So, I did some math last night. If it took me 37 matches to go from Mythic% to Mythic# last time, then I think it would be reasonable to say I’ll need to play around 50 matches to get to top 1200 this time, keeping in mind we’re starting from Diamond 3 Step 4. If matches last half an hour on average, that’s 25 hours, which works out to ~8 hours a day playing Magic for the next three days. The error bars on that number are huge, and it doesn’t take rank degradation into account, but it does do a good job of showing just how much work is ahead of me. With that in mind, these next few posts are going to have a lot less detail in them, mostly just giving a brief one-sentence recap of each match. Let’s go!
Match 1: 2-0 vs Dimir Rogues. Too greedy in the first game, should’ve cast Giant to draw while they were tapped out instead of using Stomp. Won second game by hardcasting Koma.
Diamond 2!
Match 2: 0-2 vs Sultai Ultimatum. Tibalt’d my hardcasted Koma in the second game, oof.
Match 3: 0-2 vs Sultai Control. Kept a 2 land hand in game 1, but didn’t find any more. Game 2 Klothys let me drag out the game, and the Oxes tried their best, but I just couldn’t get there.
Match 4: 2-0 vs Temur Turns. Game 1, opponent got stuck on 2 lands. Game 2, resolved Koma.
Diamond 2 again! Also, I took out the Temples. I hate tapped lands. I put in the fourth Fabled Passage and one Shatterskull Smashing to replace them.
Match 5: 1-2 vs Sultai Ultimatum. Game 1, mull to 6 but got stuck at 2 lands again. Game 2, forgot to leave mana up for my Negate a bunch, but Lukka did a lot of work for me with his +1. Game 3, I ran out of gas even with the Innkeeper.
Match 6: 2-1 vs Dimir Rogues. Game 2 I actually got to use Klothys as a creature, which was kinda cool. Game 3, Phoenix got its chance to shine with lethal.
Match 7: 2-0 vs Snow Izzet. I still don’t really feel like I know what their deck is supposed to do.
Match 8: 2-1 vs Temur Ultimatum. Game 1 went very slowly. Game 2 got a T4 Koma. Game 3 I hardcast Koma off of Lukka, which isn’t quite how the combo is supposed to work, but hey, a win’s a win.
Diamond 1! I’ve been playing for around 4 hours now, so at least my estimate of two matches an hour seems to be on the money.
Match 9: 2-1 vs Sultai Control. I left and rejoined mid-match because MTGA crashed, so the Untapped.gg graph glitched out too. My opponent never played any creatures other than Quandriz Cultivator, which is a little strange because usually they bring in Elder Gargaroth.
Match 10: 2-0 vs Temur Ultimatum. Game 1 my opponent did a whole bunch of nothing, despite having mana and cards. Game 2 they cast a Gargaroth, which I countered with Disdainful Stroke. That’s literally all that happened.
Match 11: 1-2 vs Dimir Rogues. FInal boss time! Game 1, I keep a triple Innkeeper plus Lovestruck hand, and still lose because Rogues. Game 2 goes well, game 3 there’s nothing I can do.
Match 12: 1-2 vs Jeskai Control. Game 1 they played Elspeth Conquers Death, which I honestly forgot was in Standard. Also turns out they’ve got some Transmogrify/Lukka shenanigans of their own. This match reminded me why I dislike White.
A brief break for dinner, and we’re back. I’m at Diamond 1 Step 0, three wins away from Mythic%. That won’t be the end of the laddering, but it’s something to look forward to. I can do this.
Match 13: 0-2 vs Naya Squirrel. Chop Down is really effective against Koma.
Match 14: 2-0 vs. Snow Red. Game 2 I was very lucky my opponent didn’t topdeck a Stomp for 5 turns in a row. I’m really not all that impressed with Prismari Command anymore, but I don’t want to start making huge changes to the list. We’re sticking with this.
Match 15: 2-1 vs. Dimir Rogues. According to my stats so far, I’m quite favoured in this matchup — doesn’t mean I dislike it any less though.
Match 16: 2-0 vs. Snow Red. Disdainful Stroke’d an Embercleave in game 1, and it felt gooood. Game 2, I got to Petty Theft my own Lovestruck Beast back to my hand, because they stole it with The Akroan War. Overall, a feel-good match.
Match 17: 2-0 vs. Boros Winota. Final boss time, round 2! This is exactly the matchup this deck was built for: combating creatures, plain and simple. I didn’t actually see a Winota, but I assume they were playing them. Played some nice, easy games for the win.
With that, we’re in Mythic! Now the real challenge begins. I was placed at 92%, which I think is pretty normal. Getting to the top 1200 means climbing up past 100%, which will then put us in the 1300-1400 range. Ranks shift pretty quickly up at the top, and rank degradation is a serious concern. I’m going to try to play as much as possible and climb as high as I can before the end of the month, and then hope it’s enough. I’ll play a few more matches to round out the night, and continue tomorrow.
Match 18: 2-1 vs. Dimir Rogues. Game 3 was a nailbiter, with me down to 3 cards in library at the end of the game. I won because I opted to exile creatures from his graveyard with Klothys so they couldn’t bring them back with Agadeem’s Awakening and mill me with Thieves’ Guild Enforcer.
Match 19: 2-1 vs. Green Stompy. My opponent conceeded the second and third games really early, not sure why.
Match 20: 2-1 vs. Snow White. I kept a dumb one-lander in game 2, and nearly lost game 3 but was saved by a topdeck Koma.
Match 21: 0-2 vs. Temur Lukka. They got the combo off on me game 1, so I got to look through their deck and they seem to be running 4 Decisive Denial. This is a really interesting card, and I think I might a few copies instead of Disdainful Stroke.
After the last game, I looked around to see if there were other popular Temur Lukka lists with Decisive Denial. I found one on MTGA Zone, and it even comes with a sideboard guide, so I’m going to try a few games with this list instead. Like before, I took out the Temples because I don’t like them.
Match 22: 1-2 vs. Snow White. Game 1 I got a hand with 5 lands and two Decisive Denials. Very funny.
Match 23: 2-0 vs. Jeskai Cycling. Is this the first Cycling deck I’ve faced today? Crazy.
Match 24: 0-2 vs. Temur Turns. I didn’t pilot as well as I could’ve, there’s still much to be learned in that matchup.
Whew. That was a lot of games. More tomorrow!