Learning from the pros:An interview with Christian Calcano.

Most people of the magic community certainly  have heard a lot of Christian Calcano lately.His finishes have made him a known player and he keeps scoring better and better results as time passes by!I managed to get in touch with Christian and asked him a few questions that let the casual player get a grasp of the thoughts of a pro!

How you started playing magic?
I was 14 when I started. I played a different game (yugioh) and a friend who played both taught me how to play magic, i was instantly hooked.

Achievements so far?
PT Amsterdam 33rd 
Worlds 2010 15th 
GP Portland 12th 
GP Denver 10th 
SCG Open Richmond 1st

How difficult it is after all, 'getting pro' ?
It's definitely hard, you have to really want it. Be willing to travel for ptqs and such. It took me over 80 PTQs and 20 GPs to finally q for my 1st PT.

You scg richmond standard open showed you could pilot a valaramp with great results,do you believe this deck can reappear in the top places of tourneys before it rotates out of standard?
It definitely can. The deck is really powerful and it place 3 copies in the t8 of SCG Open Indy (the week before paris). The metagame did drastically change since then, but the deck is powerful and I'm sure will see make a big finish at either an SCG Open, or one of the standard grand prix.

We are seeing you in alot of tourneys around the world,how do you keep up with all this travelling,is it worth it?
It's definitely been worth it for me. The friends and memories you make are the biggest part of traveling to these tournaments for me. I've gotten to meet some amazing people and see some places that people dream of all from this card game.

Your tourney results are getting better and better this last months,is it skill or practice that helps you do so?What would you advice a player who would like to go competitive in order to improve their results?
It's probably fair to say it's more practice then anything. My biggest finishes were all in limited and i draft and play a lot of sealed to prepare for limited. If i had to give advice it'd be to practice a lot for the tournament you're planning on going to. Also a big thing for me towards the end of this past year was not going on tilt. If you make a mistake or get unlucky just forget about it and move on. If you dwell on it or think about it too much it'll affect the way you play and cause you to lose.

Sealed deck,it defines the day one of many grand prix nowadays,How much is luck a factor as far as pool is concerned?
It definitely matters to a certain extent, but not as much as people think. I'll be honest, there have been times where i've gotten a pool that was amazing and didnt make day 2. So I think it mostly depends on building your deck correctly to give you the best chance to win. When I build my sealed pool, i go find other players who I know are better than me and ask them how they would build it. This helps me know what i couldve/shouldve done differently and how to sideboard for the day.

Mirrodin besieged is now the active draft format ,How do you believe things have changed?
The first pack dictates the entire draft now. I feel that infect got better and metalcraft got worse. because in the first pack there arent many good artifacts that you want to play. After pack 1 you should have a good idea of what colors you're going to be.

At pro tour paris you brought your own build,was it worth it?Is building your own list and testing it worth the time when most tourneys are ful of pretty much specific power houses of type 2?
It was definitely worth it. We played and tested the deck specifically to beat the t2 decks that were the power houses at that time like valakut, UB control, uw control (without mystic). A good example would be Gerry T winning the SCG Open DC this past weekend. His deck was by far the best choice for the tournament. CawBlade splashing red for lightning bolt and cunning sparkmage. He knew going into that tournament that CawBlade and Boros would be the two most played decks and his innovation of adding red to the best deck to beat both of those decks was a good example.

Magic online,how much time you spend online?Can magic online help the new player get better?
I spend about 10-20 hours a week on Magic Online. It can definitely help the new player get better. On mtgo there are tournaments at all times so you can play whenever you have freetime. It's where i play most of my limited games and the main reason why I had all those finishes in the past few months.

At grand prix denver you lost the last match and didnt make top8, what's it like doing so well in a tourney all day and losing the game that would get you to top 8?
It's the second time i've been in that position and it's definitely not fun. I felt mostly unstoppable the whole weekend having only lost twice up to that point (to the eventual champion). But afterward my friends were there to console me and remind me that a top 16 is still an amazing finish which it is.

Have you ever played versus a greek magic player?What's your opinion about greek magic players?
I played against one greek player at a side event at paris. He was a good guy and played well. One of the things i like to do is follow event coverage and one of the things I noticed is that greek players do very well on the european GP circuit. I've seen many t8 GPs and not too long ago one t8d PT Austin.

