Funky Brewster: Resurrecting Tutelage

If you’ve been following my exploits on this blog you’d know that one of my favorite things in Magic is to brew and tinker with decks. It can be either trying to bring back old archetypes like Draw-Go style Control decks (stay tuned for that article), or taking existing decks and retooling them for specific metagames. In this case, I made an attempt to resurrect that old UR Sphinx Tutelage deck from pre-Battle for Zendikar Standard (you can find the list here). For the most part, I believe the deck may hold an interesting place in the metagame. Here’s what we’re working with:

Chandra’s Tutelage

4 Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy
Creatures - 4

1 Alhammarret’s Archive
2 Murderous Cut
2 Chandra, Flamecaller
2 Oath of Jace
3 Send to Sleep
4 Magmatic Insight
4 Tormenting Voice
4 Sphinx’s Tutelage
4 Radiant Flames
4 Treasure Cruise

Spells - 30

1 Swamp
2 Wandering Fumarole
2 Smoldering Marsh
3 Sunken Hollow
3 Island
3 Mountain
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Polluted Delta
4 Swiftwater Cliffs

Lands -26

Not much is different from the original list except for the card that might push this deck to, well, at least, Tier 1.5 status. Chandra, Flamecaller does absolutely everything this deck wants. She can be an alternate win-condition with her plus one. She can speed up the milling process with her zero ability, and she can clean up the board if things get a little hectic. In fact, she’s so good in this deck, that I might as well take out the Alhammarret’s Archive and play a third copy of Chandra. You know what?

-1 Alhammarret’s Archive
+1 Chandra, Flamecaller

There! Done! Three Chandras. Many of my wins came from slamming down the pyromancer. While the Archive did make the deck much more explosive, without a decent source of lifegain (ex. Radiant Fountain), however, it is only half as good.

At a glance, it may seem weird that I have Black just for two Murderous Cuts, yet Black gives me a wide variety of tools for specific match ups and one of the best draw spells in the format: Painful Truths. Originally, I had the converge draw spell instead of the Oath of Jace and briefly switched to the Oath because it gives me the same three cards for the same price, without the hurt, and helps fill up the graveyard with goodies for the Delve spells. Oath of Jace also has the added bonus of being able to draw away a Dromoka’s Command from the Sphinx’s Tutelage. 

My main gripe with Oath is that it doesn’t particularly help if you are way behind without cards in hand, and drawing might mean having to discard two relevant cards. But then, what are the odds that you draw three relevant cards in a row? Not to mention that you save three lives in the process. So, maybe Oath is indeed better. Only testing will tell.

Going forward I would also test Crux of Fate in place of the Murderous Cuts. In this deck, I believe

the Cuts are better off in the sideboard along with triple Fiery Impulse for the match ups where sweepers are too cumbersome and unnecessary. Maybe just the Impulses will do for those pesky Red decks. Regardless, we need a Whelming Wave stand-in and Crux would do just fine. Most decks are built to swarm with Goblin Tokens, Soldier Tokens, Plant Tokens, Roc Tokens, Thopters, Eldrazi, or by curving out with Wardens, Anafenzas, and Rhinos. Radiant Flames will keep the heat off you from the weenies, and Crux of Fate takes care of the latter, bigger threats. Plus, Chandra, Flamecaller as a post-Crux threat is a powerful follow up that’s guaranteed to finish the game in short order… or she can also join the list of viable sweepers. Certain decks don’t care much about the Wrath-effects, thus for them we can bring the spot-removal to take care of individual creatures more effectively. Moreover, they interact much better with creature-lands, which will prove to be troublesome. There isn’t a lot of room for everything, therefore we have to make do with cards like Send to Sleep.

Send to Sleep has been surprisingly useful and always glad to have in hand in case things get hairy. It provides certain protection from Collected Companies, animated Gideons, creature-lands, and much more. I would even consider playing a full set of them, but we’ll see. Don’t want to get too carried away now, do we? Still, Send to Sleep grants you quite a bit of room to maneuver the deck into a winning position or gives you the breathing space to get yourself sorted out.

