Roto Cube Draft - July 2014

Roto = rotisserie (the method of picking cards... 1 through 12 down, then 12 picks again going pack up. First and last people gets 2 in a row.)
Cube = the Spencer/Greg/Jeff/Russell cube of power
Draft = pick your cards one at a time to build your deck. 40 picks

The place: Spencer and Jesse's garage (thanks guys!)
The mascot: Loki the dog

We mostly got started at 10:15am complete with 15 bottles of champagne for mimosas. All cards out on table by color and casting cost. Spencer's garage was full of nerds.

Jeff got first pick and took Black Lotus. I got second and took Sol Ring. You get the idea. People brought food and drinks and Marina made pies... Mmm, pies.

Picking cards takes the longest since there are so many good ones - the best in Magic! This time we added some Conspiracy cards: Backup Plan, Worldknit, etc. The cube supports many classic strategies like mono red, Reanimator, Sneak and Tell, green ramp, white weeny, etc. I will list deck types and fun gameplays below.

Jeff recorded the picks on his spreadsheet and around 2pm, we were building decks.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-Wxf4wok9OgMv0YM_6-F6T4nP6tvBHHc6spypgwoh6U/edit?usp=sharing

On to the highlights:

Spencer ran UW creatures with Control Magic effects. Went 2-2, but deck was good for 4-1. All star was Elesh Norn (duh). Best creature in cube?

I ran WB tokens. My second pick after Sol Ring was Elspeth. Then I stayed in white until I saw black was under drafted and went in on Lingering Souls and Sorin. Green was another option. Picked up some equipment late, much to the artifact decks shagrin. Went 0-1 because I had to leave way early.

Alex ran WG with Stoneforge, Swords and Thragtusk/RestoAngel. He also picked Backup Plan first and enjoyed two hands to choose from each game. But he said his mid-range deck was slow and was outclassed by more powerful decks. Went 1-4.

Boland ran UR with Delver and counters and was 5-1 - much success! Disruption, burn and flash guys did their job. His 2nd pick, Advantageous Proclamation made his deck smaller and much more efficient. Also had Snapcaster, Bolt and Young Pyro.

Marina ran 5 color Pod with many tutors (demonic, mystical, enlightened, survival). She went 3-2 and was able to adapt her plan to whatever her opponent was doing. Sweet deck!

Jordan ran mono green ramp going 1-1 and also had to bail out early. Remember kids, roto is a 6+ hour commitment! He got the green Mox and Rofellos, but competed for the key green picks like Noble and Birds. Still ended up with a decent deck, dropping lifelinking 4/4s.

Dan drafted Naya Zoo and had lots of 1-drops. Red Mox, forest, Goblin Guide, Rancor was a powerful first turn. He went 3-2 and thought more early picks on burn spells would have been good.

Jeff ran UBr splashing for Sneak Attack. Turn one Black Lotus and Dark Ritual into Grave Titan was a cool play! He said Sneak Attack + Ashen Rider was pretty good.

Jason run UWr "Value Town" with flickering effects. Brago, King Eternal and Venser were winning some games, but he went 2-3. Still, he felt his deck was competitive, but the Conspiracy cards were too good.

Ryan ran a tricky artifacts combo deck - so unlike him. Crucible, Strip Mine, Metalworker, Mind Twist and Tinker were some of the highlights. Read more about his games here.

Bodhi was RG midrange with the world-famous Channel/Fireball combo. He went 2-2. He liked the Courser/Lotus combo for big mana. Also Jitte and a Sword for more fun.

Mike's deck was UG with Jace, Meloku, Opposition and Garruk. Not sure about his record, but you know that was a crazy fun one.

All in all, a grand time was had. Even Loki was pleased...

Ryan's Roto

I spent the first couple hours bitching to Marina about taking Worldknit and the last 30 minutes bitching to John about taking my Plating. You already had 2 swords and a Skullclump, what more did you need?

