Subscribe via RSS
PTQ Cincinnati Top 8
by Chad Page | posted at 2010-05-11 15:26:00
tagged: MTG, Magic, Magic the Gathering, Pro Tour Qualifier, PTQ, Top 8, Chad Page, Tournament Report, Amsterdam, Jund, Cincinnati
I'm lucky enough to live in Cincinnati, where we had one of the first PTQs of the season with the new Standard format. I've been testing extensively by myself since RoE began getting spoiled. There are still a ton of great deck ideas out there and as far as I'm concerned, this format is still fairly open. That being said, I haven't yet found a reason to not play Jund. I don't think it's necessarily the best deck there is, but it is good. Jund has game against practically any other deck and it's what I'm already familiar with - Plus I have all the cards already. :)
This is the list I registered:
3 Vengevine
2 Swamp
3 Forest
3 Mountain
Sideboard:
2 Consume the Meek
Some comments on the decklist... I won't go in to the staples as they should be obvious.
Vengevine - People keep asking me how I like this card. I love it. After I say that, they explain to me how Jund doesn't have the synergy required to guarantee that it will come back into play. My thoughts on this are simply that I don't care. I really like that it's a 4/3 haste guy, four mana is reasonable, and if it happens to resurrect itself on occasion without me having to do much, great! It's eaten several planeswalkers and caught many an opponent with their pants down. The 4 damage is relevant, and especially so when it's unexpected.
Bituminous Blast - Maybe I'm slow, but I never understood why people have stopped playing this card. I get that there are situations where it's not a superstar, but there are so many situations where it absolutely is. I was running two for a while, but I love it so much that I added the third back. I think that the people that don't cascade are probably trying to rely on it instead of accepting it as a bonus.
Trace of Abundance - I was running two Rampant Growths in this spot (Explore is bad here, give up the ghost), but switched to ToA mainly due to the presence that Spreading Seas, Goblin Ruinblaster, and Tectonic Edge are commanding these days. Also, a shrouded Raging Ravine is sick.
Broodmate Dragon - That's right, zero. Essentially, I traded these in for Vengevines and I haven't yet regretted it. The fact is that VV is great in a lot of situations where BD is just a dead card. The evasion and the extra body are nice things to have, and BD is almost always great if you can get it active, but the tempo and the early clock that VV brings is fantastic. Did I make the right choice? Maybe not, but I like it so far.
On to the report!
Getting There
I am not a morning person. Never have been, don't suspect I ever will be. I did manage to sleep well the night before and get up on time, but then I lost all semblance of intelligence.
My first mistake was knowing that I needed to hit the ATM for cash since the TO can't accept cards. There's an ATM literally about 30 feet from my front door; I didn't go to it. Instead, I decided to spend the better part of an hour driving around God's creation looking for an ATM owned by my bank so I didn't have to pay $3. The GPS was not doing me any favors, because all of the results it was showing me were inside stores that were closed.
My second mistake was forgetting there was a 5k road race in my town that day, and then going out of my way for no good reason (other than fast food preference), only to have to turn around since the roads were closed.
My third mistake was going to Florence. You see, I live in Newport, which is north of Erlanger, which is where the tournament was being held. Florence is south of Erlanger. I have no freaking idea why I went to Florence. Actually, it was because I thought there was a US Bank there.
I did do one thing right - I got up and left early enough that I could make stupid mistakes like those and still get there with time to spare.
Once at the tournament site I was finally awake. I took note of where the food was in preparation for the between-round rush, bought some sleeves, said "wassup" to all the people I knew and got registered.
Let the Games Begin
If I remember correctly, there were 140-something people in attendance. The venue was nice. There was plenty of room at the tables - I hate not having enough room to play. Rally's and Subway were about 200 feet away. By the end of the tournament, it had gotten hot and the room smelled like nerd, but that's un-avoidable (I was probably just smelling myself anyway).
Round 1 - Mickey Coswell with Blightning Deck Wins
(or, Blightning/Red Deck Sometimes Wins as I like to call it)
I hate getting paired against people I know, especially early in the tournament. I suppose it was inevitable though since I lived here. I like Mickey. I play a lot of Magic with Mickey. So I was sad to see that we were paired in the first round. I was also a little scared because Red isn't my best matchup and I've won the last few times we played, so I was afraid that maybe he was due a win against me.
In game 1, he stumbled on mana enough to allow me to race with a Thrinax and a Blightning or two. I was at 2 life when he died. Yikes.