Having said that, here is how the new list should look like:

Flamecaller Tutelage

4 Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy
Creatures - 4

2 Oath of Jace
2 Crux of Fate
3 Send to Sleep
3 Chandra, Flamecaller
4 Magmatic Insight
4 Tormenting Voice
4 Treasure Cruise
4 Radiant Flames
4 Sphinx’s Tutelage

Spells - 30

1 Swamp
2 Smoldering Marsh
2 Wandering Fumarole
3 Sunken Hollow
3 Island
3 Mountain
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Polluted Delta
4 Swiftwater Cliffs
Lands - 26

Now we’re talking. Definitely feels like we are headed somewhere with this list. I think it is missing something… How about a sideboard, eh? As a disclaimer, without a substantial amount of testing, I can’t say for sure which cards would be better than others. We can still hazard a guess here until I can get in some more games with the deck.

For starters, World Breaker (and the rest of its Eldrazi comrades) is a problem. Infinite Obliteration is a must. If they don’t have the Breaker, then Ulamog is also a suitable target. Fortunately, with so much card draw, the deck is capable of getting one or two copies of Obliteration relatively quickly. You’ll be able to snatch whatever you dislike without a hitch. Furthermore, Obliterations help keep the Rally decks in check by exiling their Nantuko Husks and Zulaport Cutthroats. By the same token, Disdainful Strokes would be useful to have for the Eldrazi Menace and, generally, against decks with high mana-costs like Abzan. Nailing a Thought-Knot Seer, Rally the Ancestors, or a Gideon, Ally of Zendikar will undoubtedly make things easier for you in the long-run. Not sure you want Stroke for the Rally match, but if there’s nothing else… 

Against the Red decks, or those that like to play cheap threats fast such as the new Prowess decks, stabilizing is the name of the game. For that reason, Fiery Impulse is far and away your best tool. Impulse makes sure you can Radiant Flames at a reasonably high life total--establishing control of the game in the process. 

All right, this is how our sideboard is shaping up:

3 Fiery Impulse
3 Disdainful Stroke
3 Infinite Obliteration

Dispels were also there, yet I don’t think they are where we want to be. Dispel is narrow and really

needs to be in your hand at the exact moment when your opponents try to go for the Rally or the Dromoka’s Command. Maybe keeping two is fine, but I believe there is merit to having a more proactive game plan versus those problem cards. Perhaps Duress is better suited for the task. If they don’t have a Command you may be able to take care of a Gideon, Ugin, the Spirit Dragon, ramp spell, counter, draw spells, or their own discard spell. That’s without mentioning the leverage you get from knowing the specifics of their hand. Even Despise is in my radar for being able to take out Thought-Knot Seers, Siege Rhino, and so on. Keeping mana up for counterspells just doesn’t feel like the correct way to go.


Let’s see:

1 Crumble to Dust

2 Dispel
3 Duress
3 Disdainful Stroke
3 Fiery Impulse
3 Infinite Obliteration

I added a Crumble to Dust because it is another answer for creature-lands and it is another way to keep Ramp decks from getting fully online with their Shrines of the False Gods. To be fair, this sideboard looks supremely loose. Let this be a lesson in sideboarding:

One of the best ways to find out what your sideboard needs is by identifying what your deck doesn’t need in any given match up.

Here’s an extreme example: Say you are playing a UB Control deck full of Grasp of Darkness and Foul-Tongue Invocations and Turbo Fog (inexplicably) is the deck to beat. Turbo Fog has no creatures whatsoever, so your removal is completely dead. You need to replace them for something that will do, well, anything at all. As a result, you take that removal out and bring in Negates and Duresses. Even if they end up being marginal, you can rest assured they’ll be more valuable than creature removal.

Well, that’s it for now! Not too long, but straight and to the point. Maybe I should write shorter articles from now on. Anyway, see you next time!

Yours truly,
Chris

MTGO: Hamngs
Twitter: Hamngs
XMage: Hamngs
Twitch: Hamnggs

Marching of the Fae

Man! What a year it has been since I last wrote. No more. This time I’m back for good (Pinky swear!). Weekly and bi-weekly posts for all of you… unless I’m writing for no one—the ever-present fear of writers the world over. Still, I shall write until my heart is content and my fingers have been turned to blood and bone!

On with the show!

