Welcome back to “Game Day Grinder”, the article series that follows a veteran Magic: the Gathering player and his journey to discover what it feels like to try playing competitively whilst constrained by a budget.
If you’re new to the series, here are some helpful links:
Game Day Grinder #1 – Magic 2015 Game Day
It had only been a couple of days since my mediocre 2-2 finish at the M15 Game Day event, but I couldn’t stop brewing new decks. I was writing down deck lists on scrap pieces of paper, only to keep reworking and refining them in my mind. I was thinking about card choices and synergies while in the shower, on the subway, and before falling asleep at night. My creative deck-building spark had been ignited.
I realized that I hadn’t tried building a unique deck in years. Although my lack of creativity was partly due to a dearth of time, it was also caused by laziness. Never in a million years would I think of bringing a rogue deck to a PTQ or Grand Prix unless I didn’t care about my results. It’s always been so much easier taking a successful deck list from the web and refining it before an important tournament.
Why spend time building new decks and testing their viability when there were plenty of lists online that had already been proven successful?
Now, I don’t want you to misinterpret my introspective ramblings. While net-decking is certainly the easiest (and least unique) way to choose a deck that will function well in a meta-game, no one should be looked down on for doing so. It’s very difficult to create a new deck that will succeed, especially when a format has already matured and others have already figured out what works and what doesn’t work. It takes time and dedication to test new cards and synergies against a gauntlet of the best decks in the format and, even then, you may not find that anything is as powerful as what’s already being played.
However easy it might be to find a great deck list online, I found myself constrained by my financial limitations. The budget constraints actually pushed my boundaries. I had no choice but to be creative if I wanted to do well.
I had two choices going forward; I could either build a synergistic deck with a handful of cards that would rotate once Khans of Tarkir is released, or I could stick to cards from Theros block and M15 that I could still rely on when building my final deck for the next Game Day event.
I decided that synergy and playability were paramount, and that the cards that I could acquire from Return to Ravnica block and from M14 would help me win more games in the short term. Because these cards were soon rotating, I knew I could get more powerful cards for a cheaper price. I decided to streamline my deck in hopes that the money spent on pre-rotation cards would pay off in the long run if I were to win more packs from the weekly Standard tournaments.
The only thought running through my mind after making my first weekly card purchases was:
“I really hope I didn’t just shoot myself in the foot and waste a bunch of my funds…”
I. Spending Our Weekly Budget
Out with the old and in with the new!
My deck needed a major overhaul. The Intro Deck was a great starting point and provided some solid synergies, but a lot of the cards were underwhelming. I decided to focus on what I found to be the most powerful part of the deck when I had been playing during Game Day:
My army of tokens.
With a meager $10 a week, I didn’t have much of a budget to work with (especially since half of that amount was to be saved for weekly tournament entry fees).
Luckily, the Selesnya Guild is chock-full of great token-generators.
Week 1 – $5 Purchases
[card]Call of the Conclave[/card] – 4x 0.25
[card]Scion of Vitu-Ghazi[/card] – 3x 0.25
[card]Rootborn Defenses[/card] – 4x 0.15
[card]Sundering Growth[/card] – 3x 0.15
[card]Triplicate Spirits[/card] – 2x 0.15
[card]Frontline Medic[/card] – 3x 0.49
[card]Devouring Light[/card] – 1x 0.25
[card]Selfless Cathar[/card] – 1x 0.15
Total: $5.00
[card]Raise the Alarm[/card] and [card]Triplicate Spirits[/card] tokens paired nicely with the two copies of [card]Spear of Heliod[/card] I had traded for after Game Day, and I was able to complete a couple of play sets of key cards like [card]Frontline Medic[/card] and [card]Scion of Vitu-Ghazi[/card]. I was hoping that my deck could be aggressive enough towards the start of the game to put my opponents on defense and then whittle away at their remaining life with a miniature army of 1/1 soldiers and spirits.
II. The Changes
I had already regretted one of my previous trades. I had added a copy of [card]Wayfaring Temple[/card] to the list of cards I had received in exchange for the [card]Chief Engineer[/card] Game Day promo I had won, but I should have known that it would be easily replaceable by other budget cards that synergized with a token strategy. I was just so happy to be trading for cards that were in my two-color combination that I hadn’t planned ahead. And now I had removed it as quickly as I had put it into my deck.
