Not bad for my first solo FNM. Not exactly a good showing, but I'd take it!
Hello and welcome to yet another new series I'm starting for this blog entitled Friday Nights. For those who are not avid fans or players of the popular trading card game Magic the Gathering, every Friday, Wizards (the proprietors of the game) holds an event called Friday Night Magic (FNM). Not as hectic as the other Magic the Gathering events (Game Days, Grand Prix and Pro Tour Qualifiers), FNMs are venues for deck brewers, meta game observers, and casual Magic players who wants to get a taste of the tournament scene to have some fun and get their Magic the Gathering fix in a relatively relaxed setting.
Given the state of the Standard format (that is, a format wherein one can only build a deck from cards that belong to sets released within roughly the last one year of Magic), now is probably one of the best if not the best time to dip ones toes into the FNMs. Lots of variety with tons of diverse strategies all contribute towards a robust meta game that rewards the inventive and punishes those who stagnate too quickly. From aggro decks that aim to go from 20 to 0 in the least amount of turns possible to mid-range decks that accelerates to one big threat to control decks that tries to out-attrition opposing strategies, a lot of archetypes are viable and are just one good game away from bagging a 4-0 record.
That said, personally, I've been running a mid-range Red Green Black (nicknamed Jund from the Jund shard from the Shards of Alara set that features the respective colors) that accelerates into sizeable threats and deals with opposing threats using cheap removal spells, ending the game on the back of an unopposed Thragtusk or Olivia Voldaren. It's a strong strategy; it doesn't have a lot of "I win" match-ups but it doesn't really have bad match-ups as well, save for the specifically brewed Red White Blue (nicknamed American, from, well, the eponymous color combination) tempo-based counter strategies. It, for me, is a great deck for someone who has considerable Magic experience and wants to break into the current Standard format.
A little aside: Thragtusks have become so popular lately that it's either you run it or you play fully expecting to tussle with one and the massive card advantage it gives. Truly a representative of the current power level status quo.
THE PREMIER CREATURE OF STANDARD
Anyways, the main purpose of this blog series is to document my experiences playing in FNM events in the card shop I frequent (Ongkeco's Hobby Shop along Taft Avenue, across the street from the De La Salle University-Manila, although I play in other shops as well) and to air my opinions about the current Standard format and the state of FNM Magic the Gathering in general.
With that in mind, let me talk about today's FNM experience.
(Z–>)90º – (E–N²W)90ºt = 1
I almost had a bye for the first round, but a late entrant got me paired up against a quirky control strategy that features the ever awesome Niv Mizzet, the Dracogenius. If you don't know why he's so awesome, well, let's just say he's a dragon, and also a genius, hence Dracogenius. Also, he's Niv Mizzet, quite simply the most awesome dragon ever printed on a Magic card. That's actually his name on the subheader, if you can decipher it that is (Hint: it involves rotating stuff). He'd enjoy it if you explode your mind in the process though...
BADASS, 'NUFF SAID
Bad ass indeed. Just as awesome as the guy who designed and piloted it.
To be honest though, I think I could have won this match, but I was playing too conservatively for fear of counter magic. I ended up splitting the first two games, with the third game ending in last five turns without a winner. Well, you win some you lose some, and sometimes you just don't.
Lessons learned: Don't be afraid of counter magic. A deck can only play so many cards, its unrealistic that they'd be able to counter every single spell you cast. Also, Olivia Voldaren is awesome (you'd be reading that quite a lot in this blog post!). While Lone Revenant is problematic with it being Hexproof, its not just Niv Mizzet who can turn into a veritable machine gun, only in Olivia's case, she wouldn't mind turning the other machine gun into a Vampire Dragon Wizard and taking it for herself!
I Think I Know How It Feels To Be Turned Into A Lake
My next match was against a dude I've faced before in another FNM event, and is probably one of the best players in the shop, or at least one who leaves the strongest impression. He was piloting a Green Black White reanimator deck that features Angel of Serenity, the new awesome reanimator tech Craterhoof Behemoth, and my deck's Waterloo card Sigarda, Host of Herons.
YOU WOULDN'T WANNA BE ON THE WRONG SIDE
OF THESE ANGELS
It was a tough match-up to begin with. The deck sets-up by playing cards like Mulch and Grisly Salvage to toss juicy reanimator targets and Unburial Rites (the reanimator spell of choice in Standard, and half of probably the most devastating two card combo of the format, more on that later) into the graveyard. It stalls by playing Thragtusk (which is, in itself, a great reanimator target), some removal in the form of Oblivion Ring, and chump blocker tokens via Lingering Souls (which also plays a part in the almost combo aspect of the deck, as you will see later) until it can cast it's Unburial Rites, targeting Angel of Serenity. The angel can then nab your creatures or set up a sort of safety net loop with another Angel of Serenity or Thragtusk, either way accruing tremendous card advantage in the process. Three for ones all over the place!
Oh so you want to destroy my Angel? Okay, I get an Angel and Thragtusk back to my hand, thank you!
Alternatively, the deck can also simply accelerate into and hard cast its reanimation targets, making it a very flexible and value-ridden strategy. However, it really doesn't end there. Oh no, it gets so much better...
Unburial Rites for Craterhoof Behemoth?
THE VERY DEFINITION OF FATTY BOOM BOOM
You'd never ever want to hear that sentence when you are playing against reanimator, as it's almost always synonymous to game over. The tokens it generated via Lingering Souls plus other creatures it had played to stall the game up until that point all suddenly become huge monsters, and then you still have the Behemoth crashing at you, turning you into a lake of tomorrow in short order.
How's that for a mythic rare card?
