My 4-4 Journey Through States

States was fun! I participated in this years States in Illinois. It was the first States event that I have played in. I tested for about 2 weeks to prepare for it, I should have tested more but oh well. I went with my friends Kurt and Nathan, and also my Dad. It was held in Chicago, at Pastimes, so it was a long three hour drive, but I had my new Mario game for the ride. We left at 6 in the morning and got back 10:30 at night, not to bad for a day at a big event.

We arrived at Pastimes at about 9:15. We quickly got a seat at an empty table at started to fill out our deck sheets. We got that done and turned them in. But I was still missing a Karma for my sideboard. I went to the dealers tables and was surprised to find one for just a dollar. Now I had my deck ready, and my my forms turned in, it was time to trade. I couldn't find a lot of good trades. I wasn't really looking for anything in particular, so that might of been why I couldn't find any. I was able to trade two Goblin Lackeys for a Squee.

This ended up being my deck. I have made many changes since the tournament to improve my deck. I also made some last minute changes before the tournament, so my deck wasn't as fully tuned as I would have liked. Here is the list anyways:

//All American Machinery
4x Thoughtcast
4x Broodstar
2x Thirst for Knowledge
4x Mana Leaks
2x Future Sight
4x Atog
4x Frogmite
4x Myr Enforcer
4x Talisman of Progress
2x Welding Jar
2x Lightning Greaves
2x Neurok Hoversail
4x AEther Spellbomb

4x Great Furnace
4x Ancient Den
4x Seat of Synod
4x Glimmervoid
2x Island

SB: 3x Pyroclasm
SB: 3x Shatter
SB: 3x Karma
SB: 3x Tempest of Light
SB: 3x Second Sunrise

Before I knew it, the first round was starting. My first opponent was Darren, he was playing goblins. The first game I couldn't draw an Island to save my life. I was holding double Broodstar and lots of card drawing. Game two I sideboarded in two Second Sunrise, I didn't really know what else to put in. This game went a lot better. It was pretty even until the end. I was able to get an Atog with flying out. I was then able swing for the win, narrowly missing double Siege Gang beats. Game three didn't go well. Only creature I had was Atog, and I had to sac everything to save it. After which I took massive damage from hordes of goblins.

Round two I play against Roberto, playing a combination of Mono-Black Control and Zombies. Game one I got no land, yet again. At this point I find that keeping one land hands just wont work. I side in two Shatter and three Karma. Turn three he plays an Oblivion Stone, and the next turn I top deck a Shatter. I ended up having Karma on the table, along with a Broodstar, which quickly depleted his life. Game three was about the same. I ended up having double Karma, and when he tried a desperation Consume Spirit I Mana Leaked it.

I played against a goblin player, named Jerret, in round three. He had a spacemonkey on his T-Shirt, which is what I shall blame my loss on. It mesmerised me into making dumb mistakes. I made a lot of bad player errors, and lost to the stampede of goblins.

Andrew was my fourth round opponent, he also played goblins. Game one was close. I ended up with a Broodstar and an Atog on the board that won me the game. Game two proves my point that, just one land is not a keeping hand. Hey that rhymed. Game three was pile driver beat down. At this point I find out that my deck is having a lot of trouble against goblins.

My fifth round opponent, Chris, dropped to me.

Round six I played against Brian, he was playing a U/R version of Affinity. Game one he got really mana screwed. Game two I shattered his AEther Spellbomb, and then swung in with a massive atog. Next turn he would have killed me with his Broodstar.

My seventh round opponent was Jordan, playing G/R Beats. Game one, he got out a very big Forgotten Ancient. I chump blocked all I could, but was not able to stop it from killing me. Game two, he stalled on one land. I killed him with Myr Enforcers. Game three, I get a turn 4 Broodstar. I then attacked with it until I won.

My final opponent was Eric, playing B/R Land Destruction. I have to paris down to five. I keep a hand with only Glimmervoid. It wasn't until about 5 more turns that I got a playable land. He played a couple of big creatures that I could not deal with. Game two, he killed all my creatures, then he played his own. I yet again could not deal with them.

My record for the day was 4-4 match wise, and 9-10 game wise. Not to horrible. I learned a lot about my deck. Like, I should never keep a one mana hand no matter how good it will be with just one more. Also, I need cards in my sideboard to deal with goblins. About 30% of the people there were playing Affinity decks. Very little slide. I played a lot of goblins. Mono-Black cards were the most traded, dealers were offering ten cash for an oblivion stone. All in all it was a very fun day, and would most likely go again.