Nightmare
04-30-2007, 10:00 AM
Friday night couldn’t have come at a better time. I had a shitty week, and I really needed to go into Magic Zone ™ to make myself feel better. Colin(Diablos) headed to my house, and later Bryant(wastedlife) did too, and we got our Type 4 on until late, then we all found places to crash. 9am rolled around, and we headed out to Bville to pwn some n00bs.
No one was privy to what I planned to play prior to this event. Virginia insisted I was playing Fish again, but I learned my lesson at Geneseo, and planned to play a deck that could actually beat creatures. After some serious testing (for once) this is the list I ran:
EPIC U/W/g Landstill
Land
4x Mishra’s Factory
3x Nantuko Monastery
4x Flooded Strand
1x Windswept Heath
4x Tundra
2x Tropical Island
1x Savannah
2x Island
2x Plains
3x Wasteland
Dig
4x Brainstorm
4x Standstill
2x Fact or Fiction
Stop
4x Force of Will
4x Counterspell
3x Stifle
Blow stuff up, etc.
4x Swords to Plowshares
2x Engineered Explosives
3x Wrath of God
2x Humility
2x Crucible of Worlds
Sideboard
3x Meddling Mage
4x Hydroblast
2x Arcane Laboratory
2x Krosan Grip
2x Jotun Grunt
2x Pithing Needle
Overall, I was extremely happy with the build, and with the board, although I really want to find a way to fit Pulse of the Fields into it somewhere. That card wins games, almost as much as Humility does.
Here’s how the event went down:
Round 1: Geoff Smelski (unregged) - UW/b Landstill, circa 2005
Geoff has won more cards and money with Landstill than anyone, and most of it while he spent half the event in the mirror. I’ll say this much; I’ve played Geoff 3 times in major events, each time the landstill mirror, and I’m 0-3. I’ve only played Landstill in 3 events.
Game 1: Geoff manages his Decrees like he’s supposed to, and gets Crucible/Waste on me. Factories and Soldiers take me down.
Game 2: I come out of the gates quickly, and I manage to Grip his Crucible and Needle his Decrees. A last ditch hardcast Decree gets Countered, and Monastery beats win it.
Game 3: This game was all about Extirpate. He took Counterspell, when I had 2 in hand. I couldn’t recover.
0-1
Round 2: Mike Teachout (Mr. T) – Aluren
Humility is the trump card in this matchup, at least game 1. He has a pretty tough time making it happen with it on the table.
Game 1: Humility does what it does, and he can’t bounce it in time.
Game 2: I keep a very debateable hand with only Plains and Monastery as my lands, but with Wrath, StP, and Humility in hand. I see my third land 4 turns later (another Monastery), and my first blue source two turns after that. Too little, too late.
Game 3: I make my biggest mistake of the day. I have Pithing Needle turn 1, and name Harpy, even though I know I should name Deed. Then I have double Arcane Lab, and Mage on Krosan Grip. Mike blind Therapies me naming Stifle, and I completely whiff on that tell, and drop Mage next turn on Chain of Vapor instead of Pernicious Deed. He drops Deed and blows up the world, and I can’t stop him after that.
0-2
At this point, I’m out of contention, but I can’t make byes on rating, and I need to test out the deck, so I resolve myself to whatever record and play through it anyway.
Round 3: Scott Sheurer (Overlord95) – UW/b Landstill
Another mirror. Wtf, right? Who knew it was 2 years ago again? Needless to say, I’m not excited, but at least I know he doesn’t run Extirpate.
Game 1: As in all Landstill mirrors, the fights happen over the land and the Decrees. I manage to stop his Decrees, and eventually get Crucible to stick. My manlands are more plentiful and bigger, and take it down.
Game 2: We have dualing Needles, his on Monastery, mine on Decree. He’s already blown up one of my Crucibles, but I have a Standstill and a ton of cards to his few. He breaks my Standstill, I use the opportunity to Grip his Needle EOT, and then swing a couple times for the win. This match, he seemed to draw all the countermagic, but I never played spells.
