MODERN: UNSTORM

MTGO Modern League

27 July 2022

RD 1 vs Calibrated Blast deck

I got flooded in this round in both games. 

RD 2 vs Amulet Titan

No lands this time. Both games. Game one I kept a one-land hand (a fetchland) with three cantrips. Game two, I kept a-two-hand with two cantrips. No lands came in both of those games.

RD 3 vs UW Hammer

The game went smoothly this time. Thrown every bolt spell I have to his creatures. An online Pyromancer Ascension plus Aria of Flame won me the game.

RD 4 vs UW Hammer

Laptop suddenly decided to move slowly at this precise moment: I cast Manamorphose. *then the laptop decided to think. Like it has a mind of its own playing MTGO. As a result, I double-clicked on the white mana. Laptop be like, "Oh you want double white? As you wish, sir." FcKiNG laptop. Double white cannot cast Lightning Helix. After that misfortune, the opponent's 2/2 creature got to hold two hammers before dealing damage step.  

RD 5 vs Living End

This time the deck did not flood or drought on lands nor went slow. I just did not have the tools to beat Living End. 

I am not happy with this turnaround. Not because of the 1-4 win-loss mark, but because of those three unlucky games (rounds one, two, and four). Especially the first two games, flooded with lands and land drought in the immediate round after. *sigh* I cannot fully conclude if Unstorm is good or not in the meta. 

Anyways, I might try the deck again. Hopefully, I'll have a better standings. 

Thanks for reading. 

Paeng_4983 

MODERN: MONO BLACK EIGHT RACKS

BALONG'S 

Buting, Pasig City

23 July 2022

7-Racks

Main deck

19 Swamp

4 Urza Saga

1 Castle Locthwain 

4 Thoughtseize 

4 Inquisition of Kozilek

4 Raven's Crime

4 Wrench Mind 

2 Funeral Charm

4 Liliana of the Veil

2 Bloodchief's Thirst

3 Ensnaring Bridge

1 Bontu's Last Reckoning

1 Nihil Spellbomb 

4 The Rack

3 Shrieking Affliction 

Sideboard

2 Go Blank

3 Break the Ice

2 Void Mirror

1 Bontu's Last Reckoning 

3 Leyline of the Void

2 Feed the Swarm

1 Nihil Spellbomb

1 Elixir of Immortality

Match-ups 

RD 1 Boros Burn W

RD 2 UR Murktide W

RD 3 Taking Turns W

RD 4 UG Infect W

RD 1 vs. Boros Burn

Game three: The opponent lost gas when Wrench Mind hit her in my turns two and three. Bontu's Last Reckong took care of the opponent's remaining troop. Urza Saga fetching key cards <Elixir of Immortality (for cushion from down to four life points back to nine life points) and The Rack> won me the game.  

RD 2 vs.  UR Murktide

Game three: Ensnaring Bridge single-handedly took care of the opponent's creatures. Eventually, the Urza Sagas fetched The Racks into his slow and painful death. 

RD 3 vs. Taking Turns

Games one and two: Instead of discarding his counterspells, I opted to discard his engine cards such as Dictate of Kruphix and taking turn spells. Raven's Crime's retrace ability also played a big role in trimming down the opponent's hand. Again, Urza Saga into The Racks won me the game. 

RD 4 vs. UG Infect

I was down to one infect when I top-decked Ensnaring Bridge. My Stronghold artifact card, plus no cards in my hands, denied the opponent's creature the last attack needed. Urza Sagas fetching The Racks won me the game. 

This is all for now. Thank you for reading. 

Paeng_1983

MODERN: GW BOGLES

MTG SOUTHSIDE

July 2022

GW Bogles

Paeng_Paeng

Main deck 
4 Razorverge Thicket
4 Temple Garden
4 Horizon Canopy
1 Wooded Foothills
4 Windswept Heath
1 Plains
1 Forest
4 Gladecover Scout
4 Silhana Ledgewalker
4 Slippery Bogle
4 Ethereal Armor
4 Daybreak Coronet
4 Hyena Umbra
4 Spider Umbra
4 Rancor
2 Sentinel's Eyes
2 All That Glitters
1 Spirit Link
1 Spirit Mantle
3 Path to Exile

Sideboard
3 Leyline of Sanctity
3 Relic of Progenitus
2 Gaddock Teeg
3 Void Mirror
1 Path to Exile
1 Seal of Primordium
1 Seal of Cleansing 
1 Krosan Grip

RD 1 RW Control (W)

RD 2 Grix Shredder Tempo (W)

RD 3 Glimpse Elemental (W)

RD 4 Yorion Elementals (W)

RD 5 UR Murktide Ragavan (L)

RD 1 vs RW Control

G2: I think the turning point of the game was when the opponent's Engineered Explosive (set on one) got timely destroyed by my Krosan Grip. The opponent had no answer to my hexproof creatures and their auras after that. 

