I’d like to tell you the story begins with my flight to Amsterdam with Michael Jacob, but honestly at this point I am not even totally sure what the story is that I am recounting. Oh sure, on the surface we’re talking about Pro Tour Amsterdam — but a general sort of haze lingers over the event, making hard details difficult to swear by, despite the fact that I never once stopped by the local cafes. Additionally, you may not care much about Amsterdam at this point — but bear with me, as we actually don’t spend that much time there, but it’s necessary to set up the rest of the sordid tales soon to follow.
A somewhat grueling flight left me touching down in Amsterdam without a wink of sleep (assuming we’re using the “wink” as the official unit of measurement for the sleep I did not get). MJ, being the stone master he is, had successfully jet-legged himself in the US with StarCraft 2 and Nintendo DS, leaving him knocked out cold on the flight over. Upon arriving, I felt as if I was going to be sick from sleep deprivation (keep in mind, our 7:30 a.m. flight out of Chicago was two hours from my house, which assured a night with nearly no sleep before taking off). Bizarrely, after connecting, we landed at 530 a.m. local time on an alleged Monday. This wouldn’t have been so bad, but our hotel roommates Eric Froehlich and the Counselor, Matt Sperling, did not arrive for another thirty-four hours. What’s the play?
Well, as it turns out, a life-time of running good did not fail me. As we stumbled around the recently renovated Amsterdam Airport, we discovered a room full of full-length, cushy, reclined chairs that made ideal beds. Dozens of other wayward souls slumbered, and humanity looked pretty damn decent for a morning. There were no signs instructing people to be quiet, no guards or staff. There was no need for governance, as everyone involved just sort of seemed to get that “being a decent human being” was a pretty swell way to be. That night in the airport — well, morning, I suppose — was a success.
Eventually, we arose somewhere around noon-ish local time (which is some crazy Dutch nonsense, rather than the Eastern time zone sanity that those of us in Milwaukee, Denver, and LA all agree to abide by). After MJ graciously humored my desire to have a McDonald’s lunch, we sat and battled a little Extended. As we stared into empty cups (on account of it being freaking Europe, Land of No Refills), you could feel the vibrations as we felt like we were quietly breaking the format clean in two, in much the same way Gabriel Nassif actually did. Preordain and Grave Titan provided the missing links for my Grixis deck. MJ is a genius. Time to get the hell out of the airport!
Continuing our theme of running good in life, we found that the public transportation system was in English, cost only four euros to ride, and really was easy. We exited at the first stop as we were rightly instructed, then walk a short distance with no turns that also delivered as advertised, arriving at the hotel that we would check in to just a short twenty-eight hours later. We surveyed the lobby, quickly coming to the conclusion that in fact not a single one of these people was a Magic player (or at least one that we knew). Of course, if you were to guess that our luck continued with the discovery that the lobby randomly has full internet access available for only a euro a day, you would be wrong. It was free internet, of course, so mise, and mise well, am I right?
I went to the roof and sent out the Luis Scott-Vargas-symbol, taking mere minutes before receiving word that he would, in fact, be
saving the day
. In a not-altogether not-comical extension of absurd run-good, we had stumbled upon an apartment full of friends and testing partners who happened to have an extra bed for one night until more of our
posse arrived. One bed was even about half a bed more than we needed, as Michael Jacob is more of a floor sleeper. [
Why does this not surprise me? — Knut
] This attribute, combined with his lack of snoring and general ease of living, make him consistently a very high draft pick in the “Who Is Sleeping in Which Room?” game.
At this point it was Monday and we needed to kill minimum of one more day to even have a roof over our heads.
After arriving in Amsterdam on Monday, as I said, I was invited by Luis Scott-Vargas to drop in on the apartment that a bunch of our friends (people like Brian Kibler, Tom Martell, and LSV) had rented out to stay in before the player hotel and prepare at.
In case you’re one of the many people that have never seen people seriously test for a tournament before, it doesn’t involve doing anything crazy or unexpected. It may look like just a bunch of smart people sitting around talking cards, playing and watching games — but to those in the know, there’s actually a great deal more in play. Discussions with top deckbuilding minds, like Gabriel Nassif, Brian Kibler, Michael Jacob, Guillaume Wafo-tapa and Matt Sperling make you better at Magic just by hanging around them, but it also takes a strong team effort with friends who work together well and have good chemistry.
Magic is a game full of bright people — and all too often bright young men who are used to always being the smartest guy in the room find themselves surrounded by a room full of intelligence and lose their cool. Young, cocky kids can obviously be forgiven — but one of the most important lessons I can pass on to you is to not be the whiny immature boy who’s given a chance, only to lose the respect of his peers who see him as little more than an embarrassing 8th grader. This is no sleight to 8th graders, as most have figured out how to act like an adult… but alas, not all.
