[Jupiter Games] Top 2 Split

[rocketrae21]

I am going to apologize now. I have never written a tournament report before but I have read a bunch so I am going to try to make this the best as possible. I am not very good with names, that's why my score paper always says "Me" and "Him"

I played Bant and here is the list

// Lands
1 Forest
2 Island
1 Plains
3 Tropical Island
2 Tundra
4 Windswept Heath
4 Flooded Strand
1 [ Dryad Arbor

// Creatures
4 Noble Hierarch
1 Progenitus
2 Qasali Pridemage
3 Rhox War Monk
4 Tarmogoyf

// Spells
4 Brainstorm
3 Ponder
3 Daze
4 Force of Will
4 Swords to Plowshares
3 Natural Order
4 Counterbalance
3 Sensei's Divining Top

// Sideboard
1 Empyrial Archangel
3 Submerge
3 Krosan Grip
3 Gaddock Teeg
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Tormod's Crypt
3 Path to Exile

Tournament had 32 players for 5 rounds.

Round 1 - Carl Winter, Dredge
Nothing really spectacular happened in this round. I don't have a really good sideboard against dredge so I think Carl took this round in 2 games, but I have won one of them. I do know that Carl mulled to 5 on game 2 but still didn't matter.
0-1

Round 2 - Unknown, BG Rock with Natural Order
Game 1 he had a few duresses and cabal therapys to remove my counters and my own natural order. He resolved a Natural Order and Progenitus beat my face.
Sided in 3 Submerge, 3 Paths. Sided Out 4 Counterbalance, 2 Tops
Game 2 I used my massive amount of removal to keep his creatures at bay and Tarmogoyf got there.
Game 3 I don't really remember this game, I'm sure it was similar to game 2 because thats basically what my deck does.
1-1

Round 3 - Unknown, Red Stax
Game 1 He leads with turn 1 Trinisphere, which I luckily can force. I drop a few land and he gets down a morph. It ended up being Gathan Raiders, I eventually StPed it and then resolved Natural Order. He dropped a Smokestack but it was just too late. Progenitus beat him down.
Sided in 3 Krosan Grip. Sided Out 3 Ponder
Game 2 He had a slow start and started hardcasting Simian Spirit Guides. I countered a Smokestack, and resolved CB. Eventually got off Natural Order and Progenitus beat him down again.
Who knew red couldn't deal with Progen?
2-1

Round 4 - Brian, Ant
Game 1 He duresses me a few times and neuters my counters. I have a Goyf down at a 5/6. He combos out and Infernal Tutors with storm count 9. I am at an 18, and he knows I have a StP in hand with white open. Or at least he had it written down. He goes and grabs Tendrils instead of Ill Gotten Gains, I swords my own Goyf and go to 3. I play a Warmonk and pass. He does nothing. I drop a Heirarch and swing 4. The life totals quickly change and I end up winning a game I shouldn't have.
Sided in 3 Gaddock Teeg, 1 Relic. Sided Out 4 StP.
Game 2 He duresses and sees a Teeg and Counterbalance. He takes a Daze I believe and passes. I get down Teeg on turn 2, and CB on turn 3. He burning wishes for Grapeshot. I'm not too worried because I have another Teeg in hand. He plays a Lotus Petal and then Grapeshots Teeg for 2. I fetch and brainstorm. He responds by REBing by CB. It ends up resolving but I still get to use my original CB trigger and counter 1 copy of Grapeshot. Teeg and Goyf get in there for the win.
3-1

Round 5 - David (I think), Bant Reliquery
I dont know if that is the title of his deck but it was basically UGW with Knight of Reliquery and Terravore.
Game 1 He mulls to 4 or 5 and can never really get started. He plays a Goyf to block my Goyf, but then I drop a Heirarch for exalted. Take down two of his Goyf and a Knight. Eventually I get through for the win.
Side in 3 Submerge, 3 Paths. Side Out, 3 Ponder, 1 CB, 1 Rhox War Monk, 1 Dryad Arbor
Game 2 It pretty much goes the same as game 1. I get out a Goyf, he plays one to block, I ended up resolving Heirarch. I resolve a Natural Order. I have Goyf and Progen on board, he has 10/10 Terravore and Goyf. He swings both and I Submerge his Terravore, he Misdirects it to my Goyf, but I have a StP to handle the Terravore and stay alive. It takes one more turn to kill but Progen gets there.

