Quick thoughts on RG eldrazi in modern

https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/visual/954903

cards that were great: bbe, stirrings, TKS, reshaper
rest of the deck medium to below average i think
really missed not playing any dismember
domri was sweet but not sure you want more than 2 at most
obligator was underwhelming, but maybe just because i kept sideboarding it out
probably a good g1 card
nest invader is a neat idea but in practice not worth it
you want the recurring mana ramp of mindstone/talisman/ or even birds
also getting really close (maybe already there) to not enough colorless cards for stirrings
played llanowar elves to have cavern on elf for BBE, but cavern not really the issue in this deck
aslo nest invader real bad with kozileks return sb plan
fulminator was great after board (bbe into fulminator, what a great idea!)
endbringer def overperformed
3-1, beat goblins spirits jund, lost to GW coco
not sure i missed having noble hieararch but didn't attack with llanowar elves much
don't think i activated kessig more than once
could maybe get by trimming caverns if you wanted but cavern smasher the appeal of the deck to me

PT Rivals of Ixalan Report

I played at Pro Tour Rivals of Ixalan in Bilbao Spain last weekend. I had a great time in the tournament and exploring the town.

Preparation and Expactations

This PT was my 7th time competing on this level. While my past results haven't been anything notable, I was uncharacteristically optimistic about this PT. The format was Modern and I really like the deck I have been having success with to get to this point. I didn't have a ton of experience with the draft format, but it didn't seem overly complicated or with many cards that varied wildly in how valuable they were. I didn't prepare nearly as much as I have done for other tournaments, but this was an event where that wasn't as big of an issue.

The goal for the tournament is simple: win. To do that you can break it up in steps, like make the top 8, or go at least 5-1 in draft, etc. The easiest way for me to look at it was I needed 12 wins. The sooner I get to 12 the better, but 12 is the minimum. I figured 8 win in modern and 4 wins in draft were doable, but didn't want to lock in to any particular format goal to avoid disappointment or overexcitement when I inevitably fall short or exceed.

Drafting

Without the crazy number of drafts others had under their belt, I wanted to have some certain preferences. These would be archetypes I felt comfortable with to minimize the tough "in archetype" picks. The questions of which colors are open are always hard, but knowing which creature is better in your Pirate deck between Fathom Fleet Boarder and Grasping Scoundrel can easily be figured out before you have to make the decision. My preferences were BW, BR, BU, RW, UW, GW, preferring aggressive strategies in these colors. I never got any UG deck to come together, and UR required too much finesse for my limited preparation. The other two green combinations would likely require me opening a green card I found powerful enough to overcome the aversion to the color.

My first draft I opened Ghalta, Primal Hunger in a pack where the only playables were green except Deadeye Rig-Hauler. I took the Ghalta, and then was passed several solid black spells including two Moment of Craving and an Impale. The signal was easy to read, I just needed to solidify a second color. I ended up with a very solid black base and options to either play red for Reckless Rage and Unfriendly Fire or blue for some evasive creatures. I decided to play the red in the maindeck and board into the blue cards if necessary.

3-0 first draft #PTRIX pic.twitter.com/m12F7qhM3A

— Ty Thomason (@ceciliajupe) February 2, 2018

Round 1 My opponent and I traded mulligans to 5 in the first two games. I lost the first one to his Soul of the Rapids and Squires Devotion. Game 3 he had turn 3 Soul, but nothing to put on it and he flooded out so I won the match.

Round 2 Game 1 I have double Moment on turn 4 with Fathom Fleet Boarder in play vs his Sleek Schooner and 2/2. It was a blowout. Game 2 he has turn 5 9/9 dinosaur but I impale it and sneak through enough damage to finish him off with Unfriendly Fire.

Round 3 Game 1 I'm very fast and win. Game 2 he has 2 Needletooth Raptor and 2 Raging Regisaur. I board in a Lurking Chupacabra and Queen's Agent to help control the Raptors and I draw both to win a close game 3.


The draft on day 2 was much more difficult. A 4th pick Luminous Bonds and 6th pick Exultant Skymarch showed me white was open, but once again struggled to find a second color. I entertained GW for a bit since I had first picked Tindershoot Dryan, but also had some blue cards. None of the mana fixing was available after I took premium removal in the second pack, and I ended up with the following deck that didn't have a real identity

Went 0-3 with this, tried my hardest in the draft but wasn't happy with results. 6-5 #PTRIX pic.twitter.com/OxT35SgFoY

— Ty Thomason (@ceciliajupe) February 3, 2018

Round 9 I stole a game when my opponent missed his 3rd land drop on turn 3 and 4, but games 2 and 3 his Ghalta and Rekindling Phoenix were too much for me after I used my Bonds and Waterknots just trying to stabilize.

