Never Fan The Grip

Last week Ben managed to break through to the elimination rounds of the first Standard PTQ of the season piloting a U/W Reveillark deck.  Ben provides a synopsis of his rounds and provides a new build for Regionals.

This past Saturday, May 2, I went to Fort Worth, TX for the first Standard PTQ of qualifier season for PT Austin. My weapon of choice was U/W Reveillark, a deck that I got very familiar with before Time Spiral block rotated out of Standard. Sets left, sets entered the format, the deck got terrible and I believe the deck is now good again. First, the list I played:

U/W Reveillark

7 Plains
5 Island
1 Mutavault
4 Adarkar Wastes
4 Mystic Gate

4 Knight of the White Orchid
4 Kitchen Finks
4 Sower of Temptation
4 Mulldrifter
4 Reveillark
2 Glen Elendra Archmage

4 Cryptic Command
4 Path to Exile
4 Wrath of God
1 Tidings
4 Fieldmist Borderpost

Sideboard
1 Glen Elendra Archmage
3 Remove Soul
3 Negate
2 Runed Halo
2 Celestial Purge
1 Tidings
1 Wispmare
2 Austere Command

Props to Adam Boyd for sending me the initial version of the deck. I cut a Mutavault for an Island and an Archmage for a miser’s Tidings, then reworked the sideboard. Someone noted that they didn’t expect to see Borderposts played in the top 8 of the PTQ. I told them to blame Adam, and I still mean it.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Why play U/W Lark to begin with? Well, I started playing Swans at FNM and really liked the deck. Those who know me know that Swans is exactly my type of “fun” deck. I enjoy draw-go mirrors, though I’m kind of strange. Moreover, I was winning lots of matches, and the 5cc matchup seemed almost unlosable.

But the week before the tournament, I was losing to a bunch of Green decks and Anathemancer, so I sent my list to Adam and asked him if he wanted to swap lists. He obliged and sent me his list for U/W Lark. Conveniently enough, U/W Lark seemed good against dumb green animals AND Anathemancer. I liked EsperLark decently well, but the Black cards didn’t seem that important and I wanted to try Fieldmist Borderpost and Knight of the White Orchid.

The deck was doing really well, and the only match I was having problems with was Faeries. I decided that Remove Soul and Negate plus some ways to kill Bitterblossom would be my best chance in that matchup, though there was probably nothing I could do to make it favorable. I didn’t expect much Faeries at all because I don’t think the deck is very good right now and I think people are probably sick of it anyway. There were only 6 out of 140, so ding!

Round 1 vs Alberto with RGBW Midrange
Alberto’s deck featured Ajani Vengeant, Garruk Wildspeaker, Mycoid Shepherd, Spellbreaker Behemoth, Terminate, Birds of Paradise, and an assortment of trilands, painlands, and filterlands. Before the round he told me that this was his first PTQ. I thought about telling him about my incredible Magical accomplishments, but I mean, while I don’t mind sounding like a douche, I’d rather not sound like a douche for no reason. I wasn’t sure if Alberto would care, and I doubted I’d need a psychological edge to win the match anyway.

In game 1 he got Garruk and Ajani down against my empty board while I was a little flooded, but Finks held the fort until I found a Cryptic to bounce Ajani, then a Reveillark which allowed me to go after his planeswalkers, then trade with his guys, then draw into enough gas to kill him.

Sideboarding:
-4 Knight of the White Orchid
+2 Runed Halo, +2 Celestial Purge

I decided not to bring in the Austeres because I should be able to trade one for one with his guys without any problems, and because the most annoying permanents were generally creatures. White Orchid’s body is unimpressive here so it gets the axe even though I’m on the draw.

Game 2 was even less close. It’s not hard for Lark to deal with 5/5s for 4, and I don’t think he found White mana for a very long time due to playing trilands instead of Vivids.

Games: 2-0
Matches: 1-0

Round 2 vs Jonathan with G/W Beats
Jonathan’s deck included Noble Hierarch, Dauntless Escort, Knight of Meadowgrain, Treetop Village, Wilt-Leaf Liege, and Path to Exile. I only know most of those from the cards he turned over after the games were over. He won the roll and scrunched his face at his first hand. I sat there motionless even though I had looked at my hand and knew I wasn’t going to mulligan. I didn’t want to give him any incentive to throw back a loose one. Eventually he kept. His first four turns were Forest, Forest, Forest, Reflecting Pool. He eventually found a Noble Hierarch for White mana and hit me 3 times with a Treetop Village, but I drew a Path and easily won the race.

