GP Sydney primer, featuring Sasha Markovic!

Today readers we have two treats for you! First a conversation with an Australian great, Marko Victory, and then a quick word on how to prepare for the mental game that is Magic, da Big Eventz! For starters though:

HI MARK, THANKS FOR JOINING US.
My pleasure, cheers for having me. Let’s get this started.

WHAT'S YOUR MAGIC CAREER LIKE? AND DO YOU RECKON YOU'D BE DOING BETTER OR ABOUT THE SAME IF YOU MAGIC IN AMERICAN?
My career’s included a few PT attendances, one good finish missing top 25 on breakers. I’ve represented Australia in the WMC in 2013. I’ve also got some crazy statistic of something along the lines of 80%+ on cashing a GP, having played around ten. I first started playing competitive MTG in 2010, but a majority of my success has been in the past two years.
I would definitely hope to have a better resume if I lived in the States. They get a much larger piece of the pie when it comes to GP’s, especially compared to the insanely low amount of events we get down here. I also believe that the American skill level is much lower on average than here in Australia.

I KNEW I WASN'T THAT BAD! TRUE, IT'D BE GREAT TO GET MORE AUSSIE EVENTS. TODAY WE'RE LOOKING AT HOW YOU APPROACH SEALED, RELEVANT WITH GP SYDNEY LOOMING IN JUST A WEEK.
A loaded topic. As I’m answering this I’ve played around a hundred matches of M15 limited, most of which has been draft, with maybe 20-25% being sealed. So I feel slightly confident talking about the format. One thing that I have to make clear is that sealed and draft are two pretty different animals in this limited format.
Ok, first things first; when you sit down with the sealed pool that you’ve got to work with I would organise each colour into sub categories, being B.R.E.A.D: Bombs, Removal, Evasion, Abilities, Dudes. This is a pretty generic rule of thumb when it comes to sealed deck play, with order of importance going from left to right.
Ultimately though I am going to try and maximise the amount of powerful spells and pieces of interaction that I can play. I find the sealed format much slower and more midrange than draft. All I’m really hoping for is a bunch of dorky 2/3s to hold the ground in the early game and then trade haymakers later on. It isn’t the most skill intensive limited format of all time, classic MTG in a sense. Being familiar with certain synergies and interactions can be very fruitful though, you don’t want to be taken off guard by anything that's considered common knowledge.
With the nature of the sealed format being this midrange bomb-fest and filler cards to stay alive long enough to cast them you need to value your removal correctly for the appropriate bomb.
I would also advocate playing one Artifact/Enchantment removal spell in the main deck. Almost every deck will have a decent target, be it Juggernaught, Marked by Honor, etc. I will also always play at least one Bronze Sable main if I have the option, even over a “better” two drop. It is very easy to lose to Krenko’s Inforcer or Accursed Spirit, which pack a punch when the board is so clogged and when you’d rather not spend removal on them.
Have a plan for enemy Soul of Xs. They are crazy efficient and powerful. You will lose to them at one point or another and Pillar of Light can see main deck play for this reason.

WHAT DO YOU DO IF YOU GET A REALLY BAD POOL? I MEAN ONE WHERE YOU'RE FORCED INTO THREE COLOURS, AND THEN CREATURES COST 2 THEN 7?
In a normal event I would probably accept the 0-2 Scotch as a consolation prize, but I’ll be taking the GP a lot more seriously. I guess I would still aim for the same idea of dorky defensive cheap creatures, then any pieces of fat/bomb I can play. I might opt for a higher density of bigger threats to help offset the power level difference with better decks. It is MTG though, and sometimes you will open these pools, not much else you can do but move forward and make the best of the situation.

ALRIGHT AND HOW DO YOU THINK YOU'LL DO WITH GP SYDNEY? WE'VE HAD A LOT OF GPS GROW MASSIVELY IN SIZE LATELY, DO YOU THINK WE'LL BREAK THE RECORD FOR AN AUSTRALIAN GP YET AGAIN?
Hopefully I just do my best, not much else I can really ask for. I would be stoked to make it to day two though, I feel that I have a large edge in the draft portion.
I honestly think that attendance will dip a bit. The timing is kind of weird with students, a big portion of the target market, but it will be reasonably sized none the less. Sealed events tend to attract a lot more people. I honestly wouldn’t be too surprised if it cracked a thousand though, but I haven’t put too much thought into it.

WHAT ABOUT THE CHANGES TO PTQS AND GPS? THEY SEEM GREAT FOR THE U.S. MOST OF ALL, AND NO SO GOOD FOR OUR BELOVED APAC REGION.
As a grinder I rather enjoy the changes even for us. I like to see the preliminary qualifiers as the first few rounds of the current larger PTQ’s. Sure, I have to win the thing, but I get multiple chances to do so. What I’m trying to say is that winning one of these preliminaries is similar to starting off 4-0/5-0 at a current PTQ. Realistically though a lot of people do not have the same view as I have and makes competitive MTG much more daunting to a newer/unexperienced player.

