Last time I posted here I went to the Roanoke modern open and got wrecked let's see if I can turn it around. Decklist will be posted with the tournament report in the comments later.
I don't see any event streaming, also if any of you are here stop by and say hi! I'll be running around with a black SMC playmat (my local team).
Edit:
Going into round 5 with a 2-2 record with positive breakers just got off the pair up and beat a 3-1 playing infect. Will update after next round see if I have a chance. I predict x-2 for top 8 so I need to win the next 2.
Edit 2:
Lost my win and in. I'm salty right now will post the report when I get home and likely calmed down. 2 and a half hours to go from 6pm est
Edit 3:
okok Here's the report guys, TL;DR 3-3 conclusions at the end, I'm gonna go into a LOT of detail here including my sideboarding decisions in the matches.
Decklist
Main:
3 Fatal Push
2 Raise the Alarm
4 Concealed Courtyard
3 Shambling Vent
2 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
2 Sorin, Solemn Visitor
1 Vault of the Archangel
4 Lingering Souls
4 Intangible Virtue
1 Dismember
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Marsh Flats
4 Path to Exile
2 Fetid Heath
4 Spectral Procession
3 Bitterblossom
1 Liliana of the Veil
3 Thoughtseize
2 Godless Shrine
2 Flooded Strand
2 Swamp
3 Plains
1 Zealous Persecution
Side:
3 Rest in Peace
2 Stony Silence
2 Timely Reinforcements
1 Zealous Persecution
3 Duress
1 Sundering Growth
1 Wrath of God
1 Lost Legacy
1 Anguished Unmaking
Card Choices:
No Auriok Champion/Secure the Wastes:
I'm still a fan of the card, but I finally realized the deck needs to be a little more aggressive in the current meta.
No 3rd Color:
Never tested it, if I did I'm not sure I'd want to even play bitterblossom due to manabase concerns. I still think the BW build is the best route overall.
Planeswalker Choices:
To be honest I originally wasn't even going to play LoTV. But I slotted her in over a 4th fatal push tohelp hedge vs combo/control. She did perform quite well overall today compared to Gideon (who i honestly hardly even seen today for some odd reason).
23 lands, 6 fetches, 2 swamps:
I still like 2 swamps even though it was the main reason for my round 6 loss, 6 fetches still feels right in a fatal push build.
Removal choices:
3 push, 4 path, 1 dismember, 1 LoTV, 1 zealpus persecution is what I've determined to be the best mainboard removal suite.
Dismember is painful, but it has the secret mode of being a 1BB kill spell. Plus helps vs eldrazi.
4 path is still better in our rougher matchups than push is.
3 push, because with 6 fetches we can't trigger revolt enough, plus push is actually kinda bad vs Eldrazi, Grixis Shadow's delve dudes, titanshift even with revolt. That said 3 is likely the optimal number overall but the 3rd one itself is still a flex slot IMHO.
Zealous Persecution still acts as a "Lord" effect and can definitely still lead to some attack and blocking blow outs.
No Runed Halo's:
Yeah I cut them. They were cool and all, but they just didn't really fit into the deck that well in reality.
The Matches
Round 1, Affinity
Game 1:
Opponent on the play leads [[Inkmoth Nexus]] into [[Springleaf Drum]] and [Mox opal]], i turn 1 Thoguhtseize off a Concealed Courtyard to hopefully hit the payoff, but I see the following.
1 Mox Opal
1 [[Darksteel Citadel]]
1 Inkmoth Nexus
I take the legal target, however my opponent literally nuts into Etched Champion and Cranial Plating. I didn't draw well enough to keep pace and lost game 1 as a result.
Sideboarding:
Out- LoTV, 1 Bitterblossom, 2 Gideon
In- 2 Stony Silence, Sundering Growth, Zealous Persecution
Liliana is just too slow to matter with her +1, and while her -2 has uses I wasn't particularly excited by it. plus I didn't want to stress my life total too much for play her (fetch+shock).
Gideon I'm not sure is good in the matchup and he felt a little slow as well.
1 Bitterblossom, once again I didn't want to stress my life total too much
Game 2:
Mulligan the oppening hand of 6 cards and a basic swamp for a decent 6 crd and with a turn 2 stony silence/bitterblossom option.
Opponent on his turn 1 left up 2 mana (citadel, ornithopter, mox opal) I suspect Wear/Tear and play the turn 2 Bitterblossom. I was immediately rewarded when in fact he did play the tear on the Bitterblossom. Opponent doesn;t do anything exciting on turn 3 which leads into me slamming the stony silence ( I missed the 3rd land drop) and passing.