1-2
Round 4: Dom (Happy Gilmore) – Ugr Thresh (with Counterbalance/Top)
Dom’s a great guy, and one of those Virginians you never hear bad stuff about (he flies under the radar). I don’t think I’ve played him before, but he sat next to me in the finals of TMLO1 and watched me screw up and lose.
Game 1: An early Mongoose has me worried, but Dom spends enough time fiddling with top for me to take control of the game. I believe I actually reached Threshold before he did this game (Thank you, Fact or Fiction). He Needled on Monastery (everyone keeps doing that), but I managed an explosives for 1 at some point. I think I had wastelock (kinda) on him at some point, too. I was extremely low on life this game thanks to Bolt, but pulled it out in the end.
Game 2: I bring the pain with Humility, while he brings the pain with Ancient Grudge. That’s tech I didn’t expect, and it hit a Needle on Top as well as Explosives. I gripped his Needle this game to bring in the Manland beats, and pulled it out comfortably. After the game we discussed his SB plan of stealing Factories with Control Magic, which I’m still not certain is a good plan, but we never got to see.
2-2
Round 5: Chris Trembly (unregged?) – UB Reanimator
Chris beat me pretty soundly at Running Gagg 2 this year, when I saw a total of 4 lands in our MATCH. I was packing many more lands in my deck this time around, so I was hoping for the best.
Game 1: Chris opens with Sea, Careful Study. I have the Force, but I want to save it for Reanimates. He discards Chrome Mox, Delta. I literally get up and do a happy dance. Nothing like the reanimator deck missing out on creatures. I waste his Sea and pass. He rituals for Buried Alive, I Force, and he really never recovers.
Game 2: This game was ridiculous. Chris drops SSS and Sundering Titan in the yard on turn 1, and on turn 2 Exhumes SSS, making the StP in my hand cry. However, I have double Factory and a Jotun Grunt in hand. On my turn I do some math, and say “Fuck it, let’s race.” I drop grunt and pass. After 2 swings each, we’re both at 6, and I’ve made a Monastery drop without thresh. I pass the turn, thinking I’ve lost, but it hits me that I can win. He swings, before damage I StP my Grunt bringing me to 4, and giving me thresh! I crack back on my turn for the W. That, my friends, is how Landstill raced the turn 2 SSS.
3-2
Round 6: Anwar Ahmad (AnwarA101) – Red Death
First time playing Anwar, too. I think he’s a great player, and Red Death was originally constructed to smash Landstill, so I don’t like my odds.
Game 1: Anwar mulls to 5, and opens with Ritual, Duress, Ritual, Negator. I had the Brainstorm, and I had the StP. No chance from there.
Game 2: I mull to 4. 7,6, and 5 were all 1 land (Wasteland) hands. No chance.
Game 3: Anwar has me at 3 or less life FOREVER. There is almost no possible way I can win the game, because at any point, he rips a Bolt and I lose. Instead, for about 7 consecutive turns, I draw exactly what I need, he draws not bolts, and I savagely lucksack my way into the win. I played like I had a shot, which is what you have to do, but I don’t think I could have been any luckier for this game.
4-2
In the end, I did what I wanted, I got a bunch of excellent testing on different matchups vs. some of the best players the format has. I lost two extremely close matches, one due to a much better prepared deck and player, and another due to a terrible play mistake on my part. Every match was tight, and I had a ton of fun with the event. This deck is the strongest Landstill build I’ve played in a long time, and I think it’s almost optimal. We’ll see how this weekend’s GPT goes (hangover included), and then it’s sights set on Columbus.
Propers:
- Diablos, for working so hard on the deck with me. It’s pretty amazing now.
- All opponents for being a blast to play.
- Monastery for swinging for 4.
- Grim Tutors, for turning into one FBB Sea, two Beta Taigas, and 2 FBB Bayous.
- Whoever decided not to bring Calosso
- Norm for showing
- My gf, for putting up with Magic nerds. God we’re awful.
