PTQ Report 12-21-13
198 players - 8 rounds - (6-2-0) 11th Place
After almost barely getting there due to Google Maps almost screwing me over (sending me on the other side of the highway.....seriously, I expect that from Apple Maps, not Google) I sleeved up DosRakis and headed in! This is definitely the largest event I had ever been to. It was very intimidating, a whopping 198 players which may not seem like a lot to some of you guys but I've just recently started getting into more competitive scenes. It-was-EXCITING!!
Honestly, I wanted to take Boros Legion, but I was always testing very poorly against Mono U
So, with possibly some false hope in me actually going far I decided to try DosRakis. I still can't tell if I either have a pair or just no confidence in myself...
I tried to reflect after every match. Sorry if some are
short!
8 rounds in the Swiss today...
[deck]
Lands 24
4 Blood Crypt
7 Mountain
3 Mutavault
3 Rakdos Guildgate
5 Swamp
2 Temple of Silence
Creatures 22
4 Chandra's Phoenix
3 Exava, Rakdos Blood Witch
4 Pack Rat
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Spike Jester
3 Stormbreath Dragon
Enchantment 1
1 Whip of Erebos
Instant 11
3 Hero's Downfall
4 Lightning Strike
4 Magma Jet
Sorcery 1
1 Dreadbore
Planeswalker 1
1 Chandra, Pyromaster
Sideboard 15:
2 Erebos, God of the Dead
1 Rix Maadi Guildmage
1 Doom Blade
1 Dreadbore
1 Flames of the Firebrand
2 Dark Betrayal
3 Mizzium Mortors
4 Toil // Trouble
[/deck]
otP Match 1 vs Kyle playing Mono Blue Devotion
(Oh man, Mono Blue Devotion right off the bat and probably the most memorable because I was already flustered from almost
being late and then being sent into the pit against Mono U to start...)
Game 1: I'm on the play, thankfully! I know my chances of winning are low unless I can power out an Exava, Stormbreath, or dump a bunch of rats on him. OR just a hand full of removal, lol. I had a plan, hold ALL Lightning Strikes for Nightveil Spectre's, hold ALL Hero's Downfalls for Master of Waves. Race with everything since this is game 1.
I saw a turn 2 Rakdos Cackler + Spike Jester for 5 damage, only to see it blocked by a Frostburn Weird on my opponents turn 2. He threw out a Nightveil Spectre on turn 3, which I started to play the control match up, killing it with my Lightning Strike. He tried locking my creatures down with Tidebinder, which I answered with Magma Jet or trades of additional Rakdos Cackler's. I thought him trading with my Cackler's was a bit odd, but he didn't have a Thassa out yet or a MoW, so I guess it was the correct move..?
He started dropping an army of Cloudfin Raptors and Judge's Familiars,
I saw 2 of each until I found a Chandra, Pryomaster and started sniping the familiars. At this point in the match I had dealt with 1 Master of Waves and lucked out on seeing any Thassa's. As my book shows, I was at 12 life and he was at 7. I drew into a Phoenix and then +0'd a Stormbreath Dragon. He finally showed a Thassa, but it was far too late since I had the stronger threat in the air.
Game 2: Nothing special, he drew a god hand. I hate this deck. It's so dumb that even the worst players (my player definitely wasn't bad, I'm just generalizing) can play it and still win as long as they tap land and drop their hand onto the field. There was almost nothing I could do. He curved from a Cloudfin Raptor, to Frostburn Weird, to Nightveil Spectre, and then a Master of Waves. I did kill the Master of Waves, but he showed Thassa next turn. I didn't have enough chump blocks or kill spells to try and turn her off after that
nDumb.
Game 3: Rix "fcking" Maadi "MVP" Guildmage!!
That's all I have to say. By turn 3, he was just dumping Judge's Familiars and unevolved Cloudfin Raptors onto the field. He tried dropping Nightveil Spectre even, but I had the better card draw + the ability to just kill any blockers on sight with Rix. He even had Thassa activated, but couldn't even kill a cackler with it because I had enough mana to bring it to a 1/1. I seriously controlled the game with just Rix Maadi. My opponent was definitely frustrated with the card, Cyclonic Rifting it TWICE just to get in some damage, which nearly worked. I was down to 4 health by games end, but Rix definitely distracted my opponent enough to the point where I could hold the right cards for the correct threats. Amazing card!
