If it was good enough for standard two years ago, it’s probably good enough for extended now, amirite?

Regionals is a real heart-breaker of a tournament for me. Two years ago I piloted a “homebrew” BW concoction that BDM dubbed the “anti-Feldman” deck. We played all the cards that Richard Feldman said were bad in BW at the time (Hypnotic Specter, Phyrexian Arena, Serra Avenger). I got paired against Mystical Teachings all day and ended up 6-1-1… 11th place. Never draw round one.

Last year I played the RG beatdown deck that Steve Sadin, Zvi, and Jacob van Lunen played at the pro-tour. When I was 5-1 I got paired against a 5c control deck that had infinite answers to my Magus of the Moon in his sideboard. Before the round started I asked him what his record was, he said he was 4-1-1. He had taken his draw round 1. I told him how I had taken a draw round 1 the year previous and missed top 8. Unfortunately my story did not draw the concession, as I had hoped, and I ended up losing when he topdecked a profane command ftw when he was dead on the board. Sigh. I ended up 6-2, 12th place. My 5c control opponent got 9th.

The BW deck was insanely fun to play, and I loved that nobody thought it was any good. I was talking to Curt, the primary designer of the deck, and he said he had been working on a similar deck for extended. Avert your eyes if you are easily offended.

Descendant of Kiyomaro x3
Kitchen Finks x4
Jotun Grunt x2
Stonecloaker x2
Ghost Council of Orzhova x3
Tidehollow Sculler x4
Dark Confidant x4

Phyrexian Arena x4
Umezawa’s Jitte x3
Smother x4
Bitterblossom x3
Thoughtseize x4

Windswept Heath x2
Godless Shrine x4
Bloodstained Mire x1
Polluted Delta x1
Swamp x2
Plains x4
Flagstones of Trokair x3
Fetid Heath x2
Caves of Koilos x2
Shizo, Death’s Storehouse x1

Sideboard
Wrath of God x2
Damnation x1
Path to Exile x3
Kataki, War’s Wage x4
Mortify x3
Relic of Progenitus x2

Yeah, that’s a lot of life loss. However, the deck has a number of ways to gain life back. In addition to T2 staple Kitchen Finks, we also have Kamigawa block all-star Umezawa’s Jitte and Kimagawa block pinch hitter Descendant of Kiyomaro. Ghost Council can gain some life too.

Dark Confidant + Phyrexian Arena seems like overkill. That’s because it is. This deck competes against decks like Bant, Faeries and Rock by outdrawing them. Chrome Mox also seems awesome in this deck given all the extra card draw, so maybe 1-2 spells and 1-2 lands could be removed so make room for 3 of them.

All the life loss makes the matchup against Zoo pretty unfavorable. Blue based decks have been very popular in the New York area lately, and if I were heading up to Boston this weekend I would definitely be tempted to give this deck a try. I have been playing it a bit on MWS and it has certainly been crushing any deck with Islands. I am still not sold on some of the main deck cards. I think I want Path to exile main. Stonecloaker and Jotun Grunt have rarely impressed me, and I would consider putting Path in for them. I also think something like Ethersworn Cannonist to lock up the combo match in game 2 and 3.

Curt should be playing the deck in Boston this weekend, although it will probably be a few cards different from the list above. If anyone else is going, he will be the guy in the big green Favre Jersey.

~WillPoP

After a dissappointing latter-half of 2008 Steve Sadin was excited to get 2009 started with a win. Last season started off great for him with a Top 16 in Kuala Lumpur but Steve described his win today as his first Constructed deck win since 2007.

I am in the middle of a lot of media this weekend at PT: Kyoto. In addition to the normal video coverage and blogging for Top8Magic, I will be making my first stab at Twittering via the official coverage Twitter feed and you can follow along at MagicProTour.

I am excited to get things underway. We spent the day yesterday poring over decklists and talking to players and it sounds like the field for Standard is going to be largely Red-White Lark, Faeries, 5-Color, Blightning, and various Heights decks. Of course the decks we will be looking to Deck Tech will have unique takes on established archetypes or will be something unexpected like the Green-White Planeswalker deck from the SCG 5K last weekend which can Garruck out Martial Coup and ultimate those tokens a turn later for the win.

Also spent the morning yesterday taking in the local sights which prompted a new game from me and Nate Price that involves taking pictures of other members of the coverage team taking pictures. We had a four picture parlay at one point that is unlikely to be topped now that everyone is on guard.

