A Modern Renaissance

Modern is a format I've relegated to the back burner for several years, having last played it regularly during 2014. Since then, a flurry of bannings and unbannings have occurred, and decks have risen and fallen. By now, Modern has become a nearly unrecognizable format.

A few weeks ago I decided to play in SCG Modern Regionals on a lark, mostly because it was being held at my LGS, Gaming Etc. My Modern collection had been decimated from years of disuse. I could put together some sort of Zoo deck from my Legacy collection, but had my eyes set on something a bit different. After buying a few cards and asking around to borrow others, I ended up with this:

UW Midrange, 2/4/17
Creature Spells (16) 4x Wall of Omens 4x Blade Splicer 2x Vendilion Clique 2x Snapcaster Mage 4x Restoration Angel	Noncreature Spells (19) 4x Path to Exile 4x Spell Snare 3x Mana Leak 2x Cryptic Command 2x Ojutai's Command 1x Blessed Alliance 1x Detention Sphere 1x Engineered Explosives 1x Supreme Verdict
Lands (25) 4x Flooded Strand 2x Hallowed Fountain 5x Island 2x Plains 4x Celestial Colonnade 2x Glacial Fortress 1x Mystic Gate 4x Ghost Quarter 1x Moorland Haunt	SB: 2x Grafdigger's Cage SB: 1x Dispel SB: 2x Negate SB: 1x Condemn SB: 2x Stony Silence SB: 2x Aven Mindcensor SB: 1x Pithing Needle SB: 1x Celestial Purge SB: 1x Detention Sphere SB: 1x Brimaz, King of Oreskos SB: 1x Elspeth, Knight-Errant

UW Midrange/Control is an archetype that has existed in Modern for a long time. You may recall John Finkel playing such a deck at the Players' Championship in 2012. This archetype got a significant boost with the printing of Flooded Strand into Modern, cementing one of its greatest advantages: a rock-solid manabase that can support two of the best lands in Modern, Celestial Colonnade and Ghost Quarter. Beyond the manabase there are a range of builds that can be played, from "do-nothing" Sphinx's Revelation control to value-oriented midrange.

I was naturally interested in trying a UW deck since Celestial Colonnade (which I had never played with) and Cryptic Command are two of my favorite Modern cards. The midrangey builds looked perfect for me due to their focus on creatures and blink shenanigans, one of my favorite things in Magic.

For my creature suite I went with the non-traditional choice of Blade Splicer over Kitchen Finks. Blade Splicer is card I have very fond memories of as it was the bread and butter of my first competitive Magic deck. It does some things better than Kitchen Finks and other things worse. Running Blade Splicer also opened up the possibility of playing Ojutai's Command for further cuteness (Update: this interaction does not work the way I want it to). Adding a Moorland Haunt was irresistible as well (I even considered jamming a Venser, the Sojourner somewhere in the 75 but that was too much). Otherwise, I think the list was pretty standard.

The tournament went poorly for me with a final record of 3-6. I honestly wasn't expecting to do well considering how rusty I was with the format, coupled with the fact that my deck probably wasn't very good. Indeed, I got punished for numerous play and sideboarding mistakes. However, I had a great time overall, and my interest in Modern has been re-invigorated and I've bought the remaining cards for the UW deck.

I also decided to give Zoo a spin in a local monthly event two weeks later.

Zoo, 2/18/17
Creature Spells (27) 4x Noble Hierarch 4x Wild Nacatl 4x Tarmogoyf 2x Qasali Pridemage 2x Scavenging Ooze 1x Voice of Resurgence 4x Knight of the Reliquary 3x Loxodon Smiter 2x Stormbreath Dragon	Noncreature Spells (11) 4x Path to Exile 4x Lightning Bolt 1x Domri Rade 1x Elspeth, Knight-Errant 1x Chandra, Pyromaster
Lands (22) 4x Windswept Heath 4x Wooded Foothills 1x Arid Mesa 2x Temple Garden 2x Stomping Ground 1x Sacred Foundry 2x Forest 1x Plains 1x Mountain 1x Horizon Canopy 1x Stirring Wildwood 1x Ghost Quarter 1x Kessig Wolf Run	SB: 2x Grafdigger's Cage SB: 2x Blood Moon SB: 2x Kitchen Finks SB: 2x Stony Silence SB: 2x Gaddock Teeg SB: 2x Thalia, Guardian of Thraben SB: 1x Ancient Grudge SB: 1x Dromoka's Command SB: 1x Pithing Needle

