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,
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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