Seattle Regionals 2008 was a bit of a bit of an oddexperience, not only the tournament, but also the day in general.  My ride knocked on my door at 8:20 AM,at which time I promptly woke up, threw on some flowered shorts, a long sleeveshirt, and a jacket.  Of course Iwas mocked all day for this, but I digress.  At the site I managed to find the rest of my deck.  Here is what I played:

Faeries

4 Mutavault

4 Secluded Glen

4 Underground River

2 River of Tears

2 Sunken Ruins

2 Faerie Conclave

4 Snow-Covered Island

1 Swamp

2 Pendelhaven

4 Ancestral Vision

4 Bitterblossom

4 Rune Snag

4 Cryptic Command

4 Terror

4 Spellstutter Sprite

4 Scion of Oona

4 Mistbind Clique

3 Vendilion Clique

Sideboard

4 Damnation

4 Flashfreeze

4 Thoughtseize

3 Bottle Gnomes

First, I should mention that my only notable change frommany other maindecks was my decision to play a single Swamp.  My friend Bryan thought that it wouldbe good to have an out against Magus of the Moon, which is why there is 4Islands and 1 Swamp instead of 5 Islands.

My sideboard however, is much different than everybodyelse’s.  I decided to try andimprove the Elves matchup by playing all 4 Damnations and 4 Flashfreeze.  Also, I wanted to give myself a betterchance against red agro decks, which was another reason for the full sets ofDamnation and Flashfreeze.  Elvesand RDW were the two decks I was most worried about because I knew that even abad player could just get the random nuts draw and destroy me.  I knew that most of the good playerswere likely to play decks like Reveillark, which I would be able to beat.  As you will see in my upcomingtournament report, I was mostly correct, but I definitely made a few mistakes.

Round 1 vs Dave with Rouges splashing Green

I got a very good pairing in the first round.  Dave did not do very much during thefirst couple of turns after that I just countered everything relevant andkilled him with some manlands and Scion of Oona.

For game two I sideboarded out my Vendilion Cliques and aSpellstutter Sprite for the 4 Flashfreeze to stop the Cloudthreshers and SquallLines I thought he was boarding in. As it turned out, he did not have those cards, just Vexing Shusher andKrosan Grip, which of course I wouldn’t be able to counter withFlashfreeze.  Never the less, hesimply kept a bad hand and again I just established control with Rune Snags andeventually killed him the same way as in game one.

1-0 (2-0)

Round 2 vs Chris with RG Aggro

Chris Dodson is a very respectable player, who I last playedat States last year, where he crushed me with some Goblins concoction.  Understandably, I felt like I needed toprove myself here. Game one I was scared out of my pants by his innovation ofTroll Ascetic, which resolved and I had no way to deal with it.  Luckily for me, he made somequestionable decisions with his burn spells and walked into a few traps.  A timely Mistbind Clique and CrypticCommand sealed this on for me as I tapped down his guys to allow me to take thelead in our race.

I sideboarded out my Spellstutter Sprites, VendilionCliques, and the Scion of Oonas for a set of each Damnation and Flashfreeze, aswell as the 3 Bottle Gnomes.  Ingame 2 it was close but he resolved Magus of the Moon and Troll Ascetic while Iwas stuck on two Islands, and a River of Tears while holding 2 Cryptic Commandand Damnation.

I changed nothing for game 3.  This game he did not get Magus and my Cryptic Commands wereway too much for him to deal with. Again, Mistbind Clique was my savior, beating down for the win while Istalled him with Cryptic Commands.

2-0 (4-1)

Round 3 vs Aaron with Faeries

I do love me a mirror match. Well, not really, but this onewent by quickly anyways.  Aaronseemed very nervous because he was at 2-0, so I felt like all I had to do wasmake some flashy play and I would psych him out enough so he would get tooshaken up to win.  Apparently Ididn’t need to do that though, because he was playing Oona’s Blackguard, whichhe really needed to be anything else. He let my Ancestral Vision resolve as well as my Bitterblossom, which Irode all the way through the first game.

For game 2 I brought in my Thoughtseizes for the VendilionCliques and 1 Mistbind Clique.  IThoughtseized him on the the first turn and took away a Sower of Temptation,leaving him with a bunch of land and a spell that I do not reallyremember.  I guess it wasn’t thatgood because he couldn’t stop my Bitterblossom and just ended up losing to manytokens that were enhanced with a Scion of Oona.

3-0 (6-1)

At this point I went to get food with my friend Martin andwe discussed how I was very happy to be undefeated, as was he.  We were both halfway to being able todraw in to the Top 8, and thus began the next round.

Round 4 vs Quick n’ Toast

I was not happy with this paring and knew I would be in fora rough time.  Each of our gameswas extremely long and mentally draining. In the first game we went down to the wire.  I resolved two Bitterblossom but he just had Firespouts andCloudthreshers all over the place. I got him down to zero cards on my turn by baiting out his CrypticCommand with something that I can’t remember and then promptly Commanding hisCommand in return.  I left myselftapped out and he could either draw a Makeshift Manniquin or Cloudthresher toget me down to a 1 life, where my Bitterblossom would kill me (I MistbindCliqued the other one earlier).  Heripped Cloudthreshed and we went to game 2.

