1st at Pandamonium 8/15/2010

[Arik124]

Event Info:

I think we had 13 people. Prizes were $4 in store credit for ewvery $5 in entry fee. 1st gets 22.50, 2nd and 3rd get 15 each.

I remember seeing:

3 Merfolk (Saito's List)
1 Zoo w/ wastes and crusher, less burn
1 UR Control
1 Counter Thopter w/ Englightened Tutor
1 Counter Top
1 Mono Red Burn
1 Survival

I went 4-0 beating Zoo, CounterThopter, Survival, and Merfolk. I played CounterTop Goyf, basically Tom Martell's list except
cutting an Oblivion Ring for an Engineered Explosives and a Karakas for a Plateau (Don't own any...)

Maindeck:

Artifacts
4 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Engineered Explosives

Creatures
4 Tarmogoyf

Enchantments
4 Counterbalance

Instants
4 Brainstorm
3 Counterspell
4 Force of Will
2 Spell Snare
4 Swords to Plowshares

Legendary Creatures
2 Vendilion Clique

Planeswalkers
3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor

Sorceries
3 Firespout

Basic Lands
2 Island
1 Mountain
1 Plains

Lands
4 Flooded Strand
1 Misty Rainforest
4 Scalding Tarn
3 Tropical Island
3 Tundra
2 Volcanic Island

Legendary Lands
1 Plateau (Would have played a Karakas if I owned it)

Sideboard:
1 Relic of Progenitus
2 Meddling Mage
1 Blue Elemental Blast
1 Hydroblast
3 Krosan Grip
1 Pyroblast
1 Red Elemental Blast
3 Spell Pierce
1 Firespout
1 Engineered Explosives

I would have played a Llawan Cephalid Empress had I owned one...

Round 1 Zoo against Schyler:

He wins the die roll and opens with Taiga --> Kird Ape. I have firespout in my opening hand, with a tundra and two fetches. I figured he was playing zoo but thought there was a small chance that he could have wastes. After 5 seconds of deliberation I figured there's now way he could have a waste and so played the Fetchland, fetched a non-basic, and passed. He played another Kird Ape and a wasteland....OOPS. So I was set back one turn but was facing two kird apes. I played another dual and passed. He played a goyf and passed. I felt quite lucky at this point. I untapped. Played a third land, and with only lands in our graveyards was able to firespout away his team. He recovered with a Knight, which I swords to plowshared on my turn. He proceeded to draw two more goyfs, all of which saw a swords but not before taking me to 4 life. At this point i drew my own goyf which he swords'd. Thus I went to 8 and had some room to work with. I cracked a fetch going to 7 to shuffle away annoying lands and found another goyf along with a counterbalance for my top. We played draw go for some time, and he really struggled with CBTOP in play. I don't think he had played against it before so he just kepping throwing bolts EOT at me. After about 5 turns of draw go he played countryside crusher, and i found a second goyf. He layed a second crusher and i just passed the turn holding FoW and cbtop active. his crushers failed to grow and so with about 20 minutes left in the round he figured there's no way he could pull it off and scooped.

Game 2 +1 Hydro, BEB, Explosives, don't remember what i took out.

This game was a little better for me as i finished at 6 life with time being called and drawing in turns. Nothing special here as i got a nice start, a firespout, a goyf, and cbtop. He did manage to qasali the counterbalance but i just sat back with goyfs for the draw.

Games: 1-0-1, Matches 1-0

Round 2 Steve playing with ThopterTop

Steve wins the die roll, drops a Fetchland and passes. I draw, crack my fetch, and play top, then pass. He lays another Fetch and passes. I play a second land and pass. Steve does not play a third land and passes. I play a third land and go for counterbalance with 1 blue open. He forces and i force back. He brainstorms, cracks his second fetch and brainstorms again, finding the spellsnare but with no untapped lands :(. He scoops.

Game 2 +1 Reb, Pyro, 2 Grip, Explsovives. -3 Firespout, something else.

This game get a turn 2 goyf to stick and ride him to victory over 5 short turns.

Games: 3-0-1, Matches 2-0

Round 3: Paul w/ Survival.

This did not go very well for Paul; I don't remember the exact details but i pretty much counter everything he has and drop CBTop by turn 5. I do remember that he stuck an early kitchen finks which i eventually bounced with Jace and then countered with cb via firespout, as well as his recurring nightmare and big game hunter. Essentially i floated that firespout for like 4 turns which worked out well. In the mean time I played a goyf and swords'd an academy rector that snuck through. Goyf got there.

Game 2 +1 Explosives, +2 Grip, -3 Something

This was worse for him. He plays Land Bop. I play a top. He misses a land drop but therapies me naming spell snare. He misses but plays another nameing krosan grip. I untap and drop a goyf which i ride to victory after he proceeds to draw 4-5 lands.

Round 4: Dan w/ Merfolk.