I think my chances against this deck is rather okay, maybe a 40-60. Huntmaster of the Fells is a really strong card in this match-up, but some instant speed removal wouldn't be bad as well. Jund however, is a deck that eschews instant speed removal for more flexible options, like the powerful Dreadbore. Game one is most likely a game of who sticks the biggest threat first, and who can more effectively deal with the opponent's threats. Jund might have a bit of an edge there, given it's cadre of removal options, but sometimes you just don't draw into them on time.
Games two and three is all about the sideboard. Reanimator can transform into a more mid-range strategy post board, sometimes even removing it's reanimation package and just choosing to accelerate into it's threats or to play Planeswalkers. The deck can also sideboard in threats that are more suited to crushing whatever strategy the opponent might be playing; the cost doesn't really matter as the deck can just reanimate them anyway. Jund on the other hand can deploy cards like Slaughter Games, Deathrite Shamans, Appetite for Brains and even Rakdos Charms to nullify the reanimation strategy, exiling threats from the hand or graveyard (and in the case of Slaughter Games, from the deck itself) instead of sending them to the 'yard.
In my game, I just failed to draw my sideboarded answers, and got crushed again by beasties left and right. My opponent even got to do the dream play of drawing five cards off of a Garruk, Primal Hunter with a Thragtusk in play. Meaty.
Lessons learned: Sometimes you really just don't draw into your sideboard answers. That said however, I think playing a third Deathrite Shaman in the sideboard might be the better call as opposed to just two. It's a strong option for other strategies as well, like against Zombies and even against Snapcaster Mages, and can be online as early as turn 2, when reanimator is still playing its first self-mill card. Also, Olivia Voldaren would've been really strong against reanimator, stealing their threats from right under their noses if left unchecked.
DEATH METAL IN MAGIC CARD FORM
Sometimes, It's Good To Linger Around
My next match was against a token deck. A token deck basically uses cards like Lingering Souls to generate tons of tokens, buffing them up with cards like Intangible Virtue and Sorin, Lord of Innistrad to create an unstoppable army.
I WOULDN'T WANNA KNOW THEIR DEFINITION OF "MALEVOLENT"
Lingering Souls remains as one of the premier stalling options for slower decks, as the tokens function as effective chump blockers in the current creature-centered meta game. This deck, however, actively aims to beat you down with said tokens, and with the help of the Vigilance granted by Intangible Virtue, the tokens still remain exceptionally strong on defense.
Jund, however, I think is well positioned against these kinds of decks, as it plays a ton of mass removal and ways to deal with Sorin. Cards like Sever the Bloodline, Mizzium Mortars and Dreadbore stops the token plan on it's tracks; that is, provided they don't draw into a ton of Virtues early on.
True to that, the match was a rather easy one. Sever dealt with the tokens played early in the game, and the sideboarded Abrupt Decays did away with an early Intangible Virtue in Game 2. I almost made a misplay, however, when I failed to notice my opponent play and flashback Lingering Souls with Intagible Virtue in play in the same turn. I used Olivia's shooting ability four times, thinking it was enough to deal with what I thought was two tokens, declaring "I'm shooting them all". My opponent took it as a sign that I was pinging 1 point of damage on each of his FOUR tokens, which would not be enough to kill them. He graciously accepted my apology, however, as I really did not see him flashback the card. The next turn alpha strike with the now 8/8 Olivia (I pinged once early in the game) plus a massive pump from a Kessig Wolf Run sealed the game the following turn.
Lessons learned: Olivia Voldaren is really strong. Some decks just can't win with a resolved and online Olivia. In game two of that match, I even flipped a Garruk Relentless and sacrificed a wolf token as soon as I could (I think it was from Garruk as well, but it might have been from a Huntmaster) just to fetch Olivia. She's just that strong against token strategies.
Well, At Least It Still Got Most Of It's Legs!
Zombies is a very popular archetype in today's Standard. Although I think it's becoming less and less viable (with the aforementioned rise of Thragtusk), it's still one of the faster decks on the format, able to deploy eight (or sometimes even twelve) two power one drops and probably one of the nastiest three and four drops in terms of raw damage. Gravecrawler and Diregraf Ghoul (and sometimes Rakdos Cackler) start the horde invasion, with Geralf's Messengar and Falkenrath Aristocrat holding up the rear and providing a very strong amount of reach (an aggressive deck's ability to close a stalled game, when the opponent has stabilized to a degree) and inevitability (a deck's ability to end the game in it's favor). The deck also features some premier burn in Pillar of Flame, Searing Spear, Brimstone Volley and the interesting new tech Bump in the Night, offering even more damage, reach and inevitability. An aggro deck through and through, this deck does not make any pretenses; it wants your brains (or your life points) and it wants them now.
LIFE POINTSSSSSSSSS
Jund plays a lot of mainboard hate against zombies, and the match-up only gets better post-board. Cards like Pillar of Flame and Sever the Bloodline makes sure that these creatures of undeath stay dead, and cards like Thragtusk and Huntmaster of the Fells can stall the game long enough for you to draw into these hate, gaining you so much life that it puts you way out of reach from zombie's rotting hands. Post sideboarding, you can bring in Mr. Death Metal Shaman and more Severs and hate to deal even more damage to the horde.
ENSURING THE DEAD STAY DEAD
Again, this wasn't a very difficult match-up. The Jund deck drew into timely Thragtusks, Pillars and Severs, ensuring the zombie deck never stood a chance. Game 2 was even quicker, and while Deathrite was dealt with quickly, it was a potent enough threat that it drew a removal spell that could have been pointed towards Olivia, which again was an all-star. I guess that's what happens when you play a repeatable source of removal!
Lessons learned:
Join me again next week (hopefully), until then, may your Friday Nights be filled with Magic.
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