Sunday, May 9, 2010

MTG Fanatic 2K Tournament Report **5th Place**

This weekend I played in a local 2K Tournament sponsored by the website mtgfanatic.com. My deck of choice for the tournament was Sovereign Mythic. Here is the list I sleeved up:



As you can see, my Sovereign Mythic list is a bit different from the lists that have won a few recent PTQs and other tournaments. The main difference is the inclusion of Rafiq of the Many and Sphinx of Jwar Isle. While testing I discovered that Sphinx makes so many match-ups even better than they already are. And Rafiq makes Eldrazi Conscription even better because Trample AND Double Strike is stupidly good. As for the sideboard, I'll explain my choices and a recommended SB plan for different match-ups during the actual tournament report.

Tournament Report:

Round 1 vs Time Sieve Combo
Round 1 I played against a good friend of mine running his version of the Time Sieve Combo deck that was popular before Lorwyn rotated. The new cantrip artifact from Rise of Eldrazi makes Time Sieve a viable deck again and I wouldn't be surprised to see it grow in popularity. Game 1 my opponent had to mulligan to 6 and didnt do anything relevant for the first few turns. As for me, I went Turn 1 Birds, Turn 2 Knight of the Reliquary, Turn 3 Rafiq, attack for 10. My opponent drew his card on turn 4 and then scooped up his cards. I sided in 3 Negate and 3 Bant Charm, taking out 3 Dauntless Escort, 2 Rhox War Monk, and a Lotus Cobra (or other mana dork). Game 2 he cantriped a few times and then floated 6 mana before sacrificing most of his manabase (he had 3 borderposts) to Time Sieve and then cast Open the Vaults. I had a Negate in hand to thwart his attempt at starting the combo. He took his extra turn, thought for a bit, and then scooped up his cards.

1-0 (2-0 in Games)

Round 2 vs Naya Allies
Round 2 wasn't very exciting. Not knowing what my opponent was playing I kept a fairly slow opener for Game 1. I proceeded to get blown out by the Allie "god draw". I sided out 3 Dauntless Escort for 3 Bant Charm. Game 2 I kept a blazing fast hand and my Turn 3 Baneslayer Angel stopped him from doing much of anything. Game 3 my opponent mulliganed to 6 and kept a 1 land hand. Needless to say I won that game pretty easily.

2-0 (4-1 in Games)

Round 3 vs Open the Vaults
I dont remember this round too well. Game 1 he kept me off of double white with Spreading Seas so I had 3 Baneslayer Angels stranded in my hand and no way to cast them (Day of Judgement got rid of all my mana dorks). He resolved Open the Vaults with Sanguine Bond in play and 2 Filigree Angels in the graveyard. I sided out 2 Rhox War Monk, 2 Lotus Cobra, and a Sovereign for 4 Negate, 1 Deprive and 1 Oblivion Ring (I decided not to bring in Bant Charm because destroying his Artifacts isnt really helpful when he can get them back). Game 2 I got a quick Sovereign out and with 2 attacks ended the game. Game 3 I got greedy and it almost cost me the round. It was turn 6 and my opponent had set up for Open the Vaults perfectly (Sphinx, discarding double Filigree Angel and Couriers Capsule). I had Negate and Jace in hand. I thought for a minute and decided to play Jace, Brainstorm, and hopefully find a land so I could Negate the Open the Vaults. Needless to say, I didn't find the land and watched helplessly as my opponent went from 2 life (I had dealt him alot of early damage with Rafiq and Knight of the Reliquary) to almost 30. However, my luck turned around as I drew double Baneslayer Angel and a Sovereign to finish the game. Talk about luck.

