Witt Drafting

Our magic group at Wittenberg wants to draft soon! When is a good time either this week or next week?

(Usually we start around 6pm and go until 10ish. Alternative plans can be made for people who need to drop early. Generally MTWT are the days that work... weekends are tough.)

Wanna help us decide, chime in here! (Please identify yourself so I don't double count people who comment here and also email me.)

Bonus!

WittCon 9 Magicking

Some decisions need to be made about the magic tournaments at WittCon 9, which will take place in March, 2012 at Wittenberg University. Any input you have will be awesome!

I got a lot of good feedback for running our constructed event as a OneCC event: this would mean all non-basic land cards in each deck must all have the exact same casting cost. This does not mean converted casting cost, but actual casting cost. Thus, grizzly bears cannot be in the same deck as incinerate. Also, Fountain of Youth cannot be in the same deck as Karakas (one costs 0, the other has no cost).

If we do OneCC, what sets of cards will we allow? Standard? (probably too restrictive) Vintage? (This is nice, but some casting costs might need to be ruled out...) It might be fun to try the new Modern format, which basically includes all cards from Mirrodin forward, minus a short banned list.

We also have to decide what to do for the limited portion of our con involvement. Shall we just do another Wacky Sealed event, or something more interesting?

Bloodcrank at Main Street Comics and Games, Springfield, OH

My local games store runs standard on Thursdays!  So, two days ago, I gave my deck idea a try.  I've slowly been putting together a deck based around the beautiful mindcrank-bloodchief ascension synergy.  Also there's lots of red-black removal.

The deck is far from well-built (list to be supplied later) but there aren't enough staggershock and I failed to add any doom blade.  Or pyroclasm.  Oops.

Round 1: versus Robert and his efficient Red-Green creatures.  These were two quick games.  Both games opened with me getting a quick ascension, both eaten by acidic slime on his turn 4.  I handled obstinate baloth, but couldn't stand up to inferno titan swinging for megadamage.  Oof.  Games: 0-2.  Rounds: 0-1.

Round 2: Charles came at me next with his red-green-black deck, very similar to Robert's.  I died to different big creatures this time.  In game 1, I met my end to a few hits from a grave titan.  In game 2, I had a chance, but blew it.  I managed to get two ascensions on the board.  Before they could become relevant, however, along came acidic slimes 1 and 2.  I missed the chance to take out one of his mana-producing monkeys (Llanowar or BoP).  I did get two mindcranks and another ascension on the board, but had no artillery to finish the deal.  Grave Titan followed by primordeal hydra finished me off.  Games: 0-4.  Rounds: 0-2.

Round 3: I faced off against Brent and his mono-black vampires.  Sidenote: I'm not sure I'll keep hideous end in the main deck in future trials.  In game 1 we both mulligan down to 4.  I get two ascensions with one counter each but his tormented souls lead to bloodthirsted vampire outcasts which I couldn't handle.  Game 2 was a lot more interesting.  His plays were similar, though slower.  Just two turns before I was set to die, I had two ascensions, each with 3 counters and ready to go.  I'd been short on land---only two swamps---and drew a mindcrank.  Also in hand were a gatekeeper of malakir and a lightning bolt.  Brent hadn't seen me play mindcrank yet, so I stupidly played the gatekeeper, hoping to draw into a mountain or red source.  Next turn, I draw a swamp.  Oops: failure!  Had I played the mindcrank, then taken a bit more damage, the kicked gatekeeper would have won me the game.  Rounds: 0-3; Games 0-6.

There were five rounds, but my sleep schedule had taken some dino damage, so I sat down for my final round against Storm.  He knew my plan and straight up claimed he would out race me.  Awesome! :)  In game 1, I didn't have a chance; his red goblins swarmed me before I could get anything going.  Game 2 was a different story.  I had the ascension turn one, with lightning bolt and staggershock cast the next two turns.  On his third turn, he knocks me down to 9, but with less than 5 swingable damage showing on the board for next turn.  Turn 4, I drop a mindcrank; a gatekeeper is hiding out in my hand for next turn.  Sadly, Storm pulled out the hastey goblin for the next turn.  My last chance, shut down!  Rounds: 0-4; games: 0-8. 

Harsh.  I do think this combo deck has way more potential than it showed.  Looking back, I think I might include volt charge to help get counters on the ascension.  Unfortunately, I don't know a good way to protect the cranks and ascensions from hate.

The big story here is that all my opponents were very cool; this store is an excellent place to play! :)

A mediocre magus remembers Regionals 2003

This was a long time ago, but one of my best gaming moments.  Well... not really one moment, because the event lasted, like, 14 hours.  (I only remember this because I told my non-gaming friends and family I spent 14 hours in the same room at the Bayside Expo Center in Boston, MA.)  There were 10 rounds!!  This event was one of my proudest moments.  A deck, all of my own creation, sparring at a big tournament.

The spring of 2003 was standard season for odyssey, onslaught and seventh ed.  Psychatog and UG Madness (I still hate that deck) were the veteran contenders, while (Mirari's) Wake was starting to come on scene.  Truly a fearsome field!