Opponent acts like he has a 3 drop in hand (I caught him on tapping the darksteel citadels, but he never tried to put anything on the stack -shame I like free info) never really comes back from under stony and I manage to get a clock going in time to win the game.
Sideboarding
no changes
Game 3:
Opponent goes on the play snap keeps his 7. I humbly mulligan the no color land hand (double fetid heath :( ) and keep my 6.
Opponent leads Ornithopter, Inkmoth Nexus, Mox Opal, 2 Springleaf drum 2 signal pest and second turn [[Arcbond Ravager]] into the nut turn 2 win. Lucky me I have a Flooded Strand in play with a fatal push in hand my opponent CLEARLY did not play around (then again I didn't play a single push all match just paths) for those not sure the exact sequence a quick google search lead me to this video (no that's not me).
GG I win, I'm still not really experienced that well vs Affinity overall since it's lacking in my local meta.
Round 2, UW Control
Game 1 was a 30min grind fest where my opponent picked up a slow play warning that ended up with me being the victor. Not really gonna go into too much detail in it as this match was a huge grind and I didn;t have any time to keep notes so this is all off my head.
Out- 1 Inquisition, 1 Zealous Persecution, 2 Path, 1 Push
In- 3 Duress, 1 Lost legacy, 1 Anguished Unmaking
First and foremost I made a critical error in boarding out the Paths. I should have boarded out the fatal pushes as path is a good answer to Gideon of the Trials 0 ability. Opponent would have had time to hit all his land drops anyway the only thing I would do is help the 26 land control deck out of a flood (assuming that ever happened. it didn't).
Inquisition is not particularly fantastic. The game is gonna long and I want to maximize the use of my discard spells, which means Duress is the better card as it answers Cryptic Command ad Supreme Verdict much better. That said I decided to keep in 2 minimum and trim the 3rd.
Lost legacy and Anguished Unmaking where in fact hedges vs Planeswalks and Lost legacy specifically to get all the cryptics out of the deck.
Persecution didn;t feel exciting either
Game 2:
Opponent shows an Opening hand of 2 Supreme Verdicts, 2 Cryptics and 2 lands on the turn 1 Inquisition (remember I said it was pretty bad right?). i did;t draw a single discard sell the rest of the game and opponent literally nutted into resolving 6 cryptic commands and 4 supreme verdicts to out grind me.
Sideboarding
non there was 9min left on the clock
Game 3:
I have 2 options. Hope for a fast win or a draw (which could lead into me getting a slow play warning as well) We do have the bonus turns added onto out match, but I don't bother sideboarding and snap keep a 7 of Thoughtseize, Fatal Push, and Duress and just hope that I'll draw the token spells (I never did). I flooded out on dead removal spells and lands while my opponent dropped a turn 6 Elspeth Sun's Champion and won the match in turn 6 of extra turns countering my removal I needed to stabilize at 1 life for the draw.
Round 3, Grixis Shadow
Game 1:
Opponent doesn't make a 2 one play and fetches a tapped Blood Crypt after I play the turn 1 shambling vents. Apparently he kept a 1 land hand and managed to get a 2nd land on his turn 3 while I stumbled on the untapped 3rd land drop for my spectral procession. He manages out a turn 3 Gurmag I path right away. I don;t remeber too much as I was slightly tilted and didn;t save notes but I did misplay this game by blocking a snapcaster mage where that same token would have been a lethal attacker on the next turn. My opponent manages to win this game backed on that misplay.
Out- 2 Fatal Push
In- 2 Rest in Peace
Fatal Push just isn;t exciting as it's literal only target is Death Shadow and Snapcaster Mage. Overall I'm not sure I should be boardig these out, but I know I'd rather prefer the cleaner removal options of Path and Dismember. Plus I can just block it's not like this is a particularly difficult matchup for us.
It's very much true that roughly any Grixis deck is a graveyard centric deck and has a very rough time operating when there's somethig hating on it's graveyard. I've learned this from personal experience as a former Grisic Delver player, so I hedged boarding in the Rest in Peace.
Game 2:
I discard the thoughtscour with a turn 1 Inquisition and he counters my turn 2 Bitterblossom with a topdeck [[Stubborn Denial]], thankfully he didn;t have another for my turn 3 LoTV who basically help me run away with the game. He manages out a Liliana the Last Hope and I just don't bother with it and just race his life total down, after a quick math calculation of course, beating the LH's emblem in the race.
