2019-04-19/20 MagicFest Niagara Falls

Bought the constructed package, since I don't play Legacy.

Friday 11 AM Modern Double-Up with Dredge
Decklist: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/1821610#paper

Round 1 vs Andy G on Affinity (1-2, 0-1)
Won game 1, then games 2 & 3 he had turn 1 Grafdigger's Cage :/

Round 2 vs David L on Boros Burn (1-2, 0-2)
Won game 1, then lost to RIP in games 2 & 3 though I had a Claim in game 3.
Then I dropped :s

On to the interesting stuff!

Friday 6 PM Modern with Sultai Reclamation
Decklist: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/1774456#paper

Round 1 vs Andrew S on RGb Breach Titan (2-0, 1-0)
Very close games both times. Basically, I didn't counter the ramp spells but was able to go off before his natural land drops killed me. Countered his Through the Breaches and Primeval Titans - Remand is a big tempo play vs both. In game 2 I fired off an Assassin's Trophy on Valakut without a Surgical/Extirpate ready, and he surprised me with his own Pulse of Murasa.

Round 2 vs Tanner on Bant Spirits (2-0, 2-0)
He has a pretty slow start, leading with Noble into a Drogskol Captain. When he casts a Phantasmal Image, I fetch-Push the Captain, leaving him with double Hierarch. Over the next couple turns, he tries to resolve Collected Company. I Remand it twice and when he finally manages to resolve it the third time, it whiffs. Whew. Meanwhile, the Hierarch is swinging for a meager 2 per turn lol
Eventually I land Reclamation. If I remember correctly, he drops Deputy of Detention, I cast Teachings in response, which he then exiles with Spell Queller? and Deputy hits Reclamation. At this point I have 8 lands, Snapcaster in hand, Fatal Push and Pulse of Murasa in the graveyard. I pass the turn. He swings with Noble, and I consider chumping with Snapcaster Mage to trigger Revolt for a flashback Fatal Push. But wait, there's a better line!

1. Opponent attacks with a Noble Hierarch with 2 Exalted triggers
2. Flash in Snapcaster Mage, target Pulse of Murasa.
3. Chump block the Hierarch. Snapcaster dies.
4. End of turn: flash back Pulse, getting back Snapcaster Mage and 6 life.
5. Recast Snapcaster, targeting Fatal Push
6. Push Deputy, get back Wilderness Reclamation. Snapcaster is still alive on board.

Game 2 he has a RIP but I counter it. He applies more pressure than game 1, and also plays out Eidolon of Rhetoric and Damping Sphere. Both are roadblocks, but I push through and finish the game at 1 life.

Went for the 2-0-1 facilitated split. I should probably be writing down how big my USZs are for each game.

Saturday 2:30 PM Modern Double-Up with Sultai Reclamation

Round 1 vs Bethany on Jund (2-0, 1-0)
Bethany was a newbie to modern, apparently only having just borrowed the deck from a friend 30 mins prior. I countered or removed all her threats, and went off. Her inexperience with the deck showed when she tried to play Liliana of the Veil for 4 mana, not using Twilight Mire to filter mana & leave mana open, and not knowing that Raging Ravine could animate into a threat.
That said, I had the answers for most of those things - BBE is the scariest card in her deck.
I dug up my Summary Dismissal and may be adding it to my SB moving forward.

Round 2 vs Stephen on Boros burn (0-2, 1-1)
Beats. Game 2 I'm almost able to stabilize, but I misplay. I land Reclamation, then float some mana and Teachings for Pulse of Murasa. I have Dispel and Snapcaster in hand, but mistakenly think that I should Pulse immediately to play around Skullcrack. Next turn he slams a RIP, when I could have waited with Snapcaster Mage for Spell Snare and Dispel backup! I was at 7 life, which mostly caused my hasty misplay.

