Mark Sun
02-27-2012, 01:45 AM
Uh-oh, it's another report from yours truly.
This weekend was the "Ohio Magic Weekend 2012" hosted by my LGS, Comic Town. We hosted a double Modern PTQ, with two SCG IQ's (Modern on Saturday, Legacy on Sunday). I was set to help my friend Matt Kranstuber (Kojiro (http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/member.php?2255-Kojiro) on here) vendor, but it didn't stop me from playing in the SCG IQ on Sunday when things finally cooled down. I am planning on running RUG Delver at the Grand Prix, so of course, practice makes perfect. There aren't a lot of changes from my 75 last weekend; in fact, the maindeck stayed the same.
// Lands
3 [R] Tropical Island
3 [R] Volcanic Island
4 [TE] Wasteland
4 [ZEN] Scalding Tarn
4 [ZEN] Misty Rainforest
1 [UNH] Island
// Creatures
4 Delver of Secrets/Insectile Aberration
4 [FUT] Tarmogoyf
3 [ISD] Snapcaster Mage
3 [OD] Nimble Mongoose
// Spells
4 [MM] Brainstorm
2 [DIS] Spell Snare
4 [JGC] Lightning Bolt
4 [AL] Force of Will
3 [NE] Daze
4 [M10] Ponder
3 [ZEN] Spell Pierce
2 [LG] Chain Lightning
1 [CHK] Sensei's Divining Top
// Sideboard
SB: 2 [CHK] Sensei's Divining Top
SB: 3 [NE] Submerge
SB: 2 [TSP] Krosan Grip
SB: 3 [CS] Counterbalance
SB: 1 [MI] Mind Harness
SB: 1 [ISD] Ancient Grudge
SB: 3 [TSB] Tormod's Crypt
I have had increasing issues against the green decks and having the fourth hate card in the sideboard seemed perfect. Ancient Grudge making a return and doing work against Affinity was also an added bonus, especially if people who scrubbed out of the PTQ could make a couple of simple changes and play. Tormod's Crypt because scouting revealed some people sleeving up Dredge. I'm pretty degenerate in terms of wanting my deck to be pimp, so I track down a Japanese Mind Harness, and Empire Games own Carl (who is also vendoring) provides me with a Korean Ancient Grudge. Good stuff! Only one Russian Foil Tormod's Crypt, though...
Round 1) Chris playing Merfolk, Win-Win
I lose the die roll and am met by Island, Cursecatcher. People still play this deck? Luckily my hand has two 1cc threats and I manage to stick the more awkward one in Nimble Mongoose. I do get him to grow a little bit, and he is joined by Tarmogoyf while Chris develops his board slowly. I mise some fish with Spell Snare. When I have six cards in my graveyard, I Force of Will an Aether Vial, growing Mongoose to 3/3 and Tarmogoyf to 5/6. The pressure is suddenly on and Chris can't catch up.
[i]Sideboarding: -2 Spell Pierce, +1 Krosan Grip, +1 Ancient Grudge
I look at my sideboard and have absolutely nothing. Awkward. I decide that I can't let Aether Vial resolve and would take a chance with keeping Force of Will in. My threats are incredibly efficient, so I can afford the card disadvantage. My opening Delver sticks, whiffs on the blind flip, and I set it up for the next turn. I make sure to not get a Tropical to play around Submerge, leaning on the "UR" side of my deck. Over the next three turns, his Lord eats a Lightning Bolt, his Reejerey dies to a Chain Lightning, and I have mana to Snapcaster back my burn spells. Game ends in short order.
Game 2-0, Matches 1-0.
Round 2) Zak playing budget Reanimator, Win-Win
This is one of the interesting things about vendoring at an event and then participating in something like the IQ. If a customer buys something from you, and you wind up playing him, then you kind of know what's up already. Zak's deck has all the spells but no Thoughtseize, and an imcomplete manabase (I believe 1 Underground Sea, a couple of Darkslick Shores, and a whole lot of Graveborn), so he leads off with Graveborn Swamp, Graveborn Duress. I remember helping him earlier, and of course put him on Reanimator. He stares at my hand of one guy, four pieces of countermagic, and lands. Delver beats him to death before he can play through all of it.
