With Alex Olson not being able to make it to Nats due to a final exam he had to take, Matt Mccullough snuck into the Nats van. So I headed off the Nats with Kurtis Droge, James Seelhoff, Matt, Jeremy Pinter, and Joseph Welbes. I'd never met Joe before, but he seemed like a cool dude and was qualified from Regionals, so I figured he would know what was going on.
The van was like a bus, and couldn't fit in the hotel's 6'6 clearance parking lot. So we got dropped off while Jeremy went to park elsewhere. The hotel lobby was pretty fancy, and after settling into the room we got to brewing for grinders since only Joe and Jeremy were qualified. Kurtis had done some testing with Matt and I the previous evening and had decided to play Boros with maindeck Kor Hookmaster over Cunning Sparkmage. A decision I'm sure he'll tell you all about in his own report. Matt was set on Jund, which he's been playing for months. And I was in between several decks.
I've posted up what I thought were the ten most powerful cards in standard in a previous article. Matt and I did actually end up brewing a Naya Destructive Force deck that ended up eeriely similar to the Australian Nats 2nd place Decklist. However, during testing it was a huge dog to the U/W/r Destructive Force deck I'd already created so that idea was put on hold. I had played Naya Shaman at a local event the week previous, and concluded the deck needed a Sovereigns kill to enable a fast endgame as sometimes simply grinding with Vengevines wasn't enough. Also the deck just sputtered and did nothing without a Fauna Shaman and made me want to vomit.
In the end I decided to play a straightforward Mythic Conscription deck for the grinder. I had played the deck for two months online previous to M11 and had good results with it. It had favorable matchups against the decks that wanted to goldfish you like Titan Ramp or Temple Bell. In addition it was strongly favored against U/W and passable against Naya, which I expected to be big in the grinders. My plan was to just play in one, and win or lose go back to the hotel and sleep since I was pretty tired.
Mythic | The Rusty Machete
27 Creatures:
4 Birds of Paradise
2 Dauntless Escort
4 Knight of the Reliquary
4 Lotus Cobra
4 Noble Hierarch
3 Rhox War Monk
4 Sovereigns of Lost Alara
2 Sun Titan
8 Spells:
2 Eldrazi Conscription
2 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
1 Jace Beleren
3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
4 Birds of Paradise
2 Dauntless Escort
4 Knight of the Reliquary
4 Lotus Cobra
4 Noble Hierarch
3 Rhox War Monk
4 Sovereigns of Lost Alara
2 Sun Titan
8 Spells:
2 Eldrazi Conscription
2 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
1 Jace Beleren
3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
25 Lands:
2 Arid Mesa
3 Celestial Colonnade
5 Forest
2 Island
4 Misty Rainforest
2 Plains
1 Sejiri Steppe
1 Stirring Wildwood
2 Sunpetal Grove
1 Terramorphic Expanse
2 Verdant Catacombs
2 Arid Mesa
3 Celestial Colonnade
5 Forest
2 Island
4 Misty Rainforest
2 Plains
1 Sejiri Steppe
1 Stirring Wildwood
2 Sunpetal Grove
1 Terramorphic Expanse
2 Verdant Catacombs
15 Sideboard:
1 Deprive
2 Flashfreeze
1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
2 Mind Spring
2 Negate
2 Oblivion Ring
2 Oust
2 Qasali Pridemage
1 Sphinx of Jwar Isle
1 Deprive
2 Flashfreeze
1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
2 Mind Spring
2 Negate
2 Oblivion Ring
2 Oust
2 Qasali Pridemage
1 Sphinx of Jwar Isle
The maindeck Escort plus Sun Titan package was to hedge towards Day of Judgment decks as well as to better protect against Jund and Valakut's removal suite. The War Monks were a good call for grinders as there tends to be an abundance of aggressive decks in grinders. The Fauna Shaman plan worked out very awkwardly in testing, as even with 25+ creatures the card investment and mana spent on the Shaman activations cluttered up with the game plan of casting Sovereigns and ending the game.
Round 1: O. Beasly with Valakut Ramp
I lose the die roll
Game 1: He ramps with Rampant Growth into a Comet Storm for my Cobra and Hierarch. I had a Bird in play and managed to kill him on turn 5 since he was stuck on 4 lands.
Sideboard: -3 Jace TMS -1 Jace Beleren +2 Flashfreeze +2 Negate
Game 2: I have turn 5 Sovereigns for a 14 point War Monk attack into Avenger and 7 tokens. He chumps with a token and goes to 1. His next turn brings in 5 landfall triggers as well as some Valakut triggers at my face and I die.
Sideboard: +2 Oblivion Ring -2 Sun Titan
He was playing the Khalni Heart Expedition version of Valakut, so Oblivion Ring is useful early as well as providing an out to a naked Avenger or any Titan.
Game 3: My turn 2 Knight of the Reliquary lives and he dies to Sovereigns powered attack on turn 5.
Round 2: J. Day with Naya
I lose the die roll
Game 1: I have an active Knight for a while and he concedes to a 20 point trample attack when he could've blocked with multiple creatures including a Vengevine.
