THE ROAD TO NATIONALS - by Mark Glenister (Views: 824)Thursday 19th May 2011- For some the road to Nationals is long and winding, for others it is a short hop across town, and for a select few lucky or skilful enough to have picked up Pro Points it’s just another stop on the gravy train. In years gone by that road has taken me the length and breadth of England, from Colchester to Bristol, Plymouth to Birmingham, and numerous stops between. Qualifying for Nationals is more difficult than it was, with one player making it for every full eight attendees, rather than the eight plus one for every eight that used to make it in.
This year the road for me began in Brighton. We’re here for the week on a family holiday of sightseeing, shopping, chips and ice cream, rides on the pier, clubs and comedy. It so happens that Brighton hosted a Nationals Qualifier on Sunday. Thirty hopeful spell slingers turned out on a sunny spring day to play five rounds of Standard in pursuit of three places at Nationals in August. This was, in fact, the last Qualifier of the season. As you shall see, my road to Nationals was less of an extended road trip and more of a cul-de-sac.
I can’t remember a time I turned up at a pre-release, PTQ or Nationals Qualifier without knowing at least a handful of the players in the room. Mick Wright is a well known face on the circuit, and I was grateful to sit down with him before the event. He wasn’t so happy to see me. He went on the explain that this was his fourth qualifier (and, of course, the last qualifier), and that he’d hoped for a little less stiff competition in chasing one of the available slots. I took his discontent as a compliment. Later in the day, he handed me a beating.
As I explained to Mick, I’m an advocate of testing the format, or at least the deck, that I’ll be playing. Experience shows that success at Magic only comes if you’re prepared to put in the leg work. However, I’ve had a hiatus from Magic since Pro Tour Amsterdam last September, and went into this event with no testing, and only a brief look at some coverage from the last two Grand Prix. It was apparent that Caw Blade is a powerhouse in Standard, and I also liked the look of Gerry Thompson’s take on U/W control, so I took some elements of the later and tried to crowbar them into the former, and ended up with this list:
Main Deck Sideboard 4 Squadron Hawk4 Stoneforge Mystic8 creatures
2 Sword of Feast and Famine3 Contagion Clasp2 Day of Judgment1 Everflowing Chalice2 Gideon Jura1 Jace Beleren4 Jace, the Mind Sculptor3 Mana Leak2 Spell Pierce2 Tumble Magnet1 Venser, the Sojourner4 Preordain27 spells
4 Celestial Colonnade4 Glacial Fortress4 Seachrome Coast4 Island4 Plains1 Scalding Tarn4 Tectonic Edge25 land
60 main deck cards
2 Day of Judgment2 Divine Offering2 Flashfreeze3 Kor Firewalker1 Mortarpod2 Spreading Seas2 Volition Reins1 Sun Titan15 sideboard cards
Main Deck Analysis Sideboard Analysis Card Type Breakdown:Creatures: 8 (13.33%)Artifacts: 8 (13.33%)Instants: 5 (8.33%)Sorceries: 6 (10.00%)Enchantments: 0 (0.00%)Planeswalkers: 8 (13.33%)Lands: 25 (41.67%)
Spell Colour Breakdown:White: 12 (34.29%)Blue: 14 (40.00%)Multicoloured: 1 (2.86%)Colorless: 8 (22.86%)
Mana Curve Analysis: Avg. Casting Cost: 2.51Lowest Casting Cost: 1Highest Casting Cost: 5
0 Mana Spells: 11 Mana Spells: 62 Mana Spells: 143 Mana Spells: 54 Mana Spells: 65 Mana Spells: 3
Spell Colour Breakdown:White: 8 (53.33%)Blue: 6 (40.00%)Colorless: 1 (6.67%)
Card Type Breakdown:Creatures: 4 (26.67%)Artifacts: 1 (6.67%)Instants: 4 (26.67%)Sorceries: 2 (13.33%)Enchantments: 4 (26.67%)Planeswalkers: 0 (0.00%)Lands: 0 (0.00%)
Most of the card choices reflect the accepted wisdom of the much evolved Caw Blade carcass, but certain cards warrant explanation.
Jace Beleren
With both Caw Blade and RUG packing a full compliment of Jace, the Mind Sculptor, Jace Beleren is there for an advantage in the ‘Jace war’.
