MGG Tournament Report UWR Nahiri with SB Notes

May 20, 2016 by Peter Ingram
Posted in Modern
Modern is a fickle format. One that has lots of options, is pretty difficult to test for, and requires a ton of knowledge about the format. Prior to this event I had been running Melira Company which I had played to a decent finish in both the Invitational and a Modern Classic. My main issue with the deck is that in a format that is so diverse as Modern, a card like Collected Company can yield you some rather high variance results. The card Collected Company is obviously too good to not play in a deck like Abzan Company, however the deck would sometimes frustrate me a bit and I was looking for other decks to play. Leading from the Invitational to SCG Milwaukee, I was trying to figure out other decks that I might like such as Faeries or a GW Eldrazi deck that I was working on. However, with the launch of Team MetagameGurus.com at SCG Milwaukee, the team was so busy that we found it difficult to find any time to explore other options so we all fell back on what we knew, and for me that was Abzan Company. SCG Milwaukee didn’t go to well for any members on the team.

Flash forward to the week after Grand Prix New York, where I went 10-5 with GW Tokens. Kevin Jones and Jim Davis were both talking about this Jeskai Nahiri deck that had been floating around. I was immediately drawn towards the deck as I have a deep love for both counter magic and the planeswalker herself, Nahiri. Wednesday night before SCG Indianapolis, the team met up for testing. Funny enough, prior to playing Andrew Jessup in the finals, we had played that match over and over again in Jim's house that Wednesday. After jamming some games and then taking some team photos, we split off pretty happy with how the deck was feeling. I played a bit more online with the deck on Thursday, trying to find matches on the new MTGO beta... and after an astonishing TWO wins and ZERO losses, I was sold.

Friday morning, the team left for the airport and we arrived in the grand state of Indiana at around 4pm. After what was certainly one of the most interesting bus rides of my life, we found ourselves at the Hilton where we were staying in a presidential suite, courtesy of our lovely Team MGG managers, Frank Pendl and Rick Meditz. Frank and Rick are not only great managers for our team, but honestly they are two amazing people that I consider myself fortunate to have met in my life. After a beautiful night of sleep, it was off to the tournament.

team-mmg-indy2015

Day One

Round 1- RG Tron

This matchup is not a fun one. You pretty much need to have a cheap counter in game one to have a remote shot. Post board, you get Crumble to Dust which can be a life safer, but you also need to likely have a cheap counter in that spot also.

SB
+2 Crumble to Dust
+1 Vendilion Clique
+2 Negate
+1 Stony Silence
+1 Wear/Tear
-2 Electrolyze
-3 Lightning Helix
-2 Lightning Bolt

You might be asking yourself about why you wouldn't board out a card like Spell Snare. The answer is Sylvan Scrying. That card is just a Worldbreaker in the late game when they go and find Sanctum of Ugin. You can maybe trim one if you really want, but I wouldn't.

2-1

Round 2- RG Eldrazi

Despite winning the first round, my tournament just wouldn't let up. Another not so great matchup. All of these RG big mana decks feel similar when you are playing against them and the card Thought-Knot Seer can be a real beating.

SB
+1 Vendilion Clique
+1 Engineered Explosives
+1 Wear/Tear
+2 Negate
-2 Electrolyze
-3 Lightning Helix

2-1

Round 3- RG Eldrazi

Jeez.

SB
Read above

2-1

Round 4- Abzan Company

This matchup has a lot of play to it. Yes you have a lot of removal, but a smart Abzan company player knows how to mitigate that. Gavony Township can be a nightmare. In game 2 of this match I basically gave my opponent a one turn window where I was at 1 and he had to peel Murderous Redcap or Chord of Calling to kill me and he did.

SB
+2 Anger of the Gods
+1 Dispel
+1 Engineered Explosives
-2 Cryptic Command
-2 Spell Snare

1-2

Round 5- Mono Blue Delver/Thing in the Ice

Game 1 my opponent played a bunch of Islands, no merfolk, and killed me with a Thing in the Ice that he protected with Disrupting Shoal. Game 2 and 3 were a lot easier for me to win once I knew exactly what was going on, but his deck was pretty cool.

SB
+2 Negate
+1 Dispel
+2 Ancestral Vision
+1 Engineered Explosives
+1 Vendilion Clique
-2 Cryptic Command
-3 Lightning Helix
-1 Serum Visions
-1 Electrolyze

2-1

Round 6- Naya Burn

I think this matchup is fine, you have a lot of cheap removal and permission. It is definitely a very close matchup though and you need to play tight to win.

SB
+1 Timely Reinforcements
+2 Negate
+1 Dispel
+1 Celestial Purge
+1 Anger of the Gods
+1 Engineered Explosives
-3 Remand
-2 Cryptic Command
-1 Serum Visions
-1 Nahiri, the Harbinger

2-0

Round 7- Naya Burn

This round I played against Team MGG manager, Frank Pendl. Frank and I played a grueling 3 games and with the help of a rather timely top deck in game 3, I managed to emerge victorious.

SB
Read above

Round 8- Jund

This matchup is the grind of all grinds. I feel like I'm a little behind because of their discard, however Nahiri can be very good against them. Game 3 of this match can be found on SCG coverage archive, definitely recommend watching it if you have the time. I made one mistake on a key turn where my opponent cast Inquisition of Kozilek. My hand was Lightning Helix, Snapcaster Mage, and Mana Leak. I only had one red mana available. I played Snapcaster Mage and Lightning Helix in response, letting him take my Mana Leak. What I should have done was just play Snapcaster and flashback Lightning Bolt at my opponent. I got caught up on wanting the value from the three life, where as having an extra card in my hand was valuable because I had a Desolate Lighthouse in play. There is another option of doing nothing which I don't like at all. He's going to take my Snapcaster with the Inquisition, why should I not put it in play to pressure my opponent. There could be an argument made that I would have an answer to a Raging Ravine or Dark Confidant if my opponent were to draw it, but I much prefer being proactive in that spot.

