Miss Demeanor]politely[/card]) accepted.

    I chatted a bit with the other people entering the Top 8 while I watched a player I know named Ken Tober take on Alex Bertocini. Though they were both very likely to make top 8, Ken wanted to play, and dispatched Alex very quickly. While I admittedly have held it against people in the past, you can’t make someone draw if they want to play a game of Magic. But in this case, it just made very little sense to me. I suppose it did work out in my favor though, as at the very least, Alex appeared to be a better player than I am, while I wasn’t sure about Ken.

    I felt pretty calm going into the Top 8 draft. To my left was Shaun Doran, an acquaintance who was likely the most accomplished player in the draft with a GP Finals finish, but aside from him I did not recognize any of the other players as having any big finishes. However, the draft ended up being a lot more challenging than I thought. I simply was way out of shape on drafts done under this level of rules enforcement, and was not prepared to keep track of the cards I selected in my head while managing the signals I was giving and receiving and also evaluating the pack itself. I had practiced a lot in the 8-4 queues, but by about halfway through pack two I felt pretty lost.

    I began the draft with a [card]Sylvok Replica[/card], with the next best card in the pack being a Plague Stinger. I then took a [card]Chrome Steed[/card] and a [card]Silver Myr[/card], then opted to take [card]Tangle Angler[/card], [card]Bellowing Tanglewurm[/card], and [card]Sylvok Lifestaff[/card]. I had passed a pair of [card]Carapace Forger[/card]s in the first couple of packs that I hoped to wheel. While they did not come back to me, I did get an [card]Untamed Might[/card] and a [card]Tel-Jilad Defiance[/card], which left me thinking I’d have an opportunity at an infect deck for pack two.

    Pack two started off well with a [card]Skinrender[/card], but veered off course when I second picked an [card]Arc Trail[/card], then further still when I was passed a [card]Spikeshot Elder[/card] third. I simply could not ignore a card of that power level, and given that my infect plan had not shaped up at all, I figured I should try for a red/green metalcraft deck. Unfortunately, I just was not able to figure out what the people around me were drafting. Pick six featured an [card]Arrest[/card], a [card]Glint Hawk[/card], and a [card]True Conviction[/card]. Pick 8 there was a [card]Corpse Cur[/card]. I managed to only get a few mediocre cards for my deck: [card]Panic Spellbomb[/card], [card]Ferrovore[/card], and [card]Strider Harness[/card].

    Pack three bailed me out a bit. I opened a [card]Trigon of Corruption[/card], then got passed a pack with [card]Darksteel Axe[/card] and… [card=Venser, the Sojourner]Venser[/card]. Seeing that the person on my right ended up in G/W, that is unbelievable. But I was in for a bigger shock when the third pick still had a [card]Carnifex Demon[/card]. I then got a [card]Shatter[/card], a [card]Horizon Spellbomb[/card], a [card]Copper Myr[/card], and an [card]Instill Infection[/card], but also got some filler cards that I was sadly in need of such as [card]Flameborn Hellion[/card] and [card]Blistergrub[/card]. Sadly, even getting those winners late left me a few cards short. I had to make due with this deck.

    [deck][Creatures]Fume Spitter
    Spikeshot Elder
    Copper Myr
    Silver Myr
    Blistergrub
    Ferrovore
    Sylvok Replica
    Blade-Tribe Berserkers
    Chrome Steed
    Corpse Cur
    Skinrender
    Carnifex Demon
    Flameborn Hellion[/Creatures]

    [Artifacts]Darksteel Axe
    Golden Urn
    Horizon Spellbomb
    Panic Spellbomb
    Sylvok Lifestaff
    Strider Harness
    Trigon of Corruption
    [/Artifacts]
    [Spells]Arc Trail
    Shatter
    Instill Infection
    Exsanguinate
    [/Spells]
    [Land]8 Swamp
    7 Mountain
    1 Forest[/Land][/deck]

    I did not play the [card]Glimmerpost[/card] listed on the Wizards website. [card]Corpse Cur[/card] and [card]Golden Urn[/card] are concessions to the fact I wanted more artifacts, and one of them ideally had to be a creature. I could have played a [card]Vector Asp[/card] instead, but preferred to skip it.

