Last weekend it was Grand Prix Madrid. There where 4 people going from my team, the regulars. Me, Jelle, JelleF and Wim. We would meet in Madrid with team Gent who had 10 people coming. 7 of us had bye’s. We left Thursday around 14.15 but due to a strike in France we left at 15.15. This would be my first flight and all I can say is ‘It was awesome!’. Flying is really nice and amazing. Looking out of the window to the places below, flying through clouds or just seeing to the horizon, it’s worth it. So we landed around 17.00 with only Jelle feeling ill from it. We mock him a bit and get our bags. Then we get used to the subways in Madrid which seems to be the most used means of transportation there.
We get a text message from Jan that they’ll be arriving at the station soon and wait outside. Turns out they where on the same metro as us. So we greet each other and head to the hostel. The guy doesn’t speak English and after some hard negotiations we get our magnetic keys for the room. We decide to go and eat in a tapas bar even though I didn’t want to but you can’t please everyone. I ordered something I didn’t know. They first bring us bread with a dish of meat and cheese so we all assume it’s for everyone. When the rest get their food it turns out that was actually my dish. We order another, pay and leave.
Some of us decided to stay in and play our favourite game in the communal room, Magic. 7 of us decide to go out in Madrid. After a lot of walking, checking out places that turn out to be nothing while getting harassed by several people on the street to go to their place, Madrid is an awful place due to this. Jelle gets stopped by some hookers that you have to beat of you. We eventually find a place to stay. We drink a bit and three of us head to the hostel while 4 stay there. They arrive around 3 in the morning, just when I started to fall asleep. They got into a fight with 10 other people, none of them remembered why. After around 5 minutes the cops came, they ran and the 10 got arrested. Wim looked the most beat up so he probably started it.
Friday was more relaxed. Just side seeing in Madrid, playing cards and then off to the site to register. Spanish people have the weirdest way of lining up. They lined up as an inward spiral. We had cut in front already by the time we actually noticed where the end of the line was. We register and I say hi to the people from Outpost, our local card shop who are on site. Mark Dictus forgot to bring his deck so I write down my decklist again so that he can borrow the cards once more. We head back to the hostel and play some more. I playtest against Marijn who wanted to play Zoo. Maindeck is easy so we playtest sideboard. I win most of the games that he has a Teeg due to Doomsday but lose several to Ethersworn Canonist. We switch decks as he starts doubting between combo and Zoo. He wins with ease. He keeps doubting but due to lack of testing with my list he goes for Zoo.
I’ll introduce you to everyone in our group. There was me playing my own build of NLS. Jelle decided to play our build of Rock that we call TopRock. JelleF played 38 lands as did Jan van Nieuwenhove. Wim played CB control, his own weird build. Tom and Joachim played The Mighty Quinn. Baptist played ProBant with CB. Thomas played AgroBant. Mark Dictus played my build of NLS while Mark Lambrechts played Landstill. Paul played Rock. Marijn played Zoo. Christophe and Jelle Gyselincks played Goblins.
Me, Jelle and MarkL made day2, all three with a score of 7-2. Some missed out with 6-3 in the final round. Mark Dictus was at 6-2 as well, paired against Zoo. But due to inexperience with Legacy and NLS he sideboarded wrong and both sideboarded games. Baptist faced Affinity last round and lost the 3rd match due to Fling for 21 damage. We got that Fling from the person the next day after he dropped, got it signed and gave it to him.
So on with the report! It would’ve started at 9.00 but due to the number of people still waiting outside they announced it would be 10.00. They removed the feature tables and added 5 more rows of tables. They did have a lack of 500 chairs and had to go and rent more. The seatings where posted at 11.36. I had 3 BYE’s and played my first card at 15.45. All I can say is, a badly organised tournament. Paris had a new record and wasn’t even close to being this slow. Every round took around an hour and a half, just awful. There was also a cafeteria. The price list was in Spanish, the people behind the counter didn’t speak anything else than Spanish. At least try and get someone there that is able to speak English. That’s like setting up a shop in Belgium in an international event and expecting your customers to speak Dutch.
