Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast
Results 1 to 20 of 45

Thread: hungryLIKEALION's tournament report collection

  1. #1
    Lion
    hungryLIKEALION's Avatar
    Join Date

    May 2009
    Location

    Bethlehem, PA
    Posts

    492

    hungryLIKEALION's tournament report collection

    I decided that, given the volume of tournament reports I write, it might be better if I kept them all to one thread so as not to flood the board with them, cuz then I feel bad. This also makes it easier to justify writing reports for somewhat smaller events, or when I don't place as well as I'd like to. So thus, I'm making this thread.

    Today I played in a 5-round Legacy tournament at The Portal in Bethlehem PA. There was no cut to top 8, prizes were awarded based on standings.

    While preparing for the tournament, I couldn't decide on what deck I would like to play. I could go with my classic standby of Zoo, my newer toy of Supreme Blue, or I could try something different. I was in the mood to experiment, so I decided to try taking a more aggressive direction than Zoo, and went into full-out Goyf Sligh.

    Here's my list:



    4 Scalding Tarn
    4 Arid Mesa
    3 Wooded Foothills
    1 Windswept Heath
    3 Plateau
    3 Taiga
    3 Mountain

    4 Goblin Guide
    4 Steppe Lynx
    4 Wild Nacatl
    3 Grim Lavamancer
    4 Tarmogoyf
    2 Sylvan Library
    2 Reckless Charge
    2 Chain Lightning
    4 Lightning Bolt
    4 Rift Bolt
    3 Fireblast
    3 Price of Progress

    SB:
    4 Path to Exile
    4 Tormod's Crypt
    3 Faerie Macabre
    2 Krosan Grip
    2 Smash to Smithereens

    People always talk about Zoo goldfishing turn 4. It doesn't. This does This deck is so ridiculously fast it's absurd. Granted, some numbers kind of suck here. I don't have a fourth Wooded Foothills, so a Heath has to suffice. I only have two Chains, but two more would be nice. I need to cut a reckless charge to go down to one, but still like it as a one of.

    Anyway, report time.

    Round 1:Dan playing Survival Elves

    He wins the die roll.
    Game 1:He plays t1 Survival with ESG. I play Goblin Guide and bash him to 18. He survivals twice on his turn. I play Steppe Lynx and reckless charge it with a fetchland, and swing for 9 to put him on 9. He plays some elves but they are not enough to stop the burn in my hand.

    SB:
    -2 Reckless Charge, +2 Grip
    Game 2:I keep a one lander cuz I'm on the draw and have several R plays. He plays a mana elf, I play Goblin Guide and swing. He gets a land. He plays survival and uses it once. I don't hit the second land and end up having to sit and watch as he makes 60 elves and I lose.

    More SBing:
    -3 Goyf, +3 Macabre
    Game 3:I keep a much better hand. Turn one Nacatl, bash him to 17. My notes on this game are pretty unclear, just "20, 17, 15, 13" and that's it, so, while I don't exactly remember how the game ended, I assume I had a lot of burn.

    1-0, 2-1

    Round 2:Joe playing Imperial Painter
    I got paired down. I forget who wins the die roll, but I think it was me.
    Game 1:I play nacatl which, with the help of his ancient tomb, gets him to 12 very quickly. I then unleash a salvo of burn to put him to 3 and make a goblin guide to put him to 1 before topdecking another bolt.

    -4 Goyf, +2 Smash +2 Grip

    Game 2:I have a Steppe Lynx but he gets the combo pretty quickly, and when I try to smash his Painter's servant in response to grindstone's activation he has the blast. I then try to bolt the servant, only to find another blast. If I had played my chain lightning in my hand the previous turn I would have won cuz he ended the game at 2. I didn't play it because he had red mana up and I didn't expect him to have two blasts. I thought I could just use chain for the last 2 points, but I was wrong. Even so, I should have cast it on my turn anyway because that would have forced him to tap too low to be able to use grindstone and I could have then smashed the servant and then bolted and he wouldn't have had another mana with which to bounce it back at me. Otherwise, if he chose not to return the chain, I could have still lavamanced him on my upkeep for lethal.

    Game 3:I have turn one lynx with t2 Nacatl and grip in hand, but he makes t1 blood moon. I attack with lynx for a few turns in a row before he plays servant and kills it. I then kill the servant and play goblin guide, which he also kills. he goes painter beatdown while I draw all the green and white spells in my deck before I finally draw a few burnspells. He assembles the combo but I price and bolt him for the last seven with grindstone's activation on the stack, and he's out of counters.

    2-0, 4-2

    Round 3:Todd playing Goblins
    I win the die roll.
    Game 1:We both play t1 fetchlands, me for lynx and he for lackey. I play a fetchland and bash him to 15, and on his turn he gempalms the lynx. I play goblin guide and put him on 13. He plays warchief and swings. I play Steppe Lynx, Fetchland, Reckless charge it twice, and swing for 12, then fireblast. Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiick.

    SB:-3 Price of Progress, +2 Smash +1 Grip

    Game 2:I play t1 Guide, bash him to 17. He played t1 Vial, so on t2 he plays piledriver and vials out guide to block. I play Wild Nacatl and reckless charge it, and bash with both my guys. He trades guides and takes the 6, going to 11. He plays matron for stingscourger and uses it to bounce my nacatl off of vial. I suspend three rift bolts and pass the turn. He tries to figure out a way to kill me, but there is none. My three rift bolts drop him from 11 to 2 and I have a bolt in hand to finish the deed.

    3-0, 6-2

    Round 4:Kurt playing Spring Tide
    He wins the die roll.
    Game 1:T1 Nacatl, t2 double guide, t3 chain+fireblast.
    SB:-3 Price, +3 Path
    Game 2:T1 Nacatl (forced) t2 Guide+Mancer, t3 Another Guide(forced) and a lot of burn. He dies on turn 4.

