Naya Zoo in Standard

By Jim Marlow

Hey Everyone,

I have been away from Leeds this week so i couldn't crush the draft, leaving it to Beard and Chris Vincent to take down the 2 pods in this weeks triple Zendikar draft.

Luckily, i have returned for another week of standard, meaning i have to test whatever deck i make against numerous jund and vampire decks, awesome.

I started trying to reinvent the bant control deck i had conjured last week, then when i saw my esper charms i immediately started examining 5 colour build (traditional, not cascade) I was having a real hard time building a 5 colour deck, mainly because i knew i wanted to use baneslayer as a win condition, but tbh jwar jwar sphinx is a lot better because when you eventually fling out you're lightning rod for removal its still no good, but sadly i dont have any of the shroud sphinx....and i gave up after trying to build a 4 colour control (no red).

Here's what ill be playing if i can muster some cards from other people

4 x wild nacatl
4 x knight of the reliquary
4 x woolly thoctar
4 x bloodbraid elf
4 x baneslayer angel

4 x burst lightning
4 x lightning bolt
4 x path to exile
3 x ajani vengeant
1 x behemoth sledge

2 x jungle shrine
4 x rootbound crag
4 x sunpetal grove
4 x arid mesa
4 x mountain
4 x plains
2 x forest

S/B
4 x volcanic fallout
4 x great sable stag
4 x celestial purge
3 x luminarch ascension


The deck is painfully simple to build and play, but aggressively costed creatures and removal spells is the oldest combo in magic, so im pretty sure this deck can get there against any of the other decks in the current field. I thought i would take a break from playing decks im not good enough to pilot and play a no brainer for once.

See you all Tuesday


Untill then,


Jim


As always, feel free to comment on this article, or anything related or unrelated to magic whatsoever. If you would like to contribute to the TLM blog, please email any pictures, ideas or articles to ss07jm@leeds.ac.uk

WNM - planechase multiplayer

By Jim Marlow

Hey everyone,

I hope wednesday served as a cold reminder that magic isn't just about making a half-awake train ride to the nearest PTQ before crapping out and getting at home at midnight with bad beats and punts on your mind, its just a game, one thats meant to be played for fun.

John did a magnificent job of organising an event, presummably the first of it's kind in this country, and creating a real buzz around with various hilarious events happening on separate tables that were being shared accross the room.

Before i became part of the Leeds magic group two years ago i spent around 6 months or so soley playing multiplayer games of all kinds with some housemates, mostly with precon decks, maybe with very slight alterations, and im very aware of the exciting tales that come from multiplayer action.

Paradoxically, the strength of the players in the Leeds group can also serve as it's weakness in acquiring new players to the game....it can be a daunting task coming up against some of the better players in the country in your first couple of weeks (that said, Leeds still has one of the largest fnm groups in the country). Even the FNM's played in Leeds are very competative, and given the level of the players, the decks are highly tuned, so players rarely get the chance to showcase their helix pinnacle monstrousity, or their mesa enchantress pile.

In all honesty, i got knocked out of both my games, and didnt have the best of times doing it, but these were not because it wasnt fun, i just didnt get a chance to get sigil of the empty throne working and bust out some sick turns.

For reference, here's the deck i played

4 x mesa enchantress
1 x reveillark
4 x martial coup
3 x idylic tutor
3 x sigil of the empty throne
4 x oblivion ring
4 x curse of chains
4 x pacifism
4 x runed halo
1 x armoured ascension
1 x rise of the hobgoblins
1 x endless horizons
1 x greater auramancy

23 x plains
2 x gargoyle castle



Overall, despite my poor performance in the event, it was a great idea, and certainly the majority of players in Leeds were going pretty mad for it, i cant remember a Leeds FNM being that rowdy with crowds of exciting magic players telling each other how they died, or killed the others.

Being my first time playing planechase, it certainly was a new experiance for me, and although i didnt have as much of a blast as most of the other players, i think it was a great idea, and certainly a tournament that i would like to see repeated in the future.

The planechase events will be fantastic events to bring new players too, because the effect of player skill on the outcome of the game is greatly reduced, yet the fundamentals of the game are the same. Also, it was great to see people that dont often win FNM's to be crushing games of planechase and winning themselves a load of boosters, because i remember having a huge chip on my shoulder until i won my first FNM.


Anyway, i certainly look forward to the next planechase event. Even though i dont enjoy them as much as other types of magic, they are still loads of fun, and i think they are great for acquiring new players and for less serious magic players.


See you all at the Weekend for the Release event...just to let everyone know im 21 on Monday, so a case or 2 of Zendikar would be much appreciated.



Untill then,


Jim


As always, feel free to comment on this article, or anything related or unrelated to magic whatsoever. If you would like to contribute to the TLM blog, please email any pictures, ideas or articles to ss07jm@leeds.ac.uk

POST 100! - Jim breaks magic!

By Jim Marlow

Hey everyone,

Before i get started, being the 100th post and all, i thought i would just say a few things. Firstly, i want to say how pleased i am that the blog has managed to survive to 100 posts, which is no doubt because of the full support i have had from Ben Heath, Mick Edwards and Rob Wagner, who have done loads to keep this thing ticking over when i havent been able to. Also, 100 posts on im still glad that people are reading it too, obviously there wouldnt be much point doing this without your supportive, and constructive, comments. I have no plans to stop doing the blog as long as both these things exist so hopefully i will be saying similar words in a few months time in the 200th post, fingers crossed.