Its a Big Zoo deck pretty similar to those that emerged in the aftermath of Wild Nacatl's unbanning. My curve goes up to five with Stormbreath Dragon in true Kibler style. I was reminded of the power of this card when I had the misfortune to play against it with the UW deck. Pro-White, Flying, Haste, and even Monstrous are all real things.

This tournament fared better than the first. I ended with a 4-2 record for 11th place out of 40-something players. My familiarity with Big Zoo in Legacy and the fact that its a reasonably forgiving deck definitely helped, but again I made several poor plays and sideboarding choices due to my inexperience with the format.

There are a few things I'd like to refine with the list. A 23rd land is needed in order to play 5-drops, and the manabase was sometimes sketchy in terms of colors (Red in particular), so the 2nd Arid Mesa is going in, and Raging Ravine will possibly replace Stirring Wildwood. In the sideboard I'll try cutting the versatile Dromoka's Command for a more dedicated removal spell like Fiery Justice.

Overall, I'm looking forward to play some more Modern. It will make for a nice change of pace from Legacy every so often.

Tournament Report: Top8 @ Winter 1K with Punishing Maverick, 1/28/17

I ventured up to the frozen wastes of Southern Maine this weekend to sling old pieces of cardboard.

Here is the list I played:

Punishing Maverick, 1/28/17
Creature Spells (21) 4x Mother of Runes 3x Noble Hierarch 1x Birds of Paradise 3x Stoneforge Mystic 2x Qasali Pridemage 2x Scavenging Ooze 1x Gaddock Teeg 1x Scryb Ranger 4x Knight of the Reliquary	Noncreature Spells (14) 4x Green Sun's Zenith 4x Swords to Plowshares 3x Punishing Fire 1x Sylvan Library 1x Umezawa's Jitte 1x Batterskull
Lands (25) 4x Windswept Heath 3x Wooded Foothills 3x Savannah 2x Taiga 1x Plateau 1x Forest 1x Plains 1x Dryad Arbor 3x Grove of the Burnwillows 1x Karakas 3x Wasteland 1x Thespian's Stage 1x Dark Depths	SB: 2x Surgical Extraction SB: 2x Pyroblast SB: 2x Crop Rotation SB: 1x Bojuka Bog SB: 1x Reclamation Sage SB: 1x Phyrexian Revoker SB: 1x Pithing Needle SB: 1x Ethersworn Canonist SB: 1x Gaddock Teeg SB: 1x Sword of Fire and Ice SB: 1x Garruk Relentless SB: 1x Council's Judgment

A few comments on the direction of the list:

• Lately I've been playing without Deathrite Shaman and haven't really missed it. Despite the versatility of Deathrite Shaman I always find myself coming back to Noble Hierarch due its its consistency as a mana creature. The surge in BR Reanimator may make this shift look foolhardy, but in testing the matchup Deathrite Shaman had almost zero impact even turn 1 on the play, either because they had a Chancellor reveal or turn 1 fatty. The expected uptick in TNN after GP Louisville could mean more x/1 hate in sideboards which is very good against mono-1 toughness mana dorks, but I think people already have this hate due to the presence of Death & Taxes and Young Pyromancer.

• I think Pyroblast is well-positioned right now due to the presence of Show & Tell, Leovold, TNN, and Miracles. Council's Judgment is another card that has utility against the same decks. Also, it is worth noting that classic Sneak & Show has emerged as the dominant variant of S& T in the post-GP Louisville meta, which is great news for Maverick since Omniscience-based S&T is one of our worst matchups.

• Dark Depths is also relevant against the many TNN decks as it allows you to "go over the top" of those decks if you can't interact with TNN. It looks strong against the GP Louisville winning True-Name BUG deck in particular. Another route to try would be maindeck Sword of Fire and Ice instead of Dark Depths. This would also greatly improve game 1 against Miracles.

