JSS Tournament Report

On November 8th I went to the first JSS of the season that I could attend. It was judged by Chris Fairfield and Jimmy Fricke. The JSS was held at my local card store, The Dragons Table in Champaign Illinois, so there was no long drive or early wake up. 19 people in all came to the tournament, not a lot but not bad.

The night before the tournament I did some last minute testing. I had two possible decks that I could play. A modified build of Goblin Bidding from a friend of mine, or a slightly modified version of Luke’s Affinity. At my local card store, The Dragons Table in Champaign Illinois, I did some testing with some friends. We play both decks against each other many times. Before when I played Affinity it seemed like I would constantly lose to Goblins, but in the testing I seemed to be doing better.

After the night of testing I was still undecided on what to play. I still needed testing vs. slide for both decks. I was leaning towards playing Goblin Bidding, but one of my friends told me that it had a very bad match up vs. slide. So I ask another one of my friends to help me test the match up over MWS and they agree. We play about 7 games with both decks. I didn't do very well, but I learn a lot. It always seemed I was closer to winning with Affinity than Goblin Bidding. After these games I am leaning more and more towards Affinity, but was still undecided, it was now one in the morning and really need sleep.

I had the luxury to sleep till 8:15 and not have to rush to the tournament. I get a few things ready to go, and leave the door about ten till 10. The store was open and people were there. One of my friends soon walks through the door, and I ask him for some more testing. He is the best slide player I know, so we play some games with both Bidding and Affinity. I am still winning more with Affinity than Goblin Bidding.

I finally decide to play Affinity, despite my constant loses at recent tournaments with it. I feel I know it better than any other deck, and it seems to win more. I turn in my deck list and wait for the tournament to start. Here is my final deck that I played:
// Lands
4 Ancient Den
4 Seat of the Synod
4 Great Furnace
3 Vault of Whispers
// Creatures
4 Broodstar
2 Frogmite
2 Atog
4 Myr Enforcer
// Spells
3 Future Sight
1 Temporal Fissure
2 Lightning Greaves
4 Chrome Mox
4 Mana Leak
4 Chromatic Sphere
3 Talisman of Dominance
4 Talisman of Progress
4 Thirst for Knowledge
4 Thoughtcast

// Sideboard
1 Temporal Fissure
3 Annul
3 Flashfires
2 Assert Authority
3 Pyroclasm
3 Circle of Protection: Red

My first round opponent was my friend Adam Hawthorne, playing Mono-Black Control. I helped him with his deck, so I know it pretty good. Game one I get out a 9/9 Broodstar. Then a turn later top deck two artifacts for the win. Game two I kept a bad hand, and had no gas. He beats me to death with a Grid Monitor. Game three was a lot better for me. He gets a bad draw, and I get double Myr Enforcers. I then get a Lightning Greaves and Broodstar, off of a Future Sight, for the win. It always sucks having to play your friends.

1-0 2-1

My round two opponent was Tyler. He was ten years old and was playing Slide. I have the Myr Enforcer beat down. He plays a Wrath of God that gets Mana Leaked. I play a Broodstar, and then continue to attack for the win. Game two I got an insane amount of mana, and I was able to get out a 13/13 Broodstar. It attacked twice for the win. Tyler was a very good sport about losing.

2-0 4-1

Round three I play Nathan Kross, which is playing Slide. Game one was pretty close, but he rifted me to death. Game two I have to bounce an early Exalted Angel before it kills me. I manage to get out an Atog and two Myr Enforcers for a slow win. Game three, he gets another turn three Exalted Angel. I am not able to get anything to deal with it.

2-1 5-3

Round four I have to play another one of my friends, Nathan Riefsteck. He was playing Slide, what’s with having to play this three times in a row. I always hate having to play Nathan, because it seems like he always top decks the exact card at the exact right time to win. Game one he gets a Lightning Rift on the table that I am unable to deal with. Game two, I get two Myr Enforcers to beat down with. He gets nothing really helpful. After game two I ask him if he would like to draw so that we both have a chance of getting in top eight. He declines, although I tell him if one of us loses that person will most likely be out of the running. I get a Broodstar out that does a pretty good job beating him down. But then he top decks an Akroma's Vengeance. I was unable to locate a counter to save me. After the Akroma's Vengeance he got an Exalted Angle. I ask him again if he would like to draw so that we both have a chance at top eight, but again he declines. I lose and am very mad at him. I think that there is no longer a shot of me getting in top eight because of my 2-2 record. I consult the standings and find out if I win my next match I have a very good chance at top eight. This makes me feel a lot better about top eighting.

2-2 6-5

This round I have to win to get top eight, and my opponent is Brad playing U/W control. In testing I never really did badly against this deck, I always seemed to outrun it, so that made me feel better about being able to top eight. Game one he got an Exalted Angel out that I didn't have an answer for. In game two I get a little luckier, I end up with double Myr Enforcer and an Atog. He quickly died soon after. Game three I get out a 12/12 Broodstar that quickly wins me the game.

