GP Sacramento 2014

Who had two byes for GP Sac? This guy! I was very excited for this one, more than the last few. I felt I had played so much Theros, that I knew the cards and draft/sealed formats very well. All that was left was to get a pool and go to town... right?

Khaatim and I drove up Friday morning at 8am from SV to make it up before the mini-masters started at noon. We wanted to get some lunch before and didn't know what traffic would be like. Turns out we got there at 10:45am - easy peasy.

Across from the Sheraton was an awesome homemade soup and sandwich shop called Muntean's. Like eight homemade soups every day. Hungarian style. Fantastically delicious!

Mini-masters was a free event for registered players and you got a booster to start. Add some lands (like 2 of each) and play. I opened Purphoros and got him out both games, so I was on to round two. Then I opened Curse of the Swine in the 2nd pack. So I dropped green and smoothed out the mana. Won round 2 and then opened the Ageless Sphinx. Rolling the sweet bombs! I didn't get the Sphinx out, but Purph did work. My fourth pack rare was Nykthos (bummer) and I lost that round. But 4 packs for free ain't bad!

Checked into the hotel and then went to the Rubicon Brewery with Ryan and Spencer. Got the Denkel Bock and Pomegranate Cider. So good! Checked into the hotel and then in for the Foiled Again draft event. Everyone gets one foil for playing and then another for every win. Built a RG deck with Anthousa, 2 Asps, 2 Time to Feed, 2 Cyclops and 2 Rages and went 2-1.

Unfortunately, they miscalculated how many players would sign up and they ran out of foils. Really? How does THAT happen? So they gave packs as prizes, but I really wanted the foils. My one for playing was Ghor-Clan Rampager and it was sweet. Just wanted more!

Later that night, we found Shawn and went to a place called Burgers and Brews. What a beer list they had! They were out of the Lambac I wanted, so I chose Pliny the Elder. It was like a shaved rabbit.... smooth and hoppy.

The next morning was game day, so we got a good breakfast at the Capitol Garage, behind the convention hall. Really good jalepeno biscuits and gravy! Spencer got the pulled pork scramble, which was incredible too. Off to the GP to crack packs and get passed greatness. With my 2 byes, I only had to go 5-2 for Day Two. How hard could that be?

I opened the following highlights: Master of Waves, Ageless Sphinx, Fleecemane, 2 Gods Willing, 2 Wingsteeds, Erebos' Whip, Mistcutter, Relevant Hunter, Daxos, 2 Akoran Hops, 2 Sentries.

Sweet pool, right? UW flyers? Splash green for Misty and Fleecy? Sadly, I had to pass it away...

Here's what I got:
Mistcutter
2 LB Elders
2 Gods Willing
Horizon Chimera
Favored Hoplite
The white Ordeal
Stoneshock Giant
Time to Feed
Staunch Warrior
Gray Merchant
Insatiable Harpy
Cyclops...
That's it. That was the significant cards. So bad... unbelievable!!

I cobbled together a GW deck with some red, but I knew I would need some serious help to get Day Two. Like a bye and a few no show opponents. And opponent's mana screw. I had Ryan and Greg look at my deck and they couldn't believe the badness either.  Then said I should side into just GW aggro. So I sleeved up the 10 others and prepared for battle.

Our crew was Spencer, Jason, Ryan, Russell, Khaatim and Greg. We even saw Shawn, Conor, Boland, Nathan, Marina and Reuben from Mythic there too. The Santa Cruz connection was strong.

Rounds 1 & 2 = byes (yay)

Round 3 vs. Kevin
My deck actually beat someone. It curved well into the SS Giant and he didn't put up much resistance. Was I overreacting? I still sided into GW aggro and won that game as well. 3-0!

Round 4 vs. Arthur
Bestow-heavy UW deck with Hopeful, Nimbus, Observant and the white Emissary. All on a Wingsteed. No chance. Same slaughter game two but with a Battle Priest and Aquarius Form. No removal or bounce can make for quick games! 3-1

Round 5 vs. Kurtis
Aggro RW deck with burn and pumps. Split first two games, then down to the wire in game 3. I had a 6/7 Hoplite to his 3/3 Minotaur and 3/4 Adept with Spear out. At 3 life, I swung in but should have stayed back. He had enough life to take the 6 and he got me next turn. I was hoping he'd block and I'd take out a threat. I was showing pump for the win, but he didn't bite. 3-2

Round 6 vs. Sky (does this mean he'd play flyers?)
He was RBG with Polukranos, which he bestowed twice in the first game. A 10/10 first striker trampler? Concede. Got him second game with my GW aggro attacks. But game three, I was stuck on 2 mana - should have mulled - and he rolled into the Gorgon and the green legend again... so Po-lucky!

So that was it. 3-3 is no chance for Day Two. There I sat, broken-hearted...
But Ryan, Marina and Nathan made it - congrats! Jason got so close, but lost in round 9.
I've been there and it sucks. Work all day until the last "win and in" match. Rough!

The crew rolled out for a Thai food dinner and we brought some back for the players.

All hail Greg as the credit card game winner! More drinks and hi jinx later that night.

SacTown has some cool places to eat and drink all around downtown. Check out the Dive Bar indoor aquarium above the bar...

