Sup from GP Manchester! I discovered that there is free internet at the venue, so I'll try to maintain a liveblog for fun and giggles. Feel free to follow along!
Right now it's 9:24 AM, and we're waiting for the sealed deckbuilding.
I have no idea how many players there are, but I'm sitting at table 504 right now, which might indicate that there are more than I anticipated (which was 6-700).
I have 3 byes (due to pro level), and my guess is that I'll finish 40th in this event. I'm not sure if I'm going to be pleased with a 40th place finish, or if that would be disappointing... I guess it depends on the pool.
I'll post my sealed pool and deck here, and some sentences for each round (hopefully).
10:47 AM: I’ve finished building and registering my deck – I think I was literally the first player to do so (only four minutes in). The deck was quite simple to build, and I’m generally very impatient and don’t muck around with these things. The deck seems quite good, if a little slow.
Hey Sene. Good luck out there. Nice call on opening Lingering Souls :). I like your build, I would keep the red in mind to side into if you are against a very fast opponent (or against someone with even more late game then you, if that is possible). I didn't work out the build, but it looks faster, but less powerful then the BW one. I would not splash with zero colour fixing in this format unless required.
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Top MTGO Limited Rating: 1968
2nd place behind Paulo after round 3 of Pro Tour M15
(finished 8-8, but beat Alexander Hayne and Ben Stark)
I think I would have made a very similar build and even though the red is very tempting to splash (Burning Oil / Fires of Undeath), I don't think I would have because you don't have mana fixers, a few double cost cards and already 3 pure removal spells and a few combat tricks.
Lack of fixers was the primary reason why I chose to not splash, and I also felt like I had enough power in black and white to avoid having to splash.
Vengeful Vampire - I think it's decent, but I'm not very happy about playing two of them. It's the part I'm most unsure about.
Wolfhunter's Quiver - very strong with Midnight Guard and Typhoid Rats, quite good on Galvanic Juggernaut, and decent with Village Bell-Ringer. Overall a card I'm usually happy to play, and I have enough synergy to make it quite good, IMO.
Divine Reckoning - good in certain situations, but can be hard to setup, and only against certain decks. Also, this card goes against what I'm trying to do with my deck - see cards like Lingering Souls, Increasing Devotion and Gather the Townsfolk. It's a card I'm probably going to board in a few times, though.
Good job building a manabase that respects Loyal Cathar and Spectral Rider, and leaving Highborn Ghoul in the side. 9-8 would have been a mistake.
Keep an eye on Sightless Ghoul for a sideboard card if you feel like you are clearly the beatdown. That card gets little respect, but it puts in work and can do some neat things like attack, get blocked and come back as a 3/3, untap your Juggernaut, and attack, get blocked, turn on your Banshee/Slip. Also pay attention to how good Break of Day would be against each opponent.
I definitely, definitely wouldn't splash Red maindeck and I don't think it's close. I might possibly side it in if I felt the opponent's deck was vulnerable to Oil and Fires (for example, a slowing W/U flyers deck).
I don't like Vengeful Vampire at all and would run Highborn Ghoul over the second copy even with this manabase, I think.
Good luck!
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Forum Awards: Best Writer 2005, Best Limited Strategist 2005-2012
5CB PotM - June 2005, November 2005, February 2006, April 2008, May 2008, Feb 2009
MTGSalvation Articles: 1-20, plus guest appearance on MTGCast #86!
<Limited Clan>
3:41 PM: Fourth round finished (or the first, I guess), and I won. Tough match; I lost the first game after mulliganing two one-land hands, and the second was incredibly close. I was way behind before I could assemble Tron (Midnight Guard, Wolfhunter's Quiver, Increasing Devotion), and obliterated his board. I was down to two life, and I had already seen a couple of burn spells from him (he was red-green splash black), but I managed to kill him before he drew one. The third game was close until I drew Lingering Souls Yeah, that card is pretty real.
After consulting with my friends, I've decided to board out the second Vengeful Vampire in every match, usually for Disciple of Griselbrand or Break the Day.
5:13 PM: Won a very tough feature match against Ben Stark. It was covered, so I guess you can read about it when it's up. I don't have much time now anyway, it went almost to time... but I guess there will be a couple of plays that I have to comment He could have won, but there was a play he missed on the last turn. Can't really post more now though.
6:16 PM: Won 2-0 against Helmut Summersberger. It was a rather easy match, since he drew pretty terribly both games. In the 1st game, I could have won quicker than I did - on turn 4, he passed back to me with four lands (3 Mountains and 1 Swamp) and Falkenrath Torturer up, when I had Galvanic Juggernaut and Wolfhunter's Quiver in play. I decided to attack first, since I put him on Tribute to Hunger, but he didn't have anything. I still think it was an okay play, but I'm not sure. Ended up winning regardless.
