PTQ Round-up

 There were quite a few paper PTQs that played themselves out over the past few weeks, and results from these are in. I realize that for some of you, this is old news. I didn't have these results last week, but better late than never. For the paper PTQs, I don't have the brackets/results, just the overall placement at the end of the event. So without further ado, in alphabetical order:

Barcelona, ES T8: (1/14, 80 players)
 UR Storm/Splinter Twin SB
 UR Storm
 SplinterTwin (position not listed)
 Merfolk (position not listed)
 UW Control (position not listed)
 Affinity (position not listed)
 Splinter Twin (position not listed)
 Martyr Proc (position no listed)

 Does the winner from PTQ Barcelona get cab fare? I don't have a link for the Barcelona PTQ results, and the information I'm reporting is second-hand, so may not be 100% accurate for this, or any other European PTQ. Anyway, the UR Storm with Splinter Twin in the sideboard is an interesting concept. Start with Storm. Then, during sideboarding, switch it over to Splinter Twin, while your opponent boards against Storm. Devious. I like.

Bologna, IT T8: (1/15, 334 players)
 Splinter Twin
 Jund
 Affinity (listed as 4th)
 Martyr Proc (listed as 4th)
 Jund (listed as 8th)
 Jund (listed as 8th)
 Affinity (listed as 8th)
 Bant (listed as 8th)

 In this line-up, I'm not sure if the Bant deck is Geist of St. Bant, or "regular" Bant. It was only reported as Bant. It seems the Italians like to run their PTQ's on Sundays instead of Saturdays; all the Italian PTQs reported thus far have been on a Sunday. I don't know why this is.

Denver, US T8: (1/14, 123 players)
 Affinity
 Affinity
 SplinterTwin
 (unknown)
 Splinter Twin
 Affinity
 Jund
 Delver

 No 4th place deck was submitted. I don't know about your events, but in my events, no deck submission equates to a player not playing. I don't know if this was a failure in communication, if the decklist got lost somewhere, or what.

Indianapolis, US T8: (1/14?, ?? players)
 Splinter Twin x3
 Affinity x3
 UW Control
 Jund

 I have no information on this PTQ, other than these decks being in the T8. No date, no attendance, nothing.

Manchester, UK T8: (1/21, ?? players)
 UB Control
 Jund
 Affinity (listed as 4th)
 UB Control (listed as 4th)
 Affinity (listed as 8th)
 Caw (listed as 8th)
 Bant (listed as 8th)
 Melira Pod (listed as 8th)

Montreal, CA T8: (1/14, 89 players)
 Splinter Twin
 Splinter Twin
 Jund
 Jund
 Affinity
 Jund
 Delver
 Geist of St. Bant

Portland, US T8: (1/14, 100 players)
 Affinity
 Delver
 Affinity
 4cc WRUG (?)
 Affinity
 Jund
 Splinter Twin
 Melira Pod

 I was unable to fit the 4cc deck into any of the archetypes that I know. If anyone can tell me what the proper name for that is, I will happily use it in the future.

Rome, IT T8: (1/22, 192 players)
 UR Storm
 Splinter Twin
 Affinity (listed as 4th)
 Hive Mind (listed as 4th)
 RDW (listed as 8th)
 Affinity (listed as 8th)
 Jund (listed as 8th)
 Jund (listed as 8th)

Seattle, US T8: (1/7, 146 players)
 Affinity
 Melira Pod
 Affinity
 Affinity
 UB Control
 Affinity
 Jund
 4cc Aggro WRUG

 Again, I wasn't sure what to call the 4cc Aggro deck.

Torino, IT T8: (1/22, 172 players)
 Jund
 Affinity
 Melira Pod (listed as 4th)
 Delver (listed as 4th)
 Melira Pod (listed as 8th)
 Tron (listed as 8th)
 GR Fanatic (listed as 8th)
 Jund (listed as 8th)

 WotC seems to be slow in getting European results posted. I don't have links to any of the European results, and am reporting this information second-hand. So any European results should be taken with grain of salt. These result might be posted by the time this article "goes to press", but i wouldn't count on it. The results I saw for the European PTQ's were broken down a little differently than the way WotC lists results, so third through eighth positions aren't quite clear.

