Nationals Standard portion and Top 8 part 1

The preparation:
Let me start this out by saying that I did not know what deck to play. I was trying out all the decks from recently concluded Nationals from other countries and did not like any of them. Although practice was not an issue because we proxied these decks just to see how they play out, acquisition time for cards was running out. Stillmoon Cavaliers were soaring to Php 400 each, Hallowed Burials were nowhere to be found, Kithkin uncommons were selling like hotcakes, and the elves components like Regal Force and Primal Command were in very minimal quantities that it became impossible to get 4 of them.

I built a proxy Faeries and BR Iyanaga deck and played with our store tambays the whole week. The BR deck seemed really nice but I can't help but question a few card choices. This is when I talked to Ogie Jaro, our team's aggro specialist.

Ogie: "Isa lang naman tatandaan mo pag deck ng hapon e"
JT: "Ano?"
Ogie: "Wag ka na magtanong, sumunod ka nalang kasi tama na yung gawa nila"

So BR it is! Easy on the brain very little cards needed to complete. I was really gravitating towards the BR deck up until Lloyd Tan showed up Thursday and made short work of the deck with his homebrew RG deck that bore resemblance to Jund. He sent me back to the drawing board.

Edsel Alvarez sent me a text message Friday morning saying that he found Hallowed Burials and Cascade Bluffs lying around his house. Was that a sign? I called him up, picked up the cards, and built Shuuhei Nakamura's 5-color control deck. I changed a total of 6 cards in the deck. I took out the 3rd Cruel Ultimatum for a copy of Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker. For some reason, I also did not like having Broodmate Dragons in the deck and replaced all 3 with Baneslayer Angels. The last change that I made was to take out the Identity Crisis from the sideboard to make way for 2 Ethersworn Canonists.

My final list:

2 Cascade Bluffs
1 Exotic Orchard
3 Island
2 Mystic Gate
4 Reflecting Pool
3 Sunken Ruins
2 Vivid Crag
4 Vivid Creek
3 Vivid Marsh
2 Vivid Meadow

3 Baneslayer Angel
3 Mulldrifter
3 Plumeveil

2 Agony Warp
3 Broken Ambitions
2 Cruel Ultimatum
1 Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker
4 Cryptic Command
1 Doom Blade
4 Esper Charm
1 Essence Scatter
3 Hallowed Burial
4 Volcanic Fallout

2 Deathmark
1 Essence Scatter
4 Great Sable Stag
2 Ethersworn Canonist
1 Liliana Vess
1 Pithing Needle
2 Puppeteer Clique
2 Runed Halo

My 1st opponent in standard was Mark Arriola who was playing a deck which I thought was 5-color control. In the 1st game, he dropped a Great Sable Stag on his 4th turn. I was thinking; "Maindeck Sable Stags in 5cc... why didn't I think of that? That was awesome.". The stag prompted me to play Hallowed Burial, a 1-for-1 exchange which I think made Mark very happy. As the game went on, I noticed that he was not playing 5cc, he was playing Jund control. My strategy became a lot simpler; use Esper Charms to make him discard, bait a creature for him to kill, and then use Cruel Ultimatums to get the creature back and make him discard more. Strategy worked like a charm and I won the match 2-0.

My next opponent was Mark Joven; a familiar face in the store and a veteran Faeries player. He dropped vivid land after vivid land during his turns which made me think; "What happened to the fae deck that you have been practicing for weeks?". His team apparently had a cardpool problem that prompted him to switch decks. His lack of practice playing the deck was obvious. You see, in control mirrors, the 1st player to make a move will most likely end up losing. It does not matter if you resolve a Cruel Ultimatum on that 1st move, if you make that 1st move, you will probably lose. Control players would prefer to discard a card on their end step rather than make a move 1st. With this in mind, we can conclude that not missing land drops is the key to this matchup. Mark was a bit unlucky during the 1st game as he missed one too many land drops. I was at 18 lands vs his that were only a little over 10. With the mana advantage, I was able to play non-evoked Mulldrifters which were able to go the distance. In the second game, the big turning point was when I decided to tap-out as bait so that he could play Cruel Ultimatum without fear of it being countered, and he did. Since he was now tapped out, I dropped a Nicol Bolas on the board which stayed there until my opponent scooped.