Sideboard: -1 Putrid Leech, -3 Maelstrom Pulse, +4 Goblin Ruinblaster
For game 2, I got an early Ruinblaster and blew up his B/R dual putting him off mana just enough that he couldn't quit get there. Had he drawn a third (fourth counting the dead one) land at any point in that game, I would have been dead as the game ended with him having a hand full of Searing Blazes that were just waiting for a landfall trigger.
The key card for Jund in this match up is Goblin Ruinblaster. Most people don't believe that when they first hear it (I didn't either), but it's true. Just having a 2-power haste guy on your side is often enough to win the damage race. If they have a target for the kicker, bonus!
For reference, his list was similar to the one that won Grand Prix-Kuala Lumpur.
Games 2-0; Matches 1-0
Round 2 - Rocky Harris with Abyssal Jund
I also know Rocky. I rode to the last PTQ in his van and even drove it home. So I also was not happy to see I was paired with him, but decided at this point that I should get used to the idea.
Game 1 sucked because he received a game loss due to a decklist error. He had changed builds at the last minute and somehow missed some random card when filling out his deck list. Sad times. :/
I don't have many notes for game 2, other than I mulled to 6, as it was pretty much a massacre. I do know that I drew three creatures the whole game, and he played three Bloodbraid Elf and other good stuff. That's all it takes!
Sideboard: -4 Putrid Leech, -3 Maelstrom Pulse, +3 Deathmark, +4 Goblin Ruinblaster
Game 3 was a different situation as we both got to play Magic finally. I drew a good enough balance of creatures and removal and I didn't punt.
Games 2-1; Match 2-0
Round 3 - Caleb with RDW
I wish I had written down his last name because he was a pretty cool dude. He also Top 8'd, so I guess I can find it out eventually.
For a while in game 1, I felt pretty good because he wasn't doing much. I had killed his Kargan Dragonlord early and cast a couple Blightnings on him and I think I had begun to assume that I had disrupted him enough that he just didn't have much left. Wrong!
At the key point in this game, I'm at 18 life with just a Bloodbraid Elf on the board. He has three Mountains and not many cards in hand. I questioned if I should attack and leave no blockers back, but then decided that was silly since I was at 18 life and he didn't even have any attackers. I can take six from a Ball Lightning - no biggie. Why would I not attack here, right? He untaps, draws, plays Scalding Tarn, taps for three red, plays Devastating Summons for four, kicks a Bushwacker and I take 12. From comfortable to 6 in 1.0 turns. The good news is that he has no lands, but the bad news is that I have a lot to overcome and I need to do it before he untaps. I look over my hand at this point and don't see a win. My gut says scoop, but my brain started a trend that would last the rest of the day for me when it decided that I was going to win this game. I had no idea how yet, but I felt I should just shut up and listen to it.
I untap and Terminate one of the tokens and pass the turn. He swings, I consider blocking the Goblin with my Elf and taking 2, but decide that gives him too many answers to top deck, so I chump the token and take 1, leaving me at 5. I get to untap and play BitBlast to kill off his other token and also find an answer for the Bushwacker a turn later. He doesn't draw another land and a Raging Ravine gets there in a couple turns with me at 4 life.
Sideboard: -1 Putrid Leech, -3 Maelstrom Pulse, -2 Siege-Gang Commander, +4 Goblin Ruinblaster, +2 Consume the Meek
Game 2 I mull to five, so I'm far from confident after taking a surprise 12 to the face in game 1. But, I'm telling you, Goblin Ruinblaster is sweet against red. This game had a bit more back and forth and I was scared the whole time, though I was determined to not show it. The Goblin only got in for an early 2, and I think it managed to eat a Teetering Peaks, though I'm not sure if that ended up being relevant or not. Vengevine also managed to get 4 in before getting obliterated (which is clearly a fun word). Another Blightning and a Bloodbraid forced a scoop with me at 4 life, again.
Games 2-0; Match 3-0
I look at my Blackberry. It's 1 o'clock with 23 minutes left in the round. I'm not really hungry yet, but I make a mad dash to Rally's because you never know if you'll get another chance for food.
Round 4 - Chris Gibson with Jund
Unfortunately, I did not take good notes for this round (I never do, actually), and I can't remember much other than the key point of game 2.
Game 1 ended with me at 19 life.