We played some more during the 3 BYE’s. Sat there seeing EDH matches between people and me getting my ass handed to me against Zoo after sideboard as Marijn adjusted his sideboard and I had a lot of nerves. 15.45 and the 4th round finally starts. Plenty of Zoo and Goblins at 3-0.
Round4:
My opponent manages to speak English, awesome.
Game1: He opens with a land that I have to read. Comes into play tapped, produces W and when you tap and sacrifice it you get UG. What kind of weird deck could he be playing. So I keep back a land just in case he does something that destroys them. I get the turn, play Mystical which resolves and go off with triple Chant protection. The first one resolves and he shows me a Show & Tell, some Spirit Guides and Terrastedon. Interesting.
Game2: Both mulligan to 6. He cascades turn2 into Hypergenesis, so that’s what his deck is about! I get to see about ¾ th of his deck. He drops Progenitus, I drop SDT. He drops Terrastedon, I drop nothing and he destroys one of my lands, 2 of his. I draw, spin SDT but lack one mana to go off through Burning Wish into Infernal into IGG or Ad Nauseam. I pass the turn, block his 9/9 and get the turn back. I can’t go off and lose. I probably should’ve waited that turn and drawn another time, then used SDT to see and spin for a card.
Game3: I mulligan to 6, he mulligans to 5. I am holding double Chant to stop his Cascade trigger. Instead he does the following on his second turn when he draws his 7th card. Remove Spirit Guide, Spirit Guide and cast Show & Tell into Terrastedon. He decides not to blow up any land and is holding 2 cards. I cast Mystical into Infernal Tutor but can’t go off protected. I just have to go now. He has FoW + blue card.
3-1-0 (1-2)
Round5:
I notice a Bayou during his shuffling. People need to be more careful.
Game1: He plays a Bayou into a BoP. I drop a land. He drops another BoP and Painter’s Servant. I drop Tundra. I chant him during his upkeep and he just attacks me for 1. I kill him through an unprotected IGG-loop the turn after. He had Natural Order for Iona in hand.
Game2: Cabal Therapy misses but the flashback steals Ad Nauseam. Mystical is ok and I get Cabal Ritual. Second Mystical is ok and I get Cabal Ritual. Third Mystical gets an Extirpate so my Infernal Tutor gets reshuffled but more important, my Cabal Rituals are no longer treshed. I draw IGG followed by LED while I’m at 8 and impending doom by double Tarmogoyf. I cast Rituals into IGG and sac LED for black. I take back Ritual, LED, Ad Nauseam. He gets back Extirpate and irrelevant cards. I cast Ritual and Ad Nauseam and reveal Ritual, Brainstorm, Brainstorm, fetch and some junk down to 2 when I decide to stop. I have to resolve both Ritual and Brainstorm to have a shot but both are in my graveyard. So I cast Brainstorm, keep priority and cast Ritual in reaction so he doesn’t have the chance to cast Extirpate on the other. I find an Infernal Tutor in my top3, cast LED, Infernal Tutor for Tendrils wins the game.
4-1-0 (3-2)
Round6:
3rd round to play. My opponents have all been able to speak a bit of English.
Game1: Tundra into an SDT, this has to be Counterbalance. I cast my own SDT. He searches for his Counterbalance but fails to find it while I build my hand. My first Chant gets stopped and he has the Spell Snare for my Cabal Ritual. But still no action from his side. Doomsday gets taken by my opponent to read and he counters it. Guess he doesn’t play test his good matchup. Next turn he finds the Counterbalance but has to switch SDT for it. With something of one on top I know that I can go off. Switch SDT. LED, Chrome Mox into Infernal Tutor for Ad Nauseam. Reveal some cards and win with artifact mana.
