klaus
11-02-2008, 12:57 PM
Team MKM rocks Pro Tour Berlin (*cough* anyway, one of the major side events *cough*)
Yesyes,
yesterday I managed to take home the trophy for the Legacy event of the Pro Tour Berlin and picked up the 1st prize: 30 rev. Duals (!)
This is my "obligatory" report.
Nov. 1st: Attracted by the undeniably sexy prize support 115 players from all over Europe gather to fight for glory and, well, 40 Duals and stuff. As expected, the majority of the field is made up by my homies from the Berlin area and players from Northern Germany.
UWr Dreadstill epically failing me at the Legacy Old Box Trial on the previous day made me want to play something really straight forward, yet versatile and just as powerful, if possible. Also, making those 8 rounds without suffering a burnout was part of the plan. As my teammates arranged 4 Goyfs and 4 Sinkholes my choice was fairly easy. A slightly modified Team America should turn out to be the optimal meta call.
Here's my list:
Team MKM: TA 1.1* - NOV 2008
MD:
4 Thoughtseize
4 Sinkhole
4 Ponder
4 Brainstorm
4 Daze
4 Force of Will
4 Stifle
3 Snuff Out
1 Ghastly Demise (to be discussed)
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Tombstalker
1 Phyrexian Dreadnought (more on this choice @the bottom of the page..)
(41)
4 Polluted Delta
3 Flooded Strand
1 Bloodstained Mire
3 Underground Sea
1 Bayou
1 Tropical Island
4 Wasteland
1 Island
1 Swamp
(19)
SB:
4 Blue Elemental Blast
3 Diabolic Edict
2 Krosan Grip
2 Engineered Explosives (to be discussed)
2 Tormod's Crypt (s.a.)
2 Dark Confidant (s.a.)
Round I
VS a Burn.dec playing Viking.
G1: After his Mountain->Lava Spike it's clear what I'm up against. I'm aware this MU can be troublesome if I don't manage to land an early fattie and beat for 5 per turn. With Thoughtseize, Snuff Out and Demise being dead cards, G1 might have turned out bad, so I dropped a turn 3 Nought ftw.
IN: 4 BEBS - OUT: creature hate
G2: Turn 2+3 Goyfs finish him in short order.
Round II
VS the Mighty Quinn (sans Painter combo)
As I later gather my opponent came in 5th the previous day. Being rooted in Extended he starts to chatter about the allegedly low playskill level of the average Legacy player. Good thing I could teach him a lesson. Hah!
G1: After mulling to 6 I keep a mana denial hand fit to beat any deck featuring lots of non basics..I scoop to Scepter+Chant (no MD outs - meh)
IN: 2 Bobs, 2 Grips, 2 EEs - OUT: Creature hate, 1 Stifle, 1 Nought
G2: I keep my 7 consisting of Fetch, Sea, Waste, Confidant, Daze, Force and Sinkhole which leads to him struggling for mana and folding to the goodies Bob drew. I think he didn't resolve a single spell after Bob hit.
G3: See G2. I destroy his lands like it was my job, counter anything relevant and kill him with Stalker.
At this point I still think that the deck had luck-sacked its way to that evil load of disruption...:wink:
Round III
VS Max playing UWb Cunning LS (pretty much agreed upon list)
I know Max from previous tourneys. He's a decent opponent and didn't commit any obvious blunders, afaik. I hadn't tested this MU before and wasn't quite aware that it's in my favor.
G1: OK. This was lucky..I draw no less than 3 Sinkholes during the earlygame = he dies a painfull death
IN: 2 Grips, 2 Bobs - OUT: creature hate
G2: It was Max's turn to goddraw now. He kills 3 early Goyfs and somehow resolves 2 Humilities and 1 Crucible (+A. Ruins). I scoop.
G3: See G1. I thoughtseize him twice, destroy most of his land and 2 Stalkers stalk him to death. Max is pissed. I don't care.:cool:
Round IV
VS Marvin playing Geddon Stax
This is the first game that proved the basics' awesomeness.
G1: I waste his Tomb, daze a 3sphere, seize an O. Ring and have a Stalker enter the field. Marvin establishes a Crucible-Waste lock in the meantime. But the basics I fetched before shrug at his lock and the lonely Ghostly Prison, so Tombstalker (this guy needs a nick) knocks him out.
