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

Ol' Number 7

Sunday morning of the RPTQ, I went to breakfast with Berni, Friedman, Tobey, Dustin, and Canales at Norma's Cafe. The menu had four numbered items. #1 and #2 traditional breakfast plates, #3 was the chicken fried steak and eggs breakfast, and Ol' Number 7 was quite the mixture of foods in a giant bowl. It was never explained why there were not any numbers 4-6.

I've played in six PTs in my career. PT Philadelphia 2011, Dark Ascension, Avacyn Restored, Gatecrash, Born of the Gods and Journey into Nyx. Two of those (AVR and BNG) were in Spain. The upcoming PT Rivals of Ixalan is in Spain.

When I went to register for the RPTQ, the store was charging $20. This is not great, but really nothing to be done about it now. The complaints won't matter. After tax (?!?) the total was $21.65. I reached in my pocket and had exactly 65 cents in change to go with the Jackson and Washington in my wallet.

When I mulligan to five game three against Robots, I was mainly looking for lands. Both the seven-card and six-card hands contained only one land. The five-card hand was two Fetchland, Birds, Plains, Fracturing Gust. Top card was Ghost Quarter; I left on top. His draw was slow, no turn one creature. I play Birds after fetching Temple Garden. His turn two play was just Vault Skirge. My turn I draw another Ghost Quarter. I play a second fetch and pass. He attacks and plays Etched Champion. I fetch another Temple Garden EOT and play Ghost Quarter after drawing another land. He plays Blood Moon on his turn. Shit, why didn't I fetch a basic? This would be so much easier. Well I guess I have to GQ myself here for a Forest. He attacks me again. I play GQ on my turn, still one turn off from Gust. His turn he plays Ravager and two other artifacts. He attacks, but doesn't have enough to kill me just yet. With no cards in hand, he passes. I survived long enough and through my own misplay to cast Gust. Still at 7 life, it wasn't a guarantee, but I felt like things were looking up. I felt like I could make it all the way to the top 4.

RPTQ Prep Blog Part 4

I locked into GW Coco probably earlier than I thought. It was more than a pet deck at this point given how much I was winning with it. Adding Grasping Dunes really gave it another dimension to the existing myriad of plays. This deck has options, so many options.

The last decisions were sideboard decisions. I knew I wanted at least two Eidolon for the recent rise of Storm. I also thought Ghostly Prison would be good against the new Humans deck, considering how great it always is vs Merfolk and the similarities those two decks share. Prison also has application vs Dredge and Robots as well as rogue decks like Bushwhacker Zoo, etc. To make room for them, the Reclamation Sages ended up getting cut. While they are certainly good choices, I thought they weren't high enough impact for a sideboard slot and were merely just Nice To Have. It did leave me a bit weaker to Blood Moon, Spreading Seas, and Grafdigger's Cage, but every other card was better in those matchups. Dodging or ignoring Cage would be the plan, and Dramoka's Command would help beat pesky enchantments.

RPTQ Report

Round 1 - Goblins.
Game one he starts with Mountain Aether Vial. It took me a few seconds to even recognize that as Goblins. I played Voice into Knight into Knight, GQ myself twice in the turns to get big Knights and to fix my mana. Voice traded for a Goblin Guide, but Legion Loyalist meant the token wouldn't get to block. I attacked with it after playing the second Knight, then my opponent EOT Vial in Rabblemaster, untap play Goblin Guide number three and Goblin Bushwhacker. He attacked with two Guides, three tokens, a Loyalist, Bushwhacker, and Rabblemaster. I was forced to double block the Rabblemaster to make any kind of progress and not just die on the spot. I ended up taking one more than I should have as we both counted the token from Rabble as getting the bonus from Bushwhacker. I untapped and played Scavenging Ooze and was able to live the next turn at exactly 1 life. A third Knight helped kill him when he missed on his next draw step. Game two was never very close, he was stuck on one land so I held Path until I absolutely had to cast it, but by then I had a board of giants vs his board of weenies.
1-0

Round 2 - Robots
Game one very close, but 5 manlands and 2 Overseers proved too much for my GQ to handle and I couldn't attack on the ground. Game two he has RIP, but I have Stony Silence and Ghostly Prison. He can only attack for two a turn but I'm in danger of getting Whipflared with 2/2 Knights. I search up Township to get my guys big enough, then draw Dromoka's Command to kill RIP and eventually loop Grasping Dunes. Game three described earlier.
2-0

Round 3 - Dredge
Game one I'm fairly dead, but he forgets his Bloodghast triggers one turn and I draw my Scavenging Ooze to eat them. The game goes on at least six more very complicated turns. I manage to eat all his Conflagrates when he dredges into them also hitting Narcomoeba. I don't have enough of an army to block profitably every turn, and eventually he swarms me and kills me with top deck Bloodghast when I was trying to kill him by attacking with Scooze and Voice token. Game two I have turn 3 Ghostly Prison, he dredges all his Abrupt Decays, and I start attacking his mana. He has to Conflagrate to kill Excavator to stay in the game. I can't attack because his wall of Stinkweeds in the way until I manage to find another Excavator and loop Dunes to clear the way. I attack for lethal on turn 2 of extra turns while I'm at 50+ life.
2-0-1

Round 4 - GW Company Value
A mirror match (mostly). Game one we both have very good draws, but I have Grasping Dunes to break up his Scooze and Excavator. Eventually he is out of lands. Game two I have turn three Linvala, so my Knight and Scooze operate uninhibited by his.
3-0-1

Round 5 - GW Company Value
Would never have guess I'd play the mirror twice, but here we are. Thankfully I have more experience in mirror than opponents, and Grasping Dunes is amazing. Game two he has turn three Sigarda on the play, but I easily counterract with Linvala and multiple Coursers plus Azusa to never be threated too badly by the angel. Eventually I get Dunes online again and the 6 life I'm gaining from Coursers each turn means he can't hurt me with just the Sigarda and I kill him with giant Knights.
4-0-1

Round 6 - Valakut Breach
We ID. I'll probably be 8th seed.

By standings, the decks were: Abzan Midrange, Elves, Weird Abzan Company, Jeskai, Breach Titan, Lantern, Robots, GW Company Value

So of all the decks in the top 8, I get to play the one I have the best matchup against.

Top 8 - Abzan Midrange
He plays first, takes my Company with Brutality, and I draw a bunch of lands and die to Lingering Souls. Game two is similar, but I topdeck another Company to get back in and kill him. Game three goes longer, but I generate too much value and somehow strand a Liliana in his hand that he never has a good chance to cast. Eventually his only out is to topdeck Damnation, but he doesn't. I did manage to get a warning for fetching Horizon Canopy with Windswept Heath when I planned on going for it with Knight immediately after.

I win, I'm back on PT, and I'm going to Spain again, for Ol' Number 7.

Props:
Todd Stevens for making the deck
Whoever I stole Grasping Dunes tech from
Shane for finally Qing for PT
Will for helping me out with everything all the time

Slops:
Berni drawing 4 Through the Breach
Stores charging for RPTQs
Capitalism

RPTQ Prep part 3

Played a league with UG merfolk. went 2-3, but probably played poorly. Deck still the same really, has a bit more explosiveness but still weak late game, lack of instant interaction also a liability like humans.

Played a league with GW value. 3-2
Beat Eldrazi Tron 2-1, dropped first game despite getting him with 0 lands in play i just drew lands and his TKS kept beating in til I died. Next two games much easier.
Lost to Burn. Definitely expect this to be a pretty bad matchup overall without Finks.
Lost to Rb Skred. Game one interesting almost won through Blood Moon but Relic and Kozileks Return took out my KotRs and I couldn't get through Stormbreath. Game 2 more of the same.
Beat Esper Control, too much value.
Beat BW Eldrazi Taxes. G1 took most of the time on both clocks. Ended up at 1 life for a point before recovering with 4x Courser and Grasping Dunes to stop the Flickerwisp beats. G2 he ran out of clock.

played another league with UG merfolk. 3-2.
I tried out Sygg River Cutthroat, but didn't draw him. I also tried out 2 Copters, idea being makes Branchwalker better and you can play an extra land or two.
Beat Tron, Abzan, and Eldrazi
Lost to Humans and Infect, both winnable matchups.

RPTQ Prep Part 2

This was actually done before part 1, but just a copy paste of text I posted in group slack.

