DECEMBER 2018: BLACK-GREEN and WHITE

Despite having a low win rate (38.7%) with BGx, I am still hoping that I will do good with it. So before the year ends, I am donning the its colors again for my last 2018 modern tournament.

Fetchland tournament

Fast Effects Hobby Shop 
Pacita, Laguna
30 December 2018

RD1 Dredge 0-2
RD2 Burn 2-0
RD3 Hardened Affinity 0-2
RD4 RG Eldrazi 0-2
(1-3)  (2-6)

Notes:
I had games (all game ones against Dredge, Hardened and RG E), despite listing 24 lands, I got stuck at two lands. 

I need to know the proper hierarchy (or usage) of the spot removals of the deck.

I should read and study the board state well in order to maximize the value of my cards.

I probably side boarded wrong in some of my games. 

Always weigh every shockland you will fetch for it might affect your game later on.  

Engineered Explosives is a good answer to those cards that has hexproof. 

Spirit blockers from Lingering Souls are great. 

Is Dark Confidant a better choice over Tireless Tracker?  

I will need to improve on my decision making.

This is all for now. 

Happy New Year everyone! And thank you for reading!


Paeng Paeng

DECEMBER 2018: UR STORM

UR STORM
Paeng 4983

Main deck 
3 Island

1 Mountain

2 Misty Rainforest

4 Scalding Tarn

4 Spirebluff Canal

3 Steam Vents

3 Baral, Chief of Compliance

4 Pyromancer Ascension

4 Desperate Ritual

4 Manamorphose

4 Pyretic Ritual

3 Grapeshot

3 Past in Flames

4 Serum Visions
4 Thought Scour

4 Sleight of Hand
3 Faithless Looting
1 Peer Through Depths
1 Increasing Vengeance 
1 Repeal

Sideboard

3 Blood Moon

1 Echoing Truth
2 Abrade

4 Lightning Bolt 

3 Empty the Warrens
1 Defense Grid
1 Surgical Extraction

16 December 2018
Year End Modern Open
Regran Hobby Shop
Quezon City 

RD 1  Dredge 2-0 
RD 2  BG 2-0
RD 3  DS Grix 2-1
RD 4  Blue Moon 2-0
RD 5  UW Control ID
RD 6  Humans ID

*top 8 split 

Notes:

You cannot scry anymore if you already put on the table your leyline.

Tokens off Empty the Warrens out raced Dredge and DS Grixis. 

I could have won a turn earlier via Grapeshot instead of going goblin tokens off the ETW if and only if I did not miscounted my spells.

Opponent concedes two turns after my turn two Blood Moon.

Make sure your cards at hand is at eight before starting your assault versus a heavy permission deck. In this way, you'll just feed to your storm count the instant spells he'll use. Do not forget to sequence properly your spells when executing this maneuver. 

And lastly, use those cantrips to dig deeper into your library to find the pieces of the puzzle you need to go off. 

That's all for now. Thank you for reading! I hope to see you guys in any of the following modern tournaments. 

December 29

Radioactive's Modern Year End

December 30 

Fast Effect's Fetchland tournament 

  

Paeng_49830123456789

DECEMBER 2018: MONO BLUE MERFOLK

30 November 2018
Fast Effects Hobby Shop
Pacita, San Pedro, Laguna

RG Eldrazi 0-2
Scapeshift 2-0
UWr Control 1-1

Notes

I was unable to sustain the momentum against RG Eldrazi because the deck handed me five straight lands. 

As much as possible try to out tempo your opponent before going on the offensive. Play those Merfolk Trickster, Harbinger of the Tides, plus reejerey's triggers right. Do not forget that reejerey's triggers can also be use to tap other permanents (including lands) and not just his creatures. 

Sideboard cards: Relic of Progenitus's second ability does not requires you to tap it; just pay one and sacrifice. Protecting the school from whatever form of removal is the primary purpose of my counter spells with one exception: unless if the opposing player is on a combo deck variant. And speaking of counter spell, I know that Deprive has a much wider application as compared to Negate, but I'll stay with the latter. 

