Nihil Credo
04-28-2008, 09:59 PM
Why a report for a 14th place, you might ask? Because it was a 94-player tournament, so Top 16 is still a finish I'm mildly happy with, particularly since it was my second Legacy tournament ever and both losses were close; and, most importantly, because I feel like goddamn writing. A lot.
If you don't feel like reading it all, the more interesting parts are rounds 5, 6 and 7, in increasing order.
PRE-TOURNAMENT STUFF YOU CAN SKIP
The good side of living near the Veneto/Emilia border is that I don't have to pay for a hotel room and I can go to sleep sober the day before the tournament (I also get to dodge venereal (http://jamesthesmoker.badoo.com/p134262) diseases (http://jamesthesmoker.badoo.com/p134275), unlike my round 2 opponent and Kikkofrio). The bad side is that I need to get up at 4.30 AM to catch a train, and then rely on the locals' goodwill to get through the last 10 KM after it turns out that bus connections are all but nonexistent. Fortunately, one local does have the goodwill; coincidentally he's the same who's lending me the four vital Pithing Needles for the day.
The location, a sports center, is awesome - lots of space all around means none of the usual MTG stink, and there's a nice bar right next to it where a dozen of retired old guys are playing cards (of the 52-card deck variety) like pros. The bathroom is actually clean and there are even a pool table, some old arcade games and a table football (http://images.google.it/images?q=table%20football) - which I hope to not have the time to play.
Attendance: On the forums, almost 140 people had signed for the event. It early became apparent that less than 100 were going to be present, meaning we wouldn't get any bonus prizes (40 shocklands for the Top 8 in addition to the 40 duals). Why? Well, 25th of April is a national holiday here, so upon seeing good weather all over Italy lots of people ditched the Magic tournament in favour of an extra-long weekend at the beach and/or the mountains. Philistines.
Upon arriving, I gather the cards I'm borrowing, buy some new sleeves, and chat up a bit. Idraleo is running a moderately controlling BGW Rock deck, with Dark Confidant but also Top, Deeds and no Tarmogoyfs. Kikkofrio has incredibly abandoned his customary Black Thresh deck in favour of Eva Green, rather than NQS which I suspected he would eventually pick given his love of blue. He's there with Teneggi, a name which I'm familiar with from several Top 8s with Stalker Landstill, and I'm invited to team up with them, which I accept.
BUILDING THE LIST
The list I had originally expected to bring was this (http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/showpost.php?p=221673&postcount=923). However, in the few weeks before the Earthquake there had been a lot of much-talked about Ichorid Top 8s around the world, so I suspected I was going to have to put the Crypts back in the SB. It turns out I was right to bring them: according to both Idraleo and Kikkofrio as well as my own eyes, there's waves and waves of Ichorid all around, mostly drawing from the usual Goblins crowd. I
decide to fit the fourth Crypt as well, cutting a Trinisphere - aggro still worries me much more than control or combo.
Of course, I ended up never facing Ichorid, but on the plus side I never faced the (now-dubious) Goblins matchup either.
Final list:
// Lands
10 Mountain
4 [TE] Ancient Tomb
4 [EX] City of Traitors
// Creatures
4 [PLC] Simian Spirit Guide
4 [MR] Arc-Slogger
4 [FUT] Magus of the Moon
4 [DIS] Rakdos Pit Dragon
4 [FUT] Gathan Raiders
1 [PLC] Akroma, Angel of Fury
2 [MOR] Taurean Mauler
// Spells
4 [MR] Chrome Mox
4 [9E] Seething Song
4 [MR] Chalice of the Void
3 Umezawa's Jitte
4 [9E] Blood Moon
// Sideboard
SB: 4 [10E] Pithing Needle
SB: 4 [CH] Tormod's Crypt
SB: 4 [AT] Pyrokinesis
SB: 1 [10E] Pyroclasm
SB: 2 [DS] Trinisphere
[B]THE TOURNAMENT
94 players at the start.
[U]Round 1 - Alex Bonara piloting 4C Landstill
Table 1 - a good omen?
G1: I resolve a turn 1 Moon, and he dies soon after, having only played an Underground Sea, a Brainstorm (in response to Moon) and a Wasteland. That's a good start.
I can't know exactly what he's playing (Black Thresh? 2/3/4C Landstill? StifleNought?), so I resolve for a conservative sideboarding of +3 Pithing Needles, -3 Jitte.