4-1 a league with GW with some spicy test cards

beat Merfolk 2-0, g1 drew enough paths and had GQ to stop his spreading seas from killing me
g2 got him with stony silence + rec sage on relic + ghostly prison after he drew two vial on the play

beat elves 2-1, game 1 had mindcensor to stop his chord, then GQ his white mana to keep him off druid vizier combo, had dunes + excavator but no azusa, had to use paths on archdruids to keep him from attacking, was slowing getting his mana down when he coco into vizer ezuri and I die on the spot. game 2 was similar, he had mindcensor when i activate KotR but I hit anyway and he didn't have enough gas. game 3 he kept clunk hand with mindcensor but i soul read him for it so i only fetch when I have path up, then I get him with Linvala.

beat robots 2-1, game 1 he had 2 memnite 3 pest 1 ornithopter, had a chance with mindcensor blocks + dunes, but he also had overseer and I was too far behind. game 2 I got him realllllll good with Dromoka's Command, he was 1 point off from infect turn prior so i took just 4, next turn I reveal path on top library with courser so he attacks pest inkmoth inkmoth with ravager in play, I just block pest with birds, he sacs just 1 guy to ravager and moves to inkmoth, i command to pump birds and have courser fight the inkmoth. once i draw path and i'm at high enough life to not worry.
game 3 was close he almost burn me out with 2x blast but didn't have metalcraft on one of them and stony silence + gq kept his army from swinging

round 4 vs BW tokens, just looped canopy + excavator 6+ times each game and was so far ahead even b2b topdeck damnation (is this real life) wasn't enough to get him back in it. also had primal hunter show up and draw 5 cards with kotr

round 5 vs tron, real close both games, had a GQ to delay the tron a few turns, had some reasonable pressure, but he recovered to find tron and had the Ugin (they always have the Ugin) when any other card wasn't good enough,

Mindcensor was just fine, it wasn't enough to stop Tron though maybe if the cards lined up better it could have, it did solid work vs Elves and is reasonable with GQ but wasn't so great that playing 3 was worth it.

dunes was surprisingly great, used it to pick off lingering souls tokens, random elves, and reasonable insurance vs etched champion, def should have 1 in 75 if only playing 2 colors
I didn't miss Tireless Tracker, as I suspected extra Canopy with excavator was enough to grind
also didn't miss Scavenging Ooze, though deck is bordering on not having enough 1 and 2 drops

Ghostly Prison did what I wanted it to do, not sure if its needed
Linvala still great, Stony Silence still great, Dromokas Command still solid
Didn't bring in Intervention so its still a question mark in my mind
Primal Hunter was as good as I hoped, but no better than that, and likley isn't as strong vs other grindy decks and the slot is tight
obv didn't get to test eidolon

RPTQ Prep blog part 1

RPTQ is soon, going to type up some stuff about my prep so far.

I played some with the 5 color humans deck. It's a very nice deck, capable of some amazing starts, but can easily be thwarted and not being able to play non-creature spells really hurts your sideboard options. It has potential but I think I'm staying away.

I went to the local store tonight to play the weekly modern. I planned on playing updated Merfolk once I purchased the new cards I needed, but I do not own Botanical Sanctum and the store had zero. So instead I went with my PPTQ winning deck, changing a couple of cards. I cut a retreat for fourth Path, and cut a Scavenging Ooze for a Grasping Dunes. I would have cut the second Retreat for the fourth Excavator but didn't have access to that either. I kept the same sideboard.

Round 1 vs Grixis Tapout
Maybe not exactly tapout, but he had Goblin Dark Dwellers and Ancestral Vision, but no Cryptic Command. Game one he mulligans to five and doesn't draw much action. Game two he gets me with Blood Moon into Young Pyromancer and I couldn't draw any basics. Game three was interesting as I didn't have a lot of pressure but had Dunes for his Pyromancer and then Path when he brought it back with Kolaghan's Command, also using a Dramoka's Command to save a Noble Hierarch. He played a Grafdigger's Cage and two Blood Moon, so the Collected Company in my hand did nothing. I drew a bunch of lands with Courser but couldn't get a clock on him. Finally I drew a Knight, and his draws of GDD and Snapcaster Mage didn't do anything thanks to the Cage. Eventually he ran out of chumps for the Knight and he died.
1-0

Round 2 vs Ad Nauseam
Game one my hand is garbage for the matchup. He takes is time setting it up, then casts Ad Nauseam asking if I have any responses. I say no then he tries to play Angel's Grace. I get the judge to explain to him that this isn't going to work the way he wants it to, but then I concede after he lets me see his deck. Game two I have Birds in Knight and Unified Will with Eternal Witness. Knight kills him in short order. Game three I have Birds into Courser with 3x Unified Will, and I never really cast another spell. I could have cast another threat at some point with still 2x Will available, but I didn't think I could lose if I held up all 3x indefinitely so I did that and eventually poison him through Unlife.
2-0

Round 3 vs Lantern Control
Game one interesting moment when I know he has Whir of Invention in his hand, but he has Grafdigger's Cage revealed on the top of his library. Instead of making the play I planned on, I let him draw Cage and then cast Company when he tries to resolve it, hoping he only has the one Cage in the deck. He does so I end up with two Knight of the Reliquary in play and he has no Bridge. They kill him from 19 life. Game two I keep a one land Hierarch hand with Unified Will and Fracturing Gust. He Inquisitions my Hierarch and then keeps me off of 3 land for the entire game. Game 3 I keep two mana dude Excavator plus Gust. He reveals Thoughtsieze on his library around turn 4 so I use gust to kill 3 artifacts and keep him from Whirring for Bridge. I get a few attacks in with a Knight so even if he has a Bridge he can't beat the 2x Noble Hierarch and I win the match.
3-0

Round 4 vs Bant Knightfall
Game one I have two Collected Company and a Path. I bait a Knight and Excavator for his Queller, use Path to get Knight back, and then the double Company lets me set up a lock with GQ and Dunes. Game two I have Linvala, two Path, and Dromoka's Command to keep him from doing much of anything serious. His Company only hits one creature so it was more than enough.
4-0

I didn't mind 24 land, it can't be completely wrong. Still might want 4th Birds. Retreat seems completely unnecessary, so maybe I can cut the Hallowed Fountain. I'm a bit worried about main deck islands with the strength of Merfolk, and I have no Storm hate in the SB as it is. Gust has done serious work so I hesitate cutting it. Intervention has done nothing so it can probably go. 3rd Stony is always an option. 3rd Canopy also an option.

The real question mark right now is Voice of Resurgence. It is always your best card against Death's Shadow and very good in plenty of other matchups, but it doesn't do a whole lot for the deck as a whole. I can see cutting down to 3 like Todd Stevens has done lately for another Ooze or Tracker or Witness (but probably not for the Bird/Land spot). I'll have to reevaluate what I think the metagame will look like to decide on it.

PPTQ Report and my thoughts about Standard UB Midrange

I played another PPTQ yesterday. It was in Huntsville at Gamers Grove, where I have won the only two PPTQs I've played there. When Austin Bursavich said he could lend me a deck, I figured why not try to make it three for three?

I did very little preparation however. I played no games, so all my analysis is going to be off of the results I had in the tournament and some theory crafting. I've looked at lots of Standard lists trying to help Austin and Collin Rountree prepare for the upcoming PT. It can't hurt to think about Magic, though I believe your results are better if you actually play some games.

I played almost exactly this list. I changed the Search for Azcanta and Vraska's Contempt in the sideboard for 2x Spell Pierce.

40 people, 6 rounds of swiss.

Round 1 - UW Approach
Playing against Scott, also from College Station area. He road with me, along with Jeremy and Andrew. Before the games, he made the joke that if he won he'd have to walk home. Game 1 I kept a not ideal hand, but it has some lands and Glimmer of Genius which I thought would be useful. I didn't have nearly enough counters to fight on the axis I needed to, and he did, so I was defeated fairly easily. After SB I get to bring in 4 Duress 4 Negate 2 Spell Pierce, and really have a big advantage. Game 2 was close, I had to find a Scarab God of Supreme Will when I had him tapped out, and I found it. Game 3 I just destroyed his plan with Duress and Freebooter.
1-0

Round 2 - UW Approach
Playing against Max. Game 1 we both mulligan to 5, and I draw 3 Freebooter and easily win. Game 2 I draw all 4 Duress easily win. I'd love to play this matchup all day.
2-0

Round 3 - UB Marionette Control
He had Tezzeret, Spell Swindle, and another assorted things. Game 1 is hard because I don't have any hard counters, but I have a bit more card draw, and somehow get a Scarab God to stick and can use it on all the Gearhulks. We only have 15 minutes for game 2, he has some aggressive 2/1 that gives him treasure when it dies. I screw up and forget he has the treasure so he casts Gearhulk off only 5 lands, but I'm able to recover because Scarab God just too good.
3-0

Round 4 - Temur Energy
Paired down vs Mac on 7 points. Game 1 I have a reasonable draw, but he sequences in a way to always make it awkward for me. I trade a Gifted Aetherborn for a Hydra, and then he plays Carnage Tyrant and I die. Game 2 I'm in control for most of the game, but he has so much energy that when he finally resolves a Virtuoso he gets a bunch of guys. Scarab God helps me stabilize, and he misses on topdecks for a few crucial turns while I lock it up with my own Virtuosos and Freebooters. Game 3 he gets Carnage Tyrant in play, but I'm holding off with a Aetherborn. Scarab God comes down, and I can start attacking with a Thopter from my own Virtuoso, but time is called on my turn. I try to make as much damage as possible, scrying for Freebooter with the God. I play Freebooter on turn 2 of extras, then EOT I push it and reanimate it with God. Drain for four takes him to 7 life, and I have to hit untapped land to be able to cast two Vraska's Contempt and swing with everyone for exactly lethal. Top 4 cards don't have the land, but the 5th card is basic Island, so I win.
4-0

Round 5 - Temur?
We ID.
4-0-1

Round 6 - Ramunap Red
He didn't want to ID, despite being guaranteed the first seed if he did. So we play. I mulligan to 5 game 1, manage to get two Aetherborn, thinking I might steal the game but he has the desert that exiles my GY when I try to use Scarab God, then topdecks Lightning Strike to kill me before I can take over. Game 2 I win when he floods out, but I mulligan to 5 again game 3 and only draw 1 land.
4-1-1

I end up in 4th place after swiss.

