Top 8 at GP Columbus with Ponder Miracles!

[hyp3r1on]

Hey everyone!

I’m Aaron Kasprzak and just got back home to Toronto after Top 8ing Grand Prix Columbus with a Ponder/Entreat build of Miracles. Although, I currently live in Toronto - I have strong ties in Eastern Canada having lived there for several years and it was a great being supported and encouraged by both my friends in Toronto as well as the East Coast throughout the GP. Specifically, I want to thank my friend Neil Martin. I consider him one of the best and most well-rounded player I know. He really helped strengthen my game and format knowledge through the countless hours of playtesting we did when I first moved to Eastern Canada.

Although, PES has had a history of some lackluster GPs I felt that Grand Prix Columbus was organized and run very smoothly - especially with Day 1 completing at a respectable time. From what I understand there was an overabundance of judges there for the tournament. The only complaints I heard was that there were issues with the online round pairings.

As for why I played the list I did - I’ve been playing glacially slow control decks in just about every format for the better part of a decade. My choices for this tournament was essentially between Miracles and Lands. I decided on Miracles for a few reasons:

1) I played in most of the Legacy side events at Grand Prix Toronto earlier this year and had an amazing run with a similar Miracles list as to what I played in Columbus.

2) Although, I feel Lands is at a solid spot in the current meta game, I figured that there was going to be a lot of people playing non-interactive combo decks at Columbus as a way to fight the Eldrazi menace - which many people felt was going to be the deck to beat. Also, throughout Grand Prix Toronto the room was infested with Reanimator, Storm, Burn and Show and Tell decks so I wanted to play a deck that has game versus decks like those.

The Deck List:

4 Flooded Strand
4 Island
3 Tundra
3 Volcanic Island
2 Arid Mesa
2 Plains
2 Polluted Delta
1 Scalding Tarn

3 Snapcaster Mage

4 Brainstorm
4 Force of Will
4 Ponder
4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Terminus
2 Counterspell
2 Entreat the Angels
1 Council’s Judgment

4 Counterbalance
4 Sensei’s Divining Top
3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor

3 Flusterstorm
2 Pyroblast
2 Surgical Extraction
2 Vendilion Clique
2 Wear // Tear
1 Containment Priest
1 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
1 Moat
1 Red Elemental Blast

Card Choices: I’ve basically had a lot of experience playing all builds of Miracles, but for Columbus I opted for a very streamlined main deck. Although, I like a lot of what Legends does and I’ve liked playing with Predict builds I felt like a streamlined list was solid for a Grand Prix field. Looking at the tournament now, I think the x2 Counterspells are the weakest aspect of the deck. Throughout the tournament Counterspell was definitely the most clunky card for me. I’m not in love with Council’s Judgment either, but I think it’s somewhat of a necessary evil because it’s just too good at answering planeswalkers and problem permanents like Sylvan Library preboard.

Also, I opted to play Entreat the Angels instead of Monastery Mentor. My personal feelings regarding Monastery Mentor is that it’s a fantastic card at closing out the game extremely fast when you are ahead, but when you are behind it can be very bad and very low impact. I remember ranting about how much I hated Entreat years ago but now I deeply respect how it can steal games that you fall behind in and naturally slots in to what Miracles is already trying to do.

For sideboard choices. I usually only play 2 Flusterstorms but the third was just a hedge on my anticipation that there was going to be a lot of combo in the field. I’m not in love with Gideon either but decided for it last minute over something like Izzet Staticaster as a card that’s fantastic in the Miracles mirror and solid against Shardless BUG.

Anyways, the recap of my matches:

DAY 1

Round 1: BYE

Round 2: 2-0 versus Jace on BUG Control

My opponent was playing a non-Shardless BUG Control deck with Liliana/Jace/Goyf/Bob/Strix and disruption. Game 1 went very long. He aggressively fought my Tops by Thoughtseizing one in the opener and Forcing another. He resolved Liliana and a Jace versus my Jace. He was aggressively fate sealing me, while I was trying to dig my way out. My Jace finally died and then his Liliana went ultimate. I had Entreat on top with another Jace below it. He correctly put me on having Entreat on top and after floating mana for Entreat he split my 5 lands versus fetch land + top. I took the 5 lands obviously and he then fate sealed my Entreat to the bottom. I then drew my 2nd Jace and was able to set up Council’s Judgment + Snap/Judgment to answer both his Lili and his Jace and then Jace my way to victory. Game 2 went much quicker as I was able to steamroll through his disruption.