G2: He opens with Mishra's Factory, which narrows my guesses down a bit. I get a threat or two countered, then stick a Moon; he fetches a basic Swamp, and also eventually finds a Forest while I drop a morphed Akroma. After a couple of 2/2 beats and a semi-relevant Chalice@1, he drops Pernicious Deed. Unfortunately for him, my next draw is my sixth mana source, and as it turns out he didn't play Edicts, which means he's three land drops short of being able to survive Angel beats.
1-0 matches / 2-0 games
Round 2 - "James the Smoker" playing 4C Zoo
If I were more familiar with the tournament scene, I would have instantly recognized James and his trademark zoo aggro deck, and mulliganed for Moons. At least, though, I do get to see his lifescore sheet before the tournament, and notice his opponent losing life 2 points at a time, while he gained 3 life at one point. In all likelihood, that means an aggro deck that also plays Lightning Helix.
G1 - Because of that, I keep my opening seven which includes an Arc-Slogger alongside a Magus of the Moon and I think a SSG. He starts with Kird Ape and Dark Confidant; my first guy gets burned, then I drop a Slogger. Unfortunately for me, he appears to also play Terminate. A second Terminate kills my next guy (Gathan Raiders, I think) and it's over under his clock.
I bring the Pyrokinesis and Pyroclasm in, siding out Akroma and Magus. Moon effects kick him senseless, but Magus is too easy to kill and would just be a waste of three mana, while short of floating 2G for Krosan Grip in hand he has no out to Blood Moon
G2 - Turn 1 Moon. His deck crumbles into a pile and I win easily (SSG with Jitte, I think).
G3 - I've got a good opener containing Pyrokinesis and Gathan Raiders. He starts much like game 1, with a Kird Ape that swings and is followed by (yes!) Dark Confidant. I untap, Wrath him, and drop a Gathan Raiders as well as a Chalice@1. I get a hit with Hellbent raiders, but he rebuilds fast with double Tarmogoyf and a Grunt; I've got a Slogger and actually manage on the attack to trade him for both Goyfs.
After some more development, we arrive at the endgame with him at ~10 life, an untapped Grunt with two more turns left to live, an untapped Watchwolf, three untapped mana and four cards in hand, while I'm at 2 life and have Tomb, a Mountain, a Mox, a fresh Jitte, Gathan Raiders and a Slogger with one "charge" left. I draw an uncastable (without dying) Pit-Dragon.
I consider my options. If he's got Krosan Grip, I lose: either I don't attack and he breaks Chalice, then burns me with the Bolt(s) I'm 100% confident he has, or I equip Jitte and attack and he Grips Jitte then swings back for the win. Same thing happens if he draws a Lightning Helix or Fireblast: even if I connect with Jitte, the life would not be enough. Assuming neither happens, my best bet is to equip and attack; I choose Slogger, since he's less likely to block it, and doing so could give him an extra turn to live. He does, however, have the Grip, and I lose.
1-1 / 3-2
Meanwhile, my other two teammates have been paired against each other, which annoys the shit out of us, but especially of Kikkofrio who loses the match (the team prizes are too small compared to the individual ones to consider drawing).
Round 3 - eni playing UGB Tempo Thresh
eni is a regular at Finale tournaments and on Tipo1.it. I don't know what he's doing, but Kikkofrio mentions that it should be a cool match, which at least tells me it's not fast combo or Ichorid.
G1: An Island, a Tropical Island, and a Tarmogoyf are all he manages to cast. I get to resolve a Moon and some creatures including a Pit-Dragon, while he discard uncastable stuff, including most relevantly a pair of bounce spells.
I suspect he may be playing straight U/G given the bounce spells, but I'd still keep the Moons in even then. I just cut two Sloggers for two Trinispheres, since those are the worst to get bounced.
G2: He draws well for this game, three FoWs and two Pyroblasts alongside a creature and Island/USea/Tropical for lands. But I draw a better stream of threats, keep dodging Daze, and eventually resolve a Blood Moon alongside something else to win the game.
2-1 / 5-2
As I wait the round out, I witness Idraleo finding an interesting solution to the problem of a reanimated Simic Sky Swallower which has him on a two-turn clock: Haunting Echoing away the Ichorid player's entire library. Must feel nice.
