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

APRIL 2018: Mono Blue Merfolk

A week into the fourth month of the year, Friday Quest Hobby Shop (FQ) announced that they’ll be having their second team outing to be held at the same resort at Pansol, Laguna. Since it's an open invitation, I decided to be part of it. Here's what I brought for their event.

GP Pansol, Laguna
28 April 2018

Mono Blue Merfolk  

Main Deck
2 Dismember

4 Spreading Seas     

4 Aether Vial

1 Phantasmal Image

3 Master of Waves

4 Merfolk Trickster

4 Silvergill Adept

4 Curesecatcher

4 Harbinger of the Tides

3 Merrow Reejerey

4 Lord of Atlantis

4 Master of the Pearl Trident    

15 Island

4 Mutavault

Sideboard

4 Relic of Progenitus

3 Ceremonious Rejection

3 Negate

3 Gut Shot 

2 Dispel

The event had 20+ players, 5 rounds of swiss plus top eight. I faced the following: 

GRIX Death Shadow 1-2

Blue Living End 2-0

UW Control 2-0

Ad Nauseam 2-1

ID

Notes:
As for the top eight finishers, instead of using their own decks, they were provided with a deck. So before the start of the quarter-finals, I got an Abzan. Unfortunately, I lost to a UW Jace-Gideon deck.

Merfolk Trickster was superb all night long. Here are some of the things that I can still recall from the event:

(i) Initially, I thought two is the perfect number of it in the main deck. But after play testings with Naya Revolt Zoo, UR Gifts Storm, Dredge, and Titanshift, I am convince that four is the correct number. Tapping opponent's creatures is neat, and making it lose all its ability is so beneficial for us because it can win you the game in certain situations. 

(ii) Dismembers are no longer needed. With the addition of Merfolk Trickster, the deck has already 10 to 12 tappers (depending on your build: Trickster, Harbinger, and Reejerey) which I think are enough if you are going up against any aggro base deck. I'd probably replace the Dismembers with counter spells, Negate or Spell Pierce maybe. 

(iii) Here's a list of creatures we always see in the battlefield in which if played at the right situation, Merfolk Trickster can shift the tide into your favor: Laboratory Maniac, Signal Pest, Master of Etherium, infect creatures, those creatures that has a trigger when it is put into the graveyard from play: Wurmcoil Engine, Strangleroot Geist, Kitchen Finks, Voice of Resurgence, Matter Reshaper, Thought-Knot Seer, and the like; UR storm bears, Tarmogoyf, Phyrexian Revoker, Magus of the Moon, the red eidolon, any of he elves creatures except those have enters the battlefield triggers, Vizier of Remedies, Devoted Druid, Meddling Mage, denying him of islandwalk in case of mirror, and in situations wherein you would like to remove their first or double strikes, death touch, flying, trample, lifelink, and annihilator. 

(iv) I should have removed the Spreading Seas versus Grixis DS. 

(v) Always remember that Ad Nauseam has Bontu's Last Reckoning in their sideboard. For game three, I did not commit all on creatures. Despite the presence of Phyrexian Unlife, two lords and a Silvergill Adept were enough to get me there. Always save whatever counter spells you bring in for the deck's name sake. 

That's all for now folks! Thanks for reading! 

-Paeng4983

Manila's Eternal Calendar  

May 2018 
1 - NG Glorieta (modern) (1pm and 5pm pods)
   - NG Centris  (modern) (2pm)
   - NG VMall (modern) (1pm)
   - FQ (modern) (4pm)

12 - Block 101 (modern team trio non-unified) (12pm)

13 - Regran (modern) (Shock me not II) (11am)
     - Pinoy Planeswalker Season III at PC Butler (modern) (11am)

20 - Kick Engines (legacy) (12pm)

26 - Gatecrashers Anonas (modern) (12pm)
    - MALCON Malolos (modern and legacy pauper) (8am)

27 - Gatecrashers Anonas (legacy pauper) (12pm)

every Tuesday at Regran (7pm)
every Wedsnesday at Cedrick's (7pm)
every Thurdays at Block 101 (7pm)
Madcap Modern League every Saturday at Madcap (6pm)
every Sunday at MDP Bicutan Pque (3pm)

June 2018
3 - King of the North (Baguio) (modern)

July 2018
14 - (modern) Emperor of the South 50k modern tournament

APRIL 2018: Black, Green, red, and white.

I rarely pilot an eternal black-green deck. If I remember it correctly, excluding the Gb Kavu-False cure berserk stumpy, I only used the archetype twice. The first was five years ago, more or less, when I borrowed Mack's all foil Legacy Junk deck; and the second was around three years ago at Legion's. Joining the BGx crusade really never crossed my mind until the first Saturday of March 2018 after an inventory and found that I only needed a handful of cards to complete a BGx deck. I checked the inter web for deck list and rediscovered that most of them has this uniform: Jund,  Black-Green, and Sultai. So out of the cards that I own, the best BGx deck (without acquiring sets of Liliana of the Veil and Fulminator Mages) is a building it around Death's Shadow and Tarmogoyf. With the help of the Manila's very own Legendary Froilan Jr. and Ms. Ariane of Madcap Gaming, I was able to complete my BGxx pool in two weeks time. Here's my first try. 

