SuperBean
03-11-2009, 05:25 AM
Prelude:
Myself and nine of my friends from our local shop "The Fun Factory" located in Traverse City, Michigan decided that we were all going to play at Grand Prix: Chicago when dahcmai(Chad Clark) told us where the Legacy Grand Prix was going to be held this year. For the three moths that we had until the Grand Prix we all did pretty heavy play testing with various decks to help us make our final decisions on what to play. In our group we had Home brewed UW Control w/ a Red splash, Dredge, UBG Goblins, Mono-U Merfolk, Natural Order Thresh, 5-Color Survival, UBR DreadStill, Eva Green, White Stax and I played T.E.S. So we had a pretty well rounded testing group and a good portion of the Legacy Meta. Our car took six hours to get from Traverse City, Michigan to Chicago with an accidental two hour trip through the ghetto, playing phone pranks on our Goblin player(Bill Allman) becuase he forgot his deck at the card shop when he left. Luckily we picked it up for him, but we had him going for quite a while that it wasn't with us. When we arrived at the Hotel at 2:00 AM, myself and two of my friends decided not to sleep, but to roam the Hotel and constantly check out the convention center to get a small feel on what people would be playing for the Grand Prix. I ended up going 4-3 through the day, and decided to drop after my third loss due to sleep deprivation and a supreme amount of hunger.
All in all it was a great time and I really enjoyed myself.
Here is my list for T.E.S that I played at GP: Chicago 2009.
T.E.S - The Epic Storm
// Lands (Mana Base)
4 [WL] Gemstone Mine
4 [AN] City of Brass
2 [CHK] Forbidden Orchard
2 [VS] Undiscovered Paradise
// Spells (Protection, Disruption)
2 [US] Duress
4 [PS] Orim's Chant
// Spells (Mana Accelleration)
4 Dark Ritual
4 [TO] Cabal Ritual
4 [CS] Rite of Flame
4 [MI] Lion's Eye Diamond
4 [TE] Lotus Petal
4 [MR] Chrome Mox
// Spells (Tutoring)
3 [JU] Burning Wish
3 [DIS] Infernal Tutor
3 [MI] Mystical Tutor
// Spells (Cantrip/Search)
4 [MM] Brainstorm
2 [LRW] Ponder
// Spells (Win + Ad Nauseam)
2 [ALA] Ad Nauseam
1 [SC] Tendrils of Agony
// Sideboard
SB: 1 [US] Ill-Gotten Gains
SB: 1 [SC] Tendrils of Agony
SB: 1 [TSP] Empty the Warrens
SB: 1 [AL] Diminishing Returns
SB: 1 [TSP] Grapeshot
SB: 1 [CS] Death Mark
SB: 1 [PS] Hull Breach
SB: 1 [DS] Echoing Truth
SB: 1 [FS] Pact of Negation
SB: 1 Red Elemental Blast
SB: 2 [IA] Pyroblast
SB: 3 [GP] Shattering Spree
[B]1st Round - UW Merfolk (Packing Daze, Stifle, Force of Will, and Counterspell) (Lost 2-0)
Game 1 - (He wins the dice roll.) He first turn lays a Cursecatcher and passes the turn, and it was pretty down hill from there. I tried to go for an early Burning Wish for Empty the Warrens and bait out his Counterspells, and it certainly worked.I then let my hand refill and Orim's Chant him, it gets countered, I then go for an Ad Nauseam and it gets countered as well. He continues with his beats, drops a Lord of Atlantis and crushes me before I could even try to combo out again.
Boarding In: (-2 Orim's Chant +2 Pyroblast -1 Duress +1 Red Elemental Blast -1 Brainstorm +1 Pact of Negation.)
Game 2 - I open up with a Gemstone Mine and pass the turn, he plays an Island and passes the turn. I play a City of Brass and go for the play of Dark Ritual, Dark Ritual, Ad Nauseam, with a Red Elemental Blast in hand. He of course counters the Ad Nauseam with a Force of Will, and I blast it in response and Ad Nauseam resolves. I draw plenty of good stuff, but for some reason my other THREE protection spells are in the part of my deck I couldn't Ad Nauseam into being down at 4 life. I ramp my storm count well, and go for Burning Wish + Tendrils, and it gets Stifled. I gain my two life, he continues with the beats and I lose.