Round 4 - Kikkofrio playing Eva Green
So... I'm getting paired against a teammate... who therefore knows what I'm playing... and who is running a probably unfavourable match in the first place? Lovely.
There's no way we're drawing, though. Not with 94 players and both of us at X-1.
G1 - I survive a t1 Thoughtseize with little damage, and drop a Moon as well as an Arc-Slogger. He is eventually forced to suicide two Nantuko Shades just to be able to cast Tombstalker, which I accept the trade with since I'm two cards short of burning him out anyway. He has a Specter in play and a Snuff Out in hand to my Dragon and morph; unfortunately for him, the morph turns out to be Akroma. He has to Snuff Out that, and doesn't find an answer to the Dragon.
I never tested against Eva Green. I side a bit randomly, bringing in a pair of Pyrokinesis while cutting probably wrong stuff (in retrospect, I think the best boarding was +3 Pyrokinesis, -1 Akroma, -2 Magus of the Moon).
G2 - Can't remember much about his game. I had a Moon effect in play, and he resolved a pair of Hymns and a Tombstalker, maybe a Specter as well. Anyway, I lose.
G3 - He keeps a bombastic hand that has the unfortunate flaw of being very vulnerable to a turn 1 Moon on the play. Which I have.
3-1 / 7-3
Round 5 - ??? playing UWB Landstill
As I meticulously pile shuffle, he expresses some concerns about going to time. Or, if you prefer, he tells me "I'm playing a control deck and I don't know what you're playing". How nice of him.
1 - I immediately resolve a Blood Moon, but he manages to use his Top to draw into a basic Island and then cycle Eternal Dragon into a basic Plains as well, which lets him Sword my Slogger and then Mystical Tutor for another Sword against my next threat. I follow up with Gathan Raiders, and he has a Vindicate - which he blows on the Raiders instead of killing the Moon, which would have let him block the Raiders with Factory-Crucible while he "unlocked" his fetches. He's low enough on life that a topdecked SSG directly punishes him for this mistake.
I side 4 Needles for 3 Jittes and a Mauler.
Meanwhile, he's very angry for that blunder and keeps berating himself loudly; and when I call a judge for a procedural clarification, his mood only gets worse. As I prepare to look at my seven, I'm smiling inside: psychologically, I couldn't ask for a better advantage. He's almost definitely going to screw up something.
G3 - That "something" is the very beginning of the game: he keeps a hand of Underground Sea, Wasteland, Top, and FoW. After dropping Top, he then uses his FoW on my turn 1 Needle, which leaves him open to a turn 2 Blood Moon. He never sees a basic or a Dragon and I finish him quickly.
4-1 / 9-3
Round 6 - Fabrizio playing RG Belcher
Tasteless deck choices aside, Fabrizio is a cool guy, and mentions remembering me from Padua - he's assuming I still play White Stax, which may or may not be a good thing.
G1 - I mulligan two uncastable hands and keep a decent five-carder. He is surprised at my opening of "Mountain, go"... but then produces 10 Goblin tokens on turn 1, and it's my turn to get more than a bit concerned.
I scoop immediately: might as well let him suspect I'm with Burn or Goblins, perhaps he won't bring in Shattering Spree. On the other side, I bring in 11 cards, which makes him a wee bit nervous ("Why do they always have a boatload of stuff against me", he muses; "You tell me" replies the Ichorid player to his left).
G2 - A risky hand here: Chalice, Chalice, Needle, and spells. After a long deliberation, I keep, reasoning that going off on turn 1 usually requires 0cc artifacts from him, and I do have 26 mana sources plus Pyrokinesis to draw.
He mulligans, and doesn't have 0cc artifacts, but on the other hand he doesn't have a turn 1 kill either, only a Belcher drop. Before he can activate it, though, I draw an Ancient Tomb, and from there it's all downhill for him.
G3 - He keeps his opening seven. My first hand is Tomb, Chalice, Chalice, Mox, Mountain, Mauler, SSG. I mulligan.
Before you think I'm crazy, realize that he knows I'm playing a Chalice Aggro deck - in other words, if he kept his seven, he's very very likely to go off on turn 1. My hand is useless against that: if I get a turn to live, what I need is Needle (for Belcher), Pyrokinesis/Clasm (for EtW), or maybe Pit-Dragon and a turn two kill.