    4-0, 8-2

    Round 5:Ryan playing Eva Green
    He wins the die roll.
    Game 1:He plays swamp, go. I play mountain, guide bash with a scalding tarn in hand, a steppe lynx, and 4 burn spells. He plays hymn and hits my tarn and a burn spell. I'm annoyed and don't draw a new land. He plays another hymn, leaving a lavamancer and steppe lynx in my hand instead of all the beautiful R 3 damage spells I had in my hand... He plays tombstalker and vampire nighthawk and I sit there with a goblin guide. I lose.
    SB:-3 Price -3 mancer, +2 Smash +4 Path
    Game 2:I mull to 6. I play t1 Nacatl and bash him to 17 and then he hymns me, taking the two fireblasts in my hand leaving me with two lands. I land Sylvan Library, but he kills my nacatl with gatekeeper, plays goyf and jitte. I have to draw 2 extra cards off library to have enough removal to keep him off jitte, but then I can't kill the tombstalker he plays next and I had to draw myself too low to buy any time so I lose.

    4-1, 8-4

    Not bad for my first time playing Sligh.

    Anyway, the deck was fantastic. Very consistent, and very fast. I feel like this deck is better positioned currently than Zoo is. You actually have a legitimate chance of racing the combo decks, can shrug off a natural order because your clock is so fast, can beat lands because they can't stabilize fast enough, and can shrug off things like rhox war monk because by the time they're online you're already applying lethal damage via burn. I'd happily take this deck to a larger tournament, and probably will next time I come up to vestal.

    Thanks for reading!
    Last edited by hungryLIKEALION; 02-21-2010 at 10:44 PM.
    Quote Originally Posted by Bardo View Post
    Strangest convenience store I've yet seen: Kum & Go (somewhere in Nebraska). I remember thinking: "Huh, a drive-through bordello. Clever."

  2. #2
    Steve Carpenter's my friend.
    jimirynk's Avatar
    Join Date

    Feb 2009
    Location

    Poughkeepsie, Ny.
    Posts

    376

    Re: hungryLIKEALION's tournament report collection

    Nice foil nacatls.

  3. #3
    Noachide'
    MMogg's Avatar
    Join Date

    Aug 2009
    Location

    Dongying, China
    Posts

    1,048

    Re: hungryLIKEALION's tournament report collection

    "He plays him and hits my tarn and a burn spell."

    Had to re-read this typo twice before it sunk it.

    Why is it whenever I play test Lynx he ends up being a dud? I've never had luck with that guy. Anyway, looks like fun to play.
    Who says the Internet isn't full of <3?
    Quote Originally Posted by Aleksandr View Post
    MMogg, I love you more and more.
    Quote Originally Posted by menace13
    MMogg is already loved any place he goes.

  4. #4
    Lion
    hungryLIKEALION's Avatar
    Join Date

    May 2009
    Location

    Bethlehem, PA
    Posts

    492

    Re: hungryLIKEALION's tournament report collection

    Quote Originally Posted by MMogg View Post
    "He plays him and hits my tarn and a burn spell."

    Had to re-read this typo twice before it sunk it.

    Why is it whenever I play test Lynx he ends up being a dud? I've never had luck with that guy. Anyway, looks like fun to play.
    Woops, my bad. Fixed.

    I don't like Lynx in Zoo, but in this deck (21 lands, 12 fetches) he was very good. You only really want two hits out of him, so that's fine when that's all you get.
    Quote Originally Posted by Bardo View Post
    Strangest convenience store I've yet seen: Kum & Go (somewhere in Nebraska). I remember thinking: "Huh, a drive-through bordello. Clever."

  5. #5
    Noachide'
    MMogg's Avatar
    Join Date

    Aug 2009
    Location

    Dongying, China
    Posts

    1,048

    Re: hungryLIKEALION's tournament report collection

    Quote Originally Posted by hungryLIKEALION View Post
    Woops, my bad. Fixed.

    I don't like Lynx in Zoo, but in this deck (21 lands, 12 fetches) he was very good. You only really want two hits out of him, so that's fine when that's all you get.
    Also you had a decent interaction with Reckless Charge, which I didn't ever test.
    Who says the Internet isn't full of <3?
    Quote Originally Posted by Aleksandr View Post
    MMogg, I love you more and more.
    Quote Originally Posted by menace13
    MMogg is already loved any place he goes.

  6. #6
    Lion
    hungryLIKEALION's Avatar
    Join Date

    May 2009
    Location

    Bethlehem, PA
    Posts

    492

    Re: hungryLIKEALION's tournament report collection

    Yeah, whenever you untap on turn two and make a lynx, fetch, and charge it, it's pretty absurd. That's why I love charge, but I hate running more than 2 because multiples are really terrible, and even with 2 sometimes I draw them too often. I can't decide if I should cut one and play it as a 1 of or stick with 2, but it will always at least be a 1 of for me in this deck.

    Also, Goyf totally sucks every time you have him unless you have a charge. He's so slow compared to everything else in this deck, it's the only deck I've ever played where I didn't want to draw goyf. Then again, I don't think I can really afford to cut him, because after all... he's tarmgoyf. -_-
    Quote Originally Posted by Bardo View Post
    Strangest convenience store I've yet seen: Kum & Go (somewhere in Nebraska). I remember thinking: "Huh, a drive-through bordello. Clever."

  7. #7
    Member

    Join Date

    Feb 2007
    Location

    San Diego
    Posts

    1,473

    Re: hungryLIKEALION's tournament report collection

    Perhaps you could go:
    -1 Tarmogoyf
    -1 reckless charge
    +2 chain lightning?

    It seems like that would be the obvious decision since you happen to not like drawing him early, and you were already talking about cutting 1 of the reckless charges anyways.

    I think you may have come to the same conclusion as well.

  8. #8
    Member

    Join Date

    Apr 2009
    Location

    Sweden, Trelleborg
    Posts

    816

    Re: hungryLIKEALION's tournament report collection

    Nice read. Think its possible to move the goyfs to the board or just skipping them.

  9. #9

    Re: hungryLIKEALION's tournament report collection

    So the idea behind the Charge is - Lynx, fetch, charge for 7?

  10. #10
    Trop -> Nacatl Pass
    troopatroop's Avatar
    Join Date

    Dec 2003
    Location

    SUNY Geneseo
    Posts

    2,070

    Re: hungryLIKEALION's tournament report collection

    Exactly. I brought it up in the SCD: Steppe Lynx thread and got no response. There is legitimate synergy between the cards, because it's the biggest 1 drop possible. I've been playing with 3 Reckless Charges, and it's been the most consistent for me after alot of testing. You really want to draw one if you draw two 1cc creatures, but 4 is too many. Multiples are bad, but they make Multiple Lynxes much better. This is a very difficult deck to get perfect, but I'm fairly confident that 3 is correct. I think it comes down to whether or not you're willing to make Reckless Charge a big part of your deck/gameplan. Personally, I am. Also, great report, I'm glad to see you giving this deck a try. I haven't missed a top 4 with it at my local store yet, not that that's saying much : )

    EDIT: Just to spell out some more pros to playing Reckless Charge, cuz I'm dying to talk about it.

