PTQ: Theros Tournament Report

By: Nic Chrysochou

The competitor stands at the starting line. Eyes focused, adrenaline pumping through his body increasing his heart rate; shaking his hands as if they contained dice as a gambler would do at a craps table; flicking his feet forwards as if kicking an imaginary football; licking his lips in anticipation...

My preparation for the double header weekend began shortly after the Gatecrash release. I had decided to attempt to relax and enjoy playing Magic the Gathering (MtG) as a hobby again after a series of very unexpected and disappointing results.

I had competed in all the following available qualifier events over the past year after the World Magic Cup 2012 (WMC):

·         South African Invitational in Johannesburg

·         PTQ Gatecrash (Montreal) in Cape Town

·         PTQ Dragon’s Maze (San Diego) in Johannesburg

The lead up to all these events were done in a similar manner and I was confident that the process and procedures I followed would bring success.

During the weeks before the double header weekend I was asked by one of South Africa’s top players a question regarding changing decks or keeping one deck through-out the season. This was my response (can be found on SA gatherer blog):

"Due to the progressive nature of competitive Magic, ideas and strategies change on a weekly basis making it grueling to keep up with the meta-game. 

From personal experience I feel that playing different decks over the course of a season would be more beneficial to the player in that one can learn all the tricks and play styles of the decks in order to understand all the various archetypes. But this requires a serious time investment and constant contact with the professional game.

Therefore sticking to one deck and tweaking it over the course of the season could allow for more consistent results as long as that archetype remains competitive."

I believe that my response very accurately describes how I feel about the question and reflects the preparation for events that I take part in.

The following is a table of results of the various decks that I used in my testing gauntlet for the double header weekend over an approximately 5 week period:

Deck	Result	Losses to
Jund Control	7-2-0	B/W Zombies G/B Zombies
Aristocrats	3-2-0	Esper Control Boros Aggro
Junk Reanimator	3-2-0	Jund Aggro Boros Aggro
Bant Hexproof	5-3-0	Boros Aggro Jund Control Junk Reanimator
Esper Control	2-2-0	B/W Token Humans 4-Color Reanimator
U/G Delver	3-2-0	Junk Reanimator Junk Midrange
Borzhov Control	14-3-0	2x U/B Zombies Naya Blitz
American Hexproof	2-3-0	B/R Control Junk Reanimator Jund Control

*NOTE, the above are only local DCI sanctioned events, no MTGO or play-test results included

As you can see I decided to play a variety of decks and archetypes, not only to attempt to learn all the various strategies but also to get back the enjoyment of competing and constructing new ideas and interesting combinations of cards.

Approximately 2 weeks before the double header weekend, I narrowed down my deck choices to what I was having the most consistent results with. My two final choices were Jund and Borzhov control. As with all my previous events I usually choose a deck that is unexpected or not as popular or in the public spotlight. Therefore this is the deck-list I registered (can be found online here):

Borzhov Control
Non-Creature spells 2x Tragic Slip 1x Rakdos’s Return 2x Mizzium Mortars 4x Lingering Souls 3x Blasphemous act 2x Unburial Rites 2x Dreadbore 3x Faithless looting 2x Liliana of the Veil Creature spells 2x Restoration Angel 2x Thundermaw hellkite 4x Boros Reckoner 1x Aurelia, the Warleader 2x Obzedat, Ghost Council 2x Olivia Voldaren Lands 1x Mountain 1x Swamp 4x Isolated Chapel 3x Clifftop Retreat 2x Vault of the Archangel 4x Dragonskull Summit 3x Sacred Foundry 4x Godless Shrine 4x Blood Crypt	Sideboard 2x Curse of Death’s Hold 1x Staff of Nin 1x Purify the Grave 2x Sever the Bloodline 2x Rakdos’s Return 2x Slaughter Games 2x Pillar of Flame 3x Appetite for Brains
60 cards	15 cards

The above deck-list went through many iterations before coming to the final version. I initially added cards like Falkenrath Aristocrat, Searing Spear, Assemble the Legion and some others in an attempt to make it more aggressive but realised that the deck wanted to play a more controlling defensive game, before landing a bomb to close out the match (or combo’ing off with Boros Reckoner + Blasphemous Act).

