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Thread: Split the Finals with TurboEldrazi @ SCG Providence Open Oct 14

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    Split the Finals with TurboEldrazi @ SCG Providence Open Oct 14

    Sunday's Legacy Open preparation started out rocky. I could not sleep. I was simply too excited for a SCG in the area and my brain would not turn off. I ended up only getting 5 hours of sleep when I am used to 8-9 and my nutritionist knowledge knew that no amount of nutrition-supplements would make up for that loss in the last hours of the event. Luckily I only make one or two glaring misplays due to fatigue and none of them cost me matches.

    !!DANGER!! Nutritionly-sound information incoming! Only read at your own health!

    I stock up on soluble fiber (10 whole carrots) and 3 packages of Welches gummies for the perfect combination of slow-release energy needs in my later rounds. 3 varied beverages, a liter of high fiber Tomato Soup in a thermos, Green Tea with Honey and Ginseng, and a liter of water to be constantly refilled.

    With this combination of thorough testing, a disturbing amount of experience with the deck, and my nutritional needs fulfilled, I am ready to approach my games with no digestive, neural or stressed interruptions.

    After this relaxed metabolic state, I do the natural thing, which is start questioning myself and debating radically changing the sideboard on the way up. I was already halfway agreed to swap out Trickbinds and elephant grasses in a final 3 spot for Phyrexian Revoker and only required a little nudge. Thankfully Scott Hughes and Ray Robillard gave me the nudge I needed to make the full swap. Random combo decks are the bane of Turbo-Eldrazi, and nothing answers random like "name anything."

    We get slightly lost upon our arrival in Providence, but find our way to the Tournament Center with 20 minutes on the clock for registration deadlines and the pre-game stoicism begins. I have very strong juju when it comes to Magic Tournaments, especially big ones, and my pre-event rituals begin.

    But enough of my thoughts! where's the BLOOD!? Well here's Contender #1 in the Blue/Green Corner:

    // Lands
    4 [TSP] Vesuva
    4 [U] Tropical Island
    1 [WWK] Eye of Ugin
    4 [SOM] Glimmerpost
    4 [FNM] Cloudpost
    1 [IA] Glacial Chasm
    4 [ZEN] Misty Rainforest
    1 [LG] Karakas
    1 [CMD] Bojuka Bog
    1 [ZEN] Island (2)

    // Creatures
    1 [ROE] Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
    1 [ROE] Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
    4 [M11] Primeval Titan
    1 [ROE] Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre

    // Spells
    4 [CHK] Sensei's Divining Top
    4 [5E] Brainstorm
    4 [UL] Crop Rotation
    4 [ZEN] Expedition Map
    1 [AQ] Candelabra of Tawnos
    4 [GP] Repeal
    3 [M10] Pithing Needle
    4 [US] Show and Tell

    // Sideboard
    SB: 4 [CMD] Flusterstorm
    SB: 1 [LG] The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
    SB: 3 [MR] Chalice of the Void
    SB: 2 [FUT] Venser, Shaper Savant
    SB: 3 [MBS] Phyrexian Revoker
    SB: 2 [MI] Cursed Totem


    Round 1 vs Christopher Hollisian with RUg
    I love getting paired against RUG. The deck is streamlined to beat it. Lots of Show & Tells, Repeal is annoying to their delvers while cantripping me. Give me Rug all day any day!

    Game 1: My notes are extremely minimal for this game, but a Show & Tell resolved on turn 3 with 4 mana up for a Primeval Titan. Rug can't remove him, and can't deal with gaining (X+2)*2 life every turn. Oh yeah, and Titan kills things.

    Game 2: This one has me going much lower, down to 5 life, which is right where RUG thinks they can JUST barely get there with the bolts and an alpha-strike. Of course this is when I gain a bajillion life and crush their hopes and dreams. This time I didn't resolve a Primeval Titan, it was Ulamog swatting some flyers out of the sky and welcoming the mongeese and lhurgoyfs to wash themselves on his indestructible sexy body.

    Round 2 vs Jon Ashworth with Goblins
    I think it is a rule that if your name implies burning, then you must run red. Due to this highly scientific appraisal I keep a first hand against burn/Goblins/Rug. Pays off too!

    Game 1: Early Glimmerposts on my part gain me upto 22 and is accompanied by a pithing needle on wasteland, but Piledrivers and warchiefs quickly turn that life total downwards. He goes a little redonko with vial and matrons for a super-kill you move, and I repeal his Warchief for a sad 1 damage in lieu of over 40 from multiple piledrivers that just lost haste. Next turn I land Glacial Chasm and we play the dosey-doe of I-hate-you and Do-you-run-Tuk-tuk? The answer was no, and although I went down to 3 life at one point, Primeval titan is such a rejuvenating fellow and I find myself at 17 by the time I take all the turns.

    Game 2: My opponent draws 8 cards in his opening hand and calls a judge on himself. Forced mulligans are boo. He later tells me that the two random cards removed were irrelevant and his hand was still very strong after it. He leads with Skirk Prospector, which is honestly the best goblin. I dislike this. I prefer when Goblins has to play fairly by tapping mountains. One Lackey makes its way into this tango, Repeal resets his dance steps, but two then join his partner and round and round we go. I take a hit and he goes redonko with Ringleaders and Warchiefs. I cast a Primeval titan and go redonko in my own light, going upto 27 life with a glacial chasm in play. No pithing needles on wasteland, but I can block a piledriver and cast emrakul out of my hand should the worst happen. Fortunately he did not rip Wasteland, one of my psychic powers that helps me out significantly later in the event, and I take the match.

