TinFins is a reanimator/storm hybrid deck. Thread is here, SCG deck tech is here. I had some really cool interactions and fun stories from the event, so if you're looking for a way-too-detailed tournament report, you've come to the right place!
I've been playing combo pretty much exclusively for the past couple years, but this is the first time I felt like I really had the deck for the tournament. The list I played:
// Fast mana - 10
4 Lotus Petal
2 Chrome Mox
4 Dark Ritual
// Combo Pieces - 15
4 Entomb
2 Reanimate
4 Shallow Grave
3 Goryo's Vengeance
1 Intuition
1 Tendrils of Agony
// Creatures - 7
2 Children of Korlis
4 Griselbrand
1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
// Other Spells - 14
4 Thoughtseize
3 Cabal Therapy
4 Brainstorm
4 Ponder
// Lands - 14
4 Polluted Delta
4 U Fetches
1 B Fetch
3 Underground Sea
1 Island
1 Swamp
// Sideboard
4 Show and Tell
2 Cabal Ritual
1 Lim-Dul's Vault
2 Chain of Vapor
1 Echoing Truth
3 Pithing Needle
2 Extirpate
For a general overview of the deck, watch the SCG deck tech. Some points I forgot to mention:
- The Reanimates are mostly as additional copies of Shallow Grave for reanimating Children of Korlis while comboing, but they also help the consistency and speed of reanimating Griselbrand
- The Intuition is a 5th Entomb that can also tutor for "outs" (Shallow Grave, Vengeance). I didn't cast it many times, but when I did cast it, I needed it.
- Yes, the deck is a 61-card combo maindeck. Couldn't figure out what to cut, so didn't.
We got there bright and early at 0900, after making a brief stop so I could buy a cute quadruplet of Monsters. After the usual struggle to help people find cards, I was ready to battle!
Round 1 - Nick Robie UG Cloudposts
The table had an Atlanta local at every match for like 3 tables in either direction. I had played against Nick, another Atlanta local, playing Goblins before, but he showed me Cloudposts when he was shuffling.
Game 1 - I opened with a couple lands, Entomb, Thoughtseize, fast mana, and a Vengeance. Thoughtseized him turn 1, taking his Crop Rotation in a hand of lands, Expedition Map, and Top. Next turn I gained a mere 22 life and killed him with Tendrils. After the game, he commented he drew Bojuka Bog for turn - daggers!
Game 2 - I boarded in 2 Needles and 2 Chains for 2 Griselbrand, 1 Reanimate, 1 Chrome Mox. That's my standard package for game 2. He opened on Leyline of Sanctity, then played Cloudpost, Cloudpost, Cloudpost, Eye of Ugin while I'm struggling to find mana - I had 2 Petals but only an Island in play. I'm forced to go for it with no hand info because he can find a monster and kill me next turn. He had the Surgical.
Game 3 - I boarded out a Chain for a Needle. This game was awesome! He again started with Leyline of Sanctity in play and played land-go for 3 turns while I was waiting for my hand to line up. As I write this, I just realized that I couldn't Thoughtseize him...both of us forgot about Leyline. That's real awkward...I guess I'll just describe what actually happened. I Dark Ritual into Thoughtseize, he responded with Surgical on Dark Ritual. I spoted a hand of Glacial Chasm, Karakas, Cloudpost, Eye of Ugin - not good! So I decided to just go for it this turn, not sure how I win otherwise. Entomb into Shallow Grave, draw 21, play a couple of Lotus Petals and play Children, draw 21 more cards, play some Chrome Moxen and some more Petals, Reanimate a Children. At this point I realized the only way to net mana is to crack Lotus Petals then Cabal Therapy myself naming Emrakul. So I rebought my library a few times and finally get enough mana to Chain his Leyline then Tendrils him. I ended the game at 84 life having drawn 64 cards that turn.
1-0 (2-1)
Round 2 - Ricky Layman with BUG Infect
He mentioned before the round that he beat reanimator last round and was kind enough to show me Bayou and Sylvan Library while shuffling, so I assumed BUG or Junk. I commented on how there was a lot of reanimator at the tournament, heh.
Game 1 -He opened on Catacombs, ship, and then I killed him, making sure to Thoughtseize him, seeing some Plague Stingers and pump spells. Children of Korlis is real good.
Game 2 - He played a Trop and a Top, I played a Thoughtseize and laughed at his hand. Took his only blue card in a hand of shitty 2-mana infecters and Invigorate. He played a Plague Stinger, then I made a Griselbrand and killed him.
