I wasn't even sure if I was going to attend the PTQ that day. But the night before, I decided to go for it. That meant getting a good night's rest instead of finishing an alter commission I'd promised for the PTQ.

Darwin Kastle took my registration slip. “Going to crush some dreams today?” he asked.

“Definitely!” I grinned. “I'm just not sure if they'll be my own or not yet.”

Assessing the Pool

When I opened my pool, I wasn't sure what to think of it. The sheer number of blue, red, and green cards was pretty low, and they consisted of an unusually high volume of unplayable and situational cards like Infernal Plunge and Grave Bramble. While there were a few potentially strong cards like Brimstone Volley, Murder of Crows, and Essence of the Wild spread over these colors, they lacked a strong foundation of solid creatures at the common and uncommon slots. Ultimately, I thought they were too shallow to work.

Usually, consistency and synergy are more important than the access to a couple strong rares or uncommons. Your six-drop rare won't do much to win you the game if you're already hanging on by a thread from Travel Preparations or cheap Werewolves. I regret not having saved the whole pool, but I lost the sideboard when I emptied out my deckbox to avoid confusion during the Top 8 draft.

The strongest and deepest colors were clearly black and white, which concerned me for two reasons. First, these colors are notoriously at odds with one another, requiring heavy color commitments in their early drops. Thankfully, I did have an Isolated Chapel to mitigate color conflict. Second, the pool was decidedly aggro, with double Diregraf Ghoul and Markov Patrician. While I love me a good aggro deck in Draft, they have a much lower probability of having all the necessary pieces for a cohesive deck in Sealed.

This combination of heavy color requirements and aggression meant that I definitely could not support a couple Mountains to splash for Brimstone Volley. It would only slow me down by harming my ability to consistently follow a turn-1 Diregraf Ghoul with a turn-3 Chapel Geist. Additionally, multiply this by the need to win six or seven rounds, and you can see why I would prefer to have a deck that draws out the game.

More turns means more attempts to draw bombs, more options for your plays, and more plays in general. The lattermost two give you more chances to outplay your opponent, which is key to getting through all those rounds unscathed. Regardless, I was ultimately able to do it (spoiler alert!), so let's find out how.

2 Diregraf Ghoul
1 Doomed Traveler
2 Silverchase Fox
1 Cloistered Youth
1 Walking Corpse
2 Fiend Hunter
1 Elder Cathar
1 Ghoulraiser
1 Chapel Geist
2 Markov Patrician
1 Screeching Bat
1 Thraben Sentry
1 Moan of the Unhallowed
1 Stromkirk Patrol
1 Reaper From the Abyss

1 Blazing Torch
1 Cobbled Wings
1 Mask of Avacyn
1 Bonds of Faith

8 Swamp
8 Plains
1 Isolated Chapel

Round 1: Lou Stefanovic

I was on the play with a mull to six, but I felt confident in my aggressive hand. I led off with turn 1 Diregraf Ghoul, turn 2 Walking Corpse, knocking him down to 14 before he'd made a single play. Soon, his life was already halved, even though he was playing as defensively as he could, trading his Screeching Bat for my bear. A Moan of the Unhallowed sealed my board advantage. A Slayer of the Wicked slowed me down considerably, and he stabilized with a Chapel Geist. I equipped Cobbled Wings to my Walking Corpse, then cast Bonds of Faith on his ghost. I imagine my Zombie must have looked pretty silly on his hang-glider, but it got the job done. Soon, Lou was at three, and even though he used Unburial Rites to reanimate his Slayer, he was dead in a couple turns.

1-0

I immediately boarded out Stromkirk Patrol in favor of One-Eyed Scarecrow, hoping to enfeeble Lou's fliers against my own.

I had a much slower start, on the draw, but I had a Reaper from the Abyss and a Fiend Hunter in my hand, so I said, “What the hell.” Lou's turn 2 Elite Inquisitor stopped my weenie onslaught before it even began. Regardless, I continued amassing creatures for a couple turns, while he equipped a Blazing Torch to his MVP. At this point, he'd struck me down to 14. His Inquisitor didn't seem too interested in my answers to his questions; he just kept poking me with those pointy things. It was rude, for sure, but well within the rules of Magic: The Gathering.

