Please hold while we load your cart...
[SCROLL DOWN TO READ THE ARTICLE!]
Become a StarCityGames.com Premium Member and receive exclusive access to top-level strategies, new decklists and entertaining reports from many of the best players and writers that the game has to offer! This includes "The Innovator" & Worlds finalist Patrick Chapin, 2010 Player of the Year Brad Nelson, Classic Theorist Mike Flores, Hall of Famer Brian Kibler, GP and SCG Invitational Champion Gerry Thompson, StarCityGames.com Director of Sales Ben Bleiweiss ...and many, many more!
PLUS! StarCityGames.com Premium members now have an EXCLUSIVE WEEKLY NEWSLETTER sent just to them with the latest tech, exclusive content and exclusive deals along with unprecedented access into America's largest Magic: the Gathering sales database, and can view lists of StarCityGames.com's top-selling items - broken down by category, format legality, and rarity - in real time! When it comes to trading, increased knowledge equals increased profits - and increased knowledge is just one click away for our Premium members!
A StarCityGames.com Premium Membership gives you exclusive access to the best Magic: the Gathering content available and is an amazing bargain for just pennies a day! When you're ready to start getting more out of this game, click here to join StarCityGames.com Premium today!
If you are a valid StarCityGames.com Premium member and still cannot view the article, please consult this FAQ.
Hello, everyone! Today I will start my tournament report from Pro Tour: Geneva, where I placed in the Top 4. I will also give you my thoughts on the commons from Planar Chaos. First things first: my Top 5 commons from each color.
I liked Green before Planar Chaos arrived... and I now feel Green is the strongest color in the TTP format.
This is my color ranking with Planar Chaos in the mix:
1st: Green
2nd: Red
3rd: Black
4th: Blue
5th: White
I don't like to play Blue nowadays, because there are too many Blue players in each draft I do. The color is powerful, but the depth is not good enough to run the risk of supporting five or six players. I think everyone is likely to avoid Black, but it has useful removal spells, and the new tapper in Rathi Trapper. Considering that the final of the PT was Black versus Black, I think everyone understands that choosing Black is not bad at all.
The Red commons from Planar Chaos seem a little weak compared to others, but if you take uncommons and rares into consideration, it's not too hard a leap to admit that Red is one of the stronger colors available.
I don't like white very much. However, if there are only two Whites drafters at the table, you can easily produce a 3-0 deck and performance. Actually, I saw White players achieve that many times in our practice drafts.
Here is my Top 5 common ranking for every color.
White
1st - Sunlance
2nd - Shade of Trokair
3rd - Whitemane Lion
4th - Saltfield Recluse
5th - Sinew Sliver
Shade of Trokair and Whitemane Lion change in the order, depending on your deck. If you're lucky enough to have a Firemaw Kavu, you should pick Whitemane Lion above the Shade. Although he never made the Top 5 cut, I do recommend Aven Riftwatcher. If you have Amrou Scout, he can recruit it and Lions can rescue it... it becomes so much more useful than a simple three-drop. Keep this in mind when you draft.
Blue
1st - Shaper Parasite
2nd - Erratic Mutation
3rd - Dreamscape Artist
4th - Aquamorph Entity
5th - Veiling Oddity
Shaper Parasite and Erratic Mutation should not be changed. As long as your deck stays at two or less colors, there is no card that should be drafted earlier than these strong removal options. I saw Dreamscape Artist going as a low pick at the PT, but its deck-thinning effect is great, and it can stabilize three- or four-color decks easily. Veiling Oddity works very well in Blue/Green or Blue/White, though you can pick the card up late. It is best for your deck as a finishing blow. Be careful when you suspend this, because if it's online too early it can be nothing but crap.
Black
1st - Rathi Trapper
2nd - Cradle to Grave
3rd - Melancholy
4th - Midnight Charm
5th - Bog Serpent
Cradle to Grave and Melancholy are often underestimated, but both are really great. Black often loses to fatties, but these cards can deal with them very easily, and therefore they are very strong against problematic archetypes. As Black is generally underdrafted, there are fewer players running the color so Cradle to Grave can kill almost all the creatures you'll see.
