At the beginning of the Modern season I decided I wanted to attend one PTQ and see how things went. The more I tested the more I wanted to just play Emrakul, the Aeons Torn. After a month of testing I decided I wanted to run Ur Tron yet never worked out getting to a PTQ. After I stopped watching results for a few weeks I turned back to Modern and asked myself a few questions.

The one the stuck most with me is what is the best thing that can come from a PTQ? Winning is obviously amazing and getting back to the Pro Tour is the goal, however, is that what I really want? I go to one tournament every 4-5 months and lose playing for top 8. It is kind of my thing I started to look at tournaments I could go to and thought that I would rather use my time to try and win some cash as opposed to going to a PTQ and have to win in order to get any prize I care about.

So I had a choice to set my sites on Legacy or Standard and go to a 5k. I looked at the circuit for Starcitygames and saw that on April 7th there was a 5k in Des Moines, Iowa. One of my good friends lives in Iowa so not only would this be a good chance to win some money but also get to hang out with a few friends.

In my time of testing there was a few things I learned that I will share in the list that I like and will be running in the 5k if I for sure am going. Outsiders glance tells me that Lingering Souls and Delver are very highly played and I will need to answer them if I am going to be successful. Not only that but the waters are heavily littered with aggro decks and Day of Judgement was really good right now.

Almost immediately I started looking at running a Ramp variant. Back in Time Spiral block I loved ramp and was one of the first to take to Snow-Ramp for states so many years back when Siege-Gang Commander was the best thing you could do with Ramp.

Huntmaster of the Fells was definitely amazing but I wanted something more of my Ramp deck. I started to look at all the different variants but never really loved any of them. Black was great because Grave Titan was amazing but overall I hated Black Sun’s Zenith.

I really started to test the current version of my deck after I saw Michael Dye win an open with a G/W version of the Ramp. There were several things about his list I did not like but overall the theory behind the deck was not bad at all. It seemed to me that his sideboard was sketchy and from his accounts of the tournament he drew really well the entire time.

To give a brief look at his list-

Things I liked-

Strangleroot Geist is insane vs. control and Delver so adding those was really good.

Day of Judgement is a card I really wanted but I was unsure if it was needed.

Things I was questioning-

Plainswalkers are good but it seemed to me that they didn’t help the overall strategy other than being good cards.

Mimic Vat I liked but was wondering how many games it was dead in.

Viridian Emissary over an actual ramp spell to me seemed situational and shaky.

No Huntmaster made my question the aggro Matchup.

Where is the Karn!!!!

After taking these into consideration I started testing and have came to the list that I am using online to test and minus a few changes to MD and SB can say that within 3-5 cards this is what I will run at SCG Des Moines-

6  Forest
3  Inkmoth Nexus
2  Kessig Wolf Run
2  Mountain
3  Plains
4  Rootbound Crag
4  Sunpetal Grove
1  Razorverge Thicket

4  Primeval Titan
4  Solemn Simulacrum
4  Viridian Emissary
4  Strangleroot Geist
1  Inferno Titan
1  Acidic Slime
1  Thrun, the Last Troll
1  Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite

1  Mimic Vat

4  Rampant Growth
4  Day of Judgment
2  Red Sun’s Zenith
3  Green Sun’s Zenith
1  Karn Liberated

Sideboard
4 Whipflare
2 Timely Reinforcements
2 Ancient Grudge
2 Ray of Revelation
2 Beast Within
1 Sun Titan
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
1 Karn Liberated
I will go briefly over a card by card breakdown and matchup analysis:
6 Forest
3Inkmoth Nexus
2Kessig Wolf Run
2 Mountain
3 Plains
4 RootboundCrag
4 Sunpetal Grove
1Razorverge Thicket
-The Land base..

4 Primeval Titan- Obv
4 Solemn Simulacrum- I actually love this guy more than most. Every time I play it I am happy.
4 Viridian Emissary- This was the biggest question I have but it is at it’s best against aggro but it is also a fine beater against control. I can’t tell you how many times people misplay vs. this card by not attacking for no reason which basically just let’s me Fog a few turns.
4 Strangleroot Geist- The only question here is if I want to run 4 or 3 and add in the 4th GSZ. This version is certainly equip to be more aggressive early rather than starting the game when I get to 6 mana which I feel some ramp lists just want to live until they get to 6.
1 Inferno Titan- Was 2 but I wanted to add the Karn MD so I cut it to one.
1 Acidic Slime- GSZ target and overall amazing card. If you get it under Mimic Vat you really just can not lose.
1 Thrun, the Last Troll- Another Zenith target and I did not have it MD for a long time, however, I have came around. A day times I have Day’ed and regenerated which was amazing.
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite- Another reason to play white. More than a 1-of scares me.

1 Mimic Vat- When this card is good it is AMAZING. It has single-handedly won me games my making a Primeval Titan every turn. A lot of times it will give you a Solemn or something until you get a bigger guy but turn 3 Vat turn 4 Day is really good. It shines more in some matchups which is why there is only 1.

4 RampantGrowth- Obv

4 Day of Judgment- There is not really a Matchup I do not like these. Even against control it answers their biggest threats late.

2 Red Sun’s Zenith- Love this card. I did have 4 but that was excessive. What made me a fan was its ability to RFG creatures that otherwise would make a return to the battlefield.

3 Green Sun’s Zenith- This card has gone from 2-4 and in between. It is good vs. Control and Aggro which is why I love it.

1 Karn Liberated- I wanted another big finisher that could not just be met with targeted removal. Although I love Inferno Titan Karn not only is not susceptible to removal but is great in the mirror and control matchups.

