markbris
05-03-2010, 05:14 PM
Finished 7-1 and lost in the quarterfinals to Belcher. I went in not expecting much at all considering I barely play magic, much less in an arena such as this. I rode over to Atlanta from Birmingham on saturday with Team Laughing Hyena, meeting several of them for the first time, great group of guys. We got in some minor playtesting on saturday night with several of us trying to figure out what to play and making last minute changes.
I had pretty much decided on the mainboard coming in but was iffy on what sb to use. The cards I considered were perish, pyrokinesis, leyline of the void, a 4th bolt, blood moon, mindbreak traps, and pithing needle. I was pretty set on leyline because it covers dredge, reanimator and lands pretty effectively. I was also set on pyrokinesis for the mirror, zoo,merfolk and belcher. I decided to just take a pass on the combo matchup since I didn't think mindbreak would take my % up enough to make it worthwhile. I honestly didn't know though since I have like zero combo playtesting and little playtesting period. So my plan was to just dodge combo and beat up on everything else which worked out pretty well as you will see in my matchups. I finally decided on 3 blood moon to help out lands/landstill and 3 pithing needle for survival/lands/belcher/jitte/ and randomness.
Artifacts
4 Aether Vial
Creatures
2 Gempalm Incinerator
4 Goblin Lackey
4 Goblin Matron
4 Goblin Piledriver
4 Goblin Ringleader
4 Goblin Warchief
3 Siege-gang Commander
1 Stingscourger
2 Warren Instigator
Instants
3 Lightning Bolt
Tribal Sorcerys
3 Warren Weirding
Basic Lands
6 Mountain
Lands
4 Auntie's Hovel
4 Badlands
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Wasteland
Sideboard:
3 Pithing Needle
3 Blood Moon
4 Leyline Of The Void
1 Lightning Bolt
4 Pyrokinesis
I'll probably expound more on my list in the goblins thread later for anyone that cares.
On to the matches:
Round 1: Alice in Chains Fan with Old School Rock/Budget/Jank
Game 1: I mulligan a horrid hand down to six and keep with an aether vial. I drop the vial on the play and he goes llanowar wastes into a dark ritual and a rain of tears where I promptly wtf'ed but whatever. I have one more land and am able to use vial to start getting some creatures into play, i draw into some land, I know he hits me with a hymn to tourach and eventually drops a spiritmonger which I warren weirding away and go in for the win.
Board: Considered boarding blood moons because he doesn't have fetches iirc but has painlands and other budget multicolor lands. Decided I didn't need anything though. He boards in 4 cards from what I saw which I figured were engineered plague.
Game 2: Don't remember much about this game but I never saw plagues and he said he needed a card that at that time I didn't recognize but turned out to be rolling spoil. I think I connected an instigator and rolled him easily.
(1-0, 2-0)
Round 2: Ultimate Walker?
Game 1: Think I play a lackey which eats stp but an instigator connects and I eventually win. I see a ton of nonbasics with mishra's factories etc so I bring in blood moons.
Board: -3 Lightning Bolt, +3 Blood Moon
Game 2: I get off to a slow start and when hes down to 16 I build up a large board which will be threatening lethal when he eot enlightented tutors for moat and drops it. So I resort to the siege gang backup plan. I have one in hand and matron for another but he has stp's and counters though so my plan becomes to vial in a siege gang with 8 land and send 8 to the dome and then again the next turn. I get up to 7 land but can't find the 8th and he drops elspeth along the way and a trygon blows up the vial and i concede.
Board: I think i add in needles now as well for elspeth.
Game 3: We only have about 14-15 mins left in the round so I'm in in good shape for a win or a draw I feel like. I keep a hand without lackey or vial but have blood moon, ringleader, matron, some lands, something else. The game is uniteresting for a while, I bait out two forces and drop a blood moon midgame when he has like 7 nonbasics, 1 basic island. That pretty much seals it as he doesn't have much of a defense, he has a top out with moat two cards down with lethal on board but can't get it and play it that turn.
(2-0) (4-1)
Round 3: Bant Countertop
Games 1 and 2: Honestly don't remember much here but I roll him fairly easily.
I don't think I boarded here.