Sloppers:
- Rotten for not showing
- Afro for not showing
- Jander for not showing
- Deed for blowing stuff up
- 15 person GPTs
No one was privy to what I planned to play prior to this event. Virginia insisted I was playing Fish again, but I learned my lesson at Geneseo, and planned to play a deck that could actually beat creatures. After some serious testing (for once) this is the list I ran:
EPIC U/W/g Landstill
Land
4x Mishra’s Factory
3x Nantuko Monastery
4x Flooded Strand
1x Windswept Heath
4x Tundra
2x Tropical Island
1x Savannah
2x Island
2x Plains
3x Wasteland
Dig
4x Brainstorm
4x Standstill
2x Fact or Fiction
Stop
4x Force of Will
4x Counterspell
3x Stifle
Blow stuff up, etc.
4x Swords to Plowshares
2x Engineered Explosives
3x Wrath of God
2x Humility
2x Crucible of Worlds
Sideboard
3x Meddling Mage
4x Hydroblast
2x Arcane Laboratory
2x Krosan Grip
2x Jotun Grunt
2x Pithing Needle
Overall, I was extremely happy with the build, and with the board, although I really want to find a way to fit Pulse of the Fields into it somewhere. That card wins games, almost as much as Humility does.
Here’s how the event went down:
Round 1: Geoff Smelski (unregged) - UW/b Landstill, circa 2005
Geoff has won more cards and money with Landstill than anyone, and most of it while he spent half the event in the mirror. I’ll say this much; I’ve played Geoff 3 times in major events, each time the landstill mirror, and I’m 0-3. I’ve only played Landstill in 3 events.
Game 1: Geoff manages his Decrees like he’s supposed to, and gets Crucible/Waste on me. Factories and Soldiers take me down.
Game 2: I come out of the gates quickly, and I manage to Grip his Crucible and Needle his Decrees. A last ditch hardcast Decree gets Countered, and Monastery beats win it.
Game 3: This game was all about Extirpate. He took Counterspell, when I had 2 in hand. I couldn’t recover.
0-1
Round 2: Mike Teachout (Mr. T) – Aluren
Humility is the trump card in this matchup, at least game 1. He has a pretty tough time making it happen with it on the table.
Game 1: Humility does what it does, and he can’t bounce it in time.
Game 2: I keep a very debateable hand with only Plains and Monastery as my lands, but with Wrath, StP, and Humility in hand. I see my third land 4 turns later (another Monastery), and my first blue source two turns after that. Too little, too late.
Game 3: I make my biggest mistake of the day. I have Pithing Needle turn 1, and name Harpy, even though I know I should name Deed. Then I have double Arcane Lab, and Mage on Krosan Grip. Mike blind Therapies me naming Stifle, and I completely whiff on that tell, and drop Mage next turn on Chain of Vapor instead of Pernicious Deed. He drops Deed and blows up the world, and I can’t stop him after that.
0-2
At this point, I’m out of contention, but I can’t make byes on rating, and I need to test out the deck, so I resolve myself to whatever record and play through it anyway.
Round 3: Scott Sheurer (Overlord95) – UW/b Landstill
Another mirror. Wtf, right? Who knew it was 2 years ago again? Needless to say, I’m not excited, but at least I know he doesn’t run Extirpate.
Game 1: As in all Landstill mirrors, the fights happen over the land and the Decrees. I manage to stop his Decrees, and eventually get Crucible to stick. My manlands are more plentiful and bigger, and take it down.
Game 2: We have dualing Needles, his on Monastery, mine on Decree. He’s already blown up one of my Crucibles, but I have a Standstill and a ton of cards to his few. He breaks my Standstill, I use the opportunity to Grip his Needle EOT, and then swing a couple times for the win. This match, he seemed to draw all the countermagic, but I never played spells.
