Played Lands in the SCG Baltimore Classic on Sunday and went 6-2. My list was functionally similar to the 2nd place list (1st Horizon Canopy vs. 2nd Tranquil Thicket and some sideboarding changes):
Lands (36)
1 Forest
1 Barbarian Ring
1 Bojuka Bog
4 Ghost Quarter
1 Glacial Chasm
4 Grove of the Burnwillows
2 Maze of Ith
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Sheltered Thicket
2 Taiga
4 Thespian's Stage
2 Tranquil Thicket
4 Wasteland
1 Windswept Heath
1 Wooded Foothills
1 Karakas
1 The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
4 Dark Depths
Spells (24)
4 Mox Diamond
4 Exploration
1 Molten Vortex
4 Crop Rotation
3 Punishing Fire
4 Gamble
4 Life from the Loam
Sideboard
1 Chalice of the Void
4 Sphere of Resistance
3 Tireless Tracker
1 Choke
1 Drop of Honey
1 Song of the Dryads
3 Krosan Grip
1 Ancient Tomb
I beat Czech Pile, Sneak and Show x2, Grixis Painter, Grixis Delver, and WBg Deadguy, lost to Taxes twice. Are there any articles that go over sideboarding and gameplay strategy for that matchup? It seems very close but winnable, and I think a more experienced pilot would have won both of those matchups.
T: @feingersh
I think it’s interesting you beat up on sneak and then lost out to Taxes. Either way, congrats on the finish!
I’d personally board like this with your list:
-bog
-chasm
-ghost quarter
-dark depths x2
-gamble x2
+tireless tracker x3
+drop of honey
+Krosan Grip x3
I was boarding in those 7, but boarded out 2 Mox Diamonds on the play and 4 on the draw. Some people recommended going completely off the Depths plan and just trying to kill everything they play.Originally Posted by Sparkii
T: @feingersh
Ok, I guess it's finally the time to make at least brief report about how I had my ass handled to me during Eternal Weekend in Paris and GP BirminghamThere were two of us playing Lands, me and my friend Damian, in both of those events. I'll spare you the "sightseeing stuff" (apart from my unexpectedly negative impression of Paris) and go straight for the preparation, lists and results, trying to cover at least most important plays.
After quite demotivating MKM Series Prague, which I covered here and since very first announcement of GP Birmingham, we've been preparing as hard as we could, not letting a single week to pass without good amount of practice nor single day without theory (articles, videos, event's coverage etc.). Eternal Weekend in Paris was supposed to be our warm-up before Birmingham and last chance to predict meta for upcoming GP.
282 players came to Paris, making the metagame as shown below:
Round 1 vs Lands
G1: We all know how the mirror goes, it's quite random contest of who has better tools to interact with opponent after recognizing the matchup and who gets to play his Exploration first. Still, I felt quite confidant, as we've had our share of mirror-matches behind us with Damian. I quickly recognized that he is on 4 Quarter build, so I took advantage of my Exploration and Loam with single Wasteland, annoyed him a little bit with Port and soon took care of his Loam with my own Bojuka. After a couple of turns he was left with single Mox and nothing else in play, for 3 turns he didn't play a single land as he was ripped out of color and I started to dig for combo, that didn't wish to show up with Loam, neither could I draw Rotation nor Gamble. Finally, he draws his Manabond and that makes the game with his hand consisting Quarters, Wastelands and another Loam.
Out: 1 PFire, 2 Maze, 3 Depths, 1 Gamble
In: 2 Trackers, 1 Krosan Grip, 1 Sorcerous Spyglass, 1 Nissa, Vital Force, 1 Primeval Titan, 1 Sylvan Library
G2: I started with Gamble, Tracker, Titan, Mox, Foothills and two other lands. I played Tracker with Foothills to crack next turn, he had PFire to burn him in that single window. After that he played his tracker which I burned as well. We've played some draw-go, I had Mox and 4 lands in play with Titan in hand and couldn't get 6th mana for a couple of turns, haven't seen a single Rotation, he also didn't interact with me much. After 3rd or 4th missed land (3 Explorations in hand) I decided to Gamble for Nissa... which I had to discard obviously and he finally finds his 6th mana to play Carnage Tyrant and starts to mess with my manabase.
Round 2 vs Maverick
G1: Mulligan to 5 with no land / no mana to start with, I'm starting with natural combo, wasteland, Mox and Port, Loam comes from the draw if I my memory serves. Opponent is on the play, starting with Scrubland into DRS and I know I'm in very bad shape right now. I tried to play carefully, not attacking his mana, which proved to be correct tactic, as Mother of Runes and Thalia followed DRS next turns. He also played his wasteland, stopping me from going for the combo turn 4. I dealt with it and aimed for his single white source - Scrubland with another Wasteland in hand, so I could get around DRS next turn in case of Swords into Marit, making him tap shaman for W and then safely return both combo pieces with Loam. Unfortunately, after my Wasteland into his, he plays Knight and having no acceleration from the start I'm missing 1 land drop to make the combo before it can be activated. I see no point in keeping this struggle on and while my opponent plays paaainfully slow I'm going for game 2.
Out: 3x Gamble, 2x Depths, 1x Manabond, 1x Glacial Chasm, 1x Loam
In: 1x Sorcerous Spyglass, 1x Volcanic Fallout, 1x Nissa, 1x Primeval Titan, 1x Krosan Grip, 2x Trieless Tracker, 1x Sylvan Library
G2: Mulligan to 6 with some utterly unplayable crap, kept a hand with Pfire, Grove, Thespian, Depths, Volcanic Fallout and Exploration, with which I start. He plays DRS, I burn it immediately, failing to find another land. He plays Thoughtseize, getting my Volcanic Fallout out and wastelands my Grove. When my hand is triple Loam, two Explorations, Nissa and Titan, his hand (Splyglass on his another two DRS's) is double Swords, Abrupt Decay, Karakas and Extraction, while BoB and Thalia are already on board. I keep playing things like Maze and Tabernacle, cursing myself for not siding in Fling instead of that single Gamble which I had just drawn. When Gaddock Teeg finally appears, I simply concede with smile when termination starts.
