Wichita PTQ - Winner

I'm actually embarrassed to be writing this. I don't want to sound like AJ Sacher just ranting about how everyone is an IDIOT or TOTALLY BRAIN DEAD and much less smart than myself but that is really the only way to describe my opponents from the PTQ over the weekend.

After the PTQ in KC Ben Jackson and I once again tried to brew something just a little different but just like last time in the end we just ran whatever Gerry suggested. Can you blame us?

This is what I had sleeved up before heading down to Wichita.

4 Dark Confidant
4 Vampire Hexmage
4 Thoughtseize
4 Muddle the Mixture
3 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Jace, the Mind Sculpter
1 Compulsive Research
3 Thopter Foundry
2 Sword of the Meek
2 Smother
2 Repeal
1 Slaughter Pact
1 Engineered Explosives
4 Chrome Mox
4 Dark Depths
4 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
4 River of Tears
4 Sunken Ruins
3 Tolaria West
3 Island
1 Academy Ruins
1 Swamp
SB:
3 Deathmark
2 Damnation
2 Jace, the Mind Sculpter
2 Gatekeeper of Malakir
2 Extirpate
1 Oona, Queen of Fae
1 Chalice of the Void
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Ghost Quarter

We had 62 people in the tournament which meant only 6 rounds before the cut to Top 8.

Let's get started.

Round 1 - Daniel Saunders - UGr Scapeshift

Before the round he had his deck sheet face up but all I could see was a Vendilion Clique in his SB. There were some Elephant tokens in his deck box so I put him on Hypergenesis.

He won the roll and started off with a Halimar Depths. Hmmm, weird. I Thoughtseize him and find out he is actually playing UGr Scapeshift.

His hand is:
Forest
Island
Wood Elves
Spell Snare
Coiling Oracle
Sudden Shock

I take the Spell Snare, play a Dark Confidant next turn and make a 20/20 two turns later with Muddle backup.

-2 Thopter Foundry
-1 Sword of the Meek
-1 Slaughter Pact
-2 Smother
+2 Extirpate
+2 Jace, the Mind Sculpter
+1 Oona, Queen of Fae
+1 Ghost Quarter

Game two is another Thoughtseize into Dark Confidant game. I take a Snare and leave him with Remand and Peer. He Remands my Dark Confidant but it comes down next turn all the while he is ramping with Wood Elves into Sakura-Tribe Elder. My first attempt at Jace gets Remanded but the second time I lay it I look at the top of his library and see a Coiling Oracle. I leave it there and on his turn he plays it, reveals a Scapeshift, and kills me.

Game three I continue the trend which followed me throughout the day of turn 1 Thoughtseize. He has a Snare, Cryptic, TRIPLE Scapeshift and two lands. I have an Extirpate in hand and can probably cripple him or I can just kill him since I also have Depths and Hexmage and Muddle in hand (is). So I take the Snare. Play Hexmage and Depths next turn. He just lays his third land. I untap, play Sunken Ruins and pass. In his upkeep I make a 20/20 and he plays a forth land and tries to Repeal the token, I Muddle it and he concedes.

1-0

Round 2 - Alan Weil - Living End

Guess what spell I played on turn 1 after he mulled to 5? Yuuuuup. I took one of the two copies of Demonic Dread in his hand and left him with the other, Street Wraith, Verdant Catacombs and Mountain. He took a bunch of damage off lands and cycling Wraiths and never drew a Fulminator Mage so I killed him with a 20/20.

-3 Thopter Foundry
-2 Sword of the Meek
-2 Smother
-1 Engineered Explosives
+2 Extirpate
+1 Tormod's Crypt
+1 Chalice of the Void
+2 Jace, the Mind Sculpter
+1 Oona, Queen of Fae
+1 Gatekeeper of Malakir

Game two he just cycled a lot looking (I'm assuming) for multiple cascade spells to play multiple around my Muddles. I got a Jace down and started fatesealing him. At some point he suspends a Living End and the turn before it goes off I Thirst discarding Dark Confidant and Oona. When his Living End goes off I put my guys back in play and he says, "Oh I didn't even notice those were in there." So he cascades into another Living End in his end step when I tap out to activate Oona. From here neither of us have any guys in play and I just keep uping Jace until I ultimate and kill him.

2-0

Round 3 - Josh Smith - All In Red

Game one I'm all set to make a 20/20 on turn two but he has a turn 2 Magus of the Moon. He follows this up with a Chalice of the Void for two. After just getting two attacks in with Magus I Repeal his Chalice, Slaughter Pact his Magus, play a Hexmage and a Chrome Mox on black (Thoughtseize). He draws, tanks and scoops.

-4 Muddle the Mixture
+1 Damnatioin
+1 Deathmark
+2 Jace, the Mind Sculpter

Thinking here was Muddle was going to be too slow on the draw, I might have boarded some or all of them back in maybe for Dark Confidants had I lost game 2.

