Dies to Removal

Top 4 Last Premier Event, however see game 3 of semifinals - my opp is saying I am topdecking like a mad while he was having such a topdecks that won him those games. He topdecked in a row: glare of heresy, land to have possible monstrosity on lion, advent of the wurm to pump Exp1 to kill dragon, selesnya charm to prevent wurm trading with reckoner and boon satyr...

The Canadian Cutthroat tearing it up!

Well done on T4 Pedros

I watched your games Odd mix of decks there - what's with the GU? I've never seen that before. The last Round was harsh, when it gets draws like those the GW is pretty much an impossible match up Every time I play them I swear that the MTGO shuffler has a special auto T4 Wurm function!

9-3 going into round 13.

Bring it on home J_S. Keep lighting them up!

9-3 going into round 13.

Breathe the pressure

Nice stuff J_S and Pedros Ha, who said 5 MD terrors wouldn't work for red

10-4-1 to finish the event. Opponent wanted to ID and seemed to think we would both cash if we ID'd. We'll see if it was a mistake or not. I'll write a report tomorrow. I am exhausted.

95th.

GJ, Mate!!! That's top 80-something%. Really good job. Probably tied with like 50 people too...

Anyone have any ideas on how we should tackle GW? Gx Devotion seems ok, but when you tack on Wurms, Life-gain Enchants and Card Draw it seems to be a tad tougher.

I originally wanted to run 3x Shocks to deal with Small aggro but I've been reading reports on GW's resurgence online, I'm not sure if its true or not but seems like a hard nut to crack.... 2x Pacifism anyone?

Note: I'm talking about the SB not MD

I had a weird relationship with g/w back before it died down. It was either one of my toughest matches, or one of the easiest...

The main factor in it, imo, is their silly creatures. Pound for pound, their stuff is just way more powerful then ours. The best way to handle them is to cotrol them by burning out their stuff. This is tougher here then in pyrodragons, because we run less burn/removal spells.

I think the only real solution to g/w is to either run more removal or to just pray and play right...


Also, though I hate to start the bugbear again, that might be a matchup that r/b would handle better. Not gonna say much more since this isn't the plae for it, but yeah.

I care not at all about GW. I think you just have to know how to manage your removal. Chain only voices and wurms, bring in max 1 last breath(it's mostly dead except against voice where it's amazing), mortars liberally, try to have strike tag-team with ash zealot to take down bigger guys, kill with dragons.

Well done Johnny! Great result!

GW is a tough match and I think the best strategy is exactly what LP says. Sometimes you're just gonna lose to their better monsters though and I'm not sure there is room to bring in more removal. Pacifism might be worth testing over Mortars in the SB but don't they have Glare Of Heresy?

Yes, they do which they absolutely bring in.

Yeah Glare of Heresy is good vs them, but it doesnt kill wurms. To be honest I dont think anything kills wurms except of chain. You have to manage resources quite good, for example I flamed of firebrands his lion, not chained it as I wanted to play around courage

Just checked the lists and can confirm LP is correct, again

The more I think the more I like our own Glare - I know it doesn't kill Wurm Pedros but neither does Mortars so if the GW deck becomes so problematic that we need a specific slot I think it is our best option.

My own plan is to become a much better player so I can skilfully outplay these decks like I see you and MDU and Z do

Sometimes there isnt the option of outplaying, sometimes there is nothing you can do ;(. See game 1 where i had really good draw but he had even better.

Sometimes there isnt the option of outplaying, sometimes there is nothing you can do ;(. See game 1 where i had really good draw but he had even better.

Totally agree but most decks in the format have their 'I win' nuts draw where they answer everything or throw out more threats than you can deal with, (we call it curving out ) it happens, you can't have a game plan or SB strategy for it If I can win where possible and accept I just sometimes lose despite making all the right plays without tilting I will be well on my way to becoming the MTG player I want to be (and a much better person
for it too!)