Anything you would like to add?
If you're a PTQ grinder like I was who still hasnt qd yet, dont give up. Just keep trying, whether it'd be at a real ptq or on magic online, play your best and eventually you'll get there.




Thanks a lot Christian!That info has been very helpful and i hope you get the best results at your future  tourneys!

New Archetypes rising!Scg DC

Starcity games tourney in DC standard open is having its final day one games by this time and a lot new decks and ideas have sprung to give us food for thought.And playtesting!
The main target deck for most people has been the current powerhouse of standard Caw!blade.Most people seem to have targeted the specific match up as they expected a lot of people to show up with the current list,which indeed has shown up quite a LOT.
We have seen a lot of variances of the caw blade deck too, their target was also the mirror and of cource boros.A dominant list appeared piloted by the well known american mtg grinder and pro Gerry Thompson.
His list?

W/U/R Caw-Blade Featured by Gerry Thompson on 2011-02-27 (Standard) Print this deck!
Maindeck: Artifacts 1 Sword of Body and Mind 1 Sword of Feast and Famine Creatures 4 Squadron Hawk 4 Stoneforge Mystic Instants 3 Lightning Bolt 2 Mana Leak 3 Spell Pierce	Planeswalkers 3 Gideon Jura 4 Jace, the Mind Sculptor Sorceries 4 Day of Judgment 4 Preordain Basic Lands 3 Island 3 Mountain 4 Plains Lands 4 Arid Mesa 3 Celestial Colonnade 2 Evolving Wilds 2 Glacial Fortress 3 Scalding Tarn 3 Seachrome Coast	Sideboard: 1 Basilisk Collar 4 Cunning Sparkmage 1 Inferno Titan 1 Sun Titan 1 Dispel 3 Divine Offering 4 Flashfreeze

He has added red for lightning bolt (i kill your boros hero) , a stable (as it appeared so far ) option in the spot removal section of the deck.
His sideboard contains basilisk collar and of Cunning sparkmage which i am sure stopped a lot of hawks,guides,heros or even fatties (via basilisk collar deathtouch) tonight.
Inferno titan has also made an appearance in the deck, this was a surprise i believe as the red titan makes the deck a bit more mana dependent on red mana.I do wish to see GerryT's analysis on this one and how this titan helped him or not..
The white titan is bringing almost everything back, swords creatures and lands.A very clear selection for this list.




Another list tha appeared in the tourney and is certain to be taking a spot in the current metagame and deck discussion is this one.

Monoblue Architect Featured by Ali Aintrazi on 2011-02-27 (Standard) Print this deck!
Maindeck: Artifacts 1 Contagion Engine 4 Everflowing Chalice 2 Ratchet Bomb 3 Tumble Magnet Artifact Creatures 1 Steel Hellkite 2 Wurmcoil Engine Creatures 4 Enclave Cryptologist 4 Grand Architect 4 Thrummingbird 3 Treasure Mage Instants 1 Stoic Rebuttal	Legendary Artifacts 2 Mindslaver Planeswalkers 2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor Sorceries 4 Preordain Basic Lands 17 Island Lands 4 Inkmoth Nexus 2 Mystifying Maze	Sideboard: 2 Ratchet Bomb 1 Tumble Magnet 1 Blightsteel Colossus 4 Perilous Myr 1 Platinum Emperion 4 Flashfreeze 2 Negate

The games i saw played by this list were dominated by a creature that is played a little even in limited, Thumming bird!!!

It was an amazing synergy thummingbird proliferating chalices , magnets,cryptologists, ratchet bombs ,jace and best of all POISON counters!
All Ali had to do was a mere swing with his nexus for one(some times 2 due to grand architect effect) and then proliferating via means of thumming bird and Contagion engine!This deck was giving caw blade a hard time on the board mindslaving them games away or after sb Blightsteel colossus making them poisoned in no time!
Treasure mage was a sweat tutor effect,cryptologist a huge card advantage and mystifying maze a silent force nullifying sword swings all night ,and could do so all the time!
As far as for aggro?Platinum emperion can come down in no time thanks to grand architect!
Great archetype, a cheap one and there is sure a lot discussion going around this one in the near future.


