Rock Lee
04-20-2008, 06:20 PM
::WARNING:: This is a long tournament report! If you want a short version: "I won" there ya go. ::WARNING::
There were no Vintage events going on in the area, and a few of the Vintage folk were talking about hitting up the Legacy scene this weekend, so I figured I would tag along, and get a learning in pain, as I had never been to a Legacy tournament before, and didn't even know what to expect on the field.
Considering my extremely limited Legacy cardpool, I opted for one of the easiest decks to break into Legacy with, Mono Blue Control. Unfortunately, I would have to rely on lots of card-reading and estimation of potential combos, which makes counterspells weak. However, I feel I play counters well in Vintage and my cardpool only made 2 or 3 decks available, so I went Gung Ho MUC.
I was thankful to have a car-wide crash course in "Decks that I'm going to lose to" (ie. explain legacy to Jer) on the ride up to Hadley, which yielded some pivotal information that kept me chugging all day. Onto the list!
// Lands
3 [10E] Quicksand
16 [ON] Island (3)
2 [ON] Flooded Strand
2 [ON] Polluted Delta
// Creatures
3 [CHK] Meloku the Clouded Mirror
4 [WL] Ophidian
// Spells
3 [US] Back to Basics
4 [AL] Force of Will
4 [MM] Brainstorm
4 [IA] Counterspell
4 [IN] Fact or Fiction
3 [8E] Mana Leak
2 [UD] Powder Keg
3 [5E] Force Spike
3 [FD] Vedalken Shackles
// Sideboard
SB: 2 [SOK] Pithing Needle
SB: 3 [CH] Tormod's Crypt
SB: 4 [OV] Hydroblast
SB: 1 [A] Blue Elemental Blast
SB: 2 [GP] Repeal
SB: 3 [MR] Chalice of the Void
The only aberation from a normal MUC list is the non-inclusion of Impulse. I simply ran 3's in the spots I wanted to see, and drew into them instead of tapping out often for poor card selection.
Round 1: **BYE**
One of my teammates (Eric Carpenter) often says that the best magic player will sit down at a table, and their opponent will scoop to you (mentally or literally). A great start then!
I take this opportunity to scout the living bejesus out of the field. By the time the round is over, I know what everyone is playing, and their sideboard options for their current matches.
1-0-0
Round 2: Matt McNally playing Earwigg-Goblins-Rawr.
Matt taught me much of what I know of playing Blue in Vintage, especially Control Slaver. I know he's one of the strongest players in the game, even if Lady Luck enjoys Curbstomping him at every opportunity. Intimidation factor - off the chart.
Game 1: Even though I counter 2 Ringleaders and a Matron, the goblins climb all over me and have their way with me... *shudder*
In: 4x BeB, 1x Hydroblast, 2x Pithing Needle. Out: 3x Force Spike, 1x Phid, 2x FoF, 1x Counterspell
Game 2: He plays turn 1 Vial, I play turn 2 Pithing Needle. The rest of the game is playing 1 for 1 with counters to goblins. And Matt sees virtually zero sideboard cards. Eventually Meloku goes the distance.
Game 3: He digs into the sideboard for delicious artifact answers I imagine, as he changes sideboard options. This game has him with an explosive start, but I stabilize at 2 life, only to have an evil gempalm incinerator end my fun, and life.
1-1-0 (Plan '0-2 Chili's' has been activated! one more to go!)
Round 3: Nice-Guy-whose-name-I-forget playing Survival. ::Edit:: His name is TOM! ::Edit::
I've seen this guy around the Vintage scene, and I expect for him to clean the floor with me.
Game 1: Is true to my prediction. 1st turn Birds. 2nd turn Thoughtseize + Survival quickly descends into insanity I can't control.
Based on my Car-crash-course & Round 1 scouting. I figure Extirpate, Krosan Grip, & Tsunami are coming in. I just have to know how to play around them.
In: 2x Pithing Needle, 2x Repeal, 2x Tormod's Crypt. Out: 2x Powder Keg, 3x Force Spike, 1x Ophidian.
