Like so many others, I was impressed by Matteo Cirigliano's EternalShard deck. Not at first, heck no, just like everyone else I thought it was a pile of crap. It didn't seem to do anything... at least until I playtested it. It took a few tries, a few"back up, I missed something," and even a"whoa, I can actually do that" to figure out what was going on with the deck, but eventually I did and I came to like it.

I am a control player by heart, but also a combo player. This fit both molds. But, it seemed to be lacking somewhere, and I couldn't figure out quite what it was... until I playtested it against a bunch of Mono-Green builds. Then I discovered what I considered to be the problem: if the creature was of a decent size and made it past the counter spells, I couldn't deal with it. A single Molder Slug was beating me down, and all I could do was chump block, bounce my own stuff (or the Slug, when I got a counter), and hang on. Unfortunately, that deck also seemed to run enough other creatures that the match up became extremely difficult.

I thought to myself,"Well, perhaps it is just this deck, every deck has a bad match up. Let's play test it against, say, a Mono-Black creature deck." The same thing began happening. I just couldn't compete with the amount of creatures he was dropping. Annuls and Oxidizes were useless. Sure, I could Condescend a few spells, but I couldn't do it with any consistency before dying. A deck that I really seemed to like, just wasn't working right against a field that was broader than Affinity, Tooth and Nail, and Big Red.

Being the deck builder I am (in my own mind), I decided to play around with it. I even contacted a few others to get their impressions of the deck and what it lacked. One person said,"It's perfect. Don't change a thing." I couldn't agree with that. I had found too many problems in my play testing. Another person I asked said"Run Rude Awakening as the kill card. No one can handle fourteen 2/2s that are lands." That didn't feel right either. As soon as you go to that, everyone will just start sideboarding Leonin Bladetrap (even if it's a bad card).

I began reworking the deck. It probably saw every decent Green or Blue card possible in the block before I came up with a build I was happy with. It could deal with an early Colossus. It could deal with Molder Slugs and lots of creatures. It could even deal with really fast Affinity builds (although, not nearly as well as the original could). No match was an automatic loss, which the original version had too many of for my liking.

Here is what I came up with, before I get into much more:

SpanoShard ver. 1.0 (hey, it is my version, I can call it what I want, pfft)
4 Eternal Witness
4 Viridian Shaman
4 Solemn Simulacrum
3 Duplicant
3 Troll Ascetic
4 Echoing Truth
3 Serum Visions
4 Oxidize
3 Crystal Shard
3 Creeping Mold
3 Aether Spellbomb
10 Island
13 Forest

After showing this version to a few people, I got some interesting responses:"This looks like an even bigger pile of cards than the original!""Where are the counterspells? You can't lock them down!""Aether Spellbomb sucks. Get rid of it. Where is Thirst for Knowledge, it is so broken!" and my all time favorite one,"Your version is wrong."

This deck obviously plays differently than other versions. It plays a bit more of a board control instead of counterspelling everything. It also isn't in a hurry to do things, taking its time and pacing the match. It wins by frustrating your opponent into either making a mistake or by eventually letting the power of the deck render their side of the board useless.

Annul was a great choice in Matteo's original version, but I didn't like how often it was a dead card. I found, more often than not, it just sat in my hand and made my opponent wonder what I had. Granted, that can be a great jedi mind trick (especially if you pretend to go to tap mana, decide not to, count things, etc), but I wanted a real solution, not a fake one.

Triskelion, while really good against Affinity, was getting eaten alive by other decks. I swapped it out for Duplicant. Even if I use it to kill off that 1/1 Disciple, it still took out a creature, gave me a blocker, and I can bounce him later to reuse against anything (except Pristine Angel, see my tournament report in a bit). With the same casting cost, I liked the Duplicant main deck much better.

The only other strange cards are the Creeping Mold, the Serum Visions (instead of Thirst for Knowledge), and good old Aether Spellbomb. I choose Creeping Mold because of its ability to destroy both lands and artifacts. Enchantments aren't much of a problem right now, but there are always lands to destroy, and making your opponent lose all of their Black sources of mana (or any other color) I hear is pretty good. Serum Visions got the nod because of the casting cost. I preferred the single U vs. 2U. Granted, they aren't doing exactly the same thing, as I don't get the cards in my hand, but I found often times I didn't want to keep the mana open to play a Thirst. Finally, the spellbomb can be used against my opponent's creatures, can be used for my creatures, and if anything, I can draw a card from it. Not too bad for a small little artifact in a bouncy type of deck.

So, armed with my version, I went to a GPT for Orlando in Fairmont, West Virginia with my friend Chris. No major obstacles prevented us from getting there on time and registering our decks. It wasn't a very large tournament, somewhere around thirty people, but hey, it was a testing ground for me. I was more interested in testing my version than anything else. This should be perfect.

We were informed that we would have five rounds, then a cut to the top 8. Realizing that meant if I could go 3-1 in the first 4, I could draw in. Hmm, a possibility for sure.