    1. Fetchland Maximization. Say you draw two Steppe Lynx, and only a couple land. Without Reckless Charge, you cannot get both Lynxes to benefit from all your fetches, which can definitely lose you games. With Charge, you allow both creatures to benefit, and get more value out of your few fetchlands.

    2. Haste +3/0. Is Awesome. Especially with Steppe Lynx, who is just such a "flash in the pan" kinda creature, and expendible. You get an extra attack step in with an undercosted beatstick, and a Lightning Bolt on top of it! It's totally unfair if they're stumbling at all.

    3. Flashback. This matters, and is a legitimate way to steal long games. Say you've gone deep, say 10 turns into the game. If you've built up some lands, hopefully held back some fetchlands, Steppe Lynx is GG. Every other creature off the top gets to be relevant NOW as opposed to the next turn, where your opponent can untap and answer. Flashback makes Reckless Charge a 6 dmg card potentially, and alleviates the 2 for 1 nature of it.

  11. #11
    Lion
    hungryLIKEALION's Avatar
    Join Date

    May 2009
    Location

    Bethlehem, PA
    Posts

    492

    Re: hungryLIKEALION's tournament report collection

    So another not-amazing report that I want to write anyway because it was a very fun day of magic.

    4/10 Jupiter Games Legacy, 23rd out of 91, a.k.a. the Harry doesn't win a single game 1 story.

    Sword In The Stone by Harry Matten Gillen

    4 Mutavault
    1 Island
    1 Forest
    1 Plains
    4 Flooded Strand
    4 Misty Rainforest
    1 Savannah
    2 Tundra
    3 Tropical Island

    4 Noble Hierarch
    4 Tarmogoyf
    4 Spellstutter Sprite
    3 Stoneforge Mystic
    2 Vendilion Clique
    2 Sower of Temptation

    2 Ponder
    4 Brainstorm
    4 Swords to Plowshares
    4 FoW
    3 Daze
    2 Jitte
    1 SoFI

    SB:
    3 Tormod's Crypt
    2 Path to Exile
    2 Krosan Grip
    3 Faerie Macabre
    3 Wash Out
    1 Trygon Predator
    1 Thwart

    So there are a few changes from my previous list here. I dropped the 4th SFM and the SoLS for 2 Vendilion Cliques in an effort to up the blue count of the deck (19->21) and then swapped out the Threads of Disloyalty for Stifle. I played with the stifles for a while before deciding I didn't like them anymore and replaced them with Sower of Temptation, which turned out to be awesome, so I'm glad I made the change.

    The sideboard is a little more refined now, and I think it's a good deal better now. 4 paths really weren't neccesary, so I cut two for a Trygon Predator and a Thwart. Trygon got the nod over the third grip because it's blue, so I can side in three anti-artifact/enchantment cards without lowering my blue count too much. Thwart is just a useful card for matchups like NO Bant and Landstill, but I'd certainly consider cutting it if I found something else I'd want more. I also went -1 Crypt +1 Macabre because of Reanimator's prevalence.

    So I woke up at 6 and got in the shower by 6:30, and left to meet up with my team mates by 7:15. At 7:30 I met up with Ryan and the two of us waited until 7:50 before calling our other team mate Joe about why he wasn't there yet. I called him and as he picked up the phone he said "Hello?" and I said "Are you almost here?" and he said "Oh, shit..." So yeah, he was still asleep. Awesome.

    Me and Ryan go to Wawa in the meantime to get breakfast sandwhiches and drinks for the day. Then we go back to the Portal to pick up Joe and begin the journey to vestal!

    It's a pretty enjoyable ride up, and we get to Jupiter Games around 10:30. I already have my deck together, and laugh at my car mates as they scramble to get theirs together.

    My car is as follows:

    Ryan O'Donnel-Eva Green
    Joe Stempo-Bw Gate
    And of course...
    Harry Matten Gillen-Excalibur

    We have the players meeting and then round 1 is called. My opponent, of course, ends up being one of my friends from back home...

    Mark playing LED Dredge.

    Game 1 seems like it's going well as he Careful Studies and discards ichorid and Bridge. I have the t1 hierarch and make two goyfs and he casts LED and Breakthrough with a Golgari Thug in the yard, but does not hit another dredger. I sower the narcomoeba he gets and beat down. I end up chumping one of his zombies with the narcomoeba, removing his bridges, but it's not enough. He gets more bridges in the yard and hits triple narcomoeba on one thug dredge, makes like 12 zombies over the next two turns, and I lose.
    -2 Vendilion Clique
    -2 Sower
    -1 SoFI
    -1 Mutavault
    -2 Ponder
    +3 Macabre
    +3 Crypt
    +2 Path
    Game 2 I keep a hand with t1 Hierarch and a Faerie Macabre. I play the hierarch and he therapies me, naming Macabre. Dammit. Fortunately, I topdeck a crypt the next turn and put it in play, and from there my hierarch beats take him to 7 combined with his cities of brass until I finally get goyf in play, which quickens my clock enough to win.

    Game 3 I keep a 1 lander with two macabres and two goyfs. I topdeck a crypt and put it in play, then next t urn I draw a noble hierarch. I cantrip into a second hierarch and a land and play them and then he firestorms them, discarding a dredger. I macabre the dredger. He gets another in the yard and I topdeck another crypt. Then I crypt him and play the second one. He gets another dredger in the yard, and I macabre it. So at this point, he's got no cards in hand, I'm beating down with a spellstutter that countered a putrid imp, and I still have a crypt in play. SSS gets there.

    1-0 (2-1)

    Round 2 is against Dan Signorini playing Team America

    As we shuffle up to play, I tell him that I recognized his name from the source, and he says "Yeah, I have a bit of a reputation on that website." I grinned.