Hey-hum! The Twin is dead! A moment of silence for the ol’ chap that for so long held Modern together. All by his lonesome. Such a warrior. But it had to be done. Modern needed to be thrown off its hinges and made self-aware: You are too volatile for mortals, Modern. It’s why we keep banning things from you year after year (that and the need to keep a PT format in check, not a topic of discussion today, though).

Say what you will, this banning has certainly reinvigorated my desire to brew and experiment with UR decks. Also all my collection has are Blue and Red Modern cards; no choice. And brew I did. This last Sunday, I made a lazy attempt of re-working of an old Splinter Twin shell I had lying around and the result was brought to a local tournament to test. I shed a tear as I inevitably saw my Splinter Twins go back into the box of unplayables and were replaced by… Spellstutter Sprites? Why yes! Counter a Serum Visions here. Counter a Thoughtseize there. Ancient Stirrings? Spellstutter Sprite!

UR Faeries

1 Inferno Titan

2 Vendilion Clique
4 Spellstutter Sprite
4 Snapcaster Mage
4 Pestermite

Creatures – 15

1 Burst Lightning
1 Eletrolyze
2 Cryptic Command
2 Spell Snare
2 Blood Moon
3 Remand
3 Spreading Seas
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Serum Visions

Spells – 22

1 Desolate Lighthouse
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Stomping Ground
1 Tectonic Edge
2 Mountain
3  Sulfur Falls
3 Steam Vents
4 Scalding Tarn
6 Island

Lands – 23

Sideboard

1 Dispel
1 Keranos, God of Storms
1 Negate
1 Counterflux
1 Blood Moon
1 Engineered Explosive
1 Relic of Porgenitus
1 Jace, Architect of Thought
1 Flame Slash
2 Rending Volley
2 Ancient Grudge
2 Volcanic Fallout

I think the list is pretty straightforward. A classic Aggro-Control deck predicated on laying down cheap, evasive threats that continuously keep your opponents off-balance. Nearly 97% of the deck operates in instant-speed which provides tactical advantages in the ability to bluff a variety of spells. You could be holding unto Sprites, or Pestermites, Snapcasters, Cliques, burn, or a slew of counterspells waiting to pounce on your enemies. Who knows?! As is, however, the deck needs quite a bit of work as the first run went on a 50% match win, losing to two of the format’s premier Midrange decks: Jund and Abzan. Fortunately went 2-0 before running into them, beating Grixis Control and Goryo’s Vengeance (GriShoalBrand).

Admittedly, I expected a considerable amount of Ramp decks (Tron and Eldrazi) which is why I was packing Spreading Seas. Spreading Seas does seem good against the Midrange decks, unfortunately that wasn’t the case in the games played. Spreading Seas simply underperformed. By Monday, their bags were packed and were waiting for them in front of my apartment along with a taxi to take them to the airport with a plane ticket to Siberia, where they can’t bother honest, hard-working folks anymore.

In all seriousness, what made the card so underwhelming was that (may also just be how the games played out) Jund and Abzan simply shrugged it off. Could potentially be testament to how good their mana bases are these days. Perhaps it is my deck’s fault more so than the Seas’s because my deck could not capitalize on the mana denial. It is possible that pushing the interaction between the Spreading Seas and the Blood Moons make the card much better; main reason being the Seas would push them to search out more of their non-basics in order to maintain a stable mana presence, thus playing right into the Blood Moon.

If that were the case, the Seas still aren’t necessary. My second game against Jund was a grindfest and lost to Jund being the better at topdecking than UR Faeries. It did not feel like it was Blood Moon or bust, even though my Midrange opponents chose to not play around it as I anticipated. Certainly in need of more testing, but the Spreading Seas may not be for this deck. It is better for Merfolk which can be aggressive enough to limit how long Midrange decks have to recover from a stumble.

Another strike against it is that it’s a sorcery-speed card that doesn’t affect the board in any way, shape, or form, really. I’m committing two-mana on my own turn for a what is essentially a non-problem for my opponent. They’ll shrug it off, fetch for their next land, and land a Dark Confidant or Tarmogoyf or what-have-you.