IN: 2 Bobs, 2 Grips, 2 EEs OUT: Creature hate, 1 Stifle, 1 Nought
G2: Marvin starts with Plains->Go (whew, so far so good!) I go land go, too and watch him drop a mysterious morph. Luckily I hold an EE exploding the Angel byebye. I continue to thoughtseize anything relevant, so Stalker can nail down my 4-0-0.
Round V
VS some nice Polish guy playing 4color LS
I knew what he was playing cause I'd watched his previous game (LS mirror) VS a friend of mine. Based on the experience I made against UWbLS (boasting 5 basics) I was really comfortable facing a version with 0-2 basics.
G1: I win the die roll. Thoughtseize reveals his 5-lander - did he know what he was up against, too? To make a long story short: zillion Wastelands, Stifles and Sinkholes ruin his day. Fun fact: Even though he drew some more land, he never had more than 2 in play.
IN: 2 Bob, 2 Grip - OUT: Creature hate
G2: See G1.
Seriously, this deck is soo evil I was afraid I'd grow devil horns and would've had to be excorcized after the event!:rolleyes:
Round VI
VS BW aggro featuring Wastelands, Vindicates, Grunts, Bobs and Vials
G1: I annihilate his land, thoughtseize and daze the rest and win with Lhurgoyfs.
IN: 3 Edicts, 1 EE - OUT: 2 Snuffout, 1 Ponder, 1?
G2: The gamestate looks favorable after turn 12 or so and then I make my first stupid mistake of the day. Ponder reveals me Snuff Out, Demise, Land (I'm holding crap and Edict). I pass, he drops S. Avenger which I addict eot, only to lose to the infinite cards of the Confidant he later drops - bleh!
G3: see G1. Tag team Tombstalkers do what they're supposed to do :cool: .
Round VII
VS some nervous Polish guy playing R/G Beatz
At that point we're they only players at 6-0-0. I was pretty sure this was the most unfavorable MU of the day and consulted my homies on whether I should offer a draw to better my chances on a #2 finish (whimpy, I know). Every single mate I talk to advises me to offer the ID so I quitetly wave goodbye to the title and those precious 30 duals, sniff.
After we're seated I offer the nervous Polish guy the draw I'm still seeking, but he declines. I then proceed with all the semi-logical and pseudo-mathematical argumentation I managed...and he still declines. So I go f*** that we're battling it out!
That was probably when the evil spirit that dwells in TA came to like me again. Here is how it went down:
G1: He wins the die roll and starts with Taiga->Rift Bolt. I had kept a mana denial hand boasting Daze and Wastes cause I figured that raping his mana base (pretty much destroying all) was the only out I had other than the dropping the unlikely turn 2 Nought. Anyway, I waste his Taiga, only to watch him dropping another plus Figure of Destiny. I waste his 2nd Taiga, he frowns. Next, he drops a fetchland, attacks for 1 and passes without fetching. At the end of my turn Stifle shines again, he double frowns and gets really nervous. In his turn he probably topdecks a B. Ring and attacks for 2 only to have me watch Sinkhole his last land and he's OUT! Fuck yeah! That felt good. :laugh:
After G1 he pseudo-relaxedly announces that he might consider a draw now. (*LAWLZ*) I'm thinking of the playset of BEBs and politely decline.
G2: Believe it or not: My starting 7 reveal me the Nougt combo and I start smiling, being aware there'd be nothing to stop me now.
I know, I know that was mega-lucky, really. But so funny, infinitely funny nonetheless.
Round VIII
VS Alex (A.)Trappe ("Atrappe" meaning "dummy" in German, no kidding). Fun fact #2 his mother's name is Angelica. :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
A.trappe plays C. Breakfast. He figures he's the absolute underdog in this MU and offers to ID, which I gladly accept. 7-0-1 ftw? Hells yeah!
---
Some thoughts on the debatable choices:
Ghastly Demise: Testing showed that lifeloss via Snuff Out, TS, fetchies and FOWs can be an issue against aggro decks. Replacing a Snuff Out was a mini step towards a more balanced setup. Smother is very likely to replace Demise, however.
