jrsthethird
06-28-2010, 07:14 PM
I played in the GPT on Sunday at Jupiter Games, came in 24th out of 67 with a 4-3 record.
Maindeck: (exact David Price list from Philly 5K)
4 Horizon Canopy
4 Windswept Heath
4 Misty Rainforest
3 Tropical Island
3 Tundra
4 Wasteland
1 Forest
4 Knight of the Reliquary
4 Tarmagoyf
3 Terravore
4 Brainstorm
4 Ponder
4 Force of Will
4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Stifle
4 Daze
Sideboard:
4 Krosan Grip
2 Tormod’s Crypt
2 Engineered Explosives
2 Rhox War Monk
2 Path to Exile
2 Crucible of Worlds
1 Bojuka Bog
Round 1 - Jeremy - Mirror (with Armageddon) - Win 2-0
Game 1 - We both have similar starts, with fetches and cantrips, no Stifles on either side but I figure he's playing NH since it seems to be very popular in the meta. He leads with a Goyf, I STP it, and a couple turns later he has 3 lands to my 4, drops a Mox Diamond, and Armageddons. He can't draw into any more lands, and if he did, I had Stifle/Wasteland for them, I landed a Terravore a couple turns later and he couldn't answer.
SB: -2 EE, -2 Swords, -1 Daze, +2 Path, +2 Crucible, +1 Bog
Game 2 - Even start, but he lands his Crucible early and I realize that I don't have an answer for it, because I forgot to put in Grips. Anyway, I don't remember how the rest of the game developed but eventually I landed my own Crucible, then he Bojuka Bogged my graveyard. I got an active Knight and Bogged his yard. We played back and forth trying to get an edge, when he made a crucial misplay allowing me to blow up both of our Bogs with double Wasteland, and then Bog his graveyard again to remove his Bog for good. I built up a board position from there with and eventually finished him off.
I asked him how Armageddon worked for him after the match and he said he was just trying it out, but it really seemed to screw him game 1 when he couldn't find any more lands (I still had 2 in hand and didn't miss any drops).
We had a lunch break after round 1 (odd, usually it's after round 2), and I realized how badly I messed up the SB plan. One reason why I chose Path for the board was that I was expecting the mirror and when both decks run only 11 creatures, having 6 Swords effects over 4 Swords effects can really tip the scales in your favor (not to mention that you only run 1 basic and usually it's fetched early to prevent Wasteland, so Path has absolutely no downside). Unfortunately I forgot that and did a 1 for 1 swap. Also, I felt really dumb for forgetting the Grip because I know Crucible is key in this matchup.
1-0
Round 2 - John - Mirror - Lose 2-1
Game 1 - This is the first time I've played a blue deck in quite some time, so some of the things are a little new to me and I need to adjust. I walked dead into Daze 2 or 3 times this game and it cost me big time.
I sideboarded better, I think it was -2 EE, -2 Ponder, -1 Heath, -2 FOW/Daze (some combination), +2 Grip, +2 Path, +2 Crucible, +1 EE
Game 2 - He mulls to 6, and fetches his basic Forest, making the 2 Paths I see fantastic. I outclass him with creatures and removal, and we go to 3.
Game 3 - I forget how this transpired, but it was even for a while. He has Horizon Canopy and Wasteland on board, so I'm holding back my Stifles and letting him fetch, since I felt like it would be better to save my lands or keep him off of an extra card, so he gets to 5 mana and plays Worm Harvest. 2 Retraces and 15 tokens later, he swings, and I can block and then Swords my Goyf to gain life, but it would put me exactly at 0 and I'm done.
1-1
After the match, I realize that with Tundra and Wasteland on board (and only 3 other lands), I did not realize to check and make sure he had the GGG available to cast it. =/ Maybe he did, but this is something I should have been aware of during the game.
Round 3 - Andrew - RB Goblins - Win 2-0
Game 1 - I keep a hand of 3x KOTR, Force, Brainstorm, Canopy, Trop. I win the roll and play Trop, he leads with a turn 1 Vial. I Brainstorm, and Force it, pitching a Stifle I just drew. I play land, go, he misses a land drop and plays Lackey. I drop a turn 3 Knight, he plays a land next turn and drops Mogg War Marshal. I play a Knight and Waste his Badlands, he plays another Lackey, I play my 3rd Knight and swing, he scoops after I STP one of his Lackeys.