A Chapel Geist joined the fray against me, but I Fiend Hunted it away a turn later. I played a second Hunter for his Inquisitor and stabilized at eight. Finally, I hit my sixth land and swung in for trades and my first couple points of damage. Post-combat, I played Reaper, leaving him with one creature. He was pretty much out of cards, so what could he do?

Well, as it turns out, he could Altar's Reap his sole creature, forcing me to reread Reaper from the Abyss once or twice, then toss my only non-Demon, non-Fiend Hunter creature into the bin.

That was a little rough. Moving forward, I attacked him down to eight, leveling our life totals. On his turn, he played a Village Cannibals...then Altar's Reaped it. I let out one of those comically protracted sighs and then let him have his Inquisitor back. Fortunately, Reaper from the Abyss is a 6/6 flier, in addition to being an asshole who kills mainly my own guys, so the game didn't last more than a couple turns.

2-0

Record: 1-0

Round 2: Jeff Bennett

I sat down across the table from Jeff, then struck up a delightful conversation with him about his anime-themed card sleeves. You know, as one does. Anyway, after that, it was all business. I mulled into an unexciting but keepable hand, on the play. Jeff led with a turn 1 Blazing Torch and a Dead Weight for my turn 2 dork. He took a couple points of damage from my Doomed Traveler, but I soon found it was I who was “doomed” (!) because he stabilized at 17 with a Priest of Avacyn, a Diregraf Ghoul, and a Mausoleum Guard. When we were both about out of gas, Jeff laid down a Moorland Haunt and cast Tribute to Hunger, killing my sole Chapel Geist. As he ramped up some Spirits to kill me, I was left with a Diregraf Ghoul standing around wearing a Mask of Avacyn. He quashed my attempts to do anything relevant by casting Sever the Bloodline on his own Diregraf Ghoul, then killed me in a few turns.

0-1

I sided out the lackluster Stromkirk Patrol in favor of One-Eyed Scarecrow, almost hoping he'd get his Moorland Haunt online again. I know that that's like hoping you get a very specific type of poisoned because you happen to have the antidote on-hand, but what can I say? I live dangerously, and very conditionally.

I had a characteristically aggressive start, including turn 1 Diregraf Ghoul. Jeff cast a turn 2 Interloper, followed by a Doomed Traveler. Turn four, he played a Mask of his own. It was a race, and he was down to 10 by the time he could equip, while I was at around 12. He stymied my ability to stay ahead with Bonds of Faith, Slayer of the Wicked, and Fiend Hunter, but in the end, hang-gliding Zombies got there.

1-1

I was on the draw, with a turn 1 Diregraf Ghoul beating through his Priest of Avacyn for the single permissible turn. Thraben Sentry put an end to my Doomed Traveler beatdown. He was at 16 and hadn't done any damage to me, when I Fiend Huntered away his Markov Patrician to keep him from gaining life. Then he played Bloodgift Demon, which I, strangely, had no problem with. With one of those smug looks that can only foreshadow a “D'oh!” or facepalm (pick your generationally appropriate word choice), I traded some of my dorks for his, then played Reaper from the Abyss. “Kill your Demon,” I offered, as I passed the turn. Jeff shook his head. “Non-Demon creature.” Right... I was forced to bin my own Doomed Traveler again. You sly dog, I thought to the Reaper. Well, it was still the biggest flier on the table, so I shook off these inner demons and pressed on.

The following turn, I equipped my Demon with a Mask of Avacyn. After that, it was just a matter of time before it beat through Jeff's Demon, then killed him. He hadn't actually dealt me a single point of damage this game, though one of my own cards was very nearly his MVP.

2-1

Record: 2-0

Round 3: Josh

I won the die roll, so I felt pretty good with my trusty turn 1 Diregraf Ghoul. My opponent played one of his own, but he couldn't block the first swing. The next turn, I left both my Diregraf Ghoul and Walking Corpse back to block his Bloodcrazed Neonate. I didn't want to take chances against red/black's slew of removal. After making the trade, he played a turn 4 Olivia Voldaren.

Oh. No.