The six-card hand has Pyrokinesis, and I keep it. My call was right: he goes off on turn 1, using Gamble to end up with Belcher in the yard and Welder + Petal + Led in play. On my turn 1 I gleefully Kinesis his Welder, and add a topdecked Chalice@1 for good measure. The next turn sees a Gathan Raiders on my side, followed up by a Jitte for the Hellbent and the mop-up.
Or not. His draws for those three turns? SSG, Song, Belcher. And his second Taiga isn't so kind as to be in the top ten cards of his library. GG.
Fucking Belcher. I'm out of Top 8.
4-2 / 10-5
Round 7 - Elena Grandi playing UGW Threshold
I've heard of Elena, she's a regular on the Emilian scene, usually with medium-high placements, which is pretty good for a 15-year-old. Then again, there are lots of 15-y.o. winning PTQs around, and from how I've seen her play she's still a long way from the Pro Tour even if she weren't playing Legacy.
G1 - A fairly standard anti-Threshold game. I dodge Dazes and resolve a Moon, a dork, and a Pit Dragon which on the next turn deals 22 damage alone to her, thanks to a Seething Song.
My side is -2 Slogger, +2 Trinisphere. Like in Round 3, Akroma stays in, this time not because I'm worried of bounced Sloggers but because of her protection from Enforcers, Swords, Stag tokens and whatnot.
While sideboarding, she slips and a part of her deck falls under the table. When she presents the deck, I take it and pile shuffle it (no reason to give up free game wins) and notice it's 61 cards. Very interesting; as I discover after the match, she had borrowed that deck from a judge for a change, and that judge has never cut the 61st card since it directly led him to win a nail-biter against Solidarity once.
G2 - She opens with turn 1 Ponder, turn 2 Tarmogoyf. But I've got a low-card disadvantage hand that enables me to keep up the stream of threats. I resolve a bunch of beaters and Chalices at both 1 and 2, then one turn before dying to Pit-Dragon beats she drops... Worship.
Hmm. Ok, now I need to find either Jitte or Slogger to get rid of Goyf - oh wait, I've got Chalice@2 in play and no way to remove it. Two Sloggers are my outs, then, and I need them quickly before my library depletes too much. Meanwhile, I send her to 1 to turn off her fetches and FoWs.
We start fast-playing through about 40 cards of our libraries, with me dropping every single permanent I draw (in the end my board was completely crammed with stuff, and we've drawn quite a crowd) while she draws-discards all sorts of stuff that she can't cast due to Moons and Chalices. There's some interaction - she Rings or Grips a Chalice, I drop another - but by and large, it's just a huge stall. I can't win anymore, but thanks to a hardcast Akroma and near-infinite Hellbent forces I'm not going to die from damage, and perhaps she won't realize she can't win via Predict - after all, she missed multiple Tarmogoyf attacks last game. Since I'm the faster deck by far, I don't see a reason to concede as long as I've got 10-15 minutes left in the round or so.
In the end, a couple of turns after resolving Akroma, I count both libraries and show her that she's going to die first, and that's it - she scoops.
Fun Fact #1: She had sided out her Predicts.
Fun Fact #2: Her turn 1 Ponder+fetchland had cost her the game. (Take that, 61st "lucky" cards!)
What a weird game Magic can be.
5-2 / 12-5
I end up in 14th place, drafting as consolation prizes a playset of Apocalypse Battlefield Forges (two English signed, one Russian, one German). Oh, and 3 Flagstones for second-best team (2nd / 14th / 27th), right behind Idraleo's team which put three people in Top 8 - wow.
THOUGHTS ON THE DECK
See here (http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/showpost.php?p=228323&postcount=980) in the DS thread.
OBLIGATORY CONCLUSION:
PROPS:
- Idraleo who lends me Stax lands and makes Top 8
- His friend who lends me Moxes and makes Top 8
- Azzoland who lends me 4 Needles, drives me back and forth, and scrubs out
- The T.O. who set up awesome prizes and a great venues
- The architect who put all that AIR above our heads
- Kikkofrio who gets his losses from his two teammates and then hateful Belcher-kid, and yet restrains himself from going on a killing spree
- 1 [PLC] Akroma, Angel of Fury
SLOPS:
- Belcher players everywhere
- Correction: sober Belcher players. It's acceptable to play Belcher or Burn if you're drunk.