Round 10 I lost games 1 and 3 to his very very very aggressive pirate draw involving multiple one drops and Fell Flagship.

Round 11 I had to play vs a BG deck that was a tough matchup where I didn't have a way to beat his Thundering Spineback. I also played terribly when I didn't know Captain's Hook gave menace.

3-3 in Draft, but obviously disappointed after the conclusion of the second draft. Strange how if it had been reversed I might feel slightly better about my performance. This was the first time I 0-3 a draft at the PT.


Modern

This is the deck I played.

I had more to say about what was good and bad about this going forward, but then they unbanned Jace and Bloodbraid Elf so it doesn't matter. Maindeck was great, SB was probably a bit off, especially the Mindcensors I got tricked into playing.

I went 5-5 in matches, I'll try to recap them now:

R4 vs Valakut of some kind - Win game 1 when he draws 2 Pia and no Scapeshift or Titan. Lost the next two games to some topdecks when things were looking okay, but wasn't super far ahead so didn't feel that bad.
0-1

R5 vs UR Kikijiki
Game 1 I tutor for Dunes when he Pestermites my Knight, and the 3 Voice I drew killed him. Game 2 I punted after he played Blood Moon while I had Path and Command in hand, but failed to cast either and then never had white mana again after he Anger away my Birds of Paradise. I win game 3 fairly straightforward.
1-1

R6 vs Affinity
Game 1 I have active Knight and already GQ two of his Inkmoth. Because I drew Breeding Pool, I think he thought I was on different list and tried to Ravager a 3rd Nexus but of course I fetched up 3rd GQ and he had no board. Game 2 I had Stony Silence
2-1

R7 vs Humans
Game 1 he had Noble into double Reflector Mage so my first 3 turns accomplished nothing. Game 2 I cast collected Company on turn 3 and only found a Birds of Paradise.
2-2

R8 vs Abzan Coco
Game 1 I drew enough Path to not be losing, and then able to GQ him off of white mana. He had quite a few scrys with Viscera Seer and then two searches with Duskwatch Recruiter but never found another Vizier. Game 2 I kept 0 lander on 6 with Mindcensor Path 2 Birds and some others, didn't hit forest until turn 2 and just got attacked to death. Game 3 his start very slow where he doesn't play anything on turn 1 or 2 except Path on my Courser, allowing me to Azusa and Excavator early and easily win.
3-2

R12 vs Burn
Game 1 I probably punt by not attacking with a Voice one turn, or attacking with it the turn before. Both plays give me much better chance to win then the line I took that left me two points short against opponent stuck on 3 land with a bunch of 2cc spells in hand. I win game 2 vs his two Ensnaring Bridge by destroying all his lands with Courser in play. Game 3 he had Guide into 2x Swiftspear and I couldn't catch up.
3-3

R13 vs Grixis
Game 1 he suspends Ancestral, I play Noble Hierarch, his turn 2 he Serum Visions plays Creeping Tar Pit then puts die on his library because he forgot to remove suspend counter. He never finds 3rd land before he's dead and Ancestral has 1 counter on it. Game 2 more lengthy, he has early Tasigur that attacks me down to 8 before I stabilize with two Knight of the Reliquary that are 5/5s and I kill him.
4-3

R14 vs UW Control
Not much to say here, game 1 he cast Supreme Verdict 4x. Game 2 I tried to be aggressive with Horizon Canopy and Exacator but didn't have another green source and took too much pain so died after he Verdict then attack me with Gideon.
4-4

R15 vs Dredge
On the draw game 1 I was just not fast enough. Game 2 I had GQ loop but he had Lightning Axe to break it up and also had basic forest in his deck to recast Life from the Loam.
4-5

R16 vs Jeskai
Both games he flooded and didn't seem into it since we weren't playing for anything just 8-8 record.
5-5


Bilbao

 I had a great time exploring Bilbao and the surrounding areas. The highlights of the trip for me were the Guggenheim Museum, Gaztelugatxe, and the Vizcaya Bridge. Even better was spending the trip with my wife Beth. I've been fortunate to travel to many places to play various Pro Tours over the years, but this was the first time she was able to come along. It was a vastly superior experience going to see the sights with her than trying to do it with other Magic players or alone.  She refused to let me hole up in the hotel room with the post-tournament blues. We even braved nearly freezing rain to get to the top of the Vizcaya Bridge. I've met a lot of great people playing Magic including some of my closest friends, but this was a new juxtaposition to see how much more I like Beth. I don't tell her nearly often enough but I'm very grateful she's in my life.

