Roy Tang

Grand Prix Bangkok happens three weekends from now, and I’ve already booked the flight and hotel. All I need now are byes!

The fourth GPT here was yesterday, Sunday Aug 2 at Robinson’s Galleria. The format is M10 Sealed and I found myself faced with the following sealed pool:

This was only my second time with M10 Sealed, but the pool looked pretty solid to me. Having a planeswalker is a big deal, so I was already sure the primary would be green. The question was the secondary color. White offered Blinding Mage, Serra Angel, a solid curve of creatures and the fantastic Safe Passage. Black gave us a lot of removal, plus some solid evasive creatures. Red and blue gave us some good cards but seemed a bit shallow, so I was left choosing between black and white.

In the end white got the nod for the secondary, with black as tertiary splash for 3 kill spells off one swamp. I really like Safe Passage in this format as it helps defend against random Overruns.

Here’s the list I played:

Yes, I left Divine Verdict in the board. I’m brilliant that way.

Quick match reports!

Round 1 vs UW with lotsa fliers and ground stallers. Table 33

Game 1 I got attacked twice by a Sage Owl and won with 18 life.

Game 2 I board in Windstorm, and get a 3-for-1 during his attack, but somehow he recovers with 2 Wind Drakes that go all the way.

Game 3 We had an interesting judge call. I had a 4/4 trampler attacking into a 3/5 Siege Mastodon. I play Harm’s Way bouncing 2 damage back to the Mastodon, do I get to assign one trample damage or not? Judge ruled that I did not and that was fine since I wasn’t sure. The 1 damage ends up not mattering as I lose to 2 2/2 fliers again. (The judge later told me that after thinking about it he wasn’t very sure about the ruling either)

Round 2 It’s a bye! What?

Round 3

Game 1 we start off both with G/W but then I start playing Doom Blades and take the game.

Game 2 He suddenly lost his plains and gained swamps. I lost to a Kelinore Bat, how embarrassing. Post-game discussion: Ba’t nag-iba ka ng kulay?, Hahaha

Game 3 Garruk shows up turn four, and from there it’s basically 3 for 1’s to win the game.

Round 4

Game 1 He plays Overrun on turn five with 3 creatures on the board and me at 16. I Doom Blade away a guy and drop to six. On my turn, I play another removal spell and a blocker, and he’s out of gas from there.

Game 2 I board in a 2/3 forestwalker that never gets answered and it takes the game.

Round 5

I don’t remember much, but I took the win in 3 games. In one game he played turn four Whispersilk Cloak and turn 5 Ant Queen Yikes! Luckily I drew the Borderland Ranger who got the swamp for the Doom Blade before he got equip that thing.

Round 6

Such a close 3 game match. His deck had Overrun, Fireball, 2 Prodigal Pyromancers, Dragon Whelp, Howl of the Night Pack, et cetera. I had to board in more removal, including Weakness of all things. In game three I kept a hand with 5 lands and Garruk, and just won with infi beast tokens.

Round 7 Intentional Draw

Woo! 5-1-1 is good enough for top 8, which means I get to draft!

Pack 1, pick 1: Baneslayer Angel. I never really looked at the rest of the pack!

Pack 3, pick 1: I chose Armored Ascension over Sunpetal Grove. Heh, not a raredrafter. Ended up not using the aura though. =/

I think I passed too many evasive guys. My draft deck ended up U/W, ground stall + fliers with light permission.

Among the top 8, there were only two of us going to Bangkok, so my quarters opponent graciously gave way and the finals opponent agreed to prize splits, et cetera.

The only relevant match was against the semis where the other guy was playing Blue Black.

Semifinals

Game 1 I start with Soul Warden He starts with turn 2 Sage Owl and turn 3 Hypnotic Spectre. I play Ice Cage and follow-up with Griffin Sentinel. From there we start racing; he has a numerical advantage but my Warden gains me in the neighborhood of 12 life. I bring him to one but forgot to counter a crucial Phantom Warrior that meant I would not survive the next turn.

Game 2 He plays 2nd turn Sage Owl. It seems he’s sided in Alluring Sirens which makes a bunch of my Illusionary Servants pretty bad. Somehow I manage to counter the relevant spells and run him out of gas to steal the win.

Game 3 He plays 2nd turn Sage Owl. I joke about asking for a deck check on those Owls. I’m losing badly, stalling at four lands. I’m at five life and about to die the next turn when I draw my fifth land. “You have one card in hand right?” I ask him. Hoping he has no removal left, I play the Baneslayer Angel. He draws no Doom Blades or Tendrils and the angel is impossible to race with, so I take the game from there.

Although the draft and the actual quarters match was more luck than skill, a win’s a win, so I posted on Twitter as soon as I got home.

19 days remain until Grand Prix Bangkok…