I recently competed in the XPoints 2024 tournament. Let me tell you, it was one wild ride! From nerve-wracking matches against the worst possible match-ups to heart-pounding victories. In this blog I will spill the beans on how I made it all the way to the finales.

The list

Before we go into my deck choice I want to explain the basic principles of the format. XPoints offers a unique twist on the traditional 93/94 Old School format. In XPoints, specific powerful cards are assigned points to create a balanced and diverse metagame. Each player can include up to 10 points worth of cards in their deck, including both main deck and sideboard. Eligible cards for pointing are those that provide mana acceleration, card advantage, or have a significant impact on the game without significant drawbacks. This format allows players of all backgrounds, from budget players to seasoned veterans, to enjoy the thrills of Old School Magic while ensuring a dynamic and engaging gameplay experience.

My original plan was to play a version of an older Xpoints winning deck.
I’ts a kind of a twist on Erhnamgeddon but with Winter Orb as the lockdown enabler and a Tax/Dark Heart combo that makes sure you get an extra untapped land every turn while filtering your deck and gaining life. It preformed really well during playtesting but it wasn’t my kind of deck.

In the end I went for an 12-bolt aggro build that suits my playstyle more.

The basic concept was to smash everyone and everything on the board and just keep the presure up at all times and hope I don’t run into Blood Moon.

Round 1

The excitement was palpable as the tournament kicked off, but alas, it wasn’t without its share of hiccups. Technical gremlins reared their heads, causing delays in starting the first round. As an organizer myself, I know firsthand the nail-biting tension that comes with relying on platforms like Tolaria.app to smoothly launch a tournament. It’s a gamble; either everything falls seamlessly into place, or chaos ensues. Unfortunately, this time, chaos won out. The hiccup began when the host had to manually pair a bye due to a tardy participant, throwing a wrench into the gears and setting the stage for a nerve-wracking start to the competition. In the end, he had to delete the event and start from scratch. It reminded me that I really need to have a backup system for the next Edge-Man Championship. I was lucky last time.

After a 30-minute delay, things finally kicked into gear, and we were ready to shuffle up and play. My first opponent was a member of the Old Man by the Sea crew, Mr. Ivo himself! Ivo was playing a blue-red-green Living Lands deck that loves to ping lands. I won the first match without really seeing his deck in proper action, so I had no idea what to expect for the second match, besides the fact that Blood Moon was not to be expected as he too seemed to run a lot of duals. Ivo was unlucky with his opening hand and had to mulligan down to 5. That set him back hard, and I was able to secure the second match as well.

Round 2

My second opponent of the day was Martijn! He was running a blue-black-green deck filled with aggressive 4-drops. I struggled against his deck, especially after he boarded in some solid sideboard choices during the second match. However, in the end, I won 2-1 by casting a lot of direct damage spells directly onto my opponent, securing the win while my Pixies held off the barrage of creatures. In general, I think the Pixies did a lot of the heavy lifting for me during XPoints.

Round 3

Certainly the most interesting match-up of the day! I was paired against Mr. Timmy-talks himself, Thomas! He was running a white-red deck with Blood Moon and Power Surge in his main deck. Power Surge is an enchantment that has the following ability:

Since XPoints is played by the Atlantic 93/94 Magic rules, mana burn is still very much a thing, so you can’t just tap out to avoid damage, making Power Surge a serious card to reckon with.

Every game against Thomas was a very cool match and a real power struggle. At any given time either one of us could have been victorious, but in the end, I managed to claim the win. Looking back at the match I should have lost. I only won because Thomas made a few small mistakes towards the end of the third match.

Round 4

Round 4 was a testimony on good sportsmanship. I played against Luc and his blue-red Atog-deck. It was a really cool deck, not only to play against but also to look at. All his cards were in NM-condition and the deck overall looked absolutely stunning. He was running a lot of control-kinda cards, and the matches took quite long. After the second match, we were tied. Unfortunately, Luc had to make a quick run to the parking meter to buy some extra parking time. I was more than okay with that but as a result, time was running out during our third and final match. With the final 5-turn warning given, we were entering the endgame. Luc was in a losing position, but he could have easily stalled the game and forced a draw, but he didn’t.

Round 5

My final hurdle to overcome on my road to the finals was Roy’s Deadguy Ale build, a deck that utilizes a combination of disruptive spells like Hymn to Tourach and Sinkhole to disrupt the opponent’s hand and mana base, along with efficient creatures like Juzam Djinn to apply pressure. The deck also included powerful removal spells like Swords to Plowshares and Disenchant to deal with opposing threats. Against Roy, I boarded in two copies of Control Magic. It turned out to be a winning move. In the last match, I took control over his Juzam Djinn and won the match. And just like that, I made it into the finals!

The matches against Roy were very laid-back and friendly. We had some great laughs while playing. I really enjoyed the overall atmosphere at our table. It’s great when that happens, even if there is a spot for the finals at stake. In the end, we are all there to have fun!

The Finals

My opponent in the finals was Johan. Johan was running a deck that looked somewhat like last year’s winner. So basically pump Knights, Hymn to Tourach, Hippies, Sinkholes, some burn spells, and Underworld Dreams. Johan added blue to the mixture compared to Chefke’s deck. It was a tough deck to play against! The Hymns are just so oppressive and disruptive. In the end, it was very close. I eventually lost the third match to a Timetwister with an Underworld Dreams out. Johan is the well-deserved champion of XPoints 2024! Congratulations to him!

Final Thoughts

Overall, I was very happy with how things turned out. The deck managed to do what it was built for, which is always a nice thing. The tournament was very well-organized, and I want to congratulate and thank Louis for another successful edition!

I don’t play XPoints that often because I mainly participate in real-life tournaments, but I had a great time. While I appreciate the spirit and philosophy behind XPoints, I do feel the format needs some tweaking. Some cards are just too over-represented, with Hymn being one of them. I saw a lot of them! If I understand correctly, the card went up from one point to two, but that didn’t solve the issue in my opinion. If anything, it made the decks running them even more consistent. Most players favor Hymn over Factories when distributing points, making a turn two Hymn more likely. In my opinion, it should be restricted; just adding more points would be silly. Swaffel had it right when it comes to Hymn. But, I’m excited to join next year and see if and how the meta has changed. It’s a very cool format, and I love the community.