Finishing Strong

Friday the 16th I gathered my friends Jeff and Brent and we started up I-95 toward Philly. We left early enough in the afternoon that we would be able to make an FNM at 6 PM barring any major delays. The plan was to meet my friend Jordan at the FNM, crash on his couch that night, and then drive into town for the PTQ the next day. The ride up was a mixed bag.

At every toll booth, Jeff and I put on shades, cranked Gangnam Style up to 11, and horse-danced up to the window. Brent mostly observed bemusedly. Results varied from indifference to smiles, to barely being able to keep a straight face. The bad news was that traffic was congested the entire way, and we ended up missing FNM and having to drive straight to Jordan's. We were able, however, to grab a case of PREMIUM Yuengling to split just before the state-run beer distributor closed. At 9 PM. On a Friday. Hooraaaaaaaay government. At least after a three-and-a-half hour drive turned into a six+ hour drive, we had some beer, I guess.

Got to the event site a little later than I had hoped, but that's why you have wiggle room. Just had time to get some breakfast at Wawa and get in line with five minutes or so to spare. Unpleasant surprise: the entry fee was $35, most I have ever paid for a PTQ easily. I'm pretty sure the website had listed $30, as well. In fairness, the prize support was decidedly above average. Pleasant surprise: entry to the tournament hall was wristband-restricted in an effort to fight theft (later on in the day I had to vouch that Jordan wasn't a thief before he could get in when he showed up to hang out). They were doing rolling deck registration, which I guess is a good idea? Gives the judges a head start on reviewing decklists before round 1, I suppose, but it doesn't make round 1 happen any faster. Anyway, I was able to sit down and start registering as soon as I had entered the room.

Here's the pool:

WHITE 2 Armory Guard 1 Arrest 1 Avenging Arrow 1 Ethereal Armor 1 Fencing Ace 1 Keening Apparition 1 Knightly Valor 1 Selesnya Sentry 1 Seller of Songbirds 1 Sphere of Safety 1 Swift Justice	BLUE 1 Cancel 1 Crosstown Courier 2 Doorkeeper 1 Jace, Architect of Thought 1 Paralyzing Grasp 1 Skyline Predator 1 Stealer of Secrets 1 Voidwielder	BLACK 1 Catacomb Slug 1 Dark Revenant 1 Dead Reveler 1 Deviant Glee 1 Drainpipe Vermin 1 Grave Betrayal 2 Grim Roustabout 1 Launch Party 1 Mind Rot 1 Ogre Jailbreaker 1 Sewer Shambler 1 Slum Reaper 1 Terrus Wurm
RED Ash Zealot 1 Batterhorn 1 Bellows Lizard 1 Electrickery 1 Lobber Crew 1 Pursuit of Flight 2 Splatter Thug 1 Viashino Racketeer	GREEN 1 Axebane Stag 1 Brushstrider 3 Drudge Beetle 1 Druid's Deliverance 1 Horncaller's Chant 1 Savage Surge 1 Seek the Horizon 1 Urban Burgeoning	HYBRID 1 Frostburn Weird 2 Golgari Longlegs 1 Sundering Growth
AZORIUS 1 Dramatic Rescue 1 New Prahv Guildmage 1 Skymark Roc	IZZET 2 Chemister's Trick 1 Goblin Electromancer 1 Nivix Guildmage	RAKDOS 1 Augur Spree 1 Carnival Hellsteed 1 Hellhole Flailer 1 Rakdos Charm 1 Rakdos Ringleader 1 Rix Maadi Guldmage 1 Skull Rend
GOLGARI 1 Tresured Find 1 Trestle Troll	SELESNYA (none)	ARTIFACTS 1 Azorius Keyrune 1 Civic Saber 1 Street Sweeper LANDS 1 Blood Crypt 1 Hallowed Fountain 1 Rakdos Guildgate 3 Selesnya Guildgate 1 Transguild Promenade

This isn't a bad pool really, but it certainly isn't busted and the quality is pretty spread out. But hey, Jace, how lucky. I was drawn to my Blue and White. I noted my Red and Black had some strong cards and potentially enough filler to make a deck, but I didn't want to be Rakdos if I could help it. I felt like going 6-1-1 or more likely 7-1 would be potentially a bridge to far with a pretty much entirely "fair" Rakdos build. My experience with the archetype is that sometimes you would roll over people who stumbled early, but it would be difficult to win long grindy games where playskill tends to matter more. After determining the Azorius deck was playable, I didn't think much more about it. I ended up building the following:

