xTrainx
04-17-2010, 07:23 PM
So, for most of the week I had thought that I wasn't going to be going to this one, as I was planning on going to the RotE prerelease with my little brother, but he decided not to go, so I got up, got in the car, and left.
I hadn't played this deck, or serious magic at all in about two weeks, so I was kind of rusty...as proven a couple times.
Playing my Budget ANT Deck, and was lent two extra Moxes before the tournament, so the list looked like this:
My List:
The Kill
2 Ad Nauseam
2 Tendrils of Agony
1 Empty the Warrens
Protection
3 Silence
4 Duress
1 Chain of Vapor
Search
3 Ponder
4 Mystical Tutor
4 Chromatic Star
Accel
4 Dark Ritual
4 Cabal Ritual
4 Lotus Petal
3 Rite of Flame
3 Chrome Mox
Land
4 Gemstone Mine
3 City of Brass
4 Ancient Spring
4 Sulfur Vent
2 Swamp
1 Crumbling Necropolis
1 Blood Crypt
Sideboard:
3 Carpet of Flowers
2 Tormod's Crypt
1 Krosan Grip
1 Sadistic Sacrament
3 Hydroblast
2 Grapeshot
2 -cant remember, but not important-
1 Chain of Vapor[/cards]
Round One: Me vs Mike Kwong - MUC
So before this round I was just asking around what deck he was probably playing, and I got this: "Well...he kinda has three decks. Mono Black Control, Mono Blue Control, and White/Black Control(maybe D&T?)."
Game 1:
I lose the die roll, and then he plays an Island first turn. I mentally swear, and slide him over onto MUC. My fears are proven when he drops Ancestral Vision. My hand consists of sac-lands, a Cabal Ritual, a Dark Ritual, a Mystical Tutor, and a Tendrils of Agony.
I rip a Duress off the top, and fire away. According to my notes, he had a Powder Keg and two Spell Snares - the rest were irrelevant. I Mystical Tutor the next turn for another Tendrils(for double Tendrils).
My next draw is(obviously) another Tendrils. After doing some math, I'm a card short in terms of storm. I pass the turn.
His Ancestral is down to 1 counter, and I draw a Lotus Petal. I drop mana producers, but when I go to play both Tendrils, I come out two mana short. I think it was me trying to play around the Spell Snare and into it at the same time(I was going to play Cabal Ritual to force him to add to my storm), and I end up fizzling. This is the error of being rusty. It's downhill from there. My other mistake was that I should have grabbed ADN with the Tutor. Bleargh.
Game 2: He refuses to let me Duress him, Spell Piercing and then Forcing the next one. With no information, I decide not to go off(he was leaving two mana open each turn, obviously for a Counterspell). Then he Fact of Fictions into a Force and a Counterspell, and its all downhill from there. I get beaten to death by a Vendilion Clique and Mishra's Factories.
0-1-0
Round Two: Me vs Zach, who tells me he's doing some Homebrew thing.
Game 1: I draw up, and am holding a turn three kill in my hand. Tutor + Rituals, Silence, and sac-lands. I keep, and he wins the roll and plays first. He plays a plains, and I drop Ancient Spring. He plays another plains, and does Rest for the Weary. WTF? It was semi-annoying, because it mean that I had to storm up farther. I play another Spring, and pass. He plays Sunbeam Spellbomb(O.o), and passes. End of turn, I tutor into ADN. I Silence him, to stop more lifegain shenanigans, and then ADN and go nuts.
Game 2: Pretty much the same story as game 1, just without the lifegain shit.
1-1-0
Round Three:Me vs Joey, who I discover is playing a suboptimal Elf Aggro deck.
Game 1: He leads with Birchlore Rangers, and I groan, thinking that he's playing combo elves. I play Sulfur Vent, and pass the turn. He does Llanowar Elves, and hits with Birchlore. I Duress him, trying to get rid of the Glimpse, and find two Joraga Warcallers and a Wierd Harvest. I take the Harvest, play an Ancient Spring, and pass the turn. He does little hits again, and passes. I draw, play a land and pass, and end up taking some more damage. End of turn, I tutor into ADN, and on my turn cast and resolve it. I flip: 4x Chromatic Star, Tendrils of Agony, 3x Chrome Mox, Ponder, and Ad Nauseam. What. The. Fuck. I did some stuff with the Moxes and the Stars for cards/mana fixing, and I dunno. My notes say: got there. I suppose that's what happened.