    Round 9 – Dean Bilz

    7-1-1 (2-0)

    Hopefully I can speak on behalf of Dean when I say his deck was not good. I imagine the strange signals in the draft affected most people’s decks at the table. Still his creatures included [card]Ezuri’s Archers[/card], two [card]Auriok Replica[/card]s with no obvious Metalcraft cards besides a [card]Barrage Ogre[/card], and two [card]Bloodshot Trainee[/card]s with only one observed method of pumping them (it turned that he had two). With such a mediocre group of attackers, he was unable to pressure me sufficiently before I drew my bombs to win each game. In game two, we had the unusual situation of him hitting me with 3-4 creatures at a time while he dealt 1-2 damage thanks to [card]Trigon of Corruption[/card], which I eventually negated with my [card]Golden Urn[/card].

    Round 10 – Ken Tober

    8-1-1 (2-1)

    Ken is from Buffalo like me, so we had battled a few times in the past. Our semifinals match was at the same table, but I was not able to see much of his deck except for a Volitions Reins.

    Game one I play [card]Carnifex Demon[/card] into what I presume is a counterspell because I don’t want to wait until he has [card=Volition Reins]Reins[/card] available; he doesn’t have the counterspell either, as it turns out. We traded attacks between the Demon and his [card]Sky-Eel School[/card] and [card]Darkslick Drake[/card], while I waited to remove the counters to prevent him from adding additional creatures to the board because I had nothing else in hand or on board anyway. However, I fail to draw anything else of use, and am forced to use one counter, than the other to slow his offense. A couple turns later he draws the Reins for the Demon, and I’m forced to concede.

    Game two ended up revolving around two of what were objectively the worst cards in my deck. On turn 1 I played [card]Golden Urn[/card], and on turn 3 I played [card]Blistergrub[/card]. The ‘grub didn’t die, so I started attacking with it, adding on a [card]Sylvok Lifestaff[/card] a couple turns later. Humorously, the Urn was also working to keep my afloat by undoing some of the damage I was taking from a [card]Darkslick Drake[/card]. The damage was reduced even more when I used [card]Fume Spitter[/card] to shrink the Drake (gaining 3 from the Lifestaff), and I eventually was one turn away from killing Ken with the Grub with him at 5 life, as I held an [card]Arc Trail[/card]. Unfortunately he drew his [card]Volition Reins[/card], and I thought my tournament was about to end.

    Instead, clinging on at 6 life, I drew [card]Carnifex Demon[/card]! That not only allowed me to neutralize his entire team, but let me kill my [card]Ferrovore[/card] for extra life to barely allow me to survive, after additional attacks, at 2. The board was at this point down to my Demon versus his withered fliers. I again lucked out when I drew out of the stalemate first with [card]Spikeshot Elder[/card]. He didn’t draw an answer, and I burned him out next turn thanks to my pile of equipment and the [card]Arc Trail[/card].

    This game was an incredible grind, and winning when I’d been so close to the edge energized me, and I felt I had a psychological edge going into game three. We may never know if I did have that edge though, as Ken flooded considerably while I drew several hits, including [card]Skinrender[/card] and [card]Trigon of Corruption[/card]. He was so flooded he was forced to steal the [card]Skinrender[/card] with [card=Volition Reins]Volition[/card] as it was beating him to death, but that just meant I was able to safely play my [card]Carnifex Demon[/card] that I’d been holding back. Two attacks with the demon later and I was into the finals.

    Round 11 – David Pargh

    9-1-1 (2-0)

    I have a brief moment of elation when he says he wants to split, but he’s just teasing me. I’m really just raring to go though: after winning the last match I feel unbeatable. I’m incapable of qualifying the idea of momentum, so I’m not sure how much I was helped or harmed by my good mood. But if you had to pin me down, I’d say winning such a close match and being pumped up benefited me more than my opponent sitting outside the room likely doing nothing late on a Sunday night, hours from home.

    I win the roll and draw, and keep a modest six card hand plus one [card]Golden Urn[/card]. I play the Urn and he comments that it’s actually good against him. That seems to be born out by the [card]Vulshok Replica[/card], [card]Necrogen Censer[/card], and multiple [card]Panic Spellbomb[/card]s he plays. He’s stalled on three lands though and is forced to cycle the Spellbombs away after I kill his Replica. We trade hits for a bit, but his deck really is focused on burning me out it seems, and the Urn may be legitimately harming him. He spends some [card]Galvanic Blast[/card]s on my creatures and tries for a [card]Bleak Coven Vampires[/card] (I [card]Shatter[/card] an artifact in response), but use the Urn anyway to go from 7 to 16. Eventually I use [card]Darksteel Axe[/card] to create favorable trades, take over the board, and win comfortably.

