==ISLANDHOME #43==
December 24th 2008
==IN THIS ISSUE...==
Mox Tournament Results: Nestor "Nestor" Ramirez takes his Faerie deck to claim a piece of power in Grim's first big constructed tournament!
Happy Holidays!
==THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE==
Friday: FNM Booster Draft at Brothers Grim ($13 entry) @ 7 PM
Saturday: Standard Constructed at FNC ($5 entry) @ 1 PM
Sunday: Chaos Draft at Brothers Grim ($13 entry) @ 2 PM
This week's tournaments will go on as scheduled, as I'm not going to be attending the PTQ in New Jersey after all.
==MOX TOURNAMENT RESULTS!==
Author: Brian Paskoff
==EURO LANDS PROMOTION==
Author: Brian Paskoff
After a short break, Islandhome is once again accepting guest articles from our readers!
If you've got an article you'd like to submit, send it to IslandhomeMTG@gmail.com. Try to keep it a reasonable length - there's no word limit, but look at previous Islandhome articles for guidance - and avoid bad language and personal insults. Also try to maintain good grammar and spelling; doesn't have to be perfect, but you should see how long it takes me to spellcheck the Madonia Minute every week!
I can't promise every submission will make it into the next week's Islandhome, but I'll try to get as many in as I can, especially ones that are relevant to a previous/upcoming event.
==IN THIS ISSUE...==
Mox Tournament Results: Nestor "Nestor" Ramirez takes his Faerie deck to claim a piece of power in Grim's first big constructed tournament!
Happy Holidays!
==THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE==
Friday: FNM Booster Draft at Brothers Grim ($13 entry) @ 7 PM
Saturday: Standard Constructed at FNC ($5 entry) @ 1 PM
Sunday: Chaos Draft at Brothers Grim ($13 entry) @ 2 PM
This week's tournaments will go on as scheduled, as I'm not going to be attending the PTQ in New Jersey after all.
==MOX TOURNAMENT RESULTS!==
Author: Brian Paskoff
Grim's Mox Emerald tournament was this past Sunday, and eighteen combatants braved the doom-and-gloom weather reports to compete for a valuable piece of power! The competition was fierce, and the metagame diverse. Fresh off its Worlds victory, Faeries was the most popular deck; four Fae lists showed up, although only one made top four. There were two copies of each Jund Ramp, Mono-Red, WR Reveillark, and surprisingly enough, Grixis Aggro. Aside from a lone Kithkin list and UW Reveillark, the other decks came in different varieties of homebrew: Planeswalkers, Bant Aggro, WB Reveillark, and BRG Tokens.
Nester "Nestor" Ramirez came away victorious, proudly displaying his Mox to the scores of spectators, confused Warhammer 40k players, and even the World of Warcraft players rose from their chairs to… well, they lent their silent respect while raiding, I suppose. Nestor faced a difficult challenge in the finals, as Ralph Navarra's Jund Ramp deck seemed specifically tuned to beat the little flying people, and Ralph had won the matchup 2-0 in the swiss previously. When Nestor tapped out for a Sower of Temptation in game one and Ralph's deck failed to cough up a Jund Charm, Cloudthresher, or even a Shriekmaw or Resounding Thunder, he knew the game was lost. In a following game, Nestor's board got swept by a Firespout, making the finalist slump in his chair… until he looked down and noticed his Faerie Conclave, a singleton and last-minute addition to the deck that dealt the final lethal two points of damage to Ralph.