Post GP Hollywood 0209 Part 1

Let me know if there are any issues with this podcast on iTunes and on the website.

Unfortunately I did not make it out to the PTQ in Pittsburgh last week; neither the length of the drive or missing valentines day appealed to me too much. Had I gone, however, I would have gotten to see a friend of mine from the area do pretty well with a deck that is not really on anyone’s radar right now. Click here to see the top 8 decks from that tournament.

Andrew Wagner ended up getting third in the tournament, losing in the semifinals with this deck:

Main deck
4 Figure of Destiny
4 Burrenton Forge-Tender
3 Isamaru, Hound of Konda
4 Ethersworn Canonist
2 Kataki, War’s Wage
4 Kitchen Finks
4 Wilt-Leaf Liege
4 Spectral Procession
4 Path to Exile
2 Oblivion Ring
3 Umezawa’s Jitte
2 Chrome Mox
4 Mutavault
1 Eiganjo Castle
15 Plains

Sideboard
2 Rule of Law
2 Jötun Grunt
3 Icatian Javelineers
3 Pithing Needle
2 Relic of Progenitus
1 Umezawa’s Jitte
2 Kataki, War’s Wage

I caught up with Andrew over Facebook to ask him about his deck. Andrew said that he picked the deck because he is stubborn and does not like to play well established decks. Despite how well he did (6-0-1 in the swiss), Andrew does not think the deck is a great pick right now because it hasunfavorable matchups against some popular decks. Here is how he evaluated the matchups:

Strengths: Can beat all the aggro and combo decks on the back of maindeck and sideboard hate. This deck is loaded with cards to beat red decks (Burrenton Forge-Tender, Jitte, Kitchen Finks, Path to Exile) and combo (Ethersworn Cannonist, Rule of Law, Jitte and Path against Elves).

Weaknesses: You are playing bad cards like Isamaru, and you can’t really beat any of the control decks in the format. Icatian Javelineers in the board hypothetically helps the Fae matchup. Rock decks are pretty tough as well, and Jotun Grunt is in there to get rid opposing Life From the Loams and shrink Tarmogoyfs. The main deck Liege is a nod to Raven’s Crime.

Andrew lost to Bant Aggro in the top 8, a deck that Mike has been posting about recently on his site. If he played it again, which he wouldn’t, he would get rid of the Chrome Mox and put another Oblivion Ring in the main.

Despite Andrew’s lack of enthusiasm for his deck choice, white weenie looks like it could a great gap deck at some point in the season if Faeries or Bant should become unpopular.

~WillPoP

PS: Knight of the Reliquary + Scapeshift = Nombo or Combo?

Wow, I was wondering where all my cards were. I have spent my early Sunday morning sifting through plastic storage crates of Magic cards, Pro Tour detritus, and random crap in an effort to make my space at home a tiny bit less cluttered and possibly even just a tiny bit less disorganized.

I have found enough Seat of the Synod to fill an auditorium, more Lonely Sandbars than — well at least as many of those — and the remains of countless decks. I barely remember some of these and none of them are fully intact, with empty sleeves marking the graves of rares that moved onto a better place.

The quality of the decks range from tournament staples like Mono Black Control with Visara from that Block season to long forgotten experiments that no doubt would have brought out pitchfork wielding villagers had they come to light. Witness the monstrosity that is Chromeshell Ramp.

The remains of some of my all-time favorite decks were also among the ruins. Paper was a Masques Block deck that generated card advantage and selection with Brainstorm and Credit Voucher in tandem with the Howling Wolf cycle of creatures. Natural Affinity and Ensnare was the kill. I absolutely LOVED this deck.

Black Thumb and Threshold are both well documented love affairs for me. My fave version of the latter was during Block season when I played it with Grizzly Fate and Centaur Chieftain. The Big Chief never quite stuck but he was a fine stalemate breaker that would have gotten me into the Top 8 of at least one PTQ if I just tapped my Werebears for mana.

Some decks are just chock full of favorite cards. I have always loved Trinity Green for any number of the cards pictured below but none more than Yavimaya Elder.

One of the problems I found early on playing with Solitary Comfinement was how to win in time if your opponent did not scoop. Spirit Cairn provided a steady source of beaters if you were willing to pay 1UW to activate Compulsion.

