Honolulu Bound: Part 1

Ft. Lauderdale Extended PTQ

January 24^th, 2009

So on New Years, at around midnight or so, my friend Brad sent me a text message that said “Happy New Year!” I responded to the sentiment by saying, “Happy New Year, buddy! We both ‘q’ in ’09!” A week or so later Brad made good on my prediction and actually won the first PTQ of the year in Atlanta with Lightning Angel. I was both shocked and proud, as over the past few years I’ve watched Brad go from a mediocre player, to someone I completely respect in this game. Though now I had to complete the other half of the resolution and make sure Brad wasn’t going to Hawaii alone.

My first foray this year was an eight hour drive to Mobile, Alabama, where I went 5-1 with Faeries only to lose the bubble match to Zoo. It was a disappointing 16^th place to say the least. We drove home and I was intent on making it to every PTQ this season, and I began planning for the next weekend in Ft. Lauderdale. I tested everything from TEPs, to AIR, to Sea Stompy, to some black/white Orzhov concoction that I thought might be good in this format. At that point I really just wanted to play fun cards like Descendant of Kiyomaro, Shining Shoal, and Ghost Council and not have to think as much as would be required by playing Faeries. But alas, that isn’t how we win PTQs, a lesson I’ve slowly learned over time.

I once again made an audible (a term, along with “mise,” I am quite uncomfortable with) to Faeries:

4 Ancestral Vision

3 Thirst for Knowledge

4 Spell Snare

4 Mana Leak

3 Glen Elendra Archmage

4 Spellstutter Sprite

2 Sower of Temptation

3 Vendillion Clique

1 Venser, Shaper Savant

2 Chrome Mox

3 Engineered Explosives

3 Umezawa’s Jitte

2 Steam Vents

1 Breeding Pool

1 Watery Grave

3 Secluded Glen

2 Riptide Laboratory

1 Academy Ruins

4 Mutavault

3 Polluted Delta

2 Flooded Strand

5 Islands

Sideboard

4 Ancient Grudge

3 Firespout

3 Stifle

3 Bitterblossom

2 Extirpate

I put in the fourth Ancient Grudge at the last minute as I saw a LOT of Affinity roaming around. Every other seat had Affinity vs. Affinity testing against one another. It was like a robot convention.

Round one I was paired against Florida icon Lee Steht playing Faeries. But really, what else would he be playing?

The games were pretty back and forth. Game one he ended up having two Veldalken Shackles at the same time. One of them had my Vendillion Clique. The next turn I was able to Explosives for three, killing two of his Shackles, which I think inevitably won me the game even though it took my Vendillion Clique with it.

Second game I opened with two Ancestral Visions. I end up drawing into about ten extra cards that game with the help of a Thirst for Knowledge, but I get flooded and never found a single Ancient Grudge to combat his artifacts. We both laugh about how I can draw ten cards and still lose. Such is Magic.

Third game I’m in a game winning position and he does some math about the odds of me having a third Mana Leak before he plays end-of-turn Teferi. Wow. This was the “tech” Lee was murmuring about between matches. Needless to say the ex-planeswalker shut most of my deck down as faeries have few answers to four toughness, especially when all my counterspells are blanks. Though I couldn’t have lost to a nicer guy, this wasn’t how I envisioned my first round.

Suck it up, Frank. You came here to win this.

1-2, 0-1

Round two I played against Jason Raflowitz playing Mono Red Burn.

He admitted to me it was his first time playing Magic again in a long time, which I never really mind hearing. Game one he got a pair of Mogg Fanatics out which I had to play around. Eventually he just ran out of gas and a Vendillion Clique took it home. Second game he had to mulligan to five and it wasn’t really close. He was able to get me down pretty low just by drawing a lot of three damage spells, but he drew about three lands in a row and it was enough for Clique to stack lethal.

Apparently 3 damage per turn in the air is pretty good in Extended. It’s very funny, the dynamic in formats, in that Clique is barely played in Standard, an arguably less powerful format, yet it was probably responsible for most of my wins today.

Regardless, nothing exciting ever really happens against mono red. They burn your face, you swing back, and eventually one of you wins.