So for those non-Leeds readers, and for people who havent finished making a deck for the upcoming unsanctioned multiplayer planechase event happening at TJ's club in Leeds this wednesday, then i am about to offer you an absolute peach.

Obviously, this event is pretty casual, and most of you will be preparing some mixed bag of hilarious combo's, ridiculous 8 mana enchantments, and various other piles dragged straight from the kitchen table of a 10 year old near you......not me im afraid.

I decided i would take this seriously, put in the hours, evaluate the metagame, and create an unbeatable deck.

It was meant to be a secret, but i wanted to nab the 100th post (i'd told wagz he could do it but he hasnt posted in a while), so i thought i would get it on the internet before it gets sprawled across StarCity and Channel Fireball....just remember folks, you saw it here first.

.....Oh, and have a sickbag ready.

Mono W Enchantress

4 x mesa enchantress
1 x reveillark

4 x martial coup
3 x idylic tutor

3 x sigil of the empty throne
4 x oblivion ring
4 x curse of chains
4 x pacafism
4 x runed halo
1 x armoured ascension
1 x rise of the hobgoblins
1 x endless horizons
1 x greater auramancy

23 x plains
2 x gargoyle castle


Yep.


Im looking forward to wednesday, almost as much as im looking forward to the zendikar release, i may buy a box of Zendikar as well...goddam priceless treasures making me buy boosters, as if the fetchlands were'nt tempting enough.

Untill then,


Jim


As always, feel free to comment on this article, or anything related or unrelated to magic whatsoever. If you would like to contribute to the TLM blog, please email any pictures, ideas or articles to ss07jm@leeds.ac.uk

Leeds WNM - saying goodbye to Lorwyn

By Jim Marlow

Hey everyone,

This week's T2 standard constructed event marked the last time to play lorwyn block before zendikar rotates in. The lack of recent articles, and the content of the few produced, have surely made my feelings clear on the current state of standard.

All in all, it was a good season. There were plenty of winning, and potentially winning decks made, made better, and unmade in the last 18 months. However, like anything, after 18 months the format was fairly exhausted, the metagame unpredictable (at high level, let alone fnm).

So this left me with quite the dilemma over what to play, with days untill wnm i was speaking to wagz about how i had no deck, whereas Rob is decktesting his decks for unsanctioned multiplayer planechase over a week away (dedicated?)

I had a choice between many decks, because i have been lucky enough to bag sets of most key cards in the format up till now, only really excluding m10. But, looking around i didnt see a deck i either liked, or hadnt played to death for the last year.

In the end i played this.

4 x noble heirarch
4 x treefolk harbinger
4 x putrid leech
3 x gaddock teeg
4 x doran the siege tower
4 x kitchen finks
4 x wilt leaf liege
2 x chameleon colossus

4 x maelstrom pulse
4 x path to exile
1 x behemoth sledge

4 x murmuring bosk
4 x gilt leaf palace
3 x twilight mire
2 x wooded bastion
2 x sunpetal grove
2 x reflecting pool
3 x forest
1 x plains
1 x swamp

S/B

2 x primal command
1 x behemoth sledge
3 x garruk wildspeaker
4 x great sable stag
2 x cloudthresher
3 x infest

Im not going to do a massively in depth report, but i ended up 2/2 on wednesday, which is respectable, but not quite what i was hoping for. My two wins were to a doran splash red for bloodbraid deck, and faeries. MY losses, were of course, to warp world and a goat deck. I did manage to bag 4th place for my troubles, and overall it was a really nice end to a really nice format.

The zendikar prerelease looms, im sure i am not the only one who is massively excited by this set. If nothing else, a fetch land almost pays for the entire prerelease, and there seem to be some interesting cards in the set.

Having talked about it recently however, it seems Wizards has a habit of making sets with a larger number of money and ridiculous rares in, but its a horrible limited environment (especially sealed),

Or

a set with very few money rares, but it makes for an awesome drafting and sealed environment.

Fetch lands of course worried me because i hoped this wasnt a money rare set, but looking at zendikar it looks like loads of fun, and that with landfall it looks like the set has been really well worked to integrate the money rares into the whole theme of the limited environment.

Anyway, ill have a report from the prerelease up early next week,


Untill then,


Jim


As always, feel free to comment on this article, or anything related or unrelated to magic whatsoever. If you would like to contribute to the TLM blog, please email any pictures, ideas or articles to ss07jm@leeds.ac.uk

Heathy reports on PTQ conventry

By Ben Heath

PTQ Austin in Coventry – A Heathy Adventure

Howdy
Having had two days to look back at the PTQ in Coventry, here’s my personal report on the day.

Deck: G/W Overrun
Experience with deck: Not enough. Five matches tops I’d say.
Prediction: Anything better than 3-3 would do.
Deck tech: Three Great Sable Stag main, one sneaky Martial Coup in there as well. 22 land and more mana bugs as well. This was gonna be interesting.

Round 1
Vs. Fae

Pre-Match – I had never met this player before, never mind played against him, so I didn’t know what to expect really.

Game 1 – Spec Proc turn 3, Cloudgoat Ranger turn 4. Draw land for the next five turns. I get Vendilion Clique’d twice, revealing land hands of 4 and then 6. However Ajani Goldmane comes to town, then leaves thanks to Cryptic Command. Garruk arrives along with Great Sable Stag and somehow I win Game 1.

Game 2 – Turn 2 Bitterblossom gets me worried. The deck is still working far too slowly, but I eke out a result due to my opponent not getting any Spellstutter Sprites or Mistbind Cliques. With both players getting bad draws in this match it wasn’t easy on the eye.