Along the lines of clunky spells I’d like to take out of the deck is Cryptic Command. Cryptic Command just costs too much these days for what it is doing. Even when you counter a Goyf, you feel like you traded down, and while you draw a card, your opponent can still have a follow up. I had a game against GriShoalbrand where the only piece of resistance I had drawn was a Cryptic Command and a Remand. If my opponent had had double Goryo’s Vengeance or Through the Breach into Vengeance, I would have easily lost.

It did hold its own during the Grixis Control match-up, however, not enough to keep it in the deck. The main reason to even play it is its status as one of the best available hard counters to many of the threats in Modern. You can’t Remand Karn Liberated all day, it will eventually stick and take over the game. Remand is great, yet, a lot of the times, it only delays the inevitable. Therefore, an unconditionally hard counter is a necessity. Negate is great, but conditional, so main decking it will only push the deck towards inconsistency. Regrettably, Cryptic Command will also have to go.

Then there’s Pestermite. I love the card, but I’m not terribly impressed by it. Not as much as I am with Inferno Titan, anyway. That said, I may hang onto it for a bit more and only shave one of them. Four was one too many, and I believe three really is the perfect number for them. People have been suggesting Young Pyromancer in that slot, which, to be clear, I like and may be worth a shot, but I’m not particularly fond of the play patterns Pyromancer creates. The Young one asks you to be awkwardly mindful about how you sequence your spells in hopes of getting ‘full value’ for your spells. Additionally, this deck is slightly heavier on the creature count, this, in turn, means that I have to be especially careful about how I spend my non-creature resources in the aforementioned effort to generate as much tocken-y value as possible.

By the same token, the new UR creature on the block, Stormchaser Mage, just won’t work out. This fresh, hot off-the-press heavy hitter surely is powerful, yet, again, makes you want to play in a way that is inconsistent with this deck’s general philosophy. With the Stormchaser Mage, though, you want to play your spells aggressively to make sure that you are attacking with more than a 1/3 every turn. We could be talking about a 2/4, even then, that’s a bit weak. On a positive light, you are rewarded by playing some of your sorcery-spells like Serum Visions and Blood Moon. Regardless, if this deck had been constructed with a different mindset, then the story would have been much different.

I could also be wrong.

As of right now, I don’t believe UR Faeries will head in that direction for the time being. At this moment, there is so much removal in the format that it isn’t entirely unreasonable to play three Vendilion Cliques, not to mention that the legend-rule is such that you can still get usage (even if a tiny amount) from subsequent copies of the Fae. Perhaps playing three Cliques and three Pestermites is perfectly fine.

The last underwhelming card was Tectonic Edge. It did nothing that a Ghost Quarter couldn’t handle better. Tectonic Edge is only there for added protection versus creature lands and to bust up Tron and Eldrazi’s mana base. All of which, Ghost Quarter does better, especially against Tron, because if they have it by turn 3, I can’t stop them with Edge--Ghost Quarter can. Other than that, the mana base performed excellently.

According to my notes, the following is how the deck should look after the changes:

UR Faeries v1.5

1 Inferno Titan

3 Vendilion Clique
3 Pestermite
4 Spellstutter Sprite
4 Snapcaster Mage

Creatures – 15

1 Burst Lightning
1 Roast
1 Electrolyze
2 Spell Snare
2 Mana Leak
2 Dispel
2 Blood Moon
3 Remand
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Serum Visions

Spells – 22

1 Ghost Quarter
1 Desolate Lighthouse
1 Stomping Ground
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Bloodstained Mire
2 Mountain
3 Sulfur Falls
3 Steam Vents
4 Scalding Tarn
6 Island

Lands – 23

Sideboard

1 Roast

1 Counterflux
1 Keranos, God of Storms
1 Jace, Architect of Thought
1 Engineered Explosive
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Blood Moon
2 Ancient Grudge
2 Anger of the Gods
2 Negate
2 Rending Volley

The article is running a little long by now, so I’ll make my explanation for some of the changes short.

Cryptic Command became Mana Leak because, as I previously said, Command is a hard counter and we need more of those. Mana Leak fills that niche very well, although not as effective in the later stages of the game, as long as the opponent can’t pay that three mana, you are golden.