So Dan must have been new to Sanctioned tournaments. For starters he shuffled so that i could clearly see his 60. Secondly he had a very odd sideboard situation. There was no deck box, and instead what appeared to be a main deck and 2 piles of cards. One had a rubberband on them, while the other did not. Additionally there were some cards that were sleeved and some cards that were not. I found this to be bothersome, so we had the following conversation:

Me: Where is your sideboard?

Dan: [Pointing to his non-rubberband pile] Right here.

Me: So what's the other pile?

Dan: Just other cards.

[Aside] I'm sure most of you can imagine that this is going to a very weird place.
he proceeds to ask the following:

Dan: Can I change my sideboard between games?

Me: No

Dan: Well I just traded for a Jitte with you, I cannot add that?

Me: No.

At this point I become concerned because I see him switching cards between Rubber Band and Non Rubber Band pile. Well, I call the judge and explain the situation. The judge tells Dan that he must keep his original 75. I pull the judge aside and tell him the conversation I had with Dan. Clearly his intent was to perform an action that is cheating. However I highly doubt that he knew this was cheating. The judge understands my concerns and does some DCI Judge stuff and comes back explaining that at this REL (Not Competetive) nothing happens because he does not believe an intent to cheat existed (I agree). I ask the judge had Dan offered me cards for a concession without knowing that action was illegal would that be the same situation. The judge replied that it would not. I wasn't entirely satisfied with this but I don't know enough about this situation. I just wanted to make sure that I brought it to his attention.

We get a 7 minute extension.

Game 1: The details are murky as 3 game sets are somewhat tougher to remember for me without notes. I did win this game with a very solid firespout.

Game 2: he just runs me over and cursecatches my firespout. (If i didnt firespout he'd swing for 14 and I was at 12. I had to just hope he didn't have daze and he'd forget)

Game 3: I get an early balance with no top. I go to play firespout with 1 fetch untapped and he dazes. This is where things get a bit murky. As I'm fetching for a land he dazes again, which is odd b/c he doesn't exactly have priority when i go for the land. Nor does he have priority after the land comes into play. I believe he thought i was simply paying for the daze which would mean in his mind i had passed priority, let the counterbalance trigger resolve, let the daze resolve, and then just payed for it. I had made no such intimation. I was only looking for a land. At this point we backed up his second daze so that I could cast brainstorm putting counterspell on top. He let that resolve, which countered his original daze. I don't think he realized that he could have dazed my brainstorm or my firespout in resposne to my brainstorm. I won that game but only because of a misplay.

He was not happy with the game or the sideboarding issue and I can see why. Hopefully he can understand why someone sitting across from him would get upset when they start seeing multiple sideboards. If i had brought in some pyroclasm or Reb i don't think he would have been too happy either.

All in all a nice little tournament. Considering that 13 people showed up with only a few days notice, I would say there is a lot of potential for legacy sundays at Pandamonium. Hopefully more people will show up next time. The deck is a monster and is very consistent. I mulliganed a couple times and was always happy with the results. Steve noted that he wished he had goyfs in his version. The card never ceases to impress me. Its punishes slow draws, and is a trump to pretty much any other creature except a Reliquary Knight thats been in play for a while.

Thanks for Reading

-Arik

[Neuad]

Pande in garden city MI?

[BurningStarV]

Game 3: I get an early balance with no top. I go to play firespout with 1 fetch untapped and he dazes. This is where things get a bit murky. As I'm fetching for a land he dazes again, which is odd b/c he doesn't exactly have priority when i go for the land. Nor does he have priority after the land comes into play. I believe he thought i was simply paying for the daze which would mean in his mind i had passed priority, let the counterbalance trigger resolve, let the daze resolve, and then just payed for it. I had made no such intimation. I was only looking for a land. At this point we backed up his second daze so that I could cast brainstorm putting counterspell on top. He let that resolve, which countered his original daze. I don't think he realized that he could have dazed my brainstorm or my firespout in resposne to my brainstorm. I won that game but only because of a misplay.

You do realize that when you used your fetchland he has the opportunity to respond to it by Dazing your Firespout the second time, right? Fetches are not instantaneous or anything. There was no reason to 'back up his second daze.' If a judge was there, it would look like you trying to cheat, just for future reference.

[Sims]

You do realize that when you used your fetchland he has the opportunity to respond to it by Dazing your Firespout the second time, right? Fetches are not instantaneous or anything. There was no reason to 'back up his second daze.' If a judge was there, it would look like you trying to cheat, just for future reference.

This.

Fetchlands are activated abilities, as such when you activate the fetchland, you must pass priority to him before the fetch resolves and you get you land. His daze, from the perspective of the report, looks legal and shouldn't have been backed up. If you activate fetch, he doesn't respond, then tries to respond while searching your library or after the land comes into play then it's not legit.. but you don't specify if he tries dazing after passing priority back and resolving the fetch or in response to the fetch.

[lotriderm]

This.

