So I was't sure where to start, and didn't feel like trying to make Tappedout.com work right now, so here's a brief write-up of my first competitive modern event, the 6-7 Jan 2018 SCG Columbus Open! This was several weeks ago, so my memory may be a bit fuzzy. I took notes after each round, however, so I should have some good thoughts to offer. [Update: I posted a link to the deck in a separate post, one of these days I might try to embed.]
I drove up to college a weekend early to compete, and decided staying in an AirBnB would be a decent idea, as it was considerably cheaper, and less lonely. It was a great decision! I highly recommend it if you are looking for a place to stay overnight for a big tournament. My host was super friendly, and helped me with the bus system and best way to get to the convention center. The wifi worked great, and the room was much nicer than a hotel of the same price. The only downside was the lack of a free continental breakfast, but I didn't really mind, those are never good anyway.
I got up fairly early for the tournament, as I wanted to get there ahead of the crowds, get some coffee and a bagel, put fresh sleeves on my deck, and scope out the bathroom and food situation. I called an Uber for the first time, and it was a great experience! It cost less than a taxi would have, got there just when I needed it to, and was quick and easy to pay. I actually got to have a really interesting conversation with the driver. He was playing a Christian radio station, and I asked if he was a Christian. He said he was, and I told him I was as well. He was a recent immigrant to the U.S. from Nigeria. That was pretty cool, but his next sentence really surprised me. He asked if we no longer had freedom of speech in America, if the Constitution had failed us. I was taken aback, and said no, absolutely not! He then asked me why it was that no one was preaching the Gospel in this big city of Columbus. It was a strange, and excellent, question to ask, and perhaps one I'll answer in a future post in the thoughts section. The takeaway for this article is Uber is a great, convenient service, and the drivers are interesting people with their own stories, talk to them!
At any rate, I got to the convention center, bought some excellent cold-brew and a sub-par bagel from an overpriced convention restaurant, and started to sleeve up the deck. I had already filled the deck registration form last night, and had told myself I wouldn't make any game day decisions regarding sideboard changes or anything like that. I was tempted to switch some things, but had spent a couple hours last night double-checking what cards I wanted, and didn't want to second-guess myself. I highly recommend arriving to major tournaments an hour or so early, getting coffee,(or whatever your morning drink is) and sleeving up while watching everyone else walk in. It really helped me settle my nerves, assured me that I had made good decisions deck-building, and got me in the right mindset to play well. I was feeling pretty good, had some caffeine in the system, and was ready to play! I had a ton of nerves coming in, as I was sure I wasn't prepared to play modern at this level. I had been to a couple modern FNMs, but nothing near this scale. On the other hand, I had gone 5-0 last week at my fairly competitive LGS, with 10-15 guys who also travel for GPs. I used the store credit winnings to pick up a scalding tarn, putting the finishing touches on the deck!
So here are the round reports. This was almost a month ago, so hopefully the notes I take during games will fill in the gaps.
Round 1 - Table 384 - James - Scapeshift
This was a close match, with both of us a turn away from killing the other on losing games. I took game one easily before he could do anything of value. Game two I had him down to two life, hoping to topdeck literally anything, but he got the scapeshift off, taking me from 20 to super dead. The last game was fairly close as well, but I was able to get several early creatures and take him from eight to zero in one turn. Overall, this matchup seems very close, and favors whoever is on the play.
Round 2 - Table 99 - Ricky - Grixis Shadow
I was sitting at 1-0, and got a little bit too excited too early. I had assumed that grixis shadow would be an easy matchup, given that they wanted to drop their life total. Seemed like burn would have a sizable advantage. I took game one quickly, winning from a comfortable 20 life. Game two was extremely close, and I believe a better player (or me with more experience in the matchup) could have won. I underestimated just how quickly the death's shadow can grow. The game ended in a loss, with my opponent at four life. Game three was close, but he clearly outplayed me, ending at seven life. I think the matchup is favorable to burn, but I do not know how to navigate it very well yet.
