Patriot Games

Monday 25 March 2013

Invitational Update

Well we had us some weather on Friday and Saturday gave us - Sheffield twinned with Narnia! However, this did not blunt the enthusiasm of the participants for the invitation qualifier, 19 players for the standard portion and 12 for the modern gave us 8 new qualified competitors for the Invitational in October.  Before I put up the new revised list of those qualified I feel we should give a big virtual round of applause for the standard winner - Quinton Lip.  Quinton was unable to take part in last years invitational as he was not allowed to play magic at the time.  To see him back and come first was appreciated by all those present.  Congratulations to Ollie Frith for  coming second and earning himself a spot at the invitational.

I have no idea if they played this I just like the picture.

Before we look at the Modern section I need to mention the people in fifth, sixth and seventh place.  There were only 2 out of the 19 players who were already qualified so there was everything to play for.  However, this also meant that you needed to top 4 to earn the slot (unlike the modern but we will get to that in a bit).  Just outside the top 4 we had the following:

5) Lee Parker
6) Richard Fuller
7) Jimmy Wild

That's a pretty impressive line up there.  having played against Jimmy during the week I was pretty confident that he would top 4.  I expect to see these 3 names joining the list after the next qualifier in June.

4 of those playing in the Modern half of the tournament were already qualified which left the other 8 to battle it out for the 4 qualifying slots.  Following on from last weeks GP San Diego the first and second place went to Robert and myself playing Brian Kibler's Naya Aggro - such a sweet deck I just love it and so much fun to play, and thank you to Brian for tweeting Rob back to explain why we run Sword of Light and Shadow in the side board.  we both decided to include copies of blind obedience in the side board for Eggs and other aggro decks and the card was worth its weight in gold.  A special mention needs to go to Sean Crowley, who not only got mana flooded then mana screwed against me but just missed out of the qualifying slots by one place.  I am sure he will be there in June when we hold the next qualifier.

Apparently a really good sideboard card in Modern...

Speaking of the next qualifier I can now tell you that it will be on Saturday 22nd June 2013 with the same Standard/Modern mix of tournaments.  So here is the list of qualified participants:

Robert Tinsley
Andrew Mather
Daniel Cocking
Andy Sims
Mike Boon
Patrick Bateman
John Roberts
James Brook
Diarmuid Verrier
Grzegorz Flis
Fabian Quinn
Stephen Kay
Richard Tinsley
Adam Pollard
Matt Cooper
Owen Debenham 
Matteo Orsini Jones
Steve McAleer
Joe Alexander
John Kay
Chris Parks
Michael Shillitoe
Alistair Kennedy
Andrew Munro
Quinton Lip
Oliver Frith
Ben Pearson
Jordan Woodward
Declan Jones
Lai Chi Yin
Dom Parker
Sam-Luca Rolf


With over half the places gone the next 2 slots will be awarded at the PTQ in just under 3 weeks as the winner and runner up also receive invites.

I'm going to be on a bit of a break as I am off to HUll on Wednesday and Mark Smith will be running Standard this Friday.  See you all after Easter.

Monday 18 March 2013

Mastering Modern

Before I launch into today's blog at full force I wanted to remind everyone that this coming Saturday is the second invitational qualifier.  There are 2 tournaments - Standard at 10:30 and Modern at 12:30, £5 entry with 2 boosters in the prize pool per person.  The top 4 from each event will earn themselves an Invite to the invitational in October 2013 and the chance to become members of the Steel City Patriots Team 2014.  

Invites will cascade down if those already qualified are in the top 4, and qualified players can be found here.  With a fantastic weekend of Magic at GP San Diego just gone I am expecting some great decks in the Modern portion.  If you missed the coverage you missed some outstanding play by some of the top pros in the game including Brian Kibler, Melissa DeTora, Owen Turtenwald and Eric Froelich.

So, this card is just really good, who knew?

Its not usually I write one of these things expected lots of people to disagree with me, it actually just happens quite organically without me meaning it to.   Today is different, today is just not the same, today I am actively encouraging people to disagree with me!  