3-0 (6-2 in Games)

Round 4 vs UWR Control (aka Super Pals)
I knew I couldn't escape it forever. UW Control is a terrible match-up for Mythic, and the addition of Red for Ajani makes it even tougher. It was this round that I learned the true power of Gideon, as he can single-handedly shut off Exalted therefore making Sovereign a plain 4/5 for 6. Game 1 was pretty much an auto loss as Mythic really has no way to answer UW once it takes control. I sided out 2 Rhox War Monk, 4 Baneslayer Angel, and 1 Lotus Cobra for 4 Negate, 1 Deprive, and 2 Oblivion Ring. Game 2 was very interesting. We both did nothing for a few turns. I had double Hierarch and he had double Wall of Omens. The game went on and on, both of us essentially saying "Land, Go". I finally drew something relevant, Eldrazi Conscription. My opponent had tapped out the previous turn for Mind Spring so I seized my opportunity and attacked with a 12/13 Noble Hierarch that destroyed both his blockers (he saced them to Annihilator for some reason). He took the 12 damage, untapped, cast Gideon and killed my (now tapped) Noble Hierarch. However, on my turn I cast a freshly drawn Sovereign and we were on to Game 3. I boarded out one of my Sphinx's for the Lotus Cobra that I had taken out before Game 2 to lower my curve (time was almost out so I knew I had to win quickly). My opener was less than perfect (5 Land, Cobra, Escort) but I decided to keep it hoping I'd draw something relevant. I drew 2 Negates in a row and was able to win the game in a few turns by countering 2 Ajanis and attacking with my Cobra and Escort. Luck was definitely on my side.

4-0 (8-3 in games)

Round 5 vs Jund w/Persecutor
Round 5 was against my friend (also 4-0) who was playing his version of Jund which included Abyssal Persecutor. Game 1 he got off to a quick start and had be below 10 life when he finally dropped Persecutor. On my turn I played a Baneslayer and passed the turn. He thought for a minute and then attacked with his team (Leech, Bloodbraid, and Persecutor). I blocked the Persecutor and took 2 damage (he pumped the Leech). He then said "your Baneslayer is dead." I laughed and pointed out that Baneslayer has protection from Demons and his Persecutor is, in fact, a Demon. "That ability is NEVER relevant!" my friend said with a slight smile on his face. I untapped, cast Sovereign, and killed him with a 16/16 Baneslayer. I boarded out 2 Rhox War Monk, 3 Dauntless Escort, 1 Lotus Cobra and 2 Jace for 3 Kor Firewalker, 3 Bant Charm, and 2 Thornling (in case you dont know, Thornling is nuts against Jund). We shuffle up for Game 2 and he smashes me with double Blightning and double Bloodbraid. Game 3 went much better for me as I was able to get the "god hand" and attacked for 14 on turn 3 (Birds, Cobra, Sovereign, GG? lol).

5-0 (10-4 in Games) **Essentially locked for Top 8**

Round 6 against UWR Control (aka Super Pals)
After Round 5 I was the only undefeated player left in the tournament, so I got paired down with a 4-0-1 player who needed a win to guarantee his spot in Top 8. While shuffling he dropped a Wall of Omens, so I immediately put him on UW Control. Just like my previous match against UWR Game 1 was an auto loss. I stuck with my sideboard plan and while we shuffled up for Game 2 I started to doubt myself and my deck. But I quickly regained my confidence when he mulled to 6 while I powered out a quick Sphinx. He scooped a few turns later. Game 3 was almost identical to my previous Game 3 against UWR. He stumbled on his mana a bit and couldn't get WW to cast Day of Judgment. He finally drew the Plains the turn before I would have killed him, but I had Negate waiting to save my creatures. My opponent was pretty upset that he lost and spent quite some time rambling on about how "Mythic shouldn't beat UWR. Mythic is auto win for UWR!" Maybe my UWR match-up is better than I thought. Negate is definitely good in the match-up.

6-0 (12-5 in Games) **Locked for Top 8**

Round 7 vs Sovereign Mythic (Mirror)
My opponent and I talked for a bit and we determined that if I scooped to him he would make it into Top 8 and we would end up on opposite sides of the bracket and wouldn't have to play each other in the first two rounds of Top 8. I happily signed the match slip and spent the rest of the round talking to the representative from MTG Fanatic about how awesome the tournament was.