So.... Now What?

After the failure at the main event, this was the first time it didn't inspire me to come back for more. My mindset going in was kind of a "last hurrah". I'd still love to play more PTs, I'm just not sure how committed to the qualifying process I am. Fortunately I do not have to play PPTQs or I would seriously be retired. After the RPTQ in April and the Team RPTQ in the summer (I'm certain some Bronze pro will be dragging me to that) who knows what my status will be. I finally finished my set of power so I'll be trying my hand at Vintage in real life. I've also rediscovered my love for limited so maybe I'll be drafting more on MTGO. Modern will be in chaos with the unbannings, but will still have my attention. I have two semi-major events coming up to play Modern in - the Hunter Burton Memorial and a SCG Open. I'll probably have Jace in my deck.

So ends another one of these recaps. I had wanted to write more but it's already been almost two weeks since the PT. Until next time.

Thanks,
Ty

Is Blood Sun any good at all?

I don't play much Legacy anymore, but when I did I mainly played UW control type decks (either Miracles or Stoneblade). Both of these decks struggled against Lands, and I've always found Wasteland to be a frustrating card to lose to. I always hoped for a Tsabo's Web that actually could stop Wasteland or Dark Depths, so when I saw this card today I was initially very excited:

But the more I think about it, the less useful it seems to be. It clearly has applications against Ghost Quarter, Valakut, manlands, etc. but the most common thing is hits is... fetchlands. Matt Sperling said it best that fetchlands should never have been printed as is, but that ship has long since sailed. Fetchlands are an integral part to almost every Modern and Legacy manabase, so which decks can realistically play Blood Sun?

You have to want the effect. It's already a fairly narrow affect, especially compared to Blood Moon. Many of the cards Blood Sun is good against can be easily ignored if you are a faster deck than your opponent. Mainly control type decks will be interested in shutting off the uncounterable value lands from the opponent, but these decks are also interested in casting expensive spells, so splashing this off fetchlands just to disrupt won't fit nicely into your game plan. Since splashing this card is off the table, you have to be a deck with lots of red mana. I think red is one of the weaker colors in both Legacy and Modern.

It also doesn't stop some of the more annoying lands in those formats. Tron and Cloudpost still taps for dozens, Cavern of Souls still produces uncounterable mana (if its already in play when you play Blood Sun), and Grove of the Burnwillows still returns Punishing Fire (another bane of control decks in Legacy).

Tsabo's Web is a narrow card, and this is just about as narrow, so while it may seem exciting, and it will definitely see play, it is not a format changing card unless we all agree to stop shuffle with fetches 10x a round. I'm not sure why this wasn't an artifact, with Tsabo's Web already existing and the easier to build two color mana bases without fetchlands. I guess they really wanted to use this very terrible name on a card.

Unified Will

Today I want to talk about one of my favorite sideboard cards in the Modern format, Unified Will.

I've spent a lot of time playing Merfolk in Modern, and I am currently playing GW Value Company with a blue splash just for this card. I believe this card is much better than others think, and I want to explain why.

The main restriction of Unified Will is having creatures in play, so I will be talking about counterspells in the context of creature-based decks.

Why run a counterspell in the sideboard at all?

The right counterspell can be a huge tempo swing. With a creature based deck, it can mean winning the game on the spot when you counter the opponent's sweeper or other expensive spell. In many cases, the main deck configuration includes some kind of creature interaction which can be a dead card in other matchups. Countermagic also gives you flexibility in how you play the game. Holding up the counter on turn 2 to stop a key piece while deploying threats as you make land drops, or flooding the board with threats then untapping and holding up the countermagic. Depending on the matchup or draw or who plays first, you can shift between these plans in a way other sideboard cards don't allow. Countermagic also can be a way to outplay a weaker opponent, or protect your best draws when you need to get lucky to win.

The main reason I play Unified Will in the sideboard is because of flexibility. In general you would rather have a stronger card in the sideboard and the more flexible card in the main deck. However in Modern there are so many different decks it is impossible to have the right sideboard card for every matchup. Painting with a broad brush, you have creature-based decks, control decks, combo decks, and midrange decks. A card like Path to Exile is good against creature and midrange decks, where as a counterspell is good against control and combo decks. Swapping your removal for a counterspell after sideboarding is a very easy start to having a good sideboarding plan.