I found myself playing against a bad matchup in the 3rd round. It was Adan Mate, playing his own take of BR. His build was so quick that it made very short work of me in the 1st game. I could not even remember the sequence of plays that transpired, all I could remember was me praying that I draw my Baneslayer Angels. I managed to steal a win on the 2nd game using Mulldrifters (of all things). The 3rd game was once again very quick. The game ended with me at 3 life and having 7 mana and Cruel Ultimatum as my only spell. He was at a healthy life total with a Figure of Destiny in play and a card in hand. I had no choice but to play the ultimatum. His last card turned out to be a Flame Javelin that hit me in the dome when I tapped out.

2-1, quota reached and ready to draft.

Shards of Alara block promo drafts

Shards-Conflux-Reborn drafts are now offered at a discounted rate of Php 400 entry fee. Winner takes all; the 3-0 finisher will get 2 M10 packs as prize. The drafts are DCI sanctioned.

Regular 5-4-2-2 and pack per win +1 SOA-CON-ARB and M10 drafts are still available.

Other tournaments:
Thursdays: Standard
Fridays: Legacy

Drafting with JT: Nationals Edition, Draft 2

I was sitting at 4-2 prior to the 2nd draft and badly needed to score a 3-0 on this pod. Of course, the common tendency is to wish to open a bomb like Broodmate Dragon on pack 1. Lo and behold; Crucible of Fire... again. It was the same rare that I opened in my Shards of Alara pack from draft 1. This pack was a bit different though because it had Rhox War Monk, Seaside Citadel, Resounding Thunder, and the card that Sebastian Thaler picked over those in PT Honolulu; Kathari Screecher. I took Resounding Thunder. It was either RG, Naya, or Jund. I got passed a Knight of the Skyward Eye and so I took it. Welkin Guide, Naya Panorama, Magma Spray, Rockslide Elemental, Elvish Visionary, Yoked Plowbeast, and a very late Bone Splinters. Voices at the back of my head started whispering, telling me to shift to Jund, Bone Splinters is a sign.

The sudden turn of events while drafting the 1st pack made me decide to play conservatively. I took 3 copies of Matca Rioters, an Exploding Borders, and a Canyon Minotaur on pack 2. The only other playable card was an Absorb Vis. Not good at all. I had to maximize the rioters in order to get full power on my deck.

Then it was time for the best thing that happened in Shards block draft, the final pack; Alara Reborn. Pick 1 was very tough because I opened Finest Hour and will be passing to the guy whom I passed all those Bant goodies to in pack 1; Richard Badlon. The other cards that were in there was a Vithian Renegades and a Bant Sureblade. It seemed very simple but is actually very difficult. I had 3 copies of Matca Rioters, which means that I will probably be splashing an island that would make Finest Hour playable. Vithian Renegades on the other hand is great in this format; a Stone Rain with legs. Bant Sureblade is one of the best 2-drops in the format; the perfect card that I needed to smoothen my mana curve. Confused, thinking, 10 seconds left for the pick, and so I made the mistake of taking the Bant Sureblade. Luckily, my friend named "Bro" helped me out in the next 13 picks, yes the next 13. My 2nd pick was a Bloodbraid Elf followed by a flurry of great cards in the form of Sangrite Backlash, Stun Sniper, Vengeful Rebirth, Rhox Brute, a couple of fat creatures that cycle, and a 14th pick Igneous Pouncer; thanks "Bro".

Oh and I also caught a rare card; Time Sieve. It was better than nothing.

My final decklist:

Resounding Thunder
Magma Spray
Rockslide Elemental
Bone Splinters
Elvish Visionary
Welkin Guide

3 Matca Rioters
Ember Weaver
Canyon Minotaur
Exploding Borders
Absorb Vis

Bloodbraid Elf
Sangrite Backlash
Vengeful Rebirth
Stun Sniper
Naya Sojourners
Rhox Brute
Valley Rannet
Monstrous Carabid
2 Igneous Pouncer

1 Naya Panorama
1 Plains
3 Swamp
6 Forest
6 Mountain

SB cards that may be playable:
Knight of the Skyward Eye
Bant Sureblade

I won the 1st match by the skin of my teeth. My opponent was playing an Esper deck which had creatures that were as big as mine. The only difference was that they had flying. It was really close and I won mostly because of a misplay that he made early in the game where he decided to play Slave of Bolas on my 3/3 Rockslide Elemental, letting my Stun Sniper live. The Sniper made life hell for him the whole game.

Day 1 ended after that and so it was time to go home and have a little rest. I was testing my deck trying to see if I could have built it better. Fortunately, the answer was a big yes; -1 Swamp, +1 Island. Matca Rioters now grows up to 5/5 and Exploding Borders chips away 1/4 of your life total.

