This looks like the start of a good primer. I do feel that the 2+ recommendation for Cavern of Souls is too ambitious considering our need for blue mana for interaction. I thing a better recommendation would be 1-2 instead.
Sorry guys, went x-3. The cards (or match ups) just didn't go my way.
Rd.1 BYE
Rd.2 BYE
Rd.3 Win Tarmo Twin
Rd.4 Loss Elves
Rd.5 Loss Elves
Rd.6 Win Mono Green Aggro
Rd.7 Loss UW Merfolk
Rd.8 Win chair
Rd.9 Win UW Control
The Elves matchup is still scary unless you manage to hit Hibernation I think. It's too bad we're not into next year's season where the x-3 players still get to play day 2.
does chalice of the void work against hive minded pacts?
Chalice won't counter the copy from Hive Mind (or from various Storm related cards), only the original. So you do need to counter the copy of the pact that is given to you, either with cursecatcher or some other counter and declining to pay.
Round 1 - 2-0 Jund
G1, He played one land, I spreading seas'd it, his second land was a [Ghost Quarter] his land to get the basic swamp for his Thoughtseize and two Inquisition. He never found another land and it was a quick beat-down from my side.
G2, he landed Tasigur, I managed to dismember him after one attack, then dismember again for Scooze and Goyf, Tidebinder and Harbinger did some serious work here.
Round 2 - 2-1 Grixis Twin
G1, he went for the early Twin, his Pestermite tapped down my remaining blue source instead of my Vial. Harbinger bounces his Pestermite after Twin and the beatings commence.
G2, he's on the Clique and Snapcaster beatdown, and then he has the Dispel for my Spell Pierce.
G3, I'm on the "dismember all the things" plan with 3 dismembers and he never comes across Twin.
Round 3 - 1-2 Abzan Company (no combo)
G1, Goyf, Knight of the Reliquary, and others beat me in the race
G2, Tidebinders all the way, a quick beat-down from my side
G3, The only game he actually gets CoCo off, I flood out and he manages to beat me down.
Round 4 - 2-1 Temur Goodstuff
This deck was strange, running Aether Vial, playing Goyf, Eternal Witness, Cryptic Command (the combo here), he had Harbinger in the sideboard.
G1, I have a fairly quick hand and beat him down fast.
G2, more of a race, I forget exactly what he played to beat me out, but I don't quite make it there.
G3, he's in on the Snapcaster beatdown plan, but I manage to stick a Grafdigger's cage to nerf his graveyard interaction and manage to come out with the win.
Round 5 - 2-0 Grixis Twin
G1, Dismember for the turn 4 Twin wins easily
G2, Vapor Snag disrupts Twin again for an easy victory.
Round 6 - Intentional Draw
I end up seeded 6 in the Top 8, there are 5 decks at 4-1-1, two at 4-0-2, and one at 5-1. Here I'm happy to not be the 7 seed which was up against the #2 seed Lantern Control deck which I've been dreading running into (It lost in the quarters to Affinity, so I'm not happy with either of those decks)
Quarterfinals - 2-0 Elves
Both of these games ended up similar, Spreading Seas on his turn 1 forest and his 1 land keeps can't get him up to 4 mana (Harbinger and Tidebinder to tap down and bounce his mana dorks help here). I'm certainly not going to complain about free wins from a deck I have trouble with.
Semifinals - 0-2 Jund
G1, I manage to get him down to 5, but an Abrupt Decay on my Spreading Seas bumps his unblocked Goyf up to 6 to kill me (was chumping a second, I wasn't going to draw into a winning hand without any creatures on board.
G2, he has ALL the removal, including Damnation out of the side to wipe my Lord, Tidebinder, and Master of Waves. And then Maelstrom Pulse for my second MoW.
Aether vial can certainly be countered. The reason you don't see it happen too much is that if we get it down turn 1, it's too early for any counterspells our opponent might have. And if it's coming down on turn 4+, it's probably not worth countering and people don't bother.
I played against Nourishing Shoal G-Vengeance and it never felt unwinnable. I held a vapor snag in hand the entire time and when he went to resolve his 1st grisle-trigger I snagged it and he dug and dug trying to get answers and just lost. Game two I did it again and when he replayed it I coped his Grisle with my P. Image and he conceded. I was honestly surprised at how weak the deck is or at least feels, maybe it was just the pilot but he gained with shoal and dug with grisle and vapor snag just shined the whole way through.
The matchup isn't as hopeless as I originally felt when I encountered it blind at GP Charlotte, but it's not a cakewalk either. The "Plan A" of the deck is to use Gristelbrand plus Nourishing Shaul with Worldspine Worm to draw almost their whole deck, then use their free mana to cast Borborygmos Enraged and throw a half dozen or so lands at you at 3 damage a piece. But their "plan b" of just tossing Worldspine Worm at you Through the Breach once or twice, maybe with Gristelbrand to just punch face can be hard to deal with if you haven't drawn into any counter or removal. However something as simple as spell pierce may not leave them enough mana on their first attempt to go off.
