The last 2 or 3 months have been absolutely Magic packed, and only now is there any signs of it slowing down. Since June, there’s been a Pro Tour Qualifier, Nationals, extended testing, Grand Prix Trials, a Pro Tour, a Grand Prix, and more recently, the State Championships.
For many people, States is a tournament that holds very little significance. All other events advance you to the next level: PTQ sends you to the Pro Tour. Regionals sends you to Nationals, which sends you to Worlds. States is an open event that sends you nowhere, it just gives you some free events for a while. Big deal.
I think of it a bit more highly than that. For me its the title of State Champion which holds the significance. I suppose in a way, its because it doesn’t go any further that makes it so good. State Champion is the end of the line, and to hold that title just seems like a great accomplishment to me. One that I’d not yet achieved.
Also adding to the importance of the event is that it always seems to be won by a good player. Chris Kwan, Greg Romans, Will Copeman, Dave Crewe, Kris Goding, Anthony Purdom, Cameron Veigel…quite the elite list. I had to, as the song goes, get on it.
I’d come close a couple of times in the past. I’ve made the quarterfinals twice, once with UG Opposition and once with Affinity. But thats as far as I’d got. I could have gone further with Affinity, but unfortunately thats one of many times that I’ve choked and thrown away a Top 8 match, this time by failing to mana burn down to 5, allowing his 2nd pulse of the fields to save him from Shrapnel Blast. Bad times.
Anyway, lets get back to the present.
In preparation for this event…oh who am I kidding. I didn’t really prepare much for this event at all. I just got back from Spain, GP Brisbane was on the week before, and I had various family and club commitments in the week leading up to the event. My preparation consistent of:
- Talking to Cameron about the testing he and Dave did: 30 minutes
- Reading some articles on the web – 1 hour
- Looking at decklists from the SCG 1000 – 1 hour
- Testing some dodgy decks against bad opponents on Magic Workstation – 1 hour
I decided I was going to play UGw Blink, based on a decklist I saw online. On the Friday, I figured I should play some games with the deck so I didn’t make errors at the main event, so I raced home to grab whatever cards I owned and headed to the Gabba to play FNM. I bought a bunch of commons, uncommons and rares that I either didn’t own or just couldn’t find, and sat down to play 2HG with Rio.
The deck performed poorly. I thought that maybe it was just bad in 2HG, but I played a few 1-on-1 games with it after FNM and it didn’t impress me. The idea of it was good, countering a whole bunch of spells with Snakes and Venser and blinking them back again. However, it seemed that after you countered some spells, and bounced some permanents, all you were left with was a bunch of dorky 2/2′s, which the control decks would wrath away, and the aggro decks would beat up with bigger guys. Not good enough.
On the Saturday I had other family commitment down the coast so I didn’t have any time to do playtesting. I called Dan Crane that night, as I had tested on workstation with him earlier in the week, and he said that Scryb & Force had won States in Adelaide. I was thinking at that point that I would play teachings. He put Scryb Force together and I built teachings, and we played some games over Workstation.
Our testing went as such:
Game 1 I get mana screwed.
Game 2 my internet dies.
Final result: 1-0-1 to Scryb & Force.
I took the lack of internet as an opportunity to get some dinner, and when I returned Dan has retired to watching TV. He wasn’t playing as he couldn’t get off work, but tells me I should just play Scryb & Force. Without any actual reason to play any other deck, and being too tired to make any decisions myself, I went online to find a decklist.
I found the UG decklist from the SCG tournament, and changed it more to my liking. It didn’t have Goyf, which I assumed was because the guy didn’t want to fork out 150 bucks for them, but I had some quantity lying about so I put 4 in. I dropped Masked Admirers.
The list I probably would have played is something like this:
4 Birds of Paradise
3 Llanowar Elves
4 Troll Ascetic
2 Mystic Snake
2 Venser, Shaper Savant
4 Scryb Ranger
3 Spectral Force
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Psionic Blast
4 Rule Snag
2 Loxodon Warhammer
3 Garruk
4 Treetop Village
3 Yavimaya Coast
2 Pendelhaven
7 Island
6 Forest
Unfortunately, I don’t really own that many cards at the moment, so here is what I played.
4 Birds of Paradise
3 Llanowar Elves
4 Troll Ascetic
2 Mystic Snake
3 Venser, Shaper Savant
4 Scryb Ranger
3 Spectral Force
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Psionic Blast
2 Familiar’s Ruse
1 Delay
2 Loxodon Warhammer
2 Garruk
4 Treetop Village
3 Yavimaya Coast
2 Pendelhaven
6 Island
6 Forest
1 Gemstone Caverns
SIDEBOARD
1 Mystic Snake
4 Eyes of the Wisent
1 Masked Admirers
3 Krosan Grip
1 Loxodon Warhammer
4 Spike Feeder
1 Squire
Here’s some more on the card choices:
2 Mystic Snake: Dan said I should drop these, and I can understand why given my experiences with the blink deck, but I think two is an ok amount to have. I added one more to the board, thinking it might help control matchups.