2-0 (4-1)
Round 3 - Jeff King with Elves
My opponents clearly had no idea how to shuffle. He showed me a Llanowar Elf and Forests as he shuffled, obvious Elves.
Game 1 - He led on a Deathrite, I made a Griselbrand with Reanimate. From experience it's best to just pass - it makes Children a lot better. He did nothing relevant and then I swung and killed him with Tendrils.
Game 2 - He again led on mana elf and I Thoughtseized him my turn 1. Good thing! He had a strong chance to win the next turn with Glimpse, Nettle Sentinal, Birchlore Rangers, and Quirion Ranger. Obviously took Glimpse. He dumped his hand and I did a bit of nothing looking for reanimates, during which he put me to 15 and drew a Deathrite into Deathrite. I finally drew the "out" - Shallow Grave - the turn after the first Deathrite came into play and had a sweet sequence of plays. So he had Quirion Ranger, active mana elf, Birchlore Ranger, Wirewood Symbiote, and one active Deathrite. I Dark Rit, Therapy myself naming Emrakul (showing Entomb, Children, Shallow Grave), and only then realized that he can untap Deathrite with Quirion Ranger. Oh well, all in. I cast Shallow Grave. He had more than 6 permanents on board and was more than 15, so I don't think it was actually that scary for him, but he decided to exile Emrakul in response. I rfg'd Emrakul and immediately cast Entomb and said, "resolve Shallow Grave?" He said "ok." GOT THERE! I think he may have been trying to get me, though. I drew 14 cards putting me to 8, tanked for a bit, and commented that he can shock me with Deathrite and Birchlore. So, I just played Children and drew 14 more. I didn't have the Tendrils, so I needed to make Children again. I Dark Rit twice, cast Pithing Needle. In response, he untapped Deathrite, bounced a Forest, and made a mana to exile Children. I responded with Shallow Grave. He responded by bouncing a tapped elf, untapping Deathrite, and trying again, and I responded with another Shallow Grave. Having your Reanimates be instants is pretty fun sometimes.
3-0 (6-1)
Round 4 - Kevin Wallace with Maverick
Had a fun story this round. I've been playing on my judge playmat with the promo Balance art and my opponent mentions he's a judge too. So we comment there's no other matches around us (all featured-matched) and another judge, Jeff Foster, who's working the event comes up and starts chatting. Kevin jokes that obviously they're deck checking the judge mirror, and I joke that it's great midirection to chat up the table you're swooping instead of studiously avoiding them. Of course, we're both right and we get deck checked. When Jeff got back, he told Kevin that there was a problem with his deck and that he needed to talk with him away from the table, so they got up and walked away. They came back both grinning, and it turns out Jeff was just daggering Kevin - he only told him to replace his sleeves next round!
He said that he borrowed the deck and was my first opponent to know how to shuffle, so I had no idea what he was on.
Game 1 - He tells me he's 4 colors, and then fetched a Savannah. I asked if he was sure about that... Well, guess it's some sort of Maverick deck. I did some cantripping and he dropped a Pridemage. I Thoughtseized him, took a Swords to Plowshares leaving him Jitte, Wasteland, and Scuba Ranger. He dropped a Knight and 3s me, I Entomb and went off next turn. Got there from 13 life, easy game.
Game 2 - This game was pretty frustrating. I boarded in the standard package thinking he would have some Oozes and Karakases, maybe Leyline. He got an early start with Ooze off Noble Hierarch, so I couldn't go off turn 2. Turn 3 he dropped a Canonist, but I had drawn a Chain of Vapor. I bounced the Canonist and went to my turn with a Dark Rit, Entomb, 2 Vengeance, and 2 lands and a Petal in play to his one green-producing land up, 2 cards in hand. Dark Rit, Entomb, Vengeance, Ooze targets Griselbrand, Vengeance in response...and he slammed Faerie Macabre! I just looked up to the ceiling and yelled "STILL HAD ALL DEEZ!"
Game 3 - I boarded in Show and Tells because I thought it would be easier to Show and Tell against all the grave hate and Canonist. In retrospect this is a bit questionable. I kept a one-lander with cantrips, he wasted it and dropped Canonist, and that was pretty much the game.
Kevin was a great guy though. He complimented the deck and introduced me to Glenn Jones to help me get a deck tech. I never saw what his 2 splash colors were. I think he might have been playing blue for Geist of Saint Traft and black for Deathrite, but I saw neither.
3-1 (7-3)
Round 5 - Kevin Wallner with Agent BUG
I was absolutely electrified when I found out I'd be in my first camera feature match! It was an awesome experience, especially with Zakman86 as the spotter! We all were joking around a lot. When I went back and listened to the commentary, I realized why I won so easily - he had a ludicrously bad matchup against me - just completely unprepared.