- The pairings god who put teammates against each other twice.
- The 40 people who favoured beaches, mountains, fun, sex, and drinks over Legacy tournaments. Degenerates!
If you don't feel like reading it all, the more interesting parts are rounds 5, 6 and 7, in increasing order.
PRE-TOURNAMENT STUFF YOU CAN SKIP
The good side of living near the Veneto/Emilia border is that I don't have to pay for a hotel room and I can go to sleep sober the day before the tournament (I also get to dodge venereal (http://jamesthesmoker.badoo.com/p134262) diseases (http://jamesthesmoker.badoo.com/p134275), unlike my round 2 opponent and Kikkofrio). The bad side is that I need to get up at 4.30 AM to catch a train, and then rely on the locals' goodwill to get through the last 10 KM after it turns out that bus connections are all but nonexistent. Fortunately, one local does have the goodwill; coincidentally he's the same who's lending me the four vital Pithing Needles for the day.
The location, a sports center, is awesome - lots of space all around means none of the usual MTG stink, and there's a nice bar right next to it where a dozen of retired old guys are playing cards (of the 52-card deck variety) like pros. The bathroom is actually clean and there are even a pool table, some old arcade games and a table football (http://images.google.it/images?q=table%20football) - which I hope to not have the time to play.
Attendance: On the forums, almost 140 people had signed for the event. It early became apparent that less than 100 were going to be present, meaning we wouldn't get any bonus prizes (40 shocklands for the Top 8 in addition to the 40 duals). Why? Well, 25th of April is a national holiday here, so upon seeing good weather all over Italy lots of people ditched the Magic tournament in favour of an extra-long weekend at the beach and/or the mountains. Philistines.
Upon arriving, I gather the cards I'm borrowing, buy some new sleeves, and chat up a bit. Idraleo is running a moderately controlling BGW Rock deck, with Dark Confidant but also Top, Deeds and no Tarmogoyfs. Kikkofrio has incredibly abandoned his customary Black Thresh deck in favour of Eva Green, rather than NQS which I suspected he would eventually pick given his love of blue. He's there with Teneggi, a name which I'm familiar with from several Top 8s with Stalker Landstill, and I'm invited to team up with them, which I accept.
BUILDING THE LIST
The list I had originally expected to bring was this (http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/showpost.php?p=221673&postcount=923). However, in the few weeks before the Earthquake there had been a lot of much-talked about Ichorid Top 8s around the world, so I suspected I was going to have to put the Crypts back in the SB. It turns out I was right to bring them: according to both Idraleo and Kikkofrio as well as my own eyes, there's waves and waves of Ichorid all around, mostly drawing from the usual Goblins crowd. I
decide to fit the fourth Crypt as well, cutting a Trinisphere - aggro still worries me much more than control or combo.
Of course, I ended up never facing Ichorid, but on the plus side I never faced the (now-dubious) Goblins matchup either.
Final list:
// Lands
10 Mountain
4 [TE] Ancient Tomb
4 [EX] City of Traitors
// Creatures
4 [PLC] Simian Spirit Guide
4 [MR] Arc-Slogger
4 [FUT] Magus of the Moon
4 [DIS] Rakdos Pit Dragon
4 [FUT] Gathan Raiders
1 [PLC] Akroma, Angel of Fury
2 [MOR] Taurean Mauler
// Spells
4 [MR] Chrome Mox
4 [9E] Seething Song
4 [MR] Chalice of the Void
3 Umezawa's Jitte
4 [9E] Blood Moon
// Sideboard
SB: 4 [10E] Pithing Needle
SB: 4 [CH] Tormod's Crypt
SB: 4 [AT] Pyrokinesis
SB: 1 [10E] Pyroclasm
SB: 2 [DS] Trinisphere
[B]THE TOURNAMENT
94 players at the start.
[U]Round 1 - Alex Bonara piloting 4C Landstill
Table 1 - a good omen?
G1: I resolve a turn 1 Moon, and he dies soon after, having only played an Underground Sea, a Brainstorm (in response to Moon) and a Wasteland. That's a good start.
I can't know exactly what he's playing (Black Thresh? 2/3/4C Landstill? StifleNought?), so I resolve for a conservative sideboarding of +3 Pithing Needles, -3 Jitte.
