Box Tournament at Games by James

On Saturday I went to a box tournament held by Games by James at their new Tournament Center in Coon Rapids, which actually is a pretty nice place! Granted they’re still working on it, but in the near future, I expect it to look really nice. It looked like an old Blockbuster Videos store with no carpet and nothing on the walls and with tables and chairs spread throughout the area. I’m envisioning a great gaming center in the near future there. I’m very excited for James! Plus it’s across the street from Khan’s Mongolian BBQ, Burger King, Subway, & Caribou Coffee. Location! Location! Location!

Entrance Fee: $7
Prize Payout:
1st: 1 Box of M10
2nd: ½ Box of M10
3rd-4th: ¼ Box of M10

I got there early and traded in a bunch of Lorwyn/Shadowmoor block cards and got about $50 in store credit, I used $7 of it to cover my entrance fee. Only 25 people showed up but I was still nervous. I played the Conley Woods Special, a Jund Mannequin deck. Here’s my deck list:

3 Anathemancer (Pretty good card! Even though at FNM’s they only get in for 0-2 damage, it’s still worth it for 0-2 damage, it’s a good blocker and a pesky card to worry about.)
4 Bloodbraid Elf
4 Kitchen Fink (Great card against Great Sable Stag, I don’t mind trading this guy for a Sable Stag at all! Also great against Chameleon Colossi!)
4 Mulldrifter
2 Puppeteer Clique (Pretty good card as well. If you’re playing an opponent where this card is bomb against, then try not to Cascade as much, play Bloodbraid only when you need to or else you’ll Cascade past it every time :( sad face )
4 Putrid Leech
4 Shriekmaw

3 Maelstrom Pulse
4 Makeshift Mannequin
3 Volcanic Fallout

25 Lands

Sideboard:
2 Acidic Slime - Solid card, Deathtouch is sometimes the forgotten ability of this card, awesome blocker when combined with Makeshift Mannequin.
1 Anathemancer
2 Caldera Hellion - Never got a chance to play it, might replace it with Jund Charms.
1 Cloudthresher
2 Great Sable Stag
3 Deathmark - Killer against Elves and BFTs!
3 Thought Hemorrhage - Killer card against control decks!
1 Volcanic Fallout

I usually like to run a deck for at least a couple of weeks and at least at 2 FNM style tournaments before I try it in a bigger tournament. At least I was able to get in a few hours of play testing in against Blong the night before. I learned a lot of things about my deck from that play test session, for example:

1. If your opponent is playing with instant-speed creature removal, don’t pump up Putrid Leech! Always assume they have it in their hand and play around it! I don’t know why it’s taken me so long to learn this simple principle but it’s made a world of difference in my games and has made me a much better Putrid Leech player. Before I used to hate playing Putrid Leech because it would always hurt me, but now, it’s quickly becoming my favorite 2-drop. Plus, it’s always fun to see that look on their face when you say “no pump” and as they show you a Path or Lightning Bolt in response to your “no pump.” It’s the look of disappointment. It’s even more fun when they show a Lightning Bolt in response to your “no pump,” because then you can in response to their Lightning Bolt, pump your Leech into a 4/4 that absorbs the Lightning Bolt and still do 4 damage to them.

2. If you have an Anathemancer in play and your opponent refuses to kill it because if you Unearth it you’ll win, then go ahead and play a Volcanic Fallout at the end of their turn or Pulse it or play a Bloodbraid into a Fallout or Pulse to kill your Anathemancer and Unearth it during your turn for the win.

3. In most situations, especially if you know that your opponent is playing with lots of basic lands, if you can play a turn 3 Anathemancer and do only 1 or no damage to your opponent, as opposed to play nothing during your 3rd turn, then by all means, play the Anathemancer for 1 or no damage! It’s better to efficiently use your mana every turn, then to do nothing for those first 5 crucial turns as the agro player.

4. Know when to play Bloodbraid and don’t Bloodbraid too early! Usually if I have Mulldrifters in my hand, I’ll try to evoke or hard-cast them first. BUT if with Bloodbraid in play I am two turns or less away from the win, then I’ll play the Bloodbraid. But if I’m a few turn away from the win or am behind tempo wise, I’ll evoke or hard-cast the Mulldrifters first because too often I’ll cascade away cards that can help me like another Bloodbraid, Mulldrifter, Shriekmaw, Makeshift Mannequin, Puppeteer Clique, etc. Just ask yourself, “what card do I need to win the game?” and then ask yourself “which card, Bloodbraid or Mulldrifter, will get me to that card faster?” If you need a Maelstrom Pulse, then go ahead and try to Bloodbraid for it. If you need a Puppeteer Clique, then try to Mulldrifter for it. Bloodbraid is a trickier card to play than you think; IT’S NOT ALWAYS A TURN 4 CARD!

