diffy
10-20-2008, 02:42 PM
More, non-SPOD centric information can be found here (http://mtgthesource.com/forums/showpost.php?p=286666&postcount=730).
Photos taken during the event can be found here (http://www.magic-speyer.de/zen/index.php?album=Legacy+Turnier+im+Oktober+2008).
Preamble
Not much good pre-tournament stuff - Thomas picks me up at 1010 hours, we pick up Harrald Herrlich who for once has not overslept which might be related to the fact that he actually has not slept at all that night, returning from an EPIC (not the US Legacy Team one) drinking-spree only an hour or so ago. He proceeds to enter the 'suck mode' for the rest of the day but that's not that different from his normal condition so that no one really bothers to take any notice.
We then pick up Christian 'I'm not on Team SPOD' Seyboldt (MasterC) and Stefan 'Call me Pirate' Czolk (CZ), Manuel Heiler and Marius Laber had other, better things to do than waste another afternoon hanging out with nerds. It is definitely nice to finally see CZ back in action after not being able to attend the last 5-6 events.
Ten minutes later we start off for Hassloch with Thomas's GPS shortening our trip considerably by making us avoid the usual detours Manuel Heiler always takes... apparently you can also complete the trip in just under thirty minutes instead of just under an hour.
Notable happenings during the drive:
Christian 'I have no clue of Metal' Seyboldt asking what that "crazy" music we were listening to was - finest German (Melodic) Death Metal, also known as Die Apokalyptischen Reiter (link (http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=die+apokalyptischen+reiter&search_type=&aq=0&oq=die+apok)). This together with the single best Children of Bodom song (link (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1sguF2D1UA)) would, much to the displeasure of CZ and Christian, be the music listened to during the trip.
The discussion over the current and future university system in Germany leading to the conclusion that I'm totally wasted due to the fact that I won't be able to enjoy the freedom of the currently being replaced Magister/Diploma-system but rather have to adopt to the stricter, more school-like, Bachelor/Master-system. Sucks being born ten years too late.
After arriving at the site, we quickly hunt down the last few cards needed, meet Adan and hand in decklists.
This is what Team SPOD ended up playing:
Harrald Locutus Herrlich - Counterbalance-Tog-Landstill-hybrid
Thomas Yulyn "Insi" - Mono G Survival Elves
Stefan SpiritoftheWretch Czolk - UBw Ad Nauseam
Daniel Adan Scherer - It's the Fear
Clemens Der_imaginäre_Freund Wolff - 5c Seismic Assault
I didn't really know what to play until the day before the event - I just had too many possibilities. In the end I decided to give the wicked strong list I played at the German Legacy Champs (report found here (http://mtgthesource.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10968)) another chance which sounded like a good plan because playing 'unfair' decks is always better in a totally random and unpredictable meta than playing something that relies on interaction with your opponent. It also sounded like an especially good plan since the newest developments made the list even more promising.
I have recently moved away from the two namesakes of the list, the 5c aspect and Seismic Assault, so that the list should actually correctly be labelled '5c Seismic Assault now with one less colour and no Assaults'. As that definitely is too long of a name, I just stuck with the old one which is kinda catchy anyway.
As for the recent development of the list, following the German Legacy Champs, the single biggest issue of the deck was that it could just not end a game it had under control in time. It took control of the game and did nothing for a very long time giving the opponent all the time he needed to find hate (which was not very scary as the deck could literally get out of any situation) and a quick clock backed by disruption (which was much harder for the deck to handle). The solution: add more good winconditions. First add: Countryside Crusher. Obvious - he's just that good, lethal when you untap with him etc.. Next add: Tarmogoyf. I at first added Mr. T as early-game wall to have something against opposing Tarmogoyfs as decks with a sharp clock that could somehow get around my Mazes (be it via Wastelands or Pithing Needles or similar) put the deck before some problems. It soon turned out that the deck was much, much better with the new added aggressive dimension. Next in: Mishra's Factories - to keep the land count high (important to be able to abuse Exploration). The day before the tournament I threw Dark Confidant into the mix and the list was set. It had somewhat evolved from a hardcore control/lock deck towards an Aggro Loam list with better engines, a better lategame and a better earlygame (due to playing more acceleration in Explorations).
