Preparation

After throwing the stock lists around and realizing they all sucked, I came to the following conclusions about the format.

1. I did not want to lose to Punishing Fire. It was way too easy for someone to just run that combo and destroy me with it.
2. I wanted to be proactive. Past Extended Pro Tours were typically not good events for reactive control decks. I did consider Teachings as a tool box approach has worked before (Tezzerator) but I felt I was not in an informed enough position to build a control deck properly for the format.

As issue 1 excluded most aggressive decks, and issue 2 excluded control, I was left brewing combo decks. Looking at the two known decks of Ad Nauseum and Pyromancer's Ascension I was very disappointed in their kill speed. Both decks in their known incarnations were usually turn five decks in a format where aggressive strategies won on turn four. Pyromancer's Ascension was basically unfixable in this aspect due to Time Warp costing five. Ad Nauseum seemed like it could be fixed by changing from the Teachings shell to a cantrip one similar to my Storm deck from GP: Columbus but finding two specific cards with cantrips proved to be too difficult. It also was an issue that Pyretic Ritual could not be used to effectively accelerate the combo and that you needed three Simian Spirit Guides to win, leaving you with missing Lotus Bloom on one or tapping out for Coalition Relic as your only real ways to kill on four.

Moving on to other combos, I quickly latched on to a Blue-Red shell of cantrips and rituals. I started with Dragonstorm but switched to Hive Mind after finding it near impossible to get nine mana on turn four. Here is the list I played at the Pro Tour.

[cardlist]

[Spells]

4 Hive Mind

4 Pact of the Titan

4 Pact of Negation

1 Intervention Pact

4 Pyretic Ritual

4 Lotus Bloom

4 Ponder

4 Preordain

4 Telling Time

3 See Beyond

[/Spells]

[Creatures]

4 Simian Spirit Guide

[/Creatures]

[Lands]

3 Tolaria West

4 Shivan Reef

4 Scalding Tarn

8 Island

1 Mountain

[/Lands]

[Sideboard]

4 Magus of the Moon

3 Vendillion Clique

3 Pyroclasm

1 Slaughter Pact

2 Negate

1 Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir

1 Tormod's Crypt

[/Sideboard]

[/cardlist]

Some general notes on the deck.

• The deck is still technically a two card combo, but between having 9 main deck Pacts and Tolaria West you only really need to find a Hive Mind with your cantrips most of the time. If you happen to have it in your opening seven, it becomes very easy to just dig for Rituals and kill on turn 4.
• Telling Time is a four of over See Beyond as you can fetch away the card on top and dig a card further with it. The scenario where See Beyond is better (you want all three cards) should never happen.
• Intervention Pact is in the main over the other two Pacts as Slaughter Pact needs a target and less decks could make Red and White mana than Red and Green for Summoner's Pact. The corner case of actually casting it is irrelevant.
• Magus of the Moon in the sideboard is for Doran and Faeries. Doran almost can't function with it in play and Faeries has issues presenting two counters or playing hand disruption through it. Rituals also let you turn two it similar to an All In Red deck. It also beat the more consistent non-Punishing Fire builds of Ad Nauseum.
• I started with 23 lands. I cut two early on in testing and I cut the 21^st on the way to round 1 on the advice of Alex West and feel that 19 might have even been reasonable. The cantrips always get you mana if you need it.

Upon arriving I started battling with Hive Mind. I was happy with it besides the fact it had no way to stop an aggressive deck from winning on turn four besides winning the die roll. This was especially an issue against the Channel Fireball Doran list, as it kills on four with just two cards (Treefolk Harbinger, Treetop Village, and mana that works) and has a ton of Duresses. I still liked it against the field, so I stuck with it. After smashing some Italians in a honor draft that included a foil Primeval Titan and being evacuated from my hostel due to a fire drill, I decided to pass out.

The night before I was informed of the Dredge deck and almost switched, but I decided to actually learn from Pro Tour Austin where I did exactly that and ended up barely 2-3ing the constructed portion. I still have no clue how to play Dredge mechanically tight and 12 hours wasn't enough to learn and sleep.