2 Familiar’s Ruse / 1 Delay: This is the exact number of Type 2 counterspells I own, so that is what I played.
2 Garruk: I own one, and could only manage to borrow one more on the day.
1 Gemstone Caverns: This card is amazing, and it is only by chance that I saw this while looking through a pile of cards that I found it. When we tested for states last year, it was amazing in 2-color decks, and I vowed I would find a home for it once again.
4 Eyes of the Wisent: I was lucky enough to find four people who each had one of these to lend me. Thanks guys!
1 Masked Admirers: I had one in the board because I couldn’t find anything else to add.
1 Squire: SQUIRE!!!
Thanks heaps to Tenielle, Dave, Peter, Brad, and others for lending me cards on the day.
Round 1: Michael Buckler, UB Faeries.
In game 1 he mulligans, but then accidentally draws seven. This forces him to go to five, but they weren’t any good so he mulliganed to four. He put up a decent fight with 4 cards, killing and countering some dudes, but it just wasn’t enough.
In game 2 I boarded in my Eyes of the Wisent. My opening grip contains two of them, so after he counters one of them on turn 2 he taps out on turn 3, and the second one sticks. Even though it never triggered, playing around it caused him much grief and Tarmagoyf + Troll bashed him in the end.
I learned in this game that Eyes is a Tribal Enchantment, so it makes Tarmagoyf huge.
Round 2: Dennis Cohen with UW Faeries.
In game 1 it was pretty hard dealing with his Faerie Harbringer being championed with Mistbind Clique…He also had Spellstutter sprites at the most inopportune moments. Still, Goyf is quite good and bashing through most things.
Game 2 SB Eyes of the Wisent. I got through some early damage, and kept the pressure up with Scrybs and Trolls. Just as he was stabilizing, I drew a Psi Blast to go with the one in my hand, and pointed both at his life total.
Round 3: Richard Jackway B/R Goblins
It seemed like a fairly untuned goblins list, but he didn’t seem to mind as he beat me down with double Pie Sneak in game 1. My deck can’t really deal with that guy. He also had double Mudbutton Torchrunner, which killed two Goyfs, and double Lash Out on early mana guys. Luckily for me he lost both clashes, and was only able to get me down to 4 before I got Warhammer onto a Troll and stabilized.
In Game 2 I got the Troll + Hammer plan going again, much earlier this time. They’re the only cards that give me a chance against BR, and I drew both in both games. How lucky.
Round 4: David Whitehouse – Wild Pair Combo
I deviously asked him to have a look through his deck at the end of the last round. It was pretty handy to have extra info about his deck just before playing him. I knew I had to go the ultra control route with just a little bit of pressure in order to beat him.
Game 1 my draw was pretty good for the matchup, with Snake, Venser, Birds, Familiar’s Ruse etc. I think 3 counterspells is more than enough if you have some pressure. I didn’t have much pressure but it soon came. He played a molten disaster which killed my troll, but left my birds. More pressure came and I countered a bunch of key spells, while attacking with random dudes which did him in.
Game 2 I kept a hand with a bunch of good dudes, but no control. In hindsight it was a terrible hand to keep in the matchup, and I didn’t rip any counters to make it better. Still, I played as though I had counters, and I’m pretty sure he was freaking out and could have killed me turns earlier. Eventually he went for it, Playing Wild Pair and Grinning Ignus to fetch multiple Hellkites.
Game 3 I got a good draw with control cards, and a bit of pressure. He had a bit of pressure himself this game, getting some attacks in with Ignus and Treetops, while I tried to keep up with a few guys of my own. He forgets to charge his land at the end of my turn, and attacks with 5 points of damage, I decline to chump with bird, putting me to 7. He then does a lot of counting and reveals that could have cast molten disaster with kicker for the win if he remembered to charge. Instead, he tries to play a bunch of blockers, I counter both of them, then In my turn I Venser away his last blocker and attack for just enough.
Round 5 & 6
I ID with Aaron Tan and Sam Atkinson, and head to the couches for a bit of a nap before returning to find out who has a chance of making it. Tristan Lewis is paired down to Christian Pippia, who considers conceding, but he has a decent shot at making it in, so they play it out and Tristan gets beat. Christian ends up missing out by 1% of resistance, but it was certainly the right play.
David Whitehouse had to play out the last round, but he wins it, putting him in first place. Anthony Purdom and Nathan Wintle scrape into Top 8 on 12 points.
The top 8 ends up as follows:
1 David Whitehouse – Wild Pair Combo
2 Levi Hinz – UG Scryb & Force
3 Aaron Tan – UW Blink Control
4 Sam Atkinson – Teachings
5 Andrew Willeston – Kithkin GW
6 Nicholas Chmielewski – UWG Blink
7 Anthony Purdom – Teachings
8 Nathan Wintle – BR Goblins
Quarter Finals – Anthony Purdom with Teachings
We check each other’s decklists, and I count the counterspells he has. Unfortunately I missed the Rune Snags, and assumed he didn’t have any. He cast one early on in game 1 though, so I was able to adjust my thinking accordingly.
