Alara Reborn Release Party!

I havent posted about Magic in a long while so i thought i might share with you how i did at the Alara Reborn release party. Enjoy!

Last week i went on a quest...to win my local FNM by the time i leave Shanghai this summer. After having done so well the first two times drafting there i went on a slump of going 1-2 for three weeks in a row. although i wasnt playing poorly my drafted decks were just inferior to the cards these guys were pulling. on to the release party.

i picked my packs which consisted of AAARRR. i like this way of sealed much more by the way. after cracking my packs open, i realized that i had a good Naya deck, actually a really really good deck. here was my deck: Dark Naya (Naya+Black)

Lands - 16
1 jungle shrine
2 esper panorama
2 swamps
4 forest
4 mountain
3 plains
(i know the land total is small but the decks curve and my mana fixing more than made up for this less than normal land total.)

Creatures - 16
2 Akrasan Squire
1 Wild Nacatl
1 Topan Ascetic (foil - Johan)
1 Rhox Charger
1 bloodpyre elemental
1 wholly thoctar
1 steward of valeron
1 deathbringer thoctar
1 bloodbraid elf
1 marisa twinclaw
2 3/4 cip 3 damage to flying creatures guy ( i dont know their names b/c they are written in Chinese)
1 r/w tapper guy
1 r/g landcycler
1 w/g landcycler

Spells - 8
1 executioners capsule
1 obelisk of Naya
1 r/b borderpost
1 aura that gives +3/-3 to creature
1 Oblivion ring
1 bitumonous blast
1 lavalanche
1 colossal might

Planeswalker - 1 Ajani Vengeant
Total cards - 41

after constructing it, i was pretty confident that if i played without making mistakes i could do well, maybe even win it all...i was confident that my creatures would outclass the majority of decks i played.


Match 1: played against the local judge. he is a really good player and i hadnt beaten him yet. He always plays grixis, and was playing it once again but this time with an esper splash.

first game i curved out perfectly t1 forest nacatl, t2 plains ak squire, t3 mountain ascetic, attack for4, he lays down a super 0/8 wall, but then next turn i draw and play bloodbraid elf into wholly thoctar! ouch! his super wall can only block one guy so i swarm in for the win. game two i have him down to 3 life but then he gets out the Esper Akroma...he comes back via vigilance/flying/lifelink (akroma is akroma, shes good in any way shape or form.) game three i check my deck to see if the O Ring is still there to answer his akroma...yep it is...on to playing. i curve out perfectly again with almost the identical plays accept this time i Bituminous Blast his Tower Gargoyle, cascade into Bloodbraid elf, cascading into.....R/B borderpost :( you cant get them all the time...anyway his super wall can only block one guy of the swarm and i have ajani and a fist full of removal to answer any of his threats or defenders. I win. my deck was superior to his and i never once overplayed my cards...he's the kind of player that lives off the mistakes of others and so when he saw that i was playing well, he got totally flustered and i was able to use that to my advantage. he often over extended to kill a creature only to see i had another creature waiting to back it up. (1-0, 2-1)

Match 2: for the first time ever i was in the winners bracket. yay! i play against a guy who is playing a Naya/bant deck.

first game i curve out perfectly again, t1- ak squire, t2 tapper guy, t3- land cycle, t4- bloodbraid elf into topan ascetic. no chance. he was running elvish visionary and every creature he ran out there was met with either ex capsule, or the +3/-3 enchant creature. fast game one. game two, he gets mana screwed out of a blue mana and i easily romp him with a rhox charger and bloodbraid elf into an ex.capsule. win number two! awesome, my first finals match! (2-0, 4-1)

Match 3: i play against a guy i named Chang...we've been playtesting each other out with our constructed decks and he is consistently at the final table. he was really happy to see that i had gotten there as well and congratulated me on that. he's a great guy and a really good player...he's helping me to become a better player. before we sat down to play though he offered me a deal i could not refuse. he really wanted the release party T-Shirt that was awarded to 2nd place and so he asked me if i wanted to draw and take 1st place and the ten packs that come with, in exchange for him getting second place - six packs and giving me a vendillion clique. i thought about it for maybe 2 seconds and then shook his hand. (2-0-1) 1st Place!

i had finally done it! i won a real sanction event. how cool! reading Olivier Ruels starcitygames article about what tier you are really inspired me to become better. before today i was a 3 star player (out of ten - with 10 being reserved only for the hall of famers and most pros being on the 5-7 level), one who plays at the local FNM and plays competantly, but hadnt yet succeeded at the local level. once you win you move on to 4 star player. I had set out a goal to win a local FNM just a week ago...i did not figure it would be only one week before i acheived this goal.

the stars of the deck:

• Ajani Vengeant - of course! his ability to keep a permanent untapped is way stronger than it looks, permanently keeping their best creature out of the game. i never got to use his ultimate, but the lightning helix worked out just fine.
• Akrasan Squire - the early 5-6 damage he puts in makes it feel like my opponent starts out at 15 life.
• r/w tapper guy - his pinging was awesome and the tapping kept so many threats under check. excellent card.
• Topan Ascetic - first time i got to use him, he is so powerful its ridiculous
• bituminous blast- cascade is so good it feels like you are cheating.
• Colossal Might - the best pump spell in the block. just as good as most removal, maybe even better in the right decks.

the MVP - Bloodbraid Elf: she is as good as advertised and then even better. made my curve go from real good to crazy! cascading into a wholly thoctar? absolutely cruel. simply put, every game i got her out i won. yes that is correct, every game i got her out i won. you know how in basketball you need a great 6th man. well BBelf is like having steve nash as your 6th man. she is probably my favorite card from Alara Reborn.

i called mai kao and acted all sad on the phone to make her think that i had lost. then went home to see her...with my secret surprise. when i told her the news she was so happy for me and recorded a long speech of me explaining my deck. how cool. and then i let her open all the packs for me b/c of my dreadful luck...most of the packs where pretty bad, except for one that made it all okay. i popped open a Maelstrom Pulse! she sure is my lucky charm.

in two weeks is the Constructed tourney and winner gets 3 byes at the City Champs later in june. i've been waiting for a constructed tournament, b/c i'm more a player than a deck builder. 2 weeks to find out the meta! yikes.

it feels good to win it. i knew i was a good player but my results never showed it. it feels good to be able to finally turn the corner.

josh out.