My 2nd opponent for this draft was Richard Badlon who was playing the Bant deck that I feared. To make things more interesting, he apparently opened Rafiq of the Many and Dauntless Escort. Lets have a recap shall we... Rafiq, Escort, Rhox War Monk, Finest Hour, and all the landcyclers that can make them happen. He was on the play for the 1st game and dropped Dauntless Escort on turn 3, followed by Rafiq. Fortunately, my turn 2 Stun Sniper backed up by Magma Spray was there to try and take Rafiq out. His Escort took the fall for him but I had Bloodbraid Elf backup which managed to fetch me a Bone Splinters. My sniper for Rafiq seemed like a very good trade. Now that the bombs are safely kept in his graveyard, I started playing my own beats in the form of 4/4 (and bigger) monsters which marched towards a game 1 steal. I executed the game 2 plan of taking out a Swamp for an Island. The game started quietly. I had a 3/3 Matca Rioters on turn 3 facing a Brackwater Elemental. I also had a Rhox Brute in my hand that had to wait because I sensed countermagic. Rocklide Elemental was used for bait, and it was indeed countered by Offering to Asha. My next creature was countered by Traumatic Visions, this one was a a bit painful because it was a Stun Sniper. His elemental surprisingly attacked me for 4, a rather bold move which had me puzzled. I went down to 16, and on his next turn, he played Rafiq and unearthed the elemental taking me down to 6 life. I topdecked Resounding Thunder 2 turns after but noticed that my opponent has yet to play another creature; combat tricks? Rafiq will probably continue to eat creatures at this point. I tried to fish out his tricks by double blocking Rafiq with a Matca Rioters and Rhox Brute. He bounced the brute and the lone remaining blocker died. At this point, I had to shoot the legend down; luckily, he had nothing to save it. The game was all me after that.

The last match of this draft was against Lloyd Tan who drafted a Grixis deck full of removals and a Cruel Ultimatum to send you further down. To sum it up, he did not draw enough removals to clear my board of fat creatures.

3-0 for the draft, 7-2 for the tourney. 2 more wins to go.

Drafting with JT: Nationals Edition, Draft 1

Since this blog focuses more on limited, I shall begin my Nationals aftermath article with my draft decks.

This draft started with a 1st pick Viscera Dragger; a safe pick. I got passed a Wolly Thoctar which I picked up 2nd followed by a Hissing Iguanar on 3. It got really ugly from there as there were no red or green cards that followed. I got a relevant signal in the form of a Sanctum Gargoyle at around pick 7 or so. I made a decision to shift to UW and hoped that it was not too late. At the end of pack 1, my only relevant playable cards for UW were Sanctum Gargoyle, Cloudheath Drake, Resounding Silence, Dawnray Archer, and Sighted-Caste Sorcerer. Viscera Dragger was still on standy in case I need to expand to Esper colors.

I agonized over my 1st pick for the Conflux pack because there was a semi-bomb card in the form of Mirror Sigil Seargent; a card which I do not really like but is incredible in UW decks. The other card I was thinking about was an Esperzoa, which I took because I like fast and consistent decks. The pack did not bring anything spectacular to my deck but upped my UW playable cards from 5 to 12. I needed 11 more from Alara Reborn; which is almost impossible. That means I will probably be splashing a 3rd color.

Unfortunately, Alara Reborn still did not deliver any spectacular cards to my deck. I did get a few which had very good synergy with what I already have like 2 Ethersworn Shieldmages, and 2 Glasstdust Hulks. A Thopter Foundry was also a very welcome addition even though it's power level dropped due to the disappearance of the stack in combat situations.

My final decklist:

Cloudheath Drake
Sanctum Gargoyle
Sighted-Caste Sorcerer
Dawnray Archer
Resounding Silence

2 Gleam of Resistance
Esperzoa
Unsummon
Vedalken Outlander
Esper Cormorants
Cumber Stone
Sludge Strider

2 Ethersworn Shieldmage
2 Glassdust Hulk
Thopter Foundry
Crystallization
Bant Sureblade
Sanctum Plowbeast
Talon Trooper
Deny Reality

Esper Panorama
Rupture Spire
Swamp
7 Island
7 Plains

SB cards that may be useful:
Viscera Dragger
Dispeller's Capsule
Soul Manipulation
Offering to Asha
Guardians of Akrasa
Lapse of Certainty
Brainbite
Voices from the Void

Yes, I did not pick up any rare cards in this draft. Sad.

This deck went on to finish 2-1 losing to Eric Salazar's 5-color deck which hit me with a Martial Coup FTW.