Round 3: 0-2 versus Devin Koepke on Eldrazi

Really great and friendly guy. Historically I know he’s played a lot of Shardless so his Eldrazi deck caught me by a little bit of a surprise. In Game 1 he didn’t draw any disruption pieces like Chalice or Thorns so I liked my chances of beating him preboard. However, I did not find top and my Brainstorms didn’t quite cooperate. I was also stuck on 3 lands and his Reality Smashers were able to crush me quickly. Game 2 - I led with Top. He led with Needle on Top. His next turn he played a Thorn of Amethyst, which I decided to Force of Will because I wanted to Council’s Judgment away his needle on my next turn (which I did). Ususally I don’t fight too hard over Thorns. He then played a Winter Orb which was basically the icing on the cake. I fought through a Thought-Knot and an Endless One with Terminus and Swords but couldn’t fight beyond that with my mana locked out.

Round 4: 2-1 versus James on RG Lands

Another friendly opponent. Game 1 he led with an explosive start. I led with Scalding Tarn -> Island -> Ponder. Next turn he threatened the combo and I scooped as I knew my top cards and had no answers to Marit Lage. He incorrectly put me on Sneak and Show and boarded wrong versus me. In Game 2 I had a fast Top/CB/Jace and he scooped quickly. Game 3 I had a very strong hand and was able to Surgically Extract his Krosan Grips/Loams/Pfires and then proceeded to Jace him out with his copy of Raging Ravine being his only relevant card drawn. We had a friendly chat about the matchup afterwards.

Round 5: 2-0 versus Ryder on ANT

A pretty good Storm pilot. Game 1 we both Mulled to 6. He didn’t draw any discard spells and I was sitting on 3 copies of Force of Will hoping to bye enough time to land a Jace (that was basically the only thing my hand did). I was forced into FoWing a Brainstorm to bye that time. After I landed Jace, I was able to set up a naked Counterbalance. After 2 lucky blind flips I was able to lock up Game 1. Game 2 was very interesting and a misplay on my part almost cost me the game. He was able to sneak in an Eot Dark Ritual/Ad Naus through my Countertop. I then found a Flusterstorm hidden on the top of my library. He comboed off next turn and cast Infernal Tutor, which I then Flustered and was able to then win with Vendilion Clique beats.

Round 6: 2-0 versus Chris on Junk Nic Fit

These two games were won pretty quickly. I could tell he wasn’t thrilled about playing versus Miracles and told me he lost to Lands previously. Basically both games ended the same way with him ramping my mana, landing Jace, brainstorming infinite times and Entreating for a wall of Angels. I did have to ask a judge on the oracle text for Sorin, Grim Nemesis though.

Round 7: 2-1 versus John on Goblins

After him leading with Wasteland into Aether Vial into my hand of non-Force of Will all blue cards I knew I was in deep trouble. After he played Bloodstained Mire next - I knew I was basically 99% to lose G1. Game 2 I kept a semi-bad hand but with a Ponder, Moat and 2 lands I went with it. Moat locked him out pretty hard and after having to answer two Goblin Sharpshooters I was able to Entreat for the win. Game 3 went the same way. He had a very good start with Lackey, but I was able to again land Moat and Entreat for 3.

Round 8: 2-0 versus Eric on Maverick

My opponent seemed pretty exhausted and flustered after having to call a judge for washroom break before our match began. G1 I was pretty manaflooded, had to flip the top several times to grab Swords to answer his Gaddock Teeg and Sword-equipped Knight of the Reliquary. After I answered Teeg, I hardcast Terminus and followed it up with a Miracled Entreat. Game 2, he kept a mana-light hand with a lot of mana dorks, stoneforge and a Thoughtseize. My hand was pretty redundant to the Thoughtseize. I Terminused his mana dorks way and he couldn’t draw out of it as I then Fate sealed him out with Jace.