2nd Round - BR Discard/Burn?? (Won 2-0)
Game 1 - (I win the dice roll.) I play a Gemstone Mine and pass the turn, and he plays a Mountain, Lightning Bolts me, and passes the turn. I end of his turn Brainstorm into (Dark Ritual, Cabal Ritual, Lotus Petal) which was amazing for me at the time. I draw my second Dark Ritual, and once again go Dark Ritual, Dark Ritual, Ad Nauseam. I draw plenty of good good stuff and cast Burning Wish to get my Tendrils out from under my Chrome Mox and win.
Boarding In: (Not-A-Thing.)
Game 2 - He plays a Mountain and passes the turn, I open up with a hand of (Lion's Eye Diamond, Lion's Eye Diamond, Gemstone Mine, Dark Ritual, Infernal Tutor, Brainstorm, Orim's Chant). I play my Gemstone Mine, cast Dark Ritual, cast both Lion's Eye Diamonds, cast Infernal Tutor, breaking the Lion's Eye Diamonds in response going to get Ad Nauseam. I proceeded to win with my main deck Tendrils after revealing plenty of good stuff.
3rd Round: Eva Green (Won 2-0)
Game 1 - (I win the dice roll.) I open up with (Ponder, Lion's Eye Diamond, Gemstone Mine, City of Brass, Infernal Tutor, Lotus Petal, Dark Ritual). I start out with a Gemstone Mine and Ponder, I Ponder into Dark Ritual, Mystical Tutor, Chrome Mox, so I draw the Dark Ritual and pass the turn. He plays a Windswept Heath and passes the turn. I go into my turn, draw my Mystical Tutor, play City of Brass and pass the turn. He cracks his Windswept Heath at the end of my turn, goes into his turn, casts Dark Ritual into a Hypnotic Specter and then proceeds to Thoughtseize me and write down what was in my hand. He takes my Infernal Tutor and passes the turn. I end of his turn cast my Mystical Tutor and grab Ad Nauseam, he just shuttered and shook his head because I'm assuming he knew what was about to happen. I go into my turn, drawing Cabal Ritual and cast Dark Ritual, Dark Ritual, Cabal Ritual, Lion's Eye Diamond, Lotus Petal, cast Ad Nauseam breaking my Lotus Petal and Lion's Eye Diamond in response, draw tons of good stuff and then Burning Wish + Tendrils.
Boarding In: (Not-A-Thing.)
Game 2 - He opens up by casting Dark Ritual into a Hypnotic Specter and passes the turn. I draw and play a Forbidden Orchard, I play a Chrome Mox imprinting an Infernal Tutor, and cast Dark Ritual, Rite of Flame, Ad Nauseam. I go into Ad Nauseam with no mana floating but am able to reveal more good stuff with Ad Nauseam for a main deck Tendrils win.
4th Round: Death and Taxes (Won 2-1)
Game 1 - (He wins the dice roll.) He opens up by playing a Plains and casting Aether Vile, and passes the turn. I play a Forbidden Orchard and pass the turn. He goes into his turn and casts Isamaru, Hound of Konda and passes the turn. I end of his turn Mystical Tutor for a Rite of Flame. I go into my turn and cast Rite of Flame, Lion's Eye Diamond, Lotus Petal, Burning Wish for Diminishing Returns breaking my Lion's Eye Diamond and Lotus Petal in response. I Diminishing Returns into total garbage and fizzle. He then proceeds to beat me down with Jotan Grunts and Isamaru, and keeps my one land tapped with a Rishadan Port.
Boarding In (-2 Orim's Chant +2 Shattering Spree -1 Duress +1 Hull [B]Breach.)
Game 2 - I play a Gemstone Mine and cast Rite of Flame, Rite of Flame, Lion's Eye Diamond, Lotus Petal, Burning Wish, breaking my Lion's Eye Diamond in response for Empty the Warrens. I get a bunch of goblins, he fails to keep up with them and looses.
