blog
Upcoming PTQ in Kuala Lumpur 15/2/201528/1/2015 Regarding the PPTQ a few weeks back I played Makihito Mihara's deck from GP Manila. The deck is good against Abzan which I anticipated most players would bring to play but there were only a few of those. I managed to make top 8 in a small field of 20 players but lost to eventual winner Ryan Luo who played Jeskai Combo in quarters. I offered him a lucky split of which if either of us win the event will cover the other person's entry fee. Lucky me! It is my first time offering a lucky split and Ryan said never reject as karma hits bad. Really stoked for him even though I did not win. He is a good friend and I always want the best for him. I went 0-3 the next day. Oh well. There is an upcoming PTQ in KL, the final one of the previous format instead of the current PPTQ, where I was unsure of what deck to play. Abzan is good but I do not like the mana base. Jeskai variants are not easy to pilot as they have difficulty generating incremental advantage. Mardu, Whip, and UB control are one-turn-a-spell deck which can get trampled by aggro. Aggro decks might hit a brick with draws and die itself. From my understanding Wizards has been shifting its focus from reactive strategies to active strategies so as to entice newer players that even they can win against more experienced players. Attacking with creatures is the best plan. I saw an article on Star City Games and had the thought of playing a cute little deck. Since I have been hardly playing nowadays might as well get something fun and in tune with the above principle. This is the list: Goblins Creatures (23) 4 Foundry Street Denizen 4 Frenzied Goblin 3 Goblin Heelcutter 4 Goblin Rabblemaster 4 Jeering Instigator 4 Mardu Scout Spells (16) 4 Obelisk of Urd 4 Lightning Strike 4 Stoke the Flames 4 Hordeling Outburst Lands (21) 13 Mountain 4 Bloodstained Mire 4 Wooded Foothills Sideboard 4 Torch Fiend 4 Valley Dasher 2 Searing Blood 2 Harness by Force 3 Scouring Sands Fortunately I was able to borrow the deck from my good friend Jimmy. He is known as the Goblin King during his active days playing as he equip himself with Gobbos across all format. He suggested cutting fetchlands for basics. It might seem counter intuitive as there are no library manipulation and deck thinning is the only option to maximise draws but the deck is quite dependent on hitting the third land. I trust him as he had trusted me on previous decks he played when I suggested configurations. Jimmy made lots of people go on tilt via multiple GPT top 8. Oh yea. Take that, bitches!
Took it out for a spin and join GPT on Sunday. 24 players meant 5 rounds. Went 2-2-1. Lost to Jeskai Tokens in round 1. Won Mardu and UB control for next 2 rounds respectively. Lost to Abzan aggro next. Drew final round as both of us were out of top 8 contention. An incident occurred against the Abzan player. He was playacting while resolving runner runner Siege Rhino in game 2. I was stuck on 2 lands and would have given him a run on his money. He got a piece of my mind. I absolutely detest this kind of moronic behavior. He can count himself lucky to have gotten away so lightly as I fucked my friend real good when he did the same number on me. Bloody hell. Did not dare look me in the eye afterwards. Will update on tweaks as I try to find a concoction suitable to my play style. Brought my darling out for a walk after work and let it have fun against other deck by joining an event. Not easy building a relationship as I need to find more game time for the next 3 days before I head over and finalise the list. Playing full basics was correct as I always wanted to have more than 3 lands to fully utilise my options. Motivation11/1/2015 Felt lethargic for the past couple months and noticed something was amiss. Being away from playing has made me realized how much I love playing the game. Take that out and I'm lifeless. My thirst for competitive Magic rekindled. We had the last old format PTQ in december and I took Sidisi Whip to a 3-3-1 record. I lost to the eventual winner in round 6 with Jeskai Ascendancy Hybrid (token/combo). Thoughtseized opponent and saw Mana Confluence previous turn. Opponent drew a card and played the land. Time called. I'm the active player. 1. Whip of Erebos and Courser of Kruphix in play. 2. Drew Thoughtseize with Hornet Queen in hand and top of library revealed Bile Blight. 3. Opponent life at 12 with an empty board. I'm at 8. What's your play? After analyzing the play repeatedly below are the possible scenarios,
Scene 1: Thoughtseize myself discard Hornet Queen and Whip it back. Took 2 from Thoughtseize and 2 from lands which dropped me to 4 within 4 point burn range. If opponent does not draw it I will attack with Courser and Queen leaving opponent at 8 facing 4 tokens and Courser for final 2 turns. Bile Blight will be able to clear any tokens. Scene 2: Attack with Courser put myself up to 10. Thoughtseize Queen Whip go down to 6. Opponent at 10 against 4 tokens and Courser. I will still be dead against Jeskai Charm/Stoke plus Lightning Strike. If the card in hand was a blank and Jeskai Charm/Stoke was the second card drawn during my next attack step Courser gets bounced/killed and he will be left with 2 life after extra turns. Scene 3: Attack with Courser pass the turn. Both even at 10 life. Do the discard next turn attack down to 6. Will face the same situation as outcome for scene 2. Oh well. That's Magic. Managed to play 2 PPTQ but this post is too long to continue. AuthorLaid back and enjoys a good laugh. Archives
March 2021
Categories |