Bant Survival GPT Madrid 1st/2nd split

[Julian23]

Just returned from a 35-man GPT in Munich which I split in the final piloting Bant Survival playing the following list:
Munich, Germany
23rd January
35 participants
5 rounds of Swiss + Top8 Playoffs

4x Noble Hierarch
4x Tarmogoyf
3x Rhox War Monk
3x Spellstutter Sprite
2x Qasali Pridemage
2x Vendillion Clique
1x Loyal Retainers
1x Iona, Shield of Emeria
1x Sower of Temptation
1x Squee, Goblin Nabob

4x Survival of the Fittest
4x Force of Will
4x Brainstorm
4x Swords to Plowshares
3x Spell Snare

4x Windswept Heath
4x Misty Rainforest
4x Tropical Island
2x Savannah
2x Island
2x Forest
1x Plains

SB:
3x Krosan Grip
3x Spell Pierce
2x Tormod's Crypt
2x Gaddock Teeg
1x Genesis
1x Path to Exile
1x Faerie Macabre
1x Rhox War Monk
1x Meddling Mage

I'll try to remember something about the games...don't pin me down on every sequence of play.

1st round Hanau-Dreamhalls
G1: He wins the die roll and leads with Thoughtseize taking Pridemage. On my second turn I topdeck another one and play it while he has Ponder. Third turn I add a Hierarch and he falls to 13. End of turn Brainstorm leads into Show and Tell. We both chose our cards and reveal at the same time: He has Progenitus (surprise!) while I have Iona(blue) which he declined to make me discard with his early Thoughtseize. She drops him to 4 while Progenitus attacks me down to 8 after fetching twice. I win on the next turn.

+3 Spell Pierce +3 Krosan Grip +2 Gaddock Teeg +1 Meddling Mage
-3 Spell Snare -4 Swords to Plowshares -1 Sower -1 Rhox War Monk

G2: He leads with Fetchland go. After drawing my hand is 2x Spell Pierce, 3x Force of Will, 2 fetchlands and Tarmogoyf. The later soon starts beating for little damage while I also get my Survival going. He plays cantrips etc, I Spell Pierce an eot Lim-Dul's Vault. Vendillion Clique joins the fun seeing 2x Dream Halls, Show and Tell, Conflux, Ultimatum and Force. When he finally goes for it I can cast all three Forces + Spell Pierce.
2-0

2nd round Dreadstill
G1: This is were my memory starts to fade. What I DO know is that Spellstutter Sprites are just insanely good in this matchup if on the play. Too bad he wins the die roll. He goes first, I Spell Snare a Standstill while he wastes one of my lands. I remain on one land for about 3 turns while he keeps bathing in them even after BS+Fetch. After Land+Hierarch I'm back in the game and manage to resolve Survival with Force backup. Two turns later he goes for Dreadnought. I have 5 mana up, Squee + Spellstutter Sprite in hand. My first Faerie meets Force. At this point I could try for another one and lose it to Daze so I just eot dig up Sower of Temptation to which he scoops.

+3 Krosan Grip +3 Spell Pierce
-3 Rhox War Monk -3 Spellstutter Sprite

G2: End of turn Vendillion Clique + Hierarch while delaying him with Forces + Spell Pierce buys enough time to win this. Inbetween he goes for Dreadnought which I Krosan Grip. Bit of bad luck for him as his Top keeps revealing Dazes, lands and other useless stuff.
2:0

3rd round UG 43 lands
G1: I lead with land, go. He has Forest, Exploration, Treetop. On my turn I play Survival. His 2nd turn tears me apart: DOUBLE Wasteland for my two nonbasics, Loam them back, go. I topdeck nada while he drops EE for two and blows them. When he gets triple Port online only 2-3 turns later I scoop.