Game 2: I lay a turn 1 needle on Survival, he feigns sadness. He didn't see a Back to Basics game 1, and is fetching out Bayous & Taigas galore. Mid-burning wish he realizes that he sided in ALL of his Tsunamis, and has no good Sorcery in the Sideboard. he ends up fetching up a Primal Command. After he almost fully taps out for a Survival, which gets countered, I plant a B2B next turn, and now his sadness is not feigned. A few turns after an Extirpate on a Fact or Fiction slows me down, Meloku quickly cleans it up, but not before I see the Krosan Grip on a Shackles. All 3 sideboard cards confirmed.
Game 3: I would normally side out the B2B for game 3 and put the force spikes back in, as they will be overly cautious after getting a loss solely to Back to Basics. However, I've a feeling he doesn't run many mountains and swamps on the main, and I know that Survival is hugely mana intensive, so I keep the in.
The game involves me drawing nearly every single one of my sideboarded cards. He cannot deal with 2'ofs of Back to Basics, Needle (both naming Survival), and Tormod's Crypt all in play, and I take it eventually with a Meloku.
2-1-0 Keepin the dream alive!
Round 4: Caleb playing Dreadstill
Poor Caleb starts this match on Tilt, having thrown away an overt win the previous round, which would have let him double draw into Top 8. Sad for him, happy for me.
Game 1: An early Back to Basics locks out a Tundra and a Factory, keeping Caleb on 1 mana for multiple turns. I tap out greedily to play a Phid, knowing his outs are stifle and Dreadnaught in the next turn. He has it though, and gets a 12/12 trampler in play. Bad news for me. with only 2 maindeck outs to this. I brainstorm during my next mainphase, to dig one card deeper, and the 3rd card is Powder Keg. I love this deck. I have enough to play keg with counterspell backer, but there is no need as it goes through. I take 12, then keg the dreadnaught, with triple counter on a stifle. (thank god for no trickbinds) Ophidian draw followed by Meloku finishes it up.
In: Repealx2, Chalicex3, Needlex2. Out: Shacklesx3, B2Bx3, 1x Force Spike.
I pull the B2B Rope-a-dope (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rope-a-dope) on Caleb, taking out B2B, hoping that the game one sting of it will make him play slowly and cautiously, allowing MUC to do its thing.
Apparently I started humming the Final Fantasy victory fanfare while sideboarding, to which Caleb was less than happy. I didn't even realize it. My mind trickery works even on MYSELF!
Game 2: He seems extremely happy with his his opener. Saying "I won't lie, this is one of the best hands I've ever seen. You might get a 2nd turn." Either Caleb was instigating some serious mind trickery, wanting me to mull to oblivion, or his hand was double Dreadnaught turn 1, something I didn't think was even possible in Legacy. Anyhow though, I keep a decent hand of 4 lands, leak, keg, chalice. It won't win against a counterspell or a double dreadnaught, but it happens to kill a dreadnaught without protection. I'll take it.
He opens with turn 1 Top. I play land go. He goes turn 2 Standstill, with a factory. I have no counters, and honestly, this is good for me. I can develop my mana and hand while taking a measely 2 damage a turn. I eventually break the Standstill at 7 life in his EoT, with him discarding 2 cards. I muscle through a Ophidian and a Chalice on 1. I assume this game can finally get under control, but he rips a 2nd Factory, so I have to let damage through. He doesn't tap to pump with his 2nd Factory, still fearing the Back to Basics hosing him. He gets counterbalance-top down, but is unable to tap his top unless it is an emergency. I still cannot block with Ophidian even with a 2nd resolved Ophidian. I get to 2 life and finally rip a 3rd Ophidian, to finally kill off one of the Factories-when-pumped, losing a Phid, but halting the damage intake. Finally Caleb sees one of his 3 Sideboarded Oblivion Rings and Hits my Chalice @ 1. A large counter-war ensues, during which Caleb forgets to flip for Counterbalance. Incidentally, Caleb DOES flip for Counterbalance in my next turn, and the card is a Land//Zero, so it wouldn't have made the difference. I rip my last Meloku (1 removed to FoW, one taken over a 4-FoF-pile), and deplete the last of Caleb's counters in hand, taking it to Victory.
Great games of magic with Caleb! Through misplays and deck improbability Caleb is shaken and frustrated. He doesn't shake my hand, but I know its just the moment messing with him. He's a good guy.