Jolting Merfolk/Cowardice was one of my favorite combos in a blue deck that also used the Rishadan Cutpurse (a card I liked so much I bought the original artwork to it) cycle of creatures, Glowing Anemone, and Hoodwink to blue Stone Rain my opponents into oblivion. The deck is not pictured but I still have the white long box of cards I sketched the original list onto during a flight back from GP Cannes.

My first Astral Slide deck tried to take advantage of the CIP and LIP effects on Faceless Butcher and Mesmeric Fiend to permanantly remove cards from the game over and over again with Slide. I loved the deck but it never quite got there. My Eternal Slide deck fared better once we got the Witness.

More posts to follow as I continue to rummage through my stuff including a box full of beads, dice, and counters that puts the Royal Crown Dice Bag to shame.

… Who’s the Beatdown.

But the process by which we’ve made it official-official is quite interesting if I do say so myself.

Last week I polled ten luminaries of the game and Magic media online and asked them all the following email:

Hello beloved person reading this email.

BDM and I are doing an experiment. Please give me five minutes of your time. Don’t just shotgun an answer back (I assume you want to participate because you are a good person). Think a sec.

What in your opinion are the five most significant Magic: The Gathering articles ever?

You can include tournament reports, strategy articles, primers, whatever you want. You can define significant however you want. But keep it to five nominees.

We are polling 10 knowledgeable people on this. We are going to tally up the votes, then send the same question out tomorrow or so to you same people, but with the numbers attached. Then we want you to look at the responses and answer the same question again. All very scientific, I know.

Remember - I was an English major.

Thanks in advance.

–m

My initial lineup included myself, but as I my initial internal monologue ballots all included four or so Flores articles, I elected to recuse myself and invite basically the most popular Magic media person of the present day — misterorange Evan Erwin — into my spot in the ten judges. Those judges were / are (in no particular order):

• Brian David-Marshall: Pro Tour Historian; Top8Magic; Dave Price Fan Club; reporter
• Bill Stark: The Starkington Post; everywhere editor, intern, reporter, and networker
• Aaron Forsythe: Magic R&D; former editor magicthegathering.com
• Scott Johns: former editor TCGPlayer.com; producer magicthegathering.com, Pro Tour Champion
• Randy Buehler: former grand poohbah of Magic R&D; Pro Tour Champion; Hall of Fame
• Zvi Mowshowitz: fomer columnist EVERYWHERE (The Dojo, New Wave, TCGPlayer, Star City); Pro Tour Champion; Hall of Fame
• Jonathan Becker: former voice of the Pro Tour; Tongo Nation
• Rich Hagon: present voice of the Pro Tour; Mox Radio
• Teddy Knutson: former Managing Editor Star City Games; former editor magicthegathering.com; avid networker, reporter, and student of Magic media
• Evan Erwin: beloved Storyteller; The Magic Show

I wanted a couple of things out of my ballot-casters (Bill is going to follow up with a poll of current Star City writers for The Starkington Post for a different perspective):

1. I wanted only those who are “students of the game” in the online publishing sense, that is, people who love the writing as much as the game, editors, and those who have probably read the important articles (that eliminated otherwise potentially deserving candidates like The Ferrett or Eric Taylor who have large gaps in their knowledge base or activity)
2. I wanted “my” group of core coverage to be represented - namely me, Teddy K, BDM, and Becker, of which only BDM is still active. Our late nights convinced me that these were the people with the best opinions and if you check Becker’s revision to my own ballot, you’ll see what I mean; and yes, I realize the irony of recusing myself.
3. I wanted a mix of authority from different rich perspectives: writers, players, editors, reporters all; you’ll notice that every person on this ballot fills at least two sets of shoes; Bill holds a Grand Prix Top 8 as well as a publishing background nearly as diverse as my own, and even Evan (whom you might consider one-dimensional) is both an Invitationalist and a top content contributor as well as being as or more beloved by the community as anyone else on the list.

My initial ballot (recused, remember) was in no particular order:

Who’s the Beatdown
Silver Bullets [sorry, gotta buy Deckade :)]
Clear the Land and the Fundamental Turn
Schools of Magic
Sligh decks (History and Theory)

However after speaking with Jonathan Becker (remember my ballot is recused!) I refined my five articles to be -1 Flores, +1 Mowshowitz; to wit:

Who’s the Beatdown
Who’s the Beatdown II: Multitasking [sorry, gotta buy Zvi's book(s)]
Clear the Land and the Fundamental Turn
Schools of Magic
Sligh decks (History and Theory)

This, by the way, is the exact ballot cast by Zvi Mowshowitz.

