PTQ Little Rock Top 8 report from like 4 months ago

I wrote this the week after but never posted it. Enjoy.

Little Rock PTQ Report: *Top 8*

Man, so close.

On Saturday, February 16, I, along with five other Tulsans, loaded into the back of a minivan headed for Little Rock, with aspirations of qualifying for Pro Tour: Hollywood. Most of us were at our local game shop, Castle Comics and Gaming, until past 2:30 AM the night before/morning of the tournament, so we were all bleary-eyed when we left at 5 AM. After an uneventful four-hour drive, we arrived in Little Rock just before registration started. I had never been to this particular game shop before, but it was pretty nice. It had a pretty small area for selling product, complete with some glass cases and board games and Warhammer stuff on the walls. Then, as you walked further back, they had a dealer set up for the day, a bathroom, a TV room, and a set of stairs. If you took the stairs upstairs, you arrived in the tournament room, which was big enough for approximately 80 players. We had 91 players for the PTQ, so the dealer left at the beginning of round one and the bottom 5 or so tables ended up downstairs. I knew exactly what I wanted to play, so I just picked up some sideboard cards that I needed, filled out my decklist, and had plenty of time to hang out before the tournament started. My choice for the day was, in my opinion, a very good one: Enduring Ideal.

1 Godless Shrine
1 Mikokoro, Center of the Sea
1 Plains
1 Windswept Heath
4 Tinder Farm
4 Sulfur Vent
1 Sacred Foundry
4 Ancient Spring
1 Hallowed Fountain
3 Flooded Strand
2 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
4 Lotus Bloom
4 Sensei's Divining Top
2 Orim's Chant
4 Burning Wish
4 Pentad Prism
1 Pernicious Deed
3 Seething Song
3 Solitary Confinement
4 Fire/Ice
1 Honden of Seeing Winds
2 Dovescape
2 Form of the Dragon
3 Enduring Ideal
SB: 1 Enduring Ideal
SB: 3 Tormod's Crypt
SB: 1 Thoughtseize
SB: 1 Deathmark
SB: 1 Pyroclasm
SB: 4 Leyline of the Void
SB: 4 Boil

I anticipated a fair amount of Next Level Blue, Dredge, and Red Deck Wins in the Top 8, along with a fairly high proportion of aggro decks in the swiss rounds. I also expected decks like Doran and Affinity to show up, along with many others. In the week before the tournament, I went through a couple of different builds of Ideal. The first one played Magma Jet and Insidious Dreams with the Draco+Erratic Explosion combo. I found Magma Jet to be decent though not as flexible as Fire/Ice, and I found Insidious Dreams to be slow and the Draco/Explosion combo unreliable. I'll discuss further potential alterations to the deck at the end of the article.

Back to the tournament, play was supposed to start at 11 AM but didn't actually start until 11:48. We had 91 players, as I already said, which meant seven rounds of swiss. Luckily, after the late start, the rounds went by pretty quickly and smoothly.

Round 1: Zoo
As I shuffled up for my first round, I sized up my opponent. He appeared to be in his early thirties and not incredibly comfortable with a deck of cards. I decided that he was likely not playing anything too complex, or if he was, he wouldn't be playing it well. I won the die roll and mulliganed a hand that included three Sensei's Divining Tops. My six were much better, and my opponent kept his seven. I suspended a Turn 1 Lotus Bloom, played a land, and passed. He played a Wooded Foothills and passed back. I decided that he was probably playing Red Deck Wins or Zoo and had just kept a slightly slow hand. At that point, I expected to win the match unless he played a good amount of Land Destruction spells. I just played out some Invasion sac lands and cast Enduring Ideal on turn 4. His series of Turn 2 Goblin Legionnaire, Morph Blistering Firecat, flip Firecat and attack for 9 got me to 5, but after a couple of enchantments came out, he scooped.
Sideboarding: None
In game two, he opened up with a Turn 1 Mogg Fanatic into Turn 2 Goblin Legionnaire. During the upkeep of his Turn 3, I played Orim's Chant with Kicker. At the end of my turn 3, he Incinerated me, untapped, and attacked me down to 10. I untapped, cast Enduring Ideal, and he scooped shortly after.
2-0 Games, 1-0 Matches

I was the second match to finish, second only to my friend Will Clark, who also won 2-0 with Mono Red Burn. We walked around and tried to scout the field, and I was pretty happy with what I saw. There was a lot of Next Level Blue, some Doran or Rock-looking decks, not much Dredge, and a good amount of Zoo. Also, I didn't recognize many players, so the field looked fairly soft overall. I told myself that no matter what, nobody was going to give anything away, so I just enjoyed the time between rounds and tried to stay loose and focused.