3-1-0
I know That most X-1-1's will NOT be able to draw in, considering there are 31 people. I have very high tiebreakers (yay opponents doing well!) and I hope I get paired against one of the other folk, suchas Hollywood/A Legend, with high tiebreakers so we can draw in.
Round 5: Neil something with Recurring Nightmare Rock thingy.
I saw this guy playing previous rounds and his deck looks both incredibly fun, and incredibly terrifying for me. A tiny amount of card advantage will enable him to snowball out of my control.
I offer him a draw, knowing he likely won't take it, and he declines, knowing its not guarenteed to get in as a X-1-1 and he has lower tiebreakers than most. We look around briefly to see which others X-1-1's are playing it out, and see nearly all of them are. We come to an understanding that we might want to draw, and potentially get both of us in depending on how the other matches are going. We are still willing to rip each other to pieces though, knowing that a win assures entry to Top 8.
Game 1: Is very long. and somewhat boring. I draw LOTs of counterspells, but only go 1-for-1 on his creatures, of which I counter every single one until halfway through the round, and 2/3 of the way through my deck. I spend lots of effort assuring Pernicious Deed doesn't resolve and I eventually draw a Vedalkan Shackles, when he has a Tarmogoyf and Loxodon Heirarch in play. He goes to attackers to declare Goyf & Heirarch, and I have him back up to precombat and Target Heirarch with Shackles. He says ok. I say ok. then he says "wait!" and I say "I'm sorry, you did say ok." He is quite pissed, as he could sac the heirarch with plenty of available mana, and feels I pulled a dirty move. I wasn't dirty, but it certainly wasn't friendly/cordial/casual. Honestly, the reason I targeted the heirarch over the Goyf was simply to frustrate him, and this plan worked 2-fold more than I expected. It matters not though, as He Wraths the board, taking out my Ophidian. The Fact or Fictions are running Rampant as I dig for a Meloku and can't find one, eventually drawing tons of cards with other Ophidians. With 9 cards left in my deck I use 2 brainstorm-fetchs to find my last meloku, and swing in with illusions. Fwew.
When we go to sideboard for game 2, I see 20 minutes left on the clock, All of the other X-1-1s are done, meaning they won't be drawing. I offer the draw I offered at the beginning again to Neil, to which he happily accepts. I likely could have drawn or won that matchup, but I wasn't interested in the Top 8 pouring over my list and I knew I had some of the best tiebreakers, even IF all of the X-1-1s drew in.
I make Top 8 as the 8th seat. Go me.
Top 8: Mr. Tombstalker Playing Tombstone (so I'm told its called)
My recollection of these two games is shakey. I know one thing for certain, is that this guy makes some of the best Fact or Fiction piles I have ever seen, so I know he's no scrub by a longshot. When making my Fact or Fiction piles he reads and anticipates my plays throughout the entire game instead of simply reading the current gamestate. I play tightly, and so does he. But Back to Basics and well played games give me 2 wins.
Top 4: Shaved Head Guy who used to play Fluxer, but is now playing Standstill
Game 1: An early Back to Basics almost ends the game, but is countered. I miss 2 land drops and am starting to feel speculative about if I can pull out, when Ophidian draws me 4 cards while he digs digs digs. The turn before my Meloku loses summoning sickness, he drops a Vorosh, the Hunter. On my turn I play Vedalkan Shackles, stealing his Vorosh, to which he is less than happy, and that's game.
In: 2x Pithing Needle Out: 2x Mana Leak
Game 2: He misplays and pumps an attacking Factory with another factory, only to have it meet a horrible quicksand death in response. Standstill is lain, but Quicksand prevents his Factory from attacking. I play land-go until I have 7 cards in hand and no more lands, and break the standstill in his EoT, play a Fact or Fiction, which resolves much to my surprise. I pick the 1-pile with vedalkan shackles, already having 7 in hand before draw, and with no land drop for next turn. I draw a land (go me) and play Shackles, which I expect a fight over, but get none. (again, odd) I go to my EoT, and he taps out putrefy'ing my Shackles. I force spike it, two available mana on my side. He force of Wills my spike, I force spike the FoW, with daze mana to spare. Huzzah. Eventually my shackles are putrefy'd for real and he drops a goyf to try to go the distance. However I'm holding the 2nd Shackles and take over his Goyf. At this point his hand is nearly spent, and his Lhurgoyf has turned traitor, he starts going for desperation, playing Engineered Plague naming Lhurgoyf! to slow his own death. A 2nd Plague comes down on the normally 5/6 taking him to a 3/4. However Ophidian and a mini-meloku quickly seals it up.
