Super Sunday Series Championships 2014

I was fortunate enough to qualify for and participate in the first-ever Super Sunday Series Championships at the Wizards of the Coast headquarters in Renton, WA. For this first one, 39 total players from 20 different countries came. I think there were all of 9 or 10 players from the US, including myself. With flight, hotel, and meals all paid for by the tournament organizer and the chance to meet Magic R&D and other Wizards employees and well as a tour of the Wizards of the Coast offices, it was a sweet deal. The two restaurants that we ate at Saturday night and Sunday night even printed up custom menus for us.

I started the tournament drafting a not stellar U/G draft deck (and lost to the Boon Satyr + Courser of Kruphix U/G deck in round 3) and played R/G Monsters for the Standard portion due to my inability to carve off any time for testing due to work. While the tournament itself didn't go so well for me (finishing 3-6 and 37th place out of 39), the trip was a blast and I would participate again if given the opportunity. Some highlights from the weekend:

• Meeting a bunch of Germans who got a kick out of my name, since I'm not German and also not from China
• Playing against opponents from 8 different countries for the 9 rounds of the tournament (Czech Republic, USA, Japan, Germany, Canada, Australia, Malaysia, Spain)
• Doing infinite free booster drafts during downtime, even at the restaurants after eating dinner
• Hearing about how insanely expensive Magic is overseas and feeling fortunate that I play this game in the US. For example, in Australia a $6 card that you can buy in the US will sell for $30.
• Learning that kangaroos are actually disliked in Australia, but dingoes and koalas are ok
• Listening to the Germans trolling each other
• Drafting with Marshall Sutcliffe, Randy Buehler and other WotC employees and asking Helene Bergeot to draft with us, but alas she said she doesn't know how to play Magic :(
• Lots of free food and drinks over the weekend
• Seeing 2 inches of snowfall in Seattle on Saturday night and watching all the locals freak out because apparently it never snows in Seattle and therefore they don't know how to drive in snow. Also, a handful of people who came from warm climates (South America, Australia, etc.) had never seen snow in their lives before so it was very enlightening to them.

Mid-Year Update, 2013 Edition

So far, 2013 can be summarized by "lots of travel and lots of Magic," and I haven't even traveled for work yet.

Travels began in mid-February with a trip to Seattle to hang out with some bros. The trip began on a weekday evening after work with some solo Panda Express at DIA while waiting at the gate.

Once in Seattle, the cuisine...

...and company...

...got infinitely better.

Fast-forward a few months to June and the Denver Comic Con. A few of us went to the Con to play in the Star City Games Invitational Qualifier tournament being held there. For some unknown reason, all of us played in an 80-person FNM (7 rounds with a cut to top 8) the night before to try to win a box of Modern Masters, and after getting home at 2 in the morning all empty-handed we were in line at the Con at 8:30 after a solid breakfast nearby.

There were some horror stories from the previous day of the Con that involved a line wrapping around the convention center a few times and thousands of people getting turned away because of insufficient door staff. Fortunately, none of those shenanigans happened on Saturday, which was when we were there. Playing a 7-round cut to top 8 tournament on 4 hours of sleep is pretty taxing, but I somehow made top 8 nonetheless. The lack of sleep and food caught up quickly 5 rounds into the tournament (the Clif Bar and cafeteria sandwich didn't do a whole lot for me during the day). After losing a 3-game semifinals to barely miss out on qualifying for the Invitational but walking away with $100, we walked to BD's for probably the best Mongolian BBQ I've ever had.

Later in June was the Luscious Nectar Vegas Man-cation. The trip started with a free alcoholic drink on the flight thanks to Southwest Airlines's birthday.

Now, I understand that typically what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, but I'll make some exceptions here. The house that we rented for the week was pretty nice.

Costs were kept low by sharing the house between 13 guys. With 13 guys in a house with only 8 beds (plus numerous couches, both indoors and outdoors), we all got by without any problems.