• Horizon Canopy hasn't been doing it for me lately in this deck. Cycling is good, but the damage it inflicts as well and the cost of losing a land (I'd often have Canopy out but wouldn't cycle it because I needed the mana) are relevant factors. I almost never searched for Canopy with Knight, but there were plenty of spots I wanted to search for a 3rd Savannah. 

There were 38 players at the event, so it would be 6 rounds with a cut to Top8. Here is how my swiss rounds went:

Round 1: Death & Taxes (2-0)
In both games I had a good mix of interaction and threats while my opponent flooded. I made a few blatant misplays (I'm often rusty during round 1 in the morning) but didn't really get punished for them.

Round 2: Burn: (2-0)
Game 1 was tight but I managed to get a sizeable Knight and Ooze in play while my opponent ran out of gas. I took an interesting line using Knight for mana to Zenith out Teeg instead of attacking with it one turn to cut off Fireblast as a draw for him. Game 2 my opponent had a somewhat slow hand and I had lots of good plays: turn 1 Hierarch (Bolted) into turn 2 Hierarch + Plow his creature into turn 3 QPM away his Vortex (waiting for him to take 2 of course). I landed SFM and + Jitte and got 2 counters, which trumped his Ensnaring Bridge.

Round 3: Mono-G Cloudpost (2-1)
I quickly died game 1 to Needle on Wasteland + Ugin despite having a turn 2 Knight backed up by another Knight. Candelabra is a hell of a card. Games 2 and 3 my opponent foundered in the face of Wasteland + Exalted beats.

Round 4: Miracles (0-2)
Game 1 he was on a mulligan and after some turn 3 Batterskull beatdowns he stabilized and I was inundated by his threats. Somehow I managed to fight through multiple Mentors and Angel tokens with Punishing Fire and Jitte. I ran out of gas though and succumbed to Jace. Game 2 I was on a 5 card hand that quickly lost to Counterbalance backed up by Mentor. This matchup is gross.

Round 5 RGu Lands (2-0)
I had great tools for the matchup in both games: multiple Knights in game 1 and Knight and Ooze in game 2.

Round 6: ID

The meta had a ton of Burn and BUG variants (Shardless, Team America, Aluren, TNN, etc.), with only 3 Miracles decks and 0 Eldrazi decks. The super interesting Top8 was:

My short-lived Top8 ended in the Quarterfinal vs RG Lands (0-2). I had anemic draws in both games that couldn't get it done. The final would be Lands vs Miracles 1 with Miracles 1 taking it down.

Overall, the event was solid: would drive 2 hours to Maine for Legacy again.

DECK: Esper Deathblade, 1/13/17

Here is my current Esper Deathblade list:

Creatures

Noncreatures

Lands

Sideboard

Imgur Album with full size images

DECK: Punishing Maverick, 1/8/17

This is the latest Punishing Maverick list I'm tinkering with:

Creatures

Noncreatures

Lands

Sideboard & Tokens

Imgur Album with full-size images

Punishing Zoo Update

After a lengthy hiatus from Zoo I was itching to sling Wild Nacatls again, so I came up with a new Punishing Zoo list.

In the process I noticed that throughout 2016, MTGO player nekoyama had been putting up results playing various configurations of Punishing Zoo (the archetype had no results in paper events though). His lists are on the grindiest end of the spectrum and many would argue aren't even Zoo, eschewing staples like Lightning Bolt and Tarmogoyf for cards like Stoneforge Mystic and Huntmaster of the Fells.

I decided to go in a more traditional direction when re-vamping my last list from ~February 2016. One new card had caught my eye-Thalia, Heretic Cathar looked like a strong and natural addition to the deck.

So far I've played Punishing Zoo in 4 local weekly events over the last few weeks and prized (X-1 in 3 or 4 rounds) at all of them.

