It’s time for my third tournament report in a row. I promise this is the last for a while; they have just all been notable enough competitions that I felt I should write reports for each. Next week, I’m going to dedicate an article to the cooler stuff that happened at the Pro Tour, but this week will be about deck selection and play.

As most of you are aware, I’ve been playing for under two years, so going to a Modern tournament was going to be a tall order. At the end of the day, I chose a deck that I think was a good meta call, and I was unfortunate not to do better with it. Anyway, I am getting ahead of myself here.

I put off testing for Modern until after my Nationals event. I knew I was probably going to be playing one of two types of deck—an aggro deck or a noninteractive combo deck. I’m not the biggest fan of combo decks, but they are decks I can play in a meta I do not know or understand. Luckily, daily events started on Magic Online, and I scanned the lists daily and watched a bunch of matches to start to get a feel for the format.

My first instinct was to play Zoo; however, it was the most expected deck, and after playing twelve matches against Twelve Post, it went to the bottom of the pile. An opponent playing Twelve Post will just fetch lots of Glimmerposts, gaining lots of life, and then play bigger things than you. It’s a very bad matchup and utterly dominated the online meta for a while, so I expected to see lots of it at the Pro Tour.

There was a Modern side event held at UK nationals, and I had the loveliest message on Facebook from Andrew Quinn who sent me the winning deck list, a Jund deck that he and his friend had been working on for Modern. I am not going to post it here because it’s his deck and I don’t want to share it without permission. Before I left, my friend J.J. played it against Zoo and Bant; he had really convincing victories and was very enthusiastic about it. I didn’t keep the build the same; I changed it a fair bit. I wanted more discard effects, since looking at my opponent’s hand would really help me in a format I don’t understand. It can also ruin a combo player’s hand. I wanted to go up to six, so I started with four Thoughtseize and two Inquisition of Kozilek, but in the end had a three/three split. The reason for this is that with all the fetch and shock lands, taking a Lava Axe on turn one to Thoughtseize was way too painful, and Inquisition was actually just as good most of the time.

I started with just two Terminates, but added the third, which later became a Slaughter Pact—which was amazing every time I drew it. Tapping out to make your opponent feel safe while being very confident about being able to kill whatever nasty thing he tries to throw at you is excellent. It’s also a better reveal from a Dark Confidant trigger. I did manage to remember to pay for my Pact each time I used it, which I was pleased by. On a side note, I also didn’t try to kill a Tarmogoyf in an embarrassing fashion (using a Lightning Bolt to kill a 2/3 Goyf with no instants in the graveyard does not work so well). Both of these were areas where I was aware of the potential for embarrassment, so that was a small victory for me.

For the creature base, I tried a variety of different options. I was always going to have four of Tarmogoyf, Dark Confidant, and Bloodbraid Elf, but the last slot seemed up for debate. I started with Kitchen Finks and then tried Augur of Skulls and Fulminator Mage. I wasn’t too impressed with any of them, but when I went back to Kitchen Finks again, it just felt so much better for the deck. You take a lot of damage from your own lands, creatures, and spells, so having some life-gain actually fits the deck very well. Despite considering Zoo not a good choice, I was sure there would be people who showed up with it anyway, since it’s a deck that could just get there, and the Finks are very good in that matchup. They are also better aggressive creatures in the deck than in either of the other options.

The deck also includes one Maelstrom Pulse as a get-out-of-jail-free card to draw in that one situation where nothing else works. I fiddled with the land base a little, but it’s probably still not right. The main change I made in the run-up to the event was swapping the Treetop Villages for Raging Ravines, as they fix mana better and can bash past defensive Tarmogoyfs. I also went up to two each of basic Forests and Swamps, since Blood Moon was a bit of a beating. It also meant I could choose to take less damage from my fetch lands more often, which was relevant in some matchups.