+2 Tormod's Crypt +1 Faerie Macabre +1 Meddling Mage +1 Path to Exile
-1 Swords to Plowshares -3 Spell Snare -1 Qasali Pridemage

G2: Again he disrupts me like crazy but doesn't apply any pressure at all. Triple Maze of Ith (thanks to Tolaria West) keeps Goyf and Vendillilon Clique in check while Tabernacle + Port keep tieing up my mana. I'm quite locked out of the game when I make the following sequences of topdecks: Noble Hierarch (drop Forest, play) + Noble Hierarch + Survival of the Fittest but no cards to pitch. I figure I could draw a creature and try to go for Iona. Too bad the creature I draw are Loyal Retainers...but wait! On my next turn I DRAW Iona! So I drop the Survival which I held back on because Clique told me about Grip. After discarding Iona Krosan Grip hits the green enchantment but that doesn't matter. On my next turn Retainers return Iona (green) thus making it impossible for him to establish Glacial Chasm (he doesn't run Crucible). However triple Mazes still provide enough defense from my three attacking creatures. During his next eot I drop Spellstutter Sprite (which I got with Iona) to provide additional beats. Some turns later I drop another one and ride them to victory.

We start shuffling up for game 3 but don't manage archieve anything until the round ends.
1-1-1

4th round Aggro Elves
G1: I have turn 3 Iona to which he just scoops with only 4 Elves in play.

+1 Rhox War Monk +1 Path to Exile
-1 Sower of Temptation -1 Qasali Pridemage

G2: After his 1st turn Taunting Elf I Spell Snare his 2nd turn Priest of Titania. Turn 3 he drops Birchlore Ranger+more Elves while I have eot Vendillion Clique seeing Coat of Arms, Sylvan Messenger and something. I make him put away Coat of Arms as I'm more concerned about losing to speed than to the CA provided by Messenger. On my turn I drop double Hierarch making Clique attack for 6! He drops Messenger revealing Priest+Archdruid. The later is sent farming so his attack doesn't hit me for a lot. On my turn I drop Survival and Pridemage while Clique hits for 7 now! He somehow doesn't attack on his next turn so Clique beats him down to 1. I drop Rhox War Monk beacause of the lifelink just in case he topdecks another Coat of Arms. Doesn't matter as he just scoops on his turn.
2-0

5th round ID against Faeries
With 3-1-1 I safely draw into Top8 at 7th place.

1/4 Finals: LONG intense game against RGwb Aggro Loam
G1: He's on the play but keeps a slow hand. His 2nd turn Chalice@1 meets Spell Snare while I drop Goyf on my turn. Turn 3 he grabs LftL with Burning Wish while I eot brainstorm into two addiitional Goyf. I decide it's time to go all-in on my turn dropping them at 4/5. At this point I might only lose to Devastating Dreams to which I kept holding a Force despite my urge to counter Burning Wish. He spends his turn cycling and loaming so my teams takes him down to very low life. On his turn he reveals Dreams with enough cards to to kill my boys and just asks me to reveal Force.

+2 Tormod's Crypt +1 Faerie Macabre +1 Path to Exile +3 Spell Pierce
-3 Rhox War Monk -3 Spellstutter Sprite -1 Swords to Plowshares

G2: This game goes on for AGES. The 1/2 final of the other bracket even finishes before we complete this game. I have an early Goyf but decline to FoW his one in fear of Dreams, Burning Wish etc. So the both green guys keep starring at each other for a long time while he develops his board with Dark Confidant and eventually Knight of the Reliquary. During this game I made the mistake of holding on to my two Forces for much to long beacause one resolved DD would win him the game on the spot. I was WAY to overcacious although I figured he was very likely to leave them in the board after game 1. I manage to buy some time removing two Loams, Worm Harvest (got with Burning Wish) and a countered Chainer's Edict but eventually die to two GIANT Knight of the Reliquary.

G3: This game just goes the way this is meant to be. Drop Survival on turn 2, Vendillion Clique during his draw on turn 3 while Spell Pierce takes care of a second Burning Wish after the first one grabbed Reverrent Silence which killed SotF. Countryside Crusher meets Swords to Plowshares. Two turns later he double blocks Goyf with Goyf+Dark Confidant. I consider not killing the later as he's on just 9 life while I have Clique in play. I decide against it b/c I'm still at comfortable 24 life and am holding double Force + Vendillion Clique with five lands in play. He keeps cycling and loaming but doesn't find an answer so Clique seals the deal.


1/2 Finals: NO Elves: he scoops b/c I want to go to Madrid.

Split in the finals with Canadian Threshold


Right now my head is aching like crazy as I had to travel almost 400km and only caught 3 hours of sleep before the tournament. I'm sorry if my report shows any errors but it's 2am right now and I'm only longing for my bed now... ;-)

See you in Madrid!

[beastman]

Why no genesis?

[Jak]

Why no genesis?

It's in the board.