2-0, 1-1

Round three I played against Dairon Roman running another Mono Red Burn.

I don’t remember much of the first game, but I think it was close, as they usually are, those Fae vs. Mono Red matches.

Second game I think he mulliganed to five, and he managed to get me down to three life, but I managed to get an active Jitte on a faerie and it was pretty much locked up. He pleasantly lamented about not having drawn a single spell to do three damage and instead having only drawn a Keldon Marauders, but I don’t think he realized I had Glen Elendra Archmage out.

2-1, 2-1

(Despite the results of the last two matches, I’m not sure Mono Red is a good match up for Faeries. It was my first loss in the swiss at Mobile. Although, to be fair, the match up is significantly better for Faeries if the opponent isn’t playing or doesn’t see any Sulfuric Vortex.)

Round four I played Jake Richards, playing Affinity.

Jake was a close friend of mine whom I came down with and even lent the deck to. He knew winning this PTQ meant more to me than it did to him, so he insisted scooping to me. I told him I just wanted to play it out, but he insisted we didn’t. I knew he was a favorite in this match up so I just accepted it and appreciated the gesture. We ended up playing for fun afterward and he did beat me 2-1, even when I had double Ancient Grudge in hand. Affinity just gets draws like that sometimes where an Atog or an Arcbound Ravager can ruin any sort of Ancient Grudge strategy, “you kill this guy? Okay, I’ll put ‘em all on this guy! Oh, now you’re killing the guy I put them on? Well, he has modular too, so I’ll just stick them on my Ornithopter!”

Did I mention Atog is not an artifact? Who knew?

2-0, 3-1

Round five I played against Daryl T. Patino playing Mono White Martyr.

These games weren’t really close as his deck was geared more to beat the aggro decks which were actually quite prominent. He would cycle an Eternal Dragon, then bring it back, then play it, then I would venser it, then he would bring it back, rinse repeat. This series of events took several turns and in the mean time I was chipping away at him. Eventually I let the Dragon stick and just Sowered it next turn. He even mentioned to me after the match that he had no real answers to counterspells. His only real defenses against me were Runed Halo, Eternal Dragon, and Wrath of God. None of which were really that detrimental to me.

Michael J is probably going to yell at me for saying that though, and in all fairness, Daryl didn’t seem to apply any sort of specific strategy toward playing against the Fae.

2-0, 4-1

Round six I played against Bret Farrell, playing Elves

Bret was a nice guy. I knew this match up was usually very good for me since almost everything I have stops everything they have. Game one I win fairly easily, and Bret comments every so often when a play is good or solid. It was kind of refreshing as I knew he was being genuine, and you don’t get consistent constructive criticism from your opponents very often.

Game two I never quite get there. I had a few small guys, but he got the early Pendelhaven, which, in case you haven’t heard, makes all his guys able to brawl with my guys and live to talk about it. I didn’t see any Explosives or Firespouts this game, sadly, and eventually he just overruns me with 1/1s while pumping the most strategically sound one to a 2/3.

Game three we end up going to time, which is disappointing, since it meant I had to win my next rounds in order to top 8. It was more disappointing due to the fact that I punted the win here. We were in extra turns, and I have a Vendillion Clique and a Jitte with two counters. Bret has two cards in hand, and is at 15. On turn 2 he plays a Heritage Druid, and in response, in awful, instinctual response, I kill his Birchlore Ranger with a Jitte counter. On turn 3 I attack him down to ten using a Jitte counter. At this point we draw since neither of us has the damage to win, though after the fact I lament this. Why was I so afraid of his druid? Even if his last card was a Glimpse, it was still irrelevant, since he it was his last card! Had I not killed the druid, I could have attacked him down to 8 via 2 Jitte counters, then flashed in the sprite next turn for the last 8 points.

I aspire to not only see these plays in hindsight, but also at the time they’re relevant.

1-1-1, 4-1-1

Round seven I played against Chris Fox, playing Deathcloud.