    Game two, I simply played too many good cards. My [card]Chrome Steed[/card] ate a [card]Shatter[/card], which meant the [card]Trigon of Corruption[/card] that followed was safe. [card]Carnifex Demon[/card] received two [card]Galvanic Blast[/card]s, but that just meant my other creatures were safe. I never had to play the [card]Spikeshot Elder[/card] I’d been holding since early in the game, even instead opting for the “stylish” [card]Exsanguinate[/card] kill.

    Sitting in an empty store at midnight on Monday morning was not what I had intended, but it was necessary for winning the PTQ. I did wonder a bit if I was benefited a bit in terms of endurance; the short traveling distance I’d had plus past experience with late round events seemed to benefit me, as by comparison my opponents were mentioning their own fatigue. Still, I felt strange as I got on the road back home. I had in effect won my Pro Tour, as I don’t really imagine I’ll succeed at the next level of play. But I can still find pride in what I’ve accomplished, and perhaps joy in proving myself wrong.

  • Momir Basic: A Metagame to Remember


    With the newfound popularity of the Momir Basic format, it’s worth taking a closer look at the metagame on MTGO. There are a couple of popular decklists out there, and we’ll be taking a closer look at some of them that we saw played in recent Momir DE’s.

    Where did Momir and his species come from? It’s a little known fact that his species isn’t called “The Momirs”, though that is the name of a popular sitcom made by his people.

    What we do know is that they are related to the elves, and as such they are generally tall and like to wear dresses. Like most elves, they have large, misshapen ears, but they also have large, misshapen heads, which leads some to believe that they are part of a crossbreeding experiment involving goblins, ogres, or beebles.

    Other researches believe the Momir species to be descendants of a race of super-scientists that [card=Cytoshape]sneezed, really hard[/card], [card=Cytoplast Manipulator]all over each other[/card].

    The Decklists

    These decks are from the Momir Basic Daily #1807358 which was fought on 11/24/2010.

    [deck title=The Man In Black. (4-0)][Forests]4 Forest[/Forests]
    [Islands]4 Island[/Islands]
    [Mountains]24 Mountain[/Mountains]
    [Plains]4 Plains[/Plains]
    [Swamps]24 Swamp[/Swamps][/deck]

    This is the basic “[card]Mountain[/card]s and [card]Swamp[/card]s” deck that is really tearing up the Momir tournaments. Note the light splash for [card]Forest[/card], [card]Island[/card], and [card]Plains[/card] to ensure that you can eventually pay the upkeep for any [card=Chromium]Elder Dragon Legends[/card] that show up.

    The key strategy for this deck is to slow-roll an island until the second-to-very-last moment, when it will be almost too late to play another land, but it isn’t actually too late.

    [deck title=masterofhandpuppets (4-0)][Forests]10 Forest[/Forests]
    [Islands]20 Island[/Islands]
    [Mountains]10 Mountain[/Mountains]
    [Plains]10 Plains[/Plains]
    [Swamps]10 Swamp[/Swamps][/deck]

    This deck by masterofhandpuppets is actually quite unusual in this format, since [card]Island[/card]s are considered to be a [card=Goblin Flotilla]major[/card] [card=Halimar Wavewatch]liability[/card]. However, there are ways to deal with that downside – such as the infamous [card]Gosta Dirk[/card].

    [deck title=DaKriket (4-0)][Forests]13 Forest[/Forests]
    [Islands]8 Island[/Islands]
    [Mountains]18 Mountain[/Mountains]
    [Plains]8 Plains[/Plains]
    [Swamps]13 Swamp[/Swamps][/deck]

    This aggro build plays off of the ability of [card=Coiling Woodworm]certain creatures[/card] to count the number of [card]forest[/card]s you have in the battlefield. If you play this deck, watch out for all of the bombs you’re going to be dropping on your opponent!

    Other decks you are likely to see in the queues are the even 12, 12, 12, 12, 12 split, and OopsAllForests.dec.