Finals! woo hoo!
Hollywood/A Legend playing Belcher/Warrens (I assume this is the Legacy version of Yarrington Belcher, from Vintage)
Game 1: He wins the die roll. Boo. He keeps his 7. My hand has 3 lands, brainstorm, B2B, counterspell, Force of Will. How could I not keep? He goes for broke, as he needs to in this matchup. He has 6 accelerants and Burning Wish. He blows all the accelerants and Wishes, hoping for an enjoyable goblin brouhaha via Empty the Warrens, but I have the force. He doesn't recover before I go Fact or Fiction crazy and nip future attempts to go off in the bud.
In: Pithing Needlex2, Chalice of the Voidx3, Blue Elemental Blastx4, Hydroblastx1 Out: Ophidianx4, Vedalkan Shacklesx3, Force Spikex3
My Car-Riding-Cohorts have urged me earlier today that Chalice at zero is the play against Belcher, but I've a feeling that chalice at one will decide this match more.
Game 2: I again have a 7 hand with a Force. Go me. I Force of Will spell #3, the Desperate Ritual, that I feel would've catapulted either a Warrens or Belcher into play unhindered. He plays a Tinder wall with a lotus petal, which seems odd. I lay a land, say go. He draws, go. I get onto 2 mana with a mana leak. He plays an accelerant, rite of ritual, Warrens for 6 guys, of which I counter one copy. I draw a 2nd Quicksand, to take down 2 attacking goblins. I'm able to lay a Pithing needle on Belcher, and Chalice @ 1 before I finally find an answer. The 2 assailing goblins take me down to 8 life, dangerously, before I pull out with Meloku, which is currently immune to ReB, thanks to Chalice @ 1. Hollywood shows me his hand of 6, 1 casting cost items, including 2 ReBs.
I take home the sorely desired Goyfs and some fond memories of a new Format. I look forward to seeing y'all around more!
There were no Vintage events going on in the area, and a few of the Vintage folk were talking about hitting up the Legacy scene this weekend, so I figured I would tag along, and get a learning in pain, as I had never been to a Legacy tournament before, and didn't even know what to expect on the field.
Considering my extremely limited Legacy cardpool, I opted for one of the easiest decks to break into Legacy with, Mono Blue Control. Unfortunately, I would have to rely on lots of card-reading and estimation of potential combos, which makes counterspells weak. However, I feel I play counters well in Vintage and my cardpool only made 2 or 3 decks available, so I went Gung Ho MUC.
I was thankful to have a car-wide crash course in "Decks that I'm going to lose to" (ie. explain legacy to Jer) on the ride up to Hadley, which yielded some pivotal information that kept me chugging all day. Onto the list!
// Lands
3 [10E] Quicksand
16 [ON] Island (3)
2 [ON] Flooded Strand
2 [ON] Polluted Delta
// Creatures
3 [CHK] Meloku the Clouded Mirror
4 [WL] Ophidian
// Spells
3 [US] Back to Basics
4 [AL] Force of Will
4 [MM] Brainstorm
4 [IA] Counterspell
4 [IN] Fact or Fiction
3 [8E] Mana Leak
2 [UD] Powder Keg
3 [5E] Force Spike
3 [FD] Vedalken Shackles
// Sideboard
SB: 2 [SOK] Pithing Needle
SB: 3 [CH] Tormod's Crypt
SB: 4 [OV] Hydroblast
SB: 1 [A] Blue Elemental Blast
SB: 2 [GP] Repeal
SB: 3 [MR] Chalice of the Void
The only aberation from a normal MUC list is the non-inclusion of Impulse. I simply ran 3's in the spots I wanted to see, and drew into them instead of tapping out often for poor card selection.
Round 1: **BYE**
One of my teammates (Eric Carpenter) often says that the best magic player will sit down at a table, and their opponent will scoop to you (mentally or literally). A great start then!