I didn't feel at all good against Olivia, when my deck's removal primarily consisted of Fiend Hunters with soft bodies. On the next turn, he cast Spectral Flight on his Diregraf Ghoul and attacked me for four. Um, okay. Then I attacked into Olivia with a Mask-equipped Unholy Fiend. He blocked...and cast Vampiric Fury on Olivia. That's a little weird, but okay. It worked, and he clearly had more than one Vampire in his deck. I passed the turn, and he untapped without pinging my remaining creature. Then, he tanked for a long time and bemoaned not having done something at the end of my turn. Ping my creature, maybe? So he could gain control of it this turn and make his Vampire legend bigger to boot? At this point, I could no longer write off all these strange plays. There was no way this kid was 2-0 without having relied on the strength of this mythic rare alone.

I put Bonds of Faith on his enchanted Diregraf Ghoul, then cast a Fiend Hunter to exile Olivia. Josh attacked me to five with a Kessig Wolf. Finally, having drawn a sixth land, I walked my Olivia-exiling Fiend Hunter cheerfully into his summoning-sick Pitchburn Devils. Josh did not hesitate to order my Human torn apart with what looked like a parmesan cheese grater from the Underworld. He looked delighted; this was too good to be true! Well, actually, it was because I played a post-combat Reaper from the Abyss to murder Olivia before he could even untap. Not much he could do about that with just one red mana open. On his turn, he played Cackling Counterpart on his main phase, copying Kessig Wolf instead of Pitchburn Devils. With me at five and him dead in a couple turns, that seemed like a bad choice, but I guess that's why I was beating Olivia Voldaren. He never got a chance to flash it back.

1-0

Once again, I leapt at the opportunity to take Stromkirk Patrol out of my deck. I replaced it with a Smite the Monstrous this time, figuring that an Olivia Voldaren, Spectral Flight-enchanted creature, or furious Vampire Neonate could all qualify as “monstrous.”

Josh played a Village Ironsmith, equipped it with Spectral Flight, and successfully held back my entire team of weenies. I didn't want to cast Bonds of Faith on a Werewolf, so I waited while he removed my threats with Geistflame and Claustrophobia. I took a significant amount of damage for a few turns from the flying, rogue ironsmith but eventually drew a Fiend Hunter to deal with it. After that, he was forced to succumb to my onslaught of tiny creatures.

2-0

Record: 3-0

Round 4: *bye*

As I collected my things and made my way to the pairings sheet, my friend, Steve Guillerm, approached me.

“You have a bye,” he informed me. Before I could stammer, “butI'm3-0!,” he specified. “You're playing me. I'm already Q'ed, so I'll scoop.” Oh. Great!

As I turned in the match slip, the head judge told me, “It's 'cause you're cute.”

“No,” I corrected. “It's because he's Q'ed.”

But seriously, no one scoops to women just because they're women. I'm pretty sure approximately one man in history has done this, expressly so that all those after him can whine continually about how advantageous it is to be a woman. He is the Legendary Whitest Knight.

Record: 4-0

Round 5: Thien Nguyen

Wow, I've won every die roll today. So if you want to run an aggro deck in Sealed, I guess that's what I would recommend. My start wasn't amazingly fast, but Thien was clearly a slower control deck. An early Victim of Night slowed me down, and my Markov Patrician traded unfavorably with some Typhoid Rats. He played a Bitterheart Witch, which I exiled with Fiend Hunter, rather than risking a Curse of Death's Hold. I raised two Zombies with Moan of the Unhallowed, then cast Bonds of Faith on his non-morbid Somberwald Spider. Thien played a couple blockers, and I flashed back the Moan for two more dudes. Thien played Corpse Lunge, then tanked for a long time while he counted under his breath. The numbers must have added up to defeat because he scooped.

1-0

I sideboarded in Shimmering Grotto and Bump in the Night over the Stromkirk Patrol. I hoped the extra 3-6 damage might pull me out of a dire position if he regained board control at low life.

Thien was on the play, and he had to mull to six. He defended early with a One-Eyed Scarecrow and a Curse of Death's Hold. Even though I was able to take it out with a Silverchase Fox and bring him down to relatively low life, he followed up with a Bloodgift Demon. With my removal primarily consisting of Fiend Hunters, I didn't stand a chance.

1-1

I was on the play. In addition to the Bump in the Night, I boarded in Smite the Monstrous against his Demon, plus the Galvanic Juggernaut and Morkrut Banshee he'd shown me last game.