Round 9: 2-0 versus Joseph Santomassino on MUD

Probably the most insane match of my tournament. I knew I recognized his name from the pairing board and was trying to remember what deck he played. Then I remembered his name from crushing my friend Lam Phan on camera at GPNJ with MUD as soon as I sat down. Game 1 I had to Force a Metalworker and Swords another early. He kept drawing a ton of mana and then I had to do a weird dance with Jace bouncing and finding answers. I had to bounce his Blightsteel twice with Jace and then was able to fire off an Entreat for lethal after he took enough damage from his Ancient Tombs. Game 2 was pretty insane. He mulled to 6 with a mana light hand. He cast a Chalice, which I answered immediately with Wear then was able to Vendilion Clique into his hand of uncastables and then Jace start fate sealing. He top decked a bunch of mana and then Sundering Titaned me off of all my lands 4 times when I had to answer it with Terminus. I proceeded to fate seal him out with Jace and won with no lands in play.

DAY 2

Round 10: 2-1 versus Wes on Grixis Delver with Stifles

I lost Game 1 pretty handily. He was able to resolve a Pyromancer on Turn 2 and protect it against my Swords to Plowshares and Terminus while stifling my mana. Game 2 and 3 were both effectively won pretty fast with early Countertop locks.

Round 11: 1-2 versus Raymond on Reanimator

He was on the play Game 1 and was able to T1 Entomb/Reanimate Griselbrand. I conceded immediately so he sideboarded in the dark. Game 2, he mulled to 5, where I had T1 Top into T2 Counterbalance. In Game 3, I think I actually made a couple of misplays. I was too aggressive with casting a Counterbalance and he was able to untap and cast Show and Tell with me forced to FoW instead of being able to use a Pyroblast in hand. He eventually was able to Exhume an Iona and after 3 turns of furiously digging to find a JTMS - it just beat me death. I know this is historically a fine matchup for Miracles, but one where I find myself lose a lot versus.

Round 12: 2-1 versus Joseph on Burn

In Game 1, my hand matched up quite poorly versus burn. I was only able to get a Counterbalance in play at the very end and he easily burn through. Game 2 was insanely close. I was able to counter enough of his early spells with Counterspell, Flusterstorm and Force to get a Counterbalance online at 2 life. I was floating Wear//Tear on top of the library forever but never found a single win condition for almost 15 turns. At one point he slammed a Barbarian Ring and activated it for lethal which I responded to Snapcaster/Swords my own Snapcaster. Eventually I found another Snap which I beat him down with. Extremely close game. Game 3 was won pretty easily with only 2 mins left on the clock. He mana flooded bad and I blind flipped a Clique to a Rift Bolt. I beat him down fast enough with that Clique and took down the match. Was lucky enough to dodge all of his 3 copies of Exquisite Firecraft which he showed me afterwards.

Round 13: 2-0 versus Fred Edelkamp on RG Lands

Game 1 was fairly tricky. He drew a lot of Ports and Stages to copy ports while threatening the combo since Turn 3 but without Loam. I drew enough Lands to always threaten Swords. Finally I was able to Entreat for 4. He decided to finally make Marit Lage, which I then promptly used Swords on. Angels take it down 2 turns later. Game 2 he kept a pretty clunky hand. He leads with a Grove into Gamble then pitches a Stage to a Mox. I surgical his Stage and see a hand of all Gambles/Loams/Krosan Grips. I was given enough time to develop my mana and Entreat for 3.


Round 14: 2-0 versus Ed Demicco on Grixis Delver

Really friendly guy and a pleasure to play against. The mood of the match was pretty lighthearted considering where we were at in the tournament. In G1 we had a huge counterfight over a Counterbalance. I was able to resolve another one and he conceded pretty fast in the interest in conserving time even though we were both playing briskly. In Game 2, I kept a hand with a lot of digging power but took a ton of hits from his T1 Delver while I was digging deep to find any blast or removal spell. At 5 life, he then played a Pyromancer and cast Ponder. I tried to main phase Swords it, which he FoWed. I had the chance to FoW back by pitching a Counterbalance on top of my deck but would have died fast to the tokens regardless. I decided to play to my outs. Went down to 1, played Counterbalance and found a lucky Terminus on top. Was able to lock him out with Wear//Tear and 15ish turns later won with a JTMS.

Round 15: 2-1 versus Bennett on BUG Delver

A really tense game. I think both of us felt the pressure immensely. In Game 1 he mulled to 5. We had a judge called because I tried to Swords his Deathrite and after putting it into his graveyard and then pulling it back in play and cast Daze. I misplayed slightly at the end with only 2 lands in play and Countertop allowing him to resolve a Goyf that killed me. Game 2 was won pretty handily by me. Game 3 was stifled on Green mana and had 3 Deathrites in play. I refused to play my nonbasic lands or crack my fetch lands until I had 5 sources in play. He tried to Fow my terminus, which I answered with a Pyroblast. Was then able to resolve Jace and win the game with 5 minutes left on the clock.

