The weekend started with Billy, Adam, and myself waiting for JFK to get off work for us to leave in the Manawerx van for the weekend. Once we got to LA we met up with T-Pup and his daughter Mariah who we were sharing a hotel room with. A little bit later, Thomas and Joseph showed up to also share the room. It was a nice room, but with 8 people it was pretty small.
After some talking and last minute reviewing our lists, I noticed I had a proxy Green Sun’s Zenith still in my elf deck. I was really glad I noticed that at 1am and not during Round 5. T-Pup happened to have an extra one on him so I was ok; I just have to remember to take it to GP Denver to give it back to him.
With last minute talks these are the two lists I went with for the Invitational:
Standard: BG Zombies
| Creatures (31) 4 Diregraf Ghoul 4 Gravecrawler 4 Geralfs Messenger 4 Deathrite Shaman 4 Dreg Mangler 4 Grisly Salvage 4 Lotleth Troll 3 Rakdos Cackler Spells (7) 4 Rancor 3 Tragic Slip Lands (22) 4 Overgrown Tomb 4 Woodland Cemetary 4 Golgari Guildgate 2 Cavern of Souls 8 Swamp | Sideboard (15) 3 Abrupt Decay 3 Vampire Nighthawk 3 Golgari Charm 2 Crypt Creeper 2 Underworld Connections 2 Tree of Redemption |
Elves
Some quick notes on the two decks. For Standard, I chose BG Zombies because I’ve been playing it for ages and I love it. I feel like any matchup is winnable. I’m not against audibling or being shipped a deck the day of. For most tournaments I borrow decks to play, this tournament included. I’ve just been borrowing this deck since RTR came out. I mainly choose the deck because it has a great BR Zombie match up. While in the hotel room we discussed which card should become the third Tragic Slip, I eventually went with Rakdos Cackler, while JFK wanted it to be a Deathrite Shaman. Both have their advantages, Cackler being way better on turn one, while Deathrite is usually a better topdeck. My reasoning is that I thought there’d be more flash variants throughout the tournament. The sideboard should be pretty self explanatory, some versatile cards and Tree of Redemption. Underworld Connections has underperformed every time I’ve cast it. I’ve only won a single game I resolved it (And yes it’s happened more than once).
For Legacy I went with Elf Combo because it’s what I know, and I knew I could steal some wins with some lucky draws (which I was able to do on Friday). When I first started playing the deck it didn’t have Living Wish, and I’ve gotten some slack for playing the Wish, but I like the versatility it gives the deck. The sideboard could use some work, for instance there should be 2 more Humility and a Gaea’s Cradle, but was unable to find them and felt fine with it. I’m just happy that it didn’t backfire too bad.
Friday morning we arrived at the event site and prepared ourselves for the tournament, while Mariah and Thomas (the only two not qualified) found ways to entertain themselves with side events and watching feature matches. Being my first Invitational, I was quite antsy to get started. I was super excited and looked forward to hopefully playing some good games of Magic. I don’t remember all the details, but I’ll write what I can.
Round 1 – Barrett
I don’t know what deck he was playing, but he named Human and Devil on different caverns.
Game 1 I mulled to five, he crushed me. Game 2 he mulled to six and my Vampire Nighthawk Rancor’d him to death. Game 3 we both kept seven and he couldn’t deal enough damage so I won while at ten.
1-0
Round 2 – Erik
Bant
Game 1 He gained over thirty life and won while at six life. Game 2 he only gained thirteen life and I was able to kill him. Game 3 he only gained sixteen life and I was once again able to kill him.
2-0
Round 3 – Anton
Angel Reanimator
Game 1 he mulled to six and stumbled so I crushed him. Game 2 he mulled to six and reanimated his entire graveyard to kill me. Game 3 we both mulled to six, on turn seven I played land number three and a Geralf’s Messenger, followed by another Messenger the next turn. On his turn 8 he reanimated an Angel of Glory’s Rise and I was dead. I wished him good luck throughout the tournament and said I’d help his tiebreakers as much as possible.
2-1
Round 4 – Erik
UWR (Not sure if Flash or Miracles)
I won both games while still at twenty life, don’t remember much about this match.
3-1
I was feeling good at being 3-1, especially now that it was time for Legacy. Time for me to continue getting lucky and combo some people out.
Round 5 – Art
Maverick
While playing Elves, I always want to get paired against Maverick, this was just another one of those situations. He played some creatures, I played way more creatures and killed him.
4-1
Round 6 – Dylan
BUG
I hadn’t played this match up yet and was wondering how it would go. This match told me that it’s kinda hard, game 1 I used some value Glimpses to gain an edge and kept it. Game 2 I was able to do the same. By keeping more cards then him I just had the advantage each time. My Deathrite Shaman proved itself by countering his Shaman multiple times.
5-1
Round 7 – Ross
Junk
Game 1 I’m able to combo off on turn 4 and win. Game 2 he disrupted me a bit and kills me before I can recover. Game 3 he mulligans to six and I combo out on turn 3 undisrupted.
6-1
Round 8 – Jonathan Job
UW Miracles
Game 1 I win the die roll, we both keep seven, he keeps no Forces but plays a turn two Energy field. I combo out on turn three wishing for Emrakul. Game 2 I combo off early again after he misses on the miser top activation hoping for terminus.
7-1
This was a good feeling, not only had I made day 2, but I was doing pretty well. There was still 8 more round to go, so I knew it was going to be another long day. I just had to hope to continue running hot and trying to minimize my misplays.