Spell Pierce
Spell Pierce fits very well into the curve of this deck, which wants to be making Stoneforge Mystic on turn two, then holding up mana on turn three to activate the Mystic’s ability and still be able to counter an instant. Moreover, Spell Pierce counters Jace, Gideon, Harrow, Explore, opposing Mana Leaks and much more, all for the bargain price of one blue mana.
Contagion Clasp
Taking out RUG’s or Valakut’s turn two Lotus Cobra is a big step in pegging back their mana acceleration. Clasp achieves that and more. As games go long, the Clasp keeps Tumble Magnet fully loaded, puts counters on the Planeswalkers, and powers up the Everflowing Chalice. It also deals with a number of other annoying critters, from
Llanowar Elf to Vampire Hexmage, to Squadron Hawk.
Venser, the Sojourner
Venser interacts well with Stoneforge Mystic (to fetch a second Sword or Mortarpod), Contagion Clasp, Jace Beleren (to draw more cards), Jace, the Mind Sculptor (to bounce more opposing critters) and Tumble Magnet, or with Mortarpod and Spreading Seas from the sideboard.
Day of Judgment
I wanted access to four of these after sideboarding. Against any creature deck it’s important to stop the beats as early as possible, then claw back control of the game.
So, having borrowing a stack of mythics and rares (thanks Nick and Gordon), and not having had the opportunity to test, it seemed sensible to prepare a sideboarding plan. This is something I’ve been doing for several years, even before the change that allows players to refer to previously made notes whilst sideboarding, and I would recommend it to anyone who is serious about competitive Magic. I prepared a plan against eleven decks. As the day progressed, from my initial discussions about the format with Mick to actual play experience of key match ups, I realised that some of my plans were misguided and corrected them accordingly. Here’s the plan I made, including the mistakes that needed correcting:
vs Caw Blade
-2Day of Judgement
-2 Spell Pierce
-2 Mana Leak*
+2 Volition Reins
+2 Divine Offering
+1 Mortarpod
+1 Sun Titan
I soon realised it’s clearly wrong to take out lots of counters, so the Mana Leaks and a Spell Pierce stayed in and the Contagion Clasps came out instead.
Divine Offerings are there to win the ‘Sword war’, whilst Volition Reins can do likewise, but can also steal an opposing Planeswalker or Sun Titan. Mortarpod helps deal with opposing Hawks, Whilst Sun Titan is a card advantage machine in the long game.
vs Valakut
-1 Sword of Feast and Famine
-2 Spell Pierce
-3 Mana Leak*
+2 Volition Reins
+1 Mortarpod
+2 Spreading Seas
+2 Flashfreeze
Again, it is wrong to take out Mana Leaks, so they were replaced by the Jace Beleren, one Contagion Clasp and one Squadron Hawk.
vs RUG
-1 Sword of Feast and Famine
-1Venser, the Sojurner
-2 Spell Pierce
-1 Tectonic Edge
+2 Volition Reins
+1 Mortarpod
+2 Flashfreeze
Both Valakut and RUG make a lot of mana very quickly, so Spell Pierce is often redundant. In hindsight, the fourth Squadron Hawk could come out in each of the above three match ups.
vs U/B Control
-3 Contagion Clasp
-2 Day of Judgment
+2 Volition Reins
+2 Spreading Seas
+1 Sun Titan
With so few creatures to hit, removing the removal is a no-brainer. Spreading Seas is a handy answer to their man-lands.
vs Red Deck Wins
-1Venser, the Sojurner
-1 Jace Beleren
-1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
-1 Sword of Feast and Famine
-1 Tectonic Edge
-3 Mana Leak
-2 Spell Pierce*
+3 Kor Firewalker
+1 Mortarpod
+2 Day of Judgment
+2 Flashfreeze
+2 Volition Reins
With so many possible incarnations of this deck, it’s difficult to firm up the sideboarding strategy. Spell Pierce or Mana Leak may well be preferable to Volition Reins, depending on their build.
vs Boros
>
-1 Sword of Feast and Famine
-1 Jace Beleren
-1Venser, the Sojurner
-2 Spell Pierce
+1 Mortarpod
+2 Day of Judgment
+2 Volition Reins*
If they have more than a splash of red, then Flashfreeze should come in over Volition Reins.
vs Elves
-1 Jace Beleren
-1 Venser, the Sojourner
-1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
-2 Spell Pierce
+2 Day of Judgment
+2 Flashfreeze
+1 Mortarpod
The Planeswalkers are far too slow here, whilst access to an early Day of Judgment is essential.
