dragon7284
01-19-2010, 12:23 AM
ALL RIGHT!!! My first tournament report ever! I didn’t really plan on writing this, but I figured since I did so well and the tournament was a blast, I might as well give it a go. Hope you enjoy the read!
Sunday morning rolls around and I still can’t decide what to play… I have 4 decks built and can’t decide between Goblins, Dredge, Bant Survival, and the Fae… AHHHH!!! Decisions decisions… This is an important tournament, it’s for a Scrubland so I start narrowing it down to what I’m good with, as opposed to trying something new and exciting. I’m more of a control player at heart so that rules out Dredge and Gobbos, so it’s down to Survival and Faeries. Hmm… Mmmm… Tarmogoyf… Decision made! Bant Survival it is!
Off to the site! I drive down to ASU and there’s a walk going on for MLK day. SHIT! It’s almost impossible to find parking when there’s an event going on around there, and last time there was an art show the tournament didn’t fire since nobody wanted to deal with the shenanigans of finding a parking place so I wasn’t about to pay for a parking spot in case the tournament didn’t happen today. I drive around for about 5 minutes and am ready to give up when I spot a parking place… Right around the corner from the shop! Seems luck is with me today, that’s always a good thing.
I head into the shop and see some of the usual players, and some different faces. Doing some investigation leads me to the conclusion that the new faces are from the Type 2 scene, just here for a shot at a dual. The guy running the shop says that a couple people called asking to hold the tournament because of the traffic, so he tells me that it won’t start until around 1:30 or so. I fiddle with my sideboard until the late people roll in, and we end up with 12 people. Meh, not too bad for such a small store, so 3 rounds of swiss cut to top 4. Here’s the meta breakdown:
Bant Survival
2 White Weenie (1 Type 2)
Goblins
Landstill
Merfolk
UB Control
Mono Black Control
Zoo
Burn
Reanimator
Armageddon Stax
This should be fun. Here’s my list for reference
The Beats
4x Tarmogoyf (YEAH!)
4x Rhox War Monk (MVP)
4x Noble Hierarch
3x Qasali Pridemage
1x Wonder
1x Squee
1x Sower
1x Rafiq
1x Genesis
1x Trygon Predator
1x Eternal Witness
The Anti-Beats
4x Force of Will
3x Spell Pierce
4x Swords to Plowshares
The Utility
4x Brainstorm
3x Ponder
3x Survival of the Fittest
The Land
4x Flooded Strand
3x Windswept Heath
4x Tropical Island
3x Savannah
1x Tundra
1x Forest
1x Island
Sideboard
3x Teeg
3x Spell Snare
3x Path to Exile
3x Hydroblast
3x Pithing Needle
Let the games begin!
Round 1
Stryder with UB Control
Game 1: I win the roll and he puts Leyline of the Void into play… Sad day. I look at my grip and see 2x Land, 2x Hierarch, Brainstorm, RWM and Pridemage. Sick. Lead off with Hierarch and he drops a swamp. Turn 2 RWM from me and he drops an Island. On my turn I drop Pridemage, and declare my attack step, he Edicts me. Brainstorm off Hierarch in response shows me Squee, Fetch, Swords. Squee and Swords go on top, sac my Hierarch to the edict. Swing with RWM. He drops swamp and passes. I draw Swords, Fetch away the Squee and get in with a large Monk which gets a Doom Blade to the face. He rituals into Jester’s Cap and sacs, removing my Survivals. I draw a more land and swing. He doesn’t do anything and I draw a Goyf which gets countered. Next turn I draw Predator and he picks it up, reads it and says “Wow, that’s really good.” I proceed to win by swinging and blowing up his artifacts and enchantments.
I don’t sideboard since he doesn’t have one. I’m a fair guy.
