"Hello! My name is Jerret Schultz, and I'm a Level 2 judge from Milwaukee."

I've introduced myself that way at plenty of team meetings at the beginnings of Magic events, but never have I done well enough as a player to warrant a formal introduction . . . but here I am.

I've been playing the game since Conflux, and I started judging about a year after that. I'm not really a Standard player, but I draft several times a week and play Legacy when I can. However, I do like to help my friends prepare for tournaments, and I wind up playtesting with them enough to know what's going on.

The deck I ended up playing was a modified Esper Control/Solar Flare list worked on by my friends Greg Ogreenc and Jake Bagha. Here's the list:

"Esper Control/Solar Flare"

• Creatures (10)
• 3 Blade Splicer
• 3 Phantasmal Image
• 3 Sun Titan
• 1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite

• Planeswalkers (2)
• 2 Gideon Jura

• Spells (22)
• 4 Forbidden Alchemy
• 1 Unburial Rites
• 3 Day of Judgment
• 3 Ponder
• 4 Lingering Souls
• 2 Oblivion Ring
• 3 Dead Weight
• 2 Ratchet Bomb

• Lands (26)
• 1 Swamp
• 3 Island
• 4 Plains
• 2 Darkslick Shores
• 2 Evolving Wilds
• 2 Ghost Quarter
• 4 Glacial Fortress
• 4 Isolated Chapel
• 4 Seachrome Coast

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Batterskull
• 2 Celestial Purge
• 1 Consecrated Sphinx
• 1 Day of Judgment
• 1 Karn Liberated
• 2 Negate
• 3 Nihil Spellbomb
• 1 Ratchet Bomb
• 3 Timely Reinforcements

Buy This Deck

The primary plan of the deck is to spend the first few turns killing opposing guys or putting out Blade Splicer, and then finding a Sun Titan (and chaining up to three more with Phantasmal Images) or Elesh Norn to take over the game. The deck is capable of coming back from some hopeless-looking situations by potentially putting 24 power on the board out of nowhere after casting Day of Judgment to get rid of an opposing team.

The primary innovations that they made were the addition of Blade Splicer and cutting Liliana of the Veil. Blade Splicer was the most important card in the deck in a lot of matchups because the deck needs something to hold the ground while you dig for a Sun Titan. It also felt great to trade off Blade Splicer for something or chump with it, and then reanimate it with Sun Titan. The golem token being colorless (let alone having first strike) prevented a lot of Swords from hitting me, which was exactly what I wanted for the deck.

Not playing Liliana also eases the deck's mana requirements. We still wanted enough black sources for early Dead Weights and the flashback cost of Lingering Souls.

Greg and Jake cut Batterskull from the deck altogether, but I put a copy back into the sideboard since it seemed really good against R/G (spoiler: It was). Its only being in the side was also relevant because people wouldn't see many targets for Acidic Slime or Viridian Corrupter, and they’d leave them in the sideboard, clearing the way for the Batterskull to just take over the match. That was my only real change to the deck I was handed, and I can't thank them enough for the work they put into the list and subsequently loaning me the cards.

After I figured out what deck I was playing, I headed to bed and got ready for Day 1 with zero byes.

Day 1

Round 1 – Adam Mallen with Esper Control

I boarded in the Consecrated Sphinx, both Negates, and Karn Liberated. I boarded out the Dead Weights and a Ratchet Bomb.

We ended up going to time this match, and I'm sure part of it was because we were chatting about mutual acquaintances and college. We were also playing slow, control decks. I brought up how bad a draw was for both of us, and after a small discussion about how confident I was in my list and how he didn't expect to make Day 2 but just wanted a competitive tournament experience, he decided to concede to me. I thanked him profusely and moved on to Round 2.

2–1

1–0

Round 2 – Barrett Klassen with R/W Humans

I smiled and let him sweat it a bit before untapping and casting Dead Weight on his Champion of the Parish off a Darkslick Shores. The rest of the game went pretty well for me, as I played a Blade Splicer that held off his entire team and then cast a Sun Titan his deck couldn’t answer.

I boarded in the fourth Day of Judgment and the Batterskull. I think I boarded out a Forbidden Alchemy and an Oblivion Ring.

