Shinji's Blog

This blog update is about my current exploits in playing at Magic: the Gathering tournaments. It might be a fun read for people that don't play, but I use a lot of jargon, so be warned.

Here's the results of the FNM at Game On I took this to one 20130802. Also, I swapped out Divination in both the main and sideboard for Think Twice. Round 1 went 1-2 against a Naya deck. However, game 1 countering a turn 2 Domri Rade and winning off a 19 damage Teleportal was very satisfying. That game Young Pyromancer and Molten Birth were totally responsible for wrecking my opponent. Round 2 went 0-2 because god damn Predator Ooze . And game two it dropped turn two with a Counterflux in my hand. Then turn 3 my opponent played double Rancor. Pretty much sums up that. Round 3 I won in 3! It was Izzet vs Izzet and games 1 and 2 were wicked long and intense, but a lot of fun. My opponent had a touch of black and was running a lot of counterspells. Mix really didn't work; the game he won was because he dropped Niv-Mizzet, Dracogenius, countered two fused Turn / Burn and had lots of mana to ping and draw more answers.Round 4 my opponent dropped which means... drumroll I MADE MY GOAL OF GOING 2-2!!! Yay, I guess? Round 5 I was against a Rakdos deck. Game 1 he didn't hit his creatures, game 2 no Swamps. 3-2 BABY! So happy! He showed his deck after and I'm fairly confident I would have taken the round.

Now for how the FNM at The Whiz in Westborough, right next to Framingham I did on 20130809. Round one was Jund with Olivia Voldaren, Huntsmaster and Thragtusk. Game one Huntsmaster, Lifebane Zombie and Hunt's wolf token were on the table. For some reason I had two Izzet Charms and zapped the token and Hunts, not the Zombie and Hunts. That misplay cost me the game. Game two I quickly got out two Nivix Cyclops (he turn 3 Slaughter Games'd my Young Pyromancer). I burned 2 Izzet Charms to draw/discard but mainly to swing for 14. He shock land'd earlier so it was 4 to 20. A Tragic Slip and Putrify later my board is empty and I was dry for creatures. He slowly then took the match. Round 2 the guy threw a fit that I burned 1 card after he present his deck. shrug Game 1 his empty board plus double Young Pyromancer and Dynacharge two turns in a row took it. Round two Angel of Serenity showed up. Turn 'n' Burn took it out but I didn't get my 2 Young Pyromancers and Blistercoil back. Before I got my board repopulated he brought back Serenity. However, Cyclops, another Blister and Teleportal plus a Burn to the face sealed the deal. Round 3, game one was starting off fairly close until after Turn 'n' Burn on Ghost Dad left me dry for Angel of Serenity from Unburial. Game two started off mediocre, but not hitting any Izzet Charms, Faithless Lootings or Think Twice had me down to top decking. Two Angels on the field shortly after says enough. Round 4, 1-1 and a draw. He was running 4 color fun stuff, everything but black. It was a weird mix of control and bigger creatures. Given enough time in the last round I think I could have edged it out.

The last FNM I have news on was at Game On 20130816. Round One was Jund agro. Game one a Thundermaw Hellkite and no Turn/Burn or Counterflux got me. Round 2 double Scavenging Ooze and Olivia, despite scraping by for a while, got me in the end. Small comfort I got him to one life, bur that's the life point that matters. Round 2 was against a junior high or high-schooler that recently got back into Magic. While he was nice, he was running a really weak Orzhov. Game 1 he got to 35 life which was a bit scary, but slowly clearing his board and then two Cyclops going to work got the game quickly. Game two was two Cyclops again, but with a Young Pyromancer and plenty of instants, and he didn't draw creatures. Round 3 was USA with counterspells, Assemble the Legion, and counterspells. Both of us were constantly popping Think Twice and Faithless Looting. He was really good with knowing when to counter. It went to game 3 with 7 min left, both my victories by a thread but I pulled it off. Round 4 my opponent, while full of moxie, was likely 8 years old. He was running a mono white deck, didn't draw into... well, I don't know. Cyclops and Blistercoil made quick work and set me 2-0. A bystander watching suggested adding another color, suggesting blue. I advised blue or red, and told him about the guilds. He seemed keen on red, so I gave him a handful of red rares. Here's hoping he shapes up into an awesome player. He's got balls to be playing Standard with less than 6 months experience. Round 5 was Gruul agro. I drew nothing but crap; my opening hands were false promises. 0-2 in the blink of eye. However one of my Molten Births came back over 8 times. Yay? All in all 3-2, and might have been 4-1. I definitely gonna keep playing FNM. LONG LIVE PYROMANCER!

Finally, I have some Modern news! So excited as I've been waiting to play Candy for years! This was at the Whiz on 20130811. Round 1 was against a fairly new player. He was still sleeving his deck as we started because he was originally unsleeves. Kept drawing bedded untapping, etc. But he was really nice and I made sure to tell him to be comfy calling judge and all that "be good to new player" stuff. Unfortunately his deck wasn't all that great. He kept using Bond Beetle to put counters on Llanowar Elves and other odd misplays. However, after getting shredded he managed a game 2 win with a surprise plummet after I stack blocked a super enchanted creature, and my fetches plus his combat had me already low. Game three I had to be a little tricky in influencing some unsmart swings to then surprise pump spell to victory. Round 2 USA. Game 1 kill spells/lightning bolts back and forth, he eventually overtook me. Game two I drew all lands. sigh Round 3 was running Ad Naseum / Lightning Storm. Hilarious stuff, managed 2-1 and they were fantastic games. Game 3 was Phyrexian Crusader with 2 Groundswell, Pact of Negation, then a 3rd Groundswell. It was turn 4 and I top decked the Marsh Flats to get Groundswell's landfall. Round 4 they were running Junk and man I got floored. I had a misplay of forgetting to play my land before Groundswell'ing. My minor comfort is the rest of that match played so that it wouldn't have mattered. Game two, not enough creatures and kill spells left me dry for Lingering Souls and Gavony. Plus having to deal with a Liliana of the Veil didn't help either. Round 5 was R/G agro that Fetches and Goyf's aside was Standard legal. Game one I got overwhelmed by creatures (Goblin Guide + Rancor). Game two I had 3 Glistner, Abrupt, Crusader, Mutagenic and Verdant. I chose to keep knowing Goblin Guide would be out. Turn 2 and Guide I didn't get a land. If I had I would been able to turn three Crusader and again on turn 4, which we agreed would have let me dominate long enough to win. But that was a "what if" and back in reality I was 0-2 and 2-3 overall.

I'm really happy that I'm finally playing in events, but also I'm not doing terribly. Sorry for the backlog of updates, and I'll try to do a weekly update on my events. Happy spell slinging everyone!