Round 3 - Table 231 - Chase - Traverse Shadow
I was determined to play much more carefully against another death's shadow deck, but made more of the same mistakes. I lost the first game handily; he ended at five life. The second game I was able to win, mainly because I was on the play. The final game was extremely close, but of course I decided to make a fatal error on turn two. He had just played a tarmogoyf as a 2/3. I had a rift bolt to fire off during my upkeep, and I knew he couldn't affect the graveyard at instant speed with no mana up. So, I of course killed this big threat while I could. "Target goyf." "Uhh...sure." My opponent sits there. "So... goyf dies?" "Nope, the rift bolt bumps him to a 3/4." Probably one of the most frustrating plays I've ever made. I ended up losing the game and match: he ended at one life. Modern is truly a format where mistakes are punished in the extreme. Additionally, I was learning just how rough collective brutality was against burn.
Round 4 - Table 318 - Matt - Affinity
I was now at 1-2, and needed a 6-3 to make day two (more on that later). I was feeling that the day was a wash, but I still wanted to play. At least I could see more modern interactions so I don't make the same mistakes next time.
This match was ridiculously fast! Neither of us had great interaction game one, and I was just faster. I made a mistake boarding in stony silence in game two, but it didn't end up hurting me, since I never drew it. Game two was close; I was all the way down to one life, and hit a lightning helix to stabilize. I topdecked burn when he was at two and I was at three. He was kind enough to compare sideboard plans, and told me stony silence is awful, especially on the draw. I've since came around to thinking it's good on the play, but I could be wrong. People say that affinity and burn are not fun decks, but that match, especially game two, was one of the more fun matches of the whole day.
Round 5 - Table 145 - Patrick - Storm
This match was fairly straightforward. He would play an early goblin electromancer or Baral, I would kill it, he would proceed to draw cards, and I would quickly burn him out. I won 2-0 fairly quickly. Both Eidolons and Firewalkers out of the board are really good here.
I should make a note here that the advantage of playing a faster deck like burn is very real. I had time after every round to walk outside the convention hall, refill my water bottle, snack on a granola bar if needed, and even go across the convention center to find a store selling Advil! It truly does help to keep you focused and mentally ready to play in the next round.
Round 6 - Table 205 - JD - Scapeshift
I felt confident in this matchup, as I had played against it at my LGS several times, and had beaten it earlier in the day. I played well this match, but my notes are pretty sparse here. I improved to 4-2 on the day, and was still thinking that 6-3 made day two. I was getting excited again, and feeling very confident!
Round 7 - Table 111 - Alex - Humans
This was one of the most difficult matches to navigate all day long. It was just a joy to play these games! We were both playing extremely tight, and lots of intricate combat steps were involved. I won the first game fairly easily, but after that it was much more difficult. He had good sideboard plans, including negate and Eidolon of Rhetoric, which I definitely wasn't expecting. It wasn't phenomenal, but it was enough to slow me down. Game three was incredible; one of my all time favorite games of magic! I had double eidolon out, and we proceeded to pass the turn back and forth for quite a while. Eventually a lightning helix and lots of math allowed me to take the match! Games like that are what I absolutely love about magic!
Round 8 - Table 41 - Ryan - Jeskai Control
I was now at 5-2 overall, and extremely hopeful for a day two run! However, I found out that only 7-2 records would make day two. This was a blow, but I told myself I just needed to keep playing as I had, and perhaps I would be blessed and make it!
This match was also incredibly fun! I played some of the best I had ever played, and felt like I really navigated the matchup well. I would think he had snapcaster plus mana leak up, and he would! I was able to tell what his plays were for a lot of the game, and it was incredible. I won game one by saving till I had three spells, and he had mana for snap into cryptic plus a mana leak, and then lost a close game two to three opposing copies of lightning helix. Game three I flooded out. It felt really bad, but I couldn't do anything about it. Overall really good games, and felt like I had a decent shot!
Of course, I was also elimentated from day two, but I of course wanted to stay and play the last round, and who knows, maybe somehow make it to day two!
Round 9 - Table 107 - Em - Counters Company
This is a terrible matchup for burn. Like really terrible. I was blessed to draw several skullcracks throughout, and those really saved me. I didn't respect chord of calling enough, and the deck was really hard to play against. On the other hand, my eidolons were fantastic in this matchup! I ended up losing the first game and picking up the last two to win and improve to 6-3.
I ended up not making day two, but I was extremely close! I definitely achieved the low goals I had set coming into the tournament, and was excited to play more modern in the future! I learned a lot, but what I learned the most is that every single edge matters. Literally just one game of one match could have brought me to a 7-2 record. Next time! Overall, an awesome experience, and I can't wait to hit up another major tournament!