Aftermath – This guy went on to recover to 3-1 but lost the last two rounds.

Round 2
Vs. Neo-Fae

Pre-Match – Next up, some ginger guy. He’s from Leeds too, apparently. Jim is one of my deck-testing partners and we both knew each others decks inside out. I hadn’t lost to Jim in 3 competetive matches of Magic, so I was quietly confident going into this.

Game 1 – Stag and 3 Spirit tokens on the board with Overrun in hand. Firespout from Jim puts an end to that plan. Cloudgoat Ranger resolves, flip a Windbrisk to reveal Spec Proc. Jim makes the play of the game by scooping.

Game 2 – Quick out of the blocks again, but this time Jim’s deck was having a party, and countered everything and anything. My frustration was clear to see and despite having 24 life, that quickly disintegrated thanks to double Scion and double Bitterblossom.

Game 3 – If Game 2 was the Fae party, Game 3 was the morning after, the hangover. No red mana source meant no Firespout or Lightning Bolt, and it was one of those games that made you appreciate the traditional Fae build. Not how I wanted to win but a win is a win.

Aftermath – Jim went on to 1-2 drop. Shame.

Round 3
Vs Bant Aggro

Pre-match – The draw I had been dreading. Thomas whooped Rik 2-0 in Round 1 as this deck is very fast. He had Top 8’d at the last PTQ and had improved the deck since then. This wasn’t going to be fun.

Game 1 – Thomas shoots out of the blocks, landing double Hierarch and Rafiq. This usually means victory, but as I’m playing tokens I just kept on generating blockers until I had enough to swarm him. Wilt-Leaf Liege under the Windbrisk helped immensely.

Game 2 – He casts silence on my turns 4 and 5. With only 3 Spirit Tokens to save me, I don’t last long. It didn’t help that I had to mulligan to 5 and the only non-land cards I drew were Spec Proc, Ajani and Overrun.

Game 3 – This is the first game where I feel I was truly outwitted. I didn’t expect to see Jenara in the deck. After he Paths my Cloudgoat Ranger, I have two turns to find Spec Proc. It doesn’t come. I lose.

Round 4
Vs Kithkin

Pre-match – I had never met Steffano before, but had watched his last game against Mick Edwards so I knew what to expect. This guy was a very competent Magic player and a better player than I. He was also playing Kithkin. I didn’t think I was going to win this.

Game 1 – He plays Honor of the Pure and two Wizened Cenn. That’s right, on Turn 4 he has two 4/4 Kithkin on the table and 5 cards in hand. I’m stuck with two lowly 1/1 Spirit tokens and I’m staring defeat in the face. Suddenly though I find myself on the front foot thanks to token generators. He makes two Figures, which both promptly bite the dust. A second Honor of the Pure can’t save him from Ajani, Spirit Tokens and Cloudgoat Ranger though and we’re onto Game 2.

Game 2 – Another Rapido start from Steffano and I promptly find myself on 6 life. Martial Coup makes it’s first appearance of the tournament for 5 and it seems to swing the match in my fasvour…until two Cloudgoat Rangers appear on his side of the board. We’re onto Game 3 folks.

Game 3-
WARNING. THIS GAME CONTAINS SCENES OF EXTREME LUCKSACKERY. PEOPLE WITH HEART CONDITIONS, PREGNANT WOMEN AND RIK POWELL SHOULD NOT LOOK. SERIOUSLY, THIS MAKES ROB WAGNER LOOK LIKE A LUCKSACKING N00B.
I’m on the play, It doesn’t matter though as Steffano immediately hits the front foot with Double Stillmoon Cavalier, 3 Spirit Tokens and Honor of the Pure in play. I’m sat there with a single Cloudgoat Ranger, no tokens, 4 life, manaflooded (9 land), 1 card in hand (Ajani). One hope, a one in forty chance of drawing it. I do the corniest thing I can think off. I copy Gabriel Nassif. I arrange my mana for Martial Coup for 7. I draw the card, face down. If it’s not Martial Coup, I lose. I flip it over. I win the game.

Aftermath – Steffano drops after being lucksacked out of the tournament. I realise that in that one instance, I have used up all my luck. How right I was…

Round 5
Vs. 5 Color Cascade

Pre-Match – A PTQ debutant, Jake was 3-1 with a pretty darn good Cascade build. I went into this round 8th in the standings. I was on the bubble, I had to win.

Game 1 – Jake plays. Kitchen Finks followed by Bloodbraid Elf into Kitchen Finks puts him in ridiculously good position. At this point I only have Spirit Tokens. They soon get Pulsed. Only 3 land on the table, all the cards in hand need 4 or more to play. We’re onto game 2 and I fear the end is nigh.

Games 2 and 3 – These were exactly the same so I’ll put them up together. Spirit tokens + Cloudgoat Ranger + Ajani + Overrun under a Windbrisk. Jake’s starts were slower this time round and by the time he played anything with any meaning, it was too little too late.

Aftermath – Jake would go on to finish 3-3, a good first outing to a PTQ then, considering mine was 3-3-1.

Round 6
Vs. Time Sieve

Pre-match – I was 7th going into this final round, and I was up against Daniel, who was in 8th place. We had to play. Richard Bland wanted to make us the feature match, and from the spectators it quickly drew I could see why. But we both refused. Not sure why really, it would have been cool. But this was it. Winner would be 1st seed, loser would crash out of the PTQ.