Dreadnought:
This is easily the most questionable choice I made. Nought, practically replacing land #20 has a whole lot offer though. Here's what me and a teammate (yes, Nightmare: >M. Ringwald<, again!) determined:
- silverbullet that can be game breaking
- gives mid/lategame Stifles a reason to exist
- entering G1 he makes opponents board in hate à la Grip (TA has no other targets though)
- I board the single copy out and smile an evil smile
- entering G2 I can be sure most of my oppent's non-creature hate went to the board, increasing the chances to win via Nought
- worst case scenarios: gives Goyfs +2+2, is counterbait, gets brainstormed away, destroys Bridges, etc..
- obviously this tech works only so long as it's secret so don't expect me to run that shit in the near future. I'd still be looking for a creature in this slot, though.
Mana base:
The basics saved my ass against Stax and BW aggro. There are several more archetypes against which they shine, though. Also having a more resilient mana base allows us to go down to a total of 19. The only change I'd currently consider is dropping a Strand in favor of the 2nd Mire.
The SB:
Dark Confidant:
- against "xyz-control.dec" he's simply the nutz and ensures we never run out of gas.
- as you've seen I left all the Stalkers in when boarding him in. This turned out to be just right, for Ponder and BS never let you down, ever.
- I was happy with Bob the entire day even though he "only" won me a single game. Against LS & CO he's simply my #1 threat.
Engineered Explosives:
- pretty much K. Grips #3&4
- with the advantage to break Chalice@1 not only faster but under Moon effects as well. Allowing BEBs to rock again.
- it's an invaluable sweeper hitting one of our arch enemies: Vial, Turn2, too.
- moreover it eats Zombie tokens justifying my going down to merely 2 Crypts (and thus making room for Bobs).
---
Props:
- MagicCardMarket.com for sponsoring 'deluxe'
- Team MKM teammates for psychologic support
- Jens for lending me Sinkholes (this card is more evil than anything)
- Mucki for lending me his Goyfs
- M. Ringwald formaking me play that singleton Dreadnought
- Jan Sudmann (NQN on TS) for tactical support
- and most of all Deep6er and nitewolf9 for developing yet another MVP.dec - I owe you.
Thats all folks,
Peace,
Klaus, aka. Jaschar, Team-MKM
Yesyes,
yesterday I managed to take home the trophy for the Legacy event of the Pro Tour Berlin and picked up the 1st prize: 30 rev. Duals (!)
This is my "obligatory" report.
Nov. 1st: Attracted by the undeniably sexy prize support 115 players from all over Europe gather to fight for glory and, well, 40 Duals and stuff. As expected, the majority of the field is made up by my homies from the Berlin area and players from Northern Germany.
UWr Dreadstill epically failing me at the Legacy Old Box Trial on the previous day made me want to play something really straight forward, yet versatile and just as powerful, if possible. Also, making those 8 rounds without suffering a burnout was part of the plan. As my teammates arranged 4 Goyfs and 4 Sinkholes my choice was fairly easy. A slightly modified Team America should turn out to be the optimal meta call.
Here's my list:
Team MKM: TA 1.1* - NOV 2008
MD:
4 Thoughtseize
4 Sinkhole
4 Ponder
4 Brainstorm
4 Daze
4 Force of Will
4 Stifle
3 Snuff Out
1 Ghastly Demise (to be discussed)
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Tombstalker
1 Phyrexian Dreadnought (more on this choice @the bottom of the page..)
(41)
4 Polluted Delta
3 Flooded Strand
1 Bloodstained Mire
3 Underground Sea
1 Bayou
1 Tropical Island
4 Wasteland
1 Island
1 Swamp
(19)
SB:
4 Blue Elemental Blast
3 Diabolic Edict
2 Krosan Grip
2 Engineered Explosives (to be discussed)
2 Tormod's Crypt (s.a.)
2 Dark Confidant (s.a.)
Round I
VS a Burn.dec playing Viking.
G1: After his Mountain->Lava Spike it's clear what I'm up against. I'm aware this MU can be troublesome if I don't manage to land an early fattie and beat for 5 per turn. With Thoughtseize, Snuff Out and Demise being dead cards, G1 might have turned out bad, so I dropped a turn 3 Nought ftw.
IN: 4 BEBS - OUT: creature hate
G2: Turn 2+3 Goyfs finish him in short order.