Day 1

Round 1: Restore Balance

Game 1 I keep a hand of Pact, Lotus Bloom, Tolaria West, See Beyond, 3 lands. My See Beyond whiffs on more cantrips or a Hive Mind and my opponent ends up Fatesealing me out with Jace.

I side in 2 Negates and a Teferi for 3 See Beyonds. The general strategy for boarding with cantrip combo is to skim the worst cantrips for your board cards.

Game two he Krosan Grips my Lotus Bloom as it comes in on turn 4 and I use it in response to cast Teferi. He taps out to Jace a couple turns later and promptly dies.

Game three I keep a slow hand with Hive Mind and he mulligans. He Vendillion Cliques on three but targets himself to find a cascade spell as I have all lands in play. On turn 6 he tanks and main phases Thieves' Fortune, passing with two mana open. I can play Hive Mind next turn but need to pass priority to him to win as I have Red and Blue pacts to his five mana. His play clearly telegraphed Simian Spirit Guide plus Krosan Grip, so I just tutored up another Red Pact and passed back. A Negate on his cascaded Restore Balance later and he was dead.

1-0

Round 2: Faeries

Game 1 I kill him on turn 4 through two Spellstutter Sprites on my Lotus Bloom.

I board 4 Magus of the Moon, 2 Negates, and a Teferi for 4 Lotus Bloom and 3 See Beyond. You aren't aiming for a fast kill due to their counters, hand disruption, and the fact they can't pay for Red Pact, so Rituals that don't accelerate out Magus are expendable.

Game 2 my opponent mulligans to five. His turn one Thoughtseize on Hive Mind is countered by my masterful top deck skills and spend a bunch of time setting up under minimal pressure and kill him through two counters.

2-0

Round 3: Goblins

Game 1 I kill him on four.

I board in 2 Pyroclasm for 2 See Beyond.

Game 2 he curves Goblin Guide, Thorn of Amethyst, Earwig Squad.

Game 3 he curves Goblin Guide, Thorn of Amethyst, Boggart Ram-Gang, Goblin Guide plus Ram-Gang which is lethal due to a fetch on my side. I had him on turn five through the Thorn otherwise.

2-1

Round 4: Pyromancer's Ascension (Andre Coimbra)

Game 1 he dies on turn 4.

I board in 2 Negate for 2 See Beyond. Vendillion Clique is actually bad as Ascension hits before it does and Teferi is too slow.

Game 2 he curves Tarmogoyf into Country Sidecrusher then dies on four with counter backup.

3-1

Round 5: Ad Nauseum

I get a game loss due to deck misregistration this round. I added the a Relic of Progenitus over the 3^rd Pyroclasm and somehow missed it on my last minute deck list check.

Game 2 is actually unwinnable for me. If they don't have Slaughter Pact in theory you can stick a Titan then resolve Hive Mind, but if they do you just die. You even deck first if you both sit around doing nothing with a Hive Mind in play.

3-2

The plan post board is to put in creatures and Negates and hope it is enough. All of the creatures are very good, but if they have Punishing Fire your efforts are pretty embarrassing. You also have to leave in Hive Mind as it locks them out of the combo.

In draft, I was aiming to be White or Blue. Blue is just overpowered and White is the best color for the aggressive strategies that I feel most comfortable with. I also felt White was underrated and would be more open than it should be, while everyone knew about Blue.

I first pick Squadron Hawk over Pyroclasm and some average Blue card with this in mind. I then get a second pick Magma Phoenix and move into Red. I take some Black and Red cards and then get shipped a late Necrotic Plague. I don't get how people still don't know about it, but this card is insane. All of the Black creatures suck anyways, so you always get to (and want to) upgrade them into removal. Second pack I first pick a removal spell and get shipped a Cyclops Gladiator and second Plague. I end up with a solid midrange deck with some of the Bloodthrone Vampire synergies and multiple sideboard Combusts.

