Sebastian Gua's picture
By: Sebastian Gua, Sebastian Gua
Jun 11 2012 11:38am
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Hiya all!! It has been 9 months since my last article. Sebastian here. Time passes by so fast!! I apologise to those who had been following me and I will write more often. I have been busy with life and I have been off the track. 9 months ago, I was out of school, out of work, out of love. I needed to catch up with real life so that means I inevitably spent some time away from the game. Life has more or less been better right now and I am able to afford playing Magic again.  I just had to just pick up the pieces and tread forward. I am on my way back to school, have a job currently, but still out of love. I am just an emo bunny.

I have been playing M:tG since I was 10. Depending on my interest, I have drifted in and out of the game. When I came back playing in 2004, I was introduced to the tournament scene and absolutely hooked. Drafts, FNMs, GPTs, GPs, and PTQs, nothing was beneath me. The only accomplishment that eluded me was PT. I played in numerous PTQs but always came up short, durdled in top 16, and losing the win and in matches. I will present to you a tournament report of the recent PTQ in my home country.

I took leave from work to play the PTQ as Singapore has only 1 slot for each season. Busy with work and not being able to commit the time and money to play, I needed to narrow down the potential deck choices and see whether my friends would have the cards to spare. I have been playing Ramp as I am familiar with the deck interactions and wanted to borrow it from a friend of mine. The text conversation we had on Thursday 31 May.

Me: Are you free tomorrow? Able to borrow a deck from you?

Friend I: Sorry man I will be travelling overseas.

Me: Ok, thanks.

Sooooo, I asked another friend,

Me: Do you have Ramp to lend?

Friend Z: I changed it to RG Aggro.

Me: Ok. Can I borrow it from you?

Friend Z: Yea, sure. Me: Thanks!

Took the deck out for a spin and realized I did not have affinity with it. Flooded, screwed, tortured.

Friend Z: Dude, you suck.

Me: I know.

Friend Z: Play Zombies. *LOL*

Me: Yea, might as well.

My brah, Apaulogy, recommended Zombies too as it has a decent matchup against Delver and he said, “that is the only deck that really matters. Make sure to have Blood Artist”. I borrowed the cards and finalized it on Saturday and played with a list I took off MtGO Standard Daily Event by newplan at http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Digital/MagicOnlineTourn.aspx?x=mtg/digital/magiconline/tourn/3918651.

 

Zombie Pod
 
Creatures 
Fume Spitter 
Gravecrawler 
Diregraf Ghoul 
Geralf's Messenger 
Phyrexian Obliterator 
Falkenrath Aristocrat 
Phyrexian Metamorph 
20 cards

Other Spells 
Blood Artist 
Butcher Ghoul 
Zealous Conscripts 
Geth's Verdict 
Tragic Slip 
Mortarpod 
Birthing Pod 
17 cards
Lands 
Blackcleave Cliffs 
Dragonskull Summit 
Woodland Cemetery 
12 Swamp 
23 cards

Birthing Pod

 

Something is wrong with the decklist generator but at least the list is there. I like how the deck looks and it seems fun. Birthing Pod eats a Zombie and brings another friend out to play. Yup. This is what Zombies are all about. They don't just die, they die with reinforcements. I saw another list that plays Highborn Ghoul and Go for the Throat, which I personally do not like. Highborn Ghoul is more aggressive, but isn’t Butcher Ghoul cuter?? Lol. I was thinking in a vacuum that Butcher Ghoul trades better and it provides me a good target for Birthing Pod and card advantage compared to Highborn Ghoul. I don’t think Go for the Throat is good against Delver which was why I chose the (Geth’s Verdict) version. I do need to have some protection against Geist of Saint Traft, as he is a decent clock if the Delver deck can attrition me out of cards. Also, Go for the Throat seemed strictly worse in a world of Restoration Angel targeting Blade Splicer. I am a simple person. However, sometimes I brain fart and do not think that much, which is what made this deck easier and more direct suited to my play but enough rambling about card and deck choice. Now on the tournament!!

July 3, 2012

We had 98 players and 7 rounds of swiss. I will recall as much of the game play as possible as I threw away the notes with life totals.

