PTQ San Diego Top 4, Report by Papasouzas

The sealed master Thanos Amarantidis (Papasouzas) added one more top 8 appearance to his bio. We hear all about it in his very interesting  and detailed report.

Finally, after weeks of “man write an article about block”, “what about this article for block” and “write this article about block” (a certain number of curses follow), I managed to fight my laziness and write an article about….a sealed ptq for Austin I played last week. An article about block will follow soon…I hope :P. Lets concentrate on our subject for today. 
 

The ptq took place at Athens and had around 60 participants (can’t remember the exact number). I was lucky to have a pretty nice pool ,but here it is so you can judge for yourself.

Sealed Pool:

Green

1x Scute Mob

2x Oran-Rief Survivalist

1x Nissa’s Chosen

1x Mold Shambler

1x Timbermaw Larva

1x Oran-Rief Recluse

1x Terra Stomper

1x Baloth Cage Trap

1x Cobra Trap

1x Territorial Baloth

1x Vastwood Gorger

1x Zendikar Farguide

1x Beast Hunt

1x Frontier Guide

1x Relic Crush

2x Khalni Heart Expedition

1x Quest for the Gemblades

Black

1x Giant Scorpion

1x Hagra Diabolist

1x Blood Seeker

1x Bloodghast

1x Gatekeeper of Malakir

1x Disfigure

2x Hideous End

1x Marsch Casualties

1x Bloodchief Ascension

1x Vampire Lacerator

1x Bog Tatters

2x Crypt Reaper

1x Grim Discovery

1x Desecrated Earth

1x Feast of Blood

1x Soul Stair Expedition

White

2x Arrow Volley Trap

1x Journey to Nowhere

1x Celestial Mantle

1x Brave the Elements

1x Kor Cartographer

1x Makindi Shieldmate

2x Ondu Cleric

1x Sunspring Expedition

2x Bold Defense

1x Caravan Hydra

2x Noble Vestige

Red

1x Unstable Footing

1x Torch Slinger

1x Murasa Pyromancer

1x Goblin Shortcutter

2x Bladetusk Boar

1x Geyser Glider

1x Magma Rift

1x Ruinous Minotaur

1x Seismic Shudder

1x Goblin Ruinblaster

2x Demolish

Blue

2x Umara Raptor

1x Merfolk Wayfinder

1x Caller of Gales

1x Into the Roil

1x Paralyzing Gasp

1x Reckless Scholar

1x Whiplash Trap

1x Kraken Hatchling

Artifacts

1x Eldrazi Monument

1x Trusty Machete

1x Stonework Puma

1x Adventuring Gear

1x Explorer’s Scope

1x Eternity Vessel

1x Spidersilk Net

Lands

1x Kabira Crossroads

1x Akoum refuge

1x Teeterin Peaks

It’s quite obvious that the right combination of colors if black – green. In fact those 2 colors have so many good cards that I was unhappy to leave some of them out of the main deck.

Take a look at it :

Main deck

Creatures

1x Scute Mob

2x Oran-Rief Survivalist

1x Nissa’s Chosen

1x Mold Shambler

1x Timbermaw Larva

1x Oran-Rief Recluse

1x Terra Stomper

1x Stonework Puma

1x Giant Scorpion

1x Hagra Diabolist

1x Blood Seeker

1x Bloodghast

1x Gatekeeper of Malakir

Non-creaure spells

1x Baloth Cage Trap

1x Cobra Trap

1x Disfigure

2x Hideous End

1x Marsch Casualties

1x Trusty Machete

1x Eldrazi Monument

Lands

9x Swamp

9x Forest

My main thought during deck construction was to have enough good creatures in order to take full advantage of Eldrazi Monument. In addition to this I tried to have a low mana curve so I could go for a “turbo-eldrazi” strategy, meaning that I wanted to be able to cast it turn 5 with 2-3 creatures under my control. Cobra trap also works fine in combination with the artifact. There is also the mini synergy between eldrazi and bloodghast, not that you get to sacrifice any creatures cause most of times the sequence is eldrazi-attack-win or eldrazi-concede. Fortunately, I also had very good removal spells which could make way for my creatures to attack, so that I could take some games without the mythic’s help. But magic is about playing not talking so lets get to the action and see what happened after all (I didn’t keep notes so forgive me if I forget any details).

Match 1 vs Zisis (G/B mirror)

So here we begin with a mirror match. Even though we had similar cards I had a better deck overall. 1^st game he is hitting, I am defending and after some trades I cast Baloth Cage Trap at clean board at his end of turn. I attack, play my mold shambler destroying a land and I pass. He draws and gives me the turn. My 4/4 goes in while shambler stands back. He gets his own 4/4 at my end of turn. I am at 5 and Zisis at 11. Then he hideous end my shambles and attack with the beast token. I guess that his 1 card is possibly vines but i have double hideous and so I cast the 1^st one he responds with vine, forcing me to play my 2^nd one. At this point I could play cobra trap but didn’t want to show it and I kept it in case the beast was not enough to win the game, but at his next turn he drew and conceded. 2^nd game I had a very good start with double survivalist and he kept a slow hand so when I enchanted his creature with savage silhouette I respond with gatekeeper and game was over.

1-0

Match 2 vs Ilias Tselios (R/U)

Ilias was sitting near me during deck construction and we chatted so I knew that he was piloting a red/blue deck with a lot of bounce spells and Sphinx of Lost Truths. At 1^st game I was attacking with timbermaw larva and nissa’s chosen and he casts whiplash trap to both of em. I don’t play them back and keep six mana open and pass the turn. Ilias taps out to play creatures and since he was at 8 I say gg and show him a cobra trap and a monument. 2^nd game I have him at ten but he keep my creatures under control with merfolk seastalkers but he has nothing to attack since I killed his Sphinx. He gave me a lot of time and I drew a gatekeeper of the merfolk and after some bounce spells to my scute mob and terra stomper I get to attack for the win. Ilia’s deck was certainly lacking a strong win condition.