Red
1st — Dead / Gone
2nd - Prodigal Pyromancer
3rd - Brute Force
4th - Stingscourger
5th= - Skirk Shaman
5th= - Needlepeak Spider
I love Tims, so I'm unsure which should be ranked higher, the Prodigal Pyromancer or Dead / Gone. Overall, I think Dead / Gone is the stronger option. When faced with a choice between the Needlepeak Spider and the Skirk Shaman, consider what your deck needs. Skirk Shaman is very strong when there are few Red players in the table, but Needlepeak Spider can catch the fliers that are threat for Red/Green deck the world over.
Green
1st - Mire Boa
2nd - Giant Dustwasp
3rd - Citanul Woodreaders
4th - Utopia Vow
5th - Evolution Charm
If you have a lot of two-mana guys, you may pick Giant Dustwasp over Mire Boa, but Mire Boa is ridiculously strong. I had underestimated Utopia Vow until the Pro Tour, but I felt its power by playing the card first-hand. It is not good to enchant a creature too early, but it works very well in the latter half of the game. I hear many players claim they don't like Citanul Woodreaders, but you will see a one game out of three draw to a complete standstill, no matter the strength of your deck. In such situations, I think drawing two cards makes it much easier to win, so I simply love the Woodreaders. Evolution Charm is stronger than it looks, so if your deck has three or more colors you can pick it early.
Besides those listed above, Essence Warden is very strong. While playing it in PT I was asked, “Is that good?” It seems fine to me, but I can't remember how many games I won thanks to it. If you play Green, picking this up won't be a failure.
That's all of Top 5 common breakdowns by color. Green gets stronger than ever because its set of commons is much better than the commons in other colors.
Planar Chaos changed the pick orders of commons in Time Spiral a fair bit. I think you should still high-pick suspend cards, of course. In my favored Green, Herd Gnarr, Penumbra Spider, Nantuko Shaman, and Strength in Numbers got stronger than ever. The game is now a little slower, and the Green Planar Chaos common slot has few four-mana cards, so these four-mana cards grow in value, as you'll not be clogged in that slot. As Planar Chaos has no Green Giant Growths, getting one in Time Spiral makes your deck better than ever. And Planar Chaos adds Uktabi Drake and Giant Dustwasp, so Primal Forcemage can be expected to be much stronger than before. If you play Green, remember this.
If I don't play Black, try to play more than sixteen creatures. I don't mean “play creatures even they are terrible,” of course, but make sure you grab these guys while you can. It is ideal to have 16-19 creatures when drafting in this format.
This is my personal preference, of course... try to draft in order to play to your own likes and strengths.
Besides this specific Planar Chaos advice, there are two things to keep in mind.
The first: what type of cards does my deck lack?
The second: always enjoy your Magic.
You have a few minutes to look through your cards after drafting pack 1. When I do it, I am looking for tips such as “I need more two-mana creatures,” or “I'm short of removal spells.” Thinking like that makes it easier to remember the cards that I drafted, and helps me decide between one of two cards that are equal in rank. I think this approach may have helped me to post some good results of late.
Now it's time for my PT report in brief:
| PT: Geneva - Draft 1 Featured by Kenji Tsumura on 2007-03-04 (Time Spiral Limited) | ||
Creatures 1 Ana Battlemage 1 Ashcoat Bear 1 Citanul Woodreaders 1 Dreamscape Artist 1 Fledgling Mawcor 1 Gemhide Sliver 2 Giant Dustwasp 1 Herd Gnarr 2 Mire Boa 1 Riftwing Cloudskate 1 Shaper Parasite 1 Spike Feeder Instants 2 Evolution Charm 1 Lightning Axe 1 Squall Line 1 Thrill of the Hunt |
Legendary Creatures 1 Numot, the Devastator Sorceries 1 Call of the Herd 1 Search for Tomorrow 1 Tromp the Domains Basic Lands 9 Forest 6 Island 1 Mountain 1 Plains | 1 Seal of Primordium 1 Cancel 1 Snapback 1 Thrill of the Hunt |
 |
 | |
| Download this deck in Apprentice format! |
Download this deck in Magic Online Text format! | |
I first-picked Riftwing Cloudskate, and chose Call of the Herd from Tromp the Domains, Sudden Spoiling, and the Call in the next pack. Thanks to the remainder of the pack, I surmised that my neighbor on my right drafted Rift Bolt, so I drafted to avoid Red as a second color.
