Well, this week has certainly been an interesting one, Grand Prix Chicago was won by relative new-comer Jacob Wilson - a 17-year old - who probably played the Magic of his life when he beat Josh Utter-Leyton convincingly in the finals of the GP. Both players made used a variation of the popular Jund deck, but with Lingering Souls adding a great deal of versatility to the deck. With a seat in Pro Tour: Gatecrash Jacob Wilson is certainly a player to keep an eye on.
Late last night the first spoilers for Gatecrash sneaked out into the Internet - we'll post the spoilers soon - and so far it looks like Gruul is going to be all-out aggro, with the planeswalker - Domri Rade - definitely having the possibility to impact Standard, maybe not as much as Liliana of the Veil, but certainly more than than Ajani, Caller of the Pride. Domri Rade only has to generate consistent card advantage to make it worth playing, and while it's no Jace, Architect of Thought, Domri is going to hit the board earlier, and the ultimate ability is going to be game-ending.
Onto the FNM, which, well, I'm not all to keen to talk about. I changed my list for this week, dropping the Unsummons, opting instead for three copies of Lyev Skyknight. I was hoping that they Lyev Skyknights would give me a bit more reach, with a 3/1 Flyer almost always being relevant.
UW Tempo:
 |
| Pooooot! |
Onto the FNM, which, well, I'm not all to keen to talk about. I changed my list for this week, dropping the Unsummons, opting instead for three copies of Lyev Skyknight. I was hoping that they Lyev Skyknights would give me a bit more reach, with a 3/1 Flyer almost always being relevant.
UW Tempo:
22 Land:
5x Plains
5x Island
Creatures:
Instants and Sorceries:
4x Syncopate
Artifacts:
3x Runechanter's Pike
I'm not going to go into too much detail, as I don't think its particularly relevant to the lessons that I learned, and the deck that evolved out of this basic idea is a major improvement.
Match 1 was pretty much a summary of the entire evening, I kept an average opening hand, which didn't really matter as my opponent - William - played a Turn 2 Strangleroot Geist, which was followed up by a Dreg Mangler on Turn 3, and another on Turn 4. My lone Invisible Stalker with a Runechanter's Pike was never going to be enough. Game 2, I had to mulligan to 5, which I kept, the Hallowed Fountain was my only land in any of my prior hands. I did however have two Delver of Secrets, and when I drew a Plains and was able to cast my Runechanter's Pike. My opponent played a Strangleroot Geist and a Lotleth Troll, which I was confident I could race, especially if my Delvers flipped. I hesitantly looked at my top card in my fourth turn, only to find a side-boarded Terminus. Deciding to risk it, I revealed the Terminus and allowed my Delvers to flip. With a hint of excitement I turned both my Insectile Aberrations on their sides.
William tapped two mana and cast Plummet. I shrugged, and simply equipped my sole-remaining Aberration with a Pike. William untapped and cast an Aerial Predation. I looked at the Terminus in my hand, the three land on my side, the growing Lotleth Troll and offered my hand in surrender. I had been completely blind-sided by my opponent, I had not only under-estimated my opponent, but his deck as well.
The rest of the evening followed the pattern of the first, with me finally achieving a score 1 - 3, my only victory being a bye. It was by far my worst performance at a FNM in some time. I think I realised afterwards, when the prizes were being handed out, that thinking that one can rely solely on skill when playing Magic is completely the incorrect attitude to have. For some reason I had - subconsciously at least - ranked myself as a "better" Magic player than my opponents at the local FNM. The very thought shocked me to be honest, losing all my Matches 0 - 2 was exactly the mental kick I needed to get my personal goals and aspirations in order.
After a few hours of sleep, I was up early the next morning, building the deck that one of my best friends had been encouraging me to play for weeks. The Saturday Tournament at Outer Limits Hatfield further re-energised me, playing fundamentally correct Magic with a deck that was actually competitive, playing hard, and playing to win was exactly what I needed.
Now, time create my To-Do List for 2013:
Win my first FNM - Incomplete
Attend at least two Pro Tour Qualifiers - Incomplete
Attend at least two World Magic Cup Qualifiers - Incomplete
Attend one Grand Prix in Europe - Incomplete
I'm not going to go into too much detail, as I don't think its particularly relevant to the lessons that I learned, and the deck that evolved out of this basic idea is a major improvement.
Match 1 was pretty much a summary of the entire evening, I kept an average opening hand, which didn't really matter as my opponent - William - played a Turn 2 Strangleroot Geist, which was followed up by a Dreg Mangler on Turn 3, and another on Turn 4. My lone Invisible Stalker with a Runechanter's Pike was never going to be enough. Game 2, I had to mulligan to 5, which I kept, the Hallowed Fountain was my only land in any of my prior hands. I did however have two Delver of Secrets, and when I drew a Plains and was able to cast my Runechanter's Pike. My opponent played a Strangleroot Geist and a Lotleth Troll, which I was confident I could race, especially if my Delvers flipped. I hesitantly looked at my top card in my fourth turn, only to find a side-boarded Terminus. Deciding to risk it, I revealed the Terminus and allowed my Delvers to flip. With a hint of excitement I turned both my Insectile Aberrations on their sides.
William tapped two mana and cast Plummet. I shrugged, and simply equipped my sole-remaining Aberration with a Pike. William untapped and cast an Aerial Predation. I looked at the Terminus in my hand, the three land on my side, the growing Lotleth Troll and offered my hand in surrender. I had been completely blind-sided by my opponent, I had not only under-estimated my opponent, but his deck as well.
The rest of the evening followed the pattern of the first, with me finally achieving a score 1 - 3, my only victory being a bye. It was by far my worst performance at a FNM in some time. I think I realised afterwards, when the prizes were being handed out, that thinking that one can rely solely on skill when playing Magic is completely the incorrect attitude to have. For some reason I had - subconsciously at least - ranked myself as a "better" Magic player than my opponents at the local FNM. The very thought shocked me to be honest, losing all my Matches 0 - 2 was exactly the mental kick I needed to get my personal goals and aspirations in order.
After a few hours of sleep, I was up early the next morning, building the deck that one of my best friends had been encouraging me to play for weeks. The Saturday Tournament at Outer Limits Hatfield further re-energised me, playing fundamentally correct Magic with a deck that was actually competitive, playing hard, and playing to win was exactly what I needed.
Now, time create my To-Do List for 2013:
Win my first FNM - Incomplete
Attend at least two Pro Tour Qualifiers - Incomplete
Attend at least two World Magic Cup Qualifiers - Incomplete
Attend one Grand Prix in Europe - Incomplete
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