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Main » Articles » Nationals Report

Nationals Report

Carrie Oliver
Posted on August 30, 2011
 Reddit

UK Nationals has come and gone. While I didn’t make the Top 8 despite being very close, I am happy with my performance, I had a great time, and I learned a lot from the experience. My journey to Nationals started about three weeks before with selecting a deck based on the other Nationals results that were coming in. The Splinter Twin R/U/G Pod list that won Australian Nationals looked fun, so I started with that. After playing it for a while, I started to make adjustments to suit me and took inspiration from other similar decks. It is not a deck you want to just pick up and run. The first few weeks were a pure learning exercise, and against friends, I would basically have to say, “I’m going to go search my library for an answer and then sacrifice the appropriate CMC creature to fetch said answer.” For example, in a long control matchup, I could win next turn, but not if either of his Celestial Colonnades got to attack me in his next turn. Solution? I had a Frost Titan that could swing and lock down one and I could sacrifice a Deceiver Exarch to Birthing Pod to tutor up a Phyrexian Metamorph to copy the Frost Titan to lock down the other, ensuring victory. It struck me that the deck was powerful enough, if I could learn it well, so I focused on it. I did try Bant Pod briefly, which is huge amounts of fun, but I didn’t find it as strong.

Here is my final build:

[cardlist]

[Creatures]

1 Frost Titan

1 Hero of Oxid Ridge

1 Inferno Titan

1 Llanowar Elves

1 Obstinate Baloth

1 Phantasmal Image

1 Sea Gate Oracle

1 Tuktuk Scrapper

1 Vengevine

2 Acidic Slime

3 Lotus Cobra

4 Birds of Paradise

4 Deceiver Exarch

1 Phyrexian Metamorph

1 Solemn Simulacrum

1 Spellskite

1 Kazuul, Tyrant of the Cliffs

1 Tuktuk the Explorer

[/Creatures]

[Spells]

4 Ponder

3 Splinter Twin

4 Birthing Pod

[/Spells]

[Lands]

2 Island

2 Mountain

5 Forest

1 Raging Ravine

4 Copperline Gorge

4 Misty Rainforest

4 Scalding Tarn

[/Lands]

[Sideboard]

1 Cunning Sparkmage

1 Manic Vandal

1 Obstinate Baloth

1 Phyrexian Metamorph

1 Spellskite

1 Sylvok Replica

1 Wurmcoil Engine

3 Act of Aggression

4 Arc Trail

1 Splinter Twin

[/Sideboard]

[/cardlist]

I want to spend a little time talking about some of the deck’s choices, since it is a deck where lots of personal preference can occur.

First, five 1-drop accelerators proved to be really good. In testing, I frequently annoyed people when I was on the play by playing a Deceiver Exarch in the upkeep of their second turn, tapping down a land. This basically means you can combo uninterrupted on turn three. It’s especially fun when their first land is a Creeping Tar Pit. I was really skeptical of twenty-two lands, but I honestly never got mana-screwed. I debated a lot about the inclusion of the Raging Ravine. The enters-the-battlefield-tapped drawback never affected me, but I also never activated it. To be honest, I think it was a waste of time, as the opponent will have a Tectonic Edge if you ever want to get busy with it.

Spellskite is a card that kept going in and out of the deck. It never felt like I really wanted it, but I missed it too much when it was gone. It’s not really there to protect your combo, it just protects everything, is a really good wall, and annoys Red Deck Wins. It can also eat Valakut triggers so you can win next turn.

Phantasmal Image and Phyrexian Metamorph are fantastic—you can get a second copy of your Titan or copy your opponent’s powerful creature. Two is enough, however. I tried running more copies, but I kept drawing them when I had no targets.

Tuktuk the Explorer is a very powerful card in several matchups. Aggro does not want to attack into him or kill him, and control players don’t want to use their sweepers. You don’t normally Pod him away, as that reduces his effect on the game.

Hero of Oxid Ridge won me several games. Not only does he have Haste, but the ability is more relevant than it first appeared. Spellskite cannot block very well against it. Vengevine on the other hand was basically only a hasty 4-power guy. I only recurred him a few times, as this deck normally only casts one creature per turn. Still, if you draw him early, you can adjust your play to suit.

Kazuul was a late substitution for Urabrask. I was unimpressed with Urabrask and wanted to try to shore up the aggro matchup a little. He was not bad, but not impressive all weekend. I actually think this should be Urabrask, as the guy has Haste, which the deck likes a lot. A Stingerfling Spider in the board is something I will be running at GP: Pittsburgh to deal with Consecrated Sphinx (preferably after I have cloned it).

