Before I get started, I must answer a question posed in last week's comments... why should you play Time Sieve?

1. It's a ridiculously fun deck that will catch many opponents off guard.
2. It's a great option for the budget player.
3. There are no real horrible matchups. It may not have a great matchup against everything like Jund, but any deck that can't beat you by turn 5 can't beat you period.

Sorry to leave you hanging on that aspect. Now, on to States. I was forced to change my sideboard again with no Flashfreeze or Day of Judgment in sight. I got to the Knights of Columbus in Charlestown, Mass. just under the sign-up gun (which is pretty impressive coming from the Berkshires leaving at 8 in the morning) and registered this list:

Hindering Light counters pretty much anything Flashfreeze really should counter (Maelstrom Pulse, Bituminous Blast, etc.) and cantrips at that. Dispeller's Capsule is there for those random problem cards such as Pithing Needle and Oblivion Ring. Here goes nothing.

Round 1 vs. Brian Kaviar (Bant)

There's not much I can do to stop turn 1 Noble Hierarch, turn 2 double Lotus Cobra, and turn 3 Jenara, Asura of War. At least it's not Baneslayer, right? Well, it might not produce 10-point life swings every turn but it's still a pain when I have no flyers. The real downfall point in this matchup, though, was between games one and two, when I failed to side in Negate, instead going for Hindering Light. It didn't sound like a bad idea at first, seeing as I was staring down the barrel of Path to Exile and Bant Charm. But Hindering Light doesn't win counter wars against Negate targeting Open the Vaults, which he pulled off three times. Sounds like a scoop on my part.

0-2 games, 0-1 matches

Round 2 vs. Alfred Benoit (Naya)

I should have lost this match. In game one I started to combo off on turn 5, but thanks to some sloppy math my Glassdust Hulk only got him down to 1. Worse yet, he would be drawing four cards next turn with four already in grip and three Howling Mines in play on my side. But I dodged a rather large bullet as he could only attack me down to four life with no Lightning Bolts in hand, and I swung in for the win the next turn. In game two, he had complete board advantage, with a Wooly Thoctar, a Rampaging Baloths, two Beast tokens, and Great Sable Stag. Worse yet, though I had blockers, I was at 5 life and my two Master of Etherium, Glassdust Hulk, and Etherium Sculptor couldn't even chump the Stag. But instead of equipping his Behemoth Sledge to the Stag and swinging for the win, he elected to swing with the team and take me down to two life, at which point I gladly dropped a Fieldmist Borderpost and cracked back to turn what should have been my second loss into my first win.

2-2 games, 1-1 matches

Round 3 vs. Brandon Franks (Jund)

Ah, finally my chance to take on the 800-pound gorilla. We split the first two games in average fashion. In game 3, though, I chose not to mulligan a seemingly keepable but otherwise subpar hand, which, in combination of Pithing Needle naming Time Sieve, allowed Brandon to do something nobody has been able to do to me playing this deck – strip me of my hand. My lack of options forced a scoop into the dreaded X-2 bracket rather early.

3-4 games, 1-2 matches

Round 4 vs. Lindsay Dow (White Weenie)

In game 1 Lindsay applied the pressure with two Honor of the Pure, Knight of the White Orchid, and Steppe Lynx, then put me on the clock with a turn 5 Conqueror's Pledge She would not be able to swing again, however, as I did my math properly this time and swung in with two Glassdust Hulks. She had a rough go of it game 2, as she could only muster three lands by the time I locked up the game.

5-4 games, 2-2 matches

Round 5 vs. Matt Esposito (TurboFog)

This match was a card draw extravaganza. In game 1 he went turn 3 Jace, turn four Font of Mythos, which only enabled me to combo off faster. He clinched game 2 with a Twincasted Archive Trap with 25 cards left in my deck. He made game three very interesting by naming Time Sieve with Pithing Needle, but with all the card draw going on, his discard options cost him the game. He was forced to discard two Font of Mythos and two Safe Passage. With Negate protection against Angelsong and Archive Trap, I got into position to make a run for a strong finish.

6-5 games, 3-2 matches

And then I got the phone call. My girlfriend said we should probably leave sooner rather than later because the weather was going to get bad soon. I reluctantly dropped despite being in contention for a prize if nothing else. Nine points and a drop was good enough for 62nd place out of 126, a pretty small turn out for Massachusetts States. Sure enough, as we headed back west to Lee, the snow piled on. Good call by my ladyfan.

Old Man Winter 1, Sam Feeley 0

Despite the very average showing, I am still convinced that Time Sieve is not dead, nor is it "mostly dead." Furthermore, it won't be dead until Open the Vaults rotates, whenever that is. Maybe I'll consider other sideboard tweaks, like Angelsong, Baneslayer Angel, Doom Blade or whatever... but for now, this is my story and I'm sticking to it.

Well, it's time for this column to put Standard aside for a while. I'll be playtesting a bunch of different decks for Extended season, and maybe I'll see you on Workstation. Again, if you have any ideas for Standard or Extended, give me a holler at samuraientertainment@gmail.com. I'm also on Twitter and AIM as DJSamurai37.

Until next time, curse you New England weather!

-Sam