BGrw

Main

3 Blood Crypt / 2 Overgrown Tomb / 1 Stomping Ground / 1 Temple Garden / 1 Godless Shrine / 1 Mountain / 1 Forest / 1 Swamp / 3 Windswept Heath / 1 Polluted Delta / 4 Bloodstained Mire / 2 Marsh Flats

4 Tarmogoyf / 3 Bloodbraid Elf / 4 Dark Confidant / 4 Death's Shadow

4 Thought Seize / 3 Inquisition of Kozilek / 1 Kolaghan's Command

4 Lightning Bolt / 3 Terminate / 2 Abrupt Decay / 1 Maelstrum Pulse / 2 Fatal Push / 4 Bitterblossom

Sideboard

1 Kitchen Finks / 1 Maelstrum Pulse / 1 Surgical Extraction / 2 Rest in Peace / 2 Stony Silence / 1 Nihil Spellbomb / 2 Anger of Gods / 1 Rending Volley / 1 Path to Exile / 1 Pithing Needle / 1 Crumble to Dust / 1 Ghost Quarter

Pretty ugly, I know. The list is rough as hell. 

31 March 2018

Madcap

30+ players and five rounds, so sweet! My first round assignment was a mono red goblin deck. I lost this one because for the following: (i) the Goblin Bushwhacker's +1/+0 pumps; (ii) direct damage from his Lightning Bolt and Goblin Grenade; (iii) Dark Confidant revealed Bloodbraid Elf, twice; and (iv) my recklessness of fetch - shock land - Thoughtseize. Unfortunately, my supposed to be five-rounder modern debut with the deck came to an abrupt end (a minute before round two) because of a work related emergency that I cannot delegate. Days before my next tournaments, I revisited my list and cerebrated on how to get better with it. 

Adjustment
Well, about the fetch-shock-Thoughseize, I'd probably be more mindful next time. Also, I will trim the number of Thoughtseize to two copies and increase Inquisition of Kozilek's number by one. Next is choosing between the red-green elf berserker and the black human wizard. Both cards are great. Each gives the deck a somewhat card advantage. But between the two, I'd probably retain Dark Confidant. Yes I know that the cascade off BBE is good but (I think) Bob's upkeep trigger is better in the long run. And besides, I do not want to see Bob flipping BBE again. 

I brought the seventy-five (in the picture) in my next two outings. By the way, the 4/4 green baloth and stony are two of's.

Three wins and five losses
I visited NG Centris and MDP in which I ended up with a combined record of three wins and five losses. Here are the eight decks that I faced. 

NG Centris 
UB Library Mill 0-2
Mono Green Aggro 2-0
Scapeshift 2-0
UW Control 0-2
UW Control 0-2

Magical Dream Portal  
Scapeshift 2-0
UR Gifts Storm 1-2
Mardu YP 0-2

Total: 3-5  (7-10)


Notes
And here are the things that I can still remember three days after MDP's.

-Out of seventeen games, my best play was (probably) during the third round at NG Centris. It was his turn, on his board he had 8 lands (two of which are Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle and the rest were Mountains) and two cards at hand. He dropped his first card, a fetch land - cracked it for a mountain - trigger pinnacles aiming at a 5/6 Tarmogoyf. I responded with a Kolaghan's Command (mode: discard and two damage at him) and saw his Summoner's Pact goes to his graveyard. After that, he was not able to get any relevant spell. I won the game thanks to a group of black faerie rouge flying 1/1 tokens off Bitterblossom.

-Speaking of Bitterblossom, I died to it multiple times (like seven out of ten). I'd probably cut a copy of it and replace it with something else for my next tournament.

-Versus UR Storm, game two, I had a very good defensive hand: Maelstrom Pulse, two Abrupt Decays, and a Lightning Bolt. Then Dark Confidant reached my hand naturally. Hastily dropped it on the table before shipping the turn back. I never get the turn back. I will exercise more diligence next time. 

-A couple of Dreadbore will be added into my seventy-five to help me win against Jace and friends. 

-Still fetching the wrong shock land.

-And lastly, Rest and Peace and Tarmogoyf in my opening seven: the horror. 

A week after MDP's, I team-up with Naya Burn and Lantern at FQ's team event. It was just so unfortunate that we lost our win-in-game (last round). Here are the decks that I faced during the event. 

Affinity 2-0
Coco 1-2
Lantern 2-1
Tron 1-2
Hallowed One Vengine Vine 1-2
(2-3)  (7-7)

Here's the sixty and fifteen by the way. 

Lands:
4 Bloodstained Mire / 3 Windswept Heath / 2 Marsh Flats / 1 Treetop Village / 3 Blood Crypt / 3 Overgrown Tomb / 2 Godless Shrine / 1 Temple Garden / 1 Forest / 1 Swamp / 1 Mountain

Creatures:
4 Tarmogoyf / 4 Death's Shadow / 4 Dark Confidant

Spells:
3 Bitterblossom / 4 Thoughtseize / 4 Inquisition of Kozilek / 3 Abrupt Decay / 2 Maelstrom Pulse / 3 Terminate / 3 Path to Exile / 

Sideboard:
2 Anger of the Gods / 1 Stony Silence / 1 Kataki, War Wage / 1 Ancient Grudge / 2 Obstinate Baloth/ 1 Kitchen Finks / 1 Eidolon of Rhetotic / 1 Ghost Quarter / 1 Crumble to Dust / 2 Rakdos Charm / 2 Back to Nature

Notes
- I died to Bob's trigger in a crucial game versus Collected Company.

- I never died to Bitterblossom. 

- Path to Exile is better than Tidehallow Sculler. 

- Always be on the look out for those window of opportunity. I just missed a crucial situation in which I should have had fired my sideboard card. 

- Probably, there are line of plays that I missed or overlooked. I'll need to improve on that aspect. 

- Rakdos Charm is great, but not that stellar. 

After playing 14 rounds (5-9 .357), or a total of 33 games (14-19 .424), with BGrw, though unimpressive, I am happy with it. I'll try to be better with this on my next event. Thank you reading folks! 

-Paeng4983