    Game 1 I fetch for an island and ponder, then he plays underground sea and ponders. I put him on Storm Combo (Which I shortly realized was probably not correct given that he was one of the developers of Team America) and daze the ponder. This was a very bad play and I don't pretend it wasn't. Over the next three turns, he plays three sinkholes on the island and mutavault I have. I don't draw any more lands, and when I get to 8 cards I'm already at 12 and he has a goyf down, so I decide to concede since I still haven't shown any cards that really indicate what deck I'm playing and I don't want to give up information.
    -1 Sower -1 SSS -1 SoFI +1 Thwart +2 Path

    Game 2... my notes kinda suck. But I play t2 goyf which is forced. I have the option to force back, but decide to let it go because I have a second goyf in hand. The second goyf resolves. He tries to sinkhole one of my lands but I have daze. I resolve my second goyf and then swords the goyf he plays. I resolve stoneforge mystic but he stifles my trigger. He plays a vendi clique somewhere in here too. I end up attacking my sprite, goyf, vault, and mystic into his goyf and Vendi, and he goes to 2. I'm left with goyf and mystic and he's left with goyf. He wastelands my Vault and blocks my goyf again, going to 1. He doesn't draw an answer and concedes.
    I take out one SFM and put my Sower back in.

    Game 3 I go t2 Goyf t3 Clique, and he's on 7 almost immediately. He then plays Tombstalker, and then goyf. I topdeck sower and he plays Jitte, equips it to TS, and swings. I path it. I then drop Sower to steal his goyf and swing for the win.

    2-0, (4-2)

    It's at this point that I'm going to say how much I like the extra faerie package in this deck. It lets the deck play so much more aggressively, it really helps you put away games much quicker when you need to be aggressive, or when you just don't want to try for the long game.

    Round 3 against Samuel Wang playing 4c Countertop

    Game 1 He plays t1 Top, and I am disappointed. t2, Counterbalance. I daze. t3 Counterbalance. Come the fuck on. Considering I have no board position so far, I can't get enough spells through counterbalance to win. Although I do resolve a sick spellstutter sprite through the CB that counters a Dark Confidant via Mutavault. Woot!

    -1 SFM
    -2 Ponder
    -1 ? (I can't for the life of me figure out what it was, and I didn't write it down. Blah.

    +2 Grip
    +1 Predator
    +1 Thwart

    Game 2 he made t1 top and on his upkeep topped for a second land drop and found it. He then made counterbalance. In response I played a Spellstutter Sprite, even though it would not counter the CB. This turned out to be the best choice I could make, as exalted spellstutter beats took it home thanks to my counters on his STPs.

    Game 3 he opens on t1 top AGAIN and I want to punch something. However, I land t2 Mystic and get SoFI on it, and tanks to exalted manage to swing passed his goyf and confidant. He tries to stifle my SoFI trigger, but I SSS the stifle and kill his confidant. Sword moves to SSS, Jitte joins it, connects each of the next 3 or so turns, and I have the FoW for the vedalken shackles he plays. He plays two Goyfs, but SoFI+Jitte kills a goyf each turn and I get him to 1 with mystic, SSS, and Mutavault still in play. He never drew a white source.

    3-0, (6-3)

    Round 4 against Alix Hatfield playing Reanimator

    Alix comes up shortly after I sit down and says "Are you hungryLIKEALION?" and I mental fist pumped. I told him I was a fan of his contributions to the Zoo archetype, and we talked a bit about our previous rounds and then started playing.

    Game 1 I'm on the play and make a t2 goyf. his t2 Inkwell with force backup is a little more impressive. I make a vendilion clique, but he dazes it and then reanimates it for epic lulz. I get crushed by Big Inky.

    -2 Ponder
    -2 STP
    -1 SoFI
    -1 SFM
    +3 Macabre
    +3 Crypt

    While sideboarding I mentioned that I had not won a game 1 yet today, but that I was okay with this because each time I've top 8d at Vestal I've lost round 4, to which he says I should just scoop now so I don't screw that up. I explain how ridiculous some of my opponent's draws have been today, we laugh it off, and go on to game 2.

    Game 2 I open a hand with macabre in it and feel confident. I play a goyf and topdeck a tormod's crypt and he doesn't do anything until the end of my turn 4 when he's at 14. He cracks a fetch going to 13 and Hyrkyl's Recalls me. The crypt goes back into my hand, and my hand is now Macabre, Force, Force, Crypt. He untaps and Mysticals for Dark Ritual. He casts the ritual and then Thoughtseizes me. I tap my 5 mana to force of will it, 3 cards still in hand. I chose to tap out to cast force because I wanted to represent a second active force of will since he knew the crypt was in my hand. He spent like 3 minutes deciding what to do. At first he said he thought I was trying to protect a goyf in my hand, and then he said "You couldn't be playing macabre... could you?" And then about half a minute later decided to force back. Thoughtseize resolved and he took my Macabre and I was very sad. An entomb and a reanimate later and I was facing down Sphinx of the Steel Wind, me at 19 and him at 3. I had three turns to topdeck an STP or a sower, with any flying creatures I could topdeck adding a turn to my theoretical life total, but 2 fetchlands and a force of will from the top later and it was clear I was not meant to get there.

    As I shuffle up he comments "Is that some more of that bad luck you were talking about?" And I say no, I was just outplayed. I show him how I sideboarded and he gives me some advice, that I should probably lean heavier on answers and side out more threats instead of STPs since I should always be able to land some sort of threat between my faeries, goyfs, SFMs, and mutavaults. I keep this in mind for when I have to play the match later.

    3-1 (6-5)

    Round 5 against Philip Stolze playing UWR Walker Control

    I'd like to take a note to mention that this is probably the worst matchup I could feasibly run into.

    Game 1 he's on the play and suspends ancestral visions. He spell snares my t2 goyf and not much else happens until I spellstutter his Ancestral Visions. He STPs the faerie and then I point out that AV is still countered since its CMC is zero. I get hierarch and jitte down and then a goyf and the Hierarch beats in for 4 damage over two turns, then he STPs it and I say if he shows me the EE I'll scoop as I'm topdecking and he has academy ruins in play. He shows it to me. I scoop.

