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Thread: Enchantress at SGC Sacramento (22nd)

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    Enchantress at SGC Sacramento (22nd)

    Despite knowing that SCG: Sacramento was coming up for many months, I still failed to adequately prepare. My normal playgroup, which as far as Legacy is concerned consists of just B.C. and sclabman, had been more or less unable to play due to scheduling conflicts since January. I have a pile of Legacy decks, so theoretically I could play whatever I wanted (as long as it doesn't need Grim Tutor, Tabernacle, or Show and Tell, and I probably could borrow any of those if I really needed to). Anything with Natural Order was out (since sclabman was using mine in the event). I considered the following decks: TES (ruled out because I'm terrible at Magic), High Tide (this won me a tournament once, but I don't have the stamina to play it in a longer event and it needed to be updated anyway), Enlightened Pox (too many bad/weird match ups), Aggro Loam (not enough experience with the deck), Elves (too silly, and I prefer it with the borrowed NO's anyway), UB Stiflenaught (a bit of goldfishing suggested too much variance in initial draws, and no time to tune properly), CounterThopters (not enough experience), Maverick (recently pimped with BB savannahs), and Enchantress (my first and favorite Legacy deck).

    So it was basically down to Maverick or Enchantress. I tracked down a couple of Thalias since it seemed that recent Maverick lists had been using it. My actual testing for the event conisted entirely of one evening of cardslinging with sclabman on Friday before the event (and I was mostly playing Maverick to help him work on his matchup with it and I was still entertaining the idea of playing it). I decided while testing with Nick that most other people would have more experience with and against Maverick, so I'd be at a distinct disadvantage. Thus I was left with a single sensible option: Enchantress. The more I considered it, the better Enchantress seemed to be against the expected meta. There had been a general lack of combo (the Achilles heal) as a result of Stoneblade's prevalence and Thalia/Hatebears giving Maverick game against them. The top decks were not that fast and mostly involved killing with creatures (Stoneblade variants, Maverick, and Canadian Thresh), which means that they are pretty decent matchups for Enchantress. Enchantress is also pretty good at crushing non-combo decks and various random strategies that one usually ends up facing in Legacy (Pox, Burn, Goblins, etc.). Also, no one expects Enchantress, so real hate for it never actually shows up in tournaments. Okay, I'd talked myself into it.

    Now I needed to tune my build for the tournament. I play a somewhat non-standard version. For acceleration, I use a couple of Lotus Petals because I have never liked Chrome Mox in this deck and turn one Enchantress is too good to pass up (they also help play Words of War once you get going). Due to the Petals, I don't run the full 8 Wild Growth effects, going down to 3 Utopia Sprawls because of my land base (fewer than normal Forests, and I found myself Sprawling for green mana anyway often enough). This was never an issue, so I think it will stay this way into the future. I like running 1 Savannah, 1 Plateau, and 1 Taiga along with just 4 Windswept Heaths, and this configuration has always been perfectly adequate. This deck doesn't want many duals, as it is nearly immune to Wasteland. I've noticed that others seems to be running additional fetches, but I don't like not being able to fetch basic Plains (or Forest if you go the other route) and the extra shuffle effects also seem unnecessary. The win conditions and basic engine are all standard and non-negotiable; the only variation being that I run the 3rd Solitary Confinement in the side rather than in the main. The maindeck flex slots are the key. I expected lots of creatures attacking (and some flyers that get over Moat), so I ran the full 4 Elephant Grass. I usually run 2x Oblivion Ring and 1x Runed Halo main because they are great at dealing with random, non-specific stuff (Jace, Batterskull, Emrakul, etc.), and I didn't see any good reason to change that (I've talked to others who don't like the 2nd O-ring maindeck, or even sideboard, but it's always been good to me. I've O-ringed more Jaces than I can count and have lived the dream of dropping it to a SnT vs. Emrakul). This left me with 2 additional slots. My other standard flex card is Blood Moon because it just randomly wins so many game 1s. Expecting to see plenty of EsperStoneblade lists full of duals after the GP win, there was good reason to keep it. I had the most trouble with the last slot, narrowing the options down to Choke, Ground Seal, or Karmic Justice. I ruled out Choke because I already have a reasonable match up vs. non-combo blue decks and the Blood Moon overlaps a bit but is useful in more matchups. Karmic Justice is awesome when it does something, but it doesn't always do something. Ground Seal just seemed like the best option since at worst it is an enchantment that cantrips and it can help against Reanimator, Dredge (sort of), and Snapcasters. Deck construction complete. I think I only played about 2-3 games with Enchantress in the several months leading up to the event. I feel like I'm fairly experienced with the deck though, and since it hasn't changed much in ages, I wasn't too worried. Unfortunately, I didn't end up making it over to B.C.'s place on Saturday night to test with him, sclabman, and the LA crew staying there. Oh well.

