Dxfiler
09-15-2008, 02:11 AM
Hi.
Kird Ape: Hi.
Dave Feinstein: That wasn't directed at you, but since you're here...how are you?
Kird Ape: I'm good. How are you?
Dave Feinstein: I'm tired. And depressed.
Kird Ape: I- I can sing for you. Would you like me to sing?
Dave Feinstein: NO.
Kird Ape: You don't have to be so mean to me! I only get to come out in your reports a couple times a year these days... and that's if I'm lucky! You only write reports when you do well and you're terrible so--
Dave Feinstein: Keep it up. I'll put you back in... THE BOX.
Kird Ape: No, no! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!
Dave Feinstein: That's right. You don't want to end up like Hidden Gibbons do you? Now stay out my my report until called upon.
Seriously.
So I really wanted to do well in my local store's magic 500. I had made top 8 at the last 3, splitting in top 4 in two of those. Doing well at this one meant more than the others because I was low on $$$ since I scrubbed Nationals and am currently jobless. The one nice thing about going to Nationals was being able to help my friend Carl Dillahay. He called me a couple of days before the event and told me he'd be driving up with some friends to try and grind in. He was interested in my RG deck that I used at regionals so we worked on it and to make a long story short he grinded in then top 8'd nats making alot of money while I scrubbed hard :p
I was happy for him, but I still had to face the grim reality of spending alot on hotel/airfare and coming away with nothing. I decided to go easy on playing tournaments since Nats and have been very selective about what I play in. I figured this tourney would be my best shot at making some much needed cold hard cash but didn't know what to play. It was at this point that out of the blue Carl IM'd me and said I should play URG Thresh. He just won the Beta Trop tourney in Syracuse. I looked at the list and it was solid. There were a couple slots I didn't agree with but for the most part looked good. I didn't like that it was low on win conditions and had no basic lands. What impressed me about it was he went 2-1 against goyf sligh, which is a very popular deck right now and was my default choice for the tourney.
So it was either play a deck that isn't really my style or play a deck that I always do well with and has Kird Ape in it.
Kird Ape: That isn't a hard choice at all!
Dave Feinstein: You're right, it's not.
Kird Ape: Uh oh...
URG Thresh
// Lands
1 [6E] Island
4 Tropical Island
4 [R] Volcanic Island
3 [ON] Polluted Delta
3 [ON] Flooded Strand
3 [REW] Wasteland
// Creatures
4 [FUT] Tarmogoyf
4 [OD] Nimble Mongoose
// Spells
3 [DIS] Spell Snare
3 [SC] Stifle
4 [NE] Daze
4 [FNM] Brainstorm
4 [LRW] Ponder
4 [R] Lightning Bolt
3 [TE] Counterspell
4 [AL] Force of Will
2 [AP] Fire/Ice
3 Threads of Disloyalty
// Sideboard
SB: 2 [AP] Fire/Ice
SB: 2 [10E] Pithing Needle
SB: 4 [CH] Tormod's Crypt
SB: 3 [TSP] Krosan Grip
SB: 4 [B] Red Elemental Blast
24 People showed to this shindig. Not what teh owners were hoping for but it could've been worse (see: last DHG 500 :p). 5 Rounds of swiss cut to top 8. The hope was to get a couple of easy rounds to cost into the elimination rounds. This was not to be...
Round 1: Justin Brinner /w Vial Survival
Justin is a very good player who is running the exact same Survival list that knocked me out of a top 8 in Hadley a month ago. That was piloted by Joe Bernier but he's judging today instead of playing so Justin ran his list.
Game 1: He leads with Savannah/Birds of Paradise and I'm left to choose whether I want to bolt the birds or waste his land. I had fire/ice in my hand so I figured I could wait to hit Birds and maybe 2 for one him at a later time since I'm hitting a mana source either way. This was horrible logic that led me to wasting the land. He untaps and casts Therapy. He names Fow and misses but that's ok since I let him keep his Birds he gets to flash it back and nab my Goyf. Normally just hitting one tarmogoyf isn't a big deal but I'm very low on kill conditions so it matters. He knows I have no counters for Survival so he safely plays it on his next turn and I quickly die to his engine.
I board out all copies of Stifle and Fire/Ice for 3 Krosan Grip and 2 Pithing Needle.
Game 2: I come out swinging with mongoose and have daze backup for anything early. I get a goyf down on turn 3 after dazing a Survival and start going to town. He draws a goyf of his own and another survival but both are met by a pair of Spell Snares I have since drawn off of brainstorm/ponder. Spell snare is so good. I wish I ran 4. He tries to Eternal Witness back Survival as a last ditch effort to get back in the game but I have the fow.
Game 3: He leads out with Therapy on FOW and misses. My hand is double wasteland, snare, fetch, ponder, goose and goyf. I lead out with the wasteland fearing a birds/flashback therapy play from him. I'm safe from survival on turn 2 because he won't run it into Snare but I'd probably use Snare on Goyf so I really don't want to make the choice of using snare or not on his second turn. After I waste he plays another land and passes. I ponder into daze. He runs out Survival since I'm tapped out and I'm able to daze. I run out a goyf which gets promptly plowed. He tries for another Survival which gets FOW'd. I try for another Goyf that gets plowed again. This is really cute. We keep going back and forth until the first meaningful spell that is resolved and stays on the board is his Tarmogoyf... which is 5/6. I drop a Mongoose but this race isn't looking too hot. Good thing I rip Threads of Disloyalty exactly when I need it. <3
Kird Ape: Warning: This will not be the last time David pulls a Thread out of his ass in a game 3 to win the match.