Went 3-1 in the DE with Johnny_Spike's list (-3 Shock + 3 Skullcrack in the SB) today but it was a strange day and once again variance was a huge factor again but at least it was in my favour today

R1 2-0 Vs GB GY Commune deck - My opp has repeated technical issues and drops after I had won G1.
R2 2-0 Vs BW - Opp floods G1 and draws badly G2 but I'm not complaining
R3 2-0 Vs RedDevo - G1 The theme continues as we both mull and draw badly, luckily my opp draws worse than me I finally win on T11! G2 is the best game of the day and I narrowly win with my Dragon past his Golems

I'm top of
the standings going into R4 which is strange given my games!

R4 0-2 Vs MonoU -G1 I mull 2 Mntn, Vault, SF, 2 Strike, Mortars into 6 no land into 5 all land. With hindsight I wish I'd kept the 7 but no threats and no scry is generally a mull I think. Thoughts anyone? Unsurprisingly I lose.
G2 I get a keepable but not great hand against U of 2 Mntn, Vault, Strike, Zealot, Phoenix, Dragon. He drops 3 Cloudfins, 2 Tidebinders and Thassa on curve. I draw no more removal. I lose to 3/4 flyers and an unblockable 6/5 God that for some strange WOTC reason only costs 3 mana

Went 3-2 SCG IQ also with the Johnny_Spike list with Skullcrack in the SB - missed top eight due to tiebreakers:

R1: RDW splash white that transformed into more of a Burn build. Won game 1, sided for aggro, he took next two as I got stuck on few lands - Temple and Magma jet didn't even help. 1-2
R2: U/W control - again, had mana issues but FS and Cackler were in play early and did their job . . . 2-0
R3: Jund - he had little removal against me and was eventually overwhelmed by SBD twice . . . 2-0
R4: U/W/G flash/control thing - not sure all of what he was doing, but it was a lot more control than anything else and would keep dropping worm tokens - which actually won him a game. G1 - complete walk over with FS and Cacklers alone - but saw almost nothing of his deck so had tough sideboard choices - G2 I managed to pull too many vaults early against a stream of huge tokens and only had FS pulled to block - this is not
good. G3 I boarded him out and added the reckoner along with some more removal and chained all of his tokens to death while burn, little guys took over, then SBD ended it well. 2-1
R5: RedDevo: G1 relatively easy win with SBD on T5 into another SBD courtest of Chandra. G2 - mull to 5 - lost. G3 - mulled to 5 - lost - both losses were still close even with the mull - both no landers.

Did well and not sure I would change up much right now - became a huge fan of SBD while playing the PyroWhite build and very happy to have 4 now.

Re: GW - Ignore Voice until it has Courage. It isn't a real threat without it.

Good job gents.

Love the new Av n Sig! Massive congrats Johnny, great result!

Re: GW - Ignore Voice until it has Courage. It isn't a real threat without it.

I like answering voices early(in game 1) so that you get value out of your 1-drops.

Love the new Av n Sig! Massive congrats Johnny, great result!

Thanks Laser

Glanced at your post JS and it looked like you said Thanks LOSER.

I died.

No red in the top 16 of GP Shizuoka

No red in the top 16 of GP Shizuoka

Red isn't popular here.

Sunday, 2:20 p.m. – Day 2 Metagame Breakdown

by Ben Swartz

Here is the breakdown of the 218 decks that made it into day two of Grand Prix Shizuoka:

Deck #
Mono-blue Devotion 42
Mono-black Devotion 27
Orzhov Control 23
Boros Devotion 23
Azorius Control 19
Mono-red 19
Esper Control 14
Colossal Gruul 13
Other 38

Mono-blue Devotion:

After winning Pro Tour Theros in the hands of Jeremy Dezani, it is no surprise that the mono-blue menace has shown up in force here this weekend. Though it struggles against Supreme Verdict, Master of Waves and friends continue to take match after match. While other decks have started diluting themselves in order to have a better matchup against Mono-black devotion, the blue decks have shined.

