As expected?
We all know that U/R shells are still popular. We are seeing people try other U/R delver less shells. Who knows what the correct build is?
Suprise?
We had a oldie but a goodie show up this time. Alurren is a interesting combo deck. Not only was there one person playing it they also won this event.
Winners Area!
After five rounds of swiss and top 8 we have your August Champ Jim Chianese. I asked Jim a couple of questions and here are the responses.
Why did you choose the Deck?
Aluren has always been one of my favorite decks to play. It was one of the first decks I had success with back in the old days of 1.5 or extended. Recently, my legacy performances have been less than what I expect of myself. Decided to go back to basics for me and something I can play in my sleep.
What did you sideboard against?
My sideboard was mostly focused on getting a step ahead of the blue decks in the room. Carpet of Flowers is the best card in the board. It allows you to out pace Delver decks and gain incremental advantages through the mid game.
What matchups did you want to avoid?
More degenerate combo. Only having access to 4 Force of Will and 2 Thoughtseize in the main deck does not allow you to even compete in many game ones. The tutoring your able to do in Games 2 and 3 is through Green Sun’s Zenith and that’s a very slow game plan. Reanimator feels pretty unwinnable.
How did you prepare for the event?
I wanted to get reps against Delver. I put together the Delver 75 that I would have registered and just jammed sets of games on repeat against a friend. I don’t like to play on MTGO, especially with a deck like this that requires a ton of extra clicking and triggers.
Group playtest or Online?
Group playtesting when I can. I think when you have a group of people all theory crafting during a live match you can get the full collective experience and make decisions based on all information available. I will be the first one to admit that I am a filthy net deck player, and make little to no deck decisions of my own. I can likely figure it out from there and it’s been working thus far.
Any pregame rituals?
Just coffee for me. I don’t really like to eat before tournaments and will likely just snack and finish the day with a decent meal. Maximize the potential for winners dinner.
What is your favorite Magic Card and why is it Island?
So as much as I am a blue player down to my core, I also just love value during a game. My favorite card is Grim Lavamancer. It is efficient and cheap. Can be aggressive, controlling, or part of a tempo strategy. If given the opportunity this card usually fills the gaps in most of my UR decks.
Any extra comments? Shout-outs?
Definitely wanna shout out Frenchy. He helped me out with getting the deck together and is probably one of the best hype men and supportive friends. Andy Heiszler for playing one of the best matches of magic with me that I’ve ever played. and a reverse shout out to Jim Dudek. I went to this event with the only expectation being to have fun. I literally heard him say with his mouth “if this permanent dies what happens to my hamster token” I never recovered. Had to recoup my losses by winning the tournament.
Aluren - Jim Chianese
Creatures (16) 1 Leovold, Emissary of Trest 4 Baleful Strix 1 Ukkima, Stalking Shadow 4 Ice-Fang Coatl 1 Barrin, Tolarian Archmage 1 Cavern Harpy 2 Uro, Titan of Nature's Wrath 2 Imperial Recruiter | Lands (20) 1 Volcanic Island 3 Polluted Delta 1 Snow-Covered Swamp 2 Underground Sea 2 Misty Rainforest 2 Snow-Covered Island 2 Snow-Covered Forest 2 Tropical Island 2 Prismatic Vista 1 Bayou 1 Verdant Catacombs 1 Dryad Arbor Spells (19) 2 Thoughtseize 4 Brainstorm 2 Green Sun's Zenith 4 Ponder 4 Force of Will 3 Abrupt Decay Planeswalker (1) 1 Grist, the Hunger Tide Enchantment (4) 4 Aluren Sideboard (15) 2 Veil of Summer 2 Fatal Push 1 Scavenging Ooze 1 Endurance 4 Carpet of Flowers 2 Plague Engineer 1 Seeds Innocence 1 Collector Ouphe 1 Reclamation Sage |