Main Deck (IN):
1 [card]Selfless Cathar[/card]
4 [card]Call of the Conclave[/card]
1 [card]Plains[/card]
1 [card]Devouring Light[/card]
3 [card]Frontline Medic[/card]
3 [card]Scion of Vitu-Ghazi[/card]
2 [card]Triplicate Spirits[/card]
Main Deck (OUT):
2 [card]Midnight Guard[/card]
2 [card]Seraph of the Masses[/card]
1 [card]Gather Courage[/card]
2 [card]Titanic Growth[/card]
2 [card]Living Totem[/card]
1 [card]Wayfaring Temple[/card]
1 [card]Nissa’s Expedition[/card]
1 [card]Sanctified Charge[/card]
1 [card]Forest[/card]
1 [card]Hornet Queen[/card]
1 [card]Phytotitan[/card]
Sideboard (IN):
3 [card]Sundering Growth[/card]
4 [card]Rootborn Defenses[/card]
1 [card]Hornet Queen[/card] (from main)
1 [card]Phytotitan[/card]
Sideboard (OUT):
1 [card]Naturalize[/card]
I finally had a full, 15-card sideboard! I felt as though my deck was shaping up. Granted, some of the sideboard cards were underwhelming, but at least I had them in case of emergency!
Here’s the list I finalized several days before my first weekly Standard tournament:
[deck title=GW Tokens – Peter Sachlas]
[Lands]
11 Forest
13 Plains
[/Lands]
[Creatures]
4 Imposing Sovereign
4 Frontline Medic
4 Selfless Cathar
4 Scion of Vitu-Ghazi
2 Sunblade Elf
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
2 Spear of Heliod
4 Raise the Alarm
4 Call of the Conclave
4 Devouring Light
4 Triplicate Spirits
[/Spells]
[Sideboard]
3 Sundering Growth
1 Reclamation Sage
3 Hornet Nest
4 Rootborn Defenses
1 Tireless Missionaries
1 Meditation Puzzle
1 Phytotitan
1 Hornet Queen
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]
III. The Booster Pack
I was eager to play my first weekly Standard tournament with my (now) more synergistic Intro Deck. I looked over my deck once more and welled up with pride.
“Not too shabby”, I thought to myself. “At least the deck doesn’t look like a bric-a-brac of undesirable cards.”
I had already paid my entry fee and was holding the booster pack of M15 that each participant received for signing up for the tournament.
I looked at the packaging for a long while, my thoughts drifting to the powerful Green/White midrange decks that had been doing well at larger tournaments. I was already fantasizing about opening an expensive card like [card]Nissa, Worldwaker[/card] or Garruk, Apex Hunter and trading them in for even more cards to make my deck more powerful.
I took a deep breath and opened the pack.
“Luck will surely be on my side this time”, I mused. “I opened up nothing of value in the two booster packs that came with my Intro Deck, so I’ve got to be luckier this time around.”
I rifled through the cards; quickly at first, but slowing down as I came to the Uncommons. I knew the Rare was hiding just out of sight, and I was already calculating how much time I would have to trade in my loot for more cards before the tournament started.
Booster Pack Contents (Notable):
[card]Aetherspouts[/card]
[card]Lightning Strike[/card]
[card]Back to Nature[/card]
Soldier Token
I let out a sigh.
My rare was worth a dollar at the most. I would have to rely on the changes I had already made to my deck in order to secure a winning record and some more booster packs.
I heard someone shuffle towards me.
“Why are you opening your packs?”
I had already explained to several players at our local store about my article series and experiment, and word had spread. One of the local players was curious as to why I was opening my booster pack, rather than saving it or trading it (unopened) to the store or another player.
The reasons I gave him?
A) I’m in no position to save my booster pack for drafting at a later time. As much as I’d love to get more use out of an unopened pack, the cards inside are worth more to me when trying to build a deck than they would be if my deck was already fully completed and tweaked.
