Tournament Report – A Near Death Experience

It’s always my dream to have byes during Grand Prix events like the pro does. Having 3 byes is a big advantage since you only have to win 3 games to make it into day two and have a chance for the money finish as well as get the opportunity to battle with the pros in round 4. That reminds me of my recent Grand Prix experience last March held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia wherein it was very exhausting to duel 8 straight rounds in Day 1. It was the best experience for me being able to make it to day 2 despite not getting the most coveted money finish (Top 64).

This year, Grand Prix Manila is back and is already fast approaching this coming June 12, which also happens to be our Independence Day! This is the moment where I’ll have the opportunity to play one of the biggest tournaments in Magic. Grand Prix in Manila only happens once every two years so this kind of event should not be missed if you are an avid magic player like me.

Neutral Grounds provided some Grand Prix Trials to grant a chance for the winner to acquire 3 byes for the Manila Grand Prix. JB, our friend from Bacolod announced 3 weeks ago that there will be a Grand Prix trial to be held in their place, so some of my fellow MTG players decided to join the said event. At first I wasn’t sure if I could play since Regionals and the GPT only has a 1 week gap that would consume some of my working time. However, my friend from Bacolod told me that there will be a house warming at their new apartment on the same date with the event therefore I decided that I’ll just join the tournament and then afterwards attend my friend’s house warming. Such an amazing way of combining travel, Magic and fun! Hehehe.

The Preparation

My plan was to play Blue White Control since I’ve been playing it at Magic-League minis with different configuration ever since Wall of Omens became legal, which is my favorite card in Rise of the Eldrazi. That time, Blue White Control has two versions namely: ‘Tap Out’ and ‘With Permissions’. After playtesting some games, I opted to play the version ‘With Permission’ for it has the advantage against the Tap Out version and other combo decks like Polymorph and Open the Vaults. Moreover, it’s also excellent against the Bogeyman of Standard, ‘Jund.’ Initially my build was this:

Lands
4 Celestial Colonnade
4 Glacial Fortress
7 Island
6 Plains
1 Sejiri Refuge
3 Tectonic Edge

Creatures
4 Baneslayer Angel
3 Wall of Omens
2 Sphinx of Jwar Isle

Spells
3 Oblivion Ring
2 Path to Exile
2 Negate
2 Day of Judgment
4 Spreading Seas
1 Gideon Jura
3 Mind Spring
1 Martial Coup
3 Everflowing Chalice
2 Deprive
3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor

Sideboard
1 Path to Exile
2 Negate
2 Day of Judgment
3 Celestial Purge
3 Flashfreeze
1 Jace Beleren
2 Kor Sanctifiers
1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre

This is what I’ve been playing on Magic-League and MWS for a while, which my virtual teammate suggested to me. It’s showing great results and the play style is perfect for my taste as a control player. After that the decklist was done, its time for me to find the cardboards. My primary concern was to find Baneslayer Angels I could borrow since I don’t have a wallet slayer in my card pool, same as the Wall of Omens which is so hard to find here at our local community. Came in Friday Night Magic at Rei’s Place, the event winner master Tonton offered me to use his Blue White Control deck since he can’t go to Bacolod for GPT, an offer that I cannot refuse. It has all the cards that I was dying looking for. Below is the savage Blue White Control deck list of Master Tonton:

Lands
1 Sejiri Refuge
1 Kabira Crossroads
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Celestial Colonnade
1 Scalding Tarn
6 Island
4 Tectonic Edge
1 Marsh Flats
4 Plains

Creatures
4 Baneslayer Angel
4 Wall of Omens

Spells
2 Negate
4 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Gideon Jura
2 Path to Exile
2 Day of Judgment
3 Everflowing Chalice
2 Deprive
1 Martial Coup
4 Spreading Seas
3 Mind Spring
3 Oblivion Ring

Sideboard
2 Negate
1 Path to Exile
1 Day of Judgment
4 Flashfreeze
3 Celestial Purge
2 Kor Sanctifiers
1 Jace Beleren
1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre

The list is perfect! I was happy to see that Tonton’s build is quite similar to my dream deck with some few changes. I kind of like the idea of the fetch lands in the deck since it can alter unnecessary cards of the top once you brainstorm with Jace. The Kabira Crossroads and Deprive synergy is unforgiving against Red Deck Wins. I think 4 permission spells is the correct number in the main deck, protecting your bombs like BSA and JMS away from oblivion. I also agreed with Tonton about the maximum number of Jace in the deck because once he sticks around, you’re most likely gonna win, also you’ll have the edge against other Blue White Control having only 3 Jaces. Manlands run rampant nowadays so 4-ofs Tectonic Edge is the right answer. The singleton Gideon Jura act as your 5th Baneslayer Angel but more savage for it has a lot of usage: it fogs Mythic Bant, RDW and also messes up the combat plan of the opponent trying to defend their planeswalkers. Kor Sanctifiers currently earned respect in the sideboard since Oblivion Ring became a factor in mirror match, also blows up Howling decks once paired with Jace. The original Jace Beleren is there to combat Jace war in other blue decks with JMS. Finally, the mascot of the deck, Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre is the best pound for pound answer in late game battle against the mirror match ups or planeswalkers that are about to unleash their ultimate, and lastly, a nice solution for miller decks.

The Trial Day

Before going to Bacolod, I have this mix feeling of excitement yet feeling so tired with meager sleep because of some important events I have to attend to, the night before the trial. I and my wife woke up early to catch the first trip going to the other island together with my non-magic friend. Team Ramon made the first trip but we were not able to catch up so we waited again for several minutes. We arrived at the venue after almost 2 hours of travel, meet up with Team Ramon (Ramon, Raprap, Louie and Kenneth), Team ‘Mayong gab-e Jimmy’ (Jimmy and Melvin) and we discussed the possible metagame. Feeling hungry due to not having dinner and breakfast, except for RH beer flowing in my veins, we wasted no time and started eating yummy dishes at the 18th Palapala Restaurant, which is also the venue for the tournament.

We waited for over 2 hours before the event started, patiently waiting for the arrival of the Tournament Organizer. Several minutes later, we were briefed and paired manually (old school index card pairing) since there was no laptop available for the pairings. The event will be played for 5 rounds of Magic plus top 8 and this is how it went…

Round 1 vs Mark using Blue White Control

Game 1: The game took several turns of draw go, my only threat was Baneslayer Angel but he got a lot of answers until I was able to drop Gideon with backup counter for his Oblivion Ring. I think his hand is clogged with creature kills and sweepers so Gideon take a home run in a few turns protected with Negates against his Path to Exile.

SB Strategy:
+2 Kor Sanctifiers, +1 Jace Beleren, +2 Negate, +1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre, -2 Day of Judgment, -4 Wall of Omens

Game2: The Jace war occurred turns earlier but I manage to stick JMS with backup Negates. From there, I just countered his JMS to avoid disrupting my Jace Ultimate skill the “-12: I win”.

Record: 1-0
Matchup: 2-0

Round 2 vs Ramon using Open the Vaults

Since we are both are from team Iloilo, it’s quite upsetting that we got paired early on despite the fact that there are possibly other opponents out there that has the same points with us. We just decided to draw then win in all the remaining rounds in the hopes of getting into top 8. These help us scout other players about their deck and prepare our strategy against them.

Record: 1-0-1
Matchup: 3-1-1

Round 3 vs Rap-rap using Blue White Fog

Again, it’s very frustrating that I got paired with another Iloilo player, straight in 2 subsequent rounds. If we were going to draw this round, we both got a difficult task ahead and a slim chance of getting into top 8.We have no choice but to play it given that we only got 2 more rounds to go.