I'm not sure what I boarded out but 2 EE and 2 RWM came in.
Game 2 - We both mulligan, I keep a hand of Canopy, EE, STP, RWM, Forest, Heath, which seemed to be an almost perfect 6 card hand against him, and he mulled to 5. I Swords a Lackey, and he stumbles with land again. I get RWM on turn 3, he has Warren Weirding. I land a Goyf (5/6 now, because of Tribal Sorcery!), and he plays Matron and finds another Weirding. I Waste his only Badlands, and he can't find another one to kill the Goyf.
2-1
Round 4 - Drew - Grixis Painter - Lose 2-1
Game 1 - Eventually I realize what he's trying to do after seeing maindeck REB and seeing him hardcast a Relic to kill a Terravore. He assembles the combo, naming blue, and I Swords the Painter in response to the Grindstone activation. He Forces, pitching a Polluted Delta. I thought I was done, but I was confused how he pitched a land. Once he reminded me that everything was blue, I Forced his Forced, pitching a fetch of my own (I had no real blue cards), and the Swords resolved. I managed to beat him down from there and win, but the game took a while so he was trying to rush me in the next two rounds and I couldn't handle the pressure very well.
I forget the sideboard, I added the EEs and Grips, I don't remember what I took out. I kept all 4 Forces in since they work well with Painter on U.
Game 2 - He set up CB/Top, and I was not thinking clearly at all and ran ALL 4 of my Goyfs right into the soft lock and lost them all. He beat me down with Trinket Mage and Painter for the win.
Game 3 - We were approaching time, and I completely punted this because I was too rushed to think through my moves. I didn't Force his Counterbalance, I missed a turn where I could have dropped a Terravore and attacked the next turn for the win, and I fought over a Goyf that I didn't really need. he had Grindstone on board for forever with Top, and on turn 3 of turns he finally found the Painter he needed to resolve and win.
2-2
I was furious after this round, and my friend was sitting behind me watching me play and I was so pissed at how I completely dropped the ball here. I guess it's something you need to learn from when you've only been playing in large-scale tournaments for 6 months and you're playing a style of deck you've never played before.
Round 5 - Ryan - Lands (with Living Wish) - Win 2-0
I knew he was playing Lands because my friend played him earlier in the tournament, and I was looking forward to it because I actually enjoy playing against the deck. It's really similar to Dredge in that it is absurdly powerful, but ultimately every match with it (other than when it gets the absolute nuts draw) comes down to player skill, on both sides.
Game 1 - I knew he was on Lands and saw 2 Terravores in my opener. Obvious keep. I see something like turn 1 or 2 Living Wish for Bob, and I'm not sure what to think of it. Once I land double Terravore he transmutes Tolaria West for a Glacial Chasm and passes. I play my Wasteland, kill the Chasm, and swing for the win.
Sideboard: -4 STP, -2 Ponder, -1 Forest, -2 Daze+2 Crucible, +1 Bog, +2 Crypt, +4 Grip
Game 2 - I land an early Crucible and hold stuff in hand to protect it, while controlling his board with Wasteland. He has Exploration, so I can't lock him out of the game, but I can significantly slow him down. He lands an Ensnaring Bridge before I could drop a threat. Once I land a Knight, I start doing tricks with Wasteland and end up Bojuka Bogging him 3 times (removing 3 Factories and Mindslaver, so he loses practically all maindeck win conditions. He Wishes for Fleshbag Marauder, so I drop a Goyf to absorb the hit. He wishes for Indrik Stomphowler, I Stifle the ETB trigger. He transmutes for Tabernacle when I have 3 lands and 3 guys, I sac everyone but the Knight and keep digging for outs with Horizon Canopies. Eventually I forget to pay for Tabernacle, but I have a Knight in my hand to replace it. Eventually I find the Grip, and 2 attacks with Knight gives me the win.