Sideboard
4 Whipflare- Amazing against Delver and almost every aggro deck. Aggro Decks have a hard time competing with 8 Sweepers and huge creatures.

2 Timely Reinforcements- Mostly for burn but also against Zombies, Humans, and dedicated aggro decks.

2 Ancient Grudge- A necessity and concession to the amount of equipment running around as it is one of the ways that Delver can beat us and also kills opposing Inkmoth Nexus.

2 Ray of Revelation- This card I like for killing enchantments that pump tokens and creatures as well as Oblivion Ring. I am not sure if this needs to be a two of as I am thinking that I could take one out and add a second Acidic Slime but I am still undecided.

2 Beast Within- These come in vs. the mirror mostly but it is really nice to have a catchall that you can bring in vs. strange decks like that dumb Plainswalker control trash.

1 Sun Titan- Comes in against control and returns your small guys.

1 Thrun, the Last Troll- Bringing in a 2nd against control so you can race and they can not afford to sit back is a good plan.

1 Karn Liberated or 1 Mimic Vat- Not sure what this last slot will be. I do love Karn almost as much as LSV but Mimic Vat is near unbeatable for Zombies and UB control.

Just to give a brief match-up breakdown vs. the 3-4 top decks IMO:

Vs. Delver-

In this match-up you are trying to be aggressive and force them to use their counters early so your bigger threats land. If they do not get turn 1 Delver they will have a hard time keeping up with your threats and your answers are just better. After sideboarding you get to bring in Whipflare which is insane vs. them as their creatures just do not survive “pyroclasm”.

Sideboarding guides always depend on matchup and lists so I won’t provide it but should be pretty easy for you.

Vs. zombies/aggro decks like humans/kibler pod/pod

Day of Judgement is your friend and they have a really hard time every actually getting through damage. After board you get to add in Pyroclasms as well which gives you 8 sweepers and they are living on hope at that points.

Vs. esper Lingering Souls stuff

This is where your Strangeroot Geist are at their best. Again you end up bringing in your Whipflares which sweep their guys away while you chip away at their total. Mimic Vat is also really a winner in this matchup.

Hopefully I see some of you at the tourney and if you have any questions about this list feel free to email me or comment below. Wish me luck!

Creatures

Spells

Modern
Blazing Shoal is banned.
Cloudpost is banned.
Green Sun’s Zenith is banned.
Ponder is banned.
Preordain is banned.
Rite of Flame is banned.

Extended
Jace, the Mind Sculptor is banned.
Mental Misstep is banned.
Ponder is banned.
Preordain is banned.
Stoneforge Mystic is banned.

Legacy
Mental Misstep is banned.

Vintage
Fact or Fiction is no longer restricted.

Scars of Mirrodin Block Constructed, Standard
No changes

For more explaination of the B&R changes please go to:
http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/feature/161b

Before I get started into the deck I have been practicing to great results I would like to go over what I consider to be the top 5 decks in overextended to give you a brief history on what you’re trying to attack. I would also like to say before I do that the format is so diverse focusing on 1-hell 5 strategies is flawed. My deck runs cards that are universal in their implications so that I can hold my own against all decks not just that 5 that I will list and go over.

Here are the top 5 enemies and brief synopsis of each:

1.       Living End

Living End is a combo deck that cycles a bunch of creatures then plays a cascade spell into Living End to generate a bunch if bad creatures into play. Even though the creatures suck you are at least getting 4-6 of them usually so that is hard to handle. Here is a list for reference:

Voidmaw’s Living End, 3-1

This is one of the best lists that I have seen. The Dryad Arber so you can have a target for Demonic Dread is missing from some lists and I would not like Forbidden Orchard as that can get you in the wrong quickly as they have at least one blocker for the next turn to dig for more answers. Keep in mind you are not allowed to play anything with mana cost less than 3 as your cascade spells to hit Living End would be random then.

2.       Zoo/Burn

Yes, I am well aware that these are two different archetypes and I am not going to jumble them into one. I am going to focus on Zoo but burn, boros, big red, and all in red are all viable options right now. Zoo has put up the most consistent results out of the lot and I am going to look at two different deck lists that have done well. The first has done well basically since the first TMOE.

Ranth’s Hateful Zoo, 3-1

servism’s Burn Zoo, 3-1

This list is far more threatening as Sulfuric Vortex negates a lot of things that are there to stop regular zoo decks. This is obviously a more burn heavy version not relying as heavy on creatures to finish the game. Out of the two I do like the second list better for tournaments as drawing Great Sable Stag against mono red burn seems like it would be really bad. You have to draw the right cards for the right situations which I do not like.

3.       Cloudpost/Tron/Big Mana Decks

These decks are built to abuse big mana engines to drop out powerful late game spells early. They are equipped with disruption and counters to prevent you from disrupting their mana and to get to the mid-late game. Here are two sample deck lists:

Lemurite’s U/B Twelvepost, 4-0

gjagasia’s U/G Twelvepost, 3-1

As you can tell the first list has more creature control and has more of a plan to win the game with creatures and a side plan to end with Mindslaver lock. The U/G list is set up to end with Mindslaver lock after using Gift’s Ungiven to search up the pieces and Moment’s Peace to delay the game.

4.       Combo Elves

This is probably my least favorite deck to play against out of the bunch. They are extremely resilient to disruption and can kill you turn three consistently. To top it off their sideboard plan now covers then a lot of the time by bringing back a lot of hasted 4/3’s. Here is a sample decklist:

As you can see the main plan is to play Emrakul after making tons of mana and drawing almost your entire deck by playing Glimpse of Nature and making tons of mana with Heritage Druid and Nettle Sentinel. The sideboard backup plan includes Buried Alive and Vengevine so that you can just make a bunch of hasted beaters and attack with all your little creatures.