Game 1: As expected, the early turns went draw go and the first play from Raprap was Font of Mythos. Feeling a little bit greedy, I let it resolve since I got an Oblivion Ring. A couple of turns later I cast JMS with counter backup and to my surprise it was resolved and from there, the MVP got his job done right, ultimate for “I win”.

SB Strategy:
+2 Kor Sanctifiers, +1 Jace Beleren, +2 Negate, +1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre, -2 Day of Judgment, -4 Wall of Omens

Game 2: Raprap caught me off guard as he went aggro mode with turn 2 Meddling Mage for Oblivion Ring then turn 3 Meddling Mage for Negate. I just nod my head in despair and laugh at the situation since I’m holding the said cards. I only got Path to Exile to answer this pesky 2/2’s, unfortunately I didn’t draw them after I wasted my draw spells like Spreading Seas and Mind Spring just to find them. Moments later Raprap added more pressure with his Baneslayer Angel. I also got Baneslayer of my own but he was prepared with a kill and his team took the win for him.

SB Strategy:
+ 1 Path to Exile, - 1 Spreading Seas

Game 3: An early Howling Mine for Raprap showed up in turn 2, then he followed it up with Kor Firewalker and Meddling Mage for Oblivion Ring. My Kor Sanctifier made his first appearance and quickly dispatch the Mine and also acted as my personal bodyguard against Raprap’s weenies. I followed it up with Baneslayer Angel, not only 1 but 2. My angels continued to bash, but unfortunately, Raprap’s Rest for the Weary gave him time to find an answer with a Path to Exile that removed one of my chicks. But with a Celestial Colonade waiting for his turn to shine, that replaced the lost angel with her duties.

Record: 2-0-1
Matchup: 5-2-1

Round 4 vs John using Mono Green Aggro with Land Destruction

Game 1: John played super aggressive with first turn Arbor Druid that resulted into a turn 2 Leatherback Baloth. The beast ate a chunk of my life and I ended his carnage with an Oblivion Ring. John followed it up with a kicked Mold Shambler that ate my only white source. Thanks to my ample of luck for I was able to draw 2 white sources in a row and dropped the femme fatal Baneslayer Angel two turns in a row. But John was not to be outdone as he was able to drop horde of creatures starting with Mul Daya Channelers and Mana Dorks that became indestructible with Eldrazi Monument. My sweepers became useless at this moment, so I just waited for a time to draw Oblivion Ring or until he runs out of creatures to offer to the Monument. My hope was shattered as he summoned a gigantic elephant named Terastodon that laid waste to my white sources. To make things worst, he never runs out of cards because of his Momentus Fall that drawn him 1/6 of his deck by sacrificing his behemoth elephant. Turns later as he assembles his horde with Wolfbriar Elemental, my angels became chump blockers over his fatties. After knowing that I couldn’t Oblivion Ring then sweep the board with Day of Judgement, plus seeing a second Terastodon keep me off my white mana, I was forced to scoop on this game.

SB Strategy:
+1 Path to Exile, +4 Flashfreeze, +1 Day of Judgment, -4 Spreading Seas, -2 Mind Spring

Game 2: On draw, John started again with Arbor Druid then 2 more Llanowar Elves but stuck on 1 land. My only defense was a lone Wall of Omens and that lessen the bloodshed of the mana dorks. John found a beatstick in the form of Leathback Baloth that could surely tombstone my lonely wall. A turn later, Day of Judgment came for the little green men, which were all palesinners and they all succumbed. After the catastrophe, the superstar Jace the Mind Sculptor came up and he alone controls the board that later burst out his ultimate.

Game 3: A godly lightning fast plays by John early on with Arbor Druid then followed by 2 Mul Daya Channelers that quickly reduces my life into 4 in just a few turns. Thanks to my guardian angel Baneslayer Angel I was able to hold back is monsters and gains me back my lost life. The time was called and we were into the last 5 turns. John tried to find more threats with Momentus Fall; however my Flashfreeze and Negate prevented him from doing so. I can’t easily race him since my life is so low and he has an army of fatties waiting to strike back for lethal, thus along with that, the game was proclaimed a draw after the last 5 turns was finished.

