MAY: Pyromancer Ascension

UR Pyromancer Ascensionly speaking, the fourth month of 2016 was not that fruitful to me. So on the last night of April, I whispered a simple prayer to storm god Keranos that he'll guide me back on the winning column. It took two weeks before I get the chance to shuffle my 75. The second weekend of May 2016 had the following modern games, 14th (Saturday) Regran Open V and 15th (Sunday) GPT at Madcap. I decided to bring the unstorm build for the two mentioned constests. As for the list, I used the same 60 from this page, but with a little change to my 15, here they are:

TJB_UNSTORM
Sideboard
3 Young Pyromancer
3 Wear / Tear
2 Timely Reinforcement
2 Swan Song
2 Pyroclasm
2 Echoing Truth
1 Rest for the Weary



By the way, before anything else here is a portion of my MTG related calendar of activities for the month of June 2016.

June 4 
GPT at NG ATC (Alabang)
GPT at Wabshaq (Casimiro)
GPT at Battlegrounds (Pasig)
GPT at Blaster (Paco)  
GPT at Madcap (San Pedro)
GPT at XHC (Sampaloc)

June 11
Regran Modern Open VI

June 12
GPT at FQ (Mandaluyong)

June 25
GPT at Dragonforge (Katipunan)
PPO Modern Series at MDP (Bicutan)


Regran Modern Open V
Quezon City
14 May 2016

Regran Open V had a total of 30+ players, five rounds and cut up to top eight play-offs.
My match ups were as follows.

1st rd: Naya Burn 0-2

2nd rd: UW control 2-0

3rd rd: Merfolk 2-0

4th rd: Naya Burn 2-1

5th rd: Infect ID    

Q: Infect 2-0
S: UWr control 

Misplays

I admit, I had a lot. Here are some of the instances that I can still recall.

Declaring the correct color off the Manamorphose is very important especially if you're in the process of going off. Failure to do so will definitely have an unwanted outcome. For unstorm decks, it is best to have two blue or, if in the case that you have an active Pyromancer Ascension, one red, two blue and one green. NEVER float two red mana during the early stages especially if you do not have Noxious Revivals yet ready in your hand. And in case you're with the ritual base one, always go with blue and red.

The loop: Manamorphose and Noxious Revival. When you're doing the loop, do not be in a hurtle. Relax and make sure that the top most card will be from the resolved triggered copy off your red enchantment's - then the target of the original Noxious Revival. I was lucky that I had still had an extra blue mana floating and a Serum Visions at hand when I did the mishap.

Also, my math almost ended my fourth round in throes. I was within bolt spell range and opponent was at nine life points. I had an active red enchantment and two red mana available and a bunch of cards in my hand in which two are Lightning Bolts. Yup, I did not see that line of play because I was so focus on how will I get to do the loop. After several minutes, I simply pass the turn. However, luck was still on my side because he failed to draw a bolt spell in his last turn.

After taking down an Infect deck in the quarters, I immediately concede before our semis so that I can go home early. Anyway, the SOI pack prizes were already divided equally to us eight and we're just slugging it out for the bye.

Wait there, here is my July 2016 calendar just in case you're looking for modern tournaments.

July 2
GPT at PC Butler (Sta Rosa)
GPT at Scrappy Coco (Carmona)
GPT at Hobby Pro (BF Homes)
GPT at XHC (Sampaloc)

July 3
GPT at NG ATC (Alabang)
GPT at Got Game (Makati Square)
GPT at Dragonforge (Katipunan)

July 9
2nd WMCQ Modern (Glorietta Makati)
GPT at Madcap (San Pedro)
GPT at Wabshaq (Casimiro)

July 23
PPTQ at NG ATC (Alabang)

July 24 
PPTQ at Blaster (Paco)

July 30 
PPTQ at Wabshaq (Casimiro)

July 31
PPTQ at Kick Engines (Cubao)