I take this opportunity to scout the living bejesus out of the field. By the time the round is over, I know what everyone is playing, and their sideboard options for their current matches.
1-0-0
Round 2: Matt McNally playing Earwigg-Goblins-Rawr.
Matt taught me much of what I know of playing Blue in Vintage, especially Control Slaver. I know he's one of the strongest players in the game, even if Lady Luck enjoys Curbstomping him at every opportunity. Intimidation factor - off the chart.
Game 1: Even though I counter 2 Ringleaders and a Matron, the goblins climb all over me and have their way with me... *shudder*
In: 4x BeB, 1x Hydroblast, 2x Pithing Needle. Out: 3x Force Spike, 1x Phid, 2x FoF, 1x Counterspell
Game 2: He plays turn 1 Vial, I play turn 2 Pithing Needle. The rest of the game is playing 1 for 1 with counters to goblins. And Matt sees virtually zero sideboard cards. Eventually Meloku goes the distance.
Game 3: He digs into the sideboard for delicious artifact answers I imagine, as he changes sideboard options. This game has him with an explosive start, but I stabilize at 2 life, only to have an evil gempalm incinerator end my fun, and life.
1-1-0 (Plan '0-2 Chili's' has been activated! one more to go!)
Round 3: Nice-Guy-whose-name-I-forget playing Survival. ::Edit:: His name is TOM! ::Edit::
I've seen this guy around the Vintage scene, and I expect for him to clean the floor with me.
Game 1: Is true to my prediction. 1st turn Birds. 2nd turn Thoughtseize + Survival quickly descends into insanity I can't control.
Based on my Car-crash-course & Round 1 scouting. I figure Extirpate, Krosan Grip, & Tsunami are coming in. I just have to know how to play around them.
In: 2x Pithing Needle, 2x Repeal, 2x Tormod's Crypt. Out: 2x Powder Keg, 3x Force Spike, 1x Ophidian.
Game 2: I lay a turn 1 needle on Survival, he feigns sadness. He didn't see a Back to Basics game 1, and is fetching out Bayous & Taigas galore. Mid-burning wish he realizes that he sided in ALL of his Tsunamis, and has no good Sorcery in the Sideboard. he ends up fetching up a Primal Command. After he almost fully taps out for a Survival, which gets countered, I plant a B2B next turn, and now his sadness is not feigned. A few turns after an Extirpate on a Fact or Fiction slows me down, Meloku quickly cleans it up, but not before I see the Krosan Grip on a Shackles. All 3 sideboard cards confirmed.
Game 3: I would normally side out the B2B for game 3 and put the force spikes back in, as they will be overly cautious after getting a loss solely to Back to Basics. However, I've a feeling he doesn't run many mountains and swamps on the main, and I know that Survival is hugely mana intensive, so I keep the in.
The game involves me drawing nearly every single one of my sideboarded cards. He cannot deal with 2'ofs of Back to Basics, Needle (both naming Survival), and Tormod's Crypt all in play, and I take it eventually with a Meloku.
2-1-0 Keepin the dream alive!
Round 4: Caleb playing Dreadstill
Poor Caleb starts this match on Tilt, having thrown away an overt win the previous round, which would have let him double draw into Top 8. Sad for him, happy for me.
Game 1: An early Back to Basics locks out a Tundra and a Factory, keeping Caleb on 1 mana for multiple turns. I tap out greedily to play a Phid, knowing his outs are stifle and Dreadnaught in the next turn. He has it though, and gets a 12/12 trampler in play. Bad news for me. with only 2 maindeck outs to this. I brainstorm during my next mainphase, to dig one card deeper, and the 3rd card is Powder Keg. I love this deck. I have enough to play keg with counterspell backer, but there is no need as it goes through. I take 12, then keg the dreadnaught, with triple counter on a stifle. (thank god for no trickbinds) Ophidian draw followed by Meloku finishes it up.
In: Repealx2, Chalicex3, Needlex2. Out: Shacklesx3, B2Bx3, 1x Force Spike.
I pull the B2B Rope-a-dope (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rope-a-dope) on Caleb, taking out B2B, hoping that the game one sting of it will make him play slowly and cautiously, allowing MUC to do its thing.
Apparently I started humming the Final Fantasy victory fanfare while sideboarding, to which Caleb was less than happy. I didn't even realize it. My mind trickery works even on MYSELF!
