[trainedarmodon]

What I'd Play at GP Richmond

First I'll start by saying I haven't been able to think of anything interesting to write about recently. I was going to write the follow-up to my previous Tron article on why control was bad in Modern. But unfortunately Gerry T beat me to it and I agree with all of his points to where I don't believe another similar article needs to be written. Then I was busy with GP Providence and SCG Baltimore prep. But now I'm back and I'm discussing something I'm dying to talk about.

As the title gives away I unfortunately won't get to make it to GP Richmond. I wasn't able to secure the time off of work to go down and unlike every other tournament when I can just drive down the Friday before the GP starts, the format I care about starts on Friday. But not being able to go hasn't stopped me from spending some time thinking of the list I think I could of used to win the whole thing.

What to Expect?

Before I go into detail about my list however let's go over what I expect the metagame to be at Richmond. Obviously with Legacy people will bring their pet decks that they've been playing for years but for the people trying to make a meta call and adjust to what's been happening in the format recently I expect three decks to be represented more than most with two others not to far behind.

1. UB Death Shadow

The break out deck of Pro Tour 25, this deck has been seeing a lot of play on MTGO ever since. This is the tempo-yist Delver deck available right not it does the tempo game better than RUG due to its much harder to answer threats But what makes it better than many other decks is its power to switch roles when needed as it can play the control role extremely well if it's initial plan is being hampered.

2. Colorless Eldrazi

This is by far the best Chalice deck at the moment because of the pressure it applies after locking the opponent out. Also with less to almost no 4 color decks being present anymore the value of Blood Moon and therefore Mono-R Prison has gone down.

3. Death and Taxes

This deck is a great entry point for the format and with its most recent success I expect lots of players to choose this one for Richmond. Obviously it helps that this deck is also very good right now as it can be adjusted for any field.

I expect the next two decks to see significantly less play but still have their fair share of the metagame percentage.

1. Grixis Control

Honestly in my opinion this deck isn't very good and I'd much rather play Grixis Delver in the "Sukenik" style. But a lot of great and well known players usually pick decks that give them an edge when they are the better player at the table and Grixis Control does just that.

2. Sneak and Show

Traditional 8 put into play effect and 8 Fatty package of Emrakul, the Aeon’s Torn and Griselbrand. Straight to the point sneak and show which no one currently seems to agree with me on. I think Omniscence has lost a lot of stock as a card. When all the other top deck options can grind a game out when necessary the Show and Tell player just needs to end the game and not durdle around.

Choices, Choices Everywhere

Now enough of what I expect, time to show you where I ended up if I was able to attend.

4 Stoneforge Mystic

3 Snapcaster Mage

4 True-Name Nemesis

2 Jace, The Mind Sculptor

2 Blood Moon

1 Umezawa’s Jitte

1 Batterskull

4 Brainstorm

4 Ponder

4 Force of Will

2 Spell Pierce

2 Pyroblast

4 Swords to Plowshares

1 Council’s Judgement

1 Supreme Verdict

4 Flooded Strand

4 Scalding Tarn

1 Arid Mesa

1 Volcanic Island

1 Tundra

1 Karakas

3 Plains

5 Island

1 Mountain

Sideboard

2 Surgical Extraction

2 Flusterstorm

2 Disenchant

2 Meddling Mage

2 Containment Priest

1 Sword of Feast and Famine

1 Council’s Judgement

1 Dack Fayden

1 Supreme Verdict

1 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar

Explanations

Now I know there are some things that stand out immediately but I will be going over the decklist card by card.

4 Stoneforge Mystic

Wouldn't be Stoneblade without it.

3 Snapcaster Mage

I believe 3 is just the correct number if the game is dragging on long enough that you need the 4th to get back into it you've more than likely lost already. And if you're already ahead any card can do just as much as another Snappy.

4 True-Name Nemesis

First of the rather strange choices. I'll start by saying I think Vendilion Clique is overplayed, overcosted for it's effect and underwhelming. I believe this deck needs to close out the game quickly after establishing control. We are a midrange deck after all. Playing the 4th hard to answer threat just makes sense especially when we can make up the percentage points for our combo matchups in other ways.

2 Jace, The Mind Sculptor

Typical number. You don't want to draw to many 4 man sourcerys that don't immediately win you the game. But Jace is the most powerful Planeswalker in legacy so we have to play him because he gets pretty close to winning the game even if he doesn't outright do so.