Round 1 Mini-Big Red
We sit down, and I begin talking to my opponent as he seemed pretty young and nervous. He explains to me that this is his first tournament, and his friend brought him. He was actually a pretty cool kid after I spoke with him for a while, which I got to do since we were deck checked.

Now, I am very anal about my registration list, so I went over it three or four times before turning it in. So did he, unfortunately, he didn't know you had to have exactly fifteen (or zero) cards in your sideboard. He only had twelve. The judge informed him he must have fifteen cards and gave him a game 1 loss as he went and found three lands to put in the sideboard to complete it. I felt really bad. I asked the judge"Hey, it's his first tournament, can't we let it go this once? Give him a warning instead." He shook his head and said"The rules are the rules. I can't do that, sorry." Oh well, I tried.

I call this mini-Big Red, as my opponent didn't have all the optimal cards for big red. Oh, he started out with a nice Molten Rain and even had a couple of Arc-Sloggers in the deck, but it didn't last long. Even normal Big Red doesn't have too many threats it puts on the board at one time, so the Duplicant I drew was able to take away his threats as I slowly whittled his Red mana away.

Since he already had a game loss, that was all she wrote. I turned in the slip and returned asking if he wanted to play another game or two for fun. He said sure. We didn't use sideboards and just went at it again. It didn't turn out any differently. If it seems I am glossing over these games, there is a reason. They weren't much. A little bit of land destruction here, a Duplicant there, and an Eternal bouncing around kept him in place.

Round 2 - R/G Land Destruction (1-0)
I am actually sitting at table 1. I felt it was a good sign, but I should have remembered the other tournaments where I was at table one. I have never won sitting at that table, and it didn't change this time.

First game, I got an early Troll Acetic out and began beating him down. He cast a few land destruction spells, but I was drawing into land fairly easily. He did have a few tricks, as he would keep casting an Arc-Slogger when I had no Duplicant in site. That made me recur an Eternal Witness to get Echoing Truth (using the Shard I had in play). I had him down to three life, and was tasting victory....then he taps everything and says"Fireball for sixteen?" waiting for me to say"Condescend for one." I blinked, looked at my life total and just sighed. Burnt to a crisp. Man, I hate Red!

Second game, he is having mana problems and mulligans down to five cards and still isn't happy. He gets two land and that was all. I destroyed those with Creeping Mold and used a Solemn and Witness for the kill. Eventually, he just scooped and said"Let's go to game 3."

He decides to go first, and mulligans again down to five cards. I am feeling good about myself, but I should remember I am sitting at table 1. I open with two lands, which is usually good as I almost always draw into more. Did you notice the word I used there? Almost always. I didn't see another land for quite a while - heck, I didn't see the lands I drew stay around as he Molten Rained and Creeping Molded the few I did get. Finally, he casts and Arc-Slogger, and I look at my hand and just concede. I am not one to try and do anything with no land in play facing an Arc Slogger. I was glad I didn't, he showed me his hand, and he had three more LD spells. Oh, the agony.

Round 3 - U/W Pristine Angel (1-1)
Well, I still have a chance. Two more wins and I can draw into the top 8. My opponent sits down and puts a cool play mat in front of him. I long ago dismissed the myth of"play mat = bad player" and my opponent had this odd look about him of intelligence and wisdom.

Of all my matches this day, this was the best one. He was well versed in the rules, knew exactly how to phrase things, never jumped a step, and announced everything he did. On top of all of that, he was a nice guy! Win or lose, these are the types of matches I enjoy.

He begins play slowly, and so do I. Feeling each other out, waiting for an opening. I decide to try it and Oxidize his Talisman. He nods, puts it in the graveyard and we go on. Again, nothing much happens for a few turns as we both play lands. Finally, he casts Leonin Abunas. Interesting. I begin my spells now as well, and Duplicant away his Abunas. We trade a few things, and eventually he casts a Pristine Angel. I look down and read my Duplicant. Wondering about something, I call the head judge over and ask about the wording on Duplicant. It says:

Imprint - When Duplicant comes into play, you may remove target non-token creature from the game. (The removed card is imprinted on this artifact.)

Why did I ask about this? It's because it says"you may remove target non-token creature" Not"remove target non-token creature" It wasn't the may part, it was the"you" part I questioned. Who does the targeting then? The Duplicant or me? The Angel doesn't have protection from players (which would be an interesting ability to say the least, but I guess that would be the"can't be targeted" stuff), but the judge, as I expected, said the Duplicant does the targeting. I am going to have to race him and keep him on his heels then. Thank God this Angel doesn't gain life!

I begin attacking with my creatures (at this point, a Solemn, 2 Shamen, and a Witness, not to mention that I have a Shard in play), and begin whittling his life total down. He casts another Angel... uh oh, but I can still race him out, as he is really low on life and I can take a hit from his Angels. He attacks, I go to cast Echoing Truth on the Angels, and he casts Pulse of the Fields in response. I just groaned and watched his life jump to eight. I looked at the board, looked at my hand and said"Good game"

Not much to sideboard in, other than a fourth Creeping Mold, while he sideboards in five cards. This isn't going to be good.

