A legacy event- Game Hunters

Over a month ago, a guy from the weekly MTG First legacy account found me on FB and invited me to a small group of Legacy discussion. Turns out, it was a group that centered around the Game Hunter store in Frederick MD. Cool beans, but too far away for me to attend regularly at 45 minutes one way.
Then they announced they were doing a FREE, you read it, FREE, Legacy event. Top 8 got store credit, with 8th place getting $50, and 1st getting $250. Not too shabby. I convinced my buddy Rob to come along. He also lent me some cards to make my Sneak and Show deck paper league. Whew. (I do NOT have that kind of money sunk in to cardboard)
Leaving a Legacy promoted it on their podcast about 2 weeks, and I am sure got some word out to those who traveled the furthest.
There were 52 people registered from all over, VA, NY, MD, and PA. I am sure there were others, but those were the ones I encountered. The store held everyone, with not much room to spare. I was kinda thankful that the big Magic event was in NJ or I am sure we would have had many more people show. I know at least 6-8 people from the local scene who would have made it.

I decided on running Sneak and Show, the deck I registered:

2 Blood Moon
4 Brainstorm
4 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
1 Flusterstorm
4 Force of Will
4 Griselbrand
4 Lotus Petal
4 Ponder
2 Preordain
1 Search for Azcanta
4 Show and Tell
4 Sneak Attack
3 Spell Pierce
3 Ancient Tomb
2 City of Traitors
3 Flooded Strand
3 Island
1 Mountain
2 Polluted Delta
2 Scalding Tarn
3 Volcanic Island

Sideboard:
2 Abrade
2 Arcane Artisan
2 Defense Grid
3 Faerie Macabre
1 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Pithing Needle
2 Pyroclasm
1 Red Elemental Blast
[Thoughts about the deck and possible changes after the report]


Round 1 vs Counterbalance/Miracles

Game 1- Win, Blood Moon helped, but flopped out big critters. The scoring I have went, Me- 20-18-10, You- 20-19 Game.
Game 2- Win, I had a VERY weird game. In hand I had a Show and Tell, and a Sneak Attack with Griselbrand . Ok... first turn Ponder, found another Ponder, plus 2 MORE Show and Tell. I had a Volcanic out and City of Traitors in hand. I figured, you know what- lets just throw turn after turn of "must counter" stuff and see if it works. Show and Tell, Forced. Next turn, Show and Tell, Forced. Next turn, Show and Tell, resolves. Throw in Sneak Attack. He had 1 card in hand and nothing on board. Following turn I Sneak Attacked with Griselbrand , -7, found Emrakul and Petal, flopped him and swung for the win. It was the most silly rounds of magic.
(1-0 overall)

Round 2 vs Infect

Game 1- Loss, notes mention too many lands and not enough action. I just did not find a threat to put on the board and infect got me.
Game 2- Loss, I took a bad line. He had a Karakas main deck for this very situation to be honest. I was able to resolve a Sneak Attack got a Griselbrand  in play, swung once, drew 7 more cards. Found an Emrakul and another Griselbrand . Ok... put a Petal in to play, and able to play defensive Sneak Attack to survive one more turn. HOWEVER, I misplayed entirely. I should have played the Grisel, and instead I put the Emrakul in. If I had done it correctly, I might have been able to Force of Will my way out of dieing when he played Vines of Vastwood, countered, then Berserk, no counter. DOH!
(Note- he was the only undefeated player of the day. His deck was running hot, to say the least)
(1-1 overall)

Round 3 vs Stoneblade (from Albany!)

Game 1- Won due to battling over an early Blood Moon which left our hands mostly empty. I resolved a Sneak Attack, then bowled him over.
Game 2- Won due to Defense Grid and Arcane Artisan. The Defense Grid threw most of his plans to shreds, and the Artisan let me draw my way out of the hole I was in.
(2-1 overall)

Round 4 vs Grixis? With Dack Fayden

Game 1- Won, there was a minor counter war, but he wasn't ready for Sneak Attack. Successfully hit the floor and I just flopped in Emrakul and had him wipe the board.
Game 2- Won but a prolonged game because I could NOT find a threat. I had a Sneak attack on board for several rounds, but could not draw in to a card. Artisan helped me power through to find an Emrakul to get in, and kill him outright. He did have enough permanent in play, to offset the trigger, but had tapped out his Strix to ding me 2 a turn. I was able to just find a fatty before dieing.
(3-1 overall)

Round 5 vs Steel Stompy
(win and in to top 8)
Game 1- Lost due to the nut draw for Steel Stompy. I even got a turn 2 Emurkal in to play but it just wasn't enough because of his swarm of creatures and modular.
Game 2- Won off the back of early double Abrade to a Thorn and Lodestone Golem. I got a Blood Moon in to play, shutting off his Factories. Rode a Griselbrand to victory because of lifelink alone.
Game 3- Lost because my deck decided I did not need land. Seriously, opening 7 was a Petal and a fetch land with 1 Brainstorm and otherwise large casting cost cards. Next 6 showed me a City of Traitors and a Petal. I kept because I did not want to go to 5. He Needled my Petal, and I promptly saw 1 land over the next 4 turns. He presented a Revoker and Factories to just crush my soul. [My note for this game was "NO LAND."]