Game 2: I open up a hand of Survival, 2x land, Goyf, Ponder, Hierarch, Rafiq. He opens up with land, Petal, Petal, Sadistic Sacrament. Interesting. He opts to take out my Predator and 2x Pridemages as they’re beats against him and he only sees 2 Survivals so he knows I have one in hand. I start things up with a Hierarch. He drops land and passes. I drop a Goyf and swing with Hierarch. He Edicts in response and I sac my Hierarch. He apparently is mana screwed and does nothing. I Ponder into Hierarch, fetch, land. Draw and drop the Hierarch, swing with Goyf. He’s still screwed. I draw and fetch away the excess land, drop Rafiq and swing. Rafiq get’s Doomed. Frown. I draw Survival but have no creatures in hand so I just swing with Goyf. He does more of nothing.. I hate these types of games… I swing in with Goyf, drop a Survival. He counters and I Force. He scoops.
1-0
Round 2
Chase with Goblins
Game 1: I win the roll and see a hand of 3x land, Spell Pierce, Pridemage, RWM, Brainstorm. He turn 1 Lackeys... Sad day. I draw something inconsequential and Brainstorm into Hierarch (Could have used you turn 1!), land, Survival. He swings with lackey and drops Siege Gang. Ouch. Oh, he also drops a vial and a Fanatic. I draw and drop Pridemage He cycles incinerator to kill it and swings for a bunch and drops Ringleader and Piledriver. I draw and enter my scoop phase
+3 Hydroblast
+3 Path
-1 Predator
-1 Sower
-1 Genesis
-3 Spell Pierce
Game 2: I’m on the play and have a hand of 2x land, Pridemage, RWM, Path, Ponder, Force. I ponder first turn, seeing Hierarch, Squee, Fetch. He drops Lackey again, but luckily I have the Pridemage to block. He drops Vial, which I Force and he cries and drops a Fanatic. I draw and drop the Hierarch and fetch away the Squee. He drops a Goblin King swings with fantatic, then sacs to kill the Hierarch. I draw Brainstorm and see Swords, Survival, Hydroblast… Seems good against him. I drop Survival and keep up Path, Swords and Hydroblast for anything threatening and he scoops to being buried under Survival advantage.
Game 3: Ridiculous game. I see no land my opening hand and mull. He goes to 6 too. I see no land again and go to 5. He does the same. I open my hand with land, Hierarch, RWM RWM Brainstorm. He drops Fanatic. I drop Hierarch and he drops another fanatic and kills my Hierarch and drops Wasteland and clears my board… :frown: I draw land and do nothing. He drops Piledriver and swings. I draw another land and do nothing. He goes Warchief and swings for a bunch I draw another land and drop RWM. He plays Chieftain and I die a horrible bloody death.
1-1
At this point I have to win my next match and hope Chase wins too to solidify my place in Top 4.
Round 3
Alex with Merfolk.
Game 1: I win the roll. He mulls… Yes! A good start for me! I look at a grip of 2x lands, Goyf, Survival, Force, Brainstorm, Hierarch. I drop my druid and he drops land. I drop Goyf and swing for 1. He drops Adept revealing Sovereign. I Brainstorm EOT and see RWM, land, Sower. Good enough for me. I play Survival and he Forces. I Force back and it resolves. Sweet! Survival advantage buries him and a large, flying, double-striking, lifelinking pancake flipper goes in for the win.
+3 Path
+3 Pithing Needle
-3 Spell Pierce
-1 Genesis
-1 Predator
-1 Sower
Game 2: He mulls to 6… then to 5. He sighs, keeps, and drops a Mutavault. I have a hand of a land, Hierarch, Goyf, RWM, Survival, Path, Force. Hmm… I debate for a second and decide it’s worth the risk. I go land, Hierarch. He drops land and gets in with a 2/2 shapeshifting land. I draw Brainstorm and drop my Goyf. He draws and Wastes my land. Sad day. I draw a land. Sick. Swing with my Goyf and pass. He activates Mutavault and I Path it. He drops an Adept and I Brainstorm in response, seeing Swords, land, Mr. Pancakes. Feeling very secure in this game, I get in with the big guy, and drop my monk. This draws a frown from Alex. He draws and drops Vial and LoA, and swings for 3. My turn I swing with RWM and cast Survival which he Forces, but I Force back and he cries. He drops Reegerey and swings, but I Swords his Lord and eat his Adept and he scoops.
