Re-Evaluating How to Play Magic (or going back to square one)

Last Friday at FNM, after having been very frustrated at my results at the TCG Player event, I took a long hard look at myself, my play-style and decided i needed to either get better or get out.  First thing I decided was that I need to become more aware of the board state, and also read my cards.  These are two small details that can lead to big change.  I know it sounds really stupid to have to tell my/yourself to look at the board state and to read your cards, but its that simple.  If you aren't paying attention, you will miss out on something so minute that it could be the difference between winning and losing.  After close consideration I decided to stop running the ultra competitive decks for the time being, I really enjoyed playing the Aristocrats deck and the newest American Midrange was fun, but I feel that in order to hone my craft, I need to take a different approach, given that my FNM is not ultra competitive and most of the stuff run is low cost, kitchen table kind of decks.  So with that in mind, I built a new deck that started off as a mono red, but then decided to splash green and add two Domri Rade to the main board.  So here's a rundown of what I was running.  I don't remember what the original sideboard was, but given all the graveyard shenanigans that are going on at my FNM, I've already made changes

Main Board

4   Rootbound Crag

18 Mountains

4   Thundermaw Hellkite

4   Hellrider

4   Stromkirk Noble

3   Rakdos Cackler

3   Vexing Devil

4   Burning Tree Emissary

1   Boros Reckoner

2   Domri Rade

4   Bonfire of the Damned

1   Mizzium Mortars

4   Searing Spear

4   Pilar of Flame

Sideboard

4   Grafdiggers Cage

3   Ash Zealot

3   Boros Reckoner
1   Staff of Nin

4   Brimstone Volley


I think I need to change the sideboard up a bit, drop to 2 cages, and add in another Staff of Nin and then the fourth Ash Zealot.  I also think, if I'm going to run Reckoner, it needs to be at least a 2 of, if not 3 of.  Also was looking at Archwing Dragon in the 4 spot, since he's not targetable by sorcery speed removal...

So, What do you think?  Oh, I guess I should report how it performed...

Current Record
3-1

And here's the breakdown:

Round 1 - Naya Wolves, Game 1 he dropped a Wandering wolf and the dropped 2 rancors on it, but he couldn't keep up with the hellrider bonus damage.  Game 2 ramped into two Thundermaw Hellkites, Hellrider and a Burning Tree Emissary. 1-0

Round 2 - Bant Reanimator - This was a tough matchup, I had no graveyard hate, and once thragtusk hit, the extra lifegain was just too much for me to combat.  I did take out thragtusk with a searing spear, but he just reanimated and thats 5 more life, had a hard time getting ramped up to 5 and drawing a hellkite.  1-1

Round 3 - Orzhov Extort deck, this one went to  3 games, in game two I kept a 2 lander and didnt see more land until turn 5, extort can be very nasty (or very beneficial if your extorting).  2-1

Round 4 - The Aristocrats, this one also went to three, but sadly I never saw him drop a Falkenrath Aristocrat, but man those Skirsdag High Priests scare me, so they were handily destroyed before any shenanigans could go off.  I have to say looking at the top card with Domri really makes it nice, esp if you find that creature...  3-1

Only loss was to reanimator, and the sideboard has been modified to try to combat that.

Dragon's Maze on the Horizon

With pre-release events starting next Friday, and the set releasing the next week, it feels like only yesterday we were all stoked about Gatecrash and the Boros Legion.  Now we're on the cusp of the next release and all the new cards that are going to set the current meta on its head (possibly).  The more I think about this the more I have to wonder how many more shocklands will I get, what is the change to the packs going to do to the pricing of those lands, and will I actually play with Guild Gates?

Given that this was a small set, the spoiler season was much shorter than on the larger sets, but I feel like they've been awesome, there are some real standout cards, at least for me, I'm loving Master of Cruelties, Obzedat's Aid, and Dragonshift (I really lean toward Orzhov lately).

I know there are a ton more that have been revealed through Reddit and of course via official channels, but these are the ones I see myself messing with.  I love that the guild Champions (maze runners) are just rares and not mythics, so we should see a lot of them hitting the boards at FNM and tournament level.  We all know that the weekend the set hits, all the pro players who have sponsorship from the big sites will have all they need of any of these new cards. 