Quarterfinals - RG Pummeler
I draw 3 Fatal Push and an Essence Scatter game 1 to keep him off the baord, but he lands a Pummeler and then has Harnessed Lightning for my Freebooter to get back Invigorating Rampage and attack for 40 power trample. Game 2 I manage my removal better, drawing both Essence Extraction and Vraska's Contempts to gain enough life to offset attacks by Voltaic Brawlers. Scarab God on Aetherborn locks it up. Game 3 I keep a slow hand with turn 3 Supreme Will as earliest play on the draw, but his first non-attune play is turn 4 Hydra so it works out. He floods out and I'm never really threatened.
5-1-1

Semifinals - Ramunap Red
Playing rematch from round 6, but since I have experience playing the matchup now, I feel a lot more comfortable. I win 2-0 when he doesn't draw much high end, and I'm able to answer his low end with timely removals.
6-1-1

Finals - Mardu Vehicles
Brandon Vickers playing Mardu, neither of us want to make any kind of deal so we just battle. I get to play first because higher seed. Game 1 he does a good job sequencing his threats and makes my removal awkward. Vraska's Contempt not ideal vs aggro decks. I manage to stabilize at 9 with Scarab God in play, but he has a second Disintegration to put me dead on board. Game 2 I get to Spell Pierce his turn 2 Heart of Kiran, and he never gets any big pressure after that. Game 3 I make a misplay when he Duress me. My hand his Fatal Push, Supreme Will, Glimmer of Genius with 3 mana untapped. He has two lands untapped, Courier and Heart in play. I Push the Courier in repsonse, then he plays Scrounger and hits me for 4 and I can't recover. I shoould have let Duress resolve and either counter the Scrounger if he takes push, or push the Heart if he takes Will. I'm still not sure I can win the game, his hand was stacked and my hand just lands, but the misplay put it so it was going to be very hard to recover, and I didn't.
6-2-1

The deck was solid, lots of good cards and lots of options, plus Freebooter gave you lots of information to use to make the hard decisions. Freebooter was even better than I thought it would be. Chart a Course is still a question mark in my mind. I sided it out vs Red and Vehicles, but I didn't have anything else cheap to bring in.

Going forward I would put the Vraska's Contempt and Search for Azcanta back in the SB, but probably cut the Kingpin for the two Spell Pierce. Pierce was very good vs Mardu, and I think it is useful enough elsewhere. Maybe I just love that card too much. I'd also consider playing more Essence Scatter or Walk the Plank so you have options for turn 4 deploying Freebooter with a spell up. I don't know the tokens matchup at all, but I think with 4 Duress 4 Negate 4 Freebooter you should be fine without the River's Rebuke. 3 Scarab God might be too many. Gonti was fine, nice to have more deathtouch if Carnage Tyrant being played in the maindeck. Commit / Memory was good catch all, but could be easily cut. I never got to Memory with Gearhulk like I wanted to.+

Props:
Freebooter
Austin for the Deck
Jeremy for keeping me company on drive back to College Staton

Slops:
Astros

Talking about playing slowly

In my last two PPTQ reports, I've mentioned my struggles to avoid draws. This is something I've come to terms with recently and I thought I would write about it.

Hello, my name is Ty, and I play slowly.

This wasn't always the case. When I first started playing competitively, I was very fast. I also wasn't nearly as good as I am today. I would try to finish my FNM draft round as quickly as possible in order to playtest block or extended or even my draft deck in between rounds. Routinely at PTQs I  would be involved in concurrent money drafts to be completed in between rounds.

I didn't play quickly for any particular strategic reason. I wasn't trying to rush my opponent into making a mistake (though that happened quite frequently). I wasn't trying to "show off" or "intimidate" my opponents either (this also likely happened). Mostly I did it because I would get bored thinking about the game at hand. This was combined with a desire to play as many games of Magic as possible, because I really loved playing Magic. Probably my favorite aspect of Magic is the ability to play many games over and over in a relatively short amount of time, especially when compared to other strategy games.

Playing so many games made me better at Magic. It also made me faster at Magic. A sort of feedback loop existed, like the guy in the old anti-drug commercial talking about why he does cocaine. I wasn't trying to be the fastest player, nor was I trying to be the best player, I just wanted to keep playing. I knew lots of players that were good played much slower than me. Players like Trent Boneau and Kelly Wichert would take minutes on what I thought were simple decisions. In my youth I assumed it was because they were older than I (I don't like thinking about how much younger they were then than I am today). It was meeting two players close to my age that also played slowly, Taylor Williams and Taylor Webb, that I started to see how actually taking time could help.

The biggest game changer was when I joined the U.S. Navy. Before boot camp, I was a player that had good instincts for the game. I would avoid common mistakes by playing so many practice games and making them all before hand. Boot camp taught me to focus. The feeling that I only really experienced before hand while taking exams in school I was able to apply to other endeavors. Right after boot camp, I was in extensive nuclear power training that involved multiple written exams every month. This involved memorization of large lists of related things, explaining complicated processes step by step, and some basic (to me) math. This all helped me rapidly grow as a better Magic player.

One of the first times I distinctly remember taking my time to work something out in a game of Magic was an RRG draft where I needed to draw my one copy of Pyromatics to win the game after getting my opponent to exactly a life total that I could kill him from. This was the first time was thinking about a long term plan in draft. Normally I would just make the "best play" every turn and hope to win, but this involved not making the best play, and instead saving cards for when they were crucial to the plan. When it worked and I won a game I knew I couldn't have won a year earlier, I began to see a change in how I played.

Magic Online also changed the pace I play. It taught me to play constructed Magic more thoughtfully. At the time I mostly played purely aggressive decks. My constructed PTQ top 8s were with Goblins, RDW, and Affinity. The decks do require thought to play, but there are also many games where you just would roll over your opponent. As I began to build more of my own decks and learn some nuances to how cards line up in constructed, I played fewer aggressive decks.

All this is to say, for many of my successful Magic playing years, slowing down meant playing better. This is very much a good thing. There are two other factors to playing slow that are not as good.

This first of these factors is thinking way too much about things that don't matter. I enjoy finding new things to think about, whether its which land to play on turn 1 or which counterspell to lead with in a potential counter war. This things are relevant, but only some of the time. Sometimes your turn 1 land doesn't matter at all. Sometimes the counter war you expected never happens. While its good to be prepared for things, Magic is a complicated game and there are way more things to think about than you need to. This is where playtesting is most helpful for me these days.

The second factor is age. It is sad but true that I can't think as quickly as I used to, for as long as I once could. The fatigue after tournaments is close to the hangovers I feel from a night of drinking. A recent Twitter conversation summed it great:

This is compounded by not playing nearly as much Magic as I used to, especially IRL Magic. For whatever reason, I need to play IRL to keep certain skills sharp, especially avoiding slow play. So many things are done for you online that you forget how important it is to do them quickly IRL. Shuffling, fetching, shortcuts, life total adjustments, adding counters to your creatures, all of it can bog down a game and take you to extra turns despite the fact you never stopped doing things.

When I first moved back to Texas from Hawaii in 2011, I played in a SCG Open in DFW. I was playing a Boros Landfall deck with Squadron Hawk, Stoneforge Mystic, Plated Geopede, and Steppe Lynx (I had yet to figure out that CawBlade was the best thing ever). I had played the deck quite a bit online, and won an untimed GPT in Honolulu. In round 1 of the SCG Open, I drew playing against CawBlade. I realized I wasn't ready for IRL timed Magic when I sacrificed a fetchland, searched, shuffled, marked my life total, presented deck to opponent, then realized I wanted to play a fetchland for the turn and also sacrifice it. This was the correct sequencing to play around something I'm sure, but it's perfectly reasonable to shortcut if they don't have whatever that something was. A few turns later I played a SFM and searched, only to realize after presenting the deck that I also wanted to play a Squadron Hawk. Predictably, we didn't come close to finishing.

So yes, I am a slow player. But unlike the many of other slow players out there, I know that I am slow. I try to play fast, and occasionally I even do! I try to hold my opponents to a reasonable pace, but when I'm my own benchmark, many times that isn't fast enough for us. I think this was an interesting look at the causes of it to hopefully better help me going forward.

Thanks,
Ty

A PPTQ Win Report

Since the last time I posted actual Magic content, I didn't play a whole lot. Weeks went by when I suddenly remembered I had another PPTQ opportunity coming up, so I began where I left off. The first thing that happen was more of the same - I played slowly. I timed out on MTGO in a match, up a game, in a game I was very likely to win. This was disheartening. I've come to terms that I'm not the fastest player anymore, but this was something else. I finally found a deck I liked and it was exacerbating the problem.

