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This past weekend I attended a couple of Store Champions where the textless Urza’s Saga was up for grabs. I didn’t expect to win that but was hoping to Top 8 and get the promo Shark Typhoon. Meanwhile all participants received a promo Monastery Swiftspear. While I had been using my bats deck at Standard events, I recently updated it to more of a mid-range deck and for some reason I preferred to roll out with my Rabbits deck and just have some fun and see if it could compete.

I’m not sure if I had updated it since I played last, but the deck I used on Day 1 was a follows:

The plan is simple: go wide and pump the squad for maximum pain. I added a couple of Haywire Mites in the main as there are just way too many enchantments and artifacts running around Standard.

Match 1: W 2-0 vs Boros Talent

I was fortunate in Game 1 to get both of my Haywire Mites out to blow up an Urabrask’s Forge and a Caretaker’s Talent so the opponent couldn’t get any momentum. Game 2 the additional enchantment removal from my Sideboard was key and my Warren Warleaders were able to build the board quickly even after Sunfall and Temporary Lockdown. The opponent was clearly surprised to have lost to me considering they used multiple board wipes.

Match 2: W 2-0 vs Domain Ramp

Great draws in both matches allowed me to get out quick and enchantment removal helped me free my creatures from Lockdowns and knock aside his Up the Beanstalks to keep him off pace.

Match 3: L 0-2 vs Domain Ramp

This match was the complete opposite of the last one. Game 1 I got wrecked by a Lockdown and valued out by two Up the Beanstalks, unable to find any interaction. Game 2 I was able to keep things even for a while to the point of us both top-decking. Just when I saw a little light with a multi-creature advantage, he drew an Atraxa, Grand Unifier and that was that.

Match 4: W 2-0 vs Golgari Midrange

Game 1 I had to get through two Liliana of the Veils and a Vraska, Betrayal’s Sting, but was able to get wide enough and activate my Restless Prairies for the win. Game 2 I was all over him from the jump, creature after creature into a really wide board. His targeted removal wasn’t enough as my Innkeeper’s Talent ward forced him into inefficient mana use when interacting with my creatures.

Match 5: Draw (Intentional) vs Golgari Midrange

Both of us were in position for a Top 8 finish so we agreed to draw and ensure we stayed there. We did play one game for fun which I won, giving me even more confidence in the deck since he was 3-0-1 at the time.

Overall I finished 3-1-1 (6-2-0 in games played) and took 4th Place out of 22 people.

I was crazy happy that my deck did so well, especially considering such strong deck competition. I got the promos I was hoping for and had a blast (though it was stressful as usual haha). While my deck performed well, I think I need even more enchantment removal main deck. My Case of the Gateway Express really did nothing so that can take a cut. My Virtue of Loyalty was equally irrelevant so I’ll probably look to remove that as well.

The 2nd day did not go nearly as well, so no need for an extensive recap. I finished 1-3-0 and clearly outside the Top 8 in 15th Place.

As I’ve only recently started blogging, I’m doing a few ‘profile’ segments to give folks a better idea of who I am as a player.

I already covered off my background and formats (though I’ll have more in-depth format thoughts in the future).

This time we are on to some information related to the events I’ve played in and results to this point.

I need to state up front that I’m not a ‘sweaty’ player and the longer an event goes, the more disengaged I tend to get. I struggle a bit with the “competitiveness” I come across at major events where players will intentionally try to get you warned by judges, give some false information to their benefit, or try to cheat by sneaking in another land drop or missing a trigger (the last of course is tough to prove). I look at this as a ‘game’ and try to have a good time, so I can get frazzled when I run into people like that. Don’t get me wrong though, most players are not like this, but the propensity of the ones that are like that tend to show up at RCQs and above. I assume that on a higher and more public level maybe these players wouldn’t have such attitudes, as it isn’t apparent to me when I watch folks on the Pro Tour, but maybe I just don’t see it there and it comes with the territory. I really hope that in order to succeed in this game you don’t need to compromise morals - there’s a difference in being a stickler for the rules and someone who uses shady practices to win.

Expectations:

Let’s talk first about expectations. Up to this point, my expectations were not high when it came to super competitive events like RCQs. I hoped to have a good time, improve, and get a few wins to keep me in contention for some prizes. I never really “targeted” a Top 8 in terms of expectations - and I don’t have one yet. At store events I generally expected to be in the top half. But as I’ve played more and improved my game, I now expect to do fairly well at these events. While I’ve won some store events and that is my ‘target’, I expect to finish in the top 25% of players and expect to be in contention for top prizes. This is not an arrogance thing; it’s more a mindset and where I expect to be with my current experience and prior results. Sometimes I’ll win but there are times I’ll be at the bottom of the table as well.

Results:

I initially tracked my deck wins when I first got back into the game but stopped after not long as it became tedious with all my Commander decks (plus what does coming in third mean?). However, I should track my overall deck win-loss record in competitive formats; my only hesitation comes about because I will do at least minor updates between events and am not sure how relevant deck tracking will be. Let me give that a shot and get back, could be useful and interesting. Meanwhile, here are the events I’ve had success in over the last year along with any associated prizes in parentheses.

Store Championship: Standard - Top 8 (Transcendent Message Foil)

Store Championship: Sealed - Winner (Moonshaker Cavalry Full Art Promo Foil)

South East Asia Open: Legacy - Top 32 (SEA Playmat) - missed Top 16 on tiebreakers

Store Championship: Standard - Winner (Free Entry to Animart Open Championship)

Store Championship: Standard - Top 8 (Dark Petition Promo Foil)

APAC League: Standard - Winner (Entry to End of Year Championship)

Store Championship: Standard - Top 8 (Hollow One Promo Foil)

I’ve also gone 3-0 at Non-Championship events over that time, including at LCI Draft, APAC League Sealed, Standard Showdown, OTJ Prerelease (4-0), & BLB Prerelease.