    As a further note, I really dislike when opponents do what this opponent did, which is ask you how many cards are in your hand every single time you are performing an action. Ok, one or two times a game is great for clarity purposes, but this type of attempting-mental-confusion is extremely apparent when your deck runs 26 manipulate-effects and you are often performing 2-3 of them per turn, often on both player's turns. It is simply poor sportsmanship and this desperate opponent does it every single opportunity he can. As I'm looking with top every time, every single tutor, every single brainstorm mid-resolution. I don't know if this is worth calling a judge for, but regardless, it is poor tact and I have zero remorse for him when I crush his little red men's teeth into the ground. Let people reliant on mediocre mindscrew learn less-cheap methods and burn until then. He later in the event congratulates me on my Top 8 placement, so he obviously isn't a horrible person, but this type of mental gaming shows either a moral deficiency or an inability to mentally-infiltrate people in an advanced fashion. Regardless, it put a very sour taste in my mouth. Something like Rust. Rust from the blood of dead GOBBOS! nom.

    Round 3 vs David Houghton with BUR
    He flips over a Lightning bolt while shuffling at the start. More Rug! yes! He ends up not being RUG but BUR, Black Blue Red but a tempo mindset just discard and Dark Confidant over Goyfs and geese.

    Game 1: A very slow and slogging game of Delver and Grim Lavamancer. I pull it out with Ulamog after Glacial chasm stabilizes me against 5 damage beats, a Pithing needle on Lavamancer and Kozilek joins the fray. This game takes over 30 minutes. I don't think of it at the time, but this is the first game with my back turned to the clock, and while I mentally acknowledge that the game is taking long, I don't turn and look at the clock with regularity until far too late in the match.

    Game 2: He gains early advantage with Bob, but I manage to plant a Glacial chasm to delay the beatdown. Business as usual, but them my opponent starts taking far more time for his plays than normal. I think nothing of it, but only realize later that I should have called a judge for slow play/stalling because this was exactly my opponent's plan. Ultimately I lose the game at the time that two judges sit down at my match, which implies a very small amount of time left in the round. Bad. Very bad. I ask how much time is left in the round and he says 3 minutes. Great. I look to my opponent and try not to express my two sided undying hatred for him successfully pressuring my time in a poor matchup for him and for me in not noticing slow play and immediately calling a judge on it or scooping game 2 in a possible-to-win gamestate to have ample time for game three where I would give him just desserts. Regardless, we go into Game 3 with 2 minutes on the clock after shuffles.

    Game 3: Played at blinding speed. He is playing for a draw immediately. Playing super aggressive discard and wastelands instead of bobs and board position. My hand is highly resilient, and because I'm having the judge call out the time remaining at 30 second intervals I know that although this hand would win easily with 5 minutes left on the clock, I cannot afford to give the necessary thinking time for those lines of play, and have to then play for the draw as well. I plant pithing needle on wasteland and sit out a Glacial chasm. Absurdly, my opponent is highly upset that his 2/1's aren't going to get there in time now and we Draw.

    A lesson for me, and in all fairness, if it weren't for my opponents winning their last rounds this draw should have knocked me out of Top 8. Rarely do mistakes as grievous as this go without punishment so I consider this a benevolent lesson that I will take to heart for the future. A reiteration of what I already knew, which is that calling judges is not insulting to opponents who are not trying to cheat. Call judges frequently and without inhibition.

    Round 4 vs future Top 4 opponent Jim Davis with Goblins
    I won't lie, my Goblins matchup is hurt since I took out Elephant grass, but Revoker is a possible-in and I always hope for them to be land-light and for tabernacle to crush an over-extension with lackey.

    Game 1: T1 Lackey turns into Turn 2 Lackey and Ringleader, which becomes Glacial chasm stabilize into wasteland's waiting arms. Tragedy.

    Game 2: I name Wasteland and Rishadan Port with two pithing needles which is contrary to advice I gave a teammate piloting the deck where you ALWAYS double-name wasteland. But I pay the price for it, and this is my second major error of the event. This one costs me a game as I make a risky play on turn 3 to go all-in for hardcasting Primeval titan, and with 2 cards in hand he Krosan Grips my Pithing needle and wastes a cloudpost essentially blowing out my blowout upon untap.

    Lessons learned again. Stop being BAD Jer! you're better than this. Ok. OK! I will win out the remaining 4 rounds and get in as a X-1-1. I am set on this. Steeled my resolve and I plow forward. From this round forward I begin partaking in my varied beverages and nutritional supplements with regularity to maintain necessary cognitive functions and resolve to perform this auspicious underdog task.

    Round 5 vs Michael Weiss with Dredge.
    This wirey gentleman ends up being one of my favorite benevolent opponents of the day. Even in defeat he was gracious. After the match we spoke several times and he had sincere hopes for me doing well with the deck. He was by far my nicest and most-sportsman of opponents of the day, which was a nice change from the last three rounds, which were harassing, stalling and stoic.

    Game 1: He starts with Gemstone Mine and I think "no whammies Storm. No whammies no whammies!" He plays Putrid Imp and my heart does a little backflip in glee as I look at a Misty Rainforest on the battlefield and a Crop Rotation in hand. His next turn would be lethal. Very lethal, but I opt to alter his graveyard from 25+ cards to zero cards in response to some very insistent Jellyfish from beyond death. Frown town for him. A putrid imp attempts his 1/1 ground beats plan but is quickly stymied by a Primeval Titan joining the dance floor.

