MAY 2018: Modern Jund

I started playing BGx consecutively just this March 31st. Sadly, I only collected five wins out of fourteen games (.357) - but this does not discourage me to go back to any of my modern decks. So for my next tournament, I gave myself another shot with BGx and here's my seventy-five.

Jund 

Main

4 Wooded Foothills, 4 Bloodstained Mire, 3 Overgrown Tomb, 3 Blood Crypt, 2 Sacred Ground, 2 Swamp, 2 Forest, 1 Treetop Village, 2 Raging Ravine, 1 Llanowar Waste

4 Tarmogoyf, 3 Bloodbraid Elf, 4 Dark Confidant, 3 Scavenging Ooze, 1 Kalitas Traitor of Ghet

4 Lightning Bolt, 2 Dreadbore, 2 Terminate, 
1 Nihil Spellbomb, 3 Thoughtseize, 3 Inquisition of Kozilek, 3 Abrupt Decay, 2 Maelstrom Pulse, 1 Kolaghan's Command

Sideboard   

1 Thrun, the Last Troll, 1 Kitchen Finks, 2 Obstinate Baloth, 1 Surgical Extraction, 2 Graftdigger Cage, 2 Ancient Grudge, 1 Pithing Needle, 2 Damping Sphere, 2 Anger of the Gods, 1 Ratchet Bomb

Holiday Monday Modern
Madcap Gaming 

San Pedro, Laguna

14 May 2018

Mono Black Control 1-2

Mono Green Aggro 1-2

UR prowess 2-1

UR Eldrazi 0-2

(1-3 .250) (4-7 .364)

Most of my nine losses were from self-inflicted wounds: Thoughtseize, Dark Confidant trigger, and fetch into a shockland. In my desperate attempt to lessen these kind of damage, I followed what the stocklist says: include three copies of Scavenging Ooze. And to help me combat life loss further, I added Kalitas into the party.

Notes:

(A) Removal should be in this order: (i) try to out muscle his troop; then (ii) sorcery removal first; before using those (iii) instant removals. 

(B) I had a game (against UR Prowess) wherein the lands in my opening seven were: Overgrown Tomb, fetch, and a Raging Ravine. I started with a ravine and pass. I untapped, draw: Inquisition of Kozilek, dropped the fetchland crack it for a Swamp into Kozilek. Looking back at it, I think I should have dropped the BG shockland instead of the RG manland. 

(C) Always RTFC. Also, made some bad decisions without analyzing the effect afterwards.  

(D) Kalitas Traitor of Ghet is great because: (i) gives cushion; and (ii) creates defender in the form of a 2/2 black zombie token.

(E) There were times that I hesitated in firing my removals at his creature. 

(F) There's this one game that I forgot to bring in the sideboard cards for this specific match, and it caused me the game.

(G) The life points that I gained from kalitas and ooze gave enough breathing room for me to win the game.

Thanks for reading folks! 

-Paeng4983

May 2018: Legacy Burn

Grand Prix Kyoto 2018 was the reason why I decided to make a return to legacy after sleeping a little over two years. It feels so good each time I cast a spell; but it feels way better when I get to play around his counter spells without the aid of any protection. 

Fifty days after my last legacy game, I decided to be part of Kick Engines's May 2018 edition of Duel for Duals. I checked my legacy pool seventy-two hours before the event, here's what I have: (i) an incomplete The Epic Storm deck, maybe around 90% completion; (ii) an outdated but complete mono green 5 peso stumpy; and (iii) my brother's old yet reliable burn deck which I have not played/ shuffled since bringing it to the top 4 (or top 8) in a 50-60 players four or five years ago. To help me decide what to bring, I evaluated the current legacy meta. Grixis, Lands, team steels, and BUG variants are the top contenders. With that many non basic lands floating around, I think Burn is the correct choice. I assembled the deck the night before the event.

BArn 

Main
4 Goblin Guide
4 Monastery Swiftspear
4 Eidolon of the Great Revel 

4 Lightning Bolt
4 Chain of Lightning
4 Lava Spike
4 Rift Bolt
3 Searing Blaze
4 Price of Progress
4 Fireblast

2 Sulfur Vortex

10 Mountain
9 red fetches

Sideboard
2 Pyrostatic Pillar
3 Ensnaring Bridge 
4 Relic of Progenitus
4 Smash to Smithereens
2 Searing Blood

   
Kick Engines
Cubao Expo, Cubao, Quezon City
20 May 2018

As soon as round one pairings has been posted, I knew that it will be an uphill battle. Game one, I won the roll and I mulled aggressively looking for that main deck hate, Eidolon of the Great Revel. After two failed attempts, I settled for these instead: Mountain, Monastery Swiftspear, Lava Spike, Price of Progress, and Fireblast. Mountain into swiftspear were my only interaction in the game because he ended game one with a turn one Belcher. He gave me a blank stare trying to communicate that game one is finished and it's time to go to game two but I politely gestured to reveal cards off the library. I did that because of two reasons: a) to check and to give myself an idea what are the cards in his sixty; and b) hoping that Taiga shows up before it hits twenty. By the time he reached twenty cards, I started picking up my cards. Game two, I did get a Pillar in my opening hand but was not quick enough because he summoned ten goblins in his opening turn. He won in two swings.
(0-1)  (0-2)

Round two I faced the mono brown Eldrazi. I won game one with a classic ten damage swing: Lava Spike + Lightning Bolt + Fireblast. Such maneuver really brings out that nostalgic feeling. Game two, a timely Leyline of Santicty saved him from my burn spells. Yes he did hard casted that white enchantment in a mono brown deck. Game three, my opening seven was: a couple of Price of Progess, Goblin Guide, Monastery Swiftspear, Mountain, Wooded Foothills, and Smash to Smithereens. After both players decided to keep their respective seven, he brought down his white leyline on the table. Mountain into Goblin Guide. He dropped an Ancient Tomb into Grim Monolith before passing back the turn. I drew (Fireblast) for the turn, dropped fetch and momentarily thought of what will I fire first. Will it be the 1/2 prowess pretty lady? Or should I destroy now his mana accelerant. I went with the latter then proceeded to swing with my goblin (revealing a Thought-Knot Seer). He simply dropped another non-basic land then pass. I drew (Mountain) for the turn. Dropped Mountain into swiftspear then tapped my two remaining mountains for Price of Progress, hitting him for a total of eight damages thus bringing him down to five life points. He drew for the turn, did some calculation before extending his hand. 
(1-1)  (2-3)

I faced another familiar name for my round three. I lost game one because I decided to keep a one land seven. Things were different during game two because two swiftspears plus Lightning Bolts and Lava Spikes anchored team burn to game three. Sadly, I ran out of gas in this rubber match against UW Gideons.
(1-2)  (3-5)

In as much that I would like to continue playing, I was forced to cut short my legacy tournament because of an errand I cannot refuse. Maybe I'll burn them some other time. 
^_^

And before I say good night to you, here's Manila's eternal calendar from May to July 2018. Enjoy! 

May 
26 - Gatecrashers Anonas (20K Modern tournament) (modern)
26 - MALCON Toy Con (Malolos City) (modern and standard)
27 - Cerdric's (Vintage)
27 - Pinoy Planeswalker Modern Open at PC Butlers
27 - Roll Play Lounge (Badlands Legacy tournament)
27 - MALCON Toy Con (Malolos City) (pauper)

June 
3 - King of the North (Baguio City) (modern)
9 - The Block 101 (Block 101's modern series open)

July 
14 - Emperor of the South (Calamba City) (50k modern tournament)

Thank you for reading.

-Teeyo
9/17/10
9/17/15