1K RTR Sealed @ Legends 10/7/12

Legends in Cupertino was running a 1K RTR Sealed event - how can you pass that up?
Met Spencer and Nate there. Grabbed a $5 footlong before we started to munch between rounds.
$30 prereg or $35 at the door. 6 packs. Write up what you open and pass them along.
33 players, 5 rounds and a top 8 cut for a draft.

Let's see what we got.

Rares: Pithing Needle, Mercurial Chemister, Hallowed Fountain, Stream Vents, Trostani & Wild Beastmaster. Well, there's some money! And the Beastmaster and Trostani go together. Haven't played with the Chemister yet, looks interesting.

Removal: 2x Augur Spree, Stab Wound, Explosive Impact, Electrickery, Arrest.

Other cards of note: 2x Tower Drake, 2x Skywatch, Voidwielder, Korozda Guildmage, 2x Rhinos, 2x Monitors,  Eyes In The Skies, Call of the Conclave.

And that's about it. A few more flyers, a counter and the Saber. Ugh.

I really wanted to play Trostani, but I had only 2 token makers! And the removal was pretty good, but in the wrong colors. Maybe play the Arrest and the Detain guys? GW splash blue? It would gum up the ground and then the flyers could get in. Trostani would also give me life, right? Hmmm... Let's see...

Here's what I turned in:

1CC: Dryad, Saber, Giant Growth

2CC: Brushstrider, Keen App, Arrester, Drudge Beetle, Call Conclave

3CC: Centaur Healer, GW Keyrune, Griffin, Vassal Soul, Arrest, Wild BM

4CC: Eyes Skies, 2x Monitor, Trostani

5CC: 2x Rhino, Voidwielder

6CC: 2x Skywatch

Hallowed Fountain, Promenade & 2x GW Guildgate

If only I had more populate targets. But I liked my curve and manabase. Here's the action:

Round one vs. Eugene (Golgari splash W)

He came out strong with many ground-beaters, but I had mine too. But a well-timed Golgari Charm gave all creatures -1/-1 and made my blocks horrible. A Judgement later and I was out. Game two was better after I sided in a Rogue's Passage to break any stalemates. I also Arrested his Pack Rat on turn 3. I think that's the right play since it can get out of hand pretty fast. The Passage gave my scavenged centaur the way to win. Game three he was mana screwed vs. my curveout. 1-0

Don't let the rats multiply!

Round two vs. Luke (Selesnya)

Wow, what a deck he had. 2x Call o' Conclaves and Centaur's Accord made for lots of 3/3s. Too much, too fast. The second game I sided in the Dramatic Rescues to bounce his tokens. To start, I played Dryad turn one, then Saber turn two -> attack for 4! Heh. His deck was slow and I got in 3 hits like that until he stabilized. He made centaurs and I played both Rescues and the Voidwielder. But he made more. Then the centaur army squashed me flat! 1-1

Good against tokens!

Round three vs. Shawn (Azorius)

Shawn was a big guy with a lot of tattoos. And big earrings. And friendly! We chatted about our pools and what we passed. "Oh man, I opened a pool with Trostani and nothing else. It was so bad. Glad we didn't keep what we opened!" Um, yeah.

He played walls and small flyers and we were trading hits back and forth. Then he slammed the Angel of Serenity. Oof. Three of my guys went away and he got in very quickly for the win. I sided in 2x Paralyzing Grasp to deal with his flyers. Game two I curved and he was mana screwed. Game three was the same a game one, but no Angel this time. My Grasps and Arrest helped me get there. 2-1

I didn't have the heart to tell him that I opened his pool...

Beware of this 7-drop game changer!

Spencer was 2-1 and Nate was 3-0! 3-2 might get in on breakers, but best to stay away from a second loss.

Round four vs. Jon (Golgari splash W)

His deck was so good. Full of scavenge dudes. And Corpsejack. And Death's Presence. Really? We were stuck in a stalemate until he got those rares online. Then anything I killed would come back as many +1/+1 counters on another guy. I lost when his Zanikev Locust was a 20/20 and flew in. Game two was more of the same, but with a 6/6 slime with 6 counters and the Golgari Decoy (lure dude) attacking. Ouch! 2-2

Well, that was it for me. Both Spencer and Nate won, so they were looking good. I wanted to get back to Santa Cruz to draft with the guys at the Wood. 

Way to make Top 8, Nate!

I heard later Spencer made Top 8 too, but they both lost in the first round. Still, not a bad day when you top 8! An extra draft and a shot at the big prize.

Props:
Legends for a clean, open space to play.
Subway. Easy snacking, baby.
Two money lands. Makes the 2-2 record a little more bearable.

Slops:
Legends for a slow registration and start. They ran out of new player DCI cards and called other stores to get new numbers. Ugh.
Golgari - for never showing me the way, but my opponents playing it always get there.

Here's my take on the best guilds:
Selesyna
Izzet
Radkos
Golgari
Azorius

Agree? Disagree? Post in comments!