Hello again internet,
Ken here again motivated and ready to post some content relevant to whats going on with me so here we go:
I went to our Friday Night Magic tournament this week with a deck that has been doing well since the US Nationals: Makeshift Mannequin Redux is what I have been calling it. One of the first decks I played when I first started taking Magic seriously was the original Mannequin deck that revolved around evoke and controlling the board with blue bounce cards, counterspells, and unfair advantage generated by the interaction. This new deck uses red for control instead of the old blue and plays similarly, if not better. I had pretty good testing matches and read a ton about the deck before I built it.
Last week was the first time I tried it out, and I took it to a 3-0-1 finish, which was high enough to net me second place out of a number in the high twenties, so I figured I would play it this week.
I felt good about the matchups in my meta, which are generally aggro decks, with a few strange (and powerful) control decks trying to keep everyone in check. About 32 people show up and we have to put up extra tables. This is always a great start: more rounds equals more fun!
1st Round:
I'm paired up against someone who looks like he's about 10? Definitely on the younger side, but I've learned in the past to never underestimate a younger player after getting blown out once by a youngling playing an excellent red/black deck.
I keep a decent hand, 2 Fallouts, 2 Shriekmaws, 2 Lands and a Putrid Leech. I'm gonna control the first couple turns for sure, and hopefully he's playing something fast and aggro-ish. 25 lands in the deck so one more should not be hard to draw.
He wins the roll: drops turn one Goldmeadow Stalwart. Excellent, I think. This should be one of the better matchups for me, and I'm packing 2 Fallouts in hand. I draw and Exotic Orchard, play a Vivid, and pass.
I drop my Forest, a Leech, and pass it over. At this point I realize that between the lands in play and my hand, I have one red mana producer. Sad face. He drops Spectral Procession. Sadder face.
I draw a couple turns and get another Vivid, which doesn't go the distance when he drops Ajani.
I go to the sideboard and put in Deathmark. Excellent card in the matchup and I can take out the Anathamancer! Dead cards for good cards seems good.
Game two I make a horrific error: I decide to Maelstrom Pulse his Spirit tokens because he had double Honor of the Pure out and 9 damage next turn. This is a failure because chances are with my deck, I can get a Fallout or Caldera Hellion out more often than I can Pulse. I die when he plays Cloudgoat Ranger and the Fallout I draw is now a dead card.
I take a couple minutes after this match and realize I am an idiot. I've lost the first round against a good matchup by failing to play well. But there's always the next match...
2nd Round:
My opponent plays 2 cards during this entire match: Akrasan Squire and Stoic Angel. I run this dude over (aparently mana screwed) with Bloodbraid Elf. Yeehaw.
3rd Round:
My opponent opens with the Merfolk dual land. I think this may be a good thing for me since I love to kill everything. I soon find out that my deck hates me terribly, drawing into 3 lands and then another Anathamancer that can hit him for... one damage? He gets Soverigns, I get no Pulse, and thats all she wrote for that one.
Second game can be summed up in two words: Harm's Way. This card is a headache and a half. He redirects damage by playing TWO Harm's Way in a turn to redirect Putrid Leech damage back to me. Thats a 6 point life swing back to myself.
After killing myself with my own Leech, I took a minute to think about life. Things were looking grim to me. My deck should be punishing people, but instead I'm punishing myself with play mistakes and terrible luck all rolled into one. I've gotta stay focused and give my deck a pep talk at this point.
4th Round:
This match was pretty good overall for me but I did have one moment where things looked grim: he played 3 Battlegrace Angels. Without a Pulse or a tricky two-for-one, I was gonna be out of it. A timely topdecked Cloudthresher fixed this problem when coupled with a Fallout. Score one for the alliance.
5th Round:
This round was definitely a blowout. Its funny how I remember very little from the rounds like this. My deck played the curve like it should, and I was rewarded with the big W. He played blue/white and the hardest decision this game was whether to Fallout or Pulse at one point. Whenever I find myself in this position, it seems the best decision is always wait for the Pulse.
*end games*
3-2 Record and some disappointment from misplaying a great deck.
I rip a couple packs of Alara Reborn because M10 is sold out everwhere. A Deathbringer Thoctor and a Fight to the Death. "This is a bummer day" I think to myself and push back the rare to reveal..... a Foil Uril the Miststalker! This card is not Standard playable, but is one of my favorite Generals in Elder Dragon Highlander! So my general has been upgraded to Foil!
This made me smile, and even though I really didn't gain much from the day (except for the time when I thought about how terribly I played) it was overall a positive experience.
Thanks to everyone who made this Friday a great day and hope to see as many people or more next week!