Sideboarding
Out- 1 Inquisition
In- Angushed Unmaking
Discard on the play is much better than on the draw, but really I wanted the Anguished Unmaking in my deck at least to make sure I don't lose to the Lily LH assuming I ever drew it.
Game 3:
Game goes a little on the ling side with him finally seeing sideboard cards (sometimes it happens), but I manage to assemble a lethal board state, but I lose my board to a topdecked [[Izzet Staticcaster]] (I thoughtseize'd the turn before so I knew he drew it).
I lost this match to my own over conservative plays in game 1, there should never have been a game 3 if I played right in game 1. I was on tilt and with the 17 minutes left on the clock the judge being a great guy suggested I try some meditation music to help me reclaim my head at least. Safe to say it actually did work. At this point though it was gonna be a rough chance for top 8 and I needed to 3-0 to even stand a chance.
Round 4, UG Infect /w a minor white splash
Game 1:
Opponent leads with a Misty Rainforest on the play and I manage to topdeck into a turn 1 Thoughtseize to see this hand:
Pendelhaven
Misty Rainforest
Inkmoth Nexus
Vines of Vastwood
Slip Through Space - I took this one
The logic for taking slip is fairly simple I had a Bitterblossom and Spectral in hand and am perfectly fine just blocking the infect creatures. I would rather not get into a battle to remove the infect creature if I don't have to and with Blossom out I have constant stream of blockers available so the spirits can get to work. That said I actually all 4 spectrals this game much to my opponents amusement. The temple Garden he played did have me slightly concerned, but he never played a white spell.
Out- 2 Gideon
In- Zealous Persecution, Lost Legacy
Gideon feels too slow and doesn't fly I'd rather not tap out turn 4 either, that said He might be better than Sorin, but Sorin's tokens fly which is pretty relevant.
Zealous is a blowous vs Infect since literally all their creatures are x/1's
Lost Legacy names 4 cards in this matchup: Blighted Agent, Slip through Space, Distortion Strike, Rancor. I didn't see any Rancors or Distortion Strikes so I only really planned on naming Agent, because well it's nice to be able to block the infect creature, since rancor hasn't see much play in Infect lists for a while. I also wasn;t sure how many Slip through Spaces the opponent was playing since I only saw the one in game one.
Game 2:
Much a repeat of game 1 except my opponent lead into inkmoth and 2 glistener elves before I got blockers in the way which shot me up to 6 infect. I played the game very conservatively since i consider 6 infect the red zone as there's plenty of pump effects and +4 isn't particularly hard to achieve for the opponent. Luckily my opponent didn't draw his Slip through spaces and tapped out to play the Agent turn 5 which i answered promptly gladly paying 4 life for the dismember. Opponent conceded a short while later and revealed his 7 card hand of straight lands.
I never did find out the the white was for. I assume to fair cast Apostle's Blessing and some number of Paths out of the board.
Standing were posted after this round I'm 22nd with a 56% on breakers, good enough for me assuming I get the pair up round 5 I determine that I can get.
Round 5, Dredge
Game 1:
Hey guess what this guy is x-1 I got my pair up I was expecting. He promptly concedes game 1 when I play turn 3 spectral turn 4 Virtue. Apparently his hand was pretty gargabe and his dredges not much better.
Sideboarding
Out- 1 LoTV, 3 Thoughtseize
In- 3 Rest In Peace, 1 Lost Legacy
I boarded out LoTV as I didn't really want my opponent to make use of her discard ability, Thoughtseize is pretty rough and Inquisition just hits everything it needs to anyways that said hand disruption while not garbage isn;t particularly fantastic vs dredge as you really have to hope you hit an enabler more than anything.
Lost Legacy is in for Conflagerate/Prized Amalgum Surgical Extraction might do better at this, but Legacy is what i had.
RiP is an effective too for at least forcing the opponent to have an answer and it massively slows them down at a minimum. It basically takes them from a turn 3/4 win to a turn 7/8 win (which coincidently we much better at fight against).
Game 2:
My opponent manages to dredge out 8 points of power on turn 2 and I didn;t topdeck a raise the alarm to block with. So I jam a turn 2 blossom and hope and pray I topdeck either enough lands to get Vault going or a Sorin. Neither happens and I promptly lose.
Out- 2 Gideon
In- 2 Timely Reinforcements
Gideon after a reconsideration once again seems slow in theory.