Mono-black Devotion & Orzhov Control:

With a near-even split between the two decks, it seems players here are divided between which of these two black decks is the best. While
Mono-black devotion may be more consistent, Marlon Gutierrez proved in Fort Worth the power of Last Breath and Blood Baron of Viskopa. When you combine the numbers on these two decks, the number of people this weekend praying to go turn one Thoughtseize into turn two Pack Rat outnumber any other strategy.

Boros Devotion, Mono-red & Colossal Gruul:

Red decks in one form or another were the next most popular decks in day two. Though the strategies diverge, each use Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx to power out huge creatures. Whether they be Stormbreath Dragons or Mistcutter Hydras and whether they are backed up by Mizzium Mortars or Chained to the Rocks, red has proven that it is able to wrestle with the big guns.

Esper & Azorius Control:

Finally, we are left with the control decks. Again there is a near even split into the two different camps. Nineteen players decided to follow in the footsteps of William "Huey" Jensen this weekend and play straight Azorius Control, while the other half
battled with Guillaume Wafo-Tapa's favorite, Esper Control. As Mono-black Devotion and Orzhov Control have gained popularity, control players have reached for Blood Baron of Viskopas of their own to battle the black menace.

With the top eight almost set here in Shizuoka, stay tuned to see which deck will reign supreme!

I didn't realize it, but I think I played against three pros.

I played Masayasu Tanahashi in round 4 (scumbag, more on that later), Pang Ming Wee in round 6 (Pro from Malaysia, nice guy), and (I think, maybe just looks similar) Naoki Shimizu (nice guy) in round 11.

I played Masayasu Tanahashi in round 4 (scumbag, more on that later), Pang Ming Wee in round 6 (Pro from Malaysia, nice guy), and (I think, maybe just looks similar) Naoki Shimizu (nice guy) in round 11.

Feed me mor.... ermm I'm looking forward to the report .

GP: Shizuoka was 1785 players.

For the TL;DR crowd, here's what I played:
I had one BYE from Planeswalker Points.

Round 1: [b:
3ctibxdm]BYE[/b]

1-0-0


Round 2: VS MUD

Game 1: My opponent is on the play and mull'd to five. I luckily had a hand that was very burn heavy. I kill everything he casts and kill him with vaults / dragon.

Sideboard: -4 Rakdos Cackler, -4 Firedrinker Satyr
+2 Last Breath, +1 Chained to the Rocks, +2 Mizzium Mortars, +3 Shock

Game 2: He's on the play, we both keep 7. I have turn 2 ash Zealot. He plays T3 Thrassa. I play T3 Phoenix. He plays 2x Tidebinder Mage and gets in for 5. I play 2x burn spells. He plays T5Nightveil Spectre + [card:
3ctibxdm]Tidebinder Mage[/card], gets in for 5. I play turn 5 double burn spells. He's gassed and I draw a dragon FTW.

2-0-0


Round 3: VS UW Control

Game 1: I play through 3 Last Breath and two [card]Elspeth, Sun's Champion[/card] and get him with 2x Dragons. I was on 30 life.

Sideboard:-2 Mizzium Mortars, -1 Chained to the Rocks +3 Boros Charm

Game 2: He's on the play, we both keep 7. I stick on 4 lands with 3x Dragons in hand and he beats me down with Aetherling, Mutavaults and Elspeth tokens while I fail to draw a or a burn spell (he was at 2 life).

Game 3: I'm on the
play, he mulls to six. I have a hand that curves perfectly, and just get him.

3-0-0


Round 4: VS GR Monsters

Game 1: Very close, but I kill his Domri's and draw more Dragons than he did. Very close race.