    More Important Considerations

    Other than the composition of basic land types, a major component in most Momir decks is the particular sub-configurations within each land type. For example, a professional Momir grinder might agonize for days about which mountains they want to put in their 15th -18th slots. You may find this article about the top 40 mountains to be invaluable while making your land-brew.

    If you’re going for a more cohesive look, I suggest picking up a Momir-Playset of Guru lands, seen above. Other fine sets include these beautiful APC lands.

    Of equal importance is to choose the correct version of the Momir Vig avatar. Early on, people only had access to the version of Momir that I know only as “Flatface Nomouthofsignificance“:

    If you are still paying X with this guy, I feel sorry for you. Next up is the famous Momir Head Beauty Shot:

    He’s a good choice in most metagames, though the mirror can be tough to play unless you have been practicing daily. Finally, there is this alternate art version that I think we can agree isn’t very good:

    Players have been clamoring for additional Momirs, and we at Good Gamery fully expect there to be more available in the future.

    Which Creatures Should I Make? Help Me… or Else!

    by llarack

    There are several schools of thought on how to play Momir optimally. There is the aggressive line (first popularized by samdsherman back on MiseTings) of making creatures at 123456 and hoping to aggro people out. This was much better in the format’s infancy, when you would have a chance to out-pace your opponent in the early game.

    The other line is to go 345678 on the play, and 2345678 on the draw, trying to maximize your chances of hitting bombs, since 1 and 2 drops are mostly terrible. I personally still like making a 2 on the play, and as a result usually choose to skip my 4 or 5.

    I also lay Mountains and Swamps first, and usually an Island by turn 6. Other people like playing a land of each type to pay for Elder Dragon Legends (the ED in EDH!), but I think it’s usually not worth it.

    Remember, Momir is a serious format that is not to be taken lightly. We are personally proud of Wizards of the Coast for stepping up and giving it the professional attention it is so deserving of.

  • Extending Tier .999 Decks

    I’ve decided to switch gears, since for most people, the next relevant Constructed format will be Extended. For those of you who do not remember, Extended used to be a very different beast. When I first started playing, Extended was Tempest -> Mirrodin, with a significant banlist to keep Urza Block in check. Now Extended is Lorwyn -> Scars of Mirrodin with M10 and M11 as legal core sets.

    As a result, a lot of reasonable Extended decks will be the old Standard decks of these past three years, with a chance for innovation by looking for cross-block synergy.

    I’ll start by considering what I think are reasonable lists for major archetypes, and discuss what other cards could be considered.



    An old boogeyman of Standard:

    [deck title=Faeries]
    [Lands]
    2 Tectonic Edge
    4 Island
    4 Sunken Ruins
    4 Secluded Glen
    4 Creeping Tar Pit
    4 Mutavault
    4 Darkslick Shores
    [/Lands]

    [Guys]
    4 Mistbind Clique
    4 Spellstutter Sprite
    4 Bitterblossom
    [/Guys]

    [Spells]
    3 Thoughtseize
    4 Preordain
    4 Cryptic Command
    4 Mana Leak
    4 Smother
    1 Doom Blade
    2 Jace Beleren
    [/Spells]
    [Sideboard]
    4 Disfigure
    4 Molten-Tail Masticore
    2 Wurmcoil Engine
    2 Spell Pierce
    2 Duress
    1 Jace Beleren
    [/Sideboard]
    [/deck]



    This Faeries list is probably a bit different from ones you have seen in the past. For one, I do not believe [card]Scion of Oona[/card] or [card]Vendilion Clique[/card] are particularly well-positioned, so I move to a more controlling Faeries build with 5 spot removal spells, and really only 4 [card]Mistbind Clique[/card], 4 [card]Bitterblossom[/card] and 8 manlands to win with.

    You are also able to board into pure UB control if necessary (vs aggressive decks). 4 [card]Molten-Tail Masticore[/card], 2 [card]Wurmcoil Engine[/card], and 4 [card]Disfigure[/card] usually come in for this plan.

    I am not 100% sold on [card]Tectonic Edge[/card], since it is another colorless land, and might be replaced by the best land in Magic: Island. Also of note, I am not sure maindeck [card]Thoughtseize[/card] is necessary, but turn 1 Thoughtseize followed by turn 2 Bitterblossom is one of the best openings Faeries can have.