2 Doorkeeper
1 Keening Apparition
1 Fencing Ace
1 New Prahv Guildmage
1 Seller of Songbirds
1 Selesnya Sentry
1 Stealer of Secrets
2 Armory Guard
1 Skymark Roc
1 Voidwielder
1 Street Sweeper
1 Skyline Predator
1 Swift Justice
1 Divine Rescue
1 Arrest
1 Cancel
1 Paralyzing Grasp
1 Avenging Arrow
1 Jace Ventura, Pet Detective
1 Knightly Valor
1 Azorius Keyrune
9 Island
1 Hallowed Fountain
5 Plains
2 Selesnya Guildgate

The plan here is pretty straightforward--hide behind 0/4s and 2/5s until I can take over the game with one of Jace, Skymark Roc, New Prahv Guildmage, or possibly Skyline Predator. With three Selesnya Guildgates in the pool, I looked hard for splashable Green but came up empty. I almost put in the Scavenge bears to make my Fencing Ace less embarrassing, but that seemed like a poor plan.

Later in the day (I think it was between rounds 3 and 4) I sat down with my friend Steve (follow him on Twitter at @RubinZoo) to see if I could have done better with my pool. In the Azorius Deck, he talked me into swapping a Doorkeeper for a Frostburn Weird. I had been worried about casting it reliably on turn 2, but really its enough of a better card that its worth the risk. I mentioned that I was curious about my Red-Black, and we worked out the following:

1 Rix Maadi Guildmage
2 Grim Roustabout
1 Ash Zealot
1 Frostburn Weird
1 Hellhole Flailer
1 Lobber Crew
1 Sewer Shambler
2 Splatter Thug
1 Dead Reveler
1 Slum Reaper
2 Golgari Longlegs
1 Carnival Hellsteed
1 Civic Saber
1 Deviant Glee
1 Electrickery
1 Pursuit of Flight
1 Mind Rot
1 Augur Spree
1 Launch Party
1 Skull Rend
7 Mountain
8 Swamp
1 Blood Crypt
1 Rakdos Guildgate

I have three gold creatures in Rakdos that are various degrees of bomby (in order: Hellhole Flailer, Bad Horse, Guildmage), as well as an Augur Spree. Some of the support cards aren't very exciting however--Grim Roustabout isn't really where you want to be, the Civic Saber is Shuko more than it's Bonesplitter, and the Launch Party doesn't really have any profitable dudes to sacrifice (something like Gatecreeper Vine, for example). Outside the Spree the removal is decidedly lackluster, and indeed the same is true of the spells in general. Steve thought Rakdos had a better chance of running the table than did Azorius. While the UW would not get run over, it wasn't going to run anyone else over, either. Honestly, that's what I wanted out of a deck after writing "did nothing and died" so many times this PTQ season, so Steve's advice may have backfired a bit, haha. Nevertheless, I resolved to side into RB if my opponent seemed better equipped to win a long game than I did; this ended up never coming up.

We had 224 players in attendance and would play 8 rounds. I believe that's right at the cutoff for 9, but I'm not sure.

In round 1 we played three lopsided games and I emerged the victor. My nots for the match indicate that I had missed a couple attacks with Voidwielder since I wanted to leave a guy back, but forgot that my Armory Guard had Vigilance. Round 2 was exciting--I won game 1 and then lost to Pack Rat game 2, although it was reasonably close. Game 3 I managed to beat an active Pack Rat, and it's wasn't even from an overwhelming board position, although my early pressure managed to keep the Rats on D the entire game.

Round 3 I picked up my first loss in three games. Game 1 we both double mulliganned, and I drew better, eventually landing Jace. I think I may have taken the wrong pile once--I was offered Knightly Valor or Stealer of Secrets, land. His board was a 2/2 and mine was Doorkeeper. I took the Stealer and the land, but this was very greedy. Valor protects my Jace and I should have been on that plan rather than the kill him quickly plan. He ended up stabilizing on 4 with me on 16. I put him to 1 the turn before I died, although my notes don't indicate how.

Game 2, he doulbe mulliganned and I steamrolled him. Game 3 I double mulliganned and had to try and fight my way back. I didn't.