3-2
I think he really missed a lot of opportunities here, and for some reason he didn't go for Meloku once he got Manabond out. Also, he never tried to transmute for Tormod's Crypt to nuke my yard, which would have helped him immensely.
Round 6 - Matt - Mono-R Burn - Lose 2-1
FUCK BURN. All three games were close, but it's such a dumb deck! Not writing anything about it because it's boring.
3-3
Round 7 - Jeremy - ProBant - Win 2-0
I have no notes for this match since I was frustrated and just wanted to play for pride and rating points. All I remember is that the mana denial plan worked great both games, and in Game 2, a 3rd turn Grip on a 2nd turn Top that he never had a chance to activate really helped a lot. I Wasted both his Trops, leaving him on a Forest and a Plains for the rest of the game. Very easy match.
4-3
All in all, I had a lot of fun, but it was disheartening that I punted 2 matches I really could (and should) have won. This deck is absurdly powerful and I can't wait to play it again. Sideboard was pretty good, I feel like the War Monks are underwhelming, and the Paths were a metagame choice. I picked up 2 Dueling Grounds that day, since I played at Cyborg One in Doylestown the night before and lost miserably to Elf Aggro (2nd time in 2 appearances there with this deck). I might work them into the board, but I don't really know.
I feel fortunate that I won the Goblins match, because that's the only one that seemed bad for me (I am not acknowledging Burn as a real deck). Everything else really depended on how well I played the matchup, I won the 3 that I played better, and lost the 2 where I didn't.
Props:
Johnson College
Eli for having awesome tournaments
Free Axe spray for stinky players
Cube drafting until 2:30 am after getting home, even though our car started great and bombed
Ken for finishing dead last, again
Dave Price for making this sick deck
Slops:
Finishing worst in the backseat of the car and having to ride bitch, only due to bad tiebreakers (the two people in the front both did worse =/)
Harry losing to Lands with Dragon Stompy
Ken for getting pulled over twice on the way there
Wizards for the recent announcement
Terrible play errors
This is my first TR, I posted it in the NH thread but figured after writing so much I'd put it here too.
Maindeck: (exact David Price list from Philly 5K)
4 Horizon Canopy
4 Windswept Heath
4 Misty Rainforest
3 Tropical Island
3 Tundra
4 Wasteland
1 Forest
4 Knight of the Reliquary
4 Tarmagoyf
3 Terravore
4 Brainstorm
4 Ponder
4 Force of Will
4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Stifle
4 Daze
Sideboard:
4 Krosan Grip
2 Tormod’s Crypt
2 Engineered Explosives
2 Rhox War Monk
2 Path to Exile
2 Crucible of Worlds
1 Bojuka Bog
Round 1 - Jeremy - Mirror (with Armageddon) - Win 2-0
Game 1 - We both have similar starts, with fetches and cantrips, no Stifles on either side but I figure he's playing NH since it seems to be very popular in the meta. He leads with a Goyf, I STP it, and a couple turns later he has 3 lands to my 4, drops a Mox Diamond, and Armageddons. He can't draw into any more lands, and if he did, I had Stifle/Wasteland for them, I landed a Terravore a couple turns later and he couldn't answer.
SB: -2 EE, -2 Swords, -1 Daze, +2 Path, +2 Crucible, +1 Bog
Game 2 - Even start, but he lands his Crucible early and I realize that I don't have an answer for it, because I forgot to put in Grips. Anyway, I don't remember how the rest of the game developed but eventually I landed my own Crucible, then he Bojuka Bogged my graveyard. I got an active Knight and Bogged his yard. We played back and forth trying to get an edge, when he made a crucial misplay allowing me to blow up both of our Bogs with double Wasteland, and then Bog his graveyard again to remove his Bog for good. I built up a board position from there with and eventually finished him off.
I asked him how Armageddon worked for him after the match and he said he was just trying it out, but it really seemed to screw him game 1 when he couldn't find any more lands (I still had 2 in hand and didn't miss any drops).