    We get deckchecked randomly mid-round! Never heard of this but sure. We discuss the vicissitudes of just how disturbingly horrible this matchup is for him and about how his hate doesn't work against instant-speed bogs. I gravely agree and hope and pray there are no Leylines of Sanctity in his sideboard. We get our generously-sorted decks back from the judges without error and use all 9 minutes of our extension to rehomogenize and randomize.

    Game 2: I keep a low-hate hand knowing I can afford to keep riskier hands having taken game 1. He has a super saucy hand of LED, Colosseum, careful study, land, dredger. His turn 1 careful study doesn't seem vicious but I bojuka bog him to be safe. His turn 2 shows a LED went redonko off of a breakthrough. Admittedly he barely found dredgers to sustain his breakthrough, but it was enough to Flayer of the hatebound me dead that turn. Oh well! Bog is way less cool when at sorcery speed.

    Game 3: A repeat of game one but with a more tragic ending. He goes for a super-deep cut early on turn 1 with a nutty hand of LED, breakthrough and I slice his yard to ribbons with my Turn 1 crop rotation. He has a City of Brass as his only permanent or graveyard card and quickly scoops when I show & tell a primeval titan in two turns.

    Round 6 vs Lance Morin with RUG

    Game 1: He takes me down with delver & mongoose, then goyf alphastrike. Simply-swarmed. He had a very dude-oriented hand and my deck was being difficult finding mana acceleration or even selection. The only time of the day where deck stubbornness causes me a game.

    Game 2: he whomps me with a delver twice, and then I gain 10 life, which is indicative of the 6/6 Green Titan rocking the insect's socks off. The show & tell didn't resolve, so I just cast him. Works.

    Game 3: I go down to 5, but play the colorless game with oodles and doodles of glimmerposts. I gain 15 life off of glimerposts 4, 5, 6 and then just tutor and ulamog his brains out in one turn. Poor Tarmogoyf just wanted to hug me. All he wants to do is hug.

    Round 7 Douglas McKay with U/R Delver
    I know Doug on sight by not by name, and he definitely wins the award for the SECOND most friendly and amiable opponent I had of the day. He's piloting a crazysauce list with blistercoil Weird, lots of aggressive dudes and no counters that I saw in our two games.

    Game 1: He whomped me with a blistercoil weird and goblin guide, and I tapped out for a Show & Tell I was certain wouldn't resolve on turn 3, and was pleased to see him make his choice. Primeval Titan gaining me 6, 12, 18 life was too much for him to handle and he knew it so we went to game two.

    Game 2: Turn one Goblin guide goes to town and is very rude by not flipping any lands for me when I run 26 post-side. How insolent! I have a turn 4 Show & Tell this time and it resolves again with Primeval Titan to a scoop.

    Doug was a very friendly guy and I always enjoy seeing his deck concoctions. I respect his rogue concepts from one abhorrent deck designer to another. The short round lets me rest for my last huzzah in my final drive for undefeated need in order to have a shot at Top 8. I refill on water, increase my carrot consumption, and maintain my mid-event juju rituals.

    Round 8 Michael Caffrey with Planeswalker Stacks
    Michael and myself have a history of sorts that could be best defined as "terse." We are both players who have performed well in the past and know the other is no pushover. He certainly realizes that I am favored from a deck design in this matchup, but would never let that show in his play. We sat next to each other last round and know each other's decklists quite well. To increase (or decrease) the pressure, my go-to man on pairings Ross Merriam tells me that despite my flailing efforts, the odds are simply not in my favor even if I win, and the Top 8 is pre-decided based off of the draws and tiebreakers and that the result of my match will not alter its outcome. There are several things that I enjoy from playing magic: the competition, the mental threading that is deckbuilding, the socialization, and absolutely and completely blowing the minds of people away who observe how I bend the universe to my will against all odds. Ross is one of those people.

    Game 1: Mike has no pressure for me as I land a pithing needle blindly on Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas. A scoop is incurred after 3 self-inflicted life points via fetches and a force from Mike and my notes don't even state how. I am shamed to admit I recorded sparse little this round. Perhaps Mike will be able to fill in the details. I recall me appropriately tapping a Sensei's Divining Top to brainstorm away, then casting and attempting to use it two turns later like the extreme derp that I am. I resolve myself to not let fatigue influence me, as I can start to feel its ebb on me.

    Game 2: This game was not terribly against my favor, a strix beatdown was quickly joined by a Wurmcoil, and on the pivotal turn where I thought I had one turn to reverse the game into infinite turns, Tezzeret turned a friendly Dimir Signet into a 5/5 for lethal.

    Game 3: His turn 1 Dimir Signet is halted with my turn 2 Phyrexian Revoker naming Dimir Signet. This halts his progression for a necessary 3 turns for me to land a Primeval Titan, which cleans up the game in short order.

    Swiss is over! I mentally fortify myself and come to terms with making 9th place, missing top 8, but getting my list the credit it has deserved for years by making the top 16 standings. 100$ for my effort isn't bad either and covers my costs, so I'm happy with this result and observe some highly competitive pack-wars in my free time.

    Universe bending ensued and I push out Warren Connell's breakers by my opponents being very friendly and winning their last rounds and Connell's losing theirs. I make top 8! huzzah!