Here's what I sleeved up:
/// Maindeck (60 cards)
// Actual Lands (13)
3 City of Brass (http://magiccards.info/an/en/85.html)
4 Wooded Foothills (http://magiccards.info/on/en/330.html)
1 Forest (http://magiccards.info/p3k/en/180.html)
2 Taiga (http://magiccards.info/be/en/298.html)
1 Badlands (http://magiccards.info/be/en/139.html)
1 Bayou (http://magiccards.info/be/en/279.html)
1 Volcanic Island (http://magiccards.info/be/en/302.html)
// Non-Mana Utility Lands (3)
1 Glacial Chasm (http://magiccards.info/ia/en/331.html)
1 The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale (http://magiccards.info/lg/en/252.html)
1 Maze of Ith (http://magiccards.info/dk/en/114.html)
// Utility Lands (5)
4 Wasteland (http://magiccards.info/tp/en/340.html)
1 Academy Ruins (http://magiccards.info/ts/en/269.html)
// Kill (11)
4 Tarmogoyf (http://magiccards.info/fut/en/153.html)
4 Countryside Crusher (http://magiccards.info/mt/en/89.html)
3 Mishra's Factory (http://magiccards.info/aq/en/66.html)
// Card Advantage (9)
2 Tranquil Thicket (http://magiccards.info/on/en/326.html)
2 Forgotten Cave (http://magiccards.info/on/en/317.html)
4 Dark Confidant (http://magiccards.info/rav/en/81.html)
1 Eternal Witness (http://magiccards.info/5dn/en/86.html)
// Acceleration (7)
3 Exploration (http://magiccards.info/us/en/250.html)
4 Mox Diamond (http://magiccards.info/sh/en/132.html)
// Engine + Setup (9)
3 Life from the Loam (http://magiccards.info/rav/en/172.html)
3 Burning Wish (http://magiccards.info/ju/en/83.html)
3 Intuition (http://magiccards.info/tp/en/70.html)
// Removal (3)
1 Engineered Explosives (http://magiccards.info/5dn/en/118.html)
2 Devastating Dreams (http://magiccards.info/tr/en/95.html)
/// Sideboard (15 cards)
1 Life from the Loam (http://magiccards.info/rav/en/172.html)
1 Devastating Dreams (http://magiccards.info/tr/en/95.html)
1 Shattering Spree (http://magiccards.info/gp/en/75.html)
1 Reverent Silence (http://magiccards.info/ne/en/111.html)
1 Hull Breach (http://magiccards.info/ps/en/111.html)
2 Krosan Grip (http://magiccards.info/ts/en/202.html)
1 Engineered Explosives (http://magiccards.info/5dn/en/118.html)
2 Trinket Mage (http://magiccards.info/5dn/en/39.html)
1 Zuran Orb (http://magiccards.info/ia/en/325.html)
2 Tormod's Crypt (http://magiccards.info/dk/en/109.html)
1 Volrath's Stronghold (http://magiccards.info/sh/en/137.html)
1 Shriekmaw (http://magiccards.info/lw/en/139.html)
This (http://docs.google.com/View?docid=dgbs8px8_17f4hm3wg9) page will be kept updated with the newest list.
The entire list eschews most of the clunky engines and focuses more an an aggressive approach while still remaining as resilient to hate as the last list, with the possibility of the list actually being even more solid than the last one due to Wasteland not hurting you as much any more.
Explanation of some of the more questionable choices:
No Volrath's Stronghold in the main but in the Sideboard: I copied this tech from the French Legacy players - you usually don't want to play controlling preboard especially since all that recursion is hideously slow, postboard, having access to recurring Shriekmaws against Aggro and recurring anything against control is totally worth it though. I opted against playing at least the Stronghold (but not the utility creature[s]) main due to mana-base issues.
City of Brass: you really want to play all those colours - Intuition just adds an entirely new dimension to the deck. On the other hand, you are also rather colour hungry making the manabase incredibly hard to build. You want loads of Green and Red while having to being able to access your other two splash colours from turn two onwards - just not easy as even if you play infinite fetchlands those won't really fix you as you need a constant access to the colours. With hindsight, playing three Cities was probably one too many.
Trinket Mage in the Sideboard: I savagely stole this tech from Christian Schäfer to replace the Enlightened Tutors I had to cut from the board with the cut of white - the added flexibility is worth it especially since often Intuition + Academy Ruins stacks are too slow postboard to get through to your hate (e.g. against Ichorid or aggressive decks).
Short Report:
Round 1 vs. Joachim Hirsch with Goblin Sligh
I'm on the draw.
He doesn't do much for the first two turns so that I at first put him onto poor-mulliganed Dragon Stompy. I have a rather aggressive start which he stalls by dropping a pair of Mogg War Marshals. Some few turns later he has the Price of Progress I can do nothing against.
-1 Maze of Ith
-2 Wasteland
+2 Trinket Mage
+1 Zuran Orb
I manage to get a relatively early Zuran Orb, Intuition for triple Exploration - it's a cakewalk from there. Despite his triple Price of Progress.
In the third game he gets something I totally didn't expect: first turn Lackey. I have a blocker (Dark Confidant) but no Mox Diamond to cast him on my first turn. Lackey connects, invites Siege-Gang and his homies to the party. My opponent drops a Goblin Bombardment. I Intuition for double Devastating Dreams + Burning Wish, Wish for Dreams, clear his board. On his next turn he has double Price of Progress - without the 5 damage that horrible card (Bombardment) did I would have dropped a Trinket Mage for Zuran Orb for the win on my next turn.
Shit happens. But why does it have to be against such obvious scrubs? Bye-bye rating. After loosing 10 points on the last 4-1-1, it shouldn't be any different this time, after such a start.
1:2
0-1-0 (1:2)
Round 2 vs. Jens Sieman with Deadguy Ale
I'm on the draw.
He gets some early beats (Tombstalker + Oona's Prowler + Dark Confidant), I stabilize barely with the help of Glacial Chasm. He doesn't draw a Wasteland, I get a Crusher going which he eventually has to Sword giving me 15 life and therewith all the time I need to stabilize fully and find another wincondition.