My first hand was unplayable: all lands, with an equipment and a high drop. The next six had me on the fence. I had two Swamps, Thraben Sentry, Fiend Hunter, Cloistered Youth, and Mask of Avacyn. If I drew a Plains, I'd be fine, and if I drew cheap black creatures, I could cast them. It wasn't good, obviously, but I wondered what my chances of winning were if I went down to five cards on the play. Ultimately, the fact that I had a four-drop Thraben Sentry in hand convinced me to throw it back. My five-card hand turned out to be much worse.

I played a Diregraf Ghoul, then promptly ran out of gas. Which was especially unfortunate because of Thien's turn 2 Mayor of Avabruck. Since I had no answer, I tried to push in as much damage as I could. Unfortunately, he was only down to about 8 before I was totally overrun by Wolf tokens.

1-2

Record: 4-1

Round 6: Richie Parkote

Although I recalled seeing Richie talking with a friend at another recent tournament, I could not, for the life of me, remember where. Hmm.

I lost the die roll, but my turn 1 Diregraf Ghoul was still faster than his Bloodcrazed Neonates. We traded some creatures, but in general, my Zombies from Moan of the Unhallowed were more expendable than his Rakish Heirs.

At some point, Richie played a Feeling of Dread. On a subsequent turn, I declared my attack step. When he said, “No effects,” I put a Stromkirk Patrol into play. I guess he thought I flashed it in because he immediately called a judge. When one arrived, I told him I'd simply moved out of the combat step, and Richie went, “Ohhhhhh.” The judge wasn't really clear on the situation, but because we both were, he was content to shuffle off.

Richie delayed my attacks with another Feeling of Dread and a Bonds of Faith, but I narrowly won the race in the end.

1-0

Richie was on the play, and he led off with a Runechanter's Pike. I followed up with a Cloistered Youth, attacking for three on the following turn. After that, Richie played a Rakish Heir, forcing me to play defensively, even though I had an Unholy Fiend draining me at my end step. Richie followed up his Vampire with a Bloodcrazed Neonate, then took out my Horror with Brimstone Volley. I played a Doomed Traveler, into which he was forced to run his Neonate. Over the next several turns, he developed his board less than I could with Moan of the Unhallowed and Fiend Hunter. Despite his efforts to remove my creatures with a Blazing Torch and delay my position with Feeling of Dread, I was able to overrun him in a few turns.

2-0

Record: 5-1

After the match, Richie shook my hand, professing that those were good games and that I played well. As I thanked him, someone behind me chimed in, “Yeah, she beat me earlier. She's good.” I wished Richie good luck in his future rounds while my brain latently thought about whether or not that was a weird thing to say.

I know I'm one of the only women in the room. It's as painfully obvious to me as it is to you. Whenever I hear unabashed praise like this, I have to wonder if I would have gotten it if I were a random man. Would they even remember me? Or am I merely projecting my own difficulty remembering faces? Let me tell you: it's a strange thing, trying to determine if people are talking about you, or about a shape you occupy. If I'm unsure, I give the benefit of the doubt. But it's definitely an odd position to be in.

Round 7: Cieran Kelahan

I wanted to draw in round seven, thinking that if I played, won, then got paired down, I'd be forced to play both rounds. However, my opponent had to play anyway, since he had the worst tiebreakers of our bracket. Ah, well.

He was on the play, and even though my hand was relatively fast, it couldn't do much in the face of turn 2 and 3 Vampire Interlopers. Cieran cast Sever the Bloodline after that, 2-for-1ing me handily. He played a Moon Heron, which I removed, but followed it up with a Falkenrath Noble. This marked the end of my ability to fight back. He played a Silent Departure, but there was really no need. He was at a substantial 14 when I rolled over.

0-1

I leapt at the opportunity to sideboard into One-Eyed Scarecrow after playing against 100% fliers in game 1. The ever-maligned Stromkirk Patrol tagged out once more.

Although Cieran led off with a turn 2 Vampire Interloper, it wasn't enough in the face of my turn 1 Diregraf Ghoul and turn two 2/2. He laid down a Moorland Haunt and a Screeching Bat but quickly succumbed to my team of Moan of the Unhallowed Zombies.

1-1

If the previous game wasn't disappointing enough, this one proved a complete blowout. After playing Tribute to Hunger, he stalled on three lands while I did four damage per turn with a pair of 2/2s. He played an Interloper that was no help whatsoever, then had to discard a Demonmail Hauberk. Even though I had only drawn lands for the entire game, this allowed me to play three creatures. Two even survived to kill him. He played a second Vampire Interloper before scooping.