Game 1 – I keep a good hand on the draw. However my opponent decides to get God hands and draws all 4 cryptics. I see no Stags. I don’t stand a chance.
I force him to combo out hoping he’ll screw up. I’m not worried about time because I know I have to beat him quickly anyway to stand a chance of winning. He doesn’t screw up. I’m 1 game away from falling at the last.

Game 2 – Again God hands gets two Cryptics and a Pollen Lullaby in his opening hand. However, I draw two Gutteral Responses and despite preventing one wave of attacks, Daniel can’t prevent the second wave and it’s 1-1.

Pre-Game 3 – I quickly make a note saying that I’ve pushed my luck far enough, and that I’ll be happy no matter what the result was. That last one turned out to be BS…

Game 3 – Double Noble Hierarch, Great Sable Stag, and 6 Spirit Tokens. Ajani hits the board. Game over, surely? No! Pollen Lullaby No. 1 appears. He’s some way to comboing off, here comes wave number 2. Pollen lullaby again! I’m glad to see the back of them. After his good luck in drawing the previous two games, surely he hasn’t drawn like a God again? He has! Pollen lullaby number 3 appears. I couldn’t believe it. It’s bought him all the time he needs. All he has to do now is not to make a mistake. First warning! Missed trigger off of the Howling Mine. Three of his turns later...second warning! All he has to do is screw up a trigger again!


He doesn’t. Game over. After not seeing a turn for 20 minutes, I actually fell asleep. I won’t lie, I was devastated. Despite Rik trying to comfort me, I couldn’t believe it. I thought I’d blown it. In hind sight I hadn’t, Daniel had drawn better than I had. Looking back I’m happy with how things went. Bring on the next PTQ season! Oh wait, it’s sealed…I won’t bother then.

Tournament Report - PTQ Coventry

By Jim Marlow

Hey Everyone,

This weekend saw the penultimate (thank God) Standard constructed PTQ of the season for Austin, before London on the 5th of September, which i consider being unable to attend a bit of a blessing.

I was pretty set on playing faeries for the event, because i know faeries, i loved the deck that Wagz took to nationals, and i thought that with some minor changes it was the best deck to combat the u/w baneslayer deck, which, unfortunately, i wrongly assumed everyone would be playing.

This is the deck i took to the ptq for reference

4 x mistbind clique
4 x spellstutter sprite
4 x scion of oona
2 x shriekmaw

4 x bitterblossom

4 x broken ambitions
4 x cryptic command
3 x jace beleren

2 x firespout
4 x lightning bolt

4 x vivid creek
3 x vivid marsh
2 x reflecting pool
2 x cascade bluffs
2 x sunken ruins
4 x secluded glen
3 x mutavault
4 x island
1 x swamp

S/B

4 x anathemancer
2 x banefire
2 x sower of temptation
2 x deathmark
1 x shriekmaw
2 x firespout
2 x plumeveil

Overall i was really happy with the list, and i think any other day with some tighter play and a little bit of luck this could have easily gone the distance, despite a slight misevaluation of the metagame.

Round 1 - Nick playing ubr faeries

Its not great playing nick doroupolous at any stage of a tournament, because he is an incredibly tight player, and of course a close friend of the Leeds community.

Game 1 - I mull to 6 on the draw, but luckily Nick's 2 land bitterblossom hand begins to look increasingly bad when he fails to draw a 3rd land for 3 or 4 turns. By the time Nick has found more lands the damage has already been done, and now with a blossom of my own the game is soon over.

Game 2 - I bring in the anathemancers and banefire's for the shriekmaws, firespouts and 2 bolts. I was tempted to bring in the sowers for the other bolts, as i hear a lot of people say sower is good in the mirror, but i have never been a fan. I start on a fairly contentious mulligan, with 4 lands, 2 jace and an anathemancer. This was really tempting but i was pretty sure i could do better with 6, what do people think. Either way this game was a little closer than the last, but this time Nick found himself flooded, and having landed an anathemancer for 4, then bouncing and replaying for 7, a banefire was the only other spell i needed to resolve, which wasnt much trouble when i played it for lots.

1-0 (2-0)

Round 2 - Ben Heath - g/w little kid

urgh, another Leeds player in the first 2 rounds, i always seem to be driving miles to these events and playing the same guys i play every week at WNM. Also, i thought i was a slight dog in this match if ben got good draws, because it only really takes the resolution of either 1 spectral procession or cloudgoat ranger to really swing the game in his favour.

Game 1 - I kept a pretty decent 7 with broken ambitions, which i know is important in the match for keeping of Ben of his key spells. After some trading of resources, including me firespouting away a great sable stag and 3 spirit tokens and then countering another threat i felt like i was doing okay. Sadly, i couldnt stop the cloudgoat renger, and then windbrisk heights revealed another spectral procession, and sadly that was about all she wrote.

Game 2 - I kept a triple ambitions hand on the play, with a firespout backup. I countered the onslaught on spells Ben tried to resolve and firespouted some other stuff away, eventually allowing me to play the bitterblossom from my opener, and then i had double scion to make sure the clock wasnt long enough for Ben to come back from.

Game 3 - Annoyingly, losing the dice roll meant ben got 2 games on the play, at least, which i knew was pretty relevant in this match for him at least, my only hope being that he didnt have sick draws. Luckily, his first play was a great sable stag, which is fine by me, i think. I have double bolt and a firespout with a reflecting pool, so im ok with some beats as long as i can draw a vivid of cascade bluffs eventually. Sadly, i never draw the red source, and a second sable stag as well as a finks and cloudgoat ranger put me slightly on the backfoot, to say the least. I have 2 turns to draw the red source i have needed all game, with ben with 1 card in hand. Sadly, the red never comes, and im done.


