Modern Magic — BUG Infect vs. Melira Pod
Channel: T1GlistenerElf
Date: 2014-05-18

The rematch is at this link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yL8k7YTABuw
Yeah, the fact that I put the rematch first in the description should tell you what I think about my performance in this match. Now, the rest.

I don't call myself T1GlistenerElf for nothing! I may not have played like it this time, but this is my favorite deck.

Ever since Extended (may it rest in peace), I've been playing Infect, first as a Simic deck, then as a BUG build. Afterwards, I built it for Legacy, then for Modern after seeing Ari Lax's deck tech. I think that the deck says something about me as a player in that I am proactively risk-averse: trying to kill the opponent before they have the chance to really get on their feet while doing so with a fairly redundant and resiliant combo just in case. Even after seeing how Tom Ross took his Simic version to the top four of SCGATL by trading in some aggro/combo for control (like Force of Will and Daze), I still couldn't bring myself to eschew the raw power of my combo build for its sheer speed, but my sideboard is entirely control/anti-control elements for a reason.

Looking back at game two, there's a lesson to be learned from both the misplay and the way that I reacted to it. Yes, I obviously should have won game two. I saw his way out of the kill on board and didn't play properly. I beat myself up for such an obvious mistake until the next week's Modern provided me a chance to redeem myself (not caught on camera, sadly). 

Moreover, the other, more serious mistake is letting the misplay get to me. I replayed the scenario in my head so much that it started distracting from schoolwork. I beat myself up so much that I even missed the Rancor trigger that would have salvaged the game for me and let me win anyway. In other words, by not recollecting myself, I'm sure that I let my opponent win now that I've gotten the chance to watch the tape. If something like this happens in the future, then this video will remind me to take a step back, calm down, and reassess the situation.

Oh yeah, it did in the rematch found at the above link! I'm glad that I took my own advice.

In case you're wondering, here's the decklist:
Creatures
4 Glistener Elf
4 Blighted Agent
4 Plague Stinger
Enchantments
4 Rancor
Instants
4 Groundswell
4 Might of Old Krosa
4 Mutagenic Growth
4 Vines of Vastwood
Lands
2 Breeding Pool
2 Forest
4 Inkmoth Nexus
4 Misty Rainforest
2 Overgrown Tomb
2 Pendelhaven
4 Verdant Catacombs
Sorceries
4 Gitaxian Probe
Sidedeck
1 Abrupt Decay
3 Apostle's Blessing
4 Autumn's Veil (which has since been replaced with Thoughtseize)
4 Nature's Claim
2 Surgical Extraction (which has since been replaced with Spellskite)
1 Viridian Corrupter
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Special thanks to Dragon Star Hobbies for allowing me to film at their store.