[Report] Imperial Painter - Finals at Hadley 6/28/08+

[Michael Keller]

I was thinking about a direction a little over a month ago to take the Painter's Servant/Grindstone combination and turn it into a viable and potent Legacy powerhouse. I was sifting through the net and stumbled across "Imperial Painter", which is a variation of the combo which utilizes Imperial Recruiter to tutor for Painter and every other creature in the deck. It doesn't solely rely on the combo, which in turn gave me the confidence that the deck can win without having to rely on the combo itself.

After playing the deck in Syracuse with success for the past month, and some last-few days tweak, here's the list that I settled on for the Hadley Mox event on 6/28:

Imperial Painter
by "Hollywood" Mike Keller

[4x] Imperial Recruiter
[4x] Painter's Servant
[4x] Lightning Bolt
[4x] Grindstone
[4x] Magus of the Moon
[4x] Trinisphere
[4x] Red Elemental Blast
[4x] Pyroblast
[4x] Chrome Mox
[4x] Simian Spirit Guide
[2x] Jaya Ballard, Task Mage

//Lands
[10x] P3K Mountain
[4x] City of Traitors
[4x] Ancient Tomb

//Sideboard
[4x] Vexing Shusher
[3x] Pyrokinesis
[3x] Faerie Macabre
[3x] Pyrostatic Pillar
[1x] Goblin Tinkerer
[1x] Silent Arbiter


So we (Team Left Field) started off around 8 to the event, and it was packed when we got there. We signed up and got ready for the first round of action. There are 49 people.

Round One vs. U/w Dreadstill

Game One: We shuffle up and deal. He leads off turn two with a Standstill. So, after about ten turns of draw-go, he is sitting on only 5 land and I'm at close to 10. I decide to end the suspense with a Trinisphere. He Forces. I play another. He Forces again. I play Jaya, and she resolves. He doesn't proceed to find anything, and after a few turns with Imperial beats, I activate Jaya for Inferno and blow him away. A strange start, but I'll take it.

Game Two: The game lasts maybe three turns after I combo out with Grindstone and Painter.

2-0 (1-0)

Round Two vs. Ichorid

Game One: He goes first. He taps a Coliseum and plays Breakthrough. I counter it with R.E.B. I combo out in two turns.

Game Two: See game one, only I combo turn two.

4-0 (2-0)

Round Three vs. 4c Thresh

Game One: This is probably the most intriguing match of the evening. We exchange threats for a while, but I eventually hold him off with Blast effects and Trinisphere long enough to combo out and win late game.

Game Two: After dropping Needle turn one, he passes. I play Goblin Tinkerer off City and Mountain, floating a mana (he eventually told me he had Daze). Needle-less to say, it got destroyed the following turn. It didn't matter as I couldn't seem to muster enough offense and I got beat down by a couple of Goyfs.

Game Three: I go first, leading off with a Magus turn one and practically nothing else in hand. He has no Force. He proceeds to drops non-basics with no burn and that provides the cover for the artillery to get in.

6-1 (3-0)

Round Four vs. U/w Aggro Control

Game One: He mulls and I keep. He gets in there once with a Savannah Lion, but I eventually Bolt it. He stalls for a few turns after I beat him down and he can't recover.

Game Two: He leads of with Isamaru, but it gets Bolted his following turn. I eventually just handle his threats and I drop Magus soon as he can't do anything with all his non-basics.

8-1 (4-0)

I look at the standings, and I am top seed. I eventually draw in the final two rounds, so I have plenty of time to check out potential match-ups in Top 8.

8-1 (4-0-2)

Here are some photos to keep you entertained, as it was a long wait:

Hadley Madness!

Top Eight

Round Seven vs. Ichorid

Game One: I'm playing against Zach, as two Syracusians have to duke it out in the opening round of top 8 action. I start a little slow, but blast an early Breakthrough. Eventually, Zach is able to overwhelm me and I can't recover from the most vicious cardboard beating I've taken in my life.

Game Two: This is hardly entertaining, as I open with Faerie Macabre and nix his two dredgers out early after he discards his hand. I Imperial Recruiter for another Faerie for safety purposes and that paired with the firepower in my hand is too much. Zach scoops.

Game Three: I opened with early Magus beats and I shut down his mana, as he drew Breakthrough. I have double Pyrokinesis in hand and he doesn't really have an answer to the beats and creature kill. He hits a Bridge or two, but tokens that came off Ichorid later were too late as he was at a few life.

10-2 (5-0-2)

Round Eight vs. U/b/g Tog

Game One: This match was against Caleb. He wanted to split top 4 before the match started, but I figured I got this far and with a little push from my teammates I want to go for it all. Caleb really reinforces the fact this is a horrific match for him. Game one was a little fuzzy, as I believe REB's and beats just put him away.

