[Report] Elf survival in Blacksburg

[beastman]

So last weekend, me, Dave Price, and Jesse Krieger decided to make the 4 hour trip down to Blacksburg Va. (Right next to the main entrance of Va. Tech). We made I down and picked up some cards the night before and got to sleep at a very decent hour.( Guaranteed that you will never hear that in a tournament report again.) So the next day, we get to the store a bit early and get a hold of Matt Kadilak. He comes up to the store and we have some fun whippin each other’s ass’s in some casual games. I also got to meet Tylerdw and his crew who were a bunch of great guys, and I hope I get to play against them again soon. So, onto the report.

16 land
4x Windswept Heath
4x Wooded Foothills
4x Forest
2x Taiga
2x Savannah
33 Creatures
4x Llanowar Elves
4x Fyndhorn Elves
4x Elvish Spirit Guide
4x Imperious Perfect
4x Elvish Archdruid
3x Priest of Titania
3x Elvish Champion
3x Quirion Ranger
3x Sylvan Messenger
1x Viridian Zealot

Engine
4x Survival of the Fittest
1x Squee
1x Anger

Alternate Win
4x Natural Order
1x Progenitus

SB:
3x Relic of progenitus
3x choke
4x Tarmagoyf
3x Krosan grip
1x caller of the claw
1x Loaming shaman


By the way, I took no notes, so my memory is pretty hazy.


Rd 1: TES
G1: I lose the roll, and my opponent leads off with a City of Brass. Fuck. I play a turn 1 mana guy and he plays double ritual LED x3 infernal tutor, awesome.
G2: My opponent mulls to 6 and apparently keeps a 1 land hand, I’m able to get 12 power on the board by turn 3, and he plays a chrome mox pitching brainstorm. During his turn, I krosan grip it, and he sighs and packs up his cards, not realizing that he could have floated a blue and used the mystical tutor that would have given him the win.
G3: He mulls to 5 and I have an amazing hand, he doesn’t get the lands he needs and I kill him turn 4 with turn 1 mana dude into turn 2 priest, ranger, into turn 3 triple lord.
Dodged the first bullet.

Rd 2: Rockish homebrew with a good amount of creature removal, and lots of big men.
G1: I win the roll and start off the game with a mana elf. He decides to try and play a bunch of big guys to race me. I laugh and make a turn 2 priest and another mana dude. Turn 3, I drop survival chain anger and squee into an elvish archdruid. Turn 4 I cast archdruid and chain 3 messengers together, drop 9 elves including 3 more lords, and attack him for 50 something.
G2: He starts with a noble heirarch, into turn 2 doran, I start with turn 1 mana guy into turn two elvish champion, and turn three elvish champion. He has two turn to find an answer, but comes up with nothing.

Rd 3: Tempo thresh
G1: I manage to stick a mana elf and then get an archdruid to stick. The next turn I go for natural order and when I show him the Elvish spirit guide for his daze we’re off to game 2.
G2: I don’t remember the early parts of this game, but I know I got about 6 guys on the board, to his lone goyf, and that he found a firespout the turn before he died, and dropped a second goyf to finish the job.
G3: We both mull to 5, and I manage to set up enough mana to cast natural order but not enough mana to pay for daze, which would leave me with a single 1/1 and 1 land, so instead I bait with a choke, which resolves. I then draw an elvish spirit guide and kill him with a large rainbow creature.

Last round me and Jesse Krieger realize that we are the only 3-0’s, and the TO announced that it was going to be swiss +1. So me and Jesse split the mox and an underground sea and got a good wad of money each.

Changes to the deck would be to take goyfs out and add absolute law, which was supposed to be there from the beginning.

[Jak]

Rd 1: TES
G1: I lose the roll, and my opponent leads off with a City of Brass. Fuck. I play a turn 1 mana guy and he plays double ritual LED x3 infernal tutor, awesome.
G2: My opponent mulls to 6 and apparently keeps a 1 land hand, I’m able to get 12 power on the board by turn 3, and he plays a chrome mox pitching brainstorm. During his turn, I krosan grip it, and he sighs and packs up his cards, not realizing that he could have floated a blue and used the mystical tutor that would have given him the win.
G3: He mulls to 5 and I have an amazing hand, he doesn’t get the lands he needs and I kill him turn 4 with turn 1 mana dude into turn 2 priest, ranger, into turn 3 triple lord.
Dodged the first bullet.

Upside down question markQue?

[beastman]

Upside down question markQue?

Using chrome mox is a mana ability. You can use it in response to grip.

[Jak]

Using chrome mox is a mana ability. You can use it in response to grip.

You learn something new everyday.

[Media314r8]

I've been testing Elf Survival, with a similar list, but -4 NO, +2 land, +1 Priest of titania, +1 Norwood Priestess. The priestess has been working out really well for me as my 'win now' should I set up survival, and sometimes an 'oops, I win' if I happen to draw progenitus and messenger into her. Have you tested her at all in addition to/instead of 1 NO, as aside from survival, you have no way to discard the 1-of progenitus? (and if you have survival up and running, she only costs the same amount as having to pitch master P to survival and then NO.) I'm not a fan of the extra slots NO takes (or the beating it is to have it countered), but enjoy the two slots that allow for a fast win through a ghostly prison, ect.

Also, have you considered Woodfall Primus or acidic slime for your SB as ways of getting rid of troublesome permanents? I find a 1-of vexing shusher accompanied by genesis more than capable of beating CB based decks, which seem like the reason to run K grips in the first place. I've also found faerie macabre to be pretty good hate against dredge, as it usually catches them off guard, and can be tutored for/recurred with genesis along. I've not found choke necessary, as most CB decks can be beat with shusher and genesis inevitability, and tempo thresh, the only real concern among blue decks, can be better handled with absolute law, wellwisher (I run 1 SB, and a hasted wellwisher that can untap with ranger/symbiote can cause headaches for red decks that plan on burning you out after you stabalize), genesis, and shusher.

[Tacosnape]

Why was Savannah in this list?

[Tivon]

Why was Savannah in this list?

It's usually for absolute Law which I'm assuming was supposed to be there a la


Changes to the deck would be to take goyfs out and add absolute law, which was supposed to be there from the beginning.