-1 The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
+1 Engineered Explosives
He gets a Ritual-powered second turn Dark Confidant + Oona's Prowler, I have Exploration, Burning Wish for Devastating Dreams and leave him permanentless. He hast three cards in hand at that point. He proceeds to play two lands during his next two turns, drops a Tombstalker, drops a Dark Confidant. Sure thing. Meanwhile, I, on the other hand, am screwed until that point. I savagely rip a City of Brass and a Bayou from the top to remedy that though. Well that much for the screw, now I'd better draw into some business too. The next draws actually were some good stuff: a Maze of Ith to handle his Tombstalker and a Counryside Crusher to handle my opponent (hopefully).
After a short while he forgets his Dark Confidant trigger despite Stefan who's watching the match reminding him of the former - we call the Judge who has to think a full five minutes over what penalty he'll give him - a warning. Upon going away again he turns around and says that he actually has to give me a warning too... for... he doesn't remember the name so I help him out on that. Gosh I hate incompetent judges - the last tournament I even had to appeal his ruling concerning Shattering Spree + Trinisphere + Chalice of the Void - his ruling would have cost Brehn the game if I recall correctly.
Anyway, back to the game. The extra Card of Dark Confidant my opponent got was a Smother, his regular draw a Wasteland - so long for my decent board position. He forgets to attack, I knowing that I'm dead next turn attack with my lone two Factories, bringing him down to 4 and hope that his Confidant will kill him. He again forgets to reveal for Confidant, despite the entire crowd standing around the table screaming 'Confidant, Dude!'. I am like 'hey, wtf, man...' and raise my hand to get the judge back to the table, he extends his: scoop. I actually don't know why he did that but I'll gladly accept him giving me the W.
2:0
1-1-0 (3:2)
50 minutes break to get some food. That's the advantage of having your tournament site in the back-room of a restaurant, I guess. The downside: the restaurant owners drastically reduced the size of the meals which I voiced my discontent at.
Round 3 vs. Fabian #*&% (you know that your handwriting really sucks when you can't decipher it any more yourself) with Angel Stompy
I'm on the play.
I have an early Tabernacle and an Exploration to slow his progress while accelerating my build up. I get the Loam engine going, draw cards like mad, play two Dark Confidants to draw into more stuff (amongst others: two Tarmogoyfs to block his few critters), get a Crusher onto the board, play a Devastating Dreams. Win. Magic can be that simple.
-1 Dark Confidant
-2 Wasteland
+1 Shriekmaw
+1 Trinket Mage
+1 Volrath's Stronghold
He gets a first turn Soltari Priest. Second turn Sword of Fire and Ice + Equip. Third turn Elspeth + pump. Impressive. I show him the Devastating Dreams on my hand and joke about how outdated pro:Red is in the current meta while shuffling up for game 3.
He doesn't have a similar broken start despite putting me on quite a clock with double Soltari Priest. I get Shriekmaw + Stronghold and Loam + Cycle lands + Exploration going, take like 15 damage from my own manabase (which are then refounded by my opponent sending my Crusher, that would have been lethal on the next turn, farming), find another threat (Tarmogoyf), destroy his manabase via Devastating Dreams. Win.
2:1
2-1-0 (5:3)
Round 4 vs. Matthias Hoffman with Ichorid
I'm on the draw.
He doesn't have a too busted start giving me the possibility to stall via Engineered Explosives, draw some cards via Dark Confidant, find Tabernacle and simply win, win, win (after a Tarmogoyf and a Crusher making sure that no Ichorid nonsense could catch me off guard).
-1 Tranquil Thicket
-1 Wasteland
-2 Dark Confidant
-1 Life from the Loam
+2 Tormod's Crypt
+2 Trinket Mage
+1 Engineered Explosives
I mulligan into Tormod's Crypt, the hand sadly has no lands. I do nothing for the first two turns while he just drops one land after the other and proceeds to beat me down with Imps (Putrid and Stinkweed). He has no cards left in hand.
I find some lands, get a blocker (Trinket Mage) chump. I find a Tarmogoyf and having a Devastating Dreams in hand plan the turn such as that the Goyf survives while I remove my opponent's board + Graveyard.
At that point my concentration fails and I activate the Crypt in response to my Devastating Dreams instead of in response to Bridge from Below's intervening-if trigger. I could slap myself as only a second after putting the Crypt into the yard I realize how horrible that play was: instead of having nothing and facing sure death in two turns he all of a sudden has at least a dredger (the Stinkweed Imp that died in the Dreams). Luckily he doesn't find anything in his top5 cards so that the Goyf has the two turns he needs.
2:0
3-1-0 (7:3)
Round 5 vs. Oliver Salten with Uw Bomberman
As either one of us only has to draw the next round to be top8, we decide to split prices.
I'm on the draw.