I punted a little by not keeping track of how many picks were left with, then Spencer hacked our last pick for the rub ins. In the end I left a few great sideboard cards on the table after taking some speculative combo pieces. Voltaic Key and Ensnaring Bridge mocked me from the sidelines every time I wanted The Abyss and Steel Overseer. To be fair, John was probably about to take the Overseer with his last pick, so no big. 

Rnd 1: Dan dispatched me as mentioned with turn 1 mox, mountain, gob guide + rancor before curving in to more beats. We had an interesting 2nd game where I had wasted his 1 red source and he needed to rip another to burn me out and keep me from gaining a bunch of life every turn thereafter. Dan's a nice guy and his deck was very good so he deserved to rip it the turn before I was going to stabilize.

Rnd 2: I offered Mike B, whoever the hell that is, a potpourri of proper spell sequencing, minor misplays, and savage punts on immensely complicated boards. In the end my draws of pure gas trumped his flooding and cautious play I was able to get there despite my best efforts.

Rnd 3: Marina, my draft Opponent, I was hoping to beat with my most evil cards. Mind Twist, Tinker, and Metalworker fired on all cylinders to get her in two, once again despite some misplays. Game 2 was the second game of the draft where my opponent had to rip a land to win. While Dan needed a red source, Marina, who had correctly spent the afternoon knitting like a champ, needed any land. The Gods were good, my metal worker lived a turn, and the little robot proceeded to explode my hand on the board to the tune of 8 mana (shoulda been 10, but I slammed my top deck Mox like a boss). On the 50th time I counted my mana I was sure my mistake did not matter and I indeed had enough to cast everything in my grip. There's no justice in the world.

Rnd 4: Jeff and I were both trying to do broken things. The cheapness of his reanimation spells made a crucible+strip lock a slower and unlikely proposition, and Twisting, while still good, could fuel the most busted of top decks. Thankfully he decided to beat me the old fashion way, by playing very well. In one game I had stripped and wasted him to no lands. In response to targetting his last swamp he Vamp Tutored for Bazaar. No lands in play, no problem. He dug through his deck over a few turns while I prayed to draw business or crucible. Eventually he set up swamp + reanimate a fatty. Gutsy move on his tutoring, but definitely correct as he had neither side of his combo in hand and had the read on me that I didn't have crucible. 

Rnd 5: Game 1 I stuck to my strategy from my matches against Marina and Boland to punt and still win. Unfortunately, the best laid plans can fall apart. I had the option to play Revoker naming his Master that was about to spit out wolves and eat everything but instead I chose to mind twist his goyf to epic proportions. Apparently there's a downside to 5 for 1s. Game 2 I got the strip + crucible combo against him. He dug in Bolandish fashion with Sylvan Library but the lock was too strongu and his life too low. Game 3 I can't recall what happened, but I think I did something broken. Got it 2-1.

In honor of J2H here's some props and slops

Props: 

The Hosts - Thanks for having us and, as always, cleaning up our mess. I trust you inherited a bunch of food for your efforts.

Loki - As well behaved as I've ever seen him. He was a delight the entire day aside from the bomb he dropped on the lawn.

The Food - Thanks to everyone that considered the lighter options to compliment what's usually a rich spread. Extra props to Marina for going all out and baking up some deliciousness again. Her personal touch of adding booze to something that doesn't need it was the best part. Classic Marina.

The Decks - Everyone seemed to have executed their plan very well, or at least audibled in to a deck that read the signals well. 

The Pool - A perfect end to a day spent sitting inside. Twas great to do something physical for once with all you cerebral types. 

Slops:

Not enough time with Jordan and John.

At the end of the day people talking about Worldknit being broken in roto. Don't take it out too soon, please.

All the rough play going on in the pool. The sign clearly says no rough play.

M15 Pre-release July 12, 2014

Core sets are a lot like a greatest hits playlist. There's the old classics (Gravedigger, Cancel, Heat Ray, Liliana Vess...), and there's also a few new cards sprinkled in as well. I had had my fill of Theros (and wasn't too successful I'm sorry to say), so I was more than ready for M15. $25 to play and about 35 players at Mythic downtown that morning.