    Some of the Top 8 is recorded by Starcity's coverage provider, and those games that are I will simply copy-paste his report as it gives a "blow by blow" as adeptly as I would. I will of course add my thoughts and impressions.

    Top 8: Drew Rosen with Reanimator.

    I really play competitive magic in two modes. The first mode is friendly and open. I express my genuine personality as I normally would to any person on the street or to a friend. My banter is lighthearted and inconsequential. I maintain this mode against 80% of my opponents. I play magic to be social and friendly, while fulfilling my competitive urges without having to indulge in other possible outputs for them such as actual business endeavors or paying work. Prize is a fun goal, and I often play magic with the goal of sustaining my gaming, but I never let myself get so gone that the prize determines my personality. The second mode I apply to the hecklers, the stoics, the attention-mongers, the bullies, the angsty angry ones, and most importantly the money-hoarders. In the second mode I take all my normal personalities traits and ramp them up to 11. I take what normally would be a playful jab and turn it into a barb. Friendly suggestions become carefully lain insults and seeds of self-doubt. A genuine smile becomes a Cheshire Cat grin with canines. The goal becomes not to communicate with an opponent but rather to instill doubt, worry, and fear as deeply as possible while not stepping on any unsportsmanlike conduct lines. I enjoy magic for its many benevolent aspects, but I also play magic because this dark side needs release. I knew Drew Rosen was ripe for its wroth before I even spoke a word to him, with his posing for cameras and overconfident swagger. Further pre-game conversation affirmed that I would not be karmically injured by reducing the peg on this pole several slots and mode 2 was activated.

    As we are looking over each other's lists I begin mode 2 work and offer to tell him the oracle text of any cards he can't read with my horrible penmanship. This is a triple mental attack, since I'm feigning benevolence, insinuating that he doesn't know the oracle of ANY cards in my sideboard, and lastly that he is relying on me on a more fundamental level. He took the bate hook-line-and-sinker and didn't take up my offer. He mis-read Venser, Shaper Savant as Venser, the Sojourner and asked what Venser's "+" ability was, which I happily provided from memory. Hurray building decks from lesser-known cards! He says "I can see how that's good, you bounce Primeval Titan," to which I say "Yeah it is." Mwaaahaha. The mental game has begun.

    Game 1: He keeps a slow and steady hand with Hapless researcher x2 and beats down while I assemble mana in a slow-ish hand. In the mean time I am mentioning that his aggro wizard deck is strong and emphasizing to him that his deck is not working, in less overt words, hoping he will go for riskier plays. I begin pointing to objects with my half-eaten carrot and giving him "advice" that is obviously the best suggestion for his lines of play, which would only make him double-take them. He goes for an Iona a turn earlier than I would hope, and names Blue, with my best spells being Blue. I play a Primeval Titan next turn and the demoralization of his wrong choice hits him and I do my best to knive it in deeper without crossing the line. I mention that even if he had named green, you can't name colorless and I take infinite turns next turn anyway, which I couldn't, but you are allowed to misrepresent the future in magic, just not the present. Karakas and bog clean up any possible outs he might have, and he caves.

    Game 2: The video coverage is moved to our table and he debates for a good 5 minutes about his opening hand, that he now knows is being watched. I needle and emphasize this obvious added stressor and he keeps his highly reckless hand much to my delight. I however keep a similarly reckless hand and should have mulled. One mana source, pithing needle, and top were my gamble on seeing a mana source in 3 turns in the top 7 cards, and none appeared. He plays Lotus Petal, Careful study, discarding reanimate targets and no land. I have the opportunity to blow him out but no mana sources appear in my top 7 and he draws two as his next two cards. Griselbrand, who is needled quickly ends the game with his beats.

    Despite him taking a game, he mentions several times about how this is an important "300 dollar game of magic," so I crank up mode 2 even more so than normal. Oliver Beaumont, A friend standing nearby, mentions in jest that that's why everyone hates playing against me, that every game is a 300 dollar game against Jeremiah Rudolph, to which I hitch onto and emphasize to dispel the gravity of Drew's statement for the purpose of further demoralization.

    Game 3: My notes are weak for this match, and the video coverage will be uploaded in ~3 days time, but what resulted was a very slow standoff between the two of us, with him duressing flusterstorms out of my crop/fluster hand with fatties, and my top doing all the heavy lifting. On the pivotal turn where he goes for a reanimate on Griselbrand, I crop rotate in response, he forces, I flusterstorm his force for 4 copies and an original, tapping him out, then tap top to reveal my 3rd Flusterstorm and give both Force and Reanimate 3 copies for good measure. He scoops when I bog him out and then land a Primeval Titan the next turn for infinite. More Carrots were used as pointing devices. Gummies were offered as comprehensions for how badly he was being beaten even when he wasn't. Grins became sneers and I lavished in mode two's glory.

    Semifinals: Jim Davis with Goblins, the rematch from the swiss.

    Our game 1 lasted over an hour. I am so glad that the Top 8 is not timed unlike other local venues *Cough Die Hard Games Cough.* I must be coming down with something. My apologies. We were playing at perfectly reasonable paces, both having to do extremely complex statistics and math every turn. There was minimal mind-screw involved, but Jim was the "stoic" of my 3 opponents in the swiss in the "harass, stall, stoic" chain, so I feel that he deserved mode two. I could not afford to devote my attentions to entering his mind too much however, since maintaining the stabilized gamestate at low life required all of my deck knowledge and theory. Here is Reuben Bresler's transcript from the extensive two games:

    Jim and Jeremiah played in the Swiss earlier today, and Jim won. Can Jeremiah’s 12Post pull off the upset against Jim’s Goblin horde?