GPT Modern at Madcap Gaming

San Pedro, Laguna
15 May 2016

The morning of May 15th, I was feeling so positive. I even arrived in the vicinity three hours ahead of time. But that positive feeling was abruptly interrupted because of one problem, I left my deck at home. Good thing that Dean Joseph de Ramos brought extra decks. Luckily, one of it is their team's storm deck. I did a little tweak and shuffle before enlisting my final 75. Here were my match ups:

BW Tokens 2-0
Affinity 2-0
Living End 0-2
Naya 1-Drop Zoo 2-1    
Jund 2-0

The deck went well except for two rounds, Living End and Naya 1-Drop Zoo. Against the Living End, Avalanche Rider and Fulminator Mage did a good one two punch job in denying me of red mana. Against the Naya 1-Drop Zoo, his Guide Guide made me reveal three consecutive copies of Emtpy the Warrens, which initially I thought was a bad thing but eventually, not just it help me bought time from the assault of his one drop casting cost troupe, also helped my red enchantment reached the second counter needed. I finished the game with the combination of an online Pyromancer Ascesion, Lightning Bolts, red rituals and Past in Flames. After running over my last assignment, I ended second in this contest.

Misplays

First, I kept several bad seven. Second, sending key cards to the bottom of my library only to realize that I'll be needing it a turn or two after. Third, fetching basic islands versus Living End. And lastly, forgetting my deck.

For August 2016,  here.

August 6
PPTQ at NG Glorietta (Makati)
GPT at Madcap (San Pedro)
GPT at Wabshaq (Casimiro)  

August 7
GPT at FQ (Mandaluyong)
PPTQ at Madcap (San Pedro)

August 13
GPT at PC Butler (Sta Rosa)
GPT at Dragonforge (Katipunan)

August 20
PPTQ at Dragonforge (Katipunan)

August 27
PPTQ at BCI Jupiter Makati (R4)

Magical Dream Portal (MDP)
Donya Soledad, Bicutan, Parañaque
28 May 2016

After a lot of failed attempts of getting to MDP, I finally set foot in it on May 21st. I did some play test with two persons, Mono Green Stompy and Sliver deck. Against the Mono Green Stompy, all with our sixty; I lost four of five games because: (i) that 2/1 green white militant is all over the table; and (ii) Scavenging Ooze was eating the correct cards from my yard. Against the Sliver deck we had it four games in which I won three. The sliver team though gave a tough fight by exploiting the weakness of this deck.

May 25th, I checked my calendar for any modern games for the coming weekend and saw the following: Saturday (28th) MDP and Sunday (29th) Raxx. Great venues for me to test the unstorm version. I still planned to use the same sixty for these two constests. And as for the 15, here.

May 28th, I came back to MDP's to be part of their first modern tournament. My match ups were as follows:

UW Tron 2-0
RG Tron 2-0
Naya Burn 1-2
Jund 2-0

The deck went well throughout the day except against the Naya Burn. It was game three and I kept a seven with two shock lands and brought them down untapped paying two life points for two consecutive turns. YEAH, balls to the wall. I die a few turns after that. Unfortunately I was not able to go to Raxx on the following day because of some unforeseen event.

Let me end this post with the last batch of activities from my calendar.


September 3 
PPTQ at PC Butler (Sta Rosa)

September 4 
PPTQ at NG Centris (Quezon Ave)

September 10
PPTQ at Scrappy Coco (Carmona)

September 17   
3rd WMCQ Modern (Quezon City)  

October 1
PPTQ at  Hobby Pro (BF Homes)

Did I forget something (dates and/ or venues)? If there are, let me know. By the way, about the RPTQ that those PPTQ feeds, I have no idea as of this moment.

Thank you and good luck on your WMCQ campaigns!


-Paeng Paeng

May: The Epic Storm, sad panda

Six more months to go before Grand Prix Chiba, and here I am busy with modern and other stuff. The last time I played TES was on 20th March at Kick Engines (Cubao Expo, Cubao, Quezon City). I was hoping then that I could play in their April and May events as part of my preparation for the 2016 Asian GP legacy but due to my personal errands, I was not. Good thing that ARJ Shop hosted one because the next legacy tournament at Kick Engines will be on 19th June. 

