States...I'm a little divided on the whole tournament. I mean, it's cool to be the State Champion - but putting in all the playtesting and preparation time just to win a box of product and a playmat (heh, the spell checker automatically changes playmat to playmate; I think I'd much rather win a playmate!) just seems like a real hassle.

But I really enjoyed theorizing about which deck is the strongest, and trying to break Mirrodin was a blast to think about. But I wasn't really inspired to get into the whole"crunching out results and tweaking decklists" thing, like Zvi and many other people I know did.

Just to make it worse, all my Standard decks got stolen the week before States. I was thinking I wasn't even going to go. I couldn't run Goblins, White Weenie, or any type of White-based control decks since I no longer owned the cards and I wasn't ready to borrow them a second time (yup, that's right - I borrowed over $200 of cards from friends and they got ripped off). Magic wasn't high on my list of things I enjoyed doing or thinking about during the week approaching States.

But alas, the morning before States arrived and I woke up three hours before the tournament began. You know how it is: You wake up with that uncontrollable desire to shuffle cards and hang out with your strange friends. I figured that since I really enjoyed drafting Mirrodin, I'd throw together a deck that I still had cards for and then drop and play in drafts.

Of course, the pile got me to the Top Eight with a required 7-1 record!

Cutting through the bull, here's the list I ran:

BG Cemetery, or"The Rock," if you prefer

Black (15)
3 Nekrataal
4 Nantuko Husk
3 Ravenous Rats
1 Visara the Dreadful beatstick of legend
1 Twisted Abomination
3 Oversold Cemetery

Green (19)
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Wirewood Herald
1 Fierce Empath
1 Caller of the Claw
2 Viridian Shaman
1 Elf Replica
2 Troll Ascetic
3 Ravenous Baloth
1 Krosan Tusker

Artifact (3)
3 Bonesplitter

Land (23)
3 City of Brass
9 Swamp
11 Forest

Sideboard (15)
2 Naturalize
1 Glissa Sunseeker (the elf legend)
1 Viridian Shaman
2 Infest
2 Soul Foundry
2 Cabal Interrogator
2 Graveborn Muse
2 Withered Wretch

I ran a similar deck at Regionals, so I had experience with how the deck worked and I owned almost all of the cards so it wasn't a hassle to build. I did about five games of playtesting with a build of this deck a couple weeks earlier, and found that the deck was pretty terrible. It had some differences, though, and the differences made a huge impact. The bad test deck did this to the decklist above:

-3 Bonesplitter
-1 Elf Replica
-1 Ravenous Rats
-2 Troll Ascetic
+2 Soul Foundry
+2 Solemn Simulacrum
+1 Phyrexian Plaguelord
+1 Fierce Empath
+1 Elvish Aberration

Soul Foundry is very interesting to play, but it was too slow for this environment. For this type of deck, the Simulacrum and the Plaguelord are also too slow, and the extra Empath and Aberration are not necessary. I left the Soul Foundries in the board for the W/R Slide matchup, but they probably should have been cut entirely.

One thing I noticed at Regionals is that the Wirewood Herald gets totally ignored in many games. The whole"taking one" thing is not much of a threat. Also, the Ravenous Rats and other small guys just sit there against creatures with two or three toughness. I frequently draft beatdown decks, and that's how I like to play, so speeding the deck up and adding a card that made all of the small utility guys fast clocks was my solution; in came the Bonesplitter and some extra early threats (Troll Ascetic).

Now, mind you, all this was decided two hours before the tournament began, so the numbers are probably not right and I know the sideboard is not correct... But I'll get to that.

Jumped into my car, borrowed about five cards and it was off to the rounds. Eight of them, even!

Round 1 vs. White deck
I just say"white deck" 'cause I'm not really sure if it was WW or White control? He played Silver Knight, White Knight, and Exalted Angel game one and cycled Noble Templar...

He would have won if not for my broken Elf Replica, though. Snicker you may, but that guy gets tutored for with Wirewood Herald. He then blows up Worship after damage is on the stack for the win, so in my book he's a hero.

Sideboard: -1 Bonesplitter, +1 Infest (didn't know how to sideboard this match)

Game two was a really interesting one. He got out a turn 3 Exalted Angel, unmorphed it turn 4, hit me three times with it and tapped out on turn 7 to cast another Angel. I then proceed to win on turn seven with the help of a 22/22 Nantuko Husk.

Round 1 Lesson
Always block the Husk when the B/G guy has out a Herald and three other worthless creatures. Do the math: That equals +20/+20. (If you don't understand that, then email me.)

Round 2 vs. B/G Cemetery
Wow - who would think that a mirror match would occur with B/G Cemetery? I certainly didn't. This was one of those situations where his expensive Phyrexian Plaguelords and Fallen Angels give him an advantage, but only if he can cast them.