Billy goes back to back

The man whom Nick Ortega can't beat is now the man whom anyonce can't beat. Billy Gragasin and Caesar Famorcan decided to draw in the last round and play for the 1 pack difference; Billy won and became the 2nd player (Morris was 1st) to win back to back drafts at Titan Hobby Shop.

Billy and Zar

Back 2 back

Final standings:
1. Famorcan, Caesar
2. Gragasin, Billy
3. Estacio, Rey
4. Ortega, Dominic
5. Maniego, Butch
6. Abella, Rey
7. Mendoza, Paul
8. Tan, Lloyd

Billy Gragasin wins and wins

MVP; 2 Singe-Mind Ogres, and Honor of the Pure from one of his prize packs

Final standings:
1. Gragasin, Billy
2. Ortega, Dominic
3. Ascalon, Jason
4. Tan, Morris
5. Famorcan, Caesar
6. Roxas, Neil
7. Bantiles, Joel
8. Paculio, DJonathan

Ilang tulog nalang...

...Nationals na!

This is an open invitation to anyone who is reading this to come by the store and hang out. Players are welcome to bring their standard decks if they want to test with fellow players.

Of course we will still be having our daily drafts all week and a sanctioned standard tournament on Thursday. We are open from 3pm onwards from today until Thursday. As for Friday, we will be closing down at 10pm to force those who will be competing to get some rest for the big day.

Hope to see you guys and goodluck to the competitors!

JT Porter scores 1st home win

It was a Jund deck splashing white for Bull Cerodon, Behemoth Sledge, and Path to Exile. A few playable rares namely Nyxathid, Goblin Razerunners, and Charnelhoard Wurm also helped the deck to a 3-0 finish.



Final standings:
1. Porter, JT
2. Cirujales, Earl
3. Ascalon, Jason
4. Ortega, Nick
5. Oca, Allan
6. Velasquez, Ramon
7. Rama, Philip
8. Pascual, Alfred

Neil Cruz wins M10 draft

It was a late night M10 draft with an unbelievable card power (and price) level. At the end of it all, we had 2 winners.

Allan Oca wins the raredrafter of the month award

A battle for the Baneslayer Angel

UW splash Fireball

Neil Cruz wins the draft

Finals standings:
1. Cruz, Neil
2. Abella, Rey
3. Profeta, Francis
4. Porter, JT
5. Ortega, Nick
6. Bausa, Patrick
7. Dimalanta, Lawrence
8. Oca, Allan

Morris Tan wins the 1st double draft

Jund in Shards block followed by BR in M10. Morris demolishes both drafts with a perfect 6-0 record and continues his winning streak.

Unfortunately, a lot of players backed out at the last minute and we were forced to run with only 8 players. Here are some photos from the event:

Pagkain...

...at pantulak, on the house

Morris Tan, medyo busy

Final standings:
1. Tan, Morris
2. Jaro, Jhay
3. Jaro, Ogie
4. Jamir, Chip
5. Dimalanta, Lawrence
6. Chua, Jeremiah
7. Maniego, Butch
8. Oca, Allan

M10 singles now available at the store

I am feeling lazy today and so I will not list every single card that we have in stock; just the important ones that you probably care about. Prices are in Php.

Sunpetal Grove - 400
Glacial Fortress - 400
Rootbound Crag - 400
Dragonskull Summit - 400
Drowned Catacomb - 400

Honor of the Pure - 500
Great Sable Stag - 300
Ball Lightning - 250
Lightning Bolt - 50
Duress - 50

Ajani Goldmane - 450
Garruk Wildspeaker - 650
Liliana Vess - 200
Chandra Nalaar - 150
Jace Beleren - 350

Etc, etc, etc...

Check our eBay account if you want to buy these cards without the hassle of traveling.
eBay username: darth_lotus

Of course you may also drop by the store if you want to buy cards the old way.

We are on eBay

In an effort to reach internet users who do not have time to visit our shop and buy cards, we have decided to sell some MTG singles thru eBay.

We are currently accepting pre-orders for a few M10 commons and uncommons. Other cards will be listed as soon as we get a hold of them. Check out our listings and if you do not see the cards that you want, you may send me an email and I will try my best to help you out.

email address: jt_ebay3@yahoo.com
eBay username: darth_lotus

Morris Tan is indestructible!

3-peat

Final standings:
1. Tan, Morris
2. Guevarra, Jerrymel
3. Ascalon, Jason
4. Ong, Jeff
5. Rivera, Mark
6. Gragasin, Billy
7. Jaro, Ogie
8. Cabillos, Manual Ian

M10 drafts available starting next Friday, July 17, 2009.

