In the money with Counter Rebels at SCG Indy.
First off I want to shout out to preddi , Alexeezay , Hanni and nameless for all the help developing and tuning this list . All of your insights were very much appreciated and I could not have possibly done this well without all of your input .
Secondly I never ever wake up early , so getting up at 7:20 am to get to the Convention Center was a bit hard for me , especially considering I was working off of 3 hours of sleep .
I crashed over at Jay's house , one of my Team Epic members and I had to borrow a few cards from the team to complete my deck . Nothing too expensive , just some Sb cards and I'll go into all that later .
Awake at 7:20 and off to McDonalds for breakfast before finally arriving at the tourney site . The rest of the Team met up at the event and we were all pretty happy with my list .
This is the list that I registered.
Link to file
//Lands - 19
5 Plains
2 Island
3 Tundra
4 Flooded Strand
2 Marsh Flats
1 Arid Mesa
2 Gaea's Cradle
//Creatures - 18
4 Ramosian Sergeant
3 Defiant Falcon
3 Ramosian Lieutenant
2 Lin Sivvi, Defiant Hero
1 Aven Riftwatcher
1 Whipcorder
1 Defiant Vanguard
1 Big Game Hunter
2 Mirror Entity
//Spells - 23
4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Training Grounds
4 Brainstorm
4 Force of Will
4 Daze
3 Spell Pierce
//Sideboard: - 15
1 Children of Korlis
2 Enlightened Tutor
1 Meekstone
1 Absolute Law
1 Worship
1 Null Rod
1 Serenity
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Wheel of Sun and Moon
1 Blue Elemental Blast
2 Hydroblast
1 Spell Pierce
In my own testing I knew that the only swarm deck that I really needed the Propaganda/Ghostly Prison against was Zoo , and it never really helped against Zoo anyway so I gave up trying to deal with that deck and just moved on . The Null Rod was a suggestion from fellow Team Epic Player Jason Houston (he finished 13th at SCG St Louis with Rbg Goblins) and now looking back on that it was my MVP SB card of the day . I scouted 0 (ZERO) Tendril players so I dropped the Ethersworn Canonist from the SB and replaced it with a Worship at the suggestion of preddi . I dropped the Llawan, Cephalid Empress to run Meekstone in the SB (which incidentally does wonders against a few other decks) and moved Whipcorder back into the main to help that Meekstone . I also scouted a more then a few Dredge players before registration so I kept that stuff in . I kept the Children of Korlis in the SB because I didn't want to get blown out by Burn and there was a chance I'd have to play against that .
No jitters , no shakey hands . I'm totally in a positive mood and ready for a nice experience . I tell Jason and Tim from my team that I am expecting to put up a really good fight .
No one expects me to do well :cool:
Round 1 vs Mark Spano playing New Horizons .
He is a really friendly fellow , and I can see that he has been to a few tourneys . He comments to me that he has been playing for years and tells me he remembers busting Duals out of packs "back in the day" .
Game one I resolve a turn one Sergeant (which he had to read) and I never cast another spell besides countering his attempts to remove that from play . Eventually I untap with 3 mana and just go nuts from there . My opponent showed me 2 Dazes that never did anything since everyone and their mom plays around Daze now).
The player to the right of me just looked at my board in amazement and I could tell that everyone who could see this match was getting sentimental from the days when Lin Sivvi ruled Block and T2 .
I brought in the extra Pierce , Meekstone and 1 ETutor .
Game two he drops a mana dork and I drop a protected 3rd turn Lieutenant . Small counter war ensues where I get the last spell and in a few turns I am once again beating with a Mirror Entity army backed my a Cradle . I see Dredge to my right and the player says , "Man , you just stomped him!"
Games 2-0-0 , Matches 1-0-0
:wink: I smile and wait for the 2nd round .
Round 2 vs Chris Benzinger playing 2 Land Belcher
Ok I'll admit , I love Belcher to death and I am very VERY familiar with both the list and all possible SB cards . He is on the draw and I had no Idea what he was playing . I mull away a 1 land hand with double Force and 2 Blue cards but with only I plains as the land My second hand is no blue cards 4 lands 2 searchers so I keep. I open with Plains into Sargent , he opens Chrome Mox imprinting Manamorphose and I lay my land down and he resolves 14 Goblin Tokens . I scoop immediatly rather then show him I am running blue and immediately act like I am SBing in 8 cards . He does not SB , putting me on Mono White Scrubs .
