SCGCON Philly Weekend- 5k Top 4 with Rakdos Midrange
Introduction
Hello, friends! My name is Simon Byrne and I love to play Magic: The Gathering. I began playing with my dad when I was 9 years old and have been playing very informally competitively on and off ever since. I am a student at Haverford College and on the weekend of November 11-13 2022, it was an easy decision for me to try and play in events in SCGCON Philadelphia as it was local. I love Modern (which will come as the important result), but the main event was Pioneer and I had to try my luck.
Testing, Deck Choice, and Results from Main Event-Pioneer 30k
This section will be short because the article is not mainly about this but I think it is important to talk about. I recently got an MTGO account, and am “wolverinemtg” if anyone is interested. This was vital for testing as I was able to play lots of matches without traveling and try a bunch of different decks for the main event. I landed on a rather unimpressive Bant Spirits list because the deck felt consistent and flyers are still great. On the Friday before the main event, I made some poor decisions on how to spend my night if I wanted to win a Magic event, as one can imagine a college student would. I have no regrets, however, as I love hanging out with my friends. I went an unimpressive 2-3 after a 2-1 start, which eliminated me from Day 2, so I just dropped and went home. In combination of poor decisions the night before, being overwhelmed by the size of the event, of which I have not played in years, and my losses being to Adam Becker who topped the swiss with Lotus Field, a Bant Spirits mirror to a former SCG champ, and Will Thompson on Keruga Fires, this day was just not my day and I have to make peace with that. I was a little disappointed but was just going to play modern for fun in the 5k the next day.
Deck Choice for the Modern 5k on Sunday
Aforementioned, I love modern and got to play a lot on MTGO before the event. I would like to thank whoever did well in a modern challenge with a Rakdos Midrange deck that inspired me to play what I did. Here is the list:
I have a couple reasons for picking this deck over some anticipated questions. Why this over Rakdos Scam? I believe this deck at the top end is NOT better than Rakdos Scam. However, I think its average draws are better than Scam’s, and its worst draws are less awkward, though comparable. I also honestly did not have 4 Fury or 4 Grief and did not want to purchase them for the event if I already had this deck. Another noticeable group of cards is the 4 DRC and 4 Bauble. In other iterations of Rakdos Midrange I’ve played, the clock has been a little slow and did not close games out quick enough. The lack of endurance in the format also made me more than ok to register this set of cards. I think this deck is actually more comparable to Murktide than Scam, just with discard instead of counterspells. Dauthi instead of Ledger Shredder, Seasoned Pyromancer instead of Expressive Iteration, and Kroxa/Tourach instead of Murktide. I also really like Murktide and had the cards for it, but like this deck even more and just wanted to have fun on Sunday after Saturday’s disappointment even if I think Murktide is a better deck. I did not do anything silly Saturday night and felt well-rested and prepared for the 5k at 9am Sunday. I
3. Swiss Rounds and Comments
Round 1: I played against Michael Mapson on RUG Breach, who was very nice and a pleasure to play against. Game 1, Dauthi was fantastic, and I was able to interact enough that their deck could not do much. Game 2, Michael had a Wrenn and Six on turn 2 on the play and I was unable to recover from the card advantage. Game 3, I got very lucky and drew 2 straight Kolaghan’s Commands while Michael bricked a little.
1-0
Round 2: I played against UR Murktide, again against a nice opponent. In game 1, my removal lined up well with their threats, and Seasoned Pyromancer was too much for them to handle. In Game 2, I had hearse resolve early and it became a quick non-game with their threats being to small and me drawing terminates from the board.
2-0
Round 3: I played against 4C Creativity, which I believe is actually an ok matchup. I do not remember this match super well, but I know my opponent made a couple over the board mistakes that may have cost them while I won in 3. It felt closer than it should have been.
