Jacob Kory ‏@MTGKoby 3 Jun
Not too many people listened, and now Top 16 from #scgbalt is littered with derpy S&T decks. Play REB, play Flusterstorm. #ffs #MTGLegacy

Yep, pretty much sums it up.

This weekend was the first Die Hard Games Buncha Duals tournament in a while. I love these tournaments. They always get a reasonable turnout, the prize support is sweet, and SCG has been shorting New England on legacy action for some time now. We usually get one or two opens a year, but we haven't had one since just after RTR came out, the classic series is standard only, and the last nearby open in Jersey a few weeks ago had team sealed on day 2. Which is fun and all (GP Providence this weekend is going to be awesome), but I haven't played a real legacy tournament since GP Denver back in January. I've been jamming various large monster decks pretty much since Jin-Gitaxias was printed, with some break time to play BUG control at the beginning of Deathrite Shaman's term in the format. My 75 hasn't changed much since back in December, just a couple of sideboard slots, the main deck has been pretty much intact.

3 Griselbrand
2 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn

4 Omniscience

4 Burning Wish
3 Show and Tell
4 Ponder
4 Preordain
3 Gitaxian Probe
3 Cabal Therapy

4 Force of Will
3 Spell Pierce
4 Brainstorm

3 Island
2 Volcanic Island
2 Underground Sea
4 Polluted Delta
4 Misty Rainforest
3 Ancient Tomb
1 City of Traitors

4 Leyline of Sanctity
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
2 Vendilion Clique
2 Wipe Away
1 Pyroclasm
1 Cabal Therapy
1 Show and Tell
1 Eye of Nowhere
1 Overmaster
1 Enter the Infinite

The only slot I have been waffling over is the Pyroclasm in the board. Sometimes I wish it were a Massacre, sometimes the other way around. DHG tournaments usually have several players on elves, so I went with clasm this time around.

Taylor Pratt picks up Anderson Boone and I and we're about to get ready to go when another friend, Corey Gaudreau, calls asking if we have space in the car. Oh, and he needs a 75 because he doesn't play legacy ever. Taylor is too nice to say no, so we brave the Saturday morning Boston traffic and drive back over to Cambridge, grab Corey, and start brainstorming a deck for him to play. Taylor has RUG delver built shy a couple cards, so we fill in the holes and give him that to battle with.

Taylor isn't sure which 1/1 cantrip creature he wants to play, Baleful Strix or Elvish Visionary. I think one of those is clearly better than the other, but I'll let you guess which that is. Anderson is on Jund because the guy can't get away from his precious shitty green creatures.

46 players turned out on Saturday, so there were 6 rounds of swiss. Prize support bumped up at 50, unfortunately we fell just shy of that.

Round 1 (0-0) Chris Richard - Berserk Infect

Chris is a newer legacy player, and seemed kind of new to medium-large tournaments in general. Chatting while shuffling up, he mentions this is his first time with the deck, and to go easy on him. When he presents, his deck feels more like a limited deck, so I count just to make sure it's 60. I count 61 twice, shuffle and pass it back to him. We get to talking about the new sideboarding rules, and I mention something about how he's playing 61 main already. He says he shouldn't be, and probably just has an extra card from his sideboard in his main. Long story short, his deck situation was kind of unorganized, and actually had about 80 cards in his box. Judge issues a game loss and we move to game 2.

He leads off on the play with a Glistener Elf, which I promptly Force. I probe him on my turn and see an invigorate and a berserk, along with some discard. He makes me discard some cards, I cantrip a little bit, but can't find a kill before he finds an Ichorclaw Myr and kills me on his next turn.

Game 3 I have a have with a T2 S&T for Emrakul, so as long as he doesn't have Elf + Distortion Strike + Invig + Berserk I'm probably in decent shape. He has no T1 play, I play S&T and he puts a dude into play. When he attacks, I snap block with my giant monster, and he scoops his cards up.

Kind of awkward to start the day with a judge call like that, but them's the rules.

Round 2 (1-0) [2-1] Roger Kidd - Aggro Loam

Roger and I have played before at a previous Buncha Duals, I think. His opening draw looks more like Jund, so when I leave up mana to pierce his Liliana and he instead shows me Seismic Assault, I figure I'm in decent shape. He didn't have loam or any fetch/cycle lands yet, so it resolves and I fight over more pressing issues. I probe him, see some blank Decays and a Lavamancer, which I Therapy away. His Deathrite and Bob are putting on a decent clock, but I assemble a win around 2 or 3 life.

Game 2 I lead off with a Leyline in play, and he slumps in his chair, so I probably just colded 2 or 3 cards. Value. I assemble a pretty quick win, and he shows me 2 hymns and 2 thoughtseizes.