Round 1 – Ramp

Primeval TitanInferno TitanHuntmaster of the Fells

Game 1: I started aggressively but opponent stabilized with Inferno Titan first. I had 3 Fume Spitter, Diregraf Ghoul, 4 lands on board, only card in hand was Zealous Conscripts and will win if I drew a land. I drew Blood Artist, played it and passed the turn. Opponent attacked with Inferno Titan killing Blood Artist and Diregraf Ghoul. No blocks and he played Primeval Titan fetching Kessig Wolf Run and Glimmerpost. I will lose next turn unless the land comes. I drew, land, Zealous Conscripts on Primeval Titan. Opponent was surprised by it and we move to game 2. Had he searched for another Glimmerpost, he would have won it at 1 life due to the additional 3 life gained. So close.

Sideboard: +2 Zealous Conscripts +2 (Geth’s Verdict) -3 Mortarpod -1 (Butcher’s Ghoul)

I did not playtest due to work and tried to adjust depending on situation. Mortarpod becomes very limited so I replaced it with Zealous Conscripts. Stealing a Titan FTW is much better than a random ping.

Game 2: Opponent went land, land, Rampant Growth and game 3. Primeval Titan on turn 4 is just cheating.

Game 3: Opponent had a slow start and when he played Primeval Titan, he was at 10 life. He searched for 2 Glimmerpost and passed. I think I had 2 lands in hand but I had Phyrexian Obliterator and 3 other creatures. My outs were 4 Geth's Verdict, 4 Birthing Pod, 3 Zealous Conscripts. I drew Birthing Pod, sacrificed Phyrexian Obliterator for Zealous Conscripts! Lucky me! 1-0

 

Round 2 - UW Delver

Delver of SecretsGeist of Saint TraftRestoration Angel

Game 1: I was able to apply constant pressure while opponent had a poor draw.

Sb: -2 Birthing Pod +2 Bonfire of the Damned

I kept it safe due to the lack of experience and playtest.

Game 2: I was able to grind and hold the fort until I miracle Bonfire of the Damned. One of the reason why I chose this list. 2-0

 

Round 3 - RUG Delver

Delver of SecretsHuntmaster of the FellsBonfire of the Damned

Game 1: I was not familiar with the deck and played too conservatively. Opponent attacked with a Wolf token generated from Huntmaster of the Fells that was equipped with Sword of Feast and Famine. The second Sword of Feast and Famine was overkill.

Sb: -2 Birthing Pod -1 Butcher Ghoul +3 Bonfire of the Damned

My lack of knowledge on the matchup showed again and thought of preserving my life total is much more important due to opponent playing with Bonfire of the Damned, therefore took out 2 Birthing Pod but kept a couple to see if there is a chance to tutor when needed.

Opponent was jubilant as he considered Zombies a bad matchup. He was pretty pumped up and flamboyantly expressed how good he was to steal the win as he had difficulties winning online against Zombie Pod, even losing against 5 carder. I joked and said I can make his day by winning with 4 cards. He replied with a smug.

Game 2: MULLIGAN TO 4!!! Swamp, Diregraf Ghoul, Gravecrawler, Geralf's Messenger. Drew 2 more lands and opponent flooded. I should sell my soul or run for President or something. “Better lucky than good”...

Game 3: An aggressive start for me pegged opponent at 2 life after he Bonfired my board of 2 Blood Artist, Geralf's Messenger, Diregraf Ghoul. I was sitting at over 20 life with gas in my hand. Opponent grumbled how he lost to a lousy player. I told him, ‘I am lousy. I have no skill. I did win with 4 cards’. Some people... 3-0

 

Round 4 - UW Delver

Delver of SecretsGeist of Saint TraftRestoration Angel

Game 1: A 1st turn Delver of Secrets which flipped on 2nd turn sealed it for my opponent.

Sb: I remember bringing in Skinrender but this round was crucial. It taught me how to sideboard against Delver as I boarded wrongly but being adaptable is one of my strongest points.