3-0
Round 4: I then played against burn, which I have played several times against on MTGO and know it is a 50/50 matchup. In Game 1 I won the die roll and had good mana without doing too much damage to myself and that was enough to win. Please board out thoughtsieze and blood moon against burn. Game 2, we raced and I was a Ragavan hitting a burn spell away from winning, but it did not. Onto game 3, I curved out with a kicked Tourach on 4, which was an MVP as he hit 2 good burn spells, and was big enough to kill my opponent.
4-0
Round 5: Here I played against Rakdos Scam and the consistency showed. In Game 1, we traded resources early until they feign deathed a fury on an empty board, and I had the Lilliana. The game was over from there, but I made a notable mistake I would like to highlight. Later in this game I attacked into an undying Seasoned Pyromancer after I cast a discard spell and they responded with giving pyromancer undying. Yikes. Lesson learned and fatigue was apparent. Lucky it did not end up mattering. Game 2, DRC was too much pressure with card selection that I was able to remove threats when I wanted with a quick clock.
5-0
Round 6: Here was the match I feel the most lucky to win. I was playing against Steven Yean, known Yawgmoth master and do not have the Furys to necessarily keep up. Game 1, I had a lot of pressure but Endurance slowed it down, and Steven regained control of the board with an empty had. I got SUPER lucky and drew exactly Kroxa while Yean was at 3. Game 2 was Grist, Grist, and more Grist. Much like Murktide, this deck folds to that card really hard and Steven had it early. Game 3 I was removing threats and attacking with Dauthi and DRC. Steven got super excited when he ripped a Yawgmoth on a formidable board but realized he did not have two black mana to cast it as a result of playing around blood moon, which I boarded out. Next turn I killed his only black source and the unblock able creatures were enough of a clock.
6-0
The next two rounds, I intentionally drew and was officially in the top 8! I was super excited for my first ever cash finish after all of these years of playing Magic.
6-0-2
Top 8 (It’s me in the Orange!)
I will shortly describer the top 8 and a mistake I made. In the quarterfinals I got to be on the play against 4C Creativity, which felt easy somehow, with removal and thoughtseize destroying their game plan. Opponent was very nice.
In the Semis, I got to be on the play against Ian Hendry on Jeskai Breach, and in Game 1, I rolled over them with lots of early threats, turn 1 Ragavan being over the top. Game 2 was a GRIND and grinds are won by unchecked Emrys. Game 3 was close to a nongame, but I top decked Seasoned Pyromancer to stay in it. Later in the game I made a mistake I am much better then, but it is important to acknowledge. I had a Magus of the Moon in play, but dashed a Ragavan with one of my two swamps, leaving my unable to cast Dauthi post-combat. I am unsure if it cost me the game, but it did not help and may have made Ian play differently. He was also great and very respectful.
Round Up Thoughts
Upon actually seeing the trophy and not qualifying for San Diego, I was a little disappointed, even with the cash prize, but I learned a lot.
Deck: Deck felt very good and streamlined, I would add another fury to the sideboard and think about adding Surgical Extractions to replace the Necromentias. The Castle could be a Shizo, but that feels 50/50. This deck plays like a classic rock deck and I recommend it over Jund and Death’s Shadow as the fair thoughtseize deck of choice right now.
What I did well:
I think over the 5k, I did well with discard spells, disrupting opponents in the right way. I think I understood game schemes and role-assessment in the matchups very well.
What I did poorly and what I can improve on:
I think my technical play lacked a little in the two mistakes I made, and I am sure I made plenty of other mistakes. I would also like to learn how to play non-thoughtseize decks better (like Murktide) and use logic to deduce what is in my opponent’s hand without actually seeing it. This should allow me to play more powerful decks, not just decks I like and am comfortable with.
Playing Competitively:
I loved playing in a high stakes tournament like this and would like to do more. I feel like I owe it to my to my younger self to qualify for the pro-tour before I die, which I believe is super doable. However, as a senior I think I need to focus on school and being employed before I can devote the proper time to this. I would like to improve and will probably seek coaching, and maybe be involved a lot more in the competitive Magic scene.