Dismember > Gut Shot / Wipe Away because killing by means of -5/-5 is better than dealing one damage / bouncing it. Mono Blue still has Deprive / Echoing Truth, Ceremonious Rejection in situational cases, for non-creature hate.

MONO BLUE MERFOLK
Paeng 4983

Main deck
15 Islands
4 Mutavault

4 Cursecatcher
4 Merfolk Trickster
4 Harbinger of the Tide
4 Silvergill Adept
4 Lord of Atlantis
4 Master of the Pearl Trident
3 Merrow Reejerey
2 Master of Waves
1 Phantasmal Image
1 Kira, Great Glass-Spinner

4 Aether Vial 
4 Spreading Seas
2 Spell Pierce

Sideboard
3 Negate
3 Ceremonious Rejection
2 Dispel
4 Relic of Progenitus
1 Echoing Truth
2 Dismember

9 December 2018
Gold Rush Modern
Glorietta Ayala Mall, Makati City

UR Kiki-Jiki 2-1
Bant Spirits 1-2
Dredge 2-0
Tron 1-2
Scapeshift 0-2
Affinity 2-1
Humans 2-1
Scapeshift 1-2
(4-4)  (11-11)

Notes

My defensive duo (Merfolk Trickster and Harbinger of the Tides) made some good stops. 

Main deck Spell Pierce caught some players off guard in some of our game ones.

Spreading Seas  slowed my third, sixth, and seventh round opponents's offensive onslaughts. And speaking of that blue enchantment, despite having two of it, plus not permitting his turn one Expedition Map with Ceremonious Rejection, his tron lands went online still because he was able to draw the urza lands needed through regular draw phase. Within just a few turns, Oblivion Stone wiped my school into extinction before his Thragtusk and 5/7 colorless eldrazi took over and win the round into his favor.

Team spirits out raced team merfolk. Merfolk Trickster cannot shut down those abilities that comes into play trigger. Spell Queller is so damn good! She's like the Vendilion Clique of this era. 

Negate cannot counter Prime time and Spell Queller so I am definitely making a switch to Deprive.  

Dismember > Welding Jar. 

I would probably implement the following changes in my next tournament.
Main deck
No changes. 

Side board
-3 Negate, -3 Ceremonious Rejection
+4 Deprive, +1 Surgical Extraction, +1 Hurkyl's Recall

Deprive: To help me counter whatever problematic spells. And besides, Deprive's scope is far better than Negate's and Ceremonious Rejection's combined.

Surgical Extraction: For Snapcaster Mage base and other decks that depend on their graveyard; plus it also helps me nitpick those phoenices.

Hurkyl's Recall: Hardened Scales, Lantern, and KCI decks.

Thank you very much for reading!

I wish you a happy Christmas and a safe New Year to you and your family!

CHEERS!

Paeng 4983
6396668391998

NOVEMBER 2018: MONO BLUE MERFOLK

Mono Blue Merfolk
Tiyo Paeng 

Main

15 Island, 4 Mutavault, 1 Ghost Quarter

4 Aether Vial, 4 Spreading Seas

4 Lord of Atlantis, 4 Master of the Pearl Trident, 3 Merrow Reejerey, 2 Master of Waves

4 Harbinger of the Tides, 4 Merfolk Trickster, 4 Cursecatcher, 4 Silvergill Adept

1 Phantasmal Image, 1 Kira, Great Glass-Spinner, 1 Kopla, Warden of Waves

Sideboard

4 Relic of Progenitus, 3 Ceremonious Rejection, 3 Negate, 2 Dispel, 2 Dismember, 1 Wipe Away

Playground Hobby Cafe
Monumento, Caloocan
10 November 2018

We only played three (3) rounds of modern magic. I lost my opening round against BW DnT but won my succeeding rounds, Jund and Mono G Tron.
(2-1) (5-3)

Notes:

If you have any question regarding your board or game state, call the judge immediately to help you resolve things. I had a situation where I tanked for like 30 to 60 seconds trying to figure it out on my own. I ended up losing that game due to bad decision.

