The cold and quiet Winter season of Magic the Gathering means different things to different people. Professional players begin their tireless perpetration for the World Championship, the remainder of the world's Spike's are traveling to remote Pro Tour Qualifiers to test their skills (and luck) in a fresh and untested Limited format. Casual play persists, but those seeking to refine their skills in the constructed formats are very much left in the dark, with any potential testing for the Spring Pro Tour Qualifier season of questionable value, with both a new set and a B&R update having potential to invalidate any work done testing during the Winter. But one event provides the spark for deck designers every year, and that is the County Champs (States to those across the pond!). At least it did, until 2008 when the program drew its past breath. With this in mind, it was with a great cheer that we greeted the revival of Champs as the Store Championship in the UK this year. Despite the various big prize events held across the country, and larger still events held regularly in the US by the likes of Star City Games, there is a special draw to a tournament that grants the title of County (or State) champion.
When I first made the move out of the wilderness of Wales in 2006 for University, I soon discovered that Liverpool would be holding a Champs tournament. I prepared by testing in any free time i had, and eventually settled on an old favorite deck: Solar Flare. Running hot I swept the Swiss rounds without a loss, and made it to the finals only to fall to my greatest enemy: myself. A mis-statement of targets cost me one game, and the embarrassment of such an error led to a series of misplays that cost me the title. The following year presented a much smaller pool of players for me to test out my Mono-Black Korlash deck against, and thankfully everyone I encountered was piloting Kithkin or RG aggro. Deathmark and Tendrils of Corruption led me to claim the title. In 2008 a major resurgence occurred in the Liverpool Magic community, and armed with a new build of Solar Flare I set off to an unsettling start, earning first a draw and then a loss. Seeking a chance for redemption I played on, winning my way through the Swiss into the top 8. Reaching the finals I fell to what I knew to be the better player with the better deck.
When the new Store Championship date was revealed I expected I would be unable to attend. But with a last minute change of plans a mere two days before the event, I worked intently on reviving Solar Flare once more with the key pieces from Innistrad that I'd luckily preordered. Having not played in near a month due to family issues, I entered with a clear and simple intent in mind: to play the archetype that I love and to play the best Magic I possibly can. As I said, simple...
Deck
With no time to brew a list from scratch and send it through the testing grinder, I scoured the database of decks at starcitygames.com, convinced that one of their recent events must have produced a list that I'd be satisfied with. The key factors to the deck were pretty unsurprising, but supplementing the Flare package with strong Red Deck Wins hate seemed to be the thing to do at SCG Open, considering the success of the deck the previous week. I expected a heavily aggressive metagame and prepared accordingly, entering the following list:
Display Deck Statistics
Round 1 - vs. Tezzeret - 2-0
Upon realizing what my opponent was running I experienced a wave of doubt. A loss to the deck I strongly considered but dismissed due to bad experiences (i.e. Nationals...) would likely prove enough to put me on tilt for the rest of the tournament. In the first game he stumbles on playable cards, never getting into motion whilst I come to grasp the sheer brutality of Sun Titan into Phantasmal Image. Tumble Magnet serves him well, but never truly answers the problem. In game 2 the race starts early with Inkmoth Nexus aggression, but a handily timed double Doom Blade via Snapcaster Mage leaves him too far behind.
Round 2 - vs. Tempered Steel - 2-0
Along with RDW, this was very much my most feared match-up going in to the tournament. With potential to explode randomly, particularly through Hero of Bladehold, I played carefully to sweep the board with enough life to come back with Sun Titan abuse.
Round 3 - vs. UW Blade - 2-0
This match was tough, with counterspells ensuring we entered a state of draw-go in both games. A state in the second game showed me just how strong Oblivion Ring is with five vital copies on the table between us, as well as proving how overwhelming a fast Elesh Norn can be in the current format. All was well and good until my opponent informed me after the game that I'd carried out a crucial illegal play in our first game, and that we both must have missed it. Early in the game he'd swung in with a Mirran Crusader equipped with a Sword of War and Peace, dropping me to 2 life in a single turn. I remembered how I lacked a second white source despite having Day of Judgment in hand, but I could not recall how I'd answered the Crusader. Thus dawned the grim realization that I'd cast Oblivion Ring in order to exile the threat, despite it having Protection from White thanks to the sword! I felt awful in having accepted the win prior to realizing this, but thankfully avoided becoming overcome with feelings of guilt by focusing solely from this point forward on playing better Magic and not making such an obvious error again.
Round 4 - vs. RGW Pod - 2-0
Though I suspected my opponent might be playing a Birthing Pod deck, I certainly didn't expect the colour combination! Having seen BUG and RUG Pod lists floating about the event, I expected blue to be a certainty. It embarrassingly took me past turn 5 to realize that my opponent wasn't simply experiencing a drought of blue mana! The first game bounced back and forth, with threats meeting solutions back and forth until Sun Titan rose from the grave. The second game consisted of many errors on my part in an attempt to answer the threat that is Thrun. From defending with Wurmcoil Engines to flashing back Day of Judgment to control the rest of the board, it finally clicked that Thrun isn't a description, it's a name! Furious with myself over such an oversight I revive Phantasmal Image to deal with the Last Troll, before pushing for the win.
Round 5 - I.D.
A nice and easy break is truly appreciated!
Quarter Finals - vs. Vampires - 2-0
This match ended up being a testament to the strength of Day of Judgment at the start of the format. Despite getting fair starts, my opponent quickly ran out of steam whilst my removal suite proved its worth.
Semi Finals - vs. Human White Weenie - 2-1
I briefly heard whispers of the white weenie deck my opponent was playing before the round started, and despite the horror stories that came from his victims I felt confident in my ability to defeat aggro, especially when they lack burn's reach. A dodgy keep and a few turns later, Mirran Crusader enchanted with Angelic Destiny snapped me back down to reality as I simply could not accept losing at this stage! Care and patience allowed me to control games 2 and 3, though failing to see a Titan I set my Snapcaster Mages to working overtime by burning through my Unburial Rites to recur the mighty beat sticks and keep up the pressure.
Finals - vs. RGW Pod - 2-1
A rematch of my toughest Swiss round acts as the grand finale to this years event. In the first game I keep a fair, and as my opponent curves out perfectly I see no real action and scoop up quickly. Game 2 allows me to just as swiftly even the odds by landing a Liliana on turn 3, and reanimating Elesh Norn on turn 4. With no ready means to combat the Praetor, we dive straight into the decider. A game full of twist and turns, with problems meeting solutions back and forth until the combination of Sun Titan and Phantasmal Image finally proved overwhelming.Conclusion - 1st!
Needless to say that I was thrilled with my success. Not only was this a successful return to the form that I expect myself to play at, but I truly felt as though I'd learnt a lot throughout the day. Playing against skillful players whilst being possessed with the Fire is the best kind of training experience you can get. I received my random promo prizes, the qualification to a random Store Finals in the wild outskirts of London faded from my mind, with no word of detail concerning it. After leaving the venue, it was the experience of competition and desire to improve that stuck with me. Let this be a minor stepping stone towards a major improvement in 2012 over the muddled mess that was 2011!
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