Looking over the promo cards for each color, I was thinking black was the most powerful.

A 5/3 flying demon that could draw an extra card sounded great. The next best to me was the red dragon. Even though expensive at 7 mana, when it hits the table, it would do some serious damage. White had the annoying "get 20 life" angel. I could feel the frustration of anyone playing against this, especially when you had your opponent down to under 10 life. Green and blue just seemed bad.

So I opened my black box and a large Garruk card was staring back at me. Also, wolf tokens, packs and a black spindown. There was a mini-game to play with the Garruk and tokens, but I was here to build a sealed deck. Let's see what rares I got.

Um, wait... that's 9 rares out of 6 packs? Well, the promo demon was extra and the foil Shield was too. But that accounts for 8 of them. WTF? Not sure what was in each pack, but this is what I had. The Star City Games price guide says that's $10.50 in value. Big Whoop! Here's the rest of the pool...

Blue:
Quickling (flash & flying? sign me up)
Armpit Pathmage
Research Asst. (looter 'r good)
Peel from Reality
2x Welkin Tern (hi Jordan!)
Frost Lynx (kittah tapper)
Encrusty
2x Glacial Crasher (should be in green?)
Negate
Statute of Denial
Invisibility (this looks as if it could be good)

Green:
Nissa's Expedition (expensive land fixer)
Restock
Paragon of Eternal Wilds
2x Venon Slivers (new scorp 2 drop)
Roaring Primadox
Naturalize
Titanic Growth
Ranger's Guile
2x Hunter's Ambush (sweet fog, bro)
3x Plummets
Elvish Mysty
Living Totem
Siege Wurm (good as it ever was)
2x Charging Rhino (take its Visa away)

White:
Paragon of New Dawns
Geist of the Moors (or less)
Seraph of the 'Asses
Trips Spirits (rolling peeps all weekend)
Pillar of Light
2x Tireless Missionaries (try something new!)
Sanctified Charge
Solemn Offering
Ephemeral Shields (prime battle trick)
2x Midnight Guards
Razor Griffin
Kinsbaile Skirmisher (who let the Kithkins out?)
Sungrace Pegasus
Raise the Alarm
Oreo Swiftclaw
Soulmender (it's really this big!)
Selfless Cathar

Red:
Circle of Flame
Cone of Flame (MoFo Cone of Flame!)
Paragon of Fierce Def
Brood Keeper (Kaleessi?)
Shrapnel Blast
Aflac Bloodseeker (Aflac!)
2x Lightning Strikes (might be good...)
Wall of Fire
Torch Fiend
Clear a Path (for this trash)
Rummy Gobby (looter 'r good)
Crowd's Favor (what do they know?)
Miner's Bane
Krenko's Enforcer (licky boom-boom down)
Inferno Fist

Black:
Wall of Limbs (could be handy)
Nightfire Giant
Festergloom
Flesh to Dust
Typhoid Mary's Rats
Sign in Blood
2x Shadowcloak Vamps
Child of Night (sing it!)
2x Black Cats
3x Carrion Crows (ca-caw!)
2x Witch's Familiar

Artis/Lands:
Meteorite (never wrong)
Hot Soup (you know it's a party when the soup arrives)
Darksteel Citadel
Radiant Fountain
2x Tyrant's Machines
2x Ornithopters

I'm a sucker for removal (call me crazy), so red/black jumped right out and slapped my momma. The three red rares all looked promising and you gotta love that promo demon. Two Lightning Strikes, Cone, Sign in Blood, the Gobbos looter and the three crows had game. Blue and green seemed shallow and I wasn't feeling the white. Here's my deck:

7cc: Siege Dragon
5cc: Burning Anger, Cone, Indulgent Tormentor, Nightfire Giant, Flesh to Dust, Shadow Vamp
4cc: Red Paragon
3cc: Rummy Gob, K's Enforcer, 3x Crows, Festergloom
2cc: Gob Kaboom, 2x Lit Strike, Aflac Blooddude, Inferno Fist, Sign in Blood, Child of Night
1cc: Crowd's Favor, Typhoid Rats
SB: Torch Fiend (for artifacts), Meteorite (just to try it) and Wall of Fire (vs. aggro)
A bit heavy on 5 drops, but they were all worth it. Slots 1, 2 and 3 seemed good, but not aggro.