Having won a few competitive events makes me feel like I have at least some of the tools needed to succeed in this game consistently.

As I recently did the Bloomburrow Prerelease, I thought I’d look back on my first prerelease, which happened to be my first in-person Magic event since getting back into the game!

I was writing some logs at the time on my experiences but didn’t post them anywhere. I still remember how much excitement I had coming out of this event, just it being my first tabletop Magic in person in like 25 years. Let’s see what I thought at the time!

Archive:

First ever prerelease event and first time playing in-person MTG in about 25 years!

I’m given my prerelease kit which contains a promo card Restless Vinestalk and six Wilds of Eldraine draft boosters from which I need to construct a 40 card deck. I open my packs and then sort all my cards by color.

While I had some nice white pulls, I knew that I needed to focus on creatures and interaction. After sifting through all my cards I eventually narrowed down to green and black for my deck.

Match 1: After the construction period, the Magic Companion app tells me where to sit. I’m put at Table 4 against white/green. Can’t believe I’m about to play my first game!

Game 1: Got out some creatures and damage, but he had a flying griffin that was just too strong and ultimately beat me. I had seven mana up for Virtue of Persistence but it was worthless to cast as I needed an answer. Went into desperation mode digging via my Collector’s Vault finding a flier to block one turn but inevitably nothing else.

Game 2: More of the same considering decks are only 40 cards. He was able to pump up creatures with Royal Roles, copying them as well. I was able to take his flier by casting a fight spell targeting it versus my Scream Puff, but his tramplers were a problem. Ultimately ran out of time in our match and he was ahead on life so he was awarded Game 2 (though he was in control anyway) and subsequently the match.

First match lost 0-2-0.

Match 2: As we get ready to move tables, the Companion app tells us what’s next and I’m surprised to see that I have a ‘bye’. As there were uneven players someone had to sit out each match. I would’ve preferred to actually play but fortunately having the bye awards me the win at least.

Second match won 2-0-0.

Match 3: I’m slotted back at Table 4 again for my match against an opponent playing predominantly blue and black.

Game 1: Quite a bit of good back and forth, creatures attacking and damage being dealt. The game turned on him being able to get me to sacrifice a couple of creatures followed by fliers that I couldn’t stop and ultimately beat me down for the loss.

Game 2: Really close and intense game. Lots of back and forth for a while with creatures trading off, but the game changer was my Virtue of Persistence which started bringing back creatures from a graveyard each turn, focusing on his dead fliers and my food creators first for defense then moving to offense. Overwhelmed him and won my first game in person!

Game 3: A little close early but I was able to drop my Sentinel of Lost Lore which got rid of his creature/adventure in exile as well as his graveyard. Then I was able to bargain my Hamlet Glutton on T5, followed by more creatures the next turn. He appeared to get mana flooded and I was able to take down the game pretty easily!

Third match won 2-1-0.

Overall I finished 2-1 (4-3-0) and in 11th place out of 25. The two wins awarded me two Set Boosters and I was also given a Magic 30th anniversary harvester of Souls for participating.

Absolutely incredible event; just such a fun time and made me realize how much I’ve missed playing Magic in person, especially at an event like this where everyone is on equal footing. Can’t wait to go for another; might have to sign up for the Legacy Open next!

Additional Notes:

* Virtue of Persistence was my favorite card from the deck, so powerful to get that early removal and game-changing if you can get the enchantment side out later.

* Collector’s Vault did absolute work, letting me cycle cards to rebalance my hand while also making Treasure tokens that could fix mana and allow me to cast more spells.

* Hamlet Glutton was only seen once but dropping a 6/6 trample on T5 is quite nice with the bonus 3 life gain coming along with it.

* My deck had no way to deal with creatures with evasion; I need to remember that for future events. There needs to be a way to stop fliers especially.

I’ve been mainly posting event logs since I’ve started blogging and thought it would be good to reflect a bit on who I am as a player.

For a little background, I started playing Magic in the mid-90s with my best friend. We played a few in-store events (my only memory there was getting 2nd place in a draft), but we almost exclusively just played head-to-head at each other’s houses. This went on for a few years until we headed off to college and left the game behind.

During COVID I happened to see some cards in a store and got a hit of nostalgia. ‘Let’s buy a few packs and see what it’s like now’. I was hooked again.

A sidebar: when I was younger, I didn’t get to buy a lot of cards. My parents might get me some packs here and there but I was on my own to get what I wanted. But my friend would get a box for his birthday or Christmas, and he’d let me help him to open the packs. Now that I was able to afford my own boxes, I wanted to get that experience that I didn’t have when I was younger.

I went full in, bought tons of cards, decks, sleeves, accessories, etc. I even put together a a full video set up so that I could start playing on Spelltable.

Magic consumes a lot of my free time from an entertainment perspective. If I’m not playing in person, I might be organizing my cards, playing on Arena, watching YouTube content creators, or listening to Magic podcasts. Sometimes my engagement is more thoughtful to try to become a better player, but usually it’s more on the casual side.

Since I started playing in person, I do drafts, sealed, weekday events, leagues, store championships, and RCQs - you name it and I’ll probably at least be interested.

Read on for the formats I play, thoughts on each, and the decks I use.

Formats:

I started my reentry into Magic mainly in Commander over Spelltable. Once I got familiar with the game again and got the confidence to play in stores, I went out for a prerelease and some Commander in person at the LGS, followed by getting into Standard, Modern, and dipping into Legacy.

