Sunday, May 20, 2012

Preparing for SCG.com Open Nashville - Franklin Cammack (05/20/2012)


So I honestly cannot believe that I have been asked to write articles from Geeks Etc. I know you have never heard of me so let me tell you a little about myself. My name is Franklin Cammack, I have been back into Magic the Gathering since June/July 2010. It was right around M11 released. Since then I have played in StarCityGames.com Open events, which in the last 3 I have finished with winning records, as well as a couple of Grand Prix, the latest being in Nashville where I finished 6-3, being eliminated in the last round of day 1. I have also won a Grand Prix Trials at Geeks Etc which sent me to play in Grand Prix San Diego last fall.   So while I have yet to win the big one, I am on my way.

My preferred format is Sealed, I can think quicker on the fly, but in this article I would like to talk a little about how to prepare for a large standard tournament. We have StarCityGames.com Open in Nashville this next weekend May 26/27. There are a few rules you should follow when preparing for an event of this caliber.

1. Study previous tournaments
The reason why I say this is, pros plan to play the same types of decks over and over. We see the winner of SCG.com Orlando being Wolf Run Ramp and last week in Madison G/R Aggro. While they may not be the same deck there are A LOT of similarities. Delver, Pod, and Esper has been in the tops for a while. Know what your deck has to do to be able to beat these matchups.   Whether you need to main board a few Ghost Quarter or maybe come up with Cavern of Souls can help push your deck over your opponents. You won’t really know this until you…

2. Playtest, Playtest, Playtest
If you don’t know your deck inside and out, you will lose. It is that easy. Didn’t know that newly acquired Cavern of Souls tapped for any color mana if your casting a creature of that type? That’s because you’ve not read the card enough before you played it in a situation where it counted. Thought you could Vapor Snag  a Vexing Devil before it went to the graveyard when your opponent said sacrifice it? You need to play test the deck your wanting to use in at least a dozen matches before you fill out that deck list Saturday morning. You can do this with friends, in your local store, or during FNM’s. If your not seeing Tier 1 competition at your local, check the map and drive 30 minutes to find one that might. Geeks Etc in Tullahoma has some of the best players in the state. You can bet you will find competition there.

3. Know your sideboard
Your sideboard will win you more games than your actual deck. It needs to contain cards that you know will help you beat any of the decks that you have studied beforehand. Gut Shot to take out Inkmoth Nexus  or an Delver of Secrets, check. Nihil Spellbomb to clear out Frites or that random solar flare, check. Acidic Slime  to handle token pumps, swords, wolf run, check. If there are cards in the sideboard that do not serve a specific purpose, get rid of it. You don’t need it. Don’t have that Angelic Destiny in there because you think it would be cool to cast. Yes it is a huge card that can win you games, but is it better than what is in your deck? Make wise choices and leave out the stuff that you don’t need. Also don’t be afraid to make a last second choice the morning of if you are seeing a lot of a certain deck being registered. I did at the last SCG.com event I went to. I saw several infect decks floating around so I side boarded Melira, Sylvok Outcast, and used her in 3 different rounds.

While following these rules won’t guarantee a top 8 placing or anything, you at least have a better chance of winning a few more rounds. It is all about progress. The more you play, the better you should get, and eventually your cards will play out perfect. Good Luck, see you in Nashville.

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