Let me explain; when they announced Modern Masters way back in October last year they told us the set break down with regards to what mix of cards would be in  it.  This is what we know will be in Modern Masters:

  • 229 Reprint set.
  • 101 Commons.
  • 60 Uncommons.
  • 53 Rares.
  • 15 Mythics.
  • All cards will be from sets between 8th Edition and Alara Reborn.
  • Some cards will change their rarity in order to fit the constraints of the set.
Since hearing this I have been wondering what exactly will be in Modern Masters, and trying to come up with a list of cards which I think should make it into the set.  I have not been able to come up with all 229 cards but have given it a good try - the commons are the hardest!  I would like you to take a look at these cards and see if you agree with my choices, disagree for some reason and laugh hysterically as you notice I have forgotten something obvious.  Here are my lists by rarity:

Common (49/101)


Boomerang
Chromatic Sphere
Conjurer's Bauble
Cranial Plating
Darksteel Citadel
Darksteel Ingot
Desperate Ritual
Disenchant
Disciple of the Vault
Echoing Truth
Elsewhere Flask
Empty the Warrens
Faerie Macabre
Flame Jab
Frogmite
Grapeshot
Lava Spike
Machinate
Might of Alara
Molten Rain
Myr Enforcer
Peer through Depths
Pestermite
Putrid Leach 
Pyrite Spellbomb
Qasali Pridemage
Rampant Growth
Reach through mists
Relic of Progenitus
Rift Bolt
Sakura Tribe Elder
Seal of Fire
Search for Tomorrow
Serum Visions
Shard Volley
Shattering Spree
Shrapnel Blast
Slieght of hand
Spellstutter Sprite
Spring Leaf Drum
Stone Rain
Terminate
Thoughtcast
Tribal Flames
Volcanic Hammer
Vulshock Gauntlets
Wall of roots
Welding Jar
Wood Elves

I am confident there is a whole bunch of creatures that will be in the other 52 slots but Ihave no idea what they may be.

Uncommon (46/60)


Aven Mindcensor
Bant Charm
Chromatic Star
City of Brass
Cursecatcher
Darkblast
Electrolyse
Esper Charm
Eternal Witness
Firespout
Gemstone Mine
Ghostly Prison
Grixis Charm
Intervention Pact
Isochron Sceptre
Jund Charm
Kird Ape
Kitchen Finks
Krosan Grip
Lightning Helix
Martyr of Sands
Merchant Scroll
Merrow Reejerey
Might of old Krosa
Murderous Redcap
Naya Charm
Ornithopter
Pact of Negation
Pact of the Titan
Path to Exile
Remand
Rule of Law
Shatterstorm
Silvergill Adept
Slaughter Pact
Sowing Salt
Spectral Procession
Spell Snare
Steelshaper's Gift
Summoner's Pact
Sylvan Scrying
Tidehollow Sculler
Undead Warchief
Urza's Mine
Urza's Power Plant
Urza's Tower
Volcanic Fallout

I thought that they may well reprint the Pact cycle but in order to fit it in with the set they might downgrade them to uncommon.

Rare (53/53)

Academy Ruins
Aether Vial
Angel of Despair
Arcbound Ravager
Banefire
Blinkmoth Nexus
Blood Moon
Bribery
Bridge from Below
Call of the herd
Cascade Bluffs
Child of Alara
Chord of Calling
Crucible of Worlds
Cryptic Command
Damnation
Darksteel Colossus
Death Baron
Deathbringer Liege
Doubling Season
Engineered Explosives
Ethersworn Cannonist
Fetid Heath
Figure of Destiny
Fire Lit Thicket
Flagstones of Trokair
Flooded Grove
Fulminator Mage
Gaddock Teeg
Gifts Ungiven
Glen Elendra Archmage
Glimmervoid
Graven Cairns
Hell's Thunder
Horizon Canopy
Hurkyl's Recall
Life from the Loam
Lotus Bloom
Maelstrom Pulse
Master of Ethirum
Meddling Mage
Mystic Gate
Noble Hierach
Ranger of Eos
Reshape
Scapeshift
Second Sunrise
Thoughtsieze
Threads of Disloyalty
Through the breach
Twilight Mire
Vedalkan Shackles
Wrath of God

Although I have all of these I am sure there will be strong feelings as to what should and should not be in there.  I think that they will put the filter land cycle in as the rare land cycle for the set.