Sweet! Into Top 4 in 3rd place. Now… Just to make it through…
Semifinals
David with Mono Red Burn
I have played against David 3 weeks straight and know his deck. I’ve played different decks against him each week, so I sit down across from him and he asks me what I brought this week… If it’s the ANT combo I played last week or the Faeries I played the week before, or if I brought some new bullshit deck this week. I tell him it’s some new bullshit and with a sly smile ask him if life gain is good against him. He gives me a little glare and we shuffle up.
Game 1: I win the die roll and I keep a hand consisting of 2x land, Hierarch, Goyf, RWM, Swords, Brainstorm. I Hierarch and he Lava Spikes me. I drop Goyf to draw some burn away before I drop Mr. Pancakes and he bites on his next turn Bolting the Goyf and passing. I Brainstorm on his EOT seeing land, Force, Sower. My monk hits the board and David reads it and makes a sad face. He draws and taps out for Browbeat, so I take 6. I swing in for 4 and draw a Survival, but hold it for now. He points a Chain Lightning at Mr. Pancakes which I force, as he has a Barbarian Ring on the table. He passes and I draw another Hierarch, which I play and swing. He scoops.
+3 Hydroblast
+3 Spell Snare
-4 Swords
-1 Genesis
-1 Sower
Game 2: I fan out my hand and see a land, a 2x Hierarch, 3x RWM(!) and a Squee… Definitely a blah hand but I keep since a triple stack of Pancakes is just yummy against Burn. I draw land (yay!) and drop Hierarch, which he burns on his turn. I draw Brainstorm and play another Hierarch and pass. He plays Hellspark and beats for 3. I Brainstorm on his end, drawing Fetch, Survival, Pridemage replacing that nasty Squee in my hand. I play War Monk #1 and beat for 1. On my end he sacs 2 mountains to Fireblast my Pancakes. I shrug and toss it into the yard and on his turn, he Chains me. My turn I play War Monk #2 and get another frown from him. He draws and plays a land and passes. I draw something irrelevant and beat, gaining 4 and playing War Monk #3, which draws a sigh from him. He draws and scoops, showing me the Ensnaring Bridge in his hand that he couldn’t cast due to Fireblasting the first War Monk. I don’t have the heart to show him the Pridemage in mine…
FINALS!
Chase (again) with Goblins (again)
Game 1: I win the roll and open with a hand of Predator, 3x land, Goyf, Force, Brainstorm. Pretty good on the play against goblins. I land, go. He plays Port and attempts a Vial, to which I Brainstorm in response (drawing RWM, Force, and a useless Pierce) and Force it. Second turn I fetch and play Goyf. He comments on how hard it is for Goblins to win through a Goyf with nothing in play. He plays a Wasteland and Wastes me. I draw Swords and swing. He plays land, go. I draw something and play Mr. Pancakes, which draws a “God damn it” from him. I swing and on his turn he plays a Warchief. I swing in with Goyf and RWM. He plays Kiki-Jiki, which I Force. I draw and play Survival again with no creatures in my hand and swing. He plays Siege-Gangbanger and I Swords his Warchief in response. Like a pro, I draw Squee off the top and Survival it into oblivion, as well as Wonder and just win.
Same boarding as before
Game 2: I fan out a hand of 2x land, Hierarch, Pridemage, Survival, RWM, Ponder. He goes to 6 and lays a turn 1 Vial off of Wasteland. I fetch a Forest and lay Hierarch. He lays a Piledriver. I play Pridemage and pop his vial. He plays Warchief and swings for a bunch. I Ponder into land, Hydroblast, Rafiq and lay a RWM. He swings in for 1 with his Piledriver. Stupid pro Blue. I play Rafiq and swing in for tons, and he chumps with Warchief. He holds back his Piledriver to block RWM and plays Ringleader to refill his hand. I play the Survival I’ve been holding onto, find Squee and Wonder and take home the Scrubland.
Props
Mr. Pancakes for being better than Goyf in a lot of matchups.
Pop Culture Paradise for putting up with us playing after the store closed.
Chase for winning game 3 of his Semifinal matchup vs. Landstill with a Humility on the board, through 2 Factories and a Firespout. Awesome man!
Slops
Landstill for taking so incredibly long.