The main reason for our Vegas trip was Grand Prix Las Vegas, which turned out to be the largest Magic tournament ever at 4500 players (the previous tournament attendance record was just shy of 2700). Our team was featured in the tournament coverage here (photo courtesy of Wizards of the Coast event reporting).

At the end of day 1, 4 out of 13 of us (including myself) made day 2 of the GP, which means we got to draft Modern Masters, and it doesn't get much better than that.

With 454 players in day 2 alone (the size of a small overseas Grand Prix!), 3 of the 4 of us scrubbed out of the money rather quickly. However, the "chatty and affable" Steve ran the tables from a 9-0 start on day 1 to a 3-0 draft on day 2, followed by a 13-0 overall record to be the last undefeated player at GP Vegas. A loss and a draw later, we watch Steve draft and play Affinity for the third time in a single day - this time in the top 8 of the largest Magic tournament ever. That was certainly the highlight of the weekend for us.

I must say that Steve was definitely the best-dressed player in the top 8 with his donkey cufflinks. Overall, the details of our Vegas trip could be summed up with a single photo.

Enough about Vegas for now. Summer kickball with coworkers has been in full swing, and we are something like 3-3 so far, which is already miles better than our 1-X record in the fall season. And yes, we get to drink beer while playing kickball.

Two weeks after Grand Prix Las Vegas, a few of us headed out to Kansas City during the long weekend for yet another Grand Prix. Aside from Magic, we consumed lots of delicious barbecue.

Josh was the only one out of the three of us to make day 2, so on Sunday I decided to play some Dragon's Maze sealed in the Super Sunday Series. After winning 12 games in a row, I took a match loss in round 7, then drew into top 4, where we combined with the top 4 of the Standard tournament for a top 8 draft. I fell into the P1P1 Mirko Vosk trap for the third time in DGR draft, so I ended up with what I thought was a poopy Dimir deck (I passed a Vraska in the RTR pack to take a Rogue's Passage...). Josh and Steve drove out to Buffalo Wild Wings for beers while I was drafting in the top 8, and after the draft I texted them to let them know I may be done very soon because my deck was terrible. They returned to the nearly-empty tournament hall just in time to watch game 3 of the quarterfinals. After watching me win the quarterfinals and the semifinals with my sweet combo of Paranoid Delusions plus a pile of cards, all they could say was this.

Basically, I just kept playing Magic that day until I was told I could not play anymore Magic. For the finals of the tournament, I found myself sitting across perhaps the most successful female Magic player on the professional circuit (photo courtesy of Steve).

After getting my face bashed in by Skaarg Goliath in game 1, I won games 2 and 3 on the back of being a lucksack and milling her good cards to win the Super Sunday Series (there were no Progenitor Mimic, Collective Blessing, or Trostani's Summoner cast against me in the finals because they were all milled). Part of the prize for winning the tournament is an expenses-paid trip to Wizards of the Coast headquarters in Seattle next year to meet and mingle with Wizards R&D members and other Super Sunday Series winners, which is pretty freaking sweet. (And yes, after the finals they told me I could not play anymore Magic that day and that I should go home.)

The M14 prerelease this past weekend was pretty cool. Several well-known professional Magic players were in town for a wedding, and a few of them came out to play in the prerelease with us. I was on Reddit today here, which was also pretty cool I suppose.

Tournament Report: SCG Denver 6/12/11

Since I actually took notes during my matches throughout the tournament and while it's still semi-fresh in my mind, I thought I'd make an attempt at writing a tournament report from the SCG Open in Denver. I only played in the Legacy Open that weekend as I had Dragon Boat practice that Saturday morning, and made somewhat of an attempt to repeat my Top 8 showing at last year's SCG Open in Denver.