I’ve gravitated mainly to Modern, Standard, and Limited as my preferred formats. My Legacy deck is just a burn deck and while I did go 4-3 at a Legacy Open with it, I just find myself preferring the other formats. I haven’t busted it out in nearly a year.

Modern: I got into Modern with a Hammer Time deck. I lean more creatures/spells/tricks over combo/control. I ended up putting together Merfolk as well as Hardened Scales. I really enjoy the chess-like feeling to the format. I find there are way more lines than in a newer format and the games end up being a bit of cat and mouse. My brain is fried following a day of Modern (which I love and hate, haha). Once MH3 came out and I cracked all my packs, I put together Boros Energy and updated my Merfolk deck - though I’ve only taken Energy out. I’m also in the process of slowly putting together Colorless Eldrazi and Soul Sisters though I might scrap those plans and try to stay more focused through RCQ season.

Standard: I tended to skew my Standard decks a little more random rather than meta, though my bats deck may be high in the meta now. Prior to rotation I tried out some random decks including faeries and dinosaurs, ultimately landing on a Simic artifact deck and an Orzhov midrange deck as my primary decks. The Simic deck cleaned up at some weekday events where the meta leaned hard into mono-red aggro or the Boros Convoke decks. I took my Orzhov midrange deck to an APAC League win that qualifies me for a year-end event in a few months. Since then (as you’ll know) I’ve put together Orzhov Bats and Selesnya Rabbits decks. I think Standard is in a really healthy place right now; I run into so many different decks and strategies that all seem viable. Standard and Modern are my top two Constructed formats and it’s not close.

Limited: I really enjoy Limited and it’s in the top 3 of formats that I play when you combine Prereleases, Sealed, and Draft. While the considerations within the format differ in terms of how you build your deck, there are a couple of common reasons I gravitate towards it. There’s a puzzle to be solved either in your sealed pile or as you select cards from rotating packs. I might actually like the deck-building aspect of the format even more than playing. Then you get to experiment, playing with cards that you wouldn’t typically slap together in Constructed. Everyone is also on a bit of an ‘equal footing’ though the randomness can of course favor someone with some stronger cards.

Legacy: As mentioned, I only have a Burn deck. My hesitation with investing in a deck for this format is that the players and decks are more intimidating. I’m just not familiar enough with the format to go all-in. I find myself having to read cards more, asking about the interactions, or just agreeing with what the opponent said due to a bit of embarrassment in playing in a format I’m not familiar with. Burn is simple and while there are a few decisions to be made, it’s usually just ‘go face’. Games are over quickly and I can take a break without putting tons of brain power into an event. I enjoy that occasionally but it hasn’t fully ‘called to me’ yet.

Pioneer: I have yet to play any Pioneer, but am thinking about putting together Izzet Phoenix and/or Azorius Control. I rarely play Blue so figure maybe that could be the format where I give the color a shot.

Commander: This will probably be my most controversial section, but I’ve steered away from Commander as of late. When I first got back into the game, Commander was new to me. It branded as casual and was easily accessible on Spelltable. I enjoy the Singleton aspect in building just ‘fun’ decks with the cards I have. At my peak I had 15-20 decks, including a couple of precons, counters, voltron, goblins, landfall, angels, the list goes on. It felt like a good format for getting back into the game though I’d occasionally run into some toxic people online. Over time a couple of things happened though. First, I got more comfortable with the competitive constructed formats above. (Yes, I know there is CEDH as well but that didn’t really interest me). I liked that I could sit down and play a ton of games in the same time that I could play one Commander match, and there was a mutual understanding when entering a match of “I’m here to beat you”. Second, the politics of the game started to get to me. This ‘power level’ discussion felt like it never worked as everyone has a different idea of what it means. There would be dealing at the table and folks would get defensive or even upset if you targeted them instead of someone else. It just didn’t feel like Magic to me. It all came to a head when I had a few friends over for afternoon commander and one of the guy’s decks felt just a bit more powerful than what we were trying to do. In one particular game, we were building nice boards and getting into the strategy of the game when he all of the sudden used a combo to kill the rest of us at once. It just felt anti-climactic and incomplete. I can already hear the rebuffs: “Play more interaction”. But I just found myself not satisfied to the point of realizing that I didn’t really like this format. After that I disassembled all of my decks and now only have a bunch of precons that I’d be willing to break out in a ‘precon only’ game. This is not to sleight anyone that enjoys the format of course; to each their own - it just wasn’t for me anymore as I felt I couldn’t grow in the format and would end up disengaging from Magic, which is definitely not what I wanted.

Back to another Standard Showdown and I decided to bring my Orzhov bats deck again to see if I could do better than my 1-2 showing last week.

I’ve made a few updates to the deck, bringing in more dual mana, slotting in the Cruelclaw’s Heists from the Sideboard, and adding some Pest Controls in the Sideboard. I’m still just using cards I have on hand so let’s see if this deck has the legs (or wings) to force me into buying a few singles to enhance it further.

Next potential cuts going into this event: Season of Loss (maybe to Sideboard) and the two Treacherous Greeds. Starscape Cleric not having the ability to block could be on the chopping block as well.

Match 1, L 1-2 vs Discard

Completely emptied my hand in the first game, then I got out quick enough in Game 2 to get ahead of the discard and win. Game 3 was super close, I was down then able to answer and start to build up a board until he was able to play out two upgraded Bandit’s Talents which drained me of my remaining life.

Match 2, W 2-0 vs Discard

Running into a second discard deck is pretty annoying haha, but I really just got ahead in both games ensuring I had a low curve in opening hands and utilizing my Deep-Cavern Bats to pull removal from his hand.