Sideboard: -4Rakdos Cackler, -4 Firedrinker Satyr, -2 Chandra, Pyromaster
+3 Boros Reckoner, +2 Mizzium Mortars, +1 Assemble the Legion, +1 Chained to the Rocks, +3 Shock

Game 2: I make a couple of silly play mistakes (like not jetting Reverent Hunter before he gets the counters). He is a pro player and you can't make mistakes against them.


Game 3: I'm on the play, we both keep out 7. Things are going fairly well until T4. I Magma Jet him at the end of his turn because I need a land to cast Assemble the Legion. We mark the damage and I scry, then say end (meaning the end of his turn). He says "End?" and I say yes (I was confused why he was asking). He untaps and draws his card, while I sit there with my mouth open. Did he really just time walk me because of a miscommunication? I tell him, "Um, what about my turn?" and he's like "Well, I already drew my card." I call the judge who fixes the situation by taking the card (which I could identify) and shuffling his deck. There were no warnings (and I admit the miscommunication was mostly my fault) but I still think what he did was scummy and probably warranted a game loss. You opponent miscommunicating doesn't mean you skip their turn. After that,
I cast my Assemble (I was pretty far behind) and Overloaded a mortars the following turn to leave him with just a Polukranos, World Eater (6/6). I was at 6. I made my soldiers, drew a land and passed the turn. He only had two mountains in play, so an overloaded Mortars wasn't going to happen hopefully. It was the only out I had, since I didn't draw a Chain all match. He tops a mortars and mortars each of my soldiers, then cracks in for match.

3-1-0


Round 5: VS Boss Sligh

Game 1: Both Mull to 6, he's on the play. I manage to stabilize and he is gassed while I beat him to death with 2x Dragons.

Sideboard: -4 Rakdos Cackler, -4 Firedrinker Satyr, -1 Chandra, Pyromaster, -1 [card]
Mountain[/card], -1 Stormbreath Dragon +2 Last Breath, +3 Boros Reckoner, +2 Mizzium Mortars, +1 Chained to the Rocks, +3 Shock

Game 2: I don't draw shock and hit a variety of citp tapped lands. I can't stabilize. He gets me.

Game 3: I flood, can't stabilize and he gets me. On one life I top a Mizzium Mortars and use it on his Madcap Skills'd Ash Zealot, but am tilting so hard I forget to overload. I have a dragon on Defense, but he has another 2/2 and draws a second Zealot ftw.

3-2-0

At this point I went outside, took a breather and ate. Lesson learned. Eat after every second round. With my back
against the wall, I went back in.


Round 6: VS Quasi-Mirror (His was burn heavier, less creatures. I think it's the Starcity List) (Pro Player from Malaysia)

Game 1: I'm on the play and have a reasonable start, but he just burns all my stuff. Warleader's Helix on my Firedrinker Satyr put things out of reach.

Sideboard: -4 Rakdos Cackler, -4 Firedrinker Satyr, -1 Chandra, Pyromaster, -1 Mountain, -1 Stormbreath Dragon
+2 Last Breath, +3 Boros Reckoner, +2 Mizzium Mortars, +1 Chained to the Rocks, +3 Shock

Game 2:[/u:
3ctibxdm] Curve out and lay the smack down with dragon.

Game 3: incredibly close game, comes down to me scrying and stacking my deck Ash Zealot then Magma Jet (I'm on two life). I play Zealot and get in. He tops Magma Jet and domes me for two (lethal). I respond with Last Breath targeting my Ash Zealot to stay alive and Magma Jet him with the card I left on top for lethal.

4-2-0


Round 7: VS Orzhov Aggro

Game 1: I'm on the play and have a burn heavy hand. I just grind him out, then dragon him.

Sideboard: -4 Rakdos Cackler, -4 Firedrinker Satyr, -1 [card]
Chandra, Pyromaster[/card], -1 Mountain, -1 Stormbreath Dragon, +2 Last Breath, +3 Boros Reckoner, +2 Mizzium Mortars, +1 Chained to the Rocks, +3 Shock

Game 2: More of the same.

