We received a text message from Ogie Jaro yesterday, asking us what our email address was; because he has an article for us. It was a pleasant surprise and something that we are honored to have here in our website. While everyone else is busy with the upcoming Gold Rush and all its trials, limited players are still busy playing limited.

Without further ado, here it is:

It has been a couple of years since I wrote “Filipino Field Journal” for the Philippine Magic mothership. The reason is pretty simple, really: I am just too damn lazy. Lazy enough that now that I’ve decided to start writing again, I find it to be too much work to try completing all the unfinished business from my previous articles or at least try to give this new series any semblance of continuity.

In any case, you may call this series a reboot, a Kuldotha Rebirth or Kuldotha Phoenix rising, call it whatever you want, just don’t call it a comeback… I’ve been here for years. (Always wanted to use an old school hip-hop reference)

This year I scrubbed out of 2 Pro Tours, 2 Grand Prix and Nationals, which basically obliterated any streak of success I claimed to have in previous years. So why do you need to read this, considering how much of a failure I have been? You don’t. But hey, it’s not like you have any other options. You can read the foreign sites all you want but it won’t satisfy your craving for good ol’ Philippine Magic writing. At least, that’s what I am telling myself to believe that my articles will be read by people other than JT (I’m assuming he has to read this when he posts it on the website) and Kurt (maybe not Kurt).

The mission which I have chosen to accept is to win all three Pro Tours and the World Championship next year, Player of the Year obviously included with all the points I’m getting, maybe a couple of Grand Prix and second at Nationals (I want to concede in the finals to Jason Ascalon, he really wants it, and I’m not that greedy). Realistically, maybe just twenty Pro Points and even more probable just winning something, anything relevant again.

The Beginning, Part 2

After a depressing PT Amsterdam (Magic-wise) and Nationals (death in the wife’s family), I stopped playing for a month or so. But with the coming of Scars of Mirrodin, the follow-up to the set where I was “pulled back in” (another old school reference, God I’m old), the call of the card siren was just to strong.

I bought 50 tix on MTGO and started grinding in the M11 drafts, hoping to make enough for an obscene number of prerelease and release events. After a handful of drafts, winning more than losing with forced UW, I found myself up 20 something tix… yeah I know, wow. I lost a couple of drafts next and was right back where I started. M11 was officialy a waste of time. I basically needed to win every single 8-4 I joined or a modest 95% of the time and open Primeval Titan and Baneslayer Angel every other draft if I wanted to get to Prerelease Nirvana.

I looked to the classifieds and was surprised to see that most of the Mythics in Zendikar and Worldwake were going for 5 to 7 tix and Jace TMS at an insane minimum of 70 tix. Fetchlands were at 4 to 5 tix and many rares at 3 to 5. I bought a Zendikar draft set and never looked back, forcing BR get there and monoblack to 180+ tix profit in a week, although opening a Jace accounted for a good bulk of that. BR was never short on playables and the pieces were redundant, i.e. the two drops all look the same and removal is removal, so you could draft any 3+ tix rare you opened while still coming up with a winning deck. For example, in one draft I took a Warren Instigator (5 tix), Fetchland (4) and Stoneforge Mystic (5) in one draft (paying for the draft itself) and still ended up with a pile that split in the finals for another 6 packs.

Sometimes Wizards just screws up and gives us draft formats like these and its always important to take advantage. The last time it happened was 9th ed draft where you just drafted Red Green 3 Power and could take WOG and painlands (when lands were still worth something). Llanowar Elf into Trained Armodon into Order of the Sacred Bell with Hammer and/or Shock in hand? GG.

Anyway, with my landfall (see what I did there?) from Zendikar, I had enough to go nuts in the SOM prerelease. I won a lot but that was due more to the quality of competition than anything else. Lately though, with the pros coming out of the woodwork, I’m at 50/50 and with the crashes and disconnects (which I’m too lazy to work out the refunds), I’ve lost most of the spoils from Zendikar. I wanted to give you a comprehensive primer on how to win in SOM, as a small reward for you making it this far in the article, but I don’t think I’m qualified yet. I do have some observations, the correctness of which has yet to be determined.

The BR Conley Woods deck and the Kuldotha Rebirth deck – I’ve enjoyed most of my success with these archetypes, but that’s probably due in part to the Zendikar drafting which is similar in strategy. Just pick 2 drops and panic spellbombs, usually good for 2-1, 3-0 if you don’t go up against any ‘insane’ deck. You can also pick up money rares since most of the pieces wheel.

Amusing (?) story – In game 3 of a finals, I was up against a bombalicious but slow deck. On the play, I opened on mountain, Chimeric Mass for zero and Kuldotha Rebirth. Got there.

The poison deck – This always seems like an underpowered deck even if you draft it right. I’m never comfortable with it and I’ve lost more than won whenever I’ve had the misfortune to draft it. If there was a Giant Growth in the set, I’m talking one to cast reasonable pump and not you Mighty Punch, then this deck would probably be more successful. I would probably avoid it in drafts that matter, even if I opened up the Hand or P-fax. However, Kazuya and PV believe otherwise and I would probably listen to the actual PT winners than Mr. No PT Day 2.

Mana Myr – I just don’t get it. They seem overrated to me. When they’re good, they’re just good. Nothing to write home about. Most of the time, they just attack for 1 on turn 3. Other times they just contribute to the brokenness that is Arc Trail.

Golden Urn – Small underrated find for metalcraft decks. I’ve never been disappointed in playing this turn 1 (to 3) to get metalcraft and make racing a little more difficult for the opponent. Sucks against poison though.

Clone Shell – Is a trap. Unless you have good targets AND sac outlets, just leave it in the sideboard.

The format seems fast but the decks that can recover against fast starts also seem to be prevalent. Bottomline, I have no idea what to tell you… just yet.

I am running a little long and just rambling so I’ll just catch up with you next week.

- Ogie

I know right; BITIN! We can discuss this further on facebook or just wait for Ogie to write the next episode.