As we were both shuffling he goes "That's the thing about these combo decks, I always manage to beat them without a problem... Which version are you playing?" I responded with a little chuckle and tell him that he'll have to wait until after our 3rd game.
Game 3 - He plays a Flagstones of Trokair and casts his Aether Vile, and passes the turn. I go into my turn, and draw a Dark Ritual. I cast a Chrome Mox imprinting a Shattering Spree, cast a Lotus Petal, cast Rite of Flame off of the Chrome Mox, break my Lotus Petal to cast Dark Ritual and go into Ad Nauseam with no mana floating. I reveal tons of good stuff and win with Burning Wish + Tendrils. As it turns out he kept a one land hand with hopes of casting his hand of two Ethersworn Canonist before I could try and combo out.
5th Round: U?? Affinity (Packing Brainstorm and Force of Will (Won 2-0)
Game 1 - (I win the dice roll.) I open up with (Orim's Chant, Brainstorm, Lion's eye Diamond, City of Brass, Dark Ritual, Ad Nauseam, Brainstorm). I play my City of Brass and pass the turn, he plays a Seat of the Synod and passes the turn. I end of his turn Brainstorm into Lotus Petal, Gemstone Mine, Dark Ritual. I put the Gemstone Mine into my hand and draw the Dark Ritual during my turn. I Orim's Chant him and it gets Force of Willed. I decide at that point I just need to go for it and try and win. I cast Dark Ritual, Dark Ritual, Ad Nauseam and it resolves. I reveal plenty of good stuff once again, and Tendrils him for the game.
Boarding In: (-2 Orim's Chant +2 Pyroblast -1 Duress +1 Red Elemental Blast.)
Game 2 - I open up with (Rite of Flame, Rite of Flame, Red Elemental Blast, City of Brass, Lion's Eye Diamond, Burning Wish, Gemstone Mine). He plays a Seat of the Synod again, and passes the turn, I go into my turn, draw a Lotus and play my City of Brass. I cast a Rite of Flame, Rite of Flame, Lion's Eye Diamond, Lotus Petal and Burning Wish, he try's to Force of Will my Burning Wish and I Blast it in response, he then responds by casting a Brainstorm, my Burning Wish for Empty the Warrens resolves and I win with plenty of Goblin beats.
6th Round: GBU Counter-Balance/Top Tarmogoyf (Lost 2-1)
Game 1 - (I win the dice roll.) I open up with (Cabal Ritual, Dark Ritual, Lotus Petal, Chrome Mox, Ad Nauseam, Brainstorm, City of Brass) I play my City of Brass and pass the turn, he plays a Flooded Strand and passes the turn, I end of his turn cast a Brainstorm revealing Orim's Chant, Chrome Mox, Gemstone Mine.I put the Orim's Chant in my hand, go into my turn and draw Gemstone Mine. I play my Orim's Chant, and it gets Force of Willed, and I follow that up with Dark Ritual, Dark Ritual, Ad Nauseam and it resolves. Ad Nauseam does its thing and I Burning Wish + Tendrils for the win.
Boarding In: (-2 Orim's Chant +2 Pyroblast -1 Duress +1 Red Elemental Blast -1 Ponder +1 Pact of Negation.)
Game 2 - I honestly don't remember much from this game, but it went along the lines of Chant, Force of Will, Empty the Warrens, Pernicious Deed, Ad Nauseam, Force of Will, Tarmogoyf beats beats beats.
Game 3 - I don't exactly remember my hand here, but I know that I had a second turn Empty the Warrens this game and all of my tokens were all wiped out by another Pernicious Deed. He proceeded to cast Counter-Balance for a Counter-Balance and Top lock down, and I at the end of his turn blasted his Counter-Balance and he Force of Willed in response. I go into my turn and cast Orim's Chant that gets Force of Willed as well with a failing Counter-Balance trigger. I cast Lion's Eye Diamond, Dark Ritual, and tap a City of Brass for a black mana to cast Infernal Tutor breaking Lion's Eye Diamond in response going to get Ad Nauseam and it resolves (Loosing my main deck Tendrils to the graveyard). I reveal a ton of good stuff, but I'm not able to get a Burning Wish, only Infernal Tutors and have no way to win from here. (The one time that not having a main deck Ill-Gotten Gains has failed me.... I still think it's worth the sacrifice of making Ad Nauseam better though.)