RD 2 vs Grix Shredder Tempo

G3: I won the game because of two reasons. No. Make that three. First, I started the game with an opening-hand Leyline of Sanctity. It protected my hand from any discard spells. Second, the opponent cannot use any of his spot removals to my creatures. And lastly, Engineered Explosives did not come to his aid. Win.   

RD 3 vs. Glimpse Elemental

Game one: The opponent committed a misplay. He should have played his combo in his turn instead of doing it in my combat step. 

Game two: I think my error in this game was I decided to keep this hand: two Rancors, hexproof creatures, lands, and a Daybreak Coronet. I thought that hand could outrace his combo. But I was so wrong. The opponent went off in his third turn unmolested. And when he was about to cast the third (or fourth I think it was) Glimpse of Tomorrow, I simply conceded and offered that we go to game three.

Game three: Hexproof elf plus one-drop auras (Rancor, Spider Umbra, and Hyena Umbra) plus Void Mirror on the wing won me the race. After the game, the opponent told me that he was just a land away from summoning Omnath, Locus of Creation to ignite the loop. Lucky me, I guess. 

RD 4 vs. Yorion Elementals

I won the game because of three reasons: (i) The opponent had no answer to hexproof creatures; (ii) the first strike ability was a house vs opposing creatures. And (iii) I am not sure if it did help, but I think Gaddock Teeg somehow played a role in denying the opponent to use any of his Prismatic Ending and March of the Otherworldly Lights. 

RD 5 vs. UR Murktide Ragavan

Unfortunately, I had to attend to an errand I cannot refuse. I conceded to my fifth-round opponent.

This is all for now. Thank you for reading. 

Paeng_Paeng 

MODERN: EIGHT RACKS

On 2 July 2022, I went to Madcap's Saturday modern gaming with 8-Racks as my weapon of choice. But just after I finished round two, I received a call that left me no choice but to drop from the roll and attend to a much more important matter. 

Here are the important 8-Racks lessons I learned from that two games. 

Discard plus spot removals are not enough to deal with an aggro based deck. I think Ensnaring Bridge and/or Bontu's Last Reckoning are/is, much better if it is Damnation but I do not own one at the moment, a must in the sixty. 

Use Thoughtsieze and Inquisition of Kozilek wisely. I had this situation where I use Thoughtseize first and saw two threats. One card has two to cast and the other at four. I discarded the two to cast card. In my next turn, Inquisition of Kozilek. Bad decision there, I guess so?

Urza's Sage cannot fetch Executioner's Capsule. And speaking of Urza's Saga fetching 1 mana cost artifact, is Elixir of Immortality a good addition? Five life points is a good thing. Plus it can be fetched again by the next Urza Saga ability. The bad thing is you'll have no graveyard which Raven's Crime does not want you to have. 

The Rack right now hits the table faster than before. 

Given today's meta, I think Smallpox is not a good card right now. Maybe I said this because I do not run any Flagstone of Trokair. 

Hopefully, I'll do better in my next event with 8-Racks. 

This is all for now. Thank you for reading. 

