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Wolfking3000

9 December 2012

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Hello all, my names is Wolfking3000, or as my non-internet friends call me, Nathaniel. This will hopefully be a semi-regular set of articles that outline my experiences at Friday Night Magic.

Before I begin my coverage of this week’s FNM, I’d like to give you all a bit of background about myself. I’m 17 years old and have only been playing Magic since shortly after Avacyn Restored came out. I really got into Magic during a school project. We had to design a game for our AP Earth Science, and I thought a game based off of Magic would be a fun and interesting take. I asked a friend of mine who played on the regular and really knew the game to help me, and thus our Earth Science Magic set was born. After that, I started going to a local store called Lucky’s and took advantage of their “penny box”. My first deck cost me a grand total of 40 cents. I kept playing with my “penny box” decks until I realized that they would never satisfy my competitive nature. I decided to build a better deck and start playing FNM at another local store, Gaming Underground. So far, including the FNM I’ll be writing about, I’ve played in three FNM’s and Return to Ravnica Game day. After that back story, we’ll get into the actual article.

I got the inspiration to write this article from someone on another site who wrote a blog very similar to this one. I had wanted to start one for a while, but I wasn’t able to get to FNM consistently. I’ve finally been able to go somewhat consistently and decided to start it. I also recently posted a forum about there not being a lot articles on tappedout, and instead of waiting for someone else to take care of it, I figured I would.

For this FNM, I had two possible builds I could play with. I could either use my U/W/b Spirits deck or my U/R Counter Burn deck. After some deliberation, I decided to go with my more competitive list, U/W/b Spirits. Here’s the Deck list for it so you all know what I’m playing with.

Mainboard

24 x Land

4 x Glacial Fortress
4x Azorius Guildgate
4 x Swamp
7 x Plains
5 x Island

16 x Creatures

4 x Doomed Traveler
3 x Mindshrieker
4 x Drogskol Captain
3 x Dungeon Geists
2 x Geist-Honored Monk

10 x Instants

4 x Feeling of Dread
3 x Midnight Haunting
3 x Azorius Charm (Thought Scour in my first game)

4 x Sorceries

4 x Lingering Souls

6 x Enchantments

3 x Favorable Winds
3 x Oblivion Ring

Sideboard

3 x Negate
3 x Sleep
1 x Mindshrieker
3 x Faith's Shield
2 x Cursebreak
3 x Unsummon

Now that we know what I’m playing, we’ll get into my games.

Round 1: Spirits vs. Grixis (B/R/u) Control

Game 1: Grixis Control Wins (my life: 5 – opponent’s life: 6 before final blow)
Game 2: Grixis Control Wins (5 – 11)
Game 3: Not Played

Game 1 Summary L (5 – 6)

I actually showed up about 20 minutes late to this event, but had fortunately gotten the store’s owner to put me down to play. When I finally showed up, I found my opponent patiently waiting for me, and very eager to play. We rolled for first, and he ended up on the play. I had to mulligan to 6, which wasn’t ideal, but I made it work. I was able to drop a Favorable Winds which he followed up with a Rakdos Keyrune. He was able to get a Chandra, the Firebrand out for a turn, but I quickly Oblivion Ring-ed her away. I was able to get out some tokens and boost them with a Drogskol Captain which got in some nice damage, but he was able to either Dreadbore or Mizzium Mortars any threat away, which in turn cost me the game.

Game 2 Summary L (5 – 11)

While our first game was exciting and close, the second was a bit of a disappointment. He played a few Rakdos Keyrunes, and I was able to drop a Mindshrieker and a Lingering Souls, but he answered with a few Mizzium Mortars to control my board. He went to hit me a few times with his Keyrune, and I made a stupid, yet fun play. On one attack, I played a Feeling of Dread to tap down his Keyrune to save some life, which he then Negated. He was all happy with his play, until he realized Feeling of Dread had a flashback, which I quickly used to tap his Keyrune anyway. Even with that, I was still unable to handle what he had to throw at me. He ended the game with two Guttersnipes and a flashbacked Bump in the Night.

