Wherein Mike discusses another 20 tournaments, and their relative Green-ness. This section includes most of his more recent success as a deck designer, including Kuroda-style Red, Critical Mass, Jushi Blue, and U/W Wafo-Tapa.

So this is a track of my previous 20 individual Constructed tournaments (in case you are new here this is a continuation from yesterday’s popular The Grinch That Stole Mike’s Rating) post.

So in my previous 20 tournaments I was Green only about 1/3 of the time (7/20). The Green component was +75 Rating Delta.

The overall in these 20 tournaments was +146… so I did much better overall to the tune of almost 18 points per tournament. For those of you who didn’t pass the second grade, that means the non-Green component was +71, so I did only mildly better on Rating Delta with Green.

But…

Green got the benefit of Critical Mass, which was +91 rating points in one tournament (that means the other six Green tournaments together were -16 Rating Delta. PTQ wins are of course very rich in Rating Delta, and Rating Delta is highly subjective based on relative rating… look at the very next tournament where I played to an identical record, but only +41.

The difference was that in Critical Mass I lost in the first round and with Jushi Blue I lost to Julian Levin in the last round, i.e. the worst possible round for Rating Delta.

In addition, Green got Ichorid and Astral Slide on basis of Dredge cards like Golgari Grave-Troll and Life from the Loam. Both of these were positive rating. So of the non-Critical Mass / non-Dredge Green decks (4) Rating Delta was -66, with only the brilliant Playing Fair in the black (and that deck was very Black… Green being primarily for Spiritmonger and Pernicious Deed).

Key caveats for non-Green…

The NAC Qualifier on 8/18/06… I went 2-1 but that doesn’t tell the story. I actually played against then-Number One Apprentice Julian Levin again in the 75-card Keiga mirror (see Jushi Blue, above). In this one Julian got the same sequence he beat me with at States, that is second turn Boomerang (maybe he beat me with second turn Jushi at States… I don’t remember). However this time I fought and fought and he “beat” me to resolve Debtors’ Knell.

However I knew how Debtors’ Knell worked. This just created an infinite loop of Julian getting back Keiga… and another Keiga… every turn. That is, he never got an attack due to the good old Legend Rule!

However after [functionally, strategically, sneakily] beating Julian in this wonderful fencing match where he had the “Boomerang draw” and multiple Compulsive Researches, I conceded the match to preserve his rating. That is, I really went 3-0 in that one!

Including the U/G Threshold tournament, I was 1-2 (but really 2-1) against Julian Levin in this 20 tournament stretch.

Enough excuses for Green / non-Green.

Green: +75
non-Green: +71

However non-Green has a very slight edge in per-match points (2.0111… v. 2.0).

Firestarter: Josh says it’s all about deck selection, not color. He says my most recent 20 matches could have had a high positive Delta even if I chose Green, had my Green been Kitchen Finks… but paired with Mulldrifter instead of more Green cards.

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LOVE
MIKE

BDM recently accused me of being the Greenest one of all.

Certainly I am envious of… everyone. I have stunk at Magic since basically my win at the 2006 New York State Championship, with only one individual Top 8 (a Standard Regionals) since.

Is it because of being too Green?

Here is a list of my last 20 individual Constructed tournaments, conveniently the 20 since my win over Greg Poverelli with This Girl.

According to this — or my last 20 individual Constructed tournaments anyway — I am Green 80% of the time and down 199 rating points.

Green: 80%
Not Green: 20%

Green: -249
Not Green: +50

Is it that simple? Is Green the pits?

… Maybe?

In these 20 tournaments, my biggest delta was at States two weeks ago, +52 rating points, with a Jund Mana Ramp deck.

My biggest loser was also with Jund colors, -50 at an Extended PTQ last winter.

Both Green.

I don’t know what that means because rating is so relative; my best finish out of the bunch — Top 8 and an inch from qualification — was with Mishra, a mere +20 delta.

Not Green.

So… Firestarter:

1) Am I the Greenest one of all?
2) Am I the pits or is Green the pits?
3) How do I turn this around and establish myself once again as a Top 25 rated player?

Go start fires!

LOVE
MIKE

PS Update - I forgot that alleged B/U Control Time Spiral PTQ I actually splashed Green for the Green six drop Dragaon and the Battlemage… So 80/20 Green, and -249/+50 are the updated stats. Oh my!