DPaine and I both participated in a TCG $5k this past Saturday. I piloted Dos Rakis while DPaine went with BTE Gruul aggro. DPaine was in the money in the 12th spot. I was 1 win away from top 32 but ended placed 64th. I'll do my best to post a write up and some suggestions.
I finished the day 5-4 (4-4 in actual play). Here were the matches:
Round 1: The Rock: 2-1
Round 2: Naya Blitz: 2-0
Round 3: Bant Enchant: 0-2
Round 4: UWR: 1-2
Round 5: Bye due to a computer glitch requiring re-seeding
Round 6: UWR: 1-2
Round 7: Aristocrats: 2-1
Round 8: Jund: 2-0
Round 9: Jund: 1-2
Some quick write-ups:
Round 1: The Rock: 2-1
This is the deck that Z posted a bit ago and put up showing in an SCG Open a couple weeks ago. Pretty much the exact same list with Desecration Demon, Messenger, Thragtusk, Sign in Blood, etc. I recognized it right away and he got a grin on his face
and said most people don't know what he means when he says The Rock. That lead me to believe he doesn't play against many experienced players.
Game 1 was back and forth and I just barely didn't get there. He got me to 3 then his main phase cast Sign in Blood twice targeting me for the kill.
Sideboard: The Rock is a control deck but I boarded with the Midrange strategy in the primer.
Game 2 was back and forth again but I had the reach this time and killed him when I was at 1 life. Rakdos's Return saved my bacon here. I hit it for 2 when I was at 1 life, and stripped 2x Sign in Blood from his hand. Then ripped a T-Maw off the top and won.
Board: no changes from G2
Game 3 I basically controlled the whole way.
Round 2: Naya Blitz: 2-0
As expected, Pillar, Spear, and Spike Jester were all nuts here. Those were my MVP cards.
Game 1 I had a T-Maw on board with him at 10 and me at 5 and I topped another. Swing 10 for the win.
Sideboard: Full aggro
package from primer
Game 2 he couldn't get through my Weird, Reckoner, and burn. Aristocrats killed him off.
Round 3: Bant Enchant: 0-2
Ugh. I basically had no chance against this deck.
Game 1 I saw Voice of Resurgence and aggro cards. I misplayed around Voice a bit, like a dumbass, but it wouldn't have mattered much.
Board: Thought he was full aggro and boarded according to aggro primer
Game 2 he starts dropping Geists like crazy. I was able to kill off 3 of them before he suited up the 4th.
Round 4: UWR: 1-2
Game 1: Curved perfectly and beat him like a drum.
Board: Full control package
Games 2 and 3: he said he had a "plan" for my deck (aggro decks) and I thought "yeah I have a plan too" but it looks like whatever he did worked. He tempo'd me out both games. I have a couple notes about this in the Suggestions area. Game 3 I had him at 2 when he killed me. Made me wish I hadn't have sided out those
Pillars
![:-( :(](./images/smilies/sad.gif)
Round 5: I sat down and they made an announcement for a few tables to not begin. My table was called. It turns out they had accidentally dropped some 4-0 kid and had to put him back in the seeding, which bumped down the line to a few other matches including mine. I ended up getting a bye out of it.
Round 6: UWR: 1-2
Game 1: I don't think I mulliganed well here and he took me out.
Board: Full control package from primer
Game 2: the only damage I received was a shock for a Godless Shrine
Board: No change
Game 3: This one ended up grinding out. I hit him with a Rakdos's Return to emtpy his hand at one point and we started top-decking, but his deck refilled while I kept top-decking. T-Maw or Aristocrat would have won it but didn't see either.
Round 7: Aristocrats: 2-1
We both mulliganed to 6 and he suggested something I've never heard before. He said
Magic isn't "best 2 of 3" but "first to 2" and that we should decide to draw game 1 and go to game 2 with a fresh 7. I think he meant that if we were 1-1 after Game 3 we'd keep playing. I didn't bite, and we both went to 6.
Game 1: I beat him easily. Again only damage to myself was a shockland. But he played enough for me to put him on the right deck.
