So I decide to play some more standard today.

In the first queue I played vs Dr.Greens using a RW kithkin deck. Game one I mulled to a decent six card hand and won after killing his first few drops with Agony Warps. The crucial point was where he tapped out to cast Spectral Procession and I had the Broken Ambition for one. Game two I boarded in my infests and then mulled to six again. If a bitterblosom were in my hand I would have felt much better. Instead I played a couple of spelltuter sprites and a Scion to try and aggro out. He eventually won when I couldnt find an Infest. Game three was over before it began I had an uninteresting seven card hand so I mulliganed into a six card no lander, then a five card no lander. I end uup keeping a four card hand with Mutavault as my only land. He then proceeds to kill me on turn four as I sit there with only a Mutavault in play.

Since the first queue ended so baddly I decided to give it another try today. Round one I played Vindicare1986 using a Naya deck. His deck was interesting it was like Kithkin, but he had Steward of Valeron and Wild Nacatls. Game one I mulligan to six, then fail to find a black source for the now triple Bitterblossoms in my hand. When I finally draw a black source I am too far behind to recover. Game two I have the all important turn two Bitterblossom. Then have a turn four Mistbind Clique durring his upkeep and all he has is a 3/3 Nacatl. The Mistbind Clique goes all the way. In the final game I end up running into a Guttural Response and it results in me losing the match.

So today did not go so well. There is always tomorrow. Hopefully people will play control decks again.

So I joined my first queue a 4-Man, It seems that the 8-Man ones are not firing I guess If I keep winning the 4-Man events it won’t bother me.

Round one I play vs: POPEOFCHILITOWN playing Merfolk

I played a few games yesterday with faeries in the tournament practice room and it seems that alot of people are trying this deck. I don’t understand why they would play this over faeries.

Game one I have a double Bitterblosom opening. he soon O-rings one of them but sucumbs to the first after a few turns.
Game two he misses his land drop on turn two and I have a Bitterblosom. On his turn four he hits land and I simply spellstuter sprite the spell. Next turn i Mistbind Clique him on his upkeep, he concedes after drawing a non land.

Round 2 I play  Hiro.M playing Faeries?

Game one was so short that they didnt record it for a replay. I mull to 5 on the play but its 4 land Bitterblosom. Ofcourse he leads with a turn one thoughtsieze.  I draw a land and then concede after drawing another land.
Game two I had the perfect draw turn two Bitterblosom into turn three spellstutter. Then had Cryptic Command for the following turn and he concedes.
Game three we I had a slow hand of two Cryptic Command, Mistbind Clique, Bitterblosom, and three land. He leads with a Thoughtsieze to take my Bitterblosom. Like a master I draw a Thoughtsieze and take his Bitterblosom the following turn. his hand contained only lands at that point. He went on the offensive with a Mutavault, but a freshly drawn Agony Warp takes care of that. I then go on the offensive with a Mutavault, he answers with an Agony Warp. We then go back and forth playing lands for three turns. He plays thoughtsieze which I counter to keep the Jace I was saving for him to tap out. The he trys a Bitterblosom and I Cryptic Command again. On the next turn I am able to resolve Jace who led to a Bitterblosom. The game ended shortly after.

After only a small amount of games I can see why many top players are playing faeries. Hopefully the good luck keeps coming.

So with the begining of a new year I am going to try something new. I am going to play in some standard queues to try and turn a profit. I was lucky enough to borrow all the cards for the Faerie Deck. Here is what I am going to be playing.

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This is what I ended up playing.
+7 Mountains, 5 Forests, 5 plains

Round 1 I played against a BRG deck. Game one I was stuck on 4 lands 1 mountain and 3 forests no plains, he had a good opening with a dregscape zombie and sprouting thrinax I was too far behind. Game 2 I had a quick start with a squire into dragon fodder, but eventually he stabilizes with a 4/4 Thunder-Thrash Elder and a Jungle Weaver which I cant kill, I tried to come back with a Rakeclaw Gargantuan and a Cavern Thoctar, but he has a Skeletonize and an executioner’s capsule to remove my fatties.

Well so far I’m 1-2, could be worse.

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This is what I ended up playing.