Problem Cards/Noteworthy Cards

Guttersnipe
Mizzium Mortars
Chandra, the Firebrand
Clone
Hypersonic Dragon

Thoughts on the Round

All in all, it wasn’t a phenomenal round; my first game being much better than the second. At the same time, it wasn’t the worst it could be. In hindsight, I should have been playing a much more aggressive game than I did and it ended up costing me. There were a few times in the first game where I could have put myself ahead, but I didn’t because I was playing over-cautiously. The second game there wasn’t much I could do. He had an answer to everything and I was on the ropes the whole game. He was quite the player, and when I checked up on him later found that he was having a lot of success, going 3-1 through the fourth round.

Round 2: Spirits vs. Mono-red Aggro

Game 1: U/W/b Spirits Wins (my life: 2 – opponent’s life: 7)
Game 2: U/W/b Spirits Wins (9 – 2)
Game 3: Not Played

Game 1 Summary W (2 – 7)

This game was against a girl I had played before, and that in itself almost cost me the game. She’d only been playing since Return to Ravnica Game day, and when I played her then, I had to coach her through playing me. I admittedly expected an easy win so I wasn’t too worried when I drew a six mana hand with only a Midnight Haunting. That proved to be extremely foolish when she played a turn one Reckless Waif  ^Flip that transformed immediately. I was then put on the defensive for the rest of the game, trying to recover from the beating I was taking from her hyper-aggro Red deck. I was finally able to get a mass of spirit tokens, and a Favorable Winds to boost them all. With only two life left to my name, I was able to hit her for game in what was probably the closest game of the night for me.

Game 2 Summary W (9 – 2)

After my first game, I realized I needed to be playing a lot better and a lot smarter. She dropped a Stromkirk Noble turn 1 and I was able to play a Doomed Traveler which I used to chump block her Noble and get a spirit token with. She blasted me with a few burn spells, and unleashed a Rakdos Cackler which I O-ringed. She also played a Pyreheart Wolf, which was giving me problems all night long. I was able to get a Lingering Souls out with a Favorable Winds and tap down her creatures with a Feeling of Dread. I double blocked her wolf twice to get rid of it, sacrificing a token near the end of the game. I was able to control the rest of the pace of the game and pull off a much nicer win than I had the game before.

Problem Cards/Noteworthy Cards

Ash Zealot Pyreheart Wolf Rakdos Cackler Heart of the Firebrand Searing Spear

Thoughts on the Round

Game one was not my shining moment. I made the near fatal mistake of underestimating my opponent and it almost cost me a game. She had apparently been playing a lot more than I had anticipated and it led to some pretty hefty misplays. I wasn’t playing my hardest until it was almost too late. The main weakness her deck ran into was running out of steam. Game two she had a Hellrider in hand, but it never hit the board due to a lack of mana. She made a few mistakes in burning my creatures over my life and ultimately that lead to me winning both times.

Round 3: Spirits vs. R/W Humans

Game 1: U/W/b Spirits Win (my life: 16 – opponent’s life: 8)
Game 2: U/W/b Spirits Win (11 – 11)
Game 3: Not played

Game 1 Summary W (16 – 8)

Both of these games played fairly quickly. He played a Rakdos Shredfreak and was able hit me for two early. The next turn he played another one, which I then tapped down with a Feeling of Dread. I played a Lingering Souls for some tokens and later a Favorable Winds to boost them up. He dropped a Crusader of Odric which I bounced back on top of his deck with an Azorius Charm. He then played it again the next turn, and I tapped it down with Dungeon Geists. I was then over to fly over his head for 8 and win the game pretty handily.

Game 2 Summary W (11 – 11)

This game saw my opponent completely mana screwed with only one white mana for about five turns. He was able to play a Champion of the Parish turn 1, but did practically nothing until much later. I played a Favorable Winds, and later a Geist-Honored Monk to beat at him pretty heavily. He played a Knight of Glory when he finally got some mana, and then used Traitorous Blood to steal my Monk for a turn. He got his Champion up to a 3/3, but I drew into a Lingering Souls and another Geist-Honored Monk which put the game away.