Top 8 - Unknown (brother to Unknown from Round 2), Bant with Jitte and Clique
Game 1 This is probably the best game I have had all day. We trade back and forth with Goyfs and his Clique. I end up being at 1 with him at a 4. He has a Goyf and Heirarch, I have just a Heirarch. I can only draw a Natural Order to win this game. I believe in the heart of the cards and top deck the Natural Order. Progen ends the game.
Side in 3 Submerge, 3 Paths, 2 Krosan Grip. Side out 4 Counterbalance, 3 Tops, 1 Ponder.
Game 2 He gets pretty land flooded and I end up resolving a Natural Order and again Progen wins me a game and round,

Top 4 - Colin, Left Field's Reanimator
Game 1 I mull to 6 and lead with land go. He drops Island and passes. I fetch and drop a Goyf as a 1/2. He Brainstorms in response, shows his cards to a friend and scoops. Easiest game I had all day. I guess he drew 3 Entomb, with 1 all ready in hand and no second land.
Side in 1 Relic of Progenitus, 1 Tormod's Crypt, 3 Krosan Grip. Sided out 3 Ponder, 1 War Monk, 1 Heirarch.
Game 2 He leads with land Duress. Takes something relevant. I resolve a CB. He does a few things but doesn't land a creature. I resolve Natural Order. He has an out in his hand and an Empyrial Archangel in yard. He Exhumes for his fog but it gets Dazed. Progen for the win. He never hit his 3rd land, which definitely set him back because his hand was mostly 3 drops.

Top 2 - I split with my teammate Justin and we each take 200 store credit.

Props
Eli for another good tourney and FBB Duals
Tony T's
Rion for giving me a Squire
Progenitus
Geoff from Left Field convincing Tariq to play

Slops
People smelling even though its freezing out
Matt for deciding to graduate opposed to playing Magic
Shitty weather on the way home
Myself for not picking up a foil Dryad Arbor with my 200 credit

[hyc8028]

Congrats on your finish. Did you miss Trygon Predator? You ran 15 critters w/ natural order. Do you have a hard time playing NO?

[rocketrae21]

I have never played Trygon and I dont think I will. I never had a problem casting Natural Order. Plus Dryad Arbor is a champ

[The Pharmacist]

Nice job! Not real happy that you beat someone on my team in top 4 tho.

[psu42]

It's Tariq's fault. The other of us 3 wanted a split....so we both manned up and beat the reanimator decks.

[rocketrae21]

Nice job! Not real happy that you beat someone on my team in top 4 tho.

If you would have manned up and showed up, I would have beaten you too

[The Pharmacist]

It's Tariq's fault. The other of us 3 wanted a split....so we both manned up and beat the reanimator decks.

You don`t x-1 a tournament and make top4 and split. You go there to win not make top8 or top4 and split. If I was in his spot I would have done the samething.

[The Pharmacist]

If you would have manned up and showed up, I would have beaten you too

You should be happy I didn`t show, because you and your team can`t beat me.

[Di]

You don`t x-1 a tournament and make top4 and split. You go there to win not make top8 or top4 and split. If I was in his spot I would have done the samething.

No, it was a really stupid decision. I was mad about it, because we lost $100. If both of us t2'd, we'd only net $100 maximum off of that because we'd split $400 between us, and if one of us lost we'd net a total of $300. However, had we just did the damn prize split in the top4, we would've made $150 each, so $300, which is the same as that and also saves us an hour of playing away from home. I realize it's a gamble, but in that situation, it was a poor decision because the odds of making the $400 maximum were incredibly slim, and there was $300 that was guaranteed. Hell, we could've even split the prizes and played it out for bragging rights, but no, and look at what happened.

Now, I personally don't have a problem playing, but the sole reason I even bother traveling is to make money. When you have an opportunity to have a guaranteed amount that is equivalent to 2nd place, the smartest decision there is to take the money and not risk losing more. If the prize structure was more top-heavy that'd be different, but it wasn't. Instead, we both lost money as a result. It was just a dumb choice to me, and I was disappointed with it. But meh, there's always next time.