Which counterspell should be in the sideboard? 

Since flexibility is the big selling point, you want the counterspell that counters the most spells (that you care about) from your opponent. In Modern, some of the possible options for counterspells include:

Unified Will
Negate
Disdainful Stroke
Deprive
Ceremonius Rejection
Delay
Spell Queller
Remand
Mana Leak
Flashfreeze

As a creature deck, the cards you want to counter are different than if you were playing a control deck. Creature removal, especially mass removal sweepers, is something you have an interest in countering. Trading card for card and two mana for one on a Lightning Bolt or Fatal Push isn't the most efficient play, but sometimes it is enough to win the game and that is all that matters. Countering an Oblivion Stone or Anger of the Gods is much more likely to win the game. Because you are interested in countering these types of spells, Disdainful Stroke doesn't quite do what you want to do.

The other class of spells that you want to counter are combo cards that kill you before you can kill them. Ad Nauseam, Scapeshift, Gifts Ungiven, or even Ugin can fall into this category. Negate does a great job at countering all of these, perhaps better than Unified Will. However sometimes the card that kills you is a creature. That can be Primeval Titan from a Valakut player, or Wurmcoil Engine, Ulamog, or a large Walking Ballista from a Tron player. Since Tron and Valakut are two of the more popular big mana decks, it is important to not fold to the other half of these decks.

Ceremonius Rejection and Flashfreeze are only good against a few of these decks, not all of them. Remand and Mana Leak only are good in the early game, and sometimes not even enough then. Deprive requires two blue mana, which is fine if you are playing Merfolk, until you want to cast both a Lord and a Deprive with three Islands and a Mutavault (not to mention Cavern of Souls!)

Delay is interesting because in many ways its the same card as Unified Will. If you have a significant army in play, it gives you 2-3 attacks to kill them. If you don't have any creatures in play, you will probably still lose, like if you had Unified Will and couldn't cast it. However Unified Will lets you counter the important spell, and still play Magic the rest of the game. Sometimes you kill them in the next 2-3 turns, but sometimes you need the game to go much longer to win. In a deck with a lot of creature-lands like Affinity, Delay might be better since your army isn't always "on the battlefield".

Spell Queller counters Supreme Verdict, while none of the other counters can. However, it counters so few of the other spells you care about I don't think its worth comparing to Unified Will. It could be an option in addition to Unified Will though. The one mana counterspells like Swan Song, Dispel, and Spell Pierce can be a good option but do not have the reliable flexibility of Unified Will, but are good enough you can play them in addition to Unified Will.

What are the drawbacks to Unified Will?

I think the above discussion shows how Unified Will is the most flexible and probably best of the countermagic options, but what are its drawbacks compared to the others, or compared to not playing a counterspell at all?

First drawback - you need blue mana. In a deck like GW value, you already have 7-8 blue sources with Noble Hierarch and Birds of Paradise. Adding 1 or 2 shocklands into a fetchland mana base gives you more than enough. However if you are already three other colors, like Abzan or Naya decks, the cost to adding blue might be too great. Also your blue mana needs to be able to cast non-creature spells. so decks like Humans with all the Cavern of Souls variants can't take advantage. This is a big reason why I usually avoid playing Cavern when I play Merfolk. Playing a hate creature or artifact is much easier on the mana.

Second drawback - Its not a threat. Drawing multiple counters and no creatures means you aren't putting any pressure on your opponent. It's also not a creature for Collected Company. I think you can play the games you draw multiples in a way to still take advantage of them, but it sometimes means countering a spell you wouldn't normally care about. When you sideboard them in while playing a CoCo deck, keep in mind your total creature count. It is okay to sideboard out some Companies if they aren't going to be amazing!

Third drawback - you have to hold up mana. In a deck with a large amount of instants, holding up counterspells isn't an issue. That isn't the case for most creature decks, who have to use mana on the main phase to deploy the threats. Threading the needle between holding up mana and pressuring your opponent is hard to do but not impossible. Patience can be key against slower control decks, and against fast combo decks a risk/reward analysis will be helpful. The more expensive the counterspell you are trying to hold up, the harder this is, so a cheaper spell can be preferred.