G2: He opens with Mishra's Factory, which narrows my guesses down a bit. I get a threat or two countered, then stick a Moon; he fetches a basic Swamp, and also eventually finds a Forest while I drop a morphed Akroma. After a couple of 2/2 beats and a semi-relevant Chalice@1, he drops Pernicious Deed. Unfortunately for him, my next draw is my sixth mana source, and as it turns out he didn't play Edicts, which means he's three land drops short of being able to survive Angel beats.
1-0 matches / 2-0 games
Round 2 - "James the Smoker" playing 4C Zoo
If I were more familiar with the tournament scene, I would have instantly recognized James and his trademark zoo aggro deck, and mulliganed for Moons. At least, though, I do get to see his lifescore sheet before the tournament, and notice his opponent losing life 2 points at a time, while he gained 3 life at one point. In all likelihood, that means an aggro deck that also plays Lightning Helix.
G1 - Because of that, I keep my opening seven which includes an Arc-Slogger alongside a Magus of the Moon and I think a SSG. He starts with Kird Ape and Dark Confidant; my first guy gets burned, then I drop a Slogger. Unfortunately for me, he appears to also play Terminate. A second Terminate kills my next guy (Gathan Raiders, I think) and it's over under his clock.
I bring the Pyrokinesis and Pyroclasm in, siding out Akroma and Magus. Moon effects kick him senseless, but Magus is too easy to kill and would just be a waste of three mana, while short of floating 2G for Krosan Grip in hand he has no out to Blood Moon
G2 - Turn 1 Moon. His deck crumbles into a pile and I win easily (SSG with Jitte, I think).
G3 - I've got a good opener containing Pyrokinesis and Gathan Raiders. He starts much like game 1, with a Kird Ape that swings and is followed by (yes!) Dark Confidant. I untap, Wrath him, and drop a Gathan Raiders as well as a Chalice@1. I get a hit with Hellbent raiders, but he rebuilds fast with double Tarmogoyf and a Grunt; I've got a Slogger and actually manage on the attack to trade him for both Goyfs.
After some more development, we arrive at the endgame with him at ~10 life, an untapped Grunt with two more turns left to live, an untapped Watchwolf, three untapped mana and four cards in hand, while I'm at 2 life and have Tomb, a Mountain, a Mox, a fresh Jitte, Gathan Raiders and a Slogger with one "charge" left. I draw an uncastable (without dying) Pit-Dragon.
I consider my options. If he's got Krosan Grip, I lose: either I don't attack and he breaks Chalice, then burns me with the Bolt(s) I'm 100% confident he has, or I equip Jitte and attack and he Grips Jitte then swings back for the win. Same thing happens if he draws a Lightning Helix or Fireblast: even if I connect with Jitte, the life would not be enough. Assuming neither happens, my best bet is to equip and attack; I choose Slogger, since he's less likely to block it, and doing so could give him an extra turn to live. He does, however, have the Grip, and I lose.
1-1 / 3-2
Meanwhile, my other two teammates have been paired against each other, which annoys the shit out of us, but especially of Kikkofrio who loses the match (the team prizes are too small compared to the individual ones to consider drawing).
Round 3 - eni playing UGB Tempo Thresh
eni is a regular at Finale tournaments and on Tipo1.it. I don't know what he's doing, but Kikkofrio mentions that it should be a cool match, which at least tells me it's not fast combo or Ichorid.
G1: An Island, a Tropical Island, and a Tarmogoyf are all he manages to cast. I get to resolve a Moon and some creatures including a Pit-Dragon, while he discard uncastable stuff, including most relevantly a pair of bounce spells.
I suspect he may be playing straight U/G given the bounce spells, but I'd still keep the Moons in even then. I just cut two Sloggers for two Trinispheres, since those are the worst to get bounced.
G2: He draws well for this game, three FoWs and two Pyroblasts alongside a creature and Island/USea/Tropical for lands. But I draw a better stream of threats, keep dodging Daze, and eventually resolve a Blood Moon alongside something else to win the game.
2-1 / 5-2
As I wait the round out, I witness Idraleo finding an interesting solution to the problem of a reanimated Simic Sky Swallower which has him on a two-turn clock: Haunting Echoing away the Ichorid player's entire library. Must feel nice.
Round 4 - Kikkofrio playing Eva Green
So... I'm getting paired against a teammate... who therefore knows what I'm playing... and who is running a probably unfavourable match in the first place? Lovely.
