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View Full Version : [Report] Team SPOD @ February Haßloch Event



diffy
02-16-2009, 09:53 AM
More, non-SPOD centric information can be found here (http://mtgthesource.com/forums/showpost.php?p=319874&postcount=765).

Photos taken during the event can be found here (http://www.magic-speyer.de/zen/index.php?page=2).

Preamble

Business as usual: Highlander + Being Awesome = Awesome = Best possible lead up to bad formats.
True story.

This is what Team SPOD ended up playing:
Harrald Locutus Herrlich – Fiery Pandaburst
Stefan SpiritoftheWretch Czolk – Not Quite Balanced /r
Daniel Adan Scherer - Not Quite Balanced /w
Clemens Der_imaginäre_Freund Wolff - Not Quite Balanced /w

Here's what I sleeved up:



/// Maindeck (60 cards)

// Lands (17)
4 Flooded Strand (http://magiccards.info/on/en/316.html)
4 Windswept Heath (http://magiccards.info/on/en/328.html)
2 Tropical Island (http://magiccards.info/be/en/299.html)
2 Tundra (http://magiccards.info/be/en/300.html)
3 Island (http://magiccards.info/apac/en/12.html)
1 Forest (http://magiccards.info/apac/en/11.html)
1 Plains (http://magiccards.info/apac/en/4.html)

// Beaters (14)
4 Werebear (http://magiccards.info/od/en/282.html)
4 Tarmogoyf (http://magiccards.info/fut/en/153.html)
2 Trygon Predator (http://magiccards.info/di/en/133.html)
3 Rhox War Monk (”http://magiccards.info/ala/en/188.html”)
1 Mystic Enforcer (http://magiccards.info/od/en/290.html)

// Card Advantage (11)
4 Brainstorm (http://magiccards.info/mm/en/61.html)
4 Ponder (http://magiccards.info/lw/en/79.html)
3 Sensei's Divining Top (http://magiccards.info/chk/en/268.html)

// Permission (12)
4 Counterbalance (http://magiccards.info/cs/en/31.html)
3 Daze (http://magiccards.info/ne/en/30.html)
1 Counterspell (”http://magiccards.info/be/en/55.html”)
4 Force of Will (http://magiccards.info/ai/en/42.html)

// Removal (6)
4 Swords to Plowshares (http://magiccards.info/ia/en/278.html)
2 Oblivion Ring (http://magiccards.info/lw/en/34.html)

/// Sideboard (15 cards)
4 Hydroblast (http://magiccards.info/ia/en/72.html)
3 Gaddock Teeg (http://magiccards.info/lw/en/248.html)
2 Krosan Grip (http://magiccards.info/ts/en/202.html)
3 Engineered Explosives (http://magiccards.info/5dn/en/118.html)
3 Pithing Needle (”http://magiccards.info/sok/en/158.html”)


This (http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=dgbs8px8_4hcj6v6g7&hl=en) page will be kept updated with the newest list.

Explanation of some choices:
Werebear: included because the white splashed build is getting more and more clunky – cc3 stuff is awesome do dodge opposing Counterbalances and to improve your own, however, especially if you additionally play Daze, the deck turns into hell of a slow pile. Werebear fixes this to some extent as he assures to hit 3 mana more consistently. The additional meat is also nice, especially since this beater doesn't suck in the earlygame. You could play 18 lands in order to be able to support 3 mana stuff more reliably, however, the 18th land doesn't fix the tempo/Daze issues and doesn't come in handy as solid beater. Basically Werebear is a better Nimble Mongoose in this list: it doesn't suck as much early due to tapping for green mana, and is of similar strength later (the loss of shroud being made up for by the additional +1/+1 which is often really useful).
Rhox War Monk: included because he's solid in your bad matchups (i.e. anything aggressive or swarmish). He's also good overall, racing most creatures out there single-handedly, not dying against burn etc.
3 Daze/1 Counterspell: split played due to the deck getting more clunky (i.e. you reach the lategame more often → Daze gets worse) and due to people finally starting to play around Daze as they should (making Daze's value diminish even further)


Short Report:

Round 1 vs. Andreas Pish with Death & Taxes

I'm on the draw.

