Some stores really suck. Others are good. I'd suggest checking out every store within reasonable driving distance and see if you can find an FNM you like.
The shop that I regularly play at frequently has 40-60 player FNMs, everyone is friendly but there are also many competitive players, and it's well-lit and roomy. There are many other FNMs in my town that I do not attend for a variety of reasons - either it's draft only, the players are jerks, or the shop/tournament is poorly run.
Don't give up! If you keep searching you can find a gem among all the manure.
It is not a trigger, it is a replacement effect. It goes to exile instead of going anywhere else. But since it isn't going anywhere else - it's already going to exile - it is not replaced.
I can't agree with that - multiple Archdruids creates a far higher chance of powering out an early Craterhoof Behemoth or Garruk, Caller of Beasts. Two Archdruids is four mana. One Archdruid and one Pilgrim is two mana. That's a big difference when you're trying to hit big mana quickly. I do agree with the rest of your post though - in a PTQ environment, the penalties should be harsher than at FNM.
I'd also like to point out that the top tables of this particular event were ~50% Jund and so making his elves survive hardcast Bonfires is a really big deal too.
This could potentially be a contentious issue, so I will try to clearly separate facts from my opinion in the OP.
The following statements are facts:
There was a PTQ yesterday in Houston, TX.
There were 284 players at the PTQ for 9 rounds of swiss.
The eventual winner of the PTQ was deck checked in round 6 and was found to have 6 copies of Elvish Archdruid in his deck.
He was only deck checked because he had 4 Elvish Archdruids in play and he revealed a 5th one off of Garruk, Caller of Beasts's +1.
On the registration sheet he wrote 4 Elvish Archdruid, 2 Avacyn's Pilgrim.
He was only given a game loss for this infraction.
The winner also received a separate infraction for playing with unmarked Innistrad checklist cards.
The winner was also playing with clear sleeves.
The odds of drawing an Elvish Archdruid in your opener with only 4 in the deck are ~40%. The odds of drawing one with 6 in the deck are ~54%.
The following statements are my opinion:
It's incredibly difficult to top 8 a 9 round PTQ unless you have really good luck, or you cheat... Having 2 extra copies to draw the most crucial card in the deck clearly gave this player a significant advantage in the first 5 rounds of the tournament, which in turn makes it much easier to make top 8 (which basically required 8-1 at this tournament, only one 7-2 player made it). The player should have received a harsher penalty for this. Especially once he received another infraction. I do not know if he attempted to take advantage of the fact that his checklist cards were unmarked.
He claims that his friend was supposed to give him the Avacyn's Pilgrims but just didn't, but I'd like to know how he "accidentally" ended up with 6 Archdruids instead. At no point during the deckbuilding process should one go "well, I don't have this card so I'll just play 6 copies of this other card instead".
Also, he played 5 rounds of Magic before he was caught and there's no way to not notice that there are extra copies of a card in your deck when you are siding and unsiding like that.
Also, I find his wins in the top 8 to be suspect. He was playing with clear sleeves and always seemed to have his sideboard cards. Of course this could just be chance but I am more likely now to attribute it to some foul play on his part.
IMHO there should be harsher penalties for this kind of behavior. I believe that this player intentionally cheated the system at a very large PTQ where the judges were too overloaded to do frequent deck checks, was caught and received only a slap on the wrist, and then proceeded to win the whole tournament. Now he's going to Dublin to cheat with the best of them.
Lucky for you. I put my ANT deck down for 5 minutes at GP Denver and it was gone. Don't get too optimistic about MtG players (or the human race in general).
Will definitely see play if just as a 3 cost backup to Geist. The ability is only slightly relevant. It doesn't protect you from edict effects, which are the only black instants you care about, and basically just makes your opponents main phase their draw spells.
The only problem with Mana Leak (in Standard) is it's so easily splashable, which matters a lot in the highly multicolor environment.