Game2: He casts SDT turn1 but no Counterbalance turn2. Instead he casts Enlightened Tutor at the end of my turn, I cast Mystical for Krosan Grip. Counterbalance comes down but gets gripped as he casts yet another Enlightened for Ethersworn Canonist. Canonist lands and will become an issue. He finds another Counterbalance and I get myself my last Krosan Grip. He attacks and passes. He casts yet another Enlightened Tutor, finding himself another Counterbalance. I use this chance to Krosan Grip his SDT as that will be my only window. He casts Thopter Foundry so I know the only card in his hand is Counterbalance. I cast Chain of Vapor, Counterbalance flips Force of Will. Ritual, Doomsday will be my win. I get 4 cards, think for the 5th as I lay the 4 face down on the table. I can generate more storm with a second SDT over a Petal so I plan on getting Meditate, SDT, LED, LED, Tendrils. I take SDT, place it on top of the other 4, place the rest aside for a split second as I pick the others up with my left hand. I see SDT, LED, LED, Tendrils and SDT. Wrong cards. I take one SDT, take the Meditate and he stops me, calling a judge. 7 minutes later the judge rules that I made my decision and have to play those 5. I scoop them up as I have no win here.
Game3: I keep a hand of Mystical, fetchland, Ritual, Ad Nauseam and some other cards. I open with fetch and he opens with Tundra. We are in time now but have 7 minutes extra due to the ruling. I get Ritual with Mystical, cast both Rituals and Ad Nauseam which resolves. Ad Nauseam draws bunch of cards, no land drop made means good game. He asks me why I did that and I told him that he probably kept a hand of SDT, land, land, land, Enlightened Tutor and 2 other cards just because he could get the Counterbalance that way. He still doesn’t really get it and doubts my play. I lose it and cuss at him for what he did game2 and tell him that he’s a bad player. Marijn was sitting at the other side and calms me down. He also mentions that I should’ve used my leftover mana to cast Chant after Ad Nauseam in game3 just in case he had something weird such as Mindbreak Trap.
5-1-0 (5-3)
Round7:
Game1: Underground Sea gets dropped so I’m thinking Combo. A Stifle quickly reveals that he is not playing combo. I put him on UBR Fearies. He drops another Underground Sea. I build up my hand while he doesn’t seem to be doing much.
Game2: I didn’t sideboard in Xantid Swarm because I don’t think it’s that good on the draw against UBR Fearies. Turns out that he plays Team America. Tarmogoyf. Sinkhole hits a land and another Tarmogoyf puts me death next turn. I try to go off but he has the answers he needs.
Game3: Game goes slow and he gets a Tombstalker down when I’m at 18. I find a Xantid Swarm which I cast. He has to read it for a small second but quickly notices the threat in this card. He attacks me to 13. I attack and he wants to call a judge. I tell him that it’s a triggered ability and that he can Stifle it. He does. I get attacked down to 8. My attack next turn is unanswered. I have to go through Ad Nauseam but with BBBUU over as he had the graveyard hate in play. I reveal brokenness. Mystical Tutor, Brainstorm, LED. I draw 3 cards from Ad Nauseam and win by going LED, Mystical to Tendrils, Brainstorm into it cracking LED and win. The extra storm through Infernal wasn’t needed.
6-1-0 (7-4)
Round8:
As I walk to my table I end up at the wrong side. There’s a guy sitting there already and I notice a Dreadnought. Off all decks I face Dreadstill? I sit across him and he asks if I’m Paul. I tell him I’m not and he looks at the table numbering and moves one aside.
Game1: Island and this is looking to be Merfolk. You can see Zoo and Goblins everywhere, just not across my table. He also plays maindeck Stifle which kills a fetch. Adept, Adept, Lord, smash you for 9 with Muta. I can still go off and cast Chant, countered, try to go off but he has the second Force.
Game2: Vial turn1, Standstill turn2. I get some time and can build my mana. Chant, FoW, Chant, FoW, Ritual, Spell Pierce, Ritual resolves. LED, Infernal, Force of Will. I lost that one.
6-2-0 (7-6)
Round9:
Game1: I open a hand of Volcanic Island, Chrome Mox, Lotus Petal, LED, Burning Wish, Mystical Tutor, Brainstorm. I love you Burning Wish. Turn1 10 Goblins but no scoop. He plays Tropical into Nimble Mongoose. I attack, he blocks, draws for his turn and scoops. Thanks for the information!