    -3 STP
    -1 Sower
    +2 Grip
    +1 Trygon Predator
    +1 Thwart

    Game 2 I open on hierarch, t2 two more hierarchs, t3 SoFI + Equip to Hierarch + Swing. t4 I swing again and he tries to STP, but I Spellstutter. He untaps and Day of Judgments. I cry. Mutavault picks up SoFI and swings putting him to 5.He trinket mages for Top and finds a mishras factory. I try to sower his Trinket Mage but he has FoW. I play a goyf but he sends it plowing. I swing Vault with SoFI into his Factories and trade for one. I attempt an EoT Spellstutter so it can pick up SoFI and swing for lethal but he FoWs it and I extend the hand.

    This is my second mistake of the day. I had another draw step here to find an out, and the top card of my library was a brainstorm which would have seen ponder, land, blue card. I took the ponder, shuffled, and saw brainstorm, mystic, land. If I'd taken the mystic I could have chump blocked the factory once (I was at 2 at this point) and tried to draw another out with the brainstorm, but I'm still skeptical that I would have gotten there regardless.

    My other theory is that in the midgame, instead of trying to resolve Sower and Goyf, I should have just had the Vault picking up Sofi and keep swinging. Maybe it would have gotten there. *shrug*

    4-2, (6-7)

    Round 6 against Jesse Hatfield playing Reanimator.

    In this tournament, I've played more big names than in the rest of my magic career, I do believe.

    Game 1 Big Inky makes another t2 appearance (I attempt to SSS his Dark Rit and get dazed, then I daze his reanimate only to have it get paid for by the remaining Rit mana... Yeah, I suck.) and I cry myself to sleep at night.

    -2 Ponder
    -1 Jitte
    -3 SFM
    -2 STP
    -1 SoFI
    -1 Spell Stutter Sprite
    -1 Forest
    +3 Tormod's Crypt
    +3 Faerie Macabre
    +3 Washout
    +2 Path to Exile

    Game 2 I have hate (I forget what kind) and I manage to get there with quick Goyf beats and counterspells. I don't have good notes on this one (This is where I started to get sick of writing for the day.) and don't remember this game too well, so I apologize for that.

    Game 3 I put down Crypt on t1 and play Vendilion Clique on his draw step and he counters it. Hierarch beats take him to 15 before I drop the other Clique which beats him to 3. He EoT tutors for Echoing Truth and bounces it to my hand. On his draw step I play it again and see 2 land, Exhume, Reanimate, and Dark Rit. I let him keep them and he extends the hand.

    4-2, (8-8)

    Round 7 playing against Ethan Hellicher on 1 land Belcher.

    I know he's playing Belcher so I feel confident since I've never lost to it in a tournament. Then again, I've certainly never played a Belcher pilot as good as Ethan.

    Game 1 I keep 2 daze, 2 goyf, Sower, and 2 land since I have disruption and a hand like this could race 8 goblins and I'm on the play. Unfortunately he has the spirit guide to dodge the daze (floating a blue) on his desperate ritual, and makes 14 goblins on turn 1. He says "Show me the stifle" and I wish it was still the deck. I can't race that many, so I scoop it up to go to game 2.

    -3 STP -2 Sower -1 SoFI
    +2 Path +1 Thwart +3 Washout

    Game 2 I keep a hand with two cantrips, Goyf, Sower and lands. He starts to go off on his turn and I brainstorm into Force which I use on his Desperate Ritual. He removes Simian Spirit Guide and Pyroblasts me, then land grants, plays LED, Burning Wish, cracks LED and tendrils me for 20. My fault for giving him 1 more storm with my brainstorm, but if he had made 18 goblins instead of tendrils for 20 I still would have lost.

    After this game I'm pretty dejected because his hand was so fucking ridiculous game 2 and I say "Must be nice..." He says "Have you ever played against this deck before?" And I say "Plenty of times." He sounded kind of offended, but I hope he knows I wasn't trying to be a dick, I was just disappointed. I lament that if I had waited to cast my FoW until he used LED, I would have won, but then he might have just had the ETW in his hand and then I would have been in quite a bit of trouble. What I think I should have done (Aside from brainstorming on my own turn) is at least waited a little longer before using my FoW, since the Desperate Ritual was only going to put him on 3 mana. If he ETWd at that point I think I still could have raced it, so waiting would have been the right choice.

    Anyway, I feel like I only made 3 real play mistakes all day, and every other choice I made I feel was defendable. I had a great time as I always do at Jupiter Games, and still love the deck, even though I managed to dodge all of my good matchups all day. (Seriously! I didn't hit a single favorable matchup all day! What gives?) I'm definitely going to keep refining this deck as I really enjoy playing it, and I still think it has huge potential to take me to another top 8.

    Props:
    Yes for keeping me awake on the way home with Yessongs.
    Getting home before midnight.
    Spellstutter Sprite, Vendilion Clique, and Sower of Temptation for being awesome.
    Ryan for going 5-2 with Eva Green. Keep it up!
    Alix Hatfield for putting up with my fanboyishness.
    Eli for letting me swap out that ripped tropical island from my prize last time for a non-ripped one. Seriously, you're the best TO ever.
    Jupiter Games in general. I'd play there every weekend if it wasn't so far away!

    Slops:
    Not playing against merfolk.
    Graveyard decks making me discard my faerie macabres. :[
    Hyrkyl's Recall.
    Losing to Belcher despite having Force of Will. >:O
    Getting tendrils'd by Belcher. That one really hurts.
    Scooping too early.

    Thanks for reading, and I'll happily answer any questions about the tournament or the deck!
    Quote Originally Posted by Bardo View Post
    Strangest convenience store I've yet seen: Kum & Go (somewhere in Nebraska). I remember thinking: "Huh, a drive-through bordello. Clever."

  12. #12
    Member
    aTn's Avatar
    Join Date

    Sep 2006
    Location

    Montreal
    Posts

    168

    Re: hungryLIKEALION's tournament report collection

    @Excalibur:

    Against control decks, Enigma and I have been testing Gaddock Teeg + Sword of Light & Shadow in the SB. Until now, it's been good to us.

    I think playing Vial instead of Hierarch is definitely an advantage in the control MU.

    Playing Vial with 12 creatures may seem weird (as you mentioned in the Excalibur thread), but I think it's key in many MUs enabling for sweet combat tricks, trumping countermagic and gaining tempo. Personally, I play 4 Goyf/S.Sprite/S.Mystic + 2 V.Clique and I'm content with setting Vial@2.