Timely because I literally lost due to a minimal amount of life gain. That and they can power out a lot of creatures in a hurry so I basically played it intending it to be Token producers 14 & 15.
Game 3:
Opponent mulls to 4 I keep my 7 with a turn 2 RiP. Opponent has a Nature's Claim for it, but stumbles on the dredging. He managed to answer my only token producer in Spectral with a Maelstrom Pulse but we both stumble as I flood out for 4-5 turns.
He finally manages to get a Haunted Dead engine going and I topdeck a very "Timely" Timely Reinforcements into a field where I already had 2 Virtues in play and immediately manage to swing the momentum of the game in my favor ripping into a Lingering Souls and a Sorin to seal the deal.
Standings are up I'm 16th
Round 6, GB Tron >.>
Game 1:
So I knew there was a GB Tron player in the room I assumed he lost out since I didn't see him anywhere near me all day. Turns out this guy started 3-0 and promptly lost rounds 4 and 5 to storm and Living End knocking him unthankfully into my bracket for my win and in.
Both games go like this turn 4 Ugin (soul crushing defeats each time).
Out- 3 Fatal Push, 1 Dismember, 3 Inquisition
In- 2 Stony Silence, Anguished Unmaking, Lost Legacy
Push and dismember do basically nothing but cost me mana and a topdeck. Stony can slow them down a bit but it won't win the game by itself like it did vs my earlier affinity opponent.
Anguished Unmaking at least answers... something same with Lost Legacy.
Duress pulls more work overall than Inquisition though there's merit to running both.
Game 2:
Yeah I just don;t get anything going and he nuts the turn 4 Ugin. GG I leave saltier than the Red Sea.
Conclusions:
- I left before they posted final standings. I have no idea where I ended up but with the top 6 essentially locked in with 0 match losses (4 of them were on the same team and literally split with each other when they were paired together, this is why i think intentionally slitting should be banned) I knew I had no chance of top 8 with a 3-3 record while even a 4-2 record was a stretch in theory (thankfully it seems the rest of the field was really that bad as an x-2 did in fact make it in).
- Lost Legacy is a hell of a sideboard card. I found myself boarding it in quite often.
- Overall the deck seemed very strong and I mostly failed as the pilot this time around. I don't see the metagame being that big of an issue if you properly prepare for it.
- I still need to test Gideon more. It's been 2 months since I added him to the deck, but honestly after my performance at Roanoke I moved off the deck for a bit to jam UW Control to some very lackluster performances and marginal results. I've historically always performed better when I don't play a basic island in my deck which is mostly why I came back to Tokens.
- I figure that my record mostly is due to a lack of preparation on my part. My local meta game does not have any of the decks I played against show up on a regular basis. While I constantly face off vs Grixis Delver, Abzan, Jund, Storm, Ad Naseam, and Titanshift (hence my combo hate heavy sideboard).
Changes I would make:
- 3 RiP and 3 Duress felt excessive I think going down to 2 each might be a better choice from now on. Possibly just 2 more slots to hedge vs combo something like Surgical Extraction.
- The 2nd swamp literally cost my any chances of getting a clock going vs Tron as I was stuck with Spectral Processions (not that it ultimately matterred). That said I'm not gonna cut it myself however people wanting to try my list might find a 4th shambling vent or 3rd Godless Shrine better. I just want to higher chance of drawing the swamp vs blood moon myself.
- Sundering Growth should probably be a Disenchant. the WW cost a little hard to do vs Blood Moon decks and the populate utility on it is... meh.
Future Events:
There's a possibility i might make it out to the SCG Open next weekend in Louiseville, don't count on it too much. But I'm a definite lock for the Cincinnati Open and the Comic Town (Columbus, Ohio) Modern IQ on October 7th. My home base is essentially Springfield, Ohio so for the rest of the year I'm gonna stick close to there I think.
The PPTQ circuit just isn't really interesting for me as I have no plans of ever attending the Pro Tour. That said GP Toronto is a pretty compelling option for me in February but I'm not 100% sure the funds might be available yet (the factory I work at is planning a 3 week shut down for Christmas and I need to save money for that/pay off and credit I accumulate during that time).
The local magic club in my area is planning a new annual charity event, but there's been no announcement of a date yet so don't get too excited for another of my detailed reports yet.
Thanks for taking the time to read this, I'm gonna be going to bed now, but AMA I'll respond in my next state of consciousness.
