MODERN: White Green Death and Taxes

It has been seven months since my last tournament report post on this blog page. Back then I assumed that in-store events will begin to normalize by 2022, at best. But I was wrong. They slowly returned to the scene as early as late October 2020. And with that, I will be needing this page again because, unlike my MTGO or untap.in games where I can share them by uploading to my Youtube,  it is through this avenue where I can share my experiences from playing in an in-store event. So without further ado, for my first event report post for 2021, here it is. 

White Green Death and Taxes 

Kick Engines's Discord Online Modern Tournament

20 February 2021 

RD 1: Mono W Eldrazi Taxes 2-1 

RD 2: UR Prowess 2-0

RD 3: GB Yawgmoth Combo 2-1

RD 4: Eldrazi Tron 2-0

RD 5: UR Prowess L 

Q: GB Yawgmoth Combo 1-2

 

versus Mono W Eldrazi Taxes 

I lost game one because I decided to keep a hand that had one green-white mana source, a Brushland. I never got to draw another green-white source. I won the next two games. Game two's MVPs were the defensive trio: Skyclave Apparition and (vial-in) Flickerwisp / (summoned) Restoration Angel. The same thing happened on game three, only this time it was the duo of Apparition and Wisp that took care of most of the opponent's offensive threats. I also like the tag-team interaction of Leonin Arbiter and Winds of Abandon, permanently removing a creature without giving him any land. Sweet. 

versus UR Prowess 

Game one: I cast a Chalice of the Void (for one counter) on my third turn followed by an Archon of Emeria on my next turn. I thought I had the game in check until he was able to summon a  Bedlam Reveler and a Stormwing Entity. I was able to regain control of the game when I topdecked a Knight of Autumn and a Restoration Angel giving me another eight life points cushion. He only had one flying while I had three which was enough for me to win the game. 

Game two went like this: Turn one Deafening Silence. Turn two Celestial Purged his Soul-Scar Mage. Turn three Knight of Autumn. Turn four Chalice of the Void (for one). Four (or five) turns later, I topdecked a Restoration Angel. Blinked the green-white knight for a beanbag of life. Win.

versus GB Yawgmoth Combo

I committed a grave misplay in game one. It happened on the opponent's last end of turn. I had an active vial on two and four green white lands. I tapped Aether Vial - brought down Scavenging Ooze. Then, still the same end of his turn, I summoned Restoration Angel. While the angel was still on the stack, this is where he responded with a Chord of Calling fetching Yawgmoth, Thran Physician. His combo went online immediately when the black physician hit the table. Off to game two we go.  

Game two: I had an early Rest in Peace out on the table but I think the opponent was not that concerned with it because he was taking the Hapatra, Vizier of Poison route. By the time he had a pit of 1/1  deathtouch snakes, plus a couple of Strangleroot Geists without any counters on them, Winds of Abandon single-handedly wiped them all. From there the opponent was not able to recover. 

Game three: Chalice of the Void for one, Rest in Peace, Aven Mindcensor, and Archon of Emeria dictated the tempo of the game. Win. 

versus Eldrazi Tron 

Game one: I had two early Ghost Quarters to stop him from ramping his mana count. But he kept on dropping lands to the point he managed to get enough lands and cast All is Dust. Good thing Aether Vial (which at that point it had three counters on it) is a colorless permanent. At the end of his turn, I brought down flying creatures, a vialed-in an Archon of Emeria, and summoned a flash Aven Mindcensor. Then swung for lethal on my turn.

Game two: My second turn: second land (Ghost Quarter) into Leonin Arbiter. His third turn, Pithing Needle naming Ghost Quarter. I summoned a Knight of Autumn on my third turn to destroy the needle. Drew my second Ghost Quarter on my fourth turn and did not hesitate to smash two of his non-basic lands, Eldrazi Temple and an Urza's Tower. Archon of Emeria, Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, and Flickerwisp joined the party turns later. 

versus UR Prowess

I did not get to draw any hate cards. 

Q: versus GB Yawgmoth Combo

Game three: He had answers to whatever hate I bring to the table. He won the game through his Yawgmoth combo. 

Right after the match, just as we were deboarding, the opponent asked why I did not search for basic lands (from the Assassin's Trophies). I got a little frustrated upon hearing it because the lands off the Assassin's Trophies could have helped hasten my movements. So I told him that it is the owner of the card's responsibility to convey to the opposing player the effects of the card. His defense was "but there's this 'may search clause'  that is why I did not say a thing" which, to me, is not a good one. 