Sideboarding:
-4 Knight of the White Orchid
+2 Runed Halo, +2 Austere Command

He shipped his first hand back pretty quickly, then seemed unhappy with his 6 cards but kept them pretty quickly. When turn 2 rolled around it became clear that he had kept a hand with only Treetop Village for lands. He couldn’t even cast any spells after he drew a Forest on turn 3. I think he eventually cast a spell or two but I think Sower stole his only creature. I won on 22 life.

Games: 4-0
Matches: 2-0

Round 3 vs Brian with Monowhite Control
Brian was playing with Mind Stone, Kitchen Finks, Stillmoon Cavalier, Elspeth, Ajani Goldmane, Wrath of God, Path to Exile, Martial Coup, and Oblivion Ring, along with some Mutavaults and 12 million Plains.

Game 1 he dropped Elspeth and several annoying creatures. The game went long, and I had to Wrath away some Martial Coup tokens. He managed to run Elspeth up to 8 counters, but decided to go up to 9 counters before going for its ultimate so he would be able to keep it around. I’m pretty sure he also had Ajani Goldmane in play at the time. The turn after he put the 9th counter on Elspeth, I ripped a Cryptic Command to bounce it, then found a Sower to take his Stillmoon Cavalier to punch through to his planeswalkers. I let him hit me down to 4 so I could keep attacking his planeswalkers, but I stabilized with the help of Finks. Five turns after I stabilized, it was over.

Sideboarding:
-4 Wrath of God, -1 Path to Exile
+3 Negate, +1 Glen Elendra Archmage, +1 Tidings

Game 2 Brian played a Stillmoon and an Elspeth while I could only Evoke some Mulldrifters. I was trying to stick some attackers, but Brian cast Martial Coup for x=5, then raised Elspeth’s loyalty to 8, then activated her ultimate ability and cast Martial Coup for 6. That was enough.

Resideboarding:
-1 Wrath of God, -4 Path to Exile
+3 Negate, +1 Glen Elendra Archmage, +1 Tidings

I brought a couple of Wraths back in because I didn’t want to be giving him lands for Path, and because it dealt with Martial Coup armies.

Game 3 I drew a couple of counterspells and some card drawing, so he was basically kold. He had a Relic of Progenitus all game which was mildly annoying, but he eventually ran out of gas and cycled it. The two Larks I still had in my hand were more than enough Air Elemental beatdown for him to handle.

Games: 6-1
Matches: 3-0

Round 4 vs Roy with 14-land, 4-color, 12-cantrip midrange
Roy’s deck included Llanowar Elves, Birds of Paradise, Ponder, Manamorphose, Elvish Visionary, Kitchen Finks, Mulldrifter, Shriekmaw, Makeshift Mannequin, Reveillark, Primal Command, Loxodon Warhammer, Sower of Temptation, and Chameleon Colossus. His lands consisted of some Forests, a bunch of painlands, Murmuring Bosks, Secluded Glens, and Gilt-Leaf Palaces. He was allegedly playing only 14 lands on account of all his cantrips. I remember this match pretty vividly because I think I learned some things during it.

I’m pretty sure I messed up game 1 on account of not knowing what was in his deck. I played as if stuff like Colossus and random guys like Mulldrifter and Shriekmaw were his threats, but then I drew a couple of lands in a row while he played Primal Command to put a land on top of my deck and get Reveillark out of his deck. I Sowered it, so he played another Primal Command the next turn to put the land back on top of my deck and find a Shriekmaw for my Sower. I died after drawing three blanks, but I couldn’t help but feel like I could have won that game if I would have sandbagged a Cryptic Command rather than dismiss some spell that ended up being irrelevant.

Sideboarding:
-4 Knight of the White Orchid, -4 Path to Exile
+1 Glen Elendra Archmage, +1 Tidings, +3 Negate, +3 Remove Soul

I think this is how I boarded, but I might have also boarded Finks or a couple of Wraths out. I can’t remember exactly. The Negates may seem a little loose but they counter Primal, Mannequin, and potential Mind Shatters. I wouldn’t blame you for only bringing a couple in. Remove Soul is obviously very good in a matchup that essentially boils down to a Lark mirror.

