(Pietart) GP Richmond Report (324/4300)

I'm sure you're all aware that Grand Prix: Richmond, the largest constructed tournament of all time, took place this weekend.  TeamSwag shattered its own record, fielding a full six (6!) players in the event (.14% of the field), an increase of 20% from GP Louisville.  Nice!  We drove to Virginia Thursday night to stay with some friends, and made our way to the tournament site early Friday morning.



"Tournament site" doesn't really describe how massive this event was.  We reached the convention center around 11:30 but didn't enter the actual tournament hall until we conquered the 2.5 hour line.  As much as I love shuffling my feet and making small talk with strangers, I was ready to battle.

This hallway, completely full.  The line turned the corner and looped around at the end.

I couldn't help but grin as we finally picked up our playmats and entered the familiar chaos of players, vendors, judges and tables.  After a brief search for the last sideboard cards and a fourth Mirrodin Ornithopter, I played my complimentary Mini-Master.  The first opponent said he was conceding to go play some Modern, and just wanted his pack.  I liked his style, so after getting my second pack for the free W, I scooped to my next opponent to make time for a Last Chance Grinder.

I already had my byes, but Willis and I had finally come up with a reasonable sideboard that morning and I was eager to test it.  This is the 75 that Willis and I registered for the Grinder and main event.

4 Darksteel Citadel

4 Blinkmoth Nexus

4 Inkmoth Nexus

3 Glimmervoid

1 Island

4 Cranial Plating

4 Springleaf Drum

4 Mox Opal

3 Thoughtcast

2 Galvanic Blast

1 Welding Jar

4 Arcbound Ravager

4 Vault Skirge

4 Ornithopter

4 Signal Pest

3 Steel Overseer

3 Etched Champion

3 Memnite

1 Master of Etherium

---

3 Thoughtseize

2 Spell Pierce

2 Spellskite

2 Wear/Tear

1 Ancient Grudge

1 Grafdigger's Cage

1 Relic of Progenitus

1 Rule of Law

1 Whipflare

1 Illness in the Ranks

(Shoutout to Karlito/Karl Drogo for lending me the cards!)

The Grinder itself solidified what I already knew about the deck: Affinity has some insane draws and punishes people for skimping on sideboard hate.  Even if they find hate, Thoughtseize, Spell Pierce and Wear/Tear can answer most of it pretty easily.  I didn't take notes during the Grinder, but I remember most of what happened.

Round 1 - Tarmo Twin

He floods out pretty badly in Game 1 after playing Tarmogoyf into a 3-for-1 Electrolyze, and I finish him off with a timely Plating.  For Game 2, he gets stuck on two lands and I run him over.

Round 2 - UW Control

I knew of my opponent (Steve Guillerm) from his writing on TCGPlayer, and he was as pleasant as I had gathered from his articles.  In the first game, I play 6 permanents on the first turn, including Steel Overseer, forcing him to Path it on his turn.  The second land plus the Citadel/Opal I had in play let me cast and equip the seventh card from my opener: Cranial Plating.  He dies in two swings from my team.  In Game 2, he mulligans plays a tapped land, and I run out a couple guys and a Thoughtseize that sees Tectonic Edge, Path to Exile, Snapcaster Mage, Stony Silence and Baneslayer Angel.  I have a Wear/Tear in my hand, so I take the Snapcaster since I can fight through a Path pretty easily.  He draws enough lands to stay in the game and eventually sticks the Baneslayer, stabilizing the board.  I flash the Galvanic Blast which is more than enough to finish off his last 3 life points.

Round 3 (Top 8) - Protean Hulk Combo

I'm not exactly sure how my opponent's combo worked, but it involved Protean Hulk, Viscera Seer, Body Double, Reveillark and Mogg Fanatic.  It was pretty sweet, but my Game 1 was significantly faster.  For the second game, I brought in some disruption that pulled his Reanimation spell and bought me enough time to get in the last points of damage.

Round 4 (Semifinals) - Ad Nauseam

I'd talked to my opponent during the player meeting and between rounds, fulfilling my objective to make at least one friend at the tournament.  In Game 1, he sticks a Phyrexian Unlife at a low life total, buying himself enough time to combo me.  For the first time, I got to ask my opponent "Am I dead?" and get a straight "Yes."  My postboard plan works out perfectly for Game 2, a fast clock backed up by Thoughtseize and Spell Pierce.  At one point, his outs were reduced to drawing multiple cards for his turn, prompting an unprotected value-Ad Nauseam.  He didn't find all the pieces, and we were on to Game 3.  I play out cheap dudes while he cantrips and plays some acceleration.  On the final turn, he cashes in his Pentad Prism to use Hurkyl's Recall, which I Spell Pierce.  He has the Pact of Negation, but not enough mana to pay for it and hold off a lethal swing on the following turn after I rebuild my board post-combat.  On to the finals!