Here is the current iteration of the deck:

Punishing Zoo, 12/19/16
Creature Spells (20) 4x Noble Hierarch 4x Wild Nacatl 3x Qasali Pridemage 2x Scavenging Ooze 1x Gaddock Teeg 4x Knight of the Reliquary 2x Thalia, Heretic Cathar	Noncreature Spells (17) 4x Green Sun's Zenith 4x Lightning Bolt 4x Swords to Plowshares 3x Punishing Fire 1x Sylvan Library 1x Chandra, Pyromaster
Lands (23) 4x Wooded Foothills 4x Windswept Heath 3x Savannah 2x Taiga 2x Plateau 1x Forest 1x Dryad Arbor 3x Grove of the Burnwillows 1x Karakas 1x Kessig Wolf Run 1x Wasteland	SB: 3x Surgical Extraction SB: 3x Thalia, Guardian of Thraben SB: 1x Gaddock Teeg SB: 1x Pyroblast SB: 1x Ancient Grudge SB: 1x Enlightened Tutor SB: 1x Pithing Needle SB: 1x Ethersworn Canonist SB: 1x Grafdigger's Cage SB: 1x Stony Silence SB: 1x Worship

Some musings so far:

• Thalia, Heretic Cathar (replacing Tarmogoyf) has been a solid addition as expected. She has an aggressive body and an asymmetric hateful ability, which I think makes for an excellent Zoo card-I've often considered playing Spirit of the Labyrinth and/or Aven Mindcensor for the same reasons, but Thalia's power level is far higher.

• I used to always play 1 basic Plains, but the mana in the deck is a bit awkward so I cut it for the 3rd Savannah. I would only put the Plains back in a meta with known Burn and/or Blood Moon players, or maybe in a large unknown meta.

• Related to the above, I played Blood Moon in the sideboard a few times. Blood Moon provides valuable land hate for this deck which only plays a single Wasteland. However, I believe you need to have a basic Plains to play your own Blood Moons. Winter Orb might provide a bit of a compromise.

• I'm still unsure which "Trample land" is better between Kessig Wolf Run and Skarrg, the Rage Pits (linked for any unfortunates who don't know this beautiful card). I tested Skarrg and while it is more efficient and gives a point of toughness, the ability to pump Wolf Run to infinity may be superior. Skarrg definitely wins big in the "wtf" category, and the reactions of opponents I killed aided by this card were fantastic. Overall, I think the "Trample land" slot is valuable in Zoo because the deck can sometimes struggle in a grind to push damage through. 

• Worship in the sideboard is a concession to the Eldrazi matchup primarily. I only played against Eldrazi once and lost, and think its not a great matchup. While we have Knight, we have a bad Wasteland plan and are a bit vulnerable to Chalice. Cutting Tarmogoyf probably hurts the most here. Having access to Blood Moon could be an avenue to improve this matchup.

Tournament Report: SCG Baltimore, 11/5/16

Another weekend, another Legacy tournament in Baltimore.

BANT BLADE, 11/5/16
Creature Spells (14) 4x Noble Hierarch 4x Stoneforge Mystic 1x Scavenging Ooze 1x Qasali Pridemage 3x True-Name Nemesis 2x Knight of the Reliquary	Noncreature Spells (24) 3x Green Sun's Zenith 4x Brainstorm 4x Swords to Plowshares 1x Ponder 1x Spell Pierce 4x Daze 3x Force of Will 1x Jace, the Mind Sculptor 1x Umezawa's Jitte 1x Batterskull
Lands (22) 4x Misty Rainforest 4x Windswept Heath 3x Tropical Island 2x Tundra 1x Savannah 1x Forest 1x Island 1x Dryad Arbor 1x Karakas 4x Wasteland	SB: 2x Surgical Extraction SB: 2x Meddling Mage SB: 1x Garruk Relentless SB: 1x Engineered Explosives SB: 1x Sword of Fire and Ice SB: 1x Force of Will SB: 1x Invasive Surgery SB: 1x Gaddock Teeg SB: 1x Path to Exile SB: 1x Pithing Needle SB: 1x Reclamation Sage SB: 1x Rest in Peace SB: 1x Vendilion Clique

For better or worse, my list has remained basically unchanged for months now. The only change I made going into the weekend was cutting the 2nd Jace in the main for a Spell Pierce. The 2nd Jace really underperformed and was boarded out in almost every matchup except for Miracles. Even against Miracles Jace can be anemic against Red Blasts. I moved my SB Pierce into its place and put a Garruk Relentless as grindy card #2 in the SB.