Match 3, W 2-1 vs Rakdos Discover

Same player/deck I lost to last week, 1-2. Again, he ran me first game getting all his Discover triggers to get a beefy board that I couldn’t defend against. Game 2 I got out quick enough to break through - noticing how important being on the play is, but not something you can control. Game 3 I had to mull to 5 but he had to go to 4, which heavily favors me in this match up. After getting some creatures out I was able to Treacherous Greed to get some more card advantage. As I chipped away, I had sufficient removal to kill his threats and he could see a Dawn’s Truce in my hand which I was able to keep up through the win.

Overall 2-1-0 (5-3-0, 3rd Place out of 6)

Sweet, it’s an improvement over last week’s showing from a record perspective and that’s what you want. I didn’t get shut out in my match loss either. I do like this deck a lot still and feel like it could take down a Store Championship. I’ll keep enhancing it and playing it out and see how it goes.

Definitely going to remove the Starscape Clerics. While there is clear synergy, I just haven’t seen them do enough and found myself boarding them out in almost every match I’ve played so far. The extra removal in the Sideboard is great and I like the flexibility in some of those cards. Season of Loss was also impressive to clear an overwhelmed board - and I was able to tutor it up in one game where I had stolen a Cruelty of Gix with my Cruelclaw’s Heist (which was quite nice and making me consider Cruelty of Gix, though the cost is still a bit prohibitive for this deck).

Got a Promo Pack for my Top 4 finish, but unfortunately didn’t get anything exciting in it.

First RCQ of the Modern season, and maybe the first I’ve participated in this year, in the books. Sad to report that I crashed down the stretch to miss a Top 8 finish.

Six rounds of Swiss before a cut to Top 8, and I started 3-0-1. I only needed to win one of my last two matches to get in, and as you can tell, I lost both of those matches. Brutal, disappointing, *sigh*. I’m cognizant that the competition is tougher as you move up the standings, but it was still a tough pill to swallow.

Overall I finished 3-2-1 (8-6-0; 13th place out of 36).

I used the same deck that I practiced with earlier in the week and felt much more comfortable with it. After a super tight first match vs Necro (W 2-1), I settled in for a draw with Control (1-1), then rolled through my next two matches (W 2-0 vs Goryo’s Vengeance and W 2-0 vs 4C Omnath). In Round 5 I ran into the mirror (L 1-2 vs Boros Energy) and then crapped out against Jeskai Control (L 0-2).

While the sting is fresh, I am trying to remind myself that this is one of my better finishes at an RCQ. I was sitting in third place after Round 4, which in the past would’ve been around the time that I dropped from the event. Keeping that in mind, I should really be proud of my progress, especially since it’s only the 2nd time I’m playing the deck. As I get more familiar with it and the competition, I should be able to better respond to their threats and will hopefully be able to position myself for more opportunities to Top 8. Another step in my journey, and definitely a step forward.

I haven’t played Modern since MH3 came out, but we are approaching RCQ season (Regional Championship Qualifiers) and I need to get in some practice. I put together a Boros Energy deck since it looks sweet and I had almost all of the pieces already, so it’s time to take it out for a ride considering I already have my first RCQ this week.

As always, take your decks out for a spin even if you think you understand what it should be doing. A Monday Modern event is the perfect opportunity to see what your local meta looks like, while giving you practice against various deck strategies, which in turn helps you to better understand your lines.

I really cannot stress how important it is to just go play against someone you don’t know - do it casually and friendly, mention missed triggers to make a mental note, and ask questions both for clarification points and to better understand what their deck is trying to do (after your games). I learned something in each of my matches (mentioned below). It also gives you active practice with your sideboard, which can sometimes be a bit neglected when simply looking at your main deck in a vacuum.

Match 1: L 0-2 (Merfolk)

Wow, I got absolutely demolished in this match; total match time was like 10 minutes. And it was all due to Harbinger of the Seas, which turned all of my non-basic lands into islands. While giving his creatures islandwalk was a nuisance, it was the fact that he completely locked me out of the games that did me in. Game 1 I wasn’t expecting it and was too quick to use all my mana rather than considering what he might do. Game 2, while I expected it I just didn’t have the answer in hand. A bit unfortunate that he was able to bring it out in both games on Turn 3, but them’s the breaks.

Lesson: We had a discussion following the match on the lines I needed to look at when anticipating a Harbinger of the Seas. In the first game, had I known of the incoming threat, I could have left a red mana up, floated it on his Harbinger cast, let it resolve, then use the floating mana to Lightning Bolt or Galvanic Discharge his Harbinger. This may be obvious to some of you, but this is a learning experience for me and I hadn’t adequately considered the threat assessment as I was just trying to ‘play my stuff out’. DO NOT GET LOCKED OUT. Brutal lesson learned and that experience will make me a better player long term.

Since our match was over so quickly, we played a few more games of which I ended up winning two. I was more deliberately assessing his threats and was able to burn down his pieces while fetching early for the couple of basic lands I had, rather than greedy fetches for shock/surveil lands. Those adjustments and that learning experience has me better prepared for Merfolk in the future.

What’s funny here is that I have a Merfolk deck! But I haven’t played it since the MH3 additions of Harbinger and wasn’t really considering that line.

Match 2: W 2-1 (Goblins)

Opponent got me pretty quick in Game 1. Again, I wasn’t familiar with his goblin deck lines. He had a combo kill assembled where one goblin got activated abilities of his top card, which could create infinite copies and ultimately get his sac outlet to drain me.