3-2 8-6

I went from thinking that I had no chance of top eight to actually getting into top eight. As my game gets over, I shout to Nathan Kross to see how he was doing. He tells me that he is getting DQed. Word quickly spreads that it was because of severely marked sleeves. I feel bad for him, but at the same time he should have know better than to play with old beat-to-hell sleeves that could be considered to be marked. There is a long wait for standings as this is happening. Eventually they get posted, and I am in top eight at 6th place. My friends Nick Lore, Nathan Riefsteck, and Adam Hawthorne all got into top eight also. After the thirty minute dinner break, the quarter finals start.

My opponent is Brandon, playing Mono-Red Goblins. Game one was very close. He got out a final blow with a Blistering Firecat for the win. Game two, I side in Circle of Protection: Red, which seems to really help this match up. He got me down to eight but I was able to get a Circle of Protection: Red out, along with a Broodstar, for the win. Game three, I get another Circle of Protection: Red, which gives me a lot of time to set up the win. I get a Broodstar and Myr Enforcer out, and they quickly finish him off.

4-2 10-7

I find out that my friends Adam Hawthorne and Nick Lore both lost, but Nathan Reifsteck won his match. I also find out how the pairings will go for the next round, and am glad to see the only time I will play Nathan Reifsteck is in the finals. I also find out that I will also have to be playing David Tidd.

Semi-finals, round 7. David Tidd is playing a rouge Mono-Black Clerics deck. I watched him last round to get an idea how it worked, and what he was playing in it. It mainly used Cabal Archons and Rotlung Reanimators for lots of damage and life gain, and he also played Death Pact for massive creature removal. Game one, he gets out cleric after cleric that I have no way to deal with. He quickly kills me, and we go to game two. Game two I am lucky enough to get out a 7/7 Broodstar that quickly takes him down to zero. Game three was very close. He got a cleric out, but I had a Myr Enforcer and double Broodstar. The first Broodstar I played got killed, but the second one he had no answer for. The game came down to a very calculated attack where no matter how he blocked he would be taking leathle damage. We shake hands, and I congratulate him on his high finish.

5-2 12-8

Wow, I made it to the top 2. How this happened, I have no idea. My opponent name was Drew and he was playing Mono-Red Goblins. I ask him before the match if he would give me the scholarship if I give him the Magic for a Year. He says yes, I franticly call for a judge to make sure I can do this. Once the judge gets to our table Drew has already changed his mind. Drew says that his friends are telling him to play it out. I understand. Then the match begins.

Game one of the final match. I made a huge error in this game. My opening hand had one land and some other mana sources. Turn two I play a Thoughtcast and get a Great Furnace, but I pass the turn before I remember to play it. This caused me to miss two artifact drops, and a lower amount of mana. At the end of the game if I would have played right I would have had exactly enough artifact to sacrifice to the Atog to win the game, but I missed the one land drop. Oh well, there is always games two and three, but it just means I can't lose. The pressure is on.

Game two of the final Match. I only take small amounts of damage from 1/1 goblins. I am able to stabilize a Pyroclasm. After which, I play a 9/9 Broodstar with a Lightning Greaves, and attack. He can not handle the massive Broodstar and loses to turns later.

Game tree of the final match. He goes first. We draw opening hands. I have Atog, Great Furnace, Pyroclasm, Circle of Protection: Red, Talisman of Progress, and 2 Chromatic Spheres. This is an awesome hand, all except for only one land. I wait for him to decide on his hand before I decide on mine. He takes a long hard look and his hand, and then decides to mulligan. He again takes a long look at his hand, and then decides to keep. I take another look at my hand. If only I had another land the match would be in the bag. I decide to keep on two conditions, one I get to draw first, and two I have two Chromatic Spheres in my hand for extra card drawing. Turn one he plays a Goblin Sledder. Then passes. I draw no land. I play the Great Furnace and a Chromatic Sphere. Turn two, he has two more one drop goblins. I draw no land, again. It is looking bad at this point, but I have my Chromatic Sphere for card drawing. I sac it for a blue and top deck a Seat of Synod. I play my Talisman of Progress followed by the second Chromatic Sphere, and then pass the turn. Turn three he stalls on two lands, but sacs a goblin for red to play Goblin Warchief. I am now down to 15. I draw and then play my Pyroclasm. He saves his Goblin Warchief with a Goblin Sledder. He plays another one drop goblin and swings for 3. I am at 11. My turn I play the Circle of Protection: Red. Once the Circle of Protection: Red hit the table, he got a look on his face that said he knew the game was over for him. He gets out a Goblin Goon, but I am able to prevent his damage. I play a Lightning Greaves followed by a 10/10 Broodstar. I swing for 10 putting him at ten. He plays a Siege-Gang Commander, but I am able to prevent the damage. He sits on his turn thinking about a way to kill me when I have lethal damage on the board. At this point the room fills with silence. His last hope is that I forget to attack. He passes the turn, and then I swing for the win.

We shake hands and I congratulate him on his second place finish. We both now have invites to the Championship, in Kansas City, and boxes of Mirrodin. I also receive the Magic for a year, and the top prize of all, the $1000 scholarship. I learned a lot from this tournament. I want to thank all the people who helped me on my deck, and Chris Fairfield for doing a great job judging. I plan on attending the JSS Championships in Kansas City. I think it will be a lot of fun. I hope to see you all there.