Day 1

Round 1 - BR Reanimator (2-1)
Game 1 my opponent had enablers but no protection and I had counterspells.
Game 2 I didn't have enough disruption and died to Elesh Norn.
Game 3 I had to jam Hierarch into Chancellor to turn on my Surgical. He went to discard pitching a Chancellor. He then went to reanimate it and my hand was bad, so I had to Surgical it. I took another Chancellor out of his hand and saw a bunch of Sneak Attacks, a Reanimate, and an Exhume. Going through his library I also saw Blood Moons. On my turn Stoneforge Mystic rolled off the top exactly on time to give me a clock. He passed his next turn. I had a Misty Rainforest, giving me the option to EOT fetch Arbor and equip Sophie and start attacking on my next turn, but declined to as I wanted access to basic Forest against a potential Blood Moon. I just went to my turn, drew a card, and passed. On my EOT he cast Entomb and got Elesh Norn. I stared stupidly at the two Dazes in my hand and his 3 mana, realizing I was dead to Reanimated Elesh Norn having decided to neither get equipped beats going a turn sooner nor fetched Batterskull. My opponent miraculously cast Exhume on his turn rather than Reanimate, allowing my two Dazes to prevent Elesh Norn from hitting the board. I equipped and attacked on my next turn and drew Surgical. From there it was smooth sailing. I set myself up to get totally punished for playing too conservatively this game, but was saved by what was probably a stumble from my opponent.

Round 2 - Burn (2-0)
Game 1 I had Exalted True-Name beats and timely counterspells.
Game 2 was similar, but having only seen Hierarchs, Trops, and True-Names in the first game my opponent was cold to Stoneforge Mystic. He said he thought I was playing BUG. I guess he doesn't play a lot of Legacy.

Round 3 - Miracles (2-0)
Game 1 I kept up the slow incremental beats and Forced Counterbalance. A Miracle Entreat the Angels threatened to turn the tide, but my opponent tapped out for it, turning on all the soft permission rotting in my hand.
Game 2 my opponent foundered against Gaddock Teeg and Wasteland. He tried to make a race of it with Clique and Snapcasters, but ambush Dryad Arbor + Sophie on Teeg sealed it in my favor.

Round 4 - Storm (2-1)
Game 1 was a comical affair, as it often is in this matchup.
Game 2 I was able to get G. Teeg out but he was promptly Decayed. I was getting in for mediocre beats and my opponent cast plenty of Probes so I was getting there while he dug for a way to kill me. Once he went off I thought I was dead, with only a Surgical and Daze in hand. I couldn't take him off Threshold with the Surgical and threw my Daze into his Cabal Rit, which he paid for with an Underground Sea if I remember correctly. He cast Past in Flames with plenty of mana and cantrips in his yard, so I decided to Surgical Ponder since that gave him the most looks at finding the right cards to kill me. At this point he turned out to be choked on Blue mana, having cracked LED for Red and along with plenty of Black floating from Rits. He was able to start cantripping with Probes off Petals, but with only Brainstorms left and no shuffle effects he couldn't kill me and fizzled.
Game 3 I got out G. Teeg on turn 2, which lined up well against his Xantid Swarm. He loosely cast a Ponder before attacking with Swarm, which I Dazed to tap down his Bayou, keeping him off a potential Decay that turn. Next turn I played a Knight, and had to fade Decay for one more turn after which I would blow up his Bayou, which happened. After that my threats became too much to overcome. I felt really good getting out of this match alive.

Round 5 - Burn (2-0)
Dork, threat, some counterspells and removal. I forgot a Jitte trigger in game 1 which was incredibly loose, but I was far enough ahead that I still won.

Round 6 - UR Delver (0-2)
Game 1 I had a clunky draw that lined up poorly against the UR Delver deck.
Game 2 I had a weird 6 card hand and went all in on equipping Jitte to Dryad Arbor with Force backup. I got in two counters but when Bombat Courier (!!) showed up to block I was in an awkward spot against Bolt and my Arbor died. I resolved a loose Ponder keeping lands and a Batterskull on top of my library. Next turn my opponent slammed Blood Moon, which surprised me more than it should have. Keeping the Batterskull turned out to be fortuitous, and I cast it able to pay for Daze, but he had a Force. With all Mountains in play and no cards in hand at that point I was very dead. I think some of my decisions in this game were pretty questionable.

