"The escapades of Matt Apostle"

It’s Friday evening and its 4:50pm, I’m at work bouncing my leg up and down watching the time tick away in anticipation for my weekly nerd fest. 5:00pm finally roles around and I'm hustling my way out and I get the usual, “Have fun playin’ your Pokémon game.” or the cool people who know what’s up, “good luck tonight!” Of course they all just don’t get it… its FNM time!

So as of the past 5-6 FNM’s I’ve been playing  this list:

http://magic.tcgplayer.com/db/deck.asp?deck_id=875897

4 Glint Hawk

4 Memnite

4 Ornithopter

3 Porcelain Legionnaire

4 Signal Pest

4 Steel Overseer

4 Vault Skirge

Creatures [27]

4 Dispatch

3 Glint Hawk Idol

4 Mox Opal

4 Tempered Steel

Spells [15]

3 Contested War Zone

4 Inkmoth Nexus

11 Plains

Lands [18]

2 Celestial Purge

4 Kor Firewalker

2 Mental Misstep

4 Shrine of Loyal Legions

3 Spellskite

Sideboard

This is the list that got 1st place at 2011 Japan Nats by: Ryuuichiro Ishida

I just want to say a few things about this deck. IT’S FUCKING AMAZING! I’m the splinter Twin Slayer with this monster. OK, so let just jump right into it. I get to FNM early to play some EDH with my bros. I can always count on Riley and Sean to be there early for a game or two. While playing a game, some totally douche is talking up how awesome he is, huge ego. He’s spitting some shit about how he plays somewhere in Milwaukee (the shop we’re at is in Illinois for reference) for free and wins prizes. I don’t know about this dude, but he has bull shit all over this breath. Then a man and his daughter, she can’t be more then 12, come into the gaming area of the story, it’s kind of sectioned off, and start playing and what looks like tuning there decks. So this Milwaukee kid starts swearing and I give him the “hey bro watch your mouth.”  This douche just straight up replies with a “NO!” I tell him, “Look man there’s a little kid here just watch your mouth.” Then this ignorant piece of shit says, “Hey if her father has a problem with it he can say something to me.” I don’t know if the Ol’ man heard this or not but this Milwaukee guy is now forever on my shit list and I hope for his sake he never crosses me. EVER! Pairings are ready and we have about 15-18 people.

Match 1        

I play this dude named Brian. Now Brian is a cool guy and is a super

good sport and everything. However, Brian see’s he is playing me and does

a last miniature deck change.

Game 1        

Brian’s on some sort of RG elves homebrew

I take it down with ease and I don’t side board at all

Game 2        

Brian takes me down with 2x Pyroclasm and 1x Slagstorm and 2x Natures Claims

I still don’t Sideboard because it was so close even with all the hate, so I

didn’t want to slow the deck down at all.

Game 3        

I take it down fast and hard. (that’s what she said)

After game 3 he showed me his sideboard, 3x Natures Claims, 3x

Pyroclasms, and 3x Slagstorms. WOW, all for me! I've never had someone

build a deck at FNM just to beat me. I was almost flattered.

1-0

Match 2        

I’m playing Rich, a guy from the old Comic Connections Crew. That’s

where we used to play FNM but they closed down. It was a sad time for

all of us. We now are all over at this current place, Dean's Dugout. Anyways, I always

like playing Rich because he has some of the craziest decks. He may call them

jank, but if you don’t play tight, that Jank is going to kick you in the

nuts and LOL at your face.

Game 1        

Rich is on this white weenie soul sisters infinite life combo. I saw

a Day of Judgment this game but still had more gas to follow up with

and took him down.

Sideboarding was:

-2x Glink Hawk +2 Shrines of Loyal Legions (for the Wraths)

Game 2        

I just over powered him with too many beats too fast.

2-0

Match 3        

I’m playing Jeremy, this guy is a douche most of the time and plays

super smug. He makes a lot of play mistakes during our games, most of

which cost him the games. Jeremy is known for trying to brew. He

fails but at least her tries. I love to troll this guy since it’s so easy.

I play the devil’s advocate all the time just to get under his skin.

I honestly wouldn’t do it so much is he wasn’t so fucking smug. But

all in all he’s an OK dude, just needs a good kick in the ego a few

times to keep him humble and I’m willing to be the guy who does it.

Game 1        

Jeremy is on BUG Pod. He makes a few misplays, the most critical being

not attacking with his nighthawk and taking my Contested Warzone

before sacrificing it to Birthing Pod. I’m able to use the extra mana

to cast tempered steel and stabilize my board and take him down.

