8 Arguments Against Online PTQs And Why They Are Wrong

Ever since Wizards announced their online PTQ campaign, there's been a lot of backlash about it. (You know, like the backlash to the new card frames, Fourth Edition Rules, M10 rules, black-bordered core sets, etc.) I don't get it. Frankly, if you don't like them, you don't HAVE to participate...so I fail to see how it affects you.

However, let's go after the main arguments that are against online PTQs. People think online PTQs are far worse than real ones because of several reasons. Here they are, and my rebuttals:

1. It's Not "Pure" Magic


Response: While the opportunities for bluffing are largely gone in MTGO, there are ways to still bluff. Leaving lands untapped, pausing before response to a spell, faking missing your fourth land drop to bait your opponent into walking into Day of Judgement, etc.

Also, because of the lack of opportunities to exploit superior rule knowledge and Jedi mind tricks, MTGO is actually more about the technical play than actual Magic. So saying it's not pure Magic is ridiculous. You don't get the same fun experience as playing with friends, and I certainly don't think you shouldn't play offline, but the debate here is MTGO's ability to run a series of high-level events with the same integrity and level of competition as real Magic.

I believe it certainly can.

2. MTGO can crash.


WOTC has made mistakes with MTGO before, but the fact that they're releasing online PTQ's makes me think that they have, in fact, made absolutely sure that the PTQ's will not crash. It's perfectly possible to reinforce a particular server to handle a greater load than normal which is probably what they've done here. They wouldn't do it unless they felt sure that there was a 99.99% chance the server could flawlessly handle a 512-player tournament.

3. It's easy to cheat. Just get a skilled player to play for you.


MTGO, thanks to it's interface, has a HUGE list of infractions that are impossible to commit online. Here are some of the major ones:

Deck/Decklist Mismatch
Illegal Deck
Missed Triggers
Game Rule Violation
Drawing/Looking at Extra Cards
Manipulation of Game Materials
Insufficient Randomisation
Disagreement about the game state
Slow Play
Lying about the rules

Compared to this, I'd say that the chance that you would get someone to play as you and give you the prizes is a lot less problematic than this plethora of activities which, accidentally or maliciously, cannot be done online.

4. Misclicks could cost an invite to the Pro Tour.


Mishearing your opponent can cost an invite to the Pro Tour. So can a host of real-life misclicks like drawing extra cards by mistake, flipping an opponent's card by mistake, etc. If you practice MTGO diligently, you shouldn't misclick often, just like you should handle cards well at the level where you can realistically consider winning a PTQ.

5. The competition will be lesser.


This is just crap. If anything, the competition could be greater. The really serious PTQers who are the best at your PTQ, guess what? If they haven't qualified they're probably playing in them. The best players will want every chance they can get, and good players from the other side of the world can compete, not just those within a few hundred kilometres of your PTQ.

6. If an MTGO-exclusive player makes it to the PT they can make mistakes, due to not being familiar with physical testing.


That's like saying you're not familiar with your deck. If I was an MTGO player who won one of these, I'd find some people who played physical Magic and join them! I would practice playing physically so I could learn to pick up on everything MTGO does for me and learn the nuances of physical play just like you need to test your deck to be familiar with it's nuances. And you can test both at the same time. No extra time needed.

7. You have to buy the cards twice to compete in MTGO.


I quote ThatDamnAussie here, whom I corresponded with over Twitter in preparation for this article.

"Everything costs money if you want to do well. You don't HAVE to play in the Modo PTQs to make the PT. These are bonus chances"


He's right. If you want to practice Zendikar Sealed, you have an expense ahead. If you want to bring two decks, as I recommend at one point, and several potential sideboards, as I have recommended, that's another expense. So is MTGO. You don't have to do it, but it maximises your chances. Also, if you play with RL friends testing for the PTQ, get them into it as well so you can share cards again. Plus, singles cost less on MTGO than they do in real life.

8. It's too easy to just let people play from their homes.


No, you're being an elitist.

That's it.

Alright, fine.