At about turn 6 of game 2 my opponent resolves a Reveillark. We both have juicy graveyards from Evoking Mulldrifters and trading Archmage counters for spells. Whoever gets that Lark to hit the graveyard on their side of the table is probably going to win the game.

We fight for control of the Lark for a few turns, with Sowers and multiple Evoked Larks on my side versus Sowers, Shriekmaws, and Mannequins on his side. Eventually he manages to stick the last Sower, though he had to Mannequin it back into play. We both have Archmages. I also have a Mulldrifter and a Sower, which had control of his Lark until his Mannequined Sower hit play.

He attacks me with Lark and Shriekmaw. I step away and ask a judge if a creature that has lethal damage assigned to it will still take that damage if it switches controllers in the middle of combat. The judge says yes. I go back to the table, block Reveillark with Sower and Mulldrifter, and put damage on the stack. Then I play Cryptic Command to bounce his Sower and draw a card. He uses his last Archmage activation to counter Cryptic, even though it would be countered on resolution because he has to sacrifice his Sower due to its Mannequin counter. I tell him that I gain control of his Reveillark with damage on the stack because my Sower still has control of it until it leaves play. He argues that Sower only gains control of the creature once, when Sower comes into play. He doesn’t understand that it’s a continuous effect, and as both games have been pretty long already, I decide to call a judge to have them explain to him what happens.

Two judges show up and immediately make the right call, but my opponent argues for a long time and is quite obstinate. He believes that he’s read the pertinent section of the comprehensive rules and that neither of the judges, myself, or any of the spectators had, and that it’s his right to have it looked up. Neither the judges nor my opponent want to use logic to convince the other side that they’re right, but instead resort to yelling at one another while I sit there trying not to laugh. Occasionally I’ll try to explain some facet of the rules to my opponent so he can make sense of the ruling, but it’s hopeless and I eventually give up. The judges tell us to play on as they have ruled, and the head judge starts to walk away.

I stop him to ask for an extension. He gives us 5 minutes, but I’m pretty sure the argument took at least 10, and the round is winding down so we really need the time. He says something about how he checked his watch when he came over and it was 5 minutes ago, but I’m pretty sure he was lying and just didn’t want to add 5 minutes to the tournament so we could finish our match. Lesson learned: it’s my responsibility to time judge calls to make sure I get fair extensions.

We play on and I turn the tide in game 2 with all the pretty cards I get from the Mulldrifters his Lark supplies me with. Time is called while we’re presenting for game 2, so I have 5 minutes plus 5 turns to try to win the round. I should have probably boarded in my Knights and Paths to try to be more aggressive but I didn’t.

Game 3, I Sower his first couple of guys and he has removal for both of them, then Mind Shatter for my hand. I could have played it safe and taken a sure draw, but I wanted to try to win. That was probably wrong in hindsight. He beats me down to 10 and Mind Shatters my sick grip away on turn 3 of 5. I rip Wrath to stay alive. He Mannequins his Cloudthresher back at the end of my turn, attacks me to 1, but can’t deal the final point. He passes and I say “Ok, it’s a draw.” The judge sitting next to me nods in agreement. My opponent had no idea that we were on extra turns, even though the judge announced it. To make it more obvious, I was using a die to count the turns, but some people are just oblivious.

Games: 7-2-1
Matches: 3-0-1

At this point my opponent is on full blown tilt and pretty much stays that way the rest of the day. He is now known as “Sower guy” to everyone in the room. We sit next to each other the next few rounds and he precedes every match by telling his opponent of all the terrible injustices that happened to him during our match. This lasts until round 7, where he and his opponent are both DQed for flipping a coin for the win.

Round 5 vs Mandee with BW Tokens
I don’t remember much of this match, but it was a blowout, and not in my favor. Game 1 he sticks a Sculler, Bitterblossom, and Glorious Anthem. I basically do nothing, and just evoke some Mulldrifters until I die.

Sideboarding:
-4 Knight of the White Orchid, -2 Glen Elendra Archmage, -2 Kitchen Finks
+3 Negate, +2 Austere Command, +2 Celestial Purge, +1 Wispmare

I boarded wrong this round. I’ll talk about the right way later. Game 2 I mulliganed and kept a loose 6-card hand with Path, Lark, and lands. I’m pretty sure I should have gone to 5 as this hand doesn’t do anything. I did draw a Mulldrifter but Mandee had Identity Crisis under a Windbrisk Heights and that was that.