My descriptions of this section will be brief as the actual game play isn't too intricate in this format.

Round 6: WU

Both games he tries to fly over my guys but I kill all of his real guys and finish him with some random ground dorks. Game 2 he blew an Ice Cage on a Magma Phoenix when I was trying to kill it anyways, but had he held it I would have broke it with a Necrotic Plague and killed him with my guy anyways.

4-2

Round 7: WGR

My opponent gets a game loss for misregistration. Game 2 my Viscera Seer on turn 3 gets Chandra's Outraged and I die as I can't use my Act of Treason for anything. Game 3 Cyclops Gladiator eats his team before he double Pyroclasms it, but the damage is done and I win with some random vanillas.

5-2

Round 8: Mono-White

Game one he plays a bunch of fliers. Game two he misses a land drop and I curve out. Game 3 we trade guys, I slow roll a Manic Vandal and kill his Whispersilk Cloak, then stabilize at 3 life. He bricks on a couple draws while I use Viscera Seer and beat him down with Canyon Minotaurs.

6-2

Day 2

Draft two I start with a Cyclops Gladiator then move into Black. I get two Necrotic Plagues again in pack one and wheel an Infantry Veteran. I open Baneslayer Angel pack 2 and take some White cards. Pack 3 I open Liliana Vess and get passed more removal and Nantuko Shade. My deck is basically some bombs and removal with crappy guys acting as more removal due to Necrotic Plague.

Round 9: GR (Raphael Levy)

Game 1 I keep a 3 lander and never draw a 4^th. Game 2 I answer Mitotic Slime and am beating a Magma Phoenix when I die to Overwhelming Stampede.

6-3

Round 10: GB

Game 1 I miss land drops and his Royal Assassin prevents me from beating down. He calls a judge when I draw before untapping on turn 2, then complains when I later call him on picking up 2 cards when drawing…..

Games 2 and 3 go the same way. I play some crappy guys and kill his blockers, doing 20 damage with things like Captivating Vampire.

7-3

Round 11: UBr (Kamiel Cornelissan)

Game 1 I beat him to death with some crappy creatures. Game two I finally draw a rare other than Captivating Vampire, but he kills my Baneslayer twice after stabilizing the early game and plays a billion card draw spells, ending with a Fireball. Game 3 is the same as game 2. Liliana Vess remains in my library, uncast the entire draft. There probably was a better line of play game two where I traded less guys, but I was not playing as if his deck had 3 Assassinates.

7-4

Round 12: RG Scapeshift

Game 1 he doesn't kill me on five, so he dies.

I board 2 Negate, 2 Vendillion Clique for 3 See Beyond and 1 Pact of the Titan.

Game two he has turn 3 Thought Hemorrhage, which I Negate. His turn 4 copy resolves and hits 2 Hive Minds in my hand. I turn 4 a Vendillion Clique, taking a Scapeshift, then make a 4/4 Giant. Next turn I make another 4/4 Giant, and mediocre beats gets there.

8-4

Round 5: Pyromancer's Ascension (Tomoharu Saito)

This was a fake feature match, but I think there may be Japanese language coverage of this somewhere. I knew he was on Ascension and was looking forward to a chance to crush Saito for the 3^rd time this year.

Game 1 he plays Tarmogoyf and Country Sidecrusher, then dies on 3.

I board the same as earlier.

Game 2 he curves the same, then dies on turn 4 with double counter backup.

9-4

Round 6: White Weenie (Noah Boeken)

Game 1 I have him dead on 5 through Cannonist, but misplay. On turn 4 I have Lotus Bloom, 2 Spirit Guide, and 4 lands for mana and Hive Mind, Red Pact, and White Pact in hand. I am dead if he has a Honor the Pure. I tap my lands use the Spirit Guides, intending to White Pact his guy and pay for it with Lotus Bloom. He Mana Tithes Hive Mind and I have to crack Lotus and lose to Honor. Had I used Lotus to pay for Hive Mind and then made a blocker with Pact of the Titan I could have paid with Spirit Guides and he would have died.