Game2: I asked him what he lost against and he said Belcher and something else. Maybe he’s putting me on Belcher. I make a mental note of this that going through Empty for a second time might not be a good plan. The game goes slow as he can’t apply pressure. Mongoose comes down eventually and I decide to go off when it becomes a 3/3. Chant, countered. Chant, countered. Ritual, Ritual, Ad Nauseam resolves. I drop land and play another Chant which resolves. Petal, Petal, Chrome Mox, Chrome Mox, bounce with Chain of Vapor, replay without imprint, LED, LED, Ritual, Cabal Ritual, Infernal, sac LED’s and cast Tendrils. I was just showing off a bit.
7-2-0 (9-6)
So day2 it is! I watch Baptist and Mark Dictus play as they are seated next to eachother. Both lose as I described before. There are only 3 people of us through to Day2. Me, Jelle and Mark Lambrechts.
We head to the hostel and find our bed at 2 in the morning only to get up at 6. Thanks for that Wizards. Me and Jelle are standing in the lobby around 7 but still no Mark. I head up to where the rest was sleeping, knock on the door and it opens. But it’s not the person I expected, I knocked on the wrong door. I apologize and go downstairs asking where Mark sleeps. Takes them about 5 minutes to find and I run there. Mark is awake and ready but thought we where leaving at 7 and not 6.45. Jelle is stressed out due to the time limit, I’m not. When we arrive everything is still closed. We walk in, get seated and sign our release of information for prizes etc.
Round1:
My opponent shuffles and shows me a Nacatl. Zoo, finally!
Game1: I keep a hand of Lotus Petal, Brainstorm, LED, Infernal Tutor, Mystical Tutor, Dark Ritual, Mystical Tutor. Just drawing one of the following will win me the game: LED, Petal, Chrome Mox, Dark Ritual, Cabal Ritual, 15 lands. I pass the turn without doing anything and he drops land and plays Lavamancer. I tell him that I was on the play but passed the turn so he has to draw a card. I draw Ill-Gotten Gains. Great, my target for the Infernal now in my hand. Next draw gives Ad Nauseam. Are you kidding me? Next draw is finally the Cabal Ritual but I miss the kill. I could’ve gone Petal, Ritual, Cabal Ritual, LED, Ill-Gotten Gains cracking LED, Cabal Ritual treshed, LED, Infernal to Infernal to Tendrils.
Instead I play petal, Brainstorm to put back IGG and don’t find another Petal, Chrome Mox or land. I lose.
Game2: I play land and pass. My opponent drops land and passes after thinking. I put him on Blast. I draw a Ponder. Due to this I run my Brainstorm right into the Blast. He has it and it screws me over. I fetch, play Ponder and have to Shuffle. I draw Infernal, Burning Wish, Infernal and am death the turn after.
7-3 (9-8)
Round2:
Game1: My opponent quickly indicates that he is playing ProBant. My Chant gets a FoW pitching a FoW. I go off with the mana for a Daze and I win with Ad Nauseam at 17 life.
Game2: FoW stops my Chant. This time he has the second Force again but with another blue card for the second Chant. Spell Pierce stops the rest of the fun.
Game3: I open with Tropical into Xantid Swarm. He has the FoW. Some turns later I have to go off as double Tarmogoyf mean my doom. I have Chant, Mystical and enough to go off if Mystical resolves. I have 3 land in play and a 4th in hand. I don’t play Mystical end of his turn to go around Daze. I untap and cast Mystical. What an error. The better play was casting Chant then Mystical. Spell Pierce + Daze now stops me and I die. There are two line of plays with Chant. He uses Spell Pierce, I decline to pay and cast Mystical around Daze or he Dazes I pay, he has to cast Spell Pierce or he can’t counter. I decline and play Mystical. Turns out he had the Force + blue card anyway.