    Game 1

    Jim led off with Cavern of Souls and cast AEther Vial. Jeremiah led off with Glimmerpost and Pithing Needle, naming AEther Vial. Jim followed up on turn two with Rishidan Port and thought about whether to deny Jeremiah of his mana for turn two. He elected instead to cast Skirk Prospector and pass. Jeremiah played Cloudpost and Sensei’s Divining Top on his turn. Jim added a second Rishidan Port to his board and attacked for one, dropping Jeremiah back down to 20 (thanks, Glimmerpost). Another AEther Vial joined his team, and Jim targeted Cloudpost with Port. Jeremiah responded by activating Top and during his main phase he dropped Vesuva, copying Cloudpost, before passing.

    Jim cast Mogg War Marshall and sacrificed a token and a Mogg War Marshall to cast Goblin Warchief. Jim attacked for four and passed. Jeremiah activated Sensei’s Divining Top at end of turn and thought hard before untapping and playing Eye of Ugin for his turn. Jim continued to tick up his Needle’d Vials and thought about his possible lines of play before ultimately deciding to cast Goblin Matron, which found Jim Goblin Piledriver. A Goblin token hit the bin to cast Goblin Piledriver, and Jeremiah took 11. Goblin Matron got sacrificed to Skirk Prospector in order to cast Goblin sharpshooter post combat. Sitting on 5 life and facing four Goblins, Jeremiah used Eye of Ugin to tutor for Kozilek, Butcher of Truths at the end of Jim’s turn.

    Jeremiah untapped and drew and played Glacial Chasm, stymieing Jim’s damage plan for the time being, and then he used Top to sort the top of his library before passing. Jim played Cavern of Souls, not the Wasteland that would have ended the game in short order, so he passed. Jeremiah paid two life to keep Chasm around, and Jim tapped two of Jeremiah’s three Cloudposts. He used that mana to activate Top before drawing, and then he used the Kamigawa uncommon to look even deeper. He played Vesuva and copied Glimmerpost, going all the way up to 7, before passing. Jim simply drew and passed.

    Jeremiah fell back down to 3 to keep Glacial Chasm, and Jim once again tapped a brace of ‘Posts. Jeremiah drew for turn and dug even further, trying to find a way to not only survive but win at his low life total and hampered mana predicament. Another Vesuva copied Glacial Chasm and he activated Top to draw a card, which was an Expedition Map that he then also cast. Jim stared down the From the Vaults: Realms land facing him once more, this time free of time counters, and simply passed.


    Jim is armed with a familiar friend: Goblins!
    Cloudposts were tapped in response to Rishidan Port activations once more, and the mana was used to activate Expedition Map searching for Glimmerpost. Jeremiah paid the Glacial tax and played Glimmerpost, going to 6. He cast a second Top, since the first got shuffled away, and activated to glance at his freshly shuffled library before passing. Jim did some finger tapping to do some math before passing once again. The Ports and Cloudposts did their dance once again, and Glacial Chasm dropped Jeremiah to 2. Jeremiah played Tropical Island and Show and tell, and both players chose their cards.

    This could be the game, folks: Jeremiah put in Primeval Titan and Jim flipped over Siege-Gang Commander.

    Jeremiah drew a card with Top before he searched. He looked over Jim’s board before deciding…

    “That’s a lot of damage.”

    “Uh… yep.”

    “But I can gain a lot of life. The question is can I gain enough?”

    Jeremiah grabbed two Glimmerposts, going to 16, before he passed. Goblin Sharpshooter combed with Gemplam Incinerator (cycled) and Skirk Prospector to take out the Primeval Titan at end of turn. Jim played his first true red source of the game, Arid Mesa, before passing. Jeremiah cast Crop Rotation in response to the Chasm trigger, finding Vesuva to make a new Glacial Chasm before sacrificing the old one. Jim tapped the Cloudposts with Rishidan Port and went to 19 with the fetchland activation to find Taiga. Jeremiah cast another Top on his turn and used it immediately before playing Tropical Island and Brainstorm, then Topping again. Jeremiah ended his turn by casting Expedition Map. Jim, sitting on an army waiting for action, sacrificed Goblin Warchief and tapped a Cavern of Souls to cast Tin Street Hooligan, which killed the Expedition Map.

    “Hey, I wanted that!”

    You all know the drill by now: pay for Chasm, tap your Cloudposts. What is new is that Jeremiah hardcast Primeval Titan and found two Cloudposts. Jim, who had yet to find Wasteland number one this game, found yet another Cavern of Souls instead. Goblin Ringleader turned over three goblins for Jim, as Goblin Matron, Goblin Piledriver, and Mogg War Marshall made their ways into Jim’s hand. War Marshall entered the battlefield, and after some Goblin Sharpshooter-Skirk Prospector-Goblin Matron into Goblin Incinerator trickery, the Titan hit the bricks. Goblin Piledriver also came into play.