One of the hardest things some boys have to go through is the realization that they don’t already know it all and could stand to learn from their classmates. This is nothing to
cry
about, however. This is an opportunity to redefine yourself. Every moment is a statement about Who You Are. Everybody makes errors, but they don’t become mistakes until you refuse to correct them.
Our discussions were filled with world-class players from all corners. Brian Kibler, Paulo Vitor Damo Da Rosa, Paul Rietzl, Martin Juza, our preparation was much more than just one country or faction, though most of us were American. This was truly a gathering of friends with a huge amount of respect for one another and their abilities. There was certainly no shortage of silent observers surrounding with varying degrees of participation. Some said little, content to learn from the veterans. Some took a more active role, assisting in whatever capacity they could. Occasionally you will even encounter the abrasive amateur that is in over his head and rather than peep a little game, just assumes he knows more than the Hall of Famers and future Hall of Famers he was fortunate enough to be in the same room with, that ends up sitting alone in the corner by himself.
It was very cool to
actually
be a part of the preparation process in Amsterdam. At the apartment, we were primarily working on Kibler’s Doran
deck and my Grixis deck, while our fearless leader Nassif and company tuned White Weenie. Michael Jacob and I discussed Grixis at length recently in
his article
and
mine
,
and White Weenie has received a fair bit of press of from
Nassif
,
Kai
, and
Sperling
, so let’s take a moment and focus on Kibler’s
Doran deck
.
It would be an easy novice mistake to assume it was bad simply because it was a “fair” creature deck in a format with a lot of potential combo decks. You might not understand why players of Kibler and Nelson’s caliber were fans, but taking the time to learn would make all the difference.
Zvi Mowshowitz and I were discussing ways to break formats at Pro Tour San Diego. He was reiterating that one of the best ways is to figure out the best mana in the format first. When you have a Treefolk in hand, Kibler’s deck has twelve tri-lands that enter the battlefield untapped. That’s pretty insane, giving you access to the best cards in three colors.
As much as I’d like to say that the deck didn’t really play any cards that cost more than three mana because it had so many strong one-, two-, and three-mana spells to draw from, I just can’t — that would irresponsible and wrong. The truth is, Kibler’s Doran deck is very well crafted, following a classic Junk deck formula, but aims for a little lower curve, building on a simple, brilliant idea. As Randy Buehler would say, “They took out the Noble Hierarchs and added
Loam Lions
.” Besides, when your game plan is Treefolk Harbinger for Treefolk Harbinger, then follow with Doran, why would you want to slow your deck down with expensive cards that don’t mesh with this game plan at all? Obviously they had Elspeth, Knight-Errant at the four-spot — but in a format full of fast combo decks, their G/B/W Treefolk deck had to keep its curve low enough to provide a fast enough board presence to win games on the back of just a couple of early discard spells. If playing more colors was the clear best, how could anyone beat Wafo-tapa?
No, Zvi’s point about mana bases is an interesting one to consider from another perspective. We now have the benefit of hindsight and we can see that the best performing deck in Amsterdam was Nassif’s White Weenie, with both the champion Paul Rietzl, and top 8 competitor Kai Budde leading the charge. As a whole, White Weenie had a
64% win percentage
(first among the macro-archetypes). Perhaps part of the reason they broke it was because they had the best mana base. Twenty-three (!) lands, all entering the battlefield untapped, each of which produced all of their colors! Unbelievable.
Nassif is amazing. He is single-handedly responsible for the resurgence of American Magic. We absolutely dominated this Pro Tour. And most of the players dominating were close friends and teammates of his that have benefited over the years from working with him directly. And when I say “team,” I mean
team
. Paul Rietzl, Brad Nelson, Brian Kibler, Michael Jacob, Guillaume Wafo-tapa, and Kai Budde all benefited from relations with the best deck builder of all time: Gabriel Nassif. While only two of our six played Nassif’s deck this time around, we all benefited from his insight.
Those not associated with Nassif are not a team. I feel comfortable mentioning his competitors because they are simply not as good as him. There are a
lot of players in the world, and a lot of sites, so I consider having an opportunity to read Nassif’s
content
on StarCityGames.com to be truly a blessing. Our playtest group has a leader: his name is “Big Papa Hats.” In order to be part of Nassif’s testing group of competitive Magic players, you need to know Nassif personally or have him know and respect you. Nassif has drawn all of the best players in America together, and Nassif’s influence is slowly spreading.