B) It would be difficult to find another player who would want to trade cards for unopened booster packs. They would have to be the type who thought that, if they gambled, they could make more off of the cards inside an unopened booster pack than what they were trading to me.
C) Even if I did find someone willing to make that trade, I would feel absolutely miserable if I found out that they had opened an expensive card and I had made the wrong choice.
The real reason for opening my booster pack right away?
The adrenaline rush of playing the card lottery. The reward far outweighs the risk. If I open up a bulk rare card, then I feel disappointed for a little while. But, if I open up a rare, expensive card, then I’ve just greatly increased my chances of refining my deck and winning even more packs in the future.
Sometimes, the crinkling of a booster pack is like the call of a siren:
IIII. Tournament Report
Yet again, I found myself dejected. Feeling crummy right before a tournament seems to be the recurring theme since Game Day. I was upset that I hadn’t opened anything of value in my booster pack. I had also gold-fished my deck and was unimpressed by its draws. I was becoming impatient because I’d have to wait until the next week to improve my deck, and I was becoming irritable because I had little faith in my ability to win with the deck I was playing. In hindsight, I should have tried to be more optimistic and get into a better mindset before the first round of the event, but it’s not always easy to shift moods.
ROUND 1 – Black/White Midrange
My opponent kept a greedy hand on the play. He started the game by playing a [card]Temple of Silence[/card] and scrying his card to the bottom. At first, I didn’t think much about how quickly he moved his top card below his deck, but it turns out to have made all the difference. As I rushed him with an early [card]Selfless Cathar[/card], followed by an [card]Imposing Sovereign[/card] and [card]Triplicate Spirits[/card], he failed to find his second land and conceded shortly thereafter.
I was now in a great position, having won the first game and also having seen what type of deck he was playing by the cards he had to discard at the end of his turns.
The second game played out much differently. Not only did my opponent successfully play his second land, but he immediately slammed a Pack Rat onto the battlefield. My only hope was to play my [card]Imposing Sovereign[/card] and try to make racing an impossibility with his rat tokens entering the battlefield tapped. Things were actually looking up at one point when I had developed a board of 3/3 Centaur tokens and several flying spirits. Unfortunately, a timely [card]Bile Blight[/card] made the match unwinnable.
We both took a mulligan in the third game, but I got lucky with my curve. I followed my first turn [card]Sunblade Elf[/card] with an [card]Imposing Sovereign[/card], later playing a [card]Raise the Alarm[/card] and [card]Selfless Cathar[/card]. With my opponent’s first play being a [card]Lifebane Zombie[/card] (entering the battlefield tapped because of my Sovereign), it was easy to swing past his defenses, especially when the best he could muster was a tapped [card]Desecration Demon[/card] on the fourth turn.
SCORE: 1-0
What I learned:
[card]Imposing Sovereign[/card] is incredible when you’re trying to put pressure on an opponent who relies on creatures as well. My token strategy works wonders against [card]Desecration Demon[/card].
ROUND 2 – Green/White Aggro
I get to play a mirror match! Granted, my cards are of much lower quality, but it’s a mirror match nonetheless! The better aggressor will likely come out on top.
During the first game, my [card]Call of the Conclave[/card] centaur token was blocked by my opponent’s [card]Fleecemane Lion[/card], which was favorable since I had a second copy in hand. His third turn [card]Loxodon Smiter[/card] met my [card]Devouring Light[/card], and I continued to pressure him for the next few turns. It seems as though the Lion and Smiter were the only creatures he had in his opening hand, as the first copy of [card]Ajani, Caller of the Pride[/card] he had played didn’t have any targets the rest of the game. I ignored Ajani and kept attacking my opponent directly. He scooped his cards in short order.
The second game was a blowout. My opponent’s two consecutive [card]Loxodon Smiter[/card]s kept taking chunks out of my life total, and my smaller creatures couldn’t handle the onslaught. I didn’t draw any of my copies of [card]Devouring Light[/card] in time, and a flying, double-striking elephant was launched at my head for the final points of damage.
I got pretty lucky in the third game. I drew a timely [card]Devouring Light[/card] with my combo of [card]Triplicate Spirits[/card] and [card]Spear of Heliod[/card] hitting the battlefield shortly afterwards. A late game [card]Sunblade Elf[/card] clinched the game for me as my opponent had his back against the wall.
