Modern FNM May 13 – Round 3 Feature Match – Tim Watkins (B/W Tokens)
vs. Ryan Ascott (R/G Scapeshift)
“This match-up has to be terrible for me,” said Tim, as he
promptly lost the die roll.
“Hey, we both played Storm last round, and we both won,”
replied Ryan, attempting to reassure Tim after he’d had two rounds full of bad
match-ups and surprising victories.
Game 1
Ryan led on a Cinder Glade tapped. Tim chuckled and let out
an audible sigh, matching him with a Swamp and a pass.
Ryan played Sakura-Tribe Elder off a fresh Forest, and when
Tim laid a Plains and passed back Ryan promptly sacrificed the snake…person…thing…for
another Forest.
Ryan played Explore for his third turn, drawing a card and
playing another Cinder Glade untapped and a Stomping Ground tapped before
passing back. Tim, desperate for some kind of action, played a Ghost Quarter
and passed, and Ryan simply played a Mountain and passed back with six open
mana. Truly this was a match for the (slumbering) titans.
Tim played a Marsh Flats and immediately got a Swamp, taking
the first damage of the game…before immediately playing a Timely Reinforcements
that simply brought him back up to 25. It was at this point I briefly
contemplated napping rather than continuing to watch.
Ryan jokingly tried to call a judge on Tim for the
maindecked Timely, but on second thought remarked he’d rather he just had them
mainboard anyways (for the record, Tim does maindeck copies of Timely
Reinforcements). Ryan played a seventh land and passed, and Tim finally followed
up with some action, playing a Sorin, Solemn Visitor that ticked down and
summoned a 2/2 Vampire that represented the actual first threat of this Modern
game of Magic. Next time I’ll pick a more exciting feature match.
Ryan took some time to think about his eighth turn, which
seemed to be the first difficult decision of the match for the Scapeshift
player. “Hold on, I’ve just gotta do math,” he said, which was likely not the
best sign for Tim, whose B/W Tokens deck wasn’t applying the kind of pressure
it needed to make life difficult for Ryan.
Ryan fetched a Forest off a Wooded Foothills, falling to 19,
before going back into the tank. Whatever decision he’d made, it was a big one,
and he needed to make sure it was going to work before finally committing to
it. Tim stared him down, challenging him to make a mistake, before Ryan floated
6 green mana and 2 red and cast Scapeshift. Tim responded by Ghost Quartering
one of Ryan’s Stomping Grounds (attempting to cut him off of one of the
Mountains in his deck, hoping to stymy the upcoming seismic shift that
Scapeshift represented). Ryan sacrificed 3 Forests and found 2 Valakuts and a
Cinder Glade, dealing 6 to Tim, before using the rest of the mana he had
floating to play a second Scapeshift! This time, Ryan sacrificed 5 more lands,
finding 5 Mountains and dealing 30 more damage to Tim. That was enough to seal
the game.
“I had to go about that in a weird way. Just had to make
sure I had enough Mountains in my deck to end it,” Ryan said, assuring Tim he
wasn’t slow-rolling him in any way. Tim simply nodded and shuffled up.
For the second game, here’s how players sideboarded:
Ryan –
OUT: 2 Summoner’s
Pact, 1 Khalni Heart Expedition
IN: 3 Anger of
the Gods
Tim –
OUT: 4
Bitterblossom, 1 Murderous Cut, 1 Timely Reinforcements, 1 Path to Exile, 1
Slaughter Pact
IN: 2 Zealous
Persecution, 2 Angel’s Grace, 1 Pithing Needle, 2 Duress, 1 Surgical Extraction
Ryan said his sideboarding was fairly straight forward, as
he wanted to control the board in the early stages of the game and let his
deck’s inevitability do the work later.