Watch out
!
I’m so proud to be a part of it. I wasn’t asked to wear Nassif’s
yellow hat
. I wasn’t paid to wear it. I wore his hat out of pride.
Pro Tour Amsterdam was more than just a massive success on the side of personal performances, it was also peppered with the kinds of good times that
Megan Holland and the Rainmaker are known to help instigate at events. One of my personal favorite debates was between Must-Follow Tom “
@semisober
” Martell and the
silent assassin
, David Ochoa. They were arguing over the difference between Vintage and Elder Dragon Highlander players. The argument was finally resolved with the observation that Vintage players prefer a big bag of decks, whereas EDH players prefer a bag of big decks. For those not familiar with Martell’s work, he is one half of the troll-slaying lawyer duo (along with Matt Sperling) working in
the forums
of Glenn Goddard’s article with a grace most reminiscent of Cleary and Harding’s performance of
“We No Speak Americano.”
“Before trying to shut up someone by asserting academic superiority, Google them.” –Tom Martell
All in all, Amsterdam was a pretty unreal good time. As you know, I played the same Grixis decks as MJ, but a bad draft ended my event early (the story of my life, I know!), plus I straight-up punted a match against R/G Scapeshift where I attacked with a Creeping Tar Pit against an empty board and hand while I had a Jace on one counter. Much to my chagrin, my opponent ripped a Bloodbraid Elf and served me a steaming dish of piping-hot justice.
Rather than recap the entire play-by-play from the Pro Tour held weeks ago in a format that you’ll likely never play, how about a shameless post-Scars Standard decklist?
Creatures (28)
Lands (8)
Spells (25)
I’m truly blessed to have the most cutting-edge readers, some of which were quick to point out the power of Quest for the Holy Relic in conjunction with the Glint Hawk + Memnite + Ornithopter engine. This deck plays out in a very Affinity-like manner, just basically busting as big of an opening few turns as it can, aspiring to present an insurmountable advantage from the gate. Outside of the potential for a fast, Sovereigns-like opening involving an enchantment called Quest, Affinity is capable of a variety of power synergies to reward you for embracing artifacts.
Tempered Steel and Steel Overseer obviously provide direct pumps to your artifacts, paying you directly for your zeros. Lodestone Golem is an under-the-radar favorite that’s stock is sure to rise in the months to come. He hits hard and often provides just enough of a tempo boost to halt the timely Day of Judgment that would have ended your fun.
Etched Champion is probably going to take a little bit of time to get the attention it deserves, but the card is unreal. Paladin En-Vec has helped define many formats, and this guy has protection from the other three colors as well. First strike? Who cares, he has protection from every color. That is pretty superior to first strike in 97% of cases. Keep in mind, he still gets to carry equipment with the best of them, as well as receiving your artifact creature bonuses and counting as a third of your metalcraft merit badge. This card is
so
hot and will be a centerpiece to multiple new archetypes.
Another Artifact Enabler that we take excellent advantage of is the Myrsmith. He’s at just the right spot on the curve, providing a steady stream of additional artifact creatures to get pumped by your Tempered Steel and Overseer. Remember, there’s nothing wrong with saving him for a turn where you can get at least one activation out of him against a removal-heavy opponent. Likewise, holding Ornithopters and even Memnites can be invaluable.
The mana base looks simple, but make sure you remember that Dread Statuary is an artifact creature for your Artifact Crusades. Additionally, Tectonic Edge works very well with Lodestone Golem, but that’s hardly a new maneuver. Is there a lot of room to customize and evolve this deck? Absolutely. But hopefully, it will serve as a useful starting point for a radical new deck that is possible using some of the sick new Scars cards.
Saturday at Amsterdam brought no end of strange sights and experiences. After trying to make sense of the unusual predicament of having so many teammates in the top 8, things got a little crazy after the Assault on Mirrodin party. A couple dozen of us made the mistake of following the aforementioned Tom Martell into the Red-Light District towards a bar with the rather sketchy moniker “Red-Light Bar.” I got funky on the dance floor with Tomoharu Saito, Katsuhiro Mori, Tom Martell, Lauren Lee, Paulo Vitor Damo Da Rosa, Sam Black, Liz Lempicki, and Evan Erwin, among countless others. It was a total blast, but a few too many colored mana shots left our party in less-than-playable condition as we approached the Red-Light District.
Now, I know a lot of people just assume the Red-Light District is all brothels and ladies of the night. This couldn’t be further from the truth. That’s a large part of what is going on in the district, to be sure, but it’s home to a much wider array of decadence and debauchery than those who worship fewer amounts of Satan than Matt Sperling and AJ Sacher are likely to encounter in waking life.