He tanked for a long time before deciding to keep his seven. He played a Mountain and passed. I Thoughtseize'd him seeing:

Mountain
Chalice of the Void
Chalice of the Void
Seething Song
Magus of the Moon
Shattering Spree

I take the Magus of the Moon. On turn 3 he Seething Songs into Chalice for 2. I Thirst and Thoughtseize him again to take the second Chalice then play a Jace next turn. I put a Dead/Gone and a Magus of the Moon on the bottom and give him a couple Mountains and a Seething Song. Eventually I draw a Repeal, make a 20/20 and it's game over.

3-0

Round 4 - Sein Meier - UW Reveillark

I don't really remember much about this round. He had a bunch of hate cards like Meddling Mage, Path, Repeal, Pithing Needle, Cryptic Command. Also a Reveillark package with Glen Elendra Archmage (is this still a real card?) and Mulldrifter.

I won game 1 with a 20/20 then decided to board into a mostly Thopter deck with Jaces and only 1 Hexmage and 1 Depths since he had so many answers. This didn't work out and I realized I didn't wanna try and grind the game out with Thopters against his hate so I decided I was just going to get him with a 20/20 again. Thopters out, Hexmages and Chalice in.

Turn 1 I Thoughtseize him and see:

Hallowed Fountain
Island
Chalice of the Void
Glen Elendra Archmage
Mana Leak
Pithing Needle
Reveillark

I took the Pithing Needle which was probably a mistake because he had always named Foundry with it in the other games but if I take that risk and he names Hexmage I'm probably dead. He plays a Mind Stone on two and I play my Hexmage and Depths on my turn and pass. He plays a 3rd land and taps out for Glen Elendra. I make my 20/20 and swing in on the next turn. He blocks. On his turn he draws, tanks, and Chalices for two, tapping out. I draw, Slaughter Pact his Glen Elendra and beat for lethal. If he had drawn another land that turn for Reveillark I would have had a much harder time winning. But that is what you get for playing cards like Mind Stone and Glen Elendra outside of standard two years ago.

4-0

Rounds 5 and 6 I ID with a Elves player and Landon who drove down with me and was playing Living End.

Top 8 - Didn't write down these guys names - Mirror

This was by far the best match of the tournament. Maybe the best match Kansas has ever seen. This match was the closest of the weekend and the biggest grind (the one match I didn't ever cast a Thoughtseize) but by far the most enjoyable and mind blowing.

Game one my opponent starts the punting on turn 2. He lays his second land (Urborg) and a Chrome Mox and passes the turn. I draw and cannot get my Urborg into play fast enough. He looks at his hand and I say, "You can't tap it for mana" and he puts it in his graveyard. We Wasteland each other a couple times but I have a Dark Confidant in play. He gets Thopters online but I'm short a Sword. I buy some time with a Explosives but never find my other half of the combo and eventually lose.

I board like this:
-2 Thopter Foundry
-1 Sword of the Meek
-1 Slaughter Pact
-2 Vampire Hexmage
-2 Dark Depths
+2 Jace, the Mind Sculpter
+2 Gatekeeper of Malakir
+2 Extirpate
+1 Oona, Queen of Fae
+1 Ghost Quarter

Game 2 seemed like a heartbreaker. My 7 was 5 land, Chrome Mox, and either Muddle or Thirst. My 6 card hand was 4 land, Chrome Mox, and whichever spell it wasn't in the first hand. Down to 5 and I keep 3 land, Chrome Mox, and Dark Confidant. Bob was going to have to really do work and get me out of this hole but I knew he was up for it. It gets to turn 4 and I'm asking him lots of questions and talking a lot trying to break his concentration and get inside his head. I say, "So your Mox is on blue?" He looks up to confirm and says, "Yes." I turn to Kenny who is sitting next to me and say, "I bet he has the Hexmage for that Depths." True to form the guy plays his Hexmage tapping a Chrome Mox and a Urborg. I look him strait in the face and say, "That is the only way you CANNOT cast that spell." He apologizes and untaps the Mox for a land. He knew I had a Gatekeeper in hand from a Dark Confidant trigger but I assumed he thought if he sac'd his Hexmage in resp he wouldn't have to sac his 20/20. I play the Gatekeeper and he Echoing Truths his Hexmage in response. That's fine, I attack him down to 10 with Dark Confidant equiped with a Sword of the Meek. His next turn he plays the Hexmage, makes a 20/20, and lays another Dark Depths. In my upkeep I reveal an Oona to Bob and am down to 9 from only my own damage. I have another Gatekeeper I drew last turn waiting for him so I play that and get rid of his fancy Marit Lage. Attack and he is at 5 and facing lethal next turn. He draws and plays Engineered Explosives on two and blows it to wipe my entire board. But I have Oona next turn and after his draw step he scoops.

While shuffling for game three my opponent surprises me with his generosity and tells me I have the option to play first in our last game. Stunned I blurt out I'll play first. After we shuffle each others decks he plays a land and I have to remind him he game me the option to play first and I took it. The table judge nods and Kenny about dies of uncontrollable giggles and face slapping.