Round 5 (Finals) - Kiki Pod

My opponent (Brian Liu, you may have heard of him in relation to this event) didn't have byes yet so we immediately started negotiating splits.  Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to separate the VIP upgrade from the byes, which would've been ideal for both of us.  After some consideration, we decide that I get the packs and he gets the byes: 3 extra Modern Masters packs and half a box of BotG made up for not getting the free upgrade/sleep-in special (which I'd already paid for), and he seemed pretty excited about getting byes.  Spoiler: he wins the whole tournament.  Pretty sweet!

It's pretty late at this point, so we walk a few blocks to the hotel and get to bed at a (gasp) reasonable time.  I feel good about the sideboard after seeing it in action, and fall asleep feeling quite confident.

The next morning, Willis and I enjoy a leisurely breakfast and coffee before getting to the convention center around noon.  At this point, I'm struck by the sheer vastness of the tournament: we have to cross the street to get to our flight.  Willis, Mac and I are in the same flight, though we're isolated from the rest of the team.  After some bonus friendmaking, we say our "good luck"s and get ready to jam.  Headphones in, hat on, feeling good.

Round 3 - Justin, Middle Zoo

We chatted a bit while shuffling each other's decks, but once the clock started it was all business.  Game 1 was pretty brutal, as only the fastest Zoo draws can try to race Affinity pre-board.  I hold my ground guys back for a turn, chipping in for one in the air after he Bolts my 9/1 Vault Skirge.  He swings back, putting me to 12, but the second Plating off the top seals the deal.  He draw is better in Game 2, but he never finds removal for my Steel Overseer and dies to a pair of Vault Skirges and an Ornithopter.  3-0.

Round 4 - Mike, Bogles

He doesn't do much Game 1 without Daybreak Coronet, and I easily race him.  After boarding, I land an early Spellskite with Welding Jar backup, forcing him to use both copies of Back to Nature before jamming Auras, which bought me enough time to get in some Plating hits.  4-0!

Round 5 - Mitch, Kiki-Pod

Mitch's deck had some elements of Melira Pod as well as the Kiki-Jiki combo, allowing him to blow out my board of Overseer, Memnite, Skirge with a turn 3 Orzhov Pontiff, the turn before I can activate the Overseer.  In Game 2, I put some pressure on him, but lose a turn saving my board from Kataki.  I find the Whipflare to clear his board, but he draws the combo before I'm able to finish him off.  4-1.

Round 6 - Drew, UR Delver-Mancer

Finally, a three-game match!  Aggro-control is pretty soft to super fast starts pre-board, and he couldn't find enough burn to keep the Plating from hitting him.  For the second game, he plays a turn 1 Delver which immediately flips off Hurkyl's Recall.  He clocks me while alternating between killing my guys and bouncing my whole board and I can't get anything through.  In the third game, we trade hits and removal until I'm dead on his next swing with a lone lethal attacker on my side.  Both of his Snapcasters have attacked, and he leaves a Vendilion Clique on defense.  We're on turn 5 of turns, several people have crowded around.  I untap and knock the top of my deck.  Galvanic Blast!  I kill his Clique after declaring attackers, getting in for exactly enough damage.  5-1!

Round 7 - William, BG Rock

Rock is a pretty easy matchup, since Creeping Corrosion is one of the only cards that interacts favorably on their side.  I crush him in the first game, and build up a solid board in the second.  Knowing I'm only dead to a land off the top for his Corrosion (I'd seen his hand with a Thoughtseize), I pass with Spell Pierce up and lethal on board.  He doesn't find the land, inducing a bit of salt, so I show him the Spell Pierce.  "Yeah, fair enough, you got it."  6-1!

Round 8 - Jeffery, Tarmo Twin

The adrenaline of being so close to Day 2 makes my memory of this match a little fuzzy, but I know how the games ended.  Game 1, I have him dead on board, but he has Exarch for my Plating creature and has the Twin in hand.  Game 2 he doesn't draw any hate and I run him over.  Game 3 goes very long, and he's eventually able to get through with a sizable Tarmogoyf and Batterskull.  We go over my sideboard plans and discuss the match (I forgot that his build also plays Batterskull in the board and didn't bring in any answers for it).  At 6-2, I have my fingers crossed for a good matchup in the last round.

Round 9 - Ian, BG Rock

Fortunately, the finger crossing works and I get an easy matchup.  Game 1 isn't remotely close, and in the second I have double Thoughtseize to match his double Creeping Corrosion.  7-2, into Day 2!

