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
