Hey, guys and gals, thanks for the outpouring of participation in the dialogue about lousy PTQ environments and the need for change. I did not expect that kind of response, not at all. Must’ve touched a nerve.
We’ve got Wizards’ ear (via Helene Bergeot). Hopefully they’ll put the finger on ’em and we’ll see some sweet new futuristic PTQ locations with tons of space, clean tables, moldless non-crumbling walls, and friendly staff! Thanks for all the questions, comments, emails, Facebook messages, and Tweets. I’m grateful to be a part of this community. Let’s keep this up, keep reporting on shitty locations for tournaments, and keep the pressure on these guys to make things sweet.
Now, this week’s quick run-through:
Monday Night Legacy at Twenty Sided—I went with Shardless BUG, aka my favorite deck of all time.
Shardless BUG
Round One vs Hipsters of the Coast Founder Zac Clark’s UR Delver
Zac and I had some lopsided games. Game one I probably fucked up and lost hard as a result. Game two he played an Underground Sea that I Wasteland’d. Zac didn’t draw another land for 100 years. Game three I cast Thoughtseize and he had two True-Name Nemesis and a land. Yikes. I didn’t find a way to deal with True-Name fast enough and lost the match. Of note: Zac’s build has four Snapcaster Mage (in place of Young Pyromancer) in it. Snapcaster basically won game one on its own (with flashback buddies, duh).
Round Two vs. Blake’s UW Delver
Blake, however, had his True-Name Nemesis dealt with. I cascaded into a Golgari Charm when he was tapped out. It was awesome.
Round Three vs. Dane’s Death and Taxes
Dane drew tons of lands. He thought he had me with a the ol’ Mirran Crusader trick (you know, playing a Mirran Crusader against a deck with black and green creatures) but Toxic Deluge got’em.
Round Four vs Sam’s BUG Control
Direct quote: “Matchups like this are really hard for me,” Sam. His deck struggled and I won through sick card advantage and awesome creatures and whatever. We didn’t do much in our games. He Sensei’s Divining Top’d a bunch. I always enjoy playing Sam as he talks deck tech with me afterwards and is a non-tilty posi bro. The more non-tilty posi bros and ladies I play Magic against the better my Magic experience is. Stay Posi.
Tuesday Night Modern with Owling Mine
Mike Simpson recommended this deck to me and it draws tons of cards so I got excited and bought the $45 worth of ingredients I was missing.
Owling Mine
| Maindeck (60) 4 Kami of the Crescent Moon 4 Simian Spirit Guide 4 Boomerang 4 Ebony Owl Netsuke 4 Eye of Nowhere 4 Howling Mine 4 Remand 1 Twincast 4 Exhaustion 4 Temple Bell 3 Sudden Impact 2 Time Warp 12 Island 4 Scalding Tarn 2 Steam Vents | Sideboard (15) 4 Autochthon Wurm 3 Blood Moon 4 Hibernation 4 Nourishing Shoal |
Round One vs Lukas’s Mono Blue Ninja Deck
Dang. I watched Travis Woo play this thing just two days ago. Lukas got me in three. The combination of drawing well, killing my cards that draw us cards AFTER he’s drawn his card, and powerful creatures is hard to beat. Game two I was able to win by casting Sudden Impact. That was awesome. Game three I didn’t get past two lands.
Round Two vs. Bye
I always seriously kick this guy’s ass. I am 69-o against him life time. He never lets me take his picture.
Round Three vs. Mario’s Jund Deck
Mario Terminated my Kami before it helped me (and after it helped him). He killed any card draw source, kept his hand size down with Liliana, and man it was miserable. Game two I mulled a bunch and never got past two lands.
Round Four vs. Lebron’s Melira Pod
For some reason, probably my need to fill space in this article, I didn’t drop after round three. Lebron also didn’t drop and earned his prize packs or store credit or whatever. By earned I mean my deck drew all lands game one and two total lands game two.
I will never play Owling Mine again.
Lately I’ve been staring at the No Arch lists on mtgo-stats.com. There’s a BUG list I like and I’m leaning back towards Jund (with white). I dunno. Lots of testing and metagame observing prepping for the summer’s Modern PTQ season.
I’m about to get on a flight to Rochester for the holidays so I’ll leave you here. Happy whatever pagan-based religious or secular celebration you’re participating in this week. I hope Krampus is good to you.
Thanks for reading.
Much love to all,
Matt
MTGO: The_Obliterator
Twitter: @Die_Obliterator
Artist, cheerleader. Matt started playing at the end of The Dark, hit his stride during Mirage block, and quit Magic after finding booze, drugs, and sex during freshman year of art school. In 2011 or 2012 Twenty Sided Store opened eight blocks from Matt’s apartment in Williamburg, Brooklyn. He kept his distance for a few months due to fear of the game’s power over him but eventually caved. Matt’s main MTG interests are Unhinged lands and constructed formats. Power and Toughness is his weekly summation/journal article and he writes an Arting Around article now and then.
PS—If you’re buying Magic related gifts for your Constructed Magic friends buy them any of the original dual lands. Pool your resources. Especially the blue ones. Every Constructed player really just wants to be playing Legacy and the lands put a lot of decks out of reach for a lot of players. So, help them out. Give the gift that keeps on giving: original dual lands. They can buy the sleeves with their own money 😉