2-1

Record: 6-1

I determined I'd be likely to make it in on 7-1-1, so I drew with my round 8 opponent, then watched my husband, Mark, play Mental Magic while I waited for the Top 8. He'd never played before, which could make me a bad wife. Actually, it just makes me wonder why I forgot about this format for so long. It may be my favorite.

Final standings had me in sixth place, and I eagerly awaited playing in another Top 8. As we waited for seatings, Darwin asked me what I hoped to draft. I told him that my main goal was to be open to what I was being passed. In this format, archetypes seem more important to signal than colors, and I know that some people are likely to try to draft what they're comfortable with under the pressure of wanting to qualify. Given those tendencies, flexibility seems crucial to me.

Top 8 Draft

Soon, the draft was underway. My initial pack didn't have much in the way of strong signals. There was a Villagers of Estwald and a bunch of cards of about equal power level. I took a Grasp of Phantoms, reasoning that it was the strongest stand-alone card, sent no bad signals, and was splashable. Pick two, I was passed a Charmbreaker Devils, which I happily took for the same reasons. I then took an Into the Maw of Hell, dreaming blissfully of recurring land destruction.

After this, red more or less dried up, but I continued drafting blue cards that seemed to be on theme, like Think Twice, Moon Heron, and Lost in the Mist. I wasn't feeling terribly confident by the end of pack one.

The second pack I opened was atrocious for my colors. I ended up taking Geist of Saint Traft, doubtful that I could play it. I idly wondered what raredrafting in the top 8 said about my odds of winning. I've only been in a couple other top 8 drafts, and I remember them going distinctly weird. In an RRG draft, I'd had a handful of Stinkweed Imps, a Peregrine Mask, and a notable lack of win conditions.

Anyway, before I took my first pick, we all had to hold up our transform cards for each other to see. We all leaned in like we were participating in some strange wizard's ritual. Maybe if they weren't double-faced, we could have done some sort of improv game in which we had to subtly tell each other which character we were playing.

The person passing to me had a Daybreak Ranger, which I expected him to take. I was surprised to get it second. There wasn't much that was incredibly compelling in the pack, and I figured that if I could splash green, I'd have red as a main color to activate the Nightfall Predator on the other side. Or, since my red wasn't too deep, maybe I could splash that, instead.

After that, I got a Hanweir Watchkeep and a foil Skirsdag Cultist out of a pack with a normal Skirsdag Cultist right next to it. Splashing green seemed the more likely option, again.

Pretty soon, I found myself staring at a Burning Vengeance. Well, I'd never played this deck before, but surely if there's a deck that wants Burning Vengeance, it's this one. After that, I got a Hinterland Harbor to splash the Daybreak Ranger. I wasn't sure if it was right, but after taking a Memory's Journey, I was glad I'd taken it.

In pack three, after our wizarding circle of transform cards, I first-picked a Geistflame. I had just been thinking how regrettable it was that I hadn't picked one up yet, so I took it in a flash. Afterwards, I got passed a Mindshrieker, which merited even less thought than the last pick. After grabbing a couple key cards, such as Selhoff Occultist and Ghost Quarter, I was happier with how my deck had turned out. I got a Delver of Secrets relatively late, since it's not good in most archetypes, a Dream Twist, and a Laboratory Maniac.

Ultimately, I wound up with this:

1 Delver of Secrets
1 Mindshrieker
1 Deranged Assistant
1 Stitcher's Apprentice
1 Hanweir Watchkeep
1 Selhoff Occultist
1 Daybreak Ranger
1 Laboratory Maniac
1 Fortress Crab
1 Moon Heron
1 Skirsdag Cultist

1 Geistflame
1 Dream Twist
2 Think Twice
1 Harvest Pyre
1 Memory's Journey
1 Runic Repetition
1 Burning Vengeance
1 Grasp of Phantoms
1 Lost in the Mist
1 Into the Maw of Hell

8 Island
6 Mountain
1 Forest
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Hinterland Harbor

Sideboard:

