[Report] Mediocrity Syndrome - A Reccolection of Events (Plus Decklist!)

[Nightmare]

So, I've been asked like 3 to 4 times a day for the last couple months for my MSPaint decklist, which I've been doing pretty well with in Syracuse events during that stretch. It's a solid list that doesn't need to run bullshit like Imperial Recruiter to win with, and gets to play good cards, like Counterbalance. I've been reluctant to post the list because of the whole "oh, you're Nightmare. I know every card in your deck before we even start playing" phenomenon, but now that the proverbial cat is out of the bag, and I've used the deck in a "big event," I figure fuck it. We'll get to that list in a few. Meantime, here's some irrelevant shit that isn't the tournament, but is a tournament report.

So, a few weeks ago, Colin (Di), Bryant (Bryant Cook), and I (Nightmare), went down to Connecticut for the last "real" vintage tournament. Since we're no good at that format at all, we all scrubbed like bitches, and got drunk. It was pretty good. While we were there, we had some Massholes crash in our hotel with us, and they weren't too terrible. They smelled a little gamey, but hey, they're gamers. This should be somewhat expected. It could have been much worse, believe me. So these guys were alright, and we figure fuck it (that will be a recurring theme, btw - tattoo it on your forehead (Ebinsugewa gets it)). So anyway, after that event, TheSourcerFormerlyKnownAsJanValentine00 PMs me asking if three of the guys that were with us in the room can crash at my apartment for this weekend. I'm like sure. Two or three days before the event, it had become five guys. Still ok. The day before people start leaving, it's now six. Now it's at about the breaking point for dudes in my apartment. It's a good sized place, but I don't have that much room. I let them know it will be a tight squeeze, but say ok.

Friday, I decide to bring our new boy Carl (who is by no means interested in Legacy) some special brownies before FNM at Altered. This is good Karma, and he wins the Altered FNM. I alse pwn face at the Comixzone FNM, because I fucking rule at Shadowmoor limited. Edgewalker knows. Sorry duder. So I take first there, and the Massholes have shown up and started to test at CZ. I head home to prep for their stay, and when I do, my roommate and his GF are on the couch watching TV. I'm like, I know I told you a bunch of people are coming over, and we madly scramble to clean house. Eventually, Zach "Stole Adam's Basket" Tartell shows up too, and then there are 10 magic players in my place. It smelled wonderful. So I go to bed, as I'm running on like 3 hours of sleep, and I guess Massholes are up till like 3. Whatev. Wake up at 830, get a shower, where I realize some fucking dick used my towel before I could take a shower, which is NOT FUCKING COOL, and off we go to the event. Showtime.

Here's the EPIC Painter's Servant list, in both Photographic and List form:

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t234/AdamNightmare/IM001923.jpg
http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t234/AdamNightmare/IM001924.jpg
http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t234/AdamNightmare/IM001925.jpg
http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t234/AdamNightmare/IM001926.jpg
http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t234/AdamNightmare/IM001927.jpg
http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t234/AdamNightmare/IM001928.jpg
http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t234/AdamNightmare/IM001929.jpg

[Nightmare]

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t234/AdamNightmare/IM001930.jpg
http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t234/AdamNightmare/IM001931.jpg
http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t234/AdamNightmare/IM001932.jpg
http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t234/AdamNightmare/IM001933.jpg
http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t234/AdamNightmare/IM001934.jpg

BOARD:

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t234/AdamNightmare/IM001935.jpg
http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t234/AdamNightmare/IM001936.jpg

[Nightmare]

For those of you who aren't interested in the "Pimp Decklist Thread," here it is in written form:

4 Polluted delta
4 Flooded Strand
4 Underground sea
2 Tropical Island
1 Swamp
1 Academy Ruins
3 Island

2 Trinket Mage
4 Painter's Servant
3 Dark Confidant

4 Force of Will
4 Brainstrom
4 Ponder
3 Counterbalance
3 Sensei's Diving Top
3 Lim-Dul's Vault
4 Grindstone
4 Thoughtseize
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Echoing Truth
1 Tormod's Crypt

SB:
4x Goyf
3x Tombstalker
1x Needle
1x Crypt
2x Grip
3x Plague
1x Explosives

The list fucking rules, and mad props to Colin and Bryant for their work on it. Granted, neither one has played a single match with it, but it's still a pretty sexy piece of M:tG. To the event!

Notes aren't with me, so I'm working on it from memory. I'll correct mistakes and add names from home later.

Brief note - With this deck, the correct sideboard strategy is ALWAYS to shuffle all 15 cards in, and take the worst 15 out. You cannot allow your opponent to know if you're siding the man plan in or not. This is especially important if you've played the deck against them before.

