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Midwest Masters Series Top 8
by Trevor Boeckmann | posted at 2010-05-12 17:17:00
tagged: MTG, Magic, Magic the Gathering, Standard, Midwest Masters Series, MMS, Tournament Report, Jund, Trevor Boeckmann, Eldrazi Monument, Gerry Thompson
Magic Masters Series or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Trust GerryT
It’s nearly summertime and I couldn’t be more excited. Every August my education pulls me away from slinging spells and back to the classroom until summer comes along. Since April, I’ve been compiling a list of events around the Midwest to hit up. The first was in Des Moines for a stop on the Magic Masters Series.
I had spent the last month alternating between homework, LSAT prep, and Standard testing. I wasn’t overly excited for anything. I had been playing Jund on MOL and losing a lot. I couldn’t get there against UW and, to be honest, probably had no idea what I was doing with the deck.
Checking out MOL results one day, I stumbled across GerryT’s build of Eldrazi Jund and was excited from the start. A Jund base with Lotus Cobra and Eldrazi Monument? Yes please.
Here’s the list I ran, 59 of Gerry’s 60 and a slightly retooled board:
2 Swamp
3 Mountain
3 Forest
Sideboard:
4 Duress
In anticipation of a room full of UW and Jund, I felt the third Pulse was more important than the 4th Bolt. The board is fairly self-explanatory. Duress was incredible all day, the removal package held its own, and Echoes…well, I screwed up there. Dreaming back to my days with MBC in Odyssey Standard, I thought it could get there again. I didn’t play it all day and it should certainly be a Thought Hemmorage with the rise of Polymorph and Open the Vaults.
Onto the tournament!
Round 1 – Traditional Jund
My lack of recent Magic experience showed through here; I played terribly. This should be a decent matchup, but I got crushed. I sat on a Pulse and Monument in hand for too long only to see them Blightninged. I made bad blocks. I didn’t Bolt off creatures when I should have. Nothing went right.
0-1
Round 2 – Mythic
Game 1: I start by amassing a token army with Thrinax and Siege-Gang. He gets some early beats in with Vengevine and Knight of the Reliquary. He hits double Baneslayer and I drop Monument with 7-8 creatures on board. Eventually, I’m able to beat through for the win.
Game 2: His turn 2 Cobra gets hit by a Deathmark and his two Birds get Pulsed the following turn. He spends the next three or four turns swinging with a creature-land as I drop Thrinax and a few other creatures. A Monument a couple of turns later lets me overrun for the win as he shows his hand of double Pridemage.
1-1
Round 3 – RDW
Game 1: He hits with turn 2 Hellspark, turn 3 Hellspark, turn 4 dubs Hellspark, turn 5 Hell’s Thunder. Meanwhile I’m dropping a Leech and a Master of the Wild Hunt. I drop Monument at 4 life, threatening lethal next turn and he untaps and hits with the kickered Burst Lightning.
Game 2: I liberally throw my removal at his early creatures. Saproling tokens slowly start to chip at his life total while I’m stabilized at 11 life. A Monument hitting next turn lets me win in two swings.
Game 3: Again, my removal lets me stop his early creatures. A couple of Bloodbraids swing for the full 20 as Thrinax holds the ground.
2-1
Round 4 – Polymorph
In round 1, I watched this guy hardcast Emrakul with counter backup and an Iona on the table. This has nothing to do with the report…but it was awesome.
Game 1: I Bolt his turn 3 Plant token and tap out for Master, praying he doesn’t hit a token and Polymorph…he doesn’t. Without an answer to Master, I amass an army and swing for 15 to end the game.
Game 2: Duress and removal eventually clear his board and hand as my Putrid Leech starts to take him down. He draws for his turn, casts Summoning Trap and puts Emrakul into play. Scoops.
Game 3: Lotus Cobra lets me get off to an early start. We battle with counters and Duresses for a while. Eventually, he’s at 13 with "infinite" mana, a 0/1 token, and one card in hand. I have double Cobra with a Monument in hand. I draw a creature-land, drop Monument, and swing to put him to 7. His turn, he draws and plays Jace and…fateseals me? I’m confused but I untap, sac a Cobra, activate Ravine and swing for lethal. He tries to block with a token. I remind him to reread Monument.