1-1 (3-2)


Round 3 - Kevin Blake - Merfolk

Kevin seemed like a nice guy, and i havent met him before so its always good to meet new chaps. Annoyingly however, he's playing merfolk, which is another matchup where i think im a slight dog, which is made a lot harder if he wins the die roll, and if he gets a sick draw.

Game 1 - He wins the die roll.....and gets a sick draw.

Game 2 - i spend the entire game trying to play around sygg, eventually allowing me to firespout his team. Sadly he drew the backup sygg, which again i start the long process of trying to get him to tap out so i can remove it. However, playing round sage's dousing i manage to niggle away with bitterblossom tokens and use scions and cryptics to shorten his clock. An end of turn mistbind clique which gets dismissed allows me to cryptic in order to get my mutavaults through for the winsies.

Game 3 - sadly i lose this one, another close game which could have gone either way. Kevin draws double sygg again, which he shows me afterwards, althought he only needed 1 to get the job done.


Well, 1-2 is a bit of an improvement on the last 2 ptq's i have been to. I am looking forward to coming back to Leeds, because it is no surprise to see the guys who play the most and take it seriously getting good results, so i cant wait to get back to Leeds for some serious play before the next ptq season....o wait its sealed.

Congratulations to Rob Catton and Mick Edwards for top 8'ing, i have heard that both sadly didnt make it past the quarters but congratulations nevertheless.

After the ptq me and rik did a m10 draft, which Rik 2-1'd, while i drafted an ok deck but managed to crap out spectacularly nevertheless. I should have drafted straight r/b, but dipped into white because its my favourite colour in m10 and i cant help myself when i get a flyer or two.

Also in the draft was the arrogant one, and now i know why they call him that.


Im back in leeds around the 15th of september, i might come up for the play the game, see the world thing at Fanboy on the 12th, but i dont know yet. Ill see everyone when i get back in Leeds.


See you all soon


Untill then,


Jim


As always, feel free to comment on this article, or anything related or unrelated to magic whatsoever. If you would like to contribute to the TLM blog, please email any pictures, ideas or articles to ss07jm@leeds.ac.uk

A deck for PTQ Coventry

By Jim Marlow

Hey everyone,

I hope everyone in Leeds is well, i was certainly excited by the 14? man strong turn out despite being out of term time in a predominately student based group on Wednesday, so who knows how many Team Leeds will be getting come September.

I am, as the title suggests, going to slog out some Standard constructed (ill just write T2 from now on as just writing these words makes me want to vomit), mostly in a bid to try and and get a better result than my last two PTQ's (consecutive 0-2 drop...olous, yay!)

Im pretty torn between 2 decks, a ubr faeries list, and combo elves. I am leaning towards fae because i love me some faeries and i hate combo so much, as i always feel like your just hoping your deck doesnt crap out every round.

I would imagine the simultaneous articles from LSV and MOJ on starcity and channelfireball will have every man and his dog playing the baneslayer deck this weekend, and i think faeries will beat it more consistently than elves will, i think. I would like to play the deck too, but when i played it i found myself pretty tight for mana, particularly if my knight of the white orchid got countered.

Here's the faeries list i would play, possibly with some minor adjustments.

4 x mistbind clique
4 x spellstutter sprite
4 x scion of oona
2 x vendilion clique

4 x bitterblossom

4 x broken ambitions
4 x cryptic command
2 x jace beleren

2 x firespout
4 x lightning bolt
1 x doom blade

2 x cascade bluffs
3 x crumbling necropolis
4 x island
4 x mutavault
2 x reflecting pool
4 x secluded glen
1 x swamp
2 x sunken ruins
3 x vivid creek

S/B

4 x anathemancer
2 x firespout
2 x banefire
1 x jace beleren
3 x thought hemorrhage
3 x deathmark


Im sure i will have tinkered with the list before next weekend, or more likely abandoned it altogether, but i will hopefully be bringing this to Leeds for this weeks standard event to see how it does.

See you all soon.


Until then,


Jim


As always, feel free to comment on this article, or on anything related or unrelated to magic whatsoever. If you would like to contribute to the TLM blog, please email any ideas, pictures, articles or anything else to ss07jm@leeds.ac.uk

Guest Column: Nationals with Mick #4th

By Mick Edwards

Editors Introduction: Presented here is the first of a two-part article by Mick Edwards on his very successful run at Nats, coming in 4th and getting his place in Worlds - well done Mick!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Despite two days of solid play testing with Rob and Jim, I was very worried as we left for Nationals on Wednesday as I wasn’t too happy with my deck. I much preferred the ‘Fae splash red’ list that Rob was taking, but had neither the cards nor the experience to play that.

My worries only increased as the bus was delayed, we had to rush to the venue and quickly fill in deck lists. To see my constructed deck list, check out the Wizards website (netdecker - editor). Soon enough I found myself in round one.

Round One – 5 Colour Control

The first game was over very quickly as my deck shifted into aggro mode. On the play I managed to get a turn 3 4/4 Figure of Destiny. So while other spells were drawn, countered and killed, my Figure manage to reduce his life total to 2 before it was dealt with; luckily for me I had the uncounterable 2 damage spell in hand.

Game 2 – After boarding my deck became much more control oriented and I spent the early game protecting planeswalkers rather than attacking. I was able to use Elspeth’s ultimate which was very handy and by the time he started casting Cruel Ultimatum, I had him at a low life total and Call the Skybreaker in my Graveyard. In desperation he tried to Firespout + Fallout my Elemental fliers away, but I reminded him they were indestructible and he scooped.