Record: 2-0-2
Matchup: 6-3-2

Round 5 vs Pablo using Mythic Bant

Game 1: Pablo had a great start with Noble Hierarch then Dauntless Escort. Unfortunately for me, I only had a Wall of Omens for defense and quite upset that I keep on drawing lands after some card draw. I manage to drop JMS and searched for answer with brainstorm but gave me a jaw drop after I saw all lands in my hand. Things got worse when he dropped Finest Hour killing my Wall then my JMS. Then his board got nastier as Rafiq of the Many made the Rhino a killing machine which ended the game for me.

SB Strategy:
+1 Path to Exile, +4 Flashfreeze, +1 Day of Judgment, -4 Spreading Seas, -2 Mind Spring

Game 2: Just like dejavu Pablo made a great start with first turn Noble Hierarch then Dauntless Escort. Yet this time, I got a Path to Exile for it then Flashfreezed his second Dauntless Escort. Pablo still got more threats with Knight of Reliquary then Rhox War Monk but my timely Day of Judgment cleared the board for my savior Baneslayer Angel. The mythic player couldn’t find the answer and we headed to the deciding game.

Game 3: Pablo once again had the best start in this entire match as he had Noble Hierarch then Rhox War Monk to begin with. I only got Oblivion Ring for his Knight of Reliquary that came a turn after. I was relieved when Pablo gpt stuck on mana so I just reserved my Path to Exile for much threatening dude. The light of day came in turn 5 as I dropped my MVP in the form of Baneslayer Angel followed by another one on the next turn. After a turn, Pablo couldn’t match the forces of my hot babes, which brought him into concession.

Record: 3-0-2
Matchup: 8-4-2

I was happy that I won my last round because it assured me of the top 8 slot. I was so glad that another Ilonggo player, Master Ramon, made it into top 8 as well. After playing my final match, I jumped to watch the last game between our friend Louie and Sonny from Cebu. We cheered for him as he needed win the match to secure himself a slot on the top 8. Unluckily, the game ended as a draw and we just crossed our fingers hoping he could sneak into the top 8. Our TO Freddy told us that there will be 30 minutes break because he needed to pass the results to Manila just for the tie breakers and the placing for the prizes. It is perfect timing for all of us are already hungry like wolves, so we ordered delicious foods to full our empty stomach. After the break, the placing was announced and prizes were also given to the winners. We were disappointed that Louie didn’t make it to the top 8, finishing at 9th place only due to losing to the tie breakers. However we keep our hopes high as I and Ramon will battle in the top 8 and bring the glory to Iloilo.

Top 8 vs Sonny using Jund

Game 1: A turn 2 Putrid Leech for Sonny put a grim in my face, a scenario that I never wished to happen. I try to off color his mana using Spreading Seas so he couldn’t add more threats. I found the answer for his Leech with my Oblivion Ring. Since Sonny was off colored, I had time to setup for my kill, Baneslayer Angel with backup counter for kills. Sonny tries to dig for answers as he laid Bloodbraid Elf that cascaded to Putrid Leech but the angel just offset the damage of the Jund critters.

SB Strategy:
+4 Flashfreeze, +3 Celestial Purge, -2 Day of Judgment, -2 Path to Exile, -2 Negate, -1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor

Game 2: Another great start for Sonny with a turn 2 Putrid Leech. I was forced to Purge the Leech as he Duressed my hand and took a Flashfreeze. Sonny replaced the lost Leech with Sprouting Thrinax and I was saddened for I was stuck on 2 lands. Jund is unforgiving once the opponent is screwed, punishing me for doing so. Few turns later, with no lands and answers showing up, I quickly scooped.

