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Thread: [Report]13th out of 30 - 4c CBTop (2nd Legacy Tournament)

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    [Report]13th out of 30 - 4c CBTop (2nd Legacy Tournament)

    9/19/2010

    It seems that most new players coming into the Legacy format plays an archetype that is somewhat easy to pilot.
    Maybe burn.
    Maybe zoo.
    Heck, maybe even Dredge if you've played it in extended a while back.

    But not me.

    After getting STOMPED on at my first legacy tournament playing NO CounterTop (going 1 - 4 - 1) a month back, I realized it was time for a change. Taking some advice from a good player and pal of mine (PanderAlexander) we decided to build 4c CounterTop using Martell's List as a shell.

    So we came up with this.

    Mainboard: 60

    Spells: 32
    4x Brainstorm
    4x Counterbalance
    4x Force of Will
    4x Sensei's Divining Top
    4x Swords to Plowshare
    3x Firespout
    3x Jace, the Mind Sculptor
    2x Counterspell
    2x Spell Snare
    1x Fire // Ice
    1x Oblivion Ring

    Creatures: 6
    4x Tarmogoyf
    2x Vendilion Clique

    Lands: 22
    4x Flooded Strand
    4x Misty Rainforest
    3x Tropical Island
    3x Volcanic Island
    2x Tundra
    2x Island
    1x Forest
    1x Plain
    1x Karakas
    1x Scalding Tarn

    Sideboard: 15
    4x Pyroblast
    3x Krosan Grip
    3x Relic of Progenitus
    2x Hydroblast
    2x Pithing Needle
    1x Firespout

    Round 1: vs. U/r Merfolk (0 - 2)
    Game 1 - I'll admit that this was the first time I've come across a Merfolk deck not splashing black or going mono. He resolved Vial on Turn 1 with a Mutavault. So of course, when I finally saw a Volcanic Island I was pretty clueless as to what to do. Don't remember much here but he definitely resolved/popped 3 Standstills and just when I thought I was about to stabilize he bolted me in the face twice for game.
    Game 2 - This was a tighter game but still ended relatively quickly. Vial resolved. Creatures stuck on the field for him. When he Spell Pierced twice on my Jace... I packed it in.

    Round 2: vs. Affinity (0 - 2)
    Game 1 - He saw Cranial Plating, Disciple, Shrapnel Blast, and Master of Etherium... all the while mulling down to five. I thought I kept a solid hand of 4 lands, a Counterbalance, Brainstorm and Tarmogoyf when I drew nothing into lands and lands. He took this one rather quickly.
    Game 2 - Pretty much the same as Game 1 except he stabilized faster with 2 Master of Etherium and a Arcbound Ravager at one point. Again, I had about six lands in play with my next three draws being lands.

    Round 3: vs. UBG Standstill (2 - 0)
    Game 1 - My opponent must have kept a slow hand because when he tried resolving Jace 2.0 and I Force of Will-ed it... the game went south for him. Next turn, I resolved my own copy of the Wallet Sculpting Jace and he scooped the turn prior to me popping his Ultimate.
    Game 2 - Oh lordy, lord... was this a fun game. He's on the play and I think this was his turn 3, but here's what basically happened after doing nothing but dropping lands for a few turns.

    He tries to resolve Standstill ->
    I respond by cracking my Tarn ->
    In response, he cracks his fetch and plays Stifle on my Tarn ->
    Next, I respond by casting Force of Will (pitching CB) targeting Stifle ->
    he responds by playing his own Force of Will (maybe Jace?) on my Force of Will ->
    I respond again Force of Will-ing (pitching V. Clique) his Force ->
    No response on his end so fetch resolves grabbing Tropical Island ->
    Tap my Volcanic to cast Pyroblast on Landstill

    At this point we both have 2 cards in hand, and the only reason for doing this was because Goyf was in hand. Next turn, Goyf comes out and starts beating for three -- Mishra's Factory comes out from his end and we start trading damage for a few turns. Eventually he goes down to 5 and when I'm about to swing in for another 3, he casts Cunning Wish searching up a Diabolic Edict and playing it... which promptly meets a Spell Snare from me. Fire // Ice burns him for two the same turn and the game was mine.