Round II
VS the Mighty Quinn (sans Painter combo)
As I later gather my opponent came in 5th the previous day. Being rooted in Extended he starts to chatter about the allegedly low playskill level of the average Legacy player. Good thing I could teach him a lesson. Hah!
G1: After mulling to 6 I keep a mana denial hand fit to beat any deck featuring lots of non basics..I scoop to Scepter+Chant (no MD outs - meh)
IN: 2 Bobs, 2 Grips, 2 EEs - OUT: Creature hate, 1 Stifle, 1 Nought
G2: I keep my 7 consisting of Fetch, Sea, Waste, Confidant, Daze, Force and Sinkhole which leads to him struggling for mana and folding to the goodies Bob drew. I think he didn't resolve a single spell after Bob hit.
G3: See G2. I destroy his lands like it was my job, counter anything relevant and kill him with Stalker.
At this point I still think that the deck had luck-sacked its way to that evil load of disruption...:wink:
Round III
VS Max playing UWb Cunning LS (pretty much agreed upon list)
I know Max from previous tourneys. He's a decent opponent and didn't commit any obvious blunders, afaik. I hadn't tested this MU before and wasn't quite aware that it's in my favor.
G1: OK. This was lucky..I draw no less than 3 Sinkholes during the earlygame = he dies a painfull death
IN: 2 Grips, 2 Bobs - OUT: creature hate
G2: It was Max's turn to goddraw now. He kills 3 early Goyfs and somehow resolves 2 Humilities and 1 Crucible (+A. Ruins). I scoop.
G3: See G1. I thoughtseize him twice, destroy most of his land and 2 Stalkers stalk him to death. Max is pissed. I don't care.:cool:
Round IV
VS Marvin playing Geddon Stax
This is the first game that proved the basics' awesomeness.
G1: I waste his Tomb, daze a 3sphere, seize an O. Ring and have a Stalker enter the field. Marvin establishes a Crucible-Waste lock in the meantime. But the basics I fetched before shrug at his lock and the lonely Ghostly Prison, so Tombstalker (this guy needs a nick) knocks him out.
IN: 2 Bobs, 2 Grips, 2 EEs OUT: Creature hate, 1 Stifle, 1 Nought
G2: Marvin starts with Plains->Go (whew, so far so good!) I go land go, too and watch him drop a mysterious morph. Luckily I hold an EE exploding the Angel byebye. I continue to thoughtseize anything relevant, so Stalker can nail down my 4-0-0.
Round V
VS some nice Polish guy playing 4color LS
I knew what he was playing cause I'd watched his previous game (LS mirror) VS a friend of mine. Based on the experience I made against UWbLS (boasting 5 basics) I was really comfortable facing a version with 0-2 basics.
G1: I win the die roll. Thoughtseize reveals his 5-lander - did he know what he was up against, too? To make a long story short: zillion Wastelands, Stifles and Sinkholes ruin his day. Fun fact: Even though he drew some more land, he never had more than 2 in play.
IN: 2 Bob, 2 Grip - OUT: Creature hate
G2: See G1.
Seriously, this deck is soo evil I was afraid I'd grow devil horns and would've had to be excorcized after the event!:rolleyes:
Round VI
VS BW aggro featuring Wastelands, Vindicates, Grunts, Bobs and Vials
G1: I annihilate his land, thoughtseize and daze the rest and win with Lhurgoyfs.
IN: 3 Edicts, 1 EE - OUT: 2 Snuffout, 1 Ponder, 1?
G2: The gamestate looks favorable after turn 12 or so and then I make my first stupid mistake of the day. Ponder reveals me Snuff Out, Demise, Land (I'm holding crap and Edict). I pass, he drops S. Avenger which I addict eot, only to lose to the infinite cards of the Confidant he later drops - bleh!
G3: see G1. Tag team Tombstalkers do what they're supposed to do :cool: .
Round VII
VS some nervous Polish guy playing R/G Beatz
At that point we're they only players at 6-0-0. I was pretty sure this was the most unfavorable MU of the day and consulted my homies on whether I should offer a draw to better my chances on a #2 finish (whimpy, I know). Every single mate I talk to advises me to offer the ID so I quitetly wave goodbye to the title and those precious 30 duals, sniff.
