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Having heard that there would be a Mirrodin Besieged Game Day in Iloilo, I was ecstatic. It will be the first time Iloilo will have a Game Day and would enable us to gain access to some juicy textless cards like Treasure Mage for joining the event and Black Sun’s Zenith for the top 8 finishers. In addition to the prizes, some cool freebies were also given to the participants such as a handy Mirrodin Besieged card box printed with a fantastic art of the Crusaders, as well as a collector’s item of 10-sided poison counter dice.

I ended up on the top 4 of the event and was happy to unwrap our fourth Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas aka Rob Zombie for my pool from my free packs. It was a great experience and I was craving for more! It was like a drug, believe me!

Days after the Iloilo Game Day, JB announced that there will also be a Mirrodin Besieged Game Day at Bacolod in the weekend and that the format is draft! I was getting hyped as I heard the exciting news because I am salivating for a real life draft badly! (I’m already fed up of drafting NetDraft).

It was an impromptu decision for Team Buckets to go to Bacolod. Everybody wanted to experience the fun and also check their night life there so we brought our muses including my wife Elena, Cheryl (Ramon’s Fiancée), Erika (Rap’s GF) and of course, THE HOTTEST MTG SINGLE GUY – MAKOY!

I was lacking sleep prior to our trip to Bacolod, yeah that’s because I got home early in the morning then played a couple of draft at Magic-League and then woke up early to catch Supercat’s second trip at 8 am. Good thing I snatched some snooze during the trip, which was made even better by the strong waves (yeah, we travelled day after Japan’s most shocking Tsunami disaster) swaying me to sleep.

We arrived at Bacolod too early and we realize we have nothing else to do but to find a place to take our breakfast since everybody was starving to death, that’s what happened if your trip doesn’t have a planner.

It was a rainy morning and we decided to drop our belongings at the Westown Hotel (where we stayed). We didn’t know there were 2 Westown Hotels in Bacolod and we thought we’ll stay on the one near Golden Fields where the city’s hottest night spots are located; but anyway, our hotel was nice and cozy, so it’s worth it.

After securing our belongings in the hotel, we requested for 2 cabs that will brings us to Robinson’s mall where we’ll be having our much needed breakfast. It was hilarious because the mall was just literally seconds away from our hotel! We feel like dumb travelers at that time and even the taxi driver was smirking of our foolish act but of course he already knew that Robinson’s is just a block away from our hotel and he didn’t even informed us, such a scammer!

Right after we step foot on the mall, we were so frustrated that all food junctions are still closed and yet it’s already past 9 in the morning! Our stomachs are rioting with hunger already and we got no choice but to wait for another 30 minutes for KFC to open. We looked around the mall hoping that there is a resto or fast food chain that’s already open, yet to no avail. Out of boredom and hunger, Ramon decided to entice the manager of KFC to let us in by acting really starved in the hopes that he will let us in early. But no mercy was returned, hence we just waited outside KFC until we are able to gobble on 2 sets of Bucket meals – Yes! 16 pieces of chicken for just 7 people. See how food-deprived we are that time? hahaha

After we were done with our brunch, we (MTG boys) proceeded to JB’s hobby shop while the girls do their favorite thing: shopping. I was surprised to see that the venue for the event is reminiscent of Binoy’s Kansihan sa Delgado where there’s food, billiards, beer and MTG! We hang out with our Bacolod MTG friends while waiting for Carl to arrive so he can join the event. Unfortunately, he couldn’t make it on time because of work and just came later to the venue after we finished drafting. As soon as we reached 16 players, we were separated into 2 pods, with me is Ramon while Rap and Makoy was on the other pod. This is what happened during my drafting period…

The Draft

It was my first time to draft 3 packs of Mirrodin Besiege, making me feel so thrilled. I opened the first pack which isn’t that exciting; I got to choose between Rot Wolf and Blue Sun’s Zenith. I took the wolf since it is flexible and it can give me options, either go into an infect route or green based beatdown. The card alone is also powerful once equipped with excellent equipments as I go along. I was passed by a Myr Turbine and nothing else spectacular so I simply picked the Myr generator on my pick 2. On the third pick, I noticed that red is open when I was passed down a Burn the Impure and then Into the Core. Since infect cards were depleted while some green goodies are missing I abandoned green and focused on blue as I chose Serum Drake late in pick 5 and Quicksilver Geyser in pick 6. I was happy to see Blisterstick Shaman wheeled specially the foil one together with some playable filler cards like Gust-Skimmer and Steel Sabotage to round up my pack one.