Round 9 – Reid Duke
Bant
Was I a little starstruck for my first on camera feature match against the master Reid Duke? Yes, yes I was. But I like to think I have a good poker face so I was able to control it a bit. I did tell him I thought he was a master before our match started. The video coverage for it can be found here.
Some highlights: I misplayed on camera, Tragic Slipping his beast token while a Rest in Peace was in play. At first he let it die, but then it was brought up that Morbid can’t happen with Rest in Peace in play so I felt like an idiot and said go. Game three I kept a semi-loose hand with only a cavern as my land, this keep looked better and better as Reid mulled to five. I missed my second land drop but made it on turn three and turn four still giving me a great chance at the game. Reid stumbled too much and couldn’t recover in time. (By far my favorite match of the weekend, even though I misplayed on camera multiple times.)
8-1
Round 10 – Joe Bernal (The only undefeated on day 1, he lost round 9 to Gerry Thompson.)
BR Zombies
Game 1 I lost the die roll but was able to take the game anyways. In game 2 he was too fast and I couldn’t recover. Game 3 I drew my sideboard cards and took the match.
9-1
Round 11 – Todd Anderson
UWR Flash
Game 1 After winning the die roll I have a really aggressive start and he can’t come back in time. Game 2 he mulls to six and gets crushed by my fast draw.
10-1
Round 12 – David
UWR Flash
This was basically the same as against Todd, game 1 I was too fast, game 2 he mulled to six and wasn’t able to comeback.
11-1
Now I knew it was time to go back to Legacy so I was feeling good, not only did I have the best record in the tournament but I was told I only needed to go 2-2 to make top8. I was feeling good, I had 4-0’d legacy the previous day, so 2-2 should be easy. (NEVER think that during a magic tournament, you never know what’s going to happen.)
Round 13 – Cody
Team Italia
This was my second feature match on camera, which can be found here.
Some highlights: This matchup is atrocious, I have no idea how I won game 1. At some point during game 2-3 he forgot a Jitte trigger and it didn’t even matter, I was still dead.
11-2
Round 14 – Nick Spagnolo
4 color Deathrite
Nick played well and destroyed me both games. I don’t remember thinking I had a chance.
11-3
Round 15 – Brian
Sneak and Show
Game 1 I combo off before he can do anything. Game 2 he combos off before I can and kills me. Game 3 got to a point where he drew 21 cards off of Griselbrand bricking on his out, so I was able to win on my turn.
(There was a point in this match where I accidentally cheated Brian, judges were called over and nothing bad actually happened, I just did some combo stuff out of order and I felt bad for Brian. He said he doesn’t know much about Legacy so he thought what I was doing was correct, when I noticed is when we called a judge over. The judges figured everything out in a timely fashion so I was happy about that. Still sorry about that Brian.)
12-3
It was this point that I was told I’d make Top 8 even if I lost, so I told people I’d offer the draw but play if they declined. Todd told me to crush my opponent though, which I thought was a little funny.
Round 16 – Matt Nass
BUG
I get paired down against Matt, he can’t draw so he asks me to concede since I’ll make it anyways. I decline, mainly because I don’t know Matt at all, and because the tournament was using the play/draw rule by standings for Top 8, and BG zombies loves to play first. Game 1 Matt played super slow and beat me with 24ish mins left on the clock. Game 2 I started comboing off on turn 3 so Matt conceded to save time for the final game. Game 3 his three Deathrite Shamans are too much for my single one and I lose failing to combo off. The match ended with about 5mins left on the clock, my longest match of the tournament (so far).
12-4
Slid into Top 8 in 4th place. Letting me choose to play first the next day against Jonathan Job. While the Standard Open went on we took some pictures for Top 8 and did small interviews. I borrowed a Manawerx shirt from Billy for the photos and for my Top 8 the next morning. The interview was a little entertaining, I was able to get the interviewer to laugh a couple times, and if there’s an invitational in Honolulu you can thank me.
After receiving deck lists of all the decks I play tested a few games with Billy while waiting for the Standard Open to finish. When everyone was done and collected their money (since none Top 8’d) we headed back to the hotel room to discuss sideboard strategies before crashing for the night.
We all woke up the next morning ready for the day, some were ready for the Legacy Open, while others were ready to trade… I was ready to play Jonathan and try to crush his dreams.
Top 8 – Jonathan Job
Naya Midrange
The written coverage for this can be found here (http://starcitygames.com/events/coverage/quarterfinals_jonathan_job_vs_.html) Game 1 I got to play first, but when I didn’t play a land on turn 3 my two Geralf’s Messengers cried a little bit. I was unable to kill him before he gained some life and played an Angel of Serenity. Game 2 he missed his third land drop and passed with only two lands in play. It was over shortly after that. Game 3 I mulled to five and got demolished. Game 4 I kept a slow hand that in hindsight I should have mulliganed, my Rancor’d Vampire Nighthawk wasn’t nearly good enough of a reason to keep the hand. The hand was a trap and I fell for it. I extended my hand, wished Jonathan good luck in Top 4and went off to root my friends on during the Legacy Open.
I ended up playing in the final Draft Open of the weekend, drafting a semi-sweet and slow Izzet deck that went 2-1, which if course wasn’t good enough.
I was still super happy with how the weekend had turned out overall, I could have played better, but I still ran pretty hot for a bit and did well so I can’t complain. I’ll just have to tighten up for GP Denver and the Atlanta Invitational.
Drogskol Reavers’ hand model signing off.
-Leon
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