I force his first turn Aether Vial, get some early cantrips and a Werebear – everything looks just fine until he drops a Flickerwisp and starts racing my beats. After dropping to 14, he gets a little greedy and plays a Stonecloaker on my end of turn. Obviously his Flickerwisp eats a Swords to Plowshares in response to his dude which cuts off his entire clock. I drop a Rhox War Monk on the next turn and he proceeds to loose from there on.

-1 Counterspell
-1 Counterbalance
+2 Engineered Explosives

I get an early Counterbalance and Tarmogoyf going – he can't do anything from there as I am able to hold onto some spare lands to dodge his Cataclysm and can circumvent his removal by countering a first Oblivion Ring and by playing my own Ring on his second.

2:0
1-0-0 (2:0)

Round 2 vs. Sven Götze with UBR Aggro Control

I'm on the draw.

I have to mulligan a no-lander and then keep another shaky hand with only 1 cantrip and 1 land (due to the hand having too much power: Counterbalance + Top + Goyf = too good to ship back). I don't find any lands with my cantrip and he wastes my lone land. When he then proceeds to drop a Counterbalance + Top, it looks very bad for me. After finding some lands, I try to land some cc3 spells, however, he's able to float a 2 and 3 mana spell on top of his library until a Tombstalker finishes me off.

-3 Daze
+2 Krosan Grip
+1 Engineered Explosives

Counterbalance wins. True story.
This time, on the right side of the board, though.

Game 3: see game 2.

2:1
2-0-0 (4:1)

Round 3 vs. Stefan Ball with BW Pox feat. Helm Combo

I'm on the play.

He starts with Leyline of the Void in play. I get a very aggressive start which he disrupts due to having the only good card in that entire pile: Smallpox. Twice. However, due to Counterbalance + Top + fetchlands, I am able to recuperate and keep him off playing anything for a while. I get some Tarmogoyf beats going when he finally finds a solution to my Counterbalance in the form of Vindicate. He then proceeds to drop a Bitterblossom which does nothing but stall my at that point inevitable victory: he's at 10 life and I have found a second Tarmogoyf plus Force of Will against any possible nastiness. After countering his Helm of Obedience, we're on to game 2.

-3 Daze
-1 Swords to Plowshares
+2 Krosan Grip
+2 Gaddock Teeg

Turn 2 Werebear, turn 3 Trygon Predator against his t0 Leyline of the Void, turn 4 Mystic Enforcer, turn 6 Threshold + some moderate disruption (i.e. 1 Force of Will) = gg.

2:0

3-0-0 (6:1)

Round 4 vs. Stefan Benisch with UBw ANT

I'm on the draw.

We get deck-checked.
He mulligans twice and still isn't quite satisfied with his hand. He's even less content when I get a Counterbalance + some moderate beats (i.e. turn 3, 4, 5 Werebear, turn 6 Threshold for the win).

-2 Oblivion Ring
-1 Mystic Enforcer
+3 Gaddock Teeg

He gets a first turn Dark Confidant which I send farming. He drops another Dark Confidant on his second turn which I Daze. I drop a Gaddock Teeg, he drops another Dark Confidant for which I only find a sword after it draws him a Dark Ritual. I drop a Tarmogoyf and start beating down. When he drops to eleven, he comboes off partially in order to gain some time: he Slaughter Pacts my Gaddock Teeg, Counterbalance reveals for 2, he plays some stuff, including Brainstorm and Duress (revealing him my hand of 2 more Gaddock Teegs) and plays Tendrils for 12. I drop another Gaddock and a Trygon Predator. As his resources are totally depleted after this first attempt to combo off, there's not much he can do in the 2 turns he has.

2:0
4-0-0 (8:1)

Round 5 vs. Stefan Czolk with Not Quite Balanced /r

I draw with my team mate as the mirror is really silly – it just comes down to who draws Counterbalance first, nothing else.
Also, since Stefan has already played 4 mirrors so far and is extremely likely to play a mirror last round too, he really needs a break.

0:0
4-0-1 (8:1)

Round 6 vs. Christopher Wilhelm with UGr Counterbalance Threshold

I'm on the play.