For the Spreading Seas, I brought in two Dispels and a Roast. Roast is a concession to 5-toughness creatures like Tasigur, the Golden Fang and Siege Rhino. Anything that doesn’t fly and is below 5-thoughness is still decent collateral. I have to contend with it not being able to kill Restoration Angels or Celestial Colonnades, but Volleys should help with that.

The reason for Dispel is two-fold: 1) I want a cheap way to protect my creatures that can also be used to win counter-wars and such; 2) after a narrow victory against Goryo’s Vengeance, I realized the deck was in dire need of more ways (cheap ways, at that) to interact with combo decks. Vengeance wasn’t the only deck at the tournament, there was also Ad Nauseam Combo floating around. Countering the Lightning Storm at will is a surefire way to win the game, no questions asked.

The sideboard saw some changes as well. I replaced the Flame Slash for the second Roast, and, most noticeably, replaced Volcanic Fallout with Anger of the Gods. In the past, Anger was my go-to for the sideboard, for this tournament, though, I expected the Blue Man Group (Merfolk) to show up. Figured Fallout would have been ideal in that match-up since it is an instant and can’t be countered. Turns out, that is not exactly true. The problem is, the Mermen, are all Lords with base 2-thoughness. As soon as the second one comes in, they are both 3-thoughness rendering Fallout beyond useless. For Anger of the Gods to see a similar fate, they need three Lords which is easier to contain with Bolts, Rending Volleys, and even Roast.

Anger of the Gods also shines against Abzan Company, Kiki-Chord, and the Abzan I faced in the last round of the tournament. He was playing Voice of Resurgences, Lingering Souls, and a host of other small critters that would just get cleaned up by the Anger. Despite the crutch, I don’t believe the match-up is exactly favorable, but we’ll see. Anything to bring the percentages closer to a 50%.

Anyway, that’s all for today! Thank you for reading and hope UR Faeries tickles your fancy.  If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

Yours truly,

Chris

MTGO: Hamngs
Twitter: Hamngs
Twitch: Hamnggs

The Jeskai Dilemma Part 2: Tournament Day

After a few more seconds, Adrian finally untapped on his turn and drew. He played his second land and passed. Turn 3, Chris draws. Not a land. Unfazed, he shoves Soulfire into combat, nugs Adrian for 2 damage, and summons Jace. Without hesitation, Adrian ends Jace’s short life with a Wild Slash.

Hello everybody and welcome to Part Deux! Guess what. It's tournament day! Since I have terrible memory, I won’t go into too much details with my matches. Will only mention the interesting tidbits that I do remember, though. I did have the strangest match-ups all day, ranging from Mono-Red decks to Elf decks in Top 8 contention. 

Round 1 – 2-1 vs Javier Cedeño with Mono-Red

In this match, I barely saw any trace of Soulfire Grand Master, which is arguably (and obviously) the best card in the match-up. Despite putting up a good fight, I lost Game 1 rather quickly. Game 2 came down to me playing Dig Through Time on Cedeño’s end step, and picking up two Wild Slash for his Monastery Swiftspear and what I believe was a Zurgo Bellstriker. I had the option of getting an Elspeth or a Negate, but either one wouldn’t have really dealt with what was on board effectively, or would put me in a situation where Exquisite Firecraft was game over (I think I was either at 3, 4, or 5 lives—not sure). Thus I took the Wild Slash to clean the board, and was rewarded with a Soulfire Grand Master on my draw step. Played it, Wild Slashed both his creatures, gaining 4 lives in the process, and scooped when his draw step wasn’t as kind.

Game 3 was pretty much about me playing Rabblemaster into a Jeskai Charm for a 12-point life swing. I won shortly thereafter.

Round 2 – 2-1 vs Yadid Colón also on Mono-Red

At this point I was wondering why on Earth hadn’t I put the second Arashin Cleric over the second Rending Volley, regardless, the decisions were locked in, had to work with what I had.

This match went almost the same as the previous one. Lost Game 1, while Game 2 and 3 were somewhat similar (from memory) which was me playing Rabblemaster into Jeskai Charm for another 12-18 point life swing, winning the game a few turns later.

Round 3 – 2-1 vs José A. Arroyo with Bw Warriors.