How do you do it when you play the week of a new set, do you hit your shop before FNM and get your cards to start modifying your existing decks or will you hit as many pre-releases you can so you have a good assortment of cards before release?  Me I try to hit at least 2-3 pre-releases and then I usually take the older stuff to that FNM and spend the weekend working though my new stuff and then the following week take some new brew, I'll also be keeping an eye on tournaments that weekend to see what the pros are slinging.  How much product to you buy?  Are you a completionist?  Do you buy singles and just draft the rest of the set out?

Look forward to hearing from you all

As always any content posted on this blog is TM and Copyright to its original owners.

Wizards of the Coast, Magic: The Gathering, and their logos are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast LLC in the United States and other countries. © 2009 Wizards. All Rights Reserved.
This blog is not affiliated with, endorsed, sponsored, or specifically approved by Wizards of the Coast LLC. This blog may use the trademarks and other intellectual property of Wizards of the Coast LLC, which is permitted under Wizards' Fan Site Policy.
For more information about Wizards of the Coast or any of Wizards' trademarks or other intellectual property, please visit their website at (www.wizards.com).

A Poor Day at the TCG Player 5k (or man do I really suck at this game)

Those who've been following know that I've been playing Magic again for a little better than a year (plus the 2+ years I played in college around Revised, Ice Age, and on up through Weatherlight).  I admit, I'm not the best player, but I have fun.  But after going to a tourney and going 0-4-drop I just felt a huge punch in the gut, that maybe I don't know what I'm doing, and I need to figure out how to remedy that.  First let me say this and I really mean it;

I'm fat, I sweat, but I don't stink...There was so much nerd funk at the event that in some instances it made my nauseous.  Everyone gets hot, and sweaty, but for the love of Orzhov please put some damned deodorant on.  There is no excuse for a grown person, who can drive and spend the money to buy and play this game to smell like that.  You give us nerds the bad name that we've had to deal with forever, don't perpetuate this.  Next event, whether its TCG or Star City, I think you guys should team up with Old Spice or Axe, or whoever and hand out samples, maybe it will sink in, but hey, it probably won't.

So on to the tournament, first let me say the setup was crazy at first, there were two lines, but no one really knew what to do, there was a slight lack of communication early, but then as more judges arrived, that changed.  I know the TO, but I made the suggestion that they get a bullhorn or some type of amplified mic to make announcements, b/c the noise level pretty much killed anything they said after about the 3rd row of tables, oh and there were 308-309 players, so it was well beyond expectations and that was awesome, which means I assume the tourney turned a profit (308*$30/person - $5k in prizes = money leftover...), so I expect that means they'll bring it back again sometime.

So on to the matches...
Every person I played in the 4 rounds before I dropped were incredibly nice, personable and talkative.  I was worried I'd wind up playing mouth breathing neck-beards all day who could not carry on a conversation with anyone outside of the mouse in their pocket.  But everyone was cool, from the guy who said he'd only been playing 2 weeks running the American Midrange deck to the seasoned player who drove all night from Houston to come play.

I was running The Aristocrats (pretty much the Conley Woods version from last month), in round 1 I got paired with a guy playing American Midrange.  Game 1 I made the biggest boner I could make, I cast Blasphemous Act and not thinking about the Boros Reckoner he had on the board, took 13 to the face and then got Searing Speared and Pillar of Flamed.  On to game 2, a little smoother, we're volleying damage back and forth and then I look at life totals I'm at 15, he's at 11...Harvest Pyre for 12 into a searing spear for the win.

0-1

Round 2
Guess what, another American Midrange deck, game one I was on an aggro tear with my Falkenrath Aristocrat and two Boros Reckoners, then they get detentionsphered, but I get Sorin out, pump him a little and then take his Gideon with 5 counters, get to swing a couple of times before he spheres him too, then its like 5 turns of nothing but land and I'm done.  On to game two, this game was over before I could do anything, I was totally flooded with mana, and just had no responses.

0-2

Round 3
Guy called his deck Jund Vampires, it really looked cool, I wish I could have gotten a breakdown on it, I'd like to play it at FNM.  I don't have a lot of notes on this one, but I remember it going fast.