I tried some other things in a panic. The Naya Evolution list just felt clunky by comparison. The Saheeli Combo version had a low enough curve and Oath of Nissa to help out, but had way too many cards that are bad on their own (including both combo pieces). This is one of the reasons I shy away from traditional Counters Company deck. I even considered trying to learn a Death Shadow variant six months after the fact. Luckily for me, my friends have my back.

I did decide to make some changes. I added two Retreat to Coralhelm to the maindeck. The combo with Knight of the Reliquary would hopefully give me a better chance to close out games in time. It's also a reasonable card in a deck full of Courser of Kruphix, Ramunap Excavator, and Azusa. The other changes were to sideboard after feeling out more of the bad matchups.

The Unified Will definitely stayed with added blue mana to the deck. They do a lot of work in unknown PPTQ environment. Phrexian Revoker was too fragile to be relied upon in the matchups I wanted; I switched it with Linvala. This let me cut a Stony Silence because Linvala does the same work vs Eldrazi Tron a lot of the time. I could now afford to play Fracturing Gust (which I learned during the tournament is an instant!) to cover the weakness to Etched Champion from Robots. Dromoka's Command was mainly to play against Burn while giving me extra removal spells vs other Company decks. The Gideon's Intervention is good against Valakut, and can be played vs other combo decks if you want. 

The last time I played a PPTQ in Huntsville, I won the Sealed event battling through quite a gauntlet of opponents in a 25ish person event. This time, there was 73 people for Modern, but not as many opponents I knew of. I showed up an hour early because I was confused on start time (this was actually my fault), and got to check out the new location for Gamers Grove. It is much nicer than their old location, though I still don't understand why they don't have an apostrophe in their name. I settled in for the seven rounds of swiss grind with this grindiest of decks.

Round 1 vs Bogles

This is not a matchup I was expecting a lot of. Game one his turn two Spirit Dancer was adequately suited up and I didn't draw any way to stop it. Game two he again has turn two Dancer and puts Spirit Mantle on it, but doesn't have a third land. This lets me use Dromoka's Command to make him sacrifice enchantment and have my Excavator fight his Dancer, and he doesn't draw another threat before I'm able to Ghost Quarter him off of all his mana. Game three he has threat heavy hand, so I have time to set up since they are mostly too small to attack into my 2/X guys. He has Grafdigger's Cage, but lacking in the pants department for his dudes. Eventually his army is suited up sufficiently to stall the board, but I have Fracturing Gust to get rid of all the troublesome stuff. He topdecks Daybreak Coronet and tries to cast it, but I inform him he has no legal target (if only I had known Gust was an instant before I cast it!). Then I'm able to GQ him off WW and then eventually all his land and his army of 1/1s can't keep him alive.

2-1

1-0

Round 2 vs Grishoalbrand

Game one I was unsure what he was on so on turn two I played Retreat instead of Knight into his Bloodstained Mire, hoping to play around Fatal Push or other removal since my hand was blanks after those cards. He doesn't cast anything turn two, so I play Knight turn three. He still does nothing, but I have nothing but lands in hand so my turn four I try to go off and he just kills me in response. I think I would have won easily if I play Knight first. Game two my hand is reliant on mana dudes for mana and he has Anger of the Gods and then kills me easily afterwards.

0-2

1-1

Round 3 vs Jund

Game one I draw three Voice of Resurgence and he only has three lands for a while maybe? I do know one turn I attack two 4/4 Voice tokens into his two 4/5 Tarmogoyfs, which he blocks. I then exile my Courser from my graveyard with Scavenging Ooze and his Goyfs perish in combat. Game two he has THREE Dark Confidant and reveals land every single time, and then I whiff on Collected Company for the real rub ins. Game 3 he has Dark Confidant again, but is stuck on lands again. He reveals a Flaying Tendrils that I play around adequately forcing him to eventually use it on his own Bob, but my two Scavenging Ooze survive and kill him.

2-1

2-1

Round 4 vs Grixis Death Shadow

Playing vs Jason Herren this round. Game one he draws 10 or so lands and only one creature, not very difficult to win. Game two I delay casting Company a turn to play around Stubborn Denial possibility, but he didn't have it. He did have two Death Shadow which started double Abyss on me and even the two Company I cast wasn't enough to turn the corner as he continually played more threats. I kept drawing cards that gave me a chance, so I spent about 10 minutes playing this game once I thought I was dead but conceding didn't seem like it was a given. Game three begins with only six minutes left in the round. We both play very fast, I have a good start with turn two Knight but he has a turn three Death Shadow. The Retreat I drew that I hoped would let me close out the game was countered by Stubborn Denial. He is low enough though that when time is called, I was going to get the turn five so I chumped for two turns and searched out Township, made my two Birds of Paradise into 3/4s, and killed him from 6 life on turn five without having to worry about dying on the backswing. This is an interesting position because if there was more time left I'm not sure its the correct play to go for the kill since any removal would leave me dead on the backswing.

2-1

3-1

Round 5 vs Abzan Delerium

Game one he has turn one Bauble but then only has one land and has to discard on turn two. He only draws WB lands for first three land drops, so I'm very far ahead by the time he can play real spells. Game two he has turn three Lost Legacy, which really scares me for a brief moment as my hand contains three Collected Company, but he names Retreat to Coralhelm. I use the Companies to set up GQ loop, and when he tries to Surgical my GQ I search for another one with Knight in response (though in the process I forgot to make two Voice tokens from his spell. Didn't matter, he had no lands after that.).

2-0

4-1

Round 6 vs Dredge

I cut all dedicated GY hate after no seeing any Dredge and also it not being good enough vs other matchups. I was worried it would come back to bite me here. Game one I win die roll and start turn one Birds, turn two GQ + Azusa + fetchland, turn three Excavator and then activate GQ on him four times. He only had two basics in his deck. Once he was unable to cast spells, it was just a matter of getting enough dudes into play to avoid dying to Prized Amalgrams and eventually Township plus Birds let me block Narcomoebas as well. Game two I kept a no land on five with a mana guy and Scavenging Ooze. I didn't draw a land ever and lost. Game three I led mana dork into Excavator. Turn three I had Ooze to remove a Bloodghast and Haunted Dead, but he had Abrupt Decay and no third land. I stared attacking with Excavator and began using GQ. His turn he goes for Conflagrate to kill two mana dudes and my Excavator, but I have Dromoka's Command to stop it and then GQ him off of spells the rest of the game.

2-1

5-1

Standings put me in 7th at this point, breakers slightly better thna 8th. 9th place is the only 13 and his breakers are about the same as mine. I'd be willing to draw at this point but I knew it wasn't likely my opponent would want to if he was smart. I also knew that 9th and 10th road together so 10th would likely concede to 9th to guarantee a top 8 vs playing to hope to get in.

Round 7 vs Affinity

I'm on the play, I have Birds into two Knights with multiple fetches, and it's not even close vs Vault Skirge, Ornithopter, two Signal Pest and Master of Etherium. I die unable to do anything. Game two was probably the best or second best game of the day. I take quite a bit of damage from early beats but get out Linvala and Knight of the Reliquary. Knight begins to search out GQ for all his Nexus while Linvala keeps his lone Signal Pest with Plating at bay. At some point, I'm at 2 life vs his 37 life. But Knight was a 13/13 thanks to ten lands and a counter from Dromoka's Command. I start swinging as he's flooded out, and win the game at 1 life. Game three was also very interesting. I had a turn two Stony Silence, but he had Aether Grid to take out some mana guys. Linvala was there to stop attacks, and soon Courser was gaining me life to offset the losses from Grid. Eventually I draw Dromoka's Command (MVP!) and get rid of the Grid and can easily win from there. 

2-1

6-1

1st after Swiss

I don't know everything in the top 8, but I do know that there was Infect, Eldrazi Tron, RG Tron, Counters Company, Cheerios, and myself. 

Quarterfinals vs Cheerios

I can't imagine this is good matchup for me. Game one I try to GQ him but he has plenty of basics and kills me on turn three anyway. Game two I play turn two Courser off Hierarch, then hold up two Unified Will the whole game while attacking for three. He never draws what he needs to go off. Game three starts the same way, except he counters my Stony Silence on turn two with Swan Song. The bird token and a Courser start the beats while I hold up Will and Command. Finally at 6 life he casts Silence, which I counter with Will. He has another Silence though, then a Sram and begins to go off. He is very tight on mana though and at one point has to Echoing Truth his own three Paradise Mantle just for more cards. Eventually he runs out of mana before ever finding Grapeshot so I win!

