July Mission Accomplished - Now Onto a Historic August

At the time of writing this I’m sitting at roughly +/- #400 on the Constructed Mythic ladder, with about two hours left to go in the July 2020 season. At this point, it’s safe to say that I will have accomplished my mission of beating my final rank from June (#920), though not better than my all time best.

Admittedly, I did backtrack a bit in my commitment to ladder hard this final week. After moving up roughly 600+ spots on Monday, I took off from the ladder on Tuesday and Wednesday entirely. Contrary to popular belief, even Temur players can get tired of seeing turn 2 Growth Spiral over and over again, and it ended up being a pretty busy week for me outside of Magic.

However, I did get back to my mission on Thursday and I put in the work to follow through on my goal: beat last month’s rank. Here’s a breakdown of the matches.

Thursday, 7/30

935 - 4C Reclamation - Despite a punt from me late in G1 in which I miscounted my mana and could have made my Explosion fatal, my opponent thought it was reason enough to concede. Opp mulled to 5 in G2, and I kept a hand with Ketria Triome, Breeding Pool, Growth Spiral and three counters after seeing them mull. I went on to hit my land drops in turns 3 and 4, eventually countering their Kenrith on turn 5. They conceded the match right there. My punt in G1 proves how quick rust can build up when you take two straight days off from the ladder. Win 2-0.

570 - 4c Reclamation (Black). Matched against a very talented player in Erin Kaiba, who I believe played in a recent Players Tour. Last time I played this opponent I made a hairline error in G3 that cost me the match, so I saw this as a great opportunity to not only beat an accomplished and talented player, but to atone for previous mistakes and play good Magic. However, simply recalling that previous match in my mind was a huge mistake in itself - one that I’ll explore in greater depth in the coming weeks.

That said, while I thought that I generally played much tighter this time around, I didn’t draw particularly well and felt behind throughout both games. As expected, my opponent played really well and did a nice job of eliminating any potential opportunities I may have had to pull back in G1 - despite my best efforts to dig for cards that may have helped me reach parity.

The only black card I saw from my opponent throughout the entire match was Heartless Act in G1. I could see some qty of Thought Erasure being solid in a Temur black list, but if we’re going 4-color, playing white is just ridiculously powerful and preferable to me. However, BIG props to the opponent for getting creative in a pretty stale format. Loss 0-2.

1202 - Sultai. Key play here was using Expansion on my opp’s Cultivate, which enabled me to hit a T3 Wilderness Reclamation and just get way, way ahead in G1. Nothing to note in G2. Play your countermagic if you have it, keep Nissa off the battlefield and do the Wolf shark beatdown thing. Win 2-0.

846 - Golgari Adventures. Opponent had a fast start in G1 and I mulled to 4 in G2 after seeing a no-lander and two one-land hands. This match is another example of why you keep Bonecrusher Giant in your ladder lists. Loss 0-2

1256 - 4c Ramp. Nothing much to say here. This was a hybrid between Sultai and Bant, so sideboarding was tricky and came down to me deciding whether or not to respect Thought Distortion. Fortunately I drew pretty well and found ways to keep Teferi and Elspeth Conquers Death off of the battlefield. Thought Distortion not a factor. Win 2-0.

1142 - Sultai. Interesting G1, which went down to the wire. KEY PLAY: My opponent went to 8 life after casting a Hydroid Krasis, and they already had a Nissa, Who Shakes the World and two 3/3 lands on the battlefield. I had a 5/5 shark and a single Brazen Borrower in hand. With my opponent tapped out, I knew that my only out was bouncing the Krasis (yeah, I know) and drawing an Explosion.

However, I only had 7 mana available, so if I was going to commit to this line, I’d have to bounce the Krasis on my opponent’s end step. So I did.

And friends, I’m here to tell you that sometimes dreams do come true, as evidenced by that very next card I drew. I cast a 3pt. Explosion in my first main phase and swung at the head for 5 to take G1. But in all seriousness, this is a clear example of why it’s important to do your best to identify your outs and know exactly how to execute to reach them.

G2 I was able to beat down with creatures, though my opponent’s Thought Distortion yielded only a single Explosion. Win 2-0.

647 - Mirror. Did a really nice job here of coming back in G1 and forcing my opponent to expend their resources at times that weren’t optimal for them.

Notable play (this is one you’ll want to pay attention to) was ticking a Blast Zone up to 6 and sacrificing it on my main phase to destroy their Shark Typhoon. Doing so caused my opponent to cast a Growth Spiral and a 2pt. Explosion on my 2/2 Zombie token to get more shark tokens. But more importantly, my opponent tapped out in the process. With loads of mana still available and a Shark Typhoon of my own in hand, I turned around and cast Wilderness Reclamation. After cycling the Shark Typhoon, I drew a Nightpack Ambusher, followed by an Explosion a turn later. Fun, fun win.

In G2 I kept a two-lander with lots of countermagic. Again, I didn’t miss a land drop and was able to resolve a Wilderness Reclamation around turn 5. My opponent conceded shortly thereafter. Win 2-0.

After reaching #310, I decided to stop laddering, at least until Friday. So much for my conflict.

Friday, 7/31 - 2:09 PM EST.

With 51 minutes left to go in the July 2020 season, I’m still sitting at #400 on the Constructed Ladder, which not only accomplishes my goal of beating last month’s rank, but marks three consecutive months of reaching Top 1200.

This achievement doesn’t have any tangible value in terms of qualifying or reaching the Players Tour. But looking back on the months I’ve missed Top 1000/Top 1200 and all the times I swore off laddering, this milestone is a testament to how persistence, hard work and adaptability are rewarded in MTG.

There’s still a lot of work ahead as I continue to aim to become the best player I possibly can be - and I’m looking forward to taking that next step in my development by diving into Historic in August.

I’ve dabbled a bit in the format in recent weeks but still have yet to commit to mastering it. Sure, Kethis combo may have left a bad taste in my mouth from 2019, and Mono Red Goblins is silly fast, but both decks are completely beatable. Ultimately, Historic is a super deep format that presents a tremendous opportunity for me to advance my game to the next levels.

Thanks for reading.