The fact that you can play from home does not diminish the mental stamina you'll require or the skill you'll need to command. Other people have the same bonuses. Do you honestly believe that if you've worked on your stamina, it won't pay off in an online PTQ? It will. Just because you can go to the fridge and get food rather than try to search for it, or go to the bathroom mid-round if you're okay losing a minute off your clock, doesn't mean your stamina won't help you. It lets you focus on what matters: playing Magic.




So, therefore, in my opinion, online PTQs are helpful for the game and community in general. I'm sure this'll spark a discussion in the comments, and I welcome it. I'll add my own insights as I check in.

In a few days I'll also release another article about the benefits of online PTQs that offline PTQs lack.

See you!

How To Do Better At Your Next PTQ - Part 4

Part 4 - Sideboarding for the Event Metagame

Sorry for the delay between parts: Zendikar spoilers will do that. I've learnt my lesson. I will aim to finish this series, Zendikar or no, within the next week, and then I'll only do series' that I stick with once a day until it's done. I'm also going to aim to finish the Last Look At Lorwyn series.

Now, on to the actual advice.

At a PTQ, your metagame will probably be subtly different to the ones in another country or even another city. Perhaps a lot of good players in your area play Faeries: so you shouldn't, facing the double threat of being outplayed in the mirror and outhated by the lesser players who can only win through excessive sideboard hate.

Instead you'd want to play a deck that has a good match against Faeries and against anti-Faeries. An anti-Faeries deck would work, if you were confident in beating the lesser players in the mirror.

Either way, if you bring a specific sideboard and turn out to be wrong, you're in trouble. That's why you should bring about 30 cards, and construct your sideboard at the event.

Note: you should not construct your sideboard piecemeal unless you have to. Make plans. For example, with GSS Jund, I might bring in my 30:

Kitchen Finks
Volcanic Fallout
Firespout
Maelstrom Pulse
Vithian Renegades
Guttural Response
Cruel Ultimatum
Mulldrifter
Doom Blade
Broodmate Dragon
Glen Elendra Archmage
Stillmoon Cavalier

This would leave me free to have several sideboard plans. For example:

Heavy 5CC metagame:

4 Glen Elendra Archmage
3 Firespout
2 Maelstrom Pulse
4 Kitchen Finks
2 Volcanic Fallout

This is a fairly balanced sideboard, but with 4 slots dedicated to Glen Elendra Archmage, an excellent foil to Five-Color. The deck also features light anti-Time Sieve (Maelstrom Pulse and Archmage) with some anti-aggro and Elf Combo, and a good plan against Blightning, which often beats Five-Color Control. With Great Sable Stag and Fallout, the deck is strong vs. Faeries, and the GSS / Anathemancer combo gives you a good chance in the Jund mirror.

Heavy Fae metagame:

4 Volcanic Fallout
3 Deathmark
3 Stillmoon Cavalier
1 Maelstrom Pulse
4 Kitchen Finks

Here, the Volcanic Fallouts cede to Fae, but mostly the sideboard relies on the maindeck Stags and the Stags  in other sideboards to beat Fae. Kithkin, B/R Blightning, Elf Combo and the mirror are all handled here: the main decks expected to survive the first few rounds. The hope is that most of the Fae will die in the middle rounds, since there's a lot of hate ready for it.

Heavy Elf Combo metagame:

4 Volcanic Fallout
4 Firespout
1 Maelstrom Pulse
3 Kitchen Finks
3 Glen Elendra Archmage

This deck is aimed at Elf Combo with the 8 sweepers, and the decks likely to beat it, with Volcanic Fallout hitting Faeries, Kitchen Finks hitting burn, and Archmages hitting Five-Color Control and Time Sieve.


I could go on with specific examples, but that isn't worth the space. These are merely examples. A fourth option is a transformational sideboard, against say, a heavy Jund mirror which won't be expecting it. The point is, you want to have multiple sideboard plans, and the cards to handle all of them. I wouldn't do this for say, FNM, but for a PTQ, every edge is important, and this is certainly a formidable one.

Until next time, may you outplan your opponents.