Those two lists made a great impact in the tourney along with bonehoard getting main or side in many caw blade decks as predicted by almost everyone!


While watching games i even came across a furnace celebration - awakening zone list that seemed to simple but really abusing sylvok lifestaff and celebration synergy.
I will publish that list tommorow as it seemed quite intriguing!Taking 3 life and dealing 2 damage by sacrificing a token and paying two mana is indeed something valuable!
Till then good luck at the modo queues for mirrodin besieged release events!!!

Blue Black vampires.Budget and effective!

Is primeval titan something you got bored of?Caw blade's Jace worth too much?Fauna quest's vengevines a card you are not willing to spend on?Br vampires sounds so easy to stop with day?Here we go with another deck braught by christian calcano at the pro tour paris!B/U vampires!Let's check the original list:

Christian Calcano's Blue-Black Vampires

Standard - Pro Tour Paris 2011

Main Deck 60 cards 4  Creeping Tar Pit 4  Darkslick Shores 4  Drowned Catacomb 2  Marsh Flats 7  Swamp 2  Verdant Catacombs 23 lands 4  Bloodghast 4  Gatekeeper of Malakir 4  Nantuko Shade 3  Phyrexian Revoker 4  Pulse Tracker 4  Vampire Lacerator 23 creatures 3  Duress 3  Go for the Throat 4  Inquisition of Kozilek 4  Unified Will 14 other spells Sideboard 2  Dark Tutelage 2  Disfigure 2  Flashfreeze 1  Go for the Throat 2  Marsh Casualties 2  Skinrender 2  Tectonic Edge 2  Wurmcoil Engine 15 sideboard cards

This deck exploits the speed of vampires as far as damage is concerned with the addition of nantuko shade and a lot of discard and a way to protect your board,unified will.
Phyrexian revoker also promises to do a lot in stopping enemy gideon and fauna shamans from doing what they usually do, give their controller's a win once past their first untap step...
Along with our 23 creatures that dont go any further than the 2 (3 for gatekeeper of malakir ) range come 3 go for the throat to eliminate any creature that would give our enemies board advantage.
This deck poses severe difficulty being controlled and gives us the opportunity to deal early damage and protect our creature advantage.
Duress and inquisition of kozilek will give us info on our oponnents hand and will take away incoming stoneforge mystics before they bring the devastating sword of feast and famine.
Creeping tar pit will also get rid of those jaces as it will certainly creep under hawks to send enemy jaces to the bin or provide damage that can give as the win.
Another positive fact for this build is its low price range that makes it easy to build for the next local  FNM.

Sideboard options 
Dark tutelage:The bane of every control match up.It provides card advantage control decks cant cope with.If this one hits the board on time it will make things difficult for every control player to keep incoming threats back.
Disfigure:This card is our bullet for lotus cobra and other low power creatures that we will want out of the board on our early turns,kills goblin guide steppe lynxes and that annoying new hero boros has been using lately.It also is good for enemy tar pits and lavaclaw reaches .
Flashfreeze:Yes people are still using titans to fetch those valakuts..
Marsh Casualties:Stops hawks from going down as a team of potential blockers, stops boros and kuldotha red from explosive starts,it is a must sideboard plan for aggro matchups.
Skinrender:It is good for taking down enemy creatures and will give as another 3/3 body.Something we will need against heavy creature decks as a 2 for 1 solution.
Tectonic Edge:Celestial colonade and valakuts always make awesome targets for this one!
Wyrmcoil Engine:It is good against aggro decks and it has evasion against go for the throat.Once it hits the board it will make an excellent blocker or attacker if needed and will do great things to augment our life total.

This deck is not the power house caw-blade and boros level but it can pose decent matches against them.It is a deck most people wont be expecting to see once creeping tar pit appears and will give most of our opponents the impression we are playing blue white control.It also is able to stop day of judgement ,a card control is hoping to resolve most of the time in order to stabilize.Revoker is shutting down planeswalkers and nantuko shade can certainly get huge in order to resolve some devastating blows.

