I am starting this article off by thanking my best friend Jesse Moulton, without him I wouldn’t have had the resources to learn the Melira Pod deck. After witnessing a bad PTQ finish of mine, he asked me what deck I wanted to play for the rest of the season. I decided on Pod and he ordered the entire deck from the Face to Face Games. After playing in three PTQs and having nonstop top 8s I came to realize how good this deck was and how bad people were at playing around a combo kill and guys attacking.

Warning: I am kind of a dick. If hearing of my exploits may offend you, I suggest you stop reading now. Have a wonderful day.

My friend Aaron Donst, who had travelled with me to Grand Prix Pittsburgh, decided that he wanted to start travelling more for bigger events. After getting contacted by Mike Vasovski he informed me that round trip flights to Portland were $230. A quick call to Aaron later and we had our flights booked and a plan in motion.

In Portland we met up with Alex Hayne, Jon Stern, and Pascal Maynard. Before we went to bed we stayed in Alex’s hotel room and a new meme was born; getting to 30000lbs 200 at a time. I was trolled for hours so I decided it was time to go to bed. Jon woke us up and we headed out to the tournament site to get there for the opening of registration. We signed up for the tournament and got free entry into a Mini Masters event where I somehow top 16ed, opened eight boosters and came out with a total of $2.35 worth of cards. My weekend was off to a great start. I drafted with Team Mana Deprived where I met Josh Mcclain in the finals, we had a good talk about Pod and he gave me his list. We got some dinner at the nearby Red Robin and went back to the hotel to finalize our lists and get some rest before the big day ahead.

At the hotel room I went over Josh’s list and two from Magic Online, by [card]Gainsay[/card]s and Blinky010. The Two Magic Online lists had been 4-0ing dailies and making top eights in Modern Premier Events for the last couple of weeks. After going over the lists for an hour I decided that I didn’t want to make changes to the deck that I played during the PTQ season just in case I Pod-ed or Chord-ed for something that wasn’t there. I knew that I wanted to add a [card]Sin Collector[/card] to the deck and had to find a cut. After thinking about it for a good 30 minutes I wound up deciding that 61 cards was the hilarious choice I was willing to make.

[deck title=Melira Pod by Dan MacDonald]
[Lands]
3 Forest
3 Gavony Township
1 Godless Shrine
4 Misty Rainforest
2 Overgrown Tomb
3 Razorverge Thicket
1 Swamp
1 Temple Garden
4 Verdant Catacombs
1 Woodland Cemetery
[/Lands]
[Creatures]
4 Birds of Paradise
1 Bloodthrone Vampire
3 Deathrite Shaman
1 Eternal Witness
4 Kitchen Finks
1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
3 Melira, Sylvok Outcast
2 Murderous Redcap
1 Orzhov Pontiff
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Ranger of Eos
1 Reveillark
1 Sin Collector
1 Spellskite
2 Viscera Seer
1 Wall of Roots
[/Creatures]
[Spells]
4 Birthing Pod
3 Chord of Calling
2 Thoughtseize
[/Spells]
[Sideboard]
3 Abrupt Decay
1 Aven Mindcensor
2 Dismember
1 Harmonic Sliver
1 Kataki, War’s Wage
3 Lingering Souls
1 Obstinate Baloth
1 Shriekmaw
2 Thoughtseize
[/Sideboard]
[/deck]

I had two byes going into this event with planeswalker points so my tournament started in round 3.

Round 3
Ferry, S. [CAN]
6
vs.
MacDonald, Dan J [CAN]
6

My opponent was on RG aggro. He talked like Lou Ferrigno. I literally thought I was playing against the Hulk from 80’s television until I found out his name was Sergio. He made a fair number of mistakes in our games. Both games consisted of me playing cards that died to his Bolts and me not hitting more than three lands. My opponent played five [card]Goblin Guide[/card]s over the course of the two games and they helpfully netted me zero lands. This being my first round, I felt like my weekend wasn’t really going to go so hot.