7-4 (10-10)
Round3:
Game1: Turn2 Counterbalance, turn3 SDT. I lose this one without much effort.
Game2: I keep a hand of LED, Ritual, Chant, Infernal, Infernal, Land, Land. Infernal gets myself another Chant after the draw of a land. I draw another Infernal and cast it to get another Ritual. On my 4th turn I cast Chant, Chant which resolves and go off through IGG-loop.
Game3: We both resolve a fast SDT. His has a Counterbalance with it. I dig with SDT to find a third land for my Grip. But he actually sideboarded in Krosan Grip and kills my SDT. I don’t find a third land before Tarmogoyf beats me down.
7-5 (11-12)
I’m out of the money and drop after a very disappointing day2. Jelle has won his last 3, Mark Lambrechts won 2 and lost 1.
So I check out what Jelle is doing at 10-2. he’s facing off against Survival Bant. Game1 gets decided after a Brainstorm into Survival and then Survival into Iona + Retainers for white.
The second game comes down to the following. Jelle plays Thoughtseize and notices 1 land, Hierarch, Brainstorm, Path, Pridemage, Goyf, War Monk. The best choice here is going for Brainstorm as he has Wasteland and StP in hand. He takes it eventually and the opponent fetches a Forest and plays Hierarch. Jelle plays Thoughtseize again and sees that his opponent drew a land. He should’ve switched his gameplan here but didn’t and still went for the StP on the Hierarch. He lost some turns later.
In the meanwhile Jelle Gyselinck has arrived as well. Wim and Tom decided to play in the 2HG side event and JelleG wanted to play as well but they didn’t have a 4th. So I offered and of we where. We played some standard while waiting and then got our boosters. We got Bazaar Trader, a foil Bazaar Trader and other junk. The two good cards where Celestial Colonade and that 4/6 Vigilance Lifelink creature. Jelle played Blue White with double Permafrost Trap, some bounce to gain tempo and I played Green Black agro with some big creatures and removal.
We went 4-0 pure due to aggressiveness. We even got a turn6 kill on the draw against a Glazing Gleadheart. Last round we lost and we ended 10th on Tiebreakers with 4-1. There where two other teams with 5-0, one with 4-0-1 which we lost against and then the 4-1. So we got 14 boosters for our effort. Jelle ended 11-6. Mark ended 11-5-1.
We checked out the top8. Went to the hostel then for food. After we ate we went back to the hostel to pick up more people including Jelle who chose to sleep while we ate. I sat in my bed and just fell asleep without even knowing. The next thing I remember is people entering my room to sleep around 3 o’clock.
Me, Wim and Jelle went side seeing while JelleF got left behind. Jan thought us a new game called boosterwars. You take a booster, open it and divide it in 5 piles of 3 that you want. Then play them out with unlimited mana. All I can say is, Multikicker is broken in this format. So I crack my boosters to play this while we wait to leave. We head off to the airport, give our luggage at the check-in and go through the security check. We met the Belgian Female Hockey team who came back from a training trip in Argentina. I noticed the staff sitting there and sat down with them, talking a bit.
I played some more boosterwars with JelleF on the airplane trip, just shuffling everything I opened and getting 15 cards each. We landed with Jelle feeling ill again. We get our luggage, meet up with JelleF’s father and head home, saying farewell to a great holiday.
Iona is pretty white so natural order wont do much :(Originally Posted by citanul
Grats on making day 2!
Except that Painter's Servant made it green. Everyone seems to miss that, maybe I should've added it more clearly :p.Iona is pretty white so natural order wont do much :(
awesome, so was his kill painter servant into iona with order or did he have a better plan ?
I hope for him that he had a better plan but I think that was the combo that he had in his deck. My guess is that he also had a Progenitus in there in case he had NO and no Painter. Because even with Painter you'll need another creature to sacrifice as sacrificing Painter will stop you from getting Iona as it is no longer green.
Very nice try Citanul.
Some play mistakes cost you money, but honestly, playing a non-linear deck off 4 hours of sleep is hardly ideal. I commend you for that!
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