I decided to spilt my 6-drops between Frost Titan and Inferno Titan. I tried various options in this slot, including Wurmcoil Engine and Consecrated Sphinx, but this mix just seems to give me what I want in more board states. They are also better with a Splinter Twin than the other options.

In the end, I ran four Birthing Pods and three Splinter Twins. Pod is the main engine of the deck, so not drawing one is a bummer, whereas drawing Splinter Twin is not required, and multiple copies can suck. It is possible I should have run four Twin main, then boarded down when opponents brought in the hate. As it was, I stuck the fourth in the sideboard.

Ponder is far better than Preordain in this deck. You are looking for a Pod target most of the time, and you shuffle your library frequently, so the selection of Preordain is not powerful enough to warrant only seeing two cards.

Sideboarding

Here is my boarding plan for every major matchup, as it always annoys me when I look at a list and think “That’s all well and good, but when do I want these things?” I’m not saying I’m right, but this was my plan:

Caw-Blade (U/W)

In: Phyrexian Metamorph, Sylvok Replica, Cunning Sparkmage

Out: Obstinate Baloth, Spellskite, Kazuul, Tyrant of the Cliffs

U/B Control

In: Phyrexian Metamorph, Sylvok Replica, Spellskite, Wurmcoil Engine

Out: Obstinate Baloth, Tuktuk Scrapper, Deceiver Exarch, Splinter Twin

Tempered Steel

In: Wurmcoil Engine, Cunning Sparkmage, Obstinate Baloth, Manic Vandal, Sylvok Replica, 4 Arc Trail

Out: Frost Titan, 3 Splinter Twin, Vengevine, Spellskite, Birthing Pod, Hero of Oxid Ridge, Deceiver Exarch

RDW

In: Wurmcoil Engine, 4 Arc Trail, Obstinate Baloth, Sylvok Replica, Spellskite

Out: Phantasmal Image, Frost Titan, Hero of Oxid Ridge, Vengevine, Birthing Pod, Splinter Twin, Lotus Cobra, Solemn Simulacrum

Valakut

In: 3 Act of Aggression, Spellskite, Splinter Twin

Out: Tuktuk Scrapper, Obstinate Baloth, Phantasmal Image, Kazuul, Tyrant of the Cliffs, Vengevine

Mirror

In: Spellskite, Phyrexian Metamorph, Cunning Sparkmage, Wurmcoil Engine, Sylvok Replica, Manic Vandal

Out: Obstinate Baloth, Tuktuk the Explorer, Lotus Cobra, Deceiver Exarch, Splinter Twin, Vengevine

Pyromancer Ascension

In: Sylvok Replica, Phyrexian Metamorph, Spellskite, Wurmcoil Engine

Out: Obstinate Baloth, Kazuul, Tyrant of the Cliffs, Phantasmal Image, Solemn Simulacrum

Round 1 vs. Christopher Burden – Valakut

As Nationals do, we started off with four rounds of Standard. My first matchup became obvious straightaway with a turn-one Valakut. He then proceeded to do what Valakut decks wants to do and hit an early Titan. I got an Acidic Slime down to take out one Valakut so that when he attacked with the Titan he had to use the triggers to fetch more Valakuts. I decided not to block with my Acidic Slime because one of my outs was to Pod it into Frost Titan and hope. I went to 9 from the Titan and a post-combat Mountain, which would have been lethal except for my Spellskite, which I used to only take 6 instead. I untapped, drew a Ponder, and Pondered into a Splinter Twin to go on my Exarch. Game 1 to me. Valakut is a very close matchup for the deck and is easily decided with a turn to go on either side. You definitely want to run the build with the combo option for this matchup, because that allows you to beat your opponent to it. Game 2, my deck did the classic turn-three Inferno Titan of R/U/G decks of old. I cloned it just to make sure when he didn’t scoop.

It was nice to come out of Round 1 with a victory. I felt confident with my deck and knew how to play it. I’d lost the last Standard competition I’d been to. It was just after the PTQ I won, so I was crushed, and it led me to conclude that I had been lucky and I had no skill. I have been working hard on my Standard since then, and it was rewarding to see this bear out.

Round 2 vs. Nathan Yates – Tempered Steel

I was in the feature area for this round, although not being covered. My opponent was very confused as to why he was there, so I had to confess it was probably my fault. I have been told by some people to try to tilt my opponent by mentioning how I have done recently, but I don’t like playing like that. Game 1, he mulliganed, but then started by spewing his hand all over the table, as he had a very good draw. He got a Steel Overseer and a Tempered Steel down before I had anything resembling a board presence. I died sooner than I should have due to a misplay, but I’m not sure I had time to come back from the situation I was in.