Fourth drawback - you need creatures. Getting creatures onto the battlefield should be your goal anyway as a creature deck, so that isn't the issue. Having more than your opponent in these matchups is usually not a problem, but it does mean you can't use Unified Will vs other creature decks where you might want a counterspell or two (countering All is Dust or opposing Collected Companies or Searing Blaze). But the situations where you have no creatures in the matchups you want Unified Will, you were probably going to lose those games anyway.

What do I bring Unified Will in against?

Just a list of decks I would bring it in against. Think about if any of the other counters would come in as frequently or do as much.

Tron
Valakut
Ad Nauseam
Lantern
KCI Combo
Mill
UWx Control
Grixis Control
Storm
RW Prison
Living End
Grishoalbrand
Time Walk Deck
8 Rack


 The biggest benefit to running Unified Will is having so much SB coverage in just 4 slots. This lets you use the rest of the slots to focus on actual or perceived bad matchups, what you think might be popular in the metagame, or just playing cards you really like. I'll hopefully talk more about sideboard construction in the future.

Thanks,
Ty

GP OKC Recap

A quick recap of GP OKC. I played GW Value once again. Testing showed I probably should have been playing Bojuka Bog all along. I didn't think Eidolon or Aven were pulling their weight, so I ended up with another Scavenging Ooze. I played a 2nd Fracturing Gust in the SB because I expected a lot of Lantern.

4 Windswept Heath
2 Misty Rainforest
2 Temple Garden
4 Forest
2 Plains
2 Horizon Canopy
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Breeding Pool
1 Grasping Dunes
1 Gavony Township
4 Ghost Quarter

4 Noble Hierarch
3 Birds of Paradise
4 Voice of Resurgence
2 Scavenging Ooze
4 Courser of Kruphix
4 Knight of the Reliquary
3 Ramunap Excavator
2 Azusa Lost But Seeking
1 Tireless Tracker
1 Eternal Witness

4 Path to Exile
4 Collected Company

Sideboard:
4 Unified Will
2 Fracturing Gust
2 Stony Silence
2 Linvala Keeper of Silence
2 Ghostly Prison
2 Dromoka's Command
1 Bojuka Bog

Zach Krizan and maybe one other person played the same 75.

R1 Bye
1-0

R2 Valakut
I lose a close game 1, I don't take a line of GQ myself so he kills my Knight with Bolt + Valakut trigger. Path his Titan, but he draws another one. I'm 2 damage short before that one kills me. Game 2 I win with Unified Will. Game 3 I play around Anger as best I can, but he has double Titan and I can't really do anything.
1-1

R3 Scapeshift
Game 1 I GQ him 4x turn 3, only seeing Search for Tomorrow but he did get multiple Islands and Forests before scooping. Game 2 I counter his Scapeshift with Unified Will
2-1

R4 Saheeli
Game 1 I have all the Paths and he can't do anything. Game 2 I take a line that I think is better than alternative but end up losing anyway. Game 3 I mulligan to 4 and don't get to 3 mana.
2-2

R5 Elves
Game 1 he kills me fast. Game 2 he Paths my Courser so my Linvala wins the game. Game 3 he mostly draws mana dudes and no payoff. I path his Vizier and he's left with some 0/2s to chump block and I eventually win.
3-2

R6 Bant Eldrazi
Both these games were crazy. Game 1 he plays turn 2 3 4 5 Thought Knot Seer, but I end up double blocking one, drawing two Path to Exile off the top, and then winning from there. Game 2 I'm fairly flooded and he's attacking quite a bit but can't cast his expensive stuff. I end up getting Azusa Excavator right when I need to, get attacked down to 1 life but then stabilize with a Courser and he can't play spell anymore so I win from there.
4-2

R7 Mardu Midrange
Game 1 I play to get into a situation where he has Liliana in play on 1 with 1 card in hand and I have 4 lands in play empty handed, as other lines leave me way behind his Dark Confidant. My next draws are Voice, Voice, Company and just like that he's dead. Game 2 I Ghost Quarter all his black lands, he had Surgical Extraction but played it poorly. I win easily from there.
5-2

R8 Jeskai
Game 1 I can't get anything to stick to the board, he has 2 Queller and 2 Logic Knot. I die quickly. Game 2 we play a lot of draw go. Eventually he goes for Snap Path on my Voice. I Unified Will his Snap, he counters with Logic Knot, but then has no Path left to flashback. Many turns go by but I generate enough value he scoops when I finally play Tireless Tracker. Game 3 is very close, I'm in control most of the game but he gets Geist and clears some blockers to make it a close game. I misplay my Eternal Witness and have to have a land on the top 3 cards of my deck to gain the life I need to not die, but it is there and I'm not punished.
6-2