As we sat next to each other in the first round, he knows what I play and vice-versa. He drops a first turn Island + Mox Diamond + Meddling Mage on Life form the Loam which is rather impressive. On his second turn he drops another Mage naming Devastating Dreams. He tempo-plays me, Repealing my Mox Diamonds but as I am flooded with horrible (i.e. mana-only) lands anyway that's rather ineffective. I Intuition for Academy Ruins, Engineered Explosives and Eternal Witness, clear his board and start my Loam engine, keeping him low on mana. While I start applying some Factory beats, he eventually gets a new board with Mage on Engineered Explosives, Trinket Mage and Auriok Salvagers which I Dreams away, drop a guy (Goyf) and win.
-1 Maze of Ith
-1 The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
-1 Glacial Chasm
-1 Devastating Dreams
-1 Tranquil Thicket
-1 Life from the Loam
+2 Trinket Mage
+2 Tormod's Crypt
+1 Shriekmaw
+1 Volrath's Stronghold
As we both decide to mulligan I offer him to draw the game so that we can both see seven new cards. He accepts.
The second game then plays out really boringly: I have a slow start and he the turn 4 combo-kill which I can do nothing against.
The last game, on the other hand, was at least as epic as the second game was boring: I keep a strange hand featuring double Countryside Crusher, an Intuition and some lands. My next draws include Crusher n°3 and Intuition n°2. I proceed to drop a Crusher on turn 3 which he Mind Harnesses. I certainly didn't see that coming. On my next turn I drop another Crusher. His reveals 6 (!) lands in a row during his upkeep - more than I managed all day long -, putting me on real low life. Additionally he has an Oblivion Ring for my other Crusher. On my turn I drop the third one and a Mox Diamond, chump his big one with my Mishra's Factory. In my upkeep, my Crusher mills a land and reveals a Mox Diamond. I therefore decide to Intuition before I draw for triple Burning Wish, getting me Reverent Silence and all of a sudden I'm back in business. As he can't do anything against a whopping three Countryside Crushers, I win on the next turn.
2:1:1
4-1-0 (9:4:1)
Round 6 vs. Alexander Thomas with Ugr Dreadstill
We price split again (to moderate any differences in prices that would result from tie-breakers putting us into different top8 slots) and ID into top8.
We play the game for fun.
I'm on the draw.
I keep a hand with two lands, a Dark Confidant and double Tarmogoyf. On my second turn I play the Confidant, he Brainstorms and finds a Daze. As I don't draw a land, his second Brainstorm can find a second Daze for my third turn Tarmogoyf. I still don't manage to draw a land but that's fair as he doesn't have too much business either and as despite his third Brainstorm my second Goyf resolves. That Goyf then comes in for some damage. He finds a Trinket Mage enabling his Dreadnought + Stifle. In the meantime, I got him down to 9 life, with Goyf n°4 on my side of the table. He swings with the Nought getting me down to 7, I Devastating Dreams his Factories + Trinket Mage away and counter-attack for lethal. I could have Intuitioned for artefacts, pumping my Goyfs to gang-block + kill his Nought on that same turn too.
-1 Glacial Chasm
-1 The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
-1 Life from the Loam
-1 Tranquil Thicket
-1 Devastating Dreams
+2 Krosan Grip
+1 Engineered Explosives
+2 Trinket Mage
He asks me how he should board against me and I advise him to take out any number of Standstills as I can operate just as well as he can under them. Consequentially he takes out one.
As if to prove my point, he does drop a second turn Standstill, Wasteland backed. I waste his Wasteland, drop a Factory, waste his Factory, drop a Factory and do prove my point.
2:0
4-1-1 (9:4:1)
Other Tournament Stuff
I come in eight with the entire top8 but the first three places having the same amount of points - with such ever-rising attendance numbers the TO definitely has to adopt a new system as having your tie-breakers decide over 10-20 € is not really nice.
The prices were: (in order of pick from the price-pool)
1st - 1 Underground Sea (German Limited i.e BB)
2nd - 2 Badlands (Engl. Unlim.)
3rd - 4 Cunning Wish
4th - 4 Leyline of the Void
5th - 3 Bloodstained Mire
6th - 1 Polluted Delta
7th - 2 Cabal Therapy (DCI-Foil)
8th - 1 Damnation
I got the Damnation, the guy I split prizes with the two Therapies so we decided to ignore the split as there wasn't a too large discrepancy between the two values. Still, there is a huge difference between a Damnation (5-6€) and multiple fetchlands. Also, playing out top8s can be a really enjoyable thing and isn't done enough in Germany - I'll have to suggest that for the next tournament.
I search Oliver to figure out the prize split and offer him to just take the Damnation in exchange for 3€. He tells me to take the Damnation in exchange for 2€ - as we both don't have any change, we just decide to ignore that price split too... it's not worth it anyway.
Postlude
Performance of the rest of Team SPOD :
5-0-1 Stefan
4-1-1 Adan
3-2-1 Harrald
3-3-0 Thomas
After leaving the site, we drop Christian (who ended up going 2-4 with Wildfire 2k8) somewhere. Stefan, Harrald and Thomas proceed to some Highlander-action which I can sadly not participate in as I had to finish a paper for French.
Fail. Big Time.
Props:
The deck for being uber
Stefan for being uber when playing Dirty Combo
All people who played Elves! for playing Elves! - that's such an awesome deck
Slops:
For all those Elves! lists for not facing (and consequentially bashing) all those ITF lists
French. Seriously. Worst. Language. Ever. And I say that as a somewhat native speaker...