Round 3 vs 4c Levold
G1: Starts as always - mulligan, then medicore hand with natural combo, Mox, Exploration and Gamle. Exploration and Gamble are both countered, so I'm starting to crawl towards combo. While I'm dealing with his DRS, his Jace appears. I make Marit, he has an Edict, I recover combo, he forces me to make it in my turn by Decay into Mox. Jace bounces Marit, I recover, waste him a little, he has 4 basics, he plays Strix, I burn it, he plays Snapcaster into Edict... All in all, after something like 30 minutes of G1 he bounces Marit 4 times and plays Edict 3 times. After 7th attempt to kill him I'm way too far behind, with no acceleration and I'm really angry right now.
Out: 2x Maze, 2x Loam, 2x Depths, 3x Gamble, 1x Quarter, 1x Crop Rotation, 1x Glacial Chasm, 1x Manabond
In: 1x Fling, 1x Volcanic Fallout, 2x Tracker, 1x Sylvan Library, 2x Sphere of Resistance, 1x Sorcerous Spyglass, 2x K-Grip, 1x Nissa, 1x Primeval Titan, 1x Choke
G2: I really wanted to crush him now, so I started to throw hate into him. 1st Sphere eats FoW, the same goes for Spyglass, another Sphere and Library are in. I start wastelocking him a little bit and he can't handle all of that, not having enough mana to play Edict under the Sphere after I burned his both DRS's with Fallout.
Out: 1x Titan, 1x Library
In: 1x Gamble, 1x Depths
G3: Goes pretty much the same, very intensive exchange of threats and hate. I had Tracker on 7, which got edicted under the Spehere, he plays Jace which I name with Spyglass, following with Choke, so he has to play around it. In crucial moment he plays Abrupt into Spyglass, in response to what I Pfire his Jace. This gets answered by Hydroblast, yet I remind him of Sphere in play, so he can't do it out of single Island. When termination starts, he has two Strixes for my Marit and some mana open, but I simply Fling Marit into his face. He can't believe it at first, then tries Flusterstorming it under Sphere, so I remind him of it again and win.
Round 4 vs 4c Leovold
G1: Long story goes short, I check if he has FoW for my mainphase Pfire into his DRS. He has not, so I wastelock him into oblivion. He tries to save himself with Leovold which I keep bouncing with Karakas every single turn (in his main phase). After discarding 2nd Jace, he has enough.
G2: Long game of attrition, ended with Nemezis with Jitte 1 turn before my Marit recovers from summoning sickness.
G3: I have so much hate, that we both can't help to laugh. 2 spheres in play, Choke and Spyglass, Ports are closing almost all options for him (Swamp and Bayou were left in play at some point), so I happily finish him off with Fling.
Round 5 vs Maverick
G1: He starts with Zenith for Driad, I waste it, we exchange wastelands, I'm happy with that, having Loam already. He manages to play Knight which is a little bit problematic, as he has 7 lands in grave and basic Forest in play, yet I have Tabernacle and Maze. He thinks for a second, wastes my Maze, hits me for 9, I'm ok with that, returning Maze and from grave and playing it with Tabernacle. He misses the trigger, I explain the consequences to him... But he does not speak English at all (Chinese guy). I call a judge, explain the situation, the judge tries to do his job... and fails, as opponent still tries to pay for Tabernacle afterwards. I exchange the "O shit" look with the judge, who finally manages to hammer the point. My opponent scoops.
G2: I start with insane hand of double Mox, Riftstone Portal, Exploration, Stage, Rotation and something else to pitch to second Mox. I combo turn 2, he dies.
Round 6 vs Aluren
G1: Another happy mulligan to whatever 5 with no lands, but I still manage to cripple him a little bit, Porting his green mana for Aluren, burning his DRS, forcing him to Force some things with his Strix, when I knew I can't keep stalling him any longer and that he has Harpy already. I saw that window after Force with Strix (and after another 25 minutes of his little bit slow playing), so I could finally land combo into board, but then he draws another Strix and that's the game.
Out: 4x Gamble, 2x Maze, 1x Loam, 2x Depths, 1x Glacial Chasm, 1x Barbarian Ring, 1x Manabond
In: 3x Krosan Grip, 2x Tireless Tracker, 3x Sphere of Resistance, 1x Volcanic Fallout, 1x Choke, 1x Nissa, 1x Sphere
G2: I was able to slow him down with Ports, I saved my PFire from Extraction with double Grove, knowing that he has it from the start, Choke and Spyglass did the rest of the job.
Out: 1x Nissa, 1x Sphere
In: 1x B-Ring, 1x Depths
G3: We've had something like 5 minutes left, he had better opening, forcing me to defend myself. I couldn't kill him fast enough, nor could I get anything relevant from sideboard to stop his advance. The game ended with a draw. He asked me politely if I would like to concede. I thought this over for a moment, thinking that despite his slow play in first game he was a very nice, a little bit elderly guy and he had much better board state, so I signed in 1-2 for him, shaking hands.
Round 7 vs Lands
G1: My opponent was on play, after his opening with Mox into Gamble I'm not in a hurry to reveal myself. I play Verdant Catacomb and pass. He goes for Loam, leaving it in the grave, plays a land (he was at 4 Quarter build), pass. I play Bojuka, then we exchange some resources, but I'm better prepared for it, Rotating for Petrified Field, retrieving Bojuka and playing it again. He is well under control until he gets his Manabond
G2: He snap-keeps his first 7, so I'm quite sure what is in there. I start without playing a single thing and pass the turn, what makes him a little bit confused. He opens with exactly what I expected - lots of Quarters, Tracker and not much in terms of color. I burn Tracker with Molten Vortex, responding to it's trigger, he curses himself for being greedy with it, then I start to deny him colored mana, which works fine for some time. He brings himself to 8 with his Ancient Tomb, so i consider burning him down, but his multiple Crop Rotations are key to the victory. I couldn't find one for myself, so we exchange some ideas about sideboard and I collect Damian and we're getting back to hotel, wishing best luck to our room-mate, Diego, who was fighting for top with his Punishing Thieves.