 I am not surprised at all by the lack of Zoo. With the loss of Wild Nacatl and the "Punishing Grove" combo, Zoo has been relegated to "just another Aggro deck". And Boros Landfall Aggro seems to do a quicker, more aggressive job of it. Green appears to be slowing Zoo down now, forcing it to go the "big Aggro" route. Again, we'll see at GP Lincoln whether I'm speaking truth, or merely spouting nonsense.

PTQ 3314377 (1/21, 202 players)

 feefyfohfum rose to the top of this two hundred and two player field to take the gold with Fae. Caw Blade (Wha-wha-WHAT!?!?!?), piloted by Darth_Revan grabbed the silver, and zinzinnat's Affinity took the bronze. Pekka's Pyro Storm took the first non-podium finish. Places five through eight were, in order, Caw Blade (Did I slip through a time warp?), Jund, Jund, and Living End.

Deck Numbers in Top 32:
 Jund 8
 Caw 4 (one WG "Hate Caw")
 Delver, Fae (one splashing R) 3 
 Boros, Geist of St. Bant, Martyr Proc, Splinter Twin, Storm (one w/PiF, the other w/out) 2
 Affinity, Living End, Rock, UB Teachings 1

 What's this? Only two Splinter Twin in the Top 32? Looking at the decklists posted, I don't see much Splinter specific hate, so I can only assume the Splinter players stayed away in droves from this one. Splinter is still showing good numbers in the SE's and PE's. Maybe all the Splinter players were busy grinding at the SE's, but the attendance for the SE's that fired during this PTQ does not support this theory. Perhaps it was a nice day, and they were outside enjoying the fresh winter air instead of being cooped up for hours in front of their PC's.

 Caw is a relatively recent addition to the PTQ meta, showing up in increasing numbers over the past week or so. I fell in love with the deck I dubbed as "Hate Caw". Normally, I loathe Caw decks, but this one... This one blew my mind. This deck placed 15th overall, and I thought it deserved a closer look:

Hate Caw

melv.p (15th Place) Modern PTQ #3314377 on 01/21/2012

Creatures 1 Dryad Arbor 1 Avacyn's Pilgrim 1 Aven Mindcensor 1 Baneslayer Angel 4 Fauna Shaman 1 Gaddock Teeg 4 Knight of the Reliquary 3 Lotus Cobra 4 Noble Hierarch 1 Qasali Pridemage 1 Scryb Ranger 4 Squadron Hawk 4 Vengevine 30 cards Other Spells 2 Elspeth, Knight-Errant 1 Gideon Jura 3 Path to Exile 1 Sword of Feast and Famine 1 Sword of Fire and Ice 8 cards

Lands 3 Arid Mesa 3 Forest 1 Gavony Township 2 Horizon Canopy 4 Misty Rainforest 2 Plains 1 Sejiri Steppe 1 Stirring Wildwood 3 Tectonic Edge 2 Temple Garden 22 cards Sideboard 1 Aven Mindcensor 1 Baneslayer Angel 1 Bojuka Bog 2 Creeping Corrosion 1 Ethersworn Canonist 1 Obstinate Baloth 1 Path to Exile 1 Qasali Pridemage 2 Sunlance 1 Tectonic Edge 3 Thorn of Amethyst 15 cards

 When I saw this deck while gathering the PTQ information, I had to do a "spit take". After cleaning the sprayed tea off my screen and keyboard, I tried to figure out what this was. I usually look at the creature base first to give me an idea of what the deck is. Dryad Arbor and Avacyn's Pilgrim are basically mana dorks, so no help there. The first "real" creatures in the list were Aven Mindcensor and Baneslayer Angel, so my mind autopiloted to "it's WG Control or WG Death and Taxes". Then I saw Fauna Shaman, Squadron Hawk, Gaddock Teeg, and Vengevine all crammed in there with other seemingly random creatures, and the Swords, and that's when I did the "spit take"!

 Caw!?!?!? Just exactly what is this pile of seemingly random cards? To me, it looks like a Caw deck and a Vengevine deck got drunk at a Hate Zoo deck's bachelor pad, and somehow the three made a baby while a Death and Taxes deck shouted encouragement from the sidelines. In my mind's eye (blurry as it is) I can see how this deck works: pack beaters, some hate, and ramp, and fly in with Exalted while carrying a Sword. Pack more hate in the sideboard. This is a sound idea any day. But the implementation! I love it! 