    Jeremiah Rudolph has been utilizing the power of Beta-Carotene to fuel his charge through the top 8!
    Jeremiah had access to all of his lands now, so he’d better make them count. Kozilek, Butcher of Truth entered play and Opportunity knocked. Candelabra of Tawnos allowed Jeremiah to Turnabout his lands with many much mana floating, and he cast Repeal targeting Kozilek. The big bad Butcher reentered play and Jeremiah had himself a Tidings once more. Expedition Map searched Jeremiah’s library for Karakas, and Jeremiah Brainstormed. Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre came down, and it killed Kozilek! The Eldrazi legend shuffled Jeremiah’s graveyard back in and Pithing Needle named Wasteland, shutting off the last of Jim’s outs. Jeremiah cast Repeal on Candelabra of Tawnos with seven mana floating (at 10 life) and untapped all but two Glimmerposts. He cast Top and activated it, then tapped it to take the top card. He cast ‘Trop’ Rotation, sacrificing the dual to find Eye of Ugin. Eye found Emrakul, the Aeons Torn and Jeremiah had enough mana left over to cast the 15 mana legend. Karakas returned Ulamog, and Ulamog returned to play to take out Goblin Sharpshooter. Jeremiah moved to his next turn, thanks to the flying spaghetti monster and its fellow Cthulhu, and Jim decided he’d seen enough.

    Jeremiah 1, Jim 0.

    Tl;dr: Glacial Chasm.

    Game 2

    Jim had the play, but had to start on five cards. Jeremiah meanwhile kept.

    Jim led with Scalding Tarn into Taiga for Goblin Lackey. Jeremiah fetched a Tropical Island and passed. Jim dropped Gempalm Incinerator off the Goblin Lackey trigger (slim pickings, apparently) and also added AEther Vial. Jeremiah played Glimmerpost and Repealed Goblin Lackey on Jim’s attack step, and afterwards Jeremiah fell to 17. Jeremiah cast Crop Rotation, searching out Cloudpost to replace his Tropical Island. He also played Vesuva, copying said Cloudpost, before ending his turn.

    Jim attacked for 3, dropping Jeremiah to 14, and Goblin Ringleader came onto the battlefield. But the Apocalypse uncommon found zero Goblins, and Jim passed. Jeremiah cast Kozilek, Butcher of Truth, and he drew The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale off the trigger. Stuck on one land, Jim scooped up his cards.

    Jeremiah 2, Jim 0.
    A brutal game one really took it out of me, and I could also feel the fatigue from my paltry 5 hours catching up to me. My finals opponent Elliot Wolchesky is renowned for having disgustingly good hands randomly with RUG and today was no exception. I knew I would need every bit of my cognition and luck to take him down. This being known, I offer an equal split of the total $3600 with him. He debates with me over it, knowing that my deck is favored against RUG, but he knows his own luck is strong. Ultimately he agrees and we play it out for "the Trophy, the points, and the Ladies," as our head judge stated.

    Here is again Reuben Bresler's report of the finals aptly summarized in its glory.
    Elliot made the top 4 this morning with Jund, and he’s continued his heater here in the finals with RUG Delver. But Jeremiah’s 12Post is the talk of the tournament. Will he be able to score a victory for rogue decks everywhere by defeating the RUG menace?

    Game 1

    Elliot led with Misty Rainforest, which found Volcanic Island and cast Delver of Secrets. Misty Rainforest was also Jeremiah’s first land, and it found Tropical Island to cast Sensei’s Divining Top. Delver did not flip, and the Human Wizard dropped Jeremiah to 18. Brainstorm second main from Elliot allowed him the option of shuffling away the chaff with Scalding Tarn, which he did. Tropical Island cast another Delver of Secrets, and Elliot passed. Jeremiah cast Brainstorm on his turn as well then he played Vesuva and copied his own Trop.

    Both Delvers flipped into Insectile Aberrations on Jeremiah’s turn, and the pair of Wasp Lancers put Jeremiah to 12. Jeremiah played Glimmerpost and passed, while Elliot continued the beats. Repeal attempted to return an Insect to its owner’s hand, but Force of Will countered it. Repeal number two also got countered, this time by Spell Pierce. Jeremiah dropped to 7, and he activated Top at end of turn.

    Jeremiah attempted Show and Tell on his turn, but Elliot cast Force of Will. Elliot had the Lightning Bolt to finish off Jeremiah, and they moved on to game 2.

    Elliot 1, Jeremiah 0.

    Nearby, a player exclaimed that he made a bad misclick by mistakenly scooping his ‘Type 5’ game to Ashnod’s Coupon while in Rhode Island. Go on, I’ll give you a minute to read it.

    Game 2

    Jeremiah led with FNM promo Cloudpost, and Elliot led with Volcanic Island. Vesuva copied Cloudpost for Jeremiah, while Elliot cast Brainstorm and Wastelanded the Cloudpost. Jeremiah played Misty Rainforest (grabbing Tropical Island) and cast Expedition Map and Sensei’s Divining Top. Elliot went to his discard step and discarded Ancient Grudge. Jeremiah Topped in his upkeep and added Cloudpost number two and passed. Elliot now used the Ponder he had in hand since last turn and dug to find a land, which he found in the form of Misty Rainforest.

    Jeremiah cast Show and Tell, but Elliot searched for Volcanic Island to Red Elemental Blast the Urza’s Saga sorcery. Expedition Map grabbed Cloudpost while Stifle couldn’t stop it, and Jeremiah passed. Brainstorm dug for more land, which presented in the form of Tropical Island. Delver of Secrets also entered the battlefield for Elliot. Show and Tell number two for Jeremiah resolved, and both Tarmogoyf and Emrakul, the Aeons Torn came into play. Elliot had no answer to the ‘protection from colored spells’ monster, and the players moved to the final game of the tournament.

