I played in two Magic tournaments this past weekend, a $5,000 Modern Pro Tour Qualifier in Columbus, Ohio ran by Griffon Events and Comic Town, and the final championship tournament of the Standard Summer Series at Great Lakes Game Emporium in Mentor, Ohio. Today I'll relay my experiences from both events.

Modern: $5k PTQ Khans of Tarkir

I have a considerable amount of experience with Melira Pod in Modern, including a Grand Prix Trial win, a Super IQ finals that earned me a SCG Invi slot, and 7 rounds of a PTQ. But 3 losses in said PTQ to Grafdigger's Cage soured the taste of the deck in my mind.

I strongly believe in playing what one knows, and people should play what they have the most experience with. On the other hand, armed with deep knowledge of a metagame and with the agility and Magic experience to play anything, picking a deck based on metagame positioning has its advantages.

In the days and weeks ahead of the PTQ, I was preparing to play a BG Rock deck, which plays a timeless strategy of threats and disruption--a strategy I have employed all year in Monoblack Devotion.

Nearly two months ago I saw that the writing was on the wall. Tweets from Tomoharu Saito implied that Rock was the top Modern deck in Japan, and the research I did into Japanese decklists corroborated. Immediately afterwards I saw BGx strategies were starting to rise to the top of PTQs in the USA, and, most importantly, these decks were actually winning the events.

I shared my findings in an article, "The Best Modern Deck You Aren't Playing". The deck has only grown in success as July turned into August.

My Rock deck of choice was BG Rock with a splash of white for a few powerful cards. Lingering Souls gives the deck a big edge in the Rock mirror matches--against Liliana of the Veil in particular--and it generates very relevant blockers, winning the attrition game against a tough matchup in the form of Affinity. And I expected both matchups in large numbers.

The GBw Rock list I played was based off of the deck Robin Dolar used to win GP Boston, with my own minor changes. That decklist, along with video of me piloting through a Magic Online Event, is here on TCGplayer. At the end of this report, I will share the decklist I recommend going forward in the wake of the PTQ.

White also provides solid sideboard hate, such as Stony Silence, which further punishes Affinity, gives the deck a tool against nightmare GR Tron opponents, and can do work against Birthing Pod. Aven Mindcensor is great for combatting Birthing Pod and Chord of Calling as a compliment to Grafdigger's Cage, while it also hates on Scapeshift, which has been gaining steam, as well as providing additional help against Tron.

I also expected plenty of Burn decks, so I was sure to include a copy of Timely Reinforcements to compliment a copy of Obstinate Baloth.

Looking around the PTQ tables before the event started, the metagame seemed to mirror my expectations and I didn't feel the need to do anything drastic with my decklist.

Round 1: Jund

I started out the event against a capable Jund opponent. I struggled in the first game finding lands, but I put maximum pressure against Dark Confidant with Treetop Village and tried to put myself into a position to win, but his flips did not yield damage nor my deck relevant cards.

Game two I had another awkward mana draw, lacking black mana, but I got on the board with Lingering Souls. Unfortunately, Olivia Voldaren came down for him on turn four. I made it a close game, and had an out for myself with a mainphase naked Slaughter Pact if he did not play enough blockers, but he did and I fell to the large flyer.

Round 2: GW Death & Taxes

The next round I came up against the GW Death & Taxes deck, which has the plan of using Blade Splicer to create huge value against my deck, combined with Flickerwisp and Restoration Angel.

The first game was played deliberately on both sides--him starting with an Aether Vial and my dismantling his hand with two discard spells, seeking to disrupt his curve and leaving him with Path to Exile and Restoration Angel, which I could do my best to play around.

In the end, I put myself into a fine position with a Liliana of the Veil on a blank board with a removal spells in hand, but I made a big mistake by failing to see his 3/3 Golem Token and passing without using my planeswalker, allowing him to kill Liliana. Then he won the topdeck war and took game one.