Something I have frequently had problems with is tilt. I have let stupid mistakes like this absolutely torpedo my performance in the past, but for some reason, I just wasn't fazed by it. I shuffled up my cards and kept playing well despite my mistake. I don't remember the third game very clearly, but I do remember casting Sun Titan, bringing back Phantasmal Image copying Sun Titan, bringing back Phantasmal Image copying Silverblade Paladin, and pairing it with one of the Sun Titans. (Because that guy needed double strike. For value.)

2–1

2–0

Round 3 – Steve Shibata with U/B Grand Architect Heartless Summoning

I don't remember a lot about this round, but it felt like a very good matchup. I had Oblivion Ring for his Wurmcoil Engine and Phantasmal Image and Day of Judgment for his Myr Superions, and Elesh Norn made an appearance with a bunch of 8/8 Titans.

I remember boarding in the Karn, but I never saw it.

2–0

3–0

Round 4 – Brad Grant, with W/U Delver

I do remember that this guy had switched his Invisible Stalkers for Porcelain Legionnaires and his Sword of War and Peace for Sword of Feast and Famine. This was no doubt to shore up his R/G match, but both cards were basically useless against me. Every creature in my deck can block guys holding Sword of Feast and Famine, and the Legionnaires just traded with Golems or died to Dead Weight.

Against Delver, I usually boarded in the Negates and the third Ratchet Bomb.

2–0

4–0

Round 5 – Josh Napper with W/B/R Reanimator

Game 2, he reanimated a turn-four or turn-five Griselbrand, and I had the Celestial Purge that I boarded in. He paid 7 life to draw seven cards, and he discarded a couple lands. We then had a pretty eventful back and forth in which he resolved and I beat three separate Lilianas, and I think I took over the game with Lingering Souls tokens and Elesh Norn.

2–0

5–0

Round 6 – Ryan Pesch with W/U Delver

See Round 4. This might also have been the match in which he had the Sword of Feast and Famine and Legionnaires. Sixteen rounds of Magic have a way of blurring details, and my poor memory doesn't help.

2–0 or 2–1

6–0

(The next two matches blend together a bit. I know I won the first 2–1 and the second 2–0, but forgive the accuracy of other details.)

Round 7 – Michael Simon with R/G Aggro

At a point in this match (or maybe it was the next), I was attacking with a Batterskull-equipped Sun Titan, and I had it stolen by Act of Aggression and Zealous Conscripts on consecutive turns. I still ended that game at about 60 life.

Against R/G aggro, I brought in the Batterskull and some number of Timely Reinforcements. If I was on the play, I brought in the Day of Judgment.

2–1

7–0

At this point, I had locked up Day 2, and I was kind of surprised; I hadn't expected to come that far. I felt really good about the deck, and I felt that I had a pretty good chance of finishing in the money.

Round 8 – Adam Lengbehn with R/G Aggro

Game 1, he kept a land light hand with a lot of mana guys, and I had a Ratchet Bomb to kill them all.

Game 2, he landed a Wolfir Silverheart, giving him an 8/8 and a 7/6 Strangleroot Geist. I chumped the Geist with a Splicer, untapped, and cast a Sun Titan. I brought back two Images, the first as a Titan and the second as a Wolfir Silverheart. I paired it with my Titan, giving me a 10/10 and an 8/8, which was pretty bad for him.

2–0

8–0

Round 9 – Christian Calcano with U/R Delver

I played extremely poorly during this match. I walked right into a couple copies of Bonfire of the Damned and Mana Leak, and I justifiably lost. I still felt pretty good about my performance Day 1 since I almost didn't even play and had never made Day 2 of a Grand Prix before. Then, I went out for dinner before going back to the hotel while my degenerate friends went clubbing.

0–2

8–1

Day 2

Round 10 – James Stout with W/U Humans

Despite the loss, I knew I was still on track to Top 16 or Top 32, and I joked with some friends that I was, "Still live for Top 8." That turned out to be a lot funnier than it was at the time.

0–2

8–2

It felt pretty bad to start off the morning with a loss after doing so well Day 1, but I shrugged it off and kept battling.

Round 11 – Shane Richards with W/U Delver

One interesting thing about his list was the inclusion of Fettergeist, which I thought wasn't too bad in a deck as creature-light as Delver. Going forward, I think that deck is going to have to evolve. The deck has some absurd multi-Delver draws, but if it has two or more killed by a Ratchet Bomb, it's very hard for the deck to find enough gas to catch up.