5-2-0


Round 8: VS Orzhov Aggro

Game 1: I'm on the draw and have a burn light hand. He has the nuts and just beats me down.

Sideboard: -4 Rakdos Cackler, -4 Firedrinker Satyr, -1 Chandra, Pyromaster, -1 Mountain, -1 Stormbreath Dragon, +2 [card]
Last Breath[/card], +3 Boros Reckoner, +2 Mizzium Mortars, +1 Chained to the Rocks, +3 Shock

Game 2: This time I have all the burn and grind him out then go over the top.

Game 3: More of the same.

6-2-0


Round 9 (bubble match): VS MUD

Game 1: I got stuck on 3 lands for infinite turns and died with 3 dragons and two Chandra's in hand.

Sideboard: -4 Rakdos Cackler, -4 Firedrinker Satyr
+2 Last Breath, +1 Chained to the Rocks, +2 Mizzium Mortars, +3 Shock

Game
2: I draw all the burn and kill him with a Chandra ultimate (Lightning Strike) followed by a Lightning Strike from my hand.

Game 3: On the draw, I mull to 6. My hand is burn heavy and develops well and I just get him.

7-2-0

[center]DAY TWO!!![/center][/b][/size]

We got up at 5AM and waited in line to get this:



Tell me that is the most ballin' playmat of all time. Very limited supply, so they're already selling for $100 - $300 USD online. John Avon!


Round 10: VS MBD

Game 1: Tripple Gary

Sideboard: -2 Stormbreath Dragon, -2 Mountain, -2 Magma Jet, -1 Chandra, Pyromaster
+2 Mizzium Mortars, +1 Chained to the Rocks, +1 [card:
3ctibxdm]Assemble the Legion[/card], +3 Boros Charm

Game 2: Tripple one drop, two mountains and two burn spells in my opener. Just get him.

Game 3: I get a warning. I was looking away when I was shuffling my opponent's deck and handed it back to him face up by mistake .

This was the most difficult game of the entire tournament. He had Whip of Erebus and I had Assemble the Legion, but I was very low from Gary + Whip the Gary after he sacced to his own demon. I had to use Assemble very defensively (he had 4x Mutavault in play). I won on the second turn of extra turns with roughly 10 Soldiers and three other creatures in play. At any point I was dead to Gary or Ratchet Bomb. This one was really
tough.

8-2-0

Here's a picture:



As you can see, the judge is there counting turns and I have like 10 soldiers.

Round 11: VS UW Control (Pro Player, I think)

Game 1: I play through his last breath and Jace, Architect of Thoughts and get him.

Sideboard:-2 Mizzium Mortars, -1 Chained to the Rocks +3 Boros Charm

Game 2: He has the nuts with 2x Fiendslayer Paladin and Archangel of Thune on curve.

Game 3: I mull to 4.
Opening hand was one temple of triumph, all 4cc+ stuff. 6 was 2x Mutavault, no other lands. 5 was no land. 4 was 2x Mountain,Firedrinker Satyr and a Magma Jet. I put up the best fight I could, but it was not going to happen.

8-3-0


Round 12: VS Bg Devotion

Game 1: Opponent mulls and I am on the play. I have the nuts (Tripple one drop, two mountains and two burn spells) and just run him over.

Sideboard: -2 Stormbreath Dragon, -2 Mountain, -2 Magma Jet, -1 Chandra, Pyromaster
+2 Mizzium Mortars, +1 [card]Chained to the Rocks[/card:
3ctibxdm], +1 Assemble the Legion, +3 Boros Charm

Game 2: Draw all the CITP Tapped lands and lose way too much tempo.

Game 3: I have the nuts again and get the T4 kill.

9-3-0


Round 13: VS MUD

Game 1: I don't remember much, except my opponent had god hands and I never hit white removal for the HUGE master of waves.