As a result, my deck was very strong and interesting, and I posted a 3-0 result. I played just Thrill of the Hunt and Seal of Primordium from my sideboard. There were a large number of players in Black in this pod, and all my opponents played Swamps, so Mire Boa was quite powerful.
Round 1: Soorani, Shaheen W/B. 2-0
Round 2: Takeuchi, Isao R/B. 2-0
Round 3: Didierjean, Thomas R/B. 2-0
| PT: Geneva - Draft 2 Featured by Kenji Tsumura on 2007-03-04 (Time Spiral Limited) | ||
Creatures 1 Ashcoat Bear 1 Essence Warden 1 Flowstone Channeler 1 Gemhide Sliver 1 Goblin Skycutter 1 Havenwood Wurm 1 Herd Gnarr 1 Keldon Halberdier 2 Nantuko Shaman 1 Needlepeak Spider 1 Primal Forcemage 1 Skirk Shaman 1 Spinneret Sliver 1 Wormwood Dryad 1 Yavimaya Dryad |
Instants 1 Brute Force 1 Fury Charm 1 Orcish Cannonade 1 Sudden Shock 1 Sulfurous Blast Sorceries 1 Rough / Tumble 1 Tromp the Domains Basic Lands 9 Forest 8 Mountain | 1 Hammerheim Deadeye 1 Viashino Bladescout |
 |
 | |
| Download this deck in Apprentice format! |
Download this deck in Magic Online Text format! | |
I first-picked Sulfurous Blast, and second-picked Tromp the Domains. I aimed at R/G from the beginning. But I noticed while drafting that there were many Green players, seated to my right, so in pack 3 my picks was terrible as there were a lot of cards cut from me. I played Wormwood Dryad in the main because I thought there were two or more Green drafters at the table for sure. I defeated Quentin Martin after making 2-0, thanks to Wormwood and Yavimaya Dryads.
Round 4: van Medevoort, Robert W/B. 2-1
Round 5: Mueller, Andre U/B. 2-0
Round 6: Martin, Quentin U/G. 2-0
Fortunately I was 6-0 going into the third draft. I was seated next to Takuya Osawa, and could cooperate with him to make a nice R/B deck.
| PT: Geneva - Draft 3 Featured by Kenji Tsumura on 2007-03-04 (Time Spiral Limited) | ||
Artifacts 1 Foriysian Totem Creatures 1 Bog Serpent 2 Coal Stoker 2 Mogg War Marshal 1 Nightshade Assassin 1 Plague Sliver 1 Prodigal Pyromancer 1 Simian Spirit Guide 1 Thick-Skinned Goblin |
Enchantments 1 Enslave Instants 1 Cradle to Grave 1 Dead / Gone 1 Lightning Axe 2 Strangling Soot Sorceries 2 Empty the Warrens 1 Mindstab 1 Phthisis 1 Rift Bolt 1 Shivan Meteor Basic Lands 8 Mountain 9 Swamp | 1 Bog Serpent 1 Flamecore Elemental 1 Mana Skimmer 1 Brute Force |
 |
 | |
| Download this deck in Apprentice format! |
Download this deck in Magic Online Text format! | |
I made my maindeck a little wrong here. I should have played Flamecore Elemental rather than Empty the Warrens, because I often lost to fatties. The deck seems a bit heavy, but double Coal Stoker and a lot of removal could prevent my opponent gaining tempo advantage. I lost to Takuya, but I managed to defeat Sonne and Sebastian to post a 2-1 for the pod
Round 7: Sonne, Jonathan G/U/R. Slivers 2-1
Round 8: Takuya Osawa W/U. 1-2
Round 9: Thaler, Sebastian G/R/B. 2-0
Form this point, if I managed to 3-0 the next draft, the final draft would be easy. It was so important to do well in draft 4. I went to the table with more concentration than usual, as I didn't want to lose this chance.