Way to spoil teh outcome Ape. So yeah, I threads his Goyf which totally threw him off since he had not seen it in any prior games... and I was banking on that. Threads is a great card but its value increases exponentially when they don't see it coming. He tried for another witness but I had Counterspell to seal the match.
1-0
Very good games and Justin was gracious as always.
Round 2: Maagler /w Ichorid
Bah. Another person who recently beat me in Hadley. Let's see if I can go 2 for 2 in rematches!
Game 1: He mulligans into a no-lander on the play and passes. I drop mongoose and goyf quickly while he's trying to build up to 8 and discard a dredger... or so I think. The turn where he would have 8 cards he tries for lion's eye which I promptly daze. This play definitely perplexed me because if he just discards and starts going off I could be in a world of hurt. It's not really worth it for him to try and run out a lion's eye the turn before he'd start dredging...especially playing a deck loaded with counterspells that has yet to cast one. He realizes the misplay soon after but by that point I've bolted him twice and gotten threshold and a very large goyf. I kill him before he ever gets going.
I side out all 3 Spellsnares and 3 Threads for 4 crypt and 2 fire/ice.
Game 2: He leads with careful study and dumps no dredgers. I run out Tormod's Crypt and let him resolve 2 Lion's eye Diamonds. I have some hard counters and never play a spell without having mana for at least one of them up. I get down a goyf and just pound with that while having up crypt + counters and that is enough.
2-0
Round 3: Rodney Hannigan /w Dreadstill
Rodney is a very good player...particularly with Dreadstill. He knows this. I know this. Yet every time we play he always starts the conversation with 'I'm so terrible. Just happy to be undefeated. Blah Blah Blah let me try to get you overconfident.'
Kird Ape: Who does he think he's fooling?
Dave Feinstein: Not me :p
Game 1: He doesn't have to do much here. I keep a hand of fetch/trop as the only lands but alot of draw spells and a goyf. He won the die-roll and led with Island/go which means stifle and/or brainstorm. I hate leading with the trop because it holds high value in this match (casting all my creatures AND Krosan Grip) but I don't have a choice. He predictably wastes it and there's nothing I can do about it. I brainstorm into no lands and know that's the end of me. I lay fetch and pass the turn. He waits to cast a spell he knows I have to fetch for to counter and I'm forced into a lose/lose scenario once he has 3 blue up. Counterbalance is cast and despite me having FOW and spell snare I can't cast snare without popping the fetch. I try for the fetch and get stifled immediately then my fow is met with his daze and that's pretty much it. I don't draw a land for the next 7 turns, which is painful. It would've been less painful if Rodney didn't remind me constantly that "stifle + wasteland is pretty good."
I side out all copies of stifle, lightning bolt and fire/ice for 3 krosan grips 2 pithing needle and 4 Red Elemental Blast. I sideboarded poorly...
Game 2: I walk once again into wastelands and realized Stifle never should've left the maindeck. I'm sitting with Counterspells which are near useless because I don't want to play a control game with Dreadstill. I have to play tempo with them and try to screw up their draws while applying pressure and hope they don't put the pieces together in time to stabilize and win. I did not have pressure and Standstill walked all over me. I also walked into a stifle at the wrong time triggering said Standstill. After that he ran me over.
2-1
I was not thrilled with the loss but Rodney assures me it's a bad match for me. I'm positive if I sideboard correctly and play well that it's a very winnable match. I really wanted a rematch but it would have to wait.
Round 4: Jason?? /w SwanMoonTresh
Super nice guy and I wish I remembered his name. I know he posts on here so if I got your name wrong please yell at me :p He was the only other Thresh player in the room playing the same 3 colors but was more control oriented with counterbalance/top, swans and moons flying around. I figure because of this he'd have the edge because I really don't want to see any of those cards.
Game 1: He leads with 3 mongoose (!) and I can only counter one. He quickly gets Threshold and runs me over.
I sideboard out 4 bolts and 2 fire/ice for 2 Krosan Grip and 4 REB.
Game 2: I get a very tempo draw with mongoose/tarmogoyf and lots of counter backup. Stifles/Wastes throw him off long enough for me to just win with those.
I board out one daze for one more Krosan Grip.
Game 3: He leads with Top and I start to wonder why I boarded in Krosan Grip but not Pithing Needle to go along with it. That's my usual plan for counterbalance/top but for some reason I thought since I only saw counterbalance maybe he wasn't running top.
Kird Ape: A winner is you.
We start slow but have a giant counter war over Blood Moon which I win. Unfortunately the top put him in good enough position to immediately play a goyf after and since my hand is left raw after burning 3 counterspells on moon I'm forced to live off the top without a top. Since he has a top and I don't he follows up with swan and I figure my goose is cooked. I draw a reb and nail the swan but I'm still being beaten about the head by a 4/5 Goyf. I draw a Goose and play it.