You can see the coverage here. Some comments:
Game 1 - My keep and Ponder were a little slow, but it seemed pretty likely to work. The Ponder was difficult because I needed to sequence what I drew out of Entomb, Shallow Grave, and Lotus Petal and the next two turns. The Hymn was scary if it hit Entomb, but that was the only thing I cared about. I misplayed a little by not responding to the Baleful Strix trigger in case he draws Force.
You could see Zak was absolutely cracking up after that game, but trying to hold it in.
Game 2 - I agree there were some questionable boarding and play on Kevin's part. The Ponder keep was kinda loose, I wasn't expecting Wasteland, honestly. The Agent lists usually have 0-2, but I thought I needed interaction for Force. If he has only 2 Forces, Forcing the Petal is incredibly aggressive considering he has no more lands in hand. I led on Petal because I wanted Chrome Mox to be on black, no consideration for it getting Forced. The commentators didn't mention the real reason for not playing Chrome Mox that turn - I decided I didn't want to Brainstorm that turn because I knew the card on top from Ponder. Just a safer play.
4-1 (9-3)
Round 6 - Jeff Sirkis with 4c Cascade
He wasn't quite playing the Waterfalls deck in New and Dev - apparently no Forces in the 75. Nice guy.
Game 1 - I Reanimated Griselbrand turn 1 and he just scooped to preserve information.
Game 2 - I boarded in the standard package. My keep was only ok, and his turn 1 thoughtseize stripped my Brainstorm in a hand with some mana, a Griselbrand, and a Reanimate. I drew and played a Needle on the Deathrite he had played, but he was able to Abrupt Decay it before I could find the pieces for my combo and I lost to Deathrites, Bloodbraid, and Goyf.
Game 3 - I Pondered on turn 1, he dropped a Deathrite, and then I had to decide to go for it turn 2 by Therapying myself. Figured it didn't get better. So, Goryo's Vengeanced, drew 21...and completely bricked. I've never bricked that hard - drew essentially all of my lands and discard spells, not a single Dark Ritual or Lotus Petal, not even a Chrome Mox. I was pretty frustrated, but compounded that by misplaying. Decided not to Brainstorm because I'd have to draw Dark Ritual and an IMS or a Petal (possibly wrong...), instead dropped Pithing Needle on Deathrite. It all fell apart during cleanup though. I kept Shallow Grave x3, Reanimate (even though I was at 6), land, Thoughtseize, and something else...discarding some stuff and an Emrakul. Yeah. I put a pile of cards on the table and asked if my opponent would want to look through them, then as I was riffling through them noticed the Emrakul. I asked if I could take it back and he obviously declined. He was able to Thoughtseize me, Decay the Needle, and won from there.
I was pretty upset at myself because I probably couldn't top 8 and got egregiously unlucky and then punted.
4-2 (10-5)
Round 7 - James Miller with Goblins
We comisserated before the round about punts. He had lost because of a missed trigger (a Piledriver as he later revealed), and I had lost because I had messed up discarding 18 cards. Fortunately Goblins is generally a good matchup unless they draw both aggresion and hate.
Game 1 -He dropped a land and passed, I Brainstormed, he dropped a Piledriver, and I hardcast Griselbrand. Heh. 3 Petals, 2 lands, 2 Dark Rits, drew 14, then Emrakul'd him.
Game 2 -I boarded in the typical package. Show and Tell is really dangeraous against a deck with REBs and usually some S&T hate. He mulliganed to 5, but my hand didn't develop well. Had some disruption and a Shallow Grave, but no in. I drew and passed for a couple turns, and his first play was a Chieftain that nugged me. I untapped and Thoughtseized - taking a Krenko and leaving him all lands - good thing I Thoughtseized! He played a Piledriver a couple of turns later, and I bounced the Chieftain in response to save some damage. I finally drew an Entomb and went for it with one card unknown in his hand. Fortunately it was a land and I killed him easily.
5-2 (12-5)
Round 8 - Miles Burgin with Lands
I had seen one solitary Lands player doing well over the course of the tournament, and here he is. I only remembered that until after his first turn though. It seems like a marginal matchup.
Game 1 - I keep a pretty decent hand with some fast mana, a land, and Brainstorm. Brainstorm into Entomb and stuff. He played Mox Diamond and CipT land, and I Entombed in my upkeep. Unfortunately, I drew bricks for 3 or 4 turns in a row when I would have been happy with a Brainstorm, Ponder, Shallow Grave, Goryo's Vengeance, or Reanimate. He used that time to Intuition for Ghost Quarter, Wasteland, and Loam, then Intuitioned for Exploration, and was able to blow up all my lands. I was then banking on finding any reanimation spell because I had only 2 Petals. He found Tar Pit, Glacial Chasm, Maze of Ith, and Karakas and killed me slowly - after discarding Griselbrand x2, Thoughtseize x2 for hand size with more copies in hand over the course of the game.
