Wow, what a weekend!
Dalia and I were in Toronto all weekend to compete in the biggest Magic event in Canadian history. The main tournament, the Magic Spotlight Series Lorwyn Eclipse Sealed, was sold out with 1800 players. For those who played Magic before 2020, it was like going back to the Grand Prix era. A big, competitive tournament with players from all over the world, nestled within a multitude of smaller tournaments, allowing Magic players of all skill levels to have fun. Whether you like Commander, Standard, Modern, Legacy, or Sealed, there was something for everyone.
I don't mean to take anything away from the Regional Championship we've had in recent years, but I missed the Grand Prix, and it was wonderful to be able to participate without traveling too far.
For me, the weekend was going to be entirely dedicated to the Sealed Lorwyn Eclipse format. I participated in a Regional Championship Qualifier on Friday to continue practicing the format and qualify for RC Ottawa in May. While my deck had a good mana value curve and a reasonable amount of interaction, it was sorely lacking in bombs or synergy. With no source of multiple colors, I had to focus on the green/white colors of the Kithkins, but I didn't have a way to make multiple Tokens or swell my creatures as is typical in this archetype. I played my creatures one after another, hoping I would win the damage race. I didn't have much hope that this would work throughout the tournament. My day ended after only 3 rounds, as it was a double-elimination tournament. Too bad about qualifying, but you have to make do with the cards you open in Sealed format, and it's not always easy to get the most out of them. On Saturday, I was ready for Spotlight, no matter which cards I opened; it honestly couldn't be any worse than the day before. Luck was on my side that morning, and I opened one of the best pools I've ever opened in this format. Almost all my rares were in the green/black colors of the elves. I opened Tristan's Command, Spry and Mighty, High Perfect Morcant, Champion of the Perfect, and even Formidable Speaker to try and get it. I had minimal interaction with protection from Tam, Mindful First-Year, and Blossoming Defense. I already had the Day 2 draft in mind before I'd even started Round 1. I was still holding back a bit, but it quickly vanished after my first two crushing wins. My deck felt invincible. I think in the end, it was that overconfidence that led to my downfall. I was so confident in the strength of my deck that I was playing a bit on autopilot, playing my creatures one after another, thinking their combined power would eventually defeat my opponent no matter what they had. In my third game, I was caught off guard by Mirrorform on my Primabasher, giving them an army of 6/6 Tramples to block my attack and kill me the following turn. In the second game, I played with fear of that card, waiting for the right moment to break through with my creatures. Instead of trying to make favorable trades and force combat, I waited for my Spry and Mighty to push Trample damage. Unfortunately, I dug my own grave by copying my Champion of the Perfect, because I ended up drawing my entire deck and losing the round. In my fourth round, Magic felt the need to remind me that variance is a fundamental component of the game. I ran out of lands in two out of three games and was now 2-2. At that point in the tournament, I was disappointed. I tried to rationalize what had happened, but in the moment, all I could see was the variance, and I kept hoping for better luck in the following rounds. What those two games did highlight, however, were weaknesses in my deck. First, my bombs were relatively expensive in mana or required a certain amount of setup (Spry and Mighty). Keeping a land-poor hand could cost me the game, so I should have been more careful about that, although ultimately, you can't fight variance. Also, aside from my bombs, the vast majority of my elves were actually shapeshifters. While they're quite useful in a deck to complete a tribe, they aren't necessarily the best creatures and are primarily there for support. Furthermore, I had few ways to deal with air attacks, having only two Reach creatures and a limited number of interaction spells. All this to say that I should have been aware of my deck's limitations and played accordingly instead of being overconfident. I managed to win my 5th round against a Kithkin white-green-black deck, going bigger than him.
I suffered my third loss in the next round against a white-blue merfolk player. This eliminated me from contention for Day 2, but I continued anyway to see if the deck could at least give me a positive result. Having nothing left to lose at this point, I was a bit more focused and managed to secure the last two wins to finish my day 5-3. I wish I'd had the foresight to analyze my deck as I did here during the tournament, but it's often with hindsight or a short walk in the bitter cold of winter that you can better refocus. On Sunday, since I wasn't participating in the Day 2 draft of the Spotlight, I could still participate in the Limited Championship Qualifier, a new addition this year that is essentially a Pro Tour Limited only. The tournament consisted of 8 rounds with a top 32 that would form 4 draft groups at the Face to Face store in Toronto that evening, with the 4 winners qualifying. There were 665 players participating. I started the day with some apprehension, as I seriously doubted I'd be able to open as good a deck as the day before. Sure enough, I opened a bunch of bombs that went in all directions with Tristan's Command, Grub's Command, Taster of Wares, and Champion of the Shoal. I had a decent amount of Merfolk, but aside from the Champion, no bombs, and the interaction was almost nonexistent. Having few elves or goblins, I quickly abandoned the idea of playing green/black, as well as the Commands. I had a lot of interaction spells in red, so I had to play a third color. In the end, I opted for white/blue Merfolk with red as support. My deck was very linear; my creatures flew and attacked. I had a nice synergy with the Bark of Doran card, which isn't particularly impressive on its own, but can be in the right deck, and I believe this was a good candidate. My deck lacked power and was prone to the inconsistency of three-color decks, but I was going to take my chances. Unsurprisingly, I lost the first round. Nevertheless, each game was very close, which surprised me. I knew my deck was far from the best, so I had to stay focused and calculate my turns precisely. My deck's strength lay in the air, and I had to capitalize on that. With this mindset, I managed to win the next three rounds against two black/green elf decks and one white/green Kithkin deck. I finally encountered two very complete goblin decks in rounds 5 and 6, which I couldn't compete with. Champion of the Weird is a very good card for goblins, and my Merfolks couldn't survive if I didn't find a way to kill the Champion. Now at 3-3, I had no chance of winning any prizes, so I withdrew from the tournament.
In the end, it was a weekend with few results, but I still learned a lot. Okay, my insights into the format itself probably won't be useful anymore, but the reflections I shared should help me improve as a player in tournament situations.
Finally, thanks to Cartes Léo for the support and to the Carte-L team for the discussions and encouragement. Thanks also to my friends from Sherbrooke with whom I shared accommodation and travel; it's always a pleasure to be with you guys.
See you in two weeks for the Regional Championship Standard in Vancouver.