(3-0) (6-1)
Round 4: Merfolk with Tarmogoyf
Game 1: I open with lackey on the play, he drops cursecatcher, I drop wasteland and attempt to bolt the catcher, he forces it. I I waste his tropical island and pass. He drops an island but has no other play. I draw and play a second lackey which he forces. I think i get down a vial soon after and he does too, i eventually get ringleaders down and with gempalms/weirdings clear his board out a bit. I eventually win dropping him to 3 and finishing with two siege gang tokens to the dome.
Board: -2 Lackeys, somethin else, +4 Pyrokinesis
Game 2: This was perhaps my favorite game, certainly the most savage beating of the day. He opens cursecatcher, I open a lackey. He goes island, standstill, pass. I look down at the gempalm incinerator in my hand, incinerate the cursecatcher, drop a ringleader off the lackey, he passes thru his turn, I wasteland his land dropping him to one island the next turn, swing in some more, game ends with a bunch of goblins in play and him with an island and standstill.
(4-0) (8-1)
Round 5: Zoo
Game 1: I keep a slow hand with a vial not knowing what hes playing, big mistake. He leads nacatl, follows with pridemage, then another nacatcl and loam lion I think. He beats my head in as i struggle to slow him down.
Board: -2 Instigators, -2 Lackeys, -1 Gempalm, +4 pyrokinesis, +1 Bolt
Game 2: I keep a slowish hand again but I have some creature kill this time. I'm able to stabilize on low life and turn it around with ringleaders and then two siege gangs.
Game 3: I keep a hand with two pyrokinesis but slowish otherwise. I again struggle against his early beats, making a horrendous play mistake where I could have wasted his only forest and killed two loam lions with kinesis instead of the mountain I played and just the one I killed. I eventually get the ringleaders rolling with piledrivers/warchiefs and drop him from 18 to like 7 or so on one attack. I'm down to 5 and hes got a tarmogoyf, one card in hand and luckily he doesnt have a burn in hand and draw one and I swing in next turn for the win. Really close game.
(5-0) (10-2)
Round 6: David Mayer with ANT (eventual champion)
Game 1: Davids a nice guy and we chat a bit before the game. I don't know what hes playing though which was the situation all day. I think we both mulligan at least once, I keep a hand with a lackey and wasteland. Evidently he keeps a one land ponder hand and im able to wasteland him and buy some time. I start playing piledrivers and he finds a chrome mox but no other land. I swing in with 3 piledrivers, lackey, matron for alot of damage and steal game 1.
Board : -3 Weirding, +3 Needle
Game 2: I think I mulligan and find a needle but he doesn't play a top and he goes off like 2nd or 3rd turn. Had to have a judge came over, he has a LED in play and plays adnausem. He draws up all his cards in a big pile on the table next to the LED or half on top of it I don't know. Evidently, he picks up the LED accidentally with the pile of drawn cards, two spectators see this, (I did not), and one grabs a judge. Judge sorts it out, David gets a warning and he goes off easily. He didn't need the LED so I'm sure it was an honest mistake, I should pay more attention though.
Board: I think I bring in leylines now too just for IGG but I don't know how many or what I took out.
Game 3: I get a reasonably fast hand and I guess he just has a slow hand again. I have lethal for next turn and he says he needs one of 21 outs, a mana source, on the draw to win. He draws a brainstorm and I'm ecstatic to steal a match against storm.
(6-0) (12-3)
At this point I was hoping to draw in, and from what I had learned it seemed reasonable that I could. I get paired against Gerry Thompson though and hes worried about his tiebreakers. So he elects to play it out, weak. I can't fault him though and he clearly knows the strategy in this area.
Round 7: Gerry Thompson(eventual 2nd place) with Reanimator
Game 1: I think I actually know what hes playing here and mulligan aggressively the first game for some speed/weirdings. I go to five but find a weirding and lackey I think. Hes on the play though and careful studies iona and somethin else into the yard. I drop the lackey and pass. He exhumes the iona second turn picking red. I think I wait one turn to play around daze, and drop weirding, he has the force though and thats game pretty much.
