Limited
I really enjoyed the prerelease aspect of this format. I didn't feel like I was significantly behind the curve compared to most players. I even defeated a player in round 3 who had done almost 15 practice drafts. I don't have nearly as much time to prepare for events as the pros, and I think my time is better spent preparing for constructed. I hope they do this as frequently as possible.
My preparation was mainly reading the spoiler focusing on commons and uncommons to get a sense for where the power cards were. I had Haibing Hu write up some rankings that I used to get a baseline for the cards. I then picked the ones that I disagreed with to discuss more, mainly with Collin Rountree on the day before the event while riding around London on the tube. It's a good strategy to save time avoiding needless discussion about the cards you agree on and focusing on the ones that maybe you don't. I didn't know any archetypes but though RG and UB would be good combinations based on what we discussed.
My drafts were fairly straightfoward after the first couple of picks. Draft 1 I took Eternal Skylord over Sorin P1P1, and I still think that is the correct pick. I didn't want to commit to two colors I wasn't sure about so early. I ended up solidly in blue after the next few picks of some looters. I was trying to find a second color but has some playable black and white cards. I opened Finale of Triumph pack 2 and became solidly UW. I did mess up in pack 3 passing a Teferi for a tapper because I didn't read Teferi correctly. Overall the deck was more on the controlling side. I was impressed by Karn's Bastion with even the little uses I had for it. I was also impressed by Stealth Mission. Here is my first deck:
2-1 with this deck. #MythicChampionshipII pic.twitter.com/cmZvqD3QJo— Ty Thomason (@ceciliajupe) April 26, 2019
My draft on day 2 also started with a close P1P1: Jiang Yanggu or Mizzium Tank. I didn't know much about the vehicle, but imagined it could easily be blanked by opposing creatures giving the slowness of the format. I took Jiang and then a couple of blue cards including Tamiyo's Epiphany. The green mainly dried up so I had a few red creatures. I ended up in UR Spells that would have really liked the Tank.
My overall limited record was 3-3. I think my second deck was better than 1-2. I lost a match when I probably played slightly off a couple of early turns and then lost to three planewalkers off the top 10 turns later when I could have maybe won the game already. I lost my second round when I didn't draw red land in time either game. I think both decks are about 2-1 quality.
I don't have much to say about the format in general but I enjoyed my matches at the PT. I'll be playing it again in two weeks at MagicFest Madison.
Felt unlucky to go 1-2 with this deck. 6-5 #MythicChampionshipII pic.twitter.com/dshQNO6myz— Ty Thomason (@ceciliajupe) April 27, 2019
My overall limited record was 3-3. I think my second deck was better than 1-2. I lost a match when I probably played slightly off a couple of early turns and then lost to three planewalkers off the top 10 turns later when I could have maybe won the game already. I lost my second round when I didn't draw red land in time either game. I think both decks are about 2-1 quality.
I don't have much to say about the format in general but I enjoyed my matches at the PT. I'll be playing it again in two weeks at MagicFest Madison.
Modern
I played GW Hatebears as detailed here. The final list was this:
4 Horizon Canopy
4 Temple Garden
4 Razorverge Thicket
2 Forest
2 Plains
4 Ghost Quarter
1 Field of Ruin
4 Aether Vial
4 Path to Exile
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Thalia, guardian of Thraben
4 Leonin Arbiter
4 Scavenging Ooze
2 Voice of Resurgence
2 Renegade Rallier
1 knight of autumn
4 Flickerwisp
4 Restoration Angel
2 Eternal Witness
Sideboard
1 Knight of Autumn
1 Dromoka's Command
3 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Consulate Crackdown
3 Damping Sphere
3 Stony Silence
1 Declaration in Stone
1 Valorous Stance
I was fairly certain it wasn't the best choice, but it did beat the decks I wanted to beat: Dredge, Tron, Phoenix. I probably underestimated the amount of UW the pros would play since it wasn't very good at the last Modern PT (before Jace was unbanned). I knew Humans would be a bad matchup. I went 3-5 before dropping.
My wins were against Death's Shadow twice and UW Control once. Almost every time my opponent made a match losing mistake. My round 4 opponent cast Snapcaster Mage to block a Leonin Arbiter, but immediately lost to Path to Exile and post combat Ghost Quarter leaving him with no mana to pay to activate his two fetchlands. My round 6 opponent fetched with Arbiter in play and not paying for it. My round 5 opponent didn't know how Thalia plus Engineered Explosives worked and was unable to win what should have been an easy game for him.
I lost a really close second game in round 7 to Humans after stealing game 1 when he kept a very questionable hand. He then destroyed me game 3 when we both mulligan to 5. Round 8 I also lost to Humans, neither game very close.
Day two I lost to Phoenix, UW, and Affinity before dropping. I played really badly vs Affinity and that was the main reason for dropping. My head wasn't in it anymore.
Overall the deck is fine and probably better for a more varied field than a PT. I'm looking forward to Modern Horizons to shake things up because right now I'm not in love with any particular modern deck.
London Mulligan
London Mulligan is great. I mulliganed to 5 or 4 several times and each time I got to play a real game of Magic. I also lost each game, so maybe thats something important. It didn't seem to me to affect much about Modern and I think they should implement it for all formats, or at least back to Modern.
The Rest
I had a great vacation with my wife during the week before the tournament. We visited Ireland, Northern Ireland, and of course London in the days following the tournament. It's always a good time travelling with her no matter how the Magic tournaments end up.
I'm very sad to hear about Yuuya Watanabe alleged cheating. At this point having seen the sleeves I think it's very hard to defend his actions. I want to believe his previous accomplishments were clean but this of course casts doubt on them. If it was somehow accidental, let this be a lesson to shuffle your deck and / or sleeves prior to sleeving up when using new sleeves to avoid any discernable patters from wear.
As for future PTs, I'll keep trying to qualify when I can. This is the first one I've ever cashed since they pay everyone a minimum $500. I'm at the level of Day 2 Gatekeeper. I'm beating the players who are inexperienced or not quite ready for Day 2 while not being able to beat those who are excellent or great at the game. I lost two games to opponents who had to play perfectly to win and they did so. This may change my approach if I ever make it back in the future.
Thanks,
Ty