I missed his token primarily because it was a die and blended into his playmat. Had he an actual token, I never would have missed it. I am very guilty of using dice as tokens myself, and this experience certainly taught me that actual tokens are much better for a fair game. I plan on preparing my own tokens and expect my opponents to have the same. I have kept Pack Rat tokens with my Black Devotion deck all Standard season and it's something I'll replicate in other formats.

I was pretty upset with myself at this point, but I was confident in the matchup and I mentally planned on taking the next two games as if I had won the first.

They did go as planned, with me carefully timing the tempo of the game with discard and by using my mana efficiently. In one game I made an aggressive play early in the game: on turn 3 I played Liliana of the Veil to kill a creature and followed it with a Slaughter Pact, which cleared his board and put me in the driver's seat.

I seemed to have answers for everything, which my opponent lamented after his final play in game 2: Restoration Angel, which was defeated by my last untapped land and last card, Dismember.

The match really highlighted the power of discard spells and instant speed removal, and it felt like my deck was much closer to Faeries than a green deck.

Round 3: BW Tokens

The next round was against BW Tokens and I took game one with an uncontested Lingering Souls after dismantling his hand, with him failing to find flying tokens of his own.

In another display of the need for actual cards, my opponent was less than impressed by the dice I was using for Spirit tokens, asking how he would know if they were tapped or not. I meticulously switched the colors of the dice when tapped over many turns.

After I the first game, he complained about losing to his best matchup, so I prepared to fight against an onslaught of Mirran Crusaders in the next. It was hilarious when he started off with Lingering Souls, as he triumphantly grabbed his box and brought out some old Japanese-language Pokemon cards to use as tokens. I guess they were too precious to offer me in the first game, or it was too amusing to watch me manipulate dice.

My opponent did have Mirran Crusader, and, while I tried my hardest to race, I failed to keep up.

Game three he had another Mirran Crusader and I couldn't find Liliana of the Veil. I tried to race with Timely Reinforcements and a well-timed Obstinate Baloth to turn the tables, but he had the game firmly in hand and I fell to 1-2.

Round 4: Merfolk

Since this was a $5k event paying down many slots I decided to stay in the event even though I was not in Top 8 contention. This match was relaxed, and shuffling up for game 1, my cordial opponent mentioned he was playing a fair deck and I should not worry, but I said that now I am worried and I like to play against unfair decks.

I saw him shuffling up Merfolk cards, I warned him to be careful not to show his opponents his deck when shuffling. Now I really am worried because Merfolk is a bad matchup. I always have trouble with Merfolk when playing Rock, perhaps because their deck is so focused and redundant. I took a tough loss in day two of PT Hollywood in 2008 while in Top 8 contention, playing BG Elf Rock against Jan Ruess' Merfolk deck, and have been working on mastering the matchup ever since.

My opponent was playing Spreading Seas and had three of them in the first game. Combined with pressure and Islandwalk, this was enough to take me out. He had only two Speading Seas game two, but combined with a strong draw, it was again enough to knock me out, and like that I was 1-3. I dropped and quickly drove home!

~

Dan Musser is a local grinder and ringer, and he won the PTQ with Junk Rock. I am very confident in his build, and I would recommend using his list going forward.

Here's the deck Dan Musser used to win the event:

Standard: Summer Series Championship

Great Lakes Game Emporium held a series of Standard events every Sunday over the course of the summer. I only played in a few, but I did well enough that I snuck into the top 20 by tying for 20th place in points, earning me a slot. The event was free and essentially a reward for playing in the series, and it had prizes including some revised duals, Tundra and Savannah, From the Vault: Realms, From the Vault: Annihilation, an Avacyn Restored Box, a Dark Ascension Box, lots of in-print Boxes and Fat packs, and even free FNM Drafts for half a year.