Nestor "Nestor" Ramirez - Faeries
1st Place - Mox Tournament @ Brothers Grim, 12/21/08
LANDS:
4 Mutavault
6 Island
4 Secluded Glen
4 Underground River
4 Sunken Ruins
3 Swamp
1 Faerie Conclave
SPELLS:
4 Mistbind Clique
4 Scion of Oona
4 Spellstutter Sprite
2 Agony Warp
4 Bitterblossom
4 Broken Ambitions
4 Cryptic Command
2 Familiar's Ruse
2 Thoughtseize
3 Sower of Temptation
1 Terror
SIDEBOARD:
3 Jace Beleren
4 Stillmoon Cavalier
1 Oona's Grace
2 Negate
3 Telling Time
2 Thoughtseize
Interestingly, Nestor played only two Thoughtseize maindeck, making up for them with two additional counterspells: two copies of Familiar's Ruse, which could bounce a token, or even better, a Spellstutter Sprite to hard-counter a spell. All of Nestor's draw spells were sideboarded, presumably to board them in one games he planned to go long, the maindeck instead focusing entirely on Faeries, removal, and counterspells apart from the two Thoughtseizes. The Stillmoon Cavaliers have been the sideboard card of choice for many Faerie and Kithkin builds to fend off each other (and themselves in the mirror), and they surely would have come in handy against four other players in the event.
Ralph Navarra - Jund Ramp
2nd Place - Mox Tournament @ Brothers Grim, 12/21/08
LANDS:
4 Jund Charm
4 Garruk Wildspeaker
4 Fertile Ground
4 Chameleon Colossus
2 Resounding Thunder
4 Cloudthresher
2 Broodmate Dragon
3 Sprouting Thrinax
2 Shriekmaw
2 Mindshatter
2 Primal Command
3 Rampant Growth
SPELLS:
1 Mosswort Bridge
1 Llanowar Wastes
3 Reflecting Pool
2 Treetop Village
1 Mountain
5 Forest
3 Twilight Mire
3 Savage Lands
2 Swamp
3 Fire-Lit Thicket
SIDEBOARD:
3 Guttural Response
3 Thoughtseize
2 Loxodon Warhammer
3 Kitchen Finks
3 Firespout
1 Shriekmaw
It's always nice to inspire people, even if it is by being a terrible deck-builder: "I owe this to you, Paskoff," Ralph told me as he sat down to watch the top four match between Nestor and Ralph's friend Michael Innace, "I never would have thought of this deck if I didn't see your terrible list." Ralph had seen the Jund Ramp list I had worked on with Michael Evans, and had obviously made improvements on the list. Playing a grand total of seven two-mana ramp spells ensured he'd never miss a chance to accelerate on turn two, and Fertile Ground has great synergy with Garruk Wildspeaker - both for casting the green 'walker and for after he's in play. The Mindshatters maindeck were mostly for the strangely-absent Toast deck, but punished many players who left themselves tapped out for the devastating sorcery. Unfortunately, while Ralph's deck's astounding seventeen anti-Faerie cards powered him through his first match against Nestor in the swiss, he lost to him in the finals.
Michael Innace - Kithkin
3rd Place - Mox Tournament @ Brothers Grim, 12/21/08
LANDS:
4 Windbrisk Heights
4 Rustic Clachan
4 Rugged Prarie
4 Battlefield Forge
2 Mutavault
7 Plains
SPELLS:
4 Goldmeadow Stalwart
4 Figure of Destiny
3 Burrenton Forge-Tender
4 Wizened Cenn
4 Knight of Meadowgrain
4 Spectral Procession
4 Ranger of Eos
4 Cloudgoat Ranger
4 Ajani Vengeant
SIDEBOARD:
3 Wispmare
3 Wilt-Leaf Liege
2 Ajani Goldmane
1 Burrenton Forge-Tender
2 Mirrorweave
3 Reveillark
1 Oblivion Ring
Ralph Navarra joked about having to "twist Mike's arm" to get him to play Kithkin for the Mox tournament, and it seemed to have paid off all the way until the top four. Mike's list was unique for a Kithkin deck, with not a single Unmake or Oblivion Ring present in the maindeck… and only one Oblivion Ring in the sideboard. In fact, the only non-creature/creature-making spells in the maindeck were four copies of Ajani Vengeant: A multi-functional tool in the deck, and Ajani's Lightning Helix effect kept him alive against the many aggresive decks present.