He’s known for wearing Elvis glasses to every event for some reason. I don’t know why, but nonetheless he’s a nice guy and friends with my friends which makes him my friend. Again, none of these games were really close either. He got really bad draws it seems, and I don’t remember if Chris and I went to two games or three, but if there was a third game in the middle it was blazingly fast. He kept dredging in our last game and I eventually got Venser lock on him, bouncing the one guy he might play each turn or his Mutavault, then swinging with Venser and a Mutavault. He would block one with his Vault, then Darkblast it, and I would bounce that one. Eventually I two’ed him to death while he never saw a Loam hit the bin from dredging.

2-0, 5-1-1

5-1-1 was good enough for 7^th going into top 8.

In the quarterfinals I played against Carlos Ferreira, playing Doran.

Though I never saw Doran come to the party in any of the games. What I did see was Eternal Witness, Kitchen Finks, Gaddock Teeg, Dark Confidant, Putrefy, and main deck Kataki. I counter most of what he plays in both games and just keep swinging in the air. I think he wins the second game on the back of some really quick beaters. I don’t remember too much of these game, sadly, so my details seem to be lacking.

2-1, 6-1-1

Semis were Ben Stark with Next Level Blue. Our first game was absolutely grueling, even eliciting comments from onlookers as to whether we were going for a marathon. We both were off our games and misplayed several times due to the sheer number of decisions we each had. There was a time when he would have six islands and a Veldalken Shackles, and I would swing in with a Vendillion Clique equipped with a Jitte with two counters, and instead of pumping to seven, I would riptide lab the Clique. Apparently I’d rather give my opponent significant tempo advantage than deal seven to the face.

I eventually end up winning after a convoluted series of plays. This may be somewhat inaccurate, but it’s as best I can remember. At the end of my turn he stacks Engineered Explosives on top with Academy Ruins. I have Glen Elendra Archmage with a persist counter, and a Sower of Temptation in play. I also have double riptide labs online. My hand is a useless Mana Leak, a Spell Snare, a Spellstutter Sprite and a Chrome Mox. He’s at one life and has thirteen lands, including a Miren, a 5/6 Tarmogoyf and a Veldalken Shackles. So I have to get him to not sacrifice the Goyf this turn for six life. He then pays four in order to play the Explosives and kill my team. I know, or hope, he’s going to want to blow Explosives this turn, putting him down to seven free mana,, then to five after using explosives, which means he’ll still have Miren mana with which to sac the Goyf. How can I win this? I keep going back and forth, from the board to my hand, and then it dawns on me. The useless Mana Leak! Forcing him to tap the extra three from mana leak doesn’t counter his spell, but it forces him to tap all but four mana, meaning he can either sac the Goyf or blow the explosives, but not both. So I cast the now precious Mana Leak, and he says, “Well, if you want it countered it’s countered,” referring to my Archmage, and pays the three. I let it resolve. He now has four free mana, and blows the Explosives, putting him to two free mana. In response I sac the Archmage, to counter, and in response to that he attempts to Shackle my Sower. I bounce the Sower instead, and with him at two free mana, I courtesy show him the Sprite. We shuffle up and go to game two.

Third game I kept a sketchy hand with double Sower of Temptation, Glen Elendra Archmage, Spell Snare and some lands. He dropped a turn two Tarmogoyf which I Snared, then another turn three Goyf which I Sowered on my fourth turn. Three or so turns later I remarkably win on the back of the 3/4 Goyf and a Sower. I had no idea that these two men would go unimpeded for three more turns., let alone win me the game!

2-1, 7-1-1

The finals I played against David Hafter. He was playing Michael Jacob’s list with a few differences, such as a Seal of Primordium main, which I even inquired about, asking, “That’s main?”

I wasn’t looking forward to this match at all, and it pretty much guaranteed me placing second. The deck was kind of built to combat faeries, after all. Both games were over pretty quickly. I remember one time Cliqueing his hand only to see Life from the Loam, Slaughter Pact, Putrefy, Putrefy, and Bitterblossom. The deck is just not equipped to beat hands like that. His deck maindecks three Darkblast, but they weren’t even necessary. His cards just had such an insurmountable advantage against me, all being either two for ones, or simply taking out my most powerful threat. There was one situation where he had a 4/5 Goyf and he attacked into my Clique. I flash in Venser, bouncing his Bitterblossom, and gang block, not even realizing he can sac his Seal to kill my Jitte, giving the Goyf +2/+2. Just my inexperience playing across from a Seal, I suppose. Nonetheless, how can you play around that?