7th Round: BRG Aggro Loam (Lost 2-1)
Game 1 - (He wins the dice roll.) He gets stuck on one land after his turn one Thoughtseize taking my Infernal Tutor and I go into my turn and play my Undiscovered Paradise. I play Lion's Eye Diamond, Lotus Petal, Dark Ritual, Infernal Tutor(Top Decked it!) to get Ad Nauseam and proceed to win the game with my main deck Tendrils.
Boarding In: (Not-A-Thing.)
Game 2 - A slough of Duress, Thoughtsieze and Raven's Crime/Life from the Loam Engine + Wasteland to keep me off of my lands.
Game 3 - See Game 2
Props and Slops:
Props:
- Myself and Nine of my friends making the long car ride to the Grand Prix.
- Going 4-1 as my best ratio through the day.
- Meeting Bryant in person, discussing the deck, and getting some cool Jap. cards from him.
- Awesome turnout.
- Really nice hotel.
- The Judges taking down those kids that were responsible for stealing a ton of people stuff.
- My good friend Jimmy taking 37th with Merfolk.
- Unloading a bunch of shitty cards for some great foils, and things that I needed to finish decks. (My Dredge deck is almost foil now.)
- Meeting a few of the pros.
Slops:
- Crappy over-priced food everywhere in the hotel.
- $4.00 bottle of water in the room.
- Not making it to day two.
- Being in the Ghetto for way too long
- StarCity and almost all of the other vendors charging retarded prices like $25.00 Stifles. Supply and Demand I guess...
- People who smelled, needed to take a shower.
Since the Grand Prix has ended I've made these changes to the deck, and I'm liking it more and more through testing. Here is the list that I'm working with now:
// Lands (Mana Base)
4 [WL] Gemstone Mine
4 [AN] City of Brass
2 Underground Sea
2 [VS] Undiscovered Paradise
[B]// Spells (Protection, Disruption)
4 [PS] Orim's Chant
2 [US] Duress
1 [ON] Chain of Vapor
// Spells (Mana Acceleration)
4 Dark Ritual
2 [TO] Cabal Ritual
4 [CS] Rite of Flame
4 [MI] Lion's Eye Diamond
4 [TE] Lotus Petal
4 [MR] Chrome Mox
[B]
// Spells (Tutoring)
3 [JU] Burning Wish
3 [DIS] Infernal Tutor
3 [MI] Mystical Tutor
// Spells (Cantrip/Search)
4 [MM] Brainstorm
3 [LRW] Ponder
// Spells (Win + Ad Nauseam)
2 [ALA] Ad Nauseam
1 [SC] Tendrils of Agony
// Sideboard
SB: 1 [US] Ill-Gotten Gains
SB: 1 [SC] Tendrils of Agony
SB: 1 [TSP] Empty the Warrens
SB: 1 [AL] Diminishing Returns
SB: 1 [TSP] Grapeshot
SB: 1 [AP] Vindicate
SB: 1 [PS] Hull Breach
SB: 2 [DS] Echoing Truth
SB: 2 [B] Red Elemental Blast
SB: 2 [IA] Pyroblast
SB: 2 [GP] Shattering Spree
I'm using Bryant's idea of playing Underground sea, and play Vindicate as part of my wish board. It seemed to play out well so far, but I'm not totally sold on Vindicate as it costs 5 to use in the same turn as Burning Wish, and I've only wished for it once. I've also going back to playing a main deck Chain of Vapor becuase I'm still not playing a main deck Ill-Gotten Gains. It makes Ad Nauseam better, and gives me another way to ramp storm count which got even better when I upped my land count to twelve. I am also considering cutting my two Undiscovered Paradise for two Badlands to hopefully make the mana base better, and more stable. But I loose a little bit of sideboard stability on the same token by playing Dual Lands over rainbow lands.
