[Trick]

Jimmy's first article is his breakdown of the ManaNation Standard Tourney. What did you think of his Dragonstorm deck? Did you enjoy his write-up?

-- Trick

[gleemax]

I think he did a good job.  I like the way he explained how the deck is supposed to work and what a sample game would be like before he did the actual game break downs.  Game reports, especially draft reports, are among my favorite type of magic articles to read. 

Next time you guys do a tounrament you should put it in the rules that the winner has to do a write up to claim his prize.

[imachampion]

I think he did a good job.  I like the way he explained how the deck is supposed to work and what a sample game would be like before he did the actual game break downs.  Game reports, especially draft reports, are among my favorite type of magic articles to read. 

Next time you guys do a tounrament you should put it in the rules that the winner has to do a write up to claim his prize.

heh...I wonder if that would be a good thing or not. If I won a tournament and didn't want to write anything here is what i would write:

Round 1: I played Magic.
Round 2: I played more Magic.
Round 3: This guy sucks.
Round 4: I won.
Round 5: I am better than you.
Round 6: Woot Top 8.
Finals: I won.

You need to want to write...or else it will be junk.

Glad you liked my article.

[theory]

From the news this week the tournament sounded like it was a great success.  My girlfriend and I are trying to make regular trips to Florida just for some quick getaways from work so I may make a pit stop by Cool Stuff Inc if I can fit it in the schedule.

Great article by the way.  Definitely got me interested in Dragonstorm!  Lots of random questions came to mind when reading your article.

Do you think Dragon's Claw is a better SB choice vs red over Aven Riftwatcher if you are running white or is it more dependent against particular red decks?  Also, would you tweak the current deck list?  It seems like you fared really well against your best expected match up but looking back, is there anything you would adjust?

And just out of curiosity... do you take notes as you play or do you kind of just recap after every match?

Anyways, good stuff!

[imachampion]

Funny you should ask about note taking. My testing partner asked me the same thing. I did in fact take notes. I wrote all my notes in code so I didn't really care if my opponent saw what I wrote down for my opening hand. This allowed me to keep very detailed notes with how each game went.

I like Dragon's Claw over Aven Riftwatcher in the sideboard right now. Unless of coarse you are playing Reveillark. Then Aven Riftwatcher would be the obvious choice.

As for any changes that I would make to the deck...absolutely not. The deck is exactly the way I would like it to be. This deck did exactly what I wanted it to...and there is very little that an opponent can do to keep you off your game. The only reason that I lost the matches that I did was due to mana screw. Now I would like to talk about mana screw for a second.

Manascrew isn't when you keep a 1-2 land hand with a fist full of cards that you can't cast. Here a few examples of mana screw.

Round 3 Game 2 against Doran:

My opening hand looks like it is going to be pretty good. Fungal Reaches, Molten Slagheap, Shard Volley, Pyromancer’s Swath, Bogardan Hellkite, Rite of Flame, Shock. I decide to keep this hand. Unfortunately for me, my opponent gets another turn 2 Doran, the Siege Tower and starts beating up on me. I never draw another land and by the time I am 1 mana shy of casting a Bogardan Hellkite he gets lethal damage on me.

This is a really good hand and gives multiple outs. The odds are that you will draw at least one land from turns 1-6. I didn't and I lost. I will give him credit though...he did come out of the gates with a beating.

Round 4 Game 3 against Warriors:

Hello awesome hand if I can draw one more mana or a Storage Land. I have 2 Snow-Covered Mountain, Lotus Bloom, Bogardan Hellkite, Rite of Flame, Shock, Shock. This is a really good hand. I have 7 mana in my opening hand along with burn and something to spend my 7 mana on. All I need to do is draw a land sometime in the next 4 turns. Not only do I not draw another land, the only burn spells that I draw are Shard Volley. That’s right. I drew all 4 of them in a row. He dropped Chameleon Colossus and rode it to a victory. I was only 1 mana shy of being able to take control of the game.

This is the definition of mana screw. This hand is damn near perfect. Everything that you can ask for. I don't think that anyone that knows anything about Dragonstorm would pitch this hand...but without that one extra land...it crumbles.

Here is something that many people would blame manascrew on that doesn't actually have anything to do with manascrew.
Round 3 Game 3 against Doran

The first hand that I get is 6 random lands and a Shock. I mulligan this hand away. My next 6 cards are Lotus Bloom, 3x Rift Bolt, Shock, Incinerate. That’s right, a no lander. However I do stare at it for a minute and figure out if I think this hand is worth it. In the end I decide to mulligan it away going to 5. My next hand is 2 lands, 2 burn spells, and Rite of Flame. I drop my land and pass. My opponent casts Thoughtseize stealing my Rite of Flame. Then on turn 2 he casts double Thoughtseize tossing me into top deck mode except for a land in my hand. I end up getting lethal damage if the turn would pass to me, but instead I get lethal damage dealt to me and I lose.