After struggling against the wave after wave of flesh attempting to ooze their way through the narrow alleys, lined with door after door, guarded by succubus after succubus, I found myself separated from the pack. I gave a few key shouts of “Wescoe Check!” in an attempt to find other members of Tom’s caravan of calamity, which fortunately yield a nice little dividend in the form of both Sam Black, himself, and his cohort in crime, Gaudenis Vidugiris.
After quickly determining that both Sam and Gau were also in the market to actually hang out instead of joining the numerous heads-up queues that seemed to snag so many innocent young men, we searched high and low for gamers to merge with. While we did find the actual Red-Light Bar (yeah, it actually existed — who would’ve thought?), we found about as many Magic players as the Military has found Bin Ladens. To cope with this unfortunate turn of events, our motley crew took up residence at a bar that was very obviously tended by a former lady of the night. Honestly, at this point she was pretty clearly a woman of yesterday night, probably much longer ago than that — but she made a pretty sick screwdriver, to her credit.
Eventually, we gave up in our quest to find our comrades, electing to call it a night, seeing as none of us have any business in the “Coffee Shops,” the “Red-Light Rooms,” or any of the other various amalgamations of sin and corruption that littered our present environment. After one of the finest pieces of fried chicken I have ever had the pleasure of doing business with, we attempted to escape from this particular ring of hell only to find ourselves back in the same place once, twice, and a third time, despite never turning. We had been drinking, but we realized that the rounds must be curved for just such a purpose.
I stopped to grab another piece of fried chicken, but to my infinite sadness, discovered that “The Place Across The Street,” was in no way in the same league as the aforementioned fried chicken of my dreams. After regrouping, we found another shady alley in the side of a brick wall to creep through, successfully restoring the light we found ourselves bathed in returning to a healthy blue.
The night may have appeared a failure on the surface — but good chats and unique adventures with a couple of cool dudes made it all worthwhile.
I am, unfortunately, most likely going to be unable to attend to Worlds in Chiba, this year, meaning that Grand Prix Nashville is likely my last professional event of the year. Fortunately, despite missing numerous events from inaccessibility to certain countries as well as being “over the hill,” as they say, I mustered a thirty-first place finish. This surprisingly decent limited finish was good for the two pro points I needed to hit the gravy train for the fourth straight year, despite being forbidden from competing in all four Pro Tours in a year in any of them.
Here are two possible builds of my Sealed deck:
Sealed Deck A
1 Aether Adept
1 Augury Owl
1 Azure Drake
1 Cancel
2 Cloud Elemental
1 Diminish
1 Foresee
1 Conundrum Sphinx
1 Harbor Serpent
2 Jace’s Ingenuity
1 Negate
1 Phantom Beast
1 Preordain
2 Chandra’s Outrage
2 Fireball
1 Lightning Bolt
1 Prodigal Pyromancer
1 Terramorphic Expanse
10 Island
7 Mountains
Or:
Sealed Deck B
2 Assault Griffin
1 Blinding Mage
1 Cloud Crusader
2 Elite Vanguard
1 Excommunicate
2 Infantry Veteran
1 Safe Passage
1 Siege Mastodon
1 Silvercoat Lion
1 War Priest of Thune
1 Wild Griffin
2 Chandra’s Outrage
2 Fireball
1 Lightning Bolt
1 Prodigal Pyromancer
1 Thunder Strike
1 Vulshok Berserker
1 Terramorphic Expanse
9 Plains
7 Mountains
I won’t tell you which I played until after the next section so as to preserve the integrity of the poll. I managed a halfway respectable finish of 8-1 after Day One, to the surprise of many, myself included. Sealed Deck has traditionally been my weakest format, but I managed to get there this time in a bunch of games that were pretty interesting at the time — but since this is Magic article and we are currently in Reality, it is unlikely that anyone wants to hear about a bunch of Limited games.
To summarize, my most interesting matches were against the infamous _ShipItHolla and
the
Ryan Fuller. Magic Online Ringer, _ShipItHolla is a very chill dude who I suspect we will be seeing more of in the year to come. He played two Mind Controls against me in the key game — but fortunately, I had two Fireballs, so mise…
Ryan Fuller is a very strong player with a lot of history attached to his name. I sat down prepared for fireworks, as he’s had his fair share of controversy. Our match was intense and competitive, but Fuller was always a perfect gentleman and just played a good clean game. Sometimes the sins of the past can be hard to shake… but I also understand Fuller’s desire to just play Magic without being hawked by a judge every turn of every game. Regardless, he was friendly and did not even skirt the edge of shady play.
