wmagzoo7
01-17-2010, 01:24 AM
My adventure began last night where I went to my friend John Jones' to pick up cards at 10:00 so that I could pick up about $600 worth of cards so I could play Enigma's list for Supreme Blue. I end up staying there until 11, then dropping off the car (I'm 17 and curfew for driving is 11) and going back to John's so we could brew him a list. Unfortunately for John, he has 80 Duals and 8 Goyfs from sharing a collection and playing 5-color he doesn't have a lot of critical cards to build decks (Stifles, Natural Orders, Mishra's Factorys, Lion's Eye Diamonds) so he was limited to what he could build since he didn't want to buy cards for just this tournament. At about 12:30 he decides he's not going to play after brewing up lists for some crazy decks that didn't seem that good, so he just takes me home. Day of the tournament rolls around and I of course wake up late so I get a 2 minute shower and like 3 scoops of my cereal at 10:30 when the tournament starts at 11. Luckily enough for me I live 15 minutes away, but I still needed to get 3 Natural Orders, 2 Thwarts, 1 Engineered Explosives, and 1 Llawan. Just as the pairings are going up I finish my list, grab a sick WoW World's playmat and get my final Natural Order so I'm ready to go. Here is what I played:
Lands
1 Island
2 Volcanic Island
3 Tundra
4 Tropical Island
2 Flooded Strand
4 Misty Rainforest
2 Polluted Delta
1 Dryad Arbor
1 Forest
// Creatures
4 Tarmogoyf
3 Rhox War Monk
1 Progenitus
3 Wall of Roots
// Spells
3 Firespout
4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Sensei's Divining Top
4 Brainstorm
4 Force of Will
3 Daze
4 Counterbalance
3 Natural Order
Sideboard
2 Krosan Grip
1 Trygon Predator
2 Tormod's Crypt
2 Thwart
2 Relic of Progenitus
2 Engineered Explosives
1 Cryptic Command
3 Hydroblast
Round1: Belcher
Game1: I think he opened on a stinker, possibly a mulligan down to 5, and I think he opened on nothing. I started out with Top and then a turn or so later a Counterbalance. The turn I play Counterbalance he runs out Lotus Petal, to which I flip Flooded Strand, and then he plays 2 Lion's Eye Diamonds because he thought that Flooded Strand had no CMC rather than 0. He proceeded to scoop when the judge explained how it worked to him.
Game2: My opponent started off by not playing anything at first and then 0 cost artifacts to avoid having to discard while I start with something reasonable. Critical turn rolls around, he goes RFG Elvish Spirit Guide, cast Tinder Wall, Sacrifice Tinder Wall to cast Desperate Ritual, then try to cast Seething Song. I Daze while holding the Thwart for backup and he scoops them up after I get my beat on with either Goyf or Rhox War Monk for a turn or so.
1-0
Round2: Affinity
Game1: He mulligans down to 5 and gets a one lander which allows him to play out his hand by turn 3 including double Ornithopter, double Arcbound Worker, double Frogmite, and double Myr Enforcer all off of a Vault of Whispers. I manage to Daze his Myr Enforcer and have double Swords to Plowshares as well as Goyf and Rhox War Monk to stop his efforts. He never draws the second land, and I slowly take out his team while making mine more formidable, ending the game with Counterbalance Top in play.
Game2: Again he mulligans to either 5 or 6, and I make him pay for it. He gets a pretty slow opener, and I land turn 2 Wall of Roots into turn 3 Progenitus to just win the game in short order. By slow opener I mean he had maybe an Arcbound Worker and an Ornithopter in play as well as casting a countered Spell Snare on my Wall of Roots.
2-0
Round3: ANT
Game1: I start on Sensei's Top into Counterbalance two turns later, and he Mystical Tutors for Ad Nauseum. Game goes on with him resolving pretty much nothing through Counterbalance especially since his whole deck is either 0, 1, or 2 which just killed him.