This is called getting beat up on. I have seen mana people blame mulliganing on manascrew. It actually has nothing to do with it. This is his lucksack game by drawing 3 Thoughtseize against a double mulliganing combo deck. You just lose this game.

Now that I have explained manascrew. This deck played extremely well at the tournament. Just remember that the game is 90% Skill and 10% Luck. Yes Luck is a big factor. I mean this is a game of cards. Without that 10%, skill can look sheepish.

The sideboard on the other hand...I would rearrange and adjust according to the meta. I was expecting a load of Faerie and Merfolk decks when instead I got a bunch of Doran and RDW. Other than adjusting to the new meta...I am very happy with this deck and would gladly play it at the next tournament...if my testing shows that its the right thing to do.

[theory]

Nice.  I'm always a big fan of these post-tourney/game wrap ups as looking back always gives me a better understanding of how to play better, avoid mistakes, improve a deck, etc.  I'm actually trying to figure out how I'm going to be taking notes for my own games.

Thanks!

[cRUMMYdUMMY]

I'm not a fan of game write ups, but this is a damn fine article.  He went through the important play by plays and the game changing turns.  It's a far cry from watching someone who doesn't know how their own deck operates write something along the lines of "I just didn't get the draws" or even worse "mana screwed" for every single game loss.  Great job.  I hope to see more articles from you.

[theory]

Random point to note.  If you click Pyromancer's Swath on the deck list you get a blank result page on Cool Stuff Inc.

[richhh]

ok here my opinon of this article. It' truley sucks. There are  lies found. i actually played this guy and my match went nothing like he said. I paid 20 dollars hard earned money and took a day off to drive to cool stuff. first off there was no prizes for top eight just top four(LAME).then i find jimmy here lying about what had happened in our match and to me that throws the whole website in a garbage for me(what else are you lying about?) heres one tip for you when someone pays money to come to your tournament and pad your wallet the very least you can do is tell the truth about what happened in the matches. I will never attend a mananation tounament agian!!!!!!

[Trick]

@richhh, I'm sorry you didn't have fun at the event. :( Next time we will have prizes for the top 8 rather than just top 4, as a first time event runner I didn't even consider expanding for top 8. As for any issues with Jimmy's event report, what were they?

Let's see if we can address the issues.

[imachampion]

ok here my opinon of this article. It' truley sucks. There are  lies found. i actually played this guy and my match went nothing like he said. I paid 20 dollars hard earned money and took a day off to drive to cool stuff. first off there was no prizes for top eight just top four(LAME).then i find jimmy here lying about what had happened in our match and to me that throws the whole website in a garbage for me(what else are you lying about?) heres one tip for you when someone pays money to come to your tournament and pad your wallet the very least you can do is tell the truth about what happened in the matches. I will never attend a mananation tounament agian!!!!!!

haha...Which matchup would this be? I only played Doran and Faeries that didn't Top 8. I wrote down exactly what happened each match. Do you have play notes? Or perhaps you could refresh my memory of how you lost.

Round 1 (Doran): I wrote this matchup down card for card for what happened.

Round 2 (Doran): I believe this guy got Top 8. Not to mention I have very detailed notes for how this went. Its also very hard to forget the triple Lotus Bloom play and the forgetting about Horizon Canapy.

Round 3 (Doran): This was John Dean and I know he made Top 8. He may have even won it.

Round 4 (Warriors): This guy beat me and I know he made Top 8 as well. Because we discussed my odds of making top 8.

Round 5 (RDW): This was my testing partner.

Round 6 (Faeries): This guy gave up half way through game 2. He also continuously told me that he didn't even care if he won the match because the stats didn't matter.

So again I ask which one were you...Round 1 or Round 6? I am leaning on Round 1 as round 6 really didn't seem to care. Also...when taking notes it usually the very beginning that you take the best notes.

I would generally apologize for hostility...but I don't take kindly to being called a liar.


EDIT: You do know that there was another Dragonstorm player in the room. Are you sure that it wasn't him that you played? That would explain why my matchup doesn't sound the same as you seem to remember it. I was wearing a Black Christopher Walken T-Shirt. I also have a buzz haircut and a goatee. The other guy had long hair and no facial hair.

[theory]

The Christopher Walken shirt would have prompted a vicious cowbelling.  I'm almost sure that would have been a dead giveaway.

[imachampion]

The Christopher Walken shirt would have prompted a vicious cowbelling.  I'm almost sure that would have been a dead giveaway.

It says, "I've got a fever, and the remedy is more cowbell."

[BassmanARW]

It says, "I've got a fever, and the remedy is more cowbell."

I happen to own a shirt a says that, but has Will Farrell playing the cowbell from the SNL skit haha

[theory]

I heard Mishra's Cowbell is making it into the next big set.