7:14 PM: I'm keeping on trucking; 7-0. Won 2-1 against a fairly mediocre black-red deck (aggro, with a million small men, but packing Rolling Temblor..?). The game I lost was thanks to mull to 5 + bricking, the games I won were mostly thanks to Galvanic Juggernaut. That card is sooo good. I haven't drawn Lingering Souls much so far, but Juggernaut has been doing a lot of hard work.
Too bad the coverage from the match against Ben Stark isn't up yet. That was a really interesting match.
I don't see how not to build RW with that pool. Visions of increasing devotion and instigator gang dancing in my head. Throwing in a swamp or two for flashback on fires and souls.
I was playing a draft the second week up avacyn being out and i was constructing my deck when the guy across from me spilled his cherry kool-aid all over mine and his cards, he had a griselbrand and I had a cavern of souls.
This keeps coming up in draft walkthroughs. Apparently some people have a real block against the idea of a card that's in their colours but not for their deck.
Too bad the coverage from the match against Ben Stark isn't up yet. That was a really interesting match.
Now up here. Pretty much my fantasy feature match... and some great play too!
I was quite surprised to see he'd kept Highborn Ghoul in against you for game two. Was his deck quite bad, or was there some other reason for this? (Surely not just Ghoulraiser?)
Coverage quality was a bit patchy as usual. "Bjørnerud's Galvanic Juggernaut, however, put a stop to Stark's offense," they say in game three. Really? Surely Niblis of the Breath is pretty good against Juggernaut?!
Right now you're literally #1 on the leaderboard - keep up the good work!
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(I'm on on this site much anymore. If you want to get in touch it's probably best to email me: dom@heffalumps.org)
Forum Awards: Best Writer 2005, Best Limited Strategist 2005-2012
5CB PotM - June 2005, November 2005, February 2006, April 2008, May 2008, Feb 2009
MTGSalvation Articles: 1-20, plus guest appearance on MTGCast #86!
<Limited Clan>
9:22 PM: I won the second to last round, in a match that was absolutely extraordinary. Faced Lukas Jaklovsky, and the last game in particular was the toughest I've played in this format. I had all kinds of action, with Wolfhunter's Cleaver, infinite mana, an Increasing Devotion that I had played and flashbacked, etc, etc. On the other hand, he had a bunch of gigantic guys including Bloodgift Demon, and more importantly, he had Vault of the Archangels. I won by setting up a turn where I alpha struck him, and thanks to the Disciple of Griselbrand that I had reanimated with Unburial Rites, I could sacrifice all the guys that he blocked, so he couldn't gain life. I won by exact (14 damage, he was at 14).
The last round was completely different... I got a feature match against a Swiss guy I had heard about before, but I don't recall his name. Basically, he went removal removal removal Moonveil Dragon both games, and I got stuck on four lands with Death's Caress in my hand both games. I also had Typhoid Rats and Wolfhunter's Cleaver in play, but never drew the fifth land to wreck him Booo!
Well, 8-1 is pretty good too (it's what I predicted, actually!), and tomorrow should be fun. I'll try to post updates then as well.
Cards that have overperformed today: Galvanic Juggernaut, Midnight Guard, Wolfhunter's Quiver, Disciple of Griselbrand (boarded in), Faith's Shield
Cards that underperformed: Death's Caress, Silverclaw Griffin, Vengeful Vampire (basically cards that cost a million).
Cards that underperformed: Death's Caress, Silverclaw Griffin, Vengeful Vampire (basically cards that cost a million).
The last two of those are IME almost always mediocre.
Interested to hear about Disciple of Griselbrand being good, though. I've been kind of ignoring it since Ins, but evidently it's better now (which makes sense, what with the format being faster).
And I love that play with it against Vault. Lucky it reached 14 really - it would have been insanely annoying to spot the play, add it up and discover you were a point short!
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(I'm on on this site much anymore. If you want to get in touch it's probably best to email me: dom@heffalumps.org)
Forum Awards: Best Writer 2005, Best Limited Strategist 2005-2012
5CB PotM - June 2005, November 2005, February 2006, April 2008, May 2008, Feb 2009
MTGSalvation Articles: 1-20, plus guest appearance on MTGCast #86!
<Limited Clan>
'Mornin. I think I'll be on pod 1, sweet That's awesome cause if I win, I might get paired against someone who lost.
Also, this part of the coverage is incorrect:
Sveinung Bjørnerud is a man on a mission. He's currently the runner-up in the Norwegian Pro Point standings (which determines the top pro invitation to the World Magic Cup), one point behind Andreas Nordahl. Bjørnerud is here this weekend, trying to take the lead, while Nordahl is not.