Merfolk Trickster killed a hundred dollar non-foil green creature! So sweet! The tandem of Merrow Reejerey + Merfolk Trickster made sure that my school will still inflict damage despite him not having an island. 

20k Modern Tournament
Radioactive Hobby Shop
Annonas, Quezon City
24 November 2018

Skred Red 0-2
Humans 1-2
Boogles 1-2
(0-3) (2-6)

Notes

Read and understand your opponent's card/s. Then very carefully study the board and apply the card/s you just read to the current game state. This is very important because triggers from one card caused by the other can spell win or defeat. Spreading Seas was great! Islandwalk all day long! Three Aether Vial in your opening hand, is not a good hand to keep. And lastly, I drew bricks in most of my game three matches. 

Madcap Modern League 

San Pedro, Laguna
24 November 2018

Humans 2-1
BW DnT 1-2
Mardu 1-2
Boros Burn 2-1 
(2-2) (6-6)

Notes 

Without the Spreading Seas I would not probably win a game. You the real MVP! Cursecatcher also did well defensively because it disrupted Mardu's and Boros Burn's math. Dismembers are very useful but as much as possible use the school's muscle as your primary creature removal. And speaking of sideboard cards, use them properly. 

This is all for now. I hope to see you in any of the following modern tournaments. 

Dec 1 
Radioactive (Anonas) 

Dec 9
Gold Rush (Glorietta Makati)

Dec 15
Estancia Mall (Shaw Blvd, Pasig Kapitolyo)

By the way, good luck GP Shizuoka bound Noypi players! 

Paeng 4983

NOVEMBER 2018: MTG Vintage with Christmas Beatings

18 November 2018

Vintage Tournament

Cedric’s Boardgame Cafe

While doing an inventory of my Magic the Gathering card pool, I get to see again that blue enchantment card that I used to abuse - Standstill. The card brings a lot of vintage and legacy memories. And speaking of vintage, if am not mistaken, the last time I was playing it was more than a decade ago, in the Mondu Vintage Magic Tournament which was hosted by the Ongkeco Hobby Shop. Reminiscing those fun vintage days somehow ignited a part of me to play the format again.

I soon found out that the next Vintage Tournament will take place on the 18th of November at Cedric's Cafe, Quezon City. Now that the date and venue are known, my next step was to update myself of the current rules concerning the format - from the banned and restricted cards to Cedric's governing set of rules. And finally, deck construction.  

Looking at my modern dominated card pool, I can only have either a Burn variant deck or an aggro GRw base deck. I did a quick web check of the current vintage meta and picking latter over the former, I think and hope so, is the correct call. But there was one problem, I immediately realized that I do not have the appropriate dual lands anymore. So I decided to go two-color aggro deck. To help me decide, I consulted the world wide web again and rediscovered Stephen Menendian's Christmas Beatings. His list served as my skeletal frame work for my RG list. After a handful of shadow testings and adjustments, I settled with this seventy-five.

Christmas Beatings 2018
Paeng Paeng

Main Deck
1 Stomping Grounds 
1 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine
1 Mountain
1 Forest
4 Wooded Foothills
4 Windswept Heath
4 Taiga

1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Emerald
1 Black Lotus
3 Skullclamp
4 Aether Vial
4 Lightning Bolt

1 Grim Lavamancer
2 Viridian Zealot
2 Stingscouger
2 Scavenging Ooze
3 Eidolon of the Great Revel
3 Magus of the Moon
4 Tin Street Hooligan
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Kird Ape
4 Tarmogoyf

Sideboard
3 Red Elemental Blast
4 Seal of Primordium
4 Faerie Macabre
2 Pyrostatic Pillar
2 Ancient Grudge

The Friday (16 November 2018) before the event, I was told that my presence is a must for the Sunday errand. I checked the remaining 2018 tournaments for any vintage. So far, the modern event on December 15th will vintage is one of its side event. I am not sure if it is the last vintage tournament in Manila for 2018, but I hope I'll not miss the train this time. 