Round 1 - Dragon Stompy

This is an abysmal matchup for me, but the player is inexperienced in Legacy (although a pretty cool kid - he got drunk with us later). Game 1, he opened with Chalice on one, but I had Echoing Truth, so I set up 4 mana for the win (with a Painter in play) and EoT Bounced the Chalice ftw. Game 2 he opened with Chalice again, and I didn't have the Force, and I didn't have the Truth, so I got owned by a dragon. Game three, I got pretty savage on him. I saw Ingot Chewer game 2, so I knew he had an answer to the combo that could be played on turn 1 without mana ramping. I baited for it (and succeeded) by playing turn 1 Grindstone, and followed it up on turn 2 with another and a Ponder (I forced his Chalice - all three games = chalice for 1). Ponder hit Painter, and I cast it on turn three. I go for the activation and he says ok, and fucking shows me Blessing. He says, "I couldn't find the two extra Pithing Needles I needed, so I threw a Blessing in." In the words of Dave Gearhart, WHAT A BEATING. Fuck it. That's why we aren't playing chess. Still, when he dropped the Blood Moon the next turn, and I stared at the two Goyfs in my hand, I couldn't help but be a little bitter. Oh, and I had boarded out my Crypts, because who plays Blessing in Dragon Stompy?
0-1. Great Start.

Round 2 - Kyle Humphries - BG Rock

I saw him play his last round against Ray Robillard, so I knew most of his deck before the match. Seems good.

Game 1 I do what I'm supposed to, and set up Counterbalance/Top to protect my Painter from Smothers. It gets there in pretty quick fashion. Game 2, he has answers for every card I play, be it Innocent Blood or what have you. I end up trying to raw dog it with Grindstone, and I get to hit 10(!) cards on a single activation, without a Painter in play. That ruled. Goyfs don't quite get there this game, so I go back to pre-board configuration and put another relatively quick win in with the combo.
1-1

Round 3 - HammafistRoob - Dreadstill

I've talked so much shit about this deck, that I feel like I can never lose to it, or I'll be eating crow forever. Still, the deck is a pile, so of course I'll win. Game 1, I set up countertop to protect my guy from his silly stifle debauchery, and draw bunches of cards from Bob. I broke 2 of his Standstills in this game, and he was pretty excited about that, but I was more excited, since it drew him absolute trash. Eventually I put the combo together. Game 2, I boarded in Goyf, and went Thresh on him. Oh, did I mention I mulled to 4 game 2? Yeah, I did. I mulled into Strand, Top, Bob, Goyf. I fetch out a basic Island so I can actually play Magic, and go for a Top, which is Dazed. Like a champ, I draw Ponder, and get to the second (and third) land. From there, I actually manage to stabalize, as Rob doesn't really have much to do. I take a few licks from Factory, but that's about it. I keep telling Roob the correct play to make (he flashed me a couple cards in his hand), but since I was being an asshole the whole match (and I was, but it was a total mental game, sorry!) he wouldn't do what I was telling him to do. It kept him from playing a Counterbalance for a turn, which let me resolve Bob, and then it kept him from doing it again, which let me resolve Goyf. Goyf went the distance while Bob got me back in the game. I managed to win the game where I mulled to 4. How sweet.
2-1

Round 4 - Soltari - UB reanimator

Soltari is a real nice guy, he says he's been playing variants of this deck since Tempest. That's a man who knows the meaning of Loyalty. Game 1, I open with Thoughtseize, and see sauce, but no reanimation spell and no Dude. I take 1 of two Brainstorms, and on his turn, he Storms into both. Nice. I lose to Akroma beats. Game 2 I once again open with Seize, and take his reanimation spell. This gives me time to set up Counter Top, and it's short work from there. Game three is much of the same for me, as he doesn't ever find a fatty to reanimate.
3-1

Round 5 - Kadishack - Landstill with Goyf
I ask Bryant before we sit down if he knows what Kadi is playing, and he tells me Landstill. I prepare for the long haul. I open up a pretty solid had against Landstill, especially on the draw, with a bunch of cantrips and a Top. Kadi opens with Bayou, Ritual, Hyppie.

Wait, what? Yeah, not playing Landstill as much as Anwar's Eva Green deck. I get blown the fuck out. I blame Bryant, but only as a joke. Nice lands.

Game 2 is pretty much the same story, although this time he wins through the attack step with a 5/5 instead of a 2/2.

3-2. Out of contention for all intents and purposes, but fuck it.

Round 6 - Jesse (Mad Zur) - 5c Thresh

Game 1, Jesse gets counterbalance and Top set up while I'm stuck on one land, struggling to resolve a Brainstorm, since three were all countered by his magic. I lose. Game 2, I decide that my deck is better at playing Threshold than his deck is, so I do it. He's also stuck on one land this game, which helps. We decide that game three will be a real game, and it's much better, with both of us resolving Counterbalances, and each resolving tops. Problem is, I've got Bob online from turn 2 onward, and outdraw him by a long shot. My goyf eventually goes the distance.
4-2.