My first round opponent was... a BYE! Running hot! Here's Ryan and Khaatim's match highlights instead.

Game one Khaatim got out the black promo demon with Burning Anger attached to it and Ryan drew like 7 lands in a row. Game two Khaatim got the demon out again, but Ryan answered with a Covenant of Blood. Then a Cruel Sadist came out as well as a Shadow Vamp. Ryan was hanging in there, but his Zof Shade got its flesh turned to dust and it was over. Round goes to Khaatim.

I asked George what cards he liked in the new set. Cone of Flame (of course) and the Generator Servant, because it speeds out the 5-drops.

My second round started vs. Thada, a relatively new Magic player. She was there with her boyfriend. She played a turn two Spirit Bond and made many 1/1 flyers. Then finished me with a Soul of Ravnica. Ouch. For game two, I came back with an unanswered Goblin Enforcer with an Inferno Fist on it. The 4 damage a turn was too much. In the rubber game, I got out a Child of Night with Fist and started gaining life. I should have played more aggressively, since she was able to stabilize the board. But I got out the big dragon and won just before time. Whew! Well played, Thada!

Round three, I faced Walter playing red white. Ut oh, that's an aggro deck! Remember what I said about the white promo angel? I was right... I mulliganed to 6 cards and he played two Triplicate Spirits for six 1/1 flyers. By the time I got my dragon out, I was down to 4 life. But he had the angel and I was outclassed in the air. Game two, I held the demon in my starting hand, so I just needed to get to 5 mana. He got out six spirits out again. Then when I played the demon, he used a Blastfire Bolt on it. Next turn, he played out a Siege Dragon of his own and it was over. Oof.

2-1 was my record and I needed 3 wins for prizes. Next up was Graham playing blue white. He started off fast with a Welkin Tern and Raise The Alarm for dudes. I tried to burn the bird, but he played Ephemeral Shields. I found more removal by way of Burning Anger on my Nightfire Giant. 5 damage a turn is tough! Game two, it was my turn to be aggro with drops 1-4 of little dudes and the demon on turn 5. It was over quick without much resistance. Good games, Graham!

Target prizes acquired! I had to get back home and dropped. I was happy to test out the new cards - M15 seems like a fun set. I asked Khaatim what he thought and he said that promo angel was nuts since opponents had to kill you twice with it. He said black and white had good spot removal and the format seemed slow with enough time to cast the bigger cards. We'll see how things shake out!

Journey Into Nyx Pre-release

Date: 4/26/14
Place: Mythic Games, Downtown Santa Cruz
Event: Journey Into Nyx Pre-release
Objective: Crush the dreams of all my opponents; get packs

What an event without a good tailgate?

Top of the parking garage nearby, we grilled hot dogs, ate donuts and drank PBRs. Brain food for the upcoming challenge. Many thanks to Ryan and Spencer for setting it up.

Looking at all the promo cards, I decided to choose white for this:

It reminded me of the common Seraph of Dawn from Innistrad, which was a 2/4 flyer with lifelink and was first-pickable in draft. This one has heroic? It's good. And it's only 4 CC.

Cracking the pre-release box, the 6 packs, die and artifact promo were cool. There was an achievement card where you put stickers on it after each round. Then turned it in for another sticker that would add some text to the artifact promo. That's why the promo has a large empty space on it. Huh? I would have preferred just another promo card, like they did in past pre-releases, but whatever. I guess people love their stickers.

Here are the highlights from my pool. Obviously, picked the white box means you're playing white as one of your colors.

Went red white with some burn and fast creatures. Prophetic Flamespeaker was good. Splashed black for Underworld Cerberus. He was a beating whenever I played him. Launch The Fleet was an all-star. Making attacking dudes out of nowhere surprised a lot of players. I also liked Sightless Brawler and Oreskos Swiftclaw. Beats are beats.