Round Two – 5 Colour Blood

My second round opponent was running a very interesting 5 colour Bloodbraid list, including both Doran and Reveilark. I ended up on the wrong side of multiple Anathemancers since my deck contains a large amount of non-basic lands. Getting stuck on 3 mana didn’t help, as although I cast 3 Kitchen Finks to help the stall (until I could cast my Hallowed Burial) he swarmed past them making several creatures per turn (Bloodbraid Elf is pretty good!).

Round Three – Turbo Fog

Game 1 – I initially thought my opponent was playing Time Sieve combo, since we had heard the traders had sold a lot of Time Sieve the previous day. When I eventually discovered it was the old Turbo Fog build I realised it made little difference as my game plan against both is to aim plenty of ‘High Boltage’ (Danger! Danger!.. playtest with us next year for more of this - Editor) at them before they draw enough counters/fogs.

Game 2 – By the time I had reduced him to 1 life he had played enough Runed Halos, Pithing Needles and Burrenton Forge Tenders to render my deck pretty harmless. I considered playing it out to see if he ran out of fog effects but noticing only 15 minutes were left in the round decided to move to Game 3 where I would have a better chance.

Between games I sideboarded in two Austere Command that I should have put in for Game 2 – sometimes it’s hard to look at Austere Command and not read ‘Wrath of God for 2 extra mana’.

Game 3 – Similar to Game 2, only this time I drew more creatures rather than burn spells, and he was at a higher life total by the time he had ‘protection from target deck’. Luckily I managed to get him to tap out leaving me free to blow up about 4 Runed Halos, 2 Pithing Needle and 3 Borderposts. With Ajani Vengeant on 7 counters I was also able to blow up all his lands, leaving a Burrenton Forge-Tender staring down my hordes of Figures and Finks (the Forge-Tender did not win this battle).

---Draft Time---

I was fairly pleased with 2 wins out of 3 in the standard portion and eager to open some amazing bomb in Shards-Conflux-Reborn Draft.

Turns out I didn’t get a bomb in Shards but picked the solid removal spell ‘Agony Warp’ and after second pick Blood Cultist, third pick Fire-Fiend Ogre I found myself solidly in Grixis, a shard I usually prefer to avoid.

With the Conflux booster I opened Goblin Razerunners, a card I get passed very often but consider to be one of the best bombs in the format. A second pick Rupture Spire, third pick Armillary Sphere over removal sorted out my mana a little. Things really got interesting when eighth pick I received Esper Cormorants! Unless I am very much mistaken, the 3/3 flier is one of the best commons in Conflux, so imagine my surprise when I was also able to pick one ninth pick as well! Clearly no-one at the table was drafting Esper.

In Alara Reborn I opened Behemoth Sledge. I made the decision that since I already had mana fixing (and double Cormorants) I would attempt to splash the green-white bomb in my blue-black-red deck.

Also in the pack I managed to get a fourth or fifth pick Terminate, double blue-black Borderpost and triple Sewn-Eye Drake.

Round 4 – Naya

This guy had a lot of very powerful bombs that demanded good answers:

He played Ajani Vengeant and Helixed one of my creatures – I responded with Sewn-Eye Drake!

He killed my team with Martial Coup and made 9 Soliders – I responded with Sewn-Eye Drake (equipped with silly hammer)!

He tried to win – I responded with Sewn-Eye Drake!

Round 5 – Grixis

My Behemoth Sledge got stuck in my hand every game, but my very solid Grixis deck won anyway!

Afterwards my opponent was quick to point out how much of a fool I was for ruining my mana base and running ‘bad’ cards like Obelisk of Jund to fit in the Sledge (I've splashed 3 colours for Finest Hour before, it's worth it - Editor).

Round 6

I felt a bit dirty after this round as in both games I landed an early Behemoth Sledge and both games became very unwinnable for my opponent very quickly. Still, I felt it justified my gamble to play the sledge.

--- Draft 2---

A lot of this draft is mentioned in the official coverage, especially the bit where I opened the Battlegrace Angel! Here are a few other interesting bits:

· I got passed a second pick Feral Hydra.

· I picked Couriers Capsule and

Rhox War Monk intending to go Bant.

· I could have picked 4 Aven Squire, but

chose a Ember Weaver over one of them.

· I got a 13^th pick Filigree Fracture in a

pack of ‘land, Fillagree Fracture, Sludge Strider’.

· I decided Twinclaws was a better

pick for my deck than Knight of New Alara.

· I picked Glory of Warfare over Intimidation Bolt.

· I tabled a Stun Sniper!

I left the draft table with a huge grin on my face as I was very pleased with my second draft deck and was certain it would go 3-0.

I was almost proved wrong very soon though:

Round 7 – Bant

My opponent had managed to get third and fourth pick Knight of New Alara! With no removal to speak of, when he put both of them ‘onto the battlefield’ things started to look grim. He also had double Lorescale Coatl in play which were approximately 20/20 each! Waveskimmer Aven particularly gained benefit from the Knights becoming an 8/10 flying exalted creature!

Luckily in the other two games I was aggressive enough with my very efficient two-drops and bombs to be able to leave day on a 5-1 record, leaving me fifth in the standings at that point. To celebrate we went to an Italian Restaurant and got rained on a lot.

