georgjorge
04-20-2008, 04:32 PM
To accompany the CaNG contest here on the source, Legacy Italia held a tournament where participants could test their own creations. Unfortunately, the turnout was rather low despite there being no entry fee and the prizes being Duals...all of you, join the next time CaNG comes around :wink: ! It still was a fun tournament though, and on the request of the TO I'll be doing a little report.
The deck I submitted for CaNG was Tidal Taxes, a monoblue Prison deck revolving around "taxing" stuff like Propaganda, Tabernacle, or Trinisphere, and "land destruction" like Stifle, Back to Basics, and the MVP Parallax Tide (+Stifle). You can find a detailed description here (http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8181). It is a good deck (trust me), but makes for long drawn-out games, which is somewhat bad in timed rounds...Hooray for online tournaments with untimed rounds ! It seems a bit like cheating, but what's a Prison player to do ?
The list.
17 Island
3 Wasteland
3 Chrome Mox
4 Parallax Tide
4 Stifle
4 Back to Basics
2 Trickbind
4 Propaganda
3 Tabernacle of Pendrell Vale
2 Trinisphere
4 Force Spike
4 Impulse
3 Fire/Ice (only Ice, really)
1 Compulsive Research
2 Morphling
Sideboard
4 Defense Grid
3 Divert
3 Phyrexian Dreadnought (surprise Nought smash, hehe)
2 Pithing Needle
1 Blue Elemental Blast
1 Trickbind
1 Trinisphere
The tourney was four rounds of Swiss with a cut to Top 4. All my opponents were nice guys who took playing against such a boring deck very well :wink: . They all were a bit on the quiet side, probably due to them all being Italians and a bit uneasy speaking English, and me unfortunately not speaking Italian at all. The field had a good share of Threshold-style decks with some interesting changes, and luckily for me many many nonbasic lands (being somewhat dependent on BtB).
Round 1 against Fede-MvP playing Tooth and Nail
Tooth and Nail may not be Tier 1, but it is somewhat scary for me, as a deck running mostly mana, most of them basic lands, is not what I want to see...
Game 1 the mana denial doesn't really work, as I am stuck on three land with a Tide in hand for some turns. He gets out Deed, and I finally try a Tide in desperation, hoping for him to screw up...and he does, not responding to me Tiding his lands by using the mana to blow it up. So he loses his lands when I Stifle Tide the next turn - you can see the outcome below -
http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/7815/match1earlygamebt8.png -
and another Tide puts the game away safely.
Game 2 I take care of about every mana source he plays with Stifles and Force Spikes, and he soon can't play anything. See it for yourself...
http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/9926/match2earlygamedu0.png
1-0
Round 2 against dexter91 playing Scepter-Chant
A pretty good matchup, since I have more threats then he can handle, and Scepter is made pretty useless by Trinisphere as well...
Game 1 he Forces a third turn Trinisphere, plays a Thirst for Knowledge, and concedes to a fourth turn Back to Basics.
http://img258.imageshack.us/img258/1971/match1qq3.png
Game 2 he has to double mulligan...so even the first Back to Basics resolves.
2-0 - those were the quickest games the deck ever had, about 10 minutes all in all.
Round 3 against Lower we have to draw, since we can't find a date to play before the round ends.
2-0-1
Round 4 against Master_of_Puppets playing TrinketBalance (including four Dryad Sophisticates, and some silver bullets like Meekstone or Crypt)
Game 1 he gets out some beaters, but Tabernacle + Propaganda keep them back (Trinket Mage has nothing good to fetch against me). I resolve a Tide, but can't find a Stifle effect for it...however, while Tide runs out of counters, I can resolve Back to Basics, which seals the game.
Game 2 he only has a Sea Drake for beats, which is a bad creature to play here as it does the mana denial job for me. Tabernacle + Propaganda once again slow him down, and Tide again pretty much seals it. He does draw MANY lands that game, so I have to use a second Tide...
3-0-1, entering Top 4 in 1st place.
Semifinals against MvtM playing a Dark Threshold variant with some interesting choices like Petal (not bad) and Mulldrifter (erm...a bit expensive ?). Also running three Trygon Predators MAINDECK, so I was REALLY afraid of him resolving one of those, as they totally rip my deck apart. Luckily, he never seemed to draw one at the right time :smile: .