Problem Cards/Notable Cards

Champion of the Parish Rakdos Shredfreak Knight of Glory Traitorous Blood

Thoughts on the Round

This round was not much of a challenge for me as my deck was pretty well suited to handle his deck, which was very heavily creature based. I was able to control what he did with my tap down effects, and he didn’t really have anything to deal with my flying creatures. After the game we both looked through his deck and I helped him make some edits. I saw he had some Silverblade Paladins and was pretty glad I didn’t run into any of them. He had a good strategy planned, but he had a real issue with consistency because he didn’t run a play set of any of his really good cards. He ended up dropping some of his high mana creatures for another Oblivion Ring and two more Knight of Glory s.

Round 4: Spirits vs. U/W Control

Game 1: U/W/b Spirits wins (16 – 9)
Game 2: U/W Control wins (6 – 19)
Game 3: U/W Control wins (3 – 13)

Game 1 Summary W (16 – 9)

This game played out fairly slow for my opponent. He got a Thought Scour turn one to put away some of my lands. I was able to drop a Favorable Winds followed by a Drogskol Captain which he Unsummoned. When I put him back on the board he played a Snapcaster Mage with his Unsummon to put it back once again. He played an Azorius Charm to draw and flashed it back with another Snapcaster. I was able to play a Midnight Haunting and an additional Drogskol Captain to give all of my creatures hexproof and blast him with 4/4 spirit tokens to take the game.

Game 2 Summary L (6 – 19)

I got handled this game. He had an answer for just about everything I did. At one point I managed to amass a nice little army of spirit tokens which he quickly and efficiently Supreme Verdict-ed away. He followed that up with a Geist of Saint Traft. With just about nothing left in my hand, I was done for. I did my best to prolong my suffering to see if I could pull something out of nowhere, and I couldn’t do it. The Geist of Saint Traft was just too much.

Game 3 Summary L (3 – 13)

This was my first game three, and I was ready for it. It was also the first and only game I tried to do some side boarding. I took out my Oblivion Rings for Negates, in hopes that I could counter his counters. It ended up not really mattering. The game was extremely slow and poor for both of us. I played a Mindshrieker early and he played an Augor of Bolas. It forced him to put all three cards on the bottom of his library as he had no instants or sorceries anywhere near the top. I was forced to play trying to boost my Mindshrieker as the only other non-land card I had was Dungeon Geists, which got Dissipate-ed. He was able to play a Snapcaster which did nothing, and a Restoration Angel, which he used with his Augor of Bolas, again sending all three cards to the bottom of his library. He finally got a Runechanter's Pike late game to seal the deal, but we both agreed it wasn’t much of a game.

Problem Cards/Notable Cards

Snapcaster Mage Supreme Verdict Geist of Saint Traft Feeling of Dread Restoration Angel Runechanter's Pike

Thoughts on the Round

Most of this round came down to who was having the less-bad game. The first game, my opponent didn’t have much that was really worthwhile for his deck to be running against mine, which put me at a huge advantage. The second game was probably the first game where both of us had pretty decent hands and draws for what we wanted, his deck was just better suited for handling mine than mine was for his. Our third game was a bad game for both of us, and he just had more decent things than I did and was able to put the game away.

Round 5: Spirits vs. Four-Color (B/W/R/u) Frites

Game 1: Four-Color Frites Wins (10 – 17)
Game 2: Four-Color Frites Wins (8 – 10)
Game 3: Not Played

Game 1 Summary L (10 – 17)

This was a matchup I had never really dealt with before, and honestly I didn’t really have a plan on how to handle it. I knew what he was playing as soon as he played his first Faithless Looting and I saw some huge creatures fall into his graveyard. I got my typical Mindshrieker out and was really hoping to be able to bash at him with it, but the he played a Lingering Souls which really slowed me down. I matched his tokens with my own, using a Midnight Haunting. I then Oblivion Ring-ed his Liliana of the Veil, hoping that it would slow him down. It didn’t. I had no booster spells to pump my creatures, and he hard-casted a Griselbrand. The only reason he went to 17 life was because he had paid for a shock land and for Griselbrand’s ability. I had managed to do one damage the whole game.

Game 2 Summary L (8 – 10)

Game two had us both mulligan to six. I was on the play this game and decided that the only way I was going to win was by being really, really aggressive. I played the one card I always seem to get, Mindshrieker, and did my best to start bashing him in. The one problem with Mindshrieker and Frights is that Mindshrieker’s ability plays right into his hand. He hard casted a Thundermaw Hellkite to wipe my board, which I Oblivion Ring-ed the next turn. I tried to get some sort of board presence but I couldn’t really muster a last hurrah. He played Unburial Rites three times for two Angel of Serenitys and another Thundermaw Hellkite. After that, there was really nothing I could do.

