#summerofstandard

I don't remember this one quite as well as some others because it's coming up a week late, but here's what happened.

There are an odd number of people, so there's a bye each round. I get the coveted first-round bye. Kaching. I mean, I don't get to play Magic, but better in the first round than the fourth.

Round two, I go up against Jeskai Control. He has some tough breaks, can't seem to draw both lands and spells, and apparently forgot to board in Scouring Sands .

Round 3 I go up against Sidisi Whip. Game 1 I deal with all his threats and start beating down, but I'm at 3 life. Fortunately for me, Siege Rhino doesn't show up and I pull off a win. The next game he has a Tasigur and a Hornet Queen, but I have a well-timed board wipe that takes him off Hornet Queen mana and I win before he gets the chance to redeploy it.

<

p> Round 4 I'm against Abzan Control. I don't remember the details, but somehow I slog out a win game 1. After sideboarding both decks become even slower, so by the time he wins game two there's 2 minutes left on the clock and so we just agree to draw.

<

p>

And so...I came in first! With a healthy amount of luck, admittedly, but that's what keeps the game interesting.

The deck seems about finished. The one thing it's most obviously missing is something like Elspeth or Dragonlord Ojutai in the board to help in the matchups where our opponent just has too much hate for our primary strategy; but Elspeth's about to rotate and Ojutai is still too much for me to want to try and pick them up. As it is, I have a copy of Sarkhan the Dragonspeaker as a threat that doesn't die to Drown in Sorrow or Dromoka's Command, but I just can't imagine it being better than Ojutai.

I finally went 3-1! I bought a couple new cards for the deck, which probably helped: a second Anger of the Gods, End Hostilities #2 and #3, and a second copy of Roast. I also changed my mana base a bit! I decided that having all my colors was more important than having my lands enter untapped, and swapped out a bunch of basics for the gain-lands. They're not great, but they get the job done. This week, I saw no green decks at all, nor did I have to play against Bant Heroic. Ascendency is quite weak to Dromoka's Command, and not having to play against it made my life a lot easier. Instead, I fought a large number of red decks, which are generally easier to fight.

Round 1: My first match was against Jeskai Control. It's what my deck would be if you took out the token-related cards and replaced them with counterspells and finishers, basically. Game 1 my opponent played a Narset I couldn't deal with that turned into an Elspeth I couldn't deal with that turned into me conceding the game. Game 2 he was stuck on lands while I had a turn 4 Ascendency with some tokens in play, and the game ended pretty quickly. Game 3 he couldn't find double red for Anger of the Gods, the only sweeper he drew.

Round 2: My opponent was on Atarka Red, or so I presume from his mana base. I didn't see Atarka's Command all match, which is probably how I was able to win. Game 1 I just ground out and won in the late-game when I'm favored. Game 2 I attacked no more than twice all game, but he had to take a lot of damage from his lands and I burned him out from 11 life.

Round 3: This is the round I lost. My opponent played Mardu Dragons, a deck I hadn't thought about going in. The first game I ate a bunch of damage from Draconic Roars, while he gained a bunch of life off of Soulfire Grand Master. Eventually he found a fourth land, and Thunderbreak Regent sealed the deal. Game 2 he hits a Stormbreath Dragon off his single copy of Mastery of the Unseen, and I don't have the removal to fight him.

Round 4: Another red deck, this one splashing white. I actually saw it being built, right before we started. Game 1 is very close; I navigate to a position where I draw any spell and the game is mine. I draw a land and lose. Game 2 he never found a white source for a hand with a bunch of white spells. Game 3 comes down to a complicated sequence of burn spells with a Jeskai Ascendency in play, in which he points a Lightning Strike and a Stoke the Flames at the same token, I kill a Rabblemaster and loot through a bunch of cards, and at the end I'm left with a 4/4 Soldier that he can't attack into. I draw Anger of the Gods, he's out of gas, and the game is mine.

Another week with Jeskai Ascendency, another tournament lost. I went 2-2, winning 5 games.

