Since I've already been doing them, I thought I'd post reports here in case anyone is interested. I literally write a play-by-play, minus cards I see with things like Brainstorm and openers since I haven't hit on a great way to write that down without my opponent knowing. I finished 4th in my GPTrial with this list:
//ARTIFACTS
2 Candelabra of Tawnos
3 Expedition Map
//CREATURES
4 Primeval Titan
1 Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
//SORCERIES
2 Show and Tell
4 Treasure Cruise
//INSTANTS
3 Crop Rotation
4 Repeal
3 Trickbind
4 Brainstorm
2 Wipe Away
//LANDS
4 Tropical Island
1 Glacial Chasm
3 Island
1 Polluted Delta
4 Glimmerpost
2 Scalding Tarn
1 Karakas
4 Cloudpost
4 Misty Rainforest
2 Vesuva
1 Eye of Ugin
//SIDEBOARD
1 Spellskite
1 Glen Elendra Archmage
1 Bojuka Bog
4 Blue Elemental Blast
4 Force of Will
4 Flusterstorm
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Round 1 - Vs BUG Delver
(Quick aside: I refuse to call them by the "wedge" names like StarCity and Wizards have been tripping over themselves to do. The next StarCity event I go to, my deck will be registered as "Witch-Maw 12-Post", since my deck can naturally produce four colors: that of Witch-Maw Nephilim. Yes, I can be that petty.)
This list is a more old-school list with Dark Confidant and Stifle.
I win the roll.
I play Cloudpost.
He plays Underground Sea.
I play Polluted Delta.
He plays a Misty Rainforest, then casts Brainstorm. He then cracks his fetch. I crack mine in response and hit his with Trickbind. He passes back.
I play another Cloudpost.
He plays a Scalding Tarn and a Delver of Secrets. I Brainstorm EoT.
I play a Misty Rainforest.
Delver flips off a Daze, then he cracks his fetch. He swings. I crack my fetch and Repeal the Delver. He recasts it.
I play a Glimmerpost, gain some life, and cast Primeval Titan. It resolves, but the EtB trigger eats a Stifle.
Delver doesn't flip this time, and he casts a Tarmogoyf.
I swing with Prime Time and get a Cloudpost and Eye of Ugin. I then cast Treasure Cruise, exiling 3 cards.
Delver flips off Stifle, he casts a second Delver, and he swings through for 6.
I swing back, getting Glimmerpost and Karakas. I cast Brainstorm. Knowing he has Stifle, I force it out with an Eye of Ugin activation. I play a Misty Rainforest and get another Tropical Island.
Delver flips off yet another Stifle. I Repeal one on the end of his turn.
I play a Cloudpost and swing again, getting 2 Glimmerpost. He double blocks, Stifles my Eye of Ugin, and scoops up his cards.
-----
He plays Underground Sea.
I play a Polluted Delta. He Brainstorms EoT.
He plays and cracks a Misty Rainforest, then casts Tarmogoyf.
I play another fetch and get a Tropical Island.
He plays Underground Sea and swings. I Brainstorm EoT.
Vendilion Clique comes on my draw step, bottoming Primeval Titan. I play a Cloudpost.
He casts a Deathrite Shaman and swings.
I play a Cloudpost.
He casts Ponder (doesn't shuffle), swings, and plays a Delver.
I cast Primeval Titan. It resolves, and he Stifles the trigger. I cast Force, pitching Brainstorm. He Spell Pierces the Force of Will.
Delver flips off a Ponder, and that is that.
-----
I play a Tropical Island.
He plays a Tropical Island and casts a Delver. I Brainstorm EoT.
I play a Misty Rainforest.
Delver doesn't flip. He swings for 1 and plays another Tropical Island. He then casts Deathrite Shaman. I Brainstorm, then crack my fetch, which eats a Stifle.
I play a Polluted Delta and fetch a Tropical Island.
Delver flips off Brainstorm. Another Trop comes down, he swings, and casts another Delver.
I play a Glimmerpost and cast Show and Tell. He eats a land with his Deathrite and casts Vendilion Clique. I Force it, pitching Repeal. Kozilek is brought to class, and he brings a Tarmogoyf.
Delver flips off...Maelstrom Pulse. He eats another land with Deathrite, Pulses Kozilek, and swings through for 9.