Game 2: Pretty much the same thing, but with a more typical ADN. I take the game.
2-1-0
Round Four: Me vs Jacob, who's playing Merfolk
Before the game, he laughs, saying his whole sideboard is completely anti combo. I scoff, and we start to play.
Game 1: I mulligan, and get a hand consisting of sac-lands, Silence, and Rituals. I draw a Duress, and play a sac land. His turn: Wasteland. I play another sac-land. His turn: Wasteland. I play another sac-land. His turn: Wasteland. WTF. My Gemstone Mine gets through, and I Duress him, seeing a Daze and two Stifles. With my Silence I wasn't worried about the Stifles, so I take the Daze. He plays Silvergill Adept, and I draw a land. He plays Silvergill Adept. I draw a Rite of Flame. He plays Merfolk Sovereign. I draw Dark Ritual. At this point, I'm at six with lethal on the table. I stare at my hand, and then calmly lay down Silence. He glares at his hand, and lets it resolve. I Petal, Petal, Mox, Rite of Flame, Rite of Flame, fizzle. All with a completely straight face. He stares for a moment, and then laughs.
Game 2: Draw into my hand: ADN, Rituals, the works. Minus one thing. Protection. I decide to keep, and play a land. He leads with Vial. Shit. I draw a land, and play it. He adds a counter to Vial, and plays Chalice of the Void @ 1. I stare for a moment, confused, and he starts to laugh saying: "I told you I wasn't going to let combo beat me today." I play some lands, and the Duress and the Silence that I end up drawing are nullified. He beats, and beats, and when I'm at 12, I decide to go for the ADN with Cabal Rituals and sac lands. He Forces, obviously. I die.
2-2
At this point I contemplate dropping, and decide to play just in case my tiebreakers get there.
Round 5: Me vs Terry, who's playing MUD. FSK.
Game 1: I win the roll, but we both mulligan. He mulligans again. He leads with Mishra's Factory, and I lead with a sac land. I draw, and get nothing. No Ritual, no land, no nothing. I am holding ADN, but with just a sac land and a Dark Rit, I'm one mana short. He draws, and passes. Good. I draw, and get a land. But its a CiPT one, so I lay it and end the turn. He draws, gets an Ancient Tomb, and lays Sphere of Resistance. Balls. He lays a Thorn of Amethyst the next turn, as I couldn't do anything(ADN with no mana left with a Sphere on the board is a bad idea). More balls. We play back and forth for a while, and I end up amassing quite a few lands, and then he plays Metalworker. At the end of his turn, I use a couple sac lands, and play ADN. Resolve down to one life, and then pick up the cards. On my turn, I untap, add all the mana that I can, and Chain of Vapor his Thorn. Now my Rituals can at least net mana. I drop stuff, drop stuff, and use some Lotus Petals(which cost one), to add storm, and end up with just enough storm to Tendrils him.
Game 2: He lays Sphere turn one. I play a land. He says Thorn of Amethyst. I play a land. He says City of Traitors, and plays Metalworker. I play a land. He plays Lodestone Golem. I pass. He plays Sundering Titan. I draw, and scoop.
Game 3: He lays a Wasteland turn one, and Wastes my sac land. I'm holding a Grip in my hand, so I'm feeling pretty good. He Wastes my next land too, and I pass the turn with my next land. He plays City of Traitors into Thorn of Amethyst, and passes. I can't get a fourth land, so I'm stuck with one land on the board(City of Brass). He plays Ancient Tomb(obviously a topdeck), and chucks his City of Traitors. I get a land! He then plays a Mishra's Factory, and passes. I draw a Chain of Vapor, think, and pass the turn. He plays Metalworker. I draw another CiPT land, and am forced to Chain of Vapor his Metalworker(all I needed was an ADN or a Tutor in order to go off, laying it on the topdeck). He draws, replays his Metalworker, and passes the turn. I draw, and get a Lotus Petal. I pass the turn, and he draws. He goes: Lodestone Golem, Lodestone Golem, Sphere of Resistance. I stare at the board, at my hand, and scoop the game. I flip my next card: Mystical Tutor - why oh why didn't it come earlier.
2-3-0
I had fun for the most part, but I'm a little sadface about losing my entry fee, but oh well. Its one tournament.
Major slop to the tournament: Playing my two worst matchups(MUC and MUD), then the Merfolk deck with the nuts sideboard.
