Iselin PTQ - Extended
I learned a few things at this PTQ.
First - I need to mulligan better. I do it at FNM. I know what I need to win, and am able to accurately assess whether the hand in question has the tools to deal with the opposing deck. I didn't do that at the PTQ.
I played Mono white flickerwisp with Sun Titan and Emeria, the sky ruin. It was really fun to play, and I had experience playing with a similar standard list.
Here are some stories.
Be sure to read round 4. No really. Read it. Then read it again. Yeah, that happened.
Round 1 - Morgan - Boros.
I win in two games and am never really in danger of him killing me despite getting to 4-7 life each game. He played first in the second game Here's how things went: Him - Turn 1 Goblin Guide, turn 2 Goblin Guide. Me turn 2 Wall of Omens, Turn 3 Kitchen Finks, turn 4 Flickerwisp targeting Finks with the -1/-1 counter and a Day of Judgment in hand. Yeah I won that one. Boros seriously felt like a match I couldn't lose. It got worse for him after board. I was able to blunt is fast aggro quickly each game, with a runed halo on steppe lynx, of which he had two, and kitchen finks.
Game Win 2-0
Match Win 1-0
Round 2 - Luis Neiman - U/W Fae ( @l_neiman on twitter) I'm at table 1. I've never played at table one before outside of FNM. I've been at high numbers, 10 through 6 or so, but never actually number one. I was playing Luis Neiman. First, I knew who this was because I follow him on twitter. He's a real stand up guy. He played well all three games after I won game one solidly. However, and this is no comment on Luis' play at all, I punted games 2 and 3 pretty badly due to my mulligan decisions. In both games I kept hands that looked awesome if I ignored that there weren't enough lands. I never got enough lands either game. However, I did note that Mortarpod just OWNED him game 1. Seriously, it just destroyed any ability he had of mounting an offense. This allowed me to get a board presence going and Emeria online. He scooped it up for game 2 soon after that. Afterwards we talked a bit about our decks and a friend we have in common. I always like playing against people who honestly enjoy the game and are nice to opponents. Luis was a class act the whole day. We need more players like him. Manners are not optional just because we're in a room full of socially awkward gamers and almost 0 women. Thanks for providing a good example, Luis!
Game Win 3-2
Match Win 1-1
Round 3 - Ben - Combo Elves
Game 1 again I am able to control his team and his ability to overrun me, and I win. Games 2 and 3 I don't see Day of Judgments, Path to Exiles, or Oblivion rings, despite having 4 of each. Again this is probably my fault in my mulliganning decisions. I knew that I needed to have a turn 4 Day, and my opening hands did not have that. I should have shipped them back but didn't.
Game Win 4-4
Match Win 1-2
At this point I know I'm out of T8 contention, but decide I'm playing for the fun anyway, so I stick around.
Round 4 - Robert - Bant
These were extremely long games. That means I won. Bant doesn't have close to the end game that the mono white deck has. I'm able to control his Knights of the Reliquary's and Qasali Pridemages and Rhox Warmonks and my late game takes over and wins. Both games had similar outcomes, but game 1 was decided by a Kitchen Finks recurring and bouncing via Flickerwisp keeping my life total above 20, while I whittle him down.
Game two was MUCH more dramatic.
This game had the best one turn I think I have ever had in a competitive game of Magic.
I was sitting on a low life total of around 6, while he had run out of ways to pressure my life. He had a bunch of things removed by oblivion rings, and I had a huge grave thanks to getting hit once by his Sword of Body and Mind, however I had yet to get to 7 plains to turn my 2 Emeria, the Sky Ruin online. I finally find a Marsh flats and play it. I don't think he realized what that meant when I had 6 plains on the field, and I pass the turn. That turn he finds a big threat and taps out for it. I Tectonic Edge his Tectonic Edge, while he's tapped out, fetch a plains going to 5 life, and move to my turn.
Untap
Upkeep - Both Emeria trigger. Emeria Trigger 1 finds Sun Titan, Emeria 2 finds Sun Titan, Sun Titan 1 finds Stoneforge Mystic, Sun Titan 2 finds Flickerwisp, Stoneforge finds Sword of Feast and Famine, Flickerwisp targets Sun Titan which gets exiled until end of turn.
Draw Step - Draw Sun Titan
Main Phase - Play Sun Titan finding Marsh Flats. Play Sword of Feast and Famine
End Step - Sun Titan comes back into play and finds Tectonic Edge which kills his last white source.
Now since he was out of Tectonic Edges and since I could recur mine almost infinitely, I locked him out of the game. He couldn't attack into me as my attack back would kill him, and I didn't care about losing creatures I was just going to recur anyway next turn.