Round 2: Jugan Blue
I did not recognize my second round opponent either, which I took to be a good sign. I also had no clue what he was playing. I won the die roll and suspended a Lotus Boom on Turn 1. He played a Snow-Covered Island and Sensei's Divining Top on Turn 1, which made me a bit dubious about my Lotus Bloom. I played a Top of my own along with some lands and worked it to try and find a Boseiju or Orim's Chant to go with the Ideal that I already had in hand. That turned out to not be necessary, because he tapped out for Trinket Mage on his Turn 3, fetching Pithing Needle. This left me free top untap, resolve my Lotus Bloom, and cast my Ideal. He scooped three turns later.

In the meantime, however, he played some cards that signaled to me that he was playing Jugan Blue rather than Next Level Blue, which meant I would be on a slower clock from Spire Golems rather than Tarmogoyfs, and that I wouldn't have to face Counterbalance most likely. That meant that I was free to board out the Deed.
Sideboarding:
-1 Solitary Confinement, -1 Pernicious Deed, -2 Fire/Ice, +4 Boil
I wasn't overjoyed about boarding out Fire/Ice, but I didn't really see any other way. It loses most of its effectiveness as a mini-Mana Short after turn or so 3 anyway, since even bad players will usually keep three or more lands open from that point on.

Between games, my opponent commented on how quickly I had gone off. I said something about "Yeah, turn 4, pretty fast," but in fact I was thinking that he probably wouldn't have done much better if he had played Ideal either. Regardless, he threw a minor wrench in my plans Game 2 when he played an Isochron Scepter and imprinted Orim's Chant. I gulped and thought about how I would win through that, especially since I had boarded out two Fire/Ice which would have been very handy to tap the Stick. A few of turns later, I played a Boseiju and had Orim's Chant and in hand. He had beaten me down to 13 with Spire Golem, and I decided it was time to try to go off. When he tried to activate Scepter during my upkeep, I responded to the Scepter's activated ability that would let him play the Chant by playing my own Orim's Chant. He let that resolve, then tried to explain to me that Orim's Chant is not a Counterspell. I responded that when I played my Chant, his was not yet on the stack, and could not be played once my Chant resolved. Therefore, his Scepter's ability would resolve, but nothing could happen, because, again, his Chant cannot be played. We called a judge over to sort things out; the floor judge ruled against me, but I appealed to the head judge, who (correctly) reversed the floor judge's decision. Once that was taken care of, he let my Chant resolve, so that his did not. Then I drew for my turn and cast Ideal off of Boseiju. I got Dovescape to prevent him from further disrupting me, outside of Venser, Shaper Savant. He played Meloku next, and I had Mikokoro in play, so I decided to go for not one but two Solitary Confinemtents. I supported one with Mikokoro and the other with Honden of Seeing Winds. Then I went for Form of the Dragon, and after racking his brain for at least ten minutes trying to find some way to get through all my enchantments. At some point he correctly concluded that there was none and scooped.
4-0 Games, 2-0 Matches

Round 3: Mirror Match
Luckily, my friend, Will Ferrell, had told me between rounds that my round 3 opponent was about the only other Ideal deck he had seen in the room. From his appearance, he seemed at least competent, and potentially better than that. However, this match was not a contest really as my deck just coughed up the goods. I won the die roll and kicked game 1 off with two Invasion saclands. He played a Gemstone Mine and Sensei's Divining Top. He topped during his Turn 2 upkeep, then tried to untap his land after he drew. I reminded him that it should be tapped, so he put a land into play tapped and passed. I untapped, played Enduring Ideal, and fetched Dovescape, which all but locked him out of the game. I fetched Form of the Dragon next, and he scooped.
Sideboarding: None
With my opponent on the play for Game 2, I was a bit pessimistic about my chances. Fortunately for me, though, my deck simply refused to let me lose. During my opponent's turn 3 upkeep, I Iced one of his lands. He stopped me during my turn 4 upkeep, but I didn't have that much mana in play, so he let me continue. Of course, I knew at this point that he was representing either a Chant or an Ice, and I didn't think he was just bluffing it, not that I could really play around it anyway. I Iced another of my opponent's lands turn his turn 4 upkeep, which was a risk. I didn't have enough mana to go off yet, but I had a Chant I could have used instead of the Ice. However, because I had a Burning Wish in had instead of an Ideal, I thought I would need an extra turn worth of mana in play, which led me to think I should take the gamble of my opponent having a Seething Song and Ideal in hand to go off immediately. It paid off. My opponent just shook his head and passed the turn back. He Chanted me during my upkeep, so I played a land and passed. I Chanted him the next two turns, and he ran out of Chants, so I resolved Ideal the turn after I played my last Chant. On top of that, I drew a Boseiju that turn, which let me get rid of his Boseiju so he couldn't resolve spells through Dovescape. Again, he scooped soon after that.
6-0 Games, 3-0 Matches
After the match, my opponent told me that he did indeed have several PTQ Top 8s (about ten or so). I wished him luck and commented that my draw was just far too good for him to have a chance. He let me know that he was playing Insidious Dreams but had decided through that match that a build like mine with Orim's Chant was better. It was good to hear a pretty decent player say that.