Photos taken during the event can be found here (http://www.magic-speyer.de/zen/index.php?album=Legacy+Turnier+im+Oktober+2008).
Preamble
Not much good pre-tournament stuff - Thomas picks me up at 1010 hours, we pick up Harrald Herrlich who for once has not overslept which might be related to the fact that he actually has not slept at all that night, returning from an EPIC (not the US Legacy Team one) drinking-spree only an hour or so ago. He proceeds to enter the 'suck mode' for the rest of the day but that's not that different from his normal condition so that no one really bothers to take any notice.
We then pick up Christian 'I'm not on Team SPOD' Seyboldt (MasterC) and Stefan 'Call me Pirate' Czolk (CZ), Manuel Heiler and Marius Laber had other, better things to do than waste another afternoon hanging out with nerds. It is definitely nice to finally see CZ back in action after not being able to attend the last 5-6 events.
Ten minutes later we start off for Hassloch with Thomas's GPS shortening our trip considerably by making us avoid the usual detours Manuel Heiler always takes... apparently you can also complete the trip in just under thirty minutes instead of just under an hour.
Notable happenings during the drive:
Christian 'I have no clue of Metal' Seyboldt asking what that "crazy" music we were listening to was - finest German (Melodic) Death Metal, also known as Die Apokalyptischen Reiter (link (http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=die+apokalyptischen+reiter&search_type=&aq=0&oq=die+apok)). This together with the single best Children of Bodom song (link (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1sguF2D1UA)) would, much to the displeasure of CZ and Christian, be the music listened to during the trip.
The discussion over the current and future university system in Germany leading to the conclusion that I'm totally wasted due to the fact that I won't be able to enjoy the freedom of the currently being replaced Magister/Diploma-system but rather have to adopt to the stricter, more school-like, Bachelor/Master-system. Sucks being born ten years too late.
After arriving at the site, we quickly hunt down the last few cards needed, meet Adan and hand in decklists.
This is what Team SPOD ended up playing:
Harrald Locutus Herrlich - Counterbalance-Tog-Landstill-hybrid
Thomas Yulyn "Insi" - Mono G Survival Elves
Stefan SpiritoftheWretch Czolk - UBw Ad Nauseam
Daniel Adan Scherer - It's the Fear
Clemens Der_imaginäre_Freund Wolff - 5c Seismic Assault
I didn't really know what to play until the day before the event - I just had too many possibilities. In the end I decided to give the wicked strong list I played at the German Legacy Champs (report found here (http://mtgthesource.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10968)) another chance which sounded like a good plan because playing 'unfair' decks is always better in a totally random and unpredictable meta than playing something that relies on interaction with your opponent. It also sounded like an especially good plan since the newest developments made the list even more promising.
I have recently moved away from the two namesakes of the list, the 5c aspect and Seismic Assault, so that the list should actually correctly be labelled '5c Seismic Assault now with one less colour and no Assaults'. As that definitely is too long of a name, I just stuck with the old one which is kinda catchy anyway.
As for the recent development of the list, following the German Legacy Champs, the single biggest issue of the deck was that it could just not end a game it had under control in time. It took control of the game and did nothing for a very long time giving the opponent all the time he needed to find hate (which was not very scary as the deck could literally get out of any situation) and a quick clock backed by disruption (which was much harder for the deck to handle). The solution: add more good winconditions. First add: Countryside Crusher. Obvious - he's just that good, lethal when you untap with him etc.. Next add: Tarmogoyf. I at first added Mr. T as early-game wall to have something against opposing Tarmogoyfs as decks with a sharp clock that could somehow get around my Mazes (be it via Wastelands or Pithing Needles or similar) put the deck before some problems. It soon turned out that the deck was much, much better with the new added aggressive dimension. Next in: Mishra's Factories - to keep the land count high (important to be able to abuse Exploration). The day before the tournament I threw Dark Confidant into the mix and the list was set. It had somewhat evolved from a hardcore control/lock deck towards an Aggro Loam list with better engines, a better lategame and a better earlygame (due to playing more acceleration in Explorations).