6-1 (Still technically 12-5 in Games) **Locked for Top 8**

After Round 7 Top 8 was announced and I was placed 2nd overall. After about 30 minutes of waiting around (the head judge deck checked each member of Top 8 which took some time since the other judge was busy helping with a side event) I finally sat down in front of my Top 8 opponent. Turns out he was also playing Sovereign Mythic. I honestly had no idea how to play the mirror match, which led me to keep a seemingly good opener. Long story short, I got rolled Game 1 as he quickly cast Sovereign and took over. I boarded out 3 Dauntless Escort and 2 Rhox War Monk for 3 Bant Charm and 2 Oblivion Ring. Game 2 I was able to knock my opponent down to 7 with Knight of the Reliquary and Rafiq but made a horrendous misplay that cost me the game. I had Sovereign in hand and would have been able to cast it, attack with Rafiq and have Knight to back him up if my opponent had removal. I had double Bant Charm in hand so I was pretty confident that I could remove any possible threat. On his turn I cast Bant Charm targeting his Birds of Paradise (I had a feeling he had Sovereign and I had no way to block the Bird). In response my opponent tapped his Knight of the Reliquary to fetch a Sejiri Steppe and protect his Bird. He then cast Sovereign and went to attack with the Bird. In response to declare attackers I was going to Charm the Sovereign. I tapped Forest and Island, then tapped my Knight to fetch out a Plains for the white I needed for the Charm. However, I had a momentary brain fart grabbed a Verdant Catacombs and immediately put it into my graveyard. I realized what I did but by then it was too late to go back and fix my mistake. My opponent attacked and I scooped up my cards, angry at myself for making such a dumb misplay. Top 4 ended up splitting the rest of the prize money and all walked away with $320. 5th through 8th got $60. Needless to say, I was happy that I walked away with $60 but I was mad that one misplay cost me the chance at $320. Oh well, everyone makes mistakes, and I definitely learned from it.

After Thoughts
This tournament really helped me get a better feel for Sovereign Mythic. I feel like I sideboarded correctly in every match and I learned alot about each match-up, especially the mirror and UW(/r) control matches. I can honestly say that Sovereign Mythic is one of the strongest decks in the format and I will happily continue playing it at every Standard tournament I attend.


Suggested Sideboard Plans:

UW(/r) Control:
This match-up is by far the toughest for Mythic. Mythic usually wins by overextending and Day of Judgment puts the deck so far behind that it's often difficult to catch up before Jace or Gideon comes down and takes over the game. Rhox War Monk and Baneslayer Angel are pretty mediocre in this match-up. Lifegain is almost never relevant and Wall of Denial blocks Baneslayer all day. Here is what I'd suggest: -4 Baneslayer Angel, -2 Rhox War Monk, -1 Lotus Cobra/Bird/Hierarch, +4 Negate, +2 Oblivion Ring, +1 Deprive. Negate is insane in this match-up and Deprive acts as either a 5th Negate or an answer to Sphinx of Jwar Isle or any other finisher.

Jund:
You generally have a pretty good match-up vs Jund. Your creatures are generally bigger than theirs and they all demand removal right away. Rhox War Monk really isnt amazing in this match-up and neither is Dauntless Escort. Escort might stay in because he can protect from removal, but I've found that boarding in something like Bant Charm and Thornling make up for it. Here's my suggestion: -2 Rhox War Monk, -3 Dauntless Escort, -1 Lotus Cobra, -2 Jace, +3 Kor Firewalker, +3 Bant Charm, +2 Thornling.