Alright people that is all. Stay safe always and thank you for reading! 

Paeng_Paeng

For MTG calendar of activities, here.  

MTG Events (as of 20:40 of 8 March 2021)

Modern

March 

13 - Regran (Quezon City)

14 - Madcap (San Pedro, Laguna)

20 - Arcane Arena PH (Pacita, Laguna) 

21 - Radioactive (Greenhills, San Juan) 

27 - Mage Ring (Dasmarinas, Cavite)

28 - Mana Underground (Quezon City)

Pioneer

March 

12 - Arcane Arena PH (Pacita, Laguna) 

14 - Regran (Quezon City)

14 - Nissa Hobby Shop (GMA, Cavite)

19 - Arcane Arena PH (Pacita, Laguna)

20 - Mana Underground (Quezon City)

26 - Arcane Arena PH (Pacita, Laguna)

Pauper

March

7 - Radioactive Anonas (Anonas, Quezon City)

Legacy 

March 

13 - Mana Underground (Quezon City)

For the online tournament (legacy and modern) set-up, kindly get in touch with Kick Engines for details. 

Paeng_Paeng

I AM BACK

Hi there! This is going to be a quick read. 

Now that paper magic is flourishing, I will be needing this space again. So expect tournament reports and other MTG-related posts.

That's all folks. I told you it is going to be quick. 

Paeng_Paeng 

GOODBYE IS ALWAYS A HELLO TO A NEW ADVENTURE

26 July 2015 to 26 July 2020.

This is going to be my last post. 

I still have Facebook (Paeng Paeng) and Twitter (Tiyo Paeng 4983) in case any of you guys have questions for me. 

From the bottom of my heart, thank you very much!

PAENG_4983

JULY: MODERN CHALLENGE 4 JULY 2020

MTGO MODERN CHALLENGE

4 July 2020

128 players

MONO BLUE MERFOLK

NAYA Aggro with SFM  L

DREDGE W

RUG SNOW L

ELDRAZI TRON W

SULTAI SNOW L

SNOW URO SCAPESHIFT L

then dropped from the roll 

Notes:

I hope to duplicate my June 30th result on this July 4th MTGO Modern Challenge. 

NAYA with SFM 

Game three: I casted Ashiok, Dream Render with high hopes that it was enough to deny him of whatever searching abilities his deck has. But he had a better turn three, a Choke. I did not drew blue lands after. I lost to his 4/5 Tarmogoyfs and 3/3 Scavenging Ooze. 

DREDGE

Last game, my opening seven was: Island, Vial, Benthic, Deprive, Lord of Atlantis, Spell Pierce, and Trident. Somehow I am not that satisfied with it so I decided to mull for these six: Island, Island, Cage, Relic, Benthic, and Pierce. Better!

Pierce his first turn Loam. Then Relic gets to eat it in my second turn. Dropped Cage then he conceded. WIN. 

RUG SNOW 

The game changes into his favor when he double Uro (a swing and a cast from hand) in a turn. Then fetch into Mystical Sanctuary into recycling his spot removals. GG.  

ELDRAZI TRON 

Won game one through Reejerey's trigger ability, tap those blocks and swing for the win. Game two: Spreading Seas + islandwalk, = win. 

SULTAI SNOW

Uro gave him the cushion he needed before putting the final nail in the coffin: Dead of Winter. 

SNOW VALAKUT-URO

Game three: Uros were there for the ramp and life cushion. His main win condition was through Scapeshift into Valakut for 21. GG

After absorbing that fourth loss, I dropped from the roll. 

Thanks for reading. 

Paeng_4983

JULY 2020: MONO BLUE MERFOLK

30 June 2020
MTGO Modern Preliminary 

Bloom Titan W
Grix Death Shadow W
Tron Colorless W
Mono G Tron W
Dredge W

Decklist.

Notes:
BLOOM TITAN

If my memory serves me right, I faced this archetype three times so far on MTGO. Zero wins and three losses. Converting it into games: zero wins and six losses. That's how bad it is. So the moment he did a land drop in his turn one (game one), I expected an uphill battle. I won game one because I was able to slow down his progress through three Merfolk Tricksters and a Dismember. 