Game 3: Before we started the game, we greeted each other good luck. For 3 consecutive games Putrid Leech was very eager to kill me as it showed up in turn 2 for Sonny. Good thing I had Celestial Purge that exiled the leech. I keep Sonny off red mana by Spreading Seas the Savage Lands but Bolted me in response then Blightning me on his turn. My life was dwindling fast as Sprouting Thrinax left untouched and continued his onslaught, forcing me to cast Day of Judgment for his lone lizard. I only have permissions in my hand but only a Celestial Colonade as a threat. Fortunately for me, Sonny was screwed as I blew up his tapped Savage Lands with Tectonic Edge. I couldn’t race with Sonny since my mana isn’t enough for me to attack with Colonade then defend an army of saproling and leave mana open for my counters. Blightnings got countered even an unkicked Goblin Ruinblaster just to keep a healthy life, which then left me with just a Deprive for protection. Sonny bait a second Ruinblaster, I let it resolved unkicked, then blocked the goblin with my Colonade, took 3 from the saprolings which put me to just 3 lives. A turn later, Sonny attacked all his saproling tokens and I blocked 1 with my Colonade, giving me 1 life to spare. Sonny took the cards in my graveyard, I knew he is counting counter spells in there, tried his luck by hard casting Blightning for the win, but it was easily met by Deprive bouncing my Sejiri Refuge to gain at least 1 precious life. During my turn, I dropped Wall of Omens ready to stop the little green dudes and had to force Oblivion Ring into a Saproling token, thinking if he’s going to top deck a green source then Bloodbraid Elf for shenanigans or a hasty Ruinblaster will sneak in and only my Colonade will be able to defend it. Instead, Sonny got his ace in the form of Malakir Bloodwitch which stunned me as I’m holding only a Flashfreeze as permission. Thanks to my Mind Spring for 4 cards. 2 turns later, I was able to drop my bombs, JMS that bounced the Vampire then Baneslayer Angel ready to get my life back. Thanked God I ripped Deprive on my turn, a perfect spell to seal the deal. Sonny tried to end Baneslayer’s life by Terminating it but my Flashfreeze was reserved for it and from there he lost the tempo and I was able to gain my life back while reducing his life to lethal damage next turn, putting an end to the short story as Sonny extended his hand for concession.

Record: 4-0-2
Matchup: 10-5-2

After Ramon finished his top 8 match, he treated the whole Iloilo team for buckets of iced cold Red Horse Beer and some mouth-watering pulutans, which is such a perfect treat against the scorching hot atmosphere inside the venue. Unfortunately for Ramon, he lost to Rheinard using a Blue White Allies that we previously thought think was a mismatch against his deck.

Top 4 vs Rod using UWR Planeswalker

Game 1: A game of draw go and boredom since in this matchup you’ll rarely see action early on but the most exciting event was the Jace wars, Oblivion Rings, Spreading Seas for manlands, negates for planeswalkers then a resolved and active Ajani Vengeant for Rod that put pressure on me and I have to find answer for it before the Armageddon clock runs out. In an unexpected turn of events, I was able to knock Ajani with my hidden Colonade, which gave Rod some frustrations. My Baneslayer Angels got answered, and in that case Rod had a momentum by sticking a Jace the Mind Sculptor which locked my draws and helped him setup his Power Rangers (Jace, Ajani, Gideon and Elspeth). The game took over an hour to finish and Freddy the TO teased that we were stalling, producing laughter from the crowd.

SB Strategy:
+2 Kor Sanctifiers, +1 Jace Beleren, +2 Negate, +1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre, -2 Day of Judgment, -4 Wall of Omens

Game 2: I was upset that I have to mulligan twice and kept a mediocre hand while going first. I just keep my stance by having a will to win and play it out. It is the same scenario as game 1 wherein the game took long, propagating our land count to something like 10. Planeswalkers clash out with who’s the toughest but some succumbs to my Baneslayer Angels and Colonades. I manage to stick a lone Baneslayer for a while that netted beyond my normal life but not for long as Rod had Martial Coup that grant him threats together with his Jace and Elspeth. Elspeth continued to build up her Ultimate until my stacked Ulamog in hand got ready to jump when I found my last mana to cast him which resulted to a blowout that even Rod was surprised for his coming. As soon as Rod couldn’t find an answer via brainstorm from Jace, he decided to concede and we proceed to the decider.

