Overdriven! 50

 

One Year of Overdriven!

December 9, 2011 marked the debut of this series, which basically started as a plug for the premiere Modern PRE on MTGO: Overdrive! Since then, it has grown and taken on a life all its own. It still surprises me that people read my drivel and rants. I guess it takes all kinds.

At that time, not a single Modern format SE had fired since the original “release” events. I and a group of Modern enthusiasts from MTGO Salvation got together, and I’m proud to say we kicked off the current era of Modern SE play on December 11, 2011. Like a kid learning to scribble with crayons, I only gave a few words mention to GP Lincoln, our first Modern GP. With GP Turin, and the end of the PTQ Barcelona season six weeks later, you can see how the scribbles progressed. I had gotten comfortable enough to have a little fun with history about how Columbus, OH, got its name when we got to that GP, back in July.

The biggest things, however, have to be, in no particular order, Ham on Wry, Pwn the Poobah, and Modern’s First.

Ham on Wry started as a guttural response to some posts I had seen on another thread. I started out with some tickets out of my own pocket, then went and asked a few people, and blam! It all just kind of exploded. It was an unreal experience watching the community come together in this spontaneous chain reaction. I hope I can turn this into an annual thing. May 4 is a Saturday next year.

When Modern’s first birthday started rolling around, I noticed there were no festivities planned, so I took it upon myself to plan a party, as it were. This once again turned into a gala affair, and a good time was had by all. I hope to do this one again next year as Modern’s Second. Maybe next time I can convince the Poobahs to kick down Modern Masters boosters!

Speaking of Poobahs, Pwn The Poobah is probably the most memorable event for me. Being asked to run an event in conjunction with the Community Cup Challenge was and is an honor that I am still in awe of, and I’m still hopping about like a puffed-up toad. I also still have dreams of making this a weekly, or biweekly, event.

The Modern PTQ season starts for PT Dragon’s Maze later this month, and I’m waiting and rarin’ to go! All the spreadsheets have been set and are waiting to be filled in. And this series will once again be breaking down that twisted, writhing mass known as the PTQ meta. Look for some exciting times in the Modern world!

In the meantime, I’m happy to see the Modern world alive and kicking. More and more Modern-oriented articles are showing up everywhere. Gatecrash and Dragon’s Maze also look to be shaking things up. Modern will be an FNM format option next year. Modern Masters will be coming out, complete with a GP in Las Vegas! Woo hoo! Modern for the people!

 

Modern: Huge Tracts of Unexplored Land

It has been said of Modern: “The most important thing about Modern is diversity. It’s by and far the most open format right now, there are huge tracts of land no one has explored. It’s the new frontier of competitive Magic.” And, “The nice thing about Modern is that the format is very open. There’s a lot of room to explore and find decks that can work.” And just to hammer that point, here are maps from some recent explorations:

 

Another tasty tidbit! It looks like the game plan here is get an active Pyromancer Ascension and use Snappy to recycle Lightning Bolts and other damage, while taking a few extra turns.

Woo hoo! Now, I do realize that Goblins is not exactly a new deck. Nor does this deck look particularly unusual, other than Simian Spirit Guides as mana dorks. (Sometimes you need that extra little spark to blow the grenade!) This deck is extremely linear, which is to say it’s pretty much a “one trick pony,” but it does that trick with style and panache. It does tickle my funny bone to no end seeing this deck as a 4-0 finisher in this event! Woo hoo!

Beaten to a Pulp

Quest for Street Creds

I thought that Nevermore was a bit of “wasted space” in the sideboard, so I replaced it with Day of Judgment, and entered into another SE.

I neglected to turn on HyperCam for this event.

Round 1 vs. Titan Ramp Valakut

In Game 1, I was thrashed on Turn 5 with 2 Primeval Titans on field. Game 2, I mullied to 4, with 1 (off color) land, and conceded. Blarg.

0-1

Round 2 vs. Spirit Jund

Really? I mean, come on. Really? Does the shuffler hate me that much? Maybe it’s karma. I know that random is as random does, but sometimes getting stuck at the edge of the bell curve makes me want to scream. Three hands in a row (Game 2 of Round 1, and then these two) that couldn’t mully their way out of a wet paper bag.