ARJ Shop

Molino Mall, Molino, Cavite

7 May 2016

We had it four rounds. Instead of thinking of winning the event, I will take this as an opportunity as part of my grind for the second asian GP legacy. I arrived at the venue four hours ahead of the scheduled start. I did not wait for long because the second legacy player came. I asked him if he wanted to do a little warm up games, he agreed. He's on RUG, we played a total of five games in which I only got games one and four. Here are the reasons why I dropped games two, three and five:

- Turn two (game two) and three (game five), Ad Naus flips were terrible and as a result, I lost two of  three games. I only managed to reveal one initial mana source in each games (two and five) despite having 11 of them (4 LED, 4 Petal and 3 Mox).

- For game three, Wasteland and a wall of counter magic were too much for me to handle.

And for games one and four:

- Game one, summoned a dozen of 1/1 goblin tokens in my turn one after opening the game with a Gitaxian Probe.

- Game four, used his counter magic to fuel my storm count. Wish into TOA for the win.

An hour after our play test, round one pairings was up. Here were my match-up results.

Belcher 2-1

RUG 1-2

Merfolk 0-2

Esper 2-0   

Against the Belcher, game three was needed because both of our wins were on "no interaction mode." Game three was different. I was on the play and my opening seven: two fetches, 2 Duress, 1 Cabal Therapy, Gitaxian Probe and LED. I paused and think for a moment, will I mull for a turn one or two win? Or will I do defensive stops then win after these - I picked the latter. My disrupt spells realy kept him at bay and on my turn five, I naturally drew into Ad naus and win from there. Esper was my fourth round assignment. Timely disrupt spells protected both of my wins against Esper. Also, this is the only time where my Ad Naus flips were not as bad as I had against RUG and Merfolk.

And speaking of RUG and Merfolk, I had a combined 1-4 record against them. All four losses were from a failed Ad Nauseam flips. I even took an unfamiliar route: Wish to PiF to Wish (the one I discarded from LED cracking) to DP <I have to fetch it because aside from I was a punch away from his school of fish, wish was the 8th storm and DP was 9th> and eventually I ended with a mob of goblins because I fell short of black mana for TOA. Islandwalk gets there before I do. Against RUG, (game three) I took Ad Nauseam route from 18 and fizzled because there's no initial mana source again. I am so sad panda.

Before going home, I asked Glenn Diga for a quick play test. We had it four games and only won a game. I am aware of his kobold combo deck but I do not know how it works. I discarded wrong cards and as a result, he was still able to pull his combo. Moral lesson: try to do a more careful examination of the cards presented before picking what to bin. 

And just in case you're looking for any legacy tournaments:

*June 11

Wabshaq

Casimiro, Las Piñas 

Eternal Master at stake

June 19     

Kick Engines

Cubao Expo, Cubao, Quezon City

Eternal Master at stake

*- tentative date. Will update this once I get the info from Wabshaq.

Lastly, I sleeved the same 74 of 75 of Cook's list except one in the main board, less ETW plus one (3rd) Duress. 

There you have it folks, thank you for reading!

- Paeng Paeng

(on Facebook)

April: Blue, Red and my Enchantment (modern)

The last time I was on my pet deck, excluding The Last PC tournament (March 19 at Madcap Gaming), was Regran Open II (February 2016). After a month and a half of playing Boros Burn and Grixis Vision Control decks, I think it is time for me go back to it. 14th of April,  I checked the calendar: GPT Taiwan at Got Game on Saturday. This made me sleeve my 75 list again. Oh wait, I did change something in the sideboard. Out all Blood Moons, replaced them with an equal number of Defense Grids. I was expecting a ton of Ancestral Vision control decks to show up but I was wrong. The meta was plagued with Project Melira Coco variants, Affinity and Jund/ Junk color decks. Here's a quick recap.

Gbw Coco variant 1-2   

Esper Control 2-0

Merfolk 0-2

UR Storm 2-1

Tron 2-0

Naya Burn 2-0

Gbw Coco 0-2

The Losses

One from Merfolk and a couple from Bgw Coco decks.