5.       Scepter Chant

This deck has only came up recently but put up rather good numbers in the past couple weeks. The basis is to abuse Scepter with either Orim’s Chant or Counterspell. Here is a sample list that did well last Tuesday:

HRRNighthawk’s Scepter-Chant, 4-0 (5:30)

As you can see Cunning Wish is going to search up the instants in the sideboard. I honestly hate the sideboard on these because there are too many targets. If you are running 11 targets for Wish you need 4 Wish in the maindeck. I would work on streamlining the sideboard and deciding what you want circumstances you see yourself needing certain cards in.

So with all of this being said I do not want to pretend like I am an expert of any of the decks listed about. I have played them all and against them all but I can not claim to be the best. What I will say is that my deck is very solid against all of these lists and I feel quite confident in almost all of these matchups.

Here is the list I have been testing called, “Harvesting dubyas”

4 Tranquil Thicket

3 Barren Moor

3 Verdant Catacombs

3 Swamp

3 Forest

2 Golgari Rot Farm

2 Overgrown Tomb

2 Ghost Quarter

1 Bojuka Bog

1 Mountain

1 Blood Crypt

4 Sakura-Tribe Elder

4 Kitchen Finks

4 Tarmogoyf

4 Life from the Loam

4 Thoughtseize

3 Death Cloud

3 Raven’s Crime

2 Duress

2 Putrefy

2 Engineered Explosives

2 Damnation

1 Worm Harvest

Sideboad:

3 Engineered Plague

3 Relic of Progenitus

3 Ancient Grudge

2 Obstinate Baloth

2 Memoricide

1 Ghost Quarter

1 Deathmark

This is a deck I was testing for Pro Tour Berlin. The fact that the Elves matchup should be good is what made me first want to pick up this list and give it a try. Back then I was more focused on the Zoo match as well. Now there are other lists but overall the strategy is very easy to adapt. Here is a sideboarding guide against the top 5 decks since I do not want to explain every card.

Vs. Living End

+3 Relic or Progenitis

+2 Memoricide

-2 Engineered Explosives

-2 Putrefy

-1 Kitchen Finks

There is not good way to Explosives as all their cards end up costing more than three. Putrefy is a mute point when all of their creatures are kind of bad anyway and Kitchen Finks just blocks later on and I would rather be attempting to disrupt the combo at that point. The only other switch I debated was -1 Golgari Rot Farm +1 Ghost Quarter to help deal with Fulminator Mage but decided with all the discard I could play around it.

Vs. Zoo

+1 Deathmark

+2 Obstinate Baloth

-1 Death Cloud

-2 Duress

You want to keep the Thoughtseize as usually you can hit a spell or creature that would deal you more damage than 2 in the end. I would happily pay two life for my opponent to discard a Sulfuric Vortex or Tarmogoyf. The Baloth are just there to draw cards and the Deathmark is there as a help against Elves but is fine to bring it for turn one threats. Especially if they play a turn one Steppe Lynx as that is almost always 4 damage.

Vs. Post Decks

-2 Damnation

-2 Engineered Explosives

-4 Kitchen Finks

+2 Memoricide

+1 Ghost Quarter

+3 Relic of Progenitus

+2 Ancient Grudge

Kitchen Finks is just slow and really does not do anything other than beat for three and waste a turn. Your goal is to slow them down by using a mixture of Ghost Quarter and Life from the Loam along with your discard to disrupt their mana base. Memoricide is there the either take out their Sundering Titan or Wurmcoil Engine and to have Relic to fight their graveyard recursion.

Vs. Elves Combo

+ 3 Engineered Plague

+1 Deathmark

+3 Relic of Progenitus

-1 Deathcloud

-2 Duress

-2 Putrefy

-1 Life from the Loam

Plague is the obvious concession to this deck and unfortunately they bring in Vengevine so this only hurts one of their strategies which is why I bring in the Relic’s as well. I take out Duress and Putrefy as Duress does not do enough and Putrefy is weak against 4 Vengevine and 6 Elves. The Life from the Loam comes out because you will not need them early for cycling as you will want to tap out on your early turns. The Deathcloud comes out as it is too slow and by the time you set it up for 3 they will have way more creatures than that.

Vs. Scepter Chant

-2 Kitchen Finks

-2 Damnation

+ 3 Ancient Grudge

+1 Ghost Quarter

The Ghost Quarter is to stop Academy Ruins and to stop any Man-lands they man run. They Grudge’s are obviously for the Scepter. It is important to note that they likely will be trying to run out Teferi if they have time. This is where the Raven’s Crime comes in handy. Playing a turn 1 Raven’s Crime is clutch a lot of the time and following that with Life from the Loam really helps to not give them the time they need to set up.

It is not a loving feeling when the wonderful DCI sends you an email saying play or your information is getting deleted. I had planned on going to some dumb draft thing like 30 minutes away from my house. This seemed really bad in comparison to going to see my friends that I had not seen in a while as we have all moved to different spots of the state/country.

A few weeks before I had decided to go to the PTQ in Chicago I started to test and my friend and all around good player Jeremiah Nelson who had gotten 2^nd with G/W trap at a PTQ in Madison. This got me to start testing the deck and determining what it needed to be great. He told me the only reason he was not playing it was the luck factor. What a kick in the balls it is to play 3 hideaways and the best card under them is Nest Invader……yeah……awkward.

I got a lovely message from Jeremiah saying that Chicago was not going to be possible for him but if I wanted to go with them to Des Moines I can. So, essentially he was asking me to go to a PTQ that I have tested very little for and not be graced with the most delicious pizza know to man…Giordonnos. This seemed like I was getting the raw deal but I gave in as I had to play somewhere to keep my rating.