Joseph Aprano - Mono-Red
4th Place - Mox Tournament @ Brothers Grim, 12/21/08
LANDS:
19 Mountain
3 Ghitu Encampment
SPELLS:
4 Demigod of Revenge
4 Fulminator Mage
4 Boggart Ram-Gang
4 Stigma Lasher
4 Mogg Fanatic
4 Figure of Destiny
4 Incinerate
4 Magma Spray
4 Flame Javelin
2 Unwilling Recruit
SIDEBOARD:
3 Everlasting Torment
3 Moonglove Extract
4 Pyroclasm
2 Wild Ricochet
2 Hell's Thunder
1 Knollspine Invocation
Joe's Mono-Red deck packed four Fulminator Mages in the main. Traditionally these have been played sideboard against Toast decks, but they also have use against other decks: the often-mana-screwed Kithkin, hitting the many non-basic white-producing lands, including the troublesome Windbrisk Heights; Faeries, which relies on consistent land drops; and any deck which plays Mutavault. Joe defeated Jay Imperiale in the top eight, winning his best matchup, and then losing to Ralph Navarra in the semi-finals.
So there you have it, the top four decks of Grim's first big Islandhome-sponsored tournament! Congradulations to all of their players, Nestor Nestor for winning the Mox, and everyone who came out to play! Best of all, everyone walked away with something, as Brothers Grim gave prizes out to the entire tournament! Brothers Grim will be hosting another tournament like this in March for a different prize, so look for details on that as we approach spring!
Nester "Nestor" Ramirez came away victorious, proudly displaying his Mox to the scores of spectators, confused Warhammer 40k players, and even the World of Warcraft players rose from their chairs to… well, they lent their silent respect while raiding, I suppose. Nestor faced a difficult challenge in the finals, as Ralph Navarra's Jund Ramp deck seemed specifically tuned to beat the little flying people, and Ralph had won the matchup 2-0 in the swiss previously. When Nestor tapped out for a Sower of Temptation in game one and Ralph's deck failed to cough up a Jund Charm, Cloudthresher, or even a Shriekmaw or Resounding Thunder, he knew the game was lost. In a following game, Nestor's board got swept by a Firespout, making the finalist slump in his chair… until he looked down and noticed his Faerie Conclave, a singleton and last-minute addition to the deck that dealt the final lethal two points of damage to Ralph.
Nestor "Nestor" Ramirez - Faeries
1st Place - Mox Tournament @ Brothers Grim, 12/21/08
LANDS:
4 Mutavault
6 Island
4 Secluded Glen
4 Underground River
4 Sunken Ruins
3 Swamp
1 Faerie Conclave
SPELLS:
4 Mistbind Clique
4 Scion of Oona
4 Spellstutter Sprite
2 Agony Warp
4 Bitterblossom
4 Broken Ambitions
4 Cryptic Command
2 Familiar's Ruse
2 Thoughtseize
3 Sower of Temptation
1 Terror
SIDEBOARD:
3 Jace Beleren
4 Stillmoon Cavalier
1 Oona's Grace
2 Negate
3 Telling Time
2 Thoughtseize
Interestingly, Nestor played only two Thoughtseize maindeck, making up for them with two additional counterspells: two copies of Familiar's Ruse, which could bounce a token, or even better, a Spellstutter Sprite to hard-counter a spell. All of Nestor's draw spells were sideboarded, presumably to board them in one games he planned to go long, the maindeck instead focusing entirely on Faeries, removal, and counterspells apart from the two Thoughtseizes. The Stillmoon Cavaliers have been the sideboard card of choice for many Faerie and Kithkin builds to fend off each other (and themselves in the mirror), and they surely would have come in handy against four other players in the event.
