[Report]Tempo Bant at Haßloch - 3rd

[paK0]

So, a friend asked me weather we should pay Haßloch's montly event a visit. Since I have never been there I made sure I was free that day and we drove with 4 people.

I was going to play Hannis latest Countertop list, but since my testing session wasn't exactly promising I settled on New Horizons. Saturday I stubled across the article of Doug Linn. I've read it before, but I never actually considered the deck. I looked up the thread and started my late night testing session.....which took about 40 minutes (1 MWS game and drawing 1 opening 7 irl).

Sunday I collected the other guys and they were asleep during the drive, so it was a rather...quiet one. We arrived and 56 people showed up, which was a lot more than I expected. 6 rounds of Swiss to go.

[PCA]C.C
Sebastian Freund

// Lands
2 [ON] Flooded Strand
2 [ZEN] Misty Rainforest
2 [ON] Windswept Heath
3 [A] Tundra
3 [B] Tropical Island
1 [CHK] Island (3)
1 [CHK] Plains (2)
1 [TSP] Forest (4)
4 [TE] Wasteland

// Creatures
4 [CFX] Noble Hierarch
4 [ARB] Qasali Pridemage
4 [FUT] Tarmogoyf
2 [CFX] Knight of the Reliquary
2 [MOR] Vendilion Clique
2 [ALA] Rhox War Monk

// Spells
4 [AL] Force of Will
4 [5E] Brainstorm
4 [M10] Ponder
4 [R] Swords to Plowshares
4 [NE] Daze
3 [ZEN] Spell Pierce

// Sideboard
SB: 2 [TSP] Krosan Grip
SB: 4 [CFX] Path to Exile
SB: 2 [M10] Pithing Needle
SB: 2 [FD] Engineered Explosives
SB: 2 [SHM] Faerie Macabre
SB: 3 [DK] Tormod's Crypt


Round 1: Andreas Lorenz, Canadian *****
G1: He wins the roll and we both take a mulligan. His only action is a Goyf, which promptly eats a Sword. I waste his Trop, so he is stuck on a single Volcanic and a Knight cleans up.

-4 Swords to Plowshares
+2 Path to exile +2 Explosives

G2: He has a lot of Lands (as well as 2 Wastelands), but a Hierarch and 2 basics give me a rather relaxed game. I Path his only Goyf, and my own eats his mongeese alive.
2-0 1-0

Round 2: Daniel Quanz, Aluren
One of the nicest fellas I have ever played.
G1: He wins the roll and takes a mulligan, while I keep my opening seven. A Clique puts him on a clock, and counterbackup seals the deal. (He was seated next to me round 1, so I knew what he was on)

+4 Pte +2 Grip
-4 Swords -2 RWM

G2:He has 2 Aluren, I have my 2 Grips and again Clique delivers the beats.
4-0 2-0

After this round we have lunch. And we are talking about a real lunch here, no shabby Sandwiches but dead Animals + French Fries. Playing at a location that serves food certainly has its merits(not being allowed to bring your own drinks sucks, but you can't have everything I guess).

Round 3: Christopher Wilhelm, 43 Land Blue
G1: This time I win the roll. He starts with Exploration, but I have the Force ready. He double Ports me every turn, but Hierarch enables me to play a Pridemage and later a Knight. I keep him off his Intuitions and when Loam shows up he is too low on life to fight back.

+3 Crypt +2 Macabre +2 Pithing Needle
-4 Daze -3 Spell Pierce

G2: Double Wasteland and Ghost Quarter slow me down, but my Cantrips dig up enough Land to keep going. Again Hierarch enables me to play some Critters. This time he has the Loam earlier, but I removed a lot troublesome stuff via Crypt. Eventually he Intuitions for Manabond, but Knight digs up the Wasteland for his Chasm and I smash through for lethal.
6-0 3-0

Round 4: Martin Seichter, Imperial Painter
G1: The dice favour him and we bothh mull. His start is a little slow, so I waste no time dropping a Goyf. I Pierce his Bloodmoon and send his Magus farming, but the 2nd Bloodmoon sticks.The time bought was enough though and Goyf finishes him off.

-4 Daze -2 Clique
+4 Pte +2 Grip

G2: He double mulls and keeps 5 with 3 Mana sources (1 Mox). I drop a RWM and have a counter for every relevant spell.
8-0 4-0


Round 5: Eric Wildner, Survival Elves
G1: I win the roll and we both take a mull. We both have little interaction, so it comes down to a race. In my last attack step I end up 1 damage short.

-4 Daze
+4 Pte

G2: He double mulls, but resolves Natural Order on turn 4 or so, so there is nothing left than to extend my hand
8-2 4-1

Round 6: Fabian Moyschewitz, Countertop
G1: I ask him for a draw but he declines. He wins the roll and we get deckchecked. I ship back my opening hand and keep an awesome 6. I waste his first 2 Trops, but he peels a Rainforest of the Top. He festches for another Trop and plays Hierarch. I have the Swords ready. He play Hierarch 2 and my Ponder digs up another Swords. After that I just counter his cantrips and play some dorks who win the game eventually.

-4 Ponder
+2 Needle +2 Grip

G2: Another uneventfull game. I wate his Trop, so he is stuck on a Tundra. Again my counters go towards his cantrips while my creatures get there.
10-2 5-1


I end up 3rd which nets me a nm Bayou

Props:
+mossivo1986 for the decklist
+The deck for being awesome
+Me for Topdecking like a pro
+The guys at the tournament, most of them were friendly and it was pleasant to be there

Slops:
-Having to drive while the others decide that beer is a good way to finish the day.

[klaus]

Gratz on your finish.

I'm pretty positive 4 Stifles should be included in that list, making Daze and Pierce better as well as Wasteland and Knight.
The inclusion would also free up 2 valuable SB slots (Needle)
This is what it'd consider:
+4 Stifle
-3 Ponder
-1 Pridemage
also -1 Wasteland +1 Rainforest could be an option, since cutting Ponders will slightly weaken your mana supply.

Just my 2 Pence

[miko]

I agree with adding Stifle.

[paK0]

I think the explanation why Stifle is missing is somewhere in the first posts of the decks thread:
http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/showthread.php?17600-W_Tempo_Threshhold

[Hitman82]

I'm glad you like the deck. I didn't include Stifle because it's situational and often not even a tempo play. What determines whether a card is tempo-oriented is how you use it, not how most people lable it. If your opponent opens with a non-fetchland and you held your mana up to potentially Stifle a fetchland, you've actually lost a ton of tempo unless your opponent didn't do anything. At most any other part of a game, the opportunity cost of having Stifle in hand instead of a less situational card is too great unless your opponent is already starved for mana in which case it would simply be better to apply pressure before they stabilize.

On top of that, there's no room in the deck to play it. Every other spell is better and more universally relevant. The point of interactive cards isn't to lock out an opponent, usually. They're in the deck to just keep you ahead of your opponent so they're always on the backfoot and have to make unfavorable plays with low expectation.