    Here's the deck:





    I only live about 15-20 minutes away. Just as I hit the highway (thinking I was running late), sclabman calls and asks if I want to ride with him and B.C. but I tell him I'm already on the road. I arrive and find free street parking a couple blocks away. As I'm walking, B.C. and sclabman pull up. I tell them not to park in the pay lot and point out the free parking. We arrive a bit early and register. Then we wait and run into the LA crowd (Koby, Antonius, etc.). Koby showed me the key to the Maverick mirror (but I can't remember what it is because I was preoccupied with enchantments). We also discover that the french and german names for Savannah are only 1 letter off (Savane vs. Savanne). Koby also informs me that he did not bring his Vintage deck (sadface), so no type 1 between rounds (oh well, Enchantress goes close to time a lot anyway). Eventually things get going for the player meeting/decklist collection, then pairing are up and we're off. I took terrible notes, so some of the details may be a little off (apologies to my opponents, correct me if you can).

    Round 1 vs Chase (UW Stoneblade)

    Game 1, he forces 2 Argothians, plays Geist of Saint Traft and a Snapcaster (Brainstorm, I think) along with Jace (which meets O-ring). He plays another Jace, but can't stop the 3rd Enchantress and I'm off to the races. He scoops at 7 life (I can't remember if it was Words or Sigil)

    In: 2x Choke, 1x City of Solitude
    Out: 1x Blood Moon, 1x Elephant Grass, 1x Ground Seal (even though I saw snapcasters)

    He gets an early Mishra's Factory (it's actually a Fabrik, auf Deutsch) which beats until I play Halo. He forces my first Presence, but I find another, which resolves. He manages to Spell Pierce Sigil, but Words of War comes down and gets there.

    2-0

    1-0


    Round 2 vs Shane (UW(b?) Stoneblade

    I call him Willie (because I can't read the pairings correctly). We are confused until the match slip with our names on it appears. Shane was a fun opponent and a good guy. We end up playing at the same tables for several matches over the course of the day.

    Games one involves Stoneforge Mystic searching up Jitte and beating. Snapcaster joins the fray. I eventually get Halo naming Snapcaster. Sigil comes down and he holds it off for a while (Swords on an angel), but the barrage of enchantments doesn't let up and he can't stop all the angels.

    In: 2x Choke, City of Solitude
    Out: Blood Moon, Ground Seal, Elephant Grass

    Game 2 he Spell Pierces my Wild Growth on turn one, slowing me down. I can't compete with early Batterskull after that.

    Game 3 starts with just a few minutes left in the round. We both try to play as quickly as we can (almost comically so), but it's pretty obvious this will be a draw (it is). We still manage to get a surprising number of turns in anyway by playing as fast and haphazardly as we can, but neither of us manages to screw up enough to lose.

    1-1-1

    1-0-1


    Round 3 vs Yip (White Stax)

    After we sit down, he informs me that his friend was in one of my classes last semester. His friend stops by part way through the match (and was indeed one of my former students).

    He gets me down to 7 in game one, but I shut down a lot of his stuff with an early Blood Moon. Armageddon is cast and he lands a Batterskull. I get a Sigil and his germ attempts to race the angels, but he can't do it and scoops at 8 life (I think I may have dropped Moat).

    In: Karmic Justice, Stony Silence
    Out: 1x Elephant Grass, Ground Seal

    I get destroyed game 2 by Armageddon into Crucible + Ghost Quarter and never get back in the game due to lack of mana (can't get to 3). I think he may have also played Chalice at 1. An exploration or two might have helped me this game (as would maybe having drawn a lotus petal). He finally plays Stoneforge into Batterskull and I scoop so there is time for game 3.

    Game 3 starts with less than 10 minutes on the clock. My notes fail me so I can't remember the details except the end game. He lands multiple Ghostly Prisons, so I tutor up Words of War and just pound away without really getting the engine going. I do, however, win before time is called.

    2-1

    2-0-1


    Round 4 vs Galen (ANT w/ Past in Flames)

    So here is my nightmare match up (and Galen goes on to finals), but I don't know this until I see the Grim Tutor. Game 1 he gets Ad Nauseam before I can get Runed Halo on Tendrils (though if I had one more turn I would have been able to land it (though not necessarily win from there)). He played in the last Vintage event in Davis, so we talk a bit about Vintage and Steve Menendian's potential move to the Bay Area.