Board: -3 Bolts, -1 somethin, +4 Leyline
Game 2: I again mulligan aggressively not finding a leyline or speed in the first hand, 6 has leyline and weirding but no land, weak. I go to 5 and find a leyline and a workable hand. I get leyline down and have ringleader and instigator in hand but he thoughtseizes the instigator. He eventually wipes away the leyline and when I play it the next turn he entombs iona in response. He exhumes next turn and gets iona naming red, i get instigator back. I top deck a warren weirding but hes got the force. I actually make a mistake and don't realize he has minamo and try to swing back the instigator when he swings the iona. He untaps iona and kills the instigator. I was boned anyways though so whatever. Iona crushes my dreams.
(6-1) (12-5)
So now I'm trying to figure out whether its possible to draw in still and such. I'm 5th in the standings going into the last round with good tie breakers, but from what I can tell I'm not guaranteed to get in. I know I'd be super depressed if I drew and somehow didn't make it in and I came to play magic so I figured screw it and decided to play it out.
Round 8: Michael Strunk with Rbg Goblins
When I get to the table Michael says he's in 6th and believes strongly we can both get in with a draw. I tell him what I'm thinking though and though hes clearly unhappy we sit down to play it out. I wasn't aware what he was playing but I was just hoping it was a decent matchup for me.
Game 1: I think I mulligan to find an aggro hand and find lackey on six with a stingscourger, he keeps. He goes taiga vial pass. I sigh relief as I didn't have an out to a first turn lackey, second turn gempalm/stingscourger from him. I drop my lackey and pass. He goes piledriver pass. I stingscourger his piledriver and drop a matron on the lackey for gempalm maybe? He plays warchief and passes. I gempalm him and go for the win pretty easily from there I think.
Board: -3 Weirding, -2 Instigator, +4 Pyrokinesis, +1 Bolt
Game 2: I remember less about the early portion of this game, I think I gain an advantage though again and beat a bit early before he slows me down with a gempalm and blockers. I don't have a ringleader and he does and starts to gain an advantage, I topdeck two siegegang's in a row with warchief in play though and he can't recover.
(7-1) (14-5) and into the Top 8
Quarterfinals: Christian Valenti with Belcher
Game 1: Not the matchup I wanted, when there was zoo and new horizons in the Top 8. Even reanimator would probably had been better. At least I have some belcher hate.I knew he was on belcher and I think I mulliganed to 5 and found lackey/wasteland. I lead lackey first turn and he land grants for bayou and plays out a belcher. I drop wasteland and waste the bayou and swing with the lackey dropping matron and getting a warchief. I don't remember exactly why I got warchief but I either had a piledriver in hand or something. He gets a spirit guide into manamorphose though which draws his 2nd land and he belchers for max damage.
Board: -4 vials, -3 Weirdings, -1 something , +4 Kinesis, +3 Needle, +1 bolt
Game 2: He mulligans to 6, I think i have all land the first draw, go to 6 and can't find hate or gas so I go to five with a lackey and other stuff. I lead lackey but he goes first turn empty the warrens for 12 tokens. I topdeck a pyrokinesis with piledriver and ringleader in hand and play a 2nd land. I think over what to pitch and realize later this is an easy decision. My thinking at the time was that I could pyro pitching the piledriver, then get in with the lackey next turn and ringlead into gas.
But I failed to take into consideration my opponent wasn't dumb enough to swing all the goblins. I also could have waited till his turn and pyro'ed two attackers and the two blockers and gotten in with the lackey as well. Or just played the piledriver to help block and pryo'ed four attackers. I took the worst option, He beats me down and I find a second pyrokinesis and get 4 more tokens and it looks like I can stabilize at 2 life. He draws a belcher though and belches me for the win. So I doubt I could have pulled it out even with the correct plays but I never said I played well anyways so its all good.
(7-2) (14-7)
Final Thoughts: I was really happy with the mainboard list, I wouldn't change a thing. The sideboard I would have rather have had 4 mindbreak trap and -3 needle -1 bolt instead to give me a chance to steal games against combo with a clock and wastelands. My plan was to essentially luckbox it though and as you can tell from my matchups thats exactly what I did. All in all I was able to pay for the trip and I had a great time. Considering my lack of experience and playtesting I was overjoyed to do what I did.