Game one: He got right to five mana on turn 4 and started cranking out multiple Plaguelords, Heralds, and Ravenous Baloths. I lost in quick fashion.

Sideboard:
-2 Viridian Shaman, -1 Bird of Paradise, -2 Ravenous Rats, +2 Withered Wretch, +1 Soul Foundry, +2 Cabal Interrogator

Game two was kind of interesting. He got an early Baloth and then a Plaguelord. When I cast my Ravenous Rats to do some chump block work, he discards Compost. Raise hand, receive free win.

States...Gotta love those hard-fought wins. It was in his sideboard, so it's only a game loss, and we move to game three.

Game three: He dropped two Birds of Paradise and two Forests and proceeded to say"go" for three turns. He had triple-Plaguelord and a Fallen Angel in hand, but couldn't get the fifth land until about turn 7. I barely pull out a win, since he's too low on life to get the Plaguelords going properly. I dropped a Cemetery late and he dropped Scrabbling Claws - and by the way...

Round 2 Lesson
Scrabbling Claws says"of opponent's choice." Withered Wretch says,"target of Oversold Cemetery." If you're playing black, play the Wretch for graveyard hate. It most likely would have won him the game.

Round 3 vs. U/W Control
I knew that U/W Control was probably the best deck in the format, but I didn't have the cards or the practice with it. The deck is very good, even in the hands of an inexperienced player.

Game one: He drew Wrath of God off the top three times, right when he needed it to live, and then got me with Angels. Since he cast them as Angels, I had the opportunity to still win if I draw a single Nekrataal. I had tutored up Visara with Fierce Empath and gotten her into play along with an Oversold Cemetery but I didn't draw a Nekrataal or a Birds of Paradise to block for a turn so he won.

Sideboard:
-1 Bonesplitter, -1 Ravenous Rats, -2 Viridian Shaman, +2 Cabal Interrogator, +1 Soul Foundry, +1 Withered Wretch (not sure if this is right)

Game two: He dropped the turn 3 Exalted angel, unmorphed it and hits me several times. Jimmy, however, did not learn the Round 1 Lesson and died to a huge Nantuko Husk.

Game three, he dropped a turn 3 Exalted Angel, unmorphed it turn 4, and started swinging. I forced him to Wrath and then dropped an Oversold Cemetery. The board gets to a point where I have Cabal Interrogator, Oversold Cemetery, Nantuko Husk, Ravenous Rats and Elf Replica in play and I've stripped all of his cards from his hand. He got a Eternal Dragon into play and double-Mana Leaks my first attempt at casting Visara. Then he tapped out to cast three Angel tokens and I couldn't find a Bird, Baloth, or Nekrataal even though I cycled Krosan Tusker three times so I lose the match.

Round 3 Lesson
Get one more of those and it's off to drafting, yeah!

Round 4 vs. Affinity
I played around with Affinity, and I think it's quite good. However, at States I figured there would be many people out there that hated the deck so much that they would dedicate a bunch of maindeck and sideboard slots to beat it, so I didn't play the deck. Another reason I didn't run it was the inconsistency of the draws.

Game one: He got the total gas draw. He hit me with a turn 2 Myr Enforcer three times, which I probably should have chump-blocked at least once - and then he double-Shrapnel Blasted me. I had Viridian Shaman recursion going, but it was a turn away from killing his red sources.

Sideboard:
-2 Ravenous Rats, -1 Elf Replica, -1 Bone Splitter, +1 Glissa, +1 Viridian Shaman, +2 Naturalize

Game two: I had control of the entire game with a tutored-for Glissa. He didn't draw a Pyrite Spellbomb or Shrapnel Blast and forgot that Bonesplitter + Glissa can kill a Myr Enforcer without dying. I kept him below the required artifact and land count necessary to cast a Broodstar.

Game three was a mauling, as I Naturalized his first land and Viridian Shamaned his second. I didn't even have to cast the Glissa that I drew.

Round 4 Lesson
Affinity needs around two artifact land in play to function. If you destroy those early, then it becomes a very slow deck.

Round 5 vs. Goblins
I playtested this matchup between rounds with Mike Bernat, and the matchup is seriously in favor of the Cemetery deck. You stop their early threats with cards like Wirewood Herald and then get their big guys with Nekrataals, which they have a very difficult time attacking through. Baloths and Troll Ascetic are obviously not good for them, either.

But the key was actually Bonesplitter. You can equip it to your Herald and then they can't attack through with the Warchief or Piledriver without losing them. Your late game is a lot better than theirs, since you can tutor up Visara or recur Nekrataals and Baloths.