    [deck title=Monored (RDW)]
    [Lands]
    3 Teetering Peaks
    2 Smoldering Spires
    20 Mountain
    [/Lands]

    [Guys]
    4 Goblin Guide
    4 Figure of Destiny
    4 Hellspark Elemental
    4 Hell’s Thunder
    4 Demigod of Revenge
    [/Guys]

    [Spells]
    3 Volcanic Fallout
    4 Lightning Bolt
    4 Flame Javelin
    4 Staggershock
    [/Spells]

    [Sideboard]
    3 Koth of the Hammer
    1 Volcanic Fallout
    4 Searing Blaze
    4 Stigma Lasher
    3 Ratchet Bomb
    [/Sideboard]
    [/deck]



    There’s not much to say about the gameplan of this deck. It is worth noting there’s a lot of room for variation in card choices ([card]Demigod of Revenge[/card] or not), since that forces you to play more lands. [card]Goblin Guide[/card] and [card]Figure of Destiny[/card] are invaluable one drops. I was even considering [card]Spikeshot Elder[/card], but realized it was probably too weak. You could also play [card]Burst Lightning[/card] as a potential burn spell, but I believe [card]Flame Javelin[/card] and [card]Staggershock[/card] are both superior here. [card]Smoldering Spires[/card] and [card]Teetering Peaks[/card] are both pseudo-spells that you can justify playing more lands for to help with Demigod as well. [card]Boggart Ram-gang[/card] is also worth consideration, but probably will not make the cut.

    [card]Stigma Lasher[/card] is a fine guy on turn 2 to disable [card]Kitchen Finks[/card], [card]Wurmcoil Engine[/card] and possibly even [card]Baneslayer Angel[/card] if he connects. [card]Ratchet Bomb[/card] lets you answer [card]Kor Firewalker[/card] and [card]Burrenton Forge-tender[/card] with relative ease. [card]Koth of the Hammer[/card] is an annoying card for Control decks to answer. [card]Searing Blaze[/card] is a great card to have in any sort of aggressive mirror. Notice that in this deck, you have to cast it as a sorcery to get value, since there are 0 fetchlands to be seen.

    [deck title=5 Color Control]
    [Lands]
    4 Reflecting Pool
    4 Creeping Tar Pit
    4 Vivid Creek
    3 Vivid Marsh
    2 Vivid Crag
    2 Vivid Meadow
    2 Sunken Ruins
    2 Cascade Bluffs
    2 Mystic Gate
    2 Island
    [/Lands]

    [Guys]
    3 Baneslayer Angel
    1 Grave Titan
    2 Plumeveil
    [/Guys]

    [Spells]
    4 Esper Charm
    4 Mana Leak
    4 Cryptic Command
    2 Volcanic Fallout
    2 Lightning Bolt
    3 Doom Blade
    2 Cruel Ultimatum
    2 Negate
    2 Day of Judgment
    2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
    [/Spells]

    [Sideboard]
    4 Great Sable Stag
    1 Volcanic Fallout
    2 Identity Crisis
    1 Negate
    1 Day of Judgment
    4 Duress
    2 Runed Halo
    [/Sideboard]
    [/deck]



    I played in quite a few PTQs with this deck while it was legal in Standard. Not much has changed since then. You play the best spells at the top end, stapled together with a reasonably good manabase and removal spells. There’s quite a few ways to build this deck as well. You could build it as a very planeswalker heavy build with [card]Ajani Vengeant[/card] and [card]Jace Beleren[/card], though he is often overshadowed by his big brother (Twin? Future self?) now. There’s any number of removal spells you could play, including [card]Path to Exile[/card], [card]Condemn[/card], and more [card]Plumeveils[/card].



    In short, I am hesitant to really give you an exact build of this deck that I would be comfortable playing 100% until we see what happens at Worlds next weekend. This build should give you a good starting point for your own 5CC ideas, though.