I play an Island, cast a Primeval Titan, and get Glacial Chasm and Glimmerpost.
He casts True-Name Nemesis.
I pay 2 life.
He casts another True-Name Nemesis.
He has another Stifle. I lose the Chasm and then the game.
It's the first time "Ulamog is indestructible" has mattered in a game for me in about a year. It probably puts the score at "Kozilek 105, Ulamog 3", but nonetheless, Ulamog does win me this game. Apparently I played King Mise of Topdeckistan.
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Round 2 - Vs Loam/Pox/Depths
I win the roll.
I play Island.
He plays an Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth. He then casts Thoughtseize. I Brainstorm in response, put 2 Repeal on top of my library, and show him a hand of all lands.
I play a Cloudpost.
He plays Thespian's Stage.
I play Glimmerpost.
He plays Mox Diamond, discarding Bojuka Bog. He plays Dark Depths, cycles Barren Moor, then copies the Depths with the Stage, making a Marit Lage. I bounce the token with Repeal EoT.
I play Misty Rainforest and Expedition Map.
He plays Verdant Catacombs and cracks it for a Bayou. He casts Life from the Loam, getting back Dark Depths, Thespian's Stage, and Barren Moor. He cycles the Moor to dredge the Loam, binning Thoughtseize, Liliana of the Veil, and another Life from the Loam. I crack my Map for a Cloudpost EoT.
I play a Cloudpost.
He dredges Loam, binning Swamp, Abrupt Decay and Buried Ruin. He plays Thespian's Stage and casts Sylvan Library. He casts Loam, getting Barren Moor, Swamp, and Verdant Catacombs. I fetch for a Tropical Island.
I play a Tropical Island and cast Primeval Titan, getting Cloudpost and Eye of Ugin.
He uses Sylvan Library's ability and dredges Loam, binning Cabal Pit, Smallpox and Darkblast. He plays Dark Depths, makes Marit Lage again, then casts Loam, getting Dark Depths, Thespian's Stage, and Buried Ruin. I Repeal the token again and he discards Life from the Loam and Nether Spirit.
I play Karakas and swing, getting two more Cloudpost. Emrakul comes down, I show him the combo, and that is that. I had another Trickbind in hand for the next time Thespian's Stage tried to copy Dark Depths.
-----
He leads with Urborg.
I play a Tropical Island.
He plays Dark Depths and casts Entomb, putting Life from the Loam in his graveyard.
I play Cloudpost.
He dredges Loam (Wasteland Swamp Bayou), plays a Karakas, and casts Liliana of the Veil. He +1's her. I discard Glimmerpost and he discards Darkblast.
I play Glimmerpost and cast Show and Tell. I bring Primeval Titan to class, and he brings...Smokestack. Well, I can't say I expected that. I get two Cloudpost and cast Candelabra of Tawnos.
He uses his triggers correctly and sacrifices zero permanents before adding a counter to Smokestack. Lilly goes -2 and I lose my Titan. He plays Cabal Pit and casts Smallpox. I apparently forgot to write down what land I sacrificed and what card I discarded. Let's assume I played correctly because that makes me feel better about myself. I probably binned Glimmerpost based on what I did on the following upkeep. I can't remember what I discarded.
I sacrifice a Cloudpost and cast another Primeval Titan, getting another Cloudpost and Bojuka Bog, exiling his graveyard.
He sacs his Dark Depths, adds a counter to Smokestack, and -2's Lilly, killing my Titan again.
I sacrifice Bojuka Bog and Cloudpost, and cast Treasure Cruise.
He sacrifices Urborg and Karakas and ticks Smokestack to 3. He passes and I Brainstorm EoT.
Realizing I'm about to lose 3 permanents, I decide that if I'm going to get Eldrazi love this game, it will be with Kozilek. I use Crop Rotation on my Island during my upkeep to get Eye of Ugin. I use Eye of Ugin to get Kozilek. I sacrifice Eye, a Trop, and my Candel. I play another Island and cast Expedition Map.
He sacrifices his Smokestack, plays a Wasteland, and Wastes my Cloudpost.
I play Misty Rainforest.
He plays Verdant Catacombs. I Brainstorm, fetch, and get Vesuva with Expedition Map.
Vesuva copies Cloudpost, and I cast Treasure Cruise.
He attempts to Wasteland my Cloudpost, but I counter it with Trickbind.