Fetchlands are activated abilities, as such when you activate the fetchland, you must pass priority to him before the fetch resolves and you get you land. His daze, from the perspective of the report, looks legal and shouldn't have been backed up. If you activate fetch, he doesn't respond, then tries to respond while searching your library or after the land comes into play then it's not legit.. but you don't specify if he tries dazing after passing priority back and resolving the fetch or in response to the fetch.

So, if he dazed in response to the fetchland activation, the Firespout will get countered?

[Sims]

So, if he dazed in response to the fetchland activation, the Firespout will get countered?

Assuming no Spirit Guide in hand, yes. This is the way the Scenario seems to play out to me:

Player 1: Tap 3, Firespout (1 untapped fetchland)
Player 2: Daze the Firespout
Player 1: Response, crack fetchland

Now the stack looks like:

Top-
Fetchland
Daze
Firespout
-Bottom

At this point, in order to resolve the Fetchland ability player 1 must pass priority to player 2. If player 2 casts a second daze, targeting the firespout, the stack would then look like

Top-
Daze
Fetchland
Daze
Firespout
-Bottom

The 2nd Daze will resolve before the fetchland activation and he will not have any mana to pay daze, or brainstorm something with 2cc to the top of his library. His only hope here would be blind flip with Counterbalance and pray. As I understand the situation, the Firespout would/should have been countered here.

[Arik124]

Perhaps I wasn't clear. Of course he has priority when I crack my fetch. However I was in the middle of searching my deck for the land, and during the time when I am actually resolving the activated ability no one has priority. It was during the searching that he decided to daze again because in his mind (pure speculation) he saw me look for a land and figured I would just pay for the daze. We backed up the that second daze (He performed an illegal action so were perfectly allowed to back it up as it's happening). Then I played brainstorm, which he allowed to resolve. He could have responded by dazing once again but chose not to. Perhaps he felt that his second daze would be countered? I don't know what he thought. He didn't ask any questions. He just let the brainstorm resolve. I have no idea where you decided I cheated.

[Sims]

Perhaps I wasn't clear. Of course he has priority when I crack my fetch. However I was in the middle of searching my deck for the land, and during the time when I am actually resolving the activated ability no one has priority. It was during the searching that he decided to daze again because in his mind (pure speculation) he saw me look for a land and figured I would just pay for the daze. We backed up the that second daze (He performed an illegal action so were perfectly allowed to back it up as it's happening). Then I played brainstorm, which he allowed to resolve. He could have responded by dazing once again but chose not to. Perhaps he felt that his second daze would be countered? I don't know what he thought. He didn't ask any questions. He just let the brainstorm resolve. I have no idea where you decided I cheated.

I didn't decide anything. I was going by what was in the report, and the wording was a bit murky. You did not specify when he attempted the 2nd daze other than, 'As I'm Fetching.'

I'm not trying to call you out as a cheater, but the wording was ambigous and, as is evident, lead to miscommunication/misunderstanding of when the daze took place. If he cast it after the fetch had resolved, then yes it was an illegal action and his not attempting the daze again was a sheer misplay on his part. I was clarifying what I understood to be the way it unfolded with only your original post to go on for Lotriderm.

[Gman 6688]

You never answere Neuad's question: are you talking about the Pandemonium in Garden City, MI? I was unaware that they held legacy events.

[cdr]

We backed up the that second daze (He performed an illegal action so were perfectly allowed to back it up as it's happening). Then I played brainstorm, which he allowed to resolve. He could have responded by dazing once again but chose not to. Perhaps he felt that his second daze would be countered? I don't know what he thought. He didn't ask any questions. He just let the brainstorm resolve. I have no idea where you decided I cheated.

You're not "backing up", you're undoing an illegal announcement. Backing up is what judges can do when there's a Game Rule Violation - you as a player can't do that, but you can get away with undoing an illegal announcement.

[sunshine]

You never answere Neuad's question: are you talking about the Pandemonium in Garden City, MI? I was unaware that they held legacy events.

Pandemonium in Cambridge, Mass. Sorry for the confusion.

[Plague Sliver]

Zoo w/ Countryside Crusher? And 3 Saito Merfolk lists...looks like people are jumping on that bandwagon already. There isn't even much in your meta to E-Plague or Perish. Hmm.

Good report though, looks like you got there with Goyf most of the time. Nicely done.

[ivanpei]

He wins the die roll and opens with Taiga --> Kird Ape. I have firespout in my opening hand, with a tundra and two fetches. I figured he was playing zoo but thought there was a small chance that he could have wastes. After 5 seconds of deliberation I figured there's now way he could have a waste and so played the Fetchland, fetched a non-basic, and passed. He played another Kird Ape and a wasteland....OOPS

You know that if you are not playing anything straight away you don't have to crack the fetch right? Seeing a kird ape, it is highly unlikely he is running blue for stifle so you should have just played the fetch and passed the turn. If he dropped a waste, it would do nothing and you can just crack your fetch on your turn for a basic/dual and still have 2 mana on turn 2. Just FYI. Cheers.

[Arik124]

@ivanpei,

I may have played a brainstorm though I don't remember. Unfortunately I did not take notes, so my recollection isn't great.