This one is for Maynard

This past weekend I won one of the Game Day tournaments that Battleground Games had at the Abington store. I also dedicated my win to Aaron Maynard for the heck of it. Considering what happened last time, I definitely learned my lesson from the previous Game Day, and made sure I suggested a split in the Top 4. For those of you who don’t know, during the last Game Day I tried to win it all, and failed miserably.

Even though I struggled with it the last time I played the deck, I felt that Mono Black would give me the best chance to win the tournament, or at least do well. I once again made some changes to the deck the last time I talked about it. For reference, here is what I played.

Main board:

4 Desecration Demon

4 Lifebane Zombie

4 Gray Merchant of Asphodel

4 Pack Rat

4 Hero’s Downfall

4 Thoughtseize

4 Underworld Connections

2 Devour Flesh

2 Bile Blight

3 Abrupt Decay

4 Temple of Malady

4 Overgrown Tomb

4 Mutavault

2 Mana Confluence

11 Swamp

Side board:

4 Duress

3 Erebos, God of the Undead

2 Dark Betrayal

2 Golgari Charm

3 Doom Blade

1 Devour Flesh

I’m not going to get into a full report here, but I feel like this is the best configuration of the deck. While, originally, this may have been set up to take on the mirror match, having Abrupt Decay in the deck is a nice addition. It’s especially nice in the control match-up where your opponent may Detention Sphere or Banishing Light a permanent that is vital to your success.

Having Lifebane Zombie in my sideboard was a choice I made in order to give myself more options in the side board. I have had quite a few discussions over whether or not Nightveil Specter is better in the main board, and my personal choice is the Lifebane Zombie. This allowed me to fit more removal in the side board for the more random aggro decks that can, sometimes, just blow me out of the water.

I think it really helps that I learned more about the deck, especially how to sideboard. When I went into the Boxborough TCG Player 5K, I was still really new to the deck, and I guess I still am. For this Game Day, though, I took the time to read more into the deck and learn how to sideboard for various decks out there.

I have a feeling this is the deck I’ll be playing if I attend the upcoming Starcitygames.com Open Series in Rhode Island, June 7.

A Conspiracy is coming

Also coming next week are the Conspiracy release tournaments.

These are looking like a lot of fun. Here is a quick breakdown of how the tournaments will run at Battleground Games & Hobbies:

• Players will be sat in 8-man pods as soon as we have 8 people registered. Seating will be determined randomly.

• Each player will receive 3 Conspiracy booster packs to draft. The draft itself and deck building period will not be timed.

• Once all players have finished building their decks, we will seat the first round by breaking the players up into two different 4-player groups. Each group will play one game together.

• Each event will last for 2 rounds, each round will have a 75 minute time limit.

• At the conclusion of the first round we will take the winner and the last player eliminated (the top 2) from each of the 4 player groups and pair them together in round 2. We will also take the first two players eliminated from each group (bottom 2) and pair them together in round 2.

• If time expires in a round and the top two players have not been determined, the two players with the most life will be considered the “winners.”

• In round two, the group made up the the “winners” will receive 3 booster packs for each player they eliminate from the game. Players that are not in the “winners group” will receive 1 booster pack for each player they eliminate.

• The only way to win booster packs is to eliminate players from the game in round 2.

• Players will be expected to provide any additional product their draft may require.

If you plan on participating in these events, there are a few cards to keep your eyes out for. From some of the videos provided by Wizards of the Coast, a couple of the cards players can expect in the set are Brainstorm and Swords to Plowshares. This is very exciting because not only are these great cards to play with, but it gives newer players a chance to get their hands on older, and more powerful, spells that might, otherwise, be out of reach for them. In addition, Wizards reprinted Misdirection and Exploration. This is very exciting for players and collectors. Misdirection and Exploration are key cards in a few Legacy decks. However, they’re not limited to those types of players. If you play EDH, then these are some cards that you may want to add to your decks because they can do some silly things.

Be aware though, Wizards recently put out an article already banning the 13 “Conspiracy” cards from tournament play in the Vintage format. With their bans comes a banning in EDH as well since the lists coincide with one another.

Have you seen my Tarmogoyf?

This past Friday, someone lost a Tarmogoyf during FNM. Derek took the time to address the situation and, politely, ask if anyone had to return it. When he made the announcement, the tone in his voice was that there was slim to none chance that the card would be returned. This was a little disheartening because, for the most part, I knew most of the people in the room and no one spoke up. Now, I don’t know if the card was later found or not, but at that moment, I would have thought someone would have had it.

There were a few people that were not familiar to me that night. It may have been because we were running a Modern tournament as well, and so a few fresh faces come out every now and then. Still, I thought our community was tighter than that.

Obviously I don’t know all of the details surrounding the missing card, but there is something I’d like to say. If it turns out you found the card and you happen to be a regular at the store, then there should be no hesitation in returning the card and giving the owner a hard time about almost losing it. However, if you did keep the card, then that is sad. Why would you do that to one of your peers? Whether you play Magic or not.

I would hope that, in the future, if something like this were to ever happen, the situation be resolved immediately and without any kind of loss. We all come to the store to have a good time and to socialize with our friends. If you don’t know any of us, then say hello. We don’t bite. Some of us may be weird, and others may be weirder, but we’re all friendly in the end.

If that’s not your prerogative and you come just to play the game to win, then that’s fine, but please don’t ruin a game that we all like to have fun with. And yes, I like to have fun with the game, even if you’ve just beaten me and I look like I want to punch you. I’d punch you with all of my love.

Ps. There is only a few days left in May to get me to my goal of $300 for the month. Please click on the Extra Life banner below and donate today! I have other giveaways planned, but I want this to succeed before I can do the others. Thanks!

About the author

Simeon is an avid gamer who loves to play board games and video games. He graduated college with a degree in Political Science, and now serves the public by writing about games. You can check that out here. Don’t forget to “like” him on Facebook as well. It’ll update you on all of his newest content. Best of all, you can follow Simeon on Twitter (@SimeonCortezano) for some real time hilarity. Thanks for reading!

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