Possible innovations!
As the current metagame is sure getting a lot of hawks and blades or some boros attackers we will have to adopt to this environment in order to make this build more effective against those matchups.I believe that the addition of mana leak to the main board in the place of go for the throat would be a great addition in order to stop stone forge mystic and hawks from landing, it is also a great way to stop early ramp spells from valakut builds or people from bringing down artifacts and tezzeret.As long as go for the throat has been around people have been tending to build around it and this will possible make it impossible for us to remove enemy forgemaster stuff like engine or battlesphere.
If aggro deck is popular in our local tourneys duress is something that we should seriously consider replacing by the means of disfigure  in the main board.
Steel sabotage might also come in handy as it is something most people wont be expecting and if played correctly it might give us a 5 mana tempo lead that can be crucial in a match against caw blade.Another use for steel sabotage is taking down ratchet bombs and really will help against tezzy decks that are bound to show up more and more...
Doom blade is a card that could also appear in this decklist as tezzeret decks will have no problem against go for the throat and who wants a dead three card package in their deck against a certain matchup?U/B is certainly down for "maintenance" due to sword of feast and famine so we arent fighting grave titans any time soon.
Jace beleren could also be an addition to this deck.Apart from hating the big jace card advantage it offers can be crucial against certain match ups.
Kalastria highborn is as mana dependent as nantuko shade so i wouldnt resist playtesting this build with her along especially against aggro decks that wont let us rely on unified will to leave mana open and where life gain will be a major factor on who will eventually win.

Those are some addition one might make depending on what he can be expecting to face on the tourneys he will attempt, there certainly a lot more tuning that can be done to this deck and its colours certainly offer many cards to be tested.This decklist certainly offers some goodies that can be exploited and be winning conditions.
In the end it is a  deck WITH blue but WITHOUT Jace that calcano took to 7-3 on pro tour paris so why wouldnt it make a good option of a deck to run at a local tourney and expect to go well with?
Good luck sleeving this deck up and good luck!

Caw blade! Searching in our current toolbox deck strategy.

The new deck archetype that appeared at the pro tour paris is soon dominating type 2 matches around the globe.It is certain that we will be seeing a lot of blade bearing hawks flying around in the next 3 months.The stoneforge mystic-sword cell has proved its self as a huge addition to the blue white caw go deck.

Now that the scenery has been set i believe it is high time to search our current standard toolbox to see if there are any new toys that would give as advantage in the 'blade' wars.We can do so by searching any weaponry that might appear in the sets that are legal in the current standard.

So lets do some searching of what additions might there be apart from those two masterpieces of equipment.

  

Lets begin by searching in the oldest set available ,Zendikar.We have these piece of equipment.

Adventuring gear:Nope this isnt usefull in a deck without fetches to go for maximum damage.

Blade of the warchief:Not enough creatures to make this worthwhile.

Blazing torch:I would consider this one as a bonus burst lightning with no kicker option which can be good and useful in some aspects but certainly not standard useful.

Explorer's scope:This could have some synergy with jace to give as an extra land drop but in most aspects it is weak.

Grappling hook:Nope.

Spidersilk net:Nope

Trailblazer's boots:Non basic land walk is somethink that would make our creatures unblockable versus some match ups but other than that it is totally useless.

Trusty Machete:It is a good piece of equipment but our swords are better by miles so there is no use adding this one up.

Let's see what worldwake has to offer as far as equipment is concerned:

Basilisk collar:It is good, it has some potential as lifelink is extremelly usefull in some match ups but sylvok lifestaff is by far greater when we come down and check the creatures we run in Caw blade as the 3 life given by the staff is by far greater than the 1 life we would get from basilisk collar hawks!

Hammer of ruin:This one has potential to be a sideboard plan in the current metagame.It has an ability that is begoming more and more relevant in standard.Destroying enemy equipment.It is good and i believe it might see play in the coming months making our opponents thinking twice before striking with their swords as this piece of hammer is able to be smashing swords all day long and it also gives a +2 attack pump which is something to be considered.People wont be expecting this equipment any time soon and i would advice you to use this one as a sideboard plan in places where caw blade will be dominating.Divine offering does the job once where as this might do it again and stick there to give as an advantage for the race!!

Kitesail:Nope.

Razor boomerang:Nope.

On to the rise of the eldrazi set!

