Being Appreciated by TCGPlayer
So, I figured I'd finally do another tournament report since I did reasonably well at this Saturday's TCGPlayer Appreciation event. It's been a bit since i played in anything more significant than an FNM and considering I had no real experience playing my deck, I was pretty happy with my result. Speaking of which, here's the list I ended up registering.
RatSeize 4 Pack Rat 4 Nightveil Specter 4 Desecration Demon 4 Gray Merchant of Asphodel 4 Thoughtseize 3 Bile Blight 3 Devour Flesh 4 Hero's Downfall 4 Underworld Connections 4 Mutavault 2 Temple of Deceit 2 Temple of Silence 18 Swamp
2 Dark Betrayal 4 Duress 1 Devour Flesh 1 Doom Blade 2 Drown in Sorrow 3 Lifebane Zombie 2 Erebos, God of the Dead
This is a pretty stock list, but I'm going to go over the few of my personal touches.
2-Drop Removal Package: I ended up going with a 3/3 Split MD of Bile Blight and Devour. Many lists are running 4/2 in favor of Blight, but Blood Baron is too real of a card to ignore. For the sideboarded removal I was going with two Doom Blade but at the last minute switched one out for the fourth Devour Flesh in fear of Blood Barons. If I were to run it again I'd probably go with the second Doom Blade.
Lands: I went with a 2/2 split of blue and white Scry lands so I could potentially cast stolen spells off of Nightveil Specters from MonoU and Control easier. I didn't include any BR Temples simply because I didn't see casting red cards as relevant. I also went with 26 lands just because of multiple sources saying that it was best for Pack Rat. Sometimes you just have to trust others.
That's basically it for my touches. Everything else is fairly basic and stock. Anywho, onto the part everyone and/or no one cares about, the actual games.
Round 1 Vs Bu Aggro My opponent was obviously more of a casual brewer, but his list was definitely cool with some potential. It was mainly Mono Black Aggro with Hidden Strings to get value from Pain Seer (from what I saw). Games one and two played out pretty similarly with me holding removal for relevant threats then taking over with Specters and Demons.
2-0 1-0
Round 2 Vs Orzhov Midrange Game 1: I knew what my opponent was on before we started and I wasn't excited. I honestly don't remember a lot of Game 1, but I know his Blood Barons never got their Flesh Devoured very quickly. Game 2: This game I decided to be super tricky and technical with my plays. I went Turn 1 Thoughtseize into turn 2 Pack Rat and he never drew an answer. Game 3: I kept a slow, but decent, hand of 4 land, Zombie, Specter, Connections while my opponent mulliganed to a sketchy 5. He proceeded to Thoughtseize my Connections, kill my two creatures, and then beat me to death while I was punished for keeping a slow hand by drawing infinite lands.
1-2 1-1
Round 3 Vs Orzhov Midrange Game 1: So excited for this matchup again. Luckily for me these games went much smoother. First game was locked up by resolving Demons/Specters and then playing Gray Merchants. My opponent never applied much pressure and was punished for it. Game 2: See Game 1.
2-0 2-1
Round 4 Vs Esper Control Game 1: My opponent mulliganed to 5 on the draw while I kept a solid Thoughtseize/Packrat 7. He never made it in sadly. Game 2: I kept a disruption heavy hand in hopes of my Demons taking the game. My opponent was able to rip removal for my few threats and resolve a Blood Baron to lock me out. Game 3: Once again my opponent mulliganed heavily and couldn't escape Pack Rats and Mutavaults.
2-1 3-1
Round 5 Vs Orzhov Midrange At this point due to the somewhat small turnout we had 1 player at 4-0 and 7 at 3-1. After realizing this fact and seeing none of the 3-1s got paired down, we all drew into Top 8.
ID 3-1-1
Quarterfinals Vs Naya Midrange/Combo Game 1: My opponent was the 4-0 layer with a sweet brew. It was similar to RG Monsters, but due to Boros Charms and Ajani he basically would kill in 1 attack with a super pumped creature. Luckily, disruption and removal are pretty good against combo oriented aggro strategies. I had Downfalls and Devours for any real threats he dropped while beating face with Desecration Demon. Game 2: Against a mulligan I went T1 Thoughtseize, Turn 2 Thoughtseize, Turn 3 Lifebane Zombie with Doom Blade in hand.
2-0
Semifinals Vs Devotion to Ephara Game 1: This was a good friend of mine who I had tested with before the event. My record in this matchup was 0-4 and I wasn't too happy, haha. For the first game I was able to disrupt his plan long enough for a Demon and Gray Merchant to steal me the game. Game 2: I didn't stand a chance. Brimaz, Precint Captain, and Gods made short work of me. Game 3: I kept a slow hand and was punished for it.
1-2 3rd Place
Overall, I'm happy with the deck. My performance could have been better. I learned that a huge part of this deck is mulliganing properly and realizing what won't get you there. The only change I'd make would be the Doom Blade addition in the board.
Anyway, thanks all for reading, and hope I can get some more content out soon.
-Alan Alanmore on Twitter