Goblin Mountanier
Dragon Fodder
2 Elvish Visionary
Bloodthorn Taunter
Cylian Elf
Resounding Roar
Obelisk of Bant
Blightning
Gift of the Gargantuan
2 Jund Charm
Topan Ascetic
Drumhunter
Volcanic Submersion
2 Bloodpyre Elemental
Carrion Thrash
Bull Cerodon
Cavern Thoctar
Predator Dragon
Vein Drinker
Godsire
Esper Panorama
Jungle Shrine
Savage Lands
Plains
2 Swamp
5 Mountain
6 Forest

Round 1: Played against a RGW deck with a bunch of cards that I wish I had not passed. I lost game one because He had an aggressive draw with dragon fodder into Hissing Iguanar, then he removed my first couple of creatures and won. Game two I cam out the gates swinging with an Elvish Visionary into Topan Asetic into Drumhunter into Cavern Thoctar. Game Three I should have won but I was trying to get more then a two for one out of the Jund charm in my hand. Also in between games two and three I swapped a Forest for a mountain because I was having trouble casting the Predator Dragon. It ended up being my undoing because I failed to draw another forest for the Godsire in my hand.

Better luck next I hope.

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Blister Beetle
Bone splitters
Cloudheath Drake
Dregscape Zombie
3 Executioner’s Capsule
Grixis Battlemage
Infest
2 Kathari Screecher
2 Metallurgeon
Oblivion Ring
Sanctum Gargoyle
Sharding Sphinx
Shore Snapper
Steelclad Serpent
Tidehollow Sculler
Tower Gargoyle
Viscera Dragger
Welkin Guide
Windright Mage
Esper Panorama
4 Island
5 Plains
7 Swamp

Round one I played against a RGb deck I won 2-0 on the back of the gargoyles and the screecher.

Round two I played another RGB deck and won 2-1. His deck was more aggressive than the first round opponent so I sideboarded in a few two drops for the Grixis Battlemage and the Shore Snapper. Game two I lost because I over commited to the board and lost to an infest. Game three was all mine until he dropped a Vein Drinker, I should have lost but he made a mistake in blocking and lost it to a Steelclad Serpent.

Round Three I played against a GWU exalted deck, I ended up 0-2 in the match. He opened with a Sigiled Paladin into Rhox Charger then the nail in the coffin he played Battlegrace Angel. Next game he drops a turn 4 Stoic Angel and I fail to draw a single swamp for the Executioner’s Capsule in my hand and lose the the Angel.

So yesterday I decided to draft I was sitting with two player I knew pretty well on each side of me so I was confident I would be getting good signals.

Pack one starts and I open a pile of junk it was a bunch of bad creatures and mediocre removal in the form of Aether Tow and Last Breath. I decide to take the aether tow to keep my options more open. I then get passed a pack devoid of either blue or white, but the was one gem a Devoted Druid. I take the druid then get passed a Scuttlemutt, then a fourth pick Howl of the Night Pack. At this point I was sure green was the way to go and picked up a Hungry Spriggan, a Roughshod Mentor, and a Foxfire Oak.

Pack two I open nothing too amazing but there is a Kitchen Finks which I gladly add to my pile. I then get fed another Roughshod Mentor, and back to back Scuzzback Marauders. then pack fills out my curve with a Runes of the Dues, another Foxfire Oak, a Medicine Runner, and Juvenile Gloomwidow.

Pack three I open a pack with nothing too interesting and no removal to pick for a splash, It did have a Cold-Eyed Selkie which I would be happy to board in against a deck with Islands. I then pick up a Wickerbough Elder to help versus the god enchantments. The next pick made me very happy that I had gone green, there was a Bloom Tender. I then fill out the pack with a rendclaw trow, a Sturdy Hatchling and a Wistful Selkie.

This is the deck I ended up playing.
Bloom Tender
Devoted Druid
Medicine Runner
Juvenile Gloomwidow
Wistful Selkie
Kitchen Finks
Hungry Spriggan
Scuttlemutt
Rendclaw Trow
Gloomwidow
Sturdy Hatchling
Wickerbough Elder
Mudbrawler Raiders
Raven’s Run Dragoon
Scuzzback Marauders
Scuzzback Marauders
Morselhoarder
Roughshod Mentor
Foxfire Oak
Howl of the Night Pack
Gloomwidow’s Feast
Rune’s of the Deus
Monstrify
Sapseep Forest
Forest x16