I like my board plan for this matchup, as the opponent brings in hate for the combo, which slows him down, and I board out the combo for more hate. It’s a win-win situation. Game 2, he had a poor hand, and I got an early Cunning Sparkmage, which shut down all the Signal Pests, and then I gained life from multiple Obstinate Baloths.

Game 3 was a shame; my opponent mulliganed to four, whereas I kept at seven. It was over in my favor pretty soon after. My opponent asked me for sideboarding advice with the deck, since he hadn’t been playing it long, and I enjoyed trying to help him out. I don’t know how he did in subsequent rounds, but I hope he had fun!

Round 3 vs. Jason Russell – Valakut

Game 1 went to a turn-three or turn-four combo on my side after Jason tapped out. Game 2 was a bit epic. I can’t remember all the plays, but I had to keep two Primeval Titans tapped using Frost Titan and a Deceiver Exarch that I flashed in pre-combat. I then used Act of Aggression on his third Titan to sneak over for the win. I was pretty happy after this match that I had beaten a triple-Titan draw, which is hard work. Sadly, we worked out after my opponent conceded that he had done so prematurely and it was going to go his way due to a Ricochet Trap, but I still played the match very tightly. My opponent boarded slightly oddly to bring in Memoricide to name Splinter Twin. The Pod version is robust enough that this doesn’t hurt it enough to justify the time spent casting it, but it also allows Valakut players to tap out worry-free, so I can see the justification.

Round 4 vs. Ross Jenkins – RDW

I tested this matchup a lot, as my boyfriend was planning to run RDW. Given he finished Standard Day 1 at 4–0, I think it was a good choice. Sadly, it means I also know the matchup is close and slightly against me, but only if my opponent has Stormblood Berserkers, which lots of versions do not seem to be running. (This is madness. The card is sooooo good!) Anyway, my opponent had fast Games 1 and 2 with multiple Berserkers, and my dream of going 4–0 in the Standard was quickly over.

Having gone 3–1 in Standard, I was pretty happy, especially as I consider my drafting to be much stronger, so I had high hopes going into the draft. Here is the draft deck for Day 1:

Draft 1

Sideboard:

I was really disappointed with this draft. I decided not to take Pick 1 Dungrove Elder, which is a very strong card, as I wanted to avoid Green if I could. However, I saw so many strong Green cards (as everyone was avoiding it) and opened a Skinshifter, which is an absolute bomb, in Pack 3. I had been planning to draft Green because it is underdrafted at the moment, but then got cold feet, which was a shame, as I saw a really nice G/B deck go past, which is one of my favorite color combinations at the moment. My deck did not have much of a plan. Play Day of Judgment and multiple Timely Reinforcements was basically it—oh, plus Gravedigger to bring back Crumbling Colossus.

I’m not going to go into too much detail on these matches, as I don’t know the exact contents of my opponents’ decks. Round 5, I played against a U/W deck with two—yes, two—Druidic Satchels. I managed to win Game 1 somehow, but the Satchels were too much to deal with Games 2 and 3. Round 6 was another U/W deck piloted by a friend who had been sat by me in the draft (awkward). I got Game 1 thanks to Day of Judgment. Game 2, he had way too much stuff, and Game 3, he had to mulligan and kept a hand with no Plains in it. I played turn-one Gideon's Lawkeeper, which kept his Illusions in hand while I curved out nicely.

Round 7, I found the mono-Green player with double Overrun. I won Game 1, as he didn’t find enough creatures to go with said Overrun. Game 2, I almost won through an Overrun due to Guardians' Pledge beefing up my Soldier tokens. Sadly, I miscounted by two and showed him my combat trick pointlessly. Game 3, Day of Judgment cleared up his dudes, and I got to beat down while keeping a Cudgel Troll tapped and letting Blood Seeker shut down his Throne of Empires.

I managed to finish Day 1 at 5–2, so I was still in contention for the Top 8. Several people from Cambridge were all still in contention, so it was a jubilant dinner at an all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet just around the corner from the venue before trying to sleep. I say “trying” because my brain wouldn’t shut up and the two other people in the room wouldn’t stop snoring.

Day 2 started with another draft. Despite trying not to draft B/W junk again . . . I ended up in B/W junk plus Red! Not really an improvement. It wasn’t even like Green was open this time. Except for two really late Jade Mages, I saw nothing of note and left the table very downcast. This deck’s plan was to go aggressive with 1-power dudes and then play Gideon.