The event was quite possibly the slowest-run event I have ever played in, and I’m pretty sure it isn’t close. I didn’t take my first loss until well after 6 p.m. local time. This sounds good, until you realize that this was
the fourth round
. They had announced ten rounds on day one, but fortunately we were mercifully released a bit after midnight, with the tenth round postponed until Sunday morning. All I needed was a record of 4-3 in order to obtain the top 32 finish I needed!
While I was pleased to have managed to escape at that debatably reasonable hour, I was still jetlagged out of my mind from Pro Tour Amsterdam, leaving me part of the “Awake at 4 a.m. Club” with David Ochoa and Brad Nelson. To make matters worse, we had to play out that tenth round in Sealed deck, which did not roll my way after yet another generic mana screw bad beat.
Pro Tip! Bad beat stories are just bad stories
.
Going into the Draft portion at 8-2 is still pretty reasonable, especially since I’ve never had a losing record in an M11 draft in my first ten drafts (other than Pro Tour Amsterdam…
awkward
). Having learnt from masters like LSV, Ben Stark, and Paul Rietzl, I have to tell you that experience is invaluable, but a mixture of play and watching stronger drafters in action can often be even more useful than just drafting twice as much. When I first heard of their preferring Squadron Hawk to Jace’s Ingenuity in pick 1, pack 1, I thought they were IRL-trolling me. They insisted they were serious, to which I thankfully responded by hearing them out.
I didn’t immediately agree with all of their claims about the tempo of the format, but I had enough respect for them that I decided to try the strategies they suggested. My results were very positive. Instead of always finishing 2-1 in drafts, I was finally 3-0ing a fair number, including carrying Kenji and the Chief, Kazuya Mitamura (who each 1-2ed…) in a heads-up team tournament with a twenty-dollar entry fee per person, winning team gets the only prize, all of the money (#wescoecheck).
My first draft wasn’t embarrassing, but didn’t quite get there either:
W/u Draft by Patrick Chapin
2 Assault Griffin
1 Blinding Mage
2 Cloud Crusader
2 Elite Vanguard
1 Honor the Pure
2 Infantry Veteran
1 Palace Guard
2 Safe Passage
1 Silvercoat Lion
1 Stormfront Pegasus
1 War Priest of Thune
1 White Knight
1 Wild Griffin
1 Mind Control
1 Phantom Beast
1 Preordain
2 Unsummon
My deck wasn’t particularly good, but I was still disappointed to finish 1-2 with it. This left me with my back up against a wall. As I sat down to my final table, which included Tomoharu Saito and Brad Nelson, I knew I needed a quick 3-0 and I knew it wouldn’t be easy. I was going to first pick Blinding Mage in my first pack — but when the judge instructed us to “Draft!” I switched my pick to Doom Blade at the last second. I know a lot of players prefer white, and I like the color a great deal, but honestly, I’ve just had really good results with black and went with my gut. As I passed four Squadron Hawks, I had to fight the urge to dwell on what could have been, but in the end I registered:
Mono-Black Draft by Patrick Chapin
1 Barony Vampire
1 Black Knight
1 Bloodthrone Vampire
1 Child of Night
1 Diabolic Tutor
1 Disentomb
2 Doom Blade
1 Duress
2 Liliana’s Specter
1 Mind Rot
1 Nether Horror
3 Quag Sickness
1 Reassembling Skeleton
3 Rotting Legion
3 Sign in Blood
1 Viscera Seer
16 Swamp
Not the prettiest deck by any stretch of the imagination, but that is a
lot
of removal and card advantage. Many people I showed the list to asked about the sixteen Swamps — but with three Sign in Bloods and a fairly low curve, I was confident in my ability to hit my land drops. My most notable sideboard cards were two Deathmarks, another Rotting Legion, and another Diabolic Tutor.
I realize the inclusion of Disentomb is perhaps a little unorthodox — but given my meager selection of creatures, I thought it important to give myself more chances of reassembling various skeleton combinations to win with. Got there, boys!
Going back to the Sealed, I played the blue deck (surprise, surprise). It was the one I registered and, after taking advantage of a full day of playtesting during the byes to try out both builds against a variety of opponents, I was sure it was better for me.
Here are some more thoughts on Quest for the Holy Relic! That card’s got to be one of the biggest gainers from the new set, right?
