I'll be honest, I wasn't really trying to play a lot of sanctioned organized play. I've been mainly focusing on Old School and related formats. The new OP PTQ system came at a time when it actually was worse for me than the previous PPTQ system. I was pretty happy going forward with just a few GPs a year and some more casual meetups.
But then Will Lowry had to go and win the PTQ in Houston two weekends ago.
Will was my roommate for a couple of years, and we've been working closely on all things Magic for a very very long time. He never played as much as I did, but he was always helping me prepare by discussing deck ideas and strategies with me. He's way more talented than I am, so I take it as a point of pride that I've played more Pro Tours than him. With him winning the PTQ, he was in a position to tie my number, so I decided to postpone the pseudo retirement and get back on the PTQ circuit (and also hopefully get to play in a PT with my good friend).
The Deck
See my decklist here.
I only started to pay attention to post-ban Standard when Will had called to discuss his UG Food deck prior to his victory. I didn't know what half the cards did, but I signed off on his decision to play Biogenic Ooze over Questing Beast in the main deck. After he won, I watched some streamers playing the Arena Qualifier to get a feel for the other decks. I ended up watching a game where Antonino was playing the Sacrifice deck against a Fires of Invention deck. The Fires player was low on life, about 5, against a Cat and an Oven. He drew Fae of Wishes and got Planewide Celebration from his sideboard and gained 20 life. Four turns later he was dead. At this point I could see that the Rakdos deck had the ability to go long. I'm always looking for aggressive decks with card advantage that can play long games. That is what attracted me to merfolk previously.
I played a couple of nights on Arena, never losing a game on my way from Bronze to middle of Gold. I felt comfortable with the list, but I did make a few changes on the morning of the PTQ. I cut the two Noxious Grasp from the main and moved to the sideboard. I added a Mask and a Gutterbones to the main. I removed the extra mask from the sideboard.
I really liked having Mask as a 9th sacrifice outlet. I could even see playing a 2nd copy, especially if you were to cut the Chandra to have better mana like the player in the top 8 of GP Lyon. I was a big fan of Dreadhorde Butcher, and I think in a normal metagame it would be main deck, but it's just not worth playing against Gilded Goose so I only brought it in against decks without Goose. I never ended up boarding in Duress or Embereth Sheildbreaker so I don't know if they are any good.
I think you are very favored against non-Oko green decks. You are probably slightly favored against Oko decks, but it gets harder when they have Veil of Summer to protect the Oko. I didn't play against much else over the tournament or the week of testing and can't speak for those matchups, but I think this deck is solid and the sideboard has some good cards. I'd look at playing Experimental Frenzy over Chandra and playing fewer Mountains if I was to play the deck again this week.
The Tournament
There were 74 people that showed up to Common Ground Games. These guys have been really killing it at running tournaments this past year. The two RPTQs I played there were great, and this PTQ was no different. They were even providing an extra $500 to the winner to cover travel to the Pro Tour. Other than the weird power outage in round one (reminiscent of the good ol' days of PTQs), everything was pretty smooth.
Round 1
My opponent was on an interesting Abzan Wolf / Legend deck with 8 scry lands. I think there might be potential there. I win a really grindy game one and learn that the deck is very difficult to operate in real life. There are so many triggers and keeping track of it all while playing in a timely manner requires a lot of focus. I get a bit better with it over the day, but I'm sure I missed lots of triggers or lines through. Game two he gets me with Tolsimir and Garruk, but game three he doesn't get to five mana and he dies.
1-0
Round 2
Opponent on Sultai Food. I win a really strange game one where we both flood out. I chip him down to about 10 but he played a Krasis for a lot which I take with Claim and he dies. Game two he has turn two Oko and I can't keep up. Game three was extremely close, but I'm able to kill Oko and ignore his Nissa while killing his lands with Mayhem Devil to stop a large Krasis from appearing. I find a second Mayhem Devil to kill him at the beginning of extra turns.
2-0
Round 3
Opponent on Sultai Food. I don't remember what happens game one or two. Game three he keeps Swamp Watery Grave Once Upon a Time, but never draws green mana after getting nine looks for a green source.
3-0
Round 4
Opponent on Gruul Aggro. Game one he has a more ramp-like start with turn four and turn five Hellkites, but I'm able to get enough damage through to kill him with a Claim on his Harpooner. Game two he Embercleaves me down to two life, but I draw a Noxious Grasp to kill his Questing Beast and attack back for the win.
4-0
Round 5
Opponent on Green White Adventure. Game one he plays a bunch of 1/1s that die to Mayhem Devil. Game two I have two Mayhem Devil but no sacrifice outlet and he draws his Unbreakable Formation before I draw my Oven. Game three he is stuck on two forests and I win easily.
5-0
Round 6
Intentional Draw with Tad.
5-0-1
Round 7
Intentional Draw.
5-0-2
Quarterfinals
Opponent on UG Food with Brazen Borrower. Game one we basically trade off a bunch of cards, my Chandra and Reaper for his two Oko and Food-Elks. He has the third Oko and I'm on the back foot. I make blocks to go to 1 life with him at 9 and in the process I draw five cards. They are all land and I die. Game two I win but don't remember how. Game three I have a very good start with two Oven, Cat, and Chandra and he has to tap out every turn so I don't even have to try to play around Summer Veil.
6-0-2
Semifinals
Opponent is Dan on GB Adventure. I draw three Priest game one and he can only answer two of them. Game two I win and it goes really long but I forget about a Gutterbones in my yard and take way too long to kill him as a result.
7-0-2
Finals
Opponent is Tad also on GB Adventure. I win game one by topdecking a Claim before he can untap and Massacre Girl with Liliana in play. Game two he has Spyglass for my Ovens and then plays two Hydra that are too big for me to kill. Game three he has Spyglass again but is forced to name Chandra since I have a Rampage in the graveyard. Eventually I get two Mayhem Devil in play with a Mask of Immolation and burn him out, though I most certainly did it a very sub-optimal way.
8-0-2
Another PTQ Win, Another PT to Attend
With PTQs back, the conversation turned to the good old days of PTQs. Someone claimed I was a PTQ Hall of Famer, which could be true. At least for the Texas area there probably aren't many others that have 28 PTQ top 8s and 6 wins. I'm sure in other areas these numbers are small by comparison.
I think its correct to consider the Regional Players Tours as PTs for lifetime stats, so when I play in February it will be my 10th PT. 10 is a good number, and maybe the number to end on. I keep saying I'm going to take a step back from the competitive circuit, but it's always bringing me back in.
I'm looking forward to experimenting in Pioneer. This probably means delaying the Old School Theory article series. Hopefully next time I'll have some exciting decks to share.
Thanks,
Ty
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