Round 3 vs Forrest on Hardened Scales (2-1, 2-1)
Game 1 he goes off with just a Steel Overseer and Animation Module, while I'm sitting around with counterspells.
Post-board is way better. Game 2 I tutor for a Fracturing Gust and sit on it as my back up plan since I'm under pretty low pressure. I tutor for another Teachings, then I decide to Consume the Meek. He has a Karn, Scion of Urza which I bounce with Cryptic then counter on the way back down (hello Ceremonius Rejection). I manage a swing with Snap + Tar Pit, and he concedes knowing the game is over. It felt a little premature, but at the same time I think it's a pretty high level skill to know when the control deck has enough resources that you can simply no longer win. Props to you, Forrest.
Game 3 he keeps a 1 lander while I get to Reclamation & a bunch of mana. His hand was pretty decent, and only needed 1 more land to get off the ground - I think it was something like Forest + Worker + Hardened Scales + 2 drops.

Saturday 6:30 PM Modern with Sultai Reclamation
Round 1 vs Chris M on GDS (1-2, 0-1)
Game 1 he has low pressure, mainly Delve threats. I Devour Flesh his Gurmag Angler and he Dismembers it in response lol
Game 2 he has a quick Zombie Fish, Stubs my spells, and I die. I am able to Surgical him and see 3 Surgical Extraction, 2 Disdainful Strokes. Also a JVP, which wasn't relevant to the game.
Game 3 he lands another early Angler... I'm almost able to stabilize at 8... I Snapcaster to Devour Flesh... he Snaps, putting flashback on Disdainful Stroke, saccing Snap to Devour Flesh... then I go for an end of turn Nexus of Fate forgetting about the Stroke. Oops.

Round 2 vs Reshad on GB elves (2-1, 1-1)
Game 1 he plays out about a half-dozen dorks and beats me in with them. He heckles my deck, asking how my durdle fest can ever beat an Ezuri deck. I nod in agreement and silently sideboard in Consume the Meek + Crypt Incursion. He also reveals that he's sideboarding in 4x Reclamation Sage, but that's totally expected & not really giving away extra information - CtM is the only card that will matter in the matchup.
Game 2... by turn 4 I'm not yet dead, so I tutor up Consume on his end step. His next turn, he plays Ezuri and asks if Consume the Meek prevents regeneration. Yeeeup. Next turn I tutor for that Crypt Incursion and go to 20 from 2 life (iirc I had to shock for Consume mana). He drops some dudes again but I flashback Consume and finish him off.
Game 3 I keep an opener with Crypt Incursion and Teachings. It's a little rough going, since I need to Cryptic-tap to stay alive for a few turns, but then draw Consume naturally!! Crypt Incursion puts me to 28 from 4 and he concedes!! How do I beat Ezuri decks indeed.

Round 3 vs Ken on UR Phoenixs (2-1, 2-1)
Game 1 he has an atrocious start - something like 10 lands drawn by the time I cast a huge USZ.
Game 2 I Surgical his Phoenix on his turn 1, seeing a Blood Moon. He cantrips for several, then plays Blood Moon and I realize I was an idiot.
Game 3 he leads triple Spirebluff, so Blood Moon isn't as much of a threat. He isn't able to turn Phoenixes online until turn 4 or so, which I proceed to Extirpate. I see that he's boarded in Ral Izzet Viceroy (in hand) and a Chandra ToD in the deck, which I counter on the next turn, and later in the game respectively. I accumulate more mana and cards, eventually getting the win with double Creeping Tar Pits.

Sultai:

• Overall game record: 13-6
• Overall match record: 6-2
• Cards drawn: a lot

Cards I'm considering for the 75 / have ordered:

• Torrential Gearhulk
• Spring // Mind
• Far // Away (maaaybe okay?)
• Shadow of Doubt
• Ravenous Trap
• Nimble Obstructionist
• Silumgar's Command (lol)

Draft 1: Accidentally screwed up the seating which messed up the pairings. Sorry judge!
Rakdos with several rares. Don't really know how to draft Rakdos, and could tell that I was splitting the archetype with someone. Lost in round 2 vs a guy with better Rakdos - more removal and two Rix Maadi Revelers

Draft 2: P1P1 Gatebreaker Ram. Don't see any other payoffs, pick up a late Sneak in pack 2 and a Gates Ablaze in pack 3. Cruised off of Ram, mainly. Round 2 was against a guy who spammed irl [shrug emoji] which was a little annoying. Split in round 3.