Myself and nine of my friends from our local shop "The Fun Factory" located in Traverse City, Michigan decided that we were all going to play at Grand Prix: Chicago when dahcmai(Chad Clark) told us where the Legacy Grand Prix was going to be held this year. For the three moths that we had until the Grand Prix we all did pretty heavy play testing with various decks to help us make our final decisions on what to play. In our group we had Home brewed UW Control w/ a Red splash, Dredge, UBG Goblins, Mono-U Merfolk, Natural Order Thresh, 5-Color Survival, UBR DreadStill, Eva Green, White Stax and I played T.E.S. So we had a pretty well rounded testing group and a good portion of the Legacy Meta. Our car took six hours to get from Traverse City, Michigan to Chicago with an accidental two hour trip through the ghetto, playing phone pranks on our Goblin player(Bill Allman) becuase he forgot his deck at the card shop when he left. Luckily we picked it up for him, but we had him going for quite a while that it wasn't with us. When we arrived at the Hotel at 2:00 AM, myself and two of my friends decided not to sleep, but to roam the Hotel and constantly check out the convention center to get a small feel on what people would be playing for the Grand Prix. I ended up going 4-3 through the day, and decided to drop after my third loss due to sleep deprivation and a supreme amount of hunger.
All in all it was a great time and I really enjoyed myself.
Here is my list for T.E.S that I played at GP: Chicago 2009.
T.E.S - The Epic Storm
// Lands (Mana Base)
4 [WL] Gemstone Mine
4 [AN] City of Brass
2 [CHK] Forbidden Orchard
2 [VS] Undiscovered Paradise
// Spells (Protection, Disruption)
2 [US] Duress
4 [PS] Orim's Chant
// Spells (Mana Accelleration)
4 Dark Ritual
4 [TO] Cabal Ritual
4 [CS] Rite of Flame
4 [MI] Lion's Eye Diamond
4 [TE] Lotus Petal
4 [MR] Chrome Mox
// Spells (Tutoring)
3 [JU] Burning Wish
3 [DIS] Infernal Tutor
3 [MI] Mystical Tutor
// Spells (Cantrip/Search)
4 [MM] Brainstorm
2 [LRW] Ponder
// Spells (Win + Ad Nauseam)
2 [ALA] Ad Nauseam
1 [SC] Tendrils of Agony
// Sideboard
SB: 1 [US] Ill-Gotten Gains
SB: 1 [SC] Tendrils of Agony
SB: 1 [TSP] Empty the Warrens
SB: 1 [AL] Diminishing Returns
SB: 1 [TSP] Grapeshot
SB: 1 [CS] Death Mark
SB: 1 [PS] Hull Breach
SB: 1 [DS] Echoing Truth
SB: 1 [FS] Pact of Negation
SB: 1 Red Elemental Blast
SB: 2 [IA] Pyroblast
SB: 3 [GP] Shattering Spree
[B]1st Round - UW Merfolk (Packing Daze, Stifle, Force of Will, and Counterspell) (Lost 2-0)
Game 1 - (He wins the dice roll.) He first turn lays a Cursecatcher and passes the turn, and it was pretty down hill from there. I tried to go for an early Burning Wish for Empty the Warrens and bait out his Counterspells, and it certainly worked.I then let my hand refill and Orim's Chant him, it gets countered, I then go for an Ad Nauseam and it gets countered as well. He continues with his beats, drops a Lord of Atlantis and crushes me before I could even try to combo out again.
Boarding In: (-2 Orim's Chant +2 Pyroblast -1 Duress +1 Red Elemental Blast -1 Brainstorm +1 Pact of Negation.)
Game 2 - I open up with a Gemstone Mine and pass the turn, he plays an Island and passes the turn. I play a City of Brass and go for the play of Dark Ritual, Dark Ritual, Ad Nauseam, with a Red Elemental Blast in hand. He of course counters the Ad Nauseam with a Force of Will, and I blast it in response and Ad Nauseam resolves. I draw plenty of good stuff, but for some reason my other THREE protection spells are in the part of my deck I couldn't Ad Nauseam into being down at 4 life. I ramp my storm count well, and go for Burning Wish + Tendrils, and it gets Stifled. I gain my two life, he continues with the beats and I lose.