Creatures (29)
- 4 Ornithopter
- 3 Kor Outfitter
- 2 Kor Skyfisher
- 4 Steppe Lynx
- 4 Stoneforge Mystic
- 4 Squadron Hawk
- 4 Memnite
- 4 Glint Hawk
Lands (9)
Spells (23)
Creatures (32)
- 4 Birds of Paradise
- 4 Ornithopter
- 1 Kor Outfitter
- 1 Kor Skyfisher
- 4 Stoneforge Mystic
- 2 Vengevine
- 4 Fauna Shaman
- 4 Squadron Hawk
- 4 Memnite
- 4 Glint Hawk
Lands (10)
Spells (19)
Again, I swear, I must have the best readers in the business. Basically, these are just two more attempts at using Quest for the Holy Relic with Argentum Armor, this time with the Stoneforger combo added to the mix.
I was going to go into the karaoke stories from Portland, including Brian Kibler legendary performance of “Ice Ice Baby” — but I gotta save
something
for another day! Besides, it’s hardly the time or place to incriminate the parties involved in the misadventures that followed during Martin Juza’s celebration party. Let’s just say that if the insanity had been limited to just drinking from his trophy all night, no fights would have erupted at the strip club in the ghetto that we were taken to with the promises of “VIP Treatment for Magic Pros.”
Yeah, there’s a lot more to this Magic life than meets the eye. I’m not even in the market for a strip club, but it’s hard to turn down such an offer, if only for the absurdity of it.
Personally, my jam of choice for karaoke is Big Pun’s Twinz (Deep Cover ’98)
“Dead in the middle of Little Italy,
Little did we know
That we riddled some middleman
Who didn’t do diddly”
-Big Pun
A brief aside:
Not everything in this article will appeal to everyone, but hopefully there’s enough content that does resonate with you that I can be forgiven a little indulgence.
You know what I love? People who don’t have StarCityGames.com Premium subscriptions sending me messages asking me to reiterate my latest article in a personalized message to them. I love helping fellow Magic players, Premium subscribers or not — but to ask me to recount my article in a private message because they don’t want to spend the $2.50 a month to help support me and my fellow writers? Please. That makes about as much sense as bureaucrats who don’t actually play in PTQs deciding how much profit tournament organizers make.
Look, obviously you and I attend PTQs and want them to be the best possible experience for us — but to have someone come in and decide that tournament organizers should be required to cut their profits is absurd. The United States Federal Government isn’t going to bail out these tournament organizers when there are events that don’t make money. The tournaments where things actually go well have to make enough to be worth the risk and make up for those events that
don’t
do well. Additionally the money taken in needs to pay for a venue, staff, prizes, advertising, equipment, transportation, the qualification slot, miscellaneous supplies, and — most of all — the time of all of the parties involved.
We’re not just talking about a per-hour amount that some external arbiter can decree to us from an ivory tower. We’re talking about the days, weeks, months, and years that it has taken for the organizer to learn their trade and to get to the place they are today.
Capitalism often looks greedy to those who’ve never built anything — but in reality that’s merely one way of looking at incentives. The reality is, people can be greedy or not: capitalism isn’t that concerned. Generally, when people call someone greedy, they’re using the expression as a tactic to defame the person. How do you defend against accusations of greed? By agreeing to give up your personal property? Oh, what do you know — that’s the exact agenda people who attack capitalism are often after! Say what you will about America, but we have not yet sunk to the communism of the 1970s Soviet Union, nor the socialism of 1940s Germany.
I know you aren’t here for some political or economic debate, and I’m not suggesting that you should be. I’m not even saying that you should agree with any of my political or economic positions. Just as you could easily discuss Magic cards with me without necessarily agreeing with my spiritual views, the same is true for political ones — it’s just that Magic is often a business, and as such there is overlap with economic situations.
What I’m suggesting is that honest discourse and mutual respect
are
good strategies. Additionally, academia is a wonderful place where we learn many amazing things, including how to learn, but the real world is not always as neat as a textbook theory. I graduated “With Highest Honor” from the School of Hard Knocks, and I’m here to tell you: running a business is not the same as trying to bludgeon someone to death in an argument (unless your business is cage-fighting).
Magic is a game filled with a lot of very bright individuals: a true blessing, to be sure. Not everyone may see eye-to-eye on every subject, but I know I have personally heard and seen more than a couple good ideas and points on both sides of a lot of discussions, reconfiguring PTQs included. We’re in it for the long haul and have to remember that all of those others who share our passion are our friends in the big picture — even if we don’t always see it now. It’s a shame when heads get bogged down in some deck-measuring contest… but hopefully with all that nonsense out of the way, a little more open and honest discourse can take place, hopefully with a little less aggression. Barraging people with walls of text is no way to get a point across, unless the only one you are trying to convince is yourself.
Pro Tip: If you can’t spot the troll in your first half-hour in the thread, you’re the troll.