Sideboard (probably): -4 Putrid Leech, -3 Maelstrom Pulse, -2 Deathmark, +4 Goblin Ruinblaster, +1 Trace of Abundance
Game 2 was a weird game. At one point, I had three lands in play, two of them were holding Trace of Abundance, so I had five mana, aka, all I need. Then he Pulsed my Traces and my heart sunk a little. From behind me I hear Joel Keralis, another friend, say something to the effect of, "That's why I don't like Trace," (we had just discussed Rampant Growth vs ToA a few days before) and I can feel myself giving up. Luckily, my brain repeats its message from Round 3 and informed me that I was going to win this game anyway. Blind trust to that statement worked before, let's try it again! In response to the Pulse, I tap for five mana and use it to BitBlast his only dude. I don't remember what I cascaded into, but I do know that I never drew another land and managed to take him out with 10 life remaining anyway.
I don't remember the details, but I remember that I fought hard to stay in that game and it paid off. When he finally scooped, someone patted me on the back as I started to de-sideboard, affirming that I should probably be proud that I managed to take that one out. Maybe it was Joel?
Games 2-0; Match 4-0
Round 5 - Anonymous with GW
I'm leaving this guy's name out because he was a very poor sport. Everyone has bad days and I don't wish to soil anyone's name over a single match. Maybe he's a dick, maybe he's a great guy; I wasn't around him long enough to know for sure. I do know that I thought he was a nice guy before the match began and found him generally interesting for the few minutes that we talked, and that has to be worth something. I know that I've done things that I'm embarrassed about, and am grateful that those things aren't thrown in my face or splashed across the internet. Ironically, many years ago, a tournament report was written by someone I played against that claimed I was a poor sport for rules lawyering (I do deny it) and the writer was gracious enough to leave my name out.
I've never felt like GW is a bad matchup for me. The GW decks don't usually do anything abnormally unfair and Jund has more removal than they can deal with most times. This held true.
Game 1 was Vengevine and Bloodbraids getting there. Game 2 saw Blightning and Ruinblasters doing their jobs.
One thing that was key to this match was that this guy is very large and a little intimidating. I felt it just seeing him across the table from me. Again, my brain was awake and doing me right and reminded me that he was just another guy. At the first sign of a cascade, he became visibly disgusted; I knew at that point that I had him. From there on, every time I cast a Jund card, he'd make a remark and I would just smile politely as he tilted further and further.
Sideboard: I don't remember for sure. +4 Deathmark, +2 Malakir Bloodwitch for sure with some number of Ruinblasters, possibly brought in Consume the Meek
Game 2 was fairly straight forward, with me applying pressure and removing his dudes.
Games 2-0; Match 5-0
By this point, I'm getting a lot of much-appreciated enthusiasm and encouragement from friends. I ignore it as best I can and try to not think about my record. "Keep it level," was my motto for the day. Tilt can go both ways.
Round 6 - David Nolan with UW Control
David seemed like a pretty cool dude before the match and after; during the games he was all business though and I could tell that I was going to have to work hard to earn this one.
In game 1 he apparently kept a one-lander that had potential, on the play. He draws his card for turn 2 and says, "I deserved that," before passing the turn. I cringe a bit for him because no one wants to lose like that, but I ended up sticking at two lands for a couple turns also.
I felt pretty good about this game, all the way up to the point where I died. I think it was game 1 where he O-ringed my Trace of Abundance and then Spreaded the land. In general, this whole game felt awkward for both of us. We agreed over sideboarding that it was just a weird game.
Sideboard: -1 Sprouting Thrinax, -3 Bituminous Blast, -4 Lightning Bolt, +1 Trace of Abundance, +4 Deathmark, +4 Goblin Ruinblaster - Note that I did not bring in Malakir Bloodwitch here, an obvious mistake.
Game 2 felt more like a real game to me than the first one. Of course, I'm biased here because I won this one, but game 1 was just awkward in general.
Sideboard: I realize my mistake and bring in the Bloodwitches. Can't remember what I took out, possibly the Siege-Gangs.
Game 3 was pretty epic from start to finish with lots of interesting combat situations to figure out and plenty of interaction. Three early Deathmarks went a long way to keep me in this game. At one point, he asked me to play a little faster because we were running out of time. I didn't feel that I had been playing unnecessarily slow, and I hadn't even realized we were getting close, but I didn't question him and instead simply apologized and made an effort to play faster (I'm normally a fairly fast player). I was being very deliberate about all my plays because I knew he wasn't giving this one away and I didn't want to risk punting, so it's possible that I was playing slowly.