Sideboarding: -4 Lightning Bolt, -2 Chain Lightning, +2 Sensei's Divining Top, +3 Counterbalance, +3 Tormod's Crypt
I'm on the draw and Zak opens with land, go. I have a Mongoose opener with the bonus Tormod's Crypt. Zak has to fight through double Crypt this game, and can't find a second anti-hate spell. Not exactly an exciting match, but it happens.
Games 4-0, Matches 2-0.
Round 3) Reuben Bresler playing GW Maverick, Loss-Win-Loss
Pairings go up and Reuben motions over to me. I know what he's playing, but no specifics. Great. I get a good start with Delver beats, but unfortunately I decided to gamble on a hand with no burn, and I never find any. He resolves and untaps with Mother of Runes, which helps get his guys through and outrace me. I was pretty sure I needed to get Game 1 to have a chance in this matchup, so it doesn't look good for me.
Sideboarding: -3 Nimble Mongoose, -4 Force of Will, +3 Submerge, +1 Mind Harness, +2 Krosan Grip, +1 Ancient Grudge
Same concept as last week's sideboarding against Zoo. Curve ends at 2 (or two cards with 3cc), and flooding the board is awful for me, so I can justify keeping (only) 3 Daze on the draw. Spell Pierce stays in for Planeswalkers, hardcast Equipment, and high casting cost GSZ. The board eventually becomes his Thrun and Tarmogoyf versus my two, and I cantrip into a Mind Harness to steal his Tarmogoyf, be able to pay for three turns of it on my side, and become the aggressor. Even the Last Troll can't block all of this Tarmogoyfs. I open Game 3 on the draw, which actually becomes a really good game after I Submerge his t1 Dryad Arbor to even the board state. As it goes into the mid game, we become threatless, and our boards rebuild to his Jitte, Pridemage, Thrun, Dryad Arbor, to my double Tarmogoyf. I draw Mind Harness, and make a huge punt. Reuben keeps passing the turn with some mana open, and I keep thinking that I can't Mind Harness Pridemage to destroy Jitte unless he's tapped out (so he can't use it in response). Yeah, Jitte was the only legal target. Waiting too long to pull the trigger on the Harness costs me the game, as I have to pitch it to Force of Will to stay alive, and I die to a giant Thrun. Whoops.
5-2 Games, 2-1 Matches.
Round 4) Korey Fay playing Esper Blade, Intentional Draw
Korey and I are friends and when we sit down across from each other, we make a pretty huge gamble by choosing to ID and win out. There are 41 people in this tournament, so X-1-1 has a very good shot at making it. We are comfortable doing this, and take time to scout the top tables. Lots of Burn and Delver, with John Sava playing his new MUC list.
5-2 Games, 2-1-1 Matches.
Round 5) James playing BUG Control, Win-Win
James is a really nice guy from my store and we're paired up this round. I lose the die roll (recurring theme) and am met with Underground Sea, Thoughtseize. I'm thinking ANT or Reanimator, which makes my hand of guys pretty terrible. I topdeck a Spell Pierce to fight off a second turn Hymn, and then cantrip into the lone Sensei's Divining Top, which to an extent protects my draws. My targetable guys all die to removal, but I'm not getting any pressure from James, so by the time my Mongoose sticks, it's just a shrouded Wild Nacatl. I don't see any Edicts, and win shortly. From my information, it's more of Snapcaster BUG Control, and not Landstill.