2nd Round - BR Discard/Burn?? (Won 2-0)
Game 1 - (I win the dice roll.) I play a Gemstone Mine and pass the turn, and he plays a Mountain, Lightning Bolts me, and passes the turn. I end of his turn Brainstorm into (Dark Ritual, Cabal Ritual, Lotus Petal) which was amazing for me at the time. I draw my second Dark Ritual, and once again go Dark Ritual, Dark Ritual, Ad Nauseam. I draw plenty of good good stuff and cast Burning Wish to get my Tendrils out from under my Chrome Mox and win.
Boarding In: (Not-A-Thing.)
Game 2 - He plays a Mountain and passes the turn, I open up with a hand of (Lion's Eye Diamond, Lion's Eye Diamond, Gemstone Mine, Dark Ritual, Infernal Tutor, Brainstorm, Orim's Chant). I play my Gemstone Mine, cast Dark Ritual, cast both Lion's Eye Diamonds, cast Infernal Tutor, breaking the Lion's Eye Diamonds in response going to get Ad Nauseam. I proceeded to win with my main deck Tendrils after revealing plenty of good stuff.
3rd Round: Eva Green (Won 2-0)
Game 1 - (I win the dice roll.) I open up with (Ponder, Lion's Eye Diamond, Gemstone Mine, City of Brass, Infernal Tutor, Lotus Petal, Dark Ritual). I start out with a Gemstone Mine and Ponder, I Ponder into Dark Ritual, Mystical Tutor, Chrome Mox, so I draw the Dark Ritual and pass the turn. He plays a Windswept Heath and passes the turn. I go into my turn, draw my Mystical Tutor, play City of Brass and pass the turn. He cracks his Windswept Heath at the end of my turn, goes into his turn, casts Dark Ritual into a Hypnotic Specter and then proceeds to Thoughtseize me and write down what was in my hand. He takes my Infernal Tutor and passes the turn. I end of his turn cast my Mystical Tutor and grab Ad Nauseam, he just shuttered and shook his head because I'm assuming he knew what was about to happen. I go into my turn, drawing Cabal Ritual and cast Dark Ritual, Dark Ritual, Cabal Ritual, Lion's Eye Diamond, Lotus Petal, cast Ad Nauseam breaking my Lotus Petal and Lion's Eye Diamond in response, draw tons of good stuff and then Burning Wish + Tendrils.
Boarding In: (Not-A-Thing.)
Game 2 - He opens up by casting Dark Ritual into a Hypnotic Specter and passes the turn. I draw and play a Forbidden Orchard, I play a Chrome Mox imprinting an Infernal Tutor, and cast Dark Ritual, Rite of Flame, Ad Nauseam. I go into Ad Nauseam with no mana floating but am able to reveal more good stuff with Ad Nauseam for a main deck Tendrils win.
4th Round: Death and Taxes (Won 2-1)
Game 1 - (He wins the dice roll.) He opens up by playing a Plains and casting Aether Vile, and passes the turn. I play a Forbidden Orchard and pass the turn. He goes into his turn and casts Isamaru, Hound of Konda and passes the turn. I end of his turn Mystical Tutor for a Rite of Flame. I go into my turn and cast Rite of Flame, Lion's Eye Diamond, Lotus Petal, Burning Wish for Diminishing Returns breaking my Lion's Eye Diamond and Lotus Petal in response. I Diminishing Returns into total garbage and fizzle. He then proceeds to beat me down with Jotan Grunts and Isamaru, and keeps my one land tapped with a Rishadan Port.
Boarding In (-2 Orim's Chant +2 Shattering Spree -1 Duress +1 Hull [B]Breach.)
Game 2 - I play a Gemstone Mine and cast Rite of Flame, Rite of Flame, Lion's Eye Diamond, Lotus Petal, Burning Wish, breaking my Lion's Eye Diamond in response for Empty the Warrens. I get a bunch of goblins, he fails to keep up with them and looses.