    Round 4: vs. Aggro Loam (2 - 1)
    Game 1 - Don't remember too much about this Round but I do remember stabilizing at a fairly safe number getting out the soft lock out shortly after. Goyf or Jace took it home for me I believe.
    Game 2 - He resolved Turn 1 Confidant by playing Mox Diamond and a Land. I didn't have a StP for it and that eventually costed me the game seeing as how he also had 2 HUGE Goyfs in play soon after.
    Game 3 - First thing I noticed was K. Grip in my hand with CB, Top & Pithing Needle. I think I resolved the soft lock on Turn 2. Turn 3, I looked at the Top 3, saw Brainstorm, put that on Top and drew into it with top. Maybe it was because I was super paranoid of Krosan Grips... but I Brainstormed the same turn putting back a Krosan Grip and then a land. He resolved KotR which I ate once and then StP'ed and played around Grips by always keeping my own Grip on Top. He tried it at one point but my Grip was on top to greet his. Jace eventually came out and his ultimate got there for me.

    Round 5: vs. B/W Control??? (2 - 1)
    Game 1 - My opponent was coming into his first Legacy tournament and I had remembered seeing Grave Titan while playing a friend of mine. It was basically a standard-ish deck, with a lot of hand discard, removal spells and Tidehollow Sculler with high-end finishers such as Elspeth, Eternal Dragon and Grave Titan. Confused the hell outta me but the CB/Top soft-lock resolved mid-game and Goyf went the distance.
    Game 2 - Grave Titan resolves. Lol.
    Game 3 - CB/Top soft-lock resolved pretty early throughout the game. Opponent casted the first copy of Elspeth.. which resolves. I firespout during my turn with 2 Goyfs out and attack into it. He attempts Elspeth #2 which meets (1 of 3) Jaces in my deck. More removal spells and trading ensues when we eventually start going to turns while I have 1 Goyf out and he has 1 card in hand. I then resolved the Blue Swiss Army Knife called Jace and start beating him for 5. Eternal Dragon comes out and he passes. Taking my turn, my opponent is at 11 life on Turn 3 (of 5) while I think that Goyf is a 5/6. I scan his grave to confirm that Goyf is a 5/6 when the Judge points out that Goyf is actually a 6/7 because Tidehollow Sculler is an Artifact Creature. This prompts the concession because I would have eeked out the win on my last turn by using Jace's -1 ability.

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Trying to play off a 0 - 2 deficit after Round 2 was definitely depressing but sometimes shit happens. To be honest, the only thing one can really do is just shrug it off and try to not let that alter his/(rarely her) gameplay.

    Seeing as how this was my 2nd Legacy Tournament, it was definitely a learning experience for me but I definitely want to thank PanderAlexander & neji21 for helping me become a better player. Without you guys, I am nothing.

    Another shoutout goes out to groupmates:

    Koga (neji21) - (3 - 1 - 1 w/ UG Vengevival) Who made Top 8... AS USUAL. The quest for Top 4 abandoned while losing to Chapin's Survival build in a tightly played 3 games.

    Nate (NathanS2k) - (3 - 2 w/ Zoo) Who defied all expectations when we thought he would go 0 - 5 but proved us all wrong.

    Kerry - (3 - 1 - 1 w/ R/b Goblins) Who should have made Top 8 but got screwed by tiebreakers. Enjoy that Ajani Goldmane you pulled out from your M11 consolation pack prize though.

    Not bad for your FIRST Legacy tournament, Nate/Kerry.

  2. #2
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    Re: [Report]13th out of 30 - 4c CBTop (2nd Legacy Tournament)

    For being your 2nd legacy tournament ever and you playing legacy for about a month, you did great improving from your 1-4-1 tourney to 3-2. Can't wait to see what you do at the next tournament cause that's the one that counts as dual lands will be on the line. One thing that would be helpful for the report is if you list your sideboarding between games.