Game2: I open on lands and a few Brainstorms and he plays a bunch of Rituals and artifacts into Ad Nauseum with no mana in his pool and just an uncracked Lotus Petal and a possible land drop left. His flip was pretty awful off of Ad Nauseum hitting Krosan Grip, 3 Dark Confidants, 2 Cabal Rituals, and other irrelevant stuff to bring him from 18 to 2. He responds to this situation by playing and cracking a fetch, casting both Cabal Rituals and dropping all three Dark Confidants, on 1 might I add. I am holding Thwart and Daze but could not cast them as I had 2 lands at the moment and he cast Orim's Chant as well. I played nothing so I'd have access to 2 counters on his turn if he somehow survived his upkeep. Of course he flips 2 fetches and a Chrome Mox to keep living the dream and then Ponders into Brainstorm to fix his next 2 draws. I again keep my lands untapped and he flips 2 lands and then a Ponder to give me the game and the match.
3-0
Round4: Reanimator Ryan
Game1: I play turn 1 Sensei's Top and he goes EOT Entomb Iona. Next turn he plays Dark Ritual into Animate Dead which I Force and he Forces back letting it resolve so he could get Iona naming white to turn off my Swords and unfortunately my War Monks which I was holding 2 of. I build up and play and resolve Natural Order for Progenitus, but it is a turn too late, and I succumb to Iona beats.
Game2: I brainstorm three times this game with 2 fetches and end up drawing 1 actual spell and 8 lands total. He also happens to hit me with Duresses at the least opportune moments first taking my Counterbalance, and then later casting Duress when I had 2 Natural Orders, a Force of Will, and a Swords in hand with plenty of mana and a Dryad Arbor in play. He goes Entomb into Exhume on Iona naming green after taking Swords, and I lose because I drew 2 Wall of Roots in a row, and he played Tombstalker the turn after Iona.
3-1
A little fun fact, at the Philly Open IV (Type1) I started off 4-0 then went 0-3 to miss Top8 as I could have won in throughout any of my last 3 rounds but failed to. I was fulfilling the prophecy again, and was prepared for the beating that karma was going to dish me out.
Round5: 4c Landstill Josh
Game1: I know coming into the match that it is an awful matchup, and what happens doesn't change this. I get an early Counterbalance and Top but am cold to Crucible Waste as well as him transmuting Tolaria West for Academy Ruins and then dropping Nevinyrall's Disk and killing my lands as well as my permanents and ending my hopes.
Game2: I keep a kind of shady 1 lander with a Strand, Brainstorm, Top, Counterbalance, Daze, and a couple other keepers. I Brainstorm and obviously see no lands, and then start using Top and fail to find a land for like 3 turns as well. Meanwhile he is beating me down with Mishra's Factory and keeping his card count up. I find a land at one point in time but am totally overwhelmed by his threats after I miraculously resolve Counterbalance as everything he played cost 3 or more.
3-2
At this point I'm pretty sure I can't make it but stay in because I have a slim shot as always of making Top8. I look at the standings and see I'm in 11th with the highest breakers of the X-2s with 2 X-1-1s and the rest of the X-1s or better ahead of me. I realize my outside shot might possibly be a reality especially when...
Round6: The Mirror match (HungryLIKEALION)
Game1: We both open on Tops, with little of significance coming about from either side except for him amassing 3 Rhox War Monks while I get Counterbalance out to compliment my Top (I think, but the games are all blurred together at this point). I eventually cast and resolve Natural Order for Progenitus and win because Natural Order simply wins the mirror matchup. I bring in Thwarts, artifact removal and my secret tech singleton Cryptic Command.
Game2: We go back and forth, with him having multiple Goyfs and me holding Natural Order and having a meager board position on a meager lifetotal but 4-5 cards in hand compared to his 1-2. The fundamental turn comes around where I decide to punt this game because I'm up a game and I'm tired. I have a Top, Rhox War Monk and a Goyf to his double Goyf and Counterbalance Top. Impulsively I decide to Krosan Grip his Top which was the right play, and then for some reason attack with my Rhox War Monk while I'm holding Thwart, Natural Order, a Daze I think and have a Force, Brainstorm, and Daze on top. He blocks as he should and I realize how much of a donkey I am. Final turn comes rolling around where I am facing down lethal with no real counters and lose because I no longer have a Rhox War Monk or counterspells since I need to fight over a Sower which would be irrelevant because I could have Progenitus at this point.
