This is the second part of my PTQ report. If you haven’t read the first one you should do it
here.When we left, I was doing very well in the 2nd round of the PTQ. I was excited and confident. I finished the second matchup quite late, because my opponent was a slow player, so I didn’t had time to ask my friends their records.
Round 3: Alfredo Perez
My next opponent was a well-known player in Mexico, although he’s not very famous he does pretty well constantly, and he plays frequently in this kind of tournaments. He was very kind, after we wished each other good luck, we began to play. My opponent started with a forest, an island and a Wall of Tanglecord, while I opened with a mana Myr and a Glint Hawk that stayed on defense. After his third turn I bashed with my Hawk and he blocked with his wall, then I cast Cerebral Eruption which luckily revealed a Putrefax that sweeped his board and revealed to me the U/G Infect/Proliferate deck he was playing. My opponent was stuck on 4 lands while I kept up the beats with my newly Trigon of Rage. Shortly afterwards, my opponent conceded. The second game was a short one, my opponent had a third turn Cystbearer and a fourth turn Putrefax thanks to a Silver Myr and a Throne of Geth so we were off to game three. Alfredo mulligained to five, and I kept the aggro beatdown with Trigon of Rage, Glint Hawk and Kemba’s Skyguard.
3-0 (6-2)
Round 4: Carlos Cordero
Carlos was playing right next to me last round. His deck performed very well against his opponent, he was playing a Boros aggro deck like I was, but his deck featured Sunblast Angel and Wurmcoil Engine. In the first game I had to mulligan to six while Carlos kept his initial seven. His first play of the match was a Memnite and he passed, while I played an Origin Spellbomb which got cycled for a Myr token and a card. He kept playing creatures like Snapsail Glider and Glint Hawk to put pressure on me, but then I drew the one and only Cerebral Eruption, revealing Chrome Steed, which cleared his board whilst dealing 5 damage to my opponent. The next turn I cast Elspeth and he conceded immediately. The second game he mulligained, while I kept my initial hand this time. Carlos started fast with double Memnite on the first turn and an Auriok Edgewright on the second turn. I tried to kept things under control by trading my creatures with his, but everything was lost when he played Wurmcoil Engine, so we went to game 3. I mulligained again and he kept. Carlos again played a lot of creatures like in the first game but this time I didn’t have the Eruption. My first play was a turn four Bloodshot Trainee and an Elspeth Tirel the following turn. After some stalling I did Elspeth's ultimatum ability with a pair of tokens, and Carlos couldn’t recover.
4-0 (8-3)
Round 5: Luis Cortes
Luis was playing a Red/Green deck with lots of removal like Sylvok Replica, Shatter and Oxidda Scrapmelter so I knew this one was going to be hard. I won the roll and opened with a Trigon of Rage and a Kemba’s Skyguard, while Luis began with a Darksteel Myr. I started bashing through the air with my Skyguard, but that didn’t last long because Luis cast a Wall of Tanglecord. The turn after that I cast Elspeth and used the -2 ability to keep the pressure on. I continued to attack with my soldiers, until he conceded. The second game began with a Wall of Tanglecord on the second turn. While I started with a Myr and a Glint Hawk, after that I cast Mimic Vat and the next turn Carlos did the same. Later I cast Vulshok Replica and Carlos followed with a Sylvok Replica. Both Replicas traded, and I imprinted my Replica on my Vat while he imprinted hi, however I exiled his Vat with Revoke Existence. He was stuck on 4 lands, and with me having a free bolt to the dome every turn it was an easy win.
5-0 (10-3)
I was 5-0, and it was an amazing feeling. At the moment I was thinking I could intentionally draw in the next two rounds to secure a spot in the Top 8, but I was paired with the guy with a 4-0-1 record. That meant it wasn’t going to be that easy to get into the Top 8.
Round 6: Cristiam Padilla
Cristiam won the roll and he kept his first hand while I mulligained again to 6. After my trip to Paris, I decided to keep and the round started, as usual I started on a Trigon and a Skyguard, but Cristiam decided not to let damage through with a Skinrender. Afterwards I tried to resolve my planeswalker but he decided that wasn’t correct and countered it with a Stoic Rebuttal. Those were my three spells of the game. In game two, I mulligained again, and kept a super aggro hand, with a Myr, Glint Hawk, Trigon, two lands and Elspeth just in case the game went long. I opened with my Myr and my Hawk. Cristiam didn’t play anything until turn four in which he played a Darkslick Drake. I kept the pressure on and he conceded with no other play. In game three Cristiam was overwhelmed by three mulligans and I won easily.
6-0 (12-4)
I had secured my spot on the Top 8! It was an amazing feeling, it really felt really really well.
Round 7: Alfredo Domínguez
Alfredo and I decided to intentionally draw.
6-0-1 (13-5)
I tried to relax a little bit, my friends and my brother were telling me they were very proud of me. A lot of people were telling me to clear my mind so I could play my best Magic, obviously I wanted to go to Paris so I followed their advice.
Top 8 Draft
Sadly, my draft deck disappeared, but I remember it was a nice U/R deck with Galvanic Blast, double Tumble Magnet, Oxidda Scrapmelter and Trigon of Rage. I felt confident about it. When the real thing began, my opponent was Marcelino Freeman, the current mexican champion. I had watched him play a couple of times during the event and he was good, really good.
Quarterfinals: Marcelino Freeman
He won the roll and started with a Blight Mamba and a Contagious Nim, which made clear what Marcelino was trying to do from the beginning. I played a Trigon, and some mana Myrs. Marcelino rapidly put me on nine poison counters and then cast Throne of Geth so quickly I was 0-1. On the second game I had a trip to Paris, and kept a two lander hand with some Myrs, the sad news was that I never got the third land for my second color, and Marcelino got a nice draw, so I was dead in 7 turns.
6-1-1 (13-7)
It felt a little bad to go so far but have nothing in return but a few packs, but I was so proud of myself, that it didn’t mattered. I played my best Magic, and I had a good time with my friends playing the game that I love, so it was an awesome experience.
Thank you for reading, please comment and tell me what you like and what you didn’t.
Happy Brewing,
Fernando Gutiérrez