That brings us to the fourth round, where I was paired against my friend Brent. I got stomped game 1, (I'm guessing it was flood looking at how the game went). I then came back to force a game 3. During game 2, things in the match next to mine got a bit heated. The player next to me untapped, waited a beat, drew, waited a beat, and then asked to go to declare attackers. His opponent then attempted to put a Stab Wound trigger on the stack. Judges were called, tempers flared. It was decided that the player next to me would take 2. After their game (and match) ended and people seemed to have calmed down, I mentioned that maybe playing a precombat land would have helped turn the call against the guy next to Brent, which set off the player next to me on a tirade, the gist of which was "yeah, sure, whatever, the important thing is that this guy forgot and then didn't own up to forgetting when asked by the judge." All of which was true, I grant you, but at this point I was more interested in the argument ending so Brent and I could finish our match in peace, and after a couple minutes of trying to wait it out, I said as much.

I mention all this because after the match my friend Bill told me that the player next to me was Pro Tour Champion Osyp Lebedowicz, and I find it super amusing that I told him (1) how to play and (2) to be quiet.

I won the third game against Brent, ending his run. Jeff also picked up his second loss, leaving me alone to defend the carpool's honor. Round five was a 2-0 cakewalk, and for the fourth time this PTQ season I started out 4-1.

Round six was exciting. I recognized my opponent's name--Jeff Folinus--from previous PTQs. Game 1 I landed an early Stealer of Secrets and New Prahv Guildmage, he had an early Rix Maadi Guildmage. Blocking wasn't going to be very profitable for me with the Rix Maadi guildmage active, and attacking with the Stealer looked like an ok plan--I could even jump it if necessary. I was hoping to draw into my Voidweilder, my Skymark Roc, and similar tempo cards. The critical turn game when I had 4 mana available, and had two choices of target. I could hit his Guildmage, which was the correct long-term play if I have to start blocking. As the board looked, I didn't look like I'd be doing a lot of that. Alternatively, I could hit his 2/3 Dead Reveler, attack for 4, and draw a card. Well, I went with the second one, and the card I drew was Jace, Architect of Thought. All of a sudden it looked like blocking might be in my future. I didn't draw cards that would let me keep attacking, and his Rix Maadi Guildmage took over the game as I had feared it might. I feel like I might have just failed the "Who's the Beatdown" test in this game; my deck gave me an aggressive opener, but it was probably a trap to play aggressively with it given that it was fairly likely I'd be drawing some 2/5s and 0/4s pretty soon and that his draw would stay aggressive.

He stabilized at 8 and pulled ahead, dealing the last few points with Lobber Crew. Game 2 I mulligan on the play and die to Necropolis Regent. I'm 4-2 and dead, and I need to win out to be assured of prizes (I guess maybe 5-3 might sneak in but eeeeeeeeh).

The staff neglected to drop my nominal round 7 opponent, and I ended up being paired up against a different fellow. I didn't need any of the 7 minute time extension as I won two quick and decisive matches, with Skymark Roc repeatedly time walking him game 1; game 2 looked close for a while but I don't think the result was ever in doubt. Game 1 of round 8 was similarly academic. Game two my opponent mulliganned on the play. I "stabilized" at 12, although Stab Wound put me down to 8 on the turn I won. So, 6-2.

Apologies for the blurry photo. You may notice my round 6 opponent made top 8, as did my friend Steve. Steve ended up taking down the whole thing. Go Steve!

I had thought this was my best PTQ performance since going 5-2 at a PTQ in Columbus (for PT Berlin) in August 2008 and finishing 10th (I lost my win-and-in in round 6 and won the final round), but research reveals I went 5-2 twice in 2010 at Qualifiers in Pittsburgh and Columbus for PT Amsterdam, dying in rounds 5 and 6 respectively (the Columbus PTQ being associated with the Legacy GP). So I've done as well record-wise, but not in terms of reaching a win-and-in round. Regardless, top 16 is something to build on, I guess?

Really, thought, what makes me most satisfied (well, as satisfied as I can be with not winning the whole enchilada) with this event is that with the exception of the one Jace split and a couple missed attacks, I feel like I played exceptionally well this tournament. I didn't implement the "figure out attacks in the end step" plan (next season remind me to do this) but I did feel very good about my technical play in general from round 1 to round 8. I felt like I had made measured progress since the beginning of the season, and I'll try to carry that forward.