Mythic (14/15)


Bogarden Hellkite
Dark Confident
Doran the Siege tower
Elspeth, Knight Errant
Kiki - Jiki Mirror Breaker
Kira, Great Glass-Spinner
Knight of the Reliquary
Mutavault
Progenitus
Sarkan Vol
Sword of Fire and Ice
Sword of Light and Shadow
Tarmogoyf
Vendilion Clique

A number of these cards have already been made up to mythic status.  Sadly I think Thoughtsieze could easily be the 15th Mythic I am just hoping that it is not the case.

I look forward to your comments, please stick them below or on the Facebook group, either is cool.  

This Friday it will be pauper in Relax.  I will be back with another blog on Friday.  See you then.


Friday 15 March 2013

Do you like Pie?

As anyone who reads this blog with any regularity knows I am a wrestling fan and used to play a card game called Raw Deal.  There was a card based on one of the Rock's catch phrases called "Do you like Pie?"  The card did exactly the same as Magic's Intuition from Tempest.  Allowing you to look for 3 cards keep one and 2 go in your graveyard.  The card could not be countered if played by the Rock.

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and his eyebrow!

However, this is not about The Rock or his Pie but about a completely different pie - the Magic colour pie.




The above is a very posh representation of the colour pie but if you look at the back of a Magic card each one features the same thing in a more simple way:

Just in case you didn't know what those coloured dots on the back were...

Going right back to the beginning of Magic the colour pie was not as established as it is today and you had weird and wonderful things like Red counter spells and blue "pingers" (creatures/artifacts that tap to shoot you for X damage).  The colour pie is actually really clever and very simply shows the relationship of all the colour's to one another.

On each side of a colour are the 2 friendly colours to that colour and if you take all 3 together you get the popular 3 colour combinations which have the most synergy and also make up the various shards of Alara (more on that in a bit).  Opposite each colour are their enemy colours which make up the "wedge" colours they based the commander decks around a couple of years ago.  Some of these have catchy names based on the acronym of the colours that make them up.  So we have;


  • RUG - Red, Blue, Green (Blue wedge).
  • BUG - Black, Blue, Green (Green Wedge).
  • Junk - Black, White, Green (Black Wedge).
Ok so Junk is not an acronym but that is what they call it.  Oh and it is also known as Rock... 

By now you should be familiar with the 2 colour identities Wizards came up with as they are the guilds from the original Ravnica block.  These are;

Azorius
UW (Blue/White).
Boros
RW (Red/White).
Dimir
UB (Blue/Black).
Golgari
BG (Black/Green).
Gruul
RG (Red/Green).
Izzet
UR (Blue/Red).
Orzov
BW (Black/White).
Rakdos
BR (Black/Red).
Selesnya
GW (Green/White).
Simic
UG (Blue/Green).

Blue is shown in abbreviations as "U" because black already had B.  20 Years ago single colour decks were far more popular than they are today partially because there was not the degree of mana fixing we now enjoy - only having 4 underground seas in your deck as your only duel lands wasn't great.

The most expensive of the original dual lands.

2 Colour decks have been covered pretty extensively recently as we are in the Return to Ravnica block at the moment.  So I wont bother to go into any more detail about that here.  

Magic has a habit of naming things based on the first thing to do a thing, this is why we call putting cards from your deck into your grave yard as "milling" after the card known as Millstone from Antiquities which did this as it's ability.


Mill you for two...

This is why we call the Ravnica lands "Shock" lands as Shock is a spell, originally from Stronghold,  which does 2 damage and so do the lands if they come in untapped.  This is especially true when it comes to the 3 colour deck archetypes given names as the Shards of Alara.