I think that is all of my choices explained, so here is my final build:

[cardlist]

[Creatures]

4 Bloodbraid Elf

4 Dark Confidant

4 Kitchen Finks

4 Tarmogoyf

[/Creatures]

[Spells]

1 Slaughter Pact

2 Terminate

3 Lightning Bolt

3 Punishing Fire

1 Maelstrom Pulse

3 Blightning

3 Inquisition of Kozilek

3 Thoughtseize

[/Spells]

[Lands]

2 Forest

2 Swamp

1 Blood Crypt

1 Stomping Ground

2 Dragonskull Summit

2 Raging Ravine

3 Overgrown Tomb

4 Blackcleave Cliffs

4 Grove of the Burnwillows

4 Verdant Catacombs

[/Lands]

[Sideboard]

2 Combust

2 Jund Charm

1 Blightning

1 Thoughtseize

3 Molten Rain

3 Slagstorm

3 Seal of Primordium

[/Sideboard]

[/cardlist]

I felt that this deck had reasonable games against the various forms of Zoo and had very strong matchups against the various U/R combo decks and the Twelve Post decks. I was expecting these three to form the biggest part of the meta (they did). The deck also provides general power and answers to deal with most things people were going to throw at it. I am less happy with my final sideboard. It was thrown together with some help on Thursday evening, but I can honestly say it was not what I needed on the day. It wasn’t bad; it just wasn’t right.

The main changes I would make in retrospect would be to remove the Jund Charms and one Slagstorm for Deathmark. The Slagstorms underperformed on the day, they were meant for Zoo but I cascaded into them twice against Zoo and didn’t cast them on either occasion. It’s better than Firespout, since cascading into that is awful! If you are expecting lots of aggro in your meta, Slagstorm is probably a good call. I would need to test more to see if I should remove the last two copies. Jund Charm was put in as catchall. It was graveyard hate in case Pyromancer Ascension or Living End showed up. It was also to help win Tarmogoyf fights and functioned as another sweeper if necessary, although 2 damage was going to be much less relevant than 3 in the format. However, I don’t think I ever drew it when I did bring it in. Deathmark was a big mistake not to include since my main problems all day were dealing with opposing Tarmogoyfs and Knight of the Reliquary. Those problems aside, here is my sideboarding plan for those interested:

Sideboarding

Versus Zoo

In: 3 Slagstorm, 2 Jund Charm (possibly Seal of Primordium if you expect your opponent to have Blood Moon)

Out: 3 Thoughtseize, 2 Blightning

Versus Ascension

In: 3 Molten Rain, 2 Jund Charm, 3 Seal of Primordium, 1 Blightning, 1 Thoughtseize

Out: 3 Lightning Bolt, 3 Punishing Fire, 2 Terminate, 1 Slaughter Pact 1 Maelstrom Pulse

Versus Splinter Twin

In: 3 Molten Rain, 3 Seal of Primordium, 1 Thoughtseize, 2 Combust

Out: 3 Lightning Bolt, 3 Punishing Fire, 1 Maelstrom Pulse, 1 Kitchen Finks, 1 Inquisition of Kozilek

Versus Cloudpost

In: 3 Molten Rain, 1 Blightning, 1 Thoughtseize

Out: 3 Punishing Fire, 1 Lightning Bolt, 1 Maelstrom Pulse

Versus Living End

In: 2 Jund Charm, 1 Thoughtseize

Out: 3 Blightning

On to the day of the tournament. I was really nervous. At Nagoya, I had been ready to be outclassed. This time, I knew I wasn’t out of my depth, but I knew I didn’t know the format and that was going to put me at a disadvantage. I hadn’t made an obvious deck choice, and I was worried that it would turn out to be a bad choice. As I sat down for Round 1, I tried to keep a clear head and stay calm.