There's no way we're drawing, though. Not with 94 players and both of us at X-1.
G1 - I survive a t1 Thoughtseize with little damage, and drop a Moon as well as an Arc-Slogger. He is eventually forced to suicide two Nantuko Shades just to be able to cast Tombstalker, which I accept the trade with since I'm two cards short of burning him out anyway. He has a Specter in play and a Snuff Out in hand to my Dragon and morph; unfortunately for him, the morph turns out to be Akroma. He has to Snuff Out that, and doesn't find an answer to the Dragon.
I never tested against Eva Green. I side a bit randomly, bringing in a pair of Pyrokinesis while cutting probably wrong stuff (in retrospect, I think the best boarding was +3 Pyrokinesis, -1 Akroma, -2 Magus of the Moon).
G2 - Can't remember much about his game. I had a Moon effect in play, and he resolved a pair of Hymns and a Tombstalker, maybe a Specter as well. Anyway, I lose.
G3 - He keeps a bombastic hand that has the unfortunate flaw of being very vulnerable to a turn 1 Moon on the play. Which I have.
3-1 / 7-3
Round 5 - ??? playing UWB Landstill
As I meticulously pile shuffle, he expresses some concerns about going to time. Or, if you prefer, he tells me "I'm playing a control deck and I don't know what you're playing". How nice of him.
1 - I immediately resolve a Blood Moon, but he manages to use his Top to draw into a basic Island and then cycle Eternal Dragon into a basic Plains as well, which lets him Sword my Slogger and then Mystical Tutor for another Sword against my next threat. I follow up with Gathan Raiders, and he has a Vindicate - which he blows on the Raiders instead of killing the Moon, which would have let him block the Raiders with Factory-Crucible while he "unlocked" his fetches. He's low enough on life that a topdecked SSG directly punishes him for this mistake.
I side 4 Needles for 3 Jittes and a Mauler.
Meanwhile, he's very angry for that blunder and keeps berating himself loudly; and when I call a judge for a procedural clarification, his mood only gets worse. As I prepare to look at my seven, I'm smiling inside: psychologically, I couldn't ask for a better advantage. He's almost definitely going to screw up something.
G3 - That "something" is the very beginning of the game: he keeps a hand of Underground Sea, Wasteland, Top, and FoW. After dropping Top, he then uses his FoW on my turn 1 Needle, which leaves him open to a turn 2 Blood Moon. He never sees a basic or a Dragon and I finish him quickly.
4-1 / 9-3
Round 6 - Fabrizio playing RG Belcher
Tasteless deck choices aside, Fabrizio is a cool guy, and mentions remembering me from Padua - he's assuming I still play White Stax, which may or may not be a good thing.
G1 - I mulligan two uncastable hands and keep a decent five-carder. He is surprised at my opening of "Mountain, go"... but then produces 10 Goblin tokens on turn 1, and it's my turn to get more than a bit concerned.
I scoop immediately: might as well let him suspect I'm with Burn or Goblins, perhaps he won't bring in Shattering Spree. On the other side, I bring in 11 cards, which makes him a wee bit nervous ("Why do they always have a boatload of stuff against me", he muses; "You tell me" replies the Ichorid player to his left).
G2 - A risky hand here: Chalice, Chalice, Needle, and spells. After a long deliberation, I keep, reasoning that going off on turn 1 usually requires 0cc artifacts from him, and I do have 26 mana sources plus Pyrokinesis to draw.
He mulligans, and doesn't have 0cc artifacts, but on the other hand he doesn't have a turn 1 kill either, only a Belcher drop. Before he can activate it, though, I draw an Ancient Tomb, and from there it's all downhill for him.
G3 - He keeps his opening seven. My first hand is Tomb, Chalice, Chalice, Mox, Mountain, Mauler, SSG. I mulligan.
Before you think I'm crazy, realize that he knows I'm playing a Chalice Aggro deck - in other words, if he kept his seven, he's very very likely to go off on turn 1. My hand is useless against that: if I get a turn to live, what I need is Needle (for Belcher), Pyrokinesis/Clasm (for EtW), or maybe Pit-Dragon and a turn two kill.
