PTQ Boise

I went to Boise this weekend for a PTQ and played Thopter Faeries again. The only change I really made was make an Island an Academy Ruins, which was never relevant, and make the Negate in the sideboard a third Damnation to shore up the Zoo matchup.

I went 5-2. I lost in Round 6 playing for the top 8, which makes me 0-5 lifetime in such situations.

More relevantly, in Round 1 I'm playing the stone mirror. I win Game 1, and Game 2 I keep a hand with Bitterblossom, Spell Snare and mana and nearly instantly keep. He plays a land and announces Thoughtseize. I think about what he's going to take, and of course it's the Leyline of the Void in my hand.

Huh?

Yup, that just happened. I was so tunnel visioned on seeing a Bitterblossom and Bitterblossom counters (which I thought would matter in the matchup) that I totally forgot to play Leyline when the game started! Of course, that game, he puts together the combo and wins. He wins Game 3 after that too.

I made excuses like that it was the first time I've ever had Leyline of the Void in my opening hand in a match. I don't know if it was my focus at the table or what that made me not think to start with that on the table, but whatever it is, it's probably the reason I'm 0-5 in getting into top 8's.

The rest of the day on my scorepad, in addition to writing "BPV" at the top of the page (ironic because PV doesn't do things like miss Leylines), but under it "SLOW DOWN". I went 5-1* after that abortion of an opening round.

You can console me all you want, but the player I want to be doesn't make mistakes like that.

Anyway, I'm behind the deck more and more now. I really think it beats everything in the format that isn't Zoo. You also have the rogue advantage of people not knowing your deck from the cards you play, tricking people into thinking you're straight up Faeries and then getting off the combo. I'm so behind the deck that I'm considering buying a ticket to Houston for the Grand Prix in two weeks.

* My results if you care:
R1 L Thopter Faeries
R2 W Brozek Deck Wins
R3 W Bant
R4 W Thopter Ironworks
R5 W Bant Charm Zoo
R6 L UW Thopter Control
R7 W Mono Red Burn

PTQ Vancouver

So I went 4-3 in Vancouver with Matej Zatlkaj's Faeries Thopter deck. I should have probably been 5-2 if I weren't bad at Magic and possibly Top 8 if I had also gotten a little more fortunate in one match, but mostly because I'm retarded.

Anyway, I don't know what to play in Boise in two weeks. I'm expecting a similar metagame to Vancouver: very spread out ,so I'd like to play deck with power. Decks on the radar:

- Faeries Thopter, so long as I don't see a Zoo deck or Night of Souls' Betrayal, I think this deck beats everything else in the format.
- Zoo, also good against most of the format, but I don't have a clue in the mirror, for some reason. 0-2 in Oakland in the mirror, which seems to depend very heavily on deck construction since the game play seems straight forward.
- Into the Depths (GB Depths with Rite of Consumption) - I dismissed this because someone who played it said it wasn't good against random decks in the format, but it is pretty good against Zoo and Thopter Depths.
- Grixis Haterator - I'm willing to give the deck a try after seeing Gavin X-2 with it.
- Loucks Zoo - This deck looks like a great upgrade to Zoo.
- Bant - Also seems like a good alternative to Zoo.