3-3-1, not an impressive result, but I wasn't too salty about it. I wished to see what is going on and I saw lots of Lands, 4c, Miracles and Delvers, as always couldn't find any of the latter to play against. Results of the top8 can be found here:
https://www.magicbazar.fr/article/52...l_weekend_2018 (lower half of the article)
Carnage Tyrant replaced Primeval Titan in the sideboard and few days later, we arrived to Birmingham with 3 other friends (Punishing Thieves, Aluren / Dredge, Sneak&Show). Firstly, we headed for some Trials and byes for Friday's main event.
Last Chance Trial:
Round 1 vs 4c Leovold:
G1 and G2 were pretty much the same as my previous encounters in Paris. Bouncing Levold with Karakas is one hell of a fun, especially when combined with softlock (Ports) and keeping DRS out of nourishment (no lands to boost his threats). My sideboard proved to be really damaging for him, so I went 2-0, exchanging his Edict with my Fling G2.
Round 2 vs Storm:
G1: I see standard opening with Delta - Usea - Ponder. I had quite good hand against Delver decks, so I didn't rush it, wasting him a little bit, while slowly putting combo pieces together. He plays some more Ponders and Brainstorms, doing nothing significant, so I get suspicious, but nothing really happens before I kill him.
Out: 2x Gamble, 1x Manabond, 1x Karakas
In: not sure what he is at 1x Sphere, 1x Tracker, 1x Spyglass, 1x Krosan Grip
G2: He starts with LED, so the mystery reveals itself. And that's pretty much all for G2. He goes to 2 life with Ad Nauseam, finding Tendrills, so I can only look at my PFire in hand and smile.
Out: 2x P-Fire, B-Ring, 2x Maze, Glacial Chasm
In: 2 more Spheres, 2x Trackers, 2x K-Grip
G3: We both mulligan, I keep a hand of 2 wastelands, Port, Verdant Catacomb, Stage and Loam. I really don't want to scare him of, so I start with Verdant, go. He goes for Usea, Pondering. I follow with Port, tapping his Usea, making him fetch for another. 3 turns later he has no lands and no other permanents in play. He gets 3 more turns without a land, in that time I have combo in play, waiting for end of his turn go finish this. Then he finds his single Swamp and ends the game with Tendrills. Afterwards he asks me how to sideboard against me, because he is playing the deck for a week or so and never have faced Lands before. He's a very nice guy, so we welcome each other couple of times later on, during the event.
Trial #2
Round 1 vs BUG Delver:
G1: We get a random deck-check, so we wait patiently for the judges to finish their job, having some friendly chit-chat. When judges are done, they say that I'm missing a card in my maindeck. After a moment of shock I realize, that I had a moment in previous game against Storm when some cards fell of my deck during shuffling. I collected Molten Vortex, looked for any other cards and didn't find any. My suggestion to judge is that Thespian had to fall face down and with black sleeve it was probably kicked by someone. We both went to lost&found station, finding missing card, so I can happily get back to my opponent, get my game loss and see, that his team-mates had to tell him what I'm on, as he had each single answer required to stop me from playing (FoW exploration, t1 DRS, Decay into Mox, FoW to PFire into DRS, play Delver, have fun). I couldn't get my Tabernacle in time, so that was G2 for me.
Trial #3
Round 1 vs Sneak&Show
G1 and G2 just happened, nothing encouraging to mention here. It's literally the worst matchup we can get and this game wasn't different.
Main Event Legacy Day 1:
Almost 1200 players came to play Legacy Day 1. We came there calm, smiling and prepared, so everyone wished only not to fight against some unrealistic bad luck. During the trials we've seen LOTS of Lands, followed by lots of Storms, Delvers, 4c and Sneak&Shows, but the amount of players and variety of decks was simply impossible to describe in few words. I'm really looking forward to some complex summary of the metagame like the one from Paris, so far we've had only mtggoldfish top 8 summary if I am no wrong.
Round 1 vs Burn
G1: I sit in front of a little bit shaky guy, so I'm trying to be as polite and nice as I can. I start with mulliganing some shit with 6 lands and Mox into something more usable (I guess it was Loam, Stage, PFire, Maze, Mox, Fetch). He starts with Goblin Guide and I feel a little bit happier at the beginning of this day. The problem is, that I can't find Glacial nor Depths quickly enough and with his excellent hand (at least 2 burn spells into my face each single turn) I can't defend myself properly even with Maze in play. After third attempt to hit me with Guide he realizes that this is not a good idea, but instead of lands, I'm drawing additional Explorations and Moxes. When I finally get combo online, I have to decide if I should go for it or Rotate for Chasm and try to crawl out of this. While on 8 life, goblin and Swiftspear opposite, and bunch of burns in his hand I know I won't be able to survive restoring Chasm shield from the graveyard, so I go for Marit, blocking one of his two Swifspears and waiting with Maze for either second or the Goblin Guide, hoping he don't have it or that he won't do the mats. He did, however, hitting me exactly for 8.
Out: 1 Karakas, 1 Bojuka Bog, 1 Wasteland, 3 Gamble
In: 3 Krosan Grip, 3 Spheres
G2: I start with some good stuff, like Mox, t1 Sphere, Loam and Grip in hand. He suspends his burn, draws a ton of lands (at the end of the game he had like 7 mountains to my 5 lands overall). He goes for Price of Progress in his mainphase, so I have to respond with Rotation into Chasm. I don't have time to safely recover from this, so he kills me with another PoP when I'm trying to recover Chasm from graveyard. After that he is really thankful for my friendly attitude, as he is playing Legacy for the first time now, converting from Modern. I advice him to play some Blood Moons in the sideboard and wish him good luck. He went 1-7 at the end of the day.
Round 2 vs Elves
G1: I'm trying hard not to complain to hard about what just happened, hoping for a bit of luck right now, Elves maybe?
I start with mulligan to 5, no lands at all followed by single Dark Depths. I keep solitary Sheltered Thricket, he is on the play with Bayou into DRS. I'm doing my very best to hold him with whatever I can, wasting, porting, playing Tabernacle, yet when I almost get there, he finally manages to kill me by kicking my ass with two Shamans in combat...