In pack 2, I was pleased to open Mortarpod which certainly is the best pick (great with Myr Turbine) and followed by the best blue limited creature in the form of Vedalken Anatomist. I was in dilemma as I got to choose between Spread the Sickness and Crytoplasm but I ended up grabbing the best kill in the format for it can be splashed to my deck as an answer to bombs like Thopther Assembly or Consecrated Sphinx just in case. Burn the Impure and some Serum Rakers were added to fill up my playables after that. I also managed to pick some trusted living weapons like Skinwing and Strandwalker.

Pack 3 was an eyebrow raiser as I was blessed with Hellkite Igniter that became my obvious first pick. Crytoplasm quickly followed through which is also great combined with Vedalken Anatomist and my bomb Hellkite. I felt my draft runs good as I was given my third Burn the Impure and Serum Raker. I was happy to welcome Kuldotha Flamefiend to my team as I picked him in the mid pick. My second Steel Sabotage, Quicksilver Geyser and Blisterstick Shaman completed the lineup and I ended building my deck with this list…

Blue Red Skies

Lands (17 cards):
9 Island
8 Mountain

Creatures (11 cards):
2 Gust-Skimmer
1 Cryptoplasm
1 Vedalken Anatomist
2 Blisterstick Shaman
3 Serum Raker
1 Kuldotha Flamefiend
1 Hellkite Igniter

Spells (12 cards):
2 Steel Sabotage
3 Burn the Impure
1 Ichor Wellspring
1 Mortarpod
1 Skinwing
1 Strandwalker
1 Myr Turbine
2 Quicksliver Geyser

SB (19 cards):
2 Oculus
1 Crush
2 Ogre Resister
2 Vivisection
1 Spine Engine
2 Rusted Slasher
1 Into the Core
1 Fuel for the Cause
1 Mirran Spy
1 Training Drone
1 Neurok Commando
1 Rot Wolf
1 Loxodon Partisan
1 Leonin Skyhunter
1 Spread the Sickness

Overall my deck is not too savvy but can have a little synergy. My game plan is to setup my fliers with the support of some kills and control creatures like Anatomist and Shamans and also out tempo my opponent with Quicksliver Geyser.

The key players in my deck was first my Hellkite Igniter because it can win games out of nowhere, Crytoplasm-Anatomist Combo (the ultimate control package), Mortarpod-Myr Turbine Engine (if things gets ugly) and my sneaky fliers like Serum Rakers and Gust-Skimmer.

After deck building we were given time to have lunch before we get started. Since we already took our brunch at KFC, we spend the bonus time for playtesting and deck tweaking. Also, just before the game started, being the signature ritual of Team Buckets, having Red Horse beer buckets while playtesting is a must.

I was happy that my teammate’s decks were good but I was a bit worried of Makoy’s Super Infect deck which features a lot of kills and great infect dudes. As soon as we finished playtesting and finalizing our decklist, we wished each other luck for the remainder of the tournament and this is how my matches went…

The Battle

Round 1 vs Master (Green White Aggro)

In game 1, I kept a slow controlish hand consisting of Burn the Impure, Serum Raker and Quicksilver Geyser. My opponent started the beats with a turn 3 Glissa’s Courier which was instantly toasted by Burn the Impure. But more of the Mountainwalkers joined the party which became unblockable, thanks to my sole lonely Mountain. My ground creatures couldn’t do anything to stop the bleeding so I started to race against him by dropping multiple Serum Rakers. It turned out that he doesn’t have answers to my baby dragons and they soar over my opponent for the win.

Before going to game 2, I boarded in more cheap dudes like the Ogre Resisters in order to outrace him since I observed he got 3 Glissa’s Courier but was lacking removals.