Bgw Coco variant. Bear in mind that during game one, a Collected Company deck wins either by: (i) setting up an unlimited cushion (Melira, Sylvok Outcast + Kitchen Finks + Viscera Seer); (ii) unlimited ping damage (Melira, Sylvok Outcast + Murderous Redcap + Viscera Seer); (iii) muscle giving cards (Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit, Gavony Township); (iv) swarm led by Voice of Resurgence or (v) Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker + Restoration Angel combo. We're all aware that time is needed in setting up any of those win condition. Do not be that confident fellow storm trooper, always remind yourself that they have Scavenging Ooze and Qasali Pridemages in their main 60 in the hopes of slowing you down until they're ready to do their thing. Some even have an Eidolon of Rhetoric in it. Chord of Calling fetching that white enchantment creature card usually spells out game two. I dropped two of my matches because they had that white eidolon in their main. This archetype usually brings in Sin Collector, additional Scavenging Ooze, Choke and Duress (for some).  

Merfolks. What card you do not wish to see when you're up against a them? Cursecatcher? Remand? A school of fish, headed by Lord of Atlantis, swimming at you? Me, Spreading Seas. I only have 16/17 lands so getting screwed up by their blue enchantment would really be a big delay. Sadly on that crucial round, he had all the Spreading Seas in the world just to negate my red sources. Effectively putting a period on my aspiration of landing in the top 8. Merfolk usually brings: Echoing Truth, Spell Pierce or Negate, Relic of Progenitus and Chalice of the Void (for some).

The rest of that day

In no particular order, here are the things that I can recall.

Losing a game despite of having an online Pyromancer Ascension plus successfully recycling my graveyard (Past in Flames); yet unable to finish him because the Grapeshots were too deep for my cantrips to reach. A few spectators saw two turn three lucky sweet wins. Fetching an Eidolon of Rhetoric while in the middle of going off. Praying like a saint that no Echoing Truth or Ratchet Bomb or Supreme Verdict will come to his aid. Facing a mirror match.

April 21st, I checked my calendar of activities and saw that there are modern events in the coming weekend. Saturday (April 23) had Modern Mayhem (PC Butlers) while Sunday (April 24) had Regran Open IV (Regran) and GPT Tokyo (Madcap Gaming). Due to my prior commitments for, I only get to play in one event, GPT Tokyo (Madcap Gaming). The night before the 24th, I decided to give the unstorm version a try. I enlisted Pascal Wagner's 60 but had a different set of 15.

TJB_Unstorm 

Sideboard
4 Young Pyromancer
3 Wear / Tear
2 Torpor Orb
2 Timely Reinforcement
1 Surgical Extraction
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Rest for the Weary
1 Pithing Needle   
  
There were 22 players, five rounds and cut to 8 play-offs.

Merfolk 1-2
Affinity 0-2
BW Tokens 2-1
Affinity 2-0
Eldrazi 1-2

After getting knockout by team Eldrazi in the fifth round, I tried to be impassive while pondering. What went wrong? Was it the deck? Did I had misplays? Forgot any triggers, recklessness perhaps? Was it how I use its sideboard? Or did I just simply failed to see some favorable line of plays? 

My conclusion: (i) No, I did not missed any of my triggers. It's just that they drew better like Chalice of the Void setting it at one; topdecking an Echoing Truth for my 1/1 tokens. (ii) That I was audacious which resulted in not just causing me a game but also me not recognizing better lines of play. And lastly, (iii) probably, I did miserably during sideboarding.

There was another eternal weekend (April 30 on modern and May 1 on legacy), and unfortunately I had to skip both because of errands. There you have it folks, ending my not so good results April 2016. And if you're looking for some GPT modern here they are.

May 7 (Saturday)
GPT Modern
Raxx Gaming
Marikina City
10am

GPT Modern
HobbyPro Central
BF Homes, Parañaque
11am

GPT Modern
Madcap
San Pedro, Laguna    
12nn


May 8 (Sunday)
GPT Modern
Friday Quest
Gabbys, Mandaluyong
10am

GPT Modern
NG Examiner, Quezon City
10am

Until next time! I hope to see you all in those GPTs!

-Paeng4983