How To Do Better At Your Next PTQ - Part 3

Hello, and welcome back to my series of How To Do Better At Your Next PTQ - Part 3. Last week we covered analysing the metagame, and this week, we'll be covering the nuts and bolts of bringing two decks to a tournament. The list which inspired this series can be found here. 


Why Two Decks?


Why would you bring two decks to a metagame? Simple: The local metagame at the PTQ you're attending is likely to be a bit different to the world's metagame. So by bringing two decks each designed to oppose certain metagames, e.g, W/U Reveillark for Anathemancer-heavy metagames and Five-Color Control for Elf Combo / Time Sieve Combo heavy metagames, you can be sure of attacking the metagame from the right angle. 


Make sure you bring decks with different weaknesses. Elf Combo and Jund seem quite different, but they're both vulnerable to the same thing: sweepers.Whereas Elf Combo and Five-Color Control on the other hand operate on totally different realms, and both require totally different sideboard plans. So you could pick one of these decks based on which one the event was less hostile towards in sideboard choices.


Testing Two Decks


Most people would advise testing two decks equally, but I think that you should become equally competent at both. Becoming competent at Elf Combo requires less matches than Five-Color Control, so if you were to run 100 matches, I'd suggest 30-40 Elf Combo matches and 60-70 Five-Color Control matches in your testing. That way you're confident with both of them, and ready no matter what deck you pick.


More complex decks require more matches to master, so take the time to learn them well.


This has been a very short post, but the concept doesn't require too many words to explain. Join me next week as I talk about doing the same anti-metagame move for your sideboard before the event.


Until next time, may you say only what needs to be said (yes I know this is a short post!)

How To Do Better At Your Next PTQ - Part 2

Hello, and welcome back to my series of How To Do Better At Your Next PTQ. We've covered testing your deck here, so now it's time to move on to analysing the metagame. The list which inspired this series can be found here.

The Three Types of Metagame

There are generally three different types of metagame that you'll face in a particular format in a particular year. These modes are about more than decks: they're about how the whole metagame interacts, and understanding it is crucial to victory.

The Deck vs. The Anti-Deck

This type of metagame is when there is one particular 'best' deck that makes up about a third of the field, and generally beats most of the minor decks. The second most popular deck is the anti-deck, which beats the best deck, and generally has passable matchups against the minor decks.

An example here would be Affinity. Affinity was THE deck, and anti-affinity was THE anti-deck. This is a greatly exaggerated example of how it usually is, but it's ideal for our purposes. If you couldn't beat Affinity, you basically couldn't show up.

How this matters: In this case, you need to make a choice: The Deck, which is strong but everyone will pack hate for, the Anti-Deck, which beats The Deck but can lose to minor decks, or a minor deck with a good matchup vs. The Deck and the Anti-Deck. I would generally recommend playing a minor deck if it's strong enough to get a 55-60% win chance against The Deck and the Anti-Deck, because people are less likely to sideboard against and test against it. The Deck, unless ridiculously powerful, is often not a good place to be at if the players have figured out how to beat it.

Rock-Paper-Scissors Metagame

Generally the most common, the rock-paper-scissors metagame features three major decks with favourable matches vs. one, and unfavourable vs. the other. The three major decks all perform well against the minor decks almot all of the time.

An example of this would be last year's metagame, where Faeries beat Five-Color Control, Five-Color Control beat Kithkin, and Kithkin beat Faeries. All three decks performed well against random decks (except Faeries vs. Mono-Red) and all of them were good vs. one deck and bad vs. another.

How this matters: Generally, one deck will be the most popular. The deck it beats will be second, and the deck that the second deck beats will be third. Thus, we need to examine the pros and cons of Deck 1, Deck 2 and Deck 3.

Deck 1: Playing Deck 1 is often a good choice, especially if you're good with it. Most players won't play Deck 3, and plenty of them play Deck 2. Of course the problem with Deck 1 is that minor decks can do well against it if they sideboard heavily.

Deck 2: Playing Deck 2 is generally a bad choice. Losing to Deck 1 is never a good thing. I personally would not recommend it. People will sideboard against Deck 2 as well. Deck 2 = bad idea.

