The Monday Mulligan #10: Going Dark: Musings

I will post the Gatherling entry for the event (which I would have edited to include at least all decknames and colors), so you can browse the meta yourselves. The play-offs and metagame paragraphs will list the archetypes that were played (aggro, control, etc.) and how many.

Gatherling Metagame Breakdown

Play-offs:
WW by stiffdiddypinky
Blue Illusion by coolbartbr
Polish Level Grimdrifter by RaiserUK
Rogue Madness** by Zouily
Jungle Storm by andymc1
Storm Control** by Buldog333
UB Rogue Faeries by Colakim3
Storm Control by JMason

Metagame:
Aggro - 11
Control: - 11
Aggro-Control: - 7
Aggro-Combo: - 1
Unclassifiable - 4

Discussion:
It has been some time, but WW is on top of the pile again. Bringing a list without any Morningtide and Riftwatcher/Martyr SB to fight red aggro, stiff beat his way through Grim, King, the Mirror, Storm (!) and Rogue Madness to take the finals against coolbartbr's Blue Illusion 2-0. Stiff must have been on top of his game, because Storm, Grim and King can all make WW's life miserable, if build correctly.

Second place went to Blue Illusion/Beats, an old standby that has been largely overshadowed by its brother. I find Spiketail Drakeling the only nice inclusion compared to the red variant, because it can beat and protect. In every other way, I find Use UR Illusion to be superior.

The top four consisted of Polish Level Grimdrifter and Rogue Madness. What is up with all these Grimdrifter decks running around? After ostry1337 finished second with his Polish Level Grimdrifter deck, everyone and his brother seems to try out the Aurochsdrifter variants. A grand total of five people played it, one positioning himself into the top4. It also spawned a discussion thread about the different versions running around (with (Polish) or without counterspells (Pyramid Scheme)) and its viability and the comparison with Grimdrifter and Kingdrifter. I say; read that if you want to now more.

Rogue Madness is based on the fact that most Madness outlets are Rogues, enabling both Madness and Prowl at the same time. Sadly, Zouily hasn't supplied a list at this point in time. Colakim3's Faerie Rogue deck, without the madness, will be discussed in the Spotlight. A third rogue and/or faerie deck was played, but didn't make top8. This does generate a 66% play-off percentage for the Morningtide infused lists.

The top8 was rounded out by three Storm lists; Jungle Storm was beaten by PL Grimdrifter, recurring Festercreep in combination with removal for your heavy hitters will do that to you. The Storm Control decks were beaten by WW and Blue Illusion. The fact that WW beat Storm I can understand, sometimes WW just has the nuts and Storm can't keep up, but Blue Illusion beating Storm? No way...

Looking at the rest of the metagame, we can conclude that the Kithkin version of WW is really bad. It has made multiple showings (three in this event) but hasn't made play-offs yet. All four RDW decks went lost in the Swiss, being beaten by all kinds of decks; King, PL Grim, Rogues. The RDW vs. Rogues matchup is a funny one, because all the Rogues have evasion blocking is a no-no. The speed of both decks is almost identical (though slightly favorable for the red deck), but Morsel Theft gives the Rogue player 3 life, which is annoying.

Two versions of Grimdrifter and one Kingdrifter showed up, but didn't make a splash. Both Use UR Illusion and Blinkdrifter also got stuck in the Swiss. So my indication of last week, that there would be a lot of Blinkdrifter and WW, hasn't come true. But WW did win :P. For next week, I think the surge of Grimdrifter decks will continue, Faeries/Rogues will also pick up play, not because it is very good, but because it is new and fun. The rest is anybodies guess.

Today I am joined by yogev_ezra, a MPDC newbie who has played just 16 matches up to this date, with a couple of those in his own newly created FPDC, a GMT FutEX event. Through this interview we get to know him a bit better, and realize he is no Magic newbie in the slightest sense.

Who are you if you're not playing PDC and where are you from?

My name is Yogev Ezra (as my nickname could suggest). When I wanted to signup for MTGO I wanted to use my forums nick which is JohnS, but I could not register that nick. When I asked Customer Service why, they answered that John is not allowed cause it's a slang for "toilet". So I just went with my real name {s} I am from Tel-Aviv, Israel, but I did stay in the Holiday Inn exp.... err I mean I did stay in Nijmegen, where you are from, for 3 months.

They don't allow such a common name as John? LOL

You are a new face on the PDC scene, how long have you been playing Magic and MTGO?

I am a paper player since 1994, and play Online since 2004.

How did you come in contact with PDC and what made you decide to join?

I know about player-run events from MTGO WotC forums for a long time (I think ever since I am on MTGO). However I never actually participated in one before, since I guess I did not take them as serious/competitive enough. One month ago I decided to give them a try, and browsed the PRE forum for the events that it had
to offer. From PRE forums I got to www.pdcmagic.com (this site), from which I learned most of what I know about PDC. I do not regret starting to play in PDC since I really enjoy it and find it much more competitive than it might look from the first glance.