1-2
Round 4: Dom (Happy Gilmore) – Ugr Thresh (with Counterbalance/Top)
Dom’s a great guy, and one of those Virginians you never hear bad stuff about (he flies under the radar). I don’t think I’ve played him before, but he sat next to me in the finals of TMLO1 and watched me screw up and lose.
Game 1: An early Mongoose has me worried, but Dom spends enough time fiddling with top for me to take control of the game. I believe I actually reached Threshold before he did this game (Thank you, Fact or Fiction). He Needled on Monastery (everyone keeps doing that), but I managed an explosives for 1 at some point. I think I had wastelock (kinda) on him at some point, too. I was extremely low on life this game thanks to Bolt, but pulled it out in the end.
Game 2: I bring the pain with Humility, while he brings the pain with Ancient Grudge. That’s tech I didn’t expect, and it hit a Needle on Top as well as Explosives. I gripped his Needle this game to bring in the Manland beats, and pulled it out comfortably. After the game we discussed his SB plan of stealing Factories with Control Magic, which I’m still not certain is a good plan, but we never got to see.
2-2
Round 5: Chris Trembly (unregged?) – UB Reanimator
Chris beat me pretty soundly at Running Gagg 2 this year, when I saw a total of 4 lands in our MATCH. I was packing many more lands in my deck this time around, so I was hoping for the best.
Game 1: Chris opens with Sea, Careful Study. I have the Force, but I want to save it for Reanimates. He discards Chrome Mox, Delta. I literally get up and do a happy dance. Nothing like the reanimator deck missing out on creatures. I waste his Sea and pass. He rituals for Buried Alive, I Force, and he really never recovers.
Game 2: This game was ridiculous. Chris drops SSS and Sundering Titan in the yard on turn 1, and on turn 2 Exhumes SSS, making the StP in my hand cry. However, I have double Factory and a Jotun Grunt in hand. On my turn I do some math, and say “Fuck it, let’s race.” I drop grunt and pass. After 2 swings each, we’re both at 6, and I’ve made a Monastery drop without thresh. I pass the turn, thinking I’ve lost, but it hits me that I can win. He swings, before damage I StP my Grunt bringing me to 4, and giving me thresh! I crack back on my turn for the W. That, my friends, is how Landstill raced the turn 2 SSS.
3-2
Round 6: Anwar Ahmad (AnwarA101) – Red Death
First time playing Anwar, too. I think he’s a great player, and Red Death was originally constructed to smash Landstill, so I don’t like my odds.
Game 1: Anwar mulls to 5, and opens with Ritual, Duress, Ritual, Negator. I had the Brainstorm, and I had the StP. No chance from there.
Game 2: I mull to 4. 7,6, and 5 were all 1 land (Wasteland) hands. No chance.
Game 3: Anwar has me at 3 or less life FOREVER. There is almost no possible way I can win the game, because at any point, he rips a Bolt and I lose. Instead, for about 7 consecutive turns, I draw exactly what I need, he draws not bolts, and I savagely lucksack my way into the win. I played like I had a shot, which is what you have to do, but I don’t think I could have been any luckier for this game.
4-2
In the end, I did what I wanted, I got a bunch of excellent testing on different matchups vs. some of the best players the format has. I lost two extremely close matches, one due to a much better prepared deck and player, and another due to a terrible play mistake on my part. Every match was tight, and I had a ton of fun with the event. This deck is the strongest Landstill build I’ve played in a long time, and I think it’s almost optimal. We’ll see how this weekend’s GPT goes (hangover included), and then it’s sights set on Columbus.
Propers:
- Diablos, for working so hard on the deck with me. It’s pretty amazing now.
- All opponents for being a blast to play.
- Monastery for swinging for 4.
- Grim Tutors, for turning into one FBB Sea, two Beta Taigas, and 2 FBB Bayous.
- Whoever decided not to bring Calosso
- Norm for showing
- My gf, for putting up with Magic nerds. God we’re awful.
Sloppers:
- Rotten for not showing
- Afro for not showing
- Jander for not showing
- Deed for blowing stuff up
- 15 person GPTs