Round 1 – Cole Griffith (Boras)

I played a turn-one Inquisition after my opponent mulliganed to five. He had Arid Mesa, Ghost Quarter, Plated Geopede, Zektar Shrine Expedition, and Rift Bolt. In a display of my lack of knowledge of the format, I penned this in my notes as RDW and later had to change it to Boros Landfall once Steppe Lynx showed up. I took away the Geopede, making this a poor start for my opponent. Not much happened in Game 1 except I drew my Slaughter Pact so I could confidently tap out while his Shrine was on 3 counters, and was rewarded by getting to kill the token. I also had the Punishing Fire/Grove of the Burnwillows combo online, which is pretty good against the deck. Game 2 was very back-and-forth. He brought Jotun Grunt out of the sideboard, which is very good at not dying to my removal and stopping the Punishing Fire combo. I waited one out, but later in the game, he burned me to 2 life with cards still in hand. I bashed him to 9 life. I then used Slagstorm post-combat to gain 4 life from my two Kitchen Finks, putting me at 6. He untapped and played a new Grunt that I clearly wasn’t getting through. I had in hand two Lightning Bolts and a Slagstorm. If the remaining burn in his hand (which I assumed he had based on previous plays) was a Lightning Bolt, I could make the game a draw. If it was a Lightning Helix, I would lose to my own Slagstorm. If it was not an instant-speed burn spell, I would win. Given the board state, I decided to spin the wheel and lost when he had the Helix. It’s an interesting situation, and most people I have spoken to have agreed with me. He had already used at least one Helix earlier in the game. Game 3, I mulliganed but got to take away his Steppe Lynx, leaving him with no other creatures in hand, and I eventually won out.

I cannot describe how relieved I was to win Round 1. I felt vindicated in my deck choice, and it relaxed me. Unfortunately, most of the other people from the UK had less success and reported losses. Still, I went into Round 2 with a bounce in my step.

1–0.

Round 2 – Tom Dixon (Jund!)

My opponent sat down and delighted in telling me that his last-round opponent had shouted at him and complained about him running a certain deck, and that his deck was under the radar but would be playing no unexpected cards. My heart sank; this sounded like the mirror. I lost the roll, and when I played Inquisition, my fears were confirmed. The mirror is as fun as it was in Standard (Note: I did not play Jund while it was in Standard, but I’m assured the mirror was as fun then as it is now.) I can’t remember Game 1, but Game 2 I mulliganed, Inquisitioned to take Tarmogoyf, Punishing Fired Dark Confidant. I then took his Blightning away, leaving two Bloodbraid Elf in his hand with one Elf and one land in my hand. He then drew another Blightning off the top, and the game was over. Overall, it was a fairly depressing match. As I discovered later, there were only nine Jund decks in the room, so it was also a pretty unlucky matchup. My opponent was really nice and was also feeling confident with the deck as well. He ended up 4–1 after the Constructed portion on Day 1, so it obviously worked well for him.

1–1.

Round 3 – Adrien Corda (Naya Land-Destruction)

This match was pretty epic. Game 1, all the land went away and I eventually lost to a Birds of Paradise with three Exalted triggers from Noble Hierarchs—where was my Maelstrom Pulse when I needed it? Game 2 was also epically long, but eventually went in my favor. I remembered to play around Boom // Bust by keeping lands in hand. Unfortunately, despite Games 1 and 2 being good fun, they had taken all but five minutes of our match time, and we drew in extra turns. I think I was winning the last game, but a turn-four Knight of the Reliquary put that in doubt (though he was at 1 life).

1–1–1.

A draw was not what I really wanted at this point in the tournament, since I wanted to go 3–2 or better in the Constructed portion, as I’m pretty confident I could go 2–1 in M12 draft, but 3–0 was unlikely. Still, I could win the rest . . . 

Round 4 – Kitt Holland (Domain Zoo)

When Kitt said he shouldn’t have drawn with his deck, I knew it was going to be Zoo. I won Game 1, but the other two games went against me. Ethersworn Canonist was really good against me, and his Deathmarks made the absence of mine even more painful. I twice cascaded into Slagstorm with only a Tarmogoyf on his side of the battlefield.

1–2–1.

After winning Round 1, I was pretty sad to now be in the lose-and-out bracket. I was also annoyed by continuing to not play the majority of the metagame. Well, I had now played Zoo, but Boros and Jund? I kept my fingers crossed for Round 5.