I played Monoblack Devotion through the series and the entire Standard season, so it was my go-to choice for the event. As a metagame call, I seriously considered switching to the BW Devotion that Owen and Huey played to the Top 8 of PT M15, but I did not have all of the cards handy and I realized that our small local metagame would not look like the Pro Tour, so I stuck to my guns with Monoblack.

Here's the list I played with:

Round 1: Boros Burn

As it went, I started off against Boros Burn, which might have been dicey since I cut all my copies of Staff of the Death Magus before the event, but I had strong draws and played well. Game two was exciting, as I cast Devour Flesh on myself a record three times, including to counter a Warleader's Helix and a Searing Blood.

Rounds 2 and 3: Rabble Red

The next two rounds I came up against Rabble Red, which I have little experience against. I also know that aggressive red opponents are among the hardest matchup.

Still, Monoblack Devotion was well suited to the matchup compared to BW, and I was prepared with sideboarded Pharika's Cure and Drown in Sorrow. I never drew the latter in either match, but I drew the former often. Both of these matches went to three games, and I won by outlasting their early rush and stabilizing, as, once their deck starts drawing lands, their aggression falls off.

I had an incredibly tight game 3 in the first match against Rabble Red. I was on the draw, and my opponent started with a fast curve. At this point he had enough pressure in play that using 1-for-1 removal was not going to win the game. I would be spending my turns killing creatures only to take 4 or more damage in return, a losing proposition.

I figured my only out was to leverage Pack Rat and hope he did not have removal. I played one on turn 2. I played another from my hand on turn 3, along with a Mutvault, giving me two potential 3/3 blockers.

From here on he never attacked me again, and I spent my turns making rat after rat. I played very defensively, ensuring I played around a possible alpha-strike, and I kept removal in hand in case he drew Legion Loyalist to steal the game. When I had four tokens, I went in for an alpha strike that would force his entire team to block, leaving two Mutavaults back on defense. He conceded.

Round 4: Monoblack Devotion

After a 3-0 start, I fell to my friend David in the Monoblack mirror, which he played well.

In game 3, I could have discarded his Erebos, God of the Dead and left him with Underworld Connections, but I figured that on the draw I would be on the losing end of a Connections mirror, and with another enchantment and two Gray Merchant of Asphodel in hand, I could pressure his life total and contain Erebos.

He fought through my overwhelming Underworld Connections advantage with Erebos, God of the Dead as I failed to find a 5th land turn after turn.

Round 5: Jund Planeswalkers

In the final round I took down Jund Planeswalkers by being the more fortunate one in topdeck wars. This match contained one of my most exciting plays ever with Monoblack Devotion--stealing and playing Garruk, Apex Predator with Nightveil Specter!

~

David won the Tundra, I finished in second and got a Savannah and some fancy foil lands in a special box for my troubles, and I called it a tournament well done.

Looking Back, Looking Forward

After the Standard event, I checked out the coverage of GP Utrecht and saw that Blue Devotion won the tournament, with two more copies in the Top 8. It became clear that Blue Devotion would also have been the best metagame call for my local tournament...

The field was packed with Red decks, along with a modest amount of GW Aggro as their foil. David and I were the only Monoblack players; there were three players piloting BW, and that variation struggles in the matchup compared to straight Monoblack Devotion. There was also a surprisingly large number of Jund Planeswalker decks. I like Monoblue Devotion in these matchups, and I believe a skilled Monoblue Devotion player would have been well-poised to win the event, however, I don't recall seeing anyone play the deck.

~

It was clear the metagame of my event was a reflection of the earlier Pro Tour top 8 metagame, while Utrecht's top 8 was a strong reaction to the PT top 8. I imagine the Blue Devotion decks in the top 8 of Utrecht got there by slicing through a field resembling the PT top 8 metagame. A reaction this strong and immediate is fascinating; information from the PT was immediately digested and acted upon by the masses, and the savvy went one step ahead and bested the metagame. It's a strong lesson and a phenomenon I'll be paying close attention to after future events.

-Adam