Here's what I sleeved up:
/// Maindeck (60 cards)
// Actual Lands (13)
3 City of Brass (http://magiccards.info/an/en/85.html)
4 Wooded Foothills (http://magiccards.info/on/en/330.html)
1 Forest (http://magiccards.info/p3k/en/180.html)
2 Taiga (http://magiccards.info/be/en/298.html)
1 Badlands (http://magiccards.info/be/en/139.html)
1 Bayou (http://magiccards.info/be/en/279.html)
1 Volcanic Island (http://magiccards.info/be/en/302.html)
// Non-Mana Utility Lands (3)
1 Glacial Chasm (http://magiccards.info/ia/en/331.html)
1 The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale (http://magiccards.info/lg/en/252.html)
1 Maze of Ith (http://magiccards.info/dk/en/114.html)
// Utility Lands (5)
4 Wasteland (http://magiccards.info/tp/en/340.html)
1 Academy Ruins (http://magiccards.info/ts/en/269.html)
// Kill (11)
4 Tarmogoyf (http://magiccards.info/fut/en/153.html)
4 Countryside Crusher (http://magiccards.info/mt/en/89.html)
3 Mishra's Factory (http://magiccards.info/aq/en/66.html)
// Card Advantage (9)
2 Tranquil Thicket (http://magiccards.info/on/en/326.html)
2 Forgotten Cave (http://magiccards.info/on/en/317.html)
4 Dark Confidant (http://magiccards.info/rav/en/81.html)
1 Eternal Witness (http://magiccards.info/5dn/en/86.html)
// Acceleration (7)
3 Exploration (http://magiccards.info/us/en/250.html)
4 Mox Diamond (http://magiccards.info/sh/en/132.html)
// Engine + Setup (9)
3 Life from the Loam (http://magiccards.info/rav/en/172.html)
3 Burning Wish (http://magiccards.info/ju/en/83.html)
3 Intuition (http://magiccards.info/tp/en/70.html)
// Removal (3)
1 Engineered Explosives (http://magiccards.info/5dn/en/118.html)
2 Devastating Dreams (http://magiccards.info/tr/en/95.html)
/// Sideboard (15 cards)
1 Life from the Loam (http://magiccards.info/rav/en/172.html)
1 Devastating Dreams (http://magiccards.info/tr/en/95.html)
1 Shattering Spree (http://magiccards.info/gp/en/75.html)
1 Reverent Silence (http://magiccards.info/ne/en/111.html)
1 Hull Breach (http://magiccards.info/ps/en/111.html)
2 Krosan Grip (http://magiccards.info/ts/en/202.html)
1 Engineered Explosives (http://magiccards.info/5dn/en/118.html)
2 Trinket Mage (http://magiccards.info/5dn/en/39.html)
1 Zuran Orb (http://magiccards.info/ia/en/325.html)
2 Tormod's Crypt (http://magiccards.info/dk/en/109.html)
1 Volrath's Stronghold (http://magiccards.info/sh/en/137.html)
1 Shriekmaw (http://magiccards.info/lw/en/139.html)
This (http://docs.google.com/View?docid=dgbs8px8_17f4hm3wg9) page will be kept updated with the newest list.
The entire list eschews most of the clunky engines and focuses more an an aggressive approach while still remaining as resilient to hate as the last list, with the possibility of the list actually being even more solid than the last one due to Wasteland not hurting you as much any more.
Explanation of some of the more questionable choices:
No Volrath's Stronghold in the main but in the Sideboard: I copied this tech from the French Legacy players - you usually don't want to play controlling preboard especially since all that recursion is hideously slow, postboard, having access to recurring Shriekmaws against Aggro and recurring anything against control is totally worth it though. I opted against playing at least the Stronghold (but not the utility creature[s]) main due to mana-base issues.
City of Brass: you really want to play all those colours - Intuition just adds an entirely new dimension to the deck. On the other hand, you are also rather colour hungry making the manabase incredibly hard to build. You want loads of Green and Red while having to being able to access your other two splash colours from turn two onwards - just not easy as even if you play infinite fetchlands those won't really fix you as you need a constant access to the colours. With hindsight, playing three Cities was probably one too many.
Trinket Mage in the Sideboard: I savagely stole this tech from Christian Schäfer to replace the Enlightened Tutors I had to cut from the board with the cut of white - the added flexibility is worth it especially since often Intuition + Academy Ruins stacks are too slow postboard to get through to your hate (e.g. against Ichorid or aggressive decks).
Short Report:
Round 1 vs. Joachim Hirsch with Goblin Sligh
I'm on the draw.
He doesn't do much for the first two turns so that I at first put him onto poor-mulliganed Dragon Stompy. I have a rather aggressive start which he stalls by dropping a pair of Mogg War Marshals. Some few turns later he has the Price of Progress I can do nothing against.
-1 Maze of Ith
-2 Wasteland
+2 Trinket Mage
+1 Zuran Orb
I manage to get a relatively early Zuran Orb, Intuition for triple Exploration - it's a cakewalk from there. Despite his triple Price of Progress.
In the third game he gets something I totally didn't expect: first turn Lackey. I have a blocker (Dark Confidant) but no Mox Diamond to cast him on my first turn. Lackey connects, invites Siege-Gang and his homies to the party. My opponent drops a Goblin Bombardment. I Intuition for double Devastating Dreams + Burning Wish, Wish for Dreams, clear his board. On his next turn he has double Price of Progress - without the 5 damage that horrible card (Bombardment) did I would have dropped a Trinket Mage for Zuran Orb for the win on my next turn.
Shit happens. But why does it have to be against such obvious scrubs? Bye-bye rating. After loosing 10 points on the last 4-1-1, it shouldn't be any different this time, after such a start.
1:2
0-1-0 (1:2)
Round 2 vs. Jens Sieman with Deadguy Ale
I'm on the draw.
He gets some early beats (Tombstalker + Oona's Prowler + Dark Confidant), I stabilize barely with the help of Glacial Chasm. He doesn't draw a Wasteland, I get a Crusher going which he eventually has to Sword giving me 15 life and therewith all the time I need to stabilize fully and find another wincondition.