My friend's wedding is at the same time as the Worlds thingy, so I probably won't go even if I qualify. Happy to concede the spot to my best friend Andreas, there is no race. I suppose it makes things look more interesting than they are, though...
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Right now it's 9:24 AM, and we're waiting for the sealed deckbuilding.
I have no idea how many players there are, but I'm sitting at table 504 right now, which might indicate that there are more than I anticipated (which was 6-700).
I have 3 byes (due to pro level), and my guess is that I'll finish 40th in this event. I'm not sure if I'm going to be pleased with a 40th place finish, or if that would be disappointing... I guess it depends on the pool.
I'll post my sealed pool and deck here, and some sentences for each round (hopefully).
Time to open some Lingering Souls!
1 Abbey Griffin
1 Avacynian Priest
2 Bar the Door
1 Break the Day
1 Dearly Departed
1 Divine Reckoning
1 Faith’s Shield
1 Feeling of Dread
1 Gather the Townsfolk
1 Ghostly Possession
1 Increasing Devotion
1 Lingering Souls
1 Loyal Cathar
1 Midnight Guard
1 Paraselene
1 Rebuke
1 Sanctuary Cat
1 Silverclaw Griffin
1 Spectral Rider
1 Village Bell-Ringer
Blue:
1 Artful Dodge
1 Civilized Scholar
1 Claustrophobia
1 Fortress Crab
1 Griptide
1 Makeshift Mauler
1 Nibilis of the Breath
1 Sensory Deprivation
1 Shriekgeist
1 Stormbound Geist
2 Think Twice
1 Thought Scour
2 Bump in the Night
1 Death’s Caress
1 Disciple of Griselbrand
1 Ghoulcaller’s Chant
1 Gruesome Discovery
1 Highborn Ghoul
1 Morkrut Banshee
1 Sightless Ghoul
1 Tragic Slip
1 Typhoid Rats
1 Unburial Rites
1 Undying Evil
2 Vengeful Vampire
Red:
1 Bloodcrazed Neonate
1 Burning Oil
2 Crossway Vampire
1 Curse of the Nightly Hunt
1 Erdwal Ripper
1 Fires of Undeath
1 Forge Devil
1 Hinterland Hermit
1 Infernal Plunge
1 Instigator Gang
1 Markov Blademaster
1 Nearheath Stalker
1 Stormkirk Noble
1 Traitorous Blood
1 Wrack with Madness
1 Caravan Vigil
1 Dawntreader Elk
1 Deranged Outcast
1 Feed the Pack
1 Gnaw to the Bone
1 Grave Bramble
1 Grizzled Outcasts
1 Kindercatch
1 Ranger’s Guile
1 Scorned Villager
1 Somberwald Dryad
1 Spider Spawning
1 Village Survivors
Multi/Artifact/Lands
1 Immerwolf
1 Executioner’s Hood
1 Galvanic Juggernaut
1 Wooden Stake
1 Wolfhunter’s Quiver
1 Ghost Quarter
What would you build from this?
10 Plains
7 Swamp
Creatures (13)
1 Typhoid Rats
1 Morkrut Banshee
1 Galvanic Juggernaut
1 Loyal Cathar
1 Village Bell-Ringer
1 Abbey Griffin
1 Midnight Guard
1 Silverclaw Griffin
1 Avacynian Priest
1 Spectral Rider
2 Vengeful Vampire
1 Dearly Departed
1 Undying Evil
1 Tragic Slip
1 Unburial Rites
1 Death’s Caress
1 Wolfhunter’s Quiver
1 Lingering Souls
1 Faith’s Shield
1 Rebuke
1 Increasing Devotion
1 Gather the Townsfolk
Would you have splashed red? Would you have played both Vengeful Vampires? Would you have played a 10/7 manabase or a 9/8 manabase?
2nd place behind Paulo after round 3 of Pro Tour M15
(finished 8-8, but beat Alexander Hayne and Ben Stark)
How good do you rate the Vengeful Vampires? They seem a bit underwhelming for 6CC?
And how do you feel about the Wolfhunter’s Quiver" target="blank">Wolfhunter’s Quiver and the Divine Reckoning?
Vengeful Vampire - I think it's decent, but I'm not very happy about playing two of them. It's the part I'm most unsure about.
Wolfhunter's Quiver - very strong with Midnight Guard and Typhoid Rats, quite good on Galvanic Juggernaut, and decent with Village Bell-Ringer. Overall a card I'm usually happy to play, and I have enough synergy to make it quite good, IMO.
Divine Reckoning - good in certain situations, but can be hard to setup, and only against certain decks. Also, this card goes against what I'm trying to do with my deck - see cards like Lingering Souls, Increasing Devotion and Gather the Townsfolk. It's a card I'm probably going to board in a few times, though.
