This is about as "bloggish" as any of my blogs will sound, but I just felt like writing this. This is about everything in Magic that is beyond actually sitting down across from someone and playing in a tournament. This is an expression of my beliefs and opinions on these topics.

Preparation: You hear everyone say that playtesting is a major part of tournament success. For me, it's about finding that sweet spot where I've prepared just enough. I think that there is a point where you have done too much preparation. I think that you start to overthink things. Personally, I don't do much testing compared to most other people I know. A lot of my opinions on how a match should be played are made through generalizations in my head. I will play a few matches to see if there are any glaring errors in these ideas and then go from there. One thing that is important though that not enough players do is knowing a sideboard plan before a tournament, especially when it is not obvious with your deck. Sideboarding should be automatic versus known decks and that is something I have down in my head before any event.

Demeanor: I read Mr. Bressler's latest blog and he mentions that how you look will affect how your opponents think of you as a player. I couldn't disagree more. I'll dress how I normally do: jeans and a sweatshirt. I guess this gives a very unassuming appearance and may not be striking fear into my opponents hearts, but I don't look at how someone dresses and associate it with playskill. I've played against some ridiculously dressed people, and the only thing I've thought is 'What the hell is this guy wearing?' I don't think you can judge how good a person is at Magic by seeing how they dress or look, and I make a conscious effort not to do that because I don't want to think that I have a false advantage or disadvantage before we start playing.

Something that does affect how I think of a player is how they talk. I try to stay quiet and if someone tries to talk to me I'll make conversation. During the match I'll try to get information by asking them certain things about their deck or if they have a certain card in their hand. I will not, however try to talk trash or act like an arrogant ass. Those are the players I think of as being worse. They are ridiculously confident and sometimes too much so. I will think that they are full of themselves and this can be seen in how they play. I know a guy who thinks he is amazing. His blind confidence in his "amazing" play make him make idiotic decisions that he refuses to believe are wrong. Confidence is a VERY important aspect of playing in a tournament, but I think people need to realize that it is not something that needs to be shown.

PS: Another way the Japanese are better than Americans: They are humble. Some of the best players in the world are also the nicest and best sports: Kenji, Shuhei, Tsuyoshi, and many, many others. Magic isn't this ridiculous competition outside of actually playing. They help each other out and try to make everyone better. Here, it's this ridiculous competition, even in forums. Someone says something bad about someone's deck and it starts riduculous and childish arguments and fights. People need to take criticism a little better.

Decks and Play Strengths: I think that choosing the "correct deck" is important, especially now where there is no "best deck." Correct deck means the deck that is the best for you and your play style. There are obvious exceptions, like a new deck that no one knows about that is powerful, or one that is easily the best deck in the format. Generally, I see control decks as being the "best" decks in any given environment. But I will rarely play one because my mind was made for aggro decks. I think that this idea is something that new players should try to grasp very quickly if they want to be competitive on any level. In an open field, you matter more than your deck (most of the time), and you need to make sure you can play your deck optimally.

Mental Aspects: My mind is where most of my games are lost, whether it is laziness or playing myself out of a game. I think that there is a fine line between being prepared and playing on autopilot. One of the hardest things for me to do during a tournament is actually pay attention to evey second of every match. I start thinking ahead of myself and mess up in the turns in between. I miss small interactions and put things on the stack incorrectly. INow, I try to think everything through in my head very quickly as a mental check to see if it is right or not. I count mana twice and say everything in my head before I announce it. Working it through in my head forces me to focus and then think about every little thing. Because I don't playtest extensively, this is important for my game. The other aspect is bluffing and mind tricks. A lot of people say that you should play like they always have CARDNAME in their hand. I don't follow that. Yes, there are certain situations where playing prudently is in order because of the stakes, but, especially for certain decks, you should be playing to win, not to lose. I am a gambling man and have been known to make "stupid" plays because I quickly do the odds in my head and decide that it's worth the risk. My gambling works a little more than half the time. There are two things that are very important to me in this decision. I have seen people let people back into games because they played too cautiously too many times to count. Secondly, I like to be in a dominant position during games. Playing the odds and being right puts in an extremely good position.