Counter spells, Deprives and Spell Pierces, set the tone during game two. Spreading Seas, Merfolk Tricksters and Reejerey's trigger played big roles, after I ran out of blue instant cards, in trying to slow down his progress. And finally two lords, a summoned Trident and a vialed Atlantis, gave the last push needed to snatch my first victory not just against a Bloom Titan but also in the MTGO Modern Preliminary event. 

GRIX DEATH SHADOW

The game went to a rubber match but my school's comes into play trigger abilities from Tricksters and Harbinger plus the lord effects (+1 and islandwalks) prevailed against his spot removals and Plague Engineer. 

TRON COLORLESS

Spreading Seas denied him of having an online tron lands in both games. Damping Sphere also played a big part during game two. 

MONO GREEN TRON

Game one: No online tron lands thanks to two Spreading Seases. Game two: Countered his two Sylvan Scryings before dropping Damping Matrix thus denying him of his maps and eggs. WIN.

DREDGE

Game one: Lord effects was able to out race his zombies. So lucky there, really. Game two: I had a solid opening seven: 5 Islands, 1 Grafdigger's Cage and 1 Relic of Progenitus. Then Ashiok managed to reached my hand like 2 or three turns after. WIN. 

This is all for now. Thank you for reading. 

Paeng_4983

JUNE 2020: MODERN MONO BLUE MERFOLK

1 to 3 JUNE 2020

Untap.in

Scapeshift Primival Titan Deck W
Rakdos Prowess Lurrus W

Mono Red Prowess W
Eldrazi Tron Deck W
GWur Yorion Deck W

Notes:
I tried to upload a whole game (from games one to three 40+ minutes long) but Youtube did not let it. So I just recorded game after game. 

SCAPESHIFT PRIMIVAL TITAN DECK (June 1st)

I got fried in game one. Scapeshift into Valakut for twenty-four damages for the win. My defensive duo, Trickster and Harbinger, took care of his creatures in games two and three. Denying him blockers and bouncing them for more delay worked pretty fine. He tried to win through Scapeshift during game three but got blocked by Force of Negation. WIN

RAKDOS PROWESS LURRUS (June 2nd)
He had a very fast game one. Prowess plus burn spells then ended the game with Lurrus recycling Seal of Fire for the win. For the next two games, all counter spells were thrown at his burn spells with one exception, Deprive that black feline. Trickster, Harbinger, and Reejerey took care of the prowess creatures. "But Lurrus is loves graveyard." No need for Relic of Progenitus Just save a Deprive for it. If in case Deprive is not available, you still have Tricksters or Harbinger in some corner case situations.

Edit: Two hours after this game, WOTC announced its new ruling concerning companion cards.

MONO RED PROWESS (June 3rd)
Game one was fast. It only lasted for like two minutes. Here's the video of it. 

I played tight merfolk gaming during game two. Two Merfolk Tricksters and three Harbinger of the Tides made it an uphill battle for his one drop prowess troop. I forgot to record our game two, unfortunately

Game three is here. 

ELDRAZI TRON (June 3rd)
Game one was an uphill battle. He had a Chalice of the Void (for one) out by turn two when I started drawing three straight one-drop cards. He also summoned Thought-Knot Seers in turns three and five thus hence removing some of the early two-drop lords that I drew. In time things went to my favor when I started drawing Merfolk Tricksters, Reejerey, and Harbingers. 

My opening hand for game two was: two Lord of Atlantis, Reejerey, 2 Islands, Mutavault, and a Trident. In the first 5 turns I drew the following in order: Island, Reejerey, Island, Island, Phantasmal Image. I won the race using this formula: lord effects + tap blockers off the Reejerey's trigger abilities. 

GWur YORION (June 3rd)
Yorion, Sky Nomad in a GWur COCO Deck made me feels like I was playing against the then Pod Deck. The remarkable play he had was Avalanche Rider then blinking it twice with a single card, Ephemerate. Then in his upkeep, blink it again with Restoration Angel. Sweet flow of interactions. Good thing that I am familiar on how his deck works. I won two games thanks to the triggers of Reejerey and Merfolk Trickster. Force of Negation and Deprive also did a great job by denying him of his creature-tutor green cards. 

This is all for now. Thank you for reading. 

Paeng4983