Prerelease Reborn

I declined going to the GPT in Lacey (which, although it was 13 people, would not have been an easy GPT to take down, as the Top 4 was Greg Peloquin, McDoogle, Kent Ketter, and Dwayne St. Arnould), and instead went to the premier Alara Reborn prerelease.

I played in two flights: one with an absolutely sick base Naya deck:

1 Wild Nacatl
1 Cylian Elf
1 Naya Battlemge
1 Topan Ascetic
1 Jund Battlemage
1 Court Archers
1 Bloodbraid Elf
1 Rhox Brute
1 Gloryscale Viashino
1 Mosstodon
1 Deadshot Minotaur
1 Pale Recluse
1 Igneous Pouncer

1 Magma spray
1 Necrogenesis
1 Colossal Might
2 Sangrite Backlash
2 Resounding Thunder
1 Naya Charm
1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
1 Vengeful Rebirth (absolutely retarded)

2 Veinfire Borderpost
15 basic lands (I think it involved 1 Swamp, 4 Plains, 5 Forest, and 5 Mountain)

The match I lost I was tight on white mana both games. :(

The next sealed flight I thought was a very bad deck with infinite multi-colored bears, mediocre fixing that I needed to stretch for to get Terminate and Bituminous Blast as my only removal, but it had Battlegrace Angel. I 3-0-1'd that, thanks to drawing Woolly Thoctar mana like a champion.

It was interesting seeing the more casual players come out, asking questions like if deathtouch works on a guy with shroud. I've been so immersed in the competitive scene at places like First Pick where the large majority of players have/could have PTQ Top 8 experience. Charles Dupont made an interesting comment that he was baffled by how many people play cards and then don't know what's going to happen next, and that he couldn't fathom not thinking ahead to what's going to happen when the other guys plays removal/attacks/plays another guy. On the other hand, I'm sure a casual player wouldn't be able to understand why a competitive player would get so upset when an opponent gets lucky on a play that works less often than the optimal play if you ran it 100 times. It's a very clear distinction between playing Magic to win and playing Magic for fun/not trying to win.

If you're not playing Broodbraid Elf, you're wrong

So I've tried a couple of ideas for new T2, all of which involve Bloodbraid Elf. The title of this post might be an exaggeration, but not by much. It is nuts.

There are at least a couple of honest beatdown strategies with the new set that aren't mid-rangey at all like Cruise and BW Tokens are. And by honest, I mean playing a 3/2 haste man on T2, or a 3/2 haste man on turn 3-4 that puts a 5/4 into play.

One good point about Bloodbraid Elf is the other hottest card in the set, Meddling Mage, might be the best solution to that card, spot removal be damned. Not sure what deck it can fit in, or if it fits into a new Solution type of deck.

In the deck I like right now, I want to make Knight of the Reliquary work, since tutoring Windbrisk Heights seems really good, but it is awfully shitty to spend your first three mana on a 2/2 when it could be a 3/2 persist or a 5/4. I wish there were fetch lands!

Anyway, I'll probably proxy up this pet deck for tomorrow's prerelease to battle anyone who's ready to battle. It's probably the end of the road for Kithkin as decks have gotten faster.

GPT Seattle at Games & Gizmos - Finals

Finals: Martin Goldman-Kirst (Five-Color Control) vs. Michael Dipetrillo (Five-Color Control)

Michael led off the finals of the Grand Prix Trial with a Vivid Creek, as did Martin, and they began the classical Control-on-Control mirror match by playing lands and passing.

Eventually, Martin played an Esper Charm on his end step, and then had to pitch a Wall of Reverence at end step, which Michael sarcastically dubbed “Wall of Relevance”. After Michael evoked a Mulldrifter on his own turn, Martin played an Ajani Vengeant and started powering him up and stunting Michael’s mana.

With Ajani Vengeant at 6, Michael evoked another Mulldrifter and played a land and pitched Plumeveil, another very dead card. With Ajani at 7, Michael played a main phase Volcanic Fallout to keep it off his ultimate. Martin kept playing land and keeping Michael’s land tapped down.

With Ajani Vengeant at 7, Michael end step tried to bounce Ajani with Cryptic Command, which Martin responded with his own Cryptic Command. Michael Broken Ambitioned for 4, which Martin paid for. Michael revealed his own Ajani Vengeant off the clash.

Martin: “Awkward!”
Michael: “I’m keeping, heh.”

Michael played the top card of his library and legend ruled Martin’s. Martin responded with Broodmate Dragon on his turn which resolved and made a Red Dragon friend. Michael played a Plumeveil at end step.