Game 2
Both players kept 7. Tim lead on Swamp and Duress, and Ryan
revealed a hand of 4 lands, 1 Sakura-Tribe Elder, 1 Anger of the Gods, and 1
Prismatic Omen, although the Anger of the Gods wasn’t long for Ryan’s hand,
being quickly deposited into the graveyard after Tim jotted down Ryan’s other
cards. Ryan simply answered with a Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle tapped and passed the turn back.
Tim Ghost Quartered the Valakut almost immediately,
prompting Ryan to quizzically look at him before putting it into the graveyard
and fetching up a Mountain. Tim followed up with a Surgical Extraction
targeting Valakut, and Ryan made a face that suggested either displeasure or
sudden heartburn. Tim passed confidently.
Ryan played a land and a Sakura-Tribe, and Tim answered with
a second Ghost Quarter and a Dark Confidant. Ryan fired off a freshly-drawn
Lightning Bolt at Bob and attacked with Sakura-Tribe Elder before playing
Prismatic Omen and passing. Tim missed his land and passed.
Ryan took his fourth turn by playing Explore, two lands, and
attacking with Sakura again. Tim found another Swamp, but still had no plays.
Ryan attacked again with Sakura-Tribe, bringing Tim to the
dangerously low life total of 17. Sakura-Tribe represented a terrifying 17 turn
clock, and Tim was going to have to come up with an answer in the top third of
his deck. Unfortunately, Tim, still off white mana, passed back.
Ryan attacked again, passing back, and Tim shook his head
before firing off an Inquisition of Kozilek that revealed Ryan’s Scapeshift and
land in hand. Tim followed up by Ghost Quartering his own Swamp and finding a
Plains, since Ryan’s hand had nothing going on. Tim played Intangible Virtue
and passed.
Ryan played a freshly drawn land (not the one Tim looked at
previously, clearly trying to send a message) and put Tim to 15. Tim drew a
Marsh Flats and found a Godless Shrine, bringing himself down to 12. His deck
finally had its mana fixed, and he played an Auriok Champion before passing.
Sakura-Tribe Elder came into the red zone once more when
Ryan took his turn, dropping Tim to 11 before Ryan played a Search for Tomorrow
for the full cost and found yet another land. As it turns out, Scapeshift isn’t
very threatening when there aren’t any Valakuts in the deck. Ryan followed up
the Search with a Scapeshift, proving my point by simply sacrificing six lands
before finding six more in an effort to thin his deck towards a threat. Ryan
then passed the turn.
Tim served with Auriok Champion, dropping Ryan to 17 before
passing. Somehow, Ryan drew a land and simply attacked with Sakura-Tribe to
drop Tim to 10 before passing.
Tim finally found a threat in Dark Confidant, choosing not
to attack with Auriok Champion and gaining a life from its trigger. Ryan
offered up the trade with Sakura-Tribe, but Tim declined, falling back down to
10.
Tim revealed a Secure the Wastes off his Dark Confidant, falling
to 9 and drawing an extra card afterwards. Confidant and Auriok Champion both
got into the red zone and dropped Ryan to 14 before Tim passed. Ryan attacked
with a Sakura-Tribe, but Tim cast Secure the Wastes for 2 and put a token in
front of Sakura-Tribe. In response, Ryan sacrificed the Sakura-Tribe and failed
to find before casting Anger of the Gods and passing.
Tim finally found his fourth land and slammed a Sorin,
Solemn Visitor, attacking with a now 2/1 Auriok Champion. Ryan finally found
action, casting Primeval Titan and searching a Wooded Foothills and Windswept
Heath before passing. Tim drew for his turn, played a fifth land, a second
Intangible Virtue, and minused Sorin to make a massive 4/4 vigilant Vampire
token. He then passed the turn with 3 mana – 2 black and 1 white – still
available.
Ryan attacked with Primeval Titan, finding 2 more fetches
and dropping Tim down to 8 before casting another Primeval Titan post-combat
and failing to find a single land left in his deck! “It’s all gas – except for
all of the ramp…” Ryan said.
