TNT FNM 12/10/10 *5-0 1st Place*

WOW! WOW! That's is all I can really say about the FNM tonight! I never honestly thought I could come in first place at an FNM, but I finally did it! It's been almost 2 months since my last FNM, and what a way to return to the scene! Ranting.... Rambling..... Excitedness.... Decklist:

4x Primeval Titan
1x Inferno Titan
1x Avenger of Zendikar
1x Gaea's Revenge
2x Oracle of Mul Daya
3x Overgrown Battlement

4x Explore
4x Summoning Trap
2x Khalni Heart Expedition
4x Cultivate
2x Pyroclasm
4x Lightning Bolt

4x Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
2x Raging Ravine
4x Terramorphic Expanse
12x Mountain
6x Forest

Sideboard:
1x Gaea's Revenge
1x Avenger of Zendikar
1x Pyroclasm
3x Refraction Trap
3x Naturalize
2x Act of Treason
1x Kozelik, the Butcher of Truth
2x Acidic Slime
1x Comet Storm

The big problem with playing Valakut, is that there isn't a ton of room for innovation. I tried to give myself as many options as possible by doing things like my split of a pair of Avenger of Zendikar and Gaea's Revenge between the main and board. I actually found this to be incredibly helpful. Having Either can be game breaking during game 1, but depending on the deck, one can be better than the other, so I just make the switch. I used to have Avenger main and Revenge in the Board, but if you know they have a counterspell, Avenger just stinks compared to Gaea's Revenge. Some other cards I want to point out are Ricochet Trap and Pyroclasm. Ricochet Trap is a card all too often forgotten about, and is really powerful! I think it was printed solely for red decks to have resiliance against control decks, and that's honestly all it is there for. Between Summoning Trap and Ricochet Trap, control becomes all too easy post board. Now Pyroclasm is a card that's an obvious include, but I did some Gerry T stuff and moved 2 to the maindeck. While I never cast it Game 1, it's my only out against aggro decks, and having it in a clutch moment could be all it takes to relieve pressure and let my mountains take over the game. Winning game 1 really does mean a lot, because the loser is under serious pressure for games 2 and 3. So here's the game-by-game:

Round 1: UW Quest
I have read on article from time to time about a UW Quest for the Holy Relic deck, but that's the extent of my knowledge about the deck: that it exists. I guess you could Trinket Mage into Memnite for 2 counters on Quest? I have no idea what to expect. Maybe Mike's was not well put together, but it played very slow for a Quest deck. He told me after that he didn't have any Trinket Mages in the deck, and the Blue was only there for Mana Leak, Unsummon, and Into the Roil. Game 1 was pretty easy, as I had 2 Primeval Titans in play together, and the game just ended almost immediatly.
Game 2 was tough. I Naturalized his Quest turn 2, so he wasn't able to get Argentum Armor, but he was able to get a Stonforge Mystic --> Sword of Body and Mind. In case you didn't realize, one hit from this sword can be devastating for Valakut. I am a steadfast beleiver that mill is not a valid strategy, but Valakut has really only 1 win condition: Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle (that's why it's named after the card). Having 2 get milled is simply backbreaking as it severly weakens my long game. I wound up losing after haveing 2 Prime Time and 3 Valakuts milled.
Game 3 was another scary game. He got a Sword into play, but I bolted in response to his first equip, so I bought myself another turn. That turn didn't do anything though, so he was able to equip and attack, and he milled nothing relavent. I was able to untap, Prime Time, and get there by killing his equipped guy with mountains, stabalize, then kill him in 2 hits.

Round 2: Mono Black Vampires
This round I was against one of the young (10?) kids who come for FNMs named Alex. He wound up shocking everyone by beating Jimmy (one of the best players at the store) round 1, and his vampire deck was completely budget, but suprisingly good. It wasn't the combo Bloodghast build, but just a weenie stocked build with a smattering of removal.Game 1 I went down to 6 life before I could stabalize and come back with my Valakut triggers.
Game 2 was tricky too. My life total on my paper reads: 20 19 16 9 2 1 while his life total reads 20 22 24 26. He had stuck an early Child of Night and attacked with it and its platoon for 7 a turn. I had Comet Stormed all but a Viscera Seer and then played Prime Time, but he had Doom Blade an just kept on going.
Game 3 I was brought to 8 life before I could stabalize and come back in the typical fashion.

Round 3: UB Control
I played against Jared this round... sigh... But at least it was my second best matchup possible (UW is best because they don't have Memoricide) so our 2 games ended blindingly fast. I'm pretty sure many people were on Game 1 after I told Evan I was 2-0

Round 4: UB Persecutor Control
I was against Biasetti this round, a player who I really respect. I remembered seeing him play his deck earlier,so I knew what it was, but I had mixed him up initially with Peter's RUG deck, so I was really confused when he muttered about how bad this matchup was. He never played a persecutor or a Jace TMS during both games, and I did feel bad after he tilted halfway through game 2, but in the end I got out 2-0.

Round 5: UW Proliferate Control
Going into this round, I was tlaking to Brendan who was 3-0-1 and was playing me for first place. He wanted to draw so we could both get prize, but I wanted to play so I could say I really won an FNM. We wound up playing 1 game, and after I completely decimated him, he just scooped for the round. After talking to him, I decided to give him a bit of the pool I won as a way to avoid getting the d-bag label stuck on me for the next 2 months.

All in all, I had an incredibly fun time, and I really do recommend playing this deck if you have the pieces. It's a great deck when you want to win and avoid thinking because you basically play solitaire and play around counterspells. Some changes I would make to the deck are these:

-Replace Naturalize for Nature's Claim and Act of Treason for Mark of Mutiny. The reason I didn't going into this event is simply because I didn't have them and didn't think to buy them when I got to the store.
-Cut Comet Storm and Kozelik for either Ratchet Bomb or Nihil Spellbomb. Ratchet Bomb helps against everything, although it really shines against Aggro when it can blow stuff up almost immediatly, but having Nihil Spellbomb is very important against Vengivine decks. I guess it's really just a MetaGame call whether or not you play Spellbomb. Because you don't have Trinket Mage, I think having 2 is important.
-In the mana base, I would cut 1 Terramorphic Expanse for another Mountain simply because more often than not you fetch for Mountains and having more Mountains means having more Valakut triggers

That's all for me tonight, I hope you have a wonderous time, and next week I am looking to play something no one is expecting. Maybe I should whip out a Level Up deck or GW Allies... Anyways, until next time, stay classy!