The Rusty Machete: GP Columbus Report- Top 64 with Fae (Part Two)

Join me for the conclusion of my report on Grand Prix Columbus, complete with a bonus standard decklist for the Midwest Masters Championship this Saturday!

Round Six- Belcher
I was 3-2 and pretty much fully tilted at this point. I had resigned myself to my fate of missing day two and was playing it out just for fun. Turns out my opponent must not have been playing for fun, because he was playing Belcher.

Game one he gets a bunch of mana and runs a Belcher into my Force. I few turns later I Sprite a second attempt at the artifact and we go to game 2.

Sideboarding: We don't have too much for this matchup, but Bob helps us dig for stuff and Plague kills goblins, so they can come in, while Smother, Blood, and Jitte aren't needed. Sower once more gets the nod because it can pitch to Force.

Game two I mull to six but have a Force, which nabs his attempt at a turn one Belcher. I assemble Blossom and Confidant but don't draw another counter or a disruption effect and he Belches me the second time the turn before I'm able to kill him with token beats.

Game three I have a hand with Brainstorm, Daze, Sprite, and Sower, along with lands, which is questionable at best (no Seize, no Force). I figure I can always mise a Force off Brainstorm and I keep. He keeps as well. Turn one he starts building mana, and I Brainstorm in response to a Seething Song with one floating that I would Force if I could. I miss, and let it resolve. He's up to six mana with two cards, and he attempts a Burning Wish. I snap Daze it, and he fails to pay (not even getting an Empty to sit in his hand) and passes back. (If he pays for Daze he only has 3 mana left and so can't cast Empty the Warrens that turn. Hilarious since I'm willing to bet his last card was an Empty. -K) Sprite counters a late attempt at Belcher after I play out a Blossom and a Vendilion Clique.

4-2

Round Seven- Dredge
I'm paired against someone I know once more, which is a shame in that the loser is out of contention for day 2. I'm on the play and keep a hand with some Sprites and a Sower, while he quickly reveals his deck choice my playing a Tireless Tribe on one. I take some damage from all four Ichorids, but eventually they have to remove each other since he's low on dredgers and can only dredge once a turn. Meanwhile, Sprite has kept Cabal Therapy in check and I get to Sower his Tribe. The next turn, he no longer has a discard outlet, but he removes a Stinkweed Imp, his final dredger, to bring back an Ichorid, which represents lethal. I have a Clique to block, though, and I'm left with Sower and Tribe to his empty board. I have a few turns before he'll have to discard, and I rip a Jitte in time to kill him with.

Sideboard: Same as before.

He has a couple of early Nature's Claim to deal with my attempted Blossoms, but my Force prevents him from resolving a Careful Study and he's left hardcasting Stinkweed Imps. He's at a low life total from his lands and a hit with Clique, so I'm able to set up a turn where I flash in multiple Sprites, use Jitte counters to kill an Imp, and wake up three Mutavaults for exactly lethal.

5-2

Round Eight- Bant

He is light on lands for game one because of Wasteland, and he's locked out of playing the cards in his hand after I smother a Noble Hierarch. By the time he draws land, he's hopelessly behind to a Clique and multiple Sprites that act as hard counters.

Sideboarding: Innocent Blood and Bob come in as I need a way to draw cards to rival Sensei's Top and more outs to Natural Orders. Blossom comes out just because it's the weakest card left in the deck, and Sprite comes out because it's weaker without Blossom and they're mana acceleration often prevents her from countering their key spells.

Game two is definitely one of the best games I played in the whole tournament. I stall some of his early beats with removal, but Bob is not kind to me and I quickly find myself with a dwindling life total. I am able to find a Sower for his Rhox War Monk, which will enable me to gain some life, but before I attack I have to survive a Confidant trigger while at two life (18/41 to be dead). I flip a Brainstorm and am able to stack my next draw to live and I bash for some damage. It's not over though, since I elect to mainphase smother his Hierarch to play around Natural Order plus Force instead of just sitting back on Force plus blue card and he hits a Swords on the third card that he sees with Top, freeing his War Monk. I'm able to stick a Jace and then get Jitte going, so I lock the game up, eventually with two Confidants and a Jace in play. There were a few more turns where I was dead to flipping a four or five drop, though.