Sideboarding: -4 Force of Will, -1 Ponder, +2 Sensei's Divining Top, +3 Submerge
I don't board in Counterbalance since I'm on the draw and expecting plenty of discard and unfavorable Counterbalance flips (I assume 3cc for Clique/Deed and 4cc for Jace), so I board in the extra 2 Tops as hand protection, and 3 Submerge for free removal in favor of the Force of Wills. This game is a real cripple fight. I get my Tops countered, can't find a green source to cast any threats, but still find just enough Wastelands to keep James off of his own spells. I finally manage to stick a Mongoose, and go for the get-Threshold-as-fast-as-I-can plan. I am able to find a second Mongoose with Spell Pierce protection against Deed, and the pair starts to swing in for six a turn. They go unanswered for the full 20.
Games: 7-2, Matches: 3-1-1
Round 6) Chad playing Burn, Win-Win
I'm at 10 points going into the Round and get the pair down. Chad has 9 points, but has the best breakers out of all the X-2's, so if he beats me, he'll probably make Top 8. I tell him he has an outside chance and we sleeve up to battle. I win the die roll, keep a one-lander on the play, and cantrip into more mana sources. I lightly punt by not putting a land on top with Ponder, so his Goblin Guide reveals some business on top. I cast a Tarmogoyf, he sacrifices his Goblin Guide and Lightning Bolt to kill it, and I follow it up with another. With my Goyf at 4/5 and plenty of countermagic to protect it, I go the distance before getting burned out.
Sideboarding: -3 Snapcaster Mage, -2 Chain Lightning, -1 Ponder, +2 Sensei's Divining Top, +3 Counterbalance, +1 Mind Harness
Chad is running a creature heavier version with Figure of Destiny, so I figure that Mind Harness is okay here. I survive the early blitz of Goblin Guide, but I might have set up Counter/Top just a little too late. Most of the damage has been done and I'm at 6 life when I finally find a Tarmogoyf on top. It's 4/5 and I deal my first points of damage from that point on. Counterbalance does an excellent job of locking him out, but I give away that I'm looking for a 2cc card on top when I fetch again. He goes to Price of Progress in response to the fetch and I have to Force of Will, putting me in range of Flame Rift (if I whiff on a 2cc) or Fireblast. I don't find a 2cc on top, pray, and Chad sadly topdecks three Mountains for me to seal the deal for Top 8. I go in as the 7th seed (Korey Fay makes 8th seed, so the plan worked!), paired against the Burn deck that 4-0-2'ed the Swiss.
9-2 Games, 4-1-1 Matches
Top 8) Dillon playing Burn, Loss-Win-Loss
I win the die roll, which is a good change of pace for the day. I decide to keep a hand of Fetchland, Wasteland, Wasteland, Daze, Delver,
Spell Snare, Ponder. It seems like a match made in heaven. I cast a Delver first turn, Daze his Goblin Guide, but whiff on the blind flip, which is fine. I decide to replay the Volcanic Island without a cantrip so I can Spell Snare a potential second turn play. Dillon decides to play fearlessly through Daze and I get hit with double Bolt. My Delver flips the next turn, and I cast Ponder, seeing no more blue sources. Shuffle, draw a brick. Play Wasteland. Delver gets Magma Jet'ed and I'm not feeling so great anymore. My Brainstorm finds two non-blue sources and another Brainstorm, and after I waited for two more turns to see a fresh 3, still no lands. Somehow, a good start turned into a disaster.
Sideboarding: Same as Round 6
I start on the play, fight off a Goblin Guide, and cast Counterbalance, Sensei's Divining Top on turn 3. He casts Ratchet Bomb on his turn, and it blows my mind. The Counterbalance in play buys me a couple of turns and after a series of fetchlands and top spinning, I set up a turn where I can play Counterbalance and Tarmogoyf with Spell Pierce backup after he blows the Ratchet Bomb. I am at 5 life when I attack him down to 2 life, threatening lethal next turn. He goes to make his move. I can't float a 2cc to save my life, and knowing that he casts Price of Progress, playing around Daze. I get an immediate read that this is a possible bait for Fireblast and I float some mana, Wasteland myself down to a single nonbasic, go to 3. He does have the Fireblast, but I have the Spell Pierce.