Out: 1 Manabond, 2 Gamble, 2 Maze, 1 Karakas
In: 3 Spheres, 1 Grip, 1 Spyglass, 1 Fallout
G2: I do what the deck does with Elves in normal circumstances. Tabernacle with proper wastelock, followed by his mana-hungry keep due to Extraction in hand. I really liked the look on his face when I paid for Stage's ability tapping Depths and Tabernacle with Portal in graveyard.
Out: 1 Gamble
In: 1 Fling (just in case he had some weird stuff like Edict)
G3: I had combo turn 3 with 2 Rotations, one for a combo piece, 1 for some safety option just in case things went south. I made Marit turn 3, he responded with Crop Rotation and my heart froze, while I was missing 1 mana for the Fling in my hand. Karakas there was, followed by Surgical into Depths, followed by Surgical into Loam, followed by his Natural Order for Behemoth. I do play a lot of Elves with a really good player, who went 6th at last year's MKM Prague and I have only lost to Elves once in my life, so now I felt properly knocked down.
Round 3 vs Sneak&Show
G1: Ok, it literally can't go worse from this point, so how about I'll stop crying and start playing Magic? Yeah, here we go!
His turn 1 - Tarn - Island - Preordain. You've got to be kidding me.
I'm doing some standard plays, thinking if I should side in 12 or 13 cards for the next game that is surely going to start in the moment.
He plays some more cantrips and Petals, nothing happens. Hm.
Some Porting, putting combo together. Marit. Kill.
You've got to be kidding me.
Out: 3 PFire, 1 Manabond, 4 Gamble, 1 Chasm, 2 Loams, 1 B-Ring, 1 Depths
In: everything except Nissa and Volcanic Fallout
G2: Mulligan for Sphere. He goes for Island - cantrip. I go for Sphere, Sphere get's countered. He plays Ancient Tomb, Show&Tell - Omniscience, everything. GG.
G3: Mulligan to 5 from my side, mulligan to 4 from his side. Two wasteland, two lands, Spyglass and Carnage Tyrant. Good Lord. One wasteland deals with City of Traitors, he goes for Petal, I play Sphere seeing that he has literally nothing apart from basic and two cantrips. I name Sneak Attack and there we go, topdecking like hell. I play Krosan Grip into his Petal just in case while he is desperately fighting for air. I play Choke, he Forces it, next table we have a contest of manaless dredge mulliganing to 4 against my yesterday's opponent with Storm. They are both laughing loudly seeing our paralympics. I manage to get 6 lands, hard cast Tyrant and eat him with it.
Magic the Gathering: the contest of skill.
Round 4 vs Vial Goblins
G1: Another nice opponent who confesses that he just starts to play Legacy. I do my thing faster than he does, and that's the game after less than 10 minutes.
Out: 1 Karakas, 1 Bojuka Bog, 2 Gamble, 1 Wasteland
In: 3 Krosan Grip, 1 Fling, 1 Volcanic Fallout
G2: I keep God-hand with combo turn 1 via Manabond, Krosan and something. He plays turn 1 Moon, obviously. I'm very patient during this game, even when another Moon comes into play. He has 3 Vials on 1,2 and 3, I keep his horde in check most of the time, while he is lacking gas after solid boardwipe with Fallout. When I finally find my second Grip, he defends himself with Stingscourger and runs towards me faster than I can recover. Well, ok, something like that could have happened.
G3: I keep him in check with double, then triple Port, followed by Tabernacle and even wastelands into his Caverns. He keeps to punch me a little bit, but he really needs to dig for resources. I can see Stingscourger tutored with goblin mom, deciding between keeping my Grip for later and playing around his active Vial on 2 or going for it now, following with Mari. I know that he lacks the mana to play the Stingscourger from hand while I'm porting him hard. I Krosan his Vial,,He admits that only a miracle can save him now. And his topdeck is Blood Moon. I respond with Marit, tapping his stuff, so he plays a goblin that gives him mana from sacrificing other goblins, manages to play Stingscourger from hand, bouncing my Marit, Surgicaling my Loam. I'm missing one mana to Fling him, as well as to get rid of his lethal goblin with Vortex online.
That was the end of Day 1 for me, Damian followed my steps soon after, other guys did 5-3,5-3 and 6-2 (Adam with Punishing Thieves). I went for side event that day simply not to kill myself.
Side event #1
Round 1 vs Sneak&Show
G1: Island, Preordain. Ha-ha. He went for Boseju and kept digging. I did my stuff automatically, he Wished for Extraction into my Loam. Hah, that was wierd. I made the combo ready, he didn't scoop so I started to worry if I'm not playing some super awkward build. I wastelanded my Taiga in case he was playing maindeck Sumberge or something and killed him.
G2 and G3 happend, as usual.
Round 2 vs Death&Taxes
G1: I play first, burn your Mom, Vortex online, he scoops turn 2.
Out: 4 Gamble, 1 Manabond, 1 Glacial Chasm, 1 Bojuka Bog, 1 Loam, 2 Depths
In: Volcanic Fallout, Fling, Sorcerous Spyglass, 3 Krosan Grip, 2 Trackers, Nissa, Vital Force, Sylvan Library
G2: He started with insane hand of Vial, Mom, two wastelands, port, swords and Karakas, which I saw with my Spyglass. I named wastelands, buying some time to start Port-Wars and building up for Fling. I baited his Swords with Tracker, Quartered his Port, cleared the board with Fallout after naming Mother of Runes whit the same Spyglass he Flickerwisped. When he had his Karakas ready for my Marit and Vial on 3, I responded with Fling into his face.
Round 3 vs Storm
G1: Long story of turn 1 Manabond with some utility lands and Loam, that never finds a Depths for something like 20 minutes of game. Eventually, he gets his thing.