Ralph Navarra - Jund Ramp
2nd Place - Mox Tournament @ Brothers Grim, 12/21/08
LANDS:
4 Jund Charm
4 Garruk Wildspeaker
4 Fertile Ground
4 Chameleon Colossus
2 Resounding Thunder
4 Cloudthresher
2 Broodmate Dragon
3 Sprouting Thrinax
2 Shriekmaw
2 Mindshatter
2 Primal Command
3 Rampant Growth
SPELLS:
1 Mosswort Bridge
1 Llanowar Wastes
3 Reflecting Pool
2 Treetop Village
1 Mountain
5 Forest
3 Twilight Mire
3 Savage Lands
2 Swamp
3 Fire-Lit Thicket
SIDEBOARD:
3 Guttural Response
3 Thoughtseize
2 Loxodon Warhammer
3 Kitchen Finks
3 Firespout
1 Shriekmaw
It's always nice to inspire people, even if it is by being a terrible deck-builder: "I owe this to you, Paskoff," Ralph told me as he sat down to watch the top four match between Nestor and Ralph's friend Michael Innace, "I never would have thought of this deck if I didn't see your terrible list." Ralph had seen the Jund Ramp list I had worked on with Michael Evans, and had obviously made improvements on the list. Playing a grand total of seven two-mana ramp spells ensured he'd never miss a chance to accelerate on turn two, and Fertile Ground has great synergy with Garruk Wildspeaker - both for casting the green 'walker and for after he's in play. The Mindshatters maindeck were mostly for the strangely-absent Toast deck, but punished many players who left themselves tapped out for the devastating sorcery. Unfortunately, while Ralph's deck's astounding seventeen anti-Faerie cards powered him through his first match against Nestor in the swiss, he lost to him in the finals.
Michael Innace - Kithkin
3rd Place - Mox Tournament @ Brothers Grim, 12/21/08
LANDS:
4 Windbrisk Heights
4 Rustic Clachan
4 Rugged Prarie
4 Battlefield Forge
2 Mutavault
7 Plains
SPELLS:
4 Goldmeadow Stalwart
4 Figure of Destiny
3 Burrenton Forge-Tender
4 Wizened Cenn
4 Knight of Meadowgrain
4 Spectral Procession
4 Ranger of Eos
4 Cloudgoat Ranger
4 Ajani Vengeant
SIDEBOARD:
3 Wispmare
3 Wilt-Leaf Liege
2 Ajani Goldmane
1 Burrenton Forge-Tender
2 Mirrorweave
3 Reveillark
1 Oblivion Ring
Ralph Navarra joked about having to "twist Mike's arm" to get him to play Kithkin for the Mox tournament, and it seemed to have paid off all the way until the top four. Mike's list was unique for a Kithkin deck, with not a single Unmake or Oblivion Ring present in the maindeck… and only one Oblivion Ring in the sideboard. In fact, the only non-creature/creature-making spells in the maindeck were four copies of Ajani Vengeant: A multi-functional tool in the deck, and Ajani's Lightning Helix effect kept him alive against the many aggresive decks present.
Joseph Aprano - Mono-Red
4th Place - Mox Tournament @ Brothers Grim, 12/21/08
LANDS:
19 Mountain
3 Ghitu Encampment
SPELLS:
4 Demigod of Revenge
4 Fulminator Mage
4 Boggart Ram-Gang
4 Stigma Lasher
4 Mogg Fanatic
4 Figure of Destiny
4 Incinerate
4 Magma Spray
4 Flame Javelin
2 Unwilling Recruit
SIDEBOARD:
3 Everlasting Torment
3 Moonglove Extract
4 Pyroclasm
2 Wild Ricochet
2 Hell's Thunder
1 Knollspine Invocation
Joe's Mono-Red deck packed four Fulminator Mages in the main. Traditionally these have been played sideboard against Toast decks, but they also have use against other decks: the often-mana-screwed Kithkin, hitting the many non-basic white-producing lands, including the troublesome Windbrisk Heights; Faeries, which relies on consistent land drops; and any deck which plays Mutavault. Joe defeated Jay Imperiale in the top eight, winning his best matchup, and then losing to Ralph Navarra in the semi-finals.
So there you have it, the top four decks of Grim's first big Islandhome-sponsored tournament! Congradulations to all of their players, Nestor Nestor for winning the Mox, and everyone who came out to play! Best of all, everyone walked away with something, as Brothers Grim gave prizes out to the entire tournament! Brothers Grim will be hosting another tournament like this in March for a different prize, so look for details on that as we approach spring!