Each of the shards in the story line were devoid of 2 colours of mana and this allowed Wizards to create really strong identities for each shard and the names are still used by players 5 years later.  the 5 shards are:


Bant
UWG (Blue, White, Green)
Esper
UBW (Blue, Black, White
Grixis
UBR (Blue, Black, Red)
Jund
RBG (Red, Black, Green)
Naya
RWG (Red, White, Green)


These 5 make some of the most potent combinations in Magic and can be found throughout all formats.  Several of these are recognisable as top tier decks in current standard, with Naya Blitz and good old Jund making waves in the current meta.  Wizards did this Planes Explorer thing for the shards of Alara which can be found here.  It helps get the flavor and feel of each shard across.

As mentioned above certain of these colour combinations see play across formats so I would like to look at 3 deck lists, all of which are "Jund" but are notably different.  Here we have the popular standard Jund list:



4  Blood Crypt
3  Dragonskull Summit
3  Forest
2  Kessig Wolf Run
4  Overgrown Tomb
1  Rootbound Crag
4  Stomping Ground
4  Woodland Cemetery

25 lands

3  Arbor Elf
4  Huntmaster of the Fells
2  Olivia Voldaren
4  Thragtusk

13 creatures

2  Abrupt Decay
4  Bonfire of the Damned
1  Dreadbore
4  Farseek
1  Murder
2  Pillar of Flame
2  Rakdos's Return
1  Ultimate Price
17 other spells

2  Garruk, Primal Hunter
3  Liliana of the Veil

5 planeswalkers

Sideboard

2  Duress
2  Grafdigger's Cage
1  Murder
1  Olivia Voldaren
1  Pillar of Flame
1  Rakdos's Return
2  Staff of Nin
2  Strangleroot Geist
1  Tragic Slip
2  Underworld Connections

Now here we have a Modern Jund list after Bloodbraid Elf got itself banned:



1 Forest
2 Swamp
4 Blackcleave Cliffs
2 Blood Crypt
4 Marsh Flats
1 Overgrown Tomb
3 Raging Ravine
1 Stomping Ground
1 Treetop Village
4 Verdant Catacombs

Lands (23)



3 Bloodhall Ooze
4 Dark Confidant
4 Deathrite Shaman
2 Ghor-Clan Rampager
4 Putrid Leech
4 Tarmogoyf

Creatures (21)

4 Liliana of the Veil

Planeswalkers (4)

4 Lightning Bolt
2 Terminate
2 Blightning
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
1 Thoughtseize

Spells (12)

Sideboard

2 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Spellskite
1 Abrupt Decay
2 Ancient Grudge
1 Burst Lightning
1 Dismember
1 Maelstrom Pulse
4 Molten Rain
2 Thoughtseize


And then we have Legacy "Punishing" Jund.  Please note that Legacy Jund has similar cards but they are notably better and it gets to play all the really cool stuff that has been banned in Modern (Like Bloodbraid Elf and Punishing Fire).


3 Badlands
2 Bayou
2 Bloodstained Mire
1 Graven Cairns
4 Grove of the Burnwillows
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Wasteland
4 Wooded Foothills

Lands (24)

4 Bloodbraid Elf
4 Dark Confidant
4 Deathrite Shaman
4 Tarmogoyf

Creatures (16)


3 Abrupt Decay
3 Lightning Bolt
4 Punishing Fire
2 Hymn to Tourach
4 Thoughtseize

Spells (16)

4 Liliana of the Veil

Planewalker (4)


Sideboard

2 Nihil Spellbomb
2 Obstinate Baloth
1 Sylvan Library
3 Mindbreak Trap
4 Pyroblast
3 Duress

As you can see the term Jund refers to the colour combination rather than a specific set of cards.  I hope this explains what people mean when they talk about Bant and Esper from now on.

I'll be back next week with more blogs, till then keep turning those men sideways!