The board is now literally a bunch of lands on both sides with my 3/3 Goose versus his top and 4/5 Goyf. He swings with Goyf and I have to seriously consider whether to block it or not. If I don't block it I go to 6 and can draw another Goose or Goyf but still would have to hold them back to double block. If I do block I lose goose but am comfortably out of burn range and although can no longer draw goose and double block, I can draw Goyf and stall a little longer or just rip Threads like a champ and comfortably start attacking with his Goyf. If I take the 4 and rip threads then I have a goose and a goyf batting him about the head but am dead in the water to burn.
Mathematically the correct play would be take the goyf and drop to 6 because I have far more outs that way. Any creature now becomes a double block that kills his goyf where if i chump with Goose now then I can't double block with whatever guy I could draw off the top.
Kird Ape: It's a good thing you always sucked at math.
Dave Feinstein: I know you + THE BOX = out of my report.
Kird Ape: !
I knew what the mathematically right play was, but sometimes gut feelings are greater than the odds. Basically he played ZERO burn spells up to this point and I didn't want to see him just burn me out after I had stabilized because I let one too many Goyf hits go through. The fear of Double Lightning Bolt or God knows what else burning me out because I let him drop me to 6 just seemed too scary. So I let the goose go and crossed my fingers...
Kird Ape: and Sensei's Top'd into a Threads?
Dave Feinstein: No. He had the top. I just naturally drew into one the turn after immediately chumpblocking.
Kird Ape: ?!?!?!
Weee :p I took his own Goyf and he started topping away. He untaps and Chain of Plasma's me down to 7. Then the following turn does it again and I'm at 4. Hang on I think I wrote something about that scenario in one of my tourney reports. Let me see if I can track down the exact quote:
"The fear of Double Lightning Bolt or God knows what else burning me out because I let him drop me to 6 just seemed too scary."
-From 'Dave Feinstein Top 8's a Tournament... Then Wins it?!' (9/15/2008)
Chain of Plasma would definitely fall under the 'God knows what else' category, but it was still burn so I'm glad I did not let that goyf hit me baby one more time. I Wasteland his only volc soon after to prevent the possibility of any more burn coming at me. The threads on his goyf took home the win.
3-1
This was a hell of a match. Jason?? was a great opponent and I thank him for the match and give him back his Tarmogoyf.
Round 5: Rob (hammfist Roob) /w Dreadstill
I draw into top 8. Yay.
Kird Ape: While you were drawing into top 8 I checked the current oracle wording on threads of disloyalty. It's a great card but you have to actually give back the creature you took at the end of the game.
Dave Feinstein: I did! (or so I thought :p)
Jason?? counts his deck before playing the last round and I hear him say he only has 59 cards.
Oh no!
<Kool-Aid Man bursts through the wall>
[B]KOOL-AID MAN: OH YEAH!
Before he goes through to figure out what's missing I immediately whoop out my deck and find 5 tarmogoyf. My deck is better than I thought.
I give back the Goyf without incident and hopefully don't look like a cheatyface in the process.
Kird Ape: You'll always be a cheatyface in my eyes. <3
It's not like I was going to get far with a 61 card deck featuring 4 blue-sleeved goyfs and one black-sleeved one, but I felt really bad about the scenario. At least we figured out before the next match that he was short a card. He went on to win that match and be the one 3-2 that made top 8, so I was happy for him.
Top 8 was pretty varied. I get the Dreadstill rematch I was looking for but this time the pilot was...
[U]TOP 8
Rob (Hammafist Noo- I mean Roob) /w Dreadstill
I said to myself I would not make any misplays in this match. That doesn't usually work but I really wanted to see if I could beat this deck with what I was playing and not screwing up would be the only way to do that.
Game 1: We both walk each other into wastelands and stifles early while trying to get creatures to stick. Early on the Goose is loose and does a ton of damage bringing him all the way down to 6. I am low on cards since I used a ton of them to keep his answers to Goose off the board. I Brainstorm into lands and a Lightning Bolt. One of these lands was a fetch so the play usually would be to fetch away the other land + bolt but I let myself keep the bolt because I knew he was going to stabilize any second and the only way to seal this game would be to burn him out. He finally gets a goyf down soon after and my Goose can no longer attack. I'm living off the top of the deck now but he can't attack. He follows up his Goyf with counterbalance and I'm forced to respond by Bolting him for 3. He has no top out but CB is bad news here. Soon after I draw another lightning bolt but he has a fistful of cards and yet to cast brainstorm. He has a couple lands out with one of them being Polluted Delta. He lays another Goyf which leaves him with just Delta untapped. He goes to fetch soon after and I figure this is my shot. I try to bolt him and he immediately frowns which means no Force of Will. He shrugs and reveals the top card of his deck and...
Kird Ape: It's me!
Dave Feinstein: No. It's Brainstorm. Not as annoying as you, but a one-drop just the same. I pound the table.
Kird Ape: Feinstein Smash!
This was incredibly frustrating. I built up to this point where all he could do is cross his fingers and hope to reveal a one-drop, but it wasn't meant to be. I still had 3 more turns to rip a fire/ice and hope he misses on counterbalance, but I drew nothing but blanks and lost to his goyf.
I try not to get too rattled and realize to board out Counterspell instead of Stifle this time around.