While my rating is not spectacular I did used to be good and ended at 1909. The goal for this tournament was to not let it drop under 1900. This seems easy but losing one match you usually have to win 2-3 to make up for it.

So I drove the hour to my friend Ben’s house and he would be driving to Des Moines. We were going to Cedar Rapids the night before and staying at Jeremiah’s apartment then waking up and driving the 2 hours to Des Moines….then driving back to Cedar Rapids…then 3.5 hours to Ben’s house….then an hour back to mine. You can almost feel the pain as you read that. But it is worth it right?

So getting to the apartment we get our decks together where I decided that my sideboard needs to have 4 Cloudthresher because Sower of Temptation scares me and Faeries is always played a lot. Here is the deck list that I registered for the tournament.

4 Birds of Paradise

4 Noble Hierarch

4 Knight of the Reliquary

4 Nest Invader

4 Primeval Titan

4 Lotus Cobra

4 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn

2 Baneslayer Angel

4 Summoning Trap

4 Misty Rainforest

5 Forest

2 Mosswort Bridge

1 Murmuring Bosk

1 Mutavault

1 Khalni Garden

4 Razorverge Thicket

2 Verdant Catacombs

4 Windbrisk Heights

1 Stirring Wildwood

1 Tectonic Edge

Sideboard

4 Cloudthresher

2 Nature’s Claim

3 Burrenton Forge-Tender

3 Leyline of Sanctity

3 Path to Exile

The Khalni Garden is a 2^nd Mutavault that I could not find and would not pay for because I am stubborn and the dealer was non-existent. Back in my day a PTQ had 2-5 dealers with overpriced cards. This PTQ had 0 real dealers but the TO had a 2-3 binders filled with mostly land and foils. You can imagine how pleased the people who needed cards where for this. I am not sure if this is the normal but it is really rough to think that it is.

We do the whole players meeting thing and get down to business.

Round 1 vs. Random barn playing Mono White-

This guy is why I sometimes hate magic. I wake up before every tournament and shower and put on clean clothes. If you are going to come to a tournament smelling of dead things and have the nastiest pony tail in the world you are not going to do well. That being said game 1 I knew this match should be highly in my favor. I eventually got to Titan and then Emrakul. Game 2 he had INFY removal and I never got 3 guys together. Game 3 was my favorite. I played well to give myself a chance against his mass removal and got a Windbrisk Heights from Titan and passed. He drew his card did something that didn’t matter and passed back. I realize at the end of his turn that I had forgotten to hideaway a card(rusty) and say I need to get a warning for this and search. He says and I quote,” That’s just how it is.” He was clearly either unknowing of the rules or just a complete moron. I call a judge and tell the judge how it should be and he agrees. The top four cards where land, Emrakul x3. I hideaway and Emrakul attack with 3 guys and he loses and gets like 3^rd grader cranky when things don’t go your way.

Mono white is an awful deck and I have no idea how people win with this deck. If you play it you are basically saying I am ok with having to hit perfect match-ups to win today. Not the best decision

1-0

Round 2 another mono white deck but worse list

He was tuned more towards the UW decks and had nothing for me a lot of the times. I beat him in an easy two games.

2-0

Round 3 vs. Bant

This match should be a home run for me. It is the only one I really tested. Game 1 I get stalled for a long time doing nothing relevant and he ends up with a sword and I can’t keep up.

Game 2 I had gotten a titan out and had him dead on board with nothing he could do as he had 4 land and a Mirran Crusader. I even had a Nature’s Claim and Noble Hierarch to cast it for a sword. He draws a land and acts like Jesus has just ascended from Heaven to rapture it up. He plays his land and plays Finest Hour and attacks. I think about it and say…go to 3? He says that is 20 and I lose. I call a judge because I did not realize that the exalted triggers stack and rather than fight about taking it back because I am a moron I sign the slip. I could have simply destroyed the Finest Hour but that was just not as fun as my costing me the match.

Round 4 vs. Mono Red guy

You could tell he thought he was the nuts and could never lose. This is funny as he was 2-1 just like me so obviously he can. I go first and play a Hierarch and he plays Figure of Destiny. I play Windbrisk Heights and found an Emrakul then played Nest Invader giving me 3 guys. All I had to do was not have one of my guys killed and I win on turn 3! I passed and he attacks. I do not block and say, “Take 2?” He thinks for a seconds and agrees then plays another Figure and loses the next turn.

Game 2 was worse for me as I drew like crap and he got there. Game 3 he was using all of his mana for his Dragonlord and I just waited and Path to Exiled it. I won with Baneslayer and two Burrenton Forger-Tender in my hand.

Round 5 vs. Boros and Ken Bearl

Or…Boy Meets Bearl….

Game 1 he did not have much going on and it seemed like I could not lose. I had my guys and they were larger. Eventually I got an Emrakul into play.

Game 2 was much of the same. I think he had some bad draws which attributed but this match-up should be in my favor anyway.

Round 6 and it’s win and make top 8 as I could draw the last round vs U/W

I had scouted this guy the previous round end and he made roughly 5 play mistakes in one game but his deck was good so he got past it.

Game 1 I beat him with not much resistance.

I lost Game 2 as he got sword early and I was too afraid of Sower of Temptation and should have just continued running our guys. He took a mulligan to 5 in game 2 but my hand was rough and he played Stoneforge turn 2 and I could not deal with the Sword and I drew Emrakul 3 straight turns which hurt something awful.