How do these Qualifiers work? You have to win these to participate in the GP? Or do you play them for byes?
On Friday they offer "last-chance" qualifiers, single elim events. If you can get to 5 wins, you get 2 byes and sleep-in for the main event on Saturday. Potentially a place to get a feel for how the meta looks for the weekend.
What are the thoughts about Grafdigger's Cage over the Relic as a better answer for the up-and-coming CoCo decks (I faced 2 Anafenza's Company decks at my local PPTQ on Sunday)?
The "prize wall tickets" are generally redeemable for a variety of M:tG swag, from booster packs/boxes, sleeves, deckboxes, playmats, etc. For instance, the prize wall available at GP Charlotte next weekend is here.
Hey fellow fish players, anybody here going to GP Charlotte? It's my first GP, so I'm trying to get my list as close to ready as I can. I expect a good amount of burn since it's a big tournament and I'm sure a lot of people will be playing the cheapest tier one deck.
I'll be there, I'm working on firming up the list and sideboard I want to run for the actual event. I'm also curious how much actual metagame intelligence once can expect to gather from playing Friday modern events before the main.
How do you feel having a single piece of affinity hate?
Most people seem to have 3+, or just none and hope to dodge the matchup.
I don't actually have an affinity player in my meta that I've seen. The "plan" is to have 3 Hurkyl's in the side, but I'm waiting for the MM15 ones to show up before acquiring them. The sideboard is still somewhat in flux (as is the main for that matter), I'm starting to evaluate what I'll need for GP Charlotte where I expect I will need all the hate for affinity. I may end up with 4 tidebinder in the main to work against burn and the upcoming CC decks that I expect will show up.
I managed to go 4-0 (really 3-0 and the 1st round bye) tonight at my local Thursday-night Modern tournament, we had 15 people with the following deck/;
Round 2 was against Death and Taxes, I went 2-1, my loss in the second coming when he ghost-quartered me down to 1 island (in combo with Leonin Arbiter), but the other 2 games I out valued him with a hand full of Lords.
Round 3 was against Scapeshift, again 2-1, where I had a super-fast hand game 1, went down with a poor draw/keep game 2, and squeaked out game 3 with Cursecatcher + Spell Pierce to stop him from Scapeshifting for the win.
Round 4 was the mirror, we agreed to split, but to play off for the odd prize credit. With faster draws than him both games (and in game 1 an hand of Oboro, Minamo, Cavern, Mutavault to keep him off islandwalk), I came out ahead. He won a friendly game 3 as I ended up keeping a slow hand and not drawing into any lords.
Has wizards made it known whether they're going to release another clash pack for dragons? While I was really unimpressed with the quality of the packs' foiling process, I have really liked the alternate arts and access to a bunch of rares that those decks contain.
Dragons is an "Event Deck" set rather than a "Clash Pack" set. I believe they are now alternating between the two.
The Elves matchup is still scary unless you manage to hit Hibernation I think. It's too bad we're not into next year's season where the x-3 players still get to play day 2.
Chalice won't counter the copy from Hive Mind (or from various Storm related cards), only the original. So you do need to counter the copy of the pact that is given to you, either with cursecatcher or some other counter and declining to pay.
4 Mutavault
3 Wanderwine Hub
2 Cavern of Souls
1 Oboro, Palace in the Clouds
1 Minamo, School at Water's Edge
4 Cursecatcher
4 Silvergill Adept
4 Lord of Atlantis
4 Master of the Pearl Trident
3 Merrow Reejerey
3 Master of Waves
2 Tidebinder Mage
2 Harbinger of the Tides
4 Aether Vial
3 Dismember
1 Vapor Snag
2 Relic of Progenitus
4 Tectonic Edge
3 Spell Pierce
2 Remand
1 Dismember
2 Tidebinder Mage
1 Harbinger of the Tides
1 Master of Waves
1 Grafdigger's Cage
Round 1 - 2-0 Jund
G1, He played one land, I spreading seas'd it, his second land was a [Ghost Quarter] his land to get the basic swamp for his Thoughtseize and two Inquisition. He never found another land and it was a quick beat-down from my side.
G2, he landed Tasigur, I managed to dismember him after one attack, then dismember again for Scooze and Goyf, Tidebinder and Harbinger did some serious work here.
Round 2 - 2-1 Grixis Twin
G1, he went for the early Twin, his Pestermite tapped down my remaining blue source instead of my Vial. Harbinger bounces his Pestermite after Twin and the beatings commence.
G2, he's on the Clique and Snapcaster beatdown, and then he has the Dispel for my Spell Pierce.
G3, I'm on the "dismember all the things" plan with 3 dismembers and he never comes across Twin.
Round 3 - 1-2 Abzan Company (no combo)
G1, Goyf, Knight of the Reliquary, and others beat me in the race
G2, Tidebinders all the way, a quick beat-down from my side
G3, The only game he actually gets CoCo off, I flood out and he manages to beat me down.