Monday 11 March 2013

In development

Well that was quite a weekend.  2 Standard Grand Prix around the world, Steel City Magic and 2 headed giant in FNM.  An incredibly close finish to FNM saw Henry Hart and Tom Lewis first winning, then not winning, then winning again to take away 2 copies of the much desired Farseek promo ahead of myself and Mr Smith.  i can't remember a more exciting end to an FNM ever.

Great art work on a card that is seeing massive amounts of play.

Last September I bought you a personal 10 step plan to help you play better magic (see here).  The very first step, even before the golden rule of "Read the Cards!" is to be honest with yourself.  I referenced Sam Stoddard's article on Star City Games about making a fearless magic inventory (seriously if you have not read it already go read it here).  Part of making this inventory is to share it with your fellow Magic players to get help with being a better player.  I did  this over a year ago now and wanted to share my own inventory with you and look at how I have progressed in the last year or so.

Rich Tinsley's Magical Inventory (or what I do wrong when I play MTG!)

  1. I don't always mulligan when I think I should and fear going to 5 or even 4 card hands.

    Well good news on this one - I took it by the horns and now mulligan those borderline hands about 80% of the time.  I have even gone down to 4 cards and still managed to win the game so this doesn't feel like a problem anymore.
  2. I don't write life totals down and keep a proper track of my opponent's life total.

    I now always have a notebook for serious tournaments and use my handy MTG Familiar app on my phone at other times.  I think this one gets a tick too.
  3. I don't always check to see what my opponent could do in response to my play (counter spell etc).

    Yeah, this is still a problem - I still tend to be far more focused on my game plan than I do what my opponent is/could do - loses me games, really need to work on this one.
  4. I assume my mind can keep track of everything without any assistance.

    Less of a problem than it was thanks to the notebooks but still forget what is in hand etc sometimes.
  5. I have a strong dislike of net decks and net decking.

    I am not keen on net decks.  I think they remove a key skill piece in playing cards and that is the ability to build decks.  Also I find that because Pro player A won a GP with this deck everyone copies it card for card and doesn't even try to develop the deck ideas around the meta.  Having said that I have surrendered to several net decks and even quite enjoyed playing one or two.  Generally, those that net deck need to brew more and those who exclusively brew need to net deck sometimes.  I don't think this will ever change.
  6. I will rare draft when there is no prize support.

    I have actually got worse at this.  I will rare draft and then try and build a really good draft deck as well.  Worse of all sometimes it works and I feel vindicated.  Need to work on this one too.
  7. I don't keep track of what I pass in draft so can accidentally pass cards I should not.

    Thanks to recognising that this was something I did wrong I have stopped doing it and have got much better at reading signals and not giving people immense cards for their deck by accident.
  8. I play too fast and don't take the time to think things through.

    This one took a bit of work, but I finally have it licked.  In have got to the point where I even think 3 times about which land I should play to have the most impact on the game over the next 2 - 3 turns.  I feel this is no longer a problem, Relax has been really good for this as I often have to explain what the hell I'm doing.
  9. I don't always check what cards do.

    I occasionally fall foul of the "Oh yeah that does X" when in fact it does "Y".  Generally though if I am even slightly unsure I apply rule number 2 - Read the Cards!
  10. I tend to not take responsibility for my own errors.

    I hope this is one of the areas I have made the most progress.  Being able to go "yeah I screwed up" is very important if you want to get better.  Sometimes you get mana flooded/mana screwed but more often you keep a bad hand and get punished for it.  See number one...

  11. I need to love Modern/Legacy and learn how to play them.

    I love modern and really enjoy playing it,so job sorted there.

    I have had a go at Legacy and it is not the format for me.  There is a certain amount of the more money I have the better I am at Magic cause I have all the cards.  However, Legacy takes this to an extreme - If you have plenty of money you can buy the best deck and win most of the time.  I also have a far deeper understanding of Legacy than I did have and also the same goes for Legacy players.  I really admire the passion that Legacy players have for their format but then I find that it is a real pain in the ass at the same time.  Legacy is not my cup of tea but I do recognise that it is a "thing" and that many people think it is just the best thing ever.  What I object to is Legacy players trying to embark on some kind of evangelical crusade to convert me to the true faith.  Some of us just want to play standard/modern/limited/extended - please piss off and leave us alone!