I play a Glimmerpost and cast Expedition Map.
He draws a card and says go. I crack Map for Vesuva.
Vesuva copies Cloudpost, I cast Kozilek, draw a bunch of cards, and discard a Scalding Tarn.
He draws a card and then scoops.
--------------------
Round 3 - Vs U/R Delver (Why isn't it Izzet Delver? Huh? STUPIDS.)
I win the roll. He mulligans once.
I play Cloudpost.
He plays Flooded Strand, fetchs Volcanic Island, plays Monastery Swiftspear, and swings.
I play Polluted Delta, then Expedition Map. The Map eats a Daze. I fetch a Trop to pay for it.
He casts Ponder, doesn't shuffle, and swings.
Vesuva copies Cloudpost, then I cast Show and Tell. I bring Primeval Titan to class, he brings Young Pyromancer. I get Cloudpost and Eye of Ugin.
He plays an Island, casts Ponder, doesn't shuffle, and casts a Delver.
I swing, getting 2 Glimmerpost. I tutor for and cast Kozilek, then play a third Glimmerpost.
Delver flips off a Lightning Bolt. He then Bolts his Swiftspear.
-----
I mulligan once, my first of the day(!)
He plays Flooded Strand, fetches Volcanic Island, casts a Ponder, and doesn't shuffle.
I play Tropical Island.
He plays Scalding Tarn, fetches an Island, and casts Young Pyromancer. I Brainstorm EoT.
I play an Island and cast Blue Elemental Blast on the Pyromancer.
He Brainstorms and plays a Polluted Delta. I Brainstorm EoT.
I play Cloudpost and Expedition Map. He fetches an Island and casts Smash to Smithereens on the Map.
He plays Volcanic Island and casts Blood Moon.
Vesuva copies Cloudpost Mountain, then I play another Map. I eat a Lightning Bolt EoT.
He casts Ponder, doesn't shuffle, casts Monastery Swiftspear, casts another Bolt, and swings.
I play Cloudpost and Candelabra of Tawnos.
He Brainstorms, casts Treasure Cruise, plays a Polluted Delta, Smashes the Candel, and swings.
I BEB the Blood Moon and play a Glimmerpost. I eat a Bolt in response.
Lesson learned. I just started seeing U/R Delver again. No more artifacts.
-----
He mulligans to five.
I play Cloudpost.
He plays Island.
I play Cloudpost.
He casts Brainstorm and plays Bloodstained Mire.
I play Tropical Island.
He plays a Mountain and casts Delver of Secrets.
I play Scalding Tarn.
Delver flips off Chain Lightning, he fetches a Volcanic instead of drawing the Chain, then casts Monastery Swiftspear. I Brainstorm in response, and fetch a Trop. He swings and I Repeal the Delver. He re-casts it.
I play Glimmerpost and cast Treasure Cruise, which eats a Pyroblast.
Delver flips off a second Pyroblast, and he swings.
I play an Island and run a second Treasure Cruise into the Pyroblast.
He Brainstorms. I respond by Repealing the Delver. He swings and re-plays the Delver.
I play Polluted Delta.
Delver flips off Lightning Bolt. He Bolts me. I respond by casting Crop Rotation on my Island. He Forces it, pitching a Delver. I hard-cast my own Force of Will. I get a Cloudpost. He plays a Flooded Strand and swings for 7.
I fetch a Tropical Island and cast Emrakul. I take my extra turn and swing. He sacs his whole board, I cast Kozilek, play a Glimmerpost, and he scoops.
Pretty sure I just blanked and forgot about the second Pyroblast. I'd love to say I was baiting the second Treasure Cruise, but I don't think I was. Then again, it worked out.
--------------------
Round 4 - Vs Burn
I win the roll.
I play Cloudpost.
He plays a Mountain, casts Goblin Guide (ever notice that Goblin Guide can be abbreviated as GG? Weird.) and swings. The trigger reveals a Repeal.
I play a Tropical Island.
He plays a Scalding Tarn and attempts to fetch. Realizing I don't have a whole lot of better options, I Trickbind the fetch. He swings, which reveals Show and Tell.
I play a Misty Rainforest.
He swings. I respond with a Brainstorm, putting a Vesuva on top and something that wasn't a land that I don't remember below that. Guide puts Vesuva in my hand. I then fetch a Tropical Island and Repeal the Guide. He casts Lava Spike.