Alright, I know I strayed a little from the path in these last few paragraphs, but maybe in some “Mox Opal, double-Memnite” world, I haven’t lost you entirely. Just to be on the safe side, we’d better talk about another Standard deck incorporating Scars of Mirrodin.
Creatures (3)
Planeswalkers (6)
Lands (13)
Spells (39)
I brought up a Mono-Blue shell I had in mind to GerryT last night (who is currently asleep on my living room floor…), and he informed me that I was 75% of the way to _ShipItHolla’s Mono-Blue prototype. We very much were on the same page in almost all regards, though he shamefully neglected to make room for the mandatory four Preordains. My mana base definitely improved after comparing notes with him, though, as I picked up Mystifying Maze for a little added mid- and late-game value, as well as Eye of Ugin — which doesn’t just make All is Dust two less to cast, it also fetches up a steady stream of Wurmcoil Engines!
The infamous _ShipItHolla employed Steady Progress instead of Stoic Rebuttal, which can obviously be pretty filthy. Nevertheless, I wanted a little bit more Counterspell action, and Stoic Rebuttal is kind of a sweet Cancel upgrade. I would play Cancel, straight-up, if I had to, but Stoic Rebuttal’s Metalcraft to cost a mana less can actually be quite good, especially around turn 6. There is, of course, a good chance that the mana will be irrelevant, but it’s not unlikely that you could end up with a Chalice and a Ratchet Bomb, or two Chalices, then drop a Wurmcoil Engine, leaving two blue open. It’s here that Stoic Rebuttal sort of picks up Deprive-duty.
This sort of tap-out Blue strategy is not really going to be that adept at establishing control, so little boosts in tempo can go a long way. This sort of a deck is actually just trying to use early interactive cards like Spreading Seas, Mana Leak, Into the Roil, and Ratchet Bomb to try to buy enough time to start doing powerful things like Jaceing, Wurmcoil Engining, and All is Dusting… not to mention my personal favorite, Volition Reins.
Volition Reins is an insane new weapon that adds a totally different angle of attack for Blue decks. While many lament the loss of Oblivion Ring and Pithing Needle, fearing the dominance of planeswalkers, I would call your attention to this deceptive semi-functional reprint of Confiscate. On the surface, the card seems good enough as a slightly-harder-to-cast Confiscate that picks up the ability to untap the permanent, generally leaving you with an extra blocker. But the card really shines when consider that now we have planeswalkers — a permanent that Confiscate was never really in the business of stealing.
Stealing a planeswalker is so much better than stealing a creature because planeswalkers always have haste, assuring you basically always get value out of your play. In addition, planeswalkers nearly always cost four or mana, so it’s like you’re getting rid of a four- or five-mana permanent on your opponent’s board and gaining a four- or five-mana permanent on your side — all for just six mana!
Besides, with Mind Control effects, your opponent is often incentivized to not kill the stolen creature in hopes of getting it back when they draw a Naturalize. With Volition Reins, the question quickly becomes, “Can your opponent really afford
not
to kill the planeswalker?”
Naturalize is the natural enemy of Mind Control, often removing any hope of acquiring some sort of value from your play. Volition Reins on a planeswalker, however, always gives you at least one planeswalker activation before they can take it back by destroying the enchantment. This is especially important against planeswalkers who are threatening to go ultimate.
Take a moment and let that sink in.
A Venser, the Sojourner with eight-plus counters is usually one of the scarier threats a blue mage can face. Now imagine stealing it the turn before they get their emblem. You immediately activate the ultimate yourself — and now you have the emblem for the rest of the game, no matter what happens to Venser!
The threat of such a play is sure to change the way we play standard, as no longer can we just take it as a given that more loyalty is always better. This card is super-powerful — but even more than that, it’s format defining, as it is the reality check that keeps mid-range decks from getting too carried away with themselves.
I do think that the pundits who point to an increase in the presence of planeswalkers have a point, and that planeswalkers will be a big part of the format. As such, both Into the Roil and All is Dust help provide added layers of security to our build, though perhaps another possibility is U/B.
Creatures (3)
Planeswalkers (5)
Lands (20)
Spells (32)
Regular readers of this column have no doubt surmised that I’ve been making a lot of decks with Wurmcoil Engine. This is a trend that is unlikely to change anytime soon, as that card is the sixth Titan and every bit as good. He’s like a hybrid of Baneslayer Angel and Grave Titan — but anyone can
cast him! Plus, he has so many insane combos, ranging from All is Dust to Everflowing Chalice to Eye of Ugin to Stoic Rebuttal… And that’s just in
this
deck!