Round one:
Natalie was a new player who came along with some friends to play. She admitted it was her first tournament. But I think pre-releases are where to start. Everyone's stoked about new cards. She was playing GB and had big Hydras. I helped her with some of the cards and plays and then realized we were going to time. The match ended in a draw, but I was glad to help out a new player.

Round two:
Greg Smith... we meet again, sir! He was playing BUG with Prophet of Kruphix and King Macarena. We split the first two games and then my Cerberus ability negated his Nyx Spider graveyard shenanigans.

Round three:
Evan was playing RUG with big dudes and the Artisan of Forms. He copied my Cerberus, which was awkward game one. Then I got stuck on W facing many dudes and a Rouse The Mob, giving them all +2/0 and trample. Ouch.

Round four:
Khoa played UW with flyers, bounce and counter spells. Talk about annoying! I saw Sphinx and Cranes, but my fast beats stood tough and won in 3.

Round five:
Duncan (concede)

Unfortunately, I had to go after round 4 - there was a camp out at New Brighton beach waiting for me. S'mores, burgers and many beers were in my future. I conceded to my round five opponent, who was very stoked since he said he never won anything at a Magic tourney before.

Spencer, Ryan, yours truly, Cartmill and Brian. Cartmill nailed the pre-release look for the day.

Mythic Games was nice enough to run many pre-releases all weekend and the 6pm Sunday one fit my schedule. So here we go again... this time black (nope, they were all out)... okay then, green!

I saw players have fun with the black promo since it was easy to drop many enchantments with it in play. -1/-1 to opponents creatures is really good. But I got the hydra, so I was determined to drop the big beats. Big George said it was good and Conor agreed. Wham, bam, thank you, ma'am!

The green was Eidolon of Blossoms, 2 Scorps, 2 Spider Ladies (see below), Swarm Giant, Ravenous Big Head Doggie and Nemesis. The white was Wingsteed, Skyguard, and tricks (Launch, Reap, Ajani's Presence). GW it is! Also a Helm to get the big guys in.

Round one:
Mateo was nice kid and a Harbor High senior - a fellow alumni! He said he planned to go to college up in Seattle, which I said was a great town. And closer to Wizards! I'm such a nerd. He played WUB with Master of Waves, but my scorps held him back and my Helmed Giant got in there both games.

Round two:
Catalin was also a new player and was very nice. But her cards didn't do much for her and I won both games easily. Still, I tried to be encouraging and went over her deck afterwards.

Round three:
Daniel was another GW player and he had red too. My Hydra got to 16/16 and stomped him first game. Then his big guys stomped me in the second. Last game was tight, but he drew gas to my lands. Close one!

Round four:
Richard and I were both 2-1 and a 3-1 record won 5 packs. Richard offered to split with the winner of the round getting the extra pack. Deal! My goal for playing today was to have some packs for Tuesday's draft. This would make that happen. He ended up beating me in a close first game and I said "No mas". It was late and I was tired.

Pre-release observations:

Spider Lady was better than I thought. Block a dude, pay 2 mana and get a spider... an enchantment spider. This triggers all the constellation cards. It does a lot.

So cheap... I mean really cheap. Five mana for instance gets you 5 extra 1/1 attackers. Do they block your main dudes or the extra ones? I got to play with this card in both deck this weekend and never was disappointed.

A surprisingly strong card. The 4 toughness is very relevant and the monstrosity factor makes it great. Hard to kill and it doesn't tap to attack. And it looks like Greg's dog.

A fun weekend of Magic with new cards. I'll be back next week for the release events too. I will stick with Nyx!

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.

GPT Sacramento at Endgame 12/13

Rock and rolling up to Oaktown with Ryan and Spencer in tow. Left way too early (8am), but arrived just as JMac was parking on the street. Free parking on Sundays? Yes!

EndGame is a cool games store with many tables upstairs. It's right across from the convention center, where GP Oakland was held last year... don't remind me... Core set sealed makes me noxious.

