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goobafish
03-10-2009, 03:00 AM
What a great weekend. It was a ton of fun playing against all my opponents, and a great experience to play against the pros.

Let’s get this started. I want to apologize in advance. I did not take any notes, and this is all from memory, I am sure some of you were watching my matches and can correct my mistakes.

Let’s start with the grinder.

I was very close to having 2 byes on rating for the GP, but 0-2ing an extended PTQ lost me over 40 points. So with 1 bye, and arriving at 7pm I decided to enter the last grinder.

Grinder Matchups:

Round 1: U/W/? Cunning Landstill

Game 1: I mull to 5, great way to start the event right? Anyways I mull and hit Nimble Mongoose, which I cast immediately. This goes the distance with the help of Wasteland.

Game 2: He plays Island pass, I am holding a Disrupt, Stifle, Brainstorm ect. I tries to Brainstorm at my EOT, I windmill slam the Disrupt, the look on his face was priceless. From that disrupt I don’t know if he even plays any more spells that game, definitely none that resolve.

Game Score: 2-0
Match Score: 1-0

Round 2: G/R/W Zoo

His deck had Briar Shield, Berserk, Might of Old Krosa, Invigorate, Wild Nacatal, Skyshroud Elite, Rancor ect.

Game 1: I take out all his creatures with burn spells, and drop Goyfs and geese which are bigger than his creatures.

Game 2: I burn a lot of his creatures, but he gets me to a pretty low life total. I get 2 Goyfs on board, attack for some damage. He plays a Land Grant and reveals his hand, I see he has berserk. He swings in with the Racored Nacatal, I block with my Goyf, he Berserks it to kill my Goyf and get my down to a very low life total, in response, I Submerge it. He scoops

Game Score: 2-0
Match Score: 2-0


Round 3: Mono U Painter

Game 1: This is just a blowout, he can’t deal with my Geese/Goyfs, and spell snares are perfect removal for his painters. I counter his Trinket mage, and seal the deal with my creatures.

Game 2: Even worse for him. REBs are amazing. He drops a first turn Grindstone, after I play a brainstorm, putting back 2 bolts, because I had 3 in hand, he Grindstones me, making my brainstorm even better. I ee away his Grindstone, counter all his spells and kill him with a Goyf.

Game Score: 2-0
Match Score: 3-0

Round 4: Brandon Adams: emidln

Game 1: I mulligan to 6, I do not have nearly enough disruption, and loose to a quick tendrils.

Game 2: I get a quick clock and a decent amount of disruption, despite his early top and plenty of digging.

Game 3: My hand is chalked full of counters, but I do not get a clock for a few turns, and he has a top in play. He does not get nearly enough protection, drawing mostly business spells. I get my clock, and he goes off during his last possible turn, but with no disruptions, and hits 3 of my many counters.

Game Score: 2-1
Match Score: 4-0


Round 5: U/G/B Countertop (Tombstalkers, Goyfs, Countertop)

I do not remember much of this round. I won for sure, not sure how many games. He makes the mistake of swinging with his Stalker when at 6, I swing with my Goose and Bolt him. This match was around 2am, I was way too tired, as I am sure he was.

Game Score: 2-?
Match Score: 5-0

I take my 24 packs, 3 byes but I lose many hours of much needed sleep.

Grand Prix Chicago Main Event:

Round 1 – Round 3: Byes (Thank you grinders!)

Round 4: James Vance: Mono U/w

Game 1: I fail to drop a Mongoose but my Goyfs deal a good amount of damage. Back to Basics hurts After a Fact or Fiction resolves, his Shackles and Morphling take me down.

Game 2: He plays 2 Back to Basics which I REB. I counter plenty of spells and beat him down with Goyfs.

Game 3: He drops a Chalice @ 1 which I counter, and then does it again, and play a pair of goyfs. My goyfs deal a good amount of damage. He resolves a fact or fiction that I can’t REB. This gets him a Shackles to stop my goyfs. I hit him down to 7 with my goyfs, then Rushing River with Kicker on his Shackles and Chalice, he has 7 cards in hand, Topdecks an EE and drops it at 2, I force it with the last 2 cards in my hand. He has no counters in hand despite his full grip, and scoops.

Game Score: 2-1
Match Score: 4-0

Round 5: Derek Sparks: Zoo

Game 1: He plays a few small creatures that get burned out. He deals me some damage using Rancor on a Nacatal. Once I burn out his creature, he gets mana flooded and my goyfs kill him.

Game 2: He drops Nettle Sentinel and that 1/1 bloodthirst guy. I bolt his Sentinel at end of turn, he pitches esg and GIANT GROWTHs it. I take my turn, let him swing in for 4, he drops another 1 drop, and I EE is board. Goyf goes the distance

Game Score: 2-0
Match Score: 5-0

Round 6: Jerry Yang: Merfolk

Game 1: He plays a turn 2 Jitte, which I let resolve. I burn out and spell snare/daze all of his creatures, and kill him with Goyfs.