Hope you enjoyed reading this. Any feedback is welcome and appreciated. Thanks again, until next time!
Sunday morning rolls around and I still can’t decide what to play… I have 4 decks built and can’t decide between Goblins, Dredge, Bant Survival, and the Fae… AHHHH!!! Decisions decisions… This is an important tournament, it’s for a Scrubland so I start narrowing it down to what I’m good with, as opposed to trying something new and exciting. I’m more of a control player at heart so that rules out Dredge and Gobbos, so it’s down to Survival and Faeries. Hmm… Mmmm… Tarmogoyf… Decision made! Bant Survival it is!
Off to the site! I drive down to ASU and there’s a walk going on for MLK day. SHIT! It’s almost impossible to find parking when there’s an event going on around there, and last time there was an art show the tournament didn’t fire since nobody wanted to deal with the shenanigans of finding a parking place so I wasn’t about to pay for a parking spot in case the tournament didn’t happen today. I drive around for about 5 minutes and am ready to give up when I spot a parking place… Right around the corner from the shop! Seems luck is with me today, that’s always a good thing.
I head into the shop and see some of the usual players, and some different faces. Doing some investigation leads me to the conclusion that the new faces are from the Type 2 scene, just here for a shot at a dual. The guy running the shop says that a couple people called asking to hold the tournament because of the traffic, so he tells me that it won’t start until around 1:30 or so. I fiddle with my sideboard until the late people roll in, and we end up with 12 people. Meh, not too bad for such a small store, so 3 rounds of swiss cut to top 4. Here’s the meta breakdown:
Bant Survival
2 White Weenie (1 Type 2)
Goblins
Landstill
Merfolk
UB Control
Mono Black Control
Zoo
Burn
Reanimator
Armageddon Stax
This should be fun. Here’s my list for reference
The Beats
4x Tarmogoyf (YEAH!)
4x Rhox War Monk (MVP)
4x Noble Hierarch
3x Qasali Pridemage
1x Wonder
1x Squee
1x Sower
1x Rafiq
1x Genesis
1x Trygon Predator
1x Eternal Witness
The Anti-Beats
4x Force of Will
3x Spell Pierce
4x Swords to Plowshares
The Utility
4x Brainstorm
3x Ponder
3x Survival of the Fittest
The Land
4x Flooded Strand
3x Windswept Heath
4x Tropical Island
3x Savannah
1x Tundra
1x Forest
1x Island
Sideboard
3x Teeg
3x Spell Snare
3x Path to Exile
3x Hydroblast
3x Pithing Needle
Let the games begin!
Round 1
Stryder with UB Control
Game 1: I win the roll and he puts Leyline of the Void into play… Sad day. I look at my grip and see 2x Land, 2x Hierarch, Brainstorm, RWM and Pridemage. Sick. Lead off with Hierarch and he drops a swamp. Turn 2 RWM from me and he drops an Island. On my turn I drop Pridemage, and declare my attack step, he Edicts me. Brainstorm off Hierarch in response shows me Squee, Fetch, Swords. Squee and Swords go on top, sac my Hierarch to the edict. Swing with RWM. He drops swamp and passes. I draw Swords, Fetch away the Squee and get in with a large Monk which gets a Doom Blade to the face. He rituals into Jester’s Cap and sacs, removing my Survivals. I draw a more land and swing. He doesn’t do anything and I draw a Goyf which gets countered. Next turn I draw Predator and he picks it up, reads it and says “Wow, that’s really good.” I proceed to win by swinging and blowing up his artifacts and enchantments.
I don’t sideboard since he doesn’t have one. I’m a fair guy.
Game 2: I open up a hand of Survival, 2x land, Goyf, Ponder, Hierarch, Rafiq. He opens up with land, Petal, Petal, Sadistic Sacrament. Interesting. He opts to take out my Predator and 2x Pridemages as they’re beats against him and he only sees 2 Survivals so he knows I have one in hand. I start things up with a Hierarch. He drops land and passes. I drop a Goyf and swing with Hierarch. He Edicts in response and I sac my Hierarch. He apparently is mana screwed and does nothing. I Ponder into Hierarch, fetch, land. Draw and drop the Hierarch, swing with Goyf. He’s still screwed. I draw and fetch away the excess land, drop Rafiq and swing. Rafiq get’s Doomed. Frown. I draw Survival but have no creatures in hand so I just swing with Goyf. He does more of nothing.. I hate these types of games… I swing in with Goyf, drop a Survival. He counters and I Force. He scoops.