Game 3 I took a mulligan and my hand was awful but I kept instead of going down further than 5. I got to the point where I went for Titan and he countered, I had Pact but he has Spell Pierce which should have been side boarded out. He played awful in game 2 and side boarded incorrectly but I couldn’t beat sword again so I lost.

If I had played better I think I could have won but here we are. Advice would not be much help as PTQ’s are changing soon enough anyway. I am starting to test standard so I can play in a National’s qualifier and whatever I play will have Squadron Hawk as it is insane.

Any questions about the list or the deck in general leave then in the comment’s.

http://www.wizards.com/Magic/tcg/events.aspx?x=mtg/event/magicweekend/paris11

Grand Prix: This will likely be the largest Grand Prix ever with it being in Europe and with the draw of the Pro Tour as well. The format is Sealed Deck then Draft with the newly released Mirrodin Besieged. With it being a new format you will likely see some pro’s at the top of the standings who have been grinding on MTGO. If I had to put my money on anyone for this event I would take 7 unknowns and 1 established pro to top 8. Just for fun I will throw out the name of David Ochoa.I read his articles on ChannelFireball and he is fantastic at limited. This of course is barring him top 8′ing the pro tour which is definitely a possibility.

Pro Tour Paris

The format for this Pro Tour is as always 6 rounds of draft with a standard top-8. I think one would be ignorant to ignore that the standard format will likely not change much with just the one set being added. You can bet that all the best teams are testing now that the full set is released. I will not take the time to go through the spoiler and the cards I feel will add to the old decks or that could be decks on their own. I am one who could give a crap less about what every single pro wants to tell me about the new format. Every time a set comes out I dread the month after as it is just 500 articles on the new cards and limited formats which I don’t play often.

If you really love to read these articles you should probably start with LSV’s and go from there as his knowledge is usually useful. PV I usually read because he is more like me. For those wondering, is it that every new card is just worse than something else more realistic rather than stuck on playing the new cards.

My picks for this tournament just like I did last time will be:

Brian Kibler- I picked him last time too and he was almost the perfect pick. Watching him play with Caw-go is amazing and although nobody else can possibly win with it he can not lose. As long as he tests drafting enough I can easily see him top 8′ing this event.

Brad Nelson- I have some issues with this pick but I have faith anyway. I know that he will be versed in standard so as to take on Mr. Matignon for the player of the year title. It scares me that he will not be as focused for the main event as he will for the playoff but I am putting my faith in him for the run.

Which finally brings me to the player of the year playoff. Who do I honestly believe will win? If I had to pick someone it would be Guillaume Matignon. It scares me that Brad is willing to die for this title and Guillaume is just playing for fun. Brad will be 100% more prepared but it comes down to one match-up in standard and who can build a double sealed. If you have never done a double sealed before it is basically two amazing sealed decked crammed into one. Fire up magic workstation and generate one just to look at how good the decks are.

Final Picks

GP Paris

The Field > The Pro’s

PT Paris

Brain Kibler

Brad Nelson

PotY Playoff

Guillaume Matignon

GO PACKERS

After Day two I am still in the lead with Brian Kibler and David Ochoa leading the pack with 52 points between them! With another 6 rounds of extended and top 8 the few who picked PVDDR are still in contention!

The Logic Knot is proud to present

Pick your Magic the Gathering Worlds Champion!!!

How it works

Each contestant will pick two individuals who will be competing in Worlds in Japan and one National team competing as the tiebreaker. The points accumulated by the individuals will be added together and the contestant with the highest amount will win. Tiebreakers will be broken by picking a National Team to back in the team competition.

How to Enter:

You can enter the competition several ways:

1. You can send you picks to thelogicknot@gmail.com with your name attached.
2. You can send me a facebook message to thelogicknot or reply to one of the posts about it that I do.
3. Reply to this post right here on TheLogicKnot.com!

PRIZES!!!

First place will be getting a prize most fitting of the World Championships team competition. They will be getting a card for each format played in the team event; Legacy, Extended, and Standard.

Legacy: Show and Tell

Extended: Foil Coralhelm Commander

Standard: Summoning Trap and Eldrazi Temple

So make your picks and I will be posting mine to be part of the fun soon. Thanks for playing and good luck!

For more information regarding the world championships you may visit www.magicthegathering.com or http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=events/magic/worlds

My Picks!!!!!

Individual-

Brian Kibler

David Ochoa

Team Tiebreaker-

Czech Republic

Respond with your lists!