We had time for breakfast, so we went to the cafe a block away. I got an egg on toast with the most amazing butter I have ever tasted! Seriously, it may be worth another trip. From divine cows or something. We ate outside and Spencer got a latte in a bowl.

We registered at 10am ($25) and had time before packs were passed out, so we hit up the brewery across the street. Yes, you heard right -- a BREWERY! Morning stouts and 49ers kickoff. There was much strategizing. The Niners will crush Tampa Bay. And we will crush all noobs.

There was 19 players signed up. Enough for 5 rounds and a top 8. Odds were good some of us would get there. The four of us all sat around a table and packs were distributed. My pool was fairly average.

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I was much happier with what pool I was given...

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Ryan and Spence were happy with theirs, but Jason was struggling. Too many options in all colors. We gave some advice and he made some changes, but wasn't feeling confident. He'd just have to draw well and play like a boss.

First round, I get paired with... Jason. What? Nooooo! Sigh.
WON

Second round,
LOST

Third round,
LOST

Spencer and I jammed over to a sausage place a block down. By the way, lots of good food around this venue. You will not be disappointed. They had beef, pork, chicken, wild boar and vegan options. Every one came with two toppings: saurkraut, onions, chili, relish, etc. Lots of fancy mustards, ketchups and mayos too. The wasabi-garlic mayo was off the hook.

Fourth round,
WON

Fifth round (win and in),
WON!

Everyone but JMac made top 8 -- even me! Jason was a sport and stuck around to cheer us on. He drove over from SF and was thinking he'd split to go for a run. But how many times do your homies get 3 spots in a top 8? Kudos, Mr. MacD!

The draft started and Spencer was passing to me. The judge called out the time we had to look and then pass. We had to count the cards we were passing every time. A little more work than what I'm used to at Woodstocks. I opened Xenagos first pack and slammed it. When the booster gods give you a planeswalker, you take it... unless it's Tibalt.

Luckily, Spence figured out I was red green (cuz he's awesome) and I got a sweet deck. Three Fanatics! Got good green with Arbor and Nemesis, but no ramp or fixing. No removal either made me go aggro. Get there with little fast dudes, 2 red Ordeals and finish with Fanatics.

First round was versus Ben. He's a good player I've played before at other California tournaments. His friend sat next to him (I hate that). He played Bant colors with bounce and heroic dudes. I led with Flamedrinker, but he mounted a defense quickly. We traded damage and were both under 10, when he Time to Feed'd my Flamedrinker, causing me 5 damage instantly and then got in for the rest. I would have had him next turn! Game two was all me and all red, finishing him with 2 consecitive Fanatics for the last 8 damage. So good! Game three was me keeping a sketching hand: a 5 drop, 2 Fanatics, Cyclops, Ordeal, and 2 mountains. He had to mull, so my heart soared. But I never saw another land and he rolled me. Dang! Jason said if I mulled, I would be hoping for 2 lands again, so the keep wasn't that sketchy. I don't know - what do you think?

I got $5 store credit for my troubles. And 9 packs for the $25 buy in. And planeswalker points. I'm not complaining! Ryan and Spencer made it to the finals after some wheeling and dealing with their store credits. It was Ryan's BW hoplites vs. Spencer's ?? Spencer won game one fairly easily, but game two was a battle. Life totals swung wildly form 32 to 2 and back again. Ryan snuck it out and tied it up. The last game was even more crazy with Ryan going down to 2 and then up again to 30. At one point, I said "Spencer wins!", but it was premature. Ryan battled back and eventually took it all.

Ryan gets two byes! It used to be three until WOTC decided that was too good. Really? The judge said there may be a VIP voucher included as well if the store qualifies. Ryan left his email in case they send it. He and Spencer each got $25 store credit and Spencer picked up the board game "7 Wonders" he had been looking at. Must make plans to play that with him.

We said goodbye to Jason and headed back down the state. Got back around 9pm - whew! - a full day of Magic and good times. This is why I play the game. Challenging strategy and bro companionship. Congrats again to Ryan - he gets to kick back in Sactown!