Game 2: He seems extremely happy with his his opener. Saying "I won't lie, this is one of the best hands I've ever seen. You might get a 2nd turn." Either Caleb was instigating some serious mind trickery, wanting me to mull to oblivion, or his hand was double Dreadnaught turn 1, something I didn't think was even possible in Legacy. Anyhow though, I keep a decent hand of 4 lands, leak, keg, chalice. It won't win against a counterspell or a double dreadnaught, but it happens to kill a dreadnaught without protection. I'll take it.
He opens with turn 1 Top. I play land go. He goes turn 2 Standstill, with a factory. I have no counters, and honestly, this is good for me. I can develop my mana and hand while taking a measely 2 damage a turn. I eventually break the Standstill at 7 life in his EoT, with him discarding 2 cards. I muscle through a Ophidian and a Chalice on 1. I assume this game can finally get under control, but he rips a 2nd Factory, so I have to let damage through. He doesn't tap to pump with his 2nd Factory, still fearing the Back to Basics hosing him. He gets counterbalance-top down, but is unable to tap his top unless it is an emergency. I still cannot block with Ophidian even with a 2nd resolved Ophidian. I get to 2 life and finally rip a 3rd Ophidian, to finally kill off one of the Factories-when-pumped, losing a Phid, but halting the damage intake. Finally Caleb sees one of his 3 Sideboarded Oblivion Rings and Hits my Chalice @ 1. A large counter-war ensues, during which Caleb forgets to flip for Counterbalance. Incidentally, Caleb DOES flip for Counterbalance in my next turn, and the card is a Land//Zero, so it wouldn't have made the difference. I rip my last Meloku (1 removed to FoW, one taken over a 4-FoF-pile), and deplete the last of Caleb's counters in hand, taking it to Victory.
Great games of magic with Caleb! Through misplays and deck improbability Caleb is shaken and frustrated. He doesn't shake my hand, but I know its just the moment messing with him. He's a good guy.
3-1-0
I know That most X-1-1's will NOT be able to draw in, considering there are 31 people. I have very high tiebreakers (yay opponents doing well!) and I hope I get paired against one of the other folk, suchas Hollywood/A Legend, with high tiebreakers so we can draw in.
Round 5: Neil something with Recurring Nightmare Rock thingy.
I saw this guy playing previous rounds and his deck looks both incredibly fun, and incredibly terrifying for me. A tiny amount of card advantage will enable him to snowball out of my control.
I offer him a draw, knowing he likely won't take it, and he declines, knowing its not guarenteed to get in as a X-1-1 and he has lower tiebreakers than most. We look around briefly to see which others X-1-1's are playing it out, and see nearly all of them are. We come to an understanding that we might want to draw, and potentially get both of us in depending on how the other matches are going. We are still willing to rip each other to pieces though, knowing that a win assures entry to Top 8.
Game 1: Is very long. and somewhat boring. I draw LOTs of counterspells, but only go 1-for-1 on his creatures, of which I counter every single one until halfway through the round, and 2/3 of the way through my deck. I spend lots of effort assuring Pernicious Deed doesn't resolve and I eventually draw a Vedalkan Shackles, when he has a Tarmogoyf and Loxodon Heirarch in play. He goes to attackers to declare Goyf & Heirarch, and I have him back up to precombat and Target Heirarch with Shackles. He says ok. I say ok. then he says "wait!" and I say "I'm sorry, you did say ok." He is quite pissed, as he could sac the heirarch with plenty of available mana, and feels I pulled a dirty move. I wasn't dirty, but it certainly wasn't friendly/cordial/casual. Honestly, the reason I targeted the heirarch over the Goyf was simply to frustrate him, and this plan worked 2-fold more than I expected. It matters not though, as He Wraths the board, taking out my Ophidian. The Fact or Fictions are running Rampant as I dig for a Meloku and can't find one, eventually drawing tons of cards with other Ophidians. With 9 cards left in my deck I use 2 brainstorm-fetchs to find my last meloku, and swing in with illusions. Fwew.