Lands

1 Glimmerpost

Creatures

1 Corpse Cur

1 Leaden Myr

1 Moriok Replica

1 Saberclaw Golem

1 Silver Myr

1 Snapsail Glider

1 Sylvok Replica

1 Blackcleave Goblin

1 Contagious Nim

1 Plague Stinger

2 Carapace Forger

2 Copperhorn Scout

2 Cystbearer

3 Molder Beast

1 Tel-Jilad Fallen

1 Scoria Elemental

2 Lumengrid Drake

1 Scrapdiver Serpent

1 Screeching Silcaw

2 Vedalken Certarch

1 Glint Hawk

1 Kemba’s Skyguard

1 Loxodon Wayfarer

1 Kuldotha Phoenix

1 Indomitable Archangel

1 Necropede

1 Rust Tick

1 Embersmith

1 Ogre Geargrabber

1 Oxidda Scrapmelter

1 Copper Myr

Spells

1 Accorder’s Shield

2 Echo Circlet

1 Flight Spellbomb

1 Origin Spellbomb

1 Sylvok Lifestaff

1 Blunt the Assault

1 Untamed Might

1 Wing Puncture

1 Kuldotha Rebirth

1 Shatter

1 Turn to Slag

1 Bonds of Quicksilver

1 Disperse

2 Steady Progress

1 Stoic Rebuttal

1 Vault Skyward

1 Arrest

1 Seize the Initiative

2 Soul Parry

1 Contagion Engine

1 Memoricide

1 Dissipation Field

1 Culling Dais

1 Liquimetal Coating

2 Throne of Geth

1 Trigon of Corruption

1 Trigon of Infestation

1 Trigon of Mending

1 Trigon of Thought

1 Halt Order

2 Volition Reins

Survival- Over the past month or so this deck has been dominating the format and looks as though there is no end in sight.  I have tried a few things that seem to maybe be over the edge, however, seem fine to me. The most notable was trying to find a deck that I could run Leyline of the Void in the maindeck. This is however flawed because they can easily search up a way to kill the Leyline and win the turn after most of the time. This gives you until turn 3-4 with a 6 card opener to win not counting (depending on versions) Force of Will, Daze, or Cabal Therapy.

When I look at what makes the deck insane is not Vengevine per say but more the fact they can search up answers to your hate. Right now there is one deck that I am looking at as a possible answer. Goblins is a good deck inherently with a maindeck eye toward survival while not sacrificing the game verses other top decks.

Goblins-

3 Pithing Needle

4 Aether Vial

3 Gempalm Incinerator

4 Goblin Lackey

4 Goblin Matron

3 Goblin Piledriver

4 Goblin Ringleader

1 Goblin Sharpshooter

4 Goblin Warchief

3 Mogg War Marshal

1 Siege-Gang Commander

1 Skirk Prospector

1 Tin Street Hooligan

7 Mountain

3 Arid Mesa

4 Rishadan Port

3 Scalding Tarn

2 Taiga

4 Wasteland

Sideboard:

4 Leyline of the Void

1 Stingscourger

2 Krosan Grip

3 Mindbreak Trap

3 Pyrokinesis

1 Pithing Needle

1 Goblin Piledriver

The benefits here are that have something like Pithing Needle maindeck hurts other decks in the format as well. From something as simple as not allowing their SDT to activate to being as simple as naming a sacrifice land to run the mana denial plans as well. Look at the top 5 decks in legacy as I see them based off tournament results:

Survival- Pithing Needle obviously hits their namesake as well as several other cards in the deck that are less important. Once you Needle Survival of the Fittest your plan is to either outlast their creatures while killing their Fuana Shaman if they run them; or to continuously refill with Ringleaders and Matrons until you can alpha via your card advantage.

Merfolk- You can use needle to shut off Aether Vial if they have it and they don’t which may happen quite a bit due to Daze and Force. You can not let Coralhelm Commander level, Mutavault attack, or stop them from searching for land via their Polluted Delta etc.

Countertop- There is so many different versions you can face here I but the basics are the same with hitting their Thopter Foundry combo being a plus. Jace 2.0, Sensei’s Divining Top, and Engineered Explosives are all great targets but what you name depends on the game state.

Goblins Mirror- Sometimes it can come down to them having Aether Vial and you not which needle does shine in. Other times you will need to shut down Sharpshooter or Siege-Gang Commander. Rare occasions of mana-light hands will result in you being able to stop their Rishadan Port’s or Wasteland’s.

GWB Junk- Fixing their mana with Sensei’s Divining Top is a normal occurrence. Depending on build you can see versions with Umezawa’s Jitte and other equipment that you can shut down and even the occasional Pernicious Deed.

I have done some testing with this build to good success even when I don’t draw the needle and want to give you a side boarding plan for the top decks.

Vs. Survival

-1 Tin Street Holigan -4 Aether Vial

+1 Pithing Needle+4 Leyline of the Void

Aether Vial is fantastic and I am probably crazy for taking it out but it is not needed in this matchup. You want to turn 1 Needle Survival then turn 2 play a treat and start getting in beats. With that line of plays that means Vial is not active til turn 3 and at that point you can play a Matron. I have only tested this a few times but it has worked fine in those games.

Vs. Merfolk

-4 Goblin Lackey

+1 Goblin Piledriver +3 Pyrokinesis

Countertop

-1 Goblin Sharpshooter -2 Gempalm Incinerator -1 Mogg War Marshall

+1 Pithing Needle +2 Krosan Grip +1 Goblin Piledriver

Goblins Mirror

-3 Pithing Needle -1 Goblin Piledriver

+3 Pyrokinesis +1 Krosan Grip

I do like bringing in one Krosan Grip here for the random Aether Vial kill as well as some Goblin decks I have seen Jitte in the sideboard of.

GWB Junk

-3 Pithing Needle

+1 Stingscourger +1 Goblin Piledriver +1 Pyrokinesis

Next week I will be playing a 10 game set against a UG survival deck. This will be 4 preboard and 6 postboard with my current sideboarding plans as it is the best way to test since that is the ratio in a tournament. Although it will not be 100% play by play as I hate writing things like that it will give you the important plays and any updates to the Goblins list going forward.

Thank you for reading, feel free to comment in the forums.

Chris “Chef” Heath

Chef4575@gmail.com

So being poor and having little to no motivation I slowly drifted to the state I was before the last Pro Tour. I love to play control, there is nothing more satisfying in this game than drawing cards and playing Wrath of God. This being said, I was obviously excited to watch Nassif pilot the 5cc deck to the top of the tour I decided that I was definately not a fan of the walls.

After once again testing for a long time I decided my version just wasn’t fast enough. Obviously 5cc is not usually catagorized as a speed deck, however, doing nothing until turn 3 to play a Jace does not get it done. So then this new set Alara Reborn came out. Going through the spoiler nothing really peeked my interest.