WHAT ABOUT NEXT YEARS GPS? BOTH SEALED, ONE IN AUCKLAND (MARCH) AND THE OTHER IN SYDNEY (NOT TIL OCTOBER)!? DO YOU PREFER WHEN GPS ARE IN SYDNEY, OR DO YOU THINK IT SHOULD BE SPREAD AROUND MORE AMONGST THE CAPITAL CITIES? HOW ABOUT JUST THE ACT AND SYDNEY ONE YEAR, YEAH?
Personally I’m not fussed. I’m trying to exit the game anyway so more reasons not to grind are a plus. Both formats being sealed isn’t a huge issue, a lot of the better players will prefer constructed formats but they will still show up. Any of the three major cities is fine, I don’t have any qualms with it being in Sydney again, but I always do enjoy a trip down to Melbourne.

(I WAS JOKING, OH DEAR ANGRY NON-SYDNEY READERS! I LOVE TRAVELLING TO QLD/VIC)
SURE, I SECRETLY LOVE MELBOURNE AND WOULD MOVE DOWN THERE IF WORK EVER PERMITTED IT. OK, LAST QUESTION: WHAT DO YOU HOPE TO OPEN AT THE GP? LIKE IMAGINE A POOL WITH ONLY TWO COLOURS, AND 2-3 BOMBS BETWEEN 'EM. WHAT COLOUR COMBO?
The dream would be mono white with multiple Soul of Theros’. Triplicate Spirits is not a very fair card.

ALRIGHT MARK, THANKS FOR YOUR TIME! DO YOU HAVE A FACEBOOK OR TWITTER FOR PEOPLE TO FOLLOW YOU?
Sure do, you can find me on Facebook, just search for Markovictory, or hit me up on twitter via @markovictory.

ALRIGHT CHEERS. THANKS AGAIN MATE!
No worries, catch you at the GP. Hopefully in a feature match!


NOW for something completely expected.

This next section I want to talk about the mindset I take to a Magic tournament. I read a lot of articles (channelfireball.com is great for it, as well as the paid content on starcitygames.com, and blackborder.com, and of course yours truly isn't that bad at it, if somewhat sporadic) and that's good knowing the theory of the game, and what's correct in many different situations. The main problem I know people face is not playing enough. Knowing how to drive a car and actually driving it are totally different. You get to feel the acceleration of the peddle, how it takes a corner, how smooth it runs along the M4, whether it's a good time of day to even take it out (3pm is horrid, everyone's picking up their kids!) etc.

Likewise knowing Magic, or a match up, is good but unless you actually play it you wont have a good feel for it. So the best article advice that all the Pros definitely agree on is practice. Nothing's better than prepping yourself for the kind of deck you want to play, and that means everything is viable (there is a playable deck for all 10 colour combinations), and being able to identify and build your own pool from the choices provided is good, but you've also got to realise the opening of your cards is a real lottery.

I love blue/white skies with a red splash, but what if I open nothing playable beyond black/green? Brilliant, I love heavy ground hitters with spot removal to clear the opponent's utility creatures. Wait, Golgari are pissed at the Core set and I opened some Izzet contraption? Even better, counter-burn is always a viable deck that plenty of players will be tripped up by. Do they play their creature into your counterspell, if you even have one? What if they cast a good one, and you can burn it end of turn, untap, draw, and pass it straight back, still with a counter in hand? Adaptability to your card pool is key to not seeing your cards and tilting on the spot.

My next best advice is to keep costs down. If a card costs 1 mana, does it at least have 2 power, or an ability worth a card? Forge Devil, for example, looks incredibly weak and durdly, but there are 31 creatures with 1 toughness in M15, and they're all going to get in the way (Sunblade Elf and Xathrid Slyblade both have measures against 1 damage, mind). Not only that, but a 1/1 body can trade with a lot of creatures for the exact same reason. Is Mark's Bronze Sable holding off your Krenko's Enforcer? Forge Devil says YES! to killing it. Or probably "ICKGKRGH", I dunno, I can't speak Infernal. Another worthwhile 1 drop is Sunblade Elf. A 2/2 for G, assuming you've got a Plains, and the ability to +1/+1 your entire team will help all the weenie decks get their last few attacks through. Even better is the natural nature of "tricks in plain sight". A lot of people are aware of them and will factor them into your attack, respecting the ability without you ever having to activate it. Or they don't see the trick, and make a play that you can blow out, without spending a card!

Your two drops should be able to kill other two drops, and sometimes trade up. Red and white both have 3 power 2-drops (Borderland Marauder and Oresko Swiftclaw) which allows for some decks to really punish slower decks that haven't brought any early solutions. Both have 2 or less toughness though, so any body in the way must help you survive these attempts at early beaters.