Game 2: I mulligan. Bad news. The new hand is good though with Trop/Brainstorm/Stifle/Goyf/Goyf/Krosan Grip. I lead with trop and pass the turn. He leads with a flooded strand and activates it on his turn, which I allow without hesitation. I just can't stifle here. I need that trop on the board and if he's baiting me just to wasteland it the next turn then I'm doomed. So I let him fetch for basic island and he passes the turn. I brainstorm in spell snare and 2 volcs. I decided to not cast either Goyf and instead have stifle and snare mana up. On his following turn he tries for the wasteland and is--
Kird Ape: DE-NIED! No play for Mr. Gray!
Thank you. So I correctly guessed he was baiting me for waste and this was huge. Not only did I save the trop that I sorely needed but I was able to cast both goyfs out of Daze range. They are both 4/5 and start to beat him about the head. His last hope is explosives which I have another Stifle for.
Game 3: I have an aggressive goose/goyf draw and he answers with a goyf of his own. He runs out standstill immediately after and my hand is another goyf , Krosan Grip and Pithing Needle. You may wonder why I'd give him 3 cards so quick when he doesn't have any factory's out yet but I have to play tempo. I learned that the hard way from my match with Rodney. If I just sit here and let him build then he gets out factories and sculpts his hand without any pressure. You also may wonder why I'd lead with the goyf over the needle. Well he had top out and a blue open. I had no Stifle at the time so another goyf means I'm just more open to explosives. I had plenty of threats left in the deck including all 3 threads so I don't mind walking goyf into a counter, which is exactly what happened. The needle then sneaks in unmolsted. I draw a threads and steal his Goyf which doesn't seem to bother him at all. I get in there with a 3/4 and a 1/1. He has 4 mana up and passes the turn without hesitation. I know this means Krosan Grip from him but I declare attackers anyway and he says ok. I swing with with my goyf, his goyf and the goose and he casts Krosan Grip before blockers... I get a perplexed look on my face and check with Joe that his goyf would in-fact still be attacking him. Joe confirms. If he just Krosan grips before attackers are declared he saves 4 damage. Rob realized the mistake quickly but the damage had already been done... literally and figuratively. He untaps with Goyf on his side and I run my 4/5 goyf and now 3/3 goose into him. He blocks and kills goose but goes down to 1. Not a good place to be for him. Dreadnought comes out and I Krosan Grip it. I draw another threads and swing for the win.
That match was nothing short of amazing but I'm really tired at this point and just want to go home. I was hoping for a top 4 split of $125 each.
TOP 4
Rodney /w Dreadstill
Rodney does not want to split. In fairness he stated at the beginning of Top 8 he wanted to play it out to the bitter end, but everyone else in top 4 was willing to split and I'd like to think facing me would put a little bit of fear into my competitors :p
Kird Ape: You're a funny man.
Game 1: I mulligan into a good starter of stifle, daze and critters. I play around his wastelands/stifles and he tries for EE but I have the stifle.
Same boarding plan as I did against Rob.
Game 2: He leads with top I lead with Needle naming top. He is stuck on 2 lands and the game doesn't last much longer after that.
I expected another grueling and epic match versus this deck like the one I had versus Rob but Rodney had some bad draws and I'll take what I can get.
TOP 2
Derek (Technogeek5000) /w Loam
I like Derek. I like Derek's Dad too, who was there rooting him on. I REALLY wanted a split at this point because I just wanted to go home but he's leaning towards playing it out. We change the prize structure slightly so first gets a little less and second gets a little more, which makes a loss in the finals less painful for whoever gets second place. We work on the numbers a little bit and then play it out.
Game 1: I counter loam about 3-4 times and waste/stifle his mana sources as best I can. I get a goyf online and he answers with a crusher but he's too low on life at this point so I ice it down and swing for the last points.
I side out all lightning bolts and a daze for 2 fire/ice and 3 krosan grip.
Game 2: He leads with double mox diamond and goes to town on me. I try to disrupt him best I can but I get overwhelmed by loam/wasteland very quickly and pack it in.
Game 3: Board back in the daze and out one fire/ice.
I lead with ponder and have a fistful of counterspells + goyf. I run out goyf immediately since I have daze + fow and he runs out a goyf of his own. This sounds like a job for...
Kird Ape: *yawn* Threads of disloyalty off the top of your deck.
I steal his goyf and start beating him with both of them. To his credit he hangs in and tries to battle but the key turn comes down to him trying to stick a 5/5 terravore down and I counter it.
FINAL RECORD: 6-1-1
WINNER.
YAY.
Kird Ape: Yay! (I guess... just don't put me back in THE BOX)
I took home $225, which I sorely needed. Literally I had to choose between entering the tournament or having gas money. I guess I made the right choice (but not really :p).
Even if I had not made any money I would've chosen entering the tourney over potentially running out of gas because I really enjoy Die-hard games. It's not a secret I feel it's the best store I've ever been to and it pains me personally to see them not even break even for this event. Still the owners were chipper as always and I know they will figure something out to keep these tournaments going.
That's really all I have for now. URG Threshold is a great deck but extremely tricky to pilot. If played correctly I feel it can beat any deck in the format and I can safely say it won't be the last time I play the deck.