2 Blood Moon

As I mentioned before the value of Blood moon has gone down significantly since before the bans. So if people are expecting less and less of this card that is the time to play it. The likelihood of people being prepared is lower meaning the chance of just getting free wins in higher. Also this card completely locks out UB Shadow which is better then Back to Basics because of how cheap all of the answers and threats are in that deck. It also completely shuts down Eldrazi, Lands, and unless it was played around Grixis Control. Shutting down three of your tougher matchups is good enough for me.

1 Umezawa’s Jitte + 1 Batterskull

Usual equipment package I don’t think Sword of Fire and Ice is actually very good right now in anything other then the D&T matchup where Jitte already is good enough.

4 Brainstorm + 4 Ponder

Usual cantrip package, haven’t tested any number of Preordain yet and most likely won’t as I don’t play enough to see the marginal percentage gains or losses.

4 Force of Will + 2 Spell Pierce

Usually 4 Force for the unfair matchups. Now for Spell Pierce, I’m playing 2 instead of the usual 1 because I cut the Clique so we needed an extra card for combo decks and also with the growing popularity of Grixis control K-Command is reentering the format. Paying 5 for K-Command while possible is rather unlikely and I feel we can take game 1 against Grixis as long as we avoid the complete blowouts. I also chose a second Pierce over the 1st Fluster main because of Jace. A resolved Jace is so hard for our deck to beat with usual lists only running 1 or 2 answers main and if the opposing Jace gets to activate twice we are probably just dead. So the easiest way to deal with it is before it hits the board.

0 Counterspell + 2 Pyroblast

Time for probably the most situational and tournament specific decision. I chose to put 2 Pyroblasts main instead of the usual Counterspell because out of the 5 top decks I expect this card has game against 3 of them. Shadow, Grixis and Sneak and Show. Pyro is also obviously good against any blue mirror as well so there are a lot of other matchups it's also good in. Another reason I really like Pyro main is it gives us 2 more clean answers to an opposing Jace or True-Name which by far are the hardest cards for our deck to deal with.

4 Swords to Plowshares

Don’t play white if you aren't playing 4 Swords.

1 Council’s Judgment

Answer to Chalice, Trinisphere, Planeswalkers, TNN, Leovold and much much more. I was playing 2 but with the 2 Pyros main I felt it was ok to cut to 1.

1 Supreme Verdict

Another argumentative chose where I’ve seen others play a Path to Exile instead. I feel that path is just terrible if you want to go either the Blood Moon or Back To Basics route. I also like Verdict because it gives you a 1 outer in a lot of situation you would usually be dead. Facing a Shadow and Gurmag and they are holding counter…GOTTEM. Chalice on 1 against 3 Eldrazi....GOTTEM. And so on.

1 Basic Mountain

We have red cards main and need a reliable source of mana that can be found in the face of Wasteland

Sideboard

2 Surgical Extraction

Usual choice, very good in a lot of combo matchups.I think 2 of these is enough since we also play Snappy.

2 Flusterstorm

Good in combo matchups and fair blue mirrors. Two is more then enough since after all it can’t answer every threat but it is still insane.

2 Disenchant

Chalice, Trinisphere, Ensnaring Bridge, Search, Counterbalance, Jitte, Batterskull and the list goes on.

2 Meddling Mage

More for testing then anything but like I said I don’t value Clique very highly meaning we need more cards for combo matchups and this card does work.

2 Containment Priest

Reanimator matchup, Elves any Zenith deck, Sneak and Show and Vial decks although I usually don’t bring it in much against those.

1 Sword of Feast and Famine

Shadow and Grixis. Allows you to play the control role while constantly deploying threats.

1 Council’s Judgment

More of what I said before. An extra one just in case, you can never be to prepared.

1 Dack Fayden

Grindy Matchups, the Mirror and Death and Taxes. It’s spicy I know but it feels so strong.

1 Supreme Verdict

Gotta have a backup plan for your backup plan.

1 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar

Insane in grindy matchups and also good for making ground blockers when that is relevant like with Eldrazi. Just sit back and keep making dudes till your opponent dies.

And that is the abnormal list I would of played this weekend at GP Richmond. Hopefully this can be useful to someone there as a last minute swap or after the tournament is done to see how this would fair against the decks that came out of the tournament.