1-0
otD Match 2 vs Anrey playing White Weenie
Game 1: Nothing special in any of these games, we were almost the first pair done in this round. Game 1, he dropped a Pantheon,
Captain, Boros Elite, then into a Spear of Heliod to pretty much end the game quick.
Game 2: Flames of the Firebrand and what do you know, Rix "fcking" Maadi "MVP" Guildmage did work. Mostly Flames of the Firebrand to be completely honest. It allowed a very nice hole for me to start stabalizing as I was on my heels already and playing the control match up.
Game 3: I ended it swift and quick just as he did in Game 1 with Pack Rats. I can't remember what turn it was, but I believe it may have been turn 5 or 6? I had 5/5 Pack Rat's running in. Yea...GG.
2-0
otP Match 3 vs Radu playing Naya Control
Game 1: I was on the play and I had to mull to 5
This is something that DosRakis does, it either doesn't seem to draw mana (even though I have 24) or it draws the poor color matches. I understood both of this and even saw it happen many times in testing before I went into
the tournament today.
Needless to say, I took a very ballsy hand. I drew 2 Mutvaults, 2 Spike Jesters, and 1 Chandra's Phoenix. Luckily, I drew colors lol I quickly realized he was playing either Naya Control or Midrange so I only put out 2 creatures over his creature count in fear of 1. Anger of the Gods or 2. Mizzium Mortars.
I started to sense his desperation when he started throwing Boros Charms to my face. They main board this? I did see a Stormbreath Dragon, but it was dealt with swiftly. I took the win shortly after. I just evaded threats and finished with Mutavault.
Game 2: I ran into mana issues once again, not seeing double black for Hero's Downfall so I could start dealing with his Stormbreath Dragon's
I was able to kill one with a Dreadbore, but then I saw another and then the finisher--Assemble the Legion ;\
Game 3: It came down to a nail biter. I wasn't expecting him to do what he did though.
Incredible.
What he did was...just remarkable. I was holding a Lightning Strike and Magma Jet (5 damage total, plus the 2 from Phoenix would seal the deal), so I used MJ and I brought my Phoenix back. I played it and swung in, he dropped 2 Selesyna Charm's on it, making it a 6/6. Then he dropped a third.........wow, really? Exiling it. He sat at 5 life...with nothing in my hand but a Lightning Strike that I could use or just sit and hope for a top deck.
His turn, 3 cards left. Plays a land, 2 cards left. Played Stormbreath Dragon swinging in for 4. I had all but one chance to top deck a removal. Nope ;\ He won. Incredible...
Nothing I could have done in that situation even if I tried sniping my own Phoenix ;\
2-1
otP Match 4 vs Greg playing GW Aggro
Game 1: This was sort of like the White Weenie match up. It seems my aggro match ups end quick. It wasn't as quick as the Match 2, but it went pretty fast. Game 1 I curb stomped him with Pack Rats and Spike
Jester, my opponent scooping when I showed my Stormbreath Dragon.
Game 2: I found it difficult trying to out maneuver a Fleecemane Lion that was able to get monstrosity off
Really sucked I didn't have enough removal for it, he kept blowing Brave of the Elements to save it every time I tried to kill it. It ultimately ended up being the killer. If I was able to play a second Stormbreath Dragon I think I would have been fine, but I never saw it. So, I was forced to leave my only one on the field untapped to block. It ultimately ended when he dropped Armada Wurm and then next turn -3'd Ajani, forcing me to block the Fleecemane or the Armada Wurm with the dragon. Ultimately, removing it and then ending the game the turn after ;\
Game 3: Fiendslayer Paladin did work, 2 of them to be exact. I couldn't do anything against it. Just plain and simple. I've always had trouble against this card, even with PyroBoros. It's just a
beast of a card if you don't have the correct creature make up to deal with it (or removal, in which this case I have none, heh).
2-2
By this time, I figured I was out of the tournament. I was pretty disappointed but I realized I was playing DosRakis lol. I'm never really sure what to do in these situations since x-2 sometimes get into Top 8's while other times they don't. It just depends on what all else happens and what much %'s are. I decided to play the rest of the matches out until I lost another.