We had a lunch break after round 1 (odd, usually it's after round 2), and I realized how badly I messed up the SB plan. One reason why I chose Path for the board was that I was expecting the mirror and when both decks run only 11 creatures, having 6 Swords effects over 4 Swords effects can really tip the scales in your favor (not to mention that you only run 1 basic and usually it's fetched early to prevent Wasteland, so Path has absolutely no downside). Unfortunately I forgot that and did a 1 for 1 swap. Also, I felt really dumb for forgetting the Grip because I know Crucible is key in this matchup.
1-0
Round 2 - John - Mirror - Lose 2-1
Game 1 - This is the first time I've played a blue deck in quite some time, so some of the things are a little new to me and I need to adjust. I walked dead into Daze 2 or 3 times this game and it cost me big time.
I sideboarded better, I think it was -2 EE, -2 Ponder, -1 Heath, -2 FOW/Daze (some combination), +2 Grip, +2 Path, +2 Crucible, +1 EE
Game 2 - He mulls to 6, and fetches his basic Forest, making the 2 Paths I see fantastic. I outclass him with creatures and removal, and we go to 3.
Game 3 - I forget how this transpired, but it was even for a while. He has Horizon Canopy and Wasteland on board, so I'm holding back my Stifles and letting him fetch, since I felt like it would be better to save my lands or keep him off of an extra card, so he gets to 5 mana and plays Worm Harvest. 2 Retraces and 15 tokens later, he swings, and I can block and then Swords my Goyf to gain life, but it would put me exactly at 0 and I'm done.
1-1
After the match, I realize that with Tundra and Wasteland on board (and only 3 other lands), I did not realize to check and make sure he had the GGG available to cast it. =/ Maybe he did, but this is something I should have been aware of during the game.
Round 3 - Andrew - RB Goblins - Win 2-0
Game 1 - I keep a hand of 3x KOTR, Force, Brainstorm, Canopy, Trop. I win the roll and play Trop, he leads with a turn 1 Vial. I Brainstorm, and Force it, pitching a Stifle I just drew. I play land, go, he misses a land drop and plays Lackey. I drop a turn 3 Knight, he plays a land next turn and drops Mogg War Marshal. I play a Knight and Waste his Badlands, he plays another Lackey, I play my 3rd Knight and swing, he scoops after I STP one of his Lackeys.
I'm not sure what I boarded out but 2 EE and 2 RWM came in.
Game 2 - We both mulligan, I keep a hand of Canopy, EE, STP, RWM, Forest, Heath, which seemed to be an almost perfect 6 card hand against him, and he mulled to 5. I Swords a Lackey, and he stumbles with land again. I get RWM on turn 3, he has Warren Weirding. I land a Goyf (5/6 now, because of Tribal Sorcery!), and he plays Matron and finds another Weirding. I Waste his only Badlands, and he can't find another one to kill the Goyf.
2-1
Round 4 - Drew - Grixis Painter - Lose 2-1
Game 1 - Eventually I realize what he's trying to do after seeing maindeck REB and seeing him hardcast a Relic to kill a Terravore. He assembles the combo, naming blue, and I Swords the Painter in response to the Grindstone activation. He Forces, pitching a Polluted Delta. I thought I was done, but I was confused how he pitched a land. Once he reminded me that everything was blue, I Forced his Forced, pitching a fetch of my own (I had no real blue cards), and the Swords resolved. I managed to beat him down from there and win, but the game took a while so he was trying to rush me in the next two rounds and I couldn't handle the pressure very well.
I forget the sideboard, I added the EEs and Grips, I don't remember what I took out. I kept all 4 Forces in since they work well with Painter on U.
Game 2 - He set up CB/Top, and I was not thinking clearly at all and ran ALL 4 of my Goyfs right into the soft lock and lost them all. He beat me down with Trinket Mage and Painter for the win.
Game 3 - We were approaching time, and I completely punted this because I was too rushed to think through my moves. I didn't Force his Counterbalance, I missed a turn where I could have dropped a Terravore and attacked the next turn for the win, and I fought over a Goyf that I didn't really need. he had Grindstone on board for forever with Top, and on turn 3 of turns he finally found the Painter he needed to resolve and win.