Unfortunately for me, I always try attending a [non-PDC] tournament with a "Rogue" deck (not "Rogue" as in Rogue/Faeries but as opposite to "Net-deck"). Hence I lose most of the sanctioned tournaments I play in. So I was really happy when I found about PDC, which allowed me to play "Rogue" decks without spending too much money if I lose, and still have a chance at Top8 at the same time. That to say, I am not a poor man and can allow a 300$ deck, but I really liked the idea of commons only.

What is your favorite format? Standard, FutEx, Classic, Block,etc.?

I like playing [non-PDC] Extended the most. Classic is fun, but sometimes too fast to really enjoy the game, and I find Standard and Block Constructed too limited to have a versatile pool and too fast evolving to follow them up. Unfortunately PDC did not have a real Extended format, so I went with the one closest to it - FutExt.

What do you most enjoy about playing Magic?

The skill and involvement it takes to play and continue being on top, the unpredictability of the game, the never-ending change and fun:

There is no single best deck. The card that yesterday was a top rare collecting 50$ a piece, tomorrow might turn to be a complete piece of junk (Tarmogoyf, I challenge you) Every game you play, even with the same deck, will be different. Even if you have board control and are about to win, your opponent might use an unexpected trick that will completely change the board situation. You have to constantly practice playing; otherwise you will start losing even if you were once a World Champion.

I can compare Magic to a classic turn-based strategy Civilization (from Microprose). In that game, you had to continuously develop and be always at the edge, no matter how strong you were and how many resources you had, otherwise your opponent (the computer) always had the chance to overthrow you and win the game.

Sadly I do not have much time to play in the last few years, so I can only devote my spare time to as much as one game. Since I first installed MTGO in October 2004, I tried to install and play World of Warcraft, Tales of Pirates, Quake and other games. None of those games is now installed on my computer, and MTGO is there. This tells you something, doesn't it?

Your favorite Standard PDC card?

Llanowar Elves. I am glad it was reprinted in X edition.

Only a short time on the scene, you already hijacked the Friday GMT spot and now you are going to host FPDC, FutEx for GMT. What made you decide so quickly you want to do this?

[Unfortunately PDC did not have a real Extended format, so I went with the one closest to it - FutExt.] Funnily enough, there was no FutExt event running at timezone I could play, so I had TO HOST one myself (FPDC) to be able to play. MPDC is the only other event with suitable timezone for me, so although I like Standard a bit less, I still like attending it and find it really enjoyable.

I like to volunteer and help people with what I can. Just giving out money or cards I feel is stupid, but hosting an event is a welcome help and I am happy I have enough time to do it. To clarify, I am not a newbie in tournament organizing, as I organized over 50 paper Magic events in Israel, including one of Israeli Nationals a few years ago, and was even a DCI Level 1 Judge for a year. So the FPDC attendees may be assured that I will try to make their play experience as pleasant as possible and resolve the issues as competently as possible. I will also try to give out better prizes than an average PDC event, since I have enough resources to donate my own prizes, and I feel that prizes are an integral part of Magic tournaments.

MTGO v3 is coming closer every day. Have you played the beta? What are your thoughts about the state of the program now and it's possibilities in the future?

I did play the MTGO III Beta a year ago, but only cause I had to. I have to admit that the GUI is real crap, I hate it. The only (possible) advantage I will get from MTGO III when it launches, is (hopefully) less crashes. I do look forward to have it improved though, and finally be actually better than version 2.5

I assure you it is far better now, just not good yet.

Thanks for your time, any final words?

You are doing amazing job with hosting MPDC! If I only could have one wish, just make it 4 Swiss rounds instead of 3. And of course, I was really happy that you offered to interview me, and really appreciate your time! (And i hope Worth does not kill me if he reads this interview)

Maby if I get the hang of this hosting stuff I will!

Previous interviews:
JMason
SerraGodFather
Kingritz
kehmesis
RaiserUK
53N531/Sensei
icarodx

Faerie Rogues, as piloted by Colakim3 at MPDC 2.04

Creatures
4 Latchkey Faerie
4 Looter il-Kor
4 Nightshade Stinger
4 Pestermite
4 Spellstutter Sprite
3 Cloud Sprite
3 Thieving Sprite

Spells
4 Morsel Theft
4 Nameless Inversion
4 Negate

Lands
12 Snow-Covered Island
10 Snow-Covered Swamp

SIDEBOARD
4 Festercreep
4 Martyr of Bones
4 Terror
3 Grim Harvest

Discussion:
I have been toying with Spellstutter Sprite/Latchkey Faerie based tempo decks in both FutEx and Classic, but I haven't looked at standard yet. The reason for this is Bonesplitter. The older formats can use this piece of Equipment to create pretty hard beating evasive creatures out of something as lowly as a Cloud Sprite. In Standard, all these evasive flashers are 1/1's for and 2/1's for . Your best creature is Latchkey Faerie.