Draft 3: P1P1 Precognitive Perception. Eventually drifted into Esper, picking up a decent number of guildgates for fixing. P2P1 Kaya, P3P2?  got passed Emergency Powers lol. During deckbuilding, I realized that Undercity's Embrace was terrible with all my aura removal.
Smashed all my opponents by countering or enchanting all of their threats. The ones that I couldn't were blocked by Azorius Knight-Arbiter. Round 1 I actually won my first game through decking with Kaya + EP LOL

https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/1832128#paper

2019-03-31 Iron Buffalo RNAx3 3-0-1

Decklist: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/1773207#paper

Draft:

• So the draft was 10 players, with some of them looking a little green (experience wise). This affected my decision making in that 1) I can't necessarily trust signals, 2) I can't expect cards to wheel because there are 10 people, and 3) it's possible for totally playable cards to wheel because they evaluate cards differently than I do
• Rares opened (in order): Simic split Stifle//Clone (Repudiate//Replicate), Angel of Grace, Bedeck//Bedazzle
• Pack 1 pick 1: rare is garbage, nothing special in commons or uncommons... but oh wait there's a Gatebreaker Ram
• Pack 1 pick 2: really nothing special, but I took Ram so I might as well stay open and take this Simic Guildgate
• Pack 1 pick 3: simultaneously stayed open AND money drafted a Breeding Pool
• Rest of pack 1: got passed two Gateway Sneaks, one Gates Ablaze, and a late Archway Angel. Gates is obviously open and with 5 payoffs I just need to draft a bunch of gates and some support spells.
• Pack 2 pick 1: The great thing about being in gates is that you can grab good rares and not care about sending/receiving signals. So I take the Angel of Grace, though I never draft it ever.
• Rest of pack 2: I'm in base Simic, but grab almost every Gate I see. Halfway through the pack I realize that Azorius is pretty open, and I've picked up some random blue playables. I pass alone a pack with both High Alert and Azorius Knight-Arbiter, then take the High Alert from the next pack.
• Pack 3: more gates, prioritize some high toughness creatures. Simic is pretty open too from what I could tell - P3P14 Skatewing Spy WHAT.

Round 1 vs Liam on Rakdos (2-0, 1-0)
He's got a few good rares (Theater of Horrors, Rix Maadi Reveler), but they just can't beat a huge Gatebreaker Ram. His deck is only okay, which I'll get to in the post-match discussion.
Game 2 I don't find Ram, but I found High Alert and some big butts which works just as well.

Round 2 vs John R on Gruul (2-0, 2-0)
Game 1 he gets me pretty low, but then I drop some random blockers. After stalling out the board with High Alert + butts, Gates Ablaze sends him back to the stone age and I play out Gatebreaker Ram for lethal.
Game 2 he has a much slower start. I play out a Gatebreaker Ram but he gets multiple blockers out so I hold off on attacking with it. So the game stalls out again, then I swing my 8/8 Ram into his board of 5 creatures. He triple blocks with a total of 8/9, then Applied Biomancy for +1/+1 & bounce another guy makes the game unwinnable for him.

Round 3 vs ??? dropped (N/A, 3-0)
Got the pair down because it's 10 people. He was a newbie and thought he needed to play 60 cards... so he was playing some kind of Simic-based 5 color 60 card deck. After round 2, he'd had enough and unofficially dropped from the tournament, only officially dropping now... so I was 2-0 and got a bye huh

Round 4 vs Michael N. (ID, 3-0-1)
Mutually agreed, went home.

Thoughts:

• Managed to draft all the gate payoffs early (IN PACK ONE), which made the draft super easy mode.
• Recognized that if I had to, I could easily pivot into either Simic or Azorius, which looked pretty open, since I was drafting a lot of blue cards.
• Breakdown of what I saw from the draft pod: 2 players on Orzhov, 1 Orzhov splashing U/Azorius, 2 Rakdos, 2 on Gruul, and 1 on UGwbr???, me on Gates, 1 unknown
• Black was super overdrafted at the table, and as a result I only picked up a single Dead Revels, passing a few decent cards (ex. Get the Point) for gates/blue playables. Pack 2 signaled to me that the High Alert deck was open, and I picked some support creatures up for that before & after (I think 8 of my creatures work well with it?)
• Nice side benefit of drafting most of the gates is that it screws with everyone else's mana, making their deck weaker & unable to splash good cards.
• Definitely felt like I had the best deck in the pod. After all, I was only playing ONE BASIC