We start out pretty much the same way, watching and feeling each other out. He even casts a Leonin Abunas again, and I once again Duplicant him away. This time though, he is low on mana, and I start recurring a Witness and getting my Creeping Mold. I keep him below six mana, and attack for the win. He informs me afterwards he was holding two Angels. Yipes, close call.

Third game, and he mulligans. Down to five. He begins play with mostly Islands, and a single Plains. That is like saying"Target acquired. Fire at will." He never had more than one source of White mana, and I rode a Troll and Solemn for the match.

We compared notes then, talking about our decks. He was shocked that I didn't have any counterspells in the deck (or sideboard, although I did have Annul there, but I don't consider that a real counter). He shows me his deck, and we go off to find our other friends.

Meanwhile, Chris isn't doing too hot with Affinity."So much hate" as Yoda would say. It wasn't a good day for my buddy.

Round 4 - Tooth and Nail (2-1)
In all of my play testing, this was almost always a good matchup. Let him resolve the Tooth, I will Duplicant away his threats. Bounce a little if I need to, and Creeping Mold the Cloudposts to keep his mana count down.

First game, he mulligans down to six, and then his eyes get huge. He smiles at me, plays a Cloudpost and says done. His next two lands are also Cloudposts. Before I knew it, he hard casts a Darksteel Colossus. Seeing as I wasn't at six mana quite yet, I bounce him back to his hand. He then proceeds to cast and activate his Mindslaver. Ouch, that's not good. He draws the fourth land I needed for Creeping Mold, and decides to use it on the land I just drew. Great. Well, I can still pull this off, until I watch him Eternal Witness and then Mindslaver me again. Oh, guess what? He does it a third time during his next turn as well. Needless to say, I did not win that game. Fear recurring Mindslavers!

Okay, bring in my fourth Creeping Mold and four Annuls. A lot of you may be asking"Where is Acquire?" I didn't run them in the sideboard. Why? Because every TnN player I spoke with said they sideboard out the Colossi (is that the plural form? Word isn't giving me a red squiggly) for the Plated Slagwurm against Blue decks. It was no different in this case, after I spoke with him later on.

He tries a few Oblivion Stones in the beginning and I easily destroy them. Every time he gets a threat, I am able to react to it, but it seems I am not getting anything good in combination with what I need. Eventually, he draws an Eternal Witness and brings back an O-Stone. I have a Troll on my side. I am thinking,"What is he planning? That won't do any good." Until he casts it and puts a fate counter on his Witness."Uh oh! I regenerate and tap. I am at two life. He attacks for the win." I need to draw a Witness (which I have only seen one of), a bounce card (for the Witness) or some type of artifact destruction, now. My deck doesn't pull through, and I scoop. I give him credit though, that was a good move.

Okay, so I am 2-2, I still have a chance. I did the math in my head, and found that one or possibly two people will make it into the top 8 with a 3-2 record. I need to play and give it a shot. Chris is also 2-2 with Affinity. Man, I hope I don't play him, I play against him enough at home!

Round 5 - U/G Shard (original version)
I had been dreading this matchup. It is slow, boring, and well, a pain in the butt! But, I feel my version has a leg up, with too many must-counter type of spells.

He was a nice guy, and we begin talking about how we have the same Shard deck. I ask him if he took Matteo's list directly, and he says yes, other than some sideboard cards. I respond that mine was a bit modified and he smiled.

Third turn Troll, no Condescend. Fourth turn Troll, no Condescend. He just sighs and says"Yeah, someone else is playing main deck Trolls here." I ride them for the win, as there was nothing he can do about it. I even echoed his Witnesses for him a few times, wasn't that nice of me?

The second game goes fourth turn Creeping Mold, Condescended. Fifth turn Creeping Mold, Condescended. Sixth Turn Duplicant (about to target his Witness), Annul. Seventh turn Witness, bring back Creeping Mold. Creeping Mold. He looks at his hand, and his shoulders slump. I smile and flash him my Echoing Truth, Shard and another Witness.... he nods and concedes.

We begin talking about our decks and some of the downfalls we have found in it. He agrees he didn't like the Triskelions, but wasn't sure what to do about affinity. After a bit, I go watch Chris and his battle of Affinity vs. Mono-Green. Despite a third-turn kill the first game, there was too much hate, and he falls to 2-3.

We wait around for a bit to see if I will make the top 8. Chris is hoping not, as he has dinner plans that night. Eventually (after what seemed like forever), the list is posted. 10^th place. Only one 3-2 person made top 8, and there was still another in front of me.

After a nice range of decks I played against, I felt fairly good about my deck and my build of it. I liked it, and it felt like my type of deck. Reactionary with lots of"tricks".

For those of you who really want to know, here was the sideboard I ran:

1 Creeping Mold (Big Red, Mono green, and TnN)
3 Brown Ouphe (Ironworks, and general)
4 Annul (TnN and Affinity)
3 Leonin Bladetrap (Mirror using Rude Awakening, which I found, round 5 was using)
4 Scrabbling Claws (Mirror, in general)

I only ended up using the Creeping Molds and Annuls really. The Claws came in, but never saw play.