One-Eyed Scarecrow
Trepanation Blade
Wooden Stake
Geist of Saint Traft
Spectral Flight
Dissipate
Forbidden Alchemy
Bloodcrazed Neonate
Infernal Plunge
Night Revelers
Vampiric Fury
Make a Wish
Bitterheart Witch
Typhoid Rats
Morkrut Banshee
Unbreathing Horde

I didn't think I had room in my deck for the situational/reactive Dissipate, and Forbidden Alchemy could neither trigger Burning Vengeance nor do anything if it were milled into my graveyard. I felt I had enough air and ground defense to merit leaving the One-Eyed Scarecrow in the board, despite his great work during the Sealed portion of the tournament. Spectral Flight and Bloodcrazed Neonate were not necessary, either, since I already had plenty of beefy threats that didn't situationally become a liability. Finally, even though many players enjoy Trepanation Blade's ability to win on an otherwise losing board, I only had two fliers, and one essentially had a built-in Trepanation Blade. Mindshrieker's ability is much better, though, because it mills my own deck and not my opponent's.

I showed my deck to Darwin, who asked me if it came out well. “It's definitely going to be fun,” I clarified. Like I said, I had never played Burning Vengeance before, so I didn't know how well the deck would function with only one copy. Or if I'd gotten enough flashback spells. Basically, all I knew for sure is that it seemed like a lot of fun.

As it turned out, I had plenty of time to do some test draws because the judges spent nearly an hour deliberating before the first round. Apparently, two players had accepted outside information on the draft, without telling a judge. As a result, they were DQed immediately. My husband, who had been afraid to talk to me at all while I recorded my decklist, said that that was exactly what he had feared.

However, I explained how different that situation was: someone had walked up and given them a stream of advice, unsolicited. There's no way Mark would have done that for me, given his fear of inadvertent cheating. Even if he had, I think I would have stopped him, at the very least. It's hard to say, but you can never be too careful in a competitive REL. This is Wizards' event, and if you don't play by their rules, they can simply eject you. No questions asked. If you have any doubt about whether or not something is “okay,” it's better to go to a judge. Not only will you gain a better idea of tournament rules, but you'll absolve yourself of having malicious intent.

Quarterfinals: Roman Kukharchuk

Since two players had been disqualified, their would-be opponents received byes, and they were free to watch the other two matches. Which is a little ironic. But it was a bad situation for everyone, really.

I won the die roll and chose to play first. I played a turn 1 Delver of Secrets, which transformed on my next upkeep. He led with a Blazing Torch, letting me attack for three for a few turns. I played Burning Vengeance, after which I played Moan of the Unhallowed. I played a Moon Heron, anticipating the fiery death of my Insectile Aberration. After all: in long video game tradition, insects hate fire. In long gothic horror tradition, Zombies hate it too. However, Roman proved that Zombies can master both their fear and atrophied musculature in order to briefly hold, then throw, a torch.

Roman played a Lantern Spirit, while I busily misplayed the few action cards I'd drawn. Being exhausted and not having played Ghost Quarter for a couple years, I briefly mistook the draft for EDH and my Ghost Quarter for a Strip Mine. I threw it at his sole Island, and he searched out a new one to replace it. I could have left my five mana open to play Lost in the Mist, but instead I'd wasted my turn and my land. It was an atrocious play, but I pressed on anyway. He was down to five when he cast Grasp of Phantoms on my Heron. I replayed the bird, which he shot down with a Geistcatcher's Rig. A Rig that proceeded to roll over me for several turns until I died. He followed it up with another machine built for destruction: the Galvanic Juggernaut. I'd long since run out of threats, so I opted to scoop instead of having my skull crushed by heavy machinery.

0-1

I didn't have much in the way of sideboard options, with the strange way my draft had gone, so I simply tried again.

Once more, I played first, and once more, I transformed my Delver of Secrets on turn two. I ramped with a Deranged Assistant, then put out a Hanweir Watchkeep. Roman followed with an early Lantern Spirit, which I was able to kill with a Geistflame milled off of Deranged Assistant. He played a Fortress Crab to hold off my Watchkeep in case it transformed; then I Dream Twisted myself.