Thanks for reading! 

Paeng 4983

NOVEMBER 2018: MONO BLUE MERFOLK

One of my christmas wish is to top 8, if not win, in each big modern event this December 2018. These events are Gold Rush Modern on December 9th; Metro Modern Cup inpartnership with SCL events and Block 101 on December 15th; Regran Open Modern on December 16th; and Radioactive Games's Modern Year End Tournament on December 29th. 

To help me achieve my wish, I must improve on my merfolk gaming. So I started by reviewing my last three tournaments with the deck. I played a total of 20 rounds (49 games in total). I won against: Burn, Elves, Eldrazi, Humans, Jeskai tempo, Spirits, Tron, UR Storm, UW Miracle, and Wr Taxes decks. I lost to: Abzan, Affinity Hardened, Dredge, Mardu YP, Spirits, and UR Control decks. Intentional draws with KCI and Spirits decks.

Notes
I will need to improve on the area where I had committed errors and misplays. I'll start talking with my worst output, at the Regran Open. Here's what I concluded after re-reading my losing tournament report. 

I only had 18 lands. The reasons why I went down to 18 lands are: (i) most of my spells's casting costs are only at 1 and 2; (ii) and that having an answer (Echoing Truth) in the main deck against random main deck hate (the likes of Worship, Ensnaring Bridge, etc) was a good idea. Unfortunately my plan backfired because there were games that I got stuck at two lands. 

The damages of the elemental tokens off Master of Waves will really turn tides into your favor. If I recall it correctly, I had two games that if only I had a Master of Waves on the battlefield I could have won the game. Also, red was the primary source of removal of three out of my four opponents. So for my next tournament I made sure that he is back in the sixty. Master of Waves did not disappoint me because he helped me win three assignments. 

The lack of protection from Kira, Great Glass-Spinner and Kopala, Warden of Waves also mattered because most of the removals of my opponents says "target". 

Mistcaller, I am not sure what to say about it because I did not get the opportunity to use it. The card is very promising especially that the meta right now loves to 'cheat' creatures into play. 

My MDP and Got Game modern tournament results were better than my Regran Open's. Despite having nice standings from those events, I still committed some errors. 

I forgot some of the triggers particularly that of Aether Vial and Merrow Reejerey. Speaking of Merrow Rejeerey, its trigger can tap (or untap) any permanent you want. There will be corner times that denying them the mana is the correct call rather than tapping any of his creatures. In one situation versus Dredge, I was so focus in calculating the combat damages my school will do that I totally forgot to use the triggers to his lands. I should have tapped those red mana sources (upkeep two Merfolk Tricksters) instead of zombies. As a result of my negligence, he was able to flashbacked Conflagrate and win the game into his favor. 

Use those sideboard cards properly. I remember a game involving two active Relic of Progenitus against UR Storm. I know what you're thinking: that I have that game in the bag. I almost lost this one because in one particular end of his turn scenario, this was our situation. Life totals were at him 8 and me at around 16 (I think). On the table he had: an Island, 4 UR lands and a Baral; while I had 2 relics, Harbinger, Trickster,  4 Islands, and a vial that has 2 counters on it. Unfortunately greed took over me instead of just waiting for that Past in Flames crack-relic-respond-moment. I was just lucky that I was gifted with Negate and Dispel (from those relics) to keep his spells at bay. 

If you are going up a deck that has a ton of mass removals (Wrath of God like spells, Engineered Explosives, etc), I strongly suggest that you only swim with two or three merfolks at the same time. 

Adjustments
I really haven't implemented any of these yet. But as of right now, I am happy with the sixty and will only probably do minor changes in the sideboards.

Thank you for reading.


Paeng 4983

Thank you

Words are not enough to describe how everyone feels. 

Thank you for bringing out the hero in us. 

Rest in peace, sir Stan Lee.