Sideboard: +1 Linvala +2 Oblivion Ring +2 Flashfreeze +2 Oust +1 Sphinx of Jwar Isle -2 Dauntless Escort -3 Jace TMS -1 Jace Beleren -2 Sun Titan
Game 2: He runs me over with a bunch of guys while I twiddle my thumbs and can't break out of Sparkmage + Collar.
Game 3: I'm behind to multiple Elves and Vengevines, having a solo War Monk for defense. I rip the untapped 6th mana off the top and Sovereigns to swing the life race dramaticly. Opponent draws his card and concedes.
Round 3: K. Hunt with Vampires
I lose the die Roll
Game 1: He plays back to back Hexmages, so I just don't play my Jace or Elspeth and instead play a Dauntless Escort which he kills and a War Monk which he doesn't. Sovereigns lands when he's tapped out for a creature of the night and he concedes next turn.
Sideboard: +1 Linvala +2 Negate +2 Oblivion Ring +1 Sphinx of Jwar Isle +2 Mind Spring -4 Sovereigns -2 Conscription -1 Jace Beleren -1 Lotus Cobra
Game 2: My Bird is Disfigured, and Cobra follows suit. Kevin plays a Viscera Seer and Kalastria Highborn to bring the heat, and I Jace Highborn back to his hand. Jace is attacked for one and Highborn is replayed. I brainstorm and play Linvala, which is Deathmark'd, and Jace falls. I Sun Titan for Cobra, and play fetch into Knight of Reliquary. Both die. My next Sun Titan for Knight meets Deathmark, but the Knight lives to protect the rest of my draws from his creatures and he is run over in short order.
Round 4: T. Maggio with Temple Bell
I lose the die roll.
Game 1: He plays a Howling Mine and a Jace Beleren. My Cobra eats his Jace and Dauntless + Knight show up to protect my board and clock him. He dies to assorted beats and Escort protects my guys and he can't bounce my Stirring Wildwood with Into the Roil.
Sideboard: +2 Pridemage +2 Oblivion Ring +2 Negate +1 Deprive +1 Sphinx of Jwar Isle -2 Sovereigns -2 Sun Titan -4 Jace
Game 2: I play a Cobra on 2 and he Into the Roils it. He Temple Bell is exiled by my Cobra + fetch + Oblivion Ring, and we both draw a card in response. He never gets another Howling Mine effect and dies to my Cobra + War Monk after Escort protects my team from a Twincast Pyroclasm.
Finals: J. Vang with Naya
I lose the die roll.
Game 1: He mulls to 5 and does nothing but play a Basilisk Collar.
Sideboard: same as before.
Game 2: He gets Sparkmage and Collar active, and I have one turn to draw Sovereigns to kill him with Birds of Paradise while his Sparkmage is tapped. I miss and am locked out.
Game 3: I play Bird into Knight into War Monk into Elspeth, lift Warmonk. His plays are Basilisk Collar on turn two, Path my Knight on 3, and Linvala on turn 4. While this shuts off my my Bird and Hierarch, and I can't activate my man land since I found the second plains with Path and drew an Arid Mesa, which had no targets left in the deck. I play a second War monk and his Linvala is forced to chump an attack next turn when I draw a land to activate my Colonnade. His Bloodbraid cascades into a Fauna Shaman and he dies.
It felt pretty good to have lost every die roll and still win the grinder. The matchups were pretty much as I expected, though Vampires was a surprise. The deck performed admirably and I was quite satisfied with it.
James and Jeremy had headed back to the hotel room after James won his grinder with Valakut Ramp, and I had no idea how to go back by myself. So I stayed around and watched Kurtis and Matt play more grinders, though to no success.
Game 3 of James's final round was hilarious. Opponent was playing Naya and had played turn 4 Ajani, lock down an untapped land. Turn 5 Manabarbs with no creatures or manlands in play, after activating Ajani targetting an untapped land. James Lightning Bolts Ajani EOT, then topdecks his 4th land for Bloodbraid Elf into Cultivate. At this point I move to the other side of the table and leave the match as the Naya player's hand is 2 Manabarbs and nothing else.
That night I switched up some slots as the Nats metagame will probably be more control and combo heavy compared to the grinders. As a result War Monks were removed in favor of the 3rd Dauntless Escort and maindeck Pridemage. The Beleren went to the Sideboard, and I got a second Linvala as well. This left me with 59 maindeck cards, and I ran one Time Warp for spice.
Kurtis asked if anyone knew when the Legacy side events were, and the room in unison replied, no, we're all Q'd. Probably gave the guy too rough a time for not winning a grinder, but I'm sure he didn't mind too much. After all, top 4'd Midwest Masters Championships less than two weeks previous.
James and Joe both sleeved up Jeremy's 75, which was what James won his grinder with. I would've been on board for the full 300, but we lacked the cards to build the fourth copy. When discussing sideboard options, Joe asked James if he'd considered boarding in Manabarbs for the Naya matchup.
After a few more jabs at Kurtis for not saying "Gearing Up for a Big Turn" or "Getting into Top Gear" whenever he cast Stoneforge Mystic for Adventuring Gear during his grinders, everyone went to sleep.
Join me for part two later in the week. More games, more stories, and more laughs to come!
4 comments:
Scrolling through the article, all I can see is "I lose the die roll" :/
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