Last week was SCG Worcester where I was able to bring Death and Taxes. I won’t lie—this deck is not my style. It’s a great deck that I know a lot of people enjoy, however, I have learned I am not one of those people. As many of you know I traditionally have played Post decks, brews, and Infect but have found the most success with various Post variants. Post and Infect are absolutely nothing like Death and Taxes. It’s not a play style I was really familiar with before this challenge and I’ve realize it isn’t one I like. So to say by the time I dropped at SCG Worcester that I was pretty bitter and burnt feels like it would be an understatement. I feel like I’m disappointing all my readers because as someone who isn’t a good or experienced D&T pilot I’m not really able to bring much to the table.
I ended up going 0-4 drop at SCG Worcester much to my dismay, though I was not surprised. I have found that Death and Taxes is not something I excel at, unlike Post. Not that I faced any favorable matchups or found luck in my favor. I faced Burn, the mirror, W/R Goblins and BUG Midrange. Outside of the bad match-ups I ended having a lot of hands that were all lands or no lands and ended up mulling to five more times than I’d like to admit.
Round one I was matched against Mike on BUG Midrange. I quickly beat him down with a board full of creatures while he was stuck with just True-Name Nemesis. Game two went much better for him. He had a quick Leovold into True-Name Nemesis and was able to quickly kill me when I unfortunately didn’t draw very well. Game three I had to mull to five and my opponent got out two TNNs which didn’t bode well for me and left me losing the match in three.
Round two I sat down across from a friend of mine, Lucas, who was playing Burn. That’s not a matchup that I’ve had the best luck with. Game one he won quickly, though I did have it close. Game two we both mulled to six but thanks to some luck (and Thalia) I was able to win the game quickly. Unfortunately game three didn’t go as well for me. My opponent go out double Goblin Guide and drew very poorly and my opponent wiped the floor with me game three.
Round three I was partnered with Jean from Quebec and and got a fun chance to practice a little bit of my very bad French. He was on Red/White Goblins and we had some very fun matches. I mulled to six game one but still managed to win which was fantastic. Flickerwisp was my great beater here. Game two I flooded very badly and was quickly beat down and did not have a chance. Game three I thought I was set. I got out Absolute Law on turn two, which really makes the matchup very much in my favor, but unfortunately I got flooded very badly. When the game ended I had two lands and my opponent had ten so my opponent ended up taking that game as well. Which was very sad.
My last match up was my most important. I was paired against one of the kids who plays at my store. He had JUST finished building Death and Taxes after working on it for months. He had worked hard to build the deck and was having a great time. To me he is the ultimate proof that this works if you find the right deck. As I wrote this week in my other column Hope Eternal, it’s important to find a deck that speaks to you and you should do what you can to find that deck.
Charles, the kid from the store I work at, knew Death and Taxes was the deck for him. So he worked hard to save up and get all the pieces so he could play it by SCG Worcester. When we were paired we were both 0-3 but he planned on continuing to play to get more experience because he knew Legacy is a tough format and that it takes time to master a deck. His dedication inspired me to keep going and reminded me what this column is all about—helping players like him get in the door.
Fortunately the day didn’t feel all bad and was still productive. I spent time with artists Xela the Geek and Lindsay Burlay which was a lot of fun. I also got to spend time with other content creators including Jerry and Pat from Leaving a Legacy, Ahren from T1Thoughtseize and Emma Handy. I definitely have a lot to do between now and Las Vegas but in spite of my record I think that I have been very successful so far.
Kate hails from Worcester MA and also does a bit of Card Altering. Check her Stuff out on Facebook! She mainly plays legacy and modern though will occasionally find herself playing EDH.