    Elliot 1, Jeremiah 1.

    Elliot led with Tropical Island. Jeremiah led with Sensei’s Divining Top off of Island. Delver of Secrets came down with a Volcanic Island for Elliot, while Jeremiah played Misty Rainforest on his turn two. Delver failed to flip once again, and Delver dealt first blood to Jeremiah. Elliot added Scalding Tarn and passed. Jeremiah activated Top and then untapped and cast Expedition Map, which resolved. Vesuva copied Tropical Island, and Elliot passed.

    Delver finally flipped to a revealed Spell Pierce. The 3/2 dropped Jeremiah to 16, then cast Brainstorm with a fetchland already in play ready and waiting to make the all-too-common common a budget Ancestral Recall. Wasteland took out Tropical Island, and Elliot passed. Jeremiah played Bojuka Bog, exiling Elliot’s graveyard, and he passed right back. At end of turn, Elliot grabbed a second Tropical Island to join the Volc, and Insectile Aberration kept on munching on Jeremiah’s life total. Ponder post combat from Elliot further filled his hand with persmission, and Misty Rainforest was also added to Elliot’s board. At end of turn, Jeremiah attempted to Repeal the zero-cost flipped Delver, but Daze made Jeremiah pay for it. He chose not to walk into Stifle, and instead let Daze counter his spell.

    Chalice of the Void from Jeremiah was Spell Pierced, and so all Jeremiah could do was play Vesuva as Tropical Island. Onward Delver marched, now taking Jeremiah to 10, and afterwards Nimble Mongoose joined the fray. Jeremiah activated his fetchland at end of turn, which resolved and found Tropical Island, and activated Sensei’s Divining Top. When he untapped, he cast Chalice of the Void for one. The Mirrodin artifact threatened to counter most of Elliot’s future spells, but it came into play anyway. Jeremiah then attempted Show and Tell, but Force of Will removing the now useless Stifle took care of those shenanigans.

    Elliot took his turn and dropped Jeremiah to 5 with five lands in play and one in hand. The Post player used the end of turn step to search out Vesuva with Expedition Map. On his turn, Jeremiah copied Bojuka Bog with Vesuva to keep Mongoose at a manageable level, but Elliot still had four power in play and Jeremiah fell to 1. Jeremiah attempted Primeval Titan, but Elliot searched out the last land he needed to hardcast Force of Will and that’s the match.

    Elliot Wolchesky wins the Providence Legacy Open, 2 games to 1!
    I tried some unusual sideboarding with Chalice, and while I could not have preferred any of my sideboard cards I sided out in their place and they did eat counterspells, the Chalices were not "strong." I have often stated against doing exactly that, but because the finals was so comfortable and stress free for me, I didn't mind doing something unorthodox. Oddly enough the finals were the most relaxed match of the entire day. 1800$ is my largest prize take ever, and Elliot and I play every Tuesday at Ice Imports in South Windsor, CT. We both know each other on a competitive level well, and I pride myself on being one of the few people that can break Elliot's veil of rigidity that is erroneously seen as apathy and rather is a defense against mode 2. No need for mode 2 here though, I had a fun and friendly game of magic, where both of us won in the end.

    The deck did exactly what I need it to do today, with very rare hiccups and never ones that caused me matches, only one game. I hope that with my strong placing that people will view and pick up this archetype in a more serious light. With proper training and knowledge, the deck is disgustingly powerful and can be adapted for most metas to maintain that potency.

    ::EDIT:: Added in Venser story about Drew. Had completely forgotten
    Last edited by Rock Lee; 10-15-2012 at 07:25 PM.

  2. #2
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    Re: Split the Finals with TurboEldrazi @ SCG Providence Open Oct 14

    Very nice report!

    Looking forward to seeing more results in the future from this deck

    EDIT: I would ask if you were the Turbo Eldrazi player at the Super IQ at Conneticon? I know I was one of the 2 Affinity players who made Top 8
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  3. #3
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    Re: Split the Finals with TurboEldrazi @ SCG Providence Open Oct 14

    As a further note, I really dislike when opponents do what this opponent did, which is ask you how many cards are in your hand every single time you are performing an action.
    I quess its like bad habit when you are nervous. I think I may do that too often when im thinking what my opponent may have but because I have bad memory I forget and ask again. I dont probably do it as often as your opponent you described but anyway..


    Grats on your top2 finish!
    Last edited by dsck; 10-15-2012 at 06:19 PM.

  4. #4
    The Enchanter
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    Re: Split the Finals with TurboEldrazi @ SCG Providence Open Oct 14

    Quote Originally Posted by Rock Lee View Post
    Green Tea with Honey and Ginseng
    ^This^

    My elixir of choice as well. Arizona brand. Best value ever.

  5. #5

    Re: Split the Finals with TurboEldrazi @ SCG Providence Open Oct 14

    Quote Originally Posted by dsck View Post
    I quess its like bad habit when you are nervous. I think I may do that too often when im thinking what my opponent may have but because I have bad memory I forget and ask again. I dont probably do it as often as your opponent you described but anyway..


    Grats on your top2 finish!
    I find this same situation pretty annoying as well. If my opponent asks me how many cards are in my hand too many times I'm under the assumption that very basic math and vision are outside their capability. You draw one card a turn, the hand size doesn't really change that much, and if it changes a lot, it's generally towards 0 where individual cards become increasingly easy to see.