2-1

Semifinals vs Eldrazi Tron

Game one starts with Knight and me double GQ him but he has a TKS off Temple anyway. I go for even more GQ but he has a one turn window to get second Temple to cast Endbringer and he hits. The Endbringer depletes my mana by killing all my Birds and my lands have all been turned into GQ so I can't make any headway. Eventually he draws enough lands to cast All is Dust. Game two I have Stony Silence to stop his Relic, and have enough GQ to keep him off AiD. Eventually a Linvala flies over for enough damage while the ground is stalled. Game three my hand isn't great. He has Tron Map Tron, and my turn two Stony on the draw isn't fast enough to stop the turn three Endbringer. I Path it and he plays another. I play Eternal Witness and Path again. He only has Reality Smasher followup. I get out two Coursers and start gaining life to mitigate the damage. Eventually I get a Knight out as well and he can no longer attack. I'm at two life but his 7/7 Ballista can't activate. Eventually I find Azusa and can GQ him three times a turn while gaining 6 life and I put the game out of reach.

2-1

Finals vs Infect

I ask before hand if there is any interesting in make a deal, but he wants to try to play the Modern Pro Tour. I'm a bit worried about the matchup so I suggest maybe splitting the $270 total cash between the two of us and playing for invite, but he declines. Oh well. Game one I mulligan to five cards and keep Hierarch, Hierarch, Courser, Path, Scavenging Ooze. At least my scry was a forest. I pass the turn without playing a land. His turn one is Glistener Elf. I play forest and Hierarch. He plays Pendelhaven and attacks but only for 1 poison. He follows up with second Elf. I don't draw second land so have to play Hierarch and pass. He activated Pendelhaven, plays a second Pendelhaven and activates, hitting me for 4 poison, bringing me to 5 total. I draw Horizon Canopy so I'm still in it. Courser reveals GQ but I play Canopy from hand to hold up Path. He casts Might of Old Krosa on an elf then attacks with both. I path the pumped one then block his other one with Courser. He declines to use Pendelhaven, instead opting for Become Immense to kill my Courser. My follow up is two Scavenging Ooze, which he declines to attack into despite Pendelhaven. He does have Inkmoth at this point. I try to GQ the Inkmoth, he animates and saves it with Vines. I play Excavator and replay GQ. He attacks with Inkmoth on his turn and pumps with Pendelhaven, so I use GQ. He plays Overgrown Tomb and passes. At this point my Scavenging Ooze has killed off his other Elf while attacking thanks to the counter it got from eating Courser. I start trying to be aggressive since I'm still very dead to any unblockable infect creature and a pump spell. I have a Birds and a GQ to stop lands but Blighted Agent still a worry. He plays Noble Hierarch to block for a turn, but at this point he is at 4 life and I have four 2 power attackers. His Plague Stinger is too late. 

After winning game one, I realize my SB doesn't have much that is good. Dromoka's Command is not the ideal kill spell vs a deck full of creature pump. I ask the HJ if we can still work out a deal, and he says yes. So I offer a split of the cash, he gets the box, and I get the invite. He accepts, and the long grindy day is over.

I'm happy, I get Whataburger to celebrate, I listen to MBDTF on the drive home, and everything is great.

Props:

Will and Collin for being great sounding boards, questioning me when I'm confident, but believing in me when I doubt myself

Dromoka's Command

Opponents for getting unlucky or playing badly or whatever they did to let me win another Magic tournament. It's greatly appreciated, not sure how many more tournaments I'll win in my life.

Also all my opponents for being great sports about getting GQ locked and just being friendly overall. I wish I could be more involved with the local community sometimes.

Slops:

Clockwork Games for not being able to sell me cards on Friday afternoon. I get you have to do inventory or whatever, but Friday doesn't seem like the best day to do that.

more pptq information frustration

I mentioned in my last post about the struggles to find out when that PPTQ was happening, how much it cost, and other key details. Now, one week later, I'm running into similar issues with a completely different store. My experience with the PPTQ system is this kind of stuff every single week from as many different stores as you can think of. Surely there is one competent store out there somewhere? I wish Wizards would turn over PPTQs to one TO like they did with GPs.

if i had more time i'd start a blog publicly shaming #mtg stores for shitty event information online.

— Ty Thomason (@ceciliajupe) August 22, 2017

I guess I had time today. Here are the issues this week:

First, I go to their website.

 

The events section gives an error. OK, it's probably on Facebook, most businesses in this MTG market use FB instead of having a real website anyway.



The official store Facebook has two events for PPTQ. One starts at 10am Saturday, the other is inexplicably a two-day event without a given start time. Maybe more info is in the description.



OK this looks promising. Except... still no start time. Also one lists a player cap of 48, but both list prizes down to 64 people. Hmm still confused, maybe I'll click on the link to buy tickets.


Well this looks like the same info just copy and pasted! In fact, it says the link to buy tickets is coming soon, despite this being that exact page. Also, the cap is listed as 64 people here!

As a consumer, I can't have confidence in what I'm purchasing at this point. So I'm forced to call the store (the horror!)(actually not that big of a deal but if you want me to call just say "call for details" instead of all the non-information).

For those that care, the information you need is Saturday, 10am, 64 player cap.

PPTQ report

I always say I should write more, but I never do. I think I'll start posting more game recaps just for future reference for myself. Starting with just IRL events but might expand to online events, sometimes they are more important to document (the replay feature is there but not great).

So to start for real, I played a PPTQ in Conroe today. Despite the standard PPTQ grind struggles, I made it to the tournament and registered without issue. The advertised cap of 50 was bumped to 64, and they sold out.

I played Todd Steven's GW Ghost Quarter Company list, with some modifications I had been testing:

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

4 Collected Company
4 Path to Exile

4 Ghost Quarter
4 Windswept Heath
3 Verdant Catacombs
2 Temple Garden
1 Breeding Pool
2 Horizon Canopy
1 Gavony Township
4 Forest
2 Plains

Sideboard:
4 Unified Will
3 Stony Silence
2 Surgical Extraction
2 Phyrexian Revoker
2 Reclamation Sage
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Dromoka's Command

I really like the Blue in the sideboard. Deck feels real solid vs lots of matchups, only a few I'm actively afraid of. Wanted to play 2nd Tracker and 3rd Excavator in the main over the Kitchen Finks but couldn't find the cards and hedged to be able to have the Surgicals in the SB by putting Finks in the main.

Round 1 - Counters Company
This is probably the worst matchup IMO (at least of commonly played decks). Your mana denial isn't really effective at stopping them from going off. G1 he turn 4 kills me and I had nothing to stop. G2 I get out Revoker on both Viscera Seer and Duskwatch Recruiter, but he draws Chord for Qasali Pridemage eventually to kill me through a Surgical by having multiple Finks in play already. I don't really know what more I can do here that doesn't also hurt me.
0-1

Round 2 - GB Midrange The Rock
G1 was tight race between his 2x Goyf and Flayer vs my Courser/Excavator/Azusa loop. I chumped the Goyfs for 3 turns while gaining a bunch of life to negate the Flayer damage. Eventually he had no mana in play and I drew a Company for KotR and Voice to swing the races. G2 was also close because I chose not to Path his Goyf on turn 2. I think it worked out because I was able to use the Path on his Tireless Tracker, but there was a turn I was dead to a removal spell when I blocked Treetop Village without GQ up. He didn't have it that turn, and when he tried to kill me next turn I had GQ at the ready.
1-1

Round 3 - Grixis Shadow
G1 I mull to 5 and keep a hand without green mana (GQ and Township). I draw Plains and Path in that order, but then foolishly let him untap with Angler before Pathing, so I lose to Stubborn Denial. I couldn't recover. G2 he kept a 1 land hand and never got to play a second before I had 6 guys in play. G3 I keep an iffy hand with Forest, GQ, Bog, Finks, KotR, Courser on the draw. He Thoughtsieze to take Finks. I draw Voice so decide not to lead with Bog (plus he only had 2 cards in yard), but then he cycles Street Wraith EOT and untaps for Tasigur. I draw Excavator and play the Knight. He doesn't have removal for it so I'm still in it. Excavator and Voice are played over next few turns, he can't get value from his Fatal Push or his Kolaghan's Command and his only other threat is a second Tasigur so he loses to much tempo and eventually I flood the board with dudes while stabilized at 6 life.
2-1

Round 4 - Esper Gifts
G1 was odd, he didn't have much other than Esper Charm (giving me a Voice token) into Jace, Architect of Thought. I think he casts a Supreme Verdict but I have Voice and Finks to keep attacking. He plays Baneslayer Angel giving me a target for one of the dead Paths in my hand and I win the game on next attack. G2 he has turn 5 Blood Baron of Vizkopa, but I get out Scavenging Ooze with some counters so it is bigger than the Baron. He tries an Elesh Norn on seven mana, but I have Unified Will which forces him to Verdict the board the next turn. He floods out after this and I was prepared with secondary army and another Unified Will.
3-1

Round 5 - Mirror Match
Probably 70 card mirror or so. We both really don't know how to play it. I have a good start winning the die roll and getting Excavator Azusa Courser online. He has a Courser as well and knows his top card is Company. I GQ him, but he doesn't search. So I GQ him two more times, leaving him with 1 card in hand and 3 lands in play. He draws the CoCo, plays a land from his hand, and hits Eternal Witness and Excavator, so all the work I did is undone. Game goes on many many many more turns, he has more Paths than I do so I lose both my Excavators, but I get Scooze to stop his own loop. Eventually I draw some KotR and they are much bigger than his team and I can start attack. His army slowy gets whittled down and now my Voice tokens big enough to attack, but he draws Scooze and I don't get aggressive to find a Path for it. I attack with everyone on turn 4 of extra turns, leaving him at 5 life with no creatures in play, but we take a draw, having not finished a game.
3-1-1

Round 6 - UW control
G1 I mulligan to 5 cards but quickly get Excavator and Azusa with a fetch and Canopy to draw enough cards to get back even. He can never find Supreme Verdict until I have 7 cards in hand again, so when he finally does after a few Cryptic Commands I'm able to rebuild enough to kill him. G2 I take a few damage from my own lands maybe unnecessarily and he tries to race with Vendilion Clique and Gideon Jura, but I draw Courser and gain enough life to offset the Clique. There was a turn I was dead to Cryptic Command with his Gideon but he didn't have it so I was able to attack it away. Eventually he has to Verdict and I gain some life with Scooze. He can't ever find any more pressure and we run out of time when I think I probably should have killed him.
4-1-1

Finished 10th on breakers, I was expecting 9th after drawing round 5 and the round 1 loss, but some people unintentionally drew last round to actually give me a chance but I was still 10 points back on tiebreakers.