Deck 3: Playing Deck 3 is a good idea. If you can survive the first few rounds of a PTQ, Deck 2 will be mostly eliminated by Deck 1, and you're designed to prey on Deck 1. Most decks will only devote 3-4 sideboard slots to Deck 3 as well. Personally, this is the one I would pick unless I was quite skilled with Deck 1.

Minor deck: I wouldn't recommend it. It's basically impossible to build a minor deck with decent matchups against Deck 1, 2 and 3. In this case, the best move is to go with Deck 1 or Deck 3.

One Deck Many Decks Metagame

The rarest of the three, a one deck many deck metagame is when one deck or subset of decks makes up about 20-25% of the metagame, and the rest of it is spread among minor decks.

A perfect example of this is Legacy. CounterTop decks make up the One Deck, and the other decks (notably Dreadstill and Thresh) are mostly fairly minor, with a couple of 10-15% players. This metagame is hard to predict. It depends on how much hate is brought against the One Deck.

How this matters: In this scenario, it all depends on how new the One Deck is. If the One Deck has recently surfaced, play it. If it's been winning for a few weeks, I suggest playing a minor deck with a good matchup against the One Deck and passable matchups against most minor decks. It's hard to know how this kind of metagame will turn out, but a solid plan against the One Deck is never a bad thing.

The Role of Minor Decks

Minor decks, the ones that make up a small but appreciable segment of the metagame, generally 5-10% are an excellent, valuable addition to the metagame. For one, it keeps the major decks honest. They need to be able to defend against a wide variety of angles of attack to remain in their catbird seats. For another, it provides variety. Sometimes you don't want to play a major deck, and then you can always move to the Merfolks or Blightings of the world and try to strike from an unexpected angle.

I could include some information about how to collect statistics for the metagame, but I'm fairly sure that if you're at the level of seriously analysing it, you already know how to do that. My only tip I will give you is to check out the latest tournaments: StarCityGames.com is good for this. Other than that, it's up to you to ascertain what pattern of metagame you're in.

The best part about this advice is that it will still be applicable 5 or 10 years from now. I'm sure I'll write many articles about the metagame that will go out of date in mere months, but this content is timeless. Enjoy it, and use it wisely.

Until next time, may you see the pattern you've seen before.

Catching Up On Magic - Part 6

This will be the final article in the series. The entire article will be republished into one for linking purposes, and then this series will end.

It's time for the last post of this series: the metagame. I could write a large amount about the metagame, but I'm just going to give you the bare bones. I'll actually be writing a bigger post about the metagame in the next few days that caters to the PTQ players.

The main decks in the metagame are:

Major:

Five-Color Control

Jund

Faeries

Minor:

Jund Mannequin

Elf Combo

Time Sieve Combo

Kithkin

Doran Rock

Merfolk

Man that's a lot of decks. Let's do this:

Five-Color Control

Decklist from USA Nationals, 1st place, by Charles Gindy

Creatures
3 Broodmate Dragon
3 Mulldrifter
3 Plumeveil

Instants
3 Broken Ambitions
4 Cryptic Command
4 Esper Charm
1 Essence Scatter
2 Negate
4 Volcanic Fallout

Planeswalkers
2 Ajani Vengeant

Sorceries
3 Cruel Ultimatum
2 Hallowed Burial

Basic Lands
3 Island

Lands
2 Cascade Bluffs
1 Exotic Orchard
2 Mystic Gate
4 Reflecting Pool
3 Sunken Ruins
2 Vivid Crag
4 Vivid Creek
3 Vivid Marsh
2 Vivid Meadow

Sideboard:
4 Great Sable Stag
2 Runed Halo
1 Essence Scatter
1 Negate
2 Jace Beleren
2 Firespout
1 Hallowed Burial
2 Identity Crisis

Five-Color Control's strength lies in it's ability to play all the best control cards in Standard in one deck. It starts off slow, then uses overwhelming card advantage and card quality to beat you down until it plays Broodmate Dragon, Baneslayer Angel, or Cruel Ultimatum, and then proceeds to win.

