A snowy PTQ *Top 8*

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kabrazell

7 December 2011

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168 folks braved the elements to attend a PTQ in Denver, Colorado Dec. 3rd. The roads were so bad that I seriously considered not going, but I don’t get many chances to attend these big events and, I mean, what the hell, can’t be that bad… right?

I Showed up (almost late) and got registered. Said hey to other friends who had made the drive from Fort Collins. We shared ‘big fish’ stories about how bad the roads are and how unequipped are cars are for such conditions. (Basically four balding spare tires etc. etc.) As I scoped the crowds, I was really surprised so many people had shown up. I guess that’s a testament to the ISD sealed format being a pretty good one. Either that or we’ve got some really dedicated grinders. MTG notable Conley Woods was hanging out with some of the Ft. Collins crew. Cracking fetches and taking two etc. Local ringers were also in attendance.

I wasn’t expecting to do that well. I’m not a great sealed player and I was really there just to have some fun and play some magic. During sealed pool registration, I was in a seat at the end of the table, which meant I got the same pool I had opened. I remember not being very impressed when I opened it, and I was still unimpressed building it. The bombs were Skaab Ruinator, Army of the Damned, Kruin Outlaw  ^Flip and Geist-Honored Monk, most of which are conditional, none of which are amazing (except army of the damned/monk) and none of which play together well. Another problem I had was zero mana fixing. After evaluating several possibilities, I ended up throwing together a strong g/w humans deck. It wasn’t anything explosive or overpowered, but it was solid. This is the list I played.

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The main upside of this build was that I didn’t have to think too much. My curve was good, and my only decision tree was what guys to turn sideways. There’s a chance I should have mainboarded Naturalize over Silverchase Fox or brought in Spare from Evil more often, but I guess things worked out.

Round one I won a tough one against a ‘mirror’. Round two I don’t remember much, it was close? Round three was pretty easy, not sure how that dude was 2-0. Round 4 was a bit more difficult. My opponent was a very good player and had Feeling of Dread and some other good cards. I ended up casting Giest Honored Monk both games though, and got there. Round five I don’t remember. Round six I played against a cool dude that ended up top 8ing and we ended up getting dinner together. The round was close, but my monk was all honored by geists n’ such and got there.

This meant I got to draw rounds 7 and 8. A nice break before top 8. I was feeling pretty great. I’d never done this well at a PTQ before and I hadn’t expected much from my deck. I grabbed some dinner, rested up, and prepared to draft.

My top 8 draft started off very awkwardly. I opened a bad pack and ended up first-picking a Midnight Haunting, not what I was hoping for. My second pick was an equally unexciting Abbey Griffin. I was a little bummed, but determined to make the best of it. Third pick, however, an Evil Twin came my way. “Oh, hello there Evil Twin, I don’t think we’ve met.” Since my first two picks were junk I figured what-the hey and took the dude. Next pick I grabbed a Forbidden Alchemy and was off to the races. In the end I somehow managed to get 3 copies of Evil Twin and one Lilianna of the Veil (Boom). I also had an Unburial rights and some Unsummmons to buy time. Though my deck was a little threat lite, I fully expected to be able to copy my opponent’s threats. Here’s my list.

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The quarterfinals were close. It turns out Claustrophobia is a good anti-Evil Twin and I lost game one to his U/W agro deck. Games two and three were close. He would play Geist-Honored Monk , but then I would proceed to play 2-3 Geist-Honored Monks via Evil Twin, and slowly pulled away into the semis.

In the semifinals I won game 1 on the back of Liliana. My deck was good, but it had been a long day and my play was beginning to suffer. Game 2 I kept a hand with no blue and ended up hardly casting a spell. Turns out Typhoid Rats doesn’t match up well against Gatstaf Howler  ^Flip. For game three I brought in an Island for a Swamp (like I probably should have from the beginning). I kept a 2-lander with Think Twice and thought I would get there. Turns out I didn’t, and I got beat down pretty hard before finally casting Liliana and starting to stabilize. From that point on I’m pretty sure I just played poorly. I overvalued Liliana and my life total and didn’t play the spells I needed to stabilize. Lost 2-1.

Overall I feel I could have played better in the semi’s, but I’m happy with how far I got. It was a ton of fun and a great experience.

Take-aways:

Lesson 1: One match at a time

When you’re playing in a big event like this, it’s easy to get swept away with talking to all the people, participating in all the activity, and get ahead of yourself win it comes to what matters. Take the tournament one match at a time focus on winning this match. Worry about tie breakers or your friends’ records later. When you sit down, clear your mind and focus on winning. This is a pretty universal competitive play lesson, but it certainly applies to magic.

Lesson 2: Your opponent is not a Juggernaut

I often psyche myself out if I’m winning. I think my opponents are probably better than me, or that they deserve to win more than me. The truth is, most players are just about as good as you are. All players make mistakes, and take bad lines. Don’t think about how good your opponent is, or how lucky they are to have cracked Olivia Voldaren and how you ‘can’t beat that card’. Your goal is to win; play your best and have fun. If you worry too much about your opponent, you’ll only end up hurting yourself.

Lesson 3: Tilt ‘em

While playing, learn to use your personality to your advantage. If you’re a little creepy, be creepy. If you’re charismatic and like to talk, talk. If you’re witty, make jokes. Have complete confidence in your deck, and play with that confidence. Without expending too much effort, try to get your opponent’s focus off of the game and onto something else. If you can master this skill, you can get your opponent to walk right away from a win and into the loser’s bracket.

Lesson 4: ‘JUDGE!’

While this didn’t come up too often during this tournament, I cannot stress it enough. If there is some sort of rules question or violation, ALWAYS CALL A JUDGE. JUST DO IT. CALL A JUDGE. Call a judge all the time. Call a judge just for practice. Call a judge for a glass of water. Get used to calling a judge, and don’t hesitate. I know it’s awkward and you don’t want to be a jerk, but PTQ’s are serious events and you need to take them seriously. If you don’t call a judge, you are risking a DQ or game loss. Please, just call a judge. Thank you.

That’s about all I’ve got today. It was a ton of fun and I can’t wait to do it again. Thanks for reading.

-kabrazell