I have to keep another risky hand: 1 land + 1 cantrip are totally justified by 3 Tarmogoyfs + 1 Counterbalance. However, it didn't work out as my cantrip didn't find any lands and because he had a Wasteland for my turn 1 land. By the time I find more lands he assembled Counterbalance + Top which he was able to force through my lone Force of Will.

-3 Daze
-1 Counterspell
+2 Krosan Grip
+2 Engineered Explosives

Game 2: I have a Counterbalance before he has. That simple.

The third game, on the other hand, was really frustrating. I have to keep another one of these 1 land + 1 cantrip + loads of stuff that just wins hands – and again, the cantrip doesn't find any lands and he has the Wasteland. However, despite having to draw-discard for 3 turns and him having a Counterbalance, I'm still able to come back – he resolves a Tarmogoyf at some point for which I have 2 Swords to Plowshares. He counters one with Counterbalance, revealing SdT, for the second one, played in response to this Top, he reveals Force which is terrible as I wanted to force his Top. Nevertheless, I am able to savagely resolve 2 Tarmogoyfs through his Counterbalance and play my Krosan Grip around the cc3 card he has on top of his library. By the time he finds a blocker, I have an Oblivion Ring for it. It all looks excellent until he finds a second Wasteland for my other Tropical Island, a Krosan Grip for my Oblivion Ring and another blocker. I proceed to draw a Tarmogoyf and a Werebear which would have instantly tilted the balance back into my favour, however I can't find a green source for the rest of the game (the one land I am able to find is a Flooded Strand which sadly can't get me a Forest – the only green source left in the deck).

1:2
4-1-1 (9:3)

Other Tournament Stuff

I come in fourth. Harrald David, whom I spoiled my list on the previous day, came in 6th with some minor modifications (2 cards in total).

The prices were: (in order of pick from the price-pool)

1st – 1 Savannah (German Limited)
2nd – 1 Tropical Island
3rd – 1 Force of Will
4th - 1 Force of Will
5th – 1 Badlands
6th - 1 Plateau
7th - 1 Plateau
8th - 1 Bitterblossom


Postlude

Performance of the rest of Team SPOD :

5-0-1 Stefan *1st*
2-3-0 Adan
4-2-0 Harrald *7th*

Changes to the list:

-1 Island
+1 Tropical Island

5 Basics probably is a little excessive after all, and the 2 of each dual manabase somewhat was a relic of times when the deck was less colour and mana hungry anyway.


Props:
The deck for being something like the most consistent deck in the format
Pandaburst
Werebear - he's solid. Additionally, playing him is further proof that there's no such things as evolution, just cycles.
Stefan fucking Czolk
Slops:
Adan for sucking with Threshold, seriously.
The Metagame. Screw people getting that Counterbalance is uber: the mirror is just so annoying... as in no playskill or decisions involved at all.

Adan
02-16-2009, 12:01 PM
Adan for sucking with Threshold, seriously.

I lost to TES because:
g1 I mulled down to 5 and he had double-Chant plus LED LED Tutor.
g2 I also mulled down to 5, but he got killed by his own Ad Nauseam.
g3 I had to mull down to 4.

(7-card hand was: Bear, Goyf, 5 lands; 6-card hand was: Bear, 5 lands; 5-card-hand was: no land; 4 card hand was: no land)

Then I lost 2-1 to Affnity because he draws: Cranial Plating, Master of Etherium, Master of Etherium, Cranial Plating, Ornithopter, Cranial Plating.

"Haha, you're such a scrub Adan!" "Haha, you suck Adan!".

Yeah. The losses were my fault. Yes, it all had to do with my skill. And I'm responsible for global warming and financial crisis. Ah, and not to forget, I shot Kennedy as well.

I got pretty lethargic after that and screwed up the match against Aggroloam by not immediately StoP'ing the Knight of Reliquary which fetched Maze of Ith. And well, the 2 Explosives also did a good job against me. I admit I screwed that one up, but the 2 losses before... hm, nah.

b4r0n
02-16-2009, 12:12 PM
Congrats on the finish! That's a pretty cool list. Replacing Mongoose with Werebear is a very interesting idea, good to see it worked out well for you.

Adan, were you playing the same list?

Adan
02-16-2009, 12:13 PM
Adan, were you playing the same list?