With 6 cards in Martin’s hand, Michael made his own Broodmate Dragon, which Martin tried to Crytpic, but met Broken Ambitions (This Broken Ambitions was not as hot for either player as the last one.)

Martin made his 11th land with Michael with only 2 up, but he opted not to do anything. Michael went into the red zone with his team and Martin opted to trade, and both players started playing Draw-Go again.

With 13 lands, Martin resolved another Broodmate Dragon. All Michael did was end step Esper Charm to draw cards. Michael matched him on lands and made Wall of Reverence which was main phase Terrored. Martin attacked, did 4, and traded a token for a Plumeveil and passed, and Michael played another Esper Charm to try and win the card advantage war.

With no creatures left in play on his own side, Michael traded Wrath of God for Broodmate Dragon and the board was back at equilibrium and Draw-Go ensued. After a couple of passes, Martin yelled “Screw it!” and made a Wall of Reverence and started gaining life. On his next turn he made a Mulldrifter and filled up his hand. Mulldrifter got in for damage, putting Michael at 12.

Michael asked to Evoke a Mulldrifter and was allowed, and he passed the turn. Michael went to 10, Martin got slaphappy when he commented that he had 17 lands to Michael’s 18. On Mulldrifter’s next attack, Michael Terrored it. On his main phase, he played a Mulldrifter, and Martin drew end step off of Esper Charm, played Volcanic Fallout, putting the score to 23-8, and Michael opted to Esper Charm at his own end step, forgetting that it was his own turn still and had to discard down.

Martin played his third Broodmate Dragon and passed, and Michael responded with Wrath of God. On his next main phase, Martin put his hands to his head in thought and said “I have to do some math right now”, investigated Michael’s graveyard, but passed the turn.

It was Michael’s turn to “do math” and he decided to run out Cruel Ultimatum. Martin Cryptic Commanded, to which Michael responded with his own Cryptic Command. Martin thought, and made nine mana. “This is so hard, I have a headache!”, he said as he Brokened for 8 mana. Michael Brokened it back for 5, and Martin tapped all the rest of his lands to pay for it. Michael revealed a second Ajani Vengeant off the clash, and Martin milled. With Martin’s Broken for 8 on top of the stack, Michael Cryptic Commanded and checked the libraries (both had 11) and chose to tap Martin’s nonexistent team, eliciting laughter from the room.

Cruel Ultimatum finally resolved, putting the score 22 to 13 in Martin’s favor and a Broodmate Dragon back to Michael’s hand. With two in the grip, Martin played his own Cruel Ultimatum, which resolved. Martin got back his Broodmate Dragon. Martin evoked Mulldrifter, to go down to 5 cards in the library, and ran out the Dragon, and passed.

Michael Esper Charmed Martin to make him pitch cards and made his Broodmate Dragon and passed. Martin played his second Cruel Ultimatum, putting Michael to 3 and pitching his hand of Broodmate, Ajani, and Cruel Ultimatum, and muttered “I messed up!” Martin drew to leave one card in his library and attacked with his Dragons into Michael’s one creature to win.

(For rules buffs, what happens when you Cruel Ultimatum your opponent to 0 life, but you only have 2 cards in your library? The answer is at the end of this report.)

Martin – 1, Michael – 0

In Game 2, Martin mulled to 5. He attempted a turn 2 Scepter of Fugue, which got Broken Ambitioned and milled Story Circle and Wydwen. Michael Evoked Mulldrifter and passed, then Martin missed his third land. Michael Mulldriftered again, but it was Ambitioned on Martin’s 2 lands. Martin got his 3rd land but could not answer Michael’s Ajani Vengeant next turn, which kept his Vivid land tapped. Martin got to 4 lands but couldn’t prevent Ajani from getting to 8 counters.

Maritn slammed a Pithing Needle, and Michael asked “Naming?” and Martin quickly named Ajani Vengeant. He tried to Broken, but of course that’s no good. It didn’t matter because Michael had Cryptic to bounce it. Ajani destroyed Martin’s mana and even stuck around since he started at 8 loyalty counters. Martin asked him to reveal a Broodmate Dragon and he’d scoop. After conferring with a judge, Michael flashed the Limited bomb and Martin scooped up his one land.

Martin –1, Michael – 1

For Game 3, both players kept 7. Martin nailed a turn 2 Scepter of Fugue on the play this time and used his mana to make Michael start pitching cards. Michael attempted to refuel with an Evoked Mulldrifter, which Martin dittoed.

