Getting back with UB Control MVP: Sorin Markov

Black Blue Control March 2012

Lands: 4 Darkslick Shores 4 Drowned Catacomb 3 Nephalia Downyard 3 Ghost Quarter 6 Island 7 Swamp Creatures: 2 Grave Titan 3 Snapcaster Mage Artifacts: 1 Batterskull 2 Ratchet Bomb Planeswalkers: 1 Sorin Markov 1 Karn Liberated Sorceries: 3 Black Sun's Zenith Instants: 4 Think twice 3 Forbidden Alchemy 1 Doom Blade 1 Go for the Throat 4 Mana Leak 2 Dissipate 3 Tragic Slip 2 Tribute to Hunger

Sideboard: 2 Negate 1 Flashfreeze 1 Dissipate 1 Wurmcoil Engine 2 Curse of Death's Hold 2 Surgical Extraction 1 Nihil Spellbomb 2 Phantasmal Image 1 Go for the Throat 1 Geth's Verdict 1 Volition Reins

What may be observed in my list is that the Curse of Death's Holds were moved to the sideboard to bring in Karn Liberated and Sorin Markov. And I thought it was a good move since I was able to win multiple games with the help of these two planeswalkers. I finished 4th place yesterday and I was able to come home with a Tectonic Edge FNM card and a Beguiler of Wills.

Anyway, the deck performed well, but I also believe that an additional Nephalia Drownyard and a Jace, Memory Adept will improve the deck's performance against control. Also, I think 2 Bloodline Keepers will help this decks performance against Delver decks which are rampant in the standard format right now.

So here's the result of yesterday's matchups and highlights of the deck's FNM performance:

Round 1 vs UW Delver : Lose (0-2) 0-1
This deck was piloted by one of the better (if not one of the best) players in our local shop but I don't think about statistics and planeswalker points when I play. :D He managed to cast early Delver of Secrets and Gitaxian Probes made him prepare for what's in my hand in both games. Whenever I manage to kill the delvers, Intangible Virtues and Lingering Souls backed with counter magic proved too much for me to handle.

Round 2 vs Grixis Control : Win (2-0) 1-1
Grixis control has a slight advantage in terms of card drawing so I needed to be patient in using my counterspells. In game 1, counter wars were fought and we had answers to each other's resolved Grave Titans. But late in the game, I was able to resolve Sorin Markov and Karn Liberated, and he conceded. In game 2, I had an early Nephalia Drownyard and I gambled by milling him early. But luckily, I was able to mill most of his Lilianas, Titans and counterspells and not his draw spells. Later in the game, I was beginning to put his draw spells in the graveyard but the second Drownyard was simply too much for him to recover.

Round 3 vs UB Control : Win (1-0) 2-1
In this round, anybody who gets to maintain a Nephalia Drownyard in play will most likely win and so I won the looong game 1 by milling on my opponent. But in game 2, we were running out of time for the round and he was the one with a surviving Nephalia Drownyard. But then I was able to resolve Karn Liberated, by this time, all my Drownyards were either destroyed or milled so instead of exiling his drownyard I aimed for restart, just in time to reset the game when I had only 4 cards in my library. We ran out of time after Karn restarted the game and I won the round. Who says nobody uses the reset ability of Karn? hehehehe

Round 4 vs RG Aggro : Win (2-0) 3-1
I had the advantage in this matchup and so it was just a matter of countering his spells and controlling the board before I put a Grave Titan in play. The resolved Titan was virtually impossible for him to stop when he was no creatures in play and burn spells in hid hand. In game 2, I was preparing for Thrun, the last Troll and so I slowly took the damage from his 3 Young Wolves while shaping my hand and slowly controlling the board. Once I played Grave Titan and he had Thrun in play, I waited for the right time to cast my Tribute to Hunger to get rid of the Thrun and eventually won the game.

Round 5 vs BW Midrange : Lose (0-1) 3-2
I actually liked his deck. And I admire the deck-building skills of this guy and he also doesn't use exact copies of net decks unlike some people nowadays since internet access to pro players' and tournament decklists can easily be accessed via smart phones, unlike the time when I started playing Magic. Anyway, In the first game, I was able to counter and answer everything he played early game. But when I ran out of gas and eventually kept drawing lands, he was able to resolve a Sun Titan and picked up a Mimic Vat in his graveyard which sealed the game even if I had answer to his titan. In game 2, My Surgical Extraction came 1 turn late when he resolved an Unburial Rites returning a Wurmcoil Engine into play, that helped him gain life to extend the game. Eventually, we ran out of time and he won the round since he won game 1.

This FNM's MVC (Most Valuable Card): Sorin Markov

This FNM's MDC (Most Disappointing Card): Batterskull

Anyway, on my way home, I was able to witness some fireworks, which concluded the great day. :D