The tournament venue this year was Invesco Field. After spending my Saturday morning paddling on the lake and getting splashed on repeatedly, I battled my way through weekend traffic on I-25 and arrived at Invesco Field mid-afternoon to play in the Legacy Challenge to test the waters for the big event. During the weeks leading up to the tournament, I playtested decks such as Team America, TES, Merfolk, Zoo, Burn, and Deadguy Ale, but that Friday night right before the tournament I playtested with a guy piloting Hive Mind, and it seemed like a solid deck that was also crazy fun to play. As a result, I decided on a whim to play Hive Mind that Saturday. I looked up Eleyet's list from GP Providence as a basis, and modified it a bit to suit my tastes (-2 Misdirection, +1 Slaughter Pact, some sideboard changes). After hitting the dealer booth to trade for the cards I needed for the deck (which happened to be most of it), I took Hive Mind to a 3-1 finish in the Legacy Challenge. I used the same decklist the next day for the Legacy Open, and can be seen here.

(Note: Being the terrible player that I am, I failed to use Pact of Negation on my own Pacts correctly throughout the tournament, and didn't realize it until after the event. This misplay will become evident in the feature match coverage that I was in, and I may have blew my shot at Top 8 because of it)

ROUND 1: Belcher (2-1)

I win the die roll. Game 1 he takes a Serum Powder mulligan, and after checking with a judge regarding if I could see the cards he exiled (the answer is yes, they are face-up), I recognize he's playing Belcher before I take my first turn. Turn 2 he plays a Tinder Wall which got Mental Misstepped, and follows up with a lone Lion's Eye Diamond. I had the turn 3 Show and Tell to put Hive Mind into play with multiple Pacts to kill him during his upkeep, but he had the Goblin Charbelcher to deal 68 damage to me before my turn ended. Oops.

Game 2 he takes a Serum Powder mulligan, followed by a Paris mulligan, but things became awkward when he accidentally drew 7 cards on his Paris mulligan and picked up his hand. The judge ruled that two random cards from his hand gets shuffled into his library, and the game proceeds with him having 5 cards in hand. After we keep our hands, I had turn 1 Ancient Tomb into Grim Monolith, turn 2 fetchland into Hive Mind into Pact...the stone cold nuts.

Game 3 was more interesting. He keeps his original 7 while I mull to 6. He tries to combo off early (maybe turn 2?) with Chrome Mox imprinting Elvish Spirit Guide, Tinder Wall, and Rite of Flame, but I Force of Will his Rite to keep him off of the 4 mana needed for a potential Empty the Warrens. All he has left was another Chrome Mox imprinting another green mana source and rebuilt his hand slowly while I feebly attempted to sculpt my hand with cantrips turn after turn. Eventually I stuck a Hive Mind in play with nothing to follow up, and he stuck a Xantid Swarm and Lion's Eye Diamond. When I built up to 5 mana, I cast Pact of the Titan, giving us each a titan and forcing him to break his LED and discard his hand (which had a Charbelcher and no Empty the Warrens) in order to stay alive. I place a die on top of my library as an upkeep reminder, which was the only reason I didn't lose to my own Pact (I untapped, reached for my deck to draw my card, saw the die sitting there, and then remembered to pay for my Pact). I rip a Pact off the top to win the match.

1-0

ROUND 2: High Tide (2-1)

He wins the die roll. Game 1 started with some cantrips for both of us, and a Merchant Scroll for High Tide for him, but the next turn I had the Show and Tell into Hive Mind with a Pact to kill him.

Game 2 he combos off and fights my permission with his superior permission. Eventually he cast multiple Meditates, multiple Turnabouts, 3 Time Spirals, and 5 High Tides with 3 Candelabras in play before killing me with Blue Sun's Zenith for 60-ish (with 20-ish mana floating). I figured my only chance once he started to combo off was to draw the nuts (read: permission up the ass) every time he Time Spirals, but unfortunately on that last Time Spiral I draw all sorts of combo pieces but no permission.