vs U/B Infect
-2 Day of Judgment
-1 Venser, the Sojourner
-3 Contagion Clasp
+2 Volition Reins
+2 Divine Offering
+2 Spreading Seas
I don’t think their creature density warrants keeping in removal, but if they are light on artifacts it may be preferable to keep Day of Judgments over Divine Offerings.
vs Vampires
-1 Jace Beleren
-1 Venser, the Sojourner
-2 Spell Pierce
-1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
+1 Mortarpod
+2 Day of Judgment
+2 Volition Reins
The same cards come in and out as for the other creature decks. The second Sword of Feast and Famine stays in against Vampires and Elves as ‘protection from all your deck’ is good times.
vs White Quest
-1 Jace Beleren
-1Venser, the Sojurner
-1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
-1 Sword of Feast and Famine
-1 Mana Leak
+2 Day of Judgment
+2 Divine Offering
+1 Mortarpod
Some see this deck as a one trick pony, but it functions as an adequate beat down deck even without the Quest to fetch a relic (Argentum Armor). Out with the slow Planeswalkers and in with the relevant removal.
vs Fauna Shaman Toolbox
>
-1 Jace Beleren
-1Venser, the Sojurner
-1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
-1 Sword of Feast and Famine
-2 Spell Pierce
-1 Tectonic Edge
+1 Mortarpod
+2 Day of Judgment
+2 Volition Reins
+2 Flashfreeze
Another deck with multiple incarnations, but the principles are the same as for other creature based decks. Volition Reins comes in to steal their big threat.
I wouldn’t claim that this is a definitive sideboarding plan, and would welcome your comments and criticisms. In the event, I came up against four different archetypes, and felt well prepared to tune my deck for games two and three.
Round 1 – Phil Pemberton (Valakut)
Phil was a friendly local player, and this was his first ever qualifier. He won the die roll, then mulliganed to five. I led with Stoneforge Mystic into Sword of Feast and Famine, then equipped, swung and followed up with Jace, the Mind Sculptor. Phil made an Overgrown Battlements into Oracle of Mul Daya. I wrecked him with a turn five play ofVenser, the Sojurner , swing with the equipped Stoneforge Mystic, untap lands, phase out the Mystic with Venser, cast Day of Judgment, fetch another Sword when the Mystic came back in at end of turn. There was no coming back for Phil.
It was my turn to mulligan in game two. I made Stoneforge Mystic into Sword of Feast and Famine, and was able to take down Phil’s Lotus Cobra with Mortarpod, but he Naturalized my Sword and made back to back Primeval Titans to finish me off.
Unfortunately for Phil, another mulligan to five saw him light on options. He made a Lotus Cobra and anOvergrown Battlements , but little else. After leading with Mystic, Sword and Squadron Hawk I made Jace, the Mind Sculptor and fatesealed Phil out of the game. At one point cramp had me up out of my seat, and I had to explain to Phil that I’d walked six miles along the South Downs that morning.
1 – 0
Round 2 – Matthew Parsons (Caw Blade)
My notes from this match are scarce, as I felt it needed all my concentration. Phil won the die roll, I mulliganed to five, and he took the first game. We both got Stoneforge Mystic out on turn two, but Matthew followed up with Jace, the Mind Sculptor and bounced my Mystic back to hand. The resulting tempo advantage was enough for Matthew to win.
The tempo was with me in game two, and I was able to square the match without loss of life.
We played game three in an increasingly noisy, echoing room, which Matthew clearly found distracting. I have the dubious experience of having played Magic in highly distracting circumstances, and am now able to tune out the hubris. The crunch play came when Matthew made a Sun Titan which I stole with Volition Reins.
2 – 0
Round 3 – Mick Wright (Valakut)
Mick and I felt there was a good chance we would meet at some point, but had hoped it would be in round five when we could intentionally draw. Mick was confident about his match up, with some justification it seems. On the draw, I led with Stoneforge Mystic into a turn three Everflowing Chalice plus Sword of Feast and Famine, then followed up with a pair of Squadron Hawks. Mick’s plays were explosive, with Explore into two Harrows, Primeval Titan on turn four andGreen Sun’s Zenith for another Titan on turn five using for Valakut triggers to wipe my team.