SCORE: 2-0
War flashbacks skittered across my line of vision.
I had started the Game Day event undefeated and lost both of my final matches, so I knew I had to stay focused. If I won either of my next two matches, I’d take home a couple of booster packs for my efforts! The pressure was on.
ROUND 3 – Mono White Aggro
Another aggressive match-up. I had had my fair share of experience piloting white weenie decks recently, so I was no stranger to my opponent’s game plan. As long as he didn’t have a copy of [card]Brave the Elements[/card] in hand at the right time, my tokens could trade favorably with his small creatures and make it difficult to race.
We both whittled at each other’s life points in the first game, setting up small armies on either side of the board. I was swinging at him with [card]Frontline Medic[/card] and a swarm of smaller creatures for several turns. At one point, I had cast a second copy of [card]Triplicate Spirits[/card] and had hazarded an attack that left him dead on board the following turn. I had kept a number of creatures on defense, but he had the copy of [card]Brave the Elements[/card] to punish me.
Remember how good [card]Imposing Sovereign[/card] was for me in my last games? Well, it turns out that she’s just as good for my opponent when used against me. My opponent’s copy of [card]Imposing Sovereign[/card] made it increasingly difficult to stop his army of [card]Boros Elite[/card]s, and I quickly fell to his onslaught of creatures.
SCORE: 2-1
I didn’t feel bad for losing the third match, but I was now getting nervous. The last match would be as important as ever.
ROUND 4 – Naya Planeswalkers (w/ Purphoros Shenanigans)
My opponent’s deck was intriguing. He was playing a Naya midrange deck with lots of token generators.
“Hey buddy, that’s MY strategy!”
His plan was to overwhelm his opponents with tokens from [card]Xenagos, the Reveler[/card], [card]Elspeth, Sun’s Champion[/card], and [card]Scion of Vitu-Ghazi[/card]. His plan also included dealing tons of damage with Purphoros and late-game [card]Stormbreath Dragon[/card]s.
The first game started off exceedingly well. I curved out perfectly, and started pressuring my opponent from the get-go. Unfortunately, a [card]Banishing Light[/card] took out my biggest threat and an army of satyr tokens spawned by Xenagos made short work of my smaller creatures that couldn’t get through his phalanx.
I took a mulligan in the second game and was met with Planeswalkers Xenagos and Elspeth, joined shortly thereafter by their best friend Purphoros. I couldn’t get through all of the tokens and quickly succumbed to the volley of godly damage.
My dreams were, officially, crushed.
SCORE: 2-2
V. Week 1 Wrap-Up (and trades)
Overall Record To-Date: 4-4
Although losing with a budget deck is generally easier to handle than losing with a Tier 1 deck, there are definitely times when I felt the effects of a loss much more. Losing for the first time during the tournament in my third match didn’t affect me much, since I was happy to have already won two matches and I still had a chance to win the last round and be awarded extra booster packs as prizes. However, the fourth match loss felt terrible. Even though my deck’s card quality paled in comparison to my last round opponent’s, I was upset that I couldn’t manage a winning record. Being awarded some extra boosters would have made things much easier.
I also realized that winning with a budget deck makes me more talkative. I was having a blast regaling other players with tales of how I won my matches and how my seemingly underpowered synergies could not be stopped. In hindsight, I was getting a little bit cocky and felt as though I was unstoppable. I’m sure that those who had to listen to me were somewhat bored or annoyed at my ramblings. Magic players love talking about themselves, especially about how they won or lost games, but generally get bored of other people’s stories about gameplay and board states that they had never seen for themselves.
Week 1 Trades
[card]Aetherspouts[/card] -> [card]Sunblade Elf[/card]
[card]Grindclock[/card], [card]Wayfaring Temple[/card], [card]Lightning Strike[/card], [card]Warden of the Beyond[/card] -> [card]Sunblade Elf[/card]
I was happy to complete my set of Sunblade Elves after the tournament, and my faith was seemingly renewed as I thought about buying several other cards for next week’s tournament.
Join me next week to see if I’ve managed a winning record!