We will examine other individual ballots in future episodes this week, but for now, the top 5* most significant Magic articles of all time:

Who’s the Beatdown, Mike Flores (10 votes)
The New Pool Halls, Gambling and Magic - Brian Hacker; Clear the Land and the Fundamental Turn - Zvi Mowshowitz; Schools of Magic, Robert Hahn
And in a three-way tie for fifth place: Tournament Reports - Jamie Wakefield; Stuck in the Middle with Bruce - John Rizzo; and Who’s the Beatdown II: Multitasking - Zvi Mowshowitz

* Okay, okay - Top 4-7! Remember what I said about being an English major!

Keep in mind three things:

1) Bill Stark refused to cast more than three votes.
2) We designed this poll specifically for revision; the same judges will be asked again based on this week’s blog posts.
3) If my ballot counted, Who’s the Beatdown II: Multitasking would have been Top 5. I’m guessing it will be on the re-polling anyway.

More to come,

LOVE
MIKE

PS - by writer:
Flores 13
Mowshowitz 6
Wakefield 4
Hacker 3
Hahn 3
Price 2
Rizzo 2
Taylor 2
Chapin 1
Ellis 1
Erwin 1
Finkel 1
Forsythe 1
Hill 1
Johns 1
Knutson 1
Kusumoto 1
McKeown 1
Rosewater 1
Weil 1
Weissman 1

Whenever a new set comes out there are usually 3-5 cards that I really want to try and build decks with. I think there are a lot of really strong, constructed playable cards in this set, but I have a gew clear favorites. Here is my short list for Conflux cards that I want to build with:

Master Transmuter
Nyxathid (aka Handogoyf)
Knight of the Reliquary (aka Landogoyf)

Nyxathid looks like it is playable in both extended and standard. He seems like a natural fit in the rock decks that play Raven’s Crime and Life From the Loam. There is a good amount of hand disruption in standard right now as well: Thoughtseize, Ravenous Rats, Distress, Mind Shatter, Scepter of Fugue, Rotting Rats, and of course Raven’s Crime. Nyxathid could also give Cunning Lethemancer, a card that has never quite been good enough for competitive play, a chance to shine. Nyxathid looks like it could be great in some kind of mono-black aggro deck or a BG aggro-rock deck. Mike was always a big advocate of taking the The Rack out of Black Rack, so maybe now would be a good time to revisit that strategy,

Master Transmuter isn’t normally the type of card I would want to build around. I think this lady is too fine to ignore, and Master Transmuter could be the cornerstone of a really good artifact deck in block or standard. There are some really interesting synergies with Transmuter and comes-into-play effects. BDM has been mentioning for a while that comboing Transmuter with Tidehollow Sculler could allow you to RFG 1-2 cards from your opponent’s hand a turn. Transmuter can also sneak something big into play, like a Platinum Angel or a Sharum. I could definitely see some series of plays like this during block season: Transmute Sphinx Summoner into play, Tutor Sharum into hand –> Transmuter the Summoner back to hand, windmill slam Sharum into play (reanimating something) –> Transmute Sharum back to hand, putting Summoner into play… repeat until your opponent concedes.

Knight of the Reliquary is the card I like the most from the set. In the early game he can fix your lands and accelerate your mana. Late game, he is an undercosted win condition. I thought building a deck with him would be pretty easy, but every time I try to draw up a list I keep getting hung up on the lands. His second ability is not that stellar when you want to be three or four colors. The best thing I could figure to do with him was to put him into the GW little kid deck that was somewhat popular during block. That deck ran enough basics to make his ability worth while, and using him to fetch out some Treetop Villages seems pretty awesome. The other card I think would be awesome in the GW deck is Lapse of Certainty, which would give the deck a way other than Gaddock Teeg to combat a Wrath of God. Knight of the Reliquary seems like it could also work in a GW big mana deck, maybe something that plays a lot of lifegain (Primal Command and Feudkillers Verdict in the same deck!). This is the type of deck I will likely try to work on for the next PTQ season.

Anyone else have any pet cards from the new set? Working on any new deck lists? Lets hear about your impressions in the comments! I will be working on building a Nyxathid deck this week, so I will post again in a few days with a list and some early results.

~WillPoP

Post Grand Prix LA - Part 8

Post Grand Prix LA - Part 7