2-0

Match 3 vs George Dimitriadis (B/R)

Unfortunately, I get to play with George a vey good friend of mine which didn’t make me happy at all. Additionally, the fact that he had both Sorin and Ob Nixilis made me even less happier :P. So what is the better strategy to deal with cards you can't remove? But of course to have your opponent not draw them! The only question is how you do this. Don’t look at me, I don’t have a clue about this (or so i say)! Well even better you can have him mana screwed! George didn’t draw a land for 2 turns and got stuck at 3 mana. I played mold shambler for his mountain and then he drew only swamps , he couldn’t get back into this without casting his red removals. He casts the daemon but was too late for him. After sideboard he turned into green/black. I open with Mob but nissa’s chosen and he doesn’t get a second swamp to play hideous and nixilis so when I cast monument he concedes. George got very unlucky and I don’t know what would happen if he drew better but that got one step closer to top8.

3-0

Match 4 vs Panos Papadopoulos (B/R)

At this point we get checked. I shuffle a lot but i keep at 5 while playing first. I open very good with machete and survivalist. Panos’ deck was very strong and quick and he opens with machete also and lacerator. So, we race. I get him to 4 but then he stops me. I have to draw land for monument and win but I don’t so he gets to cast mosquito destroy one of my 2 creatures and 1-2 turns later he kills me. 2^nd game I mulligan to 6 and we race again but again Panos outraces me.

3-1

At this point i almost got a game loss while watching a game. Happily everything settled and I can move on to the next game without any penalty.

Match 5 vs B/R

Ι have to ask sorry from the very nice guy with whom I played 3 very good games, for not remembering his name. I win the 1^st game which was very close with a well placed removal at the right time. 2^nd game he keeps with one land and didn’t get punished. I also helped him by forgetting the blood seeker ability 3-4 times. If I hadn’t cobra trap would have won me the game. Still I could have won a game that I didn’t deserve to win if I had topdecked a monument. I was so mad with my stupid self. 3^rd game I mulligan to 6 and keep a slow hand with cage trap. I play a forest, pass and he plays land and taps it for quest of the gravelord (sounds of relief by my side). I play second forest and pass. He then taps a mana and plays blazing torch!!!!! First time I was so happy to see my opponent play a removal spell!!! Tells me to play and I stun him with a 2^nd turn 4/4 beast. That was more than enough to take him to red line since I disfigured his lacerator in order not to block and kill my beast with torch. When he gets a 4/4 to block I draw 5^th land and cast Bog Tatters. No removal for him so we shake hands.

4-1

After seeing the standings it turns out that I am the only one with 4-1 who can id next game! And yay! I am at a top8 again after 7-8 months. The deck was very strong. Eldrazi after all is a sure-win artifact provided that you have enough creatures to support it. After one more round and the necessary preparations we begun drafting.

Draft

I had drafted a lot at magic online so I had high hopes for something good. It turned out to be a big disappointment for me. Almost all the table had a quite lame draft so most of us ended up having a bad deck. I didn’t know this though when we finished picking and I was cursing for the deck I had. I made a red / white one and given the cards that passed from my hands that was my only option. But it was a very stupid deck. It had no plan that could lead to a win. I could make a better deck if I had grab some cards out of a bucket! Oh well, take a look at it.

Creatures

2x Kor Sanctifiers

1x Makindi Shieldmate

1x Kabira Evangel

2x Kor Skyfisher

1x Pillarfield Ox

1x Kazandu Blademaster

1x Kor Outfitter

2x Goblin Shortcutter

2x Molter Ravager

1x Bladetusk Boar

1x Murasa Pyromancer

1x Torch Slinger

Non creature spells

1x Journey to Nowhere

2x Spire Barrage

2x Slaughter Cry

1x Magma Rift

Lands

8x Plains

9x Mountain

1x Teetering Peaks

Match 1 vs Mystergiotis Panagiotis

This match was a r/w stupid mirror. Panagiotis probably had a worst deck than me. First game he played 2 1/1 mountainwalk and 2 adeventuring gears and I respond with 2 Sanctifiers and a Slinger and took the game. Next one, he opens better and kills me with the mountainwalk creatures. 3^rd game was one of the silliest I have played at this format. We both stabilize the board. I have a Makindi Shieldmate, a Pillarfield Ox and a Molten Ravager and he has 2 Pillarfield Ox and a Shieldmate. So we end up like draw then go. That continues for around 10 turns until I just cant take it any longer and decide to cast 2 Spire Barrage, one for 6 and one for 7 while he was at 13. He could have something tricky like Narrow Escape but I just couldn’t stand this silly game any more. He didn’t though and so even if I had lost hope I find myself at the semifinals.

Semifinals vs Katerina Malasidou

Katerina certainly had the better deck at the top8. She had Conqueror’s Pledge, Day of Judgement, Nighthawk, Crypt Reaper, Hideous End and probably some other cards that either I didn’t see or I don’t remember. Its easy to understand that I had very small chances to beat her. I was very close to win 1^st game though. She did some misplays. I brought her down to 8 with Ravager and could have won if I drew one from two Barrages but luck wasn’t by my side. Even if I had though I don’t know if I could have taken a second one. Next game she opens quick and I have a slow hand and the game is over before I can even react, so I extend my hand and wish her good luck at the finals.

Here the day ends. A had a lot of fun beside the bitter end. Well that’s the game anyway and who knows maybe next time will be my lucky one. Thanks for reading guys and see you soon I hope with that famous block article ! Take care !