With Martin tapped out, Michael stuck a Pithing Needle naming Scepter of Fugue. Martin Evoked Mulldrifter with no lands up, and Michael went into the tank, considering a counter. He Brokened for 1, and Martin put an Esper Charm on the bottom and shipped the turn, indicating that he was indeed tight on mana. He tried Mulldrifter again, and indicated that he kept 3 Mulldrifters, three lands, and Scepter. Michael had another Broken Ambitions and won the clash, milling 3 of Martin’s lands.

Martin ripped an Island and passed the turn. Michael gassed up with Esper Charm at Martin’s end step. At Martin’s next end step he tried a Wydwen, to which Martin played Cryptic Command, but met Negate, giving Michael a path to victory. Michael stuck his seventh land and played Ajani Vengeant and started powering it up.

Martin drew and missed land again in much frustration. He hit his next land, and Michael Esper Charmed at end step. His next attacks put Martin at 11, and then 8. At end step, Martin tried to legend rule Wydwen, which met Broken Ambitions. On Michael’s next turn, he played Broodmate Dragon and Martin scooped them up.

RESULT: Michael beats Martin in 3 and earns the three-round bye at Grand Prix: Seattle.

(The answer to the rules quiz: You resolve Cruel Ultimatum in the order of the card: you draw your remaining library and your opponent is at 0, and you check based effects. You both lose at the same time, so the game is a draw. God forbid that happens in this mirror.)

GPT Seattle at Games & Gizmos - Semifinals

Semifinals: Michael Dipetrillo (Five-Color Control) vs. Zaiem Beg (BW Tokens)

“You realize card advantage wins games,” Zaiem posited to Mike as he elected to play first. Mike sent back 7, then thought and also sent back 6. He quickly kept his 5. Zaiem made the first play with a Knight of Meadowgrain and got in for 2. His next turn, Zaiem attempted a Kitchen Finks, which was Broken Ambitioned by Mike.

On Mike’s turn, he summoned Ajani Vengeant and Lightning Helixed Zaiem’s only creature. Zaiem made three Spirit tokens on his turn with Spectral Procession. Digging for land, Michael evoked Mulldrifter, layed a tap land, and passed the turn.

With only one land up on the other side of the table, Zaiem played a Glorious Anthem and split his team up between attacking Ajani and Mike, putting Mike to 17. Michael played a Wall of Reverence and passed, ready to have Spirit tokens bounce off itself. Zaiem attacked for 4 to put Mike 13 and shipped the turn with 5 lands up. Michael drew and said go and started gaining 1 off of Wall of Reverence.

After another Spirit attack from Zaiem for 4, he hideaway a card on a Windbrisk Heights. Michael did nothing, went up to 11 then back down 4 to 7 on the next attack, and Zaiem followed up with a Bitterblossom from under his Heights. Michael continued to play land and ship the turn, then chastised himself for forgetting the Reverence trigger for the second time in the game. Zaiem attempted another Glorious Anthem, which was Broken Ambitioned. Zaiem then attacked for 4 again, putting Mike to 3.

Michael drew a Wrath of God off the top and played it, to which Zaiem sarcastically remarked “Okay, fine.” Zaiem played a land and said go. Mike made another Ajani Vengeant and Helixed a Faerie Rogue token, represented by a card from the game Bella Serra.

Zaiem made another token and attacked Ajani with a token, which met its end via Cryptic Command by going back to his hand. Zaiem then played a second Bitterblossom and shipped. After an end step Esper Charm to draw two, Mike used the last two counters on Ajani Vengeant to kill the remaining Bitterblossom token and passed.

Zaiem attempted an Ajani Goldmane which was Broken Ambitioned, revealing a Cloudgoat Ranger on the top of Zaiem’s deck and a land on Mike’s deck, which went to the bottom. Zaiem attacked with two Bitterblossom tokens, putting Mike to 4, and shipped the turn. Michael dug for answers with a Mulldrifter, which was Terrored at end of turn.

Zaiem went to his combat step to have his guys tapped down with Cryptic Command. On Mike’s own turn, he played a Volcanic Fallout, clearing the board, and then made a Mulldrifter. Mike was still at 3 while Zaiem now found himself at 8 thanks to Bitterblossoms and Volcanic Fallouts. A Glorious Anthem came on to the board for Zaiem’s next turn. Michael again filled his hand via Esper Charm, and on his own turn ran out Cruel Ultimatum and swapped life totals. Zaiem went to one, and when Mike Esper Charmed on Zaiem’s draw step to empty his hand, Zaiem scooped them up.