Draft 2

Sideboard:

Round 8 was against eventual Top 8 player Kevin Blake, who was also playing R/W. Game 1, I had a better draw than him. Game 2, I boarded in Call to the Grave, as he had Bloodthirst guys and probably the better deck. We both mulliganed to five, and I kept three lands, a Dark Favor, and Crown of Empires, which I hoped would help me stall his plan if he found a good five-card hand. He played turn-two Stormfront Pegasus, turn-three Blood Ogre, and turn-four Benalish Veteran. Luckily, I drew and got my Call to the Grave down, so despite falling to 6, his board emptied and I ripped my one Zombie (Zombie Goliath) just before the enchantment had to be sacrificed.

Round 9 was against defending champion Joe Jackson playing U/W. He had a much better deck, and both games, I got stuck with no Black mana and four Black spells in hand (the problem with playing three-color specials). Amusingly, he told me afterward he had been informed I was running a “Zombie-themed” deck. I pointed out that I had one Zombie and a Call to the Grave—hardly themed.

Round 10 was against G/B, so I can be pretty certain he got both the Jade Mages. I can’t remember Games 1 or 2 much, though I lost the second to Overrun and won the first due to Gideon. Game 3 was a very interesting match, since I knew he had an Overrun in hand, but he had yet to find a third Forest. I got Gideon down, and due to some complicated tapping, forced attackers, blocking, and attacking, I got there on probably the last possible turn. It was a rewarding game, as we gained several spectators who complimented my play afterward.

I managed to go 2–1 with both my draft decks. I am really happy with this result, as my decks were bad, but I played them as well as I could and was rewarded with 4–2 overall. Going into the Standard, I needed to win the first three, but then I could, with luck, draw into Top 8.

Round 11 vs. Jack Mitchell-Burns – Pyromancer Ascension

I had not tested against this deck, but I was familiar with the plan, so I was understandably disappointed when I failed to win Game 1 despite three of the four Ascensions ending up in the graveyard. Game 2, I fell in love with Hero of Oxid Ridge, since opposing Spellskites cannot block. My opponent mistakenly Lightning Bolted my Vengevine in response to my casting the Hero, so I cast my Birds of Paradise to return it to get in for exactly lethal. I was assured by those watching from his side of the table that I had to win that turn. Game 3, my opponent mulliganed and took a long time to keep at six. Sadly, he kept a hand with no Blue, and I proceeded to beat down. In short succession, I had won the first of the three needed.

Round 12 vs. Michael Parker – U/G Mill

I had heard rumors of a mill deck lurking around the top tables, and I had finally found it. I think this is a bad matchup for Pod, as the opponent mills all your targets. Unfortunately, both games were a bit one-sided. Game 1, he milled me a bunch with a Hedron Crab, but had nothing to follow it up with. Game 2, he mulliganed, and this time had an Archive Trap but not much else.

Round 13 vs. Tim Pinden – Vampires

This was in the feature match area again, but I had to mulligan Game 1, and my hand just couldn’t deal with Vampires when he had drawn his removal. Game 2, I kept before realizing I only had one land and a Birds. Sadly, he killed the Birds, and while I almost crawled out of the hole I put myself in, his triple Kalastria Highborn draw would probably have killed me anyway. Tim made it to the Top 8 and is on the Team for Worlds, so at least he used his opportunity well, and I wish him luck. I was pretty sad after this match, and went to cry on my boyfriend’s shoulder. I was exhausted and had kept going for so long it hurt to be that close but not quite get there.

Round 14 vs. Bradley Barclay – Esper Control

I had not seen this control build, and to be honest, I was unimpressed. The deck lacked threats Game 1, and I easily got there. Game 2 was epic! I finally lost with three minutes left on the clock and seven cards left in my opponent’s library. I made a mistake partway through that may have cost me, but as he was the control player, I can’t really be certain. I Podded into Kazuul, as I thought I had used both Acidic Slimes. If I’d been less exhausted, I would have realized I hadn’t, and could pop the Oblivion Ring containing my Inferno Titan, kill Karn with the Triggers, and hit my opponent for 7 instead of Karn. Given he ended on 5 life, this may have been the end, but maybe not. The most important thing to do when you make this sort of misplay is to learn from it rather than worrying about what could have been. Since Game 2 lasted so long, we did not have time for Game 3, and the result ended up being a draw, which put us in seventeenth and eighteenth places, just outside of the Pro Points.



Oh, well. Overall, I was pleased with my performance, since eighteenth at my first Nationals is certainly a notable achievement, especially as I was only one win away from the Top 8, rather than coming up from below. The Standard segment went better than I had hoped. I was disappointed not to play any Caw-Blade, since my deck is good against it (Round 13 would have been a good time). It was nice to meet lots of new people and to see such a diverse metagame. I learned that I still have lots to learn in Magic, but that I can consistently play at a high level.

TAGS articles, standard, tourney report, tournament reports, nationals, carrie oliver, uk, england

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