PTQ 3314388 (1/23, 152 players)

 Results from this PTQ had not yet been released at the time this article was submitted. I will cover this PTQ in next week's article.

The Wrath of Grapes

 After a few weeks of using the seeding system, I have come to the conclusion that this process is more hassle than it's worth. In large turnout events, I am spending entirely too much time jiggling the pairings to accommodate seeds. In smaller turnout events, too many people are "cruising through". One Million Words' comment about the "Old Timers Club" is starting to ring true. So this last week's events were the last ones to use the seeding system. Future Overdrive! and Eurodrive! events will be paired using "random is as random does". 

Overdrive! #30 Round-up

silence1186 - Overdrive! #30 Champion

RDW

Creatures 3 Grim Lavamancer 4 Goblin Fireslinger 4 Stormblood Berserker 1 Spikeshot Elder 4 Stromkirk Noble 16 cards Other Spells 4 Shrine of Burning Rage 4 Incinerate 4 Lightning Bolt 3 Shard Volley 4 Gut Shot 4 Volt Charge 23 cards

Lands 21 Mountain 21 cards Sideboard 2 Flames of the Blood Hand 3 Smash to Smithereens 2 Pulse of the Forge 4 Arc Trail 4 Searing Blaze 15 cards

 silence piloted this Shrine powered flamethrower all the way to the top of the heap. Along the way he incinerated MWC, Dredge, another RDW, Soul Sisters, and the Living End deck below. That is quite the gauntlet! Volt Charge is an all-star in this deck. Since one fifth of this deck uses counters in one form or another, the Proliferate ability of this blaster is definitely a plus.

airlord1 - Overdrive! #30 Runner-up

Living End

Creatures 4 Street Wraith 4 Architects of Will 4 Monstrous Carabid 3 Simian Spirit Guide 4 Fulminator Mage 4 Deadshot Minotaur 4 Faerie Macabre 27 cards Other Spells 3 Living End 3 Demonic Dread 4 Violent Outburst 3 Beast Within 13 cards

Lands 4 Verdant Catacombs 2 Forest 1 Stomping Ground 4 Copperline Gorge 2 Swamp 1 Overgrown Tomb 1 Marsh Flats 4 Blackcleave Cliffs 1 Blood Crypt 20 cards Sideboard 3 Ricochet Trap 3 Ingot Chewer 2 Sudden Death 3 Inquisition of Kozilek 2 Krosan Grip 2 Shriekmaw 15 cards

 airlord1 put the Living End to GW Tokens, Quest for a Soul, Delver with a Scepter, and Jund before being burned out of the grave by silence1186's RDW. As far as Living End builds go, it doesn't get more solid than this one. We all know the basics of Living End: don't put anything in the deck with CMC2 or less, other than lands. Start cycling creatures, such as Monstrous Carabid, Architects of Will, Street Wraith, Deadshot Minotaur, and so forth. Then cast a spell with cascade. Because you were careful not to put any cards with CMC2 or less, you can't hit anything besides Living End. This in turn dumps all the creatures in your graveyard onto the battlefield, and destroys all your opponent's creatures. Then swing.

Semifinalists

pelao28

Soul Sisters

Creatures 3 Goldmeadow Harrier 4 Ajani's Pridemate 4 Gideon's Lawkeeper 4 Soul Warden 4 Squadron Hawk 4 Serra Ascendant 3 Knight of Meadowgrain 1 Blinding Mage 4 Martyr of Sands 4 Soul's Attendant 35 cards Other Spells 2 Brave the Elements 2 Militia's Pride 4 cards

Lands 21 Plains 21 cards Sideboard 3 Kor Firewalker 4 Relic of Progenitus 4 Revoke Existence 3 Timely Reinforcements 1 Brave the Elements 15 cards

 pelao28 brought Soul Sisters to the dance. After sitting out the first round as a seeded bye, the sisters cha-cha'd their way through Emrakul's Hideaway and Splinter Twin, only to lose the limbo competition to silence1186's RDW in the semifinals. This is the fourth time this deck has shown up in these articles; literally half of my articles to date have featured this deck. I'm running out of things to say about it.