  13. #13
    Lion
    hungryLIKEALION's Avatar
    Join Date

    May 2009
    Location

    Bethlehem, PA
    Posts

    492

    Re: hungryLIKEALION's tournament report collection

    It's not that playing vial with 12 creatures seems weird. It's that vial sucks in this deck, especially compared to hierarch which is amazing in this deck. Hierarch provides about 3x the tempo that vial does, gives exalted, lets you hardcast FoWs all the time, gets you to the neccesary mana to activate mutavaults and equip them for a swing, AND is never a dead draw. Vial is ALWAYS a dead draw past turn 2-3, is worthless in multiples, and doesn't provide any of the other benefits Hierarch does, plus it's slow as shit.

    Vial is not an auto-include for any deck running creatures. I ran the card in Zoo for a long time until I realized, hey, Vial sucks in Zoo for all the same reasons it sucks here. It doesn't offer the deck anything that it actually needs. Vial is good in Goblins because Goblins has a way to consistently dump high cost creatures with gamebreaking effects into it due to the synergy of matron+ringleader. Vial is good in Merfolk because they need a way to break standstill. This deck needs to do neither of those things, and wasting slots on an artifact that doesn't do anything makes the deck worse, especially in control matchups where you have to win quickly, something that vial doesn't do at all.

    Honestly, vial is just so bad. So very bad. Play hierarch and start winning.
    Quote Originally Posted by Bardo View Post
    Strangest convenience store I've yet seen: Kum & Go (somewhere in Nebraska). I remember thinking: "Huh, a drive-through bordello. Clever."

  14. #14

    Re: hungryLIKEALION's tournament report collection

    Two double posts in a row. Impressive.
    “It's possible. But it involves... {checks archives} Nature's Revolt, Opalescence, two Unstable Shapeshifters (one of which started as a Doppelganger), a Tide, an animated land, a creature with Fading, a Silver Wyvern, some way to get a creature into play in response to stuff, some way to get a land into play in response to stuff (a different land from the animated land), and one heck of a Rube Goldberg timing diagram.
    -David DeLaney

  15. #15
    Lion
    hungryLIKEALION's Avatar
    Join Date

    May 2009
    Location

    Bethlehem, PA
    Posts

    492

    Re: hungryLIKEALION's tournament report collection

    Three, actually, the last one was like months ago. I dunno why, but it seems like everytime I post in this thread it does that D:
    Quote Originally Posted by Bardo View Post
    Strangest convenience store I've yet seen: Kum & Go (somewhere in Nebraska). I remember thinking: "Huh, a drive-through bordello. Clever."

  16. #16
    Pray for Rain
    Tammit67's Avatar
    Join Date

    May 2010
    Location

    Philadelphia, PA, USA
    Posts

    1,534

    Re: hungryLIKEALION's tournament report collection

    When is this last vestal going up?
    Matt Bevenour in real life

  17. #17
    Lion
    hungryLIKEALION's Avatar
    Join Date

    May 2009
    Location

    Bethlehem, PA
    Posts

    492

    Re: hungryLIKEALION's tournament report collection

    Took Excalibur to the Vestal tournament yesterday. I did not top 8, but I did finish in the top quarter of the tournament, so I figured I'd write a report.

    29th out of 130 aka the I'M STARTING TO THINK THE GOOD MATCHUPS FOR MY DECK DON'T EXIST ANYMORE story.

    Sword of Omens by Harry Matten Gillen
    Vestal Power Tournament, 5/15/10, 29th place of 130

    4 Misty Rainforest
    4 Flooded Strand
    1 Plains
    1 Forest
    1 Island
    1 Savannah
    2 Tundra
    3 Tropical Island
    4 Mutavault
    4 Noble Hierarch
    4 Tarmogoyf
    3 Stoneforge Mystic
    2 Vendilion Clique
    2 Sower of Temptation
    4 Spellstutter Sprite
    4 Force of Will
    3 Spell Snare
    4 Swords to Plowshares
    2 Umezawa's Jitte
    1 Sword of Fire and Ice
    4 Brainstorm
    2 Ponder

    SB:
    3 Tormod's Crypt
    3 Faerie Macabre
    2 Krosan Grip
    1 Trygon Predator
    2 Path to Exile
    1 Lightning Greaves
    3 Washout

    So, I haven't made any changes since the previous tournament, as I was pretty happy with how the deck ran last sunday.

    In the days leading up to the tournament, I was pretty depressed to find out that non of the people I usually drive up with were intending to go to the tournament. Luckily, my friend Matt Bevenour needed a ride, and we had the following conversation via text messages:
    Me:You need a ride for Saturday?
    Matt:Two problems with that are, I can't get to the Portal and you'll be stuck for two hours when I top 8
    Me:You write the last half of that from my point of view?
    I set my alarm for 6 am and slept through it, waking up at 6:45. I sent a text message to Matt and hopped in the shower, then got on the road by 7:30. I picked up Matt and we hit up the Wawa, getting breakfast. I got another awesome Caramel Cappucino, but I got a black lid instead of a white one (Play Mistake count:1). The heat does not flow out of the black lid very quickly, and I can hardly even enjoy the awesome caramel aroma because of how small the opening is. :[

    The drive goes smoothly, as this is like the 4th time I've done it. So, despite it being long, it's gotten kind of mundane at this point. The high point is, as always, Dunmore Throop. Best city name ever.

    We get there, I talk to some friends, me and Matt come up with decknames (He suggests I use Lion-o's sword for my deck name since I need a different sword for each tournament, and I tell him to name his deck Imitation Crab Legs. It seemed appropriate.) Blah blah blah, dick around a little while longer, tournament starts!

    After the player's meeting I talk to Jeremy Smelski about the deck for a while as he is playing it too. We continue to talk about it throughout the day, and he ends up going 4-4.