SB + 1 Spell Pierce 2 ETutor 1 Null Rod
Game 2 , I play a white fetch and pass the turn and he once again tries to go nuts , I break the Arid for a Tundra and Pierce his 2nd acceleration spell . He sits back utterly amazed that I am running blue . I start ramping up and I know I am in trouble since I don't draw any additional countermagic . He plays two LED and casts Burning Wish for Empty WITHOUT BREAKING THE LEDS IN RESPONSE . I tell him to discard the Empty . His life goes 18 , 17 , 14 , 2 , gg .
Game 3 I mull once into a Force and he opens with a first turn Swarm . Crap . He swings and passes the turn , YAY . He kept a hand with swarm hoping to draw into a win Condition . I cast Null Rod on the 2nd turn and the game goes LONG . Eventually he blows my blows my null rod away but doesnt have a way to win yet . His life goes 19 , 18 , 17 , 2 , gg .
Games 4-1-0 , Matches 2-0-0
Round 3 vs Jason Payne playing Bant Aggro
Game 1 I have to mulligan twice for lack of land , so I keep a 5 card grip with 1 Land and a Brainstorm . He completely rolls me over game one and we go off to game 2 .
SB : same as round 1
Game 2 I keep a hand with one counter and one searcher . On the 2nd turn he casts Stoneforged Mystic and wins the counter war . A Turn later I am facing an active Jitte and he plows my Whipcorder . My life drops slowly over a long game but I didn't SB in the Children of Korlis so without that Whipcorder I am dead to Jitte .
He comments that my deck is completely amazing , and he would like to play against me more without me hitting bad mana hands :smile:
Games 4-3-0 , Matches 2-1-0
Round 4 vs Stan Smith playing Zoo (Nooooooooooooooooooooooooo . . . )
Game 1 He is on the play and started with Fetch into Taiga , Nacatl . Crap . I'm sure you all know this but jus tin case Zoo is the absolute worst match up in the entire gauntlet . Zoo does what it does , cast early threats and keeps my rebels off the board with removal . I fight the good fight but in the end his removal is just too much .
I sb in the Turors , the Absolute Law , the Meekstone , the blasts and the Worship .
Game 2 - He uses his Pridemage on my early Training Grounds and I immediately follow with a searcher and a Cradle . I play defensively , using Mirror Entity to protect from burn removal while swinging slowly in the air . I pull this game out and we're off to game 3 .
Game 3 - This was much like game 1 . Again , no amount of SBing or anything seems to help this matchup so I'm not surprised he beats me .
Games 5-5-0 , Matches 2-2-0
[sigh] I tell my team mates that if I get a 3rd match loss I am going to play either Dromar or Darigazz in the EDH mini tourneys . . .
Round 5 vs Mike Antrim playing GW Aggro with hate bears .
Game 1 I mull once again but keep a very solid 6 with a Grounds , 2 searchers and a Brainstorm . I just do what rebels does , holding the brainstorm in order to protect the Rebel . His life goes 19 , 18 , 19 , 0 . WHOO HOO ENTITY IS THE BOMB .
My opponent tells me just how awesome it is that I am running Counterrebels and that he doesn't mind losing to me at all :smile:
SB + Etutors and Worship .
Game 2 He resolves a first turn Vial and Vials in two Mystics . Eventually I am staring at a Serra Avenger with both SoLaS AND Jitte equipped and protected my double Mother of Runes . This was a very very long game 2 and we head into the 3rd game with under 10 min's to play .
Game 3 I countered his early Vial via Force , but I had to pitch my only other blue card (Training Gounds) and that hurt me . I rip a cradle off the top and but he was able to resolve a Mystic for Jitte . I play aggressively and push him down to 8 life while using Whipcorder to stop his Equipment but eventually he lands Mother of Runes and this game goes into turns , finally ending in a draw .
Great opponent , great games and I don't think that I could have done anything else to win this one . Both of us are very happy with out play and if I ever see this guy again it's going to be with a smile on my face . Very very GGS .
Games 6-6-1 , Matches 2-2-1
A draw is NOT a 3rd loss , so I am still in this and will not quit until I hit that 3rd loss .
Round 6 vs Jeff Cosgrove playing Counterbalance Bant .
Game 1 I drop a protected 2nd turn Sargent and just protect the holy crap out of it . I've tested this match up many times and I know that in order to beat Counterbalace I just need to keep something in play . His life goes 18 , 0 .
SB +Null Rod , Serenity and Etutors .