Magic and Fun: Yes, there are two different realms of Magic: competitive and casual. I would call myself a competitive player. I look at the latest decklists and try to be prepared for the current formats. When I sit down, the first thing I think about is winning, and then having fun. But playing Magic is also a social activity for me. Some of my best friends have come through Magic. I enjoy sitting and talking during FNMs. I like seeing people during PTQs. Playing is still fun for me as well. There are times when I get bored of playing, but I always end up falling in love with the game over and over.

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I'm going to PTQ this Saturday so I thought I should write this. Just for kicks, you know what I mean?

First, I think I'm going to play the decks I feel most comfortable with. I think I have put in the same amount of time in testing for about seven decks including Dredge, Burn, and Next Level Blue. Dredge is the gambler's deck: the most powerful, with the most potential downside. Next Level Blue rewards tight play. Burn is the "easiest" and most fair of the three, but I will probably play it over those two because I am more comfortable with it. Next Level Blue has the most value as a deck choice, but I don't want to sit down every round and be anxious. Burn allows me to have the confidence that I'd get with playing a "real" deck and the play style that fits me the best.

P.S. Risky is right, Burn is a real deck and quite frankly, you are an idiot if you don't prepare for it or dismiss it without a second thought. It attacks a large part of the metagame and unless you are playing combo, you should have a real gameplan for it. 

Is it surprising to anyone else how much the metagame has shifted in just a month? I went to the ptq on 2/9 and was expecting a lot of NLB, Zoo, Goblins, Dredge, and Enduring Ideal. Now I'm playing for a field full of PLB, NLB, Goblins, RG Aggro, Burn, a resurging Doran, and Dredge. 

I don't know that PLB is better than NLB. Also, I think they occupy nearly equal shares in the meta. I think PLB is more forgiving and if I had to choose, I'd play PLB over NLB because they have the same Control Magic packages but PLB is full of counterspells. I think it gives them a better early game versus aggro decks becauuse they can save themselves so much damage for just one mana (Force Spike and Spell Snare). Rude Awakening also conveniently dodges any NLB Counterbalance shenanigans.

It scares me how bad Burn is against combo decks. I'm thinking of putting Gaddock Teeg in the sideboard for Dredge, Ideal, and TEPS. A lot of times, I need one turn to win and I'm thinking that the sheer unexpectedness of it may win me a few matches. Think about this: Just lost to Dredge and go to the sideboard. Put in Crypts and Gaddock Teegs. He boards in Pithing Needle or Chains. He doesn't have outs to both. If he sees both, for game 3 he has to bring in eight cards and that is  another card he has to see in his opening hand and I just slowed down his deck by forcing him to take out that many cards. Is this just retarded? Or could it work? Against Ideal, they can just go off or just play out a Confinement and I'm screwed. I think that matchup is just a concession I need to make.

Some decks that truly surprise me are Aggro Loam, Ninjas, and CounterTopGoyf. Aggro Loam was the deck last season, but the influx of Counterbalance decks toppled it this season. The two major variants seem to be a combination of a Loam and Flow deck and a RG version. Flow decks don't seem too exciting to me especially when the major control decks can function decently with a Flow in play. 

Cons for the deck: The large amount of "counter" decks make Devastating Dreams a risky card. I guess an early one lessens the damage done, but you're still discarding cards. Does the RG version have any real game against combo? TEPS can without lands with a Bloom. Dredge doesn't need lands once it has gotten going and Ichorids come back over and over. Ideal has a harder time, but it is still plausible. 

Ninja decks seem like the joke deck of the format. I don't know of anybody who actually think the deck is good. The one person I know who played it in a PTQ said he did it for fun. He said that if he had the cards for TEPS he would have played that. I get all the interactions, but do they really add up to a sum that is equal or greater than most of the decks in the field? I think not.