Michael 1, Zaiem 0

In the other Semifinal, Martin Goldman-Kirst beat Thomas Rolling in two games, so the winner of Zaiem and Mike’s match would have Five-Color Control waiting for them in the final.

In Game 2, Michael shipped his first 7 cards again.

Michael: “Yeah, let’s mulligan to 5 again…”
Zaiem: “Skipping 6, are we?”

After Michael kept 6, Zaiem made a Bitterblossom on his second turn, which was Celestial Purged on Michael’s own turn. Zaiem responded with another Bitterblossom and a Windbrisk Heights. On Zaiem’s next turn, another Windbrisk Heights came into play, followed by Burrenton Forge-Tender, which met Terror.

Michael missed his fourth land drop and shipped. Zaiem made a Marsh Flitter after attacking for 1. Michael missed land again, but had Volcanic Fallout to kill all of Zaiem’s tokens. Marsh Flitter survived, however, and got in for 3, putting Michael to 14. Zaiem made another Marsh Flitter and attacked with his team again, to which Michael made a Plumeveil in front of Marsh Flitter. Zaiem made a Glorious Anthem from under his Hideaway land and sacked a Goblin to the blocked Flitter to trade with Plumeveil and get in for 4, putting Michael at 10.

Michael hit his fourth land and used it to Cryptic Command Zaiem’s team on his combat step. The next attack step, Volcanic Fallout hit the board destroying Zaiem’s tokens again, and after the big Marsh Flitter’s attack, the score was 10 to 4 in Zaiem’s favor.

On Zaiem’s next turn, he attacked Michael down to 2 and ran Head Games out, which was Broken Amibitioned. Michael topdecked a dead Volcanic Fallout and facing Bitterblossom, Marsh Flitter, and a benched Mutavault, he scooped them up.

Michael – 1, Zaiem – 1

In Game 3, Michael opted not to complete the mulligan trifecta and started with seven cards, while it was Zaiem’s turn to invoke the Paris rule. Zaiem kept 6, and played a Burrenton Forge-Tender on his first turn and started to beat down with it. He attempted Tidehollow Sculler but met Broken Ambitions which milled among other things a Bitterblossom, Anthem, and Mutavault. After attacking on his next turn, he played a post combat Glorious Anthem, which was Brokened again, but this time he got to keep the Bitterblossom on top of his deck.

However, Zaiem opted not to run it out on his turn nor his next turn, as Michael kept playing land. After finding his fifth land, Zaiem “gave him something to Cryptic Command” and played the Tribal Enchantment, which resolved. Michael continued to play land until the score was 15 to 9, when he Terrored the BFT to set up Volcanic Fallout on his next combat step. Post-Fallout, Zaiem attempted a Cloudgoat Ranger, which met Cryptic Command.

At 11 to 7, another Cloudgoat Ranger entered the stack, and was Broken Amibitioned. Michael kept an Esper Charm while Zaiem had to think about keeping Ajani Goldmane. At end step, Michael filled up with an Esper Charm from hand and on his main phase put a Mulldrifter into play and looked fairly comfortable with all of the cards in his hand.

After his draw, Zaiem asked his opponent “Do you have Cryptic Command in your hand?” to which Michael quickly replied “Yep,” which he may have not expected, but regardless he played Head Games, which resolved, since he only left up 2 lands that could produce Blue. (Michael did indeed have Cryptic Command in hand.)

With a handful of Vivid lands, Michael drew and passed, as Zaiem went 9 life from Bitterblossom. “I punted this game, I thought he had a tri land” Michael lamented. He made Glorious Anthem, attacked for 2 and traded a token for Mulldrifter. “Wow, I’m dumb” Zaiem said as he made an Ajani Goldmane post-combat. “I guess I think he has Cryptic off the top every time.”

Michael played Wrath of God and followed up with Broodmate Dragon, his two post-Head Games draws. Zaiem went to 8, and made a Marsh Flitter. Ajani was activated and passed the turn.

Michael drew his card and sheepishly played a Cryptic Command off the top to tap his team. Zaiem sighed (in good spirits), tapped his board, and watched two 4/4’s go sideways and put him at 0.