Understanding this, I was better prepared to look out for the threats in the following games. I was able to Static Prison some of his needed creatures while killing others; with my wide board I was able to crash through in games 2 and 3 for the match win.

This was the first time I got to see the deck really pop off and it was incredible; so fun to play.

Lesson: I missed a trigger mid-game and we had a discussion on it, ultimately calling over the LGS staff for advice. My Ocelot Pride made a cat token when I had 9 permanents in play. However, upon reading the card more closely it says “…create a 1/1 white Cat creature token. Then if you have the city’s blessing, for each token you control that entered the battlefield this turn, create a token that’s a copy of it.” This is all one paragraph so I wasn’t sure if the ‘check’ for Ascend could happen between actions. The staff advised that it does though. Ascend is a state-based action so as soon as the permanent comes in, you have already ascended and should act accordingly in the next sentence. It ultimately didn’t matter since I won the game, but that would’ve been an extra cat and an extra treasure - in another match up that could have been the difference between a win and a loss in a format with razor thin margins.

Match 3: L 1-2 (Jeskai Energy)

Game 1 again I didn’t really know what to expect. He was fetching a lot and playing cantrips to fill his graveyard to escape Phlage, Titan of Fire’s Fury ultimately with an Arena of Glory exert to light me up. Solitude and Galvanic Discharge (and Phlage) kept my board clear. Game 2 on the play, I was able to get out to a quick start and put on pressure. He cast a The One Ring which I was able to lock down and I killed my own cat to flip Ajani, Nacatl Pariah and pump the squad. He looked for an answer but couldn’t find one as I had Suncleanser out which shut down his Wrath of Skies and Galvanic Discharge. Game 3 was close for a bit as I was even able to take out an escaped Phlage, but he seemed to have sideboarded in a lot more counter play, answering my spells before they could hit the battlefield and gain value. It came down to me trying to top-deck answers, which I couldn’t find and probably didn’t have anyway.

Lesson: I made the mistake of not bringing Blood Moon in from the sideboard in this matchup. I was so focused on my pieces that shutdown his energy, graveyard, or his The One Ring that I completely missed that, while he had red, his main focus was blue. I may have been able to squeeze a win out had I played that, so I really need to be thoughtful about my sideboard and not rush.

Overall: 1-2-0 (3-5-0; 3rd place out of 4)

After some Sealed to get familiarity with the set, it’s time for my first Bloomburrow Draft. The Arena draft is a bit different than in-person because you aren’t going to play against folks you draft with, so while you need to see lines to make a deck, you don’t need to be concerned with passing them something nice.

I’ve done a few drafts on Arena and struggled mightily for the first few. I think I was focusing too much on ‘creature types’ rather than general synergies, but then drafted a sweet Boros deck that went 7-1 with my only loss coming due to land/land/land draws down the stretch.

Hopefully that bit of practice prepared me well as I rolled into my first live draft of the set.

I opened with a Dreamdew Entrancer for my Pack 1, Pick 1 and started heading towards frogs, and to my surprise absolutely no one was looking at frogs. I got passed every frog and every piece of synergy the deck could have. I put together my pile and curve as follows, hoping to get a better showing than my prerelease where I mixed frogs and rabbits.

Match 1: L 1-2

Opponent was on Boros valiant. Game 1 was probably my best game of the day; the pieces came together so well and I drew so many cards that my opponent could only hope that I would deck myself. Game 2 on the draw and her deck came out blazing; way too fast with pump valiant triggers forcing me into chump blocking and eventually taking the loss. Game 3 I got completely flooded, drawing out 11 of my 16 lands and sitting there as she slowly chipped away for the win.

With the card draw in my deck, between matches I decided to drop down to 15 lands and bring in an Eluge, the Shoreless Seas from the sideboard.

Match 2: W 2-1

Game 1 and somehow I got land flooded again; the few pieces I was able to get out just weren’t able to play off each other and I lost to his Golgari deck. Game 2 felt much more like Match 1, Game 1. I got draws early and often from Pond Prophet and Bellowing Crier, keeping his board empty with Run Away Together, and then attacked through for the win. Game 3 was super close where he had the early and mid-game advantage, taking me down to 4 life with fliers and drains. I was able to stabilize and build up a board with stuns and Reach. The turning point was when he made an ill-advised full out attack, sensing the tide turning, when he should’ve stayed patient. He killed my Dreamdew Entrancer but at a massive cost to his board. I was able to bring in a Splash Lasher with its Offspring the next turn to stun his other creatures and get through for the match win.

Match 3: W 2-0

Needed a win to get a Play Booster. In Game 1 I went off early bouncing frogs and his creatures but he was able to even up a bit until we were both out of cards and top-decking. Luckily I drew out a few more creatures ahead of him and got the win. Game 2 he had a wide board of rabbits as well as Ygra, Eater of All. I had to chump for a turn but then was able to stun it for three turns with my Dreamdew Entrancer which gave me time to catch up. Then I drew into full blink and tap synergies with Lilysplash Mentor and Skyskipper Duo to keep Ygra, now a 20/20, locked down along with the rest of his board to win the game.

Overall: 2-1-0 (5-3-0; 5th Place out of 8)

The place made no difference in prize structure but I was a little disappointed to see I ended up in 5th considering 2nd place had the same record. That just comes down to tiebreakers, and having lost my first match set me on a course for a low Opponents’ Win %.

Time for another Standard Showdown event. These are good cheap events where you can get some practice with your decks and just have some fun without high stakes.

