Really bad regional locations for this season left us with no desire for grinding. Our Pptq winners will go to them but there will be no crowd.
You are right, only 5 pro spells. The games were mostly about me having one mana open (bluffing a protection) and them wanting me to "waste" that open mana with developing their board.
That was fine by me since I wanted to have a few more land drops before I start voltroning (and Obstinacy slots had to come from somewhere).
But all of this seems irrelevant since there are some Fate Reforged cards that will change everything, for good or bad. It will be fun.
(we have a forum where all relevant top8 decklists gets posted so I copy/pasted for info)
I think it was 2:1. Game 1 I had a nice draw, game 2 I kept a risky hand and got punished (one creature that died in many ways).
Game 3 he had double Eidolon and some Rubblemasters, I had some creatures, we had a stalemate. Luckily, I play Ordeal of Heliod which gave me room to play spells so I overpower him (both on low life).
Round 2 vs Abzan Aggro.
He mulls to five but dismantles my hand with 2 Thoughtseize and wins with double Deathdealer.
Next two games I do not remember but Aq Form was important. 2:1
You now how this goes, the most important thing is winning the die roll.
But Obstinacy was great when I Formed a dude, slapped Mortal O. on it and destroyed his Form which made his creature blockable, thus winning me the race.
Game 2 I managed to Erase his Ordeal of Heliod in combat and, again, raced him because of it. 2:0
Few draws later and top8.
There is one Mardu in it but luckily we are next to each other in standings (not forth and fifth) which means we are not playing until the finals.
QF against Heroic (rematch)
I lost the die roll and got stomped (he has 4 Pilgrims and he managed to fetch Ordeal of Heliod while I did not, race over).
Next two games are a blur but I think he made a mistake in game three (at least the onlookers said that after the match, he played around wrong card). 2:1
He has Courser and Sidisi attacking, with Whip, he gets a Zombie token (only blocker). I have 2 puny creatures which get a Mortal Obstinacy each.
I attacked, one gets through his chumper and I destroy a Whip. Then he plays some creatures which are all irrelevant when my Form show up.
The next game he overloaded with removal which I managed to defend against. That depleted our hands. He topdecked another removal.
Then we stalemated for about 6-7 turns (drawing lands and irrelevant stuff). Turn before I die to his Hornet Queen I topdecked a Form ftw (I had Gods Willing but he had creatures of both colors). 2:0
Then I droped in finals (taking all the prizes) because I am not a fan of going to another country alone, spending all the money along the way just to have a chance. I am used to renting a cheap transport and going with a bunch of friends. This is not it.
The finals would be played vs Abzan Midrange
Every box has its number. You should contact them with that number and ask for explanation and reimbursement(the box serial code will tell them the exact contents).
Droped in Pptq finals this Sunday.
Managed to evade Mardu decks.
I added two Brimaz instead of Pilgrims (hate that card) and they were great. Cast them a lot and never untapped with them, which is all I can ask since that left a heroic creature on the battlefield (the real threat).
I also maindecked 2 Mortal Obstinacy and they were awesome (+2/+2 on a heroic creature plus Erase for W), so many people showed up with Sidisi, Jeskai Tokens and other enchantment decks that having 2 Pilgrims + 2 Obstinacy main was relevant for my wins.
Looking forward to full Reforged spoiler today and hoping for some nice cantrips for the deck (Defiant Strike rules).
In your list what cards where overperforming, underperforming? Which cards were just as good as expected?
In my last games i found myself playing with 3 seas main and 2 tectonic edges+1seas in the side and they did a really good job, better than expected.
Whereas Merrow Reejerey and Tidebindermage were ok, but not "wow". In my oppinion you shouldn't play cards without a wow factor in the current modern.
I also find myself always wishing for a gutshot, but never drawing any xD.
Finally i have to say that i really hate my one Toughnessguys. Not being able to block or attack into a token makes me cringe!!!