3-1
Round 5 – UW Tapout
Game 1: A turn 2 Cobra turns off his Spreading Seas. He stumbles on mana and BBE teams up with Cobra to end the game quickly.
Game 2: I battle through counters to get Thrinax, Cobra, and Leech on board. He drops a couple of Walls, of the Denial and Omens variety. I Bloodbraid into Cobra and beats. He Oblivion Rings my Thrinax and passes the turn. I rip a Duress to see a hand of Flashfreeze, land, and Day of Judgement. I take the DoJ, he’s visibly upset. He draws a Mind Spring for three and I rip into another BBE and cascade into Thrinax. He’s even more visibly upset. I swing for lethal next turn.
4-1
Round 6 – Vampires
We get deck-checked so I strike up a conversation with my opponent. It’s his first major tournament outside of a FNM…how in the hell is he x-1?! He shares with me that his loss was at the hands of trips Baneslayer; I mentally note he’s not playing Pulse. This was a common theme all day. I get so much information from players by making small-talk.
Game 1: He leads with a Catacombs and I think Jund. A turn 2 Bloodghast confirms he’s Vampires. He adds another Bloodghast turn 3. He doesn’t hit a fourth land, so I chump the Bloodghasts and start to build board position. He excitedly hits a fourth land and Tendrils a creature, forgetting his Bloodghasts. Awk. Double Master of the Wild Hunt eventually get there with a Monument.
Game 2: He plays a turn 2 Bloodghast, I play a turn 2 Lotus Cobra. He plays a turn 3 Vampire Nighthawk. I untap, play a second Cobra, play a fetch, blow it up, playing BBE into Duress, floating R and then Bolt his Nighthawk. I love this deck. A Pulse a few turns later on Drana seals the game.
5-1
Round 7 – RDW (Chapin's version)
With 114 people and terrible breakers, I’m forced to play for the Top 8 spot.
Game 1: He has a turn 1 Goblin Guide which nets me a couple of lands. On the second swing, I find the Bolt. I get some Saprolings and some Goblins. He’s at 16 and I swing for 8, holding two tokens back. On-lookers tell me afterwards he was sitting on Bushwhacker and Summons. Glad I didn’t punt that.
Game 2: Turn 1 Guide again and I have the Bolt again. I Duress away a Burst Lightning in his hand full of burn. He drops Kargan Dragonlord and starts leveling. I have two turns to find removal before he becomes an 8/8 and flies over for the win. I can’t do it and we’re on to game 3.
Game 3: Turn 1 Guide, turn 1 Bolt. This is getting repetitive. I get hit with some burn and am sitting on three Saproling tokens and five land. I Duress away a Blaze leaving him with a couple of Bolts in hand. He passes and I draw Monument to join my Siege-Gang in hand. Playing SGC leaves me cold to an Earthquake off the top, but if I don’t, it will take three turns to win and at 14 life, I’m not comfortable I can survive. I drop the Commander and pray…he Bolts the Commander, letting me untap and drop Monument for the win.
6-1
Not too bad for a JSS Championship being my previous top accomplishment. The top 8 decides to split the money and I’m left to celebrate the showing.
I think this deck is incredible. Monument was amazing all day, there was something like nine of them in the Top 8 (one other Jund deck and Eldrazi Green with Vengevine). The biggest change will be the board decision. The other E-Jund deck was running Blightning and I agree with Gerry it’s a huge mistake. This deck is far more aggressive than traditional Jund. You want to turbo out creatures with Cobra and drop Monument for your overrun. Blightning doesn’t help with that. It’s a turn, and creature spots, wasted.
The big story out of the StarCityGames.com Open in Atlanta was, of course, the UWr control deck. I’m not sure how Eldrazi Jund will do against it. Game 1 is probably rough, but Duress out of the board is huge.
Overall, I think the deck is a great choice for the National Qualifiers. I’d love to hear any thoughts you have on it.
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Trevor Boeckmann is a politically active Magic player from Iowa. You can find his regular written work at