I have to gamble on my hand for Game 3, which includes answers to just about everything except for Goblin Guide. He opens with a t1 Lava Spike, which is great for me, and I draw, cast Nimble Mongoose, say go. He starts to play out his Keldon Marauders, which unfortunately I don't have answers to. My 1/1 Nimble Mongoose stares awkwardly at the giant Marauders across the table, and I have to use Bolts to turn 5 damage (Marauder trigger, hit, Marauder trigger) into 2. It's not a great strategy, but it saves me 3 damage each time. I think we get through all four of them this game, so by the time I'm ready to go on the offensive with two Mongeese, I'm already down to 7 life. I have to Wasteland my own land to achieve Threshold, and I attack him to 14, play Tarmogoyf. I draw a brick but the next attack takes him down to 4. He's been drawing nothing but Mountains this game, and has one card in hand. I can read a Bolt, so he needs a Fireblast to win the game (Flame Rift ties, Price of Progress is a dead card after my self Wasteland). On his turn, he draws, looks at his hand, sighs in relief, and starts saying the words, "sorry bro..."
Lightning Bolt, Fireblast.
10-4 games, 4-2-1 Matches
I end up with some packs, which I crack for copious amounts of bulk rares. I'm pretty disappointed in how the Top 8 match turned out, but sometimes you do come up one play short. Some thoughts on the list. I think it's getting closer to well-tuned for a longer and larger event like the GP, so I'm happy with the changes. Nimble Mongoose continues to be absolutely amazing or outright terrible, so my original thoughts of playing a 4/2 split of it and Snapcaster Mage will not be carried out. Mind Harness was great for me (and could have been even better if I didn't punt against Reuben, who wound up splitting the Finals), so it has definitely found a home going forward. I get one more chance next weekend in Columbus before heading out to Indianapolis, so hopefully I will have another good performance. If not, I'll see everyone at GP Indianapolis.
Thanks for reading,
--Mark
This weekend was the "Ohio Magic Weekend 2012" hosted by my LGS, Comic Town. We hosted a double Modern PTQ, with two SCG IQ's (Modern on Saturday, Legacy on Sunday). I was set to help my friend Matt Kranstuber (Kojiro (http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/member.php?2255-Kojiro) on here) vendor, but it didn't stop me from playing in the SCG IQ on Sunday when things finally cooled down. I am planning on running RUG Delver at the Grand Prix, so of course, practice makes perfect. There aren't a lot of changes from my 75 last weekend; in fact, the maindeck stayed the same.
// Lands
3 [R] Tropical Island
3 [R] Volcanic Island
4 [TE] Wasteland
4 [ZEN] Scalding Tarn
4 [ZEN] Misty Rainforest
1 [UNH] Island
// Creatures
4 Delver of Secrets/Insectile Aberration
4 [FUT] Tarmogoyf
3 [ISD] Snapcaster Mage
3 [OD] Nimble Mongoose
// Spells
4 [MM] Brainstorm
2 [DIS] Spell Snare
4 [JGC] Lightning Bolt
4 [AL] Force of Will
3 [NE] Daze
4 [M10] Ponder
3 [ZEN] Spell Pierce
2 [LG] Chain Lightning
1 [CHK] Sensei's Divining Top
// Sideboard
SB: 2 [CHK] Sensei's Divining Top
SB: 3 [NE] Submerge
SB: 2 [TSP] Krosan Grip
SB: 3 [CS] Counterbalance
SB: 1 [MI] Mind Harness
SB: 1 [ISD] Ancient Grudge
SB: 3 [TSB] Tormod's Crypt
I have had increasing issues against the green decks and having the fourth hate card in the sideboard seemed perfect. Ancient Grudge making a return and doing work against Affinity was also an added bonus, especially if people who scrubbed out of the PTQ could make a couple of simple changes and play. Tormod's Crypt because scouting revealed some people sleeving up Dredge. I'm pretty degenerate in terms of wanting my deck to be pimp, so I track down a Japanese Mind Harness, and Empire Games own Carl (who is also vendoring) provides me with a Korean Ancient Grudge. Good stuff! Only one Russian Foil Tormod's Crypt, though...