Round 4 and 5
MacDonald, Dan J [CAN]
6
vs.
Valdez, Rafael [USA]
6

MacDonald, Dan J [CAN]
9
vs.
Oberg, Kenny [SWE]
9

After the devastating Round three loss, the Magic gods shined on me by giving me my best matchup in the format back to back to raise my spirits. Both of my opponents were playing Infect. Turns out having main deck Melira is good in that matchup. Who knew?! Both matches ended with over 40 minutes left of the clock.

In fact the matchup is so far in my favor that Kenny Oberg scooped on turn two of Game two and said he’d rather get lunch then just lose in five more turns. Easy Game.

Round 6
MacDonald, Dan J [CAN]
12
vs.
Lee, Paul [USA]
12

Over the course of the weekend Paul is the only one I can’t put a face or a deck to. I cannot recall anything about the match, which makes me think the games weren’t close and Pod probably just took over. I probably can’t remember him because he was so boring and easy to beat. Sorry bro, bad beats!

Round 7
Bertiou, Simon [GRC]
15
vs.
MacDonald, Dan J [CAN]
15

This round was one of the best matches all weekend because this guy was just awesome to talk to. He started off fishing about the Canadian flag on my hoodie since he played David “Cappy” Caplan round four of the tournament and thought I was also on [card]Splinter Twin[/card]. Cappy and I talked about his round four match earlier in the day so I was pretty positive he was on RG aggro, which kind of made me sad given what had happened to me round three.

I started off with a [card]Birds of Paradise[/card] and his turn one play was [card]Faithless Looting[/card], discarding [card]Vengevine[/card] and a [card]Mountain[/card]. Instant confusion. Turn two I [card]Thoughtseize[/card] and see [card]Priest of Urabrask[/card] and a [card]Myr Superion[/card]. I suddenly remember Cappy talking about this hilarious deck. We talked a bit about his deck choice and he explained to me that he got it from a daily and both he and his friend both won PTQs with it. His deck never really had a combo draw in any of our three games. He was able to take game two from me when he started with turn one [card]Experiment One[/card], turn two Burning Tree Emissary into [card]Goblin Guide[/card] and then turn three two more [card]Goblin Guide[/card]s. This match was fun and Simon was a standup guy.

Round 8
Powers, Evan [USA]
18
vs.
MacDonald, Dan J [CAN]
18

This was Evan’s first GP and he was on 4-colour burn. Game one he only played one land after a mulligan to six but was still able to get me down to five life before I could take over with the combo. After game one, he admitted to me that he only had two [card]Scalding Tarn[/card]s for budget reasons, despite them being the better lands to play in his deck. I told him that if I had known that before the day began that I would have lent them to him.

“Really?” he inquired.

“No,” I responded. Nothing as awesome as putting people on tilt. Game two he killed me on turn four with the most ridiculous burn draw that included a [card]Deathrite Shaman[/card]. Game three was close. It hinged on a crucial turn: he had two [card]Rift Bolt[/card]s suspended and he forgot to remove the time counters from them. That gained me an extra turn where I was able to play a [card]Kitchen Finks[/card], Pod it for [card]Phyrexian Metamorph[/card] and get out of reach. After that the match wasn’t close.

Round 9
Hong, Chris [USA]
21
vs.
MacDonald, Dan J [CAN]
21

My opponent was on RUW control this round. People were playing [card]Voice of Resurgence[/card] in Pod over the weekend so they could have more game against this type of deck. I don’t believe you need it for this matchup since the removal RUW has is so weak against your persist creatures. You have six guys that they need to deal with and if a Bolt ever hits a Finks or a Redcap it’s going really well for you. You have nothing but value creatures and your opponents just don’t have that much advantage. Both games we went card-for-card and eventually he just got overrun by value and died.

I finished the day at 8-1 and it felt pretty good going 6-0 after losing round three. I watched Mike Vasovski’s match after mine. He lost to a dude playing Junk and also ended the day at 8-1.

After a long day of Magic it was off to dinner and then straight to bed since we had to be up in sevenish hours to do it all again.

Day 2
The day started off like any other tournaments day two, with Redbull and a lack of sleep. My round 10 opponent was the same guy who beat Jon Stern in the last round of day one, so I knew he was on KYT’s fave deck, BOOOGLES.

