The MTG Community - Don't Use These Things during Tournaments [Edward Eng]

So I top 8ed another PPTQ. But lost in the semifinals. Still gotta get there. I guess I just have to top the upcoming Grand Prix in Indianapolis this weekend. However, I must say that my deck performed really well. So I'm pretty happy and excited going into the tournament even though I'm a bit sick as I write this article. Hopefully, I'll come out of it by the weekend. Otherwise, I'm gonna have to Game 5 it, Michael Jordan style.

Here's the deck I ran.

Standard
Abzan Aggro - Edward Eng

I went 5-0-1 in the Swiss rounds. I'm not gonna talk too much about the matchups but rather focus on my card choices.

I've been running Heir of the Wilds since rotation. I started out with a build similar to what I posted during rotation. But after a few tournaments, I felt like the deck wasn't cutting it. My deck wasn't optimized. So I tapped into the metagame and what the pros were running. I like the more 'standard' builds that most people were running so I started with those, particularly Kazuyuki Takimura and Paul Dean's lists. After goldfishing and playing in a couple of tournaments, I noticed that the decks were a little clunky if you didn't draw Warden or Hangarback early and you drew too many lands that come into play tapped. Thus, I knew Heir of the Wilds had to come back in and I swapped out two Shambling Vents for two Caves of Koilos. Needless to say, I was happy with my adjustments.

Here's a quick glimpse of my matches.

Swiss Rounds

R1: 2-1 W vs. Dark Jeskai Dragons
R2: 2-0 W vs. Esper Dragons
R3: 2-0 W vs. 5C Abzan
R4: 2-0 W vs. Abzan
R5: 0-0-3 ID vs. RG Landfall
R6: 2-0 W vs. GW Megamorph

Top 8

R7: 2-1 W vs. GW Megamorph
R8: 1-2 L vs. Dark Jeskai

The semifinals is where it got interesting. Not because of the matchup, but because of what I had sitting next to my deck. During game 1, the judge pointed to the stack of cards next to my library and asked what those were. The top card was a Mountain with the word 'scry' on it. I told him it was a reminder for me or my opponent to use if either of us mulliganed. I also told him that I kept those cards separate from my deck because I know that the Mountain can be seen as part of my deck.

At that point, we asked if we should continue our match and the judge said yes. That's when we both knew this could end poorly for me. So we continued as the judge sought 'outside assistance' to make a final call on what should happen. I won game 1. And during game 2, the judge finally made a decision. He separated my tokens and emblems into one pile and the cards I wrote on into another pile. Then he said take the cards I wrote on and put them away when you get home. I got a warning and we continued our match. I ended up losing game 2 and 3. But the moral of the story is...don't use anything other than real tokens and emblems. And if you want to remind yourself or your opponent to scry after a mulligan, put a die on top of the player's library. And if you need a token in the middle of a match, write on a piece of paper or use a non-Magic card to represent that token.

No

Yes

I thanked the judge multiple times for doing what he did because I definitely didn't want to experience this at Grand Prix in Indianapolis. Scary! Although I didn't win the tournament, I felt very lucky. Plus, I won a box of Khans of Tarkir for top 4ing the tournament. Sweet!

Now I just have to top 4 the Grand Prix. I hope to see many of you there. Feel free to stop by to say hi and chat.

The mainboard is still the same. And these are the sideboard changes I'm currently testing.