[beastman]

Missed that. Congratulations on the performance by the way/

[from Cairo]

How'd you feel on the three Spellstutter Sprites?

The Sprites weren't mentioned much in the report other than that they are good against Dreadstill; which I agree they are, but that deck doesn't seem like much of a contender post-Pridemage anyway. In general, they seem nice at countering spot removal, though Kira, Great Glass Spinner has also been suggested to fill that role.

[Rune]

Good job, your list looks good

[jeanbathez]

Congratulations !!!

One question

You played 19 lands, how does it work for you ? I also had the feeling that sometimes 18 aren't enough, most of the time when i have enough mana i win most of time.

[Julian23]

Last tournament I talked to another Bant Survival player and he assured me 19 lands would be the way to go. So I figured I'd give it a try. I will definitly remain at 19 lands as it felt just right enough.

Regarding Spellstutter Sprites..I can see myself removing but I don't see any viable alternative by now. Kira is great against spot removal, I agree but I'd rather have a 3-off with more flexibility.

[Kuma]

It's worth noting that Kira would have won you the game against Lands a lot faster since he could have only untapped one creature with his three Maze of Iths. It might have let you win the match instead of drawing. It's also fantastic against Zoo. You could do a lot worse than running one in the 75.

[Nessaja]

Grats on the finish!

Was this a tournament in the Netherlands? Do you know anywhere where we could find t8 decklists?

[Waikiki]

congratulations glad you liked the deck ;)

[Savo]

Hi and congrats :wink:

How do you feel with spell snare? other options - as you certainly already know - could be maindeck spell pierce or ponder, which is obviously a different card but a common choice in that slot, considered that you already have some permission (fow and spellstutter).

Against whom do you side genesis? I cut it because, with the dead of landstill, it's not really strong vs anyone, and a pair of eternal witness is however a better alternative in any case.

I feel that your sideboard is a little light vs graveyard strategies: crypt number 3 - or even four, considering the ascension of reanimator decks that I feel will be very represented at the GP - could be a good addiction, without cutting faerie macabre of course.

thanks!

[Julian23]

Might as well reply here as well. I feel the same about Jenny as I always kept wondering why I actually put her in the board. She gives you a long-term advantage against any other decks aiming for the late game like Landstill or stuff like Truffle Shuffle. Question is, do we really need this. Not only do we pursue an aggressiv gameplan against those decks with exalted Vendilion Clique beats but we also got a lategame plan in form of Iona that more often than not can come down easily on turn 3 or 4. I felt "safe" having Genesis in the boarding because you might always just encounter some random deck or a guy you are very willing to go in the lategame with because you have trust in your superior skills but that shouldn't be a reason to hang on to a very niche sideboard card. In the GPT I only included her because I felt I didn't put enough thought into it to eventually remove her.

Regarding Spell Snare I have to say I grew to like them more than I used to in this deck. I tinkered around with removing them for Spell Pierce but in the end settled with playing the Snare mainly beacuase its much easier to race when you can counter their 2-drop creature. Besides that, of course, it's much better in the lategame especially against Aggro Loam (although I sided in additional Pierces against them) when you really want to counter Burning Wish because you know they're gonna get some reuseable spell with Dredge, Flashback or Retrace. Unless my meta turns combolicous I will not change this setup of 3 Snare main and 3 Pierces sb. Still I think both is viable and you can't do _much_ wrong here.

Spellstutter Sprites which I really like I'm still not 100% sold on. However I don't see a better alternative that's also a creature. Kira seems fine and I think I was wrong in not at least(!) having her in the sideboard although I don't see her as a replacement for the Spellstutters which provide more flexibility than turning off targeted removal.

I would like to fit Wonder into my sideboard as well because I think it can be really good against decks that like to clog the ground or to enable lethal alpha strikes in Goyf-stalls. Still, I wouldn't cut essential cards like graveyard hate or Krosan Grips for it.

Well and Rafiq...I guess he's gonna be like your ex-girlfriend. At certain points you'll really miss him but realize that you're very likely to be better off without.

/edit: Oh, and yeah, my sb is a little light on graveyard hate. If I could I'd try to change that, but will need another way of recurring my yard-removal if I drop Jenny. I'm considering Jotun Grunt as he fits quite nicely into our aggressive exalted theme. Of course, against Dredge he will usually be worse than Crypt or Faerie.