Round 10
Tessier, Michael [USA]
24
vs.
MacDonald, Dan J [CAN]
24

Opponent was eating oil and herb covered almonds.
He licked his fingers.
I called a judge for a wet nap.
A good start to the day.

Game one and game two both ended up the exact same way. He played turn one hexproof dork and started suiting it up. Game one he got his guy up to 20/20 life linking with vigilance but actually had no way of pushing it through to my face. Eventually, I set up a combo for 300 trillion life and soon after enough damage to get him to concede game one.

Game two was a little different because he boarded in Teegs and decided to suit that legendary leprechaun up instead. This time he had a [card]Rancor[/card] and started pushing through quite a bit of damage with a 6/3 first strike trampling midget. There was an important turn were I was able to Pridemage away an Umbra and [card]Abrupt Decay[/card] the other allowing me to double block and kill the Teeg. He quickly returned rancor to his hand and played a second Teeg suiting it up. One Redcap later and his board had zero pressure left and I started the day off with a win.

Round 11
Simpson, Shane D [CAN]
27
vs.
MacDonald, Dan J [CAN]
27

Shane was an interesting guy to say the least. I noticed him walking around the venue all weekend talking to the other Canadians and he actually had a rather long conversation with my roommates during the end of day one. I knew Shane was on Affinity from hearing him talk about his deck choice with my roommates. Game one was pretty much me playing value creatures and him not playing very well. He made some pretty obvious mistakes and I had to stop him from tapping a [card]Blinkmoth Nexus[/card] for mana after he animated it and played it on the same turn. I win the game and he informs me he could have got me to one life.

Game two was a complete blow out and he kills me on turn three with the standard “my hand is on the table” turn one draw. Game three I mulligan and keep a hand that is, [card]Birds of Paradise[/card], [card]Spellskite[/card], Kitaki, and three land. I snap keep. I ran the Birds out and it is instantly met with a [card]Galvanic Blast[/card]. Turn two I play the Skite thinking I can protect the Kitaki the next turn with it, but just as easily as I played it, it died to a second [card]Galvanic Blast[/card]. My turn three Kitaki is able to buy me enough time that I can draw a Finks and some gas and just take over. Shane was a cool guy that actually informed me that he lost to Doug Potter in the finals of a modern PTQ the season before.
Would have been cooler if he didn’t let Doug win, though.

Round 12
MacDonald, Dan J [CAN]
30
vs.
Gleicher, David [USA]
30

This is the same guy who was playing against Mike Vasovski on the last round of day one, so I knew instantly he was on Junk. Game one we battled card for card for a while and then I started losing the race to multiple [card]Tarmogoyf[/card]s. My board was Melira, Redcap, and four lands. I played a [card]Viscera Seer[/card] and in response he Abrupt Decayed Melira. I played a second Melira from my hand and won the game. Game one and this guy had already punted huge. If he just [card]Abrupt Decay[/card]s with the persist trigger on the stack I probably lose this game shortly after. I said, “Punt count 1.” He said, “What?”

And I went, “Oh, nothing…” Game two I board into a midrange aggro style and just beat him down with multiple [card]Lingering Souls[/card] and a Township while he does nothing special but play Planeswalkers that don’t do anything in this matchup and should be the first cards boarded out.

Round 13
MacDonald, Dan J [CAN]
33
vs.
Majlaton, Alex [USA]
33

I was really disappointed to get paired against Alex, we’ve known each other for years and conceding to him came to mind since the Top eight meant way more to him. He actually explained to us over the weekend that a top four means he locks up gold and qualifies for PT San Diego that was a week away. I came to my senses and we started our battle. He did the old turn one dump my hand and played [card]Cranial Plating[/card], I wasn’t impressed. I lead off with Birds and passed the turn back to Alex. Alex equipped up, swung for 6, and played a second Plating. Then shipped it back to me. I decided that I had to top deck in order to even stand a chance. I played a [card]Viscera Seer[/card] and a Melira and shipped the turn back to Alex. Alex equipped up and swung putting me to a total of one life. He shipped it back and I revealed my hand of Pods, Chords, and Meliras. Saying, “One time,” I flipped the top card and revealed [card]Kitchen Finks[/card], putting me at a healthy life total of 300 trillion. He untapped drew for turn and conceded the game.