On turn 5, Roman played a Murder of Crows. At the end of his turn, I killed it with a Harvest Pyre, exiling many lands that had been placed into the graveyard by my Deranged (yet zealous) Assistant. Once again, Roman stabilized at five life by putting a Sensory Deprivation on my Insectile Aberration. He Deprived my Werewolf of its senses, too. He tried to return the Murder of Crows to his hand with Ghoulcaller's Chant, but I deftly shuffled it back into his library with Memory's Journey. Afterwards, I solidified my board with a Charmbreaker Devils, backed up by Runic Repetition. A Skirsdag Cultist enabled me to hurl all my neutered creatures at my opponent over the next few turns.

1-1

Roman was on the play in game three, but after laying down a pair of Swamps, he had no plays. I drew a card off Think Twice at end of turn, then played a Selhoff Occultist. He discarded a creature on his turn four, while I hit him for four with my Human Rogue. Over the next couple turns, while I played Burning Vengeance, he found a pair of Islands for a Stitched Drake. I attacked into it with my Occultist, then flashed back Think Twice to finish it off, milling myself for two. I played a Mindshrieker as my endgame, and he stitched a second Drake out of the fallen body of the first.

He put a Sensory Deprivation on my Spirit Bird, while I milled a few cards into my graveyard at end of turn. I tried to Grasp of Phantoms his Stitched Drake, but he Dissipated my effort. The following turn, I attacked with an unblocked Mindshrieker, pumping it up to an unimpressive one point of damage. I bolstered my forces with a Hanweir Watchkeep, and next turn, I attacked with the Mindshrieker again.

With flashback spells in my graveyard, he wasn't inclined to block. I whiffed on the first activation, pausing to wonder if I should shuffle some of the spells with higher casting cost back into my deck with Memory's Journey. But it seemed that I hadn't drawn or milled many of my high-end spells yet, so I used my next two activations. I flipped Charmbreaker Devils and Lost in the Mist, doing a total of nine damage, even under the Sensory Deprivation. I guess the ability to see, hear, and taste your favorite foods doesn't always affect your capability to smash face.

At this point, Roman was at five. He cast Forbidden Alchemy, then Grasp of Phantoms on my newly flipped Werewolf, but that wouldn't also deal with the flashback cards in my graveyard. After more than an hour, Burning Vengeance ended the game.

2-1

Semifinals: Roberto Castro

Roberto chided me for taking over an hour for my last match, but there was a lot going on! Anyway, he's a good guy, and we reminisced about our other matches before beginning.

I got to play first again, which is lucky. Roberto led with an Ashmouth Hound, which I followed with a Daybreak Ranger. After beating for two, he cast Nightbird's Clutches to prevent my Ranger from going all “Mr. Hyde” on him. I let it flip, but he killed it with Harvest Pyre. Eventually, I won on the back of a Moon Heron, supported by Burning Vengeance.

1-0

In the second game, I had a Mindshrieker, which pretty much won me the game on its own because he had no removal harder than Silent Departure. He ran his Makeshift Mauler into my Spirit Bird, which pumped up to a 5/5 before deciding to block. After that, it began an offensive, bringing him down to 10 in a few turns. Roberto tried to race with Crossway Vampire, Kessig Wolf, and Vampire Neonate, but the game ended abruptly when Mindshrieker revealed Into the Maw of Hell and Grasp of Phantoms, back to back.

2-0

Finals: Thien Nguyen

In the last round of the PTQ, I was pitted against the only person to have beaten me all day. He joked that I now had my chance to “get him back,” but I pointed out that we'd both made top 8, so there wasn't much to avenge.

I was on the play with a turn 1 Delver of Secrets, but it refused to flip instantly, as it had done in the past. He played an Elite Inquisitor to block, and I decided to Think Twice. I played a Burning Vengeance, while he halted my board with a One-Eyed Scarecrow.

Thankfully, my Delver performed a successful insect experiment and transformed, giving me a couple of points of damage per turn. Thien cast a Midnight Haunting, but I Geistflamed one of the tokens. He played a Mask of Avacyn, but with a Geistflame in the bin and Burning Vengeance on the board, it wasn't really in his best interest to equip. He tapped out for a Dearly Departed, which I killed by flashing back Geistflame and Dream Twist. He scooped at 14, eager to start over.

1-0

Game 2 was another slow progression, after Thien gummed up the board with a Priest of Avacyn, Runechanter's Pike, and a Blazing Torch. I hoped to gain attrition with a Charmbreaker Devils, but because I was so tired, I missed one of the upkeep triggers. A few turns later, I failed to untransform my Hanweir Watchkeep, which earned me another warning for missed triggers.