5. Know when to play your lands, there will be moments where you need to play multiple spells a turn to win the game. For example, like evoking a Mulldrifter, playing a Bloodbraid and attacking with her, and playing a Volcanic Fallout for the win. When holding a Mulldrifter, I will sometimes wait till I have at least 8 mana in play in order for me to evoke my Mulldrifter as well as play the cards I draw from the Mulldrifter like a Puppeteer Clique. Of course there are moments you should hold you lands to bluff to your opponent that you have a Pulse or Fallout as well.

Even though I went by myself I ran into about 6 people that I knew. Up north, there’s always Brad, Steve, and this other guy, these three guys always hang out with each other and are super solid players. Brad and Steve were both at the tournament but weren’t playing. Brad had to pick up his girlfriend at 3pm and Steve had to work at 3pm, so they were just there hanging out. Brad’s an excellent deck builder and constructed player. He’s very intimidating to play because he gives off this aura of superiority. Over the past month or so he’s realized that I’m a nice guy and a decent Magic player, so now we acknowledge each other at tournaments. During my first match, he sat next to me and kept telling my opponent that I was really good and my opponent got super scared, it was kinda funny. My opponent totally made misplays the first game because of this factor like forgetting to attack during his 2nd turn and forgetting to play his 3rd land. Then Brad left to go play some EDH and I told my opponent that Brad was over-exaggerating and he calmed down and seemed less nervous. I just looked up Brad’s DCI score and he has a Constructed score of 1918! That’s crazy! I think that 3 byes for every GP that he goes to!

Steve was also there and he’s a cool guy. He always talks to us and is funny because he kind of talks like a So-Cal surfer. I just looked up his DCI score and he has a Constructed score of 1881! I knew that these guys were good, but I had no idea that they were this good!

But I mainly hung out with Xue and his girlfriend’s younger brother Vandy. They’re Hmong and I’ve seen them a lot in the past few months. Vern called once while I was at a random tournament and asked me if they were there and I said “Yes, they were.” And then Vern told me to talk to them and become their friends, so I did. Xue’s a good player, he normally runs Faeries but today he was running Elf-Ball and Vandy was running Jund Aggro like me.

It's been cool meeting new people like this playing competitive Magic! I hope and pray that I'm a good example, authentic and real, and an influential person in these peoples' lives. It's usually easier to bring a friend to Christ than an enemy or stranger. :)

We’ll here’s a quick rundown of what happened to me at the tournament:

Round 1: 2-0 (undefeated!)
Match record: 1-0

Round 2: 2-0 (still undefeated!!)
Match record: 2-0

Round 3: 2-0 (Yes, I’m 6-0 for the day! I’m indestructable!!!)
Match record: 3-0

Round 4: 1-1-1 I ITD (intentionally draw) into the top 8 against Xue, who’s playing Elf-Ball. We play 3 games for fun and I win 3-0.
Match record: 3-0-1 (I was in third place after the Swiss portion of the tournament. If I didn’t ITD I would have been 8-0 in games for the day and 4-0 in matches for the day, giving me 1st place because the other undefeated players also ITD'ed the 4th round. If I was placed 1st then I would of played against the 8th place player, which would of gave me a different opponent for the Top 8 bracket. Oh well…)

Top 8 Bracket (Single Elimination) – Round 1: 1-2 I lose to a Time Sieve Deck. In games 2 & 3 I was able to resolve Though Hemorrhage, but what did I Thought Hemorrhage out of his deck? I’ll tell you guys later this week when I post up my tournament report. But I have a question for you, what would you Thought Hemorrhage out of this synergist combo deck? Please let me know, so that I can evaluate my decision, thanks guys!

Right after we finish the other 3 winners from the other matches came over and asked my opponent if he would like to split the 2 boxes evenly, he agrees, and they all win ½ a box of M10! MAN WAS I DISAPPOINTED IN MYSELF!!! So close! So dang close to winning ½ a box of M10 for $7!!! SO DANG CLOSE! I was honestly 1 turn away from winning! So close! Arg! Oh well, it happens and it’s part of the game.

Man... maybe I shouldn't of ITD in 4th round... then I wouldn't of got matched up against the Time Sieve deck. Hrm... that's okay, ITD'ing guaranteed that Xue and I would make the top 8, so I did the right thing.

This was my first ever Top 8 Single Elimination match and I got super nervous! Literally, my left thumb went numb for a little bit because it was so cold in there and because I was so nervous. Playing in a Top 8/single elimination situation is super nerv-wracking! I think I might try to go to FNM locations that do a top 8 like Dreamers. The experience would be good for me, plus that’s another round to win more DCI points. Overall, 6th place isn't too bad at all. At least I got a pitty pack for playing. :) Okay, remember to come back and check out my tournament report later this week to find out what I Thought Hemorrhage’d! Thanks for reading!