Game two he mulliganed to six and I kept my seven. He played out a turn one [card]Steel Overseer[/card] and a turn two [card]Torpor Orb[/card] to slow me down. I had to make the decision to [card]Abrupt Decay[/card] the Overseer and play a Kitaki to stall the board. About nine turns go by where I didn’t draw a one drop or a spell to get rid of the Orb, so I was forced to just pod up to bigger guys. Eventually he couldn’t get rid of the Kitaki and died to my onslaught of creatures.

Round 14 and 15
I draw with Matt Nass and Zvi Mowshowitz and get a sweet Hall of Fame Pin. We did it, TOP EIGHT of a GP.

Round 16
This was it, the top eight! My opponent was Orie Guo, some American guy that actually knew a Canadian player in Toronto named Lucas Siow. Lucas and I don’t really get along so as soon as he told me they were buddies and going to the PT together meant a lot, I had to ruin his dreams. Reading over his deck list the card [card]Mana Tithe[/card] caught my eye, and for some reason my brain processed it as [card]Soul Tithe[/card]. Not sure why but I thought this guy was going pretty deep playing an RTR enchantment.

Game one was the poorest game of Magic I’ve ever played. I walked into multiple [card]Mana Tithe[/card]s and Snapcasters when I know better and am far above playing like a donkey. I’m not sure why I dropped the ball this game but I did. I told myself I need to focus for game two. Game two his draw is very strong and mine was kind of lacking, I tried to Abrupt a Lavamancer and walked into his one of [card]Boros Charm[/card]. We got to a board state where he had one card in hand, drew for turn and played a [card]Steam Vents[/card] untapped. I thought and said, “You must have the Snapcaster, it is the only thing that makes sense.” I was sitting at seven life; he has a Snap Caster in hand, and a Lavamancer on board. He shipped the turn. I untapped and went into the tank. I played a Pod and say, “If you have the Snap I’m pretty dead.” He showed me the Snapcaster. I was about to concede when I looked at his graveyard and saw three cards: a Helix and two others. I wasn’t dead! I shipped the turn and he put me to two life. He untapped played a land and shipped the turn. I untapped, took a two drop get a Finks, and quickly take over a game which I was about to concede from.

Game 3 – CAMERA TIME!
This game was on camera and a lot of people were confused about the interactions with Metamorph the turn before I won the match. When I persisted back the Metamorph there were only creatures in play with one toughness so it would have died instantly with the -1/-1 counter on it. I targeted my Pontiff and Wrathed his board and haunted my other Pontiff. Then I sacrificed the Pontiff to get Linvala. He played a [card]Batterskull[/card] and died in the air. His only way to come back is if I ran my ground guy into the [card]Batterskull[/card].

Top 4 – Sam Pardee
This guy is the master of the Pod; his accomplishments with this deck are insane if you actually look up his Magic Online Statistics. He’s profited in something like 150 or more events with the deck. Game one he mulliganed to five and was still able to get me down to single digit life totals before I combo kill him. Game two his draw was better and he [card]Dismember[/card]s three creatures and got me with his only Mindcensor on a fetch land.

Game three I thought I had under my belt, I Thoughtseized him and saw Metamorph and Redcap. I take the Redcap and think to myself my Mindcensor is about to take over and win. He untapped for turn, drew, and cast [card]Eternal Witness[/card] and gets back the Redcap. My thoughts instantly changed to, “I’m losing.” The game was over as soon as he dealt with my Mindcensor. My sick run was over. Losing to Sam wasn’t a bad thing at all, I don’t mind losing to the Grand Father of the deck and the winner of the tournament.

Props
Mike Vasovski for coming in 34th and finally Money-ing at a GP
Mary Jacobs for her Tombeau Luxuriant
Alex Hayne for being proud of me
Jo Dan and Magic Stronghold for [card]Thoughtseize[/card]
Aaron Donst for asking me to put him in my player profile the night before Day 2 and me forgetting

Slops
Not doing the all you can eat 4$ pancakes at Denny’s
The judge conference being on Monday
Crack heads on the metro to and from the airport
Pascal for texting me and Aaron at 1:50am saying to come drinking that he has 50 beers