M
Modus Pwnens
Guest
This sunday, I went to a qualifier for the Dutch nationals, packing GB Elves (don't worry, I won't bore you with a decklist).
First round I was playing a kid who wasn't very lucky. He got manascrewed in both games (one and two land respectively), while I had Vanquisher, Vanquisher into Colossus both games. Round was over in about 10 minutes.
1-0 (2-0)
Second round I was playing Kithkin, which went just as fast. He got very fast draws every time, Stalward into Meadowgrain into Cenn, and I couldn't keep up.
The second game was very close, with a 5/6 Tarmogoyf and a Vanquisher keeping the board, but in the end he just finished me with his Spectral Possession tokens. I was a bit disappointed at this moment, as Kithkin should not have been a very hard matchup for me. It was my own fault though, since I kept mediocre hands, and probably should have mulliganed.
1-1 (2-2)
Third round I got paired against Merfolk, which can be tough, but as long as I keep the lords under control, there was no danger. I got lucky the first game, as he drew way too much mana, having to use his Cryptic Commands as Fog in three consecutive turns (he was at 1 life). When he no longer had an answer, he scooped.
I'm not sure what happened to him in the second game, but he was starting to play very carelessly. He tried to block my Llanowar Elves with his 1/1 Cursecatcher, forgetting about my Pendelhaven. Then he tried to counter my Loxodon Warhammer with a Sage Dousing, but did not have any Wizards in play, and my mana elf gave me the third mana to let the Hammer resolve.
It was elementary after that.
2-1 (4-2)
Fourth round I was up against Red Deck wins. I had to mulligan once in the first game, but managed to stabilize on 10 life, after which my Troll Ascetic picked up a Warhammer and went all the way.
Second game he got himself a turn 3 Magus of the Moon, while I was stuck with a Treetop Village and Mutavault. I had a Slaughter pack in hand, but didn't draw any land in the next 10 turns, and was beaten to death by his Magus.
Third game I got the Trollhammer online again, and he made the mistake of playing Sulferous Blast at the point where I had still mana open to regenerate the Troll.
3-1 (6-3)
At this moment I was pretty happy, if I won the next game I could draw into the top 8, and qualify. When the pairings were posted, a fried told me that my opponent was playing Fae, which is almost impossible to lose after sideboarding.
Round five, Faeries. Game one he started with Ancestral Visions, suspended another one on his third turn, and another one on his fifth turn. This ensured he was able to counter most of my stuff, and eventually just killed me with his Vendilion Clique and Spellstutter Sprites.
Post board I got access to three Squall Lines and two Cloudthresher.
He kept a mediocre hand (which I saw due to turn one Thoughtseize), consisting of four land, Spellstutter Sprite, Mistbind Clique and Damnation. Of course I took the latter.
When I Thoughseized his hand again two turns later, I saw he topdecked two Scions, so I took one, as I had a lot of spotremoval in my hand. Meanwhile I was applying a lot of pressure, as I had a large Tarmogoyf to get him down to two. Then I only had to wait for him to tap out so I could evoke Cloudthresher.
The last game ended when I was able to kill his Fairy Conclave, when he was about to champion it under his Mistbind Clique.
4-1 (8-4)
When I watched the standings here, there were exactly 9 people with 12 points, and one more on 10, meaning that drawing might not be enough. I was 8th at this moment, so I had to be a bit lucky to end up qualifying.
My opponent, who was 7th, did offer me the draw, and I took it, as I thought I had seen him playing Reveillark earlier, which is pretty much the worst matchup I can get.
When the round was over, I heared that at least two of my previous opponents had won, meaning my tiebreakers would improve.
4-1-1 (8-4)
When the results were called, I was pleasantly surprised to ended 7th (out of about 50 people), which is enough to qualify for Nationals. Unless I'm on holiday, I will be playing at Nationals, yay me!
First round I was playing a kid who wasn't very lucky. He got manascrewed in both games (one and two land respectively), while I had Vanquisher, Vanquisher into Colossus both games. Round was over in about 10 minutes.
1-0 (2-0)
Second round I was playing Kithkin, which went just as fast. He got very fast draws every time, Stalward into Meadowgrain into Cenn, and I couldn't keep up.
The second game was very close, with a 5/6 Tarmogoyf and a Vanquisher keeping the board, but in the end he just finished me with his Spectral Possession tokens. I was a bit disappointed at this moment, as Kithkin should not have been a very hard matchup for me. It was my own fault though, since I kept mediocre hands, and probably should have mulliganed.
1-1 (2-2)
Third round I got paired against Merfolk, which can be tough, but as long as I keep the lords under control, there was no danger. I got lucky the first game, as he drew way too much mana, having to use his Cryptic Commands as Fog in three consecutive turns (he was at 1 life). When he no longer had an answer, he scooped.
I'm not sure what happened to him in the second game, but he was starting to play very carelessly. He tried to block my Llanowar Elves with his 1/1 Cursecatcher, forgetting about my Pendelhaven. Then he tried to counter my Loxodon Warhammer with a Sage Dousing, but did not have any Wizards in play, and my mana elf gave me the third mana to let the Hammer resolve.
It was elementary after that.
2-1 (4-2)
Fourth round I was up against Red Deck wins. I had to mulligan once in the first game, but managed to stabilize on 10 life, after which my Troll Ascetic picked up a Warhammer and went all the way.
Second game he got himself a turn 3 Magus of the Moon, while I was stuck with a Treetop Village and Mutavault. I had a Slaughter pack in hand, but didn't draw any land in the next 10 turns, and was beaten to death by his Magus.
Third game I got the Trollhammer online again, and he made the mistake of playing Sulferous Blast at the point where I had still mana open to regenerate the Troll.
3-1 (6-3)
At this moment I was pretty happy, if I won the next game I could draw into the top 8, and qualify. When the pairings were posted, a fried told me that my opponent was playing Fae, which is almost impossible to lose after sideboarding.
Round five, Faeries. Game one he started with Ancestral Visions, suspended another one on his third turn, and another one on his fifth turn. This ensured he was able to counter most of my stuff, and eventually just killed me with his Vendilion Clique and Spellstutter Sprites.
Post board I got access to three Squall Lines and two Cloudthresher.
He kept a mediocre hand (which I saw due to turn one Thoughtseize), consisting of four land, Spellstutter Sprite, Mistbind Clique and Damnation. Of course I took the latter.
When I Thoughseized his hand again two turns later, I saw he topdecked two Scions, so I took one, as I had a lot of spotremoval in my hand. Meanwhile I was applying a lot of pressure, as I had a large Tarmogoyf to get him down to two. Then I only had to wait for him to tap out so I could evoke Cloudthresher.
The last game ended when I was able to kill his Fairy Conclave, when he was about to champion it under his Mistbind Clique.
4-1 (8-4)
When I watched the standings here, there were exactly 9 people with 12 points, and one more on 10, meaning that drawing might not be enough. I was 8th at this moment, so I had to be a bit lucky to end up qualifying.
My opponent, who was 7th, did offer me the draw, and I took it, as I thought I had seen him playing Reveillark earlier, which is pretty much the worst matchup I can get.
When the round was over, I heared that at least two of my previous opponents had won, meaning my tiebreakers would improve.
4-1-1 (8-4)
When the results were called, I was pleasantly surprised to ended 7th (out of about 50 people), which is enough to qualify for Nationals. Unless I'm on holiday, I will be playing at Nationals, yay me!