Round 1) Chris playing Merfolk, Win-Win
I lose the die roll and am met by Island, Cursecatcher. People still play this deck? Luckily my hand has two 1cc threats and I manage to stick the more awkward one in Nimble Mongoose. I do get him to grow a little bit, and he is joined by Tarmogoyf while Chris develops his board slowly. I mise some fish with Spell Snare. When I have six cards in my graveyard, I Force of Will an Aether Vial, growing Mongoose to 3/3 and Tarmogoyf to 5/6. The pressure is suddenly on and Chris can't catch up.
[i]Sideboarding: -2 Spell Pierce, +1 Krosan Grip, +1 Ancient Grudge
I look at my sideboard and have absolutely nothing. Awkward. I decide that I can't let Aether Vial resolve and would take a chance with keeping Force of Will in. My threats are incredibly efficient, so I can afford the card disadvantage. My opening Delver sticks, whiffs on the blind flip, and I set it up for the next turn. I make sure to not get a Tropical to play around Submerge, leaning on the "UR" side of my deck. Over the next three turns, his Lord eats a Lightning Bolt, his Reejerey dies to a Chain Lightning, and I have mana to Snapcaster back my burn spells. Game ends in short order.
Game 2-0, Matches 1-0.
Round 2) Zak playing budget Reanimator, Win-Win
This is one of the interesting things about vendoring at an event and then participating in something like the IQ. If a customer buys something from you, and you wind up playing him, then you kind of know what's up already. Zak's deck has all the spells but no Thoughtseize, and an imcomplete manabase (I believe 1 Underground Sea, a couple of Darkslick Shores, and a whole lot of Graveborn), so he leads off with Graveborn Swamp, Graveborn Duress. I remember helping him earlier, and of course put him on Reanimator. He stares at my hand of one guy, four pieces of countermagic, and lands. Delver beats him to death before he can play through all of it.
Sideboarding: -4 Lightning Bolt, -2 Chain Lightning, +2 Sensei's Divining Top, +3 Counterbalance, +3 Tormod's Crypt
I'm on the draw and Zak opens with land, go. I have a Mongoose opener with the bonus Tormod's Crypt. Zak has to fight through double Crypt this game, and can't find a second anti-hate spell. Not exactly an exciting match, but it happens.
Games 4-0, Matches 2-0.
Round 3) Reuben Bresler playing GW Maverick, Loss-Win-Loss
Pairings go up and Reuben motions over to me. I know what he's playing, but no specifics. Great. I get a good start with Delver beats, but unfortunately I decided to gamble on a hand with no burn, and I never find any. He resolves and untaps with Mother of Runes, which helps get his guys through and outrace me. I was pretty sure I needed to get Game 1 to have a chance in this matchup, so it doesn't look good for me.
Sideboarding: -3 Nimble Mongoose, -4 Force of Will, +3 Submerge, +1 Mind Harness, +2 Krosan Grip, +1 Ancient Grudge
Same concept as last week's sideboarding against Zoo. Curve ends at 2 (or two cards with 3cc), and flooding the board is awful for me, so I can justify keeping (only) 3 Daze on the draw. Spell Pierce stays in for Planeswalkers, hardcast Equipment, and high casting cost GSZ. The board eventually becomes his Thrun and Tarmogoyf versus my two, and I cantrip into a Mind Harness to steal his Tarmogoyf, be able to pay for three turns of it on my side, and become the aggressor. Even the Last Troll can't block all of this Tarmogoyfs. I open Game 3 on the draw, which actually becomes a really good game after I Submerge his t1 Dryad Arbor to even the board state. As it goes into the mid game, we become threatless, and our boards rebuild to his Jitte, Pridemage, Thrun, Dryad Arbor, to my double Tarmogoyf. I draw Mind Harness, and make a huge punt. Reuben keeps passing the turn with some mana open, and I keep thinking that I can't Mind Harness Pridemage to destroy Jitte unless he's tapped out (so he can't use it in response). Yeah, Jitte was the only legal target. Waiting too long to pull the trigger on the Harness costs me the game, as I have to pitch it to Force of Will to stay alive, and I die to a giant Thrun. Whoops.