Round 3 (2-0) [4-1] Devin Malto - BUG Shardless

I lose the roll, and game 1 is a pretty typical "Hymn, Hymn, I win" fest after I mulligan to 6. Not much to see here.

Game 2 I mulligan again, but my 6 has a Leyline, so I keep. I have mana and cantrips, and I get the Grizzfather into play around turn 3.

Game 3 I have 2 fetches, a Tomb, Omniscience, FOW and 2 cantrips. He leads with visions into Bob, and I have a couple turns to dig for a Show and Tell but can't hit before I have to FOW a Jace and his Visions gives him all the business he needs.

Round 4 (2-1) [5-3] Nick Wilbur - UB S&T

Nick was playing an interesting list. Kind of like the new Cunning Wish S&T lists but with Therapy and Lim-Dul's Vault. Game 1 I make him discard his Omniscience and set up to kill with my own the following turn. He LDVs and pays 6 life, so I figure he's got a good combination set up on top, but I guess he was prepping for the long game.

Game 2 he just doesn't seem to draw anything to put into play, and when I probe him seeing 3 S&Ts I know the path is clear to close the game out quickly.

Round 5 (3-1) [7-3] Jon Ashworth - WBg Deadguy

Jon is playing a very discard-heavy WB Deadguy deck with green for Decay and Shaman. He makes me discard some stuff, gets a Bitterblossom into play and keeps my hand empty with Liliana until the faeries close out the game.

Game 2, I have a double S&T, double big monster, sol land hand. As long as he doesn't T2 Liliana me, I probably have this one through some discard. He doesn't have it.

Game 3, he Thoughtseizes something on T1 and leaves me with a Spell Pierce. After playing nothing on 2, he runs out a Liliana into open mana, and I kill him with Omniscience on my next turn. He's mad that he didn't just pass holding up a Krosan Grip, but I think there are just way too many things that can go wrong with that plan. For example, anything other than Omniscience.

Round 6 (4-1) [9-4] Taylor Pratt - Elves

Taylor and I ID into the top 8. Probably looking at 6th or 7th seed for us. Corey started 4-0 and double drew, so he's probably facing one of us in the quarterfinals. Hoping that doesn't happen.

Standings go up, nobody in our car is playing each other. Sweet. I'm also on the opposite side of the bracket, so I wouldn't have to face any of them until the finals, if at all.

Top 8 (4-1-1) [9-4] Devin Malto - BUG Shardless

Rematch! The honorable judge Tim Gagne asks each of us if we would like to exchange decklists for the top 8, and I think that's something I want. I get to see that Devin is running on 0 Lilianas with lots of discard in the sideboard, so I get to play more aggressively in game 1 and lean on a Leyline in the sideboarded games. They go much better for me than the swiss round against him, and I am victorious in 2.

RUG delver def. RUG delver
12post def. Elves
CW Omni def. 12post
BW Omni def. BUG shardless

Corey lost a RUG mirror to Carl Versteeg, who had Sylvan Library in both of the sideboard games and crushed Corey. Taylor's Elves were defeated by Jeremiah Rudolph's Eldrazi monsters after a loose game 3 keep.

Top 4 (5-1-1) [11-4] Adam Brennan - Cunning Wish Omniscience

This matchup looks like a nightmare. Not only can I not really cast S&T because he can play Halls/Omni with Cunning Wish to do stuff, but he's packing Pacts and main deck Flusterstorm, and can just cast Halls to kill me. I have to dance around with protection and he just gets to throw it out there. In game 1, I make him discard his Omniscience and leave him with some S&Ts and an ETI, while I have a hand loaded with protection just waiting for a S&T so I can go off on my own terms. I find it, and we go to sideboard. He doesn't have a sideboard due to his 11-card wishboard, but I get to bring in my Jace, Cliques and Wipe Away. In game 2, I pass on my third turn with 2 islands and a Tomb open. He jams S&T out there anyway, I Clique his Omniscience to the bottom and put Grizzly Adams into play for game.

BW Omni def. CW Omni
RUG delver def. 12post

Carl and I end up chopping the finals, which I'm happy with. It was a long day, and the last thing I need is to battle against RUG delver at 10pm for effectively $50 in value on the duals.

Props:
- Dave Feinstein for running legacy tournaments when WOTC and SCG have abandoned us
- Other players for not playing REB or Flusterstorm
- Tiebreakers for magically not pairing any of our car in the top 8

Slops:
- Having to make judge calls at the start of round 1 :(
- Anderson for 2-2ing and not completing the quad-fecta