Echoing Truth and Izzet Charm were overperformers. Truth bounced Ascension with two counters when he tried to go off, bounced Goyfs when I needed to lock him out, bounced Vial against Kiki Pod when he was Seased off from colored mana and it would be great if I drew it when Storm played Empty the Warrens for 10 tokens when I had no board (won anyway, but still). Never sorry to see it in my hand. Charm was even bigger utility allstar. Splashing red is a big cost but when I did it having Charms was excellent. I discarded so much trash, killed Delvers, Pyromancers, Guides, Electromancer, Ooze, countered Pod, Liliana and Damnation, it helped me find Blood Moon when it was needed or discard it when it was not...
Commander and Moon were just right, can't call them overperformers when they did exactly what I needed them for. Commander was mostly bolted immediately because the opponents were afraid of Spellskite or counters, so there were no wasted level up mana and then having them removed. No one can play around Blood Moon against merfolk for obv reasons (mostly because we are not playing it :)), so when you don't play around Blood Moon...
I don't know if Cursecatcher and Kira did anything but that is part of their charm since we don't know if opponent cares for them being in play. I would call them underperformers.
Gut Shot, Batterskull and Spellskite were MVP from sideboard.
The card I find underwhelming the most is Phantasmal Image. It can have that 'wow' factor though when it copies an opposing Tarmogoyf or Siege Rhino or Griselbrand...but against R/U, Burn, anything with spot removal, it is especially terrible...even with a Kira in play, so it's one of the first set of cards I go to sideboard out a lot of times. I do the same with Cursecatcher against aggro decks, countering their spells isn't as important as keeping them tapped down or countering their fatties with some tools from the sideboard.
Agreed. That was the reason I only played 2 Catchers and 0 Images.
Went 3-1 on Modo Daily today. Didn't lose a single game except for mana problems last round vs Ascendancy. I beat him Game 2 and Game 3 he switched to Pyromancers and beat me.
I removed Kira from my deck and sideboard. She's dead weight now. She's great vs Path, Bolt, Helix, Snap/Repeat, but she's awful vs the removal now (either they ignore you like burn, or they have small amounts of 1 for 1 like UR Delver).
Phantasmal Image is horrible right now (Forked bolt, yum!) and so is 1 toughness guys like Cursecatcher. What can you 'catch'? Nothing. Silvergill is fine as she's always net 0 so who cares if she dies. That is her job!
(I'm running Chalice main, so no Cursecatchers, no Kira. 4 Merrow, 3 Coralhelm, 3 Tidebinder, 3 Mow, Seas in the sideboard).
Also agreed except i will still have 1 Kira for flying purposes (with 3 Commanders) against affinity. Not a lot of help but at least she absorbs one flying Plating hit. And she is still annoying.
Judging by experience just from the GP: Chalices could be main or side (they are MVP or awful and I was glad to have Izzet Charm to find/get rid of them); Spreading Seas is a main card (I played only 3 because I needed a slot for Blood Moon) and I wasn't missing Master of Waves one bit (they would be too slow against burn and do nothing against Ghostly Prison). This was the first tournament in this decade in which I haven't had a single Relic (my favorite card) in 75, it felt weird but they wouldn't made any difference and I would probably draw some while having Chalice on 1.
I am going to roll a die and see what color combination will be for my next tournament
As long as "we" continue not winning anything relevant with normal fish, I am definitely not ruling out any splash or combination.
In hindsight, I should have played 4 Pyroclasm or some Explosives to destroy Pridemates, Guides, Swiftspears and that one mana lifelinking 6/6 flying bulls**t.
Every other card pulled its weight.
I have been to GP Milan twice, GP Rimini twice, Worlds in Rome, GP Verona and probably forgot some. Most of those were great and I had lots of fun. This one was bad.
The strike was not the problem, some things are out of organizer's reach, but those downtimes were ridiculous.
I brewed a chalice-moon merfolk deck and took many people by surprise.
The only red cards were 3 Izzet Charm and 1 Blood Moon in the main, and some Pyroclasm, another Moon and Gut Shots in the side.
Charms were great at discarding excess lands, Chalices, Vials and other dead cards; countering stuff and killing Delvers, Pyromancers... The kind of utility I like.
Also played 3 Commanders and they were awesome.