Vesuva copies Cloudpost, then I cast Show and Tell. I bring Primeval Titan to class, while he brings Eidolon of the Great Revel. I get two Glimmerpost.
He plays Wooded Foothills and fetches a Mountain. He casts Price of Progress.
Now here is where I decided to take a chance. He was holding a few cards all game. I knew none of them were lands, as the Wooded Foothills would have had to have been his draw, bringing him up to 2 lands. Price was poised to hit me for 12, bringing me to 4. I put him on Fireblast because of the fact that he Priced me during his main phase. He could have cast his Goblin Guide, but he didn't. I thus let the Price resolve, bringing me to 4. He then immediately binned his Mountains to Fireblast me. I then responded with Crop Rotation, binning Glimmerpost, getting Glacial Chasm, and sacrificing a Trop to the Chasm. The Eidolon trigger put me at 2.
Knowing I couldn't pay the upkeep of Chasm, I figured I might as well Brainstorm before sacrificing the Chasm since at least Eidolon wouldn't kill me. I sacrificed the Chasm and swung with the Titan, getting 2 more Glimmerpost.
He draws a card and says go.
I swing again, and he scoops.
-----
He mulligans.
He plays a Mountain and suspends Rift Bolt.
I play an Island.
Rift Bolt goes upstairs, he plays a Mountain, and casts Eidolon of the Great Revel. I Brainstorm in response.
I play Glimmerpost.
He swings and suspends another Rift Bolt.
I play Glimmerpost and cast Show and Tell. I bring Primeval Titan to class, while he brings nothing. I get two Cloudpost.
Rift Bolt hits me for 3.
I draw Emrakul, play a Trop and swing, getting two Glimmerpost. I cast Emrakul. Price of Progress can only do 14, but I'm at way more than that. He scoops.
--------------------
ID to Top 4: BUG Delver, Miracles, 12-Post MUD, 12-Post
Top 4 - Vs BUG Delver
Not the same list as my first round. This is a more modern list with Treasure Cruise. Modified play/draw rule, so he goes first.
He plays Polluted Delta, fetches Underground Sea, and plays Deathrite Shaman.
I play Misty Rainforest.
He plays a Tropical Island, casts Ponder, doesn't shuffle, then casts Thoughtseize. I fetch a Trop in response, then Brainstorm. He Dazes it. Thoughtseize takes Crop Rotation, and he Squires me for 1.
I play Scalding Tarn.
He plays a Tropical Island, eats a fetch, and casts Liliana of the Veil. He +1's her. I discard Kozilek, he discards Abrupt Decay.
I play Cloudpost.
He casts Ponder, doesn't shuffle, Wastelands my Cloudpost, eats the Post with Deathrite Shaman, and casts Treasure Cruise. He +1's Lilly (Liliana of the Veil/Glimmerpost), casts another Deathrite, and fetches for a Tropical Island.
I play a Tropical Island.
He plays Verdant Catacombs and +1's Lilly (I Brainstorm in response, Treasure Cruise/Force of Will). He fetches a Bayou. He eats my Tarn, casts Treasure Cruise, eats Glimmerpost, then plays a Delver. I have absolutely nothing going on, and Brainstorm again.
I play Glimmerpost and Repeal Lilly.
Delver flips off Dimir Charm. It's in Japanese, but winglerw28 (who is head judge) and I recite the text of the card out loud because I'm very much not used to seeing it. I linked it because you might not see it much either, and because it becomes important like, a few sentences from now. He swings with the Delver and one Deathrite Shaman, and plays Wasteland.
I play a Glimmerpost and cast Treasure Cruise. See why I linked it? Yeah. Charm counters it. He then eats the Cruise with his other Deathrite.
He swings for 4 and casts True-Name Nemesis.
I draw and say go. He eats Dimir Charm.
He swings for 6 and eats Treasure Cruise. My hand at this point is Island-Island.
-----
I boarded out one of my Misty Rainforests to bring in an additional counterspell. I note this because of what happens later.
He mulligans once.
I play Tropical Island.
He plays Verdant Catacombs and fetches for an Underground Sea. He casts Thoughtseize. I Brainstorm in response, which eats a Force of Will pitching Delver of Secrets. Thoughtseize gets Glen Elendra Archmage.