Game one: She went down to six cards and they weren't as good as my Herald/Husk/Cemetery draw. I hit her for sixteen with the Husk when she chose to not block.

Sideboard:
-2 Viridian Shaman, +2 Infest

She's was not playing the haste version, so I didn't think she was running Bonesplitter or any other artifacts.

Game two: She got the Goblin draw and killed me on turn 5. It didn't last long enough to track, really. Turn 2 Sparksmith made it very lopsided.

Game three: She dropped down to six again and then chose to play a Goblin Piledriver instead of burning my Birds of Paradise on her turn two. I dropped Troll Ascetic turn 2, Rat out the Volcanic Hammer she had in her hand on turn 3, Nekrataal her Goblin Warchief turn 4, and then drop a Baloth. She was never in the game, even with a resolved Siege-Gang Commander.

Round 6 vs. Affinity (BGU version)
Ah, another dreaded Affinity. Three of the top four decks in Illinois were Affinity, with Affinity taking the title. As round 4 showed, this deck is very solid versus Affinity with its recursive Viridian Shaman and tutoring for Glissa (she is indeed an elf).

This round, I was playing someone who I know got a lot of practice and success with the deck. He even won a couple tournaments with this build.

Game one: I tutored up a Viridian Shaman with my Herald to destroy his land, drew the second one to destroy a Myr Enforcer, and he doesn't cast anything the rest of the game. The Affinity deck just does that sometimes.

Sideboard:
-1 Bonesplitter, -1 Baloth, -1 Elf Replica, -1 Ravenous Rats, +1 Viridian Shaman, +1 Glissa, +2 Naturalize

Since he wasn't playing White, I didn't fear Circle of Protection: Black or Karma, so the Replica took a seat. Bonesplitter on a Herald doesn't get through Myr Enforcer and the Artifact destruction is better than rats and Baloth.

He actually had a very solid plan against my deck: Infest and Damping Matrix. He drew both in game two and got something like a five-for-one with the Infest, since I couldn't save my two Husks; with a Damping Matrix out, I couldn't activate Husk, Visara, Baloth, Troll Ascetic, or Bonesplitter. The card is pretty good versus B/G Cemetery.

I took out both Ravenous Rats and a Birds of Paradise and put the Baloth and two Cabal Interrogators in for Game 3. You need to nab their countermagic and/or Broodstar, and the Rat doesn't get those. He would have to blow an Infest or cast the Matrix to nullify the Interrogator, since he wasn't running the Spellbombs, so those got the nod. It increased my vulnerability to Damping Matrix, but I figured I could get rid of that with Naturalize or Viridian Shaman if necessary.

Game three was anti-climactic, as I Naturalized his first land, Shamaned his Chrome Mox when he tapped out to cast Frogmite, traded the Shaman for the Frogmite, and Shamaned his other Chrome Mox, killing his Glimmervoid. The little guys hit him until he died a few turns later while he failed to cast any more spells.

Round 7 vs. Goblins
Refer to Round 5. Goblins has a tough time killing this deck. It even has a tutor for enchantment removal (a.k.a. Sulfuric Vortex) game one.

Game one: He learns what I'm calling my"Round 1 Lesson." I hit him for twenty something with a husk. An un-killable Troll Ascetic kept me in the game until I could get to that point.

Game two, he got a slow but powerful Goblin draw and hit me with the old trampling Clickslither-Siege-Gang duo.

Game three: He was never in it. I got Nekrataal and other beasts and never took any serious damage all game.

So I'm sitting at 6-1 and I figure my day is done. Take a draw round 8 and pick up my box of product...

Until the pairings go up. There are ten people at eighteen-plus and three at sixteen. I get paired against the lowest eighteen and have to play it out.

Round 8 vs. G/W control
I played around with this deck a little, and it just didn't seem to have much of a gameplan. You couldn't say"no" like U/W did, and you didn't have Rift/Slide to do stupid things with Eternal Dragon. Maybe I just don't know how to properly play the deck? It was obviously good enough to get this guy to 6-1.

Game one: He couldn't draw Wrath early, I Shaman his Oblivion Stone, and take him to twelve life. He draws a Wrath, but I could fetch a Caller of the Claw for three 2/2s and they finish him in two turns. His Troll Ascetic is not all that hot against my deck, since I have plenty of things that can stop it (Baloth, my Troll, Nekrataal, Herald recursion), and I can continue to hit him without losing members of my team.

Sideboard:
ssss-1 Viridian Shaman, -2 Ravenous Rats, +2 Cabal Interrogator, +1 Withered Wretch

Game two: He got out a Blinding Angel and I couldn't draw Nekrataal, so I proceeded to skip my next eight attack steps. I should have the fourth Nekrataal in the board or maindeck for sure.