-1 The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
+1 Engineered Explosives
He gets a Ritual-powered second turn Dark Confidant + Oona's Prowler, I have Exploration, Burning Wish for Devastating Dreams and leave him permanentless. He hast three cards in hand at that point. He proceeds to play two lands during his next two turns, drops a Tombstalker, drops a Dark Confidant. Sure thing. Meanwhile, I, on the other hand, am screwed until that point. I savagely rip a City of Brass and a Bayou from the top to remedy that though. Well that much for the screw, now I'd better draw into some business too. The next draws actually were some good stuff: a Maze of Ith to handle his Tombstalker and a Counryside Crusher to handle my opponent (hopefully).
After a short while he forgets his Dark Confidant trigger despite Stefan who's watching the match reminding him of the former - we call the Judge who has to think a full five minutes over what penalty he'll give him - a warning. Upon going away again he turns around and says that he actually has to give me a warning too... for... he doesn't remember the name so I help him out on that. Gosh I hate incompetent judges - the last tournament I even had to appeal his ruling concerning Shattering Spree + Trinisphere + Chalice of the Void - his ruling would have cost Brehn the game if I recall correctly.
Anyway, back to the game. The extra Card of Dark Confidant my opponent got was a Smother, his regular draw a Wasteland - so long for my decent board position. He forgets to attack, I knowing that I'm dead next turn attack with my lone two Factories, bringing him down to 4 and hope that his Confidant will kill him. He again forgets to reveal for Confidant, despite the entire crowd standing around the table screaming 'Confidant, Dude!'. I am like 'hey, wtf, man...' and raise my hand to get the judge back to the table, he extends his: scoop. I actually don't know why he did that but I'll gladly accept him giving me the W.
2:0
1-1-0 (3:2)
50 minutes break to get some food. That's the advantage of having your tournament site in the back-room of a restaurant, I guess. The downside: the restaurant owners drastically reduced the size of the meals which I voiced my discontent at.
Round 3 vs. Fabian #*&% (you know that your handwriting really sucks when you can't decipher it any more yourself) with Angel Stompy
I'm on the play.
I have an early Tabernacle and an Exploration to slow his progress while accelerating my build up. I get the Loam engine going, draw cards like mad, play two Dark Confidants to draw into more stuff (amongst others: two Tarmogoyfs to block his few critters), get a Crusher onto the board, play a Devastating Dreams. Win. Magic can be that simple.
-1 Dark Confidant
-2 Wasteland
+1 Shriekmaw
+1 Trinket Mage
+1 Volrath's Stronghold
He gets a first turn Soltari Priest. Second turn Sword of Fire and Ice + Equip. Third turn Elspeth + pump. Impressive. I show him the Devastating Dreams on my hand and joke about how outdated pro:Red is in the current meta while shuffling up for game 3.
He doesn't have a similar broken start despite putting me on quite a clock with double Soltari Priest. I get Shriekmaw + Stronghold and Loam + Cycle lands + Exploration going, take like 15 damage from my own manabase (which are then refounded by my opponent sending my Crusher, that would have been lethal on the next turn, farming), find another threat (Tarmogoyf), destroy his manabase via Devastating Dreams. Win.
2:1
2-1-0 (5:3)
Round 4 vs. Matthias Hoffman with Ichorid
I'm on the draw.
He doesn't have a too busted start giving me the possibility to stall via Engineered Explosives, draw some cards via Dark Confidant, find Tabernacle and simply win, win, win (after a Tarmogoyf and a Crusher making sure that no Ichorid nonsense could catch me off guard).
-1 Tranquil Thicket
-1 Wasteland
-2 Dark Confidant
-1 Life from the Loam
+2 Tormod's Crypt
+2 Trinket Mage
+1 Engineered Explosives
I mulligan into Tormod's Crypt, the hand sadly has no lands. I do nothing for the first two turns while he just drops one land after the other and proceeds to beat me down with Imps (Putrid and Stinkweed). He has no cards left in hand.
I find some lands, get a blocker (Trinket Mage) chump. I find a Tarmogoyf and having a Devastating Dreams in hand plan the turn such as that the Goyf survives while I remove my opponent's board + Graveyard.
At that point my concentration fails and I activate the Crypt in response to my Devastating Dreams instead of in response to Bridge from Below's intervening-if trigger. I could slap myself as only a second after putting the Crypt into the yard I realize how horrible that play was: instead of having nothing and facing sure death in two turns he all of a sudden has at least a dredger (the Stinkweed Imp that died in the Dreams). Luckily he doesn't find anything in his top5 cards so that the Goyf has the two turns he needs.
2:0
3-1-0 (7:3)
Round 5 vs. Oliver Salten with Uw Bomberman
As either one of us only has to draw the next round to be top8, we decide to split prices.
I'm on the draw.
As we sat next to each other in the first round, he knows what I play and vice-versa. He drops a first turn Island + Mox Diamond + Meddling Mage on Life form the Loam which is rather impressive. On his second turn he drops another Mage naming Devastating Dreams. He tempo-plays me, Repealing my Mox Diamonds but as I am flooded with horrible (i.e. mana-only) lands anyway that's rather ineffective. I Intuition for Academy Ruins, Engineered Explosives and Eternal Witness, clear his board and start my Loam engine, keeping him low on mana. While I start applying some Factory beats, he eventually gets a new board with Mage on Engineered Explosives, Trinket Mage and Auriok Salvagers which I Dreams away, drop a guy (Goyf) and win.