Sure Cascade seems to be a fine mechanic, Medddling Mage will be medicore at best, and there was nothing that include the words instant and draw a card in the same line so I mostly didn’t care. The best card in the set is Anathemancer, the way people think about mana bases will probably not change right away and blighting players will take advantage of this for a while.

I can see blightning being overpopular at regionals this year due to the new cards Anathemancer and Terminate. Being a patron for anything with a control feel I knew that there were a few cards I was in love with:

Cryptic Command: This is obvious for anyone playing blue

Makeshift Mannequin: Ever since block PTQ’s I have been throwing this card into everything.
Attacking other control decks and aggro decks ever at the EOT has been amazing for me.

Cruel Ultimatum: Anyone who has cast this nows just how good it feels. If you make to to turn 7 without losing you basically win with this card. Granted I have had people drop in 2 Wilt-Leaf Leige’s off the discard, but thats a risk I am MORE than willing to take.

From here I wanted to put in some Mulldrifters and Shriekmaws, as well as some Sower of Temptation. I searched the web for decklists and I came across Grixis Control. This deck seemed to have it all with a stable manabase, all the cards I wanted including 4 Makeshift Mannequin! So I went with a list into testing and found some things I did not like.

Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker while being extremely greedy and good was never better than Cruel Ultimatum. Even if it was Ultimatum number two the life Gain was extremely relavent. Broken Ambitions were not that good for me because I was alway tapping out for something be it Mulldrifter, Jace Beleren, or Cruel Ultimatum. Or just wanting to leave mana up for Volcanic Fallout and Makeshift Mannequin.

I took the testing knowledge and made a new list and tested it again. The second time around I found that I really wanted something maindeck that can be a Mannequined pseudo Wrath of God. Soul Snuffer and Caldera Hellion were both considered but Hellion was leagues above. Let’s go ahead and get a look at this Monstrosity:

4 Demigod of Revenge
4 Mulldrifter
3 Plumeveil
3 Shriekmaw
2 Sower of Temptation
1 Caldera Hellion

4 Cryptic Command
4 Makeshift Mannequin
4 Volcanic Fallout

3 Cruel Ultimatum
1 Banefire

2 Jace Beleren

4 Crumbling Necropolis
4 Reflecting Pool
4 Secluded Glen
3 Cascade Bluffs
3 Swamp
3 Graven Cairns
2 Island
2 Sunken Ruins

Sideboard:
4 Scepter of Fugue
3 Pyroclasm
3 Negate
1 Caldera Hellion
1 Spitebellows
1 Sower of Temptation
1 Ascendant Evincar
1 Shriekmaw

And now for your card by card evaluation and sideboarding pleasures…

4 Demigod of Revenge- I have to admit I was very skeptical about this guy. With Path to Exile out there I just assumed he would not be good. Many time he has come back in multiples or just put a clock on an opponent that other cards wouldn’t be able to due as easily.

4 Mulldrifter- Card advantage is always key.

3 Plumeveil- Just a good card to sure up the early game vs aggro.

3 Shriekmaw- Started as a two of but now after board you have all four. Routinely keeps player off enough attackers for Heights, kills Teegs, and axe’s many a creature.

2 Sower of Temptation- The only thing better than killing a creature is taking thiers. This card started as Broken Ambitions one and two and then was Spitebellows. Eventually I realized that as much as I like Spitebellows, Sower would be more relavant and turn on my Secluded Glen. It’s stayed in ever since.

1 Caldera Hellion- This started as Broken Ambitions #3. I really wanted a guy I can Mannequin back that can kill off tokens from Spectral Procession and Cloudgoat Ranger. After thinking of Soul Snuffers I found Caldera Hellion who also can get the ranger itself. Although I realize its usually a suicide mission its well worth the 4 mana instant Wrath of God.

4 Cryptic Command- These will be a staple in any deck that can afford to play them.

4 Makeshift Mannequin-Four may seem a bit excessive but they are the cornerstone of what you are trying to do. A lot of times they just make way for you to resolve a Demigod or Cruel and they are worth thier weight in gold.

4 Volcanic Fallout-This card is ridiculously good.

3 Cruel Ultimatum- Yes, three. Before I had two and one Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker but as I said earlier. The Nicol Bolas just is not as good without the life gain and hand disruption.

1 Banefire- This is probably the most suspect card in the deck. I do like that I can random burn someone out but I could easily see this becoming a 3rd Sower or maybe even another Jace.

2 Jace Beleren- More card draw. I think two is the right number because I never want more than one but it can be a forcefield as well.

4 Crumbling Necropolis
4 Reflecting Pool
4 Secluded Glen
3 Cascade Bluffs
3 Swamp
3 Graven Cairns
2 Island
2 Sunken Ruins

I have had no problems with this manabase.

Sideboard:
4 Scepter of Fugue- I love this card. Ever since I was playing 5cc months ago I have been running these sb. When teamed with Negate you can really get the upper hand in the control matchup. Or in a pinch use it on yourself and Mannequin something back.

3 Pyroclasm- For token decks. I like Pyroclasm more than Infest. Both are good in this spot but on the draw you want to be able to swipe the board turn 2.

3 Negate- In the control mirrors this is very good as it almost says your spell costs 1U more and its uncounterable.

1 Caldera Hellion- Another sweeper than can come in off Mannequin.

1 Spitebellows – I wanted a way to kill Doran. Mannequin this guy block and kill another creature. Good stuff.

1 Sower of Temptation- Still good.

1 Ascendant Evincar- Against tokens if they do not have a pump spell like Glorius Anthem then this is basically Wrath of God.

1 Shriekmaw- Another card for Dark Bant or just regular Bant decks.

As far as gameplay goes here’s what you would not like to see.