Side-boarding

Archetype	In (combination of)	Out (combination of)
Aggro (or Aristocrats)	2x Pillar of Flame 2x Sever the bloodline 1/2x Curse of Death’s Hold	1x Rakdos’s Return 1x Faithless looting 2x Liliana of the Veil 1x Aurelia, the Warleader
Control (or Jund)	2x Slaughter Games 2/3x Appetite for brains 2x Rakdos’s Return 1x Staff of Nin	1/2x Olivia Voldaren 2x Mizzium Mortars 2x Tragic Slip 1/2x Blasphemous Act
Re-animator	1x Purify the Grave 3x Appetite for Brains 2x Slaughter Games	2x Mizzium Mortars/Tragic Slip 2x Dreadbore 2x Liliana of the Veil

* NOTE, the above is just a typical side-boarding guide but is still dependent on what exactly my opponent is playing, and may change on what I see during the games.

The card choices may seem strange but I attempted to build the deck in order to “curve-out” every turn to maximise efficiency. The only card choice that I wasn’t 100% happy with is the 2x Vault of the Archangel. I feel that most games I didn’t really need the card and the deck wanted coloured land esp. with Boros Reckoner, more often. Therefore I would replace one Vault of the Archangel with another Sacred Foundry.

There are also not many additions post Dragon’s Maze that can be made to this deck, but here are a few possible cards that could improve some matchups:

·         Sire of Insanity

·         Entering (breaking//entering)

·         Master of Cruelties

·         Blood Baron of Vizkopa

·         Toil//Trouble

·         On colour keyrunes or cluestones

The starting signal is called. The competitor moves towards the starting blocks and locks himself into position. All peripheral noise and excitement is filtered out. A moment of absolute silence.

On your marks;

Get set;

Go.

Saturday’s Pro tour Qualifier (PTQ) did not start of well for me as I faced the fearfully fast (but sometimes inconsistent) Naya Blitz in Round 1. The first round seemed to set the tone of the day for me as I had a very challenging time in deciding to keep seven or even six cards in hand. This really tested me and I wasn’t able to get the upper hand throughout the day.

Here are my results for the PTQ (I ended on 4-3-0):

Round	Opponent	Opponent’s Deck	Result
1	Neil de la Rey	Naya Blitz	Loss 0-2
2	Eugene Klopper	BUG Zombies	Win 2-1
3	Francois Smuts	Esper Control	Win 2-0
4	Christopher Cleghorn	Jund Control	Loss 1-2
5	Christian Posthumus	Naya Blitz	Win 2-1
6	Harris Fong	BUG Zombies	Win 2-1
7	Calvin Baron	Jund Control	Loss 0-2

After feeling a little dejected and bemoaning that the situation just failed to work out for me, after the extensive effort put into the event, I adjusted my attitude for Sunday and decided to just play it out and let events unfold.

Here are my results for the WMCQ (I ended 6-1-0 at the end of the swiss rounds):

Round	Opponent	Opponent’s Deck	Result
1	Lee Jardine	Jund Control	Win 2-1
2	Clinton Smit	Jund Control	Loss 0-2
3	Navare Wilson	Mono Black Control	Win 2-1
4	JayJay van Vuuren	B/W Zombies	Win 2-0
5	Devin Dilworth	Grixis Zombies	Win 2-0
6	Kyle Singh	Naya Blitz	Win 2-0
7	Jarcque Henning	Bant Control	Win 2-0
Quarter’s	Mark Oppenheimer	R/G Aggro	Win 2-1
Semi’s	John Wood	Aristocrats	Win 2-1
Final’s	Andrew Wright	Huminator	Loss 0-2

I really played against some admirable and gracious opponents and I’m certain that if that is the attitude of most of the South African magic players, we are headed for greatness. I definitely learned that every win (and loss) begins and ends with me and only I can be responsible for it. Thanks again to all my team-mates and people who were supporting me on Sunday. Also thanks to the event organisers and judges for their professionalism and administration during the weekend.

The competitor shoots off the blocks as the gun fires. Charging like a raging bull towards the hurdles. First hurdle, clear; second, clear; third, clear. Floating fully extended over the remaining hurdles like a race horse over a hedge. Final hurdle;

Trailing Ankle;

Clang;

Stumble;

Plunge;

Pain;

Agony;

Failure...

Get up;

Acceptance;

 Grit teeth;

Cross finish line;

Fire in eyes still glowing;

Train harder for next event...