Urgh the tilt I experienced yesterday is re-verberating... I took a Jund deck to the WMCQs, a last-minute swap which based on the recommendations of Steve Bains & Sam Godwin was actually a great bit of advice. Rounds 1-3: Vs Red-White Burn, Mono-Blue Devotion, Mono-Blue Devotion... Im on some hard matchups in these games and playing 3 opponents who really know how to play the game. But I beat Boros Burn with ease, game one I actually won with a Vraska ultimate, using assassin beatdown... Round 2 I smashed a mono-blue player with some impressive mid-game using Xenagos & Nissa, games 2 & 3 were close but in Game 3 I resolved a 6/6 Mistcutter turn 4 with mana rampers. The third round I faced Francesco, a rather cold and focussed looking character with yet another mono-blue deck. I lost, with my opponent being the guy who ended up winning the event. So anyways the deck was performing well and the game against the tournament winner I made enough mistakes to feel reassured the deck was going to continue to rock and that I needed to hone in on my misplays.... (2-0, 2-1, 1-2) 6pts Rounds 4-6 Vs Mono-Blue Devotion (Matthew Pope), Blue-White-Black Control, Mono-Green Devotion... So I was truly gutted to be facing my friend in round 4, but hes a great opponent and somehow I actually have a good record against him. Im still chalking it down to things out of mine and his control for the wins, but hey its something. Matts a fantastic magic player and it is good for confidence knowing in the last few tournaments Ive come out ontop (even if I probably shouldnt have) I ended up winning the match, but the final game came down to a double mistcutter beatdown and Im pretty sure in one of the games I resolved a blowout Mizzium Mortars. I think at the end I felt worse for beating Matt than he did losing. Its a horrid feeling playing someone youve tested with chronically in a match which knocks out the loser. The following match was against an Esper control deck which was played really well. I had so much board presence in all the games but his answers kept coming. I remember thoughtseizing him and seeing a Supreme Verdict (ravnica), so I started using Vraska conservatively, not doing her ultimate ability until I knew the Verdict had gone.... The first verdict he played was the foil buy-a-box, as was the second. So the whole game I knew if I ultimate Vraska, it would have been in vain. I think he made a mistake not playing the Verdict I saw with thoughtseize, but hey, maybe he next level mind-gamed me. Eitherway the final match I stalled out on 2 lands and one dork, with a brace of Xenagos, Nissa, Rakdoss Return.. I lost and I felt bad about it. Knocked out of the chance for a top-8 against a control deck literally is the worst feeling ever. The tilt kicked in and the advice round 3 Michael Chamberlain gave me about keeping my head focussed and not letting me shoulders drop went from a echoing anthem in my head to a minute whisper Id all but forgotten at this point. The match which followed was against a fella with a mono-green deck. As he starts playing the obvious devotion cards my inside thoughts are thinking, this will be easy. Ive got a deck with a ton of removal and I can match board presence with powerful planeswalkers. Game one I kept a hand of 5 lands, 1 elf and Garruk, Apex Predator. I had 2 Scry lands which were used to amazing effect, scrying away lands and giving me gas, but the crux of the game came down to the fact I never got the seventh mana to cast Garruk. If I had I would have been able to snipe a rather aggressive Polukranos on 7 toughness, gained the life needed to weather a final attack, before creating a beautiful presence of 4/4 lands with Nissa. The following game my deck gives me a seductively good looking hand but no real removal to draw despite sideboarding in more removal. I lost this one 2-0 and was in full-tilt. Losing to tier-1 control sucks, but I can live with it, even if I dont like it. But that negativity going into a round against a deck which probably isnt even tier-2 and should be a rollover sucks big time. (2-0, 2-1, 1-2, 2-1, 1-2, 0-2) 9pts Rounds 7-9 Vs Black-Green Control, Boros Burn & Jund Walkers So in this part my mind gets hazy about round 7, maybe I just had such a poor round that my mind has forgotten it so soon, but I know I didnt win. Infact yeah I do remember, it was a guy who had nothing nice to say about Bexhill, Eastbourne or Hastings. How could I forget! So another game I really should have won, but I didnt. My opponent was mis-playing all over the yonder and really watching him thoughtseize me, see a Chandra & Golgari Charm, not take them, then play his Elvish Mystic was the kind of decision making which makes me think, yeah Ive got this one... As I play Chandra and plus 1 her, he even mentions how bad he feels about his decision and Im back in confidence mode, I have a powerful deck and an opponent whos misplaying, what more could you want? Well i ended up losing 1-2, game 3 coming down to 7/7 pack rats. The pack rats were a good call in his deck but again, I feel my