On July 6th, Magic Online player MMogg started a PRE (Player-Run Event) League for Classic over on the Classic Quarter forums. There were 32 players who signed up for the free event, which included prizes donated by the community to be awarded to the Top 8. The League consisted of five rounds of swiss with a cut to Top 8. Each week was split into two rounds, thus giving everyone at least three days to arrange their matches with their opponents.
I entered the league with something a little under the radar that was packing four Stoneforge Mystic. Yes, the card that was tearing up Standard and subsequently banned is also a powerful card in Classic! Here is the deck list I ‘sleeved’ up for the PRE.
4-Color Stoneforge Mystic by enderfall
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It turns out that I wasn’t the only player among the 32 participants to play with the Mystic. The metagame consisted of:
By Distinct Archetype:
7 Oath
7 Workshop
4 GushBond
3 Dredge
3 Tezzerator
2 Four-Color Fish
2 LEDStorm
2 Stoneforge Mystic
1 GW Haterade
1 Jacerator
And by Percentage:
Oath: (21.9%)
Workshop: (21.9%)
Fish/GW Hate/Stoneforge: (15.6%)
Blue Control (Jace/Tezzerator): (12.5%)
Gush: (12.5%)
Dredge: (9.4%)
Storm: (6.3%)
The final results:
And onto the videos!
Deck Tech
Click the arrow to download the above video in .mp4 format.PRE Round 1
Click the arrow to download the above video in .mp4 format.PRE Round 2
Click the arrow to download the above video in .mp4 format.PRE Round 3
Click the arrow to download the above video in .mp4 format.PRE Round 4
Click the arrow to download the above video in .mp4 format.PRE Round 5
Click the arrow to download the above video in .mp4 format.Wrap-up
Click the arrow to download the above video in .mp4 format.I managed to end up in 13th place with a 3-2 record, despite starting 0-2. The league was so successful that MMogg plans to run Season 2 toward the end of August with ideas to help improve the league even further. There is no entry fee for the league, so I encourage everyone to sign up for the next season. Additionally, Classic Quarter is going to be running a one-day Open on Sunday, August 14th. To participate, all you need to do is be a member of the CQ forums. More information can be found here and on the forums as it becomes available. I look forward to your comments on Season 1 and seeing all of you in the Open and Season 2!
Why didn’t you use Strip Mine in Round 4 game 2? You knew your opponent had Tinker on the top of his library (watching these without commentary, so sorry if this was addressed).
yikes, misplays everywhere. second match game 2 i have no idea why you were holding onto that inquisition so long. and i have no idea why you didn’t ancient grudge your batterskull to see if you could draw a counter for his second brainstorm.
Good videos, despite any misplays there were. This format looks really fun.
Very cool to see some classic videos!
There were way too many misplays, though
while ill totaly disagree with ur deckchoice, i like the fact of more classic coverage, so lets keep em comming
Hey everyone, thanks for the comments. @milegyenanevem – yeah, I noted in the commentary that it was a complete misplay. Sometimes when recording you get so warped up in trying to make engaging commentary that you miss the blatantly obvious :(.
@shrip – I assume you mean M2G1, but the reason I was holding on to it was that I had good reason to believe that he didn’t have anything useful and he was stuck on mana. Against a storm deck, putting things like Dark Ritual in the graveyard is hardly productive when they can cast Yawg Will and get the mana back anyway. Was it the best play? Maybe not, but in hindsight everything is 20/20. The better play would’ve been to return the B-Skull to my hand, not Ancient Grudge it, but that’s what happens when you don’t playtest enough, it was a line of play that wasn’t evident to me at the time.
@ StewardUlk – do you disagree with my specific deck choices or stoneforge being a player in Classic? If it’s my deck choice, I honestly agree with you, hence why I made the last video. But I fully agree that Stoneforge in classic is viable. Is it the best deck ever, obv not, but it is fun to play and can win matches.
Just the deckchoice. I think Stoneforge is a player, even in classic. MB not Tier1 rigth now, but with the rigth amount of hate, i can see the Deck steal some matches. The red splash seems interesting.
Hey Ender,
Like the videos alot. Nice to see the complete series of PRE matches. 3-2 is pretty decent.
I also like the deck concept, particularily your post PRE changes. The bolts would be a major upgrade.
Between you and LargeBrandon running the Stoneforge Mystics I am gonna have to put one of these together and test it out.
Awesome! Thanks for the coverage. People complaining about misplays is a bit rich unless they too have put up some solid Classic results. Classic is NOT an easy format and the “correct line of play” often differs depending on what you think the circumstances are.
Anyway, Season two information is here:
http://www.classicquarter.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=4121
Registration ends August 19th.
Without a doubt, the Bolts have been a welcomed addition. The deck does offer flexibility to adjust to the metagame, which is something I think is important for a deck like this to succeed.