Definately a great place, nice people, so on and so forth. Fun times.
I hadn't played this deck, or serious magic at all in about two weeks, so I was kind of rusty...as proven a couple times.
Playing my Budget ANT Deck, and was lent two extra Moxes before the tournament, so the list looked like this:
My List:
The Kill
2 Ad Nauseam
2 Tendrils of Agony
1 Empty the Warrens
Protection
3 Silence
4 Duress
1 Chain of Vapor
Search
3 Ponder
4 Mystical Tutor
4 Chromatic Star
Accel
4 Dark Ritual
4 Cabal Ritual
4 Lotus Petal
3 Rite of Flame
3 Chrome Mox
Land
4 Gemstone Mine
3 City of Brass
4 Ancient Spring
4 Sulfur Vent
2 Swamp
1 Crumbling Necropolis
1 Blood Crypt
Sideboard:
3 Carpet of Flowers
2 Tormod's Crypt
1 Krosan Grip
1 Sadistic Sacrament
3 Hydroblast
2 Grapeshot
2 -cant remember, but not important-
1 Chain of Vapor[/cards]
Round One: Me vs Mike Kwong - MUC
So before this round I was just asking around what deck he was probably playing, and I got this: "Well...he kinda has three decks. Mono Black Control, Mono Blue Control, and White/Black Control(maybe D&T?)."
Game 1:
I lose the die roll, and then he plays an Island first turn. I mentally swear, and slide him over onto MUC. My fears are proven when he drops Ancestral Vision. My hand consists of sac-lands, a Cabal Ritual, a Dark Ritual, a Mystical Tutor, and a Tendrils of Agony.
I rip a Duress off the top, and fire away. According to my notes, he had a Powder Keg and two Spell Snares - the rest were irrelevant. I Mystical Tutor the next turn for another Tendrils(for double Tendrils).
My next draw is(obviously) another Tendrils. After doing some math, I'm a card short in terms of storm. I pass the turn.
His Ancestral is down to 1 counter, and I draw a Lotus Petal. I drop mana producers, but when I go to play both Tendrils, I come out two mana short. I think it was me trying to play around the Spell Snare and into it at the same time(I was going to play Cabal Ritual to force him to add to my storm), and I end up fizzling. This is the error of being rusty. It's downhill from there. My other mistake was that I should have grabbed ADN with the Tutor. Bleargh.
Game 2: He refuses to let me Duress him, Spell Piercing and then Forcing the next one. With no information, I decide not to go off(he was leaving two mana open each turn, obviously for a Counterspell). Then he Fact of Fictions into a Force and a Counterspell, and its all downhill from there. I get beaten to death by a Vendilion Clique and Mishra's Factories.
0-1-0
Round Two: Me vs Zach, who tells me he's doing some Homebrew thing.
Game 1: I draw up, and am holding a turn three kill in my hand. Tutor + Rituals, Silence, and sac-lands. I keep, and he wins the roll and plays first. He plays a plains, and I drop Ancient Spring. He plays another plains, and does Rest for the Weary. WTF? It was semi-annoying, because it mean that I had to storm up farther. I play another Spring, and pass. He plays Sunbeam Spellbomb(O.o), and passes. End of turn, I tutor into ADN. I Silence him, to stop more lifegain shenanigans, and then ADN and go nuts.
Game 2: Pretty much the same story as game 1, just without the lifegain shit.
1-1-0
Round Three:Me vs Joey, who I discover is playing a suboptimal Elf Aggro deck.
Game 1: He leads with Birchlore Rangers, and I groan, thinking that he's playing combo elves. I play Sulfur Vent, and pass the turn. He does Llanowar Elves, and hits with Birchlore. I Duress him, trying to get rid of the Glimpse, and find two Joraga Warcallers and a Wierd Harvest. I take the Harvest, play an Ancient Spring, and pass the turn. He does little hits again, and passes. I draw, play a land and pass, and end up taking some more damage. End of turn, I tutor into ADN, and on my turn cast and resolve it. I flip: 4x Chromatic Star, Tendrils of Agony, 3x Chrome Mox, Ponder, and Ad Nauseam. What. The. Fuck. I did some stuff with the Moxes and the Stars for cards/mana fixing, and I dunno. My notes say: got there. I suppose that's what happened.
Game 2: Pretty much the same thing, but with a more typical ADN. I take the game.