Paeng

MODERN: MONO-BLUE MERFOLK

Regran Hobbies

Regional Championship Qualifier

10 July 2022

Mono-Blue Merfolk

Main deck

8 Island

4 Mutavault

2 Otawara, Soaring City

2 Fiery Islet 

1 Cavern of Souls

1 Minamo, School at Water's Edge  

1 Oboro, Palace in the Clouds

4 Aether Vial

4 Force of Negation

2 Spreading Seas

3 Glasspool Mimic

4 Lord of Atlantis

4 Master of the Pearl Trident

4 Merfolk Trickster 

4 Silvergill Adept

4 Subtlety

4 Svyelun of Sea and Sky

4 Tide Shaper 

Sideboard

2 Kira, Great Glass-Spinner 

2 Chalice of the Void

2 Hurkyl's Recall

2 Dismember

2 Counterspell

2 Relic of Progenitus

1 Unlicensed Hearse

2 Brazen Borrow

RD 1 Belcher W

RD 2 Glimpse Elemental Combo W

RD 3 UW Hammer W

RD 4 Grix Death's Shadow W

RD 5 Boros Burn W

RD 6 Yorion Control Ephemerate L

RD 7 Rakdos Tempo ID

Q UW Hammer W

S Titan Wish Valakut L

RD 1 Belcher 

Game three: The opponent tried to kill three members of my school with Fury. But it was met by its blue sibling, Subtlety. Then at the end of his turn, I vialed in two lords. Swung my entire school for the win.   

RD 2 Glimpse Elemental Combo

I think I won the game because of a Chalice of the Void for zero. Subtlety denied every disenchant-creature the opponent plays. Two Tide Shapers also contributed to the win by converting the opponent's key shocklands into basic Islands.  

RD 3 UW Hammer

Game three: Two Merfolk Tricksters, two Brazen Borrowers, and a Subtlety all made key defensive stoppage on whoever was holding the hammers. Merfolk Tricksters, Subtlety, a Tide Shaper, and Silvergill Adepts took over offensively. Win.

RD 4 vs Grix Death's Shadow

The opponent committed a crucial misplay in this round. I had two Chalice of the Voids (the first is set at one and the other is at two). He summoned an Engineered Explosive. Paid one red and one black then asked me if it is good. Realizing that the Fifth Dawn artifact's casting cost is at two, I simply point my index finger at my Chalice for two card. His Explosive got countered. 

RD 5 Boros Burn

I do not know if it matters, but I Subtlety his turn one Monastery Swiftspear. 

Svyelun Sea and Sky is a house vs Boros Burn. But the real MVP in this game was Tide Shaper because he alone denied my opponent access to double red mana. After I won, he showed me his hand. Eidolon of the Great Rebel, Searing Blaze, and Skewer the Critics. Maybe you're wondering why Skewer the Critics, it is because the opponent won't be able to cast it if what is left are Islands. Tide Shaper, you the real MVP.  

RD 6 Yorion Elementals

I lost this game by a mile. Solitude, evoke trigger on the stack. Then Ephemerate it. Then in his upkeep, rebound Ephemerate, that's like three for one card. Not to mention Fury. 

RD 7 Rakdos Tempo

ID.

Q: UW Hammer

A germ token with Kaldra Compleat and Shadowspear vs. a school of merfolk (three lord effects, Svyelun Sea and Sky, and two Merfolk Tricksters).

 

S: Titan Valakut-Wish

Game one: The crucial point of this game was when the opponent asked me if Wish is good. I checked his board state: a 2/4 green nymph creature, eight red-green lands (two of them were Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle) wherein five of his red-green lands were still standing. I thought he'll go for Wish into Scapeshift. I checked my hand and I have a lot of blue cards to pitch for Force of Negation. I allowed the red sorcery card and it fetched his third Valakut land. Comes into play. Triple bolt you sir. I checked my life points and it says there nine. GG. 

Game two: My opening hand had three Spreading Seas effects in it. I thought this is good enough to delay his game plan. But things went south when his Dryad of the Ilysian Grove resolves. It repainted the lands red. Then two Valakut lands came down in his next turn. Team Merfolk was not able to recover after that. 

It was a very good run for team mono-blue. 

This is all for now. Thank you for reading.

Paeng

MODERN: JESKAI BARAL STORM

Seventy-five is shown in the picture above. Below were my matches. 

RD 1 vs. Grix Tempo's video is here. 

RD 2 vs Cruel Creativity's video is here. 

RD 3 vs. Mono-Red. I misclicked during game one. As a result of that uneventful scenario, I lost. I also lost game two because the opponent was able to nab a turn two ritual (off a turn one ragavan) into a Blood Moon. Unable to find a basic land in time for my cantrips, I lose. 

RD 4 vs Grix Tempo's video is here.

RD 5 vs. Song of Creation Combo's video is here. 

This is all for now. Thank you for reading. 

Paeng Paeng