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?