As we were both shuffling he goes "That's the thing about these combo decks, I always manage to beat them without a problem... Which version are you playing?" I responded with a little chuckle and tell him that he'll have to wait until after our 3rd game.
Game 3 - He plays a Flagstones of Trokair and casts his Aether Vile, and passes the turn. I go into my turn, and draw a Dark Ritual. I cast a Chrome Mox imprinting a Shattering Spree, cast a Lotus Petal, cast Rite of Flame off of the Chrome Mox, break my Lotus Petal to cast Dark Ritual and go into Ad Nauseam with no mana floating. I reveal tons of good stuff and win with Burning Wish + Tendrils. As it turns out he kept a one land hand with hopes of casting his hand of two Ethersworn Canonist before I could try and combo out.
5th Round: U?? Affinity (Packing Brainstorm and Force of Will (Won 2-0)
Game 1 - (I win the dice roll.) I open up with (Orim's Chant, Brainstorm, Lion's eye Diamond, City of Brass, Dark Ritual, Ad Nauseam, Brainstorm). I play my City of Brass and pass the turn, he plays a Seat of the Synod and passes the turn. I end of his turn Brainstorm into Lotus Petal, Gemstone Mine, Dark Ritual. I put the Gemstone Mine into my hand and draw the Dark Ritual during my turn. I Orim's Chant him and it gets Force of Willed. I decide at that point I just need to go for it and try and win. I cast Dark Ritual, Dark Ritual, Ad Nauseam and it resolves. I reveal plenty of good stuff once again, and Tendrils him for the game.
Boarding In: (-2 Orim's Chant +2 Pyroblast -1 Duress +1 Red Elemental Blast.)
Game 2 - I open up with (Rite of Flame, Rite of Flame, Red Elemental Blast, City of Brass, Lion's Eye Diamond, Burning Wish, Gemstone Mine). He plays a Seat of the Synod again, and passes the turn, I go into my turn, draw a Lotus and play my City of Brass. I cast a Rite of Flame, Rite of Flame, Lion's Eye Diamond, Lotus Petal and Burning Wish, he try's to Force of Will my Burning Wish and I Blast it in response, he then responds by casting a Brainstorm, my Burning Wish for Empty the Warrens resolves and I win with plenty of Goblin beats.
6th Round: GBU Counter-Balance/Top Tarmogoyf (Lost 2-1)
Game 1 - (I win the dice roll.) I open up with (Cabal Ritual, Dark Ritual, Lotus Petal, Chrome Mox, Ad Nauseam, Brainstorm, City of Brass) I play my City of Brass and pass the turn, he plays a Flooded Strand and passes the turn, I end of his turn cast a Brainstorm revealing Orim's Chant, Chrome Mox, Gemstone Mine.I put the Orim's Chant in my hand, go into my turn and draw Gemstone Mine. I play my Orim's Chant, and it gets Force of Willed, and I follow that up with Dark Ritual, Dark Ritual, Ad Nauseam and it resolves. Ad Nauseam does its thing and I Burning Wish + Tendrils for the win.
Boarding In: (-2 Orim's Chant +2 Pyroblast -1 Duress +1 Red Elemental Blast -1 Ponder +1 Pact of Negation.)
Game 2 - I honestly don't remember much from this game, but it went along the lines of Chant, Force of Will, Empty the Warrens, Pernicious Deed, Ad Nauseam, Force of Will, Tarmogoyf beats beats beats.
Game 3 - I don't exactly remember my hand here, but I know that I had a second turn Empty the Warrens this game and all of my tokens were all wiped out by another Pernicious Deed. He proceeded to cast Counter-Balance for a Counter-Balance and Top lock down, and I at the end of his turn blasted his Counter-Balance and he Force of Willed in response. I go into my turn and cast Orim's Chant that gets Force of Willed as well with a failing Counter-Balance trigger. I cast Lion's Eye Diamond, Dark Ritual, and tap a City of Brass for a black mana to cast Infernal Tutor breaking Lion's Eye Diamond in response going to get Ad Nauseam and it resolves (Loosing my main deck Tendrils to the graveyard). I reveal a ton of good stuff, but I'm not able to get a Burning Wish, only Infernal Tutors and have no way to win from here. (The one time that not having a main deck Ill-Gotten Gains has failed me.... I still think it's worth the sacrifice of making Ad Nauseam better though.)