garltik

Jund

Creatures 2 Anathemancer 3 Nest Invader 4 Bloodbraid Elf 2 Boggart Ram-Gang 4 Putrid Leech 2 Obstinate Baloth 4 Sprouting Thrinax 21 cards Other Spells 2 Maelstrom Pulse 2 Lightning Bolt 2 Inquisition of Kozilek 2 Terminate 4 Blightning 1 Jund Charm 13 cards

Lands 3 Blackcleave Cliffs 2 Raging Ravine 1 Overgrown Tomb 1 Lavaclaw Reaches 3 Swamp 4 Savage Lands 3 Mountain 1 Rootbound Crag 2 Dragonskull Summit 2 Treetop Village 1 Verdant Catacombs 1 Woodland Cemetery 2 Forest 26 cards Sideboard 1 Volcanic Fallout 1 Slagstorm 3 Duress 3 Cunning Sparkmage 2 Pyroclasm 2 Forked Bolt 2 Lightning Bolt 1 Jund Charm 15 cards

 Event newcomer garltik rode this Jund beast all the way to the semifinals. On his way, he rolled over BUG Rock, RDW, and Infect. But the semifinals proved to be the Living End for this deck.

 It's unusual in this Modern Age seeing a Jund deck without Liliana of the Veil sitting pretty on her throne. Despite the lack of Lily, this almost "traditional" Jund deck put on an impressive performance. Anathemancer is a good call in this age of shocks and other non-basic lands. I'm actually surprised we don't see it more often. (Next Invader) I'm not so sure about. Personally, I'd drop the Invaders for more Bolts and/or Pulses. Boggart Ram-Gang and Obstinate Baloth are decent beaters.

 I swear by man-lands. I can't begin to count the number of times they've saved me after wipes. And apparently so does garltik; although five might be a bit much. I usually run no more than three. But seeing the results, it's hard to argue against that call.

Eurodrive! #14 Round-up

Nagarjuna - Eurodrive! #14 Champion

UB(g) Splinter Twin

Creatures 4 Pestermite 4 Deceiver Exarch 2 Spellskite 10 cards Other Spells 1 Spell Pierce 4 Sleight of Hand 4 Dispel 3 Serum Visions 4 Splinter Twin 4 Remand 4 Gitaxian Probe 1 Serum Visions 2 Echoing Truth 27 cards

Lands 3 Scalding Tarn 4 Misty Rainforest 8 Mountain 1 Forest 7 Island 23 cards Sideboard 2 Spell Pierce 1 Firespout 1 Guttural Response 2 Echoing Truth 3 Flame Slash 3 Combust 3 Shattering Spree 15 cards

 Nagarjuna rode this green-splashed Splinter Twin all the way to the top, shattering RDW, UW Tron, Goblins, and the Reanimator deck below on the way. When I saw these two splashed Splinter Twins in this week's Eurodrive! lists, I was almost positive it was going to be a Mirror Match in the finals, and was looking forward to it. This turned out not to be the case, though, and the two decks never did meet up.

Doqpelganger - Eurodrive! #14 Runner-up

Reanimator

Creatures 1 Iona, Shield of Emeria 1 Empyrial Archangel 1 Angel of Despair 1 Wurmcoil Engine 2 Court Hussar 2 Haakon, Stromgald Scourge 8 cards Other Spells 3 Unburial Rites 3 Wrath of God 3 Forbidden Alchemy 1 Thirst for Knowledge 2 Liliana of the Veil 3 Smallpox 2 Nameless Inversion 1 Peace of Mind 2 Darkblast 3 Path to Exile 3 Inquisition of Kozilek 26 cards

Lands 3 Creeping Tar Pit 3 Drowned Catacomb 3 Isolated Chapel 3 Marsh Flats 1 Plains 3 Island 2 Swamp 2 Ghost Quarter 1 Godless Shrine 1 Nephalia Drownyard 1 Bojuka Bog 1 Celestial Colonnade 2 Watery Grave 26 cards Sideboard 1 Tormod's Crypt 1 Peace of Mind 1 Duress 1 Pithing Needle 2 Extirpate 3 Trickbind 9 cards

 Doqpelganger pushed this cart through the event, doing the scene from Monty Python and The Holy Grail: "Bring out your dead! *clank!* Bring out your dead!" Goblins, Living End, and UR(gb) Splinter Twin lay in a heap before he finally got splintered himself in the final.