Deck seems good vs decks that don't have a trump play and give you time to set up land destruction plan. Not particularly solid vs other Company deck, but the blue in the SB gives you game vs most unfair decks. Compared to Eldritch Evolution its lower to the ground but struggles going over the top. I'm probably too slow these days to play this deck IRL anymore.

just a thought experiment with obvious allegory

Let's say you are a Doomsayer. (Shout out to Errant Doomsayer, probably my 2nd favorite tapper in MtG). Not everyone agrees with you that the world is about to end, so you decide you want to get the word out. You pick your street corner, and you hold up your sign - "The End Is Nigh".

Then let's say someone joins you on this corner. They have similar beliefs that the world will end quite soon. But their sign is different. Their sign says "The End Is Nigh Because of Jews and Blacks". They see you as an ally in their cause to bring awareness about the pending doom.

At this point, you have several options.

Option 1: Hey you know what, maybe they are right. You never thought about it that way before, but Jews and Blacks are definitely the reason the end of the world is coming. Better update your sign.

Option 2: Well, they have 1st amendment rights, they are free to say whatever they want. But you don't like them hijacking your corner to spread their message, you disagree strongly with their premise. If you let them stay, your message looks to outsiders to be the same thing as you are standing side by side on the street corner. You decide to move street corners. Now you are on a less busy intersection, but your message is no longer tainted. Except, everyone that drove by the old corner expecting you there only saw your sign, never the face behind the sign, so they assume that is you there standing on the same corner as always, just with a more extreme message. You try to correct them, but no one can hear you from your distant intersection.

Option 3: You decide it doesn't matter why they think the world is ending, its more important to you to have people on your side that to have shared values and underlying beliefs. You continue to stand side by side with your signs. When asked by passers-by if you think Jews and Blacks are the problem, you say "No I'm not a racist, though I know some racists support what I support."You would have to be very blind or very dumb to not see them standing right there next to you.

Hopefully I don't have to explain in detail how, to an outside observer, you appear the same in all three situations whether you want to or not. If it is important for your voice to be heard, it should be important for you to communicate clearly. Your original message has been corrupted, lost, or distorted. But you aren't blameless in this, there is always option 4.

Option 4: You ask the racist doomsayer to leave. You point them in the direction of the distant, less busy street corners to spread their message. They might leave, but they might not. You know from the other options that you must do everything in your power to ensure your message is true and clear for all to hear. So you have to physically remove them from your corner. It might get violent, they don't want to leave. You have a corner with great visibility and lots of people that support your message, corrupted or not. They have their own supporters that think they should stay on the corner. Some eggs get broken, some blood is spilled, but you drive them away. Now you are free to speak your message to the street corner and know that it's getting through unmolested to your audience, exactly what you've always wanted.

And what other option did you really have?

San Antonio 1K Team Event (Unfinished Report)

This past weekend, I played in the Gamerzpairadice Team Constructed 1k with Haibing Hu and Aryeh Wiznitzer as my teammates. The format was Legacy/Modern/Standard. Aryeh had recently won a PPTQ with mono black zombies, so he played that in Standard. For Modern, I always try to just give Haibing the best deck and let him figure it out, whether for individual events or for team events. This time, that meant giving him Grixis Death's Shadow as played by Brad Nelson at the latest SCG Open. I was the designated Legacy expert of the team, and despite all the brews I've been trying to prepare for GP Las Vegas and the post-Top banning environment, I ended up playing a list very close to the list I had been playing a few months ago. This is what I played:

Esper Strixblade

4 Stoneforge Mystic
4 Baleful Strix
2 Snapcaster Mage
2 Vendilion Clique

4 Thoughtseize
4 Brainstorm
4 Force of Will
4 Swords to Plowshares
3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
3 Ponder
2 Engineered Explosives
1 Batterskull
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Sword of Feast and Famine

1 Academy Ruins
2 Island
1 Swamp
1 Plains
3 Tundra
3 Underground Sea
1 Scrubland
1 Marsh Flats
4 Flooded Strand
4 Polluted Delta

Sideboard
3 Surgical Extraction
3 Containment Priest
1 Flusterstorm
1 Invasive Surgery
1 Arcane Laboratory
1 Zealous Persecution
1 Engineered Plague
1 Toxic Deluge
1 Council's Judgment
1 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
1 Sword of Fire and Ice

I like this list a lot. I will play some version of it at GP Vegas. I think I will cut all the cards that cost WW in the SB for something else, but I'm not certain of what the something else is yet.

Since Aryeh had access to 4 Transgress the Mind, we decided we were Team Thoughtseize. Thoughtseize is a very good Magic card. There were 22 teams at the event, which was the capacity of the store. Some people had to be turned away at the door. People love team events! Gamerzpairadice was a pretty nice store. The bathroom worked, the air conditioning worked, and there was plenty of parking. The tournament was 5 rounds of swiss with a cut to top 4. I'm not sure this is the right way to run it, but it worked out in the end.

Round 1
I'm playing against 4 color Deathblade. I win game 1 despite him resolving Jace and Stoneforge first. I was able to kill his Jace with an attack from Snapcaster Mage after I STP both his guys end of turn. Then my Jace took over the game. Game 2 he started Noble Hierarch into Leovold into Jace, and I had no effective answers and I lost. By this time, Aryeh had defeated his Marvel opponent, and Bing had defeated his Green Devotion opponent, so we didn't finish our match.
Highlight of the round: Bing's opponent cast Summoner's Pact and searched for a Whisperwood Elemental that was in Russian. He asked Bing if he knew what it did. Bing (who has won two separate tournaments with Whisperwood in his deck!) said no. Then his opponent went back into his library to find the English version and put that into play instead of the Russian one!
1-0

Round 2
I'm paired against Burn. I make short work of him with turn 2 Stoneforge for Batterskull with Force of Will backup, followed by Sword of Feast and Famine and equipping. Game 2 was exactly the same. Bing lost to burn, probably making some questionable plays along the way. He was still learning to play the deck. With 30 minutes left in the round, I put my trust in Aryeh to play his match and I went to get some lunch. He ended up losing a close game 3 to UR Control.
Highlight of the round: My opponent, facing a Germ with Batterskull and SoFF on it, "Hey teammates, what is my plan against Batterskull with Sword of Whatever Whatever on it?"
Teammate: "Go to the next game."
1-1

Round 3
I have an interesting match against Dragon Stompy (with actual dragons!). His turn 2 Trinsiphere resolved, and then I couldn't Force of Will his turn 3 Blood Moon. Mostly locked out of casting spells due to only having a Island as a basic in play. I flashed a Snapcaster to trade with a Rabblemaster. I cast Force of Will the hardest way (exiling a blue card and paying 3 mana) to counter both Avaricious Dragon and Thunderbreak Reagent. But then I drew Batterskull! I played it, and started to stabilize against his board of 2 goblins and Magus of the Moon. Eventually he drew Fiery Confluence, but I had gained too much life so even with two turns off to replay the equipment he couldn't kill me. He ended up scooping a few turns later, unable to beat the 4/4 lifelinker. I lost the next game to turn 1 Chalice on 1, turn 2 chalice on 2. Game 3 I used two Thoughtseize to take his Chandra and Sin Prodder, clearing the way for my Stoneforge for Sword of Fire and Ice, but he topdeck another Chandra and I lost. Aryeh defeated his opponent (no idea what the matchup was), and Bing was able to stop the Ally deck from going off with Return from the Ranks thanks to Stubborn Denial, and we won the match.
Highlight of the round: winning game 1 with just Batterskull.
2-1

Round 4

Grand Prix San Antonio Report

I seem to do pretty well at San Antonio Grand Prixs. I hoped this year would be no different. Team Unified Constructed was a format I never got to play previously and I was hoping they would bring it back. I wasn't thrilled that it was Modern, but I still looked forward to the deck building challenge.