How to beat it: Anathemancer is always an excellent choice. If you're not in the colors or need another weapon, Glen Elendra Archmage is a good choice too. Great Sable Stag helps, but won't really win on his own with Lightning Bolt, Firespout and Hallowed Burial providing an answer.

How to play it: Try not to tap out on your opponent's turn unless what you play is far more devastating than anything they can come up with (Broodmate, Baneslayer, Cruel). Use your counterspells only on things you will find hard to deal with if they hit.

Jund

Decklist from Uruguay Nationals, 3rd place, by Rafael Peralta

Maindeck:

Creatures
4 Bloodbraid Elf
4 Boggart Ram-gang
2 Chameleon Colossus
2 Kitchen Finks
4 Putrid Leech
4 Wren's Run Vanquisher

Instants
2 Bituminous Blast
3 Jund Charm
4 Lightning Bolt
1 Volcanic Fallout

Sorceries
3 Maelstrom Pulse

Tribal Instants
3 Nameless Inversion

Basic Lands
5 Forest
2 Mountain

Lands
3 Auntie's Hovel
2 Fire-lit Thicket
4 Gilt-leaf Palace
1 Graven Cairns
1 Rootbound Crag
4 Savage Lands
1 Vivid Grove
1 Vivid Marsh

Sideboard:
3 Anathemancer
2 Kitchen Finks
2 Chaotic Backlash
2 Volcanic Fallout
4 Deathmark
2 Thought Hemorrhage

While I personally disagree with some of his card choices, he's got the invite to Worlds and I don't, so there ya go. The deck focuses on Cascade and powerful aggro creatures to create a rare deck: an aggressive deck with card advantage.

How to beat it: Anathemancer is effective, as is Burrenton Forge-Tender to stop most of their removal. Ethersworn Canonist or Double Negative is good if you're getting beat up by Cascade, and you can outlast them if you're a deck like Five-Color.

How to play it: Play aggressively, but sandbag a Bloodbraid Elf against a control deck. Against Elf Combo or Kithkin, use your sweepers well. Cascade is your friend, and use Lightning Bolt and Maelstrom Pulse aggressively.

Faeries

Decklist from Brazil Nationals, 1st place, by Paulo Vitor Damo de Rosa

Creatures
4 Mistbind Clique
4 Scion Of Oona
2 Sower Of Temptation
4 Spellstutter Sprite

Instants
4 Agony Warp
3 Broken Ambitions
4 Cryptic Command
1 Essence Scatter

Legendary Creatures
2 Vendilion Clique

Sorceries
2 Thoughtseize

Tribal Enchantments
4 Bitterblossom

Basic Lands
6 Island
2 Swamp

Lands
4 Drowned Catacomb
2 Gargoyle Castle
4 Mutavault
4 Secluded Glen
4 Sunken Ruins

Sideboard:
3 Puppeteer Clique
2 Sower Of Temptation
1 Vendilion Clique
2 Deathmark
3 Infest
2 Thoughtseize
2 Warren Weirding

Faeries is an aggro-control deck that uses it's creatures to control the board, by countering spells with Spellstutter Sprite, stealing your turn with Mistbind Clique, and disrupting you with Vendilion Clique. Bitterblossom provides incremental card advantage.

How to beat it: Great Sable Stag is the KING against Faeries here. It totally stops them cold, and all they can do is race or play a sideboarded Warren Weirding (very clunky). Against U/B/R Faeries, Anathemancer is good, and Great Sable Stag is still almost as powerful.

How to play it: Save your cards til the right moments: Sprites to counter spells, Scions to counter removal or as combat tricks, Mistbind Clique on their upkeep, etc. Bitterblossom is good to play as early as possible. Don't be afraid to turn aggressive and race.

Elf Combo

Decklist from Russian Nationals, 1st place, by Andrey Kochurov.