6-2 was good for 115 Planeswalker Points; I needed 109 to lock up 2 byes to GP Atlantic City and GP Pittsburgh. Good for me! With two byes I'll likely only need to go 5-2 to make my first GP Day 2. The next PTQ season is Modern and the first drivable event for me is December 29th back in Philly. Before then I have to get a feel for the format, select a deck, and gather the pieces.

Opposite Day

The narrative for the first three PTQs this season has been for me to start out 4-1 and falter down the stretch, missing top 16 and coming home empty-handed. This Saturday I started the day with prizes and sputtered out of the gate in the first three rounds. If I'm going to fail, at least it's now with variety.

The two highlights of the day came early. I awoke Saturday morning to find that a mutual friend of one of my roommates and myself had left this gem on the white board in the kitchen:

Green Eyes White Giraffe

I picked up Jeff and we made the drive to Comic Kings in Virginia Beach. I think I definitely made the right decision regarding whether to attend this event or the one in Fairless Hills as the drive was fairly relaxing the whole way and the venue was pretty good.

Before round 1, the store gave out some fairly generous door prizes. A box's worth of packs was given out in groups of six, and I was one of the lucky winners. Then all the names were put back in the hat and someone was given a Commander's Arsenal. The prize support for the event was excellent with everyone in top 8 getting at least a box and prizes going down to 16th place. There's fast food, a grocery store, and Chinese take-out all walkable from the store. My only real complaint is that the venue's a bit on the small side.

It was all downhill from there.

I finished the day with only three match wins, and in two of those my opponents technical play was exceedingly poor. One opponent chump blocked over multiple turns, but not with the creature with Stab Wound on it. Another walked into the pump ability of Korozda Guildmage on back-to-back turns. I pretty much just had to show up to win those.

A lot of my losses felt like they were beyond my control as well. In the first game of round one, I kept a two-lander and by the time I started playing lands again my opponent was on seven mana and overloading Cyclonic Rift. Game 2 I kept two lands, Gatecreeper Vine and the game was well out of reach by the time I hit four lands. My opponent had the overloaded rift again, just for giggles.

My second-to-last round I mulliganned into three lands, three removal spells and my opponent went Underworld Connections (nice one-for-ones you've got there) and followed up with Rubbleback Rhino (interactive!). He put himself low enough with the Connections that winning with double Stab Wound was a possibility, but I never saw targets. Game three of the final round I again kept a two-lander only for the game was out of reach before I started hitting land drops.

I guess what I'm getting at is that this PTQ felt a lot like Murphy's Law incarnate.

Here's the pool:

WHITE 1 Arrest 1 Avenging Arrow 1 Azorius Arrester 1 Ethereal Armor 1 Knightly Valor 1 Rest in Peace 2 Rootborn Defenses 2 Selesnya Sentry 1 Soul Tithe 1 Swift Justice	BLUE 1 Chronic Flooding 1 Dispel 2 Downsize 1 Hover Barrier 1 Faerie Impostor 2 Mizzium Skin 1 Psychic Spiral 1 Runewing 1 Soulsworn Spirit 1 Stealer of Secrets 1 Syncopate 1 Tower Drake 1 Search the City	BLACK 1 Assassin's Strike 1 Catacomb Slug 1 Cremate 1 Daggerdrome Imp 1 Dead Reveler 2 Deviant Glee 1 Drainpipe Vermin 2 Launch Party 1 Sewer Shambler 2 Stab Wound 1 Ultimate Price
RED 1 Annihilating Fire 1 Cobblebrute 1 Dynacharge 2 Explosive Impact 1 Goblin Rally 1 Gore-House Chainwalker 1 Utrava Hellkite 1 Viashino Racketeer	GREEN 1 Archweaver 1 Centaur's Herald 1 Gatecreeper Vine 1 Horncaller's Chant 1 Oak Street Innkeeper 1 Seek the Horizon 1 Stonefare Crocodile 2 Towering Indrik 2 Urban Burgeoning	HYBRID 1 Deathrite Shaman 1 Frostburn Weird 1 Nivmagus Elemental 1 Sundering Growth
AZORIUS 1 Azorius Charm 1 Lyev Skyknight	IZZET 1 Chemister's Trick 1 Goblin Electromancer 1 Essence Backlash	RAKDOS 1 Augur Spree 1 Rix Maadi Guldmage 1 Slaughter Games
GOLGARI 1 Korozda Guildmage 1 Rites of Reaping 1 Sluiceway Scorpion	SELESNYA 1 Common Bond 1 Coursers' Accord 1 Vitu-Ghazi Guildmage	ARTIFACTS 1 Azorius Keyrune LANDS 1 Azorius Guildgate 1 Golgari Guildgate 1 Izzet Guildgate 1 Transguild Promenade