6-2

Round Nine- Goblins

I'm not happy when my opponent leads with a Goblin Lackey and my best play is to flash in a Sprite on turn two when he attacks and hope he doesn't have the Incinerator. He does, and he Lackey's in a Ringleader, which hits only another Lackey. He is able to Waste me on his next turn to set me back, and despite having a Vendilion and a Sower in hand I'm just way too far behind and I die before I can cast the Sower to multiple Warchiefs.

Sideboarding: Sprite and Blossom come out since they have high CMC spells and are generally slow. Plague and Innocent Blood come in since I want to max out on kill spells for his early creatures. The final swap in Confidant for Force of Will because I want ways to dig for Plague and cannot afford the card disadvantage of Force in what is usually an attrition matchup.

Game two he has a slow hand (I believe off a mulligan) while I land a Confidant and suit up with Jitte. I manage to win without showing him the Engineered Plague I have in hand, so hopefully he won't play around it by boarding in discard effects for game three.

Game three is another really good game. He has a good number of creatures in the early turns (including a Lackey, which connects to net him a Warchief), but I'm ready with a ton of removal and two Dazes, both of which hit since he's short on lands. After two turns of Smother into Daze in response to a spell, he's left without much of a board, and I'm able to suit up something with Jitte and bash. Feeling me pulling ahead, he plays his own Jitte to remove mine, but I have a second copy waiting to take down the game.

7-2 I was astonished I made day two (winning four in a row), and I was ready to keep playing tight and make my way into the money and hopefully even crack top 16 or top 8.

Round Ten- Bant

Our first game is pretty epic. He has an early top plus a knight and a goyf to apply some pressure, while I curve with Blossom, Force Counterbalance plus Clique away Natural Order, Jitte and equip. I eventually drop a second Blossom while holding a blue card and a Force in hand. His life total bleeds away to my Clique while I keep refueling with counters and gaining life, being unable to block or kill his creatures since he plays three consecutive Swords on my token that is equipped. The final one I'm obliged to Force, and I'm dead if he has a Daze since I used all my mana to equip and then reequip Jitte. He misses and then fails to activate Knight for a shuffle effect to dig again.(Asssume he had a Top in play. - K) His attack fails to kill me, and I have exactly lethal with Muta plus a 5/3 Clique (Jitte counter) on the swingback.

Sideboarding: Same as above

The second game isn't nearly as good. He keeps a one-land hand at six with a Brainstorm and fetches a Trop because he didn't see a Waste from me game one. I Waste him on one and he doesn't do anything for the rest of the game.

8-2 Round Eleven- U/W Landstill

This round I'm paired against Chris Walton, another local player. I receive a game loss for not registering a Snow-Covered Island instead of Island, which I can understand is different. What I'm mad about is that it was not caught during a deckcheck the previous day, and the game loss now is far more serious than the game loss during a match I would have won 2-0 the previous day.

For game two, I'm on the play without any sideboarding. I use my counters conservatively and eat way at his life total with a Sower and a Sprite, failing to find a Jace, which is my best card against him. He's on the EE plus Academy Ruins plan (after he sticks a Crucible through recurring it via Ruins), first killing my Sprite and then blowing up my Sower. The problem is that setting it for four also kills his Moat, which turns my Mutavaults back on. I'm able to Waste one Factory and Smother the other one to force through the final points of damage.

Sideboarding: Innocent Blood out, Jitte out, Confidant in, some number of Leylines in for Smother (I think 3/1 in favor of Smother). Smother actually helps kill factory, so it's not a total blank, and while Leyline shuts off recursion, he is perfectly capable of killing it with EE, so it's not a card I want to load up on.