I think for the purpose of Standard they should make a playable counterspell that costs UU, it could even be an actual Mana Leak with a nerfed cost of UU and it would certainly see a good amount of play.
With all the dual lands, I'm not sure this would make Standard any better. It would just mean that both the aggro and the control decks would be playing mana-base roulette.
Modern 8 man win-a-box fired twice at GP Houston and it wasnt even officially listed on the schedule. Usually there are 8 mans for modern/legacy/draft at all GPs, as well as commander pods.
Not having a larger modern event at a Modern Masters GP seems like a huge oversight though. I suggest you email the TO en masse and maybe they will schedule something on the fly before next week.
Otherwise Mono W with 4 Brave the Elements.
The shop that I regularly play at frequently has 40-60 player FNMs, everyone is friendly but there are also many competitive players, and it's well-lit and roomy. There are many other FNMs in my town that I do not attend for a variety of reasons - either it's draft only, the players are jerks, or the shop/tournament is poorly run.
Don't give up! If you keep searching you can find a gem among all the manure.
I'd also like to point out that the top tables of this particular event were ~50% Jund and so making his elves survive hardcast Bonfires is a really big deal too.
The following statements are facts:
There was a PTQ yesterday in Houston, TX.
There were 284 players at the PTQ for 9 rounds of swiss.
The eventual winner of the PTQ was deck checked in round 6 and was found to have 6 copies of Elvish Archdruid in his deck.
He was only deck checked because he had 4 Elvish Archdruids in play and he revealed a 5th one off of Garruk, Caller of Beasts's +1.
On the registration sheet he wrote 4 Elvish Archdruid, 2 Avacyn's Pilgrim.
He was only given a game loss for this infraction.
The winner also received a separate infraction for playing with unmarked Innistrad checklist cards.
The winner was also playing with clear sleeves.
The odds of drawing an Elvish Archdruid in your opener with only 4 in the deck are ~40%. The odds of drawing one with 6 in the deck are ~54%.
The following statements are my opinion:
It's incredibly difficult to top 8 a 9 round PTQ unless you have really good luck, or you cheat... Having 2 extra copies to draw the most crucial card in the deck clearly gave this player a significant advantage in the first 5 rounds of the tournament, which in turn makes it much easier to make top 8 (which basically required 8-1 at this tournament, only one 7-2 player made it). The player should have received a harsher penalty for this. Especially once he received another infraction. I do not know if he attempted to take advantage of the fact that his checklist cards were unmarked.
He claims that his friend was supposed to give him the Avacyn's Pilgrims but just didn't, but I'd like to know how he "accidentally" ended up with 6 Archdruids instead. At no point during the deckbuilding process should one go "well, I don't have this card so I'll just play 6 copies of this other card instead".
Also, he played 5 rounds of Magic before he was caught and there's no way to not notice that there are extra copies of a card in your deck when you are siding and unsiding like that.
Also, I find his wins in the top 8 to be suspect. He was playing with clear sleeves and always seemed to have his sideboard cards. Of course this could just be chance but I am more likely now to attribute it to some foul play on his part.
IMHO there should be harsher penalties for this kind of behavior. I believe that this player intentionally cheated the system at a very large PTQ where the judges were too overloaded to do frequent deck checks, was caught and received only a slap on the wrist, and then proceeded to win the whole tournament. Now he's going to Dublin to cheat with the best of them.
Doesn't matter, the ability is still interdicted because the Interdict targets the ability, not the source.
With all the dual lands, I'm not sure this would make Standard any better. It would just mean that both the aggro and the control decks would be playing mana-base roulette.
I agree that the pie chart seems pointless. Also if we have PTQ results how do we report them to you?
If they reprint Thragtusk but not Thundermaw, standard will be midrange hell.
Not having a larger modern event at a Modern Masters GP seems like a huge oversight though. I suggest you email the TO en masse and maybe they will schedule something on the fly before next week.
Or and instant speed discard outlet like Greater Good or Lotleth Troll with Eldrazi in hand.