Sideboarding is: -2x Glint hawks -1x Glint Hawk Idol -2x Memnites +3

Spellskites +2 Celestial Purge

Game 2        

Jeremy even with play mistakes manages to beat me down. Sad panda!

Game 3        

I take it down quick and easy!!

3-0

Match 4        

I’m playing Dan. Dan is a guy who plays super tight and is a very

good player. I look up to him a bit since he is much better than me. He sees

things I don’t and has patients which I don’t have. I have to play my

games super tight around Dan or else he will use my misplays and just

destroy me. Out of all the times I have played Dan, I think I'm at a 10 percent win.

Game 1        

Dan’s on Splinter Twin. I have a hard time beating this deck, but if

you play tight, you can destroy them. Dan has to Mulligan to 6, looking

good already. I come out of the gates blazing and he just can’t stop

it. I take this one down.

Sideboarding is: -4x Glint hawks -2x Glint Hawk Idol -1x Memnites +3

Spellskites +2 Celestial Purge +2x Mental Misstep

Game 2        

Dan combos off super early and I’m done. Dan takes this one.

Game 3        

This game is long. I can’t remember my opening hand but, I have

2x tempered steels and managed to get 2 down even after he countered

1. I have Dan on the ropes but I'm crapping my pants. It's been a

zillion turns and I’m sure he has a hand full of counter spells. He has

2x Deceiver Exarch on board and 2x Shine of Piercing Visions at like a

million counters. Dan plays the splinter twin and counters my celestial purge.

 Dan then does the "Still had all Deez." A hand full of counter spells.

GG Dan!

3-1

Innistrad Pre-Release

This weekend comic book stores, game stores and card stores around the United States held Innistrad Pre-Release events. Some people going to the Mid-Night one's on Friday/Saturday, or throughout the day on Saturday and Sunday. Luckily I was able to attend two events, back to back, and I have to admit, I had a load of fun. Besides my card pool be utter crap the second time around, I will preview my deck, what I played and just my over all thoughts about this set.

First off, I want to say that I played at a place that I would not usually go to on a regular basis. Sadly, my local comic book store went out of business last month because of the economy. The reason I don't usually go to this said store, are because of the players and how they conduct themselves. Some of them are loud, swear way too much, are jerks, and are just plain not fun to be around. They also try to trade you down like you don't know what you're doing. But that is another story for another time. I, on the other hand, had a great time and I am glad I got to participate in this pre-release.

To start off, my card pool was surprisingly good and I was able to put together a pretty solid green and white deck. My rare pool consisted of:

-Gavonly Township
-Moldgraf Monstrosity
-Geist-Honored Monk
-Stensia Bloodhall
-Cure of Death's Hold
-Rooftop Storm

Out of those six rares, I was able to use three of them, Gavonly Township, Modgraf Monistary, and Geist-Honored Monk. I was happy with the selection and the rares I was able to use came in handy. For my actual deck list, I ended up playing with:

Creatures
1x Hamlet Captain
1x Darkthicket Wolf
1x Villagers of Estwald (flip) Howlpack of Estwald
1x Ulvenwald Mystics (flip) Ulvenwald Primordials
1x Moldgraf Monstrosity
1x Ambush Viper
2x Mausoleum Gaurd
1x Village Bell-Ringer
2x Voiceless Spirit
1x Doomed Traveler
1x Chapel Geist
1x Thraben Sentry (flip) Thranben Milita

Isntants
2x Rebuke
1x Moment of Heroism

Sorcery's
3x Travel Preperations
1x Caravan Vigil

Artifacts
1x Inquisitor's flail
1x Traveler's Amulet
1x Cobbled Wings

Lands
1x Gavony Township
7x Forests
8x Plains

Total = 40 cards

After deck construction, I play tested with the person in front of me and it was drawing well and didn't seem to swamped with land or getting mana screwed. It seemed like this deck could possibly place me and I may win some packs. After about 10 min. the first pairings were up and I headed over to the table I was to play at.

The first match was basically a mirror match, green/white vs. green/white. From the people around me when building my deck, it seemed like I would be seeing a lot of the same thing throughout the night. First hand I saw, Plains, Forest, Travel Preparations, Travel Preparations, Doomed Traveler, Hamlet Captains, and Voiceless Spirit. This was probably on of the best hands I could have drawn and it was the best I had all night. Luckily my opponent got mana screwed right off the bat and it was an easy win for the first game. The second game was relatively as bad for him and I think he realized that he needed to work on his deck a little longer. So, after our match I helped him reconstruct his deck and help him out.

