The Grand Prix Trial last Saturday at Dream Wizards in Rockville, MD was perfectly managed at first.... Then eighty people showed up. They had planned for fifty. Oh well, you live, you learn.
I myself was packing Mono-White Control... Wait! I mean Slide. Scrambling before the tournament, all I had was elves and four Exalted Angels, and twenty minutes later, I had a version of Slide that did well against aggro and control. I was ready.
The true hype was all the Goblins talk. I shrugged it off because really, I didn't care. I will, however, state that anyone who complains about turn 2 Wild Mongrel should be shot; there is nothing like taking eight on turn 3, and then twenty-four the turn after.
My version of Slide was easily confused with Mono-White Control. Basically, my deck was Mono-White Control, except for Lightning Rifts and Starstorm. After cramming and shoving in seven red cards, I eventually managed to get down to sixty-one cards. I knew that sixty-first card could cost me, but I was set that my build was perfect, with a perfect sideboard and a devastating maindeck that anything red would cringe at.
I don't have matchup-by-matchup analysis; my notes disappeared and I really have no information. All I have is my memory, which I will gladly share with you.
The Deck And Card-By-Card Analysis
4 Astral Slide
4 Lightning Rift
4 Exalted Angel
4 Silver Knight
3 Eternal Dragon
3 Akroma's Vengeance (Zvi Tech)
3 Starstorm (Me tech)
3 Wing Shards
3 Akroma's Blessing
3 Renewed Faith
4 Secluded Steppe
4 Forgotten Cave
12 Plains
7 Mountains
Sideboard(15)
4 Avarax
2 Akroma, Angel of Wrath
1 Jareth, Leonine Titan
3 Gempalm Incinerator
1 Akroma's Vengeance
1 Starstorm
Err..."That's not fifteen," you say - well, welcome to mistake 1 of the trial! I forgot to write down the last three cards of my sideboard, and as a result I got a game loss.
Corrected Sideboard
3 Pacifism
4 Avarax
2 Akroma, Angel of Wrath
1 Jareth, Leonine Titan
3 Gempalm Incinerator
1 Akroma's Vengeance
1 Starstorm
Notable Cards:
4 Silver Knight - Tech stolen from MWC. If it's so good in their deck, it has to be good in ours. We run fewer plains, but we can still manage WW easily.
3 Eternal Dragon - So good it deserves to be four. The reason it's not is that it's not necessary. Three served me well all day; 'nuff said.
3 Akroma's Vengeance - This is the only reset button in the format. Why three? It's Zvi Tech. I only use three because there are several times where you have two in your hand, but only need one. Yes, you can cycle it... But you shouldn't cycle this guy, ever. (Bob Maher disagrees - The Ferrett)
3 Starstorm - ...And this is my tech. I figured six board sweepers were plenty. I also had a very fat deck that needed a few cards trimmed. The RR in the casting cost also turned me away from running four. It cycles as well, but it's only good to cycle this against MWC, as it only kills two things in their deck: The Eternal Dragon and the Angel. And really, the Dragon is Eternal and will always come back, so why bother?
3 Akroma's Blessing - What once was four is now three. Adding Wing Shards to the deck meant that I had three cards to take out... And I almost succeeded. My deck is sixty-one. Oh yeah; this guy also cycles. I also used it twice to beat Mono White.
3 Wing Shards - The breakout card of the tournament. I don't remember how many times I heard"Wing Shards times X" throughout the tournament. It's no Swords to Plowshares, of course, but it is a beating. It also gives me time to set up what I need to do in order to take control of the game. It also is a saving grace against things like Jareth, which otherwise you can't touch.
Sideboard
4 Avarax - Where's the Rorix? Not in my deck. And it's a good thing, too, as my deck only ran seven mountains. Avarax comes with friends, and I think he is better anyway. If there was one thing I remember is that I could barely cast this guy when it was time for his appearance; truly a good reason for not playing Rorix.
1 Jareth, Leonine Titan - The cat freak strikes again. Good against just about everything. A guaranteed four points of damage is good in this block.
2 Akroma, Angel of Wrath - The ability monstrosity. I just wish she gained life.
3 Gempalm Incinerator - Despite the fact that I shrugged goblins off, I still had this guy in the board. It does what it does and that's fine. It was, however, not worthy of maindecking.
Cards not included:
Enchantment removal. Most slide decks remove the enchantments game 2 and 3 anyway, so why include it? It's the only deck running them, other than Call to the Grave and Sulfuric Vortex. They can be Vengeanced away just as well as Slide and Rift can.
How To Play The Deck
Goblins
In theory, I should know how to play against goblins... But the match was over in about seven minutes because I kept two bad hands. Whoops.
Elves
Play land, destroy the elves, repeat. Turn 6 Angel and turn 7 Eternal Dragon was enough to take the match. I also got the game loss this match for my sideboard, which meant that I had to take both games. Starstorm was my friend the whole match. Wirewood Symbiote is annoying, but easy to work around. Simple, really.
Sideboarding
- 4 Astral Slide, -4 Lightning Rift, -1 Akroma's Blessing
+ 4 Avarax, + 2 Akroma, +1 Jareth, +1 Starstorm, +1 Akroma's Vengeance
Mono-White Control (also known as stupid.boring.dec)
I played this deck twice. It's extremely long, and extremely boring. You bounce Vengeances left and right and nobody ever really has the game. All I can say is be ready for a good fifty-minute game of magic. Both times we went to five turns. I ended up winning both.
Side note: Eternal Dragon is good. Also, try to win before you deck yourself. I came close in both matches, or should I say both games?
Sideboarding
- 4 Astral Slide, -4 Lightning Rift, -3 Starstorm
+4 Avarax, +2 Akroma, +1 Jareth, + 3 Pacifism, +1 Vengeance
Mirror Match
The mirror could be considered in my favor... And it usually is. I have more creatures maindecked than most Slide builds, therefore have more game in 2 and 3. I also have the basic enchantment/creature switch - which, in my opinion, is the way to go. The two Slide decks I played both kept their enchantments in.
Sideboarding
- 4 Astral Slide, -4 Lightning Rift, -1 Akroma's Blessing
+1 Starstorm, +1 Vengeance, +4 Avarax, + 2 Akroma, Angel of Wrath, +1 Jareth
Veggies/Dragons/Rogue
Most of these decks are slow and thus don't work in the format anymore. Veggies can be good with a good draw, but it's not very good in the format any more. For sideboarding, run the creature/enchantment switch. I have deemed these decks unplayable.
Overall, I did well. I finished at 5-2. Dreamwizards ran another successful tournament.
Props
Mike, Aaron, Kevin - For loaning me cards.
Charlie - for having enough balls to run four Zombie Cutthroats in his Constructed deck (which was Blue/White)
Judge Staff - For the repairing of Round 3, I thank you... A whole lot.
Dreamwizards - For keeping the supply of soda and candy coming.
Stephen King - For giving my Chromeshell Crabs back.
Sean V. - For talking me into playing Slide.
Hundroog - It's a beating. (Hundroog! - The Ferrett)
Slops
Me - For forgetting to write 3 Pacifisms
Any moron asking me,"Would you like to concede to me?"
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