ALL OR NOTHING!!
otD Match 5 vs Troy playing Mono Blue Devotion
Game 1: Ahhh, another Mono Blue Devotion deck!
God hand, I'm dead. I really hope MoW is effectively answered in BNG. This is getting about as ridiculous as Thragtusk from last rotation.
Game 2: PERFECT hand of removal and not a single creature. Take it? You bet I did. I had 2 Hero's Downfalls, 2 land (Rakdos Guildgate and a Temple of Silence), a Doom Blade, Dreadbore, and a Lightning Strike.
nI felt incredibly confident with this hand. I didn't see a land actually until turn 4, which made me a little worried but I drew my Chandra, Pyromaster and just started to go to work. Thassa came online, but never activated. I ended up just controlling the entire match, never dropping below 10 health (I was at 11 by games end).
Game 3: We raced, but I over powered him with 2 Chandra's Phoenix's and a Stormbreath Dragon. It was a close race, whew! It feels so good beating Mono Blue honestly!
3-2 (Still alive, I hope!)
otP Match 6 vs Ken playing Mono Blue Devotion
Game 1: 3rd Mono Blue Devotion I've matched up against today and 2nd in a row? God damn, the gods must have really wanted me to leave! This was probably the best match up of the day against the archetype. I curved very well with Rakdos Cackler > Spike Jester > Chandra's Phoenix. I answered his Master of Waves with my Hero's Downfalls and just steam rolled through the rest of the way with Exava
Game 2: Ditched 2 Chandra's Phoenix's to Pack Rats, eating my opponent alive
It felt great...again!
4-2
otP Match 7 vs Matthias playing UW Control
Game 1: This was frustrating as UW Control tends to be. I tried getting in damage as best and most efficiently as I could, but it just wasn't enough. I saw too many Quicken > Supreme Verdicts. I even tried Magma Jetting my creatures that he wanted to Charm to the top of my library, but once he got Archangel up and running, it was game.
Game 2: Turn 3 to Turn 4 Toil//Trouble, what up son lol 11 damage. It was glorious. He was shortly dead afterwards. It seemed he didn't even expect the card from his reaction the first time he saw it, strange ;x
Game 3: I had some really good early pressure, knocking him to 6 life, but then he started to stabilize. I
tried baiting counter spells and D. Sphere's, still swinging with what I could (mostly from Mutavaults). Ultimately, I was able to resolve my second Erebos and start my card draw, playing a Chandra to further my card draw. It was pretty crazy. Once the Whip came online, I knew I had it locked up with 3 D.Sphere's already on the board.
5-2 (I'm seriously doing this!!)
otD Match 8 vs Jeremy Esper Control
Game 1: I tried getting in early with Pack Rats, only seeing 2 damage come from them before D.Sphere hit the table. Chandra, Pyromaster came out afterwards to start drawing me some extra cards. I then pulled an additional Stormbreath Dragon, which I had one in hand from the start of the game. Crashing in for 4 and 8, seeing double verdicts. Resolving 1 Chandra's Phoenix was enough until I could ult and win with Chandra, Pryomaster
Game 2: Very smooth and easy game, he burned through
his health with a shock land and then 2 Thoughtseize's afterwards. I top decked into a Spike Jester which put him in a really bad spot. He took out good threats at least, Erebos and Stormbreath but his life total was so low at this point that I ended it with Exava a few turns later.
6-2!
I was very pleased with how the deck worked actually, but there are some pretty glaring mana issues which I think have been thoroughly discussed in the thread. I sadly didn't make the cut into top 8. I believe there was 1 spot for a 6-2 record or maybe it was 6-1-1, but anyways I tied with 22 or so other people, heh. I ultimately was placed in 11th.
It made me feel really bad losing to GW Aggro...argh!! I might have made it in if it wasn't for that
Shameful ;;
I felt like I did close to my best though and it was fun and a very gratifying experience as it was my 2nd major tournament that I've ever been to. I'll crack top 8
one of these times!
Rix Maadi was amazing in only one match up, but it made the difference. It was used effectively in other matches as well. I do feel indifferent about it though. The mana base is janky to get good and reliable activations off of it. I don't know why I just didn't cut it like everyone else has ended up doing, heh. Honestly, I think I might have liked using Rod of Ruin or a black removal over it as you guys have done. Double Erebos also felt a little strange, but it wasn't terrible.