After the first round, I wasn't that sure about how my deck would play. Since I played someone who was new and didn't really know what was going on, I was excited to play someone who may give me a challenge. Second round I drew just as well, but my opponent was a very competitive Magic player and gave me a run for my money. He was playing a blue/black/red deck and it just seemed too slow for my deck. He splashed red for a burn spell or two, but luckily he didn't see them during any of the games I played against him. We ended up going to three games but I drew everything I needed and made him scoop on turn 5 during the third game. The best thing my deck had going for me was that it was quick and didn't have very many bombs. Although, I would have loved to have another big guy to back me up.

The third match didn't go so well for me. Going into it I had a lot of faith in my deck, but my opponents was just too fast. He ended up pulling a set of Avacyn's Pilgrim and that really helped him get two drops out faster than me and helped him pump up Darkthicket Wolf when needed. Needless to say, he smoked me in two games and had me packing. Afterwards, I wasn't expecting to see that much agro again and luckily I didn't.

This is a little off topic, but people who take forever to play cards, when it's the obvious play make me so frustrated. My forth round opponent seemed to try and slow roll every game. And every time he seemed to take forever and play a spell, it seemed like it didn't need that much preparation. Granted, if it is a tough choice and it may cost you the game, by all means, take your time. But when your deciding whether to play a forest or mountain, you need hurry up, crap like that pisses me off. Luckily, I ended up beating him in three games and not going to time. Although it was close, I got the win and I moved on to the fifth and final round.

At this point I haven't seen burn all day and it's not even on my mind right now. It seemed to not have a really big spot in this set and I wasn't worrying about it at all. But wouldn't you know it, my last opponent had a set of Brimstone Valley and his red pool seemed to be the best thing in the world. Everything I put out he burned or hit with Olivia Voldaren and had the mana to take my creatures. Long story short, he smoked me and I wasn't in a good mood. I didn't see red/black all night and the last round, it picked me apart and there wasn't a thing I could do about it.

So, after five rounds, I ended up going 3-2 and I didn't pull anything worth keeping. After doing a second sealed after this one and still not getting a single thing, I am really hoping my box I pre-ordered isn't going to be like the packs I opened Saturday. I most likely will not be doing a draft or another sealed even of this set. It just isn't solid enough to make a strong deck and it really seems spotty on certain cards that go well together.

All in all, I enjoy this set. It seems like they really put a lot of hard work and effort into putting this set together. It's different and it will definitely get more new players into Magic which is a great thing. Hope you enjoyed it! There will be more to come!

Grant Casleton

Financial advice from your very own, Bropostle.

That is all.

Post rotation BUG Pod deck!

http://magic.tcgplayer.com/db/deck.asp?deck_id=919570


This is @NycheAtNight BUG Pod deck, from the looks of it, it should run well and be able to compete with whatever is going to be the top deck after rotation. Personally, I think Pod will be the top deck and a very hard deck to compete with, but we will have to wait and see. Also, for a Pod deck, this doesn't have as many creatures as most Pod decks have. But for this build, I think it suits it well for the ratio from creature to non-creature spells! I was also surprised to see mimic-vat in the deck list. I for some reason didn't even think of throwing that into my Pod deck. Maybe I would rather have a creature for three instead of an artifact, but it's really situational. The only thing I think i would change or add would be Grave Titan. It just seems like a super solid black card to Pod into and you're getting 2 2/2's also!

Hope you enjoy!

Grant Casleton

Japanese Heavenly Inferno deck.

So, I finally opened up my Japanese Heavenly Inferno deck i purchased last week. I gotta say, this thing is pretty rad. I thought the commander series was really cool in the first place, but with it being all in Japanese, it makes it even better. One of the cooler things are the big foil cards are also in Japanese! Although I most likely won't be using them, they are still cool to have and show off. Also, since my card knowledge isn't the best, I don't know what half of them do, looks like I will be looking them up throughout the night!

ALSO!!!! Ultra Pro has remade the thicker clear sleeves, I am super stoked that they did! Go get them!

Hello and welcome.

Hello, for the first entry, I just wanted to give you a little information on what this is all about.

1.) This blog will mostly be about Magic: The Gathering. How our FNM's went, what deck we played, what decks we played against, how we did, etc. Maybe do some deck techs for EDH and other formats or just do some video reviews of stuff that we like.

2.) People we play or come across. I know already from moving to the city (Chicago) that I am going to meet some interesting people and I plan to write about them. If we liked them, hated them, or they were just plain annoying, they will most likely end up here.

3.) I am assuming there will be some random entrees that have to do with non-Magic things, but that is okay. Variety I think is good and who knows, maybe those will be our best entrees, we will have to wait an see.

So thanks for following and I hope you enjoy this as much as we will!

Grant Casleton & Matt Apostle