Game three was very intense. I brought him down to eleven with Husk and friends, but he dropped a Blinding Angel and made me skip two attack phases. I thought that I have the game won when I tutor up and cast Visara - but he untaps, rips a land, and drops Akroma, Angel of Wrath, hitting me to ten.

At this point, I had Visara, Husk, Troll Ascetic, Fierce Empath, Elf Replica, and a Bonesplitter. He had Akroma, Blinding Angel, and a Solemn Simulacrum. He's at eleven and I was at ten. I drew a land and said go (let me know if you'd do something different?). He drew a land and attacked me down to four; I killed his Blinding Angel with Visara at end of turn. At this point, I was saying that there was absolutely nothing in my deck that I could win with...Except Ravenous Baloth.

Welcome to my hand, Mr. Baloth!

I Visara'd his Simulacrum and attacked with the team. He had to block the Husk and I took him to three. During his turn, I had to sack the Baloth to stay alive and he didn't draw the Wrath, Stone, Wing Shards, or Akroma's Vengeance. Whew!

Later, he admitted that he didn't run Wing Shards and I drew an Oversold Cemetery on the next draw, so Wrath wouldn't have done it anyway unless he topdecked his second Akroma or a second Vengeance.

I packed up my cards and started to give back the cards I borrowed, and then someone told me,"Good luck in the top eight." Durr, you mean I have to play more? Mentally, I was wiped out. I don't have practice the pros do of playing twelve-plus hours of Magic. It wouldn't matter, though.

Top Eight: Rematch with same U/W deck
Game one: He went to six cards, kept a terrible hand, and I managed to draw seven lands, both my Shamans with my Bonesplitter being the only artifact in play, and a Birds of Paradise... So I lost anyway.

At one point, he had Eternal Dragon in play, and an Eternal Dragon in hand, tapped down to one mana for an Exalted Angel, and attacked with the Eternal Dragon, taking me to fifteen. I have a Husk and a Bonesplitter on a Ravenous Rat on the board, and he was at six. Its like he wanted to lose to me topdecking a Nekrataal or something when he had total control of the game! But I drew my eighth land and scooped.

Game two: He could have won, but decided to not attack with any of his four Angel tokens when I was at twenty and he was at eight, with me having a Husk in play. If he played it aggressively this game, then he'd take it - but I dropped Visara and eventually killed his recurring Eternal Dragons. I played very conservatively so that a Wrath of God or Vengeance wouldn't matter, but he never drew one anyway.

Alas, game three was a wipeout. He drew turn 3 morph, turn 4 unmorphed Angel, and I drew four double-green spells with only one City of Brass and three Swamps in play... Goodbye, State Championships. It was a good run.

So How Would The Deck Change Now?
After nine rounds of playtesting, I'd run the following deck:

B/G Cemetery

Black (15)
3 Nekrataal
4 Nantuko Husk
3 Ravenous Rats
1 Visara the Dreadful
1 Twisted Abomination
3 Oversold Cemetery

Green (19)
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Wirewood Herald
1 Fierce Empath
2 Caller of the Claw
1 Viridian Shaman
1 Elf Replica
2 Troll Ascetic
3 Ravenous Baloth
1 Krosan Tusker

Artifact (3)
3 Bonesplitter

Land (23)
3 City of Brass
9 Swamp
11 Forest

Sideboard (15)
2 Naturalize
1 Glissa Sunseeker
2 Viridian Shaman
2 Infest
4 Cabal Interrogator
2 Withered Wretch
1 Nekrataal
1 Card tailored to your metagame

With the amount of mass removal, I always wanted a Caller of the Claw and I would want two maindeck in most matches. I really only needed two Viridian Shamans against Affinity, and the Shaman frequently got drawn when the only artifact was my Bonesplitter... So it goes to one in my book.

Against all the control decks (except W/R Slide), the proper sideboard card is Cabal Interrogator. Graveborn Muse and Soul Foundry were just inferior against G/W, White, and W/U Control decks. I usually side out the Ravenous Rats for Interrogators in the control matchups since they tend to hold extra land or just pitch an Eternal Dragon for the rats anyway and the Interrogator on turn 2 is really bad news for them.

I'm not sure if I like the Infest or not. I'm really tempted to run Dark Banishing to have more answers to Broodstar, or one of the cheap removal spells like Terror or Smother for equipped weenies. For States, I expected to run into more weenie horde decks, so it was okay for that tournament - but it may change if Affinity and U/W Control become the most popular decks.

Well, that's about enough for now. Comments, questions, etc can be sent to mike.dove@cibavision.novartis.com but it's a work email so tone it down.

And no porn pics, please. Heh.

Later,
Michael W. Dove