Top 4@Jupiter Games's NELC with MUD

[Zirath]

I’m back again with another report; this one is a top 4 for Jupiter’s August NELC. First my list:


4 Wurmcoil Engine
4 Steel Hellkite
4 Lodestone Golem
3 Phyrexian Revoker
2 Platinum Emperion
2 Karn Liberated

4 Thran Dynamo
4 Grim Monolith
3 Metalworker
3 Voltaic Key

4 Chalice of the Void
1 All is Dust

3 Buried Ruin
3 Mishra's Factory
4 Wasteland
4 Rishadan Port
4 City of Traitors
4 Ancient Tomb


SB: 3 Cursed Totem
SB: 4 Trinisphere
SB: 2 Thorn of Amethyst
SB: 2 Torpor Orb
SB: 1 Karn Liberated
SB: 1 All is Dust
SB: 1 Crucible of Worlds

Thorn of Amethyst has been strong in this deck against the control decks so it’s staying in for at least a while. Torpor Orb has come in because I expected a rise of Tribal decks and Glided Drakes/Sower of Temptation. It has been alright and does have applications against Snap/Clique/SFM; however, this tends to be excessive as those match ups are usually in my favor.

Round 1: Gabe with BUG Control

Gabe is a member of our Ithaca group and this match up is quite bad for him. He’s playing a traditional BUG control deck with 0 creatures.

Game 1: A combination of Ports and Factories apply early pressure and I draw out his permission with light stax effects. Eventually I cast Wurmcoil and he scoops.

SB: +1 Karn Liberated, +2 Thorn of Amethyst, -1 All is Dust, -2 Steel Hellkite

Game 2: I lead with Thorn, which eats a Nature’s Claim. I try to run out double Lodestone Golem but he has double Counterspell. He eventually Loam + Wastes me hard. I eventually break the lock. After durdling for 10+ turns, he manages to find a land to cast Jace and I scoop.

Game 3: I land Revoker on Liliana of the Veil and begin Porting him. I follow up with Lodestone Golem and the mana’s too tight to stop me.

1-0 (2-1)

Round 2: UWr Stoneblade

Game 1: My opponent has a hand that goes Stoneforge, Force, Counterspell, Double Swords to Plowshares, Elspeth. He also doesn’t miss on land drops so I die.

SB: +1 Crucible of Worlds, +1 Karn Liberated, -2 Steel Hellkite

Game 2: I open with Voltaic Key and follow with Chalice for 1. He runs out Mystic and I respond with a Revoker for the Mystic. He runs out Jitte. Eventually he trades his Mystic and both counters for a Factory and realizes he has no more creatures. I land a Chalice for two off a Grim Monolith and he responds with Snapcaster Mage. I follow up with Wurmcoil and we swing back and forth. Eventually, he dies to the Engine.

Game 3: I have another Chalice for 1 and Grim Monolith. I proceed to force him to counter a Crucible of Worlds, making him crack his fetches for non-basics. I tank for a little and recover my Crucible with Buried Ruin and recast it off my Monolith, followed by double Waste. I build up lands and play Revoker for a few turns. I eventually land an Emperion and knock him to 10. He cracks 4 fetches for all basics and lays a land for a Batterskull. I untap and cast Karn. He scoops.

2-0 (4-2)

Game 3: Sneak Show

Game 1: My opponent opens with Island, Ponder and passes. I think for a bit, wondering what he’s playing and decide he’s on Sneak Show since he has a basic Island. I look at my hand, which has Revoker and a City of Traitors. I decide he’s probably going to try to play the long game with me so I play a Port and pass. He untaps, lays City of Traitors, exiles Simian Spirit Guide and casts Sneak Attack. I run out Revoker on my turn off the City. It resolves and I name Sneak Attack. He draws and passes. I draw and beat down and begin Porting his land. He plays another land and passes. I start playing Lodestone Golems and eventually he dies to the beats.

SB: +4 Trinisphere, -4 Steel Hellkite

Game 2: He drops land and passes. I drop Chalice on 1. He plays land, go. I cast Lodestone Golem. He plays a Sol land and casts Show and Tell. He drops Emrakul; I drop a Sol land. I draw see Grim Monolith and try to cast Karn and realize I can’t because of Lodestone Golem. Oops.

Game 3: I mull to 6 and keeps his 7. I think for a while about what his hand is and I figure he wants to win as fast as possible. So I drop Revoker on Lotus Petal. Turns out he had two. We play draw go and he eventually Grudges my Revoker. He plays a Petal and passes. I run a second Revoker out and he cracks Petal for Green. I name Griselbrand and he destroys my Revoker before combat. I cast Lodestone Golem in the second main. He realizes that he doesn’t have the mana to cast Show and Tell and I proceed to beat him to death.

3-0 (6-3)

Game 4: Elves

Game 1: I keep a hand of no Sol lands, Grim Monolith, Metalworker and 3 Lodestone Golem. I think it can get there and I keep. My opponent opens with a Fyndhorn Elf. I play land go. He fills the board with Elves. I cast Grim Monolith into Metalworker and pass, praying he doesn’t have Shaman. Unfortunately, he does and breaks my Metalworker. I cast my 3 Golems and die to his 1/1s over 3 turns.