Game Two: He has a few Islands out and I have Magus. He gets low on life and tries to Lim Dul's Vault (hmm). I Blast it and eventually push hard enough to get the win.

12-2 (6-0-2)

FINALS vs. G/b/r Survival Advantage w/ Wish

Game One: It was a really heart-breaking end. Turn one I play Grindstone. Turn two, I drop Painter. I never draw a land or mana source again.

Game Two: After trading a few Bolts on some of his early mana producers, I eventually get the Grindstone out. He then proceeds to start smashing the hell out of me. I am sitting on seven mana components, and during his turn, he Burning Wishes for Cranial Extraction. That's not good for me at this point. I untap. If I draw Painter, I can win. I pluck...a Chrome Mox! I pass and he plays Cranial Extraction. I sink my head into the table and laugh to myself. Everyone else joins in. It was a hilarious end to a great run. I'll take it. I don't scoop, though. I proceed to activate Grindstone to try and Grind him out the old-fashioned way. I hit two Goyfs and everyone goes crazy...then two lands. I play a SECOND Grindstone, and Grind: Nada. Awesome.

Overall, I got a set of Volcanics which I sold to Bob. All in all, a classic event. Three top 8's out of four events, Finals in two of them. *Shrug*. Maybe next time I can finish the job. Until then...

Props:
- Tom, for discovering Imperial Painter. It truly is one of the most underrated and powerful decks in the format.
- My team, for again putting up good numbers and a solid top 8 showing.
- Zach, for top 8'ing with Ichorid. You sir are a good man.
- Caleb, for being a good sport when I wanted to play it out. A great guy.
- Kevin, for hooking me up with P3K Mountains before the tournament. White bordered basics F-T-W!
- All my opponents, who were all classy and cool people. Jeff was cool, too. He's the only other guy I know with a set of Recruiters and is looking to try the deck out. Much love.
- McDonalds, for yet again providing a magnificent victory feast.

Slops:
- Bryant. From winning a Library to scrubbing out? I'll see you in the Finals next time
- Me, for coming in second again. It's good and all, but I'm hungry for it all.
- Hammafist guys. You missed out.
- Air conditioning. There were too many men, too many people, playing too many matches! =)

No real slops. It was a great tournament and I hope to continue this into the July event and on.

[Brushwagg]

Awesome finish dude.

[cwt1220]

you got away with running 8 recruiters .....lol

[Deep6er]

8 Imperial Recruiters? That seems like a good number.

Congratulations on the finish. :)

EDIT: DAMN! SARNATH'D!

[Jak]

8 Recruiters?

[Bryant Cook]

Congratulations. Well done sir.

[Sims]

I think that was supposed to be Seething Song or Bolt, or something of the ilk.

Also, congratz on the finish Hollywood.

[Di]

Game Two: He leads of with Isamaru, but it gets Bolted his following turn.

I know you had them before, but these aren't in your posted decklist. What happened here?

Good job anyway. Yet another Syracuse finals appearance.

[J.V.]

Congrats on the Finish Hollywood! 2nd again is kinda brutal though... Anyways although we couldn't make this one because of my grad party and relatives who couldn't go any other weekend (God I hate family gatherings ) we will be in Syracuse for the $1000 so we'll see you then.

[ForceofWill]

I think there we more out of state people than people from MA at this tournament. Good job Legend. Wish we had gotten the chance to play.

[TrialByFire]

4 of the Recruiters in the decklist should be Bolts. Great run Hollywood, I'm still convinced the deck is underrated still, even with your finish. I would run it if I owned Recruiters lol.

EDIT: In other news, this deck absolutely has to go into the Pimp thread once the white border goodness is complete

[Michael Keller]

Thanks everyone, I really appreciate it.

And yes, I changed the list back to 4 Bolts. I was tired as hell when I wrote up the report lol.

[Zach Tartell]

Mike, I'd like to congratulate for getting second, shame you for not taking home a mox, and apologize for getting all "Barnello" during our round. In my defense, I was winning, even, though. I just hate playing important matches.

[Michael Keller]

Mike, I'd like to congratulate for getting second, shame you for not taking home a mox, and apologize for getting all "Barnello" during our round. In my defense, I was winning, even, though. I just hate playing important matches.

I tried, I tried. But yeah, I did get a little Teacher, Teacher too during our match. Concentration is important.

[Happy Gilmore]

Wouldn't Throrn of Amythyst Be better than Trinisphere? It comes down a lot faster, makes the most common hate (Krosan Grip) cost more while keeping your creatures cheeper and making all the other spells cost 1 less than if Trinisphere was on the board. It also creates a great way to resolve Magus. Turn 1 Thorn followed by turn 2 Magus or IR seems good.

[xsockmonkeyx]

Faerie Macabre is some pretty sweet tech for Recruiter. Congrats on the finish!