The same 75, yes. Clunky like hell in compairison to the old build with Nimble Mongoose by the way (just too many CC3 spells).

Aj-capra
02-16-2009, 12:21 PM
Congrats to spod team for results (Adan sucked for him mulligans obv).

A little question vs ThreshThreshThreshThreshThreshThreshThreshThresh w/white.

Why you prefer to play bear than mongoose? I think who a drop at 1 is good, and tapped out in your 2° turn for play bear isn't so good.
Sword kill it easily!!!

spirit of the wretch
02-16-2009, 01:11 PM
Props:
Stefan fucking Czolk


No kidding! Hassloch is my bitch =)

Anyway, I played the Grow-mirror for 5 matches (drawing the last one with Clemens) and then played 4C CB-control in the last round to spice things up... The metagame is pretty annoying at the moment!
I obviously played my newest Next Level Grow list.
So much for my report^^

Zach Tartell
02-16-2009, 01:39 PM
AWESOME (http://www.magic-speyer.de/zen/index.php?album=Legacy+Turnier+im+Januar+2009&image=DSC02669.JPG).

Also, can we get a list for the UGR thresh? I don't see a simple -4 Swords +4 Bolt sort of switch.

diffy
02-16-2009, 01:49 PM
Yeah. The losses were my fault. Yes, it all had to do with my skill.


Yup, indeed.
You gave up at least a turn early in that Affinity matchup (you still had outs, not great outs, but outs nevertheless) and you lost your focus after round 3 latest: loss of concentration = loss of games (same happened to you last Hassloch too!).


The same 75, yes. Clunky like hell in compairison to the old build with Nimble Mongoose by the way (just too many CC3 spells).

Don't get me started on this again: it's just the performance tarnishing your impression of the deck. If compared to last month's version, this build has a whopping two more three mana spells while playing more manasources (Werebear). Also, last month's build featured 2 Predicts which almost have to be considered cc3 spells anyway as you never want to play them without setup, the necessity of said setup also making them more clunky than any of the current 3 costed spells (2 card comboes and such...).
And Nimble Mongoose doesn't do anything with regards to clunkiness or to a streamlined build. For sure it only costs 1 mana, however, it doesn't do anything for that cost, at least until you have threshold (which never happens early) and even then Mongoose still has no notable board presence. For sure it augments the amount of early drops you have, however, it just doesn't do anything in the earlygame - a 1/1 is just not relevant to the board: you might as well not have dropped it but something relevant on the next turn.



Why you prefer to play bear than mongoose? I think who a drop at 1 is good, and tapped out in your 2° turn for play bear isn't so good.
Sword kill it easily!!!

See above.
Also, if they Swords your Werebear, that's one less removal going toward your true good creatures (Tarmogoyf, Mystic Enforcer for beats, Trygon Predator for utility). For sure you can't handle Nimble Mongoose, however, you never really have to or want to handle it anyway due to it being of negligible importance (every creature is bigger, its clock is slow).
Playing a Werebear on turn 2 isn't all that bad a play too: it assures that you hit 3 mana which is important in the face of Daze and/or Wasteland/Stifle and because of the deck being mana hungry (Top, Cantrips, cc3 stuff).

spirit of the wretch
02-16-2009, 01:54 PM
AWESOME (http://www.magic-speyer.de/zen/index.php?album=Legacy+Turnier+im+Januar+2009&image=DSC02669.JPG).

Also, can we get a list for the UGR thresh? I don't see a simple -4 Swords +4 Bolt sort of switch.

If you're talking about my list: Have fun (http://www.magic-speyer.de/showthread.php?tid=181&pid=1361#pid1361)!
I wrote about the deck in the UGr Thresh forum some time ago.

Adan
02-16-2009, 02:36 PM
Yup, indeed.
You gave up at least a turn early in that Affinity matchup (you still had outs, not great outs, but outs nevertheless) and you lost your focus after round 3 latest: loss of concentration = loss of games (same happened to you last Hassloch too!).