I'll be honest, I was none too happy with what I opened. The deck wants to be either WBG or Jund. Red has Utrava Hellkite, Annihilating Fire, and double Explosive Impact, but White has just as good removal and is deeper overall. I decided the Hellkite was a trap given how good my Selesnya Gold cards were. Unfortunately, I wasn't going to be getting any "free" wins no matter what I chose.

I built this:

1 Deathrite Shaman
1 Centaur's Herald
1 Azorius Arrester
1 Gatecreeper Vine
1 Korozda Guildmage
1 Vitu-Ghazi Guildmage
2 Selesnya Sentry
1 Dead Reveler
1 Sewer Shambler
2 Towering Inkrik
1 Sluiceway Scorpion
1 Knightly Valor
1 Coursers' Accord
1 Ultimate Price
2 Stab Wound
1 Arrest
1 Avenging Arrow
1 Rootborn Defenses
1 Common Bond
1 Assassin's Strike
1 Golgari Guildgate
1 Transguild Promenade
5 Forest
5 Plains
5 Swamp

I'm pretty sure this is within a couple cards of correct. Soul Tithe is situational--basically it's good when you're the control deck in a matchup--and Rites of Reaping is expensive. In any case, the deck has plenty of removal already. I have Stab Wound and Korozda Guildmage to break stalemates. Vitu-Ghazi Guildmage can take over a game by itself. My plan is essentially to gum up the ground, remove or block his flyers, and either take over with Populate or punch through with my stalemate breakers. It didn't end up going well but I still don't think the Red offers more than the White.

I'm now up to 641 points for the season, the updated point total reflecting the points from the PTQ as well as the participation points from the grinder I did before GP Philly which hadn't been previously posted. This weekend I'm doing an FNM and a PTQ. I'd like to knock out the last few points I need then, but if I'm 20 points short or so that's not the end of the world. The goal is to win the PTQ; barring that, five match wins would put me in excellent shape to get my two byes for next season's GPs.

I got my hands on a copy of Chapin's latest article (about bluff attacks) and as a result of that I'm going to try to figure out my attacks on my opponent's end step rather than my first main phase during this weekend's events. Hopefully it will open up some opportunities for me to steal some points of damage here and there.

I'll be back next time with a review of this weekend's PTQ adventure and a retrospective on the season as a whole. See you then!

Roan-choke

This Saturday I woke up at 4:45, picked up my new carpool buddy Jeff, and drove to the Star City Game Center in Roanoke, VA on about three hours sleep. Google estimated it as a four hour trip, making it the longest I've ever driven for a PTQ. Thankfully the drive ended up about 25 minutes shorter than that. It was a rare joy that I knew upon spotting the "Speed Limit 70" sign.

My pool:

WHITE 1 Avenging Arrow 2 Azorius Arrester 1 Concordia Pegasus 1 Ethereal Armor 2 Keening Apparition 1 Knightly Valor 1 Precinct Captain 1 Security Blockade 1 Sphere of Safety	BLUE 2 Crosstown Courier 1 Cyclonic Rift 1 Dispel 1 Downsize 1 Hover Barrier 1 Isperia's Skywatch 2 Paralyzing Grasp 1 Runewing 1 Stealer of Secrets	BLACK 1 Cremate 1 Daggerdrome Imp 1 Dead Reveler 1 Drainpipe Vermin 1 Grave Betrayal 1 Grim Roustabout 1 Launch Party 1 Mind Rot 1 Sewer Shambler 1 Shrieking Affliction 1 Terrus Wurm 1 Thrill-Kill Assassin
RED 2 Bellows Lizard 2 Cobblebrute 1 Electrickery 1 Explosive Impact 1 Goblin Rally 1 Pursuit of Flight 1 Tenement Crasher 1 Viashino Racketeer	GREEN 1 Archweaver 3 Axebane Guardian 1 Centaur's Herald 1 Chorus of Might 2 Drudge Beetle 1 Gatecreeper Vine 1 Giant Growth 2 Horncaller's Chant 1 Oak Street Innkeeper 1 Rubbleback Rhino 1 Slime Molding	HYBRID 2 Frostburn Weird 1 Rakdos Cackler 1 Sundering Growth
AZORIUS 1 New Prahv Guildmage	IZZET 1 Chemister's Trick 1 Goblin Electromancer	RAKDOS 1 Augur Spree 1 Hellhole Flailer 1 Rakdos Charm 1 Rix Maadi Guldmage 1 Skull Rend
GOLGARI 1 Korozda Guildmage 1 Golgari Charm	SELESNYA 1 Armada Wurm 1 Common Bond 1 Coursers' Accord 1 Risen Sanctuary	ARTIFACTS 1 Street Sweeper LANDS 1 Azorius Guildgate 1 Blood Crypt 1 Izzet Guildgate 1 Rakdos Guildgate 1 Temple Garden 1 Transguild Promenade

