ATTK42

I remember Jay wanting to get that for his license plate.

So, I played in the Grand Prix PHX trial this past saturday at Jeff's store, Mana Werx. It was Ravnica sealed with Coldsnap draft top 8. Notables there from "our" crew were myself, Dan Voigt, Michael Bahr, and Jay Webb. There were only 16 competitors, so 7 points should be good enough to get in.

It would seem that every time I play in a sealed deck event, I don't get bombs. I get good solid cards that, when I hit my curve, seem to overrun the opponent. Here are a couple high lights from my sealed (which was less than stellar) -

Vinelasher Kudzu
Rakdos Ickspitter
a 5/5 wurm
Brainspoil

I had a good curve going on, brainspoil was my real only way of dealing with bombs. I had a couple 2for1 cards, which probably were the reason I made it to top 8. I beat Jay and lost to Dan during the Swiss. Dan wouldn't draw, we were both 2-0 and he didn't feel comfortable drawing.

Top 8 draft was coldsnap. The only knowledge I have of this set is what I saw at the pre-release event. This format is bear heavy, if you have a bear that can survive the other bears than you are in good shape. Here is what I drafted -

Juniper Order Ranger - 2nd pick, 1st pack
Phyrexian Snowcrusher
Surging Sentinels
Kjeldoran Gargoyle
Swift Manuever x2
Field Marshal - 2nd pack, 1st pick
Gelid Shackles
Ronom Unicorn
Kjeldoran War Cry x2
Kjeldoran Outrider x3 - my "better" bears
Grim Harvest
Chill to the Bone x2
Gristle Grinner
Gutless Ghoul
Zombie Musher x2
Disciple of Tevesh Szat x2
Garza's Assassin - 1st pick, 1st pack

Sideboard -
Luminesce x2
Deathmark
Gutless Ghoul
Disciple of Tevesh Szat x2
Grim Harvest
a couple Aurouchs that I hated
a bunch of junk

I decided to go with just 2x Disciples because I had the 2x Zombie Mushers clogging up the 4 slot and figured I could get by with just the 2 (plus there was a good amount of damage cards that just damaged for 1 and I didn't want to trade a 4coster for a 1 or 2 coster). 2x Zombie Mushers is tech, I played zero snow covered lands (as the same as Dan Voigt), but these guys were insta threats the minute they hit the board, meaning they shot straight to the top of KTM. The Outriders turned into 3/3 first strikers with the Field Marshall out. I played 1 Forest and only had to wait 3 turns once to draw it when I had Juniper in hand, that guy is truly stellar.

Finals - Me vs. Dan Voigt
He was kind of upset that I wouldn't give him the byes. He told me that the ratings cutoff was back in April and now he had enough rating to get some byes, but back then he didn't. I told him that I would be attending GPPHX, so I would be utitilizing the byes. We sat down and played.
Game 1 - Got the bears when I needed and supped them up with the Field Marshal. He hit a couple Ripple damagers (I believe he said he only had 2). I was able to push through for the win. The curve was hit and I was able to have an answer when I needed it (a swift manuever or war cry).
Game 2 - Again, another great game by both players. He was down to about 3 or 4 life and I was at 11. He swung with 2 fliers and played the red howl from beyond and I was toast.
Game 3 - Another close game, I was getting into howl from beyond range and he was around 7-8 life. I also drew into 2x Luminesce, which were key. He said he was 1 mana away from killing me when I was at 13 or so. I dropped the juniper and then started dropping guys. He had a flier that kept hitting me. I was down to 4, he had a 2/2 flier, on the previous turn, he chumped against my juniper and snow crusher. He swings for 2, I take it, he plays the new relentless assault. I had the swift manuever and that was that.

I had a pretty solid deck and was able to draft enough answers and I'm excited about playing in GP PHX. The prizes weren't spectacular (which is one of the reasons why I didn't want to deal for the byes), 20 packs to first and 10 to second. I gave Dan 2 packs, so I had 6 draft sets and he had 4. All in all, a pretty good day.