Round 7 - UW Stoneblade (2-0)
I honestly played quite loosely both of these games but drew the right threats and disruption to win comfortably.

Round 8 - Shardless BUG (0-2)
I was paired against my good friend Jon Orr, whose list I was very familiar with both from games at our local store and finishing our decklists together that morning. We lamented that we had to face each other at this crucial juncture, but were comforted by the fact that the winner had a great shot at making day 2. It happens that Shardless BUG is one of Bant's worst matchups, which Jon's list pushes to the extreme after sideboarding with 2 Disfigure, 2 Deluge, 1 Pulse, 1 Golgari Charm, 1 Null Rod, and 1 Night of Soul's Betrayal. As usual, our games weren't close.

Round 9 - BR Reanimator (0-2)
I was playing against a well-known SCG player who has played a variety of Legacy decks, so I had no clue what to expect. He turned out to be on...BR Reanimator, which has been exploding in popularity. Game 1 was over quickly.
Game 2 I kept a 7 card hand of GSZ, Stoneforge Mystic, 2 Dazes, 3 lands. I play against BR Reanimator at my local store a lot, and while this isn't an ideal hand in the matchup, I thought it would be reasonably effective against a large percentage of their draws. I thought mulliganing this hand would be over-cautious. I lead on GSZ-->Arbor with Daze at the ready. My opponent Cast Lotus Petal, which I let resolve, then cast Unmask. I Dazed without thinking about it much, which my opponent responded to by cracking Petal to cast Dark Rit. Nothing to do about that. Pay for Daze, see I have nothing, Entomb Griselbrand, Reanimate Griselbrand quickly followed. Needless to say, I did not win this game. While initially I brushed it off to the absurdity of his hand-no lands, turn 1 combo with protection-in hindsight I know I seriously misplayed my first Daze. The obvious play might have been Daze the Petal. Also viable was let Unmask resolve. He keeps his Petal and sees two Dazes, the first of which definitely shuts off a turn 1 combo. I asked a friend who plays BR Reanimator about this situation and he says he would take a Daze, jam something into the 2nd Daze, and pass. On my turn I cast Stoneforge Mystic but have nothing. How it plays out from the top of both of our decks from there is unknown, but what is certain is that Dazing the Unmask was exactly the worst line I had.

At X-3 I didn't think I'd make Day 2, but me and nearly 100 other X-3 players ended up getting pulled in. I honestly couldn't believe I made day 2 with my level of play. My only explanation was that many of my opponents played even worse.

Day 2

Round 10 - BG Aggro Depths (1-2)
Game 1 I had plenty of threats and won after giving him 20 life by Plowing a Marit Lage.
Game 2 went in a weird direction and I think I made a multitude of bad decisions. I never was able to put together a plan for victory despite drawing reasonably well. It didn't help that my opponent had Sylvan Library going for countless turns.
We didn't have much time left for Game 3. My opponent came out fast with multiple Tarmogoyfs and I had no answer but a Stoneforge Mystic to race back with Batterskull. I carelessly tapped my Wasteland and gave him a window play Hexmage and make Marit Lage with his on-board Depths to kill me.

Round 11 - Miracles (0-2)
Game 1 was a fiasco, with me forgetting to pop my Pridemage on Counterbalance in response to a Plow and failing to Daze a crucial Brainstorm that allowed him to counter my True-Name Nemesis.
Game 2 I was on 5 cards and didn't do much.

At X-5 and feeling pretty miserable, I decided to drop even though I still had a shot at top64.

Final Record: 6-5


I quickly became caught up in my friend Jon's tournament, which was still going well. He ended up winning the entire event through a gauntlet of Lands, Elves, and the final boss Joe Lossett himself. Congratulations to Jon for his stellar run and well-deserved win. Its hard not to call it a great weekend after that despite my own lackluster performance.

This was the last major event on my schedule for a while. What's next for me is to play some Maverick again, a deck I am starting to miss tremendously.