Games: 7-4-1
Matches: 3-1-1

At this point, I’m pretty sure I can’t win the tournament. These thoughts probably aren’t helpful, but I realized that I didn’t have a tight enough gameplan against BW to win the tournament. I was hoping to dodge it the rest of the day, but I spent a lot of time thinking about how I could sideboard or play differently if I came across it again.

Round 6 vs Rocky with Doran
Rocky wasn’t able to find much pressure game 1, though he did Maelstrom Pulse my Borderpost to try to manascrew me. It wasn’t enough and I easily stabilized. I’m pretty sure it involved me Sowering his guy with a White open. He tried to kill my Sower at the end of my turn and I Pathed his guy in response so I get the land. If he kills my Sower with the “gain control” trigger on the stack, I still have to Path his guy, so he gets the land instead of me. This happened several times throughout the day, and a judge even commented on how many times he had seen me make that play.

Sideboarding:
-4 Knight of the White Orchid, -2 Glen Elendra Archmage
+2 Runed Halo, +2 Celestial Purge, +2 Austere Command

In game 2, we traded threats and answers until it was his 2 Wilt Leaf Lieges plus Treetop versus my empty board, 4 cards, and 16 life. I played Runed Halo naming Wilt-Leaf Liege and found a Path for his Treetop. Sower came down and made him trade his Wilt-Leaf Lieges for each other. A Lark finished him off.

Games: 9-4-1
Matches: 4-1-1

Round 7 vs Robert with 5cc
All 3 games of this round were very long, and I was very happy with the pace we played at. It seemed like we both pretty much knew what was important, so most of the turns were quick and we had plenty of time to think about the critical turns.

In game 1 I simply drew too many dead cards. That happens sometimes, especially when the games go long. Sower is the worst card because it dies so easily, so it isn’t even that good if they tap out for Broodmate Dragon. Path is pretty bad too because land is pretty important in control mirrors, and being able to Path your own guys isn’t exactly redeeming. Wrath can be helpful sometimes, but it’s not something you want 4 of in this matchup. Anyway, my opponent resolved a Cruel Ultimatum and I scooped upon sifting through his graveyard.

Sideboarding:
-4 Sower of Temptation, -4 Path to Exile, -2 Wrath of God
+3 Negate, +1 Tidings, +3 Remove Soul, +1 Glen Elendra Archmage, +2 Celestial Purge

From what I could tell from game 1, my opponent had Cloudthresher but no Broodmates that I could see, more Remove Souls than normal, and Bant Charm instead of Terror or Path. Celestial Purge came in for Ajani and Scepter of Fugue. Runed Halo can stop those and has other applications but is vulnerable to being bounced or destroyed so I prefer the Purges here.

I started game 2 with two Knights in beatdown mode. On turn 4 I played my fourth land with Cryptic, Archmage, and other goodies in hand and attacked. My opponent tapped three lands and I started to think about whether I wanted to Dismiss his Plumeveil. Instead he aimed a Bant Charm at one of my Knights. I happily let it resolve and dropped Archmage. He mainphased a Cryptic to bounce the Archmage and draw a card, but I replayed it and found another one, and he couldn’t muster any resistance after that.

Game 3 was the most fun game of the tournament for me. I had several lands so I decided to just play those out and see if he could keep up on land drops. Meanwhile I presented one spell a turn and stocked up on cheap countermagic for a turn when I would try to resolve a Reveillark. He countered several things, then missed a land drop or two. I got up to 7 mana and played Lark, which he countered. Next turn went the exact same, though he shrugged when he played his counterspell. He had two mana open, and I could tap out to play Negate. My hand was three counterspells and a Tidings, and I had gone through through three Larks. He didn’t seem to have many counterspells left in his deck. Ultimately I decided that I was dead if he had Broken Ambitions plus Cruel Ultimatum, so I let him counter the Lark and passed. He Jund Charmed my graveyard during his mainphase. I untapped and played Tidings. His shoulders slumped. He defeatedly tossed down a Cruel Ultimatum, which I Negated. He was out of gas, while I had plenty. I dropped my last Lark a couple of turns later and rode it to victory.