Wurmcoil Engine blows my mind. It seems so outrageous that a castable colorless creature could be so big, so durable, so versatile, and so much better than almost any creature in any color. I am sure the format will adjust to take this into consideration — but with the State Championships just a few short weeks away, I kind of want to be on Wurmcoil Engine, regardless of it I am Koth of the Hammer-ing, playing blue, or doing something else entirely. For instance, what about a Mono-Green Trap deck?
Mono-G Trap by Patrick Chapin
Creatures (11)
- 1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
- 1 Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
- 2 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
- 4 Primeval Titan
- 3 Wurmcoil Engine
Lands (14)
Spells (35)
This list borrows heavily from
Conrad Kolos’ recent Nationals deck
, which he finished third with. Conrad and I have not always seen eye-to-eye, and his tournament personality is admittedly abrasive and painfully angle-shooting, but I have to say that I’ve come around a little bit on him once I’ve gotten away from the table. He loves playing the role of villain, which I get — but I gotta admit, the guy has some good ideas and I enjoy hearing what he has to say.
This build uses Wurmcoil Engine to great effect, upping your bomb creature count significantly. One of the huge advantages to Primeval Titan in decks like this is that they are often game-winning hits for Summoning Trap, but additionally, they are very castable. Wurmcoil Engine is similar — and in fact it does an excellent job of helping to shore up the often-soft aggro matchups. The fact that it also combines well with All is Dust, Eye of Ugin, and Ancient Stirrings is just gravy.
It’s hard to say how much play Mana Leak and its like will see in the new format, but I think it’s safe to assume that the range is between “moderate” and “a ton,” meaning there are plenty of good chances to Trap your opponent when they try to stop your Titan. A classic failing of the older lists was its tendency to miss on its Traps. This build still truly misses just as often, but rather than settling for Oracle of Mul-Daya or Obstinate Baloth, it’s forced to “settle” for Wurmcoil Engine — a solid upgrade.
You guys think Paul Rietzl, Brian Kibler, Gabriel Nassif, Jon Finkel, Luis-Scott Vargas, Kai Budde, Guillaume Wafo-tapa, Charles Gindy, and Paulo Vitor Damo Da Rosa are champions? Zak Dolan, now there’s a real champion. You kids today don’t know how good you got it. You think a single name on this list
has ever won a 512-player single elimination Magic: the Gathering
World Championships
with all the cards legal (at the time, we just called it “Magic”), old mulligan rules, and whoever plays also draws? My man Zak Dolan did it with Ley Druid in his deck, and Algore hadn’t even invented the net to get decks from yet!
You want a summary of Vintage? I recommend
this
five-minute video that will tell you everything you need to know.
Tim Aten: “You don’t get to be in the railbird hall of fame by joining side events.”
Props:
Brian Kibler, Paul Rietzl, Luis Scott-Vargas, Brad Nelson, Michael Jacob, Cedric Phillips, Josh Utter-Leyton, Kyle Boggemes, Zac Hill, Tom Ross, Conley Woods, Noah Swartz, Thomas Ma, Brian Robinson, Craig Wescoe, and Hunter Burton:
For bringing America home twenty-one Pro-Tour Top 8s in the seven Pro Tours since the start of 2009 — amounting to a remarkable average of 37.5% of the top 8 slots!
For reference, Brian Kibler (who has three Pro Tour Top 8s out of six appearances since his return) retired around the end of 2004, and during the nineteen individual Pro Tours between 2005-2008, America achieved just twenty-two Pro Tour Top 8s — an average of 9.3% of the slots. Also interesting to note that during the last twenty Pro Tours of Kibler’s early career, America took home fifty-five Pro Tour Top 8s — an average of 34.4% of the slots. Nassif is the absolute blade, without question, but perhaps he is not doing it single-handedly, after all.
Ffej (Jeff Cunningham)
Read
Untold Legends of the Million Dollar Magic the Gathering Pro Tour
and
Get Big or Die Trying
— because some people exist who haven’t actually read the works of one of the koldest that ever did it.
Wizards of the Coast
Props to both R&D for producing another totally awesome set that looks like such a blast to play, but also to those quietly working behind the scenes to help make it possible to produce millions of Magic cards each year.
Amanda
Could I possibly give you enough props?
My Mom and Dad
While we’re in the market for some props, talk about a couple that I
really
appreciate the work of!
Jace, the Mind Sculptor
I am your biggest fan.
Dan Burdick
For mentoring both Gabriel Nassif and Brian Kibler.
Slops:
Absolutely no one! Everyone is awesome!
Patrick Chapin
“The Innovator”