Sideboard: Aggro plan from primer
Game 2: He got a very good draw, I went down to 5.
Board: no change
Game 3: I was still at 20 when he died. Double T-Maw with him at 10 sealed it.
Round 8: Jund: 2-0
Game 1: He died with me at 20. Lili came out and I discarded a land. I was on the verge of flooding so it was fine since I had enough. No real notes, but I curved fairly well and beat him down.
Board: I saw enough to put him on Jund and boarded the full Midrange suite from the primer
Game 2: He had me at 11 with and Aristocrat and him at 18. Then Hellkite came out without an answer. Swinging
for 9 in the air turns 6 and 7 isn't shabby.
Round 9: Jund: 1-2
This is the 2nd tournament in as many months that if I won my last match I'd be in the money. And the second where that was feasible. And the second where the last match was one of the best matches of the day in terms of fun, stress, etc., but I still lost. And the second where the last match was against a really nice guy who was fun to play against and knew his stuff. Odd trend, but I'd like to start winning here.
Game 1: This was back and forth quite a bit, but I kept top-decking into low drops with very little impact. He took it.
Sideboard: Full Midrange plan from primer
Game 2: This was a CLOSE game. He had me at 1 and I was able to stabilize by wiping much of his board and had a Reckoner bonded to a Stonewright that he didn't want to attack into. 2 Aristocrats after that sealed it. Mortars on a Ravager of the Fells followed by Dreadbore on an unflipped Huntmaster was the MVP main phase of
the game. EDIT: I also hit him for a 2-point Rakdos's Return that dropped a Thragtusk and a Garruk into the bin. That was obviously big too.
Board: no change
Game 3: I think I should have mulliganed to 5. I know what to look for in terms of mulligans for game 1 but after we board I need to work on mulligans with this deck. I kept a 6 with mountain mountain godless shrine, Dreadbore, Spear, Ash Zealot. Seemed good but didn't get there. DPaine saw the end of this game. He had a wolf token, a Thragtusk, and a Vampire Nighthawk. I only had a Thundermaw Hellkite. With life totals as they were and his Wolf-Runs and good mana, my only out was an overloaded Mortars. I blocked the tusk with the Thundermaw and he put me to 4. I thought if my only out was the mortars, I might as well make the tusk into a beast before the mortars so it's a true board wipe. I didn't pull a mortars, unfortunately. We had gone fairly long and a couple judges were watching. One of them said he was waiting for me to
rip that mortars too.
SUGGESTIONS/OBSERVATIONS:
Against UWR: Our control boarding plan calls for keeping Stromkirk and Cackler in the deck. I think I disagree. Those are HORRIBLE cards for us to get Azo Charmed. Yes, we're the aggro deck against them, but all our other MB creatures except Reckoner have Haste. I'm not too upset to have a Haste creature the target of Azo Charm and it doesn't set me back QUITE as much. I also HATE Aetherling. Blue players have been complaining recently but I think it's exactly the card they needed. We target it with any removal when they have a blue up and we waste a card. But we can go OVER it. Olivia doesn't have Haste but she can deal with Augurs and Snapcasters and go over every creature they bring in except Resto Angel. Honestly I think we save most removal for Resto and just fly over them with Aristocrat, Olivia, T-Maw. Jester and Zealot provide the early pressure and Reckoner makes attacking awkward
for them.
Against Jund: I like Pillar here. It doesn't hit everything, but I didn't like wasting Spear, Dreadbore, and Mortars on their Huntmasters. I want those for Thrags, Lilianas, Garruks, and tokens. Anything with Black, including Jund, seems to be packing Tragic Slip either MB or at least somewhere in the 75. I'd suggest boarding out a certain number of Spike Jester in order to keep Pillars against Jund. In our boarding plan for this matchup I think we need to increase our removal density, not just swap pillar for dreadbore.
Against Aggro: Frostburn Weird only came out in 1 game against Naya Blitz and I was winning anyway. So I don't have enough experience with him to write him off yet. But I'm wondering if this slot shouldn't be 2x Tribute to Hunger instead. It's still somewhat relevant against most aggro and is necessary against bant enchant.