  3. #3
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    Re: [Report]13th out of 30 - 4c CBTop (2nd Legacy Tournament)

    I might be wrong but shouldn't you side almost all Jaces vs merfolk? He costs too much to play and wont resolve vs Pierces/dazes after you get hit by wastelands. Grim Lavamancers or Llawan (cant be spell pierced) would help?

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    Re: [Report]13th out of 30 - 4c CBTop (2nd Legacy Tournament)

    Quote Originally Posted by dsck View Post
    I might be wrong but shouldn't you side almost all Jaces vs merfolk? He costs too much to play and wont resolve vs Pierces/dazes after you get hit by wastelands. Grim Lavamancers or Llawan (cant be spell pierced) would help?
    I think I remember taking out 2 Jaces, 1 CB, 1 V. Clique, 1 Spell Snare and 1 O-Ring against the Merfolk match-up for 3 Pyroblast, 2 Pithing Needle and adding in the fourth Firespout. It just happened that I had the singleton Jace TMS at the time.

    Lavamancers seems pretty good in theory so I'll have to try playtesting it out as with Llawan. Thanks for the suggestions.

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    Re: [Report]13th out of 30 - 4c CBTop (2nd Legacy Tournament)

    Quote Originally Posted by Stifle View Post
    I think I remember taking out 2 Jaces, 1 CB, 1 V. Clique, 1 Spell Snare and 1 O-Ring against the Merfolk match-up for 3 Pyroblast, 2 Pithing Needle and adding in the fourth Firespout. It just happened that I had the singleton Jace TMS at the time.
    Through out playtestings I thought you learned to sideout all Jace, cause with maindeck spellpierces and dazes and a crowd of folk rushing he's too slow. That fourth pyroblast would've been more helpful.

    Still waiting for the leader to reply...

  6. #6

    Re: [Report]13th out of 30 - 4c CBTop (2nd Legacy Tournament)

    Quote Originally Posted by Stifle View Post
    9/19/2010

    It seems that most new players coming into the Legacy format plays an archetype that is somewhat easy to pilot.
    Maybe burn.
    Maybe zoo.
    Heck, maybe even Dredge if you've played it in extended a while back.

    But not me.

    After getting STOMPED on at my first legacy tournament playing NO CounterTop (going 1 - 4 - 1) a month back, I realized it was time for a change. Taking some advice from a good player and pal of mine (PanderAlexander) we decided to build 4c CounterTop using Martell's List as a shell.

    So we came up with this.

    Mainboard: 60

    Spells: 32
    4x Brainstorm
    4x Counterbalance
    4x Force of Will
    4x Sensei's Divining Top
    4x Swords to Plowshare
    3x Firespout
    3x Jace, the Mind Sculptor
    2x Counterspell
    2x Spell Snare
    1x Fire // Ice
    1x Oblivion Ring

    Creatures: 6
    4x Tarmogoyf
    2x Vendilion Clique

    Lands: 22
    4x Flooded Strand
    4x Misty Rainforest
    3x Tropical Island
    3x Volcanic Island
    2x Tundra
    2x Island
    1x Forest
    1x Plain
    1x Karakas
    1x Scalding Tarn

    Sideboard: 15
    4x Pyroblast
    3x Krosan Grip
    3x Relic of Progenitus
    2x Hydroblast
    2x Pithing Needle
    1x Firespout

    Round 1: vs. U/r Merfolk (0 - 2)
    Game 1 - I'll admit that this was the first time I've come across a Merfolk deck not splashing black or going mono. He resolved Vial on Turn 1 with a Mutavault. So of course, when I finally saw a Volcanic Island I was pretty clueless as to what to do. Don't remember much here but he definitely resolved/popped 3 Standstills and just when I thought I was about to stabilize he bolted me in the face twice for game.
    Game 2 - This was a tighter game but still ended relatively quickly. Vial resolved. Creatures stuck on the field for him. When he Spell Pierced twice on my Jace... I packed it in.