Round 4: B/W Aggro-disruption
I mostly knew what my Round 4 opponent was playing before the match began because I had watched the end of his match the previous round, when he drew with a Doran player. He played a little slow, but didn't stall from what I saw, and he seemed like an okay player who would probably play his deck well but maybe not metagame optimally. His deck contained Thoughtseize, Duress, Savannah Lions, Isamaru, Dark Confidant, Oona's Prowler, Bitterblossom, and Vindicate. Through the course of the match, I concluded that he probably hadn't tested against Ideal at all, because he didn't seem to know what some of the cards did. Game 1 of this match was probably the closest game I had during the swiss rounds. He played an early Dark Confidant, which I Fired, dealing one to my opponent as well. Then he played another, then a Bitterblossom and some other creatures. He attacked me down to just 6 life when I played a Form of the Dragon. I discarded cards twice to his Oona's Prowler so it couldn't kill me along with his Bitterblossom tokens, but Dark Confidant along with his Bitterblossom helped my Form of the Dragon get there after only two turns of him not drawing a Vindicate.
Sideboarding: None
For game two, I think my opponent may have boarded in more discard, because he Duressed me three times this game. However, he didn't have too much pressure for awhile. This gave me a big enough window to draw a Top and make sure I kept drawing lands while I kept an Ideal safe on top of my deck. I still had enough time to go for Dovescape first to make sure he couldn't Vindicate his enchantments. I actually never searched out Form of the Dragon this game, because he had enough Bitterblossom tokens to actually kill me from 5 if he could get rid of my Confinement. Instead, I just made sure I had two Solitary Confinements in play at all times so I wouldn't lose to Kami of Ancient Law or Ronom Unicorn, and let his Bitterblossom and Dark Confidant deal 20 to him. It didn't take long.
8-0 Games, 4-0 Matches
I think it says something about the deck that I got Duressed three times this game and still won. I always like to play decks packed with powerful cards because they topdeck well. This deck fit the bill all day.

Round 5: Affinity
I knew what my opponent was playing this round because he had beaten my friend Chris playing Dredge the round before. I was also ecstatic at the thought of this matchup because they have no disruption Game 1, and oftentimes, none Game 2 either. Game 1, my opponent kept a slow hand with one land and never drew a second after three turns which included a Thoughtcast and a Chromatic Star sacrifice. I played Ideal on Turn 4 and won on 18 life.
Sideboarding: None
Game 2, my opponent thought for quite awhile before keeping. I kept as well. His first play was Frogmite on Turn 2. He hit me with it, then played another on turn 3, as well as two Myr Enforcers. On his Turn 4 upkeep, I played Orim's Chant on him with kicker. Then I untapped and played Ideal on 16 life. I got Solitary Confinement, then Dovescape, then showed my opponent Honden and Form of the Dragon and he conceded.
10-0 Games, 5-0 Matches

After this round, I saw my round 4 opponent, who asked me how I was doing and why I had such a shit-eating grin on my face. I told him my record and he said, "What the hell!?!? You haven't lost a fucking game!?!?" I just kept grinning and nodded. He wished me luck and I reciprocated. Standings were posted, and I was in 3rd place out of 3 undefeated players. My tiebreakers were bad because I got paired down round 4. I could still ID twice into Top 8 though, so I did.
10-0 Games played, 5-0-2 Matches

I had a good two hours during the last two rounds to get some food from McAlister's Deli next door, talk to friends, and scout the top 8 decks. When final standings were posted, I was in 4th, paired against Jeff Zandi, who is usually judging PTQs rather than playing in them. I knew he was playing Red Deck Wins with Quirion Dryad instead of Blistering Firecat. I was mostly worried about Molten Rain from him, because if he casts it on the play it can be very hard for me to win. I took a couple of sips of Five-Hour Energy (thanks Jesse!) and shuffled up.
Top 8: Red Deck Wins
I lose the die roll and take a mulligan after he keeps his seven. He has a good draw with several creatures backed by Molten Rain. I drew three Burning Wishes but don't have the mana to cast Pyroclasm or Deathmark. I also drew a couple of enchantments which were not Solitary Confinements. He killed me on turn 5.
Sideboarding: None
I took another mulligan game 2 and kept a weakish hand with Boseiju, Dovescape, two Fire/Ice, and two lands, including a Sacred Foundry. My opponent mulliganed once as well. I eventually drew a top and started working it. I saw two fetchlands and a Pentad Prism, but he had already Ancient Grudged my first Prism, so I got the fetchland, then used it to look at three new cards, but still saw nothing. In retrospect, I think I made a fairly big mistake there. I could have waited to draw the second fetchland before I used the first one so I could shuffle my deck twice and see many more cards with my Top. That would have meant taking a turn to do nothing but draw, but I wasn't under much pressure, and really had no other way to find any action. As it turned out, I had three or four turns to draw a Burning Wish or Ideal but I couldn't, so eventually, he drew some burn and creatures and killed me.
Games played: 10-2, Matches: 5-1-2