Round 5 – Gauderis Vidugiris (Ascension/Twin)

Hooray! I was in luck! Finally a U/R combo matchup. It turned out to be Ascension, and as expected, I smashed him Game 1. Game 2, I was suspicious of a transform into Splinter Twin as he shuffled in his sideboard. Luckily, Seal of Primordium deals with both, so I didn’t let it concern me. Some discard effects later, he tried to combo on the last turn available to him, but didn’t get there.

2–2–1.

I got to go into the draft not yet dead. As I said previously, I am not super-confident with M12 draft. To qualify that, I seem to be able to go 2–1 with anything between random rubbish and super-awesome. The draft went reasonably well. Pick 1 was an interesting choice between AEther Adept and Vengeful Pharaoh. I went with the Pharaoh and was then presented with the choice between AEther Adept and Vampire Outcasts. Again, I took the Black card, and Pick 4, I again could take an Adept. I did take it this time, but I do wonder if Picks 1 and/or 2 were wrong, even though I like Vengeful Pharaoh and Black in the format. I did get a fifth-pick Merfolk Looter, which makes the Pharaoh even better, and then opened a Jace, Memory Adept . . . but three AEther Adepts would have been awesome! Ah, well. Here is my final build:

""

• Creatures (15)
• 1 AEther Adept
• 1 Azure Mage
• 1 Bloodrage Vampire
• 1 Coral Merfolk
• 1 Devouring Swarm
• 1 Gravedigger
• 1 Merfolk Looter
• 1 Reassembling Skeleton
• 1 Vampire Outcasts
• 1 Vengeful Pharaoh
• 1 Warpath Ghoul
• 1 Zombie Goliath
• 3 Blood Seeker

• Planeswalkers (1)
• 1 Jace, Memory Adept

• Spells (7)
• 1 Doom Blade
• 1 Mana Leak
• 1 Wring Flesh
• 1 Diabolic Tutor
• 1 Mind Rot
• 1 Ponder
• 1 Ice Cage

• Lands (17)
• 7 Island
• 9 Swamp
• 1 Drowned Catacomb

• Sideboard (18)
• 1 Duskhunter Bat
• 1 Fiery Hellhound
• 1 Harbor Serpent
• 1 Lightning Elemental
• 1 Stonehorn Dignitary
• 1 Tormented Soul
• 1 Wall of Torches
• 1 Thran Golem
• 1 Slaughter Cry
• 1 Turn to Frog
• 1 Distress
• 1 Goblin Grenade
• 1 Hideous Visage
• 1 Brink of Disaster
• 2 Flight
• 1 Elixir of Immortality
• 1 Buried Ruin

Buy This Deck Export text format

I felt like this could go 3–0, which was more than I felt like I could do in the average M12 draft.

Round 6 – Filip Polasek (U/W)

I won both Games with Jace. He was mana-screwed off Blue in Game 2. There really isn’t much else to say.

3–2–1 (still alive).

Round 7 – Joesph Keaveny (G/R/U/W!)

Yes, my opponent was playing four colors. Yes, he drew all four easily in every game. Yes, he drew his three flyers too often. I played as well as I could, but it wasn’t to be, and I lost in Game 3.

3–3–1 (dead).

I dropped. I realized after dinner I should have played for an extra pro point, but to be honest, I was in no mood and would probably have lost because of that. I think I was better off having delicious Italian food and chilling out.

I am really sad to have not made Day 2. I am also very sad that I am no longer qualified for the Pro Tour and have to qualify all over again. I want to get back there. Having played in the Pro Tour, I know that I can play competitively at that level, and I want the opportunity to do this again. With all the changes Wizards is making, I do not know if this will ever again be a reality. Still, I am hopeful and I will keep trying. Thanks for joining me on my Pro Tour adventures. Next week’s article will be a change from tournament reports, and instead I will be writing about how awesome the rest of my Pro Tour experience was. Join me to hear about Cube-drafting with Tristan Shaun Gregson, invading the press room, almost getting my Modern list leaked on ChannelFireball and StarCityGames the night before, and managing not to gain a hundred pounds eating American food.