-1 Maze of Ith
-1 The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
-1 Glacial Chasm
-1 Devastating Dreams
-1 Tranquil Thicket
-1 Life from the Loam
+2 Trinket Mage
+2 Tormod's Crypt
+1 Shriekmaw
+1 Volrath's Stronghold
As we both decide to mulligan I offer him to draw the game so that we can both see seven new cards. He accepts.
The second game then plays out really boringly: I have a slow start and he the turn 4 combo-kill which I can do nothing against.
The last game, on the other hand, was at least as epic as the second game was boring: I keep a strange hand featuring double Countryside Crusher, an Intuition and some lands. My next draws include Crusher n°3 and Intuition n°2. I proceed to drop a Crusher on turn 3 which he Mind Harnesses. I certainly didn't see that coming. On my next turn I drop another Crusher. His reveals 6 (!) lands in a row during his upkeep - more than I managed all day long -, putting me on real low life. Additionally he has an Oblivion Ring for my other Crusher. On my turn I drop the third one and a Mox Diamond, chump his big one with my Mishra's Factory. In my upkeep, my Crusher mills a land and reveals a Mox Diamond. I therefore decide to Intuition before I draw for triple Burning Wish, getting me Reverent Silence and all of a sudden I'm back in business. As he can't do anything against a whopping three Countryside Crushers, I win on the next turn.
2:1:1
4-1-0 (9:4:1)
Round 6 vs. Alexander Thomas with Ugr Dreadstill
We price split again (to moderate any differences in prices that would result from tie-breakers putting us into different top8 slots) and ID into top8.
We play the game for fun.
I'm on the draw.
I keep a hand with two lands, a Dark Confidant and double Tarmogoyf. On my second turn I play the Confidant, he Brainstorms and finds a Daze. As I don't draw a land, his second Brainstorm can find a second Daze for my third turn Tarmogoyf. I still don't manage to draw a land but that's fair as he doesn't have too much business either and as despite his third Brainstorm my second Goyf resolves. That Goyf then comes in for some damage. He finds a Trinket Mage enabling his Dreadnought + Stifle. In the meantime, I got him down to 9 life, with Goyf n°4 on my side of the table. He swings with the Nought getting me down to 7, I Devastating Dreams his Factories + Trinket Mage away and counter-attack for lethal. I could have Intuitioned for artefacts, pumping my Goyfs to gang-block + kill his Nought on that same turn too.
-1 Glacial Chasm
-1 The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
-1 Life from the Loam
-1 Tranquil Thicket
-1 Devastating Dreams
+2 Krosan Grip
+1 Engineered Explosives
+2 Trinket Mage
He asks me how he should board against me and I advise him to take out any number of Standstills as I can operate just as well as he can under them. Consequentially he takes out one.
As if to prove my point, he does drop a second turn Standstill, Wasteland backed. I waste his Wasteland, drop a Factory, waste his Factory, drop a Factory and do prove my point.
2:0
4-1-1 (9:4:1)
Other Tournament Stuff
I come in eight with the entire top8 but the first three places having the same amount of points - with such ever-rising attendance numbers the TO definitely has to adopt a new system as having your tie-breakers decide over 10-20 € is not really nice.
The prices were: (in order of pick from the price-pool)
1st - 1 Underground Sea (German Limited i.e BB)
2nd - 2 Badlands (Engl. Unlim.)
3rd - 4 Cunning Wish
4th - 4 Leyline of the Void
5th - 3 Bloodstained Mire
6th - 1 Polluted Delta
7th - 2 Cabal Therapy (DCI-Foil)
8th - 1 Damnation
I got the Damnation, the guy I split prizes with the two Therapies so we decided to ignore the split as there wasn't a too large discrepancy between the two values. Still, there is a huge difference between a Damnation (5-6€) and multiple fetchlands. Also, playing out top8s can be a really enjoyable thing and isn't done enough in Germany - I'll have to suggest that for the next tournament.
I search Oliver to figure out the prize split and offer him to just take the Damnation in exchange for 3€. He tells me to take the Damnation in exchange for 2€ - as we both don't have any change, we just decide to ignore that price split too... it's not worth it anyway.
Postlude
Performance of the rest of Team SPOD :
5-0-1 Stefan
4-1-1 Adan
3-2-1 Harrald
3-3-0 Thomas
After leaving the site, we drop Christian (who ended up going 2-4 with Wildfire 2k8) somewhere. Stefan, Harrald and Thomas proceed to some Highlander-action which I can sadly not participate in as I had to finish a paper for French.
Fail. Big Time.
Props:
The deck for being uber
Stefan for being uber when playing Dirty Combo
All people who played Elves! for playing Elves! - that's such an awesome deck
Slops:
For all those Elves! lists for not facing (and consequentially bashing) all those ITF lists
French. Seriously. Worst. Language. Ever. And I say that as a somewhat native speaker...