    Round 2: vs. Affinity (0 - 2)
    Game 1 - He saw Cranial Plating, Disciple, Shrapnel Blast, and Master of Etherium... all the while mulling down to five. I thought I kept a solid hand of 4 lands, a Counterbalance, Brainstorm and Tarmogoyf when I drew nothing into lands and lands. He took this one rather quickly.
    Game 2 - Pretty much the same as Game 1 except he stabilized faster with 2 Master of Etherium and a Arcbound Ravager at one point. Again, I had about six lands in play with my next three draws being lands.

    Round 3: vs. UBG Standstill (2 - 0)
    Game 1 - My opponent must have kept a slow hand because when he tried resolving Jace 2.0 and I Force of Will-ed it... the game went south for him. Next turn, I resolved my own copy of the Wallet Sculpting Jace and he scooped the turn prior to me popping his Ultimate.
    Game 2 - Oh lordy, lord... was this a fun game. He's on the play and I think this was his turn 3, but here's what basically happened after doing nothing but dropping lands for a few turns.

    He tries to resolve Standstill ->
    I respond by cracking my Tarn ->
    In response, he cracks his fetch and plays Stifle on my Tarn ->
    Next, I respond by casting Force of Will (pitching CB) targeting Stifle ->
    he responds by playing his own Force of Will (maybe Jace?) on my Force of Will ->
    I respond again Force of Will-ing (pitching V. Clique) his Force ->
    No response on his end so fetch resolves grabbing Tropical Island ->
    Tap my Volcanic to cast Pyroblast on Landstill

    At this point we both have 2 cards in hand, and the only reason for doing this was because Goyf was in hand. Next turn, Goyf comes out and starts beating for three -- Mishra's Factory comes out from his end and we start trading damage for a few turns. Eventually he goes down to 5 and when I'm about to swing in for another 3, he casts Cunning Wish searching up a Diabolic Edict and playing it... which promptly meets a Spell Snare from me. Fire // Ice burns him for two the same turn and the game was mine.

    Round 4: vs. Aggro Loam (2 - 1)
    Game 1 - Don't remember too much about this Round but I do remember stabilizing at a fairly safe number getting out the soft lock out shortly after. Goyf or Jace took it home for me I believe.
    Game 2 - He resolved Turn 1 Confidant by playing Mox Diamond and a Land. I didn't have a StP for it and that eventually costed me the game seeing as how he also had 2 HUGE Goyfs in play soon after.
    Game 3 - First thing I noticed was K. Grip in my hand with CB, Top & Pithing Needle. I think I resolved the soft lock on Turn 2. Turn 3, I looked at the Top 3, saw Brainstorm, put that on Top and drew into it with top. Maybe it was because I was super paranoid of Krosan Grips... but I Brainstormed the same turn putting back a Krosan Grip and then a land. He resolved KotR which I ate once and then StP'ed and played around Grips by always keeping my own Grip on Top. He tried it at one point but my Grip was on top to greet his. Jace eventually came out and his ultimate got there for me.

    Round 5: vs. B/W Control??? (2 - 1)
    Game 1 - My opponent was coming into his first Legacy tournament and I had remembered seeing Grave Titan while playing a friend of mine. It was basically a standard-ish deck, with a lot of hand discard, removal spells and Tidehollow Sculler with high-end finishers such as Elspeth, Eternal Dragon and Grave Titan. Confused the hell outta me but the CB/Top soft-lock resolved mid-game and Goyf went the distance.
    Game 2 - Grave Titan resolves. Lol.
    Game 3 - CB/Top soft-lock resolved pretty early throughout the game. Opponent casted the first copy of Elspeth.. which resolves. I firespout during my turn with 2 Goyfs out and attack into it. He attempts Elspeth #2 which meets (1 of 3) Jaces in my deck. More removal spells and trading ensues when we eventually start going to turns while I have 1 Goyf out and he has 1 card in hand. I then resolved the Blue Swiss Army Knife called Jace and start beating him for 5. Eternal Dragon comes out and he passes. Taking my turn, my opponent is at 11 life on Turn 3 (of 5) while I think that Goyf is a 5/6. I scan his grave to confirm that Goyf is a 5/6 when the Judge points out that Goyf is actually a 6/7 because Tidehollow Sculler is an Artifact Creature. This prompts the concession because I would have eeked out the win on my last turn by using Jace's -1 ability.