RESULT: Michael beats Zaiem in 3

GPT Seattle at Games & Gizmos - Quarterfinals

Quarterfinals: Martin Goldman–Kirst (Five-Color Control) vs. Dwayne St. Arnould (Black-White Tokens)

Martin won the die roll and kept his 7, as did Dwayne. Dwayne’s first play of Tidehollow Sculler was Broken Ambitioned by Martin, with Dwayne keeping an Ajani Goldmane on the top of his deck. Martin layed a land and said go while Dwayne made a Knight of Meadowgrain.

Martin ran out a Pithing Needle on his fourth turn, naming Ajani Goldmane. Dwayne attacks to see a Plumeveil enter play from Martin, which he Terrored before it could block. Martin ships his fifth turn with no land, and Dwayne attacks again into a second Plumeveil, which this time does eat Knight of Meadowgrain. Dwayne followed up with a Cloudgoat Ranger, which on Martin’s turn had his Kithkin friends Volcanic Fallout’ed.

Dwayne responds to the sweeper with a Spectral Procession, to Martin’s chagrin. Martin hardcasted Mulldrifter on his turn. Dwayne followed up with the Ajani Goldmane in his hand, but thanks to Needle, he shipped the turn.

Martin: “If you played that, that means you don’t have anything better to do.”
Dwayne: “Stop thinking logically.”

Martin made a pair of dragons of the Broodmate variety, while Dwayne could only ship the turn and eat 8 from the Dragons. Dwayne makes another Spectral Procession, to which Martin asked “Does that even do anything?” and played a Broken Ambitions. Martin left a Esper Charm on top while Dwayne left a Cloudgoat Ranger.

Martin’s dragons go into the fray and this time get chumped. Dwayne played his Cloudgoat Ranger and ships, as Martin end step drew with Esper Charm, and flashed two Cryptic Commands, drawing the scoop from Dwayne.

Martin 1, Dwayne 0

They both kept their openers for the second game. Dwayne laid a Windbrisk Heights and made a Knight of Meadowgrain turn 2, safe from Broken Ambitions this time thanks to going first. On the third turn, Knight of Meadowgrain got in and Dwyane made a Bitterblossom.

On the fourth turn, Dwayne attacked again with Knight of Meadowgrain and made a post combat Glorious Anthem, while Martin laid his fourth land. Dwayne’s next attack with a token and Knight put Martin at 11. Dwayne attempted a second Glorious Anthem, which drew a Broken Ambitions from Martin.

On his next turn, Dwayne asked if he could attacked, which made Martin pause.

Dwayne: “Am I dead?”
Martin: “No, you’re not dead. Just thinking what to do.”

Martin fogged with Cryptic Command, and Dwayne shipped the turn. Martin continued to lay land and say go. Dwayne asked to attack again, which drew out Volcanic Fallout, leaving only Knight of Meadowgrain, which put Martin to 6. Martin predicted a Cloudgoat Ranger, but Dwayne instead emptied out his hand and made a second Bitterblossom and Knight of Meadowgrain.

Martin ran out Cruel Ultimatum to go back to 11. Dwayne got in again, making the score 8 to 20. Martin made a Broodmate Dragon and a Pithing Needle on Windbrisk Heights, with three guys ready to attack for Dwayne. With Martin tapped out, Dwayne ran out Tidehollow Sculler, revealing Cruel Ultimatum #2, Wrath of God, Broken Ambitions, and two lands. “I think it’s a pretty hand,” said Martin, and Dwayne elected to remove Wrath of God. Martin played his second Cruel Ultimatum, and on Dwayne’s next upkeep, the score was 11-13 in Martin’s favor. All Dwayne did was make a Burrenton-Forge Tender and pass the turn.

On Dwayne’s next upkeep, Martin tapped down Dwayne’s team and drew with Cryptic Command. Dwayne laid a land and said go. Martin got in for 8, putting Dwayne to 5, and followed up with Ajani Vengeant to Helix his face, putting him 2 and effectively dead to his two Bitterblossom activations, ending the match. Dwayne then flashed the Mutavault under his Windbrisk Heights.

RESULT: Martin beats Dwayne in two.

Quarterfinal: David Lowe (Red) vs. Thomas Rolling (Green-White), Game 3

For their third game, David mulliganed down to 6, thought about it and kept. Thomas kept his 7. David made a Figure of Desinty off a Mountain, while Thomas made a Birds off a Forest. Thomas got in for 2 by leveling up Figure, and made another Figure of Destiny. Thomas drew, went into the tank. “It would be a terrible, terrible idea,” Thomas thought aloud, and off a Wooded Bastion, ran out a Noble Hierarch and a second Birds, wary of getting blown out by Volcanic Fallout.