Game 3 began with a single-digit number of minutes left on the clock. On turn 5, my opponents untaps and time is called. He proceeds to combo off (interrupted briefly by a Pact of Negation war, which he "won") with 2 High Tides, a Time Spiral, lots of Brainstorms and Ponders, and a Blue Sun's Zenith for 9 targeting himself in an attempt to recharge his depleted hand. At that point, I had a Volcanic Island, Grim Monolith, and 2 Ancient Tombs untapped. I decided that I needed to fight that Zenith, so I tap my Volcanic Island for 3 blue mana and Brainstorm into the absolute nuts: Force of Will, Mindbreak Trap, Mindbreak Trap (comment from spectating judge after the game: "best Brainstorm ever"). Putting some combo pieces back on top, I Trap his Zenith, which got Pacted (his second one that turn), so I Trap his Zenith again with Force of Will backup. His 2 Spell Pierces can't stop it, and he concedes the match. Interestingly, he decided to eschew the Brain Freeze line of play entirely due to me having Emrakuls in my maindeck, but I actually sideboarded them out for games 2 and 3.

2-0

ROUND 3: Budget Zoo (2-0)

He wins the die roll and starts Game 1 with a fetchland into shockland into Steppe Lynx. My opening hand wasn't the nuts, so I had to find the combo real quickly with cantrips. Turn 2 he fetches up a shockland again and bashes for 4 before sticking another Steppe Lynx. All I have is City of Traitors to join my turn 1 Island. Turn 3 he fetches another shockland and bashes for 8, putting me at 8 and dead next turn (Kird Ape joined his team). I Intuition for a combo piece during his end step, and Show and Tell a Hive Mind into play (he puts in a land). Pact of the Titan almost sealed the deal for him, except he had a Path to Exile during my end step to find that 5th land he needed to stay alive, but Pact of Negation on his Path killed him.

Game 2 he starts with Forest into Wild Nacatl. Then turn 2 he plays Mountain into Stoneforge Mystic, getting Batterskull. It wasn't until turn 3 when he tried to sneak Batterskull into play that I realized he didn't have white mana to play Stoneforge in the first place - I had always assumed that the Zoo player has access to all colors of mana at all times. One judge call and 2 issued warnings (1 for both of us) later, he Lightning Bolts me and attacks me to 12 before I Intuition for Show and Tells to put Emrakul into play the next turn. He scoops.

3-0

ROUND 4: Dredge (2-0)

As we were chatting before the round began, I find out that he was the Standard Open finalist from the day before. We also talk about the prevalence of Dredge in the room, with me saying how I think it's a good matchup for me.

I win the die roll. I had a turn 1 cantrip, while his turn 1 consisted of draw, discard Golgari Grave-Troll, go...awkward. I didn't have much action on turn 2. His turn 2 dredging put a Cabal Therapy into the graveyand and a Narcomoeba into play, and he Therapies me naming Trinket Mage. Seeing my hand full of Hive Mind combo pieces: "oh, THAT deck." Ancient Tomb the next turn allowed me to Intuition for a combo piece, and after his next dredge didn't hit any Therapies (but I did see a Woodfall Primus hit the 'yard), I put Hive Mind into play and Pact him to death.

Game 2 I start with a Leyline of the Void in play. He starts with Undiscovered Paradise into Putrid Imp, which got Mental Misstepped, even though I probably should have let that resolve and save the Misstep for the potential Nature's Claim, which is exactly what he used to get rid of my Leyline a few turns later (slow combo deck on my part, eh?). Shortly afterwards, I find the 3-piece combo. I play Show and Tell to put Hive Mind into play, and he asks a judge a rules question regarding enters-the-battlefield triggers (Woodfall Primus, anyone?). He puts Primus into play, targeting my Hive Mind with the trigger, but instant-speed Summoner's Pact will still get there.

4-0

ROUND 5: Merfolk (0-2)

This was my first feature match of the day, which wasn't anything more than us playing in the feature match area - no coverage nor cameras. This was his first Legacy event ever, which he will go on to Top 8. I win the die roll, and know he's playing Merfolk by watching him play during the previous round. Unfortunately, I mulligan to 4 before leading with Ancient Tomb, go. 5 turns later I died to a school of fish, and all he saw from me that game was a single Ancient Tomb - I drew all sorts of colorful Pacts with nothing else.