He uses an EE to blow up an early Blossom from me, but I'm able to net a token or two and start grinding away at his life total. A more serious threat from me is Jace, the Mind Sculptor, to which he doesn't have an efficient answer. I force a Path to Exile to allow my Mutavault to trade with his Factory and prevent Jace from taking damage, and Jace goes ultimate. The game isn't over, though, since he's drawn his Academy Ruins and has a Crucible and an EE in his graveyard (as well as two factories that aren't exiled). I again play Sower just to start clocking, and I have another Blossom. After sticking the Crucible, he EE's for zero to clear away tokens and then EE's again for two to get rid of Sprite and Blossom. Jace has gone into brainstorm mode but all I'm drawing are useless Thoughtseizes. On the final turn, though, Jace lets me hit a force for his EE for four when he's at one, and Sower finishes him off.

9-2

Round Twelve- Lands

I would like to say game one was close, but it wasn't. I had a Blossom/Jitte type of hand and he had Exploration into Intuition on two.

Sideboarding: Leyline in really stellar and comes in, as does Confidant just because he helps dig. Jitte leaves, as does Blood and Sower. Smother helps fight manlands, at least.

Game two I begin the game with a Leyline which he cannot answer and his deck doesn't really do anything to compare with my Confidant into Clique.

Game three I have two Leylines in play early, but he threatens my life total with two factories. Sensing the need to get a clock going, I land a Blossom to join my Confidant and then follow that up with a Jace to minimize my life loss to Confidant. He has Tabernacle, though, which is annoying, but I have a waste for it and beat him down to four, while I'm at three. Then he plays... Glacial Chasm! What a blowout! Though I had a Brainstorm in hand to set lands on top for Confidants, I had been brainstorming with Jace instead because I figured he had no outs and I wanted to hold blue cards for Force of Will in my hand. What an idiot I was not to just fateseal him there. The game isn't over, though, because although I will be dead before he will be, I have two Wasteland left in my deck and I have two Confidants, Jace, and Brainstorms to help me see them. After going through a little over half my deck, though, I miss, and he wins.

9-3

This round I'm paired against a total scrub (read: Asian Ringer) named Kai Ruan, who I know from watching the 0-5 tables the previous day is playing cat sligh, which is a bad matchup for me.

Game one is predictably rough, since I can't kill/counter his early creatures and Grim Lavamancer is an absolute beating against my deck. Such is exactly what happens.

Sideboarding: Same as before.

For game two I have a rather strong hand, and I'm able to use an early kill spell to ward off a Pridemage. Turns out I should have killed a Steppe Lynx instead because he has three more lands in hand. After eating some damage, I Sower his Pridemage to force him to cast Volcanic Fallout and then I have a kill spell for his lynx. I counter something with a Sprite and have a Mutavault for a small clock, while Smother takes care of the only other creature he draws since he topdecks a bunch of lands.

Game three is interestingly close. He runs out Nacatl on one, but I have the blood. He follows with a Goyf, which I debate forcing, but I'd either have to pitch a Brainstorm, which I need to dig for gas, or a Jace, which is the only way I could see myself winning the game. I bank on hitting a kill spell for it with my Brainstorm, but I miss and eat a ton of damage, also making myself Force a Goblin Guide to not be dead. Eventually he resolves a Lavamancer by Bolting a Sprite and I know I'm pretty far behind. A Jace dies bouncing his Goyf to the Lavamancer, but I'm able to Brainstorm into an Innocent Blood. He surprisingly sacs his Goyf instead of the Lavamancer, and I'm able to play a Jace on the next turn and fateseal him before playing a land. At this point, I have six lands in play, and a Jitte on top, so next turn I can bounce the Lavamancer, play Jitte, suit up, and bash. However, he has a Bolt and a Fireblast to go along with the Lavamancer and I'm at nine.

9-4 Round Fourteen- U/G/R Standstill Fae?

His deck is strange, featuring Standstill, Spellstutter Sprite, Wasteland, Bolt, Lavamancer, Goyf, Spell Pierce and Spell Snare, Firespout, and Vedalken Shackles. The games would all turn out to be pretty interesting.

Game one I mull and Thoughtseize away a Shackles (a card I'm pretty cold to). I play my Brainstorm around his Sprite and we both end up with some guys in play. I'm able to cast a Jitte around the Spell Pierce I know he has, and he doesn't draw anything to beat it.

