PTQ Amsterdam 19/6 Porto

As most of you probably know by now, I recently won a PTQ for Amsterdam playing Jund. Due to my absence from the competitive scene in the past years, I don't have the oportunity to write about it for a strategy site, so today I will be using my blog to share the tournament and some considerations about standard with you.

When I first come back to Portugal, I had a lot to catch up. I didn't knew cards from Shadowmoor, Eventide, M10, Zendikar and Worldwake, except for the ocasional Baneslayer or Jace. But as soon as I saw decklists I decided I would only play UW control for Standard if I ever needed. (as a side note, I actually had to qualify for Nats playing Mythic at Regionals, because it was the deck my friends gave me. At that point I had just came back from Asia and I was clueless).

Enter GP Lyon. I travelled to Lyon with a UW control on my bag because there was a PTQ on Day 2, which I ended up playing. I played 3 or 4 rounds, before losing twice to strange combo decks with Howling Mines and lots of extra turns. I couldn't do anything to disrupt them, and I lost lots of faith in the deck. Monday at the airport, we were told we couldn't travel back to Portugal because Lisbon airport was closed thanks to some unfriendly Icelandic Volcano. Fortunately, TAP Air Portugal paid for all our expenses during the extra days we had to stay in Lyon. I saw these days as an excellent opportunity to playtest and catchup in constructed, as we were stuck in the airport or the nearby hotel with 2 Junds and 1 UW. During these days we played dozens of games, and I learned a lot about two of the most important decks of the format.

I also found myself atracted to the Jund deck. Why? Because I think the Jund deck was something new to me which I was not sick of playing with or against it unlike most of the other players, so I liked the raw power of the deck, and it seemed silly to me NOT to play it. Back from Lyon I also discovered that it was much easier to assemble a Jund deck online rather than a UW with Baneslayers, Elsepths, Jaces, etc. I played some 4 rounds Daily events when time allowed me to (I'm kind of working now) and I did 4-0 once, 2-2 twice, and 3-1 all the others, which showed that Jund was indeed a powerful and consistent deck. I actually never played a tournament with the same 60 cards Jund maindeck, tough the sideboard stayed more or less the same since the beginning until now.

My first real live tournament with Jund was a PTQ where I missed Top 8 by an inch. I was 5-1 and ready to ID myself into the Top 8, but my opponent had to play and I lost against NL Bant game 3 with 3 lands in play and all the good stuff in hand. But at this point I was set on playing Jund for the remaining PTQ's and for Nats, since I was happy with my maindeck, sideboard and gameplans for all matchups. I still think UW is the best choice for t2 now, but I had experience playing Jund, something I couldn't say with any other deck in t2.

For the PTQ Amsterdam in Porto which I won I sleeved the following 75 cards:

4 Lightning Bolt
2 Terminate
3 Lotus Cobra
3 Putrid Leech
4 Blightning
4 Sprouting Thrinax
4 Maelstrom Pulse
4 Bloodbraid Elf
3 Siege-Gang Commander
2 Bituminous Blast
1 Broodmate Dragon

4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Savage Lands
4 Raging Ravine
1 Lavaclaw Reaches
3 Dragonskull Summit
2 Rootbound Crag
2 Mountain
3 Forest
3 Swamp

Sideboard:
2 Duress
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Goblin Ruinblaster
3 Cunning Sparkmage
2 Doomblade
1 Malakir the Bloodwitch
1 Consuming Vapors

People at the tournament asked what did I cut to include card X or card Z. The answer is, I don't know, because I didn't start with an existing decklist. I came very late into this metagame, so I saw a bunch of Jund decklist, and I start building what I wanted for mine, so I never had to cut, but add instead, until I had this Jund list.

I think this is a pretty standard Jund decklist, no tech cards like Eldrazi Monument or Sarkhan the Mad, and playing with all the obvious cards. Generally speaking, this list is like 50-50, or 40-60, 55-45 etc against everything, with all the matchups improving slightly against sideboard (except the mirror obv).

The more intriguing choice is Lotus Cobra. I wanted this card to fight the abundance of Spreading Seas, and it can ocasionally give you some nut draws. I know people claim turn two Putrid Leech is a must, but if you're playing 3 Lotus Cobra, you don't have room for 4 Leeches.

4 Lightning Bolt are a must because of all the Green decks and Mono Red. Together with your 4 Blightnings and oposing fetchlands, it means you probably only need to actually deal 10 damage, because if the stabilize the board you are in a position where you can defend and wait to topdeck a third copy of one of the package 4 Bolts and 4 Blightnings.

For the cards costing 4 mana or more, the bigger threats, if you take Bloodbraid Elf as an automatic inclusion, I would say that 6 is the right number to have them. In every tournament I played I believe I never had the same 6, it was always a mix and match of Siege-Gangs, Sarkhan, Malakir, Master of the Wild Hunt, Broodmate.... tough now I believe the right combination to be 3 Siege-Gangs, 2 Bituminous Blasts and a sixth one.