Bonuses:

Read Jon's 1st Place Tournament Report with Shardless BUG

Round 1 Feature Match, my Punishing Maverick comrade Mark Strassman took down Reid Duke playing Elves!!

Tournament Report: Eternal Extravaganza 5 with "Strictly Worse Miracles", 10/15/16

Having almost exclusively played Stoneblade decks over the last few months, I was certain I would play one at this event, but I didn't know exactly which variant.

On Thursday night, the day before we were heading down to Baltimore, I had an epiphany of sorts. The Maryland /NOVA region is renown for being infested with Lands and Aggro Loam, two unfavorable matchups for a Stoneblade deck. So why not splash Red for Blood Moon?

UWr BLADE, 10/15/16
Creature Spells (10) 4x Stoneforge Mystic 3x True-Name Nemesis 2x Snapcaster Mage 1x Vendilion Clique	Noncreature Spells (30) 4x Swords to Plowshares 4x Brainstorm 4x Ponder 4x Force of Will 3x Spell Pierce 2x Lightning Bolt 1x Spell Snare 1x Counterspell 1x Engineered Explosives 1x Council's Judgment 1x Supreme Verdict 2x Jace, the Mind Sculptor 1x Umezawa's Jitte 1x Batterskull
Lands (20) 4x Flooded Strand 4x Scalding Tarn 2x Arid Mesa 2x Tundra 2x Volcanic Island 3x Island 2x Plains 1x Mountain	SB: 2x Blood Moon SB: 2x Surgical Extraction SB: 2x Meddling Mage SB: 1x Containment Priest SB: 2x Wear // Tear SB: 1x Sword of Fire and Ice SB: 1x Ethersworn Canonist SB: 1x Invasive Surgery SB: 2x Pyroblast SB: 1x Pyroclasm

Its not a novel concept by any means, but I quickly became convinced it was my best choice for the weekend, despite having never played this Stoneblade variant before. Unfortunately, an existential flaw in UWr Stoneblade is that it is essentially a strictly worse Miracles deck. There are almost no matchups where you would rather be playing UWr Stoneblade than Miracles. One could previously argue that UWr Stoneblade is more capable of closing games faster and avoiding draws than Miracles, but the incorporation of Monastery Mentor into Miracles has invalidated that argument. In fact, I would say a Miracles deck can now kill faster. However, I know how to play Stoneblade, and I have no idea how to play Miracles, so for me there was no choice. I am no stranger to "dead" archetypes, so this was fine.

At the player meeting 9 rounds of Swiss were announced. Here is how my rounds went:

Round 1: Miracles (2-0)
Game 1 Both me and my opponent had pretty good hands in the dark. He had Island, Top into Counterbalance with Force backup. I had two lands, two Forces, two Blue cards, and a Stoneforge Mystic. When the dust settled I had Batterskull beating down while he dug for an answer with Top but couldn't find it.
Game 2 I played a Delver-esque game of beatdown with Snapcaster Mage and Chris Pikula (naming Terminus) backed up by counterspells for removal.

Round 2: Gw Cloudpost (2-1)
Game 1 I was nowhere near killing him when he resolved Primeval Titan.
Game 2 I had a good mix of disruption and pressure, with Vendilion Clique and Sophie carrying the game despite an appearance by Thragtusk.
Game 3 I kept an awkward hand with Blood Moon. My opponent's hand was equally awkward with no Cloudposts and one of his lands being a Tabernacle, but he had Maps. Eventually I drew a 3rd land to Blood Moon, but he was able to get Green mana online off the Maps. I was off White mana and had to cast Snapcaster Mage as Ambush Viper just to get a clock going in conjunction with Sophie while on Island, Mountain, Mountain. I drew relevant counterspells to keep him off anything too dangerous while clocking him and was able to end it despite eventually losing my Blood Moon to a Grip. I had to sweat it big time as I was just dead to a Titan for a few turns with no Blood Moon or permission.