Blighting Decks:

You really don’t have much to combat these decks. You have to hope you can stall to Demigod and Cruel to race. It always helps if they burn out a Plumeveil but chances are your not winning. I think its fine to look at the format as you can’t beat em’ all.

Sideboarding:-1 Caldera Hellion -2 Volcanic Fallout+3 Negate

More or less just trying to stop the burn. You have a much better chance if they are running creature heavy versions but regardless Negates will hopefully stop damage or the death of a Plumeveil.

Faeries:

This matchup is a little in thier favor. Maindeck you have 4 Fallout’s and can attack end of turn with Mannequin’s after an early Mulldrifter. The worst card for us is Mistbind Clique but if it resolves there are many ways to kill it and usually you can evoke Shriekmaw and Mannequin it back if needed. It showing up in multiples though is not promissing.

Sideboarding-4 Demigod of Revenge -1 Caldera Hellion -1 Cruel Ultimatum -2 Shriekmaw +4 Scepter of Fugue +3 Negate +1 Ascendant Evincar

Demigod is very good at not getting through for damage here. It’s really only good if it either comes in multiples or they do not have a bitterblossom. Ultimatum is fine as a two of here because you have Negate to protect it now. Shriekmaw usually does not have as many targets as usual and Ascendant Evincar will wipe thier board if it come’s in during most situations. All in all if you open a hand with Scepter be happy and start attacking thier hand.

Now that that’s out of the way let’s see some of the better matchup’s.

G/w Tokens and BW Tokens

These decks serve about the same purpose, play cards that make numerous creatures with some amount of pump spells and disruption. Then attack for the win with maybe a little Windbrisking here and there. Overall you have yourself 4 Fallout maindeck, 1 Hellion, 3 Shriekmaw, 3 Plumeveil, 4 Command, and when you find yourself past turn 4-5 it’s usually over with Ultimatum.

Sideboarding:-1 Banefire -2 Jace Beleren -2 Sower of Temptation+3 Pyroclasm, +1 Caldera Hellion, + 1 Ascendant Evincar

If you get to the point where Banefire is relevant here you have already won. I take out Jace because chances are turn 3 I will want to play something aggressive to disrupt them not lay out Jace. A lot of times I find myself Shriekmawing a token to keep them off thier Height’s. Sower comes out because with 4 Fallout and 3 Pyroclasm you don’t want something that’s going to be on the table to be effective with 2 Toughness.

Kithkin

This matchup is more or less like the token’s matchup with the added bonus that as opposed to plainswalkers and disruption the just have guys that die to Shriekmaw. I go back and forth on the sideboarding here but I’m fairly certain I would go with this.

Sideboarding-1 Banefire -1 Cruel Ultimatum -4 Demigod of Revenge+3 Pyroclasm +1 Caldera Hellion +1 Shriekmaw +1 Ascenant Evincar

Basically you get rid of 6 finisher’s for things to help push you to the late game. Sower still doesn’t play nice with the rest of the Pyroclasm effect’s but here it is not as bad since you can get Cenn’s and other good creatures as opposed to just getting a token.

Dark Bant:

I thought this matchup would be about 50/50 and it would probably depend on the draw. A fast Doran is not what you want to see. Sure, you can destroy an early Rhox War Monk but that Doran just can’t die to Shriekmaw. Overall you should have enough to slow them down enough to get there. Also, beware of Teeg as he really is a pain.

Sideboarding:
On the Play–4 Volcanic Fallout -1 Caldera Hellion+2 Pyroclasm +1 Spitebellows +1 Sower of Temptation +1 Shriekmaw
On the Draw-3 Volcanic Fallout+1 Spitebellows +1 Sower of Temptation +1 Shriekmaw

On the play here I like being able to slow them down with a turn two pyroclasm on their mana creature. Other than that same base. Fallout kill’s next to nothing and the only creature that it hits I care about is Teeg but with 4 Shriekmaw I should get there more often than not.

5cc

This matchup maindeck is good for you. Ajani Vengeant is a bit of a worry but you can contain it long enough with a Fallout or Two to set up some end of turn Mannequin action then untap into something backbreaking.

Sideboarding-3 Plumeveil -1 Calera Hellion -2 Volcanic Fallout -1 Sower of Temptation+4 Scepter of Fugue +3 Negate

Here seem’s pretty self explanitory. You want to get rid of of Plumeveil’s as they can not attack. Sower loses value but keeping one is fine for Broodmate. Hellion is worthless here as well as Fallout is only staying in to help buy time again Plainswalkers until the Scepters and the Negate’s do thier job.

Lark Decks

I have only tested breifly against these decks. Seems like it could be tough depending on thier build but I would go with the thier slow and I have 3 Cruel Ultimatum plan if it were me.

Sideboarding:

Boat Brew:-1 Banefire -2Jace Beleren -1 Caldera Hellion -1 Volcanic Fallout+3 Pyroclasm +1 Sower of Temptation +1 Shriekmaw

Esperlark:-1 Caldera Hellion+1 Sower of Temptation

Against Boat Brew you want the early Clasm to hit Figure’s before they get it to a 4/4.Esperlark you want the extra sower to help combat thier Glen Elandra Archmage’s.Unfortunately, I have not tested enough vs thier archetypes to know if I’m right but it seems ok. Maybe bringing in Scepter against Esperlark. Only time will tell…

Due to some prior engagements I may not be able to attend my regional’s this year but if you go to yours maybe throw this deck on MWS and see what you think.

Thanks for reading as I would love you hear what people think.Hit me in the forums or feel free to email me questions at chef4575@gmail.com

XOXOXOX

Chef