I have a ridiculous matchup against TEPS, so I am supremely confident of my ability to defeat Brian.  I just have to play smarter, and put the last match behind me.

I lose the die roll, and I worry karma is about to kick me in the head.

I meet Brian’s Turn 1 tapped Sulfur Vents with a Turn 1 Birds of Paradise.  Instead of going for the Empty the Warrens’ Plan on turn 2, Brian calmly Burning Wishes for something, I really can’t remember since it simply did not matter.  My Turn 2 Vindicate on Sulfur Vents ended the game effectively when he could not find any more land, and I played a Doran on turn 3.  Three swings later, and we shuffled up for Game 2.

Sideboarding Plan: +4 Extirpate, +1 Duress, +1 Putrefy

-3 Loxodon Hierarch, -2 Profane Command, -1 Doran, the Siege Tower

I know that I am going to win at least Game 2 or 3, since my sideboard is simply so much better against his deck.  He really has very few ways to stop the disruption I pack in the deck.

Turn 1 Brian suspends Lotus Bloom with no land in sight.  On my turn 1, Duress reveals an Empty the Warrens, Tendrils of Agony, 3x Cabal Ritual, and Desperate Ritual.  I steal the Empty the Warrens, and force him to try to combo off without land.  My turn 2 Goyf is relatively weak, but Goyf is powered up by my Putrefy on his Lotus Bloom off suspend.  Undaunted, Brian suspended a second Lotus Bloom with an Invasion sac land in play.   I ripped Tendrils of Agony from his hand with Cabal Therapy, played a Treetop Village and a Dark Confidant, and passed the turn with Extirpate in my hand and lethal on the board.  He attempted to go off with just a Tinder Farm since he was staring down lethal, but Extirpate on Cabal Ritual left him without sufficient mana to either find or play any gas. 

Results: 2-0 Win! On to the Semis!

I made it to the semifinals in about 20 minutes.  My hands are shaking, and I am thrilled to be in this position, where it looked so bleak such a short time ago.

Ah, my nemesis rears its ugly head again.  Brad defeated Ken Adams’ UR Suspend deck in the quarters, and I was disappointed to not get a second crack at his interesting list.  Plus, I knew my deck’s weakness against Goblins, and I shuffled up a little resigned to my fate. 

Brad won the draw, and elected to kick off the semifinals with…

…my old friend Mogg Fanatic.  Fortunately, I came out of the gates strong with Doran Turn 2 off Chrome Mox (imprinting Birds of Paradise, the irony), and turn 3 Loxodon Hierarch.  Unfortunately, Brad stalled the board with Goblins, and played a devastating Goblin Ringleader for 4! Goblins.  I could not come back from the Ringleader’s card advantage, and Brad used Sparksmith and Gempalm Incinerator to remove my fatties, and swing for the win.  He dealt most of his damage to himself with Sparksmith.

Sideboarding Plan: +3 Pernicious Deed, +2 Extirpate, +2 Umezawa’s Jitte, +1 Putrefy

-2 Duress, -4 Dark Confidant, -1 Cabal Therapy, -1 Eternal Witness

After a careful discussion with my playtesting team, we agreed that Mystic Enforcer still pretty much sucked in this matchup.  Extirpate on some of his key cards along with discard was my only real option to remove some of his threats.  I still don’t think that Extirpate helped, and I would probably put the Cabal Therapy and Eternal Witness back in play OR add the Mystic Enforcers for heavier fat if I had another chance to play it out.

On the play, turn 2 Doran with Chrome Mox (imprinting Extirpate) went the distance, and I shredded his hand with Cabal Therapy.  It didn’t hurt that I was able to Cabal Therapy away double Blood Moon AND that he only had 2 mana in play on turn 5 with Goblin Warchief, Siege-Gang Commander, and the aforementioned Blood Moons in his hand. 

I began hoping I could pull it out, but it is much harder to win on the draw against Goblins.

Brad led off with Turn 2 Blood Moon, Turn 3 Goblin Ringleader for double Goblin Warchief, but then he ran out of gas a little bit.  I had a great draw negated by the Blood Moon, and if I was on the play, I could easily have played a turn 2 Doran of my own.  Fortunately, a Chrome Mox (imprinting Doran) and double Tarmogoyf gave me a glimmer of hope.  Tarmogoyf only totaled a 1/2 due to my inability to put my lands into the ‘yard, which allowed his Ringleader and Warchiefs to come in unimpeded.  When Brad drew and played a Sparksmith, I knew it was over, since the Vindicate staring at me could not clear its removal off the board.  I did find a Forest to play a Loxodon Hierarch, and attempt to stem the bleeding, but my Swamp came too late to Vindicate the Sparksmith, and he cleared my board of creatures to swing for the win. 

Results: 1-2 Loss.  Overall Top 3-4 position. 

Analysis and Conclusion

n  My mana base worked all day long.  Aside from game 1 of the semifinals, Chrome Mox never once let me down (I had two in my opening hand, but I refused to pitch it due to turn 2 Doran).  I always had the correct mana available at the correct time.

n  Putrefy over Smother was HUGE!  The absolute best decision in the entire list.

n  My sideboard plan of Mystic Enforcer in the mirror won me the mirror match, and gave me a significant advantage against Death Cloud.  Definitely a solid addition, although I missed Armadillo Cloak against Goblins.

n  I need a better sideboard plan against Goblins.  Offalsnout is cute, and I like having it around, but I did not utilize it effectively. 

n  The 4^th Putrefy in the board should either be Krosan Grip, Mortify, or Armadillo Cloak.  I don’t think it helped me appreciably.  3x Putrefy and 4x Vindicate is quite a lot of removal, plus I bring in Deed against the mirror.

n  I am supremely happy I played the best deck I could for the tournament, and did not give in to my fear of the mirror match, and make a poor deck choice.

n  I need to scout more between matches to see what other players are doing more frequently.

n  I still have a long way to go.

n  What else can I say about my first major Top 8?

Overall, an epic day of Magic ended in a personal best finish, a colossal misplay to almost deny me my first Top 8, a box of Morningtide, a Top 8 pin, and a wealth of memories good and bad. 

Although I did not “get there,” and qualify for the Pro Tour, I definitely hope this result launches me into a different level.  I am going to play my best (which is not always that great, admittedly) to get back to the Top 8 in my next PTQ, and finish the Dream.  Unfortunately, my dreams will not be met in California, since my PTQ season ended on Saturday. 

I can’t justify leaving my 16-month old son for two whole Saturdays in one month, so I will not be able to attend GP: Philadelphia either.  I know somewhere, Bennie Smith (and many of you!) understands. 

Thanks for reading, and sound off about my first Top 8 in the forums!  I know that I am going to receive some decidedly mixed reactions to these results, and I look forward to the discussion.

As always,

Thomas M. Trovato

Falkor in the Forums

Props and Slops:

Williamsburg Crew for coming up to actually play in a Magic tournament (well, except you Kevin, but someone has to drive)

Ian Bennett, I can’t thank you enough

All of my opponents for being class acts throughout the entire tournament

Ken Adams, for creating interesting, competitive decks, and then playing them to solid finishes in big tournaments

Sandwiches and food packed for a long day of Magic

My horrific, horrific misplay

Being scooped into the Top 8, and not being able to play out the final game to determine a true winner (barring a second colossal mistake, I think the smart money was on me)

Joey for not showing up to promote his new store – epic fail

That’s all I’ve got, my word count is almost up to 6800, definitely large enough for Risky’s head to explode. 

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