CounterTopGoyf was looking to be the best deck this season, and then it just kind of disappeared, or transformed into NLB. I thought the deck was outdated, but apparently not because it Top 8d the GP and I saw one in a t8 of a PTQ. 

I'm probably going to go with UG Tron, Burn, or a RG Aggro Variant. I've been playing Tron ever since I got into extended and it is easily my favorite deck in any format. Burn seems like an easy deck to sit down and play with. No mental strain, just fun throwing burn to the dome. RG is my old reliable. I've never felt more condfident than when I'm sitting down with a RG deck in my hands. Thinking you will win is half the battle. 

The mandatory decklist:

4 Bloodstained Mire

4 Wooded Foothills

2 Barbarian Ring

1 Blood Crypt

3 Stomping Ground

1 Pendlehaven

4 Mountain

2 Mutavault

4 Grim Lavamancer

4 Mogg Fanatic

4 Tarmogoyf

4 Kird Ape

4 Molten Rain

3 Countryside Crusher

3 Firebolt

4 Rift Bolt

4 Incinerate

3 Seal of Fire

2 Tarfire 

Nothing surprising here, just a bunch of burn and creatures. I am wary of playing Firecat because I think there will be a bunch of Doran decks. Leave a comment or question. 

Tags: Party Like A Rockstar

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     First I will start off with a list. This has been testing well for me:

4 Tombstalker

1 Meloku, the Clouded Mirror

4 Mental Note

4 Counterspell

3 Pernicious Deed

4 Duress

3 Fact or Fiction

2 Circular Logic

3 Sensei's Divining Top

3 Counterbalance

2 Chainer's Edict

2 Ghastly Demise

22 land

It is a spin on Antoine Ruel and Nikolay Potovin's lists from Valencia. I am intrigued by this kind of control because it is composed of relatively cheap counter magic and excellent card draw backed up by some of the best creatures in the game. It is still rough around the edges, and there is one card missing that surprises a lot of people: Tarmogoyf. I moved him to the sideboard because he seems like too much of a liability with Threads of Disloyalty gaining popularity. Why Mental Note? It is fairly straightforward. I want to fill my graveyard so that my Circular Logics, Ghastly Demises, and Tombstalkers become that much better. Also, I can lessen the chances of losing a good card with Top. I'm not saying it is the best list, but it is getting there even if it is a little rough around the edges.

If you are reading this blog, you have an interest in Extended, so you have obviously seen the Top 8 list from Valencia. I want to discuss some of the surprising Day 2 lists that I think deserve to be mentioned. Saul Aguado's Balancing Act Deck was very interesting. I had not seen a list since Olivier Ruel's from GP Singapore, so this list was very new to me. The Gargadons make the deck much more stable. This deck was a surprise to me because I was not expecting it to played very much, if at all. Koutarou Ootsuka's NoStick list (also piloted by  Yuya Watanabe to a Day 2) was intriguing to me as well. I thought that the deck would fall off the map with the introduction of Krosan Grips and Ancient Grudges. Also, he played black instead of red, like I am used to seeing. Seeing that deck do well was interesting. Marcus Seine's list was the most rogue list from in the tournament in Day 2. His deck is basically a large amount of removal, Pyroclasm, Terminate, and Pernicious Deed, paired with a large amount of discard spells, like Duress, Rise//Fall, and Augur of Skulls. I think that if you wanted a deck that did well against aggro and control, this would be a definite front runner (and he boards Blood Moons as another hate card). These lists and others can be found here:

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=mtgevent/ptval07/day2decklists

Here are some cards in the format that stand out to me, for good and bad reasons:

1. Thoughtseize. My friend said that any deck that played Duress and/or Cabal Therapy should be playing 4 of these now. That assessment is completely incorrect. Control decks, like Gifts Rock will not play Thoughtseize because 90-95 percent of the cards you want to be discarded with Duress or Therapy are not creatures. Also, who wants to take 5 damage turn 1 (Fetch, Dual, Thoughtseize) for a card that is far below average in that style of deck? I can see the card in the sideboard of control decks, however, like Psychatog, where it becomes much better because it is good against control as a turn 1 play. Thoughtseize will also keep the Insidious Dreams package in Enduring Ideal decks because Thoughtsieze ensures its game-winning potential. Yes, Thoughtseize is good, and it will find a place in many decks, but I do not think that it is always better than Duress, and I think it is important to remember that idea when building decks.