A judge got up to check, then returned promptly.

As soon as I heard “yes,” I silently scooped up my cards. I wasn't sure if I had been in a great position, but it no longer mattered. The game was over. Gone.

I'd just gotten a game loss in the final round of a PTQ because I'd missed triggers that would have benefited me. No matter how good my deck was, I needed to pull myself together to pilot it successfully. I'd never gotten to the finals of a PTQ before, and I wanted to make this count.

I double-checked my sideboard for options, both to be sure I didn't miss anything and to give me some more time to staunch myself. This wasn't the first mistake I'd made today, and I'd have plenty of time to kick myself later if this cost me the match. Right now, it was time to get serious.

1-1

I was on the play, and Thien had a slow start. I ran out a Laboratory Maniac and a Hanweir Watchkeep. I slowly and deliberately transformed the monster on my upkeep, then swung in for seven. On Thien's turn, he thought for a while, then dropped an Elder Cathar with Bonds of Faith. On my upkeep, I carefully transformed my Werewolf back into a Human. I found myself staring intently at the creature every upkeep, determined not to lose the game to one of my best cards.

On turn 6, Dearly Departed hit the table opposite me. Soon afterwards, it had knocked off a quarter of my life. Divine Reckoning ended my Laboratory Maniac's tenure and life. It also killed the Elder Cathar, but he was already old, and besides, this put a counter on Thien's Dearly Departed, which brought me down to nine.

I had no plays, so a couple turns later, I was forced to run my Bane of Hanweir into the 6/6 flier. I finished it off with a Geistflame, hoping that I'd win the ensuing topdeck war.

Thien reanimated his 5/5 immediately with Unburial Rites. I groaned, while he professed that he'd had many of these cards in the last game, but I was too busy losing to missed triggers to let him play them.

Huh. I didn't really expect trash talk at the final table, but secretly: I love to play that game, too, from time to time. I smiled and apologized for having been so rude.

Well, what did the cards hold for my future? I drew one to find out: Grasp of Phantoms. I promptly forced the ghost to depart the battlefield. But that wasn't really an answer; Dearly Departed was haunting me again by the next turn. I shrugged and tapped out to flashback Grasp. Like clockwork, Thien slammed it back onto the table.

Hoping not to draw another land, I turned up another card for my turn. Runic Repetition. Well, it's not an answer, but... I returned Grasp and replayed it. Sighing, my opponent replayed it for the third time. I flashed it back again. As he replayed Dearly Departed for the fourth turn in a row, he taunted me.

I drew.

Into the Maw of Hell.

Shrugging, I killed his Dearly Departed and a Swamp. Thien didn't flinch, and with Unburial Rites in his graveyard, why should he? But things surely changed when I played Memory's Journey to shuffle it, Unburial Rites, and Divine Reckoning back into his library. (In retrospect, I should have waited for him to cast the Rites, but it was past midnight, and I was eager to seize the opportunity.)

My opponent grimaced. “Things just got a lot worse,” he said.

I clarified, “For you.”

I drew a small creature, but Thien removed it Corpse Lunge. However, my next play was Burning Vengeance. I killed two Abbey Griffins by flashing back Memory's Journey and Think Twice. By the time I drew another creature, I had complete board control.

2-1

Epilogue

And that's how my story ends. After nearly nine years of trying, on and off, to qualify for the Pro Tour, I've finally done it. And in the messiest way possible, no less! If I had decided to stay up and finish that alter, I'm sure I would've been misplaying far earlier. Additionally, my commissioner had his entire deck stolen that day; the one card that survived was the half-finished APAC Plains I'd left on my desk. It was a small comfort, but he was just happy he hadn't lost everything.

Ultimately, I think that my behavior in the face of obvious misplays adds up to something greater than the errors themselves. It demonstrates a maturity that I know I didn't have nine years ago. Back then, I would have panicked, tilted, and buried my own game in the ground. The fact that I can now look at a bad situation for exactly what it is, no more and no less, makes me happier than any single victory could.

Not being so goal-oriented has actually helped me achieve my dreams. And next month, in Honolulu, the journey will truly be the reward.

Thanks for joining me along the way.

Jackie Lee---

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