Even if he Day'd the board, I would be able to get back to the same board state in one turn.
God that was fun.
Game Win - 6-4
Match Win - 2-2
Round 5 Josh - U/W Fae
Technically Josh was undefeated on the day. His record was 1-0-3, going to time in 3 rounds. Josh was a great player, and a nice guy, and these matches were fun, despite being fairly strongly in his favor. Caw-blade is good in extended too. Since I'm caw-blade without the blue, we mirror our openings both games. However, his counterspells and removal allow him to beat down before I can get my own army online. Both games take a long time, but he pulls it out.
Game Win - 6-6
Match Win - 2-3
Round 6 Greg - R/G Valakut
I was happy with the string of players I got paired with, as Greg was another stand up guy who was a good player, but was having a bad run with a deck that he admitted after our match that he didn't know very well and had been given right before the tournament. He was a real class act as well, and a pleasure to play.
Game 1 I win, and I'm not actually sure how this happened, as he resolved a Primeval Titan, which I path to exiled with the Titan trigger on the stack. However I've been keeping my life total high with Finks and serving the beats, and I take the game. I know I dodged a major bullet here as I only have two main deck outs to a resolved Scapeshift or to a Primeval Titan for lethal. The outs were my two main deck Runed Halo, which were amazing for me all day, but which I hadn't seen that game.
Game 2 I have a turn 2 Runed Halo naming Valakut, The Molten Pinnacle. A Judge was walking behind me when I name this and I heard him chuckle about it. Greg, being the Pro he is, had the Nature's Claim for the enchantment that turned off one of his two win conditions (the other, Primeval Titan, was under an Oblivion Ring) But I lay a Leyline of Sanctity on my next turn and he doesn't have a second claim. That was that game. I had a second Runed Halo and Oblivion Ring in hand at the end of game 2. Sometimes you have all the answers.
Game Win - 8-6
Match Win - 3-3
Round 7 - Mike - No Show.
I guess he dropped and forgot to write it, or something but my opponent never showed up.
I got the win 10 minutes after He doesn't show up for the round, and I'm sitting at 4-3 on the day.
I wasn't really pleased with my play for the day, but I did have a lot of fun, did some trading, and saw some friends. Overall I call that a win.
First - I need to mulligan better. I do it at FNM. I know what I need to win, and am able to accurately assess whether the hand in question has the tools to deal with the opposing deck. I didn't do that at the PTQ.
I played Mono white flickerwisp with Sun Titan and Emeria, the sky ruin. It was really fun to play, and I had experience playing with a similar standard list.
Here are some stories.
Be sure to read round 4. No really. Read it. Then read it again. Yeah, that happened.
Round 1 - Morgan - Boros.
I win in two games and am never really in danger of him killing me despite getting to 4-7 life each game. He played first in the second game Here's how things went: Him - Turn 1 Goblin Guide, turn 2 Goblin Guide. Me turn 2 Wall of Omens, Turn 3 Kitchen Finks, turn 4 Flickerwisp targeting Finks with the -1/-1 counter and a Day of Judgment in hand. Yeah I won that one. Boros seriously felt like a match I couldn't lose. It got worse for him after board. I was able to blunt is fast aggro quickly each game, with a runed halo on steppe lynx, of which he had two, and kitchen finks.
Game Win 2-0
Match Win 1-0
Round 2 - Luis Neiman - U/W Fae ( @l_neiman on twitter) I'm at table 1. I've never played at table one before outside of FNM. I've been at high numbers, 10 through 6 or so, but never actually number one. I was playing Luis Neiman. First, I knew who this was because I follow him on twitter. He's a real stand up guy. He played well all three games after I won game one solidly. However, and this is no comment on Luis' play at all, I punted games 2 and 3 pretty badly due to my mulligan decisions. In both games I kept hands that looked awesome if I ignored that there weren't enough lands. I never got enough lands either game. However, I did note that Mortarpod just OWNED him game 1. Seriously, it just destroyed any ability he had of mounting an offense. This allowed me to get a board presence going and Emeria online. He scooped it up for game 2 soon after that. Afterwards we talked a bit about our decks and a friend we have in common. I always like playing against people who honestly enjoy the game and are nice to opponents. Luis was a class act the whole day. We need more players like him. Manners are not optional just because we're in a room full of socially awkward gamers and almost 0 women. Thanks for providing a good example, Luis!