Creatures
1 Burrenton Forge-tender
1 Cloudthresher
4 Devoted Druid
4 Elvish Archdruid
4 Elvish Visionary
4 Heritage Druid
4 Llanowar Elves
1 Mirror Entity
4 Nettle Sentinel
1 Noble Hierarch
1 Oversoul Of Dusk
4 Ranger Of Eos
3 Regal Force

Sorceries
1 Overrun
4 Primal Command

Basic Lands
8 Forest

Lands
3 Mosswort Bridge
4 Sunpetal Grove
4 Wooded Bastion

Sideboard:
3 Burrenton Forge-tender
3 Great Sable Stag
2 Oversoul Of Dusk
1 Qasali Pridemage
3 Guttural Response
3 Path To Exile

Elf Combo uses Heritage Druid, Nettle Sentinel and Elvish Archdruid to get lots of mana, Elvish Visionary and Ranger of Eos to assemble a critical number of Elves, and Regal Force / Mirror Entity as finishers to win the game with.

How to beat it: Lots of sweepers and Wrath effects. Tapping all their creatures with Cryptic Command can also buy you time.

How to play it: Don't be afraid to overextend unless you have a combo + Ranger of Eos. If you don't win fast, you won't win at all. Use your big creatures to win the game.

Jund Mannequin

Decklist from USA Nationals, 4th place, by Brad Nelson.

Creatures
4 Bloodbraid Elf
3 Caldera Hellion
2 Cloudthresher
4 Kitchen Finks
4 Mulldrifter
4 Putrid Leech
4 Shriekmaw

Instants
4 Makeshift Mannequin
4 Volcanic Fallout

Sorceries
3 Maelstrom Pulse

Basic Lands
2 Forest
2 Mountain
1 Swamp

Lands
3 Fire-lit Thicket
4 Reflecting Pool
3 Twilight Mire
3 Vivid Crag
4 Vivid Grove
2 Vivid Marsh

Sideboard:
4 Anathemancer
1 Cloudthresher
4 Great Sable Stag
3 Deathmark
3 Thought Hemorrhage

Jund Mannequin uses a combination of aggressiveness and comes-into-play creatures (reanimated) to win the game. It's an aggro control deck that hinders the opponent while building it's own attacking force.

How to beat it: Removing their graveyard with Jund Charm helps, and it's also vulnerable to Burrenton Forge-Tender and Anathemancer like conventional Jund decks.

How to play it: Feel free to evoke Shriekmaw and Mulldrifter early to bring them back with Makeshift Mannequin. Caldera Hellion is a good controlling card, and your other cards are used for attacking the opponent. Your deck can switch roles between aggro and control repeatedly during a game: use it.

Time Sieve Combo

Decklist from Finland Nationals, 1st place, by Mikko Airaksinen.

Artifacts
4 Elsewhere Flask
4 Fieldmist Borderpost
1 Font Of Mythos
4 Howling Mine
3 Kaleidostone
4 Mistvein Borderpost
4 Time Sieve

Instants
4 Cryptic Command
4 Pollen Lullaby

Planeswalkers
2 Jace Beleren
2 Tezzeret The Seeker

Sorceries
4 Open The Vaults
4 Time Warp

Basic Lands
7 Island
3 Plains
3 Swamp

Lands
3 Mystic Gate

Sideboard:
4 Ethersworn Canonist
3 Angelsong
4 Flashfreeze
4 Path To Exile

This deck focuses on playing artifacts to draw cards and get mana, then use Time Sieve, Time Warp, and Open The Vaults to take infinite turns while drawing lots of cards with Howling Mine. It wins with Tezzeret's ultimate ability.

How to beat it: Counter their Open the Vaults, or be fast enough to kill them first. Maelstrom Pulse on Borderposts is a good idea.

How to play it: Don't be afraid to play Borderposts at full price. Top priority is Howling Mine, then 'draw a card' artifacts, then mana artifacts. Once you hit 5-6 mana, start Time Warping, Sieving, and vault opening until you win.

Kithkin

Decklist from Finland Nationals, 3rd place, by Antti Malin.