Game3: There is like 12 minutes in the round so we both play extra fast. I am facing down beats but somehow resolve Progenitus and win because that's what he does. I win the matchup because I drew more Natural Orders, and we are the last match to finish. Being the nice guy I am, I tell him to check the standings et al to see if I will make Top8 since all the other matches are finished so I can scoop him in if I won't make it. Unfortunately for us, the judge was sitting next to us and makes me report it 2-1 in my favor.
After a couple minutes the final standings go up and somehow I made it as the 8th seed.
Top8: Mono White Stax Nick Coss
Game1: He has a pretty bad hand with Mox Diamond, Savannah, City of Traitors and a Wasteland for mana as well as some other irrelevant land later on. He gets 2 Ghostly Prison off of City of Traitors and then trades that for Wasteland. I resolve Counterbalance Top and then drop a Goyf and proceed to beat for the win over a bunch of turns as he plays nothing.
Game2: I get Goyfs and have CounterTop again because I'm that lucky. I get 2 blind flips of 2 to counter 2 Chalice of the Voids on 1 allowing me to eventually Swords to Plowshares his Baneslayer and go on to win the game.
Top4: UWG? Countertop w/ Nimble Mongoose
Game1: Mull to 5 and I have Counterbalance and top to counter just about everything he casts and then Tarmogoyf to seal the deal while he loses as he never has much beyond his initial since he had to mulligan to 5.
Game2: Mull to 6 from him, but we both open on Counterbalance Top, except I have a Daze to stop his. We go back and forth playing stuff with me losing my Balance at two separate points to Krosan Grips. However, I am the ultimate winner as we go back and forth trading punches. At the very end of the game we both have Tops in play, him with a Goyf and me with a 0/2 Wall of Roots and a Top. I go to Swords his Goyf, and he Submerges it in response. I capitalize on him having 0 cards in hand by untapping and casting Natural Order for Progenitus. He scoops it up as he has no way to answer or race it.
Finals: GB Rock
We figure out a split that involves both of us getting 2 Volcanic Islands and the winner of 1 game getting the Underground Sea over the Tundra. We play a short one with me opening on Triple Tarmogoyf, Swords to Plowshares, Force of Will, and 2 Fetches. He thoughtseizes me taking force turn 1 and then plays Sakura Tribe Elder with Unearth and chump blocks again. Later on he Damnations away both of my Goyfs and plays a Garruk. A turn or so after he plays a Death Cloud for all of my lands and I just lose as I don't have a Force of Will.
Props:
Enigma for the fantastic list
Natural Order for being outrageous
Counterbalance for helping being awesome when used blindly
Nick Coss for explaining me my role as a drink supplier
Catch Phrase for being an awesome game
AU Blue Bell for being a great store which is conveniently located near my house.
WoW World's Mat for allowing me to harness its power
Slops:
Not actually owning this awesome deck
Losing the last game of Catch Phrase before going home
Pennsylvania for having an 11o clock curfew for drivers under the age of 18
Lands
1 Island
2 Volcanic Island
3 Tundra
4 Tropical Island
2 Flooded Strand
4 Misty Rainforest
2 Polluted Delta
1 Dryad Arbor
1 Forest
// Creatures
4 Tarmogoyf
3 Rhox War Monk
1 Progenitus
3 Wall of Roots
// Spells
3 Firespout
4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Sensei's Divining Top
4 Brainstorm
4 Force of Will
3 Daze
4 Counterbalance
3 Natural Order
Sideboard
2 Krosan Grip
1 Trygon Predator
2 Tormod's Crypt
2 Thwart
2 Relic of Progenitus
2 Engineered Explosives
1 Cryptic Command
3 Hydroblast
Round1: Belcher
Game1: I think he opened on a stinker, possibly a mulligan down to 5, and I think he opened on nothing. I started out with Top and then a turn or so later a Counterbalance. The turn I play Counterbalance he runs out Lotus Petal, to which I flip Flooded Strand, and then he plays 2 Lion's Eye Diamonds because he thought that Flooded Strand had no CMC rather than 0. He proceeded to scoop when the judge explained how it worked to him.
Game2: My opponent started off by not playing anything at first and then 0 cost artifacts to avoid having to discard while I start with something reasonable. Critical turn rolls around, he goes RFG Elvish Spirit Guide, cast Tinder Wall, Sacrifice Tinder Wall to cast Desperate Ritual, then try to cast Seething Song. I Daze while holding the Thwart for backup and he scoops them up after I get my beat on with either Goyf or Rhox War Monk for a turn or so.
