GP Indianapolis
I only had two byes, since the PWP bonus for winning a PTQ isn't retroactive. It was sealed deck on day one, so I felt like I had a decent chance to make day two anyway. The deck I opened up wasn't spectacular, but I felt like it had the tools. I built a RBu deck, splashing for Mercurial Chemister, Blustersquall, Izzet Staticaster, and Pursuit of Flight. I think I played one blue source too few for the build I had, since my black cards weren't nearly good enough to win on their own. Unfortunately, there wasn't anything else in blue to support a straight UR deck. I had an alternate GBw deck that was probably the best deck to play, but I misjudged the power level of the main deck and didn't board into it as often as I should have. The result was a very mediocre 5-4 finish at a GP where 6-3 had a decent shot to make the second day.
The one interesting story from the event occurred during the middle of day one. At this point, looking back on it, I'm fairly certain my opponent cheated me in one of the more savage cheats I've witnessed. I was up a game going into game 2, and my opponent made a rather elaborate show of trying to remember what his 40th card in his alternate deck was supposed to be. He finally figured it out, and piled out 40 cards. Then, on the last turn before he died, he "drew" a Sphinx's Revelation that allowed him to stabilize, and the card advantage he accumulated meant he eventually won the game. What I think happened is that he had the Revelation in his lap / sleeve before he piled, and then added it to the top of his deck on the turn he needed it. I didn't realize what happened until after I punted the third game to lose the match, I mentioned that his topdeck of the Sphinx's Revelation was very good for him game 2, but he made a comment about "having it in his hand the whole game", which I knew to be false since he had no cards in hand the turn he drew it. Eventually I put two and two together, but it was far too late and there is too little evidence to do anything about it. It's cheats like these that are so hard to catch in real time that it makes me upset that the DCI doesn't suspend people when they have video evidence of them doing these things. I'll have more to say about this in an upcoming article about cheating.
PTQ Philadelphia
The only Magic cards I brought with me on the trip was a Modern deck to use at the PTQ that happened the last weekend of December in Philadelphia, PA. I played the following list:
4 Sakura Tribe Elder
4 Primeval Titan
4 Farseek
4 Search for Tomorrow
4 Scapeshift
4 Remand
4 Izzet Charm
3 Khalni Heart Expedition
3 Prismatic Omen
4 Valakut the Molten Pinnacle
4 Stomping Ground
1 Steam Vents
1 Breeding Pool
4 Misty Rainforest
2 Scalding Tarn
3 Forest
1 Island
6 Mountain
Sideboard:
4 Ancient Grudge
4 Obstinate Baloth
2 Pyroclasm
2 Negate
2 Cyclonic Rift
1 Vexing Shusher
Here's how the tournament went:
R1 Chang, Morgan - Eggs
Game 1 He went off turn 3 with Silence backup. Game 2 I Negate his Lotus Bloom, and he stalls for a few turns, and I kill him with Khalni Heart Expedition. Game 3 He mulligans to five, and attempts to Silence me the turn I'm going to kill him, but I have the Negate to win on the spot.
1-0
R2 Kemple, Chris - Burn
Game 1 He keeps a one lander, and never draws a second land. I take 3 a turn from his burn spells as I try to draw out of my mulligan to six with no green sources. Eventually I draw a Stomping Ground, but play it tapped to buy more time. He gets me to 2 life before I kill him with Scapeshift. Game 2 he has turn 0 Leyline of Sanctity, but I draw two Obstinate Baloths and just beat him down.
2-0
3 Ozulas, David - BW Tokens
I lost almost every game I played against this deck to Sam Friedman while were playtesting between rounds at the GP, but both games my opponent kept hands without any disruption so I killed him on turn 4 both times.
3-0
4 Natterman, Chris - Affinity
Game 1 he didn't have Cranial Plating, so I had an extra turn to set up and Scapeshifted him out while at 5 life. Game 2 he mulligans to 5, I have 3x Obstinate Baloth, but I lose to his 2x Tempered Steel and Inkmoth Nexus. Game 3 I draw 2x Ancient Grudge and have all the time in the world to kill him.
4-0
5 Drebsky, David - Kithkin
Game 1 he plays some Kithkins, I kill him with Scapeshit. Game 2 I prevent him from using his Windbrisk Heights that is hiding an Aven Mindcensor, and I kill him with Scapeshift.
5-0
6 Kohler, Justin - Esper Planeswalkers
Game 1 we both mulligan to 5. He gets stuck on land, but i'm flooded. Eventually he draws out of it and gets a Batterskull to start attacking me. On the turn before I die, I topdeck Scapeshift and still have enough mountains left to search out and kill him. Game 2 He has Leyline of Sanctity. I have plenty of time to find my Cyclonic Rift, but never get there and he kills me with Batterskull again. Game 3 he gets stuck on two land, even after 2x Spreading Seas on my Valakuts, so I have enough time to ramp to Primeval Titan and Scapeshift when he's tapped out.
6-0
Because the tournament was 189 players, I know that 6-1-1 won't be a lock for top 8, but 6-0-2 should be. I'm hoping to get paired with the only guy I actually know at the tournament, Max Brown, and draw into top 8. However, I get paired down. That's ok, just have to win.
7 MULLIN, ZACHARY - 4 Color Pod
Game 1 I ramp up and Scapeshift kill him very easily. Game 2 I mulligan, stall on lands, and he has the Qasali Pridemage he drew to kill my Khalni Heart. I still can play a control route, but I only have one blue source, which he taps down with the Exarch he drew and kills me with Kiki Jiki. Game 3 I ramp into double STE, but he ramps into pod and Mindcensor. I can't draw any lands or removal, and he kills me with Restoration Angel and Kiki Jiki.
6-1
I can still ID into top 8 if I get paired up or my breakers are good, but once I see that I'm 8th in the standings I know I'm going to have to play.
8 Isgur, Benjamin - 4 Color Pod
Game 1 I keep a questionable hand, and am never in it since he was on the play. I probably should have mulliganed since I knew I'd be on the draw. Game 2 I once again miss land drops, and he has a Qasali Pridemage in his hand to kill me Khalni Heart, and I'm never really in it.
6-2
So I managed to not top 8 after starting 6-0, losing twice to what I consider to be a pretty good matchup. At least it wasn't as bad as this I knew it was possible to not top 8, and I don't think I was playing poorly, still just trying to win matches. It has made me reconsider how good Khalni Heart Expedition is, since I got blown out when they killed it two separate times. I finished 11th.
This is a textbook example of a tournament where I would have top 8 if IDing wasn't allowed, but it is, and I really can't blame anyone except myself. In general, I think I would prefer to not have IDing in tournaments.
For the rest of my holiday break, I've got to keep working on modern for the PTQ season as well as gear up for the PT in Montreal.
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