Introduction:

I normally only play the standard two man events to try and grind out a few tickets in the evening before I go to bed, but on 6/10/13, I was down 2-3 for the night in the two man events and was feeling somewhat lousy–mainly because I’m a win junkie, and I don’t feel good about my play unless I end on a winning note. A scheduled  standard event was starting in 2 minutes after my third loss of five for the night, so I jumped in even though it was 12am (pacific time), and I would be stuck in the event for two hours minimum. Long story short, I went 4-0 in the event, beating out Aggro in round one, Junk Reanimator rounds two and three, and Snapcaster Control in round 4. It was the first scheduled event I’d played in months, and I was very pleased with the results.

Here’s the deck:
4 [mtg_card]Tragic Slip[/mtg_card]
2 [mtg_card]Sign in Blood[/mtg_card]
4 [mtg_card]Thragtusk[/mtg_card]
2 [mtg_card]Devour Flesh[/mtg_card]
1  [mtg_card]Vraska the Unseen[/mtg_card]
1 [mtg_card]Deadbridge Chant[/mtg_card]
4 [mtg_card]Woodland Cemetery[/mtg_card]
3 [mtg_card]Watery Grave[/mtg_card]
1 [mtg_card]Nephalia Drownyard[/mtg_card]
1 [mtg_card]Liliana of the Dark Realms[/mtg_card]
3 [mtg_card]Disciple of Bolas[/mtg_card]
4 [mtg_card]Overgrown Tomb[/mtg_card]
1 [mtg_card]Demonic Rising[/mtg_card]
4 [mtg_card]Desecration Demon[/mtg_card]
4 [mtg_card]Geralf’s Messenger[/mtg_card]
1 [mtg_card]Pithing Needle[/mtg_card][mtg_card][/mtg_card]
4 [mtg_card]Mutilate[/mtg_card]
3 [mtg_card]Abrupt Decay[/mtg_card]
1 [mtg_card]Putrefy[/mtg_card]
2 [mtg_card]Golgari Guildgate[/mtg_card]
10[mtg_card] Swamp[/mtg_card]

Sideboard:
1 [mtg_card]Putrefy[/mtg_card]
3 [mtg_card]Duress[/mtg_card]
4 [mtg_card]Cremate[/mtg_card]
2 [mtg_card]Notion Thief[/mtg_card]
1 [mtg_card]Curse of Death’s Hold[/mtg_card]
1 [mtg_card]Pithing Needle[/mtg_card]
2 [mtg_card]Deathrite Shaman[/mtg_card]
1 [mtg_card]Syncopate[/mtg_card]

Thoughts on the Deck:

I’m still surprised by how good this deck is. It has the equivalent of [mtg_card]Sphinx’s Revelation[/mtg_card] (because of [mtg_card]Disciple of Bolas[/mtg_card]), while still managing to lay down some serious beats and board removal. It’s able to survive through all but the fastest aggro hands, and it has enough utility to grind out a win with Drownyard against a Snapcaster control deck (which I did in this tournament). After the tournament, I ended up removing the Curse of Death’s Hold in exchange for another Drownyard in the sideboard, and I think I will take out one [mtg_card]Notion Thief[/mtg_card] for a [mtg_card]Crypt Incursion[/mtg_card], although I’m not 100% on that. I added the second Drownyard to the sideboard because two in the main deck dilutes the mana base too much, but it ends up being a primary win condition against the Snapcaster decks, which are quite common. The [mtg_card]Notion Thief[/mtg_card] is good when it works, but often it is advertised, and they play around it. Still, it’s a good threat, and when it catches a player off guard, they will likely lose from the swing in cards. I like the [mtg_card]Cremate[/mtg_card]s, because they are effective against both instants/sorceries and creatures, but I think a [mtg_card]Crypt Incursion[/mtg_card] or two in the sideboard would just blow up junk reanimator to the point that it wouldn’t even be funny. Actually with the two Drownyards against Snapcaster control, I could probably get away with 3 [mtg_card]Cremate[/mtg_card] and 1 [mtg_card]Crypt Incursion[/mtg_card][mtg_card][/mtg_card][mtg_card][/mtg_card], but it’s hard for me to let the [mtg_card]Cremate[/mtg_card]’s go, because they are cheap, replace themselves, and generally halt an enemy plan.

I’m super happy to have went 4-0, though, and I look forward to playing in another scheduled event in the near future. As of today, my Standard rating is over 1720, hopefully to climb to 1800 by the end of the summer.