Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Thirst for Knowledge - Pro Tour Firsts
Pro Tour Gatecrash has come and gone, but not without a huge list of firsts.
That is my Fantasy Pro Tour Gatecrash finish, 105. If I choose a different planeswalker (I had Jace Memory Adapt) and a different enchantment (I had Blind Obedience), I would have been in the Top 30. My tiebreaker was Ari Lax who was good but not good enough. I finished behind notable pros Todd Anderson, Lucas Siow, Pat Cox (and behind friend Blake Edmondson).
Quite happy with that. Only wish I was playing in the event too.
Gerry Thompson and Owen Turtenwald both made their first Pro Tour Top 8 after having the most (and 2nd most) lifetime pro points without a Pro Tour Top 8.
Gerry was playing a UWR control deck (shocker I know). Let's take a look at his list:
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Steam Vents
2 Sacred Foundry
3 Clifftop Retreat
4 Sulfur Falls
4 Glacial Fortress
1 Island
1 Plains
2 Mountain
3 Snapcaster Mage
4 Augur of Bolas
4 Boros Reckoner
3 Restoration Angel
4 Thought Scour
1 Think Twice
3 Sphinx's Revelation
4 Azorius Charm
1 Harvest Pyre
1 Supreme Verdict
2 Mizzium Mortars
3 Searing Spear
1 Counterflux
1 Rewind
Sideboard
3 Jace, Memory Adept
2 Negate
2 Dispel
2 Oblivion Ring
1 Planar Cleansing
2 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Essence Scatter
1 Rhox Faithmender
After the first couple of weeks of GTC Standard, who thought a control deck was a good call? Well, for starters they printed Boros Reckoner.
 |
| ...but I hardly knew h |
So you think he is just an aggro card? Think again. With game text like his, he is almost always a 2 for 1. Control players found the Reckoner to be quite good for what they wanted to be doing, slowing your attack to a crawl.
FYI, this guy is a Wizard, making Cavern of Souls awesome with his buddies Augur of Bolas and Snapcaster Mage.
FYI, this guy is a Wizard, making Cavern of Souls awesome with his buddies Augur of Bolas and Snapcaster Mage.
This card was in half of the Top 8 decks and was a 4 of in each of them. This is only the first of MANY Top 8's for the Reckoner.
Oddly enough, the Reckoner has a burning desire to go up in a blaze of glory with Harvest Pyre. This card is an absolute house in Innistrad limited formats but hasn't cracked constructed because it can only target creatures. Well, you target the Reckoner and if it resolves, you are probably killing your opponent.
Nice tech, Gerry.
The other piece of tech in Gerry's deck (but featured more prominently in Ben Stark's deck) was Planar Cleansing.
How do you deal with a board full of creatures, planeswalkers, and keyrunes?
Planar Cleansing gives you all that for 6 mana.
Owen Turtenwald went on to Murder the competition making his first PT Top 8:
4 Stomping Ground
4 Blood Crypt
4 Overgrown Tomb
2 Kessig Wolf Run
4 Woodland Cemetery
3 Dragonskull Summit
1 Rootbound Crag
3 Forest
3 Arbor Elf
4 Huntmaster of the Fells
2 Olivia Voldaren
4 Thragtusk
2 Pillar of Flame
4 Farseek
2 Abrupt Decay
1 Dreadbore
1 Ultimate Price
1 Murder
4 Bonfire of the Damned
2 Rakdos's Return
3 Liliana of the Veil
2 Garruk, Primal Hunter
2 Staff of Nin
2 Underworld Connections
2 Strangleroot Geist
2 Duress
2 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Olivia Voldaren
1 Murder
1 Rakdos's Return
1 Tragic Slip
1 Pillar of Flame
So this looks pretty standard Jund list except what's this card, Murder?
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| A Game of Thrones must be on... |
Point removal that can deal with any creature in this format is at a premium. Jund has only so many that doesn't deal damage and this is the only one that is unrestricted.
Sideboard looks quite normal except what's this card, Staff of Nin?
Card advantage and a source of damage in one card, Staff of Nin gives you options in matchups where you need it to.
Another first was Tom Martell winning his first Pro Tour with The Aristocrats:
4 Godless Shrine
4 Blood Crypt
4 Sacred Foundry
4 Isolated Chapel
3 Plains
3 Cavern of Souls
1 Clifftop Retreat
1 Vault of the Archangel
4 Doomed Traveler
4 Champion of the Parish
4 Cartel Aristocrat
2 Skirsdag High Priest
3 Knight of Infamy
2 Silverblade Paladin
4 Boros Reckoner
4 Falkenrath Aristocrat
1 Restoration Angel
2 Zealous Conscripts
2 Lingering Souls
4 Orzhov Charm
Sideboard
2 Lingering Souls
2 Blasphemous Act
2 Rest in Peace
2 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
2 Obzedat, Ghost Council
1 Skirsdag High Priest
3 Tragic Slip
1 Mentor of the Meek
If this deck seems to be off the beaten path, there is a reason for it. Sam Black was the lead designer on this one. Sam has an affinity about sacrificing creatures, whether its in Standard or Legacy. Tom Martell has an affinity for Lingering Souls. This deck is stacked full of humans to take full advantage of Falkenrath Aristocrat sac ability.