This is a pretty good pool. We have two good rares in Armada Wurm and Cyclonic Rift. We have plenty of fixing.The Red cards are a bit shallow, which means our three good Rakdos cards are probably going to be on the splash, and then only if we end up Black, which would normally seem unlikely if we're base green and trying to hit 2GGWW. This isn't a normal deck, though, as I have 3 Axebane Guardian, Gatecreeper Vine, and Transguild Promenade which can make any color of mana. The Green is also super deep. I ended up splashing Blue for the Cyclonic Rift and the New Prahv Guildmage and Red for the Explosive Impact. It's possible I should have also splashed Black for the Korozda Guildmage and the Launch Party.

I ended up building this:

1 Centaur's Herald
2 Drudge Beetle
1 Gatecreeper Vine
1 Keening Apparition
1 Pegasus Charger
1 New Prahv Guildmage
3 Axebane Guardian
1 Rubbleback Rhino
1 Coursers' Accord
1 Armada Wurm
1 Archweaver
1 Risen Sanctuary
1 Slime Molding
1 Giant Growth
1 Common Bond
1 Avenging Arrow
1 Chorus of Might
1 Knightly Valor
1 Explosive Impact
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Azorius Guidgate
1 Izzet Guildgate
1 Transguild Promenade
1 Temple Garden
4 Plains
9 Forest

Last inclusions were Chorus of Might, 2 Drudge Beetle, and Risen Sanctuary. Last cuts were Precinct Captain, Sundering Growth, 2 Azorius Arrester, and Keening Apparition.

The strength of the deck is the ability to present powerful threats ahead of the curve. There were a lot of games where I laid Axebane Guardians on turns three and four and blew out my opponent with some large man the following turn. There are a couple weaknesses, however. Playing all three Guardians, the Gatecreeper Vine, and 17 lands means 21/40 cards in the deck are mana; this makes me prone to flood. I'm also a little light on removal, with basically just Avenging Arrow and Explosive Impact, with New Prahv Guildmage and Cyclonic Rift helping out (not that I'm complaining about either card!). This means I'm leaning pretty hard on Archweaver and Concordia Pegasus to block my opponent's flyers.The last thing is that I have a lot of good token producers, and basically no proliferate. A Rootborn Defenses, a Druid's Deliverance, and/or a Trostani's Judgement would make this deck much stronger. It's possible I should have started Sundering Growth as it has a lot of upside in my deck. I found myself siding it in a lot, but that doesn't necessarily mean starting it is correct.

I was worried about going a bit too top-heavy during deck construction so I never really considered putting the either of the two Horncaller's Chants in my deck. I found myself with 9-11 mana and nothing terribly powerful to do more often than I would have liked.

I didn't drop a game in the first three rounds. For the first time this PTQ season, I felt like I was doing more powerful things than my opponent at pretty much all points. Sometimes I was making 10 power for 6 mana and blowing them out, sometimes I was playing fair, sometimes my opponents were making costly mistakes. My round 2 opponent let himself fall to 4 when he's swinging in for lethal next turn (Righteous Authority on a Sunspire Griffin) and he has (so he claimed afterwards) a Trostani's Judgement he could have cast to stay on 6. Explosive Impact to the face closes the game. Round 3, game 1, my opponent casts two spells all game--a Annihilating Fire on my Axebane Guardian, and a Street Spasm for six on my Knightly-Valor'd New Prahv Guildmage. I had UW up.