Allies/Mono Red/White Weenie:
These match-ups can go either way. Each of these decks is blazing fast and you have to match their speed or interrupt their tempo if you want a chance to win. This is one of the few match-ups where Rhox War Monk isn't boarded out because each of these decks has trouble dealing with a 3/4 Lifelinker (although Flame Slash gives Red a better chance). Bant Charm is an MVP out of the SB as it acts as a counterspell and creature removal. Here's my suggestion: (vs Allies/Mono White) -3 Dauntless Escort, -2 Jace, +3 Bant Charm, +2 Oblivion Ring (vs Mono Red) -3 Dauntless Escort, -2 Jace, -1 Lotus Cobra, +3 Bant Charm, +3 Kor Firewalker.

Sovereign Mythic: (mirror match)
This match-up is interesting. Generally speaking, Game 1 is determined by whoever gets Sovereign out first. Games 2 and 3 are much different though. Tempo is the most important thing is this match-up, so mulligan aggressively. If your opener doesn't have a Turn 1 Bird or Hierarch, it's probably too slow. As for sideboarding, you want to bring in as much removal as you can. Here's my suggestion: -2 Rhox War Monk, -3 Dauntless Escort, +3 Bant Charm, +2 Oblivion Ring. If possible, I might suggest finding a way to fit the Deprive in as well so you have another answer to Sovereign. I talked to a few people also playing Sovereign Mythic (3 of the Top 8 decks were Sovereign Mythic) and there was some discussion about whether or not to board out Jace. I suggest leaving Jace in simply because he can throw off your opponents tempo and also help you dig for answers or a Sovereign.

Thanks for reading! Feel free to contact me if you have any questions about the deck.

-David Campano (@dcampa93 on Twitter)

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Sovereign Mythic

Recently I've been bouncing between decks alot. Every week I play a different deck, whether it be a crazy homebrew list like my Grixis Machine Head deck or my Gearbox Control deck, or a simple net deck like Boss Naya or UW Tap Out. Though switching decks has kept my interests fresh and has been alot of fun, my results haven't been as good as I've wanted. I always make Top 8, but I usually end up losing in the first round because of my lack of knowledge of the deck. A week just isnt enough time to fully learn how to play a good deck and how to sideboard correctly. To fix this problem I've decided to build one deck and learn it in and out and continue to play the deck each week at FNM and in any Standard tournaments. My deck of choice was Mythic. But not just regular Mythic, Sovereign Mythic. Here is my current list:



A few side notes about the deck and card choices:
-2 Dauntless Escort MB: DoJ ruins this decks day. Escort helps protect your little guys and even the final BIG guy.

-1 Finest Hour: I personally like this card as a 1 of. It can occasionally win games and makes even a Birds of Paradise a viable threat.

-1 Baneslayer Angel/Thornling & Sphinx Package: I currently only own 1 Baneslayer, so the Thornlings and Sphinxes make up for the absence.

-3 Birds/Hierarch: Just like Baneslayer Angel, I dont own the 4th of each card. I also dont really think the deck needs all 8 "mana dorks".

SB Info:
-3 Negate: Negate is insane in so many matchups, especially vs UW and the new UWr Control decks.

-3 Bant Charm: Bant Charm is my personal replacement for Pridemage. Pridemage would be used to deal with Basilisk Collar and other pesky Artifacts. Bant Charm does that and also doubles as removal and an additional counterspell against UW and UWr

-3 Oblivion Ring: More removal. Deals with every (nonland) permanent. 'Nuff said.

-2 Celestial Purge: Helps versus the Mono Red matchup and against Jund.

-1 Rhox War Monk: Not sure what else to put in this slot. I figured the 4th War Monk would come in against Mono White and Mono Red decks that cant deal with the combination of Lifelink and 4 toughness.

-3 Kor Firewalker: For the Mono Red and Jund Matchup. 'Nuff said.

Sovereign Mythic lists have already won multiple PTQ's so the deck is definitely solid. Let's hope the deck works at FNM this week and at the WPN Qualifier this Saturday!

Feel free to comment on the deck.