SB Plan:
+2 Ogre Resister
-1 Steel Sabotage
-1 Ichor Wellspring

The play begun in turn 3 for Master (yes this is the name of my opponent!) as Glissa’s Courier showed up once again. Vedalken Anatomist made a debut for me the turn after which dutifully locks the mountainwalker from poking me.

More scary dudes came in Master’s side in the form of Tangle Mantis and Fangren Marauder. Yet my Anatomist played the control game as I shrink-tap the most powerful ones while at the same time I build up my offense with Serum Rakers. I noticed that Master was flooded since he was only playing lands but not making any actions. It turned out that he was sandbagging Artifact hates as he showed me his hand after concession.

Games Record: 2-0
Match Record: 1-0

Round 2 vs Ian (Black Green Infect)

Game 1 was a battle of attrition as we were trading creatures and kills just to gain board advantage. The game came to a stall after Ian setups Blightwidow and Strandwalkers for him to defend my trio Serum Rakers. As the game come to a standstill, he was able to play a massive Germ token equipped with Bonehoard but the Myr Turbine acted as a Bitterblossom, chump blocking the monstrosity while pinging him with Mortarpod. More and more dudes clogs up in our side as I waited for my game ender Quicksilver Geyser to handle the pesky reach dudes. Fortunately, he committed a small mistake that cost him the game wherein he attacked one of his reach guys together with his bulky ground forces. I blocked accordingly to make my air force live and ready for the counter attack which indeed was inevitable, as I attacked all in with my squadron drakes plus my flying Germ in the form of Skinwing. He blocked 2 of my Serum Rakers, and took 5 from my unblocked drake and germ, which brought him down to 2 life. The Mortarpod did its job by turning my remaining crits into Kamikazes and they joyfully sacrified there lives to earn me the win.

My strategy during sideboarding is to bring in the fatties since I can’t race infect decks and besides, I’m playing the control game.

SB Plan:
+2 Ogre Resister
+2 Oculus
+1 Crush
+1 Vivisection
-1 Quicksliver Geyser
-2 Steel Sabotage
-2 Gust-Skimmer
-1 Strandwalker

It was a disastrous start for Ian in game 2, as he mulligan to 5 and was stuck on mono black. Burn the Impure continued to toast the black infect critters. While he was stumbling on board position especially on his lands, my Serum Rakers punished him and merrily ascended for the win.

Games Record: 4-0
Match Record: 2-0

Round 3 vs Ramon (Black White Infect)

All of my teammates were having a good record after round 2 and we were afraid being paired up this early. Unfortunately I was paired against Ramon, we have no choice but to play the match in view of the fact that drawing will not secure us both into top 4 if the last round will fail us. It’s better to have 1 teammate secured at the top 4.

It was a bad start for Ramon in game one as he mulligan and stumbled on mana from the start, only Swamps and Mountain on play with no Plains. The reason behind why he kept the lands was the Red Sun’s Zentih that fried my Vedalken Anatomist for good. I was able to kill his only threat Flensermite with my Blisterstick Shaman and quickly followed by my MVP Serum Raker. The two continued to ram in, draining his life as I control his board with Burn the Impure. After several turns, no good news appears for Ramon as he was still not able to find the Plains he needed, so he just decided to scoop.

SB Plan:
+2 Ogre Resister
+2 Oculus
+1 Crush
+1 Vivisection
-1 Quicksliver Geyser
-2 Steel Sabotage
-2 Gust-Skimmer
-1 Strandwalker

Ramon has a lot of equipments and cheap infect dudes thus I bring in the Oculus and Crush that will enable me to delay the deadly poison early game, plus this could give me time to setup my offense and do defense as well.

A holy army of Priests of Norn and Flensermite appeared on Ramon’s side. As I setup my defense with Blisterstick Shaman, bringing down a Phyrexian Digester. Vedalken Anatomist also showed up getting ready for some control action.

During the winning stretch, the anatomist proved to be annoying for Ramon as it neutralize his offense while I aggro him with multiple Ogre Resisters. Ramon was not able to find solutions for my threats and he quickly conceded.