==EURO LANDS PROMOTION==
Author: Brian Paskoff
So the other day when I received my latest FNM promos for Brothers Grim in the mail, I got a little extra surprise with it. Though to be fair it was only a surprise because I forgot I had signed up for it. See, Wizards is doing this promotion exclusively for FNM-hosting locations where they send out packs Euro Lands to those stores. But unlike the other promotional cards Wizards sends out, you don't get these for playing - instead, you get them for buying a full box of any Magic set!
The Euro Lands are special lands with artwork representing different locations throughout Europe. They came in three different versions depending on their wrappers, but the ones I got are the blue pack, seen here. They feature scenes of the forests of Schwarzwald, Germany, the Danish Islands of Scandinavia, the mountains of Vesuvio, Italy, the Scottish Highlands, and the swamps of Ardennes Fagnes, Belgium. This is the first time that these lands are available to players in the US, and they're quite rare. Five come in a pack, one of each land.
Supplies are limited though, so if you were planning to buy a box of Shards for someone as a holiday gift, do it as soon as possible! this promotion will be running at Brothers Grim only for as long as we have packs to give out.
The Euro Lands are special lands with artwork representing different locations throughout Europe. They came in three different versions depending on their wrappers, but the ones I got are the blue pack, seen here. They feature scenes of the forests of Schwarzwald, Germany, the Danish Islands of Scandinavia, the mountains of Vesuvio, Italy, the Scottish Highlands, and the swamps of Ardennes Fagnes, Belgium. This is the first time that these lands are available to players in the US, and they're quite rare. Five come in a pack, one of each land.
Supplies are limited though, so if you were planning to buy a box of Shards for someone as a holiday gift, do it as soon as possible! this promotion will be running at Brothers Grim only for as long as we have packs to give out.
==GUEST ARTICLES==
Author: Brian Paskoff
Author: Brian Paskoff
After a short break, Islandhome is once again accepting guest articles from our readers!
If you've got an article you'd like to submit, send it to IslandhomeMTG@gmail.com. Try to keep it a reasonable length - there's no word limit, but look at previous Islandhome articles for guidance - and avoid bad language and personal insults. Also try to maintain good grammar and spelling; doesn't have to be perfect, but you should see how long it takes me to spellcheck the Madonia Minute every week!
I can't promise every submission will make it into the next week's Islandhome, but I'll try to get as many in as I can, especially ones that are relevant to a previous/upcoming event.
==THE ISLANDHOME BLOG==
One of the things I wanted to do was have an archive of past issues online so I could refer people back to them as well as let new readers peruse old issues to see what all the fuss is about. So I've archived all the old issues on the blogosphere at islandhomemtg.blogspot.com. Go and relive all the past moments of glory!
==UPCOMING EVENTS==
October 4th - December 28th: PTQ Season for PT Kyoto
The next PTQ season kicks off October 4th, and the format is Shards of Alara sealed deck!
PTQs in our area this season:
12/27 - Edison, NJ
12/27 - Edison, NJ
==STORE LOCATIONS & CONTACT INFO==
Brothers Grim
1244 Middle Country Rd.
Selden, NY 11784
Phone: 631-698-2805
Website: www.brgim.com
Friendly Neighborhood Comics
19 Udall Rd.
West Islip, NY 11795
Phone: 631-470-7984
Brothers Grim
1244 Middle Country Rd.
Selden, NY 11784
Phone: 631-698-2805
Website: www.brgim.com
Friendly Neighborhood Comics
19 Udall Rd.
West Islip, NY 11795
Phone: 631-470-7984
==FIN==
See everyone this weekend!
Got forwarded Islandhome and want to sign up? Send an email to IslandhomeMTG@gmail.com!
Got forwarded Islandhome and want to sign up? Send an email to IslandhomeMTG@gmail.com!
-Brian Paskoff
L1 NY
L1 NY
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