    Another boogeyman:
    [deck title=Aggro Jund]
    [Lands]
    4 Verdant Catacombs
    2 Forest
    2 Swamp
    1 Mountain
    4 Raging Ravine
    4 Twilight Mire
    3 Blackcleave Cliffs
    2 Copperline Gorge
    2 Savage Lands
    2 Reflecting Pool
    [/Lands]

    [Guys]
    4 Putrid Leech
    2 Sygg, River Cutthroat
    4 Boggart Ram-gang
    4 Kitchen Finks
    4 Bloodbraid Elf
    2 Chameleon Colossus
    [/Guys]

    [Spells]
    3 Terminate
    3 Maelstrom Pulse
    4 Lightning Bolt
    4 Blightning
    [/Spells]

    [Sideboard]
    4 Great Sable Stag
    3 Volcanic Fallout
    4 Thoughtseize
    4 Anathemancer
    [/Sideboard]
    [/deck]



    This is probably a much more aggressive build of Jund than most of you are used to. It was called Jund Blood at GP Seattle (in 2008) and there was a 5 color build of it that splashed [card]Cryptic Command[/card] and [card]Cruel Ultimatum[/card]. You are able to aggressively curve out as well as back up that curve with efficient removal, and also burn your opponent to draw cards off [card]Sygg, River Cutthroat[/card] during their turn. This deck is not quite as good at grinding people out as builds with [card] Bituminous Blast[/card], but it still has [card]Blightning[/card] and [card]Sygg, River Cutthroat[/card] as sources of card advantage.



    You could also consider: Bitterblossom as an additional 2 drop (somewhat slow), maindecking [card]Great Sable Stag[/card] as an addition or to replace a three drop. The sideboard could also probably use some work after we see what occurs next weekend.


    Not quite as big of a boogeyman, but still seeing some play:
    [deck title=Merfolk]
    [Lands]
    4 Seachrome Coast
    4 Celestial Colonnade
    4 Mutavault
    4 Wanderwine Hub
    4 Mystic Gate
    4 Island
    [/Lands]

    [Guys]
    4 Merfolk Sovereign
    4 Merrow Reejerey
    4 Coralhelm Commander
    2 Sygg, River Guide
    4 Silvergill Adept
    4 Cursecatcher
    4 Grand Architect
    [/Guys]

    [Spells]
    4 Cryptic Command
    4 Mana Leak
    2 Path to Exile
    [/Spells]

    [Sideboard]
    4 Sower of Temptation
    4 Negate
    2 Path to Exile
    4 Burrenton Forge-Tender
    1 Ranger of Eos
    [/sideboard]
    [/deck]



    I personally have not done a lot of work on this archetype – this list is merely a tweaked list from a recent magic-league first place showing. Merfolk has always nipped at Faeries’ heels, but has generally been regarded to be worse overall. However, it does have the advantage of having tons of creatures that pump the Merfolk, making it generally better in creature on creature matchups, as well as having access to [card]Cryptic Command[/card] for fogs/falters.

    Other cards to consider: [card]Molten-Tail Masticore[/card] is a great card that gives you ways to kill them out of the combat zone, and also lets you be slightly more resilient to [card]Day of Judgment[/card]. [card]Reveillark[/card] is a card that gives you resilience to removal heavy decks. I have also seen [card]Sage’s Dousing[/card] over [card]Mana Leak[/card], but I think that it doesn’t have enough of an upside for being on the wrong spot in the curve – especially after cutting the weak [card]Stonybrook Banneret[/card].


    [deck title=GW Trap Ramp]
    [Lands]
    3 Razorverge Thicket
    1 Sejiri Steppe
    1 Mutavault
    2 Mosswort Bridge
    6 Forest
    1 Plains
    4 Verdant Catacombs
    3 Misty Rainforest
    4 Windbrisk Heights
    1 Stirring Wildwood
    [/Lands]

    [Guys]
    4 Noble Hierarch
    4 Birds of Paradise
    4 Lotus Cobra
    4 Primeval Titan
    4 Knight of the Reliquary
    4 Nest Invader
    3 Baneslayer Angel
    3 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
    [/Guys]

    [Spells]
    4 Summoning Trap
    [/Spells]

    [Sideboard]
    4 Kitchen Finks
    4 Burrenton Forge-Tender
    1 Tectonic Edge
    1 Bojuka Bog
    2 Gaddock Teeg
    3 Ranger of Eos
    [/Sideboard]
    [/deck]


    This deck is an evolution of Zvi’s Mythic deck for PT Amsterdam. Its plan A is to Hideaway an [card]Emrakul, the Aeons Torn[/card] and get it out with a [card]Primeval Titan[/card] or by activating [card]Knight of the Reliquary[/card] in the case of [card]Mosswort Bridge[/card], or simply attacking with your small guys for [card]Windbrisk Heights[/card]. It’s worth noting that [card]Mutavault[/card] can help activate the [card=Mosswort Bridge]bridge[/card] when you have [card]Primeval Titan[/card] plus another 2-power creature. Plan B is to cast [card]Baneslayer Angel[/card] / [card]Primeval Titan[/card] and just swing with them, or hardcast [card=Emrakul, the Aeons Torn]Emrakul[/card] later in the game. I would believe that this deck is pretty favored vs everything that does not have a lot of burn or [card=Day of Judgment]sweepers[/card].