    In: 4x Leyline, Runed Halo, Stony Silence, Solitary Confinement
    Out: 4x Elephant Grass, Moat, 2x Oblivion Ring

    In game 2, I open with Enlightened Tutor + Sterling Grove in hand at 6, so I don't continue mulling for Leyline. I turn 1 tutor for Runed Halo, play it naming Tendrils on turn 2, then play Sterling Grove on turn 3. We sit for a while, then he uses Chain of Vapour to bounce Grove EOT before I can find a second Grove and goes off with Past In Flames to flashback Chain on Halo.

    0-2

    2-1-1


    Round 5 vs Eric (UR Delver/Burn)

    I mull to 4 in game one. Then he Spell Snares my Argothian Enchantress and I get beaten down by a Delver that eventually transforms. I'm finally put out of my misery by a bolt.

    In: 3 Leyline, CoP:Red, Solitary Confinement
    Out: Ground Seal, Blood Moon, 1x Elephant Grass, 1x Oblivion Ring, 1x Replenish
    This was probably not the correct plan, but I won the match anyway. I didn't see as much burn as I was expecting in games 2 and 3.

    In game 2, He gets a couple of quick Delvers, but can't seem to hit any instants or sorceries to transform them. He counters some stuff, but eventually the enchantress hits and I think I kill him with angels. Game three, Eric gets out 3 Delvers and again fails to transform them for many turns. Eventually, I get the lock and he scoops.

    2-1

    3-1-1

    Round 6 vs Ricky (UWb Stoneblade)

    This opponent was really quiet. He got 11th in the standard open apparently (and maybe had won or top 2'd some other one. Or something). he pretty much only talked when I tried to make banter. We didn't even get to play real games. I mull down to 5 (I think) and keep a shitty hand, so I get mana screwed and then slaughtered, though at one point I played Runed Halo to stop Jace (I'm pretty sure it was spirit tokens and Jitte that actually killed me).

    In: 2x Choke, City of Solitude
    Out: 1x Elephant Grass, Blood Moon, Ground Seal

    Game two, I mulligan to a marginal 6 (only one land, but the rest okay) and stupidly keep (again), so I get crushed as I am stuck on the land in my opener pretty much until I die. I was pretty down right after this round, but then I remembered that I was just here to play some Legacy and realized that this match sucked but mostly due to variance and/or my shitty mulligan skillz. I tried to stay positive. At least this round went fast so I had time to use the restroom and eat something.

    0-2

    3-2-1

    Round 7 vs MAtt (UWb Stoneblade)
    It seems that I might have a chance to finish in the money, but I'm pretty new to the tournament scene (this is the 2nd tournament with more than about 12 people that I've ever played in; the other was SCG: San Jose last year where I basically scrubbed out). I purposely decide that I don't want to even bother to figure out whether or not I could Top 32 because it would just add stress to the round and make it less fun. I figure out part way through that we must be playing for money though, based on the demeanor of my opponent (whom I had observed being much more jovial during previous rounds).

    I win the roll, but end up losing game 1 to spirit tokens. This might have been one of the games where spirits flying over Moat got me, but I can't remember for sure.

    In: 2x Choke, 1x City of Solitude
    Out: 1x Elephant Grass, Blood Moon, Ground Seal

    Game 2, I land a Choke and he can't stop the engine. Then he concedes when he sees the writing on the wall even though he is at 17 life.

    Game 3 is pretty epic. He slows me down enough to get in it, countering City of Solitude and stripping my hand with Inquisition of Kozilek. I get the Enchantress eventually and start to go, but he saves his counters for my win conditions, hitting both Sigal and then Words. I only have 2 Replenish in (and had used one earlier to get a second Enchantress going for Confinement lock). I am starting to run out of cards, and it's clear that is his plan to win (particularly after he makes me count how many cards left in my library). I manage to get Guile online and find the last Replenish. Luckily he is out of counter magic and Words of War plus 4 or 5 Enchantress effects gets there (with Serra's Sanctum making 15 mana and a hand including 2 Elephant Grass and Choke for the killing blow). I have 75% of my deck in play at the end of this game and only a handful of cards left in my library. I was very relieved because this game was quite tense and my opponent kept a cool head throughout, so I was terrified of making a game losing mistake as the spectators accumulated since this was one of the longer matches in the last round of the swiss.