After we're seated I offer the nervous Polish guy the draw I'm still seeking, but he declines. I then proceed with all the semi-logical and pseudo-mathematical argumentation I managed...and he still declines. So I go f*** that we're battling it out!
That was probably when the evil spirit that dwells in TA came to like me again. Here is how it went down:
G1: He wins the die roll and starts with Taiga->Rift Bolt. I had kept a mana denial hand boasting Daze and Wastes cause I figured that raping his mana base (pretty much destroying all) was the only out I had other than the dropping the unlikely turn 2 Nought. Anyway, I waste his Taiga, only to watch him dropping another plus Figure of Destiny. I waste his 2nd Taiga, he frowns. Next, he drops a fetchland, attacks for 1 and passes without fetching. At the end of my turn Stifle shines again, he double frowns and gets really nervous. In his turn he probably topdecks a B. Ring and attacks for 2 only to have me watch Sinkhole his last land and he's OUT! Fuck yeah! That felt good. :laugh:
After G1 he pseudo-relaxedly announces that he might consider a draw now. (*LAWLZ*) I'm thinking of the playset of BEBs and politely decline.
G2: Believe it or not: My starting 7 reveal me the Nougt combo and I start smiling, being aware there'd be nothing to stop me now.
I know, I know that was mega-lucky, really. But so funny, infinitely funny nonetheless.
Round VIII
VS Alex (A.)Trappe ("Atrappe" meaning "dummy" in German, no kidding). Fun fact #2 his mother's name is Angelica. :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
A.trappe plays C. Breakfast. He figures he's the absolute underdog in this MU and offers to ID, which I gladly accept. 7-0-1 ftw? Hells yeah!
---
Some thoughts on the debatable choices:
Ghastly Demise: Testing showed that lifeloss via Snuff Out, TS, fetchies and FOWs can be an issue against aggro decks. Replacing a Snuff Out was a mini step towards a more balanced setup. Smother is very likely to replace Demise, however.
Dreadnought:
This is easily the most questionable choice I made. Nought, practically replacing land #20 has a whole lot offer though. Here's what me and a teammate (yes, Nightmare: >M. Ringwald<, again!) determined:
- silverbullet that can be game breaking
- gives mid/lategame Stifles a reason to exist
- entering G1 he makes opponents board in hate à la Grip (TA has no other targets though)
- I board the single copy out and smile an evil smile
- entering G2 I can be sure most of my oppent's non-creature hate went to the board, increasing the chances to win via Nought
- worst case scenarios: gives Goyfs +2+2, is counterbait, gets brainstormed away, destroys Bridges, etc..
- obviously this tech works only so long as it's secret so don't expect me to run that shit in the near future. I'd still be looking for a creature in this slot, though.
Mana base:
The basics saved my ass against Stax and BW aggro. There are several more archetypes against which they shine, though. Also having a more resilient mana base allows us to go down to a total of 19. The only change I'd currently consider is dropping a Strand in favor of the 2nd Mire.
The SB:
Dark Confidant:
- against "xyz-control.dec" he's simply the nutz and ensures we never run out of gas.
- as you've seen I left all the Stalkers in when boarding him in. This turned out to be just right, for Ponder and BS never let you down, ever.
- I was happy with Bob the entire day even though he "only" won me a single game. Against LS & CO he's simply my #1 threat.
Engineered Explosives:
- pretty much K. Grips #3&4
- with the advantage to break Chalice@1 not only faster but under Moon effects as well. Allowing BEBs to rock again.
- it's an invaluable sweeper hitting one of our arch enemies: Vial, Turn2, too.
- moreover it eats Zombie tokens justifying my going down to merely 2 Crypts (and thus making room for Bobs).
---
Props:
- MagicCardMarket.com for sponsoring 'deluxe'
- Team MKM teammates for psychologic support
- Jens for lending me Sinkholes (this card is more evil than anything)
- Mucki for lending me his Goyfs
- M. Ringwald formaking me play that singleton Dreadnought
- Jan Sudmann (NQN on TS) for tactical support
- and most of all Deep6er and nitewolf9 for developing yet another MVP.dec - I owe you.
Thats all folks,
Peace,
Klaus, aka. Jaschar, Team-MKM