Game 2 He plows/paths the first 3 rebels I cast , but I drop a 4th and start protecting that one . I had a pretty solid hand with multiple rebels and only 1 protective counter so I just play them one by one and run through his removal . I resolve Training Grounds and its pretty quick from there on .
Neighboring players are by now noticing that a Rebel deck is in the field and that it does no suck completely . I have quite a few other players giving me high praises for even playing this deck in such a huge field . Everyone is totally happy to give me pats on the back and I hear the word "Cool" and "Sweet" over and over lol .
Games 8-6-1 , Matches 3-2-1
Round 7 vs Jeremy Banks playing Junk
Game 1 I mull into a very questionable hand with 3 land and turn 2 searchers and Grounds . I play Grounds and my th eplayer to my right yells , "YOU'RE THAT GUY!!!" . Mad lols . Opponent opens with a 2nd turn 2 Hymn , hitting my 2 lands . I am complete blown out and we move to game 2 .
SB : + Tutors , Meekstone and Serenity (expecting E Plague)
Game 2 We both start the game resolving early threats and I am able to land a Rebel and untap with it . I cast Training Grounds and he can't keep them off the table from there . I counter a Deed to seal this game . His life was high until I searched for Entity protected by Force + Pierce . His life goes 18 , 20 (plow Confidant) , 18 , 7 , gg .
Game 3 I am on the draw but I have a very good hand with multiple counters but no searchers . He starts discarding me but I rip a Sargent off the top on the 2nd turn and stabilize with Pierces . He however starts beating my face with Goyf and I eat the attacks white searching for more rebels . I eventually stabilize and use BGH to rip Goyf to bits but I had to tap out to do it . He plows both my searchers immediately and the board is now all lands with me with a single BGH in play . Neither of us had any cards left in hand and he is at a healthy 23 life to my 9 . My next turn I rip Mirror Entity off the top and start swinging . His life drops 23 , 22 , 12 , 2 , gg .
The crowd goes wild .
Games 10-7-1 , Matches 4-2-1
Ok , I must say that by this point I am starting to feel the effects of the fatigue from the 3 hours of sleep . I grab a small bite to eat and freshen up a bit . I hope I can hold my play together in the next two rounds because I know that if I do I stand a damn good chance at finishing in the money (Top 32) .
Round 8 vs Shawn Dewey playing Uwr JaceStill
Game 1 - I am shuffling my opponents deck and accidentally flip a card over I immediatly look away but I knew it was a blue card. I look at my opponent with the most forlorn look I have ever had , knowing that I am about to get a game loss for this and I just put my head on the table . Judge comes and asks me if I did this before and I say , "Hell no man I am so sorry omg." He gives me a warning and I am already on super tilt from this . We start and I cast a 1st turn Sargent protecting it with a Force against his Daze . He drops a 4th turn MD Humility protected be his own Force of Will and I just stare in amazement . He resolves both big Jace and Espeth and I scoop , immediately going to game 2 to save time .
SB : I pull out the Plows and the single BGH for Tutors , Null Rod , Serenity and 4th Pierce .
Game 2 I start very strong here , with fast rebels and both Cradle and Training Grounds . On the turn where I am going to search for Entity to end this he casts Peacekeeper . [edited text of complete profanity here]?! I pulled out the 4 Plows in order to bring in my hate and I now really regret this .
I am a very stubborn player having played Chess for YEARS, and I refuse to concede unless it presents me with an advantage . There is no advantage in scooping in game 2 when I lost game 1 so I am here to play for a draw . I settle down and formulate my plan . I know he probably runs Wrath and I am going to sit here and try and stop his win conditions from entering play . I start pulling every single rebel out of my deck , and every land out of my deck , so each draw starts showing blue so I can sculpt a hand of nothing but blue cards to prepare for a huge counter war . He goes for a mid game Jace , and I win that war due to the fact I have been holding a Brainstorm in preparation for this battle . I drop Null Rod on the next turn , blanking his next play of Explosives , as well as his Top . He casts Firespout so I activate Entity for 4 . Turns upon turn of draw go start happening , I use Lin Sivvi to recycle the Aven Riftwatcher and my life climbs over this time to an astounding 47 life . He casts Wrath with about 10 cards left in his deck and I respond by activating Lin Sivvi for 0 , tapping Cradle , activating Lin Sivvi's 2nd ability once for each creature I have in play , then activating Mirror Entity for 0 without passing priority .
The crowd goes wild .