While I have updated my “I’m All Ears!” deck, I just put together a Bats deck with all the new bats in Bloomburrow. I initially planned to toss a few in my mid-range Orzhov deck but it wasn’t overly additive and I have so many bats that I thought that an aggressive standalone deck would be more fun. Now, as usual, when I first put a deck together I just use cards that I have. If there is promise and pieces I need then I will look to get singles later (e.g. this could use some surveil lands). I really think that going into events like this with an untuned deck will make you a better player and help you to understand what’s lacking and what is working.

Deck as follows:

Match 1: L 1-2

Opponent playing the Azorius Synthesizer deck. Game 1 he played early interaction to kill a couple of my creatures followed by a Sunfall wiping the three I had left. Then he was able to play Simulacrum Synthesizer and build out the board quickly for the kill. Game 2 on the play I got out to a blistering start with bats, taking his removal in hand with my Deep-Cavern Bat, then draining. On the potential turning point turn when he was starting to stabilize, I swung two fliers at him while he had one creature with Reach and was on 5 life. One got through for 2 damage, then I sacrificed it to Treacherous Greed to drain him of the final 3 life and take the win. Game 3 he got the Synthesizer out again with a couple of beefy tokens that I was able to exile with Legions to Ashes, but he just kept churning them out. Then he was able to tap down my creatures with Braided Net and swing through for the win.

Match 2: W 2-0

Opponent on rabbits, a slightly different build to the one I played the week prior, but same general concept of course. This match was not close at all. I had early removal in both games to keep his board at bay, inclusive of a Glistening Deluge in Game 2 to wipe his board - which wasn’t threatening but could get out of hand. My fliers with the consistent life drain put both games away fairly quickly.

Match 3: L 1-2

Opponent playing a Rakdos Midrange deck with some Discover pieces. In Game 1 he played an early Brass’s Tunnel Grinder that he flipped quickly with fetch lands and looting. Once the Discover train got rolling there wasn’t much I could do. Trumpeting Carnosaur with a Discover 6 and a Discover 5 (into a Geological Appraiser with another Discover 3) was all she wrote. Game 2 on the play I got out to a super fast start, dropping lifelink bats every turn while growing an Essence Channeler. My Deep-Cavern Bat kept threats out of his mulligan hand and I was able to overwhelm the board and beat him. Game 3 I had to mull on the draw and he had tons of removal. Almost every creature I played got shot down while he geared up for a midrange grind match. Once he played Sheoldred, the Apocalypse followed by an Aclazotz, Deepest Betrayal on the following turn I knew it was the end. GG.

Overall: 1-2-0 (4-4-0, 3rd Place out of 4)

The deck was pretty fun to play when it got going and there were a lot more lines than I anticipated - need to figure out which attacks or plays bring the most benefit a few turns down the line. I guess that could be said about any deck but I felt it more here since the aggression and draining needed to sync up well. It’s really important to utilize all the mana, sinking into Lunar Convocation where needed to get some card advantage and pinging yourself to potentially trigger it as well.

Reflection: I definitely see a few cards that I’m going to think about changing out, including Moonstone Harbinger and Elas il-kor, Sadistic Pilgrim. I might bring Cruelclaw’s Heist in from the sideboard and need to figure out what to do with the Starseer Mentor in there as I didn’t board it in anywhere. I was initially thinking it could be good for longer grindy match-ups (as could adding Aclazotz) but I actually want to try to just go faster rather than giving in to their playstyle. I also have to figure out what I can bring in to interact with artifacts as that turned out to be a problem in one match and another game.

While I’ll have some Standard updates soon (refined Rabbits deck, updated Orzhov Midrange deck, and new Bats deck), I decided last minute to take part in another Bloomburrow Sealed event.

I was led into Rakdos Lizards considering I had 11 different lizards in my pool along with some removal in my colors and an anthem. Again, I already learned my lesson with this set to stick to two colors. When I had lizards last week, I had tried three colors and in one game couldn’t cast anything and in the other I got flooded.

Rares and Mythics included The Infamous Cruelclaw, Hired Claw, & Hearthborn Rattler. Deck as follows:

Match 1: W 2-0 (BYE)

This event was at the same place where I had my bye in round 1 last week; crazy it happened again. 8 players in the event but one had dropped, so got a lucky free win.

Again, I’ll take the free wins in events like this as first place was a Prerelease Kit.

Match 2: W 2-1

Opponent was on Golgari raccoons. I got out to a blistering start to win Game 1 with Hired Claw, adding a +1/+1 counter on turn 2, followed by Hearthborn Rattler into Thought-Stalker Warlock. Game 2 he got out an early Innkeeper’s Talent to add counters, combined with squirrel synergies to get a bulky board that I couldn’t get through and wore me down. Game 3 we were exchanging some early removal and I was able to get out my Blacksmith’s Talent and level it all the way up. Any creature I drew became a threat and he was forced into chump blocking whatever came in with double strike and haste. He did get out a Rottenmouth Viper, along with an attack. I decided to take 14 damage from it, down to 6, as I had no choice but to go all in to kill him next turn, and that’s exactly what I did with my Junkblade Bruiser.

Match 3: L 1-2

Prior to the match we agreed to split the packs in the prize pool and play for just the promo card from the Prerelease Kit. So we each got 4 packs no matter what rather than a 6/2 split, so no real pressure going in.

Opponent was on Dimir with discard, threshold, and unblockable goals. Game 1 he got out an early Gossip’s Talent, leveled up, along with an Azure Beastbinder which enabled him to attack in unblockable while shutting off one of my creatures each turn. It ended up being a slow 4 damage per turn death as I couldn’t get through. Game 2 I had some early removal to hold him at bay until I got my Blacksmith’s Talent out again eventually leveled up. I was able to play continuous threats, swinging in with haste and double strike, including whatever their evasive ability was (trample, menace, flying). Game 3 was a mucked up board until his Wick, the Whorled Mind started going off, enabling him to sack snails to destroy my creatures while getting card advantage. I did get my Blacksmith’s Talent out again but his board was too massive with all the advantage and he was able to ultimately swing in with everything for the kill.