Round 4 - 2-1 Temur Goodstuff
This deck was strange, running Aether Vial, playing Goyf, Eternal Witness, Cryptic Command (the combo here), he had Harbinger in the sideboard.
G1, I have a fairly quick hand and beat him down fast.
G2, more of a race, I forget exactly what he played to beat me out, but I don't quite make it there.
G3, he's in on the Snapcaster beatdown plan, but I manage to stick a Grafdigger's cage to nerf his graveyard interaction and manage to come out with the win.
Round 5 - 2-0 Grixis Twin
G1, Dismember for the turn 4 Twin wins easily
G2, Vapor Snag disrupts Twin again for an easy victory.
Round 6 - Intentional Draw
I end up seeded 6 in the Top 8, there are 5 decks at 4-1-1, two at 4-0-2, and one at 5-1. Here I'm happy to not be the 7 seed which was up against the #2 seed Lantern Control deck which I've been dreading running into (It lost in the quarters to Affinity, so I'm not happy with either of those decks)
Quarterfinals - 2-0 Elves
Both of these games ended up similar, Spreading Seas on his turn 1 forest and his 1 land keeps can't get him up to 4 mana (Harbinger and Tidebinder to tap down and bounce his mana dorks help here). I'm certainly not going to complain about free wins from a deck I have trouble with.
Semifinals - 0-2 Jund
G1, I manage to get him down to 5, but an Abrupt Decay on my Spreading Seas bumps his unblocked Goyf up to 6 to kill me (was chumping a second, I wasn't going to draw into a winning hand without any creatures on board.
G2, he has ALL the removal, including Damnation out of the side to wipe my Lord, Tidebinder, and Master of Waves. And then Maelstrom Pulse for my second MoW.
The matchup isn't as hopeless as I originally felt when I encountered it blind at GP Charlotte, but it's not a cakewalk either. The "Plan A" of the deck is to use Gristelbrand plus Nourishing Shaul with Worldspine Worm to draw almost their whole deck, then use their free mana to cast Borborygmos Enraged and throw a half dozen or so lands at you at 3 damage a piece. But their "plan b" of just tossing Worldspine Worm at you Through the Breach once or twice, maybe with Gristelbrand to just punch face can be hard to deal with if you haven't drawn into any counter or removal. However something as simple as spell pierce may not leave them enough mana on their first attempt to go off.
On Friday they offer "last-chance" qualifiers, single elim events. If you can get to 5 wins, you get 2 byes and sleep-in for the main event on Saturday. Potentially a place to get a feel for how the meta looks for the weekend.
I'll be there, I'm working on firming up the list and sideboard I want to run for the actual event. I'm also curious how much actual metagame intelligence once can expect to gather from playing Friday modern events before the main.
You're writing off the Affinity matchup then? Or just hoping the Chalice and Dismember can carry it?
I don't actually have an affinity player in my meta that I've seen. The "plan" is to have 3 Hurkyl's in the side, but I'm waiting for the MM15 ones to show up before acquiring them. The sideboard is still somewhat in flux (as is the main for that matter), I'm starting to evaluate what I'll need for GP Charlotte where I expect I will need all the hate for affinity. I may end up with 4 tidebinder in the main to work against burn and the upcoming CC decks that I expect will show up.
4 Cursecatcher
4 Silvergill Adept
4 Master of the Pearl Trident
4 Lord of Atlantis
2 Phantasmal Image
2 Tidebinder Mage
4 Merrow Reejerey
3 Master of Waves
3 Vapor Snag
2 Spell Pierce
4 Spreading Seas
4 Aether Vial
4 Mutavault
2 Cavern of Souls
1 Minamo, School at Waters Edge
1 Oboro, Palace in the Clouds
12 Island
2 Spell Pierce
2 Swan Song
1 Dismember
2 Monastery Siege
2 Spellskite
2 Tidebinder Mage
2 Tectonic Edge
1 Hurkyl’s Recall
1 Kira, Great Glass-Spinner
Round 1 was the bye.
Round 2 was against Death and Taxes, I went 2-1, my loss in the second coming when he ghost-quartered me down to 1 island (in combo with Leonin Arbiter), but the other 2 games I out valued him with a hand full of Lords.
Round 3 was against Scapeshift, again 2-1, where I had a super-fast hand game 1, went down with a poor draw/keep game 2, and squeaked out game 3 with Cursecatcher + Spell Pierce to stop him from Scapeshifting for the win.
Round 4 was the mirror, we agreed to split, but to play off for the odd prize credit. With faster draws than him both games (and in game 1 an hand of Oboro, Minamo, Cavern, Mutavault to keep him off islandwalk), I came out ahead. He won a friendly game 3 as I ended up keeping a slow hand and not drawing into any lords.
Dragons is an "Event Deck" set rather than a "Clash Pack" set. I believe they are now alternating between the two.
No, revealed or flipped instants or sorceries get shown and left face down. Cards that exile and then bring them back leave them exiled.