Hedron matrix:Well it could be good but is is waaaay too expensive!

Ogre's Cleaver:Expensive,expensive ... argentum armor expensive...

Pennon blade:Expensive and irrelevant for our deck.

Warmonger's chariot:It is irrelevant and we cant fill any defenders for this to work as it would ruin our game plans and deck strategy!

Now it is time to check in our coreset.M11.

Sword of vengeance:hmmm let's see, +2/+0 added up with first strike ,vigilance, trample and haste.This is i believe an EXCELLENT addition to the caw blade strategy.It offers GREAT abilities and first strike means no sword hits are getting through no time soon.Trample is sure killing some jaces and haste is sure making more of our hawks active.On top of that we have vigilance.That means attacking and standing ready to stop ANY incoming sword attacks.Sword of vengeance is soon making to the sideboard plans of caw blade decks.We may see it mainboard as it offers a lot and can put the pressure factor on another level!

Warlord's axe: A Bit too expensive for just a +3/+1 pump...

Whispersilk cloak:Nope.

So on to scars of mirrodin:

Accorder's shield:Nope

Argentum armor: Too expensive vindicate effect..

Barbed battlegear:Aren't most are creatures at one power?

Bladed pinions:Nope.

Darksteel axe:Not that good in standard...

Echo circlet:No way!

Heavy Arbalest:No way!

Infiltration lens:Irrelevant.

Limewire lash:It is a good piece of equipement in limited but nothing else.

Nim deathmantle:Paying (4) for the rise from the grave effect is not standard viable.

Strata scythe:This is a good piece of equipment but there are a few things it can do in standard.It gives just a pump effect that can do little in this format and will not be able to win games in a world of day of judgement and jace the mind sculptor...

And our final set mirrodin besieged...

Bonehoard:It is a creature and it is a good one.Living weapon -stoneforge mystic is huge and i can see this one making it through some caw blade decks.Its ability is easily broken and it can even constitute a game finisher.Apart from that it has few abilities other than the ability to become a massive beater.

Darksteel plate:No thanks!!Even if my opponent gave this card to me for free i would laugh at it!

Flayer husk:We are not kuldotha red!

Mortarpod:I love this card but not for the caw blade deck.

Piston sledge:This one is good when it comes to play BUT if a creature we own drops it then its a waste!

Silverskin armor:No.

Skinwing:Another living weapon but not so good to make it in our decklist.

Strandwalker:Another living weapon but not so good to make it in our decklist.

Viridian claw:Sealed deck material...

So After checking what is legal in standard we have some possible additions to caw blade that might see play in the upcoming months,these ones

Those two are either usefull in the current metagame or ready to beatdown enemy decks.I believe we are seeing those some time soons on the battlefield summoned by known mages :)

Will this guy make it to our caw blade 75 or our enemies list?

This one can stall all our tutoring effects.All of them.The good thing about this guy is that PLAYER'S cant search libraries so that even its user may be stalled by it , considering the current metagame.I dont believe that a deck that is built on tutoring can use him even as a sideboard plan.Boros cant sac fetches , stone forge mystic cant bring any blades on , and hawks aint bringing any more hawks along.But how can we use this one?An esper tezzeret deck?A white winnie deck?One thing is certain that if this guy finds a home in a tier 1.5 deck that can capably win games he will be a great condition to stall most decks of our current metagame.Even titans wont be fetching lands.But dont forget that he can be easily removed and that has been its drawback till now...This card has the potential to do a lot in stalling most current decks but it is highly possible that with this guy in our list we have to let go of  the current huge card advantage offered by the standard tutor effects in order to gain in tempo and do something about the powerhouses of the current standard.So if we are seeing this guy in play real soon is not certain, some people will try to break this guy and i dont know wether it is viable but it is possible.Were this guy a mind lock orb things would be different but he isnt.And kuldotha red will be around for the next months making this guy a waste in that matchup so making him main board is not something that could easily happen.Taking away the surprise factor of game one versus tutor decks that could give us game one with this guy around in our mainboard..

Anyway send me any ideas you might have about this card or other artifacts that could stand aside in the current caw blade deck!

Till then grab your swords and slash some of your enemies to zero or less life!