Well, I peeked at the top card, seeing it was a Windswept Heath and then scooped it up. But yes, I was tilting like hell again. I think I should either make a pause with Magic (Highlander is the superior format anyway) or I should simply steamroll that Threshold infested meta next time with Ichorid. Can I borrow yours? :laugh:

MSC
02-16-2009, 02:42 PM
Congrats on the great finish! :smile:

Valdez
02-16-2009, 04:11 PM
Well, I peeked at the top card, seeing it was a Windswept Heath and then scooped it up. But yes, I was tilting like hell again. I think I should either make a pause with Magic (Highlander is the superior format anyway) or I should simply steamroll that Threshold infested meta next time with Ichorid. Can I borrow yours? :laugh:
1. play itf
2. ...
3. profit

Omega
02-16-2009, 05:29 PM
In my meta, ThreshThreshThreshThreshThreshThreshThreshThresh get steamrolled by MD and SB Relic of Progenitus. Yet, our meta is still infested by ThreshThreshThreshThreshThreshThreshThreshThresh. If you play Ichorid in our meta, you will get steamrolled by Relic of progenitus. ThreshThreshThreshThreshThreshThreshThreshThresh will still make to the top, because 1/1 and 0/1 still win the games

Robert

diffy
02-17-2009, 12:33 PM
1. Play ITF
2. ...
3. Profit

4. Find out that ITF still looses to Counterbalance
5. Find out that ITF also has a hard time against Pithing Needle
6. Get back to playing NQG

thefreakaccident
02-17-2009, 12:56 PM
4. Find out that ITF still looses to Counterbalance
5. Find out that ITF also has a hard time against Pithing Needle
6. Get back to playing NQG

QFT ^



If you are deadset on beating threshold play faeries or landstill...

Ichorid would be a good choice if it weren't for the fact that it gets wrecked postboard, especially if people are running relic everywhere.

Valdez
02-17-2009, 01:25 PM
4. Find out that ITF still looses to Counterbalance
5. Find out that ITF also has a hard time against Pithing Needle
6. Get back to playing NQG
hmpf, i never had problems vs. nqgw, won 4 matches on tourneys and drawed one due to b2b.

whats about dreadstill/landstill/merfolk..?

Mantis
02-18-2009, 10:03 AM
Play Mono Red Goblins with 4 MD Relic of Progenitus if you want to defeat Threshold/Gro. But you are going to lose to combo, that's for sure.

By the way; ITF runs its own set of Counterbalance, but also runs Pernicious Deed to clear up opposing Counterbalance. Still I wouldn't recommend ITF to anyone, it's way too slow. I'm not even sure if it wins against Nimble Mongeese backed up by Daze. It can probably take down a deck that cut the Mongeese for Werebears though.

Skeggi
03-03-2009, 09:13 AM
Round 2 vs. Sven Götze with UGR Aggro Control
(...)
a Tombstalker finishes me off.
Did I miss something? Did Tombstalker change color?

diffy
03-03-2009, 12:44 PM
Did I miss something? Did Tombstalker change color?

That was a typo, the list was, in fact, UBR. Fixed it in the report. Thanks for pointing it out.



Play Goblins, Play ITF, Play FT, Play Faerie Stompy, Play XYZ if you want to defeat Threshold/Gro.


Aye. Every deck has continued having a 70%+ matchup against NQG for almost a year and a half now. That includes Threshold. And that's why it still top8s. In the big picture, more than any other deck. (Although the German conspiracy theory also sounds nice and obviously is correct).



By the way; ITF runs its own set of Counterbalance, but also runs Pernicious Deed to clear up opposing Counterbalance. Still I wouldn't recommend ITF to anyone, it's way too slow. I'm not even sure if it wins against Nimble Mongeese backed up by Daze. It can probably take down a deck that cut the Mongeese for Werebears though.

Yup, that matchup is totally decided by Counterbalance, you put your finger right onto it - and you have the better odds of finding one or protection earlier due to an added 4 cantrips and an added 4 free Counters. Deed doesn't really solve the Counterbalance issue any more since modern NQG lists have adopted more stuff at a converted mana cost of 3. Engineered Explosives still is a bitch though. I guess luck-sacking into Pithing Needle or Force of Will is your only out.



btw no one played Natural Order Thresh?


1) This is Legacy. And Legacy players are slow to adopt anything.
2) This event was held before anyone had really seen the list.