This game was pretty awesome. He kept a triple Thoughtseize hand but I drew a Dark Confidant to sneak past them. He missed his second land drop but had a Chrome Mox (for a turn before I Engineered Explosive'd it). Once again he was just dying to 2/1 beat down. The turn before he dies he has a Dark Confidant in play at 2 life to my Dark Confidant and Hexmage. He has Island and Chrome Mox on black and revealed a Hexmage to Bob this turn. He just passes so I assume his plan is to block Hexmage and Echoing Truth both the Confidants. Instead, he just blocks my Confidant and dies not realizing I had Urborg in play and he could cast the Hexmage.

Like I said, not proud of any of these wins. All I had to do was not punt.

Top 4 - Target Acquired - Scapeshift Zoo

I don't know this guy's name but he can NEVER beat a KC player. Just bad luck. He has been paired down against KC players and knocked out multiple times and I've personally eliminated him from at least 2 PTQs, well 3 now.

Game one I Repealed his first Geopede, then Smothered his Knight of the Reliquary, then made a 20/20 Rashad token and Muddled his Path.

Boarded like this:
-4 Dark Confidant (Normally I board out Muddle against Zoo but with Scapeshifts in his deck I decided I'd rather have them than Bobs)
-3 Thopter Foundry
-2 Sword of the Meek
-1 Sunken Ruins
+3 Deathmark
+2 Damnation
+2 Gatekeeper of Malakir
+2 Jace, the Mind Sculpter
+1 Ghost Quarter

I think he mulliganed and lead off with just a land. I Thoughtseized him and saw:

Ghost Quarter
Path to Exile
Scapeshift
Tarmogoyf
Vinelasher Kudzu

I took the Goyf and he played the Kudzu on his following turn. I let him beat for 2 twice before I Smothered it and played a Jace on my turn. I fatesealed him and gave him another Scapeshift. He had a Lynx in play but no land so I wasn't worried. Next turn I Thoughtseize'd him for his Path and left mana up for Smother because I let him keep an Arid Mesa on top of his library. He plays it and attacks for 2. I ask him what he is attacking and it's me so I let the 2 come through and go to 14. Same thing happens except I give him some non-fetch land. I take 2 from Lynx and am getting closer to -12ing Jace. At some point I bounce a Geopede and Thoughtseize it. When Jace is going to go ultimate the next turn I let him keep a Pridemage on top. He draws, tanks forever, plays the Pridemage then one of Scapeshifts in his hand with 6 lands in play, one being a Flagstones. I Muddle is and he extends his hand, I'm onto finals.

Finals - JoJo - Elves

Before this I hear from lots of people that if he meets me in finals he will scoop because he knows me and is already Q'd on rating. Turns out he was mistaken and isn't anywhere near Qing on rating and wants the plane ticket anyway. So we battle.

He leads with Forest, Llanowar and I lead with the ever present Thoughtseize.

His hand is:
Llanowar Elves
Nettle Sentinel
Glimpse of Nature
Temple Garden
Verdant Catacombs

I take the Glimpse and take some beats from tiny elves and my Dark Confidant but eventually make a 20/20 and he plays a Glimpse, I Muddle it and he scoops showing me the hand that surely would have killed me had I not Muddled it.

I board like this:
-3 Thopter Foundry
-2 Sword of the Meek
-2 Vampire Hexmage
-2 Dark Depths
+3 Deathmark
+2 Damnation
+1 Jace, the Mind Sculpter
+1 Chalice of the Void
+1 Ghost Quarter
+1 Gatekeeper of Malakir

I Thoughtseized him again and he complained about my luck but I took his 1cc sorcery that he had in his opener both games. How lucky! I get a Dark Confidant in play, offer a trade with his Visionary with it but he declines. I play a second Dark Confidant, greedy, I know. After that I transmute Tolaria West for Chalice and play it for 1. He plays Primal Command to put it on top and shuffle my graveyard into my library. Then I reveal Damnation and Smother to my Confidants and I'm down to 6. I play Deathmark and Smother on his two guys and beat him down to 8. He takes one from a fetch land, and I take 2 from my two Confidant triggers when I reveal a Hexmage and a land. A judge watching realizes I forgot to draw my card for the turn in the excitement of seeing if I would kill myself with Bobs. At this point I'm at 4 and need to either play the Jace in my hand and set up my draws so I don't die or play the Damnation. I attack him down to 3 and play Damnation because Jace gives him an out of Primal Command and killing his one mana elf in play makes it less likely he will be able to kill me. I then play Hexmage and Depths and make a 20/20 while he is at three. He draws, wishing for a Glimpse. Doesn't draw it and I win.

{e}


The deck is for ringers, randoms need not apply. There are tons of decisions and you need to be able to think 4-5 turns into the future. If you make even a tiny mistake you can lose a game you could have won. But it's also powerful and even brain dead idiots will be able to attack with 20/20s randomly (like my top 8 opponent). Still, those players are going to have a hard time closing.

I'm glad I don't have to PTQ anymore but I wish all of you that do the best of luck. If you want more info on the deck just send me a message on facebook or something.

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