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Trying to play off a 0 - 2 deficit after Round 2 was definitely depressing but sometimes shit happens. To be honest, the only thing one can really do is just shrug it off and try to not let that alter his/(rarely her) gameplay.

    Seeing as how this was my 2nd Legacy Tournament, it was definitely a learning experience for me but I definitely want to thank PanderAlexander & neji21 for helping me become a better player. Without you guys, I am nothing.

    Another shoutout goes out to groupmates:

    Koga (neji21) - (3 - 1 - 1 w/ UG Vengevival) Who made Top 8... AS USUAL. The quest for Top 4 abandoned while losing to Chapin's Survival build in a tightly played 3 games.

    Nate (NathanS2k) - (3 - 2 w/ Zoo) Who defied all expectations when we thought he would go 0 - 5 but proved us all wrong.

    Kerry - (3 - 1 - 1 w/ R/b Goblins) Who should have made Top 8 but got screwed by tiebreakers. Enjoy that Ajani Goldmane you pulled out from your M11 consolation pack prize though.

    Not bad for your FIRST Legacy tournament, Nate/Kerry.
    Good job my disciple^^

  7. #7

    Re: [Report]13th out of 30 - 4c CBTop (2nd Legacy Tournament)

    Jace really isn't that bad against Merfolk, he's just not a 3-of. With powerful sweepers, you'll empty your hand trying to resolve them and 'folk will empty theirs trying to stop you. Against a deck that runs a 1/3, 1/3, 1/3 split of lands, gas and counters, Jace is just a much better lategame card than the Counterspells and Counterbalances you should be siding out after G1. If you make it to the point where you're both in topdeck mode, (fairly common after fighting over a Firespout) a resolved Jace will win you the game where counterspells probably will not.

    After G1, the soft lock is atrocious enough against Vial aggro to warrant exclusion (at least the CB half) so given how deeply you've sided for it anyway, you should have no problem pulling out the bad cards and leaving in a Jace. I don't know how you sided, but against 'folk with that list I would've done -4 CB, -2 Counterspell, -1 Jace, +4 Pyroblast, +2 Needle, +1 Firespout for G2 (assuming on the play) and then possibly resided for G3 depending on what I saw (assuming on the draw).

    For future reference against Landstill, I think it was extremely lucky for you to have pulled out that game where you emptied your hands over a Stifle. I'd only have considered Forcing it if I thought he would Force back and I had a dead card to pitch, after which I'd take my CA and be glad. The UBG version runs so much creature removal that leaving you both with 2 cards of which 1 of yours was goyf (i.e. dead in the counter war), is actually a really bad situation for you. The value of the cards you pitched to FoW was much, much greater than the value of a resolved goyf without protection against that deck. As it turns out he made an even bigger mistake by pitching Jace, so you got away with it. Given the same situation against UW(x), the play could be justifiable because they only run 4 outs to goyf postside (not counting walkers). You won anyway, but I think counting on a game-breaking mistake from your opponent is unreliable.

    All around, good beats with a tough deck. Drawing 'folk in R1 sucks, but it happens. CB-based decks reward strong play more than any other non-combo deck and (in my opinion) more than most if not all combo as well, so practice makes perfect.
    Last edited by IsThisACatInAHat?; 09-21-2010 at 02:43 AM. Reason: edited for clarity
    Great success!

  8. #8
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    Re: [Report]13th out of 30 - 4c CBTop (2nd Legacy Tournament)

    Yo, its Weston Great Job, I think Counterbalance is just a great deck alot of thinking but realy rewards you for playing right. I hope we can do some testing before the Dual tourny hope I See you guys later.

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