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.