OK. Second time playing bg-rock, this time as a tournament rapport though very casual tournament. Since this is written two days (and then some) after the actual playing, some inaccuracy may happen.
One card has been changed in the deck, a forest for a Treetop. The SB suffered more from my desire to alter:
| Land | Qty |
| Overgrown Tomb | 3 |
| Treetop Village | 3 |
| Verdant Catacombs | 4 |
| Marsh Flats | 2 |
| Field of Ruin | 4 |
| Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth | 2 |
| Forest1 | 3 |
| Swamp1 | 3 |
| Creature | Qty |
| Tarmogoyf | 4 |
| Dark Confidant | 4 |
| Tireless Tracker | 2 |
| Scavenging Ooze | 2 |
| Eternal Witness | 2 |
| Liliana of the Veil | 4 |
| Liliana, the Last Hope | 1 |
| Sorcery | Qty |
| Thoughtseize | 4 |
| Inquisition of Kozilek | 4 |
| Sorcery | Qty |
| Fatal Push | 4 |
| Dismember | 1 |
| Maelstrom Pulse | 2 |
| Abrupt Decay | 2 |
| Card | Qty |
| Hurricane | 2 |
| Thragtusk | 2 |
| Tireless Tracker | 1 |
| Surgical Extraction | 2 |
| Kitchen Finks | 2 |
| Scavenging Ooze | 2 |
| Nihil Spellbomb | 2 |
| Maelstrom Pulse | 2 |
This match I won 2/1. The first game he never really got me in mana-denial. He removed my hand, and we ended in a Liliana of the Veil race which I won. The second game I was mana-denialed to and extend that I was killed by rack effects. The third game I think I got Liliana on the table and then finally resolved some creatures which beat him.
I can't actually remember whether I won or lost. I think I went 2/1. Next time I write these details down! He got me locked in one game anyway, but I definitely won one.
This I remember I lost 0/2. After the match he demonstrated the combo, I can't remember it. It never resolved. I just could not handle Reveillark in combination with Eternal Witness and Crypt Champion. This is one of those match ups that just is a nightmare when playing a subtle deck like bg-rock. I think for this and other match-ups and when I'm playing these local tournaments, that four Surgical Extraction in the SB is the best I can do.
This was another bad match-up. You just reach a point where nothing can be done. I lost 1/2. I got him poison counters in one match playing opposite of a Phyrexian Unlife. I'm thinking about the card Back to Nature that would also help me against prison. The main difficulty I had was in game 1 and 3 where he started with a Leyline of Sanctity in game, so I just couldn't get any discard in on him.
I lost 1/2 - I actually had a fair match, I think. I have land destruction and push against Inkmoth Nexus. He had shroud spells to protect, but instant ones that should be out playable. I didn't know about this deck prior to the match, I mistook his Inkmoth for a Blinkmoth and couldn't quite figure why he had +4/+4 spells and so on. Next time I know what to do.
Finally I met Jace, the Mind Sculptor. The match ended in a draw, he managed to win just before we went time, and we were 1/1. This is not a bad matchup, actually our gameplan is somewhat alike, and my disruption should be better than his. One think that bothers me, though, is : why has Jace entered modern? He's not the king of them all in this format, he's just a bad card. If you can keep him alive for a couple of turns he starts to take over the game. And suddenly he drags everything down his own abyss of playing despair. You don't bother if you have a small chance of winning or not, you just concede and try to play faster in the next game. He's extremely complicated to play against, he's probably complicated to play with, he doesn't offer much interaction from either player besides setting up defense through brainstorm effects. I just don't think this card offers anything positive to the game of magic. He becomes the center of the game, he's like Shahrazad - an instant headache. He doesn't have the power level of the combo Sensei's Divining Top and Counterbalance, but the game ends up in the same way when either has resolved. A dread. Anyway, this matchup should be doable.
I keep on with GB-rock. I will definitely make some SB changes as stated above. I think I can with some safety exclude deck types like dredge and affinity from my SB-plan as long as I play these local tournaments. But when you do that, you of course end up playing against exactly these kind of decks. Next time.