G2: Spheres, wastelands, Choke, token
G3: Mulligan to 5 with single Sphere. Sphere in, he plays 3 LEDs in following turns. I play Spyglass, naming LEDs. The judge watching us smiles, but says nothing. The game continues, I try to Port him and Choke him to death while he has something like 7 lands to my 3 Spheres. He tries to surprise me with his single Thespian's Stage into my Depths, to which I respond with Quartering it. After another long minutes, I finally kill him. Afterwards judge asks if I know that naming LED with Spyglass does nothing. I do. Good thing that my opponent didn't.
PTQ:
Round 1 vs Maverick
G1: My first 7 is Manabond, Grove, Grove, Maze, Chasm, B-Ring and Foothills. My next 6 is exactly the same hand, even the same fetch, simply one Grove short. I simle to my opponent, as he is also gettintg his best 5. I have slow natural combo, he has DRS, Mom and Quasali Pridemage. I know there is no long game for me here, so I go for the token and ask him if he has Swords. He doesn't, but he has Rotation for Karakas and Knigt turn after.
G2: I can't remember much more than him apologising for having everything he could against me, including discard, wastelands, surgical, drs and Abrupt. Soon I'm left with no permanents at all, so we talk about his yesterday's performance, 65th place day 2, and exchange our experiences from the whole event.
Round 2 vs Esper Deathblade
G1: I can't remember opening hand exactly, but it was quite classical mix of loaming , wasting and burning. First I checked if he has counter for my PFire into his DRS. He didn't, so I started to deny his mana while loaming around,but with no Exploration, so he could play Mystic and go for Batterscull. Maze was there however, so now I focused mainly on mixing dredge with cycling draws to get Exploration or Gamble. I found Manabond instead and that was basically the game, even without combo pieces.
Out: 1 Glacial, 3 Gamble, 2 Loam, 1 Depths, 1 Manabond
In: 1 Spyglass, 1 Fling, 1 Volcanic Fallout, 3 K-Grips, 2 Trackers
G2: This game was significantly shorter, he landed Medding Mage, naming PFire, forgot to pay for it with Tabernacle, played another one, naming PFire again (which I didn't care of with Volcanic Fallout in hand). I tax him a little at first, when he plays Nemezis I go for the combo. He has mana for an Edict, which I'm aware of, but nothing more for the Flusterstorm in hand, so he finds out how the Fling works.
Round 3 vs Lands
G1: Those games are perfect mirror matches at the beginning as we start with the same cards, plays and even fetches. I think however that I'm a little bit better prepared for the attrition game. He is on 4 Quarters build, but Rotation for Bojuka combined with timely Petrified Field does it in the long run.
G2: Quite the copy of G1, yet in the end he is able to get rid of my Bog and to feed his Tracker well enough to win.
G3: I have a better start with acceleration, he doesn't and I can see from his first play that he is short on color. I take advantage of it and despite his 4 Rotations, I manage to leave him with nothing to play. Afterwards we discuss pros and cons of both builds, why it is good to leave Chasm in during the mirror etc.
Round 4 vs Bug Delver
G1: Another mulligan to something I don't like much, but would still do the trick IF only I wouldn't see 4 Forces into anything relevant I wished to play. Two Edicts later I'm totally out of options so I go for G2.
G2: Game two could be the game, but simple analysis shows me what hand my opponent kept - 3 wastelands, 2 Surgicals and 2 lands. Turn 1 surgical into my Wastelands, turn 2 into my Depths, 3,4,5 his wastelands into my lands, DRS, DRS, Goyf, while I'm stuck with 2 Loams I left after sideboarding.
Round 5 vs Grixis Delver
G1: Was the fastest game I've ever won. I go first with Mox, Molten Vortex, Exploration, Wasteland, Taiga. He thinks for a second and surrenders his turn 0. That is unexpected.
In: 1 Spyglass, 1 Krosan, 1 Tracker
Out: 1 Gamble, 1 Karakas, 1 Manabond
G2: He starts with two DRS's, which I shut down with Spyglass. The game goes really wierd and slow, so we have some fun laughing about it. Final board state is his two 1/2 attackers with no lands and I hopelessly dredging for Tabernacle that won't show up.
In: second Tracker, 2 Spheres, 1 Fling, 1 Volcanic Fallout
Out: two more Gambles, 2 Loam, 1 Depths
G3: I start with Spyglass and he exhales with relief, because he has two different fetches in hand. One Delta is already cracked for Usea, which I'm soon about to eat, so I name Tarn and proceed with my Spheres, Ports, Wastelands and Tabernacle. I don't even have to kill him, when he is left with no permanents and concedes.
That was all for the main event and most of important things for side events. I definitely played more games, but can't describe all of them reliably and there wasn't even that much to describe in some cases. I hope that this report will be at least of little help to any of you
I'll be happy to explain all card choices from the list bellow. The final conclusion is, apart from my personal, shameful performance, that Lands were crushed, destroyed and obliterated during main and side events. I wouldn't be surprised if final stats would show that Lands where in top 3 mostly played archetypes of Day 1 and I guess that none made Day 2. TurboDepths, which performed better (at least from my perspective) made fighting Marit-based strategy a common knowledge, while maintaining their own explosiveness. When combined with interaction and hate (discard, needles), I'd dare to say that they are much better positioned deck right now.
According to mtgtop8 statistics, we need to be aware that Surgical Extraction is most heavily played card in Legacy right now (over 60% to Brainstorm's 50%). It's not the matter of "if", but "when" our opponent will have his Surgical into something vital and the best thing we can do most of the time, is to carefully choose the moment when to give up a piece we don't need anymore. Unfortunately, it's not always our choice. I feel that I really need to make some changes in general approach to the format. Instant death to things like Sneak&Show, painfully obvious plan "b" with Trackers after sideboard and common knowledge how to dismantle our plan are really big issues. Feel free to ask your questions if you're interested in something or if you have different experiences from that tournament, I'll answer and correct everything you need.