The other scary part about this deck was the use of Orzhov Charm. Team Phyrexia member Eddie Walker was using it mostly as either a Vendetta or an eject button. But Sam Black found an effective way to set up a kill from out of nowhere by recurring Doomed Traveler with it during combat. Insane.
Also, Team Phyrexia member Eddie Walker's buddy, Obzedat made an appearance as a 2 of in the sideboard. The lifegain and the body are quite important.
Finally (and in my opinion the greatest of all firsts) would be that of Melissa DeTora. Melissa played a howling good deck known as Wolf Run Bant:
4 Hinterland Harbor
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Breeding Pool
3 Glacial Fortress
3 Temple Garden
2 Sunpetal Grove
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Steam Vents
1 Stomping Ground
2 Kessig Wolf Run
3 Augur of Bolas
4 Thragtusk
4 Restoration Angel
3 Centaur Healer
4 Farseek
1 Detention Sphere
4 Azorius Charm
1 Syncopate
2 Dissipate
2 Think Twice
3 Supreme Verdict
4 Sphinx's Revelation
Sideboard
2 Negate
2 Witchbane Orb
3 Rhox Faithmender
1 Detention Sphere
1 Supreme Verdict
2 Rest in Peace
1 Centaur Healer
1 Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
2 Garruk Relentless
But it isn't just the deck that is special. Melissa DeTora became the first female in Magic's soon to be 20 year history of ever making a Pro Tour Top 8.
4 Blood Crypt
4 Sacred Foundry
4 Isolated Chapel
3 Plains
3 Cavern of Souls
1 Clifftop Retreat
1 Vault of the Archangel
4 Doomed Traveler
4 Champion of the Parish
4 Cartel Aristocrat
2 Skirsdag High Priest
3 Knight of Infamy
2 Silverblade Paladin
4 Boros Reckoner
4 Falkenrath Aristocrat
1 Restoration Angel
2 Zealous Conscripts
2 Lingering Souls
4 Orzhov Charm
Sideboard
2 Lingering Souls
2 Blasphemous Act
2 Rest in Peace
2 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
2 Obzedat, Ghost Council
1 Skirsdag High Priest
3 Tragic Slip
1 Mentor of the Meek
 |
| We're only missing Simon Belmont |
The other scary part about this deck was the use of Orzhov Charm. Team Phyrexia member Eddie Walker was using it mostly as either a Vendetta or an eject button. But Sam Black found an effective way to set up a kill from out of nowhere by recurring Doomed Traveler with it during combat. Insane.
Also, Team Phyrexia member Eddie Walker's buddy, Obzedat made an appearance as a 2 of in the sideboard. The lifegain and the body are quite important.
Finally (and in my opinion the greatest of all firsts) would be that of Melissa DeTora. Melissa played a howling good deck known as Wolf Run Bant:
4 Hinterland Harbor
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Breeding Pool
3 Glacial Fortress
3 Temple Garden
2 Sunpetal Grove
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Steam Vents
1 Stomping Ground
2 Kessig Wolf Run
3 Augur of Bolas
4 Thragtusk
4 Restoration Angel
3 Centaur Healer
4 Farseek
1 Detention Sphere
4 Azorius Charm
1 Syncopate
2 Dissipate
2 Think Twice
3 Supreme Verdict
4 Sphinx's Revelation
Sideboard
2 Negate
2 Witchbane Orb
3 Rhox Faithmender
1 Detention Sphere
1 Supreme Verdict
2 Rest in Peace
1 Centaur Healer
1 Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
2 Garruk Relentless
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| For a howling good time... |
The surprise card in the deck is Kessig Wolf Run. While most players would have played Dark Bant, splashing for Nephalia Drownyard to mill control players to death, she and Raphael Levy used Kessig Wolf Run to easily give a big bonus (+ trample) to finish off a player faster. They completely cut a card like Runechanter's Pike because Wolf Run was much easier to play as it is a card that couldn't be countered and not easily destroyed.
I have a number of exciting announcements coming next week, so be on the lookout for that.
Bradley Reeves
@YawgmothsWill
Infecting Magic one grinder at a time
Bradley Reeves
@YawgmothsWill
Infecting Magic one grinder at a time
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