Tim attacked for 4 on his turn with the token before ticking
Sorin down once more and creating a scary army of buff vampires. Ryan attacked
with both Primeval Titans, and Tim responded with Angel’s Grace! Ryan scooped
things up and headed for Game 3.
For Game 3, sideboards went as follows:
Ryan –
Out: 2 Farseek, 1
Khalni Heart Expedition, 2 Lightning Bolt
In: 2 Thragtusk,
3 Obstinate Baloth
Tim –
Out: 1 Auriok
Champion, 1 Timely Reinforcements
In: 1 Murderous Cut, 1 Path to Exile
Game 3
During sideboarding for Game 3, Ryan asked how many words
had been typed so far in a match that wasn’t exactly chalk full of action. When
I replied with nearly 1500, Ryan suggested he’d have to give it a read after.
Tim, stone-faced, looked at me and said “Nah, I can’t read,” as both players
shared a laugh before they began the final game in their cut-throat match of
Magic.
Ryan elected to go on the play. Ryan kept 7, while Tim
elected to mulligan. Tim kept on 6 before bottoming his scry. Ryan led on
Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle tapped, although he was noticeably a little more scared about Surgical
Extraction this game. Tim followed up with a Godless Shrine untapped and a
Duress, revealing a hand of Anger of the Gods, Scapeshift, 2 Forests, a second
Valakut (Extraction insurance!) and an Obstinate Baloth.
“I’m going to have at least one Valakut in play this game,”
Ryan said after Tim took a look at his grip.
After some deliberation, Tim took the Anger of the Gods, and
passed to Ryan. Ryan played a second Valakut and passed back. Tim played a
Plains and Dark Confidant, passing to Ryan. Ryan just hit his land drop. Tim
found a Lingering Souls off Bob, falling to 15 before playing a Shambling Vent
tapped. Dark Confidant got into the red zone and dropped Ryan to 18 and Tim passed.
Ryan’s fourth turn featured an Obstinate Baloth, which
brought him up to 22. Tim cast Secure the Wastes for 1 in Ryan’s end step.
On Tim’s turn, Dark Confidant revealed Thoughtseize,
dropping Tim to 14. Tim played another Shambling Vent tapped, cast another
Duress, and revealed 2 Scapeshift, Mountain, and Primeval Titan. Tim then cast
a Thoughtseize and took Primeval Titan, passing. Ryan moved to combat on his
turn and found a 1/1 Warrior chumping his Baloth before he played his
newly-drawn Lightning Bolt to take care of Dark Confidant, passing the turn.
Tim drew and cast Gideon, Ally of Zendikar, making a
Knight-Ally token before passing the turn. On Ryan’s turn, Obstinate Baloth
came in after Gideon and Tim chumped it with the newborn Knight-Ally. Ryan
passed his turn back quickly after playing his sixth land.
Tim drew for his turn, then played Lingering Souls, making a
Knight-Ally token and passing. Ryan attacked with Baloth, and Tim blocked with
the team to trade board-for-board. Ryan passed.
Tim ticked Gideon up and attacked for 5, flashing back
Lingering Souls and passing. Ryan drew, played his seventh land, and cast
Scapeshift, and with Tim down to 12 that was enough to elicit the handshake
from the Tokens player, who fell to 2-1 while Ryan moved on 3-0 with his take
on R/G Scapeshift.
Post-Match
Tim thinks he had a narrow sideboard that made his deck
weaker, but gave him answers to problematic cards like Sakura-Tribe Elder
(Pithing Needle) and Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle (Surgical Extraction). Ryan believes the match-up
is very good for him already, and he simply needs to avoid starts like Game 2
that fundamentally cripple his deck’s gameplan before it can get going. Tim
agreed, suggesting that the match-up was very disadvantageous, and that
“cheesy” plays like catching the Scapeshift player with a Pithing Needle or
Ghost Quarter followed by Surgical Extraction are the only ways he can shore
the percentages up slightly.