My list:
and (36)
1x Barbarian Ring
1x Bojuka Bog
4x Dark Depths
1x Forest
1x Ghost Quarter
1x Glacial Chasm
4x Grove of the Burnwillows
1x Karakas
2x Maze of Ith
1x Petrified Field
1x Riftstone Portal
3x Rishadan Port
1x Sheltered Thicket
2x Taiga
1x The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
4x Thespian's Stage
1x Tranquil Thicket
1x Verdant Catacombs
4x Wasteland
1x Wooded Foothills
Instant (7)
4x Crop Rotation
3x Punishing Fire
Sorcery (8)
4x Gamble
4x Life from the Loam
Enchantment (6)
4x Exploration
1x Manabond
1x Molten Vortex
Artifact (4)
4x Mox Diamond
Sideboard (15)
1x Carnage Tyrant
1x Choke
1x Fling
1x Sylvan Library
3x Krosan Grip
1x Nissa, Vital Force
1x Sorcerous Spyglass
3x Sphere of Resistance
2x Tireless Tracker
1x Volcanic Fallout
Last edited by Wiktul; 05-22-2018 at 12:17 PM.
Thanks for the report.
I'm still not the big tournament-player so I cannot tell about my experiences, but I'd like to share my thoughts... Remember, I'm on a RGu build.
First, your deck:
- Nice to see Riftstone Portal and Petrified Field in a list. I think the Petrified Field is there to avoid needed lands in the grave from extraction or as a fallback, if loam is gone. How does it perform normally?
- Interesting Sideboard as it has more answers than the Sphere-heavy ones like mine. I really like the Fling idea, even Fling is a dead card when you don't have the combo out (or a really big Tracker). Do you miss the sphere effects? How do Nissa and Tyrant perform normally?
Second, your plays:
- It's good to see, that I'm not the only one having bad luck on draws etc. I thought, after some other reports, that I'm doing something wrong. But it seems to be normal to go down to 5 cards, draw 3 Exploration when a land is needed, throw away the gambled card etc.
- It's good to see, that I'm not the only one having bad luck with opponent's play. Counter every Crop Rotation, always having Extractions ready for Loam and Wasteland, DRS after DRS...
Finally, the situation:
- It seems that a lot of people are playing Lands now. where does that come from? Tabernacle is so expensive and Lands is not known as the best deck to play if you want to win. I like that more people are playing Lands and support our deck. I just ask why?
- It seems from your point of view, that more opponents are well prepared for Lands or at least things in Lands. Is that so (other oppinions)? Do we have to think our strategy again? E.g. going more black, creatures, Volrath Stronghold..., playing RUG again with Intuition...
Anyway, I'm playing RGu and the maingoal doesn't have to be the Combo. Maybe I have less problems with that (but others). But I also see the problem of so many DRS and Extractions... what could we do against that...
For the Edict effects: My Mishra's Factory is always good for such a thing, but like I said, I also like the Fling thing :-)
People probably pick Lands because it preys on Grixis Delver and Czech Pile, the most commonly played decks. And those decks have pushed out certain combodecks, making that part of the meta pretty good. But at the same time sideboards are geared against BR Reanimator and Turbo Depths, while Lands suffers from the combined hate. And Blood Moon is played a lot since it preys on Delver and Pile as well.
(edit)
That's probably true, it's a sign on the wall that David Long and Kevin King played Turbo Depths last SCG (and placed T8) instead of lands. A straightforward gameplan and shorter games are also advantages in a longer tournament. Ty for the report by the way.
Thanks for the report, it was an interesting read. I would love to know your rationale for playing a card like Carnage Tyrant in your 76.
I also noticed you seem to take out Gambles in a lot of matchups. While sometimes it can be a swingy or tilting card I really really think you should keep all of them in the matchups where your opponent can (and did) Blood Moon you. Sneak and Show, and Goblins are the obvious examples from your report. It is the only card that can search for Grip under Moon, and is often a very good turn 1 in the combo matchups. Cards like Maze of Ith should definitely come out when playing vs SNS if you are looking for options on that front.
You also talk about mullagining quite a lot. I think this might be influenced by your cutting the 3rd fetchland. When we were going down to 3 fetches from 4 a few years ago we were really getting as low as we possibly can on t1 coloured sources. The addition of Sheltered Thicket has not really compensated in this regard.
Sib
Yes, surgical and DRS protection is one point, lack of Loam or opponent sweating with counterspells is another. It also allows me to make some nasty plays like T1: Taiga - Exploration - Wasteland, T2: crack Wasteland - Field - crak Field for Wasteland - Wasteland - crak Wasteland. When I'm on the draw and opponent starts with his DRS, it's really nice option to have. Field also makes opposite Wasteland less fearsome, helps with starting decisions what to pitch to Mox against unknown opponent etc. I my build it took the place of 3rd fetch and the amount of situations in which I wished it to be that Misty Rainforest were around 5% at best. Yet it's still a trick of my personal prefference, I wouldn't do any battle about it's unique relevance to the deck (Riftstone Portal would be a different matter)
Idea of Fling came to simply from TurboDepths. They are using Rites of Consumption in multiples and with quite good effect, so why wouldn't we try a strictly better version of it? Game 1 we can grind most of fair decks to death, just look at my battle from Paris against 4c - 7 tokens in single game and the only thing I really lost to was lack of Exploration. But games 2 and 3 are really different right now. Here we become quite linear and predictable deck with complex navigation that can be wrecked by a single hate or utility card. I really like to trade that Fling for an Edict, Swords, Jace or Flickerwisp. I really like to have an out from multiple Ensnaring Bridges with current uprising of prison strategies, especially when I don't have any more- Interesting Sideboard as it has more answers than the Sphere-heavy ones like mine. I really like the Fling idea, even Fling is a dead card when you don't have the combo out (or a really big Tracker). Do you miss the sphere effects? How do Nissa and Tyrant perform normally?
G for Krosan thanks to the Moon (usually also in multiples). I didn't expect that single Fling to be that much of a value, so I was positively surprised.
Nissa is a powerhouse. I always board her in for slower matchups, like D&T, Miracles, 4c, which lack direct options to destroy it right away and when I know I need another win con after Surgical. She needs 1 turn tu ultimate and basically win the game for us, she can be a nice beatstick, her - ability is great for other sideboard cards you've lost to counters or removal, she is super good in mirror matches.