On his side of the table was Elspeth, two Knights, two Colonnades (with only enough mana to activate one) I stuck a Bloodwitch and took out Elspeth, but the counter attack from the Colonnade took me to 4. Jace and Baneslayer both made appearances after that, but I was lucky enough to have a second Bloodwitch. With Colonnade and Baneslayer, I *had* to have two pro-white, flying blockers at this point, and can't really swing with them because one was "sick" and the other could only take him down to 2. He untaps and tanks for a minute, then time is called. We're now both at 6 after the second Bloodwitch. The ground is locked up, leaving his Colonnade and Baneslayer. If he does nothing, I untap and swing with 8 unblockable and he dies. If he bounces with Jace, he still can't get lethal through and won't gain life from the Angel due to the Witch's pro-white, then I untap drain him for 2 by re-playing the second Witch and swing in for 4 unblockable for game. He brainstorms, cantrips a couple times, then passes the turn. I draw my card, try to think of any outs he may have and ask, "8 you?" as I tapped the two Witches. He offered me one more opportunity to punt by asking if I was attacking him or Jace.
Skin of my teeth.
Games 2-1; Match 6-0
Round 7 - Jeff Phelps with Naya
Jeff is another local that I've played against a few times already. We have a bit of a rivalry going for some reason, so I always enjoy playing against him.
I can draw in at this point, but Jeff can't, so we're playing.
We toss some random smack talk back and forth, keeping up with our rivalry. I start by making sure he knows that even though I can lose and still get in, I'm not conceding and if he wins here, it will be hard-earned. He replies by letting me know that he's going to break our tie in matches that we have so far. I probably said something like: "Yeah, by losing."
I win the die roll, and he suggests that I make him play first. I tell him it will be his choice in game 2, so he can play first then.
I was wrong. :) His turn 3 Knight of the Reliquary had a run-in with my Terminate. His turn 4 Knight, however, lived a long and fruitful life.
Sideboard: -1 Siege-gang Commander, -1 Blightning, -2 Trace of Abundance, -2 Terminate, +4 Deathmark, +2 Consume the Meek
Game 2 was another rough one, but I was determined. I'm on the play, and I'm fairly certain that I played a land each of my first four turns, with a Mountain in my hand awaiting my fifth turn. I pass the turn, which I believe is his fourth turn. He plays a few things, then plays a fifth land. I speak up and said that he already played a land and showed that I only had four and hadn't missed a land drop, he says that it's his fifth turn and that I missed a land drop. We call a judge and he rules in favor of Jeff. I shrug, and we go on. I don't think it was a big deal to either of us, we just needed a ruling so as not to be stuck on it and so neither of us would feel slighted in some way.
Several minutes later, the judge comes back with the head judge and tells us that he is appealing his own ruling because he thinks he may have ruled incorrectly. I look at Jeff and we both smile and agree that it was way too late to be able to know at this point, and that it was largely irrelevant. We were awarded a time extension in case we needed it. Massive kudos to our judge for not being too proud to admit a possible mistake. I'm still not sure who was right, but it didn't really matter. I wish I had gotten the judge's name.
Drama aside, I win game 2 on the backs of Vengevine and BBE.
I put my game face on for game 3. He gets an active Knight and continues to advance his board position while I hold on for dear life. I do have two Consume the Meek in my hand and can wreck his board if I ever get to five mana. Just before I do, he collars up a BBE, and that becomes public enemy number 1. I probably slumped in my chair just a bit at this point because the beatings are continuing. But my brain keeps at it and tells me that I'm winning this game.
I draw a BitBlast. He swings with the Elf, and I BitBlast it. He reponds to the BitBlast, before cascade, by fetching Sejiri Steppe with the Knight to protect his Elf. I pass on the Steppe, and cascade resolves into Deathmark, which hits the now-tapped Knight. I trade my Vengevine for his Elf, leaving him with a Noble Hierarch and a Basilisk Collar to my Bloodbraid Elf and hand full of Consume the Meek.
Games 2-1; Match 7-0
I feel a little guilty for winning here and potentially keeping him out of Top 8 contention, but I felt that I did the right thing. Conceding, or even just not going for it, would have tainted the win for him. The best things in life may be free, but the most rewarding are the things you have to fight for.
Round 8 - David Marquardt with ?
After learning the proper way to pronounce his name (Mar - quart, it's German), I offer the ID and he asks what I'm playing. Not wanting to give away that info unnecessarily, I say, "Well, we can just play if you want." I was under the impression that a loss here would knock him out of contention, but I learn otherwise. Since we're both in either way, we ID and get food.