Creatures
4 Cloudgoat Ranger
4 Figure Of Destiny
4 Goldmeadow Stalwart
4 Knight Of Meadowgrain
4 Wizened Cenn

Enchantments
4 Honor Of The Pure

Instants
2 Harm's Way
2 Path To Exile

Planeswalkers
3 Ajani Goldmane

Sorceries
4 Spectral Procession

Basic Lands
18 Plains

Lands
1 Mutavault
2 Rustic Clachan
4 Windbrisk Heights

Sideboard:
4 Ethersworn Canonist
4 Burrenton Forge-tender
2 Stillmoon Cavalier
1 Harm's Way
1 Mirrorweave
1 Path To Exile
1 Elspeth, Knight-errant
1 Hallowed Burial

Kithkin focuses on playing lots of threats, then pumping them up to win quickly. It's surprisingly resilient, as a Cloudgoat Ranger or Spectral Procession can provide an immediate threat, especially with a pump spell on the battlefield.

How to beat it: Sweepers and Wrath effects, as well as anti-white cards like Stillmoon Cavalier and Deathmark work well. Chaotic Backlash can often deal a lot of damage to them if they don't have Burrenton Forge-Tender.

How to play it: It's an aggro deck: simple to play. Play cards, make them big with Ajani and Honor of the Pure, and bash them to death. Keeping back a Cloudgoat Ranger isn't a bad idea though.

Doran Rock

Decklist from Hungary Nationals, 2nd place, by Gabor Kocsis.

Artifacts
1 Behemoth Sledge

Creatures
3 Chameleon Colossus
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Putrid Leech
4 Treefolk Harbinger
4 Wilt-leaf Liege
4 Wren's Run Vanquisher

Instants
2 Path To Exile

Legendary Creatures
4 Doran, The Siege Tower

Sorceries
3 Maelstrom Pulse
3 Profane Command

Tribal Instants
2 Nameless Inversion

Basic Lands
3 Forest
1 Plains
1 Swamp

Lands
4 Gilt-leaf Palace
4 Murmuring Bosk
2 Reflecting Pool
3 Sunpetal Grove
4 Twilight Mire

Sideboard:
3 Ethersworn Canonist
4 Great Sable Stag
3 Infest
1 Maelstrom Pulse
4 Thoughtseize

Doran Rock uses powerful creatures and removal to make a very strong midrange deck. It's card quality is difficult to beat.

How to beat it: Anathemancer (do you see now why I play it maindeck?) is good, as is Deathmark and Hallowed Burial, though 2-3 damage sweepers won't cut it against this deck's main threats.

How to play it: Remember: you're a midrange deck. Control their early game, then play your guys turns 4-6 and win before the late game comes online.

Merfolk

Decklist from Switzerland Nationals, 1st place, by Tommi Lindgren.

Creatures
4 Merfolk Sovereign
4 Merrow Reejerey
4 Silvergill Adept
4 Stonybrook Banneret
4 Wake Thrasher

Instants
4 Cryptic Command
4 Path To Exile

Legendary Creatures
2 Sygg, River Guide

Sorceries
3 Sleep

Tribal Instants
3 Sage's Dousing

Basic Lands
10 Island
2 Plains

Lands
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Mutavault
4 Wanderwine Hub

Sideboard:
4 Ethersworn Canonist
4 Burrenton Forge-tender
2 Sower Of Temptation
2 Harm's Way
2 Negate
1 Sleep

Merfolk is an aggro-control deck which plays some creatures, and then protects them with counterspells to win. It also features removal and the game-ending Sleep to force through damage and kill opposing creatures.

How to beat it: Sweepers do well, especially the uncounterable Volcanic Fallout. Racing them is often an option, as well: generally you won't face Merfolk often.

How to play it. Treat your creatures as both offensive creatures and blockers. You are an aggro-control deck: you can do both. Go aggressive when you draw Sleep, and go for the kill when necessary. Use your lords well. It's not an easy deck to describe briefly.

And there you have it! You have the sets, the mechanics, what's powerful, what's not, how to draft, what's being played and all the new additions to the game. You're now ready to build a deck and head to FNM without making a complete fool of yourself. But the next step is up to you. Your foot is in the door, but now you have to step through, by playing in events and continuing to learn. When Zendikar comes out, everyone else will be as confused as you are, and you'll be ready to play with the regulars once again.