Games: 11-5-1
Matches: 5-1-1

After this round I looked at standings, which confirmed what I thought. I was win and in, and praying for forests.

Round 8 vs Mikal with RB Blightning Aggro
Game 1 he mulligans to 5. I don’t remember much of this game, but I do know that he got me down to 4, though I was on the offensive at that point. I drew a Cryptic, and that sealed the deal. A little close against a mulligan to 5.

Sideboarding:
-1 Tidings, -2 Glen Elendra Archmage, -1 Mulldrifter
+2 Runed Halo, +2 Celestial Purge,

I think I should have boarded out Cryptics and kept in Archmages and the Mulldrifer, plus brought in another Archmage. Archmage is pretty useful as a chump blocker, plus it counters burn spells and doesn’t get hit by Guttural Response. Most of the time Cryptic is just going to be a fog that cantrips, but that’s not that bad, and when you stabilize it’s excellent, so it’s probably close either way.

Game 2 my opponent mulliganed again. I hit him with the old Wrath ‘n’ Path and stabilized at 10 with a Cryptic versus his one card in hand. His one card turned out to be a Flame Javelin, but I countered it and he drew nothing of relevance in his last draw step.

Games: 13-5-1
Matches: 6-1-1

I ended up 8th in standings, so I had to play the 1st seed. That ended up being Brett McCleaf, my one friend in the top 8. Such is life.

Top 8 vs Brett with BW Tokens
The top 8 was covered on TwinFu.com, though they didn’t note who mulliganed. I believe Brett mulliganed once game 1 and I mulliganed twice game 2 and once game 3.

I don’t remember exactly how I sideboarded, though I know that I boarded wrong for game 2. I put too much emphasis on his Persist guys, which led me to keep in too many guys and Paths which are terrible if he tries to get me with tokens. I fixed some things for game 3, but I still kept in Cryptics, which is probably wrong. Most of the things I care about aren’t creatures, so Negate is generally a good enough counterspell. I thought the tap mode on Cryptic would be important, but the games are attrition wars, not races.

Games: 14-7-1
Matches: 6-2-1
8th place

Going forward, I want to try to slip a couple of Negates into the deck, as they’re pretty good against your mediocre matchups. Knight was nice with Borderpost, but at the end of the day I’m not sure I wouldn’t rather just have Mind Stone. I think the Runed Halos and Remove Souls could probably be cut from the sideboard. I like Elspeth for control matchups and Galepowder Mage for Tokens. There’s actually a good chance I won’t play Path at Regionals. It’s a nice anti-aggro card, but it’s generally weaker than Wrath or Sower in addition to being miserable against control and tokens. I think I would actually rather have Runed Halo main if I want a spot-removal type of card. At least Halo is rarely dead. Once you cut the Knights you can lower the Plains count, cut the Borderposts for basics or trilands, and think about playing Ponder to smooth your draws out instead of the miser’s Tidings. I think I still want Cryptic Command, as 4 Cryptics plus 2 Negates gives you a decent chance to force through a key spell against control.

This is what I would play if Regionals was tomorrow:

4 Mystic Gate
4 Adarkar Wastes
2 Mutavault
8 Island
7 Plains

4 Kitchen Finks
4 Sower of Temptation
2 Glen Elendra Archmage
4 Mulldrifter
4 Reveillark

4 Cryptic Command
4 Wrath of God
1 Tidings
2 Negate
4 Mind Stone
2 Runed Halo

Sideboard
1 Glen Elendra Archmage
1 Tidings
1 Negate
3 Austere Command
1 Wispmare
2 Celestial Purge
4 Galepowder Mage
2 Elspeth, Knight-Errant

I wouldn’t blame you if you decided to cut 2 Halos, the Tidings, and a land for 4 Ponders, and I might even do that myself.

Other than U/W Lark, I think B/W Tokens is obviously very powerful, as is anything that is good against it while decent against everything else. I wouldn’t want to play 5cc or Swans right now for fear of Anathemancer, though I think that card is beatable with Runed Halo, Pithing Needle, or Relic of Progenitus, provided you are expecting it.

Feel free to leave questions, comments, or feedback in the NeverFanTheGrip.com forums, or hit me up on Facebook. Good luck at Regionals.

-BenJ

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