Excited but exhausted, we make our way back to the hotel and try to sleep.  As is common, we fail miserably and discuss standard and modern for several hours.  At some point, I drift into an uneasy sleep fully aware that Daylight Savings would rob me of an hour.  The alarm sounds far too early, and I drag myself to the shower.  All the teamswagmates we're incredibly supportive, ensuring that I was set up to do well the following day: letting me have the bed, first shower, and bring my non-magic stuff to the car since I had to be at the tournament an hour earlier.  You guys are the best! <3

Round 10 - Brandon, Merfolk

As soon as we present our decks, the pair of judges near us immediately swooped in for a deck check.  Apparently I had forgotten to write 4 Darksteel Citadel on my decklist (16 lands, 4 lines of lands, seems good.) when I turned it in Friday night.  Hooray for a game loss!  Luckily, Merfolk is a very easy matchup and I beat him pretty quickly in games 2 and 3.  My opponent was very nice and apologetic about the decklist error, and we both agreed it was pretty lucky that it happened then and not one Day 1 during a tight match where the loss could've knocked me out of Day 2.  Have your friends look over your decklist before you hand it in!  8-2, frazzled but alive.

Round 11 - Keenan, Melira Pod

In Game 1, he blows out my board of Overseer and 1 toughness creatures with an Orzhov Pontiff, then gets Qasali Pridemage to stop my Plating.  For Game 2, I get him to 1 but can't find the Cage to stop his active Pod, and he finds the combo.  8-3, we definitely need the second Cage in the board.

Round 12 - Branden, 8-Rack

I had never tested this matchup before, but I figured I just had to dump my hand and try to race his Rack effects.  In Game 1, he nut-draws me after I mulligan: Inquisition into Thoughtseize + Raven's Crime into double Shrieking Affliction and the Rack (Take 9).  Game 2 is pretty quick, I have a fast start and sandbag a land to slow down his Rack.  He doesn't get enough pressure on board, and I kill him easily.  For Game 3, I mulligan to 5 and can't apply enough pressure to race his Liliana and racks.  He has an Ensnaring Bridge in play, and I'm on the Overseer plan but can't find an Ancient Grudge or Wear/Tear to remove it and die to his racks.  He missed multiple Rack/Affliction triggers which bought me a few turns, but not enough to find an answer.  8-4, disappointed but still happy to be in Day 2.

Round 13 - Jonathan, Storm

This matchup seems pretty good, but my draws were insane in both games so he was never really in it.  For game 1, I play out my entire hand, including a Plating and Vault Skirge which gets there quite easily.  I board in my hate and disruption and jam my entire hand on the first turn again.  My clock is a little slower (turn 1 Ravager instead of Plating) but I draw Wear/Tear his Ascension and Thoughtseize a ritual out of his hand, locking up the W.  9-4!

Round 14 - Greg, 8-Rack

I'd met Greg a few months ago after he won our win-and-in at a Sealed PTQ.  We'd seen each other at tournaments since then, so our match was pretty social.  He was on 8-Rack, which I definitely didn't expect to play twice.  He grinds me out with a multiple Rack draw in the first game, and I take the second with a few massive Plating swings.  I mulligan in Game 3, which is the worst thing to do against the discard heavy deck.  I needed a fast, redundant hand, but was only able to fulfill the former.  I played out most of my permanents and he Inquisitioned the Plating, leaving me on the mediocre beats plan.  He gets two Ensnaring Bridges into play while I brick for a couple turns, reducing my outs to the lone Ancient Grudge.  I can't find it, and die horribly and slowly.  9-5, dead for cash.

Round 15 - Andrew, Tempo Twin

In typical Game 1 fashion, I run him over before he assembles much of anything, but I see enough to know that he's on Twin.  He finds the combo in Game 2 after seeing two of his three Ancient Grudges.  In the third game, he curves Spell Snare into double Electrolyze, leaving me with a Plating and some manlands.  I hit him to 7 poison, but he finds answers to both Inkmoths.  I transition back to the damage plan, but play around his Cryptic Command too hard.  By playing around it every turn, I never actually put him in a position where he needs to cast it, and the lack of aggression gives him time to beat me down with 2/1s.  Finished 9-6, same record as DC.

While I was a little bummed to not do as well on Day 2, I was still ecstatic to make it that far.  Affinity was absolutely a good choice for the tournament (2 in the top 8, 3 more in the top 16) and it's one of the top considerations for the upcoming PTQ season.  Later this week I'll post a report on the deck itself and our card choices, as well as what to change moving forward.  

Thanks for reading!

<3 Pietart