| PT: Geneva - Draft 4 Featured by Kenji Tsumura on 2007-03-04 (Time Spiral Limited) | ||
Creatures 1 Ana Battlemage 1 Ashcoat Bear 1 Durkwood Baloth 1 Errant Ephemeron 1 Essence Warden 1 Gossamer Phantasm 1 Greenseeker 1 Havenwood Wurm 1 Herd Gnarr 1 Might Sliver 1 Mire Boa 1 Nantuko Shaman 1 Riftwing Cloudskate 1 Shaper Parasite 1 Spiketail Drakeling 1 Spinneret Sliver 1 Timebender Enchantments 1 Verdant Embrace Instants 1 Cancel |
Legendary Creatures 1 Jedit Ojanen of Efrava 1 Vorosh, the Hunter Sorceries 1 Search for Tomorrow Basic Lands 9 Forest 7 Island 1 Swamp Lands 1 Terramorphic Expanse | 1 Telekinetic Sliver 1 Seal of Primordium |
 |
 | |
| Download this deck in Apprentice format! |
Download this deck in Magic Online Text format! | |
This draft was very difficult. My first pick was Errant Ephemeron, my second was Verdant Embrace, and my third was Sulfurous Blast! I thought I could play Red because Blast was late at third pick, but I was confused as a lot of Green and Blue cards were passed my way. After all this early trouble I picked up an almost mono-Green selection, and fortunately I met Vorosh from Planar Chaos, so I decide to play Blue as the second color. This is why I don't have many spells in this deck.
By the way, I saw neither Giant Growth effects nor removal, so there were few spells in the whole table (I thought at the time). My creatures were pretty good, and thanks largely to luck, I managed to post a 3-0 result in the pod.
The round against Mike Hron, who finished as the Pro Tour champion, was very interesting. In the game I lost, he had six points of damage on the table, Rathi Trapper, and five mana. I had Ephemeron, Spiketail Drakeling enchanted with Verdant Embrace, Ojanen, and seven mana, with and Durkwood Baloth, Havenwood Wurm, and Cancel in hand. After his attack, he played Damnation. He had five or six cards, and they must have all been spells as he had missed some land drops. I was at nine life, and Mike was at twelve. Unfortunately, I had no mana to play Cancel.
Would you counter Damnation with Drakeling?
My answer was no, as I thought I couldn't win if I sacrificed Drakeling and I knew that my hand was good enough, so I let it though. After that, I Canceled Gorgon Recluse, and ripped Vorosh from the top. I would have won next turn... if he hadn't played Triskelavus! It stalled all of my attacks, and I lost this game.
I won the game 3 thanks to a sided-in Telekinetic Sliver. This round was really interesting.
Round 10: Aguado, Saul U/B/R. 2-1
Round 11: Hron, Mike W/B. 2-1
Round 12: Herold, Jim W/U. 2-0
I was sure that my next opponent was Takuya, so we planned to take an ID. We both could make Top 8 by taking an ID again in one of the two remaining rounds. Again I was seated next to Takuya in the fifth draft. My deck looked like this.