2. Tombstalker. This guy is a beast; there is nothing more to say. Most impressive is his ability to dodge the best removal and answers to creatures in Extended. Notable cards that do not touch Tombstalker are Smother, Ghastly Demise, Threads of Disloyalty, and Shriekmaw (if he gets play). The fact that he has a mana cost of 8 (it is only a formality, most of the time this guy comes down for two black for me) only makes him better. He is tough to Pernicious Deed (which can be a good thing if you are playing Deed) and Repeal. He never gets countered by Counterbalance, and you can dodge Force Spikes all day. I am completely surprised that this guy does not see more play; he is beastly.

3. Venser, Shaper Savant. He has already shown how good he is against Enduring Ideal, and now he becomes even better because of Gaddock Teeg. He will bounce a creature and block Teeg when they attack. For this reason, I am considering him as a sideboard card against aggro in general in control decks, especially UW Tron.

4. Gaddock Teeg. I could not leave this guy out, could I? This guy is the single most overrated card to come out of Lorwyn. He does not deserve any of the hype he is getting; combo decks handle him fairly easily (Wish for Pyroclasm) and the base control deck, Gifts Rock, also readily handles him with their three-drop Pernicious Deed. One deck that he will absolutely wreck is UW Tron. Teeg single-handedly shuts off almost the entire deck, and that is scary. He will not be played in the main because of the other aggro decks where he is always just a vanilla 2/2. His spot will be in the sideboard as a wish target, but that is all the play I think he should be getting. He is too easily handled to be worth playing mutiple copies in the board. Against combo decks, he has a chance to be back-breaking, but he will usually only buy you one turn. 

Here are my lists for the best cards in general categories:

1. Best creature: Tombstalker, Tarmogoyf, Sundering Titan, Dark Confidant, Trinket Mage

2. Best spot removal spell: Smother, Ghastly Demise

3. Best draw spell: Thirst For Knowledge

4. Best combo card: Balancing Act. Let me explain. Ideal has become so popular that I am sure that Ronom Unicorns and  Kami if Ancient Laws will be running rampant. TEPS will not handle the Stifles that many control decks are playing or the Top/Counterbalance duo. These deficiencies will hinder the performance of these decks enough for me not to play either of these decks. Saul Aguado's list from Valencia overcomes many problems for combo decks. Living Wish fetches a Boseiju if needed, so Balancing Act can get through counter magic, and its enabler, Greater Gargadon will escape anything short of a Pull From Eternity or Riftsweeper, which I am not expecting to see a lot of those in boards. Also, the regular mana base instead of saclands makes is much more resilient and less prone to disastrous Vensers or other such cards. It can play the longer game against aggro with Lightning Helix and Wall of Roots.

5. Most important card: Leyline of the Void/Tormod's Crypt. Dredge and Breakfast variants will lead to the rise of the counts of these cards in boards. Other decks that rely on their graveyards will also be sucked into these cards' hate. Gifts Decks suddenly must deal with the graveyard hate if they want to recur the cards they just dumped. The fact that they will be the most popular sideboard cards also says something.

Thoughts? Questions? Anything? Leave a comment; if you do please tell me what deck you think you would play and why. I want to hear other people's ideas to get a better idea of how other players are thinking.  

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States is at the end of this week and I don't think I'm ready at all. I've tested more than 100 games and I still don't know which deck I'm going to play. It is nerve racking but I've come to a few conclusions.

1. Teachings will be one of, if not the most played deck at states in my opinion. That became obvious when Luis Scott Vargas won GP SF with his build. I don't think that moving archetypes from Time Spiral Block is correct for every deck though. I've seen Teachings builds, Mono U Pickles, UW Blink decks, and Predator decks everywhere, but the only deck that I think is "good" is UW Blink.