  12. I am obsessed with Planeswalkers and want to play them in every deck.

    This one is sorted but I think it needs some explanation.  When I started to play Magic revised/unlimited was the core set.  You played against people who had Black Lotus and Moxes as a run of the mill thing.  Playing 4 balance in your deck was fine and my first limited tournament was for ante!

    One thing we didn't have was Planeswalkers.  I remember seeing Steve McAleer and Andy Mather playing EDH against one another and playing loads of planeswalkers against one another.  I was like wow these cards are so cool, and I didn't own any.  Having said that the first planeswalker I ever opened in a booster was Jace, the Mind Sculptor, so that was pretty sweet.  I have a pretty good collection of planeswalkrs now but they only ever make the cut if they really bring something to the whole shebang.

  13. I need to build better EDH decks.
    Well I would say that this is a done deal.  Robert Tinsley would disagree.  However, we now have a standard rule added to the universe and that is "Never play EDH with a Hull player" as Rob counts as one of those we will ignore his input.
  14. I don't need to play Eldrazi in every format.

    Well I have played Eldrazi in every format but tend to leave the tentacled beast in the box nowadays.  So I guess this is not really a thing anymore.
  15. I need to write my decklists down.

    This too is sorted. I have a MTG notebook which is where I am getting all of these points from and is filled with deck lists.  Yet again FNM Relax really helped with this as I used to put my deck list up on the blog every week until people told me not too.
  16. I need to proxy decks up and get a goo deck in each format.

    Well I have done this quite a lot since I wrote this.  When Mike Boon lived with me for 3 months last year we proxied up some crazy stuff and tried to break formats.  We failed but it was good fun.
  17. Sometimes my pigheaded belief in "my build" is not enough.

    Yeah this is a thing.  I still find, even when I net deck, that lists do not suit me and my play style (if I have such a thing).  This tends to make me run things like a 1 of Vorapede in Jund and main board tragic slips in Aristocrats rather than Reckoners.  Sometimes I am right, and sometimes I am wrong.  Don't have a solution just yet.
  18. Playing untested, unproven decks at big events is stupid.

    This reads like a statement but refers to me building a deck in my head on the way home the night before a nationals qualifier and then not doing very well.  I don't do this anymore.
  19. I assume the outcome of some matches before I even draw a card.

    I guess that it was pure ego that took over when I did this in the past.  You just sit down and go "Yeah I have this guy beat" then 30 minutes later you go "What went wrong?"  I never underestimate people anymore.
  20. Magic is not about emotion.

    I think this is the hardest part of all.  When you win you feel happy and when you lose you feel disappointed.  Sometimes you feel really annoyed, quite often at yourself.  I play my best Magic when I have a clear head and it is devoid of feeling about my opponent, my day, or any outside consideration.  In the end it is strictly business, its nothing personal.

I hope this is of help to people and inspires you to make your own Magic Inventory.  This Friday it is draft and the blog will be going back to basics and looking at why things are what they are in Magic.  See you then.

Friday 8 March 2013

For Your Information

Ok, so no witty repartee or complicated puns this week.  Not even random celebrities that have nothing to do with the topic in hand other than they wandered into my mind while I was writing and I thought it would be cool type of thing.  Just the facts, man.