[trainedarmodon]

So I wrote this last week before the PT after a buddy of mine complained about Tron. Seeing the recent surge of Vengevine and KCI there are definitely more broken things going on in Modern right now but I didn’t want to just throw this away. Anyway not sure what my next article will be about but enjoy this one. If you do enjoy it don’t forget to spread the word it would help out a lot.

[trainedarmodon]

Update soon

Just finished a quick article. I couldn't think about anything to write last week but I should be able to format and edit it today so it'll most likely be up tonight or tomorrow.

[trainedarmodon]

SCGWOR Legacy Classic Tournament Report

[trainedarmodon]

Just my general thoughts on the format going into the future nothing to crazy or in depth.

[trainedarmodon]

The Dream Is What You Make of It

     Achieving your dream will always be a challenge no matter how far along you are.  Being a professional Magic: The Gathering player, while unrealistic to most, is that dream for me. Slightly over a year and a half ago my girlfriend, Lisa, gave me advice that has laid out my life since. Back then, I had an inkling of interest in being more competitive in Magic. By December 2016 I had only gone to 2 GPs, 2 Opens and a whole ton of FNMs. I had not won an FNM yet and I never accomplished a better record then 5-4 at any 15 round event. However, Lisa saw my growing interest in Magic and suggested "What if you tried to make this a career, I mean this game makes you happy", I wasn't sure if I was 100% into the idea but I was more then willing to try. She told me a story about one of her role models Lady Gaga and how she gave herself a year to "make it" and if she didn't she'd have to let her dream go. 

     When you give yourself a time frame to succeed in something you create a ticking time bomb. Either the goals you have will blow up in your face or your mentality will. Everyone reacts to pressure and obstacles differently, usually worse when it has to do with something very important to them. During that year I did not react well when either one of those presented themselves. The amount of self-doubt and pressure I put on myself alone was to much for me to handle so when more appeared I cracked, in either fits of anger, mental breakdowns or disassociating myself from everything, it was bad, I'm sure my depression made these symptoms much worse then how most people would react. Don't get me wrong though the lows were low but the highs were the best feelings I've ever had in my life.

     Despite all this loom and gloom the point of this article isn't to push you away from the idea of this dream but rather to highlight the need to focus on the right things. Don’t force yourself to be a success, because doing so will lead you towards failure. If you expect to succeed and want nothing more than success in life you are likely going to take shortcuts or you’ll forget the whole reason you started. Either one of these will cheat you out of what you want because you will stumble and fall along the way but not be prepared to fight through that pain. The right path is the painful one, I would not be the person I am if I did not experience those heartbreaking losses. Now to be perfectly clear I do not endorse making yourself that ticking time bomb, what I’m saying is be ready for a little bit of pain along the way and be ready to embrace it but don’t let it consume you. When the pain or pressure becomes to much just take a step back and relax. Step back into a loved ones arms or sit back on that couch and clear your mind, let yourself escape from the world if necessary. Because if you focus on that pain and let it absorb you, you take 10 steps away from your dream rather than learning from the pain and taking one big leap towards it.

    As I said before my lows were beyond low but this was because I forgot why I started this in the first place I let them fester and grow rather then taking my step back. After so many steps back I’m ready to take my sprint toward success but the first step is to remember why I started this journey. Magic: The Gathering makes me happy! Clearly it does that for all of us but that is what matters the most when it comes to finding success. It's taken me this entire year and a half hearing it from multiple sources for it to really stick. At one point I saw Magic as a job that I needed to get through and I'd advance as I went. I took that happiness away and filled it with a feeling that failure was not an option and that I had to win every time or it would be a waste. I let the happiness and enjoyment for the game fade into the background. Because of the consistent pressure it took me this long to accept the mistakes I was making not because I was too stubborn or to locked in my ways but because I wasn't ready to hear them, I wasn't ready to truly understand that happiness was the key to finding success.

     Friendships, laughter and genuine glee when playing the game should of been my #1 concern and now I am making sure that they are. So if you're like me and have been trying make something of yourself in regards to your favorite hobby don't forget that you enjoyed it. No matter how much stress comes your way financially, mentally maybe even physically remember that you chose to follow this path and you’re in control of it. Whatever it is you’re chasing made you happy once upon a time and it will continue to do so as long as you let it.