Overall: 2-1-0 (5-3-0, 2nd Place out of 8)

Happy to have come in 2nd place of course with a chance at winning the event. I didn’t get blown out in either of my matches, so I’m getting better at understanding the synergies between the colors while building a deck with a good curve. Brutally important to lay out the cards by ‘turn’ when deck building - it really lets you see what the potential plays are as you move through the game. It’s an aggressive set, so having a good curve is a necessity.

Reflection: The classes were broken in Limited. In 4-5 of the 6 games played, a class had a major impact, either straight up winning the game or getting someone far enough ahead to close it out. If you get a nice class with some synergy, get it out and level it up as soon as possible.

I literally only drew The Infamous Cruelclaw once and it was discarded in Match 3; really would’ve liked to see what it can do.

Following Prerelease Weekend, I decided to build a couple of “fun” decks to play with during Standard weekday events.

I’ve quickly put together a Rabbits deck with my available cards to see if I can go fast and wide to take some wins. Here’s my deck (which will still needs to be tuned as I just used what I had on hand) along with my experience at the weekday “Standard Showdown”:

This week’s event is interesting because Bloomburrow is legal but we technically aren’t past rotation yet, so it’s this strange middle ground where MID/VOW/NEO/SNC are still legal while BLB has been added to the format.

Match 1: L 1-2

Game 1 on the draw ended up being a super quick loss to mono-red aggro. The deck was already updated for rotation and contained some lizards and haste mice along with the usual suspects. He was able to get two Hired Claw out quick and pump them as well. Their pings each attack forced me into chump-blocking and I couldn’t build up a board.

Game 2 on the play I was able to get out Valley Mightcaller then Finneas, Arc Archer, followed by a couple of creatures on turn three which led to pumps and card draw advantage. I was able to get wide and big to win.

Game 3 on the draw and he got ahead quickly again. Brushlands forced me into giving up life that I really couldn’t afford to. A Beza, the Bounding Spring helped me stay afloat while he ran out of gas for a bit, but being at 3 life it was inevitable that he’d draw a burn spell to kill me, which is exactly what happened.

Match 2: L 1-2

Game 1 on the draw again and playing mono-red aggro again (pre-rotation version). Super fast Game 1 as he took out my creatures with burn spells while getting prowess triggers to take me out quick.

Game 2 on the play and was able to again get out some creatures early and pump with Finneas. I got him down to three life and then he pulled off an attack followed by a Brotherhood’s End to kill all my creatures. Luckily he was tapped out and I was able to swing in with my Restless Prairie on the next turn for the win.

Game 3 on the draw I was only able to interact a bit early with an Elspeth’s Smite but he flipped an Invasion of Tarkir and dropped a Urabrask’s Forge early that was putting on increasing pressure. His dragon was free to attack alone, taking out a creature per turn while hitting me for 4. Drawing land/land down the stretch led to the inevitable loss.

Match 3: Dropped - No incentive to keep playing as there are no rewards for 1 win

Overall: 0-2-0 (2-4-0; 8th place out of 8)

Reflection: I can’t tell if it was a coincidence but winning both games on the play and losing all four on the draw might be telling. Really hard to tell though considering the sample size and since I only played aggro during the event. Aggro is just so fast and it wants to be on the play. I probably need to sideboard some more removal if aggro is going to be a main component of the format (which it always has). I’m going to consider a few updates to the deck but will definitely plan to play with it again. The two games that I won showed a glimpse of what this deck could do and it was fun to play.

Brushlands really hurt against aggro; every point of life is so crucial - if I’m stuck with Brushlands in the opening hand in a similar match then I probably need to mull.

Beza really helped to stabilize a couple of times coming out of the sideboard with a big body, some chump blockers, and desperately needed life gain; impressed with that card in certain situations.

Three Tree City did nothing in aggro and was just a dead card, but I think I’ll keep it in there for longer match-ups where the creatures are coming out and I’m getting card draw to keep dumping out rabbits. That being said, I only have one Cavern of Souls in the deck right now; probably need to include a couple more in case I run into Control, and Three Tree City might take the hit.

While I plan to do a post on my profile (formats played, history, likes/dislikes) to give you a sense of who I am, Bloomburrow is here and I thought first I’d just dive into my experience this weekend with the new set.

This month we are off to a cutesy world of critters, and Standard is rotating (finally) with its release.

I’m still digesting the impact rotation will have on Standard, so I’ll save those thoughts for another day as well.

Prerelease weekend enables you to get some early real-world experience with the set, new mechanics, and various archetypes all while improving on your Sealed skills.

While the archetypes appear to have a ton of synergy (which is going to be a nightmare to track in paper), Sealed doesn’t usually enable you to focus on just one simply because your card pool isn’t large enough.

This will be a breakdown of my decks and experience.

Day 1 (Friday): Landed on a Bant deck with a mix of Rabbits and Frogs. Deck as follows:

I let my rares drive my decision on deck choice. I was hoping I could get some bounce synergy out of the frogs which could produce card advantage while my rabbits went wide. My main concern with the deck though was my lack of removal.

Match 1: W 2-0

Built up a nice board in Game 1 with my rabbits though I struggled to finish the game until my fliers came out. Game 2 my frog synergies started kicking in and again I was able to overwhelm the board and strike through. I was really impressed with the deck and (stupidly) had 3-0 on my mind.