It was David’s turn to go into the tank, before laying a land and declaring attacks with his two Figures. Thomas declined to block and tried to level up his 2/2 Figure to a 4/4 before damage, earning a Path to Exile in response. The attack put Thomas to 17.

Thomas laid a Windbrisk Heights, tapped 4 and made Ranger of Eos, getting two Burrenton Forge-Tenders, which may or may not be relevant against David’s Red deck. He made one of them and shipped the turn.

David tapped 5 on his turn to make Demigod of Revenge and got in immediately for 5, putting Thomas at 12. Thomas made Ajani Goldmane and strengthened his team, then got in for free with his Birds, Ranger, and Forge-Tender. After declining to block, Thomas revealed the Wilt-Leaf Liege under his Windbrisk Heights, knocking David down 10.

David drew and thought for a long while, presumably about what his paths to victory were at this point. In the meantime, Zaiem Beg won his match against Nash Foster in 3 piloting Black-White Tokens successfully against BG Elves. After thinking, David played an Ancient Amphitheatre and passed the turn.

David made his second Burrenton Forge-Tender and pumped his team up again, which drew a Flame Javelin pointed at Wilt-Leaf Liege in response. The newly made Forge-Tender took that Flame Javelin instead, making Wilt-Leaf a 5/5 and out of range of future Flame Javelins. Thomas attacked with the team, and David scooped up his lands in concession.

RESULT: Thomas wins 2-1.

In the remaining match of the quarterfinals, Michael Dipetrillo’s Five-Color Control deck beat Corbett Gray running Boddy Red.

GPT Seattle - Redmond damage report

I ran Kithkin again, change the sideboard to be a little more reasonable, but didn't do much better.

Round 1 I played Martin playing Five-Color. I take Game 1, and Game 2 I make some bad plays when I didn't leave back Spirits instead of Kithkin tokens (because I was using playing card flipped face up/down), and Game 3 I get stuck on three lands with Elspeth and Ajani in hand.

Round 2 was super awkward. My opponent starts with a deck registration error, so gets a game loss. He sits down, shuffles a couple of times in 15 seconds and presents. When I'm done piling my deck, I pile shuffle his deck (as I do for any Competitive level event) and he's a card short since one got stuck in his library. The judge was writing up his first game loss and understands that this is the most awkward thing ever, and my opponent flips his shit, which was uncharacteristic since he seemed relatively even keel, but maybe not so much on a competitive level.

I won't get into the details of things he said, but he was very much on tilt and had to go take a walk before coming back and playing out the rest of the tournament.

Round 3 I played a GW beats deck. Game 1 I'm on the play and keep as my 6 Stalwart, Stalwart, two drops, a Spectral, and a Windbrisk Heights. It was pretty risky, but I figure after playing my tap land, I'd have plays on turn 2 and 3, giving me three draws to get another land (which is favorable) and still be competitive (may or may not be reasonable). Well, I didn't get there :/ Game 2 I end up getting beats on but he plays a bunch of dudes and my second Banefire doesn't come (had to use one to kill a Stillmoon Cavalier.)

Round 4 I rock the bye, which is great because my tiebreakers were pretty good among the 1-2's. Unfortunately, Martin loses his match and I enter the next round having bad tiebreakers.

Round 5 I play Travis playing Shamans. I start the first game:
T1, Goldmeadow Stalwart, revealing Wizened Cenn.
T2, Goldmeadow Stalwart, revealing Goldmeadow Stalwart; Goldmeadow Stalwart revealing Wizened Cenn.
T3 Wizened Cenn.

Elvish Visionary didn't get there :/

Game 2 he gets multiple Wolf-Skull Shamans and gets a bunch of dudes, and I run out a bunch of guys as well and an Elspeth, but get stuck on 4 with Cloudgoat Ranger sitting in my hand. He ends up with tons of tokens and guys and I'm mucking up the board with tokens. He has Leaf-Crowned Elder in play, checks his Wolf-Skull Shaman kinship first, revealing Rage Forger, then gets to play Rage Forger on approximately a thousand Shamans he has, and I can't come back.

Game 3 I blow him out.

The other X-2 match goes to time at the deciding game and the player with the highest tiebreakers is able to get his opponent to scoop (which I have my own opinions on how that went down), so I get sorried at 9th place.

Since I had my work laptop in my backpack from going from work to someone's place to crash, I decide to try my hand at this match coverage thing. It was pretty fun, and it's something I can stand to get better at too. I'll edit those and post them tomorrow. Long story short, two Five-Color Control decks fought in the final and one of them won while the rest of us lost for enduring it.