Sideboard: -4 Rakdos Cackler, -4 Firedrinker Satyr
+2 Last Breath, +1 Chained to the Rocks, +2 Mizzium Mortars, +3 Shock

Game 2: More of the same, but this time with a
side of mana screw.

9-4-0


Round 14: VS RW devotion

Game 1: Very close game. We race, he wins because he has [card]Warleader's Helix[/card] and I don't. .

Sideboard: -4Rakdos Cackler, -4 Firedrinker Satyr, -1 Chandra, Pyromaster, -1 Stormbreath Dragon
+3 Boros Reckoner, +2 Mizzium Mortars, +1 Assemble the Legion, +1 Chained to the Rocks, +3 Shock

Game 2: He mulls to 6 and I draw like I stacked my deck (top deck Chained to the Rocks the turn after he casts the [card]Boros
Reckoner[/card] with a second [card]Chandra's Phoenix[/card]... Okay )

Game 3: Chandra, Pyromaster does some serious work, but also get me in heat. I use the zero, exile an Ash Zealot, tap my mana for the zealot and reach over my deck to my exile pile, barely brushing the top of the deck and flipping the top card up slightly (not enough to see it). Opponent calls the judge, but the judge is my friend so I knew I'd get a fair ruling. The judge said since I didn't see it was ok. Lucky my opponent didn't appeal, because I think after the first warning I could have got a game loss if he had. Chandra's zero ability gave me a tonne of card advantage and kept him focussed on something other than my life total. Her +1 doubled up with a Lightning Strike to shoot down a dragon.
When we were both gassed and drawing off the top, Chandra was amazing. My dragons got him.

10-4-0

Round 15: ID

We ID'd to ensure more money since we were mathematically out of the top 16 and Pro Tour invites. I was exhausted anyway. Ended up with $250 USD .

10-4-1

This is my friend Jaramiah (left) and I (right) after Day 2 wrapped up. He just missed day two.



this deck. Thank you to all contributors. You guys totally rock. Look forward to working with you in the future.

Let me know if you have any questions

Epic report, great pictures - please add your list and report to the primer

EDIT: may gawd that Round 4 guys sounds like a tool

Great

3rd SE report 6481403
[
url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mrps3IYVRZI]Standard Elimination R1: Boros Aggro vs Bx Devotion (Event 6481403)[/url]
Standard Elimination R2: Boros Aggro vs BW Control (Event 6481403)
Standard Elimination R3: Boros Aggro vs Gu Devotion (Event 6481403)

I'll post the last report tomorrow .

Off-topic:

I must really thank you guys , I only became a Youtube partner last month just throwing in random videos of the game I love for fun so I was really shocked when I received $24 in the mail today (It was for the stuff I posted on November when i still had a low fan-base so I
figured I'll only get .20 Cents or something).

I think the amount will be much higher this month since the Subs and View count is much greater then November, I'm very grateful for the support guys and I'll continue try my best to return the support you have shown me.

If only I have as much time to play I might also do it. However I preffer to dont comment and just to post replays.

If only I have as much time to play I might also do it. However I preffer to dont comment and just to post replays.

It doesn't have anything to do with time (you've been much more activate on MODO then I) you can just commentate while you play (like during your PE - its not extra time, you actually save time since you don't need to wait for the event to end) its more to do with concentration, its really hard to talk and play at the same time .

That said I'll be testing a New Big Boros List tomorrow or I'll try the Big Burn list which came 5th place during MTGO player of the year event (I think you guys have a large enough group to make tweaks on RB so I'
ll stick with the niche variants (except for Devotion, not my style)).

[deck]Big Burn[/deck]

The only change I'll make is cutting one Shock for an Extra Dragon/MD Assembles, though I'll be playing New Big Boros first since I love the Heavy removal Big Boros archetype.

Got a big tourney Saturday and an IQ sunday (I already won an IQ, but I am playing in it to help block for my friends), so many deck lists to decide on this week!