    Round 1 vs. Dan playing Bant Countertop with SFM and Elspeth
    I win the die roll. Game one he opens with Top and I have an early goyf. He plays his own goyf which I STP. I FoW a counterbalance, spellstutter an hierarch because I'm afraid of him casting natural order (I didn't know he wasn't probant yet) and then SSS a stone forge mystic. This whole time my goyf is beating his face in, and then he topdecks Elspeth. Happily for me, I have the 5 mana to hardcast FoW as the last card in my hand, and he scoops.
    -2 Ponder, -1 Forest, +2 Grip +1 Predator
    Game two I mulligan two no land hands into a 5 card hand with a fetch and an hierarch, FoW, SFM, and Grip. He dazes my t1 hierarch but I topdeck a second land and SFM for SoFI. I FoW his SFM and then SSS an hierarch before Vendi Cliqueing him. Vendi picks up SoFI and gets there.
    1-0, 2-0
    Dan was a nice opponent and I enjoyed our match very much.

    Round 2 vs. Robert playing Dredge (no LEDs)
    I win the die roll. He has t1 Imp discarding Golgari Grave Troll but I get Jitte on a SSS and use my jitte tokens to kill his narcomoebas and ichorids. Eventually he hits some bridges and I kill one of my SSS to exile them. He gets three creatures to Dread Return a grave troll, but I send it plowing thanks to the top of my deck and he concedes next turn.
    -4 FoW, -2 Sower, -1 Jitte, -1 SoFI, -3 Spell Snare, +3 Crypt +3 Macabre +3 Washout +2 Path
    Game two I keep a hand with two cantrips and some other action. He mulls to 6. He plays t1 Imp but has nothing to discard. I ponder and find STP. He breakthroughs on his turn, hitting a few dredgers. On my turn I ponder again, hitting crypt, so I exile all the cards he's seen this game except for his lands in one turn. Feels good. He concedes a few turns later when my goyf is beating down.
    2-0, 4-0
    After signing the slip and walking over to the judge's table, I realize he put that he won 2 and I won 0... He was a nice guy so I'm sure it was an honest mistake, so I just fix it and hand it in.

    Round 3 vs. Dave Price playing New Horizons
    I groan when I see the pairings. I lost to Dave in the top 8 of the first tournament I played this deck, and despite beating my friend Allen playing the deck at the Philly Open, I still don't like the matchup. Me and Dave have some friendly banter as we shuffle up and I congratulate him on his recent top 8 in Atlanta.
    I win the die roll. I open this game aggressively but he has three straight wastelands. Fuuuuuuuuuuu. I get a Goyf down and an SSS counters STP then begins wearing Jitte against his empty board when he topdecks EE and wipes me out, then drops Terravore. I curse my inability to draw Spell Snare. Also, at some point in this game, I cast a SFM with two lands and a fetch out and he dazes. I crack my fetch and he stifles. I FoW the stifle and he has the second daze... I >.< really hard.
    -2 Ponder, -1 SFM, +2 Path, +1 Trygon
    Game two I don't remember that well, but I'm pretty sure I resolve Sower on KoTR and it sticks, which results in my victory.
    Game three I open on Hierarch which he swords, then play another Hierarch. I get SFM and tutor up Jitte and begin trying to tempo him out, swordsing his Goyf and then his Terravore, then cast my own goyf... and then get blown out by EE at 2. (Play mistake count:2) He plays huge creatures (Terravore still has trample) and I lose.
    But hey, I took a game off him this time! Yay! :D
    2-1, 5-2

    Round 4 vs. Dan playing ANT
    I win the die roll and open with Hierarch and have two FoWs and Brainstorm. He Duresses me and takes my Brainstorm. I topdeck another brainstorm and pass the turn, then he thoughtseizes me and takes a FoW. Then he Duresses me AGAIN and I brainstorm in response, but don't see what I need and I let him take the other FoW since I won't have another blue card anyway. Then he goes off a turn or two later with threshed cabal ritual into Ad Nauseam.. I have flashbacks to my loss to Brad Granberry on Sunday and frown at how good discard spells are for ANT D: He was only at 8 life, too! Dammit.
    -1 Jitte -1 SoFI -2 Sower +1 Trygon +3 Tormod's Crypt
    I know Crypt isn't hugely relevant, but I get sick of losing to threshed cabal rits and Sower seems far too slow to be relevant. Maybe I should leave Sower in in the future though because lowering the blue count is never great.
    Game two I open another awesome hand with FoW and Snare and I vendi clique him seeing 2 Dark Rit, Chrome Mox, Slaughter Pact, and Lotus Petal. I let him keep it and he pacts my Clique. I get SFM down and get my Jitte and begin beating down and my countermagic holds down the fort until I win.
    Game three I have yet another ridiculous hand where I lead on Hierarch and t2 clique him with force in hand. I see Infernal Tutor, Land, Cabal Rit, and Ponder, but he has top in play and I worry about taking the Tutor with clique allowing him to go off this turn. I have snare in hand so I know I can beat the tutor for the moment, so I let him keep those cards. Clique begins smashing in and I draw into more countermagic, so I get there.
    3-1, 7-3

    Round 5 vs. Bryant Cook playing TES
    Seriously? ANOTHER combo player? This day is becoming pretty taxing...
    Unfortunately my hands against Bryant aren't even close to how good my hands against Jordan were, as I fail to draw FoW in my opening 7 or in the top 12 cards of my 6 card hand via cantrips. He duresses me and takes spellsnare, then duresses me again and takes Jitte and makes 20 goblins. Fuuuuuuuuuuuu
    -1 SoFI -1 Jitte -2 SFM +3 Washout +1 Trygon
    Game two I keep 7 with Snare and Spellstutter but he plays t1 Xantid Swarm. Ugggggggh. I don't have STP in hand so I ponder trying to find it on my turn, but don't. I shuffle, and still don't.. He swings with swarm then makes 18 goblins. I play some blockers, topdeck FoW (Dammit!) and then get grapeshotted in his post combat main phase. Le Sigh.
    3-2, 7-5
    So at this point I can still top 8, but I have to win out. Not the best feeling, but doable, I say!