Format shift

So I proxied a crap load of decks for testing tonight, only to realize at 2 am that after today, I will not need to test this format ever again, as Alara Reborn comes out next weekend. D'oh!

I definitely see a lot of new decks emerging. Red decks get a huge boost, Red-Green beats will probably be a serious deck, BGW Rock decks get some tools like the new Vindicate, and some deck out there will love to see Chris Pikula back in the format.

Magic-League has received a notice from Wizards of the Coast's legal team to cease and desist using copyrighted material on their website and to stop promoting Magic Workstation and Apprentice.

Parts that confuse me:

- the name "Magic-League" infringes upon copyrights? No idea where that's coming from, and I'm sure they could fight that point if they wanted to.

- Stop distributing Magic Workstation? I believe it's marketed as a tool for playing ANY trading card game, doubt they can stop that. Good thing you can add new cards just by copying the spoiler file into Workstation. Take that, Wizards Legal.

- Here's a great clip: "... your bad faith intent to capitalize on the good will associated with Wizards’ MAGIC: THE GATHERING® trademark, and pass your site off as authorized or associated with Wizards’ MAGIC: THE GATHERING® game"

CLEARLY spoken from a lawyer's rear side. So by letting people play Magic, Magic-League is harming the intentions of Wizards to... play Magic?

It's very obvious that the people at Wizards who make and love Magic would not stand for this, and they probably cannot comment on issues like this (just as I shouldn't comment on a certain Twitter tag that starts with an "#a" and ends in "mazonfail"). Hopefully the Magic-League guys figure out a way to appease these suits.

In other news, I also got a cease-and-desist order to stop writing on Magic cards with a Sharpie. If I want to play a game of Magic with Reflecting Pools and Bitterblossoms, I'd better start cracking my packs. I'm harming the goodwill of the game trying to tap all your guys and draw a card with a Sphinx's Herald.

"Holy Angel tokens, Batman!"

Looking at my Google Analytics dashboard, I found that more than a couple people came onto my site looking for "brian kibler batmobile". Searching this, apparently this blog post of mine is the top search result when you Google that term.

Well, let the search end, I've found the picture:


You saw it here first on Incremental Growth... since the first time you saw that picture.

GPT Seattle, try 1

So I ran Kithkin at the GPT today at First Pick, more or less as a testing session, since A) I had an unoptimal sideboard with only 1 Elspeth, and 2) I hadn't tested and have no idea what to board in and out.

So here's my deck

1 Mutavault
4 Windbrisk Heights
4 Rugged Prairie
4 Battlefield Forge
2 Rustic Clachan
10 Plains

4 Figure of Destiny
4 Goldmeadow Stalwart
4 Wizened Cenn
4 Knight of Meadowgrain
4 Cloudgoat Ranger

4 Path to Exile
4 Spectral Procession
3 Glorious Anthem
4 Ajani Vengeant

Sideboard:
4 Reveillark
4 Burrenton Forge-Tender
2 Ranger of Eos
2 Martial Coup
2 Banefire
1 Elsepth, Knight-Errant

This GPT was like a small PTQ: 46 people, 6 rounder.

Round 1 vs. Swans
Game 1 I blow him out. Game 2 I leave a kill on the board because I was afraid of Terror but of course Swans doesn't play Terror. Game 3 I blow him out.
1-0

Round 2 vs. Alex West playing Red Deck
He mulligans to five both games. Not much.
2-0

Round 3 vs. Bill Stark playing Sanity Grinding
Game 1 he's on the play and has answers for everything and it's essentially a blowout. Game 2 I'm lucky enough for him to not see any board control cards. Game 3 I mull to 5 and keep 2 Rugged Prairies as my lands. Luckily I get a Plains, but he's already Boomeranged my first land drop.

Max McCall pointed out that on a clash I opted to keep Elspeth on my deck when I couldn't cast it and didn't really want Elspeth in the game, and then on another clash the next turn I opted to send Path to Exile to the bottom because, well, I wanted land to cast Elspeth. I proceeded to get blown out by Plumeveil. At least I got the testing I wanted out of this tournament :/
2-1

Round 4 vs. Chris Kelly playing Sligh
I didn't get very good draws either of the games we played and he blows me out of the water. I think Game 1 I made a bad play that made me lose a Knight of Meadowgrain unnecessarily. Game 2 he plays infinite Terrors on my guys and I flood for a while looking for Burrenton Forge-Tender and he has Deathmark too. Gross... I really don't think this is a bad matchup for me either. He wants to play Goblin Outlander but he also needs to play Volcanic Fallout, so Goblin Outlander on the board = time to overextended a little more, and no Goblin Outlander means Knight of Meadowgrain's going to town.
2-2 DROP

I think the deck's fine, but I'll definitely be trying to get some serious testing in, because I really don't understand what cards are bad and even what cards are good in each matchup.