Game 2: I kill all his creatures with REBs and burn. I draw 3 Goyfs. I love playing against merfolk

Game Score: 2-0
Match Score: 6-0

Round 7: Gerry Thomson: UWGB CB/Top (Feature Match)

Good coverage of the match is here:
http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/eventcoverage/gpchi09/blog1#13

Great games of magic, very entertaining.

Game Score: 2-1
Match Score: 7-0

Round 8: Jason Golliher: 75 Card Mirror

Game 1: I draw 2 Wastelands, kill him with Nimble Mongoose.

Game 2: He fetches and passes, I play a land, he tries EOT Brainstorm, to which I windmill slam the Disrupt. I hit 3 cards with Disrupt this game, and draw into 2 wastes. I win with Nimble Mongeese.

Game Score: 2-0
Match Score: 8-0

Round 9: Andy Probasco U/G CB Top

Game 1: No Nimble Mongeese for me. CB Top lock, kills me with Goyf.

Game 2: I fail to draw Monoose, he gets me under CB, and blind flips a 3cc to my Grip. He manages to steal my Goyf with his Shackles, I get no Wastelands.

Game Score: 0-2
Match Score: 8-1

Day 2 Report

Round 10: Jack Dobbin: Ichorid

Game 1: He mulls to 3, doesn’t make a play all game, gets to see what I am playing.

Game 2: Mulls to 6, gets City of Brass Putrid Imp on the play. I wasteland his City, and he dredges on upkeep. I bolt his Imp, he drops his dredgers to the yard. He chooses to draw. I drop a mongoose and pass. He dredges up 2 bridges and passes. I play a goose, pass the turn. He dredges again, I stifle a Narcomeba trigger. I drop a goose and swing. I get him down to 7. He brings out an ichorid and dredges up a Narcomeba and I block with goyf, giving him 2 2/2s. I pass the turn, he swings in with 4 tokens, leaving 2 untapped, bringing me to lethal range. EOT I bolt a token. I draw, bolt the other token and swing with Goose/Goyf for the kill.

Game Score: 2-0
Match Score: 9-1

Round 11: Mark Herberholtz: Faeries

Game 1: He gets a CB lock on me through 3 forces, and STPs my Goyf and I scoop once he drops a creature.

Game 2: Early Mongoose + Goyf seals the deal quite quickly, especially

Game 3: I drop an early mongoose, get threshold, and drop another goose. He drops 2 mutavaults. I have dealt him a good deal of damage, and swing in with my 2 Mongeese. He double blocks one to take it out. He is at 1. I swing with my Goose, he plays a Spellstutter Sprite, which I spell snare, and he counters back. He blocks the Goose with Sprite and Mutavault. My hand is Stifle, Stifle. He draws and drops Counterbalance (top already on the table). He has 3 mana open and a fetchland. I draw Fire//Ice for turn. I play fire, he rearranges with top, I stifle, he rearranges with top, CB triggers on stifle, he rearranges again, and I stifle. He cannot fetch because he is at 1 life, and looses to my Fire.

Game Score: 2-1
Match Score: 10-1

Round 12: Trent Jones: Goblins

Game 1: I do not find enough creatures to keep his Vial at bay. He drops a ringleader through the vial, hitting 4 goblins, including a siege gang.

Game 2: I out tempo him via wastelands, dazes, nimble mongeese and eventually goyf. My ices on his vial are practically time walks, as he is forced to hardcast ringleader, which I daze.

Game 3: I bolt his first turn Lackey, daze a pildreiver. I play a mongoose. He plays another piledriver which I also daze. I drop another creature to seal the deal.

Game Score: 2-1
Match Score: 10-0

Round 13: James Buckingham: Goblins G/b

Game 1: I get triple goose, daze and 2 goyfs. Enough said.

Game 2: I savagely misplay my very good opener of Stifle, Ponder, Brainstorm, Trop, Mongoose, Bolt, Blank by playing Trop Mongoose. I immediately see the misplay, I fully blanked that I had seen wasteland game 1. My deck apparently loves me, because I topdeck a land after he wastes mine. He plays a piledriver and we both go on the offensive, he draws some more goblins that I counter. Eventually he sticks a Goblin king. I draw a brainstom, and I see Bolt Goose Volc. I take those 3 into hand, drop the goose, swing with my other goose and pass. He swings with his mountain walking Piledriver, I bolt the King and block the driver with my threshed goose.