Game 1 goes like it usually does against Threshold variants - they only have four hard counters, while I have many threats. So I resolve a Trinisphere...which helps me resolve a Back to Basics...which lets me resolve a Propaganda...
http://img369.imageshack.us/img369/7859/match1fa5.png
Game 2 is very close. He gets both of my Defense Grids, and Forces a crucial Tide. I still get to resolve Back to Basics and Propaganda, but as he has two basics, he can beat with a large Goyf. So it looks like this...
http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/8650/match2secondfr0.png
until at the last possible moment, Morphling comes to the rescue !
http://img389.imageshack.us/img389/1907/match2thirdgo3.png
Goyf might be a better creature in general, but with my blue enchantments out to aid Superman, he wins against the newcomer in four turns ! Being the most undercosted creature in the format is not what counts this time :tongue: .
Finals against Mengu playing MUC
A horrible matchup - we both have lots of dead cards (he is playing four Back to Basics too), but he has superior card draw. I can't really win game one, and after sideboarding have to hope for a quick Grid or Nought...
Game 1 goes exactly like I thought - he plays Ancestral Visions and outdraws me while countering what little relevant stuff I have.
Game 2 I side out all my creature control since I reckon he will only play his creatures after the game has already been pretty much decided by card draw...I then get a good draw, and get down both Grid and Trinisphere. Hey, I can win this matchup...or not, as he plays an early Sea Drake (a strange creature for MUC, no ?) that I can't Spike due to my own Grid. Now since I have no creature control (and didn't draw a Nought or Morphling), Grid and Trinisphere are made rather useless as he just beats for four five times :frown: . Bit of an anti-climax here, really.
So I take second place, but due to some irregular behavior from my finals opponent that I don't really know about (since all the discussion was made in the forums in Italian), he gets disqualified and I get first place prizes, which include a Plateau. Bit of an anti-climax here, too, but I'll take it...
So the tourney was fun, I got some good cards, and now know that my deck REALLY takes forever to win its games. So it will probably only be a top deck for further untimed online tournaments (the next Source tourney, maybe ? You read it here first !). And the end, of course, have to be the customary S & P...
Props:
All my opponents for not complaining about long drawn-out games
ShivanKing, who spent his time organising the whole thing
The people who gave me Italian-English translations on the forums
Italian, for being such a beautiful language (beauty can be more important than understanding)
Stifle, for putting fear in the heart of the opponents' fetchlands
Slops:
Basic lands...can't touch them !
Dreadnought, who didn't get to surprise smash an opponent even once.
CaNG participants, for not taking their decks to this tourney :mad:, thus leaving two very boring blue decks to make the finals.
...so see you at the next CaNG !
The deck I submitted for CaNG was Tidal Taxes, a monoblue Prison deck revolving around "taxing" stuff like Propaganda, Tabernacle, or Trinisphere, and "land destruction" like Stifle, Back to Basics, and the MVP Parallax Tide (+Stifle). You can find a detailed description here (http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8181). It is a good deck (trust me), but makes for long drawn-out games, which is somewhat bad in timed rounds...Hooray for online tournaments with untimed rounds ! It seems a bit like cheating, but what's a Prison player to do ?
The list.
17 Island
3 Wasteland
3 Chrome Mox
4 Parallax Tide
4 Stifle
4 Back to Basics
2 Trickbind
4 Propaganda
3 Tabernacle of Pendrell Vale
2 Trinisphere
4 Force Spike
4 Impulse
3 Fire/Ice (only Ice, really)
1 Compulsive Research
2 Morphling
Sideboard
4 Defense Grid
3 Divert
3 Phyrexian Dreadnought (surprise Nought smash, hehe)
2 Pithing Needle
1 Blue Elemental Blast
1 Trickbind
1 Trinisphere
The tourney was four rounds of Swiss with a cut to Top 4. All my opponents were nice guys who took playing against such a boring deck very well :wink: . They all were a bit on the quiet side, probably due to them all being Italians and a bit uneasy speaking English, and me unfortunately not speaking Italian at all. The field had a good share of Threshold-style decks with some interesting changes, and luckily for me many many nonbasic lands (being somewhat dependent on BtB).
Round 1 against Fede-MvP playing Tooth and Nail
Tooth and Nail may not be Tier 1, but it is somewhat scary for me, as a deck running mostly mana, most of them basic lands, is not what I want to see...
Game 1 the mana denial doesn't really work, as I am stuck on three land with a Tide in hand for some turns. He gets out Deed, and I finally try a Tide in desperation, hoping for him to screw up...and he does, not responding to me Tiding his lands by using the mana to blow it up. So he loses his lands when I Stifle Tide the next turn - you can see the outcome below -
http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/7815/match1earlygamebt8.png -
and another Tide puts the game away safely.