7th Round: BRG Aggro Loam (Lost 2-1)
Game 1 - (He wins the dice roll.) He gets stuck on one land after his turn one Thoughtseize taking my Infernal Tutor and I go into my turn and play my Undiscovered Paradise. I play Lion's Eye Diamond, Lotus Petal, Dark Ritual, Infernal Tutor(Top Decked it!) to get Ad Nauseam and proceed to win the game with my main deck Tendrils.
Boarding In: (Not-A-Thing.)
Game 2 - A slough of Duress, Thoughtsieze and Raven's Crime/Life from the Loam Engine + Wasteland to keep me off of my lands.
Game 3 - See Game 2
Props and Slops:
Props:
- Myself and Nine of my friends making the long car ride to the Grand Prix.
- Going 4-1 as my best ratio through the day.
- Meeting Bryant in person, discussing the deck, and getting some cool Jap. cards from him.
- Awesome turnout.
- Really nice hotel.
- The Judges taking down those kids that were responsible for stealing a ton of people stuff.
- My good friend Jimmy taking 37th with Merfolk.
- Unloading a bunch of shitty cards for some great foils, and things that I needed to finish decks. (My Dredge deck is almost foil now.)
- Meeting a few of the pros.
Slops:
- Crappy over-priced food everywhere in the hotel.
- $4.00 bottle of water in the room.
- Not making it to day two.
- Being in the Ghetto for way too long
- StarCity and almost all of the other vendors charging retarded prices like $25.00 Stifles. Supply and Demand I guess...
- People who smelled, needed to take a shower.
Since the Grand Prix has ended I've made these changes to the deck, and I'm liking it more and more through testing. Here is the list that I'm working with now:
// Lands (Mana Base)
4 [WL] Gemstone Mine
4 [AN] City of Brass
2 Underground Sea
2 [VS] Undiscovered Paradise
[B]// Spells (Protection, Disruption)
4 [PS] Orim's Chant
2 [US] Duress
1 [ON] Chain of Vapor
// Spells (Mana Acceleration)
4 Dark Ritual
2 [TO] Cabal Ritual
4 [CS] Rite of Flame
4 [MI] Lion's Eye Diamond
4 [TE] Lotus Petal
4 [MR] Chrome Mox
[B]
// Spells (Tutoring)
3 [JU] Burning Wish
3 [DIS] Infernal Tutor
3 [MI] Mystical Tutor
// Spells (Cantrip/Search)
4 [MM] Brainstorm
3 [LRW] Ponder
// Spells (Win + Ad Nauseam)
2 [ALA] Ad Nauseam
1 [SC] Tendrils of Agony
// Sideboard
SB: 1 [US] Ill-Gotten Gains
SB: 1 [SC] Tendrils of Agony
SB: 1 [TSP] Empty the Warrens
SB: 1 [AL] Diminishing Returns
SB: 1 [TSP] Grapeshot
SB: 1 [AP] Vindicate
SB: 1 [PS] Hull Breach
SB: 2 [DS] Echoing Truth
SB: 2 [B] Red Elemental Blast
SB: 2 [IA] Pyroblast
SB: 2 [GP] Shattering Spree
I'm using Bryant's idea of playing Underground sea, and play Vindicate as part of my wish board. It seemed to play out well so far, but I'm not totally sold on Vindicate as it costs 5 to use in the same turn as Burning Wish, and I've only wished for it once. I've also going back to playing a main deck Chain of Vapor becuase I'm still not playing a main deck Ill-Gotten Gains. It makes Ad Nauseam better, and gives me another way to ramp storm count which got even better when I upped my land count to twelve. I am also considering cutting my two Undiscovered Paradise for two Badlands to hopefully make the mana base better, and more stable. But I loose a little bit of sideboard stability on the same token by playing Dual Lands over rainbow lands.