Round 1 I was up against Abzan Aggro; the guy would then go 3-0 and draw for first place. I lost game one to Siege Rhino into Wingmate Roc (with wingman in tow) into Siege Rhino. Game two he got stuck on 3 lands while I rolled him with Jeskai Ascendency. Game three I let a Sorin, Solemn Visitor go uncontested and couldn't recover. There was a questionable block I made at the very end, when I threw five tokens in front of a Seige Rhino that then got boosted by Abzan Charm. If I had tried harder, I might have been able to know how many tokens to block with; but that was a tough call.

Round Two I lost to RG Dragons. The first game I got rolled by Xenagos, the God of Revels powering out Polukranos and Thunderbreak Regent. Game two I had out two Soldiers and three Goblins with Jeskai Ascendency; he had a Stormbreath Dragon, a Whisperwood Elemental, a mana dork and a manifest. I completely punted, going all in on that attack step; he made some blocks, Stormbreath survived, and I then got wrecked by Atarka. I shoud have waited a turn, made a bunch more tokens on hist turn with Secure the Wastes and then swung in. Aaargh. Note to self: do math. read cards. Git Gud.

Round three was against a not-so-great player on Atarka Red. I had all the removal I needed, drew Ascendency, and won both games. Round 4 I played a kinda janky Grixis Control deck; he had trouble finding black mana both games and couldn't keep up with my threats.

I feel more comfortable with the deck. Obviously, I'm still bad at Magic, but I at least know what the obvious lines of play are. The land sequencing no longer confuses me. Mulligan and sideboard decisions are clearer (though still difficult). I just (and what an easy way to say, "just") need to tighten up my play: learn which games I have to go all in on and which are mine to throw away, what cards I need to try and play around and when.

Or I could just get some better cards. One of the two. As much as I'm learning my way around the mana base, it's still pretty bad, and my sideboard is only slightly less questionable.

<

Another week, another four rounds of Standard.

(Actually, three rounds. There were an odd number of people, and so I got the bye in the fourth round. Much disappoint.)

I tweaked the deck a bit, and I did feel that it was a bit stronger than last week. I even won more games than last week, although no more matches -- I suppose I lost fewer matches. Four Seeker of the Way in the maindeck, where I am sure they belong. Also, +2 Anticipate, +1 Roast, +1 Banishing Light, +1 Reprisal. (It's the removal I have, so it's the removal I'm running.)

The goal for next week: better, faster sideboarding. I threw away at least one match today -- possibly both -- by sideboarding poorly in games two and three. I've played against Bant Heroic twice now, and I still don't know how to beat it, but it either involves a lot more or a lot less removal than I have in the main deck. It's possible this is the all-in tokens matchup that I've been wondering about. The other matchup was against what turned out to be Atarka Red, and which I should have known was Atarka Red even though I only saw two cards game 1 and one was Hornet Nest.

For my own future reference: Lightning Strike is, in fact, good against monored and should not be sided out.

I have decided, this summer, to get into Standard, since my LGS has a Standard tournament on Sundays. My deck of choice is Jeskai Tokens, because I had about half the deck already and Jeskai Ascendency is clearly such a fair card. Above: the epitome of fairness in Standard I put together the following list, played a few games with my friends, and took it down last Sunday:

4 Raise the Alarm

4 Dragon Fodder

4 Hordeling Outburst

4 Secure the Wastes

4 Jeskai Ascendency

4 Treasure Cruise

4 Stoke the Flames

2 Lightning Strike

2 Wild Slash

1 Jeskai Charm

1 Narset Transcendent

4 Mystic Monastery

1 Temple of Epiphany

1 Temple of Triumph

1 Temple of Enlightenment

1 Shivan Reef

1 Battlefield Forge

7 Mountain

7 Plains

1 Island

Sideboard:

4 Seeker of the Way

1 Myth Realized

1 Anger of the Gods

1 End Hostilities

1 Banishing Light

1 Reprisal

1 Roast

2 Lightning Strike

2 Stoke the Flames

2 Dictate of Heliod