Games Record: 6-0
Match Record: 3-0

Round 4 vs Erson

After knowing that we are the only 2 undefeated players in the tournament, we decided to draw the match to secure us both into the Final Four.

Games Record: 6-0-1
Match Record: 3-0-1

As everyone else was playing for their last match, I watched the games of my teammates, rooting for them and to check how they were doing. Makoy was able to win his last match which put him to 3-1. Rap only got 2-2 not enough for him to make it to the top 4. On the other hand, Ramon was having an epic battle against Gedi but unfortunately, he lost the game which brought him to 2-2. Overall, I was happy that Team Buckets performed really well in the tournament, no bad record for us.

After 4 rounds of fun Magic, Makoy and I made it through the Final Four and the good thing was we were not paired in the semis so there could be a chance to have an all Team Buckets finals. But first, we need to take care of business against our foes.

Semifinals vs Ian (Black Green Infect)

We met again and I sense revenge is on his mind. Trying to prevent it from happening, I carefully planned my strategy from the beginning; making sure I will make the right call and decisions.
He began the game with a turn 2 Viridian Emissary that went untouchable for a while because he was stumbling to find his 4th land. I setup my board with Serum Raker and Vedalken Anatomist ready to examine the incoming infect dudes.

Once I was able to stabilize my board position as well as my hand ready to fry some infected critters, Blisterstick Shaman ended the misery of the Emissary. Due to the Sakura-Tribe Elder effect of the Emissary, Ian started to drop infect dudes in the form of Blightwidow. The Anatomist started to do his job and another Anatomist wannabe came into action in the form of Cryptoplasm that closed the window of opportunity for Ian to recover.

SB Plan:
+2 Ogre Resister
+2 Oculus
+1 Crush
+1 Vivisection
-1 Quicksliver Geyser
-2 Steel Sabotage
-2 Gust-Skimmer
-1 Strandwalker

I kept a controllish hand drawing first, which consist of Oculus, a couple of Burn the Impure and Myr Turbine but lacking red sources, hoping to draw it as the game progresses. Ian started with a Rot Wolf which begun to bash me. I declined to chump block my Oculus as to not give him card advantage from the infected wolf. I finally ripped my red source and burned the Wolf immediately before he could untap to protect it with Mirran Mettle.

I extended my card advantage with Vivisection, drawing 4 cards, thanks to Oculus. More of the Myr Tokens coming out from the Myr Turbine joined the fun and the combo was formed when Mortarpod made these chumpy machines into machine guns. All of Ian threats were answered with ease as the Kuldotha Flamefiend swept the opponent’s side of the battlefield and the Myr robots bested the Phyrexians!

Games Record: 8-0-1
Match Record: 4-0-1

Finals vs Makoy (Very very strong Black Green Infect)

It was an incredible weekend for both of us as we finished as the top 2 seed. Makoy, who owed me since I let him win the Extended tournament the week before Bacolod’s Game Day, gladly conceded to me during the Finals in order for me to seal the victory.

Games Record: 10-0-1
Match Record: 5-0-1

I was happy to win the Mirrodin Besieged Game Day at Bacolod. At first, I am not pleased with my card pool because it looks weak and kinda’ slow. Yet the deck proved me wrong, it turns out it has great synergy and control, plus its ability to turn defense into offense was really fun. I was surprised blue was under drafted but it shows how powerful it is in a slow format like this. I also experienced playing with it during sealed as well as drafting at NetDraft and it didn’t fail me.

As I anticipated it, infect was over drafted; good thing I was able to noticed it earlier in the draft and avoided it. Having it would be a nightmare for me since I already drafted Rot Wolf which means disaster because there are already 2 people going into the infect route in our pod. It was also fortunate that I was not paired against Makoy during the Swiss or else he could have pounded me. Overall, drafting with Mirrodin Besiege was really fun and I’m hoping to draft with it in real life more often. I’m expecting to be drafting again once the last set of the Mirrodin Cycle comes out. Cheers!

P.S. Here are a few pics during the course of the event. (Don’t mind the date, the camera settings is kinda messed up):