1-0
Round 2
Chase with Goblins
Game 1: I win the roll and see a hand of 3x land, Spell Pierce, Pridemage, RWM, Brainstorm. He turn 1 Lackeys... Sad day. I draw something inconsequential and Brainstorm into Hierarch (Could have used you turn 1!), land, Survival. He swings with lackey and drops Siege Gang. Ouch. Oh, he also drops a vial and a Fanatic. I draw and drop Pridemage He cycles incinerator to kill it and swings for a bunch and drops Ringleader and Piledriver. I draw and enter my scoop phase
+3 Hydroblast
+3 Path
-1 Predator
-1 Sower
-1 Genesis
-3 Spell Pierce
Game 2: I’m on the play and have a hand of 2x land, Pridemage, RWM, Path, Ponder, Force. I ponder first turn, seeing Hierarch, Squee, Fetch. He drops Lackey again, but luckily I have the Pridemage to block. He drops Vial, which I Force and he cries and drops a Fanatic. I draw and drop the Hierarch and fetch away the Squee. He drops a Goblin King swings with fantatic, then sacs to kill the Hierarch. I draw Brainstorm and see Swords, Survival, Hydroblast… Seems good against him. I drop Survival and keep up Path, Swords and Hydroblast for anything threatening and he scoops to being buried under Survival advantage.
Game 3: Ridiculous game. I see no land my opening hand and mull. He goes to 6 too. I see no land again and go to 5. He does the same. I open my hand with land, Hierarch, RWM RWM Brainstorm. He drops Fanatic. I drop Hierarch and he drops another fanatic and kills my Hierarch and drops Wasteland and clears my board… :frown: I draw land and do nothing. He drops Piledriver and swings. I draw another land and do nothing. He goes Warchief and swings for a bunch I draw another land and drop RWM. He plays Chieftain and I die a horrible bloody death.
1-1
At this point I have to win my next match and hope Chase wins too to solidify my place in Top 4.
Round 3
Alex with Merfolk.
Game 1: I win the roll. He mulls… Yes! A good start for me! I look at a grip of 2x lands, Goyf, Survival, Force, Brainstorm, Hierarch. I drop my druid and he drops land. I drop Goyf and swing for 1. He drops Adept revealing Sovereign. I Brainstorm EOT and see RWM, land, Sower. Good enough for me. I play Survival and he Forces. I Force back and it resolves. Sweet! Survival advantage buries him and a large, flying, double-striking, lifelinking pancake flipper goes in for the win.
+3 Path
+3 Pithing Needle
-3 Spell Pierce
-1 Genesis
-1 Predator
-1 Sower
Game 2: He mulls to 6… then to 5. He sighs, keeps, and drops a Mutavault. I have a hand of a land, Hierarch, Goyf, RWM, Survival, Path, Force. Hmm… I debate for a second and decide it’s worth the risk. I go land, Hierarch. He drops land and gets in with a 2/2 shapeshifting land. I draw Brainstorm and drop my Goyf. He draws and Wastes my land. Sad day. I draw a land. Sick. Swing with my Goyf and pass. He activates Mutavault and I Path it. He drops an Adept and I Brainstorm in response, seeing Swords, land, Mr. Pancakes. Feeling very secure in this game, I get in with the big guy, and drop my monk. This draws a frown from Alex. He draws and drops Vial and LoA, and swings for 3. My turn I swing with RWM and cast Survival which he Forces, but I Force back and he cries. He drops Reegerey and swings, but I Swords his Lord and eat his Adept and he scoops.