Game Score: 2-0
Match Score: 12-1

Round 14-15: ID
Match Score: 12-1-2

Top 8:

After the swiss I come in 5th place, to find out I am playing Nassif. I am not happy, but I know it is not unwinnable for me. I go over sideboarding with my teammates, and we develop a plan. As I find out after the match, Nassif had guessed my sideboard plan, just as I had guessed his. He kept very good hands against me (apparently with 4-5 lands in game 2). I keep a hand game 2 with Stifle and Wasteland, drawing 2 more stifles. Apparently Nassif had kept a hand with 4-5 lands and played right through my disruption.

A few people pointed out that there was a better line of play in game 2, but it involved Nassif punting (making a play mistake, costing him the game) twice during my turn. There is no doubt that the line of play suggested had a better outcome (if it worked) than mine, but it was less likely to work than mine was.

Coverage:
http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/eventcoverage/gpchi09/welcome#19


I want to thank all the Sourcers, emidln + crew, the VA crew, the Syracuse crew and of course our Canadian contingent for their support through the weekend. Playing 3 days straight with very little sleep/food/drink was draining.

Props and slops would be way too long. The weekend was unreal, and it was great to have everyone's support. The only real slop I can think of is the stuff being stolen, especially Kyle Dorgan's ANT deck.

Hopefully I will be making it to PT Honolulu, as I dive into my first time ever really trying to play a constructed format that isn't Eternal.

Elfrago
03-10-2009, 04:12 AM
Congrats!

godryk
03-10-2009, 04:36 AM
Congrats!

Yeah, we all followed you.

Rood
03-10-2009, 04:42 AM
There is no doubt in my mind you are the master of Threshold.
:D grats man!

Artowis
03-10-2009, 05:14 AM
Congrats sir.

Mictlantecuhtli
03-10-2009, 07:02 AM
There is no doubt in my mind you are the master of Threshold.
:D grats man!

That. And thanks for the report!

emidln
03-10-2009, 07:11 AM
Congrats man, your play was outstanding this weekend!

klaus
03-10-2009, 08:53 AM
Neat performance, I must say, neat performance. BIG UPPPS from good ol' Europe!

Nightmare
03-10-2009, 09:18 AM
Way to go, bud. You had us all behind you, whether you consider yourself a "Sourcer" or not!

godryk
03-10-2009, 10:26 AM
Top 8:

[...]

A few people pointed out that there was a better line of play in game 2, but it involved Nassif punting twice during my turn. There is no doubt that the line of play suggested had a better outcome (if it worked) than mine, but it was less likely to work than mine was.

Sorry for the mods if this is considered spam. Just a general question to anyone with who actually can speak english, what does punting mean there? This word has something to do with kicking as far as I know...

I guess it's related to the whole Bolts and Submerge play, but I'm not sure about it.

goobafish
03-10-2009, 10:26 AM
Punting means making a game ending mistake or throwing away the game.

Soto
03-10-2009, 10:45 AM
Big props from Montreal!!

Bryant Cook
03-10-2009, 11:07 AM
Canada still isn't a real country. But...congrats.

Aj-capra
03-10-2009, 11:18 AM
Congrats Caplan.

All sourcers for you in live coverage :)

Atog
03-10-2009, 11:34 AM
Congrats for result! Would you want to share your sideboarding plans against decks you played? Was that disrupt good enought, that will stay on your sideboard?

sauce
03-10-2009, 12:52 PM
gooba, it was brutal when you dropped submerge on the table instead of stifle vs nassif :)

goobafish
03-10-2009, 01:20 PM
gooba, it was brutal when you dropped submerge on the table instead of stifle vs nassif :)

Yeah, that was bad, I was way too tired at that point. Didn't change anything, he was so far ahead.

thefreakaccident
03-10-2009, 01:23 PM
I don't want to derail this report at all... but I have to know...

Do you guys know Heezy's faerie list?

If anybody has it could they PM me it pronto... would be greatly appreciated!


Also, good job at the GP... I was hoping to go, but couldn't scrounge the money up in time to go...


I was actually considering playing your list or faeries... ironically either of them would have done well :rolleyes: .

Jak
03-10-2009, 01:33 PM
Grats man. Great finish.

Nihil Credo
03-10-2009, 03:32 PM
Fantastic performance!

One question:
He has 3 mana open and a fetchland. I draw Fire//Ice for turn. I play fire, he rearranges with top, I stifle, he rearranges with top, CB triggers on stifle, he rearranges again, and I stifle. He cannot fetch because he is at 1 life, and looses to my Fire.Did Heezy just miss the option to draw with Top so it would counter the Stifles, and then resolve the rearrangements to get Fire/Ice countered?


Also, do you remember much about your sideboarding - in particular how you sided out?

goobafish
03-10-2009, 03:42 PM
I don't think I understand your point about that option. If he draws with top, he doesn't counter the fire ice. I was stifling the CB trigger on the Fire//Ice, not the Top activations.