1-0
Round2: Affinity
Game1: He mulligans down to 5 and gets a one lander which allows him to play out his hand by turn 3 including double Ornithopter, double Arcbound Worker, double Frogmite, and double Myr Enforcer all off of a Vault of Whispers. I manage to Daze his Myr Enforcer and have double Swords to Plowshares as well as Goyf and Rhox War Monk to stop his efforts. He never draws the second land, and I slowly take out his team while making mine more formidable, ending the game with Counterbalance Top in play.
Game2: Again he mulligans to either 5 or 6, and I make him pay for it. He gets a pretty slow opener, and I land turn 2 Wall of Roots into turn 3 Progenitus to just win the game in short order. By slow opener I mean he had maybe an Arcbound Worker and an Ornithopter in play as well as casting a countered Spell Snare on my Wall of Roots.
2-0
Round3: ANT
Game1: I start on Sensei's Top into Counterbalance two turns later, and he Mystical Tutors for Ad Nauseum. Game goes on with him resolving pretty much nothing through Counterbalance especially since his whole deck is either 0, 1, or 2 which just killed him.
Game2: I open on lands and a few Brainstorms and he plays a bunch of Rituals and artifacts into Ad Nauseum with no mana in his pool and just an uncracked Lotus Petal and a possible land drop left. His flip was pretty awful off of Ad Nauseum hitting Krosan Grip, 3 Dark Confidants, 2 Cabal Rituals, and other irrelevant stuff to bring him from 18 to 2. He responds to this situation by playing and cracking a fetch, casting both Cabal Rituals and dropping all three Dark Confidants, on 1 might I add. I am holding Thwart and Daze but could not cast them as I had 2 lands at the moment and he cast Orim's Chant as well. I played nothing so I'd have access to 2 counters on his turn if he somehow survived his upkeep. Of course he flips 2 fetches and a Chrome Mox to keep living the dream and then Ponders into Brainstorm to fix his next 2 draws. I again keep my lands untapped and he flips 2 lands and then a Ponder to give me the game and the match.
3-0
Round4: Reanimator Ryan
Game1: I play turn 1 Sensei's Top and he goes EOT Entomb Iona. Next turn he plays Dark Ritual into Animate Dead which I Force and he Forces back letting it resolve so he could get Iona naming white to turn off my Swords and unfortunately my War Monks which I was holding 2 of. I build up and play and resolve Natural Order for Progenitus, but it is a turn too late, and I succumb to Iona beats.
Game2: I brainstorm three times this game with 2 fetches and end up drawing 1 actual spell and 8 lands total. He also happens to hit me with Duresses at the least opportune moments first taking my Counterbalance, and then later casting Duress when I had 2 Natural Orders, a Force of Will, and a Swords in hand with plenty of mana and a Dryad Arbor in play. He goes Entomb into Exhume on Iona naming green after taking Swords, and I lose because I drew 2 Wall of Roots in a row, and he played Tombstalker the turn after Iona.
3-1
A little fun fact, at the Philly Open IV (Type1) I started off 4-0 then went 0-3 to miss Top8 as I could have won in throughout any of my last 3 rounds but failed to. I was fulfilling the prophecy again, and was prepared for the beating that karma was going to dish me out.
Round5: 4c Landstill Josh
Game1: I know coming into the match that it is an awful matchup, and what happens doesn't change this. I get an early Counterbalance and Top but am cold to Crucible Waste as well as him transmuting Tolaria West for Academy Ruins and then dropping Nevinyrall's Disk and killing my lands as well as my permanents and ending my hopes.
Game2: I keep a kind of shady 1 lander with a Strand, Brainstorm, Top, Counterbalance, Daze, and a couple other keepers. I Brainstorm and obviously see no lands, and then start using Top and fail to find a land for like 3 turns as well. Meanwhile he is beating me down with Mishra's Factory and keeping his card count up. I find a land at one point in time but am totally overwhelmed by his threats after I miraculously resolve Counterbalance as everything he played cost 3 or more.
3-2
At this point I'm pretty sure I can't make it but stay in because I have a slim shot as always of making Top8. I look at the standings and see I'm in 11th with the highest breakers of the X-2s with 2 X-1-1s and the rest of the X-1s or better ahead of me. I realize my outside shot might possibly be a reality especially when...