Game Win 3-2
Match Win 1-1
Round 3 - Ben - Combo Elves
Game 1 again I am able to control his team and his ability to overrun me, and I win. Games 2 and 3 I don't see Day of Judgments, Path to Exiles, or Oblivion rings, despite having 4 of each. Again this is probably my fault in my mulliganning decisions. I knew that I needed to have a turn 4 Day, and my opening hands did not have that. I should have shipped them back but didn't.
Game Win 4-4
Match Win 1-2
At this point I know I'm out of T8 contention, but decide I'm playing for the fun anyway, so I stick around.
Round 4 - Robert - Bant
These were extremely long games. That means I won. Bant doesn't have close to the end game that the mono white deck has. I'm able to control his Knights of the Reliquary's and Qasali Pridemages and Rhox Warmonks and my late game takes over and wins. Both games had similar outcomes, but game 1 was decided by a Kitchen Finks recurring and bouncing via Flickerwisp keeping my life total above 20, while I whittle him down.
Game two was MUCH more dramatic.
This game had the best one turn I think I have ever had in a competitive game of Magic.
I was sitting on a low life total of around 6, while he had run out of ways to pressure my life. He had a bunch of things removed by oblivion rings, and I had a huge grave thanks to getting hit once by his Sword of Body and Mind, however I had yet to get to 7 plains to turn my 2 Emeria, the Sky Ruin online. I finally find a Marsh flats and play it. I don't think he realized what that meant when I had 6 plains on the field, and I pass the turn. That turn he finds a big threat and taps out for it. I Tectonic Edge his Tectonic Edge, while he's tapped out, fetch a plains going to 5 life, and move to my turn.
Untap
Upkeep - Both Emeria trigger. Emeria Trigger 1 finds Sun Titan, Emeria 2 finds Sun Titan, Sun Titan 1 finds Stoneforge Mystic, Sun Titan 2 finds Flickerwisp, Stoneforge finds Sword of Feast and Famine, Flickerwisp targets Sun Titan which gets exiled until end of turn.
Draw Step - Draw Sun Titan
Main Phase - Play Sun Titan finding Marsh Flats. Play Sword of Feast and Famine
End Step - Sun Titan comes back into play and finds Tectonic Edge which kills his last white source.
Now since he was out of Tectonic Edges and since I could recur mine almost infinitely, I locked him out of the game. He couldn't attack into me as my attack back would kill him, and I didn't care about losing creatures I was just going to recur anyway next turn.
Even if he Day'd the board, I would be able to get back to the same board state in one turn.
God that was fun.
Game Win - 6-4
Match Win - 2-2
Round 5 Josh - U/W Fae
Technically Josh was undefeated on the day. His record was 1-0-3, going to time in 3 rounds. Josh was a great player, and a nice guy, and these matches were fun, despite being fairly strongly in his favor. Caw-blade is good in extended too. Since I'm caw-blade without the blue, we mirror our openings both games. However, his counterspells and removal allow him to beat down before I can get my own army online. Both games take a long time, but he pulls it out.
Game Win - 6-6
Match Win - 2-3
Round 6 Greg - R/G Valakut
I was happy with the string of players I got paired with, as Greg was another stand up guy who was a good player, but was having a bad run with a deck that he admitted after our match that he didn't know very well and had been given right before the tournament. He was a real class act as well, and a pleasure to play.
Game 1 I win, and I'm not actually sure how this happened, as he resolved a Primeval Titan, which I path to exiled with the Titan trigger on the stack. However I've been keeping my life total high with Finks and serving the beats, and I take the game. I know I dodged a major bullet here as I only have two main deck outs to a resolved Scapeshift or to a Primeval Titan for lethal. The outs were my two main deck Runed Halo, which were amazing for me all day, but which I hadn't seen that game.
Game 2 I have a turn 2 Runed Halo naming Valakut, The Molten Pinnacle. A Judge was walking behind me when I name this and I heard him chuckle about it. Greg, being the Pro he is, had the Nature's Claim for the enchantment that turned off one of his two win conditions (the other, Primeval Titan, was under an Oblivion Ring) But I lay a Leyline of Sanctity on my next turn and he doesn't have a second claim. That was that game. I had a second Runed Halo and Oblivion Ring in hand at the end of game 2. Sometimes you have all the answers.
Game Win - 8-6
Match Win - 3-3
Round 7 - Mike - No Show.
I guess he dropped and forgot to write it, or something but my opponent never showed up.
I got the win 10 minutes after He doesn't show up for the round, and I'm sitting at 4-3 on the day.
I wasn't really pleased with my play for the day, but I did have a lot of fun, did some trading, and saw some friends. Overall I call that a win.
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