Game 2 I take care of about every mana source he plays with Stifles and Force Spikes, and he soon can't play anything. See it for yourself...
http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/9926/match2earlygamedu0.png
1-0
Round 2 against dexter91 playing Scepter-Chant
A pretty good matchup, since I have more threats then he can handle, and Scepter is made pretty useless by Trinisphere as well...
Game 1 he Forces a third turn Trinisphere, plays a Thirst for Knowledge, and concedes to a fourth turn Back to Basics.
http://img258.imageshack.us/img258/1971/match1qq3.png
Game 2 he has to double mulligan...so even the first Back to Basics resolves.
2-0 - those were the quickest games the deck ever had, about 10 minutes all in all.
Round 3 against Lower we have to draw, since we can't find a date to play before the round ends.
2-0-1
Round 4 against Master_of_Puppets playing TrinketBalance (including four Dryad Sophisticates, and some silver bullets like Meekstone or Crypt)
Game 1 he gets out some beaters, but Tabernacle + Propaganda keep them back (Trinket Mage has nothing good to fetch against me). I resolve a Tide, but can't find a Stifle effect for it...however, while Tide runs out of counters, I can resolve Back to Basics, which seals the game.
Game 2 he only has a Sea Drake for beats, which is a bad creature to play here as it does the mana denial job for me. Tabernacle + Propaganda once again slow him down, and Tide again pretty much seals it. He does draw MANY lands that game, so I have to use a second Tide...
3-0-1, entering Top 4 in 1st place.
Semifinals against MvtM playing a Dark Threshold variant with some interesting choices like Petal (not bad) and Mulldrifter (erm...a bit expensive ?). Also running three Trygon Predators MAINDECK, so I was REALLY afraid of him resolving one of those, as they totally rip my deck apart. Luckily, he never seemed to draw one at the right time :smile: .
Game 1 goes like it usually does against Threshold variants - they only have four hard counters, while I have many threats. So I resolve a Trinisphere...which helps me resolve a Back to Basics...which lets me resolve a Propaganda...
http://img369.imageshack.us/img369/7859/match1fa5.png
Game 2 is very close. He gets both of my Defense Grids, and Forces a crucial Tide. I still get to resolve Back to Basics and Propaganda, but as he has two basics, he can beat with a large Goyf. So it looks like this...
http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/8650/match2secondfr0.png
until at the last possible moment, Morphling comes to the rescue !
http://img389.imageshack.us/img389/1907/match2thirdgo3.png
Goyf might be a better creature in general, but with my blue enchantments out to aid Superman, he wins against the newcomer in four turns ! Being the most undercosted creature in the format is not what counts this time :tongue: .
Finals against Mengu playing MUC
A horrible matchup - we both have lots of dead cards (he is playing four Back to Basics too), but he has superior card draw. I can't really win game one, and after sideboarding have to hope for a quick Grid or Nought...
Game 1 goes exactly like I thought - he plays Ancestral Visions and outdraws me while countering what little relevant stuff I have.
Game 2 I side out all my creature control since I reckon he will only play his creatures after the game has already been pretty much decided by card draw...I then get a good draw, and get down both Grid and Trinisphere. Hey, I can win this matchup...or not, as he plays an early Sea Drake (a strange creature for MUC, no ?) that I can't Spike due to my own Grid. Now since I have no creature control (and didn't draw a Nought or Morphling), Grid and Trinisphere are made rather useless as he just beats for four five times :frown: . Bit of an anti-climax here, really.
So I take second place, but due to some irregular behavior from my finals opponent that I don't really know about (since all the discussion was made in the forums in Italian), he gets disqualified and I get first place prizes, which include a Plateau. Bit of an anti-climax here, too, but I'll take it...
So the tourney was fun, I got some good cards, and now know that my deck REALLY takes forever to win its games. So it will probably only be a top deck for further untimed online tournaments (the next Source tourney, maybe ? You read it here first !). And the end, of course, have to be the customary S & P...
Props:
All my opponents for not complaining about long drawn-out games
ShivanKing, who spent his time organising the whole thing
The people who gave me Italian-English translations on the forums
Italian, for being such a beautiful language (beauty can be more important than understanding)
Stifle, for putting fear in the heart of the opponents' fetchlands
Slops:
Basic lands...can't touch them !
Dreadnought, who didn't get to surprise smash an opponent even once.
CaNG participants, for not taking their decks to this tourney :mad:, thus leaving two very boring blue decks to make the finals.
...so see you at the next CaNG !