Round four I made my first noticeable play mistakes. I pumped my guy before declaring blockers and took some extra damage when he had the removal spell, although it didn't end up mattering that game. That was the last time I made that mistake all day, and I think I've shaken the habit for good. Game two I play some bodies and reset his board with Cyclonic Rift. At this point I realize that Todd Anderson has been watching the match, as he comments that I hadn't mentioned opening that card during deckbuilding (we were seated adjacently). Game three goes poorly for me. My opponent gets off to a quick start on the play, culminating in an unleashed Chaos Imps. If you look over my decklist, you'll see that's very difficult for me to deal with. Luckily, I have a Pegasus in play and an Explosive Impact in hand. Thinking I want to avoid taking the trample damage, I try to bait him into blocking. Let's ignore for a second that there's no way in a million years he would block my 1/3 with his 7/6 trample, making this the greediest bluff ever, and focus on the fact that he can't possibly fall into my trap even if he wants to, as it is indeed an unleashed Chaos Imps I am attacking into. The next turn I trade the Pegasus and the Explosive Impact for the Imps, but the extra 7 damage he's gotten in proves to be too much to overcome. The extra breathing space would have allowed me to block and make a token with Centaur's Herald, rather than just chumping with it to stay alive the on turn when I kill the Imps. Don't know if it would have been enough, but it would have been something.

Round 5 things are back on track and I handily dispatch my opponent. I ended these games on 20 and 17 life. This sets up a round six match that could very well be win-and-in depending on my breakers. It ends up not mattering as I get steamrolled by my opponents quick Jund deck. He ends the two games on 16 and 24 life, respectively. I don't think there was anything I could have done about this one, other than winning round 4 where I probably had some wiggle room to eek out a win. My round six opponent ended up making top 8. Good for him.

In the final round, my carpool buddy Jeff has a win-and-in. I am playing for a likely top 16. I get paired against Todd Anderson, who greets me with a friendly "Hey, Cyclonic Rift!" He graciously offers to split. I decline as I like my deck and am trying to get more experience playing under pressure. I get off to a great start game 1, Attacking him down to 14 with Keening Apparition and accelerating into an Archweaver and a 9/9 ooze token. I attack him down to 9 and then 4 with the Archweaver before he can stabilize by playing Vraska and killing my 9/9. On my turn the board is as follows: he has two 3/3s (Dreg Mangler and a centaur token), and a Vraska on 2 counters. I have a Keening Apparition, a Archweaver, two Axebane Guardians, and a Drudge Beetle in hand, maybe two. I decide to send both the Apparition and the Archweaver at him, dropping him to 2 and trading my 5/5 for one of his 3/3s. I lay the second bear, making him dead on board unless he has something. He has something for the next several turns and I have nothing terribly relevant, especially when he lands an Archweaver of his own. The second game isn't close.

I talked with Todd about the game 1 attack, and he thought I should have sent the Archweaver at him and the Apparition at Vraska. Depending on how he blocks, he can either go to 2 and trade a 3/3 (probably the Mangler) for my 2/2, keeping his Vraska, or maybe (and this seems less likely) trade Vraska and a 3/3 for my Archweaver. Things can still go wrong for me with this play, but I probably should have been able to predict that he'd have either a removal spell or a guy on his turn given the number of cards in his hand, which makes it likely better. I think I was put off of Todd's line because I thought he'd probably just go to 2 and keep his Vraska, although it leaves me with an Archweaver left over instead of a Keening Apparition which is a better spot to be in. I was worried that he can then Scavenge the Mangler onto his surviving token to outclass my Archweaver, although if he does that I can just attack him with the Drudge Beetle and the Archweaver anyway and he still has to have a kill spell or a second guy to stay alive, and its likely that if he has a guy or a kill spell he can't cast it and also scavenge the Mangler.

Jeff lost his win-and-in and finished 19th on breakers. I finished 26th with about 60% OMW. Todd missed top 16 on breakers. I think the lack of sleep combined with the long drive may have kept me out of top 8. Have to be better about that next time.

I'm now up to 567 Planeswalker Points on the season, leaving me 183 short of 2 byes. I'm in pretty good shape with 2 PTQs to go. This coming weekend I'll be journeying to the far-off land of "Virginia Beach." The weekend after there's a PTQ in Philadelphia which should be a good time; if things work out I'll do FNM with Jordan the night before. Hopefully I'll be back with better news from Virginia Beach.