    2-1

    4-2-1

    Immediately after the match some of the other Enchantress players who were watching asked about some of my plays (hint: they were questionable because I suck and Enchantress is hard) and my sideboard choices. This leads to a pow-pow of the Enchantress players comparing decks and discussing card choices. There were at least 4 people playing Enchantress, and 3 of the lists Top 32'd (15th, 21st, 22nd). Eventually, I figure out that I need to go fill out some form to get my prize (turns out I ended up 22nd), which I take as store credit and use to complete a playset of Intuitions I'd been meaning to finish for a while. Nick also Top 32'd so once he's sortered out his prize, he, B.C. and I exit the venue and head home.

    Enchantress was a good choice for this metagame, though some of the success may have been due to opponents being unfamiliar with the deck. Several of my opponents told me that they had never actually played against Enchantress before, and in pretty much every round my opponent had to read at least one of my cards (or call a judge to argue about whether Argothian's draw trigger is from playing an enchantment or it resolving (it is successfully cast=played, so it functions just like Presence)). There were also several attempts to Swords and Bolt Enchantresses despite the shroud and at least one attempt to target a non-Sterling Grove enchantment with a Grove in play. I should have played a Choke or City of Solitude in the maindeck, probably moving Ground Seal to the side, and removing the Replenish in the side for something else (maybe a second Karmic Justice, Ground Seal, or Emrakul just to try it out). I might have been able to do without the 4th Elephant Grass, but with all the flyers I think it's useful even though I often side it out.

  2. #2

    Re: Enchantress at SGC Sacramento (22nd)

    It seems like the only thing you really lost to were Lingering Souls. Have you thought about replacing the second Oblivion Ring for something relevant?

    Briar Patch, Cyclone, and Powerstone Minefield deal with the Spirits in particular. Ghostly Prison may be a relevant card too. Or could you just run another Sigil of the Empty Throne to start taking control of the board faster? I hear 4/4 Angels are a fine answer to Jace.
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  3. #3
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    Re: Enchantress at SGC Sacramento (22nd)

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  4. #4

    Re: Enchantress at SGC Sacramento (22nd)

    Dude congrats on making prize! It was really cool meeting you while I was up there. Hope I get to kick it with you and Blaine again some time soon.

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    Re: Enchantress at SGC Sacramento (22nd)

    Quote Originally Posted by Antonius View Post
    Dude congrats on making prize! It was really cool meeting you while I was up there. Hope I get to kick it with you and Blaine again some time soon.
    Ditto! It was nice to meet you Adam. Next time I'll bring my Vintage deck for sure!
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    Re: Enchantress at SGC Sacramento (22nd)

    I love you.
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  7. #7

    Re: Enchantress at SGC Sacramento (22nd)

    re: Lingering Poles - just play Worship. They can't win against a shrouded man and Worship. Also auto win's vs. burn game one.

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    Re: Enchantress at SGC Sacramento (22nd)

    Quote Originally Posted by Antonius
    Dude congrats on making prize! It was really cool meeting you while I was up there. Hope I get to kick it with you and Blaine again some time soon.
    Quote Originally Posted by Koby View Post
    Ditto! It was nice to meet you Adam. Next time I'll bring my Vintage deck for sure!
    It was great meeting both of you, too! I should be the one congratulating you guys on your Top 8s. Hopefully, we'll get to play some in the future (especially Vintage; one of these days I'll get around to posting my current deck in the Pimp thread).

    Quote Originally Posted by Zach Tartell
    I love you.
    I almost didn't write up the report at all (since I only did okay in the event), but then I figured Enchantress doesn't get enough love so the community needed it.

    Quote Originally Posted by Anusien
    It seems like the only thing you really lost to were Lingering Souls. Have you thought about replacing the second Oblivion Ring for something relevant?
    The only match I lost against Esperblade was because my deck shat on me (and the actual reason was because I mulliganed badly). My feeling now is that if I shifted the deck around to get a Choke and/or City of Solitude main, I'd likely be favored in that matchup (since I run the 4th Elephant Grass anyway). None of the other options seem all that great (my favorite is still Downdraft since it can actually stop Emrakul when paired with Moat, though Raking Canopy does have some potential) because they don't really help the engine. The better solution seems to be get the lock faster (Worship is definitely a reasonable suggestion, and I actually briefly considered it when building the board, but then ended up chucking it because it's too situational in that it requires Argothian, which you can't count on when you need really need it to stay alive). I get a lot of flak for the 2nd O-Ring and that might be what should come out for Choke/City, but I still like it for dealing with random problem cards (so I'll probably end up moving #2 to the board).

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