Teachings is not a very good control deck. This standard may be perceived to be a step slower, but I think that Gruul and Kithkin builds are fast enough to have good game against most teachings decks. Gruul has the reach with Treetop Villages and burn while Kithkin have a very fast clock with Gaddock Teeg backup. So many of Teachings decks' cards get shut off by Gaddock Teeg that I don't think it should be the base control deck. Also, I despise Triskelavus because I can't see him as a real finisher (I hate 4/4s for 7). But here's really why he's not good: Faerie Trickery, Extirpate, Stonecloaker, and anything else that can remove him from the graveyard. Without Trisk, you have Factories and Shriekmaws as your finishers, which are considerably worse. Teachings also get destroyed by Blink decks' tempo, unless they play obnoxious amounts of instant speed spot removal.

2. Aggro decks will be out in numbers, but I don't think they are the correct choice either (except for the one I've made, which is probably what I will play at States). I think Kithkin are probably the fastest, but they also rely on Gaddock Teeg against control decks too much. It seems like if you have him you have a fairly good chance of winning, and if you don't, have fun trying. Goblins have similar problems to Kithkin. They don't have any real reach. Most goblin list I've seen focus on swarming the board with goblins and trying to beat down fast enough. A Damnation/Wrath of God can swing the game into the control player's favor for the rest of the game. I like Gruul the best because of its reach. Burn will help against aggro decks and blink decks and so will Greater Gargadon and Tarmogoyf. GG, Treetop Village, and burn give the best game against control out of every aggro deck. Also, look for Magus of the Moon to wreck someone's day at States. I won't say what I'm playing because I can't reveal my SST (super-secret-tech) or I will be pwnd.

3. Pickles decks are going to popular as well. I've seen mono U lists as well as UW lists that splash for blinks. Kyle Sanchez made the UW archetype, and I've been using his updated Lorwyn list for my testing. Here's the link to Mr. Sanchez's article:

http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/article/14872.html

If you are expecting a control or midrange field, then play mono U, if not then don't. You will be crushed multiple times by aggro decks. UW doesn't have such problems because of blinks (which give you a faster lock and give you some combat tricks) and Riftwatchers and/or WoGs in the sideboard. The pickles lock is still an excellent finish with all the aggro decks floating around and the big mana control decks that want to tap out for a Trisk or another large creature.

4. Some other notable decks that will definitely be in the crowd will be TarmoRack, UW Blink, G/B(/w) aggro decks, and Mono Black Control. TarmoRack is still an excellent deck. My list just replaces Dark Confidant with Oona's Prowler, which so far has been excellent. UW Blink is good because of its surprising speed. Blinked Epochrasites or Maelstrom Djinns provide for a quick finish and gives them very good game against aggro decks. My only problem with the deck is that it uses Blink as a proactive card rather than a reactive one more often than not, which makes it vulnerable to a smart player with spot removal in his deck. Depeding on your list, it doesn't have good game against control decks.

I think that if your list can handle the aggro field and Teachings decks, you should be fine. Here's a list I've been working on for the past day:

4 Horizon Canopy

4 Flagstones of Trokair

4 Arctic Flats

1 Urza's Factory

1 Mouth of Ronom

4 SC Forest

6 SC Plains

4 Masked Admirers

4 Calciderm

4 Wall of Roots

2 Sacred Mesa

3 Harmonize

4 Wrath of God

4 Condemn

4 Oblivion Ring

4 Edge of Autumn

2 Crovax, Ascendant Hero

1 Ajani Goldmane

Sideboard:

4 Aven Riftwatcher

3 Stonecloaker

4 Gaddock Teeg

4 Disenchant

The deck crushes aggro game one, and is decent against control decks in general. Masked Admirers is an amazing draw engine. The Gaddock Teegs and Stonecloakers come in for teachings and Riftwatchers are for Gruul decks. I think if you are sure about your States being an aggro field, pick up this deck and crush those people.

Good luck at states,

HH

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