I shuffle every single rebel I had in play back into my deck , and his Wrath resolves on a completely empty board . I top deck a Sargent on the next turn and within 3 turns I am back to all rebels in play again . Then he casts Humility . I really look at the table , at his cards left and at my deck . I have one more card then him in my library due to the fact I have been discarding and putting my 2nd Lin Sivvi on the bottom of my deck in the turns between recycling the Aven Riftwatcher for life . I allow Humility to resolve , knowing he can't drop my life down to 0 in 5 turns . He resolves both Big Jace and Espeth a turn later . The game ends with him not being able to draw a card with 31 seconds left on the game clock .
I decked him .
The crowd goes WILD .
I offer him the draw , a habit I suppose I have from my years of playing the Reti Opening in chess . He asks me for a concession , stating that a draw helps neither of us . I immediately reply , "Hell no man , I am running rebels ! Do you have any idea how awesome this report is going to be ?!" . A judge comes over and asks us what is happening . We ask him the rules on finishing the 2nd game but not having time for a 3rd game and he say that we will draw unless a player concedes .
He asks me to concede again and I say no . I once again offer the draw and reach my hand out to a very long game . He does not shake my hand , doesn't looks me in the eyes . He is pretty mad since he knows that without a clock he could probably beat me in that 3rd game . Surprisingly he signs the slip instead of shaking my hand 2-1 in favor of me .
I don't know why he did this and it came as quite a shock to me . In chess I never ever do this . I'll play for a draw if it is my only option since a draw is half a point in chess . My Team explains that this happens all the time , where one player concedes to give another player a chance at money .
It left a bitter taste in my mouth , but I took the win with a gain of salt .
Sometimes , when you can't win . You can still play for that draw and not lose . And sometimes , when you don't lose , you win anyways .
Standings are posted and I am in 34th Place with 16 points now . One more win and I earn some money .
Games 11-8-1 , Matches 5-2-1
Round 9 vs Ryan Carstens playing Bug Thresh
Game 1 spot the table and recognized him immediately , but neither of us know for sure what each other are playing . I say as I see him , "Well hello there fellow Junk Player!!!" and take my seat . He asks me what I am playing again and I say , "Well if you didn't catch what I said when I sat down then I am not telling you again!" I smile and after long thought he keeps his opening 7 . I also keep with a very very good grip . He opens with Thoughtsieze which I allow to resolve since my hand is all duplicates and he yells , "YOU ARE THAT GUY!!!" :cool: I respond, "WHAT?! There is another Rebel PLayer here?! OMG WHO?" Mad Lols ensue and we get on with out match . I resolve a rebel , and a training grounds . He empties me hand but his spot removal can't keep the Ramosian Army off the table forever and I swing bringing his life from 19 to 0 .
SB +Serenity , anticipating 4 Plague or something crazy like that .
Game 2 This game goes long , and quite a few people are surrounding the table since well , Training Grounds is quite uncommon and everyone loves Lin Sivvi . There are multiple wars of attrition , lots of countermagic and tons of discard . Eventually I am able to resolve and untap with a Defiant Falcon . His shoulders slump and I know he is in trouble . I protect the rebel which watching his reactions while he draws his cards . He doesn't draw anything usefull . he manages to rip something ogg the tip and immediately casts Extirpate on my only rebel in the yard (GO LIN SIVVI!!!) targeting a Ramosian Sargent . I hand him my deck and smile , 0 Entity in the deck , both in hand , backed by double Force and double Spell Pierce . I start swinging with Flying rebels and Defiant falcon gets in for the past point of damage . GG .
Once again , the crowd goes wild :laugh:
Final Record : Games 13-8-1 , Matches 6-2-1
I finish in 24th place , and earn some cash . It's enough to cover the cost of entry and the food I ate on site . More importantly I just played Counterrebels to a top 32 finish in a field of 269 players!!!
I didn't face Goblins or Merfork so in that sense I had really good pairings . I am very happy with how the deck performed but I know that my list absolutely needs one more land in there . All the mulls were due to 1 land hands .
All in all I've worked on rebels for years and it's my favorite pet deck to play .
Is it a contender ? No not really . Is it tricky to play against . HECK YES .
Props : Team Epic , Lin Sivvi and everyone who said anything positive to me during the 9 rounds of play . I can't even begin to shout all the names out to everyone who patted me on the back !!! Also , every single round my opponents read my cards . That alone makes me smile . Final shout out to Moose for his invaluable help and advice between rounds .
Slops : I didn't use any of the graveyard hate and the food/drink on site was stupid expensive .
Ramosia STILL STANDS!!!
YOU!!! SHALL!!! NOT!!! PASS!!!