I lost against 2 burn cruise decks even though I resolved the Chalice for one on turn two every time in those six games (two 1-2 losses). I even had Chalice and Spellskite in the play and they go: eot Skullcrack, Skullcrack, their turn Boros Charm and Volcanic Fallout... Can't fault my play or my draws, sometimes there is nothing to do.
Third loss was from Martyr deck. There was no way to win that match. I play Chalice on one, he topdecks Cavern (Human), his one mana 6/6 flying lifelinkers and 30/30 Pridemates did me in while I had to fight Ghostly Prisons. Gut Shots and Pyroclasm were great but there is no way I am winning that match.
Won against Vial Kiki-Pod, Storm, UR Delver, Skred Red, Junk and Bye.
Games vs Skred and Junk were epic.
I have Chalice on one, Vial on two, Cavern and some lands and dudes against Skred deck. He plays Blood Moon and Volt Charge (!), ups my Chalice on two, my Vial on three, makes my Cavern a Mountain and locks me out of the game. That was so cool.
Spreading Seas were great in that matchup since he needs a lot of Snow permanents and red mana for Reckoners. Batterskull won me that match.
Junk was another for the books. First game he resolves four Goyfs... Second game he was Islandwalked in quick fashion and then the third game comes.
He resolved 2 Goyfs but there was only a land in the yard for few turns. Then he resolved a fu*king Choke. Luckily I am not playing a normal merfolk deck and 2 of my Sulfur Falls were working overtime. He have a Plains, few duals, few manlands and 2 Seased lands which can not untap (irony). He Pathed 3 of my Lords. I Echoing Truthed his 2 Goyfs eot, land Blood Moon with only creature being Cursecatcher and lock us both from playing any spells
He is on 13 life and I have to win before he draws some basics. We are both discarding and Catcher is waging a war. And then my opponent taps 3 lands for red, red and colorless (I look confused) and casts Fulminator mage (we both laugh), so now he has a clock. He also found Lingering Souls so there are also 2 flyers to worry about. I had 3 nonislands that could untap, drew Steam Vents, payed two life to have it untapped and prayed he does not destroy my land. Luckily there was a fifth land (Tarn) next turn and I land a Batterskull It is easy to win when no one can cast any spell.
After the match my opponent and I were baffled, the Choke-Moon staring contest was so weird and so fun.
So another 6-3 result means I had time to prepare for sideevents the next day.
The tournament organizers did a really awful job. There was a 30-40 minutes downtime between every round (no exaggeration), which is not acceptable. The venue was nowhere near Milan, some backdoor village in some woods. Have no idea how they got the GP.
At least I had my Vials and Master of Waves signed, so that's that.
Q for all: does your decklist differs if you go to a local tournament/online or GP?
What would be your GP decklist?
Have a GP in 10 days and trying to prepare as much as possible.
You are right, only 5 pro spells. The games were mostly about me having one mana open (bluffing a protection) and them wanting me to "waste" that open mana with developing their board.
That was fine by me since I wanted to have a few more land drops before I start voltroning (and Obstinacy slots had to come from somewhere).
But all of this seems irrelevant since there are some Fate Reforged cards that will change everything, for good or bad. It will be fun.
4 favored hoplite
4 battlewise hoplite
4 hero of iroas
2 heliod's pilgrim
2 brimaz, king of oreskos
2 seeker of the way
1 lagonna-band trailblazer
spells
4 defiant strike
4 god's willing
2 mortal obstinacy
4 ordeal of thassa
1 ordeal of heliod
2 aqueous form
1 stratus walk
1 ajani's presence
4 flooded strand
4 temple of enlightenment
3 island
8 plains
3 mana confluence
1 feat of resistance
4 stubborn denial
2 erase
2 glare of heresy
2 treasure cruise
1 ordeal of heliod
2 disdainful stroke
1 negate
Round one vs Rubble Red
4 Monastery Swiftspear
4 Foundry Street Denizen
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
4 Akroan Crusader
3 Frenzied Goblin
2 Mogis Warhound
4 Stoke the Flames
4 Lightning Strike
4 Dragon Mantle
4 Hammerhand
Side
1 Hall of Triumph
2 Shatter
2 Blinding Flare
4 Eidolon of the Great Revel
2 Searing Blood
2 Harness by Force
2 Magma Spray
(we have a forum where all relevant top8 decklists gets posted so I copy/pasted for info)
I think it was 2:1. Game 1 I had a nice draw, game 2 I kept a risky hand and got punished (one creature that died in many ways).