I cast some early pressure, leaving counter mana for his Damnation. And end of turn he casts teachings for Pact of Negation, then Wraths the board, Pacting my counter. I take the opportunity to cast Garruk, and the steady stream of 3/3 beasts get through and he doesn’t really draw anything relevant.
In Game 2 he draws lots of lands and counters, but I draw all business spells. In the end he draws a few too many lands, and my Trolls get their hands dirty.
Levi def Anthony
Nathan def David
Aaron def Nick
Andrew def Sam
Semi Finals – Aaron Tan – UW Blink
This game is mostly decided by my Scryb Rangers, which quite handily have protection from blue. A few Trolls and Rangers get in there, trying to wield Warhammers, but Aaron’s blinks + Cloudskate decide that Faeries can’t actually hold Warhammers. Still, he doesn’t really draw anything but a bunch of lands and a few more boomerangs, and that doesn’t really cut it against decent guys.
Game 2 was more of the same, but with Riftwatchers gaining him life so as to prolong the kill. I got there in the end. I actually expected this matchup to be a little more difficult, but I guess Aaron didn’t really draw anything too strong.
Levi def Aaron
Nathan def Andrew
Just before the finals, the judges pulled myself, and the other finalist, Nathan Wintle, aside. It seemed that as the bulk of the first place prize was unlimited free flights at the next prerelease, Nathan was all that interested in winning. He would be going to Big Day Out that weekend, so he said he would be happy with 2nd place prize and asked me if he should just concede.
“No Way,” I said.
As I said previously, States is important to me. Sure he could just concede and give me the title, but I didn’t want the title to be tarnished with a concession.
“You’re going to have to earn your loss.”
Finals – Nathan Wintle – BR Goblins
In game 1, He gets some early damage, but then Goyf and Trolls show up and start hitting him back. He plays Wort, and starts attacking, alerting me to the fact he has fear. I get down Spectral force, and he hits me down to 6. I count up the damage from my Force, 2x Treetops, and some other 3 power guys, and note that he’s tapped out. I swing with all, finally working out that he has no outs. After thinking for a long time, he blocks some guys, including a 3/3 Fanatic blocking my Spectral force. He sacs the Fanatic before damage, thinking that this would negate the trample damage. When its determined that this isn’t true, he scoops up his cards.
Game 2 was a good 6 card hand featuring Spectral Force, Warhammer, Troll Ascetic and Goyf. It got a little worse after the Thoughtseize he boarded in. He took the Spectral force, which ended up being the better choice over the Warhammer, as it made my Tarmogoyf much more easily killed with Rift Bolt. he played War Marshall, Rift Bolt on Goyf, Wort, War Marshall x 2, and I was overrun by Goblins. By the time I could get Warhammer online for 6 life, he had 12 damage on the board.
In Game 3, I had the best hand ever.
Forest
Forest
Treetop Village
Elves
Troll Ascetic
Loxodon Warhammer
Spectral Force
Wow. I mumbled “keep”, and while he looked at his hand, I looked at the people next to me and pumped the fist. He looked up and didn’t appear pleased at how pleased I was. More importantly, he didn’t look please with his hand.
“This would be great if it had a mountain.”
“Don’t worry about it, you’ll draw mountain! Trust me.”
He kept. My elf, his 1/1 goblin dude. I had the decision of Troll or Warhammer now, with the only concern being Thoughtseize on my Warhammer. I figured that he would have played it turn 1 if he had it, so I played the Troll. He took the Warhammer from my hand on turn 2. Still, I did have Treetops, Spike Feeders, and Spectral Force to follow up with, and his board of double 1/1 and two swamps didn’t look too healthy. A couple of turns of massive beats and I was finally crowned State Champion.
Now that States is over…
So what do I think about my deck now that States is over? Garbage. I went 3-0-1 at my first FNM with it, which was nice, but it really couldn’t deal with Daves teachings deck so it was just lucky he offered the ID. At the next FNM I went 2-2, losing to random Kithkin and Faeries.
To me, the deck turned out to be a good choice in an unknown field, with players who might have suboptimal builds and are making play mistakes. The deck has lots of cards which are “just good.” But once the other decks become more tuned, UG Scryb Force becomes pretty average. I’d much rather be playing a blue deck right now.
Thats it for me now, I hope you enjoyed the read.
Levi Hinz
State Champion
A mildly amusing story from the PT
I was sitting around a table with some of the Aussies and token Aussie Conner Holmes from Ireland. We were all lamenting our poor performances, and Conner says to no-one “Ahh Mr Levy, how do you do it?” Raphael Levy magically appears behind him and replies “Just turn guys sideways!” We all had a chuckle. Later Conner comes up to me…”Hey did you know that guy behind me was actually Raphael Levy?”