Sideboarding: Confidant comes in since I want to be able to attrition him out, and the Blood comes out since we both have creatures. I think I also boarded out Sower for this game, though I'm not 100%. I know for game three I brought them back in and took out Blossom since he has burn/Lavamancers to threaten my life total.

Game two I mulligan again and Thoughtseize away a Standstill, but he has another one along with a Sprite in play already that he randomly EOTed. I Waste his tapped Waste and then play a Mutavault, hoping to make him pop his own Still, but he hits a Waste and now I'm the one falling behind on life. I pop the Still with an EOT brainstorm that he Sprites, and he has to discard, but he has the Sprites in play and I don't really have an answer to them despite assembling Confidant and Jace. I'm able to trade a Clique for one of them and then a Smother for the other, though I fall to one life in doing so. I'm about to be pulling way ahead on cards, but he topdecks a Bolt and I don't have a counter for it.

Game three it's his turn to mulligan and I topdeck a Confidant that comes down on turn two, while he doesn't have much of anything going on except a Squire (spoiler alert: Tarmogoyf in disguise). Confidant puts me ahead on cards a bit, and he Red Blasts my Clique on the end of his third turn, leaving my comfortable with Sowering his Goyf. I use a Force to counter his kill spell, and he knows he's really far behind. On turn five Jitte plus equip adds to my board and he concedes in short order.

10-4

Round Fifteen- Goblins

I'm playing against the friend of the guy I beat playing for day 2, though I don't know this immediately. My hand on the draw is a little land-light but I have a Seize and a Brainstorm, so I keep. I seize a hand of five lands (Port, but no Wastes) and two Warchiefs. He remarks that he knows my deck is slow so he kept. Seems questionable. I take a Warchief and Brainstorm into the land for Blossom on three (through Port) and Jitte on four. He's drawn three consecutive lands and scoops.

Sideboarding: Same as above.

He has a bit more of a real hand for game two, but I again have multiple removal spells and both Dazes to stifle his early game. I also get a Plague out, which is pretty huge. He tutors for Goblin Chieftan to pump his guys, but I Thoughtseize it away and get out a Jitte which eventually hooks up with Vendilion Clique to get some counters. I have to kill a Wort, though, so he has a turn when he can play Warchief into Matron into cycle Incinerator to kill my Clique, but he pays an extra mana for the Matron and can't make that play anymore. Jitte gets refueled and despite hitting a land pocket for a few turns I get the concession when I rip a Sower for one of his guys.

11-4 Round Sixteen- Aluren

I'm paired against Gerry Thompson, who I know is good, but I feel like the matchup is pretty favorable for me, especially with Plague and Blood out of the board to fight his avenues to victory. I note that we can ID into top 64, and we check to make sure this is the case before doing so. The problem is that we don't bank on several of the tables around us drawing and someone in the Top 8 getting DQed, so we could have played into 32nd and 64th for the winner and loser, respectively. Still, I'm not terribly upset about it because I think drawing was the highest EV choice given what we knew at the time.

I'd definitely recommend the above Faeries list, and I'd be happy playing something very close to it in future events. The manabase felt strong, and the deck has a lot of ways to be proactive for a control deck, something that I like in the current legacy environment. The only thing is that it has a bad zoo matchup, so if you expect a lot of that deck I'd probably add some number of Slay, Perish, or Deathmark to the sideboard in addition to the Innocent Bloods.

Bonus Standard Material Since I somehow managed to top 8 the Detroit Midwest Masters Tournament with B/W throw the best cards in each color into a pile and hope to get there.deck (which included two maindeck Guul Draz Assassin), I'm going to be heading down to Indy this Saturday to play in the Championship. It's pretty good value since the payout is 10K for a max 80 person event, and it comes with a Gencon badge so why not go down for a day? Standard has left me pretty uninterested lately, though, even with the rise of Primeval Titan decks. That is, until I concocted this little brew...

Frosty the Snowman | The Rusty Machete