Game 3 he had double Eidolon and some Rubblemasters, I had some creatures, we had a stalemate. Luckily, I play Ordeal of Heliod which gave me room to play spells so I overpower him (both on low life).
Round 2 vs Abzan Aggro.
He mulls to five but dismantles my hand with 2 Thoughtseize and wins with double Deathdealer.
Next two games I do not remember but Aq Form was important. 2:1
Round 3 vs Heroic
4 Battlewise Hoplite
4 Favored Hoplite
4 Heliod's Pilgrim
4 Hero Of Iroas
2 Seeker of the Way
1 Lagonna Band Trailblazer
Lands
3 Island
8 Plains
4 Flooded Strand
1 Mana Confluence
4 Temple of Enlightenment
2 Tranquil Cove
1 Aqueous Form
1 Ordeal of Heliod
4 Ordeal of Thassa
1 Ajani Presence
1 Stratus Walk
4 Defiant Strike
4 Gods Willing
1 Feat of Resistance
2 Stubborn Denial
2 Treasure Cruise
1 Aquetus Form
2 Glare of Heresy
1 Ordeal of Heliod
1 Erase
2 Stubborn Denial
1 Ajanis Presence
2 Brimaz
1 Triton Tactics
1 Lagonna Band Trailblazer
1 Mortal Obstinancy
You now how this goes, the most important thing is winning the die roll.
But Obstinacy was great when I Formed a dude, slapped Mortal O. on it and destroyed his Form which made his creature blockable, thus winning me the race.
Game 2 I managed to Erase his Ordeal of Heliod in combat and, again, raced him because of it. 2:0
Few draws later and top8.
There is one Mardu in it but luckily we are next to each other in standings (not forth and fifth) which means we are not playing until the finals.
QF against Heroic (rematch)
I lost the die roll and got stomped (he has 4 Pilgrims and he managed to fetch Ordeal of Heliod while I did not, race over).
Next two games are a blur but I think he made a mistake in game three (at least the onlookers said that after the match, he played around wrong card). 2:1
SF vs Sidisi Whip
4 Opulent Palace
3 Forest
2 Polluted Delta
3 Swamp
1 Temple of Malady
1 Wooded Foothills
1 Temple of Deceit
1 Island
1 Evolving Winds
1 Mana Confluence
1 Yavimaya Coast
1 Temple of Mistery
4 Sylvan Caryatid
4 Sidisi, Brood Tyrant
4 Satyr Wayfinder
3 Hornet Queen
2 Doomwake Giant
1 Soul of Innistrad
1 Pharika god of Affliction
3 Murderous Cut
3 Hero's Downfall
3 Whip of Erebos
3 Thoughtsize
1 Dig Through Time
1 Sultai Charm
3 Ashiok
3 Bile Blight
2 Reclamation Sage
2 Kiora
1 Disdanful Stroke
1 Dig Through Time
2 Negate
1 Sultai Charm
He has Courser and Sidisi attacking, with Whip, he gets a Zombie token (only blocker). I have 2 puny creatures which get a Mortal Obstinacy each.
I attacked, one gets through his chumper and I destroy a Whip. Then he plays some creatures which are all irrelevant when my Form show up.
The next game he overloaded with removal which I managed to defend against. That depleted our hands. He topdecked another removal.
Then we stalemated for about 6-7 turns (drawing lands and irrelevant stuff). Turn before I die to his Hornet Queen I topdecked a Form ftw (I had Gods Willing but he had creatures of both colors). 2:0
Then I droped in finals (taking all the prizes) because I am not a fan of going to another country alone, spending all the money along the way just to have a chance. I am used to renting a cheap transport and going with a bunch of friends. This is not it.