In conclusion, I was happy to Top 8, but not really satisfied. I really wanted to qualify, but making Top 8 is a great confidence boost after my terrible showing the week before in Dallas. I'll have to test the deck a bit more, but I believe that Red Deck Wins is still a slightly favorable matchup, and I believe that my draws were fairly subpar both games of Top 8. My deck performed admirably, and I was very happy with its power, consistency, and position in the metagame over the course of the day. I never had to face a single Gaddock Teeg, Kami of Ancient Law, or Indrik Stomphowler all day. However, I think I might want the sideboard to be a bit more relevant. I only used my sideboard once all day, and I don't think the Boils are completely necessary. I'm considering the following for the next PTQ:

1 Plains
2 Windswept Heath
4 Tinder Farm
4 Sulfur Vent
1 Sacred Foundry
4 Ancient Spring
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Gemstone Mine
2 Flooded Strand
1 City of Brass
2 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
4 Lotus Bloom
4 Sensei's Divining Top
2 Orim's Chant
4 Burning Wish
4 Pentad Prism
1 Pernicious Deed
3 Seething Song
2 Solitary Confinement
4 Fire/Ice
1 Honden of Seeing Winds
2 Dovescape
3 Form of the Dragon
3 Enduring Ideal
SB: 1 Enduring Ideal
SB: 2 Tormod's Crypt
SB: 1 Thoughtseize
SB: 1 Pyroclasm
SB: 4 Leyline of the Void
SB: 4 Insidious Dreams
SB: 1 Erratic Explosion
SB: 1 Draco

This deck doesn't have a Godless Shrine, which makes Leyline of the Void more difficult to cast in postboard games, but that isn't relevant very often at all. It also has a Gemstone Mine and City of Brass to make up for that. The reason for only playing one of each is that they are both bad if you draw two, and you never have to worry about that if you only play one of each. The deck does not have a Mikokoro either because the matchups where it's good, i.e. decks with no way to beat a Confinement/Mikokoro lock are already great matchups. Those decks include Affinity and Mono Red Burn. By cutting Mikokoro, the deck's mana becomes a bit better without hurting any matchups. Without Mikokoro, the third Solitary Confinement becomes a Form of the Dragon since it can win the game by itself against Next Level Blue. In the sideboard, I decided to cut yet another Tormod's Crypt (uh oh) to fit in the Insidious Dreams for Draco plus Erratic Explosion combo. I considered putting in a Reclaim in the sideboard as well just in case you draw Draco, but it's a bit slow and there's not really room for it. Also, I never wished for Deathmark at the PTQ so I decided it was expendable.

In conclusion, I had a lot of fun at the PTQ and had a performance that I can build off of and hopefully use as a stepping stone to get to Hollywood. Moreover, I was very happy with my play and deck choice for the most part, though I think there are many viable decks. Now, time for props and slops.

Props:
Judges for getting rulings right and listening to players' appeals and explanations
Will Clark for letting us use the van
Guy for driving
Chris for going 5-2 at his first PTQ

Slops:
Starting almost an hour late
The weather, for being rainy

'Til next time,

-Ben Jackson

Good stuff Ben! Pretty concise and entertaining.

at least you didnt lose in the finals after you mulled to 3 and 4 both games

4 Boseijus was a must in Ideal. Why would you ever want Boil when your plan is to find Boseiju, then cast Ideal? At what point are you trying to Boil them? Using it as a Mana Short? Well, you never need Mana Short when you have Boseiju. If you get to cast it off of one of your Boseijus, who gives a shit? Just find an Ideal and kill them.

Not only that, but the more Boseijus you have in the mirror the better. If they always have access to Boseiju and you don't, you're basically kold.

EDIT: Should probably mention that these are good at keeping my time occupied. Ty.

the 3rd Boseiju in the board is probably better than the 4th Boil, but other than that, basically Legend Rule. You could say "yeah but if you just Boseiju out an Ideal you should win" but basically if you can Boil as well you get to play around Venser and Stomphowler if they happen to have shit like that. That was the reasoning at least.

If people actually read these, I guess I'll finish my Nats report. I'd write one for the PTQ I won, but I don't remember much and all the mirrors would be "I sacced him out and drew more Seizes/Blossoms FTW."

I read them.

There are other ways to play around Venser and Stomphowler that don't involve completely ignoring your plan A.

Legend rule is a shitty argument as you win the games you draw Boseiju.