R9 Burn
Game 1 he draws too many lands and I'm never very low thanks to Courser Azusa. Game 2 I draw two Dromoka's Commands, but he has two Skullcracks and I lose. Game 3 he wastes some spells on my mana dudes, plays RIP to stop my Excavator, but my random 2/2 KotR and 2/3 Excavator kill him because he's only dealt 5 to me by this point.
7-2

R10 Jund
Game 1 he mulligans to 5 and I resolve a Collected Company. Game 2 I topdeck 2nd Path to kill his 2nd Bob, and then can keep him off black mana.
8-2

R11 Dredge
I lose game 1 because I lost die roll. Birds Ooze was not fast enough going second. Game 2 he has turn 2 Decay for my turn 2 Oooze, but doesn't have a dredger for his lootings. I draw my Bog and use it to exile his lootings, and then I play a Knight and kill his lands. Game 3 he Lootings and Carthatics without Dredger, so my turn 2 Knight gets to untap and I can Bog him to win.
9-2

R12 Lantern
Sam Black on Lantern. I lose game 1 despite getting him to 1 life and GQ all his lands. He's able to stay empty handed thanks to Mox Opal and has enough Shredders to lock me out. Game 2 goes super long. I'm pinging away with Birds + Noble with 2 RIP in play. He has multiple Needles on GQ and Canopy. I use KotR to shuffle, trying to dig for Gust. Eventually I find 2 Unified Will and a second Noble and he concedes to that. Game 3 we both keep 1 landers, I draw out of it first and have 3x Unified Will in hand. I eventually set up GQ loop and he concedes.
10-2

R13 GB Tron
Game 1 I GQ him and he fails to find, but he still manages to find enough tron lands to kill me since I only attacked him down to 2 life. Game 2 I Stony Silence and KotR. Game 3 I keep hand with Noble, KotR, Fetch, 3x GQ. He plays Needle turn 1 on GQ and I don't draw anything else relevant.
10-3

R14 Grixis Shadow
Game 1 He mulligans to 5 and is stuck on 1 land for many turns. Eventually he gets out of it but I have too much pressure in play and I win. Game 2 I flood really bad, and play to give myself a shot at winning if he doesn't have a removal spell or blocker, but he does. Game 3 I topdeck Company at a crucial turn and end up getting way ahead, but I can't find the right time to go after his lands since he had 8 in play. I also sense we are running low on time so I go more aggressive with my own card drawing trying to get more creatures into play to maybe win the game instead of locking him out. He has enough interaction to stave off death on turn 4 of extra turns, so we draw.
10-3-1

R15 Naya Kiki Chord
Game 1 he has no combo cards, just attacking me with a bunch of creatures with Township. I GQ Township and Path his Selfless Spirit to take over and win. Game 2 he has turn 2 Blood Moon, but then doesn't use Pia and Kiran to kill my mana guy so the game goes a few more turns before he combos me since I can still cast most of my spells. Game 3 I have to hold up Dromoka's Command to stop combo the whole game while playing around Magus of the Moon. I use it to kill an Inferno Titan, but I never can really attack because he has so many chump blockers. Witness gets Command back from the yard, but he has his own Witness Chord chain. He also has so many basics it never seemed correct to attack his mana. I start attacking and he realizes he can't dent my life total so begins to leave his team back to block. I manage to get Linvala in play on turn 4 of extra turns with Command in hand and full loop capability, but he doesn't want to concede. If he had any incentive to draw I would be 100% sure he stalled me out of the game but since he gains nothing I have to assume he's just clueless. Some of his stalling actions throughout the match included Fetching for land, putting it into play, then setting deck down on table. When I go to shuffle his deck, he tells me he hasn't shuffled it yet and picks it up to shuffle. !??!? Another thing he did multiple times was to say he would respond to my Fetch or Knight activation, think for a few seconds, then decline to respond. So yeah we run out of time, once again in a situation I can't lose. This one is probably more my fault for not noticing his slowing behavior, perhaps I played slower due to fatigue from all the rounds, but it still seems uneccesary.
10-3-2
80 something place, no cash, 1 pro point

Still very happy with deck. Only slightly upset about losing round 13. As this deck gets more popular probably more reasonable for Tron to have Needle in the SB I guess. Draw round 14 is also only slightly upsetting, but the last round draw pretty tilting. It remains to be seen how the metagame will look for the PT, but I think this is still an option for me to play.

Props:
meh
Slops:
draws