I boarded in the Thoughtseizes for Rune Snags and put in theFlashfreezes for Spellstutter Sprites. My reasoning for this was that the only spells I really cared about himresolving were Cloudthresher, Firespout, and Kitchen Finks.  Since Flashfreeze counters all of thoseI brought them in.  Game 2 wassuper close and much like the first game, I resolved a Bitterblossom.  This carried me all the way through thegame.  The last turn was critical,as my opponent just punted.  I wasat 6 and a Cloudthresher would have been enough, along with my Bitterblossom,to kill me within a couple of turns. I also knew that he had Profane Command, from a Vendilion Clique.  He played Firespout, which resolved,wiping my board.  At the end of histurn I must have played a guy, because according the my notes he got attackedfor 5 pont the next turn.  On myturn I got a token from Bitterblossom and went to 5.  I then attacked him down to 5 with my mystery creature.  On his next turn, he tapped out for agiant Profane Command to try and finish me.  I Cryptic Commanded it and that was that.  Obviously, he should have simplyProfane Commanded for 1, to kill my token that I left back and give his KitchenFinks fear.  Then I am forced tocounter it at which point he can resolve a Makeshift Mannequin and win.

In game 3 I just roll him.  Not even close. I counter everything relevant and annihilate him with 3 Scion of Oonas.

4-0 (8-2)

Round 5 vs Merfolk

Another matchup I didn’t want to face.  On top of this I was wiped out from amatch went to extra turns.  Luckilyfor me, my opponent was nervous, or had an upset stomach, or something likethat.  He just kept making terribleplays in the first game and walked his guys into tricks with Pendelhavenmultiple times.  He also playedCryptic Commands on his own turn, which I countered and then was able toresolve a key spell myself on my turn. I used my Commands better than him, so I won the first game.

In game 2 I brought in the Damnations for Vendilion Cliquesand one other card I cannot remember, most likely a Spellstutter Sprite.  In the end, I was very far down on lifeand he had 2 Lord of Atlantis out as well as a Merrow Reejery.  I batied out a Sage’s Dousing withMistbind Clique.  I then usedCryptic Command to counter his Sage’s Dousing and tap his guys.  Unfortunately, he had another Sage’sDousing and then killed me.  Ifthat card was anything else I would have won, because I had another Command inmy hand.  Oh well, it’s justfrowntown when they draw 3 Lord of Atlantis, 3 Sage’s Dousing, 3 CrypticCommand, and 2 Merrow Reejery.

For Game 3 I didn’t change my deck at all and did the samething as in the first game.  Imanaged to get him to waste Cryptic Commands on dumb spells that I played onhis turn.  This allowed myAncestral Vision to resolve, which gave me the cards I needed to win the game.

5-0 (10-3)

We’re now down to 4 undefeated players.  One more win and I’m in!  Also, my friend Martin is sitting at4-1 right now, and he’ll need to win out to make top 8.

Round 6 vs Greg with RG Ramp

Greg Peloquin is a good player from the Tacoma area.  He q’d for Nationals a while back, buthasn’t been able to again since then, despite having quite a bit of skill.  This match was, well, not a match.  The first game I went to Paris,proceeded to get stuck on 3 with only one source of colored mana and lost whenGreg played Firespout.

I boarded in Flashfreezes and Thoughtseizes, taking outSpellstutter Sprites and Rune Snags. I chose to play, saw a hand with 2 Pendelhaven, another land, and abunch of slow crap like Cryptic Command. My six card hand had Pendelhaven and a bunch of spells.  I then went to 5 cards and gotannihilated by a turn 3 Chameleon Colossus.

5-1 (10-5)

Too bad my deck did that to me, because I think I had apretty good chance of winning that match if I would have gotten decenthands.  I now have to win my nexttwo rounds to make top 8.

Round 7 vs Quick n’ Toast

Northwest players love their fancy control decks.  I think I can fit this match into oneparagraph.  Game one I took amulligan.  Let me just take amoment to let you know how much card advantage matters in this match.  In my opinion, letting a Mulldrfiterresolve can spell death, because they’ll get two cards and get a guy in yourway.  Sadly, this game I just fellbehind because my hand was very mediocre, and I ended up drawing my secondPendelhaven in the first couple of turns, effectively turning my mull to 6 intoa mull to 5.  In the second gamethe exact same thing happened (yes, I mulliganed again and drew 2 Pendelhaven),except that he played a Wispmare, after which I played Bitterblossom to givemyself a chance.  Obviously, herips another Wispmare and then Rune Snag to stop my Mistbind Clique the turn Iknow he will play Oona, Queen of the Fae. I cannot ever find my sixth land to Bouce his Oona with Cryptic Commandthen counter it on the way down again. My opponent pretty much apologized after the match for the rottenluck.  Things like this happenthough.

5-2 (10-7)

Since I could not get myself an invite to Nats at this pointI just dropped.  Places to go andpeople to see.  My friend Martinended up winning the whole thing, so he as well as a few others I know will bemaking the trip to Chicago. Congrats to you too Greg!

Overall, I think B/R Tokens was by far the best choice forthis tournament.  Only two peopleplayed it and one of them won.  Itdestroys Merfolk, Faeries, Reveillark, and is good against Elves, as we foundout in our testing.  I playedFaeries because I was comfortable with it, and it worked out, as I did not loseany matches to play mistakes.  Forthe new PTQ season I will play a deck that is very consistent, especially withmana, which is one thing the Faeries lack.

For those curious, here was our top 8:

3 Merfolk (1 Won, 2 Lost)

1 B/R Tokens (Won)

2 RG Ramp (Both Won)

1 Reveillark (Lost)

1 BG Elves (Lost)

I need to break the curse of starting out X-0 then losingthe round I need to win to make top 8. This has happened twice in a row now, but hopefully I will win a PTQ forBerlin, or at least top 8 to break the curse.  I’ll be back soon,

Simon

Tags: Magic Regionals 2008 Seattle Tournament Faeries

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