Thank you for reading my novella. :p
- Dave Feinstein
Kird Ape: Hi.
Dave Feinstein: That wasn't directed at you, but since you're here...how are you?
Kird Ape: I'm good. How are you?
Dave Feinstein: I'm tired. And depressed.
Kird Ape: I- I can sing for you. Would you like me to sing?
Dave Feinstein: NO.
Kird Ape: You don't have to be so mean to me! I only get to come out in your reports a couple times a year these days... and that's if I'm lucky! You only write reports when you do well and you're terrible so--
Dave Feinstein: Keep it up. I'll put you back in... THE BOX.
Kird Ape: No, no! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!
Dave Feinstein: That's right. You don't want to end up like Hidden Gibbons do you? Now stay out my my report until called upon.
Seriously.
So I really wanted to do well in my local store's magic 500. I had made top 8 at the last 3, splitting in top 4 in two of those. Doing well at this one meant more than the others because I was low on $$$ since I scrubbed Nationals and am currently jobless. The one nice thing about going to Nationals was being able to help my friend Carl Dillahay. He called me a couple of days before the event and told me he'd be driving up with some friends to try and grind in. He was interested in my RG deck that I used at regionals so we worked on it and to make a long story short he grinded in then top 8'd nats making alot of money while I scrubbed hard :p
I was happy for him, but I still had to face the grim reality of spending alot on hotel/airfare and coming away with nothing. I decided to go easy on playing tournaments since Nats and have been very selective about what I play in. I figured this tourney would be my best shot at making some much needed cold hard cash but didn't know what to play. It was at this point that out of the blue Carl IM'd me and said I should play URG Thresh. He just won the Beta Trop tourney in Syracuse. I looked at the list and it was solid. There were a couple slots I didn't agree with but for the most part looked good. I didn't like that it was low on win conditions and had no basic lands. What impressed me about it was he went 2-1 against goyf sligh, which is a very popular deck right now and was my default choice for the tourney.
So it was either play a deck that isn't really my style or play a deck that I always do well with and has Kird Ape in it.
Kird Ape: That isn't a hard choice at all!
Dave Feinstein: You're right, it's not.
Kird Ape: Uh oh...
URG Thresh
// Lands
1 [6E] Island
4 Tropical Island
4 [R] Volcanic Island
3 [ON] Polluted Delta
3 [ON] Flooded Strand
3 [REW] Wasteland
// Creatures
4 [FUT] Tarmogoyf
4 [OD] Nimble Mongoose
// Spells
3 [DIS] Spell Snare
3 [SC] Stifle
4 [NE] Daze
4 [FNM] Brainstorm
4 [LRW] Ponder
4 [R] Lightning Bolt
3 [TE] Counterspell
4 [AL] Force of Will
2 [AP] Fire/Ice
3 Threads of Disloyalty
// Sideboard
SB: 2 [AP] Fire/Ice
SB: 2 [10E] Pithing Needle
SB: 4 [CH] Tormod's Crypt
SB: 3 [TSP] Krosan Grip
SB: 4 [B] Red Elemental Blast
24 People showed to this shindig. Not what teh owners were hoping for but it could've been worse (see: last DHG 500 :p). 5 Rounds of swiss cut to top 8. The hope was to get a couple of easy rounds to cost into the elimination rounds. This was not to be...
Round 1: Justin Brinner /w Vial Survival
Justin is a very good player who is running the exact same Survival list that knocked me out of a top 8 in Hadley a month ago. That was piloted by Joe Bernier but he's judging today instead of playing so Justin ran his list.
Game 1: He leads with Savannah/Birds of Paradise and I'm left to choose whether I want to bolt the birds or waste his land. I had fire/ice in my hand so I figured I could wait to hit Birds and maybe 2 for one him at a later time since I'm hitting a mana source either way. This was horrible logic that led me to wasting the land. He untaps and casts Therapy. He names Fow and misses but that's ok since I let him keep his Birds he gets to flash it back and nab my Goyf. Normally just hitting one tarmogoyf isn't a big deal but I'm very low on kill conditions so it matters. He knows I have no counters for Survival so he safely plays it on his next turn and I quickly die to his engine.
I board out all copies of Stifle and Fire/Ice for 3 Krosan Grip and 2 Pithing Needle.
Game 2: I come out swinging with mongoose and have daze backup for anything early. I get a goyf down on turn 3 after dazing a Survival and start going to town. He draws a goyf of his own and another survival but both are met by a pair of Spell Snares I have since drawn off of brainstorm/ponder. Spell snare is so good. I wish I ran 4. He tries to Eternal Witness back Survival as a last ditch effort to get back in the game but I have the fow.
Game 3: He leads out with Therapy on FOW and misses. My hand is double wasteland, snare, fetch, ponder, goose and goyf. I lead out with the wasteland fearing a birds/flashback therapy play from him. I'm safe from survival on turn 2 because he won't run it into Snare but I'd probably use Snare on Goyf so I really don't want to make the choice of using snare or not on his second turn. After I waste he plays another land and passes. I ponder into daze. He runs out Survival since I'm tapped out and I'm able to daze. I run out a goyf which gets promptly plowed. He tries for another Survival which gets FOW'd. I try for another Goyf that gets plowed again. This is really cute. We keep going back and forth until the first meaningful spell that is resolved and stays on the board is his Tarmogoyf... which is 5/6. I drop a Mongoose but this race isn't looking too hot. Good thing I rip Threads of Disloyalty exactly when I need it. <3
Kird Ape: Warning: This will not be the last time David pulls a Thread out of his ass in a game 3 to win the match.