Edit: I see. I wasn't clear in the report. Both stifles were targetting Counterbalance activations, not Top activations.

I do not remember specifically how I sided in or out, I normally do it on the fly.

Here are some of the most amazing stories from Chicago:

About the thieves:
During my round 4 match against a fellow Canadian we heard someone yelling "JUDGE, JUDGE, JUDGE" and a bunch of judges running towards them yelling "GET OUT OF THE WAY" then a big thump. We then saw the Judges walking a young man to the front towards the police on site.
Afterward I was told that one of the Judges had seen this guy steal a bag, then chased him down and jumped him yelling "You are going downtown". (that line was probably fabricated). Apparently it was a whole family with a child as young as 9 who were stealing the bags.

My teammate watching a match:
Dragon Stompy vs. Some UW Deck

The Dragon Stompy player goes all in with a Rakdos Pit Dragon that has helbent. The U/W player has no outs (according to my teammate), could be that he has used all his swords, or he doesn't play them, not sure. Anyways, the UW player takes his turn, draws his card and drops it. It is a Meddling Mage, which seems like a terrible answer to Rakdos Pit Dragon. He names Blood Moon. His opponent draws for turn and yells FUCK. He drew the Blood Moon, making the dragon loose hellbent, and lost to the U/W player.

My friend who rode up with us had never played legacy before. He picked up ANT, Day 2ed and ended up going x-3. He is playing round 15, winner gets Top 16. He is playing against Imperial Painter. Imperial Painter is on the play and I see his hand of Ancient Tomb, Painter's Servant, Grindstone, Simian Spirit Guide, Simian Spirit Guide ect. I walk away. My friend finds me after the match and i say, "You lost right?". He says "No, my opponent went first turn painter and failed to play the grindstone, passed the turn, and I Duressed him"

Whit3 Ghost
03-10-2009, 04:35 PM
Congrats!

cdr
03-10-2009, 04:48 PM
Afterward I was told that one of the Judges had seen this guy steal a bag, then chased him down and jumped him yelling "You are going downtown". (that line was probably fabricated). Apparently it was a whole family with a child as young as 9 who were stealing the bags.

This is not accurate. Somewhat more accurate: http://www.thestarkingtonpost.com/?p=406.

James Elliott is apparently writing about the incident for his SCG piece this week.

goobafish
03-10-2009, 04:49 PM
This is not accurate. Somewhat more accurate: http://www.thestarkingtonpost.com/?p=406.

James Elliott is apparently writing about the incident for his SCG piece this week.

That's what I figured, I was told this by some people at the event. People like to exaggerate, and it was a pretty funny line.

Parcher
03-10-2009, 05:06 PM
Team Unicorn is making "Cappy gets there" T-shirts in honor of the steamroller that is Dave Caplan.

Cartwheel into Wasteland? Yep. Cappy gets there anyway.

One lander with Brainstorm? Awww, Cappy just nabs another land plus a Fetch off of it.

The man is the king of savage rips. Playing the same deck for two years has it's advantages. He could almost predict his next draw on most turns.

Fucking amazing tournament sir.

Another amazing story from Chicago:

Before Mink got his free win from Kowal, he got another in the 14th round. Opponent was playing the same deck as Kowal, with a full hand, but nothing in play. Mink has a Slogger, un-bent Raiders, and Chalice at one. He plays a Magus that resolves, then declares his attack. His opponent taps three lands including his only Plains to Grip Chalice. Then taps his Savannah to Plow the Slogger. Yeah. Mink wins, and draws with Andy into the Top 8.

Whit3 Ghost
03-10-2009, 05:08 PM
I'll buy one of those shirts if they ever get made.

KillemallCFH
03-10-2009, 08:06 PM
Fucking awesome job. Everyone here was behind you and you didn't dissappoint.

rockout
03-10-2009, 08:39 PM
Fun stories and a great report. Congrats on the finish.

MULocke
03-10-2009, 11:04 PM
Congrats on the finish. I played the same 60 and started off 6-1, but through a combination of bad plays and good/bad draws I managed to lose out and miss day 2. I cut disrupt from the sb because I found it to be underwhelming, but reading your report makes me think otherwise. Was it as good as you make it sound (and more specifically, worth curring cards like extra grips and clasms)?

revenge_inc
03-11-2009, 04:09 PM
Someone give Gooba adept status for plain kick-assery.

neon_havoc
03-29-2009, 11:47 PM
i wish they had live coverage that i could find :(
do they like just record like random stuff or?

Tacosnape
03-30-2009, 02:24 AM
Meddling Mage on Blood Moon might be the most awesome thing ever. Even if it was DS losing. It was losing to my favorite threat evar.