[GUnit]

It's not just about the money.

[lolosoon]

It's not just about the money.
It's all about the dum dum duh dee dum dum....

[Bryant Cook]

Congrats on your finish, sorry I couldn't make it.

If I went I would've forced a playout too. Why play a deck if you don't think you can take it down?

[Michael Keller]

No, it was a really stupid decision. I was mad about it, because we lost $100. If both of us t2'd, we'd only net $100 maximum off of that because we'd split $400 between us, and if one of us lost we'd net a total of $300. However, had we just did the damn prize split in the top4, we would've made $150 each, so $300, which is the same as that and also saves us an hour of playing away from home. I realize it's a gamble, but in that situation, it was a poor decision because the odds of making the $400 maximum were incredibly slim, and there was $300 that was guaranteed. Hell, we could've even split the prizes and played it out for bragging rights, but no, and look at what happened.

Now, I personally don't have a problem playing, but the sole reason I even bother traveling is to make money. When you have an opportunity to have a guaranteed amount that is equivalent to 2nd place, the smartest decision there is to take the money and not risk losing more. If the prize structure was more top-heavy that'd be different, but it wasn't. Instead, we both lost money as a result. It was just a dumb choice to me, and I was disappointed with it. But meh, there's always next time.

...It still doesn't excuse the fact that someone wanted to win the whole thing. Granted, money plays a strong factor in the decision for a split, but still. It was like last August at Eli's: One person out of the Top Eight decided they wanted to play it out. And they did, and that person ended up winning the whole thing. It might seem like a reasonable idea to always split, but again: Why travel to go play in a tournament when you really want to maximize your net profit and in the process take down the whole thing?

I'm with Bryant on this one; if someone feels they have a good chance at winning the whole thing and they want to play it out, kudos to them. If they beat you, they deserve to win. If they lose, then they accept the consequences for wanting to play. It isn't a gamble, it's playing to your strengths and riding a hot streak with winning in mind. Just because you don't accept a split doesn't mean you're an asshole, it means you are confident in your abilities to play and win (as I'm sure Geoff would agree with me; splitting is never an option except in the most narrow of circumstances).

And saving time from playing away from home? I'm sure someone who lives farther away from Binghamton would want to play it out anyways because they took a lot more time trying to get there to win than going sixty-five miles down the road and calling it quits with a split. Team Left Field doesn't split; we split heads.

[Bryant Cook]

...It still doesn't excuse the fact that someone wanted to win the whole thing. Granted, money plays a strong factor in the decision for a split, but still. It was like last August at Eli's: One person out of the Top Eight decided they wanted to play it out. And they did, and that person ended up winning the whole thing. It might seem like a reasonable idea to always split, but again: Why travel to go play in a tournament when you really want to maximize your net profit and in the process take down the whole thing?

I'm with Bryant on this one; if someone feels they have a good chance at winning the whole thing and they want to play it out, kudos to them. If they beat you, they deserve to win. If they lose, then they accept the consequences for wanting to play. It isn't a gamble, it's playing to your strengths and riding a hot streak with winning in mind. Just because you don't accept a split doesn't mean you're an asshole, it means you are confident in your abilities to play and win (as I'm sure Geoff would agree with me; splitting is never an option except in the most narrow of circumstances).

And saving time from playing away from home? I'm sure someone who lives farther away from Binghamton would want to play it out anyways because they took a lot more time trying to get there to win than going sixty-five miles down the road and calling it quits with a split. Team Left Field doesn't split; we split heads.
Actually Eli's in August was he wanted to play it out, lost to Adam Barnello in top 4, then I took 1st. Just saying.

[xXxBretWeedxXx]

Actually Eli's in August was he wanted to play it out, lost to Adam Barnello in top 4, then I took 1st. Just saying.

Wasn't that Mid September?

[rocketrae21]

I understand the fact that everyone wants to win it all. But the fact that it was 4 people on 2 different teams that is why I personally wanted to split. To help out my teammate so we each get 150. Also the fact that it was late, we all wanted to eat, and the weather was turning to shit. I mean I guess its no guts, no glory...I am glad that I beat Colin and got more in cash, but sucks for Team Left Field.