Problem Cards/Notable Cards

Lingering Souls Thundermaw Hellkite Griselbrand Angel of Serenity Unburial Rites

Thoughts on the Round

This was a really tough matchup for me. I have no real answer to creatures as large as the ones my opponent was playing, so trying to deal with a Griselbrand or a Thundermaw Hellkite was not easy. The first game my inexperience really shown through. I had never really played a frights deck, and didn’t really understand the roll I needed to be playing in order to win against one. My lack of aggressive plays put me in a bad spot. The second game was a little better, because I kind of realized what I needed to do, but at the same time, I really didn’t. I played more aggressive, but not aggressive enough to actually put him on the ropes or make him nervous. Even though it was a 2-0 loss, the guy had to drop and told the owners that I took it 2-0.

Round 5: Spirits vs. U/W Control

Game 1: U/W/b Spirits Win (20 – 1)
Game 2: U/W Control Wins (Not Available)
Game 3: Timed out

Game 1 Summary W (20 – 1)

This was a tough game for me. Even though I won at full life, this game must have gone 30 – 45 minutes long. I was spawning tokens left and right, and was even able to get a Geist-Honored Monk out. It was all fine and dandy until he hit me with a Supreme Verdict. I added more tokens. He added more Supreme Verdicts. It played that way until right near the very end. Near the end of our game he was able to get out a Tamiyo, the Moon Sage and an Azorius Keyrune. I was sitting on two tokens, a Favorable Winds, and an Azorius Charm, Feeling of Dread and an Oblivion Ring in my hand. He kept one of my Spirits tapped down and when I swung at him with the other, he went to block with his Keyrune. I bounced it to the top of his deck with a Charm, which turned out to be a misplay because I didn’t get my damage through. He played the same way the next turn, putting out his Keyrune and tapping down a spirit. I went to O-Ring his Keyrune and he countered it for most of his mana, leaving two up to transform his Keyrune. When I attacked he transformed it, but I was able to tap it with my Feeling of Dread and win the game.

Game 2 Summary L (Not Available)

First, I’d like to apologize for not getting life totals for this game. It was late and I didn’t think to write it down for some reason. Anyway, this was another hard-fought battle, but I couldn’t pull it out in the end. My opponent sided in some Jace, Architect of Thoughts and its +1 ability tore apart my spirits. He got a Jace up to ultimate and got a Geist-Honored Monk out of my deck and a Talrand, Sky Summoner out of his own. He launched another Jace and kept all of my spirits from doing much of anything. He played a ton of instants and sorceries, and the drake tokens became ridiculous. He beat me pretty badly with them and I had nothing I could do to slow them down with his Jace keeping me at bay. They called for round shortly before we finished the game so we didn’t get to play a game three, but I had to leave, so I let him take it 2 – 1.

Problem Cards/Notable Cards

Supreme Verdict Tamiyo, the Moon Sage Azorius Keyrune Snapcaster Mage Jace, Architect of Thought Divine Deflection

Thoughts on the Round

This was a really tough game for me. Trying to overcome all of the board wipes I faced was a real challenge. I was really proud of the way I played the first game, especially against a player of the caliber that my opponent was. He had been playing for quite some time, and as a relatively new player, I was glad I was able to take one game and at least make him work for game two.

Round Record: 2 Wins – 3 Losses – 1 Draw
Game Record: 6 Wins – 7 Losses – 1 Draw/No play
Favorite Deck of the Night: Four-Color Frites
Place: 15 out of roughly 36

Final Thoughts

Overall, this was a pretty good night for me. While I didn’t do fantastically, I feel like I’ve grown a lot because of last night’s games. My favorite deck of the night to play was the Four-Color Frights. It absolutely destroyed me, but I thought what the guy did with the deck was awesome. I had a great time playing him, and even though I got my sorry tail handed to me, I learned a lot from playing him, and now I’ll be working on prepping myself for a deck like that again in the future. Well, I hope you all have enjoyed this article. Until next time, Nathaniel.