SB
+1 Celestial Purge
+2 Ancestral Vision
+1 Engineered Explosives
+1 Vendilion Clique
-3 Lightning Helix
-2 Electrolyze

2-1

Round 9- RG Valakut

This is along the same lines of the RG Tron and RG Eldrazi decks, only now they have a four mana sorcery that can kill you if unchecked. Again, not a deck I would love to play against.

SB
+2 Crumble to Dust
+2 Negate
+1 Vendilion Clique
+1 Dispel
-2 Electrolyze
-3 Lightning Helix
-1 Path to Exile

2-1

I finished Day 1 with a record of 8-1. After the tournament, Team MGG had the pleasure of being taken out to dinner by several employees of BCW. It was great to unwind from the day and just relax. BCW is a great company with very thoughtful and energetic minds looking to make new and revolutionary gaming products for gamers to enjoy.

Day Two

Round 10- RG Valakut

Not too much to say at this point in regards to the matchup. Your ideal start is to Remand/Mana Leak a ramp spell into a turn four Nahiri. But most games don’t play out like that. Your counter magic is very good against them because their big payoff spells cost four or greater. It’s best to just take an old school Jeskai Control approach with the old EOT Snapcaster, Lightning Bolt you strategy.

SB
Read above

2-1

Round 11- UG Infect

Part of this match can be found on camera. Game 3 was very complicated and involved my slightly bluffing a Lightning Bolt to have my opponent not go for the kill so I could go on to win the match. This matchup you need to play as if you were playing against a burn deck, super safe. You have a lot of cheap removal that you need to leverage properly. Often it’s correct to take to 1-2 poison off their creature and wait to interact end of turn to avoid getting blown out by a pump spell.

SB
+1 Vendilion Clique
+1 Engineered Explosives
+2 Negate
+1 Dispel
+1 Wear/Tear
+1 Anger of the Gods
-2 Cryptic Command
-3 Remand
-1 Nahiri, the Harbinger
-1 Serum Visions

2-1

Round 12- Slivers

It was at the time that I saw my pairing that I begin to do an advanced search on Slivers on gatherer. I had a general idea of what was going on, but wasn’t sure what slivers would exactly be in his deck. Two slivers that scared me most were Frenetic Sliver, which wrecked me in game 2, and Opaline Sliver, which I’m not sure was even in his deck. Game 3 of the match is on camera, we had 3 pretty good games and I definitely think it’s awesome that Slivers was doing well in modern.

SB
+2 Anger of the Gods
+1 Engineered Explosives
+1 Vendilion Clique
+1 Celestial Purge
-3 Remand
-1 Cryptic Command
-1 Spell Snare

2-1

Round 13- Grixis Delver

Grixis in general has a difficult time dealing with a resolved Nahiri, so we have that going for us. This deck was a bit lower to the ground which made my Electrolyzes and Lightning Bolts a bit better. I think that these decks may need to start moving towards Thoughtseize over Inquisition to properly combat Nahiri. Ryan and I had a good match, fortunately we both went on to Top 8.

SB
+2 Ancestral Vision
+2 Negate
+1 Dispel
+1 Vendilion Clique
-3 Lightning Helix
-1 Electrolyze
-2 Cryptic Command

2-0

Round 14- RG Tron

My opponent this round couldn’t draw and was forced to play. Unfortunately for me, it was yet again RG Tron. Now, maybe I’m just wrong and the matchup isn’t as bad as I think it is, or maybe I was just incredibly lucky to emerge unscathed. But, after losing game 1, I managed to rally back and lock up Top 8 with a win.

SB
Read Round 1

2-1

Round 15- RG Tron

Intentional Draw

Quarterfinals- RW Prison

This matchup was selected as the on camera feature match for the semifinals. Game 1 went pretty according to plan, I got an Island and Plains in play, countered his cards and won fairly easily. Game 2 I think I made a slight error in not leading off with Flooded Strand instead of Scalding Tarn. I knew turn 2 Blood Moon was a possibility, but to be honest I was going to fetch an Island regardless and I knew that when I played the Scalding Tarn. It’s possible I should just get plains because I have 4 Nahiri and a Wear/Tear in my deck, but I’m not sure. Regardless, the Blood Moon ended up having a more negative effect on my opponent then it did for me.

Semifinals- RG Valakut

This is the one point in the tournament where after losing game 1, I felt like I was down and out. Having faced this matchup so many times already, I just felt like this was the time it was going to get me. Thankfully I was wrong and managed to win to meet Andrew in the finals.

SB
Read Round 9

Finals- UG Infect

ingram-jessup-finals-indy2015This match can be found on camera and the entire match was just great. All three games were very good and I’ll be honest, I was very surprised to lose game 1. This matchup has a ton of play to it, and the best way you can learn is to just practice. Honestly, playing matches against Infect in general can really just be a great learning experience with the deck for other matchups as well.

SB
Read Round 11

It felt great to take the tournament down for Team MetagameGurus.com and it was also awesome to have played my teammate, Andrew Jessup, in the finals. Going forward with Modern, I will almost certainly be playing this deck. I think that the flex slots in the main deck are 1 Cryptic Command, 1 Electrolyze, and 1 Lightning Helix. I very much liked our sideboard, I definitely got a lot of mileage out of all the cards in it. Something that may want be explored is finding room for a second Celestial Purge, but who knows. I would like to thank everyone for the support this past weekend and if you haven’t already, please go sign up on MetagameGurus.com!