Game 2 we both mulligan, except he kept at 6 and I went down to 5. He missed his second land drop, but Force of Willed my turn 2 Grim Monolith and played fish after fish after resuming his land drops while I attempted to cantrip my way to a combo or a Llawan. A few turns later, with lethal on board, he attacks me and I Slaughter Pact his fully-leveled Coralhelm Commander to buy me a turn, even though I knew there was nothing that I could draw to save the game.

4-1

ROUND 6: Blue/White Control (1-2)

This was a feature match that is covered here (note: typos aplenty in that article). Game 1 is an example of my misplay with Pact of Negation (hint: he had 9 lands in play that turn). Game 3 was probably the most fun game I played all day, even though I lost. The tension at the end was epic as I played cantrip after cantrip to no avail.

4-2

ROUND 7: Combo Elves (2-1)

I win the die roll and start Game 1 with a cantrip. His turn 1 consisted of Windswept Heath into Forest into Fyndhorn Elves. The next turn he resolves Birchlore Rangers, and I immediately recognize how awkward this match will be for me. My hand consisted of Show and Tell, Intuition, and far too many colorful Pacts, but when he went for the Glimpse of Nature, I had to Intuition for Mental Misstep and counter it. With a Priest of Titania and Gaea's Cradle in play alongside a table full of elves, I recognize that my two lines of play (Hive Mind and Emrakul) are both useless, and my only chance of winning this game was if he fails to pay for his Summoner's Pact, which got Regal Force. Mirror Entity and random elf put me from 17 to 5 life before he remembered to pay for his Pact the next turn and attack me for near-infinite damage.

Game 2 he assembles a few elves before going for Glimpse of Nature again, except I had the Intuition for Mental Misstep again. He then plays Birchlore Ranger and gets the beatdown going to put me at 7 life before I Intuition (putting me at 5 from Ancient Tomb) for Pact of the Titan/Pact of the Titan/Slaughter Pact (he wisely lets me have a Pact of the Titan). I put Hive Mind into play, followed by 2 Pacts of the Titan and a Pact of Negation. He only had to pay 7UUR during his upkeep due to my Pact of Negation misplay, which was still too much mana for him.

Game 3 started as time in the round was running out. He had the turn 3 Glimpse of Nature with a great board position (Nettle Sentinel, Birchlore Rangers, Wirewood Symbiote, Forest, Horizon Canopy), but I had Island and Ancient Tomb to cast Intuition for Mental Misstep yet again (third time this match!). The next turn I cast Ponder, trying to find Show and Tell. I find it and keep the cards on top, drawing Show and Tell. "So you like them, eh?" my opponent asks nervously. "Oh yes. Actually, only one of them," I replied with a smile, as I crack a fetchland and go for the win via Show and Tell for Hive Mind, and he puts a second Birchlore Rangers into play. Analyzing his board position, I think that he can generate only 3 mana, 1 of which being off-color, so I cast Pact of the Titan followed by Pact of Negation without passing priority like a noob, and he ends up needing to pay 3UU during his upkeep or loses the game. He untaps and says he can pay 2UU due to Wirewood Symbiote's ability (I facepalm), and spends the next 5 minutes agonizing over how to pay that last mana needed to stay alive while a crowd gathered around to watch our game. After being asked by a judge to proceed the game state, he decides to convoke Chord of Calling for 1 to see what he could find, as his board position couldn't pay the upkeep. Unfortunately, his library couldn't get there either.

END RESULT: 5-2 matches, 11-7 games, 12th place out of 117 players

PROPS: Playing Hive Mind on a whim - it really is a fun yet solid deck to play. I don't think I've ever had as much fun playing a deck as I did that day. Maybe it has something to do with killing your opponents with Pacts. Also, SCG for coming out to Denver for their Open Series. It's unfortunate how there's no Legacy scene here, but SCG brings that with them, albeit for one weekend out of the year.

SLOPS: Me not knowing how to pass priority when using Pact of Negation on my own Pact all day long (told you I'm a terrible player!). Also, mulliganing into oblivion during the critical Round 5.