  6. #6
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    Re: Split the Finals with TurboEldrazi @ SCG Providence Open Oct 14

    ::EDIT:: Added in Venser story about Drew. Had completely forgotten

  7. #7
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    Re: Split the Finals with TurboEldrazi @ SCG Providence Open Oct 14

    Hey Rock nice job.

    I enjoyed watching your matches on the stream. Did you know the commentators were all over your carrot antics?

  8. #8
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    Re: Split the Finals with TurboEldrazi @ SCG Providence Open Oct 14

    Quote Originally Posted by Freggle View Post
    Hey Rock nice job.

    I enjoyed watching your matches on the stream. Did you know the commentators were all over your carrot antics?
    I did not know the commentators were on it as well! I look forward to seeing the videos after they are uploaded. I did have the head judge telling me that I was being dubbed the "Carrot guy," but that was it.

  9. #9
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    Re: Split the Finals with TurboEldrazi @ SCG Providence Open Oct 14

    Super sad because I know Warren personally, but regardless great job on the finish! One day I will own candlesticks...
    Delver enthusiast and avid practitioner of blind flipsmanship.

    Follow me on Twitter: @AllSunsDawn

  10. #10

    Re: Split the Finals with TurboEldrazi @ SCG Providence Open Oct 14

    congrats
    prepare to see mirrors now

  11. #11
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    Re: Split the Finals with TurboEldrazi @ SCG Providence Open Oct 14

    Quote Originally Posted by theillest View Post
    congrats
    prepare to see mirrors now

    Mirrors in this deck are an absolute nightmare. By far the most horrifying mirror of any deck I have ever played. I have tested it extensively, but that doesn't mean I welcome it.

  12. #12

    Re: Split the Finals with TurboEldrazi @ SCG Providence Open Oct 14

    As said before, congrats on the win...
    I know of few of my friends did a double-take when they heard a cloudpost deck was in the top 8....

    One comment I've seen is that the deck seems weak to tempo based decks and was wondering your thoughts on that assertion

  13. #13
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    Re: Split the Finals with TurboEldrazi @ SCG Providence Open Oct 14

    I agree Die Hard Games not having unlimited Top 8 can be a pain, but also, before GP Providence last year when we had the Source DHG Tournament, Lands was battling Merfolk until 2am when it was called. They had to split Top 4 since no one else wanted to continue :P

    Nice job on the finish!

    -Matt

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    Re: Split the Finals with TurboEldrazi @ SCG Providence Open Oct 14

    Quote Originally Posted by kavaki View Post
    One comment I've seen is that the deck seems weak to tempo based decks and was wondering your thoughts on that assertion
    Repeal and Show and Tell perform fine against Tempo. For this event I cut my Elephant Grass in the sideboard and was missing them all day, having to play stronger against Rug & Goblins, which I played nearly all day long, than I normal have to. They certainly are going back in the deck, but obviously the tempo match up is perfectly winnable without them.

  15. #15

    Re: Split the Finals with TurboEldrazi @ SCG Providence Open Oct 14

    Our match was super uneventful:

    Game 1:
    Tezz gets needled, I draw some cards with Visions, you resolve Kozilek and I scoop.

    Game 2:
    Wurmcoil, Tezz, you have nothing.

    Game 3:
    I duress on turn 2, see 5 lands crop rotation. Play a turn 3 strix to match your Revoker, then a turn 4 Jace. Jace fateseals, bottoms Repeal, and you draw an Ulamog to take the game.

    I only have Karn to really interact, so it's miserable.
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  16. #16
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    Re: Split the Finals with TurboEldrazi @ SCG Providence Open Oct 14

    Good read and props for piloting a fairly original deck.

    I didn't understand the whole Venser story though. Did you have a Venser in play and lie about what card it was? Were your cards foreign or something? Don't quite get what happened but it isn't important I suppose.

    Also are you running 1 candelabra due to budget concerns or is that really the best number for the deck?

  17. #17
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    Re: Split the Finals with TurboEldrazi @ SCG Providence Open Oct 14

    Quote Originally Posted by godofallu View Post
    Good read and props for piloting a fairly original deck.

    I didn't understand the whole Venser story though. Did you have a Venser in play and lie about what card it was? Were your cards foreign or something? Don't quite get what happened but it isn't important I suppose.

    Also are you running 1 candelabra due to budget concerns or is that really the best number for the deck?
    He was looking at my List at the start of the game and due to my poor penmanship and my willingness to tell him what any card he had a question for, he read "Venser, Shaper Savant" as "Venser, Sojourner" and asked me what Venser's + ability was, which I supplied despite it not being in my deck. Thus I answered his question without lying.

    I have a playset of Candelabras, 1 is the right number for the meta at the moment, although this number is questioned every time the meta makes even a slight shift. If Turbo Eldrazi mirrors start becoming relevant, this number will rise.

  18. #18
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    Re: Split the Finals with TurboEldrazi @ SCG Providence Open Oct 14

    I've been following this deck for a long time. Glad to see Turbo Eldrazi taking center stage. The deck really is incredible. Against a lot of decks you barely have to carrot all.

    Congrats Rock!!

    You let your secret slip tho. If I ever have the pleasure of playing against you, I will counter-point to your shit with celery sticks. But don't worry, I'll bring dip.
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