Props:
-Team Laughing Hyena- Brian, Jason, Jonathan, Chase,Leif for being a blast to hang out and playtest with
-Chase, for chauffeuring us around town and to and from Birmingham
-Goblins, for being super consistent and powerful
-Leif, for being my go to for legacy knowledge/tourney strategy and for his badlands
-My opponents, for being very friendly and fun to play with all day
Slops:
-Pithing Needle, for being worthless all day and not showing up against belcher
I had pretty much decided on the mainboard coming in but was iffy on what sb to use. The cards I considered were perish, pyrokinesis, leyline of the void, a 4th bolt, blood moon, mindbreak traps, and pithing needle. I was pretty set on leyline because it covers dredge, reanimator and lands pretty effectively. I was also set on pyrokinesis for the mirror, zoo,merfolk and belcher. I decided to just take a pass on the combo matchup since I didn't think mindbreak would take my % up enough to make it worthwhile. I honestly didn't know though since I have like zero combo playtesting and little playtesting period. So my plan was to just dodge combo and beat up on everything else which worked out pretty well as you will see in my matchups. I finally decided on 3 blood moon to help out lands/landstill and 3 pithing needle for survival/lands/belcher/jitte/ and randomness.
Artifacts
4 Aether Vial
Creatures
2 Gempalm Incinerator
4 Goblin Lackey
4 Goblin Matron
4 Goblin Piledriver
4 Goblin Ringleader
4 Goblin Warchief
3 Siege-gang Commander
1 Stingscourger
2 Warren Instigator
Instants
3 Lightning Bolt
Tribal Sorcerys
3 Warren Weirding
Basic Lands
6 Mountain
Lands
4 Auntie's Hovel
4 Badlands
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Wasteland
Sideboard:
3 Pithing Needle
3 Blood Moon
4 Leyline Of The Void
1 Lightning Bolt
4 Pyrokinesis
I'll probably expound more on my list in the goblins thread later for anyone that cares.
On to the matches:
Round 1: Alice in Chains Fan with Old School Rock/Budget/Jank
Game 1: I mulligan a horrid hand down to six and keep with an aether vial. I drop the vial on the play and he goes llanowar wastes into a dark ritual and a rain of tears where I promptly wtf'ed but whatever. I have one more land and am able to use vial to start getting some creatures into play, i draw into some land, I know he hits me with a hymn to tourach and eventually drops a spiritmonger which I warren weirding away and go in for the win.
Board: Considered boarding blood moons because he doesn't have fetches iirc but has painlands and other budget multicolor lands. Decided I didn't need anything though. He boards in 4 cards from what I saw which I figured were engineered plague.
Game 2: Don't remember much about this game but I never saw plagues and he said he needed a card that at that time I didn't recognize but turned out to be rolling spoil. I think I connected an instigator and rolled him easily.
(1-0, 2-0)
Round 2: Ultimate Walker?
Game 1: Think I play a lackey which eats stp but an instigator connects and I eventually win. I see a ton of nonbasics with mishra's factories etc so I bring in blood moons.
Board: -3 Lightning Bolt, +3 Blood Moon
Game 2: I get off to a slow start and when hes down to 16 I build up a large board which will be threatening lethal when he eot enlightented tutors for moat and drops it. So I resort to the siege gang backup plan. I have one in hand and matron for another but he has stp's and counters though so my plan becomes to vial in a siege gang with 8 land and send 8 to the dome and then again the next turn. I get up to 7 land but can't find the 8th and he drops elspeth along the way and a trygon blows up the vial and i concede.
Board: I think i add in needles now as well for elspeth.
Game 3: We only have about 14-15 mins left in the round so I'm in in good shape for a win or a draw I feel like. I keep a hand without lackey or vial but have blood moon, ringleader, matron, some lands, something else. The game is uniteresting for a while, I bait out two forces and drop a blood moon midgame when he has like 7 nonbasics, 1 basic island. That pretty much seals it as he doesn't have much of a defense, he has a top out with moat two cards down with lethal on board but can't get it and play it that turn.
(2-0) (4-1)
Round 3: Bant Countertop
Games 1 and 2: Honestly don't remember much here but I roll him fairly easily.
I don't think I boarded here.
(3-0) (6-1)
Round 4: Merfolk with Tarmogoyf
Game 1: I open with lackey on the play, he drops cursecatcher, I drop wasteland and attempt to bolt the catcher, he forces it. I I waste his tropical island and pass. He drops an island but has no other play. I draw and play a second lackey which he forces. I think i get down a vial soon after and he does too, i eventually get ringleaders down and with gempalms/weirdings clear his board out a bit. I eventually win dropping him to 3 and finishing with two siege gang tokens to the dome.