Bryan, a good Magic playing friend from summer '07, came back to Magic yesterday, and T2'd today. Good for him, except the deck he was playing in the finalwas, well, something you wouldn't expect and something I wouldn't recommend without some tuning.

At least I'll gain a few points from this...

Actual paper Magic

I haven't played paper Magic since the last PTQ, and rather than sit at home and blow away dollars on 8-4's, I decided to actually get out, enjoy the unusually beautiful Seattle weather, and do a paper draft in Redmond.

I ended up 4-0'ing with a very odd Esper deck splashing Red for Blood Cultist and activating Vein Drinker. Here's what made the cut.

1x Grixis Illusionist
1x Zombie Outlander
1x Tidehollow Sculler
1x Esper Battlemage
1x Blood Cultist
1x Aven Windwatcher
1x Brackwater Elemental
1x Viscera Dragger
2x Fatestitcher
1x Tower Gargoyle
2x Dreg Reaver
1x Vein Drinker

1x Bone Splinters
1x Path to Exile
1x Courier's Capsule
1x Yoke of the Damned
1x Gleam of Resistance
2x Oblivion Ring
1x Resounding Wave
1x Kiss of the Amesha

1x Jund Panorama
1x Esper Panorama
1x Unstable Frontier
1x Mountain
4x Swamp
4x Plains
5x Island

(not sure about the mix of Swamps, Plains, and Island, but it was definitely 5-4-4)

So initially I thought the deck was pretty slow and would get blown out by a Bant deck pretty easily. Luckily, I did not play against a Bant deck, and against everything else the deck was pretty solid. I elected to draw every time I had the choice, since I was definitely a control deck and I thought my mana was atrocious, and the amount of removal I had, plus double Fatesticher + Esper Battlemage and Blood Cultist, made winning relatively easy in the late game, be it with Vein Drinker or Dreg Reaver.

A couple of notes about my actual play:

I started out writing down every card my opponent plays again, but then I noticed that as I was taking a note, my opponent would make a play and I'd instinctively say "Sure" without even considering the board and my hand. After that, I'd only write down cards when I truly had idle time, and then even only noted important cards like tricks and guys that actually change the board.

I'm still not finding the most correctly play fast enough. In my last game, I made a couple of not-so tight plays, but luckily my opponent didn't make me pay for them. Maybe I need to slow it down a little bit, but I think it was more a lack of concentration. I need to eliminate the number of times I say "Wait, that play was awful" immediately after I make plays. I do that a lot.

Anyway, for my efforts I got credit for at least three more drafts at Redmond, a sweet playmat, and foil Path to Exile #2. Magic is fun when you win. :)

How on earth is competitive Magic thriving?

Got this link from Slashdot to a New York Times article about professional gamers losing their sponsorships and entering the real world, with pro gaming circuits like Championship Gaming Series and Cyberathlete Professional League folding due to the economy sucking. Apparently Major League Gaming is turning a profit, though.

But I've always wondered about these leagues' business models. How can you spend $1-2 million total on your elite players, dish out prize cash, and put on extravagant tournaments that probably cost more than Pro Tours (I've never been to a PT, but these MLG tournaments have a lot more lights, seating, equipment, and booth babes) all off of sponsorship money? At least with Magic it makes sense: when people take the game more seriously, they buy more Magic cards and play in more FNMs, PTQs, and MODO drafts.

It's a little confusing, with such bad times financially, that we are breaking attendance records in North America for Grand Prixs and PTQs, and that tournament organizers can turn profits on $5k tournaments and cruises. Guess it just goes to show what a great product Magic is. I know I certainly don't get positive EV from playing Magic, and I don't know too many people in Seattle that do, but we're still flying to Grand Prixs and even PTQs. I guess you can't do that with Halo unless you pay some people to show up and beat up amateurs, since you get nearly the exact same experience sitting your living room on X-Box Live.

Maybe it's also a little justice in the world. Competitive gamers don't exactly contribute much to society, so they shouldn't make more money in the long run than, say, teachers or policemen.