Keep an eye on Sightless Ghoul for a sideboard card if you feel like you are clearly the beatdown. That card gets little respect, but it puts in work and can do some neat things like attack, get blocked and come back as a 3/3, untap your Juggernaut, and attack, get blocked, turn on your Banshee/Slip. Also pay attention to how good Break of Day would be against each opponent.
I don't like Vengeful Vampire at all and would run Highborn Ghoul over the second copy even with this manabase, I think.
Good luck!
(I'm on on this site much anymore. If you want to get in touch it's probably best to email me: dom@heffalumps.org)
Forum Awards: Best Writer 2005, Best Limited Strategist 2005-2012
5CB PotM - June 2005, November 2005, February 2006, April 2008, May 2008, Feb 2009
MTGSalvation Articles: 1-20, plus guest appearance on MTGCast #86!
<Limited Clan>
After consulting with my friends, I've decided to board out the second Vengeful Vampire in every match, usually for Disciple of Griselbrand or Break the Day.
BGStandard Green AggroGB
UWRGModern Saheeli CobraGRWU
UBRGLegacy StormGRBU
Wizards Certified Rules Advisor
Good luck!
Too bad the coverage from the match against Ben Stark isn't up yet. That was a really interesting match.
It's up now. That was quite the board state.
Also congrats on 7-0!
Highest DCI Limited Rating: 2022
This keeps coming up in draft walkthroughs. Apparently some people have a real block against the idea of a card that's in their colours but not for their deck.
Now up here. Pretty much my fantasy feature match... and some great play too!
I was quite surprised to see he'd kept Highborn Ghoul in against you for game two. Was his deck quite bad, or was there some other reason for this? (Surely not just Ghoulraiser?)
Coverage quality was a bit patchy as usual. "Bjørnerud's Galvanic Juggernaut, however, put a stop to Stark's offense," they say in game three. Really? Surely Niblis of the Breath is pretty good against Juggernaut?!
Right now you're literally #1 on the leaderboard - keep up the good work!
(I'm on on this site much anymore. If you want to get in touch it's probably best to email me: dom@heffalumps.org)
Forum Awards: Best Writer 2005, Best Limited Strategist 2005-2012
5CB PotM - June 2005, November 2005, February 2006, April 2008, May 2008, Feb 2009
MTGSalvation Articles: 1-20, plus guest appearance on MTGCast #86!
<Limited Clan>
The last round was completely different... I got a feature match against a Swiss guy I had heard about before, but I don't recall his name. Basically, he went removal removal removal Moonveil Dragon both games, and I got stuck on four lands with Death's Caress in my hand both games. I also had Typhoid Rats and Wolfhunter's Cleaver in play, but never drew the fifth land to wreck him Booo!
Well, 8-1 is pretty good too (it's what I predicted, actually!), and tomorrow should be fun. I'll try to post updates then as well.
Cards that have overperformed today: Galvanic Juggernaut, Midnight Guard, Wolfhunter's Quiver, Disciple of Griselbrand (boarded in), Faith's Shield
Cards that underperformed: Death's Caress, Silverclaw Griffin, Vengeful Vampire (basically cards that cost a million).
Also congratulations and good luck tomorrow!!!
Cube 360 cards, unpowered.
Modern:
URStormUR
Block
RWHumansRW
URGStalkerURG
Figurative, I believe. Don't think he has any way to go truly infi in his deck... just really big.
Ok lol. Just wanted some clarification, or if I missed somethi>_<.ng
Cube 360 cards, unpowered.
Modern:
URStormUR
Block
RWHumansRW
URGStalkerURG
The last two of those are IME almost always mediocre.
Interested to hear about Disciple of Griselbrand being good, though. I've been kind of ignoring it since Ins, but evidently it's better now (which makes sense, what with the format being faster).
And I love that play with it against Vault. Lucky it reached 14 really - it would have been insanely annoying to spot the play, add it up and discover you were a point short!
(I'm on on this site much anymore. If you want to get in touch it's probably best to email me: dom@heffalumps.org)
Forum Awards: Best Writer 2005, Best Limited Strategist 2005-2012
5CB PotM - June 2005, November 2005, February 2006, April 2008, May 2008, Feb 2009
MTGSalvation Articles: 1-20, plus guest appearance on MTGCast #86!
<Limited Clan>
Congrats on piloting it to 8-1. That feature match was pretty fun to see.
~M
Also, this part of the coverage is incorrect:
My friend's wedding is at the same time as the Worlds thingy, so I probably won't go even if I qualify. Happy to concede the spot to my best friend Andreas, there is no race. I suppose it makes things look more interesting than they are, though...