Although Bw Warrios is a lot easier to play against than Mono-Red, all games were way too close for my liking. Unlike the Red decks, I did win Game 1, and I was going to win Game 2 as well, yet my clever plans were foiled by my own stupidity.

You see, I had an active Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy with three cards in my graveyard, a Flooded Strand in my hand and an Anger of the Gods with the mana available to play it. My plan, then, is to fetch for a land, loot with Jace to flip it, and subsequently play the Anger, wiping my opponent’s entire board. With a clean board, a flipped Jace, and quite a stacked hand, I would have no trouble winning. Instead, I looted first, smacked my forehead before discarding, and proceeded to lose my Jace to my own Anger (both, metaphorically and literally). Nice going, Chris, you beautiful idiot. The mistake extended the match to three games, which I nearly lost. 

Luckily, in sideboarding, I decided to leave a 1-of Stormbreath Dragon. I figured that after the coast was clear, I might need it to close out the game very quickly—I was right.

In Game 3, I was getting slammed by a couple of overzealous Warriors, backed by a ticking Sorin, Solemn Visitor, putting him up to 29 lives. By then I have a Mastery of the Unseen which I had not had time to use, topdecked the Stormbreath and killed the Sorin. I take another hit, and on my turn I Anger of the Gods followed by an Arashin Cleric. I drop him to 25 lives. He passes back, I remember having to do something with my mana that didn’t let me monstrous the Stormbreath. I think it was a removal spell, so I can attack with the Dragon and the Cleric to put him at 20. He draws… Nothing. At the end of his turn, I manifest with Master of the Unseen. Time is called on my turn… the time to press on!

I monstrous Stormbreath Dragon dealing one damage from the card in Arroyo’s hand, and swing with everybody to put him at 9. Arroyo draws… Another nothing? Ships the turn back, I attack and he extends his hand!

Round 4 – 0-2 vs Adam Azulay with Hangarback Abzan

Not much to say here, I mulled to 5 on Game 1, managed to grind the game to turn a-million, but double Sorin, Solemn Visitor was too much for me to overcome. Game 2, was similar to the first; Sorin being excessively problematic.

Round 5 – 2-1 vs Victor Rosario Lamourt with Elves.

Like I said, my matches were weird, if not interesting. I won Game 1 and lost Game 2. Elves showcased how powerful they can be on that second game. Getting me with multiple Shaman of the Packs and me forgetting that Dwynen, Gilt-Leaf Daen had Reach. That slight oversight cost me the game, or at least I could have made it a lot harder for Rosario. Game 3 was a tricky. I remember making a slight misplay, though, fortunately, it went unpunished and I proceeded to win the match.

Round 6 – ID with Steven Vega for Top 8!

Adrian’s third turn was to play a Hangarback Walker and he was done. Chris stares at his Anger of the Gods stuck in his hand, “One more land. That’s all I need and my entire hand gets turned on.” In spite of the small crowd and the spotlight being on these two players, Chris remained calm. This wasn’t the time to be nervous. It was time to overcome the stage fright. Grow accustomed to being here. He spent nearly half an hour sitting under the starry sky, taking in the sweet, night air, before heading into the last leg of his tournament. Now, his determination steadied his hand.

Quarterfinals – 2-1 vs Julio Tirado and his Gr Devotion with See the Unwritten

Tirado and I go quite a ways back. The first time I met him, he was building a UWR Tempo deck with Geist of Saint Thraft for Modern, nearly two years ago. From there, he has matured as a player constantly facing each other at Top 8s. Aside from becoming a talented player, he has also done well innovating with Tier 1 decks, and this time was no different, piloting a ‘retro’ version of Gr Devotion, sporting See the Unwritten, to the Top 8. Honestly, this was the scariest and toughest match I had to play all day.