Match 2: L 0-2

My opponent was on raccoons and birds and in Game 1 he dropped a ton of fliers and got over me quickly. Game 2 was much closer and I had him down to 4 life until he was able to cast Beza, the Bounding Spring to get a treasure, two creatures, and 4 life which stabilized him and allowed him time to drop his big fliers out again to kill me.

Match 3: L 0-2

Not really a close match at all. My opponent pulled out Mabel, Heir to the Cragflame both games and just got free equippers and unblockable creatures to smash me. My lack of removal proved to be my downfall.

Overall: 1-2-0 (2-4-0, 16th Place out of 26)

Reflection: A bit disappointed to get trounced after such a solid Game 1, but really enjoyed the challenge of a new set. Again, the synergy just looks to be off the charts. The rabbits going wide needs some pump-ability and the frogs bouncing back to hand gives you tons of bonuses and card advantage as long as you have the mana to keep ahead. I’m not sure how I’m going to be able to track all the triggers in a fully efficient deck (but I’ll have to figure that out).

Day 2 (Saturday): Mardu with a mixed focus on Mice and Lizards, due to Mabel, Heir to Cragflame and The Infamous Cruelclaw.

Felt like my mix of lizards and mice would have some really powerful synergies if I could get them out together and put on pressure.

Match 1: W 2-0 (BYE)

Uneven players so I was granted a bye first round, which is great. The top prize for this prerelease was another prerelease kit so happy to take free wins (each win is a Play Booster as well)

Match 2: L 0-2

In Game 1, my hand filled up with red cards yet I had no red mana. Simply couldn’t cast my spells. In Game 2, I had the opposite problem and was land flooded, pulling out 11/16 lands and unable to keep pace. Pretty quick match loss and didn’t get out either of my Legendary leaders.

Match 3: W 2-0 (FORFEIT)

My opponent left! Okay, another free pack and home early (and I won a promo pack for the lucky draw!), not a bad deal. But disappointed to not actually get to try out my deck and see if it could’ve been competitive.

Overall: 2-1-0 (4-2-0, 4th Place out of 10)

Reflection: While I only played two games and my wins were via byes, I realized (in combination with Friday) that three-color decks are really hard in this set. There aren’t dual lands or treasure generators, and the only few mana dorks are in green. I need to be cognizant of this as I roll into Day 3 and will definitely be looking to go two colors.

Day 3 (Sunday): Orzhov. As mentioned, sticking to two colors considering my difficulty with three on the prior days.

Felt reallllly good about my deck going in, decent curve, sufficient interaction, and some light synergies.

Match 1: Win 2-0

Game 1 went pretty well, hitting a great curve and sufficient removal to win the game handily. Game 2 my opponent built a better board and was draining me with some effects, but a timely Psychic Whorl and some removal helped me climb back and ultimately get ahead for the win. My opponent was way too happy to swing in and trade creatures when I had more cards in hand, a mistake that may have cost him a game.

Match 2: Win 2-0

In Game 1 my opponent didn’t get red mana for a while (playing Izzet) which let me get far enough ahead for an easy win. Game 2 was much closer, both of us exchanging a lot of interaction to keep the boards pretty clean. On a pivotal target, he returned a creature to his hand and I was again able to immediately Psychic Whorl to make him go to zero cards. Consistent threats allowed me to overrun him.

Match 3: Win 2-0

Championship match and in Game 1 my opponent kept a risky hand with a one lander. I was able to drop Iridescent Vinelasher on turn 1 for some early pings, followed by some other small creatures, then flashed in a Downwind Ambusher on Turn 4 to take out his only creature and continue swinging in for the win. Game 2 saw us both dropping our best creatures but my interaction was able to pull me ahead of his bigger creatures which led to him needing to chump block down the stretch, as I was able to finally put him away with a wide board and some fliers.

Overall: 3-0-0 (6-0-0, 2nd Place out of 12)

Reflection: Two colors is clearly the way to go in this set. Finding some synergies is a bonus but most important is that nice curve and sufficient interaction since a lot of the creatures can build off each other. Keeping those threats at bay was key. Fantastic run, winning three packs for my efforts. Unfortunately I finished in 2nd place as the determining tiebreaker (after ties in points, Opponents’ Match Winning %, and Game Winning %) was the OGW (Opponents’ Game Winning %) - mine being 49.2% while his was 52.4%. It didn’t impact anything in terms of prizes, so all good. Really great way to close out Prerelease Weekend.

You are probably wondering, "What the heck is this now? More MTG content in an already flooded space? It can't be!".

Well it can, and it is, so get those thoughts out of your head.

This is TekDecksMTG and this post in particular is my 'welcome' post, so...um...welcome!

This blog will serve as my journey as a Magic the Gathering player, from 90s kid who only played with his best friend and whose mom threw all his cards out when he went to college, through the guy that picked the game back up during COVID and has played intermittently since, to the future Pro Tour player (doubtful, but maybe?).

At the moment there is no streamlined focus to this blog other than the game - it will be all things MTG as I experience them and share with you, along with a lot of things I will probably miss in a game with over 2,000 rules. I don't want to back myself into any corners as I start out, but will naturally gravitate towards what I enjoy writing about the most and maybe what others enjoy reading. It’s really just a place for me to write, learn, and converse.

I play local events and Arena, crack way more packs than one should be allowed, and my non-playing time is taken up by MTG videos & podcasts (besides of course my full-time non-card-playing job and limited hours of sleep). I've even started reading some of the early books to learn more about the lore of the game I fell back in love with.

My hope is that my thoughts will entertain you while I reflect on my interactions and improvements I can make.