Round 3: Grixis Delver (2-0)
Game 1 I had timely removal and permission to answer his threats and got Jitte equipped to True-Name. After the game my opponent commented that my opener of Arid Mesa, Mountain, Bolt Delver led him to consider naming Eidolon of the Great Revel with Therapy next turn.
Game 2 I Forced a Pyromancer and Snared another, and jammed True-Name on 3 mana which resolved to my surprise. He resolved Angler, but having Probed and fetched several times I was winning the race thanks to the Bolt in my hand and just started attacking. He found a Deathrite Shaman to even it out too late.

Round 4: Death & Taxes (0-2)
Game 1 I made some poor plays in the face of Thalia, Heretic Cathar, including not Stoneforging in my Batterskull in response to a Vial on 3 activation (I was going to do it anyway) and forgetting she has first strike.
Game 2 I got steamrolled despite having a Bolt, Plow, and Snapcaster Mage in my opener and scrying True-Name Nemesis on top of my library. I used my removal spells to kill Mothers and then landed True-Name. He cast Council's Judgment right away, which I Forced pitching Snapcaster. At that point I was out of spells and didn't draw relevant action while he was able to walk through True-Name with Sophie.

Round 5: Death & Taxes (2-0)
Game 1 I forced my opponents turn 1 Vial off Plains pitching a Jace. With just Flooded Strand and Scalding Tarn in play he resolved Phyrexian Revoker and named Sensei's Divining Top. That's fine. Stoneforge Mystic and True-Name Nemesis ended the game shortly after.
Game 2 I got True-Name + Equipment on-line again before he could do too much.

Round 6: Omni-Sneak (0-2)
Game 1 my opponent didn't do much on the first few turns, so I put him on Miracles. An Impulse exposed him to be playing some kind of Show & Tell deck. I countered his first Show & Tell but he had another and Griselbrand came into play. My True-Name + Jitte valiantly tried to make it a race but he drew into Emrakul to kill me.
Game 2 was a short affair with many skill-intensive decisions made on both sides. My opponent cast Show & Tell, I cast Force of Will, he cast Force of Will, then the game ended.

Round 7: Miracles (0-2)
Game 1 my opponent played at a brisk pace and in an effort to match it I made some really loose plays. He answered all my threats and established Counter-Top, and I conceded despite being under no pressure.
Game 2 I tapped out for a Stoneforge Mystic, and my opponent resolved Counterbalance as I stared at the two Pyroblasts in my hand. The game was basically over at that point.

Round 8: Shardless BUG (1-2)
Game 1 I managed to get there with two True-Names and a Clique backed up by counterspells.
Game 2 I had mana problems and couldn't do anything about Liliana of the Veil.
Game 3 I felt like I had all the tools to win, but a well-timed Abrupt Decay followed-up by a Toxic Deluge were too much to overcome. I think I could have won this game had I made different plays at my many decision points.

At this point I was out of prize contention and reasonably tilted after losing 3 rounds in a row so I dropped.

Final Record: 4-4
Not the worst record, but a bit disappointing considering I begun the day at 3-0.

The deck felt solid overall and I would play it again. Blood Moon is a valuable addition to a Stoneblade deck that shores up some matchups it can struggle against. I also like having access to additional efficient creature removal like Lightning Bolt and Pyroclasm. Pyroblast naturally does wonders in the Blue mirrors. UWR is a very flexible color combination in Legacy that can be tuned towards a variety of matchups and metagames.

A big highlight of the tournament was fellow Punishing Maverick player Mark Strassman running undefeated through the Swiss to make Top8, beating 2 Miracles, 2 Lands, 1 Belcher, and 1 Omni-Tell deck along the way. Unfortunately, he lost in the quarterfinal to the eventual champion, Miracles veteran Sam Roukas. Strassman's list, like mine, is derived from Fabian Goerzgen's 3.5 color list with Deathrite Shaman, but was packing a lot more sideboard cards for the Miracles matchup. Its awesome to see other people representing Punishing Maverick and doing well with it. You can see Strassman's list and tournament report posted here on The Source.

The only real downside of the weekend was having to drive back to Massachusetts on Sunday night after the tournament. I got home at 4:00AM and by some miracle managed to make it to work on time at 9:00AM. Of course, at 7:00PM that same Monday night I was battling it out again at one of my Legacy weeklies. Can't stop playing the best format.