My teammates for this event were Will Lowry and Robert Berni. Early on, we decided I would play Merfolk since it didn't conflict with most decks, and I had a ton of experience with it. As the tournament approached, we decided someone should probably play Affinity since that deck is so broken and only loses to hate. As for the last deck, we were looking for options. Then GP Vancouver happened.

Immediately we knew we had to have a Death's Shadow player. The difficulty of that deck to pilot meant we would give it to our most experience Thoughtseize player Berni. This severely restricted the other decks you could play, but we knew we could find a way. The easiest deck to pair was Affinity which we already were working on. Once Will started playtesting it and after playing at the SCG Open in DFW, we had another issue: Merfolk wasn't good. We expected a lot of Affinity at the team GP because it doesn't take anything from other decks, and Merfolk has a very bad matchup vs the robots. But one good thing came from the testing and that was the inclusion of 4x Glint-Nest Crane in the Affinity deck.

So with Will on Robots and Berni on Death's Shadow, I had to go back to the drawing board and figure out what I would play. I wanted a deck that was reasonable against Death's Shadow (nothing is great vs it) and Affinity while still being abstractly powerful enough to deal with the randomness that is the Modern format. I ended up playing this:

3 Birds of Paradise
4 Noble Hierarch
1 Saffi Eriksdotter
4 Voice of Resurgence
4 Renegade Rallier
3 Kitchen Finks
1 Gaddock Teeg
1 Eternal Witness
4 Restoration Angel
3 Huntmaster of the Fells
1 Glen Elendra Archmage
1 Thragtusk
1 Kiki-Jiki Mirror Breaker

4 Path to Exile
4 Eldritch Evolution

1 Arid Mesa
4 Wooded Foothills
4 Windswept Heath
1 Temple Garden
1 Sacred Foundry
2 Stomping Ground
3 Forest
2 Plains
1 Breeding Pool
1 Horizon Canopy
1 Gavony Towhship

Sideboard
3 Stony Silence
2 Burrenton Forge-Tender
2 Linvala Keeper of Silence
2 Reclamation Sage
1 Eidolon of Rhetoric
1 Reveillark
1 Archangel of Tithes
2 Engineered Explosives
1 Magus of the Moon

I started with Todd Stevens Rallier Company deck from SCG DFW. I liked how Rallier and Voice of Resurgence could gum up the ground vs Death's Shadow, but I didn't like how Tarmogoyf and Knight of the Reliquary just got killed. I also didn't like the land destruction element, nor the sometimes awkward way Company into Rallier didn't do anything. One card that did always have value with Rallier was Restoration Angel, and I soon began looking at Eldritch Evolution as an engine of sorts. Evolution sacrificing Voice to go get Rallier and getting Voice back was very good. Using the second evolution to sac Voice again to get Restoration Angel blinking Rallier getting back Voice and now you have a real army. I also added Saffi Eriksdotter as a great syngergy card since sacrificing it to protect Rallier gives you two blockers indefinitely. Strangleroot Geist also made an appearance as a 5th Voice for a while.

I ran into the issue that there weren't any good 4 drops you want to evolve into on an empty board (nothing to blink with angel). The best ones were either Huntmaster of the Fells or Glen Elendra Archmage. Huntmaster was great at grinding through removal, so it furthered that plan even more. Once I added red mana, the singleton Kiki-Jiki gave the deck a way to kill vs the faster decks of the format and a solid endgame. My past experience with trying to make Kiki Chord work is that Chording for 4+ casting cost creatures is not a reliable plan because it requires way too much mana or playing Wall of Roots, which isn't a very good card. Not playing Chord or Company definitely was an edge at the GP since I know a few people boarded into Dispels thinking I had them in my deck.The blue for Archmage was added to help vs Ad Nauseam and other combo decks. Once it made it to the main deck, it never left. Being able to steal game 1 when otherwise you'd never be able to win really adds up.

I worked on this with Zach Krizan (an expert on GW lists) and we quickly learned it was actually just great. I was even surprised at how well it was doing, but that could be because I was used to playing Merfolk, a deck that is admittedly not great. I even went 5-0 in a Modern league for the first time on MTGO as documented here.

The tournament venue was much nicer than I remember. Props to the City of San Antonio for the beautiful transformation of the formerly ugly convention center. I really enjoyed the area and wish I had stayed closer to the site.

Our seat configuration was myself in seat A with Naya Evolution, Berni in seat B with Death's Shadow, and Will in seat C on Affinity. Will has to be on one of the edges to minimize the distractions and hopefully keep him focused and playing at a reasonable pace. Berni is in the middle because he's great at observing all of the opponents, plays the fastest, and his large frame gave a barrier behind which Will and I could confer. I'm on the end because I'm not the super observant and quick player I used to be.

Round 1
Our round 1 opponents didn't show up. Berni runs so hot.
1-0

Round 2
I'm playing vs elves. I lose game 1 when I can't block because of his Elvish Champion. Game 2 I have Linvala and Archangel of Tithes in play, but he has 3 Essence Wardens preventing me from going for the combo. I was using Kiki-Jiki on Rallier to thin my deck with fetchlands. I was finally out of fetchable sources just waiting to draw Explosives or Huntmaster when my teammates won. Berni beat their Affinity player, and Will beat their Death's Shadow player, leading to the awkward situation where the teammates can't exactly blame a bad matchup.
2-0

Round 3
I'm playing vs Jeskai Burn (snapcaster mage, serum visions, jeskai charms). I combo off game 1 at 4 life after gaining 4 from Kitchen Finks, my opponent says "well at least I did 20". Game 2 I misplay and sacrifice Forge Tender when he casts Boros Charm while I'm at 5 life. He responds will Skullcrack. Game 3 his draw doesn't have many cheap spells or creatures and I'm at a comfortable 12 life when I win. Berni loses to Abzan Company featuring a Saffi-Rallier-Viscera Seer combo, then Blood Artist for the kill. Will pulls out his match against the mirror and we win the round.
3-0

Round 4
I'm playing against TitanBreach. Game 1 he has turn 4 Through the Breach and I can't recover. Game 2 I win with Magus of the Moon and Forge Tender to stop his Anger of the Gods. Game 3 I Evolution into Magus and he can't ever kill it and I kill him with just a Finks and Voice token. Berni loses to Abzan Midrange,and Will loses the Affinity mirror because his opponent has Ancient Grudge and he doesn't (they are in Berni's sideboard).
3-1

Round 5
Berni's opponent is late (how lucky). He wins a quick game against Swans / Treasure Cruise combo and takes his match. I'm playing against Elves where I win game 1 with maindeck Gaddock Teeg stranding his Companies and Chords in his hand. Game 2 he has turn 1 Mystic, turn 2 2x Heritage Druid into Elvish Archdruid, and turn 3 Elvish Archdruid attack for 12. All I have in play is Voice and a Birds of Paradise so I take it down to 6 life, but Evolution the following turn for Archangel of Tithes to slow him down. A follow up Huntmaster of the Fells starts clearing the board, and he scoops after drawing nothing but lands for a few turns telling me he sided out all his Companies and Chords after seeing Teeg game 1. Will was playing vs Standard BR Madness Vampires with Robots, but somehow was the last one done with his match.
4-1

Round 6
I play against Eldrazi Tron. Game 1 I have the turn 4 kill while he's mana screwed. Game 2 he is manascrewed again and my Stony Silence stops his Ballista and Collar from wrecking me. Eventually he resolves Thought-Knot Seer but by then I had a few Voice tokens big enough to attack into it and I could Evolution for Reclamation Sage for his Batterskull and attack for lethal. Berni lost to burn, but Will topdecked multiple Etched Champions against Death's Shadow to come back after losing game 1 to win us the match.
5-1

Round 7
I play against Affinity. Game 1 I get destroyed on the draw, but game 2 and 3 I have early Stony Silence and I'm the first one done. Berni is in a grindy Death's Shadow mirror, and looks like he's about to lose game 3 due to being stuck on only 1 mana for too many turns when Will beats the Jeskai Control player with multiple Etched Champions.
6-1

Round 8
I play against Esper Control. I almost get game 1 with the maindeck Gaddock Teeg, but end up flooding out and he finally deals with it a 3rd time and puts the game away with Sphinx's Revelation. Game 2 is more of the same, I don't have enough action to pressure him before he can safely set up Revelation. Will beats a flooded Burn player, and Berni is down a game against Ad Nauseam when they get deck checked mid-round. The check takes almost 20 minutes, and they finally come back to tell Berni's opponent that he has presented 59 and 16 for game 2, so he gets a game loss. Game 3 he keeps a 1 land hand with Leyline of Sanctity, but that didn't stop Surgical Extraction on Serum Visions. With the knowledge of his hand, Berni aggressively used Fulminator Mage and Kologhans Command in a mana denial strategy before setting up two Death's Shadow and Battlerage that can win through Phryexian Unlife. It didn't matter though as the opponent only drew Gemstone Mine for lands and ended up mana denial on himself letting Berni take the match.
7-1

Round 9
Backup feature match vs Sam Black, Justin Cohen, and Corey Burkhart. On the time shifted match, Berni gets to see the 0 land hand Sam keeps with Thoughtseize. Titian, Titan, Amulet, Amulet, Pact, Stirrings on the draw didn't hold up when the Stirrings was discarded. Game 2 he grinded through an Engineered Explosives and a Tireless Tracker to kill Sam just before he could deploy Hornet Queen. I lost the first game to Corey's UW Control, but win the second one in a grind fest that involved 4 castings of Supreme Verdict and still me getting him to 2 life. Then I cast Huntmaster of the Fells five turns in a row as he only had Cryptic Command to bounce/tap during my upkeep with the flip trigger on the stack. He finally drew an answer with Path to Exile, and my Restoration Angel in response was exiled by Spell Queller. I drew a Voice and a Township that let me attack into his Queller with the Wolf token and he couldn't draw another wrath to stabilize. Getting ready for game 3 we hear Will has defeated Justin Cohen on Death's Shadow, so we don't get to finish our epic match.
8-1

Finishing day 1 at 8-1 is great, but all of us have been here before and we know there is still lots of work to do. We get some solid Mexican food for dinner and get some sleep before coming back the next day ready to continue our run.