That doesn't mean this hasn't got a place in Standard. The strength of this deck is the rediculous evasive speed it can produce, if left unchecked. We have seen this a couple weeks ago, when PredatorGR piloted his list to the play-offs. I think the strenght of this deck lies in three cards: Latchkey Faerie (because it is a highly efficient cantripping 3/1 for , meaning it delivers the beats and reach), Perstermite (it can almost set a control opponent an entire turn back, if played correctly, but it also saves you from that aggro assault while you fly over for the win) and Spellstutter Sprite (awesome tempo).

Those three are neccesities in my opinion, but they need support. First up is Nightshade Stinger, because it enables Prowl and Spellstutter turn 2. Next is Cloud Sprite, because you need 6~8 one drops if you want to regularily Spellstutter something turn 2. After that, it becomes a lot shadier. I personally like Morsel Theft if you go for the quick kill, so that is in (just don't play it in the earlygame, it is bad for tempo), and Infiltrator Il-Kor for massive unblockable beats and Prowl shenanigans. I think the inclusion of Negate in this deck, like Colakim has done, is great. You aren't worried about creatures, because everything
has evasion. You just want to protect your important beaters from removal. Round out the deck with some removal of your own in Nameless Inversion and something like Looter Il-Kor for sifting and enabeling Prowl and your set! That means in this example list, I only really don't like the Thieving Sprites, they are to small for their cost.

For the sideboard, I'd go for Terror to kill annoying EE's and Harvest for the removal heavy matchups. Bones isn't neccesary because you will have lost once your opponent starts harvesting, they can do that far better than you.

Viable? Maby, without Storm (Grapeshot your army?) and Festercreep. But I don't think it is good enough. It can catch up on people by suprise, but if you know how it opperates (kill the Latchkey enabler!), it usually stumbles on tempo enough to be able to win against it. Just leave your Terrors at home.

Previous decks:
Blinkdrifter
Gruul Warriors
Dreamspore Rock
Lorwyn Season:
Red Deck Wins
Storm Control
New Tricks and Grimdrifter
Use UR Illusion
GW Changelings

According to this announcement from our dear Community Liason Solice, Leagues have stopped spawning in the 2.5 client. I don't play limited, so I don't care much, but this does mean we have an approximate seven (7!) days untill the 2.5 servers are turned off. There is no official statement of the turning-off, but we do have this message from Worth, which states that 15 days before mIII launch Leagues will stop spawning and 8 days before launch the entire 2.5 client will stop working. This means eight (8!) days of darkness without our dear addiction. If you have any questions, post them here, PDC discussion about the announcement can be found here.

Now what can you do after we have gone dark and entered the shadow? Well, you could:

• Prepare for the other upcomming Shadow; go rumor hunting for Shadowmoor.

• If there is a back-up server (WotC has hinted in this direction), maby we could organize a PDC PRE? This would generate a lot of new input, because of all the competition-deprived MTGO addicts running around.

• Write an article for PDCmagic.com! In this thread Polyjak has outlined a lot of job openings to get further involved in the community. Lots of these vacancies are of a somewhat longer-lasting kind, but writing an article (maybe on your favorite PDC casual deck, or that undiscovered Classic tech/deck, or outlining a game theory applicable to Pauper) can also be a one-time effort. Maybe you even get the spark and become a regular writer! And if you want to help out in the longer-lasting kind of jobs, I'm not stopping you.

• Try and dive in a different format. I am a Standard player, with about 2~3 Classic/FutExt decks. Now there is a GMT FutEx event, and Colakim3 has joined the ranks of the Tightwads (he plays FutEx) I need to delve into a new format. I'll take the week break to read up on the good and the bad.

• Read up on the Koran. I don't know if you guys outside of the Netherlands have heard of the commotion on politician (name Geert Wilders) has stirred here by releasing the muslim bashing film Fitna. It is a really bad youtube movie, without any content, but most other Dutch politicians are in an (undeserving) uproar about it. To get a better understanding of the problem, I will be reading the muslim holy book.

• Go watch "No Country for Old Men", "There Will Be Blood" and "Stardust", all three great movies you should have seen.

• Complain about v3 on the WotC boards

• Go into a one-week hybernation.

• Pay attention to your girlfriend/boyfriend/wife/husband/child(ren)/family/friends (stripe what isn't applicable)(NO, not on your monitor smartass!).

• I'm done, think of your own stuff to do....

Furthermore, MPDC needs some help, we are looking for:

Dedicated Data Junkie

Job Components:

• Gatherling Metagame Entry; Collecting the metagame (played decks per attendee) during the event (with the help of the attendees themselves and watching games) and inputing the decknames into Gatherling, preferably alongside a couple of cards to indicate colors.

• Working the MPDC Season File, which includes posting the win/loss/play-off scores per attendee per event into an excel file (once every week) and posting the calculated Rankings as a response to the MPDC Season 2 Master Document.

PM me on the boards or in-game if you want to help out!

Hope to see you Monday for another MPDC.