Round6: The Mirror match (HungryLIKEALION)
Game1: We both open on Tops, with little of significance coming about from either side except for him amassing 3 Rhox War Monks while I get Counterbalance out to compliment my Top (I think, but the games are all blurred together at this point). I eventually cast and resolve Natural Order for Progenitus and win because Natural Order simply wins the mirror matchup. I bring in Thwarts, artifact removal and my secret tech singleton Cryptic Command.
Game2: We go back and forth, with him having multiple Goyfs and me holding Natural Order and having a meager board position on a meager lifetotal but 4-5 cards in hand compared to his 1-2. The fundamental turn comes around where I decide to punt this game because I'm up a game and I'm tired. I have a Top, Rhox War Monk and a Goyf to his double Goyf and Counterbalance Top. Impulsively I decide to Krosan Grip his Top which was the right play, and then for some reason attack with my Rhox War Monk while I'm holding Thwart, Natural Order, a Daze I think and have a Force, Brainstorm, and Daze on top. He blocks as he should and I realize how much of a donkey I am. Final turn comes rolling around where I am facing down lethal with no real counters and lose because I no longer have a Rhox War Monk or counterspells since I need to fight over a Sower which would be irrelevant because I could have Progenitus at this point.
Game3: There is like 12 minutes in the round so we both play extra fast. I am facing down beats but somehow resolve Progenitus and win because that's what he does. I win the matchup because I drew more Natural Orders, and we are the last match to finish. Being the nice guy I am, I tell him to check the standings et al to see if I will make Top8 since all the other matches are finished so I can scoop him in if I won't make it. Unfortunately for us, the judge was sitting next to us and makes me report it 2-1 in my favor.
After a couple minutes the final standings go up and somehow I made it as the 8th seed.
Top8: Mono White Stax Nick Coss
Game1: He has a pretty bad hand with Mox Diamond, Savannah, City of Traitors and a Wasteland for mana as well as some other irrelevant land later on. He gets 2 Ghostly Prison off of City of Traitors and then trades that for Wasteland. I resolve Counterbalance Top and then drop a Goyf and proceed to beat for the win over a bunch of turns as he plays nothing.
Game2: I get Goyfs and have CounterTop again because I'm that lucky. I get 2 blind flips of 2 to counter 2 Chalice of the Voids on 1 allowing me to eventually Swords to Plowshares his Baneslayer and go on to win the game.
Top4: UWG? Countertop w/ Nimble Mongoose
Game1: Mull to 5 and I have Counterbalance and top to counter just about everything he casts and then Tarmogoyf to seal the deal while he loses as he never has much beyond his initial since he had to mulligan to 5.
Game2: Mull to 6 from him, but we both open on Counterbalance Top, except I have a Daze to stop his. We go back and forth playing stuff with me losing my Balance at two separate points to Krosan Grips. However, I am the ultimate winner as we go back and forth trading punches. At the very end of the game we both have Tops in play, him with a Goyf and me with a 0/2 Wall of Roots and a Top. I go to Swords his Goyf, and he Submerges it in response. I capitalize on him having 0 cards in hand by untapping and casting Natural Order for Progenitus. He scoops it up as he has no way to answer or race it.
Finals: GB Rock
We figure out a split that involves both of us getting 2 Volcanic Islands and the winner of 1 game getting the Underground Sea over the Tundra. We play a short one with me opening on Triple Tarmogoyf, Swords to Plowshares, Force of Will, and 2 Fetches. He thoughtseizes me taking force turn 1 and then plays Sakura Tribe Elder with Unearth and chump blocks again. Later on he Damnations away both of my Goyfs and plays a Garruk. A turn or so after he plays a Death Cloud for all of my lands and I just lose as I don't have a Force of Will.
Props:
Enigma for the fantastic list
Natural Order for being outrageous
Counterbalance for helping being awesome when used blindly
Nick Coss for explaining me my role as a drink supplier
Catch Phrase for being an awesome game
AU Blue Bell for being a great store which is conveniently located near my house.
WoW World's Mat for allowing me to harness its power
Slops:
Not actually owning this awesome deck
Losing the last game of Catch Phrase before going home
Pennsylvania for having an 11o clock curfew for drivers under the age of 18