Round 10
I'm paired vs Gerard Fabiano and his UR Madcap Moon deck. I see neither Moon nor Madcap in our two games so I was kind of lost as to what to play around. Game 1 I show some signs of not being fully awake when I cast Restoration Angel in response to his Cryptic Command bounce-draw on my Voice token but I fail to blink the token to counter the draw (I was just casting because he was tapped out.) Then two turns later he taps out for Goblin Dark Dwellers flashing back Ancestral Vision and my board is 5 lands, Voice, Angel and my hand is 2 Evolution and Path to Exile. I bemoan the fact I don't have 6th land to kill him so I just attack with Angel then post combat Evolution into Rallier on Voice. While searching I realize I could have used Evolution for Rallier on a Fetchland to cast the 2nd Evolution and combo him, but since I am in my 2nd mainphase I can no longer attack. I pass with Path up, and he plays Jace Architect of Thought but I end of turn path his Goblin and can attack for lethal with Township through the Jace trigger. Game 2 he plays Threads of Disloyalty on my Voice which I decline to Path in response because he also has Thing in the Ice in play. I think its the correct play, but eventually I get buried by multiple Ancestrals and he attacks with Cryptic Command and has multiple Bolts to finish me off. We only have 6 minutes left for game 3, but by this point Berni has lost to Eli Kassis Bant Knightfall, and Will has lost to Ben Lundquist on Death's Shadow, so our match no longer matters.
8-2

Round 11
I'm playing vs Carlos Ramao. I know he is on Ad Nauseam so I keep Birds Fetch Evolution Evolution Finks Angel Rallier on the draw. I peal Breeding Pool and easily get out Archmage before he can go off. Game 2 I get out Archmage but he has Boseiju. I decline to counter his Lotus Bloom which may have been a mistake. He casts Ad Nauseam and draws the deck, casts Slaughter Pact on Archmage. I attempt to save it with Restoration Angel, but he has Echoing Truth and I die to Lightning Storm. Game 3 I lead with Stony Silence turn 2 and Magus of the Moon on turn 3. He can only cast Simian Spirit Guide and hope to buy time, but my Voice and Finks kill him before he can draw Lightning Storm or Slaughter Pact. Will defeats Abzan Midrange so we win despite Berni losing to Dredge. Berni attempted to call a judge because his opponent attacked with a Bloodghast that just entered the battlefield when he didn't realize that it has haste but I quickly told him he was being dumb.
9-2

Round 12
I'm playing against Affinity. I lose the die roll and get destroyed game 1. I win game 2 with 3x Path, EE, and then finally Stony Silence. Things get complicated game 3 when I have Stony Silence but I'm stuck on land without any real plays. I make a misplay and Path his Ravager giving him the 3rd land he needs to play Aether Grid. I use Reclamation Sage to kill it, but in the mean time I take a large hit from some man-lands and Signal Pest. I draw a second Sage to kill the Pest, and then try to develop mana with a Birds and Hierarch, but he has the second Aether Grid and wrecks my team and I'm low enough I can't play Archangel of Tithes and still be in the game. If I had just held the Path for the Signal Pest I would have been able to destroy both Aether Grids with the Reclamation Sages and not take nearly as much damage. Berni defeated Bant Eldrazi, but Will lost to Death Shadow and we drop a match that we should have won.
9-3

Round 13
I'm playing Matthias Hunt who is on Scrapheap Trawler combo. I win game 1 when I Evolution for Archmage on turn 3. While I'm tapped out, he attempts to go off, but only has 1 card draw artifact. After a few minutes of comboing, he passes the turn back. I have Path to Exile for his Trawler, then I can hold up Archmage for his Ichor Wellspring I know he has and he never draws another Trawler. I think he may have been better off just playing KCI on the turn I was tapped out and then attempting to combo through the Archmage the following turn. Game 2 I have turn 2 Stony Silence and he has neither green mana or the Nature's Claim to beat it. Will defeats Infect thanks to Hope of Ghirapur, and therefore Berni doesn't need to finish his mirror match after winning game one when both players had 7+ creature in play.
10-3

Round 14
We are paired against Chris Pikula team who are coming off 3 losses on the day after being undefeated day 1. They have an outside shot at top 8, but we are most likely playing for 5th place due to tiebreakers. I'm playing against Jarvis Yu who is on Abzan Company. I've know him from MTGO for a while, so he's the only guy I play that not only knows what my deck is since he reads on the MTGO results, he also knows I'm on it before we play. Game 1 he's on the play and starts with Viscera Seer and Melira. My turn 2 I can hold up Path or play Voice of Resurgence. With nothing else in play, I decide I need to develop my board and hope he doesn't have Finks or the 3rd land. He has both and while I do break up the kill combo several times with Path, Witness, and Restoration Angel, he gets to stack his deck each time and keep replaying it before he gets both Melira and Anafenza to combo me. Game two I play Linvala and then have to try to get through his board of dudes with my weaker creatures. He gets Fiend Hunter for Linvala, but I use Explosives on 3 to get it back. Eventually I have enough fliers to kill him before his Township takes over. Game 3 I mulligan to 6 and keep a slow hand with only Explosives, Linvala, Restoration Angel, and 3 lands. I play Explosives on 2 to set up the long game protection and then play Linvala on turn 4 but he has the Path. I try to use two Restoration Angel to stay alive against his beatdown with Orzhov Pontiff, but he has Maeltrom Pulse to kill them both. I'm at one life when I play Voice, Saffi, and Hierarch to try to stabilize but he topdecks his own Hierarch to kill me with Birds of Paradise. This happened after Will had won and Berni had lost, so it was an exciting moment... for our opponents.
10-4

We finish in 20th place, good enough for $1200 dollars and one pro point. I liked the decks we chose and I think we played mostly great except round 12. We did have a very tough day two gauntlet of opponents but that is to be expected.

I loved the deck and going forward I wouldn't change much. I actually think it is better outside of team modern since I didn't play against Death's Shadow all weekend and that is one of the better matchups for you. The only change I would make is possibly cutting a Rallier for another Eternal Witness.

Team Unified Modern was a lot more fun than I thought it was going to be, and I thought it was going to be pretty fun. I hope they continue to run Unified Constructed tournaments in the future, though I would also like to play a Split Format team event sometime too.

Edit: Posting my teammates decks here as well:

Robert Berni - Seat B - Death's Shadow
4 Death's Shadow
4 Street Wraith
4 Tarmogoyf

1 Liliana of the Veil
2 Liliana, the Last Hope
4 Mishra's Bauble
1 Abrupt Decay
1 Dismember
4 Fatal Push
2 Kolaghan's Command
2 Temur Battle Rage
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Thoughtseize
4 Traverse the Ulvenwald
1 Tarfire

1 Forest
1 Swamp
2 Blood Crypt
4 Bloodstained Mire
2 Overgrown Tomb
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Marsh Flats

Sideboard
2 Nihil Spellbomb
3 Fulminator Mage
2 Ancient Grudge
1 Kozilek's Return
2 Surgical Extraction
1 Liliana of the Veil
2 Collective Brutality
1 Maelstrom Pulse
1 Painful Truths


Will Lowry - Seat C - Robots
4 Arcbound Ravager
3 Etched Champion
4 Steel Overseer
4 Ornithopter
1 Hope of Ghirapur
4 Signal Pest
4 Vault Skirge
1 Memnite
4 Glint Nest Crane
2 Master of Etherium

4 Cranial Plating
4 Springleaf Drum
4 Mox Opal

4 Inkmoth Nexus
4 Blinkmoth Nexus
4 Darksteel Citadel
1 Island
2 Spire of Industry
2 Glimmervoid

Sideboard
2 Spell Pierce
2 Dispatch
2 Ghirapur Aether Grid
2 Wear Tear
2 Phyrexian Revoker
2 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Whipflare
1 Etched Champion
1 Hurkyl's Recall