The finals would be played vs Abzan Midrange
4 Siege Rhino
3 Sylvan Caryatid
4 Courser of Kruphix
Planeswalkers (6)
2 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
1 Nissa, Worldwaker
2 Sorin, Solemn Visitor
1 Ajani Mentor of Heroes
Lands (25)
2 Forest
2 Plains
2 Caves of Koilos
2 Llanowar Wastes
4 Sandsteppe Citadel
4 Temple of Malady
3 Temple of Silence
4 Windswept Heath
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Temple of Plenty
4 Abzan Charm
4 Hero's Downfall
1 Utter End
1 Duneblast
2 Read the Bones
4 Thoughtseize
1 End Hostilities
1 Drawn in Sorrow
3 Bile Blight
2 Erase
2 Utter End
2 Anafenza
1 Garruk Apex Predator
1 Nissa, Worldwaker
2 Drown in Sorrow
1 Back to Nature
1 End Hostilities
Who knows what would happen, but at least it is not Mardu.
Managed to evade Mardu decks.
I added two Brimaz instead of Pilgrims (hate that card) and they were great. Cast them a lot and never untapped with them, which is all I can ask since that left a heroic creature on the battlefield (the real threat).
I also maindecked 2 Mortal Obstinacy and they were awesome (+2/+2 on a heroic creature plus Erase for W), so many people showed up with Sidisi, Jeskai Tokens and other enchantment decks that having 2 Pilgrims + 2 Obstinacy main was relevant for my wins.
Looking forward to full Reforged spoiler today and hoping for some nice cantrips for the deck (Defiant Strike rules).
Echoing Truth and Izzet Charm were overperformers. Truth bounced Ascension with two counters when he tried to go off, bounced Goyfs when I needed to lock him out, bounced Vial against Kiki Pod when he was Seased off from colored mana and it would be great if I drew it when Storm played Empty the Warrens for 10 tokens when I had no board (won anyway, but still). Never sorry to see it in my hand. Charm was even bigger utility allstar. Splashing red is a big cost but when I did it having Charms was excellent. I discarded so much trash, killed Delvers, Pyromancers, Guides, Electromancer, Ooze, countered Pod, Liliana and Damnation, it helped me find Blood Moon when it was needed or discard it when it was not...
Commander and Moon were just right, can't call them overperformers when they did exactly what I needed them for. Commander was mostly bolted immediately because the opponents were afraid of Spellskite or counters, so there were no wasted level up mana and then having them removed. No one can play around Blood Moon against merfolk for obv reasons (mostly because we are not playing it :)), so when you don't play around Blood Moon...
I don't know if Cursecatcher and Kira did anything but that is part of their charm since we don't know if opponent cares for them being in play. I would call them underperformers.
Gut Shot, Batterskull and Spellskite were MVP from sideboard.
Agreed. That was the reason I only played 2 Catchers and 0 Images.
Also agreed except i will still have 1 Kira for flying purposes (with 3 Commanders) against affinity. Not a lot of help but at least she absorbs one flying Plating hit. And she is still annoying.
Judging by experience just from the GP: Chalices could be main or side (they are MVP or awful and I was glad to have Izzet Charm to find/get rid of them); Spreading Seas is a main card (I played only 3 because I needed a slot for Blood Moon) and I wasn't missing Master of Waves one bit (they would be too slow against burn and do nothing against Ghostly Prison). This was the first tournament in this decade in which I haven't had a single Relic (my favorite card) in 75, it felt weird but they wouldn't made any difference and I would probably draw some while having Chalice on 1.