0-3

Round 4
Naya Humans, this one was crazy, silverblade paladin paired with Wolfir silverheart dealt 12 damage and wow, I had no response.  Game two I took a win with a turn four Falkenrath Aristocrat and Boros Reckoner.  Game three he took it with some early Burning Tree Emmisarys and Mayor of Avabrook.

After this my other two friends and I were all 0-4, 0-4, and 1-3 respectively and we mutually agreed to quit and go drown our sorrows in pizza and play some Cards Against Humanity (which had us all laughing our asses off all night).

Losings not fun, but if I learned one thing this weekend its to look at the cards in play, be mindful of what I'm doing, and know when to mulligan and pile shuffle.  Hoping it gets better, I'm already brewing up some new deck ideas, don't want to spoil incase anyone I play actually reads this.

Until next time.

FNM Shenanigans (or Selesnyagans)

So, I took the Selesnya decklist from last weeks post to FNM, and I have to say I was really disappointed, it play-tested great, but I didn't account for all the random jank that my LGS has running, all in all the deck finished 1-3, which after thinking about it, most of the onus for those loses falls to me, I was so focused and thinking about the $5k tournament, that I really wasn't paying as much attention as I should have been.  I underutilized my mulligans, and then one match I just got so fed up with the guy I was playing, b/c he kept milling me and putting my mana in the graveyard, or severing my dorks, I just got tired of it and scooped halfway through game two.  A quick breakdown of the four matches follows.

Round 1
Played against a GW, started out with 3 mana in hand, and then proceeded to not draw any more, opponent dropped Champion of the Parish turn 1, Mayor of Avabruck turn two, and Rancor turn three, then it was just some cheap 1 drop humans to pump the Champ, and I was overwhelmed.  Game 2, mulliganed to 6, kept a 2 land hand (my mistake), no mana dorks, took me till turn 4 to draw a land, and by then he was ramped and slamming me down.

0-1

Round 2
Boros Battalion matchup
This match was over before it could begin, again had mana problems, I've got to get the mulligan art figured out, but with battalion triggers on every creature, by the time he had 3 out, I just couldn't stop him.  Game 2 was about the same, just couldn't stop the beat down.  This deck looks fast and fun, I may have to build one of my own.

0-2

Round 3
RWG Thragtusk/Restoration Angel
Was acually able to get through and deal damage, the mana dorks hit right on turn 1 and got in for damage quick and early with no response, finished him off 2-0, seems my opponent had been plagued by my mana issues from earlier...

1-2

Round 4
Played blue/black cheap crap - Duskmantle Seer and Nightveil Spector.  Basically with all his tricks, he was discarding all my land, and severing my creatures, so I dont have a lot to say, other than it was a miserable loss.

I got this deck from Bryan Fry over at Nerdivores MTG podcast, he's 9-1 with this deck at 2 FNM's, I must have been doing something wrong, our the meta at my store is just crazy, but I think I know that is true.  What has this taught me?  Not every deck that looks good, and has a strong play record will do well everywhere.

Oh, and it's spoiler season, I've seen more posts on FB about spoiled cards, and it seems the majority of these are coming out of reddit (the asscrack of the internet).  I'll work up a new post with a few of the cards that I think are going to be game changers.  For now you can look at the official Wizards spoiler page here.

The big $5k tcgplayer tournament is Saturday in Farmers Branch, if you read this and your there, be sure to say hello!

Grrr...Nerd rage!

So another FNM has come and gone.  I'm frustrated that I didn't have the best night, with a record of 2-2 with the Aristocrats, my losses came to a green/white aggro with mayor of avabruck, and some very lucky oblivion rings.  The other loss came in game 4 to a guy who has been running the same deck since AVR, tokens featuring favorable winds and Intangible virtue, so basically with no removal on my end I couldn't stop the onslaught of spirit tokens.  I guess I'm just ready to see some new stuff, so I may have to try the other store in town, as the meta at my store doesn't seem to be changing much.  That or I may switch to my red deck wins...

Well, It's Friday...so what are you running

First, let me apologize for the lack of posts, it was Spring Break, and that meant a whirlwind tour for my daughter of the Grandparents back home in Arkansas.  Did get to play a little Dining Room Magic, and hit up my old LGS and chat it up with the owner.