Sweet! Into Top 4 in 3rd place. Now… Just to make it through…
Semifinals
David with Mono Red Burn
I have played against David 3 weeks straight and know his deck. I’ve played different decks against him each week, so I sit down across from him and he asks me what I brought this week… If it’s the ANT combo I played last week or the Faeries I played the week before, or if I brought some new bullshit deck this week. I tell him it’s some new bullshit and with a sly smile ask him if life gain is good against him. He gives me a little glare and we shuffle up.
Game 1: I win the die roll and I keep a hand consisting of 2x land, Hierarch, Goyf, RWM, Swords, Brainstorm. I Hierarch and he Lava Spikes me. I drop Goyf to draw some burn away before I drop Mr. Pancakes and he bites on his next turn Bolting the Goyf and passing. I Brainstorm on his EOT seeing land, Force, Sower. My monk hits the board and David reads it and makes a sad face. He draws and taps out for Browbeat, so I take 6. I swing in for 4 and draw a Survival, but hold it for now. He points a Chain Lightning at Mr. Pancakes which I force, as he has a Barbarian Ring on the table. He passes and I draw another Hierarch, which I play and swing. He scoops.
+3 Hydroblast
+3 Spell Snare
-4 Swords
-1 Genesis
-1 Sower
Game 2: I fan out my hand and see a land, a 2x Hierarch, 3x RWM(!) and a Squee… Definitely a blah hand but I keep since a triple stack of Pancakes is just yummy against Burn. I draw land (yay!) and drop Hierarch, which he burns on his turn. I draw Brainstorm and play another Hierarch and pass. He plays Hellspark and beats for 3. I Brainstorm on his end, drawing Fetch, Survival, Pridemage replacing that nasty Squee in my hand. I play War Monk #1 and beat for 1. On my end he sacs 2 mountains to Fireblast my Pancakes. I shrug and toss it into the yard and on his turn, he Chains me. My turn I play War Monk #2 and get another frown from him. He draws and plays a land and passes. I draw something irrelevant and beat, gaining 4 and playing War Monk #3, which draws a sigh from him. He draws and scoops, showing me the Ensnaring Bridge in his hand that he couldn’t cast due to Fireblasting the first War Monk. I don’t have the heart to show him the Pridemage in mine…
FINALS!
Chase (again) with Goblins (again)
Game 1: I win the roll and open with a hand of Predator, 3x land, Goyf, Force, Brainstorm. Pretty good on the play against goblins. I land, go. He plays Port and attempts a Vial, to which I Brainstorm in response (drawing RWM, Force, and a useless Pierce) and Force it. Second turn I fetch and play Goyf. He comments on how hard it is for Goblins to win through a Goyf with nothing in play. He plays a Wasteland and Wastes me. I draw Swords and swing. He plays land, go. I draw something and play Mr. Pancakes, which draws a “God damn it” from him. I swing and on his turn he plays a Warchief. I swing in with Goyf and RWM. He plays Kiki-Jiki, which I Force. I draw and play Survival again with no creatures in my hand and swing. He plays Siege-Gangbanger and I Swords his Warchief in response. Like a pro, I draw Squee off the top and Survival it into oblivion, as well as Wonder and just win.
Same boarding as before
Game 2: I fan out a hand of 2x land, Hierarch, Pridemage, Survival, RWM, Ponder. He goes to 6 and lays a turn 1 Vial off of Wasteland. I fetch a Forest and lay Hierarch. He lays a Piledriver. I play Pridemage and pop his vial. He plays Warchief and swings for a bunch. I Ponder into land, Hydroblast, Rafiq and lay a RWM. He swings in for 1 with his Piledriver. Stupid pro Blue. I play Rafiq and swing in for tons, and he chumps with Warchief. He holds back his Piledriver to block RWM and plays Ringleader to refill his hand. I play the Survival I’ve been holding onto, find Squee and Wonder and take home the Scrubland.
Props
Mr. Pancakes for being better than Goyf in a lot of matchups.
Pop Culture Paradise for putting up with us playing after the store closed.
Chase for winning game 3 of his Semifinal matchup vs. Landstill with a Humility on the board, through 2 Factories and a Firespout. Awesome man!
Slops
Landstill for taking so incredibly long.
Hope you enjoyed reading this. Any feedback is welcome and appreciated. Thanks again, until next time!