    I am hesitant to mess with this deck too much, since there’s not a lot of room to sideboard cards in or out, and the deck seems very focused as it is.

    And finally, a deck after kingcobweb’s own heart:
    [deck title=Elf Combo]
    [Lands]
    4 Razorverge Thicket
    6 Forest
    1 Plains
    1 Mosswort Bridge
    4 Wooded Bastion
    4 Sunpetal Grove
    [/Lands]

    [Guys]
    1 Ezuri, Renegade Leader
    4 Joraga Treespeaker
    4 Elvish Archdruid
    4 Regal Force
    4 Ranger of Eos
    4 Elvish Visionary
    4 Llanowar Elves
    4 Nettle Sentinel
    4 Heritage Druid
    2 Joraga Warcaller
    1 Burrenton Forge-Tender
    [/Guys]

    [Spells]
    4 Primal Command
    [/Spells]

    [Sideboard]
    4 Vengevine
    4 Great Sable Stag
    3 Burrenton Forge-Tender
    2 Dauntless Escort
    2 Acidic Slime
    [/Sideboard]
    [/deck]



    This deck still seems relatively powerful and resilient to whatever hate people throw its way, especially with the introduction of [card]Vengevine[/card] as a viable board card. For those of you may not know, you can loop [card]Primal Command[/card] if you get your library small enough (courtesy of [card]Regal Force[/card]) by casting Primal Command to shuffle your graveyard in (including the [card]Primal Command[/card] that was already in your yard) and search for another Regal Force. At this point you can shuffle and put their lands on top of their deck if necessary or just get an [card]Ezuri, Renegade Leader[/card] or [card]Joraga Warcaller[/card] to kill them with.



    Other cards to consider: [card]Arbor Elf[/card] is another [card]Llanowar Elves[/card], although you would have to put more Forests in the deck. [card]Eldrazi Monument[/card] can serve as another win condition as well as giving you protection vs sweepers. I am not sure about [card]Acidic Slime[/card] in the sideboard, but I think it is worth having access to in case if someone shows up with a crazy [card]Platinum Angel[/card] or [card]Platinum Emperion[/card] that you otherwise cannot beat.


    As a bonus, I will share the current standard deck I’ve been grinding with:
    [deck title=Valakut Ramp]
    [Lands]
    4 Verdant Catacombs
    2 Terramorphic Expanse
    2 Evolving Wilds
    5 Forest
    10 Mountain
    1 Swamp
    4 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
    [/Lands]

    [Guys]
    4 Overgrown Battlement
    4 Primeval Titan
    2 Avenger of Zendikar
    2 Gaea’s Revenge
    1 Wurmcoil Engine
    [/Guys]

    [Spells]
    4 Khalni Heart Expedition
    4 Growth Spasm
    4 Explore
    4 Summoning Trap
    3 Lightning Bolt
    [/Spells]

    [Sideboard]
    4 Memoricide
    1 Lightning Bolt
    4 Pyroclasm
    3 Nature’s Claim
    3 Obstinate Baloth
    [/Sideboard]
    [/deck]


    The deck is not very innovative, but it is very strong at doing its own thing – which is to spit out huge threats early and finish people with [card]Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle[/card] triggers or Plant Tokens. You could probably justify cutting the [card]Wurmcoil Engine[/card] for a 3rd [card]Avenger of Zendikar[/card], as well as putting the 4th [card]Lightning Bolt[/card] back in for it. Otherwise, I am really happy with this list so far and feel good about its matchups except for the mirror (which is a [card=Game of Chaos]direct[/card] [card=Mana Clash]coin[/card][card=Krark’s Thumb]flip[/card]).


    I hope this article has been enlightening, and as usual, feel free to leave comments in the forums or to PM me.



    –llarack

  • Buttery Effigy

  • Creampuff Engine

  • Lorescale Coat

  • Sword of Rainbow and Rainbow