I played round one versus Miguel, he was playing a black and blue deck. Game one started out slowly. I kept a hand that did not offer a turn two accelerator and my first play was a scuttlemutt. His first play was a Parapet Watchers. I then started putting out Scuzzback Marauders and a Roughshod Mentor. He started to stabilize removing my creatures, but once I hit seven lands i cast the Howl of the Night Pack and that was enough to seal game one.
Game two I kept a hand that i thought would be great two forests a Bloom Tender and a sideboarded Cold-Eyed Selkie. He started with an Inkfathom Infiltrator. By turn three I had failed to draw another land and tried to cast the Cold-Eyed Selkie but he had a Spell Syphon to counter it. I then proceeded to miss lands for a few turns and lose to his unblockable and a few other creatures.
Game three I had a great hand again, Devoted Druid, Cold-Eyed Selkie, Wistful Selkie, Foxfire Oak, and three forests. Unfortunately Miguel got mana screwed because he kept a one lander and failed to draw more lands for a few turns.

Next Round I was playing against Felix who I knew had an insanely powerful mono-red deck. He had Flame javelin, Crackleburr, Demigod of Revenge, Puncture bolt, Puntcure Blast, and Burn Trail. I knew I was in for a fight. Game one went rather quickly as he puncture bolted my turn two devoted and then dropped way more creatures then i could handle without my acceleration. Game two I had a similar hand and so did he but this time he failed to draw enough creatures and i was able to squeak out a win. Game three I had a turn two devoted into a Hill Giant and he got stuck on two lands and then I proceeded to play bigger threats and he proceeded to not draw lands. His hand was very good though with a Burn Trail, Flame Javelin, Rustrazor Butcher, and a Demigod in hand when the game ended.

The next round we decided not to play and drew to split the prizes.

So its Tuesday and everyone knows what that means, Drafting. Of course the current draft format is SSE so thats what we did.

Pack one I open Rhys the Redeemed, and a curse of chains as the only good cards. I pick the Rhys thinking that it will keep my colors open and he is pretty powerful. I end up picking up a few green white cards like safehold elites and then green and the seem to dry up. I start to pick up some blue which seems abundant. I end up picking up a River Kelpie mainly because it is a rare.

Next pack i end up picking up a consign to dreams and a second pick power of fire. The rest of the pack is not interesting until I get a 6th pick River Kelpie and then a 7th pick Cemetary puca.

Pack three I hope to get big with a bunch of retrace spells but fail to open any I do get a puncture blast first. Then I get a third pick flame jab and then pick three Wickerbough Elders and then get a Monstrify that wheels.

I end up playing someone that I have not met before but seems to be a good player. He is playing a red black green deck. I win game one by having my Cemetary Puca to copy a River Kelpie then ride the card advantage to a game one win. Game two he gets mana screwed and I continue to curve out with my Wicker Elders.

Next round I end up playing against a broken red/green aggro deck with double boggart ram-gang and a plethora of burn spells. He beats me game one while i am stuck on three lands and game two when I am missing my second island.

That was the end of this week’s drafting but there is always next week.

Well I’m back from Gencon. I had a great time hanging out with players i haven’t seen since last year and meeting new ones. I played in a number of events mostly unsuccessfully. I need to determine what events I plan to play in before I go next year because once I got there i realized i would not be able to play in everything I planned to. Also balancing playing in events and enjoying the Con is difficult because many of the events will take the entire day.

The first day there weren’t too many events and I didn’t want to start an event at 11pm when i had another the next morning at 10am. I ended up playing in a Legacy champs prelim. I went 3-2 winning versus a 2-land belcher, Dreadnought stifle, and countertop threshold. Then lost to another 2-land belcher and countertop threshold, and was knocked out of the cut to top 8.

The next day I decided to play VS system since there was a small turnout and the prize was a Ps3 to first. I ended up going 3-2 with a deck I made out of a booster box bought from one of the vendors. If I would have remembered to bring a deck i would have been much better off and most likely would have top 8. The next event was a super crossover sealed deck using Mor-Dor-Mvl-Dcl-Mun I ended up pulling a bunch of junk rares and nothing too spectacular I end up 2-3 of course missing the cut. I end Friday by playing in the Mega FNM which I play Seismic Swans. I played against Merfolk round one and combo off turn 4 both games. Then I play two RDW in a row and beat both easily to win six boosters.