deck with Dreadbores/Ultimate Price/Golgari Charm/Heros Downfall/Chandra/Magma Spray/Vraska couldnt give me the 2 answers I needed to deal with the 2x Pack Rats. Round 8 and I play a Boros Burn deck piloted by a player whos wearing a PTQ Qualifier badge on his hat. Yet he didnt realise that activating a planeswalkers ability puts a loyalty counter on it before the opponent can respond. A rather embarrassing Skullcrack in response to me untapping 4 land with Nissa and a judge call later and I ended up winning game 1. Game 2 my sideboard absolutely rocked with me seeing my Scavenging Ooze and Magma Sprays for the Chandras Phoenix, I even manager to late game use Garruks kill ability on his Boros Reckoner to gain some much needed life. The guy didnt look happy, but then it was round 8 and a misplay with the Skullcrack must have un-settled him. Round 9 and Im playing a rather...err....Eclectic fella whos using the Mirror. Well this game went 1-2 in his favour and really we just spent the whole 50 minutes trading positions over who was winning. Literally every planeswalker resolution pushed the game in one persons favour. Jund walkers vs Jund walkers is one of the funnest and most challenging games to play as the board presence can get out of hand! Game 3 was hard to lose because I timed a fantastic Rakdoss Return only for him to then top-deck his one and lay me out too... (2-0, 2-1, 1-2, 2-1, 1-2, 0-2, 1-2, 2-0, 1-2) 12pts Overall, Im bitterly disappointed at my record, Im gutted about a deck as powerful as mine literally feeling like it gave up on me after I lost to the Blue-White control player and Im in a zone of complete and utter tilt. Going forward however this is where I need to really look into my mulligan decisions and remind myself that I should focus on only the things which I could control. High variance and luck are words I hate associating with defeat when it comes to Magic or even Warhammer. Was the last-minute decision to take Jund-Walkers the best idea? Well if I played the Blue Devotion splash red I think I would have faired better in every match-up I played except for Boros Burn, so Im not too sure. Eitherway Ill be plotting and schemeing on my next creation to break through these big events. The gutting part is that every big event Ive played in Ive going positive, GP London & GP Manchester. The positives to take from this are that I do have some plays to think about, I understand the format and the deck a lot more & that if I played another event I know for a fact the deck I would use is Naya Walkers. It has a better matchup against Control and can still do well against Mono-Blue. My Decklist was... Lands (24) 2 Mutavault 1 Urborg, tomb of Yawgmoth 3 Forest 2 Llanowar Wastes 4 Overgrown Tomb 4 Stomping Ground 4 Temple of Malice 4 Temple of Abandon Creatures (12) 4 Elvish Mystic 4 Sylvan Caryatid 4 Courser of Kruphix Planeswalkers (11) 3 Nissa, Worldwaker 3 Xenagos, the Reveler 2 Chandra, Pyromaster 1 Liliana Vess 1 Garruk, Apex Predator 1 Vraska, the Unseen Spells (13) 3 Mizzium Mortars 2 Ultimate Price 2 Thoughtseize 2 Dreadbore 1 Abrupt Decay 1 Golgari Charm 1 Heros Downfall 1 Rakdoss Return Sideboard (15) 3 Mistcutter Hydra 2 Thoughtseize 2 Doom Blade 2 Scavenging Ooze 2 Magma Spray 1 Sire of Insanity 1 Rakdoss Return 1 Hornet Nest The Performers: Chandra, Pyromaster: Her zero ability is brilliant in nearly every game, she can also give fantastic positions against Blue Devotion with her +1 cant block activation, shes fantastic in a lot of situation. Card draw and evasion, who would have thought! Vraska, the Unseen: Id consider going up to 2 of this Gorgon lady and dropping the Liliana to sideboard, Its probably better thinking more about the +1 ability before destroying something straight away, in my final round I punished my opponent for his instant -3 destroy ability. He hit my chandra, which allowed me to kill her, if he would have +1d then I would have to have sacrificed 3 creatures to kill her, which is a really bad move for me. Then he would have more loyalty and a better board state the following turn to use her -3. Thoughtseize: Id consider more of these in the main deck, we all know the power of Thoughtseize and having more opening hands with this card, even with the adage that seeing it late game can be terrible is a risk I would take if I could go at it again. The deck Id build if I could go again.... Lands (24) 2 Mutavault 2 Mountain 2 Forest 2 Battlefield Forge 4 Temple Garden 4 Stomping Ground 4 Temple of Triumph 4 Temple of Abandon Creatures (19) 4 Elvish Mystic 4 Sylvan Caryatid 4 Courser of Kruphix 3 Polukranos, World Eater 4 Stormbreath Dragon 1 Rurik Thar, the Unbowed Planeswalkers (11) 3 Nissa, Worldwaker 3 Xenagos, the Reveler 2 Chandra, Pyromaster 2 Elspeth, Suns Champion 1 Ajani, Mentor of Heroes Spells (5) 3 Mizzium Mortars 2 Selesnya Charm Sideboard (15) 3 Mistcutter Hydra 3 Voice of Resurgence 3 Nyx-Fleece Ram 2 Magma Spray 2 Last Breath 1 Deicide 1 Hornet Nest
Posted on: Mon, 01 Sep 2014 10:24:50 +0000
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