An interview with our MPDC 27.02 winner - beatnik bobby!

Hello and congratulations on your win, beatnik bobby!
 

1.     Could you please introduce yourself?

I’m 33 and from Sweden

2.     What is your identity as a wizard? (Colors and archetypes you prefer, favourite cards and formats)

Blue is definitely my favorite color. Then black, white, green and red, in that order. My first (and only) real life deck was a blue counter-bounce deck from the Urza era. Ever since then I’ve had soft spot for control archetypes.

3.     How did you start playing Magic? MTGO? Standard Pauper?

I started playing back during Urza and played for like 6 months. Then I moved away from my gaming group and never picked it up again until 2006 when I looked for a cheaper alternative to online poker. I picked up MTGO and realized that being average at Magic was a lot more expensive than being bad at poker. Leagues gave me bang for my bucks though. When WotC closed those down I discovered pauper and haven’t looked back since.

4.     For the time being I (MundisV) know you have been playing Bant , why did you love it so much?

Solely for the green hexproof creatures. The other two colors had the best support cards at the time. I just love creatures with hexproof and try to play those whenever they are available.

5.     What led you to play UB Devotion deck you won with?

I wanted to play a control deck with hexproof in it since celestial flare and devour flesh have rotated. Since I played a similar deck in “M-core” league I decided to do another U/B deck.

6.     Would you play that deck again in a tournament? If no, why?

Ah, probably not. I wanted to build something out of Benthic giant and picked black because of removal, disruption and Gary. My deck had an extremely weak early game and I was lucky to hit my land drops as fast as I did. I’m thinking U/W would maybe be a better color combination because of the earlier defensive drops and superior removal (Pie_Master in the semi played a deck like that).

7.     Could you explain some of the more interesting choices in your decklist? Like Benthic Giant, Black Cat, Festergloom.

Ah, Benthic giant because of the hexproof (Of course). Black cat as an early blocker to deter aggro decks but I would definitely cut that in favor of something with deathtouch. Festergloom is a given in any black decks SB. It’s kryptonite to some of the more troublesome decks that rely on early aggression like rdw.

8.     Did you find Treasure Cruise unnecessary for your deck? It seems like a strong card for any blue deck.

Haha, my bulk bot doesn’t have it stocked yet. That’s why it didn’t make the cut. It’s an excellent card which every blue deck should have at least one of.

9.  A short recap of the tournament? (Match-ups, opponents, interesting situations)

Uhm, I have a really short memory. I can’t give a recap of game 1, 2, 3 or 5 since I can’t remember those games. However, I do remember my top 8 match against Pie_Master. He also had a deck which concentrated on winning the late game with hexproof creatures. He played U/W though and used not only Benthic Giant but also the new prowess equipped Whirlwind Adept. I actually liked his W/U better than my own B/U. None of us could handle an opposing hexproof creature buffed with enchantments so winning came down to who could assemble their monster first. Since he played white he had access to enchantment hate so I felt he had an edge over me and I was lucky to win that game. The final was against hero1141’s green stomp deck. It’s an extremely explosive deck that can win turn 3 or 4. I was extremely lucky with my land drops and managed to draw pretty much all my removal which saved me against a deck I would normally lose against. For example, the second game my starting hand included 3 of my 4 Pharika’s Cure which is just ridiculously lucky.
 
10.  Which Top 8 deck did you like the most?

I liked Hero1141’s monogreen Stomp deck. It’s always nice to see decks that aren’t played that often.

11.  What do you consider to be the best archetypes at the moment?

Ohh, that’s a tough question this early in the season. Last season’s MBC has lost a lot of removal without getting much in return but its core, devotion, is still untouched so it will probably be played a lot.

Various agro decks though are probably the best decks right now. A lot of removal and other control elements (such as saruli gatekeeper, essence shatter) have disappeared while all the aggressive heroic creatures from theros remain.

12.    What is your strategy against these top decks? A short sideboarding guide maybe?

Uhm, since todays decks are so creature based I’d use a lot of removal. I’d say that white probably has the best removal right now. They are all conditional though so they might be SB-material instead of main deck material. Any color (Black and red) that has sweepers should include those in their SB as well.

13.   Do you belong to Standard Pauper Players clan? (If no, why?) What benefits do you feel from being in the clan?

Yes, our clan! Ah, unfortunately clans aren’t a big feature at MTGO at present. It’s nice to see what members are online but it’s not that much of a difference. However, I like all the side activity that members of our clan generate such as our clan website where this interview will be posted (I really enjoy reading other people’s analysis)

14.   Is there anything else intriguing you in Khans? A deck you haven’t had a chance to play yet?

I haven’t explored morph yet. Morph is a lot of fun even though the creatures so far have been a little lackluster on pauper level.

15.  How did your testing post-KTK go? Where did you practice? What deck did you see/wanted to play against?

I haven’t had time to test that much. I played a couple of games in the “just for fun room” and went 3-2 with a deck that I thought would kick ass, W/G aggro. I got disappointed and went back to my roots, a control deck with hexproof. I would like to play against any new weird deck that uses the new mechanics.

16. Do you have any tips for a new Standard Pauper player trying to Top 8 his first tournament?

Look at last week’s top 8 and try to figure out a deck that could beat those decks.

17. Shoutouts?

A shoutout to all the other guys that make standard pauper what it is. Mygalaxy, rremedio, drchris, adner, carnuz, piggybot, bigbee, mundisv and all the rest that make it fun to play every Monday and Sunday.

I especially want to thank gwyned for his hosting this last year.

Thank you, beatnik bobby!