~Ken
Ken here again motivated and ready to post some content relevant to whats going on with me so here we go:
I went to our Friday Night Magic tournament this week with a deck that has been doing well since the US Nationals: Makeshift Mannequin Redux is what I have been calling it. One of the first decks I played when I first started taking Magic seriously was the original Mannequin deck that revolved around evoke and controlling the board with blue bounce cards, counterspells, and unfair advantage generated by the interaction. This new deck uses red for control instead of the old blue and plays similarly, if not better. I had pretty good testing matches and read a ton about the deck before I built it.
Last week was the first time I tried it out, and I took it to a 3-0-1 finish, which was high enough to net me second place out of a number in the high twenties, so I figured I would play it this week.
I felt good about the matchups in my meta, which are generally aggro decks, with a few strange (and powerful) control decks trying to keep everyone in check. About 32 people show up and we have to put up extra tables. This is always a great start: more rounds equals more fun!
1st Round:
I'm paired up against someone who looks like he's about 10? Definitely on the younger side, but I've learned in the past to never underestimate a younger player after getting blown out once by a youngling playing an excellent red/black deck.
I keep a decent hand, 2 Fallouts, 2 Shriekmaws, 2 Lands and a Putrid Leech. I'm gonna control the first couple turns for sure, and hopefully he's playing something fast and aggro-ish. 25 lands in the deck so one more should not be hard to draw.
He wins the roll: drops turn one Goldmeadow Stalwart. Excellent, I think. This should be one of the better matchups for me, and I'm packing 2 Fallouts in hand. I draw and Exotic Orchard, play a Vivid, and pass.
I drop my Forest, a Leech, and pass it over. At this point I realize that between the lands in play and my hand, I have one red mana producer. Sad face. He drops Spectral Procession. Sadder face.
I draw a couple turns and get another Vivid, which doesn't go the distance when he drops Ajani.
I go to the sideboard and put in Deathmark. Excellent card in the matchup and I can take out the Anathamancer! Dead cards for good cards seems good.
Game two I make a horrific error: I decide to Maelstrom Pulse his Spirit tokens because he had double Honor of the Pure out and 9 damage next turn. This is a failure because chances are with my deck, I can get a Fallout or Caldera Hellion out more often than I can Pulse. I die when he plays Cloudgoat Ranger and the Fallout I draw is now a dead card.
I take a couple minutes after this match and realize I am an idiot. I've lost the first round against a good matchup by failing to play well. But there's always the next match...
2nd Round:
My opponent plays 2 cards during this entire match: Akrasan Squire and Stoic Angel. I run this dude over (aparently mana screwed) with Bloodbraid Elf. Yeehaw.
3rd Round:
My opponent opens with the Merfolk dual land. I think this may be a good thing for me since I love to kill everything. I soon find out that my deck hates me terribly, drawing into 3 lands and then another Anathamancer that can hit him for... one damage? He gets Soverigns, I get no Pulse, and thats all she wrote for that one.
Second game can be summed up in two words: Harm's Way. This card is a headache and a half. He redirects damage by playing TWO Harm's Way in a turn to redirect Putrid Leech damage back to me. Thats a 6 point life swing back to myself.
After killing myself with my own Leech, I took a minute to think about life. Things were looking grim to me. My deck should be punishing people, but instead I'm punishing myself with play mistakes and terrible luck all rolled into one. I've gotta stay focused and give my deck a pep talk at this point.
4th Round:
This match was pretty good overall for me but I did have one moment where things looked grim: he played 3 Battlegrace Angels. Without a Pulse or a tricky two-for-one, I was gonna be out of it. A timely topdecked Cloudthresher fixed this problem when coupled with a Fallout. Score one for the alliance.
5th Round:
This round was definitely a blowout. Its funny how I remember very little from the rounds like this. My deck played the curve like it should, and I was rewarded with the big W. He played blue/white and the hardest decision this game was whether to Fallout or Pulse at one point. Whenever I find myself in this position, it seems the best decision is always wait for the Pulse.
*end games*
3-2 Record and some disappointment from misplaying a great deck.
I rip a couple packs of Alara Reborn because M10 is sold out everwhere. A Deathbringer Thoctor and a Fight to the Death. "This is a bummer day" I think to myself and push back the rare to reveal..... a Foil Uril the Miststalker! This card is not Standard playable, but is one of my favorite Generals in Elder Dragon Highlander! So my general has been upgraded to Foil!
This made me smile, and even though I really didn't gain much from the day (except for the time when I thought about how terribly I played) it was overall a positive experience.
Thanks to everyone who made this Friday a great day and hope to see as many people or more next week!
~Ken
1 comment:
Hey Ken, its Tim I like the write-up, it was quite an enjoyable read. Also just a heads up we had 40 people exactly show up that night... talk about a good showing.
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