Board: -2 Lackeys, somethin else, +4 Pyrokinesis
Game 2: This was perhaps my favorite game, certainly the most savage beating of the day. He opens cursecatcher, I open a lackey. He goes island, standstill, pass. I look down at the gempalm incinerator in my hand, incinerate the cursecatcher, drop a ringleader off the lackey, he passes thru his turn, I wasteland his land dropping him to one island the next turn, swing in some more, game ends with a bunch of goblins in play and him with an island and standstill.
(4-0) (8-1)
Round 5: Zoo
Game 1: I keep a slow hand with a vial not knowing what hes playing, big mistake. He leads nacatl, follows with pridemage, then another nacatcl and loam lion I think. He beats my head in as i struggle to slow him down.
Board: -2 Instigators, -2 Lackeys, -1 Gempalm, +4 pyrokinesis, +1 Bolt
Game 2: I keep a slowish hand again but I have some creature kill this time. I'm able to stabilize on low life and turn it around with ringleaders and then two siege gangs.
Game 3: I keep a hand with two pyrokinesis but slowish otherwise. I again struggle against his early beats, making a horrendous play mistake where I could have wasted his only forest and killed two loam lions with kinesis instead of the mountain I played and just the one I killed. I eventually get the ringleaders rolling with piledrivers/warchiefs and drop him from 18 to like 7 or so on one attack. I'm down to 5 and hes got a tarmogoyf, one card in hand and luckily he doesnt have a burn in hand and draw one and I swing in next turn for the win. Really close game.
(5-0) (10-2)
Round 6: David Mayer with ANT (eventual champion)
Game 1: Davids a nice guy and we chat a bit before the game. I don't know what hes playing though which was the situation all day. I think we both mulligan at least once, I keep a hand with a lackey and wasteland. Evidently he keeps a one land ponder hand and im able to wasteland him and buy some time. I start playing piledrivers and he finds a chrome mox but no other land. I swing in with 3 piledrivers, lackey, matron for alot of damage and steal game 1.
Board : -3 Weirding, +3 Needle
Game 2: I think I mulligan and find a needle but he doesn't play a top and he goes off like 2nd or 3rd turn. Had to have a judge came over, he has a LED in play and plays adnausem. He draws up all his cards in a big pile on the table next to the LED or half on top of it I don't know. Evidently, he picks up the LED accidentally with the pile of drawn cards, two spectators see this, (I did not), and one grabs a judge. Judge sorts it out, David gets a warning and he goes off easily. He didn't need the LED so I'm sure it was an honest mistake, I should pay more attention though.
Board: I think I bring in leylines now too just for IGG but I don't know how many or what I took out.
Game 3: I get a reasonably fast hand and I guess he just has a slow hand again. I have lethal for next turn and he says he needs one of 21 outs, a mana source, on the draw to win. He draws a brainstorm and I'm ecstatic to steal a match against storm.
(6-0) (12-3)
At this point I was hoping to draw in, and from what I had learned it seemed reasonable that I could. I get paired against Gerry Thompson though and hes worried about his tiebreakers. So he elects to play it out, weak. I can't fault him though and he clearly knows the strategy in this area.
Round 7: Gerry Thompson(eventual 2nd place) with Reanimator
Game 1: I think I actually know what hes playing here and mulligan aggressively the first game for some speed/weirdings. I go to five but find a weirding and lackey I think. Hes on the play though and careful studies iona and somethin else into the yard. I drop the lackey and pass. He exhumes the iona second turn picking red. I think I wait one turn to play around daze, and drop weirding, he has the force though and thats game pretty much.
Board: -3 Bolts, -1 somethin, +4 Leyline
Game 2: I again mulligan aggressively not finding a leyline or speed in the first hand, 6 has leyline and weirding but no land, weak. I go to 5 and find a leyline and a workable hand. I get leyline down and have ringleader and instigator in hand but he thoughtseizes the instigator. He eventually wipes away the leyline and when I play it the next turn he entombs iona in response. He exhumes next turn and gets iona naming red, i get instigator back. I top deck a warren weirding but hes got the force. I actually make a mistake and don't realize he has minamo and try to swing back the instigator when he swings the iona. He untaps iona and kills the instigator. I was boned anyways though so whatever. Iona crushes my dreams.