Lately, I'd gotten really interested in a janky TurboLand build for extended (I'd managed to acquire playsets of Exploration and Horn of Greed right before that deck took off) so I decided to try out a similar concept for standard.  I couldn't play extra land, but I certainly could go for the infinite-turn combo!  Gurzigost + Time Stretch gave me that combo, so I built a stalling deck around it.  The deck list included:  (This is from memory, though I may have it written down somewhere, in which case I'll update it.)

2 Gurzigost
3 Time Stretch
4 Far Wanderings
4 Moment's Peace
4 Compulsion
4 Circular Logic
2 Krosan Reclamation
2 Deep Analysis
1 Obsessive Search
4 Mental Note
4 Tranquil Thicket
4 Lonely Sandbar
12 Island
10 Forest

Yes, that's half land.  The deck fiercely needed to play land every turn. 

Game one of each round was very fun.  Spend each turn drawing as many cards as possible and getting in a time stretch if feasible.  Stall, stall, stall until the library was empty, all the while listening to the opponent saying "What does your deck do?"  Then, drop a Gurzigost and next turn put time stretch (and maybe obsessive search) as the bottom AND top of my library.  Repeat ad nauseum, with the gurzigost getting in for unblockable damage (madness the obsessive search to redraw the time stretch).  If the Gurzi dies, use the other Gurzi to get it back in the library.  I probably won around 6 of my 10 game ones this way.  I remember beating (nearly?) all psychatog opponents; they didn't realize the problem until it was too late.  I played lots of psychatog.

Game two was often much faster.  I had two or three phantom centaur in the sideboard and those won me as many games against black-playing opponents as anything else.  Psychatog players were usually able to get a swift game two victory.

Game three didn't usually finish, if we even got to it.  Game one went so long that I racked up 3 draws during the day in the 10 rounds; I think they were all against psychatog. 

In total I went 3-4-3.  I know I lost to UG Madness, though I only played it once (and Wake never).  I must have played lots of aggro creatures.  I wish I recalled how many times I won because game two never finished.  Maybe none...

I remember having a great time, though! 

Magic 2012 prerelease

Partial liveblogging from the magic 2012 prere at the Game Haven in Dayton/Riverside, OH.  I opened absolute nuts:
Red: 3 shock, one fireball, fling.  Black: doomblade, 3 gravedigger, grave titan, royal assassin.  Decided to go RWB, despite some solid blue and green.  (Two rampant growths, but too much hotness in RB to justify 5 color.)

Round one I played against Alyssa running UW control.  She got Jace's erasure all 3 games, combined with Mind Unbound to deck me game 2.  Otherwise I was happy to have targets for gravedigger.  Turn 5 Serra angel in games 1 and 2 helped and grave titan won game 3.  In that last game, she tried to mind control the grave titan.  I responded with fling; she came back with negate.  Luckily sacing is part of the cost; I brought the titan back later with gravedigger to win.  We finished all three games with me at 20.  Matches: 1-0; games 2-1.

Round two I was paired against K.P., running RW.  Apparently we were both control somehow; we went nearly to time in 2 games.  Arbalest elite was ridiculous in game 1, 3-for-oneing or something ridiculous.  K.P. had to divine favor his roc egg at one point and I was forced to play around Circle of Flame.  I did win, with lots of life thanks to alabaster mage.  Game two was a bit more one-sided.  Gideon's lawkeeper + royal assassin netted me a bunch of creatures and I won without being touched.  Again I had to play around circle of flame, but grave titan doesn't mind.  Matches: 2-0; games 4-1.

Round three I faced red-blue Zack who had to deal with some tough hands.  Game 1 he drew 13 lands.  My Stormfront pegasus swang for 16 before serra angel saw the board.  I lost game 2, again at 20, when Jace milled me twice for 10 each.  The third game he scooped when I got the titan out; his deck had only given him islands.  Matches 3-0; games 6-2.

This is where the mediocre part starts.  Next up was Scott, running a green-white deck with lots of confidence.  Scott played with a friendly, but professional demeanor, and outplayed me game one to win.  Also, skinshifter is good... and fast.  Game two was a long, drawn out affair, where triple gravediggers helped hold off a solid field.  I played serra; he pacified.  He played serra; I took damage.  I played well, extending the game ~20 minutes longer than he may have expected, but lost in the end.  Oh well.  Matches 3-1; games 6-4.

I was determined to take this card pool to 4-1.  No way would I lose again.  I sat down against a red-black deck piloted by Bryan for the fifth and final round.  His deck was fast.  Game one I couldn't keep up with a bunch of little vampires and zombies.  Royal assassin kept him from attacking for many turns, but I didn't draw a plains and my hand filled up white.  Game two was much more exciting.  He took an early lead, but I hit 5 mana and got serra angel out supported by 2 gravediggers in hand.  He used consume spirit a few times to hand my guys and kept poking with a goblinish tim (only targetting players... what is this card called?) while swinging aggressively until I hit 3 life.  I then had to shock that dang goblin.  Then the titan hit the board and I cleaved him down to 6 and decimated his board.  "I've got three cards I can draw to win," he said, untapping.  He topped incinerate.  Game.  Matches 3-2; games 6-6.

Very fun!  It's also always good to see Aaron and play with him :)  Too bad we were never matched up!