The next day I decided against doing the draft championship as it will be running almost all day and I would be unable to play any other events. I later play in the 15th anniversary sealed which I get a promo char just for joining. i open a pretty good pool containing Deathbringer liege, Incremental blight, and a few burn spells. I only lose one match to a very aggressive red green deck and end the tournament at 3-1 getting another six boosters and a magic backpack.
I decide to play in one of the special sealed events where you receive one pack of each set in standard minus Coldsnap. I opened a ton of removal in red and black so I decide to build a control deck. I had incremental blight, soul snuffers, sudden shock, spitting earth, puncture blast, lash out. For big creatures all i really had was a Korlash, but i thought I would be fine. I end up losing round one to a green white deck that goes turn one Llanowar elf, turn two Imperious perfect, turn three Shield the oversoul. Then I win the next one versus a red white weenie deck that just didn’t have the reach for the long game. I then lose to me being stuck on three lands game one and then stuck on four mountains and one swamp with Incremental Blight and Soul Snuffers in hand.

The Special sealed did not not finish until about 6am so I decided against going back to the hotel. I decide to wait out in front of the Dealer room and wait to buy a From the Vault: Dragons. I end up getting one then walking around the Artist gallery to have some of my cards signed. I end up back at the hotel around noon and list my Dragon set on ebay.

The night ends with a party back at the hotel that gets broken up by security because we were too loud. I spend the next day walking around town taking pictures and then I found an arcade and played some games until I had to get to the airport for my flight.

So yesterday we did some testing for legacy against various decks such as Dragon Stompy, UGr Threshold, 4-color Landstill, dredge, and Angel Stompy. I’ve narrowed down the Deck i may play to Threshold, Dragon Stompy, or Dredge.

4 Tarmogoyf
4 Nimble Mongoose
4 Ponder
2 Rushing River
4 Brainstorm
4 Spell Snare
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Stifle
4 Fire / Ice
4 Daze
4 Force of Will
3 Polluted Delta
3 Flooded Strand
4 Volcanic Island
4 Tropical Island
4 Wasteland

Sideboard:
3 Pithing Needle
4 Tormod’s Crypt
2 Krosan Grip
2 Pyroblast
2 Red Elemental Blast

I Like threshold because I have had games with it where I land a Nimble Mongoose or Tarmogoyf and just play counterspells to stop relevant spells and ride them to victory. I also like how much card draw and filtering there is in the deck which lets me find Force of Will and Daze to disrupt my opponents.

4 City of Traitors
4 Ancient Tomb
10 Snow-Covered Mountain
4 Arc-Slogger
4 Gathan Raiders
4 Magus of the Moon
4 Rakdos Pit Dragon
4 Simian Spirit Guide
2 Akroma, Angel of Fury
3 Blood Moon
4 Seething Song
4 Chalice of the Void
3 Trinisphere
2 Umezawa’s Jitte
4 Chrome Mox

Sideboard:
4 Pyrokinesis
4 Pithing Needle
3 Tormod’s Crypt
4 Shattering Spree

The Dragon Stompy deck can sometimes have draws that will force other decks to conceed turn one if they do not have Force of Will in their hand. Starting Turn one with a Blood Moon or Magus of the Moon can cause threshold or Landstill to scoop up their cards If they do not have basic lands or removal in red. Also Trinisphere or Chalice of the Void on one can also cause blue decks to have fits because it either shuts down Brainstorm and other deck manipulation spells or slows down the speed of the deck enough to Finish the opponent with your big creatures.

4 City of Brass
4 Gemstone Mine
4 Cephalid Coliseum
4 Lion’s Eye Diamond
4 Breakthrough
2 Deep Analysis
3 Careful Study
4 Cabal Therapy
4 Bridge from Below
2 Dread Return
1 Akroma, Angel of Wrath
4 Ichorid
4 Putrid Imp
4 Stinkweed Imp
4 Golgari Grave-Troll
2 Golgari Thug
4 Narcomoeba
1 Flame-Kin Zealot
1 Cephalid Sage

Sideboard:
2 Ancient Grudge
3 Demystify
2 Darkblast
2 Crippling Fatigue
1 Ray of Revelation
4 Pithing Needle
1 Ancestor’s Chosen

Dredge is basically the fall back deck. If after more testing I do not feel confident with either of the other decks I will end up playing Dredge. It’s very easy to play and even through all the hate it can still win. It may not be as good as vintage dredge but it still has a turn 2-3 clock which is hard to beat.

So this was what I learned about each of these decks while practicing. Hopefully after a little further testing and a Legacy trial i will determine which deck I should play.