 Liliana is a sexy beast in this deck, getting targets into the graveyard and keeping opponent's hands low. One thing I've always wondered is why Zombify isn't used in these decks, as well as Unburial Rites. I realize that it doesn't have flashback, but it's 3B instead of 4B. So one could conceivably have Liliana of the Veil out on turn three, toss Iona into the grave, and pop her back out for the lock on turn four. Opponents would not be expecting Zombify, and might tap out, thinking they have a turn breathing space before she gets brought back from the dead.

Semifinalists

Asia

UR(gb) Splinter Twin

Creatures 1 Vendilion Clique 3 Spellskite 4 Pestermite 4 Deceiver Exarch 1 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker 13 cards Other Spells 4 Serum Visions 1 Remand 3 Flame Slash 4 Dispel 3 Sleight of Hand 3 Remand 4 Splinter Twin 1 Sleight of Hand 23 cards

Lands 2 Overgrown Tomb 1 Mountain 4 Sulfur Falls 7 Island 4 Misty Rainforest 4 Scalding Tarn 1 Mountain 1 Steam Vents 24 cards Sideboard 1 Memoricide 2 Pyroclasm 4 Spell Pierce 4 Ancient Grudge 2 Firespout 2 Echoing Truth 15 cards

 After sitting out the first round as a seeded bye, Asia splintered a Zoo deck, then fell to Reanimator. The green and black splash for Memoricide, Ancient Grudge, and Firespout in the sideboard is pretty cool tech. I don't know about Overgrown Tomb, though. I would have probably went Watery Grave/Breeding Pool. Or Blood Crypt/Stomping Ground. Or some combination thereof. But that's me.

milegyenanevem

Goblins

Creatures 4 Goblin Chieftain 4 Goblin Arsonist 2 Ember Hauler 4 Intimidator Initiate 4 Goblin Cohort 4 Goblin Bushwhacker 4 Goblin Wardriver 4 Mogg War Marshal 30 cards Other Spells 4 Dragon Fodder 4 Lightning Bolt 2 Goblin Grenade 2 Incinerate 12 cards

Lands 1 Teetering Peaks 17 Mountain 18 cards Sideboard 4 Ghostfire 4 Smash to Smithereens 1 Vithian Stinger 1 Haze of Rage 2 Flame Slash 1 Incinerate 1 Traitorous Blood 1 Arc Trail 15 cards

 milegyenanevem brought his Goblins again, and gobbled his way through Tempered Steel and Kaio before getting blown to splinters by Nagarjuna. There were no changes to the deck since Eurodrive! #13, so the comments from my last article still apply.

Interesting Tidbits

 Two more Modern format Grand Prix events have been scheduled: GP Yokohama in June, and GP Columbus in July. Also, the schedule for GP Turin (Modern) has been posted.

Blippy's Bio Blurbs

Mom and Dad on their Honeymoon

Downtown San Francisco, Summer, 1986

 With the flick of a switch, Blippy turned off motorcycle, and kicked down the stand. He pulled the package he was delivering out of bike's saddlebag, and headed towards The Sharper Image. He cut quite the figure as he strode defiantly through the lunch time crowds, with his knee-high boots, ripped jeans, blue streaked hair, and studded denim and leather jacket. He crossed the walkway bridging the plaza below, and pushed open the doors.

 After getting a signature, and a return package from the store manager, he turned and strutted back out to the street. As he passed the flower stand on the other side of the bridge, he glanced in, and nearly tripped over his own feet: there was the most beautiful girl in the world, bent over and arranging bouquets of roses in a bucket. Blippy's heart started hammering, and his head suddenly felt light. He couldn't get enough air. He couldn't move. All he could do was stand there swaying with his mouth agape.

 The girl finished arranging the roses, and continued puttering about in the small shop as Blippy watched, fascinated and flabbergasted. He had no idea how long he stood there rooted in place, growing ever warmer. When the girl finally noticed him staring at her, she smiled radiantly. Blippy's world turned to white flame. He fainted.