I will say again that UW control or that Jund with Eldrazi monument to be better decks than this "regular" Jund, but I was really comfortable playing this list and especially this sideboard. I will talk more about the sideboard and give you the sideboard plans in my Nationals Report, since it will have an updated sideboard. Now, I will restrain myself to the PTQ.

Round 1: Jund, Win 2-1
Round 2: Mythic, Win 2-0
Round 3: Jund, Win 2-1
Round 4: Jund, Win
Round 5: Grixis, Win 2-1
Round 6: Jund, Loss, 1-2
Round 7: ID

Quarter-Finals: Jund, Win 2-1
Semi-Finals: Bye
Finals: Monument Jund, Win 2-0

I'm sorry if I'm unable to give you a round by round description, but those Jund vs Jund games they kind of all look the same, so it's quite confusing to actually recall details from the matches.

For my experience, the worst Jund matchup is White Weenie, with Mythic being the second, but I remember my opponent probably mulliganing and being forced to keep some sup- optimal draws, and in game one I had the nuts opening thanks to Lotus Cobra.

Against Grixis I was demolished in Game one, but after sideboard I put a better fight.

I had a bye in the Semis, I was going to play against Márcio Carvalho, he had already won his
Quarter-finals and waiting for mine to end. As soon as I finished he offered to concede, since he's Level something which gives him one invite to a Pro Tour of his choice, and he doesn't want to pay to go to Worlds in Chiba, so either he makes National Team or not. Which means, that free invite he has, he will cash it in Amsterdam.

About Jund matchups, what can I say, I'm a miser! In a matchup which can't be better than 5-0-50 I did a 5-1 score. I cannot control my draws, so here's what I do when I face the mirror match to try to get some edges.

- Understand that pre and post sideboard are two diferent matchups, and your plans and mulligan decisions are also diferent, is the most important thing you can control.

- You shouldn't keep a hand which doesn't have access to all the colours.

- You also need a good feeling of the game you are currently playing to know when to attack when and how to block, do you chump, take or trade, which cannot be taught, you have to "feel" each game independant from the others.

- Broodmate and Siege are game breakers pre sideboard, but worse cards after because of Ruinblaster.

So here's how I sideboard for the mirror.

+ 4 Goblin Ruinblaster
+ 2 Inquisition of Kozilek

- 4 Maelstorm Pulse
- 1 Broodmate Dragon
- 1 Siege-Gang Commander

After sideboard the crucial turns are turns 3 and 4. Most of the games will have a winner by then, so Inquisiton of Kozilek really shines because it deals with 3 of the 4 most important cards after sideboard (Gob Ruinblaster, Sprouting Thrinax and Blightning), the other being Bloodbraid Elf. I would've bring in more copies of Inquisiton of Kozilek, but I need some of them to be Duress for the UW matchups.

To give you an idea of how crucial turns 3 and 4 are, if you're on the draw, you shouldn't play Lotus Cobra on turn two if your opponent has untapped mana, unless it can potentially give you a turn 3 Elf or Ruinblaster. The reason is, if they kill the Cobra at the end of your turn, and follow it with a turn 3 Thrinax and 4 Gob Ruinblaster, you just lost right there.
But if they tap out for Thrinax on turn three, and you play your Cobra on turn 3, you have protection against Goblin Ruinblaster, since they cannot Ruinblaster your land and kill the Cobra on the same turn. If they didn't play Thrinnax or Blightning turn three, then even if they Ruinblaster you, your clock is much smaller.

Despite all of this, the real skill of the matchup is to out draw your opponent.

The funny curiosity about winning this PTQ was, that in January 2009 I took a month of holidays in Portugal, which allowed me to familiarize myself with Shards of Alara and Conflux and I won a constructed PTQ during that month, exactly in the same city (Porto) and venue of this one.

This time, in 2010, I came to Portugal to renew my passport and apply for a new visa. I arrived not qualified for Nats, and totally unfamiliar with the cards once again. After a week, I had to battle Regionals for a Nats slot, and somehow, not even knowing the new M10 rules I managed to do it. At the time, I wrote for a Portuguese website about playing Regionals and said my goal for Nats is to put a good performance, I wouldn't say a Top 8, but at least to be in contention for it until the last rounds instead of an early drop.

Then came Rise of Eldrazi and 3xROE drafts. That was sweet, suddenly I was even with all the players in the world for Limited play. Together with the experience with the Jund deck, I put the bar much higher for myself at Nats, without being arrogant or afraid to fail. Even tough many preview articles doubted about my chances for Nats, I was sure I had the conditions to be a tough opponent for anybody at this Nats.

Keep following my blog to check how I did in the first ever 2000 Euro Portuguese Draft Challenge the week preceding Nats, and at Nats itself, where I'll give you my most updated list and all the sideboard plans.

Thank you for reading!