Thoughts about event:

• Kudos to Game Hunters, nice event. Freaking hot though... had to go outside between rounds to cool off.
• Very diverse field.
• I think there were more D&T (3) than Grixis (2) Control, at least that I saw. Seriously.
• I saw 2 Lands decks
• I saw 4-5 Miracles played

Thoughts about my matchups:

• While I thought briefly about how cool it would be to win some credit, I honestly thought 3-2 was a fine result for someone who only plays a weekly
• I realize, now, that Steel Stompy is SUPER rough to play against. Honestly didn't think it was that fast.
• Everyone was super nice, and got to chat with most of them because my matchups usually were really short. Round 1 I was the first match done. lol

Thoughts about my deck:

• I liked the Blood Moon main. I didn't feel the pressure of Omniscience hanging over me, where I would need a Show and Tell with backup to make it stick.
• I don't know if I need to run the Pithing Needle. Only time I boarded it in was for vs Stompy and I never saw it. (would have bene helpful vs that damn modular and Steel Overseer)
• Glad I never played against Grixis, but I feel good about the matchup.
• Thankful I never played D&T, and somewhat surprised at 3+ decks in the room
• Was over aggressive in graveyard hate to be honest. Might need to trim on Faerie, and the Needles for perhaps Leyline of Sanctity? I just felt Thoughtsieze and Hymn could really wreck the best laid plans.
• I only ever played Search for Azcanta once, and it was pointless when it came out. I am thinking about cutting it for something... perhaps another big fatty? Dunno. More filtering? Maybe a Misdirection?

Ending thought- super happy with 3-2. Right there to make top 8. Little bummed I missed out on top 8 because my deck decided I had enough fun for the day.

Ravnica Allegiance pre-release

I barely did any research for this pre-release, besides reading some of the spoilers for possible interesting Legacy impact. Otherwise, I had no clue about the guilds, no clue what might be powerful, no clue about much of anything.
Went in, had no clue which guild to take- saw that a majority of people were on simic. I did not take that, took Rakdos, and got hosed.

My promo was Mirror March, an EXTREMLY slow hail mary sort of card. After my first round trouncing, I dropped it in favor of splashing for white. Little more removal, and some ok creatures. My pool was weak, so I wasn't surprised to wind up going 1-2-1. Not happy about it, but had some fun.

My final opponent hadn't played paper magic in a very long time- 16+ years he said. The only reason he got back in was because he was playing Arena he said. Well played Wizards, well played.


I have no intention of drafting this set. Just don't like the guilds. I barely drafted any of the previous. I really enjoyed Dominaria. That was a great set to draft. Really enjoyed the lines there. So much could be done!
I've been reading how the spring set, codenamed Milk, is supposed to be amazing. Like hype-train city. We shall see.


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Won an auction, gonna be a week or two before the 800 count box comes in. Got it for about $15 US. Bid on the back of some sleeved cards in the box. That's the only reason I even put a bid.


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Going to run Eldrazi Post this week. I think this is the build I am going with: (just need to print up the Grim Monoliths. Thank god for proxies. Funny thing is, I am 11 cards from being paper legal. They are also the most expensive. Lol)

4 Ancient Tomb
2 Cavern of Souls
1 City of Traitors
4 Cloudpost
4 Eldrazi Temple
2 Eye of Ugin
4 Glimmerpost
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
2 Vesuva
1 Wastes
2 All Is Dust
4 Chalice of the Void
1 Emrakul, the Promised End
2 Endbringer
4 Grim Monolith
2 Karn, Scion of Urza
1 Kozilek, the Great Distortion
2 Matter Reshaper
1 Oblivion Sower
3 Reality Smasher
1 Sorcerous Spyglass
4 Thought-Knot Seer
2 Trinisphere
2 Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
2 Voltaic Key
2 Walking Ballista


Sideboard:
4 Leyline of Sanctity
4 Leyline of the Void
3 Ratchet Bomb
2 Sorcerous Spyglass
2 Warping Wail

Legacy week #15

On a 'slight' whim, I wanted to give good old D&T another try at the weekly. I knew it isn't in a great spot right now. I threw in 3 Chalice of the Void to the sideboard, and made it down.


Round 1 vs Burn

Yes, you read it here folks, burn.

Game 1- I was a half turn too slow to die in game 1 to be honest. I didn't have life gain to survive. I was holding a Brightling, but I had already played a Flickerwisp that turn off my Vial. Damnit.