Game 2: Mulligan to 2. Yes. I suck. I did, however, make the best play of the day. I kept Swamp and Blood Artist, drew Swamp and played the Blood Artist. Opponent played land and passed the turn. ATTACK WITH BLOOD ARTIST!!! I wrote on note pad to indicate attack. 20-0, 20. I consider it a win but opponent laughed in my face when he played Timely Reinforcements for 3 tokens. Stupid Blood Artist… 4-1

 

Round 5 - Esper Control

Lingering SoulsPhantasmal ImageSun Titan

Game 1: Opponent made a mistake of killing Blood Artist with Go for the Throat when he had Day of Judgment against my board consisting Geralf's Messenger and 2 other creatures. He could have aimed Messenger and swept, but he pulled the trigger too soon.

Sb: -2 Birthing Pod -2 Tragic Slip -2 (Geth’s Verdict) +3 Bonfire of the Damned +2 Nihil Spellbomb +1 Crypt Creeper

The removals are quite useless and having Bonfire means I might be able to steal the win if opponent taps out and low on life. Esper has board sweepers and Birthing Pod becomes bad but keeping 2 would allow me some options instead of being totally dead when I needed one.

Game 2: The floodgates opened on opponent. I easily won, being the deck with threats. 5-1

 

Round 6 - RG Aggro

Birds of ParadiseHuntmaster of the FellsWolfir Silverheart

Game 1: No removal for Birds and Elves makes me a sad panda.Well curved aggressive starts from this deck beat me like how I crumble at well curved aggressive women. I am so, so weak.

Sb: -2 (Geth’s Verdict) -4 Birthing Pod -2 Woodland Cemetery +3 Bonfire of the Damned +1 Mountain +1 Evolving Wilds +2 Skinrender +1 Manic Vandal

This is quite a hard matchup as both decks are very aggressive. I had to be mindful of life totals and stopping mana dorks was a key plan. The next phase would be to peg back opponent as they become 1 spell a turn deck with high casting cost creatures and try to nibble the life low enough with Mortarpod, Blood Artist, or Bonfire of the Damned to seal it.

Game 2: I had Fume Spitter and Mortarpod in opening hand. Good enough to slow opponent's acceleration and I shared a “we are both sad pandas, so lets have a bro hug” moment with my opponent.

Game 3: Opponent got a slow start and played Llanowar Elves and nothing else by turn 2. So I killed it to slow him down further. He was on 2 lands and missed his turn 3 land drop, played Birds of Paradise and passed. I thought for a while and decided to play Bonfire of the Damned for 1 and attacked. Opponent drew, played his 3rd land and passed. He would most likely have Wolfir Avenger at this point. I was running out of gas with only a Phyrexian Metamorph and Swamp in hand. I drew Phyrexian Obliterator and saw the top 8 within reach. Opponent copied the Phyrexian Obliterator I played with his Phyrexian Metamorph and passed. I copied Obliterator with my Metamorph and took the game. 6-1

 

Round 7 - Intentional Draw

We were tired from playing since 10am and I was 5th and he was 6th. I knew I was a lock but not too sure about him. Rest was priority and he was ok with it. When results were out, he came looking for me at the smoking area and we made it! 6-1-1, 6th

 

I was running pretty hot back there. Drew the right cards at the right moment in the face of defeat. I thank you for joining me up til now but the story will be continued in Part II. It's gonna be 'LEEEEEEEEEHHHHH - wait for it - .............' just messing with you guys. LOL. This is your noob hero saying, "Have fun!"

 

Sebastian Gua

3 Comments

You tease. by apaulogy at Mon, 06/11/2012 - 12:45
apaulogy's picture
5

I want part 2 now (although, i do know how it ends).

I know how you feel with RG aggro. I had a horrible weekend playing decks that I probably have no business playing.

'stick to your guns', 'mull that awful hand', and 'just f***ing kill him' are the M;tG cliches that had to be re-etched into the grey matter of my brain...

good stuff outside of a bit by JustSin at Mon, 06/11/2012 - 14:26
JustSin's picture

good stuff outside of a bit of formatting issues

and that emo bunny is EPIC

yea. bunny wins. lol by Sebastian Gua at Tue, 06/12/2012 - 12:36
Sebastian Gua's picture

yea. bunny wins. lol