Day Two is for drafting and Ryan got into a pod with Owen T. Two-time GP winner Owen T. You'll have to ask him for the deets, but after 2 drafts (including playing Marina in the last match), he finished in the money at 55th. Cheers, Ryan!

Here's a goofy, over-sized card:

Thanks, SacTown for a fun GP!

Props: The Sheraton Hotel for being a block down from the Convention Hall.

Muntean's soups!

Ryan finishing in the money.

Broken oranges!

Slops: They ran out of foils... really?

My GP sealed pool.

The Shady Lady's bouncers.

Freaky statue is freaky.

GPT SacTown at Mythic 1/5/14

Major conflict! Watch playoff football or play in the GPT...

or

I chose Magic and am so glad I did.

Drove to Mythic for the noon start time and put 8 quarters in the meter.
It would be a long day of card flopping. Met Greg & Russell bros and Ryan who already had 2 byes, but wanted to root us on. He'd also keep us posted on the football scores back at Woodstocks.

Marina was judging the event and Boland and Nathan were also in the mix. Got food at TJ's and prepared for battle. 17 wizards were gathered.

I opened the mythic Kraken and very good green fixing with 3 Nylea's Presences and 2 Voyaging Satyrs. But nothing else of substance. Glad to pass that one on.

I received a pool with great black, green and white. The black was Grey Merchant, Thoughtseize, Sip, Emissary, 2 Disciples, Ordeal, Harpy, Read Bones and 2 Cures. But the green/white cards were made for aggro. I love aggro. Fleecemane, the white Ordeal, Soldier, 3 Snarecasters, green pump spells, and a splash of blue for Daxos, Wavecrasher, Nimbus and Battle Hoplite.

**Looking back after the games, I saw an even better deck with the red I got passed. 2 Warcallers, 2 Border Minotaurs, 2 Spearpoints, Cyclops and Lightning. Possibly BR would have been nuts!**

Round one vs. BYE - yes, that's right. A free win! Went to Woods with Ryan for a beer and a slice. It was so crowded, we had to sit outside and watch the game through the window. Ryan flirts with a server. She's cute!

Round two vs. Bryan - nice guy, but I curved out both games with dudes and threats. Easily outraced him and finished with Set Griffin both games. Feeling good!

Round three vs. Conor - he had opened my pool and knew my cards. We played 3 very close games but he won it. I could have won in the last game, but didn't attack with my Warden for the last point. I was thinking I needed it back for defense, but he beat me the next turn for exacties. Argh!

Round four vs. Boland - He mulled to 5 and I curved out and won the first game. But he came back and squashed me in 2 and 3. He had all the removal for my dudes. I kept a sketchy 2 forests, scorpion and non-G spells hand last game and he tore me up.

Round five vs. Daniel - I was ready for a battle. I needed to win to get in. My tiebreakers were good with the 1st round bye. He went to talk to the judge and came back and we started. I played two lands and a two-drop. Marina came over and said he couldn't get his prizes early if he won and so he conceded. He had to leave and shook my hand. Wow! Thanks Daniel!

I was into the Top 8! My second in two GPTs. Greg and Boland made it too but Russell was out. I technically only won one round, but still made it. Onward to draft!

Sat between two guys I didn't know in the draft. I hope the good cards come by me. Opened the first pack and saw good green with Asp, Time to Feed and Anthousa, but took the only black card, Gorgon. It has built-in removal and is a sweet 2/5 death toucher. Then I got passed a Sip. Snatch! More good black and then the white Emissary came my way. I love that card. Also got a Scholar and Divine Verdict. Pack two was lackluster except for a Sentry. What's not to like? Got passed a Merchant and felt very good to be in black. Also got an Evangel, so I grabbed every black and white card I could. They both had devotion, so I would see which I could get more of. A Phalanx Leader was a late gift as well as another Sentry. Third pack rare was the indestructible Colossus. Meh. Got the black Ordeal and a Marauder. That card can just win games. Also a Valor, Baleful and Observant. I had a slight aggro build with 2 Sentries and removal.

Game one was vs. Greg. Oh no! We both need the byes, so we had to play. He played UG and had 2 Horizon Chimeras out versus my 2 Sentries. Used removal to clear the way for victory. Game two was more interaction, but I used the Emissary to tap down blockers for the win. Sorry Greg!

Game two vs. Boland. A rematch! But he politely conceded to get me into the finals. We decided to play anyway, but he suffered major mana screw both games and I won easily. Thanks Michael!

Game three finals vs. Bryan. Another rematch. I beat him in the first round today and here we were in the finals. I asked him if he was going to GP Sac and he said it depended on his work schedule. I told him I was only interested in the byes and he could have the 13 packs. He chatted with his girlfriend and he said "deal". We would play for the VIP coupon. He was running black blue with the Colossus. My deck was too fast for him game one. He got out the Colossus in game two, but my Emissary tapped it every time I attacked. Then Marauder finished it with unblockable white creatures. Winner!

Got the byes! Ryan gave me a bear hug - we are bye brothers! I am so stoked! And the Niners won too. What a crazy, but fun day. Thanks to Mythic and Marina for a great GPT! See youse in SacTown.