3 drops become more varied, and really help the game take shape. Geist of the Moors is an Uncommon but will definitely be played for it's evasion and because it's power is oncurve with it's cost. Does that mean we'll wait until turn 3/4 to use our Forge Devil in game 2, anticipating a Geist of the Moors and allowing the Oresko Swiftclaw to hit us for one turn?

Four mana is where the game really hots up. People will cast their best spells asap, assuming you're showing no obvious signs of counters, and on four mana we have 3 Planeswalkers (Ajani, Chandra, Jace) as well Perilous Vault, plenty of chunky normal dudes and all the Paragons! This is the best turn to keep your mana open, either for killing or countering, and if you don't heed this advice then be prepared for some pain.
From five mana and above you get some slower to cast cards, but that just means they should really knock the game sideways for everyone. Garruk costs 7 but do not play him if you can't drag the game out, without milling yourself. G/B is the colour of self-mill, and there's a few cards that support the archetype, Satyr Wayfinder and Undergrowth Scavenger being enabler and abuser #1. You might feel good as the game goes long but if you've milled your deck into your bin just as Garruk comes out how much longer will your deck last?

Here's some cards that are worth paying extra mana for, because they genuinely alter how the game runs: Aegis Angel, AEtherspouts, Burning Anger, Cone of Flame, Constripting Sliver, Covenant of Blood, Feral Incarnation, Flesh to Dust, Hornet Queen, Indulgent Tormentor, Jace's Ingenuity, Master of Predicaments, Nightfire Giant, Nissa Worldwaker, Ob Nixilus, Unshackled, Overwhelm, Resolute Archangel, Sanctified Charge, Scuttling Doom Engine, Siege Wurm (who will show up before turn 7, natch'), Stormtide Leviathan, Triplicate Spirits (also cast before turn 6) and all 6 Souls of X.

The above cards all share certain characteristics in common. When cast, they either rip wholes in the current game state (Cone of Flame, Hornet Queen, Triplicate Spirits) which are pretty much my definition of Bombs. Other cards will have a hugely felt presence, even if it takes a few turns to actually utilise their full power (Master of Predicaments, Nightfire Giant, Burning Anger) which are close to game winning on their own, but simply showing up wont achieve that. There's usually a turn for your opponent to kill the creature, or remove the Enchantment, etc etc. Then there's other cards which are so versatile it's up to the opponent to have to correct response to the mode of use you've choosen for a card, like Nissa Worldwaker. Do you want +4 mana a turn, or to make creatures that your control opponent can't counter? How many 4/4s can they deal with? Do they have any way to remove an 8/8 Islandwalker when everyone else suddenly can't attack? Should your opponent now keep a hold of their Pillar of Light next game in anticipation of Stormtide Leviathan, or use it as soon as they get an opportunity, in hopes of closing out the game BEFORE that point?

A few cards I haven't listed which might seem like bombs, so I'll speak briefly about them too.
Avacyn, Endless Obedience, Hoarding Dragon, In Garruk's Wake, Kalonian Twingrove, Kapsho Kitefins, Meteorite, Miner's Bane, and Obelisk of Urd.

Avacyn is on this list purely for her low toughness, there is a lot of 4 damage spells running around (black, red and technically white have one) and she can't protect herself from anything, so she isn't a trap but is far less secure then people will give her credit for. Others like Endless Obedience and Hoarding Dragon look good, but they NEED a worthwhile card to fetch up, or they wont do anything amazing. Worse yet is the "slow draw" of Hoarding Dragon, because your opponent might just neglect to kill it, via exile or Encrust. Then where's your bomb Artifact? Kalonian Twingrove loses consistency for needing Forests, and Kapsho Kitefins cost 6, so after that point how many creatures can you have left in hand? Not a great amount, unless you're playing blue/white skies and Triplicate Spirits in hand. Miner's Bane is another bad card, because 3 toughness is simple enough to trade for. Normally paying 6 for a 6/X is where red wants it's dinosaurs, but even a 6/4 would be better. A 6/3 trades for only two mana and Lightning Strike, costing you an entire turn for no real advancement. It's also only good for one trample activation typically, because your opponent will jam 3 power in it's way. Meteorite is actually at the bottom of the good list, and the top of the bad list. It gets you from 5 to 7 mana in one turn, and can kill a 2 toughness thing, but it does cost 5. If your opponent has a 5-drop bomb, and your 5-drop is simply going to smooth out your mana and colour a little, then you are lacking in the oomph department.

So expect a lot of durdling back and forth in the early game, until serious cards begin to come online. Just make sure that you don't get trapped by what seems like a good card which is only an okay-if-nothing-else-is-happening card, and don't forget to reevaluate cards that don't-do-anything-except-against-card-X. Triplicate Spirits is a horrid card if your opponent has Festerglooms, right?

THANKS FOR READING!, and hopefully I wont take so long to write the next one,
Fox Murdoch.