Way to spoil teh outcome Ape. So yeah, I threads his Goyf which totally threw him off since he had not seen it in any prior games... and I was banking on that. Threads is a great card but its value increases exponentially when they don't see it coming. He tried for another witness but I had Counterspell to seal the match.
1-0
Very good games and Justin was gracious as always.
Round 2: Maagler /w Ichorid
Bah. Another person who recently beat me in Hadley. Let's see if I can go 2 for 2 in rematches!
Game 1: He mulligans into a no-lander on the play and passes. I drop mongoose and goyf quickly while he's trying to build up to 8 and discard a dredger... or so I think. The turn where he would have 8 cards he tries for lion's eye which I promptly daze. This play definitely perplexed me because if he just discards and starts going off I could be in a world of hurt. It's not really worth it for him to try and run out a lion's eye the turn before he'd start dredging...especially playing a deck loaded with counterspells that has yet to cast one. He realizes the misplay soon after but by that point I've bolted him twice and gotten threshold and a very large goyf. I kill him before he ever gets going.
I side out all 3 Spellsnares and 3 Threads for 4 crypt and 2 fire/ice.
Game 2: He leads with careful study and dumps no dredgers. I run out Tormod's Crypt and let him resolve 2 Lion's eye Diamonds. I have some hard counters and never play a spell without having mana for at least one of them up. I get down a goyf and just pound with that while having up crypt + counters and that is enough.
2-0
Round 3: Rodney Hannigan /w Dreadstill
Rodney is a very good player...particularly with Dreadstill. He knows this. I know this. Yet every time we play he always starts the conversation with 'I'm so terrible. Just happy to be undefeated. Blah Blah Blah let me try to get you overconfident.'
Kird Ape: Who does he think he's fooling?
Dave Feinstein: Not me :p
Game 1: He doesn't have to do much here. I keep a hand of fetch/trop as the only lands but alot of draw spells and a goyf. He won the die-roll and led with Island/go which means stifle and/or brainstorm. I hate leading with the trop because it holds high value in this match (casting all my creatures AND Krosan Grip) but I don't have a choice. He predictably wastes it and there's nothing I can do about it. I brainstorm into no lands and know that's the end of me. I lay fetch and pass the turn. He waits to cast a spell he knows I have to fetch for to counter and I'm forced into a lose/lose scenario once he has 3 blue up. Counterbalance is cast and despite me having FOW and spell snare I can't cast snare without popping the fetch. I try for the fetch and get stifled immediately then my fow is met with his daze and that's pretty much it. I don't draw a land for the next 7 turns, which is painful. It would've been less painful if Rodney didn't remind me constantly that "stifle + wasteland is pretty good."
I side out all copies of stifle, lightning bolt and fire/ice for 3 krosan grips 2 pithing needle and 4 Red Elemental Blast. I sideboarded poorly...
Game 2: I walk once again into wastelands and realized Stifle never should've left the maindeck. I'm sitting with Counterspells which are near useless because I don't want to play a control game with Dreadstill. I have to play tempo with them and try to screw up their draws while applying pressure and hope they don't put the pieces together in time to stabilize and win. I did not have pressure and Standstill walked all over me. I also walked into a stifle at the wrong time triggering said Standstill. After that he ran me over.
2-1
I was not thrilled with the loss but Rodney assures me it's a bad match for me. I'm positive if I sideboard correctly and play well that it's a very winnable match. I really wanted a rematch but it would have to wait.
Round 4: Jason?? /w SwanMoonTresh
Super nice guy and I wish I remembered his name. I know he posts on here so if I got your name wrong please yell at me :p He was the only other Thresh player in the room playing the same 3 colors but was more control oriented with counterbalance/top, swans and moons flying around. I figure because of this he'd have the edge because I really don't want to see any of those cards.
Game 1: He leads with 3 mongoose (!) and I can only counter one. He quickly gets Threshold and runs me over.
I sideboard out 4 bolts and 2 fire/ice for 2 Krosan Grip and 4 REB.
Game 2: I get a very tempo draw with mongoose/tarmogoyf and lots of counter backup. Stifles/Wastes throw him off long enough for me to just win with those.
I board out one daze for one more Krosan Grip.
Game 3: He leads with Top and I start to wonder why I boarded in Krosan Grip but not Pithing Needle to go along with it. That's my usual plan for counterbalance/top but for some reason I thought since I only saw counterbalance maybe he wasn't running top.
Kird Ape: A winner is you.
We start slow but have a giant counter war over Blood Moon which I win. Unfortunately the top put him in good enough position to immediately play a goyf after and since my hand is left raw after burning 3 counterspells on moon I'm forced to live off the top without a top. Since he has a top and I don't he follows up with swan and I figure my goose is cooked. I draw a reb and nail the swan but I'm still being beaten about the head by a 4/5 Goyf. I draw a Goose and play it.