    Round 6 vs. William playing Enchantress
    He wins the roll and mulls to 6. He opens on Forest and I open on Hierarch. I don't know what he's playing until turn 3 when he plays Enchantress' Presence, which I FoW. I play Goyf and Vendilion Clique to see that all he has in hand is a ton of land and Replenish. I let him keep the Replenish since all he has in his yard is EP. He casts it next turn, then topdecks Solitary which he casts. He lets it die then casts another Solitary, but can't feed it for long since he has no enchantments to play and once the enchantment crumbles, my army crashes in for lethal.
    -4 STP -2 Sower +3 Washout +2 Grip +1 Predator
    I have a super aggressive hand with t2 Goyf that begins beating down, SFM with Jitte which gets counters, and SSS which countered something ( I forgot what). I put him to 10 before he drops Confinement and Sterling Grove... Then I washout naming white and swing for lethal. Yay washout! Constantly finding new matchups to play it in. :D
    4-2, 9-5

    Round 7 vs. Eric playing UGR Tempo Thresh, but with Jace, Crucible, Mishra's Factory, and no Geese. Not really sure how to classify it.
    I don't remember exactly what happens in these games because they were REALLY FREAKING LONG. But game 1 he draws a million counters and I don't draw much action, then he plays Vendilion Clique and I don't draw anything with which to kill it. Lame.
    -4 FoW +2 Path +1 Lightning Greaves +1 Predator
    Game two I play Goyfs and SFM and Jitte and SSS and kill him. He has mana troubles making it pretty easy for me to capitilize and win.
    Game three I fuck up when I attack with mutavault, then cast SFM getting it Spell Snared. I have SSS in my hand... if I had cast SFM before combat I could have SSS'd it. (Play mistake count: 3) Then I do it again next turn. (Play mistake count: 4) Yeah, I suck sometimes. The game goes on a while longer but he gets Vendilion clique again and I once again can't draw an answer to it, resulting in a pretty frustrating defeat.
    4-3, 10-7

    Round 8 vs. Nick playing Zoo
    HEY LOOK AT THAT I FINALLY PLAY A GOOD MATCHUP HOLY FUCK I DIDN'T THINK IT WAS POSSIBLE!!!!
    Game 1 I blow him out with two Spellstutters and SFM for Jitte, spellsnare his pridemage, and win.
    -2 FoW, +2 Path
    Game 2 Grim Lavamancer presents a bit of a problem for me, but I flash in a SSS to block it when he swings. He removes it, but I get a goyf down and SSS a Path and get SFM which gets Jitte which gets counters which gets me the win.
    5-3, 12-7

    SO THAT WAS MY DAY. I finished in the top quarter of the tournament, so I can't be too annoyed, but it sucks to be so close to top 8ing and losing because of poor play. >_< Damnationnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn!

    Awesomely, Matt top 8d with his mono blue merfolk! I am very happy for my friend and watch as he plays his top 8 match against Zoo. Of course, it's mono blue folk against zoo... Matt loses pretty hard. D: We chill while the rest of the top 8 matches are played out. I goldfish Matt's ANT deck for a while (which is totally fun) as he busts my balls about going too far with Ad Nauseam, so I end up going into the mini game of trying to win with as few cards as possible. I do this for a while before it finally gets a little boring, then go hand out in the main room and begin drawing. Matt tells me I draw eyes too far up on the head and after looking at my art, I realize he's right. Interesting. Finally top 8 wraps up and Matt gets to walk away with a mox emerald! Woot!

    The drive home is fun, though I'm pretty sleepy. I get a mountain dew and some starbursts from Eli before leaving to power me through it. The GPS keeps falling off my windshield and one of the times it does it results in me missing my exit and the GPS claims this will add an hour to the journey. FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!! I pull a U turn through one of those little emergency path things and fix the mistake, and we get home around 2:45. I drop Matt off, slog into bed, and don't wake up for 10 hours.

    So the changes I'd like to make to the deck: I want a third Vendilion Clique somewhere in the deck, and I want EE in my sideboard. Not sure how I'll fit in either, but we'll find out in a month! :D

    Props and slops!

    Props:
    Eli, as always. Another awesome tournament.
    Matt Bevenour for top 8ing a larger tournament than I ever have! AWESOME JOB DUDE! :D
    Cool opponents.
    Matt again for actually eating the donut he lost after round two and found in the garbage can after round 8. You've got balls, sir.

    Slops:
    Engineered Explosives, both for blowing me out in round 3, and for not being in my sideboard. I gotta get that thing in there somewhere...
    Uhmmm... Nothing else really, this was a pretty great tournament on the whole.

    As always, I'll happily answer any questions.
    Quote Originally Posted by Bardo View Post
    Strangest convenience store I've yet seen: Kum & Go (somewhere in Nebraska). I remember thinking: "Huh, a drive-through bordello. Clever."

  18. #18
    Pray for Rain
    Tammit67's Avatar
    Join Date

    May 2010
    Location

    Philadelphia, PA, USA
    Posts

    1,534

    Re: hungryLIKEALION's tournament report collection

    What rounds of testing with this prompt for you if any? Do you feel you have a grip of most matchups soundly enough? Ever going to play zoo?
    And the donut was delicious.
    Matt Bevenour in real life

  19. #19
    Lion
    hungryLIKEALION's Avatar
    Join Date

    May 2009
    Location

    Bethlehem, PA
    Posts

    492

    Re: hungryLIKEALION's tournament report collection

    Quote Originally Posted by Tammit67 View Post
    What rounds of testing with this prompt for you if any? Do you feel you have a grip of most matchups soundly enough? Ever going to play zoo?
    And the donut was delicious.
    I'd like to test against ANT and other storm combo more, since it's a matchup that relies on tight play and good mulliganing decisions. Most other matchups I do feel I have a good grip on. And yeah, I'm sure I'll play Zoo again eventually. I'm strongly considering it for the 5/29 tournament at redcap's corner.
    Quote Originally Posted by Bardo View Post
    Strangest convenience store I've yet seen: Kum & Go (somewhere in Nebraska). I remember thinking: "Huh, a drive-through bordello. Clever."

  20. #20

    Re: hungryLIKEALION's tournament report collection

    Quote Originally Posted by hungryLIKEALION View Post
    I'd like to test against ANT and other storm combo more, since it's a matchup that relies on tight play and good mulliganing decisions. Most other matchups I do feel I have a good grip on. And yeah, I'm sure I'll play Zoo again eventually. I'm strongly considering it for the 5/29 tournament at redcap's corner.
    Not that it matters, but Rion Marmulstein said he was going to that as well with Pro-Bant (what he top-4ed the previous vestal tournament with)

    I'm not going to be able to make it to that tournament though.
    Level 2 Judge
    Owner, Tales of Adventure Comics and Games, Coopersburg, PA

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)