Game 3: Spreading Seas showed to both of us, but Rod was locked in blue colors as I turn all his white sources into Seas and he continued to miss land drops while I build up my own and dropped an uncontested Baneslayer Angel. The angel went the distance while I Negates Rod’s incoming Jaces. He still can’t find a white source as I dropped my own Jace then a second Baneslayer, which was enough for Rod to scoop.

Record: 5-0-2
Matchup: 12-6-2

Finals vs Rheinard using UW Allies

It’s time to avenge the loss of our teammate Ramon in the top 8. Before the game started, Rheinard offered me a deal that we split the prizes and just play for the byes. But since I’m not interested about the prizes and was only up for the byes, I declined his offer and we played it out.

Game 1: Rheinard plays a turn 2 Kazandu Blademaster that later followed by its twin brother. I only have a Wall of Omens for defense which slowed down the damage I took from his team that soon tags along with Jwari Shapeshifter who became a third Blademaster. I started to bait Oblivion Rings and Path to Exile but Rheinard has a lot of permission to protect his Allies. Came in a turn that I was down to 8 and thinking I’m going to die for lethal after my turn. I tried my luck by casting Day of Judgment with a backup Negate for his permission and I was glad it resolved. After that scenario he was out of gas and I was able to setup my offense with Jace the Mind Sculptor then Baneslayer Angel that made Rheinard packing for the next game.

SB Strategy:
+1 Path to Exile, +2 Negate, +1 Day of Judgment, -4 Spreading Seas

Game 2: Again Rhienard had a great start with Halimar Excavator then Kazandu Baldemaster followed by Hada Freeblades that gave him two options to win by milling me to death or by beatdown mode. My only outs were to minimize his ally count using Path to Exile and Oblivion Ring for his dudes. Unfortunately, he never runs out of gas as he continued to pour down allies like Talus Paladin then more Blademaster. I tried to clean the mess with Day of Judgment but it got Unified Will, leaving me down to a lethal 5 life. My only savior would be Gideon Jura if it got resolve and I was surprised it did! He was forced to attack Gideon while I slowly took down his team with Gideon’s Assassinate skill. The only one that I couldn’t touch is the Blademaster since it has vigilance, but thanks to my Wall of Omens that kept the soldier boy starring. That made me became the aggressor as I transformed Gideon to a beat stick. It slowly gobbled chunks of life from Rheinard but then a Talus Paladin granted him enough life to survive. I continue to build up counters for Gideon and then assassinated his annoying Paladin. Rheinard summoned Sea Gate Loremaster with the hopes of giving him more gas as well as granting the Blademaster a threatening body that could rampage his way for lethal. I tried to bait Path to Exile for his Loremaster which gave him a moment to decide, but later denied my kill which resulted for him to tap out and forced me to block with my lonely wall. My plan goes well as I Martial Coup the board that opens an attack from Gideon for the win.

Record: 6-0-2
Matchup: 14-6-2

It was a glorious moment for me and for team Iloilo! For the first time I’ll be having byes for the Grand Prix and savor the feeling of being like a pro as what I always dream of. I was given a box of Rise of the Eldrazi as a prize and was congratulated by my teammates and other friends. After the tournament, we were off for the party and celebration then went to my friend’s work place at Transcom City and drink till early morning.

Overall, I had the best Magic experience making me think that maybe, sometimes it’s better to be lucky than be good. I felt so relieved that I was able to make it despite the critical situations I experience during the course of the event. The deck was very good and I trusted on it that it can bring me glory. As for the upcoming Grand Prix Manila, I’m very excited and I hope I could use the deck once again but having its component is quite difficult for me to find. I guess I would be brewing something new and find the right deck that is ideal for the metagame.