Another Friday is upon us.  Try as I might, I didn't get a new deck put together, but I have three ready and will probably wind up running The Aristocrats.  It's taken me 3-1 in my last two events, so I hate to trash it already.  But, with all the Junk/Jund Midrange thats been topping the charts lately, its making me think I need to try something new.  Have to see where the meta is tonight, most of the guys I play with do not brew a lot of new stuff regularly (every 3-4 weeks depending on how they play).

That's all I got for now...oh wait, I did come across this in my other feeds...

Shoutout to Frank at TCGPlayer.com for posting this, "(Frank) Straight from a slide at Pax East this weekend, check out this Duels of the Planeswalkers 2014 preview! Typically cards that make it into Duels of the Planeswalkers also represent cards from the latest core set. Could a printing of Shadowborn Demon be on the horizon? This guy seems like a pretty solid "Shriekmaw" once you meet his second condition."

As always any content posted on this blog is TM and Copyright to its original owners.

Wizards of the Coast, Magic: The Gathering, and their logos are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast LLC in the United States and other countries. © 2009 Wizards. All Rights Reserved.
This blog is not affiliated with, endorsed, sponsored, or specifically approved by Wizards of the Coast LLC. This blog may use the trademarks and other intellectual property of Wizards of the Coast LLC, which is permitted under Wizards' Fan Site Policy.
For more information about Wizards of the Coast or any of Wizards' trademarks or other intellectual property, please visit their website at (www.wizards.com).

No FNM This Week

Spending this week out of town with family, and although I brought my decks, I don't think I can sweet talk my mom into babysitting the toddler for 4+ hours while I go play cards.  I'll just have to hit it heavy next week when I'm back home.  Did get about 7 games in with all three of my decks and I actually beat my friend in every match, he played the same deck though (he's more into Vintage, Legacy and Modern; than playing Standard).  So I feel bad laying a beat down, but historically he's always beat me when we play, so I feel slightly vindicated.

That's all for now, and on a side note, if you're not watching The Walking Dead on Thursday nights in Black and White, you are missing out.

Friday Night Magic - 3/1/13

So, I headed out to the LGS for FNM this week, with a new deck, I cannot take credit for it, I built Paul Rietzl's aristocrats deck that he and Sam Black put together.  I have to admit this is quite a powerful little brew.  I did make one modification, I  put the Obzedat, Ghost  Council into the main and removed the Cartel Aristocrats, and added one more card, Gather the Townsfolk.  Was super stoked to play, it's been about a month since I made it to an FNM, so I hadn't really seen what the meta was doing with the introduction of Gatecrash.  I saw several mono-red (red deck wins).  My night consisted of round one playing against a blue/black Augur of Bolas/Nephalia Drownyard brew that eventually had me milling out in game 2, but game three got really hasty and I dropped Falkenrath Aristocrat on turn four paired with Silverblade Paladin for the win.

As you can see, swinging for 8 each turn is awesome, and even better if you have a Knight of Infamy on the board as well (Exalted can be sneaky).

Game two was a random deck with blue/black/green and conjurers closet, which midway through the game we were informed my opponent was using wrong since he was trying to blink the same creature twice when he had to closets on the board.  Due to not calling it out I was unable to roll back his life total that thanks to blinking thragtusk 4 times was now 36.  So, this match went to game 3 and I pulled out a W 2-1 as his confidence got rattled after the judge called him out.

Game three was my only loss of the night, it was mono-black zombies, and I just couldn't keep up, between Blood Artist and Gravecrawler (who always comes back...).  I just wasn't fast enough or didnt have the right mana combination, or I would tap the wrong colors and be one short.  So it was a fast 0-2 loss on that one.

Game four was quick, went up against a Green/Blue (I say it was aggro, b/c man it was fast with all those mana dorks).  Running Champion of Lambholt and Infinite Reflection, I actually let this guy cheat and when he mirror imaged, I wasn't paying attention and his images came in with the counters on them.  However thanks to the ghost council and the Silverblade paladin, swinging for 10 each time was brutal.  Got the W, 2-1.

So that was my first FNM trying to do the blog, I will try much harder to have better notes on my opponents and maybe some pics from the evening.  If you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear em.

Keep your mana free and have a great week!

Oh and here's the link to the Aristocrats deck, and the other top 8 from Pro Tour Montreal