Tyrant - that's a tough one, literally. Titan was there to make some vague hope against Sneak&Show and value in mirrors, Miracles and D&T, but Tyrant is better against all of them except Sneak&Show (which is hopeless anyway), and also better against ugly things like Maverick or Aggro Loam. It's also not a must, but I feel much better with it right now.
As for the Spheres, I found 3 to be just enough to improve good matchups like delvers, 4c, eldrazi or Miracles and to give some hope against bad ones, like Storm or Sneak&Show. I played them x4 and more with Thorns (which sucks in this deck) and I don't like them stacking in my hand or being a dead late draw. To Sneak&Show we're likely to get FoW for first one and to die next turn anyway, so 3 is just enough to draw one in opening hand and another can come to buy some time against Omniscience, but that's it. 1 Sphere is just enough against DRS decks to give us huge advantage, second is usually enough to end them. We can't make ourselves pay another 3 mana for Krosan we need to get rid of a Needle or Blood Moon and Storm will name it with Cabal Therapy either way. We also still can lock them out or race them without it so let's not waste 50 sideboard slots for Stormophobia
[QUOTE]Second, your plays:
- It's good to see, that I'm not the only one having bad luck on draws etc. I thought, after some other reports, that I'm doing something wrong. But it seems to be normal to go down to 5 cards, draw 3 Exploration when a land is needed, throw away the gambled card etc.
- It's good to see, that I'm not the only one having bad luck with opponent's play. Counter every Crop Rotation, always having Extractions ready for Loam and Wasteland, DRS after DRS...[\QUOTE]
Yeah, sometimes that's just how it goes. And sometimes "sometimes" becomes "always", but what can one do about it? Play Grixis Delver, surely, but that's not a solution for me. I always try to blame myself first for whatever I can, but when I can't do even that, it can be just a little too much.
I guess there are plenty of reasons. Some want to try how it is to play a "Power 10" (we can call it that aleady) card in your deck. Some like to show, that they can afford it. Some just find Lands to be as phenomenal and unique deck as it is and some realise that it's one of the best decks for quite a long time.Finally, the situation:
- It seems that a lot of people are playing Lands now. where does that come from? Tabernacle is so expensive and Lands is not known as the best deck to play if you want to win. I like that more people are playing Lands and support our deck. I just ask why?
I think that RUG is better overall with repeatable access to boardwipe, but I simply didn't like it's tempo and even greater grave-dependance (or at least that was my impression of it). What can we do against general awareness of how to cripple us with single card - I guess everyone needs to make his own improvements and adjustments. Perhapse Jody or Jarvis will win next GP with stock RG list and disproove all I have said here, but untill then I'll try some wierd things locally like Reclamation Sage main or Ancient Stirrings postboard.It seems from your point of view, that more opponents are well prepared for Lands or at least things in Lands. Is that so (other oppinions)? Do we have to think our strategy again? E.g. going more black, creatures, Volrath Stronghold..., playing RUG again with Intuition...
Anyway, I'm playing RGu and the maingoal doesn't have to be the Combo. Maybe I have less problems with that (but others). But I also see the problem of so many DRS and Extractions... what could we do against that...
For the Edict effects: My Mishra's Factory is always good for such a thing, but like I said, I also like the Fling thing :-)
Thanks Sib, I'm happy to answer your questions as I have thought about them just the same way a little while ago
As for Gamble being first of my cards to side out - when I'm siding in lot of hate and / or answers I really need to draw them, not gamble for them, risking discarding some other tools from sideboard which are already in my hand. I tend to leave 1 Gamble for that specific purpose and I would defintely leave all against things like MonoR. As you can see from my report, in games against goblins I had Krosan for their Moons and other stuff when I needed them, what killed me was topdeck to which I could not respond instantly either way if I had Gamble in hand instead of Krosan that took its place. As for my reasoning for Maze against Sneak&Show , there are so many bad cards here that I'd like to side out more than I can side inMaze can be pitched to Mox giving me gas I need to slam my hate early, can be eaten with Rotation and in very pathehic situations can hold Griselbrand for a while. I may be wrong here, but - Gamble or not - T2 Show&Tell into Omniscience into Emrakul is still not something you can respond to by Gambling for a Grip
As for the "lack of 3rd fetch" argument, I already stated it in previous comment - believe me, I keep track of how many opening hands / critical draw happen to be worse due to my variation from "stock" list (Tomb instead of Portal, 3rd fetch instead of Field) and it's not any significant number overall, even less so when compared to usability of said replacements. The hands I mulled during the tournament were either inherently unplayable (total lack of any lands or Depths as the only one and similar) or worthless according to our basic gameplan (Manabond, 2 groves, maze, Glacial and shit, mull into exactly the same hand 1 grove less). I give you my word that if my results could be explained and fixed as easily as by admitting, that card X played instead of card Y was a bad idea, I would gladly confess that and get my dignity backMost good openings I had were there thanks to Portal, many good plays and important "dodges" from enemy blows were made thanks to Field. My point is that the deck (my - specificly, each other's - generally) did poorly not inspite or despite personal changes like my own, but to general understanding of it's weaknesses and lines of play. I really hope that this point of view is untrue and I'm simply a bad player / should simply play 3 fetches, 4 quarters and 8 spheres in sideboard, but I'm afriad it's not. Firstly, because I already did and had my reasons to turn to my current build. Secondly, because many others around there did and they did as badly as I or even more so.
@Wiktul
Not sure if "I drew them when I needed them, so I don't need tutors" is a good argument...
Taking out so many tutors which can find you bullets in horrible matchups doesn't seem reasonable at all.
If you are arguing that SnT kills you before you can play a second Sphere or Gamble into Grip, why do you bring in 3 Grips against ANT?
Why do you leave in Tabernacle and Bojuka Bog against SnT but cut Depths and Gamble?
Why do you board out so many Gambles against Burn before cutting e.g. Sheltered Thicket?
Why do you go for the token here and not just let the Mox die?
Why don't you cut some Crop Rotation against decks like Delver? Isn't Crop weak to Decks paired with Wasteland and counters?
I didn't read your whole post, so there might be more decisions where I would have acted differently or even think you could have done better.