2–0 or 2–1

9–2

Round 12 – Austin Fritz with B/G/W Ramp

Game 1, I distinctly remember him landing a Grave Titan on turn five. I untapped, and I double-Imaged it. He then played an Elesh Norn, and I traded off my two Images for his tokens. I untapped, cast a Sun Titan, and I made another Titan, bringing back an Image to kill his Elesh Norn. He scooped shortly thereafter.

He mentioned that he was playing this deck to prey on Delver and R/G, which I definitely think it did. Unfortunately (for him), it had a very poor matchup against Esper.

2–0

10–2

Round 13 – Brandon Nelson with G/R Aggro

This match went about how the others did, although in Game 2, I was absolutely destroyed by a Llanowar Elves with a Sword of War and Peace on it. I could have cast Oblivion Ring on his Sword turn three, but instead, I hoped to block it with the Golem token from a Blade Splicer. He had the Incinerate for the token, and he crushed me with an unblockable 10 damage.

Game 3, I drew very well, with multiple Day of Judgments to kill his horde of mana bugs and Huntmasters. A few Titans ended the game a couple turns later.

2–1

11–2

Round 14 – Josh Utter-Leyton with W/U/B Delver

This was not a name I wanted to see myself having to play, but a pair up was pretty fortunate for me. I made a few mistakes, and we both had a few turns that took a little too much time, so we ended up unintentionally drawing. This was fine for him since he could double-draw into Top 8, but I didn't have that luxury. I would have to play the last round and hope nothing weird happened (since my breakers were terrible).

1–1–1

11–2–1

Round 15 – David Sharfman with R/G Ramp

Game 3 was the most epic game of Magic that I have ever been a part of. By this time, a lot of the other matches had finished, and a bunch of people had circled around us to watch the climactic final game.

David and I traded haymaker after haymaker: I played a Karn to exile his Titan, he played a Beast Within and another Titan. I played several Sun Titans; he activated his two Kessig Wolf Runs to kill the copies at the end of turn, and then played his own Karn to exile the Titan. I found a Sun Titan, bringing back Oblivion Ring to exile his Karn.

We were both down to zero cards in hand at that point. I untapped and drew for my turn . . . Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite. As soon as I cast her, the whole crowd gasped. The game was over shortly thereafter, and I hoped I had made Top 8.

2–1

12–2–1

I can't even describe the feeling of waiting for my name to be called. I was beside myself that I had even won that match, let alone ended the day at 12–2–1. I heard the sixth name, and it wasn't mine. I stopped breathing. The seventh name came and went, and it wasn't mine. I dropped my backpack, and my heart stopped.

And then, after a pause, my name was called. The hall around me erupted with shouts and cheering from my friends. It hardly felt real.

After all of the paperwork, I sat down for my quarterfinals match.

Quarterfinals – Rick Stout with W/U Humans

I felt that this matchup was pretty positive for me, but it had gone poorly last time. Game 1, he mulliganed to a reasonable five while I kept on six, and he didn’t draw his third land or a way out of my Ratchet Bomb for his Human tokens. He scooped after I cast a Titan returning a Dead Weight.

Game 3, he started with a Delver, and I tried to kill it, but he had the one-of Mental Misstep from his board. A few turns later, I made a pretty big mistake. I had five lands in play: four nonbasic colored mana sources and a Ghost Quarter. If I drew a land that entered the battlefield untapped, I could cast the Titan in my hand to Wrath him and make a bunch of threats. I untapped and drew for the turn: Glacial Fortress. I didn't see the play of floating 4 mana and sacrificing my Ghost Quarter to kill another land to find an untapped basic land to let my Fortress come in untapped.

And just like that, I was dead.

I made some mistakes, but I think, overall, my play was pretty good throughout the tournament. I got to play a lot of Magic against a lot of cool opponents, and I took home $1,000.

Not bad for my first Day 2.

Props

• Steve Port and Legion Games for their awesome policy of letting judges not accepted to judge the event play for free. I absolutely wouldn't have been able to play otherwise.
• Greg and Jake for the list and cards.
• The phenomenal judge staff of the tournament. It was cool to see things from the other side for a change, but I still love judging with you guys.