SB: +4 Trinisphere, +2 Torpor Orb, +2 Cursed Totem, -4 Steel Hellkite, -2 Karn Liberated, -2 Platinum Emperion (forgot to board out Metalworker >_<)

Game 2: I open on Torpor Orb, Trinisphere, Lodestone Golem and sufficient lands. I start with Torpor Orb. He runs out Nettle Settle. I immediately slam Trinisphere since I see he can’t get to 3 mana next turn. I follow with Lodestone Golem. He fights the uphill battle and eventually dies to some robot after taking out only Torpor Orb.

Game 3: I mull to 6 and keep a hand of Trinisphere and Cursed Totem. I figure I can keep it. He opens with Fyndhorn Elves. I rip Ancient Tomb and cast Cursed Totem. He drops some more elves seeing that his mana has been stunted. I follow up with Trinisphere. He doesn’t have the third land and never does in this game. He dies to double Wurmcoil.

4-0 (8-4)

I double ID and relax a little bit since I’m definitely in the top 8.

7/8 of the top wants to chop, so we have to play the quarters.

Quarterfinals: UW Miracle Tax

Feature Match (it’s somewhere on the stream coverage, I’d have to look for it)!

Game 1: I’m seeded 7 and on the draw. I attempt to open with Chalice for 1 and he Dazes. He runs out Top. I play Grim Monolith and pass. He drops another Island and spins Top. I start dropping a slew of mana stones and ports. I proceed to run out double Port, Factory and Wasteland, crippling his mana. He manages to play a Tundra to exile a Revoker on Top but I have him dead with my Factory.

SB: +1 Crucible of Worlds, +2 Thorn of Amethyst, +1 Karn Liberated, -4 Steel Hellkite

Game 2: My opponent opens with Top and I open with Chalice. He counters it. I start ramping and play a second Chalice and a Thorn of Amethyst. I play Revoker on Top down the line and beat a little bit. Eventually, he slams Humility. I think for a bit and cast Lodestone Golem. He shows me his last card, Swords to Plowshares on my Golem. I tell him that it’s countered by the Chalice. He tells me he’s sure it doesn’t work that way because of Thorn. We call in the judge and the ruling is obviously in my favor and the Swords is countered. He draws, plays and land and passes. I untap, cast All is Dust; he spins Top and scoops.

After the quarters finishes up, the top 4 discusses and decides to chop so we can go home. We all have 412 credit (or 327 cash) to spend. I use up a little on 2 Trops and my final Karakas.

I think my list is about as strong as I can make it at this point. I was thoroughly satisfied with the deck. Torpor Orb wasn’t spectacular but I didn’t have many games where it was strong. I can’t think of anything I would change in particular at the moment but I’m sure I will find some alterations to make.

Here's the top 8 for reference (I'm Timur Babakol):

http://www.jupitergamesonline.com/ar...gust-11th-2012

[L10]

Nice report. Here is the feature match: http://www.twitch.tv/jupitergames/b/328251813
It starts at 7:48.

I love Steel Hellkite in my meta because the two UW Miracle players here has MD Moats. Also, I can harass Top until Hellkite is answered.

[Esper3k]

Well done!

Did you ever consider bringing in the Thorns vs Sneaky Show as opposed to Trinispheres since they increase the cost of both their business spells to over 3? (as opposed to Trinisphere having no effect on those spells)

[Zirath]

Well done!

Did you ever consider bringing in the Thorns vs Sneaky Show as opposed to Trinispheres since they increase the cost of both their business spells to over 3? (as opposed to Trinisphere having no effect on those spells)

Yes I have. I'm probably gonna change around my plan for Sneak Show a little bit to have the Thorns. Trinisphere is still good but Thorn is stronger.

[Fropper]

Gratz to top4

right at the end of your feature match you casted all is dust with 7 mana, but it should have costed one more because of thorn of amethyst

[bruizar]

Congrats on the finish, I saw the replay. It seems revoker worked overtime for you. It seems Buried Ruin was doing a good job too. Food for thought for me that we can continue to discuss is our MUD thread.


I have a question about the first place Maverick list, maybe you guys can chime in. I think I'm overseeing something but the list has a sideboard slot for Elesh Norn, and a Fauna Shaman maindeck. I was looking for Loyal Retainers but couldn't find it. Does anyone know why there is an Elesh Norn in his board?

[Zirath]

Gratz to top4

right at the end of your feature match you casted all is dust with 7 mana, but it should have costed one more because of thorn of amethyst

You're right. We totally missed that. Though honestly I doubt it would have mattered.

I'm not sure about the Maverick list. Make sure it was 60 cards. They may have missed one.

[(nameless one)]

Great job on the finish again Zirath.

I definitely going to watch the replay and pick up some pointers.

[Zirath]

Great job on the finish again Zirath.

I definitely going to watch the replay and pick up some pointers.

It's all in the Ports. Port has been spectacular consistently.

[Aznopium]

It's all in the Ports. Port has been spectacular consistently.

Hi Zirath
Grats on the finish. Like the way you played that match on the stream. hard to believe that he questioned CoV at 1 interaction with STP.

Anyways, the deck looks great, built one for myself, gonna try it out with some friends tomm.

[HeeBeeGenie]

Congrats on the finish. Your feature match was a good one. He was not very happy about the judges ruling....

I've just recently picked up a deck very similar to yours. Cant wait to hear more tournament reports from you.