Game 2 - I boarded into the Show and Tell plan. He wasted me which kept me off S&T until I drew a mana source - only had 1 land and petal in hand. I ripped a Petal a couple turns later after he Intuitioned for Loam, Ruins, 3Ball, then killed him. I Extirpated something to scout his deck before killing him, but didn't do a good job absorbing his deck. I thought he only had 1 Chalice (he had 2), and said to him, "No Bojuka Bog? I must have missed it..." He of course didn't respond until after the match that Reanimator and Dredge are good enough matchups it's usually not needed.
Game 3 -I should have boarded back into Reanimator because he's so good at mana denial but has no turn 1 interaction. Instead, I Thoughtseized him turn 1, saw 2 Chalices and Exploration, and pretty much lost on the spot when he made a Chalice on 1 then Wasted me.
So I think I lost this match to poor sideboarding and not really groking how disgustingly good Lands is at mana denial. I "knew" it, but not really - hadn't ever played against it. I was also starting to feel extremely fatigued despite downing yet another energy drink.
5-3 (13-7)
Round 9 - Devin Koepke with TNT/ANT
I was really dragging this round. Fortunately, Reanimator is traditionally favored against ANT and I got some good hands.
Game 1 -He opened on Volcanic into Preordain, so I put him on Show and Tell. I Thoughtseized him, taking LED leaving Infernal Tutor, Rit, and lands, then Chrome Moxed and cracked Petal to Entomb and Reanimate. He scooped on the spot.
Game 2 -I boarded in Extirpates and that's about it. He Thoughtseized me taking a Brainstorm, leaving me a Shallow Grave and Dark Rit. I rip Entomb and kill him. My hand was pretty bad, but sometimes you rip like a champ.
6-3 (15-7)
Overall, I had some awesome stories and got my feature match, but I was disappointed that I pretty much played my way out of the top 8. I feel like my matchups in the top tables were very positive and people really were unprepared both in how to play against the deck and also in actual hate. Deathrite is just not good enough most of the time.
As far as the list goes, I'm still not sure what to cut to bring the maindeck down to 61. I feel like it performed very, very well. The sideboard still needs some work. I lost 2 out of 3 games I boarded in Show and Tell, so I'm not sure if that plan is even correct. It has been worthwhile to have some sort of transformation plan against Chalice and very hateful decks in the past though. The Cabal Rituals are pretty bad overall - never used one in the tournament even though I drew them. Some number of Massacres might take their place. Of course, the Extirpates are flex slots, but I think the traditional Reanimator matchup is pretty bad and that effect can be handy in other matchups. Needle and Chain are all-stars. Overall I'm happy with the list.
Props:
- nedleeds for always letting me borrow sweet cards, especially the two German Children of Korlis I played.
- .dk and RichardCheese for making an awesome deck
- alphastryk for hauling my bum ass around Atlanta
- Kevin for being awesome and hooking me up with a feature match / deck tech
- Casey Hogan and the other judges for running a damn good event
- Caffeine
Slops:
- Tony Chu mising his 3rd Legacy open
- "STILL HAD ALL DEEZ"
- Chalice of the Void
- Caffeine
Languages and dates for every set. For all you true pimps.
That match was so dirty on camera. LOL
Level 2 DCI Judge
EDH Degenerate Extraordinaire
Some of the best PR this deck has gotten so far. Congrats, Greg.
A few bad beats, but that's how it goes. Faerie Macabre, really?
One top 8 and Shallow Grave goes through the roof. It is reserve list after all.
Tusk up.
Originally Posted by Finn
Sweet report, and sweet tournament! Glad to see Tin Fins get some press. :)
Find me on Twitter: @beanaman
So many reserved list cards are so close to just going through the roof. Dream Halls is still the one that fucking astounds me ... that you can still buy them for $3-5.00. Land Equilibrium, Replenish, Paradigm Shift are my other pet cards that are one interaction away from being absurd.
Some reserved list cards however ... are doomed to lay forever in the shit rare bin
Fuck you Greg! BADGER BADGER BADGER BADGER!
because of u there are no more Children of Korlis in the SCG store!!!
slop :'(
Tony - :P you know I'm just jealous.
Languages and dates for every set. For all you true pimps.
Way to go man, nice money finish!
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