5-2 Games, 2-1 Matches.
Round 4) Korey Fay playing Esper Blade, Intentional Draw
Korey and I are friends and when we sit down across from each other, we make a pretty huge gamble by choosing to ID and win out. There are 41 people in this tournament, so X-1-1 has a very good shot at making it. We are comfortable doing this, and take time to scout the top tables. Lots of Burn and Delver, with John Sava playing his new MUC list.
5-2 Games, 2-1-1 Matches.
Round 5) James playing BUG Control, Win-Win
James is a really nice guy from my store and we're paired up this round. I lose the die roll (recurring theme) and am met with Underground Sea, Thoughtseize. I'm thinking ANT or Reanimator, which makes my hand of guys pretty terrible. I topdeck a Spell Pierce to fight off a second turn Hymn, and then cantrip into the lone Sensei's Divining Top, which to an extent protects my draws. My targetable guys all die to removal, but I'm not getting any pressure from James, so by the time my Mongoose sticks, it's just a shrouded Wild Nacatl. I don't see any Edicts, and win shortly. From my information, it's more of Snapcaster BUG Control, and not Landstill.
Sideboarding: -4 Force of Will, -1 Ponder, +2 Sensei's Divining Top, +3 Submerge
I don't board in Counterbalance since I'm on the draw and expecting plenty of discard and unfavorable Counterbalance flips (I assume 3cc for Clique/Deed and 4cc for Jace), so I board in the extra 2 Tops as hand protection, and 3 Submerge for free removal in favor of the Force of Wills. This game is a real cripple fight. I get my Tops countered, can't find a green source to cast any threats, but still find just enough Wastelands to keep James off of his own spells. I finally manage to stick a Mongoose, and go for the get-Threshold-as-fast-as-I-can plan. I am able to find a second Mongoose with Spell Pierce protection against Deed, and the pair starts to swing in for six a turn. They go unanswered for the full 20.
Games: 7-2, Matches: 3-1-1
Round 6) Chad playing Burn, Win-Win
I'm at 10 points going into the Round and get the pair down. Chad has 9 points, but has the best breakers out of all the X-2's, so if he beats me, he'll probably make Top 8. I tell him he has an outside chance and we sleeve up to battle. I win the die roll, keep a one-lander on the play, and cantrip into more mana sources. I lightly punt by not putting a land on top with Ponder, so his Goblin Guide reveals some business on top. I cast a Tarmogoyf, he sacrifices his Goblin Guide and Lightning Bolt to kill it, and I follow it up with another. With my Goyf at 4/5 and plenty of countermagic to protect it, I go the distance before getting burned out.
Sideboarding: -3 Snapcaster Mage, -2 Chain Lightning, -1 Ponder, +2 Sensei's Divining Top, +3 Counterbalance, +1 Mind Harness
Chad is running a creature heavier version with Figure of Destiny, so I figure that Mind Harness is okay here. I survive the early blitz of Goblin Guide, but I might have set up Counter/Top just a little too late. Most of the damage has been done and I'm at 6 life when I finally find a Tarmogoyf on top. It's 4/5 and I deal my first points of damage from that point on. Counterbalance does an excellent job of locking him out, but I give away that I'm looking for a 2cc card on top when I fetch again. He goes to Price of Progress in response to the fetch and I have to Force of Will, putting me in range of Flame Rift (if I whiff on a 2cc) or Fireblast. I don't find a 2cc on top, pray, and Chad sadly topdecks three Mountains for me to seal the deal for Top 8. I go in as the 7th seed (Korey Fay makes 8th seed, so the plan worked!), paired against the Burn deck that 4-0-2'ed the Swiss.