Firstly, as Spock says to McCoy, "Remember!"  Two weeks tomorrow it is the second invitational qualifier.  There will be two tournaments with a standard event at 10:30 and a Modern event starting at 12:30.  Entry to each will be £5 with 2 boosters into the prize pool for each participant.  The top 4 will each get an invite to the invitational in October as well as booster prizes.  If you are one of the people already qualified you are still more than welcome to come and play as the entries will cascade down to lower places if players in the top 4 have already qualified.  Here is the list of qualified players:

Robert Tinsley
Andrew Mather
Daniel Cocking
Andy Sims
Mike Boon
Patrick Bateman
John Roberts
James Brook
Diarmuid Verrier
Grzegorz Flis
Fabian Quinn
Stephen Kay
Richard Tinsley
Adam Pollard
Matt Cooper
Owen Debenham 
Matteo Orsini Jones
Steve McAleer
Joe Alexander
John Kay
Chris Parks
Michael Shillitoe
Alistair Kennedy
Andrew Munro

That means that more than 3rd of the places have already gone, so if your name is not on the list make sure you are there on 23rd March 2013.  If your name is on the list come along anyway as the slots will cascade down the rankings and £5 with 2 boosters in the pool is pretty sweet value.  If time allows we will probably draft the boosters afterwards.

Speaking of value I can reveal the cost for the Sheffield PTQ on April 13th 2013.  After much crunching of numbers by Jim and discussions on how we can do this for blah we have decided that we are going to go with a price of £15 with 3 boosters per head in the prize pool.  We decided that cost was more important than how many boxes of boosters we give away and wanted to encourage people to come and play.  we are working on a couple of other funky incentives to add value to the Sheffield PTQ experience but will  let you know about those shortly.

Today in Relax it is 2 headed giant (Standard) with promos going to the first team and the last team - in your effort to come last you are not allowed to scoop to your opponents!  

Also this weekend sees the return of Steel City on Sunday with the usual competitive standard tourney and a draft later in the afternoon.  Standard is £7 and draft £10 - considering the massive standard season we have looming this is a good time to come get your game on and try to win some boosters or store credit.

Its all happening at Patriot Games Sheffield in the next few weeks!

This has been a public information broadcast for the Magic Community of Sheffield.

See you later.

Friday 1 March 2013

Standard formation.

This FNM its Standard in both tournaments.  There is an element of coincidence that we have a week of double standard just as we have the announcement of a standard PTQ in Sheffield on 13th April 2013 (if you missed it look here).  However, we are about to have a lot of standard going on all over the place; not only do we have a standard PTQ season which starts in the next couple of weeks but we also have 3 World Magic Cup Qualifiers (WMCQ) coming up too.

Move over Thragtusk - I got this...

For those who don't know about the WMCQs let me explain.  Wizards of the coast changed the way they do things last year and instead of a National Championship leading to the world championship we now have 3 World Cup qualifiers the winners of which join the top pro player from their country in forming a team to compete for the Magic World Cup (I hear there is something similar in football but my total lack of knowledge about football means I have to take other peoples word for it).  You need to have accumulated 300 planeswalker points in the year 2nd April 2012 - 17th March 2013 (I have 1225 so 300 is not too hard to do).  This year all those participating will get a foil alternate art promo in the form of the awesome Vengevine;


I love this card - my replacement for Bloodbraid Elf in Modern Jund.

Here are the dates and locations for this years WMCQs:

07th April 2013 - Dark Sphere (London).
21st April 2013 - Wargames Workshop (Milton Keynes)
02nd June 2013 - Fanboy3 (Manchester)

The London and Manchester WMCQ are double-header weekends with a PTQ on the Saturday and the WMCQ on the Sunday.  

As a result I will be organising a number of testing/practice sessions over the next few weeks to hone our decks and ideas ready for a hopefully memorable standard season.  The first of these sessions will be this Sunday at Patriot Games from 11am.  Here are some of the decks we will be testing/testing against;


Naya Agrro

4  Cavern of Souls
1  Rootbound Crag
4  Sacred Foundry
4  Stomping Ground
3  Sunpetal Grove
4  Temple Garden
20 lands

4  Boros Elite
4  Burning-Tree Emissary
4  Champion of the Parish
4  Experiment One
4  Flinthoof Boar
4  Frontline Medic
1  Ghor-Clan Rampager
4  Lightning Mauler
4  Mayor of Avabruck
33 creatures

3  Giant Growth
4  Searing Spear
7 other spells

Sideboard
3  Boros Charm
2  Fiend Hunter
2  Gruul Charm
2  Nearheath Pilgrim
3  Pacifism
3  Thalia, Guardian of Thraben

Free men are good right?

