Fake Deck, Real Deck

Well here we are again. Two more events under my belt. One fake deck, one real deck. Last Wednesday I took the following spicy brew to the local shop:

4 Goblin Arsonist
1 Spikeshot Elder
1 Goblin Fireslinger
1 Goblin Wardriver
4 Mogg Flunkies
4 Krenko's Command
4 Goblin Chieftain
3 Krenko, Mob Boss

3 Arc Trail
4 Goblin Grenade
1 Burn at the Stake
4 Brimstone Volley

3 Shrine of Burning Rage

15 Mountain
4 Cavern of Souls
2 Hellion Crucible
2 Ghost Quarter

Sideboard:
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Zealous Conscripts
3 Manic Vandal
2 Manabarbs
4 Combust
4 Whipflare

Round 1 I played against some kind of Bant-y concoction (my notes for this match are sparse as to the details). I killed him in 2 games with Burn at the Stake (BatS!) for 12 when he was at 11 and 12, respectively.

Round 2 I played against Mono-Green Aggro. Won in two. He probably handed me the first game after landing an early Sword of War and Peace and just never attacking with it.

Round 3 I played against GW Aggro. Game 1 this happened:

I lost game 2 after a double mulligan into an awkward hand. Game 3 things were going okay despite a mulligan and then my opponent hardcast  Elesh Norn and I died, along with my goblin army.

Round 4 I played against a control-ish Esper deck. We split the first two games. Game 3 I had a draw with multiple shrines. The game effectively ended on a turn where he had Oblivion Ring for my 7-counter shrine the turn before he was dead. Instead of untapping and killing him, I ended up running out of gas after killing a few guys with my burn to stay at a positive life total.

So, 2-2 against questionable opposition. If I were to play this deck again, I would cut a Wardriver and a Fireslinger for a Burn at the Stake and a Spikeshot Elder. In the side, I would add a Zealous Conscripts (I only have 1) and take out the Cage. I don't expect to run into Frites at a "real" event.

I am going to keep an eye on this deck, as it does some powerful things. I don't think it's well positioned right now. Rotation will be interesting as you lose Goblin Chieftain and Goblin Grenade, and you sort of really need those two cards for the deck to tick. If something gets printed that can step in, this deck will benefit from a probably slower format.

Today I went to a Star City Games Invitational Qualifier in Glen Burnie, Maryland. It was at a store called Squabbles inside a small shopping mall. I would play there again, as there is ample parking and a Five Guys and a Chik-fil-a within walking distance. I ditched the goblins in favor of Adam Prosak's (nearly) Mono-Blue Delver list. Prosak did a deck tech at the last SCG Open where he finished 4th with the deck. My list is the same as his except for two cars. I played Runechanter's Pike over Sword of War and Peace because I don't have a SWOP. I played Rewind over Dissipate in the side because I liked the interaction with Restoration Angel, and with the other instants I'm playing more generally. Downsides are the added mana making it harder to cast the first time and substantially harder to cast with Snapcaster Mage. Six is asking a lot from this deck.

For this event I took BJB's advice of writing down a mistake I made every round. I think that this will be helpful.

In the first round I played against UR Delver. I beat him in two relatively uneventful games.

Round 2 I played against the near-mirror; he was playing 21 lands and maindeck Angels. I lost the first one narrowly. Game 2 I made my first real punt...I needed to hold back a Augur of Bolas to block his Snapcaster Mage because I was one point short of killing him. I had the Vapor Snag to close it, but I knew he had Negate for it and failed to play around it correctly.

Round 3 I played against a Bant Venser/Stonehorn Dignitary deck. I got locked out of game 1, but things got much better (a) after I could side in Negates and Dismembers and (b) once I knew what he was up to. I have it written down that at some point in this match I milled away a Runechanter's Pike that I wanted to draw--I'm pretty sure it was the third card down on a Ponder.

I beat Mono-Green Infect in two games in round 4. I'm pretty sure this is a very positive matchup for me pre-board, and post-board it gets nigh-unlosable. I have millions of Phyrexian mana spells and I get to ignore my life total. You side out your equipment and your Talrands and side in more 0-1 mana Vindicates (effectively Vindicates, anyway) and a few flash Angels. I also swapped in Negate for Mutagenic Growth. I played fairly tight this round, noting only a few minor things. I showed him a lethal Vapor Snag a bit early--he could have had a Ranger's Guile or something. There were also a few times where I should have paid some mana for free spells and didn't--I could have put myself in a position late where Dismember was a dead card.

Round five I played against a white deck splashing for Thragtusk. He had Trading Post and Rhox Faithmender. This may actually be a real deck, given that he was 4-1 and took me to three games. On the other hand, I just punted the game I lost by Steel Sabotaging a Cavern of Souls-infused Wurmcoil Engine, allowing him to resolve a Trading Post later that basically won him the game.

So at this point I'm 4-1 with two rounds to go. Next round is a "win-and-in," as the kids say. This round I play against UG Infect. Game one is close as I kill him at 8 poison. Game 2 is not close at all, really. I did try to Mental Misstep an Apostle's Blessing this round, but other than that no major errors.

I'm 5-1 with one round to go. Obviously, I get paired down. He's Mono-Black with Vampire Nighthawk, Mutilate, Lashwrithe, and Disciple of Bolas. Game one I mulligan to a six card hand with two Probes and a Ponder. The second Probe gets me the land I want, but I have to shuffle the Ponder. I'm able to make a game out of it but eventually his better late-game kicks in. Game 2 I keep seven, but his turn 1 Despise turn 2 Distress ensures that I mostly durdle and then die. I played pretty well here, I think, except for the time I tried to save my guy from Black Sun's Zenith with Mutagenic Growth. I'm pretty sure that's not the first time I've forgotten that BSZ adds counters rather than giving -X/-X until end of turn, actually, although it hasn't come up recently in any of my games.

For the full rub-ins, the guy I played in round 7 was the same guy who I managed to gift a free win via game loss against during the last PTQ.

I sound salty about this now, but at the time I feel like my head was in a good place, which is encouraging. I felt good in the round I thought was a win-and-in as well, so that's something for me to build on.

So I didn't get there. I do, however, think this deck is awesome. I'm going to try to acquisit or borrow the Sword of War and Peace for the PTQ next weekend, although honestly the Pike was servicable. I'm not 100% sold on the Mutagenic Growths, but I didn't play many Bonfire decks.

I finish 12th, with one of the other 5-2s making it, which suggests that had I been able to draw in the last round, I would have been in. The money and the Top 8 swag would have been nice, and I am a bit disappointed, but that feeling is running up against the good feeling I'm getting from the improvement in my performance compared to the last few "big" events I've done.

I'm going to battle again on Wednesday as a tune up, and then head to the PTQ in Baltimore on the 28th. Hopefully I will be able to carry over my momentum from this weekend's experience.