The six-card hand has Pyrokinesis, and I keep it. My call was right: he goes off on turn 1, using Gamble to end up with Belcher in the yard and Welder + Petal + Led in play. On my turn 1 I gleefully Kinesis his Welder, and add a topdecked Chalice@1 for good measure. The next turn sees a Gathan Raiders on my side, followed up by a Jitte for the Hellbent and the mop-up.
Or not. His draws for those three turns? SSG, Song, Belcher. And his second Taiga isn't so kind as to be in the top ten cards of his library. GG.
Fucking Belcher. I'm out of Top 8.
4-2 / 10-5
Round 7 - Elena Grandi playing UGW Threshold
I've heard of Elena, she's a regular on the Emilian scene, usually with medium-high placements, which is pretty good for a 15-year-old. Then again, there are lots of 15-y.o. winning PTQs around, and from how I've seen her play she's still a long way from the Pro Tour even if she weren't playing Legacy.
G1 - A fairly standard anti-Threshold game. I dodge Dazes and resolve a Moon, a dork, and a Pit Dragon which on the next turn deals 22 damage alone to her, thanks to a Seething Song.
My side is -2 Slogger, +2 Trinisphere. Like in Round 3, Akroma stays in, this time not because I'm worried of bounced Sloggers but because of her protection from Enforcers, Swords, Stag tokens and whatnot.
While sideboarding, she slips and a part of her deck falls under the table. When she presents the deck, I take it and pile shuffle it (no reason to give up free game wins) and notice it's 61 cards. Very interesting; as I discover after the match, she had borrowed that deck from a judge for a change, and that judge has never cut the 61st card since it directly led him to win a nail-biter against Solidarity once.
G2 - She opens with turn 1 Ponder, turn 2 Tarmogoyf. But I've got a low-card disadvantage hand that enables me to keep up the stream of threats. I resolve a bunch of beaters and Chalices at both 1 and 2, then one turn before dying to Pit-Dragon beats she drops... Worship.
Hmm. Ok, now I need to find either Jitte or Slogger to get rid of Goyf - oh wait, I've got Chalice@2 in play and no way to remove it. Two Sloggers are my outs, then, and I need them quickly before my library depletes too much. Meanwhile, I send her to 1 to turn off her fetches and FoWs.
We start fast-playing through about 40 cards of our libraries, with me dropping every single permanent I draw (in the end my board was completely crammed with stuff, and we've drawn quite a crowd) while she draws-discards all sorts of stuff that she can't cast due to Moons and Chalices. There's some interaction - she Rings or Grips a Chalice, I drop another - but by and large, it's just a huge stall. I can't win anymore, but thanks to a hardcast Akroma and near-infinite Hellbent forces I'm not going to die from damage, and perhaps she won't realize she can't win via Predict - after all, she missed multiple Tarmogoyf attacks last game. Since I'm the faster deck by far, I don't see a reason to concede as long as I've got 10-15 minutes left in the round or so.
In the end, a couple of turns after resolving Akroma, I count both libraries and show her that she's going to die first, and that's it - she scoops.
Fun Fact #1: She had sided out her Predicts.
Fun Fact #2: Her turn 1 Ponder+fetchland had cost her the game. (Take that, 61st "lucky" cards!)
What a weird game Magic can be.
5-2 / 12-5
I end up in 14th place, drafting as consolation prizes a playset of Apocalypse Battlefield Forges (two English signed, one Russian, one German). Oh, and 3 Flagstones for second-best team (2nd / 14th / 27th), right behind Idraleo's team which put three people in Top 8 - wow.
THOUGHTS ON THE DECK
See here (http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/showpost.php?p=228323&postcount=980) in the DS thread.
OBLIGATORY CONCLUSION:
PROPS:
- Idraleo who lends me Stax lands and makes Top 8
- His friend who lends me Moxes and makes Top 8
- Azzoland who lends me 4 Needles, drives me back and forth, and scrubs out
- The T.O. who set up awesome prizes and a great venues
- The architect who put all that AIR above our heads
- Kikkofrio who gets his losses from his two teammates and then hateful Belcher-kid, and yet restrains himself from going on a killing spree
- 1 [PLC] Akroma, Angel of Fury
SLOPS:
- Belcher players everywhere
- Correction: sober Belcher players. It's acceptable to play Belcher or Burn if you're drunk.
- The pairings god who put teammates against each other twice.
- The 40 people who favoured beaches, mountains, fun, sex, and drinks over Legacy tournaments. Degenerates!