Arbor Jund

4  Blood Crypt
3  Dragonskull Summit
3  Forest
2  Kessig Wolf Run
4  Overgrown Tomb
1  Rootbound Crag
4  Stomping Ground
4  Woodland Cemetery
25 lands

3  Arbor Elf
4  Huntmaster of the Fells
2  Olivia Voldaren
4  Thragtusk
13 creatures

2  Abrupt Decay
4  Bonfire of the Damned
1  Dreadbore
4  Farseek
1  Murder
2  Pillar of Flame
2  Rakdos's Return
1  Ultimate Price
17 other spells

2  Garruk, Primal Hunter
3  Liliana of the Veil
5 planeswalkers

Sideboard
1  Devour Flesh
3  Duress
2  Grafdigger's Cage
1  Liliana of the Veil
1  Olivia Voldaren
2  Pillar of Flame
1  Rakdos's Return
2  Staff of Nin
2  Underworld Connections

So I hear turn 2 Liliana is a thing...

The Aristocrats

4  Blood Crypt
3  Cavern of Souls
1  Clifftop Retreat
4  Godless Shrine
4  Isolated Chapel
3  Plains
4  Sacred Foundry
1  Vault of the Archangel
24 lands

4  Boros Reckoner
4  Cartel Aristocrat
4  Champion of the Parish
4  Doomed Traveler
4  Falkenrath Aristocrat
3  Knight of Infamy
1  Restoration Angel
2  Silverblade Paladin
2  Skirsdag High Priest
2  Zealous Conscripts
30 creatures

2  Lingering Souls
4  Orzhov Charm
6 other spells

Sideboard

2  Blasphemous Act
2  Lingering Souls
1  Mentor of the Meek
2  Obzedat, Ghost Council
2  Rest in Peace
1  Skirsdag High Priest
2  Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
3  Tragic Slip

This card was $3 in April last year, glad I got them then...

Esper Control

4  Drowned Catacomb
4  Glacial Fortress
2  Godless Shrine
4  Hallowed Fountain
2  Island
4  Isolated Chapel
4  Nephalia Drownyard
1  Plains
2  Watery Grave
27 lands

4  Augur of Bolas
3  Restoration Angel
2  Snapcaster Mage
9 creatures
4  Azorius Charm
2  Devour Flesh
2  Dissipate
1  Dramatic Rescue
2  Planar Cleansing
4  Sphinx's Revelation
4  Supreme Verdict
4  Think Twice
1  Ultimate Price
24 other spells

Sideboard
2  Angel of Serenity
1  Dispel
2  Duress
3  Gloom Surgeon
2  Jace, Memory Adept
1  Negate
1  Psychic Spiral
1  Rest in Peace
2  Witchbane Orb

Back after a short break, mill.

Bant Control

4  Breeding Pool
3  Glacial Fortress
4  Hallowed Fountain
4  Hinterland Harbor
2  Kessig Wolf Run
1  Sacred Foundry
1  Steam Vents
1  Stomping Ground
2  Sunpetal Grove
3  Temple Garden
25 lands

3  Augur of Bolas
3  Centaur Healer
4  Restoration Angel
4  Thragtusk
14 creatures

4  Azorius Charm
1  Detention Sphere
2  Dissipate
4  Farseek
4  Sphinx's Revelation
3  Supreme Verdict
1  Syncopate
2  Think Twice
21 other spells

Sideboard

1  Centaur Healer
1  Detention Sphere
2  Garruk Relentless
1  Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
2  Negate
2  Rest in Peace
3  Rhox Faithmender
1  Supreme Verdict
2  Witchbane Orb

A great card even with Skull Crack.

So come on down and join us.  Next Friday is Standard but in a totally different way as we play 2 headed giant.  More blogs next week including the prices for the PTQ in April.