2-1-0
Round Four: Me vs Jacob, who's playing Merfolk
Before the game, he laughs, saying his whole sideboard is completely anti combo. I scoff, and we start to play.
Game 1: I mulligan, and get a hand consisting of sac-lands, Silence, and Rituals. I draw a Duress, and play a sac land. His turn: Wasteland. I play another sac-land. His turn: Wasteland. I play another sac-land. His turn: Wasteland. WTF. My Gemstone Mine gets through, and I Duress him, seeing a Daze and two Stifles. With my Silence I wasn't worried about the Stifles, so I take the Daze. He plays Silvergill Adept, and I draw a land. He plays Silvergill Adept. I draw a Rite of Flame. He plays Merfolk Sovereign. I draw Dark Ritual. At this point, I'm at six with lethal on the table. I stare at my hand, and then calmly lay down Silence. He glares at his hand, and lets it resolve. I Petal, Petal, Mox, Rite of Flame, Rite of Flame, fizzle. All with a completely straight face. He stares for a moment, and then laughs.
Game 2: Draw into my hand: ADN, Rituals, the works. Minus one thing. Protection. I decide to keep, and play a land. He leads with Vial. Shit. I draw a land, and play it. He adds a counter to Vial, and plays Chalice of the Void @ 1. I stare for a moment, confused, and he starts to laugh saying: "I told you I wasn't going to let combo beat me today." I play some lands, and the Duress and the Silence that I end up drawing are nullified. He beats, and beats, and when I'm at 12, I decide to go for the ADN with Cabal Rituals and sac lands. He Forces, obviously. I die.
2-2
At this point I contemplate dropping, and decide to play just in case my tiebreakers get there.
Round 5: Me vs Terry, who's playing MUD. FSK.
Game 1: I win the roll, but we both mulligan. He mulligans again. He leads with Mishra's Factory, and I lead with a sac land. I draw, and get nothing. No Ritual, no land, no nothing. I am holding ADN, but with just a sac land and a Dark Rit, I'm one mana short. He draws, and passes. Good. I draw, and get a land. But its a CiPT one, so I lay it and end the turn. He draws, gets an Ancient Tomb, and lays Sphere of Resistance. Balls. He lays a Thorn of Amethyst the next turn, as I couldn't do anything(ADN with no mana left with a Sphere on the board is a bad idea). More balls. We play back and forth for a while, and I end up amassing quite a few lands, and then he plays Metalworker. At the end of his turn, I use a couple sac lands, and play ADN. Resolve down to one life, and then pick up the cards. On my turn, I untap, add all the mana that I can, and Chain of Vapor his Thorn. Now my Rituals can at least net mana. I drop stuff, drop stuff, and use some Lotus Petals(which cost one), to add storm, and end up with just enough storm to Tendrils him.
Game 2: He lays Sphere turn one. I play a land. He says Thorn of Amethyst. I play a land. He says City of Traitors, and plays Metalworker. I play a land. He plays Lodestone Golem. I pass. He plays Sundering Titan. I draw, and scoop.
Game 3: He lays a Wasteland turn one, and Wastes my sac land. I'm holding a Grip in my hand, so I'm feeling pretty good. He Wastes my next land too, and I pass the turn with my next land. He plays City of Traitors into Thorn of Amethyst, and passes. I can't get a fourth land, so I'm stuck with one land on the board(City of Brass). He plays Ancient Tomb(obviously a topdeck), and chucks his City of Traitors. I get a land! He then plays a Mishra's Factory, and passes. I draw a Chain of Vapor, think, and pass the turn. He plays Metalworker. I draw another CiPT land, and am forced to Chain of Vapor his Metalworker(all I needed was an ADN or a Tutor in order to go off, laying it on the topdeck). He draws, replays his Metalworker, and passes the turn. I draw, and get a Lotus Petal. I pass the turn, and he draws. He goes: Lodestone Golem, Lodestone Golem, Sphere of Resistance. I stare at the board, at my hand, and scoop the game. I flip my next card: Mystical Tutor - why oh why didn't it come earlier.
2-3-0
I had fun for the most part, but I'm a little sadface about losing my entry fee, but oh well. Its one tournament.
Major slop to the tournament: Playing my two worst matchups(MUC and MUD), then the Merfolk deck with the nuts sideboard.
Definately a great place, nice people, so on and so forth. Fun times.