0-2 drop

I played this deck in WAFTT #34 to even up the pairings, as I usually do when there’s an odd number to start. In that event I went 2-0 vs. Goblins, and 0-2 vs. GBW Pod. I then had to drop to keep pairings even.

I’m really going to have to get some Godless Shrines if this deck has any chance of making it. That’s going to set me back a bit; I probably won’t enter this deck into another sanctioned event until that happens.

In the meantime, the Goblin deck I highlighted above caught my eye. I built a card-for-card mainboard copy, took it for a test run, and was impressed! It performs a lot more explosively than it looks on paper. So I “sleeved it up” (with some manabase and sideboard changes) and took it into SE 4669907.

You can find the videos for all three rounds by Googling for my YouTube channel, but PLEASE NOTE: Some of the artwork on my client is adult in nature and may not be suitable for home, family, or office. Note that the videos are silent; do not adjust your volume.

With a little more practice and sideboard tweaking, I can see this doing well. Splashing a pair of shocks for a pair of splashes in the sideboard seems like a pretty nifty idea to me (you can always just get mountains), but the shocks and fetches definitely hurt, rather than helped, me in Round 3.

I’ve also been thinking of investing in some Karns and All is Dust, and going Tron. I enjoy playing my Mono-G Junk Tron in the Just For Fun room, and have been developing a sideboard for it. Ulamogs Crusher is a fun card, and quite reasonably priced (mana-wise) for a Tron deck, but I don’t think it’s the right fit for competitive play. Neither is Pelakka Wurm. But Karn is an expensive bugger, and would cause a long delay in entering more events. We’ll see.

 

GP Toronto

Once again, I find myself with a submission deadline the day before a Modern GP. This time it’s GP Toronto, in beautiful Ontari-ari-ario.

Judging from what’s been happening in the Modern world in the past few weeks, I’m predicting another roundup of “the usual suspects,” perhaps with sideboard tweaks. Perhaps I’ll be pleasantly surprised, and something out of left field will take the event. But, somehow, I think it’ll be the same thing we’ve been seeing, with only a smattering of rogue decks.

I wanted to head east and “cover” this event first hand, but alas. No one was willing to kick down for my travel and accommodations. Not that I blame them! I’d have just blown it all on booze and hookers anyway.

But I digress. Where were we? Oh, yes! GP Toronto. Kanukistan will never be the same. I’m going to watch as much of it as I can over the weekend, and you may be getting another disjointed, time-warpy ramble on this event in a few weeks time after it’s been hashed and re-hashed.

Overdrive! #72

Overdrive! #73

Eurodrive! #53

Eurodrive! #54

Where Angels Fear To Tread #33

Players: 18

4-0: ellmaris ~ 3-1: The_Raging_Flump, rickster_, pk23, Komle, Freyd

Where Angels Fear To Tread #34

Players: 17(18) (I played to even the pairings)

4-0: boknows87 ~ 3-1: rickster_, Gilipolleces, Komle, romellos

Decks from all WAFTT events can be found here.

 

Friday Night Standard #1

Players: 21

4-0: charlesovery ~ 3-1: souhei719, fatkiddestroyers, ssWakizashI, DirtyDuck, cosik, Emerus, SekKuar Deathkeeper

Friday Night Standard #2

Players: 9

4-0: L0rd_icon ~ 3-1: Thundar72, pk23

Decks from all Friday Night Standard events can be found here.

 

Dark Wars: A Legacy Of Evil

Season 1 Qualifier 3

Players: 11

Players, tables, and results can be found here.

Video of final table can be found on CK web site in the Dark Wars blog.

Season 1 Championship: January 30, 2013

11/07/12 Bigwilly5555

11/21/12 Super_Secret_Tech

12/05/12 leprchan

12/19/12 Seat 4

01/02/13 Seat 5

01/16/13 Seat 6

 

Interesting Tidbits

A new source for Modern meta information is being hammered out as I type. Hopefully, with the start of the new year, I’ll be able to bring you once again the kind of detailed Modern meta information that has been denied us despite WotC’s redaction of event results. The fight is not over.

A Modern PTQ Season (for PT Dragon’s Maze) begins December 22. That’s just two short weeks away! But again, starting the day after my submission deadline. The spreadsheets for this are ready and waiting to be filled in! Expect the first reports in Overdriven! #52 on Jan 7th, 2013.

Modern attendance continues to be doing well. I expect a large attendance spike between Christmas and New Year.