Game 2- I drew Chalice and he drew the wrong side of his deck. He had Smash to Smithereens for my equipment and Vials, but was NOT expecting Chalice. He even stated as much after the match. How he never expected D&T to run Chalice. I guess he doesn't really stay up on the trends. *shrug*

Game 3- Once again, half a turn too late. Could get life gain on-line to hold off the bolts to my head. It happens. Burn does what burn does.



Round 2 vs Stoneblade  (vs Brian)

Game 1- Got threats out, locked things down, killed Planeswalkers, and won.

Game 2- I should have kept my opening hand, seriously. I then mull'd down to 4 cards because, well, no land. Mind you I am running 23 lands. I tried to do SOMETHING, but utterly failed against a blue deck. Should have scooped after going to 4. Oh well.

Game 3- Opening hand had 3 Ports, Wasteland, Swords, and I think a Flickerwisp. It was disgusting, mulled to 6, 2 lands, Vial, and some interaction. Kept, and never saw another land. Holy crap. Haven't been this mana-screwed in a while. It happens. But ugh. Never a good feeling.




0-2 drop, go home. It was snowing. Whatever.

Thoughts- I wish my Endbringers had shown up in the mail. I would have run out my Eldrazi Post deck. Other than the Grim Monoliths and a single Karn main, I believe the deck is paper real. Sideboard needs help though. So many decks right now are "value" engines- Grixis, etc.

I did see a guy try to run Stifle-naught with Lazav. He knew it was bad, but thought it would be fun to run out. I applauded his attempt to make it work, at least to sleeve it up and run it.
Then again, he was playing against a guy with a Ninja (Ninjutsu) deck. So there you go.


Interestingly, no re-animator players in the house. There has been usually 1-2 every week for some time. None tonight.
Also, there is one devoted storm player who I haven't been paired up against, but he wasn't there last night either. I am starting to think my graveyard fears are slightly unfounded locally.

my DCI 'history'

This is my DCI card from when I played in the Mirage release event back in 1996. I didn't want to join then, but they made everyone who attended join the DCI.
I am still shocked I have this card, nevertheless found the card. I wish I could find some sort of history

A buddy of mine joined fairly early on, I think he even paid to join. He has a 5 digit number. I have seen ONE 4 digit number, but that was via video. It was cool- handwritten number!

Here is the first two tournaments associated with my account. For the record, the Mirage pre-release was NOT in Denver, it was just how it was entered in the system. Quirk of the system I suppose.

Here are the results? Apparently I crapped the bed back in 1996. lol.
Seriously though, I think it was just how the system registered things back in the day. I doubt I only played two games, 1 of which was a second match draw.

Also if interest, you can see EXACTLY when I stopped playing Magic the first time below- 2002? That doesn't seem right, but whatever. I thought quit before that, but it is what the system says. However, I revived the old DCI before the pre-release for BfZ.

Lastly- I don't care about my DCI. If anything it is a record of what I have done "officially" with tournaments. Its easy fun to find my matchup on a sheet if they list my DCI cause almost always I have a shorter number than most.

Legacy week #14

Back at it!

I thought for about 5 minutes about sleeving up the red splash version of D&T to include the Goblin Cratermaker, but I really don't think the current meta is even that kind. While I do believe in Cratermaker, I just don't know how effective it will be for now. So- I took old trusty, Sneak & Tell. Muahahaha. No one else is running it, and it has been good vs most decks.

Round 1 vs Grixis?

I kinda felt bad for the guy as he is new to legacy. He didn't know what Sneak Attack did. *sigh* Took game 1 from a very large beat down. Took game 2 when he mulled to 5 and promptly got mana screwed. It happens.

Round 2 vs Pile

This is the same guy I lost to last week, and I lost again this week for completely different reasons. I took game 1 pretty quickly by protecting my large critter with a timely Spell Pierce. Game 2 was a different story. After early resource battles, His Assassin's Trophy took out my Sneak Attack and won the game. It also didn't help that he Surgical Extracted both my Show and Tell, then my Sneak Attack. Game 3 was weird for me, and I just could not find threats. Seriously. It wasn't like I battled early on, I just did not find 1 of my 8 things to beat down with.

Round 3 vs b/r/w Reanimator

I am still not sure why he had Scrublands in his deck, but whatever. He took game 1 even though it wasn't early threats that did me in. Game 2 I took by stopping his efforts with well timed Faerie Macabre. He did Pithing Needle my Arcane Artisan. Doh!
Game 3 was super weird. I mean super weird. I kept a very reactive hand, and he just never got enough stuff in the bin to make use of it. He wound up Reanimating my Faerie Macabre and started beating me up with it. However, I got an Arcane Artisan down and was basically drawing 2 a turn. I got my Emurakul token in to play finally and he conceded. Freaking weird game 3.

I asked him before we played if we just wanted to split to recoup the money, and he said to play it out. I wasn't going to argue because I knew he was on Reanimator. I felt I could combat it pretty good with counter magic and my sideboard had decent game against him.


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The last playmat I will ever use. Thank you Mark Poole!