0-2, 7-2-1

After the match I remember inquiring to Brad, “was that Seal really main?” He said, “yeah, it definitely was. After he played it against you, I went over to Eric (one of the Unity T.O’s) and asked him to check the deck list.” It was pretty cool that Brad took the initiative to go and ask like that. It’s an awesome feeling to have good friends watching your back.

So it seems I’m always the bride’s maid and never the bride. This was my third PTQ top 8 in four PTQ’s, and it feels as though I can never quite clinch the title. All in all I can’t be too hard on myself, though. Second is the best you can get if you don’t win. I came to find out later that my friend Matt Pratser lost in the finals to Hafter last year at the Extended Ft. Lauderdale PTQ. Apparently he’s the final boss of Ft. Lauderdale PTQs or something. What can you do?

The things I took away from my matches are these:

- Chrome Mox is garbage. I was never happy to see it, and if I didn’t have Thirst, oh man, let me just tell you… This is of course my opinion. I initially liked the idea of Chrome Mox against Zoo, to counter their one drops, but really, the odds of this coming up was nowhere near worth the odds of drawing a dead Mox in the late game.

- Affinity is never dead. Ever. I’ve been testing Osyp’s Slide deck for the PTQ, and I was playing against Affinity. I have Path in hand and I’m able to cycle/Lightning Rift a guy in the same turn. He has Ravager, Worker, and Frogmite. I attempt to Path the Ravager, he sacs his two lands to ravager making him a 3/3, then he sacs his worker, choosing to make his Frogmite a 3/3 (out of rift range) and his Ravager a 4/4. If I respond to this by rifting the Frogmite, he just sacs Ravager, giving him the counters. So of course I let it resolve, and then he sacs the Ravager to his Frogmite and I take 7. Luckily I had another Path in hand, but the deck is so frustrating to play around! The same situations were prevalent regarding Fae and Ancient Grudge. Ancient Grudge just seems so much less powerful once they get a Ravager or Atog online.

- Everyone claims to hate Ancestral Vision in the deck and I’m no exception. I’m completely torn between my love for drawing four cards in one turn (including draw step) and absolutely hating top decking it on turn twelve.

- I can’t stand seeing decks running one Venser. He’s so good in this deck it isn’t even funny. He’s like a Time Walk with legs and is such a spoil for so many strategies, whether you can recur him or not.

- I similarly cannot stand running two, rather than three, Jittes. Again, Jitte just gives you so many outs against popular strategies, such as Zoo, Mono Red, and even Fae (do I need to be telling anyone this?) It kills guys, gains life, and makes your 1/1s, 5/5s! It even kills other Jittes I hear. Sure, you can make an argument about not wanting to draw a second one, but really, I was always fine with it. Either they were going to kill my first one eventually, or I was winning.

- I amazed myself with how many times I had to use the phrase “weren’t close.” It was surprising how many strategies weren’t directly able to compete against Faeries. It’s kind of like the elephant in the room; everyone knows it’s there, but no one acknowledges it. There were so many games where the tools of Faeries just outclassed the tools of the opposing deck.

I still think Faeries has what it takes to win a PTQ. Based on this, next time I’m either taking Faeries again, or something Bant related with Bant Charms and Path to Exiles and maindeck Ethersworn Canonist. I love playing counterspells, but I love smashing face too, and I think rhinos are hard to deal with in this format. There are still three or so more PTQs left that I have a shot at winning, along with the Tampa GP later this year, and I have every intention to hit them all. Expect another tournament report in two weeks or so after the Tallahassee PTQ. This time I’ll try to take better care to remember the match details.

Thanks for reading!

Frank Lepore

Zartan@tampabay.rr.com

“Frank Lepore” on MTGO