Games 0-0; Match 7-0-1
Top 8 - Quarterfinals - Brad Eler (I think) with Jund
After a deck check, you know you're going to have to shuffle the hell out of your deck. Brad and I both take extra care to shuffle like mad because of this.
Game 1, my seven looks fine and I think, "Wow, I actually got shuffled well." He doesn't like his seven, or his six, and goes to five. I'm happy.
And then, not. I have a Mountain and a non-basic in play and play Verdant Catacombs. Fetch a Swamp. I get almost all the way through my deck without finding one of my two Swamps and begin to wonder in my head if the judges accidentally lost them somehow. There they are on top, together. I see that I need more shuffling, so I take the opportunity. I get a Blightning in against him and think I'm doing pretty good since he mull'd to five and I got a turn three Blight. He returns a Blightning and I discard two Vengevines, smiling a little at the prospect of a turn 4 BBE into Thrinax or Ruinblaster, and swinging in for a ton. I miss my fourth land drop. He untaps, plays his fourth land and it suddenly becomes painfully obvious that he's main-decking Ruinblasters. I never see another land.
Sideboard: -4 Putrid Leech, -3 Maelstrom Pulse, +2 Deathmark, +1 Trace of Abundance, +4 Goblin Ruinblaster
In game 2, he wrecks me with three Blightnings; Trace of Abundance protected my only non-basic. He cascaded into a Ruinblaster and started to kick it, but caught himself just in time to realize he could only target his own lands. I manage to get in for 4 with a Vengevine before he overwhelms me with board position while I sit with no hand.
I felt pretty down after losing out of the Top 8. I asked my buddy that was there if he had seen any mistakes I had made. He said, "The only mistake I saw was not drawing enough land. You should try to draw more land next time." I know he was just being funny/ironic/whatever, but he was right. I punted game 1 by assuming I had shuffled enough, when I hadn't. I also think I let myself become confident due to his mull to five and the Blightning/Vengevine situation. I set myself up to get wrecked by Ruinblaster by not expecting it.
In game 2, there wasn't much I could do, but not throwing away game 1 would have given me a chance to at least have a game 3. Also, more shuffling could have potentially helped my draws in game 2 as well. Lesson learned for next time.
Other Top 8...
Unfortunately, I didn't take note of all the decks/people that were in the Top 8, and I didn't stick around to see who won. I know there were two Jund, UG Polymorph, Monored, and at least one UW Control. I'm told there was also one Mythic/Conscription deck and the rest were UW Control.
Post-tournament Thoughts
I like the deck. I've always liked Jund, even before it was cool, or hated.
What would I change? Any of it, and none of it. I don't think I even drew a Siege-Gang all day. I really like Vengevine. Maybe it's not correct, but I like it, and I just don't know if Broodmate is correct anymore. Some builds run Abyssal Persecutor. I've tried it. I like Persecutor, but I'm not prepared to accept the risk that it can create situations where you lose because you can't kill your own guy. It's just not necessary. Maybe with Consuming Vapors?
I played with the idea of Persecutors and Vengevines with Momentous Fall. After a lot of thought and testing, I feel that Momentous Fall would play a similar role to Bituminous Blast in this deck, except do it poorly. BitBlast kills one of their guys and provides you with an extra card/value. Momentous Fall kills one of your own guys and provides extra cards/value. While the reward for Fall is greater, you also have to consider the relative two card disadvantage it starts at by killing your creature instead of an opponent's. The life gain should never matter, and the times when you live the dream and kill your own Persecutor in response to removal is almost never going to happen unless you have eight mana. I think Fall is best when the game goes long and the board is locked up, at which point I would definitely prefer to kill one of their guys and cascade into something/anything, than kills one of my own guys and draw three cards/lands. Pre-M10 rules would be a different story.
Props and Slops
Because I'm old-school.
Props - All the people who supported me throughout the day, most of the people I played against, the awesome judges, Coca-Cola for making me happy, Richard Garfield for inventing crack.
Slops - USBank for not having ATMs in more convenient locations (excluding the one by my front door), the guy who had the meltdown because his opponent played good cards, the weather for sucking, me for allowing myself to be talked into a Draft afterwards, my burger for having mustard on it.
Discuss this article in our forums.
Follow us @starkpo.
Email the author.
Become a fan.
In addition to being a member of Mensa, Chad Page is also a father and husband. The IT team lead lives in Kentucky and began playing Magic during Urza's Saga.