---Day Two Coming Soon---

Mick

It was a good Day One (and was very very rainy when we left). Could Mick improve on fifth? Wait for the Day Two report to find out :D

Tournament Report - Nationals LCQ standard

By Jim Marlow

Hey everyone,

The TLM blog repot on the past week's festivities begins sadly with my failure to grind into nationals last wednesday with 5 colour control. Im afraid that after a promising 3-0 start i ended up dropping at the slightly dissapointing 4-3, which was a huge shame. This is another example of me getting getting a good start of stringing wins together then for some reasons proceeding to lose a succession of rounds, which is a bit worrying as i need to work on capitalising the promising starts which i can produce at magic events.

My notes on the matches are a little hazt because i am usually to engrossed to make any solid notes, especially when losing (maybe this is a reason for losing and not because im losing....), and its proved hard to decipher what i mean by scribbled words a week of intense magic playing later where almost all recolection of the tournament has left my minute brain.

Here is the list which i ran for the LCQ, following a hugely successful and solid 2 day testing period before the event.

2 x broodmate dragon
1 x baneslayer angel
3 x plumeveil
2 x mulldrifter

4 x cryptic command
3 x broken ambitions
2 x negate
4 x esper charm

2 x ajani vengeant
1 x jace beleren
3 x cruel ultimatum
1 x obelisk of alara

2 x volcanic fallout
2 x firespout
2 x hallowed burial

4 x vivid creek
3 x vivid marsh
2 x vivid meadow
2 x vivid crag
4 x reflecting pool
3 x sunken ruins
2 x mystic gate
2 x cascade bluffs
1 x exotic orchid
3 x island

S/B

3 x runed halo
2 x identity crisis
2 x jace beleren
2 x firespout
2 x volcanic fallout
4 x great sable stag


The list i ran was totally solid, with the only minor alterations i would make being that i would run all 3 baneslayers as finishers, because it's just sick, and i would run a 3rd hallowed burial in the board over a firespout, as well as reintroducing a couple of thought hemorrhage's into the board, which i was undecided on the night before (although as it happened the choice to leave them out was irrelevent)

Here's my sideboard plan for the list

Vs 5cc

Out
2 x volcanic fallou
3 x plumeveil
2 x broodmate dragon
2 x firespout

In
2 x jace beleren
2 x identity crisis
4 x great sable stag
1 x runed halo


Vs UB Fae

Out
2 x hallowed burial
1 x cruel ultimatum
2 x firespout
2 x broodmate dragon
1 x obelisk of alara

In
4 x great sable stag
2 x jace beleren
2 x volcanic fallout


Vs Kithkin / combo elves

Out
1 x obelisk of alara
2 x cruel ultimatum
1 x broken ambitions

In
2 x volcanic fallout
2 x firespout


Vs Jund / Blightning

Out
2 x negate
1 x jace beleren
2 x cruel ultimatum

In
2 x firespout
3 x runed halo


Round 1 - Chris - Doran

Game 1 - I lose the die roll and go to 6, which is exacerbated by a turn 1 thoughtseize from my opponant, which strips the esper charm from my hand, the only other spell im holding being cruel ultimatum (loose keep amirite?), i draw an esper charm to draw some more and manage to find a hallowed burial for chris' doran and chameleon colossus, which is nice. Chris finds more gas but i have my turn 7 cruel waiting, and thats a pretty lucky win from a bad spot.

Game 2 - turn 1 thoughtseize rips a hallowed burial this time, and another turn 3 doran hits me for 6 with a heirarch on board. More gas and no immediate answer makes this game a quick blowout for my opponant, crap

Game 3 - Chris again finds action with doran, and gets in for 5 putting me to 15. My sable stag seems like a sweet answer, although the chameleon colossus is annoying. My plumeveil envokes a pump leaving me able to cast ajani to keep the colossus tapped with stag on defense......no maelstrom pulse draw means im pretty safe here. Eventually chris finds more creatures but right on cue i can firespout and helix meaning my cruel ultimatum leaves Chris cardless, creatureless....and very shortly thereafter....lifeless!

Round 2 - Lewis - 5cc

Sadly i cant remember a lot from this match because lewis is a pretty awesome guy, who beat me last year with RDW in this very competition. Sadly all this chat means i didnt really write anything about the match down, although i basically got on top via superior card draw, made lands which resulted in the resolution of cruel ultimatums....something which sadly evaded me for the many 5 colour mirrors which followed.

Round 3 - Peter Rodway - Kithkin

Kithkin is a pretty good match for my deck and this was a nice surprise after the mirror the last match. No mulligans from me and 10 wrath effects post board made this round a pretty simple affair. I later saw peter win a feature match against Neil Rigby so i dont think for one second that i faced a bad opponant, so i think i could have dodged a potential bullet by winning this round.

Round's 4 and 5!!!! two subsequent 5 colour mirrors....


These two rounds were both losses for me, basically through a combination of bad mulligan decisions (debatable really, but certainly still one of my flaws as a player) and, certainly in the 5th round a bad reaction to the round 4 loss having felt unbeatable in the first 3 rounds even though i was behind in some of the matches.

In round 5 i had to mull to 4 in the first game, keeping a hand of just cascade bluffs and 3 spells, including cruel ultimatum. I made land drops on turns 3 and 4, and a draw spell. From here, i managed to resolve a turn 7 cruel ultimatum and lose the match....as turns 6 and 7 broodmates made it difficult. I find out my opponant kept a 5 land and broodmate dragon 6 as his opener, urgh!

More mulligans in game 2, but this time my opponant had gas and i didnt have a chance......


In round 6 i beat another kithkin deck before losing my 3rd out of 4 mirrors in round 7 and dropping from the tournament.