I think here you have a fundamental misunderstanding of the deck. Keeping Gamble in doesn't lower the chance of you naturally drawing the sideboard card you want, far from it. Assuming you remain at 61 cards after board...
Gamble gives you 4 more chances to find that sideboard card, you just have to accept that you might get unlucky and discard it. This is just basic probability.
As to discarding other cards needed for a MU; the classic use of Gamble is to go and get a haymaker for the matchup where the upside is much much greater than the downside of discarding another useful card. A good example would be gambling for your singleton Choke and discarding a Tracker vs Miracles. This is a trade you should be happy with.
You can also use your Gamble proactively to find a cycling land to protect against future Surgicals which you correctly say are everywhere.
Finally, you need to keep Gamble in so that you can powerfully use your SB with many one-ofs. Gamble makes your 1-of Choke or Carnage Tyrant into a 5 of.
I think your results will improve if you can start to think about Gamble in this way. Playing 8 tutors is why this deck is powerful.
Sib
Thank you both for the input, I'll consider that for sure
The tutor thing is true in many ways. I have 9 tutors incl. the underestimated Tolaria West. A friend of mine has the insane amount of 12 tutors with rotation, gamble and entomb. Some players play (burning) wishes. Some time ago, we had Intuition as another insane tutor too.Thank you both for the input, I'll consider that for sure
I'm just afraid of counters for my rotations.
And I'm still not sure if I want to cut my spheres and chalice. I think there could be lots of possibilities right in front of my eye... But I cannot see...
Unbanning Bazaar if Baghdad would be nice.... Well it would kill legacy and I would have to buy some...but.....
Yes, lists with Burning Wishes were super fun, but I haven't seen them since that famous MKM tournament. And by the way, Sib, it's great to have you again on Library! I was afriad that you're done with new articles
Thanks! That is really nice to hear. Hopefully this summer I will have some time to devote to Lands (and other much worse Prison decksYes, lists with Burning Wishes were super fun, but I haven't seen them since that famous MKM tournament. And by the way, Sib, it's great to have you again on Library! I was afriad that you're done with new articles
Split the top 8 of ChannelFireBall's $2k yesterday.
Same list as GP:Seattle, with the Song of the Dryads changing to a Choke.
R1: Elves 2-0
R2: RUG lands Mirror 2-0
R3: Esper Delver 2-1
R4: Miracles 1-2
R5: Blood Moon Stompy 2-0
R6: Turbo Depths 2-0
R7: ID
List still feels solid, love the deck. :)
If there really are so many bad 'cards' against Lands, we should do something. I play around with 'how do we handle Surgical Extraction or Deathrite Shaman or gravehate at all'. But can be done with any 'problem'.
I'm not saying the following is 'good', but sometimes you have to fool around with some ideas...
I think there are always these possibilities:
- Fight them
- Ignore them
- Join them
Fight them:
- Cancel the effect: Take some counters Flusterstorm in main or sideboard or just don't let it happen (Chalice of the Void on one, Ground Seal).
- Minimize the damage: Play your own Surgical on the targeted card to avoid removing all the other cards in the deck, play your own Shaman and take the same target so the effect will do nothing on their side... Have always a Wasteland in play so they cannot Extract all of them. Play Leonin Arbiter so they cannot search your library (and also not fetch lands).
Ignore them:
- Just let it happen: If you lose, you lose. (Or train more, the deck is still good
- Let it happen, but use other cards to bring you in game again. So play RGu
play Leovold, Emissary of Trest.
If your 5mana PW is a powerhouse, play other expensive spells: Mind's Eye let you draw cards without the graveyard... Horn of Greed with a Leovold is great.
Join them:
- Play another deck ;-)
- Play some cards/strategies of 'their' deck. Again, include Leovold, Emissary of Trest to let you draw cards and stop their Brainstorms. Combine with Cephalid Coliseum to let them discard 3 cards.
Play Jace, play DRS...
And in every of those points, you can do some good things, bad things or insane things (which could turn out to be good or bad).
Anyway, you always have to ask yourself: Is an additional card worth it... do I need to add 2, 3, more of it... what do I cut? Will it suit in my strategy or will it even kill it... Will my Lands be mutated into 4cLoam, 5cLoam, Turbo Depths, Czech Pile or something?
Ground Seal is great, but stops your Loams. So you could say, I take the Loams anyway or other dredge cards to put lands in the grave and play Crucible of Worlds and other non-targeted spells. This would even change the way you're playing. In my RGu it's bad because I want to have my Academy Ruins...
Congrats on the finish, been jamming your list on mtgo lately just trying to get a feel for it, especially with SB decisions. it appears its catching on with others too if you played a mirror.
More often than not I find myself boarding out gambles, along with the usual utility lands that aren’t going to be helpful; Karakas, bog, factory, chasm, mazes etc. I don’t mind shaving down on gambles personally since I dislike opening up discarding your sideboard cards or randoms into extractions.
I do know that I tend to SB differently than a portion of the lands community; I know people board out crop rotations against miracles but I usually keep all of them in. It is a must-counter most of the time even if it feels bad, and being able to get extra groves to fight over fires can win you the long game.
I’m curious to hear what kind of sideboarding you do!
Yeah with miracles and other blue control decks that dont play wasteland, i take out crop rotations and add chalice.
And matches where i need more slots and am bringing in the kgrips or other reactive cards, i actually also take out the gambles, i found myself holding both the kgrip and gamble in my hands, not letting myself cast that gamble because losing the grip would be back breaking. similar to what your mindset is.
I also typically shave a loam in matches where i bring in 3 trackers. Another copy comes out if i expect RIP or Leyline.
I dont do much sideboarding for burn, I bring in grudge/grips and take out the lands that dont help me speed up (tab, maze, bog, sheltered thicket). I know people love spheres/chalice for that matchup, but not me. i need those crop rotations to work, and work on 1 mana. I bring in tomb, which seems stupid but ill take 2 damage to make my combo on t3 rather than t4. Also if you go long, tomb behind chasm is great. I also do similar for UR Delver. Probably the only 2 matchups where I dont bring in all 3 trackers.
That mindset goes across all variants of Lands.
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