(6-1) (12-5)
So now I'm trying to figure out whether its possible to draw in still and such. I'm 5th in the standings going into the last round with good tie breakers, but from what I can tell I'm not guaranteed to get in. I know I'd be super depressed if I drew and somehow didn't make it in and I came to play magic so I figured screw it and decided to play it out.
Round 8: Michael Strunk with Rbg Goblins
When I get to the table Michael says he's in 6th and believes strongly we can both get in with a draw. I tell him what I'm thinking though and though hes clearly unhappy we sit down to play it out. I wasn't aware what he was playing but I was just hoping it was a decent matchup for me.
Game 1: I think I mulligan to find an aggro hand and find lackey on six with a stingscourger, he keeps. He goes taiga vial pass. I sigh relief as I didn't have an out to a first turn lackey, second turn gempalm/stingscourger from him. I drop my lackey and pass. He goes piledriver pass. I stingscourger his piledriver and drop a matron on the lackey for gempalm maybe? He plays warchief and passes. I gempalm him and go for the win pretty easily from there I think.
Board: -3 Weirding, -2 Instigator, +4 Pyrokinesis, +1 Bolt
Game 2: I remember less about the early portion of this game, I think I gain an advantage though again and beat a bit early before he slows me down with a gempalm and blockers. I don't have a ringleader and he does and starts to gain an advantage, I topdeck two siegegang's in a row with warchief in play though and he can't recover.
(7-1) (14-5) and into the Top 8
Quarterfinals: Christian Valenti with Belcher
Game 1: Not the matchup I wanted, when there was zoo and new horizons in the Top 8. Even reanimator would probably had been better. At least I have some belcher hate.I knew he was on belcher and I think I mulliganed to 5 and found lackey/wasteland. I lead lackey first turn and he land grants for bayou and plays out a belcher. I drop wasteland and waste the bayou and swing with the lackey dropping matron and getting a warchief. I don't remember exactly why I got warchief but I either had a piledriver in hand or something. He gets a spirit guide into manamorphose though which draws his 2nd land and he belchers for max damage.
Board: -4 vials, -3 Weirdings, -1 something , +4 Kinesis, +3 Needle, +1 bolt
Game 2: He mulligans to 6, I think i have all land the first draw, go to 6 and can't find hate or gas so I go to five with a lackey and other stuff. I lead lackey but he goes first turn empty the warrens for 12 tokens. I topdeck a pyrokinesis with piledriver and ringleader in hand and play a 2nd land. I think over what to pitch and realize later this is an easy decision. My thinking at the time was that I could pyro pitching the piledriver, then get in with the lackey next turn and ringlead into gas.
But I failed to take into consideration my opponent wasn't dumb enough to swing all the goblins. I also could have waited till his turn and pyro'ed two attackers and the two blockers and gotten in with the lackey as well. Or just played the piledriver to help block and pryo'ed four attackers. I took the worst option, He beats me down and I find a second pyrokinesis and get 4 more tokens and it looks like I can stabilize at 2 life. He draws a belcher though and belches me for the win. So I doubt I could have pulled it out even with the correct plays but I never said I played well anyways so its all good.
(7-2) (14-7)
Final Thoughts: I was really happy with the mainboard list, I wouldn't change a thing. The sideboard I would have rather have had 4 mindbreak trap and -3 needle -1 bolt instead to give me a chance to steal games against combo with a clock and wastelands. My plan was to essentially luckbox it though and as you can tell from my matchups thats exactly what I did. All in all I was able to pay for the trip and I had a great time. Considering my lack of experience and playtesting I was overjoyed to do what I did.
Props:
-Team Laughing Hyena- Brian, Jason, Jonathan, Chase,Leif for being a blast to hang out and playtest with
-Chase, for chauffeuring us around town and to and from Birmingham
-Goblins, for being super consistent and powerful
-Leif, for being my go to for legacy knowledge/tourney strategy and for his badlands
-My opponents, for being very friendly and fun to play with all day
Slops:
-Pithing Needle, for being worthless all day and not showing up against belcher