Round 7 - Matt (TPS) - AggroLoam

Matt is a Vintage Guy, but I've seen him at a couple events here and there. He gives me some props on the deck, since he saw me play it at Einfeld, and we commence play. Game 1, he mulls to 5, so I win. Game 2, I mull to 5, so he wins. Game 3, we split the difference, and we both mull to 6. Then we try to have a real game, but it ends up being not so much a game as a display of frustration as both our decks deliver heaps of garbage to us. Eventually Matt manages to squeak enough damage through for the win. Dissapointing, more that our decks managed to say "I give up" on us both, than anything else.

So a mediocre last round manages to secure my position somewhere in the 20's I'm sure. I don't really give a shit. Fuck it.

After the event, I kicked all the Massholes out of my house, cause I hate them. No, not really. I wanted to go out for TeenieBopper's birthday, and they couldn't stay at my place alone. They go to Kadi's, I go get loaded for cheap (knowing bar employees ftw!) and the weekend rolls on.

PROPPERS:
~ EPIC for making the sexiest lists ever, even if we don't always win with them.
~ Massholes for making it out
~ Ray and his crew for making it out
~ VA for making it out
~ FUCKING ANGRYTROLL for making it out
~ The Big Lebowski
~ Dave Gearhart for creaming his shorts over my EDH deck
~ Anwar for being awesome
~ Parcher for successfully drinking more alcohol than me. I was pretty sober till I got home, and then it all hit me like a fucking brick shithouse.
~ Silkbind Faerie. Dude DOMINATES a draft pool.

SLOPPERS:
~ Gaea's Blessing. It shouldn't win the game, unless it's fucking random, and I walk into it like a bitch.
~ Wasteland
~ Dave Gearhart. Gay people aren't that scary dude. And you hang out with Krieger! WTF?
~ Red. That color is terrible.

[Shriekmaw]

Adam, thats a pretty good list. Too bad your matches could of gone a little differentely and losing to a Gaea's Blessing is just so gay, I can't believe someone would actually waste a spot on it.

I was testing a version that was very similar to your build, but was unimpressed at times because finding the win condition was tough a times when you have very little removal.

I actually tested with dark confidants, but added Tarmogoyfs into the main deck as a secondary win condition. Here is the list that I actually tested, tell me what you think.

Wow's Painter List

4 Flooded Strand
3 Polluted Delta
3 Tropical Island
3 Underground Sea
3 Volcanic Island
2 Island
1 Academy Ruins
4 Force of Will
4 Brainstorm
4 Counterbalance
4 Painter's Servant
4 Grindstone
4 Pyroblast
4 Thoughtseize
4 Tarmogoyf
3 Sensei's Divinning Top
3 Lim Dul's Vault
2 Trinket Mage
1 Engineered Explosives

SB

1 Echoing Truth
1 Engineered Explosives
2 Duress
2 Krosan Grip
3 Vexing Shusher
3 Tormod's Crypt
3 Engineered Plague

[Bryant Cook]

Please do not post decklists. This is EPIC MSPaint, blasts and lists like that are terrible.

Not too shabby on your first big event with the beast. The deck dominates our locals.

[Nightmare]

Well, I don't necessarily agree with the Goyfs MD, I can't imagine a time where I thought running REB was correct. You end up splashing a fourth color - a fourth! - for a card that does very little against matchups that are otherwise poor and a lot when you're already in a position to win. I really think you'd be better off running more cantrips in that slot, as that could have a lot to do with why you aren't finding both parts of the combo as easily as you should.

We chose to run the Goyfs and Stalkers in the board because, well, they aren't as good as the combo in game 1, where most people aren't going to have effective hate for it. Games two and three let you basically board into Black Thresh (while keeping some of the combo in), and forces your opponent to adjust to deal with Goyfs, giving you time to either just win with guys, or to distract them till you set the win up in a single turn. I suppose you could move that plan to the main if you choose, but I see it as an all or nothing plan - you can't combine them both in the MD and keep the strategy viable.

[Shugyosha]

Nice pimp deck but it would look 100% more awesome in black sleeves.

How do you board when the full man plan comes in? I guess you take the combo out then?

[Nightmare]

Nice pimp deck but it would look 100% more awesome in black sleeves.Secret to making less than mint beta duals look sexy - play with white sleeves.


How do you board when the full man plan comes in? I guess you take the combo out then?

It varies, but for the most part, if men are coming in, it's:

-3 Dark Confidant
+3 Tombstalker

Taking 8 to the dome sucks. I misboarded round 5, and it happenned.

-2 Painter's Servant
-2 Grindstone
+4 Tarmogoyf

You still want the ability to combo, so you keep some of it in, but you reduce the number of each to make room for the additional win conditions. Then I usually cut Lim-Dul's Vault for utility cards. The hardest match to board for is Goblins, since you bring in fucking 14 cards.

[Shriekmaw]

Please do not post decklists. This is EPIC MSPaint, blasts and lists like that are terrible.

Not too shabby on your first big event with the beast. The deck dominates our locals.


I've been testing different lists for a Painter's deck for over 2 months now. I just don't talk about it like you guys all the time. I have never taken credit for the deck or anything, I was just given you a list that I've been testing.