2-2
I was furious after this round, and my friend was sitting behind me watching me play and I was so pissed at how I completely dropped the ball here. I guess it's something you need to learn from when you've only been playing in large-scale tournaments for 6 months and you're playing a style of deck you've never played before.
Round 5 - Ryan - Lands (with Living Wish) - Win 2-0
I knew he was playing Lands because my friend played him earlier in the tournament, and I was looking forward to it because I actually enjoy playing against the deck. It's really similar to Dredge in that it is absurdly powerful, but ultimately every match with it (other than when it gets the absolute nuts draw) comes down to player skill, on both sides.
Game 1 - I knew he was on Lands and saw 2 Terravores in my opener. Obvious keep. I see something like turn 1 or 2 Living Wish for Bob, and I'm not sure what to think of it. Once I land double Terravore he transmutes Tolaria West for a Glacial Chasm and passes. I play my Wasteland, kill the Chasm, and swing for the win.
Sideboard: -4 STP, -2 Ponder, -1 Forest, -2 Daze+2 Crucible, +1 Bog, +2 Crypt, +4 Grip
Game 2 - I land an early Crucible and hold stuff in hand to protect it, while controlling his board with Wasteland. He has Exploration, so I can't lock him out of the game, but I can significantly slow him down. He lands an Ensnaring Bridge before I could drop a threat. Once I land a Knight, I start doing tricks with Wasteland and end up Bojuka Bogging him 3 times (removing 3 Factories and Mindslaver, so he loses practically all maindeck win conditions. He Wishes for Fleshbag Marauder, so I drop a Goyf to absorb the hit. He wishes for Indrik Stomphowler, I Stifle the ETB trigger. He transmutes for Tabernacle when I have 3 lands and 3 guys, I sac everyone but the Knight and keep digging for outs with Horizon Canopies. Eventually I forget to pay for Tabernacle, but I have a Knight in my hand to replace it. Eventually I find the Grip, and 2 attacks with Knight gives me the win.
3-2
I think he really missed a lot of opportunities here, and for some reason he didn't go for Meloku once he got Manabond out. Also, he never tried to transmute for Tormod's Crypt to nuke my yard, which would have helped him immensely.
Round 6 - Matt - Mono-R Burn - Lose 2-1
FUCK BURN. All three games were close, but it's such a dumb deck! Not writing anything about it because it's boring.
3-3
Round 7 - Jeremy - ProBant - Win 2-0
I have no notes for this match since I was frustrated and just wanted to play for pride and rating points. All I remember is that the mana denial plan worked great both games, and in Game 2, a 3rd turn Grip on a 2nd turn Top that he never had a chance to activate really helped a lot. I Wasted both his Trops, leaving him on a Forest and a Plains for the rest of the game. Very easy match.
4-3
All in all, I had a lot of fun, but it was disheartening that I punted 2 matches I really could (and should) have won. This deck is absurdly powerful and I can't wait to play it again. Sideboard was pretty good, I feel like the War Monks are underwhelming, and the Paths were a metagame choice. I picked up 2 Dueling Grounds that day, since I played at Cyborg One in Doylestown the night before and lost miserably to Elf Aggro (2nd time in 2 appearances there with this deck). I might work them into the board, but I don't really know.
I feel fortunate that I won the Goblins match, because that's the only one that seemed bad for me (I am not acknowledging Burn as a real deck). Everything else really depended on how well I played the matchup, I won the 3 that I played better, and lost the 2 where I didn't.
Props:
Johnson College
Eli for having awesome tournaments
Free Axe spray for stinky players
Cube drafting until 2:30 am after getting home, even though our car started great and bombed
Ken for finishing dead last, again
Dave Price for making this sick deck
Slops:
Finishing worst in the backseat of the car and having to ride bitch, only due to bad tiebreakers (the two people in the front both did worse =/)
Harry losing to Lands with Dragon Stompy
Ken for getting pulled over twice on the way there
Wizards for the recent announcement
Terrible play errors
This is my first TR, I posted it in the NH thread but figured after writing so much I'd put it here too.