I am going to roll a die and see what color combination will be for my next tournament
3 Mutavault
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Steam Vents
3 Sulfur Falls
2 Cavern of Souls
2 Misty Rainforest
4 Æther Vial
4 Chalice of the Void
2 Cursecatcher
4 Lord of Atlantis
4 Master of the Pearl Trident
4 Silvergill Adept
3 Tidebinder Mage
3 Coralhelm Commander
1 Kira, Great Glass-Spinner
3 Spreading Seas
1 Blood Moon
1 Dismember
3 Izzet Charm
1 Echoing Truth
2 Mana Leak
//Sideboard
SB: 2 Gut Shot
SB: 1 Dismember
SB: 1 Batterskull
SB: 1 Blood Moon
SB: 2 Pyroclasm
SB: 2 Grafdigger's Cage
SB: 1 Counterflux
SB: 1 Spellskite
SB: 2 Swan Song
SB: 2 Remand
As long as "we" continue not winning anything relevant with normal fish, I am definitely not ruling out any splash or combination.
In hindsight, I should have played 4 Pyroclasm or some Explosives to destroy Pridemates, Guides, Swiftspears and that one mana lifelinking 6/6 flying bulls**t.
Every other card pulled its weight.
The strike was not the problem, some things are out of organizer's reach, but those downtimes were ridiculous.
I brewed a chalice-moon merfolk deck and took many people by surprise.
The only red cards were 3 Izzet Charm and 1 Blood Moon in the main, and some Pyroclasm, another Moon and Gut Shots in the side.
Charms were great at discarding excess lands, Chalices, Vials and other dead cards; countering stuff and killing Delvers, Pyromancers... The kind of utility I like.
Also played 3 Commanders and they were awesome.
I lost against 2 burn cruise decks even though I resolved the Chalice for one on turn two every time in those six games (two 1-2 losses). I even had Chalice and Spellskite in the play and they go: eot Skullcrack, Skullcrack, their turn Boros Charm and Volcanic Fallout... Can't fault my play or my draws, sometimes there is nothing to do.
Third loss was from Martyr deck. There was no way to win that match. I play Chalice on one, he topdecks Cavern (Human), his one mana 6/6 flying lifelinkers and 30/30 Pridemates did me in while I had to fight Ghostly Prisons. Gut Shots and Pyroclasm were great but there is no way I am winning that match.
Won against Vial Kiki-Pod, Storm, UR Delver, Skred Red, Junk and Bye.
Games vs Skred and Junk were epic.
I have Chalice on one, Vial on two, Cavern and some lands and dudes against Skred deck. He plays Blood Moon and Volt Charge (!), ups my Chalice on two, my Vial on three, makes my Cavern a Mountain and locks me out of the game. That was so cool.
Spreading Seas were great in that matchup since he needs a lot of Snow permanents and red mana for Reckoners. Batterskull won me that match.
Junk was another for the books. First game he resolves four Goyfs... Second game he was Islandwalked in quick fashion and then the third game comes.
He resolved 2 Goyfs but there was only a land in the yard for few turns. Then he resolved a fu*king Choke. Luckily I am not playing a normal merfolk deck and 2 of my Sulfur Falls were working overtime. He have a Plains, few duals, few manlands and 2 Seased lands which can not untap (irony). He Pathed 3 of my Lords. I Echoing Truthed his 2 Goyfs eot, land Blood Moon with only creature being Cursecatcher and lock us both from playing any spells
He is on 13 life and I have to win before he draws some basics. We are both discarding and Catcher is waging a war. And then my opponent taps 3 lands for red, red and colorless (I look confused) and casts Fulminator mage (we both laugh), so now he has a clock. He also found Lingering Souls so there are also 2 flyers to worry about. I had 3 nonislands that could untap, drew Steam Vents, payed two life to have it untapped and prayed he does not destroy my land. Luckily there was a fifth land (Tarn) next turn and I land a Batterskull
After the match my opponent and I were baffled, the Choke-Moon staring contest was so weird and so fun.
So another 6-3 result means I had time to prepare for sideevents the next day.
The tournament organizers did a really awful job. There was a 30-40 minutes downtime between every round (no exaggeration), which is not acceptable. The venue was nowhere near Milan, some backdoor village in some woods. Have no idea how they got the GP.
At least I had my Vials and Master of Waves signed, so that's that.
GP Milan is near. I am going, Leyart also, who else?
We should meet and discuss bad beat stories
What would be your GP decklist?
Have a GP in 10 days and trying to prepare as much as possible.
nice vids, keep em coming.