Game 1 went as this match tends to go: Devotion plays some mana acceleration, Jeskai plays a Soulfire or a Jace, or both, and starts to generate some adavantage. Tirado ramped into a Polukranos that met with a Valorous Stance. Then played another into my Disdainful Stroke. He pauses and stares at the Disdainful Stroke, “You have THAT main decked? Geeze…”

I play a Mantis Rider, flip my Jace, and he Sees the Unwritten into Dragonlord Atarka. He kills the Rider and deals two to my Jace. Jace -3 and I ‘flashback’ Valorous Stance to remove the Atarka. Soulfire Grand Master joins the fray and (maybe?) a second Jace. I recall getting another attack in, putting him in Burn range, probably at 9 lives. He Sees the Unwritten again for another Atarka wiping my field. On his end step, I Dig Through Time with two mana up so I can Lightning Strike him. From the Dig, I pick up a Jeskai Charm and something else; subsequently Lightning Strike'd him and untapped into my draw step. As luck would have it, I topdeck a Stoke the Flames that combined with the Charm for lethal.

The second game felt more like a joke than anything else:

Me: Turn 2 Soulfire Grand Master.
Tirado: Turn 3 Polukranos.
Me: Turn 3 Mantis Rider.

Tirado: Turn 4 monstrous Polukranos, kill Soulfire, swing for 7. 
Me: Turn 4 a second Rider. 

Tirado: Tturn 5 See the Unwritten into double Gaea’s Revenge. 

Me: Turn 5 I don’t remember.

Tirado: Turn 6, play the third Gaea’s Revenge, in response, I concede.
Don’t let anyone tell you that three Gaea’s Revenges are beatable. It’s not. I tried. 

Seeing how powerfully written See the Unwritten is, I decided to revisit my sideboard and bring in the Negate. In this case, it would be acting as the fourth Disdainful Stroke. What could go wrong?

We shuffle up for Game 3. Can’t remember if I mulled, just that I kept a hand with Mantis Rider and a Negate. I think I killed a turn 1 Elvish Mystic from Tirado, then played the Mantis Rider. Valorous Stance’d something? And then played a second Rider with Negate back. Consequently, Tirado tanked on his main phase and asks, “Do you have a counterpsell?”

“I dunno, show me what you got.”

He obliges by playing See the Unwritten, I Negate, and he concedes.

Semifinals – 2-1 vs Juan Ramírez sporting RG Dragons.

Juan Ramírez I’ve known for a long time and is someone who loves this game. Whether he does well or not, he just enjoys the game for what it is. That said, this guy wrecked the swiss rounds going 2-0 nearly every round. Had a 70% win percentage by the end of the swiss. Needless to say, I was intimidated by his deck. This time around, I don’t have much of a play by play. I know there were a lot of Goblin Rabblemasters on both sides of the table. Strokes were aimed at Dragons. One Tragic Arrogance left him with just a goblin token in another game, and God knows what else. Fortunately, through the chaos I emerged victorious.

... Next came the Finals.

Chris drew for his fourth turn. Missed another land drop. Still composed, Chris passed the turn without a play. Adrian lays another land and his own Soulfire. Chris draws and plays Glare of Heresy on the Grand Master.

“I’m pretty sure that was a mistake,” Chris thought. Adrian untaps and retaliates with a Mantis Rider, “Yup, that was a mistake.” 

Chris was falling behind. He can’t keep up. Adrian has a grip full of cards, that even if Chris manages to get the third land, the Anger of the Gods would not be enough to stem the bleeding from Adrian’s creatures. Especially now that Adrian’s Hangarback was well above Anger’s range. Chris’s surroundings became bleak from the dawning realization that his tournament was drawing to a close.

There was nothing else to be done.

Adrian Marquéz became the WMCQ champion and the fourth member of the Puerto Rican team. This year, the team looks great and seems to be poised to make waves at the World Cup. Obviously, I’m disappointed that I wasn’t able to take it home, but there is always next year. That said, I have to give my thanks to my teammates: Edgar Rosario, Omar Marrero, Alexander Santana, Michael Velázquez, and Gilbert Otero. Thanks for all my opponents for being awesome people and good sports. Special thanks to Julio Tirado for the kind words, Josue M. Arroyo for running a smooth tournament and also kind words, Carlos Colón for forcing me to play with Goblin Rabblemasters, and Eduardo Feyjoo for suggesting that 1-of Disdainful Stroke. Finally, I want to thank everyone else who supported me throughout my 9-round journey.

I’m getting better every step of the way to the point that I can almost touch that Pro Tour dream with my hands. Just a bit more. This ain’t over yet!

Yours truly,

Chris