The board is now literally a bunch of lands on both sides with my 3/3 Goose versus his top and 4/5 Goyf. He swings with Goyf and I have to seriously consider whether to block it or not. If I don't block it I go to 6 and can draw another Goose or Goyf but still would have to hold them back to double block. If I do block I lose goose but am comfortably out of burn range and although can no longer draw goose and double block, I can draw Goyf and stall a little longer or just rip Threads like a champ and comfortably start attacking with his Goyf. If I take the 4 and rip threads then I have a goose and a goyf batting him about the head but am dead in the water to burn.
Mathematically the correct play would be take the goyf and drop to 6 because I have far more outs that way. Any creature now becomes a double block that kills his goyf where if i chump with Goose now then I can't double block with whatever guy I could draw off the top.
Kird Ape: It's a good thing you always sucked at math.
Dave Feinstein: I know you + THE BOX = out of my report.
Kird Ape: !
I knew what the mathematically right play was, but sometimes gut feelings are greater than the odds. Basically he played ZERO burn spells up to this point and I didn't want to see him just burn me out after I had stabilized because I let one too many Goyf hits go through. The fear of Double Lightning Bolt or God knows what else burning me out because I let him drop me to 6 just seemed too scary. So I let the goose go and crossed my fingers...
Kird Ape: and Sensei's Top'd into a Threads?
Dave Feinstein: No. He had the top. I just naturally drew into one the turn after immediately chumpblocking.
Kird Ape: ?!?!?!
Weee :p I took his own Goyf and he started topping away. He untaps and Chain of Plasma's me down to 7. Then the following turn does it again and I'm at 4. Hang on I think I wrote something about that scenario in one of my tourney reports. Let me see if I can track down the exact quote:
"The fear of Double Lightning Bolt or God knows what else burning me out because I let him drop me to 6 just seemed too scary."
-From 'Dave Feinstein Top 8's a Tournament... Then Wins it?!' (9/15/2008)
Chain of Plasma would definitely fall under the 'God knows what else' category, but it was still burn so I'm glad I did not let that goyf hit me baby one more time. I Wasteland his only volc soon after to prevent the possibility of any more burn coming at me. The threads on his goyf took home the win.
3-1
This was a hell of a match. Jason?? was a great opponent and I thank him for the match and give him back his Tarmogoyf.
Round 5: Rob (hammfist Roob) /w Dreadstill
I draw into top 8. Yay.
Kird Ape: While you were drawing into top 8 I checked the current oracle wording on threads of disloyalty. It's a great card but you have to actually give back the creature you took at the end of the game.
Dave Feinstein: I did! (or so I thought :p)
Jason?? counts his deck before playing the last round and I hear him say he only has 59 cards.
Oh no!
<Kool-Aid Man bursts through the wall>
[B]KOOL-AID MAN: OH YEAH!
Before he goes through to figure out what's missing I immediately whoop out my deck and find 5 tarmogoyf. My deck is better than I thought.
I give back the Goyf without incident and hopefully don't look like a cheatyface in the process.
Kird Ape: You'll always be a cheatyface in my eyes. <3
It's not like I was going to get far with a 61 card deck featuring 4 blue-sleeved goyfs and one black-sleeved one, but I felt really bad about the scenario. At least we figured out before the next match that he was short a card. He went on to win that match and be the one 3-2 that made top 8, so I was happy for him.
Top 8 was pretty varied. I get the Dreadstill rematch I was looking for but this time the pilot was...
[U]TOP 8
Rob (Hammafist Noo- I mean Roob) /w Dreadstill
I said to myself I would not make any misplays in this match. That doesn't usually work but I really wanted to see if I could beat this deck with what I was playing and not screwing up would be the only way to do that.
Game 1: We both walk each other into wastelands and stifles early while trying to get creatures to stick. Early on the Goose is loose and does a ton of damage bringing him all the way down to 6. I am low on cards since I used a ton of them to keep his answers to Goose off the board. I Brainstorm into lands and a Lightning Bolt. One of these lands was a fetch so the play usually would be to fetch away the other land + bolt but I let myself keep the bolt because I knew he was going to stabilize any second and the only way to seal this game would be to burn him out. He finally gets a goyf down soon after and my Goose can no longer attack. I'm living off the top of the deck now but he can't attack. He follows up his Goyf with counterbalance and I'm forced to respond by Bolting him for 3. He has no top out but CB is bad news here. Soon after I draw another lightning bolt but he has a fistful of cards and yet to cast brainstorm. He has a couple lands out with one of them being Polluted Delta. He lays another Goyf which leaves him with just Delta untapped. He goes to fetch soon after and I figure this is my shot. I try to bolt him and he immediately frowns which means no Force of Will. He shrugs and reveals the top card of his deck and...
Kird Ape: It's me!
Dave Feinstein: No. It's Brainstorm. Not as annoying as you, but a one-drop just the same. I pound the table.
Kird Ape: Feinstein Smash!
This was incredibly frustrating. I built up to this point where all he could do is cross his fingers and hope to reveal a one-drop, but it wasn't meant to be. I still had 3 more turns to rip a fire/ice and hope he misses on counterbalance, but I drew nothing but blanks and lost to his goyf.
I try not to get too rattled and realize to board out Counterspell instead of Stifle this time around.