Overall i was hugely disappointed because my modifications to other decklists around was meant to ensure i had an edge in the mirror but sacrificed some percentage against random aggro decks such as jund and kithkin by not packing spot removal. It was really annoying to lose 3 mirrors, as i was well on top of my deck but i was forced to mulligan and missed important lands drops when the top of my deck offered little help.


So that was it, all hopes of nationals dashed by the deck i came to beat, ironically. Overall i think i probably didnt recognise that as much maindeck hate for 5 colour you put into your own build, the matches are still very much decided by drawing more cards and playing more lands. In one 5 colour mirror i kept a game 1 hand of double plumeveil, firespout, hallowed burial and 3 lands. If i was playing any other deck than 5 colour control im in fantastic shape here i am basically a huge favourite.....luckily for me my opponant makes turn 1 vivid, i miss my 5th land and lose the game, the BEST!

overall, if you expect 5 colour, dont play 5 colour yourself, just beat it with another deck.

Hope you enjoyed this, more stuff to follow.


See you all soon


Until then,


Jim


As always, feel free to comment on this article, or on anything related or unrelated to magic whatsoever. If you would like to contribute to the TLM blog, please email any ideas, pictures, articles or anything else to ss07jm@leeds.ac.uk

Ready to Grind at Brighton

By Jim Marlow

Hey everyone,

This will almost certainly be my lost article before 'winning' (scrubbing out of....but for me the first player to the bar is the real winner) nats and GP brighton next week, so i thought i would reveal my finished deck with which im hoping to grind in.

It is similar to my previously posted 5 colour deck but i am gearing it more towards the mirror, because i think 5 colour will almost certainly be the most played deck, then faeries, kithkin and combo elves.

3 x broodmate dragon
3 x plumeveil
2 x mulldrifter

4 x cryptic command
3 x broken ambitions
2 x negate

4 x esper charm
2 x ajani vengeant
1 x jace beleren
3 x cruel ultimatum
1 x obelisk of alara

2 x volcanic fallout
2 x firespout
2 x hallowed burial

4 x vivid creek
3 x vivid marsh
2 x vivid meadow
2 x vivid crag
4 x reflecting pool
3 x sunken ruins
2 x mystic gate
2 x cascade bluffs
1 x exotic orchid
3 x island

S/B

2 x thought hemorrhage
2 x runed halo
2 x identity crisis
1 x jace beleren
2 x wall of reverence
2 x volcanic fallout
4 x great sable stag


Im really happy with the deck, hopefully if i play tight and get a bit lucky i can get there no problems with it, because the raw power of the deck is under no question.

Not entirely sold on the wall of reverence's in the sideboard, or the configuration of sweepers i hae between main deck and sideboard, as i may switch a firespout and fallout round, depending on the showing of faeries in the grinders. If i take the wall of reverences out they will almost certainly become puppeteer cliques, as i wanted to get some.

The thought hemorrhage's are another last minute addition because i have trouble dealing with baneslayer angel, although i may just add a 3rd hallowed burial into the board. I think i just have a soft spot for thought hemorrhage because i love the card.

Obviously with these minor changes as possibilities i havent fully devised a sideboard plan yet....its obviously one for tuesday night.


The very best of luck goes out to all the players coming from Leeds and anyone else i know, im sure that some of the guys will do well, in either Nats or the GP....hopefully i can do the same.

See you all soon


Until then,


Jim
(GB National Champion, 2009)

As always,feel free to comment on anything about this article, or anything unrelated to magic whatsoever. If you would like to contribute to the TLM blog, please email any ideas, articles, pictures or anything else to ss07jm@leeds.ac.uk

Standard musings

By Jim Marlow

Hey everyone,

I had hoped to not write about my current thoughts on standard, and what i'll be playing for quite some time, mainly because i had very few thoughts at all on it. I was hoping to wait for the US nationals to get me a netdeck for nationals (if i need one), in case i decide to go on the grind with a T2 deck.

Having said that, i think it would be foolish to ignore the other nats going on around this time, in particular the japanese and australian nats, which yielded some interesting decks, and lead me to pretty much decide on what ill be playing come August.

This is a slightly tweaked version of Shuuhei's list from Japanese Nats, ill probably be playing something similar, dependant on various tech revelations from US nats.

3 x mulldrifter
3 x plumeveil
3 x broodmate dragon

4 x cryptic command
3 x broken ambitions
3 x agony warp
4 x esper charm

4 x firespout
2 x hallowed burial

3 x cruel ultimatum
2 x ajani vengeant

4 x vivid creek
3 x vivid marsh
2 x vivid meadow
2 x vivid crag
4 x reflecting pool
3 x sunken ruins
2 x mystic gate
2 x cascade bluffs
1 x exotic orchid
3 x island

S/B
3 x anathemancer
2 x identity crisis
2 x runed halo
2 x wall or reverence
1 x hallowed burial
2 x volcanic fallout
3 x great sable stag


This is what im playing at the moment, it seems to be pretty good, so its probably what ill be playing at grinders, so fingers crossed. I think all the matchups are ok, i would like to see how this does against combo elves, but im guessing that anything with counterspells and sweepers should be ok because as long as i can counter the primals and regal forces i can sweep before being swarmed.

More sealed and draft articles to come this week so look out for them,


See you Soon.


Until then,


Jim


As always,feel free to comment on anything about this article, or anything unrelated to magic whatsoever. If you would like to contribute to the TLM blog, please email any ideas, articles, pictures or anything else to ss07jm@leeds.ac.uk