I play Misty Rainforest.
He plays Wasteland.
I play Scalding Tarn.
He Brainstorms and plays another Wasteland.
I play Glimmerpost.
He casts Pithing Needle.
This was probably the key moment for this game. I play against my opponent during our weeklies from time to time. The fact that he brought in Needle at all made me suspect that Null Rod also came with it as he tends to board in artifact hate against me. I also know to anticipate Zur's Weirding, which is both one of my favorite cards ever and a card that has absolutely blown me out before. What I should have done, in hindsight, was crack just the Misty for an Island and then let the Needle resolve in the hopes that it would persuade him to name one of my artifacts (that I boarded out). Instead, I let the Needle resolve and he named Misty Rainforest.
He then cast Thoughtseize, which found Primeval Titan.
I play a Tropical Island.
He draws a card and says go.
I play Glimmerpost.
He plays Deathrite Shaman.
I play another Tropical Island.
He Wastes both Trops. I respond by Repealing the Deathrite. He eats one of his Wastelands in response. I draw a card that is not Trickbind. He re-plays the Deathrite, plays a Bayou, and casts Tarmogoyf.
I play a Cloudpost.
He swings for 4 and casts a Delver. I crack my Tarn for a Trop.
I play an Island. He eats my Repeal.
Delver doesn't flip, he swings for 5, and plays a Trop.
I draw a card and say go.
Delver flips off Spell Pierce. He swings for 7.
I play a Glimmerpost. He eats a Brainstorm with Deathrite. My last two draws for this game were...my other two copies of Misty Rainforest.
After the game as we went over our sideboards, sure enough, there was Null Rod.
--------------------
What did I learn?
I learned that when I don't have to mulligan, the deck really has a chance.
I learned that keeping hands with a bunch of lands in them is perfectly fine.
I learned that it took me a year to find "Ulamog is indestructible" to be relevant...but it did happen and it cost me a game (and really, a match).
I learned that Trickbind is plenty good. Even if it's only hitting a fetch, it has at least a play in every matchup. It can always be boarded out later (and it was against U/R Delver and Burn). Not being countered is great.
I learned that I really enjoy having Bojuka Bog in the sideboard. Drawing it usually (thought not always) sucks, and if you play enough games with it in the main, it will happen and you will be sad.
I learned that the number of Wastelands is somewhat on the decline. I couldn't be happier.
I hope you enjoyed the writeup and found it helpful!
Wow, nicely written! I'm wondering if you have an eidetic memory or just are a fast writer :)
What would be interesting to know (since I'm no expert of 12post): How did you sideboard against the different matchups? Especially, when do you bring FoW in? It seems like you brought them in against BUG Delver. My gut feeling would be, that you bring them only against combo, so what was your plan behind it?
Your report was a very smooth read!
Thanks :)Originally Posted by JanoschEausH
My short term memory is probably comparable to a pothead with Alzheimer's, so instead I've just mastered the art of writing really really fast.
I tend to sideboard somewhat organically and since some of my opponents were known opponents (My Rounds 1, 3, and Top 4 opponents I play against on at least a semi-regular basis), I also tried to anticipate what they were doing. All of my artifacts came out in both BUG Delver matchups. After getting literally Smashed to Smithereens against U/R Delver, all my artifacts came out there, too. They also came out against Burn. Basically, all my artifacts came out pretty much every match except Round 2. Trickbind came out against Burn and U/R Delver for lack of a lot of good targets. BEBs came in against the two red decks I faced. Force of Will came in pretty much all the time. Bojuka Bog came in against Loam/Pox. Glen Elendra came in against pretty much everything. Spellskite was for Burn and U/R Delver. Flusterstorms filled in the extra slots where I had room. I boarded out the single fetch against the second BUG Delver to slide in an extra counterspell - given I sort of had an idea of how he'd board - and I got blown out by Pithing Needle anyway.
Awesome report! Did spellskite come in any of the matches other than presumably burn?
Burn and U/R Delver. If I had played against Infect I would have brought it in for that matchup as well.
Nice report, I really enjoyed it. Dimir charm... who would've thought? Congrats on the finish.
The card is legit...doubly so when you almost immediately forget about its existence and run a key spell into it. Its kill mode also gets rid of a lot of relevant cards. It hasn't fully caught on in BUG lists but it's growing in popularity, and rightfully so.
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