I board 3 Pyroclasm and 1 Slaughter Pact for 3 See Beyond and 1 Intervention Pact.

Game 2 he dies on turn 4.

Game 3 I have him on 4, but he has Lapse of Certainty and I don't have Pact of Negation. I die on turn 5.

9-5

Round 7: RG Scapeshift

Game 1 he dies on turn 4.

I board the same as before.

Game 2 he plays turn 2 Thorn of Amethyst, turn 4 Lodestone Golem, turn 5 Thorn of Amethyst. I am unable to make enough mana to win.

Game 3 I Vendillion Clique him on turn 3 and see red and green lands, Lodestone Golem, Bloodbraid Elf, and Thought Hemorrhage. I take Hemorrhage as I can't stop it and he has 2 more draws and an Elf Cascade to hit the black source. His Lodestone Golem isn't an issue, but the second one he draws is. I die one mana short of winning the game.

9-6

Round 8: 5CC (Kevin Grove)

My opponent and I are playing for top 64, but not top 50. He explains that he has 2 pro points on the season and won't be going to Worlds. I on the other hand have 11 and am in decent position to level four.

Game 1 I put my opponent on Ad Nauseum and execute that game plan. As a control deck, he is able to stop it. I saw a Glittering Wish and an Esper Charm but didn't realize my initial read was wrong.

I board in Teferi and 2 Negates for the See Beyonds.

Game 2 I kill my opponent on turn 4.

Between these games my opponent graciously decides to concede and help me out with my goal to stay on the train. We play out game 3 for fun and he gets my by realizing that Wishing for Meddling Mage is just as good as Hemorrhage (even better due to Negate).

To be clear, no bribery or conclusion occurred here. My opponent was just an actually nice person. I already know people will be outraged by this scenario, but this is just how the system works. Had the tables been turned and my opponent seemed like a nice person, I would have done the same. In the end altruistic play will at the least promote a friendly play environment where those who scum people are punished and the actually good people are rewarded.

Instead of the party, I decided to draft against some Japanese while missing free food. Travis Woo and I had reasonable decks, but Craig Wescoe's deck is atrocious. He had no drops below three other than a Maritime Guard and a Goblin Balloon Brigade. His game plan was either double Fire Servant plus Lava Axe or playing one of his two Stormtide Leviathans and hoping it was enough. We 5-1ed them fairly easily, with Craig winning a match by Act of Treasoning a Cloned Stormtide Leviathan, attacking one of the two through a Blinding Mage, then using a Fire Servanted Fling for lethal.

After the party a group of around thirty people, some inebriated, decide to head to a bar downtown. The group gradually fades away as people get lost following the leader, who was definitely in the later group. The quest is a failure, except for one person who takes a side trek into the local nightlife. Needless to say we were all waiting to jokingly applaud him upon his return.

In retrospect, I feel the deck I played was very strong but definitely not the best deck. If people really wanted to beat it they would, as my Scapeshift opponent proved on day two, but it was definitely strong against the less hateful decks. I should have played another Negate somewhere in the sideboard, but that is it.

Looking forward to the PTQ season, expect to see a lot more Faeries and Smothers. The main reason it wasn't dominant at this event was that it was too easy to just jam obnoxious cards like Tarmogoyf or Punishing Fire into another shell and make life difficult for it. I also think that Doran and White Weenie will lose ground as the metagame shifts away from dealing with the combo decks and more towards "normal magic". Only the slower combo decks such as Ascension and Scapeshift still exist and they aim to play more interactive games.

Props:

• Pam and everyone at RIW: Without your support, I wouldn't be on the Tour.
• Mitch, Travis and everyone at Time Travelers: Thanks for shipping the cards I needed.
• Kyle Boggemes: For somehow sleeping in a bed every time despite not being booked.
• Kevin Grove: Thanks for the pro point.