When we go to sideboard for game 2, I see 20 minutes left on the clock, All of the other X-1-1s are done, meaning they won't be drawing. I offer the draw I offered at the beginning again to Neil, to which he happily accepts. I likely could have drawn or won that matchup, but I wasn't interested in the Top 8 pouring over my list and I knew I had some of the best tiebreakers, even IF all of the X-1-1s drew in.
I make Top 8 as the 8th seat. Go me.
Top 8: Mr. Tombstalker Playing Tombstone (so I'm told its called)
My recollection of these two games is shakey. I know one thing for certain, is that this guy makes some of the best Fact or Fiction piles I have ever seen, so I know he's no scrub by a longshot. When making my Fact or Fiction piles he reads and anticipates my plays throughout the entire game instead of simply reading the current gamestate. I play tightly, and so does he. But Back to Basics and well played games give me 2 wins.
Top 4: Shaved Head Guy who used to play Fluxer, but is now playing Standstill
Game 1: An early Back to Basics almost ends the game, but is countered. I miss 2 land drops and am starting to feel speculative about if I can pull out, when Ophidian draws me 4 cards while he digs digs digs. The turn before my Meloku loses summoning sickness, he drops a Vorosh, the Hunter. On my turn I play Vedalkan Shackles, stealing his Vorosh, to which he is less than happy, and that's game.
In: 2x Pithing Needle Out: 2x Mana Leak
Game 2: He misplays and pumps an attacking Factory with another factory, only to have it meet a horrible quicksand death in response. Standstill is lain, but Quicksand prevents his Factory from attacking. I play land-go until I have 7 cards in hand and no more lands, and break the standstill in his EoT, play a Fact or Fiction, which resolves much to my surprise. I pick the 1-pile with vedalkan shackles, already having 7 in hand before draw, and with no land drop for next turn. I draw a land (go me) and play Shackles, which I expect a fight over, but get none. (again, odd) I go to my EoT, and he taps out putrefy'ing my Shackles. I force spike it, two available mana on my side. He force of Wills my spike, I force spike the FoW, with daze mana to spare. Huzzah. Eventually my shackles are putrefy'd for real and he drops a goyf to try to go the distance. However I'm holding the 2nd Shackles and take over his Goyf. At this point his hand is nearly spent, and his Lhurgoyf has turned traitor, he starts going for desperation, playing Engineered Plague naming Lhurgoyf! to slow his own death. A 2nd Plague comes down on the normally 5/6 taking him to a 3/4. However Ophidian and a mini-meloku quickly seals it up.
Finals! woo hoo!
Hollywood/A Legend playing Belcher/Warrens (I assume this is the Legacy version of Yarrington Belcher, from Vintage)
Game 1: He wins the die roll. Boo. He keeps his 7. My hand has 3 lands, brainstorm, B2B, counterspell, Force of Will. How could I not keep? He goes for broke, as he needs to in this matchup. He has 6 accelerants and Burning Wish. He blows all the accelerants and Wishes, hoping for an enjoyable goblin brouhaha via Empty the Warrens, but I have the force. He doesn't recover before I go Fact or Fiction crazy and nip future attempts to go off in the bud.
In: Pithing Needlex2, Chalice of the Voidx3, Blue Elemental Blastx4, Hydroblastx1 Out: Ophidianx4, Vedalkan Shacklesx3, Force Spikex3
My Car-Riding-Cohorts have urged me earlier today that Chalice at zero is the play against Belcher, but I've a feeling that chalice at one will decide this match more.
Game 2: I again have a 7 hand with a Force. Go me. I Force of Will spell #3, the Desperate Ritual, that I feel would've catapulted either a Warrens or Belcher into play unhindered. He plays a Tinder wall with a lotus petal, which seems odd. I lay a land, say go. He draws, go. I get onto 2 mana with a mana leak. He plays an accelerant, rite of ritual, Warrens for 6 guys, of which I counter one copy. I draw a 2nd Quicksand, to take down 2 attacking goblins. I'm able to lay a Pithing needle on Belcher, and Chalice @ 1 before I finally find an answer. The 2 assailing goblins take me down to 8 life, dangerously, before I pull out with Meloku, which is currently immune to ReB, thanks to Chalice @ 1. Hollywood shows me his hand of 6, 1 casting cost items, including 2 ReBs.
I take home the sorely desired Goyfs and some fond memories of a new Format. I look forward to seeing y'all around more!