Game 2: I mulligan. Bad news. The new hand is good though with Trop/Brainstorm/Stifle/Goyf/Goyf/Krosan Grip. I lead with trop and pass the turn. He leads with a flooded strand and activates it on his turn, which I allow without hesitation. I just can't stifle here. I need that trop on the board and if he's baiting me just to wasteland it the next turn then I'm doomed. So I let him fetch for basic island and he passes the turn. I brainstorm in spell snare and 2 volcs. I decided to not cast either Goyf and instead have stifle and snare mana up. On his following turn he tries for the wasteland and is--
Kird Ape: DE-NIED! No play for Mr. Gray!
Thank you. So I correctly guessed he was baiting me for waste and this was huge. Not only did I save the trop that I sorely needed but I was able to cast both goyfs out of Daze range. They are both 4/5 and start to beat him about the head. His last hope is explosives which I have another Stifle for.
Game 3: I have an aggressive goose/goyf draw and he answers with a goyf of his own. He runs out standstill immediately after and my hand is another goyf , Krosan Grip and Pithing Needle. You may wonder why I'd give him 3 cards so quick when he doesn't have any factory's out yet but I have to play tempo. I learned that the hard way from my match with Rodney. If I just sit here and let him build then he gets out factories and sculpts his hand without any pressure. You also may wonder why I'd lead with the goyf over the needle. Well he had top out and a blue open. I had no Stifle at the time so another goyf means I'm just more open to explosives. I had plenty of threats left in the deck including all 3 threads so I don't mind walking goyf into a counter, which is exactly what happened. The needle then sneaks in unmolsted. I draw a threads and steal his Goyf which doesn't seem to bother him at all. I get in there with a 3/4 and a 1/1. He has 4 mana up and passes the turn without hesitation. I know this means Krosan Grip from him but I declare attackers anyway and he says ok. I swing with with my goyf, his goyf and the goose and he casts Krosan Grip before blockers... I get a perplexed look on my face and check with Joe that his goyf would in-fact still be attacking him. Joe confirms. If he just Krosan grips before attackers are declared he saves 4 damage. Rob realized the mistake quickly but the damage had already been done... literally and figuratively. He untaps with Goyf on his side and I run my 4/5 goyf and now 3/3 goose into him. He blocks and kills goose but goes down to 1. Not a good place to be for him. Dreadnought comes out and I Krosan Grip it. I draw another threads and swing for the win.
That match was nothing short of amazing but I'm really tired at this point and just want to go home. I was hoping for a top 4 split of $125 each.
TOP 4
Rodney /w Dreadstill
Rodney does not want to split. In fairness he stated at the beginning of Top 8 he wanted to play it out to the bitter end, but everyone else in top 4 was willing to split and I'd like to think facing me would put a little bit of fear into my competitors :p
Kird Ape: You're a funny man.
Game 1: I mulligan into a good starter of stifle, daze and critters. I play around his wastelands/stifles and he tries for EE but I have the stifle.
Same boarding plan as I did against Rob.
Game 2: He leads with top I lead with Needle naming top. He is stuck on 2 lands and the game doesn't last much longer after that.
I expected another grueling and epic match versus this deck like the one I had versus Rob but Rodney had some bad draws and I'll take what I can get.
TOP 2
Derek (Technogeek5000) /w Loam
I like Derek. I like Derek's Dad too, who was there rooting him on. I REALLY wanted a split at this point because I just wanted to go home but he's leaning towards playing it out. We change the prize structure slightly so first gets a little less and second gets a little more, which makes a loss in the finals less painful for whoever gets second place. We work on the numbers a little bit and then play it out.
Game 1: I counter loam about 3-4 times and waste/stifle his mana sources as best I can. I get a goyf online and he answers with a crusher but he's too low on life at this point so I ice it down and swing for the last points.
I side out all lightning bolts and a daze for 2 fire/ice and 3 krosan grip.
Game 2: He leads with double mox diamond and goes to town on me. I try to disrupt him best I can but I get overwhelmed by loam/wasteland very quickly and pack it in.
Game 3: Board back in the daze and out one fire/ice.
I lead with ponder and have a fistful of counterspells + goyf. I run out goyf immediately since I have daze + fow and he runs out a goyf of his own. This sounds like a job for...
Kird Ape: *yawn* Threads of disloyalty off the top of your deck.
I steal his goyf and start beating him with both of them. To his credit he hangs in and tries to battle but the key turn comes down to him trying to stick a 5/5 terravore down and I counter it.
FINAL RECORD: 6-1-1
WINNER.
YAY.
Kird Ape: Yay! (I guess... just don't put me back in THE BOX)
I took home $225, which I sorely needed. Literally I had to choose between entering the tournament or having gas money. I guess I made the right choice (but not really :p).
Even if I had not made any money I would've chosen entering the tourney over potentially running out of gas because I really enjoy Die-hard games. It's not a secret I feel it's the best store I've ever been to and it pains me personally to see them not even break even for this event. Still the owners were chipper as always and I know they will figure something out to keep these tournaments going.
That's really all I have for now. URG Threshold is a great deck but extremely tricky to pilot. If played correctly I feel it can beat any deck in the format and I can safely say it won't be the last time I play the deck.
Thank you for reading my novella. :p
- Dave Feinstein