| PT: Geneva - Draft 5 Featured by Kenji Tsumura on 2007-03-04 (Time Spiral Limited) | ||
Artifacts 1 Foriysian Totem 1 Prismatic Lens Creatures 1 Avatar of Woe 1 Basal Sliver 1 Bogardan Hellkite 1 Coal Stoker 1 Flamecore Elemental 1 Flowstone Channeler 1 Keldon Halberdier 1 Reckless Wurm 1 Thick-Skinned Goblin 2 Urborg Syphon-Mage Enchantments 2 Feebleness 1 Melancholy |
Instants 2 Cradle to Grave 1 Lightning Axe 1 Tendrils of Corruption Legendary Creatures 1 Ib Halfheart, Goblin Tactician Sorceries 1 Assassinate 1 Mindstab Basic Lands 8 Mountain 8 Swamp Legendary Lands 1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth | 1 Simian Spirit Guide 1 Sulfur Elemental 1 Feebleness |
 |
 | |
| Download this deck in Apprentice format! |
Download this deck in Magic Online Text format! | |
After building the deck I talked with Takuya, he told me he also drafted B/R. We both thought each other was U/W...
By the way, my deck wasn't very good, but Jim, the opponent I met after Takuya, accepted the ID and I was in the Top 8!
Round 13: Takuya Osawa.BR ID
Round 14: Herold, Jim. ID
Round 15: Thaler, Sebastian U/R/W. 2-1
Round 15 was the worst match-up for me. I couldn't concede, as I wanted to help Katsuhiro by raising his tie-breaker points. I prayed that the game between Katsuhiro and Saitou would finish early, but it didn't... and I won.
It's probably not the right place for this, but I have to say it anyway...
Sebastian, I'm really sorry.
The swiss rounds finished soon after, and after the usual photographs I went to the hotel. I couldn't sleep well... I fell asleep at 4am.
The final draft...
| PT: Geneva - Top 8 Draft Deck Featured by Kenji Tsumura on 2007-03-04 (Time Spiral Limited) | ||
Creatures 1 Citanul Woodreaders 1 Durkwood Baloth 2 Firemaw Kavu 1 Giant Dustwasp 1 Herd Gnarr 1 Keldon Halberdier 1 Magus of the Library 2 Nantuko Shaman 1 Scarwood Treefolk 1 Suq'ata Lancer 1 Thallid Shell-Dweller Enchantments 1 Utopia Vow |
Instants 1 Dead / Gone 1 Orcish Cannonade 1 Strength in Numbers 1 Thrill of the Hunt Legendary Creatures 1 Radha, Heir to Keld Sorceries 1 Grapeshot 1 Harmonize 1 Tribal Flames Basic Lands 9 Forest 8 Mountain 1 Plains | Stats: Average mana: 1.78 Average creature mana cost: 3.86 Average creature power: 2.64 Average creature toughness: 2.71 Deck Composition: Basic Lands: 45.00% Sorceries: 7.50% Creatures: 32.50% Instants: 10.00% Legendary Creatures: 2.50% Enchantments: 2.50% |
 |
 | |
| Download this deck in Apprentice format! |
Download this deck in Magic Online Text format! | |
If I rate this deck, this is 60/100. It contains some bombs, but they are passed or opened in my pack, so I was just lucky. Though I was happy to get play my favorite color, Green, at such a nice time, I missed my chance. Very regrettable.
I felt a sense of achievement in PT Kobe, but this time I felt nothing but mortification. Although I made unusually few mistakes in the swiss, I made a lot of mistakes in the final. I need more practice.
Maybe if I'd started drafting Green earlier...?
Was picking Dead / Gone rather than Deadwood Treefolk correct?
What if I had taken a mulligan in game 2 against Hron?
There were too many mistakes that I can't mention them all.
I hope I post better results in my next tournament, as this will push my mortification from my mind.
Thank you for reading! See you at GPs and PTs!
Kenji
(Translated by Naoki Shimizu)
Chris continues with his Angry Man persona and complains long and hard about the blurring of the color pie. He also swallows his pride and champions the very... 
Sean’s journey through the murky waters of the Extended metagame takes a surprising turn today. Instead of honing his No Stick deck into oblivion, or picking up on an established archetype, he turns to a couple of strong decks... 