We will be running M10 drafts as soon as the set is released this July 17. Entry fee is still the usual Php 600 or 3 M10 packs +Php 240. Be sure to save those packs that you get in the pre-release.

See you there!

Morris Tan is on a roll!

He did it again, Morris Tan won today's draft with an Esper deck featuring a Sharding Sphinx that worked overtime and a support group of protection bears, Faerie Mechanists, Esper Stormblades, etc etc etc.

Congratulations to Morris Tan, the 1st 2-time winner of our store drafts.

Final Standings:
1. Tan, Morris
2. Porter, JT
3. Roxas, Neil
4. Rama, Philip
5. Aquino, Sherwin
6. Maniego, Butch
7. Ascalon, Jason
8. Tan, Jan Vincent

July 18 and 19 premier event

What: Double draft tournament
Where: Titan Hobby Shop, unit 308 MN Square Building, Shaw Blvd. Pasig City
When: July 18 and 19 (2 events)
Seatings for the 1st draft will be posted at 12:00nn

Tournament format:
Booster draft (1 Shards-Conflux-Reborn, 1 M10-M10-M10)

Tournament structure:
Booster draft #1 followed by 3 swiss rounds followed by booster draft #2 and 3 more swiss rounds. 6 rounds total.

Player limit:
16 players per event

Entry fee:
Php 1,100

Prize structure:
1st - 12 packs (3 M10, 3 SOA, 3 CON, 3 ARB)
2nd - 8 packs (2 M10, 2 SOA, 2 CON, 2 ARB)
3rd - 4 packs (1 M10, 1 SOA, 1 CON, 1 ARB)
4th - 4 packs (1 M10, 1 SOA, 1 CON, 1 ARB)
5th - 2 packs (1 M10, 1 choice of SOA, CON, or ARB)
6th - 2 packs (1 M10, 1 choice of SOA, CON, or ARB)
7th - 2 packs (1 M10, 1 choice of SOA, CON, or ARB)
8th - 2 packs (1 M10, 1 choice of SOA, CON, or ARB)

Side events:
On demand (5-4-2-2, or pack per win +1) Shards of Alara block and M10 booster drafts

Players may pre-register at the store starting tomorrow. 1st come 1st serve basis.

A real M10 release "party"

I have always wondered why they called this event a release party.

Anyway, we will be running M10 drafts as soon as the product is released on July 17. We will also have a release "party" on July 18, Saturday. Drafts only as we do not have enough space to run sealed deck events. I call it a party because finger food and drinks (softdrinks and H2O) are on us from 5:00pm until we run out.

Alara Block drafts will also be available upon request. See you there.

We need more drafters!

Limited play requires much less preparation and is much cheaper than constructed if you learn how to play it right. Also, statistically, the better limited players always seem to qualify for Nationals much easier.

The main thrust of the store (and the articles me and my teammates write) was to improve the skills of the Filipino Magic player. The store had a vision of being a haven for drafters. A place where drafters can draft everyday; ready when they are. We have had a few speedbumps recently because the already skilled Filipino Magic players seem to be very busy with real-life obligations. This leaves them very little time to perfect their game and draft queues are not firing as often as we hoped; leaving audiences with nothing to watch. Because of this, we have decided on a move to grow new talent. Teach those who are new to the game, the young, and young-at-heart how to play limited.

My teammate and I have been writing strategy articles here and at the Neutralgrounds forums for quite some time now but we have yet to see an increase in serious limited players. Afraid maybe? I would guess so. I myself was very nervous when I first drafted back in late 2004. So how do we go about it? I guess there is nothing better than the real thing. We play it hands-on.

Unlike constructed where you already have decks ready to play, limited starts out with you building a deck from an unknown pile of cards. We have a pile of Alara block cards lying around the store and the cube to simulate this situation. It will be different from the real drafts but the approximation is enough for players to learn the basic techniques like what cards to prioritize when picking, color choices, comfort zones, etc.

Send me an email on jt_ebay3@yahoo.com if this sounds interesting to you, we will contact you when drafts are going to start so that you can watch and learn from drafters while they are at work. Please write your name and contact number. Better yet, try dropping by the store and I will give you an instant crash course if you want (here's a sample result of the latest crash course I gave). I do have internet in the shop which means I can play an online draft if you really want to watch something. The lessons are free and involves no monetary obligations; it's charity work if you will. Think about it.