On the play in game two, I kept a slow hand with two Glacial Fortresses and made a pair of puny Hawks whilst Mick used his Lotus Cobra to accelerate into two Primeval Titans and a Thrun, the Last Troll supported by a difficult to deal with Raging Ravine. A pair of Tumble Magnets slowed him down until I could clear the table with a Day of Judgment, but by then Mick had four Valakuts and five Mountains on the table and the Mountain he had left in hand was more than sufficient to blast me away.
2 – 1
Round 4 – Jim Tann (RUG)
Jim lives locally, but used to hail from Colchester so we had plenty to talk about whilst we shuffled up. He still has friends in Colchester, so I told him about Nick’s new store and gave him the website address. He kindly invited me to test some Legacy later in the week. Game one went very long, with quite a bit of to-ing and fro-ing. Jim stuck down a Lotus Cobra that accelerated into Jace, the Mind Sculptor that brainstormed away for more threats, finding an Inferno Titan. I killed the Cobra with Contagion Clasp, then locked down his Titan with a Tumble Magnet. I found a Jace of my own to send his to the graveyard, then a Venser which removed the Clasp from the game to return again with a counter on his Titan at end of turn. He activated a Raging Ravine that got in for one turn before I could hold up the mana to activate my Tectonic Edge. From then on I slowly clawed back control. Venser sent the Contagion Clasp back and forth, shrinking the Titan each time, and Tumble Magnet to fill upon counters again. Several activations of the Clasp’s Proliferate ability later, the Titan was dead and I had an emblem token from Venser. There was no coming back for Jim.
We shuffled up for game two with about fifteen minutes on the clock. Jim got a fast start and I had no answers, so he took the game. This left us in a tight spot, with less than eight minutes remaining and a draw being of no use to either one of us.
We played the opening turns at a blistering pace. Stoneforge Mystic turned up on cue, fetched a Sword of Feast and Famine and proceeded to beat down. Jace, the Mind Sculptor followed and I was looking in good shape. Time was called as I untapped, with Jim on seventeen life and a Cobra looking weak against my equipped Mystic. I attempted to stick a Gideon Jura, but he popped a Scalding Tarn and Mana Leaked my mythic. I metaphorically kicked myself, as I could have killed his Cobra with a Contagion Clasp before attempting the Gideon. The Mystic dropped him to fourteen, but I now lacked the power to reduce him to zero life in extra turns. On turn two of the five extra turns, I dug deep with Jace and saw my second Gideon, which stuck this time. The Mystic dropped him to eleven life, and was joined on the table by two Squadron Hawks and a Mortarpod. On turn four, my Jace bounced the creature he made, Gideon became a 6/6 and joined my team in the red zone, dealing him exactly eleven. Jim was a sport, and said he would have conceded even if I hadn’t quite had the gas to finish him off.
3 – 1
Mick and I chatted after standings went up. We were both 3 – 1, and knew that even if we both won it was quite likely we would lose out on tie breaks.
Round 5 – David Gillam (Elves)
David was a local kid with an elf powered, mono green, Fauna Shaman deck that dumped Vengevines into the graveyard to get them back for free. Elvish Archdruid and Ezuri, Renegade Leader joined the party and he beat me in game one despite missing his second land drop for ages.
I took game two, but only because he missed an early Vengevine trigger. Without disrespect to David, it was clear he wasn’t used to playing competitive Magic, and his plays were not tight. Day of Judgment cleared the board and I followed up with a Gideon that went the distance.
However, his deck was a tough match up for mine, and he crushed me in game three with Vengevines, whilst my Contagion Clasps proved inadequate against his onslaught.
3 – 2
Mick lost his last round and beat a hasty retreat to get home whilst the trains were running. David Gillam came fourth but just missed out on tie breaks. I picked up three boosters for my day’s work.
With the experience of the event behind me, I would drop the Venser, Everflowing Chalice and Contagion Clasps as they didn’t do enough to warrant inclusion. In would come the twenty-sixth land, the third Gideon Jura, and the fourth Mana Leak. In the ‘accepted’ Caw Blade list, Condemn fills the remaining two slots, but I’d like to test Volition Reins as a main deck answer to opposing Titans and mythics.
Although Brighton was the last of the Nationals qualifiers, the road is not yet closed. A good showing at GP London could catapult numerous players up the ratings and earn them an invite, and there are, of course, the Grrrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinderrrrrrrrrrrrrs (aka Last Chance Qualifiers). I’ll see you at one, or both.
Mark Glenister - markglenister@xtremetrades.co.uk MtGO username: magicbusmark
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