Into the top 8! Huge sweat with the top 8 announcement. I made it in with 0.5% higher on breakers and they couldn’t pronounce my last name initially over the microphone.

QF: 1-2 versus Joe Lossett on Miracles

An absolute pleasure to play against and despite several nervous actions by me, I don’t think I made any egregious play mistakes. In Game 1, when I went to fate seal him with Jace I accidentally looked at the 2nd from top card instead of the top card then after shuffling his deck and getting a warning revealed the top card to us both thinking it was a Counterbalance trigger >_>. Anwyays…I knew his list and that I couldn’t afford to go long versus him with his Legends build so I played the game a lot more aggressively than I otherwise would in the Miracles mirror. In Game 1 he mulled to 6 and I was able to drop Countertop and Jace. He went for an Entreat which I had the Terminus for and then aggressively fatesealed him out to secure the Game 1 win. Game 2, I was stuck on Lands and his hand of Red Blast, Flusterstorm, double CB and Venser was more than I could overcome. Game 3 was very close. I aggressively went for getting Counterbalance in play which resolved. He had a Cavern of Souls in play so was able to get a Clique through. I was digging hard for an answer to Clique and finally found a Council’s Judgment at 2 life. It resolved with his only 2 cards in hand. He had an uncounterable Snapcaster for the win which I couldn’t answer. Unfortunate for me because the top of my library was Gideon, Ally of Zendikar and Jace, which should of been enough to lock up the game from there. Also never found any blasts in any sideboarded game. However, absolutely no shame in losing to the master though.

Overall, a performance I am ecstatic with and after finally getting home after a long trip back I can finally relax. Once again thank you so much to all my friends who were there for the Grand Prix.

[twndomn]

1. Do you miss Staticaster?

2. In relation to 1, does Moat replace the role of Staticaster? Or in retrospect, you would like to run both? Do they occupy the same SB slot?

3. How often did you bring in Gideon? Will you continue to run it?

[thefringthing]

No shoutout to your awesome vanmates? What a scumbag, geez. ;)

[hyp3r1on]

1. Do you miss Staticaster?

2. In relation to 1, does Moat replace the role of Staticaster? Or in retrospect, you would like to run both? Do they occupy the same SB slot?

3. How often did you bring in Gideon? Will you continue to run it?

Honestly, I don't miss Staticaster that much. Only matchups I like it in is against DNT, the Miracles Mirror and as a blue card vs ANT/TES as an out to empty as opposed to leaving in a Terminus or 2.

I wouldn't say that Moat replaces the role of Staticaster as I would never board in Moat versus DNT. Moat was mostly a hedge against eldrazi since I wasn't running anything like Blood Moon or Back to Basics, however Moat is solid versus other decks in the field like Shardless.

I only boarded Gideon in twice I believe. Once against BUG Control and against Joe. I think Gideon is great in the Miracles mirror and solid versus BUG/Aggro loam decks but don't think it's overall needed to run him. I was kind of brainwashed because every Miracles player in Toronto runs a copy ha

[Amunshax]

Nice Report, would you change anything in your List after the GP?

[hyp3r1on]

Nice Report, would you change anything in your List after the GP?

I've been playing basically the same list (with a few cosmetic changes in the sideboard) since the GP and honestly there isn't anything I would change in the maindeck. I think the maindeck is extremely solid and am still on the no-Mentor plan. In my opinion, the choice between Mentor or not comes down to individual play style. No one would disagree that Monastery Mentor is a powerful card choice in Miracles and no one would disagree that it's fundamentally incorrect to play without it, instead opting for Entreat. Miracles has an incredible diverse set of card choices and shells that you can choose to go with (which is also why playing against Miracles is always tough) and for the most part one shell isn't strictly better than another.

As for the sideboard. I mentioned it in the initial report, but I'm not really a fan of Gideon. I'm also kind of addicted to running the third Flusterstorm at the moment. Since the GP, I've been toying around with cards like Engineered Explosives, Kozilek's Return, Izzet Staticaster, Back to Basics, second Moat and even Dack Fayden as a troll in that slot. I really like Kozilek's Return as a card though. It's really good against Mom decks/Grixis/Elves.