9-2 Games, 4-1-1 Matches
Top 8) Dillon playing Burn, Loss-Win-Loss
I win the die roll, which is a good change of pace for the day. I decide to keep a hand of Fetchland, Wasteland, Wasteland, Daze, Delver,
Spell Snare, Ponder. It seems like a match made in heaven. I cast a Delver first turn, Daze his Goblin Guide, but whiff on the blind flip, which is fine. I decide to replay the Volcanic Island without a cantrip so I can Spell Snare a potential second turn play. Dillon decides to play fearlessly through Daze and I get hit with double Bolt. My Delver flips the next turn, and I cast Ponder, seeing no more blue sources. Shuffle, draw a brick. Play Wasteland. Delver gets Magma Jet'ed and I'm not feeling so great anymore. My Brainstorm finds two non-blue sources and another Brainstorm, and after I waited for two more turns to see a fresh 3, still no lands. Somehow, a good start turned into a disaster.
Sideboarding: Same as Round 6
I start on the play, fight off a Goblin Guide, and cast Counterbalance, Sensei's Divining Top on turn 3. He casts Ratchet Bomb on his turn, and it blows my mind. The Counterbalance in play buys me a couple of turns and after a series of fetchlands and top spinning, I set up a turn where I can play Counterbalance and Tarmogoyf with Spell Pierce backup after he blows the Ratchet Bomb. I am at 5 life when I attack him down to 2 life, threatening lethal next turn. He goes to make his move. I can't float a 2cc to save my life, and knowing that he casts Price of Progress, playing around Daze. I get an immediate read that this is a possible bait for Fireblast and I float some mana, Wasteland myself down to a single nonbasic, go to 3. He does have the Fireblast, but I have the Spell Pierce.
I have to gamble on my hand for Game 3, which includes answers to just about everything except for Goblin Guide. He opens with a t1 Lava Spike, which is great for me, and I draw, cast Nimble Mongoose, say go. He starts to play out his Keldon Marauders, which unfortunately I don't have answers to. My 1/1 Nimble Mongoose stares awkwardly at the giant Marauders across the table, and I have to use Bolts to turn 5 damage (Marauder trigger, hit, Marauder trigger) into 2. It's not a great strategy, but it saves me 3 damage each time. I think we get through all four of them this game, so by the time I'm ready to go on the offensive with two Mongeese, I'm already down to 7 life. I have to Wasteland my own land to achieve Threshold, and I attack him to 14, play Tarmogoyf. I draw a brick but the next attack takes him down to 4. He's been drawing nothing but Mountains this game, and has one card in hand. I can read a Bolt, so he needs a Fireblast to win the game (Flame Rift ties, Price of Progress is a dead card after my self Wasteland). On his turn, he draws, looks at his hand, sighs in relief, and starts saying the words, "sorry bro..."
Lightning Bolt, Fireblast.
10-4 games, 4-2-1 Matches
I end up with some packs, which I crack for copious amounts of bulk rares. I'm pretty disappointed in how the Top 8 match turned out, but sometimes you do come up one play short. Some thoughts on the list. I think it's getting closer to well-tuned for a longer and larger event like the GP, so I'm happy with the changes. Nimble Mongoose continues to be absolutely amazing or outright terrible, so my original thoughts of playing a 4/2 split of it and Snapcaster Mage will not be carried out. Mind Harness was great for me (and could have been even better if I didn't punt against Reuben, who wound up splitting the Finals), so it has definitely found a home going forward. I get one more chance next weekend in Columbus before heading out to Indianapolis, so hopefully I will have another good performance. If not, I'll see everyone at GP Indianapolis.
Thanks for reading,
--Mark